This is a response to so stupid its genius's challenge for and ItaSaku AU Highschool fic. So this is my first ItaSaku. So, please criticize any errors and don't bother sugar coating things; feel free to be brutal, it won't hurt my feelings, but it you flame the couple I will get irritated. By the way, Itachi is a senior and 18, Sakura is a freshman and 15. There is some OOC, but I can't really think of how to fix it, if you could suggest ways to avoid it I would be really grateful. Thanks for reading!

Sakura shyly entered the main office of Poemo-Masaki School, a prep school in the heart of Kyoto with an amazing reputation for excellence in education and sports. The receptionist looked up, gave her a cursory glance and promptly dismissed her; a flash of hurt was quickly overtaken with her anger and she stalked towards the desk, she may be here on a scholarship but she did not deserve to be treated like she was trash.

"Excuse me, I'm a new student here and I need to retrieve my schedule; I missed yesterday."

The woman at the desk did not respond immediately and took her time finishing up the form she had been completing, brushed her curly dyed-blonde hair behind her shoulder, and gave an exaggerated sigh before looking up at Sakura. A slight breeze ruffled Sakura's rose colored hair and she turned to see an older boy with black hair, onyx eyes, and pale skin walk in. He glanced at her before approaching the desk where the receptionist looked ready to faint and leaned easily against the counter, asking to sign up to speak with one of the school counselors in a deep, silky voice. The receptionist stared at him a minute before blinking and throwing him a flirty smile.

"Why, of course Uchiha-san! Welcome back from your break, did you do anything interesting this summer? Well, of course you did; you'll have to tell me all about it! Is there…"

"I believe that you were helping me; I need my schedule for this year," broke in an agitated Sakura with a glare that would have sent anyone with even a few brain cells running for cover. The receptionist unfortunately did not have that many brain cells, and so gave Sakura an irritated glance before condescendingly responding.

"Seniors have precedence, I am afraid, especially over those relying on a scholarship. You'll just have to wait."

"Bull Shit. I need my schedule and am not going to let you walk all over me. If you continue with this inappropriate, unprofessional attitude I will submit a formal complaint. Now. My. Schedule," responded an outraged Sakura. The boy, Uchiha, looked on at the scene, a mildly amused glint in his eyes the only hint of emotion showing on his face.

"I'll wait."

The receptionist looked at the elder student in shock and Sakura gave her an impatient look. Before long Sakura was walking out of the office and towards her locker to drop off her books before reporting to her morning class. Five minutes later she was swearing at said locker and attempting to yank it open while it remained firmly stuck. She finally grew tired of fighting with it and short on time, as well as irritated with the many amused and condescending looks she received, and stood, kicking the ugly maroon metal and sighed in frustration when the lock finally decided to open for her. Sakura quickly shoved all of her books in her locker before grabbing the PE uniform that had been put in her locker and dashed towards the locker room, praying she wouldn't be late for class her first day. Damn that brainless, stupid, arrogant, irritating… Sakura continued her rant against the shallow receptionist as she rushed into the locker room and began changing; it was only when she heard someone amusedly clearing her… no his throat that she realized she had walked into the wrong locker room. Sakura felt her face flush a color that rivaled that of her locker and quickly backed out of the room, completely mortified and followed by the mocking laughter of her male classmates.

Eventually Sakura gained enough courage to leave the correct locker room and head to class, fifteen minutes late. Loud whispers and stares, as well as a great deal of mocking laughter were the response to her mistake earlier; the only one that was not engaging in her ridicule was the very same boy that she had seen earlier in the day. Sakura felt herself blush again and was highly relieved when her teacher, Coach Maito, told the class to quiet down and start on their laps. She easily fell into step with her classmates and began the laps with ease; she may be terrible with sports, but she was in excellent shape and had been on her middle school cross country and track teams.

The rest of the day was a blur for Sakura, who was still being laughed at for her locker room mix up, and she soon found herself trying to find somewhere to sit in the crowded cafeteria while avoiding having her lunch tray dumped down her front. After some searching, she found a ledge near a window in a back corner where it was unlikely anyone would find her. She was quickly proven wrong.

"You are in my spot," said the same deep voice that she had encountered earlier in the morning. She glared up at him before pulling her lunch tray into her lap and motioning to the area next to her.

"You are welcome to sit down, but I'm not moving. But, seriously, is everyone here so arrogant?" He chuckled lightly and sat down next to with a slight shake of his head and a bitter smile.

"Thank you," murmured Sakura softly after they had been sitting near each other for a while. The Uchiha looked at her strangely for a moment before returning to his lunch.

"What for?"

"You, you let me go first this morning and then you didn't laugh at me in class."

"It was obvious both of us would be helped faster if I allowed you to go before me and I saw nothing funny about the occurrence earlier."

"Oh, well thanks anyways…"

"Itachi."

"Nice to meat you, Itachi-san. I'm Sakura."

"You are here on the cross country and track scholarship?"

"Yeah, how did you know? Oh, wait. Are you Uchiha Itachi?" He nodded brusquely and then opened his bottle of soda and quickly finished the whole thing before recapping it and tossing it into a nearby trashcan. He began to stand up before an alarmed Sakura spoke.

"Did I offend you somehow? I'm really sorry if I did, Itachi-san; sometimes I don't know when to keep my mouth shut." The look of true apology in her eyes made Itachi pause and for some reason that even he could not explain, he sat down again.

"What is your next class, Sakura?" he asked in a monotone. Surprised that he would ask, Sakura paused a moment before responding.

"Chemistry. And you?"

"Asian History. Who is your teacher?"

"Umm, Mitarashi-sensei, I believe."

"Careful. She's a great teacher if you are on her good side, loves to blow things up. But sit on the front left of the class, it your front and center she'll think you're stuck up and any further back she'll think you don't care. And never be late. Being on her bad side is pure hell and guarantees you an F," advised Itachi and Sakura smiled and nodded gratefully.

"Will do. Thanks."

When the lunch bell rang they both stood, though when Sakura reached for her book bag, she discovered that Itachi had shouldered it along with his own pack and was gesturing for her to follow him. Thoroughly confused, Sakura followed him to her class where he walked in and placed her bag in the seat he had suggested after glaring at a kid that was already sitting there 

until he moved his things back a row. Sakura smiled at him appreciatively and thanked him, still confused as to why he had chosen to help her; Itachi just nodded his head and left the class.

After school Sakura found herself in the locker room again, preparing for her first day of cross-country practice (I know practice starts earlier in the year normally, but it's my story, so I can make it how I want) and she was nervous as could be; thus far only Itachi had behaved even decently towards her, everyone else laughed or glared when they saw her. Sighing, Sakura took a drink and then headed out of the locker room.

A smiling Sakura arrived home; practice had been much better than she had thought and she had made a few friends, namely Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto (who was going out with aforementioned Hyuuga), Nara Shikamaru (she still wasn't sure why that lazy ass was on the team, he hated running), and Rock Lee (whose affections were loud, boisterous, and unfortunately landed on Sakura, though she was glad to be friends). She had also made a new enemy; apparently the receptionist from earlier was a student by the name of Yamanaka Ino and she was convinced to make Sakura's life hell. Glorious. Itachi was one of the top runners on the team, and the coach pushed him harder than any of the others, effectively separating him from his team mates.

The following days passed similarly, with Itachi and Sakura sitting together for lunch and then him carrying her bag to Chemistry for her, though they did not interact further. Until about six weeks after school had started.

"Would you care to attend the back to school dance with me this weekend?"

Sakura stared at the man as if he had sprouted two heads. A senior boy was asking her out and said boy was Itachi.(she had stopped using "Uchiha" after she realized that he disliked being known because of his family's political position and was bothered to be treated differently because of it) Snapping out of her shock, she could only nod and smile shyly. He nodded and picked up her bag as the bell rang, effectively pulling them back into their normal routine.

Saturday morning brought overcast skies and a forecast indicating a ninety-six percent chance of rain; this hardly bothered Sakura who loved the rain with a passion that few could understand. Before long, Sakura found herself giggling in front of the mirror alongside a blushing Hinata as the girls did their hair and makeup before the dance; Hinata looked lovely with her dark hair swept up into a sophisticated up-do, laced with small, white flowers that contrasted beautifully with her dark locks. She had lined her eyes and applied just the right amount of pale blue eye shadow and had highlighted her full lips with a deep crimson lipstick. Sakura had curled her rose-colored locks and pulled them into a thick ponytail at the top of her head; a small black tiara resting just in front of it. Her makeup included thick black eyeliner, mascara, some crimson eye shadow and a glossy, dark crimson gloss on her lips. She was also wearing a red and black necklace that was breathtaking. Shortly after, the girls ate a quick dinner before donning their dresses. Hinata wore a pale blue and white dress that had short sleeves and ended about knee length; it was snug around the top and the skirt was made of several layers of blue and white sheer fabrics that hung loosely down to her knees. Sakura had chosen a strapless black dress with pink rhinestones that were very dense and the top and faded down until they were widely spaced at the bottom of the silk skirt, which was so long she had to wear heels with it. To finish off the ensemble, Sakura wore long, black gloves. The girls sat on one of the comfy sofas that could be found in many of the rooms in the Hyuuga mansion and turned on a move to await their date's arrival; Itachi had agreed to pick her up from Hinata's house because it was closer (though Sakura's unspoken reason was that she was embarrassed by her family's small apartment and didn't want him so see it.) Itachi arrived five minutes (and looked so amazing that Sakura was struggling not to stare at him like a total fangirl) early and Sakura bid her farewell to Hinata as Naruto arrived in the driveway shortly after.

When they arrived at the dance, Sakura could barely breathe; the school had been totally redecorated and looked fantastic. She didn't have long to stare, though because Itachi promptly whisked her out onto the dance floor and she settled into the slow rocking motion and laid her head on Itachi's chest. She closed her eyes and breathed in his scent; he smelled masculine, and had the slight fresh scent of the air after a good rain.

"Thank you."

"Wha..." Sakura looked up at Itachi confused. Why had he thanked her?

"You call me Itachi; you don't act differently around me because I'm an Uchiha." Sakura smiled at him warmly and was about to reply when Itachi cut her off by brushing his lips against hers. Closing her eyes, Sakura pressed her lips more firmly against his own. She felt that it was over too soon, but when the pulled away and she opened her eyes, she couldn't help but giggle. Itachi gave her an inquisitive look before a look of comprehension crossed his usually stoic face. Sakura had been wearing lip gloss. Dark red lip gloss. And while Itachi had to say that it looked good on her, he didn't really want to be wearing it. With a shrug, he dismissed the problem before leaning down and whispering in her ear.

"Well, it's too late now. I suppose I should take advantage of it while I can." And with that, he captured her lips into a mind blowing kiss that had Sakura feeling weak at the knees and the oddest need to scream to the world that she was in love. She didn't though, that would embarrass Itachi despite his seemingly stoic façade; she simply satisfied herself with returning the kiss with as much feeling as she could.