Notes: Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Almost done! One more chapter! Yes, the previous song was called "Drive You Crazy" by the way. Yeah, next comes the final chapter; the part I'm POSITIVE you've all been waiting for. Let's just hope I can write it. XD
Part 2: Chapter 11
Between the noise of the crowd, Sasuke's eyes, and my suddenly-boundless happiness, the stage was cleared in record time. All I could computer coherently were different voices calling my name and congratulating me. Hands clapped my back; I couldn't keep track of it all. Sharingan regrouped in the Breezeway Common Room. When I entered last, I saw the others put down their respective armloads and plop down beneath the air-conditioning vents; I followed suit, joining Sasuke on the long couch where he sat with his hands laced together and his chin resting upon them, his face dark. When I sat, he looked around, counting heads, then nodded and cleared his throat.
"I'm sorry," he spoke slowly from behind his clasped hands. "When I saw my brother at the café, all I could think about was finally getting answers--why he left me behind all those years ago; why was he in a band all of a sudden, and here, of all places?" He took a deep breath. "I got so absorbed in my past that I was…"
"Losing us," Haku finished for him gently and he flinched.
"Yeah. And I'm sorry," he concluded. There was a slight pause as no one took the opportunity to speak; we were all studying him, judging his sincerity.
Ino, blatant as ever, was the first to speak up: "You were being a real ass, you know that?"
"Ino!" Sakura hissed.
"What? He was!" the blond protested back. Sakura opened her mouth again but Sasuke spoke up, cutting her off.
"No, she's right," he waved it off, "I was being an ass." He glanced over his hands at me, "Especially to you, Naruto. I'm sorry."
"Gay," Kiba coughed and Shino promptly smacked him upside the head. "Ouch!"
I grinned, but kept my eyes on Sasuke: "Yeah, I know. Answers. We need those a lot."
He made a slight face. "So, is it okay if I stay in the band?"
"I don't know." Gaara said, looking scarily innocent. "What do you think, Haku?"
"I think it's for the entire band to decide," Haku returned the innocent stare and glanced around at everyone. "Who thinks Sasuke should, for his previous behavior and for lack of better terminology, go fuck off?"
"Thanks, Haku," Sasuke face-faulted.
"All those in favor of the anti-social bastard sticking around?" Shikamaru raised his hand lazily. Everyone else laughed and followed suit.
"This is payback, isn't it?" Sasuke sighed.
"Not yet," Shino promised, a slight smile hidden behind his tall-collared coat.
"You know what?" I looked up suddenly. "There was one good thing that came out of all this; kinda made it all worth it, you could say." Everyone looked at me like I was nuts.
"How could you possibly say that?" Hinata wailed, looking distressed just thinking about what had happened.
"What's that?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow warily.
"Neji got the crap slapped outta him!" I giggled, falling back into the couch. The others laughed too, Sasuke looking a bit relieved. Hinata turned bright red and tried to bury her face into Kiba's jacket, and he stroked a hand back through her short black hair. The lounge door creaked open and a familiar voice called into the room:
"I hope we're not interrupting anything."
I jumped up and whirled to face the door. "Iruka-sensei!" He waved and gave me a little grin, stepping into the lounge and allowing another man to enter the lounge after him. It was a silver-haired man reading an orange book…which could be described as being 'questionable' in taste.
"Naruto," he looked at the others around me, "everyone, you were all wonderful up there!" The compliment was sincere.
"Aw, shucks teach," Sasuke grinned back, "you're making us blush." Iruka laughed softly and placed a hand on top of my head. Ever since I came here to college, Iruka's been like the father I never had; he's as strict as any real father too.
"Did you watch the whole thing?" I asked him, unable to hide my eagerness.
"Yes, I did," he nodded. "And again, I was impressed. So was my friend."
"Friend?" Sakura blinked and now everyone's attention was on the silver-haired man behind Iruka--the manager of Kinjutsu Records, Hayate Kakashi.
He lifted one hand, not looking up from his…book: "Yo."
"Naruto, guys, I'd like you to meet Hayate Kakashi, a very good friend of mine," Iruka started.
"How good of a friend?" Kiba asked warily and I swear, if I'd had something to throw, I would have chucked it at his head--Shut UP, you homophobe!
"Kakashi is the head manager and talent scout at Kinjutsu Records," Iruka confirmed what I already knew. "It's a fairly small recording company." He should have just stopped there, because everyone stopped paying attention at the word kinjutsu, and were just open-mouth-gaping at the slightly taller man with the 'graphic novel'. "I spoke with him at the end of last term, and I told him about the live performance you did on the West Lawn. I asked him if he could visit this weekend so he could see you perform first-hand."
"And I did like what I heard," he finally looked up from his book, his one visible eye sending a ripple of shivers through the group. "So to speak bluntly," he went back to reading (I think), "I'm offering you a three year/five album contract." …That was a little too blunt if you ask me… No one said anything; we couldn't think to speak, much less know what we would say to that.
"Erm…" Iruka looked nervous, "What do you all think?"
I looked over my shoulder at the others; they were exchanging shocked glances. Finally, we all turned our collective heads to gape at Iruka and Kakashi.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOO!" Kiba screamed, leaping to his feet. And just like that, the impenetrable silence that had grabbed us was suddenly gone--everyone threw themselves at one another and shrieked and whooped and yelled. I joined the dog pile in the middle of the lounge floor, then we were up and doing some type of stomping, river-dance-like thing, and that turned into full-out moshing, but then that had us with Sakura, Ino, and Hinata up on people's shoulders and more whooping and screaming and Ciaran barking madly and running around us in little circles. Somehow through the tangle, I spotted Sasuke and threw myself at him. He caught me easily, laughing and hugging me tight. I positively purred and snuggled against him. Sasuke…
"We did it!" I grinned up at him madly.
He nodded, breaking out into a wide grin: "Yeah, we did."
And then, I don't know how, but the two of us were stumbling out of the lounge as the others continued to scream and jump and proceeded to tackle Iruka, who went down with an "ACK!" before he was swallowed by a mass of bodies. And Kakashi continued to, erm, read. Sasuke and I turned left instead of right--which led back to the Battle of the Bands, where someone else was already performing--and wound up in the student parking lot. I couldn't stop grinning (it was starting to hurt) and I refused to let go of Sasuke's hand. I was still thinking that maybe this was all a dream, and I'd wake up tomorrow, the actual morning of the competition, and Sasuke wouldn't show up at all. I clung to him almost desperately to ward off the thought. He had to have noticed, because I felt his hand brush a few strands of hair from my face and when I looked up at him, he smiled gently and I melted all over again.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Whoever's not okay after they've just been offered a label is just retarded," I stuck my tongue out at him. He regarded me carefully for a full minute or so. "What?" I blinked.
He shrugged and dropped his hand to mine, clasping it firmly: "How did you like your present?"
"You know," I thought about the guitar strap and could barely contain my giddyness, "you can't buy me something every time you mess up."
"Well, it worked, didn't it?" he pouted and I burst into another round of giggles. A pout on him looked too cute! "But seriously," he squeezed my hand slightly, "did you like it?"
"No, Sasuke, no," I rolled my eyes and he made a face at me. "Of course I did! And I'm the dobe?"
"Oh, do shut up," he grinned.
"Suke?"
Like a glass falling from my fingertips, his entire demeanor shattered in the blink of an eye. He and I both turned back toward the breezeway, and for a split second, I thought I was seeing double. Oh god no… Itachi!
"Um," I looked back to Sasuke timidly, "I'll go, okay? I'll meet you back up in the r--"
"Stay with me." I blinked. Sasuke held onto my hand a little tighter: "Stay with me, Naruto."
I nodded. The taller Uchiha took a few uncertain steps forward, decided it was better for his health and Sasuke's sanity to stay back a decent conversation-distance, and tucked his hands wearily into his pockets.
"Good show," he started.
"Thank you," Sasuke spoke through gritted teeth--his hand clenched tighter; I think I was a lifeline at that point. "…what are you doing here, Itachi?"
"I wanted to see you perform," the other man admitted, looking almost child-like as he turned his face downward and scuffed his feet nervously on the pavement. "Kabuto heard you were entering the competition, and I decided I wanted to see you."
"After ten years?"
"Suke…"
"Don't you call me that anymore; I'm not a little kid."
"But you're still my brother, Sasuke."
There was a pause as that statement hung in the air. Sasuke began to tremble. I stood closer to him and wrapped one arm around his waist, pressing my forehead to his upper arm. He clenched my hand so hard, it hurt, but I wasn't about to let him go.
"Why, Itachi?" he choked out; the tears were coming. "Why did you just abandon me? Why did you just…leave me there? Did you just not care enough? Was I too much for you to handle on your own? Tell me why forgodsakesIdon'tUNDERSTAND!" The rest of his rant came out in a rush as he broke down into sobs that silenced rapidly to mere whimpers. His shoulders hitched occasionally and he hiccupped, sniffling hard. Itachi just looked at him, his reddish-amber eyes studying his younger brother, and then, briefly, skipping behind him to me. I shivered.
He looked back to Sasuke: "I never hated you, in case you're wondering." I heard Sasuke's breath catch in his throat. "I thought about you everyday, if you can believe that."
"Then why--?" Sasuke choked.
"Mom and dad didn't have nearly enough money saved for you and I to live together on our own," Itachi's eyes bore into Sasuke's, and I felt his entire body rack with shivers. "So with what little money they did have, I put you in the orphanage and went to live with Orochimaru until I could get myself situated. But when I went back to the orphanage to look for you a few years ago, I couldn't find you."
Sasuke stopped shaking: "You…went to get me?"
"Of course," Itachi nodded. There was more silence; a stretched, strained silence that wrapped around the two brothers and encased them in their own little world; I released Sasuke, all but his hand. Our fingers stayed linked.
"Why are you in a band, Tachi?" I heard Sasuke ask in a calm voice and I nearly broke into a smile. I covered it with my hand.
Itachi did smile: "Kabuto suggested it'd be easier to find you that way."
Sasuke nodded. "What are you going to do now?" he asked.
"I don't know," Itachi shrugged. "I did start a line of musical accessories--"
"I saw," Sasuke nodded and tightened his grip reassuringly on my hand once more. "How is that?"
"I'm much better at that then singing," Itachi grinned self-consciously. "Unlike you. Were those your lyrics?" Sasuke nodded. "Good. You always wanted to be in a band." He finally turned to me and addressed me, sort of. "And that's one of your bandmates?"
"My boyfriend," Sasuke pulled me forward a bit, "Uzumaki Naruto."
"Uzumaki Naruto," the older extended a hand. I took it, and we shook. He had a firm shake; I finally let myself smile.
"From what I heard, you're pretty good yourself," I recalled. He shook his head, offering me a pleasant smile.
"No, no. I just know what I'm doing," he gestured to the both of us. "You guys have all the talent."
"We got offered a label with Kinjutsu," Sasuke mentioned.
"Good for you," Itachi beamed at him; the brotherly affection showed in his face, and suddenly, I liked Itachi. I hoped Sasuke had a new impression about him now. "I'll let you get back to the concert; I'm sure your bandmates are waiting for you to celebrate."
"Yeah," Sasuke released my hand and reached for Itachi's. "Look me up. You finally know where to find me."
"Itachi clasped Sasuke's hands in both of his and grinned: "I'll just ask your friend, Neji."
"Oh, please do rub it in," Sasuke grinned and Itachi laughed--it was well-natured, pleasant-sounding.
"I'll make sure to," he headed toward the guest parking lot. "Take care, Suke. You too, Naruto."
We waved until he turned his back and strode toward the other lot. Sasuke took my hand again. I looked up at him. He looked at me for a moment, then broke into a broad smile.
"Got your answers?" I nudged him and we started walking back toward the dorms.
"Yeah," he nudged me back and we started climbing the stairs. "Are you sure you don't want to go back down to the others? They might be breaking out the bottles right now…"
In response, I leaned up and kissed him softly.
"On second thought, let's go to your room," he abruptly dragged me up the stairs.