Chapter Two
Much to Sasuke's distaste, their hotel room was small. He had expected it to be so, but it was still a bit of an annoyance. As always, Suigetsu didn't seem to care. This only added to Sasuke's irritation, but he decided to focus on the pros rather than the cons.
He finally found someone for the movie.
...That was actually the only pro. Everything was resting on whether or not the blond would call him and say he was interested, and even if that were to happen there were still some pretty big issues that needed to be addressed. The Uchiha glanced over to Suigetsu, who was typing away on his laptop. The other was most likely preparing papers for the blond to sign even though Sasuke specifically asked him not to do so until said man agreed to take the part. Suigetsu was excited, though. It was clear that he wanted to go ahead and finally get to work on the film.
Sasuke had decided that if the blond didn't agree, he would give his all to try to convince him. If he still didn't want to be in the movie after that, the Uchiha would pull the plug on the whole thing and take a break from films for a while. The stress was killing him, anyway. Even though he enjoyed what he did to some extent, the constant headaches weren't exactly motivating him.
When Sasuke's cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket, he quickly pulled it out and glanced over at Suigetsu. The other turned around from the desk to stare at the darker haired man, an impatient expression on his face. Sasuke sucked in a deep breath through his nose and accepted the call, holding the phone up to his ear/
“Uchiha Sasuke.”
Suigetsu pouted slightly, unable to hear the person on the other end. It appeared as though Sasuke didn't want him to hear anyway, for whatever reason. The Uchiha turned and walked away from his companion, stepping in front of the window and gently pushing the curtains to the side. It was just who he wanted to call, but the blond sounded nervous. Suspicious, even.
“Ah, well. My name is, uh, Naruto,” the blond said. “Uzumaki Naruto.”
“Well, Naruto. Do you want to be in a movie?”
Naruto, using the phone in the restaurant, tugged off his visor and quirked a brow. A movie star. It sounded like some cruel joke. It wasn't like he was really interested in acting, but just the sound of it made him think about all the money that could be made. He didn't think he would be able to act, though. He couldn't even tell a convincing lie to his boss when he was late for work. The thought of being in front of camera also made him sick to his stomach. Just the thought of it made him skeptic about the whole idea. Money was needed, though.
“What will I have to do, exactly?”
“Act,” Sasuke said. Naruto glared at the wall. Did the other man think he was an idiot?
“Yeah, I know that. But what will be my, uh, role?”
Sasuke seemed to be thinking, which only made Naruto more nervous.
“Well, you'll be the love interest.”
Naruto squinted.
Love interest? Was the main character a woman? Would he be working with some famous, award winning Hollywood actress? If he was the love interest, that surely meant a butt-ton of lines to memorize, emotions to fake, and... kissing. There'd be kissing, right? Naruto's stomach felt like it had been balled up like a wad of paper and tossed into the toilet. Despite his childish confidence, Naruto was pretty insecure when it came to things like kissing. It was easy with Sakura, but not at first. It was rather embarrassing, to say the least. The girl had to get him comfortable and ease him into it, something that he felt like he should have been doing for her.
Just the memory of that day made his ears hot. He felt like a wimp.
“I don't know,” he said. “I stutter a lot in front of the camera.”
“That's fine. That's actually part of the character.”
“I'm not the best kisser.”
“The character is supposed to be timid. If anything, that makes you more qualified for the part.”
“I can't act.”
More silence. Sasuke was thinking again. Maybe Naruto had made it too obvious that he was trying his best to get the man to change his mind. Whether he needed money or not, Naruto wasn't going make himself look like an idiot in front of a bunch of famous people.
“I'll coach you,” Sasuke said, determined. Naruto slumped.
“Where can I meet you?” the blond asked, his voice weak.
- - -
It wasn't how Naruto imagined. He honestly thought everything would be fake, but they had asked him if there were any parks with nature trails in town or near it. There was one, and Naruto gave them directions. When he arrived, Sasuke and his friend or coworker or whatever he was had already arrived. He parked his car beside theirs and stepped out, frowning deeply. Sasuke didn't seem to notice. The Uchiha instead straightened himself, having been leaning on the side of his own car. He smirked at the blond and motioned for him to come over.
Naruto sighed and closed the car door. He shoved his keys into his pocket and nervously walked over to the man. Sasuke waved his hand carelessly to his companion. “That's Suigetsu,” he said. “He'll be filming and doing just about whatever you want.” Said man shot a glare to Sasuke, but immediately came to an acceptance. That was what he was there to do, after all.
Naruto glanced at the light haired man and smiled awkwardly. When Suigetsu smiled back, the blond looked back to Sasuke and cleared his throat.
“So, why the park?”
“First scene is set in the woods,” Sasuke said, turning and opening the trunk of his car. He pulled put some equipment, the only thing Naruto being able to recognize being a camera, and handed it all to Suigetsu, who promptly began putting it all together. “I was kind of hoping for it to be later on in the evening, but I heard it was supposed to rain later on tonight.”
“So who am I working with?” Naruto asked in a joking tone. Sasuke turned to look at him with all seriousness. “Angelina Jolie? Catherine Zeta Jones?”
“Me.”
Naruto's smile flipped into a frown.
“You're my love interest,” Sasuke said, smirking.
Naruto stared at Sasuke's face incredulously. Suigetsu could be heard snickering softly a short distance away. The blond squinted and took a small step back from the Uchiha, who was still smirking. “So this is a movie,” he muttered. “of the... homosexual variety?”
“Well, now it is. I don't care about the gender of who I work with.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Sasuke looked back at Suigetsu, who had been searching for the papers he had typed up Naruto. The man simply stared back at Sasuke, his expression unreadable for Naruto. Sasuke seemed to understand, though. The Uchiha turned his head back to look at Naruto. The blond raised a thick brow questioningly.
“This isn't the kind of movie you go see at the theater.”
“Well, yeah,” Naruto stuttered. “I mean. I don't mean any offense, but it's, you know, gay.”
“That's not the main... genre, though.”
Suigetsu cleared his throat and stepped out from behind Sasuke, holding out the papers and a pen for the blond. He shook them a bit. “Ha ha, just sign these and don't worry about--”
Before Suigetsu could finish his statement, Naruto snatched the papers out of the man's hands and stepped back. Blue eyes scanned over the contract, then blinked. He stared at Sasuke, whose smirk had replaced by a rather serious frown the moment he looked back at Suigetsu. A few seconds of silence ticked by and Naruto threw the papers at Suigetsu, who sputtered while Sasuke stood and watched briefly before walking after Naruto.
“No,” the blond said firmly. Sasuke sighed.
“It's not like anyone has to know it's you. We'll blur your face out.”
“No. Forget it.”
Naruto swung open his car door and practically shoved himself inside. Sasuke grabbed the door before he could close it, however, and held it open. The blond growled and fished his keys out from his pocket. He started the car and grabbed the handle of the door and pulled, but to no avail. Sasuke stared down at him intently, which only made Naruto's glare harden.
“Let go.”
“Just be in one scene.”
“Let go of the damn door or I'll back up and drag you with me.”
“One scene. We'll blur your face out and everything.”
“I'm not gonna be in some sick, perverted porno. Let go of the door.”
“I'll pay you double.”
Naruto breathed heavily, but was silent. He looked down uncertainly. “Triple,” Sasuke said and held up three fingers for emphasis. Naruto stared back up at the man, who was also breathing just as hard but trying to mask it. Naruto hated nothing more than money at that moment. He wished everything could function without it. He seemed to be considering it, though, much to Sasuke's liking. The Uchiha lowered his hand and watched the smaller man. Just as Naruto was coming to a conclusion, Suigetsu stood a little ways behind Sasuke and spoke.
“Come on, cutie. You'll get tons of money and every guy in the world will kill just to see you naked. You'll be famous.”
Naruto glared at the man and Sasuke snapped his back to do the same. Naruto reached over to the cup holder in his car and grabbed a cup full of warm soda. Sasuke glanced back at the blond and quickly stepped out of the way, watching as Naruto threw the cup straight at Suigetsu. It hit, the top busting off and soda splashing all over the front of the man's shirt. Sasuke stared at the momentarily bewildered Suigetsu, then heard the car door slam. He turned his head, watching as Naruto backed bup and screeched out of the parking lot.
The Uchiha stood unblinking and sighed through his nose. He turned back to Suigetsu and walked over to the other man. Sasuke then reached up and smacked the other across the back of his head. “Idiot,” he hissed.
“What? I was trying to help!”
“Well, you fucked up instead.”
“That's what I say to girls to get them to say yes! I thought it would work!”
“I don't know if you noticed, but Naruto is a man. Not one of the skanks you usually try to recruit who already display themselves on the streets.”
Suigetsu huffed and wrung out his shirt. He muttered a soft apology and watched as Sasuke walked back towards the car, fuming.
“We gotta be careful, dumbass. He's obviously never done anything like this before. I wouldn't be surprised if he were a virgin.”
“Alright, I get it. I'm sorry,” Suigetsu said flatly. Sasuke rolled his eyes and gathered all of the papers and equipment. After tossing everything into the trunk rather carelessly, he slid into the front passenger's seat and slammed the door shut. Suigetsu sighed and joined the man, seating himself on the driver's side.
“Now what?” he asked.
“I'm going to have to get him to warm up to me.”
“How? I would think that he hates you, now.”
“I don't think he hates me as much as he hates you.”
Suigetsu made a face and nodded. He started the car.
“True.”
AN: Sorry it's short. Again. Once I hit six pages, my brain tells me to start wrapping it up. Chapter three is on the way!
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