Story: Sugar and Spice and Nothing Nice

Chapter One: The Princess Complex

It was warm, so warm that the sunshine melted on her body and covered her in its glorious love. She smiled as she surrounded herself with the gentle serenity of pounding waves. She let out a sigh as she imagined feeling the cool sand in her toes.

BLEEP. BLEEP. BLEEP. BLEEP.

A green eye cracked open in irritation and glared at the offending machine that dared to wake her. A fist came down hard, silencing its incessant wail. Reluctantly, she sat up and stretched her arms, hearing them pop softly. She yawned and considered falling back to sleep and skip the day. But she wouldn't dare do that. Today was important.

She hopped out of bed and made it up with all its intricately placed pillows against the headboard. She then stripped herself of her pajamas and threw them in her hamper. She then slipped on her pink, white laced crop top; her pink, white laced, apron skirt; grey shorts slightly longer than her skirt; deep blue genin shoes; and last but not least her forehead protector tied around the thigh opposite of her weapon holster.

Then she fixed her hair by brushing the long, red strands lovingly in the mirror. She was the only kid in her class and person she knew of in the entire village who had red hair. She learned about genetics in one of her biology classes, so she knew it was a rarity. It just made her love her hair all the more.

She looked at herself in her full length mirror against the back of her door. The outfit hugged her particular frame in all the right ways: it showed off her flat stomach; her skinny legs; and her tiny, twelve year old, ninja in training self. And perhaps, she hoped, it hid the fact that she lacked a chest, butt, or feminine curves. She'd been hoping it would come in real soon, but it seemed her body was taking its sweet time in developing into a young woman.

Joy.

"Akane," she heard her mother from the kitchen. "Breakfast is ready."

"In a minute, Mom!" she shouted back.

Her green eyes rolled before she headed over to her vanity set. She began to apply her makeup. It was a fairly new thing for her. Just a few months ago the preteen went with her best friend to spend her birthday money on cosmetics — without permission from her parents albeit.

For her green eyes and red hair to look good the lady behind the counter suggested gold and brown which Akane took advantage of. Meticulous about her appearance, like always, the girl applied her liquid foundation via a big brush. Then she put on the gold along her eyelids, and then penciled in her waterline and the line along the back of her eyelashes with the color brown.

Next, it was red lips to match her red hair.

Was it over dramatic for daytime and a twelve year old girl? Yes. It was indeed her first time dealing with makeup, and it was exciting. Experimenting with it was definitely fun. And she knew that she'd definitely be the prettiest girl in school with this much makeup on her face and these clothes. When everyone looked at her no one would dare make fun of her or gossip.

She stepped out of her room and closed the door behind her. Then, refusing to gain a single pound, only grabbed a piece of toast her mom set out. She totally skipped out on her miso soup and bowl of rice. Which, of course, her mom noticed that she wasn't going to eat a healthy volume of food to start the day off with.

"You're not eating your breakfast?" she asked.

"Carbs make you fat," Akane said easily. "I'm not going to eat it."

"Fine, more for me then," her mom said.

"Whatever."

The young girl left her home and headed onto school with a swagger. Well, her mom didn't bother her about her makeup. Again. It seemed she was fine with it. Fine by Akane. It made her feel good; like no one would dare talk crap about her looking this good. After all, none of the other girls were allowed to wear makeup. She hoped the girls in her class would be jealous actually. That meant she was winning.

She walked along the street without a thought on anyone else. She shoved them down. It was about her and her alone. That was how it ought to be.

"Akane!" she heard her best friend call.

She turned, causing her red hair to swish to the other side of her face. "Ino," she said in acknowledgment with a small smile.

"Oh my God, your makeup looks fantastic! How did you even leave your house like that?! My dad totally busted me!" she groaned dramatically as they walked on. "You totally rule!"

"I know," she smirked. "So last night I was watching…."

The two arrived at class a few minutes before it started. Today was a big day. It was the day that she'd be sorted into her team. She didn't know how many members or who the members would be. Nonetheless, she was somewhat… excited. She personally hoped Ino would be on the same team as her. Duh. And maybe one of the other girls that always gravitated towards them and had a decent fashion sense. That was all she wanted. Though, she doubted that there'd be an all girl team.

She entered the classroom and took a seat in her usual spot as she continued to chit-chat with her friends.

"Were you there for Arata-sensei's lecture? Two hours of my life I'll never get back!" Akane said. With a low voice, trying to sound masculine, she then mocked her teacher. "Here's a slide of a diamond shaped kunai, here's a slide of a star shaped kunai." Then her mimicking stopped. "Gah, put me to sleep why don't you?!"

"Yeah, did you see his toupée?" a male voice said. "It looked like ramen."

It was as if no one said a word as the girls continued to chat:

"I swear. He showed slides over and over again," Ino said.

"But did you see his toupée? It looked like ramen," that same boy interjected again.

"Do you mind?" Ino spoke again, glaring, seeing as he wouldn't take a hint. "We're talking."

Akane said, "Hey, did you see his toupée? It looked like ramen."

The girls around her laughed loudly at Akane's original joke about their odd ball of a sensei. The preteen smiled. Moments like these were incredibly empowering for her. It meant she reigned supreme amongst her peers. Just because they came from her mouth, the words were golden. It was a definite ego booster, causing it to inflate quite a bit.

But then the laughter from the girls stopped entirely and Akane looked up in confusion. She saw none other than Uchiha Sasuke enter the classroom. Of course, she should've known.

Green eyes narrowed at him in mild irritation. This happened almost every single day. The boy constantly challenged her popularity and superiority over the student body without even trying. It was as if his family name and grades gave him instant popularity. It made sense considering the values of Konoha, but it still made her seethe. Unlike him, she actually worked hard to be as popular as she is.

Uchiha sat down in his usual seat and all the attention was set on him. The other girls swooned and Akane just rolled her eyes in response.

"I want to sit by Sasuke-kun."

"No, I want to sit by Sasuke-kun."

"No, I want to sit by Sasuke-kun."

The daily fight began again and Akane simply turned up her nose. And she was very aware that she was the odd one out. The cool thing to do was that all the girls in the class should faint at the sight of Uchiha. And yes, she was also very much aware of the fact that dating the most popular guy in school would cement her status as the most popular girl in school. But considering all that's happened, it left a bad taste in her mouth.

"So cool," she heard that same male voice from earlier mutter. "She still doesn't give a damn about Sasuke."

Emerald jewels glanced over and could practically see the twinkle in that Naruto kid's eyes. Well, at least someone was paying attention even if he was a weirdo who constantly caused a scene.

"Alright, class, settle down," she heard her homeroom teacher say.

She and her friends complied as they faced forward.

"Today could be your last day at the academy forever. And with that said, all of you graduates will be sorted into a three person cell with your assigned Jōnin."

Two other people on a team with her? She already had her hopes for who she wanted on her team. Hopefully things went well.

"Uzumaki Naruto," she heard.

Whatever. He didn't matter to her. All she cared about was that he didn't end up on the same team with her. She wanted to be on the same team as Ino and some other girl in their group or a hot guy. That worked too.

"Akane."

"WHAT?!"

"YEA!"

Green eyes narrowed at Iruka-sensei. How the hell did she end up on a team with the kid that she was certain failed the class? She knew she was a good student — her grades and class rank proved that. And contrary to popular belief, she didn't sleep with anyone to get it. So why was she being punished by being teamed up with a guy that was just going to weigh her down?

She was about to demand answers, but Iruka-sensei continued on:

"And Uchiha Sasuke."

"WHAT?!"

This could not be happening. How could this be happening? She was supposed to be on a team with Ino and some other girl cool enough to be a part of her group not a bunch of boys that grinded her gears. And she wasn't going to let that happen.

"Sensei," she exclaimed, "why am I put on a team with a bunch of dumbasses?"

"Dumbasses!?" Naruto exclaimed.

"We have to keep the teams balanced. Akane, you're in the middle of your class, Sasuke is at the top, and Naruto is at the bottom," Iruka-sensei explained. "It'a fair this way."

The class roared with laughter at the blonde boy, she presumed. No one dared to laugh at her.

Iruka-sensei then called for the genin to quiet down and they soon did. But, of course, like any classroom of young boys and girls there were few kids that still chattered amongst one another.

"I don't see why anyone would like such a careless guy," she heard a lazy voice say.

Akane had to agree. She didn't see the appeal in a guy that didn't care about her and her alone. A guy that had zero drive and zero regards for her. The only appealing trait was that he was well liked, much to her chagrin, and he wasn't an eyesore, much to her chagrin again. Also, having a good clan name doesn't hurt either.

"Jeez, you don't understand anything about women," Ino berated him.

"It's the looks and the family name. Duh," Akane sighed. "Learn something why don't you."

"God, you and your friends are troublesome," he said.

She turned around and gave him a quick once over. She could take him no problem. The redhead was sure of it.

"You wanna go, Nara?" she said with a bit of a lip curl to show her distaste for the boy.

He looked as if he was afraid, at least startled that is. She hoped she was the source. But knowing him he was probably fearing he'd have to get his lazy butt up and do something. So he sighed, "No."

She was satisfied for now and turned back around to face the class.

…

It was lunch time. Akane was with her friends, sitting along some tables outside of one of the many restaurants in Konoha. She wasn't really eating and neither were the other girls. The only thing she somewhat ate was a red apple. Her stomach was rumbling, but she was sticking to the diet she made up. She'd have the model body no matter what.

But aside from her diet, the real thing that was the thorn in her side was the team set up. She still couldn't believe things didn't go her way.

"God, I can't believe Iruka-sensei," she said. "I wanted to be on a team with you bitches."

"Yeah, but you're in a team with Sasuke-kun," Ino said, obviously envious.

"But she's also on a team with Naruto," Rika said looking as if she might gag.

The girls conceded with nods and noises of discontent. But it was short lived because none other than the boy they all agreed was annoying showed up. All of them groaned except Akane who just sighed softly in irritation.

"Hi, Akane… Ino," he said, flopping down right beside her with a bright smile. He caused the whole table to shake and disdainful looks to be directed towards him. "So since we're teammates I was wondering if you wanted to eat together."

"With you?" she asked with a quirked brow.

"Well, uh, yeah," he said.

"Well, uh, no," she said with an eye roll for the ages.

She and the rest of her girls collectively stood and then moved to a different table. And their lunch continued on, uninterrupted by anyone else this time. However, the girls' attentions turned back to her least favorite person. Uchiha.

"Come on, let's go find where he is," one of them said.

"Fine, go without me," Akane said.

The girls left with Akane's permission and headed out. And so the redhead was left to pick and preen at her appearance with her little hand mirror. In the back of her mind the entire time she was eating that apple she was paranoid about her lipstick coming off or smearing. She wouldn't accept anything less than perfection when it came to herself.

"Alone at last," she suddenly heard.

She didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Oh yea, my stalker," she said sarcastically under her breath.

He started laughing like they were old friends. She frowned at him and tried to ignore him. The boy was relentless. Why wouldn't he take the hint that she didn't want to be his friend? He was weird, off putting, and loud. Not to mention, everyone hated him and she wouldn't dare associate with someone beneath her station.

"Ha Akane, you're so funny," he said.

"You're a little peculiar," she said candidly, tone full of disdain like he was something on the bottom of her shoe. "I'm going to class. Don't follow me."

As she sat down in class. Hours passed as she chatted with her friends, but they started filing out one by one until eventually only she, Naruto, and Sasuke were left. She didn't know whether to take a walk around the school or shop with what's left of her allowance. She just wanted to kill time. Her new sensei was taking his sweet ass time getting over here to teach them something. It was painfully boring. Ino and the others left, so she didn't have anyone to talk to except her new annoying teammates. Joy.

Suddenly, she heard a mischievous giggle. Curious, she looked up from filing her nails and saw the blonde boy with an eraser in hand. Jeez.

"Seriously," she said incredulously. "You're going to make him hate you already?"

"Oh please, he'll love me for it!" Naruto exclaimed.

She watched as he stood on the chair by the door to place an eraser on top of the door frame. The intent was to rig it so that the white substance would smack the new sensei on the head. Lovely. First impressions meant everything and the nuisance was about to botch it. Why was she not surprised? Well, at least she wasn't going to be involved with it.

Sasuke said, "He's not going to fall for it he's a Joni—"

Smack.

Six eyes looked up to see none other than their new sensei, for who knows how long, get smacked on the head by Naruto's 'booby trap'. She was left in mild shock that their teacher fell for something so stupid. Shouldn't he be… better than that?

He sighed. "My first impression is… you're all idiots," he said.

"Told you," Akane snipped to the blonde boy quietly.

They were outside of the classroom this time. Along the stones overlooking the vast wood, they all waited for their new instructor to get on with it. They'd already been waiting for hours, so they were all antsy to get a move on. Especially Akane.

"What are your names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams?" the sensei asked.

"Shouldn't you answer first," Akane said, giving him a skeptical look, "you know… to show good will?"

He shrugged and conceded. "My name is Hatake Kakashi and the rest is none of your business. Okay, Red?" he said cooly.

"It's Akane actually. And unlike you, I'm not ashamed of anything I do. I like fashion and training — relieves the stress and makes my body look nice. Oh and I don't like any of you by the way. My hobby is shopping and putting on makeup. And my dream is to be the most powerful person," she said simply. "You know… social superiority."

"Next," he said.

She scoffed. She was only just a little bit put off that he wasn't interested in anything she said. Nothing about that covered face betrayed how he felt. It's not that she thought she was the most interesting thing in the world. But it is that she thought she was the most interesting thing in the world.

She only heard the other two because she couldn't turn off her ears:

"Uzumaki Naruto. I like Miso Ramen. My hobby is tasting different ramen. I don't like how long it takes to heat the water for my cup ramen. My dream is to become the Hokage!"

"Next."

"The name's Uchiha Sasuke. I hate a lot of things and I don't like much. I don't have a dream but an ambition: to kill a certain someone and to restore my clan."

She just hoped this "certain someone" wasn't her, but otherwise she didn't care. Whatever was happening in his life wasn't of her concern. She didn't know him anymore and didn't care to know him now.

And she was relieved that Naruto's hobby wasn't being her personal stalker. He did have traits similar to one and she wasn't a stranger to the occasional creep.

"Now with that out of the way," he sighed disinterestedly. "Let's move on to the little test you're all going to go through."

"Are you kidding me?" Akane scoffed.

"Yeah, seriously!" Naruto shouted. "What was the point of graduation if we're being tested AGAIN?!"

She really didn't want to be tested again. For one she just got her hair done at a scalp massaging salon. She didn't want her hair splitting prematurely because of unnecessary stress. Couldn't she and these 'teammates' get on with it? She had better things to do with better people.

"Graduation was just to see if you're worth testing being a Genin," Kakashi-sensei said. "Call it a formality if you will. Whatever you call it you're going to be examined again."

"Well, what is it on then?" she demanded.

"It's a survival mission," he supplied.

"You mean like you're going to stick us in the woods and leave us in there for a couple days by ourselves…? Gross," she said.

"You'll see," he said.

"Do the woods care that I just washed and cut my hair?" she said, vague irritation seeping into her tone.

"The woods do not care," Kakashi-sensei replied stoically.

"This does not sound like the test for me," she said seriously.

God, being a ninja sucked. You get dirty, sweaty, and do gross things. But she wanted power, respect from everyone. And obtaining skills and power lead to that. Duh. Just like the position of Hokage. He's powerful and people don't dare disrespect him… without at least a hell of an ass whopping.

"If it makes you feel better your hair looks fantastic," she heard the blonde boy say.

She barely bothered with a glance and saw that he had the eyes of an admirer. Not love or attraction… just admiration. Those eyes of his were sparkling and shining like the ocean. Nothing new. She'd seen plenty of those eyes.

"I know that," she said, turning up her nose.

"Oh and by the way," Kakashi-sensei said, bringing her attention back to him. "Don't eat a thing. You'll throw up."

Fine by her, she was on a diet. No breakfast, a bite of fruit for lunch, and, if she was lucky, at dinner she got an appetizer plate full of vegetables. She predicted that she'll lose ten pounds by the end of the week. Model thin was her goal.

"Are we done here because I have a date with my friends at the tea shop I really need to get to," she said.

"That's all," Kakashi-sensei said with a wave of his hand.

"Finally," she said dramatically.

Author's Note: review and be sure to tell me what you think so far. I love feedback.