"The crowd is fucking dead!" Tayuya said, gesturing obscenely. "Our opening act was some kid and his little white dog doing tricks! Fucking stupid pet tricks!"

Sakon sighed, slapping his forehead, "We need a real manager...not someone who sleeps in my back all the time."

Ukon's head perked up. "What was that? You got something to say, big man?"

"Nothing, it was nothing. Let's just wake these bastards up then. With the power of our song!"

"The power of our song? Are you serious, Nekki Basara?" Kidoumaru raised an eyebrow.

"...I'm under a lot of stress, leave me alone."

The house lights went down as the Heartbeat Sound 4 prepared to go on. The crowd waiting in darkness as a spotlight moved across the stage to the opening strains of Glued State (Naruto Soundtrack number one, Track 15). Then silence, follwed by the explosive pop of fireworks as the ground opened up beneath the stage. Rising slowly on a platform of earth, Jiroubu strummed his bass. The shrill sound of a flute played as a tree quickly grew from the ruined earth of the stage, Tayuya and her drum set balanced on top. She took the flute from her lips, twirled it in her hand and slammed it down to start the drum beat. Swinging down from above the stage on a silken spiden web, Kidoumaru flipped in the air and landed on his feet, already beginning to lay down the chords of the song. Finally, slowly strolling across the stage to the lone microphone that miraculously managed to survive the earthquake, Sakon and Ukon took their places to a chorus of teenage girl screams. Sakon grinned as he looked over the sold out crowd, "Are you ready to fall in love tonight, Country of Fire?"

"Gay, gay, gay," Tayuya said as she tapped the high hat.

The crowd's screaming reached a fevered pitch as Sakon contiuned his speech, "This one goes out to all the lovers out there! It's a little number we like to call...Genjutsu on my Heart!"

"Finding you...was an S-Class Mission Loving you...was an act of sub-mission Now I'm here, blinded by your eyes Every moment, a perfect surprise

Genjutsu on my heart!
Illusion of mem-o-ry!
Genjutsu on my heart!
Mighty love in history!
Genjutsu on my heart!
A blinding mel-o-dy!"

Sakon threw his head back, narrowly avoiding smashing into his rhythm guitarist, laughing as the crowd chanted: "Sound 4! Sound 4! Sound 4" "I think they want some more!" Sakon said to thunderous applause. "You guys want some more?" Sakon took a deep breath, about to launch into "Kage Bunshin Lover" when he spotted an orange jumpsuit making its way through the crowd. Not just a jumpsuit, there was someone in it, the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of pop-punk sensation Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto. Behind him was the boy with the snowcone shirt, Uchiha Sasuke, lead guitarist. Followed by keyboard player Haruno Sakura and, most dangerous of all, Team 7's drummer, manager and agent all rolled into one: The Copy Musician Hatake Kakashi. Kakashi and Sasuke both had the uncanny ability to copy any song they heard, change it just enough to avoid copyright laws, and release it on the radio within a week.
Team 7 pushed themselves to the front row, folding their arms and grinning mockingly. "Looks like we have some party crashers today," Sakon said as he heard Ukon flinch behind him. "It seems Team 7 are fans of ours." The announcement of Team 7's presence brought a mix of cheers and boos from the crowd.
Naruto leapt up to grab the microphone from Sakon's hands. "We're just here to let everyone know that Team 7's single, "Rasengan Blues" just went Triple Platnum! And that we're not going to stop until we're number one and have driven you guys out of the business! That's our Way of the Ninja! We're going to be bigger than The Hokages"
Sakon went to reach for the microphone but Tayuya had already knocked over her drumset and was running headlong at Team 7. She drove off the stage right into Naruto's chest, bringing him to the ground hard. Naruto poofed into thin air as three others piled on her. "Aw crap..." Sakon thought as he and Ukon split into two and the rest of Heartbeat Sound 4 leapt into the crowd.
Jiroubu leapt from the stage with a big splash, landing on Sasuke as Kidoumaru wrapped all four arms around Kakashi in a bear hug. "Great...that leaves the girl for Ukon and me." Sakon thought before Sakura hit him with five kunai in the arm. Sakon grabbed his arm, reeling back, "My arm! My fucking arm! Who brings knives to a concert you crazy bitch"
"Rasengan!" was heard and Tayuya went flying back to the stage. Sakon heard a crackle like a thousand chirping birds, two crackles actually. Seeing the microphone lying on the ground, he drove for it, screaming into it: "WAIT"
The auditorium froze for a moment. "Everybody cool out for just one second! We can settle this in the tradition of John Hughes"
Sakon got up to his knees, face-to-crotch with Kakashi. Kakashi raised the eyebrow of his one exposed eye, "Oh yeah? What's that"
"A battle of the bands," Sakon got to his feet. "One month from now, a battle of the bands is going to be held at the closing ceremony of the Chuunin exams in Konoha. We meet there, fight it out with our music, and see who's really the best group of Ninja"
Naruto sprung to his feet, his Kage Bunshin disappearing. "The Konoha Battle of the Bands? We win that and they'll make me a Hokage for sure! I mean, we'll become number one for sure, dattebayo"
Brushing off his stylish onezie, Sasuke nodded, "If I win that, I will achieve more fame than my brother and Akatsuki." For out of nowhere a spot light appeared around Sasuke, "For I am an avenger...destined to walk this road alone..." Sakura said nothing as she stared at Sasuke adoringly, as she was really nothing more than a groupie with a keyboard.
Sakon extended his hand to Kakashi as Sasuke's solliloquy ran on in the background, ignored. "We have a deal"
"One month, Konoha Battle of the Bands." Kakashi said as he shook Sakon's hand.
Sakon grinned, "This is it," he thought. "A chance to end this and prove that we can make it without Kimimarou. Once we completely crush Team 7, Heartbeat Sound 4 will have truly arrived." It was at this point he realized that Kakashi had been shaking his hand for two minutes and everyone was staring at him. Pulling his hand away like Kakashi was a poisonous snake, Sakon stepped back. "Uh...why are you guys still here? You wanna leave so we can finish our performance"
He couldn't be sure if Kakashi was grinning underneath that mask but he simply shook his head, "Oh no, we paid for our tickets so we're going to watch the whole show"
With an angry click Sakon climbed back on stage with the rest of his back as they started the interupted song back up. They played for two hours, with three encores, with Team 7 staring at them with unblinking eyes the entire time.