InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Another Yellow Brick For The Road ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The son mentioned was given to me by a friend. She wrote it and I adjusted some of the lyrics to flow in a less somber fashion. But it’s a great song.
Chapter 4

The next day, Shippou woke up for school only to remember that it was now Saturday. Looking at the clock, he curled up against his pillows and got another hours worth of sleep. He would have gotten more but the gentle rap of his dad on the door got him moving. Opening the door, he found his dad with deep purple circles under his eyes. Rubbing his right eye free of sleep, Shippou asked, “Everything okay, Dad?” Instead of answering the question, James told his son to get dressed.

Changing out of the clothes he wore to bed, Shippou put on some fresh clothes and looked for his dad. Shouting for his dad, he saw his old man sitting out in the driveway waiting in the car. Going out, he climbed into the car next to his dad asking what the problem was. Backing out, James drove in silence until they were outside of a restaurant. Getting mad, Shippou kept quiet until they were seated. After the waitress took their drink orders, James sighed and said to his son, “Your mom’s gone.” Keeping silent, Shippou allowed his dad to explain.

“After that fight last night we both went to bed. I fell asleep on the couch and woke up to a letter on the coffee table.” Shippou could hear the sadness in his dad’s voice as the man continued. “She said she’d had enough and would be sending divorce papers in a few weeks.” Sighing as his coffee got set in front of him, James took a sip saying, “It’s been coming for awhile, and I guess my hoping that she’d stay was too much.” Not seeing his son show an ounce of emotion, James told the teen, “It had nothing to do with you, Son. She loved you as much as she could, but it’s just one of those things you can’t control.”

Taking a sip of milk, Shippou put his glass down asking, “So, what’s going to happen now?” Asking what his son meant, James was a bit shocked to hear him say, “I don’t know, Dad. I’m not all that surprised that mom left us, but I don’t know what to do with the band now.” Putting his hand down, Shippou asked, “I don’t know if I feel okay leaving you all alone in the house while I’m sitting there in the back of a car trying to get to the next gig and having to bug you for money if we can’t make scratch.”

Chuckling, James patted his son on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine, Boy. I can survive without your mom. Besides you’ve been trying to get this off the ground since you all were in elementary school.” Draining his cup, the older man told the boy, “You’re the only one who knows how to get all that equipment working correctly. And not to mention all the time you put into editing all that music on the computer.” Opening the menu, James said, “So, just pick something to eat and we can discuss this some more after you get back from your gig tonight.”

They ate their breakfast in total silence, James read the paper as Shippou nibbled on some bacon. When they were nearly done, James cell phone went off, “Hello?” he asked upon answering it. Looking across the table he said, “Sure, Temari he’s sitting right across from me.” Giving it over to his son he told the sound engineer, “It’s your girlfriend.” James laughed as his son snatched the phone from his father’s hands in an embarrassed hurry.

“Yeah what’s up?” On the other end his girlfriend asked if everything was okay. “Of course, I’m just a little bit tired.” Unsure of what to say, Temari asked if he could spend the day with her and her brother’s before the gig. Looking over to his dad, Shippou looked for a hint of agreement. Knowing what his son wanted, James said that he’d drop him off at Temari’s on his way home, so long as Shippou was home after the gig.

With breakfast over, James took his son over the home of his girlfriend, Temari. Being the youngest of middle child of the family, not to mention the only girl, Temari had developed a strong will. Her oldest brother Kankuro was in his junior year at the University of Washington, and her younger brother, Gaara was in his junior year at Temari’s School. She and Shippou had been dating since Sophomore year, and they kept it low key in terms of sex. Temari’s best friend was a mom and had to continue school at home, and her other friend had contracted HIV from one of his many one night stands while in college.

But the two were living life to the fullest. Her friend Mitchell had a girlfriend who looked past his disease and made him actually take care of himself, and Sasha graduated early because of her at home classes and was working to support herself and her baby girl. Those two things kept Temari wary on how far she should go, and Shippou was a bit frustrated at the lack of physical intimacy. Yet, at the same time he was conscious of his girlfriend’s struggle. So they came up with one way after another to keep their nerves calm.

With their parent’s always working, the three Kaze children had to find their own ways of keeping themselves occupied. Kankuro had school and his writing, Gaara had his martial arts classes, and Temari painted. And at certain intervals, such as the one Shippou was in, they indulged in a slightly illegal activity. Waving goodbye to his dad, Shippou rang the door bell and was greeted by loud barks of a dog. Opening the door, Gaara pushed his dog back saying, “Come on in Shippou.”

Stepping into the house, he found Temari curled up on the couch watching some shows on the television. Seeing her boyfriend she sat up and made room, allowing him to nestle his head on top of her lap. Reaching over to a wooden box she pulled out a bag asking, “Are you in a mood?” Scoffing saying that he’d smoke the whole bag if he wanted to, Temari told Gaara to go upstairs and do his homework. Hearing that her brother wanted to play a video game, Temari told him, “Grab the system and take it into your room then.”

Detaching his game system, Gaara went upstairs while Shippou allowed his girlfriend to do her work. He would have helped her disect the cigar and remove the tobacco, but after one mess up, Temari made it her obligation to refill the smoking apparatus. Putting the familiar dried herb into the wrapping, she licked it and then used her lighter to seal it shut before lighting the tip and taking a long drag of the former cigar. Blowing out the smoke, Temari coughed a bit handing the blunt over to her boyfriend.

Taking a couple of short puffs, Shippou coughed the same as his girlfriend upon releasing the smoke. Staring at the television he said to the blond, “My mom’s gone.” Temari stopped just as she was about to take another hit. Asking what he meant, she had him reply, “She just up and left last night. She’s divorcing Dad and wants nothing to do with us anymore.” Stamping the cigar out, Temari leaned against him wondering why he wasn’t crying.

Holding his hand she asked, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Laughing, Shippou squeezed her hand saying that he didn’t really care. Disturbed by his apathy, Temari sat up telling him, “You’re not exactly making me feel comfortable about our future.” Giving her a cold stare, Shippou told her that his parent’s relationship did not reflect on their life together. Huffing, she told him, “That may be true, but your attitude toward them divorcing is what’s disturbing me.”

Sitting up, Shippou put his arm around the girl saying, “I don’t plan on doing what my mother has done. Nor, do I intend on leaving you.” Sighing he gave her a kiss whispering, “I just knew this was coming so I’m not all too surprised about it.” Temari tried to pull away, but he just kept her close telling her that they weren’t his parents and they could make things work. When she finally broke down and hugged him, Gaara had come down asking if they were done getting stoned.

Shouting that they were, the teen reconnected his Playstation and opened a window while his dog laid on the ground next to him in the late morning sun. Joining her brother in a game, Temari saw her boyfriend doze off on the couch. Elbowing her little brother, Temari told him to keep it down while they played. Snorting, Gaara began shouting at the screen whenever he made a mistake jerking Shippou from his sleep on several occasions.

Giving up on trying to sleep, Shippou looked up at the clock to see it was already half past three. Jerking up off the couch, he told Temari to bring the rest of the cigar and ran off to do a sound check at the club. He was familiar enough with the bus schedule to know which bus to climb on, and when he did he was surprised to see Kohaku holding his sketch book. Paying the driver, Shippou plopped down next to his best friend saying, “So what did you do last night?”

Taking a deep breath, Kohaku waved a hand in front of his nose before stuffing his book back into his bag. “Well, I didn’t get stoned that’s for sure.” Zipping the bag up, Kohaku asked his best friend, “So what’s the problem this time?” Shippou laughed at the inquiry his friend gave. The truth was the only time Shippou actually smoked anything was when he was mad or stressed out. And the previous “incense burning,” ritual happened three months ago when he failed a math test.

Noticing a water bottle on the seat, Shippou asked if it was Kohaku’s. Giving it to him, Kohaku let him take a deep drink before his friend explained what happened the night before. Kohaku kept quiet through the whole explanation. He’d stayed the night over at Shippou’s plenty of time and had heard the fights. It wasn’t too surprising to see Shippou handling the situation the way he did. If Kohaku had lived with parents like that, he’d have handled the divorce in a similar fashion. And, who could blame him when all he heard during most of his life was the sound of two people fighting.

Taking his water bottle back, Kohaku shook it to hear it nearly empty. Stuffing it in his bag, the teen was once again asked, “Well, now that we know what happened with me.” He got Kohaku into a head lock asking while giving him a noogie, “I want to know how your date went.” Squirming and shouting at his friend to stop, Kohaku got them some unwanted attention from the driver. Letting his friend go so that they wouldn’t get kicked off the bus, Shippou asked, “But, seriously how did your date go with, him?”

Shippou was now only one of about five people who knew who Kohaku’s boyfriend was. Everyone who knew was shocked at who he was dating because it was another person. Shifting in his seat uncomfortably, Kohaku told the sound guy, “Well, it went okay. We went to dinner and caught a movie, he even got bold enough to kiss me in the middle of it getting some odd looks directed at us.” Looking over, Kohaku could see his friends face strain from the effort of it’s owner to keep from bursting into hysterics.

“And, then he called up his parents and said he was going to stay at my house.” Kohaku’s laughter died at the sound of a whistle of astonishment. Giving his friend a look, the shorter of the two said, “He still hasn’t told his parent’s yet so they just thought it was a sleep over.” Shippou said that he was surprised that he’d been keeping it a secret for so long. “I agree,” said Kohaku, “but it’s his choice. Yet I wish this morning would have gone better because now my sister’ll start to bug him at school if we get into a fight.”

As if on cue with Shippou’s reaction of surprise, the bus came to a sudden stop. Seeing it was their stop, the two exited the bus and headed toward the club. Keeping in pace with his friend, Shippou asked, “What happened? Did she catch you guys in bed?” The silence was answer enough for the taller of the two. Staying quiet so that he could say in a calm voice, “Please tell me the two of you were clothed.”

Punching his friend in the head Kohaku, stuffed his fist back into his pocket growling, “We were under the covers. So in a sense we were clothed.” The sudden fit of laughter from his friend told Kohaku that revealing such an event was unwise. And figuring that he was in deep enough as it was he may as well add a bit more fuel to the fire. Keeping his friend upright, Kohaku then said, “So, then she walked in on us in the middle of a light morning work out, screamed, and sat in the kitchen sipping her juice until we’d both come down fully dressed.”

Stifling his laughter, Shippou struggled to keep a straight face but said, “So...uh...hehehehe...were...you...” Kohaku smacked his friend telling him that it was none of his business if he was on the receiving end. Calming down, the brunet said, “It’s just I’m trying to figure out why she screamed.” Holding up his hand, Shippou counted, “You could have been kissing, or getting pounded, pounding him, getting blown, or...”

“Okay I was on the giving end!” Realizing what he’d just done, Kohaku covered his mouth while his friend laughed at the looks he was getting. When they got to the club, Kohaku said, “I was on the bottom last night, so it was only fair I got to be on top this morning.” Saying that it was a fair trade, Shippou was surprised to hear him add, “I suppose getting a lecture about safe sex from your sister is also a fair trade in such a situation?” Knocking on the door, two waited as the owner came and let them in.

“Not like you two to be so late to a rehearsal.” The hint of sarcasm in the man’s voice told the two what he was hinting at. Giving him the usual negative comments on their relationship, the owner told them, “You know I’m just fucking around. Anyway, your friends are destroying the sound system so you’d better hurry up and help them before they break something.” When Shippou ran off to stop the others from ruining the set up, the owner told Kohaku, “There is a new light system up in the booth if you want to go and give it a quick run through.”

“Thanks, Eric,” was the reply Kohaku gave as he climbed up into the light and sound booth. The club was much bigger than some of their usual gigs. But, they’d been playing at this place since they started highschool so they were familiar with the best ways to light the stage and how to get the sound to work with the building’s acoustics. Settling into his usual seat, Kohaku watched from his second story seat as Kohaku kicked Duo away from a woofer.

The club consisted of mainly two stories. The first held a dance floor and tables for the patrons, not to mention a bar and in the back was a kitchen equipped with plenty of food to feed the nightly crowds. As it was a Saturday, “Mutt,” was the head liner which would bring in quite a few local fans. Flipping a few switches, Kohaku found that the system was the same, except that it had a few added features that would allow the engineer to save the lighting sequences should they have to go to the bathroom in the middle of a set.

Meanwhile down on the stage, Shippou was reattaching a few plugs and after messing with the microphones for a moment he said, “All right, we’re good to go.” Tuning his guitar one last time, Naruto asked his friend what song he wanted them to try out first. Telling them to hold on for a minute, Shippou took his seat inside the booth associated with all the speakers and sound equipment throughout the club. Flipping on his mic he told Kohaku to load the light sequence for one of the songs. When Kohaku was ready, Shippou said, “Let’s start off a bit heavy and go with, ‘Your End Is Death.’”

Getting to his own mic, Inuyasha looked at the booth and asked, “Are you sure that’s not a bit, well depressing to start off with?” Clicking the button, Shippou said that it’s just a warm up and that they still needed to get their timing together. Shrugging it off, Inuyasha checked to make sure that he had the strapped on the correct bass, Inuyasha began plucking out the first chords of the beginning bass line. Letting her boyfriend set the beat, Kagome joined in moments later adding in the slow tapping of her drums.

Naruto joined in with his rhythm striking each note in perfect timing as Sasuke’s lead wailed loudly throughout the club. As the band began to play, Kohaku adjusted the lights to fit the mood of the song going from a bright, well lit area, to a slowly darkening cave like presence. Shippou began to adjust the sound because he was hearing feedback and he was glad to find that his timing was perfect because Sasuke’s deep voice boomed.

Loneliness and desperation
Frustration and discrimination
You feel alone

Your world caves in
Crashes down on you
You’re pissed at the world
Why did this happen to you?

Reality has split noone dares ask why
you scream in agony and then comes the dark
no where can you go nor can you hide
Your time has come

Loneliness and desperation
Frustration and discrimination
You feel alone

Your heart is torn
What was done no one shall know
You’ll feel the pain
No matter what

Loneliness and desperation
Frustration and discrimination
You feel alone

People see you
Remark at you
You stand back up –
The wounds shall deepen to ungodly depths

Loneliness and desperation
Frustration and discrimination
You feel alone

Cause they did this
they did this to you
They can take it away
You know they never will

Loneliness and desperation
Frustration and discrimination
You feel alone

But then the light comes and now we're here
The desperation dissolves into the air
no more loneliness and no more pain
basked in warmth and ever glazed
Leaving behind the broken paths you paved.

The final clashes and screeches of the song echoed loudly through the night air. As the song came to it’s finish the crowd erupted into applause screaming for more. Reaching her microphone Kagome told the crowd, “Sorry guys but that’s all we have time for tonight. But, we’ll be back next week so just hold on till then for some more of that local Mutt sound.” She could feel the looks of questioning as her band mates. Clicking off her mic as Shippou plugged in the disk for the rest of the nights entertainment she asked, “Too much like a disc jockey?”

Kissing her, Inuyasha climbed up onto the stage telling her, “A bit, but still at least they enjoyed it.” Since they’d decided that Duo should get some play time on a few of their newer songs, Naruto, Sasuke, and Inuyasha all took at least two songs off stage so that the ponytail wearing energy bomb could get a chance to practice. And in usual Duo fashion he exceeded their expectations by performing all six of his songs flawlessly and even nailing down the solos he hadn’t had a chance to fully practice.

That night they’d extended the set to around eighteen songs, instead of the usual bakers dozen. The reason being, they wanted to test their limits before they got hired for more serious shows. In their minds, all the VHS’s and DVD’s that they owned had concerts lasting up to three hours with only a ten minute break in between. So, they decided to keep cold drinks on stage and test how far they could go before actually needing a break. They made it to eleven before nature called sending them all off into the respective bathrooms.

Now with the set over, they could sit down and relax while basking in their local fame. That meant get free food and drinks and take pictures with about a dozen of the two-hundred plus people in the building. But in their minds, they were still bottom feeders so pleasing what few true fans they had would make a world of difference in the long run. That night though because of the new songs, more people asked if they could get some CD’s to send to their friends.

Hearing a business request, Miroku asked, “Do you want live, or ‘studio’ sound?” Seeing as their studio was a garage, most people opted for the live performances. Taking down names and addresses, Miroku told them it would be a few weeks and that since they did covers of other bands they had to be careful of who they let borrow the CD’s. The people said they understood, yet when they were gone the manager said, “Bet you all ten bucks that once they get this stuff they post it on the web.”

Taking a sip of his soda, Inuyasha’s face lit up a little before telling his friend, “Well, if we get yelled at for our covers, then we can actually put in a copyright thing saying that they aren’t ours. And then credit ourselves for the stuff we actually wrote.” Taking her boyfriends soda, Kagome noticed it’s odd taste and asked if he’d asked for it again. Putting his hands up, Inuyasha told her, “It was a joke! I didn’t expect him to actually put the alcohol in it.”

Getting up, Kagome was about to run and yell at Eric when a hand snatched the drink away from the drummer. Stopping she asked, “Sesshomaru will you please give that back?” The older man said he could, but instead chose to drain the glass with a satisfied gulp. Setting it down, along with some money, Sesshomaru told them that so long as they chose to keep the drinks legal, he’d pay for the food and beverage. Jumping at the chance for free food, Inuyasha went and yelled at Eric for giving him liquor as the others thanked the older man for the offer.

Stealing his brother’s seat which happened to be between Kagome and Sasuke, the free lance reporter said, “After a show like that, I may as well pay for you guys since you’ll be needing the cash.” As, Sesshomaru began to order some more drinks, Sasuke told him that part of their payment was food and beverage. Looking at the money he placed on the table, Sesshomaru stuffed it back into his wallet. “Good thing I only have to pay for myself then.”

When his brother finished the sentence, Inuyasha came back with a few of their meals and set it on the table. Glaring at his brother, Inuyasha asked, “Why are you even here?” Speaking through a mouth filled with fries, Sesshomaru told his little brother that it was none of his business as to why he decided to go out on a Saturday. Tapping his foot angrily, Inuyasha muttered coldly, “I swear if Mom put you up to this...”

“She did not,” interjected Sesshomaru after swallowing, “I just felt like heading out tonight, and decided to stop in and see a show.” Seeing that his brother didn’t believe his story, Sesshomaru got up saying, “IF you don’t want to believe what I tell you, I won’t force you. But, I am saying the truth little brother.” Patting the younger one on the back he said, “You still suck at the guitar though.” Having one too many buttons, pressed, Inuyasha started to chase his brother out of the club, just as Kohaku sat down at the table.

“Shippou’s dancing with Temari,” he stated as he took a burger out of the pile. Biting down on it he muffled, “Good show though, especially on Duo’s part.” Upon being congratulated, Duo stood up and gave a bow, only to have his hair get into a pint of Sprite. Pushing him back into the seat, Kohaku went and got a refill as Inuyasha came back to the table growling about how he’d lost sight of his brother.

When Kohaku arrived with the new soda, he took a chair from an empty table and munched on his burger while he and his friends talked about their next show. Seeing as it was that Wednesday, Rin gave a suggestion of doing most of the show as their own original songs. Inuyasha told her that it would be possible, but they also knew that it was expected of them to at least play a few covers. Tapping a finger she said, “I know that, and I bet you guys have a lot of good songs written. So how come you don’t play them?”

Reaching into his guitar case, Naruto pulled out the lyrics sheet and asked her, “See anything unusual?” Noticing that she was holding more paper than she needed, Rin asked where the music was for the lyrics. Snapping his fingers the blonde told her, “We only have half of the music written for all of our songs. So, while we want to break away from the covers, writing out the music takes too much time to do in one setting.” She listened to how it took them three weeks to write out the music for the last song of their set. Rin was surprised to learn that it was such a difficult task to write out a bunch of notes.

“That’s what most people say when they hear something along those lines.” The band looked to Duo who added, “I just started on the sheet music for the bass lines of my song and I’ve already had to rewrite the first half five times.” When Inuyasha asked if he need help, Duo downed the last of his drink saying, “No, I’m just about done with it. But, I’m sure we’ll rewrite a few notes as we start to learn it.”

They sat for a few moments longer when out of nowhere, Kiba jumped onto Kohaku shouting, “Kick ass show guys!” Reeling from the sudden attachment of weight to his back, Kohaku nearly fell out of his seat, only to have Shino save him from an even sorer back side. Thanking his friend, Kiba pulled up a chair saying, “Too bad you guys can’t rock out like that when we’re at prom.” Sipping from his half empty cup, Kiba asked, “Are we still hitting the library tomorrow, Hinata?”

Looking away from Naruto who was telling her a joke, Hinata nodded telling her friend, “I was able to talk Dad into lending me the car. Just make sure you don’t fall asleep at a computer again.” Saying that he’d been up late studying, Hinata giggled telling them, “He was up all night watching movies on martial arts.” Shouting that it was due to him having a big match the next week, Hinata hissed, “Bruce Lee had nothing to do with that match. You just wanted to try out some of his moves at your next class.”

Laughing from his seat next to Kohaku, Shino took out his watch and said that he needed to get home. When asked why the normally quiet boy said, “I have to go to church in the morning.” Giving Kohaku a look he said, “And your sister called to make sure I bring you home so that she can take you tomorrow as well.” Grumbling that something about having the holy water, wafers, and wine melt his insides, Kohaku followed the teen out the door leaving his friends in a fit of hysterics at his bad luck.

Moments later, Shippou and Temari showed up with a sheen of heavy sweat enveloping their bodies. Chugging down a bit of ice water, Shippou said, “Well, it’s official. We are now the most kick ass underground band in the city.” Raising their glasses in mock celebration, the rest of the band downed the rest of their drinks, while Kiba in his usual fashion gave out a loud belch after finishing his. Giggling a bit too hard from the noise, Shippou pulled a plastic bag from his pocket saying, “It’s on the house for whoever wants it.”

The seat covered sound engineer then proceeded to toss the bag into a five hand frenzy only to have Kagome shout out in victory before stuffing the remaining blunt into her purse. As she zipped it up she said, “Souta’s birthday is tomorrow and this is going to be my way of celebrating while he runs around with his little brat friends.” Inuyasha said something about having to join her in the celebrations. Patting his head affectionately, Kagome’s kindness soon turned to malice when she hissed, “After you put my last quarter bag into that spaghetti dinner I made us, you are no longer coming near any stash of herb I have.”

“I had a cold, and it wasn’t dried yet,” shouted Inuyasha in retort. “So, pardon me for thinking that it was oregano or some other garnish.” Getting up from his seat, Shippou told them that he needed to get home because his dad had something planned the next afternoon. Saying that she would give him a ride, Temari said goodbye to the group amidst Inuyasha saying, “Besides, it wasn’t like you had a good strand anyway.”

As Inuyasha and Kagome bickered over the former’s latest marijuana acquisition, Naruto and Sasuke decided that it was time to head for home. Saying goodbye to what few friends they had left at the table, the twins left with Hinata latched onto Naruto’s arm asking for a ride. Telling her it was no problem, they took what equipment they could telling asking Duo if he could take the rest home. “It’s no problem guys,” slipped out of the brunet’s mouth before he began acting as mediator of the latest in a series of fights between Kagome and Inuyasha.

As the trio left, a few people in the back of the club were in the middle of a heated discussion. The group consisted of five women and three men each with a picture in their hands. Scanning the table they all flipped over their pictures showing a band. Each consisted of people varying in ages, styles, and sounds. Of course they all had one thing in common, each band had been watched carefully and were unknowingly the finalists in the competition to perform at the MTV Icons show.

Tapping his picture one man said, “Those five who just performed seem to have the most complimentary sound.” The others at the table all agreed with him before they list off their each of the positive aspects of their bands while listing the areas they need to improve in. They all listened to the others and then contacted the people planning the event. The meeting wasn’t all too cryptic, but they had to look at the bands in their environment to assess the situation and make their final selections. With it done, the group headed back to their local affiliation of the company.