Marked by Jutsu
Part XII
Naruto
I counted the intro to the first song. It was just like the competition. Sasuke's fan club was there making a ruckus so it was hard to concentrate. How did they get in anyway? I guess the club made it an all-ages night since obviously we were underage that would've been hypocritical. Stupid squealers. I could barely hear the music over their racket so I moved back a few steps so that I was closer to my band members. I glanced at Sasuke noticing that he seemed to share in my distaste. He was making an attempt to ignore their noise and moony eyes by looking at the wall in the back of the room. My eyes trailed over to Neji. He was oblivious to their racket. A frown of concentration was etched on his face as he played. I smiled and continued to sing. I might as well get used to the screaming. If I was going to be serious about all this music stuff I was going to have to know how to concentrate and zone out local disturbances.
This place didn't have terribly good acoustics so I think we had to compensate a bit, but after our first song people cheered so I figured we were doing something right. I was pumped to do Cosmic Castaway. I was so pumped; in fact I forgot how disturbing the outfit was. That's the type of outfit that would have people making fun of me Monday morning, but screw them. Who needed a bunch of jerk offs anyway? My eyes lit up as I began the first verse of the song. Man, but I did like this song a whole lot. Electric Shinobi (1) made some fun stuff, this just happened to be one of my faves and I'm so glad that we used it for the competition and now for our first sort of gig. I twisted and danced while I sang. This song made me want to have glowing bracelets or something to throw out into the audience for effect. I noticed Umino-sensei and Hatake-sensei walk in as I was singing and grinned. I wished they were my teachers instead of the ones I had. Maybe I'd actually make an attempt to learn something if they were around.
Most of what I had learned was from Ji-san. The old coot was a pervert, but he was really smart. Enough of that though. I was too involved in this song to stop.
By the time I was finished singing, I was panting and sweaty. The stage lights were very hot to be underneath. I wiped my brow and grinned widely as the people cheered. All the yells were consisting of "Sasuke" or "Neji" and the like. In fact none of them were for me, but it didn't matter. I was having fun. I glanced up as the lights dimmed. What? Some one brought me a stool to sit on at the edge of the stage. I looked back at my two band mates. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as if telling me to hurry up and sit down. So I did, and the next thing I knew he was playing the opening riff to the song. I closed my eyes and sang.
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man...
To be the sad man...
Behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it's like
To be hated...
To be fated...
To telling only lies.
I took a deep breath as I continued the words to a poem I knew so well.
But my dreams -
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely...
My love is vengeance
That's never free.
The words seemed to hurt as they came out. I gazed out across the audience. No one was moving. They were as still as I. Not one person was screaming.
No one knows what it's like
To feel these feelings
Like I do...
And I blame you.
No one bites back as hard
On their anger.
None of my pain and woe
Can show through.
I gazed back at Sasuke as I said these lines. His eyes widened slightly as if he knew I was singing to him.
But my dreams -
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely...
My love is vengeance
That's never free.
My muscles twitched as I sang losing myself completely in my own words.
When my fist clenches crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool.
When I smile tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool.
If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat.
If I shiver please give me a blanket.
Keep me warm...Let me wear your coat
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man...
To be the sad man...
Behind blue eyes. (2)
No one moved as the song ended. Was it the wrong idea? Was it too serious? Umino-sensei shook himself from his awe and began a timid clap and then applause sounded. I gazed at the back of the room and noticed Gaara standing next to a bunch of suits. He narrowed his eyes to slits as he watched Neji and Sasuke approach me. The clapping stopped as I walked off stage. I felt weird singing my poems to people who obviously didn't understand how I felt. I doubted that even Neji and Sasuke knew the true meaning behind those words.
I turned to go into the dressing room and found myself pinned to the wall by a drunkard. His heavy body fell awkwardly against mine pressing my face and chest against the rough cementing. The man was so plastered he didn't even realize what he was doing, or so I thought until I had the uncomfortable experience of his hand sliding down my back to squeeze at my ass.
"What the hell?!" I jerked away or tried to, but ended up being slammed further up against the brick scraping my cheek and arms. "Get the hell off of me you damned fucking asswipe!" He struck me for mouthing off. Needless to say that made Kyuubi very angry and he surged through me and caused me to bite down on the dude's hand. I bit down so hard; I could taste blood in my mouth. This excited Kyuubi, I guess, because he was about start another attack using me...that is until Sasuke yanked me to the side and Neji used that weird immobilizing thing on the drunk guy.
I sighed and slumped to the floor while wiping the blood from my mouth. Sasuke was observing my movements through narrowed eyes as if trying to see through me. I gave him one of my annoyed glares and then lifted myself up to continue my interrupted journey to the dressing room. I sat there for a while staring at my own reflection. Stupid make up. I wiped the lip gloss away roughly with my fist, but only succeeded in making my lips pink and smearing the color across my cheek. I growled. Why was I the one that had to wear this dumb gloss?
"That's just great! You ruined all my hard work." Crap smacks. It was the bar owner's daughter. "You know that there are still agents out there. Suppose one of them wanted to talk to you, would you want to look like a slut?"
"What?! You put lipstick on me and expect me not to be upset?" I pointed at the blonde girl, "eyeliner I can live with, but lipstick is a big no! N-O! You already made me look like a freaking glitter whore."
"You rude.... How dare you! I did no such thing!" She smoothed her ponytail down. I could see fire raging behind those turquoise eyes. "Now you hold still! I'm going to fix your mess!" She reached over and roughly scrubbed the tint off of my cheek and then reapplied the gloss, but in a slightly different and more subtle color. She also smoothed some of the glitter off. "Okay so maybe it was a little over board." She started brushing my hair.
"No more make up! No more hair spray!" I tried to move away, but she held me in place.
"HOLD STILL!!!" she roared at me. I cowered slightly. "There." She had simply smoothed the rest of my hair down similar to how she'd done Sasuke's hair. "Oh yea...you might want to take the jacket if you're going to be meeting with scouts."
"Jacket?"
"You dense or something? The outfit has a jacket." She gave me a smug look. "You have no sense of style, Uzumaki."
"Tch." I left her there to walk out and get myself a water bottle.
I was tired of being here. I loved to sing, but now that I wasn't on stage there was no reason for me to be there. I sighed in slight annoyance. Maybe if this wasn't Konoha where everyone knew me, then maybe I'd stay to dance. Just as I was about to walk out the doors one of the suits stopped me. I turned to face them and bowed very slightly. I may be a rebel, but manners aren't completely lost on me.
"So you're the contest winner? Well who would have thought?" The stranger scratched his chin as if in contemplation of a tough decision. "I should have listened to him. He wasn't lying about you."
"Who?"
"Oh, why my scout of course." He tipped his hat.
"Scout?" I crinkled my brow. "You mean some one's been spying on me?"
"Well not so much spying on you, as much as evaluating you." He reached in his suit coat to take out a box of smokes, offered me one, which I POLITELY refused. "Good to know you aren't all bad, kid." He turned as some one approached him. "Ah, there you are."
"Gaara!?" I took a step back at the realization that Gaara had been the one nosing about. Man what a pick for a double agent. "Isn't he with Desert Coffin?"
"Yes, technically. They're all my double agents. I send them to contests and if there happens to be a band that beats them out, which rarely happens, and then I look into perhaps signing them." He looked at me with piercing eyes behind his frames. "Your band is good, but it is missing an element. I want you to talk with them; if they agree to sign I want to put Gaara with you." Gaara simply nodded to this. "You need a drummer and Gaara is the best for the job."
"Whoa, wait a minute. Now I don't have a problem with that, and I'm sure I could PERSUADE Neji, but Sasuke does not get along with him," I pointed at Gaara to stress my point, "for some devil may know reason. I personally do not want them to be at each other's throats....besides...Uchiha is....."
"Right here. What do you want?" he asked coldly while gripping my hand almost possessively. I sighed sadly to myself. All part of the act.
The silver-haired young man eyed our clasped hands. I subconsciously moved closer to Sasuke. A smirk crossed his features. "So are you two a thing?"
I gazed at Sasuke for a moment watching his eyes for an answer. They seemed to answer affirmatively so I nodded while forcing a blush for effect. He seemed to accept our answer, but warily. I watched him suspiciously. He looked like some one who had been involved in shady dealings in the past with the way he was looking at me.
"Are you familiar with O-nins, Electric Shinobi, or Bunshin Trap?" We nodded. Hell yes I was. I spent so much time by myself listening to all the new music Ji-san got in. "They are all on my record label."
"What?!" I jumped up in surprise. "You mean you are the owner of Sound Nin Productions?"
"Well not quite. I am the one who will inherit it. I scout out for young artists like yourselves." He pushed some of his silver hair out of his face. "I would like to sign you to see how you would progress throughout time." His eyes narrowed dangerously at me, "I wonder if you would end up like my other experiment...."
Sasuke gave him an evil glance. I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Your other experiment?"
"O-nins. I contracted them when they were about your age. I wonder if you have the skills to surpass them." He handed me a stack of papers. "I'll be back in town in a few days for their concert, and since I know you'll be there tell me your decision then. This gives you time to think." He tipped his hat at me and then turned to walk away.
I had spent many days mulling over this decision and trying to get Sasuke to agree. He had been suspicious of that guy the whole entire time, but finally with enough pestering he got fed up and agreed. Neji hadn't been too against the idea, saying that it was fate for me to be seen. I don't know what his deal was with fate. So I was standing at the corner of the road now waiting for Umino-sensei to pick me up. We were going to meet Sasuke and Neji there before the show so that we could talk to the agent. When Umino-sensei came to pick me up he kept going on and on about our performance at the club and how proud he was of me. I sighed and shook my head with a smile. Umino-sensei was like big brother to me. I decided that if I did get signed I wanted him to be around a lot.
I gazed at him for a moment. Without his hair in that messy ponytail he was actually a pretty cute guy. I guess I could see why Hatake-sensei had the hots for him. I smiled at Umino as he went on and on about how proud he was and how he was behind me every step of the way. He had always said I had potential. I guess he knew because I was always in detention. I sighed at him for pushing my lazy ass in this direction. If it weren't for him maybe I would have never even gotten this opportunity. Maybe it was fate.... Pftt fuck that! Fate doesn't exist.
As I walked up to the front of the arena I noticed Sasuke and Neji standing there. Sasuke was glaring at the back of Neji's head, while Neji was of course ignoring him. I smacked my hand over my face. I hope this wasn't how things were always going to be. Oh well... time for me to break the ice.
"YO!" I yelled while scampering over to them. Both turned to look at me. Sasuke simply acknowledged me with his eyes while Neji tipped his head at me. "Where's that sneaky dude?" I bounced from foot to foot. "He needs to hurry up so that we can talk to him." Sasuke yanked on my backpack to keep me still. "Hey! You jerk! You almost made me fall."
"Now now. That's no way to act, suppose the producer saw that." Umino sighed at us.
I turned to compare my band members clothing to my own. Neji was dressed similarly to how he was the night we performed, except now his hair was in a low braid and the shirt was modestly buttoned. I blushed. He was still hot. Sasuke was a sight to see though. His outfit just screamed 'I'm going to fuck you until your eyes explode'. Black pants that seemed to follow every line of muscle in his legs and a matching sleeveless black shirt with his family crest on the back. His hair was smoothed down completely and fell neatly around his face. I tell you he was an orgasm waiting to happen. Why did he look so much older than me even though he was only a year older? And barely at that. I turned back to Neji to avoid a possible nosebleed from trying to contain a hard on. He always wore this headband over his eyebrows, regardless of how his hair was. I wondered why. My contemplation was interrupted by the soft mature voice of the agent guy.
No suit? Simple black attire with stylish frames and silver hair pulled back in a neat low ponytail. My fucking god! I had no idea he was so young. He looked about the same age as Neji, maybe a little older. I bowed as he walked to us, Gaara following closely behind him. I turned slightly to acknowledge Gaara with a simple nod of my head. He flushed very slightly, but kept the same expression.
"Well now. I see you've made a smart decision by taking this chance." He smirked and then held out his hand. "Welcome to the Sound Nin records." I shook his hand and then handed him the folder with our paper work. "You do know that you are no longer Hidden Leaves. You are property of the Sound Nin industry and seeing as Gaara is from a different area, we cannot associate you to Konoha. A name is the last thing we're going to worry about though." He cast a glance at Neji and Sasuke. "We start rehearsals in two days. Every day for three hours for two weeks and then you start working on your album. This is no longer a little game to win contests. You are now at my discretion."
"What are we supposed to call you since you didn't give any of us a name to address you by." Neji asked while crossing his arms boredly.
"Kabuto." He smirked at Neji. "I'd suggest that you all enjoy your free time while you have it because I'm going to personally whip you into shape just like I've done with Gaara."
Gaara was ignoring him and had his eyes completely on me and Sasuke. I noticed this so I very subtly reached for Sasuke's hand and then slid our clasped fingers into my pocket. I did this without so much as even looking at Gaara like I had an idea that he was watching for it. A soft frown caught Sasuke's features, but he understood the charade. I felt Gaara's scrutinizing become more intense. I nodded but started to blush as I felt Sasuke's fingers disengage from mine to tickle my leg. Kabuto was watching me giggle. He frowned.
"I don't care what you are to the public, but you can't hide things from me. I know that the two of you aren't really together." I blanched at him. "You barely even act like a couple. Besides when you are around me that is going to get too distracting to keep up while practicing so I'll prefer that you do not do that."
Gaara's eyes widened slightly at the newfound discovery. "Also it is not a good idea to keep such things from your fellow band mates since Gaara will now be part of your band. Otherwise, when you are in public, feel free. In this industry no press is negative. The more publicity, the better you do." He smirked then took out some smokes. "I'll be meeting you on Monday at your school practice hall in the afternoon, don't forget." That said he took us with him back stage to meet O-nins.
I gazed in disbelief at them. Here I was standing in front of the people that I idolized the most. I was on top of the world. They were so amazing to me. What beautiful people, sad looking, but beautiful. I sighed as I walked over to them and bowed. Sakuto and Akito looked at me from their spots on the long couches and smiled slightly.
"He's kinda young isn't he? About the same age as Hikou when she started out."
Hikou stood in the back of the room watching her two band mates with venom in her eyes. Ouch. She had Sasuke's personality. Her eyes shifted to me and then lightened slightly. "Hey kid..." She walked toward me then knelt on the floor so she was looking me in the eyes. God I'm short. "Good luck on your endeavors, and congratulations." She then moved forward to whisper in my ear words of advice, "don't let Kabuto scare you or change you...."
What?
She stepped away from me and then disappeared into her changing room. I watched her with an odd expression. What the hell?! This wasn't exactly how I'd pictured meeting them, but either way, they were still cool. Getting to hang out with Sakuto and Akito was fun. They had more cheerful personalities than their singer and cracked jokes with me. I could feel Sasuke's jealous eyes though as I had my fun. Sasuke seemed so bitter and stiff. I wondered briefly if he knew how to have any fun at all. Neji I was sure enjoyed himself as well. He traded a few melodies with Sakuto on the guitar. It was really quite a good little show.
I enjoyed myself the entire evening from the time that I hung out with O-nin's until I passed out on the way back from their concert. Umino-sensei was supposed to take me home, but he got side-tracked with teacher duties. I bet they involved one Hatake-sensei. This resulted in either Neji or Sasuke taking me back to my little pad. I really don't know all the details except that I briefly remember waking up while being set down on my bed and clinging desperately to whoever was taking the care to prep me to sleep more comfortably. It felt nice to have a warm body close to me. The feeling was completely flooding me over and I was not about to let it go. I had never had the feeling of being so close to anyone. It was something I didn't want to end. I was too tired to care who at the time. I figured I'd find out in the morning.
a/n: OMG sorry that took so long to do. I hate my job. HATE HATE! I wish I could get paid to write fics. That would be the greatest thing in the world. I have a special surprise for you guys too. I just need to finish scanning it.
1- Electrasy in the Naru world.
2- Naru's poem is actually the Song 'Behind Blue Eyes' by the Who. Not Limp Bizkit or anyone else. The original is by the Who.
Scorn-Silverstar- Yay hugs. I'm sorry for being late. I hope to post soon.
s- Thanks for reading it. I'm glad you like it!
Tryster- Yes. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to keep you guys reading it otherwise. Neji is hot.
Kisu- it's more like a love square. Just you wait till the plot gets really twisty.
Lone Ronin- Yes I will do sand bondage, but not quite yet. ART? O.O oooh I wan see. Sasu will be jealous again and again and again. poor boy.
chibi chidori16- Neji doesn't feel the need to fight over Naruto. He's one cocky bastard. A hot one, but he believes that Naruto will make the "RIGHT" decision.
Katsfire- Neji has a little bit of a hormone/rational thinking battle. He wants Naru's sweet little body, but he also wants Naruto to be older and physically (not to mention emotional and mentally) ready for the naughty stuff.
Twit- Not to worry. all the SasuNaru goodness comes all in good time.
Yuen-chan- I don't deserve a present for my tardiness. sniff sniff. I can't really think of a good way to put what Neji is, but he's very important to the plot. His actions influence a lot of the happenings.
Lady Kaiba- Thanks. I hope I can update soon too. pouts I'm glad this fic was suggested too. You're so kind!
Iceheart19- Thanks for catchin' my grammar/spelling errors. I guess my grammar Nazi ways have been failing since I'm so tired. Neji stopped for...think of it as a moral issues thing. There's more where it came from though just around the corner.
JustCallMeEri- I dunno with gravi- I was always partial to a HiroShu pairing. It's the best friend thing. and Besides Hiroshi is hot. Like Neji...yes....
Saski- thanks! I hope you like this chappie too.
kurokioku- yes Itachi is going to be in this fic. How could I leave out one of my most favoritest badasses?
tearlesereph- cool name. Take all the time you need. I'm just glad to still have newbies to my fic.
PharaohAtem- Thanks! Glad to help a fellow fic reader out.
phoe2k- Thanks! Wow I feel special. I hope that my writing will always leave readers wanting more.
NaRuTo RoCks- yes he does. Thanks a bunch.
Neji-sama- pounce glomp NEJI-SAMA! sorry. Neji is one of my fave characters. Thanks. I like to plan all my stuff out. I have the whole story replaying in my head constantly.
MELSAMA13- Thanks! I work hard to make the characters different without changing their whole being. There will be more of the SasuNaru stuff later.
miyu13us- the true coupling will not be revealed until the end of the story although I think I may have let my plot slip out in a reviewer response.
zkylar- Thank you. Glad to have held your attention that long. I always hope my fics are like that.
Katana-kun- Okay sorry dudes. I have to work to stay alive. My job is probably one of the most time consuming degrading things in the world, well aside from slavery and prostitution, but otherwise, it does not give me much time to work on my stuff. I'm really trying though so please don't be angry. cry cry
love-chibis- Nothing to do eh? well I wouldn't want you to be bored. Here's another chap for you. ALthough I might suggest ficart hint hint to keep ya busy. J/K.
I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONGASS WAIT! PLEASE FORGIVE MY DISHONORABLE NINJA WAYS.
Part XII
Naruto
I counted the intro to the first song. It was just like the competition. Sasuke's fan club was there making a ruckus so it was hard to concentrate. How did they get in anyway? I guess the club made it an all-ages night since obviously we were underage that would've been hypocritical. Stupid squealers. I could barely hear the music over their racket so I moved back a few steps so that I was closer to my band members. I glanced at Sasuke noticing that he seemed to share in my distaste. He was making an attempt to ignore their noise and moony eyes by looking at the wall in the back of the room. My eyes trailed over to Neji. He was oblivious to their racket. A frown of concentration was etched on his face as he played. I smiled and continued to sing. I might as well get used to the screaming. If I was going to be serious about all this music stuff I was going to have to know how to concentrate and zone out local disturbances.
This place didn't have terribly good acoustics so I think we had to compensate a bit, but after our first song people cheered so I figured we were doing something right. I was pumped to do Cosmic Castaway. I was so pumped; in fact I forgot how disturbing the outfit was. That's the type of outfit that would have people making fun of me Monday morning, but screw them. Who needed a bunch of jerk offs anyway? My eyes lit up as I began the first verse of the song. Man, but I did like this song a whole lot. Electric Shinobi (1) made some fun stuff, this just happened to be one of my faves and I'm so glad that we used it for the competition and now for our first sort of gig. I twisted and danced while I sang. This song made me want to have glowing bracelets or something to throw out into the audience for effect. I noticed Umino-sensei and Hatake-sensei walk in as I was singing and grinned. I wished they were my teachers instead of the ones I had. Maybe I'd actually make an attempt to learn something if they were around.
Most of what I had learned was from Ji-san. The old coot was a pervert, but he was really smart. Enough of that though. I was too involved in this song to stop.
By the time I was finished singing, I was panting and sweaty. The stage lights were very hot to be underneath. I wiped my brow and grinned widely as the people cheered. All the yells were consisting of "Sasuke" or "Neji" and the like. In fact none of them were for me, but it didn't matter. I was having fun. I glanced up as the lights dimmed. What? Some one brought me a stool to sit on at the edge of the stage. I looked back at my two band mates. Sasuke narrowed his eyes as if telling me to hurry up and sit down. So I did, and the next thing I knew he was playing the opening riff to the song. I closed my eyes and sang.
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man...
To be the sad man...
Behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it's like
To be hated...
To be fated...
To telling only lies.
I took a deep breath as I continued the words to a poem I knew so well.
But my dreams -
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely...
My love is vengeance
That's never free.
The words seemed to hurt as they came out. I gazed out across the audience. No one was moving. They were as still as I. Not one person was screaming.
No one knows what it's like
To feel these feelings
Like I do...
And I blame you.
No one bites back as hard
On their anger.
None of my pain and woe
Can show through.
I gazed back at Sasuke as I said these lines. His eyes widened slightly as if he knew I was singing to him.
But my dreams -
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be.
I have hours, only lonely...
My love is vengeance
That's never free.
My muscles twitched as I sang losing myself completely in my own words.
When my fist clenches crack it open
Before I use it and lose my cool.
When I smile tell me some bad news
Before I laugh and act like a fool.
If I swallow anything evil
Put your finger down my throat.
If I shiver please give me a blanket.
Keep me warm...Let me wear your coat
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man...
To be the sad man...
Behind blue eyes. (2)
No one moved as the song ended. Was it the wrong idea? Was it too serious? Umino-sensei shook himself from his awe and began a timid clap and then applause sounded. I gazed at the back of the room and noticed Gaara standing next to a bunch of suits. He narrowed his eyes to slits as he watched Neji and Sasuke approach me. The clapping stopped as I walked off stage. I felt weird singing my poems to people who obviously didn't understand how I felt. I doubted that even Neji and Sasuke knew the true meaning behind those words.
I turned to go into the dressing room and found myself pinned to the wall by a drunkard. His heavy body fell awkwardly against mine pressing my face and chest against the rough cementing. The man was so plastered he didn't even realize what he was doing, or so I thought until I had the uncomfortable experience of his hand sliding down my back to squeeze at my ass.
"What the hell?!" I jerked away or tried to, but ended up being slammed further up against the brick scraping my cheek and arms. "Get the hell off of me you damned fucking asswipe!" He struck me for mouthing off. Needless to say that made Kyuubi very angry and he surged through me and caused me to bite down on the dude's hand. I bit down so hard; I could taste blood in my mouth. This excited Kyuubi, I guess, because he was about start another attack using me...that is until Sasuke yanked me to the side and Neji used that weird immobilizing thing on the drunk guy.
I sighed and slumped to the floor while wiping the blood from my mouth. Sasuke was observing my movements through narrowed eyes as if trying to see through me. I gave him one of my annoyed glares and then lifted myself up to continue my interrupted journey to the dressing room. I sat there for a while staring at my own reflection. Stupid make up. I wiped the lip gloss away roughly with my fist, but only succeeded in making my lips pink and smearing the color across my cheek. I growled. Why was I the one that had to wear this dumb gloss?
"That's just great! You ruined all my hard work." Crap smacks. It was the bar owner's daughter. "You know that there are still agents out there. Suppose one of them wanted to talk to you, would you want to look like a slut?"
"What?! You put lipstick on me and expect me not to be upset?" I pointed at the blonde girl, "eyeliner I can live with, but lipstick is a big no! N-O! You already made me look like a freaking glitter whore."
"You rude.... How dare you! I did no such thing!" She smoothed her ponytail down. I could see fire raging behind those turquoise eyes. "Now you hold still! I'm going to fix your mess!" She reached over and roughly scrubbed the tint off of my cheek and then reapplied the gloss, but in a slightly different and more subtle color. She also smoothed some of the glitter off. "Okay so maybe it was a little over board." She started brushing my hair.
"No more make up! No more hair spray!" I tried to move away, but she held me in place.
"HOLD STILL!!!" she roared at me. I cowered slightly. "There." She had simply smoothed the rest of my hair down similar to how she'd done Sasuke's hair. "Oh yea...you might want to take the jacket if you're going to be meeting with scouts."
"Jacket?"
"You dense or something? The outfit has a jacket." She gave me a smug look. "You have no sense of style, Uzumaki."
"Tch." I left her there to walk out and get myself a water bottle.
I was tired of being here. I loved to sing, but now that I wasn't on stage there was no reason for me to be there. I sighed in slight annoyance. Maybe if this wasn't Konoha where everyone knew me, then maybe I'd stay to dance. Just as I was about to walk out the doors one of the suits stopped me. I turned to face them and bowed very slightly. I may be a rebel, but manners aren't completely lost on me.
"So you're the contest winner? Well who would have thought?" The stranger scratched his chin as if in contemplation of a tough decision. "I should have listened to him. He wasn't lying about you."
"Who?"
"Oh, why my scout of course." He tipped his hat.
"Scout?" I crinkled my brow. "You mean some one's been spying on me?"
"Well not so much spying on you, as much as evaluating you." He reached in his suit coat to take out a box of smokes, offered me one, which I POLITELY refused. "Good to know you aren't all bad, kid." He turned as some one approached him. "Ah, there you are."
"Gaara!?" I took a step back at the realization that Gaara had been the one nosing about. Man what a pick for a double agent. "Isn't he with Desert Coffin?"
"Yes, technically. They're all my double agents. I send them to contests and if there happens to be a band that beats them out, which rarely happens, and then I look into perhaps signing them." He looked at me with piercing eyes behind his frames. "Your band is good, but it is missing an element. I want you to talk with them; if they agree to sign I want to put Gaara with you." Gaara simply nodded to this. "You need a drummer and Gaara is the best for the job."
"Whoa, wait a minute. Now I don't have a problem with that, and I'm sure I could PERSUADE Neji, but Sasuke does not get along with him," I pointed at Gaara to stress my point, "for some devil may know reason. I personally do not want them to be at each other's throats....besides...Uchiha is....."
"Right here. What do you want?" he asked coldly while gripping my hand almost possessively. I sighed sadly to myself. All part of the act.
The silver-haired young man eyed our clasped hands. I subconsciously moved closer to Sasuke. A smirk crossed his features. "So are you two a thing?"
I gazed at Sasuke for a moment watching his eyes for an answer. They seemed to answer affirmatively so I nodded while forcing a blush for effect. He seemed to accept our answer, but warily. I watched him suspiciously. He looked like some one who had been involved in shady dealings in the past with the way he was looking at me.
"Are you familiar with O-nins, Electric Shinobi, or Bunshin Trap?" We nodded. Hell yes I was. I spent so much time by myself listening to all the new music Ji-san got in. "They are all on my record label."
"What?!" I jumped up in surprise. "You mean you are the owner of Sound Nin Productions?"
"Well not quite. I am the one who will inherit it. I scout out for young artists like yourselves." He pushed some of his silver hair out of his face. "I would like to sign you to see how you would progress throughout time." His eyes narrowed dangerously at me, "I wonder if you would end up like my other experiment...."
Sasuke gave him an evil glance. I quirked an eyebrow at him. "Your other experiment?"
"O-nins. I contracted them when they were about your age. I wonder if you have the skills to surpass them." He handed me a stack of papers. "I'll be back in town in a few days for their concert, and since I know you'll be there tell me your decision then. This gives you time to think." He tipped his hat at me and then turned to walk away.
I had spent many days mulling over this decision and trying to get Sasuke to agree. He had been suspicious of that guy the whole entire time, but finally with enough pestering he got fed up and agreed. Neji hadn't been too against the idea, saying that it was fate for me to be seen. I don't know what his deal was with fate. So I was standing at the corner of the road now waiting for Umino-sensei to pick me up. We were going to meet Sasuke and Neji there before the show so that we could talk to the agent. When Umino-sensei came to pick me up he kept going on and on about our performance at the club and how proud he was of me. I sighed and shook my head with a smile. Umino-sensei was like big brother to me. I decided that if I did get signed I wanted him to be around a lot.
I gazed at him for a moment. Without his hair in that messy ponytail he was actually a pretty cute guy. I guess I could see why Hatake-sensei had the hots for him. I smiled at Umino as he went on and on about how proud he was and how he was behind me every step of the way. He had always said I had potential. I guess he knew because I was always in detention. I sighed at him for pushing my lazy ass in this direction. If it weren't for him maybe I would have never even gotten this opportunity. Maybe it was fate.... Pftt fuck that! Fate doesn't exist.
As I walked up to the front of the arena I noticed Sasuke and Neji standing there. Sasuke was glaring at the back of Neji's head, while Neji was of course ignoring him. I smacked my hand over my face. I hope this wasn't how things were always going to be. Oh well... time for me to break the ice.
"YO!" I yelled while scampering over to them. Both turned to look at me. Sasuke simply acknowledged me with his eyes while Neji tipped his head at me. "Where's that sneaky dude?" I bounced from foot to foot. "He needs to hurry up so that we can talk to him." Sasuke yanked on my backpack to keep me still. "Hey! You jerk! You almost made me fall."
"Now now. That's no way to act, suppose the producer saw that." Umino sighed at us.
I turned to compare my band members clothing to my own. Neji was dressed similarly to how he was the night we performed, except now his hair was in a low braid and the shirt was modestly buttoned. I blushed. He was still hot. Sasuke was a sight to see though. His outfit just screamed 'I'm going to fuck you until your eyes explode'. Black pants that seemed to follow every line of muscle in his legs and a matching sleeveless black shirt with his family crest on the back. His hair was smoothed down completely and fell neatly around his face. I tell you he was an orgasm waiting to happen. Why did he look so much older than me even though he was only a year older? And barely at that. I turned back to Neji to avoid a possible nosebleed from trying to contain a hard on. He always wore this headband over his eyebrows, regardless of how his hair was. I wondered why. My contemplation was interrupted by the soft mature voice of the agent guy.
No suit? Simple black attire with stylish frames and silver hair pulled back in a neat low ponytail. My fucking god! I had no idea he was so young. He looked about the same age as Neji, maybe a little older. I bowed as he walked to us, Gaara following closely behind him. I turned slightly to acknowledge Gaara with a simple nod of my head. He flushed very slightly, but kept the same expression.
"Well now. I see you've made a smart decision by taking this chance." He smirked and then held out his hand. "Welcome to the Sound Nin records." I shook his hand and then handed him the folder with our paper work. "You do know that you are no longer Hidden Leaves. You are property of the Sound Nin industry and seeing as Gaara is from a different area, we cannot associate you to Konoha. A name is the last thing we're going to worry about though." He cast a glance at Neji and Sasuke. "We start rehearsals in two days. Every day for three hours for two weeks and then you start working on your album. This is no longer a little game to win contests. You are now at my discretion."
"What are we supposed to call you since you didn't give any of us a name to address you by." Neji asked while crossing his arms boredly.
"Kabuto." He smirked at Neji. "I'd suggest that you all enjoy your free time while you have it because I'm going to personally whip you into shape just like I've done with Gaara."
Gaara was ignoring him and had his eyes completely on me and Sasuke. I noticed this so I very subtly reached for Sasuke's hand and then slid our clasped fingers into my pocket. I did this without so much as even looking at Gaara like I had an idea that he was watching for it. A soft frown caught Sasuke's features, but he understood the charade. I felt Gaara's scrutinizing become more intense. I nodded but started to blush as I felt Sasuke's fingers disengage from mine to tickle my leg. Kabuto was watching me giggle. He frowned.
"I don't care what you are to the public, but you can't hide things from me. I know that the two of you aren't really together." I blanched at him. "You barely even act like a couple. Besides when you are around me that is going to get too distracting to keep up while practicing so I'll prefer that you do not do that."
Gaara's eyes widened slightly at the newfound discovery. "Also it is not a good idea to keep such things from your fellow band mates since Gaara will now be part of your band. Otherwise, when you are in public, feel free. In this industry no press is negative. The more publicity, the better you do." He smirked then took out some smokes. "I'll be meeting you on Monday at your school practice hall in the afternoon, don't forget." That said he took us with him back stage to meet O-nins.
I gazed in disbelief at them. Here I was standing in front of the people that I idolized the most. I was on top of the world. They were so amazing to me. What beautiful people, sad looking, but beautiful. I sighed as I walked over to them and bowed. Sakuto and Akito looked at me from their spots on the long couches and smiled slightly.
"He's kinda young isn't he? About the same age as Hikou when she started out."
Hikou stood in the back of the room watching her two band mates with venom in her eyes. Ouch. She had Sasuke's personality. Her eyes shifted to me and then lightened slightly. "Hey kid..." She walked toward me then knelt on the floor so she was looking me in the eyes. God I'm short. "Good luck on your endeavors, and congratulations." She then moved forward to whisper in my ear words of advice, "don't let Kabuto scare you or change you...."
What?
She stepped away from me and then disappeared into her changing room. I watched her with an odd expression. What the hell?! This wasn't exactly how I'd pictured meeting them, but either way, they were still cool. Getting to hang out with Sakuto and Akito was fun. They had more cheerful personalities than their singer and cracked jokes with me. I could feel Sasuke's jealous eyes though as I had my fun. Sasuke seemed so bitter and stiff. I wondered briefly if he knew how to have any fun at all. Neji I was sure enjoyed himself as well. He traded a few melodies with Sakuto on the guitar. It was really quite a good little show.
I enjoyed myself the entire evening from the time that I hung out with O-nin's until I passed out on the way back from their concert. Umino-sensei was supposed to take me home, but he got side-tracked with teacher duties. I bet they involved one Hatake-sensei. This resulted in either Neji or Sasuke taking me back to my little pad. I really don't know all the details except that I briefly remember waking up while being set down on my bed and clinging desperately to whoever was taking the care to prep me to sleep more comfortably. It felt nice to have a warm body close to me. The feeling was completely flooding me over and I was not about to let it go. I had never had the feeling of being so close to anyone. It was something I didn't want to end. I was too tired to care who at the time. I figured I'd find out in the morning.
a/n: OMG sorry that took so long to do. I hate my job. HATE HATE! I wish I could get paid to write fics. That would be the greatest thing in the world. I have a special surprise for you guys too. I just need to finish scanning it.
1- Electrasy in the Naru world.
2- Naru's poem is actually the Song 'Behind Blue Eyes' by the Who. Not Limp Bizkit or anyone else. The original is by the Who.
Scorn-Silverstar- Yay hugs. I'm sorry for being late. I hope to post soon.
s- Thanks for reading it. I'm glad you like it!
Tryster- Yes. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to keep you guys reading it otherwise. Neji is hot.
Kisu- it's more like a love square. Just you wait till the plot gets really twisty.
Lone Ronin- Yes I will do sand bondage, but not quite yet. ART? O.O oooh I wan see. Sasu will be jealous again and again and again. poor boy.
chibi chidori16- Neji doesn't feel the need to fight over Naruto. He's one cocky bastard. A hot one, but he believes that Naruto will make the "RIGHT" decision.
Katsfire- Neji has a little bit of a hormone/rational thinking battle. He wants Naru's sweet little body, but he also wants Naruto to be older and physically (not to mention emotional and mentally) ready for the naughty stuff.
Twit- Not to worry. all the SasuNaru goodness comes all in good time.
Yuen-chan- I don't deserve a present for my tardiness. sniff sniff. I can't really think of a good way to put what Neji is, but he's very important to the plot. His actions influence a lot of the happenings.
Lady Kaiba- Thanks. I hope I can update soon too. pouts I'm glad this fic was suggested too. You're so kind!
Iceheart19- Thanks for catchin' my grammar/spelling errors. I guess my grammar Nazi ways have been failing since I'm so tired. Neji stopped for...think of it as a moral issues thing. There's more where it came from though just around the corner.
JustCallMeEri- I dunno with gravi- I was always partial to a HiroShu pairing. It's the best friend thing. and Besides Hiroshi is hot. Like Neji...yes....
Saski- thanks! I hope you like this chappie too.
kurokioku- yes Itachi is going to be in this fic. How could I leave out one of my most favoritest badasses?
tearlesereph- cool name. Take all the time you need. I'm just glad to still have newbies to my fic.
PharaohAtem- Thanks! Glad to help a fellow fic reader out.
phoe2k- Thanks! Wow I feel special. I hope that my writing will always leave readers wanting more.
NaRuTo RoCks- yes he does. Thanks a bunch.
Neji-sama- pounce glomp NEJI-SAMA! sorry. Neji is one of my fave characters. Thanks. I like to plan all my stuff out. I have the whole story replaying in my head constantly.
MELSAMA13- Thanks! I work hard to make the characters different without changing their whole being. There will be more of the SasuNaru stuff later.
miyu13us- the true coupling will not be revealed until the end of the story although I think I may have let my plot slip out in a reviewer response.
zkylar- Thank you. Glad to have held your attention that long. I always hope my fics are like that.
Katana-kun- Okay sorry dudes. I have to work to stay alive. My job is probably one of the most time consuming degrading things in the world, well aside from slavery and prostitution, but otherwise, it does not give me much time to work on my stuff. I'm really trying though so please don't be angry. cry cry
love-chibis- Nothing to do eh? well I wouldn't want you to be bored. Here's another chap for you. ALthough I might suggest ficart hint hint to keep ya busy. J/K.
I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LONGASS WAIT! PLEASE FORGIVE MY DISHONORABLE NINJA WAYS.
