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The Sun- Maroon 5

A Town With An Ocean View- 'Kiki's Delivery Service' Soundtrack

Amelie Soundtrack (youtube it and choose a song, there's a nice piano one with images of the corpse bride)

Blue Morgan (opening credits)- 'Million Dollar Baby' Soundtrack (the whole soundtrack in one clip in youtube)

Soldier Side- System of a Down

Lost in Hollywood- System of a Down

Shiver

Four: That's why they look at you

It was the end of the school day, the common room in an uproar of voices and chatter as people packed their books up in shoulder and back bags. What I still though as 'Sakura's group' was packed around the same table, laughing and dividing papers, asking about homework and joking about the events of the day. I had had maths and English for the first time with Asuma and Kurenai respectively. Between activities and assemblies, my days had been fairly occupied so that Istill had to meet my PE and Biology teacher. I had a foreboding feeling that the enthusiastic Gai was going to teach PE.

I slung my orange monstrosity, as Sasuke had so endearingly named my bag, on my back, talking to Hinata who was nodding and stuttering my way with her big, pale eyes.

"Oi! Cinema, Friday, we're gonna see some movie called Atonement or something," Kiba cut in, throwing a toothy grin at Hinata who smiled back. Iraised my eyebrows.

"Isn't that supposed to be girly?" I questioned doubtfully. I didn't really have piles of money to spend on going out, despite the Sunday Job I had managed to nab. Kiba sighed dramatically.

"Probably, it was Ino's idea," he snorted, but shrugged.

"Oh, don't be like that. It's about the war," Sakura interrupted us. "Come on, it had good reviews. Please?" she asked and looked at me with her big green eyes. I slumped, sighing. How could I say no to that? I would have to cut down on my music-spending expenses, I mused. The government was feeding me some money until I was eighteen so it wouldn't be too bad.

"Ok, ok, I'll go. But can I bring a friend?" I asked, thinking of Gaara. Sakura looked at me in surprise.

"A friend? From out of school?" she questioned. Inodded and grinned, knowing that it may have seemed a little weird to already have befriended people out of school in my short stay. Sakura smiled in response.

"Of course."

"Are you two done?" a bored voice sounded from Sasuke, ready to leave for Sakura's, where we had agreed to meet to discuss the Team Seven project. My face heated up in an instant as I glared at his offensive figure. I had been ignoring him the whole day in an attempt to erase the memory of our kiss from my mind. Loud music in my house, reading until I was exhausted yesterday, avoiding his eyes today. I was trying not to feel my body pressing him against the wall, those lips that for a moment were opened so I could breathe him in.

"Oh!Of course, Sasuke," Sakura said sweetly as she neared him. I shook my head, steeling myself, pushing the thoughts from my mind once and for all. It had been a mistake; that wasn't a lie. It meant nothing, and it would stay that way.

We walked out of the common room with Choji and Ino who took the same bus and said goodbye to them as we started walking, for Sakura's house was only a few minutes away.

My two companions started talking about some school issue, since they were Deputy Head Girl and Boy, and briefly I wondered how I ended with two of the top students in my group. Maybe it was because it needed two doses of sanity to balance me.

After school
Walking home
Fresh dirt under my fingernails

Maroon 5 played in my head from my single earphone, the other, vibrant pink one tucked into my pocket along with my MP3. I had gotten tired of the band since it had come out but the song seem to fit so well with the sunlight that thrummed around us that I left it playing. I didn't feel left out even though the conversation did not contain me, content to walk beside the old friends I had so easily connected with again.

Feel the beat in the rhythm of my steps
And sometimes it's a sad song

I looked around the sophisticated neighbourhood we were entering. A round road lined by apartments with a little, private park in the middle. The pavement was bubblegum-free, paint faded but clean. There was no rubbish in the corners, no children playing in the streets. I couldn't imagine unhappiness in a place like this. I looked at my friends and smiled slightly.

The sex she slipped into my coffee
The way she felt when she first saw me
Hate to love and love to hate her
Like a broken record player
Back and forth and here and gone
And on and on and on and on

The song interrupted my thoughts, moaning in my ear and my eyes were drawn to Sasuke's form almost against my will. His face was looking forwards, saying nothing, simply listening to Sakura go "...think it's too expensive but if..." as if he didn't really care. I frowned, skipped the song so that A Town With An Ocean View from Studio Ghibli's 'Kiki's Delivery Service' came up, complimenting the spilling light just as well as the previous one.

I had to get that boy out of my mind or I would have to start getting worried about reasons why I couldn't.

O

"Do you guys want something to drink?"

Sakura's flat was spacey, well decorated and nice. We had entered to a large hallway, encountering a bookcase filled to the brim. To the right were three large bedrooms, each with a toilet attached; the master, Sakura's and the guest. To the left were the large living and dining room and kitchen. The floor was padded with cream carpet and most of the furniture a dark wood I couldn't name.

We declined the drinks as we settled on the soft floor around the large, round coffee table in the middle of the sofas and TV. We had left our shoes at the door and I had washed my feet so that the fresh, red skin lay comfortably on the soft surface of the carpet. The home was quiet apart from some shuffling due to the fact that both Sakura's parent's were out working.

"Your house is really nice, Sakura!" I complimented, once again taking in the hanged pictures, the small figurines and decorations. I noticed that Sasuke was also observing the surrounding as if they were new, and deduced that he hadn't been there before and found the fact predictable even though it would have been weird for two friends not to visit each other's houses at least once because, despite Sasuke's closed-off attitude, he was the most open and receptive with Sakura though he often seemed much more comfortable with the group than anywhere else I had seen.

"Thanks,"Sakura smiled, taking out some pens and paper and laying them out on the table, copying Sasuke. I followed suite, fishing out my already bitten pencils and pens. Sasuke threw their haggard state a glance and smirked.

"What?"I snapped at him. Sasuke merely raised an eyebrow and I imagined myself grabbing the edge of it and pulling sideways until it came off like a band-aid.

"Jerk,"I murmured. Sakura sighed.

"Come on, guys. Let's get through this without fighting, ok?" Sakura said tiredly and I looked away from Sasuke grudgingly.

"Just tell him to keep his eyes to himself," I grumbled, tired of his debasing looks.

"Only if you keep your hands to yourself," Sasuke surprised me by saying and I froze, blood filling the veins under my face as I turned to look at him.

"Wha- I don't, It was, you...Shut up!" I stumbled, pointing at his face in embarrassment. He was referring to the kiss, I knew he was. I contemplated hitting him in the head and causing amnesia. Hell, it would be worth it even without the damage to the memory.

Sakura looked at us suspiciously and I hurried to cut her thoughts short.

"Do you guys mind working with some music? Nothing, like, offensive or anything, just some background," I assured. Sasuke shrugged and Sakura nodded, taking out some speakers. We plugged them in and I connected it to my MP3, choosing Amelie's soundtrack and sitting down again. For a moment we stared at each other, a piano playing as if from another world.

"Right. Should we just throw ideas around until we like one?" Sakura suggested. Sasuke nodded and I enthusedan OK.

For the next couple of minutes we wrote ideas down, doodling in the margins, comparing and shooting down.

"What about...Konoha's special places," Sakura finally came up with. I hummed in thought.

"That sounds pretty cool," I supported.

"How would we decide what's special?" Sasuke had to doubt. I hummed again.

"What about...we write about a few different places special to each of us and then to prove to Kakashi that we've worked in a team we find places or a place that all three of us likes," I suggested. Sakura nodded happily.

"Yeah! But...what do we write about them?" there was a moment of silence. "How about a road trip? We describe on paper how we would take them around Konoha and explain each place, the quirks and stuff," she elaborated. I grinned.

"Yeah!"

"A road trip wouldn't fit that well in a City," Sasuke hampered. I frowned at him."What about a tour? We can write it up as the crucial places of Konoha; what we like the most about it."

I smiled widely again. "Hey that's not bad, teme," I conceded. He rolled his eyes, smirking nonetheless. "We can map it out and then detail each place with info and drawings and music. How does that sound?" I proposed, looking from one of my teammates to the other. Sasuke nodded shortly as Sakura smiled a yeah!

"So, how do we start? Where do we go? What places do we choose? In what order?" I started rattling, grinning and moving my shoulders up and down excitedly.

"Calm down, dobe," Sasuke admonished even though the edge of asmile lurked under his lips. I stuck my tongue out at him as Sakura rolled her eyes but also smiled.

"How about we start at school and move from there?" Sakura suggested. I hummed in thought.

Sasuke said, "I think a better idea would be to start in the old entrance to Konoha. It has historical value and plenty of stories to go with it. That way it feels more like a tour and we allow ourselves an opening for introducing the city."

I nodded grudgingly at his idea but beamed as an idea hit me.

"Yeah! We can talk about the ninjas!" I sprung up, kicking highly at the air clumsily and toppling back by my own force so that I collapsed into acouch. I laughed and beamed at my two other companions, both wearing varying degrees of exasperation and amusement. In that moment, with only Amelie's piano in the background, I felt a connection to Sasuke and Sakura I had not been able to grasp before, as if the wrongs of the past, my abrupt abandonment, their seeming indifference, was nothing compared to the present.

My smile softened.

Maybe Kakashi wasn't a complete nut after all.

O

Sakura' s parents were nice. They were polite and kind and handsome. They asked Sasuke and me if we wanted to stay for dinner and I assented for both of us

It was like stepping into a foreign world

I was amazed by the little things they did. The small enquiries between husband and wife. Movements like washing their hands or peeling and cutting vegetables or a peck on the cheek. I watched how Sakura interacted with them, flesh and blood and memories. It was familiarity; family, a bubble of their own which Sasuke and I were intruding.

As I sat in the table, between Sakura and Sasuke and opposite Sakura's dad, I felt like the ugly swan between all beautiful ducks.

"How was school today, then?" the mother asked, passing the mashed potatoes around.

"Fine. Lessons still haven't started properly yet so I didn't really get homework," Sakura responded. Serve, pass. Serve. Pass.

"How about you, boys? Sasuke, I haven't talked to you for a while. And, Naruto?" she smiled at us. I looked at her, slightly surprised. I had almost expected to simply sit there and observe them interact as if they were a movie or a picture; almost artificial and unreal.

"Oh!Cool, yeah, did some music. The school has really sweet controls," I grinned, mixing my mashed potatoes with the vegetables.

"You also take music?" the father asked, looking at Sasuke and then me. He had glasses and 1-day stubble.

"Yep!" I took a bite, swallowed. "Mmm!This is really good!" I complimented, then, "music is m favouritesubject."

"Which-I mean, do you play any instruments?" Mrs. Harunoasked. I nodded.

"Yeah. The piano is what I play best, but I also know a bit of saxophone and trumpet as well as guitar and bass. I've tried the flute, harp and drums but the people who owned them moved away and I haven't played them in like ayear," I said. Sakura was staring at me as if surprised.

"Wow, Naruto! And he knows how to sing," she turned to her parents. They both smiled adult smiles at me.

"That's very impressive," the father said. I blushed, not exactly uneasy with the compliment but not wanting it nonetheless, only because playing instruments when I had the chance was too natural to be commented on. It was as if someone praised me for the way I walked or breathed.

"And you say you've just moved here? Your name sounds familiar. What's your surname?" Mrs Harunoenquired politely. The fork froze half-way to my mouth. I looked up into the slightly puzzled, kind face of Sakura's family. Sasuke glanced at me as he cut things carefully, elbows off table, napkin on lap.

"it's..." a question I wouldn't be able to laugh off or avoid. But if they knew who I was they would remember who I had been. "Uzumaki." I watched them closely. Sakura was looking confused at my suddenly serious attitude to such a mundane question. Sasuke was tense beside me when my arm brushed his.

"Lovely,"Mrs Haruno smiled but Mr Haruno was looking at me, analysing me, seeing the headlines on the newspaper and the man in parent's evening that one, terrible time. But he said nothing and the awkwardness melted away to reside solely in the pit of my stomach.

"So Sasuke..." and the conversation derailed its fingers away from the dangerous territory of organ keys in my mind.

O

"Thank you for the meal, Mr and MrsHaruno," Sasuke said as we neared the front door.

"Yeah! Thanks!" I agreed, grinning at them. The smiled back, waved, kind words sweet on their lips.

Mr Haruno looked at me until I stepped out of his home. The violins in my mind went high, then low, low, low. Lower.

Team 7 walked down the stairs in silence.

"Well, that was productive. You sure you don't want a lift?" Sakura said without sarcasm. I smiled, declined. Sasuke nodded in agreement with me. I didn't know what his reasoning was but if I could avoid it I would always rather walk or take the bus. Cars were looking more and more like metallic creatures that rolled around in masses, foreign and unnatural, ready to kill at any moment. Sakura smiled, inclined her head slightly to the side.

"What a pair I've got. I'm used to Sasuke refusing help but Naruto, you're just as bad. That's why Kakashi looked at you that first mentor time, you don't like asking for help," she commented. I looked at her, surprise but she waved me off with a, /I'll see you tomorrow/. I guess it was better that way because Ididn't know quite what to respond.

"See you tomorrow at school, Sakura," I waved as Sasuke grunted his goodbye and we walked away in the refreshing night air.. I mulled her words in my mind but dropped them easily. I had reasoned beyond a simple refusal of help for doing things.

"What bus are you taking?" I asked, inserting an earphone in.

"Fifty-two."

"Me too! To Liberation Station?"I questioned, indicating the last stop.

"No."

Man the conversational skills of the guy were something else.

A slow guitar shot as electricity through the cable from my MP3 to the earphone, as sound to my ear, back to electricity to my brain. Blue Morgan, the screen told me. The summer quietness outside the music complimented the soft sounds. Isighed, smiled a little, hands in my pockets, unconsciously imitating Sasuke's position.

"You know...I'm glad that at least one of us three has a happy family life," I commented to Sasuke, looking both ways before crossing the road. Sasuke glanced at me. Said nothing.

"What are the chances that both our parents are dead, huh?" I said casually even though the words sounded strained in my head. "I'm happy that's not the case for her. Aren't you?" I questioned probingly. The simple reason for bringing the subject up was the shock it had caused me to see such normality in ahousehold after all these years of...abnormality.

"Yes. Now shut up," Sasuke said coldly. I stared at him, angry. Or hurt.

The music had turned sadder against our conversation.

"You live alone?" I almost stated. It was a presumptuous guess. Simply because Ilived alone did not mean that Sasuke couldn't be living with a relative or surrogate parents. But there was something in his face. That same expression that had attracted me all those years ago; a reflexion of my own unfortunate misery. There was along pause filled with silence and a piano. We reached the bus stop and when he responded I don't know why he did it.

"Yes. You live with your uncle don't you?" He asked in a tone that suggested a kind of internal defeat. My whole self froze.

-

Sing me a song. Come on, Naruto. Sing me a song.

-

My hand traced my scars against my will.

"No. Not anymore," I responded shortly. Sasuke was looking at the scar I had touched with an expression that bordered on curiosity, but he questioned no further. Iwas grateful as the red seeped away from my eyes.

The bus rumbled to a stop and we got in the desolate space, the aftermath of rush-hour.

I sat beside the window and Sasuke next to me as the vehicle groaned forwards heavily. It was nine:twenty, my watch said with a little tremor in my thoughts. We had been around five hours in Sakura's apartment.

I reached sideways and shoved my other electric pink earphone in Sasuke's ear. He flinched, hand lifting to cover his attacked ear. I watched him watching me. He didn't remove the intrusion and we were left link by a thin strand of sound.

I picked /Solider Side/, and the electric guitar joined the thrumming of the bus.

Dead men lying on the bottom of the grave
Wondering when saviour comes, is he gonna be saved
Maybe you're a sinner into your alternate life
Maybe you're a joker, maybe you deserve to die

The man in our ears sang. We let the song take its course, listening to the world, each in our own world.

They were crying when their sons left
God is wearing black
He's gone so far to find no hope
He's never coming back

" 'S not so bad. Living alone. You get to walk around naked and shit," I smiled, turning to him. He smirked, snorted.

"Dobe." But his eyes were somewhat calmer.

"Do you not like to talk about your family?" I asked. I wasn't like Sasuke. Ipushed and shoved when I shouldn't. There was another silence and the song switched to /Lost in Hollywood /and I thought, /aren't/we all?

"They belong to the past. It's pointless to talk about it," he finally said. Iwondered if it was just me Sasuke opened to so easily. I had seen him cry, once, when we were eleven. His eyes had been red.

"That's stupid. What else have we got to talk about? The present would be redundant. And the future, what's to talk about? We don't even know what'sgonna happen."

I'll wait here,
You're crazy,
Those vicious streets are filled with strays,
You should have never gone to Hollywood

"You can talk about what you plan to happen,"

"What you hope to happen," I interrupted. He ignored me.

"And what use is talking about the past?" his voice was colder than before.

"To change the perception of it. To analyse it. So it doesn't happen again. To see how it affects you now," I guessed. Sasuke shrugged. "And anyways, you didn't answer my question. I asked if you disliked talking about your parents, not if it was useful," I smirked.

"I don't see how this is any of your business," he cut me short. I leaned slightly into him so that our arms were pressing. I ignored my thoughts.

I was standing on the wall,
Feeling ten feet tall,
All you maggots smoking fags on Santa Monica Boulevard

"We're...teammates, aren't we?" I smiled widely, glaring my teeth. He snorted.

"So?"

"So as teammate I'm making it my business." He turned towards me and our faces were way too close but I didn't move away because it wasn't about the kiss. It was about the sober, serious expression on his face.

"I don't see how that has anything to do with this. We can work perfectly well together without disclosing my past. If you are so eager to find out about me how about you explain why you looked as if someone had stabbed you when Mrs Haruno asked after your surname."

You should have never trusted Hollywood.

I leaned away from him, making both our earphones dislodge at the sudden movement and fall like corpses, limp on our laps.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. My heart went thump thump thumpthump thumpthump thumpthumpthumpthumpthump.

"Or why you're looking at me like that now, hm, Naruto? How about you tell /me /about your parents. Or why the hell you left so suddenly four years ago." His voice was edge with anger.

Or-

"Like you would care," I said roughly. He was suffocating me with his inquisition.

"You're right. I don't care. But this isn't about caring, I'm just proving a point so you'll leave me alone." He faced away from me, to the front of the bus. I narrowed my eyes, clenched my fists. Why did I feel like Ihad just been defeated?

"I..."breathed deeply. "My uncle was involved in some bad business. He had the same surname as me and was in the news. I was afraid they would recogniseme as a relation and tell Sakura she couldn't see me anymore." I felt as if Iwere confessing to something completely intimate, a dangerous personal factor, like an inner demon that was and wasn't part of me. "You know about my parents. They died. And as to why I left...I had to."

I turned my MP3 player off.

Two stops later Sasuke said,

"It's not that I don't like talking about them." I looked at him. His face wasCompletely. Blank. "But I don't like liking about them either. There's just not reason to."

I nodded. That small assertion seemed much larger coming from Sasuke.

"Were they nice?" I asked.

"Yeah. They were nice."

"Who was stricter, your Mum or your Dad?"

"My Dad."

"Did they both work?"

"No.Just my Dad."

"What did he do?"

"Architect. Yours?"

I smiled. "Head of Police."

It was an awkward, fragmented conversation. But hell, with Sasuke, any type of conversation was something to celebrate.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N

He talks! O.o

I don't really like how this chapter ended up but ah well. I like the next one more.

Sorry I didn't update, didn't think anyone was reading. Thanks for the review :3.