Chapter 10
(Expect the Unexpected)
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Like a Star
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A/N: Um… /dodges flying rotten tomatoes/ I love you all and I'm sorry for this really late chapter. But review and tell me how you like it!
Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, there would already be little Uchiha babies running around the manor with pink hair.
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"Hey man, nice job today—tonight is going to be dope."
Sasuke ran his fingers through his sweaty dark hair. "Maybe, thanks." A mint colored towel was wrapped around his thick neck, damp and moist from all his hard work.
The ravenette grunted and rolled his eyes upwards to the gods to get this day over and done with already, he was exhausted yet he still had another two hours to perform in front of audiences. Once Sasuke reached his dressing room he removed his shirt to relieve the excessive heat.
His phone was bleeping; he proceeded to check it.
"Be careful Uchiha," it read and Sasuke squinted his eyes to adapt to the sudden brightness, "I'm always watching you."
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In the hotel room, Sakura frantically rushed to get ready. After having been sent home by Naruto, she hadn't delayed much time. To her dismay, she was still taking too long to get her hair sorted.
"Ugh" she grunted, positioning the smoking hot hair curler with difficulty, "why can't things work right for once."
After achieving the polished look she was aiming for, her eyes regarded the reflection before her. Pink curls, black dress, high heels, smoky eyes…things seemed to be going just fine, she mentally approved of herself. However something was missing—something that would complete and tie everything up.
That's right; Sasuke's bejeweled hairpin. It could be pictured perfectly—Sasuke seeing her amongst the crowd wearing it and having his attention caught off-guard.
Smiling at the pleasing thought, Sakura made way across the room when she heard the gentle ding of the room's doorbell.
"Who is it?" Sakura called out, preoccupied with digging her accessories out. "I'm almost ready!" she answered to no one, assuming that the person waiting was her escort/driver/Naruto.
There was no reply but another ding. Sakura cursed to herself and trotted over to her door, opening it to reveal a thick man dressed head to toe in a black suit…and a scarred face. Maybe it was someone Sasuke had sent over—after all, he never really tells her anything prior to it happening.
"Y-Yes?" Sakura stuttered, her eyes widened in slight alarm.
"Haruno Sakura?" a deep gravelly voice asked.
"Yes, it's I—I mean yeah, it's me," she swallowed a lump in her now bone-dry throat. "Who are you? Did Sasuke send you here?"
A grin spreads across his face. "You can put it that way."
Sakura looked back at the glinting pin on the edge of her bed. "Um, well I'm almost ready, I just have to—"
The stranger pushed her inside with a force that startled her, one hand around her throat and another on her mouth preventing any form of sound to escape. The pinkette was elevated an inch from the floor as she struggled to swing her legs at him, to no avail. Swing. Hit. Swing. Hit. Bite. Scream. He was obviously too strong for her and after a while she had lost momentary consciousness due to the lack of air.
Two men, dressed identically to the stranger, came into view and continued to wrap a red cloth around her mouth. Sakura was carried out to a strange limousine and did not regain consciousness for a while.
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"Naruto—"
The blonde's mouth puffed up with ramen soup. "Mmf-what?"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "What in kami's name are you still doinghere?"
"Eating, if you still haven't figured that one out yet, teme."
A sigh. "Do you know what is happening in two hours?"
Naruto, clueless, just stared at his friend because he knew the obvious answer. "Yes, your concert—your point?"
"Do you know who else is supposed to be here but can't due to your inability to be bloody punctual?"
The whiskered man scratched his head, still clueless. "S-Sakura?" Finally the realization hit him, he was supposed to pick her up an hour ago and he mentally slapped himself. "Shit—man I'm sorry, I completely forgot!"
Sasuke grunted and plopped himself down on the couch across his friend's. "Nevermind that, you can pick her up later, maybe she's still getting ready."
Naruto noticed Sasuke's obvious frustration. "Teme, I'm sorry but man it's not that big of a mistake to get you so worked up."
Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I got another weird anti-fan threat."
"You get those a lot teme."
"Unlike the other idiotic messages, I couldn't trace this idiot's IP address."
"Get Kakashi-san to do it. That man works magic with all that technology shit." Naruto slurped the last string of fat noodle. "Once I accidentally shipped my phone to Brazil and he tracked it, and mailed it back to me within the next 5 minutes. Like who in hell's name does that kinda stuff, it's crazy."
Sasuke reached for his mobile phone, pressed a few buttons, then tossed it over to Naruto who missed. The blonde growled and rubbed his forehead, cursing his friend. "Read it." Sasuke said unapologetically.
A snicker, which was later followed with a faltering expression. "Eh teme…this is kind of creepy." A new notification appeared and Naruto jumped at the sudden vibration in his hand. "New message for you, I'm guessing it's from that creep again." Naruto looked up wearily at Sasuke but the ravenette sat impassively still. "We have your friend—do as we say, or she goes." He read out loud.
"'Your friend'? Who could that possibly mean—"
An unpleasant realization hit the young prodigy. "Naruto, get your car."
Naruto too shared the same thought and nodded, he rushed out of the building without a word of protest.
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"Shit teme—she's gone. I checked everywhere, even asked the receptionist. They saw a few men carrying her out, thought they were with us."
In frustration Sasuke cursed to no one but himself and kicked at the side table next to him. "I should have called her. I'm such a fucking idiot."
Kakashi walked in, no longer in his languid manner, a serious glare graced his face. "I tracked the whereabouts of that message—"
"Told you he was pro," Naruto received a slap on the head from the ravenette for interrupting.
"—it comes from a site, shoe warehouse, around 20 minutes from here"
Hyuuga Neji stood stoically in his uniform with his arms folded against his chest, "Nara and I could get there in less than 15." Shikamaru nodded in a corner, no longer sleep deprived. "No need for jets—we're on it."
Both Kakashi and Sasuke nodded before the two men rushed out of the building.
"I just don't get it, why would they want Sakura? Why her out of all people?" Sasuke scowled and punched the dry wall to relieve his anger.
"Someone knows." Kakashi mused. "Someone is clearly watching you, Uchiha-san."
The aforementioned boy raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Funny, I had an email saying just that. But that doesn't make any fucking sense."
"No time to waste, we have to leave now," Kakashi narrowed his eyes at a tiny black object glinting in a corner, "—we're being watched."
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A muffled scream can be heard in the heart of the building; Haruno Sakura was tied up to a wooden chair with a thick, scratch, rope. The strange men stood in a circle surrounding her, some facing outwards and some weren't. They were told specifically by him to not hurt the girl, just take her in as ransom.
Sakura spat to the ground next to her. "What do you guys want from me?" she hissed.
They ignored her and she screamed until one of them took notice. He was bald with a scar running down from his left eyebrow to his square jaw. "You are helpful to us, Sakura-san." He stated, plain and clear.
"Why me? I don't have anything with me, I'm not even filthy rich."
A grin appeared on the man's face, it sickened her. "Ah, but you have things that is deemed better than wealth." His face inched closer to her and whispered, "What you have is more valuable."
More valuable? That didn't make any sense to Sakura. She pondered silently at the possibilities of what is more valuable than wealth; connections? No, that cannot be it, she was the daughter of a salary-man. Her body stiffened. No. That must not be it. That man could not have meant sexual advantages. She was starting to sweat, heart beating quicker each second, when she snuck a glance to his face it was as emotional as a surface of a rock. She offered them no pleasure of that kind, she just couldn't.
So Sakura began to cry. "Please, just let me out, I'll give you anything!"
The man scowled, annoyed at the sound of a girl crying. "Shut up—get her wrapped up again, annoying little bitch."
Someone came with the same red cloth and struggled, but eventually succeeded, into wrapping it around Sakura's mouth. Her face was now flushed red and moist from tears.
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"Get in that fucking place and find Sakura, now." Sasuke hissed and both Neji and Shikamaru nodded.
A group of people stood 10 feet away from the building. The darkness in which surrounded them made everyone felt certain uneasiness. Sasuke stared at the distant in front of him where the warehouse stood. It was abandoned, dilapidated and most of all completely secluded from public. There was a feeling in his gut when he thought of the things they could possibly have done to her; this made him angrier than he already was.
Kakashi extended an arm to stop the two bodyguards. "Not so fast, this place has some explosive devices planted." The masked man referred to the lump of freshly dug sand on the ground. "They want something."
Sasuke's cell phone rang. No number was displayed on his screen.
"Who the fuck are you?" Sasuke spat. "Where is she? What have you done to her?"
"Easy Uchiha-san," a smooth voice on the other line chuckled, "We just want a nice favor from you, that's all. Do it and we will let the girl go. Don't comply, and we'll ship her away to a place you will never…find her."
The young Uchiha narrowed his eyes, careful as to what he chose to reply the stranger with.
"Let her go, then I'll do as you want."
The stranger tsk-ed on the other line mockingly. "No can do, Uchiha-san. Either you comply or she goes." Sasuke could hear a girl's cry in a distance, "Hey, shut her up will you? Do it or I will." A crack resounded, something like a slap. Sasuke clenched his fist.
"Don't hurt her or I will fucking kill you."
"Then do as we say." The voice was no longer smooth and mockingly playful.
Sasuke silently cursed himself for giving in.
"Good, the stubborn Uchiha-san finally has a soft spot. Now we are not telling you who we are, however, it is important for you to know that the record label you are working for is someone we are not quite…civil with. Let's just say they are more profitable in business than we are and it's not something we could let go lightly."
The ravenette said nothing in return. The stranger continued.
"Now here's the deal—sabotage that company. We want you to get us their confidential files all stored in their office. We give you one hour. Come back with the file and you get the girl."
Sasuke's eyes opened ever so slightly. "One hour is not enough—"
A girl cried in a distant again with another slap.
"One hour, or she goes." The line ended.
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"We have it."
Kakashi stared into his client's eyes. "Listen, Uchiha-san. You give them this file and your career is over."
Sasuke laughed without humor. "Isn't that what they wanted?" He lowers his gaze, "I'm willing to take that risk—now get Sakura."
Kakashi nodded, not quite sure if the Uchiha was making a sane decision. But a life in return was more precious than the fame and riches Sasuke was in for.
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"Sakura-chan!" Uzumaki Naruto shouted upon seeing the pinkette struggling on a chair.
Sakura's emerald eyes opened wide in shock. Sasuke was here, along with his masked manager, Kakashi-san. Hyuuga Neji and Nara Shikamaru. Naruto. They all came for her. Everyone was breathing heavily, like all of them had run a marathon of some kind.
The strange men blocked her view from them; a fight was brewing in the hot air.
"Let her go!" Sasuke shouted and Sakura could see visible veins around his forehead; tension.
The man with the scar scowled. "Hand us the files first, Uchiha."
Sasuke extended his arm, in his hand held a thick wide envelope. "I have them. Now she goes." Sasuke looked at Sakura who was whimpering in her seat. "Sakura, you're safe with us. Don't cry."
The cloth around her mouth had loosened up and fell onto the floor. She screamed. "SASUKE, BEHIND YOU!"
He turned to see someone with a steel pipe in his hand ready to swing at his head. He dodged it last minute and grabbed him by the arm, throwing the man to the ground. More came. One by one he punched right in the stomach while some received powerful blows to the face. There was blood and he could feel it on his hands, from his lips, some his and some weren't. He could taste the bitter coppery taste in his mouth.
Sakura was crying in the distance so they would stop hurting Sasuke but Neji and Shikamaru had most of the crowd taken care off. Kakashi ran towards the crying pinkette, untying her with smooth precision and releasing her from her sore position.
Kakashi tucked moist pink strands of hair behind her ear. "Sakura-san, you are not safe here. You must go. I had my people arrange a jet for you." The grey haired man helped her up and towards the door. "Hurry."
Sakura couldn't understand, she could not comprehend the situation at hand anymore than Naruto or Sasuke could. But Kakashi seemed to know more than he should. She cried, mumbling words along side "please" "what's going on" and "but what about Sasuke" however, the grey haired man only urged her out the building. Naruto, who was defending his friends, caught a quick glance at her, his eyes looked so blue with guilt that it churned in her stomach.
In her peripheral vision, Sakura could see the helicopter outside in the vast plain field, blades turning wildly against the night—the wind generated was powerful. She knew that this was the last night she would stay here. Last night and possibly the last time she would see Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto and everyone.
"Kakashi-san," her eyes filled with tears and she whimpered, "Kakashi-san, will Sasuke be okay? I can't go without saying goodbye!"
The young Uchiha was struggling against another potential blow to the head by a metal rod. He turned to look at Sakura, his face a mix of sweat, crimson and anger. "Go Sakura. I will find you. Right now, you have to leave."
"But Sasuke—" she was half crying, almost out the door.
He gritted his teeth from the force. "I will find you, Sakura."
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Monday, 9:03 am
WEEKLY NEWS
War Within The Fandom;
"The infamous Uchiha Sasuke created a massive uproar among fans when he did not show up in his concert. The record label now is filing a lawsuit against stolen work. Will this be the end of Sasuke's career?"
"Perfect." A man sat behind his large oak desk and folded the newspaper, storing it elsewhere. "Now make sure he never sees that girl again."
He spoke into the receiver and ended the call.
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A/N: I haven't been on for so long that I forgot how to update my chapters. I suck. Do you guys still love me? :c Review to make me happy? Or not. But it would be nice. Please? Pretty please?
Iloveyoureaders.