Gaijin

I- Lost

Shibuya Station. It's amazing to think this is only the forth biggest in Tokyo. The panels, the signs, the crowd, the sounds… All of that was enough to make anyone go insane, especially when you're a foreigner and is there for the first time.

She was in Japan for two weeks now, but never in this station that would put any labyrinth to shame. Everything was making her extremely confuse, and even reading the signals she didn't know where she should go. Sure, she had studied Japanese. For 2 years. And could read Kanji, but it's kind of hard to be a 100% sure, when there's approximately 50 000. She could ask for information, but didn't trust her pronounce would be understandable enough. She lacked the self-confidence to speak in their language, she only did it in her homestay or with her friends. She would have to ask in English anyway.

This was the most crowded time of the day in the station, since many workers were going home. The bystanders were constantly looking at her. Not that there was something wrong with her, but she definitely was different. Her European features were very distinguishable from those of the Japanese, like her light green eyes would demonstrate. Not only that, but she had the most showy hair in the entire place. It was simply pink. Of course in this country lived people with peculiar hair colors, but she was not in Akihabara or Harajuku. Instead she was in a place full of people with working suits.

But the main reason for the stares she was given was because she was a gaijin, a foreigner.

It was quite common frankly to be looked at when you are a gaijin. You're different, so people want to look at you. She was not one bit troubled by that. The only problem was that all this attention was not helping her find her destination at all.

Walking through the platforms, she spotted him. A man with black spiked hair and eyes of the same color. Like most of the man, he was also wearing suit, a black one with a navy blue tie with a white and red fan pin attached to it. His clothing looked expensive. She looked at him, and because of his appearance, she soon thought he was business man. Maybe he would understand her talking to him in English, and might respond in a way she could comprehend.

He had his eyes open, but was not looking at anything in particular. His expression was of someone really tired. But not the kind of tiredness you get form work, or getting up early and going to sleep late. No. He just seemed to be tired of everything.

Even though he was with a non inviting posture, she approached him.

"Sumimasen, do you speak english, sir? Is this the train I catch to go to Ikebukuro?" she asked in a rushed and uncertain way.

He heard her and understood what she meant, but didn't want to answer. He didn't want to be bothered, much less by a gaijin. He still had not looked at her, but he could tell just by the way she talked that she was non Japanese. He just wanted to go home, away from everything and everyone. He was already annoyed.

"Hn"

Then he glanced at her and her looks definitely caught his attention. Her unusual appearance along with her red cardigan and jeans miniskirt made her look very pretty. Her expression changed at his reply, and her face got even more confused than before. She was asking herself what he meant by that and if he understood her at all. He found her lost expression quite amusing. She really was lost. He felt it was better just to answer to get this over with.

"Yes"

She wasn't expecting for him to say anything else, much less to give the answer to what she had asked. Slowly, a huge smile formed on her face.

"Arigato! Arigato!" she said happily.

Perhaps, now she would find the right way…

After exactly 1, 5 minute, just as announced in the panels, the train arrived. She didn't need to move in order to get in. The horde did all the work for her leading her inside. Everybody was squeezed and she found herself trapped against a chest. His chest. The chest of the man who se had asked for information just moments ago. She blushed, and just now realized how handsome he was, but his eyes… there was definitely something about them.

She did not know if was the compromising position they were in or the fact that, despite his one word answer, he actually helped her, but she felt compelled to start a conversation with him.

"Hhm… I'm Sakura Haruno… What's your name?" she asked quite unsure.

He wasn't the kind of person to engage in a small talk. He already did a lot by saying this was the right way to Ikebukuro, but his curiosity got the best of him. She clearly wasn't japanese, so why did she had a name that was?

"Uchiha Sasuke" he sighed. After a moment he spoke again "you're name is Japanese."

"Ah! You see… my mother always loved Japanese culture… she still does. She loves enko music, legends and stories." Sakura was smiling at her memories. "That's why she named me after the flower symbol of this country… Sure my name was considered kind of weird by the kids in the school since I'm british, but…"

Sasuke knitted a brow. This girl surely is a talker.

"I like the culture too, it was one of my dreams to come here."

"Hn", he thought of their proximity and how, for some reason, he didn't want to push her away. He hated having his personal space violated, and would not take the subway if not for the fact that his car was broken.

The converse died down and she became aware of her surroundings again. Moving her head up, she looked direct into his eyes. They were so close that she blushed even harder this time and he stared right back to her.

"Ikebukuro" he stated.

"Oh right!" she said embarrassed "… hum sayounara…" she thought for a second how she should address him. She called her homestay family and her friends 'san' but felt she should call him differently "…Sasuke-kun".

The girl said goodbye and waved. She didn't look back and vanished into a crowd of people.

He landed one stop later in Mejiro. He exited the station, walking alone in the cold breeze of the night. Mejiro is one of the smallest stations and compared to the rest of the ride, it was quite empty, much to his pleasure. He hated getting stuck with a lot of people. Toshima, where the station is localized, it was kind of different of the other places in Tokyo. It was quieter and more residential with typical buildings and houses.

He got home and sat in the couch. He was so tired… he planned to eat anything he could found and then going straight to bed. Before he could accomplish any of these things his cell rang and a loud voice pierced trough his ears.

"Konbanha, teme!"

"Naruto, what do you want?" he replied with irritation.

"Why don't you come over here to see me playing along the other guys? I know you're probably doing nothing right now…."

"No"

"Come on! It's Friday night! And it's not so far away from you're place… the only thing you do is work and work! This is no good for you, man… you need to relax a little."

"And you should work more, all you care is your band"

"The band is just for fun, you know that. I take my responsibilities in the company in a very serious manner"

"Hn"

"Sasuke, you're my friend." Narutosaid, for the first time in the conversation, seriously. "I'm staring to worry about you."

"There's nothing to worry about" Sasuke said hanging up the phone.

Naruto sighed. He hated seeing his best friend this way. He was young, good looking and smart but it just seemed that he was throwing his life away, drowning in work. He never hanged around with friends, never did anything for fun. His only objective was to repair what is left of his family company. Sasuke had being alone since his parents died and things only got worse last year when his brother also passed away.

Naruto was one of the reasons Sasuke didn't get completely insane. He was there for his friend the whole time, never leaving his side since the day they met. He valued his friendship above anything else in his life, but sometimes Sasuke was just so damn difficult.

Back in the house, Sasuke was eating instant ramen. He was not particularly fond of this kind of food, but he was not preparing anything more elaborate. He found his thoughts drifting towards the girl he had met earlier today. She had called him "Sasuke-kun", which could be considered a lack of respect, since they were strangers. She should call him "Uchiha-san". The way she called him, with such intimacy was anew, but she probably didn't even realize that. He was used to people treating him in an impersonal way and like he was superior. But she talked to him with proximity and warmth, things he just could not relate.

He finished his meal and headed bed. Finally, the day was coming to an end.

Ikebukuro is a place with intense night activity. Pubs, bars, otaku stores, nightclubs… There were busiest places in Tokyo, but Ikebukuro had its charm. There were lots of really small places that only a few people could enter at a time, and although it's not very practical, it's very entertaining.

She met with her homestay sister at the exit of the station.

"Hey Hinata-san!"

"G-g-goodnight S-s-sakura-san, how was your first ride in the metro-o-o?"

"Confusing, but I managed" she said with a proud grin.

Before coming to Japan, she had met someone in an online community about music that lived in Tokyo. He was really friendly to her, and when she announced she was coming to the city, he promptly arranged somewhere she could stay for free. His name was Naruto, and he said she could be in the house of his girlfriend because her family was used to receive exchange students. In return, the Hyuga family wanted learnings about their native cultures.

"Re-ready to see Kyubi playing a-again?" Hinata asked. She is a girl with long black hair, really shy and she always blushes and stutters, what sometimes make kind of hard to Sakura to understand her.

"Wow… it's the fifty time I see them playing! I already memorized all of their songs. They're really good… Just do not tell Naruto that I said that, he's going to get all full of himself"

Hinata laughed.

The two girls got in the club that the guys were going to play. It was slightly bigger than most of the clubs in this part of the city. They met with the band in the backstage, where the four members were.

The drummer was Kiba, the bassist was Shikamaru, the rhythm guitarist was Sai and the lead guitarist and vocalist was Naruto. He sings out of tune most of the time, but his stage presence compensates. All boys have strong japanese characteristics, except for Naruto that just like Sakura could be seen kilometers away.

"Sakura-chan! You made it here" Naruto screamed running towards the girls. He put his arms around Hinata's shoulders and kissed her in the cheek.

"Baka! You doubted me?" Sakura said angrily.

"No, no! It's just that the streets and subways are confusing that's all!" he denied quickly. He learned in the few days that Sakura stayed in Japan that the girl was really dangerous and had bad mood swings. It was best not contradict her.

"Troublesome…" Shikamaru muttered.

"So let's get ready to the show, yosh!" Naruto said while he and his bandmates gathered their instruments heading to the small stage. Sakura e Hinata were going to watch in the backstage. They sat in a place in the lateral where they could see them playing clearly.

"Good luck, Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Naruto smiled in return and make a gesture that would be considered a 'nice-guy pose' according to a friend of his.

During the concert, Sakura couldn't help but imagined how it would be if she was the one singing. She always loved music. She loved to listen, to sing, to play, to compose… But she never had the courage to do it in font of anyone. She didn't think she was good enough. She imagined if this was her destiny: to fade in the background. And while Kyubi played a song about overcoming, she thought about her life, and how she could never accomplish anything. She didn't think she was pretty enough as the other girls, like her friend back home Ino, intelligent enough to make a big career, talented enough to sing and play or competitive enough to live.

And as the music came to its apex, she couldn't help think how she wanted not being the one watching backs for a change. The small crowd went crazy with the song and in the darkness of the backstage, with all lights reflected in the band, she forced her almost tearful face to turn into one of joy as she cheered the boys on.