"We're here." Zetsu called over his shoulder and everyone jumped up, ready to get off the bus. Nari put her guitar away and threw her bag over her shoulder, following her new bandmates off the bus. She looked up at the stadium in awe as chatter filled the air around her. People hurried past her and she almost bumped into someone as the rushed to start unloading the equipment.
"Catch you guys later." Kisame called, passing his bag off to Tobi before darting off to oversee the put together of the stage.
"I guess I better go help." Sasori suggested, following after the blue man, his bag still over his shoulder. Sasori was still in the black pants and red hoodie he had started the day with. No one had bothered to change and she still walked around in her pajamas.
Nari followed the group inside and a staff member lead them to the group changing room that split off into separate gendered rooms. They tossed their bags on the couch and Nari tugged her guitar with her as the same staff member lead them down the hall and to the stage. Nari was so fascinated by the people rushing back and forth to set it all up, she barely noticed when they stepped backstage. Someone walked up to her and offered to take her guitar for her. She reluctantly let it go. She watched as the stage hand carried it to the side and opened it. They checked the strings for her and set it next to the other guitars on a stand.
She realized she had fallen behind and jogged over to meet up with the rest of the band but once she realize where the stood, she froze, suddenly overwhelmed by the magnitude of the arena. The lights flicked on and she could hear the roar of electricity hum through the vast arena. She looked out and up as high as she could see in the dim lights. What little she saw was enough to make her head spin. Nari was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact those seats would be filled and watching her perform with the band live for the first time, or really perform with them at all. The roar of an audience mixed with her thundering heartbeat and she couldn't hear anyone. Nari forgot to breathe and she swayed on her feet as the lights were started to shine brighter.
The next thing she knew she was laying on the floor, the faces of her new bandmates coming into focus as she heard someone laughing. Someone tapped her face and she shook her head, wanting them to stop.
Itachi and Deidara knelt on either side of her. Hidan stood, leaning over Deidara and smirking down at her. Itachi looked the calmest and Deidara gave her a comforting smile.
"Bitch wasn't kidding when she said you had stage fright." Hidan laughed at her and Deidara and Itachi helped her sit up. She rested back on her hands and looked around.
"I blacked out." She explained to herself and Deidara laughed a little.
"Hey, don't worry." He told her and she looked at him. "We've all done embarrassing shit on theses stages, yeah."
"With a full house." Itachi added and she smiled at them, grateful for their attempt to cheer her up. She was mortified she had feinted out of fear. The sounds of footsteps jogging over to them made her look over her shoulder.
"Here's a Gatorade!" Tobi cheered quietly and handed it to her. Nari took it with a smile and nod in thanks. Nari cracked it open and took a drink. She sat on the floor for a minute, gathering her thoughts as she stared back out at the seats. Her stomach lurched but nothing started spinning. Progress. She thought to herself as she took another sip. Her bandmates hung around her, giving her a minute.
"Last week, I was about to have a meltdown when my band didn't show up." Nari started and they listened quietly. "They didn't show so my boss, the guy who owned the bar we were supposed to play at, made me go and sing instead of play the guitar like I had planned." She took another sip, remembering the fear. "And because of that, I'm now on stage, getting ready for a show with one of my favorite bands." Deidara's grin split clear across his face.
"You're lucky your band mates backed out, yeah." He told her and held out a hand. Nari took it and let him help her up.
"Why do I have to have bad luck before good luck comes?" She teased and took another sip before closing it. "Sorry about blacking out."
"It happens." Itachi spoke.
"No it fucking don't." Hidan cut in and jabbed his finger at her. "You're fucking weird. Own up to it already." He told her with a grin. It took her a second to realize this was his form of encouragement and giggled nervously.
"Ok, so what now?" She asked, looking around as the stage hands started bringing the stage equipment over.
"Well, we usually get in a little practice while they step up backstage, yeah." Deidara explained.
"Once they finish back stage, they work on stage lighting." Itachi added as they all walked over to center stage. "We usually have to be here for that so Konan can make sure she gets good pictures and video."
"And so they don't fucking blind us." Hidan grumbled and he slapped Deidara's chest with the back of his hand, catching his attention. "You remember last year? In the Mist country?"
"Yeah, man." Deidara shook his head. "They got the mics screwed up too."
"They've gotten things under control now." Itachi cut in, noticing her going a little pale. He redirected her to the side of the stage where she would be standing. An "x" made out of tape was on the floor with a microphone over it. "This is where you will be standing." He instructed and she stood there, taking it all in. She was less overwhelmed with fear but her heart was thudding in her ears. This was something different, something new and a small smile crept over her face. She could do this.
"Hey, we're gonna move everyone forward!" Kisame called from his spot on the ground, waving his hands and indicating to the workers to move the set closer to the edge. Her stomach sank. She could not do this.
Stage workers moved forward, moving her mic and the tape forward and she watched as they quickly put it together and began bringing out the instruments for the set. On the mic stand, someone had taped a sheet of paper listing the songs for her. Nari smiled at whoever had the good sense to do that and then she looked behind her. Sitting behind her off to the side ever so slightly sat two guitars: an electric, and her acoustic. She looked to her side and as the stage crew dispersed, she saw the rest of her band taking their positions, grabbing instruments and testing the mics.
"Nari, grab the electric." Itachi called across the stage. "We need to focus on getting you used to electric for now." She nodded and grabbed the guitar. It was a strange shade of purple with a grey snake design on the neck and in her hands, it felt wrong. She couldn't explain it but it just felt wrong. She strummed it and to most, it would sound just fine, but something was off. Nari decided she didn't like this guitar but kept that to herself. She heard Itachi making sure his bass was tuned the way he liked. The tapping of Deidara on the drums brought her a strange sense of comfort and she met eyes with Hidan. She was to the side and just barely behind him. He looked over his shoulder at her with a grin.
"You ready sweet heart?" He jeered at her, teasing but she knew he was asking her if she was ready to get to work. To test it out, she started strumming the same tune she had played on the bus, a musical "fuck you," and Hidan's laugh echoed into the stadium through the sound system.
"Let's go!" Deidara shouted into his mic and just like that, they were off and playing the music. The first song all she had to do was play. She played the notes perfectly, but they didn't quite sound right to her. She checked herself and tried to adjust, but they just didn't sound right. She played through the song without a mistake and once the song was over she spoke into the mic, stopping them from going into the next song.
"Hang on, guys." She spoke, making them all turn to her. "I think there's something wrong with the strings." Nari explained.
"You were sounding a little off, Nari." Kisame told her from his place on the ground, in front of the stage. "Go ahead and go through each chord for me." Nari did as requested, helping him to rule out if it was a technical issue or an instrument issue. She plucked and strummed and it sounded fine. She looked at Kisame, waiting for his input. "Ok, that's weird, try playing a few notes." Nari played the beginning notes of the first song and it sounded fine to most, but to her it was just a little off. "Ah, fuck." Kisame sighed and jogged over to the steps, climbing onto the stage. Itachi walked over as well, being the other person on strings. He wanted to make sure she wasn't have an issue with her technique.
"Go ahead and try again." Itachi suggested. Nari played a few notes and Itachi watched her fingers. She played them well enough there should have been not issue aside from the sound of her fingers dragging on the strings a little.
"Gotta be something on our end." Kisame announced and pat Itachi's arm. "You guys keep playing, I'll get our end sorted." He said before jogging off to the back.
"Am I doing anything wrong?" Nari asked him, unsure of herself even though she was fairly confident she was doing everything right. Itachi shook his head.
"You're fine." He told her before turning and heading back to his own space.
"All right, drama queens." Hidan joked. "Let's just get through the next fucking song." And like that they were off again. After a matter of minutes, Nari noticed her guitar sounding clearer and clearer and she smiled to herself as she strummed along. She was kicking ass. The second song they had to play was one of her favorites, but it was long and messy. It had a solo for each instrument and started off with Hidan singing without any music. Nari's heart raced as she waited for the drum solo to melt into her solo and once it was there, she played in perfectly, smiling to herself and bouncing on her feet in excitement. "That's it, Nari!" Tobi cheered away from his mic, standing at his keyboard as she had her own mini rock out session, relaxing into the music and getting really into it. Nari finished with a little flair and Hidan and the rest of the band joined in again for the loud, aggressive finale of the song.
Silence rang through the arena for a moment before Konan's excited clapping echoed from off stage. Nari giggled in excitement, her giggles mixing in with Deidara and Hidan's laughter. Tobi cheered loudly from his keyboard as though he had just won an event. She felt the tension leave her and she looked over at them as they caught their breath. When she saw Itachi's smile her knees went weak and she bit her lip. He was dangerous when she smiled and she needed to be careful.
As practice went on, she found herself getting more and more comfortable playing with the band, and more comfortable on stage. They played through each song and though she made a few mistakes, they were patient with her and just started over. Once she was more comfortable with playing through, they had her back up some of the vocals and Hidan, ever the performer, was running around the stage and at one point came over to sing with her. It was a fangirl's dream and she was living it. During one of the breaks between songs, Hidan suggested her and Itachi meet infront of the drum set during a part of one of the songs where it was just them playing. They tried it out just running over and she stumbled over some of the chords, laughing. She got it on the second time, and by the third attempt, Nari and Itachi were practically toe to toe, leaning away from each other and strumming away furiously. Hidan loved it enough he decided they were going to do that tomorrow during the concert.
Hours flew by and she didn't notice how tired she was until Deidara asked for a break. Nari set the guitar on the stand and rubbed her hands. They were cramping again but not nearly as bad as earlier and her cheeks hurt from smiling so much.
"Allright, guys." Kisame interrupted their break as he stepped on stage. "I'm kicking you off, we need to get some equipment set up." Tobi whined but was dragged away by Deidara. Nari followed them back to the lounge attached to the changing rooms and dropped onto the couch.
"Man, I didn't realize how exhausted I'd be." Nari admitted as she stretched. Deidara chuckled at her before dropping onto the seat next to her.
"You get used to it, yeah." He told her. "That little dance you did was cute. You should head bang next time, yeah." He suggested and she choked on the water she was drinking and shook her head.
"What, you too fucking good to head bang?" Hidan teased, his hands on his hips as he stared at her.
"I haven't head banged in years." Nari said, trying to hold back her laughter. Tobi bounced in his seat next to her.
"C'mon, show us!" He cheered.
"Yeah, man." Deidara elbowed her before standing. She watched as he pulled the hair tie from his bun and shook out his long blonde hair. "C'mon, you and I are the only ones with the hair to do it, yeah." Tobi was still bouncing as he pushed her off the couch.
"The fuck does that mean?" Hidan shouted, outraged at being left out. He jabbed his thumb into his chest. "I can head bang just as good as you assholes!"
"Prove it, man!" Deidara dared and Tobi bounced himself off the couch.
"Tobi's joining!" He announced and pulled out his phone, opening up a song for them to bash their heads too and Nari couldn't stop laughing until she noticed a certain raven haired boy standing off to the side with a small smile on his face. He met her eyes and the smile fell.
"No." He said flatly.
"C'mon, man." Deidara whined. "The quicker you get it over with, the sooner you can stop, yeah."
"No." Itachi insisted but Tobi wasn't one to let him go. The pianist bounced over to the taller man and pulled him into the make shift circle they had formed as the music sped up, getting more and more intense. Deidara took the phone and synched it to the blue tooth speaker and Nari let down her hair, smiling as she saw Itachi do the same, giving in with a defeated sigh. The music blasted through the room and they all tossed their heads forward, hair flying, some of them pretending to hold a guitar. Some sang along, others laughed as their heads banged back and forth to the music. After a few minutes they slowly stopped, catching their balance and staggering around, trying not to fall over as laughter rippled through them all.
Nari's euphoria was cut short when her phone buzzed on the table. Her shoulders slumped, knowing it wasn't anything good. She picked up the phone and looked at her notifications.
Eric (37) missed calls.
"Shit." She mumbled and stood. She held up her phone. "I uh, gotta take this." She excused herself and stepped into the other room, closing the door behind her before calling him back.
Konan and Pein stood backstage, talking, planning, managing. They stood close together, Konan looking into the folder Pein held open and her finger pointing out the things she wanted to show him. Pein nodded along, listening to her plans and suggestions.
"Now I just have to figure out a good way to introduce her as the new member." Konan said, rocking on her heels.
"Aren't you a little early?" Pein asked her. "She's still just a stand in for now."
"I wouldn't be too sure." Sasori said, his hoarse voice interrupting the two as he passed over his phone. "They are taking to her like ducks to water." He explained and Konan took his phone and pressed play. She bit her lip to try to keep from laughing as she watched the video of them all head banging. They didn't seem to know Sasori was even there. After a few seconds of them head banging, the video stopped and she swiped next. He was able to capture a few candid shots of them head banging and a few shots of them afterwards, stumbling and laughing as they tried to get their hair out of their faces. Konan paused on one particular picture.
They were all smiling and laughing at each other. With all the movement, some were a little blurry. Nari was smiling brightly, pushing her hair out of her face and looking directly at Itachi. Itachi was looking back at her, smiling softly as he pulled his hair back into a low ponytail. With the others being a little more blurry, it made those two stand out, almost framed by the others and she had a wonderful idea.
Nari dropped her phone onto the counter with a sigh as it slid and bumped against the mirror. He ran her fingers through her hair and noticed her reflection. Her red hair was a little greasy and she winced at how it looked. Her dark brown roots were starting to show and her hair was starting to get some of its curl back after being in a bun for so long. She looked tired and pouted at the bags under her eyes. Hopefully she wouldn't look too dead on stage.
She was trying desperately to focus on anything other than the conversation she had just had with her boyfriend. He was less than thrilled she had left town for a couple days, leaving him stranded and with no car. After everything, he had the nerve to ask her for money. Nari had not responded kindly but like usual he started giving her a sob story, apologizing, and shit talking himself. Nari had been through it enough to know he was just playing her, but she was too tired to deal with it.
Nari turned in the mirror and looked over her figure, deciding to find something kind about herself to say. She tightened her tee shirt and looked at her waist. She had an hourglass figure, not model worthy but she thought she was pretty damn cute. The years of working at the bar, lifting heavy boxes, standing, running around with drinks, had given her some muscles but her love of carbs softened her out.
At least I have a nice ass. She thought to herself and straightened out. She pulled her hair up and away from her face, sticking it in a bun and sighing. She looked like a bum.
Was this really how she felt about herself? She couldn't help but wonder. Being with Eric made her feel out of control. Things had a tendency to run on his schedule and she often times had to work to keep up. He didn't eat a regular times, didn't sleep at regular times. His plans were always last minute and anytime they had somewhere to be, they were always hours late. It drove her crazy and she looked at herself in the mirror. Why did she stay with him? Didn't she deserve someone better?
Eric had been extremely irate at her for running off with a band without telling her. He tried to tell her he was worried about her safety, it being a group of mostly men after all, but something told her Eric was more distrusting of her.
Nari briefly debated whether or not she should just quit it all together. Maybe she could just play this once, get it all out of her system and then go back to reality. She could go back to her normal everyday life. Nari would go back to work at the bar, keep paying off the medical debt, maybe get a new car. Maybe she'd perform every once in a while at the bar or another club. She would go back to her normal, boring, life. It didn't sit well with her and her stomach growled. She needed to eat something.
Thanks for reading! Be sure to review!