They met on Wednesday night, when the majority of the crowds had cleared out after the final big performances on Monday.

Sasuke had slipped out of the parking lot the back way, so the paparazzi were nowhere to be seen. The address he'd given Sakura was a street corner with a bunch of food trucks (he had decent knowledge of the area); restaurants were out of the question, because of the time and place. He waited on the corner, leaning against a streetlight. God, this was ridiculous. He hadn't been on a date since—well, never. Jesus Christ.

"Hey." Suddenly there she was. She'd surprised him, coming from the opposite way he was looking, but Sasuke didn't let it show.

"Hi," he said. Sakura was wearing jeans and a black sweater, not particularly dressy, and Sasuke suddenly wondered if maybe she wasn't quite so put together in real life as her stage outfits made her look. He was irritated with himself for even being surprised; he knew exactly how a team of people changed the way you were seen.

"So…" She looked up at him expectantly. She was wearing more makeup than she had been in the parking lot that one day, but it had clearly been done on her own terms. "Did you have a particular place in mind?"

"This is the only option. Restaurants aren't going to work," he said.

"Oh, God, duh. I didn't even think about that." Sakura rolled her eyes at herself.

Sasuke smirked, unable to stop himself. She was so genuinely naïve about fame. "This is okay for you, right?"

"Yeah, of course it is," Sakura said, waving a hand. "Honestly, I'm just glad to be out of the Ame bubble. It'll be good to order my own food."

"Tch," Sasuke said. "You snuck out?"

"Yeah." He expected her to blush and act embarrassed about it, but she didn't. "My makeup artist's covering for me. I told them I was going over to her trailer for a few hours." She said it like she did this kind of thing all the time. Well, the way she'd been kissing him told him she had experience. Don't even think about that.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, and she frowned, clearly reconsidering what she'd done. "You don't think it's a big deal, do you?" It sounded so innocent. "I'm still getting used to all of this."

So she didn't do this often. "Not the right person to be asking," Sasuke muttered, darkly amused. He'd never cared about that kind of thing.

"Wow, yeah. I almost forgot who I was talking to," Sakura said dryly.

It was extremely easy to talk to her, Sasuke realized. And they were both sober, unlike the conversation at the bar.

They found themselves at the last food truck, where they ordered fish tacos. Sasuke paid for both of them without a second thought.

"I knew you weren't a total jerk," Sakura said, giving him a smile that made him feel like they'd known each other for a long time.

He rolled his eyes and handed her the food bag. Their hands got slightly muddled, and when Sakura withdrew with the bag, she was blushing slightly. They walked along in silence for a minute.

"So. Should we do the 'getting to know you' stuff?" Sakura asked him. She unwrapped her food.

"Hn. Like what."

"I don't know, the classics. Favorite color, childhood pets. Or favorite, like, punk band. That'd probably be more appropriate." She grinned.

"You like punk?" He asked her, raising an eyebrow.

She just gave him an exasperated look. "Yet again, your bias is unbelievable. You realize that just because my music is one genre, doesn't mean I can't listen to other stuff? That's like assuming you've never listened to classical because you're all rock."

"Hn." She was right, obviously.

"You're a total purist, aren't you," Sakura said, amused. "And you don't even know what my music sounds like."

"Of course I do," He muttered, though he wasn't about to admit that he'd listened to a few songs more than once.

She raised her eyebrows and grinned. "That's surprising, considering I was pretty positive you hated me."

Sasuke shrugged.

"Well, rest assured that I didn't think you were amazing either," Sakura said, and Sasuke rolled his eyes (again).

There was a low stone wall running along part of the sidewalk, and Sakura sat down. Sasuke followed her, leaving a few inches of space between them. They ate in silence for a minute or two, but Sakura didn't seem to be uncomfortable with it (not nearly as uncomfortable as he would've expected).

"It feels so weird, being away from everything," Sakura said, almost to herself. They were almost completely alone on the road.

Sasuke almost smirked. She really was inexperienced. "Tch."

"I know you're laughing at me, but come on. It must've been weird when you starting doing all of press and stuff."

"Aa." He shrugged. It had been weird, and he'd hated all of it. Despised it, really. But after a while, it was all background noise. He could turn off, if he needed to; that was how he'd gotten by for this long.

"Just trying to make conversation," Sakura said with a sigh, a hint of that amusement in her voice. Annoying.

"Not my area," Sasuke muttered, and Sakura laughed.

"Well, not judging by your lyrics," she said, surprising him.

"Don't write lyrics," Sasuke said, even though that wasn't completely true. "That's Shikamaru."

Sakura rolled her eyes like she knew he was lying. "By your G9 chord, then."

G9 was the basis for one of their songs, Alien, and suddenly Sasuke wondered if Sakura had perfect pitch. He didn't ask.

Sakura almost looked embarrassed at his raised eyebrows. "Sorry. I just like your combinations. God, this is weird."

"Thanks." Sasuke smirked, and was darkly satisfied to see that she was blushing. Still, he was too curious to let the discomfort continue. "How long have you been playing guitar."

"I started in ninth grade, my parents let me get a guitar for my fifteenth birthday. I've been playing as much as I could since then." Sakura shrugged. "I'm not great or anything. I didn't get a contract for my guitar playing."

There it was again: that ridiculous, annoying modesty. "Hn."

"What about you?"

"Early. I was twelve. Electric."

"Oh, mine was acoustic. But you're probably not surprised about that." Sakura rolled her eyes.

Sasuke couldn't help smirking. She was right.

And then they started really talking about music, the thing that they actually had in common. And it was so easy. The conversation just took off, because somehow they felt the same things and knew the same styles and yet again she was surprising him.

Her tone became slightly teasing when the conversation turned to the industry. "So did they ever try to make you look more friendly? Or dye your hair?" She raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I mean, unless it is dyed."

"No. It's a rock band." Sasuke said, as if it was obvious. "Shit like that's only for pop." He eyed her own hair.

Sakura shrugged, not put off by his tone. "My hair's natural, believe it or not."

Sasuke raised a skeptical eyebrow and Sakura rolled her eyes. "You know, you try really hard, but I can tell you're not completely insensitive," she said.

Sasuke frowned. "Yeah?" He challenged.

"Yeah. Your music betrays you."

Hearing her say that was much more unexpected than irritating (which it should've been, considering she was being extremely annoying right now), but he didn't let on.

"You're way too...nice." He said, in a way that wasn't meant to be complimentary at all.

"Wow. You might not be insensitive, but you are a complete asshole." Her voice was amused. Why couldn't he ever get her bothered?

"You're not a bad guitar player," he said, because for some reason he didn't want to come off like an asshole around her, the way he did with almost everyone else. It wasn't like it was a lie, either (in which case he never would've said it).

It was also probably the highest compliment he could've given her, and she knew it. Sasuke almost regretted saying it.

Almost.

Sakura raised her eyebrows, momentarily struck dumb. "I—Thanks. That...That wasn't supposed to just be a pickup line or something, right? I mean, I doubt you ever do that kind of thing, but..."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Of course not." He muttered.

"Good." Sakura said, quietly.

She looked around at the empty street, almost as if she was avoiding his eyes. It had darkened around them as they talked; the sun was almost down.

"I have to go back soon," Sakura said after a moment of silence and when the streetlights suddenly turned on. Sasuke felt some satisfaction at her reluctance. "They're probably going to come after me soon."

"Tch. Right."

They walked back to the corner where they had started, neither of them talking.

"I'm going right here," Sakura said, stopping next to the light where they'd met. "You?"

"Left."

"Of course." Sakura looked amused, and Sasuke smirked.

She met his eyes for a solid second and then she moved closer to him.

Without pausing to think about it, he closed the distance and kissed her, feeling that rush of warmth that he remembered from the club. Sober, it was twice as good.

Sakura put more pressure into the kiss, putting her arms around his neck, almost hesitantly (it was the opposite of last time). They stayed like that for a moment.

She pulled away from him when they heard a car horn from a few streets away.

"Hey. We're keeping this quiet, right?" Sakura asked him.

"Definitely." If this got out...No, Sasuke didn't even want to think about that possibility.

She nodded and stepped back. "I should go. Meetings and all that."

Sasuke nodded. "You going to Kumo after this?"

"I think so. For the next month, at least. I'm recording. You?"

"Aa. Until we go on the road again."

"Cool. So I guess I'll see you around, then." She smiled slightly and he felt his stomach flip over.

"Tch. Yeah."

"Great. I'll, um, text you?"

"Sounds good."

He watched her go, and she glanced back to give him a wave before turning the corner.

It was too late to go back now, but Sasuke realized, standing by the streetlight, that he didn't really mind anymore.