Thanks for the reviews guys - I'm glad you're actually enjoying this :)

Just a reminder, this is completely AU so don't be surprised to find references to real books, movies or songs even though it's set in Konoha. It's all for fun!

Enjoy :)

Chapter 3

..~**~..

"Sakura, over here!" Ino cried out from her table.

Sakura looked over to where her friend was sitting. The girls were currently seated at a large table along with Naruto and his friends. At the end sat Sasuke. However, three girls Sakura hadn't met yet seemed to hover around Naruto. Sakura shook her head as she began to realise just how much of a player her childhood friend was and quickly made her way over to the table.

Once more, she noticed angry or annoyed stares follow her whenever she approached Naruto or his friends. Like most typical high schools Sakura imagined, the new girl hanging out with the popular crowd on her first day was a big no-no and a cause for much jealousy. However, she ignored the stares and quickly slipped into the empty seat beside Tenten.

Before she could say a word, she overhead the girls hovering around Naruto and Sasuke.

"Oh Naruto-kun, I can't wait to see you play this season!"

"Naruto-kun, are you still single?"

"Sasuke-kun, did you have a good summer?"

It went on and on and on and although Sakura noticed Naruto was having a blast, Sasuke seemed to ignore them all.

"So," Sakura finally spoke up whilst opening her water bottle. "Is it always this busy at your table?"

"Not nearly enough," Ino grumbled, glaring daggers at the long-haired boy sitting across from her. "Some of the soccer players were here earlier, but Neji got all pissy and sent them away."

"You can flirt with whoever you want to Yamanaka, but don't go dragging my cousin into your schemes," the long-haired boy or Neji spoke up, his stare just as cold and threatening.

"Who's Neji's cousin?" Sakura whispered to Tenten.

"Oh sorry," the brunette apologised, turning to face her. "We totally forgot to introduce you. Hey guys!" She spoke louder so that the whole table could hear her. "This is Sakura, Naruto's friend. He's probably mentioned her to you already."

"Hey again," Kiba greeted her with a grin, although a small brunette with almond-shaped eyes sat in his lap with her arms around his neck.

"Sakura, you already know Kiba and Shikamaru, right?"

Sakura nodded.

"The other guys are Shino, Chouji and Lee," Tenten continued, pointing to the three guys sitting at the other end of the table. "Opposite them is Sasuke, but Naruto said you'd met already."

Hearing his name, Sasuke turned his head towards Tenten and Sakura.

Sakura nodded again.

"Right, so that only leaves Neji, captain of the basketball team and Hinata's cousin… and of course all these delightful sluts are their fangirls," Tenten finished through gritted teeth.

"Yeah seriously, Natsume," Ino sneered, glaring daggers at the girl sitting in Kiba's lap. "What the hell are you even doing here? Aren't you dating Daijumi?"

The brunette blushed at Ino's words and hastily excused herself, rushing off to another table and causing Kiba to curse.

"Ino, stop being a bitch!"

"Shut up, dog-boy!" she retorted before turning her attention to Sakura. "So Sakura, tell me, did you have fun in Biology?"

The tone in Ino's voice left no mistake as to who she was referring to. Sakura had gone to Biology before lunch with Hinata and Tenten, but had been separated from the two due to seating assignments. She found herself seated next to a very good-looking junior named Ryo with tanned skin and black spiky hair. He was really friendly and offered to share his book with her since she didn't have one. They ended up talking quietly with each other at the back of the class and Sakura quickly found out that he was on the swim team.

"Oh I don't know, Ino," Sakura answered in an innocent voice. "What exactly did you hear?"

"Ha, don't try to fool me," the blonde continued in a whisper. "Ryo is totally hot and totally single! You should go for it. Just don't tell any of the guys, especially Naruto, or they'll freak —"

"Tell me what?" a loud voice boomed across the table, cutting off Ino. "Hey Ino, who the hell are you trying to set up Sakura-chan with?"

"Forget it, Naruto," Sakura answered back, giving him her best smile while eating away at her sandwich.

The girls giggled causing Naruto to frown even harder. "It'd better not be one of those dicks from the swim team! Right, Teme?"

Sakura almost choked on her sandwich as Naruto looked at Sasuke for back-up. Yeah right, Sasuke, why don't you tell me how I shouldn't date a swimmer?

All eyes turned to the Uchiha who simply answered with a 'hn', although his eyes suddenly seemed to narrow at Sakura.

Actually scratch that, they were narrowing at something above her.

"Sakura-san," a deep voice spoke up behind her.

Sakura froze in place as she recognised Ryo's voice. Putting her sandwich down, she slowly turned around to face him. "Ryo-kun, what's up?"

Oh my God, please let there not be anything stuck in my teeth, please let there not be anything stuck in my teeth!

If it was at all possible, Ryo looked even hotter than earlier in class. At some point he had taken his grey hoodie off and was only clad in a sleeveless red shirt, complimenting his tanned muscular arms.

Sakura tried not to drool.

"What the hell do you want, Saeba?" Naruto growled causing the rest of the boys to tense as well.

Naruto, shut up! Let the gorgeous man speak!

Ryo, thankfully, ignored him.

"You forgot your homework sheet in class earlier," he told her, a small smile on his lips as he handed out the paper to her. "Just thought I'd return it to you."

Sakura could almost feel her eyes turn into pink hearts. However, Tenten suddenly pinched her leg hard, bringing her back to reality.

"Oh right, thanks."

She took the piece of paper, failing to see the glare Ryo sent to the boys behind her.

"I'll see you later," he finished, smiling once more before turning away.

Inner Sakura squealed to her heart's content as Sakura tried to keep an impassive face.

"Real smooth, Sakura," Tenten whispered, trying to contain her laughter.

Sakura groaned as she realised she'd probably made a fool out of herself and turned around to face an angry-looking Naruto.

"That guy's an asshole," he muttered under his breath.

"Oh honestly, Naruto," Ino spoke up, rolling her eyes. "Not every guy on the swim team is an ass! Besides, they might be your school rivals, but as cheerleaders, we have to cheer for them as well, so grow up!"

Just then, the bell rang and everyone stood up to leave for their next class. Sakura followed Hinata and Kiba to History. Once again, due to seating assignments, Sakura found herself separated from Hinata but sitting next to Kiba at the back of the class.

Taking out her notebook, she noticed Kiba seemed intent on pulling up his black hood and sleeping instead of taking notes.

Watching him squirm in his seat, she noticed a small tatoo on the inside of his left wrist as he pulled up his sleeves.

Just like Kankuro…

"So Inuzuka clan, huh?" Sakura asked him, looking pointedly at the tattoo. "What are those supposed to be – two red triangles?"

Kiba turned his wrist so she could get a better view. "Yeah, they represent fangs."

"Right, should have known," Sakura said with a smile.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he asked amused. His sharp black eyes stared directly at her.

"Inuzuka men have distinct traits. Messy brown hair, vertical pupils and of course pronounced canine teeth," Sakura emphasised, trying to remain aloof under his scrutinising stare. "Everytime I come to Konoha and visit Naruto, if we ever go out partying or something, there's always an Inuzuka around."

Kiba gave a soft laugh. "Damn straight. It's a pity I've never seen you around before though. But I guess that's typical Naruto - trying to hide you from us."

Yeah well I wished he'd done the same with Sasuke, Sakura thought remembering the Uchiha's rude attitude towards her.

"So you like tequila, huh?" Kiba broke her thoughts and realising what he'd just said, Sakura laughed.

They continued talking for a few more minutes before their teacher, Asuma-sensei walked in.

..~**~..

Her next class was English with Kakashi-sensei again and most of her homeroom class. Although the teacher was nowhere to be found as Sakura arrived, there was once again a seating assignment and this time it was actually drawn on the blackboard.

Oh shit, please let be next to one of the girls or Naruto, she thought peering at the blackboard. Or even Kiba…

She had continued chatting with him while walking over to the next class and realised the Inuzuka heir really wasn't as bad as she thought he'd be. Sure he was a typical clan kid, popular in school and a player with girls, but at least he was a hell of a lot nicer to her than Naruto's other friend…. namely Sasuke.

She found Naruto's name on the blackboard next to Hinata's.

Crap!

She finally spotted her own name, Haruno Sakura, and her eyes went wide as she read the name listed next to hers: Uchiha Sasuke.

What? Nooo!

And low and behold, the cocky prick was already seated at their desk, glaring at her.

Okay, what the hell is this guy's problem? He's actually giving me 'evils' and I haven't even spoken to him all day!

She had managed to avoid him until now which wasn't difficult considering they only had three classes together and when she did see him he was always surrounded by his stupid fangirls.

Taking a deep breath, she walked over to their desk, scowling at Sasuke. Dumping her shoulder bag at the foot of their desk, she sat down, intent on ignoring him.

Kakashi-sensei hadn't arrived yet even though the bell had rung over five minutes ago.

Everyone else in the class chatted away animatedly so Sakura decided to check her phone even though she knew she wouldn't have any new messages. She noticed Naruto turn around a few times with a worried expression as he saw her sitting next to Sasuke. The ice-block was perfectly content to just sit there and say nothing, although Shikamaru, who turned up late, whispered to him in low tones several minutes before heading for his seat next to Ino.

Sakura felt like an outcast as the two guys whispered right next to her and Shikamaru even looked her way at one point.

Finally Kakashi entered with a pile of books in his hands and began passing them around.

"So here's the first book on the syllabus this year," he announced, raising the said book in the air so everyone could see the cover as they waited for their copy. "Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. We'll be studying it for the next two months so be sure to pay attention as your first test will be a written exam at the end of our study."

Several guys groaned out loud at the announcement of the book whilst the girls smiled and sat up to pay attention.

"I know not all of you will enjoy it but it's a classic and could all teach you a thing or two. Now throughout the study you'll have a partner to help you as the text can be somewhat difficult to interpret so I thought it'd be best you were in pairs. Everyone start with chapter one while I distribute your first homework sheet. Once you're done with the chapter, you may start your homework."

Sakura smiled as she opened her fresh copy of her book. She knew Jane Austen was part of the junior English syllabus, but she never thought her teacher would pick her favourite book of all time.

She already knew the first chapter practically by heart but nonetheless she read it again and then picked up the homework sheet. She scanned the questions quickly but froze at number three: With your partner discuss what your first impressions of each other were.

Kakashi-sensei has got to be shitting me! Sakura thought, looking up to glare at her teacher only to find him comfortably seated at his desk reading another book, which Sakura immediately recognised – Icha Icha Paradise.

And he's reading an erotic novel in the middle of a high school class!

Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or cry, but looking over at her partner, she noticed his eyes seemed to have stopped at the very same question as well. I'm sure Sasuke is going to love telling me again how annoying or boring or ugly or stupid or whatever it is he thinks I am.

Several other students were already whispering to each other, answering the questions and causing Sakura to finally speak up.

"Sooo," she began, clearing her throat whilst turning to face the Uchiha. His dark eyes narrowed at the sound of her voice. "I don't see much point in discussing your first impression of me, I think I already know what you think."

"Tch."

"Oh, I'm sorry," she continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Was there something else you wanted to add?"

"You don't want to know what I think of you." Although his voice remained calm, Sakura could tell his mood had visibly darkened. "The only reason I haven't yet asked Kakashi to switch partners for this class is because of Naruto."

His tone was so cold, Sakura was dumbstruck. What the hell? He can't stand me to the point that he wants to change partners?

Her temper flared in return and she struggled to keep her voice a whisper when she spoke to him next. "Okay, what the fuck is your problem with me, Uchiha? Just spit it out, I can take it."

Something dark flashed across his eyes before his face returned to its emotionless state. "You might be more subtle about it than the other girls, but it's fairly obvious what you're after," he told her in a straight forward manner. "Girls like you pretend to be our friends, they want to join our group and date us, but it's always the same. They're just after our money and status. Always."

Sakura looked back at him with wide eyes. This guy has got some serious trust issues.

"Really?" she asked him, feeling her face turn red with anger. "So you think I'm being fake? That I'm only interested because you're clan members?"

She paused, staring at him in shock and anger.

"You think I'm using Naruto?"

Sasuke remained silent for a while, his piercing dark eyes accusing her of being someone she wasn't.

"Yes," he finally bit out.

His words cut deep but she refused to let him see it. Instead she snapped her book shut and forced a smirk on her face. "Wow, well I guess you got me all figured out then," she spat out, furiously gathering her books from the desk and stuffing them in her bag. "I'm obviously just using Naruto to get you guys to… to what exactly – write me a fat check? Because we both know Naruto isn't exactly rich unless you count Jiraiya, his godfather… oh, but hey – I guess you're right! I am a conniving bitch! After all I've already used Naruto and got Jiraiya to pay for my tuition fee this year!"

By now half the class had heard Sakura's angry speech and had turned round in their seats to watch her argument with Sasuke.

Sakura, however, couldn't care less if she had raised her voice and continued to glare at the little shit, daring him to add another word. The look of disgust and fury in his eyes was still there.

"Jiraiya-sama paid for your tuition?" he repeated sharply.

Sakura caught the accusing tone underlying his words and saw red.

"Yes, because he's my uncle, you dick!" she yelled in anger.

Grabbing her bag, she ignored the gasps and stares and hastily left the classroom just as the bell rang.

..~**~..

"No shit, Sasuke got shouted at… by a girl…" Kiba jeered from his seat. "Now that's not something you see every day."

"Shut up, Kiba," Sasuke growled and shot up from his seat grabbing his own things and making his way out of the class only to be caught up by Naruto.

"Teme, what the fuck did you say to Sakura-chan?" he yelled, keeping up with Sasuke's fast pace as they made their way to the gym.

"Is it true?" Sasuke asked, turning to face him. "Jiraiya-sama is her uncle?"

Naruto nodded, looking confused. "Yeah, by marriage. Tsunade's her aunt and she's gonna kill you if you made her niece cry on her first day of school!"

Sasuke winced remembering Tsunade's fiery temper. Shit.

"You'd better apologise to her before the end of the day," Naruto added, dead serious. "Sakura-chan's family to me and I want her to get along with my friends, so stop being an ass and fix it!"

Sasuke didn't respond but noticed Ino headed their way.

"Sasuke, you prick, what the hell did you do now?" she asked with a hard frown. "Sakura's nice okay, so back off! She isn't one of your clingy fangirls and she isn't being fake. Besides, she's Naruto's friend and Tsunade-sama's niece for fuck's sake, don't you trust them?"

Sasuke glared in return. "I didn't know she was related to Jiraiya-sama," he snarled. "I just had to be sure."

"Well you screwed up alright," Ino continued before turning her attention to Naruto. "Don't worry, we've got this. The girls and I will find her. Just find an excuse for Gai-sensei, would you?"

She then spun on her heel, catching up with Hinata and Tenten who were already looking for Sakura.

Naruto sighed and shook his head at Sasuke before leaving as well.

Sasuke clenched his jaw. Naruto was being annoying, but his best friend could also be persistent. If Sasuke didn't make an effort to apologise to the pink-haired girl soon, Naruto would be on his back about it. He scowled at the thought of an Uchiha apologising to anyone, let alone her.

He had watched her from afar all day, befriending his friends, slowly making her into the group. He didn't like it – she couldn't be trusted. He'd seen other girls try and had always got rid of them before. The last person to have joined their group had been Tenten in junior high. Ino and Hinata had become quick friends with her and although she wasn't part of a clan, they had fiercely protected her when Sasuke and the others started to have doubts about the brunette's sincerity. In Tenten's defense, the girl had never once tried to flirt with him, although she did seem to have a thing for the Hyuuga. Then last year, Karin had joined their group and Sasuke had slowly let himself be intrigued by her and had responded to her constant flirting. Eventually they had dated and Karin had even admitted that she loved him only to be found in Itachi's bed the following night.

Sasuke still recalled the sharp pain he had felt when he had realised what had happened. He would still feel it sometimes when he saw the red-head at school, although he never let it show.

He didn't know what to make of Sakura. He had been sure she was just the same, but knowing she was Jiraiya's niece changed everything. Besides, she was Naruto's friend. She had been for years. She was the annoying pink-haired friend Naruto was always nagging him about. The one who liked to party and drank too much tequila. The one who lived in Suna but somehow had still been part of Naruto's life since they were kids.

Maybe, just maybe, he'd been too hard on her. But it was too late now. She was more than likely crying her eyes out in the girl's bathroom and wouldn't show up for PE.

Shaking his head, Sasuke walked inside the boy's locker room and began to change for class.

..~**~..

Sakura was more than pissed off.

She had found her way to the girls' locker room to change into her sportswear but had ended kicking her locker in anger before finally sitting down on the bench in a huff.

That jerk! Accusing me of using Naruto to get to his money. I can't believe he actually said that to my face! I hate him, I hate him!

The door opened wide and Ino walked in followed by Tenten and Hinata. They stopped as they caught sight of Sakura and looked at one another.

"What?" Sakura asked them, annoyed.

Tenten sighed, stepping closer to her. "Are you okay?"

"No, I'm really pissed off!"

"But you're not crying?" Ino spoke up, following Tenten's footsteps with Hinata.

"No, of course I'm not crying," Sakura scoffed. "I'm not gonna cry because of that jerk! Anyways, why are you guys even here? Shouldn't you be ignoring me now?"

Sakura knew she was being rude but she couldn't help it. She didn't want people playing games with her.

"Sasuke might rule this school, but he doesn't rule us," Ino explained, giving Sakura a small smile. "And there is no way we are letting him scare you off."

"What? Why?"

"Because we like you, Sakura-san," Hinata finally spoke up, sitting down beside her.

"Yeah, sure we agreed to be nice to you for Naruto's sake," Tenten continued, leaning casually against the lockers. "But it turns out you're a fun girl and you don't suddenly turn into a complete airhead when the guys are around. Well, except for Ryo… But seriously, a new girl who doesn't turn out to be yet another fangirl… do you know how refreshing that is?"

Sakura couldn't help but laugh at Tenten's words.

"Yep, you're a keeper," Ino told her, bumping her shoulder. "Besides it's not every day you see a girl stand up to Sasuke and call him a dick to his face."

"That was priceless," Tenten added, a huge grin on her face making the other girls laugh. Before Hinata could add anything, however, the locker room door opened and a bunch of girls entered.

"We'd better get ready for class," the shy girl told them, moving to her own locker.

Ino smiled once more, putting a reassuring hand on Sakura's shoulder before getting up as well. Tenten quickly took her place beside Sakura, whispering in her ear before more girls arrived.

"Don't worry about, Sasuke," she added. "He's been through some rough things and has a hard time trusting people. He did the same thing to me back in middle school and I didn't have Naruto back then to defend me."

A smile tugged at Sakura's lips. Naruto defended me?

"Don't worry about PE class, just stick with us and think of the try outs coming up afterwards!"

Sakura nodded, thanking Tenten before finally opening her locker and getting changed. It was only her first day at school and she was already thankful to have found the three girls. They'd stuck by her side, which was more than she could say about her old friends in Suna.

..~**~..

So... what happened in Suna you may ask? Well you'll just have to wait and find out... Hope you enjoyed seeing more of Sasuke even if he was being mean!

Next chapter: cheerleader try outs and more Sasuke...

Please review, thanks :)