Chapter Text
“Satsuki, can you come to the label?” Her older brother Itachi had called her that morning.
“Is it related to Madara? Because if it is, I’m not interested,” Satsuki had enough of that old man and having her own independent music label was a battle fought with her own teeth.
“No, this is a personal request from me,” Itachi rectified Satsuki’s doubts.
It took a second for Satsuki to think about it. She didn’t understand why her brother was still working for that old man. But by being the creative director, Itachi had some space to work and bring Satsuki over projects he considered she could take them to the next level.
“Sure, give me 10 and I’ll be there,” Satsuki was looking through her clothes.
Since she had broken from her pop singer persona and turned into a full-blown rapper, her wardrobe consisted of oversized t-shirts, ripped and baggy pants and a bunch of sneakers. She was no longer interested in appealing to a male audience. This, she knew, for a long time. She made all the possible changes to annoy Madara’s sight and let her make her own music. Like cutting her hair short, barely touching her shoulders and a bit spikey. Adding all the piercings and metallic accessories to fit her street style persona.
With that, Satsuki became one of the first girl crushes in Japan. And made Madara shut up about her career choices.
Satsuki drove herself to the headquarters of the Mangekyo label. They had subsidiaries all over Japan where they picked the very best of each region. An ominous black and red logo overlooked the street, as if it looked down on all the other buildings in the area. Satsuki parked and walked inside the building.
Itachi was waiting for her in the lobby. He stood out with his red wine shirt and rolled up sleeves. He smiled and signaled to her to follow him. He gave her a manila envelope with information about the project she was going to work on. Satsuki skimmed through the pages and was struck by the passport-like photo of the artist she was going to work for. A blonde girl with the most magnetic sky blue eyes she had ever seen.
“Madara thinks she’s ready to debut and we’re looking for the title track, so I thought of you…” Itachi mentioned and looked at her while he turned the doorknob of a dance practice room, “As a matter of fact, you can meet her right now.”
Satsuki walked in the room and saw two pigtails swooshing in the air. The owner of those pigtails danced so cleanly and matched the beats of Satsuki’s own song. Satsuki felt self-conscious about the music choice. And contrary to her baggy clothes, this blonde girl was wearing black leggings and a grey crop top hoodie.
“Naruko-san, am I interrupting? I just want you to meet someone,” her older brother walked in and approached the blonde girl.
Naruko stopped and bowed slightly towards Itachi. And when she noticed Satsuki’s presence, she quickly bowed again, covering her face with her hands. Satsuki thought this was cute, a lot of girls had joined her family’s music label after she had made that leap of faith. Satsuki approached and moved her hands.
“It’s not necessary to bow that deep with me,” Satsuki mentioned while she touched Naruko by the shoulder and signaled her to stand up.
“I’m a big fan of yours,” Naruko said while she covered her face with her hands and looked to her left, trying to avoid Satsuki’s eyes.
“Well, today is your lucky day,” Itachi interrupted their small conversation with a smile, “I called my little sister to compose your debut title track.”
Naruko’s eyes looked surprised at Itachi and her jaw dropped. Naruko slowly walked towards Itachi. Her lips were pressed as if she was trying to repress her feelings, but she failed to hold her tears when she hugged Itachi. She thanked him while crying on his chest, Itachi just patted her back and tried to calm her down. This scene took Satsuki by surprise, because her older brother wasn’t a hugger. And watching the impact of her own music first-hand. She had seen fans get very emotional with her music, but not someone this close. The exchange didn’t last long as Itachi broke the hug quickly by offering a handkerchief and checking the paperwork.
“So, Satsuki will be producing the song and I’ll oversee the process alongside the creative strategy to promote the song… maybe she will need you to go to her studio to record, we will discuss the proper arrangements when the time comes…”
Naruko limited herself to listening and nodding as Itachi read and clarified the agreement between Satsuki and Naruko to work together. After the quick exchange, Satsuki followed Itachi to the recording room and he proceeded to show her which songs were meant to be sung by Naruko. Satsuki sat on the chair and pulled the headphones. She hit the play button and listened to a minute of each song, each time getting more and more annoyed at the sound. Naruko’s voice was nice but she had more room to grow other than bubbly pop music.
"Why did you call me Itachi? This practically sounds like whatever Madara wanted my sound to be…"
"Well, do me a favor and keep listening to the next tracks," said Itachi with a confident smile.
A few clicks and Satsuki’s ears caught a sound that made her open her eyes and look at her brother. Itachi gestured to keep listening with his right hand. It was an isolated layer of Naruko singing to an R&B song. She could go high and low as required.
This girl has range… and it’s going to be wasted on pop music?
Satsuki looked at Itachi.
“Is this really happening again?” She asked, someone who’s potential was so vast but was going to be unattended.
I could do something…
“Again? Well, it’s up to her,” Itachi looked through the studio window not looking at Satsuki directly, “She’s about to start her music career… and knowing oneself is key in this industry…”
“So, are you up to the task?” Itachi’s serious gaze landed on her.
Satsuki nodded with confidence.
Back in the dance practice room, Naruko danced vigorously for the last time that day. She ended on her cue and stayed there looking at herself in the mirror. After a couple seconds, she broke from the final pose and sat on the floor. Tired, sweaty but happy. Naruko couldn’t contain her happiness. Her hands covered her face while she remembered what had happened earlier that day when she met Satsuki and Itachi gave her the good news about her debut. Naruko rolled a bit on the ground, squealing and laughing.
“Ahhh, what was I thinking of dancing to Satsuki’s last EP when she came?”
Naruko stopped rolling on the floor and with her back on the floor, she looked up at the ceiling.
“But she’s really pretty up close…”
After those words left her mouth, Naruko realized her thoughts and covered her face. Her cheeks felt really hot, differently from the usual heat from dancing.
“Ahhh, Naruko… Keep it together! We can’t mess this up!”
“What can’t you mess up?” A deep voice asked.
Naruko opened her eyes bigger and looked at her interlocutor. It was Itachi who had brought her a water bottle. Naruko sat up and tried to stand up quickly, but Itachi shook his head.
“You should be resting, dancing all day isn’t a good idea… You also need to take breaks to allow your body to rest and build itself back…”
Naruko appreciated those caring moments from Itachi. As someone coming from the countryside, from an island called Ushiogakure, meeting nice people in the city was a challenge Naruko had to face early on. Not everyone had her best on their minds. But with Itachi, she felt at ease. He wasn’t interested in her romantically and plus, he had a younger sister around her age… who happened to be her favorite artist in the whole world. And the one who triggered her own music path. Naruko couldn’t deny that she often thought how nice it would have been to have an older brother like Itachi. He cared for her like a little sister, but he also kept everything business-like.
“You should be going home now, I’ll call your manager to get you home. Make sure to get a shower and eat something other than konbini food…”
Other times, Itachi behaved like a tone-down version of her own mom Kushina.
“Yeah, thanks for taking care of me…” Naruko bowed and went for her bag.
She stopped at the door and looked inside to Itachi’s back who was on a call with her manager. Even though his field was creative, he still oversaw other areas and took care of the company’s artists. Someone had told Naruko that he could be the next CEO when Madara stepped out of his position. These were all rumors, but Naruko thought the work environment could improve with his touch.
Itachi ended his call and turned around to see Naruko.
“They are on their way here,” he mentioned with a reassuring smile and walked next to Naruko, “So… are you ready to work with my little sister?”
Naruko sighed deeply, “If I’m completely honest with you, I’m nervous! I don’t want to mess up my chance with her…”
“Don’t worry… Even though she’s making the song for you, it’s not completely yours until you have your own touch… and that’s what she looks for in an artist, I assure you.”
Naruko looked at Itachi and nodded. They both walked to the lobby and said their respective goodbyes when Naruko’s recently assigned manager came.
On the ride back home, Naruko sighed and smiled.
Satsuki spent the rest of her week trying to compose something in her studio. She added some of her own vocals into the mix as a placeholder for Naruko’s vocals. Her head moved to the rhythm of her own creation, thinking if this song could match the rest of the debut album planned for Naruko. She also worried that maybe no one could see the potential in her and just labelled her as another pretty face.
Satsuki sighed.
“If I had more influence, I could make her an offer to join my label…”
Satsuki stared at her PC’s screen while replaying Naruko's dance from earlier. She imagined what kind of choreography she was going to learn for the song she was creating. Satsuki bit her lower lip as she was thinking about this new promise. And when she caught herself thinking about it, she shook her head and continued to make tweaks on her song.
“She’s probably younger and she wouldn’t be interested in you…” Satsuki whispered to herself while her eyes were fixed on the screen, “Like what are the odds? Hah…”
After a few more minutes, Satsuki stretched herself and called it a day. She took the keys of her jet black car and drove home. She prepared something to eat, watched a couple videos and prepared herself before going to sleep.
Once she closed her eyes and waited to fall asleep, images of Naruko floated on her mind. The fictitious meetups and scenes she imagined herself with Naruko. She shook her head to dissipate those thoughts, but she couldn't help thinking about it. Satsuki opened her eyes and stared into the darkness.
“Hah... Now it’s not the best moment to catch feelings, Satsuki…”
Satsuki couldn’t sleep much that night.
And she wasn’t the only one.