SasuHina: Beyond The Camera

Chapter 11

Saturday morning arrived quickly and I awoke feeling completely renewed. Today was the first day all of us would train together as a group. Not only did Kakashi want us to hurry along for the sake of our group's synergy, but Tenten also begged him to let us out tonight. I could just picture her convincing him she was holding a team building event when really we were going to the club.

Still half-asleep, I trudged my way into the bathroom and climbed into the shower after warming it up. I was slightly nervous about tonight, but I'll be with everyone else so hopefully it won't be that bad. My biggest concern was making sure Sakura didn't sneak off with some creep. A frown slipped onto my lips. Even after coming clean to us about her issues, she didn't want to give up on her plan.

After about ten minutes, I heard a scream of terror and laughed. The girl in question must've just woken up and realized she was running behind. Not a moment later did she come busting through the bathroom door, "Why'd you let me sleep in!"

I nearly choked trying to muffle my laughs. Her hair was everywhere and her makeup from yesterday, which she obviously forgot to take off, was smeared every which way across her face. She snickered back at me, shaking her head, "Shut up."

She seemed to be in a much better mood today and for that I was thankful. Things were slightly awkward yesterday as we tiptoed around the topic of her anxiety. I didn't like it when my friends weren't happy.

Once we were both ready to go it was time for us to head down to our first co-ed singing practice with Jiraiya. We didn't see or hear from the boys, but continued downstairs anyway. As we walked, Sakura spoke in a quiet voice so no one would hear but me, "We should pull a prank on the guys sometime."

There was a sudden jab on my side and I jumped in response to the tickling sensation. Tenten's cheerful face appeared following the physical assault and she cackled, "Haha! You should go into their rooms while they're sleeping and put makeup on them. Make sure to record it so we can release the videos later. Your fans will get a kick out of it!"

Sakura and I laughed with her as we entered the practice room. Sasuke and Gaara were waiting with Jiraiya as he gave them some instruction. The piano playing stopped and the vocal coach greeted us with a smile, "Right on time, I like it!" Tenten instructed us to stand boy girl boy girl, with the order being me, Sasuke, Sakura, then Gaara.

"Before we start practice, I want to give you all some bad news."

We all looked up at Tenten's guilty face and waited. She threw her hands out dramatically, "Kakashi wouldn't let you all leave the agency tonight unless I invited Karin." There goes the light-hearted mood.

Sakura argued instantly, "Why would he do that when he knows that Suigetsu's her boyfriend?"

Jiraiya intervened because it seemed he'd been present when that conversation took place, "The deal the Uzumaki's have made with the agency's going to give you an edge when it comes to publicity. Kakashi has informed Karin and her parents that if any ill-will comes from her, the deal will be off." That relaxed me a bit, if only just slightly. At least there's something on the line that might keep Karin from being so terrible.

I glanced over at Sakura to see how she was taking the news and unfortunately she seemed uncomfortable. She stared straight ahead as if trying to avoid eye contact with anyone. Gaara was doing the same. I looked up to see Sasuke's glare pointed down at me, to which I replied with an inquisitive look.

Tenten clapped her hands excitedly, drawing all of our attention, "Let's get started!"

Jiraiya looked between all of us and sighed as if praying for patience before beginning to play the notes for warm up exercises. I couldn't really get a feel for the guys' voices because we were just warming up, but I still felt nervous with the unfamiliar deeper voices mixing with mine and Sakura's. I've never sang with a male before, but hoped to impress both my teammates and trainers.