Title: Of Film Girl and Lenses
Author: Katarin Kishika
Characters/Pairing: SakuraXNaruto-Main, MultiSaku-side... super minor, seriously!
Type: Continuous (Incomplete)
Genre: Romance/Humor
Summary: She left the limelight a long time ago. She had nothing to do with it anymore. But to stay by his side, to make a promise long forgotten come true, she had to face her fears and get back to that place where she can be anyone – In front of the camera's lens.
Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-san. This story was inspired by the mangas "Film Girl" by Takagi Shigeyoshi and "Mishounen Produce" by Ichinose Kaoru.
O_O_O
"Yo." – Talking
'Yo.' – Thoughts
Italics – Dreams/Flashbacks/Memories
O_O_O
Chapter 1:
Plain Jane
O_O_O
She watched a bird land gently on a nearby branch. Having a seat on the back beside a window really has its perks. As the teacher drone on and on with his monotonous voice about the Shimabara rebellion during the Edo period (cause really, History is her worst subject), her eyes started to find more interesting things. Her eyes drifted from her notes (almost non-existent notes, to her horror) to the person beside her, Shikamaru who was sleeping behind a book, to the bird which was looking at her curiously and back to her notes.
Her eyes started to drift lower, lower and lower… and it closed. 'So tired.' she thought, 'Just for five minutes.' The steady hum of the teacher's voice made her sleepier. It started to fade and she, at last, succumbed to sleep.
O_O_O
She blinked. 'Am I dreaming?' She thought to herself. She looked at her hands which was transparent (as well as her whole body) and at her surroundings. The place was familiar. She felt that she's been here before.
"Sakura-chan!" A man's voice called.
Hearing her name, she turned to find the owner of the voice.
"Haaaai! I'm right here, Yamato-san." A girl no more than ten summers answered. The girl had pastel pink hair and vibrant emerald green eyes. She was wearing a pastel pink chiffon dress with delicate lace lining its trims. The girl ran towards the older male.
'Ah, I see.' The young woman said. 'So, I am dreaming.' She was dreaming of a long forgotten memory, buried at the back of her mind, forcefully banished by her mind to forget the pain. Memories of smiles and happiness, of hurt and childish heart break.
"I was looking for you; I'm going to introduce you to a new model. I'm sure you're going to like him." Yamato said.
The girl nodded and they entered a room. Inside the room, a boy almost her age was sitting with his manager. The girl greeted the people with practiced politeness (Yamato said being rude will get you nowhere)
The young woman watched the scene, baffled. She remembers it all. All except the young boy's face and name. 'Did I forget him too or was it just a serious case of getting old? I'm just sixteen for cripes sake!' She thought irritably.
"I can call you Sakura-chan, right?" The boy asked.
"Of course you can!" The girl answered.
'Why am I so friendly? Right, I was young then.' The young woman thought.
"Ne, ne, I heard from my manager that Yamato-san said Shachou will soon launch you as an actress. Is it true?" Without waiting for an answer, the boy continued. "Then, I will catch up to you. That way, we can do projects together. Promise me you'll stay at the top okay? Ne, promise me Sakura-chan?" This caught her attention. She did not remember this scene too.
"Alright, I promise."
…
…
O_O_O
…
…
'That dream again, huh?'
"Haruno. Psst! Oi, Haruno."
"Hm…?" Haruno Sakura abruptly woke up from her nap. She was half-awake, half-subconscious, head almost at her desk, when she heard Shikamaru call her. She knew that waking up and making a ruckus will alert the teacher, so inconspicuously, she turned her eyes to Shikamaru.
"What?" She mouthed.
He wrote something on a piece of paper and stealthily passed it to her. 'Nothing. It seems like you're awake now. Sensei was staring at you earlier. I thought I'd wake you up before you get in trouble. So troublesome.'
Sakura blinked. She quickly made a reply. 'You just don't want the teacher to discover that you're sleeping too! Thanks nonetheless. XD" She passed the letter back to her seatmate and again pretended to listen.
Shikamaru made a face after reading the note but did not answer back.
Sakura stifled her snicker.
O_O_O
Her name is Haruno Sakura. She's sixteen years old and currently in her first year of high school. She has pink hair which she grew up to her midback and emerald eyes. You would think that such features will leave an impact to people. But sadly, no.
Six years ago, she worked as a model for children and pre-teens wear for different clothing lines, accessories and more. She appeared in different famous magazines and catalogs. Her best selling points are her striking features (cause really, people thought her eyes and hair color will clash and not complement the other) and her smiles. For a year, everything was going well. Projects are steady and there was a time that the company she works for planned to launch her as a child actress.
Everything changed when she heard the Shachou (the president) and a new model, which was bad mouthing her at that time, talk. They said that she will just be launched for trial. It seems like they were not expecting much from her anyway and she had no talent (no thanks to that new model)
"What the problem isn't her outward appearance but rather her inner self."
The words may not be much. But hurtful and degrading words cut deep to a child's mind. Slowly, little by little, her smiles began to crack. Her confidence and self-esteem became so low she began to question why she was smiling in front of the lenses. She began to forget the reason why and how happy she was when she's modeling.
Eventually, she quit.
She chose to be a plain girl; People don't notice her unless she spoke out loud (sometimes, they didn't even notice her even if she did that). She preferred that anyway. She left the limelight and chose that she had nothing to do with that world anymore. She chose to forget.
O_O_O
Sakura was walking home when she was intercepted by her friend Ten-ten dragging a reluctant Hinata. Those two, along with Shikamaru and Sai are the only people she considers as friends in this school. A lot doesn't even notice her (even if she does have natural pink hair) while the majority doesn't really care.
"Yo, Sakura-chan! Let's go eat something!" Ten-ten enthusiastically said. "I'm dragging Hinata 'cause she definitely need to get away from her family, even if it's only for a few hours. We need our girl talk, and besides, you're always studying. You're always busy and I know you miss us and you're a bit lonely without our craziness. So, you wanna come?" Ten-ten rambled. She gave Sakura a hopeful expression, complete with holding her hands in front of her as if praying.
Sakura raised an eyebrow and looked at a blushing Hinata. The girl was fumbling with her hands and shuffling her feet but nodded at last.
Sakura sighed. She suppose Ten-ten had a point. Sakura's not a nerd per se, she just like studying. Always. As in, she's always two lessons in advance. 'Okay, fine, I'm a nerd.' She doesn't have anything to do anyway. "Alright, but your treat!"
Ten-ten laughed, glad her friend agreed. "Okay, okay."
O_O_O
They walked to a cozy café near the train station. There aren't many students who know this place. Even if that's the case, it has a steady flow of regulars and customers.
Sakura, Ten-ten and Hinata entered the café. Ten-ten was talking animatedly to Hinata who was smiling and nodding at what her friend said indicating she's listening. Sakura was smiling, lagging a bit behind while watching her friends and looking at her surroundings. It's not every day she's with her friends. She was looking at a painting of a cat playing with a ball of yarn in the wall while walking. Such actions are dangerous, she knows, but that painting was just so cute.
Not too long, Sakura felt she hit a wall. Except this wall, gave a small grunt. She abruptly looked up and saw a face of a young man. He was a bit taller than her. Okay, not a bit. He was a head taller than her. He had golden locks under a baseball cap, he wears expensive looking sun glasses, hideously orange shirt underneath a dark blue hoodie, dark jeans and simple sneakers. Simple ensemble, really. But what caught Sakura's attention are his whisker-like scars (She doesn't know if those are scars… birthmarks perhaps?). She knows she had seen this boy somewhere. She just knows it… But as usual, she can't remember it.
Realizing she's staring, Sakura looked down and mumbled a quick apology, a small bow and hurriedly walked to her friends. She did not look back. It was such a shame, because if she did, she will see that the boy has something to say.
O_O_O
Uzumaki Naruto was waiting for his manager Hatake Kakashi. 'That old man is late… again.' Sighing, he scratched his head. He was bored out of his mind. Too bad this café don't have ramen.
Groaning at his predicament, Naruto decided that he'll wait for Kakashi outside. He got up, stretched a little and walked towards the exit. He was looking at the patterns on the ceiling when he ran in to the wall. Except that wall, gave a small gasp. Looking down, he saw a girl his age. She has pink hair. Natural, he suppose, because he can see the roots of her hair even if he's wearing sun glasses. When she looked up, he saw emerald green eyes, pale skin (not in a sickly way), pink lips; she was wearing a sailor uniform and the first thing that entered his mind was 'Cute.' The second thing that entered his mind was 'I know her!'
Then the girl gave an apology, bowed and hurriedly walked to her friends.
She didn't even look back. Naruto, being the impulsive boy that he is, ran to find her.
O_O_O
She was talking with her friends about her non-existing love life (surprise, surprise!). Ten-ten thought it was high time she get one. Hinata was just smiling at the side line and Sakura was fighting for her freedom to choose a guy she likes and not be subjected to Ten-ten's tyranny (AKA her attempts of being a matchmaker and finding a soul mate for her dear friend Sakura-chan). So far, her arguments have no effect to the tyrant.
It was in the middle of their discussion when that boy she ran in to (which she thought as a wall) came. He grabbed her hand (which was in an expressive gesture because she was fighting for her case and giving another argument… 'Can't we just stop talking about my love life, please? I didn't grill you with yours, right?'). He then promptly held said (captive) hand near his heart and said…
"I finally found you, Sakura-chan."
O_O_O
A/N: And that is the first chapter. I'm evil, I know. Mwahahahahaha. This is my first story, so please be gentle.
I had the chapters figured out (most of them, at least). Updates will probably be once a week (depending on my schedule and your reviews). Yes, this is MULTISAKU/AKASAKU which will be the MINOR pairing of this story. But because of my undying love to NaruSaku (and actually, he is the guy that I think will suit best in my story) NARUSAKU is the MAJOR pairing (thus, the characters used... and I think a little jealousy will spice up this story, don't ya think?). So if you want to have a scene with a character written out just pm me or include it on the review and I'll decide if I'll use it. Of course, I will give credit to that reviewer and online cookies to reviewers, hehe.
What else? Uhm… Again, PLEASE READ AND REVIEW AND NO FLAMES PLEASE (God, I hate those)
A/N 2: To my first reviewer, A NaruSaku fan: First of all, I LOVE YOU! hehe. Just wanna say that. I've taken into consideration what you said. Actually, I kinda wanna make it a multisaku. Yet, I absolutely adore NaruSaku. So to provide solution to this headache, I just (randomly) made up my mind that the main pairing will be NARUSAKU and use the other characters as a means to spice up the story.
I will still take suggestions of scenes with other characters (Something that will make someone jealous! mwahahahahahaha!) and take those into consideration and pick a scene. And at last, I will still give online cookies! Yay!
