Love Stays

by Heartaker

A/N- Well twelve chapters into it I believe people should know all about the pairings, the warnings, and the 'I Own Nothing' Disclaimer-

IN A FEW MORE CHAPTERS THE GANG WILL BE GOING TO AND PERFORMING AT THERE FIRST EVER AWARD SHOW-BUT ONLY ONE BAND CAN LEAVE WITH THE BEST BAND AWARD-SO I'M LEAVING IT UP TO YOU THE READERS TO DECIDE WHICH BAND YOU WANT TO WIN AND LEAVE WITH THAT AWARD-

THE CHOICES ARE:

'THE LEAF'- SASUKE, NEJI, SHIKAMARU

'HIDDEN VILLAGE'- NARUTO, GAARA, CHOUJI- OR KYUUBI, SANDMAN, AND DOUGHBOY

'ARTIFICIAL SWEETNER' SAKURA, HINATA, INO-OR BLOSSOM, BUTTERCUP, AND BUBBLES

'COMA' JACKRABBIT, SURE, NEATFREAK- -NOTE- THEY WILL BE INTRODUCED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER-SO DON'T WORRY, ALSO THEY HAVE BEEN A BAND FOR AS LONG AS 'THE LEAF' HAVE!

THAT'S ALL, THERE WILL BE OTHERS-BUT THESE ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT! LOOKING FORWARD TO THE VOTES!

Chapter 12

Jackrabbit, a tall man in his early twenties with shoulder length inky black hair, and dark blue eyes-took his foot and drove it into the TV-luckily they were in a Hotel room, and not the huge mansion they shared together-or his feet would've probably went threw there 3000 dollar plasma TV. Unluckily however, it was a regular size TV that tipped over at the sudden impact, falling with a loud CRASH! onto the floor, and sparking.

The other two members of 'Coma' watched there lead singer warily. Sure, a very attractive man with long red hair tied back in a pony-tail, and scarlet eyes who was lying on his stomach on the comfy Hotel bed, rolled his eyes at Jackrabbit's antics.

"Will you chill man, it's not that serious"

Jackrabbit turned around, blue eye blazing. "I need a drink" Neatfreak muttered, who had short cut spiked brown hair, and hazel eyes, behind shades. He left out the room, and went into the mini bar attached to it. "What the hell do you mean, 'No Big Deal' we were fucking dumped, for a trio of school girls, and a band of pre-teens!" He practically screamed, he was about to reach for his hair in an attempt to pull it out but stopped, and moved his fingers vainly through them instead. Sure sighed as he sat-up.

"We opened for them at there last concert-It's no big deal, I mean we have our own concert to get ready for-It's not like we're newbie's or anything"

NeatFreak walked out of the bar, holding a tall glass full of red liquid, he swished it around, and then let his eyes fall on his two group mates. "I sort a agree with Jackrabbit-Sure" He started, as he sat back in the seat he had earlier vacated. "I mean when Gondaime called us and told us that we were no longer needed-that she was ditchin' us for a group of newbie's, and we've been in the game even longer than 'The Leaf' I have to admit I was pissed" He threw back his drink, as if to prove that point.

Sure who was the calm one of the group, leaned back against the fluffy pillows, and started fingering the mattress, clearly telling them he did not want any involvement in whatever scheme they were concocting. Besides he really liked both groups equally, and for some reason he couldn't get the blonde girl named 'Bubbles' out of his head. She sort a reminded him of himself, when he was going threw his rebellious stage as a teen, he really wasn't a easy person to get along with-but upon meeting up with his two best-friends Jackrabbit, and NeatFreak he mellowed out a little-alright A LOT!

Clearly not caring whether Sure wanted to be involved in it or not-Jackrabbit took a seat on the bed and him and NeatFreak had some sort of stare off. "Alright what do we know about this 'Hidden Village' I'm not worried about the girls, it's this group in particular that's got me on edge" Sure made a face behind Jackrabbit's back-NeatFreak coughed to hide his amusement, and then at Jackrabbit's glare decided to answer the question-he was the brains of the group after all. "Okay-we know there's three members, they go by the names 'Kyuubi' that was the one singing most of the song, 'Sandman' the one on the guitar, and 'Doughboy' the keyboardist-we also know that the Gondaime likes them a lot-and by how wild the crowd was-we know that they have a fan base already, given a few days will probably be able to rival ours and 'The Leafs'-as far as the obvious-we know nothing"

He then got up, making to go back to pour him another drink-but paused as he looked at the gleam in Jackrabbit's eyes-NeatFreak then looked over at Sure who was staring at the back of Jackrabbit's head-his whole body was tense.

"Kyuubi" he said softly letting the name roll over his tongue- "I think I should get to know him what do you say?" he was addressing NeatFreak, knowing Sure wasn't going to answer him. NeatFreak shrugged by way of response, and walked into the mini bar- "Do what you want" Jackrabbit smirked and walked out the room, Sure sighed heavily.

"This won't end well"

'THAC'

"Artificial Sweetner I would like to congratulate you on a job well done tonight" Tsunade complimented from behind her desk, wearing a sky blue button down shirt, and light blue make-up-she sat behind her massive desk looking very important, and smug. "If you would follow my dear friend Shizune into her little office-she would like to discuss the issue of becoming your manager" they nodded to her, said there good-byes and disappeared into the office, Hinata closing the door with a soft clink behind her.

Tsunade flipped her hair over her shoulders, interlocked her fingers and then rested her head on them.

"You four may enter" she said, letting her gaze rest on the door, as it opened to reveal the three members of 'Hidden Village' and there manager Iruka. They walked in and sat down in the seats she pointed too-Iruka chose to stand by the door, he had a

contemplative look on his face. Tsunade studied Iruka's profile for awhile, and then slowly tore her eyes away from him and let them settle on Naruto, Chouji, and Gaara-she smiled, or smirked-they couldn't really tell-

"Your performance yesterday, if I must say so myself was very, very exceptional"

Naruto raised a eyebrow. "Exceptional?" He inquired, he was maybe hoping she'd say something like-

"Your performance yesterday was...FUCKING AWESOME!"

He chuckled as he pictured Tsunade saying it like that-only to get whacked upside the head, how she managed it with the space that separated them-would remain a mystery to Naruto alone.

"Brat! Pay attention" she scolded, but amusement danced in her eyes. "As I was saying-you guys did really good-better than I expected-a lot of unknown groups have been known to perform, and never get even half of the response you three got, you almost put 'The Leaf' to shame-however you have not been heard enough to accomplish that, so for the moment your still second best"

Naruto's eyes darkened, and his fists clenched at his sides. Gaara noticed this, he eyed Naruto then turned back to the Gondaime-Chouji's eyes never left hers, he looked to be hanging off the edge of his seat in anticipation. Tsunade let her eyes wander over the three boys.

Yes 'The Leaf' has major competition-these guys are going to make history-and make me even richer!

"Now-I will give you all a million dollars-each"

This bumped even Iruka out of his trance, there was no way he was going to let Tsunade hand out that kind of money-it was absurd, especially in the hands of Naruto. "Gondaime-ma'am, I don't think that that amount of money is-" she cut him off with a raised hand, her light brown eyes were oddly bright. "I see what this group can offer to the world, as well as themselves-I am not known to give out such insane amounts of money-in fact, this is my first time-" she smiled at there shocked looks.

"I gave 'The Leaf' a million to split-I'm giving you all a million each-because I see something in you, that I did not see in them-this should be enough to pay for the down payment on the Mansion you all will be staying in- and to record your first album, we don't have forever, so I'm giving you one month, to do this album-I have put all my faith into you three, please do not let me down, you may leave"

'THAC'

"Please, sit-down" Shizune said, her long black hair was tied back in a pony-tail-and today she was wearing a purple cat suit. Ino looked displeased, who in there right mind would wear a cat suit of any color?

They sat with Hinata in the middle, and Ino and Sakura on either side of her.

Shizune looked them over for a second, she looked at Ino first- She's a firecracker, that's for sure- Her eyes trailed over her blonde hair, with reached down to the nape of her back. "I love your hair-" she as her gaze met and locked with Ino's- "A straighter is all you need I believe, and maybe your skin should be a little more tan..." she trailed off-Ino crossed her arms, was she saying that her skin was too pasty or something?-She had perfect skin!

Stupid woman.

Shizune's eyes then looked over at Hinata- "Aren't you a sight" she cooed, making Hinata blush and duck her head. "Your eyes are a very unusual color, I love how your hair is cut to just the right length to frame your face-your skin however is deathly pale, we'll see what we can do with it-if we'll do anything with it at all"

She then stopped behind Sakura, her eyes traveling over the waves of pink hair-she pulled it up, and tested the thickness between her fingers.

"Pink hair? I am baffled"

Sakura turned her head to the side, and looked at Shizune from over her shoulders. "It's natural" was all she said, Shizune's eyes widened slightly, and she took her trademark frames off her face. "Now that's something" she let Sakura's hair fall- "Your very pretty, but I think you'll be even prettier if you cut your hair"

"What?"

Sakura didn't even realize she had stood up until, she saw Shizune standing in front of her looking down on her, the cheerful smile was gone from her face, replaced with that of authority. "To make it anywhere in life Sakura, sacrifices must be made-I think parting with your hair is a small price to pay to achieve your dream" Sakura felt her anger deflate, replaced with determination, she fingered strands of pink.

I've spent seventeen years of my life growing out my hair, I thought that it would make Sasuke like me more-but in the end I was only fooling myself-parting with my hair, would mean letting go of a part of Sasuke-I think that I can do that now-

She nodded her hair and sat down.

"Sakura..." Ino started uncertainly, Sakura shook her head. Then looked at Shizune, whose cheerful smile was back in place. She was seated on top of her desk.

"As our manager can you make this happen for us?" She asked, Shizune smiled warmly at her, and then nodded her head. "I have managed great bands, such as 'The Hikki's' and "Tidal Wave of Love' managed solo acts, 'Mizuki' and 'Rin Sung' believe me-I will do all I can and then some-You three are my greatest take yet-but you have a lot to live up to, and a lot to make up for"

She cocked her head to the side, a serious look on her face-the three girls stared up at her-wondering if there was a double meaning to what she had just said.

'THAC'

Sasuke pushed the make-up artist away-they were on the set of there video to 'Longing' the first single off there fourth album, 'Coins Down the Drain'-Sasuke was frustrated and wasn't concentrating at all, which wasn't good. He couldn't get Naruto off his mind-he even tried calling him, but Naruto either ignored the call, or he didn't have his phone with him at all.

They were finished setting up his take, where he was suppose to be sitting on the bed writing out the lyrics to the song-while at the same time singing them-He sighed, his heart really wasn't in it.

'THAC'

Naruto, Chouji, and Gaara walked out the building, and over to Iruka's car-Iruka's cell phone started vibrating on his side. A while ago, Iruka had bought the four of them cell phones, to ensure that they would always be able to keep in touch with each other-at moments like this, with him and Kakashi not really on speaking terms, he wished he hadn't.

"I'll just be a second"

The boys nodded, and stood around the car-it was a nice sunny day, and they were thinking over Tsunade's offer, and strangely her kind words.

"She really believes in us" Chouji said, voice thoughtful, he leaned up against the car-resting his hands in his pockets. "It's kind of hard to believe, Gondaime really doesn't look like the type-I guess she really does see something in us, something that maybe even we can't see" Chouji finished looking up at Gaara and Naruto who had been listening to him talk.

"This is a lot of pressure-there is a lot riding on this, Tsunade's respect being the highest-I mean three million dollars is a lot of money to be giving away" Gaara continued, his eyes looking from Naruto to Chouji.

"Yeah..." Naruto said softly, "and not to mention the Mansion-this is all really overwhelming-but even thinking about having a million dollars to spend, and a Mansion to live in-plus a career, and the hag's blessing, I still can't stop worrying about Sasuke, and what all this is going to mean" Gaara leaned up against the car next to Naruto- "There is a lot that we have to discuss, but I think that we should give are relationships a backseat-and focus on this-we can talk with them later, after the album is finished"

Chouji nodded slowly. "It's strange, but I know that Shika is now my enemy, my rival in this-and I...won't let him win, after hearing Shika say that to Sakura, Ino, and Hinata makes me think that they need to be knocked down a peg-there attitudes were awful"

They heard screaming, and giggling. They looked up to see about ten girls, standing off to the distance pointing at them and smiling-some were blushing.

"It's them!"

"Hidden Village? Are you sure?"

"That is them! Come on let's go ask for a autographs!"

They watched in awe as the gaggle of girls walked towards them-Naruto pushed himself off the car, and faced them-Chouji doing the same, a bright smile on his face-Gaara stayed leaned up against the car-he heard one of the girls say- "He's so cool!"

This job had his perks after all-he thought as he took some paper from a random girl and wrote his name down on it-

"Kakashi-I don't want to talk about this over the phone alright-we're going to be moving into a new place-Which isn't too far from your own-so I say you all come by later on tonight and we'll talk it out there-It's the only chance your going to get, because after that, we're going to have a very tight schedule"

Iruka's face tightened at something Kakashi said-and then he pulled the phone away from his ear, Kakashi had hung-up on him. He sighed, suddenly feeling very weary, and closed up the cell phone and pocketed it. He was wondering how he was going to tell the boys that the face off would be sooner than they anticipated, but they had to get it over with-the sooner the better-

He walked back to see the boys signing autographs, all even Gaara looked very happy, and pleased. They were even flirting back with them. Iruka paused and just watched from a distance-wishing that he could keep this moment, the happy smiles on there faces-he wished that he could shield them from the harshness of the world, but he knew that he could not-

They would have to make a decision-there careers, or there loves, and sadly, thought Iruka-the decision would not be a hard one.

To Be Continued...

I had to write this and post it-I cannot get this story out of my head, and since school is about to start back I wanted to get this out-before it slipped my mind!

I am going to really enjoy writing for 'Coma'

Yes, Sakura is getting her hair cut-and not with a Kunai-I decided to have that in there, because I thought that by Sakura cutting her hair, really forced her to grow up, and afterwards she became a more likable character-

I would really like you all to vote for the band you wish to win-but if not, then I'm going to have to like do some sort of drawing! Which is going to be really hard!

Thank you for the reviews, and the constructive criticism-anything is allowed-Just not really harsh flames!

Next Chapter- The boys and the girls move into their Mansion homes-the boys have a talk with there boyfriends/husbands, and it does not go well-and more with the band 'Coma'