This chapter has been beta-ed by the lovely Heime the Elephant. Sadly, Heime does not have an FF account, but when she does get one, I'll let you all know. She's an amazing writer, just doesn't have the fan in girl, yet. ~Koi

Haruno Sakura was a very shy girl, and she knew it. The parents knew it, the children knew it, hell, even the ANBU watching over a certain blond haired, blue eyed Jinchuriki knew it. Everyone knew Haruno Sakura was shy, everyone.

The young child was so shy that she brushed her hair so her bangs fell over her face and all the way down to the tip of her nose, making her look like some kind of ghost from a horror movie. In fact, if her eyes were red, she'd be able to pass as a demon.

Her sleeves were long and dangled over her hands, even though her mom cuffed them for her every morning, and she was constantly looking down and drawing pictures in the dirt with the tips of her shoes, pictures that often resembled cherry blossoms.

All in all, Haruno Sakura was one of the lowest on the pecking order that was established early on by the young females in the playground, only being beaten out by kids with mental/physical disabilities and the blond haired, blue eyed Jinchuriki that was mentioned a few paragraphs ago.

So, that brings us to the start of this story.

A young, pink haired child sat on the ground near a patch of flowers, brushing away tears to no avail, seeing as they just kept coming back. She sobbed and sobbed, her voice started to get shrill from the constant use.

She was the one girl that had been chosen as the main victim of the girls bullying. At first, she thought she could handle it. It had only started off as comments on her forehead, after all. But then, jokes about how big her forehead was, or how chubby her hands were – even though they were just as chubby as everyone else's at her age – had been thrown in.

And then, it got even worse. They pulled her hair, tripped her, and even threw sand from the sandbox at her eyes.

She knew she should tell her parents, but she didn't want to. They wouldn't be proud of her if she did. She wouldn't be their 'brave little blossom' if she whined and complained. The pinkette hiccuped and tried to brush away her tears.

She knew she had to go home soon, and she wouldn't be able to blame all her sobbing on a scraped knee, especially if it was in perfect condition.

"So you're the Forehead Girl?" a voice spoke up, breaking through Sakura's quite sobs. She let out a terrified squeak and glanced up at the speaker – crouching down over her – through the cracks in her long bangs.

"W-Who are you?" she whispered, wiping another tear away from her puffy eyes.

"Me?" the stranger asked, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear, "I'm Yamanaka Ino. How about you?"

"Sakura," the pinkette whispered.

"Huh?" Ino asked, cupping a hand around her ear and leaning forward a bit more, "I can't hear you."

"Haruno Sakura!" Sakura snapped, sniffling a bit.

Ino smiled and poked Sakura's forehead, "So this is the famous Billboard Brow?" she brushed Sakura's hair back a bit, "Hiding it makes it worse, ya know," Sakura blinked and looked up into Ino's eyes. The Yamanaka girl was almost like an angel.

"Come back tomorrow," Ino said, getting up, "I have a present for you."

"Sakura," Ino said, turning to me. We were back at the park again, swinging our too short legs over the side of a bench, "why are you growing your hair out?" she asked, her expression serious.

'Because,' I thought, 'Sasuke-kun likes girls with long hair.' "Ino's growing hers," I said, "so I'm going to grow mine, too." I forced a smile, "I want to be like you, after all!"

A beat. "Sakura~!" Ino squealed, glomping me around the shoulders, "You're just so cute!"

"I-Ino-chan?!"

Ino mumbled something about Akimichi and how much they eat under her breath before turning to me and raising an eyebrow. (Figure 7) "Sakura, why do you have an extra chocolate in your bag?" she asked.

'I was thinking that maybe I'd have enough courage to give it to Sasuke-kun,' I thought. Of course, I could never say that out loud. "I'm…," I started, trying to think of an excuse as my eyes scanned the classroom before landing on a certain blond sitting alone in the back row.

"… I'm going to give it to Naruto-san," I said, "He's always alone, so I thought it might be nice."

Ino shook her head, "You're just too nice, Sakura-chan. You could always give it to your crush or something."

"But I don't have one, Ino-chan."

"A-Ano, H-Haruno-san," Hyuga Hinata said, pushing her fingers together nervously as she spoke, "D-Do you l-l-l-l-like –"

"Hinata-san, right?" I said, smiling at her, "I only gave the chocolate to Naruto-san in order to cheer him up." The look of pure relief and joy on Hinata's face almost made my heart melt.

"Sakura-chan!" Ino called, running over. She stopped into front of Hinata and I. "Oh," she said, "Hinata-chan's with you, too." Hinata blushed and looked down, seeming to be on the verge of tears.

Ino, on the other hand, just kind of stared at the heiress of one of Konoha's most prestigious clans for a second before a sly smirk made its way up her face. "Don't tell me," she giggled out, elbowing me in the side and waggling her eyebrows at Hinata, "you two got into a fight about Na –"

"Ino-chan!" I yelped out, holding a finger to my lips, "Shhhhhhhh!" 'I don't want Sasuke-kun to hear and get the wrong idea.' "You're going to embarrass Hinata-san if you say that out loud," I chastised.

Ino blinked, then threw her head back and cackled like a witch.

"Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan!" Ino yelled, running over, "I'm going to ask Sasuke-kun out today!"

"T-That's great I-Ino-chan," Hinata said, her voice just a bit louder than it was a month ago when I met her. Ever since the chocolate incident, she'd just kind of been absorbed into Ino and I's little group, making the duo a trio.

"Good luck, Ino!" I said, "I'm rooting for you." 'Even though I like him too.'

"Ahahahaha…" Ino rubbed the back of her head, "He turned me down." 'Thank kami.'

"I-It's okay, Ino-chan," Hinata said, putting a hand on Ino's shoulder, "T-There w-w-will be other chances."

"Should I ask him to reconsider?" I asked. 'What the hell are you saying?!' I thought, 'You're helping her?!'

"Sakura!" Ino said, hugging me, "You're the best!"

"Go away", Uchiha Sasuke, the school's heartthrob (and both Ino and I's crush), snapped, turning away from me and starting down the hall.

I rushed after him and cut him off, "U-um, if you would…" 'Say Ino's name. Say Ino's name. Say Ino's name. You're not confessing for yourself, you're confessing for her!'

Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh, '"I'm not going to go out with yo–" '

'Ino deserves him more!' "Please go out with Yamanaka Ino!" I shouted, bowing to him. Sasuke just blinked.

"…."

"…."

"….."

"…"

"…What?" he asked.

"Please go out with Yamanaka Ino!" I repeated, feeling my face heat up, "The blond!" 'Just kill me now!' "The one who just asked you out!"

"…Hm." 'Ahh," I thought, 'he's walking away.'

"Sorry, Ino-chan," I mumbled, "It didn't work." 'The first time I talked to Sasuke-kun, my crush…'

"That's alright, Sakura," Ino said, smiling. '…And I'm asking him to go out with my best friend.'

"Should I try again later?" 'There is seriously something wrong with you!' I told myself.

"No," Ino shook her head, "he'll think I'm too persistent. Thank you anyways, though. Oh, we're going over to Hinata's today, right?"

Sakura's emerald pools blinked open as soon as the sun hit them. Groaning, the thirteen year old sat up and stretched. She smacked her lips a few times and swung her legs over the bed, making her way to her dresser.

She ran a brush through her hair a few times until there weren't any knots, then tied her bangs back with a ribbon. The Haruno pulled her night shirt off and bound her chest with wrappings, before pulling on a small, black undershirt that was connected to wire mesh.

"Sakura?" her mother, Haruno Mebuki, shouted up, "I heard your footsteps, are you up?"

"Yes, mom," Sakura called down, tugging her dress on and zipping it up. Since she'd been studying late the previous night, she still had her spandex on. She yanked on her sandals and popped out of her room.

Mebuki opened the door to her own bedroom, yawning. "Do you need me to make you lunch?"

"No," Sakura said, shaking her head, "Since we're taking the test today, Hinata's helping one of her maids make bento's for us all."

"Well," Mebuki huffed, putting a hand on her hip, "You make sure that you bring her in some of the Haru Bakery's finest pastries."

Sakura rolled her eyes and started down the stairs, "I'll pick some up on the way out."

"Make sure to eat breakfast!" Mebuki shouted down, before going back to sleep. Since Sakura's dad came from a civilian background and her mom from Kiri, she had a well-mixed life. Haruno Kizashi woke up early in the mornings to bake and prepare the shop, and her mom went in an hour before it opened to run it.

It was a very good business, putting her family on Konoha's map in the civilian world. Any and all tourists were referred to the bakery as much as they were to the Hokage Monument or the famous Memorial Stones.

Sakura quickly heated up a skillet and cracked a few eggs into a bowl, beating them together with some vegetables and meat with her chopsticks. Around five minutes after she poured them into the pan and warmed the pre-cooked sausages in the oven, she took a seat at the table and dug into her food.

When the pinkette was done, she brought her dishes to the sink and quickly washed and dried them, putting them back in their places before grabbing her bag and leaving for the Academy.

When she finally got to the school, she quickly rushed into her classroom and looked around for any fangirls. Seeing none, she slid into the seat next to Sasuke. The boy turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "You haven't done that in months," he commented.

Sakura gave him a small smile and tried to hide her blush, "Ino wanted to sit next to you today."

"Couldn't she come in early, then?"

Sakura shook her head, "She needs time to get ready." Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned back to watching the window. Sakura put a hand to her cheek to feel if it had heated up. She let out a small sigh when she found that it felt normal.

Sasuke looked back at her out of the corner of his eye.

"Team Seven, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," Sakura looked up and turned to Naruto, who sat behind her. She held up a thumbs up, and he grinned back. "And Uchiha Sasuke," Iruka-sensei finished.

Sakura could feel Ino's shock from across the room and quickly raised her hand, "Um, sensei, why am I on this team?"

"It is tradition that the highest scoring child, Sasuke, and the lowest scoring child, Naruto, be put together with a kunoichi of high smarts," Iruka-senei explained, "You had the second highest score on the written test."

"But I'm the second highest," Sakura protested, "Shouldn't the highest be put on Team Seven?"

Iruka-sensei sighed, "She needed to be put on a team with two certain clan members; that is also tradition."

All heads turned to Ino, who looked like a deer in headlights. Sakura felt her eyes go wide, "But," she started, "But, I…"

"Sakura," Iruka-senei said, "The teams have been decided by the Hokage. You cannot change them."

"Yes, sensei," the pinkette murmured.

"I still can't believe it," Ino groaned out, brushing her hair. The trio of friends were all in no's bedroom, having decided to stay the night, "You got on a team with both of our crushes."

"Sorry," Sakura said, running a comb through her own locks.

Hinata shuffled around her bag for a brush to do her hair as well, "It's okay, Sakura-chan. T-The teams were made for a reason."

Ino sniffed, "They could still take romance into account. Anyways, where are you guys going to wear your protectors? I'm using mine as a belt."

"Around my neck," Hinata said.

Sakura glanced down, "My forehead."

"That's unoriginal," Ino commented, "Why not as a headband?"

"That's what your ribbon is for."

"Hmmmm," she held up a strand of her hair, "I think I'm going to switch shampoos soon, this isn't silky enough. Oh! I got you guys some stuff!" The Yamanaka got up, pulling out a few boxes and handing them to her friends, "Here, open them!"

Hinata nodded, taking the top off. Inside was a sleeveless lavender hoodie and tight fitting, light weight pants, complete with about five pockets running up and down the outer sides of the legs. A belt with cylindrical holders hung off it and box-like pouch on the right lay under them both.

"The jacket has lots of compartments inside, too," the blond said, "Since you've liked poisons since Sakura lent you that book. The belt can hold your viles and senbon."

Hinata smiled, "Thank you, Ino-chan."

"No problem. There are also some bandages for you to wrap your wrists. I remember you mentioned that it helps with Juken. Anyways, Sakura! Your turn!"

The Haruno opened her, revealing a scarlet mock neck and matching gloves that went from the first knuckle on her hand to her shoulder. There was also a scarlet apron skirt that was slit on the front, back, and sides, where it was held together by buckles. Under it all were a pair of black, spandex short shorts.

"Ino," Sakura breathed out, "This is…"

"Amazing, right?"

"How much did it cost?" She asked.

"There is no way in hell you are paying me back," Ino snapped, "They're gifts. Got it?"

Sakura pouted, "Fine. But isn't the skirt way too revealing?"

"There are some things called shorts," Hinata deadpanned, and Ino burst into giggles.

"Let's rest up," Sakura said, putting her clothes back in their box and pulling a blanket over her head, "We need to get up early tomorrow." Ino nodded and climbed into her futon, Hinata doing the same.

"Goodnight," The Hyuga called.

"Night," Ino mumbled.

Sakura smiled and closed her eyes. That night, she dreamt of onyx eyes and her lips turned up in a sly smirk.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," I said, "I like…," I glanced down at the floor as Sasuke's face popped up into my mind, "…sweet things," I picked up, still staring downwards, "hanging out and training with my best friends Ino and Hinata, and reading up on strategies and different types of jutsu. I don't like…," 'the fact that me and my best friend have the same crush,' "…spicy foods, or when people look down on others."

"I currently don't have a dream," I lied. I looked up to find both Sasuke and Naruto were looking at me, along with Kakashi-sensei. Gulping, I added something else, "But I do wish to be a capable kunoichi," I finished up.

Kakashi-sensei nodded, "Okay, the grumpy chicken goes next." I found myself holding in a giggle.

The next morning, Sakura woke up before Ino and Hinata. She re-did her chest bindings, seeing as they had loosened overnight, and pulled on the mock neck Ino had gotten her. She slipped on her short shorts and apron skirt before tugging her gloves on.

Sakura wrapped her thighs and buckled up her holster. Running a brush through her hair a few times, she tied it back with Ino's ribbon. The pinkette looked down at her forehead protector, then to her skirt.

She quickly pulled the piece of clothing off and took the pins out of her protector, then re-did it on the left flap on the front of her skirt.

"There," she whispered to herself. Getting another idea, she took off her holster and wrapped the piece of cloth from the forehead protector around her wrappings, before putting her holster on again.

Sakura smiled, then slipped her stuff in her bag and threw it over her shoulder, heading down the stairs of the Yamanaka household. She quickly passed Inoichi, who was sipping on a cup of tea. She curtly explained her early departure – "Training, and I have to drop my stuff off at home" – and then headed out the door.

Sakura hurried down the street, passing by a few vendors who were starting to set up their stalls. A few gasped at how early the young kunoichi was up – seeing a thirteen year old waltzing around town at four in the morning was definitely not normal –, and immediately started firing questions at her.

One of them included Takashi, a boy that was a few years older than her and helped his father run their family's takoyaki stand.

"'Kura?" he asked, seeming a bit bewildered. Sakura stopped walking and turned to him. "What are you doing up so early?" he did a once over of her, and his eyebrows seemed to disappear into his hairline, "And why are you dressed weirdly?"

Behind the black haired, brown eyed boy, a balding man turned around, "Your father making you run errands this early?" Tadashi, Takashi's dad, asked.

Sakura shook her head, "No, I'm coming home from a friend's house."

"They kick you out or somethin'?" Tadashi asked, grabbing a few ingredients from a bin and starting to chop them up.

"No," Sakura said, "I just have to drop this off early, I have training from now on."

"Training…," Takashi muttered, before it all clicked, "You passed! Congrats, 'Kura!"

Sakura nodded in thanks, "I have to go," she said, waving goodbye and starting back down the street.

"Drop by with your teammates when you're done," Tadashi called down, "It'll be on the house!"

"Thanks!" Sakura called back. The pinkette smiled to herself and started to hum. Maybe her team wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be.

A few hours later, she sat on the ground, erasing another drawing that she'd scribbled in the dirt with her hands. "This is so boring, 'ttebayo!" Naruto whined, "It's been, like, ten hours."

From a few feet away, Sasuke glared at the blond. "It's only been three," Sakura corrected, drawing a face, then adding a few whiskers to it.

Naruto stared down at the drawing, "Is that me, 'ttebayo?" he asked, his eyes sparkling. The pinkette looked up to him, then added two triangles on top of the head.

"It's a cat," she said, before erasing it and starting on another doodle.

Sakura could hear Ino now. 'Sakura!' the blond would yell, 'What the hell are you doing?! Your nails are getting all dirty! Come with me, we have to clean them! If a boy sees, he could tell others and it would start a rumor that you don't care about your nails.'

"I don't care about my nails, though," Sakura muttered to herself. Sasuke's head shifted just enough so he could look at her. The Uchiha raised an eyebrow. Sakura felt her face heat up, and she quickly went back to drawing her family's shop.

While she and Sasuke couldn't be considered friends, they were closer than he was with any of the other peers. Unlike the crazy Sasuke fans in the class, who just stalked him and asked him out, when she went to talk to him, she was retrieving information for Ino.

And slowly building up a relationship between him and herself.

By the second year in the Academy, it dawned on Sakura that she was raising her chances of getting with him. She stopped talking to him for a month or two, but that only resulted in him stealing glances at her every once in a while.

So, after three months of chatting away with the boy, she made it known that she was only in it for Ino. Walking up to him after class, she'd started listing off her best friends best qualities and asked him to date Yamanaka Ino for the second time.

"What about your nails, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

Sakura blushed and shook er head, erasing the picture in the dirt and starting to sketch a cherry blossom.

"Nothing," she said, looking down at her hands. Her nails were chalk full of dirt, the beds stuffed with it and the cuticles caked so much they looked brown.

Okay, maybe she should stop using her fingers to draw. At this rate, she'd actually chip a nail.

The Haruno knew she could retrieve a stick or a stone to draw with, but she really didn't want to leave and risk Kakashi-sensei arriving while she was gone. That would only make her look bad, and she didn't want to leave a bad impression of herself on her first genin sensei.

Then again, he was over three hours late. There was a chance she could go to the other side of the village to get a stick from the Nara compounds forest and return and the albino man still wouldn't have shown up.

Sakura sighed, "Why's he so late," she asked softly.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, leaning towards her, "Sakura-chan, I couldn't hear you."

"I said," she mumbled, "'why is he so late'?"

"Oh," he grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Sorry, I can't answer that one, 'ttebayo." Sakura contemplated getting up and walking away.

"He was late yesterday, too," Sasuke spoke up, shocking Naruto.

"Teme," he started, which earned him a scowl from Sakura, "You actually talked willingly!"

"Of course he did," Sakura snapped, "He's comfortable with the people here. And don't call him Teme, it's rude."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, "Comfortable?" he asked.

Sakura's face went red, "By that, I mean with Naruto," she said, somehow finding it within herself not to stutter, "You guys are friends, right?"

Naruto scowled, "Are not, dattebayo!" he exclaimed.

Sasuke grunted in agreement.

"Oh," Sakura said, looking to the ground, "My mistake. But, we could all be friends!" she turned to look at Naruto, then to Sasuke, "I mean, I know you both. 'A friend of a friend is my friend?' Right?"

"It's 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend,'" a voice spoke up, "But that could work, too."

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto all whirled around to find Kakashi-sensei standing right behind them, his visible eye curled up into a 'U.'

"You're late, dattebayo!" Naruto yelled, getting to his feet and pointing at his teachers face.

"Naruto," Sakura hissed, grabbing the back of his jacket and pulling him to the ground, "Be nice."

"Fine," he grumbled, crossing his arms as he glared up at his sensei, "But he's still late."

"We know," Sasuke mumbled.

"I bet you he knows, too," Sakura said lowly, turning to look at him.

Kakashi-sensei chuckled, "Well, you see, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way around the village."

"That's ether a far-fetched lie," Sakura deadpanned, "Or you're one of the slowest Shinobi I know."

Kakashi-sensei looked down at her, "What happened to the quite little girl that I saw yesterday?"

"She disappeared," Sakura said, crossing her arms, "That's what happens when you deprive me of both food and sleep."

"Oh!" Kakashi-sensei exclaimed, "You listened to me!" he turned to Naruto and Sasuke, "Did you two fast as well?"

They shook their heads yes. Kakashi-sensei nodded to himself, "Good," he said, and pulled an alarm clock out of kami knows where – Sakura really didn't want to attempt to figure out how.

The albino twisted a few thing-a-ma-jigs, then set it down on top of the stump, "Okay," he said, "You have until twelve to take these from me." He unfurled his hand and two bells jingled down. "Those who get them pass. The one who doesn't fails."

Whew, that was a bit harder to write than I first thought. I hope you all enjoyed this. I've had the idea floating around my head since I first saw Sakura and Ino's past together. R&R! ~Koi