Album Secure? [Private]

[Uchiha Izura]

It was a hot Konoha afternoon when Izura decided to make the trip. The air was extremely humid- atypical for this time of year, but at least it meant that there wouldn’t be nearly as many people out and about at this time of the day. Most folks were wrapping up to go home from work or visit the local restaurants. This area was certainly the place to go in that case, given the proximity of Ichiraku’s, along with other famous Konoha restaurants.

This is definitely a nicer place than Iwagakure ever was , Izura thought to himself.

Cautiously making his way across the rooftops like any proper shinobi would, the shifty Uchiha dropped down into a nearby alleyway, eyes scanning for any potential onlookers. He’d then assume a fairly casual stance as he slowly walked out of the alleyway, made a hard right, took a couple steps, and then made another hard right directly into the record store. That’s right- it was a record store.

Izura made his way into the store as discreetly as possible due to the sheer amount of embarrassment he felt for being a secret fan. You see, the AIDORU fever was real, the fans were real, and here Izura was- a 21 year old, lean, mean, veteran shinobi, one to be counted among them. Super lethal ninja assassin, information network organization leader, and veteran fighter on one hand, but enormous AIDORU fan on the other? If his sister Ayame found out, she’d probably laugh at him.

Adorning the aisles upon aisles of shopping lanes were countless records, each of them dedicated to a particular genre of music. The new wave of technology, they called it. Record players were not a common thing in the world, and had jus hit the market by storm in the Leaf Village. It was ever since that idol U<3ME emerged onto the international stage.

But there it was- the record he was looking for. In big bright letters it advertised ‘SPECIAL EDITION RELEASE! KONOHA ONLY! COMES WITH BODY PILLOW DISCOUNT VOUCHER!’ It was the rare gem he sought! The gods were truly on his side today!

In any case, Izura snuck his way over to the U<3ME section and discreetly grabbed the album he was looking for, hoping for no one to see him as he hurriedly made his way towards the cashier…

WC 395

 

[Yume]

[col]

NPC
U<3ME Manager​

|

Yume
Voice & Face of U<3ME[/col]​

The record store was oddly quiet.

From outside on the streets, a small crew of camera men, a stylist and a couple of assistants began approaching the store. In the centre of it--or rather, leading the charge was Yume herself. The cameras followed her into the store, as well as her suited up manager. The assistants had their hands full of keeping the crowd at bay. There were some calls for Yume's name - the girl was nice enough to turn and give a short wave. But that was about all they got. There was work to be done.

"I'm kinda glad the photo shoot is in the record store," Yume grinned at the camera pointed at her. She skipped forward, straight towards the section of modern music. "I haven't gotten my album yet."

"You buy your own albums?" the man behind the camera chuckled. A sigh came from the manager as Yume giggled back and pointed at the cameraman like in a gun gesture. She motioned the firing with a silent 'pew!' and spun around.

"I really like buying the albums and putting it on my shelf. And I can see how far I've come. Is that weird?" With a slight gasp, Yume pointed out the section and hopped towards the pink haired manager with a cute puppy eyed look. "Oppa! Give me some money to buy it, please!"

"... I don't like that look in your eyes. It's scary."

"Yah!" Yume pouted, hopping about in a mock fighting stance. "It's still my allowance!"

The others chuckled at the antics of the two. Despite whatever protest the manager says, he'd give in eventually. In the meantime, there was a trophy to get! Power walking down the aisle, Yume scanned the various album covers and names until she reached her own subsection.

"Ah, here it is!" The discount promo for a body pillow was a little bit weird though. Shaking off the thought, Yume reached out for her newly released album. "... Oh!"

She jerked her hand back upon contact with another, foreign hand and looked over to the stranger. Yume blinked a couple of times in confusion before realising that she was staring like a dumb pup. Taking her hands away and putting them up, she laughed sheepishly. "I'm sorry! You go first!"

As she watched Izura doing Izura things, her head tilted to the side ever so slightly. Hm? That's odd. The record store was supposed to be cleared for the photo shoot, right? The crew members caught up with them shortly after and the manager made a beeline for the idol upon seeing her with an authorised person.

"Pardon me, this establishment has been cleared for the afternoon for a shoot," he said, standing in between Izura and Yume. "I must ask that you vacate the premises."

"Oh! Oh no, that's okay! He probably didn't know. Let the guy buy his things!" Yume leaned over, peeking around from behind her manager's form. The girl finally realised what exactly Izura was buying and her shy smile had widened to one of delight. Hopping out from behind her unintentional shield, she stood prim and proper before the Uchiha. With a dazzling smile, she bowed her head briefly.

"Thank you so much for supporting my work!"

Though really, the body pillow discount coupon was weird. The manager refrained from rolling his eyes and smiled instead. In his hand was a marker pen; no doubt Yume was going to ask for it when she goes into autograph mode.

"And in an unexpected twist of events, we come across one of Yume-chan's fans," the cameraman commented, arriving on the scene. A couple of the female assistants and stylists sighed dreamily, though they quickly looked away to fixate on something else once the men turned to the sound. The camera swung back to the three by the records, zooming in on the Uchiha's hand that held the album record, then back up to his face and Yume's.

"Sometimes we wonder why the fans like Yume-chan so much. Care to share?"

"Oi, yah! What do you mean you "wonder" why they like me! Such bullies sometimes," Yume pouted. Waving her hand at the camera, she continued on between scolding them and checking in on Izura. "You'll blur out his face if he asks, right? I am so sorry if this is making you uncomfortable. Hey, hey! You should turn that camera off, let's just set up for the shoot!"

 

[Uchiha Izura]

When Yume inadvertently grabbed the same album he had reached for, Izura was about as startled as she was- it wasn’t overtly easy to catch Izura off guard due to his cautious nature as a ninja, but in this case, it seemed he had been so fixated on getting the album that he had failed to notice her approach. Izura silently cursed himself for getting caught off guard, his face immediately blushing as he realized that of all the people in the world that he could’ve been caught off guard….it was U<3ME herself!

Izura was embarrassed. She had caught him being a totally diehard fan of her music- not something a super serious ninja assassin would typically be interested in!

“Ah-uhm….n-no p-problem?” , he stammered, still blushing as she thanked him for supporting her work.

But then the problem was exacerbated as soon as Yume’s staff appeared, the manager, the fan girl stylists and assistants….it was all just making him blush even more as a camera was shoved in his face, the girls swooned over him, and his AIDORU just stood there defending his right to feel comfortable!

He instinctively raised his hand to cover the side of his face visible to the camera.



“P-please get that out of my face….thanks…” he stammered, still blushing as he addressed the cameraman. He exerted a subtle bit of genjutsu influence with a quick, split second flash of his right eye’s sharingan at the cameraman….in fact it was so quick that just about everyone would hardly notice unless they were exceptionally observant, hypnotically suggesting that he get rid of footage with Izura in it entirely.

When the cameraman changed his filming ways, he brought his attention back to Yume and the manager. He gulped out of nervousness- he wasn’t exactly the outgoing type, and being attracted to Yume wasn’t helping either. He was undeniably embarrassed that he was a fan to begin with…..especially given his reputation as a veteran shinobi amongst those who hired wayward mercenaries or rogue ninja.

His mind screamed at him internally to just go and hide somewhere…followed by a modicum of shame.



Come on Izura, you’re a shinobi war veteran, and you can’t even talk to a girl you have a crush on?

He summoned his courage eventually though, and spoke to her.

“Ah…I…I’m Izura….Uchiha Izura….I’m….I’m a really big fan so I came here from Sunagakure j-just to get the new album.…”

More thoughts raced through his mind. Now he was telling her his real name?! Uchiha Izura had gone missing from the Leaf a decade prior, and he had also just admitted to having arrived from Sand! Just how much information was he willing to put on the line?!

He held out his album, still blushing like crazy. “W-would you be willing to sign it?”

 

[Yume]

"Uchiha... Izura... Huh." Yume cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms, frowning in thought. Uchiha, Uchiha... Someone she met was referred to as an Uchiha. He even wore the symbol proudly, to the point she thought was too proud.

"I don't suppose you know..." she trailed off, shaking her head. Just because he was an Uchiha didn't mean that he knows all Uchiha members! Yume could have knocked herself on the head for starting such an insensitive remark. "Never mind! You said you were from Suna! That's awesome, that place is definitely on my list for my comeback world tour- omo!"

Yume started to laugh nervously as she could have sworn she felt the manager boring a death stare into the back of her head.

"A-Ah, keep that a secret, okay? It's still in the works."

Smiling happily, she took the album from him and despite the displeased look on her manager's face, he plopped the marker pen into her hand. Writing in quick cursive, she made out the autograph to say, 'To Izura-kun. Fighting! <3' and then signed her name. She waved air at it for a moment, making sure that the ink had dried before returning it back to the Uchiha.

"Here you go! Don't worry about pay, it's from me!"

"Yume!" her manager snapped.

"Shh, Oppa. You're ruining the vibe."

A sigh, though all he wanted to do was groan, came from the pink haired gentleman. In the background, the employees were busy setting up lights and props by one of the shelves and the cashier's counter. The manager glanced over to them, just in time to see one of the general assistants come back with a lost expression. Approaching them, she scratched the back of her neck sheepishly.

"Well Boss... We locked the door, but there are some... fans... that are camping out there." Her young eyes trailed over to Izura--the outsider, the fan--before turning back to look at the manager. "They might get aggressive if this guy just leaves through the front door."

"Seriously?" the older male deadpanned. He rubbed his forehead in irritation.

"It's fine, isn't it?" The two looked over to Yume, who was now checking out the same recent album she picked out herself. Yume glanced back up at them with an innocently blank face, before it broke into that cheerful smile.

"He can stay for a bit. A photo shoot isn't exactly the most interesting thing to wait around for. They'll get bored eventually and leave."

"Just a minute, Yu..." Another sigh interrupted him. In a dead silence, the manager readjusted his glasses and conceded. "Very well. I suppose he can help with lights, or something of similar."

Yume blinked. "Um, what? You're making Izura-kun work?"

"And just how are we going to explain to your fans that one lucky one managed to sit in one of your photo shoots, hm Yume?" The rebuttal came quick with barely a beat in between. He smiled, glowingly so, as the manager leant down to Yume's height; his face was mere inches away from hers, threatening.

"O-Okay, I get you loud and clear...! Izura-kun is an employee for the time being!" the girl stuttered, quickly bringing up the album in between them like a shield. She instinctively stepped back, bumping into the Uchiha in the process. "Omo!"

Looking over her shoulder to smile at him sheepishly, she asked him, "T-That's okay with you, right Izura-kun? Just until the people outside leave!"

One of the stylists was calling for her.

"Oii, Yun-chan! We're ready for you!"

 

[Uchiha Izura]

He smiled, genuine happiness splayed across his face as he received the signed album, and for free to boot! Izura had already become a huge fan of her after seeing one of her video recorded live performances, and the fact that her personality was so….bubbly in real life was pleasantly refreshing.

Giving a confused look as he was essentially hired on the spot, his amazement rendered him speechless. Here he was, receiving not only an autograph from the AIDORU herself, but now he was getting exclusive access to one of her events! And now he knew that she was planning a world tour! But naturally, he tried to play it off cool, avoiding any overt displays of pure excitement and joy.

Holy crap Izura- you’re acting like a freakin’ fangirl. Get your act together! , the little voice that was part of his inner consciousness said.

He wasn’t used to….being so free-spirited, and frankly it was a good feeling, despite how embarrassed and ashamed he felt for feeling it. Most of the time, Izura had been more worried about trying to keep his sister from getting into trouble with crazy and/or shady people, hunting down Jashinist cults, bombing Iwagakure’s gates, evading the anbu of three different countries, making money doing jobs reserved for rogue ninja or mercenaries, and…..well in the case of Sunagakure…protecting it from an ancient undead gigantic sandworm and nearly dying in the process.

TLDR; Izura was so focused on super sketchy ninja work that this was one of the few times he felt like he could relax a bit and enjoy himself.

A peculiar memory quickly crossed his mind- reminding him of how infinitely shy he had been as a kid growing up. He thought he had overcome that phase of his life, but then again, here he was, shy as hell all over again. Was it the girl? Izura glanced at her for a brief moment while she continued to talk back and forth between him and her staff as the thought crossed his mind.

I guess some things about the heart don’t change, do they? , he thought to himself.

The manager seemed irritated beyond reproach…every time Izura glanced in his direction, the pink haired man seemed to return a glance of annoyance and disapproval at Izura’s presence, almost as if he were begging to have Izura just disappear and make his job easier. Izura shot back an apologetic smile, even if it didn’t really mean much in the long run. Izura was stuck here due to the crowd after all.

She stepped backwards, and Izura couldn’t help but instinctively catch her just in case she fell, putting his arms on her shoulders as she stepped back. He blushed as her back pushed into him.

“T-that’s fine with me…although, I am a ninja….light fixtures are a bit easy…” he said, smiling apologetically. He wasn’t the type of person to boast, but at least he wanted to make sure they knew that menial labor didn’t really take much time at all for him, given that he was a fireball spewing, reality bending, space distorting, shadow cloaking ninja wizard. Then again, those were all too common in the world of Ninpocho. I mean heck, even AIDORUs like Yume were S-ranked magic wielding super ninja wizards!

Not that Izura had any idea that Yume was a ninja too...for all he knew, she was an AIDORU!

 

[Yume]

Her lips rounded into an 'o' to indicate her brief surprise and she bobbed her head around Izura, checking him out for lack of better terms. "How amazing!" she chirped, clapping her hands together. "I'm not a ninja myself, but there's this chuunin who's my personal trainer for my daily workouts. Maybe I can pull off being a shinobi?"

She pondered to herself, until the second call for her from the stylists broke her out of it. Yume jumped, finally getting her butt in gear and trotting towards wardrobe and makeup. "Oh, I'll be right back!"

Which left the manager to babysit this... Uchiha. Or rather, he silently flipped through planner book out of irritated habit. A glance at one of the assistants was all that was needed to get them to understand. With a nervous smile, the poor assistant waved Izura over to get him to help set up lighting.

"Yes, we finished before the crew could!" Yume laughed, twirling around. Taking the spare time to rummage through her back, the girl sought out the one thing she needed the most. If Izura's gem was a limited edition Konoha exclusive album disc, then Yume's would be...

"Izu-kun, want some Pocky?" She held out the open box of candy coated breadsticks. One was hanging off from her lips like a long, thin cigarette. "Ah, can I call you Izu-kun? You can call me Yun! Nearly everyone here does."

But before she knew it, the Pocky dangling from her lips disappeared along with the box in her hand.

"Ahh! Oppa! Gimme!" she protested, hopping up and down to try grab the confectionery. The manager held it out of her reach, biting into the Pocky stick she was nibbling on.

"No snacking before a shoot. Especially not these sugar filled carbs."

"Anti-fun, mean, thieving..." Yume muttered under her breath with a pout, stepping in front of the camera. They started with the shelves of records behind her with props of a record player, a plush seat and headphones for her to use. Plopping into the seat, she lounged around as the crew adjusted the lights to the photographer's liking.

In the meantime, Yume's stare fixated on Izura. Not that she was romantically interested in him or anything, but because she now knew that he was a ninja. He could get that Pocky back to her, no sweat!

 

[Uchiha Izura]

It didn’t take long for Izura to help with the lighting. He put his ninja talents to good use, easily placing all the lights that were in the hardest to reach places. Yet even with Izura’s help, Yume was already prepared for the shoot before they were. The Uchiha scratched his head in confusion, wondering just how she had managed to do so, but then he sighed. Apparently it didn’t take nearly as much preparation as he had expected.

Yume then offered him pocky. Izura smiled, responding with an enthusiastic “Sure!” , but then was abruptly cut off by the manager’s intervention as Yume’s pocky was pulled away from her grasp. Izura stopped mid-stride and then sighed again.

And then she began to stare. Izura thought nothing of it at first, but as the seconds passed and Yume continued to stare at Izura, the casual look upon his face again returned to the same blush that he held earlier, his embarrassment causing him to avert his eyes.

A few seconds passed. She was still staring at him.

Izura couldn’t help but glance back, totally confused as to why she was staring at him so intently!

D-does she l-like me?! , Izura thought, the idea that a mere fan such as him had even a remote chance with the famous idol crossing his mind. Naturally, this just caused him to blush even more, as he awkwardly looked around, trying to figure out what to do.

He gulped, the tension reaching a point….and then he acted. The courage came rushing through his body like an explosion, compelling him to act. He was under the total impression that Yume was giving him that look that only someone romantically interested would show.

Izura mustered his courage and began walking towards Yume….and like a boss, he casually grabbed the pocky box back out of the manager’s hand mid-stride, walking up to Yume. Passing the manager, Izura didn’t even look at the man. He might as well have been wearing some sunglasses and a suit and tie or something, because Izu was rollin with some serious swag right then and there.

Izura went up to Yume, holding out the pocky to her. He spoke to her, this time a lot more courageous. He was pretty good at it too, despite his inner being screaming at him to abort mission. It was in his nature as a naturally shy person after all.

"I believe this is yours~"

And then the first picture of the shoot was taken right then and there.

CLICK!

 

[Yume]

"Wha-?!"

The manager stood frozen in bewilderment at the scene that just unfolded before him. The hand that held the girl's box of Pocky was suddenly empty and before he knew it, Izura was striding along towards Yume with... a swagger.

Oh god. He is one of those crazy fans, isn't he? The manager just wanted to slap his forehead in vexation.

"Okay, looks like lighting is good," the photographer said as he checked the preview on his remedial digital camera. That was the click. Switching over to the more common, yet expensive brand name film camera, he waited for these shenanigans to resolve themselves.

Yume was delighted once Izura handed over her precious Pocky. "Oh my goodness, you really are a ninja! You totally heard my thoughts for Pocky!" she laughed. Colour her impressed, sure, but that didn't necessarily mean that her love points increased any. Sorry to the hopeful Uchiha.

But alas, the box was snatched away before she could even touch the cardboard. Waving the box almost tauntingly in front of Yume, her manager narrowed his eyes. "You have work to do," he said, before glancing up at Izura with a radiant smile. Yume recoiled into the seat. The brightest smile of his was always the scariest...

"I appreciate your dedication for Yume's trivial wants, but we have a job to do. Please return to what was required of you."

Doubly scary when he's polite!

During that time, the photographer simply stood and stared, along with the rest of the crew. With a deadpan, he dared to ask, "Sooo... Can we start now?"

"Please do," came the curt reply from the manager. He walked off the set, Pocky box in hand, and Yume bowed in her seat, both in apology for inconveniencing the crew and to start the shoot. Once Izura was off set, she was in her natural habitat.

For the next twenty minutes or so, the images of Yume were to encompass three things: cute, playful and sexy. The photographer snapped away as the idol ran through the poses, expressions, with props and no props. There were very few NGs, mostly from a strand of hair that fell out of place or for need of a touch up on the face - both of which the stylist and artists keenly ducked in to do in between shoots.

"You're doing good, Yun-chan," the photographer praised, tapping his trusty camera gently against his shoulder in thought. "But we need something else..."

There was the quickest glance towards Izura. The photographer grinned and pointed to him. "Let's try this. Girls?"

The stylist and makeup artist perked up immediately. "YES?!"

"Tweak his wardrobe into something suitable, touch up his face with make up and throw him in here, chop chop!"

"YES!"

As the calamity happened only just a few feet away, Yume blinked, confused in what she was witnessing. She turned to the manager, who at this point was so irate that he began munching through her Pocky sticks instead.

"Oppa? This was supposed to be an easy shoot, wasn't it?"

He shrugged. Who knows at this point? Yume scratched her cheek, looking back over to see the poor Uchiha with the overly enthusiastic stylists.

 

[Uchiha Izura]

What was this? A Disney movie?!



Izura was suddenly swept away by the two stylists, and what ensued was a disney-esque scene as if it was cut straight out of the movie Cinderella. Clothes were removed, replaced, altered on the spot, etc, in a flurry of that classic cartoon white smoke. What emerged…was an Izura that looked more like a male AIDORU than a shinobi, let alone anything else.

The stylists had replaced his top with some kind of open sleeveless jacket with fur around the collar, exposing his abs which were clearly defined due to his strict ninja training regimen. The weapons and other various trinkets that were on Izura’s original clothing were all tossed aside, lying there in a semi-clustered pile of random goods. The stylists didn’t pay attention, but out came a bandage wrapped tanto, several kunai holsters, explosive note pouches, mini storage scrolls, a small flask of unidentified liquid, and, most notably of all- a collection of various headbands. Leaf, Sand, Stone, Cloud….Izura seemed to have them all.

He wasn’t lying when he explained that he was a ninja…

One thing’s for sure- Izura’s face was completely one of utter confusion. He felt like his personal space was severely violated, and he looked extremely embarrassed. The stylists seemed pleased with their work, having fawned over him earlier….and now they had essentially stripped him of his clothes (not completely, mind you! >.<) and replaced them with entirely new ones.

The stylists rushed Izura over to the photoshoot area, tossing him over in the direction of Yume, causing him to stumble before landing in front of her.

Blushing like crazy, he looked around at all the bright lights and cameras.

“T-this i-isn’t part of the job, is it?!” he stammered.

He wasn’t used to this much female attention either. One pervading thought was in his mind, and it was only two words.



Why me? ;A;

 

[Yume]

If this were an anime, which it was, Yume sweatdropped at the whole thing. Seeing Izura pushed into her vicinity all utterly embarrassed and in a costume that was way too absurd even for her, the idol stayed seated where she originally was in silence. She stared at him, then at the girls who were squealing at the background at how good he looked.

They did realise that this wasn't a shinobi themed shoot, right? Or did their fantasy get to their heads?

"Yah. Is this a joke, you two? How are we going to shoot with him wearing something like that, not to mention how uncomfortable he's looking?" Yume asked in a deadpan.

The stylists stopped squealing and straightened up in silence, visibly feeling extremely embarrassed and ashamed of themselves. The photographer was looking completely befuddled, and now thankful that Yume had spoken up; if he did, the anger would have gotten to the point where he would petition for them to be fired.

"We're very sorry, Yume-san, Sajinjagga-nim," the pair said in unison as they deeply bowed. Without needing another cue, they shuffled about, quickly changing Izura on the spot to something more suitable... and civilian. At least he looked normal now, in a plain dark grey t-shirt and jeans.

Simple was best, after all.

The stylists scurried off into the corner where their stuff was, putting away the clothes and pretending to rearrange their make up products. Yume rubbed her temples briefly for a second before standing up and approaching Izura while addressing the photographer.

"Sajinjagga-nim," she said, reaching up to fix Izura's hair. "This is what happens when your whims get the better of everyone else."

"Ah, you're right, Yun-chan... Sorry about that," he laughed in reply, rubbing the back of his neck. Yume smiled back over to him, stepping away with her hands behind her back.

"That's okay. Let's get this show on the road! What exactly did you want Izu-kun to do?"

"Yun-chan, back up against the shelf," the photographer directed. "Yep, yep, good. Izura-san, stand in front of her, trap her by holding the shelves on both sides of her head. Hunch over a bit - need to see her face there over your right shoulder. Alright, Yun-chan, you are running the relationship and the show."

"A-Ah..." Yume sounded her affirmation and glanced over to Izura, who would probably... most likely be blushing like a madman at this point. "Are you okay, Izu-kun? I'm sorry about them putting you through this, but don't worry! They won't capture your face."

"Ready?"

"Yes, I am." She glanced over to Izura again apologetically and whispered, "Sorry in advance."

The camera lenses aimed right at Izura's back. In an instant, Yume shifted into a pose. With her left arm snaking through to hug his waist and her right hand placed meticulously on his shoulder, the idol moved her head forward, pressing the lower half of her face on his other shoulder. Only her eyes expressed that she was queen. Playful, cute, sexy.

Though it seemed that her work alone was not good enough. The photographer frowned, lowering his camera.

"What? No, no Yun-chan, you look great. Just that... Uh... Izura-san is too nervous, the back of his neck and ears are red. Can you... stop blushing so much?"

 

[Uchiha Izura]

After the stylists had changed his wardrobe into something simpler, Izura breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the outfit wasn’t as obscenely crazy as the previous one. But then the next scene….the next scene was almost too much. If his face wasn’t already beet red, it was now at a point where he might as well have been one giant strawberry.

He gulped as the world went into slow motion for him. He placed his hands on either side of her, against the bookshelf, but he felt as if his bones were made of granite, because that’s how slow it felt to him. She grabbed him by the waist and the shoulder, leaning into him…His inner self twisted and turned, the confident swag version of himself battling with the shy side of him that refused to go away after all these years. Gone was the super serious ninja personality that had defined him as a rogue ninja- this was Izura when his emotion was pure- a state he often only shared with people like his sister.

He whispered to Yume, but he hesitated. “Yun-chan I….”

It felt strange to him. He was usually more serious than this. He had visited Leaf not to fool around with idols, but to scout the new village and see who had risen to power after all these years. Serious ninja business. They stayed there, and then the cameraman noted Izura’s blushing. It took a little bit, but Izura was able to calm down the embarrassment he felt to where his skin wasn’t so red. They’d be able to take the shot. But as this was happening, internally the Uchiha was beating himself up over wasting time over his own hobbies rather than getting to the tasks he had initially come here for.

But he couldn’t help but feel the way he did, and so he continued…the inner confidence that had so easily afforded him the ability to give Yume’s pocky back returned. That pocky confidence no jutsu.

In as confident a tone he could muster, he spoke in a way that made it look more like a K Drama than anything, his arms coming off the wall and going onto her shoulders so they could look eye to eye. His voice was clear, but it was still low enough of a whisper that only the both of them could hear.



“Yume-chan….please….go out on a date with me?”

 The pocky box almost magically appeared in his hand as an offering, there still being remaining pocky sticks left untouched by the manager. The pocky box the manager had been holding almost moments before, but no longer due to Izura's sneaky space-time ninjutsu.

Of course, part of the problem was that Izura was misinterpreting the situation a bit, but that was because he thought Yume might feel the same way. Even still, his heart hoped for the best.

[Dramatic K-Drama Music Cues]

 

[Yume]

Um, what?

Yume turned to stare at him, utterly confused - even more so when he presented her box of Pocky the second time. In the background, she could hear her manager splutter in bewilderment at the disappearance of the Pocky box again and growl. Uh oh.

"Eh.. Um... Where did this come from Izura-kun?" Yume asked dumbly, taking the box of Pocky without much thought. Before either Izura or Yume could speak about it any further, the manager would already have approached them in a graceful hurry and pull Yume aside.

"Aish... I knew he was a saesang," he muttered, pushing the idol further behind him. His sharp eyes, softened by the glasses of his spectacles, glared icily at Izura. "Leave the premises. I don't care if you get eaten alive by the other saesangs."

Oh no. Oh dear. Yume darted her sights between the two before stepping out from behind the manager and in between the two men. "Ahh, stop! Oppa, look at him - he can't be a stalker! He's just..."

Awkward? Shy? Really fucking weird?

Whatever word she was trying to pick out, her manager did not allow her to finish. His genuine annoyance had spread even towards the idol, such that he loomed over her menacingly, effectively stopping Yume from daring to speak further.

"Yume, this entire mess has happened because you were acting too friendly and letting him into the shoot. Plus that stare? You made him misinterpret your vapid need for Pocky."

"W-What are you talking about? T-Too friendly? But I'm-"

"An idol, yes. But you have inconvenienced me. You have inconvenienced the photographer. You delayed the shoot from what was supposed to be a one hour shoot to three. Stop acting like a damsel when things like this happen. You produce good work, but show some professionalism!"

He didn't even want to start with the absurdity that were the stylists. Yume flinched after every sentence he made as she looked to the ground, depressed. "But you gave the okay...-" she mumbled.

"I'm sorry?"

"N-Nothing, Oppa." Raising her head and turning to Izura with an expression of shame and sorrow. She, being the idol she was, forced an embarrassed smile and bowed as deeply as she could go standing up. "I apologise for any misunderstanding, Izura-kun. But as a signed idol, I have restrictions when it comes to relationships and dating."

She straightened up, a slight sniffle was coming from her nose and her eyes glistened like she was to about to cry. From being yelled at in front of everyone or the fact that she had to dash a fan's dreams, who really knew which it was. A knuckle of a finger gingerly wiped under her eyes, as if to catch any stray tears.

 

[Uchiha Izura]

Izura bit his lip, his face reddening again. He clenched his fists, embarrassed yet again. These feelings he felt were alien to him. Rejection was a thing that he hadn’t dealt with before, let alone romantic feelings.

His chest felt constricted, almost like it was restricting his breathing when she responded to him. She’d easily be able to tell that he felt embarrassed, hurt, and didn’t know how to react. So he did the only thing that was natural to him- retreat into his shell.

Izura turned away without a word, running off into the depths of the store. On the way out he grabbed his ninja gear, slinging the assortment of goods over his shoulder. When he was out of line of sight, he phased through a wall before teleporting away entirely.

But in his haste to leave, the album he had so carefully snuck in to acquire had been dropped, laying there on the floor.

Why was I so stupid? What the hell am I even doing here? , he thought to himself, pushing aside the emotion that had driven him to such awkward acts earlier. He bit his lip in thought, and then steeled himself with the same wall that most shinobi had ingrained in them through trial by fire.

I shouldn’t be wasting my time. , Izura concluded, as he adopted that same, calmer demeanor that he held when on the job. This was a serious blunder on his part, and he wouldn’t let it happen again.

He couldn’t help but wonder how he’d react if he ever saw her again, but if it did happen, she’d more than likely meet a more….muted Izura.

[Topic Left]

 

[Yume]

"A-Ah, wait a minute, Iz-!"

Yume was taken aback as he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. A sigh sounded from behind her with mutters of both annoyance and relief that because Izura was a ninja, he could have disappeared without trouble to begin with. The girl sighed, turning around to face her manager with a look of disapproval.

"Jun!" She was only truly disappointed or angry at him when used his name. "You were too harsh! He was just an enthusiastic fan, that's all!"

The manager--Jun peered down at her and pushed his glasses back up his nose. Yume continued to frown at him. "... If you really want, you can go sort things out with this one particular individual in your spare time," he said. "For now, you have a job to do. Take ten minutes and finish this quickly or else we'll be late for our next appointment."

"No... It's fine," Yume sighed, letting herself be guided by the hand of the manager. "Let's just get back to work."

Topic left

 

[Kairyuu]

Voided.

Izura never left Sand, and thus never entered Leaf.

 

[Uchiha Izura]

[To avoid re-posting the entire RP, I'll just consider the whole thread "reposted" since I have entered leaf legitimately now. Yume is okay with this too and can confirm if needed. I don't see the issue as this is a private thread between the both of us anyway.]