Disclaimer: I do not own anyone from Naruto. They belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Song lyrics belong to their respective owners.

Claimer: Yume and anyone not found in the Narutoverse belong to me.

Chapter 1

"Shit."

Yume stepped from the taxi, a guitar slung over one shoulder, and looked at the vast arena in front of her. Nope. She had never performed a concert before. There was no way this was her first gig.

Rummaging through her pockets, she pulled out her phone and punched in her bandmate's number. She must be at the wrong address. She held it to her ear but there was no response. She tried the other three members but was stuck with the dial tone each time.

She tried not to panic, reasoning that they were probably on their way or here already, and made her way to the performers' entrance. Pulling out her pass, she flashed it to the person on the door but faltered when she noticed his blue skin. He took the pass from her and looked it over.

"Well, at least one of you showed up."

He handed the pass back to her and stepped aside, only she did not move. Her face was considerably paler.

"I'm the… only one here?"

The boy, not much older than she was, actually, flicked through the sheets on his clipboard.

"Yeah, just you." He noticed the look on her face. "Kid, don't worry. You've got plenty of time before the show starts. We've only got about a quarter of the audience in."

Yume's stomach twisted. Whilst giving him what she hoped was a reassured smile, she moved inside the building to get ready. She passed between crew members until she reached the side of the stage, where she was told to set up.

"But no one's here yet."

"Right. So, put your stuff down and call them? They should have been here twenty minutes ago."

Embarrassed, Yume kept her head low and sped onto the stage. As she stepped closer to the middle, she slowed down. There was the loud hustle and bustle from the other side of the curtain as people filled out the arena, some standing by the front and others seated around the edges. They were so close it made her want to throw up. And she might have done, had she not turned around to put her guitar down and seen the backdrop.

Big, red letters on a black canvas read: AKATSUKI. Her guitar hit the floor. She swayed uneasily.

Until now, she had cared less about the details of the gig. She knew she was supporting someone but all she had been told was a date, a time and an address. Not that it was Akatsuki. Not that it was supporting Akatsuki on the final date of their world tour. It would puzzle her until the day she died how Sasuke, her lead singer, had failed to mention the fact or even found those connections.

She had no time to think about it. She abandoned her guitar and microphone and vanished into the wings, hell bent on finding her bandmates.

Half an hour later, she had made little progress. Her phone was out of power and she had only had chance to leave half a message to her cousin, Ino, before it had cut out. Thinking about it, ringing Ino had been stupid. Of all her bandmates, it was on Ino's phone that Yume was named 'Idiot'. Even if the world was ending, she would still reject Yume's call.

Running from one end of the building to the other, which was quite the feat in itself, she returned to the performer's entrance and asked the blue skinned bouncer,

"Has a guy called Sasuke Uchiha shown up yet, or got in contact?"

The boy looked surprised to hear the name.

"Uchiha? Oh. Now things make sense. I wondered how you'd managed it." Yume said nothing, waiting to hear the answer to her question. "No, sorry kid. I don't think so. But there's another backstage entrance. Your bandmates could have come through there, maybe?"

"Oh," Yume perked up, hearing that not all was lost. "Where's the other door?"

The boy pointed back through the building. "Other end of the arena."

Her shoulders sagged. He chuckled, realising it was not what she had wanted to hear. She still had half an hour before they were due to begin, though. A miracle could still happen.

Yume passed the bouncer a smile and waved before launching herself back inside. It was only as she ran, contracting a stitch the size of hell, that she realised she desperately needed to start hitting the gym. She was the standing in one spot, playing guitar type of person; not the running after no-show bandmates type. But if this was how it would be at every concert, she was better off being prepared.

She slowed her running after taking a turn, only to realise she had no idea where she was. It was not a straight line from one end to the other, and after seeing so many sets of riggings from the rafters, she had lost the ability to distinguish one corridor from the next.

Becoming increasingly lost, Yume all but gave up hope until she found the door to a fire escape. Thinking that maybe she should head outside, walk round the building and find the entrance with the blue bouncer again, she pushed down on the panic bar and stepped out.

Unfortunately, the fire escape led to a fenced-off loading bay, and when she approached the gate she noticed it was locked and bolted. She gave the padlock a pull to see if it would magically break loose. It didn't. What did happen, though, was the door back into the arena swung shut during a brief gust of wind.

Yume's jaw dropped open. She ran back to the door and began hammering on it, hoping that someone would hear her. There was no luck. She ran to the gates and tried to force the lock off, but it was far stronger than she was. Looking around to try and find a way out, Yume resorted to her phone, forgetting it was dead.

Having no way out, she walked back to the door and kicked it, hard, only to regret it seconds later when the pain sent her crumpling to the floor, clutching her toes. Today was not her day.

She sat at the base of the door and began knocking repeatedly but softly, deciding that perhaps it was okay for her to miss the concert. She was only a backing singer and second guitar, after all. Tapping away, she barely noticed when something tapped back in response. It was only after a moment when the tapping turned into a hard thump to get her attention that she jumped away in surprise.

"Hi, there's someone out here. Could you open the door?" She cursed at how desperate her voice was. It seemed she didn't want to miss the concert after all. She waited but there was no response. Then, after a moment, someone replied.

"Who the fuck kind of idiot gets themselves locked outside? Are you one of the crew?"

"Could you let me in please?" Now that Yume was aware she might get back inside in time, she could not waste another second. She had to get to the other side of the arena to see if her bandmates had arrived. It was the only hope left.

"Answer the fucking question."

Whoever it was, Yume thought, was being ridiculously rude. It was a boy - that much she could tell - with a voice that sounded all too familiar. However, she had no time to ponder and needed to stay on his good side, fearing he would leave her in the parking bay to rot. "No, I'm from Konoha Chibi Parade. It's the support band."

There was a brief moment of silence. "Fuck, you're an idiot, aren't you? Why are you out there?"

Yume sighed agitatedly. "I got lost trying to find my band."

She heard a loud laugh from the other side of the door, then the voice said, "How did you lose them?"

Yume slammed her foot against the door, realising the boy was simply trying to lose her some time now. "OPEN THE DOOR. They're not here yet and I can't get in contact with them and I'm starting to panic so—"

She heard him mutter a drawn out "fuck…" then the latch clicked and the door swung open. Yume said a brief thank you and rushed past her saviour and tormentor, only as she tried to disappear into the distance, a hand wrapped tightly around her wrist and held her back.

"Oi, Blondie," said the voice, ignorant to the look of horror that had just flashed across Yume's face at the skin-to-skin contact, "Go that way. Try asking Kisame."

Yume looked over her shoulder, briefly seeing silver hair and a pair of maroon coloured eyes staring at her before she dropped her gaze to the hand around her wrist. "Who's Kisame?"

"You can't miss the fucker. He's big, blue and carrying a clipboard."

Ah, the bouncer from before. Yume shook her head, trying to subtly pull her hand free as she did, "No I've already checked with him. He said try the other end of the arena."

"Good fucking luck. They won't come through that entrance. It's for the headline act only." The last part came off a little too smugly. Yume looked at him properly for the first time, about to say that she was sure a door wasn't just limited to one group of people, only when she got a look at his face, she faltered and began to stammer. Her eyes bulged. He pulse shot up and her breath started to hitch in her throat.

"Y-y-you're…" Yume could not force herself to finish the sentence. Her face turned a brilliant shade of red and on animal instinct she found the strength to pull her arm free. She started to run off, only he grabbed her by the other arm. He cocked his head to the side and flashed her a smile, sending her dizzy.

"What's your name, Blondie?"

"Y-Yume," she replied, her voice turning into a squeak. The boy let go of her arm, assuming she would stick around for a chat, seeing her reaction. However, as Yume was very much a flyer in the Fight or Flight theory, she turned on her heel and bolted. The boy shouted after her, but she had turned a corner and vanished in a matter of seconds.

"Yeah, and I'm Hidan! Thanks for asking, you stuck up bitch!"

He stared along the corridor a moment more then turned on his heel, his arms crossed over his chest in annoyance. Who the hell did she think she was? That was the last time he would ever help her out. He flipped her off for good measure then started down the corridor in the opposite direction. Well, he had to admit, at least it had wasted a bit of his time. He was in no mood to go back to the VIP dressing room yet.

oOo

Yume only stopped to catch her breath when she knew she was well and truly away from that fire escape. She bent down and looked at her hand. He had touched her hand. Hidan had touched her hand. Hidan – from Akatsuki – had touched her hand. For a split second, as she punched the air, she forgot the worries of her no-show bandmates.

She had just had a conversation through a door with one of her biggest idols. She was almost annoyed at herself for demanding that he let her back in the building so soon, but there was no going back now to bombard him with questions and autograph requests. She would just make sure to tell everyone what had happened. In great detail. Including the skin contact… maybe not the skin contact. There were rumours about Hidan's fangirls and that sort of contact with their Hidan was a good enough excuse for a death warrant.

She continued back towards the performer's entrance, recognising the route more and more the further she travelled but when she arrived, the bouncer was surrounded by a cluster of crew members all looking quite frantic. As Yume approached, one noticed her and gave a relieved smile.

"There you are." Yume pointed to herself questioningly. "Yes, you. We need to get you onstage. You're on in ten."

Yume felt the urge to throw up, but managed to hold it down in order to spit out, "Wait. No. My band isn't here. I haven't found them."

Her plea for sanctuary was ignored. The crew members rushed forward and took her by the arms, leading her off into the building. She looked behind her to see Kisame looking back, grinning broadly but looking a little apologetic that he could not save her. The world did not wait for a support band, after all.

Yume was led through packs of crew members until she reached the left wing of the stage. Out front, the curtains were still drawn but she could hear a far louder chatter from the audience than before. Just how many people were out there? Was this really happening? She couldn't decide whether she was meant to be supporting Akatsuki, or if this was all a big joke. It had to be an Akatsuki tribute band, it could not be the real thing. Though, thinking back to the person who had let her in the building… he certainly looked like Hidan, sounded like Hidan and spoke with as many swears in one sentence as he could like Hidan. She started to sway, feeling faint.

"Don't go dropping on us now, Miss. We need at least one of you on stage."

"But I can't perform alone!"

The crew members were having none of it. They were on a strict schedule and they could not waste time trying to find a replacement supporting act, and they certainly could not delay it. "You can play guitar can't you? You can sing? Put something together."

Yume tried to dig her heels into the floor to halt the process, but she was powerless against the drag of three people. In a feeble voice, much like something that would be said by a man walking to the gallows, she said, "I'm only a backing singer…"

oOo

Hidan sauntered his way back to the dressing rooms, hoping that during his adventure around the building his bandmates would have finished unpacking and he would be free to relax. He was so very, very wrong.

As he arrived at the dressing room door, it was suddenly wrenched open from the inside and a boy with shaggy brown hair nearly ran straight into him. The boy saw who it was and his face suddenly broke into a tearful, pleading expression.

"Tobi can't find Tobi's mask!" Hidan tried to walk past him but Tobi put his hands out, flailing about in the childish manor he always did. "HIDAN NEEDS TO HELP TOBI LOOK FOR IT SO TOBI CAN GO ON STAGE!"

A small vein appeared on Hidan's forehead which, by now at least, Tobi should have realised meant he was in serious danger. But ever the clueless one he continued to whine. Fortunately for the brunette, just as Hidan raised his fist to pummel him into the floor, a hand appeared between them holding Tobi's orange concert mask. The boy's face lit up like a candle and he took the mask, fastening it on his face before disappearing back into the dressing room.

Hidan relaxed, passing Itachi a grateful look. At which point the sound of drums began to drown out any coherent thought. Hidan slammed his hands over his ears and shouted,

"Fuck sake Tobi. Save it for the Jashin-damn concert! If you give me a fucking headache I'll rip your—" the rest of Hidan's sentence was drowned out when other instruments joined the fray – a guitar and a keyboard. Hidan gritted his teeth, flexing and clenching his hands. He had to survive this. It was one final concert, the world tour would be over, then he could smash Tobi's drum kit over his head. Grinning slightly at the prospect, he made his way past Itachi, towards the others. As he entered, the blond on guitar stopped playing.

"And where have you been, yeah?" he asked. Hidan brushed him off.

"I only went to the fucking toilet. Calm your tits."

Deidara pointed out of the dressing room, knowing fine well that he had been avoiding any kind of work. They had been to five different countries with fifteen different cities and Hidan had never once unloaded the van. His excuses had ranged from needing the toilet to supposedly trying to find everyone something to eat or best of all, when they had visited his hometown of Yugakure, he had gone off to find a long lost relative. "Well your mic's still on the bus, yeah."

Hidan clenched his fists again. Those bastards. It would have taken them ten seconds to grab his microphone case and bring it off with them but no. They were being dicks about it.

"Fuck you." He exclaimed, turning on his heel to head towards the tour bus. "I was helping out some stranger and you guys couldn't pick up one motherfucking case."

The keyboard stopped abruptly. Sasori raised an eyebrow. That was certainly a new excuse. "You were helping someone?"

Disappearing out of the room to retrieve his microphone, Hidan called back, "Yeah. Dumb bitch got stuck outside so I let her in the building."

With Hidan gone, the others looked between one another with mild surprise. They had never seen Hidan give in and get his equipment so quickly. Realising something was on Hidan's mind, Deidara, Sasori and Tobi gave Itachi a look. It was a look that said you're closest to the door. Go check on him. Itachi did not protest. He was a little curious about his bandmate's mood too.

Flash stepping to catch up to Hidan, Itachi appeared beside him and asked, trying to decipher the weird behaviour, "Why was the girl stuck outside?"

"Fuck knows. She locked herself out."

"So… why did you let her in? That's not like you."

Hidan gave him a dirty look. "Because I'm a nice guy, you fucktard!" Well, he did not want to admit that he had been buying himself time away from unloading the bus. "She's part of the support band apparently." Itachi gave a small noise of understanding before Hidan gave a loud laugh. "The rest of the fuckers haven't shown up though."

As Hidan reached to open the door that led outside, Itachi stopped walking. Hidan looked over his shoulder. "What's up?"

Itachi looked down at his watch. "Her band isn't here yet?"

Hidan shrugged. "Don't think so. She was acting like a whiney bitch, said she couldn't get hold of them. Serves her right. She didn't even ask who I was, the rude cu—"

Ah. So that was why Hidan was in a weird mood. A girl had ignored his attempts at hitting on her. That sounded about right. However, Itachi was more interested in the whereabouts of their supporting act. He pulled out his phone and waved Hidan away to get his microphone. As Hidan flipped him off then disappeared outside, Itachi pressed a number on speed-dial and waited. There was no answer. He rang again and as he waited, Hidan reappeared with his microphone. Still no answer. Itachi frowned. He had a bad feeling.

He typed in a different number and put it to his ear. The person on the other end picked up immediately.

"Kisame? Come help Tobi move his drums to the stage. We're going up early." He put the phone down and looked to Hidan. "Warm your vocals on the way."

Hidan was given no time to argue as Itachi ran off down the corridor, into the dressing room. Hidan took a step forward before the door behind him was wrenched open and Kisame charged through, crashing into him which sent both of them to the floor.

"Woops. Sorry, there, Hidan."

Hidan grumbled something about turning someone into sushi but quickly brushed it off. "Whatever," he tried to shove Kisame off, but the boy was much heavier than he was, "just get the fuck off me."

Kisame fell back into mission-mode and launched himself forward, grabbing Hidan's hand to pull him up, then without letting go he sped off into the dressing room, carrying the screaming Jashinist as he went. The other band members looked a little confused at Itachi's plan but more often than not his hunches and ideas were for their own good so they packed up their things and headed for the stage. As they approached, they heard the background music disappear, signalling to everyone that the concert was about to start. There was a loud uproar from the audience somewhere above their heads.

Reaching the right wing, they arrived in time to spot a small blonde clutching a guitar out in centre stage. Putting their equipment down momentarily, Itachi asked, "Hidan, is that her?"

Hidan glanced at the girl on stage, seeing that very same mix of nerves and terror on her face as before and nodded. "Yeah. That's the bitch."

Getting a look at the girl on stage, Deidara tapped Itachi's shoulder. "That's our support, yeah? I thought we had a band?"

Although the next few words that left Itachi's mouth came out in a calm tone, anyone who knew the raven-haired boy well knew that he was harbouring some deep seated hatred behind it all. "Her bandmates decided not to show."

The others instinctively backed away from him. At that moment though, a voice erupted out of the overhead speakers, "Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for tonight's supporting band: Konoha Chibi Parade!"

As the audience erupted, the large drape hiding the stage from view fell away. The six boys visibly saw Yume's face drain of any colour. She gripped at her microphone stand, taking in the thousands of people clapping and cheering. Deidara's jaw dropped open.

Had the producers really sent her on by herself? He had never heard of Konoha Chibi Parade before – clearly they hadn't made it big enough to be playing to audiences this size. And she was only one person. The crowd would kill her.

On stage, trying her best not to go into shock, Yume gripped her microphone so tightly that her knuckles were slowly turning white. Seeing a never ending sea of people, she took a deep breath and started to speak, intending to apologise for her band and to say that she would not be able to perform. However, it took her a moment to realise that no words were coming out.

Itachi, noticing that she was struggling, turned and walked his way over to one of the crew members and the two began to talk in hushed tones. Deidara filled the space, praying that the girl would burst into brilliant song and the whole awkward ordeal would be over. Moments later, Itachi reappeared and shoved him out of the way.

"Okay, the band's music set is easy enough," He said. Hidan's eyes narrow into slits, already against the plan. "They're only covers. Deidara, there's some male vocals so you'll have to help. Hidan needs to rest his voice for our songs."

Both Deidara and Hidan's jaws dropped open. Yes, he was doing it. Itachi was going to make them support the support band.

"Why the fuck should we help her?" protested Hidan, still stung that she had not stopped to talk to him earlier even when he had used his sexiest, most charming smirk.

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to see her cry?"

Hidan crossed his arms then looked at the girl on stage.

"She fucking deserves—" he noticed that same damned nervous expression she had given him earlier, her whole body shaking with fright. "…fine."

Sasori interjected, "Good. It's the last spot on our tour and I'd rather not have it remembered as the day we had someone breakdown on stage." He pointed to Yume.

She was becoming more and more worked up. The crowd was beginning to quieten down now, but the only voice she could hear in her head was one trying to make excuses for her to leave. She could say she needed to use the bathroom? Or just run away screaming. Either way, she was doomed. Her social credibility was done, and she was going to have to live as a hermit, locked away in her house forever more, only opening the door to the supermarket home-delivery man.

Itachi picked up his guitar and stepped towards the stage with the others following behind, only a beefy arm jumped out in front of him.

"Sorry, Sir. You know the rules. Stage's off-limits until you're performing."

Itachi looked at the large bouncer, an eerie calmness drifting over him. He glanced behind him quickly, which made his bandmates take a few steps back on instinct. There was the sound of a drum kit clattering to the floor, then the bouncer suddenly found himself pinned against the wall, Kisame holding him there.

"Get moving," he said with a toothy grin. Itachi gave him a small nod of thanks.

Yume had calmed down just enough to be able to speak. "H-hi, everyone. Umm… it's nice to see you all here." Oh wow, she was screwed. "I'm really, really sorry but my band—"

The arena suddenly erupted with applause. Yume faltered. Had she just said something funny? She could not remember. Everything was one big blur. It only occurred to her to turn around when she heard the clattering of a drum kit.

She turned, saw who was approaching, then nearly buckled at the knees. All five members of Akatsuki were striding onto stage, grinning and waving to the audience. That was it. It was official. Yume had died of shock there on stage and gone to heaven. There was no other explanation.

As four of the boys began to set up their equipment, Hidan walked forward with his microphone, past Yume, and yelled energetically, "Hello Konoha! Are you ready for a good night?"

As the crowd screamed their replies, Hidan shuffled back to Yume and whispered in her ear, "what? You didn't think I would just let you die of embarrassment did you, Blondie?"

Yume looked at Hidan, momentarily star struck, her fangirl motor running in overtime as she felt his breath tickle her ear. Oh god, she really had died.

Seeing the blush spread over her cheeks, Hidan smirked. He still had it!

He turned back to the microphone and yelled, "Now, my little friend here seems to have misplaced her band so me and the guys are gonna' help her out; being the kind, sensitive, lovable, sexy people we are."

More cheers came from the crowd. Deidara ran over and whispered that Hidan had to set up his amp, so the two switched places. Deidara gave Yume a wink when she dared to look at him then turned his head and spoke into the microphone,

"Sorry for the delay, guys, yeah. We weren't expecting this to happen so please bear with us for a few minutes!" The crowd started to murmur so he added, "But as they say, the longer you wait, the better the result, yeah."

The crowd erupted again and Deidara laughed. It was too easy to please them. He turned and looked at Yume, "What's your name?"

"Y-Yume…?" She wasn't totally sure herself. Any strands of thought had tangled together into one giant ball of mess. All she knew was that tomorrow she was going to bury herself under her covers and cry for acting like such an idiot in front of her idols.

"Well, Yume, how's your singing voice, yeah?"

Dear god, he was talking to her. "Umm, well, I'm a backing singer."

"Do you know all the words to your songs, yeah?" Yume nodded. "Great," Deidara rubbed one of her shoulders, causing her head to go dizzy as the blood rushed up her face. "You sing and we'll do the backing music, okay?"

A moment of silence passed, followed by a loud shriek from Yume. Deidara threw his hand over the microphone, laughing it off as Yume's face paled. He tried to reassure her, "me and the guys have got you covered. You don't need to play your guitar – just sing, yeah."

"But… But I…-" Yume saw the hopeful expression in Deidara's one visible eye and sagged in defeat. She was already on stage, and there was a group of five drop-dead gorgeous boys blocking her exit. If she was going to die of humiliation, she might as well do it, fangirling as she went.

Deidara noticed her change in expression. "Are you ready, yeah?"

Yume looked at the microphone stand, and then past it into the crowd of people screaming and shouting incoherently to the Akatsuki members. She nodded, unsure of the whole thing.

By now, the Akatsuki members had positioned themselves around Yume. Deidara's guitar, Itachi and Hidan were in a line behind her and stood behind them were Sasori and Tobi. Deidara smiled and handed her the microphone, taking her guitar from her.

"When you're ready, just say the name of the first song, yeah."

Yume nodded. This was it: her big performance. She couldn't mess this up - for the sake of her band's reputation if not her own. What a first gig this was going to be. She took a deep breath, wrapping her fingers around the microphone, then said, "The first song we're going to perform is…"

Hello world of fanfictioners! Meet my debut story, Rock Angel! It's fun and madness with a li'l bit of lovin' along the way. I hope you're enjoying it so far and please, keep reading! Reviews are also loved and very much appreciated. I want to hear what you think!

WhenSarahSmiles (formerly X-Deidara's Lover-X)