The Bad Place

A stroy by Songstone

Songstone: YOSH! Chapter four! Woot! XD I hope that you all are enjoying this story so far. I'm having so much fun.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 4: Melody

Well, here we go. The plot line of the story has finally come into play. Whoopdie doo. (Sarcasm.)

Basically, I was in denile when Lee told me he would be working along side of me. When he left the bar later on that night, I sat down with the Old Man and he explained that he and Lee had started to talk after I had stormed upstairs. "Like a spoiled Brat who didn't get the candy he wanted", as he had so lovingly put it. Lee had mentioned something and the Jaraiya had agreed . . . something like that. I'm not even sure of the details. All I knew was that Lee was going to be working with me.

"Well this is just great! Can't you just fire him? Get someone else? Please, Old Man?" I was following him around the bar all day and into the evening, tugging on his ponytail and begging him to let Lee go before he had even performed one time.

"Hey, knock it off you Brat! I said that Lee was going to work here, so he is! Stop whining about it!" The Old Man finally snapped at me, rolling his eyes when I continued to pester him. "Why do you want him gone so badly anyway? He was the first one upstairs when he heard you screaming." He said, making a gesture for me to sit at the bar as he set down a glass of chocolate milk for me to drink. You would think that since I lived in a bar that I would get all the booze I wanted, but oh no! The Old Man insisted that I wait until I was of legal age before I had my first taste of alcohol. So until I turned twenty-one (Which was a year away.) I was stuck with drinking apple juice out of shot glasses.

But what the Old Man said made me stop my complaining, if for a moment, to think it over. Why had Lee been the first person to jump into action? What did he care? It wasn't any of his business! But another part of me was grateful, pleased, and most of all . . . flattered. I shook those thoughts away as I took a long gulp of the sweet beverage. "I don't care! I don't like him! We're perfectly fine with just us! I'm more than enough to bring in customers, aren't I?" In a way, I was offended at the thought of Lee stealing the spotlight. I was used to everyone coming into the bar to see me and if Lee was going to be singing his lungs out, then people would pay more attention to him! It was a very silly and childish thought, I know, but it was how I felt. I was threatened by that man with the coal colored eyes.

"Gaara, you know I don't like what you're doing. If Lee brings in more customers, then you can stop and get a real job." The Old Man smiled at me and I sighed, not having the heart to tell him that there was no way a simple musician would attract more people than I would. "Just give him a chance. You guys are only a year apart . . . He's really the only kid around your age that comes here. I think that you two would get along nicely if you would stop being such a Brat about it. Change can be good, Gaara." He reached over the counter to pat my head and I sighed, slowly nodding. There was no way that I was going to get into an argument with the Old Man. I just didn't have the energy.

- - -

My day went by just like it usually did. I helped clean the bar and prepare it for nighttime, had an early dinner with the Old Man, and then went upstairs to strip my bed free from my sheets and blankets.

It was a habit of mine. I hated the thought of sleeping on the same sheets that I would lie down on when I was with a customer, so I always made sure my bed was bare before I would 'service' anyone. It was when I was neatly folding and putting away my bed sheets that I heard the bell over the door ring from downstairs. I glanced at the clock on the far wall and tilted my head. It was barely turning seven o' clock. We didn't start to get customers until at least ten thirty or eleven.

Curiously, I finished my self imposed chore and walked down the stairs, pausing before I reached the bottom. I saw Lee standing in the doorway, speaking with Jaraiya and laughing about something. I looked him over with my eyes. He looked about the same, actually. He had old, faded blue jeans covering his legs and a green, short sleeved shirt over his shoulders. The only thing that was the same about his outfit were his shoes. They were the same, worn and ratty ones that he had shown up in the day before. I saw, as I was finishing my inspection, that he had brought along a guitar. He had it slung over his shoulder and was carrying it around like it barely weighed a pound, though I was sure that it must have been pretty heavy.

Slowly, cautiously, I finished descending the stairs and stepped out into plain view in the middle of the bar, still eying Lee up and down. I had really taken a dislike to that man. He had said no to me . . . He had hurt me. Actually hurt me. I never got so worked up over one person, so whatever it was about this guy that had caused me to react in such a strong way couldn't have been good. "Hey." I said nonchalantly, nodding my head a bit at the taller man.

"Hey! Nice to see you again, Gaara! I'm really excited about this. This is my first real singing job. I hope that I won't mess up. I can get sort of nervous and when I get nervous I start to stutter. It's really embarrassing. I used to stutter all the time as a kid. I would always get picked on for it. Oh! Will there be a lot of people? This is a rather large bar . . . Is it always filled with people? How many, approximately? Like, a lot? You think that I'll mess up? I hope I won't! Not on my first day! Please wish me luck! I want my first day to be a good one!"

Good Lord, this man must have had a good set of lungs if he can talk so much in one breath . . .

He didn't seem to be showing any signs of stopping, even when he was stringing his guitar in his lap, adjusting the strings and plugging it into the amplafier that he had also toted along. I was actually amazed. Surprised that someone was talking so much, so loudly, so carefree . . . To me. Never had anyone besides the Old Man said so much to me before. I might not have been talking much, but I was actually enjoying myself listening to his voice drone on and on, grow loud and excited and then drop back down to a normal octive. It was quite amusing.

"You have an 'off' switch on your neck or something?" I asked when Lee stopped blabbering and was stringing his guitar.

Lee looked up at me, a bit surprised at my question, but when he had determined that I was joking, he laughed once, long and loud, before he shook his head. "Sadly, I don't. Am I getting on your nerves?" He peeked up at me from beneath his bangs while he continued to gently pluck each string with the pick he held. But the smile on his lips showed me that he was amused with my question.

"Only a little." I replied honestly, leaning back in the chair I was seated in and lying my head down on the table. Lee laughed again, the sound almost like a symphony to me. It was so melodic and . . . I closed my eyes, forcing myself not to think about all of the good things about the man in front of me and concentrate only on the bad. He hurt me. He actuallyignored me.

"You like country music?" Lee started to fiddle around with his guitar again, his eyes down at his work rather than me, for once.

"I don't listen to music." I told him blandly, letting loose a yawn and bringing my arms up to use as a pillow while I rested my head against the hard wood of the table.

"Can you sing?"

I opened my eyes and looked over at the older man, giving him a very annoyed look. "If I don't like music, what makes you think that I can sing?" I asked him, raising an invisible brow at him. Really, didn't this guy have a brain to think with?

"Well, you don't have to like music to have a good voice. They are two different things completely." Lee insisted, smiling at me again. He didn't give me a chance to tell him how dumb that sounded, instead starting to play a tune on his instrument.

Instantly, I shut my mouth from saying anything rude and just listened to what he was playing. It had a nice little sound to it, actually. He was rather good with the guitar. My eyes fixed themselves on Lee's hands and fingers, seeing how they moved and how he would pluck the right key to make a really lovely tune. Then, after a while of light music, Lee cleared his throat and, to my surprise, started to sing.

I had never heard anything like it in my life. His voice, which was deep and playful when he spoke, had suddenly grown soft to match the gentle music he was making. I looked up at his face, seeing his eyes closed and his eyebrows met together as he concentrated on the words he was forming. Soon enough, I was doing the same; Sitting upright in my chair and leaning forward to pay careful attention to what Lee's song was about.

"Roses are red, dear. Violets are blue. Angels in Heaven . . . know I love you.

"Know I love you, dear. Know I love you. Angels in Heaven . . . know I love you.

"Roses are red, dear. Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet, my dear. But not as sweet as you.

"Oh, sugar is sweet, my dear. Good luck! May God bless you."

He echoed the last line a few times, his voice in harmony with the music. The tune was so soft and wonderful, it was almost hypnotic. But, once his song had ended, Lee stopped playing the music, letting the last note fade away slowly into the atmosphere. When all was silent, he opened his eyes again and let out a shaky breath, smiling to himself for a job well done.

Just as I was about to congratulate him on a really beautiful performance, I heard clapping coming from directly behind my chair. Both Lee and I jumped and I whipped my head around to see who was making the noise. I shouldn't have been surprised to see the Old Man standing over me, a wide grin pulled across his face as he smacked his hands together roughly in applause.

"Wonderful, wonderful job, Son! That was a great show!" He laughed and then stopped his noise, moving his hands to remain crossed over his chest. "The customers will probably start coming in soon, so if you could maybe sing that song again . . ."

"Oh! Thank you Sir! Yes, of course I'll sing that song again! But I do have others. I'm really pleased that you liked it! Thank you so much!" Lee was beaming up at the Old Man, grinning from ear to ear at the compliments he had just gotten. Finally, after a long moment of shared words, Lee looked back down at me and leaned forward in his chair eagerly, his eyes shining with happiness. "What did you think, Gaara? Half of my audience liked the song. I want to know what the other half thinks!"

I had to admit, having Lee around was good for my attitude. He was so bouncy and happy all the time that it kind of rubbed off on me. I was smiling at him, if just a little, and nodding my head slowly. "Yes, yes. It was a nice performance. Let's see if you can keep it up." I said, never one to just give a compliment without some hint of pessimism. It was in my nature, I suppose. But Lee really did bring some humor to the bar, I had to say. He was entertaining to watch.

"Right! I'll try my best!" And with that, Lee actually saluted me, his eyes still bright with excitement, but his face stony. As if I were really a superior officer or something. Seeing that (his face, completely straight and serious.), I couldn't help myself and I slowly began to do something that I really hadn't done in too long of a while.

I began to laugh.

Songstone: Awwww. I just love Lee's song here. The first two verse's are the same ones that my mother sang to me when I was little, so they've always stuck in my mind. The last two I sort of meshed together with a song by Bobby Vinton. XD Anyway, this is getting interesting. And OMG, it's so fun to actually write in someone's POV instead of author's POV! XD R&R please and maybe I'll finish the rest of this story!!