DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, Kishi does.

NOTES: So this is it - the end! I want to thank EVERYONE for their support and reviews, I greatly appreciate it. I give special thanks to Rel and Eight-Days-A-Week, whose gifts and encouragement have helped bring Vermillion to an end. You can definitely expect more ShinoTen fics from me, as well as the completion of the other stories in my profile.

I leave you now with three things - one, the reminder that there is a poll at the top of my profile for your favourite Metamorphoze oneshot. Two, if you are enjoying ShinoTen as a pairing and would like to stay updated on stories and artwork, then please join the ShinoTen FC at the Naruto Forums - the link is in my profile. Three - the set list for the O2 concert, which I forgot to put at the beginning of the last chapter.

Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy!

~Kaida

Creed – My Own Prison

Guns N' Roses – November Rain (Cover)

Papa Roach – Getting Away With Murder

Tenacious D – Tribute

Slipknot – Vermillion Pt.2 Bloodstone Remix

Her eyes widened. She thumbed through the pages. Guitar tablature in the same ink. Lyrics to other songs, including Dear Lover.

Dear lover, do you remember...

All in the same handwriting. A careful, flowing script without thrills and sometimes missing the dot above the i. The handwriting on fans' hoodies, on Christmas cards, birthday cards...

Tenten straightened, feeling like she'd taken a blow to the head. Shino.

Shino was the composer for The Sacred.

But...in all the interviews, every time someone had spoken about it...they'd always made out as if Neji was the one behind the composition, the lyrics. He'd talken about inspirations, about fate, about the hard work that went into every song...

"Ooooh, Neji finished it already?"

She flinched. She'd believed that. Had said as much to Shino. And he hadn't said a word against it. Why?

She could remember a band interview where Neji had been talking about the lyrics to one of their songs, and how easy that could be to write when you'd experienced 'that level of fated love yourself'...and she remembered Shino, sitting impassively to Neji's right, saying nothing. His sunglasses hiding his eyes and his high-collared jacket hiding his mouth.

Silent.

Why?

Why was Neji taking credit for what he didn't deserve?

Tenten felt choked – angry, sad, horrified. It was injustice – complete injustice, that Shino had to sit through everyone praising Neji for his work. How could they? How could they?

How could she?

Something had to be done.

Gulping, Tenten stormed out of the room.

As she strode up the corridor, her cheeks burned. She knocked on Temari's door, gritting her teeth together so hard that her jaw ached.

The blond woman opened her door and eyed Tenten. "Tenten...are you okay?"

"No. I'm not." Tenten could see that Temari was stressed – there was even a hint of redness to her eyes. But her anger outweighed her concern. "How could you let this happen?"

Temari blinked. "What?"

"I'm talking about the interviews. The interviews, and the videos, and the comments – Neji being made out to be the next Gackt, when he's nothing more than a fraud?"

Temari grimaced, and pulled Tenten into her room. "Keep your voice down."

"I won't!" Tenten hissed. "Why? Why would you let them do that to him?"

"It's business," Temari snapped. She winced. "Look...Neji has a big fanbase. Big. And you need a big fanbase to kick off as a band. For as long as they all thought the sun shined out of Neji's ass, we had the foundations to build ourselves on. I was planning on revealing the composer when we were big enough that it wouldn't matter."

"That's so shallow," Tenten said sadly. She could see the predicament – she really could. But it was like a slap to Shino's face. That his lack of popularity with hormonal girls cost him his credit. Poor, poor Shino.

"I know," Temari sighed. "It wasn't even my idea to begin with."

"Whose was it?" If it was Shino's, it would break her heart.

"Guess," the manager said wryly. "Or rather, it wasn't really an idea. More like 'taking the initiative'."

Taking the initiative? Was that what they were going to call it? It sounded like a poor excuse – like cheap icing on a stale cake.

Tenten stared. Then walked out.

"Tenten!"

She could hear Temari following her, but she carried on walking. She knew that he'd be in the lounge, playing poker. That was what he always liked to do in hotels – gamble the small hours away, for money or cigarettes – whichever one he craved at the time.

He was sitting at a table with Kiba, Shikamaru and Kankurou. Hidan, Ino and Hinata were sitting around the plasma TV. Shino was nowhere in sight.

Tenten felt Temari grab her arm and she shook it off. It wasn't a big deal to most people – maybe once upon a time, it wouldn't have been a big deal to her.

But it felt personal. Shino had done so much, been so kind. He took his work seriously – now that she knew Vermillion was his, she knew what it meant to him. She'd heard what it meant to him in his voice, even after she'd called it Neji's.

"I am merely...very in tune with our music. When I am alone with it, I might appear to be an ideal vocalist. But that is because...I am alone with it. And it becomes mine."

His. They were his. And they were taken away from him every time he had to perform those songs in Neji's name.

And Tenten wanted to see. She wanted to face Neji and see if she could still see in him what she used to.

"How could you do that?" She asked, her voice wavering.

Everyone looked at her.

She glared at Neji, who raised an eyebrow.

"How can you say it's your music? Before it was even business, how could you do that?"

Hidan stood up from his position on the couch, watching the scene with furrowed brows. His violet eyes were cold when they regarded Neji.

"It was what was best for the band," Neji shrugged, toying with a playing card between his index and middle fingers. "I wouldn't expect you to understand that."

"Best?" Tenten cried, laughing in disbelief. "That's so arrogant! You honestly believe the success of the band revolved around you?"

"Didn't it?" Neji said. "You didn't seem too bothered."

"Oh, he did not," Ino gasped, and Shikamaru shushed her.

She felt cold. She couldn't see it – couldn't see what had kept her so blind for so long. What had she ever seen in him?

"Leave it, Tenten," Temari growled.

"No!" She shook Temari's hands off again. "I may be a lowly PA, and I may not be a musician, but I know it's not right to reap the glory of someone else's hard work!"

"T-Tenten..." Hinata winced.

"Hear hear," Hidan clapped.

"Shut up," Neji snapped.

"No, I don't think I will," Hidan retorted, striding up to the table. "See, I've been kinda sick of you for a long fucking time. I wanna hear this. Everyone should hear this, seriously."

"I can't believe I ever liked you," Tenten breathed, glaring at Neji. The singer stood up and fixed her with a cold stare. "You're nothing but a poser."

Neji grabbed Tenten's wrist tightly, his face twisting with anger. Her heart jumped with fear.

"Oh no you don't!" Hidan snarled, stepping forwards. Kankurou and Kiba's chairs squealed as they shoved them back to stand up.

Before Hidan could do anything, a pale hand grabbed the front of Neji's shirt tightly.

"You will let go now," Shino demanded, his voice low. Tenten looked over at him, surprised to see his shades missing and his wolfish eyes narrowed with anger that didn't show on the rest of his face. Behind him, Gaara watched with cool eyes.

Neji let go of Tenten's wrist, knocking Shino's hand off of his shirt and stepping back. "She's mouthing off out of place," he sneered. "You wanna put a leash on her?"

"Shut the fuck up," Hidan yelled, slamming his hand down on the table top. "It wasn't out of place, you lying sack of shit. It's well deserved and you know it."

"What's going on?" Shino asked, his voice tight. His hands had taken Tenten's arm and he looked at her wrist, which had reddened under Neji's grip. She bit her lip at the contact, finding it a little crazy that even in a moment like this she could blush under his stare.

"Tenten knows you're the composer," Kiba said.

"It's wrong," Tenten ground out around her anger and the tears that threatened to come. "Why should he get all of the credit? It's wrong!"

Shino stared at her, his eyes unreadable. His brows were drawn down over his eyes, his hair falling in random spikes over his forehead. She wished she could tell what he was thinking.

"It bothers you?" He said eventually, his voice curious.

"Hell yes it does! Please say it bothers you," she frowned.

"Tenten..." His hands tightened subtly around her wrist – not enough to cause pain, but in a strangely imploring way that made her breath catch in her throat.

"Touching as this is," Neji yawned, "we need to get back to reality."

"Yeah," Hidan said – his voice serious. So serious that the tension in the room spiked. "Let's. Gaara, Kankurou..."

"Don't," Temari said, her voice almost pleading.

"You know, I was gonna keep quiet, because I really fucking like your sister no matter how much of a bitch she is sometimes," Hidan said. Temari's eyes widened, her cheeks reddening. "But I don't think this fuckface should get away with groping her and not listening when she says she's not interested, seriously."

As one, the Sabaku brothers turned to look at Neji. Their expressions matched – Gaara's leaning a little more towards the 'DIE BITCH DIE' than Kankurou's.

"You...what?" Kankurou snarled.

"They're never going to find your body," Gaara said.

"Enough," Shino said softly. He'd never looked away from Tenten. He finally did, fixing Neji with his even stare. "Whether I wanted it...or not...it was a business move, to credit Neji as the composer. I cannot resent that, not now. Not this far into the game." He looked at his bandmates. "But it has gone on for too long."

"Fine," Neji shrugged. "You want a big show of outing yourself as the writer? Be my guest." He folded his arms, fixing Shino with a petulant stare.

"A big show is not what this band is about," Shino replied, his voice even and calm. "And that is why you are no longer needed."

Neji's expression froze. "What?"

Shino's voice had lilted, the sharpness behind it cutting through the tension and severing it with finality. "You have been useful to a degree, but you have become little more than a circus clown. Why? You do not act like a musician. You have taken advantage, time and again, and treated people badly along the way." His fingers, still on her wrist, gave a gentle stroke. "If you believe that we would suffer without you, you are wrong."

Hidan started to clap. Kiba hid his grin behind his hand.

"You're joking," Neji blustered, but there was panic in his voice. "I've been headlining this freakshow since the beginning – you can't honestly think you can ditch me and – "

"We can," Shino said. "We are." A small smirk touched his lips. "Gaara, Kankurou, Hidan. Please escort Neji off of the premises. He is trespassing on privately rented property."

All three grinned big shark grins. They grabbed Neji by his arms. The vocalist was about to yell, but Hidan clamped a hand around his mouth. "No you don't, lady boy." They marched him out, right past Temari, with the sounds of Neji's muffled yells fading down the hallway.

"Holy shit," Temari breathed.

"See," Ino growled, throwing a Jimmy Choo heel at Shikamaru. "This is what you're meant to be calling home about. If I hadn't flown out here, I would have missed that."

"That was..." Tenten blinked. She didn't know what to think or feel – the whole moment felt unreal. She'd been reacting on impulse in her anger, confronting Neji like that. It had been stupid of her – she wasn't exactly in any position to raise an issue like that. Now, because of her tantrum, The Sacred had been split. Their lead singer had been flung out, and was no doubt receiving the beating of his life as they stood there.

"I hope they're out of sight of fans," Temari stated simply. Tenten gaped at her. "Oh, come on. The asshole has it coming."

"How does your wrist feel?" Shino asked Tenten, looking at it again.

Tenten couldn't speak for a moment. She simply looked at him – in awe of him. The way he'd taken charge of the moment, so quickly and completely, spoke volumes. But then, hadn't that always been his way?

She suddenly remembered to speak.

"Fine," she lied. It felt like it was burning, actually.

"He should not have done that," the guitarist said. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back."

Gaara and Kankurou came back into the lounge.

"Back so soon?" Kiba asked, amused.

"Yeah. Hidan wanted some more alone time with him," Kankurou smirked. He looked at Temari. "I like him. I guess it wouldn't be too big a deal if you dated him."

Temari banged her head against the doorframe.

"This is wonderful and all," Shikamaru said. "But we now have no lead singer. And we're meant to cut the last few bits on our album."

"That's not a problem," Shino said. "We have all known for some time that Kiba should be our vocalist."

Kiba's head snapped up, his eyes wide. The hand that had been clutching a bottle of Asahi twitched, knocking the bottle over. The last of the beer inside made a small puddle on the table. "Wh-what?" He looked at Shino. "Seriously?"

Shino nodded.

"Kiba-kun..." Hinata smiled.

Tenten watched as Kiba grinned and high-fived Kankurou, pulling Hinata in close.

"And now we're missing a rhythm guitarist," Shikamaru drawled.

"Are we?" Shino asked mildly. "I suppose we are." He turned, slowly, to face the youngest Sabaku. "How would you feel about taking the position?"

Silence reigned. Gaara stared at Shino, his eyes wide. Tenten watched the feelings flit over his face. Gaara showed more emotion in those few moments than she'd ever seen on his face before.

"Fine," was what he said.

Tenten translated it is – FUCK YEAH!

She beamed at him – couldn't help it. He was a freaky kid but man, was this perfect. He'd still be successful even though he wasn't in school. It would prove something to his Sakura.

"I think I need to sit down," Temari breathed. She flopped onto the arm of a chair. Ino offered her chocolate.

"How do you think the fans will take it?" Kankurou asked, clapping Gaara on the shoulder. The young redhead was starting to look very pleased with himself.

"It will take some adjustments," Shino said, "But our music will be better than ever. It will win them over."

Hidan suddenly stumbled in, his hair disarrayed. He grinned, his eyes alight, and looked around. "What'd I miss?"

"Kiba's our singer, Gaara's our rhythm, and Temari doesn't care that you sniff her underwear anymore," Kankurou replied offhandedly.

"Fuckin' A," Hidan smirked, strolling over to the couch.

"He sniffs my underwear?" Temari growled. "How did he even get my underwear?"

All eyes turned to Gaara.

"I had to pay for weed somehow," Gaara stated.

Temari yelled as Hidan flopped onto the couch and pulled her onto his lap. She beat against his chest with her fists, growling profanities, until Hidan silenced them with his lips and tongue. She didn't seem to object to that.

"Hey, just because I said you could defile my sister doesn't mean you can do it in front of me," Kankurou muttered, looking away.

"You're just jealous because you're single," Gaara remarked.

"WHAT! So are you!"

"No," Gaara replied.

"DAMN IT!"

Tenten watched with wide eyes. These had to be the strangest people she'd ever met. None of them seemed bothered by the fact that had Neji clearly just had twelve kinds of crap kicked out of him, and the shift in ranks was taken with a pinch of salt.

She felt like she was going to faint.

"Tenten."

His lips were close to her ear, and her heart thunked in response.

"Let's go."

He guided her out of the kitchen, and she followed close behind him, her legs a little shaky as he led her towards his room. Her mind was throwing all sorts of scenarios at her – none of which were objectionable – and her mouth felt very dry by the time he led her into his room and closed the door.

"I wanted some peace and quiet," he said. "Why? They will be like that for hours, no doubt."

He took off his favourite green hooded shirt, revealing the oral sex t-shirt underneath, and ruffled his hair – the first signs of weariness showing on his face.

"I can't believe it was you," she said quietly. When he looked at her, she gestured to his shirt. "All this time."

He looked at her. He had caught all of the meanings.

"What even happened that night?" She asked, eyes wide.

He shook his head. "You got very drunk, and then very sick. I could not find the key to your luggage, so I got my shirt for you. I didn't change you – you managed that yourself," he added quickly.

"Oh," she nodded. Well – at least she hadn't done anything too stupid. "Sorry."

"It was no problem."

Silence.

"Thanks, Shino," Tenten said, shifting from foot to foot. His intensity was making this a little harder.

He looked surprised. "For what?"

"Everything. You've been incredible, the whole time. Since I got the job, and even before that – in school."

Shino quirked an eyebrow, amused. "You don't have to thank me for what I do with pleasure, Tenten."

"...can I thank you for the song, then?"

Shino inhaled. She could have been mistaken, but she thought she saw his cheeks colour a little. He looked at his guitar, then back at her. "Which one?"

Wow. Tenten gulped. "How...many...?"

"Perhaps I shouldn't tell you tonight," Shino said, flashing a grin so quickly she wasn't sure she actually saw it. "You look as though you might faint as it is."

"I meant Vermillion," Tenten said, blushing. More songs? Just how many were dedicated to her? It made her feel even more stupid and blind.

"I took a risk with that one," Shino admitted.

"It paid off," Tenten said, looking at him. He was standing closer than she'd realised before, and she could see the small flecks of darker gold in his eyes, his surprisingly long lashes – the small lines between his brows.

"It did?" His voice was deeper – huskier.

"Only when you sing it," she smiled. She wasn't sure who had moved, but their faces were now only inches apart.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?" Tenten blinked.

"For what you said. For...caring."

Tenten reached up, one slightly shaking hand cupping his cheek. "You don't have to thank me for what I do with pleasure, Shino."

He smiled. A proper, genuine smile that seemed to light up his whole face even though it was restrained and showed no teeth. It was a slow thing, like a sun rising, and Tenten leant into it's warmth, feeling the heat of his breath before the glow of his lips slid over hers.

She didn't know how long they stood there like that. Wrapped in an embrace, kissing in the hotel room with only the vermillion guitar for company.

~The End~