A/N: Hi friends! It's me again. This was obviously a few days late for Valentine's day. But hopefully the spirit of the theme for this chapter is still applicable. It's still February so that's gotta count for something, right? Anyway, this chapter and the next couple ones are going to be fluffy, guys! Hooray! Giving this pairing one last hurrah before we end on a sour note. (Muahahaha!) So yes. Please enjoy this filler :D

The inspiration for this chapter was a story an old friend shared to me when she and her then-girlfriend were still going out.

Song on repeat: Eyes On Me Piano Collection by Nobuo Uematsu

*DISCLAIMER APPLIES*

BEFORE THE WORST

Same Old Songs, Just Once More

A cute sneeze erupted from the blonde as she simultaneously rubbed her hands against her arms to induce any semblance of heat she could. Although it was completely sunny outside, the temperature felt like she would get frostbite any moment. She regretted not listening to Sasuke when he told her to bring a thicker jacket with her to school that day. Naruto insisted however that their school blazer would be enough and that she brought with her a light sweater just in case.

The weather was the reason why she had trust issues.

When another wave of teeth-chattering hit her, Sasuke simply sighed from his place at the driver's seat of his car. "Why do you never listen to me?" He said in rhetoric as he reached behind the car to get his green-and-black varsity jacket. The young man tossed the piece of clothing to his shivering passenger then turned up the car heater after doing so. Naruto hastily put on the jacket, welcoming the warmth that it brought.

They arrived at school a few minutes later; and although Naruto was already comfortable, she couldn't help but feel guilty. As they stepped out of the vehicle, she noticed how Sasuke lightly shuddered from the cold.

"Sasuke, you can have your jacket back. I'm not cold anymore." Naruto said while she kept up with Sasuke's long strides.

"I'm fine." He said nonchalantly, quickly opening the door to the main lobby. The boy's answer caused her to pout. So much for being concerned about the guy.

Immediately after getting through the school entrance, the two teens were hit with the profound atmosphere of love. The halls were decked with hearts and Cupid cut-outs. There were small booths that sold a variety of sugary sweet candies and chocolates. Numerous girls were carrying bouquets and loudly gushing over the respective boys that gave the dainty gift. The entire high school department smelled of perfume and teen pheromones; and all these frivolous details were caused by one singular truth.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Sasuke!" Three girls whom Naruto recognized to be sophomores gladly greeted their popular upperclassman. Each of these girls offered the young man a sweetened confection. Naruto inwardly snickered when Sasuke made a face at the Valentine's gifts. The poor girls didn't even know that their precious Sasuke was quite impartial to sweets. The blonde decided to lessen Sasuke's burden by quickly taking the mini chocolate chip cookies one of the younger ladies was offering.

"Hey!" The sophomore growled.

Naruto quickly opened the small clear plastic bag that held the treats and popped one cookie into her mouth. "I'm going ahead, Sasuke-bastard. Try to be nice to them, okay?" The Uzumaki teen smiled at her underclassmen however the look of jealousy from the sophomores' eyes were not lost to her. Overcome with pity, Naruto took Sasuke's hand and placed the bag of cookies she had taken into his open palm. Using her well aimed gaze she silently made sure that Sasuke would take her words seriously. The Uchiha teen then rolled his eyes in irritation but caved any way.

As Naruto walked away from their small group, she was pleased to see that Sasuke had accepted the treats being offered to him. Never mind that she would probably end up eating the millions of gifts he would receive today but Sasuke's fan base didn't need to know that.

Just as Naruto turned a corner, she was immediately hounded by Sakura and Ino; the two girls with hearts in their eyes.

"So spill! What did Sasuke get for you this year?" Ino chirped in excitement. This never failed to amuse Naruto. Ino and Sakura had shown great interest in Sasuke and Naruto's endeavours as a couple but more so during Valentine's Day. At first Naruto just chalked up their behaviour to stereotypical female gossiping tendencies but later the blonde came to realize that Naruto was their outlet. In a sense, Naruto had become their means of getting a chance to find out how it would be like to be Uchiha Sasuke's girlfriend.

"Nothing actually. To be honest, we totally forgot that it was Valentine's Day today until we entered the building." Naruto sent them a sympathetic gaze when she disclosed the facts. Naturally, her two friends slumped in disappointment.

"Aw come on, Nar! You've been together for three years! You two just go out to eat ramen every Valentine's day! And you two eat ramen all the time! Do something more romantic!" Sakura scolded.

"Hey! We don't just go out to eat ramen! He got me that fighting game that one year! Remember? And! There was also that one year I got him that cool green tea set, yeah? And besides! Eating ramen is plenty romantic!" Naruto failed to defend. It seemed like the adjective 'romantic' was not computing in her head.

"Naruto, I love you. You know I do... but sometimes I just want to strangle you." Sakura massaged the bridge of her nose as she failed to comprehend Naruto's lack of romance know-how.

An arm suddenly enveloped the blonde's shoulder just as Naruto was about to say her two cents on the matter. "I can't help but feel sorry for dickless." Sai said as he offered Naruto a bouquet of orange roses using his free hand. "You know what? I'd never neglect you on such an important day unlike Uchiha."

Naruto rolled her eyes; by now she had grown desensitized to Sai's futile attempts at wooing her. She harshly shrugged off the arm around her while warily eyeing the bright set of flowers that was being offered to her. "The flowers look great, Sai, but I don't think Sasuke will appreciate it if I took those. Thanks but no thanks."

Ino was quick to scold Naruto upon the latter's polite rejection. "Take them, Naruto. You don't have to return his feelings but at least acknowledge what he feels for you. Imagine yourself in his shoes. Plus flowers are too beautiful to go to waste!" The pretty blonde's pale blue eyes glittered with admiration at the vibrant tangerine color of the bouquet. "Orange roses - the combination of yellow roses associated with friendship, and red roses that signify love. Orange roses mean love emerging from friendship." Spoken like a true florist; the Yamanaka inside of her began to show. "They're really beautiful, Sai." Ino gasped while subtly nudging Naruto at the side.

The guilt was quite evident on Naruto's features. Yeah she could be a jerk sometimes too. She guessed Sasuke's bastard ways had rubbed off on her through the years. "Thank you, Sai." She showed her sincere gratitude after seeing the error of her ways.

Sai genuinely smiled, appreciative of the fact that his feelings were recognized. He'd have to thank Ino for her help later.

Their momentary peace was shattered when a sudden roar erupted from the end of the Seniors' wing. There, at the maw of the corridor was ever surprisingly Rock Lee with an armful of chocolates, love letters, and flowers.

Naruto's eye twitched "Isn't he supposed to be at Universit-?"

"MISS SAKURA!" The young man screamed as he made a wild dash towards Haruno Sakura.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" The four teens screamed before sprinting to the safety of their classroom.

"The guy can't take a hint, huh?!" Sai, ironically, pointed out while they ran through the halls.

"Gotta hand it to him though. Kid's got determination." Ino laughed.

"Enough talking! More running!" Sakura ordered in a panicked fashion. She glanced behind her and immediately noticed how Lee was beginning to gain on them. This caused another rush of anxiety and adrenaline to rush over her. "GET OUTTA THE WAY!" She screamed down the hall which the rest of the student body responded to. Naruto snorted at the Moses and the Red Sea visual; she comically imagined Sakura sporting a beard and carrying a staff.

Sakura made quick work at opening the classroom door and slamming the door shut once her friends had gotten in. Hopefully the roaming security personnel would make quick work of the rampaging alumnus on campus.

The four teens breathlessly slid down to the floor. What a way to start Valentine's Day morning!

"So? What's up?" Kiba approached them then crouched to their level on the floor.

"Lee's on campus trying to win Sakura's heart. Again." Tenten enlightened them, fully aware that her friend would be taking the day off from University to express his unwavering feelings for Haruno Sakura. Honestly, Tenten was glad Lee had come to visit. She missed being around Lee and Neji. It sucked having to be a year behind them.

"Whoa... Respect though. Dude's got some heart." Kiba admired their older fried for his dedication.

Finally taking a hold of her breathing, Naruto glanced around the room and spotted Hinata fondly watching from the sidelines. The blonde inwardly snickered. "Speaking of having the heart, howzit going on your end, Kibbles?" Naruto swiftly shifted her eyes toward Hinata then focused her stare back to Kiba in order to get her point across to the Inuzuka teen. This action caused Kiba to turn fire truck red in the face.

"Shut up. M'working on it." The brunet mumbled while scratching the back of his head.

"Can you all please quiet down? I'm trying to catch a few more seconds of sleep before Kakashi gets in the room." Shikamaru bemoaned from where he sat next to a potato chip-munching Chouji.

"A few seconds? You're kidding, right? You'll probably get to sleep the whole period, Shikamaru. You forget that Kakashi-sensei is always ALWAYS late to class." Sakura stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt.

"It would appear however that today would be an exception." Shino stated from the sidelines. Their group of friends looked curiously towards the shades-wearing teen when suddenly Uchiha Sasuke's voice resounded in the room.

"Everyone get to your seats. I managed to find our wayward, lazy bum teacher." Sasuke growled with Kakashi in tow. The rest of the class chuckled at the way Sasuke was hauling Kakashi by the sleeve akin to a parent taking a reluctant child to timeout.

"Must you always be so boring, Sasuke." Kakashi groaned earning another set of giggling from his homeroom class. "It's a mystery how Naruto doesn't die from boredom with you." The silver-haired man jibed to which Sasuke visibly reddened at the face.

"Shut up, pervert." The Uchiha released a threatening growl that Kakashi was apparently used to. The hostile sound was therefore brushed off by the teacher. He then made motions for Sasuke, clearly wanting to impart something in private. Sasuke was somewhat reluctant to oblige but did so nonetheless.

"I meant it when I said you can be a bit boring, kid. It's Valentine's Day and I know you haven't given or done anything for Naruto today. I know Naruto's what we call low maintenance and all but still. I think she'd like being showed how much she means to you every once in a while." Kakashi ruffled the top of Sasuke's head and promptly sent the lad to his seat afterwards.

There was a scowl upon Sasuke's handsome face as he sat on his chosen seat just beside Naruto. His guardian was such a nosy pervert.

Naruto leaned towards Sasuke, obviously wanting to know what had her best friend looking like he was having constipation. "What did Kakashi-sensei say to you this time, jerk?" She asked mirthfully since she was mindful how Kakashi could effectively get under Sasuke's skin by using just a few words. Sasuke responded with a grunt which caused Naruto to chuckle and return to properly sitting in her seat.

Sasuke chanced a glance using his periphery towards Naruto and immediately noticed the set of fresh orange roses at the base of Naruto's chair. Tch. Wouldn't take a genius to find out where those had come from. The young man thus focused his eyes straight ahead yet remained mentally absent during their homeroom class. It was suddenly imperative for him to plan a spur-of-the-moment gesture for Naruto. And as the Uchiha in him would dictate, something mediocre would definitely never do.

The lad glanced at his watch. He had just about sixteen hours before the day ended. It would be a clutch move granted that he was expected at Amaterasu after football practice had let out; but he was confident that he could pull nothing short of a miracle off.

And what would Uchiha be if not a practiced miracle worker.

llllllllllllllllllll

Naruto lay bored on her bed, staring at her ceiling with her mind on autopilot. That day had been a rather interesting day. Kiba had finally managed to get a date with Hinata. Thank the gods! Everyone knew just how long Kiba had been dancing around Hinata like an awkward preteen for ages. It brought a great sense of relief to Naruto that Kiba manned up enough and asked Hinata out during lunch that day. Honestly, Naruto couldn't even understand why Kiba was so nervous. It was damn obvious that Hinata felt the same way; apparently, Kiba was the only one who didn't know about Hinata and his mutual attraction because the moment Hinata said yes, the poor boy nearly fainted. ("Boys didn't faint. They passed out." Kiba corrected after school)

And then there was Lee who, thanks to Tenten's assistance, was able to successfully give his gifts to Sakura during Twist's training. One other surprise was the fact that Neji had shown up just after sunset to visit Tenten. Now that certainly came as a shocker for everyone. It was always assumed that Tenten had been guyzoned by her two best pals since she was always considered to be one of the guys (in the same way Naruto was). But apparently Neji's move to university had shifted their friend dynamics to a more romantic-oriented relationship. All in all, the day had turned out to be quite the amusement. It was times like these that Naruto became more aware of the fact that they were all growing up. Their intra-group bonds were changing into a more adult-like fashion; Naruto found herself not really bothered by it at all. It was surprisingly... refreshing – the way they were growing up but not growing apart.

The sound of the doorbell ringing brought Naruto out of her mental recount of the day's events. She groaned upon realizing that she was once again alone in her home and so she would have to go downstairs to answer the door. Sometimes she wished Jiraiya would stay home so she could bum out for once.

The doorbell rang once more to which she finally resigned herself to her fate of going down the flight of stairs. "Yeah! I'm coming!" She politely let the person on the other side of the door know.

"That's what she said!" A voice familiar to her said from outside the confines of the house.

"You're such a dirty old man." She grumbled then opened the door to find Kakashi holding an elaborate and elegant arrangement of flowers in his hands.

Naruto eyed the flowers warily with an eyebrow raised. "Does Sasuke know you're going behind his back and trying to woo me into your perverted arms?" She joked while accepting the flower arrangement graciously.

"Shhh. We must keep our affair a secret." The mirth was evident in Kakashi's unique eyes while he playfully bantered with his student. The older gentleman made his way inside the house and immediately made himself comfortable. "They're from your lover boy. Oh and Sasuke said that you can have all his chocolates. He told me to bring them to you but I'm too lazy to do a million trips just to get all of them into your room."

Naruto nodded in understanding. It would appear that she'd be pigging out on chocolates in Sasuke's room then. "So what's with the flowers? He never used to give me anything." This was said as a statement of a fact and not out of bitterness. Sasuke and Naruto never were into cheesy lovey-dovey things; it just wasn't them.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders. "Who knows what goes on in that brilliant Uchiha brain of his. I'm just following orders, kid. Sasuke asked me to bring this to you and I did because I am such a nice guardian." The man flawlessly feigned innocence, not bothering to say that he might have had a hand in Sasuke's uncharacteristic show of affection and devotion.

"Riiiight." Naruto quietly laughed before moving to the kitchen in search of a nice vase.

"Kid, I'm heading back home. Sasuke's gonna be giving you a call in a few minutes so go get yourself all dolled up for that." There was a clear suggestiveness in Kakashi's voice that made Naruto almost gag.

"Get out of here, ya creep. Lock the front door for me will you?" Naruto requested from the kitchen. The sound of the front door clicking shut signalled her regained solitude in her home. The blonde calmly brought her gift up to her room all the while anxiously waiting for Sasuke's call. She was admittedly totally unused to this kind of thing. The flowers were placed onto her rarely used study table just beside her window. She didn't have Ino around so she didn't know what kinds of flowers were being presented to her and what each of those flowers meant; but overall, the harmony of the colors and the mixture of the varying types of plants were extremely pleasing to her eyes. The choice in the design was definitely of Sasuke's choosing judging by the tasteful way the ensemble was out together. Amazingly enough, although the flowers screamed Sasuke, it at the same time seemed to screamed Naruto. It was an elegant balance of both their personalities and that's what caught Naruto's attention. Sasuke better call her soon so she can properly thank the guy.

And speak of the devil, Naruto's phone blared to life with the name 'Bastard' on the screen.

"Hey? You're still downtown? It's like 11pm or something. You should head home soon." She greeted and immediately assumed that Sasuke was still working.

"Yeah. I'm heading out soon. Just have to organize my last few files then I'm out. Did the creeper give you the stuff?" Sasuke said on the other end of the line. He sat down on his office chair and pulled out an oddly shaped case from underneath his desk.

"Mhmm. Didn't bring the chocolates though. Said he was too lazy to do trips in and out of the house." The blonde plopped down onto the bed and stretched out.

"What a lazy son of a bitch. He had one job." Sasuke laughed, not really all that mad at Kakashi. The eighteen-year-old teen expected as much from his keeper anyway.

"Don't tell me you're honestly surprised? You've known the guy all your life. I'm sure you were expecting he wouldn't completely...deliver." Naruto snorted at her own joke. If Kakashi had heard her, the man would totally find offense to the jibe. No one joked about Kakashi's sexual capabilities and lived to make more.

"I see someone likes to live dangerously." The older teen replied before putting Naruto on speaker and placing his phone down on the desk. The sound of the cell phone being placed onto a flat surface quickly caught Naruto's ears.

"Dude? Am I on speaker phone? What's going on?" Naruto sat up and tilted her head curiously.

Sasuke sat with a slightly relaxed posture and expertly placed his violin underneath his chin. "I haven't played in a while so I could be a little rusty. But then again, I'm perfect so just shut up and listen."

"Sasu-?" Naruto stopped mid-query when the sound of Sasuke's violin reached her ears and immediately recognized the song he was playing. It was the song from Final Fantasy VIII. It was a song she'd pestered Sasuke to learn when they were a little younger because she thought the melody was beautiful and was stuck in her head for the longest time. Despite all her efforts to harass Sasuke to learn and play the song for her, he never did. It was too much of a hassle, Sasuke had said time and time again, so Naruto gave up and let it go.

And now here they were.

Admittedly, this had always been one of her favourite songs. Beside the fact that it brought her a sense of nostalgia, the melody was just utterly beautiful. As Sasuke continued to play flawlessly, Naruto smiled whilst in the privacy of her room, closed her eyes and listened. Sasuke played expertly, not once missing a note and even putting his own Uchiha flare to the melody. All his transitions were smooth and pleasing to the ears. Sasuke knew exactly where to intensify the melody and when to tone down to emphasize the gentler parts of the song. He knew when to prolong a particular sound in order to maximize the chills the piece could elicit from any listening ear. The young woman could just imagine how Sasuke looked like while performing the piece and she had to catch her breath. In all her years of hearing Sasuke play, never once did it have this effect on her. The song was for her and this was the first time she'd heard Sasuke play with such a level of ardour. God, Sasuke was outstanding. It was too bad that she couldn't actually see him but that was of little concern. For the next three minutes or so, Naruto remained silent just simply basking and enjoying one of the priceless gifts Sasuke could ever give her. And not long after, the song had reached its last note. It was a shame that something so beautiful had to have an end.

"Wow..." For what else could Naruto say to such an eloquent display of heart. What else could you say when you were left utterly speechless.

"Heh. So that's why I called you actually. I wanted to play for you in your room but I'd guessed as much that I wouldn't be finished here within the day. So—Uh. Happy Valentine's day?" Sasuke greeted with uncharacteristic awkwardness.

Naruto laughed at the weirdness of hearing Sasuke's voice waver somewhat. "Crap. Now I feel bad that all I got for you today was that extra vegetable sandwich that you said you didn't want but clearly wanted." The blonde plopped down once again into her bed with a bright smile still plastered onto her features.

"Just say that we won't be eating at Ichiraku's for a month and I'll call it even." The young man smirked while gently placing his valuable instrument on his desk.

"Hah! In your dreams." Naruto stuck her tongue out, pretending that Sasuke could see her show of rebellion. "So you finally learned that song, eh?"

"Honestly, I've always known how to play it. I learned the song when you asked me to but then I didn't really feel like playing outside of what's necessary ever since my parents." Sasuke quietly admitted. Suddenly, it all made sense to Naruto. Sasuke never played the instrument other than for his recitals and even then he practiced minimally for those events. Because Mikoto was the one who pushed Sasuke into playing the violin and loved listening to him play songs in their free time.

"It was great, Sasuke. I loved it. Thank you." Naruto solemnly thanked. The fact that Sasuke had played for her even after admitting to something like that had just about made her fall a little bit deeper in love with her best friend. She didn't know that was even possible.

The young Uchiha gave small smile. "Glad you did."

"Any chance you'll play for me that song from Chrono Cross or that one from Final Fantasy X? Or did you learn those already too, show-off?" Naruto said to get the light mood back into their conversation.

Sasuke snorted. "Don't push it, idiot."

Just before they could talk a bit more, Sasuke heard his name being called by his mentor. That was undoubtedly his cue to end their short conversation on the phone. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. You better wash my jacket. Don't think I didn't see you spilling a bit of iced tea on it."

"Yeah yeah, grouch. I'll clean your precious jacket." Naruto gave him the finger at her end of the line. "Bye then. Love you."

"Alright. Bye." Sasuke tersely ended the call when the silhouette of his mentor could be seen from the other side of the frosted glass doors to his small office space.

Orochimaru entered the office and quickly zeroed in on the instrument on Sasuke's desk. "I've been asking for you for the past fifteen minutes hoping for your assistance and here you are taking a damn violin break? Get your shit together, Sasuke. How the hell do you expect to get ahead in this business if you're always wasting our precious time?" The older man harshly scolded and walked out.

Sasuke sighed out loud. What a definite mood killer his mentor turned out to be. His cell phone then pinged alerting him that a text had been sent his way.

In the few seconds we stopped talking I've thoroughly thought about it and have decided that I agree to your terms. No Ichiraku's for a month! Maybe... I'll try. I'll probably only last a week tops but it's the effort that counts, yeah? Haha! See you tomorrow!

Sasuke smirked at Naruto's text. She always did have a way with making him feel better. He quickly packed up his things. He decided to call it a day. Whatever Orochimaru needed could possibly wait. Besides, Sasuke had finished all his tasks for the day anyway.

The young Uchiha decided that waiting until tomorrow to see Naruto was too much of a feat by this point.