Life as I Know It by miyazawa kano.

Well, I guess this is my first fic here on I kind of just wrote it on the spot. I'm still not very sure about how it's going to turn out, or if I'll even bother to write a chapter two, heh. (Actually... I've never really completed a fic before.) Umm, one thing you should know about my writing... I like to leave a lot to the imagination. Ahahah, yeah.

This story is basically my take on what Haruno Sakura's life would be like if she were just a normal teenage girl. Yeah, it's an A/U fic. Sorry if there's a bit of OOC-ness.

UPDATE (03/05/04): Repost! Making improvements.

'…' = What's going on inside Sakura's head.
"…" = Your basic, normal, everyday chatter.
[ … ] = The mildly insane ramblings of the lovable Inner Sakura.
(…) = Random notes left by the authoress.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Honest.

Ahh, caffeine... she could definitely use some of that right now.

'If it weren't for the fact that today is Monday,' Sakura thought pointedly, 'this morning would be absolutely perfect.'

Two more minutes of sleep couldn't hurt. Or three more minutes. Or four. Or hey, maybe even five. If she was going to sleep an extra four minutes, sneaking in a fifth minute couldn't hurt, right? Sakura pulled the quilted covers over her head, effectively blocking out any unwanted sunshine. And as she felt her consciousness begin to slip away once more…

"Sakura, it's time to get up!"

Okay, fine. Just three more minutes then.

"Sakura...?!"

Aw, come on. Pretty please?

"SAKURA!"

Life is so unfair.

Sakura grabbed one end of her thick comforter and flung it aside and she half-heartedly swung her feet over the edge of her twin mattress. After wrenching the door open and stepping despondently out into the corridor, Sakura stole one last, longing glance at her unmade, still-more-than-inviting bed.

It was calling to her. Reaching for her, even. Forcing her to…

"Sakura, are you up yet?!" her mother's voice called shrilly, abruptly breaking her previous train of thought.

"Hai!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Sakura's fingers deftly moved from button to button, quickly fastening the remaining few. She smoothed out the loose wrinkles of her plain white blouse, peering this way and that as she stared hard at the vanity mirror. When it came to appearance, Sakura liked to have everything just right. She adjusted her pleated tan skirt so it sat perfectly on her slim waist, accentuating a well-kept figure. After neatly tucking her shirttails and carefully tying the usual red bow just beneath her collar, Sakura slipped on a matching tan blazer – the Konoha Middle School emblem proudly emblazoning the front.

'There,' Sakura thought contently, as she delicately smoothed her glossy, unusually pink hair into place. 'Perfect.'

Satisfied, Sakura hastily exited her bedroom and bounded down the staircase, satchel in hand. Her heavy bag thudded loudly on the hardwood floor as she dropped it next to the front entrance and made her way into the kitchen. Inside, her mother greeted her with a fleeting glance, eyes just visible over the top of the newspaper held up in front of her.

"So I see you finally decided to get up," Mama said, eyes still glued to the printed pages of the Tokyo Shimbun.

"Good morning, Mama," dryly replied Sakura, who had long since learned to ignore her mother's smug remarks. After pouring herself a steaming cup of hot coffee, she began lathering a piece of toast with peanut-butter and jam.

"Oh, right. Honey, listen, I'm working late tonight. I'm going to leave this pork to defrost here, so do you think you can have dinner ready by the time I get home?"

"Mmm."

"Oh, and Auntie Tsukino is dropping by around five o'clock to pick up those movies we borrowed from her last week. I left them all on the coffee table, so make sure you return them to her, okay?"

"Mmm."

"Sakura, are you even listening to me?"

This was the way almost every morning began in the Haruno household. Mama would always be working late for one reason or another. And then she would ask Sakura to make dinner, and expect her to finish up the household chores and any other menial tasks that had to be done. Sakura never had any time to hang out with her friends like the other girls at school; Mama seemed to have an astoundingly negative effect on her social life.

Wait. What social life?

As if Mama would ever allow her to partake in something as enjoyable as having her very own social life.

"Sakura?"

"Oh… yes, Mama?" Sakura stuttered suddenly, realizing that she had once again managed to unintentionally tune out her mother's voice.

"I just don't know what I'm going to do with you!" Mama grumbled, just loud enough for Sakura to hear.

'Nag, nag, nag.'

Sakura nibbled on the last bit toast she had left. She could already tell that today was going to be another one of those days. Well, it figured; it was Monday, after all. She sucked a small, stray globule of sugary jam off the end of her index finger. Being home by five o'clock inevitably meant having to disappoint Ino again, Sakura realized dejectedly. The two of them had originally planned to do a little shopping at the Daiba 1-chome Shopping Mall after school.

'Ugh, why does Auntie need the movies back today of all days?' Sakura thought huffily.

Yep. It was definitely going to be one of those days.

But at least she still had something to look forward to; or rather, someone to look forward to. And to her, this someone made every step worth taking, every breath worth breathing, and every moment worth living. Sakura's heart seemed to flutter at the very thought.

Uchiha Sasuke.

I hope that was okay. Sorry, I know my writing is kind of sloppy and pieced together. Hopefully this rewrite is better than the original! I added three or four extra paragraphs in there and changed a bunch of stuff. I'll be rewriting chapters two and three soon, I promise!