Like a Star
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A/N: If I insert my apologies x100, will you guys forgive me for updating it really really late? I've had a horrible summer and the inspiration to write was just sucked outta me.
I love you readers, you guys make me the happiest girl alive! :')
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, then I would create countless steamy Lemon scenes between Sakura and Sasuke. For reals.
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"Sasuke-kun!"
"Hn."
"Sasuke-kuuuuuuuuun!"
"Hn."
"SASUKE-KUUUUUUN!"
"What."
"Aren't you nervous, at all?"
"Nervous about what?"
"Your concert."
"What about it?"
"It's tonight."
Chapter 09
Sasuke's Concert
(The Day)
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My heart is screaming 'I Love You' but you don't hear it—
Because I scream it on the inside
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If there were one thing Haruno Sakura had been looking forward to during this splendid (and somewhat, totally unexpected) trip, it would be the night of seeing Uchiha Sasuke perform in front of a worldwide audience. It was, after all, her first concert ever. Now you would think that after spending all those—oh so amazing, heavenly delicious and yummy—personal days with the singer/celebrity itself shouldn't make the concert a huge deal (although it was an added bonus) she was still pretty psyched about it.
Now that it was tonight, she could hardly cage in her anticipation.
They were walking down the streets of Seoul when they opted for a stop at some street café. Sasuke was in his usual (unbelievably luscious) black Ralph Lauren vest and dark denims, his chiseled face hiding behind large Ray Ban sunglasses. Sakura was convinced that even with all the really expensive disguises, his hair would totally give himself away—That irrevocably stunning blue-tinted, professionally styled hair of his that Sakura just seemed to envy too much.
"You're staring again." He acknowledged in his usual neutral manner, hardly glancing over at her.
Sakura turned a shade of bright red and looked away almost immediately. "Uh, no I wasn't. I was—Looking at that bird behind you! Yeah, that. Damnnit Sasuke, you're too up yourself."
"Do you blame me for being that way?" He flashed a million dollar grin at her and Sakura instantly felt the ground beneath melting away.
She glared at him. "Shut up."
"What do you feel like having?"
"I'm not that hungry…" She half lied. The reason she did was because she was convinced that she had gained a few pounds she wanted to lose before tonight, but diets were unattractive because it made people look at you in a whole other different way, usually as that 'self-conscious who's never happy about herself' way. And being self-conscious was never considered pretty.
Sasuke eyed Sakura up and down questioningly and noticed her stomach grumbling and roaring in the early afternoon. She just smiled back at him sheepishly and looked at him with bashful green eyes.
"There's something that's telling me you're…Lying."
"I'm so not"—her stomach grumbled in agony—"Okay maybe I'm a little hungry—So what?"
"You have to eat, Sakura, or you'd be sick. I don't want anyone coming up to me, especially your parents, to sue me for abusing their daughter to starvation."
Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "You're not abusing me, and it is definitely not starvation unless I come crawling to you for food! The only reason why they would sue you is to get your money but REGARDLESS—It is not abuse."
"Whatever you say. I'm ordering you a tomato sandwich Panini and you are going to eat it."
So she sighed and gave in. There was just something about his tone of voice that was too commanding, like she hadn't had a choice even if she buried herself out of the place. Her bottom lip puckered out in a pout and stomped her way down to the table Sasuke had reserved for them both, reluctant to look at him.
Sasuke looked at her, puzzled in expression, and wondered to himself of how much she reminded him of a little girl. He kept looking back from the counter at her sulking figure and sighed, he hated stubborn people—He was the only one allowed to be stubborn around here.
He pushed the hot plate of toasted sandwiches to her. "Eat."
She folded her arms and huffed, still not wanting to look at him.
"Sakura…" His smooth velvety voice cooed and she just wished her heart would stop palpitating at it.
Sasuke sighed and gently kicked her shin underneath the round marbled table. Still no response from her side, though Sakura could feel the edge of her lips twinkling to an almost-smile. He seemed to have notice because he was hiding a smile of his own as well, but he was doing a much better job than she was.
The aroma of fresh toasted bread, melted cheese, and the sweet hint of tomatoes seduced her. And finally, gave in to the temptation of accepting his offer.
This time, Sasuke smiled for real. "Good girl."
After having a surprisingly calming lunch (surprising in the sense of, no screaming fans or wild paparazzi around), they left in Sasuke's dark blue Porsche. Sakura wondered where they were heading because he had taken a different route altogether from the usual. She looked out at the dull blues of the sky and the countless amount of trees scattered randomly by the street. At some point the car drove underneath huge shades of leaves from enormous trees, casting lovely patterned shadows on the window shield.
"I thought you said you had some type of business call, or something?" She asked, perplexed, recalling the disrupted lunch when Sasuke received a phone-call from Kakashi.
Sasuke's dark eyes remained on the road, avoiding a stupid squirrel that was blocking it. "Yeah, why?"
"Shouldn't I be heading back to the hotel?"
"It's boring there, I need someone to entertain me anyways." Sasuke said but knew that whatever the true reason of tagging her along was, he wanted to make her feel more apart of his life than he was aware of.
She pressed her forefinger to her bottom lip and Sasuke couldn't deny the temptations it gave him from that simple gesture.
"So where are we going?"
"You'll see."
"I kinda hate surprises, you know. I thought I told you that before."
Sasuke was quiet for a while when they were going around a roundabout. "I'm sure you wouldn't mind this one."
She sighed and sunk deep into endless daydreams as she stared out the passenger window. Each passing cloud had a subtle image of an animal, there was a bird spreading its wings, that fluffy one looked like a cat and the small one looked like a chipmunk. Her fingers seemed to be tapping in a rhythm on her knees, restless to the silence that had now befallen on them. The reflection in the rearview mirror was of her staring dully at the passing road, pink hair framing her sweet complexion.
Sakura fiddled around in her purse and took a hairclip out; it was a small butterfly-shaped pin with dazzling sequins embedded on its wings—colors of spring, pinks and purples—and she looked at it with such adoration, Sasuke couldn't help but to notice.
"What's that?" He asked, curiosity laced his impassive tone.
She smiled, a smile of loss and of cherished memories. "My mother gave this to me on my birthday—"
"Isn't she on some business trip?"
"—Before she died."
An expectant silence fell shortly before Sasuke added; "I'm sorry to hear that…But I thought you said your parents are somewhere overseas?"
"My stepmother and father are. My mother passed away on my eleventh birthday…" She explained softly while her fingers traced the glittery sequins as if they were real jewels. "Dad doesn't like me referring to her as 'stepmother' or 'aunt' or even by her first name—So I call her mother too."
Sasuke cleared his throat and gave a brief nod. "It's a very pretty hairclip, why don't you wear it?"
"I'm afraid it'll break, it's been years." She now fiddled with the metallic latch on the back. "I never bought a hairpin ever since she gave me this, let alone wear one."
"Is it that important to you?"
"More important than anything else."
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Sasuke soaked in the information quietly. So her biological mother died and her parents were hardly around. She must have been pretty lonely and he felt oddly sorry for her. He saw something overhead and decided to pull over and told Sakura to wait in the car, and not to run anywhere he added, which she scoffed at and obeyed. He parked the car somewhere at the side of the street and was gone for at least 20 minutes.
He walked into the small boutique shop and an elderly lady greeted him. Sasuke removed his sunglasses and asked the shopkeeper to show him her collection of hairpins (the prettiest ones, he had added too) and she had insisted him to choose among many choices. There were glittery ones like Sakura's, there were simple metallic sheen ones, and there were tiny ones that came in a bunch.
Now Sasuke was confused and irritated at the many selections—How do girls do these types of things?
"Let me see that one." He pointed at the far edge of the glass case. The lady took the aforementioned pin; it was a floral design that resembled an artistic rose gleaming in jeweled sequins of red and burgundy and the perfect touch of pink at the centre.
It was almost too perfect.
"Yes, that one. How much does that cost?"
After he had returned to his car, Sakura was on the verge of dehydration. The heat was intense that day and she was sweating like a pig, her face tinged red. She glared at Sasuke for taking so long and berated him for it too. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes at her and almost (almost) regretted getting her that pin that caused this headache he was now having. He closed the door before him and started the engine, but before that he tossed the white opaque plastic bag to her and Sakura stared at it quizzically.
She held the smooth material of the cold plastic. "What is this?"
"Look inside."
Indeed she did, and she drew out one of the prettiest hairclip she had ever seen in her life; an almost fairytale-like floral pin that glitters under the intense sunlight.
She was speechless. "Sasuke I…" She didn't exactly know why she spoke to begin with.
"Now you have a hairpin you can wear."
A blush spreads across her cheeks. "Thank—Thank you. It's beautiful." If the heat wasn't so intense, and she wasn't too dumbstruck, she probably might've imagined the smile on his face right now.
"That was expensive, so don't be clumsy and lose it. Okay?"
Sakura rolled her eyes at him but stuck her tongue out teasingly. "I'm sure something like this will be cherished dearly by me."
He didn't know why but suddenly the words came rolling out of his mouth before he could stop it.
"Will you wear it?"
"Yes, why wouldn't I?" She looked at the pin twinkling in her hands admiringly. "It's gorgeous, why did you get it?"
He peered at her through the corner of his eyes. "Every girl needs a hairpin to wear someday or another." Or maybe, he thought silently to himself as he drove through crowded streets, because I like you.
They've finally arrived…somewhere. She could see a huge dome, stadium-like building overhead; it was humongous. Sasuke still wouldn't tell her where they were, or at least she hasn't really properly asked because she was sure he was just as tired of listening to her questions as it was to ask. There were many people, staffs and random pedestrians walking around.
That's when she noticed a huge poster, the size of half the building, with Sasuke's picture on it and the words "Uchiha Sasuke's Concert! Tonight! Do not forget to attend one of the most biggest, heated and intense sensational performance of your lives!" It finally hit her that she was at the scene of where the concert would take place.
Her eyes were so huge that Sasuke had commented her saying that she looked like a bug, which she rolled her eyes at and ignored.
"Hey Sasuke, why are we here?"
He grinned his infamous grin at her. "You're about to see the making, the backstage, up-close and personal of my concert. Everything that has to be prepared before the big night."
Her heart went thud-thud-thud to a rapid t-t-t-t-t-thud. She wasn't even sure if it was the idea of the excitement of this whole experience or his smile itself.
Sasuke placed a hand at the small of her back and felt her shudder beneath his touch, whether from shock or delight he couldn't tell; but he loved every second of it.
"Shall we go inside?" his grin splayed once more and it twinkled in her eyes too brightly.
She was convinced that she could die anytime soon from his wicked charms.
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Kakashi waved his hand from afar at the arriving couple. "Sakura! Hello there! Wasn't expecting to see you here." His eyes arched upwards as he smiled.
"Neither was I, really." It was an infectious smile and she returned one back.
Now the grey-haired man looked at Sasuke expectantly, as if he knew exactly what he had to do. "Right, your dressing room is at the far left by the equipment room. We got all the sound system fixed up, so your rehearsal is in 5 minutes. Don't waste time." He waved his hand dismissively then switched his glance back to Sakura who was as confused as a lost mouse. "You can watch, you know."
"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" came a booming voice that echoed throughout the inside of the stadium. Sasuke rolled his eyes and Kakashi shook his head when Naruto came pouncing on Sakura for a huge hug.
"N-Naruto! H-Hi!" She choked out as his muscled arms wrapped firmly around her petite body, squeezing the air out of her lungs.
The blonde gave a manly punch to Sasuke's shoulder, which was rewarded by a nod from the ravenette. "Man, I didn't know you were bring her along! Now it won't be too boring as these things usually are—"
Sasuke scoffed. "It's only boring because you keep getting lost, Dobe."
"Do you blame me? This place is bloody huge!"
Sakura couldn't agree more. It was slightly dark than it was outside, it resembled a little of a basement only with many thick wires that writhed around poles, sound systems scattered around, more electrical equipment placed at the corners of the place and many doors to many rooms she was probably never going to find out. The area was quite big, almost the size of a proper football pitch and they were only backstage.
She coughed and gained both of the males' attentions; Kakashi was long gone to settle some technical problems. "So…where's the concert at?"
Naruto yawned. "Outside."
"Can I see?"
Sasuke shrugged his shoulder and walked ahead, looking back at Sakura to follow him. "You'd want to follow me, or you'd get lost too, Sakura."
She regarded the many hallways and junctions within the room that lead to total darkness. "I'm not the least bit surprised."
If she thought the backstage was huge, she must've greatly mistaken as she set foot on the grounds of the dome. The area was at least the size of five football pitches merged together, with an unbelievably huge platform at the corner, a broad and extensive screen at the back with many complicated wirings of colored lights.
This was the concert. This was where she would watch Sasuke perform, live, tonight.
Her mouth gaped, as her eyes were wide with awe. "Woooooooooow…This is huge! Gigantic! Aren't you nervous?"
Naruto must have tagged along because he had answered for Sasuke. "Teme? Nervous? Ha, I wish to live until I see that day. He's pretty much used to all these fancy-wancy stuff. To him, this is just another one-of-those-concerts."
The broadness of the area caught her heart in her throat; she was finally going to see him perform. Live. Just like she had always wished to do one day. The heat of the day had softened to gentle warmth and the sunlight wasn't as bright anymore. Sasuke had his hands shoved in his pockets in a laidback manner, looking around with lack of interest and Naruto was fiddling with his broad sunnies. The blonde was sporting a crisp white button-down tee, collars popped around the neck, with baggy low-ride jeans.
Tch, these celebrities, they always had to look so amazing; it puts her simple pink polo tee and beige pants to shame.
A staff ran up to Sasuke, having a tiny microphone hidden in her ears and signaled Sasuke to get back inside, rehearsal she mouthed and he nodded at her.
His coarse fingers wrapped around Sakura's slender wrist and she looked up in surprise. He gestured his head to the building, signaling her to follow with. Willingly she skipped by his side and waited for Naruto to come with but realized that the blonde was long gone.
Sakura whipped her head around frantically. "Hey, where's Naruto?"
A faint voice echoed for help.
Sasuke snickered. "The idiot is probably lost again."
There goes the sunset, Sakura thought as she watched the horizon mutely as it bled streaks of cotton candy pinks to the sky and veins of fiery reds. She was behind the elevated platform where the rehearsal was taking place and the choreographer was having a word with Sasuke and he seemed to be listening with some intensity.
"So in 1, 2, 3 you—"
The conversations were a mumbling drone in her ears as she stared at Sasuke from behind. This is considered stalking to a whole new level, she told herself but shook her head as the music started in the distance. The ravenette tested his microphone, the many electrical accessories that were on him and started to rehearse through countless amount of songs. She was so mesmerized by the way his voice reverberated with her heart, and the way his body moved as swiftly as a soundless cat that she was lost in a day dream.
After about five songs rehearsed thoroughly, Sasuke was drenched in sweat. Sakura handed him a hand towel that she had picked out by his dressing room and a room-temperature water bottle. He thanked her and sat at the edge of the platform where Sakura joined, her sleek calves dangling to and fro, body leaning forward in her timid manner.
"It's a bit tiring to just sit and watch, isn't it?" He said and took a long swallow of the water.
She shook her head and looked at the patches of grass beneath. "No, it was actually pretty cool. I can only imagine how tired you must be, jumping around with…dancers."
Sasuke chuckled and wiped the moisture from his lips with the back of his hand in one swift movement.
"Jealous?" He grinned.
Sakura hid a blush and looked away. "Pfft, no. Why would I be? You probably have slept with majority of them anyway."
He frowned slightly at her remark and Sakura noticed.
"I'm not that kind of guy, you know Sakura?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound so crude. But you're so popular it's hard not to follow that train of thought." She frowned herself and watched as the sky darkened overhead.
"I have my limits." He muttered in finality and stared at the broad vacant space before him. "Tonight is going to be crowded."
Sakura nodded. "I can only imagine…"
He looked at her with wondering dark eyes. "You'll definitely be here right?"
"Yeah, definitely!" She quirked an infectious chirping smile that almost made him smile.
"Promise me something."
"Hm?"
"Try not to blend in the crowd too much. Stand close where I can see you."
Sakura tried to read the ever-so-neutral expression on his face but couldn't read any meaning. "Why?"
There was a smile, Sakura was convinced, or was it a grin or maybe a snicker. But there was something dancing on his lips when he said;
"It'll just make tonight more special."
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A/N: *Starts playing SorrySorry by Super Junior* Oh god guys, I tried my best to reward you guys with a longer chapter. A way longer chapter than I am used to :)
I have a question for you guys, would you like this story to be mainly focused on SasuSaku or would you like some clips of Ino's and Hinata's life back in Konoha? Or maybe even snippets of Naruto's life and whatnot.
And are you guys tired of how the story is taking ridiculously slow to get to the climax, or are you happy with longer paces and longer chapters? All opinions and criticism are very welcome in my review box!
Also, would you guys would like to maintain the fluffiness of this story or would you like to add something more? *Suggest in reviews, I promise to consider them* I hope my story is still entertaining you lovely readers!
IHeartYou.