The Sweetest Voice, chp. 4

Title: The Sweetest Voice, Chapter Four: That’s What You Get
Pairing: Uchiha Sasuke x Haruno Sakura
Word Count: 1738
Disclaimed.

Copyrighted.


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My life is ruined, he doesn’t care... probably never did. I can’t believe I was so stupid to think he actually might have loved me...
Would he even care if I died? If I just killed myself, right now... would he regret it? Would he be sorry that it was him that had made me do that?
Would he even care?

- - -
“H-Hello? “
“Hi, is this Sakura Haruno-san? This is Tsukiyo Records, our producer saw you performing today; we’d like to offer you a chance...”

- - -
“Sakura-san?” A gray haired man looked around.
“That’s me. You are...?” the girl eyed him quizzically; to her, he just looked like an old pervert in a business suit.
“I’m Hatake Kakashi; I am to be your manager if you get the contract.” The man smiled at her, obsidian eyes sparkling in the sunlight.
The pink haired girl smiled. This was going to be an interesting week; and it would certainly get her mind of a certain someone...

- - -
“Sakura Haruno?” A tall and lean man with a bowl cut and... Fuzzy eyebrows..?

Is it just me... or are those fake eyelashes?

“Hello...”

“IT’S GREAT TO FINALLY SEE A NEW AND YOUTHFUL FACE!” The man jumped up, wrapping her into a deathly hug.

“Uhh... sorry, but I can’t breathe... And you still haven't told me who you were...” Sakura gasped, he was going to kill her, at this rate.

“Oh yes... I'm Maito Gai aaandd  I’m going to be your voice coach for now and possibly later on if you get a contract.” The man flashed the girl a smile and gave her a thumbs up. “So do you want to get started now? I wish to hear your youthful voice sing.”

Shaking her head and wondering what kind of voice coach would be so...weird, she followed the tall man inside the building. As she walked through the many hallways, the girl noticed there weren’t many people working there as they walked towards the elevator. The 5th floor; the label beside the button said ‘Recording’.

“Are you alright?” Gai looked at the girl, something in her eyes made it seem like her thoughts weren’t exactly on singing at the moment...

“Huh? Oh, sorry; I was just thinking about random things...” Sakura smiled softly.

“Yosh, we’re here. Now let’s hear that youthful voice of yours!” The man’s eyes lit up; walking into the room, he dug through a stack of papers, pausing to shift through the bunch before pulling out a few. Pondering between the remaining sheets for a while, he took one and handed the paper to the waiting girl.

“Let’s try this first; I want to see which genres you’re better suited for before recording. This will help me see your potential as well, you’ll need to be able to adapt to different styles.” The change in him was obvious, and quite shocking; gone was the bouncy, energetic man, replaced by someone with a serious look on his face, dark eyes watching intently.

The girl picked up the sheet he then held out for her, quickly skimming over the words. It certainly wasn’t like what she had sung before.

“Skip to the chorus, it’ll help you get a feel for the song.”

Sakura took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment before focusing on the words again.

Were you right, was I wrong,
Were you weak, was I strong?
Yeah; both of us broken,
Caught in the moment,
We lived and we loved
And we hurt and we joked,
Yeah; but the planets all aligned
When you looked into my eyes,
And just like that,
When chemicals react...

She looked up at Gai, “well? What did you think?”

“I think we’re going to go through a few more before I make a decision...” the man handed her two other sheets, each with a different song, “same thing, try the chorus.”

When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears,
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears,
And I held your hand through all of these years...
But you still have, all of me...

“Hmm... not bad, next one.”

You're beautiful, every little piece love,
Don't you know; you're really going to be someone,
Ask anyone, when you find everything you looked for,
I hope your life leads you back to my door.
Oh but if it don't, stay beautiful...

It went on like that for the rest of the day, sheet after sheet, the coach tested her singing abilities to the limit, going from classical songs to heavy metal, and there wasn’t a
genre the girl hadn’t tried out by the end of the day.

“Looks like we’re done for the rest of the day,” Gai said, looking out the window to where a building was blocking part of the view, but you could see most of the setting sun behind it, casting a soft orange glow on the city. He looked back at the girl, who was equally entranced by the sunset, “but I’ve noticed one thing with your singing, you don’t breathe properly when you sing.”

Sakura looked at him, eyebrow raised quizzically. “What do you mean by that? Not breathing properly?”

“Think of a cow or a frog when you sing; you have to open your mouth wide, and breathe in all that you can..."

The girl looked at him again, “...what? I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about right now...”

The man laughed, “frogs can stretch their tummies to huge proportions when they croak and cows have four stomachs. Breathe through your diaphragm when you sing, not your chest.”

“Sure... “ More doubt, but maybe it was just his bizarre way of teaching, you never know...

“We’ll try recording tomorrow, rest up tonight; Kakashi will bring you up to the studio, he said for you to wait for him in the hotel lobby, since you might get lost trying to get here.”

“Sure...”

---
“Ready to hear the final product, Sakura-chan? If you’re happy, we’ll send this out to stations we’re linked to and see if everyone else likes it.” Gai and Kakashi had been mentoring the teen for the most of the week, and she'd learned more from the two of them than she thought she would've—or could've—if she'd just been singing independently like she use to.

As the music slowly filled the room, the pink-haired girl’s thoughts drifted back to the last time she had sang—when everything had seemed perfect—and when everything changed, for better or for worse, that was up to her to decide.

No sir, well I don't want to be the blame
Not anymore
It's your turn to take a seat
We're settling the final score
And why do we like to hurt so much?

Sasuke and… Karin… how could he? But then, she should’ve seen it coming, Karin’s always been infatuated with the raven, how could he not return the affection after awhile?

I can't decide, you have made it harder just to go on
Why all the possibilities where I was wrong

They didn’t exactly act like the perfect couple in school, maybe the occasional hugs, but nothing else, unlike the couples who were holding hands and all over each other between the bells. On the other hand, there was Karin, hanging onto every little thing Sasuke said, and did like it was the most precious thing in the world…

That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
I drowned out all my senses with the sound of it's beating
That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa

The girl thought back to that day, seeing it as vividly as the first time; the small velvet box in her hands, the surprised look on her face, the unreadable—as usual—look on his face…

I wonder how am I supposed to feel when you're not here
'Cause I burned every bridge I ever built when you were here
I still try holding on to silly things
I never learned why when all the possibilities I'm sure you heard

It didn’t hurt anymore though, maybe the week of singing really had helped. The betrayal stung—only a little though—and everything else… everything else was just… numb. She closed her emerald eyes, allowing the music to flow through her.

That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
I drowned out all my senses with the sound of it's beating
That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa

Of course, he’d always been the one she’d wanted, but so what? When all this was over and she was back in school, she’ll talk to him, maybe. If she actually made it big, then why bother? There were more guys out there; better looking, more talented ones.

They make you wait to me, to me
And I'll always be just so inviting
If I ever start to think straight
This heart started right in me
Let's start, hey

But of course, no matter how talented they were, they wouldn’t have the same dreamy husky voice that sent shivers along her spine. They wouldn’t have coal black eyes that seemed like they pierced into your soul with every look, digging out all of your secrets, no matter how hard you tried to hide them—though that might be a good thing… and they certainly wouldn’t have that perfectly messy but tame hair that belonged to Uchiha Sasuke.

Why do we like to hurt so much?
Oh why do we like to hurt so much?

Once high school was over, she’d never see him again, how could she not move on?

That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
That's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa
That's what you get when you let your heart win
I can't trust myself with anything but this
And that's what you get when you let your heart win
Whoa

“That was beautifully youthful! Thanks Sakura-chan!”

“Well done. We’ll get feedback in a few days, so stick around, the school year is basically over for you, anyway, right? Have fun in the city, maybe you’ll even hear your song being played somewhere.”