The good thing about the period of time between Ame and the awards season was that it was quiet. Summer tours were done, and they were back in Kumo for a good amount of time. The band shared a penthouse apartment in one of the nicest areas of the city, a few blocks from some studios. Kumo was the entertainment capital, though Konoha was also known as a music hub. It wasn't surprising that Sakura came from Konoha, Sasuke thought; a large number of musicians came out of the city. Oto was trying to cultivate that reputation, but they weren't quite there yet. Sasuke hadn't been back to his hometown in over a year, and he was fine with that. It wasn't like there was anything there for him.

The band got to the apartment late in the afternoon, and everyone disappeared to their own rooms. Just having his own bedroom was better than almost everything, Sasuke thought as he deposited his bags on the floor. Sometimes it felt like the lack of privacy on tour was more wearing than anything. Now he had time to himself.

The schedule for the next few weeks mostly involved writing, before the awards season began. It was the only slow period they'd have for a while, with no promotion to do and very few performances. Their only real obligation was recording new material. Granted, that was time-consuming and difficult at times, but it was Sasuke's favorite kind of work.

He'd been texting with Sakura in the last week more than he cared to admit, and they'd talked on the phone last night (Sasuke couldn't remember the last time he'd had a phone conversation that wasn't about business). Sasuke had gone down to the underground parking garage of the apartment building (at the risk of being recognized) to avoid his bandmates eavesdropping on his conversation. It was probably overkill, but he didn't want to risk it.

Sasuke went into the studio for the first time since they'd come back on a Friday afternoon with Shikamaru. He'd always liked working in the studio; something about writing at the apartment made him less productive, even in their practice room. Kiba and Naruto were off doing who-knows-what, after jamming that morning.

He played a few chords, trying to figure out a good base. Shikamaru was lying on the couch, more interested in sleeping than contributing to anything. He'd abandoned the keyboard about fifteen minutes before.

Sasuke's phone buzzed, and he saw that it was Sakura. They'd been talking on and off all day; she'd said she had a photo call or something that morning, and then rehearsals of some sort in the afternoon.

He smirked just seeing the text, not able to help himself even though it was something stupid—'Productive session?' (he had told her that morning that he was going into the studio).

"So how long have you two been going out? Since the first night in Ame?" Shikamaru asked. He was watching Sasuke, smirking slightly.

"What are you talking about." Sasuke said in a low voice.

"Sakura Haruno." Shikamaru said. "Don't even bother denying it."

Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able to. "How'd you know."

"You haven't been yourself since Iwa. And you never smirk when you're texting someone."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Don't take that in a creepy way. When you live with someone for years, you get to know them too well," Shikamaru said, sounding bored. "Also it was way too obvious when you snuck out that one night. I'm surprised at least Kiba hasn't caught on." He smirked.

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"I won't rub it in, but I'm kinda surprised," Shikamaru said after a moment.

"Yeah." Sasuke said. "Me too." It was a rare truthful statement, only because Shikamaru was one of the few people he could be honest with. Then he rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows and smiled slightly. "Clearly not whatever. You're seriously into her, aren't you."

Sasuke shrugged.

"How long are you planning to keep it under the radar?" Shikamaru said, raising his eyebrows.

"As long as possible." Sasuke said darkly.

"Good luck." He grinned, which made Sasuke frown. "You'd better tell Naruto and Kiba," Shikamaru said. "And Kakashi. You can't exactly keep it from them."

"Hn. I'll do it." Sasuke muttered, not looking forward to the prospect. He stood up. "I'm going. We're not gonna get anything done if you're asleep."

"Yeah, probably not." Shikamaru said. He closed his eyes. "You going back to the apartment?"

"Aa."

"I'll see you there. We've got the room for another hour, I'm gonna sleep."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and left.

He supposed he should be grateful for someone like Shikamaru, who didn't bring drama to the whole thing. His other bandmates would be a different story.

"You want to meet up next week?" Sasuke was talking to Sakura on the phone, standing on one of the balconies of their apartment.

"Um, yeah, I'd love to. I'm in the studio almost every day, but I think I'm free Thursday afternoon?"

"Works for me."

"Great. Do you want to meet around five?"

"Aa. Sure."

She gave him an address that was walking distance from his apartment, and they hung up after a moment of awkwardness.

"Sorry, I came right from a dance rehearsal," Sakura said. She was slightly out of breath, and wearing leggings and a t-shirt under a loose jacket. Her hair was in a ponytail and it was clear she hadn't cared about trying hard. Sasuke was struck yet again by how effortlessly beautiful she was. It was ridiculous, really, and it shouldn't affect him nearly as much as it did.

"Don't worry about it."

"So where do you want to go? There's a diner I like that's pretty far downtown, I doubt anyone will recognize us."

"How do you know."

Sakura glanced at him and grinned. "Because it's the early bird special. We'll be the only people there under sixty five."

Sasuke smiled reluctantly.

The diner in question was about as stereotypical as you could get. Shiny metal exterior, neon red sign advertising the name: Teuchi's. Sakura led the way in, beaming at the waitress inside.

"Just you two?" The waitress asked. She had to be in her early sixties.

"Yes, thanks." Sakura said.

The waitress led the way to a booth towards the back. "I'll be back to take your orders soon, dears."

Sasuke looked around the place, raising his eyebrows. "You come here often?" Sakura had been right; the only other customers were a few old couples and some ancient guys at the bar. The two of them

Sakura laughed. "I've been once. Someone recommended it when I asked about somewhere secluded. I just thought of it this afternoon, when I was thinking about places we could actually go." She picked up the menu and looked it over, and Sasuke did the same.

"What are you getting." He asked her.

"Definitely a grilled cheese." Sakura said, putting her menu down.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Tch."

"Don't 'tch' me," Sakura said, staring intensely at him. "You may think grilled cheese is beneath you, but I happen to think that it's delicious."

Sasuke just shook his head.

"What are you getting?" She asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Sasuke shrugged.

"Come on, you must have a favorite food. I know you don't just eat, like, steak."

"Steak?" He smirked.

"You know what I'm talking about," Sakura said, waving a hand impatiently. "The stereotypical guy foods."

Sasuke just looked at her. In a weird way he enjoyed riling her up.

"Oh my god," Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

He let up. "Tomatoes."

"That's your favorite food?"

Sasuke shrugged. "Probably."

"Alright, I'll take it." Sakura grinned. "I really wanted you to say strawberry cheese cake, though."

Sakura sighed with pleasure twenty minutes later when the waitress put the large sandwich and accompanying French fries in front of her.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Look, I've been eating strictly portioned meals for the last week. This is heaven." Sakura said.

He frowned immediately. "Why."

Sakura waved a hand. "They want me on a diet before awards season. Normal stuff."

"That's ridiculous. You're skinny."

"Not skinny enough, apparently," Sakura said, her slightly bitter tone betraying the dismissive way she'd brought it up.

"You don't have to put up with shit like that." Sasuke muttered, angry. He had always pushed away all suggestions from the band's team and stylists and who knows who else.

"Yeah, I do. I'm a girl. I'm a product to be marketed and I signed up for that the minute I signed my record deal. I knew that, and you should too." Sakura said. Sasuke didn't know what to say, she was so spot-on. Of all people, he should understand what she was talking about. The music industry was as much about visual marketing as it was about audible marketing.

"Controlling what you eat, though?" Sasuke said.

"Look, I don't want to talk about this," Sakura said, and it was the closest he'd seen her to truly angry. "Can we just, I don't know, have a normal night? Without talking about drama or whatever."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. 'Normal' wasn't exactly a word that he knew the definition of.

Sakura seemed to realize it, because she shook her head and then smiled reluctantly. "Alright, a nice night. That's what I want."

"Sure." Sasuke said, and then the waitress was bringing his chicken sandwich up to the table.

"I've gotta say, I never would've expected to see two kids as gorgeous as you here for the early bird shift," she said as she set the plate down in front of Sasuke. "Why aren't y'all off with your friends?"

"We wanted somewhere quiet," Sakura said with a smile.

"Well, you got that for sure. Not hiding from anyone out here, are you?"

Sakura was blushing slightly. "I hope not," she said.

"Good, good. Well, call me if you need anything, I'll check up on you in a few minutes."

"Thank you," Sakura said. She caught Sasuke's eye and bit her lip, and he smirked.

An hour later, full of greasy diner food, Sasuke was extremely glad they'd gone. It had probably been one of the best meals he'd had in a long time. After paying, the two of them left the diner walked along the street. Sakura linked her hand with his as they walked, and Sasuke was struck by how ridiculously strange this was. If anyone who knew him (or didn't know him) could see him now…No. He didn't even care about them.

Honestly, in that moment he really only cared about the pink-haired girl next to him.

Sasuke stopped walking and Sakura turned to look at him, frowning. "What, do you have to go back?"

"Not yet." Sasuke said. He leaned in and kissed her, and Sakura immediately kissed him back. They were up against the wall of a building, and Sakura tightened her grip on his waist slightly, like she was going to push him into the wall. She was kissing him hard, until vaguely Sasuke heard a car drove by.

"I think eventually we need to find a better place for this," Sakura said, pulling away from him a few inches.

Someone whistled, and both of them looked around to see a kid standing on the opposite side of the road. "Get a room!" He yelled.

"Okay, we definitely need to find a better place for this." Sakura said.

Sasuke stepped away. "Aa. Got lucky. Could've been a paparazzi."

Sakura nodded and sighed. "You're right. I didn't even think of that."

"They always know how to find you," Sasuke said darkly, and for some reason Sakura laughed.

"Tone down the cryptic messages," she said, poking him in the chest.

"Annoying," Sasuke muttered. Sakura just smiled.

The band got together about a week later for their first formal recording session (well, practice session—they had carved out a chunk of time to write in the studio together). Sasuke and Shikamaru played a few of the basic melodies they'd gotten down in the past week, and Naruto and Kiba would add things and give (occasionally helpful) suggestions. Somehow the four of them were actually in the zone together, and five hours in the studio flew by until Sasuke glanced at the clock and saw that it was five thirty. He was supposed to meet Sakura at six.

"I have to go," Sasuke said, standing up.

"Where? We've still got an hour here." Naruto said.

"Dude. We don't have anything to do." Kiba said. "What's so important that you have to cut a session short?"

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows expectantly from the corner. Jesus Christ, Sasuke thought. Well, he'd have to tell them at some point. Honestly, it was amazing that he'd been able to keep it quiet for this long. "Meeting Sakura," he muttered.

"WHAT?" Naruto dropped the drumstick he'd been twirling absently.

"Whoa. Whoa." Kiba said.

"Hold on, have you guys been banging this entire time?" Naruto asked, his tone incredulous.

"Well, your lovesick puppy theory clearly wasn't right," Kiba said to Naruto, smirking.

"We haven't been banging, dobe." Sasuke said through gritted teeth, ignoring Kiba's (uncomfortably false) comment.

"Why the hell not?" Kiba demanded. "She's fucking hot. And a great singer."

"Jesus Christ, Kiba." Shikamaru said.

"Plus you basically got all the way in Iwa, didn't you?" Naruto said, cackling.

Sasuke didn't even respond to that, just snatched up his jacket and guitar case.

"Hey, hold on a second," Kiba said. "Are you two like actually dating?"

Sasuke shrugged.

"That's a yes." Naruto said, and Sasuke wanted to punch him.

Kiba laughed. "Well, congrats. How long do you think she'll put up with you?"

"Shut the fuck up." Sasuke said, pulling on his jacket.

"I'm just kidding." Kiba smirked.

Sasuke saw Shikamaru roll his eyes, but he also seemed amused by this whole thing.

"Hey, Kiba, you know you owe me fifty bucks now." Naruto said with a wide grin.

Sasuke left without another word. They were insufferable.

He met Sakura at a coffee shop, another place on a back street that was quiet and mostly empty.

"Where do you find these places." Sasuke muttered when they reached the building.

"Believe me, I'm taking advantage of all my resources," Sakura said with a laugh. "Shizune told me about this one, she's my hair person. I just asked about a place where she thought I could get by unnoticed."

Sasuke nodded and looked at the place skeptically. Coffee shops were not his scene. At all. And yet here he was. What's wrong with you, he thought irritably as he followed Sakura inside. She led the way to a table in the corner.

"What do you want?" He asked her.

"How about I order?" Sakura's mouth quirked upward in a smile. "You look uncomfortable enough just being in here."

"Hn." He didn't contradict her.

"So what do you want, then?" Sakura asked him.

"Just coffee and a sandwich." Sasuke said. "Doesn't matter what kind."

Sakura nodded and smiled.

She came back a few minutes later with two cups of coffee and handed him a ham sandwich, setting down a bowl of soup for herself.

"Thanks," Sasuke muttered.

"No problem," Sakura said airily, pouring milk into her coffee. Sasuke watched her.

"What?" She said, frowning slightly. He thought she might be blushing.

"Nothing."

"I'm guessing you drink yours black?" Her tone was almost mocking.

"Aa."

"Of course." She shook her head. Sasuke rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

"Something bothering you?" Sakura said after a moment. "You seem more sullen than usual. Which doesn't say much, but still."

He ignored her remark. "Told the rest of the band about us," Sasuke said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"They're like middle schoolers," he muttered.

Sakura laughed. "Well, it must've been a shock to them."

"Why." Sasuke said, eyes narrowed.

"You're not exactly the kind of guy who dates a lot. Or at all, I'm guessing."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, slightly uncomfortable.

"Well, you're ahead of me, anyway. I've only told Ino." Sakura said.

"Who's that."

"God, I keep forgetting how much we don't know about each other. She's my best friend, from home."

"She trustworthy?"

Sakura looked at him like he was crazy. "I've known her since I was six. I'd hope so."

"Just checking." He said.

She rolled her eyes. "She understands the implications." She added quietly, "Maybe more than I do. She's in the industry too."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "Really."

"Yeah, she's a back-up dancer."

"For who."

"No one big yet, but she's getting there."

"Hn."

"Don't sound so enthusiastic."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Annoying."

Sakura sighed and pushed her soup around before taking a bite. She looked around the room, frowning. "I have to say," she said after a minute, "It's weird for me to see you in a place like this. And we've known each other for less than a month."

Sasuke shrugged and finished his sandwich. The coffee was alright, pretty good by his low standards from touring. Despite the band's celebrity and money supply, food service on the road could be lacking. Not that Sasuke had ever cared too much about that kind of thing…but he supposed he'd gotten a bit pickier once he could actually afford to.

Sakura pushed her soup bowl away a few minutes later and sighed. Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "What's wrong."

"I'm just tired. But it's fine, I get to sleep in tomorrow."

"You have an apartment here?" He asked her before he could think better of it.

"Yeah, I have a place on River Street. It's new, though, I just moved in and there's barely anything in it. I bought it a few months ago but I haven't had any time to work on it."

Sasuke nodded.

"You guys have some kind of crazy penthouse, don't you?" Sakura looked amused.

"How do you know."

Sakura just looked at him. "You're kidding, right?"

Sasuke realized that for once he'd been the naïve one with that comment.

"It's Firestyle. Everyone wants to know your business." Sakura said. "Everyone probably does know your business, in a lot of cases."

"Hn." Sasuke had always hated thinking about that.

"You know, maybe we should just meet at my place," Sakura said. She was frowning. "I don't think anyone knows where I live, it'd be so much easier than sneaking out to these kind of places."

"Aa." She was right.

There was a back alley behind the coffee shop, and after finishing dinner they kissed there for a while until Sakura's phone started going off.

"Just let it ring," Sakura said impatiently. Her hands were deep in Sasuke's hair and her cheeks were flushed.

"No. Might be important." Sasuke said, though he was as reluctant as she was to pull apart.

Sakura sighed and pulled out her phone. "Sorry," she said after a moment, "I went out for a walk. No, of course not. Oh my God, I completely forgot. Yeah. I'll be there in half an hour." She stuffed her phone away. "There was a meeting I was supposed to go to, I forgot about it." She smoothed down her hair hurriedly. "I need to go."

"Aa. I'll walk up to the street with you." Sasuke muttered.

She nodded, and then gave him a long look. "God, sorry." Their eyes met for a few seconds. He could still feel her hands against his bare skin, and the eye contact sent sparks down his arms.

"It's fine." Sasuke said.

They started walking back the way they'd come, up to the darkening street.

"They're gonna want to meet you again," Sasuke said suddenly.

"Who, the rest of the band?" Sakura raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah. You should just come over sometime," Sasuke muttered, before he could stop himself from saying it.

"Isn't that a bad idea?" Sakura says. "We were just talking about this. You have paparazzi right outside your door."

Sasuke shrugged. "Other ways in. I never use the front door."

"Right. I didn't even think about that."

"Next week. I'll text you." Sasuke said.

"Sounds good," Sakura said. She smiled, and Sasuke's stomach flipped over.

A/N: Updating from a train today (never thought I'd say that lol).