High School Life Chapter 7, a naruto fanfic

Ch. 7 Mysteries and the Competition

Speaking

Thoughts and notes

Inner thought

Flashback

Lyrics

The next week went smoothly, if you can describe Ino being a banshee the whole time normal or smooth. Sometimes Kiba managed to calm her down, but she started on it again not even after 10 minutes. That's Ino for you. The reason was the upcoming contest. The SS members rehearsed a couple of times, everyone deciding on which song they would perform with the others helping them. Ino, Hinata and Tenten already had the moves for their dance performance. Temari was flipping out, because she couldn't find the melody of her song anywhere. It was her favorite song for God's sake. Ugh! Could it even get any worse? As a matter of a fact it could… And it did…

For the past week Sakura wasn't herself. Of course she looked normal, acted normal, even her smile was as sincere as always. Still, she couldn't shake of the feeling of something changing. Naruto and Hinata started dating a few days ago, what made Neji very overprotective of his cousin. Even Naruto's status as the team leader didn't save him from the glares he received from the Hyuuga male. Finally Naruto noticed the girl. Yay! Good for them.

On top of that was the fact that Sasuke almost kissed her. The human ice-cube Sasuke Uchiha almost kissed her. She didn't know what to think. Where they still friends or something more? She couldn't tell. She's been slightly avoiding being one-on-one with him for the past few days.

Flashback

"Sasuke let me go! I want to be alone!" she was almost crying.

"No." her shut eyes opened widely and the tears in her eyes flowed. "You're never alone…" With that said he put his hand on her right cheek and after looking deep into her emerald eyes leaned in and kissed her tenderly.

After a few minutes they failed to hear footsteps coming from the staircase. "Sakura-chan are you he-" It was Naruto.

Luckily for the already not kissing couple they were just standing in the middle of Sakura's room, Sasuke softly rubbing Sakura's back with the girl lightly sobbing into his shoulder. Naruto smiled at his best friend softly and after a few moments whispered as the Uchiha looked at him.

"How is she?" the blond received only a nod. Sasuke looked at Sakura as her body felt heavy in his arms. He smirked and amused smirk. "What is it?" Naruto asked as Sasuke's smirk widened.

"She fell asleep." he whispered and almost laughed and picked the girl up bridal style and put her under the warm covers of her bed. She seemed to run a light fever that would be gone after a good nights sleep, nothing to worry about. With that the both males walked out of her house smiling.

End of flashback

Since then she was pondering on what happened that day and whether to perform or not. Of course the girls tried to convince her to participate numerous times, but failed miserably each time.

Flashback

"Oh, please, forehead, I know for a fact that you have talents, so you must perform." Ino pleaded.

"I'll definitely screw up, I'm sure of it! That's why I don't want to participate, talent or no talent."

"You can always join us, Sakura-chan." Hinata suggested.

"Thanks, but I'll only make you look bad. Besides, there's not enough time for me to learn the steps already."

"We'll think of something for you." Tenten cheered.

"Hey, I was thinking, why are you performing in a trio when you said all performances were to be made solo?" Sakura asked in attempt to change the subject.

"Oh, there's an exception to that condition, in fact there has to be at lest two dancers on stage so it would look better." Ino grinned.

"Too bad there's no exception to singing." The girls sighed in agreement.

End of flashback

It was their sixth period Math with Asuma-sensei. Sakura was struggling to focus on the equation, when a paper ball flew right under her nose. She blinked rapidly from shock and then took the crumpled the paper.

It said: 'What the hell are you thinking, girl? It's Tuesday and the contest's in THREE days. Make up your mind while there's still time.
P. S. The girls and I also applied for individual singing :)
Ino.'

Sakura raised her head and looked at Ino with a raised brow. Ino responded with a glance and a nod, as if saying 'you know what you have to do' and turned around again. Since Sakura was sitting with Hinata she felt a bit relieved with not sitting with Sasuke, because she couldn't find peace after that day, not to mention seeing him every day in class BESIDE her all the time.

Sakura sat back in her chair and sighed. 'What am I supposed to do now?'

'Play along, of course. You're not some untalented nerd that studies all day long and doesn't have a life- Oh, wait. You are like that. Have been for the past week, at least, save for the untalented part.' Her inner butt in.

'As if. I'm just confused, ok? Besides, what am I supposed to do? Sing a lullaby or something?'

'You could always sing a random song. You know there's about a gazillion of songs out there already written and waiting to be sang. Just choose one and start practicing.'

"Attention students, tomorrow is the last day you can apply to take part in the talent contest. Everyone interested are expected to sign up until tomorrows' fifth period. Thank you for your attention." And then the bell went off.

"Ok, student's that's it for today. Your homework is to do exercises 23-29 on page 55 and don't forget about the test on Thursday. That's all, have a good day." The students stood up and walked out of the class.

Ino met up with the girls and walked out of the school. Sakura wasn't with them, because she said she wanted to go straight home from school, since she felt a bit off. That earned a wave of complaints from her female friends. They all were planning on going to the mall to have some girl-time.

Sakura was sitting in her car in the school lot. Just sitting there not thinking about anything. She was relaxing while listening to the radio playing random songs. She couldn't decide on whether to participate in the competition or not and it was killing her not being able to make up her mind. Not long after the song ended, someone knocked on her car door window. It was Tsunade.

"Sakura, school ended an hour ago. What are you still doing here?" she asked.

"I don't really know… Probably just need some time alone… To think and all."

"I see… Sakura, what's bothering you?"

The girl sighed out loud. "A lot of things. It's not something you can explain in few word."

Tsunade smiled. "Then why don't we go a cafe and have a little talk? I know a good one not far away."

"That's ok, you don't have to waste your time on my problems, Tsunade-sama."

"Sakura, dear, you know I will always find time to talk with you. I'm not your godmother for nothing, you know." Sakura smiled softly and started the engine.

"Hop in." and they took off.

"So tell me, what's bothering you so much?" Tsunade asked after taking a sip of her coffee.

"Well, there was something that happened a week ago and I don't really know what it meant, if it meant anything at all."

"Tell me. Maybe I can help?"

"Well... I was... almost... kissed by Sasuke Uchiha?" she answered blushing.

"Well, my dear, it's very nor-" her eyes were as big as a soccer ball. "Wait. What?"

"That's the whole problem. I don't know if it meant anything or was just a spur of the moment thing. Ugh! I'm so confused!" Tsunade smirked.

"I think it's not you who is in need of advice, Sakura."

"Why not?"

"As far as I know, Sasuke Uchiha is the coldest, most arrogant bastard I've ever met, and now you're telling me he showed affection towards you? Either he's unstable or you've really managed to get to him."

"Well, I think it's because we used to be great friends when we were little, but I'm not sure."

"I don't think so… Maybe he had some affection towards you when you were little?"

"Well…" Tsunade started smirking as Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Spill it."

"Ok, ok, ok. Hinata told me that Sasuke wanted to ask me to be his girlfriend back then and was mad at me for not telling him about my moving to Suna. I mean, I did tell him that we might move, but I guess he thought I was joking or something."

"So that's where the dog's buried."

"You can say that… But still, I don't know what it meant… What it meant to him…" she lowered her head.

"Sakura, if he did that that means he at least cares about you and that's that."

"Maybe you're right, Tsunade-sama-"

"Oh, please, don't call me -sama or –san or anything else it makes me feel old." Sakura smiled.

"You are old." Tsunade glared at the girl, who in return giggled lightly.

"So what's the next thing that's bothering you?" the blonde asked folding her arms on her chest in an annoyed manner.

"Huh? Oh, right… Um, I still haven't decided whether to participate in the competition or not."

"Well you better hurry up and sign up before it's too late."

"Tsunade! How can I sign up, if A) I don't know what to do and B) I still haven't decided yet?"

"Simple. Just participate. You do have a great voice and a nicely formed body. Besides, how can you know for sure that you will regret participating, unless you give it a try?"

"Was that supposed to make me feel better or worse?" Tsunade smiled at her sweetly and took her hand.

"Sakura, you're feeling unsafe when you decide on your own, but when you have friends by your side you're nowhere close to that feeling. Like the incident with those guys from Sound High. I was told that you and Temari kicked some ass."

"How did you know about it?" she asked her face flushed with embarrassment.

"Naruto's father was Jiraya's best student back when we were still young. Minato told Jiraya and he told me. Besides, Naruto often gets the rest of the gang out of trouble and that includes reporting to me in person. I've got to hand it to him, he's a good leader, plus the gang saved the school from destruction once, courtesy of the Sound gang. Now back on the subject. You are participating and that's final. " Sakura wanted to cut her off. "Shush! You're singing. You pick the song yourself. Now get to work. I don't want to see you make a fool out of your self because of lack of practice." Sakura smiled at her ex-mentor.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sa- Tsunade." they both went out of the cafe and Sakura gave Tsunade a lift back to school, since she left her car there.

As Sakura was driving home, already calm and collected, she felt the car suddenly strike forward. Someone hit her car from behind. Still driving she looked in the rear view mirror and saw a darkened figure of a girl behind the steering wheel with what looked like fire-red hair. Karin.

'She must have followed me to the cafe.' she thought.

Then Karin ran into her again, but this time it was harder and Sakura was forced to stop. She walked out of the car only to be met with a fist directed to her face. Having a good reaction, Sakura dodged the punch, which ended with Karin hitting the R8's roof's edge and Karin hissing from pain.

"What do you think you are doing?" Sakura asked a bit annoyed by the girl's behavior.

"You're not getting away with what you did at school, you little slut." she grabbed Sakura by the hair and pulled her down. "You stay the hell away from Sasuke. He's mine and only mine. Got it?"

"I don't see your name on him." Sakura smirked at the redhead, but soon hissed from pain as Karin pulled harder.

"If I see you anywhere near him, you'll pay for it. Mark my words: I always get what I want." And she walked away leaving Sakura on the ground. "And by the way, don't even think about participating in the talent competition, cause I'll make sure you pay for it, dearly."

"Bitch…" Sakura whispered before Karin got in her car. She heard it.

"What'd you say, slut?"

"Are you deaf? I said bitch: B-I-T-C-H, bitch. You'll never get Sasuke to even like you let alone love you. You're just a crazed dumb-ass fan-girl that wants to get him because of his looks. He wants nothing to do with you. And don't worry, I'm not thinking about participating." Karin snorted as if saying 'you didn't even have a chance to begin with'. "I've already applied, so there's nothing to think about. If you would've spied on us a bit more carefully, you would've seen the application I filled in while talking."

'Shit! when did she do that? This bitch is better than I thought. Nothing to worry about, she won't make it to school tomorrow after I'm done with her.' Karin thought and charged at the rosette once again, but Sakura saw through it and locked both her hands on Karin's back and grabbed her neck from behind in a threatening way.

"You should've backed off of Sasuke after the first refusal, Karin. You've been here longer than me and you should know the fact that he doesn't change his mind over a day better than I do, in your case over continuous pestering throughout the whole time you've been here." She let go of her and took a few steps back towards her car. "He refused a million times, yet you still stalk him like a lost puppy. So if you couldn't take a hint from him all those times, maybe I'll be more successful with it."

"You're too confident of yourself, pinkie." she retorted feeling overconfident herself.

"Sasuke wants me to be his girlfriend and wants me to join the gang, so be a good girl and walk away before I have to beat the hint into your thick skull."

The next day went smoothly. No one knew about yesterday's little accident Sakura's had and she didn't feel like telling anyone about it. She masked the little dents Karin left on her car roof and it's back, so if no one knew about it, they won't notice. She had to hand it to the red-head, she could through a mean punch, though she had to work on her speed. One thing's for sure - it made her change her mind and feel a lot more confident about herself. Yes, she decided to participate.

Flashback

"That slut! Who does she think she is to boss me around however she likes? Sure as hell I'll participate in that stupid competition. I'll just pick a song and sing it." And so she opened her laptop and looked over her songs. "When did I manage to download over 3000 songs to my computer?" she thought after looking at the search results.

3.5 hours later

"Ugh! I give up! I can't listen to another song." she stood up and went into the living room to watch some TV. Flipping through channels, she wanted to find something to take her mind off of the competition. She sighed closing her eyes and stopped on the next channel, which was MTV. She groaned, but the video that was on caught her attention. She must've heard it somewhere before, because she started singing along with it. (A/N Sorry, no lyrics yet, so just read on and you'll find out later.)

Suddenly she jumped from her lying position and smiled as if just have won a trophy for her luck.

'I got it!' she exclaimed and ran upstairs to her room to find the song and get ready.

End of flashback

Sakura was eating her lunch when she heard her name being called.

"Sakura? Hello? Is anybody home?" Ino asked waving a hand in front of Sakura's face to catch her attention.

"Huh? Ino?" she looked at her blonde friend frowning.

"So? What's the occasion for you to glare at Karin whenever you see her, not that I'm complaining, and dodging Sasuke all day? That's besides you being out of reach all day, of course..." she stated in a matter-of-fact manner.

"What are you talking about, Ino-pig?" she raised a brow as if not understanding the blonde.

"Ha! You think I haven't noticed? You've been dodging Sasuke's glances all day, glaring at Karin, which made her fume and turn the other way, and smiling to yourself while blushing with no reason! Tell me what happened and maybe, I'll let it go... For now"

"…Guess I haven't noticed till now. But I won't tell you even if you'll torture me with your non-stop questions about it, so just let it go, Ino." she smirked. "At least not till we're at my place and out of everybody's sight, especially Sasuke's. I don't want anybody to know about it, much less him. Knowing him, he'll throw a fit about it the second I mention- Ino?" she noticed Ino freeze in her seat.

"And what is so important that you don't want anybody to know about, much less me." said a voice behind her mimicking her tone. That made Sakura tense up and her face turned as pale as a sheet of paper.

"Um… S-Sasuke?... W-What are y-you doing h-here?" she stuttered panicking.

'Nice tone, girl… Very convincing, moron…' her inner commented.

"Eating lunch. Now answer my question, Sakura." Sasuke asked… No, more like demanded.

"She was just telling me something only a girl could understand. It's a girl thing, Sasuke." Ino said saving her friend from total embarrassment. Sakura nodded at that and continued eating her lunch after sending Ino an 'I owe you' look. "Then I'll just come to your place after school and you can tell me all about it. Ok?" Ino winked as Sasuke turned around to shake hands with the rest of the guys.

Sakura leaned in to hear Ino whisper. "Tsunade told me about your talk yesterday. Hope you'll make the right choice."

Sakura smiled sadly. "I already have..." Ino got furious.

"What? And you haven't even thought about telling me? How could you?"

"Ino, calm down. I said I have decided and that's that." she fake-glared at the blonde. "But if you're that curious, then, I guess, we can meet with the girls at my house and I"ll tell you everything-" Ino attempted to interrupt her. "-including glaring at Karin." she whispered the last part. That got Ino's mouth to shut instantly. Sakura sighed.

"Anyway, let's get going, I don't want to be late for History. You guys were right, Ibiki-sensei is kind of scary when he is upset." she stood up and walked to the trash can to throw away the garbage. Everyone followed her example and went to their classes.

The rest of the day went ok for everyone, no fights, no detentions no fails no arguments with the teachers, even Kakashi was early for practice. Now that earned a loud 'You're not late, the sky must be falling!' from Naruto and a shocked expression from everyone else.

The girls met up at the parking lot to go to Sakura's house to hear her decision on whether she is going to take part in the competition or not... And the matter with Karin, of course. In a matter of half an hour the girls were sitting in Sakura's room, their cars at home, since, fortunately, they didn't live too far away from each other.

"So tell us, Sakura, what happened with Karin." Tenten suggested while grinning like already told her about Sakura's adventure and everything.

"Sigh... Yesterday Tsunade-sama and I were in a cafe talking about some matters and when I was driving home, guess who bumped into me? Karin. I stopped and went out to give her a piece of my mind, when she suddenly launched at me and started ordering me around, saying stuff like 'Stay away from Sasuke' or 'I always get what I want'. Then I... I sort of snapped and told her that she can-" everybody's eyes widened.

"Please don't tell me you said she can have her precious Sasuke, cause you two aren't together!" Ino yelled all in one breath. Sakura glared at the girl for interrupting her.

"No, I said she could forget about Sasuke altogether, because he doesn't like her, hell, he hates her." Their eyes widened even more, Ino's eyes narrowed. "What?" she asked.

"Is that all?" Ino asked suspiciously.

"Why would I say anything else?"

"First, you're blushing..." Sakura touched her cheeks, which were indeed, burning up. "...and two, that's hardly a reason for Karin to shut up."

"Yeah, she's too much of a bitch to get beaten just by that. Hell, it wouldn't even shut anyone up for the matter." Tenten agreed.

"... ok, ok... That wasn't all, I... Well... I sort of said that he.. That he... Um..." she stammered blushing even more.

"Say it!"

"." Dead silence followed.

"OMG! He really said that? The Uchiha Sasuke said he wanted a girlfriend?" Ino shrieked, Hinata smiled, Tenten was dumbfounded and Temari smirked.

"Of course not! Ok, here's the thing. Before I moved out of here, I had a bit of a fight with Sasuke, not all that bad, but still. I asked him what he would do, if I was to leave Konoha, he, obviously, threw a fit about me asking such stupid things and that I'd never leave. Not that I had any say in the matter anyway. so he dismissed it as a bad joke and went home to pack for their family vacation. Hinata-chan told me recently that Sasuke was upset with me, because I left without saying goodbye, but the real reason was that he wanted to ask me to be his girlfriend - It's too early, I know, we were only eight back then - but the fact stays. So under pressure of my anger, I sort of referred to it as a present statement, not a past one. I guess she bought it, but what if she asked Sasuke directly about it? God, I'm so screwed!"

"So that's why she wasn't so clingy today... That explains it and the reason you've been dodging poor Sasuke-chan all day..." Sakura glared at her best friend.

"Temari... Don't call him like that! Besides she scratched my car."

"Aw... Are you defending him now? I knew you had the hots for him, but not to this rate... Wait when did she do that? I didn't see any scratches at school." the brunette girl asked seriously.

"Matsuri!" by this time Sakura was as red as a rape tomato. "Ok, ok... When she bumped her car into mine and after a failed attempt to punch me. I asked Kankuro to help me repaint the back bumper. He doesn't know the true story and doesn't need to know, Temari. He thinks some drunk bumped into me after a wild party and drove off God-knows-where."

"Well, at least I know where that little weasel drove off to. But doesn't our future Mrs. Uchiha at least hope to make her title official one day?" Sakura blushed furiously at the new 'title' she was given.

"Temari-chan, please stop that, you're making Sakura uncomfortable." Sakura flashed Hinata an appreciating smile.

"Admit it, you like him a lot." the girls bursted out laughing.

"Anyway, what were you talking about with Tsunade-sama?"

"A lot of stuff, Tenten, but she helped me sort out my thoughts concerning something..."

"...And?"

"I'm participating in the competition." there was a long silence until...

"TSUNADE-SAMA YOU'RE AN ANGEL!" the girls yelled in unison. Sakura had to block her ears to not go deaf. Everybody laughed.

"Wait. What did she say to convince you to actually listen to her? And why'd you listen to her and not us?" Ino asked with fake-hurt in her voice.

"Well, she is my godmother, and that's what godmothers do, give advice when you need it." she smiled sweetly.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait... She's your godmother? Sakura! Why didn't you tell us?" Ino practically yelled in her ear looking at Temari and Matsuri, who just shrugged, as they knew the piece of information for quite some time now.

"Well, I didn't want to brag or anything, besides I don't like to give away the info, since she is quite famous, so you can't blame me, so just drop it." she stuck her tongue out.

"Ok, but your starting to hold back on us, Sakura... From now on you'll be telling us every single piece of info you learn, promise?" Ino said holding up the pinkie on her right hand for the rosette to mimic. And so she did.

"I promise, now can we get down to business? We still have tons of home work to do." she pointed out.

"Homework-shomework, you still haven't told us about your decision for Fridays performance."

"Ok, ok... Keep your pants on, Tennie-chan." she took a quick breath. "I decided to sing."

"Sing what exactly?" Hinata asked in a weak voice.

"I chose 'What You Don't Know' by Monrose. I saw the video on TV and I liked it."

"Hmm... I haven't heard this song before... Care to perform for us?" Tenten asked winking. The others nodded.

"No way! I'm saving my voice for Friday." Everyone glared at her, even Hinata. "But I'll let you listen to it." she added while shuffling through her play list. "Found it." And they all listened to it, Sakura occasionally singing in a whisper to the lyrics.

"It's so sad, but I like it. It kind of suits you, Saku-chan." said Matsuri and the rest nodded.

"Yeah, definitely suits you." Sakura smiled sweetly at her friends.

"Anyway, what songs did you guys pick out?"

"I picked 'Just Started Being Bad' by Sarah Connor, Hinata –'Without You' by Mariah Carey and Tenten picked 'Nobody's Home' by Avril Lavigne." Ino answered for all of them

"And you are singing 'Stranger' by Hillary Duff, I presume?" Sakura asked with a knowing smile.

"Nope, I changed my mind. I picked 'Good Girl Gone Bad' by Rihanna."

"Wow... Never knew you were into those songs... I love it!" Sakura exclaimed and they all fell into a fit of laughter.

"And you, Matsuri?" she looked at the girl expectantly.

"I'm not participating. I'd rather watch you guys ace it!" she smiled at the girls and they all joined in a group-hug.

After what seemed to be eternity, the girls did their homework together and went to their own respectful homes, after having dinner with the Harunos, of course. Hitomi refused to let them go with empty stomachs even though they ate a tray-full of sandwiches.

Sakura led her friends to the gates and sighed after saying goodbye.

She sluggishly walked into her room and screamed into her pillow in annoyance. What was she supposed to do when she had all of her homework done and checked twice? It's only 9:30 p.m. for God's sake!

*Shuffle* *Shuffle* *Shuffle*

She raised her head and looked at the window, the sound was definitely coming from the wild grape vines under her large window. A bird perhaps? Secretly looking down she smiled as she saw an all-too-familiar black head making it's way up to her window.

"Sasuke... Why can't you use the door for a change?" she thought annoyed at his antics, but then remembered a little scene from the play she starred in while she was in Suna – W. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet:

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet.
'Tis but thy name that is my enemy;
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What's Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself." she giggled.

Sasuke, on the other hand, saw through her plan and clearly remembering the lines of Romeo, since they had to do role plays at school last year, and he, fortunately, had to be Romeo, started saying his lines:

"I take thee at thy word:
Call me but love, and I'll be new baptized;
Henceforth I never will be Romeo." he said in a dramatic way while holding on to the window frame.

Sakura was shocked at first ], but decided to play along, she memorized this scene for her entire life plus it was her favorite book, so it was no problem for her, plus she wanted to see how good Sasuke was at this.

"What man art thou that thus bescreen'd in night
So stumblest on my counsel?"

"By a name
I know not how to tell thee who I am:
My name, dear saint, is hateful to myself,
Because it is an enemy to thee;
Had I it written, I would tear the word."

"My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words
Of that tongue's utterance, yet I know the sound:
Art thou not Romeo and a Montague?" she tried to hold back her giggles as Sasuke smirked and made as much dramatic gestures as possible to accent his lines.

"Neither, fair saint, if either thee dislike."

"How camest thou hither, tell me, and wherefore?
The orchard walls are high and hard to climb,
And the place death, considering who thou art,
If any of my kinsmen find thee here."

"With love's light wings did I o'er-perch these walls;
For stony limits cannot hold love out,
And what love can do that dares love attempt;
Therefore thy kinsmen are no let to me." Sasuke stepped into her room and stood on one knee to emphasize his character's lines.

"If they do see thee, they will murder thee."

"Alack, there lies more peril in thine eye
Than twenty of their swords: look thou but sweet,
And I am proof against their enmity."

"I would not for the world they saw thee here." Sasuke stood up.

"I have night's cloak to hide me from their sight;
And but thou love me, let them find me here:
My life were better ended by their hate,
Than death prorogued, wanting of thy – Ah, screw it." Sakura exploded with laughter.

"Is that reality I witness? The Uchiha Sasuke gave up while showing off his knowledge on literature? Now there's a first." she giggled while he glared his famous Uchiha glare, but soon he too started to let out soft chuckles.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked slightly out of breath still grinning.

"I was bored." he shrugged and she pouted.

"Aw... and here I thought you couldn't live without me... " she sighed.

"So what's up with the whole Shakespeare drama?"

"I saw you climbing up to my window and it kind of reminded me of the scene. By the way, when did you learn the lines of Romeo?"

"We had a project on that last year, guess I just remembered it. Where did you learn it?"

"Suna. We had a play on it last spring and, fortunately, I played Juliet." she grinned.

"So what, little Miss Actress, you decided whether you're performing on Friday or not?" he asked and mentally slapped himself for the mock-compliment. "Don't answer if you don't want to." 'Uchihas don't do compliments to their friends.'

"Actually, I have. I'm performing. What are you gonna sing?"

"A song."

"Which one?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Sasuke!"

"What are you singing?"

"Why should I tell you, if you didn't tell me yours?"

"'Everything I Am'."

"What?"

"'Everything I Am'. I'm singing it."

"Never heard of it." she made a snobby gesture and turned her back on him to sit on the bed.

"You weren't supposed to." he glared at her.

"Oh... Ok. I'm singing 'What You Don't know'."

"Good for you." he smirked.

"Thank you." she stuck out her tongue at him and grinned. He only smirked and rolled his eyes at her childish antics.

Along silence went after and they both almost sweat-dropped at the awkwardness.

"So... What are the others singing?" she began.

"Don't know, don't care."

"Sasuke! That's rude, you know! They're your friends." he shrugged. "Besides, aren't you supposed to be playing the tunes yourselves?" he nodded. "Then how are you going to play, when you don't even know the melody in the first place?"

"Hn. That's for me to know and you to find out." she pouted while glaring at the floor.

"Anyway, what's that I heard about you and Karin?" she snapped her attention to him once again.

"Ugh... What are you talking about?" she asked trying not to look suspicious.

"Don't act like you don't know anything, Sakura. I know you're hiding something from me. Now tell me before I-"

"Before you what?"

"- Just tell me and I'll go."

"Ok. I gave her a taste of her own medicine."

"What did you do?"

"I told her off."

"Don't make me repeat myself, Sakura."

"I told her off. As simple as that, Sasuke." she crossed her arms on her chest in a mock-hurt manner with a serious face.

"What exactly did you tell her?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Sakura, stop acting like a child and answer the question, damn it!"

"Don't raise your voice at me. I told her to leave you alone."

"That's not what she said." Sakura panicked.

"W-What did she say?" he smirked.

"She said you demanded that she left me alone and said something about me asking you to be my girlfriend and joining the gang."

"WHAT? That stupid, good for nothing-"

"Is it true?"

"Huh?"

"Did you say that?"

"What are you ta-"

"Yes or no?"

"Sigh... Ok. Yes I said it, but only to get her off my back and yours. Besides she scratched my car and tried to threaten me."

"She scratched your car? So that's who did it." her eyes went wide.

"You noticed?"

"Yeah, the one on the roof was pretty obvious to a trained eye, looks like she wore a ring that caused the scratch, but the bumper looks brand new, so I guess she did something to it too." she tensed up as she thought of the worst. "What happened?"

"..."

"Don't worry, no one else knows about it."

"Except Ino, Hinata, Temari, Matsuri and Tenten."

"You told them?" she nodded.

"That's the thing I didn't want you to hear back at school." his hands balled into fists.

"You should've told me about it and the threat as soon as it happened."

"I shouldn't have told you just now. That's the whole reason I didn't tell you! I can handle myself just fine and you've witnessed it with the Sound guys yourself." she snapped back.

"They didn't expect it, is all. They learn from such mistakes and next time they'll make a different approach and they never leave a matter unsolved. By the way, what did that slut say?"

"Then I'll be ready. Warned means armed in my vocabulary, Sasuke. I'll just be more careful. And she said something about always getting what she wants and such nonsense."

"Being careful won't save you next time, Sakura. Those guys are dangerous. You don't know what they are capable of. That goes for Karin, too."

"You haven't seen me in my dangerous mode neither, Sasuke. I'll be alright." she sighed. "Besides, nor they or Karin know me, so you don't have to worry about it."

"That's the whole problem, I don't know you either."

"But you trust me, and that's enough for me to say I won't let them get near me. Now go home before my parents come here and see you. I don't want any trouble."

"Sakura-"

"No, Sasuke. I'll be safe, besides at least one of you guys is always with me, so I'm good. Now go. See you tomorrow at school." he glared at her, but nodded nonetheless.

He walked over to the window and was about to go through when Sakura called him.

"Sasuke?"

"Hn."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For your concern, but seriously. I can take care of myself." She smiled and pecked him on the cheek lightly. "Now go, I can hear my mom coming up the stairs." he nodded and jumped out of the window.

"Sasuke, you're going way overboard with this. I can take care of myself." With that she sighed and let go of the thought and went to the shower. After all, it was already 10:35 p.m. and she still needed her sleep.

The next day went by relatively smoothly. Karin wasn't present at school due to illness. Her trio of followers we nowhere in sight neither. No one made any pranks or loud noise at all. Everybody was concentrating on the competition and, of course, their tests. In our case, Math test. Recess was about to start and that meant hell on earth. Last lesson, some of the guys in class decided to prank Asuma-sensei and he had given a hard test to the whole class as their punishment. Of course they paid big for their mistake and were dodging glares everywhere they went.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

"Ugh! My brain's on fire!" screamed a certain blonde.

"Ino. In order to have your brain on fire you need to possess one in the first place. Besides the test wasn't that hard." answered a certain rosette.

"Nu-huh! That was the worst test I ever had." Sakura just shrugged. "Anyway... Are you guys planning on going to the music classroom after school's over?" all of the girls nodded.

"Do you know what the guys are singing tomorrow?" Temari asked.

"No. They said it was a surprise. Yeah right, like Naruto, Kiba or Lee can surprise any of us. they'll probably sing their favorites like 'New Divide' by Linkin Park or some other song." retorted Tenten.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"Right! You don't know... Well, you remember about a week ago the guys argued about what song they want to perform?" she and Sakura nodded. "Well, those were their own songs they're very proud of, so when they have an opportunity to show off, they don't let it waste."

"Now that you mention it, you did say they wrote some songs themselves, so I guess I'm not surprised." Sakura smiled.

"Ok, lets go get some lunch before I starve to death." Tenten whined.

"What's wrong, Tennie-chan? You're to eager to go make out with your boyfriend to wait just a few minutes?" Ino hinted with a giggle. The hazel eyed girl glared at her.

"For your information, I haven't had breakfast today, cause I overslept, and now I just want to make my stomach shut up, so lets go. Now!"

"Ok, ok. You don't need to shout, Ten-chan."

P.E. with Anko-sensei and Gai-sensei.

The whole class was playing basketball – boys versus girls. The boys were in the lead with the score 51:48.

"Come on, teme, pass the ball already!" shouted Naruto while running to the opposite basket.

"Kiba!" Sasuke yelled signaling their signature move. The boy nodded in understanding and took his position blocking Ino and Hinata. Naruto was blocking Sakura and Matsuri, while Neji was blocking Tenten.(A/N: Seniors and juniors have P.E. at the same time.) That left only Temari, Natsume and Hitari open. Sasuke passed the ball to Shino, who ran past Natsume and Hitari, then passed the ball to Lee, who passed it back to Sasuke.

He was about to score three points when Temari tackled him to the ground and threw to now open Sakura. The rosette ran to the three-point line and threw the ball and it went through. It all ended with a tie. The girls were panting heavily while cheering, and the guys just went to their locker room without a word, definitely embarrassed by almost being beaten by girls.

The girls met up with the boys in the great hall and they all went to the music room, to rehearse their songs, plus the guys needed to learn the melodies of the girls' songs since they agreed to help them out.

They played their own melodies, but didn't sing, since they didn't want the girls to hear them just yet, and then tried out the rest, but that didn't go so well, since some of the songs demanded some sound effects that they couldn't simply describe. Of course they could just let them listen to the songs, but they really didn't want them to hear the lyrics, it was bad enough that they heard the melody so they now knew the songs were new. Luckily the girls dismissed them as already well known songs.

This went on for about three and a half hours and so they left for home.

Sakura was very nervous, because she wasn't so sure if she wanted to perform tomorrow. She had a bad feeling about it. Call it a gut feeling, she just couldn't get it out of her the moment she reached her home, she noticed her parents' cars were still missing, even though they said they'd be early that day. She shrugged it off as they were doctors and there are lots of reasons they could be held up at work. So she opened the door and stepped inside, walked up the stairs into her room and set her back pack on her bed and her phone on her desk. She entered the kitchen to fix herself some dinner...

"What the-"

...only to be greeted by the hard floor.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring* *Ring*

"Sakura, what do you want? It's late." asked a very tired voice of a male.

"Good evening, Sasuke-kun. It's Hitomi." he sat up straight.

"Hitomi-san? Why are you calling me from Sakura's number? Is something wrong?"

"She must've forgotten her cell phone this morning, so she couldn't call us. As I can see, she's not with you, isn't she?" this made him throw his songbook he was looking through on the floor and sit up.

"She's not at home?" he glanced at his alarm clock. It was almost 8 p.m.

"No, but her car and backpack are here, so I presume she came home then left. I hoped you would know where she was..." her voice was filled with worry.

"Don't worry, Hitomi-san. I'll call some of our friends, maybe she's with one of them."

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun, that would be very helpful of you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Hitomi-san. Don't worry, I'll find her." the line went dead.

'Sakura, you klutz, how could you forget your phone at home if you can't... live without it... Damn it! She had it with her today.'

He texted the girls asking them if they knew anything about Sakura, but they all answered with a 'not really, what happened?'.

He speed-dialed Naruto and went to his dresser to get changed.

"Yo, yo, yo. What can I help you with, my good friend?" Naruto answered in a raping voice.

"Dobe, we got a problem. Sakura's missing." the boy laughed.

"Teme, if you miss her so much, then go pay her a late night visit or-"

"Shut up, dobe. She's missing as in her mom called me using her phone asking me if I knew where she was." This stopped Naruto's laughing and made him literally choke.

"What? Did she at least come home from school?"

"Yeah, Hitomi-san said she left her backpack and her car at home, plus she left her phone at home."

"Ok. Don't worry, I'll call the guys and arrange an emergency meeting at the hideout. See you soon, Sasuke."

"Hurry up, I'm already leaving." he shut his phone and got to the garage where Itachi was washing his cars interior.

"Where do you think you are going, otouto?" he asked.

"Out. Sakura's missing and I'm gonna look for her." his eyes widened.

"Want me to call my friends to help you look for her?"

"There's no time, she could be anywhere..." he entered his Porshe Cayenne and was about to start the engine when Itachi took the keys from him.

"That's the whole point, anywhere. The more people you have the better." Sasuke glared at his brother, but nodded nonetheless. "Good little brother, now tell me what happened and you may even get a treat for it." Sasuke snorted at him for comparing him to a dog, but sighed and told him the short version of her mysterious disappearance. Then Itachi called his gang, the Akatsuki, and asked them to help out and they agreed.

They all met up in the central park 15 minutes later. He texted the gang telling them to meet him in the park and Sasuke repeated the whole story once again.

"It seems too obvious. Why would anyone kidnap her?" asked a redhead male named Yahiko, or Pein.

"So what do you suppose we do? Play Shogi or something? We need to find her, prontò." Naruto shouted in frustration.

"Hold your horses, Naruto. There are some questions left unanswered." Shikamaru butted in.

"Such as?"

"Why was she kidnapped?"

"Because of us, obviously! We weren't there to watch over her!" he half-yelled.

"Naruto, Shikamaru has a point. Yes, she might've been kidnapped because of us, but not only because we weren't around. This might be a call for another gang fight, like the Sound Wave last year or-"

"It may be payback." Sasuke stated interrupting Neji and Shikamaru just nodded with a raised brow.

"You read my mind or something?" he asked.

"Sakura told me about her encounter with Karin on Tuesday. She said she threatened her and something about always getting her way. This may be it. She's getting back at her."

"Sasuke, don't forget that we have no clues to prove one theory or another wrong, so lets just stop for going to her house and look through her stuff."

"Do what you want, I'm leaving." With that said he drove off. In the background there were some grunts and curses.

"Sasuke wait! Where are you going?" Naruto shouted after him and failed to hear Sasuke's curses.

"Tell me, did Sakura get involved in some unpleasant business since she got back?" Itachi asked already forming a new theory.

"Yeah, she got into and argument with Karin and kicked some Sound Wave ass, not to mention she-"

"SHE DID WHAT?" came a shrieking voice from behind them.

"Huh? I-Ino? What are you doing here?" Kiba stammered as the rest of the girls arrived as well.

"What are you doing here, Hinata?" Neji asked in a superior tone. "You should be at home, it's late."

"Cut the small talk, onii-san. It's no time to talk about who should and who shouldn't be here. Sakura's missing and the more people look for her the better."

"Calm down, girls. We'll help you look for her, so there's no need for you to worry, we'll find her. Right, guys?" half of the Akatsuki gang replied with a quick "of course" or "sure", others just nodded. Itachi frowned looking at his friends.

"Where's Sasori?"

Hidan cursed under his breath. "That asshole won't pick up his phone. He's not home either."

"This is just great, now we have to find not one, but two people!" Deidara yelled in frustration.

*Ring* *Ring* *Ring* *Ring* Sasuke's phone went off once again.

"Hello?" he answered the call with a frown while driving out of the park.

"Hello Sasuke-kun. It's me again. I'm calling to tell you that Sakura's ok, she's with her cousin. Apparently they met somewhere, so there's no need to worry, I already talked to them, so they'll be home soon. Sorry for causing you trouble, I didn't know he was coming to visit." Sasuke exhaled in relief.

"It's ok, Mrs. H, at least she's ok. Where was she anyway?" Hitomi giggled slightly. He stopped the car just about to enter the driveway.

"Sasori-chan took her to the beach, it was their favorite place to hang out when we were back in Suna."

"Thanks for the call, Mrs H-Wait. Did you just say Sasori?"

"Yes, is something wrong?" she asked already starting to get worried.

"No. It's nothing, really. Don't worry. Goodnight, Hitomi-san."

"Good night, Sasuke-kun, don't stay up late and sorry again for causing trouble." And the line went dead. Sasuke took his phone from his ear and frowned with a smirk on his lips.

"Why didn't anyone tell me Sasori was Sakura's cousin?" he asked no one in particular with a hint of anger in his voice.

"Sakura-san is Sasori's cousin? Didn't see that coming." Hidan laughed in irony.

"I don't get it! Where is Sakura and what's with this talk about that Sasori guy?" Ino yelled.

"Wait. Does Sakura have pink hair and bright green eyes, by any chance?" Yahiko asked almost smiling.

"That's her alright. Here." Naruto handed him a picture of the whole gang by the school outdoor basketball court with everyone smiling, even Sasuke. "I took it just in case."

Some Akatsuki members looked at the photo and started to laugh lightheartedly. "That's Sakura-chan alright." Deidara declared.

"How do you know her?" Hinata asked as a midnight-blue Porshe Cayenne was parked not too far from them.

"Why didn't anyone mention Sakura being related to Sasori?" Sasuke asked obviously annoyed.

Itachi smirked. "You didn't ask, otouto." the brother just glared.

"Anyway, we went to visit Sasori when the guy broke an arm on vacation in Suna and was hospitalized for a while. We met her in his room with her parents there as well." Zetsu answered still laughing lightly.

"Ok, guys, since your precious Sakura-chan is ok, we'll start looking for that ass Sasori. You guys need some sleep before school tomorrow, you have a big day on stage ahead of you, don't you?" Itachi said waving a hand in goodbye as he was stepping inside his car. Sasuke shook his head.

"Don't. He's driving Sakura home, so he's alright as well." he smirked. Some of them laughed at the coincidence while some grunted under their noses from frustration. Sakura and Sasori sure know how to make people worry about them. Everyone drove home with a headfull of either curses or laughs at the ironies of life.

"So here you go, home, sweet home, as promised." a male voiced announced stepping out of his black BMW.

"Yeah, yeah,yeah... Last time you drove me to a house that was similar to mine, but was on the other side of Suna!" a female laughed a bit.

"That was four years ago, Saku. Time changes, so do people."

"Oh, yeah? Then what was that a year ago at the beach? I had to walk all the way home from the freakin' gas station, which, may I remind you, was a good 3 miles from my neighborhood!" the redhead just chuckled at the memory.

"So, Sakura, what are your plans for tomorrow? We still have a lot to reminisce on left. We haven't seen each other in a long time, haven't we?" Sasori asked walking up to the other side of the car and letting his favorite cousin out of the car.

"Don't know, yet. Tomorrow's gonna be a hard day. We're competing in the talent show at school, but I don't know when it ends. The final list of contestants wasn't published yet, guess it'll be in the brochures or something. Maybe we'll go to a party to celebrate, it's Friday tomorrow, so..."

"You do know you're rambling over an easy question, right?" Sakura blushed at the remark and then crossed her hands on her chest. "Anyway, I'm gonna get going, don't want to oversleep your performance tomorrow." he kissed her forehead and ruffled her hair into a mess and with a wave of his right hand sped out of the parking lot. Sakura smiled and walked inside only to be met by her mother looking at her with worry and disapproval in her eyes.

'This was to be expected...' she sighed soundlessly.

Next morning, before school...

"Hi, guys. How's everybody doing?" asked a pink haired girl, but only received some sleepy grunts or yawns. "What happened to you guys? Did you have enough sleep last night?" some glared at her.

"What do you think? I fucking went to sleep at half past twelve yesterday because of you and now I have bags under my eyes!" Ino yelled in reply.

"Um... Sorry?" she smiled sheepishly not seeing her fault in that. "How is that any of my fault again?"

"You went missing yesterday, that's how!" Sakura's face went pale 'How did she know about that? How did they know about that?' she asked herself while looking at the rest of her friends looking alike.

"How did you- " she cut herself realizing one little detail "My mom called you, didn't she?" Everybody nodded. "Greeeeeeat... I knew we should've called her sooner. Damn annoying cousins and their stupid ideas of a late-night visit..." she rambled under her nose.

"You didn't know?" Hinata asked a bit less sleepy than the others and received a shrug for a 'no'.

"She did ground me for not warning her, but didn't tell me she-" her phone cut her off. "Oh, sorry." Quickly reading the message from Sasori her shoulders slumped in defeat.

Text: "Morning sleepy-head :) Not sure whether you know about it or not, but your mom called Sasuke yesterday and sent of the Sakura's-missing alarm, causing both of our gangs to form a search party for you- and me eventually. Get ready for a mega-brainwashing session as soon as you see them! Good luck with that! :D"

"-sent a whole cavalry in search for me..." she whispered to herself. "SHE DID WHAT?" that made everybody wake up.

1 hour till the beginning, behind the curtains

"Ino calm down, I've seen you dance before, you're gonna nail it for sure!" Sakura exclaimed from both annoyance and worry for her blonde childhood friend, but to no avail. "Ino calm down or you'll screw up for sure!" That did the trick.

"Ok, I'm calm, I can do it, I will do it, everything's gonna be fine..." she assured herself.

"Don't waste your breath, blondie, you'll end up at the bottom of the list anyway." Said a very bored voice from behind them. Karin. Ino fumed.

"Don't worry, we'll still be better than you."

"I'm not worried, I'm sorry for the poor audience for having to see you dance."

"Back off, Karin. You haven't even seen them yet so shut up and go wherever you were heading to." retorted Sakura while standing between her and Ino.

"Like I'd listen to you, you perky little bitch. And FYI, I know you and Sasuke aren't together, so you can just crawl under some rock and die now, 'cause when I'm through with you, you'll find yourself way down..." that made Sakura glare daggers at Karin, but she also fistted her hands in pain from the truth.

"What makes you think-"

"What's going on here?" asked a voice behind them. The rest of the guys following behind with their instruments in hand.

"Oh, Sasuke-kun! I didn't know you were gonna perform too. Did you write me another song?" she shoved past the girls and rested her hands on his chest in an attempt to flirt him into a date... Again... "Oh, and you're gonna play again. I just love the way you play that guitar of yours." she purred the last part that made Sasuke shudder in disgust.

"I never wrote you a song, Karin." he said shooing her hands away from his persona.

"What about that 'I Promise You' song?" she batted her eyelashes 'sexily'. (puke)

"He didn't write that song, Karin, it belongs to N'SYNC." Shikamaru said passing by to yawn at her and to help Naruto set his drums.

"Anyway, let's go and rehearse, shall we, Sasuke-kun? No need to hang around lowlifes like that wannabe Pinkie or her fellow whores, you might catch some kind of disease." she attempted to pull him away, but he just shrug her off once again and looked at the girls noticing their down moods and daggers aimed at Karin's head.

"Will you just fucking leave, Karin, or do you want me to smash something on your head to make you do so?" Sakura threatened her while feeling some angry tears start to form in the corners of her eyes. Sasuke noticed.

"Are you threatening me again, Haruno? First you lie about you being Sasuke-kun's girl, now this? You really have no-" Sasuke's had enough of her for one yapping too much...

"Who said she's not my girl? What you don't know or known doesn't mean it's not true, Karin." Sasuke stepped in putting an arm around 'his girl' to emphasize his point. "We decided to keep it a secret from others, that's all." he shrugged and whispered in Sakura's ear a quick 'Play along.' as if kissing her on the cheek and the rosette smiled. Luckily, she was a great actress. Thank God for that.

"Well she doesn't look as convincing to me... Prove it." the girlfriend-wannabe demanded.

"We don't have to prove anything to you or anyone, Karin-" she cut him off.

"Which proves my point exactly." she smiled and cooed at him. "Aw... No need to hide your feelings for me behind that little slut, Sasuke-kun. Let's leave them and-"

"If that makes you leave us alone, then there you have it." he leaned down and captured Sakura's lips in a quick, but passionate kiss. Everybody could just stand and stare in awe. After a few moments Naruto fake-coughed to brake them apart, so that they could get on with the preparations for the competition. That made the kissing couple to remember their presence.

"Was that proof enough for you, Karin?" Sasuke asked in a barely noticeable daze after the said girl only humphed at that and stormed out of their view. "That's my answer." he smirked.

The girls bursted out laughing at the expression on her face and started stretching while talking with an occasional chuckle here and there. The guys went to set the instruments and that left Sasuke and Sakura to themselves, until the girls decided to go get changed into their outfits and the guys yelling that they needed Sasukes' help.

"Hey, Saku-chan, you coming or what?" Tenten asked while standing in the doorway.

"I'll be right there." she answered with a smile, the older girl shrugged and followed her friends. The guys soon disappeared as well leaving them alone.

Sakura looked at Sasuke a bit confused, but only for a second, and went to take her bag.

"I'm just gonna go and-" she was cut off by another quick kiss from Sasuke. "-follow the girls and- What just happened?" she asked in a bit of a shock, but sort of an annoyed-enjoyed shock.

"You owed me for getting her off your back." he smirked that charming trademark smirk of his. "Now we're even."

With that he went to find the guys and get ready, leaving Sakura in a daze. She smiled to herself grabbing her bag and went to get changed for her performance.

... Temperatures rising it's getting crazy.
Now I got you telling your friends I'm your baby.
Why you trying to fight your feelings for me.
I got you asking me to be your lady.

The competition was formed into a talent show as there were various performances from dancing and singing to art expositions and poem reading. Performance order: gymnastics, singing, then dancing. Art and poem expos throughout the whole show.

Let me take you home and let me show you things.
You'll be buying me clothes and all the finer things.
You'll keep me iced out with diamond necklaces.
Lets make the best of it - ask no questions.

I know your taken but all right.

Oh oh oh oh you know you want me so let's go.
Oh oh oh oh no time to waste so here we go.
Oh oh oh oh I'll have you feeling that's for sure.
so what you waiting for now...

"Thank you, Karin that was very... Energetic. Next up is Hinata Hyuuga with 'Without You' by Mariah Carey." the headmistress said clapping her hands as a signal for the greeting applause from the audience, but as soon as the music started, everything went silent and Hinata stepped out on the stage singing in a soft voice filled with emotions from the song. The gang decided to play the melodies only of their own songs. Something like the girls' songs being to complex to play on a stage and not a recording studio.

The gang, as well as the other contestants were sitting in the first row, while the upcoming ones were already backstage making their final preparations, such as make up check and moral support.

No, I can't forget this evening
Or your face as you were leaving
But I guess that's just the way this story goes,
You always smile...
But in you eyes your sorrow shows
Yes it shows

No I can't forget tomorrow
When I think of all my sorrows
When I had you there but then I let you go
And now it's only fair that I should let you know
What you should know

I cant live
If living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
Can't live
If living is without you
Can't give,
I can't give anymore

Well, I can't forget this evening
Or your face as you were leaving
But I guess that's just the way this story goes,
You always smile
But in you eyes your sorrow shows
Yes it shows

Can't live
If living is without you
I can't live
I can't give anymore
Can't live
If living is without you
I can't live,
I can't give anymore

Ohhhhhh(No can't live)
No no no (No I can't live)
I can't live (No can't live)
If living is without (No I can't live)
I can't live (No can't live)
I can't give anymore (No I can't live)

A wave of applause followed suit as her cheeks got a tad hot and she bowed respectfully and after being dismissed, she made her way off the stage.

"Thank you, Hinata, that was marvelous. Next up is Ino Yamanaka with 'Just Started Being Bad' by Sarah Connor." Again with the applause the girl stepped on stage as the music started to play. While Hinata was mostly standing in place and making some motions with her hands while singing, Ino was more active and added some dancing.

For all your life you run around
Just try to catch the golden crown
The glittering and all the shimmering
Conquered your heart, it's all or nothing
Don't make a fool out of yourself
There must be more to life to just please yourself
Your fancy close, don't free your mind
Try to find the truth behind
Try to find the truth behind

Tell me
Can't you get it in your head
Better stop your stress instead
And baby don't forget
I Just started being bad
Call me naughty, call me nice
I'm your sugar, I'm your spice
Forget the life you had
I just started being bad

And if you think you've got it made
All beautiful, you're feeling safe
So powerless, baby is what you are
Look to heaven, there's a new star
I've come around to make you cry
To make you see yourself, you better wait a while
Then suddenly you just free your mind
Now you find the truth behind
Now you find the truth behind

When everything I did was wrong
I told myself it won't be long
Until the day that I don't care what other people say
And now I feel my time has come
I'm gonna be your number one
I started being bad, oh don't you know?
I've come around to make you smile
To make you feel you're still alive
I promise you that you can free your mind
Try to find the truth behind
Try to find the truth behind

Keep on movin' to the top
Once we're groovin' it won't stop
So baby don't forget
You just started being bad
Call me naughty, call me nice
I'm your sugar, I'm your spice
Forget the life you had
We just started being bad

Once again applause exploded among the audience and Ino cheerfully bowed and ran of the stage.

"Take that for an active performance. I can't wait for the next part of our show." Tsunade chuckled. "Our next contestant is a student, who claims to have written the song himself. 'Breathless' by Naruto Uzumaki." Again, the auditorium exploded with joy as Naruto, as well as the other members of the 'Six Shadows', was known for his voice and great sense of rhythm. Soon, on the stage appeared the SS team carrying their instruments and masterly setting their instruments in place, as a long time ago they agreed to play the tunes of their songs themselves.

"This song was originally written in dedication to a special someone in my life, so I can't just miss the chance to say thank you for all the things that special someone has done for me."

If our love was a fairy tale
I would charge in and rescue you
On a yacht baby we would sail
To an island where we'd say I do

And if we had babies they would look like you
It'd be so beautiful if that came true
You don't even know how very special you are

You leave me breathless
You're everything good in my life
You leave me breathless
I still can't believe that you're mine
You just walked out of one of my dreams
So beautiful you're leaving me
Breathless

And if our love was a story book
We would meet on the very first page
The last chapter would be about
How I'm thankful for the life we've made

And if we had babies they would have your eyes
I would fall deeper watching you give life
You don't even know how very special you are

You leave me breathless
You're everything good in my life
You leave me breathless
I still can't believe that you're mine
You just walked out of one of my dreams
So beautiful you're leaving me

You must have been sent from heaven to earth to change me
You're like an angel
The thing that I feel is stronger than love believe me
You're something special
I only hope that I'll one day deserve what you've given me
But all I can do is try
Every day of my life

"Thank you, Naruto. That was a really touching song. Do you mind if I asked who that special one is?" this hadn't startled the slightly out of breath boy one bit, so he just smirked looking at Tsunade and them smiled sweetly at Hinata, who was in a very deep shock, being the modest girl she is, she hadn't even dreamed of him dedicating a song to her, much less doing that on a talent show.

"Of course, Tsunade-sama. That special someone is none other than Hinata Hyuuga." he extended a hand in her direction to emphasize his point and winked at her before leaving his respectful place by the wireless microphone, giving Tsunade the word.

"Such confessions are so touching, they might make you cry. Luckily it's not a movie, but real life. Next up – Kiba Inuzuka with the song 'For All Lovers' by Stanfour." Kiba switched places playing the bass guitar with Naruto and made his way to the mic accompanied by a roar of encouraging shouts and applause, since he rarely sang, but when he did, he gave it his all.

This one goes out to the lonely
This one goes out to the broken ones
This one goes out to the angels
Fallin' from the sky
This one goes out to your brother
This one goes out to your mother
This one goes out to your sister
And this one's for you

And all the lovers and believers
And the ones who've been betrayed
To all the fighters, all the dreamers
And the ones who´ve not been saved

Don't lose your faith; I know you're right
Don't be scared of being lonely
I'm here with you

This one goes out to the lonely
This one goes out to the broken hearts
This one goes out to the people
Left behind, waiting to be found
I've seen your shadow in the dark
I've seen this struggle in your life
Feels like nothing comes out right

For all the lovers and believers
And the ones who've been betrayed
To all the fighters, all the dreamers
And the ones who've not been saved
For all the lovers and believers
And the ones who´ve not been heard

I know you're right
You've got that something in your eyes
I know that you will be alright

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
Don't be scared of being lonely
I'm here with you

For all the lovers and believers
For all the fighters and the dreamers
And the ones who've not been saved

Don't lose your faith; I know you're right
Don't be scared of being lonely

For all the lovers and believers
And the ones who've been betrayed – he finished in a hushed voice and a smirk that earned him another wave of applause. He bowed slightly and went off.

"Thank you, Kiba. How come you rarely sing, I could never understand. Now, please welcome one of our new senior students Temari Sabaku with the song 'Good Girl Gone Bad' by Rihanna." The SS left their instruments on the stage, since the following song will be performed by one of them, and wished good luck to their crazy friend.

We stay moving around, solo
Ask us where you at, we don't know
And don't care (don't care)
All we know is we was at home cause you left us there
You got your boys and got gone
And left us all alone
Now she in the club with a freaky dress on
Cats don't want her to keep that dress on
Trying to get enough drinks in her system
Take it to the tele and make her a victim
Patron on brain, ball play you in the face
They shake the spot, she's just another case

Easy for a good girl to go bad
And once we gone (gone)
Best believe we've gone forever
Don't be the reason
Don't be the reason
You better learn how to treat us right
'Cause once a good girl goes bad
We gone forever

He's staying with a flock of them, oh, yeah
Got a girl at home but he don't care
Won't care (won't care)
All he'll do is keep me at home, won't let me go no-where
He thinks because I'm at home I won't be getting it on
And now I'm finding numbers in the jacket pockets
Chicks calling the house, non stop its
Getting out of control
Finally I can't take no more
He finds a letter on the stairs, saying this is the end
I packed my bag and left with your best friend,oh!

We stay moving around, solo
Ask us where you at, we don't know
And don't care (don't care)
All we know is we was at home cause you left us there
You got your boys and got gone
And left us all alone

We're gone forever
We're gone forever – once again a roar of approving shouts and applause were heard as the girl bowed and made a peace sign and left the stage after shouting a 'thank you'.

"Now that's something unexpected, but was to be expected from one of our new students. Well done Temari, keep up the good work!" again, applause. "Next up is our senior Neji Hyuuga with 'What Hurts The Most' by Rascal Flats." Once again the 'Six Shadows' stepped up on stage and took their places. Neji took a chair and his classic guitar and started playing out front. What everybody heard was something they weren't ready for – a whole new song style coming from the ever so quiet Neji, a very positive style.

I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house
That don't bother me
I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out
I'm not afraid to cry every once in a while
Even though going on with you gone still upsets me
There are days every now and again I pretend I'm ok
But that's not what gets me

What hurts the most
Was being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was tryin' to do

It's hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go
But I'm doin' It
It's hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I'm alone
Still Harder
Getting up, getting dressed, livin' with this regret
But I know if I could do it over
I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart
That I left unspoken

What hurts the most
Is being so close
And having so much to say
And watching you walk away
And never knowing
What could have been
And not seeing that loving you
Is what I was trying to do

Not seeing that loving you
That's what I was trying to do

"Thank you, Neji, flawless as usual." he bowed and joined his friends. "And now a little surprise for you all, Shikamaru Nara with his song 'I still'." Applause plus some shouts and squeals erupted from the audience as the said boy made his way to the mic.

Who are you now?
Are you still the same
Or did you change somehow?
What do you do
At this very moment when I think of you?
And when I'm looking back
How we were young and stupid
Do you remember that?

No matter how I fight it
Can't deny it
Just can't let you go

I still need you
I still care about you
Though everything's been said and done
I still feel you
Like I'm right beside you
But still no word from you

Now look at me
Instead of moving on, I refuse to see
That I keep coming back
And I'm stuck in a moment
That wasn't meant to last

I've tried to fight it
Can't deny it
You don't even know

That I still need you
I still care about you
Though everything's been said and done
I still feel you
Like I'm right beside you
But still no word from you

No no
Wish I could find you
Just like you found me
Then I would never let you go

Though everything's been said and done
I still feel you
Like I'm right beside you
But still no word from you - he lazily put his hands in his pockets and went off the stage after bowing.

"Thank you, Shikamaru. Next up is one of our female seniors Tenten Tetsuo with the song 'Nobody's Home' by Avril Lavigne." Tenten bowed after making her way to the front of the stage and took hold of the wireless mic.

I couldn't tell you why she felt that way,
She felt it everyday.
And I couldn't help her,
I just watched her make the same mistakes again.

What's wrong, what's wrong now?
Too many, too many problems.
Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.
She wants to go home, but nobody's home.
It's where she lies, broken inside.
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.
Broken inside.

Open your eyes and look outside, find the reasons why.
You've been rejected, and now you can't find what you left behind.
Be strong, be strong now.
Too many, too many problems.
Don't know where she belongs, where she belongs.
She wants to go home, but nobody's home.
It's where she lies, broken inside.
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.
Broken inside.

Her feelings she hides.
Her dreams she can't find.
She's losing her mind.
She's fallen behind.
She can't find her place.
She's losing her faith.
She's fallen from grace.
She's all over the place.
Yeah,oh

She wants to go home, but nobody's home.
It's where she lies, broken inside.
With no place to go, no place to go to dry her eyes.
Broken inside.

She's lost inside, lost inside...oh oh
She's lost inside, lost inside...oh oh – bowing once again she exited the stage with a very self-satisfied smile on her face.

"Well done, Tenten. And now, give it up for our new student, Sakura Haruno with the song by Monrose, 'What You Don't Know'." Applause, sequels, thumbs-ups and such. Sakura, on the other hand, was almost about to faint if it wasn't for her male friends backstage, who whispered words of encouragement to her as she made her way on stage. And so she started in a slightly hushed soft voice, bringing up the needed emotions from the audience for this song.

What you don´t know
Is that your scars are beautiful
What you don´t know
Is your imperfections all would make me whole
What you don´t know
Is how we spare our time
Cause I can´t speak whenever you´re around
And it´s not like me to hide behind a wall
And it´s not like me to fear before

What you don´t know
Is that I lay awake
Wishing you were here tonight
What you don´t know
That I loved you long before we were alive
Cause how would you know, how could you know
So now I´m gonna tell you everything

What you don´t know
I have studied the way you walk
What you don´t know
Is I´ve already kissed you in the shadows of my heart
What you don´t know
Is that you´re poetry
If you turn around there´s someone you won´t see
And it´s not like me to hide behind a wall

What you don´t know

Is that I lay awake
Wishing you were here tonight
What you don´t know
That I loved you long before we were alive
Cause how would you know, how could you know
So now I´m gonna tell you everything

What you don´t know
What you don´t know

What you don´t know
Is when the moon and the sun collide
The morning comes
there´s time I won´t be afraid to try

What you don´t know

Is that I lay awake
Wishing you were here tonight
What you don´t know
That I loved you long before we were alive
Cause how would you know, how could you know
So now I´m gonna tell you everything

What you don´t know...

"Fantastic! Thank you, Sakura, that was beautiful. To conclude the singing part of our show, Sasuke Uchiha with his newest song 'Everything I Am'."

Sakura bowed and stepped off the stage only to be met with a paid of soft lips on her own. Luckily for her, the rest of the accompanying crew were already by their instruments, so they were alone. That caught her completely off guard, but she managed to smile at him before he ran off with a mock-salute and his bass guitar in hand. The only thing that came to her mind at that point was 'annoying little chicken-ass-haired bastard'.

What can I say
I'm not okay
It's been days and weeks and months
And I should be moving on
I've been out of tears for so long
Where do I go from here

You're everything I am
You're everything I am
You're all I'll ever be
You are all there is to me
What it's all about
I cannot live without you
I've tried to let go but I can't
You are everything I am

I wish there was a way
To make you come back and stay
Believe me, I have changed
I know I'm not the same
I'm running out of words to say now
Where do I go from here

You're everything I am
You're everything I am
You're all I'll ever be
You are all there is to me
What it's all about
I cannot live without you
I've tried to let go but I can't
You are everything I am

Don't tell me
There's no way
I'm lost without you
I'm lost without you
I'm waiting, still waiting
I'm holding on to you, yeah
I'm holding on to you
I'm falling, I'm falling
I'm lost without you
You are everything I am

You're everything I am
You're everything I am
You're all I'll ever be
You are all there is to me
What it's all about
I cannot live without you
I've tried to let go but I can't
You are everything I am

Don't tell me
There's no way, yeah, yeah
You're everything I am

Don't tell me
There's no way, yeah, yeah
Everything, everything I am
You are everything I am

I wish there was a way
To make you come back and stay... – with that the auditorium practically exploded with roars, applause, whistles and such, as every single student respected the SS, since they never made anyone feel inferior compared to them. They treated everyone as equals, with little exception of those who asked for trouble. Sasuke smirked charmingly and bowed before leaving with his teammates to resume their places in the front row.

"I must say, you left me speechless once again, Sasuke. I expected nothing less from you." Tsunade announced. "Now we move on to the third part of our show: dances. The opening team shall be our cheer-leading team members Ino Yamanaka, Tenten Tetsuo and Hinata Hyuuga." And went to join the judges as the auditorium once again exploded with applause.

The girls were wearing their cheerleader uniforms and that only contrasted that all the moves they did, were very well rehearsed and each step they took was surely well planed beforehand. They made a series of complicated steps, turns, flips and many more according to the music (A/N:there was only the melody, no lyrics. Don't ask which one; I can dance to almost all soundtracks I hear in a movie. XD) taken from some kind of movie. At the end the girls froze all with a different pose, as the ending consisted of different moves for each of them, then unfroze and joined hands for a group bow..

"Thank you, girls. Now please welcome..." (Let's skip this part...)

Backstage...

"OMG! I was so sure I was gonna screw up on the third turn! Thank God I didn't." Tenten said raising her hands to emphasize of her gratitude.

"We were great as usually, so stop worrying." Ino praised.

"I don't know... You looked kind of strange dancing like that..." said Temari while looking at Sakura. "Don't you think so, Saku-chan?" Sakura made a thinking face and nodded.

"Now that you mention it... You're right. They could've, oh I don't know, maybe, dance while facing us instead of turning their backs to us!" she exclaimed in a fit of laughter as she bumped fists with her blonde friend. They all laughed a bit and went to the changing room.

The third part of the show lasted another twenty minutes and then Tsunade went to the on-stage mic and explained the following things:

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have a little surprise for all of the contestants as well as the audience. As you all know, we have some guests today, that are representing the famous 'Julliard' learning institution in the United States of America. Miss Amanda Thomson, if you please, take my place and explain the surprise from your point of view." A tall blonde woman stood up from the fifth row and gracefully made her way up the stage. She was wearing a beige semi-formal outfit with a light blue scarf to accent her sapphire eyes.

"Thank you, Tsunade-sama. Ladies and gentlemen, my assistant and I have come up with a way to reveal a true talent that we wish to use today on the finalists of this show as well as the ones we saw potential in. It is quite simple, really. Seeing the talent through improvisation. We have chosen quite a number of potential bearers of the genuine talent we are searching for, so I shall read the list of names we have chose and then I shall explain further." she took the paper she was carrying with her and started reading. "Tahiko Yachiro, Shiro Izuuma, Tsuki Uminachi, Ume Yagami, Ino Yamanaka, Neji Hyuuga, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Temari Sabaku, Hinata Hyuuga, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, Tenten Tetsuo and Sakura Haruno for the singing. Also we would like to see other works of Sai, we don't have the last name and Amane Yuuri." she folded the paper and motioned to the stage with her hand.

" The students I have mentioned, please, come up on the stage so that everyone could see you." One by one they did so. "Thank you. Now I shall explain the reason I have asked you to join me on the stage. We have chosen a few songs for you to perform for us in pairs. You can choose your partners on your own or I can pair you up randomly. Which one do you choose?" most of them said 'you choose' and she nodded. Miss Thomson was ready for their decision and opened two small bags she also had taken with her on stage. "In this bag there are seven pieces of paper with names on them. I shall read your name and you shall pick a one from the bag. Then I shall hand your partner the second bag in which are seven songs you will have to perform for us. Don't worry those are very popular, so I think you will recognize them at once." she smiled encouragingly and they all nodded.

"Now then. Miss Uminachi." Tsuki went up to her and took out a name, Tahiko. He picked out the song 'When It Was Good' by Flipsyde and read it out loud.

"Miss Yagami." Ume picked out Shiro and their song was 'Coming Home For Christmas' by Banaroo.

"Miss Yamanaka." she waltzed up to the bag and picked out smiling to herself with hope. As she saw who was her partner, she smiled even wider.

"Kiba Inuzuka." he smirked and took out 'Nobody Wants To Be Lonely' by Ricky Martin and Christina Aguilera.

"Next up, Miss Sabaku." Temari sighed and picked. Just her luck, lazy ass. Sigh...

"Shikamaru Nara." he took out a paper that read ''Can I Have This Dance' from 'High School Musical 3''.

"Miss Hyuuga." she picked one and blushed slightly looking at her partner with a smile.

"Naruto Uzumaki." she read and he smiled widely and picked out their song 'Still There For Me' from 'High School Musical'.

"Miss Tetsuo." Tenten crossed her fingers to pick out Neji, hoping not only for her own, but obviously for Sakura's benefit as well. This must be her lucky day.

"Neji Hyuuga." she smiled at her boyfriend and he took out 'Right Here, Right Now' also from 'High School Musical 3'. Sakura's eyes flickered with joy and a little fright. She quickly glanced at her friend and blushed a bit as she was caught by onyx eyes looking directly at her own.

"And that leaves Miss Haruno with Mister Uchiha and 'Just One Last Dance' by Sarah Connor and Mark Terenzi." 'How am I to sing THAT with someone I would surely kiss as an after effect of the song? What will he think of me after that happens?' she thought to herself ironically. That was her favorite love song. Great... At least she knew the song... "Now, we shall give the singers an hour-long break to learn the lyrics and adjust to the music, while we have a little talk with our remaining artists."

During break

Everyone (A/N: No, Tsuki, Tahiko, Ume and Shiro are not with them, the girls are fans of the SS, so they left them behind.) gathered outside the auditorium and together they went to the music room to try and play the tunes themselves. This time the guys allowed the girls to play with them as they hadn't heard any of these songs before.

"I don't get it! How did we end up with these stupid songs?" Temari asked obviously annoyed by having to sing with Shikamaru. Especially a song that comes from a movie she dislikes very much.

"Calm down, Temari. The songs aren't that bad." Sakura tried to persuade her friend, failing miserably.

"Says the girl that got her favourite love song." she retorted with irony.

"'Just One Last Dance' is your favourite love song? Didn't see that coming..." Tenten said the last part under her breath.

"Yes, why?"

"It's just so... old." she said feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"I know, but I still love it. You know I'm crazy about Sarah's songs." she answered with a smile earning a smile in return. They entered an internet web site through Naruto's, Kiba's and Sasuke's iPhones and downloaded their songs and the notes to play. "So... Let's not waste any more time and begin with 'Nobody Wants To Be Lonely'." she looked at her childhood friend and her boyfriend. "Ino, you know the lyrics well, I can tell, so you should tutor Kiba when he needs it. Start playing." they played it with remotely no trouble, unsurprisingly, but Kiba had a little problem with memorizing the song.

Next was Temari and Shikamaru with 'Can I Have This Dance'. They too didn't have much trouble with it, except for an occasional 'troublesome' or 'what a drag' from Shikamaru. They all learned that Temari had a very strong voice. Even Sakura hadn't noticed that it was that strong.

Naruto and Hinata had little trouble with singing their song as Hinata managed to persuade Naruto to watch the movie with her, so he memorized all the songs back then, since it was her favourite movie, and now just had to revise them. At that the guys snickered at their leader for his soft side for the girl, but the girls stood up for him. The tune wasn't difficult. Not for the Six Shadows anyway.

Next up were Neji and Tenten with 'Right Here, Right Now.'Tenten refused to sing it as she never liked those sappy musicals, because the songs were just for a fairy tail, not real life. In the end she agreed to try it, so she wouldn't blame herself for taking too much time. They only had five more minutes, more or less, left before returning to the auditorium. The two first couples must've already went back.

"Ok, Miss Sarah's fan, let's see you keep up to your tittle." Temari snickered, but knew that Sakura would excel it for sure. 'Come to think of it, the song kind of suits them...' she thought to herself.

Sasuke and Sakura had absolutely no problems with the song, so they aced it with ease from the first time. Sakura was taken aback by Sasuke's hushed voice while singing the song, and for a split second imagined them dancing and singing in the video, but dismissed it as improbable.

Tsuki: You used to call me
Just to say I love you baby
You would always treat me like a lady
Everyone was jealous of the way
We kept keeping on, feelings were so strong

Tahiko: Always knew that I would occupy your mind
You would always find a little more time
To show me I was number one
Put me there on my throne
Lately where's the feeling gone

Together: When it was good
We were sitting on the top of the world
When it was good
No I never wanted nobody else
When it was right, not like tonight
We were sitting on top of the world

When it was good
No we didn't have a cent to our name
When it was good
We were happy in the pouring rain
I wish it would, would be that good
When we were sitting on top of the world

Tahiko: That picture of everything I ever dreamed
Now the picture's crashing down around me
Calls are coming in and we're looking at our friends
Wondering who's it gonna be

Tsuki: It was so good, once upon a time
It was a simple time, it was a good time
Now we got the perks and all the cream
And it's tearing us apart at the seams
But I remember

Together: When it was good
We were sitting on the top of the world
When it was good
No I never wanted nobody else

When it was right, not like tonight
We were sitting on top of the world

When it was good
No we didn't have a cent to our name
When it was good
We were happy in the pouring rain
I wish it would, would be that good
When we were sitting on top of the world

Tahiko: Yeah...
Once upon a time it was real
Once upon a time I was thrilled, to get your call
Then I could get your all
Then I could get your heart
Now ain't the same
Seem like now it's a game
Once was reckless, but now it's tame
Once was real love and now it's fake
Who would've known this path we'd take

Together: When it was good
We were sitting on the top of the world
When it was good
No I never wanted nobody else
When it was right, not like tonight
We were sitting on top of the world

When it was good
No we didn't have a cent to our name
When it was good
We were happy in the pouring rain
I wish it would, would be that good
When we were sitting on top of the world

When it was good
We were sitting on the top of the world
When it was good
No I never wanted nobody else
When it was right, not like tonight
We were sitting on top of the world

"Thank you, Tsuki, Tahiko. That was very impressive." They bowed and went backstage with a wave of applause. "Our next pair are Shiro and Ume with 'Coming Home For Christmas'." Tsunade announced.

Ume: Night has come the day is done

We've been on the road so long

Shiro: Pictures of you making me blue
Feel this moment one and true

Together: When I look inside my mind
I will never find someone like you

Now I'm coming home for Christmas
Where you hold me in your arms
Knowing you will never let me down
Coming home for Christmas
Counting all the stars
And one of them is shining just for us

Ume: Every day while on the way
Hope our love is here to stay

Shiro: All that I do is only for you
And I hope you feel it too

Together: Now the snow is falling down
See the lights of my hometown
Show me the way

Now I'm coming home for Christmas
Where you hold me in your arms
Knowing you will never let me down
Coming home for Christmas
Counting all the stars
And one of them is shining just for us

Ume: When the nights are cold
And I'm feeling blue

Shiro: I just close my eyes

And dream my way to you…

Together: Now I'm coming home for Christmas

Where you hold me in your arms
Knowing you will never let me down
Coming home for Christmas
Counting all the stars
And one of them is shining just for us

Now I'm coming home for Christmas
Where you hold me in your arms
Knowing you will never let me down
Coming home for Christmas
Counting all the stars
And one of them is shining just for us
Coming home for Christmas…

"Spectacular! Well done, Ume, Shiro. Next on our list are our juniors Ino and Kiba with 'Nobody Wants To Be Lonely'." The audience greeted them with a mega wave of applause. The SS and the girls entered the stage with their instruments, while Kiba and Ino walked around to the opposite sides of the stage. The gang started playing the melody.

Kiba: There you are (he came from behind the opened right curtain and walked slowly towards the left side of the stage extending his left hand towards the left curtain, where Ino was currently standing.)
In a darkened room
And you're all alone
Looking out the window
Your heart is cold and lost the will to love
Like a broken arrow (Ino very slowly makes her way towards Kiba's side of the stage with her half-opened.)

Here I stand in the shadows (Ino: In the shadows)
Come to me, Come to me
Together: Can't you see that (they walk towards each other a bit closer to stand two meters away form one another.)

Nobody wants to be lonely
Nobody wants to cry
My body's longing to hold you
So bad it hurts inside
Time is precious and it's slipping away
And I've been waiting for you all of my life
Nobody wants to be lonely so why
Kiba: Why don't you let me love you (he turns away and takes a few steps to the side. Ino looks at him and turns to the audience.)

Ino: Can you hear my voice
Do you hear my song
It's a serenade
So your heart can find me
And suddenly your flying down the stairs
Into my arms, baby (he turns around to look at Ino)

Kiba: Before I start going crazy (Ino: Going crazy)
Run to me (Ino: Run to me)
Together: Cause I'm dying

Nobody wants to be lonely
Nobody wants to cry
My body's longing to hold you
So bad it hurts inside
Time is precious and it's slipping away
And I've been waiting for you all of my life
Nobody wants to be lonely so why,
Ino: Why don't you let me love you (they walk to the center of the stage and are now standing a meter from one another)

Kiba: I want to feel you deeply (Ino: Deeply)
Just like the air you're breathing (Ino: Breathing)
Ino: I need you here in my life
Don't walk away, don't walk away
Kiba: Don't walk away, walk away
Together: No, no, no, no

Ino: Nobody wants to be lonely
Together: Nobody wants to cry

Kiba: Nobody wants to be lonely
Nobody wants to cry (Ino: Nobody wants to cry)
My body's longing to hold you (Ino: It's longing to hold you) (they hold hands and don't break the link till the end of their performance.)
So bad it hurts inside (Ino: Hurts inside)
Together: Time is precious and it's slipping away
And I've been waiting for you all of my life
Nobody wants to be lonely so why
Kiba: Why don't you let me love you (Ino: let me love you)

Together: Nobody wants to be lonely
Nobody wants to cry (Ino: Nobody wants to cry)
My body's longing to hold you (Kiba: So longing to hold you)
So bad it hurts inside
Time is precious and it's slipping away
And I've been waiting for you all of my life
Nobody wants to be lonely...

A great wave of applause followed their bow and Kiba hugged Ino with his left hand and kissed her forehead, while she smiled and they bowed once more and walked off of the stage.

"Magnificent performance! I don't know about the audience, but I was very impressed by your sense of the song. Next are Temari and Shikamaru." Kiba switched places with Shikamaru by the drums, while Ino took her bass guitar and Hinata came from behind the left stage curtain and took Temari's place by the second keys. Another wave of applause welcomed the pair as the music started to play. They both stepped out on the stage and stood close to each other as if about to waltz.

Temari: Take my hand, take a breath
Pull me close and take one step
Keep your eyes locked on mine,
And let the music be your guide. (she gave him her hand and he spun her once)
Shika: Won't you promise me (Temari: now won't you promise me, that you'll never forget)
We'll keep dancing (Temari: to keep dancing) (they switched their hand position so their palms were touching)

Together: Wherever we go next

It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better
Temari: So can I have this dance (Shika: can I have this dance)
Together: Can I have this dance (they stepped away from one another)

Shika: Take my hand, I'll take the lead (Shika took Temari's hand and pulled her towards him.)
And every turn will be safe with me
Don't be afraid, afraid to fall
You know I'll catch you through it all
And you can't keep us apart (Temari: even a thousand miles, can't keep us apart)
'Cause my heart is (Temari: cause my heart is)

Together: Wherever you are

It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better
So can I have this dance (Shika: can I have this dance)
Can I have this dance

Temari: Oh no mountains too high enough, (they started walking on the stage as if dancing slowly)

Together: No oceans too wide
'Cause together or not, our dance won't stop
Let it rain, let it pour
What we have is worth fighting for
You know I believe, that we were meant to be

It's like catching lightning the chances of finding someone like you
It's one in a million, the chances of feeling the way we do
And with every step together, we just keep on getting better
So can I have this dance (Shika: can I have this dance)
Can I have this dance
Can I have this dance
Can I have this dance... (they stood closely to each other with their heads down.)

Another wave of cheers greeted them as they stand apart and bow to the audience.

"Thank you, Shikamaru, Temari, that was simply beautiful. Our next contestants are Hinata and Naruto with the song 'Still There For Me'." Kiba took Naruto's place playing the bass guitar, while Shika resumed his place by the drums. Temari switched places with Hinata by the second set of keys. Shino started the music with a soft, but steady flow of the piano.

Naruto: Lately I've been thinking (Naruto's voice was filled with artificial hurt and confusion, but still remained soft and sincere, not daring to look anywhere else than his girl. Hinata's gaze fell to the floor.)
About the things that we've been through
And I don't know if I'd be here,
If not for you
I had to take a little time
To try to work things out
And you should know that (He took her hand and placed it on his heart.)
I have never meant
To let you down
Together: Cause I, I

Wanna tell you that I'm sorry and I, I (Hinata's gaze fell on his eyes and they stared at one another almost not shifting their postures.)

Even when I'm not giving enough
And I'm taking too much
You're still there for me
Even when I got nothing at all
And I'm ready to fall
You're still there for me
Naruto: There for me,
Together: there for me
Even when I can't be there for you
Naruto: You're always there for me (His gaze lowered to the floor, while Hinata's was directed to the audience.)

Hinata: Sometimes I know I can be (Hinata's voice, for once, wasn't as quiet as usual and everyone marveled at her strong, yet gentle soprano.)
So hard to understand (Naruto: It's ok)
Even when I'm lost
You show me who I really am (She stepped away from the blond still facing him.)
Life with me hasn't always been an easy ride
But because of you I've learned
To lose my selfish pride
Together: Cause I, I

Wanna tell you that I'm sorry and I, I

Oh no it's love (Ooooouuhhh)
It must be love (Ooohhh)
It's gotta be real love

Together: It's gotta be real love
Hinata: Real love

Even when I'm not giving enough
And I'm taking too much
You're still there for me
Even when I got nothing at all
And I'm ready to fall (Hinata: ready to fall)
You're still there for me
Naruto: There for me,
Together: there for me

Naruto: Even when I can't be there for you (they resumed their initial places beside one another, holding hands.)

(When I can't be there)
Hinata: Even when I can't be there for you
Together: You're always there for me...

This time applause were accompanied by whistles and sequels, some people even stood up.

"I'm at a loss of words... The song was as if destined to be chosen by you two. Thank you." Tsunade said obviously touched by the performances so far, and this was not yet the end of it. "Next up are our seniors, Neji and Tenten with 'Right Here, Right Now'." Said girl abandoned her bass guitar and her boyfriend traded places with Naruto by the guitar. Hinata went behind the left stage curtain to accompany Sakura, Sasuke and the Suna brothers once again.

Neji: Can You imagine?
What would happen?
If we could have any dream
I'd wish this moment
Was ours to own it
And that it would never leave
Then i would thank that star
That made our wish come true
(Tenten:come true) oh yeah
Cause he knows that
Where you are is where
Together: I should be too

Neji: Right here, Right now
I'm looking at you and
My Heart love the view
Cause you mean everything

Right Here, I'll promise you

Somehow that tomorrow
Can wait for some other
Day to be (Tenten: to be)

But right now there's you and me

Tenten: If this was forever,
What could be better?
We already proved it was
But in 2,123 hours
Blend in the universe
Gonna make everything (Neji: Everything)
In our whole world change (Neji: It's our change, yeah)
And you know that
Where we are will,
Together: Never be the same, oh no

Right here, right now
Tenten: I'm looking at you and
My heart love the view
Cause you mean everything

Right here, I'll promise you

Somehow that tomorrow (Somehow we're gonna)
Can wait for some other
Day to be (Neji: to be)

Together: But right now there's you and me

Tenten: Oh, we know it's coming
And it's coming fast
Together: As long as there's you and me
Neji: So lets make this second last,
Together: Make it last!

Neji: Right here,

Tenten: Right now
Neji: I'm looking at you and
Tenten: My heart love the view
Neji: Cause you mean everything

Together: Right Here, I'll promise you

Neji: Somehow that tomorrow
Tenten: Can wait for some other
Day to be

Neji: To be
But right now there's
You and me (Tenten: you and me)

But right here right now
Together: There's you and me...

This time the applause literally exploded from the audience, almost half of the present people stood up while clapping their hands as well as some whistles and shouts were heard. Neji and Tenten bowed and, not waiting for Tsunade's words, went to their friends behind the left curtain. "... and now for our final contestants, Sasuke and Sakura, with the song 'Just One Last Dance'." A mega wave of a mixture of applause, whistles, shout, squeals etc. went off like a time bomb and the couple went to their respective microphones.

2 minutes earlier

Hinata and the Suna brothers left to resume their places at the front row, leaving Sakura alone with Sasuke. The later was about to leave for the stage when his head was suddenly lowered to a certain rosette's face in a quick but soft kiss. As she pulled away he smirked at her, enjoying their little game of kiss-and-tell.

"That was for playing along in front of Karin. I got her of your back, too." She was about to walk away after saying that, but was forced to turn back as a pair of soft lips met hers once again in a long kiss.

"That was for good luck." He smirked at her and, as the music started to play, they went on-stage in a slow pace, holding hands with Sasuke leading the way.

Just one last dance, oh baby
Just one last dance, oh... (Sakura started in a whisper.)

Sakura: We meet in the night in the Spanish cafe (She glanced at Sasuke, who held his head lowered, his bangs shadowing his expression, but she could see a small smile on his lips.)
I look in your eyes just don't know what to say
It feels like I'm drowning in salty water
A few hours left 'til the sun's gonna rise (She extended her hand as if grasping the setting sun itself and folded her hands on her heart for a few moments.)
Tomorrow will come an it's time to realize
Our love has finished forever
How I wish to come with you
How I wish we'd make it through (She closed her eyes remembering the video of the song and smiling slightly at the scene.)

Just one last dance
Before we say goodbye
When we sway and turn round and round and round
It's like the first time
Just one more chance
Hold me tight and keep me warm (She hugged herself for emphasis.)
Cause the night is getting cold
And I don't know where I belong
Just one last dance

Sasuke: The wine and the lights and the Spanish guitar
I'll never forget how romantic they are, (He glanced at Sakura, eyes half-opened, remembering their kiss.)
But I know, tomorrow I'll lose the one I love (He shut his eyes tightly and holds a fisted hand, faking pain.)
There's no way to come with you
It's the only thing to do (His expression softened.)

Sakura: Just one last dance (Sasuke: Oh...)
Before we say goodbye (Sasuke: Say goodbye) (They looked each other in the eyes.)
Together: When we sway and turn round and round and round
Sakura: It's like the first time
Just one more chance (Sasuke: Oh, come on)
Hold me tight and keep me warm (Sasuke: Keep me warm)
Together: Cause the night is getting cold
And I don't know where I belong (They broke the visual link.)
Sakura: Just one last dance (Oh, baby, yeah...)

Just one last dance (Sasuke: Oh...)
Before we say goodbye (Sasuke: Say goodbye)
Together: When we sway and turn round and round and round
Sakura: It's like the first time (She looked at him 'secretly' from the corner of her eye and smiled, but he noticed and smirked.)
Just one more chance (Sasuke: Oh, come on)
Together: Hold me tight and keep me warm
Cause the night is getting cold
And I don't know where I belong (Sakura: Oooooohh...)

Sasuke: Just one last dance
Before we say goodbye
When we sway and turn round and round and round (Sakura: When we sway and turn round)
It's like the first time
Just one more chance (Sakura: Hold me tight and all my love)
Hold me tight and keep me warm
Cause the night is getting cold (Sakura: Night is getting cold and I, Oh...)
Don't know where I belong (Emphasis)

Sakura: Just one last dance
Sasuke: Just one last dance,
Sakura: Just one more chance,
Sasuke: Just one more chance, (They looked each other in the eyes, but soon turned around as if pained, once again.)
Sakura: Just one last dance...

The song ended without the accompanying music - their voices were the only sound emitted in the whole chamber. After the last verse was voiced, the whole auditorium went off with the deafening sound of applause and cheers. Every single person present stood up, even the Julliard representatives.

In the darkest corner of the great chamber three pairs of eyes watched the whole performance and the little scene behind the curtain with malice in them.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. How can you be so reckless, Uchiha. Displaying your feelings like that is dangerous." the owner of the voice smirked delighted. Before any of the amazed people stopped clapping, the three were already gone...

I'm really sorry for the mega delay, I hope the fact, that this chapter is almost 3 times longer than the last one, can cover it up :) I already have some ideas for the next chapter, so I don't think it'll take me too long to upload, but that one will be shorter, unfortunately.

For those who are wondering about the gang fights in the story, don't worry, I'll base the next chapter on that part ;) although those parts won't be appearing very often, because I'm not a violent person, but when they will appear, you can bet it will NOT be short.

Oh, BTW, if you're wondering about the songs that were 'written' by the SS gang, as much as I would want to, I don't own them. The ones from the 'High School Musical' I REALLY am NOT obsessed with; it's just that I had problems with finding any songs that would fit for school, and those were just suggested by one of my friends. Hope you don't hate them...

Naruto: 'Breathless' by Shayne Ward
Shikamaru: 'I Still' by Backstreet Boys
Sasuke: 'Everything I Am' by Stanfour

Karin's song was 'Taken' by Cherish (I used o like the song, before I listened to the lyrics...)

Thanks for reading :)

P.S. I just noticed a slip up in chapter 6. Matsuri's last name is Tsuchi and Tenten's is Tetsuo. Sorry, my bad :)