Songs mentioned : The unwinding Cable car - Anberlin, Dismantle; Repair - Anblerin, Naive Orleans - Anberlin, Swing life away - Rise against, When I'm gone - Simple Plan, Over and Over - Three days grace, I hate everything about you - Three days grace, Rooftops - Lost Profits, The kill - 30 Seconds to mars, Odd One - Sick Puppies, Turn it off - Paramore, Brick by boring brick - Paramore.

Chapter 16 – Getting closer

"Cheers!" Kiba cried followed by the rest of the band as they sat in some posh restaurant. It had been a while since everyone had all been together socially, and Sakura loved it. They officially start recording today since all twelve songs had been completed. And to celebrate Naruto had suggested they all go out to dinner.

"I'll drink to that!" Tenten grinned. All Kiba had said was cheers but it didn't matter, the happy mood had never quite left them and the bottle of wine was quickly getting lighter and lighter. Sakura was the only one there who wasn't drinking, she chose to stick to the excuse that she was still under aged but the memory of what happened last time was still high over head.

Sakura grinned as she took a swig of her coke and began to dig into her starter, she couldn't remember the last time she'd been in a restaurant, but it didn't bother her that much, she was here now and that's all that mattered. And the food was fantastic! Sakura thought as the mushroom soup hit her tongue, she practically melted into her chair as she let the taste of the heavenly food take over her, it was clear now that Sakura had never truly lived, this was food for the gods!

"uh…Sakura… Are you okay?" Naruto asked from beside her. He'd put his spoon down from where he'd been slurping up some noodle soup (he'd been upset that the place didn't sell ramen but had settled for noodle soup instead) and looked nervously at the blissed out half vampire next to him.

"Yeah I'm good. This food is amazing!" Sakura suddenly came back to life and sat forward, the sequins on the collar of her borrowed dress twinkling as it hit the lights above. Tenten gave her a concerned look while Kiba barked out a laugh after choking a bit on the wine he was drinking.

"You idiot! Stop drinking my wine! You've got beer for Christ sake!" Tenten complained as she moved the wine bottle to her end of the table, being sure not to spill her own glass down her dark red Chinese styled dress, complete with a golden dragon weaving its way up her right side. Sakura could only chuckle away at the two, she was surprised to see that once Tenten was loosened up with a little alcohol then she could act just as childish as the male members of Emerald eye.

"Jeeze Tenten, stop being picky. You need to get some, then that might make you more at ease." Kiba commented with a sly smirk. Tenten's cheeks brightened till they were the same colour as her dress and Sakura couldn't help but laugh, she'd gotten exactly what he'd meant when making that comment.

"You're a perv Kiba. Just cause I don't get into the pants of every female on the planet." Tenten shot back. Kiba only smirked, not denying anything. Sakura felt her jaw hit the table at that. She never thought in a million years that Kiba was a player, she knew he was a flirt, it wasn't hard to miss really, but he never striked her as someone to sleep around.

"Sakura, you look like Elvis just rose from the dead." Naruto commented again as she tried in vain to close her gapping mouth. Kiba had the decency to blush this time at Sakura's reaction, but he still didn't deny his actions.

"Well never mind that. It doesn't stop the fact that your love life is well, lifeless. As soon as we release this new album the male population is going to start swarming, so what better chance is there at getting some than then!" Kiba finished. He shot Tenten a grin before taking a huge gulp of beer, hoping that his speech was well noted. Tenten on the other hand just blushed as she too sipped her wine, trying to take the attention off of her. Naruto saw her silent plea for help and decided to change the subject.

"Well anyway, hows-"

"And don't think I haven't forgotten about you two!" Kiba yelled, attracting most of the restaurants attention. He pointed a finger over at Naruto and Sakura, dread filled their expressions as they both looked at each other, silently trying to decide if they should run now.

"I'm surrounded my chastity pants wearing woosies!" Kiba barked out, a little quieter than last time but it was still pretty loud. His finger moved over to Naruto first, he took in a deep breath before beginning.

"You've had a crush on that other manager for over two years now but have you done anything about it? No! What was her name again? Hana?" Kiba asked, Naruto's face had turned bright red and Sakura felt the need to take a picture.

"Hinata." He answered simply in a small-embarrassed voice. Kiba snorted before finishing off his chicken starter. He looked up again and pointed his fork at Naruto, signalling that he wasn't done.

"And another thing, that girls got the hot's for you too, just grow some balls and ask her out!" Kiba pointed out with is mouth filled with food. He then pointed his fork at Sakura as the waiter came around to take away their now empty plates. Sakura gave her thanks after he left with their orders but groaned when Kiba still had that evil glint in his eye.

"Don't think you're the only one who'll get pity, Sakura. I have plenty to say about you." He stated with that sly grin of his.

"Oh god…" Sakura moaned out loud as she faced her doom, there was no stopping him when he got in one of his ranting moods, and they all knew it.

"Don't you think I've missed those sneaky glances you give Sasuke whenever he's around, you look like a dog on heat!" He yelled out for the entire room to hear. Sakura gave him one of her best death glares and felt the blood rushing to her cheeks, giving her the brightest of bright angry blushes.

"When the hell do I look like a dog on heat! I do not look at Sasuke!" Sakura growled. Her glare whipped the sly smirk off of Kiba's face as one that showed nervousness replaced it.

"Jeeze Sakura, it was only a joke. Please don't hurt me." Kiba said, bringing his open palms out in front of him in a peace offering. It was then that Tenten spoke up, taking a sip of wine she faced Sakura.

"You know, now that I think about it, Sasuke has been sneaking glances at you lately, more so than usual." Sakura froze where she was, there was no way in hell that she wanted to talk about this! In truth she was convinced that Sasuke officially hated her, he would never talk to her unless it was an important question, and had not once met her gaze. Of coarse Sakura knew he had his reasons, she been pretty cowardly and to be honest, immature, he did deserve an answer after all.

"Do we have to discuss this now?" Sakura whined, just as the waiter came round with their food. Sakura didn't even need to think twice, she dove into her spaghetti with vengeance as she tried to ignore her current company.

"Sakura, is there something you're not telling us?" Tenten asked, amusement and a slight smug tone laced in there too. Sakura choked on her food, being forced to finish her coke in one huge gulp. She gave a nervous look around the table, noticing how all eyes were on her, they all knew she was hiding something, but there was no way in hell that she was telling.

Naruto looked at Sakura, knowing exactly what she was thinking of. He liked to pride himself with knowing Sasuke the best out of everyone, including his parents, so this was nothing. Plus the teme had more or less indirectly screamed it at him the other day. He felt bad for Sasuke, honestly he did, but that didn't mean that he was going to get in a mood with Sakura over it, he wasn't a kid anymore, no matter how much he acted like it, on occasion of course.

"Guy's, leave it for now, I'd rather not start world war three in here thank you very much." Naruto stated, taking a huge chunk of steak and stuffing it in his mouth. Sakura gave him a grateful look before digging into her food again. Tenten and Kiba just looked disappointed as they also began to eat, but not before Tenten got the last say.

"I just thought that they'd make a good couple is all." She mumbled as she sipped on her wine again. Sakura only blushed at the comment, why was everyone saying that! First Taya and now Tenten, was there something wrong with the female population? She even remembered Ino saying something along those lines, but that was mostly because she'd been caught staring at his butt. Sakura still couldn't figure out how her eyes had strayed there…

They all sat in silence for a while as they ate, nobody knowing quite what to say. Naruto wasn't a fan of silences, he was a talker, and if there were a silence it would be filled. No matter what anybody else thought.

"So…um, how's it feel knowing that your first album is done?" He offered. Everybody looked up at him, glad that he'd been the one to break the silence, each gave there own impute, all following the lines of relieved and stress free.

"Oh by the way, what's the order of the songs again? I forgot." Kiba asked, a sheepish grin on his face. Tenten rolled her eyes, acting like he was an idiot but in reality, she was just as clueless. Naruto scratched his head as he tried to remember, he'd seen the list just that day too.

"Ah, I think it's… um… How many songs was it? Fourteen?" Sakura resisted the urge to face palm before she answered.

"It's twelve." She stated simply. Naruto remembered then and began listing the songs with his fingers.

"Um… it's… The Unwinding Cable Car then Odd One, I Hate Everything about You, Turn It Off, swing life away, When I'm Gone, Rooftops, The kill, Dismantle; Repair, Naïve Orleans, Brick by boring brick and that other one… What was it called again?" Naruto asked, a confused look crossing over his features.

"Over and over you twit!" Tenten huffed, that was the only song she was allowed to write! Then the fecking Manager goes ahead and forgets it? Not fair. Where was the justice in this cruel world? Kiba just rolled his eyes, he wasn't all that bothered over the lyrics, they were good so why bother arguing? Then again Tenten was determined to get at least one love song in there, even though it wasn't all that 'lovey dovey'.

Sakura and Kiba both sat there peacefully, trying unsuccessfully to block out the two arguing across the table. Sakura was just glad that everyone was off the topic of romance, mostly because hers was just confusing right now. She couldn't stop thinking of what everyone had said about herself and Sasuke, it was mad, he was engaged, even if he admitted that he loved her instead.

But Sakura ignored that feeling of confusion, choosing instead to simply sit back and enjoy her time spent with her friends.

…!...

Itachi walked through the front door of his apartment in a rather bad mood. After two hours of talking to people in the black market Itachi had come up empty handed in his search for this 'Suigetsu'. Sakura had ended up leaving him half way through to go hunting, something that he wasn't all too happy about. He was tired and grumpy and all he really wanted to do was go to bed, but he also had a sneaky suspicion that this suigetsu guy was some undercover person, the people he was talking to proved that. So he'd check now, before he forgot to do it later on.

He kicked off his shoes at the doorway, remembering the last time he trailed mud through the hall, Taya had practically ripped him a new one. As he shuffled through the hall he looked for signs of life, it was about eleven at night but Taya wasn't famous for keeping regular hours. And just as predicted there she was, on his computer downloading pictures for work.

She sat cross-legged on his office chair without a care in the world, her hair pinned back in a clip and clad in only a tank top and a pair of baggy pyjama bottoms. Itachi had a feeling that he wasn't going to get to the computer anytime soon.

"Don't you have work tomorrow?" He asked. Taya jumped a bit in the chair before turning around and rolled her eyes at him, a few curls falling down to frame her lovely face.

"I'm not in the office tomorrow so nobody will notice if I'm late." She answered. Itachi nodded distantly before pushing the chair she was sitting on across the room. She didn't fight much, just huffed a little like a moody child, there was no point really, she knew he'd win.

Itachi leant on the computer desk and clicked onto the Internet, he was sure he'd be able to find some news reports or something. He began to type in silence, flicking through an odd article on the black market that caught his attention and ignored the woman behind him.

Taya wondered if he was researching for that investigation thing, he more or less told her about it but she didn't really understand that sort of stuff, her strengths weren't problem solving, she could tell you that much. Her curiosity got the better of her however, she pushed against the wall with her arm and rolled back over to the computer desk were Itachi was still flicking through news articles as she peered over his shoulder, trying her best to be sneaky.

"I'd give up on that dream of being a spy, you're not the most subtle person I've ever met." Itachi commented dryly as he kept scrolling down, not even bothering to turn round. Taya puffed her cheeks like she was in a tantrum and sat back down with her legs once again crossed on the chair.

"What are you looking for anyway?" She asked, it would probably be better to ask, she concluded. Itachi swallowed a snort that had been fighting its way up his throat, her voice had sounded so childish.

"I'm looking for a man called Suigetsu, I have reason to believe he's in the black market or has at least some connection to it." Taya nodded absentmindedly, finding it rather boring now that she'd heard it.

"Was Sakura and Sasuke with you today?" She asked, keen to know how the couple where getting along. Itachi rolled his eyes at the screen, but answered anyway, she would just pester him otherwise.

"Just Sakura. Sasukes been brooding ever since Sakura rejected him." He stated. It was followed quickly by Taya's over dramatic gasp of horror. This was not happening! Hadn't she told that damn girl that they were practically soul mates! Well… Maybe not in those exact words, but close enough damn it! Why did she reject him! That man was a fine specimen yet she turned her nose up at him? The next time she sees Sakura she's going to insert her foot up her ass, as lovely as that sounded.

"Your joking right? She rejected him! There made for each other! Why Itachi, why…" She moaned, dragging out the last word in a childish whine. Itachi simply shrugged his shoulders, there was no way in hell he was getting involved, although he didn't expect Sakura to reject him.

"But seriously though! They're like Cereal and milk! Ant and Deck! Romeo and Juliet-"

"Those two die at the end." Itachi pointed out as he clicked on a report.

"That's not the point!" She hissed back, an annoyed glare being directed straight at the back of his head. They both sat in silence after that, Taya trying her best not to show her violent tendencies and Itachi ignoring the killing aura behind him as he scrolled down the page.

This continued for about fifteen minutes until something caught his eye. He clicked on the report and began scanning down, the odd sentence pulling his attention now and again. Then he saw the name of the one man he'd been looking for. His back and shoulders stiffened as he read the same line again and again, making sure he hadn't miss read it.

"Found something?" Taya asked from beside him. She looked down at the screen at the article, it was labelled 'Drug Raid'. Itachi nodded before reading out the sentence.

"'One suspect named Suigetsu has been taken into custody but will most likely have all charges dropped from Lack of evidence, he was not found near the crime scene at the time but has been named as one of the main suppliers.'" This was the guy, it had to be. There was a picture of a man with silver hair and bright purple eyes, his hair colour matched what Sakura had said exactly. Without a second thought he printed off the article and turned to Taya, who stood there with a confused look.

"You found the guy I'm guessing?" Itachi merely smirked one of those creepy smirks that sent shivers up Taya's spine.

"Ah, we certainly did."

…!...

Okay first off, sorry it took so long to update, i had no idea what to write for the last part so i eventually just gave up and posted (hence why its so short), but i'll try and make up for it. And i have just discovered the two most amazing songs in the ENTIRE world! their called the Martian hop by the Ran - Dells and See Emily play by David Bowie. they are totally amazing! Though See Emily play is a cover version (origanal is by Pink Floid) its so much better! You have to listen to it! There amazing!