Online Romance - Act One

Summary: Twenty-three and desperate, Sakura Haruno decides to join the online dating community; much to the chagrin of her roommate, Sasuke Uchiha.

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                                                                  ~Chapter One: Account Creation~

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Tuesday mornings were the closest representation to a stress-reliever that Sakura Haruno was going to get to. She nor her best friend, Ino Yamanaka, had classes and thus, to get away from the every day headache, would head down to a local Konoha diner on the corner of Tokyo and Shriner Streets, where they'd order coffee, perhaps a little food, and gossip about their week. It was a way for the two to stay good friends after graduating high school and going into college where, unfortunately, they had little to no classes together.

Sakura tucked a random stray strand of her pink hair behind her ear, the long tresses cascading down to the creases of her elbows. She narrowed her emerald-green irises. Perhaps it was time to consider a haircut? She adored short hair, but it seemed to bring out her somewhat too large forehead and slightly rounded jaw line. She wondered what layers would do for her overall appearance?

The twenty-three-year-old sighed and pulled at her flowy, white tank-top. Just as she looked both ways at a cross walk and stepped down into the road, she was nearly knocked over by a rushing pedestrian on a bike. "Watch where you're going!" the biker blared as he zoomed by. The pinkette scowled and turned towards the offender with a raised fist.

"You were the one who nearly plowed into me, asshole!" she bit back as she made her way to the other side of the street. The skinny hobo didn't stop nor reply, he just went on, weaving through the crowded streets, which earned him plenty of irritated looks and disapproving comments, though none seemed to faze him. When his short, brown hair was out of sight, Sakura rolled her eyes and turned back on her heels, sights set upon a brick building in the distance with a lit blue neon sign, the words reading 'Akimichi Diner'.

When she reached the building and entered through its glass door, she was relieved to feel the blast of the air conditioner. Konoha's summers were almost as bad as Suna's anymore, reaching well up into the one-hundreds. The only difference was that Konoha had a much more moist land with water streams that cut through the town while Suna was a dry desert. The result was an unbearable humidity level. As if to prove her point she wiped her damp forehead with the back of her hand, her pink tresses frizzed out from the thick moisture in the air.

The diner seemed normal; busy with a little bit of noise pollution. Sakura glanced around the building, her eyes skimming the black and white checkered tiles of the floor to the wooden tables and blue-cushioned booths set up in an attempt to find her blonde-headed friend. When she didn't catch a glimpse of Ino she frowned and pulled out her cellphone from the back pocket of her shorts.

"I could have sworn she said she was already here . . ." Sakura murmured, pressing the circular button near the bottom of the phone's screen.

"Sakura!" a voice called suddenly, ripping her eyes from her phone's screen. She blinked and was relieved to see Ino seated in one of the booths to her left, waving and smiling. Ino was a highly envied young woman with a curvaceous figure to die for and a perfect heart-shaped face framed by platinum tresses that accentuated her stunning blue irises, she was usually hard to miss. Sakura returned the kind gestures and pounced in the booth's direction, plopping down in a very none lady-like manner.

"Sorry it took me a little bit longer to get here today." Sakura said apologetically, her eyes wandering to the clock hanging on the wall to her left. It read fifteen minutes passed ten - in the morning that is. "I had a hard time getting Sasuke-kun out of bed for his meeting."

"I don't know how you managed to end up with such a hottie for a roommate." Ino commented, cuffing her reddening face with her hands, a dreamy look flaring within the depths of her eyes. Sakura groaned, not surprised with the young woman's words.

"Sasuke and I kinda grew up together." she answered. "We kept in touch while he went away to Oto for high school." Ino arched a perfectly maintained eyebrow and tapped her manicured nails against the wooden surface of the table between them.

"That doesn't explain why he moved in with you." she muttered and leaned back, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you tell me any of this before, huh?" Sakura gave a casual shrug of her shoulders as she slid her navy blue purse off of her shoulder and laid it beside her.

"You never really asked before." Sakura answered as she picked up one of the menus laying on the table and opened it up, her green hued gaze grazing over the listed items. "When he came back he had nowhere to stay, you know, since his family moved to Oto. So, naturally, I offered him the extra bedroom in my apartment."

"I don't see how you've not made a move on such a fine specimen of a man, Sakura Haruno." Ino scolded, shaking her head in disappointment. "He has such nice, thick, lustrous raven tresses, a body of a God, and such sharp, obsidian eyes that just lure you in the moment you stare into them . . ." she added, drool starting to hang out of the side of her mouth. A moment later she snapped out of the daze and slammed her hands onto the table's wooden surface, nearly scaring Sakura to death. "Hell! If I weren't a taken woman, I would be all over that!"

"I wonder how Choji would take listening to his fiancée ramble on about another man?" Sakura inquired playfully. Ino huffed and dropped her eyes down to the golden band with small diamonds embroidered all way around on the third finger of her left hand. A small smile made its way to the blonde's face.

"Choji-kun isn't the jealous type." Ino said. "Besides, he knows I love him."

"Is it hard, you know, while he is away at the other diner in Kiri?" the pink-head questioned. Ino scrunched her face up.

"Well, duh!" she blared in response. "But absence makes the heart fonder, ne?" Sakura lowered her menu as to not obscure the blonde's vision on her face and bobbed her head. Ino sighed and propped her elbows up on the table, resting her chin in her palms. "You need to find a boyfriend, forehead."

"I told you to stop calling me that, Ino-pig." Sakura grumbled and slammed the laminated paper in her grasp on the table. "Where the hell is our waitress?"

"Don't change the subject, Sakura." Ino scolded. "You should give this guy I know a chance. He's smart like you, just a little bit lazy - "

"I'm perfectly capable of finding myself a boyfriend." Sakura retorted fervently. "I've just been focused on my studies. There is way too much for me to memorize to be a successful medical doctor to even fool with having a boyfriend."

"I honestly think you're afraid." Ino said in a tone that said that she was completely serious. Sakura scowled in disbelief.

"Afraid of what - if I may ask?" the pinkette demanded hotly, eyes narrowed into accusatory slants. Ino raised her shoulders temporarily and leaned back against the cushioned seat, her legs crossed due to wearing a rather short, blue dress.

"You've never had a boyfriend and you're twenty-three, Sakura." the Yamanaka pointed out, "If you don't get into the dating scene soon, you're going to find yourself old and alone." Sakura's shoulders slumped and her head drooped forward slightly.

"I'm so sorry about your wait, Yamanaka-sama, Haruno-san." a meek voice interjected, bringing both females to glance over at the owner: a mousy looking girl clad in the diner's traditional blue and white short-sleeved dress uniform with a matching apron tight around her waist, shy brown eyes, and lackluster light brown hair pulled up into a loose ponytail. In one hand she held a palm sized notebook and a black ink-pen in the other.

"Oh, you're fine, Momichi-san." Ino reassured her with a dismissive wave of her hand. Momichi smiled kindly at the woman then turned towards Sakura.

"You both want the usual: coffee and a danish?" she inquired, pen ready to write. Sakura closed her menu and stacked it upon Ino's untouched one, nodded, then sighed for the umpteenth time that morning.

"Thank you!" Ino called after her as she walked away, writing down their order for the cooks in the back. The blonde then averted her gaze back to her pinkette friend. "But you get what I'm saying, right?" Sakura bit her bottom lip and gave a curt nod.

"I do." she said. "I am a little nervous." she admitted, twiddling her thumbs.

"Okay, let's start with the basics." Ino began, an excited gleam in her eye that Sakura was slightly fearful of. "Have you ever been kissed?" Sakura's face went bright red and she immediately began to stutter and babble incoherent words. "Uh, I take that as a 'no'."

Sakura mellowed herself and frowned. Since she was young she had been more concerned with the academic part of her life rather than the social portion. She made few friends, mainly because of her large forehead which she was constantly pestered over up until she met Ino in high school. Even then though, she remained diligent about her studies. Her parents always pushed her to be her best. When she made anything below an A, she would be scolded and grounded. Not that they were bad parents or that she had a rough life. In fact, she had a pretty good life.

Her mother owned a little hair salon about thirty minutes away from her apartment and her father was an entrepreneur, having created a rather popular hair product called 'Hairuno' which led to a well sought out hair and hygiene line; to say their income had been adequate enough to support the family of three was an understatement. Even enough for her father to pay Sakura's rent each month while she was away in college. Of course, once Sasuke moved in the young man generously started picking up the payments.

Her eyes widened for a portion of a second, a memory at Konoha's gates resurfacing.

"W-Well, there was this one time, when I was thirteen, j-just before Sasuke-kun left . . ." Sakura murmured, eyes downcast, hands tightly clenched into tiny fists, "I-I had this crush on him, and I told him and I k-k-kissed him then ran off before he could reply. We haven't spoken about it since."

"Hmm, that's a start!" Ino praised. "You should bring it up to him and see how it goes! He may like you now that you two live together!" she added, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.

"No." Sakura deadpanned. "Oh, just forget it. I have no options around here."

"You've not tried looking!" Ino snapped. "How about you try joining the social media world - you know, get a Facescroll! Almost everyone has one."

"I don't know . . ." Sakura murmured just as Momichi dropped off their steaming coffees on their tables before scuttling off to another table. She grabbed one of the cups and pulled it to her while Ino did the same.

"I'd really hate to see you end up alone, Sakura." Ino said and took a sip of her coffee. Sakura sighed and grabbed a few sugar packets from the small, white glass cup placed at the end of the table and tore an end off each one and pour them into her drink. She took the wrapped utensils that were near the end of the table as well and pulled out a spoon to stir her drink.

"I know . . ." she murmured and wrapped her hands around her mug.

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"I'm home!" Sakura announced as she came into her quaint little apartment. When she received no response, her gaze flickered across the living-room, first to the couch, then to the conjoined kitchen where no one was sitting at the island bar, and then back to the living-room. With a frown in-tact she approached the dark brown Chesterfield sofa and peeked over its back only to see the celery hued decorative pillows she had bought a week ago and an unfolded white blanket.

"I guess I'm early." Sakura muttered and retraced her steps. Once she was back at the front door she removed her purse and hung it up on a small coat-rack positioned nearby. She then stretched her arms above her head and yawned. The couch seemed pretty inviting at that point.

After a morning of gossip, which irritatingly enough was strictly revolved around her love life, and a few hours of aiding in the search for the perfect bridesmaids' dress, she was ready to spend a moment by herself. She didn't really consider Sasuke a bother when they were home together due to the fact that he was usually quiet and more prone to watching the television or going to his room than striking up a conversation when he was there. Of course when Sakura joined him on the sofa he would comment and they would engage in a friendly chat.

Speaking of Sasuke, Sakura's eyes drifted to the wooden desk propped against the right wall with an open laptop perched upon its surface. Her and Ino's earlier conversation popped up in her mind. "You're going to find yourself old and alone." The thought sent shivers down the entire length of her spine.

"Perhaps I should consider joining the 'social media community'?" Sakura questioned herself, approaching the desk and pulling back the wooden chair in front of it. She plopped down and flipped up the black laptop top, the screen instantly lighting up. She ran her index finger over the touch pad and clicked on the small internet icon. A white page with the Google search bar popped up before her very eyes. Out of habit she began sucking on her bottom lip.

"What the hell do I even search?" she grumbled. "What was that site Ino said? Face Foe? Face-troll? No . . . ugh." Why couldn't she remember? It was a simple title after all. One would think that if she could memorize medical terms such as adrenoleukodystrophy that any other word would be as easy as pie. The Haruno groaned and leaned back in the chair, frustrated.

"You're acting weird."

Sakura jerked and got up from the chair, surprised. She turned towards the front door to her apartment, a hand resting on her chest, and her breathing hitched. She was relieved to see Sasuke approach, hands buried in the pockets of his blue jeans, his regular aloof facial expression in-tact. "Sasuke-kun," she said, regaining control of her breathing, "you scared me half to death."

"Hn. What are you doing?" the Uchiha inquired as he took a seat on the sofa and picked up the remote control to the television from the wooden table positioned in front of it. He hit a button and the flat-screen flickered to life.

"Um, nothing." Sakura muttered, turning around and shutting the laptop. She would delve into the great wonders of social media later. "Let's find a good movie to watch." she suggested as she joined her roommate on the couch. Sasuke handed her the remote and leaned back.

"Don't pick something stupid." he commented, which strictly meant no romance or drama films. Sakura rolled her eyes and scooted back, lifting her legs up and crossing them.

"I guess I'll compromise this one time." she remarked playfully. The Uchiha arched an eyebrow at her and said nothing, his onyx irises locked intently upon the television screen, watching the titles that Sakura browsed through.

Five minutes in and Sasuke was growing irritated. "Just pick a damn movie, Sakura." he grumbled, scowling when she smirked and clicked on 'The Conjuring'. He shouldn't have been surprised really. "Tch. Annoying."

"It's not a romance movie, Sasuke-kun." Sakura pointed out and laid the remote down beside her.

"Hn. That's easy to see." Sasuke muttered as the beginning started up. Sakura cuffed a hand over her mouth and giggled. The raven haired male's eyes were instantly upon her, visibly questioning her actions while somehow remaining calm and somewhat unreadable.

"You scared?" she asked, sea-foam green stare drifting over to his handsome and relaxed face.

"Sakura." Sasuke growled in a warning tone, their eyes meeting. Sakura gulped and tilted back, her hands going up to play with her silky tresses.

"What?" she questioned, an innocent expression making its way onto her facial features. Sasuke let out a deep breath.

"You're being annoying." he answered, earning a 'hmph' from the female. She promptly uncrossed her legs and stood to full height, which wasn't much unfortunately. Sasuke frowned and eyed her retreating form. "What?"

"I'm going to make some popcorn." Sakura declared, walking around the sofa and into the kitchen half of the room. Sasuke shrugged and commenced to pay attention to the television, mentally hoping that the current film would be more interesting than the previous one the duet had watched together. He knitted his eyebrows together; what was the title of that movie? Twilight? All he knew was that the hellish image would forever be burned into his retinas.

The Uchiha was snapped out of his pondering moments later when a sudden weight plopped down beside him. He didn't even have to glance to his left to know that it was Sakura, her legs crossed once more and a large bowl of steaming, delicious popcorn settled between her thighs. "You can have some, Sasuke-kun." she chirped merrily before she stuffed her mouth full of the buttery treat.

"Hn." Sasuke murmured just as he stole a piece and stowed it away into the depths of his mouth, flicking his tongue to savor the flavor. He was ripped once again from his thoughts when he felt Sakura's weight shift slightly closer, jumping a little even when a scary part happened in the movie. He blinked and dared a glance at the female. She had an intense expression on her face as she took another hand full of popcorn and crammed it into her mouth.

Sakura could only watch on, nervous as another scary part happened and she was forced to clamp her eyes shut. Horror movies had always been something she enjoyed to view, however, she was a jumpy person. It was almost as if her and the horror genre weren't compatible. Hmm, compatible. Something clicked in her mind.

Charts, graphs, quizzes, numbers, all of which Sakura Haruno was capable of understanding to the fullest with a little bit of studying. "Why didn't I think of it before?!" she boomed, surprising the Uchiha beside her.

"What the hell?" Sasuke demanded in a low voice. Sakura blatantly ignored his comment and stood up, handed him the large, green bowl, and marched straight over to the laptop. "Sakura." The female only drowned him out once more, instead opening the laptop to see the same Google search screen from earlier and readied her slender fingers over the keys.

The pinkette took a deep breath and filtered through her head in an attempt to remember any of those online dating commercials. They were almost always appearing during the breaks for her favorite dramas; but at the current moment it was as if her brain had died and refused to start back up. "Think, damn it!" she reprimanded herself and clasped her eyes shut tightly.

Then the television speakers, ironically, blared: 'Sick of being alone? Tired of all those nights, going out with your very taken friends? Sign up for Shinobi-Mingle today and all your worries will cease to be!' Sakura's eyes snapped out, her curiosity getting the best of her. 'With our extensive program, we can find out your desires, likes and dislikes, and personality and find matches best suited for you. Within the first year, eight out of ten find their soul mate on Shinobi-Mingle and end up in long-lasting relationships.'

That was all the convincing one Sakura Haruno needed and her fingers were flying to press the black keys on her keyboard at a rapid pace. As soon as the complete title for the website - which very well could be her savior - she hit the enter key. She was directed to a colorful website with success stories written by couples along with pictures. Her heart swelled with hope as she clicked the 'sign up' button.

"An online dating site?" Sasuke's deep, husky voice muttered into her ear. Sakura shivered and twisted her head to the side to glare at the young man. "Are you seriously signing up for that?"

"Shut up!" she snapped and filled out the data. Sasuke frowned but watched as she completed the form, her fingers trembling as she neared the end.

"This is stupid." the Uchiha announced, hatefully. Sakura gave him a pinched look.

"It's none of your business, anyway." she snapped, turning towards the screen where the small, white pointer lingered on the purple submit button. Sasuke's grip, that Sakura had failed to notice, tightened on the back of the chair she preoccupied, but said nothing. She took a deep breath and clicked the little purple button, her life now headed down a road of change.

                                                                              ~To Be Continued~