The Perfect Song

The perfect song



“Mission success,” the Hokage declared to the team.  “You are dismissed.”  

The boys walked out of the Hokage Tower, heading towards the one place they all went to after a long mission:  Ichiraku Ramen Shop.  He and his two three best friends—Ohiko, Hiro, and Kusamu—were all Jounin, all training for the ANBU Exams coming up in four months.  There were a certain number of A-ranked missions the boys had to take up to be qualified to take the exams.  They only had one more mission to go on, and they were all very eager to get it before it was too late.

As they were walking down to the ramen shop, they were putting their heads together to try and remember any important dates coming up (besides the exams).  Other than the anniversary of the day Naruto was appointed hokage, nothing came to their minds, until—

“Oh!  And Kaleen's birthday is in two days!” Ohiko exclaimed.  Hebauki stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes as wide as saucers.

“WHAT?!” he shouted.  

He forgot;  how could he have possible forgotten her birthday?!  And it was her sixteenth!  

The boys sat down at the ramen shop, ordered their food, and then discussed the situation while waiting for their food.

“So what are you going to get her?” Hiro asked.  Hebauki just stared at the table in front of him, still in shock as his own stupidity.

“Dude, you are going to get her something, right?” he asked again.  Kusamu watched his friend’s still-stunned face for a reaction.  Out of the four teens, he was the calmest of the all.  Kaleen was his cousin, and she and Hebauki had known each other for years, so he wasn’t worried that his friends wouldn’t get the girl something stunning.

“I have no idea what I’m even going to get her,” the Uchiha whispered.

“What do you mean, ‘you don’t know what to get her’?!!” Kusamu shouted.

So much for being calm.
It was then that their food was placed in front of them.  After a few minutes of some intense silence, Hiro spoke up.

“How can you not know what to get her?  You’ve know her since early days at the academy.”  Hebauki slammed his head into the table, groaning in frustration.  The other three teens looked at each other in worry; they had never seen Hebauki act this way.  

“I know!  You could write her a song expressing your feelings for her,” Ohiko suggested.  Hebauki shot his head up and glared at the guy next to him.  Before he could say anything, though, the others quickly agreed that it was a good idea.  Hebauki shook his head.

“I don’t know, you guys; I keep getting this feeling that maybe I shouldn’t tell her how I feel . . .” he mumbled while stirring the contents of his food absentmindedly.  “I mean, if I write a love song, it usually is for another couple, expressing their feelings, and that is so much easier than my own.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I just don’t really know how to tell her.  I know I like her—a lot—but I don’t know how much.”  It was silent for another few moments before Kusamu spoke up again, is voice calm once more.

“Just really think about how you’re feeling next time you’re around her.  Are you capable of that much?” he asked sarcastically.  Hebauki nodded his head, not really listening.  Okay, so it was pretty official that he was going to write her a song, but how should it go?  There was so much to consider:  tempo, key, and not to mention the lyrics!  In the band, it was always Kaleen and him that worked on writing and composing everything.  So how was he going to do it by himself?



“Hey!  Back from your mission already?”  Hebauki stared at Kaleen with a smirk on his face.

“But of course,” he replied.  He always acted like this around her; calm and collected.  He could act like a total goof bal around her and he wouldn’t mind—she was okay with it because he has acted like that before—but only because she would start acting like it first, and he would just mock her in a friendly way.

It didn’t surprise him that she was waiting for him at their secret spot in the large crocks that carved the Hokage Faces—she would always wait here when she heard that he was back from a mission, and he would wait for her.  it was getting to be around late afternoon, and Kaleen had brought her nylon-string guitar with her—that struck his as odd because she usually didn’t use nylon-stringed guitars.  

“I came up for another song while you were away,” she said.  Hebauki sat down across from her.

“Well, let’s hear it.”  She picked up her guitar and got into a playing position.

“Okay, but it’s a little different than what I usually write,” she noted.  After clearing her throat she began to play.

You don’t know my name
You don’t know anything about me
I’ve tried to play nice
I wanna be in your game
The things that you say
You may think I never hear about them
But word travels fast
I’m telling it to your face
I’m standing here behind you back

Hebauki listened to the rest of the song, finding some kind of connection with the lyrics.  In a way, they matched with how everyone feels in some point in their life.  As the song came to a close, Kaleen looked at her friend for his opinion.

“What do you think?” she asked nervously.  

“Have you tried playing it on your other guitar?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t sure with one sounded better . . .”

“I think the other one would sound better than the nylon.”  She gave him a smile and thanked him for the advice and listening to her song.  

They spent the next few hours talking; the whole time, the Uchiha male tried to get his feelings in place for the girl.  Once it was getting time for the teens to return to respectful homes, Hebauki walked Kaleen to hers.  They stood on her doorstep, facing each other.

“I’m glad you’re back so soon, Hebauki.  I missed you,” she said to him.
Hebauki stared at her under the light of the setting sun.  The orange glow illuminated her features, mysteriously bringing out the deepness in her brown eyes.  Bringing his head down, he placed a lingering kiss on her cheek, smiling over his shoulder at her as he walked away.

“I missed you too.”



The next day, after the band was done practicing for the summer festival coming up, Hebauki held Kaleen back once the others were gone.  Today was Kaleen’s birthday, and the teenage boy was up almost all night writing her a song, though she didn’t know it.

“I have something I want to play for you,” he said nervously.  Kaleen sat down in one of the cozy chairs nearby, Hebauki taking his place in the one next to it, facing her.  he already had his electric guitar in place.

“Yeah, so I, um, wrote this for you, and, uh, I hope you like it, because I did it all last night.”

What day is it and in what month
This clock never seemed so alive
I can’t keep up
And I can’t back down
I’ve been losing so much time
‘Cause it’s you and me
And all other  people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it’s you and me
And all other people and I don’t know why
I can’t keep my eyes off of you

Kaleen gasped softly; she already knew that he was expressing his own feelings towards her.

Why are the things that I want to say
Just aren’t coming out right
I’m tripping on words
You’ve got my head spinning
I don’t know where to go from here
‘Cause it’s you and me
And all other  people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it’s you and me
And all other people and I don’t know why
I can’t keep my eyes off of you
Something about you now
That I can’t quite figure out
Everything she does is beautiful
And everything she does is right
‘Cause it’s you and me
And all other  people with nothing to do
Nothing to lose
And it’s you and me
And all other people and I don’t know why
I can’t keep my eyes off of you and me
And all other people with nothing to do
Nothing to prove
And it’s you and me
And other people and I don’t know why
I can’t keep my eyes off of you
What day is it
And in what month
This clock never seemed so alive

As Hebauki strummed the last chord, he looked up to see Kaleen crying.  He instantly stared panicking.

“You hated it.  Oh crap, you hated it, didn’t you?”  The girl shook her head and walked over to the Uchiha and placed a soft kiss on his lips.  When she pulled back, she smiled.

“No, I loved it—thank you,” she whispered.  Hebauki smirked.




“So, does this mean that every time I write you a song, I get a kiss?” he asked.