Well then, this here is my first fic. Yay! I've had this idea since forever now, so it's nice to get it out. I already have a few chapters written, so if people seem to like this, I'll keep posting.
Now a little warning. I'm not an actress or anything close to one. I have no idea how auditions or anything like that works, so forgive any unrealistic depictions in this first chapter. We just need to get that out the way now so we can get to the interesting stuff :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Sasuke can't be far," Naruto stated as they walked through the dark corridors of the underground base. He was walking with his teammates. Sai, on his left and Ami, on his right.
"What do you plan to do when you find him?" Sai asked.
Naruto clenched his first as he spoke. "I'm going to drag his butt back to Konoha."
"But he's just a traitor, why so much effort for him?"
"Hey! Don't talk about Sasuke like that!" Ami scolded. "He's our friend."
Naruto nodded in agreement. Sai just shrugged. He didn't understand the attachment they held with the traitor. He hurt them and yet they still called him a friend.
They ran through the base and scoured the halls for their old teammate. Endless halls and countless doors. Eventually they split up to cover more ground.
Hours could have passed and yet Ami found nothing. After running down hall after hall and checking each door, she came to a long narrow hall. Far ahead she saw Sai in a clearing, looking up at something. She went up to him and stopped next to the painter. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"Ami," said an icy voice, causing her to freeze.
She slowly turned to her left and her eyes widened. Upon seeing the source of the voice all she could do was whisper, "Sasuke..."
Naruto entered the hall, barely catching Ami's faint whisper. His eyes narrowed and he began to run. His feet hit against the stone floors, his steps echoing off the walls. His leg gave out and he fell over from exhaustion, but he wasn't giving up. Naruto quickly got back to his feet and continued running down the hall. When he reached the end of the tunnel the sunlight momentarily blinded him. He stood next to his teammates as he looked up and saw who they were looking for.
"Sasuke," he breathed out upon seeing his old friend after two and a half years.
Sasuke stood tall on a cliff looking down at the three. His face was frigid and he looked completely unfazed by his old team's arrival. "Naruto's here too," he said calmly.
Sai readied himself to fight. Sasuke scoffed. "So is he my replacement? He was just going on about protecting the bonds between me and Naruto. One more pansy for the group," he said coldly, "I've already severed my bonds."
Naruto was enraged. "If you severed your bonds...then why didn't you kill me back then!"
Sasuke's expression didn't change as he spoke smoothly. "I merely spared you on a whim of mine." He disappeared and reappeared in front of Naruto with his hand on the blonde's shoulder. "Come to think of it, wasn't becoming Hokage a dream of yours? If you have the time to chase me around, you would have been better off training."
Ami looked at him with shock. "Sasuke!"
He continued talking as though it were only him and Naruto. "And now you're going to lose your life, all on a whim of mine," he finished as he unsheathed his sword from his back.
"You're right. Someone who can't save a friend could never become Hokage, don't you think, Sasuke?" Naruto replied unmoving.
Sasuke brought his sword around to pierce Naruto, but Sai grabbed his arm. The blond ninja grabbed Sasuke's other arm, keeping him still. Seeing her chance, Ami pulled out a kunai and ran at Sasuke with her weapon out, ready to take her old teammate down. But before she could deliver a blow, Sasuke emitted a chidori, throwing both Naruto and Sai back, freeing the rogue ninja. Ami had frozen in front of him, her brown eyes locked with his black ones. Time had paused just for a moment.
And then without hesitation, Sasuke plunged his sword forward into Ami's abdomen.
"Ami!" Naruto yelled out.
She let out a cry of pain as he pulled the sword from her body. Sasuke distanced himself from the squad as Naruto and Sai ran to the girl's aid as she fell to the ground. He gave them all one last malicious look before disappearing.
Naruto set her on his lap as tears flooded his eyes. "I'm sorry...I wasn't much help..." she struggled out. Blood flowed from her wound and rain started to come down, soaking her asymmetrical purple hair. "Promise...to bring him back."
"Ami, I promise. If it's the last thing I do, I will bring Sasuke back to Konoha," Naruto vowed, tears still falling from his eyes. Ami let out her last breath, closed her eyes and went limp in his arms. Naruto hugged her body close to his and silently sobbed.
"That's a wrap! Good work, people!" shouted the director from his chair just a few feet from the actors. The cameramen walked away from their cameras and started drinking coffee and eating donuts that were on the table for the crew.
Ami opened her eyes and quickly pushed Naruto off her. "Get off, you idiot!" she yelled. She got to her feet, brushing her clothes off.
Naruto glared at her back as she sashayed off the set. She bumped shoulder with Sasuke as she passed him, then yelled a few choice words at him as well.
He ignored her and walked over to Naruto, offering him a hand. "Thanks," said Naruto, taking his friend's hand and getting up.
Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows at the blonde. "So I'm guessing you went through with breaking up with Ami."
"Yeah. Didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped," he said. "But seriously, what was I supposed to do? It's not like I wanted to end it, but..." He drifted and looked in the direction she left.
Sasuke put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "You made the right choice. Besides, if it's any consolation..."
"What?"
Sasuke smirked. "Ami is a bitch."
Naruto gave a small, sad smile and they walked off the set to their separate trailers to change out of their ninja attire.
Inside the director's office was a royally pissed Ami. She slammed her hands on his desk as she yelled at him, "You can't do this!"
The director just crossed his arms. "Yes, I can. We just filmed you're last scene and you are now officially no longer an actress on this show."
"I made this show! I've been here since I was 12, putting up with the idiots you hire, giving this show the best years of my life! Now that I'm gone you're going to lose all your ratings. You can't just get rid of the leading actress like this," she bellowed.
She couldn't believe they cut her from the show. Naruto was the highest rated show in both the U.S. and across seas in Japan, not to mention in the top ten for ratings in various other countries across South America, Europe, and Asia. There wasn't a home alive that hadn't heard of Naruto some way or another. When they told Ami she was being killed off, she was livid. She even tried to convince Naruto to quit unless they rewrote her back into the series, but to no avail. Naruto, her boyfriend for two years, broke up with her rather than quit the show. She couldn't believe how selfish he was being.
And because of her contract, she had to do what the writers and director wanted but that didn't mean she couldn't try to tell them otherwise.
The director chuckled, "Sure I can kill you off, shows do it all the time. And there will be a leading actress, it just won't be you."
"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice wavering slightly.
"We've already started holding auditions for the show's new leading lady. In other words, your replacement," he said. His phone rang and he shooed her out his office.
Ami walked through the studio still in shock. Today was her last day as a cast member of Naruto and it was by far the worst day of her life. She just lost her boyfriend and her job. They can't do this to me. He can't do this to me! she thought bitterly as she left the set. However she knew it wouldn't be her last time here. She would get her job back.
But first, she needed to find a way to makeup with Naruto again.
()()()
"Ami, I promise. If it's the last thing I do, I will bring Sasuke back to Konoha," Naruto vowed, tears still falling from his eyes. Ami let out her last breath, closed her eyes and went limp in his arms. Naruto hugged her body close to his and silently sobbed.
Sakura gasped at her TV screen. "Ami, no..." she cried, tearing up herself. She was sitting on her couch watching the latest episode of Naruto and she was shocked to say the least. Her phone rang and she dived for it in a flash already knowing who was calling her.
"Can you believe it?!" yelled her friend Lee from the other line.
"I know! I can't believe Sasuke killed Ami! How could he?!" Sakura replied into the phone.
"She loved him and yet he so ruthlessly ended her life short. It's unforgivable! And-"
"Unyouthful?" Sakura said, already knowing her friend too well.
"Indeed."
"It is really sad though," Sakura said emotionally. "I didn't see that coming at all. What are they gonna do without Ami?"
Lee gasped. "Oh yes! I almost forgot. I heard the show is casting for the new female lead. They are having auditions in major cities. I think Philadelphia is one of them."
Sakura's eyes widened. "Are you serious?!" she yelled into the phone, her previous sadness forgotten.
The show was filmed in LA and yet they were having some of the auditions in Pennsylvania? She lived only 20 minutes away from Philadelphia and whether she had a chance or not she wanted to try it.
"Most definitely. But I must go, so I will see you later. Goodbye," Lee said.
"Bye," Sakura said back and hung up the phone. Ever since she was little she wanted to be an actress. She was always in her school's plays and local theatre productions. This was a chance too amazing to not at least give a shot at.
She went to her computer and searched for information on the auditions. Once she got to the site she looked at the was about previous references, personal info and such, but the main thing she needed to worry about was if her parents would even let her go to the auditions or not. They didn't really support her dream to be an actress.
Sakura ran upstairs to her parents' room where they were sitting on their bed, reading. She sat on the edge of the bed and looked at them with an innocent smile on her face. Her father raised an eyebrow and set down his book. "Yes?"
She smiled at them as she spoke, "Can I go to an audition for a TV show?"
Her parents stared at her for a moment before her mother asked, "And what show would that be?"
"It's that really popular ninja show that everyone watches," she explained trying to hype up the show to her parents.
"I don't know...I hear that show is pretty violent," her mother said hesitantly.
Her father nodded. "Yes, I don't know if someone your age should be on a show like that."
Sakura groaned. "I'm 16 years old, it's not that violent. Come on, please! It wouldn't hurt to let me just tryout right?" she begged.
Both her parents looked at her cautiously. It was obvious they were reluctant in having her audition for the show. She gave them her puppy eyes and pouted in an attempt to try and sway them. Her father sighed, "Fine."
She beamed at him and gave them both a hug. "Thank you! You're the best parents ever!"
()()()
Naruto sat at a table with his friends/costars in a local LA restaurant, all of them in disguise. Sai was wearing sunglasses and had his hood up, Sasuke also wore sunglasses and a red backwards cap, and Naruto had on a Dodgers hat. He was currently on his third bowl of ramen while the other two just watched him in a mixture of amusement and disgust.
He stopped his slurping and saw the looks on their faces. "What?"
Sai just gave him a fake smile. "Nothing." And Sasuke just shook his head.
Naruto shrugged and finished his bowel. "Man, that was good," he said. But the ramen was only a temporary distraction from what was weighing down on his mind. He let his forehead hit the table.
"Naruto, you need to get over her," said Sasuke.
"He's right," Sai offhandedly said. "We knew it wouldn't last."
Naruto glared at the pale boy. "Shut up, Sai."
Sasuke hit Naruto over the head. "Come on, snap out of it. There was nothing else you could do. It's Ami's fault."
"What did she do?" asked Sai.
Naruto let out a long sigh but finally lifted his head. "When Ami found out she was going to be killed off, she gave me an ultimatum. Either I quit the show or we're over. I tried to convince the director to keep her, but he wouldn't let up. Everyone wanted Ami gone." He grabbed onto his golden locks and groaned. "How could she make me choose between her and the show?"
"That's why you're better off without her," insisted Sasuke. "Forget her. Besides, no one wants to keep hearing about your girl troubles."
"Yeah, yeah. Screw you too, Sasuke," Naruto started. "So where do you guys want to go next?"
"Oh my God! Look over there! It's Naruto Namikaze!" a girl screamed. "Did you hear that he just broke up with Ami Sato?"
"You mean he's single?"
"No way! So that must be Sasuke Uchiha and Sai with him!" yelled another girl from the other side of the diner.
The three boys sighed. They placed down their money, quickly jumped up from their seats, and left the establishment. Well ran from it. The girls started to give them chase until they finally gave up after a few blocks of running. Once the girls were out of sight the three TV stars stopped to catch their breaths.
Sasuke rubbed the back of his head as they walked down the sidewalk. "I hate coming down here," he grunted.
Naruto rolled his eyes at him. "It's not that bad. You're such an attention whore that you'd go crazy if someone didn't know who you were."
Sasuke scowled at the blonde. Sai examined Naruto's clothes in response. "You know Naruto, you're the one who gives us away whenever we're out in public."
"What do you mean me?" he shot back.
Sasuke's eye twitched. "Wearing a shirt that says I'm not Naruto isn't a disguise," he said pointing at Naruto's clothes. He was in fact wearing a black t-shirt that said I'm not Naruto in big orange letters.
"Whatever," said the blonde as he put his hands behind his head. "This is our day off and I should be able to wear something other than orange jumpsuits," he paused for a second, "not that there's anything wrong with orange."
Sai furrowed his eyebrows. "We're off for the next two weeks, not just today. Didn't you know that?"
"Really?"
"Idiot," Sasuke mumbled, "they're looking for a new girl to replace Ami, remember?"
Naruto placed his thumb and index finger on his chin. "Oh yeah," he mused, "did they find anyone yet?" he inquired. The two raven haired boys shook their heads.
"Why did they fire her anyway?" Sai asked.
Sasuke smirked. "She kept picking fights with the crew. When she made her makeup artist run home crying the director had enough." Naruto shook his head and Sai gave an amused smile.
"A testament to Naruto's great taste in women, no doubt."
"I hate you both."
They continued walking down the streets of LA while trying to avoid crazed fans like they did everyday. It was an average day in their celebrity lives.
()()()
Sakura was sitting at home with her best friend, Lee. They were both watching movies in her room as a part of their Friday night routine. Sakura had went to the first auditions two weeks ago, and even made it to the callbacks last Wednesday. Unfortunately, that was when she blew it. She lost her temper a little and after that she totally panicked. They said they would call her to let her know if she got the role but she knew they weren't gonna call. Ever since then she'd been moping around her house and so Lee made sure to go over and try to cheer her up.
"Come on, Sakura! There is no need to be so down in the dumps!" Lee exclaimed. He was always very energetic, but Sakura didn't find his upbeat mood contagious.
She sighed. "Thanks, Lee," she said solemnly. She was sitting on her bed next to Lee, eating some ice cream. They were watching a rather bloody samurai movie which she had to make sure her parents didn't know about. Sakura's parents were very overprotective of her and it got really annoying after awhile. She knew they meant well but she just wished they'd back off sometimes.
But that was the least of what had her moping.
She couldn't help but keep thinking of her callback and how much she blew it just because she couldn't stay calm about something so small. And of course she would snap at the director before she actually got to do any acting.
Sakura nervously walked into the casting room. There were two people sitting at a desk, a man and a woman. The moment she entered the room, she became self conscious by they way they were studying her, analyzing the way she walked with a natural bounce in her steps.
The man—who must've been the director—spoke first. "We've already reviewed your papers, but we like to hear some things from you personally. So we're going to ask some questions about you and you will answer them truthfully."
Sakura didn't expect that, but she knew she should've seen that coming. She was supposed to be ready to answer any question the casting director could and would ask and now she wished she had prepared herself for that.
"Okay," she said trying to sound as confident as she wished she was.
The woman spoke this time. "Tell us your name, age, and some things about yourself."
"My name is Sakura Haruno, I'm 16 years old. I play tennis at my school, I get straight A's, and I like trivia and memorizing things," she said sounding much more comfortable.
The director looked her up and down for a moment. "What's your height and weight?"
"Excuse me?" she asked.
"These may sound like personal things that you might not wish to say out loud but if you were to get the role, you'd have to partake in various physical activities," explained the woman.
"I-I'm 5 foot 2 inches and weigh 100 lbs," she said awkwardly. She knew she was a little on the small side but that wasn't a big deal was it?
"Are your eyes naturally green?" he asked next.
"Yes," Sakura answered starting to sound a little more testy than nervous.
And of course he asked the question. The question that everyone who knew Sakura knew not to ask. The forbidden question. "Why do you dye your hair pink?"
Sakura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Calm down, Sakura, she told herself, he doesn't know. She did her best to keep the anger out her voice. "I don't dye it, it's my natural color."
The director scoffed, "You can't expect me to believe that pink is your natural hair color."
She bit the inside of her cheek. "Well...it is."
"That's absurd."
That did it. She snapped. Reasonable Sakura had left the building and her psychotic inner had taken over. "Well excuse me for being a freak of nature but believe it or not, I was bor with pink hair! Sorry it defies what you think should and shouldn't be a hair color! Deal with it!" And the second those words came from her mouth she instantly regretted them. She just ruined any chance she had of being an actress on the show.
The two people looked at her with shock, both their eyes wide. They had not expected the—whom they assumed—meek girl to yell at them like that.
The woman cleared her throat and continued to talk, "Right. Let's start with hearing some dialogue."
Sakura groaned and fell backwards on her bed. "I am such an idiot," she said out loud. At that moment the phone rang. She got up from her bed slowly and dragged her feet to the phone. She picked it up and answered somberly. "Hello?"
Lee watched her with curiosity when her eyes widened and she squealed. She grabbed a piece of paper and started writing stuff down eagerly while still smiling into the phone. Once she hung up she looked at Lee and screamed. Good thing her parents were out. He covered his ears and squinted his eyes. "What? What is it?" he asked.
"I GOT THE PART! I'M GONNA BE ON NARUTO!" she shouted at the top of her lungs.
Lee's expression turned gleeful as well and he started jumping up and down with her. "That's fantastic! You shall be the most youthful person on television!" he cheered. He stopped though he was still smiling at her. "I thought you said you didn't do well?"
She was still beaming even though her cheeks started to hurt. "I thought I did but apparently the director liked my attitude. He said I showed real passion that he was looking for or something," she abbreviated.
Although now that she thought about it, she did read that the director, who was also one of the writers, liked to shape his characters around the actors, even naming the characters after them. Did that mean they would be using her name?
Sakura hugged Lee and then continued to jumped up and down joyfully. Tonight was the beginning of something great. Or so she thought.
And there you have it! First chapter! Hopefully you all see some potential in this so that I can get to the really good/fun stuff :)
Also, I'm aware Ami is kind of an obscure character, but I needed someone who is canonically a bitch and it works well because she only showed up once in Naruto. I don't like to character bash, so I didn't want to take a sympathetic character and twist them around for the story, nor do I like to create OCs.
So, please comment and tell me what you think. Depending on the amount of reviews I get will determine when I post the next chapter.
