"Captured: Smile for Me" by e.a. lesparks
He thought I've forgotten. He never knew I was with him through and through. It's just that he can't tell it's ME all along.
Warning: This is a revised story which I originally entitled Captured. The story is set in alternate universe (AU) and the characters in the story may display differences from the original set of characters. This is a sasuXsaku fic and I do hope you enjoy this one.
A/N: The setting is in the metropolis of Konoha and many of the places here are merely products of my playful mind. You will encounter the word usagi later on and that means rabbit for those who don't know. And by the way, I dedicate this story to chidori.
Please enjoy!
Chapter 1
Haruno Sakura slumped herself into the leather sofa and took down another glass of beer into her throat. Hinata, her new-found college buddy and classmate, watched her with astonishment while emptying her own glass of the beverage gradually. It had been two years since both had begun taking Photography as scholars. And in two years, both had finished their course earlier than the rest of their batch mates.
"S-Sakura-san, so you're in f-for the offer abroad?" Seated with her knees together, the lady with silky, indigo tresses on the couch sustained a posture throughout their conversation.
After forcing another glass in a gulp, the other which had bubblegum hair said "I have to consider a lot of things, you see."
A few more minutes and Sakura started to feel tipsy but nevertheless still spoke with sense. Hinata's cheeks were burning with shades of red and she broke her maintained posture by reclining her back on the sofa for support. The room, despite the smallness, seemed spacious; thanks to its strategically-placed furniture and Sakura's natural compulsion for neatness. Sakura looked around her living room with her heavy-lidded eyes but could not perceive anything in it – she was lost in her train of thoughts.
To go or not to go..?
Haruno Sakura never predicted getting her degree too soon. She had hated them all before but right now she knew she would miss the rushed photo shoots, using a disposable camera for practical exams, capturing fast-paced events and staying up all night to develop negatives. To put these to end was to finally begin the life of a professional; and this you also call adult life.
To leave or not to leave my dad and…
She used to be clumsy and self-doubting; a wimp in varying scale. Up to this day, it was still vividly embossed in her mind the incident that transformed her to someone better. Two years had elapsed quickly, just like how the waters of a river incessantly flow.
…Uchiha Sasuke.
The childhood best friend she had known in Sasuke had long left. And silently, she resented this in her heart. He was an international model now and this made her feel that the gap between their worlds was bigger than ever. Would a nobody like me matter to a superstar like him?
She met Sasuke when they were both young as a neighbor. In order to befriend him, Sakura pretended to be a boy and wasn't able to tell him the truth about her gender - not even until their family left the place. And before she left, she had made a promise that she'll be back to be with him again.
Exactly two years from now was the day she mortified herself in front of him, although he might not remember this anymore. It was her last memory of him – and the worst. Atleast he never got to see my face again, she thought.
(flashback)
An eighteen-year-old pink-head had come to the city she had left in her childhood in the hopes of finishing college and finding an important person; and she was Haruno Sakura. In a week she had found herself a good apartment, a part-time job and an opportunity to attend school for free. It was so lucky.
One fateful afternoon, instead of heading straight home after buying groceries she visited the mall to check how outdated her fashion statement was. And if she didn't, then this story won't turn out the way it should. This must be a gross overstatement but she seemed so ancient than anybody else in her old and long skirt. She stood at the apparel, checking out fabric per fabric. But oblivious to her, four peculiar men in black tuxedos and shades were eying her every move.
After giving each other a nod, the operation of the four men in black followed suit…
"Help! Fuck it! Where are you taking me?!"
Sakura knew she was closer to a major disaster the more the four men drag her any further. She could feel her heart drumming in her ribcage as she glanced at the four but could hardly distinguish one from the other. She was trying hard to break-free from their grip but it useless against their brawny arms.
***
Then another moment had passed and Sakura found herself screaming in rage in a centralized room that held a wooden meeting table in the middle and at the woman seated on the head chair.
"After I thought my life was at stake, you should have at least asked these four men to tell me something. They recklessly dragged me in and I could have died in fright!" Her face was beet red as she spat these words to who they call Kimiko-san.
"Relax, dear. The objective of our TV program is to grant total make-over to a spotted fashion victim. You must be really thankful these four had found you." The blonde lady in neat bun crossed her fingers on the table, her gaze on the cup of steaming tea as though talking to Sakura in there. "We just need your consent to air this on TV, and the make-over begins. Got it?"
Make-over, huh? Sakura watched the woman in forties sip her green tea and hated her for not even being polite enough to look her in the eye. Inside her skull, she was sadistically and jokingly battering Kimiko-san that blood spilled out of every hole in her body. Whether to take the offer or not, she wasn't sure. Was she prepared to face the taunting of her classmates back at the university after seeing her in a show like this?
"I think I can handle my own problem. No thanks."
She swiveled her body to face the ornamental door of the room and left. As she went out, her eyes had absorbed for the first time the exquisite interior of the building she failed to see upon coming moments ago as the four, pokerfaced men dragged her like a rag doll to the conference room to see the old-fart Kimiko.
She had been inside the TV network building for about two hours now and she still had not found the way out. Or admittedly, she wasn't doing her best to find it. To kill time, she explored the vicinity and watched how people work. There were recording rooms and one was being used by a promising band, Rage Beat, to rehearse. People were running from here to there to deliver things and at a far end of the corridor adjacent to a staircase was an old janitor. She got to the stairs that led her to the studios and about four of them were being used to air TV shows.
She inclined her head to the direction of the foot steps and just right before the stature entered the door held ajar, she recognized the person as Uchiha Sasuke.
-
She fidgeted on her place, her fingers playing with the pleats of her black skirt. She had to decide whether to follow him or not. She had to think fast; it was now or never. So many things to decide upon today, she thought.
-
Maybe a quick look at him will do?
Just when Sakura was about to enter the sound-proof metal door, someone took her by the ear and pulled her roughly.
***
He ran his fingers on his sexy, raven mane and the studio was suddenly in an uproar. Seated on the cushy sofa, he faced the intriguing questions of his interview with a cool, unbreakable exterior.
"Sasuke-san, so you've been going out with Eiri-san lately?"
He watched the manic face of the host-pedophile with concealed abhorrence, and flashed an intimidating smile. "Oh? How come I didn't know about that?"
The crowd released mild laughter at his sarcasm and Akihito-san, the King of the Hot Seat, faked a chuckle and was quite annoyed with his humor. Squeezing out information had never been this tough; it used to be an instant duck soup.
"Sasuke-san, today, you will meet a special guest."
Sakura heard the cue word, special guest, and knew it was time to go out of the backstage. While she was walking around 20 minutes earlier, a man in skeleton costume took her by the ear to the backstage. He had mistaken Sakura for someone else and she was forced to wear an usagi costume without her consent. Her job: To appear on children's TV program as Usagi-chan, the network's official mascot. She had been enduring the heat of the costume and just wanted to get it over with. And finally it was the moment of truth; she forced a lump into her throat, helplessly listened to her thumping heart and stood at the entrance of the stage.
The camera caught Sasuke's smirk as he stared at Akihito-san in his gem-like orbs. "Make sure he or she is really special."
Hidden in darkness beside the floor under spotlights, Sakura's knees were violently shaking as she was about to enter the open stage. Don't worry, nobody's gonna recognize you…come on. The screaming crowd seemed to have dissolved in Sakura's mind as her gaze rested at the red sofa on the center of the stage. The thought of escaping had crossed her mind but she feared that the man in skeleton would lose his treasured job. Wait. Oh yeah. Where the hell is that man?
-
"An usagi???" A loud voice from the crowd was heard.
All were whispering and murmuring at the sight of the mascot Usagi-chan who was walking on the stage.
"What is that thing doing in here?" Akihito mouthed to the cameraman across the stage. Confused, the man merely shrugged.
Sakura felt that the heavy weight of her costume had vanished and the heat inside the fabric had died out. Akihito's jaw dropped in disbelief and his wrinkled face had contorted involuntarily as the studio heard the loud THUD. Usagi-chan's head had rolled onto Sasuke's feet and the crowd gaped at the mascot sprawled face-first on the floor. On the screens of televisions nationwide, the mascot Usagi-chan tripped on the microphone wire and the head had fallen off. Throwing Usagi-chan's head aside, Sasuke straightened up and walked over the fallen mascot.
"You alright, Usagi-chan?" Sakura could remember a flat voice asking her.
Still a little disoriented, she jerked her face towards the stranger and met a pair of onyx eyes. The façade before her had strong but perfect jaw-lines and his beetle black bangs dropped on the side of his cheeks. He had captivating eyes that were the only feminine features of his face. Then she could remember that her stomach executed an intense somersault before falling unconscious.
The camera was abruptly cut.
(end of flashback)
Back to the room, Sakura's eyelids dropped to conceal her brilliant eyes and her long lashes touched her flushed cheeks. "How…about…y-you? You're…a-a-accepting it?" She asked in an intoxicated voice.
"Y-yes. I'mleaving on the 30th." Hinata replied in somber tune.
-
"Sakura?"
She fell asleep. Hyuuga Hinata smiled at the sleeping stature and got up to find a blanket.
END of Chapter
I apologize for the long flashback. I hope I didn't confuse you. I have compressed a lot of things in this chapter. Please tell me what you think about it:)