Hazard Pay
by splica
Summary: AU. Naruto is a bodyguard tasked with the worst assignment of his career – protecting the singer Uchiha Sasuke from his legion of fans and the crazy stalker out to kill him. Should be easy, really. Too bad he didn't meet the guy first...SasuNaru.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Rating: T, may go up later...
Author's note: I know; I know the idea of Sasuke being a singer is clichéd and all, the whole been-there-done-that but I had an idea and it just wouldn't let go so I'm writing it out. Hopefully it will have some bits in it that are new and exciting enough for you all to read it. Later chapters will be longer I promise!
Warnings: Language – make that a lot of language, some violence? Some OOC-ness, hopefully not too much. Possibly some sexy-ing stuff later but not for a while and I'll definitely warn you when it's coming ::haha::
Chapter One – Naruto's Bad Luck;
He was called into her office first thing when he arrived. That was his first sign that things were going to go terribly, terribly wrong.
"Naruto this is getting ridiculous," the blonde woman told him, looking at him over her desk. "This is the third time this month!"
Naruto grinned at her victoriously in response. "Hey that's not bad!" He told her. The woman glared at him.
"It's only the 3rd of the month today!" She yelled at him, slamming a fist down on the desk in front of her, causing the many towers of paper to crash over and fall softly to the floor. "How can you mess up so many missions? This is...I just don't know what to do with you," heaving a sigh she rested her head in her hands, using her fingers to massage an aching forehead.
Naruto watched her with a small amount of guilt before he firmly squashed it. It wasn't his fault all his missions somehow went to hell. And the last one hadn't even been his fault! His client had lied on his application form about what he wanted – the old bat should be glad he'd run out on him.
"Oh just...Help me pick these up," she said irritably, getting off her chair and onto her hands and knees, reaching out and snatching up the pieces of paper. Naruto jumped down to help her, looking curiously at the contents and frowning when he realised they were assignment forms.
At the moment he was holding one of Kakashi's forms, the sheet detailing one of the harder S-class missions—the dangerous ones that only the best of the best got to go on. Naruto frowned harder. That guy got all the good ones! Whist he was out preventing international war from breaking out Naruto was stuck playing guard duty at local malls or ferrying around some visiting dignitary's spoilt brad. Kakashi actually got in on some action when he was away.
Shoving that piece of paper underneath the pile he was forming Naruto looked over at the blonde woman.
"Hey, grandma—"
"Don't call me that Naruto," she warned him, levelling him with a glare from underneath her desk. "I'm very mad at you right now."
Naruto just grinned and shrugged innocently in reply. "Okay, Tsunade, I just thought that, you know, maybe I could take some of Kakashi's assignments. I mean – he's got way too many to handle all by himself! And if I want to get better I need something that will challenge me. I need to test my strength!"
Tsunade took a moment and then began laughing at him. She laughed for a good few minutes before finally composing herself enough to look over at Naruto with one raised brow. "You? On one of Kakashi's missions? I wouldn't give a snot-nosed kid like you one of his missions if you were the last person working for me. Keep dreaming kid."
Naruto scowled at her, crossing his arms over his chest, "I could do it," he insisted stubbornly.
"You think you could do one of Kakashi's missions?" She asked him, an amused tone in her voice.
Naruto nodded his head vigorously, "Yeah, I could!"
Tsunade looked him over from head to foot. The bright hair, the eager blue eyes, the hideously orange-and-black outfit he insisted on wearing, all the way down to his black sandals. He looked so young and Tsunade felt a moment of unease when she'd finished her assessment. He was just a boy really, for all of his twenty-three-years of living he didn't know what the real world was like. All the missions she sent him on, every time he was out, she worried. She worried he'd be injured, or he wouldn't come back. So she gave him easy missions, simple ones with little to no chance that Naruto would encounter trouble. And so he always came back in one piece. She could see it though, his spirit, his fighting spirit that would always be trampled on when he came back.
It was that same fighting spirit that kept screwing up his missions but Tsunade knew that if he were given the right one...he would come out on top. She just had to trust him—something she found almost impossible when she saw the blond sticking his tongue out at her.
"C'mon grandma!" He whined at her piteously.
Ignoring the boy and shuffling the papers in front of her absent-mindedly Tsunade caught her finger on the edge of one. With an uttered curse she brought her finger to her mouth, sucking on it as she grabbed the offending edge, pulling it out sharply and laying it on the top.
She knew immediately that this was the answer to everything.
Looking over at the annoyed blond who sat staring moodily off to the side Tsunade cleared her throat, calling his attention to her. "I've got a mission for you," she told him.
"Already?" Naruto asked her eagerly, crawling forward and trying to look at the assignment sheet. Tsunade pulled it up against her, waiting until Naruto sat back with a disgruntled expression. "Aww, come on grandma!"
Giving him a glare Tsunade waited until Naruto sheepishly apologised before continuing, "Yes I have a new mission for you – and I think you'll like it."
Naruto looked at her warily, "It's not another guard job at some new mall is it?"
Grinning somewhat evilly Tsunade shook her head, finally handed over the paper. She watched as Naruto scanned down the sheet, his expression becoming more and more disappointed until he reached the end. "You want me on bodyguard duty?" He asked her, handing the paper back. "To a popstar?"
Tsunade nodded, trying to maintain her amusement when Naruto threw the paper back at her.
"I won't do it!" He said.
Tsunade gave him a look, picking up the sheet carefully, laying it on her lap and smoothing out the creases in it. "Oh you will Naruto, or you'll be fired." She said decisively.
"I—you're going to fire me!" The blond spluttered in surprise, looking at Tsunade with an expression of complete shock. "You wouldn't do that!"
The blonde woman nodded again, giving Naruto a serious look. "You will go and complete this mission to the utmost of your abilities Uzumaki Naruto or you will no longer be a part of this company."
Naruto stared at her speechless for a moment before finally scrambling to his feet. "Fine! I'll complete this mission and then I'll quit!" He exclaimed, leaving the room and slamming the door after him.
Tsunade watched him go a little regretfully, knowing he was just blowing off steam—he'd be back, hopefully. She thought back to what lay on that assignment sheet, and what it didn't say. Looking down at the paper in her lap her eyes caught on the picture in the top right corner, of an angry looking young man with dark eyes who glared out at whoever dared to look at him. She knew that this young man needed help, and she knew, somehow, that maybe Naruto could be the one to give him that help.
"Just be careful Naruto," she said softly, folding up the paper carefully and slipping it into her shirt pocket out of sight. "This could be one of your most dangerous missions yet and I want you back safe and sound. You hear me? If you screw this up I'll never forgive you..."
She knew she couldn't protect him forever though, soon or later he'd crack from her lack of trust. She just had to...let him go. Getting up to her feet Tsunade looked at all the paperwork scattered around her office and sighed. At least she'd be occupied in his absence...
I can smell you, that dark scent of power
I can hear you, your strong voice echoing,
I can see you, the shadows covering your body,
I'll watch you fall and then I'll come to you...
Sasuke sneered, crumpling up the piece of paper and shoving it into his pocket. Who did this guy think he was? A poet? Sasuke had read better poetry written by a four-year-old.
Opening the door Sasuke chanced a look outside of the recording room. The corridors were empty though – of course they were – the guy wouldn't be brave enough to linger outside until Sasuke had a chance to come out and teach him why it was a bad idea to mess with him. He just shoved his note under the door like a coward before running off and hiding himself somewhere.
Still looking outside – although what he was looking for Sasuke didn't know, clues maybe? – the dark haired young man caught sight of his manager walking towards him.
"Sasuke! There you are, I've been looking all over for you," she called out, her heels clipping on the floor as she came closer.
Sasuke rolled his eyes. He'd been in the recording studio all day and Karin had known that, she really was useless. Keeping his thoughts to himself Sasuke stayed still until Karin reached him, then he backed up into the studio, walking over to the only available seat and collapsing into it.
He stared up at Karin quietly, waiting for her to start. She cleared her throat, jostling the clipboard in her hand nervously.
"Ah, well, that is, I wanted to tell you I've booked a live performance for you in two weeks, it's at the Ceveo Nightclub. You'll have to come up with a list of songs you want to play by the end of this week so I can organise everything properly. I don't want a repeat of last time when you told me the set list two hours before the event began!"
Sasuke smirked in reply, remembering how panicked his manager had been whilst she tried to organise everything in a manner of minutes, trying to get together the right equipment and yelling at him for being so 'damned lazy'. Sasuke had replied that his creativity had no time limit. Karin had tried to hit him but he'd reminded her that his face was one of the reasons she could live a life of moderate luxury.
"I'll try," he told her, watching as the red-haired woman rolled her eyes.
"You'll do it," she insisted, "Or I'll take away your guitar."
Sasuke glared at her, "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me," Karin countered before she shook her head roughly. "Look, you're already trying to distract me, it won't work! Now, I thought we could play your new song last, but make it an acoustic version, to wind down the night. What do you think?"
Sasuke thought on it for a moment before giving a slow nod, "I could do it, it might take me a while."
Karin waved her hand in the air, "You have two days," she informed him, consulting her clipboard and using a pen to tick off whatever was written on it.
She finally stopped after a bit, looking down at him with another nervous expression.
Sasuke looked at her warily, Karin only looked at him like that when she was about to give him a particularly bad piece of news. Like with the live performance—she knew he hated them but she still insisted of booking them for him. Sasuke couldn't understand why he had to go through with them; people should be able to enjoy his music just by listening to it, not by staring awestruck at him stuck on a stage. Music was for the ears but it was impossible trying to convince Karin of that.
"What is it?" He asked, managing to keep his voice calm and in control.
Karin gave a small, high laugh, "Ah well, you see, the thing is..." She trailed off.
Sasuke's glare darkened at the delay and Karin hastily went on to continue.
"I've hired a bodyguard for you!" She said quickly and efficiently, ending triumphantly with a grin.
"You did what?" Sasuke asked her quietly. It didn't take a genius to know that it was a dangerous question to answer and Karin only did so reluctantly.
"These notes you've been getting—you're getting more of them and they're coming more quickly. You need protection Sasuke and since you're determined not to do anything for your own benefit I did it for you."
"I don't need a bodyguard; I'm capable of looking after myself."
"That's the point Sasuke! You should be concentrating on your music—not on protecting yourself from crazed stalkers! You need protection and this company comes highly recommended." She nodded with her words, trying to insert all of her enthusiasm for the idea into her voice but knowing she'd failed when Sasuke abruptly stood up, eyes spitting with anger.
He walked past without looking at her, stalking out of the room and slamming the door behind him.
Karin looked at the door quietly, a small frown playing out over her lips. Well—she thought—that could have gone better.
Sasuke glared at the road in front of him as sped down the motorway on his motorbike. The dial on his speed monitor was quickly approaching the hundred-range but Sasuke paid it no heed, focusing on the tarmac in front of him and the stretch of road his bike was steadily eating up. He'd deal with the police if they caught him—something that would likely never happen.
Karin had crossed the line. He gritted his teeth as he thought back to their conversation. How could she do that to him? What could have possibly given her the idea that he'd accept a bodyguard at all? As soon as the guy came he was just going to have to tell him to fuck off.
He didn't need protection—protection meant weakness and Uchiha Sasuke was not weak.
Smirking slightly as a new thought came to him Sasuke eased off slightly, weaving in and out of the other cars recklessly. Maybe he shouldn't be so hasty in dismissing his new help. After all, a slave could be useful now and then.
He would just have to see how this new bodyguard measured up. And if he didn't...Sasuke gave a small grin.
The future suddenly looked a lot less boring...
Tbc.
a/n: well, there ya go, sorry it's a bit short but I hope you all enjoyed it anyway – please review and tell me what you think! (: