My head hurts. I took off work to finish a report, but instead I find myself finishing this. Don't you just love it when people have their priorities straight? Than you to the people that reviewed and enjoy.
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As Itachi and his fellow Akatsuki members left the stage, Sasuke and Sakura were left to fend off the endless horde of women trying to bum rush the stage. Of course the legitimate security detail was preventing this, but that did not stop the mass of Kisame/Itachi/Blondie crazed fan girls from trying. Sakura was having a hell of a time knocking out passing women, and although Sasuke always had a thing against psycho women, he could not bring himself to actually harm such naked…innocent girls.
When Aka-Sue-Me was finally off the stage, things calmed down a bit. The fan girls proceeded to redress with whatever piece of clothing they could find. A few riots started as girls started accusing each other of stealing, but it wasn't too serious. Sasuke could not stop his eyes from wondering and much to his misfortune Sakura noticed. Angrily, she grabbed the Uchiha's shirt and forced him face-to-face with her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!"
"N-Nothing," he said, blood rushing to his face.
"Like hell you are!"
"So what if I was looking! They ripped off their own damn clothing, not me! Besides, when the hell else am I going to get the opportunity?"
"What the hell are you talking about? You've never peeked at me before when changed or showered!" Sakura immediately froze when she realized what she had just said. Sasuke was too into the argument to notice.
"Well gee, as tempting as that offer sounds I think I prefer to keep my eyes in their sockets than to have you rip them out when you catch me looking?" It was only after he finished this statement that he realized what Sakura's might imply. "Wait a sec, did you want me to peek?"
Sakura was quickly trying to think of something to say when her inner self whispered a suggestion. Sakura turned back to Sasuke nervously but brought up the courage she needed to speak with as straight a face as she could. "Did you want to?"
So here they were, both too embarrassed to say anything or even to look at each other. Sakura tried to figure out something she could say to move things forward but without any success. After all, she had never been in this kind of situation before. When she looked up, however, her mood instantly died and was replaced with seething rage. When Sasuke had turned away from embarrassment, his eyes had caught sight of a very well endowed woman with blond hair who was fighting to put on a bra much too small for her. The raven haired boy was drooling.
A vein in Sakura's forehead popped as she glared at him.
"YOU SON OF A –" she started, but instead of finishing her sentence, she landed a hard kick to Sasuke's backside, propelling him straight into the women he was staring at moments ago.
The woman was somewhat confused. After all, it's not every day she's knocked onto the ground with a guy's head lodged into her cleavage……wait, who the hell is she kidding, it's the story of her life. Still, it was perfectly natural for her to get up, kick her 'assaulter' where it hurts, and then run away screaming.
As Sasuke lied there clutching his manhood in pain, another woman rushed to his side with a concerned look on her face. "Hey, are you all right!"
Though still agony, Sasuke's face tried to look irritated. "What the hell do you think?"
The woman turned to Sakura with an accusing glance as she helped the Uchiha onto his feet. "Did you do this to him?"
Sakura wore a cool look on her face completely devoid of any guilt. "If you're asking if I kicked him in that particular area then no, that wasn't me."
"Oh sure," Sasuke muttered, "you've got some nerve acting innocent when this all happened because of you overreacting."
"Hey, I'm not the one that can't keep my eyes in place!"
After hearing this, the woman was finally able to put two and two together and addressed Sakura. "You mean to tell me that this all happened because you got jealous of your boyfriend looking at other girls. That sounds like a person problem honey."
Sakura had had enough. "Who are you calling honey you two cent whore! If you want him then you can have him!" With that, Sakura walked away angrily from the stage and into the thrashing crowd. Still, she had the strange feeling that she was forgetting something.
Hinata and Company…
"Hey this band is awesome, Hinata!" Naruto shouted to his shy companion. "Who are they?"
Hinata was starting to loosen up to her blond crush and was glad to share her knowledge. "Their called Sake-kagure and they're one of the main bands that toured with Fallen Shinobi in their earlier days. Since most of the band gets wasted before the show, the named themselves that in honor of their inebriation."
"Inebri what now?" Naruto asked with a puzzled look on their face.
"It's the feeling of being shit-faced!" Suzu chided in with a big grin on her face.
"Oh!" Naruto said trying to look like he understood, but was further confused as to why anybody would put crap on their face.
As the three proceeded to free themselves in the music, Naruto noticed a very angry Sakura breaking through the crowd. However, he took note that this was not a typical angry Sakura. No, the look on her face was laced with murderous intent the likes of which he had never seen. Ah hell, he thought, what did that bastard do now?
By this time Sakura had made it to the concession stand and demanded the vendor give her a bottle of water. Normally, the vendor would have asked her to pay, but seeing the look on the girl's face made him think about his pregnant wife at home and how he really wanted to see his kid being born (Not that I could understand why. Births have got to be the sickest sight known to man, and I don't care what the significance is!)
"Sakura," Naruto said in a worried tone, "Are you okay?"
Without saying a word, Sakura turned her glare towards her teammate. Naruto got the feeling that she wanted to be left alone, and having almost soiled himself after seeing such a scary face, he decided to give her the space she wanted. However, this did not stop Hinata, who seemed very puzzled by Sakura showing up alone.
"Ano," Hinata began, "where is Sasuke?"
She drained the twenty ounce bottle of water and demanded another before answering. "Probably with that bimbo he was fawning over."
This only seemed to make Hinata, and even Naruto, worried. "How?" she asked, quite perplexed by the pink haired girl's statement.
"What do you mean?"
"Well," Naruto interjected, "with that leash and all…"
Sakura let this new piece of information process in her mind.
She is here…
…Sasuke is there…
…Sasuke should have been bound to her by the invisible leash…
…therefore Sasuke should be here...
…but Sasuke is with that girl….
…over there.
All murderous intent aside, Sakura proceeded to panic "Oh crap! Tsunade-sama is going to kill me! Why the hell would she use a justu that could be passed off without telling me!"
"So does that mean that we're going to go look for him?" Naruto asked. Sakura struggled to calm herself. Finally calm, she thought over her options until she had made up her mind.
"No," she said with a straight face. "Let him have his fun. With the way he was staring at the girls around him, he should be happy not having me around to interfere. Besides, I feel liberated right now not having to deal with him."
"But Sakura," Hinata said. "It could be dangerous having him tied to a stranger. If anything happens to the escort, then the prisoner also suffers, remember?"
Sakura shot a look at Hinata. "What could possibly go wrong at a concert?"
"Well," Suzu said, not bothering to introduce herself first, "There was that time a guy was stabbed to death at the Rolling Stone-nin's concert."
"Then there was that time when a man was beaten to death by people who didn't like the shirt he was wearing," Hinata added.
"And you can't forget the time that fat guy jumped off the stage into the crowd and flattened that girl two years ago."
Hinata nodded in agreement as she continued. "Sakura, that bond would also give that girl more control over Sasuke than anyone has a right to have. Tsunade chose you because she trusted you not to do anything foolish. What happens if this girl turns out to be some nutjob and tries to take advantage of him?"
Sakura opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by Suzu. "Then her boyfriend should be more concerned about catching V.D. than anything else." Three pairs of eyes looked at Suzu as if she had just said something that ought not to have been said. "What? That stuff's a bitch to deal with…not that I would know from experience…eh heh heh."
"Hinata," Sakura whispered to the girl next to her, "who is this woman and why is she hanging around you two?"
"It's a long story so I'll tell you later."
"Well," Sakura said aloud as if declaring it to the world, "Sasuke's a big boy and doesn't need our help protecting his own ass." (For all those that have a disturbing mental image in mind, get your heads out of the gutter.)
Sakura proceed to chug yet another bottle of water when Suzu walked over and took it from her. When Sakura turned to confront Suzu she was greeted by a swift slap across the face. Needless to say, this left Sakura feeling shocked beyond belief.
"What the hell was that for!"
"That," Suzu began, spilling the contents of the bottle onto the ground as well as pushing her glasses back up, "is for being a naïve little girl. Look around you. There isn't a straight guy here who wouldn't start gawking and acting brainless at what your friend probably saw and half of them brought their girlfriends. You should be thankful he had enough respect… well, probably fear in your case… to simply look without making some jack ass comment. Hell, considering how popular he is with the ladies, or so Hina-chan tells me, he could have his way with any one of those floosies."
Sakura looked away angrily, but Suzu caught the meaning behind it.
"O, I see now. You're upset that he doesn't look at you that way!" She started laughing so hysterically that her glasses fell clean off her face. Sadly, they did not survive. "Let me put it things perspective for you. You," she said pointing at Sakura, "one whiny teenage girl with a habit of beating guys into the ground. They are a harem of women in their prime who know how to toy with guys' emotions. And those aren't just any women! Those are Aka Sue Me after and Aka Sue Me performance. I'd bet money that God himself couldn't resist taking a peek."
Speak of the Devil…er, God…
"Atchoo!" came a loud and thunderous sneeze. The Almighty set down his binoculars has he wiped his nose. "Hey, doesn't anyone say 'bless you' anymore?"
"Bless Yourself you old pervert!" His Son shouted from wherever he was.
"If you've got something to say to me you little whelp, then say it to my face!"
"Are you going to quite spying on that harem down below long enough to do anything about it?" There was a long silence. "I thought not!"
God decided it would be best to just ignore his son and get back to the…observation of mankind he had been doing before. He picked up his binoculars and put then to his eyes. He instantly wished he had taken the time to look at the lenses first before doing so.
"Ah gross! I have snot in my eyes!"
Back to Suzu…
"If you're self conscious that's something you need to contend with on your own, but that doesn't mean you should abandon your friend. So are you going to look for this Sasuke guy now?" Sakura muttered an inaudible yeah as she rubbed her swollen cheek. "I can't hear you!"
"Y-Yes ma'am!" Sakura stammered afraid she might get slapped again.
"Good! Now get your ass in and find your man!"
Naruto leaned over to whisper to Hinata. "She's scary," he said. "It's like being with Anko all over again." Hinata was about to explain Suzu's similarities to Anko when she realized that Suzu was staring at them. She gulped in anticipation.
"What are you two standing around for? Go help her," she said calmly, suprising Hinata after the outburst she had made earlier.
"H-Hai," she responded nervously, not wanting to ask if she would be tagging along or not. She knew better than to question direction when they came from this editor. Apparently Naruto did not and had to be dragged along by Hinata before he upset the older woman.
When the three were out of site, a devilish grin spread across Suzu's face as she took out a small camera from her pocket. "Memories can be so much fun," she said to no one in particular and she vanished in the crowd.
Sasuke and the New Girl…
Sasuke was having a very difficult time fighting this new woman off of him. Sure it was a losing battle to keep someone you were tied to away, but she didn't have to be so clingy. Earlier she had seemed concerned about his well being so Sasuke had hoped that she might have been the type to actually respect his personal space. This was not the case.
"Uh, I know we're kind of stuck together, but that doesn't mean we need to be this close," he said, referring to the way she was embracing him tightly from behind. Something about her didn't sit well with him.
(Note: the following dialogue, and a huge chunk of the rest of the story for that matter, may be more offensive and disturbing then stuff I have previously done in this fic. Read at your own risk. Thus warn-eth the Author!)
Are you queer or something! Said a very unwanted voice, Just let her take advantage of you!
Sasuke responded automatically, though he knew it was pointless. Go away. This situation is bad enough.
Of course it is! The voice shouted back. I'm the mojo of a gay kid! Do you realize how much this sucks for me!
Damnit, you never-ending migraine! If I were gay wouldn't you be?
Touché. Still, if you don't take advantage of this opportunity to get some then I call your manhood into question.
But I thought you were my manhood, Sasuke said slyly know full well it would hit his libido where it hurt.
It did.
Shut the hell up and get laid, queer!
"Oh you're so cute when you squirm! That girl with the pink hair doesn't know what she gave up!" the girl was babbling enthusiastically. Still that last part caught his attention. Sure Sasuke knew he was a looker. How could he not considering girls reminded him every single day. But there were plenty of good looking guys everywhere Sasuke wasn't ashamed to admit it. So what exactly did this girl see as special.
"Beg your pardon," he said stupidly.
"Who would give up a guy that looks so much like that singer from Aka Sue Me? Most of the girls here would kill for a piece of you and she was throwing you around like it was nothing," she said angrily, tightening her grip as if someone were coming to take him away.
It's about time being related to that bastard came in handy!
Sasuke's jaw dropped. She thought he looked like Itachi? The Uchiha had the sudden urge to choke the life out of his capture, but he knew that doing so would end his own life. It was still tempting. Sure he and Itachi were siblings, but that didn't mean the boy wanted to be reminded of the fact, especially when it came to girls wanting to jump him as if he were his brothers. He had his on fan girls to do that!
Sasuke made a more urgent attempt at getting loose, but the girl quickly pulled him back…hard…so hard in fact that Sasuke noticed something he had not before. Something that should not have been there and in a place all together inappropriate and unwanted. And it was pressing against Sasuke's backside.
"What the—" he began in a confused and freaked out way, but all the pieces fell into place. The strong chin, the small bump in her throat, and that bulge were all evidence. This woman was really a man! This She was really a He! This chic was really a…
DUDE! Screamed the voice. You almost did a guy! You really are gay!
We're talking about the same guy you wanted me to plow thirty seconds ago, right? Sasuke shot back. There was a long silence in Sasuke's head as the boy fought to keep his distance from the cross dressing psycho.
That silence ended in the worst possible way.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Somewhere lost in the Crowd…
Sakura's froze in her tracks. Confused Naruto and Hinata asked what the matter was. "My Sasuke sense is telling me he's in trouble," she said, turning her head as if she were looking for something.
"Sasuke-sense?" Naruto asked as if it was the stupidest thing he'd ever heard. (Definitely the dumbest thing I have)
"Yeah, all the fan girls have them." She turned toward the front of the stage near an exit. "He's over there!"
As Sakura took off, Naruto turned to Hinata as if she were the last sane person on the planet and sighed. "I apologize for ever calling you creepy or weird," he said, causing Hinata's face to turn into a tomato.
Quickly, the two raced to keep up with Sakura. Naruto kept in front of Hinata, more so that he had the pleasure of swatting aside people to slow in moving than for her benefit, but Hinata appreciated the gesture regardless. Sakura was like a bloodhound after a fox. A drunken man made a pass at her but she simply dismissed it with a well placed knee to the gut. And she wonders why she has problems with men?
They found their teammate in no time flat with his new lady friend. Naruto thought that the woman was pretty hot, but something about the way Sasuke looking at her in terror told him that was a dangerous thought. He was not sure why, but this particular woman seemed to remind him of someone he used to know, though he couldn't put his finger on who.
By this time Sasuke had noticed that his saviors had arrived and he looked relieved. "Oh thank god! Quick, get this…whatever she…he…it is away from me!"
"Sasuke," Sakura sounded annoyed, "what the hell are you talking about? You didn't seem to have a problem with it fifteen minutes ago when I left you with her."
Sasuke hated that he had to defend himself from Sakura's verbal attacks as well as deal with his own degrading situation but he knew that the sooner he had her help the sooner he could get out of this mess. "First of all," he started, dodging a lunge by the cross-dressing, Itachi-loving man, "you were pissed and I know how you are when you get like that. There was no way I was going to say anything. Second, I didn't ask to get tied to this nut job. You did that all on your own. Now hurry up and save me."
A part of Sasuke died when Itachi slaughtered his clan. Another part of Sasuke died that day as those words were muttered. Let us have a moment of silence.
Sakura was completely unphased. "Not until you tell me why you're avoiding her like she had a disease."
"She's a he," he muttered. Despite the noise of the band playing and the crowd screaming, his three friends heard it loud and clear. Hinata was speechless, not that anyone could tell, Sakura was pissed that yet another guy could look sexier than she did, and Naruto hit the floor laughing. "Oh, you guys can just go to hell! Are you going to help me or what!"
"The only way we can free you is if she gives up the leash willingly," said Hinata. "We aren't sure how Sakura did it in the first place."
"Yeah," Naruto spoke as he fought to control his fit of laughter, "you're the genius, Sasuke. Got any bright ideas?"
"I do," Sakura cut in, cracking her knuckles with a sinister smile on her face. She was staring now at the Haku-like man in front of her.
Hinata seemed very worried. "Sakura! You can't kill her…I mean him! If you do, Sasuke dies too!"
"I'm not going to kill it," she said, sounding almost insane, "I'm just going to hurt it really, really bad." Her intended victim nearly soiled himself upon hearing this.
Naruto scratched his head. "But wouldn't you also be hurting Sasuke really, really bad?"
Naruto's words gave a ray of hope to the poor cross-dresser who now feared for his safety. "Yeah, what that blond kid said! You wouldn't hurt your boyfriend, would you?"
"I get the feeling he really doesn't mind," the pink haired girl replied pointing at the ground behind the Haku-a-like. There Sasuke was already in the fetal position in anticipation of the ass whooping of his life. "I suggest you do the same if you know what's good for you," he told the man/woman more for his sake than for hers.
All hope shattered for the poor defenseless Itachi-lover, whose name we will never know, he dropped to the ground as his pink haired assailant leaped towards her. There was a loud shriek of agony, groans from those disturbed by the site of the man being beaten nearly to death, and the sound of several people vomiting, though that had little to do with this and more to do with bad beer. Then, all was quiet.
Back at the Make-Shift Bar…
"Everybody back in one piece?" Suzu asked the group of four cheerfully. They nodded their heads in reply.
Everything turned out alright in the end. Well, everything except for the transvestite needing to be taken to an emergency room, but other than that, everything was peachy. The attractive man had actually given Sakura full control of Sasuke a mere millisecond before Sakura laid a hand on him. Of course, that didn't stop Sakura from venting and after seeing what Sakura was capable of when she lost her mind, Sasuke was grateful to the poor bastard.
Sakura was not entirely happy that Sasuke had gotten off scot-free, but she promised that if he were a good boy, she wouldn't take out her leftover aggression on him, patting his head in play. Sasuke was so scarred by the memory of what he had just seen that he let the dog references slide. He had every intention of being a 'good boy.'
Naruto, being the cool friend that he was, could have let the whole incident slide. He of all people would have more reason to show sympathy to the Uchiha especially considering how he once stated that Haku, a cross dressing boy in love with the ugliest dudes you could ever meet, was cuter than Sakura. He could have.
But then he wouldn't be Naruto, would he?
"You should have seen it! Sakura saved Sasuke's ass both literally and figuratively!" Hearing this, Sasuke cursed the bastard that gave Naruto a dictionary to look up those two words. It was embarrassing enough without Naruto pulling off words like those to rub it in.
"Interesting," Suzu said with her thumbs and forefinger stroking her chin. However, the girl had other things on her mind. "You guys are just in time! Fallen Shinobi are about to perform." As the four teens looked towards the stage, the lights were dimmed and everyone in the crowd went silent. What they had been waiting for was moments away: The final appearance of Fallen Shinobi.
The rhythmic tapping of the high hats broke the silence, then some improvisation from the drummer, and then silence once again. It stayed that way for some time and many people from the crowd were starting to whisper among themselves. As if that were the cue, the entire band exploded in sound. Aside from scaring the hell out of everyone, this explosion wasn't just loud noise. It was smooth, but rough and loud, yet almost soft at the same time. In a word, I guess you could call it eerie.
When the vocals came, it was something else entirely. He was like the pied piper coming to take the children away for payment. Without even realizing what they were doing, Naruto and Hinata headed for the stage and their companions followed close behind. The sound was intoxicating and they couldn't get enough. Male and female members of the audience were swooning like lovesick schoolgirls, but Fallen Shinobi was just getting started.
Every note they played sent a shiver down someone's spine, every riff made them weak in the knees, and for every word sung, someone cried tears of joy. The crowd was putty in their hands and they loved every minute of it. Why anyone would give this up was beyond anyone's comprehension, but the music was all that mattered and the music said it was time to go.
Hinata was having trouble seeing, and without giving it a second thought, Naruto bent down and offered to lift her onto his shoulders. Her cheeks blushed for a moment, but she accepted with a smile on her face. Naruto was surprised to find that she was very light and was not a burden on his shoulders. Then again, he had spent a lot of his training carrying Jiraiya's drunken ass around so he was confident in his strength. He also had to admit that the feel of her hands resting on his head was pleasant and not unwanted.
Seeing Sakura looking enviously at Hinata was enough motivation for Sasuke to offer the same luxury Naruto had. Sakura glared at her charge as he bent down, still upset at him from earlier. When she did not accept his gesture, Sasuke applied stealth and swiftness to force her on his shoulders before she had a chance to react. Like hell was he going to let her turn him down. After a while though, he realized that it wasn't a bad feeling having his hands resting on her thighs, but maybe that was just his inner self getting the best of him.
Naruto shot Sasuke a chastising look (not that he would know what that means). Who would have thought that the genius of Team 7 would be following the lead of the dobe? Sasuke parried the look by flipping him off, but they quickly dropped their silent argument. After all, neither of them wanted to experience what would happen if they dropped one of the girls. Sakura was naturally violent and who knew what the shy girl was capable of.
Fallen Shinobi was on their last song, which seemed to be a ballad about the loss of someone close to them. It seemed fitting since the departure of their comrade seemed to represent the departure of the band from the music world. Both Naruto and Sasuke felt as if it were raining and then realized that the girls were crying. It was understandable that Hinata would feel sad at the loss of her favorite band, but why would Sakura be crying? Was their music really that powerful?
They were so preoccupied with the girls' state that they failed to feel the tears falls from their own eyes.
Then something happened that would change everything. The four of them had managed to position themselves at the front of the crowd at closest to center stage where the band was performing. While the band had been playing, Hinata had closed her eyes as if entranced by the sound, and since the crowd was so loud, she started to sing to herself without fear of being noticed. However, since Hinata was on Naruto's shoulder, the band did notice. The same thought instantly flashed in each of their minds.
The band never stopped playing, but they moved like pieces on a checker/chess/shogi board, positioning themselves as they needed. The final lines were approaching as the cloaked guitarist played his solo. Just as it came to an end, Serius held the mic in front of Hinata's lips. The sound from her voice was picked up by the mic, was sent through the wires into a complex enigma that is the sound system, where it broken and sent into speakers all around the arena. It wasn't what anyone expected, but it left everyone who heard it in awe.
'The light you shined on us is fading away.
When will a new one take its place?
My search has ended and here I stay,
Wasting away dreaming of your angelic face…
Come back…
Come back…
Come back…'
Hinata could sing.
Of course when she realized that she had just sung the final lines of the last song her favorite band would every play in front of thousands of people, she did what anyone in her situation would do. She fainted into a coma.
Meanwhile…
Unbeknownst to the crowd, a great, black flew above them. If one were to look carefully, they would have been able to see that within the darkness that was the cloud, there were specks of odd tints and dyes. When the cloud finally reached their destination, which was a tree on the far end of the arena that had been abandoned when people rushed towards the stage. The cloud of small black insects dissipated, dropping their load onto a single person.
"…" (Translation: I could die now without any regrets.)