Sakura stayed away from school for three days until she finally returned. Her club members were concerned, but they were unable to reach her. When they had walked to her home, Mebuki insisted they stay away due to Sakura being very ill.

"You think she'll come to school today?" Hidan asked Itachi as they sat in their usual spot before class started.

"I'm not sure. I didn't see her on my way here, but you never know." he replied.

Hidan leaned over the window and stared off into the street below. "She must really be sick if she's been gone for over three days... I hope I don't get sick - that'll fuckin' suck."

Itachi continued to twirl his pen around his fingers. He was disappointed that he couldn't tell her how much money they had made. He wished she could have joined in on the discussion of what they could do at their stall for the festival.

"Oh, shit! There she is." Hidan howled, pointing to the sidewalk leading to the school.

The other boys raced over to the window and saw the pinkette walking with her books held against her chest.

"She'll be late if she doesn't speed up," Kakuzu noted.

Hidan began walking to the door. "We should go talk to her," he hollered.

Itachi grabbed the collar of his shirt and shook his head. "She just returned to school after being sick, Hidan. Let's just wait until lunchtime to talk to her, okay?"

Hidan growled, but returned back to his seat - he just wanted to see his Cherry-chan.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, where have you been the past couple days?" Ino asked, curious.

Sakura continued to write down notes. "I haven't been feeling well." she lied.

Ino scrunched up her nose. "I bet your boyfriends are worried about you." she sneered.

The bell rang and Sakura stood from her desk. She grabbed her bento and walked towards the Student Council room. She could hear the bitterness in Ino's voice, yet she did nothing about it - she is just a joke to everyone.

She slid open the door and put on her best smile. "Hey, everyone." she greeted.

"Cherry-chan! How the hell are you feeling?" Hidan chortled.

Sakura sat down and opened her lunch. "I'm feeling very well today, thanks. So, what did I miss these past days?"

Itachi explained, "Well, we decided what we are going to do for the Cultural Festival. Most clubs are doing something that includes their club - obviously. So we decided to open a small cafe."

"What does that have to do with the Student Council?" Sakura asked, playing with the cherry tomato in her bento.

"I'm happy you asked, Sakura-san. We will be given the roles that are best suited to our own on the Student Council. Kisame and myself will be coordinating the event. Sasori and Hidan will be the hosts - guiding people to their tables. Kakuzu will set prices and take in the money. Deidara will be cleaning up while also cooking with Kisame and I-"

"And I'll be the waitress," she finished.

Itachi blinked. "Why... yes, Sakura-san. We wanted you to pick out your uniform since we didn't know what you'd prefer. We'll be using the Council's funds for the stall, of course, so pick one you really like." He presented her with a catalog filled with stereotypical maid outfits or diner girl costumes.

Before she could look through, a knock came from beyond the door. Itachi slid the door open. "Oh, Mizuki-sensei, what do you need?"

"I just need to borrow Sakura for a moment." he replied, a smile on his face.

Itachi turned to Sakura and waited as she stood up and met with Mizuki. Her face was stoney and unreadable - she didn't look like Sakura. Itachi sat back down. "Who was Sakura-san auctioned off to?" Itachi asked Kakuzu.

"The teacher you just saw - Mizuki-sensei. He paid three hundred dollars for her," Kakuzu answered.

"Mizuki-sensei is an awesome chemistry teacher. He's probably just trying to promote his class to students with high science grades," Kisame claimed. Itachi nodded - it made sense. Mizuki-sensei was always funny and made his students happy.

Mizuki led Sakura to the chemistry lab and locked the door. "Damn, where have you been?" he asked, walking toward her.

"What do you want with me, Mizuki-sensei?" she asked, backing away.

He only smiled and pushed her up against the wall. His large hands held her face lightly. "It's because you're just so perfect, Sakura."

She pushed his hands away and snapped at the teacher, "You don't even know me!"

"Sakura, honestly, I'm only a few years older than Itachi. It'll be fine if you just get to know me - I'm a good guy."

"A 'good guy' wouldn't try to touch a girl before he even asks her permission." she countered.

Mizuki was a charmer, but he knew too well where this situation was going. "I'm sorry, okay? I just got overwhelmed and I shouldn't have acted like such a-"

"Pig? Asshole? Pervert?" she guessed.

"Yeah, all three, I guess," he answered. He shot her a boyish grin and ran his fingers through his hair. "How about you let me make it up to you?"

"I don't need anything from you," she stated coldly. She stepped toward the door and tried her best to slide it open.

"Sucks, doesn't it? When a door lacks an appropriate lock?" He held up the ring of keys to the room and jostled them above her head. She tried to snatch them, but the man was too fast.

"I'll scream." she threatened.

"No, you won't." he argued. She opened her mouth, but her scream was muffled by a firm hand covering her lips.

"Alright, but let me sneak in one kiss, okay?" He leaned forward and became startled as the door began to rattle.

"I think I left my books in here. Why is it locked?" Pein's voice rang through both of their ears.

Pein was surprised to see the door slide open from the inside and his fellow colleague walk out of the room. "Sorry, are these your books, Pein?" Mizuki asked, holding up a few teaching booklets.

"Yeah, but I think I left my phone in there too." Pein tried going past the chemistry teacher, but Mizuki blocked his path.

"I've been in here for a while, Pein. There is no phone in here," he replied.

Pein patted his pockets and smiled, embarrassed. "Damn, next time I'll check my pockets. Sorry, about that Mizuki." He turned away and walked down the hallway.

Pein suddenly slapped his palm to his forehead. "Where's my freakin' head? I forgot my books," he said aloud to himself.

His ringed eyes widened as he watched Mizuki lead Sakura out of the room. Pein stomped over after Sakura scurried away and pulled Mizuki into the same room.

"What the hell was Sakura Haruno doing in here?" Pein pressed his body against the door.

Mizuki laughed and shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about, Pein. You're obviously seeing things because Miss Haruno wasn't in this room."

Pein grabbed the scruff of his shirt. "Do you think I'm fucking blind? Now, answer my damn question!"

"Nothing's going on. Let go of me before I talk to the principal about your behavior!" Mizuki growled.

Pein released him and quickly made his way back to the club's room. Itachi noticed the distress on Pein's face. "What's wrong, sensei?"

"Nothing... just nothing," he said quietly. Itachi shrugged it off and continued to eat his food.

Sakura walked through the door and joined the group again. She could feel Pein's eyes on her, yet she ignored him. She was constantly being heckled to pick a dress and finally gave in.

"Fine, I'll pick this salmon-colored one." she decided, pointing to a ruffled, girly dress.

She rolled her eyes as the boys gave her voices of approval. Typical, men always wanting to parade women around, but what could she do? She was the Mascot of the Student Council and that's how she was going to be treated.

"That dress will look really nice, Sakura-san." Itachi noted.

Sakura nodded her head and pushed the catalog aside to continue eating. As she ate, her anger would rise and lower as thoughts roamed freely in her head. How can they be so happy? They don't even know what's happening - what jerks! She began stabbing the cherry tomato with her chopstick until it was red mush. It was only a few seconds later that she noticed the group staring at her.

"Don't like cherry tomatoes?" Kakuzu asked.

The bell rang and she picked up her barely eaten bento. She stared down at the red mess that was once the tomato and threw the entire case into the garbage. Her feet slugged through the hallways and she jumped when a hand fell on her shoulder.

"Hey, so what did Mizuki-sensei want with you?" Itachi asked.

She finally had a chance to tell someone. "Oh, he..." But who would really believe such a stupid girl?

"He knew I had high scores in my science classes and wanted to make sure I enrolled in his class senior year." she lied through a tight smile.

"Yeah, that's actually what Kisame-kun said too. You'd think he'd start it in your junior year, don't you think?" Itachi stayed outside her room.

"Yeah, well, you've got to start somewhere, right?" She waved goodbye and entered her classroom.

During each lecture, she just couldn't concentrate. She had a quiz in Biology, but she just couldn't focus; she knew she failed from the minute they were handed the paper.

Itachi noticed Sakura at the lockers and walked over. "Can I walk with you home?" he asked.

"Sure senpai." she answered.

The walk home wasn't very similar to past ones. She didn't act giddy or talk much. She was quiet and aloof.

"Are you still not feeling well?" he asked.

"No, I feel fine."

He pulled her by the shoulder to face him. "Please, tell me what's wrong, Sakura-san." His eyes focused solely on hers.

"I'm just upset that I failed a quiz today."

Itachi could see her eyes shift away from his as she lied. "Why can't you tell me the truth?"

Suddenly, a man on a bike pedaled past them and caused Itachi to jerk his arms instinctively around Sakura. She could feel his arms surround her waist and his hands push against her shoulder blades.

"What are you doing? Get off of me! Get off!" She screamed as she twisted her body away from the Uchiha.

"Stop screaming! Why are you freaking out so much?"

She pushed the senior away and ran back to her house. She wasn't going to be overpowered again. Not anymore. Her speed rose as she heard footsteps racing behind her.

"Sakura! What the hell's going on with you?!" Itachi called out.

She opened the door to her home, but Itachi caught her wrist before she could shut the door. "Get out of my house, Itachi! Get the hell away from me and don't touch me!" she cried. He was surprised he heard his name from her mouth; it was always 'senpai'.

"I'm not going to hurt you!"

He wrapped his arms around her and was shocked to feel her entire body shaking. She fell to her knees and Itachi crouched down around her. Her eyes were shut tight, but tears continued to escape and roll down her cheeks. Her sobs were broken and loud.

"Why me? Why me? Why me!" she sobbed loudly.

"What are you talking about? What about you?" he asked with a soft, calm voice.

"Please don't touch me Itachi." she cried out again.

"Tell me what I did wrong, Sakura-san, please tell me." he begged, pushing his face in her messy, pink hair.

"You wouldn't understand! You're a stupid boy!" she yelled.

Itachi tightened his grip on her. "I'm not letting you go until you tell me what's wrong!"

"Mizuki-sensei!" she finally yelled out.

He still didn't understand. "What about him?"

Sakura was becoming frustrated. "God, you are just a stupid boy, aren't you?! Forget what I said and just get out of here!"

Then, it happened. The reason behind her behavior and Mizuki-sensei's sudden appearance. What the fuck did he do? Itachi turned her around and gripped her shoulders so tightly that she screamed out.

"What did he do? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?" His eyes were wild and fierce.

"He had his hands all over me! What the fuck do you think?" she cursed.

Itachi stood up and opened the door. "I'm going to go tell my father."

"No, don't!" She rushed over to the door and shut it immediately.

"This isn't something you want to keep secret, Sakura-san! I'm not going to stand around and do nothing." he argued, trying to push her away.

A loud smack echoed inside her house as she slapped her hand against his face. His cheek was red, but his face showed no surprise.

"If it would have happened to you, you would have been humiliated! Would you really want to tell someone about such a thing?! I don't need your help!"

"If I was ever in the same situation as you were in... I would tell someone as soon as it happened, Sakura-san. You know that keeping it a secret won't cause it to stop and how dare you think you could handle it all by yourself... When you were just over there a few minutes ago crying your eyes out? I'm your friend just as Kisame, Hidan, Kakuzu, Sasori, and Deidara are. Please, don't shut us out when you need us most."

She glanced from his eyes to his reddened cheek. She was scared and humiliated, but he was right about one thing. Without calling out for help, this harassment would continue and could escalate very quickly to violence.

"I'll do it, but I'm the one that speaks, not you." she stated calmly.

Itachi sighed in relief and guided her out the door. "Thank you, Sakura-chan."

"Mizuki? That's impossible," Tsunade sat at her desk as she listened to Fugaku.

Fugaku stood next to Sakura. "This is a serious allegation, Tsunade-sama. I've already taken Sakura in for an interview-"

"Where are your parents?" Tsunade asked.

"They're gone all day to visit one of our sick relatives." Sakura answered.

Fugaku stepped in once more. "I've already notified them and they're coming home as soon as they can."

He handed her the files with written comments from Sakura. Tsunade read through them and gave a heavy sigh. "All we have are words though. Do you have any real proof? Did you do a full examination?"

"Yes, we took her to the hospital. The report is in with the others." Fugaku stated, pointing to the papers.

Tsunade's eyes glanced over the words and then back to Fugaku. "Has anyone seen this happen?"

"Yes, there was me." a low-toned voice called through the door. Pein knocked only once and opened the door.

"Please, elaborate."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. Today, during lunch, I had forgotten my books in the chemistry lab and had walked back to the room. To my surprise, the door was locked, so I was going to go to the janitor to help. I was about to leave, but Mizuki opened the door and had my books in his hand. When I left, my thoughts were elsewhere and I had totally forgotten to take my books. I turned around to get them from him and that's when I saw Sakura Haruno exiting the room that Mizuki was just in."

"Fugaku, can you bring Mizuki in?" Tsunade asked.

Fugaku nodded his head and walked out of the door to meet Mizuki at his home. When he returned, Mizuki and Fugaku walked through the door and the chemistry teacher took a seat.

"What is it, Tsunade-sama?" Mizuki asked, glancing once at the freshman.

Tsunade removed her reading glasses and set them on her desk. "I've just received news from the police about an accusation dealing with an underaged girl. Mizuki, please tell me that this is a misunderstanding."

Mizuki opened his mouth and scoffed, "Please, Tsunade-sama, you must know that this is ridiculous! I would never do something that would cost me my job!"

"Yeah, well, maybe you didn't think it would." Sakura muttered.

Mizuki glared angrily at the girl. "I'm innocent, Tsunade-sama. This is an outrage that will cost me my reputation!"

"If you're so innocent then why don't you explain yourself? Why did you bid for her at the fundraiser?" Pein asked.

"I needed help with the chemistry lab. My students were doing a lab exam the next day and I needed to fill all the beakers. It was nice to have some help while doing it." he replied.

Fugaku stood near the man. "That's when you began harassing Sakura Haruno."

"I didn't harass her. She's obviously in a state of delusion and is desperate for attention." he lied without thought.

Sakura's eyes widened as he continued his lies. "She clearly has a crush on me. But myself, being a mature adult, wanted no part of this drama."

She lifted herself from the seat and shouted, "You liar! You tried taking advantage of me! He touched me and tried doing worse than that! He's a sick and twisted man!"

The adults turned to Mizuki. He shook his head and chuckled fiendishly. "What a foolish girl you are..."

"Then explain why you two were together at lunch," Pein declared.

Mizuki gazed over to the redhead. "That was when she confessed her love to me. I told her 'no' and promised I would keep her crush a secret. The reason why I denied you an explanation was because I didn't want to embarrass her."

Sakura couldn't take anymore lies. She clenched her fist tightly and pounded it against Mizuki's mouth. Pein rushed to Sakura and pulled her to the other side of the office while Fugaku and Tsunade dashed to Mizuki.

Mizuki held his hands over his busted lip. "You little bitch!" he shouted.

"Stop lying you pathetic, worthless, piece of shit! You tried to attack me!" she yelled back.

"Why couldn't you just keep your fuckin' mouth shut?! Next time I see you-" He immediately stopped speaking and turned to face Fugaku.

"Keep her mouth shut about what, Mizuki?" Fugaku asked with a smirk on his face.

"I-I..." Mizuki turned helplessly to Tsunade, but found no support. "She's a fuckin' tease! How was I supposed to act when the only people she hangs out with are boys?! She led me on with that innocent ruse!"

"Your job here at Konoha High School is terminated Mizuki." Tsunade exclaimed without hesitation.

"What?!" Mizuki became hysterical. His heart was beating wildly as Fugaku grabbed both of his arms and pulled them behind his back.

"Time for you to take a ride with me." Fugaku smirked, pulling out his handcuffs from his back pocket.

Sakura, Pein and Tsunade followed the two out to the entrance of the school.

Fugaku talked through his two-way radio. "Hey, it's Officer Uchiha. Can you send my buddy out to Konoha High with our squad car?" He removed his hand from Mizuki to place his radio back into his pocket. Mizuki took that chance of freedom to rush back over to Sakura.

He dashed forward, ready to ram his leg against her and screamed out with a smile on his face. Sakura covered her body and shut her eyes tightly. Before he could land a blow, Pein had a tight grip on Mizuki's leg. He pulled his limb up causing Mizuki to lose his balance and fall onto the hard pavement.

"You think you're a fucking tough guy, huh? Well, let's see how tough you are when you hit prison, Mizuki. Once you're found guilty, which we all know you will be, you'll be shown up by a bunch of nice fella's that you're nothing special!" Pein hissed into Mizuki's ear.

Fugaku rushed over and jerked Mizuki up. "Sorry about that..."

Fugaku's partner arrived with the squad car and opened the door for Mizuki in the backseat. Before they left, Sakura walked over to Mizuki's window.

"What do you want?" he spat.

"I just wanted to say that thanks to you, I won't be very trusting of others." she started.

Mizuki snickered. "Good, you're a naïve fool."

"But you also taught me that those guys that I always hang out with are not my bed partners, but my best friends. They'll be by me through everything... so you can go to hell, bastard." She walked away and watched as the squad car drove away and turned a corner.

Tsunade stepped over and placed her hand on Sakura's head. "I apologize for not believing your story."

"It's okay, Tsunade-sama."

"But you did violate one of the rules at Konoha School District." Tsunade reminded.

"Yeah, I know... 'Physical violence against students or faculty members will not be tolerated.' I did it out of my own free will, Tsunade-sama, and I accept my punishment."

Tsunade crossed her arms and laughed. "I'm just kidding, Sakura. Having to be near such a waste of space is enough of a punishment." She turned to walk back into the school, but looked over her shoulder to say one more thing.

"By the way, that punch was pretty impressive. You remind me of myself with such a strong, left hook."

Sakura bowed and smiled up at her principal. "Thank you, Tsunade-sama."

Sakura entered the school and finally felt like herself again. Her mother and father had returned the night before and stayed by her side to make sure she was alright. She had informed them of everything and her father praised her for the punch she gave to that 'bastard Mizuki'.

She entered the bathroom and greeted Ino on the other side of the room. "Hey, Ino-chan," she smiled as Ino stepped closer.

"My dad heard that you got Mizuki-sensei fired." she stated.

The smile on Sakura's face faded. How the hell did he know? As if reading Sakura's thoughts, Ino explained, "My dad is friends with some guys on the police force."

"What's your point, Ino?" Sakura asked.

"I heard that he was in desperate love with you, Sakura. Now tell me, what is it that makes these guys fall for you so easily?"

The pinkette turned sharply with flashing eyes. "Ino, I didn't want him to fall for me. It was a terrible incident and I don't need to talk to you about it."

"Maybe if you didn't act so sleazy all the time, you wouldn't have to worry about creeps trying to get in your pants." Ino accused.

"Sleazy? I'm not doing anything wrong. There's no need for me to throw myself at anyone - unlike you."

Ino smashed her fist against the counter top of the bathroom. "I don't throw myself at anyone! You're always with those guys Sakura so admit it! You're obviously jumping around each of them!"

Sakura gritted her teeth. "Just because I hang out with them doesn't mean that I'm sleeping with them! They're really good guys and are my best friends. You're just mad because Sasori doesn't pay enough attention to you even if you pay him to. You're a selfish girl that only thinks about herself." Sakura stomped out of the bathroom and out to the hallway.

"We're not friends anymore, Sakura! You hear me? This friendship is done! And I'm not selfish!"

Sakura poked her head back into the bathroom. "Says the girl that has so much money, yet doesn't donate any of it to her club. Yeah, you're really so selfless and considerate." Sakura laughed and shut the door behind her.

Ino ran to the mirror and looked at herself. "I'm going to make sure to drive Sakura into the ground! She'll pay for acting so smug!"

Sakura took her seat at her desk with a true smile on her face. "This is the new me - the new Sakura. I'm no longer going to take crap from anyone and do what makes me happy! This is the new me!"

xxx

Woot woot, go Sakura go! Vomment.

xTsu