Two knocks was all it took to get Deidara to open the door of his rooftop apartment. His blond head peeked outside the small apartment to see who the hell was there.
"Deidara-senpai!" Tobi greeted with a two-hand wave which Deidara stared blankly at. Number one, why was Tobi at his house? Number two, how did Tobi know his house? Number three, what was Tobi doing at his house?! "I want to see Senpai's collection!" The dark haired one answered the unspoken words.
Oh.
Oh! How could he forget? He gained a fan! "Right un, come in." Deidara let the door open wider for Tobi to enter. The Uchiha looked around the small place with awe...how could a place be so small?! "Forgive me if my whole apartment is the size of your bathroom, un. Some people in the world are - yeah- are actually paupers un."
The sarcastic words alerted Tobi that he must've spoken his thoughts aloud, still he grinned under his orange mask and did a mocking salute. "Sir yes sir!" Even if Deidara was mad, Tobi was just too aloof to stay mad at– that's just giving yourself a headache – so he chose to lead him to his room instead.
"Welcome to Deidara's super art gallery, un." The blond said as they both entered the room.
"Wah!" Tobi childishly gasped but it was effective in stroking Deidara's ego because the blond was smiling smugly to himself. Inside the room lay many miniature creatures ranging from insects to dragons.
Deidara showed Tobi to a cluster of clay insects that were on a table top. "These are what I call C1, hmm." He curated.
"Are these explosive?" Tobi asked.
"Yeah, un." Deidara answered enthusiastically and Tobi shifted back as if the stuff would blow up right at the moment. "I sleep with them everyday hmm- Itachi is a jerk- they're not going to explo- shut up- explode now."
Even if Tobi didn't fully understand the blond's words, he got the gist and eased up. "So these are duds?" He asked instead.
"Not duds, un! They're more like fire crackers yeah. You have to light them up before they explode hmm." Deidara explained.
"Oooh. Who in their right senses sell explosives to you?!" Tobi questioned curiously. His friend stared at him weirdly for a moment or two and then shook his head and continued his showcasing. What was that about?
Deidara on the other hand decided not to point out that Tobi's attitude had somehow changed again from his childish one to a more serious one and showed him the next category of his art. "These are the C2, un."
The C2s were mostly birds ranging from the size of coconuts to the size of a fist. These were the ones Tobi often found the blond moulding in school. "Are these explosive too?" The raven asked.
"Yeah. I used the technology used in making grenades for this hmm. See the beak, yeah? That's equivalent to the pin on a grenade yeah." Deidara proudly noted, never minding the look of horror that crossed Tobi's face at his explanation.
"So you sleep with volatile materials that could blow up randomly...you're weird!"
"I am not, un!" Deidara huffed. At a corner in the small room lay a clay dragon statue. It wasn't too big or too small, just a medium sized thing. "This is my C3 dragon un. I would create more -yeah- if I had more space."
"Is this also explosive?" Tobi asked as he cautiously touched the dragon. It was beautiful.
"Yeah un. Coated it with nitroglycerin." The raven froze at his words.
"Nitroglycerin? As in the extremely reactive chemical that blows up in sudden heat or shock?" Tobi asked.
"Yup." Deidara popped the p. Tobi cautiously left the dragon alone. Crazy. He had met somebody crazier than he was! "Don't be an idiot, hmm. I don't want to die this early yet, yeah." The blond shook his head in amusement and led Tobi outside the room.
"Wait, so it's not explosive?" His raven friend asked as they went inside what looked like the kitchen.
"No, un. I wish it were but I'm not a suicide bomber, yeah." Deidara suddenly stopped at the kitchen door and spun around to face Tobi. "What you're about to see is my greatest art, yeah. It was meant for the sole purpose of defeating Itachi yeah but I'd allow you to see it."
Triumphant music was playing at the background as a result of the author's imagination as the blond spoke.
"Deidara-senpai, why are you so obsessed with Itachi-kun?"
battery dies*
"Say that one more time and I'd blow your head, un!" Deidara snarled. He wasn't obsessed! Obsession was canon Naruto running after canon Sasuke for 500 whole episodes! "Ahem."
The kitchen door swung open at Deidara's bidding.
"Behold my greatest art yet...C4 Karura!" Imaginary confetti poured over them as well as an imaginary 'ta da' tone.
"Feet?" Tobi asked in confusion. All that hype only to be met with a pair of giant clay feet?! What gives?
"My feet!" Deidara corrected. "C4 Karura was supposed to be a giant statue of myself, un."
"Wow narcissistic much, Senpai?"
"Shut up, un." Deidara snapped. "However my apartment is too small to build it yeah. And besides if I did, there'd be no way to bring it out of the house yeah so it is incomplete." With that the art tour was over.
"Why does Deidara-senpai like explosives?" Tobi questioned his friend.
"Why do you talk in third person?" Deidara questioned back defensively. He was genuinely curious despite how he might've sounded. Tobi sometimes switched voices if that was a thing and when he did, he dropped the third person speech so Deidara was curious. There was also the fact that Tobi always wore an orange mask so he technically didn't know how he looked like.
"Tobi is a good boy." Tobi changed the topic and did a bad job at it. It seemed like the subject was touchy for him as the subject of being a pyromaniac was touchy for Deidara.
The both of them dropped the sensitive topics and decided to pass time by blowing up Deidara's C1 clay figures.
Xxx symphony xxX
"Tenten and the dancers."
"Hell no."
"Tenten and her dance squad."
"Freaking no!"
"Ten-squared."
"No!"
"Ten–"
"Must everything start from you?!"
As you might have guessed, Tenten, Naruto, Kiba, Gaara, Hinata, Shino and Sasuke were at the local dance studio at Shippuden practicing for the Dance Battle. Only, they weren't dancing but pondering what name to go by.
Tenten huffed at Sasuke's words and pouted. "It's not like I'm not the leader of this group or anything. I'm technically your class rep y'know? I'm your boss!" She argued.
"I don't want to be named after you either." Gaara commented off handedly.
"Me too." Shino agreed.
"Thank you!" Sasuke huffed.
"Guys guys, what about The Ramen Squad?!" Naruto suggested and Hinata giggled while everyone else looked at him like he was a unicorn. "What?!" The oblivious boy asked.
"Hey, what about –!" Kiba was rudely interrupted by Shino.
"I just know your suggestion would be stupid." The silent one said. "That's because you're no different from Naruto."
"HEY!" Both boys yelled in offense.
"Why not just do something cliché like throwing all our initials together?" Gaara suggested. The other six had gotten used to hearing his voice outside threatening lives or being scary. He was a cool guy once you forget how he stabbed somebody with a plastic fork.
"All our initials are consonant letters. STGNHKS doesn't make any sense." Sasuke debunked that one.
"How come S comes first?! Why not T?" Tenten asked indignantly.
"Ano..." Hinata voiced. Her fingers played with each other as she got their attention. "What about S.D?" She asked.
"EsDee?" All of them chorused.
"Yes, Street Dance...since we're...uhm...if it's bad, it's okay." Hinata blushed and tried to use her hair to cover her face.
"Hey, that's good! EsDee, I like the sounda that." Kiba yelled enthusiastically.
"I also like it." Shino agreed.
"It doesn't have ramen in it but it's better than everything we've been saying here, dattebayo." Naruto also liked the name.
"EsDee it is!" Tenten announced and slammed her hand on the floor like a judge would do with his mantle...mallet...whatever. "Come on guys, let's pick up the choreography from where we stopped yesterday."
All of them got up and assumed their positions while Gaara played the music piece he created for the choreography. The day's practice was fun, so much fun that they ended up staying past Hinata's curfew.
It was during a break that Hinata checked her phone and saw tons of missed calls from Neji and Hanabi. The girl just knew that her father would lose it and even take his anger out on her siblings. She needed to go home!
"Hinata what's wrong?" Kiba asked his friend once he noticed her panicked state.
"It's 6:33pm." The girl announced as she packed up.
"Shoot!" Everyone chorused in alarm. How did time pass so fast?! At this rate, not only Hinata but every other dancer was in trouble with their parents/guardians.
"Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap!" Kiba kept repeating as he tried to pack up. Mrs Inuzuka would swallow him whole!
"Not good! Not good!" Naruto was on the verge of breaking down as he scrolled through the amount of texts Iruka had sent.
Sasuke had lots of missed calls from his mother and a few from his brother. He also panicked but inwardly did it, he was a calm guy after all.
Shino was calm as he called his father back and explained and apologised about being late. He was forgiven as long as he came home soon. Oh if all parents were like Aburame Shibi...
The only ones that weren't panicking were Gaara and Tenten but that was to be expected. Being home late was normal for those two.
With hasty goodbyes, races to the bus stop, and competition for taxis, everyone of the EsDee parted ways to their various homes. Hinata made it to her house and muttered a small prayer before entering the potential hell fire.
As expected her father, Hyuga Hiashi, was waiting at the living room with a not so pleased expression on his face. Behind the futon he was seated on were Hanabi and Neji who were trying to signal lies to their sister.
Hinata knew at once that they must've told Hiashi a story and if their story doesn't match with hers, she was in trouble.
"Where were you, young lady?" Hiashi asked coldly.
"Please forgive me for being late father. I was carried away during practice and did not take note of the time." Hinata spoke in vague lies. According to Hanabi and Neji's looks, they also said something along the lines of what she said. Unlike her siblings, Hinata was a sucker at lying so she was blushing and sweating.
"What practice?" Hiashi questioned.
"D-Dance p-practice Sir!" Hinata yelped. "W-with my classmates f-for an upcoming competition!" The inkette hoped that her father would assume she was talking about ballet and dismiss her.
There was a long silence until Hiashi finally spoke. "Neji."
Said boy was startled but didn't show it. "Yes Sir?"
"The next time Hinata misbehaves, you are the one I would punish."
"Father!" Hinata gasped but Hiashi was not listening to anybody.
"Do you understand?" The man asked Neji sternly instead.
"Yes Sir." Neji bowed.
The three of them were dismissed to their rooms after that. At the hallway that led to their quarters, Hinata apologised to Neji for being a burden. "I'm sorry Neji-niisan. Because of me you're being punished."
"Don't worry about it." Neji waved it off. "As long as you don't get into more trouble, I'm safe." He reassured.
"Hinata-nee is a magnet for trouble." Hanabi suddenly commented.
"Oi, don't jinx it!" Neji exclaimed.
"I don't believe in jinxes. Do you, Hinata-nee?" Hanabi asked.
"Y-yes?" Hinata answered unsurely.
"Well I do and I don't want you saying bad stuff." Neji pulled Hanabi's cheek cutely, earning himself a whine from the youngest of them all. "It would be dinner time soon, go get ready you two." He ordered.
"Yes Neji-otousan." Hanabi teased.
"Yes Niisan." Hinata answered and they parted ways to their rooms.
The next day Madame Kurenai announced the people that were going to participate in the competition.
"Nii Yugito. Saiken Utakata. Yamanaka Ino. Haruno Sakura. Uchiha Sasuke. Hyuga Hinata. Hyuga Hanabi. Moegi. All eight of you are to prepare for the individual competition. The others are going to participate in the group competition on the 15th of April." Kurenai announced, not noticing Sasuke and Hinata's somber moods.
Of all the cliche and typical thing to happen to them, the dates of their ballet competition and dance battle just had to clash!
Xxx symphony xxX
Today was the day of the first round of the dance battle. Every member of the EsDee were as nervous as they were excited for what seemed to be a popular annual dance competition among the locals.
They all drove to the destination in the Inuzukas' minivan because Sasuke's car would stick out like a sore thumb according to Tenten.
"I like your generous spirit brother, but if you don't want a dick to be painted on your Nissan 3000-whatever you call that luxurious shit, it's best not to rub the difference in your financial status in the locals' faces."
Was what Tenten had told him when he volunteered to surrender his car to get to the destination so Kiba begged his mother to lend him the minivan. Now Sasuke was stuck in a van that smelled like animals. Great.
"Aww come on Sas-cake, it's not that bad." Naruto nudged the raven with his elbow.
"It's worse that I am sitting beside you. And do you have a license, Tenten?!" Sasuke asked the girl in the driver's seat. He didn't have his own license but he had a driver that could drive SAFER than what Tenten was putting them through.
"I'm seventeen! I've got my junior driver's license...after failing five times." That assurance only served to make even Shino panicked because Tenten just made a sharp turn that had his face colliding with the glass.
"Shit! You're old! What are you doing with us first years?!" Kiba was at the passenger seat at the front and was clinging on to the dashboard for dear life. He should have asked Hana (his sister) to drive them!
"Repeated a grade." Tenten proudly announced.
"That's cool!" Naruto yelled.
"I know, right?" Tenten grinned as if repeating grades was anything to be proud of.
"RED LIGHT!" Sasuke yelped.
"Whoops!"
The car screeched to a halt just at the moment Sasuke shouted and everyone jerked forward. Hinata was already blue with fear and dizziness and everyone else except Naruto and Kiba was not far off.
"You should have asked Hana-san to drive us Kiba. That's because unlike Tenten-san, she can guarantee our safety." Shino deadpanned.
"I stole the van, okay?!" Kiba admitted.
"I thought you asked for permission?!" Sasuke asked in bafflement.
"Who the fuck would let her underaged son borrow a van?!" Kiba shot back.
"We won't win this competition. That's because we'd die before getting there." Shino unhelpfully stated in a morose tone that had Hinata turning bluer.
"Oi! I'm an okay driver, okay?! Stop acting as if I'd drive us off a cliff!" Tenten yelled in annoyance.
"Hinata? Hinata?!" Naruto noticed that the girl was looking very sick and scooted over to touch her forehead. That only added fuel to fire though because Hinata suddenly fainted. "EEEK! HINATA IS DEAD!" Naruto screamed in horror.
"Dude, you killed her!" Kiba yelled and gripped Tenten's shirt and shook her frantically.
Cars started horning behind them because Tenten obviously overstayed the red light which had turned green for a while now.
"She's not dead, she faints every time Naruto touches her for no reason!" Tenten defended herself.
"Can we move please?!" Sasuke groaned and buried his head in his laps. This was a disaster. Gaara...that lucky bastard drove to the destination on his motorcycle so he wasn't here to suffer. Finally they made it to the venue in (thankfully) one piece.
Gaara watched in confusion as they all stumbled out of the van with weak legs. Hinata was out cold and Sasuke looked like he just saw his own birth. "Sabaku, I'm going back with you after this." Sasuke only heightened Gaara's confusion but the redhead didn't ask any questions. His hairless brows raised at Hinata's state instead.
"I'd wake her up." Tenten volunteered at the look everyone directed towards her. Hinata woke up without a hassle fortunately, and it was even more fortunate that their turn was still ways ahead so they had time to rest up and run their opening dance once again.
The venue of the dance battle was crowded beyond their expectations which made Hinata, Sasuke, Shino and Gaara queasy since they weren't used to crowds unlike the rest of their team.
"Let's find a place to stay until our turn comes up." Tenten led them through the crowd. It was surprisingly easy because everyone parted ways for them when they passed which was weird because there was no celebrity among them.
The girl also noticed the stares and finger points and whispers thrown their direction and wondered if it was Sasuke or Hinata that was attracting this much attention towards their dance team. Those two were from the wealthiest families in Konoha so it was attention worthy but it shouldn't be to this extent.
Or was it Gaara? The dude had a reputation after all. But this vibe was not the vibe Tenten got whenever Gaara passed by. The redhead had this aura that made people silent whenever he passed so it wasn't him.
It could not be her or Kiba or Shino or Naruto...
Realisation hit Tenten like a sudden baseball landing on her face. Of course! She had spent some much time with Naruto that she had forgotten his reputation as a murderer but other people hadn't.
She turned around to look at Naruto for his reaction to this. He had noticed the harsh words and stares sent his way for sure but he was doing a good job of ignoring it and chatting animatedly with Kiba. Good. His morale wasn't off.
They finally found a spot to stay at. It was close to the stage so they could watch other group performances; a perfect spot not too crowded. A group of girls were currently dancing to a bubble pop song one would typically find in a girls' group and they were good but not too good.
"Well well well, look who we have here."
Naruto knew that one time or the other somebody or a group of people would come to jest him because of his presence, and he was right. The EsDee turned around to face the owner of the voice. There were five people behind them.
The one that spoke was a boy older than them with probably a few years. He had greyish-blue hair and painted his lips dark blue. Beside him was another boy that looked exactly like him but with black lipstick. What's with the weird makeup?
Next to the twins towards their right was a redhead girl that tied a bandana on her head and towards the twins' left was a brunet that weirdly looked like he could have six arms in an alternative dimension. A big orange haired guy was behind the the lot.
"If it isn't Nami - fucking - kaze." The one that spoke earlier spat the name at Naruto accompanied with a condescending look.
"Fuck off." Naruto growled but of course they would not listen.
"Are you actually here to dance? What? Brought your friends from juvie along?" The boy continued to tease.
The brunet next to the redhead girl suddenly lit up with recognition and pointed at Sasuke. "Hey, isn't this Uchiha?" He asked.
"I see you're still uselessly picking fights as usual, Kidomaru." Sasuke was less than pleased that he was recognised if his prominent scowl was any indication.
"You know them?!" Kiba asked.
"They're from Sound High." Sasuke grunted.
"We were once classmates." The brunet now recognized as Kidomaru provided.
"You went to Sound High?" Shino asked curiously.
"That's beside the point." Sasuke grunted.
"You guys are really here to dance." The twin with black lips spoke in amusement. "A murderer and a bunch of rich kids? How cute." He mocked.
"Are you supposed to be good or something?" Tenten buffed her chest with her head raised arrogantly. Her arrogance was well placed– her group was filled with really good dancers and if another group wanted to challenge them; so be it. They shall eat dust because that's the only dish on the menu.
"Girl, you can't hold a candle to us." The redhead girl spoke.
"You ain't even seen our skills yet." Kiba rolled his eyes.
"It's obvious that this group of...murderer's acquaintances wouldn't be able to beat us." The twin with black lips smirked arrogantly.
"Well this murderer and his acquaintances are going to rub your faces on the ground so be prepared for it." Naruto challenged.
"Sakon." The twin with blue lips spoke.
"Ukon." The one with black lips said.
"Kidomaru." The brunet that recognised Sasuke pointed at himself.
"Tayuya." The redhead girl smirked.
"Jirobo." The big guy spoke for the first time since they arrived behind the EsDee.
"These ate the names of the people that would beat you. Wer are the Sound Five." Ukon gestured to the lot and they started to leave.
"Can their name be any more crappy? Sound five?!" Tenten scoffed and turned towards an angry Naruto. "Hey." She placed his hand on his shoulders to grab his attention. "I chose you to join my team not because I was short on members but because I recognised your skills. You're a great dancer that strokes my competitive spirit so I don't care if you're a murderer or not. Now get rid of that scowl because I want you dancing your best. Do you understand me?!"
"Yeah." Naruto mumbled. Tenten slapped him. "OW! What was that for?!"
"Say it with conviction. Do you understand me?!" Tenten insisted with a typical military man's tone of voice.
"Yes Sergeant!" Naruto yelled, mimicking her tone.
"Better." Tenten released his shoulders and started walking around with her hands clasped at her back like a military man. "Listen up maggots! Y'all are dropping your statuses right here and right now. I do not care if you're an Uchiha or a Hyuga or a silent freak or a deadly sociopath or an idiot with a low IQ–"
"I took that personally!" Kiba yelled, offended at her last statement but Tenten ignored him as always.
"Today, we become dancers. We are here to show those mother of all fuckers that we are here to rule over the local dance world and win that cash prize. Gird up soldiers and be brave like true men! If we die, we die like men but we ain't dying here. We are winning! So let's show those ass cunt suckers what the EsDee is made of!"
"Yeah!" Naruto and Kiba (obviously) cheered while Hinata did it more silently. The other three looked at Tenten like she was mad which wasn't a far fetched theory actually.
"Are you a cousin of Hidan's?" Sasuke asked.
A few performances passed by before it was the turn of the Sound Five. Assholes or not, the EsDee had to watch their performance to gauge how good they were. They were very good. It seemed like they weren't just making mouth when they felt like they could beat the EsDee in this competition.
They would still beat Sound Five, of course they would. After an astonishing performance by the S5 it was the turn of the SD. The crowd booed them but it was expected. Naruto was among them so they would book them but that didn't decrease their morale.
Gaara took controls of the speakers and connected his laptop to it. Putting his red earphones over his ears and readying his camera to video the dancers on stage with, he started the music piece he created for their first performance.
Naruto, ironically, was the starting dancer and that just heightened the boos he was receiving. At least they weren't throwing stuff on stage. The blonde moved along with the music piece in symmetrical movements that made his body seem like it was created with hints.
Naruto was like a puppet controlled with ropes and that in itself made the booing crowd decrease by a fraction. The song progressed and Naruto continued his robot/puppet dance only this time he was accompanied by Sasuke.
The two of them were flawless in synchrony and were freakishly good dancers which got the crowd to be quiet and watch. Some booers still persisted though. After Sasuke and Naruto rounded up their dance duo the song changed to something a little bit slower and softer.
It was Kiba's cue to go on stage and capture the audience with his miming skills. It was funny how the people that were once booing kept quiet to see what the EsDee would do. Shino joined soon after and did his own solo dance before performing a duo dance with Kiba.
Then the song changed pace and it was the girl' turn. Tenten impressed many with her breakdancing skills and agility while Hinata portrayed a kind of innocent kawaii image with her dance.
Then the song merged into the main song for their group choreography that just got the crowd awing. They merged different kinds of dances from waltz to hip hop and even ballet which was done by the ballerinas in their group, and the performance ended with a dope group pose.
"Okay, that was awesome!" Somebody from the front lines spoke and started clapping and whooping. It soon got carried around the crowd which made the EsDee pleased. It was no surprise that they had made it to the second round of the competition.
"That was awesome!" Kiba flopped himself down a chair at the table they occupied at Moonbucks (don't say a word...). They all ordered drinks and snacks for themselves despite Naruto's disappointment that there was no ramen. Get over it dude, there's no ramen at Moonbucks!
"We did great dancers, we moved on to round two!" Tenten cheered and slurped on her super sugary drink. Sasuke cringed at the amount of sugar the older girl heaped inside one cup as he slipped his ice tea.
Hinata nibbled on cinnamon buns like a mouse, the exact opposite of the two idiots she decided to sit between who were practically inhaling their hotdogs and burgers. Shino had lemonade in front of him which he drank quietly while Gaara had iced water. He didn't do any work so he wasn't as tired as the rest.
"About that," Sasuke started. "We have something to say." He gestured to himself and Hinata.
"Spill." Tenten didn't think she would like what she was about to hear.
"Our Interschool Ballet Competition is held on the same day as the final Dance Battle."
Yep, she didn't like it.
"Of all the effing-!" Tenten began to curse but calmed herself down. "Why didn't you say anything?!" She asked instead.
"We just found out." Hinata replied.
"Even if the both of us leave, you still have five members of the team." Sasuke pointed out.
"Uh- can't dance." Gaara pointed at himself with a duh tone that nobody imagined he could use.
"You can learn." Sasuke argued.
"My number one weakness is mobility. Trust me, I can't dance." Gaara insisted.
"I thought you purposely flunked gym classes, so you're actually a lazy ass that can't run?!" Naruto gaped at his red haired friend. The latter just shrugged.
"Never had a reason to run." Right. Rather than run, Gaara would beat the shit out of his offenders.
"What do we do now?" Shino asked.
"Have no effing idea." Tenten groaned.
"It'll turn out good for us dattebayo." Naruto encouraged. "Let's just wait till we get there."
The dancers could only hope against hope that Naruto's enthusiastic words turned out correct.
"Yeah." They all said simultaneously.
Thanks for reading! The Sound Four only have a cameo appearance in this book so they're not going to appear again unless I change my mind. Please tell me what you think in reviews.