30th October 2014

Rating: T

01. Fire Alarm

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnngggggg!

Sakura turned over under her blankets, groaning.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnngggggg!

Her eyes shot open, the fire alarm!She scrambled to her feet, quickly donning the red robe beside her bed and running out towards the staircase on the far end of the hall. If she lived on the first floor, she would have probably jumped out the window in a heartbeat but living on the sixth floor left her no choice. The stairs would have to become her friend today.

When she arrived outside, Sakura wasn't exactly paying attention to the mass amount of people gathering around the shrieking apartment complex but rather wondering what the hell caused the alarm to go off at three in the morning, right smack in the middle of her sleep.

"Damn that Kiba! This is one hell of a prank that bastard drew up tonight," muttered the guy next to her.

Prank? Was this some sort of joke to him?!Sakura furiously mused, watching several firefighters pacing into the building, one after another.

Pranks like these were her least favorite. In fact, she detested any kind of prank, even the most harmless and simple ones ever created. She turned to face him, ready to give him a piece of her mind. "What the hell "

She stopped. Oh my God! It was the cute guy from the flat next door standing next to her in his orange underwear! And if she saw correctly, it had a smiling sun. He was tall, tan-skinned, with a lean yet muscular body. His short, spiky blonde hair was the color of sunshine and his sky blue eyes were a dark, ocean blue and were those…whisker marks on his cheeks?

"Hm?" He blinked down at her. "Oh, hey! You're that new girl living next door huh?"

"…Yep." Her eyes were staring at his smooth chest.

"Nice! This means we'll get to see a lot of each other then. I'm Uzumaki Naruto, your new neighbor and friend. " He held out a hand, expecting her to take it but Sakura was too busy marveling his physique. His upper body was beautifully sculpted and until now, she'd never seen a well-muscled chest or arms that rippled with strength.

After a long minute, her mind finally clicked to what he just said and glanced down at his hand, blushing to the roots of her hair. You shouldn't be doing that! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! She scolded herself.

The blonde took back his hand, scratching his cheek sheepishly instead. "Sorry, I get ahead of myself sometimes. It's not every day I meet a pretty girl with a charming forehead, especially one living next door."

What?! She gazed back up at him.

"Sorry for the mess my friend caused." Naruto went on, watching as the last of the firemen exited the apartment complex. "I'm pretty sure I wrecked your sleeping schedule huh?"

Sort of. "No, it's okay," She squeaked.

He looked at her again, grinning.

Before worsening her embarrassment any further, she cleared her throat. "Haruno Sakura. A pleasure…Naruto." She held out her hand.

He gave it a firm shake. "Likewise, Sakura-chan."

"I'm telling you Ino, the fire alarm went off at 3 am and the cute guy from the flat next door was standing next to me in his underwear."

"Yeah, when pigs fly! There's no way that could ever happen to you."

"Trust me, it did and it was a sight."