(A/N: Sorry this took so freakin' long to get out. Life caught up. Thanks for the reviews! Once again, there's no real plot to this - and no answers to any of the questions that were asked. I'm sorry. This is the last full chapter - there is an epilogue to follow, which also doesn't answer any questions. Wohoo. I'm good at that. Enjoy the fic.)
And the Beat Goes On
Chapter 44: Final Exams
Another end to another year. It was the inevitable, and now, it had finally come and a sense of finality pervaded everything they did. This was the last time he was going to open this locker, and shut it again. He made sure he took the lock with him when he went.
In a way, it was sort of a heavens-sent relief, but on the other hand, it made him reminisce and hope that things could stay the same. He hadn't actually wished for that in a long time, and he'd never thought he'd apply it to the end of the school year. All his life, school had been nothing but hell, and he'd longed merely to have it over with. It had always been the days of summer vacation he'd wanted to prolong forever and ever.
It wasn't that he could wait for summer to begin, or wished that school would never end. No, that wasn't the case. He was sick of the teachers, and the homework and the funny smell that pervaded all the hallways of the building.
It was the fact that. . .well, things would never be quite the same again. Next year, next year, when he came back, there would be a whole new schedule of classes, and new teachers, new students, new locker. . .
The list went on and on. He'd never be in the tenth grade anymore. He'd never worry about grade ten math problems or the grade ten English exam. It was over. It was all over.
Every pen stroke on the paper in front of him brought him closer to the inevitable end. Each pen stroke brought him closer to finishing the exam, finishing the class, finishing the grade, finishing the year. Every pen stroke helped the clock countdown to the very end of what seemed like a lifetime spent in jail, when it had only been so many months of his life.
He glanced absently out the window he'd chosen to sit beside. The sky was blue and the sun was shining, hot and bright outside. The trees were in full leaf and there were flowers strewn all across the green lawn. It reminded him that he was so very close to summer vacation. He could practically taste it.
The room was sticky and sweaty. His bangs were sticking to his face, and it made it hard to see his paper. He wanted nothing more than to get out of that room and be free. This was his last exam. After this, he'd be free for two whole months. Then, this whole shenanigan would start up again.
"Put down your pencils," the teacher called at last, and there was the resounding clack of twenty-eight pencils hitting the hard tops of the desks. Then, the rustling of papers, the sound of the stapler, binding all their sheets together. Then, they were dismissed.
They shuffled out of the room, their feet scraping against the dirty floor. He was done. He was finished with it all. The year was over. What a year it had been.
- - - - - -
"Ah-ha, I'm all done my exams!" Naruto cried, ecstatically.
Sasuke scowled at him from the bedroom floor, before turning his attention back to his textbook. "Shut up, moron," he snarled.
"You suck so much," Naruto jibed, grinning broadly. "I'm going to spend all day in your pool tomorrow, while you go to school and write your two hour science exam in the heat!"
"And then I'll come home and drown you," Sasuke said drily, never lifting his eyes from the page.
"Aw, c'mon! You wouldn't do that," Naruto told him, in a very self-assured manner.
Sasuke's eye twitched in annoyance. "Sure I would. The police would believe that your own stupidity managed to drown you."
"You're cruel," the blond said, punching the other boy in the arm, frowning, and flopping down on the bed.
Sasuke didn't bother to retaliate. He knew he wasn't doing as well in his classes as he should have been, and he knew that he had to get a good mark on the exam to even fathom bringing his mark up any. Naruto had told him he was just being a perfectionist, but he had a record of attaining ninety or higher in each of his classes. He was damned if he was going to break it.
"Ah, you study too hard," Naruto said, rolling over onto his stomach and looking down at the other boy. "You need to take a break."
"A break?" Sasuke asked, raising an eyebrow. "Would a break be anything like that hour-long break you took when we were studying for your science exam last night?"
"Of course," Naruto said, smiling. "You can't just take a small break. You have to take a good long break, otherwise your brain gets overheated and goes to mush."
He tapped the side of Sasuke's head, not surprised at all when the other boy tried to swat him away. "My brain wouldn't go to mush, moron," he grumbled, "only yours, because you don't exercise it enough."
"Oy," he said, crossing his arms and frowning, "I do so exercise my brain. Just other parts of it."
"The animal instincts?" Sasuke asked, turning a page in his notes.
"'course," Naruto replied with a satisfied nod. "Those are the only good parts of the mind."
Sasuke sighed and said nothing. Naruto watched him for a moment or two, then poked him in the temple again. "I'm hungry," he whined, "let's go get something to eat."
"You know where the kitchen is. Go yourself," Sasuke snarled, "I'm busy."
"I'm not!" Naruto cried. "You know why? 'Cause I'm all done my exams!"
The blond proceeded to try and create a little ditty about being finished his exams, but he'd never been any good at rhyming things. "I'm done my exams," was about as far as he got, and his song turned into a chant.
"Shut up!" Sasuke hollered at last, Naruto's voice grating on his ears and his nerves. He hit the blond square in the face with his textbook.
"Ow," the blond said, peeling the hefty book from his visage. "That hurt, you know!"
"Good," Sasuke grumped, "it was supposed to."
"Cruel," Naruto said, shaking his head in dismay, "absolutely heartless."
"Give me back my textbook," he said, ignoring the blond, and holding his hand out.
"No," the blond retorted, "you gave it to me."
"I did not," he snorted.
"Sure ya did," Naruto replied cheekily. "You threw it at me. That's just like giving it to me."
"Give it back, Naruto," Sasuke growled, curling his fingers toward his palm slowly, letting the blond know he was annoyed.
"No," he replied, sticking out his tongue. "It's mine."
"It's mine, now give it back."
"Mine, mine, mine!" Naruto cried. "If you want it back, you'll have to catch me!"
"Dammit, Naruto!"
The blond laughed and rolled off the edge of the bed. Sasuke launched himself over the furniture, nearly skidding into the wall. Naruto chortled and got to his feet, sprinting for the door. "Catch me, catch me, if you can!" he taunted once he was in the relative safety of the hallway, then slammed the door shut and dashed downstairs, holding the textbook above his head like some sort of trophy.
"Get back here! I don't have time for your idiotic games!" Sasuke hollered, throwing open his door, and scrambling to the stairs.
"I'll never give it back! Never!" Naruto cried, turning his head to look back at Sasuke.
He crashed into one Uchiha Itachi, who was standing in the kitchen doorway, looking down at him and frowning. Naruto sprawled across the ground, the textbook falling from his hands. It flopped onto its spine, then crashed open.
Sasuke frowned down at him, looking surly. He picked up his textbook and snapped it shut. Then, he stomped on the blond's hand, just for good measure. "Bastard," he snapped, then turned away, heading back to his room.
"Son of a bitch!" Naruto hollered after him, grabbing his hand and nursing his abused appendage. He glowered up at Itachi. "Dammit, why the hell did you have to stand there? It took me all night to get him down here!"
"My mother was not a bitch," the elder Uchiha said calmly, then walked around the blond.
"Yeah, well, uh. . .screw you too!" Naruto yelled at him, half-heartedly, then got to his feet. Itachi ignored him.
He went into the kitchen, which was dark, and he found some apples sitting on the counter. They looked edible, so he snagged two, one for him and one for Sasuke. He stood there and thought back on the idiotic way this had all started.
And when he thought about it, he thought that even if Sasuke was an ice bitch, and even if Sasuke was another guy, he had it pretty good, compared to how it used to be. He thought about how he used to spend his summers locked inside his house, or in the backyard, but nowhere else. He thought about how, sometimes, when Iruka had gone somewhere, he'd wish for the phone to ring and give him someone to talk to.
He thought about how he was the loser, how he'd been the outcast. He thought about how, last summer, he'd sat on the back stoop with nobody, with his feet in the pond, and the bland taste of apple in his mouth.
He thought about how Sasuke had always been the cool guy, the one everybody wanted to be, to be with, to be anything to. He thought about how sadistic Tsunade was, pairing up the ultimate loser and the ultimate ice block. Nobody had been able to predict the results. He would have thought they'd have killed each other.
And he thought about all the things they didn't talk about. He thought about all the things they didn't say to each other, the things that caused them pain and they buried deep down inside so that they couldn't talk about them. His mother, the orphanage, Sasuke's parents and the distance between everyone and themselves. Sometimes, Naruto thought he'd need a bridge to get across the chasm to talk to Sasuke. Sometimes, he felt like they were pushed too tightly together, so that even a whisper became a yell.
"Bah," he said to himself, then turned around and left his dark thoughts in the dark.
He padded back upstairs, back to Sasuke's room. The boy was there, on the floor, with his textbook open. "Hey," he said, his mood suddenly sombre.
Sasuke looked up. He offered him the apple. "Here," he said.
"I don't like apples," the dark-haired boy said, but took the fruit anyway.
"It's good for you," Naruto said, sprawling out on the bed.
Sasuke said nothing, but glanced at the blond, and then, at the floor. He bit into the apple, making a face at the taste of it, and the way his gums were bitten by the flesh and skin of the food. He hated apples.
"You know, we've got that stupid play tomorrow night," Naruto said, suddenly. There was nothing in his voice. He was just stating facts.
"I know," Sasuke replied, just as dull and bored. He wasn't all that excited about wearing a corset and a dress in front of an audience.
"Do you think anybody will say anything?" Naruto asked.
"About what?"
"About us," the blond said, sitting up. "Kissing."
"What if they do?" Sasuke asked, returning his eyes to the words on the page, and turning the leaf in the book. He was a little nervous about that too. It was bad enough that he'd have to wear a dress and a corset in front of an audience, but he wasn't keen about kissing Naruto in front of an audience.
It wasn't as if anybody's opinion mattered to him, but people's opinions sometimes mattered more to Naruto than the blond let on. He didn't want to hear any harsh words. He usually wasn't the noble type, but he felt it was his duty to protect Naruto.
Sometimes. Sometimes he felt that way. Most of the time, he was pretty sure he could willingly partake in torturing the blond with the cruelest methods available to man. Now was one of those times.
"Aw, is wittle Sasuke scared?" Naruto asked, having launched himself off the bed, without warning, and slung his arms about the Uchiha boy, effectively hugging him and choking him at the same time. Naruto brought new meaning to the phrase "kill with love."
"I'm not scared!" he growled, throwing the squeezing arms off of his person. Naruto might have passed as a boa constrictor.
"It's okay to be scared," Naruto said earnestly. His eyes danced with mockery.
"I'm not scared," Sasuke huffed.
"You don't have to act all tough and stuff, okay? I'm here for you. If you're scared, just say so -"
"I'm not scared, dammit! Now, just shut up," Sasuke snapped, turning away and rubbing his temples. "Noisy idiot. . ."
"Ah, you know you love me," Naruto asserted, leaning over Sasuke's shoulder.
"Go away."
"You wouldn't want me to do that, would you?"
"Yes," Sasuke hissed, turning a page with such ferocity he ripped it.
"Heartless bastard," Naruto griped, moving away from him. "You're absolutely heartless."
"Good," Sasuke replied. "Glad you think that."
Naruto sighed and crawled back onto the bed, shaking his head. "I'll never understand you," he muttered, letting himself sprawl across the bed again. He buried his face in the pillows.
A few minutes, he was sound asleep. Sasuke snorted and shook his head, wincing when he thought of how Naruto drooled when he slept. He was going to have to wash his pillowcases before he went to bed.
"Yuck," he murmured, turning another page in the book, then rubbing at his eyes. He yawned.
The words on the page began to run together, and his eyes throbbed in his sockets. He closed them and rubbed at them, trying to stay awake just a little longer. He only had another three chapters to review before he was done studying. Only another three. . .
- - - - - - -
The day was hot and lazy, and it was only nine in the morning. The humidity had come in thick yesterday, and it seemed to be planning to stay a while. Sasuke knew he should have been studying, but he couldn't be bothered.
It was the first time he'd slept in for a while. He felt at least a little more rested than he had the past few weeks, and he had the idiot to thank for that, although he wouldn't ever admit he was grateful to Naruto for something.
The blond was in the pool currently, splashing around and generally making an ass of himself. Sasuke swore he made enough noise for a herd of toddlers. He just hoped none of the neighbours decided to complain.
He himself had his feet stuck in the pool, but nothing more. Sure, it was hot out, but he couldn't be bothered to find his swim trunks and get changed. He didn't tell Naruto that, because he was pretty sure Naruto would probably suggest going skinny dipping. Sasuke wasn't fond of that idea, even in the dead of night. He wasn't getting into his pool naked in broad daylight.
Naruto attacked his foot again. He'd been doing that sporadically, going silent and diving under the water to swim up to the side and grab the older teen by the ankle. He clearly hadn't figured out that he was visible under the water because the water was clear and it was daytime.
Once again, Naruto ran smack-dab into Sasuke's foot. "Moron," he hissed under his breath, shaking his head.
"Oy!" Naruto cried, coming up from under the water, spluttering and wiping water from his eyes and pressing a hand to his forehead all at once. "What the hell was that for?"
"For being an idiot," Sasuke replied, smirking.
Naruto scowled and rubbed his forehead. "Don't you have an exam to go write?"
"Not 'til one o'clock."
"Dammit, you're here 'til one?" Naruto cried, swimming backwards, away from the wall, flailing his arms.
"Yes," Sasuke replied with a sigh. Honestly, Naruto was so dense sometimes. . .
"Then why don't you come swimming?"
"Don't feel like it."
Naruto leaned against the wall, resting his elbows on the ground. He was treading water. "Why not? It's gotta be hot up there," he said.
Sasuke shrugged. "I don't mind," he said nonchalantly.
"Ah, just get in the pool," Naruto groused. "A little water won't kill you."
"You never know," Sasuke replied, kicking his feet a little bit.
"I'll make you get in the pool," Naruto threatened, narrowing his eyes.
"No, you won't," he retorted, meeting the blond's gaze evenly.
"Don't you think I won't, Uchiha," he growled, shaking his fist in the older teen's direction.
"Leave me alone," he replied, tiredly.
"Something wrong?" Naruto asked, swimming up to the wall once again.
"No," Sasuke replied tartly, "just thinking."
Naruto turned over, onto his back, floating away from the wall, toward the middle of the pool. "Thinkin' about what?"
"None of your business," he snapped, and crossed his arms.
"Sure it is," the blond said, "just tell meee. . ."
"Don't whine," Sasuke chided, frowning. "I hate it when you whine."
"Tell me. . ."
"I've just been thinking," he said. "That's all."
"You can't just think about nothing at all," Naruto said, frowning. He looked concerned. Sasuke hated it when he looked concerned.
He turned away. "Just. . .about. . .you and me, and all this shit and all sorts of stuff," he mumbled. "It's. . .confusing."
"Well," Naruto said, smiling up at the sun. "You'll have all summer to sort it out, right?"
"I don't know if I can sort it out," Sasuke replied solemnly.
"With my help, you can sort anything out!" Naruto cried, sitting up and putting his feet on the bottom of the pool. "I mean, I'm a great master of sorting out the unsorted sorts of things you need to sort."
"You're not smart enough to do word play, okay? Stop trying," Sasuke replied tartly, rubbing at his temples.
Naruto scowled. "You hurt me deeply when you say things like that," he retorted.
"I'm just not sure. . .about anything," he said, huffing and curling in on himself. "I mean. . .I don't know what I mean, but I don't know what to expect when I wake up tomorrow anymore. . ."
"But that's a good thing," Naruto said, nodding sagely as he swam back to the edge. "You want everyday to be full of surprises."
"No, I don't," Sasuke snarled. "I . .I. . ."
"Oh," Naruto said, as if something had just dawned upon him. "You mean bad sorts of things. You're. . ."
He trailed off, then looked at Sasuke, his eyes wide. Then, he snapped them shut and grinned, pointing at Sasuke accusingly. "Ah-ha! I knew you were scared!"
"Idiot!" Sasuke barked. "I'm not scared!"
"You are so," Naruto said mockingly. "You're scared!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"You are too! Just admit you're scared!"
"Fine!" Sasuke roared. "I'm scared! I'm scared that everything's going to fall apart, and I'm scared, 'cause I don't know what the hell's going to happen to you, to me - to . . .us."
Naruto was solemnly silent for a moment or two, sobered by the Uchiha's uncharacteristic outburst. "Whatever happens," he said, "we'll get through it."
"What?" Sasuke snorted. "No pledges of eternal protection?"
Naruto shook his head. "No," he said, frowning at the water in the pool. "Those are dumb. I can't promise you anything, 'cause I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow either. . .I mean, look at Kakashi and Konohamaru -"
He bit his tongue and looked away. "You. . .you can't just be scared of everything," he said, "'cause shit happens, and nothing's going to stop it, no matter how much you try and no matter how much you want it to, 'cause it's scaring you and you can't just lock yourself up somewhere safe, 'cause there's nowhere really safe and -"
"Naruto."
There was a hand on his cheek, tilting his face upwards, and Sasuke was smiling down at him. Naruto smiled a little back. "You're babbling," Sasuke told him, gently, still smiling, and he was leaning forward.
Lips brushed across lips, gentle and chaste, and Sasuke pulled away from the not-kiss and said, very, very softly, "Thank you."
- - - - - - -
"So?" Orochimaru asked, pushing himself away from the wall and following Itachi down the hall.
"What do you think?" the Uchiha heir asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You got in, at the university you wanted, program you wanted, with a scholarship, because you're such a genius," the golden-eyed boy replied.
"Good guess," Itachi said. "Right on the money."
"Figures," Orochimaru spat.
"Jealous?" the younger teen asked, sounding almost mocking.
"Pfft!" Orochimaru replied, waving his hand in dismissal of the thought. "Hell no! You can keep your books and your classes, and your education! I'm outta this hell hole, and I'm never going back to school."
Itachi shook his head and smirked. "That is so like you."
"So," Orochimaru said, "are you going away?"
Itachi took a sharp breath. "Yes," he said.
- - - - - - - -
Sakura peeked out between the curtains, holding a hand to her mouth, trying to stifle a case of nervous giggling. The auditorium was by no means full and in fact, she could see rows and rows of empty seats, but the thought of performing before an audience was still there.
"Is Shikamaru in the audience?" Ino asked, scrambling against the pink-haired girl, as though she was desperate to get a peek.
Sakura let the curtain fall shut, just as Tsunade walked by. "Yes," she hissed, "now calm down."
"Are you serious?" Ino asked, nearly squealing, then peeked out between the curtains. "Pineapple-head actually managed to drag himself here to see a play?"
"It's amazing, isn't it?" Sakura said, folding her arms and snorting.
"Lee's here too," Ino said.
"I know," Sakura replied, sounding a little bit dejected.
"You can always just be friends with him," the blonde girl said, trying to be reassuring. "I'm sure. . .he'd like that better than you ignoring him."
"I know," she said again, sounding as if she was weary of the discussion.
Ino went back to surveying the audience. "Kiba's here, and Neji and TenTen-"
Her eyes got wide and she reeled back in horror. "What?" Sakura asked, moving closer to the curtains. "What is it?"
"Did you see her?" she hissed, whipping around.
"See who?" Sakura demanded, frowning and putting her hands on her hips.
"Temari!" Ino snarled. "That lying, sneaky bitch is here and -"
Sakura grabbed the blonde girl's hands and smiled gently. "Ino," she said, softly, "it doesn't matter."
She squeezed her hands tightly, and Ino bit her lip, then started nodding. "You're right," she said slowly, "it doesn't matter anymore."
- - - - - - -
Iruka glanced about the audience, looking at familiar faces. Some of his students were there, and their parents, who he barely recognized. Most of the staff were there, having gotten free tickets because they were staff. He would have liked to bring Konohamaru with him, but. . .
There was no place for regrets anymore. He couldn't change a thing, and no matter how many days he wasted wishing, he couldn't change anything. The past was irreversible. He found it funny how he had to learn that lesson over and over again.
The curtains were rising, and he couldn't help but note how tattered and worn they seemed. Maybe they'd replace them next year, but he doubted they would. Money was tight in the school system, with no room for frivolities like new stage curtains.
People were applauding, a signal to be silent, that they recognized the show was about to begin. Right now, they were applauding all the hard work and effort that had gone into organizing this event. At the end of the play, they would applaud the performance, and the actors, and the polished feat they accomplished here.
Several students in black walked out onto the stage, their footsteps in unison, like that of soldiers' marches. They seemed to be shadows, phantoms moving out of the dark well of the stage. Their faces were all covered, and they held in their hands an open book. Iruka didn't doubt they were the lines, but he didn't think it detracted from the play all that much. After all, this was the Chorus.
They stopped at the edge of the stage, a line of black shadows. Their voices carried into the auditorium, and echoed, their tongues sliding around the slippery verse. It seemed to him that perhaps the finest talent was given the most unappreciated role. Still, they did their best with it.
There was no music, and he almost wished Tsunade had approached him about that. He would have gladly lent some band members to play and music, he was sure, would have livened the performance. But what could he really expect from a high school performance? It wasn't as if these were real actors. These were students, playing at being actors. It wasn't as if this was a real theatre.
The Chorus scattered and dispersed, like leaves on the wind, rushing toward separate exits. As they did so, the first two characters strode onto the stage, dressed in costumes that did no justice to Tsunade's famed seamstress talent. They toted swords, and Iruka was thankful that this wasn't at all like the Shakespearian play that he'd had to endure when he worked at the elementary school. This was a little more polished.
He closed his eyes and let himself pretend that he was actually watching an upscale performance in a fancy theatre. In his mind, Kakashi was sitting in the empty seat beside him, and they were looking straight ahead, never at each other, though their hands were entwined.
He could almost feel the warmth of Kakashi's hand, wrapped about his own. . .
- - - - - - - - - -
Kiba smiled brightly when he saw Hinata on the stage. She had a small role, sure, but she was playing it with grace and he was proud of her for making it through this performance. To stand up there in front of people and recite lines from memory, it took courage, and this could only be beneficial for Hinata.
She hadn't stammered yet. She'd looked out across the audience, and she'd blushed, probably because she saw him and knew he was there for her, and her alone. She hadn't stammered though, and she hadn't forgotten her lines. That was all he asked from her.
He didn't care if she sounded like she was reciting from a book, because he knew that she really was reciting from a book. He knew that she reserved her emotions for words that deserved them, and he knew that when the time came, she would be able to feel. She was no actor, but she also wasn't Uchiha Sasuke, the human icicle.
Speaking of whom, Kiba would have started laughing when he saw the Uchiha prick, if he'd recognized him when he'd first saw him. Under Tsunade's costuming and Sakura and Ino's careful application of make-up, the boy had been rendered virtually unrecognizable. He certainly made a pretty girl, but Kiba knew better. He was going to mock him so much next year.
Someone had actually started clapping when Romeo had kissed 'Juliet'. Kiba wasn't sure who that person had been, but he was pretty sure they had no clue that there were two guys standing on stage, kissing each other. He was pretty sure the person clapping hadn't known Juliet was a guy.
He wanted to clap every time Hinata got her lines right. He wanted to stand up and cheer when she didn't stutter through a single line in a scene. He wanted to cause a disruption, he wanted to be her personal cheerleader, even if he couldn't really imagine himself doing cartwheels in a skirt. But he knew that he had to sit down and shut up, for the time being, or they'd kick him out.
He knew when he clapped at the end, he was going to have to clap long and hard, so that his hands turned red and hurt, and he was going to have to whistle, and he was going to have to get to his feet and give a standing ovation. But just for Hinata. He couldn't clap just for her right now, so he was going to clap at the end, just for her. It might seem like he was clapping with everyone else, but he wasn't.
He hoped Hinata would know that he was clapping just for her, congratulating her. Her father and her little sister weren't there, but Neji was, and he had directions to take Hinata and TenTen home directly after the play. There would be a rushed hug, maybe and a whisper of, "You did great," before she was whisked off to her home.
So what if his mother scoffed and told him she was a good-for-nothing Hyuuga? He didn't care what she said anymore. He loved Hinata and that was all there was to it. There was nothing more to it than that.
- - - - - - -
Gaara felt that the play went well, though he was by no means an actor. Kankurou had all the art talent in their family. Kankurou nodded his head in approval from the audience, however, so he took that as a good sign. Then again, perhaps it was just encouragement. After all, it was rare that Gaara participated in activities or social events.
Nobody forgot their lines, the audience seemed mildly entertained and nothing disastrously bad happened. All in all, a good play. Well, not necessarily a good play, but a play that at least didn't end in an angry audience and dead actors.
Backstage, after the play, Tsunade was congratulating them all on helping to raise money enough to buy new curtains for the theatre group. She was collecting their costumes, and she seemed very pleased that they'd managed to get through the play without killing anyone.
She made her exit and told them all to bugger off, more or less. Gaara was about to leave, when Naruto shouted over the noise of the milling crowd of actors, "Oy! Pool party for all cast members at Sasuke's tomorrow!
"What?" Sasuke shrilled, grabbing the blond by the collar of his shirt. "When did I agree to this!"
Sakura giggled. Naruto had been counting on Sasuke's ill-tempered reaction, and had enlisted her help to spread the word to their fellow actors. "Two o'clock sharp!" she called to them, cupping her hands about her mouth so she could be heard over the other people. "Refreshments provided! Bring a friend!"
"You too?" Sasuke asked, staring at her in disbelief, though he didn't loosen his chokehold on Naruto one bit.
Ino winced and poked the blond. "You might want to let go of him," she suggested, "he's turning purple."
"Good," Sasuke growled, glowering at the blond as he let him drop to the floor.
"Air!" Naruto gasped, wheezing as he tried to recover from oxygen deprivation.
And in the end, all was well that ended well. Or so it seemed to Gaara, at least because, after all the ups and downs of the past year, and after all the trials and tribulations, twists and turns and seemingly pointless situations, life was looking up. And just as in the music they'd played in class, and in band, just like the beat they'd struggled to keep going, life goes on.