After School

Sakura was heading home from a day at the Academy, trying not to get in peoples way as she made her way home. A couple of girls from her class spotted her and walked up to her, making Sakura back away nervously until she was up against a wall. "Well well! If it isn't Billboard Brow! I'm surprised your huge head could fit out of the classroom doors," One jeered, causing Sakura's lower lip to wobble slightly as she tried to keep her tears back. "P-Please just leave me alone," She pleaded. The girls around her just laughed.

Ryuumaru happened to have been heading his way home when he heard the commotion. He turned his golden eyes with slitted black snake pupils to face the girls picking on a pink-haired, green eyed girl. He narrowed his eyes and growled as he pulled his long, flowing silver hair back to pull it into twin ponytails like his mother grandfather wore it and turned to get out of their sights. He straightened out his silver battle kimono and then went for a running chare. He then jumped into the air and went for a flying kick. "Dynamic Entry" he said as he neared the girls and prepared to knock one of the left away.

Name: Dynamic Entry
Rank: D
Element: None
Description: This jutsu simply appears to be a flying jump kick, often performed
on the face of an enemy, while dramatically screaming the words
"Dynamic Entry". Might Guy is known to throw a weapon, such as a kunai,
at the enemy to distract them while he takes advantage of their blind
spot. Not much else is known about this technique, other than the fact
that it is mainly used for an exaggerated appearance by Guy.

Sakura, seeing the boy approaching with a kick, only assumed it was meant for her and squeaked, crouching down onto the ground and covering her head with her arms. The girl on the leaf let out a surprised yelp as she was rather viciously kicked out of the way and the other 2 didn't even bother to help as they both fled, leaving the 3rd member of their little group to hobble along after them.

"Filthy vermin" Ryuumaru sneered in disgust as he watched the girls he considered to be scum as he turned to face Sakura and looked down at her as his facial features softened up. "Are you alright? The vermin are gone" he said softly as he held a hand out to her to help her up.

Sakura sniffed slightly as she dared to lower her arms and open her eyes. A light trail of tears were making themselves known as they trickled down her cheeks [like my avatar]. "I...Uhm..." She wasn't used to being helped so she wasn't quite sure what to say. So she settled for a nod as she grasped his hand nervously, hoping it wasn't some sort of cruel trick and he was going to let her fall back into the dirt again.

He smiled at her softly as he pulled her up to her feet. "Good. I detest bullies. Filthy vermin like them needed to be put in there place" he said with a nod of his head. "What is your name? Mine is Prince Ryuumaru Shimazu" he said with a smile as he gave her a gentlemanly, elegant bow.

When he helped her to her feet, it registered that he was actually being nice to her and not just trying to tease her. She hesitated for a moment before dipping her head in respect as she wiped her eyes with her free hand. "S-Sakura H-Haruno," She stuttered as she tried to smile but it was hard to do when you were as nervous as she was.

"Cherry Blossom Field? That is a beautiful name" he said with a soft smile as he complimented her as he pushed a strand of hair behind his pointy left ear.

"E-Eh?" She replied as her eyebrows receded up to her hairline in surprise. Nobody had ever complimented her on anything before. Only teased her about her forehead. "W-Well...Uhm...T-Thank you!" She replied as she bowed again, getting a little flustered since she didn't know what to do when being complimented by somebody. It was quite endearing actually.

He chuckled softly when she bowed to him. "No need to bow to me. I am the gentleman, I am the one that must do the bowing" he said as he smiled at her. Ryuumaru did not seem like any other boy Sakura knew. He carried himself in a way like his title of Prince suggested, like royalty without coming off as arrogant. "You don't need to thank me for saving you or for the compliment. I was merely defending your honor and telling the truth" he said as he patted her silky pink hair.

When he patted her on the head, she nearly shied away. The last time anybody so much as touched her head, they were prodding her forehead as they joked about how big it was. "S-Still, it's been a w-while since anybody's talked to me w-without making fun of my f-forehead," She managed to stammer. She seriously wasn't good with conversation. It was easy to tell.

He frowned in what appeared to be confusion. "Why? I see nothing wrong with it. I find it to be perfectly normal" he said with a raised eyebrow as he smoothed out her hair with a soft smile on his face.

"A-According to everybody else, it's really wide," She frowned as she brushed her bangs aside to put a hand on her forehead. It was true, her forehead wasnt anything remarkably big, nor worth making fun of, but since she was so sensitive she was an easy target. "I-I guess I just took their w-word for it..."

"Forget what they think. I do not care what anyone says about me, unless they compare me to my father" he said as his face twisted itself into a mask of anger, indicating he did not think very highly of his father. It seemed to Sakura like Ryuumaru actually hated his father, though the reason was unknown to her.

Sakura tilted her head to the side, looking more than a little bit confused. "B-But..." She began. "Y-You're not your father. You're you. You shouldn't be compared to anybody. If you are, then people obviously don't know the real you," She replied with a very small nod. Her stutter gradually disappeared as she got more and more comfortable.

"I know but I tend to take it rather personally. My father is a VERY unsavory person. He's the type you wouldn't trust to shine your shoes, let alone raise you. I prefer being compared to my mother, since she raised me from an infant to how I am now" he said as a bright smile made it's way to his face. He seemed to care for his mother an awful lot, considering his expression.

Sakura managed to smile properly this time. "W-Well, Ryuumaru-San, if you're happy then you should keep being the way you are. I like you this way," She felt a little embarrassed to say such a thing to somebody she'd only just met not even an hour ago, but she knew this boy wouldn't pick on her so she thought it would be alright this time around.

"Really? Well thank you Saku-Chan" he said with a smile on his face as he parted the bangs out of his face, revealing a purple crescent moon on his forehead two purple stripes on each of his cheeks. They seemed to be tattoos of some kind, kind of like the Inuzuka tattoos.

Sakura looked at the crescent moon in wonder, blinking slightly and wondering why it was there. She then noticed his other tattoo's. Soon after she noticed that she had been staring at him and flushed in embarrassment. "G-Gomen! I'd just never seen markings like that before..." She apologised as she quickly looked at her feet instead of Ryuumaru's forehead.

"Hm? Oh you mean my tattoos. My mother had them placed on me. She has them too, though she has only one purple stripe on each cheek. It's supposed to help people recognize that me and my mother are part of and Kingdom that was sadly destroyed. She wants me to remember my heritage. All Shimazu throughout history looks like this. Golden eyes, tattoos and long silver hair" he explained with a soft smile as he smoothed his hair out, combing it back. He seemed to take care when concerning with his appearance, which is why he seems to keep his hair smooth and straight and his kimono unwrinkled.

"W-Well..." Sakura replied as she looked him over. "You do look a lot like royalty. Like those princes in the movies," She giggled slightly at the comparison. "Although most princes are really stuck up and stuff. You're not," She shrugged a little as she noticed a bit of dust on her shirt and began trying to brush it off. She felt rather grubby in front of someone who was considered a prince.

"My mother might have treated me nice and raised me like royalty but she made sure that anything I received, I worked hard for. She didn't just hand me something whenever I asked for it because the Shimazu have always believed that hard work and determination builds character" he said as he puffed his chest out in pride and laid one of his fists on his chest. It was obvious he seemed proud of his heritage. As his eyes scanned around him, he noticed that there were quite a few people glaring and sneering at him, giving him hate-filled stares, which he gladly returned.

She let out another giggle. "I see. Your mom sounds like she's really smart, Ryuumaru-San," She replied as she saw someone that was in her class giving him a glare. Gathering herself together, she began to challenge her biggest fear for the first time. "H-Hey! Leave him alone! What's he ever done to you?" She called across at said person. The girl gave her an equally dirty look, but soon walked away.

Ryuumaru looked very surprised she defended him. "I thank you but you didn't need to defend me. The majority of these villagers are all rather simple-minded I'm afraid" he said bitterly as he glared at all the villagers. It was curious as to why the villagers seemed to show such hostile reactions to the young Prince but it was obvious Ryuumaru knew why.

"Still...It isn't fair," She frowned as she folded her arms. "You are who you are. Nothing else matters," She shuffled her feet slightly, slightly surprised herself that she actually managed to speak up. She'd never managed to do it before. "I-I won't do it again though, if you don't want. It was a gut reaction,"