A/N: Hey guys, long time no see. Sorry this took so long, but I made it a little longer than usual, hope that stops me from being mobbed. On the other hand, I am now owner of an awesome Inuyasha T-shirt. (Happy Birthday to me!) By the way, if I put Sora (Kingdom Hearts) or Tidus (Final Fantasy X) on here, please don't start yelling "You suck! TIDUSxYUNA/SORAxKAIRI FOREVER!" Alright? While something like that hasn't happened yet, you can't be too sure on the Internet *shifty eyes* -.-
Training, Shady Guys, and Alleys
"This is the last day of the weekend, meaning I'll have to return to school tomorrow, and there's one last thing I must take care of. While I'm gone, I'm sure you want to look for a way back to your own worlds. Last I checked you have stuff to do–"She shot a look at Inuyasha and Cloud–"… well, most of you." The half-demon growled while Cloud found himself smiling at her blunt nature.
Inuyasha turned to the blonde, infuriated for whatever reason, "What are you laughing at?"
"You."
Inuyasha looked ready to bicker when Light asked curiously, "What do you have to do?"
Sakura waved a hand dismissively, "It probably won't be needed. Not a necessary question."
Zero raised a brow at her withholding of information.
"You don't give a lot of information, you know", Light muttered.
"I don't think I'm obligated to."
"That's rude."
"Not a top-priority concern for me Light."
Zero pushed himself off the wall he was resting on, "If I don't step in this topic could drag on a bit. Light, just be aware that Sakura doesn't care about answering your questions or helping your piece of mind. Now that that's taken care of," he turned to Sakura, "I don't think you'll mind me accompanying you."
She shrugged with a blank face. "Sure, why not?"
"Great." He made his way towards the door with a smirk, waiting only when his hand grasped the door knob.
Sakura made a beckoning motion to the group of Pokémon before following him. Inuyasha scratched his head curiously as he watched the newest arrivals– Haji and Solomon– trail after her after a few moments' consideration.
His white dog ears flattened against his skull as an uneasy feeling made itself known in the pit of his stomach. As Cloud thought hard on where he could find The Orb– as they'd very simply dubbed it– he noticed Inuyasha wait a good while after they'd left before trying to walk to the door.
The silver-haired half-demon had hunched his back secretively and was about to turn the knob when Cloud tapped him on the shoulder. He jumped half a foot in the air in fright before whipping his head around to give the sword-wielder his best glare. "What?!" he whispered angrily.
"Where are you sneaking off to?" Cloud crossed his arms authoritively; despite the fact the immature man before him was a few centuries older.
Inuyasha sneered "To look for The Orb, where else?" he lied.
The blonde arched a brow, disbelieving, "Why would you be 'sneaking' then, when we know what you should be looking for?"
"I-I wasn't sneaking!"
"Right. Of course not, just trying to make sure no one noticed you leaving."
Inuyasha was not impressed by his sarcasm and made sure he knew it, "Listen, if you think I'm going out to kill someone or something go right ahead! I'm no spy!"
Cloud made a befuddled face, "'Spy'? Where'd that come from?"
Inuyasha swiftly realized his mistake and, blushing bright red, dashed out the door in a flash of red and silver.
Sakura didn't like feeling ignorant. Or looking ignorant. Or being unprepared. Or spicy food. Actually, now that she thought about it, she didn't like a lot of things.
You see, she had been planning on training "her" Pokémon (after the "fun" little trek through the woods behind her house into a clearing) she realized she didn't know their attacks– other than Turtwig's Bite, as he seemed partial to it. Of course, she wouldn't ever show this lack of knowledge, especially with them lined up like soldiers in front of her waiting for instruction.
Her mind worked high-speed for a solution, though she didn't allow it to be displayed on her face. She thought of an idea and acted upon it as soon as it appeared, "I would like you to spar with another Pokémon– except for you Lucario– so I'll be able to see whether or not you can protect yourselves," after giving Squirtle a pointed look she began assigning partners, "Squirtle and Turtwig, then Glameow with Starly."
Sakura laid down on the grass to observe as Haji pulled out his cello to play a sweet calming melody, which she found ironic considering the reason they were out there in the first place. As the pink-haired teen sat there, mentally cataloguing everything she saw, she heard a soft rustling as Zero reclined on the grass beside her.
"I'm surprised you're taking all of–" he waved his hand around them– "this so easily. I know you must be pretty stressed out. You're only human after all."
Sakura's lips twitched at how well he knew her, which Zero caught, "Either way, I'm not going to show. Much too stubborn."
Zero smirked, "Thought so." He reached around the small girl's shoulders to pull her against his body. Sakura stiffened slightly but didn't pull away, accustomed to his occasional displays of affection. Zero hid his grin at this by placing one his white tablets in his mouth, procuring it from inside his jacket.
"Birth control pills?" Sakura asked with a slight joking tone in her voice.
Zero scowled at her, "Brat."
"Acceptable."
From within the green brush behind them Inuyasha, unknowingly, had a matching scowl on his face with Cloud beside him with a miniscule downturn to his lips. Inuyasha noticed his own expression and assumed it was because he didn't want Zero's scent covering Sakura's much nicer one (one of the few pleasant things about her).
The more Sakura watched the more she wanted to sigh in exasperation. The spar with Starly and Glameow was going fine (in fact, Sakura inwardly praised the curly-tailed cat's Shadow Claw)… then there was Turtwig and Squirtle. She had intentionally chosen Turtwig as Squirtle's opponent, hoping he wouldn't be too intimidated. But she'd forgotten to take into account Turtwig's bloodthirsty nature– and she was paying for it. Squirtle was now running around crying rivers ('with enough water for a powerful Water Gun probably,' she mused) while the other turtle Pokémon gleefully chased him, flinging the occasional well-aimed Razor Leaf. She stood up, her cheek brushing Zero's and her stitches rubbing over his pale skin almost pleasantly (causing him to develop a faint blush) in the process, and walked over to intervene before things got out of hand. As she bent down to carry the two under each arm she muttered for the bird and feline Pokémon to cease their fighting before she treaded back and stopped in front of Lucario, who looked slightly put out, "Let's spar."
…
Sakura redid her customary black fingerless gloves as Lucario began rushing at her, and smirked.
It was dark by the time her own fight was over. Predictably, she'd lost (her battered body could attest to that) but she was after all, only human. Sakura put up a fight though, managing to leave quite a few bruises on Lucario too. Keeping it fair, he had, fortunately, only used hand-to-hand combat attacks.
Her group (including the two unknown tagalongs) kept to the alleys mainly to avoid unwanted eyes. Sakura paused in her limping gait when she saw a familiar form, freezing only to throw herself against the brick wall. Ino had apparently been out late, 'perhaps at a boyfriend's house,' Sakura pondered absent-mindedly.
"Hello girlie. What's a little darling like you doing out so late?" A disgustingly rough voice asked as a rather cliché-looking bulky man came from the shadows, unaware of his onlookers.
The blonde girl's face filled with dread as she took a step backwards, her small bedazzled purse falling to the ground. The stranger chuckled at that, enjoying her obvious fear. Sakura silently put out her arm in a signal to be still when she felt movement behind her. "It's dangerous at night. You need someone to protect you, so you don't get hurt. Why don't we go somewhere fun..." he gripped her arm and reached with his other into his back pocket to pull out an old pocket knife. Sakura's eyes honed in on that, 'There!'
Coming out of the dark she'd concealed herself in, she bent low and swept her leg through the air with a cutting force, knocking the knife a safe distance away. "Squirtle, Water Gun!" Taking the turtle by surprise he automatically followed his orders.
A harsh jet of water poured out of his mouth and forced the man to the ground, his head smacking the cement hard enough to knock him out cold. Squirtle's eyes widened in shock at his own strength.
Not having time for her pain from her actions nor Squirtle's slow-in-coming epiphany she turned to the teenage girl on the asphalt, "Are you okay?"
A/N: Yep, gave Squirtle his time to shine and the Pokémon their own day (kind of'). Inuyasha has his random mood swings, Cloud accompanies him, and Sakura plays the knight in shining armor. Well, hope you liked it and please REVIEW! I need encouragement to go on (I may be a review-hoarder XD)