Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter Thirty-Three: Let the Flames Begin

"I think it's down that way," Sasuke said, clearing his throat as he read the transit map. Sakura grabbed the leaflet from him and examined it, turning it left and right, upwards, downwards, and upside-down.

"Yeah, I think, it's the South Entrance, not the North…" she muttered, scowling.

"No, Saku-chan, it's the West Entrance," Ino said loudly. "Can we just go already?"

The group, consisting of Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, Hinata (Naruto had invited her along), Rookie, Rukia, Ino, and Shikamaru, were utterly confused with which train they were supposed to take to head to Landmark Tower.

Kiba grabbed the map from Sakura and examined it, reading the Kanji flawlessly. "We take this, line," he said, tracing the green line that dotted Konoha City to Yokohama, "…and then we transfer to the subway."

"We can take the Shinkansen," Naruto suggested irritably. Hinata nodded in agreement.

"No, we have to pay extra-expensive tickets to get on those," Sasuke said sharply.

"Psh, but you guys are all rich kids," Kiba rolled his eyes. Sasuke glared at him.

"Doesn't mean we don't know how to save money," he spat.

"Whatever."

"Guys, stop it!" Sakura exclaimed. Sasuke and Kiba folded their arms and looked away from each other. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"People these days…" Rukia sighed loudly. Everyone looked at her, and she scowled. "What? Got a problem with thinking out loud?"

"Okay, e-everyone, s-stop it!" Hinata squeaked. Everyone turned to face the lavender-eyed young girl.

"What is it, Hinata-chan?" Naruto questioned. She blushed a light shade of pink.

"W-we should t-take the West Entrance, and t-then transfer t-to t-the s-subway," she stuttered, taking the map from Kiba. Everyone nodded in agreement. "I-It t-takes an s-shorter t-time t-to g-get there, and we c-can get back t-to the s-school in t-time for c-curfew."

"Curfew?" Rookie snorted out loud. Everyone turned to face her.

God, this is troublesome…Shikamaru rolled his eyes as people in the station's main lobby were staring at them incredulously. We're causing a commotion.

"Yes, Rookie, a curfew. Understand Japanese?" Rukia slapped her twin sister's head. Rookie rubbed her head, annoyed as they headed up the West Entrance stairs to get onto the platform.

"Who're you going to sit by in the train?" Sasuke said, stretching a little bit as they sat on the bench to wait for the train to arrive. Sakura sat next to him, and Kiba sat on her other side.

"You," she whispered. Kiba gave her a sour look behind her back, and Sasuke stuck his tongue out, annoyed. Sakura narrowed her eyes and turned to Kiba. "You guys, stop it! You just met each other, okay? So don't jump to so many conclusions!"

Sasuke sneezed, and Sakura patted his back softly.

"You okay?"

"Yeah," he sniffed, still scowling at Kiba, who was scowling right back at him.

"Koko wa, Yokohama-yuki no densha ga arimasu," the speaker blared, and a little tune began playing, motioning for the train to continue into the station. The group stood up.

Naruto stretched his arms and stepped into the train as people began leaving it.

"Naru-Naruto-kun!" Hinata stuttered, "W-wait for t-the o-other people t-to g-get out!" Naruto grimaced and stepped back as an elderly lady with peacocks on her shoulders stepped out. He nearly fell over as a huge man pushed through (A/N: HAS HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE! A lady had like…five birds once, and stuffed one in her bra area O.o Me, Chibi, and Riko-kun got freaked out…ha-ha…).

When all the people who had to get out got out, the group and other people headed in.

There was a whole line of window-seats available. Naruto rushed down to save a seat for Hinata, Ino and Shikamaru sat in a pair chair, Rookie and Rukia sat next to Naruto, and Sakura, Kiba, and Sasuke sat down, with Sakura in the middle again.

The train began moving, and stopped at every other station to pick up new passengers. Soon, the train began to fill up to the point where people who got in had to stand up and hold onto the railing or the hooks on the ceiling.

Sakura pulled out her iPod, and handed an earphone to Sasuke, who took it graciously. He coughed a little bit, and in the sunlight that leaked through, he looked pale.

"Sasuke…" Sakura muttered. Sasuke looked up, surprised.

"Hmmh?" he hummed.

"You okay?" she whispered. He nodded reassuringly. She mouthed an unsure 'okay,' and turned to Kiba.

"Hiya," she said nervously. She had never felt this way around her friend before.

"Hello there," Kiba said bitterly. Sakura ruffled his hair playfully, and Sasuke raised a bemused eyebrow. Kiba began to laugh brightly.

"Now, I'm going to formally introduce you two, since we're stuck on a train altogether," she said brightly. Kiba and Sasuke sighed, and Sakura took back her iPod.

"Okay…"

"…fine with me."

"Okay, Sasuke, this is my friend Kiba; Kiba, this is my boyfriend, Sasuke," she said so that the pair could hear her. Kiba and Sasuke hesitated for a moment, and then Sasuke, being the gentleman, held out his hand for Kiba to shake. Kiba took it, and they both shook reluctantly.

"Come on, you two are NEVER shy," Sakura rolled her eyes. The two glared at her smiling face, and they shook hands in a friendlier way after that.

"Good job," she said in an incredulous voice, acting like a preschool teacher. The two rolled their eyes and laughed.

"Inuzuka Kiba."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

I just hope they REALLY get along, she sighed. This is not as easy as it sounds.

"S-So then, she's screaming on the stage, 'WELL YOUR BROTHER WOULD'VE LOVED ME MORE!', and you know what my brother said?" Sasuke said, cracking up. He and Kiba were having a joke-fest during dinner at McDonalds.

"HAHA…w-what did he say?" Kiba snorted.

"'HELL NO,'" Sasuke smirked. Kiba broke into uncontrollable laughter. Sakura smiled smugly amongst the group, putting down her two small shopping bags. Ino, Rookie, and Rukia were having trouble with carrying in their bags, so Naruto and Shikamaru had to help them bring them in.

Sakura picked up a French-fry and chewed on it, smiling. "I remember that," she smirked.

"Are you serious? That really happened?" Kiba snorted. "What a bitch."

"Yeah, she was a complete pain in the butt," Sasuke groaned. Sakura threw a fry at him playfully, and he caught it and ate it.

"Hey, what time is it?" Naruto said, pulling out his watch, which was broken, "We're supposed to be at school by seven-thirty on weekends."

"Six-thirty, so we're leaving in a few," Hinata said, checking her cell-phone. She seemed cheerier after she and Naruto stepped out of a sticker-picture booth earlier in the day.

"Righto," Ino said, examining a notebook she bought for Music Theory. Rukia and Rookie were squealing over magazines full of J-Rock stars.

"Say, Hina-chan, what did you and Naruto-kun do in the photo booth?" Shikamaru said, giving her a smirk. Hinata gulped and flushed a deep color of red.

Naruto began whistling absentmindedly, and stuffed five French-fries into his mouth.

"So how has school been so far?" Kiba asked, picking up his Coke. Sakura shrugged and thought for a little bit.

"It's been great; our band is so awesome," she mused, but when she saw Kiba's face, "I mean our school band." Kiba nodded reassuringly.

"That's good."

"I didn't know you were in a band," she said, giving him a deep scowl.

"I joined one after you left since I had nothing to do," he said with a withdrawn voice. "I'm the bassist."

"I'm the vocalist and I also play electric bass," Sakura said, nodding in approval. "Naruto is a bassist too, and Ino here plays the drums. Shikamaru's somewhat like our manager and Sasuke's our 'groupie,'" she said as a side note, to Sasuke's amused and taken-aback expression.

"'Groupie?'" he questioned loudly. Everyone began to laugh.

"Hey, hey, hey, no talking! We've gotta go now!" Shikamaru said, standing up immediately. He flipped open his cell-phone. "Six o'clock now!"

"Crap!" Rukia mumbled. "I wanted to stay out longer."

"Maybe this summer we could all hang—"

"—talk about that later, less talk, more hurry!" Naruto said, throwing away his finished three humongous bowls of McDonald's ramen.

Everyone rushed out of the restaurant and went back onto the train platform.

Two Days Later—Three days before the Finals

"One, two, three, four!" Sakura shouted, and the group began playing their song for the finals at top speed, all the notes precise and accurate.

"I've got a lot to say to you, yeah I've got a lot to say, I notice your eyes are always glued to me, keeping them here, and it makes no sense at all. They taped over your mouth, scribbled out the truth with their lies, your little spies…They taped over your mouth, scribbled out the truth with their lies, your little spies…"

Sakura broke straight into the chorus line, with Naruto as backup vocals. Sasuke and Shikamaru were tapping their shoes to the beat in their seats.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sasuke shouted once Sakura finished the chorus the second time. They all stopped abruptly, except for Naruto, who was still jamming to his guitar part. Everyone stared at him with an angry glare, and he stopped, and looked at the ceiling absentmindedly, pretending nothing happened that moment.

Everyone glared at him again, and he gaped at the group. "What?!"

"Naruto, we have to focus. We only have THREE DAYS…now, LESS than three days!" Ino said, hitting her cymbals in annoyance.

"I know, I know, but you don't have to blame me!" he grimaced.

"Okay, Sakura, try not to lose breath during the chorus," Sasuke sighed. Sakura nodded. "Naruto, turn the bass down a little bit, and add more vocals."

Naruto gave him a pouty look.

"And Ino, great job on the drums," he added, and Ino gave a smug look to all of them, "…but be careful, don't spin the sticks around too much."

"I think this song is too hard to perfect in THREE DAYS," Sakura sighed. "Sasuke, I'm sorry, I love this song, but I can't perfect it."

Sasuke stood up, and put his hands on her shoulders, "Anything you want."

"I'm really sorry—"

"Hey, hey, I've written a lot of songs. This is just another one," he gave me a small grin. "And you're a songwriter yourself."

"No, no, no," she said incredulously. Shikamaru stood up, folded his arms and gave her a hard look.

"Sakura, if you can write a song in about two days, Naruto and Ino are good improvisers. They know notes and everything," he said sternly.

"It's true," Naruto said, feeling proud about himself.

"I practice on my drum pad every day, remember?" Ino gave her a feral grin. Sakura nodded.

"I just—I'm not that good with songwriting," she said vehemently. "I can sing a little—"

"A LITTLE? Sakura, stop contradicting yourself. You're making us feel bad."

Sakura fell silent.

"Sasuke, if you don't see me out of my dorm for the next few hours and the following day, I blame you," she said, punching him playfully.

"Quite understandable," he stated brightly.

"And Ino, if you see me up at three in the morning, don't yell at me again," she said quickly to her blonde roommate, who merely shrugged.

"And Naruto…" she trailed off. Naruto waited for her. "…save me some instant ramen. I think I'm going to need it."

"And I'll go to the on-campus Starbucks for you and get you some mocha and coffee," Shikamaru beamed. "We finally got you to snap!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…but if we don't win the competition, blame my bad writing," she mumbled. Sasuke rolled his eyes and took his hands and put them on her cheek, making her look at him. He squished her cheeks together, just like she did to him two days previously. She gave him a dark, withering look.

"If you contradict yourself one more time, I swear; I'm going to rip up my songbook so you have no reference."

"Bat--bat—aim—SCHASCHUKE!!— (insert sigh here)…fine. Schorry!" Sakura said in a flat, squished voice. Sasuke let go and she took a deep breath.

"Good then. So it's settled?"

Just then, at that moment, the door to the sound room slammed open, and Hinata stood there, nervous, but excited. Naruto ran up to her.

"Hinata-chaaaaaan!" he exclaimed. She was red, and tired-looking.

"O-Ohayo!" she panted. She was holding a CD in a purple, jeweled case. "I-I have s-something f-for you guys!"

"What is it?" Sakura said, walking over. Hinata handed her the CD. On the cover, it read:

"Misery Business—Untitled Dreamers (REMIX)."

Sakura stared at her. Ino, Sasuke, and Shikamaru ran over to see what the commotion was all about.

"HINATA, I LOVE YOU!" Sakura jumped on her friend and hugged her tightly. Hinata looked like she was going to fall over.

Naruto pulled Sakura off of her, and said in a calm, collected voice, "Sakura, Sakura, Sakura. Is that a way to thank a fellow girl? Wait here."

He closed the door, and through the window, Sakura and the rest of the group watched as Naruto pulled Hinata out of the Music Room…and out the door.

Sakura smirked. "Maybe they did do something in the photo booth."

"He's been hanging out with her between practices. That's why sometimes he's late to band now," Ino pondered.

"I never noticed," Sasuke said in disbelief. Just then, the door opened, and the whole band ran back to their normal positions, pretending to do 'musical' things. Hinata looked absolutely flustered, and Naruto looked proud of himself.

"Hello, all. I'd like to say that remix was absolutely WONDERFUL," he said in a loud, boisterous tone. Hinata looked like she was going to fall over from happiness.

She walked away, waving a small 'goodbye,' and Naruto and the gang waved back, and he closed the door behind her.

"What did you do?" Ino said incredulously.

"I said 'thank you,'" Naruto emphasized. "In a very polite manner in which you all shall not know about."

"Uh-huh, polite, my ass," Sasuke snorted. "Usurantonkachi."

"I know I am," Naruto said brightly. He tossed Sakura the CD, and she caught it flawlessly. "Listen to it tonight. It'll help you write sheets and improvisation crap."

"I thought improvisation was—"

"I know, I'm stupid," Naruto said goofily. "Now, if you excuse me, I believe miso ramen is calling me in the Dining Hall," he said, and with that, walked out the door, closing it behind him.

"I don't think it's the ramen that's waiting for him," Sakura whispered to Ino, who snorted.

"Speaking of our 'callings,'" Sasuke began, "I believe a notebook and pen is calling for you at this minute, Saku-chan," he said, kissing her cheek. Ino cooed loudly, and Sakura shot her daggers.

She kissed him back on the lips, and when they parted, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just don't fly off to Jamaica while I'm stuck in my dorm, will you?" she said sarcastically. Sasuke poked her side, and she twitched playfully.

"No, I'll wait, don't worry. Finals are up soon, and you guys have to get ready. So do I," and with that, he mouthed Aishiteru, and walked out the door.

"What does he have to get ready for?" Sakura wondered out loud. "He's a judge."

"It's actually very top secret; the preparations are always best kept alone until opening night," Ino squealed. "It's absolutely amazing."

"Aw, can't I know?"

"No," Shikamaru smirked, and he hooked onto Ino's arm, and they waved, leaving the room.

Sakura scowled, sat down on a chair, and pulled out her notebook and pen; her guitar right next to her.

She took uncapped her fountain pen, and wrote the title of a song she had in mind:

Fences.

Two Days until the Finals

"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke yawned, plopping his flute case down on the Dining Hall tables. Ino had her head on the table, and she was muttering to herself.

"Ino said that when Saku came back to the dorm at twelve in the morning, she kept muttering words to herself," Shikamaru shuddered.

"And where's the blonde baka?" Sasuke asked secondly, sitting down tiredly.

"With Hinata somewhere," Ino mumbled loudly. Sasuke simpered and began drinking his iced tea.

The door to the hall opened, and the Public students came in. Rukia, Rookie, and Kiba sat down next to Sasuke, Ino, and Shikamaru.

"Hey—where's the Pink menace?" Rukia moaned grumpily. It looked like someone didn't get any sleep.

"Top secret Battle of the Bands business, if you don't mind," Ino snapped. Rookie laughed, and Rukia stopped her.

"Oh really? You guys look dead," Kiba said, amused. "We practiced this morning and last night."

"Who's in your band?" Shikamaru asked.

"Me, Rukia, Rookie, and our classmate Takumi."

"That's nice," Sasuke said loudly, "But where's Sakura?"

"Som'one call me?" a hoarse voice murmured tiredly. Everyone looked up, and Sakura stood there, hair messy, wearing the same clothes from last night.

"Sakura-chan?!" Sasuke exclaimed, looking at her up and down, "I really hate to say this, but you look horrible."

"I was busy," she said smugly, "and I finally wrote something." Being uncoordinated, she threw her brown, hard-cover notebook-binder, and Sasuke caught it before it hit Ino's coffee.

"And I didn't need Shika to bring me Starbucks; I went there and got some myself. I almost got kicked out, so I went back to the dorm."

"And muttered LOUDLY," Ino emphasized. Kiba, Rookie, and Rukia laughed.

Sasuke turned to the first page, finding a messed up page full of scribbles, cross-outs, and x's. He turned it, and found a neat sheet. He turned away from the Public High students and everyone, and his body faced Sakura as he read.

Fences.

Author's Note: Oh dang-it. I'm so pissed right now. I've been so busy with school lately--so I am heartily sorry for not updating sooner. Exams, projects--now I'm free for a week--It's Spring Break! YAYES! I'm so happy now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) I feel so accomplished.

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Naruto' or 'Sasuke' or 'Sakura...' or the songs by Paramore used in this story.

Leave a review please! Ja ne!