"Sasuke-kun!" I groaned. Sakura Hino ran up behind me, wearing a t-shirt with my face and the words Hanshou Jisatsu emblazoned across the chest.
"Sakura, why do you have to interrupt practice?" I'm Sasuke Uchiha, lead singer and guitarist for the garage band, Hanshou Jisatsu. We've been practicing for a big battle of the bands coming up. A bunch of big names in the music industry are coming so if we're ever going to make it to the big time, we've got to do two things: 1. Kick the other band's asses with our music and 2. Get rid of Sakura.
"Oh, am I? I'm sorry; I just wanted to make sure we were still on for tonight's dinner." She thinks I'm her boyfriend, and technically I am, but only because she doesn't understand that when I say I don't like her, I mean it.
"Dinner?"
"Yeah, I asked Naruto-kun if you were free for dinner tonight and he said to come over at seven." I glared at him, and he smiled.
'What a great smile…wait…what the hell? Did I just think what I think I thought?' I mentally slapped myself and turned back to Sakura.
"Sorry, we're pulling an all-nighter. We want to kill at the battle of the bands this weekend. And by the way, I'm not your boyfriend so leave me alone."
"Silly! Of course you're my boyfriend! If I'm your girlfriend, who I am, that means you're my boyfriend!"
I sighed and said, "Okay, whatever, but you have to sit on that amp and don't talk. Oh yeah, don't touch anything." She squealed and bounced to the amp.
Naruto opened the song with a calm beat from the bass followed by a steady thumping from Neji on drums. The song really got going when Gaara and I picked up the pace on our guitars and I began singing.
In a brief overview of the band, I'm lead singer and I'm pretty damn cool, too. Naruto, the bassist, is a complete idiot whose favorite pastimes are bugging the shit out of everyone and eating ramen. Gaara, our lead guitarist, is always serious. It takes a lot to get him to crack a smile. Neji, the drummer, is an accidental funny guy, and a hit with the ladies. We all are but Neji and Gaara don't care. They're already taken…by each other. Yeah, we get some shit from people about having band members date one another, let alone the fact that they're both guys, but we don't care.
A few hours, and a couple of interruptions from Sakura later, Neji starts missing beats, Naruto nearly breaks a string, I forget some lyrics and Gaara…well, he's the only one still going strong. Sakura on the other hand is passed out on the amp (but I don't know how she stayed on).
"Is she dead?" Neji stared intently at Sakura, poking her forehead.
"Mhm…Sasuke…kun…stop poking me!" She frowned in her sleep and tried to roll over.
The key word there being tried. She squeaked in alarm as she woke up midair. Neji's arm flicked out and caught her under the arms as she tottered on the edge.
"Thank you, Neji-kun! You saved my life!"
"Um…no, not really." Sakura ignored him and gave him dreamy eyes and tried to hug him. Gaara appeared at Neji's side, his arm automatically fitting around his waist.
"Relax, Gaa-kun! It's just Sakura!" He smiled and kissed his cheek.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Hey, who's up for pizza?"
"Not us, we're going to a movie! Later guys!" Neji and Gaara walked out, hand in hand.
"I'm in!" Naruto grinned his sexy little grin.
'Wait…sexy grin? What the fuck? Am I going insane?'
"I'll go! Let me tell my mom." Sakura pulled out her pink cell phone and walked off, dialing the number carefully.
"Hey, Sasuke?"
"What?"
"Can I tell you something without you freaking out?"
"Probably. Why?"
"Well, it's kind of a long story but…I'm breaking up with Hinata." Hinata was Naruto's girlfriend and they were practically soul mates.
"What?!? Why? I thought you two were super in love!"
Naruto blushed. "So did I but…I guess…I'm-"
"Sorry boys! I can't go," Sakura sauntered back in, stopping just inside the threshold.
"Um, what'd I miss?" I realized why she was staring at us. I had unconsciously moved close to Naruto and my hand was resting on the middle of his back. I had the habit of doing things like that around him. It's just from knowing him most of my life I guess. I'm at my most comfortable around him, like I'm with my brother or something.
I backed off and mumbled an apology.
"Nothing much. So why can't you go?" Naruto was instantly all energy again.
"Oh, right! My aunt and Uncle are coming over tonight. Well, have fun, boys!" Sakura left and the room fell quiet.
"So…should we go?"
"Totally. I'm starved." Although the grin was there on his face, it wasn't in Naruto's voice. We walked out to my car and hopped in. We drove mostly in silence until we pulled into a parking space when I broke the silence.
"So, why are you breaking up with Hinata?"
"Like I said, it's a long story, but I really don't feel up to telling it right now, maybe after dinner." I shrugged and we climbed out.
"Table for two?"
"Yes, please." The waitress asked us if we wanted smoking or non and after we told her non, she led us to a booth. We ordered and talked about the Battle of the Bands coming up.
"So, do you think we'll win?" Naruto asked.
"I don't know if we'll get first place, but I hope we get 2nd." The rest of our meal went something like this and we climbed back into my car to bring him home. We didn't say a word the whole ride, me because I had nothing to say, but he was thinking heavily.
We pulled up to his house and he turned to me. "Sasuke, do you still want to know why I'm breaking up with Hinata?"
"Yes, if you want to tell." The next thing I knew, his lips were on mine and he was stretched across the space between our seats.
"Mmph! Naruto?!? What?" I pulled away and stared at him, more confused than angry.
"You wanted to know why I was breaking up with Hinata, and that's why…I…I think I'm in love with you." I just stared at him and he said, "It's okay if you don't want to say anything, you can wait a while." And he left, dashing through the dark to his door.
