Disclaimer: Naruto and the scenes I used from a certain manga are not mine. I take no credit from any of these, except the idea. This is purely for fun.


WELCOME TO REALITY!

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four

Blind Item: Two well-known artists from a popular afternoon series of the decade caught having intimate lunch together in Shibuya!?

After that incident happened not nearly two weeks ago, this success-bringer seems to have already moved on from this certain sweetheart of the year! What just happened? Well, imagine this, from one break-up to another girl! Well, we couldn't really blame him, pink-haired sunshine is no match to little miss shy princess! Come on, people already love them to bits! Besides, isn't she the original one? Still, what a bold move for these two to go out together in the face of the public!

So tell us, who do you prefer to pair up your famous hero of the year? Go on our poll, at BlindItem and check us for more inside scoop of your favorite OTP of the year!

"They still publish this thing on newspapers?" The blonde girl says in disbelief.

Hinata only casts a look at her, not really at all bothered by what's in the tabloid. She grabs her tea and takes a sip on it.

"You're practically all over the place." The girl says, as she puts down the newspaper, and grabs her phone. "I saw your recent pictures with him on IG."

Hinata folds her arms before she finds the worth to speak. "It's in Shinjuku, not Shibuya. And, it was just that one time, like we have some free time to go out." She sarcastically adds, rolling her eyes. "They just love to make things up. I'm so fed up with it."

Ino puts down her phone for a moment. "I heard you were not in the mood the whole time on the set. What happened?"

Hinata turns her head toward her. "Where'd you get that?"

Ino hardly even hesitates for a second, despite seeing her looks immediately caught up. Shrugging, she says, "Naruto. He was asking me a few days ago if something happened to you. Does something happen to you?"

There are a few moments of pause after that, Ino watches as Hinata contemplates for a bit, and when she seems to be unresponsive, she takes her cue again. "Was this because of him and Sakura?"

Pearl orbs slowly drift up to meet her sky blue eyes. "No," Hinata says, or rather reassures to her in a soft voice. "Whatever he does doesn't affect me."

Both of them are cut off on what they are about to say when a crew of the café enters in. "I'm sorry ma'am, here's your Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. Anything else?—" he says, as he steals a quick glance to Hinata, then back to Ino.

Ino eyes her friend before she smiles sweetly at the guy. "No, it's okay, now."

The guy nods and then departs behind the sliding doors.

"But did you tell him?" Ino begins again.

Hinata instantly picks up on the change of topic. She pretends as if it didn't affect her, as she pushes her long locks behind her shoulder. But Ino, who has been watching her, watches how her face draws blue, if some outsider sees how she looks now, they'd think she is about to cry. That's how soft she seems even with her closest friends.

"I did." She finally answers; a hint of regret evident in her tone.

"What did he say?"

"He was surprised. But he didn't care."

"Did you open the subject to him again?"

"Why would I do that?" Hinata answers her rhetorically.

"Oh, Naruto," Ino says, shaking her head.

"He's on his own now. I don't care." The bachelorette huffs in embarrassment just by thinking of bringing up the subject to him again. If he doesn't care, then she doesn't care, simple as that.

"You say it like a girlfriend would." Ino unhesitatingly states, feeling entirely justified that she blurted it out, rather keep it to herself. That look on her friend's face says it all: flustered, red, like all the embarrassment in one just for a simple statement.

"Excuse me?" Hinata begins in her defense, brow tilting up at her. "He's not even my type. I don't like someone who can't keep their promises."

"Say whatever," Ino says, plopping one elbow up on the table; a smile on her lips. "You're just really sounding like one."

Hinata chooses not to reply to that one. No, she didn't even react to what Ino has just said. She knows herself more than anyone else would. Naruto isn't the type who would make her head over heels in love with him. For as long as she has known him since she started in this industry, Naruto is no more than a friend to her.

She should've agreed to it, but a tiny part of her, deep down, still sort of wished that he'd kept his promise to her at that time.

- x x x -

That afternoon, the set looks full and almost ready for the 4 PM shoot by the mountains. She sits up from her folding bed and stretches her arms upward before she scans around the tent. It's empty, with some of her belongings lying on the one corner, and some carton snacks on the table.

She stands up from her bed and walks over to one side of the tent to open it. Akio spots her, as he is just walking toward where she is standing.

"Good, you're awake now, miss sleepyhead."

"Is everything looks good now?"

"Yes, it is." He stresses, walking past her inside the tent camp.

Sakura turns and takes a glance at him for a second.

"I told you not to sneak out last night, I'm so dead now. Look at you,"

Sakura studies herself briefly, from chest to toe. "What about it?"

"You look so tired." He says, dramatically pointing out to her face instead. He sighs in defeat. "Just fix yourself now, dear."

"There's nothing really wrong to me. Make-up is the solution." Sakura says, but complies with him, when she hears the rest of the production staff make their rounds now. After she checks her stuff, finishes her retouch, and almost done on fixing her look, she takes appreciation of her reflection on the mirror.

"Is Sakura-san still in her tent?"

She shots her head up upon hearing a familiar voice outside her tent area.

"She hasn't come out since ten minutes ago."

Watching the shadow just nonchalantly stands outside there, she shoots Akio a look after a while. In return, Akio only just sighs and rolls his eyes at her.

"Okay, thanks. Sakura-san?"

Akio gestures her.

"Y-yes?" Sakura says, in spite of her manager's warning look at her.

"Can I come in?"

Akio eyes her for one last warning. Sakura mouths something of, "why? What's wrong?"

"Just don't mind him. He sneaked you out last night."

"What about it?"

"I'm so… never trusting him again."

"So?"

"Sakura-san?"

"Let him wait for you outside."

Pouting, Sakura sighs, pushing past her arguments. "Fine." "I'm about to go out."

"Okay, sorry." Sakura hears him says.

After a few more minutes, Sakura gathers herself and goes out. Itachi has already left after that response she made a while ago, so when she goes out donning the school uniform costume, and brunette wig, he's already at the other camp, seating on a chair, and reading his script. It is almost time for the sunset shoot, probably five more minutes till everyone is called to begin.

She walks up to him; Itachi has already noticed her, even before she says a word to him.

"Sorry, I took a while."

"It's fine. I don't mind. They were just calling out for you." He says.

"Ah…"

"I thought you were still sleeping and hasn't yet got ready."

"I'm sorry."

Itachi turns around at her, chuckling at what she has said. "What are you apologizing for?" He says, eyes brightening up with each second that passes by. Sakura almost gets caught up at the sight of it. "I was just checking up on you. No need to apologize for it. Besides…" He trails off.

Sakura watches as how he somehow hesitates to what he's about to say. Softly, with pursed lips, his brows starting to furrow, and for some reason, he looks exactly like Sasuke right there.

"I'm sorry about last night. I was wrong. I shouldn't sneak you out in the middle of the night."

To say, Sakura didn't expect that one. She is ready to speak her mind, but something within her is stopping her from saying it; maybe it's Akio, maybe it's something else, something more. "It's okay." She says; her voice comes out dry.

She didn't know, but when she stands there like how she does now, everything seems blurry, and flatter in sight. It feels like seconds linger a little longer than it should.

- x x x -

It's on the scene on the bus that they will be taking now. Sakura sees Sasuke standing outside just by where she is situated at the moment. Now, that she thinks about it, she hasn't seen him before after that morning shoot they took. Only at this time again, where he's standing there, hand on his pocket, as he speaks coolly with the director, and nodding only once or twice after.

As usual, he's not running over his scripts, unlike Itachi who has probably read the whole story again in one sitting.

Sakura nods at the staff, as she stands, gathers herself, and begins at the entrance of the bus.

"Okay, we'll start now! In 3…2…1… Action!"

"Yuuri!" Sakura calls out, perfectly in character now.

The actress who plays Yuuri turns around, with a smile on her face.

"Is it okay if we sit together?"

Yuuri hesitates for a second, "I'll be seating with Uchimi…"

"Oh? It's fine! It's fine! Go ahead."

Sakura shrugs, and readily chooses her own seat by the window. Once sat down, she notices Sasuke already coming down the aisle like everybody else, and as if a reflex, Sakura places her bag on the empty seat next to her. Her eyes travel back up at him, meeting his eyes in the process.

She immediately looks away, like what was on the script. Pray tell that the camera didn't catch that one mistake she knows she has made.

Sasuke glances down at her bag; he almost wants to raise a brow at what she has done. If his memory serves him right, he doesn't remember reading that on the script. Nor, he remembers her doing that on the rehearsals, nor she tells him adding that one detail. He pushes past the thought instead, as he takes his seat a few seats after hers.

The whole class begins to fill the bus. Sakura's eyes light up, when the actress who plays the role of one of her best friends, approaches her, and moves her bag to her, like how she was supposed to sit next to her.

"Okay, let's settle down. We're now headed to our third destination here in Nagasaki."

The camera situated outside focuses on Sasuke, who is seen nonchalantly looking outside the window bus, chin rests upon the back of his hand.

Inside, as the speaker of the bus introduces the new destination they are about to visit, Sakura contemplates with what she is about to do, before she turns around in her seat, elevates herself by her knees in attempt to discreetly search for that one person—Sasuke—who might be sitting just a few seats after hers.

Just before the bus starts to move, she catches Sasuke, who is on the right side of the bus, three rows after where she is, without a care in the world.

"Excuse me? Can you please remind your friend to sit down properly? We are already moving to our next destination."

"Futaba… Futaba…"

Sakura, who is so indulged in the character she plays, pretends not to hear her, as she still tries to check up on him—on Sasuke.

"The girl on the left, please sit down properly on your seat."

As instant as that call out is, Sakura immediately hides behind her seat and does what she is told to do.

Somewhere in the back, Sasuke's tired and dull eyes somehow find his gaze automatically stops at the back seat of where Sakura is seated.

And just like that, "Cut!" is heard on the entire bus.

- x x x -

"It's the expression. You pull him by the coat, then you go for it. Let's try it one more time."

"Okay. Okay. Got it."

"In 3…2…1… Action!"

"What are you doing there? This is the exit!"

"I know…"

"That's not what I was trying to say!" Sakura says, tugging the back of his coat.

Sasuke's character nonchalantly shrugs her off, looking back, he begins: "Do you wanna go with me?"

"What do you mean going with you? I'm not going anywhere—ah! Wait! Sasuke-kun!"

"Cut!"

Sasuke immediately spares her a look, as if bemused that she has said the wrong name.

"Where did that come from, Sakura-chan?"—Sakura ignores the shout from behind the camera, in favor of Sasuke, who leans down with his arm on the baffle gate, and says—"Hey, you okay?"

Sakura huffs in embarrassment upon seeing the small smile forming on his lips.

"You're not supposed to say his name after that wait. Especially his real name."

"Sorry. My bad."

"Once again, Sakura-chan! 2…1… Action!"

"What are you doing? That's the exit!"

"I know…"

"That's not what I mean!" Sakura shouts, pulling him from behind by his coat, like how she was told to do from the start.

Sasuke only shrugs off her grip and then half-turns to meet her in the eyes. "Do you wanna go together?"

"What do you mean going? I'm not going—ah, wait! Come back!" Sakura reaches out for him, as he walks past the gate. "Wait! Where are you goi—" feeling about to get out of balance, Sakura steps out the gate.

Instantly realizing what she has done, her face begins to look horrified. "What! I accidentally went out! What should I do? Can I still go back? And why are you still standing there? Let's find a staff—"

"My house…" Sasuke begins. "It's not far from here."

Sakura spins around to face him.

"I was hoping to have some new memories."

She finds him staring idly at the ground; there's something solemn in how he looks right now, like how his eyes hold so much more emotions than a normal person would carry on his life. It carries the same weight of gentle, and pain, and Sakura half-chokingly adds longing.

"Just like what happened last night, and if someone goes with me, it'll feel a lot easier."

Sasuke is Sasuke indeed.

"That's why I asked you to come… to represent others…"

And sometimes…

"Will you come with me?"

Sometimes, when he looks at her the way he does now, one thing only comes into her mind: he makes things so true to life.

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tbc.


note: took me longer than i should.