Sup, my fanfiction buddies? You've fallen upon Jazzbanks.
Summaryish thing: Allright, the gang is going on a band trip, a jazzband trip. It'll be fun, wild, and probably shonenai tastic for the ones who like it. Sasunaru, with bits of Shino/Kiba (or Kiba/Shino, whatever :P) and Neji/Shika.
Feel free to read and rate, I love to hear from people, it makes everything so much more worth it.
Oh yeah, almost forgot, sadly, I can't make the Naruto characters do everything I'd like in real life. We'll have to leave that duty upon Masashi Kishimoto.
Note: textjust normal text..lol. textthoughts
Fairbanks. Fairbanks, Alaska. The Festival. The Jazz Festival. The UAF Jazz Festival. …..-Jazzbanks.
Naruto woke up to the sound of his alarm clock, knocking him out of dreamland and into his own tangible reality. That reality being, waking up, getting the rest of his bags packed, and heading off to school. After second period, he would be loading up the bus with the rest of the Konoha Jazz Band, and then make their seven hour ride up to Fairbanks. Naruto untangled his legs from his single sheet he slept with, and managed to grope his way out of bed and into his bathroom for a shower. This could mean anything, and yet nothing all at once.
After Naruto was done making sure he wouldn't kill the rest of the world with his odor, he slipped into the clothes that he hadn't packed, and rushed downstairs. He measured his time, and decided that he wouldn't have any time to have breakfast, but that didn't matter too much, considering the road-trip. Naruto couldn't take everything he had onto the bus, so he started walking.
Halfway to Konoha High, a familiar looking green pick up truck pulled over onto the side of the road in front of Naruto. The truck started honking, so Naruto walked over to it, relieved to see familiar faces. Inside, was Lee, with his two exchange student brothers, Gaara and Kankuro, from Sabure(1) High. All three of them were in the jazz band also, meaning the back of the truck was filled with a variety of bags and suitcases.
"Hey, just put your stuff with the rest and hop in.", said Lee. Naruto did as he was told and managed to squeeze himself into the already filled truck.
"Hey", said Gaara, and Kankuro acknowledged Naruto with nod and a small smile. Lee then 'put the pedal to the metal' or was it 'metal to the pedal?', Naruto wondered, and pulled back onto the main road. The car was awkwardly quiet for about ten seconds, until Lee decided to start talking about the trip. –And his excitement for it.
"I wonder what it's going to be like up in Fairbanks, and what we're going to do.", Lee went on. –No, really, he went on. Naruto looked over at Gaara, who was nearest to Lee. He didn't seem to be listening, and was more out of it than there. Naruto then looked at Kankuro, who looked like he was trying to find his happy place. A couple seconds passed, adding a glazed look to Kankuro's eyes. Yup, he's found his happy place. With the least offense to Lee as he could gesture, Naruto decided to follow suite to the other's actions in the truck, and let himself be lost within thought.
So…what should I think about? Maybe the trip. Yeah, the trip. What do I know about it? Naruto thought back. He hadn't gone last year, but he had heard from upperclassmen that it was always a blast. Naruto pictured all of the people that had gone on the trip last year. Well, it IS the band. He couldn't see why it wouldn't be fun. Kakashi, their director, was enough of an example right then and there. The guy was the most laid back adult Naruto had ever met, except when it came to band. That was business. Other than that, Naruto was almost 100 sure that they could get away with anything. Anything. What will that mean?
Having stopped at a stoplight, ((a/n: Imagine that, stopping at a stoplight.))Naruto looked out of the window, staring at their town's local supermarket- like store. It had, well, everything. Everything that a small town would need, at least. It was so small in fact, that Konoha High was the only high school that was needed -and existed. It was a small school, but most of the small population of students were talented in different areas. It was a small town with a fairly large reputation. Their Jazz Band had always excelled in the past, and were one of the most talked of bands around.- Jazz or not. Part of the jazz fest was an inter-band competition, earning the ultimate honor to whichever school grasped it. Konoha High was almost sure, the same way that Naruto was almost sure he could get away with anything, that they would win this year.
The light turned green, and Naruto was torn away from the prior buildings that he had been gazing upon. Buildings, people, and his well known scenery passed by, or more of he passed by, and soon enough the group of 'bandaids'(2) found themselves in the parking lot of Konoha High. They got out of the car, managed to load all of their accessories into their arms and onto their backs, and made their way to the band room inside of the school.
Once in the band room, they agreeably dropped all of their gear onto the pile that was already forming on the right side of the room. Pillows and blankies included. Since first period was Jazz band, Naruto looked around the room. Shino, Neji, and Chouji were already there, obviously bored. Chouji was eating his breakfast-or maybe after breakfast-Neji was lying on the ground attempting to sleep, and Shino was kicking it back in the corner with his shades on. Exciting. With the seven of them there, the only others that they were waiting for included Kakashi, Sasuke, Kiba, and Shikamaru.
A couple minutes passed, bringing Shikamaru, and Kiba following. After adding his belongings to the pile, Shikamaru accompanied Neji in his quest to catch a couple more 'z's'. Kiba, obviously a morning person, found Kankuro and proceeded in starting a lively conversation. What about, Naruto didn't know. Lee and Gaara were both sitting against the back wall, and Naruto was basically…standing there waiting for something to happen. Yet a couple more minutes had been lived, and Sasuke waltzed in. (Ok, he more of strode in, but he's nonetheless there, right?) Sasuke dropped all but one item of his paraphernalia into the pile that was rapidly becoming an abyss. This item, of course, Naruto realized, was his guitar.
Sasuke set down his case, brought out his guitar, and continued to do what he did every day, -practice. Sasuke was beyond the best guitar player in school, yet practiced every day like a madman. Many local bands had invited him to join, but the only form of music he ever had an interest in was jazz. This confused, and even annoyed many people, but Naruto knew why Sasuke was so immersed in jazz. –And only jazz. His brother Itachi had been in the jazz band at Konoha years ago, and had made himself a name to last years after. –Playing guitar. This guy was a god of guitar, Naruto had heard his playing, himself. For reasons unknown, Itachi had suddenly dropped out of high school in his second year, and then went on to play in a well known jazz combo out of town. For reasons even Naruto couldn't fully figure out, Sasuke strived to his greatest lengths to surpass his brother.
Although good friends, and completely different instruments, Sasuke and Naruto seemed to constantly compete for the spotlight in the band. Sasuke on guitar, and Naruto on trumpet. When solo time came around, no one was more willing than the two of them to farm it out. –No one could beat them, either. Some called it enthusiasm, others called it rivalry, but the truth was that they fed off of each other to grow musically.
The bell rang, and although everyone else in the school was hurrying their way into various classes and quieting down, the band room remained the same state that it was seconds before. Wait, no, Kiba's laughing now. Minutes more passed, being spent the same way as the moments prior. Kiba socialized, Neji and Shikamaru laid there, Shino shifted his position, Chouji ate yet more, and Gaara and Lee did whatever it is that they did. And Naruto too continued to do what he had done before,-listening to Sasuke free play whatever he felt like.
It was twenty minutes after the bell when Kakashi finally walked into the room. Normally, people would wonder where their teacher was, but this was band. And Kakashi. After a period of time, one comes to expect things that happen often, and their band director being tardy was one of these things. Since Friday was a day that had all of the periods, the class was short. They spent the rest of the period basically continuing what they had been doing before. This being absolutely nothing for some, and everything for others. Naruto continued listening to Sasuke, somewhere in between the two.
After Jazz Band, Naruto made his way with Sasuke and Neji to Art II. Art was another thing that Naruto was skilled it, and he felt relieved to be going to the class after spending all of the last period doing practically nothing. They had been doing mostly watercolor painting that quarter, and were working on different individual pieces that month. Naruto was working on a picture featuring a guy about his age sitting in a corner with his headphones on, listening to music. Naruto sat down and brought out his picture, halfway colored. He liked it so far. The background was dark, but the boy's clothes were bright and cheerful, almost optimistic. The reason he liked it, was because he felt it represented him in a way. He was comfortable with it.
Sasuke and Neji shared a table with Naruto, making for a good atmosphere.- The good atmosphere mostly being people that Naruto was familiar with being around. It was a bit of a quiet table, but it made for fruitful work. Naruto glanced over to his left, where Neji was filling in some trees on his lake scene. Neji mostly created these types of classic illustrations, all of them being peaceful. Naruto honestly thought that it was a bit boring, but never lacking talent. Naruto turned back to his character's shoes, only to have the nagging urge to glance at Sasuke's piece. I promised myself I wouldn't look this time, though. Sasuke always managed to create something phenomenal, and Naruto loved to catch him in the middle of his work, watching the creation take place. Sasuke's art was always edgy and detailed, never boring. Sorry, Neji. Naruto glanced out of the corner of his eye quickly, but even more quickly looked back down at the dirty shoes he was painting. It'll be better if I just see it when it's done.
After a seemingly long period of art, Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke made their way back to the band room. The room had even more energy than before. Everyone was either excited or anxious about the trip, and looking forward to the ride up to Fairbanks. Naruto recalled a past student telling him that the bus rides were 'rocking', too. Naruto looked at all of his band mates. Then he glanced at his bag that contained his sleeping bag and pillow. I think I'm just going to sleep. Kakashi had even gone through the lengths to get the best tour bus around for the band, so everyone would be comfortable and well spread out. Naruto yawned. Yes, that's exactly what I'll do. After a seemingly long period of art, Naruto, Neji, and Sasuke made their way back to the band room. The room had even more energy than before. Everyone was either excited or anxious about the trip, and looking forward to the ride up to Fairbanks. Naruto recalled a past student telling him that the bus rides were 'rocking', too. Naruto looked at all of his band mates. Then he glanced at his bag that contained his sleeping bag and pillow. Kakashi had even gone through the lengths to get the best tour bus around for the band, so everyone would be comfortable and well spread out. Naruto yawned.
After a couple minutes of the main game plan, the band picked up their gear and started walking out of the school and towards the bus in the parking lot. Naruto, behind most of the group, opened the main door and bumped into the back of Chouji.
"Why is everyone just standing here?", Naruto asked Chouji.
Chouji shrugged and replied, "I think our bus isn't here yet."
From behind Naruto, Kakashi opened the door and stepped outside. Seeing everyone standing there, he asked the group the same question that Naruto had just inquired. "What's everyone doing just standing here?. The bus is over there." Kakashi pointed over to the far left, where a short bus was parked. Naruto looked past the bus. Where's the big phatty tour bus? Naruto looked all around the small bus, but didn't see any other vehicle.
Kiba interrupted the silence, asking what everyone else was wondering. "Kakashi, you don't mean, that we're…riding in that short thing over there, do you?"
Everyone looked over at Kakashi, whom just gave a slight nod, and pointed over to the bus. "Gear up, boys." Naruto kind of giggled inside about this comment. Boys..ha, come to think of it, we really are only guys in this band..no girls…that's funny. Naruto thought of the other girls that played instruments; Tenten, Sakura, and Ino. Then again, they're in Symphonic Band. Nevermind.
The guys (a/n giggle, sorry..i had to) picked up their bags, once again, and grudgingly headed over to the almost van-sized bus. Naruto followed suite, and was the first over to the bus. He searched for a latch that lifted up the door to the under storage rooms of the bus, but didn't find any. Naruto mentally cursed. Shit.
"We've got a problem, guys. There isn't any under storage compartments." A mixture of curses and small comments were thrown around, once everyone had checked to make sure there really wasn't anywhere to put their stuff. Sasuke then got onto the bus, muttering something about seeing how much space they had. The rest of the group just stood there, knowing that their situation was progressively getting worse. Naruto sighed. What next?
Sasuke stepped off of the bus, looking a little worried. "There's seven seats on the bus, meaning that we will either use up two seats for luggage and have everyone share a seat, or put luggage in any spare place that we can, and have only three pairs seated together. By the way, before we make any decision, I've already claimed the last seat."
Naruto heard a bunch of groans, whether it was from the furthest seat back being claimed, or the decision that had to be made, he wasn't sure of. A couple minutes were used for pending the decision, and it was decided that they would have three seats with two people in them,(and four seats with one person) and stick the spare luggage wherever they could manage. I have to be one of those four people.
With the decision being made, everyone scrambled to make their way onto the bus. Naruto was the first on, and quickly sat in the next to last seat, in front of Sasuke's. It was moments after that action when he realized that he had to use the restroom. Shoot. Naruto quickly squeezed his way off of the bus, and ran back into the school to relieve himself.
Naruto walked back outside of the school. Ah, that's better. When he got back to the bus, he noticed that someone had left their bags outside of the bus door. How careless. He picked them up. Wait a second, these are mine. Naruto walked onto the bus, realizing that he had been booted out of his seat. He looked at the entirety of the bus and all of it's occupants. Chouji, Lee, Gaara, and Kankuro had sat in the upper half of the bus, so Naruto kept walking towards the back, hoping for a free seat. As he reached the back, he saw that Kiba, Shino, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke had occupied the other half of the bus. Kiba and Shino were sitting together, and Neji and Shikamaru had somehow found themselves together.
Realizing his options, Naruto just sat down next to Sasuke, who was staring out of the window with his ipod on. Sasuke gave Naruto a slight glare, and then went back to staring out of the window at the forest that was surrounding the school. Naruto sighed and set his bags on the ground in the aisle. So much for sleeping, huh? The bus started up, and the musicians made their way out of the driveway and onto the road to Fairbanks. Naruto crossed his arms and stared forward. This is going to be a long, long ride.
(1) Sabure- Sabure means sand..so I figured it would fit.;)
(2) bandaids- Just another term for bandgeek. :P
Hey, its BlackLuck, back for more Naruto fan fic! Lol. For those who had been reading 'Why Is It Always The Rain?', thank you, and I'm sorry that I haven't been able to update it in forever. My computer had crashed, and we had to wipe all files, meaning that my almost finished update for it was deleted. I'll try to rewrite it sometime, but for right now, I'm focusing on this story..it'll be good, don't worry. - It's a fun idea, based on my real life stories and such, so it should be interesting. I'll try to update this often. Some of you must be thinking "eh,…..Naruto and BAND? –JAZZ BAND?" lol. Jazz Band kids are the wildest I know. It'll be great. 'til the next chapter, see you!
((Comment, pwz!))