Title: Waste of Breath

Author: Kina-chan

Pairing: No real pairing. Slight OroSasu and ZabuSasu.

Warning: No real warning.

Chapter Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 3,204

Summary: Sasuke is the lead singer to hit rock band, Okami Yokai. When Naruto and the gang win free tickets to see their next show, what will arise?

AU: Hey everyone! Same drills and all that stuff. I'm really sorry for the long wait; please don't kill me:whimpers: School is really kicking my ass. So yeah… I promise that Itachi will be appearing shortly. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 5

It couldn't be true… he just couldn't be here. This statement runs through Sasuke's head over and over like a mantra. If Itachi was here, then what would happen? He hears footsteps but doesn't pay them much attention, instead bringing his knees up to his chest and doubling over into his body. He sees somebody from his peripheral vision, but doesn't pay much attention to this either, instead slowly beginning to rock himself back and forth while keeping his eyes closed tightly.

A hand on his shoulder has him snapping his eyes open and he shrieks. "Leave me alone!"

"Sasuke; get a hold of yourself!"

The raven-haired teen brings his head up to meet green eyes outlined in heavy black eyeliner. "G-Gaara?"

The redhead sighs in relief and moves the hand from the other's shoulder to his cheek. "Sasuke, god, don't scare me like that. Now… what the hell happened?"

Sasuke's eyes widen and he chokes slightly, his vision going blurry. He refuses to accept the fact that he has tears gathering. "I-I…"

"Who's the admirer you don't care for?" Kakashi asks.

Sasuke looks up from his guardian to the shattered crystal vase, his vision blurs even more. The dozen red roses he'd found in an expensive-looking crystal vase with a white ribbon wrapped around it hadn't bother him; what bothers him is the card that came with it. Kakashi crouches down and picks up the small card surrounded by the glass.

The raven notices other people, namely his foster father's boyfriend and the people who were backstage. He whimpers when Kakashi's deep monotone recites the small card.

"'Do well in the concert, though I know you will. See you soon koibito.'" Kakashi frowns and flips the card over. "There's no name on who it's from."

"I… I know who it's from."

Gaara and Kakashi's gaze shift from the card to Sasuke, who is fidgeting slightly.

The raven-haired lead singer swallows a lump in his throat, staring down at his shaking hands. "I… I saw him… or I think I saw him in the crowd. I got sc-scared and came here to find… that."

"By him…" Kakashi frowns, noticing that the other won't even look at them. "… you mean?"

Sasuke turns and glares with full force at the man. "Him…" His eyes close together tightly. "Him"

Gaara and Kakashi look from each other to Sasuke, both trying to figure out just who him is.

Then Kakashi's visible eye widens. He smacks himself in the forehead before crouching down to seat himself beside his foster son, puts an arm around the shaking shoulders, and makes sure his voice is light and calm before speaking. "Sasuke… he's in prison. There's no way he could be here. You have nothing to worry about… he can't get you."

The teen shakes his head violently. "You're wrong! He escaped Kakashi! They sent a letter, remember?! The letter said he escaped!"

Kakashi's brows furrow. "Sasuke… I told you, that letter was just a mean joke. He's not out; he can't hurt you; he doesn't know where you are."

Gaara takes one of Sasuke's hands and brings it up to his cheek before carefully, making sure nobody besides Kakashi sees him do it, kisses the singer's palm. "Sasuke… Kakashi-san is right. If he had escaped when that letter came out, why wait until now to come? Don't you think he could have easily come after you before?"

"He must have had some plan or some-"

"Sasuke you're getting yourself worked up for nothing." The redhead releases the hold he has of the other and picks up one of the roses before presenting it to Sasuke. "Can't you think of anyone else who might send you these and not leave a name?"

Kakashi frowns. He could.

"What do you think he'll say when he finds out you didn't except his gift?"

The raven-haired teen looks down to the floor. "So… i-it's not from him?"

Gaara sighs before smiling softly. "That's right." He smirks. "Now… there are some fans out there that are going to start rioting if we don't finish this concert."

Sasuke brings a hand up to his face. "But… I think I messed up my make-up."

The redhead "tsk"s and reaches behind the teen to the small bag of make-up. "Really… you know how I am with my face." He grins and pulls out a small, square cloth pad before grabbing a bottle of water and drenching the pad. He massages the pad until it's lathery before gently wiping at the other's face, being careful to keep the soapy suds from the slightly swollen obsidian eyes. "I can't stand barely anyone even coming near me, much less apply make-up to my face."

Gaara tosses the pad over his shoulder then grabs a cloth and wets it with the remaining water from the bottle and using the rag to rinse Sasuke's face off. "Even before you first met me I've been doing my own make-up." He dries the other's face off and then sets the bag of make-up before him. "You know I'm better then those wussy make-up artists."

Sasuke matches Gaara's grin with one of his own. "Don't disappoint me."

"I never do."

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"Oh my god…"

Temari chuckles as she looks over the groupies before her. They weren't so bad, not like some fans had been before them. "You guys liked the show?"

"Hell yeah!" Sakura and Ino say in unison.

Temari smiles. "I'm glad. We do like to give our best when performing." She looks over to the brunette male with dark eyes. "Is he okay?"

Sakura and Ino look over towards Haku, both frowning slightly. "Dunno… he won't tell us what's wrong. It wasn't the concert, I know that much, he's been dying to go to this concert since we found out you guys were coming here."

The blond band mate sighs before turning to her youngest brother. "Hey, Gaara, so what was all the commotion about before?"

The redhead glances at his sister for only a second before going back to watching Sasuke. "Nothing."

Temari purses her lips and puffs out her cheeks. "Nothing. It sure as hell didn't sound like nothing." The only answer is a shrug. "Ugh… you know I care too. Kakashi just told us to stay on stage so there wouldn't be a panic. Then again, if you or Kakashi or both of you can't get Sasuke-kun under control then no one can."

"Hn."

The blond female sighs. "Really… it's like nothing ever changed. You two might as well still be joined at the hip."

Sakura and Ino, who had been watching the two siblings with only slight interest, can't help but stare when the seemingly emotionless redhead's cheeks turn a bright pink. "What? What now?"

Temari giggles, fully intending payback on her youngest brother. "Oh yeah, it was never made official just how the band came about was it?" She grins at the two girls' eagerness, along with everyone else's slight interest as well, and her brother's temper slowly rising. "Yeah… the band was originally just Sasuke and Gaara. They were… oh what do you call it… a couple?"

The two girls, along with Haku now, surround Temari while Gaara gives his sister a heated glare. Temari sticks her tongue out at her brother, as if saying "paybacks a bitch". "Oh yeah… they were always together and always joined at the hip, literally. It was really cute actually to see my wittle bitty bro acting all protective-like."

"Temari, if you continue, your stash of magazines might just be obliterated."

The blond female laughs at the raven-haired teen. "Oh Sasuke-kun… always the shy one."

"Along with your magazines, maybe all your DVDs as well… and your salon days, and your dates." The teen thinks a moment. "And anything else I might just-so-happen to think of you perverted hentai."

Temari is silent a moment. "Well… you're no fun."

Suigetsu snorts. "You could always buy more of those magazines, DVDs and stuff. It sure wouldn't hurt you to pay for your own salon time and if you really want to go out with fags then by all means keep quiet."

"You can't even pretend to be nice while there are others here."

Sasuke looks between the two for only a moment before apparently losing interest. "It goes against his nature."

"My humble liege seems to understand."

Haku blinks. "So we don't get to hear how you guys formed the band?"

The raven-haired teen sighs and drops into a seat. "There's not much to tell. We all met, we liked –well, excluding Suigetsu- each other, and decided to make a band."

Temari whines. "The way you put it is so dull and boring! Just let me tell it… please?"

"For every minute I burn one of your possessions."

The blond sighs. "And I know you're not kidding." She grins. "Yet victory is mine." She turns to the group before her –who Hinata, Neji, Naruto, and a reluctant Shikamaru have joined- and gives them a quick victory sign before anyone can catch her. "So yeah… it was five years I think, can't remember, when we first met wittle Sasuke-kun."

"That's one date you'll never see."

Temari pouts. "Alright, alright. So, I was already looking for a job in the music biz about that time. Kakashi was working for some company, can't remember the name of it, and was going to try and find me a manager. First we had to talk though, ya know… get the formalities out of the way. So we met at this really nice restaurant, that I didn't even have to pay for my food in, and talked stuff over. Of course I brought my two brothers with me and Kakashi brought Sasuke with him. Gaara and Sasuke hit it off right away."

"Two dates."

"Oh hush." Temari snaps. "But yeah, so they started dating." She ignores the set of embarrassed glares thrown at her. "I didn't even know Gaara could sing, or play drums and a guitar for that matter, and none of us knew Sasuke could sing but we found out a while later. I had dragged the two out to karaoke with my ex at the time. It sounded cute to me… a double date. But yeah, man… Sasuke took the mic and everything hushed. God… I thought he could sing back then. Needless to say I brought it up to Kakashi that maybe we should try do a lil' something something with that voice of his. Not long after that is when we learned about my brother's gifts." She smiles. "Sasuke's actually the one who suggested the band in the first place, hard as it may sound."

Sasuke grumbles something before he stands. "I'm going out." He doesn't wait for a response, because he knows it won't be a good one, before heading out of the room.

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When Sasuke reaches the back of the building, he flips his phone open and quickly dials a number. It rings a few times before someone picks up.

"Thought you weren't going to call."

A small smile captures Sasuke's lips and he leans against the wall behind him. "Of course I was going to. What kind of person do take me for?"

"The busy adolescent kind." A chuckle comes from the other end of the phone. "So… concert over?"

"Would I be calling if it weren't?"

"No… guess not."

Sasuke chuckles, the sound almost like that of a giggle. "It ended about half an hour ago."

"How'd it go? Who won the tickets?" Another chuckle comes from the man on the other end of the phone. "Kakashi go see his boyfriend?"

"Well… the concert went fine I guess. I kinda like performing in smaller cities. Here in Konoha I'm not bombarded with overzealous fans. Although, Oto is even smaller than Konoha… except you guys don't have a stadium."

"Guess I'll have to get us one."

"Why do I get the feeling you're mocking me?" Sasuke sighs. "Anyways… yeah, Kakashi went to go see his friend. He has a foster son now… about my age I think. Blond hair, blue eyes… and the most obnoxious grin I've ever seen."

A barking laugh comes from the phone. "For a second I though you were talkin' good about the kind, though I might have to find another lover."

The raven-haired teen fights not to roll his eyes. "He acts like a little kid." Sasuke puffs out his cheeks in a manner that can only be called childish. "And he called me a girl!"

"I thought you'd be used to being mistaken for a girl by now."

"Yeah well I'm not." Sasuke absentmindedly picks at his long fingernails. "So yeah, the blond guy was one of the ones who won the tickets. Of course Kakashi had already invited his boyfriend and his foster son to go to begin with. There were quite a few other people that came… I don't think I gave consent to that many people."

Showbiz is tough; you don't always get what you want."

"Yeah, I know. God, one of the guys that came," Sasuke shudders, "I thought he was going to pounce on me or something. And there was this one chick with pink hair, pink! Ugh… the guy that looked liked he was going to eat me, the pink-haired chick, and this one blond girl were all dressed slutty."

"I'm sure they were just trying to impress you."

"Well I wasn't impressed at all. I hate people like that. They try too hard and just end up looking foolish."

"You shouldn't say such things. You do the same thing sometimes. When a person meets someone they really like, they can't help but do foolish things sometimes."

The teen sighs. "Speaking of which, those roses were a little over the top… but thanks anyways."

"What roses?"

"Didn't you send me some?"

"No."

Sasuke stares forward, momentarily numb. "Oh… my mistake. Hey, I gotta go now."

"Alright. Call again soon."

"I will." He pauses. "Love you."

The man on the other end of the phone chuckles. "Love you too. Bye."

Sasuke flips his phone shut, his brows drawn together. "So… Orochimaru didn't send them. Zabuza could have but I doubt it." Slightly irritated, he flips his phone open again and punches in numbers. Two rings later someone picks up.

"Hello?" The voice is bored, business-like, and irritated all at once.

"Zabuza?"

"Sasuke… this is twice in one day. What do you want now?"

"I'd think you'd be more courteous to one of your best paying customers."

"I'm having a bad day."

Me too. The raven-haired ten sighs. "Yeah, same here. You didn't happen to send me a bouquet of roses did you?"

"Do I seem like the person who would do something so foolish?"

"No."

"Smarter than I thought. So… how'd the concert go?"

"Alright." Freaked out about the roses but I guess anyone with a homicidal criminal would.

"Then why don't you sound alright?"

Sasuke smirks slightly. "And you said you didn't care." He sighs. "But you're right. Those roses freaked me out."

"Why?"

The slides down the wall until he's resting on the ground. "Because I think they're from Itachi. I don't have any proof that they are but I just have this feeling. We got a letter a while back ago saying that he got out of prison."

"I remember. That was about the time you started hanging out downtown all the time, right?"

"Yeah. I was spending almost all day down there at that time. That's how we initially, remember?"

The man snorts on the other end of the phone. "Yeah. You can be quite slutty when you want to be. You'd always hang all over me… yadda, yadda."

"Yeah, I admit it. I was scared at that time. God, you look like you could probably take an elephant is you wanted to. I wanted protection so I used you to get it. I really do like you though."

"Yeah, I know. You're not so bad for a kind… just don't let that bastard of a lover find out."

"If Orochimaru found out he'd most likely lock me up and never let me out and see the light of day again."

"I probably would too if I were in his position."

Sasuke grins. "Kinky." He laughs at his own private joke. "Thanks… for taking my mind off of Itachi."

"No problem, but I have to go now… it's getting crowded."

"Alright. See you soon… hopefully. Bye." He hung up the phone once again. He roles his eyes. "Is it a hobby of yours to listen in on other people's phone calls?"

No answer.

"You're pissing me off now. Come out of hiding."

There's the sound of scuffling before Naruto comes out from the behind the corner.

Sasuke sighs and scratches the side of his neck. "How did I know it was you?"

The blond huffs slightly. "Well excuse me for coming to check up on you."

"I hardly doubt that's the truth. You don't exactly seem like the kind to just come and check up on somebody who is perfectly fine."

"I was worried. You left kinda sudden."

"Not really. Temari was getting on my nerves so I though I'd leave her to her own doings."

Naruto eyes the other slightly worriedly. "Alright… I was just worried."

"Worried?" Sasuke smirks suddenly. "Are you sure because I get the weird sense that you want a repeat of earlier."

The blond sputters. "No! Y-you've got it all wrong!"

The raven-haired teen's smirk grows and steps closer to the blond, who takes a step back. They both continue this, Sasuke taking a step forward and Naruto a step back until they're back in the same spots they were in earlier that night with standing against the wall and Sasuke leering up at him.

"Are you sure?"

Naruto shivers and glares at the other. "Positive."

An amused look spreads across Sasuke's face. "You're not very convincing." He moves forward and lean sup onto his toes. "I think-"

Someone clears their throat behind them and both teens turn around to see Gaara. Naruto jumps at the look Gaara sends him, a look of hate and malicious intent.

Sasuke smiles at Gaara. "Yes?"

The redhead gently grabs hold of Sasuke's elbow. "I came to tell you that Kakashi's decided that we're staying in town for about another week."

The teen's face falls ever so slightly before he sighs and shrugs. "Oh well. He has a bad habit of doing this. It's nothing new." Sasuke looks over to Naruto and waves his hand delicately. "See you later.