Tsubame: I'm so glad that some people still like this fic! Here is another chapter of "Summer School." Forgive me please! I had an overdose on Detective Conan, so I couldn't help it! Hehehe…I hope you enjoy the chapter though! Hone your detective skills with this chapter…I wanted to make my story different from other fics…I hope with this chapter, it worked…

May I ask something? The number of my reviews is going down. Am I doing something wrong? Has this fic gone down? I'm just wondering. TT

This chapter is dedicated to Itchinhi. Thank you for being my friend…that is the most beautiful gift of all…

I would also like to thank: animelover21065, Galastria57, Falling in my own Darkness, white-rosekiss, Sanguine Dreams, Monomaniacal, sacredairbga7, blackphoenix, lynah2005, animegirl9000, Sasuke'sgrl13, els1324, animemistress419, CrAzY-SiLLy-Me, saki-kun, otakualways, Freedome Fighter, Natsuhiboshi, Akkirako Chikuro, Trunksmybaby, Blizzie-chan, 4ever2belove, Heartless Ghost, SweetAssassin, BWOLFY, Kawaii-Chibi-Naruto andPaprika012345…:)

Disclaimer: I have no ownership over Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I don't own any of its characters either.

"Summer School"

By Tsubame Ongaku

Chapter 7: Uchiha Itachi

Uchiha Itachi was an observer. He liked to think that he knew anything about everything. He was intrigued when he found out that his little brother had a new toy. What made this girl so special? He wanted to know. He has been observing her for three days and he hadn't gathered much data on her.

Haruno Sakura seemed like any other girl to him. Her parents were overseas for work, she lives with Tsunade-sensei, she hung around with normal people like Hyuuga Hinata, Yamanaka Ino and Tenten. Miss Sakura didn't stand out unless she fought in battle, then she was a tiger.

"Is that all you can tell me about her?" Itachi drawled smoothly as he spoke to a frightened lower freshman. He had his arms crossed and he was frowning. He was both intimidating and a delicious to look at. His long hair arranged in a ponytail, dressed in jeans, white shirt and leather jacket; his backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Yes, sir," came the reply. That is all I can find out from looking through her school records. "So far, we know that her slate is clean as a whistle." The poor victim trembled. "I'm the class secretary! I have to stop doing this, Itachi-sama! It is wrong. My classmates trust me!"

Itachi smirked. "You will lose more than your job next time if you don't do what I say."

The boy trembled and nodded.

"Now, get out of my sight!" He yelled. The boy never thought twice, before Itachi knew it, the boy was running for his life as fast as he could towards the direction of the exit. He was gone before Itachi could even blink.

"Useless fool," he mumbled before finally going to his next class. As Kurenai-sensei's assistant, he was supposed to help her setup for her class that afternoon. Itachi didn't know why he was even doing this. He didn't even need to work. He was loaded.

He suddenly yawned, and then he remembered that he was bored. His mind returned to the memory of the pink-haired girl. She proved to be interesting. He hoped that she wouldn't disappoint him. He didn't like it when he was disappointed.

Sakura angrily slammed the door of her locker shut. "The nerve of him!" she thought violently. "Who does he think he is!" Uchiha Sasuke was the only thing in this school that kept her from truly enjoying herself in the institute.

She was enjoying getting know her classmates. She was busy of course with all the activities she planned to do. The sudden load that Kakashi-sensei dropped on her lap was going to mess up her schedule a bit. She was going to have to forget about joining the cheerleading squad for a while and the Science Club. She wasn't very sorry about the Science Club though. She never really wanted to join. It was only because Tsunade-sense really wanted her to join.

She wasn't sorry about Cheerleading too. She wasn't crazy about the idea of jumping around and cheering for a team she was not familiar with and people she didn't even know.

The sports fest was keeping her very busy, she realized that and even though she had no responsibility for this school she was going to have to do what Kakashi-sensei asked. She'd spent the whole month training with Sasuke and Naruto and she was going nowhere with Sasuke. He annoyed her and distracted her from doing the exercises.

Kakashi-sensei didn't look angry but with his masked face you couldn't really tell. It was obvious though that the lack of teamwork bothered him. He had so much to work with and had such little time. Sakura and Naruto were working together pretty well. The real challenge was Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura declared that he could never work with such an egotistic, barbaric, conceited pretty boy and Sasuke said that he couldn't work with Sakura…period.

The first day of the sports fest starts tomorrow and Sakura felt stressed out. She had another argument with Sasuke again. They were arguing about who was going to be the first to fight Martial Arts challenge. Usually every year, the Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata took care of it but they were going to be busy with the National Karate competition to compete in the sports fest. This year, they're just going to have to watch the festivities.

Sakura wanted to go first but Sasuke wanted to go first. Sasuke didn't look like he cared though. Sakura concluded that he was just arguing with her to annoy her.

"Curse, that Uchiha! I hope that he drops dead!"

"Which Uchiha do you mean, little girl?"

Her eyes widen as she turned around. Her cheeks turned to a bright red when she saw that it was Uchiha Itachi. She cursed herself. Why didn't she realize that she had said that out loud? Itachi was looking at her with a very bored expression and seemed to be waiting for her reply. "Itachi-san! Sumimasen! I didn't know that you were back there." she bowed respectfully.

Itachi didn't say anything for a while but then shrugged. "You just walked pass me and suddenly curse an Uchiha. It could mean me, you know. What have I done to you?"

She began shaking her head and waving her arms in front of her. "Itachi-san, you got it all wrong! I didn't mean you. I mean it was…it was…"

"…my brother." He finished for her. His face was unreadable and betrayed no emotion. A faint pink blush betrayed Sakura's though. Itachi smirked. "You don't need to hide it, little girl. I know…" He walked towards her, not breaking eye contact.

"Ummm…I'm really sorry. I really---" she wasn't able to finish what she wanted to say.

Itachi took her face in his hand and stared at her face for moment, shocking Sakura. Her heart raced faster and faster as his face came closer and closer to her. She froze, unable to move from the shock. She thought for sure that he was going to kiss her.

But then suddenly pulled away. "What is it about you?" he murmured. "You're nothing special at all…"

Sakura's eyes changed from shocked to outrage in a second. "Nothing special? What makes you so special the, jerk?"

He shrugged. "I'm an Uchiha…" Then he stepped back and walked pass her, not looking back.

Sakura stared angrily at the Uchiha's back. "Are all Uchihas such morons?" she thought.

Itachi knew without turning that the girl was glaring at him. She was drilling holes through his back with her eyes. He didn't care. This was only the beginning of his observation…

Weeks had past, it was the week of the Sports fest. Sasuke glanced at his watch for the tenth time for the last five minutes. Sakura was supposed to arrive minutes ago. Was she having difficulty in her challenge? Did the match go on overtime?

"She's fine, Uchiha," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "I swear. You worry too much." He didn't need to look at his watch. She was only late for five minutes. Something must be keeping her, that's all.

Sasuke wasn't too convinced. The girl was tardy and tardiness was unacceptable. "Isn't Hyuuga Hinata coming?" Sasuke asked Naruto, out of the blue. "Where is she?"

Naruto shrugged, and began looking around. "I heard from that Baka-cousin of hers that they're going to be late." It was his turn to keep looking at his watch. "They have to pick somebody up."

Sasuke spotted Hinata's familiar long, long hair some distance away from them. It looked like she was headed towards the stage. "Oi, Naruto. Isn't that her over there?" He pointed to her. "What is she doing without her 'shadow'?" By 'shadow,' meaning Hyuuga Neji of course.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't know. It's strange. Why is she heading for the stage? I'll go ask. " He began running towards her. "Hinata-chan! Oi, Hinata-chan!" The person did not stop but just kept walking away.

Being a fast runner, Naruto finally caught up. "Hinata-chan? Why didn't you stop?" Naruto whined. "I've been calling you…"

"Excuse me? Do I know you?" came the reply.

Naruto saw a closer look at the long- haired woman and realized that this was certainly NOT Hyuuga Hinata. "I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, blushing furiously at his mistake. "I thought you were someone else." From behind, it was only natural to mistake her for Hinata. They had the same length and color of hair but that was about it. Up front, the other woman had pouty lips and arrogant eyes. Her very aura screamed spoiled.

While Naruto was busy mumbling to himself about embarrassing himself yet again, the woman was looking at him up and down. She smiled, it seemed like she liked what she saw. "That's fine." She was flirting openly. "My name is Torii. What is yours?"

"I'm sorry," the dense Naruto apologized. Why he didn't notice that it was an open flirtation is beyond me. "I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto."

"Why don't you make it up to me by asking me out to dinner after the festivities," she purred, batting her eyelashes.

He was about to agree, when he suddenly spotted the two long- haired and pearly-eyed cousins and another girl with dark green hair walking towards the agreed meeting spot under the banner, "Sports fest". For some reason Sasuke disappeared but he'll think about that later. Most likely his friend was looking for Sakura-chan. Naruto answered the flirting girl, "I'm sorry but I'm going to be with someone else."

Naruto walked towards the three. The woman frowned and gave a, "hmmph…men are sometimes so idiotic."

"Would you just stop being such a flirt, Torii?" the lovely woman just behind her scolded. "You have to concentrate on tonight's performance."

The woman named Torii laughed. "Don't worry, Suzuki. I have this gig in the bag with this song." This woman was Uta Torii. She was a very popular singer from Cloud High. She was the type of girl that was in dire need of an attitude adjustment. Ahe was haughty, overconfident and wicked. She was going to be a musical guest for that night's performance.

Suzuki Aya, Torii's manager of two years. She was barely a year older than Torii and Torii's "best friend." She was Torii's shadow and was the type of girl that didn't stand out. She wore long skirts and long- sleeved blouses, glasses and braces. How she became Torii's friend puzzled most people. Aya bit her lip, nervously. "Torii-chan, are you sure you want to go on with this? It is wrong…"

"Will you just chill?" Torii rolled her eyes, visibly annoyed. "What could happen?"

"But don't you think…"

"Leave the thinking to those who actually think, Suzuki," The singer snapped. "Do you want me to fire you?" This silenced any more protests from Aya.

"That is such a dangerous threat." An arm suddenly went around Torii's shoulders. "But I say you're only full of hot air."

She shrugged the arm off her shoulders. "What makes you say that exactly, Hanabishi?" she demanded.

Hanabishi Makoto, Torii's ex-boyfriend, blonde, blue-eyed and very handsome. It was a known fact that she had a weakness for blondes. She broke up with him only a few days ago, after cheating on him for one of her back-up singers. He grinned. "Because you need her…"

Torii snorted. "I have no intention of listening to you," she laughed, menacingly. "You're just jealous. Get over it. We're over."

She walked away, he watched her leave with an angry look on his handsome face.

Sakura ran all the way to the agreed meeting place, praying that they didn't decide to leave her. She was late because she ran into Tsunade-sensei and she gave her about a dozen books for her to read about medicine. She had to drop them off at her locker before meeting them.

She was in time to overhear the conversation between the three teens. She overheard their names. There were two girls named, Torii and Suzuki and a boy named, Hanabishi. Sakura wasn't usually nosy but there was something about the three that spelled Trouble with a capital T.

"You heard them too, huh?"

She turned and was surprised to find Sasuke looking at those people with the same curious look too. She shrugged and pretended to be indifferent.

"They're talking about this girl Torii," he said. "She seems like the type of girl that just invites trouble." He took her hand and dragged her away. "Let's go. Everybody's waiting."

She tried pulling her hand from his grasp but his grip was vise. "Would you mind letting go of me?" she snapped. "What are you doing here anyway?"

He stopped but did not turn to look at her. "I came looking for you," he replied. "I was worried about you…"

Sakura was taken aback. He was worried about her? He was really worried about her? She could not help but think it was sweet of him to be worried about her. No boy had ever done that for her before. But worrying about her was not enough for her to forgive him though.

When they arrived, only Naruto was there. Neji, Hinata and their cousin already went inside to save them some seats. As a treat for and to promote inter-school ties, they arranged for musical performances for each school. Then they decided to turn it into a contest. The song must be original and no revivals. It was to make it a bit more challenging and to discover good musical talents.

They were introduced to the Hyuuga's cousin, Hyuuga Yukino. She was a quiet girl, even quieter than Hinata. At least Hinata talked more now. She had the lovely Hyuuga eyes but had shoulder-length hair of dark green.

For Konoha High, representative is surprisingly, Nara Shikamaru. When he was chosen, there was uproar at first. That lazy guy can sing? But they haven't heard him rap. His entry was called the "Naruto Ondo." Naruto had helped Shikamaru make it and it was a hit. It mentioned the whole gang and more. It was really something original…

The next was Yakushi Kabuto from Sound High. He sent hearts and temperatures rising and with his song, "Setsunakutemo Zutto."

The next who sang was from Cloud High. Naruto's eyes bulged. "I know that girl!" he told the group. Sasuke didn't say anything because he did too. It was Uta Torii. The girl from before…she was now on stage and dressed in a very flashy outfit of silver.

"Good Afternoon, everybody!" she screamed into the mic. "I'm Torii from Cloud High and this is my song… Poisoned Lady."

It was a rock song that had gotten everybody dancing. It turned out that Torii was a popular favorite and was some people said that she'd win. She was flashy…no other world could describe her. She kept on doing complicated moves, swaying her hips and flipping her hair. Beautiful, oozed with confidence and talented, that was Uta Torii.

The song was about a good lady turned bad. Poisoned by the evil of the world like jealousy, deceit and temptation.

Even Sasuke had to admit that she wasn't bad. He turned to Hinata to ask her how it was so far but Hinata was not paying attention. She was too busy staring with a shocked look on her face. Slowly the color from her face drained.

"Are you okay, Hinata?" He asked her. "You look like you just saw a ghost."

She shook her head and gave him a nervous smile. "I---I---I'm fine," she whispered. "I'm just…" she didn't finish her reply. Instead she stared at the sides of a stagr. It was as if she was looking for someone.

Sasuke observed her…observed her carefully. He looked over to the pink haired girl a few meters away. He frowned. Sakura was observing the young heiress's actions too. There was definitely something wrong.

The song continued and the fans were jumping up and down and cheering for the young singer. Until finally, she gave one last twirl and ended the song…

As the people watched and cheered that night, as Torii sang that song of the poisoned lady, nobody could have foreseen that this would be young Torii's last song. Not even the murderer himself…

As the applause died down, Torii walked to the sides of the stage and threw a smug look at the next performer. The girl looked at Torii and had a blank look on her face. The girl was pretty but not striking. Shoulder-length brown hair and very deep black eyes, the girl looks kind of average.

Sasuke did not expect much from the girl. He borrowed a program from the person in front of him and searched for the performer's name. "Ongaku Tsubasa – Sora High"

"She's a newbie from Sora," Hinata whispered. "She's a very good friend of mine."

Sasuke never forgot her strange behavior earlier but thought that maybe it would be better if he asked the questions later. "Is she any good?"

"See for yourself."

Suddenly, the girl's blank look transformed into a dazzling smile and waved to the crowd. "Is everybody having a good time?" she shouted, gaily. The crowd responded with cheer of their own. She giggled and joined the cheer. "Then, listen to my song, How could you?"

"How could you?" had turned out to be a pop song. It was a song about betrayal and how dangerous it was now to trust anyone in this world. The song was lively and bouncy but the lyrics were written in anger Sasuke observed. Whoever wrote it was angry at that time.

Tsubasa was not a bad dancer either and did her own twirls and spins as she laughed and sang. As Sasuke watched, he couldn't help but get the feeling of déjà vu. Her moves were somehow familiar. He shrugged it off. It was probably just his imagination.

She gave a spin and with one hand raised to the sky, she sang the last line…

"…Because only fools believe your true lies…"

The crowd jumped up and down and cheered, screaming her name and throwing flowers. She gave one last bow to the audience and exited the stage. The host reappeared on stage and announced that the winners would be announced later that evening.

For the first time, Hinata looked excited about something. She was smiling and held Naruto 's hand firmly. "Come on, we have to go meet her. Tsubasa-chan did well tonight."

"Hinata-chan, wouldn't you like it better, if we ate first?" Yukino asked. "There are a lot of interesting stored to choose from."

Hinata shook her head. "No thank you, Yukino-chan. I'm not that hungry yet anyway." She looked diverted her attention back to the others. Her look and smile begging them, pleading them to go with her. "Please. It won't take long."

Naruto smiled, boyishly and nodded. "Sure, I want to meet this singer. She did great. But I think that that other song was a tad little better though." Hinata froze and smiled sadly now but said nothing just continued to go towards the singer, who was currently being congratulated by her admirers.

"That was incredible," one squealed. "I can't believe you really wrote that song."

Tsubasa laughed. "Yes, that song was so last minute. I only wrote it earlier this afternoon," she shrugged. "I'm just glad it didn't come out a disaster."

"Why?" another asked. "I heard that there was a song that you've been working on for the whole week."

"It didn't come out like I expected," she replied. She saw them coming towards her. "Excuse me, I have to go speak to a friend now. Thank you all very much."

Sasuke observed the two girls. They hugged each other like friends who had not seen each other for decades.

"Hinata-chan, I'm so glad you're here!" Tsubasa was jumping up and down, while hugging Hinata. "I haven't seen you in a long time!"

"I'm glad to see you too, Tsubasa-chan." She was getting uncomfortable with Tsubasa's hug and tried to keep up with her bouncy mood. "By the way…" Hinata tried to get out of her tight hug. "These are my friends. Uzumaki Naruto, my best friend's boyfriend." She blushed while saying this. "Haruno Sakura-chan, my classmate. Uchiha Sasuke, he's one of my classmates too and my two cousins. These are Neji-kun and Yukino-chan."

Tsubasa bowed respectfully. "Hello, nice to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you too," Sakura replied. "That song was great!"

"Thanks."

"But…I was just wondering, Tsubasa-chan." Hinata was fiddling her hair nervously again. "I never heard that song on that CD you sent me of your new tracks. Was that new?"

She nodded. "Very new. I just made it this afternoon and I had five hours to get it ready."

"But what happened to---" before Hinata could finish, Tsubasa covered her mouth to quiet her.

"Shhh…" was all she said. As if she understood, Hinata nodded and Tsubasa removed her hands. There was no mistaking the strange behaviors now.

"Wow, is that always how you write?" Sakura asked, bring them out of the awkward atmosphere.

"Not really. I just write when the inspiration strikes me," She winked to them. "And believe me an inspiration really struck me earlier."

"Ha! But will it really be enough for you to win?" a voice scoffed.

Tsubasa frowned. She knew that voice anywhere. "Torii, what can I do for you?"

Torii flipped her hair and folded her arms. "Do you think you'll win with that pathetic excuse of a song?" she snortred. "Please don't make me laugh."

"We'll just see when we get the results, huh?" Tsubasa replied, with as much acid as she could. "You have not won yet."

"Hmmph, I will win." There was finality in her answer. "MY song rocked."

Tsubasa looked like she was about to attack but instead she took a deep breath and smiled. "Yes, I know that song rocked." She reached out for the popcorn on the snack table offered to the performers. "Do you want one?" she asked, while taking a handful herself.

Torii took a handful and popped them into her mouth. "It must hurt to know that you're about to lose."

"Don't count your chickens before they hatch, Torii."

Then something happened. Torii's eyes became as wide as saucers and held her throat as if something was choking her. "What is happening to m---" she choked but wasn't able to finish. Suddenly, Uta Torii, star singer of Cloud High fell to the floor…

…dead…

"Have you heard?" one student whispered to her friend. "I heard that somebody murdered that singer, Uta Torii."

"Are you kidding me?" the companion gasped. She was always eager to hear the latest gossips and gossip about one of the most popular performers in the show was juicy. "Who did it?"

The first girl shrugged. "They still don't know but so far they had three suspects." She counted down, "First, the manager, Suzuki Aya. Torii had threatened to fire her and they had a little argument about her performance of something. Then comes her ex-boyfriend, Hanabishi Makoto. She broke up with him for her back-up singer just last week and he's the possessive type."

"I bet he did it!" The second girl declared, flipping her hair. "Jealous ex-boyfriends is like so obvious…"

The first shook her head. "We can't be sure. I heard that that other singer is the prime suspect."

"Why?"

Before she replied, the girl looked around to see if anyone was listening. "I heard she was the one who gave Torii the popcorn, which was said to have poison." She suddenly sighed. "But don't worry. Sasuke-kun is on the case! He'll catch the crook in no time."

"How about the pink-haired girly-girl, who's always around him?" The second girl scoffed.

The answer was a shrug then, "I heard she was doing her own investigation but she can't compete with Sasuke-kun. He'll solve the case first. I just know it!"

From a safe distance hidden behind some lockers, Itachi watched the two lovestruck girls with disgust. He usually got his information this way. Girls like them were always too busy spreading the word to look around them.

So, the two had found themselves a challenge. Interesting…

His brother Sasuke was logic and critical thinking. With his photographic memory, he can piece two and two together. He'd solve cases before, though they were not for murder. Some cases of plagiarism, theft and vandalism. This was a first to him. Tsunade-sensei gave him permission to begin investigating immediately.

Haruno Sakura, Itachi had great confidence in her. Though he would never admit it. She would actually be stiff competition for his little brother. There had to be more to Haruno than that if Tsunade-sensei was allowing her to join the investigation.

It would be interesting to see…who wins…

Notes:

Ongaku Tsubasa is not me…I am not trying to make myself seem Mary Sue. It is just that the names of Torii and Tsubasa had something to do with birds and music, so I lent my last name to this character. :P

Reasons why these are the representatives? Mourikubo and Kanna Nobutoshi are a two of my fave singers.

Sora means, "Sky" but I didn't want to name it Sky High. shivers that is scary...Sora sounds better...

Disclaimer for songs: I do not own Naruto Ondo and Setsunakutemo Zutto. I just needed them for this chapter… Test your skills and tell me your answers. Who killed the superstar?