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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
-Strange Girl-
-5-
"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto sang as he approached the cherry-haired girl. He sat down beside her on the picnic table and nudged her shoulder.
"Naruto? Hi, where is everyone else?" She had only just grabbed some food and begun to feel better after her stressful tests.
"They'll be here so-! No there they are!" He pointed over to the building and watched as a small group of familiar people emerged.
"Hey guys!" Sakura greeted with a wave. She wasn't used to sitting or enjoying time with too many people, so didn't know how to act or what to do.
"Hey"
"Hi"
"Hello S-Sakura-chan"
"Yo"
"Hn"
"Which lesson were you chosen for?" Tenten asked sitting opposite her.
"Oh… Medicine" She smiled, feeling slightly more worth while.
"What?!" Naruto yelled in her ear, being rewarded with her attention. "That's really hard to get into! There is only around 5 or 6 medics in the whole school!"
"Really?!" Sakura wanted to jump Naruto for the information; now she felt extremely special.
"Yeah!"
"Wow"
"Congratulation Sakura-chan" Hinata smiled sweetly, tilting her head to the side at the same time.
"Thanks Hinata-chan! So… what lessons are you in?" She asked looking around the table.
She half expected Naruto to jump into yelling his lesson choice, but the blonde remained quiet and looked around the table for their answers.
"I'm in Weapons Expertise!" Tenten said pointing her thumb at her chest and grinning.
"Wow! I only hit 3 targets…" Sakura said referring to her previous test. Tenten grinned and held her hand out to show the full number of targets there were and that she hit; all 5. "Whoa! What about you Hinata?"
"I-I'm in Bloodline limit…"
"Really? You have a Bloodline? What is it?!"
"Come on Sakura-chan! You'll see when the time comes!" Naruto said patting her back.
"I'm in Martial Arts!" Kiba said with his usual wolfy grin.
"I, too, am in Martial Arts, Sakura-san!" Lee shouted with eyes ablaze.
"That's g-great!" She said still feeling strange about talking to such an eager person.
"Me too!" Choji added after a long pause.
"Wow… what about you Shikamaru?"
"Strategics…"
"Oh… you are intelligent huh?"
"It's harder than it sounds…" He added for good measure, since people often mistook the lesson for a rejects'.
"Naruto? What about you?"
The whole table went silent, knowing about Naruto's… dilemma. "I…uh… have mixtures of lessons since… I dunno… but I do Bloodline Limit, Martial Arts, Weapons Expertise, Mind arts and Strategics."
"What the hell? Why?"
"Erm… well… let's just say I'm different and need to know all of them…" Sakura could sense his discomfort and felt the table turning silent under the awkward conversation; she knew they would tell her eventually, so she didn't press the matter.
"Wow! How are you doing in them?"
"Gre-!"
"He's failing strategics…" Shikamaru butted in with a small smirk making Naruto pout. "…he refuses to believe in anything other than 'barging in and kicking ass'…"
Sakura chuckled at the pouting Naruto, "Then which is your favourite…"
"Martial Arts… or Bloodline Limit… since they are kick ass!"
"Haha! That's great!" Sakura grinned looking over to the separate groups she could see. Tenten followed her gaze around the area and realised she hadn't warned her about the different groups.
"Sakura… pay close attention to the groups… first we have: the popular assholes… they are basically all jerks who are too much in love with themselves to acknowledge or be nice to anyone else…" Tenten said with a scowl. Sakura followed her eyesight to a table not too far away with lots of different, beautiful people. She frowned a bit recognising where Tenten's gaze was; the boy name Neji…
"They aren't all assholes… if you catch them when they are alone…" Naruto grinned after turning away from their table.
"I'll list them… first we have Neji, who you have already met… sort of… he's in Bloodline limit class and doesn't talk much…" Sakura took note of Neji's silver shirt which would normally be under a jacket if he hadn't taken it off.
"Next we have… Shino; he also doesn't talk much… and wear far too much clothing… he has a Bloodline but he already mastered it, so he was put in Martial Arts… he's 16 like Neji…"
"He doesn't do much since he has a Bloodline…" Choji added, referring to their lesson. Sakura nodded after looking at the guy with shades on, who had tall bushy brown hair. He had a simple black shirt on.
"We also have Deidara, 19, and Sasori, 19… the blonde and the redhead…" Sakura laughed at their shirts, which matched their hair colour. In particular, she was laughing at the blonde since her shirt attracted several different flies, seeing as though it was also bright yellow. "…Deidara has a Bloodline and Sasori is in Weapons Expertise…"
"Moving on…!" Naruto interrupted since they were taking too long. "There's Itachi!" Sakura followed Naruto's, not-so-sly, out stretched finger to find a tall man with cuts down his nose. He had bright red eyes and black long hair. Sakura was impressed; he looked far more mature than Deidara and Sasori, who looked around his age. "He has a Bloodline… I'd stay away from him and his brother…"
"Brother?"
"He's our age…" Tenten said before giving Naruto the chance to start a loud talk about others. "…He's called Sasuke, the guy in dark blue… He has a Bloodline too… but he goes to Martial Arts lessons too… since he has a talent and the time…"
"Oh yeah, I see the resemblance…"
"Stay away from that one… not that he would talk anyway, or even do anything… but something is odd about him. He gives me a bad vibe…" Tenten sighed loudly while rolling her eyes.
"Next is the head of his fan club: Ino… she is constantly following him around… she's in Mind Arts…" Ino wore a light purple shirt under her waistcoat and was flicking her hair around. "The fan girls are everywhere… in every group… except ours of course!" Tenten grinned.
Sakura had to admit she could see why he had fan girls; he was gorgeous. He, too, had black hair which spiked out at the back and hung loosely at the front. He had deep onyx eyes to match his ebony spikes and… he was looking right towards Sakura. She hadn't realised his gaze since she was memorising all of his features; as handsome as he was, he wasn't the guy on her mind right now and she knew he would get egotistic about her gaze. She quickly looked away and asked about another on the table.
"What about the other two girls?"
"Well, the brunette is Saki… she's in our tutor, remember? The girl who challenged you to talk to Gaara? She is head of his fan club… not that she stands a chance of even talking to him herself!" Tenten laughed hitting the table with her fist. "…that's why she warned you against talking with him further…"
"…and called him Gaara-sama!" Sakura mocked her with a high pitched voice sending the table into another laughing fit.
"Yeah, don't let them threaten you… every girl lets Saki and Ino walk all over them… except Temari of course; she gave off the right first impression and they know not to mess with her…"
"Alright Tem" Sakura cheered, taking into account the fact she wouldn't be judging any of these people that had been mentioned. "So all I have to do is make sure I don't put up with her shit…"
"Exactly"
"Wait… who's that?" Sakura just noticed a smaller girl standing beside Ino and Saki. She had short hair and small bangs, which framed her small face; but she seemed quiet or too shy… even shyer than Hinata. Sakura hadn't seen her lift her head to talk once and had almost missed her small frame until the girl with blue eyes and blonde hair moved. When she did move her head upwards, Sakura noticed she had huge emerald eyes that seemed to sparkle.
"Oh, that's Nina… she's in Medicine with you. I feel sorry for her; she hardly talks unless they order her to do something" Tenten sympathized, leaning on her arm. "You already know Temari right? That's Kankuro; her brother"
Sakura looked up to find a brown haired guy in leather pants and huge boots. He wore a black shirt under his jacket and had thick purple lines on his face. From first glance, Sakura thought he looked quite fearful, but she knew not to judge by looks. Ever since she met Temari, she had proved their rumours wrong. Maybe she could meet this Kankuro too and prove them wrong again.
"You should stay away from him… and the other brother…" Choji said in between mouthfuls of his favourite snack.
"I agree Sakura-san; they are not to be taken lightly. The other brother, Gaara broke my arm and leg during a fight." Rock Lee joined in.
"What?" She said quickly with wide eyes.
"You haven't been told much have you?" Shikamaru asked and then sharply sighed after seeing her shaking head."…How troublesome…"
"It was an accident during a fair fight Lee!" Naruto said defending his friend again.
"Yes, I do agree with that. But he is still a danger and Sakura-san should be careful of their group…" he said reaching for Sakura's hand, which was quickly yet slyly pulled away in time.
"You could have said that earlier before she made a deal with Saki to talk to Gaara for five minutes…"
"What the hell?" They all shouted with the exception of Sakura's tutor mates.
Tenten shook her hand to signal she didn't want to replay the story and the bell soon followed ending their conversation.
"Well… see ya guys!" Sakura said standing up and running off to lesson. They all laughed at her enthusiasm before leaving themselves.
oOo
Sakura followed Tsunade down the corridor nervously, tugging at her shirt and watching her feet carefully. She lifted up the timetable Tsunade had given her and read the names carefully. On a Monday, Wednesday and Friday: her day was filled with Medicinal Studies, whereas a Tuesday and Thursday, she had ordinary subjects she would expect to find in any school:
Lesson 1 – Mathematics
Lesson 2 – English
Break
Lesson 3 – PE
Lesson 4 – PE
Lunch
Lesson 5 – Science
Lesson 6 – Study time
She smiled to herself, while reading the list, then came to a sudden halt when Tsunade directed her into a room. It was a rather large room for the amount of people inside. There were 6 people inside, who were gathered around one large table. On the walls were several jars full of different coloured chemicals, where the benches were filled with different herbs and plants neatly labelled with stickers. The room smelt quite medicinal, closely resembling a hospital's stench.
As for the people inside the room, they were all female… but one girl in particular caught Sakura's eye; Nina, the girl with glassy green eyes.
She was sitting on the end of the table with her head down. This was the perfect chance for Sakura to talk to her, without being told she can't because of stupid social groupings.
"Class… we have a new member of our group… this is Sakura Haruno…" Tsunade announced as she sat down on the opposite end of the table. Sakura found it strange she didn't sit behind the desk at the front, but since there was only 8 people, including herself and Tsunade, the teacher could get up close and mingle normally with the small group. "Now then… we'll be going over the basics for a recap and so Sakura can get used to them…"
She found herself feeling foolish at forgetting it was the start of a new term and the rest of the class hadn't been with Tsunade the first couple of lessons. Of course they would need to recap.
The rest of the lesson was spent teaching Sakura her basic medical elements and practicing. Tsunade had complimented her several times on how fast she picked up the basics. Apparently, she would catch up to the rest of the class in a month with hard work. She had made sure to tell Sakura this quietly however, since the rest of the class were quite judgemental. Oh… and let's not forget…
"Yeah, that's her… she made a bet to talk to Gaara-sama!"
"How dare she!"
"She isn't worth his time!"
"She isn't even pretty!"
"…and what's with that hair colour?!"
'…Gaara's fan girls.'
'Wow… news travels fast…'
'Yeah… I agree."
'It's not like we're gonna steal him… we haven't even met him!'
She was thankful, however, that only 4 of the girls were Gaara fans. The other two seemed relatively normal, one being the quiet Nina. Tsunade seemed to have also heard the rumours about her bet, since she kept looking up at Sakura with that unsure look. She also placed her next to Nina and not the annoying fan girls.
"Okay guys… read question 5 and look through your notes. First to answer gets to leave five minutes early…"
Sakura looked down at the question and then through her notes. It was pretty complex but she seemed to be looking over to Sakura hopefully. Sakura took this hint, but since the fan girls were talking, she wanted to get to know Nina.
"Hey… Nina right?"
"…yes…" she mumbled quietly, looking down to the table.
"Nice to meet you!" Sakura grinned at the girl who only replied with a smaller smile of her own.
"Don't talk to her Nina… she's part of the reject group…" The girl beside the green eyed Nina snorted. Sakura took this time to notice her long black hair and her red eyes. To say she was beautiful was an understatement.
"…"
"Reject group? Isn't your group always avoided by everyone? Doesn't that make you the rejects?"
Her only reply was a glare from the, now pissed off, girl.
"Sakura… I presume you know the answer?" Tsunade asked, still with that glint of hope in her eyes.
"Yes… more chakra would have to be applied to that area, since the circulation of Chakra in the patient is weakest in that area…"
"Well done Sakura… you may go…" Sakura didn't need telling twice. Although she loved her medicine lessons, she could feel the black haired girl's hatred towards her and thought it best to leave her alone for now.
Once out in the corridor, Sakura made her way to the cafeteria. She had used a fair amount of chakra during the lesson, but hadn't become as tired as she was earlier in the day.
"Sakura!" A female voice shouted making Sakura turn her head quickly and grin in reply.
"Tem!"
The older girl winced at the nickname earning a chuckle from her side and from Sakura. "This is Kankuro… my brother…"
Sakura looked up to the tall brunette with face paint. He seemed to be looking her up and down, taking in every single detail about her.
"Hey! I'm Sakura…" She said holding her hand out and grinning.
"You haven't heard much, have you?"
"Not you too…" She said sighing. In truth, Naruto had told Sakura one story about Kankuro, which was why she held her hand out to shake his. Rumour has it, that the last person who tried to shake his hand, walked away with a few broken fingers instead. "…in fact, I have heard that particular rumour…"
He grinned down at her confidence and shook her hand in reply. Temari seemed to be grinning at Sakura. "Hey… speaking of rumours, there is a few new ones going around about a crazy new girl…"
Sakura took the hint and smiled up at Temari. "Oh? Like what?"
"That she stuck up for the most dangerous guy and girl in school…" Temari raised an eyebrow waiting for her response.
"Oh… yeah, so I've heard…" Both girls broke out into laughter and understanding.
"…why?"
"Because…" She wiped a tear which had been forming in the corner of her eye. "…it isn't that great having rumours spread about you… and I won't let my friends be talked about!"
Silence surrounded the two before Sakura cut in once more.
"What kind of cookies should I make?"
"Wha-? Oh… just chocolate…"
"Haha! He has a sweet tooth huh?" Sakura winked at Temari and out stretched her finger. "Okay, I got it! See ya!" She turned around and walked back down the corridor.
"Cookies? Don't tell me they're for-?"
"Yeah… they are…" She cut in earning a strange look from her brother.
"Sis… are you sure?"
"Trust me on this one Kankuro… I have a good feeling…"
"That can't be good…" He mumbled under his breath earning a fist to his head. "OW!"
oOo
"…and then she was all like 'no way! I couldn't!'"
"Naruto!" the annoyed brunette cut in. "As interesting as your gossip is… you're giving me a headache!"
"Jeez… you're just too lazy to hear my gossip!" Naruto pouted, leaving Shikamaru rubbing his forehead and muttering 'troublesome' under his breath.
"Naruto!" A higher pitched voice chimed followed by running footsteps.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto looked around to meet the energetic pinkette who was ginning.
"Hey! I just met Kankuro… he isn't bad either!"
"What?"
"It's true! He didn't rip my hand off either!"
"Just because you're friends with Temari…" Naruto pouted. This seemed to catch Shikamaru's attention which startled Sakura. Knowing Shikamaru, it takes something serious to catch his attention.
"That woman? Che, she's troublesome… you should stay away from her… she's bad news."
"Oh? You seem quite interested…" Sakura teased poking him in the shoulder. "…why do you say that?"
"Shikamaru likes Temari!" Naruto yelled earning a punch to the face.
"She's just troublesome! Bossy!" Shikamaru explained walking over to a large table in the cafeteria. Sakura waited with Naruto in the que for food.
"Sakura-chan?" He asked sheepishly. "I need to tell you the rumours about Gaara…"
"Naruto! I've already told you I don't believe rumours… why bother…"
"You… just need to know!"
"Fine! Go ahead…"
"Well… he's a demon… he'll kill you if you so much as look at him… he's a hit man… he's a cannibal that will eat you alive if you annoy him… he killed someone from his old village… he killed his mother… he killed his father… he-!"
"Wait! Naruto… they are pretty serious rumours! Who spread that?!" Sakura almost yelled.
"No one really knows… they just end up being passed around…"
"Hmph!" Sakura was now officially pissed off.
Once they got their food, they walked over, or in Sakura's case, they stomped over to the table where their friends were gathered. Sakura couldn't really concentrate on eating right now. It seemed like nothing changed no matter what school you attended.
She personally made it her goal to destroy the social groupings… they were so pathetic and sectioning people was disgusting in her eyes. But right now, she had to wonder about the things said about Gaara.
There were some pretty awful rumours about him and they did disturb her. No matter what she didn't believe she couldn't help but be a little scared of their encounter. She was human after all, and she was allowed to be a little afraid. If she didn't have her pride and determination, she may have pulled out of the bet.
"It isn't too late you know… to pull out of the bet…" Naruto whispered to her while the others were engaged in a deep conversation about the school meals.
"Naruto… I won't back out"
Naruto smiled at his friend feeling grateful to have met her. The rest of lunch carried on like this, and the rest of the day went by smoothly. Sakura had almost gotten used to the loud bell and enjoyed the rest of her lessons. When the final bell for the day went, Sakura rushed to the edge of the school gates and waited for Tenten.
"I see you have decided to turn your back on our bet…" A mocking voice sounded from behind Sakura. She turned around to see Saki standing with two other girls.
"What? No I haven't…"
"That's not what the rumours are saying…"
"Then you're a fool to believe rumours… I haven't turned my back on the bet…"
"You haven't done it yet!"
Sakura could feel a headache coming on from Saki's whining voice. "I don't know who he is yet!"
"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled walking over with Tenten.
"Hey guys…"
"Naruto…" Saki said not breaking the eye contact with Sakura. "…be sure to point out Gaara-sama to her tomorrow!" With that said, she stomped off in the opposite direction.
"Jeez…"
"Well… I gotta go now… I'll point him out tomorrow Sakura-chan!" Naruto sang turning around and walking across the road. Tenten smiled at Sakura and continued to walk home, telling her about how Temari seemed happier during Weapons Expertise.
oOo
"Cookies… cookies… cookies…" Sakura sang wondering around the kitchen, whilst picking up equipment as she went.
As she began emptying ingredients into her large bowl, her mind began to wonder on the inevitable.
'I feel lucky that I came to this school…'
'Yeah! We got tons of friends now! Nice neighbours… HOT RED-HEAD!" Inner Sakura added panicking… in a good way.
'No need to shout!'
'No look! Out the window! It's the Hot Red-head!'
'Where!?'
Sakura turned towards the window she could see through the kitchen and hallway. Sure enough, the red head was walking past her house with his usual stony expression. She was about to run through to the window to see if he lived around here, when his head slowly bent in her direction. She dove for cover towards the nearest barricade: the centre counter.
'Holy crap! Please tell me he didn't see me!'
'Relax… we made it out of the way… just…'
Sakura relaxed and wiped her brow. After waiting five minutes on the floor, still with the large bowl being stirred in her arms, she peered around the counter to see the street was empty. She stood up and moved back to the counter, still stirring the mixture.
'His eyes are kinda… cold…'
'Eyes? I wasn't concentrating on his eyes!'
'Be serious…'
'You were the one who told Naruto he couldn't read people's eyes. Yet here you are… reading others…'
'Maybe he's right…'
'Maybe…'
Sakura drew away from her thoughts and started to even out her mixture into several circular lumps. Once she had finished baking them, she laid them out evenly to cool down and undid her apron to run upstairs. Of course, knowing her deranged foster parent and co (aka slut) they would suspect she had a crush if they seen her cookies and she knew where that would lead her. She placed them on top of a cooling rack in a high cupboard and hoped they wouldn't look in there.
She ran upstairs into her bathroom to wash her face from the cooking ingredients and change her clothes from her floured ones. She settled for a green vest-top which matches her eyes and a pair of black shorts with crossed chains, you might find in laces on the back of a corset, across the butt. She put on her black boots and ran back down the stairs when she stopped, frozen to the spot.
Now, since she left earlier than her father had woke up, and hadn't had the chance to wear her new clothes around the house, it was natural her foster parent would be shocked at her appearance. All her life she had worn baggy clothes, or at least longer clothes. So, when she suddenly gets confidence to wear shorts and a vest top, it would naturally give anyone a shock to see her skin for once.
She mentally cursed herself; she had forgotten, in the moment, why she wore clothes like that; for her own protection. How could she be so stupid as to forget something so important? Her new clothes gave her that confidence boost, but also made her a target for more abuse.
That usual, sadistic smile crossed his face as they met halfway down, and up, the stairs. The look in his eyes changed and it was then that Sakura fully believed Naruto when he could judge a person by their eyes; and right now, she could see his intentions.
To Be Continued…
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Next Chapter: Sakura meets Sasuke while on her mission to find Gaara. She seeks help from the anti-social red head, so she can solve this mystery!