My best friend hates when I talk or write about SasuSaku, because he's such an asshole. But they are the original pairing, alongside NaruHina. Needless to say, I would be beyond pissed if those pairings do not happen in the end. Kishimoto has spent way too much time building them up if he was just going to end it with NaruSaku.
Rant over. I just finished the last of my National Merit Scholarship essay, so I'm ready for some serious fanfiction time. I started reading a suuuuper long SasuSaku to get me in the mood for this, so let's go~!
PS: if you want to know what Sakura's dress looks like, google image "Katy Perry USO red dress." (it's exactly that , but without the gloves)
This chapter is shamelessly cheesy, and I love it. Please don't hate me for my attempts at making the shinobi world into Hollywood. Hugs and Kisses~
"…And here we are at the annual Kage awards, where only the best of the best will be taking home an award this Christmas eve! I'm Sakura Haruno, reporting live from the red carpet!" the stunning woman said animatedly, holding a microphone to her pouty pink lips. She faced the camera confidently, her hair short and professional, her skin smooth and glowing, her body lithe and toned, and her makeup classic and simple. She wore a crimson floor-length gown, a generous slit on the side giving a glimpse at her long legs, and a low sweetheart neckline showcasing her perky breasts. The entire thing was skin-tight until it reached her hips, where it then flowed down nicely until it reached her ankles. Her petite frame was lifted several inches by strapped stilettos, a shade darker than her dress.
She was currently standing directly on the expanse of red carpet, various celebrities strutting in the background, but none of them high-level enough to get a quick interview at the moment. After all, the A-listers all arrived later, since they knew their seats were reserved already inside the giant auditorium where the actual ceremony was taking place. For now, the woman continued with her introduction.
"Most of the categories are practically decided already, since there are the obvious winners," she said assuredly, watching her prompter with such practiced skill that no one watching the channel could tell. "You can pretty much bet the Raikage award is going to action-star Ei, the Tsuchikage to movie veteran Oonoki, and the Kazekage to rising star Gaara…but the category to look out for is the Hokage! Last year, Tsunade won over her Jiraya and Kakashi , but this year, the nominees are much younger. We have Naruto Uzumaki for his work in the blockbuster Rasengan, Sasuke Uchiha for the controversial Chidori, the surprisingly nominated Kiba Inuzuka for the indie movie Akamaru, and Kakashi again, who thrilled us all in A Thousand Copies."
Sakura Haruno was a celebrity in her own right, reporting on every big awards ceremony, hosting Konoha's Next Top Model, and being the face of the popular television channel Kunoichi. There were also plenty of rumors of her being the next face of the prestigious clothing line Anbu. However, she politely declined any movie-contract offers, since she preferred just being herself, not some stereotypical sex-pot in the next crime drama or vampire saga.
However, currently, her attention was stolen by the presence of her favorite blonde.
" and speak of the devil!" she beamed. "Here's nominee Naruto Uzumaki!"
The man addressed rushed over to the girl once he heard his name, coming into the view of the camera. He was dressed in a classic navy suit, but paired it with a bright orange tie that complimented his messy blonde hair. His bright blue eyes danced in delight at seeing Sakura, giving her a tight hug and not caring that she couldn't wrap her arms around him with one hand occupied by her microphone.
"Sakuraaaaa~!" he grinned as he pulled away. "You look so pretty!"
"You too," she giggled lightly. "But how are you feeling about your possible win?"
"I'm going to win, that's all," he announced proudly, standing tall. "I'll make sure to include you in my speech at the end!"
"It's always refreshing to see someone so humble," Sakura sarcastically said to the camera, before facing Naruto once more.
"And how is Hinata Hyuuga?" she added slyly.
"I think she's doing good. She couldn't make it here tonight, though," Naruto pouted, oblivious to what Sakura was trying to hint at. Suddenly his eyes widened. "Hey, Sakura! If you want to get some nice interviews in, there's Sasuke-bastard and his cousin!"
Her eye twitched. Up until now, she had pointedly avoided talking to the renowned playboy, infamous for his choices in acting roles and women. However, Naruto had put her in a position that would make her look ridiculous for refusing to talk to the dark-haired man. (She'd yell at him later)
She sighed quietly as he approached, slinking over like a panther stalking his prey. His cousin, the more respectable Shisui Uchiha, followed behind. She smiled towards them, but made sure it was only directed at the wavy haired man, not the one she wanted to ignore.
"Well hello, Uchihas! Enjoying the night?" she said playfully as they were now standing in the camera frame.
"Yes, thanks for asking," Shisui smiled politely, being the only one of the two that did not ogle her breasts immediately. "We're excited to have one of us finally nominated for something."
Naruto left with a whispered "Bye Sakura!"
"Well it would have happened for me eventually," Sasuke boasted, and Sakura fought to keep her immaculate smile in place. "Everywhere I go, I have job offers thrown at me left and right."
"Well aren't you so lucky," she responded through gritted teeth. "Shisui! I hear that you're working on a nice romantic comedy that will be released in June!"
Shisui lit up, happy to have someone pay attention to him instead of his more well-known cousin. "Well our main female had to quit due to her recent DUI arrest, so we're still looking for a replacement."
"We'd ask you, but I don't think you'd be able to stand kissing this fool," Sasuke made sure to add. "Though I'd be happy to oblige."
"-And Shisui! There's been rumors of you and Itachi taking over your family's clothing line Sharingan!"
"Yeah, that's a rumor," he frowned. "We leave all that designing stuff to my Aunt….well…Itachi's mom."
"Shisui isn't as gay as he looks."
"Thank you for your input, Sasuke," Sakura said, inwardly seething. She didn't care that her station-master would scold her for not taking advantage of a potential Sasuke interview, but she found that she'd rather avoid him, and hopefully just the fact he was on screen was enough.
"What's your name?" the man asked condescendingly.
"Sakura Haruno," Shisui answered for her, much to her relief. She was thisclose to shoving the younger Uchiha away. "Graduated from Harvard with a double major in Journalism and Business."
"How did you know that?" she asked. She didn't know that that information was very public.
"Itachi was talking about you the other day," he explained. She didn't miss the way Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that name, and she couldn't help a light blush cross her cheeks at the mention of the man she mayormaynot think is extremely attractive and pleasant to talk to.
"Hey Shisui, let's go take some pictures over there," Sasuke growled, nodding towards the station that all celebrities passed to get in. "We're needed."
"You're….needed? How would you know?" she asked confusedly, glancing towards the camera. The camera-man shrugged.
"Who doesn't need me?" Sasuke smirked at the camera, stepping in front of Sakura in the process. She fumed.
"And now for our commercial break!" she said quickly, letting out a deep sigh when the camera nodded that they were off air for a few minutes. However, she wouldn't use this time to relax much to her annoyance, because she felt two strong arms pull her around.
"What the..?"
"Hey, babe, how'd you like to come with me to the after-parties after this boring thing?"
"You think the Kage awards are boring?" she asked, incredulous.
"Well I'm going to win, so there's no surprise to the whole thing," he said confidently. "Do you want to hold my award later?"
"Personally I think Naruto is going to win," she frowned. "He deserves it."
"It doesn't matter who deserves it, it's a matter of who is the best."
"I can't believe this is happening," she muttered mostly to herself, rolling her eyes.
"What hotel are you staying at?"
"What?!"
"What. Hotel. Are you. Staying at?" he articulated slowly, as if she was a stupid child.
"Like hell I'm telling you!"
He then stole her microphone away swiftly, holding it out of reach with a taunting smirk on his face. "Then you won't be getting this back"
"Give that to me! I need to finish reporting on this!" she exclaimed, lividly. She lunged at him, failing her arms to get the object he held behind him. Without warning, he used his other arm to pull her close, smashing her against his muscled chest and nearly making her stumble in the process.
And apparently the cameraman saw this as a perfect time to go back on air.
"You're on!" he said, and she froze, staring at the camera with wide eyes, suddenly aware of the position she was in.
Like a snake, Sasuke slipped away, giving her back her microphone. He started to walk away.
"See you tonight?" he chuckled. She hissed quietly so was not picked up by the boom mike. But in the end, she got her microphone back, so she could finish the show with her cheeks burning the entire time.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
During the cab ride back to her hotel, Sakura felt like she would pass out; she had spent 2 excruciating hours interviewing and commenting on celebrity gossip and expensive dresses.
Who spends $8,000 on a dress? She got hers as a Christmas gift from her friend Ino, who just so happened to be an upcoming designer in Hollywood. Nearly everything Sakura wore was from her, in hopes that it would give Ino some nice publicity.
Her tired mind flashed back to all the celebrities she talked to, from the stoic Sai to the possibly-drunk Tsunade. Porn star Karin that Suigetsu brought as a last-minute date refused to talk to her, and Temari spent at least 5 minutes trying to convince Sakura that Gaara, who stood still with a nervous blush, would be perfect to escort her to the party at the Shukaku house later. (Sakura tried to tell her that she really needed her rest tonight, since she was appearing on a talk show the next morning)
Walking into the hotel, she was met with a few odd stares from the other patrons, since she was still clad in the tight red dress the tv producer made her wear. It had been a compromise—he wanted something tight, but Sakura wanted something looser. He wanted black, she wanted red.
Fucking Sasori. Making me dress like a slut.
But as she was about to step into the elevator, the clerk caught her attention, rushing over to her.
"M-miss Sakura?" the attentive man stumbled out. "An anonymous gift is to be delivered at 12. We couldn't trace the caller, but is this okay with—"
"Yeah, it's fine," she muttered, her eyes drooping with lack of sleep. "Just drop it off when it comes. I'll probably be in the shower, so you can just put it in the room or something."
He nodded, and went back to the desk as she headed up seven flights.
She had taken plently of time in the shower (45 minutes, to be exact), stripping off the stubborn mascara and foundation, rubbing a brown-sugar body scrub into her skin, conditioning her hair in the steam, and applying plentiful lotion as soon as she got out. Now, hair nearly dry (one of the beauties of having short hair) and a towel wrapped around her damp body, she opened the bathroom door to go to her suitcase and slip on some nice flannel pajamas.
Too bad a certain someone had other plans.
As soon as she was in the bedroom, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her mouth dropped. There in his half-naked glory, lay Sasuke Uchiha wearing nothing but a seductive smirk and black boxers that clung loosely to his toned frame.
"Hey babe," he whispered sexily, staring at her with bedroom eyes.
So she did the thing any sane person would. Retreated back into the bathroom with a startled yelp. She leaned against the door with her back, panting for breath and scared out of her mind.
"What the fuck are you doing here?!" she yelled so that he could hear her through the door. She felt the doorknob being twisted around, and she cursed herself for not locking it. As the door opened a crack, she pushed it back with all the force she could muster.
"Just come out here, Sa-ku-ra."
"Only if you put on some clothes!"
Pause.
"Okay."
She breathed a sigh of relief.
A few moments later, she heard him say he was done, so she walked out, just to see him lying on the bed again, but thankfully clad in a black v-neck and jeans.
"Are you seduced?" he asked smoothly, failing to pick up on her displeasure.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" she responded harshly, clutching on to her towel tighter and rushing over to her suitcase to grab her pajamas and a bra. (like hell was she going bra-less in front of this creep)
"Close your eyes."
He hesitated a bit, but then obliged, not opening them until she said so, when she was fully dressed.
"Now, I'll ask again. What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Well, I find you physically attractive," he responded, as if it was the most obvious this in the world. "So I'm giving you permission to have sex with me."
"And what in hell made you thing that breaking into my hotel room in your underwear was the socially acceptable way to go about this?"
"I'm your Christmas present," he chuckled, then stopped once he saw her irritated expression.
"You already started who-knows-how-many rumors with your little stunt during the red carpet show, and now you want to offend me further?"
"It should be a privilege to sleep with me. I don't extend this offer to everyone."
"Well from what I've read in the tabloids, that's far from the truth," she growled. "You're hopeless. All this fame has gone to your head."
"Unfortunately the Hokage went to that blonde idiot, so you're going to have to comfort me, babe," he explained with a raised eyebrow. "I'm sure he paid the judges or something."
"Why you little sh-"
A knock on the door interrupted her. "Room service!"
She gave a warning glare to Sasuke before opening the door to reveal a doorman who seemed to be quite excited to be serving the strawberry-blonde girl. He handed her a large box and a bottle of red wine, which she gratefully grabbed from his shaking hands.
"Thanks," she sighed as she closed the door, not even bothering to listen to his stuttering "you're welcome!"
Ignoring Sasuke's questioning look, she placed down the warm box so she could unscrew the cap from the wine and take a long swig.
"Classy," he commented.
"Shut the hell up," she hissed, putting down the bottle on the bedside table, and sitting as far away from Sasuke as she could on the bed. She opened the box to reveal a heaping serving of fettuccine alfredo and by removing the fork attached to the side, took a sloppy bite.
"Shouldn't you be on one of those Hollywood starvation diets like all the other celebrities?" he asked curiously.
"Why, are you on one?" she snapped back. "Plus, I'm not a celebrity. I just interview them."
"But you're still on camera."
"So are other newscasters."
"In revealing dresses."
"Does it look like I enjoy them?" she said, poitingly looking down at her flannel pajamas with a playful pattern of little kitties dancing around with big balls of yarn.
"My offer still stands."
"I'm not having sex with anyone tonight, sorry," she said sarcastically, reaching for the remote lying next to the bottle of wine. "I'm watching crime dramas and eating carbohydrates until I pass out from exhaustion."
"Or from drinking that entire bottle," he said, gesturing to the wine. She glared, but turned on the tv to an episode that was playing "Order and Law: Victims are Special Unit," just in time to see a man stabbing his victim with a knife, straddling the woman with a sick smile on his face. She gestured to him.
"See that rapist-murder?" He nodded. "That was you a few minutes ago. I thought I was going to be attacked and molested."
"I am not a rapist-murder," he growled.
"Well first off, you stalked me here..then you decided to strip down and sexually proposition me, and if it wasn't for my scathing response, you would have taken advantage of my virgin body."
"Virgin?"
She froze.
"You didn't hear that."
"Oh yes I did," he smirked. "This is turning into a great Christmas."
"Oh come on, no one here celebrates Christmas except for when they give each other ridiculously expensive gifts."
"Got something against getting presents, Scrooge?" he asked, stealing the bottle away a taking a few generous gulps. She snatched it back, drinking more of it. He didn't bother mentioning that they had just had an indirect kiss, but he couldn't help a delighted smirk rise to his handsome features.
"I'd rather get a present made with love than a shitty purse that cost more than my college education."
"Love? Now that's wishful thinking. I thought you were a Harvard graduate? Shouldn't you believe in logic?"
"Just because you're a soulless bastard doesn't mean that love doesn't exist," she said in between bites of fettuccine. He took the fork from her and picked up a heaping forkful to put in his mouth. She swiped it back as soon as it left his lips.
"You really like stealing things, don't you?"
"Ooh. Still bitter about the microphone thing?"
"Yeah. You made me look like a stereotypical fangirl pushing herself on just another hot guy. You nearly ruined my professional image. Do you realize how hard it is to maintain a level of professionalism when I have to deal with spoiled little stars every day? The only way I remain sane is by doing stuff like this," she retorted, gesturing to the tv and her food. She gulped down more of the wine.
"You think I'm hot?"
She nearly choked on the beverage, coughing harshly into arm.
"You are so self-absorbed," she muttered as soon as she regained control of her breathing.
"Better than ignorant. At least I can admit to myself how I feel."
She frowned. "What are you saying?"
"Admit it. You want to be a celebrity too."
"No way!" she gaped.
"You want to be spoiled and treated like a goddess and fawned over by movie executives and fans, begged for your autograph, and drowning in money and extravagant gifts."
"I am perfectly happy with where I am, I'll have you know," she protested.
"Well then why were you planning on spending Christmas Eve alone, drinking wine and eating pasta by yourself?"
The silence was heavy, only broken by the detective on the screen declaring "We've solved the case! The defendant is guilty!"
"You want to be in my next movie?" he offered. "Give movies a try. You'll see how much you love it."
"Maybe, but not with you," she said quietly.
"Why not?"
"I hate stuck-up bastards like you, who only think about sex and themselves."
"Well I'm not going to lie, I do love sex, but that's not all who I am. That's the stereotype I play in public so that I keep on getting contracts and fans. No one wants a sensitive guy doing action movies," he said, uncharacteristically thoughtful. "You're afraid of me, because I'm seductive and dominating, and you hate how uncomfortable that makes you feel."
"But you like being uncomfortable," he smirked. "Otherwise I wouldn't still be here."
She snapped her head to face the tv screen to hide a blush. Okay, so she was a little afraid of his warm, soothing eyes that made her stomach flutter and temperature rise. If confronted about it, she would blame the wine, but she'd only be lying.
The bottle was empty by now, and the food long gone between the two of them.
"You can stay longer, but no sex," she whispered so softly he could barely hear. "Maybe I…don't want to be alone on Christmas Eve."
It had only been an episode later into the Order and Law marathon that she had fallen asleep, and Sasuke made sure to slip her under the soft sheets. Reluctantly, he took his place on the adjacent chair instead of lying next to her. Though he may be quite the horny man, he at least had manners. (His mother would be proud)
He watched the rise and fall of her chest underneath the covers, and the soft flush the wine had given her smooth cheeks. Her bare eyelashes brushed her skin, hiding her vividly green eyes from his stare. Normally all the woman he was with refused to take off their makeup around anyone, but she wasn't nervous at the fact that he had seen her face completely uncovered. (Not that it looked bad; he was very pleased to know that she was pretty with or without all that stuff on her face.)
He liked the fact that she was innocent and fiery. Completely self-confident, yet insecure with her inner desires. A sigh left his lips when he realized the direction of his thoughts, because he was unused to thinking of a woman in ways other than how to get them in his bed.
So now, with some free time on his hands, he did what any curious person would do when they wanted to know more about someone.
He google her.
He flipped through pages and pages of her articles and broadcasts, staring at his phone without looking away. He learned a little more about his interesting little flower: she had never dated anyone in the business (Though their were quite the amount of rumors), she had graduated from Harvard just two years ago (Making her 22. Apparently she skipped a few grades as well.), and that she had known Naruto for over ten years. (No wonder why she was so defensive over him)
He sighed again. What was he getting himself into?
As he typed her name into the 'images' search, he noticed one of the 'suggested searches.'
Sakura Haruno bikini pictures
He smirked. Might as well know more about her…
When she woke up the next morning, she was surprised to see him still there, and even more shocked to see that he had pulled out an outfit for her, and packed the rest of her suitcase.
"You need to leave today for your place, right?" he asked, and she nodded. He handed her a coffee, which suspiciously smelled like her usual: a vanilla latte.
"Why are you being nice?" she asked carefully, grabbing the clothing from him and heading towards the bathroom to change. (Not like she'd admit he had a really good taste in clothing. Probably got that from his mom.)
"Why not?"
"I'm still not having sex with you," she said through the door.
"Whatever you say," he chuckled. She stepped out minutes later, looking stunning in a plain white blouse and a black pencil skirt, and slid on a pair of red stilettos. (He was still taller than her, much to his secret delight.)
"Let me walk you to your cab," he offered.
"Okay, sure," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to pretend you're a gentleman."
"And what if I'm not pretending?"
"'Don't lie to yourself'" she quoted, watching him grab her suitcase for her. "I'm perfectly capable of carrying my own suitcase."
"I know," he smirked, opening the door so they could leave.
It only took a few more minutes to make it to the front desk, drop off the key, and walk outside into the mild Hollywood weather, the streets still bustling despite it being Christmas morning.
"You know, I didn't win the Hokage, but I did win something else last night," he commented off-handedly, gesturing to a cab so the driver could grab the woman's suitcase and put in into the back.
"You are so full of shit," she laughed. "Are you trying to sweet-talk me?"
"Maybe."
"Well you better stop before some nosy tabloid reporter sees us and thinks the wrong thing."
"Why?"
She gave him a weird look. "Isn't it obvious? I think you'd know being a celebrity whose relationship status is constantly in questi-"
Her little rant was cut off by a pair of surprisingly-soft lips covering her own, and she was so shocked, she almost fell over, if it wasn't for the hand that snaked around to her lower back, putting them in a position not unlike the whole microphone-incident from yesterday. And, much to her chagrin, she kissed him back.
After a few beautiful seconds, they pulled away, him smirking and her embarrassed.
"Why did you-"
"While you were sleeping. I took the liberty of putting into your phone the details of a New Year's party that you're going to go with me to. And don't bother canceling, because I already called your manager to cancel any work you had that day."
"You are so self-absorbed," she commented, but by then they both knew the words had no bite behind them.
"Whatever you say," he responded, suddenly remembering that she had to be somewhere, and letting her stumble away into her cab.
"Don't call me, I'll call you," he made sure to add before the car door separated them both.
As he dialed his driver to come pick him up, he smiled a bit to himself, a weird facial expression from the normally dark Uchiha. He sure couldn't wait until New Year's, when he could spend his entire day with her.
[There's an old superstition that whatever you do on New Year's day, you will do every day for the rest of the year.]
Holy shit that turned out a lot longer than I expected. But dialogue takes up a lot of words, and I needed to practice it. But anyways, Happy Sunday, and may your week be exciting (because I know mine won't)!
Whatever. I'm spending the rest of the day playing gaiaonline and watching Game of Thrones. Care to join me?
