InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Another Yellow Brick For The Road ❯ Chapter 11 ( Chapter 11 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: whymihere 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy / Shounen / | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.10.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 220 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction / Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy / Shounen / | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 01.10.2007 | Pages: 2 | Words: 7.2K | Visits: 220 | Status: Completed
yo Due to copyright reasoning the band shall now be changed to “Yellow-brick.” reason is I didn’t know there was an actual band named halfbreed out there. So...yeah...
Chapter 11
Setting the drum kits into the bottom loaders of the RV with the help of Naruto, Kagome gave out a loud sigh at finally loading the final piece of equipment. Pulling the earbuds out, she turned off her tape player and walked onto the RV as Naruto shut the door. A bit worried about him, Kagome grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and dropped it out the window to her friend. When he thanked her she cautiously asked, “Sure there won’t be any trouble with Hinata showing up to see us off?” Getting a shrug to accompany the loud gulps now exiting her friend, Kagome took notice that all their bags had been put into pre-designated spots. Pulling out one of Kohaku’s many pads and pens Kagome made a large sign as the others finished loading some coolers and small personal bags. When asked what she was doing by Kohaku’s grandfather Maurice, Kagome got up and pinned the sign to the door and pointing to each of the boldly written words word saying in a stern voice, “No one cares if it will give you crabs, you are to crap at the gas stations, restaurants, and hotels only. All violators will be beaten with bars of soaps placed inside of socks. So, if you wish for this not to happen to you avoid any bran, bean, or high fiber items until meal times and hotel nights. Also if you need it spelt out for you, DON’T EAT ANYTHING THAT’LL MAKE YOU SHIT!” Not getting any sort of laughs, Kagome took a diet soda out of the full-size fridge and left the bus.
Maurice had parked outside of Shippou’s since it seemed to be the one with equal distance between the collective group of friends home, therefore making it easier to get everyone to one place without any complaints of wasting gas. Showing up at six-o’clock that morning and waking James up from a deep sleep, Maurice was not on the sound-editors good-side since Shippou had Temari stay the night. Which didn’t bother the teen in the least, in fact he couldn’t have been happier to run on only two hours worth of sleep before starting a cross country road trip. In fact, Shippou was still in the house, and judging by the awkward movement of the curtains, was still enjoying said reasoning behind his insomnia.
Of course at figuring out what was happening, Inuyasha, who had been under the hood making sure all the appropriate fluids were in the RV along with Sasuke, picked up a decent sized pebble and threw it at the window making a loud thunking noise. Glad that he hadn’t picked up a larger one as well as seeing that the throw didn’t have any effect, Inuyasha grabbed a small blowhorn that they had brought for the sake of attempting to get the audience revved up in case the sound system blew, and calmly said, “Shippou please exit whichever orifice of your girlfriend you are currently occupying and get down here before we send the dog in and ending up having to spray you guys with the hose.”
Sasuke started to laugh so hard that he nearly spilt the anti-freeze over the battery. Seeing that there was enough, he capped the container and kicked Inuyasha hissing, “You got the neighbors attention you dumb ass.” When his friend scratched his newly cut hair, Sasuke took the blow horn and removed it’s batteries and tossing them in the trash. Handing it back to the guitarist he said, “Next time I break the damn thing.” Walking off, Sasuke was asked a question about why he was limping. Stopping he turned to Shippou, who appeared dressed and combing his hair and answered with, “Pulled a muscle during a work out.”
Leaving the group, Sasuke put the anti-freeze in a compartment for such items that was located just inside the door, and turned around to find Naruto hugging and kissing Hinata gently. Glad that the two had some closure before they left. Sasuke was about to head in when a voice stopped him yet again. This time though, the person was in front of him, and one of the last people he expected to see before leaving. Staying still, the teen asked what the person was doing there only to get, “Just saying goodbye to my favorite group of delinquents.” The man placed his hand on Sasuke’s head and said, “Besides Inuyasha’s my little brother and I want to make sure that he’s in good hands. Which is why I’m giving you this.” He handed Sasuke a bit of paper saying, “Some contacts I have around the country that you can call incase you get into any sort of trouble.”
Slipping it in his pocket, Sasuke started to say something when Kohaku showed up around the corner with Shino standing next to him laughing. Stopping the designer pointed at his boyfriend saying, “Looks like Shino is going to be moving in with my sister while we’re gone.” Having his boyfriend smack his head, Kohaku pulled on the taller males ear saying, “Hey, just make sure you don’t have anyone over while I’m gone!” With that said, something in Shino seemed to break and he stormed off, with Kohaku running after him shouting words of apology.
Not paying attention to how rude he had just been to his friends, Kohaku followed Shino until they were a few houses away. Grabbing the man by the shoulder’s in a firm manner, Kohaku asked what the problem was only to receive the answer of, “Trying to find my next trick if it’s any of your business.” The sharpness of the words had Kohaku explaining to Shino that it was just a joke and meant nothing by the comment. Still fuming, Shino turned to his boyfriend asking, “Well what about you. You’re going to be with your friends and I’m stuck here with your sister and very few people to actually hang out with.” Before Kohaku could answer, Shino spat saying, “If you’re that worried then stay, if you trust me then you’re free to go. It’s your call and I know I have no say in what you do since I was not in the equation when you made this plans.”
Walking up to his boyfriend, Kohaku turned Shino’s head and kissed him gently before saying, “I do trust you and just so that we’re clear, I know you and your parents aren’t talking so don’t take your anger out on me with it.” Shino adjusted his sun glasses so that they were resting on his forehead. Smirking, Kohaku dabbed at a small tear and said, “Besides we have our computers and everything, as well as phone cards so just email me your work stuff and we can talk each night about what happened and what’s going on at home and on the road. And if you get the chance, maybe you can meet up with us at one of our hotels and make the last leg of a trip with us or something.”
While Shino and Kohaku finished sorting out their problems, Hinata was crying in the back of the RV while Naruto tried to comfort her. Needless to say that it was unsuccessful since the girl seemed to be slipping back into sobs every other time she started a sentence. Finally fed up with her cries, Naruto pulled off his class ring and set it on her lap. Which turned out to be a bad move, since it reopened the flood gates that had become Hinata’s eyes. Laughing, Naruto kissed her forehead and led her out of the RV where her mother and sister waited giggling at her reaction. Getting mad she growled at her family and stood next to Naruto while Janice, Keiji, and Sakura made sure that the boys had everything ready for the trip.
Sango was talking with Inuyasha’s parents as they gave their son words of encouragement and a small amount of money which they said was meant for a college gift, but would be put to better use now that he’d set his goals on music. Hugging them, Inuyasha walked to Kira and Sota were teasing Kagome about her chosen dress. Sticking her tongue out at her family, Kagome stated happily, “It’s perfect reasonable and comfortable.” When Sota made a comment about Inuyasha having easy access, the female musician grabbed him and proceeded to assault her brother’s head with her drumsticks.
Breaking free of her hold, Sota tried to run only to be stopped by Inuyasha. Gulping the teen tried to back away, but had Miroku and Duo grab him while Inuyasha ground his fist into the mess of black hair forcing the boy to scream in pain. The fun lasted only a little while until Alexander came and smacked all three boys across the head and then proceeded to smack Sota, but was stopped by Kira growling, “I’ll deal with him myself Alex, so watch the hands if you don’t want them cut off.” Each male stopped moving at the sight of the sword Kira had magically produced at the gentleman’s wrist. The blade was turned edge up and ready to slice away at the tendons that had been ready to plant a firm smack to the backside of the younger teenagers head.
“Easy there Kira,” began the man, yet he was silenced at the slightest twitch of the sword. Looking to the boys he mouthed the words, “I’m going to go over there,” pointed, and left them alone. Finding his wife, Alex hid his hand as Miroku gave the parents a comprehensive itinerary of where they would be, which hotels, and what cities they would be playing in. Glancing over the ten pages worth of notes and dates, Alex sighed asking Manta, “Did you make this kid OCD or something?” Taking another look the man said, “Good I thought you were going to have everyone’s bathroom schedule as well on here.”
Manta smirked and looked a this son asking, “But he is right, are you sure all of this is necessary?”
Miroku shrugged and put his own personal copy back into his folder. Snapping it shut he said quite happily, “The only reason I did this is so that you all don’t call us every hour to figure out where we are on the trip,” he added in a little incline of his head in the direction of the women who were marking down every little spot on MapQuest directions that they had printed out. Zipping his bag, Miroku saw the others waiting next to the entrance of the RV. Sighing he looked at them and said, “Well, looks like we gotta hit the road now if we’re going to make it in time. You ready Maurice?!”
The old man honked the horn for a few seconds, which ended up waking a few neighbors that began shouting curse words at them for being so noisy. Sticking his head out, Maurice said, “Ah, pipe down ya whiny little twits! You won’t be seeing any of these kids til winter so shut up and go back to sleep!” Getting a rather nasty comment in return, Maury climbed out of the RV and stared at the young man who said it. That was enough to scare the teen who crept back into his room and shut the window. Dusting his hands off as if he did a rough job, Maurice bowed the band into the vehicle.
Giving their families a last few kisses goodbye, Naruto made a show with Hinata by doing an overly dramatic kiss, they climbed aboard and waved goodbye as Maurice fired up the engines. Sasuke looked out to see the Taisho’s waving at him and he waved back, noticing some rather peculiar looks on their faces. Ignoring it, he sat back in the couch that accompanied the small table that was placed in the RV as Inuyasha began playing a DVD. Looking out the window as the others watched the television or looked over plans, Sasuke pulled out a book and began reading. It wasn’t until Miroku announced that they were in Oregon that he looked up from the book to see the winding mountain path that had taken over what was once a mass of concrete and cars.
Rubbing his eyes and checking his watch, he found that they had already been on the road for a few hours and decided to use the restroom. Naruto was playing cards with Kohaku and Kagome, while Inuyasha and Shippou played a game on a system one of them had brought on board. Deciding best to ignore it, he slid the bathroom door open only to find Duo about ready to go to the bathroom. Jumping back embarrassed, Sasuke took a drink from the fridge and turned to see his brother and friends snickering. Giving a mock laugh back to them, he drank his juice until Duo came out without making eye contact. Shaking his head, Sasuke relieved himself and after a quick wash of the hands, went and asked Miroku if he could take over for a bit.
Handing the directions over, Miroku went to the back and kicked the others out of the bed so that he could get some sleep. After a short fight, which ended with Maurice shouting at them all to be quiet, Miroku got his nap and everyone else either played some games or began to practice in a make believe fashion. Naruto used his drum sticks in beat to the of one of their songs as Kagome sang the lyrics.
When the time has come
You have to choose
within those days what times were true
The happiness or the sadness that happened
Will become the essences of your future
The song was still in the works, and it was kind of a ballad that the two were working on for a few weeks. It was more of a song to lift up Kohaku and Shippou’s spirits about what directions their home lives had taken. Also the two had decided to take it on themselves to write the ballad that all of them thought they might one day need to boost record sales. Again as they all agreed that was the last resort they’d ever turn to. The last thing they needed was to pull a Jani Lane and come out with another, “Cherry Pie,” and turn their career into a one hit wonder and regret it for the rest of their natural lives.
Yawning, Inuyasha looked at the clock and asked rather rudely, “Is it time to get something to eat?” His stomach gave a long growl after asking, and the others stomachs soon followed suit. Checking the schedule, Miroku said that the sundays were eating in the RV days for breakfast and lunch. Growling Inuyasha went to the fridge complaining about it not having any good food. When he opened it though he squealed with glee and pulled out two extra large pizzas. Pointing at them he said, “They read that they’re for today’s lunch.” Miroku said nothing and told everyone to be careful as not to eat all the food right away or they’d be paying for it in spades later on.
Not paying attention to what the road manager had said, the group dove into the cold pizza, and after giving Maurice two large slices, they all but finished half of one of the pizzas. Miroku, who had eaten only a slice, cleaned the mess up before taking his spot back in the co-pilots chair. Opening the map, he turned on the surround sound that had been put into the vehicle and charted their progress. The first gig was scheduled for the next night in a town in northern part of California right outside of Napa. Looking over his shoulder due to a sudden jerk. Seeing Naruto and Sasuke trying to get into yet another of their time honored battles of power, Miroku grabbed the vehicles radio, turned it to internal use and shouted, “STOP THAT BEFORE YOU GET US PULLED OVER YOU IDIOTS!”
The group all sat up and put a finger to one of their eyes, pulled the lower lid down and stuck their tongues out at the shouting teen. Getting fed up Miroku started to growl when Maurice grabbed his arm. Miroku caught his eyes and gave him a look of defiance until the man pulled off into a nearby truck stop. Parking the car he got up and at six-foot-six and a former foreman at a steel mill, Maurice easily trumped them in size. Imposing his shadow over the rambunctious group he growled, “If any of you get out of line like that again, you’ll be dumped on the side of the road fifty miles out of the next gig and forced to walk and most likely miss it. Am I clear?”
Gulping at the prospect of having to hitch hike, each person nodded one after the other and got out of the RV as Maury told them they had a half hour to stretch while he filled the tank. Heading into the bathroom, Naruto made his usual deposit while the others picked up a couple of small souvenirs. Mainly magnets so that they could map out their journey, a few more maps, and a couple of hotel guides for Oregon and California.
Picking up a few bottles of water, Kagome paid for them just as Maurice was coming in to pay for the gas as Inuyasha watched the pump. Seeing Naruto come out of the bathroom, and another person immediately exiting it after getting a smell, she handed over her money and put a few bottles into Shippou’s hands. Spotting Sasuke buying a couple of gas station hot dogs, she faked a gag as she walked out and was nearly hit by an older girl. “Excuse us,” were the words that left her mouth, problem was that it held a bit more attitude than she intended. Taking offense, the other girl began to shout at Kagome, who despite her bottles of water was ready to fight, started to shove Kagome until Kohaku tapped her shoulder and caught her attention.
Cursing at him for interfering, the girl tried to start another fight with Kohaku. Remaining calm, Kohaku let the woman vent before saying, “My friend didn’t mean to say anything to offend you. We’re under some stress lately and she’s a little tired, aren’t you Kagome?” Kagome nodded and explained that she didn’t mean to say anything rude, but that the girl owed her an apology for blowing the situation out of proportion. Saying that she wasn’t going to, the girl left them and went into the station. Taking the bottles from Kagome, Kohaku headed to the RV when Kagome grabbed onto his arm.
Seeing this as he reattached the hose to the pump, Inuyasha started to get mad as they approached. Walking up to them Inuyasha tapped his foot asking, “So you’re hitting on my girl not,” he looked at his walk and said, “seven hours into the trip. What would Shino say?” The two people in front of him began to laugh loudly until the figure of Inuyasha towered over them with flames appearing to shoot out of his eyes.
The two cowered back explaining that it was nothing until Kagome said, “He just stopped a girl from getting into a fight with me. That’s all and I was just telling him that he was a sweetheart for it.”
Upon hearing this Inuyasha’s form shrunk down to it’s normal size and he just said to them, “Oh, well then that’s fine with me,” before turning around and walking over to cap the gas tank. Hearing the two of them fall to the ground, he looked over his shoulder saying, “May want to watch out as someone around here is smoking.” Getting the gist of what he said, the two jumped to their feet and rushed into the vehicle. Closing the lid he got back onto the bus and took over Miroku’s job as navigator. It went well until about eleven o’clock when they pulled into the town that they were supposed to play their first gig in. Finding the hotel that Miroku had booked, Maurice parked the RV and asked Inuyasha what the planner said. Opening it the teen said, “We have the rooms scheduled for two nights in case we showed up early and pay upon arrival if we want to stay. If not I guess we can just find a rest stop for tonight to save money.”
Seeing that half the group had already taken to falling asleep in various positions on the floor, Maurice turned them around and went to the rest stop just outside of town. Parking the vehicle in a couple of empty spots the two shut off their navigation lights and leaned their chairs back for a well deserved rest. Didn’t last long since at about six Kohaku took to poking his grandfather saying that they had to get breakfast before a rehearsal at the club. Grunting the man sat up and started the RV. The large machine jerked forcing Inuyasha to fall on the floor and hit his head. Muttering something about needing the shocks checked, he buckled in as they drove off to a buffet in town.
Getting a table, the band ate quietly with some conversation thrown in. It was hard to believe that it was so quick that they had just graduated high school and jumping into the professional music world. Trying to keep their food down, the group hardly opened their mouths to talk until Maurice checked his watch and asked Miroku when they had to get to the club to set up. Seeing the time, Miroku said, “Few more hours and we can head over. The owner said she’d open up the doors for us and have us check in. It’s on the other side of town, but I hear it’s pretty big so Shippou and Kohaku can get a private booth to concentrate on their work. We have three hours and 4 fifteen minute breaks with food and drink provided.”
Leaving a tip for their server, they left and went their separate ways after getting some directions from Miroku on the clubs location. Seeing his brother walk of with Kohaku, Naruto went with Duo, and as usual Kagome with Inuyasha, and Shippou with his grandfather. Slightly uneasy about the pairing of his brother with Kohaku, Naruto kept unnaturally quiet while he and Duo picked out some souvenirs. Lost in thought he nearly broke something in the store and decided it was best to pay up before he actually did. So he decided on a few trinkets as gifts for Hinata and left leaving Duo alone and confused.
Stepping outside and breathing a bit heavily Naruto looked up to see his brother and Kohaku staring at him from right next to the door. Kohaku had a large welt growing on his head, and from the huge smudge on the door, Naruto surmised that he had slammed the door into his friend’s head without even noticing. Scratching his head embarrassed, Naruto tried to apologize, but ended up with a fist to the top of his head by his older brother. Growling Naruto tried to fight back, but ended up hitting Duo in the face with his bag.
“Damn it Naruto,” Shouted Duo as he rubbed his slightly swelling cheek. Raising his fist, Duo planted a punch right into his friends face, making him fall to the ground in agony. Taking notice of his friend’s twitches, Duo rubbed his knuckles saying, “Watch it! If this whole band thing doesn’t work out I need to look good in order to get an acting career.” The others all started to laugh, which ended up catching the attention of some of the local people. Grabbing Naruto by the collar in despair, Duo stomped away dragging the chuckling blonde along the ground. Looking over his shoulder, Duo stuck his tongue out at Kohaku and Sasuke before turning a corner and leaving them behind.
At around noon, the band made their way to the club. Seeing the RV parked on the street, they emptied their equipment and knocked on the back door that read, “Staff and Performer entrance.” Waiting a few minutes, Miroku pounded hard on the door and complained about how the people needed help running their business. Reaching up to pound again, the door swung open and Miroku stopped short of nearly hitting the club owner in the face. Smiling sheepishly, Miroku asked if she happened to be named Tina.
Capping her bottled water, the twenty-something year old woman nodded saying, “And I take it you’re ‘Yellow-brick.’” The band confirmed her suspicion to which she replied, “A bit young, but from what I’ve seen over the net you guys have some chops. Not to mention a hell of a sound. Reminds me of some of the older Eighties thrash metal bands.” Pushing the door open she kicked a part of the wall to reveal a sliding door and helped them carrying in a few of the pieces of the drum kit. Taking them through the back to the stage she set the bass and one of the snares down on the ground and explained to them that she would have to take Shippou and Kohaku up to the sound area to let them learn how to handle the switch boards.
Saying that they’d see their friends later, Miroku went about helping the band set the instruments up. Seeing that they had some decent microphones. They asked if Maurice could take them back out to the RV. Telling them it was no trouble, the man told them he’d also move the RV out of the way, but first asked if they needed anything else. Just asking for some cables, he left and came back with the cables. When they were set, he left them with the roar of their ride’s engine.
Making sure that the cables were set, the waved up to Shippou and Kohaku who had taken to configuring their own sound and lighting preferences into the switchboard. When it was set, Shippou turned on the mic that was set into the board and asked, “You all set?” Getting the thumbs up he clicked the power on and after a sudden blast of feedback, had them readjust some of the cables. After it was all fixed he turned the power back on and received no feedback. Wanting it to make sure it worked he asked Duo and Naruto to play a few chords. They did, and had to show off in the process by playing a couple of rather difficult solos, and with the sound set up, they began the rehearsal for that nights performance.
~ten hours later~
The band was sitting in the green room after their performance. Naruto was packing away his guitar while Kagome began to curl up next to Inuyasha, who had just come back from helping load the rest of the equipment in the RV. Miroku was out with Sasuke and Kohaku, discussing their payment and had been gone for a little bit. Maurice was packing away the bottles of water the club offered them for emergencies. As the old man snuck out the door before the owner returned, Miroku and the others came back with satisfied looks on their faces. Patting the envelope he held in his hand Miroku tilted his head to the door and the others followed in his wake.
Outside in the RV, the band piled in and once on the road, Naruto asked, “So why did we have to wait an hour for you guys to finish talking to that broad? She try to stiff us on the money or something like that jerk in Oregon a few months ago?” The others all started laughing at remembering a club owner who tried to short them more than half the agreed upon fee. That is until Naruto grabbed a set of scissors and began to make idle threats to the man by occasionally getting a bit to close to a certain area with the scissors. Yet, the man came to his senses and paid them a little extra in hopes that they never set foot in his club again as he hoped to have a few more children within his life time.
From his seat in the front, Miroku opened a lock box and pulled out the wad of cash the lady had paid them in. Holding it up he said, “She pretty much tried to hold off on paying us, despite all the people we brought in. So yeah she tried to jerk us around, but we finally got the money from her.” Putting it in the box, he reset the electronic combination and put it under his seat. Yawning, Miroku set his seat back and asked if someone else could give directions for a little bit. Taking the map, Kohaku moved to the part of the couch right behind his grandfathers seat as the others all passed into various states of sleep.
Staying awake for a few more hours. Kohaku noticed his grandfather getting tired and told the man that there was a rest area an hour ahead. Nodding, Maurice said, “No problem kid, just go to bed and I’ll be able to find it. But before you do that, how long until our next stop?” Seeing his grandson check the map and give an answer, the older man sighed saying, “Great another three days. I wish Miroku had spaced these a little closer together. Well, I signed up for this, so goodnight and I’ll wake you all up in the morning.”
Grabbing a light blanket, Kohaku curled up on the couch with Naruto right under him sleeping on the floor with drool pouring out of his mouth while Sasuke slept only a few feet away. In the back, Kagome had fallen asleep in the bed as Duo and Inuyasha slept on either side of it. The ride was smooth, save for the usual grunts of the sleeping teens. Finally getting tired, Maurice pulled into the rest area for a few hours sleep before taking to the road again. Sipping at one of the three cups of coffee he bought, he was surprised to see Inuyasha the first awake and told the teen to start getting everyone up.
After many complaints, the band began moving and they stopped at a truck stop to pay for the use of some of their showers. While some of them got clean, the others cleaned out the RV from the past few days and before they knew it they were on the road again to their next gig. It wasn’t a difficult one, in fact they were in San Diego which was a very lively town and they were treated well. They loved the fact that they were able to stay in actual beds for a night, and the club owners told them that they could come back anytime. This became their routine for about a month, every few days the band would stop to play a show, and on occasion stay in a hotel. Finally after another month on tour they had a small break in Georgia.
Granted they were a bit uncomfortable performing down there. They knew the comedy scene was big, but thrash metal may have been something that even Atlanta was not able to handle. Walking through the streets, The band was following Kohaku to a place that he said was of a great deal of interest to see. Naruto and Duo kept yawning and trying to run off, only to have Miroku and Sasuke pull them back and begin pummeling the pair on their respective craniums. After about an hour, the band stopped at a large building that silenced the voices of the people around it with airplanes landing. Pointing at the sign the band each gave Kohaku an odd look.
Grinning, Kohaku pulled out a slip of paper saying, “Shino’s flight’ll be in soon. I printed this off a couple days ago when we were in Texas. Apparently he quit work and is doing some online classes as well as working from his computer.” The whole band fell backwards in shock only to gain the attention of every passer-by due to them blocking the path from trying to untangle from one another in their haphazard pile. Snickering, Kohaku helped his friends up and asked, “Is it really that big of a problem? Hell, Kagome gets to bunk with Inuyasha on occasion and from what I hear the rest of you have had to fight off the girls due to respective attachments at home. So why can’t I have my boyfriend around with out it being such a big deal?”
“It’s because of the fact that we’re in one of the most religious areas of the country and you just openly proclaimed your sexuality to a bunch of passing Baptists and Presbyterians,” stated Shippou who was flipping through a magazine. The group snickered until Kohaku decided to smack Shippou in the head for making him look like an idiot. Rubbing the spot where he had just been hit, the teen said, “It’s not that hard to do when you announce stuff so tactlessly. For the love of Christ time your announcements a little better and save us from an ass kicking.”
Smirking, Kohaku said he’d go and find the gate while the others could wait at baggage claim. Before they could protest about not being given the flight number, Kohaku was in the building leaving them all alone. Kicking a garbage bin, Kagome spat on the ground hissing about Kohaku being a bit too happy about the situation. Looking to her friends she said, “There’s something else going on here that he won’t tell us.” Getting the look that asked how she knew from each of the males, Kagome said, “It’s woman’s intuition you jerks.” Sighing she walked into the airport and shouted at Kohaku to tell her the flight number, which nearly got her thrown out by airport security.
Down at the baggage claim near the sign reading the flight number, “twelve-thirteen,” the band remained quiet as they waited. Being the odd looking bunch that they were, decked out in minor heavy metal attire, each person took to using up the time by either reading or catching some extra minutes of sleep. Finally, as Duo let out a final grunt, he felt someone hit him in the head. Grunting awake, he rubbed his eyes to see nobody around. Looking over his chair he saw small head full of black hair and heard a girl giggling. Seeing that the others were either asleep or looking somewhere else, he asked, “Hinata?”
Grinning upwards, Hinata put a finger to her lips and pointed over to Naruto who was passed out in his own chair. Crawling over, she wrapped her arms around his neck and began whispering in his ear. The teen mumbled until she began to kiss his neck, but she stopped when he muttered, “That’s really good, Devon.” Stopping, Hinata stood up and smacked him demanding who the person he was talking about in his sleep was. Rubbing his head, Naruto looked up to see Hinata fuming at him. Scared at seeing her mad for the first time, Naruto began stuttering until she cracked her knuckles and began to beat on him.
As the beating commenced, Shino, along with Kohaku and the others, arrived to here the girl shouting, “Have you been screwing some girl around behind my back! I never should have put off school until the winter quarter to come and see you!” Deciding it best to let Naruto try and defend himself, their friends watched as onlookers either laughed at the blond teen’s plight, or just shook their heads saying that the kids were in need of discipline.
Slightly put off by Hinata’s sudden burst of anger, the group let her walk off with out a word as Naruto began crawling and with bruised lips and cheeks sprayed out, “Wait Hinata, it’s not what you think.” But he didn’t get far before collapsing and forced his friends to do rock, paper, scissors over who had to drag his beaten body out of the airport. Although it was argued that the game was fixed, Kagome took to dragging her friend out by the foot while the others caught up with what was happening at home since they had been gone.
Taking a look at them he was surprised that only Naruto and Sasuke had grown some sort of beard. Opening his bag, Shino handed over a small stack of papers to each person. “Letters from home. I don’t know why they decided to write since you all call every other day. But, I guess I can understand why they’d be worried.” The sadness in Shino’s voice was apparent, and Kohaku wrapped his arm around his boyfriends neck as they headed out of the airport onto the concrete sidewalk.
Naruto finally woke up and began cursing as Kagome continued to drag him face down in the concrete despite his protests. Finally after a block, Kagome noticed the kicking and let the slightly bloodied guitarist go so he could explain what happened when Hinata woke him up in the airport. The others were laughing the whole time as Hinata kept pushing her boyfriend away as he tried to get in close to explain that he was in the middle of a dream about a porn star. That didn’t help the situation as Hinata took off her backpack and started hitting him in the face much to the enjoyment of the others.
Back at the hotel, Maurice, who had been sharing a room with Shippou for the night, told them that the club had to postpone the show for an hour due to some lighting issues. Glad to have the free time, a few members of the group went down to the pool while Naruto headed back to his and Sasuke’s room to talk to Hinata and apologize for making her mad. Instead, she said she’d be going to the pool with Kohaku, Kagome, and Sasuke. Disgruntled, the guitarist went back into the room and did the only thing he could to keep himself from getting mad at himself. He sat down on the bed, pulled of his khakis and took a nap.
Later on though, Sasuke was sitting with his brother in the back and said, “Lucky for us we’re in our own room tonight. Although if you and Hinata start anything, I’m going to pull off the removable shower head.” While his twin normally would have laughed, Sasuke could tell that the situation was much worse than he realized. Since she went to the pool, Hinata had not talked to Naruto once during dinner or after the show. Keeping quiet, Sasuke took a phone card out and headed down to the closest payphone to make a call.
Stopping at one he put in all three numbers required and waited for the phone to click. When it did Sasuke asked, “Sorry about not calling earlier, we had to go to the airport to pick up a few guests.” On the other end, Sasuke’s conversation partner asked if he was sure that they were allowed to show up when they got to New York. “Yes I’m sure about it. A couple of them are already starting to suspect. I think your parents some how know, and everyone else, well let’s just say my brother isn’t as dumb as we think he is.” The person on the other end began to laugh saying that Naruto noticing something like that. Chuckling to himself, Sasuke checked his watch and said, “Sorry to cut this short, I need to get some sleep. We have an early day tomorrow and have to head down to the Mississippi/Florida border. But, I’m looking forward to seeing you.” On the other end the person said the same thing and when Sasuke noticed Shippou walking out of the elevator with Miroku he hurriedly said, “I gotta go. See you soon.”
Hanging up the phone, Sasuke walked past his friends and gave them a couple of words of congratulations on the show and headed back up to the room. Walking by a couple of doors he realized it was about midnight and had to get to bed. Stopping at one door he heard some rather odd noises and tried his card only to realize that it was Kohaku and Shino’s room. Going to his and his brothers room he tried to put the card in only to realize that Naruto had locked the door and like Kohaku’s room he heard some odd noises. So finding Duo’s and Miroku’s room and had to ask if he could sleep there for the night. He was happy to have a place to sleep, even if it was in the couch like padding the hotel had in the window-sill. The next morning though, he wasn’t the happiest of people, and each time Naruto tried to talk to him he just glared at his twin and went back to eating his cereal with a murderous rage.
Chapter 11
Setting the drum kits into the bottom loaders of the RV with the help of Naruto, Kagome gave out a loud sigh at finally loading the final piece of equipment. Pulling the earbuds out, she turned off her tape player and walked onto the RV as Naruto shut the door. A bit worried about him, Kagome grabbed a bottled water from the fridge and dropped it out the window to her friend. When he thanked her she cautiously asked, “Sure there won’t be any trouble with Hinata showing up to see us off?” Getting a shrug to accompany the loud gulps now exiting her friend, Kagome took notice that all their bags had been put into pre-designated spots. Pulling out one of Kohaku’s many pads and pens Kagome made a large sign as the others finished loading some coolers and small personal bags. When asked what she was doing by Kohaku’s grandfather Maurice, Kagome got up and pinned the sign to the door and pointing to each of the boldly written words word saying in a stern voice, “No one cares if it will give you crabs, you are to crap at the gas stations, restaurants, and hotels only. All violators will be beaten with bars of soaps placed inside of socks. So, if you wish for this not to happen to you avoid any bran, bean, or high fiber items until meal times and hotel nights. Also if you need it spelt out for you, DON’T EAT ANYTHING THAT’LL MAKE YOU SHIT!” Not getting any sort of laughs, Kagome took a diet soda out of the full-size fridge and left the bus.
Maurice had parked outside of Shippou’s since it seemed to be the one with equal distance between the collective group of friends home, therefore making it easier to get everyone to one place without any complaints of wasting gas. Showing up at six-o’clock that morning and waking James up from a deep sleep, Maurice was not on the sound-editors good-side since Shippou had Temari stay the night. Which didn’t bother the teen in the least, in fact he couldn’t have been happier to run on only two hours worth of sleep before starting a cross country road trip. In fact, Shippou was still in the house, and judging by the awkward movement of the curtains, was still enjoying said reasoning behind his insomnia.
Of course at figuring out what was happening, Inuyasha, who had been under the hood making sure all the appropriate fluids were in the RV along with Sasuke, picked up a decent sized pebble and threw it at the window making a loud thunking noise. Glad that he hadn’t picked up a larger one as well as seeing that the throw didn’t have any effect, Inuyasha grabbed a small blowhorn that they had brought for the sake of attempting to get the audience revved up in case the sound system blew, and calmly said, “Shippou please exit whichever orifice of your girlfriend you are currently occupying and get down here before we send the dog in and ending up having to spray you guys with the hose.”
Sasuke started to laugh so hard that he nearly spilt the anti-freeze over the battery. Seeing that there was enough, he capped the container and kicked Inuyasha hissing, “You got the neighbors attention you dumb ass.” When his friend scratched his newly cut hair, Sasuke took the blow horn and removed it’s batteries and tossing them in the trash. Handing it back to the guitarist he said, “Next time I break the damn thing.” Walking off, Sasuke was asked a question about why he was limping. Stopping he turned to Shippou, who appeared dressed and combing his hair and answered with, “Pulled a muscle during a work out.”
Leaving the group, Sasuke put the anti-freeze in a compartment for such items that was located just inside the door, and turned around to find Naruto hugging and kissing Hinata gently. Glad that the two had some closure before they left. Sasuke was about to head in when a voice stopped him yet again. This time though, the person was in front of him, and one of the last people he expected to see before leaving. Staying still, the teen asked what the person was doing there only to get, “Just saying goodbye to my favorite group of delinquents.” The man placed his hand on Sasuke’s head and said, “Besides Inuyasha’s my little brother and I want to make sure that he’s in good hands. Which is why I’m giving you this.” He handed Sasuke a bit of paper saying, “Some contacts I have around the country that you can call incase you get into any sort of trouble.”
Slipping it in his pocket, Sasuke started to say something when Kohaku showed up around the corner with Shino standing next to him laughing. Stopping the designer pointed at his boyfriend saying, “Looks like Shino is going to be moving in with my sister while we’re gone.” Having his boyfriend smack his head, Kohaku pulled on the taller males ear saying, “Hey, just make sure you don’t have anyone over while I’m gone!” With that said, something in Shino seemed to break and he stormed off, with Kohaku running after him shouting words of apology.
Not paying attention to how rude he had just been to his friends, Kohaku followed Shino until they were a few houses away. Grabbing the man by the shoulder’s in a firm manner, Kohaku asked what the problem was only to receive the answer of, “Trying to find my next trick if it’s any of your business.” The sharpness of the words had Kohaku explaining to Shino that it was just a joke and meant nothing by the comment. Still fuming, Shino turned to his boyfriend asking, “Well what about you. You’re going to be with your friends and I’m stuck here with your sister and very few people to actually hang out with.” Before Kohaku could answer, Shino spat saying, “If you’re that worried then stay, if you trust me then you’re free to go. It’s your call and I know I have no say in what you do since I was not in the equation when you made this plans.”
Walking up to his boyfriend, Kohaku turned Shino’s head and kissed him gently before saying, “I do trust you and just so that we’re clear, I know you and your parents aren’t talking so don’t take your anger out on me with it.” Shino adjusted his sun glasses so that they were resting on his forehead. Smirking, Kohaku dabbed at a small tear and said, “Besides we have our computers and everything, as well as phone cards so just email me your work stuff and we can talk each night about what happened and what’s going on at home and on the road. And if you get the chance, maybe you can meet up with us at one of our hotels and make the last leg of a trip with us or something.”
While Shino and Kohaku finished sorting out their problems, Hinata was crying in the back of the RV while Naruto tried to comfort her. Needless to say that it was unsuccessful since the girl seemed to be slipping back into sobs every other time she started a sentence. Finally fed up with her cries, Naruto pulled off his class ring and set it on her lap. Which turned out to be a bad move, since it reopened the flood gates that had become Hinata’s eyes. Laughing, Naruto kissed her forehead and led her out of the RV where her mother and sister waited giggling at her reaction. Getting mad she growled at her family and stood next to Naruto while Janice, Keiji, and Sakura made sure that the boys had everything ready for the trip.
Sango was talking with Inuyasha’s parents as they gave their son words of encouragement and a small amount of money which they said was meant for a college gift, but would be put to better use now that he’d set his goals on music. Hugging them, Inuyasha walked to Kira and Sota were teasing Kagome about her chosen dress. Sticking her tongue out at her family, Kagome stated happily, “It’s perfect reasonable and comfortable.” When Sota made a comment about Inuyasha having easy access, the female musician grabbed him and proceeded to assault her brother’s head with her drumsticks.
Breaking free of her hold, Sota tried to run only to be stopped by Inuyasha. Gulping the teen tried to back away, but had Miroku and Duo grab him while Inuyasha ground his fist into the mess of black hair forcing the boy to scream in pain. The fun lasted only a little while until Alexander came and smacked all three boys across the head and then proceeded to smack Sota, but was stopped by Kira growling, “I’ll deal with him myself Alex, so watch the hands if you don’t want them cut off.” Each male stopped moving at the sight of the sword Kira had magically produced at the gentleman’s wrist. The blade was turned edge up and ready to slice away at the tendons that had been ready to plant a firm smack to the backside of the younger teenagers head.
“Easy there Kira,” began the man, yet he was silenced at the slightest twitch of the sword. Looking to the boys he mouthed the words, “I’m going to go over there,” pointed, and left them alone. Finding his wife, Alex hid his hand as Miroku gave the parents a comprehensive itinerary of where they would be, which hotels, and what cities they would be playing in. Glancing over the ten pages worth of notes and dates, Alex sighed asking Manta, “Did you make this kid OCD or something?” Taking another look the man said, “Good I thought you were going to have everyone’s bathroom schedule as well on here.”
Manta smirked and looked a this son asking, “But he is right, are you sure all of this is necessary?”
Miroku shrugged and put his own personal copy back into his folder. Snapping it shut he said quite happily, “The only reason I did this is so that you all don’t call us every hour to figure out where we are on the trip,” he added in a little incline of his head in the direction of the women who were marking down every little spot on MapQuest directions that they had printed out. Zipping his bag, Miroku saw the others waiting next to the entrance of the RV. Sighing he looked at them and said, “Well, looks like we gotta hit the road now if we’re going to make it in time. You ready Maurice?!”
The old man honked the horn for a few seconds, which ended up waking a few neighbors that began shouting curse words at them for being so noisy. Sticking his head out, Maurice said, “Ah, pipe down ya whiny little twits! You won’t be seeing any of these kids til winter so shut up and go back to sleep!” Getting a rather nasty comment in return, Maury climbed out of the RV and stared at the young man who said it. That was enough to scare the teen who crept back into his room and shut the window. Dusting his hands off as if he did a rough job, Maurice bowed the band into the vehicle.
Giving their families a last few kisses goodbye, Naruto made a show with Hinata by doing an overly dramatic kiss, they climbed aboard and waved goodbye as Maurice fired up the engines. Sasuke looked out to see the Taisho’s waving at him and he waved back, noticing some rather peculiar looks on their faces. Ignoring it, he sat back in the couch that accompanied the small table that was placed in the RV as Inuyasha began playing a DVD. Looking out the window as the others watched the television or looked over plans, Sasuke pulled out a book and began reading. It wasn’t until Miroku announced that they were in Oregon that he looked up from the book to see the winding mountain path that had taken over what was once a mass of concrete and cars.
Rubbing his eyes and checking his watch, he found that they had already been on the road for a few hours and decided to use the restroom. Naruto was playing cards with Kohaku and Kagome, while Inuyasha and Shippou played a game on a system one of them had brought on board. Deciding best to ignore it, he slid the bathroom door open only to find Duo about ready to go to the bathroom. Jumping back embarrassed, Sasuke took a drink from the fridge and turned to see his brother and friends snickering. Giving a mock laugh back to them, he drank his juice until Duo came out without making eye contact. Shaking his head, Sasuke relieved himself and after a quick wash of the hands, went and asked Miroku if he could take over for a bit.
Handing the directions over, Miroku went to the back and kicked the others out of the bed so that he could get some sleep. After a short fight, which ended with Maurice shouting at them all to be quiet, Miroku got his nap and everyone else either played some games or began to practice in a make believe fashion. Naruto used his drum sticks in beat to the of one of their songs as Kagome sang the lyrics.
When the time has come
You have to choose
within those days what times were true
The happiness or the sadness that happened
Will become the essences of your future
The song was still in the works, and it was kind of a ballad that the two were working on for a few weeks. It was more of a song to lift up Kohaku and Shippou’s spirits about what directions their home lives had taken. Also the two had decided to take it on themselves to write the ballad that all of them thought they might one day need to boost record sales. Again as they all agreed that was the last resort they’d ever turn to. The last thing they needed was to pull a Jani Lane and come out with another, “Cherry Pie,” and turn their career into a one hit wonder and regret it for the rest of their natural lives.
Yawning, Inuyasha looked at the clock and asked rather rudely, “Is it time to get something to eat?” His stomach gave a long growl after asking, and the others stomachs soon followed suit. Checking the schedule, Miroku said that the sundays were eating in the RV days for breakfast and lunch. Growling Inuyasha went to the fridge complaining about it not having any good food. When he opened it though he squealed with glee and pulled out two extra large pizzas. Pointing at them he said, “They read that they’re for today’s lunch.” Miroku said nothing and told everyone to be careful as not to eat all the food right away or they’d be paying for it in spades later on.
Not paying attention to what the road manager had said, the group dove into the cold pizza, and after giving Maurice two large slices, they all but finished half of one of the pizzas. Miroku, who had eaten only a slice, cleaned the mess up before taking his spot back in the co-pilots chair. Opening the map, he turned on the surround sound that had been put into the vehicle and charted their progress. The first gig was scheduled for the next night in a town in northern part of California right outside of Napa. Looking over his shoulder due to a sudden jerk. Seeing Naruto and Sasuke trying to get into yet another of their time honored battles of power, Miroku grabbed the vehicles radio, turned it to internal use and shouted, “STOP THAT BEFORE YOU GET US PULLED OVER YOU IDIOTS!”
The group all sat up and put a finger to one of their eyes, pulled the lower lid down and stuck their tongues out at the shouting teen. Getting fed up Miroku started to growl when Maurice grabbed his arm. Miroku caught his eyes and gave him a look of defiance until the man pulled off into a nearby truck stop. Parking the car he got up and at six-foot-six and a former foreman at a steel mill, Maurice easily trumped them in size. Imposing his shadow over the rambunctious group he growled, “If any of you get out of line like that again, you’ll be dumped on the side of the road fifty miles out of the next gig and forced to walk and most likely miss it. Am I clear?”
Gulping at the prospect of having to hitch hike, each person nodded one after the other and got out of the RV as Maury told them they had a half hour to stretch while he filled the tank. Heading into the bathroom, Naruto made his usual deposit while the others picked up a couple of small souvenirs. Mainly magnets so that they could map out their journey, a few more maps, and a couple of hotel guides for Oregon and California.
Picking up a few bottles of water, Kagome paid for them just as Maurice was coming in to pay for the gas as Inuyasha watched the pump. Seeing Naruto come out of the bathroom, and another person immediately exiting it after getting a smell, she handed over her money and put a few bottles into Shippou’s hands. Spotting Sasuke buying a couple of gas station hot dogs, she faked a gag as she walked out and was nearly hit by an older girl. “Excuse us,” were the words that left her mouth, problem was that it held a bit more attitude than she intended. Taking offense, the other girl began to shout at Kagome, who despite her bottles of water was ready to fight, started to shove Kagome until Kohaku tapped her shoulder and caught her attention.
Cursing at him for interfering, the girl tried to start another fight with Kohaku. Remaining calm, Kohaku let the woman vent before saying, “My friend didn’t mean to say anything to offend you. We’re under some stress lately and she’s a little tired, aren’t you Kagome?” Kagome nodded and explained that she didn’t mean to say anything rude, but that the girl owed her an apology for blowing the situation out of proportion. Saying that she wasn’t going to, the girl left them and went into the station. Taking the bottles from Kagome, Kohaku headed to the RV when Kagome grabbed onto his arm.
Seeing this as he reattached the hose to the pump, Inuyasha started to get mad as they approached. Walking up to them Inuyasha tapped his foot asking, “So you’re hitting on my girl not,” he looked at his walk and said, “seven hours into the trip. What would Shino say?” The two people in front of him began to laugh loudly until the figure of Inuyasha towered over them with flames appearing to shoot out of his eyes.
The two cowered back explaining that it was nothing until Kagome said, “He just stopped a girl from getting into a fight with me. That’s all and I was just telling him that he was a sweetheart for it.”
Upon hearing this Inuyasha’s form shrunk down to it’s normal size and he just said to them, “Oh, well then that’s fine with me,” before turning around and walking over to cap the gas tank. Hearing the two of them fall to the ground, he looked over his shoulder saying, “May want to watch out as someone around here is smoking.” Getting the gist of what he said, the two jumped to their feet and rushed into the vehicle. Closing the lid he got back onto the bus and took over Miroku’s job as navigator. It went well until about eleven o’clock when they pulled into the town that they were supposed to play their first gig in. Finding the hotel that Miroku had booked, Maurice parked the RV and asked Inuyasha what the planner said. Opening it the teen said, “We have the rooms scheduled for two nights in case we showed up early and pay upon arrival if we want to stay. If not I guess we can just find a rest stop for tonight to save money.”
Seeing that half the group had already taken to falling asleep in various positions on the floor, Maurice turned them around and went to the rest stop just outside of town. Parking the vehicle in a couple of empty spots the two shut off their navigation lights and leaned their chairs back for a well deserved rest. Didn’t last long since at about six Kohaku took to poking his grandfather saying that they had to get breakfast before a rehearsal at the club. Grunting the man sat up and started the RV. The large machine jerked forcing Inuyasha to fall on the floor and hit his head. Muttering something about needing the shocks checked, he buckled in as they drove off to a buffet in town.
Getting a table, the band ate quietly with some conversation thrown in. It was hard to believe that it was so quick that they had just graduated high school and jumping into the professional music world. Trying to keep their food down, the group hardly opened their mouths to talk until Maurice checked his watch and asked Miroku when they had to get to the club to set up. Seeing the time, Miroku said, “Few more hours and we can head over. The owner said she’d open up the doors for us and have us check in. It’s on the other side of town, but I hear it’s pretty big so Shippou and Kohaku can get a private booth to concentrate on their work. We have three hours and 4 fifteen minute breaks with food and drink provided.”
Leaving a tip for their server, they left and went their separate ways after getting some directions from Miroku on the clubs location. Seeing his brother walk of with Kohaku, Naruto went with Duo, and as usual Kagome with Inuyasha, and Shippou with his grandfather. Slightly uneasy about the pairing of his brother with Kohaku, Naruto kept unnaturally quiet while he and Duo picked out some souvenirs. Lost in thought he nearly broke something in the store and decided it was best to pay up before he actually did. So he decided on a few trinkets as gifts for Hinata and left leaving Duo alone and confused.
Stepping outside and breathing a bit heavily Naruto looked up to see his brother and Kohaku staring at him from right next to the door. Kohaku had a large welt growing on his head, and from the huge smudge on the door, Naruto surmised that he had slammed the door into his friend’s head without even noticing. Scratching his head embarrassed, Naruto tried to apologize, but ended up with a fist to the top of his head by his older brother. Growling Naruto tried to fight back, but ended up hitting Duo in the face with his bag.
“Damn it Naruto,” Shouted Duo as he rubbed his slightly swelling cheek. Raising his fist, Duo planted a punch right into his friends face, making him fall to the ground in agony. Taking notice of his friend’s twitches, Duo rubbed his knuckles saying, “Watch it! If this whole band thing doesn’t work out I need to look good in order to get an acting career.” The others all started to laugh, which ended up catching the attention of some of the local people. Grabbing Naruto by the collar in despair, Duo stomped away dragging the chuckling blonde along the ground. Looking over his shoulder, Duo stuck his tongue out at Kohaku and Sasuke before turning a corner and leaving them behind.
At around noon, the band made their way to the club. Seeing the RV parked on the street, they emptied their equipment and knocked on the back door that read, “Staff and Performer entrance.” Waiting a few minutes, Miroku pounded hard on the door and complained about how the people needed help running their business. Reaching up to pound again, the door swung open and Miroku stopped short of nearly hitting the club owner in the face. Smiling sheepishly, Miroku asked if she happened to be named Tina.
Capping her bottled water, the twenty-something year old woman nodded saying, “And I take it you’re ‘Yellow-brick.’” The band confirmed her suspicion to which she replied, “A bit young, but from what I’ve seen over the net you guys have some chops. Not to mention a hell of a sound. Reminds me of some of the older Eighties thrash metal bands.” Pushing the door open she kicked a part of the wall to reveal a sliding door and helped them carrying in a few of the pieces of the drum kit. Taking them through the back to the stage she set the bass and one of the snares down on the ground and explained to them that she would have to take Shippou and Kohaku up to the sound area to let them learn how to handle the switch boards.
Saying that they’d see their friends later, Miroku went about helping the band set the instruments up. Seeing that they had some decent microphones. They asked if Maurice could take them back out to the RV. Telling them it was no trouble, the man told them he’d also move the RV out of the way, but first asked if they needed anything else. Just asking for some cables, he left and came back with the cables. When they were set, he left them with the roar of their ride’s engine.
Making sure that the cables were set, the waved up to Shippou and Kohaku who had taken to configuring their own sound and lighting preferences into the switchboard. When it was set, Shippou turned on the mic that was set into the board and asked, “You all set?” Getting the thumbs up he clicked the power on and after a sudden blast of feedback, had them readjust some of the cables. After it was all fixed he turned the power back on and received no feedback. Wanting it to make sure it worked he asked Duo and Naruto to play a few chords. They did, and had to show off in the process by playing a couple of rather difficult solos, and with the sound set up, they began the rehearsal for that nights performance.
~ten hours later~
The band was sitting in the green room after their performance. Naruto was packing away his guitar while Kagome began to curl up next to Inuyasha, who had just come back from helping load the rest of the equipment in the RV. Miroku was out with Sasuke and Kohaku, discussing their payment and had been gone for a little bit. Maurice was packing away the bottles of water the club offered them for emergencies. As the old man snuck out the door before the owner returned, Miroku and the others came back with satisfied looks on their faces. Patting the envelope he held in his hand Miroku tilted his head to the door and the others followed in his wake.
Outside in the RV, the band piled in and once on the road, Naruto asked, “So why did we have to wait an hour for you guys to finish talking to that broad? She try to stiff us on the money or something like that jerk in Oregon a few months ago?” The others all started laughing at remembering a club owner who tried to short them more than half the agreed upon fee. That is until Naruto grabbed a set of scissors and began to make idle threats to the man by occasionally getting a bit to close to a certain area with the scissors. Yet, the man came to his senses and paid them a little extra in hopes that they never set foot in his club again as he hoped to have a few more children within his life time.
From his seat in the front, Miroku opened a lock box and pulled out the wad of cash the lady had paid them in. Holding it up he said, “She pretty much tried to hold off on paying us, despite all the people we brought in. So yeah she tried to jerk us around, but we finally got the money from her.” Putting it in the box, he reset the electronic combination and put it under his seat. Yawning, Miroku set his seat back and asked if someone else could give directions for a little bit. Taking the map, Kohaku moved to the part of the couch right behind his grandfathers seat as the others all passed into various states of sleep.
Staying awake for a few more hours. Kohaku noticed his grandfather getting tired and told the man that there was a rest area an hour ahead. Nodding, Maurice said, “No problem kid, just go to bed and I’ll be able to find it. But before you do that, how long until our next stop?” Seeing his grandson check the map and give an answer, the older man sighed saying, “Great another three days. I wish Miroku had spaced these a little closer together. Well, I signed up for this, so goodnight and I’ll wake you all up in the morning.”
Grabbing a light blanket, Kohaku curled up on the couch with Naruto right under him sleeping on the floor with drool pouring out of his mouth while Sasuke slept only a few feet away. In the back, Kagome had fallen asleep in the bed as Duo and Inuyasha slept on either side of it. The ride was smooth, save for the usual grunts of the sleeping teens. Finally getting tired, Maurice pulled into the rest area for a few hours sleep before taking to the road again. Sipping at one of the three cups of coffee he bought, he was surprised to see Inuyasha the first awake and told the teen to start getting everyone up.
After many complaints, the band began moving and they stopped at a truck stop to pay for the use of some of their showers. While some of them got clean, the others cleaned out the RV from the past few days and before they knew it they were on the road again to their next gig. It wasn’t a difficult one, in fact they were in San Diego which was a very lively town and they were treated well. They loved the fact that they were able to stay in actual beds for a night, and the club owners told them that they could come back anytime. This became their routine for about a month, every few days the band would stop to play a show, and on occasion stay in a hotel. Finally after another month on tour they had a small break in Georgia.
Granted they were a bit uncomfortable performing down there. They knew the comedy scene was big, but thrash metal may have been something that even Atlanta was not able to handle. Walking through the streets, The band was following Kohaku to a place that he said was of a great deal of interest to see. Naruto and Duo kept yawning and trying to run off, only to have Miroku and Sasuke pull them back and begin pummeling the pair on their respective craniums. After about an hour, the band stopped at a large building that silenced the voices of the people around it with airplanes landing. Pointing at the sign the band each gave Kohaku an odd look.
Grinning, Kohaku pulled out a slip of paper saying, “Shino’s flight’ll be in soon. I printed this off a couple days ago when we were in Texas. Apparently he quit work and is doing some online classes as well as working from his computer.” The whole band fell backwards in shock only to gain the attention of every passer-by due to them blocking the path from trying to untangle from one another in their haphazard pile. Snickering, Kohaku helped his friends up and asked, “Is it really that big of a problem? Hell, Kagome gets to bunk with Inuyasha on occasion and from what I hear the rest of you have had to fight off the girls due to respective attachments at home. So why can’t I have my boyfriend around with out it being such a big deal?”
“It’s because of the fact that we’re in one of the most religious areas of the country and you just openly proclaimed your sexuality to a bunch of passing Baptists and Presbyterians,” stated Shippou who was flipping through a magazine. The group snickered until Kohaku decided to smack Shippou in the head for making him look like an idiot. Rubbing the spot where he had just been hit, the teen said, “It’s not that hard to do when you announce stuff so tactlessly. For the love of Christ time your announcements a little better and save us from an ass kicking.”
Smirking, Kohaku said he’d go and find the gate while the others could wait at baggage claim. Before they could protest about not being given the flight number, Kohaku was in the building leaving them all alone. Kicking a garbage bin, Kagome spat on the ground hissing about Kohaku being a bit too happy about the situation. Looking to her friends she said, “There’s something else going on here that he won’t tell us.” Getting the look that asked how she knew from each of the males, Kagome said, “It’s woman’s intuition you jerks.” Sighing she walked into the airport and shouted at Kohaku to tell her the flight number, which nearly got her thrown out by airport security.
Down at the baggage claim near the sign reading the flight number, “twelve-thirteen,” the band remained quiet as they waited. Being the odd looking bunch that they were, decked out in minor heavy metal attire, each person took to using up the time by either reading or catching some extra minutes of sleep. Finally, as Duo let out a final grunt, he felt someone hit him in the head. Grunting awake, he rubbed his eyes to see nobody around. Looking over his chair he saw small head full of black hair and heard a girl giggling. Seeing that the others were either asleep or looking somewhere else, he asked, “Hinata?”
Grinning upwards, Hinata put a finger to her lips and pointed over to Naruto who was passed out in his own chair. Crawling over, she wrapped her arms around his neck and began whispering in his ear. The teen mumbled until she began to kiss his neck, but she stopped when he muttered, “That’s really good, Devon.” Stopping, Hinata stood up and smacked him demanding who the person he was talking about in his sleep was. Rubbing his head, Naruto looked up to see Hinata fuming at him. Scared at seeing her mad for the first time, Naruto began stuttering until she cracked her knuckles and began to beat on him.
As the beating commenced, Shino, along with Kohaku and the others, arrived to here the girl shouting, “Have you been screwing some girl around behind my back! I never should have put off school until the winter quarter to come and see you!” Deciding it best to let Naruto try and defend himself, their friends watched as onlookers either laughed at the blond teen’s plight, or just shook their heads saying that the kids were in need of discipline.
Slightly put off by Hinata’s sudden burst of anger, the group let her walk off with out a word as Naruto began crawling and with bruised lips and cheeks sprayed out, “Wait Hinata, it’s not what you think.” But he didn’t get far before collapsing and forced his friends to do rock, paper, scissors over who had to drag his beaten body out of the airport. Although it was argued that the game was fixed, Kagome took to dragging her friend out by the foot while the others caught up with what was happening at home since they had been gone.
Taking a look at them he was surprised that only Naruto and Sasuke had grown some sort of beard. Opening his bag, Shino handed over a small stack of papers to each person. “Letters from home. I don’t know why they decided to write since you all call every other day. But, I guess I can understand why they’d be worried.” The sadness in Shino’s voice was apparent, and Kohaku wrapped his arm around his boyfriends neck as they headed out of the airport onto the concrete sidewalk.
Naruto finally woke up and began cursing as Kagome continued to drag him face down in the concrete despite his protests. Finally after a block, Kagome noticed the kicking and let the slightly bloodied guitarist go so he could explain what happened when Hinata woke him up in the airport. The others were laughing the whole time as Hinata kept pushing her boyfriend away as he tried to get in close to explain that he was in the middle of a dream about a porn star. That didn’t help the situation as Hinata took off her backpack and started hitting him in the face much to the enjoyment of the others.
Back at the hotel, Maurice, who had been sharing a room with Shippou for the night, told them that the club had to postpone the show for an hour due to some lighting issues. Glad to have the free time, a few members of the group went down to the pool while Naruto headed back to his and Sasuke’s room to talk to Hinata and apologize for making her mad. Instead, she said she’d be going to the pool with Kohaku, Kagome, and Sasuke. Disgruntled, the guitarist went back into the room and did the only thing he could to keep himself from getting mad at himself. He sat down on the bed, pulled of his khakis and took a nap.
Later on though, Sasuke was sitting with his brother in the back and said, “Lucky for us we’re in our own room tonight. Although if you and Hinata start anything, I’m going to pull off the removable shower head.” While his twin normally would have laughed, Sasuke could tell that the situation was much worse than he realized. Since she went to the pool, Hinata had not talked to Naruto once during dinner or after the show. Keeping quiet, Sasuke took a phone card out and headed down to the closest payphone to make a call.
Stopping at one he put in all three numbers required and waited for the phone to click. When it did Sasuke asked, “Sorry about not calling earlier, we had to go to the airport to pick up a few guests.” On the other end, Sasuke’s conversation partner asked if he was sure that they were allowed to show up when they got to New York. “Yes I’m sure about it. A couple of them are already starting to suspect. I think your parents some how know, and everyone else, well let’s just say my brother isn’t as dumb as we think he is.” The person on the other end began to laugh saying that Naruto noticing something like that. Chuckling to himself, Sasuke checked his watch and said, “Sorry to cut this short, I need to get some sleep. We have an early day tomorrow and have to head down to the Mississippi/Florida border. But, I’m looking forward to seeing you.” On the other end the person said the same thing and when Sasuke noticed Shippou walking out of the elevator with Miroku he hurriedly said, “I gotta go. See you soon.”
Hanging up the phone, Sasuke walked past his friends and gave them a couple of words of congratulations on the show and headed back up to the room. Walking by a couple of doors he realized it was about midnight and had to get to bed. Stopping at one door he heard some rather odd noises and tried his card only to realize that it was Kohaku and Shino’s room. Going to his and his brothers room he tried to put the card in only to realize that Naruto had locked the door and like Kohaku’s room he heard some odd noises. So finding Duo’s and Miroku’s room and had to ask if he could sleep there for the night. He was happy to have a place to sleep, even if it was in the couch like padding the hotel had in the window-sill. The next morning though, he wasn’t the happiest of people, and each time Naruto tried to talk to him he just glared at his twin and went back to eating his cereal with a murderous rage.