Well, there you go, another chapter on time! Just don't expect one this next weekend because I won't even be home for two minutes...busy schedule, very busy schedule. So, anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 25: Going Home

Sakura groaned as she regained consciousness.

Her head felt light and her limbs felt heavy. She didn't feel the cot beneath her and the noises in the room were all muffled.

She panicked and jumped up, gulping in air and swinging her arms around. She was sure she was underwater. They were trying to drown her! She should have known not to trust the Reikai.

Two strong hands gripped onto her wrists and held her flailing arms still.

She swung her head out and smashed the person in the nose, but the hands still held her still.

"Baka neko!" Hiei hissed as blood dripped from his nose, "Open your eyes!"

Sakura obliged and slowly peeked one eye open to view her surroundings. Both eyes jumped wide when she saw how close Hiei was to her before they narrowed substantially and she hissed.

"See, Urameshi, I told you! Just like a kitty!" an annoying voice sounded from the corner.

"That's one kitty you don't want to pet," Yusuke replied.

Sakura turned to where the noise had come from and sneered at the two boys who stared at her in shock.

"Look at her eyes," Yusuke murmured.

"They're weird," Kuwabara added.

Sakura blinked; then she blinked again before turning back to the fire demon that was, quite literally, sitting on her lap.

"You can get off now, you know," she growled as she met Hiei's glare head on.

Kurama walked in the door and flinched at the tension between the two. When he shut the door Hiei looked up at him then back at the girl.

"Hn," he grunted before he stepped off the cot and walked over to a nearby window.

The moment there was a good distance of three yards between the two, Sakura's glare left his back and curious eyes drifted to her hands. She smiled slightly when she saw the sharp claws, black as night. She cracked her knuckles twice then reached up to feel two neko ears and she swung her tail around in front of her.

"So I'm back then?" she murmured to herself as a smirk grew on her face. She looked at Kurama, "Remember, I kill the bastard that did it."

----

"You really have no information whatsoever?" Kurama asked Koenma in shock, "Even after all the spies you sent out?"

"They were killed before they could ever report back to me and any evidence they might have gotten was taken before their bodies were returned," Koenma replied, "So, yes, I really don't have any information, leads, evidence. I have nothing. You guys will pretty much be going into this blind."

"Not exactly," Sakura cut in, "I'll help you guys this time and this time only, but that's only because your presence might prove useful later."

"Good to know you trust us enough to help you," Kurama smiled.

"Whoever said anything about trust?"

Kuwabara and Yusuke sweat dropped.

Just like Hiei…

"Well, now that that's settled," Koenma said as he waved his arm. A portal appeared.

The group just stood there for a moment.

"Well! Are you going to go now or what?" he added in annoyance a couple seconds later.

Everyone jumped in surprise and, one by one, disappeared through the swirling mass of colors and into the Makai.

Just before Sakura stepped through she smiled a fleeting smile – Hiei, the only member of the team left in Koenma's office barely noticed it – and whispered, "I'm coming home, Ryu."