"Alright," Sakura said, "I'm going to bring someone else on to help me with this next song." The crowd cheered and Sasuke watched Sakura smile on the backstage monitor. The Winter festival was held in one of Kumo's biggest arenas; it was an all-day affair, and Sakura was one of the last performers. "You all might know him, he's in a pretty well-known band called Firestyle."

The cheers got a hundred times bigger.

Sasuke smirked and walked out onstage, carrying a stool. As soon as he sat down the crowd quieted, as if they were afraid they would miss something.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes.

"So…This is Sasuke, if any of you didn't know," Sakura said into her microphone. People laughed.

"Ready?" She asked him quietly with a smile.

He nodded, readying his guitar. Better just to get it over with.

It was a slow song, and called for a quiet beginning. It was strange, playing so gently in front of so many people.

Sakura sang the first verse by herself and he improvised a little over the chords. Sasuke backed her up with a few harmonies and he saw her smile widen slightly, though she was looking down at her guitar. It made his stomach flip.

Even though it wasn't his thing, Sasuke knew he could sing, at least a little (he would never sing lead for any of the band's songs), but he had no idea the reaction would be like this.

The crowd was almost completely silent through the second verse; Sasuke wasn't watching them because there was something about this, performing with her, that he really liked. It was the feeling he got when he was alone, just playing his guitar.

It was a good song, too, and they both knew it. They'd written it together in about two hours, sitting on the couch in Sakura's apartment late one night. The only other person who knew about it was Kakashi, because of necessity; even Sasuke knew that Kakashi had to sign off on any of his public appearances. But their main goal had been to surprise people, and it looked like it was working.

As they were nearing the end of the song, Sakura looked up at him with a smile. Sasuke played the final chord, softly.

The crowd erupted. The two of them just looked at each other, Sakura's smile growing.

The lights went down and Sasuke went offstage, leaving Sakura to finish her set.

"So, if anyone doubted you two being together before whatever you did at that concert, I'm pretty sure you guys shoved that out the window completely," Ino said, sounding amused. She and Sakura were on the phone later that night.

"Oh come on, people do duets all the time," Sakura said.

"Not duets like that."

"Don't be dramatic," Sakura said. "It was just a casual thing. It was amazing to collaborate with him, actually. Honestly, the music side feels completely separate from the relationship side of—"

Ino interrupted her with a snort.

"What? I'm serious!" Sakura said.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't start waxing poetic," Ino said.

"Wow, thanks," Sakura said, rolling her eyes.

There was a pause. Then, "God, I'm being such a bitch, aren't I?"

Sakura grinned. "A little bit. Not much more than usual. Everything okay?"

"Yeah. I've got the opposite problem from you. It couldn't be slower for me right now." Sakura could tell Ino was stressed. "I hate weeks like this."

"Something will come up. It always does," Sakura said. "Do you want me to—"

"No," Ino said immediately. "I've got contacts I can reach out to. And I have an audition lined up for next week. It's the waiting that kills me."

"I know the feeling," Sakura said. "Who's the audition for?"

"I don't want to jinx it. I'll tell you when it's over," Ino said, sounding amused. "It's someone big, though."

"Like, how big?"

"Someone on your level, Miss Popular."

"What is my level?"

"Oh, don't play dumb and naïve. You know what your level is."

Sakura frowned. "Not really. I mean, I guess you could say I'm on the same level as—"

"Just stop," Ino said. "Seriously. Stop."

"So who's the audition for?"

"Karui." There was a split second pause. "Damn it, Sakura!"

Sakura laughed. "It's gonna be great. That's amazing, Ino!"

"Yeah," Ino grumbled. "And if I don't get it, it's your fault."

"Fine. I'll take full responsibility," Sakura said, amused. She glanced at the clock and sighed. 1:22 am. "Hey, I just realized what time it is. I have to get up early tomorrow to go into the studio. Tell me everything about how the audition went?"

"Of course," Ino said smoothly. "No facial expression will be omitted."

"Good," Sakura said. "Talk to you soon."

"Yep. Good luck with the tabloids." Sakura heard the smirk in Ino's voice, and sighed.

"Phew," Sakura said, wiping her forehead. She fell on the bed next to Sasuke, breathing hard. It was a week later, and the storm wasn't quite ready to die down yet. The media had been aflame from the second their performance ended, and the clip of them performing viral had gone viral within a few hours.

Orochimaru hadn't been particularly pleased that she'd gone behind his back with something so big, but it wasn't like he could criticize the decision. Sakura knew that, at least publicity-wise, there wasn't much that would count as bigger news for her career.

In fact, she had probably underestimated the reaction that her and Sasuke playing music together would have. It wasn't the relationship part; it was the songwriting. As Orochimaru had said, "Sasuke Uchiha never does a single with anyone," making this news for the music world in general.

Sakura's phone buzzed, and she reached out for it lazily.

"What is it," Sasuke said, his voice attractively husky. They were lying on her bed, part of the usual routine they'd been slipping into. Sasuke came over as often as possible, and usually stayed until late at night.

"It's Ino," Sakura said, scrolling through the burst of messages. "Oh my God!"

"What."

"She got the job! They gave it to her right on the spot! Oh my God, this is awesome!" Sakura said, sitting up in excitement. She texted back several reply messages, trying to convey the excitement she was feeling. "She said she's been in production meetings all evening. Wow, that's fast."

"What job?" Sasuke said, pushing himself up too.

"Back-up dancer for Karui. I don't know when or where but God, this is amazing. This could be her breakthrough, finally."

"Hn. Karui's crazy," Sasuke said. "Met her at some show a while back."

Sakura glanced at him, raising her eyebrows. "Oh yeah?"

He gave her a questioning look, eyes narrowed. He was propping himself up on one arm and it showed his shoulder muscles in a way that was, well, extremely appealing.

"Are you saying that because she flirted with you?" Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow. "Just a guess."

"Tch. Of course you'd go right to that."

"Well, I'm assuming you repel all advances. Unless drunk, of course." She grinned at him.

"Look who's talking," he said in a low voice, starting to smirk.

Jesus Christ. "Tone it down," Sakura said, moving towards him so she was straddling his legs. "You don't want to be a hypocrite, do you?"

"Annoying," Sasuke said, pulling her down so their lips met. Sakura pushed her hands into his hair and they hit the pillow together.

A few minutes later, the rush died down and they both fell back again, lying side by side. Sasuke had his arm around her.

They just lay there for a while, but eventually Sasuke broke the silence with something Sakura hadn't expected. "Kakashi wants us to record the song," he said. Sakura turned towards him, meeting his slight frown.

"My team does, too," Sakura said. Orochimaru had told her the previous day, wearing that slight smirk (a look that she was starting to really dislike). "They're pushing it, but I didn't want to say anything."

"Hn," Sasuke said, frowning. "We're gonna have to."

"Do you want to?" Sakura raised her eyebrows. He sounded less than excited about it.

Sasuke shrugged. "We were stupid. Didn't think about the other consequences."

"Yeah," Sakura said, sighing.

He was staring at the ceiling, and looked vaguely annoyed. "I should've known."

"It's not a big deal," Sakura said. "Seriously. But if you don't want to record it, that's fine." It hurt her a little bit to say, but she didn't want to do it if the choice wasn't mutual.

"Of course I want to record it," Sasuke muttered. He'd take any chance he could to work with her in the studio, even if he'd never admit it.

"Okay," Sakura said, settling back onto the pillows. She leaned her head on his shoulder, her hair fanning out over his arm. "Maybe it was dumb, though. The whole live performance thing."

"Yeah, it was," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "Hey, do you think we should rent a place?" Sakura asked a few minutes later, looking up at him.

"What?"

"I mean, rent an apartment that's convenient for both of us. No one else would have to know about it, which means no interruptions…" He knew they were both thinking about the morning with Shizune a few weeks ago. "We wouldn't need that much space or anything," she said. "Just somewhere quiet."

"…Okay," Sasuke found himself agreeing immediately. "Sounds good."

"Cool." Sakura grinned. "I'll look around."

"Show me before you decide," Sasuke said.

"Yeah, yeah." Sakura rolled her eyes.

A few days later she sent him a link to a place downtown, near the band's studio. Maybe, Sasuke texted back, his phone glowing too brightly in his dark bedroom. Suddenly getting a place together seemed weirdly intimate. And this early, it was too big a step for his liking. Not to mention the place had been too small, anyway; barely two rooms, and not much natural light.

Small, not enough light he added, so it wouldn't seem so noncommittal. Could do better.

Okay, Sakura said, and he thought could see her amused smile. But a second later, she also added on to her message. We don't have to do this.

It's fine, Sasuke said. Just don't want to rush into anything crappy.

She didn't reply for a minute. Then, You're right.

It left a slightly uncomfortable feeling in his stomach, but Sasuke ignored it. She'd agreed with him, and Sakura would voice her doubts about his decisions if she had any. At least, he thought she would.

Up until now, everything had been simple. They met up when they could. Usually to spend time in her bed (though that seemed to be a mutual desire). It was casual. And he liked her much, much more than he wanted to. Since when had this gotten so important, in his mind?

God, why had he brought up writing a song together? It wasn't like him at all. He'd just been thinking about the joke in it all, laughing in the face of the media. And the chance to write with Sakura. He didn't completely regret it, though. Annoyingly, he didn't regret much that the two of them did together.

But it had been so stupid. It was all anyone wanted to talk about, and no one was going to forget it anytime soon. He should've stuck to what he normally did; refuse work with anything else, focus on the band's songs instead of distracting opportunities. He wasn't the kind of annoying person to write sappy songs with a girl and then perform them, making people guess whether they were in a relationship or not. And yet that's exactly what he'd done. It didn't matter how much he liked her. It was ridiculous.

He went to bed unsatisfied and irritated. And the next day started off badly from the moment he woke up, wrenched from sleep by Kiba banging on his door. "Yo, get up!"

"What," Sasuke growled, shoving his sheets away.

"We've got an interview this morning. Promotional shit."

"Jesus Christ."

"Yeah. Kakashi wants us there by nine."

The interview was (of course) complete bullshit, and it made him seethe. Sasuke bit out a few answers to their prodding questions about the song with Sakura, and the album, but after a look from Kakashi just shut up altogether. That was what he preferred, anyway.

After that, it was back to the studio, for the most unproductive session they'd had all month. Sasuke couldn't think straight; his fingers hung uselessly over the frets on his guitar. Naruto was texting in a corner, and Kiba was just fiddling with his bass.

"So. What do we need?" Naruto said, looking up at the rest of them.

"A hook. Like I said ten minutes ago," Shikamaru said. "We've got an opener, we need a second song." He was scrolling through something on his phone, fingers moving rapidly.

"Get off your phones," Kiba said, for once the impatient one.

"It's my dad. Sorry," Shikamaru said. "Haven't talked to him in weeks. He just got back from a trip overseas."

Sasuke turned back to his guitar, not particularly interested.

"You seriously haven't talked in weeks?" Naruto asked, looking surprised.

"Well, yeah. He had a spotty phone connection. Plus we've been busy."

"You could email him," Naruto said. "Or send letters. There's plenty of ways to talk!"

"Give it a rest, Naruto" Sasuke said, irritated.

"I'm just saying—"

"I know," Shikamaru said. "But neither of us are that type of person. The way we do things works out fine."

"Let's just get back to the writing," Sasuke muttered. He didn't want to talk about families.

"Maybe we should just cut the whole idea of a second song," Kiba said. "We shouldn't have that many if it doesn't fit with the style."

"Yeah. Nine's a good number," Naruto said, nodding.

Shikamaru shrugged. "I guess that could work out."

"Just remember, everything needs to be finished by the end of the month," the technician on the other side of the glass said. "We need time to get things into shape."

"No shit," Sasuke muttered, and Shikamaru frowned at him.

They went straight from the session to a meeting with a bunch of people on the team at the record label. Kakashi was there, which meant they had at least one person on their side, but Sasuke knew walking in that he wasn't going to like what came out of the discussion.

"So. The new album," one of the publicity people said. "You're still recording?"

"Yeah," Naruto said, glancing at the other three of them.

"You guys are going to have to double your sessions," Kakashi said. "I thought by now we'd have plenty of material."

"So did we," Kiba said.

"Well, the deadline's coming up," Kakashi said. "As much as I don't want to say this, the album needs to get out there."

Fucking incredible, Sasuke thought. Everything was business, and there was no room for real thought. They could put out a crap album, it wouldn't matter. Just as long as it hit stores on the right day.

The four of them had high standards, and Sasuke didn't want to put out anything that was below that bar. The thought that they might have to made him furious. Once provoked, irritation leached into his brain like a toxin, and it felt like everything today had been a trigger.

"How much more do you need? Two songs?" Someone asked.

"It depends," Shikamaru said, and even he looked slightly annoyed. "Whatever feels right. We're thinking of finishing with nine songs for the album."

"What about the song with Sakura Haruno?" One of the executives said, raising an eyebrow. Another one of them grinned.

"No," Sasuke said flatly. "It wouldn't fit."

Naruto snorted and Sasuke shot him a glare.

"He's right," Shikamaru said. "It's her song more than Sasuke's."

"Damn," someone else said. "We're back to the drawing board, then."

We're back to the drawing board. As if they have anything to do with this process, Sasuke thought. "We'll figure it out," he said to them through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, we're not gonna sacrifice quality," Kiba said.

A few people exchanged looks and Sasuke clenched and unclenched his fists under the table. He wasn't the only one of them leaving the meeting annoyed, he knew. All four of them hated situations liked this.

But they liked other things about this way of life much more than he did. Sometimes Sasuke despised everything about his lifestyle. He knew it was what he'd asked for, but making music shouldn't have to be like this. Usually he could brush it off, but on days like this, he couldn't help being affected by it. And there wasn't a way out, not unless he left the band and went somewhere on his own, cut off all ties to fame and his life and just...well, walked out. No forwarding address, nothing.

In the car after they left the studio, Sasuke let his mind go there for a minute. The band could get a new lead guitar; they was still at the level that anyone would say yes in a heartbeat to joining up. Their team could get the next best guitarist out there.

And the only other tie he had now was Sakura, and Sasuke figured if he pushed her out of his head the way he'd done to other people before, it wouldn't matter. He'd be an asshole in her eyes (and his own), but he could deal with that. It wasn't like he'd ever cared about people's opinions of his personality. Sakura Haruno would be the same as any other person.

No. The realization hit him hard. He wouldn't be able to leave her like that. For whatever reason, cutting ties with Sakura would be harder than almost anything else. He cared about her opinion in a way that he didn't about anyone else's. And he couldn't stop. The thought made him feel weak, and even angrier than before.

A/N: My computer decided to self-destruct a few days ago, which caused a bit of a scare because I thought I was going to all the writing I did this summer (and a lot of work on various stories). But I managed to recover everything so updates are as normal. I now have a new and much better computer. Note to self: don't get lazy about backing up your files.

Anyway, hope you're enjoying.