The stage was dark. Every light that was even near the red curtain was out. The crowd was screaming their heads off, waiting for the five teenage rock stars to start playing their famous music. The five boys, named: The Rookies, were local musicians. The Rookies consisted of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Shikamaru Nara, Kiba Inuzuka, and Neji Hyuuga. Suddenly the curtain rose, revealing the five who were waited upon in anticipation. The lights came on but were dim, only highlighting their unmistakable outlines while the rest of their bodies lay shrouded in darkness. Suddenly they flashed to bright colors such as green, yellow, and blue. Kiba clicked his drum sticks together and band started playing.
(The Internet Killed The Radio Star- The Limousines.)
The crowd went absolutely crazy as the popular song started playing. With Sasuke and Naruto on guitar, Shikamaru on bass guitar, Neji on keyboard, and Kiba on drums, they performed on the stage of the famous club The Hokage. A club owned by the big-breasted blonde named Tsunade, who watched the performance from her office window above the screaming crowd.
Internet killed the radio star… Those kids are disco dancing! They're tired of rock n' roll!
Naruto sang with a huge grin on his face. The crowd jumped to the beat of the song with incredible energy.
Don't bother tellin' them that drum machine ain't got no soul!
The unique thing about The Rookies was that there was no designated singer. If a member had a song they wanted to sing, they could if the other guys were cool with it.
After the song was finished the stage erupted with incredible applause. Naruto dramatically bowed while the others just raised their hands. The gang shuffled backstage where another group was prepping to go on. An all-female group called "The Sirens". The Rookies passed the ladies before they took the stage. They were rivals of sorts, always competing for popularity in the club. The Rookies lineup walked slowly past them. The two groups were half glaring, half checking each other out. The bodacious fivesome of The Sirens consisted of Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, Temari no Sabaku, Ino Yamanaka, and Tenten.
"Alright, those were my boys The Rookies!" Killer Bee, a popular rapper and DJ announced. "Coming to the stage are probably the hottest girls you'll ever lay eyes on…The Sirens!" The darkened stage lit up again to reveal Ino as the lead singer, Sakura and Temari on guitars, Hinata on keyboard, and Tenten on drums. "Show em' how it's done ladies!"
Temari and Sakura started to lightly strum their guitars, while Ino stepped up to the mic stand.
(Call Me Maybe- Carly Rae Jepsen)
I threw a wish in the well, don't ask me I'll never tell, I looked to you as it fell, and now you're in my way
When Ino simply spoke the first word the crowd went bananas. It was one of their most popular songs, and a lot of people loved it.
Where you think you're goin' baby? Hey I just met you…And this is crazy…but here's my number…so call me maybe!
The crowd sang along as they jumped up and down in unison.
"Damn, it's crazy out here tonight!" Kiba said as he watched the performance from backstage via the live feed to a 50" HDTV.
"Yeah, they're definitely gunning for the title," Sasuke brooded. He smirked. "Still, I can't lie, they're pretty amazing." The camera would switch angles, getting shots of the girls as they jammed on their instruments. Sakura and Temari danced while they played their guitars. Tenten smiled and even pointed to the camera with a drum stick, temporarily playing with one hand. Hinata rocked back and forth, playing the simple notes with a lavish smile on her face. While Ino, sang to the people next to the stage, grabbing their hands every now and then.
"We've been the number one artists in this club for 2 years now. It's gonna be troublesome to defend it from them." Shikamaru said from a couch, strumming his guitar slightly. "Nice job out there by the way," he lightly punched Naruto's shoulder, who was sitting next to him. Neji smiled.
"I agree. We haven't even rehearsed that song but once, yet you pulled it off pretty nicely," he complimented. Naruto smiled his famous toothy smile.
"Thanks guys. You were amazing too. And we'll have to thank Sasuke's boys for the light show." Sasuke had a couple of friends named Suigetsu and Juugo. They were pretty cool but Shikamaru was convinced they only did the lights for the band for Sasuke. Kiba turned to the group with another huge smile on his face.
"True, that! The lights matched the song to perfection!" he exclaimed. "And the crowd was going insane! I think it's obvious that I'm the favorite," he laughed while striking a pose.
"Keep dreaming," Shikamaru said smiling. "We all know Sasuke is the fave, even though he never sings any fun songs," It was true that Sasuke had more fangirls than any of them, any they had a lot. Sasuke seemed to attract the shallow girls. The type that liked bad boys and shit like that. Naruto attracted the more fun-loving party girls. Shikamaru attracted the smarter chicks, and unbeknownst to him the tough ones too. Kiba attracted the easy ones, the type that weren't too bright and would give him a one-nighter. And, Neji attracted the girls that like the strong, mysterious, silent type.
…So call me maybe!
The song finished and the applause was just as wild as the one that preceded it. The girls walked off-stage and to the back. Upon entry, they found the guys lounging in the sitting area as whoever was next prepped to take the stage. Everyone locked eyes.
"And so our fiercest competitors complete yet another amazing performance," Kiba said. "Who'd have thought they would go on to come second only to the handsome devils known as The Rookies?" The guys laughed while the girls seemed to simultaneously roll their eyes.
"Shut up, dog boy," Ino said as she sat next to Naruto on the couch. "Just wait, this year we'll take the top spot from you," The girls all voiced they agreement and proceeded to take a seat. Sakura sat on the couch adjacent to Shikamaru, Naruto and Ino, and next to Neji. Temari sat on Shikamaru's armrest, much to his displeasure. Tenten took a seat on a speaker like Sasuke was sitting. Finally, Hinata sat next to her cousin on the opposite couch. Kiba, who had been the only one standing, pulled up a chair from a nearby table and sat in it backwards.
"I highly doubt that, sweetheart," Kiba winked. This earned some more laughter from the group.
"Well, I don't," Shikamaru said while lighting a cigarette. Temari tapped him on the back of his head.
"That's just like you to run at the first sign of trouble," she said.
"Yeah, Shika. You should have more faith in your band," Naruto said mockingly with a sad face.
"It's not that. It's just that a lot of times, popularity has a lot to do with attractiveness. Since, they're an all-girl band, it'll be tougher than before," Shikamaru explained. The guys either nodded or voice a little agreement.
"Wow, Shika. If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you just implied that we're all gorgeous," Temari teased. Shikamaru slightly reddened.
"Tch, of course you'd be the troublesome one," he said sitting back and playing with his guitar more.
"Hell, it's not like he's lying," Kiba said. "Since you girls are so hot, you'll probably win over some of our fans," The girls, minus Hinata, smirked triumphantly.
"Not necessarily," Sasuke spoke up. "Truth is, we share a lot of the same fans,"
"How do you figure that?" Sakura asked. "You guys pretty much dominate the female population,"
"I wonder why…" Tenten said mischievously, making the girls giggle and the guys smile.
"That is true though," Naruto mused. "The only time we really get male attention is when Sasuke sings one of those dark songs of his," Kiba coughed "emo" which got the entire group laughing.
"The songs aren't really emo, just…dark," Sasuke half-heartedly defended.
"Is that what you tell yourself?" Kiba asked.
"Really now, Kiba. Don't think I can't tell you like them too, with the way you hammer away on those drums," Ino said.
"Oh yeah?" He challenged. "In which song?"
"Alive and Kicking," the group said almost in unison. Kiba waved the off, muttering "whatever,"
Sasuke got up, "Let's head up to our floor," he expertly switched subjects. "It's getting kinda crowded down here." He said gesturing to the bands and artists that were next to perform. The group unanimously agreed and headed to the elevators.
Tsunade remained in her office. This office is where she'd meet with performers and watch the guest dance on the floor. She had another on the top floor of this building where she did her paperwork and such. Sighing rather loudly, she turned away from the large window and sat back down in her desk. The Rookies and The Sirens really gained some popularity. The Rookies were club veterans. When they first started, however, they only got gigs in outlet malls and birthday parties. It wasn't until a certain someone convinced her to let them perform here, did they get a lot of attention and popularity. The Sirens were a different story. They banded about a year after The Rookies had started performing. No doubt they inspired them, but Tsunade knew there was no chance of either girl actually telling a Rookie that. Since Tsunade had known Sakura and Ino personally even before they banded, she easily got them to performing at her club.
But now, the kids were local celebrities. They had gotten numerous record deal offers and smartly rejected all of them, claiming to want to finish high school and college before pursuing a career in music. Now the record labels sent her nonstop letters asking her to convince them.
That wasn't happening.
They exclusively played at The Hokage, making the club's traffic skyrocket over the two years they'd been playing for her. Tsunade made it clear upon entry, that on business nights like this Saturday night, her club didn't house a "talent show". If you wanted to play here, you had to be the real deal. Each performer had the stage for one song a night. Sometimes she'd send the signal down to Killer Bee, who would allow the artists an encore. But that was it. After the performances the club would revert back to its normal state of drunken party-goers dancing while Bee DJ'd.
She got up from her seat and headed for her private elevator. Suddenly the light above the elevator flashed, signaling that someone was coming to her office. Since few people had the code to stop at her office, she'd already guessed who it was. The doors opened to reveal the one and only Jiraiya. He smiled at her while she sent him an annoyed look, even though she just saw him.
"Hey, Tsunade! How'd my boys do?" he asked stepping out of the elevator. She ignored his question and pushed him back in.
"Why don't you come ask them yourself?" she responded. She pressed the 37 button and it highlighted before the doors closed, raising them to their destination
"Answering my question with another question, are we?" he asked. Tsunade scoffed.
"For the record, you just answered my question, to your question, with another question. Nobody likes a hypocrite." Jiraiya laughed. Jiraiya and Tsunade had a pretty obvious relationship. Though, Tsunade was frequently annoyed by the womanizer, she had managed to put up with him since they were kids. Jiraiya was the principal of the school all the young artists went to. He found the Rookies practicing one day after school and was impressed. He went to Tsunade and turned on the charm, which ended in office sex, to convince her. He often referred to them as his boys and Tsunade would refer to The Sirens as her girls.
Jiraiya placed his hands around her waist and pressed himself against her back. She was surprised at first, but relaxed.
"You seemed so stressed out," he whispered huskily into her ear. "You always sound so angry," he said before kissing her ear and making a trail down her neck. Her breathing immediately went ragged.
"I don't…always…sound angry," she managed to get out. Jiraiya laughed against her neck, which sent shivers down her spine. He went back to her ear.
"You're right. I can think of a time or two when you couldn't sound angry," she blushed deeply while he smiled. "More like, breathless," he tugged at the bottom of her loose gray shirt, making her breast become more visible from the top.
"P-Please…how can an idiot like you...make me breathless?" she barely asked. Jiraiya pressed himself against her harder, making her gasp and redden twice the amount.
"I know you feel that, Tsunade," Jiraiya said, referring to his manhood. He looked up at the floor number, which read 33. They were way to close to their destination to be doing this in the elevator. He removed himself from her. "Let's finish this later," he said. Tsunade, back in control, pressed the button for the door to close the second they reached the kids' floor.
"No," she said pressing the 50 button, taking them to the top. "Let's finish this now," she said before turning and pressing her lips to his.
The 37th floor of The Hokage was a lounge floor originally given to the Rookies but shared with the Sirens. Performers weren't given their own floors, and the only reason the kids had this one was because of who they knew. The floor was just a hangout for them and their friends. It had multiple high definition TVs, a couple bedrooms just in case they needed them, plenty of couches and chairs, a kitchen, and a Jacuzzi. The main room had a few colored lights here and there. Most of the gang sat at the main television playing Super Street Fighter IV, which Temari was currently kicking all kinds of ass in. Kiba, Sakura, Sasuke, and Ino were in the Jacuzzi, Neji had disappeared, while Shikamaru sat in the kitchen chatting with his friend Chouji.
"Come on, Temari! That's cheating!" Tenten rose from the couch glaring at one of her best friends. Temari smirked.
"At what point did I cheat, Ten? When I was kicking your ass, or when I was kicking your ass?" she asked, earning laughter from everyone present. She had been using Juri Han, while Tenten used, you guessed it, Chun-Li. Temari had unleashed every move in the book upon Tenten, who barely got a punch in, ultimately ending the fight with her super move. Tenten got up from the couch, and tossed the controller to Hinata, who all but squeaked when it landed in her hands, and walked off.
"Let me know if someone beats her," she mumbled, before heading for one of the rooms to use a bathroom. She heard Temari yell "Yeah right!" behind her. Tenten was the one who introduced her to video games, but now it seemed like Temari owned her ass at every game they played. She angrily opened the door to a random room. "Fuck, it's hot in here," she complained. She went to the bathroom door and opened it, only for a lot of steam to blow into her face. She instinctively shielded her eyes until the steam settled. A half-naked Neji stood at the sink, looking at her confused. Her eyes traveled his body. He looked as if he just got out of the shower. All he had on was his towel, which he obviously hadn't used since his torso was dripping wet. His hair was still slick and he looked as if he was just getting to drying it.
"You can stop staring now," he said, snapping her back to reality.
"What? I m-mean, um shut up! She scrambled before turning away. She was stopped by a slick hand on her arm.
"Hold it. Don't go out there yet," he said looking right into her eyes. She looked bewildered.
"Why the hell not?!" she asked loudly. He shushed her and let her go.
"I'd rather not let them know something happened in here. I'm pretty sure we'd never hear the end of it." He said matter-of-factly. She blushed. Hard.
"Then what the hell am I supposed to do? Watch you get dressed?" she asked.
"You say that like you weren't just blatantly checking me out," he said smiling. She crossed her arms.
"I wasn't checking you out! I was trying to determine whether you were a girl or a boy. Couldn't tell with all that hair of yours." He laughed at her while he turned back to the bathroom but kept the door open.
"Oh, yeah? When did you get your answer?" He turned and looked her dead in her eyes again. She just blushed and looked away.
"Only when you said something. No wonder you have a fan club, dumb girls always like the girly guy."
"Funny." He said. She smiled at him. "Well, mind helping this girly guy dry his girly hair?" he asked amused. She was a little taken back by the request.
"What? Why?" she asked. He rolled his eyes.
"Because it's hard," he answered simply. Tenten sighed.
"I can't fucking believe this!" Temari screamed. "How the hell did I lose?!" The game had been a close one. Hinata had picked Cammy and won by a sliver in the third round.
"Wow! Hinata, that was amazing!" Naruto said excitedly. Hinata blushed at the sudden attention from her childhood crush.
"U-Um thanks, Naruto," she said quietly. By now Temari was in a mini-fit of rage. To be honest, Hinata had no clue what she was doing. She had never played the fighting game before, she just did what any newcomer to the game would do…pressed random buttons. Somehow she had ended up the winner. Shikamaru and Chouji came into the main room, Chouji with a bag of chips in his hands.
"Why did the she-devil scream?" Shikamaru asked calmly. Everyone in the room minus a fuming Temari looked at him as if he had just spoken the forbidden. "What?" he asked them.
WHACK!
"What was that?" Ino asked. She, Sasuke, Kiba and Sakura had still been relaxing in the Jacuzzi.
"Relax," Kiba said. "They're probably just playing around,"
"Yeah, you're probably right," Ino said shifting her attention back to the two shirtless boys in front of her. "So, what did you guys think of our performance?" she asked.
"Best one of the night," Kiba said. He got an amused look from Sasuke. "What? They didn't just play, they rocked,"
"And you wouldn't be saying this because two of them are in bikinis in front of you right?" he asked with a smirk.
"Totally," Kiba said. The girls laughed.
"Whatever," Sasuke rolled his eyes and let the hot, bubbly water wash away and stress he might have had before their show.
"What about you Sasuke? What did you think?" Sakura asked. He looked her in the eyes with a handsome smirk on his face.
"I think you were looking pretty good on that guitar tonight," he said. She blushed but thankfully no one could see it because of the Jacuzzi.
"Oh, come now Sasuke," Kiba said. "You've seen a million guitarists play, yet you've never complimented one of them," Sasuke smirked again.
"They didn't matter. They'd just try to impress me by doing something fancy or playing a difficult song," He answered. "But that's not what it's about. At the risk of sounding like a Saturday morning special, I'd like to say it's not about what you play or how you play it, but the amount of fun you have and joy you bring your fans."
"Amen, brother," Kiba and Sasuke fistbumped.
"So how exactly did I catch your eye?" Sakura asked flirtatiously. "My friends had just as much fun as I did," Sasuke chuckled.
"Maybe, one day I'll let you know," he said smoothly. Sakura smiled at him.
"You know, keep swooning over each other any longer and we're bound to think something's going on," Ino said suggestively while looking at Sakura.
"What? Jealous?" Kiba asked her. Ino sent him a look that said 'Yeah, right,' "Well for the record I thought you looked amazing up there, blondie,"
"Oh, really?" Ino said skeptically. Kiba slit across his chest with his thumb.
"Cross my heart," he said staring into her icy blue orbs. They stayed like that for a moment too long. Ino finally giggled.
"Well, thank you,"
Shikamaru laid his throbbing head down on the table. He should've seen it coming. Normally the pair would throw insults back and forth with no real harm behind them, only the teasing. But Shikamaru should have known not to throw one when Temari was furious. It never ended well. This time, he gets whacked upside the head with an Xbox controller, and a killer headache.
"You know," Chouji started. "For a genius, you really are-"
"Don't say it," Shikamaru interrupted. "People just love using that line whenever I do something 'non-genius like."
"Well you had it coming. I know you two flirt or whatever all the ti-"
"We do not flirt," Shikamaru interrupted. Chouji gave him a 'you're-lying-but-I'll-agree-with-you-anyway' look.
"Come on Shikamaru, it's obvious you like her," Chouji said smiling.
"You're mistaken." He said curtly, raising his head off the table.
"Fine then, love her," Shikamaru sent him a glare. "Alright, alright, point is you know how violent that girl can be,"
"You mean evil," Shikamaru corrected.
"Pssh, evil? Yeah, right. You're just grumpy you got something you should've foreseen," Chouji said confidently.
"Yeah, yeah," Shikamaru said. "I really want to take a nap now,"
"Bad idea," Chouji warned. "You might have a concussion."
"Troublesome," Shikamaru sighed. There was a knock on the wall. It was Temari alerting them of her presence.
"Hey," she said simply. She looked at Chouji. "Can we-" Chouji simply put the ice pack he made for Shikamaru in her hands, smiled at her, the walked into the main room. Temari looked back at Shikamaru.
"You know," he began. "You hit pretty god damn hard," he said. She smiled and began walking toward him.
"Shut up, lazy-ass," she said getting behind his chair and applying the ice pack to his head. "You're just being a crybaby," she teased. He chuckled.
"Guess I should count myself lucky," he stated. "I'm not sure a lot of guys live through the first encounter with the troublesome woman known as Temari," he joked. She smirked.
"And I'm sure not many women bother to encounter the lazy crybaby genius known as Shikamaru," he smiled.
"Ouch, that one hurt,"
"Yeah? Hurt more than this?" she flicked his throbbing head. He winced audibly.
"Slightly," he said. She laughed at him but after that it got quiet. She figured this was as good a time as any.
"Look, Shikamaru. I'm sor-"
"Stop," he cut her off. She looked at the back of his head in confusion.
"But…" she began but he cut her off again.
"Wouldn't suit you," he said simply. She looked befuddled at first, but then smiled brightly. Shikamaru was a genius.
"Aww, Shika!" she said and gave him a crushing hug from behind. Shikamaru didn't even try to fight it. It was pointless. But unbeknownst to her, she triggered a flashback.
~Flashback~
Shikamaru was sitting at the table with his father. His mother had been yelling at the both of them for small things that probably wouldn't have taken anytime at all to fix, and was just a waste of energy to complain about anyway. He looked at his father. He had a lot in common with him. Anyone could come to the conclusion that Shikamaru was a mini version of his up bringer. They both had the same traits, habits, interests, thought processes, you name it. But what Shikamaru couldn't understand was why did his father choose such a loud, violent, and all around troublesome woman to marry. She probably hit him with something twice a day, yelled at him more, and his father seemed to be content with it. He never complained, argued back, nothing. Since he had been spending a significant amount of time pondering this, just to come up empty-handed, he decided to get his answer straight from the horse's mouth. When his mother left the room, he acted.
"Hey, Dad," he whispered. His father grunted his response. He had been eating his breakfast with his eyes closed. "What made you go for a troublesome woman like Mom?" he asked. Shikaku opened one eye halfway, and then closed it again.
"She has her qualities," he answered simply. Not satisfied with his answer, Shikamaru stared at him. Shikaku halfway opened his eye again and saw his son's expression. He closed his eye and smiled. "Even the fiercest woman will always show her soft side to the man she loves," Shikamaru seemed to attempt to process his father's indirect answer. He sighed.
"I don't get it," he said, continuing his meal. His father half-lidded both his eyes this time, a smile still adjourned on his face.
"With any luck, you will when you're older," he said wisely. Shikamaru stared incredulously for a split second before his mother walked back in, unknowingly ending the conversation.
~End Flashback~
Shikamaru sighed at the memory.
"Troublesome woman,"
Shikamaru and Temari walked back into the main room, where the two bands, now complete as the 4 hot-tubbers were dried off and back in regular clothing, watched the performances on the main floor. Shikamaru spotted Neji, who was in new clothing than when they had performed. Not unusual, as Neji often showered after a show for some odd reason. But what was unusual was the dual-bun haired girl standing next to him. Lazy as always, Shikamaru didn't pay it any mind.
"Hey, I like this guy," Temari said as she saw the big screen. A tall boy with a hairstyle similar to Shikamaru's, only twice the size, dark skin and unusual purple eyes took the stage. He had a red-haired girl, with the same complexion as him only with golden eyes on guitar. Another dark skinned boy, this time with short white hair and brown eyes, on drums. And finally, a blonde light skinned guy on keyboard. The artist's name was Toki Takeda. Shikamaru had met him in school and the two got along because of their similarities in personality. Shikamaru was lazy, and to put it blandly, Toki didn't give a fuck. Unlike him and their band, he was a rapper like Killer Bee. He stood with a girl named Karui, and her boyfriend Omoi. They had been dating for a couple months now, and had been good friends of Toki's for a good while. The last guy was Cee, a bodyguard for one of Tsunade's associates, and Killer Bee's big brother, Ay.
(The Show Goes On – Lupe Fiasco)
Karui opened with a guitar rift that everyone seemed to know and automatically cheer for. Next, Omoi banged his drums a few times while Toki sang the opening lyrics.
Alright, already the show, goes on all night. 'Till the morning we dream so lonely, anybody ever wonder, the day we see the sun-up, remember when you come up, the show goes on all night!
In the room, a few of them sang along, nodding their heads to the beat or doing a simple dance.
"This guy is awesome!" Tenten exclaimed. She had only heard his name once or twice, and never really listened to any of his songs. Naruto looked over the couch at Shikamaru.
"Hey, Shika! Isn't that your friend?" He asked. Most eyes in the room went to him.
"Yeah we hang out every now and then." He answered. On the T.V, Toki continued.
I hope your son, don't have a gun and never be a D-boy!
Already the show, goes on all night!
"The guy has talent," Sasuke said. He looked to his left to see Kiba singing along word-for-word, while doing a little dance on the side. Naruto was right with him, albeit only singing the chorus.
Just then a ding was heard, belonging to the elevator. Everyone turned their heads to the metal doors as the opened to real Tsunade and Jiraiya. As hugs and fist bumps were shared, Jiraiya turned his attention to the T.V.
"Hey, that's Toki isn't it?" he asked no one in particular. Tsunade walked up beside him.
"Yeah. Ay and Killer Bee brought this kid to me and asked if I could put him on," she informed. Toki's song was just about done. "The others are just friends he got to play his music for him," Their eyes went back to the screen.
So no matter what you've been through, no matter what you're in to, no matter what you see when you look outside your win-dow…
Jiraiya opened his eyes, impressed that a 17 year-old kid could be sending this type of message. As his song entered its last chorus Tsunade chuckled.
"Wanna hear something funny?" she asked everyone. Shikamaru beat her to it.
"He hates rap," he finished. The room went wide-eyed as Tsunade smiled.
"Yep, he says, and I quote, 'it's overcrowded with bums and materialistic douchebags who are only in it for the money,'" she said.
The show goes on, the show goes on, the show goes on…
Toki ended his song to some, well-deserved, insane applause. Jiraiya smiled this time. Toki went to the same school as the others, but he had no idea this is what he did with his spare time.
"I think I should have a word with him," he said.
"You sure you gotta leave?" Omoi asked sadly, with his toothpick still in his mouth. Cee nodded.
"I perform with you guys anymore. Ay has given me more shifts, and I really need the cash," he explained.
"Dammit!" Karui growled. "Finding a replacement for you is gonna be a pain in the ass." They were standing backstage, with the exception of Toki, who slouched lazily on the couch, unbeknownst to him, the two bands hung out on after their songs.
"It's cool, Cee," he said, his voice deep. "We'll figure something out before next week, if you need those shifts, then take 'em," he said understandingly.
"But if we can't find a replacement, then we can't go onstage. Then we'll have to resort to playing on the street with a big hat for people to throw money in, and one day someone will come by and steal it. Then we'd have to chase him down and beat him up, but the cops would misunderstand and throw us in jail. We wouldn't make bail and the next thing you know-" Omoi's rant was stopped by Karui's firm slap to the back of the head.
"Shut the hell up, already!" she yelled at him. Cee smiled and shook his head. Toki got up from the couch and walked up to Cee, giving him the bro-handshake/hug that all guys do, that will henceforth be dubbed the "Bro-hug"
"Thanks for your help so far, man. Wouldn't have made it this far without you," Toki thanked.
"No prob, dude. It was fun while it lasted," Cee said. "See you guys later," he gave Karui a hug and Omoi a bro-hug before turning around and exiting the backstage area.
"What do we do now, Toke?" Omoi asked. "We can probably pull off a few songs here and there without a pianist but we'd be screwed in the long run." Toki looked to Karui, who, as a rarity, looked almost apologetic.
"We'll figure it out," he said calmly. "We should start looking for a replacement as soon as possible. Hopefully we can make next week's show," Suddenly his phone went off. He looked at the caller ID: Shikamaru. "Yo," he answered.
"Hey, nice show," he said in the state-of-the-art bored Shikamaru voice. "You busy?" he asked suddenly. Though he thought the sudden question peculiar, he was known for not really asking questions, which is probably why he asked so suddenly.
"Nah, I was just gonna have a few drinks and head home. It's a pain to be around Karui and Omoi when they're in 'couple mode,"' he responded. He caught Karui's heated glare out the corner of his eye.
"Cool, head to an elevator and come up to floor 37," Shikamaru pretty much ordered.
"On my way," he said hanging up his phone.
"Who was that? And where're you going?" Karui asked immediately. Toki sighed.
"Come on," he said. "I'll explain on the way."
The elevator doors chimed, signaling a new arrival. All heads turned their way as Toki, Karui, and Omoi stepped out the elevator. They were met with simultaneous greetings as they made their way into the main room. Shikamaru walked up to him and gave him a bro-hug.
"Like I said, nice show out there," he repeated. Toki smirked.
"Same to you," he said. Without warning he was met by Kiba, who apparently was a big fan of his music and knew him even before he started performing here, which was a short two months ago. Kiba talked non-stop while Toki looked back at Karui and Omoi who had perplexed looks on their faces. "Nice to have a guy like you be a fan of mine. This is Karui and Omoi." Karui nodded her upwards in the universal 'What's Up' fashion while Omoi gave a lazy salute. "They've been helping me since day one," Kiba went to the pair and talked jut as enthusiastically.
"Well, well," Jiraiya said approaching them. "Fancy meeting you here, Toki," he said with a warm smile on his face.
"Principal Jiraiya? The hell, what are you doing here?" Toki asked with an amused grin. "Please don't tell me you play," he joked.
"Hey, watch that tone young man. I've been playing since before you were born!" he posed dramatically. "I'm retired now, though," he finished.
"Yeah, I'll bet," Toki said still grinning at his silly principal.
"That was some song you performed." Jiraiya said suddenly. Toki waved him off. "For a second there, I thought you actually paid attention in school, instead of causing trouble and getting sent to my office."
"Yeah, yeah, enough about me." He gestured behind Jiraiya. He noticed The Rookies, The Sirens, Chouji, and even Tsunade were all in here. Kiba had dragged Karui and Omoi to the bunch of the group and everyone was conversing with each other. "Gangs all here, huh?" Shikamaru chuckled.
"Tsunade got us this floor a while back," he explained. "We all just come here to chill every now and then," Toki nodded his approval.
Shikamaru introduced him to everyone else in the room. And Toki's newfound problem rose in conversation.
"…and that's why my man Cee had to leave us today," he explained. "So now I'm short a pianist, and Cee was a damn good one,"
"Hey, we know some pretty good musicians, maybe we can help!" Ino blurted. She got her phone and proceeded to exchange numbers with him. "I'll call you when something comes up,"
"That'd be cool," he replied coolly. Naruto appeared to have just thought of something.
"Hey, Toki. What number are you on the 'Top Artists' list?" he asked. Tsunade stepped up.
"I'll answer that one," Toki lifted an eyebrow. "He's currently number seven, despite only being here for two months. Seeing as that it's here we're talking about, that's pretty commendable," Tsunade smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, I don't care much for the statistics. I just perform whatever I wanna," he said plopping on the couch. Shikamaru smiled at the response. "Just show me who you have in mind,"
This will be a SYOC story. Though not OC centric, your OC will be a dynamic part of this story. The form to fill out will be in my bio, however, you must submit in a review. Simply because others who aren't sure how to fill theirs out can look and see how someone else did it correctly.
The main storyline will follow The Rookies vs. The Sirens in a battle for supreme band in The Hokage. You have a choice in what kind of OC you submit. The spot for Toki's group may only be filled by a female, and will be Toki's love interest. However, you may submit and OC that will be a part of another band. Each user may only submit one OC, and this OC should have an instrument or musical talent. Or not. He/she can be a fan or student if you so desire. You may submit the songs you would like them to perform also. However, since I am the supreme ruler of this fic, I will have the final say in what songs make it. I obviously won't pick a song that doesn't fit the vibe I'm going for. Go listen to the first two songs to get a feel for that vibe.
The OCs will play a more side story role in this fic. But I plan to have a lot of the canon characters that nobody ever uses in this fic too. Thus, the spots for Omoi and Karui. More characters like them will appear, so your OC should be dynamic and able to mingle with multiple people instead of being limited to one or two. As if you couldn't tell, the obvious pairings are NaruHina, SasuSaku, ShikaTema, NejiTen, and KibaIno. The more background characters will also have parings. Such as GaaraxMatsuri, KankuroxSari, DaruixSamui, JiraiyaxTsunade, OmoixKarui, KakashixAnko, AsumaxKurenai, KonohamaruxHanabi, AyxMabui, the list goes on.
Don't worry, your OC will have more than just his/her 10 minutes of fame. Notice, in terms of clothing I didn't do any description. I'm getting to that. When I assign the OC band, I will contact the OC's creators and hold a vote for whether or not the band has uniforms. The creators also get to choose the name.
SYOC open! Submit now, and to be honest your character will most likely make the story.