Chapter 33: Concerto

"Ah! I'm so hungry!" Naruto grumbled, kneading his aching stomach. "Damn that Kouji!" I still don't see why we had to do all his work, that lazy ass."

"He promised us 'prime seating' for the firework show." Sasuke reminded him as the two shuffled into Suiyo-Kame late that evening.

"They're fireworks!" Naruto exclaimed. "They go off in the sky! Prime seating is not going to be hard to find. Aaah! Treating us like subordinates…" Naruto's sentence petered off into vengeful muttering.

Sasuke ran his fingers through his hair.

"He really did make us stay late though." He mumbled, looking up at the sky. Even with summer solstice messing everything up, the sky was dark. "These 'prime seats' better be really good or…"

Naruto kicked a beer can. It ricocheted off a day-glow pink sign (Labeled "Open Mic Night") and hit an innocent bystander, who was apparently too drunk to notice or care. Besides this drunkard, the streets were trash-filled but bare.

"Or..?"

"Or I'll kick his ass again, I guess."

"Hell yeah!" Naruto cheered. "That's what I'm talking about! And next time I'll help!"

Sasuke smirked.

"Whatever. Don't get in my way, loser."

"Oh, you want a piece of this, girly man! How about I mess up that pretty face of yours!"

"Just try, shorty."

"Bring it on, Sasuke-hime!"

"You two!" A familiar voiced hissed at them from somewhere above. "Are you two fighting again?"

The two boys looked up and saw Sakura glaring down at them from their apartment.

"He started it!" Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Sasuke.

"Whatever." Sasuke shrugged and put his hands in his pockets, walking into the building.

"Hey, get back here!" Naruto cried as Sasuke disappeared into the Karaoke bar. "I'm not done with you."

"Yes, you are!" Sakura berated. "Now get up here or I'll throw something at you!"

Naruto grumbled and followed Sasuke up, muttering curses like a psycho all the way up. Upon arrival, the two were greeted by two steaming bowls of ramen.

"Eh!" Naruto exclaimed. He dashed up to his bowl, his eyes growing starry, mouth watering. "Sakura-chan, I will never fight with Sasuke again!"

"That's a lie." Sakura teased, flicking him lightly on the forehead. "Don't say things that go against your nindo."

"What's the occasion?" Sasuke sat down in front of his own share as Naruto began to stuff his face. (It was bad ramen, in his opinion, it wasn't Ichiraku, but it was the best ramen he'd eaten since they left.) "I thought you said there wasn't any room in our budget for things like this."

"Well…" Sakura sat down to watch them eat. "Would you believe me if I told you I got an unexpected bonus?"

"It couldn't be from working here tonight." Sasuke gave her a suspicious look. "Does it have something to do with the fact that you didn't really have work tonight?"

Naruto nearly choked on his ramen.

"Sakura-cha-"

"I'm sorry!" Sakura exclaimed, bowing her head and clasping her hands together. "It was something I couldn't tell you in front of Kouji."

Sasuke swallowed a bite.

"Then why don't you tell us now?"

And Sakura did, as best as she could.

"…so Futotta-san let me participate."

"Interesting." Sasuke muttered before downing the last of his ramen. He didn't sound interested in the slightest. "You sure it was a good idea to use your real name?"

"Why not?" Sakura gave him an accusing look. "You did it."

Sasuke threw her a slight glare.

"Besides," Sakura continued, "Everyone there already knows me as Akane. They'll probably assume that 'Sakura' is my penname, not the other way around."

"Well!" Naruto demanded. "Who won? Are you or Madoka going to be singing?"

"Dumbass," Sasuke muttered, "Isn't it obvious?"

Naruto resisted the urge to beat him to a bloody pulp and turned back to Sakura.

"Well?"

Sakura smiled.

"What do you think Naruto?" She laughed, and then she forcibly presented her arm, her middle and index fingers extended in the two-pronged "V" for victory. "Of course, I won!"

-

Several days passed normally, minus the fact that Madoka seemed to refuse Sakura's existence. She denied talking or even looking at the other girl, causing Naruto to chuckle, Sakura to giggle, Kouji to worry and Sasuke to not care. Sakura remained the target of Madoka's hate until one morning when a few visitors entered the karaoke bar. Sakura was taking her morning shift, Naruto was pushing a mop under those hung-over and Sasuke was behind the bar, astounding Futotta with his knowledge of beverages (Though he didn't serve any. The fact that Naruto and Sasuke were working at all merely proves how little else they had to do. Sakura forbade Sasuke from training anyway, due to injury) when a loud familiar entity burst through the door.

"Hey, you maggots!" Mitsurugi called, plowing through the door. "Didja miss me?"

"No." Naruto muttered flatly.

"Mitsurugi-san!" Sakura exclaimed in the middle of her song. A few patrons looked up as she ruined the lyrics, but most didn't care.

"So this is where you work!" He laughed jovially. "Madoka! You shoulda told us earlier!"

Then stern girl stormed in as Mitsurugi held the door open for her. She bolted through like a rhino gone wild, not bothering to thank the unusually courteous Mitsurugi and looking thoroughly tortured and ready to kill. She threw Sakura a dangerous glare and stormed off toward the stage door.

"Oi!" Mitsurugi called after her. "Where are you going?"

"Bathroom." She slammed the door behind her. Mitsurugi shrugged and Naruto stuck his tongue out at the stage door. Sakura opened her mouth the ask Mitsurugi something, but found her answer coming up behind him; Kouji and Akari entered the bar, whispering secretively together.

To Sakura's astonishment, it wasn't lovey-dovey whispering either. Sure, their heads were together, and they looked happy, but it seemed more… business-like. They were completely void of any flirty aura. No infatuation what-so-ever, Sakura thought, and while she was no expert in relationships, they didn't exactly look like they were in one.

What's going on here?

Sakura wanted to ask someone else if they noticed, but as she looked around, she found the room devoid of anyone with an emotional sensitivity greater than a clot of dirt. She sighed and decided to let it drop, before she hurt somebody.

"Akari-chan!" She exclaimed, jumping off the stage and running up to her. She embraced the other girl enthusiastically.

"Eh?" Akari blinked at her dumbly as the two broke away. "Do I know you?"

"Akari-chan, it's me." Sakura pulled the pageant pendant out of her shirt. "Haruko."

"Haruko-chan!" Akari cried, embracing her for real this time. "It's been so long! How have you been? Wow, this means you were in on my kidnapping all along? Incredible!"

"You think so?" Sakura smiled modestly, as Sasuke and Naruto came up behind her.

"It's a good thing too!" Mitsurugi exclaimed. "Those damn Konoha idiots. Crappy fighters like that shouldn't even be considered ninjas."

"WHAT!" Naruto shrieked, ready to slaughter.

"That's not true, Mitsurugi-kun!" Akari scolded, "Shikamaru-san, Chouji-san and Ino-chan are wonderful people."

"Heh," Kouji whispered so only Naruto and Sasuke could hear him. "You'll have to forgive Mitsurugi. He's from the Kirika Clan of the Hidden Rock Village. No one in that country takes kindly to Konoha ninjas."

Naruto continued to fume.

"What makes you think that we care about Konoha?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. Kouji looked at him out of the corner of his eye and wicked twinkle reflected in it along with the neon bar lights.

"Hey," Mitsurugi put a hand on his forehead, "Don'tcha think Madoka's taking a long time…"

"Yeah," Akari muttered thoughtfully, "She's in the bathroom, right? You want me to go check on her."

"Actually, I think it's better if I go." Sakura rubbed her cheek with her index finger.

"Really?"

Sakura nodded and ran off to the stage door. She dodged around a few patrons and slid through. She followed the long hall to the bathroom and slipped inside, where she found Madoka craned over a sink.

The platinum blonde girl looked up as though she was hung-over like the rest of the bar and glared at Sakura as she walked in.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"You can't hide in here forever." Sakura reasoned.

"Who said I'm hiding?"

"I do." Sakura hissed, "You always get this way when Akari comes up. I wouldn't expect any less of you now that she finally shows up here."

"Whatever." Madoka scoffed. "You've known me for how long? 11 days? Don't talk like you know anything about how I feel."

"Oh shove it." Sakura leaned back against a sink. "You're not the only who's felt like that, you know."

Madoka snorted.

"So, you're going to tell me something stupid like 'It's not really so bad,' right? Spare me."

"Of course not!" Sakura lectured, "I said I know the same pain. I know very well how much it hurts."

"So what then?" Madoka glared at Sakura out of the corner of her eye.

Sakura laughed evilly.

"It's time for some retaliation." She chuckled and before snatching up Madoka's wrist and dragging her out of the bathroom. The two bolted down the hall.

"Wait a minute. What are you-?"

"I'm going to help you practice," Sakura laughed deviously. "Have they chosen your song yet?"

"Yeah, but it's stupid. Some happy song. It's no use though; I suck at happy songs."

"That's not true," Sakura called as she claimed an empty karaoke room. "Because people like us have a lot to be happy for."

-

June 21, the festival had finally arrived.

"How did we get stuck in this stupid parade?" Naruto grumbled as he threw a crying toddler candy. "and why are wearing Raibara uniforms? We're not a part of this stupid group."

"Just shut up, you idiot." Sasuke tried to look cool while throwing candy into the audience. "Madoka's concert isn't until five. Sakura won't be out until four. We're doing this as a favor to Kouji."

"Well, I'm sick of doing him favors." Naruto glared out into the crowd. "He's not even on this float."

The sun beat down upon them like a wooden mallet, which was made ten times more violent considering they were wearing black. To protect their identities, both were wearing hoodies and the face masks they'd bought on Sea Breeze. But it wouldn't have mattered; the float was piled with fifty other Raibara members. Kouji was three floats ahead of them riding with his father. Naruto pulled off his face mask to get a fresh breath of air, staring wistfully ahead of them. The white cape, adorned with "Lightning" in yellow, billowed like a flag in the wind. It called to Naruto like a distant friend. For an instant, he was tugging on it, except the one he was tugging on said "Fire" in red and the old man was berating him.

"Sasuke," He whispered. Sasuke looked at him while nearly killing a child with a handful of lollipops. "That's going to be me someday." Naruto motioned to the billowing white cape.

"What?" Sasuke cocked a quizzical eyebrow. "I thought you wanted to be Hokage, not Raikage."

"Shut up! That's what I mean!" Naruto sighed staring at the tiny flapping cloak in the distance. "Someday, I'm gonna be like that. Just watch."

Sasuke chuckled.

"I'm watching, but I'm not seeing anything."

Naruto would've smacked Sasuke off the float if Mitsurugi hadn't hit him in the head with a hard candy.

"Get back to work!" He yelled.

"Stupid, sword-wielding giant." Naruto muttered, rubbing his forehead. "One of these days, I'm going to kick his ass."

Sasuke grinned.

The parade ending with a speech from the Raikage, but Naruto and Sasuke only half heard it. The heat had finally gotten to the both of them and after the half hour speech, both boys, along with the other fifty plus members of the Raibara group could be found lying in the Cloud Village River like dead bodies. The swim session ended around 3:30 when Kouji reappeared, looking more tired than the rest of them.

"I never want to be Raikage." He announced and collapsed into the stream. The girls left, using "we have to get ready" as an excuse and the afternoon swim turned into a water fight, which turned into a water war, Naruto and Sasuke, vs. the Raibara members (with Kouji and Mitsurugi acting judge… it was only fair in their opinion.). The score was Home: 0, Visitor: 10 by the time Kouji called them all out to get ready.

"The girls'll complain if we don't look decent." He said.

"Correction." Mitsurugi amended. "Madoka will complain."

Kouji blushed slightly and laughed as they raced each other back to his house.

At 4:50, Naruto and Sasuke stood in the makeshift auditorium, randomly amongst hundred of other guests. Children scurried underfoot waving toys and causing hell for their parents.

"Yeeeah!" Naruto stretched in his borrowed brown yukata. "This is a lot better than the black stuff we were wearing."

A vein tweaked in Sasuke's forehead. He felt stupid; the last time he'd worn something like this he'd been, how old? Six? He could even remember.

"You didn't have to bring your sword." He lectured, trying to talk about something that would make him more comfortable, like tormenting Naruto. The blonde felt the sword on his back and smiled.

"I'm only carrying it so I can kick Mitsurugi's ass." He cackled. "That guy has a sword too!"

"You have the worst logic I've ever heard." Sasuke muttered blandly. But in reality, he was carrying shuriken's too. Better safe than sorry.

Naruto watched as another girl came hurling at Sasuke, rebounding off his back and falling pitifully to the ground.

"Iiiiyaaa…" She cried hoarsely. "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's my fault." Sasuke muttered politely, though his patience seemed to be as thin as fishing wire. This had to be Innocent Damsil #13. Naruto almost felt bad for him; it was a horrible way to be beaten up by women.

These girls are so weak. Naruto grumbled. Where's Sakura-chan? Now there's a girl worthy of getting beat up by, because if you live to tell about it, it's worthy of celebration.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" Almost on cue, Sakura's voice echoed from behind them, accompanied by the clitter-clack of wooden shoes. They both turned around, and a few milliseconds passed before the recognized who they were looking at.

Sakura came running awkwardly up to them in petite wooden sandals, the wide sleeves of her semi-elegant pink and green yukata swinging playfully behind her. It made her hair, pulled up gracefully, flare out amongst the black and blonde heads and her eyes shine like two bright moons in the starry radiance of her face. Her cheeks flushed pink from running. She bit a pink glossed lower lip playfully, breathing hard. It was as though the most perfect portrait had sprung to life. Naruto's heart skipped so many beats, he thought it'd stopped altogether. Sasuke had to look away; he looked foolish enough in a yukata without his face being tomato red.

"Sorry, I'm late." She smiled sheepishly. "I hope you two weren't waiting long."

"Not at all; no problem." Naruto babbled, grabbing her hand and leading to where others were standing, or at least he tried to.

"Wait a minute," she whined, "aren't you going to tell me how nice I look?"

"Yes, yes, very nice." Naruto said, still trying to lead her away.

"You're not even looking at me!" She would've said more but Sasuke's hand landed gently on her back and he began to help Naruto move her forward.

"Hey, don't forget Akari-chan!" Sakura cried trying to look back. Sasuke didn't remember Akari, but as he looked back, he found her standing right next to him. She took on look at his bright red face and burst into a fit of giggles; Sasuke could feel his face heat more, if at all possible. No girls bumped into Sasuke after that.

They joined up with Kouji, Mitsurugi, Tarou and a few others.

"I can't believe Madoka is singing." Mitsurugi was saying. "Can she even hold a note? I don't remember her ever being able to do so."

Tarou opened his mouth to retaliate, but Sakura pinched him lightly and put a finger to her lips.

"Let Madoka prove him wrong." She whispered.

Bright lights illuminated the wooden stage as the over-enthusiastic festival representative began his spiel.

"Everyone, welcome to the Hidden Cloud Village Summer Solstice Festival! Before we start the festivities, we are joined tonight by this year's performer, Taiyouko Madoka."

Madoka walked on stage like a proud warrior stepping up to an execution.

"Tonight she will be performing Suteki da ne. Everyone, give it up for Madoka-chan!" The lights changed. Madoka flexed her hand on her mike.

"She looks like she's going to barf." Naruto muttered.

"You're sure she can do this?" Kouji asked. "You're sure she's not going to publicly humiliate herself?"

"Would you all just shut up and find out for yourself?" Sakura cried confidently over the beginning music.

Madoka took a deep breath and let it all out. She started off weak, but after the first three lines, of people cheering her on, she really got into it and the true artist emerged from her shell of self-consciousness. Her sound hadn't changed; her voice was like honey for the ears, medicine for the soul, but now it was happy, bouncy, a side long lost in the sea of her constant bitterness. And her happiness was contagious. People began to scream and sing along.

Her voice echoed and resounded through the entire city. People stopped to listen and hum along. And, even in the years to come, few people could disagree that it was the best festival performance in recent memory. By the end, no one wanted it to be, and Madoka dashed off stage, eyes streaming, away from the demand for an encore.

Sakura looked around at her neighbors. Naruto's eyes sparkled. Sasuke's were as big as saucers. Kouji and Mitsurugi seemed rather dumbfounded; both of their mouth's were hanging open slightly and Mitsurugi looked like he'd been hit in the face with a brick. Behind them, Akari was crying.

Sakura couldn't hold it in. She burst out laughing, point and muttering. Passersby thought she had gone insane, but she'd never had it more together. Madoka: 1, Everyone else: 0.

"C'mon." Sakura grabbed Kouji's hand and dragged him to the side door. Madoka finally slipped through the throngs of people asking for autographs with a skillful use of Henge no Jutsu, and snuck over to them.

"Aww, geez" Madoka cried, "I thought I'd never get out of that."

Sakura pulled Kouji in front of her and he stood there awkwardly, red, and avoiding eye contact. Madoka crossed her arms defensively across her chest, blushing slightly.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?" She snapped.

"Ano…" Kouji turned redder and poked his fingers Hinata-style. "Y-You should've told me you were that talented." He whispered.

"I don't have to you everything..."

"Y-you were really good." He stuttered.

Madoka made an attempt to look him in the face, but he look away embarrassed.

"Thank you, Kou-kun." She whispered, smiling brightly.

"Eh!" Kouji's head popped up like a gopher's.

"What?" Mitsurugi also snapped to attention. "Did she..?"

"I bet I can win more toys than the two of you combine!" Madoka pointed at them accusingly. Both Mitsurugi and Kouji shook off their shock.

"Oh, whatever!"

"Bring it on, stupid!"

The three of them dashed off towards the row of booths.

"You're not going with them Akari?" Sakura asked.

Akari wiped her eyes again.

"No, I think its better that I don't; it been a long time since they've had fun, just the three of them." She looked wistfully off into the distance. "He's never looks at me like that…"

-

"Ta-Da!" Kouji spread his arms out wide, a broad grin pulling at his cheeks. "Welcome to the Kou-Ma-Mitsu Secret Base, our prime seats for tonight's fireworks spectacular!"

They stood on top of a small, square grass clearing. On two sides parallel to each other were dark, looming trees, facing the group's front and back. To their right was a traditional little house, complete with papers doors and a wooden deck. On their left, stood a steep cliff, that if you were so unfortunate as to fall down it, you'd slide down the faces of the Raikage monument and land splat in Kouji's backyard in the Hidden Cloud Village.

"What's so secret about this place?" Naruto wheezed with the effort of the climb. The little house was filled with noise. At least twelve other people were meandering around inside it. "Seems like everyone knows about it."

"Well, it used to be secret." Kouji muttered irritably, before stomping up to the house.

"Kouji, Madoka and I built this place when we were still academy students." Mitsurugi laughed as the rest of them followed Kouji up to the house. "That was way before the Raibara Group, as you can imagine."

"Eh!" Sakura exclaimed, nearly tripping in her sandals. "You three built that!" She pointed enthusiastically at the quaint, but complex and well-made looking cottage. "When you were young?"

"Heh.." Mitsurugi rubbed the back of his head. "Well, it started out as a blanket and a couple of sticks…"

"This cottage was built to house the Raibara Group's Headquarters." Madoka cut in.

"Eh!" Naruto cried. "This place was your HQ? Then why'd you move to that icky sewer?"

"Having the base up here is too inconvenient." Madoka readjusted her glasses. "It's an extra hike to get up here. The sewer is much more sensible."

They reached the cabin, slipped off their shoes, and stepped inside. The single-room cottage was wall-to-wall tatami mats with a small table in the corner bearing treats and goodies. The room was lit by an economy-sized rod with a dangling switch. Other members of the gang had already begun trading the toys they'd won and bickering over the exchange rate. There was a brief moment of silence as Kouji entered the room, but the din soon returned.

"It's quite cute." Sakura smiled pleasantly. "You've been here before, Akari-chan?"

"Yes," Akari nodded. "We come up here every year."

Naruto was bounding off to the snack table when suddenly someone grabbed the hilt of the sword on his back.

"Gak!" Naruto squealed. "Hey, Leggo!"

"Wait! I want to see it!" Mitsurugi said from behind him, yanking the sword off Naruto and holding it up to the light.

"Hey!" Naruto cried, clawing for his sword. "That's mine! Give it back!"

"I said I want to see it." Mitsurugi held the sword out of Naruto's immediate reach. "Don't get your panties in a bunch. I don't want it; I've got my own." He motioned to a large sword on his back. "I just want to look at it."

Mitsurugi held it up again, ignoring Naruto's disgruntled demeanor. The large boy gently ran in fingers over the decorative sheath like an antique collector. He pulled the blade out far enough to read the "Kyuubi" inscribed upon it, and shut it.

"I don't know how you got this," Mitsurugi sighed in awe, "but you are one lucky bastard."

"Eh?" Naruto blinked stupidly.

Mitsurugi tossed the sword back and unsheathed his own weapon.

"Now show me what you can do with it." He sneered.

Naruto grinned and pulled his own sword out.

"Bring it on."

A space cleared itself in the middle of the room. The miscellaneous Raibara members, Akari and Sakura sat down to watch.

"Don't do anything stupid!" Sakura called as the two boys sized each other up.

"Idiots." Madoka muttered and busied herself straightening the snack table and avoiding requests for another song. Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped out into the hot summer night. A clash of steel echoed behind him as he slipped his shoes on and stepped on to the mattress-like grass. He took five steps from the cottage and the night engulfed him. The distant ring of metal and cheers were not nearly as loud as the crickets now, singing their own private language to each other. Night had almost completely taken over. To Sasuke's right a pallid shade of sky drained into the mountains, slowly, as if every minute was endless. Sasuke crossed the front yard, fireflies leapt into the air as he nearly crushed them and floated away like pollen in the wind. As he reached the cliff's edge, he stared out over the Hidden Cloud Village, the myriad of lights winking up at him, and sat peaceably on a boulder. Far below, little festival-goers scurried around, causing the illuminations on the ground to flicker in their many shadows, making it a perfect reflection of the stars above. It reminded Sasuke of being atop the Hokage monument, like he did with his brother so many years ago. There were no views like this in the Sound Village; it's always the little things you take for granted.

Sasuke pulled a shuriken out of his pocket and turned it over in his hands, thinking about the new jutsu he'd acquired. Curiously, he dropped it to the ground and folded his hands together in seals.

"Seidenki Gyuujiru no Jutsu." He focused on the fallen shuriken. Yellow streaks zigzagged across it and it began to hover, stuttering in the air. Sasuke glared at it. The shiny star stopped in the air and fell retardedly to the ground. Sasuke nearly did the same.

What's wrong? It was so easy to do when I was fighting Kouji…

"They're amazing, those eyes of yours."

Sasuke looked up to see Kouji moving toward him from a place propped against a nearby tree.

"It took me five years to get as far as you have." Kouji picked up the shuriken. "Truly, they are incredible. Enough to make a person jealous, those Sharingan eyes." He turned the shuriken over in his hands and grinned at Sasuke in a "thought-you-could-fool-me-huh?" kind of way.

"So you know…" Sasuke fidgeted with his hands (though not out of nervousness) and looked out over the sparkling city.

"Yeah," Kouji did the same, still fiddling with the shuriken. "It wasn't hard. That's a unique bloodline you have there. I looked it up after we fought. Strange though, only one living person is supposed the have those eyes, and you are definitely not him. There's no way in hell I could have beaten that man."

Sasuke smirked in slightly in agreement.

"Though, during my search, I did run across something interesting." Kouji went on. "Apparently, a boy with your bloodline, and two of other teammates, went and got themselves blown up in an attempt to destroy the leader of Sound Country." He gave Sasuke a sly look. "So what did you do? Fake your own death, Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Something like that." Sasuke scoffed, smirking at hearing his name said by someone other than Naruto or Sakura.

"Don't worry, I won't turn you in." Kouji began to juggle the shuriken. "I don't think you're even here under your country's jurisdiction; it's not like you pose a threat. In fact, I should be thanking you. Now that the Sound Village has fallen, trade routes have opened up with Earth Country again."

"I know," Sasuke stood up, "I worked in a trader's bar on Sorano." He turned to Kouji. "After tonight, my friends and I will be leaving this place. We've obviously been here too long if idiots like you are figuring out our identities."

"Heh, you want to fight again?" Kouji sneered. He threw the shuriken at Sasuke. Sasuke caught it centimeters from his forehead. Kouji laughed and shoved out his hand.

"If we should meet again, I want a rematch." He chuckled. "Next time, I'll beat you for sure."

"Don't be so sure." Sasuke grasped his hand and shook it. "I won't go easy on you, you know."

"I guess that makes us rivals then." Kouji laughed.

"Heh." Sasuke turned to look for a moment at the glimmering city.

"Sorry," he said. "I've already got a rival." Sasuke turned to look Kouji straight in the eye. "And he's a lot stronger than you."

A loud crashing sound erupted from the hut. Sasuke looked at it, a bright beacon in a field of darkness. They could see the dancing silhouettes of Naruto, abandoning his sword and pummeling Mitsurugi with Kage Bunshin.

"That guy…?" Kouji wondered. "Is he really that strong?"

"You have no idea."

A swift, warm breeze blew between them, tousling their hair.

A loud screech echoed from the city below.

"Ah!" Kouji exclaimed. "That signals the beginning of the fireworks."

"Kouji!" The distant voice of Akari reverberated from the house. "What that the flare?"

"Yeah!" He called back "Get everyone out here! It's gonna start."

With that, the small figure turned and yelled something into the cabin. Suddenly, everyone came pouring out like it was free T-shirt day.

"Geez!" Sakura stomped down the yard, holding a flailing Naruto in a headlock. "Can't you go anywhere without making a mess!"

"Oi, Sasuke!" Naruto called as they approached. Sakura dropped her captive and he quickly moved away from her immediate reach. "So this is where you've been! Stupid! You missed my cool battle! I totally kicked Mitsurugi's ass!"

"Yeah, right!" Mitsurugi came up behind them. "That's what you think, shrimp."

Naruto opened his mouth to retaliate, but found it impossible, as Sakura was pulling his cheeks.

"'I totally kicked Mitsurugi's ass'? What's wrong with you?" She berated. "You say that like it's a good thing!"

"But Sakura-chan, it is a good thing. –ow!-"

"Haha!" Mitsurugi jeered. "What nooOOW?"

"That's enough of you too." Madoka snapped, pulling his ear toward her.

Their bickering was interrupted by a BOOM! And a flash of multicolored light. Brilliant blossoms of Technicolor red, yellow, blue and green splashed themselves across the void sky. They danced over the white path and pale houses of the Hidden Cloud Village and the river encircling it. For each moment a firework exploded, all else was forgotten; all happiness, all sadness, all pain, all angst, all desire, all floated away into the smoke residue. The trio watched among their comrades as the brilliant lights lived and died in the sky.

-

Akari watched the three disappear with Mitsurugi like a mother proudly watching her child leave for school.

I'm glad everything worked out, She thought merrily, letting her tea warm her palms. She sighed. It's nice to meet people like them.

She, Madoka, and Kouji sat peacefully in the courtyard, serene thoughts wafting through their minds like the breeze.

I wish there could be more days like this…Akari took another sip of tea. This is really good tea, she thought in mild surprise. She faced Madoka to compliment the girl's tea brewing skills when suddenly her eyes grew wide and she sprayed Madoka with tea in shocked revelation.

"Akari!" Kouji jumped up as the girl huddled over coughing. Madoka blinked irritably as the warm tea dribbled off her chin, pulled off her fogged glasses and began to clean them on her black skirt.

"Kouji!" Akari cried, jumping up and seizing the boy by the arm. Kouji gave her a worried look and opened his mouth to speak but she beat him to it.

"Kouji! This is terrible!"

"Indeed." Madoka muttered coldly as she placed her glasses on her dripping face.

"Ah!" Akari cried, realizing what she had done. "Oh, Madoka! I'm so sorry! Let me get you a towel."

Akari made for to dash back into the house then yelped and turned back to the southward door.

"But I have to-" She turned back to the house, then to the door, then to the house again. Pretty soon she was running hysterically around in a circle. Madoka put an exasperated hand to her wet forehead. Kouji grabbed Akari by the shoulders and spun her to face him.

"Akari!" he cried. "Calm down! Forget about Madoka-"

"Gee, thanks." Madoka muttered, sipping her tea. Kouji threw her a dirty look before turning back to Akari.

"What's wrong, Akari?" He said sternly.

"I just remembered." She panted frantically. "Kimaru, Aoi, Akane, there is something important I have to tell them."

There was a tense moment where nothing moved except Kouji's chest, which rose and fell heavily. Madoka looked up from her tea.

"Tell them what, Akari?" Kouji muttered.

"Well, a couple weeks after they left Biscuit Island-"

"Yeah?"

"-my father and I were in our new house-"

"Yeah?"

"-and we were visited by this strange man."

"What!"

"He said he was looking for them, Kouji!" Akari cried, her eyes desperate. "He said he was looking for Kimaru, Aoi and Akane. I told him I'd tell them if I saw them again… that he was looking…"

Kouji let go of Akari and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Strange…" He muttered. "If he was after them, he wouldn't have wanted you to tell them…"

"I don't think it was anything like that." Akari gazed absentmindedly out the southward gate. "He said he just wanted to question them about the incident on Sea Breeze… but…"

"But..?" Kouji peered intently at her.

"He was an excellent ninja." Akari continued. "He hid his emotions so well. In fact, you couldn't see much of him anyway. Most of his face was covered with a mask, and his hitai-ate covered most of the rest. All he really showed us was one eye pretty much, and, even though the entire time he talked to us he was smiling, I could feel some immense sorrow in that eye, sorrow and determination. In the end, that's what led me to promise him… Oh, did I mention he had a really cute dog?"

Kouji rapped his knuckles playfully against her forehead and laughed.

"Don't worry about telling those three about him." Madoka said, getting up to get her own towel. Akari looked at her in question. Kouji nodded in agreement and Akari's gaze was transferred to him.

"I'm sure, if what you saw in his eye is correct." Kouji smiled, the summer breeze tossing his brown hair, "I'm sure they'll meet up. Eventually."

Author End-of-Arc Notes: GYAAHH! It's over! It's finally over! Oh the pain! Someone get me an ice pack! I hope you all enjoy the story thus far. As of yet, this may be the last time we see these characters, unless of course, you want to see them again, which is always a possiblity. Anyway, time for main rantage! The main point of this arc was to give Sasuke a new technique, so you can bet he'll use it. I decided to add some drama in it to spice the story up; who can't go without a little drama eh? As you can imagine, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. The Kou-Ma-Mitsu relationship is actually a lot more complicated, but I didn't want to waste time on it. It's unrealistic for them to randomly talk about it. Also, if you are questioning the relationship between Kouji and Akari, GOOD! I want it that way. There's more to that story too, but, again, I'm not going into it.

About "Suteki Da Ne": Before anyone asks, this is NOT the song from FFX, nor any other song for that matter. It means "Isn't it Wonderful?" which I thought was a great title. The song is suppose to be upbeat and popish, with happy lyrics, but I'm not about to write a song, especially not in Japanese. I couldn't write lyrics to save my life, let alone in another language.

About the Arc: This was one of the few arcs I've had in my head for a long time, and because of that it has changed a lot. A couple of things that were going to happen but didn't: Akari was going to die, the town was going to be attacked by a monster, Kouji was going to fight his father, Naruto&Co were going to disband the Raibara etc. The mind is a crazy place ain't it?

About Names: As I've mentioned before, I choose names, usually for a reason. Madoka is named after a singer from Full Moon wo Sagashite (She was second to Mitsuki, but was still a good singer, so I thought it fit well). Mitsurugi was named after the cool samurai dude from Soul Caliber (and he uses a sword too! I'm so smurt ). Tarou was named after... no one XD. He's a random basic character, so he has a random basic name. (Thinking back, I should've named him Hanatarou... I love Bleach..) and Kouji was named well...because it sounds cool? I named Kouji before I even thought about naming people for a reason. :)

Oki... There's a lot more I didn't cover... but it's not really important and who cares? I'll probably post the whole, Kou-Ma-Mitsu story on my livejournal anyway. If you have any questions, feel free to post them or send them to me.

Next Chapter: The Team reaches Zosho! What is it that Kikyou wanted Sakura to find?