Deep Breath
Naruto Uzumaki is an eighteen-year-old boy who is a member of one of the most famous bands in all of Konoha: Deep Breath, made up of Gaara, a talented and excellent keyboardist; Kiba, a lively bassist who loves dogs; Choji, a kind drummer who only eats when he's not on stage; Shikamaru, one of the guitarists, attentive and somewhat bored; and then there's Naruto, the band's vocalist.
You must be wondering: 'What do you mean, one of the guitarists?' and that's exactly how the story begins. Shino was one of the band's guitarists, but he ended up leaving due to some personal problems. Since then, the band has been looking for someone who can play the guitar as well as Shino could. Having two guitarists was Deep Breath's trademark.
Until one day when the band members decided to meet at a random bar after a day of rehearsal. They were almost getting used to the idea of having only one guitarist – well, Naruto was trying, distracting himself with his beer in the glass, shaking it on purpose so that the ice clinked against the glass. He was bored, barely opening his mouth, which was quite rare. His friends shrugged, Naruto usually gets like that when he's in a bad mood. He was watching the karaoke stage being filled with a small local band – to be honest, just a quartet – with a red-haired girl, who Naruto didn't care for at first; a white-haired boy, also not interesting; a red-haired boy, not interesting either; and then a dark-haired boy, with eyes the same color. Pale skin, like porcelain, that looked like it could break at any moment. That boy... held a red and white guitar in his arms, and had a microphone in front of him. "Good evening, everyone. Today we'll play a song we made ourselves, it's called Closer." The dark-haired boy said, and barely bothered to introduce himself. Naruto kind of rolled his eyes, he was already in a bad mood and didn't seem surprised at all. He just thought it would be a local and poorly organized band, but then...
The song started with a simple guitar solo, which filled the entire bar and echoed off the walls. Suddenly, everyone's attention was on those four boys, who were there on stage. The girl was playing the keyboard clumsily, while the other boy - who seemed a little confident and cocky - was playing the drums and had a smile on his face. The redhead was playing the bass and had a serious face, but you could see a slight smile on his lips. The guitarist, who is also a vocalist, caught the blond's attention in a way... When his voice finally came out, Naruto felt like his heart had skipped a beat. And throughout the song, the guitar he was playing only got more exciting.
The way his black hair swayed according to the direction his head turned, or how the sweat occasionally dripped from his face in an alluring way, or when his lips moved with each lyric of the song... Naruto was sure he had fallen in love at that moment.
As soon as the song ended, the entire bar stood up to applaud. The blond's body moved unconsciously, and he had eyes only for the vocalist. It seemed like every little word of the song had a huge meaning, and his voice only emphasized them. Naruto watched the genuine smile that was plastered on the guitarist's face, as he ran his hand through his sweat-damp hair. It seemed like the air suddenly got warmer, and he felt a huge wave of heat around him.
"Thank you all." the four boys thanked in unison, as more applause and whistles filled the bar.
Naruto had to leave the bar to get some air, because it seemed like with each second the air was becoming more suffocating. How could someone hold his attention as much as that singer did? And in just a few minutes!
The blond heard the bar door jingle, while he heard footsteps. It definitely wasn't someone entering the bar, but it didn't seem like someone was heading his way either. Naruto looked back to see who it was, and then found the person he least expected – and also really wanted – to meet. He walked past Naruto without even looking up from the floor, as if the blond wasn't even there, and that made Naruto approach him.
"Hey, you!" Naruto exclaimed, reaching for the brunette's shoulder and pulling him a little so that he was half turned towards him.
The brunette's eyebrows were furrowed, and he also had a confused expression on his face. Naruto found it kind of... cute?
"Who are you?" he asked.
"I'm the one asking!" Naruto returned the question. Even when the boy was looking directly at him, the hand on his shoulder hadn't moved an inch.
He frowned even more. "Why do you want to know? Guys aren't my type."
"Ew, I'm not flirting!" Naruto said, exasperated. Although he thought the boy was very attractive, he tried to hide it as much as he could. "It's just... I thought you played the guitar really well! Don't you want to join my band?"
The other boy stared at him silently, as if he was mentally laughing at him and telling him how stupid the blond was. "Join your band? I don't even know you, and suddenly you ask me to join your band?"
"I'm serious, man!" Naruto said. "Don't you know me from somewhere?"
The brunette shook his head, his expression softening slightly. All that was written on his face now was confusion.
"Do you know Deep Breath?"
He shook his head again, confused.
Naruto groaned loudly. "I'm the lead singer of the band Deep Breath, damn it! There's no way anyone wouldn't know about it, it's the most famous band in Konoha. You have to be really clueless not to know about it!"
The brunette took Naruto's hand off his shoulder, frowning. "I don't care about your stupid band!"
"Hah!?" Naruto grabbed a handful of the brunette's shirt, staring at him with his face dangerously close to his. "Say that again!"
"I don't care about your stupid band!" Sasuke repeated categorically.
Naruto clenched his fist. "You're going to regret this!"
Before anything really stupid could happen, a female voice was heard. It was the same red-haired girl who was playing on stage with the brunette and the other two boys. The red-haired girl broke up the fight, grabbing the brunette's arm in an annoying way.
"Are you okay, Sasuke? Did you hurt yourself?"
Sasuke...? So that's his name?
The Sasuke guy didn't answer the girl's question, looking away from her and in a completely opposite direction.
The red-haired girl glared at Naruto, and then pulled Sasuke in another direction and the two of them left. Sasuke didn't seem to pay much attention to the girl, but he also didn't protest being taken away. Naruto just stayed where he was, and then he felt a twinge of an unknown feeling in his chest. Was it jealousy?
_______________________
No, he was definitely not jealous. And he couldn't be! Sasuke is a boy, and he doesn't seem to have anything gay about him, not even a little bit. Naruto has been well aware of his bisexuality for a while now, but he knows how to tell a straight guy from a gay guy. Or maybe... Sasuke is just pretending to be something he's not...
What is he thinking!? Sasuke is definitely straight, totally straight. Yet, every time he thinks about Sasuke playing that guitar, or smiling breathlessly after the performance... he kind of melts like an ice cream cone exposed to the scorching sun.
At this very moment, he was lying on Shikamaru's bed, absentmindedly scrolling through his cell phone.
"What did you think of that guitarist?" Shikamaru started the conversation, playing Mortal Kombat on the PS5 on the floor. His gaze was fixed on the television, and the controller kept making noise whenever Shikamaru moved it.
"What guitarist?" Naruto asked, absentmindedly.
"You know," Shikamaru said. "The one who played at the bar last night. Don't tell me you've forgotten? You stared at him the whole performance."
Naruto blinked a few times, and after processing all the information, he blushed. "I didn't stare at him the whole performance, you're making things up!" the blond said, exasperated.
"I know," Shikamaru said, still focused on the game. "But what did you think of him?"
"He plays well, but..."
"What?" Shikamaru asked.
"He's very arrogant. I just bumped into him outside the bar, and he's a very rude guy."
"Oh..." Shikamaru muttered, as he continued to move his game figure. "And besides that?"
"I don't know. I think he'd be a difficult person to work with." Naruto replied, throwing his cell phone on the mattress and looking at the ceiling.
"Did you like him?"
The sudden question made Naruto's eyes widen. "I-in what sense?" he stammered.
"In the romantic sense. You almost never get that way for someone, Naruto."
"What are you talking about? I don't like him!" Naruto said, standing up to sit up. "Can you stop questioning me?"
"We were almost accepting the idea of having only one vocalist, but you keep resisting. If anyone were to play, it would be him." Shikamaru said. "He's perfect for it."
"No, no way!" Naruto retorted.
Shikamaru sighed. "You're hopeless..." He dropped the controller, causing his character in the game to automatically die with one hit from the opponent. He turned to Naruto. "You'll go talk to him. Let's recruit him. How about this?"
"No!" Naruto immediately denied. "I don't want to work with someone like him!"
"Naruto..."
"When you go to work with him if we recruit him, you'll regret it and you'll have to admit that I was right!" Naruto said, practically spitting the words. He threw himself back on the bed, staring at the ceiling again.
"You said the same thing about Gaara, and look, we're good friends now," Shikamaru said.
Naruto rolled his eyes. "It's different. Now I'm really serious," he muttered.
"But you like him, right?"
A frown formed on Naruto's face, and at the same time a small blush. "Shut up. Since you insist so much, I'll ask you to join the band again. But I won't go alone."
"Okay. I'll go with you," Shikamaru said, half smiling at having convinced Naruto.
_____________________
And there they were again in that same bar. There was no one playing at the bar, and they were both bored. Shikamaru was playing with his cell phone with the same expression as always: boring, while Naruto stared at the beer in his glass.
When the drink was finished, he got out of his chair and went to the counter to order two more cans of beer. There was only one person at the counter at that moment, and when that person turned around, time stopped. It was Sasuke! He works at this bar? For how long?
Sasuke, recognizing him, gritted his teeth and slammed the two cans on the counter with too much force. He forced a smile. "Here's your beer.
"You're the guitar guy!" Naruto exclaimed. "I didn't know you worked here."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Just like I've never seen that weird band of yours. I've been working here for two years."
"Funny, I've been going to this bar for about that long." Naruto commented. "But anyway, changing the subject... You really don't want to join my band?"
"You don't get tired, do you?" Sasuke said irritably. "I said no, wasn't I clear last night?"
Abruptly, Shikamaru approached the counter and rested both arms on the surface. He stared at Sasuke for a moment.
"So you're the guitarist?" he asked.
Sasuke didn't answer, frowning, so Naruto did it for him. "Yeah, that's him."
"Oh..." Shikamaru muttered, unimpressed.
"Who are you?" Sasuke finally asked, still frowning. He crossed his arms over his chest.
"I'm the guitarist in his band," Shikamaru replied, pointing at Naruto.
Sasuke immediately turned his gaze to Naruto. "If he's your guitarist, why do you need another one?"
"That's what we came to talk to you about." Shikamaru answered more quickly. "It turns out our band needs two guitarists."
"Too bad," Sasuke said, uncrossing his arms. "But you won't get what you want."
"Are you really going to waste your talent?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't answer, glaring at Naruto. Shikamaru let out a low laugh, almost as if he was planning something. And, well... he was. "How much do you earn at this bar? Minimum wage?" Sasuke frowned. "Does it matter?" "Yes, I think so. Let's see, you have a huge talent for playing the guitar, you can sing, and yet you waste your time singing karaoke at this bar and all you get is applause. Even though the bar is well-attended, I don't think you earn much." Shikamaru said. "If you used your talent for our band, instead of wasting time with those two, you would be famous and earn 10 thousand a month." As soon as he heard the amount of money, Sasuke was almost mesmerized. "And there's more." Naruto said. "We'll be releasing a new album by the end of the year, and look, it's April. You have time to get famous, you know..."
Sasuke swallowed. Then he sighed, and finally gave in. "Okay, whatever."
Below the counter, Shikamaru opened his palm and Naruto slapped it, silently celebrating.
"But first, you'll have to quit your job."
"What?" Sasuke asked, exasperated. "But..."
"And you'll have to live with Naruto for now. Only until you've found a place. And about the job, we rehearse on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. Having a night job would get in the way," Shikamaru concluded.
"Living with me!? I didn't agree to that!" Naruto retorted, indignant.
"Well, you're the only one of us who "knows" Sasuke the best. Am I wrong?" Shikamaru said, making air quotes with his hands.
"That doesn't mean..."
"Well, then it's decided." Shikamaru interrupted him. "Welcome to Deep Breath, Sasuke."
"Thank you." Sasuke replied quietly. He and Naruto exchanged silent glances, both irritated with each other.
________________________
It turned out that Naruto was forced to take Sasuke to his own apartment, since the brunette will be living there temporarily. And the blond hopes that this temporary situation won't last long. The brunette had a huge suitcase in his hand and a backpack on his back, nothing more than that. Naruto is lucky that his apartment has an extra room, because if it didn't, he would be screwed.
Sasuke looked around a little, as if he was analyzing every little detail, and let go of the suitcase's handle, leaving it on the floor. Naruto, since he at least has a sense of politeness, took Sasuke's suitcase and placed it near the couch.
"Well, this is my apartment," Naruto said. "Make yourself at home."
Sasuke nodded silently. "Where will I sleep?"
Naruto went towards one of the doors of his apartment and opened it, revealing a completely normal room, with a single bed and a huge window. "Here," said the blond.
"Hm." Sasuke muttered, stepping through the door and looking around the room.
"Look, if you need me, I'll be in my room," Naruto said. "It's down the hall."
Sasuke just nodded and watched Naruto walk out the door, probably heading to his own room. It seemed like they wouldn't be talking much today...
Instead of standing in the room doing nothing, he decided to look around the apartment more, since Naruto wasn't around. He left the room and did his best not to make any noise, walking slowly and taking light steps. He stopped in front of the bookshelf in the living room, near the couch, where there was a small frame with a photograph. There, Naruto, Shikamaru, and the other boys were.
"For someone so arrogant, you're actually quite curious." Naruto said, who abruptly appeared behind Sasuke.
Sasuke was immediately startled, turning around quickly. "I..."
"These are my bandmates, you know." Naruto ignored the fact that Sasuke was trying to explain himself. "This one you already know, it's Shikamaru. He's kind of boring, but he's really smart. He helps me write some songs. This is Choji, he's a really cool guy, but he only eats, and he's the drummer. This is Kiba, he loves dogs and he's the bassist. And this is Gaara, he's kind of quiet and mysterious, but he's a cool guy. He's our keyboardist." Naruto introduced his friends, while pointing to each of them.
"What about the others?" Sasuke asked, pointing to two other boys who are smiling in the photograph.
Suddenly, Naruto's eyes darkened, and his voice became lower. The atmosphere became tense. "Neji... he ended up having to leave the band for some reasons... and Rock Lee left the band a month later."
"I... I'm sorry for asking."
"No, it's okay." Naruto shook his head to shake off the bad feelings. "But tell me, what are your friends like?"
"I don't have any." Sasuke replied, looking a bit indifferent.
"But what about those three who were playing with you?"
"That... doesn't matter." Sasuke looked away, and then decided to change the subject. "So, you write your band's songs?"
"Yeah! Like I mentioned before, Shikamaru ends up helping me out sometimes." Naruto replied, brightening up. "But you write too, right? That song, Closer... I liked it."
"Really?" Sasuke blushed a little, and then looked away.
"Yeah, and you..." Naruto swallowed hard. "You sing well too, as well as play the guitar."
"Thanks." Sasuke mumbled, shyly.
Naruto smiled warmly. "Well, anyway, our band will have practice tomorrow. It would be nice if you could attend it."
Sasuke nodded, smiling a little.
They spent the rest of the night talking about their lives, themselves, and their hobbies. Eventually, they each went back to their rooms. Sasuke sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the night sky for several minutes. The stars could be seen better that night...