Title: Muse
Author/Artist: Lady Kyoshoku
Claim: Uchiha Itachi and Haruno Sakura
Theme: #27, violin
Words: 2, 431
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. T^T

Summary: All she wanted to do was listen to the wonderfully intricate sounds that emanated from the music room, but she caught a glimpse of a master at work. Instead of merely observing, she could not help but think about what it would be like to be his muse; the instrument beneath his fingers.

Have I mentioned I need a beta yet? Someone who is unbaised and willing to look over my work. ;; It would be greatly appreciated.

Konoha Academy was the biggest, most profitable university in the city. Built of glass and sheet metal with a new, modern feel, student after student passed through the doors in hopes of becoming one of the lucky five hundred that the headmaster, Tsunade, chose each year. Instead of semesters it would operate by year: if you made it in for one year, there was no guarantee that the student would pass the exams and be allowed to return the following year. Marks below a ninety were not acceptable, and the people that came to this school prided themselves on their marks and the fact that they were headliners in the academic fields that they chose to pursue.

That's why when nineteen-year-old Haruno Sakura had been accepted, she had nearly died. She had worked so hard and studied for endless hours in order to pass those exams, and even though she was naturally bright she could not help but feel that the exams themselves were not that hard, it was the pressure that made them seem so terrible. Only ten of the hundred had managed to pass them this time around, and she breathed a sigh of relief now that she knew she had somewhere to follow her dream of becoming a surgeon.

It wasn't just a dream. It was a rite of passage in her family: the Haruno owned the general hospital that was just down the street from here, and if Sakura ever wanted to take it over she would have to learn her way around medical material. Then again she had been raised around it and did know the basics of everything, but she had never been a big fan of needles. That was pretty much her only issue with becoming a surgeon, but she had soon been reminded by her classmate—Yamanaka Ino—that if she was a surgeon there would be an anaesthesiologist for that. Duh. She had felt like a moron, but at least now that she thought about it she would stop worrying.

The only thing that she really had to worry about instead was her marks, and so she had spent the last month and a half of this year in the library, studying her books dutifully. She had always been a know-it-all, and this would be no exception, even though her best friend, Naruto, had protested the entire time she explained it. For as long as the young woman could remember she had been hanging out with a group consisting of three people: herself, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke was the... Well, he was the party pooper of the group, as he was never really... Erm, loose would be a good word.

Of course he wasn't loose. His whole family had always been uptight, and raised their children to a T when it came to discipline. Sasuke had never stepped out of line, nor allowed his marks to fall past perfection, and that had always pissed her off more than anything else.

And of course Sasuke was a grump because his brother was even more perfect, if that was even possible.

It apparently was, and Sakura could remember the first time she had met the Uchiha heir. He had been impeccably polite even though it had been well past midnight, and had quietly asked what they were doing in his house.

Sakura had never been more flustered in her life, sans the time that she had gone on a date with Sasuke. At the time she had liked him, yeah, but now when she thought about it... It had been just weird. They had been friends since grade school, and dating was out of the question. Not to mention he was the most emotionally constipated man to ever hit the planet—sure, his brother was the same way, but at least the elder Uchiha knew better than to glare at everything that passed his line of vision.

Just like today. Instead of Sakura studying alone, she had been joined by her boys. Sasuke was the academic type and had decided that he was going to finish his essay two weeks ahead of time (the bastard) and Naruto was just there because he didn't want to go and hang out alone, even though Sakura had reminded him numerous times that Hinata had asked him to join her for coffee. The blond had whined that the Hyuuga heiress was cool and all, but she blushed and passed out every time she looked at him, because he was devilishly handsome.

This had elicited a snort from Sasuke and a glare from Sakura, and then Naruto had tried to put the moves on her.

That had wound up in Sakura smacking him upside the head, and Sasuke had scoffed and said something akin to 'she's too good for you, dobe'.

Naruto had then stood and said something rather offensive that had somehow managed to get a reaction out of the dark-haired male, and Sakura had laughed.

Both of them had stared at her and then gone right back to fighting, and thus she had to end it. Her method of 'ending it' had been a little unorthodox, but it had worked—clocking them both with books always did the trick.

Sasuke was now sitting there, rubbing his head, and Naruto was was whining. Sakura was rather pleased, though thoroughly annoyed that neither of them could shut up.

"I told you two to stop. Why didn't you listen?" Her brow rose as she looked up from her notes, and all she was met by was Naruto's pleading blue eyes. She sighed. "What?"

"That hurt, Sakura-chan."

"Of course it did." Sasuke muttered, rubbing the sore spot on the top of his head. "She threw books at us in a library."

Sakura flushed. "Yes, well, it was supposed to shut you two up."

"Why didn't you just tell us to?" She rose a pale brow.

"Like that ever works."

"Maybe if you didn't resort to violence all the time we would."

"MAYBE IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A—" Naruto clapped a hand over her mouth, scowling at the roseate. She was always so angry.

"Sakura-chan, we're in a library and my head is pounding..." Sakura brushed his hand away turning on her heel.

"Where do you think you're going?" Oh, how she hated Sasuke. She could go where ever she wanted, thank you very much, because this was just as much her school as it was his.

"Nurse's office. I'm going to go get some ice for Naruto." And not you. The ice behind her tone, in Sasuke's opinion, was enough for both of their heads, but of course he wouldn't say that. He would just think it with great intensity at her, instead of evoking her wrath. Even though she was five foot five and only one hundred-twenty pounds, she had one hell of a punch.

The blond flashed a grin at the other male when she finally departed, causing him to say something—that was in her opinion—stupid, prompting another fight. But instead of turning around and kicking them both into next week, she kept calm and headed out the double doors into the hallway. The glass showed the snowy outside, and the fact that it was dark due to shorter days. Not that she really cared.

She was fuming the entire time she went down the hallway, grumbling to herself about books and ice and men whose hair looked like a bird's behind. Seriously, she was going to kill the Uchiha one of these days, and get herself kicked out of school and sent to jail and oohhh, he was just asking for it every time he even looked at her.

The future medic took a sharp left, and soon realized that she more than a little lost. It was a rather large school and she had somehow managed to land herself in the music section of the school, which was normally empty... But there was someone else here. She could hear music, beautiful and intricate, flowing through the hallways and immediately found herself calming down at the sound. The woman was not an expert, that was for sure, but she was an appreciator, and had always been. Sasuke forgotten, Sakura followed the glorious sonance through the glass hallways.

It was haunting and beautiful, calling out to her in ways that modern music never could. Slow and peaceful and expertly played, it was nearly disturbing in its perfection. Throughout her entire time at this school she had never heard such a fantastic player, and she had been to numerous performances, but never had she been this entranced by a single piece. And she recognized it, too, from her days being completely obsessed with the violin, and Sakura briefly wondered if it was a recording.

That was when she spotted a door, dark and wooden, slightly ajar and sending a sliver of light through the dark hall. The music was coming from there, and she moved towards in unconsciously , as if in a trance. She was silent when she approached the door, and gently pushed it open so that she could find the source, the artist behind it. The slow melody did not stop as she made her way down the hallway, brushing back the pale strands of hair that obscured her vision. Then she saw it: a dark blur that signified movement. Instead of interrupting she lowered herself to her knees, peering around the corner silently. Who she saw made her lips part in quiet surprise, because she never thought that he, of all people, would be a violinist.

His eyes were narrowed and focused on his fingers, studying the movement and never wavering to look at the sheet music in front of him. Dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail, strands drifting in front of his face as he swayed gently to the music that he was creating with expert hands. Slender fingers moved over the neck and strings with extreme precision, hitting the notes and dragging them out to create the flow of sound that was gradually building in speed and fervour. It was mesmerizing to watch such a handsome man play like this, and she found herself thinking about what it would be like to be the instrument under his fingers; to be the one creating the sounds for him.

To drive the passion, the ardour that he played with, a blatant sign that he enjoyed the craft and worked hard at it for many years. He handled it with such care, but at the same time he was demanding and professional. His lips were slightly parted, as if he were hardly breathing while he worked the notes into a flurry of notes, filling the air with his melody. She wanted to be closer to him, to study each movement, but she knew she could not. The soft slide of her tongue against her lips hardly made a sound, but when she swallowed it seemed to break through his spell.

His dark gaze fixed on hers, and the breath caught in her throat at the notion that she had been caught. The music did not waver, however, but flowed into a smooth rhythm of longer, heavier scales. His gaze beckoned her forward, and she rose to her feet with surprising grace as she made her way over to him. The moment she was up on her feet he looked away, once again fixing on the neck to continue the sonata with just as much expertise as before.

She sat there watching for nearly ten minutes, but the time seemed to drag on forever. It was fascinating to watch, and the pink-haired woman was disappointed when he pulled the bow across the strings one last time, and finally brought the instrument away from his neck. He straightened his back, and so did she. What else could she do now? He had captured her beneath his spell, and now she was going to be flamed for it, she just knew it.

"You were watching me." Her eyes immediately hit the floor at his soft tone, feeling the slight tug of shame deep within her stomach. It didn't help that she could feel his gaze burning right through her, or that she still felt that odd desire from before.

"Yes, I was... Itachi." His head tilted, and she glanced upwards to catch a glimpse of his vaguely bemused expression.

"You're friends with my brother." Sakura nodded, sighing gently. "So you know me, then."

"Not really... I didn't know you played violin," she admitted. "Aren't you a psychology major?" Itachi nodded, and she smiled gently. "Then why do you play?"

"It is relaxing. Does this surprise you?"

"Of course it does." The woman laughed gently, pinkening slightly. "You don't seem like the type." He raised an eyebrow, but of course she didn't see it. Why on earth was she so shy?

She was a rather pretty girl, he would admit. Pink hair, green eyes: a rare and exotic combination to find or even hear of. Her face was heart-shaped and formed expertly, the angles of her face making her look delicate and angelic. Her voice was soft and melodic, words flowing easily from her full, moist lips. She was beautiful in her own right, but she acted as if she were the most plain thing in the world. His brow creased as he reached forward, hooking his index finger beneath her jaw to tilt her face upwards.

Gemmed obsidian met sparkling jade, and Sakura's lips parted in quiet surprise at the fire smouldering behind his eyes. It was a shock to her, knowing that she had never seen him in this way nor had she ever talked to him for more than a moment, but now she knew what he wanted from her, and what she wanted from him. It was the look she craved, to be seen as something more than just a woman for once. An object of inspiration, someone's muse.

"Are you free right now?" His voice was questioning, but it was more of a demand regardless. Itachi knew the answer before she could even breathe a 'yes'.

"Of course."

"How does a coffee sound?" Sakura's lips curled into a smile at his obvious amusement, and she knew now that this would be a pleasant afternoon. Screw studying—she had, technically, a date with Uchiha Itachi.

"It sounds fantastic. Lead the way."

Itachi was playing Bach's Chaconne from Partita 02 in D. It is a truly amazing peice, and I only wish I had the sheet music for it so that I could learn as well.