"So…how long do you want to train?" Sakura placed the question in the air before her chopsticks spun strands of noodle into her mouth. Mmmmm. Ramen. "Maybe three hours…at least." Sasuke was almost half-way done with his bowl. "Sounds good." She gave him the best "sweet" smile she could muster. Sasuke slurped his last noodles and broth. "Wanna come?" "Of course. Maybe you can teach me a few moves!" She held her fist in the air. "Yeah…sure." He sighed. "'Kay! I'm done!" Sakura placed her bowl on the higher counter for the Shop Owner. "Thank you! It was delicious!" She said, smiling. "Hn." Sasuke placed his bowl next to Sakura's. He allowed himself to smile as well, just for a moment. The young lady helping the Shop Owner blushed slightly, making Sakura giggle. Smiles really did look good on him. But, just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Sasuke stepped off his chair and helped Sakura to her feet. "Come again!" The Shop Owner waved as they walked out, together.

"Alright. Shall we?" Sakura took her stance in front of Sasuke. He found a perfect training ground among a bunch of trees. Just right. "Bring it." Sasuke activated his sharingan. He figured that if she had supposedly gotten stronger, it might be a good idea to be alert. Suddenly, she leapt forward, throwing a shuriken, which he easily dodged. "You definitely changed over these years." Sasuke smirked. "For you, Sasuke-kun." Sakura winked, thrusting her fist towards his head. "Don't hold back!" Sasuke ducked and swept a kick at her legs. Sakura fell, then flipped herself around. "It's just practice, Sasuke-kun. I can't focus my chakra here." She reached for his arm, leaping after him through the famous Konoha treetops, kunai outstretched. Sasuke stepped swiftly to the right, grabbing her wrist, and knocked the kunai from her delicate fingers. He twisted her arm around and bent it across his chest. "How about now?" Sasuke grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. Sakura gasped as Sasuke twirled her around, twisting her other arm around with him. So close. They stared at each other for a moment, before Sakura's hands glowed blue. "Give me all you've got." Sasuke whispered breathlessly in her right ear. "As you wish." Sakura whispered in response. A pulverizing blow shattered a tree trunk as he ducked and jumped to the opposite side.

That could have been my face…

Sasuke winced. "You really have gotten strong." Sasuke stared at the battered tree. "Hm? Strong? Wouldn't it bestronger?" Sakura turned towards him. His head swiveled to stare into her eyes. "Who said you were strong to begin with?" A smirk again swept across his lips.

An hour or two passed, and Sakura had clearly been defeated by Sasuke. "Hey! That wasn't fair! You used your sword!" Sakura called to Sasuke who had walked a ways ahead of her. "What's not fair about that?" Sasuke turned in mid-stride, "If this was real combat, I would've done a lot more than use my katana." Sasuke turned again. "Oh, fine. You probably would have used Chidori, ne?" He looked up the path he was walking. "You have no idea." After awhile, Sakura finally caught up to him. "I wish you would show me!" She stepped in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. He stared at her blankly for a moment. What an expression. "Hey…Sakura? Uhm…" There was a pause, then Sasuke sighed and went on. "Have you ever…uh…played an instrument or anything like that?" Sakura was confused at this sudden question, but she at least thought about it. "Well, I've played a koto before…and I sang lullabies to a couple kids I had to look after on one of my missions…but…" She continued to ponder the "instrument" question. Why does he want to know that? Sasuke stared at her. "I've played a guitar before…but you know…we're Konoha shinobi, so that's a little weird for us…" "What are you getting at, Sasuke-kun? You're not making any sense." "Well, I always wondered if I could use my chakra to play an instrument. I've seen shinobi do that in Otogakure." "Oh. That sounds…interesting…" Sakura was still wondering why he had suddenly brought this subject up after such a good fight. "Wanna try it?" Sasuke's eyes seemed to sparkle. Woah. What's with that look? I wonder why he wants to try this so badly. "Uh…sure." Sakura smiled helplessly. "Okay. Let's go!" He grabbed her hand and began to run at top-nin speed.

Sasuke quickly opened the door to the Uchiha Mansion. Sakura's eyes got huge. He noticed that she was really excited. Apparently, she really wanted to be here. "Sakura, this way." He tilted his head to the left, and made his way to a few paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Using a light flame jutsu, he lit them all. The orange glow that came from his jutsu, warmed their faces. "Alright, come on." Sasuke led Sakura through a few corridors and large living spaces, until he stopped in front of a double-door with a large uchiwa painted across. "We're here." Sasuke opened the door for his teammate. Quietly, he walked through the door and shut it behind him.

Woah! Sakura couldn't believe her eyes. Instruments were everywhere! Musical instruments! Koto here, guitar there. Piano in the left corner, bamboo flute and drums in the right. There were so many microphones! Amazing! "Wha…what is this room for?" Sakura was flustered. "This used to be the Uchiha's musical room; we used to get private lessons. But, since then, it's being used as a music storage room." Sasuke picked up an electric guitar and plugged it into a nearby amp. "Here. I'll show you a bit of what I've learned." Gently, he coated the tips of his fingers on his right hand with a thin layer of purplish white chakra, while placing the fingers of his left hand in place for the right chord. Then, he began to softly strum the strings. What first sounded like a gentle love song, turned to a fast-paced rock song and Sakura loved every minute of it. When the song was finished, Sakura felt so happy. "What song was that?" She asked, eagerness in her voice. "Uh…I wrote it." Sasuke blushed lightly. "Really?! That was awesome!!!" "Hn…thanks." "Your welcome, Sasuke-kun. It was just so…cool." "It has words too, but I wrote the lyrics with two-parts…" Sakura smiled. "You want me to sing with you?" Sasuke nodded once. "If you want to. I was going to sing the main-parts, and you could be background. But…it's sort of a duet." Sweet deal.

Ah, man.

Sasuke was really annoyed with himself. Lately, instead of avoiding this pink-haired ninja he was actually rooting for her. Oh well; she'd decided to help him with his song. "Why do want me to help you anyway?" Sakura's face looked slightly puzzled and slightly excited. Sigh. "Uh…I've heard you sing before. You're good, and I need to practice this song. It's for a festival coming up, and I was planning on suprising…uh…well…Konoha…" Sasuke's voice trailed as he noticed that Sakura's face had turned dark red. "When did you hear me sing?" Her voice was steady and firm; at least she'd tried to make it seem that way. "I…was sitting on a roof early one morning…near the market…and I…heard someone singing softly while walking down the street. I realized the person was you when you passed me…" You could literally see the sweatdrop coming down Sasuke's head. "O…oh." Sakura stammered.

Just a coincidence.

"Well then. You ready?" Sasuke handed Sakura the sheet music he had prepared. "Just follow the notes and words together. Make sure to watch my guitar part, too…so you can keep tempo." Sakura scanned the pages of his song. "Alright. I think I'm ready." Sasuke handed her a microphone and flipped a switch on a small machine. Sakura noticed that drums started playing. He must have recorded them earlier. Sakura turned and saw the drum-set in the far right corner of the room. "Okay. One, two, one, two, three, four." Sasuke finished counting and the drums broke from the soft tapping to hard pounding. The beat was rich, and Sasuke began the guitar part. His strong fingers strummed the strings easily. By the fifth measure, Sasuke had played the perfect blend of electric notes for the intro. As soon as the eigth measure came, Sakura kept up with the beat and sang her first note. The next measures came easily, and she felt wonderful. What a beautiful song. But the second round of the chorus suddenly jumped out at her. She didn't know what the next note was. So, she stopped singing.

"Sakura?! What happened?!" Sasuke was annoyed. His part of the song was working well until she stopped! "I…I don't know my next note…" Sakura looked down at her feet. Following her gaze, he studied her expressions. "Sakura, it doesn't matter if you mess up once in awhile. This is our first round. But, you can't stop singing. Your part is the base of the song, okay?" Sasuke reassured her and sputtered a bit of advice. "Let's start over." He sighed heavily. The feeling of many sighs to come weighed down on his chest.

Sakura had no idea that making music would be this hard and this frustrating. So far, she stopped at the same part four times in a row, and kept missing many notes past that point when she didn't stop. It didn't make her situation any better to have an angsty, emo ninja-rocker who could summon snakes and shoot blades of chakra out his hands, mad at her for chopping the song he wrote into thin shards. He sighs way too much. "We're not starting over this time, Sakura. Just start at the chorus." Sasuke's voice was dry and wreaked of pessimism. "O…oka" Sakura was cut off as he flipped the drum switch and pressed a few buttons to get to the chorus. He didn't even bother counting before he strummed his guitar and she was supposed to start. He immediately stopped. "Sakura!" Sasuke yelled her name in exasperation. "I wasn't ready! You didn't even count!" Sakura glared at him evenly. "I didn't have to!!! You should've been ready!!" Sakura could tell he'd lost his patience with her a long time ago. "Sasuke-kun…we've just started doing this today! We can practice more over the week!" Sakura was tired of how much they'd practiced today alone. "We don't need practice. You need practice." Sasuke emphasized the difference in practices. "Fine!!! Sorry I'm not good enough. Maybe I should just leave and you can sing the song yourself!" Sakura threw the mic on the floor, making her and Sasuke cringe. "Sakura, the duet comes near the end of the song! We haven't practiced that part yet!!!" "Good. I'm sure you'd do better on your own anyway." Sakura wasn't crying, but her voice hinted on the verge of tears and anger. She could feel her knuckles crack. The uchiwa door loomed in front of her and she slid it open hard. "I'm going to the bridge to train. I'd rather spend time in the water than here singing with you!!!" Sakura slammed the door as best as she could "slam" a sliding door. What a way to lie.

Great.

"Wow, Sasuke. You're a great guy. Now you're duet is down the toilet, and the festival will just have to be satisfied withyou." He'd planned to have Sakura sing with him in an attempt to make Konoha a little less upset over his "disappearance". You'd think that after killing Itachi and Orochimaru, the people would love him. Well, not in his case. He'd also planned on having Naruto do the drum part that was currently a recording. Sasuke let out a soft sigh. Sakura was also supposed to be who he used in order to ask Naruto to even remotely think about being a drummer. Oooooo…a drummer. Let's take a moment to think in Naruto's ninja-shoes. Okay, Naruto's dreams. "I never back down on my word." Hokage. Oh, wait a sec. Drummer.

…

Yeah, that'd go down swell. Sasuke smirked. "Naruto…"

He deserved that. Sakura hopelessly tried to convince herself that Sasuke was a cold-hearted---heartless jerk. Something in the back of her head thought otherwise. Well; I was the one who kept messing up. If I was in Sasuke's place…I probably would be pretty mad too. Come to think of it…I'd be really ticked. Walking aimlessly down the streets of Konoha, she suddenly realized that she was extremely exhausted. It was now considerably late at night, and she was feeling the tension of the day pound on her shoulders. Might as well head home.

"Hinata! Order the really spicy kind!!!" Sasuke walked into the small ramen shop to find foxboy and x-ray-eye lady sitting at the bar. "I'll have the Veggie Special! She'll have the Fire Special, right Hinata-chan?" Naruto grinned brightly. He didn't notice his comrade until the figure sat at the stool next to his. "Oi, Sasuke! What brings you here? Do you like ramen?" Naruto took Hinata's ramen from the Shop Owner, smelt it, laughed, and set it in front of her. Grabbing his bowl, he quickly dug in. "I need to talk to you. But …why is Hinata-san with you?" Sasuke lowered his voice when he said Hinata's name. "We were training together. Things got pretty intense, and we got pretty hungry." Naruto muttered while he filled his mouth with noodles. "N…Naruto-kun…you shouldn't eat so fast…" Hinata patted him on the back as he briefly choked on his dinner. "Hmm…Naruto, I know this might sound weird or it might just sound stupid to a loser like you," Naruto glared at him. "But…would you want to be a drummer for me?" Sasuke didn't know how Naruto would respond to his question. Naruto stopped eating his ramen bowl and stared at the former avenger. "You want me to be a what for you?" Naruto raised one eyebrow. "I…I've been using my chakra to play instruments. I learned how to awhile back, and took on the electric guitar. So…I wrote a song for the upcoming festival. I recorded the drums myself, but I need someone to actually play them in the festival. I wrote lyrics too, and part of them I sing. The other part…is…a duet." Naruto stared at Sasuke in disbelief. After a long pause, and some coughing from Hinata over her spicy ramen, Naruto started laughing. "You can count me out on the duet!" Sasuke glared at him. "The duet is meant to be with a girl, loser." Naruto turned around and quickly finished off his last noodles and broth. "Fine. I'll be your drummer. But who's doing the duet with you?" Sasuke sighed and put his hand over his face. "…Sakura was supposed to…but she doesn't want anything to do with me after what…happened." Naruto handed his bowl to the Shop Owner. "Thanks. It was delicious, as always." Naruto gave a quick thumbs-up. "Almost done, Hinata-chan?" Hinata nodded without a word as tears streamed down her face. Naruto chuckled. "Too hot for you?" Hinata smiled as best she could and nodded again. "Hey," Naruto motioned to the Shop Owner. "Can you get her some water, please?" The Shop Owner laughed and turned to the small kitchen area behind the counter. "So, Sasuke…what do you want me to do about your problem with Sakura?" Naruto turned to Sasuke again. "Wha?" Sasuke put a confused look on his face. "That's the other reason you wanted to talk to me, isn't it?" Sasuke sighed again. "Yeah. Could you just go to her apartment and convince her to come back and practice with us? Tell her I'm sorry." Sasuke grumbled the last sentence. "Fine. I'll try to convince her. But you'll have to apologize to her yourself." Naruto stepped off his stool. "Sasuke, the festival should be awesome." Helping Hinata off her stool, Naruto waved to the Shop Owner. "Fine, I get it." Sasuke motioned to the Shop Owner. "Water, please." He turned his stool around to look at Naruto. "Meet me at the Uchiha Estate tomorrow morning." "Okay," Naruto nodded. "Later!" Sasuke turned his stool back around to face the counter, and lifted his cup to his lips. "Apologize." Sasuke closed his eyes, sighed, and drank his water.

Sakura left one light on in her apartment as she was sprawled out on her bed. She had no idea what to do. She had tried to drift to sleep, but drifting wasn't so easy for her right now. Among her thoughts, she heard a knock on the door. Rising without any further thought, she made her way to the door. She slowly placed her hand on the doorknob and found herself contemplating whether or not she should turn it. Another knock, this time harder, pounded on the door.What if… "Sakura, it's me! Naruto!" Oh. She twisted the knob and opened her door. "What is it?" She leaned in the doorway casually. "I'm here to convince you to come sing with Sasuke." Naruto waited patiently. "He sent you here?" "Yeah. But, he also asked me to be his drummer. So…will you accompany a guitarist and a drummer?" Sakura smiled tiredly. "Sasuke's singing too." Naruto smiled back. "Yep." "Okay. I'll meet you guys at his humble abode tomorrow." Naruto nodded. "Okay. See you then." He made his way down the hall. "Bye, Naruto-kun!" Sakura shut the door quietly and soon tried to ease herself to sleep.

She lives on this road…I think…

Sasuke was having trouble finding Sakura's apartment. She moved out of where she lived with her parents about five months ago. She wanted to, and her parents were happy to support her decision to make a life of her own. The only problem was that Sasuke had only been there once. Oh well. Ninjas have great senses of direction, right? Right.

Sakura had just about fallen asleep, when she heard another knock on her door. Who could it be this time? Without hesitating, she turned the knob and opened the door. "Sasuke-kun?! What are you doing here?" Sakura was concerned. "I wanted to…say that…" He sighed. Sakura mentally rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry." Sakura's jaw dropped. "Wh…what?" Sakura was amazed. "I'm sorry for how I acted during practice." Sasuke looked down the hallway. "Oh. That's okay. I understand why you were mad. I'd be mad, too…" "No, Sakura. I should've given you more of a chance. You can't pick up a song in only one day." He looked at Sakura closely. She averted her eyes from him. "Sasuke, I really want to sing with you." He smirked. "So do I."

For the next week, Team Seven (excluding Kakashi-sensei and Sai) practiced Sasuke's song exceptionally hard. They didn't go on any missions during practice times, and pain-stakingly memorized their notes and words. Except for Sasuke, who already knew them by heart. Of course Sasuke still got frustrated with his teammates, even after he apologized to Sakura for yelling at her. Pretty soon, there was only one day until the festival. All their work's worth would be determined come tomorrow.

"Sakura-chan, you have the equipment set up?" Sasuke waited for confirmation. "Yes, Sasuke-kun. All ready." Sakura smiled lightly. "Good. Naruto, is the sound ready?" Sasuke turned to him. "Yeah. All set. Quit being so up-tight, leader." "Hn. Whatever." Sasuke sat on a nearby bench. "How long do we have until we play?" Sasuke closed his eyes as he asked. "Uhm…about thirty minutes…" Sakura remembered hearing what time it was from a passerby. "Alright. You guys can go do something until we start." Sasuke rested against the back of the bench. "Bye then. I've gotta meet up with Hinata-chan. See ya!" Naruto ran off eagerly. "Uhm…" Sakura looked down as her voice trailed. Sasuke opened his eyes to look at her. "Go do something." He told her again. "I…have nothing to do." Sakura was embarrassed. "Yes. You do. We're at a festival, Sakura. There's plenty of things you can do here." Sasuke closed his eyes again. "Yeah, but…I only came here to sing. If I did anything else, it'd throw off my focus, you know?" Sakura sat next to him. "Would you want to practice with me before we have to start?" Sakura asked hopefully, her eyes brightening. "My guitar is on the stage. How can I practice?" Sasuke sighed breathlessly. "No, I meant the parts where we sing together." Sakura tilted her head, waiting for an answer. "Oh. Well, I guess we could use some preparation. Sure, let's." Sakura grinned. "Okay. We both know our parts, but why don't we practice the duet? We could use a little bit of practice on that part just to warm up." Sasuke sat up, to ready himself. Sakura did the same.

Breathe.

Thirty minutes passed quickly, and Sakura felt wonderful. She was completely ready for their performance. She was completely sure that Sasuke and Naruto were too. Bring it on!!!
They walked on stage; Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, in order. Time to jump into action!

Naruto did the count, and started the drums. Sasuke came in shortly after, and Sakura got ready for her part. The intro finished, she started to sing. The words worked well with the beat, tempo, and flow of the song. Everything went perfectly. The people attending the festival stared at them. "When did they decide to form a band? Oh well. At least they don't suck." Kakashi whispered briefly as he looked up from Icha Icha Tactics. Briefly.
The duet was easing up on all of them, and Sakura suddenly felt extremely nervous. But, she couldn't stop singing. Finally, the time came. So, she kept going. She sang her notes after Sasuke sang his, and their voices blended well. Ino's mouth dropped open. Hinata giggled.

I can see it in your eyes,
you need me.
You can see it in my eyes,
I need you.
Forever.
Always.
Love me.
Promise me…
And I'll promise…you…

Sakura made her last note of the duet fade as Naruto stopped playing the drums, and Sasuke made his last note fade as well. The song was finished.

Amazed looks swept everyone's faces. At first, no one knew what to do. But Hinata began to clap and cheer. "Go…N…Naruto!!! Go…Team Seven!!!" She shouted at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, everyone took on Hinata's notion and clapped wildly. Cheering could be heard from all around. "That was awesome!!!" Konohamaru yelled to add to the cheering.

Sakura smiled and bowed. "Come on, guys! Take a bow!" Sasuke looked around, as if to make sure no one was looking, and bowed. Naruto followed their example. "Can we do this again sometime?" Naruto shouted at Sasuke. "Sure. Why not?" Sasuke grinned for the first time in…a really long time. Sakura laughed. "Really? You'll write another song for our band?" Sasuke's grin turned into a smirk. "No, Sakura. Not for our band. For you." Sakura stopped bowing, and tilted her head to him. "You know, out of all three of us, you're the one who's changed the most, Sasuke-kun." Sakura's bright smile was soft and warming. Sasuke blushed stealthily.

After the festival, people went off to pursue their own endeavors for the night, and Sasuke made sure his equipment was safely transported to his estate.

Sakura helped him transport the heavy items, using her new found strength, which cut down the time it would have taken to see the equipment home by at least half.

"Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"How do you think we did?"

"We did fine. But after a while, we'll get even better."

"So you really do want our group to be a band?"

"Yeah. Heh. It'd be fun, don't you think?"

"It would."

"Well, you, ...you can head home now. I don't need anymore help."

"Oh." Sakura felt put out. "Alright. I'll see you around."

"Okay. Sleep tight."

"Don't worry, Sasuke. I'll sleep well. I'm a ninja, besides the fact."

Sasuke nodded solemnly, and stopped walking.

Sakura did the same.

"If you ever need me, you know where I live."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn."

"Just knock on my door and tell me it's you, okay? Whenever, at anytime."

"Alright. Thanks for that assurance."

Sakura giggled softly to herself. "Sasuke-kun, my door will always be open to you."

The raven-haired shinobi's eyes widened.

"Goodbye, Sasuke." She turned, heading for her apartment.

WHY?!

"Sakura-chan."

Whirling around, she stared. "Sasuke?"

"Sakura-chan...wait."

"What is it? Sasuke-kun?"

"I...I don't want you to leave."

Sakura's eyes questioned him.

"I'm not going away forever, Sasuke-kun. I'm just going to go sleep safely in my bed." She teased.

"Hn."

"I have to go, Sasuke. It's really late."

"No...don't. Come with me."

Sakura walked to Sasuke, leaving inches apart. "Fine. I'll stay with you."

"Please. Sakura."

"I will. Always. I'm not going to disappear."

"Thank you. Sakura-chan."

Her lips quivered at his repeated words from long ago.

"Sasuke. Prove to me that I'm not just another girl to you. Prove to me that Imean something to you. I want to know...if this is real. Pinch me if you have to. Please."

Sasuke's breath idly held on without sighs.

"I...I love you. Haruno Sakura. I really do. More than anyone. It's hard for me to figure out why...or how...but I can never stop thinking about you. You just...you annoy me so much."

For this one moment, silence was truly golden. Tears streamed down Sakura's cheeks, and she searched his Uchiha eyes. "Promise me that you love me. Say it's true. Please!!! Tell me I'm not hearing things!"

Sasuke steadied the palm of his right hand against one of her teary cheeks. "Sakura...I love you. I promise you that I do. I wouldn't say something like that as a joke. I'm not that kind of person."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura sobbed, choking on tears every time she breathed in. Sasuke didn't know whether she was really upset or whether these tears were tears of joy.

Meekly, he placed his hands neatly on her shoulders, reached up, and pressed his lips against her forehead.

"The next song I write will be for you, Sakura-chan. It'll be about you." Sasuke gently pulled her into his chest, resting his head on her pink hair.

"Thank you." She whispered, which was all she could bear to utter.

"Sakura-chan. I'm walking you home."

"No. You don't have to."

"But, it's late. I want to make sure you're safe."

"No."

"Sakura!"

"Sasuke, I'm with you! I'm already home."

Sasuke desperately wanted to hide the fact that he was blushing.

"..."

"Tonight is so peaceful."

"Sweet dreams, Sakura-chan."

"You too, sleep well."

"Good night."

Sasuke sat down quietly at the bench near the main gate to Konoha, nestling Sakura neatly next to his shoulder. Lyrics danced in his head as he and his pink-haired companion drifted slowly into peaceful slumber.