Part 2: Chapter 3
I watched him unpack, my own backpack sitting up in my lap as I leaned against it. He closed the top drawer and turned to see me staring. I didn't mind that he knew, and he didn't seem bothered that I was watching.
"You okay?" he made his way back to the suitcase laying open in the middle of the floor. I blinked and sat up, shifting back to lean against the wall.
"Yeah," I nodded. "I was just thinking."
"About what?" he grabbed an armful of clothes and made his way back to the drawers.
"Battle of the Bands," I admitted. "I'm a little nervous."
"Now you're nervous?" he yanked open the second drawer and dumped his clothes inside. "You should really start worrying after you see our competition."
"I guess so," I wrinkled my nose.
"What's got you so worried?" he closed the second drawer and walked over to me, sitting on the edge of his bed and leaning his elbows against his knees. I took in a breath and let it out in a rush and for a moment, I couldn't find the words to express what I was thinking.
Finally though, I opened my mouth and spoke up slowly: "The idea of such a huge competition worries me. I mean, we've only ever performed for an audience once, and this is like, a gathering of the best." He looked at me for a long time, his dark amber-colored eyes staying on mine, his face wearing a serious expression. After a moment, he reached out and gently touched my knee. His fingertips brushed over my skin like feathers, and an electrical charge zapped through my leg and up my body to my brain where suddenly, little alarms were going off: I want him to keep touching me…
"To my knowledge," he said softly, a small smile gracing his pale lips, "you're a very competitive person, Naruto. Not confrontational, just willing to prove yourself at any cost. That's the exact attitude we all need to face off against these other bands." He cocked his head toward me. So cute. "And as for them, I think it would be a good idea to go and watch a few concerts and get an idea of the general skill level. Don't you agree?" I nodded. "Besides, Kakashi said we had potential, didn't he? It'd be a shame to mess up a huge chance like this."
"Chance like what?"
We looked up at the new voice. Garra entered the dorm room, a pack slung casually over one sinewy shoulder. Haku came in right behind him, pulling a rolling suitcase into the room after him.
"Hello," he smiled pleasantly. Garra threw his bag onto his bunk and leaned against the bunks, crossing his arms and looking at us.
"Chance like what?" he asked again.
"Winning the Battle of the Bands," Sasuke replied and I looked at him gratefully. He was awesome at coming up with stuff off the top of his head.
"How was Christmas?" I asked them both as we watched Haku settle his suitcase on top of his desk and Garra made a face, turning to his bag.
"Garra's mom is so nice," Haku gushed as the red-head scowled.
"It was 'tease Garra' month," he rolled his heavily-makeuped eyes.
"She showed me the cutest pictures of him as a baby!" the dark-haired man beamed at his compation.
"I was cooking at the time; I didn't know what was happening until it was too late," he said grumpily.
"And she told me he used to make up songs for her on his keyboard when he was little."
"I still do," Garra admitted.
"She said he was like a little demon during his gang phase."
"Well, I was."
"She's the sweetest woman!"
"They tag-teamed me."
I hid a grin behind my hand as Sasuke coughed, trying to conceal the laugh that had slipped from his mouth. I looked between the three roommates and stood, grabbing my backpack and hoisting it over my shoulder. They all looked at me as I headed for the door.
"You three catch up," I waved and pulled the door open. "I have to go unpack. Then I want to find the others."
"Do you want me to come?" Sasuke stood and I shook my head, smiling back, but the smile felt strained.
"No, you have to finish," I waved again. "I'll be back later on."
"Bye," Haku returned the wave, looking slightly confused and I left before I could feel bad. I know my decision to leave the room was abrupt, but I suddenly wanted to be alone to keep thinking about what I had on my mind. Mostly about Battle of the Bands, some of it about Sasuke. Plus, I kind of wanted to be alone with him a little longer. Garra and Haku coming back was kind of like a sign that Christmas vacation was really, truly over and I no longer had Sasuke all to myself. In his little apartment, time had seemed endless and the silence had been comforting. I should have told him about my worries then, but it was just so peaceful, so tranquil, and I didn't want to ruin it. I was still a little worried, despite everything Sasuke had told me just now. Usually, I just acted brave because if I didn't, I'd never accomplish anything. Somebody had to be that way. And for some bizarre reason, I was getting a bad feeling about the upcoming competition and oddly, it had something to do with my boyfriend, although I had no idea what it could possibly be. So now I was worried about Sasuke… Sasuke… With all my musing, I had somehow made it up to my dorm room and between here and there, I had pulled out my keys. I slipped them into the locks and heard the tumblers click back, and I pushed open the door, tossing my bag into the center of the room and slipping inside the darkness. Suddenly, I didn't feel like turning on so I left it the way it was and made my way around my mess to the bed. I stood there, looking at the dark blue sheets until they blurred and I couldn't tell blue from the blackness of the room anymore. I just stood there.
"Sasuke…" I spoke aloud, relishing the way his name rolled off my tongue and settled into the atmosphere around me. It sounded so pleasant, so…seductive. Sasuke and I have only kissed and teased one another, which I'm fine with. I don't want to dive headfirst into this and increase my chances of messing up somewhere, and I knew just by observing him that Sasuke was not a person who was totally into the touchy-feely-clingy aspect of relationships. Neither am I really, which is good I suppose. But that touch from earlier had suddenly convinced me that I wanted more now, so much more. It was like that shock had awoken some part of my brain that had been dormant before and now my brain was up and yelling at me—I WANT! Damn natural instincts knowing everything before the mind figured it out.
"Naruto?"
I was definitely delusional now. I was thinking about him so much, I was hearing his voice when he wasn't around. A slight brush of fingers ran across my upper arm and I couldn't stop the shiver that raced down my back, making the hairs on my arms and legs stand up on end. Great, now I was feeling him as well.
"Naruto…"
Again, his voice. And his tone had changed to one so soft, so sweet, that my eyes slid halfway closed in pleasure. A palm pressed against my shoulder and I leaned my head toward the touch, purring slightly in my throat. I want Sasuke… I want him…
"What's the matter with you, dobe?" Nothing's the matter. Sasuke's here with me. Sasuke… "Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?" And I was suddenly slapped harshly back to reality. The voice had been real.
"S-Sasuke!" I whirled around. He gave me a funny look, his hand still at the level where my shoulder had been. He was really touching me, then…
"Are you alright, Naruto?" he lifted an eyebrow slowly and lowered his hand at the same time.
"Yeah, yes! Yes, I'm fine," I stammered awkwardly, grabbing my bag from the floor and tossing it onto the bed, opening it. I felt his eyes on me as I started pulling out clothes, my face getting hotter and hotter: Dammit!
"Are you sure?" he stepped closer.
"Yeah, Sasuke," I smiled nervously (I lie very badly). "Totally fine! I thought you were unpacking, though. So, I wasn't expecting…"
He shrugged. "So I came up here to keep you company. Returning the favor," he grinned at me.
"Oh," I grinned back, a little more sincere this time. "Well, you don't have to, you know."
"I want to," he gave me another weird look. "Is it a problem that I want to spend time with you?"
"No!" I dropped the clothes in my arms and whirled around to face him. "No, not at all! I just… I really…" I shook my head and finally gave a relaxed smile. "Thanks, Sasuke."
"Don't thank me, you dork," he sat in my purple rolling computer chair and watched me pick up the bundle of clothes I had dropped. "So, do you want to find Kiba and the others when you're done?"
"Definitely!" I cried and started to put my things away.
"OY!" I glanced at Sasuke. He shrugged and I looked up at the window again, cupping my hands over my mouth this time. "YO, PUNK! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" Shunk! A window opened and two familiar faces peered down at us from the third story of the boys' dorm.
"Kiba's helping Hinata move back in still," Shikamaru called.
"Yeah, we were helping too, but they only had one more box to take so we came back here to unpack," Shino explained.
"I haven't even started," came Shikamaru's tired-sounding comment.
"So they're at the girls' dorm by the gym?" Sasuke double-checked.
"Yes," the two chimed back in unison. So we shoved our hands into our pockets and trudged up the block to the main street and turned right, shuffling our feet along the sidewalk as I hummed and I saw Sasuke bobbing his head to the rhythm out of the corner of my eye. Crossing the major street, we headed down toward the gymnasium and the theater when we saw a dog come pelting out from between both buildings and run toward us and a familiar voice hollered: "STOP THAT DOG!" Kiba came rounding the corner, hood pushed back by the wind as he full-out ran after the black dog. I shook my head and jogged forward and the dog yipped, running to meet me. I caught it as it jumped up to lick me and cradled it in my arms as Kiba stumbled to a stop and bent over, wheezing.
"You need to exercise more," Sasuke commented dryly.
"Oh…shut up…" Kiba heaved and tried to stand up straight. "Dog…thanks…"
"It's not yours, is it?" I handed it to him and he shook his head.
"Hinata…"
"Kiba?" We turned to the girl as she peeked her head out from around the end of the building, tilting her head to catch any sound to tell her who and what was around her.
"Hinata, I told you to wait for me back at the dorm…" he sighed, drawing in a deep, slow breath in an attempt to regulate his breathing. She inched toward us and we met her halfway, and Kiba handed her the black puppy. "Here you are."
Hinata took the wriggling mass in her arms and gave it a smile, scratching its belly with three fingers. "Thank you, Kiba. I'm sorry you had to run after him."
"New dog?" I asked.
"Kiba gave him to me," she turned her smile toward the aforementioned man. "His name is Ciaran."
"I figured if she got a new seeing-eye dog, Neji wouldn't have to hang around her and try to mess us up again," Kiba grunted and I nodded in agreement to his logic. New dog equals no Neji. Yay! "But, he's not a very good seeing-eye dog, as he keeps running away."
"Oh, he'll be fine," Hinata turned her body toward Sasuke and I. "Have you guys been practicing over Christmas break? I did, and so did the others. We drove our parents crazy," she giggled.
"A little," I admitted, looking in slight embarrassment at Sasuke, who gave me a reassuring grin; it was okay.
"Well, when are the next practices scheduled for?" she asked excitedly. "Isn't that competition coming up pretty soon?"
"It starts next week," Sasuke informed. "We don't perform until mid-February. Although, I do want to road-trip to a few other competitions and see what we're up against."
"That sounds like a good idea," Kiba agreed. "But we still need to put in some major practice time."
"Then how about rehearsal three times a week?" I spoke up. "Tuesday, Thursday, and all day Saturday."
"It sounds good, but will the others go for it?"
"I have no problems with that," Sasuke shrugged. "We'll just ask the others tomorrow when we see them."
"For now, that's the schedual!" I declared.
"Wonderful!" Hinata squeezed her new puppy.
"Slave driver," Kiba grunted.
"You're never satisfied, are you?" I gave him a look.