Woot woot! Another update cause I'm cool like that. Have you guys watched Iron Man 2 yet? That was pretty cool but not the best movie in the world. Although, it does entertain people. I was so into the fighting scenes that I don't know it was just awesome. I totally recommend it for everyone. It's confusing at first though, because I totally forgot what happened in the first movie. And I still can't remember. DUDE, his house is so freaking awesome.

Uhm. I just noticed that I have wrote the ^ like... when that movie came out. Now I feel just stupid for not updating. I'm terribly sorry and here I am right now. I haven't realized how behind I've been up until the point that I got super sick. That sucks. I know. Whatever. Anyway I wanted to delete the top portion but decided to show you how late I am. I did say I was gonna go on a little vacation and all. I just don't have anymore... MOTIVATION. But I'm trying... so bare with me. Sorry for the mistakes and all of that.

DISCLAIMERS: I don't own Naruto, or any of the songs mentioned in this story.

My fingers tested the stings as I played a few chords. I sighed, fuck my life. I thought sadly, here I was at Sasuke's stupid practice because I was forced here. Not that I minded or anything but the only thing I was worrying about was if Shikamaru or Naruto would bring up last Saturday's event, and I surely hope they won't. Shikamaru and Neji were discussing some lyrics or chords in the corner of the practice room as Naruto and Sasuke bickered at each other angrily. No one ever told me what song we were doing. At first I believed that this band - which I realized was called, 'Death by Dawn' thanks to Naruto. - was just a cover band they made their own songs and wrote lyrics for other bands.

As my mother said, they were really dedicated. What I also learned? That Sasuke also had a kind heart. Practicing with them made me want to do better. Even with Shikamaru's and Naruto's occasional praises toward my playing I knew that I could do better. But with Tsunade stopping by every hour or so I find myself messing up not to mention Karin's glare. That's why I was standing here, getting some fresh air to clear my mind. I swiftly turned when I felt a hand on my shoulder surprised to find that it was Sasuke. He softened up on me a bit and I noticed, he didn't blame me for this mess. Sasuke blamed my bad playing and how I refused to listen to higher authority. When he mentioned the latter I laughed pretty loudly while he smirked at me, "What's wrong now?"

"This is the first practice and you're already concerned about me.." I teased when he removed his hand from my shoulder. He smirked amused by my actions and when I realized that he wasn't going to say anything I looked up to the sky that had a few clouds here and there, "Do you ever wonder what a cloud feels like? If it ever was like cotton candy?"

He raised an eyebrow and I laughed at his expression once again, "You're weird you know." My shoulders shrugged and he continued, "The reason I'm not letting you go on Thursday is that we have a gig and you need to learn as much as you can.." I froze.

"When is it?"

"Two weeks from now." he answered simply. Before I could even react a high pitch squeaky voice started calling Sasuke's name. When I realized that I hadn't moved an inch I shook my head to clear it out of my head. Now I had to work twice as hard. Joy. Karin wrapped her arms around Sasuke's torso as I looked at her kindly which she didn't return instead she glared at me coldly, "Sasuke-kun! Naruto is being mean to me again!"

"Don't mind them, Karin." said Sasuke lowly in his voice it held love and patience. I smiled at their lovey-dovey state, Sasuke was so sweet to her and I can't help but feel a bit jealous. No one held me like that, hell no one cared for me that much. Never. When Karin started pecking on Sasuke's pale neck I took that cue to leave.

"I'm going to go.." I whispered then scurried off inside the building. I didn't want to interrupt them anyway - I know I wouldn't. Once Naruto and Shikamaru saw me the smiled while Neji nodded, "Are we going to practice or what?" I smirked then went to grab the guitar. Glad to be doing the one thing that relieved stress for me.

"We're missing a drummer, smart one." Neji muttered. Realizing my mistake I laughed it off nervously as we waited.

Two days passed and I was actually starting to like playing with Death by Dawn. Sasuke and myself fell into a routine, every time we had practice he would call and pick me up which was pretty fun since in the car I would sing my heart out while he complained that my voice was terrible and I should stick to playing an instrument. My parents realized a change in me, and so did my friends. Ino and Tenten and the rest of them realized that I was getting a social life aside from studying hard. They also pointed out that I was trying to look good everyday which was true but they thought of a entirely different reason. They said that I was trying to make Sasuke regret refusing me to the prom. Which wasn't really true. Oh well, what could you do right? Mother and Father are slowly letting me go, not minding that I was going out late and coming home the next morning time to time. They liked Sasuke. Which surprised me.

School was boring, there was nothing there for me anymore. It was the same teachers over again and the same routine. During lunch I decided to buy just a bottle of Gatorade which was refreshing. I wasn't really hungry anyway. Hinata then took a bite of her pizza, chewed it slowly then opened her mouth to speak, "Are you going to go to the game?"

Finally, I thought they were going to ask that question once I stepped foot into the school. I shook my head sadly, "I can't. I have practice that day."

"Again? You practice like every day! Totally not cool." commented Ino stabbing her salad angirly.

"I know. But we have this gig soon and they want me to learn as much songs as I can. I already learn like three but they want to play ten. Which is insane!" I frowned then continued downing the rest of the red liquid. Tenten chewed on her burrito then swallowed and mischievously smiled, "What's on your mind, Ten?"

"Okay, since you can't hang with us... why don't we hang with you? That way we get to see you preform. Which is a plus because we get to meet your totally hot boyfriend you keep on bragging about." My heart started to beat faster as I thought of what was happening. I saw no reason to say no. If I let them go, then they would meet Sasuke and there was no doubt that Karin would be there. I thought hard for a way out of this.

Ino nodded eagerly, "Why not?"

I gulped but then nodded. Let's face it, I was dead meat and I knew it. No escape, "Sure. I mean you'll have to get in line like the rest of the people and all but I'm sure you could handle it." There was no turning back now, I'll have to make it seem that Sasuke and I are really are together, even with Karin in the room.

"Sure thing! But we'll for sure head in early to wish you and your boyfriend luck. I'll even see Shikamaru so that's a plus!" Ino smiled and squealed as she clapped her hands. Her eyes instantly shone as she day dreamed about her boyfriend, "How romantic. It's kind of like a double date! I love it!" Yeah sure, with one real couple and one fake couple where the 'boyfriend' already has a girlfriend who is a total slut-fucker-bitch. Is that even a word? Well, I just made it a word.

"What's the band's name anyway? Is it something like... Strawberry Chunks..? Oh! Or maybe something dark and sexy like the Sexy Devils. Yep. I seriously would want to date a guy whose in a band. I find that so hot you two are so lucky!" Tenten frowned twirling her fork before stabbing a lettuce with it. Poor lettuce. What did that poor piece of leaf do to TenTen? I watched as she stuffed it into her mouth.

The image of Neji came into mind and I smirked, "The band is Death by Dawn. And there is this one guy that you would probably look cute with. His name is Neji... I believe that he is single and ready to mingle!" I wiggled my eyebrows for more emphasis.

"I don't even know him..." muttered Tenten. Although I could obviously see that she was actually debating it!

I winked, "But you could get to know him. It'll be a blind date!" I laughed as she nearly choked on her iced tea. Tenten was always the healthy one in the group. Before she could even protest I changed the subject. "Anyway. Since you all will be there I think I'll have to buy a new outfit. I don't wanna get criticized by you guys anyway. I'm thinking something that sparkles but it wouldn't really fit the name, ya know?"

Ino then had a thoughtful look on her face, "Hmm. Good point. Have you tried something gold? I think that will help bring out your hair more. Something gold with a few sequences here and there and some black leggings. Then wear a leather jacket on top. Viola! Your outfit, you're welcome by the way."

"Wow! Thank you Ino!" I exclaimed I had most of the things I needed but I needed to go out to the mall so I could buy myself a shirt, "What would I do without you?"

"Be alone.. have no date for the prom... not have a best friend... you wouldn't have an outfit... hmm... and you wouldn't be the gorgeous! If I missed anything please tell me." the blond winked and laughed as everyone called her conceited. Although, it was something the rest were grateful for. The fact that they had all the elements in their tomb-boy, that one shy girl, fashion diva, and the friendly chick with the weird hair. We were all very different but we're the closest of the close, "So do you wanna go out today and buy your outfit or... when?"

I thought about it, "How bout... After practice?"

Hinata then smiled and nodded the sweet girl she truly is, "What time will that be?"

"Around... Uh.. Hold on. You know what? I don't really know, it varies. I'll call Sasuke right now.."I realized my mistake when I saw all my friend's eyes shine with curiosity and excitement. They haven't heard his voice yet, and I just said that I was gonna call him. I prayed to the lord mentally as I slowly pulled out my phone and then I smiled brightly, "Oh crud! I just remembered that he's doing this meeting for the band... darn."

The blond was the first one who pulled onto my phone, "So what? Let go of the phone, I'm gonna call him."

"NO!" I screamed out earning myself some weird looks I then laughed nervously, "You see... It's very important. If I screw this up he'll be sure to dump me. I don't want that to happen. Do you guys understand?" Thankfully they nodded and we all fell back into eating the remaining of our lunch. Most was pretty quiet but I decided to strike up a conversation, "Did ya'll hear the rumor of that youngin' Ami?"

Hinata looked at me weirdly, "Why are you talking like a hill billy?"

I laughed and winked, "By whatever do ya'll mean? I'm as good as a possum on possum day!"

Tenten was the one who punched my arm and I winced, "Shut up. I'm sick of your ugly Miley Cyrus imitations." Decided to make my day a bit more fun I stood up on the table and sung the only Hannah Montana song I know. The Best Of Both Worlds. I laughed my ass off while I was doing it because none of us liked her. No offense for the people who do it's just like... damn. She's a stupid slut! Whore! Whatever. I rocked out to make my friends laugh while making a fool of myself. I enjoyed it. Even though I laughed and I smiled loudly, I knew that I was going to regret it. When the song ended I looked around the lunch room and saw that everyone had their eyes on me, "Thank ya'll for watchin' me make a darn fool of myself. I hope ya'll gotta good meal. Adios!" I tried the 'ol hilly billy accent with a touch of Spanish. Even more people laughed as I jumped down.

"Sakura! You dumb ass! That was funny!" Ino laughed clutching her flat stomach, "I can't believe you just did that! I wish I caught that on tape!"

Tenten - who was done laughing - smirked evilly, "Well maybe you didn't but I did!" She pulled her cell phone out. Showing me about three seconds of the video, "Haha! I could so use this as blackmail."

"No you don't! Give that back!" I tried jumping for it - I really did - She's just so tall and her arms are so damn long that she literally just pushed my head away, "That's not fair!"

"What's the point in trying to erase the footage? Probably everyone in this lunch room recorded it, you should be happy! You could be the next star on YouTube! Maybe then that boyfriend of yours would take you to prom. I mean c'mon now! It's PROM. That boy better be expecting a smack on the head just for that stupid mistake. Trust me, I'll do it myself if I have to!"

We all laughed as the bell rung. We walked toward our next class arms linked with one another.

When I arrived for practice I looked to see all the band members over a sheet of paper discussing. Curious, I walked over to glance at the sheet of paper that was titled, 'DBD Set list' then I realized what they were doing I glared at each of them, "You guys didn't even think of a set list yet? Are you people insane?" The set list told which song comes after which and we haven't even decided on a introduction yet. Suddenly, my feet were getting kinda cold.

"No need to worry Sakura-chan! We've got this covered..." reassured Naruto placing a hand on my shoulder. I let out my tense breath up until he said the following word, "Kinda." With a need to punch something, I gave him a shove and punched him in the arm pretty hard, "What was that for?"

I ignored him and rubbed my temples, "You all know that the show is tomorrow right?"

"Well aware, actually." answered Shikamaru writing down some stuff on the sheet of paper.

"Then why didn't you guys handle this earlier?"

"It passed our minds." stated Neji.

"You all are just - ugh! Goodness gracious. What have you guys planned out so far?" I pulled out a chair and sat down pulling the paper toward me.

Sasuke then talked me through it, "We thought that we should have each member play a solo then we'll all come together. So far we came up for two opening songs - What This Means To Me or The Common Hours." The two songs were freakin' awesome. They really were there was just something wrong with them playing as openers though. I pictured the scene in my mind. Whoop, did I look good in my outfit or what? Focus. I thought about it - about the music. For the first song it would collaborate nicely but it just gives a bad vibe and we need to start our song strong. The latter goes straight to the point which doesn't really give us time to count out. Really fast and needing a lot of energy. I thought about the other songs we would be playing then I snapped.

I looked up at Sasuke and smiled, "I got an idea. What if you forget those two songs and we try opening with Save The Cheerleader?"

"We've never opened with that song before - it's always our closer.." said Shikamaru.

"It's time for a change. The long intro will give us time to set up and it's up-beat, fast, and we'll enjoy ourselves."

"You just want to rock to your mini solo in it!" complained Naruto.

"True. But you get to dance around too!"

"Good point..." Naruto then thought about it, "I like the idea!"

"I see no harm," said Neji still looking critically at the paper where I wrote the title of the song, "We'll just add the introduction. Which we still need to figure out so can we get to work now? I wanna go home already. I gotta go and get ready."

"Oh. Neji?" I asked kindly as he stared blankly at me, "I have this friend that would like - "

"No."

"What? But you haven't even heard what I have to say..!"

"You want to set your friend and myself up. Am I right?"

"...uh. Yeah but-!"

"My answer is no."

"Why not?"

"Cause I don't go out with chicks who are all girly."

"Really? Perfect! Cause she's far from it!"

"Huh?"

"She's a total tomb boy! Please, please please please please please please please please please!"

"Fine."

"Yay!" I danced at my mini victory as I picked up my guitar. For a second, I admired it. When I bought it with Sasuke, it was just so plain. Your regular HOFNER electric! It was vintage and just beautiful the base color was white with a few black chunks here and there, I smiled when I looked at it because when I bought it - for freaking $1,459.00 my baby was not cheap - Sasuke was there with me, as I said before. He was there. Which made it even more special. I placed some stickers on it. Some kawaii cute little animal stickers eating strawberries. It was just so adorable one was winking so yeah. Another thing I did was slap a sticker on there that said TURD in big bold letters. Just something to remind me what a great teacher and parents I had.

Plus Alex Gaskarth had the same on so I just had to put it on there. Of course there was a As Cities Burn on there with a bunch of my other favorite bands - A Day to Remember, Paramore, New Found Glory, Attack Attack!, Dance Gavin Dance, The Devil Wears Prada, and so much more - were on there. I collected stickers so I decided now would be a good time to put them into good use! When Sasuke looked at it he was surprised at how I attacked it yet was proud because there was one sticker on there that was far from the others - better.

It was a sticker of our band, Death By Dawn, was written in bold white while the background was black. After the three words that was a shilloute of a zombie holding a gun to its head. The very first sticker I got that meant so much to me. It was stuck right near the neck. That made it stand out even more. Hurriedly, I placed it around me and got my hand into position. Sasuke was the first to start the introduction. A low beat but very original. Neji went next, even though he never really played an instrument or anything he walked to the keyboard and started a fast beat that repeated. It became louder then faded out the same process for about eight times. Naruto played a small melodic lead as I followed slowly, Shikamaru came in next giving a more harder beat that still fitted well.

Sasuke then counted off and Neji started singing with Shikamaru's screaming and my own echo's in the back ground. In the end, it was perfect. So later on that day I had to cancel the plans I made with Ino so we could just plan the rest of the set list. When that was all settled, we packed all the equipment we needed and packed it into Sasuke's car leaving room for him and myself.

We sat in it as we drove to my house, it wasn't really quiet for long though because he decided to tell me something important, "My adoptive mother is going to be there.."

"WHAT? NO!" I gasped - suddenly scared now.

He nodded then smirked, "Don't worry bout a thing. She won't bite."

"Yeah she will! She's totally mental for goodness sake she drinks! Plus Tsunade is a pain the the fucking ass! I mean c'mon!"

"That's harsh. Even for you."

"Shut up. " I crossed my arms then they suddenly loosened as I came to realization, "Sasuke, if she's there watching me then I might mess up! I might screw everything up that you guys work so hard on... How could I live with that? You know what? I think I'm going to bail on the show. I'm not feeling to well anymore."

"You're not going to mess up. You're being overdramatic."

I almost cried, "No I'm not! I screw up every single time she's watching me!"

"That's it, hold on. We're going somewhere."

"Huh? Where?"

"To this cafe.."

"And why?"

"Cause Tsunade plays there.."

The front doors were open to the public. It was casual something kind of like the place Starbucks, but a tad bit more expensive, "Wow. This place is awesome. You said Tsunade plays here? " He nodded as he walked us toward a table. There were three small stages. One larger then the rest. The larger one was the main on and was placed directly at the front of the room where Sasuke and I faced. Two were smaller and were placed at the sides. The main one was covered with red curtains while the other two were covered with white. The lighting was dim but gave off a casual feel. As Sasuke ordered some food I waited until the waitress to leave to ask him some questions about this place, "So what is this place called?"

"Ongaku Nushi Kaiji."

"How cool... What does that mean? I'm sorry I'm not all that good in Japanese.." I laughed nervously as he smirked taking a nacho and biting into it.

"It means Music Lover's Delight."

"So this place is all music.. right?"

"Yeah. Tsunade plays here with my distant family. It's kind of like a family business when you actually think about it. I work here sometimes - just to fill in for someone. You're looking at my part time summer job."

I laughed grabbing myself a chip, "Bus boy?"

"Performer."

"Outstanding.." I sighed, "I love how this place is decorated."

"Thanks. My aunt did it. It was one of her hobbies so they all decided to let it happen her way.. Look, the show is just about to start." Our mouths instantly shut as a man in a tuxedo stood up on the main stage with a warm smile on his face. He was old around his 40s. You could just tell by the wrinkles on his face and the few strips of white hairs on his head. That didn't stop him from smiling though, "Ladies and Gentlemen! It is a pleasure to introduce Tsunade and Akira!" Just then the two white curtains opened quickly and Tsunade stood there playing the piano while the girl Akira strummed the guitar.

They were both so free spirited it was very difficult to believe they rehearsed this over and over again. Tsunade played a song that was easy to dance to and playful. There were no lyrics just pure sound of music. Akira was a beautiful acoustic guitar player. Her hair was dark colored - I wasn't sure if it was brown or black. Her eyes were a deep black matching Sasuke's in so many ways but couldn't compare. They were so much alike yet so different. They both danced around happily until they hit the end of their notes. Tsunade and Akira walked toward the center stage and both took a microphone, "Good evening everyone!" Tsunade was panting heavily as she spoke the words, "Phew! That like performance took a lot out of us sorry for that! Haha!"

Akira then took over her breathing more controlled, "We would just like to say that tonight is open mic night!"

There were several screams and cheers when Tsunade spoke once again, "Yeah! You heard right! Our special tonight is a shrimp dish that is absolutely great, I recommend it! The sign up sheet for the mic, is right here we'll start in twenty five minutes so don't be afraid! But happening in five minutes will be Akira and her husband doing a lovely duet! Enjoy your evening and enjoy your night at Ongaku Nushi Kaiji!"

Sasuke grabbed my hand and tugged on it gently, "Let's go."

"Go? Where? I want to stay!" she complained pouting.

Sasuke sighed and gave her one of his famous smirks, "We're going backstage to see everyone. But if you wanna just sit here and wait then..."

"No, no, no! C'mon!" I grabbed his hand once again and smiled, "Which way?" Lightly chuckling, he took the lead and led her to a pair of thick red curtains with a big bouncer in front of them, "Names?" his voice is deep and scary it gave me shivers but Sasuke was unfazed and just stated his last name with ease. Suddenly the big bouncer moved aside and we walked through as I stared in amazement.

Through the doors people were running around wildly some were fixing their earrings while some were putting on some clothes. It was just like one hallway but stretching into much more branches of rooms. It was amazing, props were laying around everywhere and clothes were flying around. My rosette locks were also flying around in different directions as Sasuke walked me through the maze, "Wow! This place is chaotic!"

"It's backstage, what did you expect..?" I shrugged my shoulders not really knowing what to expect, "Ah. Here we are. Akira? It's Sasuke.. I brought a friend that you'd like to meet."

Her beautiful head popped out as she smiled brightly, "Sasuke dear! How have you've been? It's been a while! How's Tsunade treating ya'? Do you know this has been the longest time you haven't visited me? Mark is being unreasonable, he wants you to visit. Oooh! Who is this? Is she your new girly friend? Wow! She's very pretty. Pink hair though? Wow. Original, I'd admit and all but it matches beautifully with her eyes. It's like green. Like a jade."

"Emerald." I filtered with a smile, "My name is Sakura Haruno. It's nice to meet you Akira!" We shook hands briefly as Sasuke smirked be hind us.

"You're really pretty you know that, Sakura? Hmm, are you interested in the open mic?"

"Oh no! I don't have much of a voice or anything. I just play the guitar."

"Cool! I take it you're in Sasuke's band?"

"I'm just a filler, we have a show tomorrow night."

"Is it your first?"

"Yeah, I'm getting kinda nervous though. What if I mess up or something?"

"Haha. I used to get scared about that small stuff too! Just remember to have fun and when you actually mess up, don't mind it. Who cares, at least you realized your mistakes. We're only human." I was amazed at the advice she was giving me. I was going to treasure this moment forever. After saying goodbye to Akira - who've I learned was Sasuke's aunt - Sasuke finally was driving me home when it was almost striking seven. The only difference was the fact that he walked me to my front doorstep, "Thank you for tonight Sasuke. It was really something I needed." I smiled at him kindly.

"No problem. Just give me a call whenever you need another night out." We stood in silence for a few seconds. Then he sighed. I looked at his lips - those soft looking lips. Then I turned to look into his eyes again. Then I realized that he wasn't looking into my eyes he was looking at my lips. Just as a tester, I licked my upper lip and he flashed his eyes back to mine. Another smile plastered itself on my lips. I wanted him to kiss me. Even though I knew he had a girlfriend. It might seem like a sluty move or anything but honestly! He was damn sexy and I would be out of my mind if I didn't want to kiss him, "Would I be doing something stupid if I asked you to kiss me..?" I breathed out looking into his eyes once more.

He didn't say a word. But what he did do was cradled my face into his warm hands, "No." he whispered as he leaned in to kiss me. And I loved every single second of it. His lips moved against mine and I wrapped my arms around his neck. His laid comfortably on her hips. Sasuke and I were making out! His tongue felt so damn good. I just know that somehow we were gonna get into a bigger mess. Well... I am for the most part.

Joy.

Hope you guys enjoyed it cause the next chapter will be up as soon as I could get it!

A little welcoming review doesn't hurt! Haha!

xoxo,

LoveWithoutFear.