Chapter Nine ::

"Don't lose your tickets, people!"

Celesse could barely make out Kakashi's muffled warning above the rest of the conversations going on inside the usually roomy limousine despite the fact that he was right next to her. Well, that's when you pack about eight, nine, maybe ten people in a car no matter how big it's supposed to be. She found herself wedged in between Kurenai and Kakashi (the former flirting shamelessly the latter), and wondering why she was going to see a major league sport that she didn't even understand in a stadium filled to the brim with people who would be staring at her with bugged-out eyes because she was surrounded by famous actors and talking to Hatake Kakashi and possibly get kidnapped and ransomed off for that very reason. The answer was simple:

Kakashi.

He had somehow sweet-talked her out of the rock concert that was sure to be the hub of Las Vegas night life and meeting her idol, the pop-rock star Temari. Away from her best friend, from the dancing, from the music blasting in her ears until they gave out.

Somehow, he had convinced her to come to a stupid football game with him--I mean, them.

Yeah. 'Them'. That sounded better.

Damn you, you white-haired, silver-tongued, extremely hot, and famous jerk--

"So, Cel; you excited?"

She looked up, a tired look in her eyes. "Huh?--Oh, yeah. It sounds like fun."

Kakashi frowned. "You don't look like it."

"Just…tired, I guess. It's almost seven and Kishimoto made us disassemble all the traps we made for Bri yesterday. I didn't know our traps would be so stable…"

"Well, you don't notice a lot of things if you stay up all night."

Celesse nodded and grinned slyly. "Touché, my friend."

The buzz in the limo had toned down slightly and was now just over a faint hum. Though air conditioning blasted out of the vents, fighting away the disgusting summer heat, it was clearly not doing a very good job as the sticky air was aided by the fact that the car was so tightly packed. Not that it would be much different from the mosh pit at wherever the Sand Siblings were probably playing at (complete with the same exact odds of losing her cell phone in a crowd), but she'd at least be having fun--

There I go again! Always ruining a situation any other person would want to be in. The girl scolded herself ferociously. I should be enjoying myself…

"Wow…"

Lynn found that she couldn't breathe; there was just too much things to awe at all at once. The giant stage and the dance area around it were completely empty, but there seemed to an elated feeling of anticipation fluttering around in the air. Something big was going to happen; something behind the huge black spotlights, the dark stage, the hollowness of the place.

She looked to Shikamaru, who was already weaving his way through the other actors that tagged along and making his way to the stairs that led up to and behind the stage. Curious, Lynn followed him: up the stairs, through a door, around two corners, tripping over four sets of wires, a few plugs, a broken drum set, and a cat.

Where the cat came from, we'll never know.

Lynn edged out of the black-hued cat's way, and headed towards where voices were drifting out of a room with a huge gold star on it. Three, actually. The faintly glimmering paint had faded slightly into the deep oaken-brown of the door, but the rest of the surroundings looked rather new…

"How many people did you bring?"

And exasperated voice, possible in a high alto range, most definitely the voice of a woman or (at the very least) a fairly-old teenager.

"…Just a few friends. Deidara is planning on paying for all the tickets except for the one you gave me, so don't worry about it so much."

Lynn knew that voice well; its tired tone was one she automatically associated with Shikamaru.

"Well, I suppose that's okay then…"

"And plus, once word spreads that there'll be a few stars at the concert, everyone'll be vying for more tickets, eh Tema?" Lynn's eyebrows furrowed as she listened next to the door. Was his voice always that exhausted? "So what are you complaining about?"

"Aeh…I don't know, Shikamaru. I'm sorry--I just got a little carried away, especially after Gaara and Kankuro going off the wall with giving out tickets every which way. I had to tell our manager to stop supplying them with tickets or we'd be sold out without selling a single one!"

Lynn could almost imagine the young man's shrug. In fact, if she turned her head a certain way, she could see the two of them in a wall-to-floor mirror from a crack through the slightly-open door. "Yeah. That'd be depressing."

The girl saw a young woman with what looked like (attempted) fashionably-messy blonde hair give Shikamaru a hug. "You haven't been sleeping again…how much work do they give you in med-school, anyway?"

He laughed. "Enough to keep my bed made for days."

"That bad, huh?" Temari punched him in the shoulder. "Don't worry; chin up! The first summer semester is letting out soon anyway, right? After that it's smooth cruisin--"

"--until end of August," Shikamaru grumbled under his breath. Lynn resisted the urge to laugh from the sheer exhaustion of his tone. He was never this talkative on set! The girl would have liked to listen longer but she recognized the sound of packing a small bag and knew they'd be heading out soon. And when they did, she knew it would be bad if she were still there. Quietly, she tiptoed down the hallway and back to the filling seats outside.

"Oh my God, is this really it?" Brit said animatedly. "We're here! We're here! We're really here!"

The chauffer let them out in a fairly discreet place, surrounded by a minimal amount of people (for which most of the passengers were relieved). Jackie stepped out first, looking like a normal teenager for once in her mini skirt and Aeropostale tank top. Celesse looked at her own clothes and frowned, immediately feeling threatened.

Aww, get over it Cel.

She noticed as the headed for their seats that the stadium was already packed with people, and Celesse saw Kakashi pull the edge of his cap protectively over his face. He flipped open his sunglasses with a flick of his wrist and his eyes disappeared behind the tinted lenses. The actor had dressed in an outfit similar to the one he wore when he picked them up from the plane their first day: black designer t-shirt, relatively loose khakis. It was even hard to see his silvery hair from beneath the baseball hat.

"So…do I look fairly normal?"

He might've been trying to hide most of his stand-out appearance, but the same devious grin was still there.

Celesse looked at him with a grave expression. "As normal as a zombie in a graveyard."

A frown. "That bad, huh?"

"Well first of all," she pointed out, "you're a twenty-something year old man wearing something that most high schoolers would wear every day. Despite the fact that the sun's already down you're still wearing shades. This is a football game, and yet you have a baseball cap. Oh, and scratch my first comment--most high schoolers can't afford that outfit, so you look like either a very spoiled college student or a famous actor in disguise."

Kakashi tipped down his shades so that the teen could see his narrowed eyes. "Thanks, Cel. Very optimistic."

"I try to be." Celesse shrugged. "I imagine that Sasuke and Naruto have the same problem…?"

"Not exactly. Their hair isn't bright silver."

She poked him. "What's your real hair color, anyway?"

"Platinum blonde, I think--"

A voice called out over the ruckus. "--Hey! Let go of me--help! Someone help!"

Kakashi gripped Celesse's arm tightly. "I think that's Tenten…go, keep up with the group. Don't get lost."

"Wait--what--?" But the actor had already disappeared into the crowd, leaving her with the rest of her friends.

Or so she thought.

Celesse looked to her left; nothing. Right; nada. Her mind went into overdrive and her body dove into all-out panic at the absence of familiar faces around her. Where had everyone gone? Hadn't they just been there a second ago? How could they have disappeared so fast? Though she didn't want to accept it, when the realization hit her it hit her hard.

She. Was. Lost.