35A/N: Wow. The shame… Oh goshies. I don't even have a valid excuse for why it's taken me so long to update. I really don't. So, I'm not going to bore you guys with my rambling half excuses and very sincere (and long .) apologies. :) Hopefully this will… kind of make up for the long absence of updates. :3
Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR POISION ON OUR LIPS
"Talking"
"Thinking"
— Times/Scene Change
"And this time." Naruto whispered. "I'm serious. Your version."
Song 03. Abracadabra
Sasuke felt his heart race and his breathing quicken. Naruto continued to inch forward, scared that if he moved too fast it would startle Sasuke into pushing him away.
"I love you." Naruto confessed again. "Please be mine."
Lips just a breath away, Naruto couldn't believe his luck. Sasuke wasn't protesting or moving away. Maybe the raven finally understood that he was serious. Naruto could feel the butterflies ripping at the walls of his stomach in excitement. Sasuke was finally his.
"No." Sasuke answered as Naruto kissed his hand.
"What?" the blond whined in disappointment. "Why not? But I'm really serious about this!"
"I know you are," Sasuke replied while standing back up.
"Then why?" Naruto asked.
"I told you before: if you're really serious then I'll think about it." The raven explained. "Didn't you say it yourself that I was an 'unreachable flower'? Well, 'unreachable flowers' are not easily obtained." Sasuke said with his signature smirk.
Naruto cursed himself for saying those words. He should have known that Sasuke would turn his own words back on him. "Then what am I suppose to do?" Naruto asked in desperation.
"I don't know, but that's not my problem. So good luck," Sasuke answered with a shrug and pat Naruto on the shoulder before turning on his heel and walking back to the other side of the room to finish changing.
"Sasuke says he likes the part of me that acts like a dog… What does that even mean? Damn it. A dog courting an unreachable flower is even harder than a human. But…"
"I'm going to go get some coffee. Is there anything you want?" Sasuke asked over his shoulder as he finished buttoning up his shirt. When he didn't hear a response he turned to see if Naruto was listening to him. "Naru—"
Naruto cut Sasuke off with a kiss. As Naruto deepened the kiss, Sasuke forgot his wasn't suppose to be enjoying the blonde's kissing skills and so found himself melting into the kiss. It wasn't until Naruto pulled away that Sasuke's brain started to function properly again that he remembered he wasn't suppose to be kissing Naruto.
"Naruto!" Sasuke scolded as he tried to punch the blond idol.
"Woof!" Naruto barked as he evaded Sasuke's fist. "Coffee right?" Naruto asked as he ran towards the exit. "I'll go buy it!"
Sasuke could feel the blood rush to his face in embarrassment and was glad that Naruto had left. "What's with the bark? Does that mean he doesn't want me to take the kiss seriously?" Sasuke questioned in confusion as he tentatively touched his lips. Taking a deep breath and calming himself, Sasuke couldn't help but let a chuckle slip past his lips.
"I won't let you get me that easily Naruto. Since you've made me suffer through this one-sided love for so long. But then again… That means I won't be getting any action at the same time…" The raven mused thoughtfully. "So in this situation, am I a masochist or a sadist?"
Naruto entered the café with a bounce in his step. "Two coffees please!" he ordered.
While waiting for his order, Naruto started glancing around, oblivious to the star struck and admiring stares he was receiving from the café staff and costumers. He traced his bottom lip with his thumb, and a wide grin pulled at his mouth.
"Sasuke won't be angry as long as I'm serious, right? So I still have a chance!" Naruto cheered excitedly. He wasn't down for the count yet.
A few days passed with no excitement. Naruto and Sasuke finished filming the first episode of their newest project and the two busy idols were finally allowed a day off to rest up. Unfortunately, Sasuke and Naruto's production company CEO decided time was money and her money was spent on better things than "rest" and "relaxing".
"Isn't it my day off?" Naruto asked as he dragged himself into the CEO office and propped his tired body against the office door frame. "Sasuke rejected me so I stayed up all night playing video games…"
"I apologize for calling you here so suddenly, but I have something to show you."
"Good morning," Sasuke appeared behind Naruto as Sakura started rummaging around her desk.
"Ah! Sasuke!" Naruto called happily suddenly very full of energy. "Sasuke's here too! Hey Sasuke, I missed you. It's been almost 16 hours since we last saw each other ya know."
"Okay guys." Sakura held up two plain white bags. "Change into these."
"Why?" Sasuke inquired as Naruto hugged him from behind.
"Yea," the blond agreed. "What's so important that you couldn't wait a day to show us?"
Sakura handed the bags off to the boys and smiled cheerily. "How do you guys feel about magic?"
"Uh…" Naruto answered, unsure what to say. Sasuke just chose to stay silent.
"Whatever. Just get changed and go to the car." She ordered.
After fifteen minutes, Naruto and Sasuke were dressed in the two suits that Sakura had handed them and the three were now in the car on their way to a magic show.
"Have you heard of him?" Sakura showed the two singers a picture as the car pulled to a stop at a red light.
Sasuke and Naruto both shook their heads "no".
"Well lately a young magician named Byakugan has been catching a lot of attention." Sakura explained.
"Oh…" Sasuke said in recognition.
"You know about him Sasuke?" Sakura questioned.
Sasuke nodded. "I haven't seen him before, but his name has been mentioned a couple times in my fan letters. Something about the puppet he uses for his shows looks a lot like me."
"Looks like you?" Naruto asked, suspicion lacing his voice.
"That's right!" Sakura turned in her seat to look at Sasuke. "Ino saw his show in Vegas and said it was amazing, and when I watched the video I was shocked! The puppet looks exactly like you Sasuke! Plus the magician is really cute too." Sakura commented with a giggle.
"And this concerns us…? How…?" Sasuke asked in annoyance, it was his day off for goodness sakes.
"Oh right. Because I was actually hoping that for We Are Ninjas' next concert to add some kind of magical element to the performance, either at the beginning or the end, though the magic isn't limited to only those two times." Sakura explained with a smile.
"Magic tricks during the concert?" Naruto wondered skeptically.
"Exactly!" Sakura confirmed. "And when I heard about Byakugan at around the same time… Don't you think this is all just meant to be?"
"So you're saying you want him to provide technical assistance for our performances or something like that..?" Naruto questioned.
"And Bingo was his name-o," Sakura said happily.
"But isn't that kind of impossible? I mean, he's a guy that's good enough to get his own show in Vegas. I'm sure he's got better things to do than teach two singers some minor magic tricks." Oh Sasuke, always the bubble buster.
"Oh Sasuke. Ye of little faith," Sakura smiled wickedly. "Why do you think I'm bringing you along? You're going to be our bargaining chip to get Byakugan to agree to help us."
"What? Do you even have tickets to this show?"
"Yep. Luckily, a friend of mine got me tickets to his show, so turn up the charm when you meet him Sasuke." Sakura replied proudly.
"What? We're going to Las Vegas?" Naruto asked excitedly.
"Umm. No. Sorry Naruto. We're just heading to Tokyo. He's on his Japanese tour."
"Ohh…" Naruto said deflated as the car parked.
"Hey Sasuke. Have you ever been to Las Vegas?" Naruto asked as they maneuvered around the crowd of people. "Didn't you live in America before?"
"Yea. I studied abroad my last year of high school, and I've been to Vegas a few times to watch some shows." Sasuke answered.
"Shhhh! Keep it down you two. Apparently there are a lot of We Are Ninjas fans here to see the show, so be quieter." Sakura warned the two.
"Sakura!"
"Ah Kiba! Sorry to bother you like this today." Sakura greeted a man that looked around Sasuke and Naruto's age. "Sasuke, Naruto, This is Inuzuka Kiba, the manager here," Sakura gestured to the man then moved her hand towards Naruto and Sasuke. "Kiba, this is Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke."
"Please to meet you," Sasuke bowed respectfully.
"Nice to meet ya," Naruto greeted with a grin.
"Nice to meet you too," Kiba greeted back. "Hey, can I have your autograph later? My sister is a huge fan."
"Yes, of course," Sasuke nodded.
"Thanks." Kiba grinned then turned to Sakura. "Sakura, I've told them that the three of you will be coming, but I still haven't mentioned anything about the concert to Byakugan or his people. Maybe because this is the first day of his first trip to Japan, but he's unusually nervous today… But anyways, I'll just introduce you to him after the show." Kiba promised.
"That's fine," Sakura reassured. "Don't worry about it. It's not like Byakugan is the only person We Are Ninjas can ask to help us with magic tricks anyways. I personally just want to show him our Sasuke, and the fact that I get to met him isn't so bad either," Sakura confessed with a slight blush.
"So we really are just here because she's a fan," Sasuke deadpanned as he watched Sakura talk to the manager.
"Then doesn't that just make me a useless tag along?" Naruto asked as they were led into the stage area.
"Hn. Probably," Sasuke answered with a smirk.
The stage set-up was magnificent. Naruto could see why Sakura was such a fan of the magician. Sasuke was unimpressed.
"Byakugan's performance is like shoujo manga's world, both beautiful and fantastical." Sakura explained as she read the pamphlet for the show. "A puppet that only comes to life during the night and it's a one night encounter with Byakugan… That's the back story. Also the moving puppet will act as Byakugan assistant as well. Ah! It's starting!" Sakura said excitedly as the sound of bells started to ring.
The series of floating stairs appeared on the stage and at the top of the stairs was a handsome man dressed in white and his long hair was pulled into a low ponytail. The entire audience was memorized by the man as he gracefully walked down the suspended stairs. He then expertly moved across the stage to an elaborate seat with a child seated in it, but upon closer inspection one could see that the child was really just a very well-made puppet. Byakugan kneeled down before the puppet, leaned forward, and placed a gentle kiss on the puppet's unmoving mouth. Almost instantly, the puppet slowly opened it eyes and stood up before the crowd.
"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed in amazement. "It really looks just like Sasuke when I first met him! Waa! It stood up! So cool!"
"Shh. Naruto. Keep it down." Sakura scolded the excited blond.
As the magic act continued, the entire crowd seemed transfixed with the two figures on the stage. It was truly a spectacular show.
"Hmmm." Sakura mused thoughtfully as the show began to wind down. "I wonder if that puppet is supposed to be girl since you can't really tell the puppet's gender by its clothing, although it does look a lot like Sasuke. But if it is a boy, isn't it a little perverse to be waking it up with a kiss?"
Sasuke chose not to comment and Naruto was too absorbed with the show to pay any attention to Sakura.
As Byakugan was getting ready to do the show's finale, he finally looked into the audience for the first time that night. His eyes scanned the different in-awed faces in the front row with relief that his show was a success. Then his eyes fell on a familiar face, the face that inspired his entire magic show. Uchiha Sasuke. Byakugan stood in shock for a few second before remembering he was in the middle of a show and now was not the time to be zoning out. So he quickly composed himself and continued on with the show.
"That was amazing Sasuke! That puppet really looked like you!" Naruto praised as they walked out of the stage area.
"Actually, I find that kind of creepy," Sasuke answered.
"Well it is magic. So there's got to be a trick behind it. I wonder how he did it." Naruto said to himself. "I really want to take a closer look at that puppet. Hey Sasuke, do you think he'll let me?" the blond turned to seek his band mate's approval. "Sasuke?"
"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled as he was being taken by a group of security guards to an unknown location.
"Sasuke!" Naruto called back as he attempted to chase after the group but was stopped by a second group of security guards. "Sasuke!"
"Naruto! Be quiet!" Sakura yelled, embarrassed that Naruto was making such a scene. "Sorry. He can be such a kid sometimes," Sakura apologized to the person she was talking to.
"But Sakura! Sasuke's been kidnapped!"
"What?" That got her attention.
Sasuke tried not to cringe at the sound of a slamming door and cursed the men for throwing him onto the floor. They could have at least put him in a chair.
"What the hell?" he asked to no one in particular as he took in his surroundings. It looked like a dressing room.
"Byakugan?" Sasuke said hesitantly as the man walked closer to him.
"Sasuke?" he asked as he kneeled down to be eye level with the wary raven. "You're Sasuke, right? Do you remember me?" Byakugan asked, a little desperately.
"Ummm…" Sasuke shook his head.
"I use to show you my magic tricks in central park. Remember?"
"Ohhh." Sasuke said as remembered the few times a kid, a few years younger than himself, would randomly come up to him while he was reading and show him simple card tricks. "Yea. You did card tricks."
"Yea! That's me! I'm so happy you still remember me! I recognized you with just one glance. I was hoping that if I came to Japan, I might get a chance to see you again! But I didn't actually expect… But it happened. Here you are." Byakugan rambled.
"Wow. That kid got big. He's even taller than me." Sasuke mused offhandedly, though he was still a few centimeters shorter than Naruto.
"It must be fate Sasuke!" Byakugan reasoned as he lunged forward and hugged Sasuke tightly.
Sasuke sat for a moment, not really understanding what was happening. But the sound of Naruto yelling outside the door caught his brain up to speed.
"Sasuke!"
Sasuke pushed himself away from Byakugan as Naruto forced the door open but Naruto still saw Byakugan somewhat hugging Sasuke and assumed the magician had forced himself on Sasuke and quickly stormed the room and grabbed the magician by the collar and raised his fist.
"Naruto…"
"Naruto..?" Byakugan echoed in confusion.
"Naruto, stop!" Sasuke quickly grabbed the raging blond from behind just as Byakugan's people rushed into the room.
"Why you—"
"No," Byakugan cut the head of his security team off. "It's alright."
"Yea," Naruto agreed as he lowered his fist. "But if you lay a finger on Sasuke again, I will not forgive you."
Sasuke looked between the two men uncomfortably as the tension in the air suddenly skyrocketed.
Once everyone was calm again and thinking rationally. Naruto and Byakugan felt a little embarrassed by their earlier actions. Well, Byakugan did anyways.
"My real name is Hyuuga Neji and I apologize for my brash behavior earlier. But when I thought that I'd lose him if I didn't do something about it, I became a little desperate." The magician explained sheepishly. "I hadn't expected the Japanese artist I would meet to actually be Sasuke himself. Please, please, have a seat."
"Oh thank you," Sakura answered. "But I'm fine. Wow, your Japanese pronunciation is perfect. What a series of surprises! To think that you and Sasuke are friends!" Sakura couldn't help but gush mildly. "Sasuke, why didn't you realize earlier?"
"Because we aren't really friends," the raven idol replied. "While I was in America, he just performed a few card tricks for me in a park. That's it."
Neji laughed a little nervously at Sasuke's statement. "I can't really say I blame Sasuke. At the time I wasn't all that good… Naruto." The magician smiled at the still glaring blond. "I'm really sorry about what happened earlier. If you're willing to forgive me, please shake my hand."
Naruto stared at the outstretched hand suspiciously but the blond wasn't really one to hold a grudge so he reluctantly reached for the offer hand. But before he could grab it, Neji moved his hand up and down and side to side and a rose appeared before Naruto's very eyes.
"Wahh. That's so cool. Where did those come from?" Naruto asked in awe.
"It's simple. Even you can learn kid tricks like this. Here let me teach you," Neji said as he began to show Naruto the different steps.
"Ok!" Naruto agreed happily.
"I'm sorry I was so impolite to you," Naruto apologized.
"Its fine," Neji answered with a smile.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the two and couldn't believe how easily bought the blond was. Once Neji had Naruto situated, he turned his attention back onto Sasuke.
"Sasuke, after my finale performance, I plan to take a look around Japan. Can you be my guide?" Neji asked hopefully.
"Well… Realistically speaking, it's probably impossible, right Sakura-san?"
"That's right," Sakura affirmed. "Sasuke is an idol, his work schedule is tight and if he were to be seen out with Hyuuga-san, there would be a lot of commotion. Once people recognize you, you won't be able to properly sightsee."
"Would it really be that impossible? At least let him take me around Tokyo. Please?" Neji pleaded. "The only person I know in Japan is Sasuke. I would feel much happier if I could go around with a friend…"
"Oh my," Sakura said, blushing and star stuck. Honestly, this woman would fall for any pretty face. "Alright then, if you're only sightseeing in Tokyo."
"What?" So much for Sakura's help. "Sakura-san! You want me to be his tour guide?" Sasuke whispered angrily.
"If you make him happy, he might help us with that thing we talk about earlier!" Sakura whispered back just as harshly.
"Wow, Sasuke really looks like your puppet Hyuuga-san," Sakura's secretary commented as her boss and Sasuke continued to argue in hushed voices.
"Of course, it because I modeled Zero based on Sasuke."
Suddenly the room grew quiet at the magician's sudden confession.
"Based off me..?"
"I… I really regretted that I didn't ask for Sasuke contact information. I thought that if I just went to the park, I could see you anytime I wanted, but… Then you disappeared and I never saw you again."
"Yea," Sasuke elaborated. "I came back to Japan after I finished my studies.
"Right. I didn't even know you were an overseas student," Neji admitted. "All I knew about you was that you're Japanese and your name is Sasuke. I've tired looking for you without any clue. I couldn't forget you no matter what I did. It's from this feeling I have that Zero was born. It's also how I created this show, which launched my career as a professional magician and helped me become so publicly recognized." Neji looked towards Sasuke with an unreadable expression. "It's all because of you that I've become who I am today!"
Sasuke stared back blankly, unsure of how to react.
"I've always thought that Zero was near perfection," Neji continued to explain. "But, it's nothing compared to you, Sasuke."
"You're so beautiful," Neji moved closer to an unimpressed Sasuke. "You are…" Neji gently touched the curve of Sasuke's jaw. "My living diamond."
The entire room was stunned into silence. Neji had just confessed his love for Sasuke.
Naruto looked up from the deck of cards he was playing with. "Huh?" the blond glanced around the room, confused as to why everyone was in a state of shock. Clearly, he had no idea what had just happened.
TBC…
Yay update! :3 Hopefully the next one won't take as long! Woooo! XD Hahaa. Well. It's late and I'm need some sleep. So I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving filled with family, food, and thanks giving. XD And hopefully my muse will continue to stay and allow me to update Cupcake in the next two or three days. :)
Please review and Happy Thanksgiving. :D
— ohhowfluffyyouare