Sakura turned in a circle, staring at the walls and huge windows. "Wow," she breathed. "This is amazing. Can we afford it?"

Sasuke snorted, then realized how insensitive that was. Even though he hadn't come from money, he'd gotten so used to it not being an issue. But Sakura was still new to this. "Yeah, we can," he said, amending his tone.

"That was probably a stupid question," Sakura said. "It's just…Weird, you know?"

Sasuke nodded. He remembered the first awe of being able to afford a whole new kind of lifestyle. Now he was far removed from any feelings of worry about money.

"I really love it," Sakura said.

Sasuke smirked. "Thought you might." It was the first apartment he had visited, and immediately he'd known it was the right one. It was three rooms: a large, high-ceilinged living room, a bedroom, and a kitchen much more spacious than the one in Sakura's apartment.

Sakura shook her head, amused. "Should we start by renting, do you think? Is that an option?"

Sasuke nodded. "We can get a three month lease on it." They both had summer tours, which he was trying not to think about, so it didn't make sense to keep an apartment while neither of them would be in the city.

The apartment was already lightly furnished, nothing particularly interesting but all of it functional and useful. Sakura already looked excited at the possibilities.

It took two weeks to figure out the particulars of the lease, but finally they had two keys and were standing in a living room that they could call their own, at least for the time being. Not that they spent much time there, because of schedules. Sasuke was itching for a night alone with her, unbothered by anything.

Unfortunately, that didn't seem likely for a while. The band was at the end of the production period on the album, and Sasuke was in and out of the studio to approve final changes to certain songs. He was also attempting to ignore the constant media coverage of his and Sakura's relationship, though they didn't have much to report on. The awards season had ended, so any opportunities to catch them in public were few and far between. Sakura was in the studio or doing press all day every day, and even if their schedules had been more relaxed, neither of them wanted to tempt paparazzi by going out together.

He couldn't tell if the storm over their relationship had died down because of hype over coming albums. Sakura had told him she was getting questions about him in interviews, but not nearly as many as she'd expected. She had mentioned Konan before, but Sasuke privately thought that it was a very different situation for Sakura, who wasn't nearly at the height of her career. Her own momentum and sheer ability to stand out would ensure that nothing overshadowed her. At least, he hoped so.

Sasuke couldn't really explain it, but he felt more relaxed at the new apartment. He didn't feel like he had to maintain any kind of front with Sakura, he had always felt like that, but having their own place intensified the feeling. He'd only told Kakashi about it out of necessity.

Kakashi had promised to keep the address a secret from the rest of the team, so for now Sasuke was going to live in the dreamworld with the expectation that no one would come to bother them there. For now, it was worth it. Being alone gave them nights to themselves, and it was already doing good for Sakura's music. He came home one night, his guitar over his shoulder, to find her writing in the sparsely furnished living room.

"Hey," she said, giving him a smile.

"Hi," Sasuke said. "You want me to leave you alone?"

"No, it's fine. I don't have my guitar or a piano so it's probably a waste of time to do anything else tonight."

"Where's your guitar?"

"It's at the studio. I got rushed out early and it got left behind. But it's fine, no one will touch it. At least, I hope not." She frowned. "It's kind of frustrating, though, I wanted to have this song done but I can't figure out chords in my mind."

Sasuke put his guitar case on the table. "You want to play mine?"

Sakura opened her mouth but didn't say anything for a moment. "Wait, seriously?" She looked shocked.

"You let me play yours," he said, shrugging. It seemed only fair, and she actually needed it. Sakura had told him he was the only person she trusted with his guitar, and Sasuke realized that by now the opposite was true too. Before recently, he wouldn't have even thought about loaning someone his guitar, let alone touching it.

"I—Okay." Sakura opened the case and picked up his guitar gently. She slid her fingers over the neck and body, feeling the worn patches. "How long have you had this one?"

"Since high school," Sasuke said. It was one of his two personal guitars, the ones he used for writing. He had multiple show guitars, because sound wasn't as important for blowout performances. "I was sixteen when I got it." It had cost him most of his savings, so it was a good thing a music career had worked out in the end.

"Wow," Sakura said. She played a few chords and smiled. "Nice sound."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but was satisfied all the same.

"Why don't you play acoustic?" She asked him.

Sasuke shrugged. "Sometimes I do. Not really an acoustic band, though." He had an acoustic guitar, but it rarely came out of its case for multiple reasons.

"Yeah," Sakura said. "Oh well."

"You buy your first guitar?" Sasuke asked her.

Sakura laughed. "That's a long story. My boyfriend gave me my first semi-decent one. I mean, it was a crappy hand-me-down from his brother, but I didn't have money for anything better so it was great. The one before that was an old guitar from my middle school. It was probably as good as 'used middle school guitar' sounds, I think. Always out of tune, really tinny sound."

"Boyfriend?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"I thought you didn't want to know the particulars of my love life," Sakura said, amused.

"This was high school, right."

"Freshman year." She grinned. "Since we're having a nice heart to heart here, I should tell you that he was part of a sequence of a few boys. I was a heartbreaker. After I learned, of course."

Sasuke snorted. "Yeah?" He had no doubt that people had fallen in love with her at every turn since she was young.

"Oh yeah." Then she laughed. "Nope. I fall in love way too easily. Maybe that's why I can write so much. My friend Ino, on the other hand…She knows exactly how to break people's hearts."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"She's way more confident, as far as this stuff goes," Sakura said. "More experience."

"You've clearly had experience," he muttered, thinking back to the club in Iwa.

Sakura rolled her eyes, but he could see she was blushing. "Not as much as you'd think from the way I acted that night in Iwa," she said.

It was the first time Iwa had come up by name between them in conversation. "Hn," Sasuke said.

"Can I ask you a serious question? Don't get annoyed," Sakura said.

"Yeah?"

"Were you just looking for a hook-up that night? I know you were drunk, but I was probably an easy target to you guys, so…"

Sasuke frowned. "Has that been bothering you this whole time?"

"Actually, no," Sakura said. "I've sort of discounted the whole thing. So if the answer's yes, I promise I won't hold it against you. I just didn't feel like I could ask you about it before now."

Sasuke sighed. "The answer's no," he muttered, knowing he had to be truthful. This was Sakura, after all. He had nothing to protect in terms of reputation. "Thought you were pretty, obviously. But I don't do that kind of shit." Except when a ton of alcohol was involved. And before Sakura.

Sakura seemed genuinely surprised at the response, and he frowned. "What."

"No, I just…I figured you hooked up with a lot of people. Because you could, or you needed it."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, uncomfortable with the fact that Sakura suspected the truth. "Sometimes," he muttered. "None of it meant anything."

"Well, you've covered your tracks pretty thoroughly. No alleged love child, or anything."

"It wasn't like I did it everywhere I went," Sasuke muttered, irritated.

"I'm kidding," Sakura said. "You're more responsible than you look."

"What's that supposed to mean," Sasuke said.

"You know what it means," Sakura said, shaking her head. She pulled her notepad close to her again. "I should focus."

Sasuke left her alone and went to the bedroom to work, listening to the light sounds of his guitar in her hands.

On the night of the band's album release at the end of February, Sasuke was home with Sakura. It was the quietest release he had ever had; there was no crazy party, and he wasn't around to hear his bandmates' excitement. Sakura had her laptop open, and was nodding along to whatever was playing in her headphones. She had refused to listen to the majority of the album until it came out for the rest of the world. Sasuke felt a rush of satisfaction at the sign that she was enjoying it. He cared about her opinion regarding the new music much more than he wanted to.

He glanced at her laptop screen to see a window of a rankings chart pulled up simultaneously with a review of the new album. Sakura pulled off her headphones when he caught her eye.

"This is what I'd be doing anyway," Sakura said, when she noticed Sasuke casting an annoyed look at her screen. "It's not for your benefit."

Sasuke rolled his eyes but smirked. It made him slightly uncomfortable, but he appreciated that Sakura didn't change the way she listened to new music because he was around.

"It's different with an insider perspective, though," Sakura said. She started to grin as she read. "Like, I don't want to assume anything, but I'm pretty sure I was a firsthand witness to the romantic indecision of 'Rattled.'"

"Cocky. Didn't even write that one." That was a lie; he'd written the bridge and the second verse, one of his only lyrical contributions to the album.

Sakura laughed, clearly not put off. "Okay, fine," she said, pulling her headphones on again.

"Have you listened to the whole thing?" Sasuke couldn't resist asking.

"Oh, yeah. I'm just about finished with a second round," Sakura said.

"Seriously?" She hadn't reacted strongly to anything in the time Sasuke had been here, and he had the sudden, terrifying thought that she hated it.

"Yeah, I don't read reviews until I've listened to every song and formed my own opinion. It's sort of a serious process." She grinned. "I like seeing who I agree and disagree with. And I've been keeping track of the charts."

She turned back to her computer and Sasuke glared at it. Clearly Sakura could sense his stare because she turned to him, looking exasperated. "What?"

"How come you haven't said anything about it." He was trying to make his voice sound neutral and probably failing.

Sakura frowned, and then started to smile. "You want my opinion?"

"Yeah," Sasuke muttered. "Of course I do."

Sakura closed her laptop gently. "I figured you wouldn't want to talk about it. So I thought it would be easier if I was casual about it. I mean, the second time I listen to an album, I usually play it out loud, and that'd be really strange."

"Just tell me what you thought of it," Sasuke said. He felt like he was turning red.

Sakura shook her head, looking amused. "I think it's awesome. It might be my favorite from you guys. God that's weird to say. I mean, my taste has changed since your first album, so that might be the reason, but…Jesus. I don't know how you guys do it."

Sasuke started to smile. Having Sakura's good opinion had taken a weight off his shoulders that he didn't even know was there.

"And I'm not just saying that because we're dating," Sakura said, frowning at his smirk. "If you think I'm going to boost your ego just because—"

"I know," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. "So what didn't you like about it?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Where's this masochistic side coming from?"

"It wasn't perfect," Sasuke muttered. There were things that he would've changed if he'd had more time, that was always the case.

"Of course it wasn't perfect, have you ever heard a perfect record?" Sakura shook her head. "Fine. You want me to be ruthless?"

"Aa."

Sakura turned to face him. "I thought 'Every Day' was predictable. It sounded like anyone could've written it, to be honest. It didn't really fit with the rest of the album, considering a lot of it was pretty experimental. I'm guessing that's the next single?"

"Tch. Yeah." Sasuke couldn't help smiling slightly.

"And I thought the lyrics of 'Rattled' were too cliché, but that's love." Sakura shrugged. "The rest of it was really fucking good, and I don't say that about much."

"What'd you think of the chord progressions in 'Don't Hold Your Breath'?" Sasuke asked, frowning. He'd had the most trouble with that song, it had been one of the last additions.

Sakura laughed. "Let me listen to it again, will you? Can I play it out loud?"

"Sure," Sasuke said.

Sakura unplugged her headphones and let the song play through the laptop speakers. "Oh, this was one of my favorites," she said as Sasuke's beginning guitar solo ended. They were quiet through the song. Sasuke couldn't tell how he felt about it anymore, he'd heard the song way too many times. Sakura paused it after the bridge. "That, you mean?" He nodded. "It's good. Pretty gentle, for you. That was you, right?"

"Yeah," Sasuke said. "Who else would it be?"

"I don't know, maybe Naruto's secretly the best guitarist in the band." She grinned at his furious look.

"How much of the music did you write for this one?" Sakura said.

"A lot of it," Sasuke said. "Kiba and Naruto did a bit more than last time, though. Probably why it sounds so different."

"That's cool," Sakura said. "I sort of doubted you'd be able to top the last album, but you definitely have."

"Nice to know," Sasuke muttered, rolling his eyes. She was pretty blasé about doubting them.

"If it makes you feel any better, that was before I knew you," Sakura said. She paused. "You weren't really worried about me not liking it, were you?"

Sasuke shrugged, not able to blow it off. He couldn't hide anything around her, could he?

"Sasuke…" Sakura's look was annoyingly tender, and he glared at her. "Okay, I'll shut up." But she was smiling. "I just have one other question: how come you didn't put my name anywhere? It rhymes with so many things, you know?" She couldn't keep a straight face and Sasuke just shook his head.

Sakura stood up. "Do you want food? I was going to make dinner, for once. Can you believe we don't have anywhere to go?"

"Tch. You need help?"

"I hope I can make pasta on my own," Sakura said.

Sasuke nodded and settled back in the couch, opening his laptop to send an email to Kakashi, who was updating him with album statistics. When he was done, he went to join Sakura in the kitchen.

She was on her phone in front of the stove, and Sasuke came up silently behind her.

"Damn it, Sasuke!" Sakura said when he slid his hands around her waist, but she was laughing. "What if I dropped my phone in hot water?"

"Your people would get over it," he muttered, pulling her hair away from her neck. He knew he must be in some weird state of euphoria from the album release, because he was rarely this forward.

Sakura turned her head so their lips met. She smelled like citrus and something flowery, probably her shampoo. She moved so she was facing him. "Congratulations," she said between kisses. "I never said that earlier, did I?"

"No," Sasuke said. "But thanks." He gripped her waist with one hand and held her neck with the other, running his thumb from jaw to collarbone. Sakura held his shoulders, one hand pulling down the collar of his t-shirt as she put more pressure into the kiss. Her lips moved against his, and her teeth came down slightly on his lower lip. Reflex tightened his hold on her waist, and Sasuke felt the sliver of skin where her shirt was riding up. Sakura pressed her body closer against his, and he thought he could feel her heartbeat.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

"Water's boiling," Sakura murmured, breaking away from Sasuke's arms. He grunted, not ready to let her go. Lately it seemed like moments like this were rare. Normally Sakura would come back to the apartment too exhausted to do much except fall asleep. Sasuke didn't mind, and understood exactly how she felt, but both of them having demanding schedules made for a relationship that sometimes felt like an afterthought (especially as far as physical activity went). "Sasuke…" He hadn't let go of her waist, but Sasuke pulled his hands away as soon as she said his name.

He loved the way it sounded in her mouth, no matter how many times she said it.

"I was going to say before we got distracted," Sakura said, "that the review from Music Weekly is supposed to be out any minute."

"Really?" Sasuke took a step back and glanced at her phone. Music Weekly was one of the most influential publications when it came to newly released music; they were notoriously harsh, but a good review could boost album sales (and popularity) by a ridiculous margin.

Sakura nodded. "Do you want me to get my computer and check again? I was just refreshing the page on my phone."

"Sure," Sasuke said.

Sakura retrieved her computer from the living room. "It's up," she said a second later, her eyes wide.

Sasuke joined her by the counter in a flash, and the two of them bent over the article.

ALBUM REVIEW: Uncommon Ground – Firestyle

Rock fans, rejoice: the music world's favorite four boys are back with their fourth album, which promises a healthy dose of both unrelenting anger anthems and acoustic ballads. Clearly, this band is nowhere near the bottom of their inspiration well: they're still using new techniques, intent on proving that they deserve to stick around.

In fact, Uncommon Ground might be Firestyle's best album to date. Moving from gritty to something slightly more experimental, primary songwriters Uchiha and Nara have shown talent beyond anything anyone could've expected with their first hit, 'Explosive.' Firestyle continues to push the boundaries of rock with both lyrics and innovative musical combinations. From the intricacies of the pulse-pounding 'Rattled' to the unexpectedly tender guitar work on 'Don't Hold Your Breath', Uncommon Ground begs to be played over and over, skipping nothing. This is an album that should have a place on every music lover's shelf for years to come.

Standouts: 'Don't Hold Your Breath', 'Two By Four (feat. Killer B)', 'Rattled'

They had given it five stars.

"Sasuke, oh my God!" Sakura said, throwing her arms around him. Sasuke jumped at the unexpected contact, but reciprocated without thinking about it.

"Holy shit," he muttered, but he was starting to smile. This was by far the best review they had ever gotten from Music Weekly.

As if on cue, his phone went off. "TEME DID YOU SEE THE REVIEW?" It was Naruto.

"Tch. Yeah."

"That's all you're gonna say?!"

"What do you expect." After glancing at Sakura, who looked amused, he couldn't help grinning.

"You better be celebrating," Naruto said. "Is Sakura there?"

"Aa," Sasuke said. "Of course she is."

"Good," Naruto said. "I'm gonna go, Kakashi just showed up with champagne. Classy, right?"

"See you tomorrow, dobe," Sasuke said, rolling his eyes. He hung up and turned to Sakura.

"So how do you want to celebrate?" She asked. "Because I'm sure it would take about a minute to fill this place with people for a nice big party. Give away the secret hideout." He knew she was teasing him.

"Got a better idea." He grabbed her hand and Sakura let him lead the way into their new bedroom.

They both woke up peacefully late the next morning.

"I'm gonna take a shower," Sasuke said, stretching and getting out of bed. Sakura nodded, absorbed in her phone. She was still in her pajamas, the sheets pulled up around her. She had earphones in, and he wondered if she was listening to the album again.

A few minutes after he got in the shower, however, there was a loud knock on the bathroom door. "Sasuke, sorry, can I hop in for a minute with you? I didn't realize what time it was, I have to go really soon."

"Yeah," he called, not really thinking about it. Sakura was a foggy shape through the glass as she undressed. Tendrils of steam curled out of the shower when she opened the door, and then she was sliding into the hot air with him.

Sasuke had seen her body more times than he could count by now, but it felt new when she was standing right next to him.

"Hi," Sakura said. She was blushing. Sasuke smirked and she shook her head.

The water pounded down on both of them. Sakura reached for her bottle of shampoo and lathered her hair. It was strange to watch, but also weirdly intimate (especially considering they were in an extremely confined space). She tilted her head back to wash the suds out of her hair, closing her eyes. Sasuke slid an arm around her to get his own soap and Sakura backed into him to give his arm more space.

"Maybe this was a bad idea," Sakura said, turning and looking from his chest up to his face. Sasuke smirked and shrugged, agreeing with her.

Sakura slid a hand up around his neck and kissed him, pulling back when the water droplets started to run down their faces and into their mouths. She laughed slightly, and Sasuke held her hips. Her skin was slippery because of the water, but he could feel the heat pulsing from her skin. His fingers ran over the bumps of her hipbones and up to her waist, but he frowned when he looked at her torso.

Her schedule was clearly taking a toll on her body. She was skinnier than she'd been when they had met, not that anyone else would notice a difference. But he could feel her ribs poking out from under her skin. Whatever ridiculous meal regimen she had been put on clearly wasn't doing anything to help.

Without the disguise of makeup, it was also evident how tired she was every day, even despite the breaks like last night. She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes, which were made more visible in the truth of shower spray and sopping wet hair.

"What?" Sakura asked. Her hands were back in her hair, massaging in some kind of product.

"Nothing," Sasuke said, knowing she wouldn't want him to bring up her weight.

"This isn't awful, is it?" She said, and seemed to be asking herself as much as him. "Showers feel way smaller with two people in them."

"Tch," Sasuke said. Nothing was awful with her, even a cramped shower, but he didn't exactly want to say that.

Sakura rinsed her hair and slipped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel. When Sasuke finished a minute later, she was leaving the bathroom. He got out just in time to catch her before she was out the door.

"I think I'll be in the studio until late," Sakura said as she put on shoes. She had dried her hair roughly with a towel and pulled on a sweatshirt. She could probably pass for a high school student, Sasuke thought with some alarm. "Good luck this afternoon."

"Hn. Thanks," Sasuke said. The band had a big radio interview later that day for the release of the album. He wasn't looking forward to it.

A/N: Felt like prime time for a shower scene. Happy new year!