Happy New Year, everybody!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter, you totally made my day :) Here's the rest, hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 2

..~**~..

Sakura arrived at school early not really knowing what to expect.

The move to Konoha with her mom had been sudden and it had been a given that she would attend Konoha High with Naruto even though she barely knew anything about the school.

The school's reputation was one of the best schools in Fire Country or so her mom had said, although Sakura doubted it could be that good considering it lacked a gymnastics team. Naruto had mentioned that the school's reputation meant that a lot of rich kids attended including clan heirs and such, but that she shouldn't be peeved by it.

Speak for yourself, Naruto, she thought as she walked through the school car park and noticed various expensive-looking cars. Her mom worked as a surgeon at Konoha hospital, which her aunt, Tsunade ran, so her family wasn't exactly poor but ever since Sakura's dad died, her mom had been more careful with money.

Watching yet another gorgeous-looking blonde get out of her white Toyota sports car, a nauseating feeling swirled in the pit of Sakura's stomach.

I am never going to fit in with these people, she thought in despair looking around for her blond friend. Damn it, Naruto, where the hell are you?

The school building looked a lot bigger and more imposing than her previous school in Suna. Sakura followed the other students to the central stone staircase but waited to one side hoping to spot Naruto somewhere.

Beside her, two girls were seated on a bench, although Sakura could barely see them from the amount of boys that surrounded them. They were quickly joined by another girl, the blonde from the sports car. She squealed loudly and rushed around, greeting almost every boy and absolutely loving the attention they were giving her. Next to her sat a brunette, which Sakura was relieved to see wasn't wearing a skirt and high heels like her blonde friend, but tight-fitted jeans and a pair of converse like herself. The third girl was blushing like crazy at all the attention. Her hair was long and almost purple and she was looking down at her hands, ignoring all the boys that tried to strike a conversation with her.

Noticing the girls' attitude, the attention they received from the boys and the evil glares they received from the other girls, Sakura quickly deduced that the three girls were probably at the top of the social food chain.

I guess things aren't so different here from Suna High, she thought before turning towards the school entrance, giving up on finding Naruto.

She found the school office and filled out various forms before getting her schedule from the school secretary, Shiho-san, who wished her good luck.

Finding the junior hall, she walked down the corridor, careful to avoid the popular group of guys goofing around with a basketball ball whilst several girls flocked towards them in order to say 'hi'. Among them, Sakura spotted Sasuke standing by his locker. Although she cared nothing for him after the way he had been rude to her, she couldn't help but notice that he looked pretty good in a navy blue t-shirt and dark jeans. However, her thoughts were interrupted as he looked up towards her as she walked by, his onyx eyes watching her carefully before he finally smirked.

Asshole.

She resisted the urge to flip him off.

She finally found her locker and dumped most of her books inside, keeping only a notebook with her. Checking her phone, she wondered whether she should simply text Naruto so that he could find her, but then decided against it. She wasn't completely hopeless!

"Hi, are you new here?" a sweet voice spoke up beside her. Sakura turned to see who was talking to her and came face to face with a slender red-head wearing a lavender tank top and black shorts. Her outfit was less than classy but Sakura tried not to be too judgemental on her first day.

"Hi, yeah I just moved to Konoha," Sakura smiled back although she had a feeling the other girl's smile wasn't so genuine. "I'm Haruno Sakura."

"I'm Karin," the girl answered bluntly. "So which classes are you in?"

Oh shit, she said Karin! No doubt Naruto would be angry if he saw Sakura with her.

Unsure what to do next and wondering why the hell Karin was interested in her classes, she started rummaging through her bag, trying to gain some time.

"Um… my schedule is here somewhere," she said with a nervous laugh, hoping the bell would ring. Her hand closed around the sheet of paper just as a hand abruptly clasped her shoulder causing her to jump.

"Sakura-chan."

Naruto appeared by her side along with two other boys Sakura had seen earlier with Sasuke. She noticed Naruto's normally cheerful attitude had been replaced with a tense and cold one.

Oh crap.

"Oh hey," she answered in a small voice, realising Naruto and the other boys weren't looking at her, but glaring at Karin instead. "I didn't see you at the school entrance so I thought I'd find my locker."

The blond kept a firm hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "Yeah sorry, I got here late," he answered, his eyes flicking to her and then back to red-head. "What the fuck do you want, Karin?"

The hall seemed to grow silent as people caught sight of them. Karin bravely stood her ground although the three guys were just looking for an excuse to lash out. "I was just introducing myself to the new girl. As President of the student council, it's my role to –"

"Like hell it is," one of the boys wearing a leather jacket growled, his eyes narrowed in anger. From the crowd two more boys appeared by Karin's side. The first one was incredibly tall, over 6 foot with a large build and spiky orange hair. The second had pale skin and his hair was even paler. His light purple eyes roamed over Sakura's body and she tried not to blush.

"Is there a problem here?" the orange-haired boy asked, his voice deep and calm although his stance was threatening.

Oh my God, I haven't been to class yet and there's already going to be a fight! Sakura thought in a panic as Naruto and his friends looked even more pissed off by the two boys' appearance. Just then the bell rang causing students to quit staring and start milling around again.

"Naruto, I need to get to class," Sakura spoke up, tugging on his arm and interrupting the staring contest her friend was having with the white-haired guy.

"Yeah, Kiba, let's go," he told the leather jacket guy, turning his back on Karin and her friends and leading Sakura away from them.

"Fucking swim team… bunch of jerks," he muttered under his breath and quickly snatched Sakura's schedule out of her hands as she pulled it out of her shoulder bag.

"Right, let's see what classes you're in," he continued, his bubbling over-excited personality back to its usual self. "Awesome, we're in the same homeroom with Kakashi-sensei. He's also our English teacher. He's really cool, you'll see."

Before he could continue, Sakura grabbed her schedule back from him annoyed. "Don't worry I got my first day memorised already. You want to tell me what all that was about back there? I'm sorry you caught me talking to her but I didn't realise it was Karin until she introduced herself."

"Suigetsu and Juugo are part of the swim team," he explained quickly, taking a right down the hall. "And well we don't get along. They're complete assholes, especially with girls so make sure you stay away from them."

Sakura smiled to herself, wondering how much drama her first day would bring about.

"By the way, these are my friends, Inuzuka Kiba and Nara Shikamaru," he continued pointing the leather jacket guy, who smirked at her, and then at the other dark-haired boy who had a high, spiky ponytail. "This is Sakura, my friend I told you guys about already."

Sakura gave them a small smile before they all entered the classroom and the boys went to sit at the back where Sasuke was already seated along with another guy with long dark hair and pale eyes. As she set foot in the classroom, the room turned quiet as several students noticed her and began to stare.

It's the pink hair, she tried to reassure herself as she realised the teacher hadn't arrived yet so he couldn't assign a seat for her. Just the pink hair. You're fine, except you're standing in the middle of the classroom whilst everyone else is sitting down. And now they're all staring at you 'cause you're standing there like an idiot…

Spotting the only remaining empty seat, which happened to be next to the popular purple-haired girl from earlier, Sakura quickly sat down.

Great, and now those girls are gonna start bitching at you cause they don't want you near them and then you'll look like an even bigger dork and now you're rambling to yourself 'cause you're an idiot and —

"Um… hello," her neighbour spoke up in a soft voice, interrupting her thoughts. "You're Sakura, aren't you?"

Sakura turned to face her and nodded, unsure what to think of the girls of Konoha High after her encounter with Karin.

"Naruto told us about you," she continued, signalling to her friends, who had also turned around in their seats to follow the conversation.

"Oh really?" Sakura answered with a nervous smile, her eyes trying to spot Naruto, who was speaking in low tones with his friends. "What exactly did he say?"

"Tons of embarrassing things really," the brunette spoke up with a sly smile, which slowly broke into a grin. "Nah, I'm just kidding with you. My name's Tenten, this is Hinata," she introduced, pointing to Sakura's neighbour, "and this here is Ino," she continued pointing to the gorgeous blonde.

"Hi!" Ino greeted her with a bright smile.

"Ino?" Sakura spoke up remembering Naruto mentioning her name. "You're captain of the cheerleaders, right?"

"Yep, that's me," she answered, flipping her long hair behind her shoulder. "We're friends with Naruto and his group and he asked us to show you around in case you weren't in the same classes as him. Do you have your schedule with you?"

Sakura pulled out her schedule again and the girls compared it with one another.

"Well it looks like in all your classes at least one of us will be with you," Ino finally announced, smiling back at her. "So tell us a bit about you – Naruto didn't really say much except you'd known each other for a long time."

"Yeah, I've known him since we were practically babies," Sakura answered, glad the three girls didn't seem like the stuck-up bitches she thought they'd be. "My family's originally from Konoha and our parents were really good friends. Also, my aunt and his godfather are married."

"Wow, your aunt is Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked in surprise. Sakura nodded not really sure how Ino would know her aunt. "That's awesome!"

The other two girls looked surprised too, but Sakura didn't get a chance to ask them about it as their homeroom teacher suddenly made an appearance.

"Morning everyone," Kakashi-sensei announced, dumping his bag and coffee on his desk. "Glad to see you all again for your junior year. Let's start with attendance and then I have a few announcements to make."

As he took attendance, Sakura groaned as she realised what was about to happen next.

"Haruno Sakura?" Kakashi asked, looking straight at her.

Sakura nodded.

"So you're the new girl, eh? Well why don't you stand up and tell the class a little about yourself."

He winked at her, knowing exactly how embarrassing this moment would be for her. Yay, isn't it great to force your students to stand up so they can make a fool out of themselves? she thought dryly before standing up.

"Um, hi everyone," she began, giving a small wave. "I'm Haruno Sakura. I'm from Konoha but have lived all my life in Wind country, in Suna. I've just moved back here with my mom, who works as a surgeon at the hospital."

"Anything you want to add about yourself," Kakashi continued in a sly tone. "Likes? Dislikes?"

I am going to kill this man, Sakura thought as all eyes turned on her once more.

"Er…" She started thinking of all the things she could say but then how stupid they would sound out loud. I like my cat… no… gymnastics… no… partying… NO!

"She likes tequila," Naruto shouted from the back of the class causing the whole class to laugh whilst Sakura turned around to glare at him.

Make that two men on the hit-list, Inner Sakura growled before Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto and sat back down in her seat.

"Alright settle down," Kakashi spoke over the laughs and chatter. "As I said I've got several announcements to make."

He continued to speak about various events happening throughout the school year but Sakura drowned his voice out as she noticed Ino and Tenten scribbling on a piece of paper between them.

They stopped as Kakashi began passing around a list with various team and activity tryouts.

"So did you guys hear about Futaba-sensei?" Ino began, turning around to face Hinata and Sakura again. "She finally retired and the principal brought in Uzuki Yuugao to coach us." She seemed really excited. "We are totally going to rock this year, I heard the new coach even wants us to aim for the international cheer competition!"

"That's awesome," Tenten added, passing four sheets among them. "I can wait to see what happens at tryouts."

Looking down at the sheet of paper between her hands, Ino gave a shriek. "What the hell? Tryouts are today? Why wasn't I informed about this?"

"Are you serious?" Tenten added, looking at her own sheet.

Hinata sighed, shaking her head at her friends' behaviour. "You should try out, Sakura-san. Naruto told us you were a really good gymnast."

Sakura looked down at the sheet before her and as expected found neither a gymnastics nor a lacrosse team on the list. Damn!

"I guess I will, although I don't really know much about cheerleading," Sakura told them with a small smile. "I really wished this school had a gym team though."

"Don't worry about it," Tenten butted in, waving her hand. "Many people don't consider cheerleading a sport, but you have to be in good shape and flexible to be on a squad. Besides, I'm sure you'll find the same components of tumbling and jumps as in gymnastics."

Sakura let out a small sigh. "So all three of you are cheerleaders?"

"Of course we are," Ino said, smiling brightly. "And so will you be. And with your small frame, I bet you could even be a flyer. Besides, being a cheerleader has its advantages," she continued, winking at Kiba all the way at the back of the class. "All the boys are at our feet, plus we get dibs on the cute guys from the sports teams. Of course, you really just want to aim for the basketball or swim team, although Dajimu, on the boy's soccer team, is yummm!"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at Ino's words, whilst Tenten and Hinata merely shook their heads at Ino's boy-craziness.

"You may say that, Ino," Tenten spoke up, folding the sheet away as the bell rang. "But we all know who you really want to hook up with."

"Shut up, Tenten!" Ino answered with narrowed eyes. "As if you haven't been drooling all over —"

But the brunette quickly cut her off but grabbing Ino's hand and pulling her out of her chair, all the while muttering about how they were going to be late for Physics.

Sakura laughed softly at their antics and grabbed her bag ready to head out to Maths with Hinata.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto bounded over to her with a huge grin. "We've got Maths together with Hayate-sensei next. Oh hey, Hinata!"

The girl turned bright red and barely muttered a 'hi' back to Naruto.

"Wow, Hinata, are you feeling alright?" the clueless blond asked, staring at her face. "Your face looks kinda red."

"I… I'm… I —"

"She's fine, Naruto," Sakura cut in, heading out of the classroom whilst pushing the blond idiot along with her. "It's just really hot in here. Let's not be late for Maths."

Naruto nodded and turned away, leading them to the next class. Sakura looked back at Hinata, who gave her a grateful look. Sakura smiled back.

How on earth can this girl be a cheerleader when she's so obviously uncomfortable around boys?

Shaking her head, Sakura followed her friends to the next class all the while oblivious to the dark onyx eyes watching her.

..~**~..

SasuSaku scenes in the next chapter which should be up this weekend.

Reviews are love! :)