Marked By Jutsu

Marked By Jutsu 7

Gaara

I sat back stage listening to all the bands play. The lucky last was Desert Coffin. That was Gaara's band. I wanted to watch since Gaara's drum skills were legendary. I sneaked around to the side of the stage and watched from behind the curtain. Gaara's drumming skills were mad excellent. He looked like he was killing the damned things. I knew the song that his band was playing, and muscially it was perfect, but they just didn't look like they were having any fun. I was floored at the technical skill, but they left something to be desired. I knew they'd advance though, their skill level was just too high for them not to.

Six bands would advance. We were all called to the stage for the announcement. I locked my arms around Neji and Sasuke to stop myself from shaking. I was almost positive we'd advance to finals, but one could never be too sure. I noticed Gaara looking at me. His eyes were unnerving, but I guess he was just an intense person, so I offered him one of my signature Naruto grins. I could almost see his angry mask crack a little, but turned to face his band. I didn't care who advanced as long as our name was in that bunch. I sighed in relief as I heard our name called. I smiled and grabbed Neji's and Sasuke's hands and lifted them in the air. The adjudicators came to us asking for us to draw a number. I nudged Neji and told him to draw since Sasuke had the first round and Neji had the best intuition anyway. Neji looked at the official for a moment and then took a piece of paper from him. When we were allowed to look at the chosen slips we were happy to find that we got to be the lucky last performance. I couldn't wait. Save the best for last.


I pranced backstage happily pulling Sasuke and Neji with me. The first band of finals was going on in ten minutes. Sasuke wrestled his arm free and gave me an annoyed look. I smiled sheepishly and shrugged at him while releasing Neji's arm as well. I jumped noticing Gaara's band walk by.


"Oh hey Gaara-san, thanks for sticking up for me earlier, I really didn't mean to bump your friend." I smiled slightly nervously as he gazed at me. "Um....you sound mad cool on the drums. It was really awesome." Gaara looked down slightly but kept his eyes on me. "Um.....Yeah....I'm anxious to hear what you guys will play. I bet it'll sound wicked cool." God that gaze was making me nervous. "Um...good luck?" I tried while holding my hand out.


Green pools shifted to my hand and slowly I felt a strong almost painful grip come on to my hand and then it was gone. "Naruto....." He murmured while casting one last look at me and then turning to his bandmates.


"What the hell is that little punk's problem?!" The hooded one started to laugh at me. "You'd think he's slow in the head." Both the blonde woman and the hooded guy cracked up.

Oh but that made me angry. I was just trying to be nice. "You have terrible social skills you jackass!" I yelled while stomping away.


"You little cunt! Go home you no account, you don't have any talent!" He laughed.


"Kankuro....Temari...." that voice was deadly sounding. The threat was followed with the harsh sound of flesh meeting flesh and then a grunt of pain from the now de- hooded man. "Stop......he's not amused...." Gaara stated a small bit of sand swirling around his hand.


Sasuke had yanked my jacket causing me to stumble back into his chest. "Stop starting shit dead last. The last thing we need is to get ejected for bad behavior." he hissed in my ear.


Gaara's eyes fixed on Sasuke again. Sasuke looked up feeling the stare and unconciously tightened his hold on me. I looked up at him and noticed his angry stare. Hoo boy this was getting ridiculous. I sighed and wormed my way out of Sasuke's grip.


"Sasuke this is Gaara, Gaara this is......" oh but I couldn't resist "this is Uchiha Sasuke, my boyfriend." The drummer's face darkened slightly, but he nodded his head in recognition of my introduction. "Be nice Sasuke, we're just in some friendly competition." I stated teasingly while rubbing his arm.


He finally shrugged and walked back to where Neji was calmly standing reading a book. I sighed and bowed apologetically and then turned to join my band. Sasuke gave me a disapproving look as I plopped down at his feet and nuzzled his leg. Neji raised an eyebrow at my sad kitty act. He found it slightly amusing. Sasuke stiffened, but leaned down to pet my head noticing that the girl bands were approaching him. I could still sense Gaara watching me. I wondered briefly why he seemed so angry all the time. I sighed at the passing thought and almost purred. Despite it being Sasuke petting my head and not Neji, Kyuubi still purred deeply at the comforting action. I hoped the girls would leave soon because Sasuke was putting me to sleep. Instead they approached Neji.

He didn't even so much as look away from his book before stating, "I'm gay." That caused many moans of disapproaval.


"You're acting more like his pet than his boyfriend,"Neji stated while putting his book down and popping his shoulder.


"Yeah well, I'm cute." I blew a raspberry at the both of them, "and don't deny it! you even said so Neji!" I pointed at him accusingly. I pouted as he laughed slightly.


"Sure Naruto, a cute little brat."

"Desert Coffin. You're up."


I jumped up. "I wanna hear them. Can we please please?" I begged giving my two band mates sad puppy eyes.


"In don't think they allow dogs in the the building." Sasuke stated while walking over to the curtain to spy.

"Hey!" I jumped up and followed him.


I watched Gaara from the shadows. His drumming skills were entrancing. His hands seemed to move so fast. The movement was so smooth like liquid, or like the sand that twisted around his hands. Kyuubi seemed to be watching intently as well for his growling had slowed to a dull murmur of curiosity. As I listened I noticed that this song didn't showcase their skill as much as the first one had. Were they that confident that they would win? I smirked. I wasn't going to let that happen.


Another band played, and then it was our turn. Neji said that this song fit me because it had so much energy, and we had worked really hard on it. Man at first though, I couldn't get the words in the right order, but now I could sing it in my sleep, literally. I thought the lyrics fit me though. I grinned and waved to the audience. I spotted Umino-sensei and gave him a secretive look and then nodded for Sasuke and Neji to start the song. Man I was pumped.

"Lose my head to the chemical freeway. Comin' up on overload. In a mystic new dimension Purify and sanctify me. What, so I'm in no end game. Move my piece right off the board. Losing sure is easy so I am no more ." I danced a bit feeling the energy of the song through my whole body. "But I'm not broken, in my dream I win. In here I'm nothing, a Cosmic Castaway. Yeah-ha a cosmic castawy."

The music seemed to flow from me as I sang and I could feel my own facial expressions accomodating the lyrics perfectly. Good pick Neji. "In my head I'm a chemical dreamer. Speed up to burn out mode. Comin' up in the 5th dimension Beautify don't crucify me, yeah So I need no mind game poisoning my lonely soul. Losing sure is easy so I am no more." Did I tell you how much I loved these lyrics? They fit me perfectly. "But I'm not broken, in my dream I win And I take over, coz I'm no loser. And I'm in and you're not, bad dreams don't stop. But I'm all screwed up, a Cosmic Castaway yeah, a Cosmic Castaway yeah, a Cosmic Castaway."


I took time in the musical interlude to dance to the music. The choreography I'd done a thousand times while practicing this song in the shower paid off. I didn't miss a single step. My feet twisted and turned perfectly in sync which was almost baffling because I was known to be kinda clumsy. The music built up for the last section of vocals and I was ready to belt them out.


"And I want but have not Bad dreams, lust thoughts." I smiled internally at that line. " In here with no pain, you hurt me again. And I want but have none
I should beat the alien. But here I'm no one, a Cosmic Castaway yeah, a Cosmic Castaway yeah, a Cosmic Castaway yeah, a Cosmic Castaway." I held that last one out for a bit then faded off into the guitar music and let Sasuke and Neji take it. God they sounded good tonight. I was happier than even when eating Ichiraku brand ramen.


We got a standing ovation, which I don't think any of us had expected. I waved to everyone in the audience and grinned then let out a long howl. Neji and Sasuke walked up behind me and patted me on the back. I felt great. I wanted to do it again. The crowd cheered for us for a long time, and I thought through all the chaos I heard Umino-sensei yell my name out. I could feel Gaara's eyes on me as I smiled and waved to the crowd. He was watching me from the same place I had been watching him. I turned to him slightly and giggled! He stepped back slightly surprised, but his frown went back into place as he moved through the shadows.


The other bands were called on stage for the awards ceremony. I bounced in anticipation. The judges walked to the stage and conversed with the announcer for a bit. They all whispered in hushed voices and then the announcer came back to the mic.


"Scores were combined based on skill, difficulty of the music, and stage presence, and of course audience response." she turned to address the bands. "I will announce the name of each band and their score in ascending order starting with sixth place and then the first prize last."


I closed my eyes and listened. I wanted to win so badly. The lyrics of the song we sang ran through my head as if on a stimulant drug. My heart was beating so fast and hard that it was loud inside my ears. Along with the fast forwarded lyrics and the pulse I could feel and hear Kyuubi's growling at Gaara. I tried to calm my racing nerves as they read the names. The scores were based on a four hundred point scale. It broke down like this. Skill was one hundred and fifty, difficulty was one hundred, stage presence was one hundred and audience response was fifty. I figured that we got all of the response points, but compared to the other bands I didn't know how we fared.


"Desert Coffin, score out of four hundred, three hundred and sixty two points. Second place."


What??? Did that mean?


"Hidden leaves, score out of four hundred, three hundred and seventy seven points. Hidden leaves a new comer is our champion. Congratulations."


It took a minute to sink in. I stood and stared in awe at the cheering audience. Sasuke knocked me, literally out of my stupdified expression. I grinned widely and gave a victory pose. Neji was clapping with the audience looking quite reserved and Sasuke was smirking as if he'd always known we'd win. I then turned to him and jumped at him hugging around the neck. He staggered back a bit and was caught from falling by Neji sticking his hand out and holding him upright. Sasuke blushed slightly as he caught my attack on him.

After the awards ceremony we were sent backstage to collect our prize from the judges and to meet up with Umino and Hatake- Sensei. We walked past Gaara's band. Kankuro shot me a dark look, but I merely stuck my tongue out at him. Bad move. He came at me, but before he could even land a hit Gaara had throw his drum sticks at him causing him to fall.


"Kankuro....stop being foolish....." he snapped at him with that same startlingly cold voice.


"Man! Stop throwing those damned things at me! What's your problem Gaara? He's our competition, yet you're defending him." Kankuro looked accusingly at the red-headed drummer.


Gaara was again ignoring him and fixated on me. "Uzumaki...Naruto..." his eyes narrowed at me, and I sheepishly cowered into Sasuke a little. "You surprise me...." he stated while stepping closer t.
.


Sasuke was giving Gaara a warning glare and pushing me inbetween him and Neji. "You lost fair and square. Now leave us alone."


Aside from Gaara's gaze, nothing about him looked especially threatening, so I took a step forward. "How so?"


"You just do......" He deadpanned while reaching out toward me again. "I can feel something different about you." Well it was obvious to me that he knew about Kyuubi, especially since he'd tried to touch my scar at the qualifying rounds. "He feels it......." Gaara idly twirled the drumstick in his hand while sand moved gracefully about it in an entrancing display.


"I dunno what you're talking about, but we have a long ride ahead of us so I'll see you around Gaara-san." I smiled quickly while ushering Sasuke and Neji away. "You have mad drummin' skills." I waved while turning away.


I could still feel Gaara's eyes on me as we walked away. His gaze seemed to pierce through me and arouse Kyuubi's defensive behavior. It was odd though, even after we were back in Konoha I could still feel that cold look. I looked around warily but found nothing out of the ordinary. I sighed at my paranoia. Kyuubi had always made me feel watched, maybe I really was being watched, but only he could sense it. I needed some food now. My stomach voiced it's agreement with a loud growl. Shuffling around in the cabinets a found a cup of pork ramen, not miso, but still good. Ichiraku brand cup o noodles were the best. I focused completely on my task of making the noodles disappear.


With a full belly and a pleasantly sleepy demeanor I decided that it would be in my best interests to go to sleep. Besides, tomorrow was full shift and I had to get up early to work. Stupid Ji-san and his escapades with books. He was going on a long trip and leaving me in charge of the store. A yawn escaped me. It was definately time to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Sand? What was I doing laying in sand? I shook my head causing a rain of sand to fall from my hair. My eyes squinted and through the bright sun all I could see was an endless bed of the gold sediment.


"I've been waiting for you to wake up..........." a voice a soft as falling leaves said from behind me.


I turned slightly feeling silk run softly over my skin. I didn't remember wearing a white kimono to sleep. What was going on. I looked toward where I heard the vo A y A young man dressed like a sheikah I had read about was sitting across from me in the sand. He was dressed in white robes draped with a black sash and hood. I couldn't see his face. He spoke again.


"The sand wants you to sing." He moved and started toward me. "The sand is drawn to you." He seemed to glide across the sand as he walked. "Will you indulge it?"


He stopped in front of me and held his hand out. Sand snaked up from his feet and played about his fingers as he studied me. I reached out to grab his outstretched hand and the dancing particles locked around my wrist tightly. I winced slightly as they climbed up my arm. I gazed up at the stranger and then noticed his jade eyes gazing through me. It was Gaara. His other hand came up to rest on my shoulder.


"G-Gaara-san??" my eyes widened at the realization. "What are you doing here?" I looked around. "Um...where is here?"


He said nothing and bore me to the soft blanket of sand. I was gazing up into those intense eyes as his body shielded me from the sun. Sand swirled around me and began divesting me of the white clothes I wore. It skimmed over me as if it were his fingers leaving a trail of teasing tingles afterwards.


"But wait," I blushed, "I just met you. Isn't this going a little fast? Especially since I have a boyfriend." I squirmed a bit trying to hide my nudity from his eyes.


A slight of hand and my body was still, bound by the living earth. His eyes narrowed as he studied my body. He reached out with an ivory hand to touch the skin around my scar. I purred at the sensation. Speaking of purring, where was Kyuubi? Who cared? His unsure hands were causing pinpricks of lust to filter through me. I half wanted to teach him what would make me feel good, but half wanted him to figure it out for himself. God Sasuke was right. I was acting kinda slutty. I needed to hit him later for being right, but never mind that right now. I was focused on what Gaara was doing to my body.

"More...." I breathed as his touch moved lower.

"Uzumaki Naruto......what is it you want? Show me....." his voice didn't showcase any of the wanton desire I saw hiding in his eyes.


Show him huh? My right wrist was suddenly freed from the hold the sand had on it. I gazed at him through lowered lashes and then moved my own hand to rest on my chest. He watched me with perked interest as I glided my hand down my own body to rest on an achingly hard erection. My hand moved in a familiar dance over the heated flesh. Gaara suddenly stopped me and recaptured my wrist the the sand and proceeded to repeat my actions. God but it felt so much better to have someone else doing that to me. His hands seemed more sure now that he'd seen my example. He massaged my aching flesh with nimble fingers. I sighed and arched up as much as the sand would allow me to move. He applied more pressure to the tip of my erect member causing me to gasp and writhe about. I arched into the tunnel of heat he was creating to get to my final release.


"Uzumaki...."

"Uzumaki."

"Oi Naruto!"


I jumped at the voice that was distinctly Sasuke. Sasuke? What was he doing here? My eyes opened to find no Gaara, no sand, and a mess in my boxers. Oh man. How long had Sasuke been standing there? My cheeks flamed as he tossed my backpack on to the bed. Kyuubi was yawning inside me and stretching as I suddenly felt the need to pop my back, but that caused the covers to move slightly revealing a semi-hard member within my boxers.


"I'm not going to bring your crap back to you next time Naruto." Sasuke turned to leave my room. "Oh and by the way, you should lock your door. And another thing......" he glanced at me with those dark eyes. "I'd hate to think the neighbors heard you calling Gaara's name.................."


Oh shit..........

A/N: To anyone and everyone who guessed and commented, no I did not write those lyrics, they are by smashing Pumpkins. You might see Naru belt out a few of my faves by them. The song for finals was Cosmic Castaway by Electrasy from the movie Titan AE. I thought that the words fit perfectly.

Note on Gaara- I do not know what his last name is so I simply used Sabaku no Gaara as his full name. Ah yes, I'm trying to keep him in character as much as possible which is fn hard at times. He's going to take a lot more developing. Temari and Kankuro are only here for plot usage and they don't have a big role. Now about Shukaku: I figured since Naru still has Kyuubi and Neji can still use gentle hand taijutsu Gaara needed Shukaku, besides the sand makes a lot of Gaara's personality up and I have a feeling that it wouldn't just go away when he dies, but rather attach itself to his soul or something to keep getting revived. I figured also since Gaara is kinda rageful that he should play drubesibesides I bet one could do cool stix trix with extra arms.

To my AFNs: You guys rock me out! I finally broke 50 reviews there whoot!!


RikuNghts- The name of the song was Zero by the Smashing Pumpkins, it's quite well known. I'm glad youj liked it. I'll chat with you soon.

Kashshaptu- I dunno if it's extra superduper long, but it's longer than the last one. Glad you like.

Ookima- Naruto just wants everybody, poor guy. It's all those damned hormoneseseses fault.


Vampia Zee- of course Sasuke is jealous and slutty Naru is my fave kind. I'm originally from Corpus Christi, but now I live in the Dallas/Denton area. Both are my home.

FeatheredEdge- I is a klutz too. Ding ding! YOu are right it is Zero! um the OOC well I'm trying to be in character as the circumstances allow, but I am glad you decided to read. I'm glad you like it too.

Suukou- Dominate Neji rocks my socks. He radiates of super seme powers. Yes I will indulge you with a Neji/Naru interlude from this universe, but it will be under a diffie name: Awry....Look for it soon. And as for the pairing, um........Oh god please indulge me with an Itachi/Naru fic. I know I'm wierd especially since I was wanting a Neji pairing originally, but I just had to have a good Itachi/Naru fic. Sorry Neji I'm writing you for her so I want an Itachi fic. Dun worry though. you're still my top guy.

Natasha- Smashing Pumpkins rule the world *weeps* Thanks. Glad you like.

Twilight Rose- You hit it right on. Shukaku can feel Kyuubi's chakra. Poor Gaara does need a boyfriend. Thanks DAAling for another review. You'll get plenty o SasuNaru moments.

Anon- Thanks for the tip. I was careful this chappie. Development before sex. Can't have them all going wild and screwing like minks on aphrodisiacs now can I? Um about Naru's singing. I want him to soud like a lot of different people. I think he could pull off the whining beauty of Corgan's voice though. Hence the reason Neji trained his voice well, so he could be ecclectic.


Jin- smae as above remark


Rune-Pic at Fanart central depicts Naru as Neji's pet. Yes well if you count getting jacked off in his dream citrus. Dun worry I write some pretty citrusy stuff so there will be sexings in this fic.

Dragonkitty- Gaara rocks the world. Yeah poor Naru and now he's got Gaara thrown into the picture.


Shez- Well let's put it this way. He's sort of the hybrid between a goth and a candy raver. I gotta have him in orange at some point. Besides he seems like a candy raver personality wise, well minus the pill popping. Thanks for reading. *feels awesome*

Yuka- Texas does BoB for a bunch of different things. I thought simply that they had to start somewhere, so why not there? And yes I will write more soon.

KARINA- *blushes* thanks. I'm workiard ard on this fic to make it enjoyable not only for the readers, but for myself to read. I find myself going back and rereading the stuff just to read it. Thanks for reviewing.


You guyses rule my world. Since I broke fifty Yaoi cookies for all!!!! I'ma post an art for breaking 50 here. It should be up sometime this wee. I wanna ROCKS!