AN : Heya! Cinnabunnbunn here! How'z it goin'! Hope ya'll are enjoying this story cuz I'm having real fun writing it.
Anyway, hope you'll like this chap! I actually had this one pre written too. Heh, fun isn't it.
Anyway, Happy reading!
The slow and menacing tune of the violin ballet pieces are the ones that still make her ears bleed, and the sight of black leotards still made her want to rip the fabric apart whenever her eyes fell on it. There weren't many reasons that can make an individual have such an extreme reaction, but the very cause of her condition was in front of her.
A loud and painful slap echoed through the large hall. The ten other young occupants of the room gave a slight flinch, their own fear reverberating off of the pristine marble walls and polished maple wood floors.
"Lazy, disgusting. Is this what you call your practice."
Sakura just stared at her tiny pointe shoes clad feet, not even daring to lift up a hand to her throbbing red cheek, let alone look up at the cold instructor. She's been here for good nine years already, she should be used to this.
But she really couldn't take it anymore.
"But it hurts…" she was barely able to keep the pain from choking whatever whisper came out.
"No it doesn't, and if it hurts, then bear it. You are of no use if you can't be strong. Only the strongest may have any place in this world, the rest, is just trash, useless. Is that what you are?!" The chillingly cold voice of the lady yelled at her
"And if you're of no use, then you will have to be disposed off right now."
That line alone brought so much cold fear back in her. The feeling of terror settling deep in her bones, making it harder to breath. Her heart felt like it could stop any second and her skin felt like it could melt right now.
'No…no, NO! this is not happening! You're past all this. Wake up, WAKE UP!'
Sakura woke up scampering on the bed in cold sweat. She could feel her heart in her throat, as if trying to burst out any given second, her throat feeling like cotton and her night shirt damp with sweat.
She lifted a hand to her forehead, finding it freezing from the drying liquid and looked around to make sure that yes, she actually was in her actual room and not in that hell hole she has given up an arm and a leg to escape.
'It's been a while since I've been haunted by that place.' She dazedly thought to herself as she looked at her feet, the left one of which, she had tied to the bed post. She remembered them being bloody and bruised and sometimes with broken toes and sprained ankles. She remembered moaning and writhing from pain in the nights during her early days and then trying to keep quite when they punished her for it.
Then one day just feeling nothing but numbness.
She reached over to untie her ankle from the bedpost, hating how she still couldn't get rid of this habit, then turned to look at the time on the clock. '3 : 43' it read in glaring red.
'It surely doesn't look like I'll be getting any sleep anytime soon.' She thought to herself as she walked to her bathroom to freshen up. Since she won't be getting any more sleep anyway, might as well get some work done.
Since she has her classes and all that.
Sitting down on her desk, she opened up her toxicology textbook. She has an assignment coming up and she was sure that she had a quiz today as well.
And she also has her job after her classes as well, she got no time to get traumatized by the ghosts from her past.
CRASH
YELLING
ANOTHER CRASH
MORE YELLING
"I told you to get me a good action model, why do these models look like they can barely hurt a fly!?"
Mikoto yelled with barely concealed anger as her assistant cowered in front of her, but she felt like her anger was well justified.
Who wouldn't be angry is the photoshoot they were doing in the collaboration with a major director in film industry, for merch line, with a due date as close as it is, couldn't find the model they were looking for.
Sasuke looked at his mother ripping her assistant a new one. He was already getting garbed in his attire for this shoot. If he remembered correctly, this was for merchandise of the upcoming sequel to a previously very famous action movie. Zombie apocalypse, if he thought hard enough.
He tugged on the end of his muscle shirt and tried to stuff it in his baggy pants but found no success.
Where is his assistant? She should be here by now.
Just as he was thinking about whether or not his assistant will have to do overtime for being late to work, the object of his musings came rushing down the hallway, pink hair windblown and swinging behind her like a pendulum.
"Don't to blow a nerve, duckass, the traffic was migraine inducing." Sakura exclaimed as she walked into the office to place down her bag and came out again.
"Was it really the traffic, or did you oversleep again." Sasuke teased her with a smirk while she was looking for her phone in her pocket.
Sakura shot him a look of annoyance before pulling out her phone to look at his schedule. "Hmph… it seems like the first shoot is already in progress." She seemed relieved that she wasn't responsible for any holding up of the photoshoot.
A sudden silence from his previously shouting mother made Sasuke turn his head around towards her only to find Mikoto staring at Sakura in astonishment. He remembers now, that he never introduced his new assistant to his mother.
"Oh yes, I forgot to introduce you. Mom, this is my new assistant, Sakura Haruno. She is in the same university as me."
Sakura turned her head to look at Mikoto and felt a blush rising to her cheeks. This woman was absolutely gorgeous! The thick, long raven hair, clear pale skin, dark eyes, high cheekbones and a gentle smile.
If someone told her that Mikoto was a descendant of the royal family, she probably would've believed them.
'Must be the Uchiha genes…'
She admits, though begrudgingly, that as much of a jackass as Sasuke is, he is undeniably beautiful. And when he gets decked up in his clothes for shoots, its… hard to deny it even more.
The Uchiha genes are very real and very dangerous.
Mikoto was still running her eyes over Sakura's whole form, from the top all the way to her feet, as if assessing a new product before deciding it's worth. Feeling more and more self-conscious and uncomfortable as the seconds tick by, she tried to smooth down her windblown hair and slightly crinkled dress blouse. Maybe she should have tried to be a bit more presentable before walking in through the doors.
After a long and uncomfortable minute, Mikoto finally snapped her eyes to her face and gave a wide smile, a smile that could only be described as scheming.
"Sakura-san! How nice to finally meet you! You wouldn't know how hard it is to find a suitable assistant for dear Sasuke-chan." Sasuke rolled his eyes at that. That was exaggerating things a bit.
Just a little bit.
"Say though," Mikoto's voice turned a pitched higher and her eyes turned a bit wider. "Have you ever modeled before?"
Okay that was not the question they were expecting.
"Umm… no ma'am." Sakura said barely managing to keep the incredulity out of her voice. Where had that come from.
Oh but Sasuke quickly caught on to what his mother was planning since Sakura made herself present.
"Mom, you're seriously not asking her that…" Sasuke gave an exasperated sigh.
"Oh honey, don't worry, you'll have fun." No one was sure who exactly she was referring when she said that. "Amiko!" she yelled to her assistant, "we've found our model!"
W-wait… WHAT "Excuse me… what did you just say?" She must've heard wrong because Mikoto Uchiha did NOT just tell her to model for her.
What will become of her privacy is her face got plastered on the pages of magazine.
"Don't worry dear, just buckle up, because you're going to have a new experience to add to your list." Mikoto joyously added while steering her towards the changing room.
"MOM! Are you seriously asking her to model for this? You know how big this shoot is and how inexperienced SHE is, right!" Sasuke shouted after his mother, who was still trying to push the baffled girl into the changing area towards the stylists.
He didn't doubt his mother's judgement often, however, this day was turning out to be for a lot of exceptions. She was ridiculous to be taking a girl who has never even modeled for Instagram to work in such a big event.
It wasn't like Sakura wasn't good-looking or anything, but she just isn't made for it.
"Yes, Sasu-chan, I'm completely serious." Mikoto said dismissively as she managed to finally shove the girl behind the curtains. Dusting her hands of the non-existent dust, she turned to her son with a smug expression. "and trust me when I say this, that we're going to get the best pictures possible."
Sasuke just gave an exhausted sigh when he saw this conversation going nowhere.
"If anything goes wrong, just remember that you made this call."
He just hoped that Haruno will be alright after this rollercoaster of a day.
"H-hey! What the-" She was very much ready to start throwing hands when a short brunette appeared in front of her out of nowhere.
Sakura watched in rapt bewilderment as the girl circled her like a vulture, looking over her from her hair to her clothes and shoes. After deciding what will need changing, she nodded her head once and Sakura a gleaming grin.
"Hello Haruno-san, my name is Haku, I'm the in-house stylist here." Haku's voice was slightly deeper than she expected, in contrast to his feminine looks.
'Haku, huh? So it's he I guess. Or is it a she?'
"So you're one of the hotshots here. Can you please enlighten me about whatever the hell is up with suddenly throwing me in a photoshoot." Sakura demanded as Haku started dragging the poor pinkette towards the clothing rack.
Sakura waited for an answer as Haku started attempting to put together an outfit, picking up clothing pieces, eyeing them for a second before stuffing them back on the rack.
"Who knows, Mikoto-san is a bit eccentric like that." Haku replied distractedly before picking an outfit he seemed partial to. Nodding to the pair of clothes, Haku shoved it into the pinkettte's arms.
"That would do. Okay, get behind the curtain and put it on. Ask for me if you need anything." Haku told her before starting to walk away only to have his arm gripped by Sakura. He looked up only to find her glaring at the wall beside his head before she turned her eyes towards him.
"I'm not moving an inch before I know exactly what and why this is happening." Sakura was done playing nice and being ignored as if she wasn't just thrown in the middle of a freaking hurricane. She knew how important today's shoot was and also knew what it would mean if she fucked it up.
And she damn well knew what it would mean if her face got plastered on magazine covers.
Haku looked at her for a few seconds before he gave a sigh of submission. "See, Haruno-san, even we don't truly know what she was thinking. But Mikoto-san is well aware of today's importance. She must have seen some potential in you to have made this decision. I can understand if you're not comfortable being in front of the camera but this is urgent."
Haku looked at her reluctant expression before adding, "If you're really uncomfortable then shall I talk to Mikoto-san about leaving you out of this?"
Sakura thought about it for a moment. She was really tempted to just tell Haku to do just that, but then she thought about it a bit more, and shook her head to the negative.
Haku gave a last smile before running off to find the make-up artist.
Sakura only looked down at the change of clothes in her hand and sighed, resigning herself to do whatever was asked of her. Whatever came after, shall be dealt with later. Maybe it would make it easier to get information, get access to places faster.
Maybe it would help her missions for the better.
And it's not like her Shishou would stop Mikoto from doing anything she wanted. Fugaku would be at her throat if he got the news of such tragedy.
Drawing the curtain of the dressing room close, she stripped down to her sports bra and undies and looked at what was handed to her. She turned her back to the mirror, not yet wanting to see the black and blue palette decorating her skin of her back, thighs, biceps and abdomen.
She wore the tight fitted black muscle shirt and tucked them in the dark black pants. She turned to look at the mirror and stuttered a breath at how it felt.
It shouldn't have felt so good to be dressed to kill.
She stepped out from behind the curtains when she heard Haku come back. Haku eyed her approvingly before handing her a pair of heavy black boots and matching socks. She dutifully put both of those on and turned back to him.
"Ah! Look at you! Don't you look great!" Haku clapped his hands in excitement as he ran around racks again and brought back a few more items. A black belt, a red bandana, a gold medallion, a thick gold bracelet to be put around her bicep and a pair of black fingerless leather gloves.
Those, out of everything in the whole outfit, were her favorite item.
"Oh Sakura-san! You look gorgeous!" Haku was practically vibrating from all the excitement by now.
A new presence came in the area. It was another guy. Well, he looked a tad effeminate too, with his long, silky blond hair and sharp eyeliner around his bright azure eyes, uh… eye, but he was definitely a guy.
The new guy gave her a bright and wide grin and struck out a hand to shake.
"Hello there beautiful, the name's Deidara. Obsidian's very amazing in-house make-up artist. What's YOUR name?" The blond gave his introduction in a deep voice, his excited grin never faltering. Sakura looked at his hand for a second before grabbing it and giving a reply with a small smile.
"I'm Sakura Haruno. Pleasure to meet you."
His grin widened even more if that was possible. He waved his hand, motioning for her to walk to the makeup station. When she got settled on the chair, he wrapped a cloth around her shoulders and turned the bright lights of the vanity table on.
"So you might've already guessed what the theme of this shoot is. I feel like this is the kind of theme where you can't really go crazy with all the makeup, but there's no real place for boring in the modeling world, is there." Deidara commented while looking for all the different products to put on her skin.
'I don't think you would look like you just walked out of Vogue when you're fighting zombies for your fucking life.'
But she agrees that it would look a bit boring on magazine pages.
"First, we need to do something with the hair. You okay with a little trimming, right?" Deidara asked her, taking out the hair products. Even though it seemed like he asked her for permission, he didn't really seem concerned about her opinions on getting her hair shortened or whatever. Merely a formality.
"Yeah, I'm fine, I guess." 'I was planning on visiting the salon anyway.'
Her hair seemed fine as it were, but a bit longer than comfortable. Her hair, that she always preferred brushing her collarbone, now reached the top of her bust.
Even easier to yank at them. She would rather not take the chance.
Deidara steadied her head and started snipping away at the ends of her hair. She looked down onto the ground and watched bits of her hair falling away. Though she wasn't overly concerned with how her hair ended up looking, she still couldn't help the wave of muted panic that hit her.
'How is it going to look? Will it make her look like an egg? Or will it make her look like Willy Wonka? Oh that's even worse…'
When she started falling deeper into her panicked overthinking, Deidara, having deemed her hairstyle fit for her look, turned her head up and situated himself directly in her front.
"Close you eyes Sakura-san. We wouldn't want hair falling in your pretty eyes." Deidara told her while tilting her head slightly upwards.
'Oh so it's the bangs now.'
Closing her eyes, she felt Deidara sectioning some of her front hair and cutting away at the edges. She felt small pieces of hair falling away and tickling her cheeks and tip of her nose. She wondered though, how practical would it be to have hair always falling in your eyes when you're trying to fight.
After a few minutes, Deidara pulled away from her face and breathed a sigh. "There, all done!". He picked up a big, fluffy brush and started dusting away at the bits of fallen hair on her face.
"You can now see the masterpiece that is your new haircut, Sakura-san." Sakura heard Deidara say and she slowly opened her eyes, holding a breath in anticipation.
The sight that greeted her though, was not the one she expected.
She expected a nice poofy bob, easy to manage and tie back. Maybe with some light, straight bangs that wouldn't interfere much when she needed.
But nope, none of that.
Her hair had been cut into layers that curled inwards, the ends brushing her shoulder blades. The shortest she had brushing her cheekbone. She had been seeing a similar style all over the internet nowadays. And her bangs, a flowy, silky, kinda transparent curtain of hair that fell down on her forehead, down to her eyebrows, and framed her face beautifully.
Even though this hairstyle in going to be a major pain in the ass to manage, she cannot deny how beautifully it suited her face.
"This is… amazing." Sakura commented wide eyed as she turned her head side to side to look at the artwork.
"I know. You look gorgeous. But we still have makeup." Deidara wiped away the hair from the table and took out the makeup supplies he'll need. Turning the lights intensity even higher, he started applying all that is needed.
He wiped her face, applied the base, smooth and dewy, the eyeliner winged so sharp that it could cut rocks. He painted her lips a muted rosy color and added gold accents around her eyes.
"Aaand, all done. Oh my, you look like a goddess. Mikoto-san is gonna be so happy." Deidara commented happily as Haku came up from behind the curtain and readily agreed with his statement.
"I second that statement. Mikoto-san would be ecstatic." Haku looked really giddy with what they did to her.
And after looking in the mirror, Sakura would third that statement.
Sasuke seriously could not understand what is mom is thinking at times like this. He was sitting on the couch of the styling area, drinking coffee, waiting for Sakura to come out from wherever they'd taken her.
'This shoot is going to be a trainwreck…' Sasuke grimaced to himself at the thought of whatever is going to happen. He never opposed his mother on whatever she decided, but this was getting ridiculous.
The only one who could even convince his mother to change her decision was his brother. He remembered the time when his making everyone from his family go to his first school basketball game, and it was only his brother that convince her to drop the idea, because he knew Sasuke hated that type of attention.
He also remembered the time when-
He abruptly stopped his train of thoughts when he realized what he was doing and it set a deep scowl on his face. Yes, he remembered how his brother always convinced his mother to change plans when Sasuke didn't like them.
But he also remembered how his brother was supposed to be the next heir for their father and take on the responsibilities. And he also remembered how his brother ran from all those duties, putting all that burden on young Sasuke.
He very well remembered his father's disapproving gaze when he realized that Sasuke will have to be the one to take the mantle, because he can never be like his brother.
He can never be enough.
"Mikoto-san! Sakura-san is ready!"
Sasuke's attention snapped to his mother's assistant when she announced of the pinkette arrival. He put down the now cold coffee on the table beside him and stood up dusting his pants.
"Oh really! Where is she?" No sooner did Mikoto utter those words, did the door of the styling room open and walked out the person they've all been holding their breath onto.
Sasuke has seen plenty of jaw dropping beauties and has also modelled with them, but never has he felt as out of breath as he felt right now.
Has anyone told Sasuke that people trip over themselves on someone's beauty alone, he would've told them to count him out of it.
But right now, all he could do was stare at her with wide eyes, too tongue-tied to utter anything more than,
"Holy shit…"
AN : Hmmmmmm, the reveal is up, isn't that great! XD What do you think happened to Itachi tho, any idea?
Anyway, hope you liked this chap! Leave a review!
See you next chap!
Bye bye!
