I am soooooo sorry for the delay, things kind of got away from me you know? Plus, I tried making this a longer chapter but it just wasn't transitioning right no matter how hard I tried.
With that being said, I am just going to keep doing what I have been doing and go with the shorter chapters but update more frequently. They aren't horribly short, averaging around like 1,900 words per chapter, so I hope they are long enough to satisfy.
Surprisingly enough it was not Sakura that shouted out her displeasure, no, it was the ever polite and calm Mebuki who seemed as though she was about to have a heart attack. Her mouth was going a mile a minute as she continually babbled on and on about how she did not agree to such a bold move, some of her words coming out a garbled mess with how quickly she was speaking. It was one thing to agree to allow the image change, it was a completely other thing to allow her daughter to date, especially someone so…unorthodox. Sakura on the other hand was the complete opposite, docile as can be as she stared unblinkingly at the two smirking men, her back ram rod straight. Her brain was moving at a much slower pace than her mother's as she tried to figure out how any of this made sense.
"Mebuki, calm down." Kakashi coaxed gently. "Will you stop babbling nonsense so I can properly explain this to you. Sakura. Sakura. Sakura!" With a quick jerk the young woman woke for her stupefied state and turned her attention to her manager. "Calm your mother down please so I can explain everything."
With a small nod she turned to her mother, forcing the woman to look at her as she spoke in soothing tones, attempting to make the woman sit back down in her chair. "I cannot believe that you did not discuss with them beforehand about involving us and what our help would entail." The elder Uchiha said as they waited for Sakura to calm her mother.
"If I had let them know beforehand, Mebuki would never have agreed to it." The silver fox confessed with a sheepish grin which earned an eye roll from Madara. "Sakura on the other hand would have agreed without even meeting Itachi first. She isn't the most skilled of thinking before she acts."
"Kiss my ass Kakashi." Sad woman snapped, her mother now under control, though still looking a little worse for wear. Sakura had to admit, this was the most worn out and tired she has ever seen her mother, it almost made her feel guilty about the whole thing.
"Ah, I believe that is now Itachi's job, eh?" he asked with a teasing grin as he watched the little firecracker make exaggerated gagging noises.
She almost screamed when she felt lips on her ear, heavy breathing tickling the sensitive area, making a shiver run down her spine. "I'd be more than happy to give you something to actually gag on." whispered said man just quiet enough so no one else in the room could here. The comment earned him a swift and painful jab to the chest with her elbow, a annoyed hiss escaping her lips when something stabbed her back. She should of guessed that with a face adorned with so many modifications, his nipples would be pierce as well.
"So are you going to explain why I am apparently dating the male hooker here?" She asked, trying her best to ignore the man standing so close to her who, she was almost positive had just whispered something about a private showing.
"Essentially Itachi is going to be a scapegoat." Kakashi explained, his tone abnormally serious. "He is going to be your date for the Leaf Music Awards."
"The media will not be able to resist asking about Itachi and why he is arriving as your date. Which is where you will make it public knowledge that the two of you are dating. This is going to spread like wild fire, especially if you win any of the awards you are nominated for." continued the other Uchiha in the room, his almost playful demeanor replaced by a stone cold business man.
"So what does any of that have to do with my image?" she asked arms crossed and hip cocked to the side. She wasn't exactly sure how she felt about this, it had its pros and cons, but right now she was just too irritable to actually weigh them against one another.
"The media is going to watch you like a hawk to see if it is really true so it means we will be spending a lot of time together." His fingers played with her pink locks as he spoke. "You will be able to slowly drop the princess act, becoming more and more rebellious, and they will blame it on me, thinking I have been corrupting your innocent little mind. Not too far of a stretch given our obvious differences in public image." He gestured to her and her obvious dainty and feminine appearance and then to himself, a perfect picture of rugged rebelliousness.
"What will Itachi-san being gaining in return for his… services." Mebuki asked skeptical of the whole scenario. She knew from personal experiences that to get ahead in in the world of the elites you had to make deals, you have to give a little in order to get a little. And as much as she hated to admit it, this seemed to be a very beneficial plan, if the price wasn't too high.
"Nothing too steep, I assure you Haruno-san." Madara promised, turning his full attention to her. "Even if Sakura is not well liked she is still well known. By being associated with your daughter Ita-chan will be able to establish himself more firmly as a member of the elite, even if he is only known as the man that tainted Konoha's pop princess. By bringing more attention to himself, he will be bringing more attention to his band who, though not totally unknown, are still on the rise and could always use some more publicity. We do have some minor requests, but we are more than willing to discuss these and compromise."
"And what are these requests?" Her mother was back to her normal self, talking to them in a tone that showed she was just as serious about business as they were, even if she still looked a bit tired.
"We would like my friend Sasori to design Sakura's dress for the awards show. He is currently working solely with the band, creating almost our entire wardrobe. He is looking for a model to wear a new dress he has been creating for a while now, but the only female in our band isn't… delicate enough for his design." Itachi explained as he pulled out his phone to show the older woman the sketches for the design.
"Pfft. Delicate? You're probably more delicate than I am." Said woman scoffed. This was why she wanted to end the charade, she hated being seen as delicate, especially when she was far from it. She wasn't stupid enough to think she was the strongest person around, but she could at the very least hold her own if the situation called for it. Curiosity got the better of her though so she tried to take a peek at the photo but he quickly hid it from her view, smirking when she shot him a displeased glare.
"As you can see Haruno-san, it is nothing inappropriate." He made sure to pocket his phone in the compartment farthest from the midget in front of him. He wouldn't put it past her to steal his phone to take a peek at the sketches and he enjoyed her irritated looks too much to allow her to see them.
She nodded in agreement, thoroughly impressed by the sketches. If the designer could bring as much detail in the actual dress as he penned in the sketches, then the dress was going to absolutely stunning, especially on her dear Sakura "I approve."
"Furthermore," the elder Uchiha started. "as long as it does not contradict with previous contractual obligations we would like for Sakura to make an appearance in a music video for one of the band's newest songs. She will not be required to sing; we would just like for her to be in the video." His long fingers reached into the leather briefcase at him feet and pulled out a manila envelope. "In this envelope is a list of their songs, video concepts, and the studio demos. Feel free to choose whichever one you feel most comfortable with." With a smile he handed the envelope over to Sakura. "These songs have yet to be released, so please, take care of the demos."
"I will inquire the details of her contract with the record label and I can get back to you on that before dinner time tomorrow." The older woman pulled out her phone and typed out a memo for herself as a reminder, before turning her attention back to the gentleman. "Is there anything else you wish to request?"
"No, that is all."
"I actually have a question." Sakura spoke up. "Is this a sure thing now? Like don't I get a say or even just time to think it over?"
"I know this is a little too much, too quickly Sakura, but this is your best option. This relationship will only last a few months, a year at the very most. If it gives you more comfort you are more than welcome to end it at any point as long as the same curtesy can be extended to Itachi." Madara gave her an apologetic smile as he continued on. "And I'm afraid that we can only give you a day or two to think things over. We will need time to get the two of you comfortable enough with each other to be a convincing couple and to come up with a proper story on how the two of you met. Sasori is also going to need a sufficient amount of time in order to complete the dress to your proportions."
"That is more than generous. Sakura-dear, I am not exactly thrilled about this either, I never wanted you to have to bargain like this in order to do well in this business, but they prove a valid point. This agreement is very beneficial to both your career and Itachi's. I wish there was another way, but I trust Kakashi's judgement. If he thinks this is what truly is best for you and your career, then I will set my personal feelings aside and I will support you on this."
"Your mother is right Sakura. No matter how you look at this, there is no real down side. By the end of the year you can be completely free to be yourself."
She nodded in noncommittally, her teeth digging into her bottom lip and her fingers playing with the lacey trimming of her dress as she thought things over. Was this all really worth it? Was it worth lying to the media just to get out of another lie unscathed? If she thought about it the way they were, it was a good idea, she would be completely faultless as long as the public never found out it was a hoax. He would receive all the blame for her new behavior. It really had no down side… except for the idea of actually spending time with the man who was still playing with the ends of her hair. And if she spent time with him, it meant she was going to have to spend time with his band too and who knows what kind of weirdos they were. If they were friends with him, they had to be a bunch of clowns. But it was only for a couple of months right? She could put up with them for a couple months if it meant she could act like a normal person in public. They honestly couldn't be that bad.
With a displeased sigh and a jutting lip she finally caved. "Fine, I agree." She could practically feel the male smirking behind her, and all she wanted to do was turn around and slap that stupid look off of his face. She was already starting to regret her decision.
"That is wonderful!" Kakashi was grinning from ear to ear. "Now let's finish everything up here before Sakura chews through her lip."
Another hour passed before Sakura and Mebuki were finally able to leave the office. All they had to do was tie up a couple of loose ends and work out scheduling which shouldn't have taken more than five, maybe ten minutes tops, but Itachi refused to cooperate simply for the sake of irritating Sakura. At one point he even kidnapped her poor phone so he could steal her number and in the process got his weirdo germs all over it. By the time they finally left the office Sakura was sore, hungry, and just plain irritated especially since they didn't even finish everything they needed to, Kakashi simply took pity on her and ended it before she murdered a certain someone. But now she needed to meet up at his house the following afternoon, a task she was obviously not looking forward to.
"Sakura dear, why don't you go spend time with Ino tonight?" Mebuki suggested once she noticed just how irritated her daughter seemed to be. "You look like you could use the girl time and you know she is going to throw a fit if you do not tell her about Itachi-san right away."
"Are you sure about that mom? I mean, I can only just call her later to tell her the news." Don't get her wrong, she would love to go spend some time with her best friend so she could blow off some steam, but it was odd that her mother suggested it. Honestly it worried her more than anything.
"Go spend some time with her. I will be probably heading straight for bed once I get home anyways. Today was a bit much and I am exhausted." She admitted with a small smile. Sakura could tell she was not lying, she had never seen the woman look this tired and haggard before. She actually looked her age for once.
"If you're sure…" She pulled out her cell phone and set a quick text to Ino letting her know she was crashing at her place tonight and to invite Hinata and their other friend Tenten over too if they could make it because she had big news. Not even a full minute later she received a reply from the blonde.
'How big?'
'BIG. Look I'll tell you when I get there. Just order take out and tell Hina & Tennie to bring goodies. Oh. And break out the alcohol.'
'O.o must be real big if you want to drink.'
'Believe me it is.'
And chapter complete. Again I am sorry for the long delay, I hope no one thought I abandoned this.
Thank you everyone for the reviews and favorites. I'm struggling a bit with my personal life so seeing them brings a smile to my face and brightens my day. So really, thank you everyone.
I am going to add the picture that inspired this fanfiction as the cover photo. I do not personally own it. I'd like to ask the creator, but I am not too adept with that sort of thing so if anyone knows who the artist is, please let me know so I may talk to them. Thank you.
Until next time lovelies!