Disclaimer: No, as much as I would like to, I do not own the goofy blond and his lovely band of friends.

AN: This is an AU story about Lee and Sakura. If you don't like stories with an Alternative Universe, or if you don't like Sakura and Lee together, then this story is not for you. Otherwise, I hope you enjoy what I have to offer.

For those of you who are reading The Power of Youth are probably wondering why I am starting a new fic if I have yet to complete that one. Well, this chapter was completed way before TPoY was even thought of. I never posted it until now because of some unknown fear I had...but, here it is. I just wanted to give Lee and Sakura fans something else to enjoy.

Summary: Lee's a rich and famous movie star. He has it all, everything a 19 year old guy could want and more; except for that one girl that makes your life worth living. That was until one faithful night at the café with old friends did he meet her, now he can't get her out of his mind.

Pairing(s): Lee and Sakura (main), Neji and Tenten, others are a maybe (such as Shika & Ino and Naruto & Hinata).

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Fame and Love
By SapphireWhiteTigress

Chapter I – Rock Lee; Movie Star

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Rock Lee, one of the top movie actors in the world with ten Academy Awards, millions of fans, and his own private yacht and jet (and private island on the side). The boy had it all, being only 19 years old. Everyone envied him, but more adored him. He wasn't the sexiest movie star in history, but he sure was one of the cutest with an adorable pony-tail that reached down past his shoulders, large rounded joyful eyes and as odd as it may seem, he had a set of adorable thick eyebrows landing him the name "Thick Brows" or "Fuzzy Brows" from some of his adoring fans. It wasn't an insult in his eyes, as a matter of fact, he took it as a compliment that people would take notice of his very youthful eyebrows.

As weird as it may seem, his agent and lifelong friend and guardian, Maito Gai had an identical set of brows taking up a good portion of his forehead, too. Maito Gai was a weird character, spontaneously shouting random things about youth and the lot. If it weren't for Gai, most of Lee's personality would've been a lot different than what it was now. He owed a lot to his friend.

Even though Rock Lee was one of the top twenty actors in the country, reaching number seven, he wasn't as stuck-up as most would think. Lee was actually a down to earth guy, making time for his fans, listening to everything they had to say including constructive criticism on how to improve in his way of acting. Sometimes, he could be seen with a notepad and pen, jotting down everything they would say to him; word for word.

And that is what made Lee one of the most favorite famous people in the world. Children loved him, women wanted him (and some men) and men wanted to be like him; rich, famous, having the world at his feet. But Lee could care less about riches and fame. He wanted to be like a regular teenager, going out to movies, hanging with friends, enjoying his time as a normal person, maybe get married and have kids. But, alas, he was stuck with the fame of an actor.

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"Lee! Lee!" The voice of his agent drifted in through his sleep induced mind. He rolled over, pulling his incredible silky green blanket over his head to drown out the unwanted noise. It seemed to work, but only for a second as his blanket was rudely taken from him. "Lee, wake up! You have an audition in less than fifty minutes!"

Lee groaned; another side effect of being a movie actor. There was no such thing as sleeping in. "I dun' wanna..." He drawn out sleepily, willing himself to go back to sleep.

Gai only grinned at the kid. "Nonsense, Lee! This is the movie you've always wanted to do since you heard that they were looking for someone to take the main role!" (Which wasn't true) His only answer was a snorted snore, as Lee went back to sleep. Gai sighed and grabbed a pitcher of ice water. "This is going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you, Lee." He tightly closed his eyes and threw the icy cold water on the young actor.

Lee screamed. And he screamed loud as he jumped up on his bed, wearing nothing but a pair of green boxers with little turtles on them. He was now drenched from head to toe, with his black hair sticking to his face and his eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"Ga-Gai-sensei! Why-why did you do-do th-that!" Lee shivered. Ever since he was a child, he would always call Gai his sensei, because Gai is the one who taught him everything he knew.

Gai shrugged, tossing the now empty bucket over his shoulder. "Ah, my most precious Lee. How else were I to awaken you?"

Lee couldn't answer because he was too busy shivering. Gai wrapped a towel that was laying on a chair around the boy and led him off of his bed and into a bathroom. "Now, Lee, hurry and get dressed. You have to be there in forty minutes." Gai closed the door behind the freezing Lee.

Lee quickly turned the hot water all the way up and the cold tap about halfway. Leave it to Gai-sensei to give him such a wake up call...in the middle of September. He'll have to pay him back for that one.

It took him nearly fifteen minutes to wash up, brush his teeth (twice to make them extra shiny), place his hair in a braided pony-tail and shave the small bits of whiskers on his chin. When he was done, he was warm and wearing a green turtle neck and black pants. Not anything fancy, but one of his favorite outfits. Obviously, he just loved the color green. What can he say? He looks good in the color; without sounding too vain.

He left the bathroom and stepped into his room. It was a fairly large room, as expected for someone such as him. His four post king size bed rested against the wall to the left of the door which led to the rest of his penthouse apartment. On the right side was a large glass door, hiding behind green silk curtains. That would take him to the balcony that overlooked the city. He loved spending his time out there, especially to see the sunrise and set almost every day and night.

There wasn't much else in his room, aside from a desk that held his expensive Apple computer; a gift from his grandmother who lives someplace in the South. He rarely sees her, but she would give him gifts for every holiday, never missing one. He loved his granny; she spoils him rotten. Last he heard of her, she was making millions on one of her novels: How to Become a Ninja in Fifty Easy Steps. He laughed at the thought of his grandmother writing such a book. Obviously, people loved it. It was one of the top selling novels in the U.S for the past two years and people were still buying it. Her newest novel, this one being a romance one, was number five in the top ten novels of the year.

She would send him at least one copy of every novel she ever written; fifteen in total, and each one of them laid nice and neatly on a bookcase next to his computer desk. He read them all and was thoroughly impressed with what her imagination could come up with.

He glanced at his collection of books and noticed one that wasn't there before. Curiously, he lifted it up and read the cover; Icha Icha Paradise. His eyes widen. Since when did his grandmother write pornography! But as he saw the name of the author, he calmed down. That wasn't his grandmother's name, but the name of a guy in which he has never heard of. How did this get into his collection?

"Lee! You must hurry! We are running late now and we are never late! That is unyouthful of us!" Gai broke into his thoughts.

Lee blinked and placed the book on his desk. "Right, Gai-sensei!" He left the room quickly and entered his spacious living room. He grabbed his jacket, not before petting a white cat that had two black spots; one circling its eye while the other colored the tip of its tail, that lazily slept on the couch, and left his apartment with Gai-sensei in tow.

The cat meowed tiredly. "Mew?" And went back to sleep.

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They reached the studio with not a minute to spare and the security guard ushered them in. They found the producer/director lounging lazily on the director's chair, a mask covering his lower face and left eye. One lazy eye watched them as they approached.

Gai glared at him. "Ah-ha! I knew you were the director of this film, Kakashi!"

Kakashi shifted a yawn. "Yeah?."

"Gai-sensei, do you know him?" Lee asked.

Gai grinned. "Of course I know him! We went to school together. He became a director while I went on to become your most magnificent agent!"

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei, I got you your cappuccino!" A loud and obnoxious voice said from behind them. They all turned around to see a tall blond, probably a year or two younger than Lee, making his way to them. He grinned as he carried a cup in one hand, his other scratching the back of his head. "It might not be how you like it, but--" His words were cut short as he tripped over a very thick cord. "Whaaaa!" He wailed, flailing his arms as he descended to the ground, the cup flying in the air. It all seemed to happen in slow motion as the cappuccino lid flew off, the brown substance spilling forth, until it landed residence on Lee's favorite jacket and shirt.

Everyone gasped as the blond lifted himself up. "Oh no! I'm so sorry!" He stood up and bowed before Lee, hoping he'll forgive him. "I'm so so sorry! Ah, I'm so clumsy! Please, forgive me! Don't punish me!" He begged, his hands clasped together as his blue eyes teared up. Obviously, he was treated pretty harshly for a simple mistake to act like this.

Lee only smiled which confused the blond boy. "It is alright." He laughed, taking off his jacket and wiping at the stain of his shirt.

"Really? Am I forgiven? Alright! You're the best, thanks Fuzzy Brows—er—Lee!" The boy took Lee's hand and shook it. "I'm Naruto, by the way! One day, I'm gonna be a great producer and director like Kakashi-sensei! I'm his, um, apprentice!" Naruto grinned, releasing Lee's hand.

Kakashi sighed. "Naruto, show Lee to the restroom and get him cleaned up. The audition starts in ten minutes."

Naruto nodded and mentioned for Lee to follow him. Once they were gone, Gai turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi! I challenge you to a duel! It has been five whole months since our last bout!"

The other man sighed deeply, bringing a gloved hand to his forehead. "Gai, not now."

Gai looked as if he was going to pout, until he saw something better. Free food. "Ah-ha! You may have won this time, my eternal rival, but when I return, prepare to lose once and for all!" With that said, Gai bounced off to eat his free food without any interruptions. He missed breakfast that morning so he was really hungry.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Whatever."

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Lee found out that this Naruto character was a very energetic person with a lot of stamina. For five whole minutes, the boy would talk about everything he could think of and he asked Lee every single question under the sky. Some embarrassed him, others made him laugh.

"--What's your favorite color? Wait, that's stupid, it's purple right? How about food? Drink? Ever kissed a girl? How about a boy? What's your middle name? Do you swim? Sky dive? One time, I tried skydiving and my parachute wouldn't open but my friend saved me before I crashed into the earth. Do you like horror movies? Me too. I think romantic comedies are completely sappy and weird." His mouth went on and on and on like that for another five minutes and Lee couldn't help but laugh.

He continued to talk as they cleaned his shirt, but the stubborn stain refused to come out and after a few minutes of scrubbing they gave up. At least it didn't look that bad now...

They returned to the front studio, Naruto still talking about everything that came to his mind. "My favorite song was "Bye-Bye Miss American Pie" because I like pie. But I like ramen more. It'll be cool if there was a song about ramen, don't you think?"

Thankfully, they finally made it back to the audition and Kakashi was ready to roll. "Ready now?"

Lee nodded, subconsciously wiping at the light stain on his green shirt. No matter how much he'll pay to get it clean, that stain was never coming out. He sighed and decided to forget about it, for now.

"Great, it's about time..." Kakashi gestured towards a small stage. "You are aware that this is a musical, right?" At Lee's nod, he continued. "Good. Let's hear you sing."

Lee blushed. It wasn't that he was embarrassed with his singing voice; on the contrary, Lee has a very nice singing voice. It was just that singing in front of a lot of people made him nervous. This would be his first time auditioning for a musical. He'll have to remind Gai to stop picking out his movies for him.

He opened his mouth to start singing a piece from the movie when he remembered it would be best if he had some music to sing along with.

Naruto grinned. "Hey! I can play the piano and drums! Maybe I can help you out? Yeah?" Naruto jumped on the stage and took his place behind a grand piano before anyone could stop him. He cracked his knuckles and positioned them above the keys. "What song are you singing?"

"Um, this one..." Lee took the music sheet that Gai handed him and gave it to Naruto.

Naruto studied it. "Oh, this is an easy one." Naruto ran his hands over the keys like an expert and soft music flooded the area.

Lee cleared his throat, his heart pounding desperately in his chest as he opened his mouth to sing. The song was called Just to Be Free; one of his favorite songs. The song was captivating and everyone, including Kakashi, was amazed at how well the boy sung it. Naruto complimented it well with the piano. They were perfect. The song expressed his feelings so well about his life as an imprisoned actor with little to no time to be himself. He really did want to be free from this career.

Kakashi grinned, happy that he got the main character for his musical over with so quickly. "Alright, you got the part."

Lee sighed in relief. Naruto grinned from behind the piano. "Wow, you were really good!"

Lee smiled at him. "Thanks, your piano skill was spectacular."

Naruto blushed at the compliment and grinned cockily. "Yeah, thanks!"

Gai applauded him. "You were wonderful, Lee! I have never heard anyone sing with so much passion in my life! Now, come! There's more we must do!" Gai tossed Lee his jacket and pulled him away. He waved to Kakashi. "We will meet again, my rival!" And they were gone.

"He works that kid too hard..." Kakashi murmured. Naruto nodded in agreement.

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Later that night, after many meetings and auditions, Lee was finally returned to the comfort of his own home. Gai was gone, which meant he had the whole apartment to himself for the rest of the night. Thank Kami-sama. He stretched out on the couch, plopping his exhausted bare feet on the coffee table. His cat meowed and curled up next to him. He softly stroke the animal behind its ear.

"Today has been another rough day, Michaelangelo." He yawned and flicked on his plasma television with the remote that rested lazily in his hand. After watching some weird cartoon for half an hour, his phone rung. He grudgingly got up and grabbed the cordless phone that was in the kitchen.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Lee! It's been a while!" Greeted the voice on the other end. Lee instantly knew who it was and his face broke into a smile.

"Tenten! It has been a while. How are you?" Tenten was a good friend of his that he grew up with back in his younger days, until he moved three years ago. They would always stay in touch, though.

"I'm doing great -Neji, cut it out, I'm on the phone with Lee!- We were wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight since we're in the neighborhood. I got your number from Gai, we ran into him yesterday." Lee blinked. Gai must've forgot to tell him that.

He laughed. "Well, I do not have anything else planned..."

She, too, laughed on the other end. "That's great! I'll let you talk to Neji now." There was some shuffling as the phone was passed to the other person.

"Lee." The voice stated in greeting.

Lee grinned even wider, if possible. "Neji! You have not changed at all!"

"And you too." He said with a hint of a smile. "We should see you tonight at that small café on Chester Street and Calvert Ave., at 9 o'clock. Right now, there's something we have to take care of." Lee could hear Tenten shouting "Neji!" over the phone and laughed. It was great to hear from his old friends again and to see them!

"Alright, my friends, I will see you then! Take care!" They said goodbye and hung up. Lee was ecstatic. He get to see his friends again after three long years. Ah, this day just couldn't get any better.

To Be Continued...

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AN: Hmmm...not bad, I guess, for my first AU Naruto story like this one. This is still a thought process so, I'll probably take a few suggestions as to how I can make this a better story. I don't usually ask for reviews, but I would very much appreciate knowing how many people actually enjoy reading my story. Please, no flaming. But constructive criticism is essential if it helps me in improving. Thanks!

Thanks to EnduranceInTribulation for beta-ing this for me. I'll be nothing without him.