I really didn't expect to start writing tonight but whatever…it's a pleasant surprise. Sorry it took so long (as always). I don't really feel like babbling right now so I'm just gonna say happy new year and get on with the disclaimer.

disclaimer- (wahoo) I don't own Naruto. I own the plot of this story, Keo, and Salina. Skye belongs to falling demon.

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Sakura's POV:

I was sitting on a train, watching an endless number of trees flash by in a green blur. The seat was uncomfortable and made out of wood. There was an odd chill in the air, as if someone had left the air conditioner on for too long. As far as I could tell no one was in the car but me.

A moment later, a familiar black cat walked in and perched itself on the seat across from me. Uninterested, I rested my chin on me hand and gazed out the window. It blinked a few times, then said, "Sakura, wake up. You've been asleep for nine friggin' hours!"

That made me look up at the cat. I rubbed my eyes and all of a suddenly the scene had changed. I was lying on the couch in Salina and Skye's house. I sat upright and Tokama, Salina's cat, leaped gracefully off my lap.

TenTen, Skye and Anko walked in and grinned at me. "Welcome back to the world of the living," The latter joked.

I fought a smile as I replied, "It's good to be back. Now what am I doing here?"

"How much do you know?" Skye asked, plopping down on the couch in front of me. Anko turned for the stairs, whistling.

"That I was attacked by a vampire last night and three people saved me. At least, there were three figures. Only two of them talked," I explained the best I could. My brain was still a little jumbled.

"Huh. That's basically it," Skye mused, standing up and pretending she was going to leave.

"Hold it," I said, grabbing her wrist and yanking her back onto the couch, "I'm not leaving until you explain."

We both grinned at each other for a moment before she explained. "Like you said, you were attacked by a vampire. Naruto and Sasuke found you just in time and killed the guy. They brought you here because it wouldn't exactly be a good sign to your parents if Sasuke showed up at your door carrying you fast asleep with cuts all over your back."

"True," I mumbled, "So they think that I'm sleeping over here?" I was answered by a nod before I continued. "So who was the third figure?"

"That was Tokama. She picked up your scent and found Naruto and Sasuke. They were actually headed the opposite direction when she found them," Skye explained laughing a little. I had to admit, the concept of a cat going for help, was pretty amusing.

Turning my gaze to TenTen, I asked, "And what are you doing here?"

She grinned at me as she replied, "Two reasons; one, I heard about what happened and came to see if you were alright, and two, I'm hiding from Ino."

"And you're hiding from Ino because…?"

The brunette in front of me seemed reluctant to answer, "She's trying to get me to go on a date with Neji…"

Just to mess with her, I asked in a shocked tone of voice, "And why won't you go?!"

As I expected, she groaned and shouted, "Not you too!" This effectively caused Skye to fall over laughing.

"Alright, I have to get going," I said a moment later, tossing the blanket off and walking towards her front door, "Thanks for everything."

"No problem; see you later," She replied, disappearing up the stairs, calling Anko.

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Sakura's POV:

When I pulled into the driveway (Salina had brought my car from Sasuke's house to hers last night) I noticed that my dad's car was gone, which meant he was either at work or golfing.

Mom always forgets to lock the front door so I walked in and shouted, "I'm home!"

Over the music coming from the living room, I guessed she was painting (my mom is an artist). I heard her say 'hello' before I trudged upstairs.

After a hot shower and changing clothes, my cell phone rang. I considered letting it go to voicemail but changed my mind seconds later.

"Hello?" I asked. It was too late for me to look at the caller id before I answered the phone.

A friendly woman's voice chimed through the receiver. "Sakura? Hi, it's Mikoto."

"Oh hi. Is something wrong?" I asked cautiously, an image of Sasuke in pain flashed through my mind.

"No, of course not. I was just wondering if you would mind coming over to help out in say, an hour or so."

"Sure, I don't mind. I'll see you later," I replied, grateful that nothing had happened. It was sort of stupid that I was worried about him. He was immortal for crying out loud, it's not like he's going to get sick and die.

"Alright. Thank you Sakura," Mikoto sang, hanging up after she was done speaking.

I walked downstairs and into the room where my mom was still working. She had apparently just started before I got home because there wasn't much on the canvas. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun and she was wearing old jeans and a t-shirt that were both worn out and paint covered. I turned down the music a little bit and sat cross legged on the couch.

"How was your night, sweetheart?" She asked, glancing over her shoulder to smile at me briefly.

"It was fine. Sorry it was late notice though," I added, just in case she was upset with me.

"It's okay," She said. Her tone made it clear that I was off the hook.

After a moment, Mom set her paintbrush and sat on the couch beside me. "Hey Sakura, are you dating that Uchiha boy, Sasuke?"

"What?!" I sputtered, utterly shocked. My friends had only been over here a couple of times and she had already singled him out?!

"It's not that there's anything wrong with that. He seems perfectly nice," She assured me quickly before continuing. "It's just that I've noticed you've been spending a lot of time around him lately."

I didn't know what to say. I couldn't lie to my mom and say that I was or wasn't dating him. We were just too close for that. But the problem was, I didn't know what Sasuke and I were.

"I can't really give you a definite answer on that one," I finally admitted. My mom smiled at me knowingly.

"That fine sweetheart, I just thought I'd ask before your father did. You just tell me when you know for sure."

"Okay Mom," I said, standing up and kissing her on the cheek. "I have to go though. Mrs. Uchiha called and asked me to come over and help."

I hardly waited for my mom to say goodbye before rushing out the door and walking down the street.

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I walked down the street calmly, knowing there was no reason to rush. About halfway to the Uchiha Manor, I noticed a familiar figure weaving among the crowd.

"Salina!" I shouted a few times. On the third try, the girl whirled around, smiling and waving once she noticed me.

"I take it you're going to Sasuke and Naruto's house?" She asked once I reached her.

"Yeah, and you?"

"The same. Wanna walk together?" I asked.

Salina shrugged indifferently. "Sure," she said, "As long as you don't mind taking a quick detour first." I shook my head and she motioned me to follow her around the corner instead of going straight (the direction of the Uchiha mansion).

After walking for a while in silence, Salina asked me, "How's your back?"

I remembered the broken glass I had fallen on last night and gasped. My back didn't hurt at all. Come to think of it, there weren't even scars or cuts on my back when I had gotten in the shower earlier.

Realizing that Salina was waiting for my response and watching my reaction, I managed to state in a calm but confused tone, "Perfect, surprisingly."

"Skye healed it last night," Salina remarked, "She's really good at healing things. I think her dad taught her."

"You're lucky Tokama found Sasuke and Naruto when she did. Otherwise they would've been to far away to get to you in time," She mused quietly. I didn't pay much mind to it, I already knew I was lucky to be alive, but something she said made me stop in my tracks.

"What do you mean too far away?"

The younger girl turned and blinked at me. "Sasuke and Naruto left last night," She said calmly, "After everyone left their place they packed up to go hunting."

"Oh," I mumbled. Something inside me felt empty knowing Sasuke wasn't around. "When will they be back?" I asked hopefully.

Salina furrowed her brow to show me that she was thinking and continued walking. "They should be back sometime this afternoon. Early evening at the latest," She finally concluded.

My uneasiness was quieted at that fact. But there wasn't much time to dwell on that as Salina stopped in front of a large wrought iron gate, indicating that this was their destination.

The gateway was tall and graceful. Beyond that was a wonderful garden and a stone path that led up to a grand Victorian style mansion. Ivy grew up the sides of it like it did on my house. However, this building's elegance was something that could only have been picked up in a different century. Tranquility seemed to emanate off of every sun touched surface.

Salina stuck her hand in her back and pulled out an iron key. She placed it into the keyhole on the lock and turned it easily. As she did, I felt a sort of change in energy. It was faint, but after spending so much time with two witches, a vampire, and a fox demon, I was able to pick it up.

Opening the get and moving aside to let me through, Salina whispered, "There are protective spells on this place." I smiled a little bit, proud to know that I was right about the magic around here.

Salina glided up the stone pathway, passing through a gate on the side of the house and leading me to the backyard (which was just as magnificent as the front). I trailed behind her, noticing how comfortable she was here. It was almost as if she was returning home after being away for a long time.

Finally, we came up to a corner of the yard. An old cherry blossom tree stood tall, shading two headstones. Both of which seemed fairly well preserved.

I watched Salina approach the graves quietly. She removed two flowers and some incense from her back and arranged them in front of the tombstones. She clasped her hands together in prayer for a minute or two and then turned to me.

"These are my grandparents' graves," Salina announced.

I sat next to her and bowed my head in respect before asking her, "Is this their house?"

"Yeah. I used to come here all the time when I was little," I hear the distance in her voice as she spoke. "When they died, they left everything they had to me."

I didn't say anything after that; not that there was really much to say anyway.

A few minutes passed before Salina jumped up and grinned at me. "Well, we should probably get going. Mikoto will be wondering where we are."

I nodded, standing up and turning in the direction of the gate. Salina stopped me before I could take a step and said, "I'm sick of walking for now; it's too slow."

I couldn't help but agree with her there. The witch grinned at me and a second later, everything around me disappeared into a blur. When everything came to a halt, we were standing in the entryway of the Uchiha mansion, directly in front of the grand staircase.

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Three and a Half Hours Later, Normal POV:

Sakura sat one the bed in the room she always changed in for work. She swung her legs quietly, examining the dress she was wearing. Why was she wearing a fancy dress? She really didn't know.

She had been setting up some kind of decorations in the ballroom of the Uchiha Mansion when Mikoto had come in and rushed her up here. Mikoto hastily told Sakura to get changed, keep the windows locked, and stay in the room. Before the pink haired teenager could ask what was going on, Mikoto nudged her into the bedroom and shut the door. Sakura turned and saw a plastic bag over what she expected was the dress along with hair products and makeup strewn along the dresser. Deciding she would find out what was going on sooner or later, Sakura went to the dresser and started working on her hair.

So there she sat, bored out of her mind and still as clueless as ever. The cherry blossom glanced out the window. It was dusk. Salina had told her that Sasuke would be back that afternoon and still nothing. Sakura knew it was ridiculous for her to be worried, but she was anxious to see him again.

Out of nowhere, Sakura felt another presence in the room. It was familiar, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Sakura."

The pink haired girl gasped and whipped around.

"Sasuke?!"

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Well, that concludes this chapter. I wanted to get it up last week but I went on a school trip that was out of state (we were there for a few days and then I had to make up the homework). Oh well, better late than never…

I promise I will make the next chapter longer!

Read and Review,

~spirit

P.S: I didn't proofread this, so if you see any errors, feel free to tell me.