Song of a Cherry Blossom
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 5

Sakura stepped inside. The room was deserted and not a person was in sight. "Where is everyone?" she muttered. She dropped her bag on the ground and sat in one of the chairs. She gazed around the room.

Strange. There are so little seats in this room. Is everyone else standing up?

Sakura stood up and looked around the room. In the back of the room were a piano and also several music stands. A bookcase was placed on the side and it held many music books and music sheets. Sakura took a book out and flipped through the pages.

"Hey!"

Sakura dropped the book in surprise and whirled around. A young woman with long wavy black hair was standing at the door. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Uh, I'm waiting for my class?" Sakura answered.

"Class? Are you the scholarship girl?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes. Do you know where the teacher is?"

The woman smiled. "I'm the teacher."

Sakura's mouth dropped open. "Y-you?"

"Yeah. Are you surprised?" The woman walked in the classroom and sat down on a desk chair in the front of the room while dropping a book on the desk.

Sakura straightened up and cleared her throat. "Surprised? Of course not."

The woman laughed. "So, you're the student who didn't show up yesterday?"

Sakura blushed. "I was knocked out by a basketball."

"So I heard. The school nurse, Shizune, sent me the report."

Sakura walked up to the front of the room and stood in front of the desk. "Miss…"

"I'm Yuhi Kurenai."

"I'm Haruno Sakura." Sakura glanced at the door. "Um, Kurenai-sensei, if none of the other students show up, does that mean you're not going to start class?"

"Other students? What others?" Kurenai asked.

Sakura stared blankly at her teacher. "Uh, isn't this supposed to be a class?"

"Yes, but you're the only student."

Sakura pointed to herself. "O-only student?" she echoed. "How come?"

Kurenai folded her hands and rested her head on top of them. "This class was specifically made for you," she started to explain.

"Wait. Hold it," Sakura said as she held her hand up in front of Kurenai's face. "Specifically? For me?"

Kurenai smiled. "Our arts program is a little lacking so we are trying to change that by adding this new class. Honestly, I didn't think it was possible to create such a course in such short notice." Kurenai walked over to the windows as she opened the blinds. The afternoon light filtered in and made the room looked slightly less dreary than before. "Sorry about the mess. This is more of a one-on-one class since we're trying something new. We haven't had a famous arts graduate from our school in over two decades. Anyways, we couldn't give up the chance to have a talent like you in our school. After listening to your demo CD, there was no doubt about it. Your voice has potential."

Sakura was stunned. "Are you sure that was me that you were listening to?"

Kurenai tilted her head to the side. "Do you not believe it?"

"Not really."

The raven-haired woman smiled. "If you don't believe in yourself, then who will?"

Sakura scratched her head. "Well, I love to sing and all but I didn't think I was that good. I knew that I wasn't horrible but…"

Kurenai sighed. "No buts. If I say you're good then you're good. And I don't say that a lot about people."

Sakura nodded quickly. "Okay," she said meekly.

Kurenai stood up. "You wrote down that you could play two instruments?"

Sakura nodded. "Piano and guitar," she answered.

Kurenai walked around the table and guided Sakura to a seat. She motioned for Sakura to sit down and the pink-headed girl immediately sat down. Kurenai walked to the back of the room and opened another door that lead into another room. "I'm sorry I don't have everything ready since we hadn't had a music class for so long."

"Oh, that's okay," Sakura replied. She tried to peer at the room next door but she couldn't see anything with the door blocking her view. There was a large window that was the length of half the room but curtains covered it up from the inside of the other room. She could see the light go on in the mysterious room and Sakura sat up from her seat to try to get a closer look. When she saw her teacher walking back out, she quickly sat back against the chair. Sakura almost fell out of her seat since she sat so abruptly on the chair.

"Here," Kurenai said as she handed Sakura a microphone. Sakura grabbed onto the microphone and glanced at it.

"Uh, what am I suppose to do with it?" she asked. Kurenai looked at Sakura like she was crazy. "I believe you sing into it," Kurenai responded.

"Right now?" Sakura asked. Kurenai nodded. Sakura stood up and held onto the microphone tightly. She opened her mouth and Kurenai waited for Sakura to begin singing. Silence dawned upon both of them as no words came out of Sakura's opened mouth.

"Sakura," Kurenai said as she snapped her fingers at Sakura's blank look. "Do you have stage fright or something?"

Sakura shook her head. "We're not even on a stage."

Kurenai laughed. "Have you ever sung in front of people?"

The pink-haired girl nodded. "Yes, ever since I was little."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Sakura smiled sheepishly. "I'm not sure what I should sing," she admitted. "I mean, what would you like to hear?"

"How about the song you sang on the demo?" Kurenai suggested.

"A cappella?" Sakura asked.

Kurenai crossed her legs. "Yes, I want to hear your voice without a guitar."

"Okay," Sakura said. She cleared her throat before starting. She held tightly on the microphone and closed her eyes as she let the words flow out of her she was finished, Sakura opened her eyes. Kurenai sat there with a smile and she stood up and clapped. Sakura smiled and did an awkward bow.

"Thank you," Sakura said politely.

"That was beautiful. I heard you wrote that song," Kurenai said. Sakura nodded.

Kurenai smiled. "That's talent." She glanced at her watch. "The bell's going to ring any minute so we'll just end here for today. Tomorrow, we'll start the serious work."

Sakura grinned. "Alright then."

Sakura stretched her arms as she walked out through the wide double doors of the academy. The second day of school had officially ended. Sakura was exhausted. She felt tired since she barely got any sleep last night. She had stayed up to one in the morning to complete all her homework. When she did finish her homework, she had trouble falling asleep. All she did was toss and turn in her small bed all night.

Sakura sighed as she let a yawn escape from her mouth. Why must my life suck so badly?

"Sakura-chan!"

The loud voice pierced through Sakura's ears as it awakened her from her sleepy state. She turned around and saw Naruto running towards her. She half-heartedly waved to him and when he came up to her, he bent down to peer at Sakura's face.

"You look tired. Didn't you get enough sleep?" he asked in concern.

Sakura shook her head. "I feel exhausted."

"You seemed okay at lunch."

"That must have been from that extra cup of coffee. It kept me awake through the entire day. Now that the caffeine has worn off, I feel like hell."

Sakura moaned as she tried to keep awake. She began to walk to the school gate where all the cars were driving out.

"Watch out! Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted suddenly.

Sakura immediately stopped as her foot froze in mid-air. A black Porsche stopped in front of Sakura, the side of the car just barely touching Sakura's foot.

Sakura collapsed on the ground. Her heart was pounding fast as if her life just flashed before her eyes. She had barely missed getting hit by the black car. Naruto ran over to Sakura who was shivering with fear. Naruto bent down and gazed at Sakura with a concerned look.

"Sakura-chan! Are you alright?" Naruto asked as he gently shook Sakura's shoulders.

Sakura said nothing but she clutched the strap of her schoolbag even tighter and the knuckles on her hand turned white from holding the bag too tight. She closed her eyes. The scare felt almost exactly to when she first heard that her parents were dead. It felt all too real.

To think, that life can end just like that. In just an instant, you can lose everything.

Sakura opened her eyes when she heard the sound of the car window of the black sports car go down. The tinted car window of the front started to go down and it revealed Sasuke's dark black hair. Sasuke stuck his head out of the window.

"What are you doing on the ground, Pinky?" Sasuke said with a smirk.

Sasuke's voice echoed throughout Sakura's mind. Pinky, Pinky, Pinky. The word repeated itself over and over. Sakura narrowed her eyes. She jumped up from her once shaken-up state and stomped towards the sports car. She pointed a finger threateningly at the dark-headed man.

"HOW DARE YOU CALL ME PINKY AFTER YOU ALMOST KILLED ME WITH THIS STUPID CAR OF YOURS!" Sakura shouted at him. To prove her point, she kicked the car door in front of her, HARD.

"HEY! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING TO MY CAR?" Sasuke yelled as he poked his head out to look at the damage done to his car door. He sighed in relief when he saw that it made no visible dent.

"I'M DOING WHAT YOU DESERVE, YOU JERK! I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED FROM YOUR STUPID CAR! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR MONEY AND I HATE YOUR STUPID LOOKING FACE!"

Sakura glared at Sasuke before storming off through the school gates.

"Geez, what's her problem?" Sasuke grumbled.

"Bastard!" Naruto shouted. "Why didn't you apologize to Sakura-chan?"

"Why should I apologize to her? She was the one who kicked my car."

"Sasuke-teme! You could have killed her with your damn car."

"I stopped just in time, didn't I?" Sasuke said with an emotionless face.

"You don't know what she's been through. To lose everything all at once and start everything over by herself. She had it worse off than me," Naruto sputtered out angrily.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke asked irritated. Angrily, Sasuke jabbed a button as the windows began to slide up. "No harm was done and everyone goes nuts on me," he muttered as he pressed on the gas pedal.

Sakura trudged along the sidewalk. She kicked a small rock to the side.

"Stupid jerk," she muttered all along as she continued to walk and kicked rocks to the side.

"Inconsiderate, stupid, arrogant, self-centered pretty boy." Sakura clutched onto her bag tightly. "Dumb jerk."

Sakura was busy cursing out at the object of her hatred to notice that someone was following her. Sakura stopped walking. Sakura glanced up at the sign hanging above the night club.

I might as well go to the club early. I can't concentrate on anything else.

Sakura walked inside the club. She glanced at her watch. It was already half an hour past two.

"Tsunade-sama? Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura called out as she entered inside the darkened club. "Why is it so dark in here?" she muttered.

She stumbled as she walked in the dark. "Damn, where's the light switch?" Sakura fumbled around the wall until her hands felt the familiar shape of a light switch. She turned it on and the place began to light up. "That's better," she said to herself.

"Tsunade-sama? Jiraiya-sama?" Sakura called out once more. Sakura walked to the front of the stage and climbed on. She walked to the back of the stage and went behind the curtains. "Where is everyone?" she muttered to herself.

A faint smell of sake found its way to Sakura's nose. Sakura narrowed her eyes as she followed the smell to a room. She paused in front of the door and could see light coming out through the crack at the bottom. Sakura rested her hand on the doorknob and turned it. She pushed the door opened and suddenly the lights went off. Sakura's foot froze in mid-air as she was about to step inside the room. She looked around the dark room in confusion. She then stepped out and closed the door behind her. Just as the door closed, Sakura quickly reopened it again.

"AHA!" she cried out. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Anko, Dosu, Kin, Zaku, and some of the waitresses and workers who worked at the club all froze in action. Sakura had caught them all in action. Many of them seemed drunk and Tsunade and Jiraiya were the worse off.

Sakura stomped in and took the half-drank bottle of sake from Tsunade's hands. "Tsunade-sama! How many times do I have to tell you not to drink sake so much?"

Tsunade looked up at the pink-haired girl with a drunken smile. "Once more?"

Jiraiya made a perverted laugh and he grabbed onto Sakura's hand. "Sakura, dear, you're looking so beautiful," he said drunkenly. Sakura's eyebrow twitched and she pounded her fist on Jiraiya's head.

"You're as bad as Tsunade," Sakura scolded.

Jiraiya shrank back and lowered his head in disgrace.

Sakura placed her hands on her hips and glared at the bunch. "Shame on all of you! Drinking again? How long has this been going on behind my back?"

Anko waved a sake bottle around in the air. "Lighten up, Sakura," Anko said in a drunken voice. Anko slumped over and fell asleep on top of the table set in front of them. The bottle tumbled out from her hand and sake began to spill out.

Sakura sighed as she massaged her temples. The group in front of her was all drunk and most of them were starting to fall asleep or already fast asleep.

"This is pathetic," she muttered to herself.

Sakura walked out the room. "Great. Just great," she muttered. "The band's drunk. How am I'm going to practice now?"

Sakura walked to her dressing room and went inside. She flipped the light switch on and her gaze fell on top of the guitar that lied against the wall. She walked over to it and crouched down. Sakura touched the smooth surface of the guitar and picked it up gently in her hands. She strummed her fingers along the guitar strings and gave a small smile. She treasured the guitar like her life. It was given to her from her parents as a birthday present when she turned ten. She had taught herself how to play and then went to take lessons to improve on her playing. Sakura hugged the guitar close to her chest. It was the only thing that held her close to her parents. She would die if something happened to it.

Sakura stood up and brought the guitar out with her. She went out to the stage and brought a stool up so she could sit. She plucked a few strings with her guitar pick to test out the sound and then closed her eyes as she began to play a familiar song. The very first song that Sakura learned to play. She hummed along with the music as she sat underneath the stage lights that illuminated her pink hair and. Then she began to sing. The soulful tune blended in with her sweet melodic voice as she sang the words that went along with the music.

Sakura suddenly stopped in the middle of the song when she heard a sudden noise. She looked up and gasped. Sakura's guitar pick fell out of her right hand and crashed onto the stage floor noiselessly. The familiar person stood in front of her and watched her with an astonished look. His eyes bore into Sakura's own emerald eyes.

"You're Saki?" he breathed out.