A/N: I spent the last two days smashing this out. It is already finished, so don't fear me getting writters block. This story was inspired by the book All The Wrong Reasons by JL Paul. While this story and the book are very different, they both start with a singer in a bar and a girl who listens. Also, the outfits for this chapter and the upcoming chapters will be on my profile so check them out.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, Seether, any of the clothes picked for this story, Evanescence, P!nk, or anything else 'cept the plot. They all belong to their rightful owners.
I walked into the bar pressing my palm to my forehead under my curtain of hair in a pointless attempt to ease the feeling of a jackhammer running wild in my head after another fight with Sasuke. I was going to get smashed so I wouldn't remember anything tomorrow, the same thing I did every time things went bad between him and I which meant I was an almost daily regular at this bar. This was my method of coping, and I was fine with it. I refused to touch dope because, in my opinion, it was a thousand times worse than getting so hammered I couldn't recall my name.
Most of my friends who knew about my behavior claimed I was setting myself up to get roofied or something, but I was always alert and a black belt so the day I got taken advantage of Sasuke would climb off his high horse. I casually glanced around the bar before waving to the bartender and seating myself on a stool right in front of him. I didn't have a regular drink, I just took whatever he mixed up for me since if I drank the same stuff again and again I quickly got tolerant to it and the shit wouldn't do anything for me.
I heard someone tap the mic on the stage at the front of the bar and I turned my stool that way to watch. They were always switching the bands up, no band lasting longer than a week or two. Tonight it looked like there was a new band since I saw a shaggy brown haired guitarist walk up the stage steps and he looked unfamiliar. I was glad he had brought his own guitar, a nice one by the looks of it, since the bar's supplied instruments were from the dump. One of the bartenders had a second job there and brought them here with him one day so they could pay the bands less because they already had equipment. Most of the better bands were smart enough to bring their own stuff though.
I grabbed my drink, taping a long sip and smiling at the burning in my throat. There was definitely whiskey in whatever I had tonight. Nothing was going on up on the stage so I turned my attention back to the bar, staring at my drink. Six shots later I was feeling the alcohol do its job and I became more relaxed, the tension in my muscles lessening slightly. That was when I heard a gritty and raspy voice that shook me from my state.
'Hold me now I need to feel relief
Like I never wanted anything
I suppose I'll let this go and find a reason I'll hold onto
And I'm out of reason to believe in me
I'm out of trying to get by
I'm so afraid of the gift you give me
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all
I can't face myself when I wake up
And look inside a mirror
I'm so ashamed of that thing
I suppose I'll let it go
Until I have something more to say for me
I'm so afraid of defeat
And I'm out of reason to believe in me
I'm out of trying to defy
The tall red-haired man on stage had my full attention now as he sung his singing turning to screaming at points in the song. He paused and stepped back from the mic as music continued on. His sharp stare picked through the crowd quickly as if he was judging everyone watching him. When his eyes flitted over me I felt my heart jump, but not in fear as usual. I wasn't sure what the tug I felt in my chest towards him was, but it made me listen extra carefully.
I'm so afraid of the gift you give me
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all
Hold me now I need to feel complete
Like I matter to the one I need
I'm so afraid of the gift you give me
I don't belong here and I'm not well
I'm so ashamed of the lie I'm living
Right on the wrong side of it all
Now I'm ashamed of this
I am so ashamed of this
Now I'm so ashamed of me
I am so ashamed of me...'
The bar broke into clapping and drunken attempts at wolf-whistles. I myself just smiled, something about the lead singer intriguing me to pay a little more attention to the show tonight. I took the time, as they set up for their next song, to study all of the band members. The guitarist I had seen earlier with the long shaggy brown hair was a widely built guy, but did not look fat. More like he had broad shoulders and what appeared to be an out of shape body that hid muscles. He wore black jeans, purple converse, and a matching black t-shirt that had a picture of a kitten with elongated claws and sharp, vicious teeth and feathers hanging from its mouth.
On the drums was a dirty blonde haired chick with her hair pulled into four pigtails. She had on a purple off the shoulder long-sleeve shirt with a mesh tank top under and a miniskirt the same color as her shirt. Strapped onto her feet were a pair of purple stilettos which looked impossible to walk in. A man with a bass guitar headed towards the drummer, catching my attention. He had dark brown haired pulled up into a spiky brown ponytail. He wore a plain green t-shirt and faded jeans along with green beaten tennis shoes.
Finally, my gaze wondered to the redhead again whose hair was even longer than the guitarists. He wore a simple pair of black jeans, a black t-shirt with Seether's logo on it, and a pair of black skate shoes. Something about him made my gaze stick on him. The band then began the next song and I listened intently. After that, and several more songs, they exited the stage and claimed a table pretty close to me. They immediate dropped into conversation but I noticed the redhead only rarely interjected a word or two.
With a random burst on confidence, I set down my drink, slid off my stool, and headed over to their table. I came up behind the bigger brown haired guitarist and tapped him on the shoulder. When he turned around I smiled and told him, "I enjoyed your guys' show. What songs were you playing?"
The boy smiled at me, sticking out a hand for me to shake. With slight hesitation I took his hand and he firmly shook it. "Which song in particular caught your attention?"
"You guys did a good job on all of it, but the first one was really the one that got me listening."
"Ah, that would be The Gift by Seether. Gaara's actually got one of their shirts on." Of course, I already knew the red head or Gaara was wearing Seether's latest band t-shirt and who all the songs they had covered were by, but I needed some way to start the conversation. I let my gaze linger over to Gaara to see he was glaring at me with cold green eyes as he lifted a drink to his lips.
"We don't welcome groupies." he hissed and I felt the same pull towards him, no matter how rude he was being.
"Ignore him; it's always nice to know people like to hear us play." The dirty blonde held it her hand across the table as she spoke. The man with the spike hair in a ponytail had an arm lazily slung around her shoulders and I noted how cute they looked together. "I'm Temari. He's my brother Kankuro, you know who my other brother Gaara is, and this lazy idiot and my boyfriend is Shikamaru." She gestured around the table and I got a wink from Kankuro, glare from Gaara, took the handshake from Temari which was as strong as her brother's, and earned a mutter of 'troublesome' from Shikamaru.
I knew she was waiting for me to give her my name, but I didn't plan on staying much longer. I wasn't even sure where I got the confidence to walk up and talk to them in the first place. "I haven't seen you guys here before. Where were you all hiding?"
Kankuro barked out a laugh. "Trying to get the stick out of Gaara's ass so he'd sing on stage." That earned him a hard punch from the redhead that looked like it hurt. I laughed, subconsciously brushing my hair from my face when it slipped out of place from my movement and completely covered my eyes. I instantly regretted the action when I saw Temari's eyes widen.
"Your eye..."
"Is purple and swollen? Not really all that attractive, I know." I tried to laugh it off, but I had noticed when I had said purple and swollen Gaara had swiveled his wandering gaze around to look at me.
"Are you alright?" Temari asked warily, obviously uncomfortable.
"Fine. Just ignore it." I was almost pleading, not wanting to remain on the subject. I came here to get smashed and forget, not to talk. I glanced back at the bartender, putting my hand up while only holding up four fingers.
He quickly set to work and then arrived at the table with my four shots. "Here you are miss." I nodded to him, gulping down the shot quickly before turning my attention back to the band. I didn't like the way they were all staring at me.
"So the three of you are sibling, huh? I couldn't get along with my siblings for five minutes so can't imagine what being in a band with them would be like." I said, referring to Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari since other than being Temari's boyfriend I had no idea where Shikamaru fell into the mix. He seemed nice enough though other than his grumbling
"Hell." Gaara replied shortly, giving me a piercing glare.
Temari absently swatted him with a manicured hand before adding to his answer. "Sometimes it is, but we are closer than most siblings so whatever we fight about we forget about later." I had trouble listening to her answer as the alcohol began slowing everything down for me and I felt the full effect of all my drinks that night.
I nodded, about to ask another question, when I felt him behind me sending a jolt of fear through me. Hopefully I hadn't visually reacted. "Sasuke," I stated evenly, still looking straight at Temari. Temari glanced around me and her eyes grew widder. Kankuro looked behind me also, but his face twisted into an aggravated expression.
"Sakura. We are leaving now." He quickly snatched my arm by the elbow and started dragging me out of the bar, not caring if I bumped into things along the way including metal tables.
"Bye Sakura!" Temari shouted, waving. I waved back slightly before Sasuke jerked on my arm, causing me to wince. Soon enough, we were out the door and I steeled myself for another argument.