From Two Different Dimensions

Disclaimer: Naruto is owned by Masashi Kishimoto. Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo.

Chapter 34: Deception (Part 2)

"Welcome! Thank you all for coming tonight to this wonderful event."

There was that businessman, standing on the stage at the end of the hall greeting everyone, a glass of cocktail in his hand. Ino could tell from the way he talked that he was a mature and highly experienced businessman, with a hint of arrogance based on the tone of his voice. "I'm pleased to see familiar faces, and a few new ones too. Tonight we celebrate Fire Group's first anniversary since its establishment. I'm proud to say that our business are going well in last couple of months…"

Ino reverted her attention to her surroundings, finding that the stairs were well-guarded. There must be another way to go upstairs without being noticed. And then she would have to consider the number of guards that might be present up there as well. The hall had two huge doors at either side aside from the front door. She turned to the woman beside her. "Excuse me, do you know where the restroom is?" she whispered to her.

"Shh, keep it down. The President is talking," replied the woman quite rudely. Ino huffed and walked away, towards the back of the crowd. She then saw Yumichika. "By the way," he said, not looking at her. Ino settled beside him and continued to examine her surroundings. "What's the item you're supposed to retrieve?"

Without thinking much, Ino answered, "Sakura's Shinigami badge."

Yumichika spurted his drink. "WHAT?"

"Shh! Keep it down," Ino whispered harshly, but then realized it didn't matter anyway because no one here could see nor hear the Shinigami. Yumichika ignored that. "How did Sakura's badge end up here?"

"Long story. Will tell you later as I need to concentrate," Ino said and then turned to him, narrowing her eyes. "I thought you're not supposed to stick your nose in our businesses."

"That badge might belong to Haruno but it is still Soul Society's property," Yumichika said carefully, before he looked away. "This gives me permission to assist her in this mission. Although inconvenient this is."

Ino watched in curiosity as Yumichika left the hall through the front door without another word.

X

Ino looked at her reflection in the mirror before she took out her lipstick and applied touch-up, although she didn't really need it. She needed to feign until the other occupant left. Ino watched as the other woman zipped her purse and exited the washroom. There were three cubicles behind her, and next to it was a high window big enough for her to pass through. With chakra concentrated to her feet, she walked up the wall until she could see outside the window. There was one guard outside.

"Hey," Ino greeted the man, who in turn greeted back with a grunt.

"You're supposed to be watching at the front gate, Mamiya. What are you doing here?" the man questioned sternly, his voice low.

"Some of us were ordered to rotate. I'm guarding here now while you're needed at the East wing," Ino said carefully, silently wishing these bodyguards did not use codes to name parts of the home. She let out a sigh of relief when the bodyguard gave a nod without hesitation and turned to leave. The kunoichi dropped the henge of the front bodyguard she had come across earlier and began to look around and took in her surroundings. She looked up and spotted a window on the first floor and thought about climbing up.

"Oi."

Ino spun around and threw punch, but it was easily blocked. She was surprised to see Yumichika. He let go of her hand.

"You!"

"I know where it is. You have to get to the first floor real quick before the owner comes."

"Wait, how do you know where it is?"

Yumichika flipped his phone open and showed the screen to her. There was a small dot in the middle flashing before her. Ino looked from the phone to him in disbelief. "You Shinigamis can track Sakura? That's a violation of one's right!"

The Shinigami simply shrugged. "The combat pass was designed that way. Besides, we don't monitor her moves twenty-four seven, only when needed."

Ino was rendered speechless for a while, but then decided to let it go and focus on the mission ahead. As much as Ino hated working together with this man, in this case she had to put aside personal feelings if it meant carrying out this mission successfully. She looked around and spotted a bird on a tree branch. "Hey, look out for me while I do a quick aerial search," she said to Yumichika, hoping he would cooperate.

"What do you-" Before Yumichika could even finish his sentence, Ino turned to the bird again, made a sign with her hands and immediately called out, "Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

Ino's head fell onto Yumichika's chest, prompting him to support her unconscious body by grabbing her shoulders. Hearing the technique name shut him up as he knew about it thanks to the intel given to all Shinigami Captains, and some selected seated officers if the Captain decided that it would be beneficial to them. Working together with the ninjas would mean getting to know more of them, especially their powers and abilities.

Yumichika spotted the bird that Ino had paid attention to earlier. It had left the tree and was now spiraling around the huge vicinity.

Ino came to about a minute later. She found herself sitting against the wall, looking up at Yumichika in the eyes. She got up and so did he. "We'll go towards the opposite wing. There's a balcony door that's left ajar."

Yumichika nodded. "Lead the way."

X

They were running in a hallway, passing by many doors on both sides where one of them could be the room where the Shinigami badge was in. Yumichika looked at his Denreishinki, minimized the mapping function that pinpointed Sakura's badge to briefly open and read the message he had received earlier.

'Permission to locate Substitute Shinigami Haruno Sakura through owner's combat pass: Granted.

Open the attachment to download data.

- Sent from 12th Division Squad Main Laboratory'

He deleted the mail and re-opened the mapping application. "Stop. It's in this room," he said as they came round a corner into a small foyer. "It's behind that door," he said again and Ino spun towards a large, wooden double doors at one side, before footsteps were heard coming from behind the sliding doors across it.

"Shit!" Ino yelped, and then felt Yumichika's hand grab her wrist immediately. "Hide first!" he urged and pulled her so quick that she didn't see it coming, tripped over the corner of the rug and kissed the marble floor. At that exact moment, the sliding doors opened, revealing the businessman. He and Ino stared at each other for a few moments, before Ino got to her feet and smoothen her dress.

"Who are you?" the man said sternly, unimpressed. Ino mustered up the energy to look all confident, and then smiled and pretended to be shy.

"Oh, this is embarrassing. I-I got lost… while I was trying to find the washroom." Ino looked around the room, feigning dumb. She anticipated the next question from him.

"How did you bypass the security downstairs?" He frowned.

"There's a staircase beside the storage room. Tell him you went up from there," Yumichika urged.

"I saw the stairs… I think it was beside the storage room? Um, so yeah… I couldn't find the washroom anywhere downstairs," Ino explained, rubbing her head sheepishly. Before the man could oppose again, she continued, "There weren't any bodyguard there so I thought it was accessible? I'm sorry, Nagisa-san. This is my first time here."

The man raised an eyebrow. "First time?" He studied her face and looked her up and down. His facial expression softened a bit. "Who did you come here with?"

Ino racked her brain for information, and then remembered about the conversation by the random women earlier. "Yamaki-san. I'm his friend's niece and this friend knew I'm a big fan of you so I got invited."

The man rubbed his chin. "I see. But Yamaki didn't tell me anything about this."

Ino prayed that he would buy her story. If he wouldn't then she had to do this the hard way. The man then observed Ino again, and she noticed an odd twinkle in his eyes.

"You're a fan, you say?"

"Oh God." Ino nodded vigorously and clasped her hands on her chest. "Yes! Yes, I am~ I'm quite excited to finally meet you in person, Nagisa-san! Although this wasn't how I'd imagined it, I'm still thrilled to see you up close~!" She batted her eyelashes as an added effect to her quite seductive tone, earning gagging sounds from Yumichika. Ino made a mental note to kick him later on. The businessman on the other hand looked quite amused, and he came forward to inspect the blonde closer.

"I heard you collect valuable items, antiques!" Ino feigned excitement, trying to ignore how the man's eyes travel over her body like he was scanning her inside out. One corner of her mouth twitched. "Gross." No matter how much she hated this man at this moment and felt like slamming his face against the wall, she knew she needed to endure and make the mission successful.

The older man looked at her. No longer scowling, he seemed to be interested in her more now. Yumichika noticed this change from the way the man was looking at Ino, and then realized his hand hurt from clenching his fist hard so he unclenched it immediately. Nagisa clapped his hands once. "As a matter of fact, I do. Do you want to see them?" he offered. Ino nodded quickly again, at the same time afraid it was too much of an exaggeration. "Yes! I'd love to see your collections, Nagisa-san!"

"Then follow me," he said and led her to the door Yumichika had pointed out earlier. The room was filled with rows of shelves that held various antiques, silverwares and little collections of figurines even. Ino had never seen anything like them before. She could as well be standing in the middle of a jewelry heaven and there wouldn't be any difference. The man began to talk, opening a small – she hoped – speech with a brief background history of himself, before he went on to talk about the business. She needed to buy time, and have him distracted in order to find the missing item. They went round a classic, backless sofa in the middle of the room to go over to the other side of the area filled with more priceless antiques.

All the while, Ino wasn't really paying attention to Nagisa's blabbering instead she looked around for the box as described in the mission file. Yumichika beat her to it though, of course. Him having the radar and all.

"Behind you, to your left. Third shelf from the top," the Shinigami told her. When Ino turned, there it was; a small, red vintage box sitting in the middle of other ancient containers. She wanted to open it and grab the badge inside to finish the job, but Nagisa was facing in her direction, still talking.

"Nagisa-san," Ino said when he finished, forcing a sweet smile and pointed at the box. "What about this one?"

She flinched a bit when Nagisa came closer to her, his hand slowly reaching for the red box and held it out between them. "Ah, this. Yes, this is a new item we recently bought from a hidden village. This is my favourite so far. What do you think?" he smirked.

"I like it too."

"I applaud you for having a good taste."

Her eyes were on the box, but she could feel him staring her face like he was about to eat her. She was growing very uncomfortable right now. "Can I open it?"

There was a pause of hesitation, but Nagisa then said, "Sure. Just be careful." His voice was calm, but there was a hint of warning in it. Cautiously, Ino placed her hands on the lid of the box, then slowly raised it upwards. There it was, neatly placed and perfectly fit in the box, the Shinigami badge belonging to Sakura. Relief washed over her, but the satisfaction and delight might have reflected on her face, because Nagisa reacted to it thinking that it was something else.

The mood shifted quickly and Ino felt the man's rough hand on her cheek. Her hand made a quick swipe for the badge as soon as the man leaned in to capture her mouth with his. She pushed him off, but he was persistent and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her against the sofa bed. She gasped as he pinned her down forcefully. She was getting very impatient by now.

"Get the fuck off."

He was taken aback by the reaction. But his face softened again and the smirk returned. "Didn't you say you were a fan?" he said seductively and brushed his face against the side of her face slowly. Ino felt like she wanted to vomit. And his alcohol-smell breath didn't help. Ino was about to make a move to kick him off the chair, but suddenly Nagisa's head was thrown back by a flying object. Ino's gaze darted to the floor, spotting the empty red box. She turned her head to the other side and saw Yumichika by the shelf where the object had been sitting. Whatever demeanor this Shinigami had right now, she couldn't see through it. He looked calm yet his eyes were narrowed as if he was angry.

"The hell was that!?" Nagisa yelled, looking around, also noticing the red box on the floor that was thrown at him. Ino took the opportunity to strike him on the head using the side of her hand in one sharp movement. The older man passed out in an instant as a result.

X

They were about to exit the mansion when two men in smart suit appeared before her. "Leaving so soon?" one of them asked with a wide smile. Ino sighed, louder than she'd intended to let on.

"I'm feeling a bit under the weather tonight so I'm going to head home," Ino said followed by fake coughing. The men continued to stare at her with their cheeky grin. Ino was too exasperated to look at them closely for details so she was going to call them man A and man B.

"You look fine to me," man A said.

"Very fine," chimed in man B, his eyes travelling from her head to toe. Ino rolled her eyes. "Look." Her eyes went back and forth between them. "You either make clean way for me to pass so I can leave this place peacefully or you can stay and watch me unleash my wrath." The men observed how Ino's eyes widened and a vein popped on her forehead. She added, "If it's gotten too much then no worries. I'll heal you afterwards." Her hand began to glow green to showcase her healing powers. Soon the men writhed to a safe distance, away from the angel-turned-witch-looking young woman.

Yumichika watched them ran back inside the mansion. "Someone's in a bad mood tonight."

Ino didn't reply but just stared ahead.

"Did you lose your voice now?"

"Don't start," Ino said firmly and started walking out of the gates. The security gave a slight bow. Yumichika sighed and went after her. "Stop following me, Yumichika-san. Are you the next person to harass me this time?" There was sarcasm and bitterness in the tones she used. Yumichika managed to fall into step beside Ino. "I wouldn't even dream of touching you."

Ino rolled her eyes. Of course, this man hated her guts for whatever reason there was that would forever be unknown to her. She recalled again of their unpleasant first meeting. All her life, she'd never met a man who would disregard her as much as him. Ever since her young Genin days, boys tend to stare at her in awe, admire her beauty and were very friendly with her. Yumichika, on the other hand, was the only man to have ever looked at her differently. Ino was very confident about her beauty, and she knew men highly acknowledged her in that area. But not Yumichika. She was starting to think that he was gay.

"What those men did to you. It's because you're insanely beautiful, do you know that?" He thought he could attempt at lightening the mood. Ino stopped dead in her tracks. If it had been someone else, she would consider that a dumb comment. But she couldn't shake it off. Did Yumichika just call her beautiful? And insanely beautiful at that.

All of a sudden, she felt her face hot.

"Even I hate to admit that…" Yumichika trailed off as soon as he noticed Ino wasn't beside him anymore. He turned around to see her looking up at him as if flowers had just bloomed everywhere around him. He raised an eyebrow at this. Even more so at her reddening cheeks. He took a step towards her, but she took a step back. Her actions just became even weirder to him now.

"Did you mean it?" Ino asked while looking everywhere but him.

"What?"

"You called me pretty."

"The exact words are insanely beautiful." Yumichika rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but still…" Ino had no idea what had gotten to her, but she was extremely taken aback to have received a compliment from Yumichika. It was the same Yumichika who would throw insults and even tease her without any good reason. Because of that, she had come to hate this fine man and could not stand being anywhere near him.

Ino blinked. Did she just say he was fine?

She shook her head vigorously. When she looked up to see the weird expression on his face, she couldn't help the still-lingering curiosity. "D-do you mean it?"

Wait. Maybe this could be a trick of his. The real Yumichika hated her so knowing him, he would erupt in a laughing fit after this and mock her for thinking that she was pretty. She was ready to retaliate but Yumichika didn't do what she had expected him to do. They didn't speak a word, and Yumichika started to take more steps forward. Every step he made caused her to step backward. They kept doing this, and all the while Yumichika was staring at her, discovering something stirring inside of him that was making him very curious.

The fierce Ino had just stuttered, the way she was looking anywhere but him as she slowly walked backwards, the way each step made her high cut skirt reveal a long, slender leg and the way her cheeks reddened the closer he got to her, all of it were making his head buzz with excitement. He watched as her back came in contact against a tree and from the way she jumped a little told him that she hadn't been aware of it. Ino finally looked up and her eyes widened when Yumichika placed a hand against the tree above her head, creating a soft thud. She couldn't fathom why her heart was thumping violently against her chest. Her brain was telling her to push him off, but her body was rooted to the spot.

He lowered his head so their eye levels matched. And then in deep, husky voice he told her, "Yes. Of course I mean it…"

She hated that this part of the forest wasn't dark enough to hide the intensifying redness on her cheeks. And then she saw the corners of his mouth twitching. She frowned.

"…is what you thought I'd say, right?"

He threw his head back in fits of laughter, and Ino could only stand there and watch him in disdain, the expression on her face darkening. After a while, Yumichika became aware of this and wondered, "Is she angry?"

"Stand back."

Yumichika blinked. He could sense that she was angry but he'd never expected her to react this way. The normal reaction from her would be spatting back so he was quite in disbelief right now. "Don't tell me… Is she really upset?"

"By any chance are you disap-,"

"I said stand back!"

First thing he knew was that Ino shoved him hard to the side that he tripped and fell, the next thing was the bushes were rustling very loud and violently followed by a series of shouts from a group of men that appeared to ambush them. There were about a dozen of them, all swinging their sickles around trying to attack Ino. He wanted to help her but realized that they could only see her. This was the first time he encountered bandits in this world, and assumed that it was quite a norm for a ninja to fight off a few mid-mission, because Ino wasn't doing so bad herself kicking their asses. Two minutes in and she had defeated more than half of them.

But Ino didn't go easy on them at all. He observed how silent she was throughout the fight, and how she would skillfully kick one bandit and throw a kunai at the other in one swift movement. She was high up in the air now, and when she landed, two of the bandits' face fell flat to the ground. Those who weren't unconscious squirmed their way out of the area in horror. Yumichika almost felt sorry for them. They received zero mercy from the woman they all thought was defenseless. This girl had just used them as her punching bag to take out her temper.

"My mission's done so I'm heading back," Ino said suddenly, her back facing him. Her voice told him she was still angry. "Goodbye."

With that, she disappeared. Leaving Yumichika behind in the forest, hard for him to resist the smile creeping on his face.

X

Karakura Town, Living World

Sakura lied flat on her stomach, feeling more exhausted with each passing hour. It was difficult to tell what time of the day it was down in that hole but she assumed it was already night time. Her body was getting sore from being in the same position the whole time. She had wanted to roll over on her back, but the iron shafts on her arms behind her back would have prevented her from doing so properly.

Training to recover her Shinigami powers had turned into torture session where only death awaited. Sakura stared at the further end of her broken chain. The sight disgusted her. Several tiny mouths on the links were devouring each other, slowly eating up her Chain of Fate. Sakura buried her face on the ground in defeat.

Flashback

"That's right," Kisuke stated matter-of-factly. "Soon a process called Encroachment will start and when it reaches her chest, a hole will form and she becomes a hollow. Game over."

Kakashi took a step towards him, but was stopped by Yoruichi.

"The only way to survive this…" Kisuke directed the words more to Sakura now. "Is to become a Shinigami." Kisuke briefly pictured a similar event which he had done to Ichigo a while back.

Anger quickly seeped out of Sakura upon hearing that, but it was immediately replaced with confusion. What kind of training was this? How was she supposed to become a Shinigami in this state where she couldn't do anything?

"Lesson two. Shattered Shaft. This stage is all about recovering your Shinigami powers. If you do not become a Shinigami before your Chain of Fate disappears completely, you will become a hollow. And there's no other way to treat a hollow than to exterminate it."

Sakura looked from him to the chain on her chest. After the cut, it was now about two meters long, but the length was decreasing at worrisome rate. She learned about this back at the Spiritual Arts Academy. A Plus, which was the spirit of a human, whose Chain of Fate was broken and no longer connected to its living body would not be able to return to it and continue to live. It would be free to roam around the world until it became a hollow, which happened when the broken Chain of Fate corroded entirely. Before that could happen, a Shinigami must perform konso upon the Plus so that it could safely go to Soul Society.

Sakura observed her own chain. The thing was, these chains were not supposed to disintegrate this quickly. It might be still corroding at the furthest end of the link, but she could tell the pace was ridiculously quick judging from the actions of those aggressive devouring mouths on each individual link. Normally, encroachment process would last up to several months or years.

"Oh yeah, it's full of gas down there. Purpose is to speed up the encroachment process. You have seventy-two hours before the corrosion reaches your chest," Kisuke said behind his paper fan. As a medic-nin, Sakura had been aware from the moment she fell into this hole that some type of gas was present. Her nose was sensitive and body accustomed to sensing chemically clouded environments. She cursed. That explained it.

End of Flashback

So it was success or death. Recover her Shinigami powers or die by the hands of her own comrades. There was no in between. If Sakura had to be honest with herself, she was fairly unconfident about this. She agreed to do this training because she was prepared and determined to work hard and go through any means of getting her powers back.

She'd never expected to come to a point where her choices were forcefully narrowed down to this. Turning her face to the side, she spotted the unnamed Zanpakutou that had been under her possession since not long ago. It had been with her the whole time, had dropped it before the little bit of training with Kisuke started and it must have fallen along with her when this shattered shaft was created.

How could she summon Hikari no Tsubasa again? Even after her memories were completely recovered, and after calling out the Zanpakutou's name several times, she still couldn't summon those powers she used to possess. She might be in this dreadful situation right now, but that didn't dissipate her willpower to succeed. No. She would never give up.

Sakura closed her eyes and began to think hard.

X

When she opened her eyes, she saw Jinta beside her, carrying a huge plate of food. It was only then did she realize that she was a little hungry.

"Hey," he said. "All these are for you. I'll just put it down here."

"Thanks."

He was about to jump up and leave when he stopped, and turned around to face her again.

"Oh, fun fact."

Sakura glanced at him lazily and waited for him to say something.

"If you're in your soul form but you can feel hunger, that means the encroachment process is about to end and you're almost out of time."

Eyes widened in horror, Sakura swiftly look at her Chain of Fate and noticed that it had been reduced to half the earlier length. "Jinta, what time is it?" Sakura demanded.

"Ten o'clock."

"How can the process be almost over in just a few hours?!"

There was a pause, and Jinta was scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Whaddya mean just a few hours? You've been down here since yesterday."

Sakura stared at him in horror. "No. Don't tell me… Did you mean, ten o'clock in the MORNING?"

"Err… Ya." With that, he leapt upwards along the wall and disappeared out of her sight. "Time flies by quickly down there so be careful!" His voice faded out the further he had gone up. Horrified, she couldn't believe a huge chunk of time had been wasted when she could've used those period of time to try figuring out how to reconnect with her Zanpakutou.

Looking back at the sword on the ground, she snaked her way towards it and rested her forehead against the blade. Sakura inhaled deeply, and then exhaled, trying to calm herself first.

All souls were given an unnamed Zanpakutou upon first entering the Spiritual Arts Academy. That hadn't been the case for her nor her ninja counterparts when they first came to undergo their Shinigami training. This was because they were not souls, but talented human beings with unique, distinct powers; as the Shinigamis there had described them. While still attending normal classes like other souls, the ninjas had to undergo a series of introductory training so that their bodies would be able to generate powers similar to that of the souls in Soul Society.

Every Shinigami had distinctive powers. This was the result of spending every waking moment with their Zanpakutou and as time progressed, they imprinted the essence of their soul into their Asauchi, giving it individualized characteristics. Before Sakura could even receive her own Asauchi, she had discovered Hikari no Tsubasa, a Zanpakutou which took the form of a huge sword, long and wide silver blade and a black hilt which had its end attached to a line of cherry blossom petals. While this was its Shikai form and could only stay in it permanently, it had the ability to shape itself into an inactive state, shaping like a normal, sealed Zanpakutou.

Its true form was that of a young woman that could be mistaken as an angel. She had a short pink hair, strong and menacing crimson eyes, and large wings on her back made up of cherry blossom petals. She was always seen wearing a white dress, a long flowy skirt that ran downwards into heavy, transparent clouds that her legs were always hidden.

Sakura slowly opened her eyes and soon she was feeling dazed. Thanks to Toushiro – the name making her heart race all of the sudden - she was able to recover her memories about Hikari no Tsubasa completely, from her abilities down to the fine details of her appearance. Now if only Hikari no Tsubasa could hear her voice so she could summon those powers again.

X

"A Shinigami that experiences mental instability may lose harmony with their Zanpakuto. As a result, the Zanpakutou spirit won't be able to hear its wielder's voice so no matter how much the Shinigami calls out for it, the two won't be able to reach each other," Kisuke explained to Kakashi, who had chosen to stay over at the Living world and keep a close watch on his student. They were now resting in the small living room inside the Urahara shop.

"So imagine a Shinigami who went through amnesia, a complete loss of touch and zero recollections of anything that has been going on in their life. Inevitably, the connection with their Zanpakutou that resides within their soul is broken."

"So what you're trying to do now is forcing Sakura to re-establish that connection?" Kakashi asked. He wasn't sure what had come over him, but he grew quite concerned for this particular student of his ever since Yoruichi had told him something yesterday. He wanted to address the matter to Kisuke but was interrupted.

"Don't worry, Kakashi-san. Because she inherited Aizawa Ryo's powers, there's no way she could fail this test. She just needed a strong push." Despite her flaws, Kisuke believed that Sakura could overcome this. From his observation of her for the past few months, she was an above the average vessel for an extremely foreign powers to reside in. While not directly related, Aizawa Ryo's daughter inherited his powers, and then injected and transferred them into Sakura's ancestor.

And Kisuke also trusted Ryo. His comrade might have passed away a long time ago, but Kisuke would always believe in him. In his spirit. Wherever he was. In his powers that he left behind strong enough to help the Shinobi getting it back and put an end to the whole fiasco.

X

Sakura jolted awake and instantly stood up. She was surprised for three reasons; one being realized that she had fallen asleep again and unsure how long she had been out this time, another one because her body was free, not tied by the kido spell and lastly, she appeared to be in a foreign land, not at the bottom of a deep, dark hole inside an underground training base.

Looking around, the surroundings were all grass and above her was cloudless, plain blue sky. The air was cool too, she noticed, as soon as her body shivered slightly. She crouched down and ran a hand along the grass. She had never seen grasses this green and beautiful before. What kind of land was this? How did she end up here?

Was this a dream?

She looked up ahead and blinked a few times. At a far distance, she could see blurry objects about to take shape. A few seconds pass, the blurriness transition to clear, identifiable objects which happen to be a bunch of trees. While she was there, might as well walk around and find out what the dream was trying to tell her, she thought. It was a long walk, but she reached the trees nonetheless. The walking did not end there though. She passed by a number of them for another few minutes, before she noticed a figure by a small cottage. Suddenly washed over by the urge to see that person, Sakura ran, and she ran and ran without knowing why.

Finally able to see up close of this stranger, Sakura breathed heavily and wanted to call out the name, eventhough it wasn't who she thought it was. Her new company was a young woman around her age, had a short, brown hair and onyx eyes. Her clothing resembled those a Shinobi in the olden times would wear.

"Hi-hikari no Tsubasa?"

Her new friend raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You…you're Hikari no Tsubasa, right?" Minus the cold expression, pink hair and the wings and the heavy cherry blossom fragrance, this person's resemblance to her Zanpakutou spirit was uncanny. They were so similar, but each had a contrasting vibe that surrounded them.

The stranger tilted her head to one side, regarding Sakura in amusement. "That's a…unique name. But as far as I'm aware of, I wasn't born with a pair of wings on my back whatsoever."

Sakura didn't stir one bit. Whoever this person was, she didn't only look similar to her Zanpakutou spirit. She looked exactly like it! Was her Zanpakutou playing mind tricks with her? Was this not a dream but a realm within her consciousness? Like where she'd met Hikari no Tsubasa from time to time deep in the recesses of her mind, just that this time it was a different surrounding?

The person came closer to her, bent her body forward to inspect Sakura's face closer causing Sakura to back away a bit. "The fact that I'm here talking to someone… but not Daisuke… could only mean several years have passed and the powers I've given to him have passed down his generations."

Taken aback by the revelation, Sakura noticed the girl recoiled and pouted. Sakura spoke again, "Are you… Hikari?"

"If you know me then a lot has happened to you."

"… Yeah. I've been through some stuff." Which was an understatement, but Sakura didn't feel like lamenting about it all.

Hikari stepped forward again and held Sakura's face in her hands. "Tell me about it all," Hikari urged gently, her voice no longer childish but soft and caring. "If you can see and interact with me, it means something must be happening to you out there. And I was summoned by you subconsciously. Tell me about you, and everything that you went through. I'm not sure why I'm here too but I will help you." There was a long pause before she talked again. "Because of you, I'm able to be alive again even for a short time."

"Hikari…"

"You do resemble Daisuke a bit. You both share one common thing. What's your name? Haruno…?"

"Sakura. Haruno Sakura. I'm Daisuke-san's great great granddaughter." Observing Hikari this close made Sakura realize that her onyx eyes reminded her of a certain deranged teammate. She supposed it was because Hikari was the daughter of a Uchiha after all.

By observing Sakura closely again, Hikari's earlier disappointment about meeting someone else other than the man she had always cherished was gone, replaced by a newfound affection and appreciation. The fact that Sakura was here meant that Daisuke had found someone else, a new life after her. He had been able to find happiness after her death. The sole proof of that was this person standing in front of her, a strong and healthy descendant that looked a bit like him.

Sakura had met Daisuke before he'd passed away recently, but he was so frail and old that it was hard to picture how he had looked like when he was young. It made her curious suddenly.

"What might that common trait be, Hikari?" Sakura brought a hand up to touch Hikari's hand on her face.

Hikari breathed in deeply, as if it was a wonderful thing. "That would be…"

"Yes?"

"The large forehead."

X

There was no indication of time in this place. It was as if no matter how much time had passed, the sky would always be dull blue. Feeling like she was seeing a therapist, Sakura had spilled out everything there was to know about her life to Hikari. They were sitting on a tree stump each by the lake. Perhaps that was the reason Sakura was able to talk about everything freely and with ease. With an atmosphere like that, it soothed and calmed her soul. The sound of streaming water was pleasant enough to make her relax, and a patient and caring company like Hikari was another factor to add to that.

Finally, Hikari nodded. Acknowledging everything that she had listened. She then stood up and walked towards the lake, her back facing Sakura. There was a pause. Hikari seemed to be enjoying the view of the fast-streaming water. Sakura waited patiently.

"But Sakura. You haven't told me one thing."

Startled, Sakura stared at Hikari's back. "I think I've told you everything." She was confident that she had. She was so honest that inner Sakura hadn't interfere and tell her off. Come to think of it, she hadn't heard anything from inner Sakura for a long time now. Her absence would mean that Sakura had been true to herself lately, which was something to be proud of. But why did she suddenly have a nagging feeling that it wasn't entirely positive to not have her around anymore?

Why was she suddenly wondering where inner Sakura was right now? Where could she be hiding all this time?

Hikari turned around to face Sakura now. "You didn't tell me how your Shinigami powers were stolen."

Sakura froze. "W-what?"

"The fact that you see me here instead of you Zanpakutou means, your Zanpakutou isn't just unreachable. It's gone."

Sakura bolted up, her fists clenched. "No… No. It can't be. Hikari no Tsubasa is mine. She's still inside me, I just can't reach her at the moment."

"Sakura, try to remember what happened when you were dragged inside that portal by the hollow. According to what you said, you were unconscious even before you were thrown into the forest in Soul Society," Hikari said in a calm manner, careful of not alerting Sakura any further.

"Th-that's what they told me. When I was falling in Soul Society, the Shinigamis who were there near the portal saw me in that state before I got lost within the forest. It does make sense because if I wasn't already unconscious, I would have at least landed without much injury after being thrown out of that portal," Sakura explained, half-panting.

"Try to remember why you were unconscious," urged Hikari.

"The hollow grabbed me! It was quick and-" Not enough to knock her out though. Sakura stared at the grasses and wondered hard, her brow creased. Did something happen inside the portal? She had adequate experiences in fighting hollows, no matter the type. How could she had easily passed out at that time? Was it because she was quite distracted? Because of Toushiro, was her mind really in disarray at such a crucial moment?

All these while, everyone thought she was simply unlucky. But now, Sakura felt like there was more to it. Shouldn't she know better herself?

Just then, a flash of sinister eyes staring back at her crossed her mind. She was grabbed by the throat inside a dark area where she could only see those eyes. Everything happened very quickly because she could only remember feeling a strong stab on the chest, and everything turned pitch black.

Sakura shivered at the imagination, only to be further horrified when she thought those eyes were familiar to her. Eyes belonging to an evil Shinigami who tried to erase her memories not long ago in the same tunnel.

Suddenly, her blood ran cold. She became lightheaded and found herself trying to steady her footing. Of course Aizen would have stolen her Shinigami powers. He had made it clear that he wanted the powers that could destroy the portal gone. Aizen had taken and destroyed those powers himself.

Sakura cursed and blamed herself for discovering this too late. She strolled away, guiding herself out of the place. She could hear Hikari's voice calling out to her. "Where are you going, Sakura?"

"I have to wake up and tell Kisuke-san right a-," the pink-haired kunoichi stopped dead in her tracks. She felt something unpleasant coming up to her, and she hated it. She had felt this before. It was negativity. She had experienced something similar during a period of time before she first went on that mission to train in Soul Society in hopes of running away from home. Kisuke was someone who was highly knowledgeable in a lot of things. He had surprised her quite a number of times when he told her matters concerning her powers in confident and precise manner. Never once had she doubted him and he had been helping her a lot as well.

But what if he had known about this already? Could he have guessed that her powers were robbed off of her and think that since she was basically powerless, there was no other way to help her? What if Danzo and Kisuke's vision aligned together, just that their methods were different?

The 'training' she was currently going through could just be an excuse to get rid of her. Killing off Aizawa Ryo a hundred years ago was a way to keep the portal around, even if it were to go dormant. That was Aizen's objective and he had carried it out successfully. Whatever evil schemes he was plotting, there was no doubt someone of his caliber would be able to make the portal active again in the future.

On the other hand, killing Sakura now would put the portal into that dormant state again, stopping hollows from coming over to interfere the other side of the world. Sakura was aware that the moment she had awaken the Shinigami powers inside of her, the portal's existence was triggered; the population of the Shinobi World lured in the hollows. Reading her ancestor's book in that library did that to her, and what had followed next was the first appearance of a hollow in this era.

There must be some leftover powers of Aizawa Ryo inside her right now, but without her Shinigami powers, there was no way to destroy that portal for good. The final option would be to get rid of her. When destroying the portal was no longer an option, it was down to keeping her alive or put the portal to dormant state again.

Deep in thoughts, she still hadn't realized that her hands were bleeding from clutching her fists so hard. She shut her eyes close in anger.

When she reopened them, she was back at the bottom of the shattered shaft. Only then did she feel liquid dripping from her hands behind her. She was sitting on her knees, and the Asauchi was on the ground in front of her. Looking up, she spotted Kisuke, Yoruichi and Kakashi all watching her. She fixed her eyes on Kisuke, and noticed him staring back at her with a blank, indescribable look that pissed her off. There was something off about it. He had always been unreadable, sometimes hiding things behind occasional goofiness, but this time he was staring at her as if he knew this would happen.

"He bloody knew!"

Sakura was about to lunge upwards and attempt an attack, but then something on her chest caught her attention. To her horror, the chain was only hanging till her waist now, and the links were deteriorating at an incredible speed. She couldn't believe she had dozed off for a long time again for it to have reached this point.

"Sakura-san, you've been down there for three days. Your time is up," Kisuke said grimly. Sakura tiredly looked up at him again, the anger in her face replaced with a defeated, yet dark expression. There was no way she could kill him now even if she wanted to. Maybe this was for the best. If saving the worlds meant getting rid of her existence, then she needed to be selfless and go away quietly.

Kakashi was alarmed and felt disturbed seeing the look on her face. He had seen her cry, defeated and watched her weak moments but never had he seen her so lost, the light sucked out of her. It was so sad yet she was so done with it and quietly let herself be engulfed.

"Kisuke-san, what do we do now? Shouldn't we do something to stop it?" Kakashi asked, bordering demanding and his voice showed hints of panic. Kisuke glanced at him sideways, saying, "I thought I made it very clear, Kakashi-san. Once the chain fully corroded without her turning into a Shinigami, she will become a hollow and we will have to kill it. No questions."

"I thought you have the upper hand in this and that you won't let anything like this to happen! You even told me-," Kakashi was borderline yelling that Kisuke looked away and closed his eyes. "Yoruichi-san," Kisuke said, and the said woman looked at him nervously. "It wasn't a wise idea to bring her sensei here."

Kakashi clenched his fist in anger. "You-"

"Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura's calm voice halted Kakashi in an instant. He quickly looked over to her and when she saw him, she gave him a big smile. That was it. He jumped into the hole and landed in front of her, crouching so he could see her eyes. "Don't give up yet, Sakura. Please search within yourself more with the remaining time. Find your Zanpakutou."

Sakura stared at him, suddenly feeling like she needed to explain what was really going on but knew that it wouldn't change a thing. If she had to die, let it be with her chin high up. "I tried, Kakashi-sensei. I didn't sleep for nothing. I actually found a lot of things, but there's no use. It's game over," Sakura told him, and then felt his hands clutching her shoulders very strongly. A move by her sensei that she hadn't expected at all. She gulped and frowned. "Sensei, this is a way to end the ongoing chaos."

"No. Sakura, listen. You have the potential to succeed. Great things await you in the future so I won't let this destroy you and your dreams. Search in more and deeply."

Sakura then felt hot tears running down her face. At least in her final moments, she got to hear someone close to her encouraging her sincerely. She looked at her chest, and found out that there were less than ten links now. Kakashi gritted his teeth in anger, and made a move that shocked everyone.

Blood spluttered out of his hand as he grasped the end of the chain, stopping the tiny mouths on the link from devouring the rest of the chain and bit into his hand instead. The pain didn't loosen his grip, and he tightened it instead.

"Kakashi!" Yoruichi's high, concerned voice was heard, but he ignored it.

"Kakashi-sensei, stop it! You're hurting yourself!" Sakura shouted. The Jounin ignored that too. Instead, he steadied his gaze on Sakura, and she stared back. "As your sensei, I command you to continue this training until you succeed."

Taken aback, more tears wet her face. She begged, "Stop it! It's no use!"

"Shut up and just listen to me. You don't have much time!"

"The truth is-"

"Agh!" Kakashi pulled his hand back harshly, feeling immense pain. Sakura widened her eyes in horror at the sight of what his hand had become. It was more blood than skin, and she could see a bone sticking out.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

He didn't stop there. The next thing he did shocked her, and everyone else above, even more. He wrapped his arms around Sakura's body and pulled her to him, bodies pressed. The little beasts on the links were now devouring on their stomach and chest.

"Sakura," he whispered in her ear, and Sakura couldn't control her tears anymore and coughed up small sobs. "I slowed down the process. So you better recall your Zanpakutou, come back here and heal me." Sakura felt his strong arms tightening around her body. She didn't have the heart to push him away with her strength eventhough she was capable of doing so. No amount of pain her body was receiving could make her do just that. Right then and there, Sakura could see for the first time how earnest Kakashi was about her. So she closed her eyes and ready to tell him the truth. She breathed in deeply, and whimpered slightly due to the pain on her chest.

"Kakashi-sensei, thank you… But…"

"This isn't good… Kisuke!" Yoruichi turned to the said man quickly, hoping that he would do something to stop the problematic situation down there. "Kakashi wouldn't let go. At this rate he'd be severely inju-,"

"Damn it! Guess there's no choice," Kisuke interrupted in irritation. Together with Yoruichi, they made a move to descend into the shattered shaft.

X

Konohagakure, Shinobi World

Slowly walking towards the window, Mebuki looked out and watched the rain droplets on the glass. "Dear, it's raining heavily today- OH!" she shrieked when a thunder erupted. Kizashi lowered the newspaper from his face to look towards the window, and then at his wife.

"A hot tea would be perfect in this weather," he said.

"I-I'll boil the water now." Still slightly surprised, she made her way towards the kitchen counter and reached for the kettle. Kizashi put down the newspaper and they were silent in the small kitchen for a while.

"I wonder how Sakura's doing," he said.

"She's currently training right now in the other world, isn't she?"

"Yeah, she did inform us. But…"

"But what?" Mebuki narrowed her eyes.

"What is this uneasy feeling?"

"Can you not?" she tore her eyes away from the two mugs she had prepared and looked at the table where her husband was sitting at. She thought she was just imagining it when his voice had sounded too serious than the norm, but looking at his solemn face now and eyes fixated on the window, she began to feel nervous too.

"Do you remember when she came out of the first coma nine years ago?" he questioned. Mebuki sighed and closed her eyes. How could she ever forget about that? At that time they were preparing for the worst when their daughter didn't wake up for two weeks. Only when their hopes were growing thin did they see Sakura's small fingers began to twitch, and eventually her mouth mumbled some barely coherent words.

In the present time, another loud thunder was heard. Kizashi watched as his wife approached the table with two mugs of hot tea, his nose picking up the nice aroma. "She mumbled some names," told Mebuki before she lightly blow off the steam from her cup. Kizashi nodded in approval. "Not just any names," he said and then cleared his throat.

Nine years ago, when they saw her frozen hand suddenly move, they could barely contain their excitement. They started calling the nurses and doctor, and then immediately shut up when Sakura's soft voice reached their ears. Still with her eyes shut, Sakura opened her mouth slowly, saying incoherent words at first.

"Sakura, can you hear us?" Mebuki held onto her daughter's hand tightly. The seven-year-old girl responded with a grumble at first, followed by a soft, yet clear sentence, "See…you…again."

"Sakura?" her father called out.

"For…the help… Thank you… for getting me out of here…"

"What are you talking about, Sakura? We're here with you," Mebuki tried talking to the half-awaken girl. Deep down she was starting to feel nervous because Sakura wasn't making any sense. Her eyes shot up to Kizashi. "Why is she talking weirdly?"

"Thank you… for helping me… Uchiha Shouko…"

The air stilled. Mebuki and Kizashi stared dumbstruck at each other. "Who's that?" Kizashi asked. Mebuki shook her head. "I don't know. Did a Uchiha save our daughter at that park two weeks ago?"

"That could be it."

"How dare she saw what was going on but didn't turn up to us."

"Calm down. Let's focus on Sakura for no-,"

"S-see you… again…"

This time Kizashi and Mebuki only hovered in silence, both clutching their daughter's hands as they waited to hear more. "Because of the… pinky promise… I'll… see you…again… Hitsugaya… Toushiro."

It was a different name this time. An unusual name that was not familiar to them. Next thing they knew, the nurses had come in and performed checks on Sakura, after which Sakura slowly regained full consciousness. And then everything was forgotten as they showered her with hugs and tears of happiness.

One week later in their home, Kizashi approached Mebuki in the kitchen while Sakura was asleep in her room. "My grandfather wants to see us."

"Why all of the sudden?"

"He said he wants us to meet someone. It's important."

That was how they had gotten to meet Haruno Daisuke for the first time, their ancestor who had lived for so long for this day. When those names were addressed to Sakura by the time she was well enough, none of them she had claimed to know of. Hence, Kizashi and Mebuki informed Daisuke about it, and that was how they come to know and be aware about the history of the world, and the fate of their daughter.

Back in the present time, both Kizashi and Mebuki sat in silence. Their drinks barely touched. Carefully, and sadly, Kizashi spoke, "When do you think she will…"

"Stop," Mebuki whispered harshly, barely containing her emotions. She shut her eyes close and bit her lips to prevent a cry from escaping. "Let's not. A mother's instincts is always right. I have a feeling Sakura's going to be okay. She will be. She has to. We're waiting for her here and she knows it."

X

Seireitei, Soul Society

Toushiro put down his pen, relieved to have finally finished the last bit of report which he had been working on for days. His Vice-captain was nowhere to be found again, which frustrated him because if she was here, he would have finished the job quicker. He leaned back in his seat and let out a sigh of relief. Finally, a bit of time to relax. And just then, Sakura crossed his mind. He remembered how she was good with paperwork, and most of the times, she had been useful here in the office than Rangiku.

He sighed again, this time exasperated. There was no need to be thinking of her anymore. They had parted ways, so she was of no relevance to him anymore other than being a subordinate in the Tenth Division squad. With the recent discovery of the past they shared together when they were young, he thought it would be even more difficult to let her go.

But that wasn't the case. For the past few days, he had been doing pretty fine without her. Not even thinking about her well-being nor curious what she was up to all the time. It felt like the old days again just like before she'd come into his life – the second time – more than four months ago. It wasn't clear what her status within the Gotei 13 was at the moment, as her ties to the organization were presumably broken as of the day she had performed the portal closing. Then again what use could she be here when she had no Shinigami powers.

However, Toushiro did receive a memo that said the Captain-Commander would allow the Tenth Division to take Sakura under their care if she needed training. That was if she happened to come here, but so far Sakura had only chosen to train under Urahara Kisuke. It had been a week since the mission to watch over the kunoichi was lifted. So for Toushiro, this was the first time in a while he didn't get to see her daily. Instinctively, he took out his Denreishinki and flipped it open, thinking of checking the status of hollows in the Shinobi world. Just then, the screen cracked, startling him a bit.

He stared at it without doing anything, before he decided not to belief in superstitions. Shortly after, Rangiku entered the office with a sing-song voice.

"Tai~chou~ How are you~"

"Matsumoto, submit these papers. I'm going to the Twelfth Division barracks to have my cellphone fixed," Toushiro told her as he got off his chair and headed out.

"Eh~? What happened to it?"

"It's none of your business. Just carry out your duty as a Vice-captain for once, would you."

Rangiku pouted behind his retreating back. "I'm concerned for you, isn't that part of my duty?"

"Matsumoto."

"Yes~ Yes~"

Rangiku left the office door open once he had stepped out and proceeded to take the papers from the table.

X

Konohagakure, Shinobi World

Ino tightened the robe around her body and proceeded to check herself out in the mirror. She had just gotten out of the shower that night, but felt like it wasn't enough. Not enough to wash the dirt off from the event three days ago. She shivered as her mind involuntarily replayed the scene with the businessman. Her fingertips instinctively touched her lips, then she cursed.

She stared at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. The mission might have been successful, but one of the requirements was to leave the place without harming anyone. Nagisa hadn't left her with a choice when he'd decided to harass her. After he had passed out, Yumichika had helped her with bringing him to his room and placed him in his bed, hoping by the time he woke up he'd have forgotten what had happened.

It was partly her fault for not being inconspicuous enough. She was lucky that Tsunade had decided to overlook it, despite the obvious disappointment she had conveyed, and told Ino that if they heard anything from their side, they would take care of it. Ino had bowed then and thanked the Hokage. So far there hadn't been any news regarding the businessman so Ino assumed that Nagisa either let the matter slide or he forgot what had happened. Even so, she still felt terrible. She wished she was competent enough for that small mission. Ino clapped her face once, then twice in an attempt to rid any further thoughts about it.

"Right. It's over now so let's just move on-EEK!"

She shrieked when she saw a figure looking at her from outside her window. Her eyes couldn't make out who it was due to the time of the day but the person was wearing a Shinigami uniform.

"Yumichika-san?"

Ino couldn't believe her eyes. "What the hell is he doing here!? Oh my God people are going to see him and get suspicious!" Quickly she walked towards the window and opened it.

"What?"

"You rudely left me last time and that's how you greet me?"

"Me, rude? Hah. Someone gave a fake compliment and I'm the rude one." It wasn't making her feel any better that Yumichika was smirking the whole time. She had no idea how he'd found her home, but she wanted him gone now before her parents saw him. What would she tell them when they asked who he was? He was not even a friend to begin with.

"Do what you came here to do and leave as soon as pos-," Ino stopped when she saw someone on the street below coming towards the house. Panicked, she tugged on Yumichika's sleeve and pulled him inside her room. She closed the window after that.

"What are you doing?" he asked, caught off-guard.

"Can't have anyone seeing you here."

"Fussy much."

"Come on. Your presence in my home is something I'd never see coming in a million years. What's your reason?"

"I came here to apologize."

Jaw agape, she stared at him in disbelief. He spoke again, "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings back then. I did a lot of thinking for the past three days and I admit what I did was uncalled for. Especially after what you've gone through that night." He looked away, embarrassed. Ino's eyes softened. She didn't know this guy was capable of surprising her like this.

"At least you've got some decent courtesy to make up for a wrongdoing. Thanks… I appreciate that," Ino said with a small smile. Yumichika cleared his throat and fidgeted slightly. Clearly this was a little awkward for him and Ino could tell this was the first time he had done such a thing. She spoke again, "But what made me upset at that time wasn't because of you. Well… You were a part of it but… It's actually because…"

"It's that bastard, isn't it?" Yumichika stared at her. Ino responded by looking away. She could still remember how he forcefully grabbed her and how their skin made contact. It all repulsed her greatly. Then she touched her lips and mumbled slowly, "And my first kiss…"

"What's that?"

"N-nothing!"

"Did you just say your first kiss? Wait, how old are you?"

Ino frowned, refusing to reply and turned to the side with her arms crossed over her chest. "Wait, I know," Yumichika said. "Sakura's sixteen and since you two are friends I'd say you're the same age as her." He was right though, but she was too shy to say anything after spilling about her first kiss.

"Huh. I do hear girls tend to make a big deal out of first kisses," he went on. Ino sighed. Well, there was this one cute boy back when she was seven. He was around the same age too at that time and he had been her neighbour. She knew he'd had a crush on her so there was this one time where she gave him a quick peck on the lips. But that did not count, right? As for a proper first kiss, she hadn't gotten one.

"It's hard to believe that a gorgeous girl like you hasn't gotten her first kiss yet," Yumichika stated, earning a half-glare, half-skeptical look from the blonde. She told him off, "I swear, if you-,"

"I mean it."

Ino blinked. She was even more confused now. Yumichika said again, "I mean it the last time too. I just didn't want to admit it."

Her cheeks were tinted red now. That, she hadn't expected at all. Growing up with a pretty face and a long, silky blond hair and a slender body, everyone had always considered her beautiful. All the boys in her class used to gawk at her. She had been showered with compliments about her appearance several times. So she was definitely confident about her appearance and had always took pride in it.

But why when Yumichika said it, her heart actually skipped a beat and her stomach did a flip? He took a step closer to her, and her heart skipped a beat and her stomach did a flip again. She simply couldn't describe the feeling, so when he brought his hands up to cup her face, she let him. Up till now, she never understood him. "You don't tell someone you hate they're beautiful out of the blue, Yumichika-san."

"I'm only stating the facts. And I don't hate you, Ino. I just couldn't stand that someone beautiful than I existed," he told her calmly, making her baffled even more. So all these times he had been acting indifferent towards her, and only her, was because he thought she was prettier than him? She was aware of how narcissistic he was, but discovering all this was just making her want to laugh. Her face showed a smile instead.

Yumichika studied her face, and the smirk returned again. "You know, I could…" He trailed off to let his thumb brush over her lower lip. "….overwrite your first kiss. If you just let me."

That wasn't a bad idea at all, Ino thought. Not a bad idea indeed. So she nodded and closed her eyes. A few seconds later, she could feel the warmth of his lips against hers.

X

Sai heard knocking on his front door and wondered who it might be. It was very rare for him to have a visitor early in the morning. He put his paintbrush down and headed for the door. His visitor surprised him, and that was because he hadn't expected to see her anytime so soon and also the dark circles under her eyes made her look scary. "Sakura, what happened?"

The said girl didn't utter a word. Sai studied her face. She looked a bit paler than usual, eyes bloodshot and lips dry. She was wearing her normal kunoichi outfit. The silence lingered. Unable to take a second more of this, Sai tried again, "Sakura?"

Sakura blinked as if she only remembered that she was meeting him. She finally spoke up, "I just wanted to see you." She had no idea why, but that morning after she left home, her feet decided to bring her to Sai's apartment.

"You look terrible," Sai commented.

"I bet I do."

"Would you like to come in?"

As Sakura walked past him into the room, he felt a nagging unpleasant feeling that told him something bad had happened to her. He wanted to find out what and why but then his mind briefly brought him back to his underground organization and suddenly he felt lost and conflicted. There was this book that said when your friend was down in the dumps, you should be there to console them and lift up their spirits. Sai had been wanting to experiment it and this was the perfect opportunity for it, but nothing came out of his mouth. Sakura turned to look at him, and when he saw the look in her eyes he feared that she would come to lose trust in him. Instinctively, Sai held out his arms and said, "Come here."

It took her about three seconds to finally walk towards him, but slowly, she went into his arms and rested her chin on his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her frame, pulling her in tighter. "When did you come back?" he asked her softly.

"Yesterday. I came home, met and had a long talk with my parents, then went straight to bed. But I couldn't sleep a wink last night," she said in a gloomy tone. After what had happened and what she had discovered in the shattered shaft, she felt like her world had collapsed. But she needed to be strong so she could keep on going for the time being. And used the time she had to tie up loose ends. This was one of them, which was seeing her friends.

"Did you finish your training?" Sai asked. Sakura buried her face in his shoulder before she mumbled, "It's over."

Sakura knew Sai would take it as her training being finished and she had completed the overall task, but the real meaning behind it was something else and for now she would let it be uncovered.

"Shouldn't you be happy then?" he said, curiosity intensified. She didn't respond for a while, but then said something which he couldn't hear because her words were muffled against his chest. He held her shoulders and pushed her off slightly so he could see her face.

"What?"

"I don't have much time."

"Are you going somewhere?"

"…"

There was no point in telling him what she actually meant. Just seeing her teammate's face for now was enough for her. She wanted to see everyone that mattered to her before she went back. When she thought she should go see Naruto next, Sai held her hand and pulled her towards his study room and set her down on the couch. He then said, "Let me get you something to drink." He smiled at her, and she gave a small grin back. He then left the room. Sakura leaned back in her seat, and slowly sleep came over her.

When she came to, she quickly pushed herself up only to realize a blanket had fallen off her body. She then spotted a cup of coffee on the table next to her. After taking a few sips, she walked out the room to find Sai. He was by the window and seemed to be writing something on a scroll. She surreptitiously watched him from a distance, when after a while, the words on the scroll turned into ink birds and they all flew off.

It seemed like he was sending a message to someone. But for who?

"Sai?"

The said man jumped a little at the sudden voice. Recovering quickly, he said, "Did you get a good rest?"

"Kinda. How long was I asleep?"

"It's been about fifteen minutes."

Well at least she her sleep didn't last for days this time. She then noticed Sai smiled at her. Though it looked like the same smile he'd showed earlier, something was telling her that this one was fake and that he only did it to hide what he had been doing earlier. She decided to confront him about it. "Were you sending a message just now?"

"Yeah. I'm telling the members that I'm going to be a bit late," he answered calmly. By members, Sakura assumed it was the people in Root.

"Late for what?" She didn't mean to pry but she just wanted to make sure. He was still smiling. "A meeting. We have this every once in a while. I need to make sure you're well first before I can leave."

She stared at him uncertainly, but then heaved a sigh of relief. This man had helped her in her trainings not too long ago. Would he somehow betray her? His entry to Team 7 might have had a rocky start at first, awkward for a while but eventually this guy had become more than just a teammate to her and Naruto and had opened up to them much better ever since. The same man also had confessed his feelings for her that night in the Living world. Right now Sakura wasn't sure if he still harbored those feelings for her. But if she were to consider it, she needed time. It was only recently that she broke up…

Sai came over to her and held her hand, an action that suddenly increased her heartbeat. He suggested, "Shall we go for a walk somewhere?"

"Huh?" Sakura clearly wasn't ready for that. He said, "Whatever's troubling you, getting some fresh air outside might clear your head for a while. And instead of doing it alone, it's better to do it with a friend, don't you agree?"

She was speechless for a while but she agreed nonetheless. So she let herself be dragged outside and onto the street. "But don't you have to go to a meeting? I'd rather not hold you up."

"It's fine. Trust me." So she trusted him.

They were walking along a huge river that separated a part of the village from a forest. Both of them went onto the bridge and stopped in the middle. As Sai rested his elbows on the rail and observed the waters beneath them, Sakura decided to watch the darkening sky and somehow it made her feel melancholic. The place was eerily quiet too. Despite it was still in the morning, it seemed like the weather was turning gloomy. It was as if the heavens knew what she was going through.

"Are you alright, Sakura? Did the training with Kisuke-san take a huge toll on you?" He sounded really concerned about her well-being that she was touched. Sai watched Sakura close her eyes and nod.

"But you made it, right? You coming back here means that your final and important Shinigami training has ended, right?" he prodded. Sakura wasn't sure what it was but this time he sounded different. Sakura wanted to ignore those questions for now and hated that there was something else she wanted to tell instead. She met his eyes. "Sai…"

"You got your Shinigami powers back, right?" he insisted. He didn't even give her a chance to speak, making her grow hesitant, and in that moment she saw the expression on Sai's face change. He slowly pushed himself off the rail. "You didn't?"

Sakura noticed the sudden change in his behaviour. She stared at him uncertainly. "Let me explain…," she trailed off when she sensed coldness in the air. Sai's unchanging dark expression was making it worse and she couldn't understand why the idea of her possibly not getting her Shinigami powers back would affect him that bad. She raised an eyebrow. "Sai?"

"If you can't get your Shinigami powers back… ever…" he said and stared at her.

"Then we'll have to take you," an unfamiliar voice startled her. The moment she turned around, they were surrounded by ninjas all wearing a cloak and an ANBU mask. Sakura gritted her teeth in anger. "What the-!"

She noticed that unlike her, Sai was clearly calm in this situation. The image of Sai sending the ink messages came to mind and her brain began to register what was going on. She came to the conclusion that these people were Root ANBU and that Danzo was behind this. The moment that she had dreaded was finally coming true. She sent Sai the darkest glare she could muster.

"Sai... You-UMMF!"

The next thing she knew her body was being held strongly and half of her face was covered in a cloth, a chemical she was familiar with seeped through her nose and mouth. She cursed inwardly. Even though her vision was blurring, she tried to keep her gaze steady on Sai.

"H-how…could you…"

Sai's unreadable expression was the last thing she saw before everything blacked out.

- End of Chapter 34 –

Next Chapter: The Alliance

Denreishinki - Communication devices that look like cellphones; used by the Shinigamis.

A/N: I'd like to thank those who gave a review for the past few chapters. I really appreciate the time you guys took to write them! Thank you. And thanks to any silent reader or anyone who has stuck with this story for so long now. Also, I'd like to reply to one of the reviews of the previous chapter. ^^

Delphini Diggory – Hello! Hey no worries, honestly, I love your review. I don't get enough criticisms for this story (not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing lol) so yeah your comment is a good eye-opener. First things first, thank you for the review!

When you pointed out the 10 years, I'm like, damn it has been a decade? The story has been goin' on for too long already, lol. So ten years ago, honestly, when I started this FanFiction, all I'd ever thought was HitsuSaku this and HitsuSaku that but I also needed to have a decent plot to make the story more interesting rather than just shoving the pairing in with no chaotic war goin' on, something like that. Idk how far you've read into the story, but that's how I came up with the thing about Aizawa Ryo. But that was just that and I'd never intended to delve deeper. Then more years passed, and turned out I decided to write more on Aizawa Ryo's background to the point of writing two chapters dedicated to him. If you'd been around earlier, the beginning part of chapter 1 about the event a century ago wasn't there at first. It's a rewrite.

Also ten years ago I don't think it was revealed yet who Isshin really was. So my knowledge in regards to who could be a Shinigami and who couldn't was lacking at that time. But yeah as the original/canon series progressed, there had been a lot to think about. About some parts being too abrupt; Yeap, I admit my writing back then was quite lackluster, lol. English isn't my first language and I was still learning on how to elaborate this and that. I'm not sure how much I've improved over the years but based on the increased chapter length as the story progressed, I guess there's a slight improvement?

Yes, I'm aware that Chakra and Reiatsu are different. However, all beings including the Human have a certain amount of spiritual power. Those with higher spiritual power can see ghosts, hollows etc. Some normal humans in Bleach could see them. I like to believe that the Shinobis, being stronger than normal civilians, have an ample amount of spiritual energy hence granting them the ability to see hollows and Shinigamis. Chakra is a combination of physical energy and spiritual energy, so in a way they should have enough to be able to see those other beings.

Shinigamis asking the Shinobis to train so they could become the former; again this was an issue of lack of knowledge, because back then, the plot of both series (especially Bleach) was still early and I think at that time I only remember Ichigo being a human but was able to gain Shinigami powers because he's… special. Years later we found out he's a combination of Shinigami, Quincy, Fullbring and all that hahaha. So back then with the concept of 'a special human being could obtain Shinigami powers' I created the idea of having these Shinobis train to become Shinigamis. And then, about "but we Shinigamis from the other dimension won't think it'll be easy for us to come here whenever a hollow appears", yeap… Definitely a plothole there XD; I recalled that a long time ago, I thought that because this special portal has emerged, hollows began to come (accidentally) in large numbers in both the Living World and Shinobi World. Like an uncontrollable situation. So I was like, the Shinigamis just wanna deal with shit in their own dimension, so Shinobis should take care of the hollows that stumbled into the Shinobi World on their own but they still need to keep the soul balance thing goin' on hence the Shinigami training. (But then they're not stingy offering these Shinobis the training. Lmao)

Despite the flaws, I'm sorry to say that unfortunately I won't go back and rewrite to correct them :( This story has been going on for too long and I just want to focus on finishing it before maybe suddenly abandoning it and leaving it hanging, unfinished. I'm down to about three chapters left and I'm afraid to go back to rewrite 'cos the risk of delaying the story will be high. But hey perhaps when the story is completed and I'm not tired of it yet, I could return and fix the entire thing? Who knows. :) Again, thank you for submitting a long yet polite review. Really appreciate it!

To everyone else, hope you enjoyed the chapter. Have a nice day to you all!