Gah! Well, I was hoping to have this out for Christmas but yeah, didn't get to that. This chapter kind of felt really natural to me—I really liked it, myself. So I hope you all do! :] Sooo, read and enjoy! Chapter 10: a little bit of a late present for you all.

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"Step back… to the side, and then put your feet together—see, you're doing it right," Sasuke encouraged Sakura quietly as they danced together. Even though he was leading, they still had to take their four-step turns in order to keep the formality of the dance. Sakura chewed on her bottom lip as she tried to keep up with her professor's experienced pace.

"How do you do it so well?" Sakura mumbled, half talking to herself. Despite what she thought, the dress wasn't the problem while she was dancing: it was those shoes. Being a girl that loved her sneakers, Sakura had a difficult time walking in heels—let alone dancing in them. Sasuke chuckled and tucked his hand around her waist.

"Because I've been dancing for about…" he thought for a moment, and then spoke up. "Ten years? No, I started at fourteen so it's been about eleven years." He said with affirmation. Sakura's eyes widened. He had been dancing that long? Then why was he nervous? She wondered, looking up at him with her head tipped to the side. Her eyes travelled down to her waist and she blushed profusely. Oh gosh that's his hand! "What?" He blurted out, seeing as he saw her eyes direction.

"Y—you um, oh uh…" She stammered, pretending to look elsewhere.

"Should I move—"

"No! Er, no, um—well, do what you want," she shook her head, nervously laughing off the situation. Sasuke just shook his head, amused with her behavior.

Sakura had barely been paying attention to the music surrounding her until she stepped out of the restrains of the beat and stumbled into Sasuke's arms. "Ah!" She breathed out a gasp. Embarrassedly, she eyed the raven, who was looking down at her with amusement.

"Be careful," he chuckled lowly, helping her back into her original stance. The pace of the song had softened to a slower tune, and couples after couple were dancing in slow, romantic sways. Sakura glanced around at her surroundings. All these people were either dating or married—but then there was her: by herself—truly, with her professor. But did that really count? "I'm going to have to go soon…" he mumbled, giving the clock off in the corner a quick glance. Sakura frowned.

"What? Why are you leaving?" She mourned, sadness clouding her usually cheery emerald eyes.

"I'm not leaving, exactly—but they want me to play the piano for one of the songs. After this dance is when I agreed to this annoying task," he grumbled, obviously not wanting to participate to this extent at the party. Sakura's face glowed. She would finally be able to hear him play the piano for real—not a song to taunt Karin, or in teaching her how to play Fur Elise. It would be a song by his own skill, a song he chose to play, a song that was probably one that he had taught himself to play the most fluently.

"Don't you like to play the piano…?" Sakura questioned gently as she was now calm, being back into step with their dance. His face changed into that of a thoughtful look before he answered.

"I do; I love to play the piano. It's… been my life for years now. I've done nothing more than play that instrument," he said with simplicity, somewhat of a bitter look fogging his onyx orbs. "But, I don't play for others—I don't even play for myself. I just… play. I don't really like people listening to me play—I'd rather teach someone else what I can do, because they know what they will do with it and their life. I'm just here.

"I'm not very sure if you understand it or not…" he mused, realizing that his explanation was probably based on his own feelings, a dwelling bitterness that constantly showed itself when he allowed his mind to wander. Sakura squeezed the hand that was grasping her own comfortingly.

"Professor Uchiha, remember what you told me?" She frowned. "You said that human life is precious—it's worth something. If you weren't born… I wouldn't have anyone… there would be no one at all—I would have been alone again," Sakura fought tears that threatened to return to her eyes as she recalled the events with her mother and father, and even the parting with anyone that ever cared about her. "If it weren't for you, I would have given up on everything—including my own life." She looked up at him, and the tears fell.

Sasuke eyed her, his calm look transforming into a touched one. A look that understood Sakura's pain as he saw that she understood his pinched his lips together as he fought a feeling that threatened to betray his usual attitude: trust. Should he trust her? He showed enough of him—he was already trusting her subconsciously. He hadn't known her to lie to him—and she hadn't any reason to do so. A small tear rolled down his pale cheek—only one, as he watched her pity him, understand him, comfort him.

His hand went up to her face and he passed his thumb across her cheek under her eye. "Don't cry, you've shed enough tears, haven't you?"

"I could say the same to you…" she mumbled, averting her eyes from his. "I think that we both know what it's like to feel alone… even in different circumstances, isn't it kind of similar?" She looked back at him, a forced smile filling her lips. He nodded solemnly, and shook his head a bit as he heard the song to which they were dancing come to a close.

"I have to go now," he said with a hint of remorse as he reluctantly released her from his protective grasp. "But when I play, I want you to listen. There aren't words or anything but… I think you're the only that could understand what I'm about to play." Sakura nodded as she waved a good bye to him. I'm going to hear him play, and he wants me to understand the emotions he pours out into the song… she mused as she watched him situate himself in front of the large, glossy black piano.

Sakura made her way up to where she could better see her professor play. Being closer to him when he played made the situation feel more real. She could imagine anyone up there sitting in front of the piano, but she would never believe her imaginations if she saw Sasuke up there. She had to prove it to herself.

His fingers pressed the keys lightly, and Sakura saw all the students eyes avert their attention to the pianist sitting on the stool. She heard a hush go around the people, someone whispering "that's the Uchiha—he's actually going to play in front of a crowd?" Seems like he's made a name for himself… no one's ever heard him play? She felt honored to be amongst the first few to hear him. What had compelled him to play, she wondered.

He pressed harder, the song taking on a feel of pain, hurt, bitterness. Sakura gasped lowly, watching the placidity in her professor's face never changing; his eyes were closed as to block out any feeling he was pouring into the art. The low notes sent chills of fear into her; she hugged her bare arms and bit her bottom lip lightly, swallowing a growing lump in her throat. She felt it heavy on her: the overbearing feeling of being alone—of being without anyone who actually cared about you.

Sakura glanced around to see if anyone else felt as she was: there were a few who were rubbing down growing chills on their arms, but others seemed to be only appreciating what they knew this song as: music. They couldn't sense the feeling within—the true art in music. No one really understands him, do they? Her eyes veered back to the raven, who had eased the pace of the song into a slow tune, on a higher key.

A calm air surrounded her, removing earlier fear. She closed her eyes and basked in the new comfort that overcame her, but, it nagged at her. It felt… false. The calm, placidity felt forced and fake—like it was never really there. The ever pending fear still remained in her. She opened her eyes and saw the eyes of her professor were half opened, showing the onyx orbs were clouding over with so many mixed feelings he seemed to be holding back. Is he okay? She worried over him. He caught her eye and looked up at her only slightly, not losing any bit of the song he was playing.

"You're not alone anymore…" she mouthed to him, proving her understanding for the song he was playing. She saw his eyes widen, tears filling up within them as he blinked them away. His eyes returned to their closed state, a grateful smile played at his lips. Sakura wiped her eyes of tears threatening to pour down. She whimpered as she felt the warmness of the song take on genuine comfort. A warm air of gratitude surrounded her and she couldn't help but smile and laugh lowly. She tried to control the overwhelming oddities overcoming her. She didn't want to make a spectacle of herself, but that seemed impossible at the moment.

Before the song was ended, Sakura felt an unfamiliar feeling. An emotion that made her heart skip a beat. Was it from the song? It travelled around her in what felt like ribbons, tying her in the undeniable feeling that she couldn't determine. It felt caring—strongly caring. It felt warm—comfortingly warm. She couldn't compare it to anything else. For those few seconds of the last notes of the song, Sakura felt feelings she couldn't describe nor could she explain them.

The round of applause filling the ballroom was dead on Sakura's ears. She couldn't hear anything—it was all silent, or at least toned down to a muffled echo in her ears. She watched as Sasuke made his descent from the higher ground from which he was playing the piano. I've never heard something—or felt something so touching and beautiful in my entire life… I've never felt unworthy of hearing a song, but… I don't think I deserve anything like that. She folded her hands together and watched her professor make his way down through the crowd of people.

"Sakura! Did you hear that?" Tenten walked up to her, speaking in a respectful hushed tone. It seemed that everyone was still in the mood of the music, trying to respect the air of placidity that was still hanging over the room.

"Tenten, hi," Sakura smiled, hiding her tears from earlier successfully.

"Professor Uchiha has never played the piano in front of anyone before—not for real like that… he gave it his all; wasn't that absolutely amazing?" Sakura nodded, and looked back to the piano.

"It's amazing really—how something so beautiful can come from an instrument…" she mused to her friend. Tenten raised an eyebrow, confused with the pinkette's response.

"I never expected you to feel so deeply about music," she said on a different note, giggling a bit. "It's almost like talking to Professor Uchiha himself," she joked. Sakura looked over, interested.

"What do you mean like talking to him?" She tilted her head to the side.

"Well," Tenten began, "he feels so strongly about music—enough so that he calls it an 'art'. When he talks about it, you can just tell that it's more than just music to him. It's like, something that he dedicates his life to—like a passion.

"The way you said that just now reminded me of something that he would say," she concluded with a smile. Sakura smiled back, blushing embarrassedly. Maybe he's rubbing off on me… she mused. "Neji's giving his thanks and all about how he's honored that an Uchiha would play on Hyuga land, so I left him to his business…" Tenten changed the subject, looking over to her honored boyfriend.

"I can't believe that this is the first time that he's ever played for anyone like this…" Sakura said thoughtfully aloud. Tenten looked over to her and smiled.

"Maybe he played because he met someone who bothered talking to him. I mean, after all, you're the only one that talked to him really. He's an Uchiha—the formerly richest family in Konoha until they all moved off to Tokyo save two. There's a lot of grudges against those people."

"Grudges? Why?" From Sasuke's story, Sakura knew a few reasons why the heartless family would be hated, but she wanted to know more—perhaps some things that Sasuke didn't know himself.

"Fugaku Uchiha had to be the most heartless man I've ever heard of…" Tenten lowered her tone, as if speaking of this was some sort of taboo. "Even though the Uchiha didn't specialize in the other businesses of the other families, they always had enough power that people like the Yamanaka's had to ask consent to go through with hospital business—"

"Hospital business?" Sakura interrupted, seeming a lot more interested. "Do you know of any incidents?" Her tone was order like, and it took Tenten back a bit. Sakura bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have snapped like that…" she apologized, embarrassed for her actions.

"It's all right, I think you already know what I'm getting at…" Tenten made a firm line with her lips, a look of remorse clouding her auburn eyes. "There was a woman in the hospital—Ino told me about it, it was when she just started working in the hospital—she was so sickly. Her husband would come in everyday to check on her, pleading to the Yamanaka's to spare her life and that he would be in their debt, and find some way to get the money to them.

"Inoichi Yamanaka—that's Ino's father—was powerless in the whole situation. Believe it or not by appearance, he's a really compassionate man, and he wanted to accept the offer, but Fugaku Uchiha had already intervened into the situation, telling him that the loss of money they would get by helping that woman wasn't worth it. He said if the man couldn't pay his bill, the only thing the woman would do in the hospital was sleep and no care was to be given to her until they were shown the money.

"They were never shown the money, and one day, when the man came back to plead for his wife's life, she had already lost it… Ino was by her side when that woman died, and she told me that the woman had always told her about her daughter, and the few amount of stories she had of her, because she barely had spent any time with her, you know? And well, Ino said that she got bitter—bitter towards the commoner because of the position she put herself in.

"She said that the mother was a selfish wench because she locked herself up in a hospital where her daughter could never see her. She didn't like the woman—she said that she hated that woman. She said she hated the father for constantly leaving his daughter to plead for his wife. I… I told her that you were that girl who they had left."

Sakura looked at Tenten in surprise. How did everyone know about her life? I guess they would read up on the last commoner in Konoha… I shouldn't be surprised should I? "What… what did she say?"

"She said…" Tenten stammered. "She said that—"

"I didn't say anything she needs to know, you betraying little filth," Ino put her hands on her hips, lifting her chin pompously. By assumption, Sakura confirmed that Ino hadn't said anything good at all, but at this point, she seemed more upset with Tenten than she was with Sakura. "Are you serious, Tenten? You're… you're betraying me? A Yamanaka? For this filthy commoner?" She spewed with an obvious rage. Tenten gulped, obviously nervous. "Well you know what?" Ino said with a wicked smile. "I'll just make sure you both suffer. Betray a Yamanaka and feel the wrath thereof. All your friends moved away, right, commoner?" Ino sneered, giving Sakura a clear look of hatred.

Sakura's heart jumped in fear as she stepped back to get further from the enraged rich girl. "I asked you a question!" Ino persisted, her glare hardening with more contempt.

"Y—yes, they did," Sakura succumbed, swallowing down her fear.

"Did you hear that, Tenten? All of her friends moved away," she turned her attention to the quivering brunette, who obviously understood what it meant to betray a Yamanaka. "That means that you have to go too, doesn't it?" She sneered, putting her hand out to Sai, who was beside her. He placed a cell phone in her hand and she let out an amused giggle as she dialed out a number. "Daddy?" She said in a voice that suggested she was crying. What is she doing?! Sakura wondered, watching the blonde with a careful eye. "I—I can't stand it! I want Sai to take me home!"

There was a pause, as if he father was answering her. "No, daddy! It's Tenten! She—she lied to me! She's been spreading rumors about me—and she's with that commoner I was telling you about!" She cried frantically, fake tears rolling down her cheeks from her surprisingly believable act. Tenten's eyes widened in horror. Sakura clenched her fist and did something she never thought she would do: go against the rich outwardly.

She pulled the phone out of Ino's hand and threw it onto the ground, the screen cracking with the rough contact. "What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled at the heartless rich girl before her, real tears heating her cheeks with their temperature. "How immature can you be?! You're going to lie to your father just because you're not getting your little way?!"

Ino's eyes widened at her boldness to her. Sai's mouth dropped down slightly to a gawk, and Tenten looked horrified. Sakura glared at Ino, clenching her fist tighter. "You think you can just do whatever you want! You think that just because you're rich you can just kick people out of your life that are no longer your pawns! Tenten's a human being and she can do whatever she wants to! You're not her goddess!" Sakura continued her outburst. Ino bent down slowly, not taking her eyes off Sakura, and she picked up her phone. Sakura's harsh breathing calmed down as she caught her breath and watched Ino's slow actions.

"People like you don't deserve to be here… they don't deserve to live," Ino said with a strange calmness. Her voice, however, shook with her obvious anger. Real tears streamed down her pale cheeks as she returned a hateful glare to Sakura. "I hate you…" she mumbled with such a strong emotion, Sakura knew that she meant that statement with all her heart. Sakura flinched and stepped back. Sai tugged gently at Ino's arm and they soon walked off, slowly; the deed was done. Sakura knew Tenten would still be leaving—she knew that she was still going to lose the friend that she had made not too long ago because of Ino.

"Sakura…" Tenten breathed, tears filling her glossy auburn eyes. "Why… why did you…?"

"Friends stick up for each other, no matter what the consequences… I know tomorrow will be terrible for both of us, and I probably just got you expelled—"

"What about you? What if Ino gets you expelled?" Tenten brought a new thought into Sakura's mind.

"I don't know," she answered. "I guess… I'll never finish my education…" she mused; something about the statement seemed like there was a big hole in the middle of it. She didn't feel like she was even there for an education anymore. That's not why Sakura wanted to stay. There was only one reason she wanted to stay—one person that was making her feel like she needed to stay: Sasuke Uchiha. Tenten put her hand on Sakura's shoulder and squeezed it comfortingly.

"Honestly, I don't know what got into you back there," Tenten admitted, "I've never seen you act like that with Ino before… and even as much as she needed to hear that, I'm worried for you because you became the one who told her. The best thing I can tell you is be very… very careful here on out," she advised her friend. Sakura nodded, understanding the circumstances completely.

Neji came over to Tenten after his extended talk with Sasuke, oblivious as to what had just taken place. "Are you okay?" He asked as he immediately could tell something was wrong with his girlfriend. Tenten shook her head.

"I… I'll explain later…" she smiled weakly, taking his hand. "Good bye, Sakura…" she turned her smile over to her friend, who she knew she would probably never see again. Sakura allowed her tears to fall as she smiled back just as weakly—if not weaker.

"Good bye, Tenten…" she bid her friend a farewell—a farewell, because there was no imply that she would see her ever again—a farewell, because a wall stood between them for the rest of time. She watched as she walked away with the rest of the dispersing crowd, now that the party was coming to a remorseful close.

"Haruno?" Sakura turned and saw Lee beside her, his tone actually holding a tone of caring. "Are you all right?"

"Lee, no one can be all right during something like this. No matter what, something tragic always happens at gatherings like this…" she answered as trails of wet lines decorated her pale cheeks. Lee frowned at his former dance partner and made a solemn promise.

"I won't tell anyone what I saw." Sakura gasped and looked up at him.

"Y—you saw me…" her voice trailed off as she saw him nod, then give her a cheesy grin and a salute.

"It will be as if no one saw at all but those who were present! I swear!" Sakura, for once, smiled at him. Perhaps there was a bit of hope for the odd boy.

"I thank you for that…" she bowed her head, and lifted it to see him nod a bit with the same smile before he took off to depart from the Hyuga Estate.

Life is cruel… people are cruel… things that happen never turn out the way that you think it will—life always surprises you in the most torturous ways… Sakura mused to herself as she sat in a chair in a corner of solitude. Most everyone had already departed; some had lingered to give their thanks to the Hyuga's that remained—seeing as Hinata and Neji had left to be back at the college to at least get some sleep before tomorrow's school lessons. She felt the presence of another sit down beside her on a separate chair and her eyes veered over to meet her music professor's. "Sasuke…" she breathed silently.

"I never got a chance to talk to you again… I got held up by that crowd of people," he frowned, seeming bothered that he wasn't able to meet back up with her. Sakura shook her head a bit.

"It's… it's fine… a lot happened during that time…" she mumbled, fiddling with her fingers.

"What is it?" he questioned with concern. She averted her eyes from his.

"Ino's going to make Tenten leave the school—because of me—because she befriended me…" she whimpered, burying her face in her palms. Sasuke clenched his fist slightly, knowing the power of the Yamanaka really could do that. He placed his hand on Sakura's shoulder and pulled her closer to him to lean her on him. She willingly complied to his pull and cried on his chest. "I'm always messing everything up…!"

"Don't blame yourself…" he hushed her, gently placing his hand over her pink hair. She continued to mumbled anything that came into her mind, none of it really making any sense to Sasuke. He continued to hush her, granting his comfort to her in a way he never thought he could. It was unlikely that someone like him, who knew no form of comfort until recently, could comfort someone else that was hurting.

They only broke away from each other when Sakura had completely calmed down. Sasuke helped her up off the chair and said, "Come on, Kenji's waiting to drive us back outside."

"Okay," she responded, holding his hand as they walked back to the limousine.

oooo

Sasuke had his arm wrapped around Sakura's shoulder as they both looked out the window, seeing only the blackness of the night and a few dispersed stars. "Master Uchiha, should I drive down the long way or the shorter way back?"

"The long way," Sasuke barely waited to respond. Sakura looked up at him with confusion. Wasn't he tired after the party? Not to say that she was, but she hadn't had to present herself before a crowd and play a piece of music for the first time.

"Yes sir," Kenji obeyed and took a right turn.

"Why did you want the long way?" Sakura whispered to her professor.

"Because I want to spend more time with you," he answered simply, a kind smile curving on his lips. Sakura blushed and smiled back with gratitude, leaning closer on his chest. Sakura could feel a comforting heat radiating off of his body. She felt protected by the heat that began to engulf her as his arm tightened its grip around her. "Sakura?"

"Yeah…?" She didn't bother to look up at him; she didn't want to lose the comfortable position she had attained on his chest.

"You… you're special to me," he said lowly, seeming to mean every bit of it. Sakura smiled and rested on his lap, now looking up at him.

"You're special to me too…" she looked into his caring, onyx eyes. His hand passed across her face gently, caressing the soft skin of her cheek lightly. He leaned down and met her lips in a kiss—a passionate kiss that expressed every hidden emotion that he had for her: appreciation, protection, care, and… an unknown feeling. The feeling that Sakura could not determine from the song that he had played on the piano had come back.

When their lips parted, they looked into each other's eyes. Sakura could feel the same feeling pouring out of Sasuke's eyes as he stared into her emerald orbs. She could feel herself sending the same feeling back to him, even though she couldn't describe what it was that she was feeling. Something was different, something had budded between them—something that she had never felt before, but now that she had, she wanted to know what it was. What was this oddity that had entered her already confusing feelings for this man?

"Sakura… I love you…"

oOoOo

There it is. Gah that took long, gomen'nasai. :[ But! Arigatogozaimasu for your patient, support, favoriting, and following. You all have no idea how much it means to me. Knowing that your writings are liked/loved by others is really encouraging. Don't forget to R&R!

InaGaTa