Title : Band Verse

Being an singer for a band seems easy, it's not. Include being asked to join a rival band, choosing sides, and befriending a cat makes the whole situation a lot more hectic...At least mentally. AU

Contains: Emphasis and Strange

A/N: Sorry for such a long update on a cliff hanger, but I hope you enjoy. Thanks to all of you who've reviewed, I greatly appreciate it.

Emphasis

"Would you like to join Lightening Fox?"

The question echoed down the hallway to where the rest of them had been walking.

Itachi could feel the cold silence coming from the band behind him. He'd been wondering when his brother would ask. Hearing Sakura perform at such a high level would make any band want her. But even though Itachi knew it was coming, it didn't help. His hands had formed into fists, and a pang of fear shot through his chest. Being left behind. It was something all of them feared. They'd all been left before, and the thought of being left again...

Sasori and he had discussed it at length when they needed a break from song writing. They had determined that the risk of her discovery would be worth the pay-off. Especially when both were extremely confident in her loyalty; but being confident and fact were two different things.

In reality, Sakura had a choice. It was her life and she could do what she wanted with it.

He'd been prepared for it, but… A sideways glance revealed Kisame's face set in a stern glare. It was obvious Kisame hadn't ever thought of the possibility of Sakura leaving. The man's eyes had narrowed into black slits in fury at Sasuke's invitation. His blue nostrils flared, taking a steep breath like a bull about to charge.

Kisame quickened his step, about to burst in on the two in the small sitting area, when Itachi grabbed his elbow. The black eyes met and Kisame's glare increased. He yanked his arm away and continued forward. The rest of the band held back, fearful of the answer.

He marched directly into the room, right up behind Sakura. Kisame placed one hand on the chair and leaned over Sakura to staring directly into Sasuke's eyes. "She won't be joining Lightening Fox."

Sakura, who hadn't realized Kisame had even arrived, jumped in the air and banged her head against the tall blue man's jaw.

"Its her decision," Sasuke replied blandly, eyes fixated on the people behind Kisame, namely Itachi.

His brother was right. This was Sakura's choice, not theirs. Kisame was just going to make it worse, to actually go so far as to tell Sakura she couldn't join. Nobody liked to be told what to do.

All eyes went to Sakura, but she seemed too much in pain to reply as her hands rubbed at her head where she'd ran into Kisame's chin. When she finally recovered, she glanced around, noticing the attention.

"You don't speak for her," Sasuke said mockingly to reinforce his point.

Itachi was surprised at how cool Sasuke was acting. An angry Kisame was like seeing a murderer make you his next target. But Sasuke wasn't focused on Kisame, they were focused on him, so it was likely Sasuke didn't know the dangerous position he was in. Kisame only had to, after all, take two more steps to be within striking distance.

The blue man was like a wound coil, so tense his shoulders were jarred back. He didn't back down. Sasuke's words seemed to just float over him. Kisame still hadn't realized that by demanding something of Sakura, he may have limited their chances of actually having her stay. Instead he stuck by his original stance. "She won't be joining Lighting fox."

Sakura's face turned bright red in anger, but instead of turning on Kisame, she faced off with Sasuke.

"He's right," she snarled. "I wouldn't be joining Lightening Fox; I'd be returning. Or did you forget that?"

Itachi took the wide eyes of his brother to be a yes. Sasuke had forgotten that Sakura had originally been in their band, before fame and fortune. Even he'd forgotten about that.

Was Kisame some brilliant genius? Catching Sasuke's slip up and knowing he could use it to their advantage. But looking at Kisame's defensive position, Itachi realized the man hadn't walked in because he wanted her to stay with them. Kisame was mad because of the insulting statement Sasuke had made concerning Sakura. The man was extremely sensitive to the people he cared about, and almost immune to implications concerning himself.

The hovering stance, becoming like a cave surrounding Sakura, was projecting the same aurora he used in highschool when Tobi used to get picked on. There was no side, in Kisame's mind, there had never been. Unlike the rest of them, who saw Sakura as a person who could cross a line and leave them, Kisame had never truly believed in a line. Sakura would be a friend regardless of her where she went. And as her friend, he saw it has his duty to protect her.

Sakura's face became maroon and she took a deep breath, about to yell, when suddenly she looked up. The only thing she could see was a blue chin (as Kisame was still leaning over sending death glares at Sasuke). Her mood changed and she calmed down. "My answer to both is the same. No. I already have a band or a home to be more precise."

She then stretched, yawning, and when she raised her hand she lightly faked a punch at Kisame's cheek.

He glanced down at her, his eyes still not losing their testy edge.

"Ready to go home?" she asked.

He smiled then, revealing all of his sharp teeth, "Yup."

"Tobi's hungry."

Sakura turned to look at everyone, surprise evident on her face.

"Ya, I'm starved too," Hidan said, turning his back to the affair. The lack of cursing and actual compliance with Tobi's demand revealed just how upset he'd been. Of course, he then had to instigate a fight, "We're all tired lets just grab food on the way."

Kisame's nose twitched, eating out was something he did not do.

"Or we can stop and grab ice cream," he said continuing to dig himself a deeper grave with everybody in the room.

"Tobi wants ice cream! Tobi wants ice cream!" The masked man started chanting.

Pein gave a soured expression and Konan looked as though she was about to take the origami flower out of her hair and use it like a ninja throwing star. It was easy to tell that Kakuzu was calculating how much this venture would cost by the way his eyes kept flicking back and forth.

"Tobi want's eight toppings!"

Kakuzu's eyes began burning holes in the back of the white haired man.

Sakura could only laugh. This was definitely where she belonged. "We have a gallon of vanilla at home," she said, after all it was her job to know how much of groceries were in the house. "And I believe we have some skittles too."

"Vanilla and Skittles. Vanilla and Skittles," Tobi began.

"We'll have some tacos tonight, if we don't cook the chicken it will go bad," Kisame commented, and his glaring gaze turned to Hidan as if daring him to try and start some debate on where to eat.

They began filing out, and it was only halfway down the hall that Sakura remembered Sasuke. She turned, and saw him gazing into his hands. He seemed to be having an internal debate, as if the thought of her saying no had never occurred to him. She was surprised at herself, surprised that for several years the words Sasuke had spoken had the been her deepest desire and yet today she'd said no. In fact, she felt better for having said it. It was as if she finally taken hold and decided her own fate. Walking out the door would seal it. She turned and looked at the exit.

Everybody else had left except Itachi. And he was waiting beside the door with a concerned look on his face. She wondered whether he thought her hesitation was a sign she wasn't sure about her decision. So she straightened her back and smiled at him.

He smiled in return and extended his hand to the doorway, for her to walk through.

"Tell the others I'm going to be catching a cab. I need to speak with Sasuke about something," he told he.

She glanced between the brothers, wanting to know what he wanted to talk about, but then noticed Itachi's hand was still extended. He wanted to have the conversation in private.

She gave a nod and walked out.

Itachi shut the door and then walked back to the sitting area. He sat across from Sasuke, where Sakura had been, and waited.

When Sasuke eventually looked up his eyes met with Itachi's.

"Guess I can't blame this one on you, can I?" Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His hands then returned his side and balled into fists. They shook for an instant before Sasuke seemed to realize who was before him. His face contorted slightly, but the quivering stopped. "Why are you still here; shouldn't you be partying with them?"

"I'd rather be with you," Itachi said with a slight smile, leaning in a bit suggestively.

Sasuke blinked in surprise at the lack of monotone and then made a face, "That's something you should be saying to a girl."

"Hn."

Sasuke face returned to a scowl. "I don't need your pathetic pity."

Itachi narrow his eyes. "I didn't come here to pity you."

"Then why are you here? Are you going to tell me exactly what I should say, how I should act-"

Itachi poked Sasuke's head, causing him to shut up. "I just wanted to tell you that you did well today and that I hope to get a chance to do a collaboration with you."

Sasuke looked away, a bit embarrassed, "Yeah, our bands melded pretty well together. You, Naruto and Sasori did a good job on the song. I'm sure our managers will put us together again."

Itachi sighed then, causing Sasuke to look up. The older man had stood. "I said, I want to do a collaboration with you not with Naruto." At the blonde's name, Itachi made a face. He gave another sigh before heading to the door.

"But until then," he glanced back, his eyes steely and voice monotonous, "try to get your sales back. Its bad enough you've never passed us in sales, it reflects poorly on me if you let yourself drop any lower than you already have."

Sasuke's face switched from pleasant surprise to a fuming scowl and his lips turned into a snarl. "I am going to beat you!"

With his back turned, Itachi smiled although he kept his tone even. "Bring it little brother."

Strange

It was the first time in years she'd awoken without an alarm or someone waking her up. Namely because the the alarm, her phone, was dead in her purse. They'd stayed up late, all of them, even though they'd been so tired. The food had been delicious and then they'd settled down, drinking quite a few bottles of wine.

It had been the first time she'd seen Tobi drink and she was more surprised at the fact the boyish man could hold so much liquor. In fact, he'd beaten them at Apples-to-Apples, Imagine-iff and several other games they'd played. She had kept herself to minimum since half of the people in the house weren't known for being normal when they were sober. In case anything happened, Konan and she had decided just to have a glass each.

That was her conclusion as to why the house was so quiet. Normally she would have been awoken by running feet (Tobi), a screeching cat (Hidan), or a pervert (Itachi) creepily opening the door to her room to watch her sleep or go through her stuff. She stretched lazily, wondering if she should take advantage of sleeping in. She decided that she would and then rolled onto her side. It was then she out a hoarse half-awake scream.

Staring directly at her with two golden irises was a hairless cat. The ears went back in distaste and it gave a hiss, although it did not move its body from the pillow that it had claimed as its own. After fully identifying the creature, Sakura glared at it. It glared back. The glares continued for several more minutes.

Sakura didn't want to touch it. Jashin was known to go into a frenzy at being in a more distant situation than she was now. She'd awoken in a good mood, not that she was in one anymore, but she still didn't want to ruin her morning by being scratched to death. Why the cat wasn't with Hidan surprised her. How the cat got into her room surprised her. Hell, why the cat hadn't attacked her surprised her.

Eventually the cat moved. It rolled onto its back, eyes still staring at her, to reveal its hairless stomach. It was like an open invitation to give him a pet.

"I don't think so," she told him, eyes narrowed. "I'm not falling for that one." The second her hand made contact the cat would probably attach itself to her and not let go.

The cat let out a sneeze and went back to laying flat, as if understanding she'd read his mind. He then purred and stretched out, sharp nails digging into her pillow, taunting her to toss him from her bed. Of course, she knew he'd only jump back on the bed and bite her until she screamed enough bloody murder to wake Hidan from his drunken slumber so that he became the next target.

Instead she kept calm, keeping a steady unbreaking stare with the eerily friendly acting cat.

Jashin tried another tactic. It yawned and edged closer to her, testing her ability to remain as stiff as a board. The yellow eyes got closer and closer to her face, until she could feel the faint breath upon her cheeks. She was scared it was going to bite her on said face, but before she could back out it closed the distance.

She closed her eyes waiting for the worst when instead her cheek was brushed with wrinkled flesh. She blinked and watched the cat slide down her, purring as it positioned itself so that his shoulder was under her chin. The tail gave one a small flip as if delighted he'd caused her so much panic.

Cautiously, she rose one hand and scratched the cat behind the ears. It gave a soft pur. Perhaps she was still asleep?

The cat rose against her hand, body thrumming. It then turned and crawled over her, onto a black clothed figure.

Instead of screaming, she jolted away, falling off the bed in the process.

"Good morning, Sakura," the man said gentle as he took up petting the cat in her stead.

"Mr. Uchiha," Sakura growled as she sat up. Her eyes barely could see him, as she peeked over her bed. Seeing the wide black eyes made her cheeks reddened at the memory of their last meeting.

"Its been awhile." The voice was just as eerily calm. He brushed at the cat's head and and it fell against him, a purring mess.

With hindsight she should have known exactly why the cat was acting so strange.

"Not long enough." Sakura bit out.

The man's lip twisted into a smile, "I fully agree."

Sakura narrowed her eyes and then pulled herself to her feet. "Then why are you here?"

"Since it seems you're going to be sticking around, its time for us to layout some ground rules," Mr. Uchiha said, narrowing his eyes as well. He rose too, and then gave a stretch. The cat followed suit.

"Ground rules?" Had the maniac actually come her room to lay out 'ground rules'? Well she'd play along with it. "How about rule one don't enter someone's room without permission."

His black eyes squinted, as if the matter were laughable, and then continued on, ignoring her statement, "Now, Tobi is not allowed to drink so much alcohol. In fact, he isn't supposed to have any with his medication. I would think as a responsible adult you could handle such a simple task. I am letting you know now and I've already given a reminder to Konan. No alcohol. Agreed?"

The same soft look had entered his eyes at the name Tobi. Sakura felt just a bit guilty thinking the man was here for some mischievous reason, like Itachi. He was just looking out for the kid. She gave a nod.

"Good. I hate to reinforce points but do not try my patience." That had been a threat.

Sakura opened her mouth to object, but the man cut her off.

"Second, Tobi is to be in bed by 10 and up by 8. A constant schedule and good sleep is imperative to his health. He was up late last night and I have no tolerance on this matter."

Sakura's mouth continued to hang. He didn't give any room to talk.

"And, about Itachi. I was thinking that-" The man was cut off as a loud bang of a door was followed by a shrill scream.

It was Hidan. "Konan I didn't do it, you crazy a- b-!"

Sakura gulped as the man before her smiled ferally. She remembered he'd said he'd given a reminder to Konan. The black eyes focused on her, the red glimmer in them unmistakable. "Like I was saying, I think the two of you would make a decent couple, but-"

A shrill scream from downstairs echoed up into her room.

"Don't hurt him. Because if you do, you'll end up hurting Tobi. And if you hurt Tobi, I will hurt you."

A shiver ran through Sakura's spine and murderous intent coming off the man beside her made her want to curl up into a corner and hide. It was then that her door opened with a massive bang and the person who entered no longer had blue hair. The woman's hair was black, her makeup black, her origami flower black. But it was a natural black, it looked to be permanent marker black.

Konan launched herself at the man across the bed, the cat launched itself at Konan. And Hidan, sporting a start of a black eye, launched itself at Jashin.

A mad brawl seemed to erupt in her bedroom, as Konan attempted to rip the clawing cat off her and throw it at Mr. Uchiha, who looked on with smirk on his face. Hidan, seeing was Konan was trying to do, grabbed at Konan's black hair to get her drop the cat. The screaming coming from the three angry creatures was like an overwhelming, hideous noise.

"You piece of-"

"Let go of Jashin, don't throw him you-"

And then there was the one calm voice that rang out through it all, "Next time, I suspect you'll remember our agreement."

The scene was cut off as she was yanked backward into the hallway. She looked up into Pein's annoyed stare. His eyes were bloodshot, and he was holding one hand to his head. Hangover. Without another word, he walked into the room and shut the door behind him. After several crashes, screams, and yells (although none belonging to Pein); there was silence.

After a minute the door opened and the man walked out. Sakura was about to go back in when the man gave her a curt order, "Go help Kisame with breakfast." He glared at her when she hesitated. And that was a scary enough threat that she retreated down the stairs with all haste, running directly into Itachi's chest.

The man blinked twice, and then smiled hugging her. "Morning, I was about to come up and wake you."

More like creepily stare at her. She pulled back ready to punch him in the throat for such close contact, when Mr. Uchiha's words cut into her mind. No hurting Itachi. She shivered making a face as she wondered exactly what the man would do to her that could rival what had happened to Konan.

Itachi paused in the act of rubbing her back, surprised at the lack of reaction. It was then a haughty meow pronounced its presence from the top of the staircase. The cat looked upon them like underlings, and then trotted down the staircase stopping beside them. In a half-a-second it brushed itself against Sakura's right leg in affection before continuing on its journey.

Both looked questionably at the cat, but it only flicked a tail at them as it turned and went into the bathroom. Sakura had passed some otherworldly feline test and from that day onwards was able to get into close proximity to the cat without getting bit.

Itachi was the first to recover from the incident and tightened his hold on Sakura's small frame. By the time Sakura was jolted from her thoughts, Itachi was smelling her hair.

"Pervert!" She cried, gut punching Itachi. Instead of sticking around, to hit him again, she fled; terrified that the man upstairs knew what she had done.