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D-Day: 7 days
Sakura has never played bass before, but it doesn't stop Naruto from recruiting her into the band. She's a sucker for her blond friend, especially when he pulls out his signature puppy-dog eyes and pleading pout combo.
How can she say no?
And okay, maybe Naruto buttering up to her for weeks with pandering statements of "Sakura-chan, you're a genius, you'll pick it up in no time!" and "You're the only one I know who can definitely do it!" stroked her ego until she believed those words herself. Resigned, she'd finally agreed.
Bass guitar resting on her lap (courtesy of Ten-Ten's brother), she opens the video tutorial Naruto sent to her the day before.
And promptly realises her book-smarts do not translate well to musical instruments.
She fumbles spectacularly. It's not like she's never held a guitar before (Ino dated Kiba for a while and he loved to show off how well he could play – he let her borrow it a few times for the 'gram), but playing it is another matter.
The theory she understands – she can read the notes just fine, but once her fingers try to find the right string, it's all downhill from there.
It sounds so horrible even to her untrained ears and she feels like crying.
Fuck her life.
X
D-Day: 6 days
Gaara is...quiet.
It's weird, because he's the vocalist, but she doesn't complain – Naruto speaks enough for the both of them.
For all three of them, really.
"We're planning to just do a cover of this song," Naruto explains, slinging an arm on her shoulder. He works out daily at the gym, and his arm is so heavy that she hurriedly shrugs it off before her neck breaks.
Gaara's behind them, hands in pockets and headphones blasting who knows what song. She looks between him and Naruto and wonders how they met.
She meets Gaara's gaze, and he's the first to look away, frowning.
"Gaara's on strict orders not to say anything until near the performance," Naruto continues, blissfully unaware. "Aren't you, Gaara? He's had a sore throat for the past few days! Only one song, don't worry. They know Neji stopped playing for us, so they just want us to play something different." She nods, half-listening.
Their usual bass player, Neji, had to stop once his uncle found out he'd been skipping cello lessons to play in their band. Sakura had only met the uncle once. She can't blame Neji for backing down.
She doesn't have the heart to tell Naruto how badly her first foray into bass playing went. Instead, she keeps her mouth shut.
It's just one song.
She can do it.
When she gets home, she works through the online bass tutorials between homework sets and assignment research. She practices until the pads of her fingers on her left hand have little creases from where she would press the strings. She practices hard because she doesn't want to embarrass herself, but most of all, she doesn't want to let Naruto down.
Naruto has that effect on people, she thinks as she carefully places the bass guitar back on its stand (thank you, Tenten's brother).
He makes you want to try harder.
X
D-Day: 5 days
Naruto hands her the music sheet with no words. Then he hands her another sheet with just the bass tabs.
"I wasn't sure which one you're more comfortable with reading," he said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. She smiles, grateful, and takes the tab.
It's a lot easier than the music sheet because it shows the strings and which part to press. But still, she gets the placing of her fingers the other way around, or she plucks the wrong string.
There are only four strings in a bass guitar, which makes her feel even more of a failure, but she struggles on, practising her part diligently until Gaara comes in. Naruto stops playing the drums and throws his friend a grin.
"Maybe help Sakura for now?" he calls out. "If you play the guitar, she might get confused." Normally, Sakura will be affronted because Sakura does not get confused. She silently endures and makes personal executive decisions to prevent that very scenario. That is quintessential Sakura Haruno right there.
But before she can retort, Gaara grabs a chair and sits in front of her, arms crossed and face carefully blank. She's not sure what to do but then decides to hell with it and starts from the beginning.
His stares are heavy, and she feels uncomfortable. He waits until she finishes the song and makes a circle with his finger, indicating for her to start again. Shrugging, she flips back to the first page of the tab and starts to play. Too focused on the music in front of her, she doesn't notice Gaara until he stood right behind her.
Both his hands brush past her waist and he places them on top of hers. He positions her right hand until her thumb is resting on the highest string, and her other fingers are curled, poised for the next note. Next, he fixes her left hand so that the pad of her index finger is on the edge of the fret.
She feels his breath near her ear and her brain short-circuits at the proximity. His hands over hers is warm as he leads her to play the next few notes. When he plucks the strings, she's surprised at the clear sound the bass makes.
"T-Thanks," she says, "I got it from here." Gaara steps back and sits back down.
She messes up so badly that Naruto stops playing the drums and asks her if she's okay.
X
D-Day: 4 days
She may or may not have stayed up late last night going over the music.
In typical Naruto fashion, he only gave her the music sheet for the bass, so she has no idea what the song even is, or how the main melody goes. She hopes what she practiced will be enough because what happened yesterday –
She doesn't even want to think about it. Her cheeks are red from embarrassment.
In the next practice, she doesn't make a mistake until Gaara walks in. And then her fingers fumble, missing a few beats.
"Don't do that on the day," Gaara says as he straps his guitar. It's the first thing he says to her. That – That –
That asshole!
"I won't," she retorts, gritting her teeth. She turns her body away, part embarrassed, part angry, and practises her strumming, trying to remember where to place her fingers and to strum on time. She can feel his gaze on her, but she doesn't care about that pompous asshole and keeps playing.
They're lucky she even said yes to this thing! Doesn't he know she's a busy person? She should be doing a hundred other things, but here she is, playing this stupid bass for their stupid band.
When Naruto arrives, Sakura is ready to go home.
"But we have to practice!" Naruto shouts as she stomps out of the room.
"I'll practise by myself!" she says without turning back.
That night, Sakura practices her part repeatedly until she memorises where her fingers are supposed to go, and which string she's supposed to pluck. Every time she falters, she thinks back on Gaara's words and his haughty expression. It's enough to make her want to wow him tomorrow and make him eat his words.
She imagines playing the bass so good his jaw drops on the floor, but privately, she thinks that it would be easier to just smash the bass on his face.
It'll be much more satisfying, too.
X
D-Day: 3 days
In the next practice, Gaara is absent.
"His body finally gave out, I guess," Naruto says as he twirls the drumsticks in the air and catches only one of them. He hurriedly stoops down to pick the other one from the floor. When he stands up, he sees Sakura's alarmed expression and hastily adds, "He finds it really hard to sleep, so he can go a couple of days without sleeping."
Sakura still looks alarmed. "What?"
Naruto scratches his cheek absentmindedly. "He's an insomniac," he clarifies. "That's why he doesn't practice with us. He usually practices late at night until early morning. Hey, did you know he can play a lot of instruments? His house has like, a huge music room with just instruments, you know?"
Sakura holds up a hand to stop her friend before he completely derails the conversation. "Is his body okay? Should we check on him?"
"I dunno, he said it's been like that since he's young. Oh yeah, you know the music sheet I gave you? He transcribed all of it, by the way! He even made the bass parts himself! I couldn't find the bass tabs anywhere so- "
Sakura's stomach backflips at this piece of information. "Should we check on him?"
"Nah, he won't answer the phone. It's probably a good idea to let him sleep, it's been a while since he could get a proper rest."
"He'll be fine?"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan! He'll be here tomorrow!"
Sakura stares at the empty chair where Gaara usually sits and frowns. Turning away, she gives a signal to Naruto.
"One, two, three!"
She doesn't make a mistake once.
X
D-Day: 2 days
Gaara is here and his stare is heavy.
Sakura loves books, and she knows the expression well (trashy romance books are her ultimate guilty pleasures, after all), but it's the first time in her life she actually experiences it– she's not sure what to think.
It's intense, and the way their eyes meet every so often causes her to redden – from embarrassment or what, she's not sure.
Still, she refuses to be embarrassed – honestly, it's too late for that now. Their performance is in a few days (!), and the thought makes Sakura's hands sweat. She misses a few bars in the song, and she doesn't miss the way Gaara's eyebrow raised, mocking her.
She grits her teeth when Naruto stops his drumming and tells her they're going to start from the top. He's unusually determined, and she can't muster her usual sarcastic retort because this time, the fault is with her. Instead, she nods and grips the neck of the bass guitar a little tighter.
Gaara's stare is as heavy as having Naruto's arm around her shoulders.
Maybe even heavier.
She ignores it, and after a few play throughs, she finally plays it all the way through without any mistakes. It's a miracle, she thinks, because her mind is half on the song and half on the red-haired boy in front of her.
She wants to meet his stare head on. Maybe narrow them in distaste. Except she maybe kind of likes him. A little bit. A super tiny little bit. A microscopic, tiny bit. The thought of him transcribing bass tabs for her in the middle of the night makes her stomach queasy and her heart tighten. He's still an asshole, though.
So maybe not look at him with distaste but – silent contemplation?
Something like that.
X
D-Day: 1 day
It's the day before the performance and Sakura's heart beats so fast she thinks she might throw up. The stage manager at Shuriken fusses around them on small stage, a short woman with hair up in a bun and wearing a perpetual bitch face. She screams at a poor guy named Tobi.
"No, Tobi," the stage manager says. Sakura listens to their conversation because it's better than realising she'll have to play to a live audience. "Damnit, where's Deidara? Let me speak to him instead – why? Because you're a fucking idiot, that's why! Fuck off and find me Deidara!" Tobi scurries off, but not before flipping a finger behind her back. The stage manager gives Sakura a brief once over and groans, before pointing at her guitar.
Sakura's confused look only serves to make her impatient, and she snaps her fingers and points at her guitar again. Does she want the guitar?
"I'm surrounded by idiots, fucking hell," the woman grumbles, before kneeling and plugging something onto Sakura's guitar. "Damnit, Tobi, where the fuck is Deidara?" She storms off and the other staff gives her wide berth.
Naruto bumps elbows with her. "Don't take her too seriously, Sakura-chan! She's like that, but she's very good at her job. Right, Gaara?" Gaara grunts.
Sakura isn't reassured but tries to smile anyway. The Shuriken isn't that big – with Konoha University's funds focusing on sports, it's a dingy bar at best. Most students go there anyway instead of the games. The drinks are cheap, and if you're with a band, you get a few drinks for free.
"Gaara's going to do an acoustic at the first part," Naruto explains as he sits down in front of the drum set. "Then he's going to swap the acoustic for electric. Once he does, I'll count you in."
It takes them a couple of times, but they finally figure it out. Gaara doesn't sing because Tobi lost the mics.
"Tobi, you're fucking useless!" the stage woman screams while they practice. "You are dead meat, you hear me? And where the fuck is Deidara?"
Sakura prays tomorrow will be smooth sailing.
X
D-Day
Sakura's hands are sweating and shaking so much. They're behind a curtain, waiting for Sasuke's band, Sharingan, to finish their set. Her heart is beating so loudly she can't even focus or enjoy the music. Naruto is nowhere to be found, probably hanging out with Hinata before their performance.
Where's Naruto when you need him?
Gaara sees her alarmed expression and approaches. Her heartbeat skyrockets.
"Put your hands out like this," he says, placing his hands as if in prayer. She does the same. He slaps the backs of her hands, surprising her. It stings a little. "Are they still shaking?" She looks at her hands.
"N-No," she stammers. Gaara smiles (HE CAN SMILE?) and pats her head.
"Just do what you did yesterday," he says. She's still stupefied at seeing his smile (HE IS CAPABLE OF SMILING!). "If you mess up, I'll cover for you."
"You're singing and playing the guitar though," she points out.
Gaara raises a brow. "So?" So cocky. Much asshole.
She doesn't notice because her brain is still restarting from his smile.
He can smile. And his eyes crinkle in the cutest way possible. She wants to melt, and realises his smile is a potent weapon against her. Even more potent than Naruto's signature puppy-dog eyes and pleading pout combo. She'll never be able to say 'no' to that smile.
The thought scares her.
Fuck.
The Sharingan finishes their set and leaves the stage.
Fuck.
"Wanna go out for drinks later?" Gaara asks nonchalantly as they walk to the stage.
She stares at him, eyes wide as the reality sinks in. Adrenaline is coursing through her veins as she stares at the crowd and then stares at him.
Fuck fuck fuck.
"Fuck yes."
River (Guest) Mon 03 Mar 2025 03:35PM UTC
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GaarasGoddess Wed 07 May 2025 11:09AM UTC
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