Corvin: Insert a darling AN here

Kyo: A witty disclaimer here

Botan: And on with the fic!

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Black outside as if undead

But inside out we're burning red

No one knows that we're alive

The truth revealed and we all die…

Kankurou tapped his pencil against his notebook, things were not looking up. The twins were coming over soon to go over his lyrics and write some music with him, but he couldn't think of anything to put next!

"Damn you Discovery Channel! You have foiled me again!" He stomped over the TV and turned it off with a huff. So far all he had written was a song about puppystomping, which he was sure would get some letters, and a four lines to a song about vampire squids… Maybe he had gotten in a bit over his head with trying to write new songs for his new band.

No! He would not think like that! Those bastards didn't want to do old songs that he'd done with a group previously in Suna, so he'd prove himself a competent leader. Even if, though hopefully when, they did get a manager, Kankurou would continue to be in charge. After all, it was his band.

Kankurou resumed tapping his pencil against the paper, "…. What rhymes with water?"

His door opened and he looked over his shoulder just in time to see Gaara poking around his dresser, "… Hey little brother…"

"I need something pointy" Gaara pushed various handmade bowls, and little trinket boxes out of the way, "I'm fashioning a weapon"

"Uh huh, hey Gaara how does this sound-"

"Done" Gaara snatched one of Kankurou's various knives from his collection and slunk back out of the room.

Kankurou frowned after the redhead but in the end turned back to his notebook with a sigh, was writing lyrics usually this hard?

He needed a different approach on this; maybe it would help his writer's block. With this thought Kankurou dragged himself to his bed, carefully avoiding all his instruments that he had gotten out of storage after the first band meeting of the newly renovated Skipping Six.

Kankurou had a rather wide variety of instruments in his room, a walnut backed mandolin, a four stringed violin, a mahogany Fender resonator, an acoustic, sunburst guitar, a dark purple Ibanez JS100, a Johnson JH-100 Delta Rose Series, and an acoustic tenor ukulele.

But, he stepped over all of these, because his main tool of choice was his maple backed; nickel plated Cello with the rosewood fingerboard and tailpiece that he only spent six months saving up for.

He grabbed the neck of his precious Cello and held the bow up to the strings, "Ahem, prelude from Bach's Cello suite number 1" He sat on the edge of his bed and pulled the device and held the bottom part between his legs with the spike just touching the ground. Then, Kankurou began to play, sliding his bow across the strings, his fingers running up and down the fingerboard.

Music filled his room like smoke, becoming denser and denser until it was all he comprehended… Kankurou liked music.

However his haze was broken by a knock at his door.

Kankurou sighed and lowered his bow, "Come in"

One of the twins poked his head in before he pushed the door completely open, "Hi," he said, lugging a guitar case in with him before kicked the door shut.

"Hey," Kankurou moved over on his bed so the boy wouldn't have to maneuver through the jungle of stands, cases and amps that littered the floor on the way to the only other seat in the room at Kankurou's desk, "Where's your brother?"

"Ukon couldn't make it, he didn't do the dishes like he was supposed to so mom wouldn't let him come" Sakon opened his case and pulled his dark blue bass onto his lap. He looked at the cello and then around the room, "… Think you have enough stringed instruments?"

"Hah! Funny you should say that, I'm saving up for a bull fiddle" Kankurou set his baby (the cello) down on its stand and reached over to grab his Ibanez, "You can plug your bass into the amp on your right wiiiiiiith…." He set his guitar down and got on his hands and knees and began following chords, "I know there's a free one somewhere around here…"

He found one and handed it to Sakon, "Here, plug this in"

While Sakon hooked his bass up, Kankurou turned on the amp his Ibanez was already plugged into, "Well, since Ukon isn't here I guess it's just you and me. He'll have to just learn what we come up with"

"You play all these?"

"Of course!" Cried Kankurou, clutching his chest in mock offense, "I always master at least three songs on something before I get something else"

Sakon nodded, though his eyebrow was raised, "Uh huh… Why all strings?"

"They give the best sound, in my humble opinion" Kankurou sat Indian style on his bed, "… My notebook is on the desk…" He looked at Sakon, "… Would you go get it for me?"

"… Sure" Sakon stood up and cautiously placed his bass on the bed before maneuvering through the maze of music equipment.

Kankurou grinned as Sakon sat back down and handed him his notebook, "Thanks Kitten" He flipped it open and began turning pages while Sakon stared at him incredulously.

"Did you just call me 'Kitten'?"

"Yessir I did" Kankurou stopped at a page that was filled with shaky cursive and various doodles, "Hah!"

"… But you're the one with the catears-"

"THEREFORE I WIN!" Kankurou held up his ring finger as though he was flipping Sakon off, "Baff!" He smirked at Sakon's near baffled face and strummed his guitar, "Now, I'm fairly good at playing this here guit-fiddle, so let's write some music to this one"

You are my ray of sunshine on a cloudy day

You are that breath of fresh air that seems to take my breath away

(Chorus)You are all that and you take my breath away

You are a voice in the distance calling out my name

You are that set of eyes, always watching over me

(Chorus)

You are all there is left for me

You were there all along, but I just couldn't see

(Bridge)

I can't defend myself against you

You've got me wrapped around your finger

(Chorus)

You always stand beside even when I walk away

But now I've turned to you and it won't be hard for me to stay

(Bridge)

I am a tragedy but you are better than anything I could ever know

(Chorus)

Be my all that, please take my breath away.

Sakon listened intently until Kankurou finished the song, "A love song?" He was staring at Kankurou's fingers, "That's… Surprising"

"Hey, we need to appeal to every part of the crowd… Except for the crappy part, they can go die" He looked at Sakon, "Well? Think you can help me put more music to it? Then I have… Other stuff that's… Mostly finished"

Sakon chuckled, "Ok"

They began jamming for a few hours until Temari came barging in, waving a golf club and demanding they shut up.

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The next day was the weekend; Kankurou had opted to take Gaara out to the mall with him to see what the kids were doing in modern bands. Personally he was cool with their regular clothes but Ukon had thrown a rather large bitch fit over the phone about them needing an image.

"We already have an image," He complained to Gaara as they sauntered down the halls of the Arden Faire Mall, "I mean, it's not overly flashy but… We still have one!"

"You all see fit to glob cosmetics on your face" Gaara adjusted his hold on a book he had just bought called 'Voodoo for Beginners'

Sometimes Kankurou wasn't sure if Gaara was awkward at being helpful or just darn good at being mean, "… That could count. Either way! Skipping Six needs no more gimmick other than we are a six man group who-"

"There are only five of you"

"Wha?" Kankurou looked at Gaara and then counted in his bed, 'Me… Kimimaro… Sakon… Ukon… Kiba…' That was only five, "AAAAAAHHHHH!!"

"Hmmm, would it be more painful to die being hung with a noose made from your own hair, or choking on your own hair that was chopped off and shoved down your throat?" Gaara had become bored with his brother and was examining some garden sheers at a stand.

Kankurou glanced at him, "I don't know"

"… I'll go for the noose, a noose for a doll is easy to make" Gaara back away from the sheers and looked around, "I'm thirsty"

"Yeah, yeah" Kankurou put his hands in his pockets and headed towards the escalator that would lead up to the food court, "Come on, let's get a soda from Carl's Jr, they have great food and great prices" (Corvin: Omg! Product placement!)

Gaara followed after him, eyeing anyone with long dark hair that passed them.

They ordered a large french-fries and a large coke before finding a spot near the large glass window on the far side of the food court.

Kankurou ate his french-fries and stared forlornly out the window at the quad below where people scurried about like ants. A sixth man… Where would he get a sixth man? School was the obvious choice sure, but he didn't feel like waiting that long. School wasn't until Monday and they had a practice tomorrow!

"Where am I going to get another band member Gaara?" He whined, turning away from the window to open a ketchup packet.

Gaara shrugged, "There's a guy over there"

Kankurou blinked and followed his younger brother's finger to the large carousel that stood in the middle of the mall. He blinked again, there was a redhead strumming his guitar with an open case in front of him.

Without another word the brunette jumped up and bolted over to where a small crowd was gathering around the mysterious, guitar playing, masked stranger… Oh right, he wasn't wearing mask.

Kankurou pushed the last person out of the way so he was at the front of the group. Closer up the redhead looked a bit older than someone in highschool, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be a valued member of the band!

He leaned closer and dropped a dollar into the guitar case, "Hey you, WHAT'S YOUR NAME!"

The musician looked at him and blinked ever so slowly, Kankurou was instantly reminded of his rather socially stunted brother.

"… My name is Sasori"

"WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE COLOR?!"

"… What?"

"Be in my band"

Sasori continued to stare at him, "… Who are you?"

"I SIR! Am a man, only a man with a dream," Kankurou pushed his hood back off his head and kneeled down dramatically, "A dream… To win battle of the bands… Will you help me? Fair Knight with a glorious, rosewood Fender? WILL YOU HELP ME ACHIEVE THIS DREAM?!"

Their audience began applauding as Kankurou struck his final pleading pose and Sasori raised an eyebrow, "… Sure… I'll give it a shot"

Their audience cheered louder and Kankurou barely had time to scribble his number down for Sasori before running to catch up with Gaara, who had gotten bored and decided to leave.

"Wait Gaara! We haven't found an image yet!!"

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The phone was ringing incessantly. Why was it ringing at a time like this? Gaara wondered to himself as he stared at the plastic contraption emitting that vile RING RING sound. Temari was out doing something or another and Kankurou was harassing his band mates into... Karaoke or something for a meeting. The Sabaku really couldn't care less, he had been busy building a voodoo doll.

On what had to be at least the fifth time the stranger called Gaara finally answered. "You better be hot."

"Oh, I am" assured a smooth deep voice on the other line with a smug confidence.

Gaara frowned, the voice sounded oddly familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. Then the voice spoke again, "Is this Sabaku Gaara?"

The redhead paused to think for a moment "There are some that call me Tim" he said finally with a small smirk. The male on the phone chuckled and Gaara's eye twitched "what do you want?"

"I require a shrubbery before answering" The stranger responded

There was a long silence in which Gaara stared at his phone in shocked admiration. "Whoever you are, I think I am in love."

"Mmm, I knew you would come around eventually. This is Hyuuga Neji by the way."

CLICK, the dial tone sounded in Gaara's ear like a siren.

That rotten bastard!! Gaara promptly stormed up to his room to stab his Neji voodoo doll with a pen. Monday would not be fun with that rapist thinking Gaara had some interest… The stabbing became more vicious.

Akai here! That last bit about the shrubbery was from a fantastic movie called "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." I saw it for the first time a few weeks ago and that scene over the phone occurred to me so I demanded that it be put into Skipping Six hehe

Now, go forward and review, my loves!