A/N Songs:
One - Metallica
Still Beats Your Name - Killswitch Engage
Kirisute Gomen - Trivium
The band got up, grabbed their instruments and ran up the stage. They were welcomed by bright flashing lights, flames that shot up in the air ten feet high, and a crowd of about two thousand screaming people. Hidan ripped the mic from its stand and greeted the crowd.
"What's up, peoples! We are Akatsuki, and we are going to rock you out of your chairs tonight. We will be performing a song that we can all agree on is the best song ever created. Dudes and chicks out there, here's 'One' by Metallica."
The lights went out, and a sample of war sounds was played. With each explosion, fireworks were blasted. Itachi, Deidara and Hidan hung their heads, picking the first notes of the infamous intro with eyes closed. Itachi could feel the sensation in his fingers when he played the short intro solo. He fell back in the original riffing and Hidan started to sing.
I can't remember anything
Can't tell if this is true or dream
Deep down inside I feel the scream
This terrible silence stops me!
Now that the war is through with me
I'm waking up I cannot see
That there's not much left of me
Nothing is real but pain now!
Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please, God, wake me!
Back in the womb, it's much too real
In pumps life that I must feel
But can't look forward to reveal
Look to the time when I lived!
Fed through the tube that sticks in me
Just like a war time novelty
Tied to machines that make me be,
Cut this life off from me!
Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please, God, wake me!
Itachi looked at a smirking Hidan, and smirked back. He freestyled a few notes before playing the original solo, still at the slow and harmonic tempo. Kisame banged out a small drum solo before Hidan walked back up to the mic, distorting his guitar again.
Now the world is gone, I'm just One
Oh God, help me!
Hold my breath as I wish for death
Oh please, God, help me!
The riffing changed, the drumming sped up a bit, and the crowd headbanged along to the boys on stage. Hidan and Itachi let their guitars ring for a few seconds when their instrumental bridge was through, exchanged looks and hammered down the infamous machine gun riffs, accompanied by shooting flames and explosions.
Darkness!
Imprisoning me! All that I see,
Absolute horror
I cannot live, I cannot die
Tied to myself
Body my holding cell!
Landmine!
Has taken my sight, taken my speech
Taken my hearing
Taken my arms, taken my legs
Taken my soul
Left me with life in Hell!
Itachi was about to shred the solos, when a lot of things happened. Deidara's bass went dead, and was inaudible over the guitar violence. Hidan, distracted by this, lost track of the riffing and missed his chords causing his guitar to screech the wrong way. Itachi and Kisame tried to save the day, but the solo sounded bad without rhythm guitar and Kisame's drum fills didn't help much either.
Seeing how it was hopeless, they sighed in defeat and dropped their instruments. If Itachi wasn't Itachi, he could've cried. So much for winning the contest.
Itachi didn't watch Blackout's winning performance, and went straight for home. They had it. They were so close...
"Hey."
He jumped at the sound of the voice, but relaxed as soon as he saw it was Hana. And then he remembered that Hana had left for... somewhere a few weeks ago.
"What are you doing back here?"
She shrugged. "Nothing much. Traveled around a bit. Started a band. Now getting close to actually sounding a bit like a band. Went to check out the finals some of my friends were playing in. And now I'm here."
"...Yeah."
She sat down next to him. "So now what?" He didn't respond. She looked disappointed. "Itachi..."
"...Hn."
She realized he was close to crying. After all, this had been his big chance of success. She smiled sadly and hugged him. He instinctively wanted to pull away, but decided against it and let her. When she let him go, she smiled. "Cheer up, okay? You're a lot less handsome when you're looking all gloomy." He smirked.
They looked at the sky together for a while, when Itachi said "I wonder what my mom would be thinking right now, you know? What she would say or do in my situation."
"She'd be proud."
"How do you know?" he asked, genuinely interested. She shrugged again.
"I would be. That's how."
"You and her are two different people."
"True. But we both care for you."
"..."
She smiled sweetly. "Well, about time we got going."
"Go where?" he asked while standing up.
"Kill Konan, then Deidara for raping his bass like that. And then..."
"Wherever the fuck life takes us," Itachi finished her sentence. She nodded. He smirked. "Sounds good. But don't kill Deidara. He may be an idiot and a lazy shit, but he's still one of my best friends. And it wasn't his fault. It was the equipment. I think someone messed with it."
She yawned and rubbed the back of her head. "No, it was checked two seconds before you guys started."
"How do you know?"
"I checked it. Now let's go, your folks are waiting for you."
Itachi trusted Hana that she didn't mess with the amps herself, and got up. He wasn't looking forward to talking to people after such an embarrassing defeat, but qouting his dad, 'shit had to be dealt with sometimes'.
Kisame was practicing a bit with Hidan on guitar, when Itachi burst in their new practice room (Basically Kisame's garage, with a few adjustments in the form of amps and extra isolation) happier than he had been since he heard about Annihilation. "Dudes! Dudes!"
"Yo, what up? What are you all cheerful about?" Kisame asked, dropping his beat and taking a sip from his drink. Hidan was too busy practicing the 'Nothing Else Matters' solo to pay attention, so Kisame threw his drum sticks at him. "Pay attention, dumbass."
"What's all the fuss about?" Deidara asked, returning from the toilet. "What up, Itachi?"
Itachi smirked cockily. "Gentlemen, You owe me big time. I talked my dad into paying the bill for recording an album."
"You WHAT!?"
"...Holy shit."
Itachi's smirk broadened. "That's right. Let's get writing, like right the fuck now. We got an album to fill."
"Finally!" Hidan yelled. "I actually got a head start some time ago, and got a few pieces of songs done already. I want you fellas to take a look at it. I personally think it sucks, though."
"Whoa, you were anxious to start," Kisame said smirking. "And over-confident, too, thinking we would easily win the contest."
"Shut up, dude," Hidan muttered as he searched his guitar bag and pulled out a note pad. He tossed it to Itachi, who read it out loud.
Who knows how long, I've been lost in the dark
Followed closely by the footsteps of my failures
What can I do, to alter my perception,
of the way and the truth?
Let this burden drift away
Who knows how long, the void has swallowed me
I only wish for nothing more than peace to find me
How can this be? We've come so far
to let the weight destroy our grand design
Hidan grinned cockily, while the rest was awed. Hidan tried to hide the triumphant tone in his voice when he asked "Well, what do you guys think?"
"...Dude, I thought you didn't even know what 'perception' meant. This shit is awesome," Kisame said. Deidara nodded.
"True. You gotta go on writing this one. It's gonna be the first track on our new album."
"We'll see about the track listing later," Itachi said. "For now, let's get to work. We've got an album to fill."
Hidan ruffled in his bag again. "Wait, I've got more. Here."
I can see in their eyes
they've already died
inside, but as for the outside
I'll take their fucking heads
Quake has bred with the storm
conceiving war
wicked stampeding hordes
kirisute gomen
"...What's 'Kirisute gomen' mean?" Kisame asked. Hidan rolled his eyes, but Itachi shot him a glare.
"It means 'sorry for what I'm going to do'. It's something the samurai used to say before striking down their opponent."
Kisame gave Itachi a weird look that probably meant 'how-the-hell-do-you-know-that'. Itachi just smirked. "Again, finish it and see if you can get more ideas. We need everything we can get. Also, all of you, see if you can come up with some crazy riffs, bass loops, beats, whatever. Just get to work, and we may be able to get this thing wrapped up before Christmas."
Kisame sighed smirking. "That's Itachi for you...Always playing the leader."
Itachi shot him a glare, and the rest laughed. Itachi smirked as he retorted with "of course. I'm the smartest guy around. I'm the only one fit to be the leader."
"...Kisame: 1, Itachi: 2. Ouch."
Laughter echoed through the room for a while, before the boys split up to each work in silence and peace on what Hidan called 'an album so good, the world will start spinning the other way around'.
A/N This was a hell to write. And that's all I have to say.
