Sakura walked quietly past the people lining the pathway in front of her new school, Konoha High. There were people in tees, people on the grass, people standing, and people sitting. She sighed. It was the same every time. People would stare at her before they would look away. This was Sakura's first day of school. She had just moved to her new home in Konoha, and she was attending public school. Her previous school had been private, so she didn't know what to expect. For some reason, people seemed to be staring at her more than usual. Were they looking at her hair? Her hair was pink, cut short with bangs sweeping over to one side. But the pink? She couldn't help it; it was naturally that color. Could they be looking at what she was wearing? She glanced down at her clothes. Brown jacket over pink tank with brown corduroy pants. She hugged herself and looked back at the faces staring at her.

"Hey, you new here?" called a voice. Sakura turned around to look at a girl with long blonde hair in a high ponytail. She wore a very short skirt and a low cut pink shirt that read, 'Yeah, you wish'

"Oh, um, yes." Sakura said quietly, forcing out a smile. The blonde girl sneered but then flashed a big smile.

"Well I'm Ino. You seem to have a good sense of color and I like your hair. Why don't you hang out with me for a while and I'll introduce you to people."

"Ok. Thanks." Sakura forced out. She walked closer to Ino, ready to follow her, but Ino turned suddenly, letting her long hair slap Sakura in the face.

"Just don't get in my way, alright?" Ino started walking briskly in the opposite direction, leaving Sakura to look after her. She heard some laughter and looked to her left. A near by tree was sheltering a small group of people. They all seemed to be wearing dark colors and they all smirked at her. Sakura felt scared looking at them, so she hurried after Ino.

Ino walked over to a good looking boy with raven colored hair and dark eyes. A small group of girls giggled at everything he did, making him growl at them in annoyance. "Hi, Sasuke!" Ino called, waving at him and skipping a few steps. He looked up at her and sighed.

"What do you want, Ino?" he asked rather rudely.

"You!" she cried, completely forgetting about Sakura. She threw her arms around him, much to his distaste.

"Argh! Don't touch me!" he yelled, trying to pry her of him.

"But Sasuke-kun!" she whined. "We would make such a cute couple!" turning to Sakura she added, "don't you think we would make a cute couple?"

Sakura didn't have time to answer. Sasuke finally got Ino off him and asked, "Who is she?" he looked at Sakura. Ino was apparently pissed that he was asking about another girl.

"Oh she's no one, Sasuke. I thought she might be ok to hang out with but she's really just a little bitch with a big forehead." She crossed her arms and turned away from the insulted Sakura.

It was true, Sakura did have a slightly large forehead, but her anger rose especially when Ino criticized it. This girl didn't even know her and only ten seconds before had been somewhat friendly to her. Sakura glared. Her temper was usually kept quiet inside her, but she was being insulted by someone who didn't even know her name.

"Excuse me!" she said hotly, making Sasuke and Ino look at her. "I've only been at this school for a few minutes but I can tell the only bitch around here is the one standing in front of me. You think you're so high and mighty but you're probably just a little slut hiding behind you're daddy's power am I right? So don't you dare insult me! You don't even know my name!" Sakura spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving Ino to stare after her. The people who before had been staring at her were now gaping in shock.

She would probably get in trouble for that. Not only had she insulted the girl, but also her father, whom Sakura didn't even know. It wasn't the smartest thing to do on her first day of school, but her temper had gotten the better of her. Sakura hid her fear behind a face of confidence in her outburst. She made her way over to a (supposedly) unoccupied tree. Sakura leaned against the trunk and crossed her arms.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" said a voice. Sakura turned to see a girl hanging upside down from a branch of the tree she was standing under. The sight scared her and she stumbled and fell to the ground. The girl that was hanging swung down and landed on her feet to stand above Sakura.

Sakura picked herself up off the ground to look at the girl. She recognized her as one of the darkly dressed people from earlier. She had dark brown hair wound up in to buns on the sides of her head and bangs. She wore a dark purple shirt that read, 'whatever' and black capris. Black bracelets ringed her arms and she had very worn down Converse.

"I asked you a question." The girl said, breaking Sakura from her trance.

"Oh, I'm Haruno Sakura." She said.

"Well Sakura, you've been here, what, ten minutes? And you've already pissed of Yamanka Ino, the bitch queen?" she crossed her arms and stared down Sakura.

"Well what was I supposed to do? She started insulting me before she even knew my name!" Sakura said defensively. The girl's expression changed into a smile and she started laughing. Sakura stared in confusion.

"I didn't mean it like that!" the girl laughed. "I meant it as a compliment! Yamanka Ino is one of the meanest girls alive! No one talks back to her! I'm impressed, to be honest." She smiled warmly and held out her hand. Sakura hesitated a moment, but she decided the girl was sincere, so she took her hand and shook it. "I'm Ten Ten by the way." The girl added, taking her hand back.

Sakura smiled. "It's nice to meet you." Ten Ten looked her over. "Where do you shop?" she asked.

"Oh I don't know, here and there. I don't really care for this outfit, but my mom said it went with my hair and that it would be good for first impressions at school." Sakura answered honestly. She actually wished she and Ten Ten were switched, because she liked her outfit more than her own.

"Oh so you usually don't wear clothes like that?" Ten Ten asked. She couldn't stop a bit of hopefulness slipping into her voice.

"No. The last school I went to was private and I mostly wore the uniforms, so my wardrobe wasn't that big to begin with anyway. My mom took me shopping and bought a bunch of clothes like this. I don't really like any of them, and there's only enough for one week. I actually need to go shopping on Saturday." She looked back at Ten Ten. This might be a good chance to really make a new friend. "Would you like to come with me?" at first Ten Ten blinked at the invitation, but then she smiled and said sure. The girls continued conversing about where to meet and what not before a few other people popped up to talk to them.

"Hey chicks. What's up?" a guy with a large furry coat walked up. He had triangular red marks on his cheeks and messy brown hair; Sakura saw the head of a puppy poking out from inside the coat.

"Hey Twenty, who's this?" said another boy. He seemed a little bit older than the other and had purple markings on his face. He had sandy brown hair and a black zip-up jacket.

"I told you not to call me that, Kankuro!" Ten Ten yelled, smacking him in the arm. "And this is Haruno Sakura. She's dressed weird but she's cool."

"You're the girl who pissed off Ino, right?" Said another boy. He had long dark brown hair tied in a low ponytail and white eyes that almost seemed to glow. Behind him was a girl with the same eyes and dark purple hair. She wore a black and purple shirt and black jeans.

"I'd bet you're troublesome." A fourth boy said. He had both ears pierced and his dark hair pulled into a high, spiky ponytail. He too was wearing a black jacket.

A girl sporting a lot of fish nets and blonde hair pulled into four ponytails walked around the boys. "Well done, Haruno." She said, peering down at Sakura.

Finally a blonde boy with whisker-like markings on his cheeks jumped up from out of no where. Out of the group, he was the most colorful, sporting an orange and black jacket and orange pants. "That was awesome! Ino's face was so crazy, she looked like she was ready to kill someone!" he practically yelled at Sakura. "Namely you," he added, grinning. She smiled. They seemed like nice people, as opposed to scary like she had thought them before.

Ten Ten spoke up again. "Everyone this is Sakura. I doubt she'll be able to make friends with anyone over there, (she pointed to the crowd in the direction of Ino and Sasuke) so do you guys think she could hang with us?" Sakura looked up at the group hopefully. She needed some good friends after her fight with Ino. They all glanced at each other, then nodded to her. She smiled and said, "It's nice to meet you all."

The blonde boy in orange started off the introductions. "I'm Uzamaki Naruto!" he chimed.

The blonde girl entered in. "I'm Temari. This is my brother Kankuro." She pointed to the boy with the purple face markings; he grinned.

The boy with the big coat and the dog said, "I'm Kiba, and this is Akamaru." Akamaru barked.

The white-eyed boy lifted a hand and said, "Hyuuga Neji." He turned to the girl with purple hair behind him.

"I-I'm H-Hyuuga H-Hinata." She mumbled, tapping her fingers together nervously. Everyone looked back at the remaining boy with the spiky ponytail.

"Troublesome," he muttered.

"Nice to meet you, Troublesome!" Sakura blurted out before she could stop herself. She quickly covered her mouth and muttered, "Sorry."

The whole group started laughing (well except Hinata, who just kind of giggled nervously). Even the boy in question smirked a little. "He's Nara Shikamaru," Temari said after calming down.

"You know you're pretty cool, Pinky." Said Kiba as he put an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about Shikamaru, he thinks everything is troublesome."

Sakura continued talking with her new friends and learned a lot about them. She learned that Temari and Kankuro were in the grade above and that Neji and Hinata were cousins and that Shikamaru was a super genius. She learned that Ten Ten was the sports star (mastering in basketball, softball, track, and even archery) and that Naruto LOVED ramen. She also learned about Temari and Kankuro's other brother, who was apparently the absent leader of the group. She learned that he, Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru were in a band called 'Shinobi'. Naruto played drums and vocals, Shikamaru played bass and vocals, Neji played second lead guitar and lead vocals, and 'the absent' (she doesn't know his name yet) played lead guitar and lead vocals.

Sakura told them about her old school and music she liked to listen to. She told them her love for singing (which for some reason interested Naruto and Neji A/N you'll find out why later .) and at how she had won her last schools' talent shows three times. She told them of how she liked to draw and write stories and how she hoped to be a medic of some kind in the future. She meant it as a joke, but she also slipped the matter of her insane strength into the conversation. When Kankuro scoffed at that she hit him in the arm, sending him flying to the ground. The others sniggered while slowly backing away a little from her. Sakura was having a great time talking with them when the school doors opened and they had to go inside.

Temari and Kankuro went a separate direction from the group while Ten Ten and Hinata took her to the office to get her schedule. It turned out her first two classes she had with Hinata and her third with Ten Ten so at least until lunch she would know were to go. Hinata lead her to her locker and then class. When they reached their destination, Sakura saw that both Neji and Naruto were in the class as well. She sat down with them and Hinata.

People were whispering as Sakura took a seat. "What are they talking about?" she asked. Naruto looked around before turning back to her and grinning, however, it was Hinata who spoke up first.

"T-They're talking about y-your f-fight with Ino." She said quietly. Sakura sweat dropped. What would she do if she saw Ino or Sasuke again? Hinata saw her worry. "d-don't worry S-Sakura-san. It'll b-be ok." Sakura smiled.

"And don't worry about Hinata's stutter either. Once she gets to know you better, it'll stop." Neji said, glancing at Sakura. He then looked at Hinata evilly and added, "Except when she gets around a certain blonde." He looked at Naruto who was grinning for no particular reason. Hinata squeaked and went really red.

"Yeah a blonde, huh? Wonder who it is." Naruto said, his eyes closed in friendly slants. Neji sighed and shook his head.

"Apparently a dumb blonde." He said, rubbing his temples. Sakura giggled. She was beginning to wonder where the teacher was, but no one else seemed worried, so she relaxed. Just as she got comfortable a loud noise made everyone jump. Sakura turned around.

The door had been swung open so forcefully that it had hit the wall behind it, which was the cause of the loud noise. A boy with blood red hair walked in. His eyebrows were almost nonexistent and he had black rings completely around his eyes. On the right (or left to him) side of his forehead was a tattoo of the Chinese character for 'love'. He was wearing baggy black pants with a few chains hanging off them and a black t-shirt that red 'STFU' in red letters. He is so hot! Thought Sakura. Normally he might've looked strange without eyebrows, but with the black ringed eyes he looked absolutely gorgeous. Sakura stared at him as he glared at the entire class before walking over towards her, Hinata, Neji, and Naruto.

"That's Gaara for you, always wanting to make a dramatic entrance." Neji said smirking. Gaara only shrugged before turning to glare at Sakura. Originally his glare was meant to scare her away, but when she only stared back he growled and asked, "Who the hell are you?" his voice was deep and masculine, and it made Sakura's insides flutter.

"I'm Haruno Sakura." She said. She tried to smile but his glare made her almost afraid to. His eyes were an emerald color and she wanted to gaze at them forever.

"I don't care who you are. I meant who are you to think that you can sit with us?" his nastiness reminded her of Sasuke and Ino, and immediately the fluttery feelings disappeared. Her anger started to rise.

"Who are you to think that I would be afraid of your death glare? I can sit where I want, thank you." She glared back at him, crossing her arms over her chest. Neji, Naruto, and Hinata stared at her. It seemed like she had to go through the whole Ino incident all over again. Dammit, she thought I really need to control this stupid temper of mine.

"I'm guessing you're new because if you knew who I am you would definitely be afraid of me. If I were you I'd take that back." He was threatening her now, not breaking the glaring contest.

"Well if you knew I who I am you'd know I'm not someone who's easily intimidated." she said back. "And I don't have to take anything back." Hinata looked like she was about to faint. The whole class was staring at them in awe.

I've never really had someone talk back to me like that. Gaara thought to himself. This girl is really annoying, but also…he couldn't think of the right word to describe her. She mimicked his death glare. If she was smart she wouldn't do something like that. He raised his hand as though he might hit her, but when he brought it down to slap her, Sakura's own hand flew up to catch it. She was strong enough to stop the momentum, but she winced when the stinging pain of the slap hit the back of her hand. The whole class gasped, and Hinata finally fainted. Gaara broke his glare and smirked.

"Alright, kids that's enough." Said a voice. The teacher finally walked in. He had silver hair slanting in a diagonal shape and a black mask covering his face from the eyes down. Despite the color of his hair he didn't look more than thirty years old. He had one hand in a pocket and the other was clutching a small orange book. Everyone (except Hinata who was still unconscious) turned to look at him. "I see we have a new student." He nodded to Sakura before turning to Gaara, "and Gaara it isn't nice to hit the other children, especially if they're new. If I catch you trying to hit another student you'll be expelled, again." He added the last bit after the shortest of pauses. "Now apologize so we can start class." Gaara glared at the teacher, then back at Sakura, then back at the teacher again. He stood straight and walked around to the desk behind Sakura to sit down.

This girl's something else. Gaara thought as he stared at the back of her pink head. The whole class calmed down and the teacher started the class. Sakura learned that the teacher's name was Kakashi, that he was a pervert and liked to read porno books, and that he was for some reason always late. When Hinata finally woke up she quietly explained that Sakura was the girl who back-talked Ino and that she was now their friend. Gaara only glared and shifted in his seat at the news. Soon class was over and Sakura went with Hinata.

The week continued on without any other occasions like the one she had with Gaara or Ino. Ino had resolved to just pretending Sakura was a speck of dirt, and would always merely walk past her without a word. Ino was still prettiest in the school, and as long as she had her attention, she was happy (or at least less bitchy).

Gaara was in a few more of her classes as were some of her other new friends. Sakura decided not to talk to him, even though she couldn't get rid of the fluttery feelings she got when she looked at him. She tried to convince herself that he was mean and selfish and uncaring but even so, he was still hot. Attractive as he was she silently convinced herself that he wasn't her type. Sakura decided to just ignore him as much as possible.

Gaara had no choice but to be around Sakura, because all his other friends positively loved her. For some reason though, despite her attitude towards him, and her disrespectfulness, Gaara still couldn't think of the word to describe her. She wasn't like his sister, Ten Ten, or Hinata. She got along with all his friends in a different way individually, and as a whole also. Her look reminded him of an Ino wannabe, no matter how much his friends tried to tell him otherwise. Gaara too decided that ignoring her would be best.

When school finally let out on Friday, Sakura walked with Ten Ten, Hinata, and Temari. They were nice to her and she finally felt that she really did belong with them. She hadn't really had loads of time to hang out with friends at her old school. She learned that Temari had a crush on Shikamaru (even though he was younger than her), that Ten Ten had a crush on Neji, and that Hinata had a crush on Naruto. Temari was loud and daring. Ten Ten was great at sports, as said before. Hinata was extremely shy but she was always helped out by her cousin. Neji was protective of her, but in a good way. The other guys were great too. Kiba was always making jokes and Naruto was always up for doing something stupid. Neji was quiet, but a nice guy all the same. Shikamaru said 'troublesome' to nearly everything, but would always help out when needed. When Ten Ten asked where Sakura wanted to meet to go shopping, Temari and Hinata became interested, so they all decided they would go together.

Sakura had decided to meet the other girls in front of the school on Saturday morning, because it was really the only place she knew (remember, she's new in town) and later they led her to the mall by car. Sakura loved shopping, especially with other people. They ventured into this store and that store, buying Sakura a whole new wardrobe. She also bought some new make-up and a pair of Converse high tops. Sakura felt so grateful that she had these new friends to guide her. Temari seemed to be the most daring, picking out fishnets and black miniskirts. Hinata was shy, but had a good sense for matching tops and bottoms. Ten Ten was great with finding the right color make-up and so forth, including jewelry and accessories. By the time the mall closed, it took all four girls to carry all the bags, even though it was mostly all for Sakura. They led her back to the school after loading everything in her car and from there she drove home.