Chapter Four: The Blending of Two Worlds

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Yu-gi-oh, or Haruno Lynn!

A red blur jolted out of the mansion and ducked into the nearby alleyway. Making sure no one was watching, she jumped onto the wall of said mansion and onto the roof, her ponytail swaying in the wind, a smile on her face as she threw her hands together, releasing some chakra to let her location be known so her sister could find her better.

Come on, Sakura, she thought with a chuckle. I know you can sense me, so come and find me. I will welcome you. Just as long as you don't have anyone tagging along, then everything should be okay. I'll explain everything you want to know.

She could feel Sakura's presence getting stronger and stronger and knew it wouldn't be long before pink hair came into view, demanding to know every little fact Lynn had been keeping from her.
Well, Sakura has a right to know, after all, she thought again with a smirk.

It took Sakura almost no time to find her sister; her chakra was strong and unique. And she gave little concern to the fact that she was about to storm a house. Hell, Team Taka wouldn't have been able to stop her. She easily scaled the sides of the building and launched herself over the wall onto the roof. What she saw stilled her heart for a fraction of a second.

She knew now…when a ninja went rogue, the family often attempted to erase any record of them…so she knew why she didn't have any pictures of her sister to really solidify the hazy memories. But… Red hair...hazel eyes...a smirk that was nearly identical to her own. There was no denying this was Lynn...the sister she thought she had lost so long ago. She reached out tentatively before she simply tackled the slightly older female to the ground.

"Welcome Sakura." The red head had greeted when her sister finally made it to the roof. "I've been expecting you-...whoa!" But her sentence was cut short as she was tackled to the ground. Ignoring the shooting pain in her tailbone, she smiled.

"I was going to ask where the hell you've been, but I don't care." Sakura said. Tears ran down her face; but how many were exhaustion and how many were sheer joy she didn't know or care.

After a few moments, both kunoichi finally sat up, Lynn groaning from the power behind the sudden tackle, which still surprised her. At least the long list of questions wasn't coming up anytime soon. That would wait until they had more time together. In fact, that worked to her advantage…

Her little sister wasn't so little, anymore, was she? Sitting there, hazel eyes looked over the rosette sitting beside her. She was now a woman, mature, smart, strong, no doubt, and those green eyes were still as beautiful as ever. Lynn chuckled softly. She couldn't have felt prouder of her sister. Tsunade had apparently taken good care of her.

"I'd love to stay and catch up, but we need to make this a little...er...hasty. I have a ton to do while I'm in town." Sakura smirked at the irony of her own words. Here she was on vacation and she still hadn't had a moment to rest.

"Always so busy, huh, Saki?" She let the old nickname slip, wondering if Sakura could still remember how close they used to be. "Well, you deserve to know why I'm here so I'll give you the short version for right now. We can talk in greater depth later over ice cream or something. So, here goes: Back home, I asked for a vacation, got granted one by Tsunade Baa-chan, came here to stay with Solomen Moto for a while, learned about Duel Monsters, ran into Seto and Moku, and well, started dating the blue eyed brunette."

She quickly suppressed the resultant blush that flushed her own cheeks.

"So, what's got you in such a hurry?" The red-head asked.

"Well, uhh...in my excitement, I kind of ditched my host, Motou Yugi-san, and his friends and considering this all happened after this really freaky card game, they probably think I've gone crazy...oh! Yeah...Umm...about Kaiba-san, I think I already made a bad impression--but, you know, he really should just let Yugi be. You'll have to tell me more about their little rivalry the next time you get the chance! And...do you mind pointing me in the right direction? I'm kind of lost..."

Sakura scratched at the back of her head in embarrassment. She really needed to be much more careful, especially in the city--at least until she knew it a bit better, anyway.

But that thought was quickly paled by her immense joy in finding her sister again. It had been a very long time...too long. But it was so nice to see her again. She made a promise to herself to see her more often now that she knew where she was. But maybe...just maybe, her vacation could be extended by a bit. If Lynn was here, she would try to stay as long as she could; not that her duties in Konoha could be put off forever. But for a little while, she could...

"Just go down a few streets, past the Dungeon Dice Monsters game shop, and you'll be back at Solomon's game shop. Tell the old man Lynn says hello, would you?" She laughed again, pointing in the general direction she needed to go.

"Take care of yourself, all right? Don't get too caught up with all of this freaky dueling as you call it." She added, kissing Sakura's forehead.

"Will do!" Sakura assured her, "And you really need to write more often."

She kicked off of the rooftop, carrying herself down into the street where she got moving again.

Things were taking an interesting turn, Lynn thought, if she had to say so herself. First, she found out Sakura was in Domino City. Second, she was staying at the pathetic game shop ran by that stubborn old man.

She licked her lips, finding the whole thing rather entertaining.

Too bad I can't be there to see his reaction… She thought as she stood up, a sadistic smirk on her lips. This is going to be more fun than I've had in a long time.

Solomon arranged his cards again, dusting the shelves as he moved around. It had been a quiet day, so he reasoned it was a good one to get the shop back in order. He heard the door open, punctuated by the tell-tale ring of the bell attached to it.

"Hello!" He remarked, speaking before he turned around, "How can I help you…Oh! Sakura! There you are! Where's the fire, missy?" He smiled, offering her a glass of water as she tried to catch her breath.

She turned to Solomen after she caught her breath and quickly stated, "My sister, Lynn, says hi." Sakura smiled as she spoke, more out of the great relief of finally having found her sister and reconnected then actually delivering her message.

Solomon felt his blood run cold at that name. He cleared his throat, using the fraction of a second to compose himself. No use, he told himself, getting mad about the past.

Sakura looked back up again, glancing around, trying to find Yugi and his friends, but she had no idea if they were back or not...she felt her blood go cold at the thought, though--she had no guarantee they hadn't gotten caught back up into one of those freaky duels. And even if they were...she really couldn't do much from where she was.

"Solomon-san…they…they did get back, right?"

"I see. Your sister, huh? So, she's back in the city, eh?" He sighed, speaking to himself before telling her, "Well, I'm glad to hear you've reunited with your sister. I'm sure it's been quite some time. And yes, Yugi and the others are in the living room if you wish to join them. Go right ahead and make yourself at home, Sakura."

He turned his back to her, pretending that he was busy cleaning, but he really just wanted to make sure she didn't see how angry he got at the mere mention of the red head's name.

Sakura hesitated before she walked away--he may have kept his poker face, so to speak, but honestly, she could feel the rage pulsing off of him in waves. It had been a long time since she had felt anger that acute from a normal human with no shinobi training. But, given he was trying so hard to keep it from her, she couldn't very well pry...

She stepped away from the counter and into the living room.

"Sakura-chan!" Came Yugi's voice from the door way. "There you are. I was beginning to think you got lost or something!"

Sakura smiled awkwardly, "Hey, there! And yeah…there are just so many streets! I must have taken a wrong turn."

"Hey, come and join us!" Joey replied.

Tristan waved her over, motioning for her to sit between him and another male she didn't recognize. He was fairly tall, black hair in a ponytail, red and black outfit…her eyes fell automatically and almost maliciously on him. But she quickly reminded herself that new didn't mean bad in the way it did at home. 'Different place,' she told herself, 'very different rules.'

"This is Duke Devlin, creator and owner of Dungeon Dice Monsters." Tristan told her as she extended her hand to the man.

He replied in kind, thinking she really was very pretty. But there was already so much competition for woman in the group that he thought it best not to add to it.

"It's very nice to meet you." Sakura told him as they pulled back away from each other.

"Nice to meet you, Sakura." Duke smiled, "I'm another one of Yugi's friends. He told me all about you. Nice tackling Joey." He laughed; the blond in question quickly rushed to his own defense but wound up blushing a shade of red that had the entire group laughing.

In the resultant silence that lasted only about three seconds, as everyone caught their breath, though, the kunoichi realized she felt something in the air that she didn't like. She expanded her chakra, trying to find the source and was shocked when she realized what it was: Lynn's chakra on her skin…She absently shifted on her hip, trying to shake some of the feeling off without being noticed.

She hadn't realized how far she had tensed until the glass broke in her hand. Shards cut into her palm, but she didn't feel it over the overwhelming surge of wrongness in the air.

A collective gasp rose from the room as Yugi cried, "Sakura-chan! Are you okay?"

She shook her head, trying to force herself to concentrate. She didn't even see Tea slip from the room and into the kitchen where the first aid kit was kept. The pinkette quickly swept up the glass and disposed of it in a nearby trashcan.

"Sorry about that. I must have gotten distracted and gripped a little too hard."

Tea rushed into the room, a red and white kit held in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Tristan asked, obviously concerned.

"Don't worry. I'm fine." Sakura told her, holding up her palm. Though it was still streaked with blood, there wasn't even so much as a scar to suggest there had ever been a wound.

That definitely stilled the group. But given she was a ninja, maybe it was just natural that things like that didn't faze her.

"Distracted?" Tristan laughed again. "That's an understatement."

Sakura smiled, using his downplay to her advantage. She really didn't want them to worry, and given the day as a whole had been rather trying, she was sure they didn't need one more thing added to their lists of things to stress about.

But, Duke, on the other hand, was surprised as all hell. He didn't know much about Sakura, and neither did the others in that case, but for someone to pretty much come out of something like that unscathed… it was like she wasn't human or something.

As Sakura turned to make more small talk, though, she caught Yugi's eyes. She could keep her game face, but the eyes were the most expressive part of the body. And based on his slight hesitation, she knew he had understood that she wanted to talk to him later.

And, beside him, the Pharaoh, a disembodied, invisible hologram, felt a shiver pass through his spine. She couldn't see him…but it was like she was looking directly at him…Yugi glanced up at him, but Yami just smiled reassuringly. They would talk later, when they had some privacy.

But something still had the ancient spirit on edge. Something was wrong, something was clearly on her mind. However, she also clearly didn't want to bother Yugi with it at the moment. Frustrated that he couldn't simply talk to her himself, he disappeared back into the labyrinth of the puzzle.

The gang, mostly oblivious to the silent exchanges between Yugi, Sakura, and Yami, sat back down and helped themselves to drinks as they talked about dueling and told Sakura stories of Duelest Kingdom and some of the other crazy duels they had been in over the years.

"So," Duke commented suddenly, "I heard Queenie's back in town."

"Since when?" Tea asked.

"A few days ago, I think. The media hasn't quite gotten wind of it, yet."

"Greeeeaaattt…" Joey sighed, rolling his eyes, "One more thing to worry about."

"Miss Queen of Dueling herself, Lynn Haruno." Duke continued. "Come to find out, she's living with Seto Kaiba, dating him. Rumor has it they might be getting married."

"Just what this town needs," Tea commented sarcastically, "Two maniacs."

Sakura's face twisted up slightly with confusion, but she quickly smoothed her features over again.

"You okay, Sakura-chan?" Yugi asked, having seen it before she could hide it. "Do you know Lynn or something? Come to think of it…you two do have the same name…"

"Are you two related? Boy, do I feel bad for you…" Joey trailed off.

Sakura wanted to ask why, and her immediate next reaction was to lie. But she quickly caught herself; this wasn't the shinobi world. It didn't hurt her, or them, to know…

"Yeah…She's my…uh…sister. She...uh...disappeared a while back. I really don't remember much about her and today was the first time we talked in a while...in years...really."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Yugi replied, his hand coming down gently on her back in an attempt to comfort her.

Sakura ran her tongue across her suddenly too-dry lips. This whole thing was beginning to make more sense, but it was also getting more confusing. For a flicker of a second, her mind turned back to Tsunade...she would have to extend her vacation, it seemed. Then again, Konoha didn't need her at the moment, and she imagined Tsunade would understand. Something was amiss, and she needed to find out what it was.

Her sister's aura had been different, that much was clear. And it hadn't been different in a good way, either...What on earth had been happening a world away from Konoha?

"Please excuse me." Sakura stated as she rose from her chair, "I'm a little thirsty."

No one mentioned that they had plenty of soda and water on the table.

"Man…that's gotta be tough." Tristan stated as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Tea nodded; she had a feeling their first encounter hadn't gone over well. Sighing, she spared a glance at Yugi and inquired, "You okay, Yugi?"

"Yeah." He replied, "I'm just thinking about how things are gonna change now."

"Lynn isn't allowed here still, right, Yug?" Joey asked, remembering the very last time the red head had walked into the Game Shop.

Yugi nodded in confirmation, thinking the same thing.

Sakura bit into her thumb, letting copper flood her tongue before she pulled back and preformed a set of seals. Her hand came down lightly on the ground, and a small cloud of white vapor exploded from the tile. It quickly faded to reveal a small hawk, who happily chirped in recognition as it hopped onto her wrist and up her arm before settling on her shoulder.

Sakura purred back to it, scratching the back of his head gently. She cooed sweetly to it for a few moments before entrusting the tiny hawk with a message.

It chirped, assuring her in its own way that it would be delivered. And with that, it flew through a nearby open window. Until she heard back from Tsunade, there was nothing Sakura could do except hold out.

"You think someone should go check on her?" Duke finally asked, glancing at the clock.

"Check on who?" Sakura asked, reappearing with a glass of water.

"So, what's this about Lynn, now?" She asked as she took a seat, trying to keep her voice light and buoyant. She really needed them to keep talking; it was the only source of information she had.

She knew so little: Lynn was a duelist now, her love interest had an intense and obsessive rivalry with Yugi, and no one seemed to like either of them. Seto, that was understandable... He was a bit too cold, a bit too jagged and a little too vicious for polite civilization. But she didn't know his circumstances and therefore couldn't very well judge him.

But she knew Lynn...and nothing in her past explained her sudden chill and ice. But maybe something from one of them could.

Apparently, after Lynn met Kaiba, it was like sudden attraction, like she had a thing for bad guys. They started seeing each other more often, which was a surprise all its own because they never thought Kaiba had a heart, let alone had an interest in women, since he holed himself up in KaibaCorp. Lynn started to develop his attitude, which could explain the sudden coldness Sakura had felt when she met up with the red head. A while later, Lynn said she was grateful Solomen and Yugi let her stay with them, even though her tone didn't reflect her words, she was moving in with Kaiba and wouldn't come back.

The room was silent for a few moments before Yugi went on to say there was a woman causing a sensation in America and soon was dubbed the title of Queen of Dueling. Everyone kept saying how the queen and king should meet up and get together and become the duo of dueling.

Yugi openly scoffed the idea. As did Yami, who was listening beside the teen with a memory of the incident so vivid it seemed impossible it hadn't been just yesterday. Going on, Tea continued to say Lynn must have come back into town when Sakura came, which made everyone start to wonder if this was really just a coincidence.

Sakura sat and listened to them talk for a while longer as she tried to process what had just happened. She hadn't known Lynn well enough as a child to really say what her type of guy was, but given that she herself had a think for dangerous men, she couldn't really be surprised that Lynn liked the icy ones. She tossed it over for a little while longer in her head...there must have been something else going on...no one just up and turned into a complete opposite of what they had been...Goodness...this was getting complicated...and that was before you added ancient spirits, fights for your soul, and a crazy business man to the equation.

Sakura shook her head as she quickly undid the lacing on her bodice down an inch. It was suddenly a little too hot for her liking in the room. She fidgeted slightly, pulling her hair up in a vain attempt to distract herself.

Really, that, too, was shinobi instinct; if you could look like you were fine without having to put any thought into it, you could focus mentally without drawing attention to yourself.

Although everyone in the room noticed her fidget, they didn't blame her. In fact, they outright ignored it, as if they could sense that was what she wanted.

She was beginning to miss the simplicity of life in Konoha...she wondered if Naruto or Kakashi had even given a thought to her since she left. But then she remembered she was well on her way to making valuable and rewarding friendships right there. And even for all the heartbreak and pain she knew that Lynn was going to bring before things got better, at least now she knew. That had to be worth something.

"Hey, would you guys mind if I ran upstairs and showered? I think that jet lag thing is finally getting to me."

Yugi smiled, telling her that everything she needed would be up there.

"Great! Thanks." She replied as she disappeared through the hallway.

She waited until she turned the corner to sprint up the stairs and seal herself in the sterile bathroom. But it wasn't until she was actually beneath the stream of hot water that she let her own tears fall silently from her eyes.

She didn't know what she was going to do. But she also found immense comfort in the fact that she didn't have to decide in that moment. She wasn't sure how long she stayed under the water before she actually shampooed and washed, but the house was quiet by the time she stepped out in a nightgown.

But only Yugi knew that this was time for the pinkette to be alone, to let everything about her sister sink in, to let her own self break down in private. The teen with tri-colored hair didn't let on he understood how the pinkette felt and just escorted his friends to the door, saying good night.

He sighed to himself as he closed the door; he knew that Sakura was strong. But even solid rock had a weak point that could be exploited. And in his eyes, Lynn was that one thing that might just make his friend crumble.

Very few people made him angry. But Kaiba and Lynn were right up there on his very short list…

His partner appeared beside him, quietly telling him that getting mad would accomplish nothing. Yugi agreed with a sharp nod of his head as he walked back into the living room.

'That took quite a turn.' Yami stated as the teen began to clean up.

'Yeah…hearing that Lynn was Sakura-chan's sister sure was a shock.'

'And who knows what the future holds for us now that they've been reunited.' Yami replied.

'Yeah…' Yugi sighed, 'I have a feeling we'll be running into Kaiba a lot more. And if Lynn is around…I just don't want Sakura-chan to stress out.'

Yami smiled; his Aibou's ability to make friends, and close ones at that, quickly was contagious.

'Well, that's where you come in. You're a people person, Yugi. I'm sure she'll enjoy her stay.'

'You might be right about that but I haven't counted you out, yet. You're helping me.'

The spirit chuckled as the door upstairs opened, signaling Sakura had finished her shower. Yugi just smiled as the Pharaoh disappeared as he headed up the stairs.

TBC