A/N Songs:
All Hope is Gone - Slipknot
Kissing the Shadows - Children of Bodom
What's My Age Again? - Blink-182
In Your Face - Children of Bodom
Pretty Fly - The Offspring


Itachi was fighting with a few riffs, trying to find out what missed in each of them and ultimately create the best of all three in one main riff. That was easier said than done, of course. He asked Deidara for help, and finally concluded on the second riff with a few adjustments Deidara put in. Itachi was busy mastering it and teaching it to Hidan when Kisame walked in.

"Fellas, I got another piece of lyrics done. I want you guys to have a look at it."

Itachi took the notebook Kisame held out for him, and read the two verses out loud.

If you want you cannot take it from me
If you think you can, you still don't know me
Let me tell you man, I said it, I meant it
And I will always have the right to defend it

50 seconds, 100 murders
The Bill Of Rights is a bill of sale
What will you do when the war is over?
What will you do when you system fails?

Hidan nodded. "That might fit with this riff we just made up..." But Kisame shook his head.

"No, that riff you just played sounds more like 'Kissing the Shadows', if you ask me. This shit needs to blast everyone off their feet. I know KtS does that, but... I dunno. It just doesn't feel right."

"I say we just try it out. Hidan, go get Deidara. First full-band test of our material."

Hidan did as he was told, and the boys played the same song twice in a row with the respective lyrics. Kisame turned out to be right, and Itachi played his other two riffs again to see if anything fitted Kisame's new song. He tried to make it sound more interesting, but Kisame frowned.

"...I don't know, dude. It misses something. But I can't pinpoint what."

"Tch, how about a one way ticket to the trash can," a voice said from the doorway. Konan walked in the room smirking cockily. She turned to Deidara. "Oh, and Dei-dei? Great work there last week. I loved your performance." She noticed the notebooks with half-finished songs and smirked. "Working on an album, ne? Whose cock did you suck to get the money for that?"

She walked around the room, inspecting the boys' equipment. "Hm, what a pitiful bunch of junk. I'm sorry, but Itachi, you definetely deserve something better. Something more like Sakon and Ukon's gear."

Itachi shot her a death glare. "Fuck off, Konan. We know you won."

Konan feigned a hurt expression. "How rude. I thought you were a real gentleman, Itachi. You disappoint me."

Itachi let out a humorless laugh. "Gentleman? Are you serious? Gentleman, my ass. I'm a Metalhead." He returned Kisame's triumphant smirk before turning back to the blue-haired Gothic rocker. "So I'm going to say this nicely one more time. Fuck. Off."

She glared at him and shook her head. "Tsk, tsk. Bad boy, Itachi. What if mommy heard it?"

Itachi's vision went crimson as he vaguely recalled slamming the girl in the nearest wall, holding her by her throat.

"That's it. You crossed the line, bitch," he snarled, and Konan looked terrified. Itachi tightened his grip on her throat as he pulled her away from the wall, throwing her across the room.

She scrambled up, shot Itachi one last death glare and said "This isn't over, Uchiha." Itachi just rolled his eyes and strode off through the other door of the garage, leaving a stupified Kisame, Hidan and Deidara in his wake.


Hana walked through the mall, humming a random tune happily as she looked for the guitar centre. She picked up the bass she had ordered and had it gift wrapped. Her little brother was going to love this thing. She called her mom to come pick it up, and tried out a few new instruments herself before she left. She scored a Starbucks and left, her MP3 player assaulting her ear drums with Blink-182's 'What's My Age Again?'.

A few moments later, a familiar figure caught her eye. She rolled her eyes smirking and walked over to the apparently troubled boy. "Itachi Uchiha...Why is it that I always meet you in these emotionally unstable states?" She sat down next to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "What is it this time?"

He sighed. "...Hana, you're acting like some kind of shrink." She punched him, and he smirked. "Fine. It's Konan."

"Again? What did she do this time?"

Itachi glared at the ground. "She crossed the line. Started talking shit about my mom. I lost it, attacked her, and now she's sending her boyfriends on my ass. I really feel like having my dad deal with it, but he's already done so much for us lately."

"As in?"

"As in paying the bill for our first album."

She looked at him, awed. "...Dude, that's awesome! You can show Konan what real metal can do!"

Itachi shot her a weird look. "What do you know of 'real' metal? No offense, but...well, you're a punk."

"Excuse me?" She poked his chest. "I used to be a fan of Judas Priest, mister! I know how much bands like Metallica and Slayer meant for modern metal! I'll be the first to admit that all of this wouldn't be possible if not for the folks of Black Sabbath. I'm not some poser, unlike some people we know."

Itachi kept looking at her. "Then why convert to punk?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. All the anger in the music annoys me. Music should be...well, happy, carefree. It's supposed to make me feel better, not worse."

Itachi snorted. "Whatever. But you did give me an idea. I was thinking something along the lines of 'the truth feels like a bitch-slap in your face'. I think I can make a song out of that." He smirked at her. "Honestly, what would I do without you?"

"Probably end up in jail for verbal and physical assault, and possibly attempted murder." She got up and grabbed her brother's present. "Well, about time I got going. My mom is probably already seething that I'm late for dinner. I don't want to get grounded. See ya later, Itachi. Call me if you need another therapy session."

He smirked. "Will do. Peace."

And with that, the two friends parted ways again, Itachi happy because he had another source of inspiration, and Hana happy because she got to help out her friend in need again. Really, what would the bloke do without her? She smirked at the thought, pressed 'play' on her MP3 player again and started to sing along to 'Pretty Fly' by the Offspring while dance-walking home.


A/N I feel like it took me ages to get this done. I really don't know what's the problem lately, but my writing is slipping. I'm always busy doing other stuff, and I'm fucking sick and tired of it. But at least I know where I want it to go, unlike last time.

Anyway.

Next up: Recording time. And more good news for the band.

Peace.