A/N: The image is an art I had commissioned by sorceressmyr for drummer Sasuke and guitarist Sakura...I love the cat ears especially.
Chapter Four: Rock Stars
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Sakura
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"Do—a deer a female deer, Ra — a drop of golden sun, Me — a name I call myself, Fa — a long, long way to run, So—," Sakura was singing the scale's solfège, while adjusting and tuning the tension on her guitar's strings.
She didn't have Ino's ear for hearing a song once and being able to play it back on the piano, but it didn't take her long to understand music. Her analytical mind and eidetic memory allowed her to learn songs quickly and make adjustments to suit her needs. She was quite good at ad-libbing and playing something on the fly — their whole quintet was.
Ino was in the back of the dressing room, currently trying to squeeze into a pair of glittery purple skin-tight leggings. "Julie Andrews you are not, Sakura, but it's a good key." Ino grimaced as she managed to secure the leggings before breathing a sigh of relief. "Tonight's show is sold out. It's not a huge auditorium, but the club is a moderate size. Sasuke said the acoustics are to die for," she continued.
"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to audience members dying." Sakura finished with the final adjustment of her guitar. She hadn't seen Sasuke in a couple of hours, not since she saw his family hovering about him. She didn't want to be involved in anymore Uchiha drama. There was only one Uchiha she was interested in associating with and he was averse to drama. While their friends knew of their relationship, they kept it private otherwise. Even Sasuke's beloved older brother Itachi didn't know.
"You're so dramatic," Ino said, tossing her hair brush at Sakura.
She caught it with her free hand and scowled at her friend. "Watch it!" The door to their dressing room opened suddenly, startling both women. "Hey!" Sakura called out, throwing the brush at the intruder.
Naruto rushed inside and slammed shut the door. He barely managed to bat away the brush before he was panting, resting with his hands over his knees and leaning forward. "Sorry, I just got mauled by a fangirl." He straightened and grinned at them both, a very evident tear in the collar of his black graphic t-shirt with a bowl of ramen on prominent display on the front.
"Ramen, Naruto? Really? A tear in that shirt is an improvement," Ino scoffed.
"Oh no!" Sakura rushed to his side to inspect the shirt. She wasn't a big fan of the shirt either, but she knew he loved it. The rip was conveniently located near the center of his belly, revealing a glimpse of the Uzumaki swirl tattoo on his belly. "You want another rip so you can show off the fox tattoo?"
"Hm, that's not a bad idea," Naruto mused. He started to rip off his sleeve, but Sakura stilled his hands and neatly rolled up the sleeve, revealing his toned biceps and the vibrant orange tattoo.
"I'll grab a couple of safety pins to hold it in place," Sakura murmured. She scrambled back to her purse and pulled out her little emergency sewing kit. She'd seen too man live performances over the years where singers suffered wardrobe emergencies. When duct-tape couldn't solve a problem, usually safety pins could. She returned to Naruto with the pins clenched between her teeth as she secured his sleeves in the rolled up position.
"Ah, that's a better idea." Naruto agreed, watching her with his intense electric blue eyes. He shoved his hands into his front pockets. "So, what are you two talking about?" He grinned with his happy-go-lucky attitude firmly in place.
"Audience members dying," Ino deadpanned.
"No way!" Naruto's eyes bulged in dismay. "Say! Did Sakura-chan tell you about the time she did CPR on me and saved my life? I knocked myself unconscious diving into a swimming pool when I misjudged the distance." He pulled Sakura into a fierce hug. "She saved my life! I'm the first of many for when she becomes a famous surgeon!"
Sakura felt her cheeks heat up under the praise. "I still can't believe you dived into the shallow end." For a moment, in her mind she flashed back to the duet with Sasuke in his truck, singing the song Shallow. She shook her head, clearing those wayward thoughts and scowled at her good friend. "You could have died!"
"Yeah, I know, that's why you saved my life," Naruto said, scratching the top of his head, mussing his sunny blond hair more than usual. "It was an accident and I haven't touched a drop of my parents' liquor since then." He picked up Sakura's guitar and played a few chords absently. "So, you're playing rhythm tonight and you want me on lead?"
"Yeah," Sakura agreed, standing in front of Naruto and carefully mussing his hair in the carefree dashing style, rather than the I just rolled out of bed and couldn't find my brush way. Once satisfied, she snatched her guitar back out of his hands. Naruto might have been like her family, but that didn't mean she wanted him touching her guitar. One should never play someone else's instrument without permission. "Except for the duet," Sakura explained. "I'll need lead on that one."
"The duet you're singing with Sasuke," Ino said, batting her heavily mascaraed eyelashes suggestively.
Naruto was also sporting a mischievous grin. "I can't wait to hear it." He stretched out on the couch in the dressing room and yawned. "We still have twenty minutes, so I'm just going to take a power nap, alright?"
"Why don't you take a nap in your own dressing room?" Sakura snapped. "This is supposed to be the girl's room." She stared at the couch forlornly. She had intended to take a power nap herself.
"Hey, I appreciate women," Naruto protested. "And if you ladies need to actually get naked or something I'll just close my eyes. Besides, Sasuke's family showed up — they're in the guy's dressing room. Kakashi's keeping things cool, but it still was too awkward for my taste. I forgot how irritating Obito's laugh could be. I swear he was a super villain in another life."
"And you left Sasuke to fend for himself?" Ino asked in disapproval, hands on hips.
"Eh, he has Kakashi?" Naruto argued weakly.
"Are they still trying to convince Sasuke to rejoin them?" Sakura asked, chewing on her lower lip. She was still somewhat surprised that Sasuke chose them over his family. Though, she knew he cared about them — a lot. Maybe even more than cared, but she didn't want to make assumptions. Though, she'd catch him looking at her. And they'd shared some magical kisses that night at Naruto's basement and she'd wanted to kiss him since then, but she wanted him to be the one to chase her. She was done chasing boys. Though, Sasuke did have a tattoo of cherry blossoms on his wrist representing her and she had a black cat on her wrist representing him. She glanced down at it briefly smiling as the tattoo peeking out at her from underneath her bangles. Wasn't that better than a few stolen kisses?
She and Sasuke worked well together when it came to writing music, working out the chords and lyrics. They seemed to intuitively understand one another.
"Yeah, but Sasuke wasn't interested," Naruto explained. "He's mostly giving them dirty looks and Kakashi's trying to convince them to leave, so as not to interrupt our performance." He met Sakura's eyes and frowned. "He's worried that they'll upset you."
It had been several months since their original band had split and the Amaterasu had formed. "Honestly, I'm not sure I would care anymore," Sakura admitted. She moved to join Naruto on the couch. "Move over." He shifted down so that he could settled his head on her lap and prop his ankles over the arm of the couch. His long ripped black jeans clad legs seemed to stretch for miles and his custom-made bright orange converse sneakers bounced up and down to a rhythm only he heard. The boy was boundless energy. "I've never had more fun than these last few months with our group."
"Well, the Amaterasu is pretty badass," Naruto pointed out . He gestured towards Ino. "I still think if you wore a sun crown it would really sell the idea that we're representing the sun goddess."
Ino tossed her long, high ponytail over her shoulder. "No thanks."
Naruto's face creased into an easy smile. "I'd be happy to worship you."
Sakura flicked his ear, earning a frown from the man-child in her lap. "Behave," she hissed.
He rolled his eyes. "Yes, Mom!"
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OoO
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Sasuke
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He tapped his drumsticks on the table idly while his brother and cousins once again tried to convince him to tour with their group. Thankfully, Kakashi didn't mind telling them to shove it where the sun didn't shine. Sasuke could handle confrontations, but he preferred to avoid them. People tended to be so dramatic— especially people in his family.
"Thanks for that," Sasuke murmured. "They're becoming annoying," he said once the trio had been ushered out of their dressing room by security. Some of Kakashi's old war buddies had been hired once their popularity started to grow — Guy, Genma, and Tenzo. More often than not, they seemed to be around mostly to share war stories with Kakashi and drink beer. But they occasionally proved their worth — like this evening.
"Some people don't recognize a good thing until its gone," Kakashi explained. He picked up his guitar and strapped it over his shoulders. "Jiraiya is going to be here tonight. He's wanting to talk to us after the show about a tour and a record deal."
"Who?" Sasuke asked.
"An old friend of Minato's," Kakashi explained. "He and Orochimaru are rivals. He's always enjoyed besting the other man."
"You think you might stick around long enough to consider a tour?" Sasuke asked. He was under the impression that Kakashi was just passing through.
"I haven't had this much fun in a long time," Kakashi said quietly. "And I don't have to kill anybody. It seems like a win-win." His dark eyes met Sasuke's. "What about you?"
"It has been fun. And I cannot stand Orochimaru. I'm not above letting someone's spite get me ahead," Sasuke confessed smirking. He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Let's go." He twirled his sticks and then shoved them into the back pocket of his stonewashed jeans to make their way towards the stage.
They found their other three bandmates standing back stage and Sasuke could only stare. He'd spent most of the last few weeks in Sakura's company and when they weren't together they texted all the time. They'd only kissed that one night — but boy had he been tempted. She was distracting and he found himself disarmed by her time and time again. Tonight, seeing her was especially potent and looking at her standing there so confidently and happily, it made his breath catch. Then, as if feeling his stare, Sakura turned towards him, her jade eyes wide in concern.
She rushed over towards him, the back of her hand against his forehead. "Are you okay? You look pale," she worried, her cool, gentle hand caressing his face.
"I'm always pale," Sasuke said, catching her hand and lacing their fingers together. Sakura's long hair was styled in two playful braids, her skin-tight red dress reminded him of just how fit she was, and those legs. He'd always been a sucker for those legs of hers. He cradled the side of her face and dipped his head down to brush his lips against hers. He should have been kissing her all along. When she responded, he deepened the kiss, enjoying the way she melted against him. Then he pulled back, satisfied by the plumpness of her lips from his ministrations. "Let's go be rockstars, my Cherry."
She looked up at him with a dazed smile and stars in her eyes. She reached up and toyed with the dark blue cat ear headphones with attached mic he wore. "They look good on you, like a sexy cat."
Sasuke felt like the biggest rockstar to ever live and the only audience he cared about was the woman before him. He tapped the crimson headphones and mic she wore. "Meow," he joked.
"Adorable," Sakura said catching both sides of his face to pull him towards her again for another kiss.
Sasuke felt the tension in his shoulders ease. He definitely should have been kissing Sakura all along.
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Sakura
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The fire marshals had to escort a few patrons out of the concert, it was packed beyond capacity. She spotted her former bandmates and Sasuke's replacement on the balcony, but she hardly paid them any mind. She also spotted her Aunt Tsunade and a man by the name of Jiraiya — Kakashi said he was a talent scout much like Orochimaru. She didn't care about all that. She was here to make music with her friends and raise more money for the orphanage.
One of the reasons she adored her bandmates, they weren't in this for profit, but for fun and to help the community.
She strummed her guitar and smiled faintly as Sasuke's melodic tenor began to sing Linkin Park's song Numb. Itachi leaned his forearms over the balcony to listen intently.
"I'm tired of being what you want me to be. Feeling so faithless, lost under the surface. I don't know what you're expecting of me. Put under the pressure of walking in your shoes. Every step that I take is another mistake to you. I've become so numb, I can't feel you there. Become so tired, so much more aware. I'm becoming this, all I want to do is be more like me and be less like you."
Sakura glanced over her shoulder and caught Sasuke's dark eyes as he continued to sing, his voice becoming stronger under her encouragement.
When the song ended, the crowd roared. Then Sakura strode across the stage and a chair was placed right next to Sasuke's drum set. She sat next to him and the audience began to scream in anticipation.
Sasuke began playing softly while Naruto and Kakashi started the chords in unison. Ino counted silently, waiting to join in. Then Sasuke started with the percussion on the snare. Sakura took over lead. And they started rocking out to Skillet's Hero while flares and lights went up around the stage — dazzling and exciting at the same time.
"I'm just a step away, I'm just a breath away," Sasuke sang. "Losing my faith today."
"We're falling off the edge today," Sakura answered.
"I am just a man, not super human," Sasuke rejoined, catching her eye while he hit his drums.
"I'm not super human," Sakura answered.
"Someone save me from the hate," Sasuke sang.
Together they sang in harmony. "Who's gonna fight for what's right, who's gonna help us survive? We're in the fight of our lives and we're not ready to die. Who's gonna fight for the weak, who's gonna make 'em believe? I've got a hero living in me!"
Sakura glanced up at the balcony to see their former bandmates rocking out and grinning wildly. It felt good.
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Sasuke
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He listened while Jiriaya made his offer. It was generous and their band had been having a great time together. They wouldn't commit to anything just then. They were just going to take things day by day. And maybe he would consider it. He'd always dreamed of joining the police force, but now he had more dreams. His dreams included these friends of his and experiencing life in ways he'd never imagined.
While their bandmates had left for home some time ago, Sasuke and Sakura had gone to the club's roof. Tenzo had volunteered to stand guard at the stairs to keep away any unwanted visitors. It was the night of a new moon, so the stars were more prominent without the additional lunar light. They stretched out together on blankets and enjoyed the constellations together, snuggled up against one another.
"You okay?" Sakura asked, shifting so that she was resting on his chest and looking down into his eyes.
Sasuke wrapped his arm around her waist comfortably. "I am now."
"I never dreamed we'd have so many options," Sakura murmured, laying her cheek against his chest.
He shifted his free hand into her hair, running his fingers through her silky pale hair. "So long as we're on the same beat," he said quietly. It had taken a while, but he'd found his rhythm and it was with Sakura. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and pointed out a shooting star. "Hey, look."
She followed his finger and smiled. "Time to make a wish."
Sasuke smiled when she squeezed her eyes shut, as optimistic as a child sometimes. He waited for her to open her eyes again and he arched his eyebrow at her. "What did you wish for, Sakura?"
"It hardly matters, I've already got everything I ever wanted," Sakura said quietly.
"Me too," Sasuke said, and he hugged her tighter against him, determined to keep her this time.
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