A/N: It has been too long since I've even looked at this fic. So sorry for the long hiatus but I am now back to finish what I started! ^_^ Okay, so I have edited some of the contents, I hope the story flows a little better now. Have updated up to Ch. 5, will be reworking all chapters and there will be new ones coming up! Thanks again for those of you who are still waiting ^_^

Of Songs and Confessions

Part I

"You want us to WHAT?!"

"You heard me. Or, if you're a little hard of hearing, you can read my lips."

"Tsunade Baa-san, have you had too many sakes or something?"

"Yeah Hokage-sama, what's with this important task you want us to do?" Kiba growled, none too pleased with what he was hearing.

"Like Tsunade-sama explained, we have to do it." Shikamaru stated as a matter-of-factly.

"Are you sure there is no one else who can do this, Hokage-sama?" The Hyuuga inquired earnestly.

Sighing, Tsunade laced her fingers together before leaning on her elbows on her paperwork cluttered desk. A vein throbbed in her temple, as she fought the urge to solve this childish behavior with her fists. The only thing she is quite thankful for at the moment is the fact that Lee hadn't also said anything stupid, but that might be due to the Uchiha's looming presence. Closing her eyes momentarily, the Godaime mentally pictured exactly how she would like to kill the blonde jinchuuriki and his canine friend. Yet, even with the power of Hokage, it seems that Tsunade can't ever really do whatever she wanted. So, taking a deep, deep breath, the Godaime proceeded to explain their current situation, again.

After 20 long minutes, it seemed like the Godaime was finally making progress. Without even waiting for Naruto to open his mouth, she quickly dismissed them and sent them on their merry way. As the door closed behind them, Tsunade sank heavily into her chair and absentmindedly reached for her secret stash of sake.

"I do hope they understand. If not," she muttered, while taking a generous swig of alcohol, "then there will be trouble."

Having left the Hokage building in an annoyed rage, both Naruto and Kiba stopped right outside of the entrance door and looked for the first thing they could pulverize, consequences be damned.

"Stupid baa-san!" Naruto lashed out and punched one of the trees that lined the path leading to the main entrance, the force of the hit uprooting the poor deciduous.

"I know right!" Kiba replied in earnest as he too picked on the nearest shrub, clawing at it like it was a scratching post. Seeing his master vent his anger out on the plant, Akamaru decided to add his two cents by peeing on it.

"Ano, should you not be using your energy for the mission?" Lee asked while striking his signature pose.

His question was only met with more uprooting of trees and more shrubs being torn apart. Shikamaru sighed as he watched with his usual bored expression as his friends continued to take out their frustration on the vegetation that surrounded them. Scratching the back of his head, the Shadow master mulled over the mission and though he didn't quite agree with Naruto and Kiba's method of dealing with the situation, he could not dismiss the fact that they were in a bit of a jam. Looking over at the other two standing next to him, the jounin hoped that either Neji or Sasuke would have something more enlightening than deforestation. Before he could even ask, the Uchiha was already five feet away from them.

"Oi, Sasuke! Where are you going?"

"Home"

"But we need to figure out how we're actually going to move forward with this."

"It's not really my problem."

"H-Hey! Figures…"

No matter how many times Shikamaru called after the ex-rogue, nothing seemed to deter him from heading home. Shoving his hands in his pockets, the Nara kicked at a stray pebble and mumbled under his breath. Throughout the entire time, Neji had not spoken a word, not even to keep Sasuke from leaving the group. The white-eyed Byakugan user was leisurely leaning against the wall, arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Man is this troublesome." Shikamaru sighed, "Hey, you two, stop demolishing the place."

Both Naruto and Kiba growled at Shikamaru, but stopped what they were doing. Panting slightly from the energy used, they walked back to the other three.

"All right, let the Spring of Youth help us with out mission. Yosh!" Lee pumped his fist in the air, grinning from ear to ear.

"Someone's excited." Kiba scowled at the teen for his enthusiasm.

"It is an unexpected opportunity for us to train and strengthen our powers."

"Are you going to use this 'skill' to defeat your enemy?" Kiba sneered.

"It may not be enough to take down a foe, but I can at least distract him." The look on Lee's face was so full of determination, both Naruto and Kiba were worried the Taijutsu master might really consider doing it and making them learn it in the process.

Sighing, Shikamaru was still wracking his brain for anything that would help him figure out exactly what the next step should be. He mentally visited the appropriate shops in his mind, but nothing came to him. It was like asking Kiba to give Akamaru a pink dye job because it would help him with the ladies.

"You do realize that standing around here will not resolve our dilemma, Shikamaru." Neji asked calmly.

"I know that," Shikamaru replied exasperatedly, "do you have a better idea?"

"If you would, please follow me." Neji directed and started to lead the small ragtag group of shinobis away from the Hokage tower.

Shoulders hunched in defeat, Naruto and Kiba followed behind a gleeful Lee, who was shouting encouragements to the two behind him.

"So, where are we headed?" Naruto asked in dread.

"Lee's dojo." Neji simply answered.

With that said, nothing more was exchanged between boys until they reached their destination. Lee's dojo was far from the village, the surrounding area virtually deserted and it was an added bonus that many of the villagers refrained from going anywhere near the area. Lee stepped forward and unlocked the doors to the wooden establishment and beckoned everyone in. Once inside, everyone sat down on one of the many cushions that littered the dojo's floor. They sat like that for a few minutes, in brooding silence.

"Naa, you guys heard what the Godaime said, she chose us to be in charge of the entertainment at the annual inter-village ball, we have to choose songs to sing and play it ourselves. That being said, does anyone here know how to perform?" Shikamaru looked around at the other four, expecting an answer.

Lee shot his hand in the air and looked seriously at the lazy nin,

"I can sing."

That said, Lee stood up and started to sing a strangled version of "Genie in a Bottle", which sounded like a cat dying while it was being raped by a mouse, Lee went as far as to mimic the dance moves of the original singer. Rolling his hips and even attempting to shake his ass in a sexy kind way, if at all possible.

"Okay, Gejimayu you could stop that now." Naruto hurriedly said, completely terrified of his friend.

"That was quite an…eye opener, Lee. Is there anything else you can do?" Shikamaru was looking at the taijutsu expert, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't going to start singing again.

"Yes, I can play the drums." Lee grinned broadly, ready to show the others his hidden talents.

"Really?" Shikamaru asked curiously, as he scanned the dojo looking for the drum set.

"Which leads us to another problem, what exactly are we supposed to be doing for 'entertainment'?" Kiba interjected, cutting Lee off before he could answer.

"I suppose it would help if we had some sort studio to work in." Naruto said.

"I have one of those." Lee said, head bowed and left hand. His other hand drifted across the floorboards, searching for the hidden board and pressing down on it. The floor where they were all sitting on suddenly caved in and everyone landed in an underground room.

Sasuke lay on his bed, his brows knitted together in frustration. Since he has returned to the village, he hasn't been able to eat, sleep, think, or train without having a certain someone invading his thoughts. Somehow, he had a suspicious feeling that his subconscious was doing it on purpose, tormenting him with thoughts about that person. After defeating his brother and finding out the true reason why his family was slaughtered, Sasuke had gone on his rampage trying to destroy everything and everyone who had a hand in it. But he was eventually saved from destroying Konoha when it was revealed that he was nothing more than a tool. A tool used for the destruction and control of the entire planet, which had nothing to do with what he was trying to achieve; for Sasuke realized that even with the perfect world reflected onto the Earth, it would never bring back his parents or his brother and by realizing this, Sasuke was able to stop himself from destroying everything and everyone.

Thinking back on this, Sasuke couldn't help seeing every detail of their body pressed close to his or the feel of the bare skin of their arms touching as they exchanged blows. Pressing his arm over his eyes, he hoped to block out the mental image on his mind 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But to no avail.

"Kuso"

He breathed a heavy sigh, knowing full well that the feelings that had started to bloom within his dead heart would not be returned, since the love, yes love, he felt would most definitely not be returned.

"Then I will make you hate me, so that you'll always remember me."

With that thought, Sasuke got up from his bed and headed for his father's study. Once he reached his destination, the Uchiha heir began rummaging through the bookshelves for the materials he would need to accomplish his goal. Even as he thought about it, it pained him to know that he would have to resort to such measures to ensure that he stayed, even for a moment in someone's memory. As he searched around the room for what he needed, he spied an old picture of Team 7 sitting on one of the shelves. Stopping what he was doing, the raven haired teen picked up the picture and looked at it closely.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Sasuke assumed that his other teammates also had a copy of this photo, a photo that was from a completely different timeline. They all looked so young; obviously he was able to see the hate and loathing in his own eyes, frozen in time. But nonetheless, he assumed, they were a lot happier back in the day. No knowledge of Akatsuki or Orochimaru or even Madara Uchiha. They were simply another three-man cell that was meant to be trained so that too can carry out missions either for the village or loaned out to neighboring towns.

Sasuke grimaced a little at the last thought. Of course he knew what it meant to be a shinobi, they are the foot soldiers whose sole purpose is to protect the Land of Fire. He supposed that was what angered him the most back when he was younger. Paired with the fact that his own brother was ordered to kill his entire family, it would drive anyone to their breaking point. Now that he thought about it, the Sharingan user wondered what would have happened if he were part of another team? Would Sakura or Naruto have fought tooth and nail to bring him back? Smiling one of his rare smiles, Sasuke put the picture back on the shelf and pushed those 'what if' questions out of his mind.

"I seem to be asking a lot of questions nowadays."

Shaking his head, the raven haired teen was surprised how much influence the people around him had affected his attitude. Granted, he was still an asshole, silent and didn't really like having girls hanging off of him. But it seemed like some of the wall he had built so long ago around him had begun to chip away, although his temper is still something to be aware of it didn't lead him that much anymore.

Leaving the bookshelves for the desk, Sasuke opened and closed a series of drawers before finally finding the papers and pens he was looking for. Taking them out of the bottom drawer, he laid them out on the desk and sat down with pen poised over a blank sheet. Sasuke stayed like that for five minutes until he realized that he didn't know what he wanted to do. He had an inkling as to what the end result should be, but no real plan as to how to get to said goal. Tossing the pen aside, he glared at the papers on the desk, as if it was their fault for not providing him with a solution to his dilemma. Then it hit him, getting up and moving towards the window, Sasuke hoisted himself up and out onto the rooftop and headed to town.