Notes: Sorry it's been forever since I last updated this story D; I've been busy finishing my other story and starting a new one :) Gonna update Love Spell more often now, though! I promise ;)

Chapter twenty one

Feeling human

Today had been really fun. Kim was feeling very... satisfied (the word "happy" seemed too cheesy for her). All the afternoon, she had been getting on roller coasters and russian rulettes, playing stupid yet very amusing games to win teddy bears and stuff, eating popcorn, chocolate and cotton candy, and hanging out with a cool and funny human boy. What else did she want?

However, something was bothering her (which was partly great, because that was what Sakura told her to pretend; now it came out natural). It was stupid to be grumpy after the great day she had, and she knew it. She felt so human, as human as she had never felt; not even when she actually was a human she felt like this: so real, so normal. Shouldn't she be pleased with it? Shouldn't she feel calm and glad? Yes, she should.

But she wasn't. And she knew the reason, which she hated to admit, even to herself: she was mad because the feelings she was starting to develope for this human boy, Sasori, bothered her.

Don't get it wrong: she was not falling in love with him. But, even though she was supposed, and expected herself, to give a damn about the boy and to think of him as nothing but a simple human, Kim was starting to... like him. Not in a romantical way, of course, but in a wow-this-dude-is-nice way.

She was starting to wish they could be friends. And she hated it.

But she couldn't blame herself. Fairy or not, she was still affected by the boy's charm and friendlyness. Also, he treated Sakura in a very special way; it made Kim feel warm, safe and... loved. It had been so long since the last time she felt like that. She knew very well that he didn't love her, that he actually loved Sakura, the owner of the body she was in, but he still made her feel like that. And she hated it.

But what she hated even more was that now she was starting to wish she wouldn't have to break his heart as soon as he parked his car in front of Sakura's house.

Why was she getting so suddenly sensible for him? Why was she starting to care about him? He wasn't her friend; he was just a human boy she'd never met before until this day. He didn't even know her; he thought she was Sakura and he knew nothing about the fairy Kim. And she, she was a fairy, a love fairy, that lived only to work for her leader and to please humans to get something back. She was just hanging out with Sasori because she had a deal with a human girl named Sakura, and she only wanted to see said human girl in a chicken suit – nothing more.

"Sakura... Hey, Skaura... Sakura, can you hear me?... Hey, Saaaaks..."

Dammit, Sakura, just answer, Kim thought, taking another furious bite of her cotton candy. The fluffy thing that looked like a small, pink piece of cloud melted and turned into sugar as soon as it touched her tongue... well, not her tongue; it was actually Sakura's tongue because she was in her body, which made her-

And then she remembered. She was Sakura now; she had to respond when her name was called.

She looked up at Sasori and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, I'm sorry, what? I wasn't paying attention."

"Wow, do I make you that bored?"

She smiled and shook her head. "No, I was just deep in thought."

Sasori smirked and sat on the bench, right beside her. He was really close; their arms were touching. Kim felt something stir inside of her. She didn't like him that way, but she had to admit his good looks made her kind of nervous. After all, fairy or not, she was still just a girl, right? "Yeah, it seemed like it," he said. "What were you thinking about? Oh, wait! Let me guess... You were thinking about how handsome I am, weren't you?"

Kim was not in the mood for jokes, but, in spite of it, she laughed. "You wish."

"Okay, then, what were you thinking about?" Sasori narrowed his pretty brown eyes at her. "You know? You've actually been acting kind of weird today. As if there's something bothering you. You laugh and everything, but you don't seem completely okay. What's wrong, Saks?" He put an arm around her shoulders. He was really warm, and her slightly cold human skin appreciated his nearness. "Can I do something to help you?"

Yes. Go back in time and make me say no when Sakura asked me to break up with you for her, she thought, but instead she said, "I'm alright, Sasori. Really. Maybe a little cold, but besides that, I'm very good and even kind of, you know, happy. I had a really good time today." She said that last sentence as herself, not as Sakura, because she really had fun today. Sakura missed a lot.

"Okay. I'll believe you. But only because you're cute," he said, and then he kissed her cheek, making her blush. He then grabbed her hand and raised to his feet, pulling her up with him. "Now c'mon. It's getting late and I have to take you home if I don't want your parents to kill me."

They headed the amusement park's parking lot holding hands, as any couple would. Kim felt very awkward; it was the first time she'd ever walked holding a boy's hand. When she died and became a fairy, she was only eleven years old: too young to have a boyfriend yet. As a fairy, she had met a few cute boys, both human and non-human, but she still had never had a real relationship. She had always dreamed of her prince charming. She had always hoped he would come soon. She glanced at Sasori as they walked and thought, Maybe he already has...

And then she shook her head and looked away. That was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. Was she really falling for this human boy? Firstly, why him? He was cute and funny, yeah, but nothing extraordinary, really; she'd met better guys. Secondly, it wasn't as if she could be with him; she was a fairy and he was a human: they couldn't mate. And thirdly, he was crazy for Sakura; he would never want to be with a fairy that looked like an eleven-year-old girl. It was depressing and pathetic, but Kim had to be realistic and get over it. Sasori was not for her; her prince charming was somewhere else.

It was getting late; the sun was setting and the orange sky was turning dark. The parking lot was almost empty, so it wasn't hard to spot Sasori's black car. He let go of her hand (which kind of dissapointed her) to take the car keys out of his pocket. He pointed at the car with the car keys, pushed a button and the doors unlocked almost magically. But Kim knew it wasn't magic: it was technology, the "magic" for humans.

They got into the car and Sasori started the engine. They made small chat as he drove her to Sakura's house. Kim didn't feel like talking, but Sasori didn't realize that and he continued talking and talking. She didn't tell him to shut to hell up or something and instead laughed at his jokes and answered his questions, not because she'd promised Sakura she'd be gentle to him, but because she wanted to be gentle to him. He was a cool guy.

Finally, Sasori parked his car in front of Sakura's house. Kim braced herself.

"Well," he said, and she noticed that he was suddenly nervous. "Do you want me to walk you to the door?"

Kim shook her head, staring at her lap. "No, it's fine."

"Okay. Then, uh..."

She finally looked at him. They stared at each other for a long moment.

And then, it happened. He leaned forward and kissed her. She didn't stop him – didn't want to stop him. She did nothing but kiss back. Her first kiss... after the one Naruto stole her when she was in Hinata's body, but that didn't count. This kiss was the one that counted, because this kiss – she liked it.

Suddenly, she remembered Sakura. She remembered that Sasori was not kissing her – he was kissing Sakura. And she remembered that she was supposed to break up with him now.

What the hell am I doing?

Kim put her hands on his chest and pushed him gently away. She bit her lip – Sakura's lip, the one Sasori had just kissed – and stared at her lap. "Sasori... I have something to tell you," she said, and she was glad she sounded as sad as she was supposed to seem.

"What's wrong?" he asked, startled.

She took a deep breath and said all Sakura wanted her to say – or at least what she could remember. "We... we can't date anymore. I can't be with you. But, don't get me wrong, I do like you; I like you, and a lot. It's just that... I still love my ex boyfriend. I'm not over him, not yet. I need some time to think. I want to be with you, but I really need some time. I hope that you understand. I also hope that, when I've finally moved on, we can start all over again. Maybe... maybe you can wait for me?"

She looked up at him. His face was expressionless and his eyes were cold as they looked at her. "What a bitch," he finally said, sounding so pissed and disgusted that Kim's eyes widened.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't believe you!" Sasori chuckled humorlessly and leaned against his door, shaking his head. "You raised my hopes. You made me think I had a chance to be serious with you. You made me think you were The One. And now you do this: you dump me and then ask me to wait until you stop loving your ex. As if I'm going to wait that long for someone like you!" He turned to her and glared. "You're such a bitch, Sakura. I regret I ever met you." He turned away. "Now get out of my car."

Kim did nothing but stare at him for a long moment, appalled. He had seemed to be so perfect, to be the nicest guy ever. He had made her think he was nice, funny, sweet, friendly, and possibly her prince charming. And now that she broke up with him, he revealed his real self and acted as what he really was: a non-understanding jerk.

He was the bitch. Not Sakura.

Without saying a word, she got out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and started walking towards Sakura's house. When she heard the car was gone, she stopped walking. She stood there, immobile, only a few steps away from the door, for a few minutes. She had so many thoughts in her head, she decided to pay no attention to any of them and leave her mind blank.

Eventually, Kim felt something weird in her eyes, as if they were burning. She freaked out, and started to blink desperately. And then, something warm, small and wet ran through her cheek and slipped off her jaw line.

It was a tear. She was crying. But... why was she crying?

Also, what was that weird feeling in her chest, as if something huge was trying to escape from her rib cage, crushing her heart and lungs and making her want to sob? And why did her throat feel so tight, as if someone was choking her?

Suddenly, it hit her. She remembered how this feeling was called: sadness. She hadn't felt like this in years, maybe centuries; she'd lost the count of how many years had passed since her death and resurrection. It seemed so weird to feel like this again.

She'd almost forgotten how it was like to be sad. Almost.

TenTen, Temari, Ino and Hinata were in Sakura's bedroom. Sakura's mom had told them her daughter wasn't home yet, but, since they were her best friends, they could go wait for her in her bedroom. And waiting was what they'd been doing for the last hour. But they weren't waiting for Sakura, because she was already there, and even though they couldn't see her, they could hear her (they were also very weirded out to be talking to someone invisible). They were actually waiting for Kim. She was going to come back at seven, and after giving Sakura her body back, she was going to leave and never come back again.

The girls felt a little sad, not because they were actually going to miss the fairy, but because they had kind of gotten used to her. It was going to be weird not to have an annoying fairy coming every twenty eight days anymore. At least they wanted to say goodbye to her.

For the past hour, the girls had been talking and laughing. They made fun of Sakura wearing a chiken suit tomorrow, studied a little for tomorrow's exam and talked about guys and stuff. The talking-about-guys-and-stuff part brought up a new subject that surprised Sakura and Hinata a lot.

"What do you mean you talked to Sai?" Sakura asked Ino incredously.

"Yeah," Hinata said. "Isn't he in Europe or somewhere, studying art?"

"He came back," TenTen answered for her blonde friend. "Temari, Ino and I saw him right after you left, Hinata. He was there, standing under a tree, staring at Ino." She glanced at said girl and smield. "He had come only to talk to her. It was so romantic."

"Is he going to stay here?" Sakura asked.

This time, only Ino could answer, since she was the only who had talked to him and Temari and TenTen had left right after the ex couple started their conversation. "No, he's not staying. But he's going to come back in a few months, and then he's going to stay."

"But what happened?" Sakura questioned, perplexed.

Ino sighed. "Well, I didn't know he was there until I saw Temari and TenTen staring incredously at him. I turned around and when I saw him, I felt my soul falling to my toes. I felt happy but angry at the same time to see him there. The girls told I should walk up to him and find out what he was doing here, so I did it. I tried to sound calm and casual as we talked, but, in the inside, I felt really nervous."

"And what did you talked about?" Hinata asked.

"Basically, he talked; I just stood there, listening and feeling like I was dreaming. He told me he's not over me yet and that he missed me, so he decided to come back – not to the city, but at least to the country – in a few months. He's going to finish the semester in his art school back in France and then he's going to change schools. He's going to go to Tokio's art school, which is very good, too, so that he can be able to visit me every weekend."

Her four friends beamed. "Oh my God!" Hinata exclaimed.

"That is awesome!" Temari said.

Ino grinned and nodded enthusiastically. "Yep. And there's more. We decided we were going to go to the same university when we finish high school. He's staying in Tokio and study art there, and I'm going to Tokio too and study psychology. We're even planning on renting an apartment to live together."

"That's great!" TenTen exclaimed, but then her face fell and she asked, "Wait, does that mean you're leaving Konoha, too?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, I'll come every weekend and visit you guys and my parents," Ino assured, smiling. "I promise."

Her friends squealed with joy, and then hugged and congratulated her enthusiastically. Ino was beaming, and Sakura realized it was the first time she looked so happy in months.

And then, she realized another thing: her best friend, who used to be as miserable as her, was now happy and had her boyfriend back. But what about Sakura? She was still single, heart-broken and confused. She couldn't go on with her life; she was still mourning her breakup with Sasuke.

Sakura couldn't help but feel a little jealous of Ino. Her mood suddenly dropped when she wondered if she was ever going to be happy, like Ino, again, and she felt like kicking her friends out of her room to be left alone and cry her patheticness out.

Suddenly, they heard the door opening downstairs and Sakura's voice shouting, "I'm home!" Instantly, Sakura jumped up from the bed and ran towards her bedroom´s door. She stopped at the door way until she saw Kim, in her body, walking up the stairs.

"What happened?" Sakura hissed, stepping towards her clone. She was feeling so anxious about how things had gone with Sasori, that she totally forgot about her jealousy of Ino.

Kim's head was bowed and her pink hair – Sakura's hair – covered her face. She brushed past Sakura, without looking at her, and said, "Let's go inside."

Sakura followed her into the room, confused, and closed the door behind her. When Kim noticed the other four girls in the room, she frowned. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"We came to say good bye since it's the last time we're going to see you," Ino replied, and then her baby blue eyes widened at Kim. "Oh my God, have you been crying?"

Instantly, the other girls tried to take a good look at her, but Kim looked away, hiding her face, and said, "Of course not. Now, Sakura, let's get this over with." She started walking away until she was standing two meters away from Sakura.

"Hold on!" Sakura said as the fairy in her body put her hands together. Kim looked up at her and Sakura's eyes widened when she saw that she, indeed, looked like she'd been crying. "Why have you been crying?" she asked softly, stepping towards her.

Kim looked away, frowning. "I have not been crying."

"Kim, c´mon," Hinata said as she and the other girls started walking towards her. "We're not that stupid. It's obvious you have been crying and that you're just denying it."

"Then isn't it obvious I don't want to talk about it, too?"

Sakura frowned. She and her friends couldn't force Kim to tell them what was bothering her if she didn't want to talk about it, so she started guessing what could've upset the fairy so much. Maybe she was just sad because it was the last time they were going to see each other... Nah. Kim wasn't that kind of person... or fairy... whatever. Actually, maybe she was glad she wasn't going to see them ever again. So... what was going on, then?

Sakura suddenly wondered if it had to do with Sasori and the breakup. That made her remember Kim hadn't told her anything about it yet.

"Hey, how did things with Sasori go?" she asked, and she saw Kim grimacing slightly at the mention of him. So it was something to do with him, huh? "Kim... what happened?"

Finally, Kim looked up at her. Her eyes were anger-and-pain-filled. "He's a jerk, Sakura, alright? He was all charming and nice at the amusement park, but as soon as I broke up with him, he called you bitch and started acting like a jerk. He almost kicked me out of his car, too. He... he's an hypocrite. He pretended to be the perfect prince-charming, but he was just trincking me! I mean, tricking you. Yeah, tricking you, not me." She took a deep breath to calm down. "I'm sorry. It just made me so mad I cried, I guess." She tried to smile, but she was clearly forcing it.

Sakura didn't actually care about Sasori being a jerk and calling her a bitch. Maybe it dissapointed her a bit, but she had better things to think about, like wondering if she should believe Kim or not. It seemed like a reasonable explanation: getting so mad because of a jerk that you cried. But there was something in Kim's eyes, which were actually hers, that made her doubt. Sakura thought hard, trying to find another explanation to this.

And then, like cold water splashing against her face, it hit her. Kim had said Sasori had been friendly and nice, which probably made her start to like him. That was possible, because Sasori was very charming, indeed; that was the reason why Sakura had first decided to give him a chance. And then, when Kim found out he was just an hypocrite, she was... dissapointed. So she cried.

Kim just had her first heart-break.

Sakura didn't want to say it at loud; she didn't want her friends to know it and make Kim feel embarrased. Besides, by the look on Kim's eyes, it seemed like she already knew Sakura knew what had really happened. In times like this, being smart and analytic really is useful, she thought.

"Why does it feel like this?" Kim asked Sakura in a low voice. She put her hand on her chest and pressed. "It's like... like there's something crushing my heart and lungs, asphixiating me. I don't... like it. It makes me feel heavy but empty."

The other girls looked at the fairy as if she'd spoken in Russian, not understanding at all, but Sakura did understand what she meant. "It's called sadness," she told her, smiling kindly "Humans use to feel it a lot, especially when they have troubles or when they lose someone they love. It's a humans´basic emotion."

"Wait, she's sad?" TenTen asked, looking from the empty space Sakura's voice came from to Kim. "Why are you sad?"

Kim bowed her head and Sakura answered for her, "Because she'll miss us." Everyone else in the room seemed confused with the answer. "Right, Kim?" she asked, winking at the fairy since only she could see her.

Slowly, Kim started to understand that it was just an excuse to hide the truth from the other girls. "Right," she said, looking clearly not pleased with having to admit something like that.

"Aaww, sweetie!" Ino exclaimed, looking at Sakura's clone with tenderness. "I'm gonna miss you too... Well, not really, but – you know what I mean. Full-moon nights are going to be boring without you."

"Yeah, we were just starting to get used to you annoying us," TenTen said, grinning.

Slowly, hesitantly, Kim smiled. "And I was getting used to annoy you, too."

"Okay, enough with the cheesiness," Sakura said. "I'd really appreciate it if you'd give me my body back, Kim."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine," she mumbled as she walked backwards until she was standing a couple meters away from Sakura's spirit. She put the palms of her hands together and closed her eyes. Sakura closed her eyes too and when she opened them again, she saw Kim – the real, dark-haired, younger Kim – standing in front of her, right where she had been standing before.

Kim sighed deeply. "Well, I believe you have all paid me now. It was a pleasure to do business with you."

"Yeah, ditto," Temari replied.

"Wait, don't leave without giving me hug!" Sakura exclaimed, and she procedeed to run towards the fairy and wrap her arms around her. Kim was stiff and shocked at first, but then sakura whispered in her ear, "You wanted to feel human again, right? Well, I think that having a broken heart acomplished your mission."

Kim relaxed, chuckled and nodded, but she couldn't reply because now the rest of the girls were hugging her too. When they let go of her, Kim glared, but they only laughed.

"Okay. Goodbye, humans," Kim said, waving awkwardly, and then the girls watched her image vanish and leave only a trace of golden dust behind.

Sakura couldn't help but smile nostalgically and think, Good luck, Kim.