Beep, beep, beep!

A long, loud groan could be heard from the second bedroom of no. 6 Woodland Grove as the young woman who occupied it was rudely disturbed from her beauty sleep. She reluctantly rolled over onto her side and hurled the purple alarm clock across the room. After listening to the satisfying bash of it colliding with a wall, she shuffled back under the covers, cuddling her teddy-bear that her father bought her three years ago.

“Sakura honey, time to get up for school!”

The teenager took a deep breath in and sat bolt upright in her bed. She had totally forgotten about the first day at her new school. She staggered slightly over to the bathroom to have a wash, the water slapping her awake. Sakura then walked back into her cosy, warm room and got changed into the clothes that she had laid out the night before.

Unlike her old school uniform, this one wasn’t itchy, however she had to wear a knee-length skirt, and in the middle of November it was a little bit chilly.

The next thing in her routine was to stand in front of her full-length mirror and brush her long, soft-pink locks. Finally placing a scarlet headband on, she skipped downstairs into the dining room where her mother had already made her breakfast and placed it on the table. Sitting down comfortably, she gave in to her rumbling stomach and tucked in.

“Morning dear, feeling excited?” her mother asked, halfway through her own breakfast.

“I think nervous is a better word for it…” Sakura muttered through a mouthful of toast.

“Don’t speak with your mouthful darling and don’t worry, you’ll be fine.” At this her daughter rolled her eyes and swallowed.

“But mum, in my old school they all used to bully me, I mean, who’s natural hair colour is pink?” she asked, stroking her hair to put her point across. “Plus, I don’t want to be the freaky genius that I was in my other school.”

“You won’t be, I promise. The people around here are really friendly. You’ll be welcomed with open arms at Konoha High.” Mrs. Haruno reassured her with a smile.

“I guess…” Sakura sighed, trying to think positive.

‘New school, new start, new friends…’

The pink-haired student then started to giggle as something rubbing themselves against her ankle, tickling her – Sakura was extremely ticklish! She glanced down to find her beloved snow-white cat purring gently next to her foot, keeping it warm.

After eating her breakfast and gulping down a mug of coffee, she walked into the hall and slipped her feet into her newly purchased school shoes. Picking up her bag and sliding it on her shoulder, she bid her mother goodbye and walked out the door to her new school. She was starting to feel extremely ill…

Walking through the front gates, Sakura felt numerous pairs of eyes bore into her back. Didn’t these people have anything better to do than stare at and uncomfortable, nervous, new student?

She couldn’t get into the school building fast enough, although she couldn’t help noticing a huge fountain on her way. It had the initials of the school engraved on a slab of stone with water sprouting out of them into a pool filled with Koi Carp. The added touch was that there were a couple of robins taking their morning baths. It was a beautiful sight. She wondered how she had been accepted into this school; it just seemed so expensive, so… grand.

Sakura’s eyes were now darting about trying to spot a teacher to help her find her way to the Principal’s office.

‘Why aren’t there any teachers around?’ the pink-haired teenager thought, feeling really uncomfortable that all eyes were on her. She hated to be in the spotlight. The thing that bothered her was that none of the students were even bothering to help her; it was quite obvious that she was new.

“A newbie, eh? Not lost are ya?” A very tall and tanned man with a mask covering most of his face approached Sakura. He was accompanied by a shorter man with light grey hair and too much gel, Sakura thought. He seemed to be wearing a chain with a triangle inside a circle dangling on the end. Both of them looked at least a year older than Sakura, most likely Senior’s.

“No, I’m fine, thanks.”

“Come on, we’ll help you on your way.” The second man with the necklace insisted. Sakura sighed.

“Can you tell me where the Principal’s office is please?” she mumbled. The two men smirked.

“Why, certainly! You turn right and go up some stairs. It’s right on the middle of the first floor, ya can’t miss it.”

“Oh, thanks…” she started to walk towards where they had directed her when she heard a rather deliberate cough behind her.

“That’ll cost ya.” the taller man stated.

“Excuse me?” Sakura was taken aback by this sudden demand.

“Cough up all ya money, or else” he threatened. Sakura’s eyes widened, these two were obviously the school bullies. How could she have been so stupid? And how were they going to react when they found out that she didn’t have a single penny on her?

She started to stutter as the men advanced on her when she heard a voice behind her – again – but this time it was female.

“Hey, you two leave her alone! What’s she ever done to you?” The two men sighed and walked of muttering ‘Forget it.’

Sakura turned around on the ball of her foot to take a look at her saviour. She had brown hair tied up in two buns and bright brown eyes. She was swirling a pair of scissors in her hand and Sakura took a mental note not to get on the wrong side of her.

“Thanks…” Sakura mumbled for the second time in five minutes.

“Don’t mention it, you shouldn’t go talking to them, nasty piece of work if you ask me.”

“Who were they?”

“Those two? They’re Kakuzu and Hidan. Kakuzu is obsessed with money and Hidan worships this religion that doesn’t even exist. But don’t let him hear you say that, he’ll go berserk. They belong to a group of eight others who call themselves the ‘Akatsuki’. Take my advice: Don’t. Go. Anywhere. Near. Them. Again.”

“Ok, how do you know so much about them?”

“Let’s just say one of my friends’ brother is in the ‘organisation’.” making quotation signs with her hands when she said the word organisation. The girl smiled at Sakura, but then alarmed her by suddenly slapping her hand against her forehead.

“God, I am so stupid! I haven’t introduced myself yet! I’m Tenten.”

“I’m Sakura Haruno.”

“That’s a nice name, like in the Cherry Blossom?” Sakura smiled, looks like her mother was right after all…

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Knock, knock, knock!

“Come in!” An annoyed voice shouted from the other side of the door. Sakura turned the handle and walked into the Principal’s office.

“Hello, I am Sakura Haruno and I was informed that I should visit you and collect my timetable and locker number.”

“Oh right, yes. Just a minute.” and the Principal rummaged through a couple of filing cabinets before she pulled out a sheet of A5 paper and handed it over to Sakura just as the bell went.

The teenager stared down at it.

‘It’s Monday today, so that means I have Cooking after Homeroom. And my locker number is 14A. Where the hell is that?'

“Um, excuse me… miss-”

“Please, call me Tsunade-sensei.”

“Ok, um… Tsunade-sensei, where is locker 14A and Cooking class?” she asked, feeling stupid.

“Locker 14A is downstairs right by the front door and your Cooking room is at the back of this floor. By the way, don’t forget to go to Homeroom every morning. Who’s your mentor?”

Sakura glanced down at her sheet of paper.

“Kakashi-sensei, it says I’m in Leaf. What does that mean?”

“Well, the school is split up into different groups. You are part of the Leaf group. If you have any problems with anything you go to your mentor, which in your case is Kakashi, who also teaches English. Your Homeroom is in R3, which is downstairs opposite the front doors. Make a combination for your locker and drop your stuff off in their, and then go to R3. Kakashi will give you your books there.”

Sakura left and did as she was told. She made a combination for her locker, and walked towards R3. It wasn’t that hard to find, as there was a little map of the school just inside the front doors. She noticed that there was a little patch of Cherry Blossom trees at the bottom of the field. She made a mental note to visit that place at lunch and maybe have her dinner there.

She knocked on the door to R3 and entered. The class didn’t take a bit of notice of her as it was very noisy. People were sitting on desks; others were throwing paper airplanes about, and where was the teacher? Sitting at his desk reading a book.

She walked up to him, and he asked for her name, which she gave. He marked her on the register and told her to sit down. But that was the problem: where was she going to sit? All the chairs seemed to be occupied, and all the desks too. However, when she looked at the back of the class, she found a desk empty right in the corner next to a window. Perfect. She could gaze out of it and watch the world go by as she waited for the next bell to signal the next lesson: Cooking.

A couple of squirrels were messing around on a fluffy, pink cloud. They seemed to be fighting over an acorn. However, a much bigger squirrel dominated the cloud, snatching the acorn off her babies and ate it for herself. The young looked angrily at their mother as she nibbled. She then chucked the remains off the cloud and watched it plummet into the deep blue abyss. Unfortunately, the squirrels scurried off when a soft whispering sound filled the sky.

“Hello, anybody in there?”

“Eh? Oh, hello Tenten-san -”

“Just Tenten and I hope we weren’t daydreaming up there!” TenTen patted Sakura head while giggling. Sakura smiled back.

“I’ve come to introduce you to my friends. They’ve just been dying to meet you!” Sakura looked over to see two other girls behind her.

“Ok, so this is Ino,” Tenten pointed to the girl who had long blonde hair tied up in a pony-tail. She had big blue eyes. She was very pretty and could probably get any guy she wanted. However, when she looked more closely Sakura noticed that her features were pulled down into a scowl, although Tenten didn’t seem to notice.

“And this is Hinata Hyuuga,” the brunette pointed to the other girl. The first thing she noticed straight away was her eyes: ghostly pale with no pupils. Her hair was long and a deep blue. She had a kind expression, even if she did shy away behind Ino.

“Hello Ino-san, hello Hinata-san.” Sakura greeted them.

“Please, c-call me Hinata.”

Ino started to walk away as soon as she got the chance. Tenten hesitated and looked back at Sakura with an apologetic look.

“Don’t mind her. She’s just having a bad day.” and with that Tenten left with Hinata following behind her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The bell rang out and Sakura got up from her seat and walked towards the door. Cooking was her next lesson. She walked through the corridors and stopped in front of the map that she saw earlier. However, she then remembered that Tsunade told her that the Cooking class was at the back of the second floor. And that’s where she went.

When she walked in, she found that she was a little late and that everyone was already sat down. Everyone was staring at her – again! - but thankfully the teacher spotted her and told her to sit down next to a girl with long red hair.

Sakura looked up at the white board and found some instructions on how to make mini quiches. Then the next thing she new, all the other students (who she realised were all girls) got up from their chairs and went to a work space for them to cook at.

The teacher came up to Sakura and explained that the topic was party food. She also introduced herself as Kurenai.

Now all Sakura had to do was find a place to work. Nearly everywhere was full. She looked around the room and spotted Tenten and her friends; luckily there was a space next to them. Tenten smiled up at her, but she seemed reluctant, it was the same with Hinata. However Sakura heard the blonde, Ino, growl under her breath when Sakura went to the worktop beside Hinata at the end. The ingredients were already laid out in front of her

Whilst Sakura was rubbing the margarine, lard and flour together in her mixing bowl, she felt a flow of cool air rush by her, making her hair sway with it. She turned around and their stood Tenten behind Ino. The brunette placed her fingers on her lips, signaling Sakura to be quiet. The pink-haired girl turned back to her cooking, trying not to raise any suspicion. The next moment she heard a yelp and found Ino attempting to rub something off her back.

Sakura looked at Tenten, who appeared to have flour all over her hands, and then looked at Ino, who seemed to have flour all over her back. She added two and two together and laughed out loud. She just couldn’t help herself. However, Ino gave Sakura the most intense death glare.

“What are you laughing at, Forehead?”

This made Sakura feel heavy. She could almost feel herself sinking to the floor. All she wanted to do was curl up in a ball and cover her face with her knees. Ino just had to bring up her old nickname. That was the whole reason why she moved to Konoha… she always got bullied. The thing is, Sakura thought she had grown into her forehead over the past couple of years. Obviously not.

“Girls, Calm down!” the teacher came over and peered over at their cooking in turn.

“Ino, work a little faster; Hinata, perfect; Sakura, perfect, although you could work a little faster aswel; and Tenten, you’re supposed to add the milk into the jug along with the cheese. Come on, get cracking!”

Ino got her own back and laughed in Tenten’s face, although she never really took her eyes off Sakura.

Sakura popped her twelve raw mini quiches in the oven and closed the door. Hinata was washing up, Ino was drying and Tenten was wiping the tables. There was nothing for her to do. She jumped up onto a clean work surface and sat down. Right behind her was a large window facing towards the field. She could just make out the faint outline of the Cherry Blossom trees that she decided she was going to sit at lunch. It seemed peaceful, especially with the cool breeze gently blowing the leaves about.

“And he shoots, score!” Sakura quickly glanced down to find a group of boys playing football. ‘So that’s where all the guys are…’ They were all doing gym. A blonde haired boy was giving a raven haired boy a high-five.

“What you looking at?” Someone came up beside her. It was Ino. So now she suddenly decided to talk to her. However the scowl hadn’t seemed to have left her face, making her features look harsh.

“Hm? Oh nothing.”  The blonde-haired girl began to look out the window too. The boys were now starting to pack away the goalposts and the football. About five seconds later, Hinata came over, closely followed by Tenten, who leaned on Ino’s back.

“Oh, look! There’s Neji!”

“You say that everytime we have cooking Tenten.” Ino replied, rolling her eyes. Tenten just gave her an evil glare.

“Look, Hinata. There’s your future husband!” Tenten yelled for the entire world to hear. Good job the window wasn’t open.

Hinata went red as everyone looked at her.

“Naruto and Hinata, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-”

“T-Tenten, stop it!” Hinata interrupted her.

“Yeah, Tenten, They’re not even boyfriend and girlfriend…”

“Yet!” Tenten added and Hinata looked like she was going to faint. Sakura wondered who Naruto and Neji were, she was going to ask but the boys had gone inside, probably to get changed.

Sakura took her quiches out of the oven and they smelled gorgeous. Tenten’s were a little (a lot) burnt around the edges, Ino dropped two of hers on the floor and Hinata’s was perfect.

“You’d make a good wife one day Hinata.” Tenten stated, making the pale-eyed girl turn red once more.

“And you’d make a magnificent chef one day!” Ino blurted out sarcastically. Tenten told them to shut up.

When the bell finally went Ino, Tenten and Hinata all rushed out the room, leaving Sakura all by herself, which she thought was pretty rude.
She pulled out her planner, wondering what she had next and realised that she had English in E3, wherever that was.

Walking into English (after having a look at the map) she sat down at the only desk available at the back. She was alone once more. Plus the teacher didn’t seem to be there yet, neither were the boys.

Finally the guys came in after their lesson of football. They were noisy when they came through the English door, especially a particular blonde. They were all hot and sweaty from Gym, but none of them seemed tired at all.

‘How do they do it?' Sakura thought. ‘How do they come from a whole session of football and not be tired…?’  

All the boys chatted away like old women, which made Sakura giggle in her seat. Luckily, no one came to sit next to Sakura, but she was upset that TenTen didn’t even glance her way.

It was ten minutes into the lesson when she heard her name being said.

“What do you think of the new girl, Sakura, teme?”

“Why should I care?”

“I know what I think of her Sasuke-kun. She’s a pink-haired freak with an oversized forehead.”

This comment made Sakura’s eyes prick. What made it worse was that it was unmistakably Ino’s voice. She didn’t like people who judge books by their covers, people who don’t even bother to read the front page. Sakura didn’t notice that the red-head from Cooking skipped up to the group, and Ino narrowed her eyes at the new addition to the group.

However, just as Sakura was about to walk out of the classroom (with the excuse that she needed the toilet) the teacher came in at last with his nose buried in a book.

‘At least he’s passionate about reading, walking into lesson with a book in his hand. At least the lesson will help me take my mind off things.’