Chapter Text
“Oh my god, Naruto. You have no idea. This guy is so fucking hot.”
Naruto barely looked up from his Geography homework. He was two units behind, and the test was in a week. They were sitting on either sides of Sakura's bed, trying to get some amount of work done.
“I bet.”
“No, I’m so serious," she said. "Like he plays guitar in a band. He was crazy good, too.”
“What sort of music?” He asked, still attempting to formulate a halfway decent discussion post.
She shrugged. “Beats me. Some emo shit, but he was seriously shredding. And I bet he’s totally shredded.”
Naruto rolled his eyes. Sakura was a total cornball, but he loved her. He shut his laptop and tossed it across her bed. He was clearly not getting any work done. “Wait, where even was this?”
“Some basement off campus. Like a house show or whatever. Temari invited me. It was fun, they had free beer.”
He perked up. “What kind?”
“Um, Coors I think?
“Oh, lit!”
“Why do you care anyways? You’re literally in a frat, you have an unlimited supply of beer.” She was right, to an extent.
“Well why don’t you come with me next time? There’s another show this Friday.”
He shrugged. “I'm down. It could be interesting.”
He honestly wouldn't mind having a change of pace from the frat parties. They were fun and all, that was the whole reason he had pledged in the first place. Still, he could use a break from the same crowd. It was always nice to meet new people.
—
The weekend came around, and Naruto stood staring at the closet of him and Shikamaru's shared bedroom trying to figure out something to wear. Sakura had said to dress “cool,” but he had no clue what that meant. The last time he had even listened to live music was an ‘90s cover band that Kiba got free tickets to.
“You’re thinking about it too hard,” Shikamaru told him. “Just put on a T-Shirt and jeans, it'll be fine.”
Naruto huffed. “What does Temari usually wear?”
“She’s a girl,” he reminded him. “It doesn’t matter what guys wear.”
Naruto kept digging through his closet, throwing shirts in a pile on the floor. “What about this one?” he asked, holding up a Bud Light Tee.
He shrugged. “Yeah, that’s fine. Again, doesn't matter.”
Naruto tossed it on over a pair of black jeans. He looked in the mirror. Yeah, this was cool. He was definitely cool. He turned to face his roommate.
“Are you coming?” Temari had to work, and the prospect of being left alone while Sakura ran after some boy all night was slightly anxiety inducing.
“Nah,” he said, busy packing another bowl in the corner. “I’ve gone with Temari a few times, not my thing. You have fun though.”
“Yeah, I hope so,” Naruto said as he laced up his shoes.
He headed downstairs where Sakura was waiting for him outside. The house was about a fifteen minute walk away, giving them a nice stroll through the cool September air. It wasn’t hard to tell when they were near the show. The vibration of the bass echoed throughout the neighborhood, a good crowd of people spilling outside the backyard. Sakura said ‘hi’ to a few people as they walked in, but Naruto didn’t recognize anyone. The guy at the door was marking everyone's hands as they paid the cover. Naruto didn’t mind scraping up five bucks for a party and a couple drinks.
The entrance to the basement was right by the front door. “Is this the same place from last week?” Naruto asked Sakura as they headed down the stairs.
“No, it’s a different spot. Temari says there's a handful of venues around here that throw pretty regularly.” She skipped down over to the back corner of the room, already full of people. The walls were unfinished and covered in random posters and band stickers. There was a collection of old (probably stolen) street signs behind the stage where the band was doing sound check. The guitarist on stage had curly red hair and was a little scrawny, Naruto figured this wasn’t who Sakura had been talking about .
“Okay. So, our mission for the night is to talk to the guy from before.” Sakura told him,
“Wait what band did you say he was in?”
She shrugged. “I’m pretty sure it started with a ‘T’? I don’t know, I think they’re playing second.”
“You don’t know what band he’s in? He’s the only thing you’ve talked about for the past week?”
Sakura huffed. “Do you really think I was sober enough to remember who played last weekend?”
“Fair enough,” he said as he threw his hands up. “But I don’t even know what he looks like, how am I supposed to locate this guy?”
“You’ll know him when you see him,” Sakura smirked.
The lights dimmed. The murmuring died down as the drums began to pick up. The ginger on guitar started to play a sparkly melody over heavy distortion. They had a taller guy on bass singing, but Naruto could hardly make out what he was saying through the speakers.
He could feel his chest pounding with the bass, like the music was coursing through his bloodstream. Most people towards the back were just banging their heads to the music, but those towards the front were dancing like crazy. They were shoving each other and jumping around to the beat of the drums. It was violent. A mess of bodies crashing into each other with the heat of the music echoing through their veins. But they were all smiling. There was an invigorating electricity in the room.
That energy, though. He couldn't quite place it. It was like a vibration that passed through all the bodies cramped into the tiny concrete room. He’d never cared for going to concerts where he didn’t already know the songs, but this was entirely different from anything he’d ever been to.
Once the set ended, they followed everyone upstairs. A lot of people were hanging out on the main floor–there was a pool table in the back that a group was playing on. On the way to the kitchen, he passed a group of kids on the couch smoking a joint. It felt like a regular house party, except everyone was more high than they were drunk.
He wouldn’t mind smoking, but he still wanted another beer. He refilled his solo cup. The keg seemed to be getting empty, so it was mostly foam.
He felt a tap on the shoulder and turned around.
Sakura was grinning eagerly. “Hey, Naruto. I’m going to hang out by the green room downstairs and see if I can catch the guy. He’s playing next so I bet he’ll be there.”
“Alright. I might go outside and have a smoke.”
“You addict.” She playfully hit his shoulder.
“Hey!” He threw his hands in the air. “Drunk cigs don’t count.”
Sakura rolled her eyes. “Sure. I’m going to go find the man of my dreams. You have fun.”
He smiled. “Yeah you too, Sakura.” She was gone before he could even get a word out.
Naruto headed out the door to the lawn where everybody was. Everyone seemed to be in their own little smoke circles with their friends, so he wasn’t really sure who to talk to. He was usually the most social guy at every party, but he felt sort of out of place here. In part, because he didn’t know anybody. It was a lot easier to socialize when you and all of your closest friends were hosting. Plus, he hadn’t even finished his second beer. Once he was drunk this would all be a lot easier. At least he had his Marlboro Reds, maybe someone would ask to bum one off of him and he could go from there.
He put one in his mouth and reached for a lighter. Damn. He checked both coat pockets and his jeans. No light. He’d have to ask someone around there. He glanced around for anyone who didn’t seem to be in active conversation. Then, a figure in the corner caught his eye.
It was this guy in all black, leaning up against the wall and smoking a joint. Leather pants, leather jacket. He had a real cool look, a hardened gaze staring off into space as everyone chatted around him. What the hell. This could be an interesting conversion.
“Hey.” Naruto slid next to him. “Any chance you have a lighter?”
The guy stared back for a minute like he had been speaking a foreign language. Naruto was about to abort when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a Zippo.
“Yeah, here you go.”
“Wow, thanks man. You’re a lifesaver.” He was still looking at him with that confused expression.
“You wanna trade?” Naruto asked.
“Sure.” He took another drag of the joint before passing it to Naruto and taking the cigarette.
“What's your name?” Naruto asked.
“Huh?”
“Your name?”
“Oh, right. Sasuke.”
He took another hit of the cigarette, still wearing that funny expression.
“Yours?”
“Naruto.” He laughed, attempting to make the interaction less awkward. God, this guy was weird. “You from around here?”
“No. New York.”
“City?”
“Yeah, Manhattan.” He handed the cigarette back to Naruto as they switched again. “What about you?”
“Oh, I’m from a small town a few hours north. No one’s ever heard of it.”
Sasuke is sucking down that joint like his life depends on it. Naruto couldn't help but look at his biceps and how visible they were through the skin tight black T-shirt.
“You a freshman?” He asked, tossing the roach on the ground. “I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“No, a Junior” Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m just not really in this scene. This is my first time at one of these shows, actually.”
“Oh. So what sort of scene are you in?”
“I mean, I’m in a frat.”
“Really?” Sasuke laughed under his breath. “Do you live in the house?”
“Yeah, I moved in last semester.”
“Was that before or after the elephant walk?”
Naruto nearly spit out his beer. “Neither! We are a brotherhood founded on dignity and respect”
“You sure?. His voice had this edge that was playfully antagonistic. "You really didn’t have to do anything sick and depraved to get into your distinguished brotherhood?”
Naruto's expression turned serious and deadpan. “We don’t haze.”
“Really? You’re the only frat of all time that doesn’t haze?” he said with a sarcastic bafflement.
Naruto replied very matter of fact. “That’s not true, lots of frats don’t haze."
“Name one.”
“I wouldn’t know!" he exclaimed. "We’re not allowed to talk about it even if we do.”
“So then how do I know you’re telling me the truth?” Sasuke leaned into him with a sly smile, it made Naruto’s heart race.
“I guess you’ll just have to take my word for it.” Naruto shrugged. This guy was something else.
“So you’re promising me right now that you’ve never done a cum shot.”
Naruto was desperately trying to hide the flush in his cheeks. Sasuke’s face was getting increasingly close to his. Just a brush forward and their lips would be touching
“Ew, what the fuck. No.” He smiled. “Backshots? Maybe.”
Sasuke blew out a plume of smoke with a small laugh. “I knew there was some weird shit going on. Every frat guy is secretly gay.”
Naruto's heart skipped a beat at that comment. He tried to change the topic as fast as possible. “So if you don't go to the frats, what do you get up to around here?”
“Mostly house shows. Bars. Some parties now and then. The band takes up a lot of my time, so I don't go out every weekend.”
Naruto perked up. “You're in a band?”
“Yeah, we're up next.”
Naruto inspected the guy. Dark hair. Toned as hell. Emo. In a band. Realization charged through him.
Holy fuck. This was the guy.
“Oh! Shit. Wait, what's your band called?” he sputtered out.
“Taka. I play lead guitar.”
“Oh wow. That's cool. So you're just out here smoking a joint like ten minutes before you play. Shouldn't you be in the red room or something?”
Sasuke chuckled as he pulled his phone out of his back pocket. “The green room. And we're on in five actually.”
Sakura was gonna be so pissed that he had kept him away for her the whole time.
“Naruto!”
As if on cue, he turned around to find a very drunk Sakura behind him.
“Can you believe that guy isn't downstairs? They're starting like right now. I talked to the lead singer, though. He was hot, but nowhere near as much as–”
Her eyes widened as she looked to the man standing beside Naruto.
“Oh. Um, hi,” she giggled as she twirled her fingers through her hair. “My name's Sakura, what's yours?”
She stumbled over to reach his hand and shake it.
“Sasuke,” he said, expression tightening.
“I saw you guys play last weekend, you were so good. Like wow. I've never seen anyone play guitar like that.”
“Thanks.” He glanced at his phone. “I better head back to the basement. I'll see you guys there.”
He met Naruto’s eyes and nodded with a slight smile before turning around.
“Oh my Goddd,” Sakura wailed, covering her face in her hands. “That was so embarrassing. I shook his hand? What the hell. Who shakes people’s hands?”
“It wasn't so bad. He seemed like a nice guy. He probably thought it was cute.”
“No he didn't. I blew it.” She huffed dejectedly, burying her head in Naruto’s chest.
He patted her back. “It'll be okay. Are you sure you want to go back inside?
She sunk into him further, clutching his shirt to support herself. “I’m fineee. Let's go back in and see Sasuke.” She stood up and walked a step before stumbling back into Naruto.
“Alright Sakura,” he laughed. He slung his arm around her to stop her from tumbling into the bushes. “Let's get you back home.”
“But Sasukee,” she cried. “We have to see him play!”
“We can see him next time, don't worry,” he told her as they began walking down the street. He would have liked to see that guy play too, but getting Sakura home safe was obviously more important. She could barely stand up straight and he did not want to deal with the possibility of her emptying her guts in the crowded basement. Especially while Sasuke was on stage.
“What were you even doing with him, anyways?” Sakura asked, not entirely leaning on Naruto but still stumbling down the sidewalk.
“I borrowed his lighter. We were just smoking for a minute.” Naruto informed her casually.
“He was hot though, wasn’t he?” she asked him.
Naruto tensed up. “Um, sure. I mean, yeah, I guess he looked alright.”
She giggled. “God, men are so funny. It isn’t gay to say if a dude is objectively attractive.”
“I know, I know,” Naruto brushed off, trying to change the subject.
“How about we find you a girl next time,” Sakura said as she drunkenly pulled on his arm.
‘God,’ Naruto thought, trying to push the conversation he had been having five minutes prior out of his mind. He was absolutely, postitively fucked.