003: RISE TO FAME
-
-
"I'm baaaacckk!"
Itachi scowled, rubbing his forehead with his index finger and desperately tried to ignore the blonde that had just flung himself into the room, flinging the grocery bags into the middle of the table so that the contents spilled out.
"Cookies for Itachi, yeah, because we all know how cranky he gets if he doesn't get his sugar," Deidara began, ticking the list off his fingers. "Herbal Essences shampoo for Sasori, because he has a sensitive scalp—"
Sasori scooped his possessions off the table, grumbling under his breath, before retreating back to his room.
"—a new wallet for Kakuzu, because his is all old and icky and ugh—"
Kakuzu paused, inspecting the shiny leather wallet, and his eyes narrowed at the price tag. "Six pounds fifty," he stated, the disgust and contempt obvious in his voice. "That's six pounds too much."
"—I'll ignore that, yeah, because, Kakuzu, we're freaking rich and famous!" Deidara rolled his eyes, before returning to his list. "Where was I? Oh, right; hair gel for Hidan, eyeliner for Hidan, razorblades for Hidan, some chick's phone number for Hidan—"
Hidan flashed everyone a shit-eating grin, picked the scrap of paper with the number off the table, and tugged his phone out of his pocket. He dialed the number, waited a moment, and then spoke, "Hey, Tayuya, nice to hear from you again— what's it been, two fucking years, bitch? …no, I won't fucking date you just 'cause I'm on the TV, you can buy a poster like every other motherfucker…"
"—anyway, yeah!" Deidara called, drawing all attention back to himself, before chucking something at Kisame. "There's that soap you asked for, since your last one went missing, yeah."
"Hey, it's in the shape of a fishy!"
Itachi rolled his eyes, picked up his cookies, and was just about to leave when he noticed something else lying at the bottom of the bag. Frowning slightly, he reached in, ignoring Deidara's protests, and his eyes narrowed as he found himself face to face with his younger brother.
…or, at least, a considerably small photo of him, surrounded by four of his friends, on the front of a CD.
"What? It's not my fault they're so catchy, yeah!"
Silence and then—
"Ha, ha, Deidara— Itachi is so going to kick your fucking ass."
-
-
"And one, and two, and one, and two— KEEP MARCHING!— and three and four, now POINT, POINT, move your arms, WHERE IS THE YOUTH, Sasuke? POINT!"
Sasuke's scowl darkened, to the point where he looked like he was ready to kill anyone and anything, and his four bandmates shifted quickly away from. If Gai told him to point, one more time, he was definitely going to snap; hell, this was just too embarrassing.
He'd already spent half an hour singing a cheesy love song with Neji, and now he was practicing the dance moves to one of the more upbeat and catchy songs they'd written. He'd been able to endure Kurenai's soft, slightly patronizing, voice, but Gai's lively personality was getting on his nerves. Not to mention the fact that he'd been bombarded with creepy, YOU'REINABOYBANDWHYDIDN'TYOUTELLME?!!!1!, text messages from Karin.
"—SASUKE, POINT. Keep your arms straight and youthful and where are you going? We haven't finished yet!"
"I need a break." Sasuke snapped, before throwing open the door and marching down the hall.
Being famous was already annoying him. Singing was already annoying him. Shit, Naruto had been annoying him for all of his life, but even he was becoming too much.
What Sasuke desperately needed was a bit of peace and quiet, and a coffee.
"Sasuke-chan gets a break? I wanna go too!" He heard Naruto whine from the room he'd just left. "Come on, come on, and let's go already! I wanna go to Starbucks; "
He'd settle for just a coffee if he had to.
-
-
"Um, hi, can I get your order please?"
"Yes, please. I'll have an iced latte, thank you—"
"—aw, Neji, you're so posh and polite. I'll have a hot chocolate, cheers."
"…okay… One hot chocolate and one iced latte. What can I get for you three?"
"Coffee."
"Sasuke-chan, don't be so rude! What's the magic word?"
THWACK.
"OW!"
"…dobe."
"…so troublesome. Naruto'll have a hot chocolate with cream—"
"—and a flake!—"
"—and I'll have a frappucino."
"How manly are you, Shikamaru?"
"Shut up, Kiba."
"Bite me."
"…so that'll be two hot chocolates, one with cream, one without; one iced latte and one frappucino; and, last but not least, one coffee. On the house."
"…on the house?"
"I mean, omigod, I just realised who you guys are! You're Formula! That cute new boyband! Oh, God, you guys are so much hotter in the flesh; can I have an autograph? Sakura's never gonna believe this!"
-
-
"…you met Formula." Sakura repeated blankly, tucking her hair behind her ears and leaning closer to Ino. "You met Formula. They sat here. In the flesh. In Starbucks. Where you just so happened to be working."
"That's what I just said, Forehead." Ino rolled her eyes, before smirking. "You don't believe me, do you?"
"No."
"Tenten does!" Ino cried, outraged, motioning at a slightly shorter brunette sat beside her, with her hair twisted tightly into two buns.
She raised an eyebrow, gazing at her friend with narrow brown eyes. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here, Ino, because I swear, if you're lying—!" She let the threat hang in the air, balling her hands into fists for emphasis, and then burst into laughter.
Sakura grinned triumphantly. "She's just mocking you and your tiny little brain, Ino-pig."
Ino scowled, before reaching into her bag and, with a dainty flourish, tugging out a cardboard cup. It was murky brown, with the classic Starbucks symbol on it; except, on this cup, there was something written on it, in untidy black ink.
Sakura's eyes widened as she read the words: Yo, Sakura! Thanks for the support! All our love, Formula.
Around the little message, were four signatures and a letter; two tidy, one extremely messy, another with an 'I' dotted with a smiley face, and one lonely 'S'.
"I couldn't get Sasuke to sign it properly; the blonde one, Naruto, told me that was his signature." Ino sighed theatrically, before grinning evilly. "…but! This was his cup."
For a brief moment, Sakura's heart stopped.
"You're telling me that God's lips were pressed against this cup?"
"You'd better believe it, Forehead." Ino snickered, before handing a similar cup to Tenten, who sniffed it and then murmured, "latte" softly.
"You are so, so, so lucky, Ino. I am so entirely envious of you. In fact, I'm fangirling so bad over here."
"Oh, there is more. So much more."
"Spill."
"Well, Neji— you know, the one with the long hair— went to my manager afterwards; told him he'd been really impressed with my professional behaviour and how I'd only squealed once and maybe they'd come back here again. And the manager, sensing money and stuff, said he'd organize a booth for them, so they could drink here in privacy. Neji says something about them not being far from here and how handy it'd be, and then they talk money, and guess what? Formula is going to be drinking at my Starbucks! And I'll be serving them."
Both Tenten and Sakura let out simultaneous squeaks of delight.
"…it's a shame, Tenten, that you decided work as a secretary at a hospital. And it's a darn shame, Sakura that you're working at Topshop, even if you do get a discount on clothes." Ino beamed smugly at them.
"Oh, shut up, pig. You've got two new customers now. More cash and tips and whatever," Sakura replied, waving a hand airily.
Ino raised an eyebrow. "You don't even work near here, Sakura."
"Our money's as good as anybody else's, Ino; don't go turning away customers!" Tenten muttered, cradling Neji's old latte cup in her hands.
"Your breaks aren't long enough for you to get here, and back, Tenten." Ino blinked, before throwing her hands in the air. "But I digress! You guys can stop here for coffee and whatever, but you're not to harass any customers. Otherwise the manager harasses me. And by customers, I mean the fit guys from Formula. Promise me that!"
"We promise, Ino!"
"Good."
-
-
Almost a month after meeting the bubbly Starbucks waitress, and almost two months after the interview with Kakashi and the release of Could You?, Formula's album was ready.
During that time, they'd already released three videos, including the video that went alongside Could You? After their first interview, they'd had a three page spread in heat, and been on MTV, as well as appearing once again on Top Spot.
During that time, both Sasuke and Neji had taken to buying headache tablets, as Naruto's voice can be very high-pitched when he becomes aggravated— and Kiba had taken to making Naruto as aggravated as possible at every moment.
And Shikamaru… what does he do anyway? Whatever. Shikamaru was just being Shikamaru.
-
-
((DOMINATING THE NUMBER ONE SPOT FOR THREE WEEKS NOW…
"JUST THE BEGINNING!"
FORMULA'S NEW ALBUM, INCLUDING THE SMASH HIT:
"COULD YOU?"
AS WELL AS "TAKE ME BACK" AND "NEVER FORGET (YOU HURT ME BAD)"
INCLUDING BONUS TRACK
"KISS ME QUICKLY, SALSA THROUGH THE NIGHT!"))
-
-
"Look at this— just look at this!" Tsunade grinned, throwing a magazine down onto the table. Kiba and Naruto promptly threw themselves across the table, all messy limbs and jutting elbows, hiding the magazine from view. Neji sighed, closing the piano lid (where he'd been playing Fur Elise) and peered over the shorter blonde's shoulder.
Neither Shikamaru or Sasuke looked up from the game of chess they were playing.
"It's heat. Again." Neji said blankly.
"Yeah, granny, what's up with that? All you've been buyin' for the past week are heat magazines, and none of us even read 'em." Kiba grumbled, before yelping as Tsunade smacked his head.
"No wonder you morons don't know what I'm talking about; you've got it on the wrong page." She snapped, before flicking a few pages and then jabbing her finger at the paper. "There. See? There."
Silence.
"…I don't see what the big deal is," Naruto blinked, scratching his head. "I mean, that's just a photo of us and—"
"—you can barely see me!" Kiba scowled, still rubbing the back of his head. "Unfair!"
"You morons don't have a brain cell between you!" Tsunade roared, whacking them both, and then prodded the paper. "You idiots— all five of you— are heat's top spot! Formula is this week's top spot! You are officially famous!"
Neji rolled his eyes, before wandering back over to Shikamaru and Sasuke; he watched for a second, only mildly interested, as Shikamaru knocked another of Sasuke's pawns off the table, and the Uchiha gritted his teeth. Kiba and Naruto went back to play-fighting over the table, rolling and lunging, as Tsunade counted mentally up to ten.
She stopped at three.
"YOU BUFFOONS DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW IMPORTANT THIS IS, DO YOU?"
"…I think it's safe to assume that, no, no we don't," Shikamaru drawled, leaning back in his chair and flicking Sasuke's queen off the board.
"UGH. Okay. Calm down. Calm. Deep breaths," Tsunade murmured, attempting to compose herself; then she turned to Kiba and Naruto, with a fixed grin, and tugged them both apart from each other. "Listen please; it might take you a while to understand."
Sasuke simply grunted in response, moving his king out of the way of check.
"Okay. Gossip magazines are about celebrities. In this issue, for example, there's an interview with Jiraiya, a good friend of mine, and a couple of pages on which celebrities are looking fabulous, and a couple more pages on those who look like shit. Then there's a spot the celeb page. And you guys are top spot!"
Kiba grinned. "So that's good, right?"
"Very." Tsunade nodded. "It's cause for celebration. You beat Uchiha Itachi and Minato Namikaze to top spot. You're very famous now. And, it's not all down to me; after all, you guys are the ones who have to sing and dance and all that jazz— so, to show my gratitude, I bought you something!"
"A car?!" Naruto cheered.
Shikamaru just rolled his eyes, moving his knight closer to Sasuke's king; the Uchiha scowled.
"No, something much better than that. I've been watching you guys, and I've seen how well you've been getting on, and it'd be easier for me to have you all in one place to keep an eye on you." Tsunade said, "Which is why I've bought you morons your own house, with a kitchen. a bathroom, a living room, and four bedrooms. There's even a games room and a study."
She tossed something silver through the air, towards Neji, who caught it with ease. He blinked, peering down at the five keys, and then back at Tsunade.
"Honestly? You've bought Formula a house?"
"Think of it as Formula's Headquarters."
Neji tilted his head, staring at Tsunade. "It must have been expensive."
"Seriously? I'm rolling in cash! You guys have made me rich; I can afford to do this for you! There's just one teensy weensy, itsy bitsy, little favour I have to ask of you guys."
Shikamaru glanced up at Tsunade, raising an eyebrow, before idly moving his bishop towards Sasuke's king, cornering it.
"Which is…?"
"Actually quite a big favour really. But I think you guys are ready for it. And you've been at number one for almost four weeks now. And I've even gotten the t-shirts ready. Heck, the dates are already set. You can't say no. This isn't even a favour. This is your next job. You guys are going on tour around Konoha, starting in exactly two weeks, and half the tickets are already sold, so you can't back out of it, because you're ready now!"
There was a moment of silence.
"We're going on tour?" Kiba repeated.
"Yes. You are."
"There'll be screaming fangirls?" Naruto blinked.
"Yes. There will be."
"Then why would we complain?" Kiba asked, slightly suspicious. "Buyin' us a house just to get us to go on tour— we're a boyband, we have to tour sometime. So what's with the fuss?"
"Because…"
"What?" Neji snapped.
"…because of the opening act. The band playing before you." Tsunade promptly winced. "I don't think… some of you… will agree with my choice."
Sasuke tensed, eyes still glued to the chess board; he had a funny feeling that he knew what Tsunade was going to say, but he was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and all. Shikamaru's fingers, nimble and quick, plucked the bishop from it's place and moved it diagonally, two spaces— Sasuke froze, glancing at his king, calculating the outcome, and—
"I asked Akatsuki to perform."
"…checkmate."
-
-
"…it's three 'o' clock in the morning, Ino, you'd better have a good reason for calling me…"
"—IGOTTHEM!"
"You got what?"
"—the tickets! The ones to see Formula! I got three of them! Front seats too!"
"…h—how?"
"—they announced it on their blog ages ago, and I've been looking out for tickets ever since; and this girl I know, she's sick, can't go, and she says to me, 'hey, you like them, take your friends, I was going to ask you to go anyway' and I'm all, 'oh, you motherfreaking rock', and she's like, 'hell, I know'."
"Oh wow."
"—celebration time?"
"Totally. My place. Nine 'o' clock sharpish, then we're going shopping. Call Tenten."
"—will do. Sweet dreams, Forehead."
-
-
"We're the supporting act to Formula?" Kisame blinked, staring at Pein, their lead singer. "You cannot be serious."
"It's true." Pein simply murmured, not bothering to elaborate.
Konan sighed, staring longingly at her guitar. "If it were any other band, they'd have just picked some nobodies; but Tsunade wants to rub it in Madara's face, and Madara thinks that somehow we can steal the show when he knows that's not possible."
"It is."
The rest of Akatsuki stared incredulously at Itachi.
"You're not serious, yeah," was all Deidara said.
"I'm utterly serious. Sasuke, my foolish brother, loathes me. Quite publically. In many of my past interviews, I've stated that our relationship is… rocky." Itachi's mouth twitched into a humorless smile. "Madara knows exactly what he's doing; he hopes my presence will spark some kind of reaction for Sasuke. And, even if that doesn't happen naturally, he wants me to do something… drastic."
Sasori's eyes narrowed. "How drastic?"
Itachi's gaze darkened and suddenly all of the Akatsuki understood.
"Hey, how d'you figure all this shit out anyway?" Hidan asked, raising an eyebrow at Itachi. "What're you, some fucking child prodigy or whatever?"
"…Madara left a note on the fridge, actually. If you'd bothered to read it."
The rest of Akatsuki simply whistled and looked away. Finally, Kakuzu spoke. "So who's going to be your partner in crime, anyway? Not Kisame, because that'd be weird."
"Or Konan, because she's a girl," Hidan quipped, and Itachi shot him a filthy look.
"Or Kakuzu, 'cause that wouldn't look right," Pein muttered, and Sasori let out a heavy sigh.
"So, basically, all we're really looking at is Deidara, right? Because he's the only other gay icon in our group; and girls already fantasize about the pair of you being together, you should see some of the fan work."
Hidan shot the redhead a surprised look. "You actually look at that shit?"
"No, but you'd be surprised at which female in this household doesn't know how to clear the internet history," Sasori deadpanned. "And for once I'm not talking about Deidara."
"HEY—!"
-
-
"I'm not doing this—"
"Aw, come on, Sasuke-chan, nothing can go wrong, seriously!"
"—you can't make me—"
"If you wish to be childish, do it in your own time, Uchiha; however, now we have a song to record, and if you do not come out of your room this instant, I will bust your door down. I'm going to give you five."
"—just try it, Hyuuga—"
"You can't hate your bro that much, Sasuke! I mean, what's he actually done?"
"—hn—"
"See? You can't even think of anythin' to say apart from 'hn', and that isn't even a word! He hasn't even done anythin'!"
"—that doesn't mean he hasn't done anything, idiot, that just means I'm not telling you what he's done—"
"Five!"
"C'mon, Sasuke, they all know about the fire that killed your parents, and you've got no proof that—"
"—shut up, dobe!—"
"Four!"
"…this is so troublesome."
"—oh, whatever—"
"Jeez, Sasuke, don't be like that. It's only a little tour. They'll be on and off in no time, and you don't even have to talk to him."
"Three!"
"—it's not the talking to him bit I care about; he's going to screw this up, I just know it—"
"Stop bein' such a girl, Sasuke."
"Two!"
"—I'm going for a walk."
"What? Then open the door! Sasuke, you can't seriously be thinking of—!"
"ONE!"
BAM.
"…"
"…he actually jumped out the window. And Neji actually broke the door down. What, is everyone insane here?"
"How troublesome. We're on the third floor, too."
"What if he's hurt himself? What if he broke something—?"
"—if he has not broken something from the fall, I will break him when he gets back. That idiot is going to stop being such a whiny brat, and he will perform; and I will make him perform even if it kills me!"
"…"
"And someone fix that door!"
-
-
Sasuke scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets; he hadn't meant to jump from so far up, but hey, he hadn't hurt himself and he was not going back there in a hurry. Neji was going to kill him; that much was definite.
The Uchiha sighed, ambling aimlessly through Konoha, stopping every now and then to sign an autograph or scowl for a picture— his mind was always elsewhere. He passed the Starbucks, nodding curtly at the blonde waitress who'd served them before, and continued onwards.
He wasn't sure where he was going.
So far, the walk wasn't doing anything to clear his head. Memories appeared— haunting, dark memories— he could smell smoke and hear screams— and people hurried past him in a hazy blur. Itachi's face swam in and out of focus. The silver lighter, with the Uchiha sign on it, a crack running through the middle, burnt by the fire.
YOU'VE GOT NO PROOF.
Naruto's words cut through his thoughts. It was true. He had no proof; none whatsoever. As far as he was concerned, he needed none. Itachi was as good as guilty.
Who else could have done it?
It was no accident.
"—a penny for your thoughts?"
Sasuke blinked, hurriedly taking in his surroundings; he'd obviously wandered, dazed, into the parks, and had found himself stood beside the duck pond, next to a pretty girl his age, with the brightest cherry pink hair he'd ever seen and the most beautiful emerald eyes he'd gazed into.
She smiled slightly, offering her bread to him. "Unless, of course, you don't want to talk about it; and if you don't want to, you can always feed the ducks. I find it takes my mind off stuff."
He numbly accepted a slice of bread, tore it up into strips, and then threw them, one after the other, at the ducks. They flapped and quacked, snapping at each other to get a piece; from beside him, the pink-haired girl threw another slice, letting out a giggle as the bread bounced off a bewildered duck's head.
He smirked slightly.
"You come here often, then?"
"Hm?" The girl tilted her head, before nodding. "Oh yeah. When Ino's finished blabbering on about who knows what, I need some time alone to clear my head."
"And it works?"
"Yup." She paused, before gesturing in the direction of a small café, based at the edge of the park. "Coffee?"
Sasuke blinked, before shrugging one shoulder lazily. "I'll pay." He murmured, before striding past her; she hurried along beside him, walking quickly to keep up. They reached the café quickly and bought a coffee and a hot chocolate; he sipped his black, and she sweetened hers with about five sugars.
He raised an eyebrow. "Sweet enough for you?"
"Bitter enough for you?"
He stared at her, before snorting. Then, suddenly, on a spur of the moment, he beckoned to her. "Walk with me. Just for a while."
She cocked her head again, like she'd done only moments earlier, before nodding. They straightened simultaneously, holding their drinks in one hand, and began to walk together, side by side; there was enough of a gap between them for them to swing their arms, but, as they walked, they found themselves getting closer and closer together.
After a while, she began to talk about nothing and everything. She told him about her job, about her friends, about the music she listened to and the last film she'd watched. He told her about his friends, gave her the lowdown on his all time favourite horror movies and told her about the last game he'd played. They argued playfully about actors and actresses, and swapped funny stories, until they were walking out of the park and up towards Starbucks. As they walked past the shop, the girl suddenly realised where she was and skidded to a halt.
"Sorry," she mumbled apologetically, gesturing at the hyperactive waitress waving at her. "This is my stop. I'll, uh, talk to you soon?"
"Same time, same place."
She nodded and hurried inside, immediately chatting away to her friend; he watched her for a second longer, and then turned away, trudging back to his awaiting doom— Neji was, after all, going to kill him.
After walking for a while longer, he realised he'd never asked her name.
-
-
—-
—
-
hey you,
what's a good girl
(like you)
doing in this crazy world?
(just a good gone girl)
-
—
—-
Sorry about disappearing of the face of the world; school and stuff. Is it just me, or does the new Mika album rock?
x