Melody (Konoha School Of Arts)

40. It only gets worse from here

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Aggravated by Ino's seemingly uncaring attitude towards their fall out, Sakura decided that she needed new friends that weren't pushy spoilt princesses. Not Karin because the redhead was just as bratty as Ino was and not Hinata. Definitely not Hinata.

Hinata was a personal love rival Sakura needed to defeat. Already she had both spoken to and made Sasuke laugh, a feat that even Ino in all her social buoyancy had not achieved. Sakura just didn't have the heart to actually challenge the raven as she did Ino. It was more of a silent battle going on.

It was lunch break and Ino was nowhere to be seen in the cafeteria. Sakura scoffed to herself. She must've run off with one of the boys again. Shaking her head, Sakura decided that Ino was not worth her time and headed over to a table.

The table was already occupied by Karui, Tamaki, Matsuri, Yukata, Fuu and Tenten but there was still space enough to fit her in too. And besides, they were the perfect new friends she was looking for.

"Hi girls." She greeted cheerily when she got close enough. Their responses varied from Yukata and Fuu's happy responses to Tenten's cold one. She was unbothered by it. "Can I sit here with you?"

"Sure!"

"Why not?"

"Of course."

They all agreed in their own ways and shifted for her. All except Tenten whose face looked like she was analysing something; Sakura's reason for choosing to sit with them perhaps. None of the girls noticed as they all began to chat about something.

When Tenten decided she was getting nowhere with her silent observation she spoke up. "Okay, why are you here?"

"I'm sorry?" Sakura asked, taken aback by the sudden outburst from the older girl.

"You hardly talk to us from the recuperating class outside compulsory conversations and now you suddenly want to sit with us for lunch. What's up with that? Where's your classy friend?"

Sakura's face took on a dismal expression at Tenten's hard questioning. The brunette remained unmoving. The others at the table except maybe Karui looked nervously from one girl to the other, all at loss for what to do. Thinking of it, what Tenten said was true but Sakura's sad expression made things harder to judge.

"I didn't realise that was how I came off to you girls and I'm sorry. I was just...shy I guess?" The rosette tucked a strand of her long pale hair behind her ear timidly. She peeked up from behind her fringes to gauge the others' expression. They were all baffled yet intrigued.

"You? Shy?" Matsuri asked in disbelief. Sakura flushed.

"Ino had been sort of my only friend since we were kids so I kinda found it difficult to talk to other people without her. I really wanted to talk to you girls but I was just so nervous...and Ino didn't think you were worth her time so yeah, I guess. She stopped being my friend yesterday though." Sakura frowned hard in an effort to keep her tears but they still dropped. She quickly wiped them but the others had seen. "Anyway I worked up courage to talk to you girls and here I am!" She finished with weak enthusiasm.

The long explanation instantly caused a reaction in the girls just as Sakura hoped.

"Wow. I knew Ino was sort of not nice but I didn't think she was this bad." Karui started and everyone except Tenten agreed. Not because disagreed with Karui but because she had finally gotten the reason why Sakura chose them to hang out with.