[Same evening; Sasuke's room]

"*SIGH~*"

An exasperated sigh echoed throughout the idol's room. Sasuke was sitting on one of his leather couches, reading the script he received from Kishimoto-san. His obsidian eyes darted away from the booklet he was holding and landed on his bodiless friend.

"What's wrong," he asked bluntly. From under his black rimmed spectacles, Sasuke could see the sulking face of the Cherry who was sitting on the window sill, hugging her knees.

Sakura jolted to the sudden voice which broke the silence and looked up, meeting the eyes of the handsome, young actor. Sasuke stared at her glassy, emerald eyes which held millions of secrets and undiscovered emotions. The girl had yet to spill the beans as the raven-haired teen waited patiently for her response. He was rather in a good mood that evening.

As several moments passed, the limit of his patience shortened as the Cherry continued on staring blankly at him without stuttering a word. Sasuke put down his script and spectacles on the low table in front and leaned back on the couch before speaking again.

"Come on. At least I can lend my ears . . . ," he said, crossing his legs as he placed entwined fingers on top of the upper knee.

The pink-haired ghost tore their gaze and lowered her eyes; a troubled expression apparent on her face as she stared down at her feet. After what it seemed to be eternity, the latter opened up hesitantly.

"Ne, Sasuke-kun . . . ," she started. The lad -on the other hand- was listening attentively. The Uchiha's dark eyes bore into the pair of jades which slightly shimmered under the bright fluorescent lights.

"U-Umm....actually...," she stammered, and heaved another sigh. Her face seemed a little twisted as the latter contemplated on whether to be honest or not.

Growing impatient, Sasuke rose from his seat with twitched brows with irritation. Taking quick strides, Sasuke inched closer towards the window.

*BAM*

Sakura gasped instinctively as she heard a 'thud' and looked up. Her eyes widened once she realized a presence towering above her. Sasuke slightly bent down as he scrutinized her -his right hand supporting him, landing against the wall beside the window.

"Tell me . . . ," the latter demanded his voice deep yet soothing. Sakura melted away in his words and became speechless. A bright shade of red powdered her cheeks immediately and her throat became dry. The closeness of their faces could make the Haruno's heart to burst into a million pieces. Just another three inches and they'd be kissing each other on the lips!!!

Flustered, she turned away. Her face burned with embarrassment; hot and red like a tomato out of the oven. Just thinking about it sent butterflies to her stomach.

On realizing her flushed face, Sasuke straightened up and faked a cough while covering his mouth with his fist. He then glanced to his left. A light tinge of pink appeared on his cheeks as he backed away a little, but was too faint to even notice. Sakura still had her eyes on her feet.

After a minute or two, the latter decided to speak, shifting her eyes at the raven-haired lad.

"D-Do you . . . believe in premonitions . . . or any kind of visions . . . ?"

Sasuke returned a blank expression before tackling back with a question.

"Do you . . . ?"

"U-Uhh . . . ," the Cherry stuttered before answering him, and then continued, "I'm not so sure myself . . . . ."

Sasuke -feeling slightly frustrated- crossed his arms and let out a deep sigh. His brows were knitted together as he spoke.

"So that is what has been bugging you all this time!? You mean . . . you can see-"

"The Past . . . ," Sakura interrupted as she looked up at the idol's chiseled face again.

"What I can see . . . .is the Past . . ."
Both stared at each other for a while before Sasuke broke the silence for them, gesturing her to continue. He seemed unfazed nonetheless.

'He obviously isn't taking this seriously is he? (￣.￣) . . .'

The ghost-girl then spilled every single detail she knew of; about the clover amulet, about Mugen, about her pursuers and the on-going war, and about The Tree.

Being the sharp person he was, the raven-head took in all the information by listening once. As if thinking deeply about something, the lad was quiet -his eyes shut. He then spoke up as he fluttered his eyes open which sounded more like a command rather than a request.

"Tomorrow, take me to where your so-called Tree is," he said, before turning his back and walked away. Astonished by his words, Sakura got off the polished window sill and desperately shot a question.

"Eh!? Does that mean you believe in what I say? Σ(⊙▽⊙)"

Sasuke, who was already by his stack of papers, gave her a reply while organizing his messy table.

"'Ghosts or spirits DO NOT exist' is what many people believe and I'm seeing one now, aren't I, Sakura? Either way, I don't really care . . ."

"Oh . . . ," the Cherry deadpanned.

'So that's what he meant (-_-),'she thought, feeling a little disappointed at his ruthless statement -at least for her.

'Hmm!? Σ(⊙_⊙),' she thought, as if realizing something important. Curiosity chewed on her conscience as the Cherry scanned the busy 'King' who was sorting his papers. She blinked her eyes several in confusion.

'Did . . . Did he just called me by my name?'

The Cherry's face immediately lit up. Then with an absolute determination, Sakura inhaled a sharp breath before parting her lips to speak. By then, Sasuke had grabbed a small, white remote in his hand; his thumb on one of the gray buttons of the device.

"H-Hey, Sasuke-kun? Did you just-"

*Beep*

". . . Goodnight . . . ," said the latter in an almost hushed voice. The lights in his room turned off right after the 'beep' sound was heard. Sakura's sentence was cut off rather bitterly.

The Uchiha slumped down on his bed, pulled the covers over himself and soon drifted off to his slumber-world. Not long after, soft snores filled the unlit room.

Sakura was left dumbfounded by what just happened, gawking at the situation in disbelief.

"EEHHHHH!!!!????"

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
[Monday morning; at school]

Sasuke and his ghost friend, Sakura, arrived at their school much earlier than before. Only a few of the punctual students could be seen on the school grounds. Some were doing their morning club practices while others just idled around or talked in groups of three or four.

It was just like any other mornings at school, except for the top-star who usually arrives at school in the nick of time. Sasuke didn't want to deal with those noisy, squealing parakeets. Of course, all eyes were on him, although most of them were girls. Small squeals and murmurs could be heard from a distance but the idol kept his cool and didn't let them bother him.

Sakura glanced over to the source of the noises, and ended up frowning -without even her realizing it. The latter couldn't understand the reason why she was feeling bitter towards those girls. But do we also know why a bitter gourd had to be bitter?

"So . . . , where is it," asked Sasuke, while the ghost-girl was lost in her own thoughts. On hearing his voice, Sakura quickly led the way. However, she still caught sight of those annoying fan-girls who were like ants swarming around her ice-cream. Then a silly idea crossed her mind as the Cherry saw a broom leaned on the wall of the school building, which wasn't too far away from the girls.

Swiftly, Sakura lifted a hand and waved it in the air. For some reason, the latter wanted to keep that a secret from the idol who was walking alongside of her. It was a strange feeling. As if the broom was alive, it reacted to her orders. It swept dust onto their brown, polished leather shoes of theirs.

"KYAA!!!"

"WHY'S IT MOVONG ON ITS OWN!!??"

"G-G-G-GHOST!!!"

Startled and panic-stricken, their voices distanced further away, before disappearing completely. Her cherry-colored lips curved up into a victorious smirk, whereas Sasuke gazed at their backs with twitched brows.

"What was that? (￣_￣)・・・," he asked, out of the blue, looking a little confused.

Sakura faced the boy and chimed her reply with a small smile, "Nothing~🎶 Let's go, Sasuke-kun!"

After a five minutes' walk, the deserted concrete path led them to an excessively tall tree at the back of their school's main building.

"Here we are . . ."

They stopped at the edge of the hard concrete lane where it ended halfway to their destination. Sasuke watched in awe, taking in all the magnificence of nature. He slightly narrowed his eyes, wondering why a beautiful and peaceful place such as that was left undiscovered, or rarely visited by the K.E.H students.

The latter went closer, savoring the serenity under the Tree's shade. Sasuke placed a hand on its hard trunk, so did Sakura -at the same time.

The raven-haired boy blinked in surprise to their coincidence before stealing a glance at his paranormal friend hovering beside him. Sakura merely stared at the rustling leaves on the branches high above them with her eyes half-closed, as if trying to absorb the beauty around her. She then slowly closed her eyes, feeling the wind -obviously hadn't noticed the scrutiny of Sasuke's abysmal eyes.

It was peaceful; a gentle morning breeze brushing their skin -at least his skin- and a surprisingly comfortable silence.

The Uchiha fixed his eyes upon the giant tree once again as he mulled over about the situation.

'Somehow, staying like this . . . soothes my heart . . . Yeah..., with just the two of us . . . . .'

Sasuke literally had his eyes wide open due to the last sentence.

"Wha- ARGH," the latter gasped, followed by a painful groan as calamity invaded his soul. His body eventually weakened to the ground while gripping his head tightly in his hands, hoping the pain would go away as he did. He couldn't help it. The affliction he was suffering was nothing like a mere headache but as if someone was drumming on his head.

Strange . . . . .

'Why's Sakura so quiet,' he thought. His head turned sideways to face the girl. Despite the commotion going on, the pink-haired yuurei (a/n: 'ghost' in Japanese) didn't budge; instead she remained unaffected at her former position near the Tree's trunk. The Uchiha could see her emerald eyes glazed over as he tried to call out her name, but not a word came out of his mouth. The headache was worsening! Then he witnessed something more intriguing.

Slowly and steadily, magenta colored vine-like-tattoos branched out from the center of her forehead -from its source which was a diamond mark with the same color. They travelled all the way to Sakura's hands and either side of the shin of her legs.

Eventually, the idol's sight hazed over, as if everything around him was wrapped in a white blanket. It happened so suddenly, which gave Sasuke no time to think. However, among the havoc he faced, the latter clearly remembered one thing . . .

That wasn't his voice . . . . .

~•xXx*xXx*xXx•~
First of all . . . . . I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO UPDATE REGULARLY!!!!

And secondly . . . . . THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING "SAKURA SPIRIT" UP TILL NOW! >_< AND ALSO FOR SUPPORTING MY PIECE OF WORK, ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!!!

«Don't have a relevant picture ~_~»

Hope you enjoyed this chapter too! Please comment your thoughts, minna-san. ^ω^