Chapter 6
"Ok, that's it. We're done!" Dai said happily as he grabbed a bottle of water.
The other members of the band let out tired cheers and began putting their instruments down or stepping back from them. They had been working tirelessly for the past six months getting the album finished. The album had fourteen songs, including the one he had been writing when they first got together.
Itachi hadn't shown his face since the day he had left. It was slowly killing him as he had come to see Itachi as someone to lean on. Add in just how much he loved him and he wasn't sure how much longer he could take the separation. If they had parted on better terms, than it wouldn't be as bad, but they hadn't even said goodbye.
"I can't believe it! Thank Kami!!" Seto shouted as he shook out his arms, which were tired from drumming for so long. They had been working all day on the final song, which was the one he had finished about a month after they had started together.
"So lets here the final product, we worked hard enough on it." Shinji said, massaging his hands.
Nodding, Dai motioned them into the production box as he chugged the water. Misato sat in the main chair after shoving the tech out of it and pulled up the final product. After everyone was sprawled somewhere, she hit play.
It seems like everyday's the same and I'm left
to discover on my own
It seems like everything is grey and there's
no color to behold
They say it's over and I'm fine again, yeah
Try to stay sober; feels like I'm dying, here
Dai looked at the ceiling, listening to the song. Taking a drink from the bottle, he thought, 'I wish that I had something much stronger.' It was painful for him to listen to it.
And I am aware now of how everything's going
to be fine, one day too late, I'm in hell
I am prepared now, seems everyone's going to
be fine, one day too late, just as well
This song was his feelings for what happened in Konoha and his life there.
I feel a dream in me expire and there's no one
left to blame it on
I hear you label me a liar cuz I can't seem
to get this through
You say it's over, I can sigh again, yeah
Why try to stay sober when I'm dying, here
No one in Konoha, except a few people had ever believed him, or in him. His dream to be Hokage tasted like ash on his tongue that no amount of water would erase.
And I am aware now of how everything's going
to be fine, one day too late, I'm in hell
I am prepared now, seems everyone's going to
be fine, one day too late, just as well
And I'm not scared now
I must assure you
You're never gonna get away
And I'm not scared now
No I'm not scared now
And I am aware now of how everything's going
to be fine, one day too late, I'm in hell
I am prepared now, seems everyone's going to
be fine, one day too late, just as well
I am prepared now - seems everything's gonna be
fine for me for me for myself
for me for me for myself
for me for me for myself
I am prepared now for myself
I am prepared now and I am fine, again
As the song ended, he looked back at the people around him. Seto and Shinji had smiles on their faces, toasting each other with their cans of soda. Misato, however, was looking at him with pity in her eyes.
Over the last half-year, they had grown closer. She slowly lost her intense hated for what he was the more that she got to know him. She still hated shinobi, but he was the exception for her rule. They had talked a lot, going to Rin's bar to have drinks.
At one point, they had even slept together. They had both gotten wasted and had stumbled back to her place and attacked each other. It was the anniversary of the first time he and Itachi had made love and he had been depressed he entire day. They whole story had spilled out in a moment of drunken rambling and she had wanted to make him feel better. Since than, they had avoided mentioning it, both upset that they had done so, he because he had cheated on Itachi, she because she wasn't the type to sleep with random people unless she was with them.
Nodding briefly at her, he broke eye contact and turned towards the others. "Well, I say we send this to Tenchu and have him start production and distribution." He said and the guys let out a cheer. "Let's go have drinks at Rin's to celebrate." They hadn't gone back to Mokoto's club since what had happened to Dai in the beginning, not that Mokoto was still with the band. After taking orders from Dai for less than a week, he had quit, despite Tenchu's best attempts to get him to stay.
"Alright! She is so hot, is she seeing anyone right now?" Seto asked eagerly.
"You do remember what happened the last time you hit on her, right?" Shinji asked with a smirk.
"She was just having a bad day!" Seto insisted with a pout.
"Her words were, 'I don't like you, will never like you, and I will not put up with you hitting on me anymore. If you do, a broken nose and a black eye will be the least of your injuries. Understand?' to me, that sounds like she's going to have the bouncer beat you up if you don't leave her alone." Shinji said seriously, though the grin on his face belied his feelings of amusement at seeing his band mate chase after someone, who didn't want to be chased.
"She won't have the bouncers do it, she'll do it herself. She is a retired shinobi." Dai said, and then flinched minutely as he realized that Misato didn't know that little fact.
"She's a shinobi?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah, she retied after both her one teammate and her sensei were killed. She couldn't take it anymore." He said quietly, tense as he waited for her reaction.
She was quiet for a moment, every eye in the room on her, even the tech's. Everyone knew about her past and her reactions to shinobi, and none wanted to get in the middle of another fight. All of the band had gotten injured, except for Dai, attempting to keep her from attaching shinobi that they had happened upon in bars, on the street, one even coming out of a meeting with Tenchu. The man had been there to see his girlfriend, the receptionist, and Misato had attacked him from behind.
The poor man had almost killed her along with Seto and Shinji, who were on either arm, trying to drag her away. If Dai hadn't grabbed the man's arm, the three of them would have been fried to a crisp from the katon jutsu he had been prepared to unleash. So instead of the three of them becoming crispy critters, the poor potted plant in the corn became charcoal.
The man had apologized once he realized who had attacked him, but explained that he was fresh in from working the boarders. Dai had nodded in understanding and had dragged his band mates to the bar, where she had proceeded to get drunk and pass out on his shoulder.
"Well, she is retired, so she isn't a shinobi." She said slowly and the guys let out sighs of relief.
"Well, than, let's go!" Shinji shouted.
Laughing, everyone headed for the door with Dai bringing up the rear. As he closed the door behind him, he sighed. "I wish you were here." He whispered. He leaned against the door for a moment, then let out another sign and pushed himself off the door, following his celebrating friends.
OOOOOO
Dai and Misato stumbled into his apartment kissing feverishly, hands tearing at each other's clothes. As the door closed behind then, they began making their way to the bedroom, their clothes dropping behind them like a trail.
Stumbling through the door, Dai looked up in surprise. The light was subdued, flickering off the walls. Looking around, he saw hundreds of candles. They were on the shelves holding his books and scrolls, on the dresser, on the bedside tables, on the headboard. Looking around a ball of ice began to grow in his stomach, clearing the fog of alcohol from his mind faster than normal.
Seeing a flicker of movement from the corner of his eye, he turned just in time to get shoved out of the way by a pissed off Itachi. Stumbling into the doorframe and knocking Misato off her feet, he watched in growing horror as Itachi stormed past him.
"Itachi!" he shouted as he staggered quickly back to his feet and rushed after him. He caught him in the center of the living room, grabbing his am and spinning him around, pain filled blue meeting furious red. "Itachi…. I…" he began, only to be knocked off his feet in a rush by a fist slamming into his face.
Groaning, he sat up, hand going to his face where the fist had landed. Looking up though watering eyes, he whispered, "Itachi…"
"Forget it." Itachi said coldly. Ripping the necklace that Dai had given him off, he threw it in the blonde's face. Spinning on his heal, he headed for the door again, grabbing his cloak from the couch and swinging it around his shoulders.
He stopped at the door briefly, looking back at the hunched over figure on the floor. He took a long look, than stepped out the door, slamming it behind him a lone tear falling to the floor.
OOOOOO
Dai sat there, seeing in his mind over and over again the small drop falling to the floor, slashing against the hardwood. Finally he stood up and headed for the bedroom.
"I think you should leave." Dai whispered painfully as he entered the room.
"Yes… I think that would be a good idea." Misato whispered as she stood up from where she had been sitting on the edge of the bed. Walking past him, she silently began to gather her clothes from the floor in the living room, Dai following her and collecting his own as well.
Once she was dressed, she turned to him and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, feeling his flinch slightly. "I'm sorry." She said quietly. "Is there anything I can do?"
"No. I think we both have done enough tonight." He said quietly making her flinch his harsh tone. "I don't blame you. I blame myself." He said to reassure her and she nodded glumly.
"You don't, but I do." She whispered, tears gathering in her eyes at the pain he was in.
"Don't. It's not your fault. It's mine. Everything is always my fault, always will be." He whispered.
"Don't say that! Not everything is your fault! I'm the one that practically jumped you, so it's more my fault than yours!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arms and staring up into his face, but he turned his face away, refusing to look her in the eye.
"I just want to be alone right now." He whispered painfully.
Sighing, she released him and stepped back. "OK, just call me if you need anything, even if it's just someone to stay with you so that you're not alone." She said quietly and he nodded, though both knew that he wouldn't ask.
As the door closed behind her, he turned and headed back to the bedroom, flopping on the bed and reaching for a pillow. His hand froze inches away as he noticed something laying on it already.
Trembling he reached forward and picked it up. It was the necklace Itachi had worn for as long as he could remember. It was a simple chain with three oval rings on the front. It wasn't anything special, it wasn't made out of gold or platinum, it didn't have diamonds or jewels, it was just a plain silver necklace.
It was also the one thing that Itachi never took off. It had been a present from Sasuke when they were young, before the massacre. It was one of his most prized possessions.
Looking down at his hands, Dai almost couldn't see the two necklaces in his hands for the tears that poured from his eyes. One, perfect, the other, broken, both from the same man.
Just looking at the necklace he had given Itachi was enough to smash what was left of his shattered heart to dust. The necklace that had been given to him from Tsunade was broken at the clasp, leaving it relatively whole. It wouldn't take much to repair, it, but the though never even crossed his mind.
Slowly, he curled into a ball, and cried himself to sleep, the agony of what he had done too much to take.
OOOOOO
"I'm worried about Dai." Seto whispered to Shinji and Misato as they listened to Tenchu rant about the missing blonde.
"I know, I don't know what happened, but he hasn't left his apartment in almost two weeks!" Shinji whispered back, he eyebrows drawn down as he frowned in worry.
"…totally irresponsible! Where is he?! He was supposed to be here to talk about designing the cd cover and everything!" Tenchu shouted as he paced next to the table.
The blonde leader hadn't been seen since that disastrous night they had finished recording. The guys didn't know what had happened as Misato had kept quiet out of guilt and remorse. She also didn't think that Dai wanted to broadcast his heartache to everyone.
Just as Tenchu opened hi mouth to yell again, he was cut off as the door to the meeting room slammed open. Everyone turned to see a pale Dai stomp in, slamming the door again behind him.
This was a different Dai than any they had ever seen before. Blond hair drooped in limp spikes and a faint hint of stubble covered his cheeks. Bloodshot eyes glared at the gathering before him as they took in the rest of him. He had obviously lost some weight and the black jeans and t-shirt hung off him.
"Dai! Are you alright?" Shinji shouted as he jumped to his feet.
"Fine." He snarled. "Let's get this over with."
"OK." Tenchu said, snapping out of his shock. "We need to come up with a name for the band, a name for the CD, and design the packaging."
"0 Tenchi." Dai said flatly. At the raised eyebrows and confused looks, he snapped, "The band name."
"Oh, ok?" Tenchu said slowly, unsure of how to react to this new Dai. "Any objections?"
"No, I actually really like that." Misato said thoughtfully.
Seto and Shinji nodded, both satisfied with the name.
"Ok, now what about the name of this CD?" Tenchu asked, looking around at the four people at the table. There was silence as they looked at each other with brows raised. Finally, Shinji spoke up.
"How about, Trust?"
Dai and Misato flinched minutely at that. Shaking her head, she suggested, "How about Rurouni?"
Silence filled the room as everyone contemplated the name. Dai looked at everyone, then nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good one. Any objections? Good." He said when everyone shook their heads. "Now, we just have to design the package, right?"
"Yes, that's the last thing we have to do." Tenchu said, shocked at how fast the meeting was going.
"Pure black cd, nothing on it but for the name in orange. Cover, black with orange letters, a red spiral in the center." He said decisively, grabbing a pen and a sheet of paper and sketching it out quickly. "For in the insides, black, red writing, and make it look like regular handwriting. But on the back, a picture of the band."
"Then we need to schedule a photo shoot within the next couple days." Tenchu said, than looked at Dai closely. "I think that we'll need an excellent makeup artist."
"So when do we start shooting the videos for the songs?" Seto asked, breaking in to the uncomfortable silence that had consumed the group.
"Well, first, we decided what song we want to put out as your debut song and then we start to make videos." Tenchu stated firmly and Seto sighed, leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms over his chest as he pouted.
"So what song is going to be out first?" Shinji asked.
"Coming Undone." Dai said softly with a bitter smile before standing up. "I'm gone."
"Come back tomorrow for the photo shoot." Tenchu said firmly and Dai nodded as he slipped back out the door much quieter than he had entered originally.
OOOOOO
"I just don't know what to do." Dai said miserably to Rin as he laid his head on the bar.
"Why did you do it?" she asked quietly.
"I don't know. When she gives me a hug, it reminds me of Itachi and then I get all depressed and I drink way too much." He said quietly.
"And it's a way to forget for a while." She said gently and he nodded.
"Kami, I miss him." He whispered as tears gathered in his eyes again, though he held them back, determined not to cry in front of the only person left that knew about him and his past.
"I know, but things will work out, even if I need to find him and drag him back here by his hair." She said, and he burst out laughing, though in the middle it changed to sobs. Coming out from around the bar, she grabbed him in a hug and held him close until the tears began to slow.
"Thanks." He said, pushing back from her and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.
"I'll always be here for you, sweetie." She whispered, brushing some hair off his forehead.
"Thanks, but I should get going." He said as he stood up and reached for his wallet to pay for the drinks he'd had.
"Go on, get out of here. It's on me tonight." She said and pushed him towards the door.
OOOOOO
Three weeks later
"It's here!" Tsunade shouted, as she ripped the package away from the mail carrier. The poor man scuttled out the door as though the devil was right behind him, scared at how hard she had grabbed the box. His arm still ached from the force as he charged down the stairs and out of the Hokage tower.
Ripping open the box, she opened the letter that was laying on the top of a CD.
Hey,
Here is the CD I promised you. This is the first copy to come off the line and I made sure to grab it and have everyone autograph it, just for you. I hope you enjoy this and the first song should be hitting the radio stations within the next couple days. The CDs should hit the shelves in a week.
How are things going out there? Everything all right? The paperwork still threatening to drown you? Better you than me! -
The band is so excited. Depending on how well this CD does, than we might be doing a concert tour within the next year. I was debating about coming back and doing one there; my producer is insisting on going to every major village for it, even Sound. I put my foot down no that, but he's still insisting. We'll see what happens.
Anyway, I'll write you later, and say hi to Shizune-neechan.
Dai
Putting the letter down, she frowned in thought. The letter was brief and didn't sound like him at all. "I'm going to have to send someone to check up on him." She said quietly to herself.
Shaking her head, she put the letter down and picked up the cd, looking at the red spiral, she grinned. She opened the case and popped the CD out and into the player on the corner of her massive desk. As the first song started to play she looked on the back of the inside pamphlet at the picture there.
It showed the four members of the band standing in a semi circle, Dai stand at one end dressed all in back with wide legged jeans and a tight wife beater and combat boots. The scars on his face and arms clearly visible. She frowned at the dark look in his eyes and wondered where he had got the terrible scars. He had always healed without a mark, so the face that he had scars on his face was bewildering and worrying.
The woman next to him was wearing a black miniskirt with a tight orange tank top, long black hair brushing against her waist, a headband that left one long length of hair free to fall across the left side of her face, concealing one deep blue eye as she smirked at the camera. Blank leather knee-high boot with laces on both sides completed the out fit
The man next to her had bright red hair that fell into his eyes, which was a deep forest green. He was wearing skintight black leather pants with a shimmering deep green button up that was left unbuttoned.
The final man made her eyebrow raise in surprise. The teen had blue, red, green and black hair in one long plait that reached nearly to his knees and violet eyes. He was wearing a pair of huge black jeans that were snug at the waist and could fit at least three legs in each pant leg with chains crossing across his crotch and then dangling down the legs and a tight black T-shirt with the words 'I scare my own family' in red letter finished the look. You couldn't even see what was on his feet as the pant legs draped over them to kiss the ground.
"Interesting group you have there, Naruto." She whispered, than turned back to the picture. Sure enough, there was writing.
For the best Hokage, Dai, Misato, Seto, and Shinji.
The names were right above the corresponding picture and she smiled as she leaned back to listen to the music.
For the rest of the day, the shinobi or the Hokage tower wondered where the hokage had gotten such a great cd. Many approached her about it, but she would only smile and tell them to get their own in a week.
"0 Tenshi. Hmn… wonder where they got that one." She said to herself. "I'll just have to ask him that."
A/N
Well, this one was hard to write. It took me forever to write what happened after the Itachi scene. I have so many ideas, but trying to connect them is so hard!! The next chapter will have people's reactions to the music and Itachi's reaction to it and what happened in this chapter. I hope you enjoyed this, now, REVIEW!!
JA NE,
Shinigami-chan