Chapter Nine: Chap Stick, Chapped Lips, and Things Like Chemistry
Disclaimer: We don't own anything except the plot.
Author's Note: So here is the long-awaited chapter nine. Be warned: fluff alert! Akuhei and I don't know when we'll be able to update again, probably not for a while as exams are coming close, but we have a few good ideas for the next chapter. Hopefully you'll enjoy this one in the meantime. Also, we'd like to thank all of you amazing people for your reviews; they were a pleasure to read!
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"Welcome, Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun! It's been a while!"
"Yeah it has, Iruka! How've you been?" Naruto grinned and warmly hugged the dark haired man who had greeted them before barging backstage. "Oooh, crew doughnuts…"
"Dobe, refrain yourself," Sasuke warned as he followed in after him. He nodded at Iruka as his way of greeting the other man. Sakura came in slowly behind, glancing at all the props and scattered pieces of clothing littering their surrounding. They were inside the headquarters of HUKI, one of Sasuke's biggest allies in the modeling business. Today was a very important day for both companies, however, due to the Spring Wedding Fashion Show to take place later that night. Sasuke had told his models to come by a few hours before the fashion show; since it was morning, only he, Naruto, Sakura, and Kiba (for reasons unknown to anyone) came. Iruka, used to only seeing Naruto, Sasuke, and Kiba, noticed the girl's foreign presence immediately.
"Oh, you must be Sakura!" He smiled and warmly held out his hand for her to shake. She looked up at him in surprise.
"Oh, yes I am! Nice to meet you, Iruka-sama," Sakura smiled politely, "How do you know me, may I ask?"
"Naruto and Sasuke have told me all about you. If you would follow me please…" Sakura glanced in Sasuke's direction, but he quickly turned away from her gaze. He told Iruka all about me?
"Yo. Sorry I'm late," a rather tall, silver-haired man with a mask concealing most of his strikingly handsome face apologized as he appeared behind the group.
"Kakashi, you're always late. There's no point in apologizing," Naruto rolled his eyes as he helped himself to another doughnut.
"Hn."
"Oh, and who is this cute young lady?"
"Back off you horny perve."
"Kiba, I didn't see you there."
"Yeah, whatever. Back off from Sasuke's woman."
"I'm not his woman." Unfortunately.
"She's not my woman." Dammit, why did he agree?
"It's called denial, children," Naruto cooed.
Sasuke and Sakura both turned away in defiance.
"Tight schedule. Time to get back on task," Iruka reminded them as he picked up an extremely obnoxious colored bowtie and tossed it at Kiba.
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After a good two hours of cleaning, running around, and eating doughnuts, everyone was almost ready for the fashion show. Sasuke's other models had shown up and were busily getting dressed as the female models from a different company did the same.
"You know why I love HUKI, Sakura?" Naruto asked the girl as she helped him with his tie. She looked up at him.
"Why?"
"They have the sweetest dressing rooms ever."
"Who cares? You're not even using them," Sakura rolled her eyes as she remembered Naruto's earlier decision of stripping down to his boxers and changing in front of everyone.
"Yeah, well I can't help if people want to look at me. If you know what I mean." He grinned at her, causing her to laugh. He does look cute, especially in this tux. I can't wait to see the rest of guys.
No sooner had she thought about Kiba and Sasuke that they appeared behind her, dressed in their formal wedding attire. Kiba straightened his tie and undid a few buttons of his shirt as Sasuke looked at himself in the mirror, looking possibly more gorgeous than usual.
Stop staring, retard!
"Hey, teme, lookin' good," Naruto winked at his boss who simply raised an eyebrow back at him, then turned his attention to Kiba.
"Kiba, stop undressing," the CEO commanded. Why?!
"But Sasuke, it's so hot in here! Or is that just me?" Kiba laughed, mostly to himself. Before either Kiba or Naruto could continue wasting time with awful comebacks, Iruka and Kakshi intervened.
"Okay 'kids', time for the fashion show. Kiba, what are you doing? Unbutton your shirt a bit more, the ladies like that."
"Come on Kiba, I'll help you with that!" Naruto said as he dragged an unsuspecting Kiba along.
Why would he need to help him undress? Oh, how fruity.
"Sasuke, are you ready?" Kakashi asked, redirecting his attention.
"Hn."
"Kakashi-sama, do you need assistance?" Sakura asked while observing her chaotic surroundings.
"I suppose you could go check up on any of the female models zipping up or whatever it is you people do."
Sakura nodded and walked off.
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Behind the Scenes
"Hey, Kiba, come here," Naruto whispered as soon as they were out of earshot from Sasuke, Kakashi, Iruka, and Sakura.
"What, why? I thought you were going to help me undress?" Kiba asked, grabbing his collar.
"Kiba. Are you kidding me? I was kidding," Naruto raised an eyebrow awkwardly.
"Oh. Then what?"
"I have an idea…" Naruto began, leaning down towards Kiba ear unnecessarily. "You know how Sasuke totally digs Sakura?"
"…no?"
Naruto smacked his forehead.
"Okay, so maybe he doesn't. But this is our chance to test the waters a little."
"I can't swim, I have a skin disorder."
"KIBA. Would you at least you pretend to understand my analogies?"
"Fine, fine. What are you planning on doing?"
"Well this is a spring fashion show right?" Naruto asked, subtly pulling Kiba into a dressing room away from any wandering ears.
"Yeah, so?"
"So that means there'll be lots of girls in wedding dresses!"
"Okay…so?"
"So…we need to get Sakura to wear one. That way Sasuke can see her and he'll subconsciously feel the urge to commit himself into a relationship-"
"Okay that's a bunch of bullshit. There's only one thing that'll be urged on and we all know what that is-"
"Kiba you're so perverted," Naruto rolled his eyes as he gently shut the door behind him.
"Oh? I'M perverted? You're the one locking the two of us into an uncomfortably small dressing room."
"It's so no one can hear us, okay? So anyway. We need to get Sakura into one of those dresses somehow…are you going to help me?"
Kiba sighed. "Fine, I'll help. But where are we going to find a model willing to give us her dress?"
No sooner had Kiba spoken that a tall, skinny model in a gorgeous, silky, off the shoulder HUKI original walked in on the two.
"Am I interrupting?" She asked awkwardly, ready to run out at any moment.
"Oh of course not," Naruto smiled and gently pulled her into the room while motioning Kiba to creep up behind the model. "Now if you could do me a favor…"
"…what?" the model asked.
"Close your eyes and count to five," he grinned and looked as adorable as possible. The girl acquiesced, overcome by his charm. As soon as she shut her eyes, Naruto glanced up at Kiba and made a very violent gesture with his fist. Kiba scanned the room quickly and picked up a broken hanger.
"1…2…3-"
"Err, why don't we add some Mississippi's in there? Better yet, why don't you spell it!"
"Misipi?"
"Not quite. Keep on trying," Naruto urged as Kiba hurriedly looked for an object that would be able to knock the model out. Deciding he could find nothing, he balled his fingers into a fist and bashed it against the poor model's head, knocking her to the floor.
"Great. Now what?" Kiba asked as they both looked at the "dead" girl.
"Uhm…I think we have to get that dress off of her…"
"…sweet!"
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Where are those two? It's almost time for the fashion show… Sakura checked her watch as Sasuke walked up to her and took a seat near her on the sofa she was reclining on. She glanced up at him and gave him a small smile. Before either of the two could say anything to each other, Neji, Gaara, and Lee strode up to them.
"Uchiha," Neji started, looking down at his boss.
"You finally showed up," Sasuke noted, glancing at all three in turn. "Hyuuga, go get changed. Why are Gaara and Lee here?"
"We had nothing to do. And I want to see how the show goes," Gaara answered.
"May we have the pleasure of sitting with you while waiting for the show to begin?" Lee asked, not noticing how cramped the sofa already was without them.
"Well, there isn't-" Sakura began.
"Thanks, Sakura-san!" Lee exclaimed as he plopped himself rather ungracefully next to her, unintentionally forcing her closer to the CEO. Sasuke glanced at her for a moment before turning his attention back to Neji.
Neji nodded at Sasuke as he left to get ready, and Gaara sat himself down next to his assistant, causing Sakura's hand to brush against Sasuke's, in turn causing Sakura to blush slightly. Lee and Gaara then struck up a conversation about marketing, leaving Sasuke and Sakura to amuse themselves.
"So, er, Sasuke-sama, how have you been lately?" Sakura asked in an effort not to sound stupid, but failed anyway.
"…"
"…? It's just a question…" Sakura rolled her eyes.
"What do you want me to say?" Sasuke smirked, turning to face her.
"Well…" Sakura started, but broke off. Why is he staring at me like that?
"Well?"
Is he teasing me?
"Oh don't be silly, Sasuke-sama, it was just a question. The least you could do is answer it before asking me one." Sakura teased in response. Sasuke smirked again.
"Fine."
"Okay…so…answer the question."
"I did. You asked me how I've been doing. I said 'fine.' What more do you want?"
Now he's just being annoying.
"You are so difficult, Sasuke-sama," Sakura sighed as she jokingly hit him on the arm.
"Don't call me that," Sasuke said abruptly, causing Sakura to halt.
What? Difficult?
Noticing her confusion, Sasuke clarified, "Sasuke-sama. Don't call me that."
Sakura was still confused. "Well then, what do you want me to call you?"
"Sasuke."
"But you're-"
"Are friends usually that polite?" Sasuke asked before turning to observe what else was going on in their presence, leaving a surprised Sakura still watching him. She too, turned away, but not before a smile escaped her lips. Suddenly Naruto and Kiba rushed up to the two of them, breathless.
"Sakura, Sakura!" Kiba chanted.
"There's a problem, teme," Naruto cut in. "One of the female models is…missing. Iruka requested Sakura to fill in."
"M-me?"
"Which raiment?" Sasuke asked, completely composed.
"Uh…say what?" Kiba questioned.
"The final strut…the one with you," Naruto continued dramatically, ignoring Kiba. A hint of surprise seemed to come to the Uchiha's eyes at Naruto's words, but quickly reverted to his calm demeanor.
"Do you have the dress?" Sasuke continued. Naruto glanced at Kiba, who quickly ran off and retrieved the dress and shoes. Sakura gasped slightly at the sight of the gorgeous dress. I'd wear that in a heartbeat! And with Sasuke…wait, what am I thinking? Suddenly she noticed all three men watching her closely.
"Go get changed," Sasuke commanded as he stood up.
"What?" Sakura asked in surprise.
"Fashion show starts in ten minutes. Go get changed," Sasuke repeated, holding his hand out to help her up. She took it, still surprised, and took the dress from Kiba.
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"Naruto, I have a confession to make…" Sakura said in hushed tones as Naruto and his partner returned from the runway.
"What is it?"
"…I can't walk in heels…"
"…you know you're up after this next couple comes back?"
"Don't say couple. And I know I'm up soon. Where's Sasuke anyway?" she asked as she held on to the wall, stopping herself from tripping.
"I'm here. And we're up," Sasuke quickly slipped his arm through Sakura's and hurriedly guided her onto the runway.
Oh my God, I'm going to fall!
Sakura nervously glanced at Sasuke, who walked with complete ease.
Damn boys and their flats. But we're halfway down the runway…so far so good…
Sakura smiled, feigning confidence. But as she took a next step forward she felt her heel get caught on the hem of her dress, and started falling forward. Oh shit.
As she bit her lip and braced herself for hitting the floor, she felt a strong arm catch her and swing her around into a dip. She gasped as the crowd clapped, believing it was all an act.
Sasuke leaned towards her suavely. "Can you walk?" he whispered.
"It…hurts a bit," she winced. Sasuke all but rolled his eyes as he gently but securely picked up the girl bridal-style to carry her the rest of the way. Dumbstruck, Sakura held on to his neck in fear of falling and gingerly allowed herself to lean against his chest.
"Too tight," Sasuke muttered quickly as they turned the corner.
"Oh! Sorry!" Sakura hurriedly replied as she loosened her grip.
As they went backstage and the curtain fell behind them, Sasuke gently placed Sakura onto a sofa.
"Naruto, get some ice," he commanded as he straightened his coat and began to leave.
"Hey, Sasuke?" Sakura called, not wanting him to leave. He turned back around.
"What?"
"…thanks," she said, smiling slightly.
"Hn," he replied, before turning around to hide a smirk as he went off to consult with Kakashi and Iruka about the show.
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Off in the distance, Naruto and Kiba turned to face each other. Grinning broadly, they quickly looked around before high-fiving each other and walked off in different directions as if nothing ever happened.
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Preview of Chapter Ten:
"...let's split up."
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Author's Note: There it is! Don't forget to review, we love reading them:)