Song of a Cherry Blossom
by Diana-san
Author's Note: The song in this story is "At the Beginning" by Donna Lewis and Richard Marx. It's from the 1997 movie, Anastasia, which is one of my favorite movies from my childhood.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or the song "At the Beginning".
Chapter 12
Who is carrying me right now? So protectively as if he is scared that he would drop me any minute?
Sakura stirred in her sleep as someone laid his hand on her forehead. Sakura could feel the warm heat radiating off of his hand. Or wait, was it her own head? Suddenly, her head felt cool again as a wet towel was placed on top of her burning forehead.
Naruto sighed. He stepped back and sat down in Sakura's desk chair as he watched the sleeping girl in front of him. Naruto clasped his hands together as he gazed out the window. It was still raining hard and the sound of rain pattering on the roof of the apartment building could be heard loud and clear. The sky was gray and dark and the thunderstorm had long gone passed.
Naruto scooted his chair closer to the bed so he could change the towel on Sakura's forehead.
"Sakura-chan," he softly whispered. Sakura began to stir in her sleep so Naruto quickly placed the newly wet towel on her forehead.
"I'm scared," Sakura murmured in her sleep.
Naruto looked up in surprise. "Of what?" Naruto asked softly, not wanting to wake Sakura up.
"Please make it stop…mom…" Sakura faintly whispered as her body tossed and turned.
Naruto gently took Sakura's hand which was resting by her side. "It's okay, Sakura-chan. I'm right beside you."
"Thunder…it's loud…"
Thunder? Naruto thought. He glanced outside but it was still the same view from a minute ago. "Was that what you were scared of earlier?" he murmured. Naruto tightened his hold on Sakura's hand. "Don't worry. Uzumaki Naruto will always protect you. Always. It's a promise Sakura-chan."
"Thank you," Sakura faintly murmured in her sleep.
Naruto smiled as he saw that Sakura's hand had relaxed and was no longer tensed up. "Sleep peacefully Sakura-chan."
Naruto carefully placed Sakura's arm inside the covers of the blankets and added an extra blanket he found in the back of Sakura's small closet. He changed the damp towel on top of Sakura's forehead once more before setting it back down gently on her head. Then quietly, he stepped out of Sakura's bedroom and closed the door behind him.
"Good morning Konoha! I hope you all had a wonderful sleep last night despite the heavy rainfall. Today's temperature is in the low 70's and-"
Sakura reached her hand out from underneath her blanket and slammed it down on the snooze button of the digital alarm clock. She groaned as she pulled the covers over her head as she tried to get back to her dream before it was interrupted by the alarm clock.
"Yes, thank you all for the award," Sakura murmured in her sleep as she practiced accepting the award for Best New Artist. "Mmh-and yes, I will have butter with that toast…"
Sakura's dream strayed away from the buttered toast as it went back to the awards ceremony.
Sakura smiled as the nominees were called out. Sakura's smile got even larger as she heard her name being called out among three other nominees. She watched as the person on stage opened up a envelope to call out the name of the winner for Best New Artist of the Year. Sakura crossed her fingers and closed her eyes tight as she waited for her name to be called.
"And the winner is…" the man cried out. "Sa-"
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
The alarm clock's shrill beeping noise came on as it interrupted what should be the best part of Sakura's dream. Sakura bolted upright from her bed with the blankets covering her head. Sakura pushed the blankets off herself as she tried to find an opening for her head. Somehow she found a space for air and she stuck her head out. The annoying beeping sound continued until the girl slammed her hand hard on the off button. Sakura sighed as she slumped back against the headboard of her bed.
"Darn, and they were just about to call my name," Sakura muttered as she scratched her head.
Sakura yawned as she rubbed her eyes. Her hand made contact with something soft as she took it and dangled it in front of her. Sakura stared at the damp towel and wondered how it got on her head in the first place. Sakura gazed around her bedroom.
Actually, I wonder how I got here in the first place, Sakura thought.
Sakura scratched her head. She was sure she had no recollection of walking back home. Or did she?
Okay, so I got detention and had to do child labor. And then it was raining…
Sakura looked out of her bedroom window. The sun was shining brightly like it should and the skies were a clear blue. A pigeon was perched outside on the windowsill and peered back at Sakura.
"Do you know what happened yesterday, Mr. Pigeon?"
The pigeon cooed and flew off but not without leaving a pleasant surprise on her windowsill. Sakura made a disgusted face at the white glop that blended in with the white paint of the sill. "Gross," Sakura muttered.
She sighed and slumped down on her bed as she gazed up at the ceiling. "At least I didn't end up in that ice block's home." Sakura turned around and glanced at the clock.
"Oh my god!" Sakura shouted as she jumped on her bed and grabbed the digital clock off the table. The glowing red digits disappeared as the plug came out of its socket and dangled in the air. "Oh crap," Sakura moaned as she dropped the clock. The cherry blossom jumped off her bed and ran to the bathroom to get ready for school.
"Three minutes to dress, four minutes to get to the bus stop if I run, and a five minute bus ride if there are no bus stops made at each stop," Sakura mumbled as she laid out her battle plan. She quickly tied up her hair with a scrunchie before giving a quick glance in the mirror.
Sakura ran out of her bedroom as the door closed behind her. Holding her schoolbag in one hand, she used her other hand to grab the slightly burned toast from the toaster. She held onto it with her mouth as she grabbed her house keys from its key holder by the door.
Twirling her keys on her index finger, she removed the piece of toast from her mouth as she ran down the hall. Skipping two steps at a time down the stairs, Sakura quickly made it to the ground floor in record time. Sakura opened the doors leading outside and squinted at the morning sunshine.
"Morning, Sakura dear."
The cheerful voice of Sakura's landlady rang loud and clear as Sakura waved. "Good morning Takimoto-san," Sakura called out.
Mrs. Takimoto smiled as she continued watering her plants. "I'm so glad you are feeling well today. After what happened yesterday, I thought you would stay home today."
"Yeah, I kno-" Sakura's voice faltered. "Yesterday?"
Mrs. Takimoto nodded. "Yes, that nice boy brought you home and even stayed with you for awhile. But of course you slept like a log so I had to help you change your wet clothes. Really Sakura, what were you doing that got you so soaked? Did you walk in the rain yesterday? I was worried sick when I saw your pale face. To make it worse, you had a high fever and we had no medicine so the poor boy had to run all the way down to the drugstore in the pouring rain to get it for you and…"
Sakura tuned out the rest of the long speech. Thank god he didn't change my clothes. Wait a minute. Boy? What boy? It couldn't be…
"Takimoto-san! What did the guy look like?" Sakura urgently asked.
"What did he look like? Well, he was tall and…" Mrs. Takimoto said with her eyes closed as she tried to remember.
Sakura sighed. As much as she would like to know, she was running late to school.
Sakura glanced at her watch. "Takimoto-san, sorry but I'm running late. Tell me later when I get home from work, okay?" Sakura called out as she started running towards her bus stop.
Four minutes lost. I'm not going to make it.
Sakura gasped for air as she stood panting on the school steps. "I-m-made-it," she panted. Sakura leaned against a wall for support as she held her leg which was throbbing with pain from the running. Some students walked pass her and glanced at her in curiosity. Others walked by and rolled their eyes. Sakura made a face at them. Obviously, they wouldn't know the pain of running to catch the bus to make it to school on time.
Oh no, after all, I have my nice shiny limo, Sakura thought sarcastically. "Rich people. I loathe them all."
Sakura trudged up the stairs seeing as she was late already. It wouldn't matter if she was more late than she already was. It wasn't as if she can be marked any tardier. Sakura sighed as she opened the door to her classroom. Thirty pairs of eyes stared at her. Correction, twenty nine pairs of eyes minus her own. But they weren't staring at her because she was late and interrupted their nice learning time. After glancing at her and seeing that the teacher still didn't come yet, they all turned back to whatever they were doing beforehand.
Sakura turned around in half shock and half disbelief. "I must be the densest person on Earth. My teacher is Kakashi-sensei. How did I ever expect me to be any later than he is?" Sakura could almost hit herself for being so stupid.
"Talking to herself, are we? But then again, this must be the only way you can entertain yourself."
Sakura grimaced. She recognized that voice. And here is the one rich person I loathe the most.
She turned around and smiled sweetly up at Sasuke. "Well, what a pleasant surprise," Sakura said with smile. Not.
"Where were you yesterday?" Sasuke questioned.
Sakura looked taken aback by the question. "Why?" she asked suspiciously.
Sasuke glanced away. "No reason. You weren't there when I came back."
The rosette haired girl smiled. "Oh, so you do have a heart?"
"Just answer the question."
Sakura bit her lip. Hmm, so it doesn't seem as if it was him who brought me home. If it wasn't him then who was it? she thought. Sakura glanced at Sasuke warily. "I went straight home."
"In the rain?"
Sakura stared at Sasuke, her eyes never blinking. "Yes, I want to thank you for that. Nice of you to leave me behind and go off in your nice limo ride while I was stuck cleaning and then had to go home with no umbrella," Sakura said, her voice laced with sarcasm.
"I came back didn't I?" Sasuke muttered.
"But unfortunately, there is something as being too late."
The two glared at each other, their eyes never leaving sight of each other. Sakura narrowed her eyes and finally Sasuke looked away. Hah, like you could ever stare me down, Sakura smirked to herself.
"Okay, kiddos. Let's stop all this lovey-dovey stuff in front of my classroom," a cheerful voice ranged out.
Sasuke and Sakura turned to see Kakashi-sensei standing behind them. Kakashi-sensei smiled as he proceeded to open the classroom door to get inside.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN LOVEY-DOV-?" Sakura's words were cut off as Sasuke clamped his hand over her mouth.
Sakura pushed his hand away and glared as she stomped in after her teacher.
"Stubborn," Sasuke muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets and strode inside the room.
Sakura set her bag down against the leg of her desk as she sat down in her seat. She rummaged through her bag as she searched for her red spiral notebook. Sakura's figure tensed up as she saw a certain someone's pair of legs walking down the aisle towards her.
Uchiha… Sakura thought in disgust.
It was almost as if the legs heard her thoughts because suddenly out of nowhere, one leg came out and kicked her bag down. Sakura's eyes widened as she sat up only to have her eyes meet up with a pair of dark obsidian eyes. Sasuke smirked as he walked past the gaping Sakura and sat down in his seat behind her.
Sakura slowly sat up straight as the tension rose between the two. Sakura turned her head towards Sasuke and the two glared at each other. Sakura's glare was of pure menace as Sasuke curled his lips in a slightly coy smile.
"You better watch your back Uchiha," Sakura threatened in a low voice.
"Or what? You'll blind me with your pink hair?" Sasuke taunted.
"You'll be sorry if that actually happens," she warned.
Kakashi cleared his throat to indicate class has begun. Sasuke smirked as he leaned against his chair and placed a set of earphones in his ear. Sakura held back the urge to bite him or do something that could get her into trouble as she turned away in her seat. She suddenly noticed something odd about the classroom today.
Where's Naruto?
Sakura swung the straps of her backpack over her shoulder as she skipped down the stairs. She crossed her arms to keep warm as the wind blew against her. Sakura took a glance at her watch. "Might as well get there a bit early since I didn't show up yesterday," she said out loud as she walked hurriedly to Icha Icha. The club beckoned to her as a place to shield her from the cold and Sakura hurried in. She pushed aside the wide doors to find herself surrounded by darkness.
"Someone better not be getting drunk again," she muttered.
"Sakura!" A voice ranged out in surprise and it echoed in the emptiness of the night club.
"Tsunade-sama?" Sakura's own voice echoed.
The pink-headed girl stumbled around chairs and tables as she headed for the light switches. She didn't have to, however, since a dim light was turned on right at that moment. Sakura's eyes adjusted to the light and she blinked a few times. Standing before her was Tsunade with a distressed look on her face.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Tsunade looked at Sakura and then patted on a stool to motion for Sakura to sit down. "I think you need to sit down for this."
"Uh oh, I heard that line before," Sakura joked.
Tsunade managed to make a feeble smile. "JIRAIYA!" she yelled out. A few moments later, the white-haired man came walking in with his head facing the floor.
Sakura glanced at him. "What happened to him?" she whispered to Tsunade.
Tsunade said nothing but sighed and shook her head. "You tell her, Jiraiya."
"Tell me what?" Sakura questioned suspiciously as she darted glances between Jiraiya and Tsunade.
No one said anything for a moment and it gave Sakura an uneasy feeling in her stomach. "Jiraiya-sama, talk to me!"
"Well, you see, there's this…uh…how should I put this…?"
Sakura clenched her fists as her fierce jade eyes bore into Jiraiya's lowered head. He must have felt it because he tensed up.
"You're set to perform on stage," Tsunade said dully.
"I think that's because that's my job."
"In a duet," Tsunade finished.
Sakura's jaw dropped. "Say what?" she asked in disbelief.
"I didn't want to tell you this, but the club isn't faring as well as we hoped."
Jiraiya nodded with a grim look on his face. "We were so busy spending money on new furniture and advertisements that we didn't notice we were going bankrupt."
"Bankrupt?" Sakura exclaimed. "How can that be? The club was jam packed last week."
Jiraiya muttered, "Stupid free refills..."
"This is really serious then?" Sakura asked.
Tsunade and Jiraiya both nodded. "Jiraiya recently got in contact with an old friend and he just so happened to be the manager of that guy who is always on the cover of those teeny-bopper magazines," Tsunade said. "We thought that having a famous idol singer would bring in lots of customers and we worked out a deal that would benefit both of us. Of course, we can't count on that it will continue to bring in more customers on a daily basis but if he sang a duet with you, Sakura, and then it would boost your popularity and we might get more customers."
"Oh my god, I can't believe this is happening," Sakura said to herself in disbelief as she turned and stared at the walls. She pinched herself and gave a small cry when she felt a sharp pain shoot up her arm. "Crap, I'm not dreaming."
Sakura whirled around to face Jiraiya and Tsunade. "Are you kidding me?" she cried out. "Perform on stage with some airhead?"
"Hey-he might not be an airhead-" Jiraiya cut in.
Sakura cut him off. "No, he's probably just some pretty looking face who can sing a few lines and then make millions of dollars off of that. I don't need to perform with anyone who doesn't take music seriously and just does it to become rich. If I wanted to sing with someone plastic, I would have brought my Barbie doll along."
"Sakura," Tsunade pleaded.
"No, I refuse. Find someone else because I won't submit myself to those kind of people. I don't need any rich, snobby guy to tell me what I should do." As she said that, Sakura stormed off past them and into the backstage area where she walked all the way to the very back room. In there she closed the door shut and leaned against the wooden frame of the mahogany door.
Sakura sighed as her eyes glanced dully at the wall in front of her. "Even though I said all that, I wouldn't be able to go through with it, would I?" Sakura asked softly to no one. "Who am I kidding? I wouldn't be able to let them down. I can't let them lose their business after all that they done for me. But I couldn't go just go down without an argument either."
Sakura sighed again as she walked around the room. It was a small room where Sakura would usually practice by herself since no one used that back room. Sakura glanced over and noticed Dosu's keyboards sitting in a corner by itself. Resting on top of the keyboards was the oh-so-familiar blonde wig she used to disguise her pink hair. Sakura picked it up and wasn't careful as some papers underneath the wig swept down to the floor. She squatted down and picked up the strewn papers as she sorted through them one by one.
"Music sheets…" she murmured. Sakura organized them and placed them in the correct order as her eyes scanned through the lyrics quickly. She held an intake of breath as her eyes began to reread through the papers once more, this time more slowly.
Sakura sat down as she placed the papers on the piano stand. She picked up the blonde wig and fingered the golden locks of hair. Sakura glanced at a nearby mirror as her reflection changed from Sakura to Saki. She took out her blue lens contacts and watched the glimmer of emerald in her eyes turn into a shade of ocean blue.
"It's hard to believe that's me," she murmured at her reflection. Sakura looked away as she glanced down at the piano keys. She ran her fingers across the smooth surface of the brilliant pearl white color of the keys. She played the first note on the music sheet. Starting out with a hum, Sakura slowly slipped into the song as the lyrics flowed out of her mouth.
"We were strangers
Starting out on a journey
Never dreaming what we'd have to go through
Now here we are
And I'm suddenly standing
At the beginning with you"
Sakura glanced up at the sheet music. "Guy," her eyes read as she scanned the next few lines of the song.
"No one told me I was going to find you
Unexpected, what you did to my heart"
Sakura froze stiffly as her hands continued to play but the words being sung weren't coming from her mouth. Her ears listened intently the deep male voice singing behind her. Sakura's eyes scanned the lyrics as the voice followed every word.
"When I lost hope
You were there to remind me
This is the start"
Sakura ceased playing as the notes broke off midway. She slowly turned around as her eyes met him. Sakura almost fell out of her seat when she saw his face. Eyes as dark as coal and skin as white as snow. Sakura tried to remember back to who he reminded her of. "Snow white…" she muttered.
The young man smirked. "Yes Barbie doll?" he asked obviously referring to the blonde hair and blue eyes.
Sakura's eyes glared daggers at him. "Judging from your pretty boy face, I'm guessing you're Sai, the ol' so fabulous pop sensation that I am stuck singing with," she said, her words dripping with sarcasm.
"It's nice to know I'll be working with a fan of mine," he remarked.
Sakura stood up and crossed her arms. "Why are you in here anyway? Did you not see the 'Do Not Enter or Else' sign posted on the door?"
Sai thought for a moment. "You mean the sign above the 'Intruders will be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment'? Yeah, didn't think much about it when I came in."
"Another reason why your first impression on me is getting worse," Sakura counted off. "Look, pretty boy, I'm not planning to do any duets with you on stage at anytime in any place so you can just forget about making nice with me," the cherry blossom stated in one breath.
"So you think I'm pretty?" he mused.
Sakura's green eyes darkened. "Completely missing the point," she said through clenched teeth.
Sai leaned against the doorframe and looked down the dark hallway just outside the room. "Hey, then that's your call. I didn't ask to perform with you. I rather fly solo anyway. Someone with such an ugly personality like yours could only tarnish my golden image." Sakura made a gagging face. Sai continued on, "But I heard this club isn't doing so well and this might be your only chance to save it."
"Look, I'm all for saving the club. I just don't see why you are needed," Sakura retorted.
"Because my star-studded qualities can help get you notice which will raise your popularity as established here in the club as the lead singer which then in turn will bring in more customers which means more money and that will mean happily ever after for your fellow co-workers and for this club."
Sakura scoffed, "Well…"
"At a loss for words? Okay, I'll see you later on stage."
Sai left and the room was silent once more. "Oh we'll see who'll be seeing who on stage ," Sakura told the back of the door.
"SAKUR-I mean Saki! It's almost time!"
"Oh my god, so many news crew outside."
"Look at my hair! Do you think it's okay for the camera?"
Sakura sighed as everyone around her ran around frantically, trying to get everything ready before they open the club. She glanced around as she started to head backstage. Idate was at the bar preparing drinks along with the other bartender. The waitresses were scattered everywhere, more occupied with their hair and makeup then the trays they were carrying. Tsunade rocked on her heels back and forth as she peeked through the curtains and scanned outside at the news and media people. Jiraiya, who had shouted Sakura's name earlier almost, stood on stage adjusting the microphone as he paced back and forth on stage. As for the pop star himself, Sakura could care less where he is right now. She would just rather he disappear so she could just sing the song herself.
"Yes, that would be best…" Sakura muttered.
"SAI! SAI! SAI! SAI! SAI!"
Screams cried out around the club as the lights dimmed down on stage. Girls of all ages from teenagers to middle-aged women were shouting as they waved posters and Sai memorabilia. Sakura made a gagging face as she looked out from behind the curtains at all the little heads of Sai on a stick floating around. "Oh, give me break," she said in disgust.
"What?" a voice from behind her asked. Sakura jumped a little as she felt her heart pounding a little too fast for her liking. She turned only to see the bigger version of all the posters. "Nothing," she said sweetly with a fake smile.
"Ugly hag you are with that fake smile of yours," Sai smirked.
Sakura continued smiling as she watched Sai walked away. "I hate you," she whispered through her clenched smile. "So so much."
"Did ya say something squirt?"
Sakura jumped again as she whirled around to see who it was this time. Anko glanced at her as she bit a dango off her stick. "You're up shortcakes and with that other kid."
"Are you kidding me?" Sakura asked blankly.
Anko smiled. "3...2...and 1!" She disappeared into the darkness of the shadows as Sakura heard Jiraiya's voice boom over the speakers.
"And now the moment you all been waiting for. We are delighted to give you a special performance by this year's Best New Male Artist. He'll be performing a duet with a very talented young lady who sings here every weekend. Please give your applause to Sai and Saki!"
Shouts and hollers filled the room as applause thundered. Whistles came from across the room as the energy exploded around everyone. The lights began to dim until it was almost dark. The only light that was on was radiated on stage dimly as if it's about to fade away. Silence fell over the crowd as piano music was heard.
Suddenly, Sakura's voice filled the stage. Soft and melodic, her voice rang clear as the lights began to shine around the stage while changing colors. Sai's voice then followed after and soon they blended into the chorus.
The stage got brighter as the two emerged on stage from opposite sides.
Sakura glowed under the lights in her white strapped dress as she stood beside Sai who was in a loose collared white shirt and black denim jeans.
"Life is a road
And I want to keep going
Love is a river
I wanna keep flowing
Life is a road
Now and forever
Wonderful journey
I'll be there
When the world stops turning
I'll be there
When the storm is through
In the end I wanna be standing
At the beginning with you"
Sai extended his hand towards Sakura with a hint of a smirk on his face and she hesitated. But under the glare of the lights and the crowd of eyes watching, she reluctantly grabbed on to it.
"We were strangers
On a crazy adventure"
Sai drew Sakura closer as he lifted his microphone to his lips.
"Never dreaming
How our dreams would come true"
Cameras flashed.
"Now here we stand
Unafraid of the future
At the beginning with you"
Sai released his hold on Sakura. The music continued on with their voices still singing along as they moved to opposite sides of the stage. As the ending came, the music started dying down. Sakura lifted the microphone closer to her lips as she stared out into the audience. Her eyes danced with excitement as if she had never done this before.
"In the end I wanna be standing at the beginning…"
Sakura looked out into the crowd as her eyes danced with excitement. She closed her eyes as the song ended with her faded voice.
"With you…"
It was silent for a second as Sakura lowered her microphone. She opened her eyes and was surprised to noticed Sai still by her side. The stage lights were now centered directly on them as applause erupted. The cameras never stopped flashing as the clicks came faster. Sai waved the crowd and Sakura hesitantly did the same.
Sai whispered to her, "I'm impressed. You're not that bad."
Sakura looked up at him, stunned that he complimented her. "T-thanks," she muttered out. "You're not that bad yourself," she replied. "For a pretty boy," she couldn't help but adding in.
He smirked and smiled at the crowd.
"Would you like to return to the hotel now?" the chauffeur asked as he glanced at the rearview mirror.
Sai glanced out the window of the limo as he watched the cars pass by. "No, actually I have a better idea."
He got out a piece of paper and scribbled an address on it before handing it to the driver.
"Bring me there," he instructed.
"As you wish," the chauffeur said as he started the engine.
Sai sank back into the cushiony leather of the car seat as he watched the scene outside the car window pass by.
"Guess I'll be staying in this city for awhile," he said with a smirk as the lights from the passing street lights flashed by him.