Part 1: Chapter 2
He strums his guitar. "I was thinking of making a tune to those lyrics you let me read yesterday," he says absentmindedly, still brushing his fingers gently over the strings. Naruto plays the bass guitar, and he has one up in his dorm room (which he shares with no one). Lucky—I've got two other roommates and absolutely no privacy, which I loathe; I need privacy like I need air, seriously.
"The one about silence?" I lift an eyebrow. "Ironic."
"Well, you haven't let me read most of the others yet," he makes a face, twanging one of the shiny wires rather sharply. I don't see it in his face, but I'm pretty sure he's disappointed. It's strange, I've only known Uzumaki Naruto for about a week and I can pretty much tell what the guy's thinking. It's not too hard to understand him though; he's like an open book. I know he wants to read my entire notebook, but I'm not so sure about that yet. I agreed to the band thing, yeah, but these were my heart and soul—these lyrics were my entire life. I wasn't about to let just anyone read them.
"So, you put up fliers then?" I asked him. He gave me that brilliant, full-toothed grin and reached across the bed, grabbing a bright orange flyer from his desk and tossing it in my direction. It fluttered lazily into my lap and I picked it up, holding it as far from my eyes as I possibly could as I read the bold black letters on it: BAND MEMBERS NEEDED! All applicants MUST play an instrument! If interested, contact Uzumaki Naruto (box 323) or Uchiha Sasuke (box 26). Auditions will be held this weekend in the Breezeway Common Room at ten p.m. (Saturday and Sunday)! "If the demands don't get anyone's attention, the color will," I said.
"What's wrong with orange? It happens to be my favorite color!" he huffed.
"Nothing, if you don't mind going blind."
"You can't get blind off of colors dork!" He threw his orange jacket at me. I pretended to fall back in convulsions. He laughed and I sat up, unconsciously fixing my hair. I like my hair, it's one of the few good traits I have. It's long, but not too long, and so black that it looks blue in the sunlight, which I think is kind of cool. Naruto has already commented on the fact that I fix my hair more than a normal girl does, which I denied of course. Speaking of Naruto, a strange look suddenly came over his round, tan face and he leaned back against the wall his bed was pushed up against, lifting the guitar into his lap again. I watched in silence as he plucked a few random notes out and finally spoke what was on his mind, but he didn't look at me when he did so. "Oy, Sasuke… Why did you become a lyricist?"
I can feel the bad memories coming back, like an old nightmare one really never forgets. It was kind of like a nightmare, in its own right. But it was real enough that I almost wished it were a nightmare instead. Sitting back on the fire-hydrant red beanbag on his room floor, I laced my fingers together and looked at them for a long time before I started. I swear this kid had to be a hypnotist or something; every time he asked me a question, I had to answer. Is this what they mean by overwhelming personalities?
"My parents died when I was eight years old. My older brother, Itachi, decided he couldn't shoulder the burden of raising an eight year old by himself, especially when he had plans to go to college overseas. So he packed up my belongings and sent me to an orphanage." I looked up at the blond to see he was staring out at nothing, his blue eyes glazed over. I thought he wasn't listening after all, but when I paused, he lifted a slim yellow eyebrow and picked a sharp note off the cords, almost as if he were telling me with his guitar to continue. Which, oddly enough, I did. "I lived at the orphanage until last year, when I was eighteen, and I got a scholarship to this school. I moved here, using some money my parents had put away before the accident." Twang! went Naruto's guitar. "A car crash. They were coming home from an office party at my dad's job when someone from another party swerved into their lane and forced them off the road. They died." Duh, Sasuke, I told myself. The other man was quiet, even his random picking at the bass guitar had ceased. I suddenly felt nervous. Did I say too much…?
"I asked," he spoke up suddenly, as if he had read my thoughts. I blinked at him as he placed the guitar at the foot of his bed and stretched out, crossing his arms behind his head and staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't know my parents," he spoke up simply, as if he were discussing baseball or something. "I grew up my whole life in foster homes, moving from family to family. I was a problem child." He grinned at me, that squinty-eyed, all-consuming grin that filled his entire face but looked so empty. "When I turned seventeen, I finally decided it would be better to live on my own, so I've had to work a bunch of odd jobs in order to rent out this place above a family-owned ramen shop back home," he shrugged.
"Is that…" I cleared my throat nervously, "where the name Uzumaki came from?"
He nodded with another blank smile. "I love ramen, and I didn't have a last name, so, I thought I'd just name myself," he rolled onto his side to look at me, leaning his cheek against his hand and propping him up slightly. "I got a special scholarship with the school because of my entrance exam scores; I studied my ass off for those tests," he laughed and I felt my heart squeeze painfully. Naruto… "And so, here I am."
"Here we are," I corrected automatically. He blinked and then gave me another smile: a soft, gentle curve of his lips that made his eyes glow warmly. I liked this smile much better.
"Yes," he winked at me, "we are."
The Breezeway Common Room usually emptied out by eight; that's about the time the other students realize it's the weekend and they should be out partying. That's okay; I'm not one for parties anyway. I'd rather watch Naruto finish up his set-up, which I have to admit, is pretty impressive. He managed to talk the music department into lending him a couple of basic instruments and equipment. At least I'm not the only one he can get anything from. He plugs in the amp and I wince as the feedback practically knocks me off the speaker I'm sitting on. I hurriedly get up and throw myself on one of the couches instead, looking at the blond apprehensively.
"Sorry about that," he chuckles, and I know he's not. Damn him.
"Do you think anyone will show up?" I ask. He gives me the usual grin that says 'absolutely!' and I grimace, glancing at the door. I hope, for my sanity's sake, someone makes an appearance. Naruto's still fiddling with the stuff when two girls walk in. They're holding hands. One is tall, shapely, and has long light blonde hair that makes her almond-shaped green eyes stand out amazingly from her oval face. The shorter girl has a more innocent appearance, with a heart-shaped face, cotton candy pink hair cut short, and large aqua eyes. Naruto checks them out with interest until he too notices the hands and grins at them happily.
"Here to watch?" he asks.
"Actually, yeah," the blonde tosses her blond ponytail back and jerks her thumb at the other girl. "I'm here to watch her try out."
"You're gonna try out?" I have to laugh at Naruto's expression when he says this. I know from his face he thinks she's cute, but he also never thought about a girl playing on his band until now.
"Is there a problem with that?" she releases the taller girl's hand and steps forward, her hands on her hips. She's not being bitchy, she's just being assertive I suppose. And I guess Naruto thought that as well, and also shared my afterthought of unless we piss her off because he shrugged and pointed at the set-up near the front of the room.
"Pick your instrument and show us what you've got," he steps back and sits beside me. I notice, not for the first time, that he and I are total opposites: he's wearing his lucky orange jacket and dark red-orange shorts that come down to below his knees, his hair is haphazardly tucked behind a red headband tied tight, and he sits slouched back with one arm dangling over the back of the couch. I could never, in my life, be seen like that. I could never pull it off was closer to the truth; I'm an extremely neat person—dark navy blue turtleneck over long, neatly pressed black jeans, my hair slicked back and my bangs arched over my forehead and brushing just above my eyes. I'm sitting up straight, one arm on the arm of the couch and the other in my lap, holding onto my notebook. I never go anywhere without it.
As my brain flashed over these random, unimportant details (I was telling myself this), the pink-haired girl had walked up to the electric guitar and was hefting it more like a weapon than an instrument. Naruto and I exchanged the same worried glance. The blond that had come in with her plopped down on the other side of Naruto and leaned forward eagerly, her fingers tugging on the ends of her ponytail. The girl up on the set-up slung the guitar strap over her shoulder and adjusted it properly, plucking at a few cords and reaching up on the neck to tune them until she was satisfied with its sound. Naruto nodded to himself—he knew way more about this than I did.
"Right," he said. "Do you know some opening chords? Just a few, from songs you like and such." She nodded and looked down at the sleek black instrument in her hands, then adjusted her fingers on the bars and began strumming. Even I recognized the song. Naruto whistled in appreciation. "Okay, another one." She adjusted her fingers again and changed the beat of her hand's strokes, picking up the tempo of another song. The blond girl squealed and clapped her hands happily, and the girl playing the guitar beamed back at her. Without being ordered to do so, she switched songs again, the beat making a one-eighty and coming out on the amps slow and steady. We didn't need to hear anymore. She was awesome, hands down.
"Do you have your own guitar?" I asked.
She nodded. "Cobra Special, Mahogany body and Translucent Cherry finish."
Naruto looked like he had just died. "Please tell me you're joking."
"Why would she be?" the other girl scoffed. "I got it for her."
"You're in," Naruto stood up abruptly. "Welcome to the band, er…"
"Haruno Sakura," she took off the guitar and set it down against the wall. "This is my girlfriend, Yamanaka Ino."
"So, you really like Sakura?" the blond girl grinned. "Isn't she great?"
"Yes, she is," I nodded, speaking strictly about her abilities as a guitarist.
"So is her guitar," Naruto mumbled in my ear and I snickered. The two girls looked at me and I rubbed my nose.
"Sneezed, sorry."
"Bless…you," Sakura looked a tad bit unconvinced.
"Is she the only one to audition tonight?" Ino glanced around.
"So far, yes," I explained. "But she's got talent. However, I'm only lyricist, it's up to the bass player here," I motioned to Naruto.
He nudged me. "What are you talking about? We'll be singing your lyrics! So you have to have a say!"
"And I say she's good!" I nudged him back. "What else do you want? A written confession?"
"Um… Are we…interrupting?"
The four of us turned to the small voice at the door. A young-looking girl with short black hair was standing in the doorway, a group of four boys behind her. Her eyes were a startling, offsetting white, and she held a small white dog in her arms.
"Not at all," I cleared my throat and stepped forward to let them in. The biggest kid shoved his way up beside the girl and snarled softly at me. Snarled? I backed off pretty quickly.
"Relax, Kiba," she said gently and his glare instantly disappeared. Then she turned back to look at me… At least, I thinkshe was looking at me. "They're here to try out for the band. This is Aburame Shino," a guy with spiky black hair and sunglasses nodded in my direction, "my cousin, Hyuuga Neji," the other guy on her right hand side had his long black hair tied back loosely and nodded as the first did, "Nara Shikamaru," the called-upon boy gave a lazy half-glance and a wave, "and Inuzuka Kiba, my best friend." The aforementioned slightly winced but gave a stern nod, crossing his arms over his chest. The small white dog in the girl's arms yipped once. "Oh, how stupid of me," she shook her head. "My name is Hyuuga Hinata, and this is my dog Akamaru."
"I didn't know they allowed pets on campus," Ino blinked.
"How sweet!" Sakura cooed.
"They don't," Kiba answered gruffly, placing a hand gently on Hinata's back and steering her toward a comfy-looking armchair. He seemed to be saying nothing else on this topic, and when he sat Hinata down, he instantly plopped down beside her. I didn't want to guess and offend anyone, but it was pretty obvious why she was allowed to have the dog. The other three boys sat on separate couches and chairs, still keeping close to the girl that they all seemed to follow relentlessly.
Hinata turned her head toward Kiba's direction and lay a pale hand on his shoulder. "I want to hear you play the drums first, Kiba," she smiled at him. "Then I want to hear Neji on the synthesizer! And Shino and Shikamaru too! Can they start?" she turned her head back toward me.
"Sure," Naruto spoke up and she turned her head in that direction. He came over and took her hand, not flinching as Kiba let out a threatening growl. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, bassist. My friend Uchiha Sasuke and I are still looking for a synthesizer keyboardist, a drummer, and possibly a back-up singer," he inclined an eyebrow. "A female back-up singer."
"Hey, Hinata! You can try out too!" Kiba exclaimed, looking too much like an excited puppy. The blind girl laughed and shook Naruto's hand.
"Thank you, Uzumaki."
"You can call me Naruto."
"Thank you, Naruto," she corrected herself.
"So then, who's first?" Naruto glanced up at the others in the room.
"I just realized that playing the drums takes work, so, I'm not even going to bother," Shikamaru waved feebly and leaned back in his chair, looking both tired and bored. People like him amazed me. Really.
"Okay then, how about you, Kiba? You're our only applicant for the drums, it seems," Naruto smiled down at the other man. The larger stood and straightened his fur-lined coat, adjusting the hood on his head nervously.
"Yeah, okay…" he mumbled, shuffling forward.
"Yay, Kiba!" Hinata clapped and her dog, Akamaru, barked excitedly. I wasn't a full-out people-person like Naruto was, but I could tell there was a definite story behind this girl and her best friend, and even the dog. I suddenly found myself excited to be working in a group for the first time in…I can't remember how long. I remember always being a loner at the orphanage, always being the quiet, anti-social boy in the corner that no one approached. And now Kiba was walking up to the drums, Hinata was cheering for him, and the others all encouraged with their own clapping (except for Shikamaru, but that somehow didn't surprise me). Naruto glanced at me and grinned. A full, happy grin.
I grinned back.