AN: Hi!!! This is h3rshy, yet again! This new story came from one of the summaries on my profile. I just chose to go ahead with it anyway, so here's a new story! It's not much because the original version was over 12 pages long and I had to divide it evenly. Unfortunately, there are no pictures to go along with this, so no visuals. Okay, so enough of my rambling and on with the new story!! Presenting..., "Romance on the Corner"!! READ AND REVIEW!!!

KEY:

"speaking" - this is obviously speaking

'thinking' - sorta-not-really-obvious thinking

song lyrics - these are song lyrics.

no quotations = singing

quotations = thinking

‘Today is so cold,’ a young woman remarked. That was a very odd statement made by an equally odd person. This person was Haruno Sakura of Konoha. Konoha is in a region where it is typically warm all year. Now, the woman who we now know as Sakura, was walking down the busiest street in her hometown. It was the second day of January and there were many people out and about.

There were people bustling to and fro, jostling the young woman around in the street. Oh, you don’t even know what this woman looks like, do you? I’m terribly sorry for not explaining. This young woman has pink hair, yes pink, that goes to her waist. She has large doe-like emerald green eyes that sparkle with a child-like innocence. Her button nose, full lips, and milky skin complete the image.

Her white cashmere sweater does little to hide the curves that she has. The dark blue skinny jeans with black high-tops don’t really help either. Around her shoulders was draped a stylish light brown trench coat that falls to her knees.

Now, Sakura was walking down the busiest street in her hometown watching the people around her as they were walking by.

‘Today’s such a busy day,’ she thought. ‘Everybody’s going around shopping because of the new year sales. I’m amazed Ino isn’t here dragging me around with her.’

Now, Ino, my dear reader, is Sakura’s best friend. The blonde-haired, blue-eyed spitfire has known our docile, demure friend since their toddle years. She is very protective of the young woman and won’t hesitate to beat someone up for her.

‘Though she did say she was going to spend the day with Shikamaru,’ Sakura thought. Shikamaru was another of Sakura’s many protective friends and Ino’s boyfriend. He has a perpetual lazy look in his brown eyes. His brown hair is always in his signature ‘pineapple’ style. ‘I feel so sorry for him. He has to deal with her love of shopping all the time.’

As the young woman thought, she did not notice the person in front of her until she bumped into their chest. She fell back to the ground with a grunt.

“Watch were you’re going!” Sakura said to the unknown person as she rubbed her rump.

“I’m really sorry ma’am,” a mysterious voice said to her as a large, masculine hand was thrust into her vision.

Sakura looked up to see a tan, smiling face looking at her. The young man had sunny blonde hair. Much darker than Ino’s pastel color. It was spiked up randomly to look like it was natural, which it most likely was. His cerulean blue eyes sparkled happily. The strange thing, though, was the three whisker like marks on each cheek.

The young man was wearing torn blue jeans that hung low on his hips with a dark orange sweater that hugged his frame, showing his muscles. He was also wearing a black jacket over his sweater. Around his neck was a necklace that had an entrancing green jewel hanging from a thin, silver chain. The young man was also wearing orange and black, specially ordered Nike’s.

She took his hand and he helped pull her up to her feet. She looked up, seeing as she was 5’ 1” and he was probably 5’ 11”. She only reached up to his chest.

“I’m sorry for bumping into you,” the young man said and grinned sheepishly. He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous manner.

“It’s alright. I wasn’t looking at where I was going,” Sakura said and smiled. The young man’s eyes widened and a little bit of red crept up his cheeks.

“I-if i-it’s al-alright with you, will-will you c-c-come an-and g-get s-s-some c-c-coffee wi-with m-me?” he stuttered nervously.

“Oh, um, sure,” Sakura said. “Oh, and by the way, my name’s Haruno Sakura.”

“I’m Uzumaki Naruto, at your service,” Naruto said with a deep bow. Sakura giggled and Naruto’s smile widened. They walked down the street, side-by-side to Starbucks. They went up to the cashier to order. They cashier, a young boy, turned red and stuttered.

“U-um, w-wh-what c-can I-I-I g-ge-get f-f-for y-y-you?” the boy asked.

“Um, can I have a medium French vanilla frappachino and a chocolate chip muffin?” Sakura asked with a smile. The young boy turned even more red and nodded quickly.

“Can I have a large Columbia Nariño Supremo with a big chocolate chip M&M cookie?” Naruto asked with a bit of an edge. The young boy nodded again and went to fill their orders. He came back soon and the two grabbed their drinks and sat down.

“So, can you tell me a bit about yourself?” Naruto asked.

“What about?” Sakura inquired after she took a sip of her drink.

“Well, how about your likes, dislikes, dreams, and hobbies?” he suggested.

“Sure, as long as you talk about yourself in return. So, I’m Sakura Haruno. I’m 18 years old. I like strawberries, chocolate, sleeping, music, and reading. I don’t like vegetables, the concept of dieing, and people in pain. My hobbies are reading, listening to music, and running. And my dream is to be an ER Physician so I can help people,” Sakura finished with a very determined look in her eyes and a confident smile on her face.

“Wow…” Naruto breathed out. He had never met a girl so focused on a goal. Most girls he met were all focused on clothes, fashion, or on a boy. This young woman had entranced him the moment she smiled up at him with her doe-like eyes and dimples. She had looked at him with such an innocent look, he immediately felt the need to protect her from the evils of the world. Little does he know that this is exactly what every one of her friends felt when she met them, but his feelings were much, much, stronger.

He cleared his throat when he saw Sakura looking at him with a confused expression.

“Well, I’m Naruto Uzumaki. I’m 19. I like ramen, hanging with my friends, and Ichiraku ramen. I hate the three minute wait for the noodles to cook and teme. My hobbies are beating teme at anything and everything, training martial arts, and spending time with friends. My dream is to someday own Ichiraku and expand it to a large business. Oh, and maybe be the mayor of Konoha!” Naruto exclaimed with a grin.

Sakura smiled warmly as she heard the last part of his little speech. She was certain he might make it to mayor with his charismatic smile.

“So Naruto, what were you doing out today?” Sakura asked as she took a bite out of her muffin.

“Well, I was going to meet up with my friend but he was late. So I just started roaming around on the street until I bumped into you,” Naruto said. He looked up to see Sakura with her mouth full of chocolate chip muffin and bits and pieces around her mouth. She looked so adorable, that Naruto felt his face heat up instantly.

Sakura smiled. “Oh, well when we’re done, do you wanna go find him?” She finished off her muffin and got up. Naruto looked startled and looked up to find Sakura walking away. He hurriedly stuffed his cookie into his mouth and followed after her. Soon, the both of them were walking side-by-side on the street with their coffee in hand.

Outside, it was snowing lightly and the street was picture perfect. Sakura smiled and looked around herself. There were couples holding hands and walking around, little kids were running down the streets, and families were everywhere.

Naruto and Sakura walked down the street talking about random stuff. They both learned that they’re about to go to the same college after high school. Sakura’s friends will be attending and Naruto’s, too. They agreed to meet up sometime during the year.

They were walking down main street, the street that they both bumped into each other, when, once again, Sakura bumped into another chest. She nearly fell onto her butt, yet again, when Naruto caught her. He turned to yell at the person.

“Hey! Watch where you'r-” he stopped short.

“Hn, dobe. Where were you?” a voice rumbled out. Sakura looked up to see another young man around Naruto’s height. He was pale with dark onyx eyes. His hair was styled up in the back to look like a chicken’s butt with two long bangs on either side of his face.

He was wearing dark blue, ripped jeans that was hanging low on his hips. He was wearing a long-sleeved, dark blue sweater with a black jacket and dark blue Nike sneakers. His hand were in his jeans pockets and he had a bored/annoyed look on his face.

‘What’s with all the dark blue?’ Sakura thought as she stood straight with Naruto’s help.

“Teme! Where were you?! I was waiting at our meeting spot for, like, 10 minutes!” Naruto exclaimed. “I left after a bit and met Sakura-chan and got some coffee. OH! And say sorry to Sakura-chan for almost knocking her down!”

“Why should I? She’s the one who ran into me,” the mysterious person said.

‘He’s so arrogant!’ Sakura thought.

“Listen here, buddy. You bumped into me. You will say sorry to me. You will learn manners! I will not get bossed around by someone who is an arrogant and annoying man!” Sakura huffed out and jabbed the mysterious man in the chest.

The man looked surprised. He turned to look at Naruto, but he just smiled softly. Sakura was unique that way, even though he had only just met her today. The man looked back at Sakura and smirked. He was interested in her. No one has ever done that before to him.

“Well then. I’m sorry,” the man mock bowed.

“That’s okay!” Sakura exclaimed. She doesn’t know that she slightly scared the two men with her mood-swing. Naruto smiled a small smile and the mysterious man smirked.

“Oh! I need to introduce you two!” Naruto exclaimed and pointed to the other young man. “This is Uchiha Sasuke,” Naruto pointed to Sakura, “and this is Haruno Sakura.”

“Nice to meet you!” Sakura said and stuck out her hand for Sasuke to shake.

“…Pleasure to meet you, too,” Sasuke said and shook her hand.

“So where were you when I came to the meeting spot? You weren’t there,” Sasuke inquired with a raised brow. Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“I bumped into Sakura-chan here when I was leaving. We talked and I invited her out to coffee. We talked some more, decided to got out to find you, and here we are!” Naruto explained. Sasuke just looked at him. Then, an awkward silence crept on the three when the two young men started a staring/glaring contest. This went on for 3 minutes then…

“Let’s get these teen hearts beating Faster, Faster!”

Everyone jumped when they heard that. Sakura fumbled around in her small purse while Sasuke and Naruto watched her. She made a small happy noise when she found her found.

“Hello?…Oh, hi Ino!… No, I’m still out… Yes, I know I should have told you I’m going out but-…but-… you were with Shikamaru!… Yes I’ll come back home as soon as I finish what I’m doing here… I’m talking with these two guys…” Sakura said.

“Who’s she talking to?” Naruto whispered to Sasuke.

“She said ‘Ino’ earlier,” Sasuke answered and turned back to Sakura.

“…No, I don’t know them know them… I just met them today… Fine, I’ll tell you later…Okay… Goodbye Ino, love ya!” Sakura finished.

“Sorry, I have to go now. My friend wants me home,” Sakura explained.

“Why?” Naruto whined.

“Ino and all of my friends are really protective of me, for what ever reason. I don’t know why, I’m perfectly fine by myself!” Sakura ranted.

“Well…, can I have your cell number so we can talk later?” Sasuke asked.

“Yeah, yeah! Me too!” Naruto yelled.

“Of course!” Sakura stated with a laugh. They exchanged numbers. After that, Sakura said goodbye and walked off, the two’s eyes following her form.

“Man… I need to get to know her better… She’s so… I don’t know how to explain it… She’s just…” Naruto muttered.

“Yea…” Sasuke said, equally entranced. She was quite unique. Being the only girl to have ever yelled at him.

“Maybe we should go. We have to get ready for that party later. You do remember you’re the one hosting it at the club, right?” Naruto asked. Sasuke nodded and they walked off to their car, each thinking of the strange girl they had just met.

Now, let’s get back to Sakura. She had just left the two and was rounding a corner to her car. It was her absolute favorite material thing in the world. Her midnight blue Honda Accord was sitting there, waiting for her.

Her friends, the very protective ones, had gotten it specially made for her. It had dark tinted bullet-proof glass with special… devices she could use built in. The devices were for emergencies only and once used would send a signal to all of her friends. Her godmother, Tsunade, had asked for the devices and signal to be put in. It was the equivalent to the Bat Mobile. She had gawked at it when they presented it to her, but she grew to love it.

As Sakura got to her car, she was thinking of the two people she had met. She was invited to a party by her friends, and was thinking of bringing those two with her.

‘Nah… I just met them! They wouldn’t want to come to a party with boring ol’ me!” Sakura thought as she degraded herself. As she thought, she didn’t notice the shadow that was creeping up on her from the ally she was close by. They shadow was almost right behind her when Sakura was startled out of her thoughts by a bark.

“AHHHHH!!!!!” Sakura obviously yelled as she jumped up three feet into the air. She turned around slowly and was faced with two big black eyes.

“Awwww….” Sakura cooed as she got a closer look at the ‘shadow’. It was a small black Labrador retriever. It was covered in dirt. It’s tail was wagging excitedly as it saw her.

“Ooh… I want to take you home so badly! But I don’t think Ino would approve…” she said dejectedly. The dog heard her tone of voice and the tail-wagging stopped along with ear drooping.

“NO!! No, no, no! Don’t do that! Hm… maybe I can convince Ino to keep you…. You know, to keep me company?” she asked the dog. The dog perked right back up.

“Okay, get in you,” she ordered the dog into the backseat of her car. It jumped in and she went into the driver’s seat.

“ACK!!! It’s cold in here!” she yelped and turned up the heat, along with the radio. A soft guitar melody came on along with a violin or cello... Sakura didn't know which.

Say you’re sorry

That face of an angel comes out

Just when you need it to

As I pace back and forth all this time

‘Cause I honestly believed in you

Holdin’ on

The days drag on

Stupid girl, I should have known

I should have known

“Ooh!! I love this song!” Sakura squealed and sang along with the song. The dog just cocked its head and watched the person that was taking it home and might hopefully be its new owner.

That I’m not a princess

This ain’t a fairytale

I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet

Lead her up the stairwell

This ain’t Hollywood

This is a small town

I was a dreamer before you went and let me down

Now it’s too late for you and your white horse

To come around

Baby I was naïve

Got lost in your eyes and never really had a chance

I had so many dreams

About you and me

Happy endings

Now I know

I’m not a princess

This ain’t a fairytale

I’m not the one you’ll sweep off her feet

Lead her up the stairwell

This ain’t Hollywood

This is a small town

I was a dreamer before you went and let me down

Now it’s too late for you and your white horse

To come around

And there you are on your knees

Beggin’ for forgiveness

Beggin’ for me

Just like I always wanted, but I’m so sorry

‘Cause I’m not your princess, this ain’t a fairytale

I’m gonna find someone someday

Who might actually treat me well

This is a big world, that was a small town

There in the rear view mirror disappearin’ now

And it’s too late for you and your white horse

Now it’s too late for you and your white horse

To catch me now

Whoa ohhh ohhh ohhh oh

Try and catch me now

Ohhh

It’s to late….

To catch me now…

A voice came through the radio and started talking. “That was Taylor Swift with “White Horse”! It was the studio version just so you know. Now…”

Soon, the two, human and dog, reached the apartment that Sakura and Ino was living at. Sakura grabbed the two bags she had bought, full of clothes, and guided the dog to her front door. The door was painted a royal purple and the numbers ‘6241’ was on it in brass numbers.

Sakura set down her bags and reached into her purse for the keys. It took her a good five minutes to find it and she stuck it into the keyhole. She walked through the door with the dog following behind her.

The room presented to her was the living room and was painted an icy blue with silver trimming. Right in front of her was a royal blue couch with an end table on the other side. A flat screen TV was on the opposite side of the room with a low coffee table between the two. The floor was dark cherry wood paneling. There was another blue couch against the wall. Then there are two blue recliners spaced around the room.

On the walls were paintings that were some of Sakura and Ino’s favorites. One wall, though, was just one big window. This glass, just like her car, was bullet-proof. It had an amazing view of the city and there was a balcony outside, too. There were potted plants all over.

Sakura walked into the kitchen through the living room. It was a medium size kitchen and supremely cozy. There was a kitchen island with all these kitchen gadgets on it. The thing that catches your attention, though, was a very large espresso/coffee maker on the counter.

She dropped her bags on the kitchen island and went down the hall. The hall had five doors. One was Sakura’s room, one was Ino’s, one was the guest room, next is the bathroom, and the final was the hall closet. Sakura went into the bathroom and turned the bathtub faucets on.

The bathroom had a large bathtub, able to fit 2-3 people, a long bathroom counter that ran the length of the room and had beauty products strewn across it, a big mirror over the counter, two sinks, a toilet, and a full length mirror hanging on the wall.

Sakura went back outside to grab another towel from the hall closet. She went back into the bathroom and shut the faucet. It was ¾ of the way full and steaming from all the warm water. She put the puppy into the water and it reached nearly to its head. The dog yelped and started thrashing around.

“It’s alright,” Sakura cooed, trying to comfort the dog. It soon stopped thrashing and Sakura was able to get some shampoo into the dog’s fur.

“That’s right. No one’s going to hurt you,” Sakura continued to soothe the dog’s frantic nerves. When she was done, she rinsed the dog, and picked it up. She carried it to the counter and dried if off with the towel.

“Hmmm…. I wonder if you’re a boy or a girl…. I can’t just call you ‘dog’ all the time…,” Sakura pondered. She flipped the dog over. It yelped and tried to move around.

“It’s a boy! Congratulations, Sakura! You just earned yourself a male Labrador retriever puppy!” Sakura remarked to herself. “Now, what to name you…” She looked at the puppy and the puppy looked at her. They stared into each other’s eyes for what seemed like forever, but was only four minutes.

“That’s it! I’ll name you Tobi! How does that sound?” she asked the puppy. He gave a dog like smile and barked cutely. “Okay then! You are now called Tobi! Welcome to the family!”

She ran her hands through Tobi’s fur and commented that he had very soft and silky fur.

“Now we need to get all of your puppy stuff. We’ll go to Pet Smart and I’ll leave a note for Ino,” Sakura said. She carried Tobi into the kitchen and set him down.

“Okay… now a note for Ino….”