A/N: The performance chapter! This one was the most difficult for me to write, because hell if I know anything about dancing, so forgive me if it's clumsy. If you want to see some fanart that's been done for The Old Razzle Dazzle, check out this chapter on my AO3 page (under this same pen name) for links! Finally, I got to the point with this chapter where I just couldn't look at it anymore, so the final edit was a rush job—any mistakes are my own, and not to be blamed on my fantastic betas!
"Tonight, we have a brand new duo who have come to perform for us! Get ready for some dirty dancing from Setsuko and Masaaki!"
Sakura heard a hush fall over the crowd as the host announced them, and she held her breath as the house lights went down and the curtains opened in the dark. Slowly, she stepped out onto the stage. When a sudden spotlight flashed on and illuminated a radiant Kakashi—curly wig, fringed dress and all—there were several wolf whistles from the crowd.
This was it—they'd practiced all the dance moves, rehearsed lip-syncing the lyrics until they both wanted to scream, and now it would all pay off.
Their song began to play over the club's speakers, and the crowd's roar of approval told Sakura that maybe she really was out of touch for not being familiar with it. She really needed to get Kakashi to admit to what movie it was from. Lip-syncing the opening lines, Sakura walked toward him, trying to walk in a dominant, masculine fashion—not the slouchy way Kakashi lurched around the village, but the confident way he faced his opponents. She held her hand out to him, hearing a few more scattered whistles from the crowd as she lip-synced about having the time of her life.
"Ready?" he whispered discreetly as he slid his hand into hers, and she gave him a nod that she hoped didn't look too nervous.
As the slow introduction to the song continued, she curled her hands around Kakashi's waist, and he gave her a smirky little smile with red-painted lips before she dipped him backward. The crowd "ooohed" as he gracefully swung his torso in an arc before she pulled him back up. Sakura spun him around, and as a woman's voice came over the speakers, he, too, lip-synced about having the time of his life. God, she couldn't wait to never listen to this cheesy song again. As choreographed, Sakura trailed her fingers down his side in a sultry manner, but she was distracted by the continual crowd noise, nervousness continuing to rise in her.
Kakashi must have sensed it, because as he finished mouthing the words to his line, he turned his head toward her and made a big show of teasingly nipping at her neck. There were a few howls from the crowd, and Sakura couldn't help but grin a little as the nip snapped her back to the present. This was a mission, there was no time to be nervous. Flicking her eyes toward the VIP section at the back of the club, Sakura was sure that she could feel their target's eyes on her. There was a smug look on Kakashi's face as he murmured, "He's watching," in her ear, confirming her guess.
She grinned at him again as the song's beat picked up, and they launched into the main choreography, leaving no more room for thought. Taking one of Kakashi's hands, Sakura twirled him away from her, only to pull him back, the moving fringe on his dress catching the light with every movement. He tossed his long, silver wig majestically, and Sakura fought the urge to giggle—damn it, he did know how to work the wig.
Although they were caught in spotlights and surrounded by people, Kakashi kept his smiling eyes locked with hers, and there was something surprisingly soft in his gaze. Sure, he played up the campiness of their performance as he flashed occasional winks and pouts at the audience, but when he locked his eyes back on hers, there was that softness again. All she could do was beam back at him as they danced and "sang" together.
It wasn't like it was the first time they'd danced to the song. But something in the air was electric tonight, in the way Kakashi's eyes held hers, telling her something that she wasn't sure she understood.
The sounds of the audience faded away for Sakura, until all she knew was her body moving in perfect sync with Kakashi's, their mouths shaping the words that suddenly seemed more significant than before—the words about falling in love with someone, about being unable to get enough of them. So, I'll tell you something, this could be love. As they both lip-synced that line, Sakura pulled him toward her—their faces close together, breaths mingling. They both forgot to mouth the next line as they lingered, and that soft look was in Kakashi's eyes again as his hands tightened on hers.
Somewhere in the crowd, a drunken voice yelled, "STICK IT IN", and Kakashi threw his head back and laughed, breaking the spell of the moment. Sakura flushed and grinned and twirled him out away from her again. The moment may have been broken, but the feeling that came with it remained—that feeling like Sakura didn't need to think about her steps anymore, because her body just wanted to move with Kakashi's.
Like being with him was the most natural thing in the world.
The smile on Kakashi's face told her that he was enjoying himself as much as she was—and their enthusiasm was not missed by the crowd. Those who weren't cheering were singing along to the song, and Sakura promised herself that she was going to make Kakashi finally tell her what movie it was from. As the song pulsed through the speakers, she grabbed Kakashi's hips and pulled them close to her own, grinding with him in just the way he'd taught her. The brief, heated look he gave her from beneath his false eyelashes made her already-quickened pulse jump in her veins.
Sakura licked her lips, watching the way his eyes dipped down to her mouth before raising again. She knew that she should be paying attention to the target, or her surroundings, or anything but the way Kakashi's body moved, graceful and lithe in its shimmering fringe. There was a part where she lifted him off the ground and twirled him around, which the crowd loved, but all she could think of was the way he smelled—like makeup and hairspray, sure, but beneath it all was the smell of him, of clean sweat and man.
In the next steps, Kakashi twirled away from her, leaving her to dance alone as he watched. With everyone's attention on her, and just her, Sakura felt her face heating up, but she remembered all of her moves—and laughed breathlessly when Kakashi cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, "Let's see those hips move!" She swiveled her hips a little bit extra for him.
Both grinning, they rejoined hands, dancing the last few steps leading up to the big lift before Sakura twirled Kakashi away again. As the recorded singers sang "This could be love" for a second time, Kakashi didn't even bother to mouth the words as he backed up to get a running start, holding her eyes with his. Sakura held her breath at the intensity in his eyes, and then he launched himself at her and she caught him flawlessly, lifting him above her head.
The crowd went absolutely wild, screaming for them both. It probably wasn't every day when they got to see a petite drag king lift a much larger drag queen into the air. After a dramatic pause, where Kakashi held his body in a perfect arc, Sakura lowered him back to the ground. That same intensity was in his eyes as he held her gaze.
As the last notes played, Kakashi's hands came up to cup Sakura's head, and he leaned down and pressed his painted lips against hers in a kiss that was as fevered as it was unscripted. The audience screamed at this new development, and the music ended with a flourish as the house lights dropped and plunged them all into darkness.
The crowd kept screaming, but there in the dark, Sakura didn't care about them, or the target she and Kakashi were there to catch. All she knew was the feeling of Kakashi's mouth against hers, the taste of him against her tongue, and those words echoing in her mind: So, I'll tell you something, this could be love.
Sai stood in the dark, knowing his normally placid expression was replaced with one of surprise as he lowered his camera-necklace. Kakashi and Sakura's performance had been… unexpected. He knew he wasn't the best at picking up the subtleties of social interaction, but he'd sensed the chemistry between them from the second Kakashi had nipped at Sakura's neck. By the time they'd shared that heated kiss at the end of their performance, it had only confirmed what he had already suspected.
Cocking his head to the side, Sai considered the situation. Sakura and Kakashi were clearly romantically entangled, something that their performance had made clear. Sai had filmed that performance at Naruto's behest. In fact, now that he thought about it, Sai's instructions from Naruto had been to film "everything". Obviously, the performance was the main thing he was interested in—but wouldn't Kakashi and Sakura's clandestine relationship also fall under the umbrella of "everything"? Didn't that mean it should also be filmed?
Nodding to himself, Sai made his way to the backstage of the club—and he kept the camera rolling.