: Fame Addiction :

by ShadowofIllusion

Summary: Young, hot-shot reporter Sakura Haruno plans on making it big and doing it soon. The only thing that can get her on the "Ace Reporters" list pronto is the biggest name in the acting world—Kakashi Hatake. The secrets and mysteries surrounding the man could fill the Grand Canyon to the brim. If she could get the scoop on him, fame would be handed to her on a silver platter. The only question that remains is—can she manage to get info on the man that has led the entire news media around by the nose for years?

Disclaimer: If I happened to own Naruto, do you think I'd still be writing fanfiction?? ...Well, I probably would, but that's beside the point.

WARNING!: Language. And... T rated stuff. Later.

Brief A/N: The song that probably helped to inspire this was David Cook's Kiss on the Neck. Go figure... as it really has nothing to do with the story. In any case, I've been itching to try an AU setting, so here's my attempt at it. If anyone's OOC, PLEASE tell me. I do NOT want them to be, so I will fix it. Or, at least, try to.

: Dream Big and Aim Higher :

To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act. ~Anatole France

Coffee was perhaps the most addictive thing in existence, Sakura thought to herself as she considered the steaming, dark, aromatic liquid in her mug. Her live-in boyfriend would have to come second this morning to the energy-inducing drink. Her green eyes slid over to where he lay on the couch, his body mostly covered by the blanket she had draped over him earlier that morning. It was a good gesture on her part, especially considering it was his fault that they had ended up sleeping on the couch, and why her spine felt like it had been shot nine ways to hell.

So much for the wonderful effects being young supposedly produced. She grimaced as she tried to settle herself more comfortably in her chair, a newspaper crinkling plaintively in her hand at the action. Fortunately, her job did not start until the evening. Night life scenes always created the juiciest topics to write about.

She sipped at the coffee, eyes scanning the various columns with a critical eye. Nothing much to report, the usual 'who's doing who when they're not supposed to' and the 'break-ups/make-ups' filled with the same stars they had been covering the entire past month. As she moved on to the next page, a name caught her gaze. "Someone new?" Nope, but... she grinned as she read, this could be her ticket out of the drivel she currently had to keep up with.

'Kakashi Hatake stars in new historical drama, Until Death, alongside well-known and loved figures such as Kurenai Yuhi, Neji Hyuuga,...' the following actors either were not worth reading about, or she had already covered them. She giggled lightly as she reached for a pen from a nearby container full of writing instruments. Circling the man's name with a neon pink gel pen, Sakura grinned down at it.

"Helloooo, Mr. Hatake. We're going to be best friends soon."

—xoxo

Elsewhere, Kakashi found himself trying to restrain a violent sneeze.

"Are you listening to me, Hatake?" His manager, a rather striking woman who claimed to be twenty-five despite his knowing her to be closer to forty, glared down her nose at his lazy form currently occupying her favorite chair.

Red hair would have probably matched her fiery temper better than the natural golden blond that adorned her scalp, in Kakashi's private opinion.

He hummed in agreement, trying to figure out what he had done now. "I know you love to toy with the press, but we need to give them something to munch on!" Amber eyes flashed as she noticed his continued nonchalance at the whole proceeding. "Damn it, Hatake! If you didn't make so much money off that ridiculously gorgeous face of yours, I'd-"

Bored storm-gray orbs rose to meet hers, his typical messy arrangement of silver spikes (that somehow managed to look styled rather than sloppy) not hiding it well enough, "Rearrange it for me?"

"Damn straight!"

"Good thing I do happen to make money off it," he chuckled. Wiping some of the 'I-don't-care' look from his face, he waited patiently for Tsunade to continue. While he would be the first to admit that he did have a certain fondness for ticking off his manager, he would also point out that he knew where to toe the line. Swearing on her part usually indicated that she was dangerously near to planting her well-manicured fist in his gut. (Never his face, because it really was hard to hide that sort of damage.)

Tsunade's ample bosom heaved as she took in a deep breath, the forest green material of her tunic stretching to deal with the sudden expansion. Releasing it with an exaggerated sigh, she glared at her client. "I'm not asking you to suddenly feel the need to give them your deepest, darkest secret. And please don't. I'm not sure that the public could handle whatever mess you've got stored in that crazed head of yours." Ignoring Kakashi's affronted look, she reached for her briefcase and flicked the locks open. She pulled out a couple of sheets and held them out for his inspection.

"Just give them something to last them a couple months. That's all we need right now."

"What happened to the 'wonderful Hatake air of mystery'?" He quirked an eyebrow at his publicist.

"Yesterday's news," she snapped in reply.

"Hn..."

"Unless you want a myriad of rabid stalkers trying to get the latest scoop on you and paparazzi camped outside your doorstep, you'll consider it." She nearly did a victory dance at the horrified expression that crossed his face. There was no other way to motivate that man unless you hinted at some danger to his privacy.

"Alright, I'll look it over."

"Good, see you bright and early tomorrow morning." They both knew that he'd show up around noon despite her order, but it was still habit for the phrase to slip out. "Yeah, I'll see you."

—xoxo

Ino and Tenten stared at Sakura, blue and brown orbs equally mirroring their disbelief. "You're crazy," Ino finally stated, running her fingers through her long blond hair in bewilderment.

Tenten nodded, the neat buns on the sides of her head bobbing slightly with the movement. "Sorry, but I have to agree on this one. Why do you want this so badly?"

Sakura leveled a flat stare at her, "The same reason you want a date with Neji Hyuuga."

This statement caused both of the other women's jaws to drop. The roseate-haired woman flushed at her unconscious implication. "That's not what I meant!"

A coy smile curved the blond's lips. "Sure," she drawled. "If you're over Sasuke, I'll be more than happy to take him."

Tenten grinned as her friends locked glares. Before heated words could be exchanged, however, she butted in. Getting kicked out of a restaurant once for those two getting into it was once too many for her tastes. "So, what did you mean?"

Sakura leaned forward conspiratorially, a devious glint in her eyes. "He's never had an exclusive interview before!" Blank stares met her excited revelation and she restrained the urge to groan. "Okay, it's like this—no one really knows what goes on up here," she pointed exaggeratedly to her head, "so if I can get him to do a one-on-one interview with me, I'll have done something no other person has been able to do! This will get me onto the 'Ace Reporters' list!"

"How're you going to do that?"

"Yeah, Forehead. Hate to break it to you, but from what I've read, Hatake really isn't the easiest nut to crack."

A smirk tilted her glossy lips up. "I've got it all covered."

—xoxo

"I quit!" A quick stream of Italian hit his ears in a furious rush, and, if Kakashi didn't know better, she was cursing him out. "This is the last time I work for actor! Very last!"

"What the-?" He jumped aside quickly as the heavy-set woman barreled into the hallway, a suitcase in each hand. "Hey, Rosa, what happened?"

She glared at him furiously, dark eyes sharp with anger. Setting down the suitcases, the woman marched up to him, nearly shaking with indignant wrath. "You!" She jabbed a slightly round finger into his chest. "You cannot even get my name right! It is Carmina! Car-mee-nah!"

Kakashi stared down at the infuriated woman, still clueless to why she was upset. "Uh, yeah, I'm sorry about that, Carmina."

"Complaining about this, complaining about that, and now he tells writer that he can't stand Italian cooking any more! Enough!" With the last outburst, she threw her meaty hands into the air in disgust. Stomping back to her suitcases, she marched on out the door, satisfying herself by slamming it in the process.

He stared after her, slightly bemused but mostly in total shock. What on earth...? The last time he spoke to a journalist was... nearly seven months ago. He sighed and rubbed at his face when the thought sank in. No wonder the media was after him. Not having done anything public for a while definitely backfired.

Still... he stared forlornly at the door. He absolutely adored Rosa, no, Carmina's cooking. Her cleaning had been impeccable, and he had truly valued her services. He had not been stupid enough to complain about any of his hired help before, so what had caused that to happen?

Shuffling back to his room, he was half-tempted to slam the door. Maybe Carmina had something going with that. With a hearty groan, he fell backwards onto the bed, pillows falling to the floor as the movement rocked the mattress. Kakashi studied the bland ceiling above his head in an effort to relax.

His cell phone chose that moment to vibrate in his back pocket. An annoying jingle soon followed. Kakashi glared at the innocent ceiling tiles as if they were culpable for his current misfortunes. There was only one person who would dare to call him at this hour.

Too bad answering was the only viable option.

He pulled out his cell and flipped it open in a single, practiced motion born from years of this sort of harassment. "Yo."

"Have you read through the papers?"

Kakashi hummed in response, eyeing said papers with a put-upon air. He had briefly flipped through them. Most contained various offers to have a Q&A with several well-known journalists, a few advertisements, plus one offer to have a collectible figurine made in his image. The last one was immediately thrown out. Women already collected enough of the crap they plastered his image across. Something like that gave him the shivers.

Now, if his favorite author decided to give him a starring role in one of his books—then he'd sign in a heartbeat.

"Hatake, are you listening to me?"

Uh-oh. Tuning out the manager probably wasn't the smartest thing to do at the moment. She did know where he lived after all.

"Yeah."

Tsunade tapped her fire-engine red nails against the dark wood of her desk, wishing she could strangle the obnoxious individual on the other end of the line. "So?"

"They want to make a doll after me."

She chuckled at his disgusted tone. "Just another way to capitalize on you." At his silence, she prodded further. "You need to pick at least one offer. Preferably more than that, but one will let you get by for a little while longer."

A grunt was her reply. "Hey, you wanted to be in the limelight. Don't blame me."

Kakashi flipped through the papers absently. "Hn." Tossing the stack on his bed, he randomly pulled one from the cascading mess that ensued.

"Hmm... seems 'W' and 'Top Bachelors of 20--' magazines hit the jackpot."

Tsunade bit her tongue to keep her comment at bay. Random selection typically was not the best method for selecting an interview, but as long as he did something. "At least you picked some of the more widely read magazines." She tapped away on the keyboard to pull up some files she kept on them. "It'll work. I'll have Shizune contact them to confirm your acceptance."

"Great."

"Spare me your over-whelming enthusiasm." She paused, then began tapping her nails against the wood again, the steady staccato soothing in a fashion. "Hey, Kakashi."

"What?"

"Please be a little more sociable with this. You need it, I need it, and it could impact your career to a greater degree than either of us would care to think about. So please, no monosyllabic responses."

Kakashi sighed dismally. Not like his night could get any worse. "I'll make an effort."

"You better damn well do better than that," she growled in reply. "And you better have your ass in here at a decent hour tomorrow." She ended the call and switched lines on her phone. "Shizune?"

"Yes, ma'am?" A younger woman's voice emitted from the machine.

"I'm sending you contact info for a couple of magazines. Tell them Hatake accepts and find the earliest time they can get him in there so he can't find a way to get out of it."

"Gotcha."

The line clicked off, signaling Shizune's hanging up. Tsunade rubbed at her temple. That man was irritating to an infinite degree. If she had not personally known his parents, there would be no way on earth that she would deal with such a client. But, considering he had nearly grown up as her adopted son, she did and so she dealt with it.

Maybe she would consider taking a higher percentage out of his paycheck. It was only fair after all.

—xoxo

"You did what?"

Sakura could not help but grin at the chorused words. Yes, even she could sink that low. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and all that jazz.

"It went to a trashy tabloid, nothing major."

Tenten groaned into her hands. She was not friends with this person. Period. Ino, on the other hand, looked more than mildly interested. "That's low, but cool! Do you think you can get in this way?"

A wicked smile caught Sakura's lips gleefully. "I just happen to have learned enough Italian cooking to be considered good. And who can't clean or make a bed?"

"So, you got contact with that actor's cook, got her drunk enough to spill some stuff to you, wrote an article about how Kakashi's been complaining about her recently, and now you're looking to replace her as his personal chef slash maid," Tenten ticked off the points on her fingers. Golden brown orbs bored into jade green. "Do you honestly believe this will work?"

"I've got contacts."

"That will get you how far?"

Ino shrugged and interjected before the other woman could. "She's got some pretty decent cards up her sleeve, don't write it off just yet." She held up her glass and grinned widely, exposing a perfect set of pearly whites, "If you get in, I want details."

Sakura mirrored her smile and clinked her glass against the blond's. "Sure."

Tenten sighed before joining the other's antics. "Don't leave me out."

They laughed as the cups met noisily. "Cheers!"

—xoxo

A/N: First off—apologies for not having posted anything in forever—if anyone bothers to keep tabs on my writing still. There's easily a half-dozen stories that I've started, but they haven't really worked for me, so maybe I'll post them as drabbles later if y'all are interested.

Secondly, cheers for a maskless Kakashi!!!! =D (evil laughter) It's interesting not having to include that in his description.... And no medical stuff for Sakura! Actually... I kind of miss that already, but w/e.

If you liked this, do let me know. I'm always open for opinions and critiques. =]