AN!
SUCH A HUGE ASS CHAPTER I DONT EVEN KNOW! OKAY!? IM SORRY! ITS A CLUSTERFUCK AND I DONT EVEN!?EARSHRHSR
I promise the next chapter will make sense. UHG. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I STOP WRITING FICS FOR OVER A YEAR! I forget the Character's...well... character then am never able to RECAPTURE it so, yeah. I promise this will be like, my one freebee bad chapter. LOVE YOU ALL! Please don't hate me D:
~Chapter 4: Unmet Expectations~
For a single moment, Sasori's expression drops and he looks dreadful, however his almost cocky smirk is quick to return. He grabs the microphone stand, pulls it closer and says, "I hope you're all fuckin ready for our brand new song!"
Deidara steps up to the mic he is closest to and adds, in a rather provocative tone, "It's sorta different than our normal stuff but I have a feeling you ladies will love it, hn." He winks, causing all the girls to let out high pitched squeals and sigh dreamily.
"Morons." I murmur as I shake me head.
"It's called Need You Closer to Me." Sasori's cocky smirk grows as Hidan starts them off, Itachi's bass starts shortly after. Deidara's guitar starts and Sasori's follows moments after, then lyrics flood the room;
D: Hey baby girl at the end of the bar You look like you could use a shot of me
S:Hey there girl why don't you come on closerI know exactly what you need (need echoes)
D: I'm gonna bang bang bang you into the bedroom
S: I'm going to c-c-control you all through the night
D: Because when we move together it's going to create an explosion
S: And I'll have you screaming my name until the end of time.
S: Come on girl you know you want me
I'm something that you've never seen
You're moving closer swinging them hips
Why don't you swing them up onto me (me echoes)
D: I'm gonna bang bang bang you into the bedroom
S: I'm going to c-c-control you all through the night
D: Because when we move together it's going to create an explosion
S: And I'll have you screaming my name until the end of time.
S: Hey Girl
D: (Let's get a little closer)
S: Move on
D: (Come on move up on me
)S: Smooth girl
D: (Lips are so delectable)
S: Let's go
D: (We're gonna get down tonight!)
D: I'm gonna bang bang bang you into the bedroom
S: I'm going to c-c-control you all through the night
D: Because when we move together it's going to creates an explosion
S: And I'll have you screaming my name until the end of time X2
The girls around us are practically loose their minds by the time the song is over. The crowd moved forward so much that we are pressed against the stage and it started to hurt, I considered hoping up on stage to escape them but that would only end in the rest of them following my lead; with different intentions of course. Luckily, a couple older looking men forced the crowd back, giving those of us being crushed against the stage room to breathe. Although this didn't stop the cycle from repeating itself after they sang their next song. The next song was the one I had already heard that day at Sasori's garage. The mood in the room afterwards changed completely, everyone seemed sad to some degree, the girls at least, and everyone stared at Sasori knowingly. What happened must be a widely known thing I guess.
I squeeze past all the people crowding the back exit after the Akatsuki finish playing, Hinata and Temari following close. Sasori stands idly by watching Hidan and Deidara load their equipment into a big black van. Itachi stands by the van in a similar fashion next to a blue skinned boy with small eyes and blue spiked hair. I sneak over to Sasori and, using my momentary height advantage due to my boots, lean on his shoulder as if he were a piece of furniture.
"If it isn't my favorite little ginger" I coo teasingly.
He crosses his arms but makes no attempt to shake me off, "Have you looked in a mirror lately?"
I pout, "Oh Sasori I expected something more clever from you, don't tell me you can't tell it's dyed."
He rolls his eyes, "Whatever. So how was that?"
"The song? Well it definitely has passion, but of a different kind. I never knew you'd take me so literally. You are the naughty one aren't you." I tease with a wink, giggling at his frustrated sigh. "It was better than the second song you played, but it still doesn't have that spark. I admit though, you got close."
His only response is silence as her stares sternly at nothing in particular, lips pressed into a thin line with eyebrows furrowed. I tug playfully at a few strands of his hair with my free hand, a light scowl on my face as I say, "Oh come on, you'll get it eventually. Don't fuss over it." It is now that he shrugs me off, turning away with a huff and turning his head up. Well if that wasn't the most feminine thing I've seen a guy do then I don't know what is.
Hinata giggles and says, "Natalia-chan I think you've upset him again."
Temari chuckles evilly and adds with a devilish smirk, "I think I see a blush on his face."
At this, Sasori whips around and opens his mouth to yell but is interrupted by someone behind him, "Sasori!" Our attention turns to a man behind Sasori, he looks to be around 18 or 19 with tan skin bright green eyes, almost freakishly so, and long-ish jet black hair. He wears a black bandana around his face that covers his mouth, a black skin tight shirt with the sleeves cut off, a plain black and silver studded belt, gray jeans and skater shoes.
"What is it now Kakuzu" Sasori asks in irritation.
"A group of girls wants autographs, I'm going to charge them ten dollars each. Now all of you get your lazy asses to the front so we can make some more damn money!" He orders.
Seconds later Deidara runs off after Kakuzu, Hidan letting out a slew of curses after. "You fucking blond idiot you get your fuckin ass back here God damn it!" Hidan struggles to get a large speaker into the back, Itachi lets out a sigh and reluctantly helps.
I chuckle, "He must be the man whore of the group." Temari and Hinata laugh at this, Sasori only turns to face us and rolls his eyes. "Oh lighten up Sasori."
"I'll 'lighten up' when a certain someone admits she was wrong about my music." He snaps.
"Sasori I'm not going to lie just to make you happy, your music needs work. Mine did as well when I had my band and it still does, but you don't seem to understand that. You've-"
"Natalia!" A loud annoying voice interrupts. My once playful mood quickly fades when I see who it is stomping towards us in ankle breaking heels. "What are you doing here?" Sakura snaps.
Placing my hands on my hips and turning my chin up slightly I snidely say "Enjoying the local entertainment like everyone else." I hear someone take a step forward and out of the corner of my eye Temari is standing there ready to attack. Verbally of course, I don't see her has the hit first ask questions type, she's too smart for that.
"You're such a looser you know that? Why be here when you don't even like Sasori's music!? Are you trying to cause trouble?" She snaps. For a moment my expression drops, ouch- that hurt. As much as it pains me to admit it, she does have a point. But it isn't that I don't like Sasori's music, as a musician he isn't half bad and there are others a lot worse.
I don't have time to respond as Sasori does this for me, "Go away Sakura, I swear to God if you don't leave me alone I'll have Konan take care of you. And believe me, I've seen what she does to those she doesn't like, it's enough to scare me." A strange satisfied feeling washes over me when Sasori tells her off. It makes me smile. "Now go away!"
"Tch, whatever. See you 'round Sasori." She says the last part sweetly to him before sending a glare my way then leaving.
"She's a keeper…" I mutter sarcastically, shaking my head and crossing my arms.
"Hey guys!" Kiba calls out as him and the rest of our group comes running over. "Where'd you go, you missed Sasuke's first song."
"Not that it was worth hearing" Shikamaru added.
"I'm sure I'll get another chance eventually, but I saw what I came to see so I'm going to head home. You guys comin'?" I look them over to see a few hesitant faces.
"Well I was going to hang out with Naruto after since I don't get to see him much anymore…" Hinata frowns.
Ino inches closer to Gaara, eyes darting from him to me before saying, "I'm going to stay here with Gaara." Ino's cheeks turn a light shade of pink.
"Well if Gaara stays then that means we have to," Temari adds, "I'm his ride home after all." Kiba said nothing and I didn't expect him to want to walk home with someone he just met so I am fine with this. Even though I don't show any signs of disappointment they all have an apologetic look on their faces.
I smile, "It's okay you guys I don't mind. I was just asking, I'm not mad." I assure.
"So you're just going to walk home alone?" This question comes from an unexpected person and it takes a minute for me to realize it was Sasori. That caught me off guard and I have no real response for it other than to stare at him. He becomes impatient and says, "Well?"
"I uh- yeah. I guess so." I shrug. "It doesn't bother me, I walked around by myself all the time back at my old town."
"So you're going to walk home, at night all alone, and in that?" Sasori points at my clothes; a red tank top with fishnet underneath black shorts that end at my mid thigh and my black boots.
…What? It's hot out tonight and these are my favorite shoes…
I narrow my eyes on him, a slight defensive feeling welling up inside me, "Are you saying I need a chaperone to hold my hand? I'm not a little kid…"
A frustrated sigh escapes him as he walks over to me, grabs my wrist and begins to walk out of the parking lot. "Kakuzu I'll sign later. Itachi I'm gunna call you later, I just need to do something first." He calls to them, turning his head to see both nod.
"Heheh, more for me then, un." Deidara calls teasingly to Sasori, earning the red head flipping him the bird. This only made Deidara laugh more.
As he pulls I stumble along behind him, irritation growing with every step. Once far enough away from the parking lot, as to not make a scene, I dig my heels into the ground and yank my wrist away. He whips around, giving me a stern look in an almost challenging way.
"What was that about?" I question, a hint of irritation in my voice.
"What was what about? Like it or not, and believe me I don't want to be doing this either, I'm walking with you to your house."
"No one told you to do it…" I mutter, moving so that I now stand beside him. He averts his gaze to the ground before he starts walking again, I follow close until I'm at stride with him.
"I'd feel bad, Chiyo raised me to treat girls really well." He said almost bitterly, stuffing his hands in his pockets while he watched the ground.
So that's why he's never yelling at those girls, he doesn't want to be rude. Oh isn't he just adorable. I giggle at my thoughts, he shoots me a strange look. I smile, "What?"
"Nothing, you're just laughing at… nothing." He tips his head back and stares at the sky, the stars shine bright tonight and there isn't a cloud in the sky. "You're a strange one, one minute it's like you hate me and the other… well it's like you hate me but a little less."
I pout and feign a hurt tone, "Sasori you have no idea how much that hurts." I chuckle as he lets out a frustrated growl. "I don't hate you Sasori, I never have. Besides, I have no reason to. It's just fun getting under your skin."
"I think I'm sensing some sadistic tendencies…" He says almost jokingly, then a light laugh escapes his lips. "Wouldn't surprise me."
"Well I've never considered S&M but I'd gladly give it a try, how bout it?" I jokingly purr as I draw closer. He turns tense and inches away, with a nervous almost smile on his face.
"Uhg," His cheeks turn red, "I regret my decision... Why can't you have your mom get you or something?"
I shrug as I cross my arms over my chest, "She's working late again."
"And your dad?"
I can feel my face twitch and my expression immediately drops, turning into an empty grim stare. Body going stiff and gaze falling on my feet I quietly reply, "He isn't around…" Digging my nails into my arms and gritting my teeth I attempt to smolder my rage. We continued walking quietly for a while as I silently calmed myself. The feeling of eyes on me stresses me out further, I don't like to burden other with unnecessary back stories. The last thing I need is him asking what is wrong.
After a while I decide to try catching him staring at me. Maybe he'll get embarrassed and leave the subject be instead of staring at me until I speak. It takes all of three times to catch him, and when I do on the third time, his eyes don't dart away. In fact he looks ready to-
"Something up?" Damn it Sasori…
"No I just- well I'm not particularly fond of my father."
"Ooh, sorry."
"It's alright…"
He pauses then says, "Well at least you have your mom." He flashes a nervous smile and I give a reassuring one back.
"Dude, it's okay. Besides It could be worse."
"Yeah, it could.." His eyes turn somber, he turns and keeps them just out of sight. I frown. Clearly this is a sore subject for the both of us, poor kid looks heart broken.
"So.." I lean towards him. "Your music-"
"Yeah?"
"It needs work." He shoots me an annoyed look. "You and Deidara sound great together, and the song was full of…well- passion."
"Isn't that what you said I've been missing?"
I shrug. "Well with a song about sex, it's going to have a certain passion to it. Tell me, how big of a whore is Deidara?" This earns a smile and a laugh surprisingly enough, making me ever so pleased with myself.
"Well I wouldn't say whore exactly.." He chuckles. "He's more of a playboy, he dates a lot of girls, even some older women, but he doesn't sleep around…Much."
"Psh, what a skank." I smile. Sasori shakes his head, all the while smiling and laughing. "He has a lot of fire in him, it seems to have brought out a little spark in you too."
He narrows his eyes on me. "We're back on this? You sure know how to kill a mood."
"Well hey, if you don't want to get better at your art, that's fine by-"
"Don't you dare say that!" He snaps as he jerks towards me. I step back and put my hands up defensively. "I take what I do very seriously! It's my passion and what keeps me going!" His rage seems to have put him at a loss for words.
"Sasori, it's called constructive criticism! I'm not sure about any of your older music but it is clear to me that you are missing something! You're missing that one element that gives your art life, and unless you can get over your little ego problem, it will stay that way."
"What gives you the almighty right to decide if my music isn't up to par!?"
"Because I'm in the same boat you're in!" I snap. Our eyes lock in a fiery stare down and silence surrounds us. I am the first to break contact, letting my gaze wonder to study the area. We've gotten close enough to my house that I'm able to navigate on my own. Without another word, I push past Sasori and set off towards my home. No short cuts, no strangers, no angry red-heads. Well, excluding myself.
My pleasant weekend with my new friends comes to an end as Monday reared its ugly head. It was then that I discovered Sasori was going to be ignoring me. It did bother me, not that I'd let him know, but there's no sense in making a fuss. Oh but he made a point to make it obvious in a few ways; such as greeting all my friends and not me. Sasori my dear, you are quite the dramatic one.
It only takes till the end of first period for me to feel a small guilt, perhaps I shouldn't have been so hard on the redhead. But what's better, telling the truth or lying? Still, there's honesty and being brutally honest…
Any and all guilt I felt was soon swept away as Sasori passed Temari and I in the hall. I'd never seen him take this rout before, and I can only assume he did it to go out of his way to ignore me once again and share passing words with Temari instead. As he passed by I caught a glimpse of spite in his eyes, and the faintest of smirks on his lips.
Why that little twat! He really is doing this on purpose! And here I was, feeling bad and almost ready to almost apologize.
….What? I was getting there….
Not any more though! How dare he! Well fine, you've started a losing battle my dear Sasori.
By the time fourth period rolled around, I was fuming with anger yet remained composed. During study, Sasori had sat directly across from me the entire time and carried on as if I wasn't even there. His little fan girls even came in and if one were to acknowledge me he'd disregard the statement or veer off somehow. This happened several times….
Still, I held it in and settled for a passive method of dealing with this. I've found that being physical about such things can get one into quite a pinch, especially on school grounds. So with a cool and calm demeanor I strode into class mere seconds before the bell. Gai-sensei was surprisingly not in the room at the moment and as I scanned the room I found a certain annoyance towards the back of the room. No, this time it wasn't Sasori; in fact the look he gave me was pleading for my assistance. Sakura had taken my seat and with her chin rested in her palms she stared at me, satisfaction burned in her eyes. Sakura held a triumphant air about her, apparently she'd won some sort of battle I wasn't aware I was in. My eyes drift back over to Sasori with the same pleading look in his eyes. Clearly he can deal with Sakura on his own, he must just count on me to do it for him.
Tough luck this time, Sasori.
I stare at Sakura and shrug, accepting my 'defeat' and taking up the only available seat. Perhaps now Sasori will learn his lesson. Once seated I glance back to see an utterly shocked back corner, even Deidara stares at me in complete befuddlement. I simply smile at him and turn back around in time for Gai to practically fly into the classroom as the bell sounds.
"Sorry kids! Just getting a lap in before class! Exercise is on par with mathematics as the key to a youthful life!" He says with overwhelming exuberance. Does he mean the halls or around the school itself…?
Class went on as usual, Gai either didn't notice the seat change or didn't care. I'm sure that a certain redhead cared though, and was burning with anger at this very moment. A quick glance was enough, I could see him glaring daggers at me. Hell, I could feel him glaring at me. I distracted myself though, with doodling inside my song book in-between math problems. Well, sketching really, although this form of art was far from my strong point.
Soon enough, class was over and everyone was rushing for the door. Some such as myself, stayed behind to avoid the cluster. I had slid everything except my open song book into my backpack and turn up in time to find Deidara hovering over me with Sasori at his side. Deidara stares down with a curious look while Sasori stares off in indifference.
"What's that, hm?" Deidara asked as he traced part of the outline of the drawing lightly with his finger. I looked down at the intricate design, by my art standards anyway, that boarded an empty space. "It looks pretty cool, hm."
"Awww, thanks Deidara, you're a sweetie aren't you!" Sasori's gaze flickers over to me for a moment. Yeah yeah Mr. passive aggressive, I get you're pissed. "It's a sorta shit design for a tattoo. My birthday is coming up soon so it's going to be a gift from my mom, well, the money is anyway." The crowd thins at the door and I start walking towards the exit, Deidara staying in stride with me and Sasori falling behind.
"Scared?"
"Nah, I'm just kinda scrapped for ideas is all. I'm not that great of an artist."
"Well be smart about it and make sure it's what you want, un. I have one and it took me forever to pick out just what I wanted."
"Oh really?" I stop just at the end of the steps of the exit. "Where? What'd you get?"
He grins. "Well it's nothing special, hn. Just a few lines from a song I wrote. It's a personal favorite of mine, hm. As for where-" His hands drift to the buttons of his black button up. "I can show you if you want."
I flush slightly, is it me of is it suddenly getting hot out here? Curiosity yet again gets the better of me and I nod, eager to see his tattoo. He seemed to go about unbuttoning his shirt in an oddly sensual way, shooting me a look every now and then. I'm guessing this is either out of habit or to just fluster me even more.
Heh, cheeky bastard.
His shirt opens and reveals not only quite the body but a beautifully done tattoo with elegant scripture. The words 'The only one who Will forever care But I don't dare to believe That you're really out there' had been inked into his chest just over his heart with a vine like boarder around it.
"Oh my"
"Tch, shameless brat." Sasori bitterly remarks.
"It speaks…" I mutter and I reach out to Deidara, lightly tracing the lettering. "Did it hurt."
"No not really, it-"
Sasori snatches my hand away and drags me off by my wrist, "We'll be right back." He mutters.
"What's your problem!?" I snap once he's dragged me out of earshot of Deidara. "Excuse me for touchin' on your man!" I throw my hands up in a submissive gesture.
"You have some serious nerve Natalia." Sasori fumed. "What the hell was that?"
"Oh? You're angry? How cute. Your medicine doesn't taste so sweet, huh, Sasori." I hiss bitterly. "You have no right to get mad at me, I haven't even done anything wrong. You on the other hand, going out of your way to ignore me like that? How childish.."
"And what you just pulled wasn't-"
"Hey! I had a legitimate interest because I plan on getting a tattoo soon. It's not my fault one of your attractive friends decided to rip his shirt off and practically beg me to take him." I exaggerate. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if that's how he saw the situation given how he's reacting. Jeez.
"W-what? That didn't just happen…"
"Ah… Right, sorry I was daydreaming, now what was it you were upset about I zoned out?" I tease, further flustering Sasori.
Sasori opened his mouth but couldn't form a response, he merely stares with eyes burning with rage. Soon his mouth clamps shut when words still wont come out and he continues to stare. I cant help but feel bad when I see a look of hurt cross his face, although it was only for a second. Then it donned on me that apparently the things I say in do have an actual impact on him. Man, he takes too much of what I say to heart in the worst ways. I mean, all this mess started cause I was 'too harsh' on him.
Uhg. Conscience, why do I suddenly have a conscience?
"I'm sorry." He perked up and tilted his head, as if I had just spoken in another language to him and he didn't understand. "Uhg, I'm sorry if I went too far…" I cross my arms. "Happy now."
"No."
"Tch, never are." I roll my eyes. "Fine, let me make it up to you then if it's going to bother you so much that you feel you have to ignore me all day…"
"Ah, you noticed." He snidely added with a satisfied smirk.
"Yeah you little twat, of course I noticed. If it'll make all this go back to normal then how about you and your friends come with me and Ino to Delicious Delights tonight? I pay for you, that's it. Will that make everything cool?"
Sasori ponders for a moment before nodding his head as if agreeing with himself and saying, "Fine. I'll pick you up at six."
