Vexing
Chapter 1: Spreading the Fever
Summary: The famous guy rock band Fever is talented, good looking, and at the top of the charts. But they get a dose of reality when new band Twist takes over the number one spots. It's going to be one battle no music lover can forget.
Disclaimer: Me? Own Naruto? Hah, in my dreams! Seriously, I don't own Naruto or anything Naruto related. Really. I do, however, own the rabid fans, the music company Hyuuga Corp, Goraku Records, Fever, Freshman Renegade, the magazine WWMM, and the magazine interviewer Miyuki Missy. Oh, and the songs of course.
"Hello, I'm Miyuki Missy, I work for WWMM and will be the one asking you questions and helping you get ready for the photo shoot that will appear in this months issue. Are you boys ready to start the interview?"
It was a loud and busy day in New York City. Especially at the WWMM (World Wide Music Magazine) building since the band that ruled the world was there and actually giving an interview for the first time to one single magazine rather than in front of millions of cameras while leaving a concert. No, it wasn't The Beatles, but the next generation of music phenomena: Fever.
The reporter was a bit nervous yet excitement beat through her veins. She had been waiting for a big story like this to really put her on the map and now was her chance! She even got her red hair trimmed to her shoulders and her green eyes were brighter than usual behind her new glasses. All she had to do was not make a fool of herself.
One of the band members grinned and showed off his sparkling white teeth and sharp canines. He had bright blue eyes that twinkled and caught her attention right away. And that shaggy blonde hair and those rough whisker-like marks on his cheeks made him even more appealing. "Yeah, we're ready."
She gulped anxiously and forced herself to stop starring and sit down in the chair across from them as she ripped a voice recorder from her purse. Before she turned it on she glanced up and asked for permission. "Is it all right with all of you?"
Grunts and mumbles were exchanged, and the blonde translated that into a yes. She blushed and turned it on; putting it on the table hoping her trembling hand wouldn't knock it over. "Great, so let's start. What are all of your names? Well I mean, what do you want to be called?"
The blonde, of course, went first. He seemed very outgoing to the reporter. "Believe it! I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"
Missy smiled and looked the guy sitting next to him. He was glaring at her with deep black eyes. Were they contacts, perhaps? But then why was his hair so black? Dye? She felt her face pale. "Ah, um, heh. Y-you ar-are?"
He glared fiercer, if possible. "Uchiha Sasuke."
There was an awkward pause and she started massaging her neck. Damn, he was good looking and a tough guy. "You are?" she asked the boy next to him. He seemed less evil and lazier with his light brown hair pulled back tightly and his eyes shut. "Mnnmh…"
She arched an eyebrow. "I'm sorry, what was that?"
He opened his eyes and brought his head up. "Nara Shikamaru," he answered. With that his eyes shut and his head snapped back once more.
She nodded. "Okay, and you are?"
She spotted a guy petting a dog on his shoulder. He had messy brown hair, slit pupils, and red marks on each cheek. He looked kind of soft, though, for stroking a puppy that was popping out of his coat. He grinned with intimidating fangs. "Inuzuka Kiba. And this here's Akamaru – don't forget him." Akamaru barked in agreement.
Missy had to be the luckiest girl on the planet for being in a room with four good looking, smart, charming, and talented guys. They might've been flat out perfection, but she wasn't handling it well, which was obvious by how many times she blinked and how she kept pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "So how did you become a band?"
Since Sasuke didn't look like he'd get social any time soon and Shikamaru wasn't interested, it was up to Naruto and Kiba to answer. "We've known each other ever since we were kids," Kiba finally answered. "We just wanted to make some good music 'cause we're sick of listening to crap."
"And you all like the same type of music?"
Kiba bit his lip. "I guess for the most part, yeah."
"So how did you get the major music company Hyuuga Corp to listen to your music?" Missy was feeling more in the zone by now and actually stopped all her nervous habits.
"You see, one of the friends we grew up with was a Hyuuga. He's one of the best managers in the business," Kiba replied, enjoying the attention.
"Who exactly is your manager? Why isn't he apart of your band?" Missy thought aloud.
"His name is Hyuuga Neji," Naruto quickly said before Kiba could take a thoughtful sigh. "And he's just weird like that."
"I think what he means is Neji helps out, but more so behind the scenes. He's like our official unofficial band member," the dog loving male added.
Missy nodded in understanding. "Well, I think something most of your fans are wondering about is who each of you are dating. Anything on that subject?"
"Single," the guys including Shikamaru and Sasuke answered in unison.
"Well do any of you want to find someone you can have a good relationship with?" Missy's eyes sparkled at this question.
Naruto sat still in thought, Kiba just shrugged and played with his dog, and the other two continued to be antisocial.
"What instruments do you all play?"
"Geeze lady, I'm starting to wonder if you've ever even heard one of our songs," Shikamaru mumbled.
Kiba laughed a bit, "Heh, Miyuki-san, we don't really stick to one particular instrument and we don't really have one designated signer. We change in accordance to what song we're doing."
"How does -" Missy was about to ask another question when the door flew open and two heavy security guards were seen blocking vicious fans from entering. Once they saw that Fever was really having an interview, they went wild. Articles of clothing and passions were being tossed into the room and the guys just sighed in disturbance.
"I think we need to take a rain check," Kiba winked at Missy.
She blushed briefly but then what he said hit her. "Wait, we're not done yet! And what about pictures for the cover?"
By the time she was done her panicked queries the band had already left out the door leading to the office next to hers which was closer to the elevator and therefore a much safer way to avoid admirers. Missy looked down at her recorder, slowly picked it up, and turned it off. If she had any luck, she just might get to keep her job.
"That pretty much sucked," Naruto told his friends once they made it alive and in one piece back into the limo. There fans had found out about the elevator shortcut and they made it their goal in life to get in there with them.
"Did it go well?" The four teens heads snapped up to see their manager sitting in the far back corner glaring out the window. He must've hated having so many fans around since he hates people so much.
Naruto gave a lopsided grin. "Believe it!"
Neji half nodded. "Good. So you'll be on the cover of this month's issue?"
There was silence as Naruto's face paled.
Neji opened his lids to show glass eyes in full glare. "I know you didn't leave the middle of the interview because you were afraid of a few fans. Especially with such a prestigious and highly read magazine like that when they sought you and not vice versa."
Naruto cracked under pressure. "It's all Kiba's fault! He said 'I'll give you a rain check, babe' and ended it!"
Akamaru growled on behalf of Kiba. "First off, I didn't call her babe. Second, I didn't hear you answering any question at the end!"
"So? The bastard and the bum only said their name," Naruto replied madly, jabbing his finger at the two sitting by the windows.
"I told her I was single, too," Shikamaru pointed out groggily.
"Idiot," Sasuke added, just because he felt like insulting someone and Naruto just so happened to be getting on his nerves.
"What did you say?" Naruto snarled dangerously.
"I guess I'll be making some calls, then," Neji said monotone but it still sounded pretty scary. "In the meantime, we need to find a good time to release your album. Any suggestions?"
"How about close to a holiday?" Naruto recommended.
"Cliché," Shikamaru countered. "Besides, it's better to do it when there's nothing going on so you know everyone will be downloading your songs instead of celebrating a holiday. Like maybe later this month?"
"Hmm, so how does January 20 sound?" Neji contemplated to the group.
No one answered so Neji nodded. "January 20 it is. Also we need another single."
"Why?" Naruto complained. "Our other song was released twelve weeks ago and it's still number one on almost all countdowns!"
"True, but the key word there is almost. Almost isn't good enough." Neji was a perfectionist. That could be good or bad at times, and when it turns him into a slave driver to success, it's bad. "You're the top band in several countries and you've only had one CD prior to this. It's time to prove that you can make it longer than an album and a song."
"It's not like we have any competition," Naruto muttered to himself as the police came to help the limo get through the city. He's right; they don't have any competition… for now.
"I can't believe the kind of luck you guys are having! To be a new band and have the head honchos simply counting down the days until they put out your first single is absolutely amazing! I need you girls to be more focused than ever if you want to keep this up, which means more practices, more songs, better writing for the songs…"
It was a typical lecture in the small office that was currently occupied by five stunning females; the four girls sitting at a small rectangular table happened to be members of a recently signed band and the lecturer was their manger, who seemed to into her speech to notice the teen audience didn't really give a damn.
"Tenten," one of the band members, a girl with elbow-length shockingly natural pink hair yawned.
The manager stopped her speech and her brown eyes widened at the sudden and sleepy interruption. "What's up, Sakura?"
The named girl gave her manager an uneasy look before answering, "I realize you want us to be at the top of our game, but we've been practicing a lot lately and -"
"What she means to say is that if you make us come to the studio anymore than we already do we'll all just spontaneously combust!" the girl sitting across from Sakura, Ino, said quickly. She, unlike Sakura, had long hair, though hers was blonde and pulled back with only a long bang hanging in front.
Tenten blinked. "But you surely don't all feel this way, right? Hinata?"
Hinata, a short, pale, shy girl with shoulder length glossy black hair shrugged with her moon-like eyes resting on her fiddling thumbs.
The manager got a bit more frenzied. "Temari, what about you?"
Temari glared and gave a quiet, "Hmhm."
Tenten looked around to see if anyone wanted to go back on their word… and no one did. She huffed, "Well I'm sure Lee wouldn't mind coming in more…"
"AGH! Tenten that is NOT fair!" a panicked Sakura shouted out at the mention of the band's 'youthful' drummer and only male member, who was currently running around New York City fifty times because Sakura wouldn't let him get her coffee that morning.
"Four to one! We overrule him! MAJORITY VOTE SAYS NO!" Ino also shouted, backing up Sakura.
Tenten nodded thoughtfully at the hysterical two before glancing at the 'quiet' members; Hinata was slightly paler and Temari gave up on trying to communicate through glares and joined in with Sakura and Ino's rants.
"Do you want to be number one?" Tenten suddenly asked.
"Huh?" Ino asked back. The room got quiet as the band waited for their manager to elaborate.
"Do you want to be number one? You know- chart toppers. Do you want to go down in history as a major band that puts all other artists to shame? That changes what people refer to as music forever? Imagine it - Freshman Renegade, the band that CHANGED bands!"
"Ten, you are looking way too far ahead, here," Temari answered. "We just wanna play our music. We don't want to make statements and whatnot."
"That's not what I want to hear," Tenten told them with fire darkening her light brown eyes. "You are going to be competing against Fever, the biggest musicians the world has ever seen! They come out with a song and wham! It's a hit for a good twelve weeks! You have amazing talent, too. I just want you guys to see that you have enough if not more talent to rival them and give them a run for their money!"
"Oh, guys, Tenten likes us! She really likes us!" Sakura cried out, wiping fake tears from her eyes.
"Don't worry so much, Ten!" Temari replied curtly.
"Right! After our first single comes out next week," Ino announced, "we'll be the ones with singles out for MORE than twelve weeks!"
Everyone laughed at the now baffled Ino's enthusiasm when the door flew open and Lee fell through. "New York City," he wheezed, "is a very big place."