Song of a Cherry Blossom
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2

The glowing red lights of the digital clock switched from 5:59 AM to 6:00 AM and a familiar loud shrill ring echoed through the small apartment. It had also awakened the sleeping girl from her REM sleep. Sakura opened her eyes as she tried to get adjusted to the surroundings before her. A hazy image of the gray curtains of her window and the small, wooden bedside table came into her view.

Sakura groaned as the alarm clock kept ringing. She slammed her hand hard on the Snooze button and rolled over to find a comfortable spot on her pillow. She murmured in her sleep as she closed her eyes again and tried to re-conjure the dream she was dreaming of. The image of a shiny, gold trophy danced across her mind and she smiled blissfully.

"It's not like I have school or anything," she murmured to herself.

Eventually, she fell back asleep as her mind shut down inside of her. But instead of dreams about Grammys and Billboard Music Awards, she found a look-alike version of herself. The only difference was that the look-alike had large words written across her forehead. Sakura trembled under the covers a little when the figure in her dream started to get bigger and towered over the dream version of Sakura.

Inside the dream, the girl with 'Inner Sakura' stamped on her forehead loomed over the dream version of Sakura.

"Sakura!" Inner Sakura shouted. The dream version of Sakura looked up at Inner Sakura with horrified eyes. "W-what?" she stammered.

"Get your butt off the bed and get to school! SHANNARO!" Inner Sakura yelled.

"School?" Sakura softly murmured as her head sank deeper into the soft pillow.

Suddenly, the pink-haired girl bolted upright as she grabbed the alarm clock off the bedside table and stared at the glowing digital numbers. It now read 6:32 AM. Sakura stared horrified at the glowing digits.

"I'm going to be late for my first day of school!" she yelped as she stumbled out of her bed.

The blankets caught onto Sakura's foot as she tried to get off the bed and out the bedroom. When she finally managed to free herself from the blankets, she clumsily ran to the door of her bedroom and walked out. She went to the bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth and splashed some water onto her sleepy face.

Sakura ran out and went back to her bedroom where she quickly changed into her school uniform which consisted of a white short-sleeved blouse with a pale yellow sweater vest over it. She tied on the green plaid bow from her uniform that hugged the front of her outfit. Quickly, she slipped into a matching green plaid skirt before sitting down to put on her socks. The white ankle socks drooped down around her ankles as they refused to stay up. Sakura let out a frustrated grunt before leaving her socks as is.

Grabbing her schoolbag off her desk chair, she rushed out of the small bedroom. In the kitchen, she grabbed a piece of bread and held it in her mouth as she grabbed her keys off the countertop. She quickly stepped into her black shoes before leaving and shutting the apartment door behind her.

Combing through her cherry-colored hair with her fingers, Sakura continued running as she rushed down the hallway and down to the first floor. She hastily tied up her hair in a ponytail. A quick glance at the digital watch she hastily slapped on her wrist before leaving showed that the time was currently 6:51 AM.

Crap. Only nine minutes before the bell rings. I can't be late for my first day of school! Especially not this school...

Sakura grabbed the piece of bread in her mouth and bit into it as she sprinted as fast as she could to school. The large academy loomed up ahead and Sakura looked at the majestic yet daunting academy building with awe. She ran past the gate and up the main steps. Her watch read 7:03 AM as she ran down the hallways searching for the room listed on her schedule.

Class 2-A, class 2-A. Where the hell is class 2-A?

Sakura finally found class 2-A and opened the door to find people all over the place. Most of the students were talking and fooling around. Sakura quietly stepped into the zoo-like room. No one took notice of her and Sakura was glad for that as she found a nice seat by the window which was four seats down from the front row. She sat down and placed her schoolbag on the desk. She rummaged around her bag until she found the case that held her glasses. Even though Sakura didn't need glasses to see, it was helpful to hide her unusual green eyes. She fingered through her hair. The distinct color of cherry blossoms showed in her hair and Sakura sighed. Even though she couldn't hide her bright pink hair, she could at least attempt to shield the abnormality of her green eyes.

Sakura glanced at her watch again and then at the clock above the door. They both read 7:15 AM. Sakura frowned. The teacher is late. I guess that's good. Otherwise, I might have been scolded at.

Sakura took the glasses out of the case and placed them on. She closed the case shut and stuffed it back in her bag as she set the bag down on the floor. Sakura smiled as she thought back of the conversation she had with Idate on Saturday night after her performance.

Idate set the drink down in front of Sakura and she looked up at him in surprise. "My treat," he said with a smile in response to her shocked face. Sakura smiled and sipped at the drink through the straw. Idate turned around and began making more drinks for the customers waiting.

"So," Idate said as he poured a clear liquid into a glass. "I heard you're starting a new school this Monday."

Sakura replied with a yes as she continued to sip at her drink. "Aren't you starting your last year at Konoha High next week too?"

Idate nodded as he turned and handed a drink to the lady sitting next to Sakura. "Yes I am. Where are you attending?"

"Konoha Academy."

Idate looked at Sakura with surprise in his eyes. "Oh, but isn't that an expensive school? All the rich kids go there."

Sakura nodded as she twirled her straw. "Yes, but I got in with a music scholarship and I have a full ride there."

"That's impressive."

Sakura laughed. "Not really. But seeing as all the people going there are from rich families, I'm going to stand out since I don't have their expensive clothing and designer bags." Sakura tugged on her hair. "Not to mention, my unusual hair color and my green eyes."

Idate laughed. "Well, I think you have very beautiful eyes."

Sakura blushed when Idate said that. "Thanks, but I still wouldn't want to be at the center of everyone's topic. I rather hide my eyes and hair color."

Sakura brought out a pair of glasses. "And with these, I can hide my eye color! They almost make my eyes seem like a brownish color when I wear them and when I'm out in the sun, the photosensitive lenses will become darker in the presence of ultraviolet light!"

Idate laughed. "You sound like some late night infomercial. But even with those glasses, what are you going to do with your hair?"

Sakura sighed. "Nothing. There's nothing I can do. If I use a wig, then it'll be inconvenient when we have gym since I will most likely sweat from wearing a hot wig. And it's not like I can take my wig on or off."

"How about dying it?" Idate suggested.

Sakura looked at him with a horrified expression. "Even though I don't like how my hair stands out, I have grown to love it. After all, it makes up of who I am." Sakura looked down at her lap before saying, "And it reminds me of my parents."

Idate remained silent. After awhile, he broke the stillness by saying, "Well, I have no problem with you going to school with pink hair and sunglasses." Idate tousled Sakura's pink hair with a grin. Sakura brought her hands up in protest. "It's not sunglasses! It's glasses with photosensitive lenses that will-"

Idate laughed and turned around indicating he was ending the conversation at that.

Sakura stuck a tongue out at the back of Idate. "I saw that," Idate said as he started to refill another drink.

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted when the door opened a silver-haired man walked in. The class started to quiet down and everyone ran to their seats. Sakura stared up at the clock. It read 7:29 AM. Sakura looked at the teacher in shock. How could he just walk in like he wasn't half an hour late. It was true that the teacher made no expression that he had ever been late. The silver-haired man set his briefcase down on top of the wide desk and proceeded to write something on the chalkboard behind him.

Hatake Kakashi.

That was what was written on the board. Sakura stared at the name and looked up at the teacher. He smiled at the class and started to introduce himself. "Good morning class. My name is Hatake Kakashi but you can all call me Kakashi-sensei. Your previous teacher from first semester has moved so I'll be taking over as homeroom teacher. I hope we'll get to know each other well. I know that many of you know each other from the beginning of the school year so that should make the second trimester a breeze."

Sasuke smirked. He couldn't believe that the Hatake Kakashi was going to be his homeroom teacher this semester. Even though Kakashi was one of the very best teachers at the school, he was better known for his constant tardiness to places. Sasuke yawned as Kakashi continued on with introductions. He leaned back in his chair which was specifically reserved for him. It was in the very back row which was five seats down from the front row and it was right by the window so he could stare at the girls who had gym that period. He glanced out the window. So far, no girls were in sight.

He averted his gaze to the front of him and was surprised to see pink hair. He had been sleeping the whole time until the teacher walked in and didn't notice the girl who sat down in front of him. He stared at the unusual pink color of the hair. I never saw someone with pink hair.

Sasuke sat up straight in his chair and heard Kakashi taking attendance. Sasuke zoned him out since he wasn't going to come up in the list for awhile. After all, his name was down in the U's. Sasuke softly touched the pink hair in front of him so that the girl wouldn't notice. When the girl didn't make any indication of noticing anything, he continued to examine the color. He lifted up one strand of hair and peered at it closely.

"Haruno Sakura," Kakashi called out as he looked up from the attendance sheet. "Ah, you seem to be the new transfer student for this semester."

Sakura raised her hand slowly and felt her back making contact with someone's hand. She turned around and was surprised to see a guy playing with her hair. The guy smirked when he found out he was caught. Sakura blushed and then turned back around.

Kakashi smiled at her. "I guess I won't be the only one new to this class," he said. Sakura shyly smiled back as she lowered her head. The students around her gave her curious gazes as they whispered amongst each other.

"Hyuuga Hinata." A timid girl from the second seat in the row near the windows raised her hand. She blushed slightly as people turned to glance at her.

"Nara Shikamaru," Kakashi called out. A guy in the third seat of the second row who had his head down on the desk like he was fast asleep, raised his hand up after a short while.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Kakashi called out as he continued to read from the list. He looked up and glanced around the room. "Uchiha Sasuke," he called out again as he searched for a hand.

Sakura looked around the room to see if anyone with that name would raise their hand. She was surprised when a hand behind her started to go up. A few girls in the class started to squeal but a blonde girl sitting a few seats up glared at them all and the squealing girls finally stopped their squealing. Sakura looked at Sasuke from the corner of her eye as she turned slightly in her seat to get a view of him. He's handsome, that's for sure. No wonder those girls are eyeing him like that. But he's kind of strange too, Sakura recalled when she thought back to when the raven-head was playing with her hair.

Sakura turned back in her seat when she heard Kakashi starting to sigh. "Uchiha Sasuke, is it? From what I heard, you're going to be a handful."

The raven-haired man sitting behind Sakura smirked and continued to lean back against his chair. The girls in the class started to swoon again. Sakura laughed quietly inside at the girls' reactions towards Sasuke.

And to think, I have to sit in front of this display attraction. He's probably just looks and doesn't have much of a brain.

Kakashi continued on with attendance so Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as she surveyed the room to see who's who.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Kakashi called out. The blond who was sitting in front of Sakura jumped up and raised his hand wildly. "Here! I'm here, Kakashi-sensei!"

A few of the girls giggled at Naruto's excited outburst and some of the guys smirked. Sakura could hear Sasuke yawned and then told Naruto, "Sit down you idiot. Stop acting all excited for nothing."

The blond turned his head and pointed at the raven head. "Don't tell me what to do!" Naruto shouted at the Uchiha before finally sitting down.

Kakashi sighed. This sure is one heck of a class, Kakashi thought. Kakashi looked at the last name on his list.

"Yamanaka Ino," he called out. A girl with blonde hair sitting in the second seat of the third row raised her hand. Sakura's ears perked up at the name. Yamanaka Ino? Why does that name sound so familiar?

Kakashi closed the attendance book and proceeded to pick up a piece of chalk and began writing the day's lesson. Sakura had to forget about the blonde girl as she opened up a brand new notebook and began copying down the notes on the blackboard.

The bell rang and Sakura looked up from her notebook. The clock showed that it was exactly noon which meant it was time for lunch. Kakashi placed the chalk down and dismissed the class. Sakura closed her notebook and stuffed it in her bag. Students began to stand up and started to chat with each other.

Sakura glanced at the silver-haired teacher. She noticed that he was seated on his chair and reading some kind of book. Sakura grimaced when she saw that he was reading some kind of adult novel. The cover flashed the title, Icha Icha Paradise. Sakura couldn't help but let a groan slip out.

I can't believe my very own teacher is reading Jiraiya-sama's trashy novels. And to think, Jiraiya-sama named the club after those books. It's embarrassing now to know I work there.

Sakura sighed, embarrassed for the white-haired man who gave her money for rent and food. I don't know how Tsunade-sama keeps up with him. In fact, I don't know how I keep up with him.

Sakura grimaced when she remembered how Jiraiya told her one day to try to flirt with the guys who came to the club. Sakura could remembered it so clearly as if it was yesterday. That one comment from Jiraiya resulted in Tsunade hitting him on the head and yelling at him for trying to exploit the girl. The day ended with one very distraught pink-headed girl, an angry blonde woman, and a badly bashed-up perverted old man with a large bump on his head.

Sakura giggled when she pictured Jiraiya with his bruise on his head. She knew that Jiraiya meant well and that he wouldn't place her in any harm. Even though he was a bit dense when it comes to females, Jiraiya still treated Sakura like his own daughter despite his lack of sense in regards to issues like boys.

Sakura gathered her things and walked out of the classroom and to the courtyard where students were already coming out to eat. She found a nice spot underneath two large dogwood trees, which provided shade from the afternoon sunlight. She rummaged through her schoolbag and found her lunch a peek inside the lunch sack, she could see that her plain ham and cheese sandwich was still intact. She removed the cellophane that surrounded her sandwich and took a small bite. After sitting so long in her bag, the sandwich had a weird taste but Sakura was starving today after eating only a piece of bread this morning.

She took another bite of the sandwich and took out a notebook from her schoolbag. She flipped a few pages and found the page she was looking for. It was her music notebook where she wrote down her song lyrics and thoughts. It was also where she writes down ideas for any new songs. It was a bit like a day planner to her also since she takes it out everyday to write in. On the top of the page, in the far right corner, had 'first day of new school' written down.

Sakura leaned against the trunk of the tree and stared at the campus. She gazed around at the students eating lunch and wasn't surprised to see that many of the girls were wearing expensive jewelry and watches. So much for uniforms of equality. She saw that most of the cars in the parking lot were expensive looking cars and Sakura leaned back against the tree trunk with a sigh. Everyone here is like a money machine. None of them probably ever had to work in their entire life.

The bell rang and Sakura gathered her belongings and stood up. She dumped all her trash into the nearest garbage can before realizing that her notebook dropped inside the garbage can along with the rest of the trash.

"Oh no!" she exclaimed. She quickly tried to catch it but the notebook fell inside. She groaned as she stuck her hand unwillingly inside the garbage can as she tried to retrieve her notebook.

A few girls who were walking by stopped and snickered. "I guess even paupers have to look for food somewhere," one of them said as she pointed at Sakura. "To think they have to stoop to so low and go through garbage cans to get something to eat." They all began to laugh as they strolled off.

Sakura glared at their retreating backs. Excuse me for not being raised in a diamond-lined crib.

She yanked the notebook out from the garbage can and stomped off angrily to her next class before the late bell rang. She walked hastily to the gymnasium. As she entered the large gymnasium, she was taken back by the state-of-the-art design of the interior. All around the gym were newly built-in basketball hoops that loomed over the shiny, waxed gym floor. She only been to the school's gymnasium once before and that was when they had orientation the week before school started for all the new transfer students. She walked to the door that lead inside to the girl's locker room and hurriedly changed into her school gym uniform.

Sakura walked back out to the gymnasium where her class was waiting for Kakashi. Finally, the silver-haired man appeared all decked out in a training uniform. Kakashi began to pass out basketballs to some of the guys and girls. "Go ahead and play basketball. I will watch you guys while I read," Kakashi stated. Sakura sighed. So he isn't even going to do anything but just read his book?

Sakura's thoughts were interrupted as a ball came hurtling at her. Sakura caught the orange basketball on the first bounce and stared at it as if it was a strange object. She glanced around the gym. Most of the guys had begun to play while the girls were standing to the corner and chatting with their friends. Sakura sighed. What am I suppose to do?

Sakura held the orange ball in her hands and gazed over to a game being started between some of the guys. A loud cheer erupted and Sakura walked a little closer to see what the fuss was about.

Sasuke clenched his teeth as he dribbled the basketball. One of the guys on the opposite team came at him to try to steal the ball away. Sasuke quickly sidestepped around him as he passed it to Naruto on his team. Naruto caught the ball and he and Sasuke started to pass the ball back and forth between each other. As Sasuke caught the ball, another guy from the opposite team tried to block Sasuke from shooting.

A smirk flashed across Sasuke's face. The raven head faked a pass to the right and then dribbled past the opponent. Standing outside of the three point line, he took a shot and the ball sailed through the air. It swished through the net and created an uproar among the girls who were watching the game from the sidelines. They began to cheer and squeal for the dark raven headed man. Sasuke smirked and flashed the girls a smile. That resulted in more squeals from the girls.

Sakura, who was watching the whole game watched in awe as the guys played. She noticed how perfectly the raven-headed Uchiha executed his winning shot and how he didn't even break a sweat. He's talented...for a display attraction.

She glanced around as she observed the crowd of fans gathering to the side of the game. Musing in her thoughts, Sakura didn't notice a ball headed towards her.

"Watch out!" a voice yelled out. Sakura whirled her head around to the direction of the scream. "Huh?" she said in confusion. Before she knew it, the ball came in contact with her face. All Sakura could see after that was black. Total and complete darkness as she fell down unconscious on the waxed gym floor. She could hear screams and footsteps running towards her but soon all she heard was stillness as everything turned pitch black.