Summary: Sasuke, a rock star, meets one of his fans as they were about to buy the same and last copy of a certain CD. Who says they can't fall in love since this is just one world after all. Completely AU. Mainly SasuSaku.
Pairings: SasuSaku, NaruHina, NejiTenten, ItachiOC (maybe), AnkoKaka
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and if I did, I would probably promote the pairings up there, save maybe the ItachiOC thing. I only own the OC who will be paired up with Itachi… if I ever plan on pursuing that thought.
Just One World after All
Chapter Four – They Talk
"Good job," said Kakashi into the microphone as they stopped their playing. The equipment was meeting their expectations of it, but, then, why wouldn't it? The people of Chakra Records always bought first class things. As far as Japan was concerned, they were the best and most famous of the recording companies, richest as well. Rumor has it that they were planning to branch out into the other countries to seek out talent and make their dreams of becoming rich and famous performers come true.
Sasuke, Itachi and Neji removed their instruments and set them against the wall then promptly going out of the booth where they were in. Hinata blushed slightly as her cousin's eyes rested on her before he looked up straight, his colorless eyes staring at a wall. Itachi was leaning on the wall right behind Sakura and Sasuke was leaning on the frame of the door. Naruto was being a bumbling idiot and tripping over the unplugged cords for their instruments into their own amplifier.
"The dobe better not scratch my stuff," growled Sasuke as his onyx eyes watched the little commotion that was taking place. Sakura managed to catch a tiny bit of his sentence, more of the word 'dobe' rather than anything else causing her to cough slightly in order for her to actually laugh at his insult. It was impolite, especially if she laughed at Naruto because he was the one who invited them, after all. Soon, Naruto was finally able to get out of the main studio, somewhat scathed but not entirely, earning glares from the three brunettes and a stern look from Kakashi.
"You better be careful next time! Those are mighty expensive things that the company bought for you guys," explained Kakashi as he pushed Naruto by the forehead with two of his fingers. Naruto's head bobbed back and forth when that happened. Nodding sullenly, he strode over to an empty corner, sat down Indian style, crossed his arms and began pouting his trademark 'manly pout'.
"Naruto, don't do that in front of guests," demanded Neji as his white eyes glanced at the blonde. Hinata vaguely caught the tone of annoyance in her cousin's voice. For the life of her, she couldn't understand why Itachi, Sasuke and even Neji disliked Naruto so much. He was nice guy, he really was. Although sometimes he was a bit too hyper and it did slightly, minutely, almost invisibly, irk her, it was his nature to act like that.
"I'm going to the lobby. Damn place is just too cheery for me," mumbled Sasuke as he launched himself off of the door frame and began walking towards the exit then towards the elevator. Sakura rose and slightly chased after Sasuke.
"Ano, Sasuke-kun," she said somewhat nervously as she looked at the rock star, "Could you tell me how to go to the bathroom? I kind of have to go there." She blushed slightly, out of embarrassment rather than being under the scrutiny of Sasuke. Shrugging, he nodded and silently commanded her to follow him. Throwing a slightly sorrowful look at Hinata, she walked slightly behind Sasuke, who was going to bring her to the bathroom then, possibly do something worth his time in the lobby.
"Not exactly the best way to talk to Sasuke but hey, it works," said Kakashi as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Naruto yelped in disappointment, Neji threw a weird yet somewhat slightly disgusted look at Kakashi and Itachi, well, his eyebrow rose in amusement. That was possibly the first time he ever saw Sasuke actually take time to talk to a girl. A beautiful one if he might note but she was too young for him though what did he care? The only reason he wasn't advancing towards Sakura was probably because he didn't like her somewhat kind and demure attitude, though she was much wilder than Hinata. He wanted a girl who would somewhat defy him yet still love him. Sakura wasn't that girl.
"Ano, would you want me to cut some cake?" asked Hinata shyly as she broke the somewhat tense aura around the area. Four pairs of eyes looked at her and caused her to shrink slightly as she twiddled with her fingers, hoping she didn't suggest some bad idea. She disliked causing someone to be sad.
"I want cake!" said Naruto cheerfully as he stood up, forgetting that Sakura asked Sasuke to tell her where the bathroom was and not him. Nodding, Hinata stood up and excused herself, walking out to the little lobby in the studio where the cake box was sitting on the small coffee table.
"Naruto, go be useful and get the plates and forks and a knife," ordered Neji as he eyed the blonde with his colorless eyes. Naruto huffed as he did as he was told. They had a kitchenette there because Naruto demanded that one was set up so he could have ramen, at least instant if not the unprocessed original, any time he wanted to.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lobby of the Building
"That was a good trip!" said Sakura as she stepped out of the bathroom. Oddly, Sasuke was still there. Then again, he had nothing better to do so he stayed outside of the bathroom, waiting for her. Not that he really cared overtly about her but still, he really had nothing better to do so that explains his action of waiting for her.
"Thanks for letting us come today," Sakura said shyly as she looked at him. She wasn't shy because of the fact that he was a rock star and she was but a mere pastry chef, rather, she was shy because she ought to be. Thanking one, especially a near complete stranger, wasn't exactly a walk in the park. "Don't you want to go back up?" asked Sakura, slightly nervous for the lack of anything better to talk about.
"No, they don't need my company," he replied plainly, his words cold and stating the bare facts. He never really expounded on his statements seeing as he was direct to the point. The only time he ever expounded was when he was writing a song or something, thus needing to expound the story or emotions of the song even further. Looking slightly down at her, he spoke. "Let's go."
"Uhm," said Sakura slightly nervously as she looked up at Sasuke's blank onyx eyes, "Are you sure you want to sneak away from them? I mean, one of them is your brother and the other three are your friends?" Sasuke nodded grimly as he grabbed Sakura's wrist and promptly began dragging her to the parking lot where his car was parked. Sasuke didn't know why he wanted her to tag along, he could have very well gone ahead without her, telling her to tell them that he'd gone ahead but for some reason, he just couldn't do that.
"Why do I have to go back up to them?" he stated as he let go of his grip on her wrist, once he was sure that she'd follow even if he wasn't somewhat dragging her, "It's not like I'm insanely close to them." Sakura blushed slightly; she'd been doing that a lot lately today, as she nodded. "Where do you want to eat?" he asked as he shoved his hands inside the pockets of his pants. Her eyes widened as he asked that question.
"Excuse me?" she asked, faltering slightly. It was the first time anyone ever somewhat bluntly commanded her to choose where to eat. "Anywhere is fine," she said softly as she regained her momentum, staggering less the farther out of the building and the nearer to the parking lot they went. Since she had that date when she was still a High School student, Sakura never really went out with anyone afterwards. She didn't want the experience to repeat all over again. Apparently, that boy just wanted to have fun with her then throw her away for another girl after that fling.
"Choose," he said sternly as he let go of his grip on her wrist. They were already outside the building and it was mighty awkward for him to be grabbing her wrist so tightly and just dragging her to his car and speeding off somewhere, restaurant really then somewhere else.
"Err… How about that Chinese restaurant a couple of blocks away from here? Golden Phoenix, I think, was the name," suggested Sakura as she zipped up her cloth jacket. It was slightly chilly outside due to the sudden burst of wind that came through their way which somewhat tousled her hair but that was easily fixed, she had a brush and it wasn't in any elaborate style anyway. She just had her hair down.
"Fine," said Sasuke as he pocketed his hands and began walking to his dark blue, almost black really, Jaguar. It was still very shiny, the paint, because it was just a couple of months old. His last car, a Porsche, was ruined beyond repair by a certain bumbling blonde drummer so Sasuke made a mental note to never lend Naruto his car… ever. As to what possessed him to lend the car in the first place was unknown to the rock star. Maybe because Naruto would've shut up if he did lend the car. In any case, what's done is done.
Sakura nodded timidly as she followed him. Normally, she was brash and expressed her feelings quite loudly but there were times and cases where even she became as shy as Hinata. Looking at Sasuke's back, she blushed slightly as an image of him, singing and playing his electric guitar, flashed through her head. Shaking her head as to get it out, she closed her eyes momentarily then opened them, only to see Sasuke looking weirdly at her. Blushing out of embarrassment, she motioned for Sasuke to continue walking and leading her to where the car was. Shrugging, the rock star did so and a few minutes later, they were both seated inside the shiny dark blue convertible, the engine revving up.
"Why did I think of him singing when I looked at his back," thought Sakura as she looked out the window. Of course she didn't have a crush on him and if she did, it wasn't that hard a crush enough to be one of his insane and rabid fan girls. It wasn't hard enough for her to always be thinking of him whenever she saw anything that reminded her of him. It was just because he was a rock star and a pretty cool one at that.
"Is the place expensive?" asked Sasuke bluntly as he continued driving, spying around to see if they were near the Chinese restaurant already. Sakura snapped out of her reverie and looked at him then back at the road in order to see if they were near the restaurant as well. Clutching her skirt slightly, she sighed.
"Nope, not at all; it's just a Chinese restaurant that mainly relies on take-out orders for income," she said informatively. Not that she was a chef who cooked actual meals but she knew these things because every once in a while, she'd call and order from the Golden Phoenix because she had a sudden craving for Chinese noodles or dim sum. In any case, it was a cheap and delicious restaurant that satisfied her want for Chinese. Hinata agreed with her on that count as well.
Sasuke snorted slightly. He wasn't one to ever eat in places like those, too used to eating in an a la carte or buffet place that served expensive high class or what one could consider cheap high class food. He was a rock star, after all. He did come from one of the richest families before entering the music business, the Uchiha family which had a rather successful business in computers and other things involving technology. "Let's go to another restaurant," said Sasuke as he looked straight ahead. Sakura somewhat jolted in surprise.
"Come on, try it. Please? I promise it tastes just as good or maybe even better than the food you're used to!" she said as she looked at him, her jade green eyes expressing her want for him to try and eat at the Golden Phoenix. Grunting and snorting and trying so hard to win that internal battle of his to not snap at her and to snap at her, Sasuke looked at the girl, rather, woman beside him and just looked causing Sakura to blush slightly who was experiencing the full blow of Sasuke's intense look.
"Fine," he mumbled as he gave in, "But if I don't like it, you'll pay in the restaurant of –my- choice." Sakura nodded brightly as she looked back at the street, trying to push down that blush that was on her face because Sasuke looked at her. Sasuke shrugged as he leaned on the steering wheel. They were waiting for the light to turn green. Was it just him or did he actually let himself be convinced to try that? The only one who ever really managed to convince him to do something was Itachi but the only things that he ever made Sasuke do was to get stuff like the newspaper or his slippers, things like that. This woman, on the other hand, actually convinced him to go to the restaurant of –her- and not –his- choice. Then again, he asked her to choose but even why he asked her to do that vexed him greatly.
"Sasuke-kun," said Sakura slightly softly as she looked at him, "The light's green already." Shrugging, the rock star sat up straight, shifted gears and drove straight ahead. "The restaurant is in the next corner, to the right. There's a parking lot behind it," informed Sakura as she removed her long pink hair from the hood of her black jacket.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Inside the Golden Phoenix
Sasuke shook off the looks thrown at him by the few people eating in the restaurant. Besides the fact that Sakura said their main source of income was from take out orders, it was pretty late to be actually having lunch. It was around quarter to two so it had been nearly four hours since Sakura and Hinata went into Chakra Records. It took them a while because of the intensive tour of the building Naruto wanted to give them plus they still had to test out the new equipment and that took some hours. Then, Sakura had to go to the bathroom so that explains the late lunch. Possibly, the five of them back in the building where about to have lunch, ramen for Naruto, some other things for Kakashi, Hinata, Neji and Itachi.
"Hello! Welcome to Golden Phoenix! I'm your waitress for this afternoon, Hua Mei," greeted the Chinese girl as she handed the pair each a menu. She was wearing traditional Chinese clothes. Her hair was held pack at the sides of her head in the traditional Chinese pigtails, black slacks and a silky looking red Chinese sleeveless shirt that had gold colored piping at the end. "Would you like some drinks first while I wait for your order?" She was a nice girl, around eighteen by the looks of things.
"Water would be fine," said Sakura as she looked at the ebony haired Chinese who nodded as she looked at Sasuke for his choice of drink. Looking at the small section that was filled with the names of drinks, Sasuke was debating whether or not to get something alcoholic, a soft drink, juice or just plain water. Spying a brand he preferred, he opened his mouth to speak.
"Cali Ice, the apple flavored one, as cold as you can get it," he said flatly as he began scouring the congee; stir fried noodles, dim sum and other sections of the menu. Mei nodded as she wrote their drinks down on a pad and pocketed it in her apron, scooting off to the kitchen to get their drinks. "Interesting choice of food," he mumbled inaudibly as he looked hard at the menu. This was one of the few times he was stumped as to what he wanted to get. Another case was when he was at Blossoms. All their goods tasted delicious so it was hard to decide.
"Try the Yang Chow Fried Rice and Lemon Chicken," suggested Sakura, "I'm having that. There's a single and party serving for both. I'd also suggest Mushroom Congee with Fried Wan Tons." Sasuke slightly lowered his menu and eyed the woman in front of him, who didn't seem to mind the fact that this wasn't an extremely high class restaurant. Well, at least she wasn't a high maintenance sort of girl. Whoever her husband would be won't have to buy her a lot of expensive things to keep her happy. As he thought of that, a slight pang of jealousy ran through his body.
"Sure…" he replied, slighted, thinking of what she suggested. Spying a picture of the things she told him to try, he saw that they were, after all, tasty looking. The fried rice looked freshly made, as did the chicken in their separate pictures. The lemony sauce dripping over the sides of the chicken made it look even more delectable. The congee was plain, a couple of mushrooms springing out of the rice filled "soup" and the wan tons were sticking out behind the bowl, on a separate plate.
"Hard to decide, isn't it?" giggled Sakura girlishly as she clasped her hands together, "Get the congee. It'll go well with your drink, won't battle with that apple fizz of yours." Looking at her with his intense onyx eyes, he gave in and set his menu down, waiting patiently for their waitress, Mei, to arrive with their drinks and that pad and pen of hers so she could get to their main course. Soon enough, they spied her ebony hair and her bright amber eyes and in her hands were two glasses filled with their drinks.
"Here you are! Your water, ma'am, and your Cali Ice, sir," said Mei cheerfully as she set down the cool glasses which had begun to be covered in condensed water vapor on its clear surface. "Ready to order?" she asked as she pulled out her trusty pen and pad and flipped it over to the section for them. Sakura and Sasuke simultaneously nodded and the rock star looked at Sakura, silently commanding her to order for him.
"I'll have Yang Chow Fried Rice and Lemon Chicken, just the one for one person please," ordered Sakura as she pointed to the items on the menu, "And, Sasuke-kun will have the Mushroom Congee with Fried Wan Tons." Mei nodded as she scribbled down the orders of the pair. Looking at Sakura, she motioned to her, asking if that was all. Sakura nodded cheerfully as Mei capped her trusty pen and bowed slightly, telling them that their order would be ready as soon as possible. "That wasn't so bad now was it?" asked Sakura as she faced the rock star, any twinge of embarrassment buried deep beneath her. It was lunch time, after all, and like any other living thing, a rock star needs to eat.
"Humor me," said Sasuke as he rested his elbows on top of the table. Curling his right hand closed, he put his left hand above his right and clasped against it, hiding his lower face beneath this hand gesture. "Why here?" he asked as he stayed like that. Sakura blinked as she tried to recall this familiar state of Sasuke. Ah, now she remembered. There was a picture of Sasuke in the small booklet of Spin, sitting like this with Naruto waving his hands wildly, Itachi staring at the blonde drummer, leaning on a wall and Neji's hand clasped against his own forehead, rubbing his temples.
"I don't know, I just felt like having Chinese," said Sakura with a small and soft voice, "Any problem with my choice?" Sasuke snorted in an amused fashion as he looked at his fumbling, dare he think it, companion. It wasn't everyday, heck, it was never everyday that you'd see him, of all people, out with a girl who was as old as him.
"No, but why here and not any of the other restaurants that were conveniently much farther away from Chakra Records?" he asked as he stayed in that position. Sakura blinked at him slightly. If she stayed in that position, her elbows would probably sting from the numbness of staying in the same place for quite a long period of time. "Well?" asked Sasuke bluntly as his onyx eyes gazed at her.
"Well, other than the fact that it serves great food," she explained as she fingered the bottom part of her light peach blouse shirt, "It's not expensive. I wouldn't want you to spend a lot of money on me, an almost complete and total stranger." Sasuke was slightly taken aback by the latter statement of her reply. If it were that blonde president of that idiotic fan club of his, she'd probably drag him to the most expensive restaurant in all of Kyoto then when lunch was done, she'd brag about that hour or so of time spent with him and her being treated out by him. She just wanted him to have a good lunch and not spend a lot of money on her. How sweet, if he could even think that.
Sakura looked shyly at her companion as she concentrated on him then back at the table. Glancing at her ice cold glass of water, Sakura reached out for it, grasped the glass cylinder and downed a couple of gulps of her water, moistening her slightly dry throat and lips. Slightly blinking in surprise, Sasuke remembered that even he had a drink and downed a few gulps of his cold and fizzy apple flavored drink. This wasn't exactly the best place he had lunch, or any meal for that matter, in but it was pretty decent and was on the cheap side.
The place was well furnished, considering it didn't make as much as Blossoms even and that was a much smaller place, but it would do. The people there ate heartily and every couple of minutes, Sasuke would hear a phone ring, thus proving Sakura's statement that they relied on take out orders for their income rather than dine in. Despite that, the place was still pretty big compared to the much more popular Blossoms. But, then again, Blossoms and Golden Phoenix served different kinds of food, the former which was all about desserts, coffee and snacks and the latter which was all about Chinese entrees.
"Having a good time?" asked Sakura softly as she looked at him, her hands steadily set on her lap. Shrugging, Sasuke nodded lamely as he waited for his lunch. It was already two-fifteen and they had order around twenty minutes ago, surely their food would already be here! As if right on cue, Mei appeared with a brown plastic tray, Sakura's rice and Sasuke's congee on it.
"Here you go! I'll be right back with the Lemon Chicken and the Fried Wan Tons. They couldn't fit on the tray," said Mei slyly as she set down the things she had brought. She also set down a couple of chop sticks and a spoon for Sasuke, so he could eat his congee properly. Blinking, Sasuke automatically picked up his spoon and spooned some of the congee into his mouth. Sakura tilted her head slightly as she waited for his reaction.
"I'm speechless," he said, somewhat stunned at the intense deliciousness of the food served from a rather simple and decent earning restaurant. As he said that, he began automatically eating more out of his congee, ignoring the slight smile emblazoned on Sakura's face.
"Wait for your Wan Tons! You might not have any congee left with the way you're eating," laughed Sakura as she looked at Sasuke, who, sadly, to him at least, was enjoying himself. Again, as if on cue, Mei came in with Sakura's Lemon Chicken and Sasuke's Fried Wan Tons. Bowing slightly, Mei excused herself, telling them that if they needed anything, they should just call her and not be shy.
And this is just the beginning of the rest of the afternoon of Sakura and Sasuke. This was just lunch and they'd probably go off somewhere else, as far far away as possible from the building that the rest of Sharingan, Kakashi and Hinata were located.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To Be Continued…
Mou!!! Sorry for the long wait! I made you guys wait for… uhh… fifteen long days! I'm so sorry! Anyway, this was pretty long compared to the rest of the chapters, having a whopping total of 4100 words! Hope you liked it!
Well, obviously, Sakura and Sasuke do talk, more so at the latter part of the chapter! The next chapter will still be about Sakura and Sasuke mostly but maybe I'll insert scenes with the Sharingan boys, Kakashi and Hinata as well. I might also make Anko barge in and glomp Kakashi to death in the studio, causing Naruto to gape and stare XD
School's starting on June 14 for me so I'll try to update this story as often as possible, considering my limited time on the computer. I might write it down on a notebook then just encode it, who knows. It all depends.
Remember to review so my sickness of 'Writer's Block' will go away faster XD Oh yeah! If you want a copy of the Blossoms menu, just email me at kohakuyurikago[at]hotmail.com
Next Chapter: Chapter Five – They Share
Chapter Preview: "So, what you're saying is that you want---" said Sakura before Sasuke muffled her voice with his hand. Glaring at her, he kept his hand on her mouth until he was absolutely sure that she wouldn't say anything about that. "What was that for?!" she asked, slightly exasperated, after Sasuke released his hand from her mouth.