I can't believe how ridiculously long it's been! I'm so ashamed! In my defense, though, I was really busy. I originally planned for this to be uploaded on Christmas day, go figure! And the chapter was even longer originally. I split it in half so I could at least give you guys this.

I'd like to thank all of you for reading my story, and also I'd like to congratulate twinkletoast with her birthday! I hope I made it in time.

I'd love to have you guys opinion on the following: I'd like to change my user name! What do you guys think of Springflake? It's got a cute ring to it, hasn't it?

Imagine an enormous, white mansion.

It's got a pool in the back yard, four cars parked in it's garage and, to top it off, huge balconies on each level.

Well, the picture you have in your mind right now is bound to look somewhat like the Yamanaka's house. Yes, that means it's Ino Yamanaka's, as well.

You see, her father owned a big business, resulting in them now being one of Konoha's most prestigious families.

Oh, speaking of the devil. There she is.

Do you see her? On the third-story balcony, partly hidden behind that bright pink parasol?

Yes, well, this is what she usually does when it's a sunny, warm Friday afternoon and all of her friends are out doing- well, whatever they did when they weren't around her. She sits there, feet pulled up onto the stone railing, sunglasses placed on her nose, a smoothie in her hand and a Cosmo-Girl in her lap.

For a second, the girl appeared to be asleep. The opposite was proved, though, when she raised her hand and uncurled her fingers from around her iPod. Then, she picked out a new song and returned to her previous position.

Her and Sakura used to do this together almost every Friday. Well, before... You know.

The blonde huffed audibly and sipped some strawberry smoothie up through the straw in her drink.

Sometimes, she wondered how things had gotten this far. But only when she didn't have anything to distract her.

I suppose you want to hear Ino's side of the story now, huh?

Well, I don't blame you.

Ino remembered it like it was yesterday; the day she first went to high school as a freshman.

The scent of the cigarette fumes, the many students (they had all seemed so old back then!) and the school, so big when she compared it to her middle school. It had all been so overwhelming!

''Like a movie.'' she remembered Sakura sighing back then.

Both of them had been awkward girls, on the bridge of puberty. Both had been small and insignificant in comparison to the other students. But most of all, they had both been best friends. And they had remained like this, for about six months after they started high school.

Both girls were getting pretty popular. They knew about everyone in their class from middle school, and quickly befriended most of their new classmates. There was a certain group of girls, though, that Ino in particular seemed to get along with fine. They didn't like Sakura much.

That's where it started.

''Hey, Ino?'' she remembered the prettiest one of the three, Jessica, start once, during a sleepover. Ino had been admiring herself in the mirror. She cast Jessica a look over her shoulder. ''Well, do you really hang out with that girl Sakura?''

''Yes,'' another one of the girls threw in, ''I mean, I have nothing against her but... I dunno. She's kinda weird, don't you think?'' the girl, Christine, had ran a hand through her hair and looked away. ''I mean, pink hair?''

Ino had grown slightly anxious. She made sure nobody could tell, but deep down inside she was slightly insecure.'What's wrong with Sakura? She's totally normal, isn't she?' had ran through her head.

''It's natural, you know. Her hair colour.'' Ino had stammered in a miserable attempt to defend her best friend. ''But anyhow, what's wrong with her according to you, besides her hair?''

''I dunno.'' Jessica had started once again. ''I mean, the way she always, like, throws her hand up in the air whenever a teacher asks a question. Kind of nerdy, don't you think?''

''Oh yes, very nerdy.'' her two companions echoed.

The days after that sleepover, Ino had over thought what the three girls had said. Was it true what they said?

What if Sakura became unpopular all of a sudden, could Ino remain friends with her? She wasn't sure. Not at all.

You see, being popular meant a lot to her. It meant the worldto her. If, one day, a few people were mean to her or ignored her, sleeping for her at night was hard. And so Ino became more and more absentminded whenever Sakura talked to her, and focused on all of the things others might find weird about her friend. She had a few annoying habits that were like a thorn in the eye to Ino. Some habits were so irritating that she wondered how she could have not have noticed them before. Like the way Sakura always pursed her lips in this annoying know-it-all manner whenever anyone said anything that wasn't correct, or the way she paraded around with that arrogant expression on her face. Or her annoyingly huge forehead. Or the way she was really skinny. Or the way she mistreated Naruto all the time-.

Ino had started talking to Naruto more and more ever since the start of the school year. He was actually pretty funny at times, although he was still pretty small and had yet to hit puberty. His crush on Sakura, the one he had had their entire middle school period, had faded and now he actually joined Ino in listing all of Sakura's bad qualities. Other people had picked up on this, and started talking to their friends about it.

Ino felt slightly bad for her, but hey, she was weird. Right? She deserved this. Right? It was her that had been the bitch. Right?

Right.

''Okay. So how do we start?'' Naruto asked awkwardly.

''Just straighten your back.'' Sakura shook her head. ''No, your stance is too stiff. Relax. Here, take my hand.''

The two teens were standing in Sakura's rather large living room, the afternoon light seeping in through the windows. It reflected on the white furniture and made the whole room glow. It was Friday, and the weather was even hotter than yesterday, making it hard for both of them to concentrate.

Sakura had taken the cd-player from her room -it was entirely pink and had purple flower stickers stuck onto it, design á la Barbie- and placed it on a cabinet in the living room. It was from Sakura's narrow-minded almost-teenage girl fase. Then she had, under Naruto's loud voice giving her instructions on which station was the coolest, picked out some trendy radio station -she had intentionally picked the one Naruto told her he didn't like, because she loved the face he pulled when he didn't get what he wanted; he changed from a sixteen year old boy into a five year old kid that had just been told by his mom that he wasn't going to get that firetruck he wanted- and started teaching him.

So now here they were, clumsily trying to keep their balance on a beautiful Friday afternoon that should be spent in the pool. That's what Naruto figured, anyway.

Not that Sakura was pleased with the lessons, though. They weren't going that well with her poor teaching skills and Naruto being, well, Naruto.

Luckily she was in a good mood. Well, who wouldn't be amused when they were allowed to look at an awkward teenage boy stumbling around and making a fool out of himself? Sakura certainly was.

She snickered softly as Naruto tripped over a cable and gripped the curtain so he wouldn't crash onto the floor. Then he tried getting up, knocking over a lamp.

'How is that even possible? All I did was tell him to take my hand!' Sakura silently asked herself, failing miserably in wiping the smirk off her face. She was about to speak those thoughts when Naruto turned his head, sending her a I-don't-know-what-you're-going-to-say-but-you'd-better-keep-your-trap-shut-if-you-don't-want-me-to-clean-up-the-mess-I'm-making-this-afternoon-with-your-face glare. So she obeyed and averted her eyes, pretending the couch was a much more interesting object to watch.

''Okay, let's try this again.'' she tried after a few minutes, sadly still not able to keep her mouthcorners from twitching upwards every time she looked at Naruto. ''Calm down. Don't be scared you're going to trip or you really will. No, don't laugh. It's what happens.'' Naruto rolled his eyes and placed his hand on Sakura's waist. Then he held out his other hand, gesturing for her to put hers in it. ''Okay,'' Sakura continued after she had placed her own smaller hand in his -her face grew slightly red as she realised how perfectly it fit there- and put her other one on his shoulder. ''Now we just d- oh wait!'' the girl freed herself and hit the button on the radio so, after a short time of cracking, an entirely other song started playing. A slower song. ''We're practicing the waltz,'' she explained, ''so we need slow music.''

Naruto shrugged. ''Whatever.'' He said after they had taken their former positions once more and started slowly swaying around.

''Okay.'' Sakura replied, mimicking his bored tone. ''Hey, you don't have to be here.'' she remembered him, to which he slapped his forehead and gasped,

''Seriously? Well, then I'm off.''

Sakura chuckled and stomped his foot lightly. ''I'm in a perfect position to hurt you, you know.''

''Really? Then what're you planning to do, shorty?'' He retorted, arching one blond eyebrow.

''I'm not short, you're just enormous.'' Sakura stuck her tongue out at him.

''How old are you, five?'' Naruto muttered, but it was obvious he didn't mean it. He smiled, making the dimples in his scarred cheeks appear once more.

They continued swaying to the music, and although Naruto still appeared a bit nervouw and tripped over his own feet -although he tried to cover that up by pretending he did it on purpose- he got the hang of it fast. Soon they were really dancing, with no mistakes. No stumbling. Naruto just grinned that cheeky grin of his at her, having more fun dancing as he became better at it. And Sakura smiled back up at him. Because the person that didn't find his smiles addictive had yet to be born.

Sakura reached up and brushed a sunshine blond bang out of his eyes without realising what she was doing. Only then it occurred to her that they were close. Really close.

And that she'd just yesterday found out she might have a little crush on the boy she was so close to at that moment.

And that that boy didn't like her like that at all.

And so she forced to look away from those oceanic blue eyes and glue her eyes onto the wall behind him. But it was hard, because she could smell his scent (Why did he smell like fruit? How was that possible?) and she knew that, even though she wasn't looking at him anymore, she could feel him looking at her. Perhaps he was looking down at her weirdly, wondering why she refused to look at him in the face.

The other day the girl had made up her mind. She wouldn't act upon her little crush. Because that was all it was. Nothing big. Just hormones. She finally had a few friends and she didn't want to lose one of them because of something stupid like this. She would just ignore her feelings, and try to start crushing on Sasuke again.

It was weird how little she had daydreamed of Sasuke lately. She used to do that twice a day. Now that number had decreased to, what, once a month? And that was when she remembered. Because the raven haired boy was, to be honest, the last thing that was on her mind lately.

Maybe she was stupid. Maybe her mind was so small there was only enough space for one person at a time.

-And that thought brought her back to Naruto. Yippee.

'Naruto...' she mused, not sure whether she felt bitter or giddy when she thought of that name.

''What is it?'' A voice piped up into her ear, sounding quite creeped out.

''Er, what?''

''You said my name.''

Crap.

''No I didn't.''

''Yes you did.''

''Not everyone spends their entire day daydreaming about you.'' Sakura remarked, feeling like a dumb hypocrite.

''They don't?'' Naruto smirked.

''You should really do something about that insignificant self-confidence.'' the pinkette rolled her eyes.

The boy smiled a toothy smile down at her, ''Touché.''

Sakura stared down at the assignment she was making with stern eyes, forcing herself to concentrate. She could not fail this. She was the best student in her math class. So how was it possible that every single one of her classmates had the assignment finished already, while her own pencil was still lingering above the paper uselessly?

Sakura swallowed back a grunt.

She couldn't concentrate. She saw the numbers and the problems, but they didn't click inside her head. Sakura closed her eyes. The plus- and minus signs danced on the back of her eyelids.

Why couldn't she just concentrate? Really, all that was inside her head was Naruto.

She rested her head on the palm of her hand with a huff and looked outside. Yellow was everywhere. Sunlight.

That second the bell rang. Sakura bit back a squeek when, as always, the classroom erupted in chattering, the screeching sound of chairs being pulled back, the sounds of zippers, footsteps on the linoleum and finally the slamming of the classroom door.

''Don't forget, problems 30 and 32 are due tomorrow!'' the teacher, Mr Sarutobi, called after the swarm of students rather pointlessly.

It was Monday, and Sakura found herself having more trouble to be cheerful after a long, amazing weekend than usual. The other students appeared to have no trouble with this at all. Of course, here and there people complained about how fast the weekend had flown by, but still. They were busy as ever.

The dancing lessons on Friday hadn't gone that well. Not that Naruto and Sakura didn't have lots of fun, but the dancing part still didn't go perfectly.

...Okay, that was an understatement.

Sakura snickered softly at the memory of Naruto's clumsy antics.

''Oh, hello, Sakura.'' Mr Sarutobi greeted her when he noticed the soft giggling coming from the right side of the classroom. ''Come on, hand your assignment over. I'm sure you did great like always.'' he pushed his chair back and walked over to Sakura's seat. He motioned for her to give him the leaflet but, when she didn't appear to be planning to hand it to him after a few seconds, grabbed it with his bony fingers and attempted to pull it away from her.

Sakura didn't let go of the paper but only gripped it tighter. She groaned, ''Please, Mr Sarutobi... Let me finish it!''

''I'm sorry, Sakura. It would be unfair for the other students.'' The old man shook his head and, after wringing the assignment out of his student's grasp walked back to his desk.

''They'll never find out!'' Sakura tried, ''If you don't tell them, I won't either.''

''Out.'' the man said simply, gesturing towards the door. Sakura didn't bother to act as if she was pleased with this answer. With crossed arms and heavy steps she trudged out of the classroom, too busy glaring at everything she saw to notice Mr Sarutobi staring at her from behind his desk, shaking his head in spite and asking himself what could have happened to his straight-A student in the past weeks.

Sakura opened her locker and dumped her books into it, a sour look upon her usually pretty face. She wished one ruined test wouldn't be able to have this effect on her.

''Hey Sakura.'' somebody called out to her, to which Sakura narrowed her eyes.

''WHAT?'' she snapped, right into the face of-

Crap.

There stood Karin, one red eyebrow raised in question. ''Whoa, what's wrong with you?''

''I'm sorry...'' Sakura apologised, tugging at a pink bang that hung in her line of vision. ''I just screwed an important test up. And I mean really badly.''

''That's okay, it'd be weird if you couldn't be a bitch too, once in a while. Why'd only I get to have fun?'' Karin replied, curling the corners of her red lips up into a smile. She leaned back against the locker next to Sakura's, arms folded. ''By the way,'' she started after a short silence in which Sakura tried not to stomp herself for just exploding against one of her only friends for something so entirely stupid. ''How about me coming over to your place today?''

''My- house?'' Sakura asked slowly.

''Yeah, you know, the place you live in?'' Karin asked teasingly.

''I know what a house is!'' Sakura replied, giving her friend a playful push. ''But I mean, it's Monday! Are you sure you want to come today? I have to babysit this afternoon.''

''Of course,'' Karin said, full lips pulled up into a pout, ''I'm great with kids!''

Sakura had a hard time believing the redhead's last statement. On the other side, though, babysitting with another person instead of alone could be fun.

And so she replied with a smile.

All of a sudden, an arm appeared out of nowhere, slid around her neck and pulled her down. ''Hey there, Sakura!''

Sakura laughed and tried pushing the arm off her, but the result was that the person only grabbed her tighter and now also ruffled her hair with their fist. ''Quit it, Naruto!'' she squeaked, ''I'm really not in the mood.'' because really, who else in the world had such an annoying boyishly squeeky voice?

Upon hearing his name, the male released her from his grasp. ''How'd you know it was me?''

''I'm psycic.'' Sakura replied snippily, trying to get her hair back into it's usual style.

''She's cranky because she's screwed up a Math test.'' Karin explained when Naruto shot her a puzzled look.

''Never had a pass mark?'' the blond asked, now turning to Sakura again. ''Do you want one of mine?'' he fished a random, crumpled sheet of paper out of his bag and held it out to her. It had a huge 'D-' written on it with a red marker.

''No thank you.'' Sakura replied drily. She glanced at the spot where Karin had been standing, only to find the redhead had disappeared. Sakura suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. Her friend must have wanted to give her some 'alone time' with Naruto. That traitor.

Speaking of whom...

Her eyes trailed back to her blond friend. He studied her, blue eyes suspicious.

''What is it?'' She asked.

''You did this weird eye thing.'' he said.

''No I didn't. Shut up.'' Sakura replied childishly, pouting. Naruto was about to comment something -something troublesome, knowing him- when a tall figure appeared in the middle of the mass of students filling the hallway. A large number of the students forming the thong immediately took a run for it, giving the looming figure some space. This, Sakura knew, could only mean one thing. Because there was only one person that was feared by the entire student body.

Janitor Danzo.

''Quick, hide me!'' Naruto yelped after he had followed her gaze and spotted the middle-aged man. He tried to stuff himself into Sakura's locker. She would have laughed if she had the time for it. Sadly, though, at that moment Danzo had recognised Naruto and stomped his way over to him.

He pointed at the blond with a swing of his broom -knocking a few freshmen over in the process- and barked, ''Uzumaki! Why weren't you in detention last Friday?'' Naruto just stood there and gulped audibly, his once tanned face growing paler by the second. Sakura made a mental note to ask him why he was so scared of the janitor.

''I...'' He faltered, his voice strangely high-pitched.

''SHUT UP!'' Danzo interrupted him. He put the end of his broom on the teenage boy's throat, brought his face close to Naruto's and spat, ''You'd better show up next time, Uzumaki. You know what I do to annoying, ignorant ants,'' to emphasize this sentence, the man lifted his foot off the floor and crushed an ant that had been walking the linoleum unsuspectingly. ''I squash them.'' Then he gave the blond's collar a hard tug and stalked off in the direction of the restrooms.

''Are janitors even allowed to students?'' Naruto muttered, eyes wide from shock.

''Told you you should have gone to detention.'' Sakura rolled her eyes and leaned back against her locker with crossed arms, ignoring the blond's last comment.

''Shut up. Only 12 percent of the student body given detention to ever attends it. It's just a coincidence that I ran into him when you were around.''

''Sure. Although I do get the feeling you're making up that percentage just to win this argument.''

''You can't prove anything. Now, let's go to the canteen.'' He clamped his fingers around the pink haired girl's arm and dragged her to the big doors farther down the hall, out of which floated more chattering and laughing noises than could be heard in the hallways altogether.

''I really don't want to go there, Naruto.'' Sakura tried as she attempted to free herself from the iron grip the blond currently had on her arm. ''Really, I mean it.''

''Don't be a baby.'' He pushed the doors open and dragged the scrawny girl with him, limp like a doll. Then he pushed her down on one of the tables, a bit more in the back of the huge room, and sat down beside her.

''I'm serious, Naruto. I don't want to be here.''

''Why not?''

Sakura lowered her gaze to her entwined fingers, resting in her lap.

''You aren't still bothered by that canteen scene from a while ago, are you?'' He asked her disbelievingly. Naruto interpret the silence coming from Sakura as a yes. ''Come on, it was just a punch. We talked about it, remember? Besides, you don't really hit all that hard.''

''Liar.'' Sakura replied smiling, instantly feeling a lot more comfortable.

Naruto rolled his eyes and took a bag of chips out of his bag. He pondered over what he had told Sakura. How punching him really hadn't been that much of a big deal. Had he just told her that to comfort her or had he really meant it?

The more he thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that he really didn't worry about the canteen scene from a while ago anymore. He was over it.

...And that made him wonder whether what he was doing; the pretending to be Sakura's friend thing, was okay. He wasn't even sure whether he wanted to anymore.

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts when Sakura tapped him on the arm. ''Hey, I was wondering... This Friday you have a football game, right?''

''Er, yeah, I do.''

''What would you think if I'd come and watch?''

''You mean, you'd like to see one of my games?'' Naruto exclaimed, a lot more enthusiastic than Sakura had expected him to be. ''For real?''

''Yeah! I've gotten really curious.''

''Awesome! Be there!''

''Okay, okay! I promise!''

''Seriously, if you aren't there, I'm coming over to drag you there in person.''

Sakura giggled. She loved feeling appreciated. ''Don't worry. I'll be there.'' The pinkette took a sip from the bottle of water she had stalled on the table. ''Who are you guys up against, anyway?''

''Sound High.''

''Are they good?''

''Nothing we can't handle.''

''Hm-hm.'' She confirmed. ''I heard you guys are really good.''

''Well, I don't wanna brag or something... But yeah, we're the best.''

Sakura chuckled and punched him on the shoulder softy.

At that moment the bell rang.

Sakura gathered the notes she needed for her homework and slammed her locker shut. When she turned around, clumsily trying to stuff her notes into her bag, a muggy breath of wind hit her in the face. The doors leading to the schoolyard were open, probably to support the aeration of the building. Needless to say, the opposite was going on.

Sakura loosened the collar of the top she wore.

The majority of the students had left already, luckily. Because she was sure they wouldn't have helped the temperature. Was it just Sakura, or did the pupil population really grow to an almost ridiculous number?

She shrugged and started walking towards the visible schoolyard, yellow from all of the sunlight beaming down onto the cobblestone path that meandered to a destination that was hidden behind the many trees. Karin and she had agreed to meet each other at the fountain. And yes, Sakura quickly recognised the crimson haired figure sitting beside the splashing water. The pinkette quickly escaped the trees' shade and crossed the small stone lawn to greet her friend. ''Hello!'' She yelled.

''There you are, I was wondering if you'd already left. Of course you wouldn't.'' Karin said, getting up from the light yellow ridge she had been sitting on after spotting the pink haired girl skipping her way over to her.

''Well, actually I hoped you wouldn't be here so I could go to the kid I babysit without you noticing me, but yeah, let's tell ourselves that.'' Sakura replied teasingly with a roll of her eyes.

''Where does the kid live anyway?'' Karin asked her friend after chuckling at Sakura's previous comment. They both started walking towards the buss stop just outside the gates.

''The middle school in the centre of town. The house where she lives is kind of small, so I thought we could maybe take her to the park? She always loves that.''

''Sounds cool to me.'' Karin replied. Both girls noticed the buss to the centre of town appearing from around a corner and approaching them swiftly. ''What's her name, anyway?''

Sakura waved for the buss driver to stop. ''Olivia.''

The two teenagers sat on a wooden bench, the afternoon sunlight warming up their bare legs, as they watched little children play on the tiny playground across the stretch of grass. Rosewood Park was filled with young lovers, joggers and mothers pushing prams. It was crowded, especially for a Monday. But the people didn't seem to mind. They knew that summer vacation was approaching.

That's right, summer vacation was only two weeks away now.

Karin leaned back against the wooden bench and closed her eyes. ''This is nice.''

Sakura agreed wholeheartedly.

Harrison Park was a tiny park in the middle of the business district of Konoha, surrounded by skyscrapers. It was small, but because of it's location, it was really popular. It was easy to reach by buss, taxi or subway. People that worked in the neighbourhood often went to Harrison park to have lunch or to get away from all of the pressure for a while.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence -well, between the two girls. Silence was the last thing that one could expect in a busy park like this one- Karin's voice once more filled Sakura's ears. ''So how are things going between you and you-know-who?''

''Who?'' Sakura asked her friend, her spine tensing up.

''Your boyfriend, Naruto.'' Well, Karin either didn't catch the hint or ignored it. Sakura guessed that presumably the latter was going on, seeing as how Karin really wasn't an oblivious person.

''For the last time, he really isn't my boyfriend!''

'...yet.'Sakura swore she could almost hear Karin finish in her head. ''You are not going to tell me nothing happened between you and him Friday.''

Right, Friday.

''Nothing did, really. I thought him how to waltz -or at least tried to. Honestly, he is one hopeless case.''

''Well, that only means nothing changed in the way you see him. And that wasn't really necessary, seeing as how you're already head over heels with him.''

Sakura was afraid she was going to vomit her stomach out. ''Excuse me?''

''Come on, girl. You aren't going to deny it, are you?'' But without awaiting a reply, she continued, ''And come on, you are the worst liar I've ever met. You keep on glancing at him whenever he's around, and when he talks to you you instantly start smiling-''

''-I don't do that!'' Sakura retorted lamely.

''Yes, you do. Chewing gum?''

Sakura nodded and grabbed a piece of bubblegum from the package her friend held out to her and put it in her mouth. ''So are you going to do anything fun this summer vacation?'' She asked, inwardly begging Karin to drop the subject. The redhead must have had some mercy, because she answered her question.

''Nah, working, probably.''

''Why?''

''Well, I've lived in a house with other people for a while. Other people that couldn't live with their parents. I was the only one that came there willingly, though. Anyhow, it's getting too expensive to live there.''

''I'm sorry...'' Sakura muttered, uncertain whether this was a touchy subject. She cursed herself for asking her friend exactly this.

''That's okay.'' Karin replied, and Sakura dared to look up again. She admired Karin's strength so much. ''What are you going to do this summer?''

''Not much.'' She sighed. ''What are you going to study after summer?'' Karin had had finals earlier that year and, to her own surprise, passed each and every one of them. Not that she wasn't intelligent or anything- she'd just skipped lots and lots of lessons. Nobody would have been surprised to learn Karin had failed her finals. Which was exactly what got the redhead so excited whenever anybody mentioned it. Sakura felt like a bad friend when she realised she had never asked Karin about her future plans even once. ''You're going to college, aren't you?''

To her surprise, Karin laughed and shook her head, ''In my dreams!'' Sakura cocked her head to the side. ''My parents have saved up quite some money, and they insist I take it. But I haven't got a clue what I'd wanna do. Or whether I even want to go to college.''

''But your grades are really good, aren't they?''

''Yes, but I mean- I'm only seventeen! I can't believe they expect me to have my entire life planned out by now.''

''That's not what I meant. You could get a scholarship!'' Sakura exclaimed, pretty pleased with herself. ''That way your parents won't lose money if the profession you're studying for isn't to your liking!''

''That's a really good idea!'' Karin gasped, her hand subconsciously moving up to her mouth. She obviously hadn't thought of that option yet. ''You know, I've always wanted to go to college some place far away. Like Paris!''

''Oh, Paris! That would be amazing!'' Sakura sighed. ''Or Rome!''

''Rome... Or Venetia! I wonder where the pizzas are the best.''

''Venetia, without a doubt.'' Sakura agreed, although she had never been in either town. Her opinion was based on what she had heard from people who had been there. ''But then again, that probably depends on the pizzeria you go to.''

''Probably.''

''You could, you know. You could go anywhere.''

When Sakura didn't get a reply from her friend for several seconds, she stole a glance at her from the corner of her eyes. She had put her arms behind her head, and her lips were curled up in a smile. She looked up at the sky. ''What about you? What do you wanna do when you're out of here?'' She asked suddenly, meeting Sakura's gaze.

''I want to be a doctor.'' She replied almost instantly.

''Awesome.''

''Really?''

''Yeah! It really suits you! You're always so nice and responsible. I still don't get why everybody's so mean to you at school.''

Sakura bit her lip.

It was time to tell Karin everything. She really wanted somebody to know- well, everything, and not to judge her for it. And Karin wasn't a judgemental person. You wouldn't say so, with her tough looks and harsh comments, but she was one of the nicest people Sakura had ever met. And she had met a lot of people.

''I have to tell you something.''

Sakura couldn't hold everything in any longer. She couldn't bear finally having a friend and still carrying her sorrows along like a huge pile of luggage. Everywhere she went, everything she did, there was always this slight anxiety she took with her. Just telling Karin everything would surely be such a relief. Not to mention, she would be able to help- to listen.

And so she told her everything. About how she was at middle school. About the start of high school. About how everybody had distanced themselves from her. About the bullying. About the fight between her parents Sakura had walked in on, the way her father had left, how her mother had just been sitting on a chair the entire time, unable to do anything else. The way Sakura had worked so very hard to pay the rent. It seemed like ages ago, that day Sakura had returned home to find her mother wasn't responding. How she called 911. How the principal told her her mother was going away for a while. And yet it still hurt as much as when she first heard it.

The wall Sakura had built around herself crumbled down, piece by piece, until Sakura felt as if there was no more load. No weight tugging at her heart, nothing quietly following along, looming over her whenever she wasn't looking, like a stormy cloud. There was no hidden pain anymore. Just sadness.

Karin had been listening in silence the entire time, only giving slight nods to let Sakura know she understood. And then, when Sakura was finally done talking and rested her head in her palms, she blew out whatever amount of air she had in her lungs and said, ''That is quite something.''

''It's nothing in comparison to what happened to you, but... I just- I guess I just felt like you should know.'' Sakura's voice sounded muffled because of her hands covering her mouth.

''What did I tell you about comparing your pain to others'? If I'm honest, I think that you are the strong one here. Always taking care of others before yourself, never wanting anything in return... And even when your mother says you are a bother, you're still not angry. Only sad. You must- you must be one of the strongest persons I've met.'' With every word that left Karin's mouth, Sakura straightened her back a little bit more, until she was sitting up entirely. She looked at her friend, green eyes wide with happiness at those words.

''I'm glad.'' Sakura said, unable to keep herself from laughing. ''I'm so glad to have met you.''

''Of course! We're friends, right?'' Karin said, and she held her hand up for a high-five. Sakura slapped it with her own.

''Just so you know, if you don't succeed in getting a job or something, you could always go live in my house. It's too big for me, and now that my parents are gone, I have three empty bedrooms.''

That sentence didn't hurt as much as Sakura would have guessed. Who knows, she might be getting over it. Slowly, yes, but at some point she might... Just put everything behind her.

She couldn't stay sad for ever, now could she? Especially now that it seemed like everything was finally falling into place.

It seemed like, for once in her life, Karin found herself speechless. ''That would be... Awesome. Thanks, girl.''

Sakura smiled, her eyes trailed over to a reggae band that played cheerful songs a bit farther up the path. A small audience had gathered around it. Then she looked back at the spot where her eyes had been glued on moments before. A tiny figure with pigtails, playing with other kids on the green jungle gym that stood next to the iron slide, waved at her enthusiastically. Sakura smiled and waved back at the girl.

Olivia was a great kid. Quiet and a bit shy, but with a sense of humour that was amazing for a child her age. Also, she had huge blue eyes that even Ino would have been jealous of.

A middle aged woman walked up to the jungle gym, and soon the kids Olivia had been playing with jumped down into the sand and bid her goodbye before walking off with who Sakura presumed was their mother. She was alone now.

Sakura found it a sad sight, and just when she was about to get up from the bench and play with Olivia herself, Karin pushed herself up and walked over to her.

Between the chattering of the people visiting the park, the chirping of the birds and the music from the reggae band, Sakura could just hear Karin squeal (yes, squeal), ''You're so cute I just want to eat you up! Too bad that's illegal!''

Despite the rather alarming comment, Olivia's mouth immediately stretched into a grin and she jumped into the senior's arms. They both sat down on a swing.

Turns out Karin hadn't exaggerated when she claimed she was good with kids. Olivia normally didn't open up to people easily, but in just fifteen minutes she had climbed onto the redhead's back and refused to get off until Sakura had promised her an ice pop. Karin didn't seem to mind, though. In fact, it seemed like the instant liking the little girl had taken to Karin was mutual.

With a smile, Sakura stood up from the bench as well and stalked off towards the playground. As soon as Olivia caught sight of her, she gave her a smile as well and waved. ''Hey, Sakura!'' she yelled, ''Come sit with us!''

Sakura obeyed and sat down on the remaining swing. When she looked up at the sky, she noticed the sun had sunk lower into the sky. It was probably dinner time already.

''I bet I can get way higher than you two!'' Olivia cried, swinging her legs back and forth to gain more speed.

Sakura only chuckled in response and shook her head, but Karin yelled, ''You're on!'' and took off herself. After less than a minute, though, put her heels in the sand, slowing herself down and touched her heart with her hand as though she was very tired. ''Okay, you win. You're better than me.''

''Ha! Beat ya!'' Olivia laughed and leaned back in her swing with closed eyes.

Sakura smiled at the two of them. Although they would have to bring Olivia home soon, she decided to postpone that moment for a little while.

It had been quite some time since Sakura had felt so carefree and relieved.

It must have been around nine o'clock when Olivia's mother returned from her job -she was a singer at a local indie band- so that the two teenage girls were able to go home. The house was relatively small, well, in comparison to Sakura's house, and located above a shop. It was cramped with furniture and Sakura was glad when she could go home. Anything to leave the dusty building and breathe in some fresh air. Well- fresh air was hard to find in a busy city like Konoha, but you get the point.

''That was fun!'' Karin said. ''They seriously pay you to have fun with kids?''

''Well, Olivia's mother is kind of busy, so-''

''I know, I know. I was just kidding.''

''Where is your house?''

''Just around the block. Wanna see it?''

''Sure! Can I?''

''Well, the rules say we can't bring visitors after eight pm, but nobody really follows them anyway.'' Karin said with a flick of her hair, and she steered her friend around the corner.

The building Karin lived in was one Sakura passed almost every day. It was located next to the supermarket where she shopped for groceries. The building gave off a somewhat gloomy vibe from the outside: It was built out of dark brown bricks, the windows were small and the door was so very covered in graffiti that it was hard to guess which colour it had once been.

Sakura was so busy examining the house that she didn't notice Karin holding the door open for her. That is, until she snapped her fingers twice and gestured towards the now visible hallway with her head. Sakura nodded and quickly brushed past her. The hallway contrasted so much with the way the building looked when one looked at it from outside that the pinkette had to blink a few times before she was sure she was still in the same house. The walls were painted in bright, neon colours and the tile floor was so clean that Sakura could see her reflection in it. On her left side was a bright green coat and hat rack in the shape of a smiling fish, and on the right was a shiny, white staircase that spiralled up to the next floor. The hallway led to a few closed, orange varnished doors, each with a sign hanging from it to indicate which room was behind them. 'Kitchen' said the sign to which Sakura was close enough to be able to read it.

''Clean house.'' she complimented dryly when she had finished taking it all in.

''You coming up?'' Karin had already walked up half of the steps from the stairs.

When Sakura arrived at the next floor, the first thing to catch her eye was a huge painting of a forest that covered half of one of the walls. Although Karin had already opened up the far left door, Sakura halted in front of the one in the middle of the painting.

''Who lives here?'' she asked her friend without turning around.

''Where? Oh, a guy named Sai. Kind of a weird type, he goes around wearing tops that only cover half of his stomach- Oh, hey Sai.'' Karin had stopped midway in her sentence when she noticed a pale guy -wearing an indeed very inappropriate shirt- trudging up the stairs.

''Hello.'' He greeted, giving Karin a slight narrow of his eyes. Karin only rolled her own crimson orbs and walked into her room. The boy then walked right over to the door in the middle of the painting, pretending Sakura wasn't there. At first, the girl figured he didn't see her.

''So you're Sai? My name is Sakura, nice to meet you.'' She said, holding her hand out to him.

Sai didn't shake it. He only gave her an obviously fake smile and opened the door to his room.

Sakura dropped her hand to her side, feeling the veins in her temples starting to throb. She turned her head to give him an irritated frown.

As annoyed as she was by his rude behaviour, she got the strange idea that this guy seemed familiar.

She put her foot in the doorway just before he could close his door in her face. ''Do I... Know you from somewhere?'' He tried closing the door anyway, but soon realised that she wasn't going to remove her foot before he answered her question.

''I'm in your homeroom class.'' he grunted reluctantly.

'Of course!'

Sakura could just stop herself from slapping her forehead. How could she forget? He was the one that got lectured by their teachers daily for drawing in his notebooks instead of taking notes.

''Right. Bye.'' She replied awkwardly. Then she quickly turned around and dashed into the room where Karin had disappeared in. ''What an arrogant prick!'' Sakura squeaked indignantly when she had slammed the door shut behind her.

''Newsflash.'' Karin replied sarcastically. She leaned out of her window, a cigarette between her index and middle finger. ''He's been here for a long time. Longer than me. He made that painting on the wall in the hallway. You know, the one of the forest.''

Sakura let her gaze slide over the furniture in the room. It was pretty basic; a bed, a desk and a closet. A few magazines in a pile on the floor, surrounded by different pieces of clothing scattered over the place. ''What happened to him? Why is he here?'' she asked her friend. She sat down on the bed.

''All I know is that he's an orphan. He doesn't really talk to anyone.''

Sakura's irritation vanished instantly. ''How sad...''

Silence.

''The sun's setting, Sakura. If you don't wanna walk home through the dark, you should go now.''

''Oh, you're right!'' Sakura jumped up from the bed and cut across the room. Her fingers lingered inches above the doorknob. ''You know, Karin,'' she started, ''That offer. You know, you living with me... I meant that.''

Karin blinked in surprise. Then, she stretched her lips into a toothy grin. ''Thanks, girl. Really, I appreciate that.''

''Okay.'' Sakura smiled too. ''See you tomorrow!''

With that, she left the room.

Expect the next chapter to be up in about a week. Please review!

~Lion3queen