It started as a bad day.
Bad day led to the need for an extra-crazy girls night out.
Crazy girls night out led to tequila on karaoke night at thier favorite spot: The White Snake, hottest club in Konoha.
Ha! and then the fun began.
Strobe lights in neon bright colors flashed heavily around them, fake fog curled around their legs, and music pulsed into their ears and throbbed inside their heads. Four friends were having their traditional girls night out, as terribly stereotypical as it was.
"Might as well finish this…" Sakura Haruno (aka apprentice midwife studying under Tsunade, one of the greatest midwives in the history of Konoha) threw back the rest of her gin and tonic, "Ugh… pine needles… you're never ordering drinks for me again Ino." Sakura turned to Ino (aka, owner of a very successful candy store. She specializes in making extremely realistic sugar flowers, they're very popular, and can be requested in any specific flower) whose dark purple strapless dress that ended mid-thigh was riding up. "Skirt check hun…" Sakura added as an afterthought.
"Get moving ladies, you're going to be late for the best song." A man in a white button up shirt and dark wash jeans yelled above the music, leaning over their table.
Ino shamelessly reached down and yanked the dress down, which just exposed more cleavage and snorted, "Skirt check yourself Forehead." They all got up, pushing their chairs back into place and grabbing their purses.
"Looking good Tenten (aka blacksmith extraordinaire who's so full of commissions she really should be back at the forge right now. She's one of the most well-paid, and in demand blacksmiths in the continent, and she knows it) ." He ran a pale hand up her back, fingers brushing across the strings that held the backless shirt together.
She laughed, and put her arm on his back as well, "I ALWAYS look good Neji (no one was really sure just what exactly Neji did for a living, but he never seemed short on cash…), "who're you here with?"
Sakura just shook her head at her friend that was behind her by now and smirked, hand on Neji's back, "My skirts fine, Piggy. I have leggings on underneath."
"Th-They only g-g-go to the tops of your kn-knees though!" Hinata (a sales attendant at Claire's, she also teaches night classes up at the college) protested, modest as always in a green halter-top and bell-bottom tan pants.
Sakura and Ino both opened their mouths to protest when Tenten stopped them with a tan hand, "Let it go guys, haha let it go. She's had this crap drilled into her brain since she was like 2!" She affectionately gave the girl a light noogie, "You're lucky I was able to force her into the halter top, and she looks nice." With that she swept off towards the dance floor, effectively taking Neji and in turn Sakura with her.
Sakura smirked and walked along side the best friends, hips swaying to the beat. Ino and Hinata had to run to follow, purple stilettos and cork wedges clacking and banging against the hard floor of the bar area.
Tenten asked again, always persistent, "Who're you here with?"
He rolled his eyes, "I'm supposed to meet up with Naruto."
"Who?" The music was pounding all around them, the beat racing through their shoes and into their bodies… making them feel the need to move. Somebody was singing Numb by Linkin Park. Ino and Hinata caught up, the crowd pulsed around them, and they were pretty much stuck to Neji's back.
He leaned close to yell in her ear, "NARUTO! He's singing right now!" They all looked up, and sure enough, Naruto was screaming into the microphone "I've, become so numb!"
Ino squinted, "Is that Haku doing Mike's part?"
Neji nodded, "Yeah, Naruto dragged the poor guy into it. He wants me to meet some new guy he saw wandering alone at the airport."
Tenten blanched, "Seriously!?!"
Neji rolled his eyes again and continued, "Yeah, the guy says he fell asleep at the terminal and missed his flight, he'll be here until the weekend's over. He's supposed to be pretty cool."
"You have to watch
us sing –" Sakura demanded.
"And dance." Tenten
interrupted
"Definetly." Ino yelled from behind.
Neji turned his head around and raised an eyebrow, "Sure you can dance in that Ino?" She just wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at him. Neji looked down at Sakura, "Do you have a spot?"
She shrugged, pink hair (in curls tonight) bouncing off of and around her pale shoulders, "Nah, we were going to sign up when we got to the stage."
"Didn't you hear? This night's invitation only, some big-shot from Mid-City's here for the show. The boss's only allowing people he's heard before, people that he knows are good. His second-in-command is actually here at the club for once, all just for show of course."
"Then there shouldn't be a problem." Sakura tilted her head and smiled up at Neji, eyes nothing but confident, fingers softly stroking up and down his back.
He smirked, and wordlessly whipped out his phone, maneuvering around Tenten's arm, and punched in the message, thumb a blur. Seconds after hitting send, he got his answer, "You all better love me, cause now the boss-man loves you, you guys are up after me."
Tenten and Sakura both whooped happily and both kissed him on the cheek, Ino gave Hinata a victory hug.
"You're singing Neji-ni-san?" Hinata sounded incredulous.
He nodded his head sadly, "Yeah, I lost a bet, at least I don't have to sing anything embarrassing though, Haku made Naruto be nice."
They reached the stage just as Naruto and Haku were jumping off, there was some laid back techno pulsing in the background as the DJ waited for the next performer. "Sakura!" Naruto yelled the expected girl's name, and wrapped his arms all the way around the pink-haired girl, "Love the mini!" He whipped her around, smacking her butt and sending her flying into Haku, who braced himself and caught her effortlessly, pulling her light blue tee down for her. Naruto went on as if nothing had happened, "Neji my man! You're up next."
Neji shook off the rest of the girls, and calmly caught Sakura's fist that had been headed for Naruto's face. He turned around and faced the nervously laughing blonde "Now you owe me. Take Hinata-sama with you to your table."
"Hey!" Tenten yelled, indignant "She has to dance."
"No she doesn't." Neji released Sakura's hand, and pushed Hinata into Naruto's arms, "Later. And don't hate me Sakura, I wasn't the one that smacked your ass."
Said girl crossed her arms with a huff, and settled for kicking Naruto in the back of the thigh with her heel.
Naruto laughed it off and shouted an apology, but he limped to that table.
Neji returned a few seconds later, and leaned down mic in hand, shirt over half-way undone, and hair completely loose, "You guys better get backstage so you aren't late like I was."
"Let's go." Sakura turned and made her way through the crowd. The three girls made it through, and raced up the steps. They followed Neji to the backstage, were they sat in chairs with the rest of the people that were performing tonight and watched the show.
Excited screaming could be heard coming from the crowd, and people were jumping around wildly. Everyone backstage could see this through the tinted windows that made up the whole back wall of the stage.
"Jesus, what are those girls problems? I mean seriously, the music hasn't even started yet…"
Neji moaned and shook his head, Ino patted his back sympathetically.
Tenten smirked, "Just wait until you hear his intro."
Sakura raised an eyebrow, but Tenten wasn't going to tell so she would just have to wait.
Neji turned around and leaned down to Sakura's height, "Hey, will you forgive me? Hinata would have killed me if I had let her come up here."
Sakura huffed and turned away from him, then turned around and smiled, placing her fingertips on his chest. "Of course I forgive you!" He smirked and moved to step forward but Sakura stopped him, " Now go! Your intro's gonna be on soon, and I can always punch Naruto later." She pushed him backwards, and while he was stumbling a bit, Tenten grabbed him, spun him around, and pushed him towards the door to the stage.
Out in the club, the DJ addressed everyone from his perch up in a cage attached to the ceiling, "Have you all heard of Neji Hyuuga?" Deafening screams were the evident response. The DJ nodded and smiled, "Well you're all in for a treat ladies! He doesn't sing here except on rare occasions, but rumor has it the man lost a bet, so aren't you all happy about his misfortune?" Neji walked out, smirking, and immediately about 15 bras flew onto the stage. Neji caught one that would have hit his face, a real Victoria's Secret beauty, all lace and bows and no real material. Then he spoke into the microphone, and half the audience (thus saying all the females) wriggled in anticipation as his velvet voice filled the club, "Be warned ladies, any bras and/or numbers thrown up here, I keep, and you won't like what I do with them." For emphasis, he threw the bra in his hand across the room and onto into the lap of a smirking Naruto. Neji laughed, then spoke again, "Start the music Kiba, here's a tribute to Three Days Grace."
The DJ did as requested, and the intro started… Animal I Have Become. Neji nodded his head to the beat and his voice spread out throughout the club.
"I can't escape this hell…""Mm… he should be a telemarketer… I'd never hang up on those stupid salespeople again." Sakura mused, laying her head back on the seat.
Tenten nodded, "Just so you could hear his voice right?"
"So many times I've tried…""Mm-hmm… how old is he?"
"Sakura!" Ino and Tenten laughed.
"What? He's sexy!"
Neji's velvet voice took on a harsher edge as he growled the next line: "But I'm still caged inside…" 'Caged' came out especially venomous.
Sakura flinched and looked up, staring at Neji, curious.
"Somebody help me through this nightmare!" Here his voice sounded almost desperate.
I can't control MYSELF!"
"Jeez! This sounds freakishly personal…" Ino shook her head.
"Yeah… like he's pouring his f-ing heart out." Sakura agreed.
Tenten sighed and smiled sadly at her best friend, wishing she could just waltz on stage and give him a hug.
Hinata looked up at her cousin in concern from her seat next to Naruto, who took her distracted moment as an opportunity to slid his arm across the back of her seat, and resting his hand on her bare shoulder.
"So what if you can see…
The dark inside of me,
No one will ever tame this a-ni-mal I have become!" Neji snarled this line into the mic, shaking his head.
"Help me believe…" He held his hand out towards the audience, pleading.
"It's not the real me…
Somebody help me tame this A---NI---MAL!" He doubled over as if he was in real physical pain, screaming into the mic, eyes scrunched shut. The crowd was going absolutely wild.
All the conversation backstage ceased for a moment, everyone gawking in awe.
"He should do this for a living… be a singer I mean." Some girl in an orange dress spoke up as Neji's last two words echoed.
"Yeah…" the guy with her agreed, "He's a natural performer."
"I can't e-scape my-self,
So many times I've lied."
Sakura shook herself out of her reverie.
"But there's still rage inside…" Neji snarled this line in Naruto's direction, raising an eyebrow at the blonde's arm around his cousin. Naruto pretended not to notice.
"So who should I dedicate it to?"
"Whaa?" Sakura's voice had just brought Ino back to reality.
"Somebody get me through this nightmare,
I can't control MYSELF!"
"When we sing? Pick a guy for me. Any guy you want."
Tenten laughed from her seat, "Didn't learn anything from letting her order the drinks huh?" Sakura just smiled and shrugged, she owed this to Ino anyways.
Ino nodded and started scanning the crowd.
"So what if you can see
The dark inside of me
No one can ever tame this a-ni-mal I have become!
Help me believe…" Sakura got a text from Kiba, asking what song they were going to be doing."It's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this a-ni-mal I have become!" Sakura responded with the answer, and Kiba texted right back: r u serious? lol u'll need the hedset mics if ur guna danss
"Help me believe
It's not the real me
Somebody help me tame this A-NI-MAL!"
"That one!" Ino yelled suddenly, pointing to the head table just beyond the moshpit (The actual official dance floor was to the left of the stage (from the girls point of view, with the restaurant part of the club behind the moss pit but in front of and to the side right of the stage).
"Somebody help me through this nightmare
I can't control myself!
Somebody wake me from this nightmare
I can't escape this hell!" As 'This animal' echoed for the next 13 seconds, Neji stood straight, chin raised with a defiant look on his face, which was framed by haphazard strands of his chocolate hair. Papers with numbers on them were whizzing onto the stage.
Sakura demanded, "Which one?" There were 4 guys seated there, all in suits, 'At a club? Lame!'
Ino sighed, eyes glazing, "The one with the eyes you could drown in."
Ah, the one at the head of the table, onyx eyes and onyx hair, with porcelain skin. He was seated next to a woman with red hair, also in a suit… who was giving glares to anyone that dared glance at Onyx Man.
Sakura smirked and nodded, "Hell yeah."
Neji finished his song, bowing and picking up bras to the thunderous applause, and smirking and walking off stage to severe booing and indignant cries after a snide, "Glad you liked it, cause it's never happening again." After that he headed towards Naruto's table, looking like a naughty coat-rack, with all kinds and sizes of bras hanging off him.
Sakura, Ino, and Tenten fixed on their headset mics, and waited for Kiba's intro.
Sakura stared boldly at the onyx haired stranger, even after he caught her staring, and they just looked at each other from across the room. Sakura could see the red head glaring daggers at her in her peripheral, and she smirked, winking at the guy before turning to sling an arm over Ino's shoulders who did the same to Tenten.
Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw the redhead sputtering something, face reddening to match her hair. Sakura grinned mischievously, "This is going to be perfect."
