Song of a Cherry Blossom
by Diana-san

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 22

Sakura sensed the suspicion written in Sasuke's eyes. She knew she had to do something fast if she wanted to break free of his intense gaze. She gulped as she grabbed a blank disc from behind her. "A-a recording! Saki made a recording of the song as a guide for Sai."

Sasuke stared at the disc in Sakura's hand. He took it and flipped it back and forth as he stared at it some more, seeking for answers. "Why didn't Sai sing instead?" he questioned.

"Um, his microphone was defective and I noticed it too late so by the time the song was playing, I had no choice but to play the backup disc," she fibbed. She was surprised at how fast she could lie on the spot. She closed her eyes. She didn't like lying like this but she didn't think she could exactly spill out her secret yet to Sasuke. Not like this, at least.

Sasuke didn't really seem to believe in the excuse but he backed away from Sakura as he straightened up and cleared his throat. He handed back the disc to Sakura. Suddenly, he realized that he was still in his princess outfit and he turned away in embarrassment.

He heard a small giggle escape from Sakura as she laughed. "You look very pretty today, Sasuke," she teased.

"Shut up."

Sakura hugged him from behind. "Just this once," she said softly as she put her head against his back.

He relaxed his shoulders as he stood there. Everyone was downstairs and paying attention to the play so it was just the two of them inside the control room, hidden from sight from the rest of the school. He realized he hadn't seen or talked much to Sakura since the day of the cultural festival was announced. Besides lessons together in school, they were both busy after school with their own preparations for the festival.

The two of them stood there as they enjoyed the quiet moment alone together. He sighed. It would be all too soon before they had to break away and return back to their daily lives. He thought back to the disc. He had a feeling that Sakura wasn't telling him the whole truth but he figured it would be best to not ask anymore.

A knock came at her door as Sakura glanced up from her homework assignment. It was the Sunday following after the cultural festival and Sakura had taken the day off from work to catch up on her homework. She rolled off her bed as she went to open the door.

"Sai!" she exclaimed. "What brings you here?" Sakura sticks her head out into the hallway as she darts her eyes back and forth. "You didn't bring a trail of reporters did you?" she accused.

He laughed. "No, I did not. May I come in?"

Sakura hesitantly opened the door wider as she allowed him to come inside. Sai handed her a bouquet of pink hydrangeas. "What for?" she asked in puzzlement.

"As thanks. For what you did yesterday at the play." Sai blushed a little as he looked away in embarrassment. "I thought about it last night and I realized you were right. I was silly in what I said about singing the song. My brother wouldn't have wanted me to go that far in ruining my voice. So I'm glad that you stopped me by doing what you did."

He sighed as he sat down on a kitchen chair. "I think I'm going to quit the entertainment industry and focus on my real passion."

Sakura placed the flowers in an empty vase on her kitchen counter. "That'll be sad to hear for your fans but I'm sure you'll finally be happy."

"Actually, I didn't just come here to thank you. If I'm going to turn down the movie role, it might be a chance for you to take my spot."

Sakura snorted. "As if. I don't think that's how things work in real life." She carefully arranged the flowers so that they neatly fit in the vase.

He laughed. "Maybe you're right. But my manager knows about you and he might be willing to offer you something because of your particular situation."

"I'll worry about that if it ever happens." Sakura poured some water into the vase.

"I guess this is good bye then."

Sakura glanced up from the vase. "Good bye?" she echoed.

"Ah, since I have no more reason to stay in school anymore. I think I'll take a break and focus on painting. I also have followed up on the promise I made you and scheduled a surgery during winter break for my vocal nodules."

Sakura smiled sadly. "It's a shame to see you leave. I was just beginning to tolerate your nonsense."

He smiled at her. "We may see more of each other if you and my cousin ever get together."

Sakura bit her lip. "That's ridiculous," she murmured.

"Don't lose faith," he said as he walked to the door. "See you, ugly."

She smirked. "Ah," she replied but he had already left.

The rest of the month flew by as December came and the days got colder. Winter break was fast approaching and everyone was anxious for it to start. Sai had already withdrew from school and many of his fans cried when they heard the news. They cried even harder when they heard on the news that he had decided to stop singing and instead, take up painting. Some fans burned their CDs in anger as others proclaimed that they would be first in line to purchase his works of art.

Sakura smiled when she heard the news. It was nice to know that Sai was doing what he loves most. She glanced at Ino who sat near the front. Sakura couldn't help but notice that every time that Sai was mentioned in the class, Ino would have this dreamy look on her face. She wondered if the time that Sai and Ino spent together during the cultural festival preparations had brought those two closer together.

She was cautious every time she was around Sasuke. Karin seemed to always be around and clinging close to him. Sakura tried to maintain her distance and could tell that it seemed that she was slowly drifting further away from Sasuke. It was inevitable. With Karin around each time, there was no way to be anything more than just classmates.

Winter break arrived as Christmas approached. Sakura celebrated with her Icha Icha family as they spent the whole night eating and drinking. She took a sip of her egg nog and made a face at the taste. It was the opposite of what she thought egg nog would taste like. In fact, it tasted more like alcohol. She glanced at the drink as she took another sip. Glancing at her band, she wondered if someone had spiked the bowl.

She woke up the next day in her bed. Her head was aching. She groaned as she rolled out of bed and went to get a glass of water. This was probably what a hangover felt like. She only remember knocking out and either Jiraiya or Idate must have driven her home.

The doorbell rang and Sakura glanced up from her glass of water. She wondered who it could be at this hour on the day after Christmas. She opened it and saw an unfamiliar man standing at the doorway.

"Greetings, Miss Haruno-san?"

She nodded as she peeked out from the crack of the door. "Who are you?"

"My name is Shimura Danzo. You don't know me but I am or was Sai's manager."

She opened the door wider. "You're a friend of Jiraiya's as well," she mentioned.

"Yes, may I come in?"

She allowed him entrance to her apartment as she hurried and threw a blanket over the mess on her bed. "Excuse me for the mess. I wasn't expecting company today," she apologized.

"No worries. It was rude of me to show up unannounced."

She poured him a cup of water and offered it to him.

He took it in one hand but didn't drink from it. "I'll cut to the chase. I'm here to offer you a chance to take up Sai's spot in the movie."

Sakura almost dropped the pitcher of water in surprise. "A-are you serious?" she sputtered out. She was wondering why she asked that question. Of course, he was serious. Otherwise, why else would he show up at 9 in the morning to her apartment?

"I don't want to," she finally said.

"I thought you would say that. Jiraiya was right about your personality."

Sakura placed the pitcher down. "I appreciate the offer. But I have school to focus on and that's my main priority right now."

"Did you know Tsunade used to be a teen idol back in her day?"

Sakura laughed. "There's no way she could have been… Tsunade is Tsunade…well, I mean… was she really?"

Danzo turned to her. "You could ask her yourself. But yes, she was. It was short-lived though. She got an offer to star in a big film production at the height of her fame but she turned it down because she didn't want to go overseas and leave everything behind. It turned out that such a move destroyed her career as the offers stopped coming and eventually, she left the business. I'm guessing she had some sort of attachment to this place."

"Not a place," Sakura murmured. "Probably she couldn't leave because she loved Jiraiya-sama."

"Well I guess she's happy. She got to be with him in the end."

She sat down at the kitchen table across from Danzo. "Why are you telling me all this? About Tsunade that is."

"Because this offer is a once in a lifetime chance. Tsunade didn't take it when she had the chance and now here is your chance to do what Tsunade couldn't."

"Why me? Of all people."

"I'll be frank with you Haruno-san. I had other intentions than for Sai to come here to help Jiraiya promote his club. I heard about you and your situation and thought it was a perfect opportunity to promote Sai and his new movie. The scandal that broke out about the two of you wasn't an accident. Him declaring you as a girlfriend wasn't just his idea." He set his cup down as he gazed at Sakura with stern eyes.

"How would affiliating with me promote his movie?" Sakura was confused. None of this was making much sense to her in any way.

"Eventually, I was planning on exposing your secret at the right time. It would create a stir once people knew about you and see the parallel between you and Sai's role. Buzz would be generated."

Sakura was shocked to hear all this. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Given that Sai has dropped out and his voice no longer the same as before, the original plan has fallen through. I know it seems that my way of work seems ruthless to you but I am being completely honest with you. I hope you don't take it too personal."

She clenched her fists. How was she supposed to not take it personally when he just admitted that he instigated everything and was even planning to expose her secret?

"I'm sorry. But I don't think I'll be taking this offer."

Danzo placed a business card down on the table. "Please give some time to think about it. I am willing to give you until March to decide. This is after all, a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if you have a good voice, it takes much more than that to succeed by yourself."

She said nothing but he stood up and signaled that he was going to be taking his leave. "Thank you for the water," he said as he excused himself and went to the door.

He turned and gave one last look at Sakura as he spoke, "You may think these methods are cruel but if you ever hope to join the entertainment industry, you have to understand that this is the reality of the business."

He left but his words left a mark on Sakura. Maybe he was right. Maybe her dream had a harsher reality than she had hoped.

The days went by uneventfully as winter break was soon drawing to a close. Sakura huddled in her winter coat as she hurried inside the grocery store near her home. Her place ran out of soy sauce and she just couldn't bear to eat her dumplings without it. She walked straight to the condiments aisle where she knew her brand of soy sauce was located.

A man was standing in front of the section with the soy sauce and she murmured an "excuse me" as she tried to slip her hand through to grab a bottle.

"Sakura-san!"

Sakura glanced up in surprise at the mention of her name. The man also returned a surprised expression as he lifted up his cap.

"Sakura-san! It's me, Yamato!"

"Yamato?" The name didn't really ring any bell. Sakura glanced at him as she hugged the soy sauce bottle close to her. Maybe he was that local stalker on the news that pretended to be a long lost relative only to follow you home at night.

"Ah, you probably don't recognize me since you were young when I first met you. I was your grandparents' chauffeur until they passed away." His face immediately turned sad as he got lost in his thoughts.

"AH! Yamato-san!" Sakura suddenly recalled the name. She did recall her grandparents' chauffeur and how he would bring candy each time he drove her to lessons. "What brings you to this part of the city? If I remember correctly, you used to live near my grandparents."

"Ah, I guess you haven't heard?" He looked at Sakura as if trying to figure out how to phrase his next sentence. "After the accident, the company struggled and was on the brink of collapsing. I think they tried to look for you since you were technically the heir to the company. But they couldn't find you and it seemed as if the company was doomed."

Sakura was shocked. She never heard about any of this.

"Fortunately, through some sort of miracle, the company was acquired by a bigger company. A good portion of people still lost their jobs but it could have been worse, I supposed."

Sakura looked up at Yamato. "What about you? Did you lose your job?"

"I was a different case. Since I wasn't contracted with the company and worked for your grandparents directly, I had no choice but to look for another job. It was difficult the first few months but I finally found a job near this area. So I moved here just about a week ago."

Yamato smiled as he commented, "You have grown up since I last saw you but you look just as beautiful as the pictures your grandparents would show me all the time."

He patted her on the head. "I'll take you out for lunch one of these days. I think it's my best way of paying respect to your grandparents by making sure you are alright."

She nodded as he handed her a card. "My number if you ever needed to get in touch. It was nice to run into you, Sakura-san."

He left and Sakura stood there looking at the card. Her heart felt heavy. She had never knew the aftermath that followed from the deaths of her grandparents. She wondered about the families that had lost their jobs. She wondered if she could have done anything about it if she had known. Probably nothing. She knew nothing about what kind of business or company that her grandparents ran.

As she left the store, she felt something drop on her face and she glanced up and noticed that it was the first snow fall of the new year. She held out a hand to catch a snowflake. Maybe if I make a wish on it, I could see…

Her thought trailed off when she saw Sasuke standing in front of her apartment building. He was huddled in a giant winter coat with his hood on as he crouched there on the steps of her building.

"Sasuke?" she asked as she walked up to him. He looked like he had been sitting there for awhile.

He jumped up when he heard her voice. "Where were you?" he demanded to know as he shivered despite wearing a coat.

She glanced down at the bag in her hand. "I went to buy some soy sauce since I ran out. Were you waiting for me?"

He said nothing as he opened the door to the apartment building and gestured at her to hurry inside.

"You could have waited inside if you were cold."

"I was worried that I was at the wrong apartment building so I waited outside instead."

As soon as she opened the door to her apartment, Sasuke barged in as he huddled by the heater. "Is the heater broken?" he asked when he realized that no heat was coming out.

"It's expensive to pay for so I don't have it on."

Sasuke stared at her in shock. "How do you live without a heater in this place?"

Sakura got out a kettle as she began boiling water. "You just get by," she replied as she took out a tea bag from the cupboard. "Are you really that cold? You're in a jacket that looks warmer than mine."

"I have a low tolerance for extreme weather."

Sakura laughed. She never expected to see this side of him. It was silent for a moment as she watched the kettle. "How did you manage to escape from Karin?" she finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Naruto created a distraction for me as I ran for it."

Sakura poured a cup of tea as she handed it to Sasuke before pouring herself a cup. "Oh," she said.

"Sakura…"

"Mm?" She stared at the tea leaves floating at the top of her cup before sinking to the bottom.

"I'm sorry."

That caught her by surprise. She looked up and saw Sasuke looking back at her.

"I know these past few weeks have been difficult for us. Karin is always following me everywhere I go. And my parents have made it clear to me that they intend to see this marriage through. They want us to get married in March."

Sakura sat still in her seat. "In March?" she repeated in a daze. That was in two months.

"After school ends, during the spring break. They are hoping to transition me to take over the company earlier."

Sakura's mind swirled. Everything was happening too fast. She placed her cup down.

"If you say the word, I'll break off the marriage and we can run away or something. Elope. Or not if you don't want to get married yet. We can just be together." Sasuke's eyes looked at Sakura but Sakura could only feel her mind go blank as she tried to register what was happening.

Say the word? What word? Sakura's mind raced as she clutched her cup. She pulled back when she realized how hot it was to touch.

That I love him? The word 'love' seem to be caught in her throat. How could she say it? When she hasn't even been completely honest with Sasuke about everything. About her secret life. About her being Saki. What would he say then if he knew? Would he be upset? Angry? Happy to know she and 'Saki' are the same person? She was too scared to find out.

Sasuke got up. "I have to go soon. I only had an hour to meet with you and it's almost up. You don't have to reply right away but I hope you see that I am honest about how I feel about you." He walked to the door. "It was nice seeing you after so long," he said with a small smile.

Sakura turned around and watched as he left. She should do something. She should run after him and hug him or something. But her legs wouldn't budge from her seat.

The reality finally settled in. She thought back to her run-in with Yamato. If she told Sasuke she loved him, would he abandon the company? Would the company go to its downfall like her grandparents' company did? Would people lose their jobs because of her selfish wants and needs?

Tears fell from her face. She realized she was a coward. She didn't have the courage to love him back.