Disclaimer : I do not own Naruto and it's characters and I am not making any profit from this short story
So. I've been practicing writing a little bit more lately and I have been dying to try my hand in some Naruto fanfic. Mostly because I love love love the characters and the stories that are out there and for being an active reader for about two years now I finally have some courage to write and post something.
My biggest concern is that I won't do justice to the characters that I love so much. But I guess I have to try it and I might eventually get better, right?
This is a short story that I came up with while I trying to meet my daily limit of written words. One character is very occ, I'm sure you will know who I mean, but I sort of wanted him to be the owner and to have this kind of personality.
Anyway, please enjoy this random one shot that was born tonight..
The song that inspired me is Missed Me by The Dresden Dolls so feel free to look it up.
Little cabaret
It was cold outside tonight, but not quite yet winter. The wind was playing with fallen leaves on the streets, making every man and woman pull their garments a little closer to their body. There was one person who did not notice the chill, however. Sakura was rushing down the street to the little café, she was already late. Opening door to the side entrance she exhaled, hearing that she still had a little time and therefore Kakuzu wouldn't kick her butt back on the street and let her perform her piece. Poking her head to the stage she sad Ino performing her magic tricks and earning laughs as well as some groaning of men who were proven that they indeed don't know everything. She smiled at her blonde friend and slipped back to the backstage in search of Kakashi and to change her clothes. The older man was located at one of the few windows that were found in the establishment with paper and pen, no doubt preparing his new song.
"Took you long enough, Kakuzu already caused a ruckus, yelling at everyone that they need to report to him the second they spot you." He announced instead of greeting, not even bothering to look up from his notes.
"Hello to you too, stranger." Sakura put her hands on her hips to chastise him but still, there was a smile on her lips. "Does that mean that you are ready to go? I just need to quickly put on a bit of rouge, but Ino is almost done with her tricks from what I saw." Kakashi lazily met her gaze and nodded, standing up as he folded his papers and put them in his back pocket.
Sakura studied her reflection in the mirror against the wall. Although she just said that she would need to retouch her makeup there was still plenty of redness in her cheeks from her brisk walk through Paris's evening streets. Her dress was black and cutting just below her knees, leaving her shoulders bare and accentuating her neck and short pink locks. She wasn't completely happy with her rushed look but given the time limit, she didn't have much choice. And almost if the simple thought could summon a devil, she heard a voice somewhere behind her.
"Is she finally here?! Where is that damned Sakura?! Shut up, Deidara, if you don't have any proper information then get out of my face!" The little eyes furiously searched in the darkened room until they spotted the duo in question by the window. "Dear Lord, Sakura, do you even know how late you were this time? Hurry up to the stage, Kakashi, you move your ass, too. Don't think for a second that I am not angry with you as well!" He fumed, pointing his finger in all directions as to make a statement. Sakura grinned at him, he was just too adorable when he got all rattled.
"Easy there, tiger, you know what the doctor told you about getting this angry, at your favorite singer on top of that," Sakura said sweetly as she passed him, together with the silver-haired man, who only patted the boiling café owner on the head. They could hear Ino announcing the end of her act and telling everyone to give a big applause for the next performers, which - by her own words - was her best friend and she would be mad at everyone who wouldn't cheer. And so when the lights blinded Sakura momentarily, she entered the stage to claps of nearly everyone in the café, some even whistled.
Sakura made her way to the center of the stage, giving a short hug to Ino, who apparently couldn't pass the opportunity to "summon" a card from behind her ear, seemingly out of thin air. That caused a new round of laughter from the public, so the blonde bowed and disappeared behind the curtain. In the meantime, Kakashi took his place at the piano and was waiting lazily for Sakura's signal to start playing. She didn't keep him waiting for long, as she nodded in his direction with a smile. The man started hitting the keys, the whole room silenced and almost mesmerized watched Sakura's subtle movements to the rhythm before she started singing a real cabaret song. She fully enjoyed the attention she was getting, slowly moving on the stage to her friend and tracing his shoulders with the tips of her fingers while making eye contact with other men in the café. Some seemed to be flustered by the display while others couldn't take their eyes off of her. The pinkette made her way through the rows and tables, occasionally touching a man or two, just to tease them while singing her song. At a very front row there was a young man who looked especially shy, so she casually made her way towards him and sat in his lap, which rewarded her with a completely red face of her poor victim.
"Missed me missed me now you've got to kiss me." She nudged his nose with her pointing finger while making the ss of the words very notable. "If you kiss me, mister, you must think I'm pretty." She continued with her song but decided to stop teasing this poor man who could have been barely sixteen, junior to her by six years, at the least. She marched her way back to the little podium, seeing that Kakashi got completely lost in the music, as he usually did. Sakura was gradually elevating her voice to the grand finale of the song, raising her arms above her head and clapping her feet to the increasing tempo.
And just then she noticed the dark eyes that have been watching her from the far corner of the café. A chill run down her spine, colder than an ice. Thankfully it did not make her lose her composure and she quickly looked at other patrons of the little café, who were slowly standing up from their chair, almost making it look like Sakura's arms were their cue to move. The only two people still sitting were the young boy in the front row who was still very noticeably red and him. The singer almost yelled the last few words of her performance and then uproar erupted. Sakura basked in the sweet sounds of cheering and whistling. After just a short moment she glanced at the man in the back, not able to see what exactly he was thinking from this far. But he wasn't cheering, he was not standing up either. His eyes were trained on her but that was all she could tell. Then he stood and left without as much as another glance to the podium where she still stood, intoxicated with the rush of her successful performance.
Kakashi, seeing that Sakura was a little out of it, announced the next act and bowed to the crowd next to her, before he took her arm and led her backstage. Before the curtain close behind them, she turned around one more time but didn't see the mysterious man anymore. Her silver-haired friend didn't let go of her hand until they were all the way back to the window where the pianist generally spent his free time.
"So, you finally noticed him, huh?" More of a statement than a question as he regarded her, his head turned to the side slightly as in he was observing something highly interesting. Sakura, still slightly bewildered, turned her attention to her companion and blinked. She almost got mad when she saw the grin on Kakashi's face, wanting nothing more than to wipe that smug look away. But she needed answers and he looked like a cat that ate the canary, so he must have had some idea, right?
"You know who he is, don't you?" If it came out little more desperate than she wanted, she didn't show it. Her friend made no move to tell her what he knew, fully enjoying this little torment that he was putting her in. "Kakashi, I swear, if you don't spill the beans right now I will go and inform Ino of your tiny mishap of her favorite cards. And you wouldn't want that, now would you?" She poked him right in the middle of her chest to make her point. Kakashi chuckled and held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.
"Fine, fine, you little minx. His name is Itachi Uchiha and he's been to your every performance for the past two months. He comes here right before you are on the stage and leaves right after. That's all I know." He removed the finger that was still poking at his chest, watching her reaction. To his dismay, it took her long enough to put two and two together.
"Itachi.. Uchiha.. WAIT!" She whisper-yelled with horror in her eyes. "You don't mean that Itachi Uchiha, do you?" It honestly sounded more like she was pleading to him, to wake up and for this to not to be true. There was nothing that he could have done about that, though.
"That very same, my dear Sakura. That very same." He shook his head slightly, making it seem like he wanted to give her a different answer.
"Well, shit." Kakashi couldn't agree more with the young singer.