Author's Note: Thanks to all the readers and reviewers! I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner (the internet died on me), but I promise to thank you guys personally. Unless, if you prefer it otherwise.

Disclaimer : Still wishing, still not granted. Still not mine.

Foxes and Roses

Chapter II: Even Dogs Have Names

Haruno Sakura had never been at lost of words. Even as a baby she had developed a precocious tendency to chatter gibberish which later bloomed into an exceptional skill of speech. She used her talent well to get what she wanted most of the time (the only exceptions were when her hormones burst sky high and when Uzumaki Naruto was within ten mile radius–the latter strangely always led to a violent ending) and she could be really, really sweet and polite if she needed to. Excellent people skill, her mother prided.

Today, it seemed that her skill had left her dry. She had been coaxing, cajoling, persuading, and nagging a certain dark, handsome stranger to tell her his name. She had spotted him on top of a tree branch, lying there, resting. He had instantly captured her attention; black attire and wild-looking hair, and his eyes, oh, his glowing ruby eyes.

When she asked his name, he had refused to tell. The first time he did that she had been thrilled, not even remotely disappointed, because everybody knew that a cool guy always refused anything asked of him the first time. Then he did it twice, she was excited. He was super cool! Distant and cold, two traits she was obsessed with, and how he reminded her of the brooding Uchiha Sasuke, she had sighed dreamily.

But when he did that for the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth times, Sakura got a paralyzing suspicion that maybe he really wasn't trying to be cool.

"What's your name?" she asked again. Fifteenth time is the charm, Inner Sakura encouraged.

"Hn."

"Come on, you can tell me. I am not a bad person. I just wanna know your name," she said sweetly.

"Please? My name is Sakura, I told you before. What's yours?" Sixteen. You go, girl!

"Hn."

She sighed. "Of course you think that I'm a stranger and you're not supposed to talk to strangers, but you can see for yourself that I'm just trying to be friendly here."

Friendly my ass, the dark, handsome stranger thought. If it weren't for a certain kitsune telling him to behave, he would have made a charcoal out of this little pest of a girl. She had repeated the same question over and over again for the last half hour, and it didn't seem that she was going to stop anytime soon.

"Please, you can at least let me know your name," she pleaded again.

He opened his mouth and paused. Sakura's heart leapt with excitement, he was finally tired of being stubborn! She waited, and...

"... Hn."

She blinked. That's it?

The short, dark, and handsome stranger saw her confusion, felt slightly naughty and amused, but he was not prepared for the outburst that came shortly after.

"GODAMMIT, IT'S JUST A NAME!" Inner Sakura was out of the cage, "I BET EVEN STRAY DOGS HAVE NAMES!" then she punched the tree he was sitting on forcefully, and it shook. The stranger felt the release of energy and the vibration, and was immediately on alert. He leapt backwards and landed on the ground, but not before he saw the hole she had made on the trunks.

It was his turn to blink.

The kitsune has some serious explaining to do, he grimly thought, and walked away.

Little did the stranger know that when Haruno Sakura stared at his retreating back, she had vowed that by the end of the week, she would know his name.