AN: Okay, so apparently I'm on a roll with the whole posting-the-unedited-chapter thing, cuz that's what I did. Here's the real one, with thanks to the following for reviewing Chapter 1 and the old version of this chapter:
--Tobi'sgoodgirllovesSasuSaku (GG! W00t!)
--WinterMission
--Hikari-letal-blood
-- -seyz-
--Musik Drache
--Orchird Tiger Lily
I know I didn't give a lot of time before I posted this chapter, but I wanted to put some 'song' in 'songfic' ASAP. Enjoy!
Karaoke Night, Chapter 2: Not Alone/My Life Would Suck Without You
"Okay, girls, you know what this means," Tenten said dramatically. "I…must take the mic."
Sakura smiled in spite of herself. "What are you going to sing?"
Tenten tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Well, it has to establish the theme of the night. Got it," she proclaimed. "I'm going to sing a song to Neji."
"Neji?" Temari demanded. "Is he here?"
"Nope," Tenten replied proudly. "All the easier to be honest in the sentiment."
Hinata raised her eyebrows and stuck out her bottom lip at the same time. "She has a point."
"So if you sing a song to Neji," Ino began. "We all have to sing to…"
"A significant boy in your life—who is NOT a relative."
"Tenten!"
"No go-backs, Temari. You accepted the challenge, and now you have to follow through. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a rhapsody to sing."
oOo
Neji sank into the cushions of his armchair, emotionally energized, physically exhausted, and slightly tipsy. Sasuke, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kiba mimicked him, exhaling as they took their seats. "Hell of a day," Neji muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Tell me about it," Shikamaru returned, rubbing his face. "I can't believe this…"
"Sorry, man," Naruto said sympathetically. "We know how you felt about Ino."
"It was harsh for her to dump you like that," Sasuke added.
"It's not that," Shikamaru dismissed.
"It's not?" Kiba asked, surprised. "You yelled at her when she said she couldn't love you as anything other than a brother. You yelled."
"I know," Shikamaru replied, frustrated. "But not because I was mad at her. I'm not."
"Then," Naruto said slowly, "who are you mad at?"
"You were mad at someone," Neji pointed out.
"I was mad at me," Shikamaru spat.
"Um," Naruto said, confused. "Why?"
"Can you just drop it, guys?" Shikamaru inquired, a little desperately.
"No," Naruto, Kiba, Neji, and Sasuke shot back.
Shikamaru growled, "What a drag," before answering. "I was mad because I felt the same way and it took me six months to figure it out."
Sasuke smirked. "Your pride was hurt."
Shikamaru took a giant swig of his sake. "Yeah," he rasped.
"So, you're okay with the breakup?" Kiba asked cautiously.
"It's a relief, actually," the strategist replied. "I was working too hard to make her happy, and I didn't even realize it."
"Whew," Naruto said. "She must have had you wrapped really tightly to distract you like that."
"Love does that, I guess," Shikamaru replied. "I still love her as a sister, you know."
"We know," Sasuke assured him.
"You don't," Neji countered. "The rest of us do, but you don't."
"What was that, Hyuuga?" Sasuke demanded icily.
"I have Hinata and Hanabi, Kiba has Hinata as well, Naruto has Sakura, and Shikamaru has Ino. You don't have anyone."
"I have Sakura, too, Hyuuga," Sasuke retorted.
"Oh, please," Neji scoffed.
"I love her!" Sasuke protested, his eyes flickering blood red.
"Not as a sister," Shikamaru put in. Sasuke drew breath to reply, but frowned at the realization of having no comeback. Naruto chuckled.
"Shut it, Naruto," Sasuke snapped. "You're no better off than I am."
"And what's that supposed to mean?"
"If you weren't such a dobe, you would know exactly what I mean. Everyone else does."
"It's true," Kiba added.
"And with Kiba being another ex of Ino's, Neji's the only one in a semi-dependable relationship," Shikamaru finished.
"More than semi-dependable, thank you," Neji retorted stiffly. He was touchy when it came to Tenten.
"You fight just like the rest of us," Naruto pointed out.
"But we make up afterwards," Neji returned. "We belong together, and we know it."
"I thought the same when I was with Ino," Shikamaru muttered.
"Aha!" Kiba exclaimed. "You are miserable."
"I just got dumped, idiot. It's not exactly a self-affirming experience."
The MC of the club took the mic and interrupted anything else the young men might've had to say. "All right, ladies and gentlemen, how are we all feeling tonight?" The young shinobi stared annoyedly at the host while the rest of the club cheered. "Well, we've got a great lineup for tonight, starting with a kunoichi we all know and love—apparently it's Karaoke Challenge Night again." Everyone but Neji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Naruto, and Kiba exchanged excited looks and cheered, hooted, or hollered appreciatively. The aforementioned shinobi exchanged WTF? looks instead. "So, please, let's have a rousing welcome for the one, the only, the great Panda Girl herself, TENTEN!"
"WHAT?"
Neji's expletive was lost in the storm of applause that followed the MC's introduction. Lo and behold, Tenten trotted up onto the stage, bowing illustriously to her adoring fans. Even from their place in the back, Neji noticed the unusual flush on her cheeks and the loss of inhibitions gleaming in her chocolate eyes. To his great consternation, Tenten let loose her twin buns, allowing her umber locks to tumble fetchingly down to her waist. Civilians in the crowd whistled appreciatively, eliciting furious glares on Neji's part.
Laughing, Tenten spoke into the mic: "Sorry, boys, but this song goes out to a very special man in my life…who is none of you. This one goes out to you, babe—you know who you are. Yuuki, hit the switch." Rhythmic guitar patterns reverberated throughout the room, with Tenten bobbing her head in time with the beat.
[AN: Tenten (Recording)]
Guess this means
you're sorry
You're standing at my door
Guess this means you
take back
All you said before
Tenten sang surprisingly well, enunciating the lyrics with clarity and surety. Neji tried to hold onto his annoyance at her frivolous behavior, but it was so hard with her hair down like that…
Like how much
you wanted
Anyone but me
Said you'd never come back
But here
you are again
Ah, yes, he had said
that, hadn't he? During their first fight, he'd accused her of a
lack of femininity, and had told her about all these other girls that
had been supposedly hanging all over him. Then she'd kissed him in
order to shut him up and they'd forgotten why they were fighting in
the first place. No matter what stupid little arguments they got
into, they always made up.
Cuz we belong together now,
yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah
You got a piece of
me
And honestly
My life (my life) would suck (would suck)
without you
And now she was tossing her head and finger-combing her hair out of her face and holding the microphone just close enough to amplify her voice perfectly, but far enough away to see her seductive lips embracing the tones and lyrics.
Maybe I was
stupid
For telling you goodbye
Maybe I was wrong
For
tryin' to pick a fight
I know that I've got issues
But you're
pretty messed up too
Either way I found out I'm nothing without
you
Well, they did both have issues (who in the Leaf Twelve didn't?), and he sure as hell knew he couldn't live without her…
Cuz we belong
together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah
You got a
piece of me
And honestly
My life (my life) would suck (would
suck) without you
Tenten jumped up and down onstage and danced with the mic stand, singing her heart out and ripping the really good notes.
Being with you
is so dysfunctional
I really shouldn't miss you,
But I can't
let you go,
Oh yeah
She danced like crazy during the music break, her brown hair glowing golden in the hazy spotlight trained on her form. Her Chinese-styled shirt hugged her in all the right places, exposing a tan strip of flesh between her hem and the top of her dark pink trousers. She leaped and twisted and shimmied and head-banged and Neji was suddenly struck by the knowledge that she was doing all this for him. The song, the dancing, the heartfelt everything was solely for him. No one else.
Cuz we
belong together now, yeah yeah
Forever united here somehow,
yeah
You got a piece of me
And honestly
My life (my life)
would suck (would suck) without you
Only they were in the room, even if she didn't really know he was there. She was performing to him, and he saw her, and she was never more beautiful than she was in this moment. Holy shit, he was falling in love all over again!
Cuz we belong
(yeah) together now (together now), (yeah)
Forever united here
somehow, yeah
You got a piece of me, and honestly
My life (my
life) would suck (would suck) without you
The last note echoed in Neji's ears and in Neji's soul, striking a chord deep within him. Then he realized that she was taking her bow (flipping her hair around in the process, too, the tease), and he found himself applauding along with the rest of the crowd.
"Whoa." Shikamaru's lazy voice was stunned. "I take it back."
Neji smirked. "Good genius. I told you Tenten and I were made for each other."
"We'll never doubt it again, man," Naruto told him sincerely, watching Tenten return to her seat. Abruptly, he grabbed the elbow of a passing waitress. "Excuse me, what did the MC mean by Karaoke Challenge Night?"
The waitress grinned. "Tenten and her friends are regulars around here—sometimes they play this game of theirs called Karaoke Challenge. No one but them knows the rules, but they sing their best whenever they play it. Pay attention to what they're singing and what introductions they make; it usually gives you a glance into their love lives."
Naruto thanked the girl as she returned to her duties, scanning the faces of his friends. "Tenten's friends…"
"That would be Hinata, Sakura, and Ino," Neji went on.
"And Temari's in town, too," Shikamaru added.
Kiba scratched Akamaru, lounging in the middle of their circle of chairs, behind the ears. "Anyone else a little apprehensive as to what tonight might have in store for us?"
oOo
"Wow, Tenten," Temari said when the brunette had resumed her seat. "I never knew you had it in you."
"That's what they all say," Tenten replied, waving off the compliment. "Now, let me see…Hinata, you ready?"
"N-now? After how you just d-did? I don't know if I can live up to that…"
"Oh, quit the stuttering act, Hina, we all know you don't do that anymore."
Hinata sighed, knowing she was cornered. "Very well, Tennie. What do I have to do?"
"I was thinking…" she whispered fervently into Hinata's ear. The Hyuuga girl sat up straighter, her eyes widening in delight.
"Really? Good. I was afraid you'd say something like the Pussycat Dolls."
"That's still an option if you don't get your butt up there!"
"I'm going, I'm going!"
AN: What will Hinata sing? Why are she and Sakura so depressed? What will the boys' reactions be like? HOW WILL THE NIGHT END??????
Find out in the next installment of…Karaoke Night!
Oh, and uh…REVIEW!