Title: Instrumental
Author: AppleL0V3R
Beta-reader: Terror-Of-The-Crimson-Night
Fandom: Naruto
Pairing: N/A – Team 7 Based
Rating: T
Type: One-shot – Complete
Summary: By looking at them, no one would believe that they all played classical instruments, but that was partially because they were in a rock band.
Theme: 50 Muses LJ challenge (#36 – Piano)
Word Count: 1,530
Disclaimer: If you've heard of it before, then it's obviously not mine.
Note: This collection of one-shots is dedicated to the friendship and dynamics of team seven, not the relationship between any mentioned pairings. So if there are pairings they will not be the focus.
Requested by: Anime Freak456
..:Xx0o0xX:..
Pressing one key after the next – some two or three at a time with just one hand – she moved with fluidity, never losing her legato rhythm. She'd been doing this since childhood, all three of them had, so it was easy to find a place for herself between the notes and lines as her long, thin fingers danced from white to black and back again. She hummed with each sound the large instrument before her made as it did so according to her fingers. The sounds going high before they went low and repeating continuously before they found a new rhyme on her command.
She loved to play the piano; so much so that she made sure to play for at least an hour on a daily basis even when she knew she was supposed to be rehearsing the newest ledger for a song. No matter how good a student she was, she was a procrastinator and had appeased her own wishes with a simple later. Before tacking on a when the boys and I get together so as to allow herself the piece of mind to do as she wished in the mean time.
If asked what she loved most about playing this particular instrument, she'd have to say how the vibrations thrummed up her arms, feeling very much as though it resonated with her soul each time she played anything at all. The sensation of it was like nothing else, not even the strumming of her base guitar as she let her shoulder rest against Sasuke's as they played through a song could compare.
Unfortunately, it wasn't anything more than a past time, or hobby, something to do when she wasn't busy with something else. Between being a college student with full courses, having a part time job and even being part of a rock band, she couldn't afford to make it more apart of her life then it already was. Not unless she switched majors. However, she'd always wanted to be a doctor since she was a child and with the career so close she could already see it in the distance, she wasn't going to even joke about not pursing any further.
So she settled for the meager time she found, using it to clear her mind and sometimes even as inspiration for a set of notes or anything else of that sort. She knew that her boys were the same way.
Sasuke, surprisingly, played the flute. Listening to it was like letting herself enjoy a particularly good slice of her favorite pie or cake, beautiful, enjoyable, heavenly. Even so, that didn't mean that between her and the other member of their group didn't given hell for it. After all, the flute was tended to be perceived as a more feminine instrument, even though it wasn't truly. All the same, their resident blonde loved to joke how the flute and Sasuke were a great match since they were both seen as girly. In their band, the raven haired college student also played guitar, sometimes when the song called for it, he also played electrical guitar.
Naruto on the other hand played a violin. Though he was the drummer of their band, he could go through a classical piece like he owned it. Being the hyperactive not to far out of his teens that he was, it was a wonder he could stay so still and focused as he used his bow on the strings of the relatively small instrument he loved to play. In fact, he tended towards the more challenging pieces, even if he did favor others like Ave Maria. If she closed her eyes and settled into a comfortable position, even if the style was different she still felt moved and couldn't help but think of it just as beautiful and enjoyable and heavenly as Sasuke's playing.
The difference between the two was that Sasuke's was soft, sweet and almost like it went straight to the soul and Naruto was full energy and charisma, influencing the audience to move and be moved. Both boys insisted that she was somewhere in between, not quite soft but definitely aimed for piece of mind and had just enough energy that moving to it wasn't difficult. But between the boys she preferred to simply be the harmony while they played the melody. It was how their relationship worked anyway, the boys were brash and liked to jump right into things, but no matter what it was she was almost the centerpiece that kept them together and often times the one that coaxed them into making up when they had their differences. She wasn't quite the glue though, that was Naruto, he was the one who had put the three of them together and kept them that way. Sasuke however, tended to be the voice of reason and the one who made sure people left their close-knit bonds alone. Usually anyway, they did tend to take up each other's rolls every now and again.
She accidently pressed the wrong keys, making an ear piercing clanging sound that was done in cartoons and such, when she felt hands on her shoulders. Sakura hadn't realized she'd gotten so deeply into what she was doing, even if she knew she was guilty of it whenever she was trying to put a score sheet together or was simply playing. The rosette had a tendency to simply get lost in the music she was creating, blocking the whole world out as she did so.
Taking a deep breath, she urged her heart to slow down and find a more normal rhythm rather than the speedy one it had just kicked into when she'd jumped with pure surprise. Then she turned to see who had scared the living daylights out of her, only to see a devious smirk and elegantly raised eyebrow, her ears picking up on the chuckles of the blonde not too far behind the guy who had spooked her. Green eyes narrowed as she huffed with indignation, "Sasuke, how many times have a told you not do that?"
"How many times have I told you to keep track of the time?" He rebutted and she had the feeling she shouldn't have waited until the boys got there. Still she sent him a disgruntled glare and one at the other boy for good measure. She only succeeded in getting a grin out of Naruto and an eye roll from the raven haired student.
"Whatever." She muttered, standing as she closed the lid on the keys and grabbed the music sheets from their perch. Once she was fully on her feet she stretched, extending her arms into the air and raising onto her tiptoes, she heard a few soft pops as the muscles strained. Well, that's what she got for staying in the position for so long. She let her arms flopped back down and dropped back down so that her bare feet were flat on the linoleum floor.
The blue eyed boy snorted before turning to head to the shelving on the far side of the room, that's where their latest work in progress would be. She still wasn't sure why they both decided to simply leave all of the music sheets and instruments at her house. That wasn't entirely true though, since Naruto didn't have room in his one bedroom apartment and Sasuke's parents were sticklers for strictly classical music and such. Not to mention that she still lived with her parents and didn't mind making the basement soundproof so that they could do whatever they wished with it. On the condition that it remained presentable, of course.
"Alright, let's get started." Ever the energetic one, the Naruto was already in the other part of the basement pick up his drumsticks so that he could fiddle with them until she and Sasuke were ready to start.
Thankfully, today was one of her sparingly few days off and so the three of them had all night to work on this song. She smiled as she pulled out all the music sheets and gave her boys their copies; she had the feeling that they were going to get a lot done. But she honestly couldn't say she would mind all too much if they started goofing off like they were wont to.
She enjoyed these times with her boys, so at ease in her own skin doing what she loved with the people who meant the most to her. Life couldn't get any better than this.
