Author: Mochi Dragon
Title: Fantasy Boy
Pairing: Naruto x Sakura
Rating: PG-13 or T
Genre: Romance/Tragedy
Disclaimer: It's quite obvious; I don't own Naruto.
Summary: Sakura's relationship wasn't really going the way she wanted it to, so she decided to try out a dating simulation game just for the heck of it. But in the end, she learns that it's possible for a human to fall in love with even data and pixels, and suffers for it. (NaruSaku)
Chapter 1: First Meeting
----------
"Whatever!"
Sakura slammed the front door of her apartment closed.
It was evening, and she had just gotten back from her date with her boyfriend, Sasuke, and she was really pissed off. It wasn't that she didn't love him; in fact, she did. It was just that…he was really cold to her, even to her, and it made her wonder if he really loved her or if he only dated her to get his fangirls to leave him alone.
In other words, she felt like she was just a convenience, like he was only dating her because she was convenient.
And she hated that.
After a year of dating Sasuke, she learned that good looks weren't everything. It was a big plus definitely, but it wasn't everything.
He really needed a new personality; that is, of course, if he ever had one to begin with.
Sighing, Sakura poured herself a cold glass of iced tea, sliced a lemon, stuck a piece of it on the rim of her glass, sat on her sofa, and turned on her TV. She flipped channels until she reached the evening news.
"And in today's news, a pair of researchers has designed a virtual reality device targeted for both men and women. Dr. Tsunade and Dr. Shizune, could you please tell us and our viewers about how this device works?"
"Yes, this device is basically a dating simulation virtual reality game. By hooking up a person to the machine, the machine will pick up the person's brain wave patterns and use that person's patterns to determine the type of guy or girl right for that person. Then it will transport that person's mind to a virtual reality world where that person can meet and spend time with that guy or girl," replied Tsunade.
The reporter put on a look of wonder and amazement.
"Interesting, does this device have a name?"
"Not yet," Dr. Tsunade said sheepishly, "I did come up with a few names, but Shizune insisted that they were cheesy."
"Such as?" the reporter asked raising an eyebrow.
"They're too awful to mention on local TV, sorry," Shizune quickly spoke before Tsunade could even open her mouth.
"It's fine, and what are your plans for this device?"
"We will give a tour of our new device at our research facility. Anyone who wants to come and try out our device is more than welcome to," said Tsunade.
Sakura was amazed. This seemed like a good opportunity to find out what type of guy was right for her. Sakura had always liked love fortunes, the zodiac and the like, so she found this to be quite interesting.
She did already have a boyfriend. She knew that. But because it was just pixels and data and not a real person she would be meeting, she felt it was okay.
"Here is the address to the research facility. All viewers who would like a tour are recommended to write it down."
Wasting no time, Sakura grabbed her notepad and wrote the address down.
"Besides," she thought, "it's only a game. There's no harm in a silly game."
Or so she thought.
----------
The next day at the research facility, Sakura was there bright and early.
The research facility wasn't a very large place, but it was rather clean and about two stories high. After the entrance was a seating area, then there was a long hallway connected to that; a fight stairs was right next to it.
"Well, looks like you're the first one here."
Sakura turned to her right and saw Shizune.
"Hi, my name is Haruno Sakura. I'm here for a tour of your new device."
"Huh? Oh sure. I'm Dr. Shizune, by the way. You can just call me Shizune. I never got used to the whole doctor thing anyway," Shizune then pointed to the stairway, "Come this way to the basement."
Sakura followed her down the stairs. Shizune pulled out her ID card and swiped it in the card reader next to the basement door. The door beeped and the light that was once red turned green. Shizune pulled open the door.
"Step in."
"Okay."
Taking a deep breath, Sakura walked through the door.
Stepping in, Sakura saw a seat and a helmet with a bunch of wires connected to it.
"Would you like to try it?" Shizune asked smiling slightly, "you could meet your dream guy."
Sakura blushed.
"Erm, yes, I would like to try the device."
Shizune led Sakura to the seat.
"Okay, sit right here and put that helmet on."
Sakura sat in the seat and put the helmet over her pink hair.
"Now just relax. The machine will analyze your brain wave patterns, create a person, and then send you to a virtual reality based city where you can meet and hang around with that person. Have fun!"
The machine beeped, and Sakura's world went black.
----------
Opening her eyes groggily, Sakura could've sworn she was seeing an odd yellow, orange blur.
"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?"
Where was she? She wondered idly while trying to clear her vision and her head.
Until it hit her.
Sakura-chan?
What the heck?
----------
After spending a good year away from writing, it feels kind of weird to be trying again. I was never good writer, but I felt that if I just gave up now, I'd never get better, so I decided to write as much as I could. I'll improve; I know I will.
Anyway, despite everything, I hope you liked my story idea so far. I won't demand reviews, but it would be nice if I got some comments or opinions to help me out, so please review if you can. I don't mind if you leave a flame, but please when you do, at least give me your opinion about why you disliked the story instead of just leaving crude hate messages.
Just a side note: I decided not to just honorifics because I don't really know how to use them properly. I kept Naruto calling Sakura, 'Sakura-chan' because Naruto just doesn't seem like himself without it.
Thank you for reading!
- Mochi Dragon