Sakura POV
(12:05 pm)
"Are you sure?" I roll my eyes for the millionth time today. Then, to avoid the question again, I stab my shrimp and stuff it into my mouth. I feel his onyx eyes on me, but I instead turn to my right and look out of the large circular window. The ocean is right next to us, and even in this building you can smell the sea breeze. It makes me yearn for my Florida home. I swallow the spicy seafood and turn back towards him.
"Look, Uchiha, I don't think I can sing in front of large crowds. I hate singing in front of my best friend, and it just slipped out when I did it in front of you." He gives me a confused look, as if this isn't the number one fear of the entire population of the globe. He picks up his glass of water and takes a sip, then sets it back down. I note a small smile on his lips.
I pick up my fork again to finish my lunch, but I look down shocked to see that my plate is gone. In its place is a peanut butter cheesecake. I glance across to see that he doesn't have any food in front of him anymore, though.
"They swapped it while you were daydreaming." He deadpans. I snort at the comment, but then look down again at the scrumptious dessert. Although I am full from the seafood, I sense my dessert stomach craving this cake. I take a small bite of it, and then realize just how much I really love peanut butter cheesecake.
"Don't think this wins me over, Uchiha...but thanks." I mumble while devouring the slice. It's gone within seconds, and I sheepishly grin. "It was delicious. Why didn't you get any?"
"I hate sweets." He replies simply. I widen my eyes in shock. He smirks at my expression, then calls the waiter over. Once he hands the man his card, he turns back to me and interlaces his fingers. He rests his head on them, as if in thought, and stares almost through me. Then he clears his throat.
"Why do you call me that?" His voice sounds monotone, although if I didn't know any better I would hear a hint of sadness. I open my mouth to reply, but then close it again. I think about the question, and realize I don't know why I say it. I shrug in response.
"Why do you call me 'Pinky'?" His eyes widen slightly at the question, then he looks down at the dark table. I don't expect an answer at all, so I pick up my own drink and take a sip. We sit there for a few seconds in silence, and I subconsciously start to twirl a strand of hair. It's something I have picked up from my best friend, Ino.
The waiter comes back and I have a crazy idea. I have watched Ino flirt with strange men many times, so I try to mimic her, although I have no clue why. Not that anyone has ever shown interest in me before, but I have noticed in this town that people are more open and flirtatious. I give him a glowing smile and run my hands through my hair seductively. The waiter doesn't respond awkwardly, but instead he returns a smile and even winks.
"Is that your natural hair color? It's beautiful." He asks with a smug look on his face. Out of the corner of my eye I see Sasuke's lips tug down in a slight frown. My heart skips a beat, knowing then that that was what I had wanted—to see this boy show some type of emotion. Even a jealous one. I decide not to do anymore damage and end this charade.
"Yeah, it is. Thanks for the food." Without waiting for a reply, I stand up and grab Sasuke from his seat. He sends a scowl to the man, then follows me out of the restaurant. Once outside I release his arm. He silently trudges away me, away from the parking lot, to the beautiful sand and shimmering waters, and I hesitantly follow him.
He at one point takes off his sunglasses and hat, then later bends down and takes of his shoes and socks, and carries all of it in one hand. I do the same and feel the squishy, wet sand between my toes. "What was that?" I hear him call over his shoulder. I sense annoyance in his tone.
"I dunno...I wanted to see how you'd respond I guess." I answer honestly. He turns around and gives me a confused look, and I stick my tongue out at him. He strides towards the water again.
I notice that the sun is blazing down onto us, and I can't help but feel a pang in my chest for my family miles away. They're probably worrying about me. I sigh, then look down. I have accidentally stepped in one of his rather large footprints. I decide to continue to land in his indented path, trying to stay on his tail but not be too close.
"...I call you that because it's your most prominent feature." My head whips up to his voice, almost a whisper on the ocean waves. He has stopped just a few feet in front of the lapping waters and is facing away from me and to the horizon. I don't say anything, but continue to walk until I'm shoulder to shoulder with him, or at least as much as I can be because of the height difference. I avoid his face and gaze into the clear sky.
"Is that why you call me Uchiha? Because...?" He doesn't finish his sentence. My heart tugs at the sadness I again feel in his voice. If only I didn't care about people so much, maybe I could be callous to his emotions. But I'm not, instead I feel as if they were my own. He must think no one cares about him—just his family name. Just his fame. Just his singing ability.
"To be honest...I don't know why I've been doing it. But know that I don't see you as some celebrity, all right?" I sound confident, even to myself. I turn to him and give him a big smile. "I hope you don't think I'm just some girl!"
"If I thought that, I wouldn't ask you to sing with me." I open my eyes to see him smirking at me. His eyes have a hint of something that I've never seen before. I don't linger on it, though, as I take in what he has just said. My stomach starts to churn at the thought of being on stage. I sigh and plop down into the sand. I set my shoes down beside me and let my feet be engulfed by the sea foam. He quietly copies me.
"You could travel, and get paid a lot." He leans back on and looks over at me. I glance over at him and he is staring at me with a curious look. At this angle, the sun is perfectly lighting up his flawless features. He looks more attractive than I've ever seen him. My face starts to heat up from embarrassment and I look away.
"You must really think I'm good if you want me to join you so badly." I mumble, almost to myself. His eyes widen slightly, as if in shock. I watch him to see how he reacts, but I can't help tracing his features.
"Hmm. I wouldn't risk my reputation on someone who doesn't sing well." His bluntness stuns me. I dismiss my previous thoughts about how handsome he is. Anger starts to course through my veins. I ball up my fist and squeeze my eyes shut. He can't possibly be saying what I think he's saying...can he?
I blurt it out before I can stop myself. "So what, if I couldn't sing you would have kicked me out of your car?" I shoot straight up and start to march back in the direction we came from.
I hear him following close behind me, but I don't care. He finally grabs my arm, but I try to yank myself out of his grasp. "That's not what I meant."
"Then what did you mean? I'm just a regular girl—I–I haven't grown up with the luxuries you have! It's obvious to me now that I would ruin your celebrity name. The only way to fix that is if I join your band, right? People wouldn't care for you to be friends with a normal girl, huh?" I finally get him to release me and I continue walking towards his car.
I'm about to step on the pavement when I hear his deep voice again. "And this is why I've never associated with women." Before I can reply, however, there is a loud whirring of a helicopter close by. We both look up and he scrambles to place his disguise back on. Too late.
The noise becomes deafening as the machinery lands close by. A camera crew flies out and within seconds is close enough to have our faces be recognized. The man with the microphone is doing a voice over as they get closer. Sasuke tries to take my arm again, but I pull away and try to keep moving.
"This looks like Sasuke Uchiha has had a secret girlfriend—but we've only known about it long enough to see them breakup!" The crew trails behind us as we head for his car. I angrily turn around and exclaim, "I am NOT his girlfriend." This gave them enough time to surround me.
"What is your name? How long were you two together?" I glance at the screens, microphones, and men barricading me in, and all of a sudden feel helpless. I'm probably on live television, fighting with Sasuke Uchiha. Ino is probably horrified. My stage fright hits me and my throat feels as if I've been wandering a desert for days.
"Leave her alone." The voice I hear is one I haven't heard since yesterday evening. Shoving through the crowd is none other than Sasori. He lightly touches my shoulder and repeats what he just said. The men stare at him in confusion, and the stillness lasts long enough for us to escape.
Once we reach his car and I look out the window, my eyes find the raven haired head of Sasuke Uchiha. His disguise rests on the ground, and I see a look in his eyes that leaves a pit in my stomach. His jaw is set and he looks as stoic as I've ever seen him. Then the news crew swarms him and we drive away.
"I'm glad we found you, Sakura. I'm sorry you were caught up in that mess, though."
"H-How did you find us?" I rub my arms, trying to shake the empty stare out of my head. His midnight black eyes are imprinted into my mind. Deidara leans forward from the back seat and shows me his phone. On his screen is the news station.
"Naruto texted me saying you guys were gone when he woke up, and then he said that Sasuke loves to visit this area. We thought we'd check it out when suddenly I got a notification about the news report. They had been filming you guys since you stepped on the beach. No audio though."
I rest my head in my hands, so completely embarrassed. For a minute, nether of them say a word to me. All I hear is the wind whipping outside the vehicle as we drive back to their place. Sasori clears his throat and I peek through my fingers to see his face.
"Do you still want to visit the college?" I think about it for a second. All I really want to do is go home and curl up in my own bed. I've never been so humiliated in my life! But I can't let this trip be a waste. I reluctantly nod my head in acceptance. He gives me a small smile and looks back to the road.
"This was all my fault, Saku! If we hadn't have gone to that party—!" I shake my head and stare at the blond. "No way. I should have stayed with you guys. If I hadn't have gotten hurt last night, I wouldn't have been with him today." My chest starts to burn. But is that what I really would have wanted?
I turn back to the window and watch the palm trees as they fly by. I had fun today, even if it ended badly. And he wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. I sigh to myself. But it doesn't matter—it would have never worked out in the first place. And why would a guy like him want to be with a girl like me? This last thought is what I settle on as I reflect on his handsome face one last time.
A/N: This chapter had a lot of drama, huh? I hope this wasn't too rough of a chapter. I'm still trying to loosely stick to the storyline of Starstruck, and I do remember them being at the beach and paparazzi coming up randomly. I don't remember much of it, to be honest, but I do remember loving that movie enough to base this Fanfic on it! ^^;
Please leave a review! I love to hear what you guys think—good and bad. This is my most viewed fanfic with over 10,000 views! That's crazy! But I don't have many people leaving reviews...If you review, I will personally reply and...maybe even...mention your name in thanks at the beginning of the next chapter. ;)