Twelve hour flight, three hours of laptop battery, and NOTHING to do. Please forgive this hormone-driven, rather undeveloped story.
STRONG T…probably more M…
The stadium went wild.
People screamed undying love as gifts and scraps of paper with messages scrawled on them flew onto the stage. Teenage pop sensation Sakura Haruno lifter her arm and waved, her stunning smile more blinding then the bright pink shirt and white jeans she wore. Her almost waist length pink hair tumbled over her shoulder in a ponytail. The band bowed and waved some more, then left the stage after their fifth encore of the night. It was past twelve, though the city was still alive and strumming.
Offstage a hulking man stood in all black, the 'Nike' logo on his shirt hiding a mesh Kevlar vest. His blonde hair was spiked, and his blue eyes followed her closely as she exited the arena.
"Naruto, how did it go?"
Her eyes shone brightly up at him, her famous voice breathless from her energetic set. He smiled at her, only two years his junior. She was like a sister. One he had to keep from being killed or kidnapped by fanatics and fame seekers.
"You were amazing Sakura. Fantastic. Now, the limo is waiting outside for you. We're leaving the back way."
She glanced up at him from where she sat letting the mike crew unrig her. Naruto Uzumaki didn't look back at her, he was busy listening to the Bluetooth that was always in his ear when he was on duty.
"The back way? Now? What about the Meet n' Greet with the VIPs?"
"They've been apologized to and reimbursed. We've received a tip off there might be trouble tonight. Suspicious activity by a hooded figure outside the marked off exit route. Your manager wants you out ASAP and back to the hotel suite. She's worried about you."
She let out a small sigh as the attendants put up a screen for her to change into the outfit they had chosen for her to leave in.
"She's worried about losing the 22 million dollars she gets off me, you mean."
"Fine, I'm worried about you then. Hinata is back at the hotel waiting to eat with us."
Sakura stepped out from behind the screen, black skinny jeans and a silver halter top with a cropped black fur jacket made her now loose pink hair stand out even more.
"Three weeks until the wedding. What will I do without you?"
He offered her his arm, and escorted her through the back service corridor toward the emergency exit. He didn't smile as he usually did, just kept his eyes fixed forward, but his voice was as calm and merry as ever.
"The Agency will give you some guys to take my place while I'm on honeymoon. Then Hinata and I will be back to meet you for the concert in Florence. You'll be fine."
He just had to keep telling himself that.
"Naruto? Are we okay?"
She always phrased the question like that. We. She said it built trust and dependence. Made her feel less lonely. He and Hinata were the only friends she had that hadn't known her before or been assigned to her by her contractors. Her owners.
Ino Yamanaka was the head of the management agency that had discovered Sakura, and she had made sure Ino Inc. had sunk its claws in deep.
Ino's godson Kiba was Sakura's driver. Choji, Ino's high school bandmate, was her chef. Her personal trainer, Lee, was employed by Ino's personal gym. Temari was the two's lawyer, her brothers the paparazzi control. Tenten was personal dresser and designer for both, and Shikamaru was lights and sound as well as Ino's boy toy.
Which is why it had surprised everyone when Ino turned to the elite bodyguards trained by Kakashi Hatake to keep her newest pop star safe instead of placing a friend of her own in the role. But that was only until it came out that Ino's favorite music teacher, Tsunade, and Tsunade's boyfriend Jiraiya had both attended college with, and been introduced by, Kakashi himself.
So Naruto had been given the job, his girlfriend Hinata coming along at his request.
"Naruto?"
The petite girl stopped walking, tugging on the tall blonde's arm. Anxious to hurry on, Naruto brushed a hand through his disheveled hair, opting for the truth this time.
"Sakura, there's been a serious threat on your life. As soon as we get outside, stay quiet, get in the limo. If something happens, don't wait. Just yell and Kiba will drive to the safe house nearby. He knows the situation."
"Naruto?"
He could hear the panic in her voice.
"It'll be fine. We'll be fine."
He hit the doors hard, sending them flying open. Kiba had pulled the limo up onto the curb, the back door already open. Sakura was almost to it when the shots rang out. She screamed, Naruto shoving her hard as he bellowed in pain.
The young starlet fell onto the leather seat, scooting out of the way as Naruto stumbled in behind her.
"Go Kiba! GO!"
Naruto hunched forward in the seat, his breathing labored.
"Naruto? Naruto?"
Something dark and think dripped onto his black pant leg from his bent over torso. Sakura felt near hysterics.
"Oh god. Oh god. Kiba! The hospital, NOW!"
Gone Crazy and Staying There,
Wolfy101