Day Two: Leave It to Me

Sasuke awoke to the sound of voices outside his door.

"C'mon, let's just go in there quietly and then blast his ears off with your guitar!"

"Fine, but go get your cymbals too. That'll really shake him!"

"But they're in the car!"

"Guys, please! Don't wake him up, he's already had one rude awakening this week..."

"Aww, Sakura-chan!"

Sasuke rolled out of bed and opened the door to reveal Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura standing just outside.

"M-morning, Sasuke-teme!" Naruto said quickly, grinning widely. "We were, uh – just coming to ask if you wanted breakfast now?"

Shikamaru just shook his head. "You suck, man," he muttered, and retreated to the couch beside Tenten and Ino. Naruto chuckled nervously.

The Uchiha sighed, rubbing his temple.

"Naruto, are you aware of just how much damage a guy can do with a guitar pick alone?" he said.

The blond side-stepped behind Sakura, who rolled her eyes. "No breakfast then?" he pressed.

"Naruto, go home," Sakura said, her irritated tone matching the Uchiha's cold stare. Obediently, the blond boy tucked tail and ran over to join the others.

Sasuke shook his head, smirking.

"So, sleep well?" Sakura asked, leaning forward for her good-morning kiss.

Sasuke touched his lips briefly to hers. "Better."

"I can tell." She wrapped her arms around his waist. "It's already ten-thirty."

"What?" Sasuke asked, dark eyes widening. "Neji!"

The boy looked up from where he sat at the dining table.

"Yeah?"

"When's our first show?"

"We open tonight at seven and work through ten. It's only an hour away from here," Neji said, reading from his laptop.

Sasuke breathed out, visibly relieved. Sakura looked up at him with concern.

No more coffee for him. He's so uptight, she thought, chuckling inwardly.

"Hey – Sasuke!" she hissed. He looked back to her, and she motioned for him to lean down. "Just because we're on tour," she whispered in his ear, "doesn't mean we have to be serious, bud."

He pulled back and gazed at her with halflidded eyes. She shrugged.

"I'm right. Ask anybody."

"She's right," Naruto called, eyes never leaving the TV.

"You didn't even hear what she said," Sasuke muttered.

"Does it make a difference?"

"No..." Sasuke smirked, leaning his head against hers. He closed his eyes and gave her another kiss.

"Hey, Uchiha," Shikamaru called. "Band matters: what're we playing?"

"Uh..." Sasuke glanced at Sakura, who shrugged. "Neji?"

"I've got our playlist up. First show of the tour, we should start with our earliest hits," the Hyuga said.

"So that's 'Go!', 'Haruka Kanata'..." Sasuke listed.

"Into 'Scream Out'?" Sakura suggested.

"Yeah, good. And..."

"'The Hell Song'!" Naruto called.

"'Kay, yeah. We'll work the rest out later," Neji said. "Are the girls opening for us?"

Tenten, Ino, and Sakura glanced at each other.

"Sure," the said in unison.

"With what?"

"Maybe just a clip. Like 'Kanashimi wo Yasashisa ni'," Tenten said.

"Hell yeah!" Sakura beamed, detaching herself from Sasuke. "Did we bring head-mikes?" she asked.

"They're somewhere..." Sasuke said.

"Sweet."

Ino got up and jumped over the back of the couch. "Well then, we've got a few hours to kill–"

"You'd better start getting ready now," Shikamaru scoffed.

"BURN!" Naruto coughed.

Ino narrowed her eyes at them, hand on her hip.

"Hilarious," she muttered, retreating to her room to change.

"Is there coffee anywhere in this crackhead place?" Sasuke asked, looking around.

"Downstairs," Neji said.

"Damn...Fine. I'll be right back," the Uchiha sighed, heading for the door.

"I'll come," Naruto said.

"Hey, you may want to consider decaf-!" Sakura called after them, but Naruto shut the door before she could finish. "Bastard," she mumbled, smirking.

"Whoa! – pull over!"

"Naruto, we are not eating at a noodle stand, do I make myself clear?" Sakura said, giving him a warning look. The group was, once again, crammed into the van, this time driving around downtown looking for a place to eat lunch.

Ino gasped. "Look! Look look look look look! There – go there!"

Sasuke stared at her incredulously over his shoulder.

"How the hell can you see from back there?"

Ino had once again been voted to the trunk.

"I can see just fine out the other windows...And watch the road, you moron!"

"Don't make me pull over!"

"Okay, do! But at that restaurant!" She pointed towards a tall building with a restaurant sign on the top floor.

Tenten, who had volunteered graciously to take Shikamaru's place in the back, followed her gaze.

"Beni Hana! I've been there. It's pretty good," she said.

"That settles it," Sasuke said, turning off on the right street and parking by the building.

Ino huffed and got out of the trunk. They went through a small lobby and into a glass elevator. They could see the entire city for miles as they went up all sixteen floors to the restaurant.

"So...what exactly is this place?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's Japanese," Tenten said. "They have habatchi tables, karaoke–"

"Okay, see ya," Naruto said and started pushing the first floor button frantically.

"–Unmonitored and underage drinking..."

The blond immediately stopped. "Sounds cool," he shrugged.

The doors slid open and the crowd was instantly greeted by a steamy room and the smell of Asian cuisine.

Sakura and the girls went over to give their name to the host.

"Boy did we pick the wrong day to come here," Neji said, nodding at a poster on the wall that said, "Karaoke Contest: Prize $1000 and a Free Meal".

Naruto shrugged.

"If we sit in the back we won't be able to hear the singing. It's loud in here anyway."

Neji shook his head. "No, I mean..." He gestured to the four girls. "We'd never be able to leave," he groaned.

Sasuke inwardly sighed. "Just don't tell them about the contest, and maybe we'll make it out in time for the concert..."

The girls returned and a waitress led them to their table. The boys had been careful to stand directly in front of the poster, blocking their view. They ordered and watched as the cook prepared the stovetop of the habatchi table and started making their food.

Sasuke glanced at his watch; it was already two o'clock. They had less than five hours till the concert. A shiver suddenly went up his spine, despite the warm room.

"Hey, isn't food poisoning pretty common in places like these?" he asked his friends suddenly.

The cook "hmphed" and continued doing tricks and preparing the meals.

"Please," Sakura scoffed, "I go to places like these all the time, and I've never gotten sick." She smirked at him. "Besides, you have a stomach of steel. It has it's limits," she thought back to a time when he and Naruto had stuffed themselves silly to see who could eat the most; they had both thrown up afterward; "but you'll be fine."

Sasuke didn't answer, lowered his gaze to the table.

Sakura gave his arm a knowing squeeze. "Pre-show nerves, huh?" she said quietly.

"Kinda," he admitted.

She put her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sasuke-kun, you're gonna rock."

Before he could answer, the two were distracted by a sudden dull crash. Naruto had fallen off of his chair. They all laughed.

"Naruto, you dork, way to go!" Tenten said, trying not to choke on her drink.

The blond stood up, rubbing his head.

"It's not my fault! The chairs are taller than normal..." he protested.

"That's so you can reach the table, baka," Neji scoffed.

Hinata sat awkwardly between them, trying to find something to say.

Naruto rested his arms behind his head, stretching. "Whatever. And wasn't part of the deal 'underage drinking'?" he asked, smirking.

Shikamaru stood.

"I'm with Naruto...I can't believe I said that..."

Neji slammed his hand down on the table in finality. "To the bar!" he said sadistically. The others rose to follow.

The bar was on the far side of the restaurant with a rice-paper wall separating it from the rest of the room. Just visible through the crowd of diners who were sitting at regular tables or at the bar was a small karaoke stage, where a group of girls were singing loudly – and badly – into mikes.

The boys didn't notice with the prospect of booze at hand, and the girls were too preoccupied with keeping pace with the boys.

They stopped at the bar, Naruto, unwisely, in the lead.

"Leave it to me," he mouthed, before turning to face the bar.

One of the bartenders eyed him skeptically.

"How old are you?" he asked.

Before Naruto could answer, Ino came to his side and wrapped her arms around him, laughing. "Oh, honey, you won't believe what Tenten just said, it was the funniest thing – anyway, she was telling me about what she did at the mall yesterday and you know, usually I hate listening to other people's stories, it can get so boring, but anyway – she was going into Victoria's Secret when she..."

She turned around to supposedly continue her story to the others, but said nothing. Naruto looked irritated to the point of suicide. The bartender offered a sympathetic smile.

"What can I get you?" he asked, his tone lighter than before.

"Guinness, please," Naruto said, sounding stressed. Then he turned to the others, grinning triumphantly, and winked. "Works every time."

Ino high-fived him.

"Um...What now?" Tenten asked, staring at them incredulously.

"Pity, my friend. Pity," Naruto explained, smirking. "You show the bartender your loudmouth girlfriend, and he doesn't care what age you are: the man can tell you need a drink."

Sakura shook her head laughingly.

"Only you could possibly come up with that..."

"Hey, only one drink apiece, you guys. You've still got a show tonight," Tenten warned.

"Yeah, yeah, we know. So you guys said you're opening with 'Kanashimi'?" Neji said, mind now set on the concert.

"Or we can do something else, if you want," Ino replied, grinning at Sakura, obviously leading up to something.

"Yeah, like 'Sanctuary'," Sakura continued. "Or 'Paint It Black', 'Roam'..."

"Roam!" Ino and Tenten shouted. The three immediately broke into the chorus of "Roam" and did their dance to it.

"Okay, that's enough," Shikamaru tried, but to no avail. He sighed. "This could go on forever..."

The boys glared at Neji.

"You see what you do?" Naruto accused.

The long-haired boy rubbed his temples, sighing. "I need a drink..." and turned to the bar to order. There was no need to fake an annoying girl this time!

Sakura felt someone tap her on the shoulder and stopped singing, wondering if they were disturbing anyone. A waiter stood behind her, motioning to the stage.

"Go, go! You're next, you three are next," he said.

They looked at him strangely.

"Next for what?"

"The Karaoke contest. That's what you're here for, right?"

The girls glanced at each other.

"Yeah, of course."

"Right."

"Let's go! C'mon, Hinata!"

They headed towards the small stage, the shy girl in tow. The boys, who were waiting for their drinks and still reaming Neji, noticed the sudden quiet and turned just in time to see the girls take the mikes from the last contestants.

"Ohhhh, no," Sasuke called, pushing his way across the room to them. "No freakin' way. Get off the stage, now."

Sakura cocked her hip.

"If you try to stop us, I'll tell the judges you're next," she quipped.

Sasuke returned to the others.

"It's hopeless, I did all I could to stop them," he said quickly.

Shikamaru shook his head slowly.

"Next up, we've got four talented young ladies from Konohagakure! Put your hands together for Sakura, Ino, Tenten, and Hinata, singing..."

A random song came on the screen behind them.

"Tangled Up In Me!"

The girls nodded to each other and got in place – they had improvised shows before and usually had something to fall back on. Sakura and Tenten would sing lead, Ino and Hinata would be background.

The guys watched as they began, instantly catching the crowds attention with their voices.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Does it matter that they're already professional?..."

"Don't worry," Sasuke sighed. "Someone's bound to notice sooner or later..."

"Eight-hundred...Nine-hundred...One thousand!" Tenten flipped through the pile of bills, waving them in front of the boys' faces.

"I can not believe one thousand dollars was just awarded to people who are already famous," Sasuke sighed, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Please. You're the famous ones, we just open for you!" Ino insisted. She rolled down the window (she had been awarded the privilege of sitting in the backseat this time) to support her point. When they reached a stoplight, she called out to a man sitting at a bus stop.

"Hey – have you heard of Ino Yamanaka?"

"...No..."

"See?" Ino said, turning back to them and rolling up the window. "No one knows who we are."

"..."

A/N: sigh I'm sorry...I really am. Random song, I pretty much hate it, but I can see the four of them singing it. I spared you all the lyrics; I didn't want them to interfere with the flow of the chapter...This bitch was six pages long. OO

Oh, sweet Jesus, I seriously hope each day is not going to have two chapters each...I seriously doubt that...I have no intention of writing a sixty chapter fanfic.

Next chapter is the first concert! Don't worry, I won't give the lyrics for every song or anything. Again, due in a week or two.

I have no idea what I'm doing. lol That won't stop me!

- 3- Morbid Original