Aren't I just a stinker? I take way too long to update. I promise I'm trying to get them written, I just have writers block and what not. Reviews would also be VERY welcome. Also, I was going back through some of the earlier chapters and noticed some continuity errors :O I shall fix them: in chapter one, one of mouse's people was named Puppet, however, it was changed to Pinocchio. In chapter...4? Hinata was writing an essay. It said that she finished an essay for Health, when in fact she was writing an English assignment. Those are the only two I've seen so far. If there are any others, tell me and I'll try to go back and fix them!

And finally, I believe it's time for a disclaimer! Take it away Itachi!

Itachi: xXCherrybearXx does not own Naruto, nor will she ever hope to.

Cherry: hey! D:

Itachi: do not defy my divine logic.

Cherry: fine. -.-

P.s. I want to dedicate this chapter to Parpallee whose enthusiasm over the story got me to finally finish up the last few paragraphs and post this! (:

oooooOOOOOooooo

"What! Sasuke-kun is moving!"

Sasuke sighed inwardly for what seemed like the thousandth time that day and continued to stare boredly out of the window next to his desk, chin resting on his hand. He tried to tune out the chorus of girls surrounding his desk and concentrated on counted the cracks that covered the concrete three stories below. It didn't last long when a slender form latched onto his.

"That's right! Sasuke-kun and I are being forced to go live in Konoha from now on!" Karin whined dramatically and sighed. "At a boarding school no less! Just think of all those stupid leaf students I have to share a dorm room with! They probably have no fashion sense whatsoever and will be all over my dear Sasuke-kun!" A round of angry shrieks and curses resounded around him from the group of girls. Sasuke resisted the urge to punch his so called "sister" and settled for glaring vehemently.

"Karin, get off. Now." He commanded, earning him a whine from Karin.

"But Sasuke!" She hugged his neck tighter, pressing her face closer to his. "Even you don't wanna go! You know that all those Konoha girls are stupid and not worthy of your attention! If you go, it'll just be an annoyance to you and you'll be miserable!" Sasuke pushed Karin away, glaring.

"It doesn't matter if we want to go or not, Karin," he all but spat out. "It's what Orochimaru decided and he won't change his mind. Instead of complaining about it, you might want to start getting ready. And the last time I checked," He went back to staring out the window, bored expression placed back onto his features, "Konoha was number one in the National Academic Test scores, while WE were third." Karin clamped her mouth shut, lower lip pushed out in a pout. Crossing her arms, Karin turned to sit down in her seat.

"I still think they're all going to be incredibly stupid and throw themselves all over you..." She grumbled and returned to the conversation among the rest of the class.

Sasuke once again tuned out the noise as his classmates went back to complaining. He would never admit it, but Karin was right. There was no doubt in Sasuke's mind that the female population of Konoha High would all become brainless, catty, and nuisances to him, no matter how high their grades were academically. They would all fight tooth and nail for even a sliver of the Uchiha's attention, and would relentlessly try to impress him with petty things like looks and aptitude. At that thought, two faces came to the front of his mind, causing him to inwardly groan.

Ino and Sakura.

The two girls who went from being best friends to bitter enemies all because they both liked him; The two girls who always fought the hardest, the two girls who made the most noise over him, and the two girls who annoyed him the most.

He was sure that the loud, blonde-haired, blue-eyed Ino would cause the most problems for him. She had always prided herself on her looks, and now that they were older she would probably try to use them to seduce him into a janitor's closet, which was never going to happen.

As for Sakura...

Sasuke sighed inwardly, recalling the strange pink haired girl. She was probably the only girl whom he had allowed to get to know him. He hadn't minded her company, really. Not until they were eight and she claimed she would beat Ino in winning his heart, that is. After that, Sakura had become an annoyance that he couldn't get rid of. She always seemed to be at his side, smiling and giggling in her annoying kid way, trying to flirt and impress him. But the one thing he had always really hated about her was how she thought she could actually understand how he felt, how ANYONE felt for that matter. A sharp pang of anger went through him at that. How could anyone, especially stupid, pink haired Sakura, understand what it felt like to lose your parents at the hand of your own brother, who you thought would always be there for you, who said he'd always protect you?

Sasuke hid a scowl, trying to push the painful memories out of his mind and think about his current problem. He knew that Sakura had been crushed when he left Konoha under Orochimaru's care when he was twelve. It had been two and a half years already, plenty of time for her to get over it and move on. A part of Sasuke absentmindedly wondered if Sakura had grown up at all since then. He figured she had, but doubted that it would show if he went back. She would revert back to her old self, throwing herself at his feet trying to win him over again. Or she'd burst into tears like she always did when they were kids.

Sasuke figured it would be the latter; Sakura had always been a cry baby, breaking down over the stupidest things. He could see her face in his mind, blotchy and red with tears streaming down her face, sniffling and welcoming him back with open arms. An image of Naruto, Sasuke's best friend when he was a kid, stood next to her, arms waiting open expectantly, that same stupid look on his face. Sasuke nodded inwardly, he knew that these two would accept him back into their arms without hesitation, even after he had left for Oto so abruptly and without warning. Sasuke's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by Suigetsu turning around to speak loudly to Jugo, who sat behind Sasuke.

"Oi, Jugo. You've been quite the whole time, what do you think about leaving?" Sasuke pretended he wasn't listening, also curious as to what the quietest and most resigned of his siblings thought of the whole situation.

"I see no problem really," he said quietly after a few moments. "I don't know why everyone else is making a big deal of it though, since they're not the ones moving there. Also, I've never been to Konoha, nor met anyone from there, so there's really no reason for me to complain about it. Who knows, maybe it's better than Oto?" A red headed girl heard Jugo's remark and spun around, a disbelieving look on her face that turned into a sneer.

"Better than Oto? Ha! Please, Konoha is filled with rich, uptight fuckers that think they're superior to everyone else and don't give a damn about the rest of us. And their students are just as bad! They think they're so much better in everything they do and wave around the fact that they get high scores on tests just to rub it in to other schools whose students work themselves to the bone to even compare! And Konoha only makes those grades because they have a few good students who score so high, it brings up everyone else's score at that sorry excuse of a school!" Sasuke turned his head slightly, peering from the corner of his eye at the new speaker.

She had shoulder length red hair that stuck out from beneath a bandage-wrapped beanie. An old, baggy grey half-shirt hung off her frame over a tight black midriff and a flute was stuck through the belt hanging off her waist. Her jeans were ripped, showing off several areas of her legs and her black Toms were just as worn.

"Shut it Tayuya, no one asked for your damn opinion!" Suigetsu yelled angrily at the girl, who balled her hands into fists.

"Why don't you shut it, shithead!" she yelled back. "I was just letting your little brother over there know how stupid he is for even thinking that Konoha is better than Oto!" Suigetsu opened his mouth to retort, but Sasuke cut him off with a look before turning his gaze to Tayuya. The red head blushed lightly, but stood tall against the stare boring into her.

"Enough, you're giving me a headache." Sasuke said before turning back to the window, effectively ending the conversations and sending everyone back to their seats to quietly await the arrival of their teacher. Sighing inwardly, Sasuke leaned his chin against the palm of his hand, watching the birds circle above in the clear blue sky.

oooOOOooo

Sakura poked her head out of the back door of the teachers' lounge. No one was present in the hallway outside of the cafeteria. Tossing the door open, Sakura made a dash along the wall, keeping low to the ground and glancing around furtively. She made it to the gym unhindered, stealing a glance at the time on her watch.

9:57.

Three minutes left until curfew.

Sakura stole silently across the glossy, wooden floor until she reached the doors to the coaches' offices. Removing the black converse boot that she had used as a door stop, she darted through the small offices and out the back door, flying into a dead out sprint to the dark shapes of buildings across the expanse of the back courtyard. Sakura refused to look down at her watch, not wanting to know if she was locked out or not. Instead she focused on a plan to sneak in.

The pinkette knew she should really be inside her dorm room, ready for bed and doing last minute homework like Yoko and Hinata probably were. If her calculations were correct, Kurenai sensei should be starting on her rounds to make sure all the girls were in their rooms, beginning with the first floor right about now. If the doors weren't already locked, she might be able to make it up the stairwell undetected and hide out in the bathroom. Sakura skidded to a slower speed and bounded up the stairs, grabbing onto the door handle just as she heard an audible CLICK.

Sakura's heart sank.

'So much for going in through the front door...' she inwardly lamented, as she turned quickly to the left and ran around to the back of the dormitory. Years of living on campus made it easy for her to identify the path to the correct window. Whipping out her phone, Sakura sent a hasty text message to Yoko and Hinata:

To: (Yoko) (Hina-boo)

LET ME IN! D'8

~Sakkybear

Sakura stopped beside the third window down the back wall of the dorm, next to the sturdy PVC drain pipe attached to the wall. Grasping the thick plastic tube with practiced, well trained fingers, she began pulling herself up as quickly as she could, thankful her shoes had such a good grip on the brick building. In minutes she was outside their dorm window, tapping urgently on the glass. The black curtains that covered the window were pulled aside and the pale face of Hinata appeared and reached for the latch.

Years before, when they had been assigned as roommates, Yoko (much to Hinata's dismay) had disabled the automatic locking system on their window, allowing them to open the window after hours for purposes like this. In one fluid motion, Hinata undid the latch and pushed up the window, ushering Sakura inside.

"You're cutting it very close you know?" She said sternly. "Kurenai sensei is alreadyon our floor...!" Sakura nodded breathlessly, heading to the bathroom to try and hide.

"I know, I know!" she said. "It's not my fault Kakashi stays in the teachers' lounge so late!" She reached out for the handle only for it to pull back away from her hand. Warm air blasted into Sakura's face and she looked up to see Yoko standing in the doorway, one hand on her hip, the other on the doorknob. Her fluffy white bathrobe hung open over her pajamas and her black hair fell down in wet, wavy strands.

"Kakashi's lateness is rubbing off on you, kid." She said simply and walked past, flopping down on her stomach across her bed. Sakura looked over at the senior, grinning broadly.

"I'm only late if I get caught. If I'm not mistaken, I haven't been caught." Almost as if to reply, someone knocked on the door. Sakura whirled around, eyes wide as she stared at the door. Hinata smirked lightly at her best friend's reaction.

"You're about to get caught, I believe." She said lightly, laughing softly as the small teen shot into the bathroom, nearly slamming the door shut behind her. Chuckling softly, Hinata strode over to the door, opening it up and smiling brightly at Kurenai who stood in the doorway. Kurenai smiled warmly at her favorite pupil.

"Good evening, Kurenai-san." Hinata said with a slight dip of her head in greeting.

"Evening, Hinata." Kurenai replied, returning the soft nod. "Just making sure everyone is in their rooms." Hinata stepped back to allow Kurenai entrance to their dorm room.

"Sakura is in the bathroom." She said, softly stepping towards her desk and sitting down. Yoko looked up from her phone briefly, starring expressionlessly at Kurenai for a moment before going back to typing on her Blackberry. Kurenai suppressed a small shudder at the slightly disturbing stare and glanced at the bathroom door.

"Hi, Chi-chan!" Sakura's muffled voice called from behind the door. Kurenai frowned slightly at the nickname that the pinkette had given her a while back. Sakura was the only student who used the name frequently. Kurenai knew it wasn't meant to be offensive; the young girl had claimed she was terrible at remembering names (which she truly was and still is) and had insisted on using a nickname to make it easier. Now thanks to repeated usage of the nickname, the pinkette used it as often as her real name.

Kurenai herself didn't like the name all that much. Sakura had chosen the name Chi as a way to remember Kurenai's name, and because, as she put it, "was perfect because of her eye color".* Shaking her head slightly, Kurenai smiled at the two others, satisfied that they were present and not out roaming the grounds.

"Alright, good night girls." She said, turning towards the door. "Don't stay up too late or leave the dorms." Hinata and Yoko agreed quietly, one absorbed in last minute homework, the other most likely texting a boyfriend or something. A shout of agreement came from the bathroom's direction. Kurenai closed the door quietly behind her and continued on her rounds. The moment the door clicked shut, Sakura's head popped out of the bathroom doorway.

"She gone?"

"Obviously." Came the simultaneous reply. Sakura's mouth twitched slightly in annoyance before she opened the door fully and walked over to her bed before plopping down with an unceremonious oof. She sat up again, reaching down to unlace her shoes, aware of the soft clicking of keys on Yoko's phone. Sakura glanced up briefly to look at the older girls' form stretched out on her black covers, staring intently at her phone. A slight smile was tugging at the edges of her lips while she texted, causing Sakura to smile mischievously.

"Texting your secret boyfriend, Yo-yo?" She teased. Yoko instantly snapped her phone closed, turning as red as Hinata would if caught in this situation years before.

"No!" She snapped a slight bite in her tone. Hinata looked up from her homework and grinned.

"Yes you are. What's he saying?" Hinata got up and crossed the room to settle next to her, Sakura following suit. Yoko scowled and clutched the phone tightly in her hands. The pinkette's grin broadened.

"Yoko-chan, don't tell me you and this mystery boy are talking dirty now?" Hinata wiggled her eyebrows to emphasize Sakura's tease. The color of Yoko's face darkened to an impossible shade of red, and for a moment, Sakura worried her roommate might explode.

"NO!" Yoko all but shrieked. Hinata laughed at their friend's reaction.

"Really? Then let us see!"

"No." Yoko shook her head furiously. She cut of Sakura's reply as she opened her mouth. "And no, I'm not lying about the content of our conversation. I just don't want you reading it!" Hinata grinned and laid her head against the older girl's shoulder, letting out a soft sigh.

"I bet it's something incredibly sweet. He seems like the type of guy who'd always say goodnight to a girl, judging by all the sweet things he sends you." Sakura nodded in agreement, head tilting slightly to the side in thought. Yoko's mysterious lover traveled a lot and would send her gifts from wherever he went. Her seeming obsession with masks had ended up with most of the ones she owned coming from him, as well as bouquets of flowers and sweets from other countries that came in every now and then. He was even kind enough to send her extras for her two roommates to enjoy as well. A soft smile graced Yoko's lips, and she let her head lean against Hinata's.

"It is, I promise." She said, a slight dreamy tone accentuating her voice. The three stayed like that for a while, lost in thoughts of sweets and roses and exotic masks being sent from mysterious lovers. Sadly, the moment didn't last forever.

"You're still not reading the messages."

"Dammit!"

ooooOOOOoooo

OK! So I had to end the chapter on a semi funny note. I'm not very good and fluffy stuff, so it kinda sucks. :l but oh well! At least the chapter is done! :D Thanks for reading the story so far and also thanks to Parpallee for getting me inspired to finish this!

R&R plz!

xXCherrybearXx