I'm sorry! It took forever to update and it irritated me not being able to… Thanks a lot for the reviews guys! I love them sooo much!

Recommended Song: Nocturne – Secret Garden

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any of its characters. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

-A Month Later-

-Part II-

-10-

"Tenten… that's great!" Sakura yelled attacking her friend in a giant hug.

"S-Sakura?"

"Yeah?"

"What's it like… being adopted?" Tenten asked shyly.

All Sakura's glee seemed to vanish. What if one of the council had adopted her? What if she was adopted into an abusive family, like she was? What if they-?

"Sakura?"

"Oh, sorry… well, I suppose its different for everyone… do you know anything about them?" Sakura asked, beginning to panic. What if she moved away to be with them?

"Oh, it's a woman… she's called Anko… she lives in Konoha with her boyfriend. The carer's told me she was quite… erm… excitable?"

Sakura calmed immediately. They lived here, but that didn't mean they wouldn't move. At least she was adopted by the woman, who was excited about having a daughter. Most likely, Tenten has been adopted by someone trustworthy, and someone who would love her greatly. A Mother…

Sakura felt envy burning in her stomach at Tenten's luck, but she wasn't one to keep these feelings for long. Tenten deserved a Mother, she deserved someone. Relief and happiness began to take place of the green eyed monster and she hugged her friend once more.

"I'm so happy for you!" Sakura whined in her friends shoulder.

"Sakura…?" Tenten asked shocked. She dismissed her with a simple pat on the back before adding, "Don't get all sloppy on me now… I want you and Naru-tard to help me pack and move in… will you?"

Sakura nodded with a bright smile.

"Okay, it's this weekend… Saturday… I'll ask Hinata too… the others are too lazy and there's no way I'm asking Lee… he'll scare Anko away!" Tenten laughed, continuing to walk along the path.

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes. The sun shone down on her radiant smile, and she happily added her usual skip to her step. She had the best friends she could wish ever wish for by her side, to create memories she would never forget and cherish forever.

Chuckling to herself, memories already made over the past month began to flood her mind. The first which immediately came to mind, was her most recent shopping trip with Tem.

Flashback

"It would so go with the jeans!"

"But… it's so…" Sakura's face twisted and scrunched up tight and the red top being dangled in front of her. It was a halter neck top, which was very low cut. It only managed to make it past her breasts before it stopped, looking more like a boob tube bikini top. She sighed as she examined the loose, thick straps which were supposed to wrap around her stomach. All in all, Temari kept picking shorter, more revealing tops out for her. She briefly wondered why, but it was only a passing thought when she was face to face with the argumentative neighbour.

"So what?" She snapped angrily. "You have quite a figure on you and you never show it off!"

"But… Tem… I-!"

"No buts! How am I supposed to know if you have his attention when you don't show any skin?!" She yelled still holding up the skimpy top on its hanger.

"Him? Who?"

"Wha-?" Temari covered her mouth with wide open eyes. She couldn't believe she let that slip so carelessly. There was definitely something wrong with her recently. Maybe it was the stress of following Gaara to find out if he took an interest in the pinkette. "Oh… did I say he? I meant anyone's… like, anyone's attention! Yeah…"

Temari mentally thanked whichever god blessed, or rather cursed Sakura with her gullible nature. Her answer seemed to earn her a shrug before letting her wonder deep in thought.

'I can't wear that!' She thought mentally.

'Why not? It's hot!' Inner Sakura almost yelled.

'But… It'll show my bruises… when I get them…'

'Jeez, what a pessimist. What happened to your cheery attitude towards everything? If you get bruised up, don't wear the top!'

'What if he sees it?! It'll be a lot worse than what happened last time!' She argued mentally as Temari's voice began to fade into the background, discussing what was hot about that top in particular.

Inner Sakura shivered. The last time was not something joyous to bring up and surprised them both in the moment. 'Just get the top or she wont let us leave…' she said defiantly before residing deep within Sakura's mind in a calm state.

"Fine! I'll get it… but I'll wear it when I want to…" Sakura said finally, taking the top off the now grinning Temari.

'Now Gaara will shit his pants when he sees her in that hot number!' She thought as she followed Sakura happily out of their favourite store.

End Flashback

Wonder soon spread across Sakura's face. At reminiscing over the event, what did Temari mean? Who's attention was she supposed to have? She couldn't mean Gaara, could she?

Sakura soon shook her head of any thoughts. Sure, she admitted Gaara was devilishly handsome and had a charming, bad-boy streak about him but there was no way he liked her; the outspoken, pink-haired new girl. She was far beneath the standards expected for such a popular guy to like. Besides, he didn't show any sort of attraction to any female in the school and barely acknowledged her when she was near.

Besides, she didn't want to think about this. Not only was Gaara too handsome to like such a strange, unusual girl but he despised fan girls. If she kept on wondering these thoughts, she would get addicted to him and would be no better than the preppy, stalkers.

They turned another corner and began to walk along another main road which led directly to their strangely structured school. As they turned the corner, Sakura noticed small groups of people slowly making there way along the pathways. Some chatted to each other more loudly than others, intimidating the small groups surrounding them into silence. The occasional loner walked along the stoned paths with little black or white wires spilling from their ears and their hands in their pockets or tightened securely around their bags.

She started to smile slowly, one of those hardly identifiable smiles, which could almost reveal her inner happiness. Over the past month, she had talked more and more to Gaara. He greatly interested her, since his anti-social 'fear me' mode often showed to those around him. Why did he put up such a defensive wall which trapped outsiders beyond his limits? She didn't know. She wanted to, so badly, but if she ever asked or subtly questioned his usual demeanour, he would completely ignore her for one of his silent trances.

For the times she had spoken to him, she had found out little pieces of information people may find useless, but it cheered her up to know these small things. She couldn't know his past or reasoning behind things he did unless he opened up, but she found out so much more through the small things he did. He would most likely consider himself closed off to anything which revealed information about him, but Sakura managed to read him, even a little bit.

For example; she noticed ways in which his attitude changes towards different people. Take Naruto, for example. He could be walking along the corridor in an angry strop about another student or teacher, and when the hyperactive blonde showed up, his mood would take a 180º turn. To the untrained eye, nothing changed or slightly brightened up, but she knew differently. His angry frown would remain, but Naruto was right to read people through their eyes; his would gradually soften in his presence, even if he was making the happy-go-lucky student seem like an irritation. His clenched fists, too, would soften and he would pay keen attention to each and every word that flew from Naruto's overly large mouth. This clearly meant he had some sort of respect or appreciation for the blonde; it was as if he were something to look up to, despite the broody red-head being the taller one.

Another thing she found strange about her neighbour was his piece in the poetry recital. He didn't bother to create a poem to read out, which was ignored by the teachers, as if he had some sort of control through fear over themselves as well as the students at the academy. Not to mention, he didn't feel the need to create his own piece yet appreciated the rest, or at least some, of the class's pieces. Mainly, he didn't find his fan-girl's pieces of any interest. He almost pummelled one in particular.

Flashback

"Oh what his red hair would feel like to touch,

Oh what his behind would feel like to clutch"

'HAHAHA! He won't like that!' Inner Sakura laughed.

Truly, she should have been annoyed for him, or at least a little jealous. After all, he was quite handsome and she didn't deny he was attractive all over. But the poem was too funny to hate. He clearly didn't think so.

Sakura turned around slyly to see a priceless expression. It was one of utter horror as the adoring fan girl stood at the front of the class with a Gaara merchandised T-shirt and a small flag with 'I love Gaara' on it. She suppressed a laugh but could feel it threatening to escape. The rest of the class were either already snickering, or had a look of shock and fear for the girl. She was dead…

His expression was quickly replaced, before any bystanders noticed, with his usual scowl, only a little less friendly. Honestly; how old were these girls. This school was supposed to train students to become fighters or battle operatives and all they could think of was writing strange poetry.

"First we walked together hand in hand
Then soon indulged in carnal delight
He was quickly inside my clothes
I tore his shorts with eager hands
He pulled my knickers off over my feet
Then we were both naked in the sands
He squeezed and sucked at my breasts"

Inner Sakura's laughter echoed throughout Sakura's head and she desperately fought the urge to laugh out loud. Sakura couldn't believe the teacher allowed this erotic poem to continue but the look on his face said it all. He was just as shocked, in fact, too shocked to talk and stop the nonsense.


"As he rummage through my thicket
I chewed and tongued at his ear
As my fingers played along his wicket
He peeked between my private curtains
Drawing them then began to sup
My body writhed and moaned
As he drank-"

"Please! Stop Ms Tanukisi!" he finally cried out but was too late. A loud scream pierced everyone's ears turning their laughter into fearful eyes and their worried stares to become harder, and more focused.

Sakura watched amazed as a fine, brown substance took hold of the paper the girl held and shredded it into small sizes no bigger than a spec of dust. Sakura turned to see Gaara's scowl had become murderous and his hands were crossed in front of him, each finger linked between it's opposite on the other hand. Sakura was awestruck and knew that the sand was being controlled by the now deathly bad-boy. She looked back to the sand to see it had slowly encircled the girl's mouth and was squeezing her tightly.

If Sakura had seen this before she had gotten to know Gaara partially, she wouldn't have dared to go near him and would have preferred to have the creepy Uchiha as her lab partner, but she knew better. The girl had it coming thanks to his bad natured, well-known behaviour.

Sakura's head turned on Gaara, attracting his attention thanks to her quick movements. She refused to back down from the glare he was now directing at her. Sure, it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and her body begin to tremble lightly, but she had to stop him. The teacher, Iruka, was stuck at the bottom of the classroom, unsure of what to do, looking between the hysterical girl and the threatening red-head.

Sakura continued to stare at Gaara who was now breaking into an angrier glare. She didn't want to defy him or stand between what he means to do, but this wasn't acceptable in her eyes and she now became the only one who could do something.

Beside her Naruto began to make his way over to the red head, warning him against harming the short-haired blonde who was gripping the sand in a feeble attempt to pull it from her screeching mouth; but the stare continued.

Knowing she wasn't getting anywhere, Sakura stood quickly, not removing her stare from the now curiously shocked red-head. She made her way to the front, keeping her gaze focused on the back of the classroom and turned to stand beside the girl whose eyes were looking to Sakura for help. Tears were pouring down her face, merging with the sand making it harder for Gaara to control. His sand's grip had already weakened thanks to Sakura's distraction but he was too angry to fully release the grip.

Sakura proceeded to stare at the red-head and readied her piece of paper, preparing to read her own poem, to distract his attention fully. She stopped when she noticed Naruto lean closer to Gaara and whisper something in his ear, which made his eyes widen slightly and the sand to drop quickly and make its way back into the gourd he carried. She sighed as the rest of the class became silent, but unintentionally shifted away from Gaara.

"G-Gaara… head to Tsunade's office… immediately…" Iruka said loudly, with a little fear in his eyes. Gaara sent him a warning glance before standing up abruptly and stomping out of the room, with a worried Naruto on his heels.

The girl, however, collapsed to the floor in tears. Her friends made their way to the girl, glaring at Sakura before kneeling beside her and patting her back sympathetically. They took her out the room, supposedly to the nurse's office, but before they were out of sight, the girl looked towards Sakura and nodded her thanks for weakening his hold.

End Flashback

A breathy sigh flowed from her pouting lips. She almost had a heart attack finding out Gaara can control sand and for such a frightening way. It hadn't affected her being near him or even talking to him, like his smug grin had expected, but she still worried about his methods. Maybe that was why she felt the need to be beside him; she could partially convince, distract him and maybe even talk him out of these 'methods'.

Before her, now stood the tall, opened gates of Konoha's academy. Those pearly, white gates which welcomed all of the students with their secretive lessons. She grinned at the now familiar opening gates and made her way towards the tall, green tree she often met her friends at.

"Sa-ku-ra-chan!" Naruto yelled in song as he jumped his way over to the now sighing girls. "Ten-ten-ten-ten-ten-ten!" He added quickly making a vein split in the weapons mistress's forehead.

"It's Tenten! Just plain Tenten… don't add anything else Naru-tard!" She yelled batting the blonde over the head. A pout replaced his carefree grin as he turned to the nearest person for comfort. Sakura.

"Sakura-chan!" He whined and pouted earning a slim eyebrow to be raised in his direction. "Comfort me!" He announced before jumping over to her and picking her up with a firm grip she couldn't remove. She was hoisted highly, making her hips come in line with his shoulder.

"NARUTO!" She squealed in mid-laugh. "Put.me.down!" She threatened bonking him on the head a couple of times for good measure.

Naruto laughed crazily and began to run around in random patterns with Sakura over his shoulder, who kept being forcefully bobbed up and down. He laughed crazily at her feeble attempts to remove his grip and then opened his eyes to find his broody-red-haired friend looking angrily at him. He grinned slyly at him, knowing exactly why he was irked.

"Hey Gaara!" He said with an evil-intentioned chuckle. He raised a brow as response to the blonde who carried the angry pinkette. "What's wrong? You don't look happy…" He teased making his eyes narrow.

"Gaara?" Sakura asked trying to turn around to see the red head. When she turned to look, Naruto would quickly turn her so she couldn't see, earning a frustrated cry from the pissed off pinky.

"Put her down, Naruto" He stated bluntly with a smirk.

"Huh?" A slow smile emerged on his face, "Why should I?"

"She won't appreciate you showing her underwear to the whole school" He said walking past the two. Sakura's face turned a soft red colour watching him pass before she screamed at Naruto.

"PUT ME DOWN IMMEDIATELY!" She screamed being released in shock from the blonde. She pulled her skirt down to notice it was already in place safely. "GAARA, YOU LIAR!" She screamed after the red-head with a raised fist.

Naruto burst out laughing only to receive a harsher, more forceful blow to the skull. She had some friends. The other current friends were still in shock from her carefree, or rather careless, yell towards the frightening Gaara of the Sand.

Yes, it seemed they weren't quite used to her friendship, which could sometimes be considered as a rivalry, with the red-head. Sometimes, if she shouted or acted too careless, he would put her in place with a famous glare he rarely directed in her line of sight. It had never become any worse.

Naruto walked over to Hinata, whom he had previously dubbed 'the caring one' for some sympathy since the other girls thought he deserved his harsh punishment. At seeing him sluggishly, yet slyly, make his way over to the black haired Hyuga, Hinata felt her heart dance and her face flush a dangerous red colour. She was used to it enough not to faint however. He pouted his lip out and hunched his shoulders as if to emphasise the need of some tender love and care.

Hinata complied raising one hand to rub his blonde, spiky locks, while the other hand stayed wearily by her smiling lips, curled in a small, unsure but delicate fist. The others watched on silently, with either a small smile, soft eyes or, in Lee's case, with tears in his eyes raising a thumb to complete his good guy pose.

"The springtime of youth is upon us! Come, let us embrace!" Rock Lee added after watching Naruto and Hinata's shy example of… youth?

He dashed over to Sakura, who has been smiling an encouraging, proud smile in her two friend's direction, stood glued to the spot in shock mixed with horror and fear, finished off with a sickening feeling in her stomach. When he made it close enough, he jumped into the air hoping to land her in an embrace but she side stepped him in the last second, making him land with a dull thud, face-first into the crisp, green grass.

A few of the surrounding students laughed or shot a puzzled look in their direction before turning back to the conversations they were engaged in. Lee lay twitching on the floor as Sakura screamed pointless threats at him, giving him a sharp nudge, which could almost be considered a kick, in his ribs.

The bell pierced the school halls and grounds in a sharp, echoing ring. Sakura stopped her attack on Lee and froze up. Was she hearing things or did that particular ring remind her of something she would rather forget and move on from.

Only a week before had Sakura begin to take note of her father's exculpation in his disciplinary 'tactics'. It had become a lot worse since his work colleague forced himself upon her, and she could only sum it down to a pep talk they must have had. His methods were much more frightening and brutal than they had ever been before. He managed to make her start crying again; something she had grown out of for when he raised his fist upon her.

Flashback

Sakura jumped from her spot on her bed at hearing the front door slam shut in a violent motion. She stood up slowly, letting her tip-toes balance her weight upon the usually creaky floorboards, and made her way over to her door which had a small gap big enough to see the third floor passage way. She watched as Yoko stormed up the stairs into her 'office' and shut that door in the same fashion. She was pissed about something, and Sakura's curiosity got the best of her.

The door she stood behind obviously didn't agree with her violent attack and had bounced open in protest allowing the pinkette a suitable amount of vision into the room. She looked past the vile posters of organisations and trademarked names, which usually snapped indecent shots of women to sell their product, until she noticed the sulking blonde dial up a number on her phone before slamming it into the varnished wooden desk muttering curses out loudly for the neighbours to hear.

The phone rang making the blonde's previously furrowed eyebrows lift and a small grin become placed on her over-made features. It was a loud, piercing bell ring which sounded her incoming call, which remotely sounded like her school bell.

"Hello sugar…" She purred down the phone.

After a brief moments silence on her part, she began to cackle loudly.

"I understand… how many zeros? The bitch isn't worth that amount…" She cackled again and then stopped. "I see… well, I've marked down your bid… have a nice night…" She practically sang before hanging up the phone.

Sakura stood up swiftly and turned around, eyes widening considerably. She had heard an impatient foot tap a few times behind her and then came face to face with cruelty at its harshest form. Osamu.

"What do you think you are doing?" He growled. She could tell that his eyes had been ablaze for a while now, meaning she hadn't bettered his mood from eavesdropping.

"I…I… uh….was just…" She was cut off when he crossed the distance between them and grabbed her hair wickedly, showing one of his trademark smiles which made her skin crawl.

Words weren't needed to know she was going to be punished, but the look in his eyes had changed, confusing her. She scrunched her eyes up tightly, waiting for the expected beating; but it never came. Carefully, she allowed one eye to open and inspect what may have happened, but all she seen was his amused, deadly face before she was dragged along the corridor by her hair.

He opened the door at the end of the passage and threw her in forcefully, making her hit the wall before falling to the ground. He took a moment to laugh at her misfortune before shutting the door. She heard two clicks before she dared to look up and move.

Wait a minute… two clicks? She leaned up on her elbows and picked herself up from the floor before making her way over to the door and trying the handle. It was as she expected, locked. Only to make matters worse, the light switch was on the other side of the door and no sooner had the thought passed through her mind, the source of illumination was turned off, leaving her trapped in the tiny amount of space she had, free to be consumed by the shadowed confines of the closet.

She slid down the wall at the opposite end of the closet, making it after one and a half steps. She scrunched herself into a ball to fit and let sleep consume her and let her mind wonder onto possible solutions out of this life. Of course, she always had reason to live, which in the end stopped all thoughts and let a smile grace her lips.

End Flashback

"SA-KU-RA!" Kiba examined, waving his hand in front of her hazed eyes in different motions, as if to find the correct motion to unlock her day dream.

"Wuhm?" Oh god… she just 'wuhm'd' out of a spaced out moment.

"Haha! She just 'wuhm'd'!" Naruto pointed out. It seemed they thought so too.

"What did you say?" She asked coming bac to reality and forgetting the harsh, cold night she had spent in confinement. She had had to take the next day off school since they forgot to let her out all too handily. It wasn't the first time she had been off school. She often took the odd day off because of injury or side-effects from her guardian's punishments.

"The bell went… you coming?" Tenten interrupted shoving Kiba's face away from her proximity. She nodded enthusiastically before walking into the building with a worried looking Tenten, who was shooting side-ways glances at her.

"I'm fine Tenten!" She said a little too happily.

The bun-wearing girl sighed unimpressed, "Liar…"

"Wha-! Am not!" It seemed she had somehow developed a stubborn streak since coming to this school. But it was a lot more natural than one of her reassuring smiles.

"Sure" A sarcastic yet affective comment in Tenten's eyes which had her pink friend blowing steam from her ears. "Well, this is my stop" she announced before abruptly turning into the gym to change for her weapons expertise subject. Sakura allowed another smile to play on her lips.

She continued down the corridor until she noticed the quiet girl from her medicine class; Nina. It was sometimes hard to believe Nina was two years older than Sakura. In fact, sometimes it was hard to believe anyone's age around Sakura.

First, there was Tenten. She was 16, the same age as Sakura. She seemed to have her superior moments which made Sakura think of her as older, but thanks to Naruto's provocations, she had a childish annoyed humour about her. Then their was Hinata who was also 16. This seemed a little more believable, since everyone in the group looked out for the quiet, shy girl; knowing she was an easy target for anyone looking for one. Choji and Rock Lee were also 16, one being believable, since his chubby appearance gave him a childlike face, whereas the other was a little too old fashioned in his sayings and his look to be considered 16. Believe it or not, Naruto was also 16, but that would change soon as they plan to have a night out for his birthday. His childish behaviour seemed to fit with his age, but he still looked older if his grin wasn't in place, making his age seem a little strange to match his appearance.

Then there was Kiba and Shikamaru. It was quite believable for them both to be 17 as they both looked the oldest out of the group and Shikamaru didn't have a childish streak in him, or so it seemed. Sometimes Sakura would think Kiba looked younger when he played with Akamaru, who he usually smuggled onto school grounds. He would have a carefree, child-like smile on his face when his companion would play with him or bark, which made Sakura smile.

"Hey Nina…" She said softly, but loud enough for the girl to jump delicately and turn to acknowledge her presence.

"H-Hello Sakura-san" She said softly but with a smile that made her full green eyes twinkle with an unusual fondness.

"Ah! I'm soooooo psyched for a medicine lesson!" Sakura announced raising her fist and letting her other hand rest on the muscle of her arm. Nina chuckled quietly at Sakura and turned into the classroom.

In truth, Sakura hadn't only said it to show Nina what it was like to be outspoken and open with how you fell, but she was being honest. It had only been the previous day Tsunade had informed her that she had overtaken all the girls in the class in her ability. She still needed to remember a few poison antidotes before she could believe she was intellectually the best in the class, but her technique was flawless.

She knew this was partially from the extra classes her sensei offered, teaching her how she could focus the chakra enough to split a boulder in two. In fact, she had been quite startled when she first witnessed her sensei's demonstration. She quickly overcame her amazement with a sturdy, excited grin. She knew she could be just as able to do something so wonderful.

The night previous, her lesson had gone brilliantly. She perfected her precision and broke a crater in the earth of the school's training grounds. She could be the perfect warrior with her medical skills applied but she didn't know how to fight yet. Something her sensei had brought up. After a few more lessons of practicing her maddening power, her sensei would come up with a way to teach her how to fight. For now, she had to wait for the opportunity.

It felt good to know that all those extra lessons and hard nights of work had paid off in a month. It felt good to be the best in the class in terms of technique. This 'technique' had also helped her with injuries at home. Whenever she was pushed around so much she would be bruised or cut, her medical expertise would come in useful, but only for the spots he couldn't see or didn't expect any damage to be seen. It also meant she didn't risk her friends or the neighbours seeing and becoming suspicious. But when Osamu had meant to hurt her enough to mark her, she would leave the bruising as it was, so he wouldn't become curious as to how she was able to cure herself within a few minutes. It also meant her true lessons at school were covered from his nosy questions and that she wouldn't have to move because he wasn't happy with these lessons. So all in all she thought that leaving a few bruises for him to be happy with was, in the long term, not a bad thing.

It always bewildered her as to how optimistic she could be, even in the most brutal situations…

To Be Continued…

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Next Chapter: Sakura confuses, befriends, tricks and invites another victim of the social groupings… Neji