Opportunities Drabble #1

Theme #68 Hero

It was supposed to be a typical evening for Sasuke: show up at the bar before 8, set up on the little stage opposite the bar, play for a couple of hours, collect his pay from the bartender, down a couple of beers and then head home. Little did he know that tonight would be different.

Sliding the strap of his soft gig bag over his shoulder and grabbing the handles of the other two cases in his free hand, freelance musician Uchiha Sasuke struggles to get everything he needed for tonight's gig out the door in one trip. Satisfied that he has everything, he turns towards the slightly ajar door and pulls it open with his foot. Knowing he'd have his hands full, he had opened and locked it before grabbing everything, and once he passes through it, he pulls it closed with the same foot until it clicked closed. Traversing the 4 flights of stairs to the ground floor, he only clips the wall once with the hard sided case of his alto saxophone, and only had to flatten himself against the wall to let someone else pass once as well. Living on the top floor did have some advantages, like the fact that his suite was in fact a loft instead of a true apartment. Apparently when the building was re-modled into an apartment building, his floor and the top floor had some spare space at the end so instead of making two tiny suites, the landlords had combined them. The only problem was that it made for a long walk down the stairs with as much stuff as a musician usually had to carry, especially when you didn't want to leave any of it in your car.

Making it safely out the door, with thanks to another building tennant for holding the door open for him, he walks the few steps out into the parking lot and up to the side of his little black car. This not being the first time he had made this trip, he had used his remote and had unlocked the car and opened the trunk from the window of his loft so he wouldn't have to fumble with his keys and everything else. Using his ever dexterous foot, he nudges the trunk open all the way and places his saxophone case and his music case in the safe confines of the back, keeping the gig bag containing his soprano saxophone safely on his back. Once he slides into the drivers seat, he places the embroidered gig bag on the front seat. The bag had been a gift from his mother when the original case for his soprano saxophone had been crushed and the saxophone itself was the first one he had every owned. Because of the connections to both pieces, he never let the bag and it's contents out of his sight.

Tonight's gig was a weekly one, Friday nights he played at a local bar that a friend of his owned. There was a nice little stage set up opposite of the bar with lights and everything, and Naruto gave him a third of the tab totals for the time that he played. So, all in all, it was a good situation. After he finished, he usually took a seat at the bar and Naruto would fill him up a glass and keep it filled for as long as he wanted to talk.

The drive was un-eventful and soon he was pulling around the back of The Orange Fox into a parking spot left ceremoniously empty right next to the back door. Naruto knew how much Sasuke liked to bring with him on Fridays for his gig, so he kept that spot open. Smirking to himself, he notices that Naruto's bright orange jeep had yet another dent in it, this time with some green paint on it, identifying the accident as a collision with a lamp post. Repeating his balancing act only this time in reverse, he gets all of his things together into his arms and gets the car unlocked. When the beep from the lock sounded, the back door of the bar swings open to reveal the blonde head of his longest and best friend.

"Oi, bastard! We've got a big crowd in here tonight! Hurry up!"

"Naruto, it's a pleasure to see you again." Sasuke calls out sarcastically, nudging the trunk closed with his elbow.

"Yeah yeah, whatever you say Super Star." Naruto replies with a laugh, calling Sasuke by the nickname he had given him when he realized how many girls tended to come into the bar on any given night asking for the dark haired musician. "Just hurry up!"

"Coming."

Walking past his buddy with the only reprocussion for his tardyness being a small punch to the shoulder as he entered the bar, Sasuke lets his eyes adjust to the brightness of the kitchen. The food at The Orange Fox was limited, but much in demand. The kitchen was run by a round little ball of a guy named Choji who never went anywhere without a bag of plain old potato chips next to him but who knew food like no one else. Friday nights were usually the busiest night of the week, with the food and drink constantly flowing, and the live music that Sasuke provided on a weekly basis being a welcome bonus.

Moving quickly through the kitchen with a nod to Choji, Sasuke makes his way to the pair of swinging doors that led right out to the bar area. Nudging one of the doors open with a sharp poke of the toe of his black boots, he once again has to adjust to a change of light, with the bar area being kept in relative darkness. Little wall lamps or pennant lights shone light on each table in the signature color, orange, and the bar was lit up with more pennants, but the rest of the room was dark. Following the natural curve of the carpeted area that led around the dance floor by touch, he reaches the small raised stage. Stepping up onto the stage, he places his cases down again and begins pulling out his instruments. Naruto had picked up a couple of stands for him to leave here once the money had started coming in from his performances, so that was one thing he hadn't had to bring from his apartment, and the speakers were incorporated into the wiring of the bar, but everything else was his responsibility. First were the microphones, two of them, plugged into two jacks and hung on their stands on either side of his tall stool. Next was a stack of sheet music. He usually didn't have to keep actual written music on hand when he performed, but he had been working on some new stuff that he had written earlier in the week and he wanted to be able to refer to the master copies and be able to make changes after each set. So next out came a couple of pencils and his water bottle. Another perk of performing at a friend's place was that the servers already knew to keep an eye on the water levels in his bottle and keep it filled throughout the night.

And finally, his two instruments. First was the alto saxophone, nickle plated and etched in silver, this was his latest purchase. He had a similar piece, from many years ago, that he used at home, but that had taken a beating. It's acoustics were still great, but it really didn't make a great impression at gigs. Sasuke runs his fingers over the keys, making sure all of the pads and springs were in place and that the alignment was still accurate. The neckpiece is swiftly pushed into place and the mouthpiece placed on the music stand to await the reed. Placing the beautiful piece on it's stand next to the stool he swings his gig bag off of his back and pulls out his oldest friend. His soprano saxophone was still kept in almost perfect condition, being lovingly polished and cared for by his hands only ever since his parents had given it to him when he was 7 and had proclaimed a love of music and a wish to be a musician like his older brother. Unfortunately he was too un-orthodox to be a professional concert musician, like his brother Itachi and his chosen instruments, the trumpet and the trombone, so he had never had any true training in his chosen profession, but he did alright. Only having to work part time in the mornings, pouring coffee at a local cafe, his main source of income was his Friday nights at The Orange Fox and some other gigs he did on a semi-permanent basis. Giving the soprano the same feel over as the alto, he pulls out his reed case, moistens both sizes of reeds with a few sprays of his water bottle before attaching them to both mouthpieces. This being the signal that he is ready to go, he looks across the room at Naruto, who nods towards him before reaching under the bar and turning up the three spotlights that were pointed towards the stage so that the people in the bar can see him. With no more of an introduction than a slow look over the crowd that had now turned towards the stage, he closes his eyes, bows his head and places his free hand on his chest, the other hand still holding his soprano at his side. He was ready.

O.O.O

"Ino, I really don't think I should be going out, I have to study!"

"Shut up Sakura, it's Friday, and I heard about this great bar that has live music on Fridays! You have all weekend to study for your exam!"

"Ino..."

Two girls walk in the front door of The Orange Fox, the one on the right tall, blonde, and almost pulling the other girl by the arm. The one on the left was a contradiction to her friend, short, and with the most amazing shade of pink hair. Both are dressed for a night out but the blonde is dressed quite more flamboyantly in a bright purple dress with a white shawl while the pinkette is dressed in a modest grey skirt and red cap sleeved top.

The pinkette turns to her friend and sighs, looking defeated. "Whatever you say Ino."

"Excellent, there's a table up by the stage there!" the blonde replies, pointing to a small table off to the right side of the small stage that had a dark figure moving around on it, apparently setting up for a concert. The two girls squeeze their way towards the stage and take their seats at the small table, both of them facing the stage and the darkened figure on it. Ino waves down a server and orders drinks for both of them as Sakura slumps down in her chair, tired from another hard week at school. When she told her parents she wanted to be a doctor, they were thrilled that their precious only daughter wanted to do something so important, but Sakura herself didn't realize how much work it would be just to get there. Right now she was almost at the end of her most difficult module so far and the final exam was on Monday, hence why she had been so reluctant to go out that night. But when her best friend mentioned that there was live music at this bar on Fridays, she had been intrigued. She had always loved music and the prospect of some good live, local talent sounded like a great way to end the week.

So when the darkened figure on the stage stood up and faced the crowd, she put everything else out of her mind and relaxed. The lights slowly turned up and revealed an amazing sight. The musician on the stage was dressed all in blacks and dark greys, making him blend in with the black back wall of the stage, and even his hair was raven wing black. The only sources of contrast on the stage was his skin, which was very pale, indicating that he probably did a lot of late night work and didn't see much of the sun, and the shining golden saxophone he held in his hand. There was another saxophone on the stage, but it also was dark grey. He placed his free hand on his chest and bowed to the crowd and then took his seat on the tall stool behind him. Taking a short moment to shuffle some papers on the stand in front of him, he placed the mouthpiece of the saxophone between his lips and began to play.

The song was a slow one, almost a ballad but with a blues lilt to it. Sakura had never heard the song before so she assumed that it must be one of his own creations. His eyes remained closed as the music continued to flow, captivating the crowd gathered around the stage and even the rest of the bar had grown quiet as heads turned towards the musician. The song rose and fell with both volume and tones, growing loud and almost painful, then becoming so quiet it was almost impossible to hear that he was still playing. By the end of the song, the entire bar was silent and people had even left their tables on the other side of the room to move closer to the stage. The musician wound the song to a close with a slow arpeggio and then let the last note echo throughout the bar before removing the saxophone from his lips and opening his eyes once again to look out over the heads of the crowd. Sakura could see from where she was that his eyes were coal black but with a kind of spark in them, one that showed that his talent came from his soul and was not just a job, this was his life. The entire bar remained silent and still for a moment more before a large blonde man behind the bar started clapping enthusiastically. The rest of the crowd joined in and there was a rousing round of applause that the musician accepted with another bow of his head and a small smile.

For the rest of the evening, the dark haired man entertained the crowd with his amazing skill, mostly sticking to lively, upbeat music, switching between the golden saxophone and the larger grey one, sometimes taking a moment or two to make notes on the papers on the stand in front of him, and once taking a ten minute break for some water and for the blonde man from the bar to come up and clap him on the shoulder. Ino got up from their table a few times to go flirt with some of the guys at the bar, sometimes coming back to check on her pink haired friend, but realized that Sakura was much too interested in the music to be of any help in the company department.

Sakura was lost in the music and the magic that the musician was casting over the bar. Personally, she had never heard anything like it. It sounded like the music itself was a spell that was both relaxing and exciting her. Sometimes, as she watched his pale fingers fly over the keys of the saxophones she imagined how good those fingers would feel running along her spine, or scratching her scalp through her hair. Then she would shake her head and tell herself to stop her silly daydreaming and appreciate the music, asking herself what self respecting musician would want anything to do with a little, forgettable medical student.

At the end of the set, the musician stood from his stool and took a couple of bows to the rousing applause that the patrons gave him, scanning the crowd with his eyes in a way that it looked like he was making eye contact with each and every person. At the end of his round of the crowd, he looked down at her table and caught her gaze for a second. And for a second, she thought that she had seen him wink at her. It could have been a trick of the lighting, but she distinctly saw something like a wink. The lights on the stage dimmed down to a point that he was once again a dark shadow on the stage and proceeded to pack up his things. At that point, Ino came back through the crowd and sat back down at the table.

"Well, you sure looked like you were enjoying yourself!" the blonde remarks sourly, clearly feeling ignored.

"Huh?" Sakura replies, seeming to come out of her daze and turning towards her friend. "Sorry Ino, I guess I kinda fazed out there. What did you say?"

"Nothing, just happy you didn't ditch out on me while I was gone!"

Sakura pats her friend's shoulder and watches Ino smile at someone over her shoulder, stand up again, and work her way back into the crowd. Now with nothing to occupy her time, she stands up and makes her way towards the door. She doesn't have any intention of leaving without saying anything, but she really could use some air.

O.O.O

"Well I'd say that show was a great success!" Naruto crows over the rumble of the crowd as Sasuke takes his accustomed place at the end of the bar and accepts his glass of beer. Taking a large gulp before saying anything, he notices that Naruto had given him a glass of one of the finest beers that the blonde kept on hand. That must be a good sign that the night's takings were better than usual.

"Hn, if you say so." Sasuke replies, taking another gulp and then placing his glass down on the coaster Naruto shoves in front of him. "I wasn't sure how that first one would go over, it's a bit slow for what I usually start off with."

"The patrons must of liked it, because the girls weren't even half as busy as they normally are, everyone was so focused on you, Super Star!" the blonde replies, throwing his head back and laughing. Sasuke unbends enough to snicker a bit under his breath. Naruto used to always complain that the serving girls took home a small fortune in tips but had also mentioned that they had started complaining about tips on Fridays, because no one payed any attention to them when Sasuke was around!

"So how was the take?" Sasuke asks, hoping for a high amount. He had to go grocery shopping tomorrow as well as take care of a hundred other little things that he had put off until he got a good paycut from Naruto.

"Almost triple last week!" Naruto whispers excitedly, pulling a slip of paper out from underneath the cash register and handing it to the dark haired man. Sasuke glances down the list of numbers and comes to the bottom. It definitely was an improvement over last week. A fight in the middle of his set had driven out a bunch of patrons last week and the take had been mighty small, so small that he had barely enough to cover his expenses for the rest of the week. So seeing that this week would make up for it was worth the extra work of playing original stuff.

"Anywho, I have to get back to work, we've got a new guy back here and he's still getting the hang of things. Just flag me down when you need a refill!" Naruto says, and with a wave, he moves back down the bar to cuff a short guy with brown hair on the back hard enough to startle him into spilling the drink he was making.

Sasuke smirks to himself again before turning his thoughts inwards. He was always so focused during a set that he never really noticed what was happening around him, so he hadn't noticed how big the crowd had been tonight. Sometimes he was glad for that intense focus, surprisingly enough, he wasn't much of a people person and large crowds of people all staring at him was sometimes enough to put him right off his music. Tonight, however, he was a bit disappointed, after he had finished his first set and was trying to analyze the mood of the crowd, he had spotted a slight girl sitting near the stage with the strangest hair. From the glare of the spotlights he could have sworn it was pink, and she was staring at him with such intensity that he could almost feel her eyes piercing holes in his head. For the rest of the show he had been sneaking looks at her to find her always staring at him, mostly with a look of complete adoration. Because of this constant split attention, he felt like he had to work twice as hard as usual to keep his cool and finish the show. Afterwards, when he stood for his final bows, he had winked at her, like he did with most girls who tried to fling themselves at him, but she hadn't reacted to it. Turning around in his seat, he looks towards the table he had seen the girl sitting at, he sees that it is empty. Swearing to himself for missing out on confirming what indeed her hair color was, he turns back towards the bar, but slow enough that he sees a flash of that same pink color heading towards the door.

Making a sudden decision, he downs the rest of his beer and stands, turning towards the door and heading in the same direction as the flash of pink. He makes it to the door just in time to see it swinging closed and pushes it back open to step into the cool night air. He didn't have a jacket with him, and his gig bag with his soprano was in it's place of honour on his back, so he shivered slightly as the cool breeze made it's way through his black silk shirt. He looks around and sees the same girl leaning up against the wall of the bar, next to the door and underneath the lamps on either side. Sure enough, she did have a head of pink hair and Sasuke was impressed. Most girls who had hair of odd colours (usually dyed though) really didn't have the complexion to pull it off, but from the looks of it, this girl's pink hair was her natural colour, which made it look not as odd.

"Oh!" the girl exclaims shyly, noticing Sasuke walking towards her. "I... I really enjoyed your concert tonight."

"Thank you very much." Sasuke replies, shifting his gig bag on his back and giving her a copy of his concert bow. "I saw you watching me after the show."

"Sorry about that, I was just really impressed with your music." the girl replies, blushing slightly. "It's been a really long week and I appreciate good music, especially original work. My name is Sakura."

"Again, I'm glad you liked it, and I am Sasuke."

An awkward silence descended as neither person really knew what to say next.

"So, do you play here often?"

The question seemed innocent, but Sasuke had to feel that there was something else to the query. Usually girls were only focused on getting into his pants, and nothing had implied that this one would be any different. He still couldn't explain what had compelled him to follow her outside, but there was something that he couldn't put a finger on about this girl. A quiet subtly about her that intrigued him to no end.

"Every Friday, my friend owns the place." he replies, tilting his head towards the door.

"This is the first time I've been here, my friend brought me here after school." Sakura replies, pulling her purse higher onto her shoulder.

"Well I am glad she did." he says, giving her one of his rare smiles. She smiles right back at him, blushing slightly as well.

All of a sudden, there was a whirl of motion as three guys materialized around them, all dressed in black and with scarves pulled up around their faces and hoods over their heads. Sasuke had his hands pinned to his sides by one of them and another had grabbed Sakura's purse off of her shoulder.

"We'll be taking that, pretty one." the one with the purse sneered, posturing. "And pretty boy there, we'll be having that bag of yours as well."

"Like hell you will." Sasuke replied with venom in his voice.

"Aww, what are you going to do, music boy?" the one holding Sasuke's hands laughed. "Serenade us to death?"

Sakura let out a small whimper which seemed to make something snap in Sasuke's head. He wasn't really a fighter, but he would go through fire itself to protect those around him. Snapping his head backwards, he connected with the forehead of the man holding him, causing the guy to stumble backwards and let go of his arms.

Slipping the strap of his precious gig bag off of his shoulder, he passes it to Sakura.

"Hold this."

She reaches out with trembling hands and takes it just as the one with Sakura's purse rushes towards them. Whirling towards him, Sasuke lashes out with a spinning backfist that connects solidly with the man's temple, dropping him like a stone. The one he had headbutted having recovered enough to head into the fray, he turns and kicks out at the man's shin with his pointed boots, feeling a small crack under his toes. The man dropped to his knees in pain dropping him to a perfect height for a knee to the chin, laying him out just like his buddy. The third man was standing in shock behind Sakura but after seeing his two friends knocked out cold, he turns heel and runs down the street and turns a corner, disappearing into the darkness.

Verifying that the situation had been neutralized, he bends over and pulls Sakura's purse out of the hands of the first man, applies a good kick to the guy's head to make sure that he stay's put until Naruto can get the cops here, and then turns back towards Sakura.

She is still standing rooted to the same spot, both hands clutching the strap of his gig bag so hard that her knuckles are white, and she is trembling from head to toe. He takes three big steps to put him directly in front of her and wraps both arms around her small frame. At this point she bursts into tears, burying her face into his shirt. He holds her, not saying anything, and lets her cry herself out. As he stands there holding her, Naruto peeks his head out the door, looking for his friend, but sees the scene for himself.

"What the hell, Sasuke?" the blonde cries out, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket and hitting the police speed dial.

"A bunch of thugs wanted this girl's purse and my sax so I had to lay them out." Sasuke replies, not loosening his grip on the sobbing girl.

"Oh, right. So I'll be getting the cops then, yeah?"

O.O.O

Later that night, after the bar has closed down for the evening and the cops had taken away the two unconscious thieves and had managed to track down the third, Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Ino are sitting at the bar, nursing a medicinal drink.

"Are you sure you are ok?" Ino asks Sakura for the dozenth time.

"I'm sure, Ino." Sakura replies, shooting a grateful look at Sasuke. "If it hadn't been for Sasuke here, I probably wouldn't have gotten my purse back, and maybe worse."

"You're the hero of the night, Sasuke!" Naruto exclaims, raising his glass. "To Sasuke! For the unselfish defence of a damsel in distress and the epic show he put on!"

"Here here!" Ino adds! "To Sasuke the hero!"

O.O.O