Synopsis: Being a singer for a band isn't easy - include talking about your childhood on a talkshow, an unmedicated Tobi and an advice giving little brother and the whole situation becomes a lot more hectic… at least mentally. AU-obvious OCness

Saving Face

He hadn't wanted to take this as far as he did. Originally it had been for mere amusement in the dullness of everyday affairs with the band. She'd been different - cuter to ruffle than Deidara and her expressions, priceless. He'd both regretted and was happy they'd taken her when they found out his brother's band took a new female member. He wondered how things would work out between them - her and the band. He'd wondered at the time if she'd ever decide to return to her old friends or find a place with them. She'd ended up fitting here though, perfectly and completely in the hole none of them noticed. They'd been such an incomplete puzzle before she'd arrived.

She'd been sleeping in his arms for the entire night. Kisame had crashed on his feet - he hadn't been able to move them since he woke up or feel them for that matter. Tobi's breath next to his face was beginning to smell mighty rotten; making him put his nose against pink hair. She'd tucked herself against his neck. Her soft breaths tickling him every so often with warm moisture.

His current position made him think far too much. The person he used to be and who he was flowed together in moments like these - it made him uncomfortable. He'd always been uncertain about life, scared of taking chances. When Shisui had gone, he'd decided to make himself someone who wasn't so scared. He'd gone into music - learned how to play every instrument, not because it was easy but because it was hard. It hadn't come naturally like schooling. He'd spent hours training; he'd originally never been able to hold a note.

Then he'd gone off the deep end and dragged them all along with him. He'd become daring and competitive, almost a leader. But he could feel it, his reversion back to the middle schooler who'd been too scared to go into water.

It correlated with her. It correlated with going back to depressing lyrics - of returning to his fears. He hadn't wanted to put music to it. He'd been too scared to. It would make the emotions more real. The band had been a way to break free from his past, but it had caught up to him. He should have burned the lyrics.

He'd been relieved when she had read them though - when she'd brushed at her eyes to keep them from spilling water on the page. The real reason she hadn't come directly to him was probably because she knew that the lyrics had meaning behind them. They'd been private. Had been anyways.

They were sleeping in the recording studio. So tired that they hadn't made it home. They'd be releasing 'Memories of unforgettable years' - their next album, only six songs. Most of the band had guessed, but they'd gotten the truth out of him. They needed to explain to their fans what this was - he'd written a summary to go with the album, it had been terse. He wasn't going to make a profit off of Shisui; he wasn't going to put his family in that kind of spotlight. His family would know - that was enough.

They hadn't finished on schedule like typical - they'd worked until the a.m. hours. But the outcome. He'd never imagined how beautiful those painful songs could be. Sasori had come to the realization he was too close to sing some of them. So - they made her do it. It fit her. When she sang them - he wasn't standing on the side of the river alone anymore.

They were his friends. And while part of them could never understand - they tried. Unlike most of their recordings, where they would joke and goof off during breaks; everyone had been uncannily somber. The seriousness made him worried; he didn't want to ruin what they were. He didn't want to wreck the perfection they had as a band over something he couldn't leave behind. This was his baggage. He hadn't wanted them to carry it, but they'd done it no questions asked.

Konan's eyes caught his from across the room. She was on the couch, her back against Pein's feet. Her mouth moved, but no sound emerged. 'Stop'

A warning to stop thinking. He wished it was that easy. The load hadn't gotten lighter, but it had been easier to bare with them. It had been getting easier for some time. He hadn't known the exact time, but he had his suspicions. It correlated with her too. He'd be foolish to not notice the effect the girl had on him. Was it love? He didn't know; perhaps she just gave him something better to focus on. He could see a better future with her around.

As if knowing his thoughts, she shifted, wrapping an arm around his stomach; snuggling even closer. He tightened his hold on her, and put his head against her shoulder. It relaxed him. She was a cooling presence on a burn that would never leave. A burn the whole world would soon know about.

Tonight they'd be going to a talk show - to speak about the upcoming release. He didn't know if he could go through with it. He would have to go on stage and tell the world the most intimate thoughts of his mind and the most life changing moments of his life. He felt petrified and sickened at the very thought. It felt like confessing a horrible crime. And he'd be all alone. He shuddered.

That awoke her. She pulled back her hand and moved so that she could see him. Her green eyes looked at him with concern. He smiled as gently as he could before kissing the top of her head, attempting to reassure her. He needed to get ahold of himself.

She combed through his greasy hair with her thin fingers. "Relax, it's going to be ok," she murmured to him sleepily.

Such easy words to say, even though they did make him feel better. But, what they were about to do - could be music suicide. It was too different. But the other's wouldn't budge; even Kakuzu had told him to shut up.

When the noon sun finally woke the rest up - the day began. Getting washed and ready, attempting to eat some food. There wasn't much conversation - in fact he could feel all of their eyes upon him. He felt raw, sick, and tired. By the time they were sitting in the van, everybody wanting to come for support, he really was about to puke. They sat there for several minutes the doors open, but he didn't get out with the rest of them. It took a moment before Konan came back in to get him.

She sat backwards in the middle seat of the van so she could face him. For several moments there was silence before he spoke. "I can't do this, Konan."

She took a deep breath, but then seemed to lose words. Eventually she let out the air in a sigh. "You can. This is just like the first time we played a gig. Remember, you wouldn't get out of the car then," she attempted to make the mood lighter.

"This isn't a first gig. This isn't even close to being the same. I can't put on a mask this time; I can't pretend I'm someone else. Not with this."

"No one is asking you too. But you're the only one who can do the introduction, no one else can take your place on this one."

He knew. Logic and reason would win out in the end. Logic didn't quell his nerves, but it got him moving. So he moved. He made his way to the green room, put on whatever designer shirt and jeans Konan had gotten him and sat in the corner to think alone. The others were just down the hallway, but it would be too easy to go and lean on them. He needed to be able to hold his own - especially since he'd be out there alone.

"Are you ok?"

Itachi blinked and looked up. Sasuke. What was Sasuke doing here?

Sasuke's head tilted sideways, analyzing him. There was concern in his eyes. He must look bad if Sasuke was acting concerned.

"I'll be better when this is over," he commented truthfully. He didn't want Sasuke or any of his family to be here for this. He didn't know how it would look from their point of view.

"Some weird paparazzi mix up, get caught kissing someone?" Sasuke almost had a gleam in his eye at the thought.

"No," Itachi said, giving a huffing laugh although the humor didn't reach him. "We are releasing a new album. You?"

"I'm going to be a new judge for a singing show."

Itachi blinked, surprised he hadn't heard. "Congratulations, I'm sorry I missed it."

Sasuke smiled, "It's just been announced. If you knew, it would be a problem." Sasuke sat then. "What's wrong with the album?"

Itachi shook his head, not sure where to begin or what his problem really was. He was scared - a combination of being real, not wanting to upset his family, and trying a new style of music that would affect the bottom line of his band. He dragged his hand threw his hair before fixing his hair tie.

"The album will be good." He had confidence in at least that; they'd made sure the recordings were perfect - nobody could fault them on something like that. "We just - tried something different this time. I'm sure what's affecting me is just lack of sleep. We actually only finished recording this morning. "

Sasuke gave a surprised look, knowing the method they did for releases. "Wow. I'm impressed you're standing. But I'm surprised you're going on stage looking like you're going to die; I hope you aren't planning to sell the album with that look on your face, no one will buy it."

Itachi blinked, that would be bad.

"If it's good music you shouldn't be worried." Sasuke's eyes were off to the side, his words coming off awkward with the advice. He turned his back to Itachi completely and scratched the back of his head.

Sasuke was right, and he shouldn't have needed the advice. His band's music was good, beyond good, it was perfect. They'd built it together from the ground up merely using his lyrics. The music was all of theirs. He could have confidence in them. Perhaps that was the reason they'd all thought him a fool for worrying about genre. The type of music didn't matter, what mattered was that it was the highest quality they could possibly give.

He put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "Thank you, I needed that." He got up, he needed to clean himself up a bit.

He washed his face and looked himself in the mirror. He could do this. The depth of the lines seemed to lessen. He'd be on within 20 minutes; he just needed to stay in this state. He calmned himself with breathing techniques Kisame had taught him. When he returned he was surprised to find Tobi - unmedicated and without a mask - sitting beside Sasuke. Sasuke wasn't talking with him, instead he was reading a small booklet and listening to a ipod. It clicked quickly.

"Will you be going on stage with me?" Itachi took a seat next to Tobi.

The man looked him over, "Yes, although it looks like you are faring better. Would you like a look at the finished product." He extended another booklet to him. Itachi took it. The cover art was nice, a flower floating in water being reflected. He turned the page - a bit surprised. The page had only four words: Dedicated to Shisui Uchiha. He'd wanted him to go unnamed. He turned to the next page. His words would have fit on one paragraph, this one went on for several pages giving the details he hadn't wanted spoken about. He looked up at Tobi.

"I hadn't wanted this."

Tobi's head shifted slightly, and he gave a long sigh. "I'm well aware of your intentions; but they would have insulted my family. My brother's life and death don't need to be hidden. I spoke with my family and got permission the day we started working on the Water piece. When I gave my blessing, it came with my family and I meant it."

"But using his name like this - it feels like we are making money off him."

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke said, joining their conversation as he wiped at his eyes. "Shisui would have loved the attention - the money would have been a bonus."

He couldn't help it, the truth of Sasuke's words rang within him. He laughed and Tobi joined in. How long had it been since he'd laughed?

"Sasuke, time," Orochimaru snarled coming into the room.

Sasuke blinked, "Mind if I borrow this?"

"Don't leak it," Tobi warned.

"Got it," with a wave of his hand he left them.

Itachi sighed, "I've been overreacting this whole time, haven't I?"

"Yes," Tobi answered truthfully, "The problem is you consistently attempt to impersonate my brother that you forget the two of you are not the same. We figured it would only stress you more if we showed you the real plan. Well - I said to give it to you straight, Konan thought it would be too much."

"Thanks for telling me now. I would have made a fool of myself,"

"Yes, you would have." There was an entertained smirk on his face - as if he'd really thought it through and imagined the horror. His face changed though, to a more serious thought, "Tobi would like to thank you though."

"For what?"

"For putting what he couldn't to words."

Before he could respond, an assistant came in. "We're ready."

It occurred to Itachi the second he saw only one chair on stage that they were only expecting on speaker. But Tobi had also plan for it, and made a run-skip across the stage before landing directly on the large seat.

The talk show host, who'd only introduced Itachi, was a bit flabbergasted at the person sitting in front of her. Her eyes went to Itachi; Itachi turned to walk off set, but Pein's death glare hit him full blast. Shit.

"I didn't know we were expecting more than one person from Red Clouds," She laughed, "Looks like we'll be having Tobi and Itachi Uchiha tonight."

The audience cheered, a couple of screaming fan girls went a bit crazy.

"Can we get another seat?"

"We'll be fine," Tobi said waving her off, "Itachi can sit in my lap."

The fan girls went even crazier.

Itachi walked over laughing; he instead judged the coffee table and sat on that, moving the coffee cup out of the way.

"Well then, let's get started. A lot of people were wondering why you're here - and no, none of them will be contest judges if that's what you're wondering." The crowd laughed, "Although that would be quite the panel."

The talk show host pulled the cd out of her purse and the fangirls went absolutely wild knowing exactly what it meant. "I just got this, this morning - and I was just as ecstatic as them."

Eventually the crowd quieted - although Itachi suspected that there may be someone threatening to remove people from the audience during the next commercial break.

"Now, I'm a fan; and very excited to have you with us. I was really worried when I heard about this cd. I tried to think of any other hard rock bands going straight to full acoustic - you might be the first."

There was silence on that. This was where he was supposed to speak.

"Perhaps, but we are not 'going acoustic' as you put it. We are still very much into hard rock, yelling at the top of our lungs and playing electric guitars."

At that he got a couple of cheers.

"When we jam together, we play acoustic, so it's not that different for us. The lyrics this time around wouldn't have done too well with our regular genre."

She smiled, "Yes, I said I was worried - but the second I listened to this. Wow, is all I can say. As much as I love the hard rock, this may be my favorite cd. Absolutely all of the songs are beautiful, even if you are not into the genre."

"Thank you. We're glad you enjoyed and we hope our fans do as well. Pre-orders will start tomorrow and downloads will be released in a couple of days."

Some cheers, although he could almost feel the apprehension. But he relaxed at this. His band had performed to utter perfection, although even he hadn't heard the complete finished product.

"I know this is the first sole Red Cloud release since you've added a female to your band. Does this change in style have anything to do with her? By the way - her solo in Water," the woman tapped the cd, "absolutely stunning."

Before Itachi could respond appropriately Tobi beat him to it.

"That's a funny story," He needed no prompting. "Sakura found Itachi's little lyric diary - which the songs were taken from. I believe, if I can quote her correctly she said 'You can't leave something so good unfinished.' We probably never would have done the songs without her - Itachi would have kicked our butts for even touching his diary let alone reading it and persuading him to work on the music." Tobi gave a pout, "He's nicer to Sakura than the rest of us."

The audience laughed.

If only he could smack him on stage without Pein taking it out on him afterwards. He bit back a snarl. "You make me sound like jerk. Perhaps I'm just nice to her because she's nice to me."

Tobi smiled evilly, "Or you can't complain since you sneak into her room to reorganize her stuffed animals. So OCD by the way."

He couldn't believe Tobi had said such a thing on television, but he would play along. Pein was going to kill him, Tobi that is. "Color coded and by size. Being organized isn't a crime."

He took a glance at the host. Wide eyes greeted him, damn he was now on the creepy list for sure. She recovered though. "So you break into her house or should we be expecting an upcoming white dress?"

Itachi blinked, then looked at Tobi for some help. "White dress?"

Tobi gave him a look. "No, no wedding dress." He turned his attention to the host. "We come from a traditional Japanese household so saying kimono would have given him the picture. We all live in the same house - it's more cost efficient. And have a no lock policy minus the front door and Hidan's room. Technically a shut door means don't open, but everyone knows that when Itachi can't sleep he cleans. In fact, when we were kids, Shisui used joke about Itachi's mom renting him out for sleepovers as a side business."

Itachi couldn't help the light smile that came on his face, it was the truth during Shisui life. After his death though, he'd focused on music. And had spent his insomniac hours learning to play guitar - bleeding calluses and all.

"Shisui - he's the one the album is dedicated to right?" she opened the cover and pulled out the pamphlet.

"Yes, he was Tobi's older brother and my best friend in childhood."

"I'm sorry for your loss. It's sweet that you've found a way to honor him in your work."

Tobi snickered, "More like owed it to him. If he were alive he'd be pissed we didn't name the band after him. Itachi couldn't stand music as a kid, used to tell Shisui that he sounded like a whale dieing on a beach. After Shisui passed, my mom gave his guitar to Itachi. If you thought Shisui couldn't play - Itachi was like nails on a chalk board. Now, Itachi's considered one of the best guitar players - he even did a classical guitar play off and won."

"When did you start playing?" the host asked Itachi. He could see the curiosity brimming in her eyes.

"I started playing my first year of highschool. I practiced about five hours a day on weekdays and weekends. My parents thought it was a good way to cope and built me a shed so they wouldn't have to hear it."

"Really?"

"Yes, I was that bad and my singing only slightly better."

The host looked a bit apprehensive. "I always thought you were talented."

Itachi could only shake his head and give a smile, "No, I worked hard for everything I've earned. But I'm glad I make it look natural."

"So hard work beats talent when talent doesn't -" but before she could even finish he cut her off.

"Talent is irrelevant and can only take you so far. If anything, it's a handicap that makes people lax. If you want something, you're going to have to put in the time and intentional effort to get quality - regardless."

"I like that," she smiled, "And - I think that leaves us on a good note. It was great having you both, thanks so much for coming. I look forward to hearing more of your music - acoustic, rock. Pre-sale is tomorrow, music downloads on Friday."

They shook hands and left the stage. Pein immediately grabbed Tobi by the ear and dragged him through the lobby to the parking garage where everyone was already in the van.

"I can't believe what you said. The OCD crap was uncalled for and distracted from the album."

"To the contrary," Tobi replied with a smirk, "I think it made us look a lot more human and reachable. I wouldn't be surprised if that raised our sales. It was a good lead in to Shisui anyways."

Before Pein could continue to rant on him, Konan gave a laugh as she looked through her phone. "What?" he snapped, pulling out of the drive way.

"The top trending hashtag is 'I Want An Itachi Sleep Over'. A couple of these are asking if Mikoto is still in the business. We may actually gain some popularity with older middle class women. I guess a guy who can clean is a good quality to have. Even Sasuke has tweeted about it. 'Trust me, you don't want to wake up with him above you with a feather duster #Creepy #IWantAnItachiSleepOver.' This may go viral."

Itachi just sighed, glad that it was over - at least for now. He turned to his left, Sakura was still in the same position she was in before he arrived. Her legs were crossed away from him, chewing her bottom lip in thought.

"Is everything alright, Sakura?" Itachi asked.

Her green eyes widened slightly before she turned to him. Immediately they narrowed into angry slits. "Tobi is Mr. Uchiha!" She slammed Itachi in the gut, making him keel over- "Why did you not tell me!"

Silence rang throughout the car, almost everyone's sweat dropped. Nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of her anger.

"Actually," Tobi smiled darkly, "They all know - they just didn't want to tell you."

No conversation was needed. Tomorrow, once Tobi was thoroughly dosed - they'd get their revenge.

Poor Tobi.

I'm alive - if but barely ;) A bit serious and different since this is the first chapter that comes from Itachi's perspective, but I think it fits. Please leave a review if you have time.