The Day the Cherry Blossoms Bloomed

By: Invisible Love and Twin Psychos

Disclaimer: We do not own Pretear, FullMetal Alchemist, or BeyBlade. However, MuraSakura does own Sakura and the new Leafe Knights, Invisible Love owns Hiniku, and Twin Psychos own Kaze and Tenshi.

Note: We're so sorry for the supreme lateness Saku-chan. The rest of us have lives and are busy unlike you. Please enjoy the story, update your other story, and a very belated Happy Birthday! We hope you enjoy it. By the way for the rest of you readers, this was written in honor of our good friend MuraSakura's birthday back on January 16th. So make sure to give her a happy birthday in your review. READ ON!

The dulling sun slowly sank behind the hills as a crimson-banged, oak-haired African American stood in her kitchen. One arm of her purple shirt was sleeveless while the other arm had a sleeve rolled up out of the way of her knife as she chopped up some vegetables. The temperamental teenage girl was preparing a hopefully delicious meal before her friends arrived for an evening dinner together. The house in Japan in which she accommodated was surprisingly clean and tidy. She began to sing under her breath as she continued cooking and the melodious sound of Sakura's voice floated throughout the dwelling. Sakura was in a particularly good mood today, a smile plastered onto her face. Tomorrow was going to be the female's seventeenth birthday and she could hardly wait. With cautious hands, she lifted up a plate of freshly cut veggies to set on the dining room table. Just as she swiveled around, her face came into close contact with the face of a familiar, auburn-haired young man. Sakura's voice went up an octave as she screamed bloody murder in Hiro's face and dropped the fragile bowl of greens and carrots. The new Leafe Knight of Wind caught the bowl.

"Nice one, klutz," Hiro remarked with a smirk plain on his face. Sakura snatched the bowl away from him as she stomped off into the living room. Placing the bowl down, she began to yell ferociously at one of her friends in the neighboring room.

"WHO DOES THAT GUY THINK HE IS! ALWAYS FOLLOWING ME WITH THAT STUPID SMIRK ON HIS FACE….DOES HE LIVE TO ANNOY ME!" bellowed Sakura with her arms waving in the air.

A girl with a navy-blue dragon t-shirt and blue jeans walked over to her. She had chestnut colored hair and icy blue bangs that framed her face as she pat Sakura on the back and simply said, "Isn't it obvious? You both need to get a life. You guys are always fighting and arguing about almost nothing ALL THE TIME. Remember the last time you fought in the kitchen? Kit ended up cooking the meal…Hiniku's face was definitely not a pretty sight that night, and it was all your fault Saitoshi threw up all over my new icy blue carpet that Kai got me for my birthday." She said, grimacing at the thought of their other friend's horrible cooking.

"HAHA, that was funny. I remember that. That was the night I played Trinity for the first time. What a scary game. YOU GUYS MADE HIRO-" Sakura blushed a deep red and discontinued the embarrassing memory.

DING DONG!

A large amount of rustling was heard from the other side of Sakura's wall, following a loud thud and…

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU PERVS!" Sakura and Tenshi sweatdropped. Only one person could have said that…well actually anyone could have said that, but anyways a certain "short Asian" with jet, black, shoulder-length hair and DARK brown eyes scrambled into the room. She wore baggy black pants, a white tank top that had a ying-yang symbol in the middle, black arm warmers and a white headband to top off the black and white outfit. It was a wonder how she went about in the cold dressed like that. "Phew, Kato and Moki are one heck of a handful…I know just how you feel. I had to drag them all the way up the stupid hill your stupid house lives on top of." Hiniku clattered onto a nearby sofa and collapsed onto it with a huge sigh. "Well…they're all yours Tenshi," she said with a smile.

"TENSHI! MY LOVE! I HAVE RETURNED FOR- Wait, is your little boyfriend here?" Kato interrupted himself, unsure of the wrath Kai, Tenshi's boyfriend, who would have inflicted pain onto him for being seen even 10 feet of Tenshi's presence. Tenshi opened her mouth to reply when the tall Russian himself walked into the room, stopping inches from Kato's face.

"So what if I am? And who are YOU calling LITTLE?" Kai said as he towered over the smaller teenage boy. Kato cowered at the sight of the overprotective boyfriend while shaking his head vigorously from side to side and muttered a "nothing" and "no one" as he scrambled out of Kai's sight. Tenshi sighed at the amusing, yet ever common scene as Kai walked over to her. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away from him.

"I could've handled it…" she muttered almost incoherently. Kai smirked at her as he leaned over and whispered in her ear.

"Maybe, but I could do it better," he said just loud enough for Tenshi to hear. The icy-banged teen let out another huff as she marched back into the kitchen to help cook. Sakura rolled her eyes with a smirk as she followed in suit, passing by a smirking Hiro as she did so. Stepping into the kitchen, the crimson-banged teen saw Tenshi standing by the oven conversing with another very familiar face. Sakura strode over to the familiar neko-jin with a broad smile plain on her cocoa face. Rei Kon stooped over the oven, looking into the oven with well-trained golden orbs.

"Yep, the beef seems to be tender enough. We should probably take it out in a minute or so," Rei said with another glance at the oven as Tenshi nodded happily. He straightened back up and turned around to face the footsteps proceeding into the kitchen. He gave Sakura his usual sideways, fanged smile as he looked at her fondly. Sakura's smile widened as she gave the neko-jin a great big hug. The unofficial couple hugged for a moment before letting go as Hiro looked in and glared pointedly at Rei with jealousy. Everyone knew they loved each other; the two just hadn't go on further than the acknowledgement of that love. The trio finished things up in the kitchen, later sitting down in the living room with the rest of the group. Sakura sat on one couch in-between Rei and Hiro, Hiniku sat on the floor next to Tenshi (who was sitting next to a smirking Kai that was warding off all stalkers), Saitoshi sat next to Hiniku with an arm draped around her shoulders, and everyone else just sat randomly about the room. Just as they were about to eat the wondrous meal, the front door flew open to reveal a usually sleepy teen with midnight-black hair and silver streaks. She wore a black hoodie with the word "Samurai" written across it in Japanese. Kaze dragged in along with her a short, egotistical blonde and a psycho blue-haired general. The midnight-haired female panted slightly as she joined the group in the living room.

"Sorry I'm late. THESE two bakas wouldn't come along willingly," Kaze said with a huff as she sat down in-between the two Alchemists. Ed began to rant loudly while taking some food.

"SO! That's no reason to threaten me by using your martial arts!" he complained loudly, almost rivaling Tyson's annoying complaints. Roy on the other hand, just sat there quietly pondering which of the girls would look best in a mini-skirt. Sakura, Hiniku, and Tenshi clapped proudly at Kaze's threats, shouting random things like "Bravo!" or "Well Done!". Sakura looked over at the silent general in curiosity.

"Hey Roy! How'd she get YOU to come along?" she asked the stormy-haired young man. Roy opened his mouth with a broad smile, but Kaze swiftly intervened nervously.

"Um, we'll get to that later. Let's just eat," she said a little shakily. Sakura shrugged before continuing the mealtime. After much feasting and conversation, Sakura stood up with an announcement.

"EVERYONE! Now, as you know, tomorrow is my birthday," she began, waiting for the acknowledgement of the group before continuing. " So, I would like to invite you all over again tomorrow for my great, big BIRTHDAY BASH!" she finished happily. The group looked over at each other from side to side as a nervous feeling welt up in the temperamental teen's stomach.

"Um, the thing is…I can't make it. I have plans tomorrow," Tenshi started with a look of guilt on her face. The rest of the group added on that they also had plans. The only ones who weren't busy were Hiro and Rei. Sakura allowed a downcast look to befall upon her face, the once gleaming excitement gone into darkness, Tenshi looked back at her again with guilt and angst clear on her pale face. "I'm so sorry Saku-chan. I'm really sorry…"

"We'd all like to come but…" Kaze began tentatively, even Ed had stopped eating momentarily to give a slight frown, "I've so much stuff to catch up with and Ed and Roy have work…"

Sakura's face saddened as each second passed, what did this mean? Were things going to be…different this year? So much had passed, good times and bad, there were happy moments and there were times when life seemed too hard to keep going. Sakura didn't really know what to think. In fact, she simply strode from the room, a depressed expression plastered across cocoa brown skin.

There was silence for a few moments; everyone seemed transfixed with the empty chair a once beaming Sakura had sat in moments before. Rei stood up and trailed quietly after Sakura, even though no words were exchanged, the whole group knew that Rei was the one to make her smile again…at least, they hoped he could.

Sakura was in her room, on the verge of tears, but not yet willing to give in to the burning knot in her throat. Her head was buried into her pillow, her crimson bangs framing the saddened shape. Rei knocked softly and cracked the door a bit to peek in, "Sakura…?" He asked quietly.

A shaky breath was drawn in from the pillow, "What? Don't you have plans to attend to like the others, why don't you just go and get ready early or something?" The neko-jin was slightly taken aback at these soft, harsh words that left his loved one's mouth. Rei slipped into the room and sat next to Sakura, a small frown crossed his pale face.

"I've nowhere to go unless you come with me." He began slowly, "Sakura…the others care for you, they are just getting older and have more stuff to do." Rei was trying his best to string comforting words together, but he wasn't sure if it was working.

Soon a small stream of tears cascaded down a hidden face, "More important…then me?" Sakura whispered, she raised her head slightly and turned to look at Rei. (A/N from Hiniku: HAHAHA I LAUGH AT YOU!)

The blader was silent for a moment, his frown twitched into a small smile, "No…I don't think so…" And in a flurry of movement Sakura was in Rei's arms. He'd lifted her and sat in front of her, his chin rested gently on dark hair, "Nothing's more important then you, my Sakura."

It was a slightly awkward position, but Sakura didn't even try to escape from the soothing warmth that escaped the neko-jin's frame. It seemed like the temperamental teen would never move from that position, and she didn't want to. A seemingly new flame seemed to spark inside of her, perhaps it was Rei's comforting words that started it, but Sakura knew that she had to do something. "Come on, we're going to have a party." These words left, not Sakura's open mouth, but Rei's.

He stood swiftly, and Sakura followed close behind, her bare arm wiping away drying tears. The two left quietly, this time, a little closer then before. Hiro watched through a closed window, his usual sarcastic smirk had been absorbed by a sense of lost emotions. The knight of wind was more then happy to see Sakura happy again, but at the same time his heart constricted with the pain of watching her grow ever more distant from him. 'Will I ever…get to hold her again?' He wondered before disappearing in his usual rush of blue wind.

Sakura practically leapt down the steps to her waiting friends, she was going to make this work, with Rei's help of course. As the teen reached the final stair she was greeted by a surprise rush of grinning expressions. She stopped dead in her tracks, "Okay, what did you guys do?" She questioned suspiciously, smiles usually meant trouble when they were all aimed at one person.

"We canceled our plans!" Kaze piped excitedly, she now had Ed chained to her wrist for some odd reason.

"Huh?" Was all Sakura could utter.

"Yup, yup! I got rid of all my plans and Roy and Ed too!" Kaze replied happily, she jerked the chains when Ed's name was mentioned.

"What?" Roy and Ed exclaimed at the same time, "No we didn't!" Kaze shook the chains and the two alchemists fell silent.

Sakura sweatdropped at her rather odd friend, "Really? Everybody?" She queried.

This time Hiniku popped up, her short stature gave her an extreme edge in appearing suddenly, both Rei and Sakura jumped slightly. "Yes! Sheesh, didn't Kaze already answer that? Once Tenshi's sure that she can cancel her plans, I'll call my family and check with them." Even though the plans weren't officially canceled as of yet, Sakura felt that small flame that Rei had so lovingly kindled, burst and raged with growing hope.

The night had passed without further disaster and everyone had left full of promises for the upcoming day. Rei departed last with Tenshi and Kai, giving Sakura a peck on the lips after making sure she was all right with the plans of the next day. Sakura closed the door silently after her friends, still slightly blushing from the kiss. The crimson-banged teen smiled faintly before heading back up to her room for the second time that evening.

Sakura lay in her bed, pondering on the things her friends had done for her. She was special and close to everyone, which resulted in everyone supporting her and being there for the day she entered this chaotic world. Sakura had friends that cared for her, friends that would never leave her side…well maybe Ed, but friends that held a bond of friendship that would last an eternity.

The next morning was a blur, a big ugly blur that stared at Sakura in the eye. A certain auburn-haired teen knocked on the crimson-banged head of a girl none other than Sakura. "Sakura, wake up already. You can't oversleep on your own birthday. You're going to be even lazier than you already are." The lump on the bed did not stir. "Hmm, something that will make little Sakura wake up…how about…. YOU. ARE. FAT." Hiro ran to the other side of the room, taking cover from the temperamental teen's rage, but oddly, the girl did not stir. Hiro sweatdropped, "I thought girls didn't like to be called fa-"

"They don't." said a voice with a death-raising glare, from behind. Sakura thwacked the young auburn-haired man ferociously with a pillow and said, "HIRO! YOU SHALL BE DEAD MAN BY THE END OF THE DAY!" she said as she chased the very foolish teen around the house with her now-very-deadly pillow. The auburn-haired boy sprinted throughout the house, trying desperately to avoid the enraged birthday girl. Eventually the two friends came to a truce after Sakura beat him viciously with the bag of fluffiness. After showering off and getting dressed in her usual attire, the teenage girl walked back down the stairwell of her house just as her front door flew open with a loud SLAM! A familiar short Asian stepped through the doorway, accompanied by the new Leafe Knight of Sound.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Hiniku screamed happily into the house as she waved her hands wildly at Sakura. Sakura grinned wildly at her friends, already over the event that occurred previously that morning. The couple dragged in a few bags of who-knows-what and placed them in the living room, setting one bag aside that said "Happy Birthday!" on it. Hiniku stepped into the living room, a small hand on her chin, as she appeared to be thinking long and hard. Sakura walked into the room and stared at the Asian midget with a quizzical expression.

"Um…Hiniku…what are you doing?" she asked while resting an elbow on her Asian friend's little head. Hiniku glared at the gesture and ducked down and away from the crimson-banged teen, causing her to collapse from the sudden movement. "Yeah, thanks." Said the temperamental teen, brushing herself off. "Anyway, what are the huge bags for?" Hiniku continued to glare and think at the same time, until Saitoshi spoke in her place.

"That one," Saitoshi pointed at the giant bag that was labeled 'Happy Birthday' "is your gift from me. The gift from Hiniku is still on the top of the car. It was too big to fit through the door. Hiniku picked them out herself. I hope you like them." Saitoshi put on his famous, well second famous, compared to his father, heart-melting smile and walked out the door.

"Where is he going?" Sakura asked curious as to what more there was to bring in.

"He's going to get the other bag." Hiniku giggled as the crimson-banged teen sweatdropped. She turned and strode further into the room, she was about to question where Rei was when the neko-jin waltzed into the room. A fanged smile crossed his face as he made his way to Sakura.

"Happy birthday." He said, softly before giving Sakura short hug and making his way towards the open door, "Why's this door open…?" He wondered aloud before jumping to the side in an attempt at avoiding the huge wrapped box heading his way. Saitoshi was at the other end of the long and heavy box, he was trying to figure out how he'd get it through the now small door. Rei sweatdropped and scooted to the side before standing up again.

"Need help?" An unexpected voice asked from behind the Knight of Sound. Saitoshi had long since heard the sound of a car approaching and was expecting Tenshi's arrival, he just hadn't counted on her re-situating the box and helping him get it through the door.

"Thanks." He said before racing off to find Hiniku who was scoping out the decorations and the food cooking in the kitchen.

"Happy birthday Sakura!" Tenshi greeted eagerly, "I've got you a present…it's big like Hiniku's but I don't think it's the same thing…" This time the kendo stick wielding teen strode out to try and force a large box through the doorway. Kai walked up behind her and took a lot of the weight into his own hands and helped to guide her through the door. Finally, Sakura's front door closed after present after present had been carried in, and seconds later another loud knock sounded.

The door was thrust open yet again and this time Kaze stood in the doorway, a large box (though not nearly as large as Hiniku and Tenshi's) was weighing heavily in her hands. She waltzed into the room with a certain perverted colonel following close behind. The blonde alchemist, Ed, had stayed behind for a moment, he told Kaze that he needed to do something first, whatever that was. Roy too had a gift bag in his hand, it was something he'd made at the last moment and it had been crafted under the threatening presence of his normally calm "friend".

"Happy birthday Sakura!" She cried happily before placing the gift down and walking to her jubilant friend. Instantly she began punching the dark-skinned girl over and over again, "15…16…. 17… and a pinch to grow an inch!" As the tan girl said these words happily she gave her friend a sharp pinch.

"OW! Kaze you little…why don't you pinch Hiniku repeatedly, she needs it more than I do!" Sakura had already switched her emotions quickly and was about to chase after her friend when she was cut-off by a present being forced into her hand by none other then Hiro. This caught her off guard for a moment but he simply muttered a "happy birthday" and strode away.

"Hiro…?" She asked. Sakura looked back down at the package before her. It was smaller than the others by quite a bit and was wrapped in a lavender paper with a purple satin bow. She stared at it in wonder before deciding to open it later, setting it beside the other gifts. And thus it began: the fun, the laughter, and the pin-the-tail-on-the-munchkin (both of them)…it was great. Happiness swelled up inside the cherry-blossom loving teenage girl, glad that all was well. Rei strode up and stood next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders before leading her to sit down for presents. The short Asian, who along with Ed was in pain from the "pin-the-tail" experience, popped back up while ignoring her injuries.

"OOO! OOO! Open my gift first!" Hiniku shouted ecstatically before crouching over again in slight pain. Sakura chuckled at the amusing munchkin, then reached for the gargantuan gift. She stared at it for a moment and all was silent before…

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIP!

Sakura tore through the paper like a vicious animal, having a great resemblance to a tiger. The perfect wrapping flew through the air, leaving behind a large box. With the same ferocity and a hopeful grin, Sakura ripped through to reveal…another box. She narrowed her eyes and shredded through to reveal…ANOTHER box. An anime vein appearing above her head, she demolished each layer of boxes. After quite a few layers, all that remained was a miniscule box, just big enough to fit in the palm of her hand. The temperamental birthday girl opened it wearily to expose a small piece of paper. The paper read, " Happy Birthday…I Owe You One." Sakura's anime vein grew, as flames seemed to appear from behind her.

"…Hiniku…" she growled. There was a long, strained silence before the enraged teen began to chase her friend around the house. Hiniku laughed hysterically, running through the halls of Sakura's home. Twists and turns were modified with ducks and dashes thrown in there. Sakura had a hard time trying to keep up from dodging out of things that only the short Asian could fit through. Eventually, the short Korean girl disappeared from sight and Sakura returned to her party with a huff.

Unfortunately for the birthday girl, she came back to see Saitoshi's arm draped over a grinning Hiniku sitting on the floor as if nothing happened. Rei swore he could have seen some steam bursting out his beloved Sakura's ears but dismissed the thought and watched the temperamental teen sit down.

"You." Sakura pointed at Hiniku, "Don't talk to me." Hiniku's smile widened, satisfied she could annoy SOMEONE at the party. "NEXT! Hmm…I choose….THAT ONE!" The crimson-banged teen lunged for the present with shimmering lavender wrapping paper. By briefly reading the tag, it was from Tenshi. She wasted no time ripping apart the black ribbon and before the ribbon got a chance to land safely onto the floor, it was torn to pieces, mistaken for a piece of wrapping paper.

"It's a NEW FRYING PAN!" Sakura cried out in joy. She picked up the new, and relatively large, frying pan with a in her eye. Hiro's eyes widened at the sight and Hiniku hid behind Saitoshi in terror. Lifting it into the air, she yelled, "I now christen thee UNCLE FRYING PAN!" And with that, she let out an evil cackle of delight as she looked back at Hiniku's cowering form with a vengeful glint in her eye. But before she could make her way over to the munchkin, Rei took the weapon from his girlfriend and led her back to her seat among all the gifts. Sakura let out a huff before reaching for another present. It was oddly shaped and wrapped in a gold paper. With a puzzled expression, she opened it in a flurry. As soon as all the paper had fallen to the floor, Sakura's eyes widened, and then narrowed at the present. Lying before her was a black muzzle that seemed like it should be for a dog. Her angry glare scanned around the room for the culprit behind the gift. One last piece of paper floated downwards from the paper massacre. It landed in the Birthday girl's lap and seemed to have a message written across it. She picked it up furiously reading the message aloud.

"Thought the gift was appropriate for someone with such a large mouth like yourself. Kai," Everyone howled with laughter while clutching their stomachs. The oak-haired teen whipped her around to glare at the Russian teenager, who was calmly situated next to Tenshi with his arm around her. "You! YOU!" she growled under her breath. Kai smirked at Sakura's expression with a cool look on his face.

"Yes?" he replied with a smirk firmly planted on his face. More steam seemed to arise from Sakura's head as she lunged at him in a fury.

"I DON'T HAVE A BIG MOUTH!" she yelled viciously as she flew at the stoic male. Once again, she was caught and dragged back to her seat by a now tiring neko-jin. Sakura soon cooled off again at the sight of the rather small rectangular present that was laid before her. Sakura ripped off the paper almost barbarically and gazed at the book underneath. Everyone craned their necks to see the gift while watching Sakura grow redder and redder with anger. Finally Rei caught a glimpse of the novel lying in her lap and sweat dropped slightly. The book was titled; "Therapy for the emotionally challenged, 101 ways to sooth the angered mind." Sakura opened the book and read the note scribbled on the inside, "To Kaze's emotionally unbalanced friend, Sakura. Happy Birthday, Ed." Her purple orbs scanned the text and she tried the first exercise by breathing slowly in counts of ten…it didn't work.

The new gift bag that was dropped into Sakura's lap on the other hand, calmed her down quite quickly. She thrust her hand into the bag and pulled out a rather small piece of purple fabric sewn together with a golden thread. There were small chains crisscrossing here and there and a small card stuck out from a miniature pocket, "I thought you'd look a LOT better in a mini-skirt so here's one for you to try out. Roy." A multitude of emotions erupted behind Rei's golden orbs, for once Sakura wasn't the one reacting angrily: it was the usually calm and caring Rei. The Neko-jin swiped the gift and hid it; "I'll take this…and burn it later." He muttered slightly to himself. Now it was Kaze's turn to shove a rather large gift into Sakura's lap.

"Open mine next!" She called happily. Sakura sweat dropped at the sight of the badly wrapped present but still, she didn't need to be told twice as she sent a shower of paper all over the room yet again. Soon the box underneath was revealed, a rather large piece of wood stared at her from the cover of the box. It was beautifully designed, carved into many cherry blossoms and petals and in the middle of a purple and white yin-yang sign it said, "SAKURA" In flowery, bold print. The birthday-teen gasped at the sight of the picture and the large yellow sticker that read, "Custom Made." Quickly she ripped the box top off and was greeted by an unsuspected shower of sawdust. Sakura simply sat there, that was, until the small stuffed squirrel at the bottom of the box began to chant, "You got Punk'd!" over and over again.

The temperamental teen bellowed in rage and leapt for her air-headed friend, knocking the box over in the process. " I'll KILL you Kaze! You are SO dead!" Kaze jumped up and ran, her powerful legs pumping her further and further away from Sakura's murderous grasp.

"W-wait! L-look underneath the b-box!" Kaze called, her breath escaping in short gasps. Sakura turned around and saw the carving resting below a hidden compartment underneath the box, she skirted to a halt and Kaze stopped as well. On the beautiful piece of wood a small note read, "You got Punk'd! …AGAIN! Happy Birthday Sakura! Your Friend, Kaze."

"Well…that was…unexpected…" Roy muttered, his obvious statement snapping Sakura out of confusion and blind anger.

Now all that was left was Rei, Sasame, and Hiro's gifts waiting to be torn to pieces by the birthday girl. She looked at the size differences and thought what the heck, and chose the biggest one. It had no tag to help indicate whom it was from and was wrapped in a violet colored paper with silver cherry blossoms scattered upon it. The group of teens watched closely, wanting to know what she got from the gigantic box. She didn't know what to do, so she circled the present and attacked it at once. Sakura came to find…a silver-colored box inside and intently opened it to find…yet another box. The never-ending chain of box opening became tiring to Sakura and reminded her of Hiniku's present. She scowled at the thought and after demolishing six boxes of different shades of silvers and violets, she came to discover a beautiful package of black and purple with the word Sakura, in kanji form, labeled all over it. She admired the gift for a bit and raided the sparkling white bow. Inside, she found a black choker with a lilac-colored jewel in the shape of a cherry blossom as the main piece.

Most of the teens made sounds like 'oooooo's' and 'ahhhhhh's' of admiration of the beautiful gift.

"FINALLY! A GIFT THAT DOESN'T MOCK ME! … But who's it from?" Sakura had to practically climb inside the box to reach the bottom and found a card. She read it silently,

Dear Sakura,

For starters, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You're 17 now. YOU OLD HAG! Do you need a cane to help you walk? I CAN GET YOU ONE! (Erm, Hiniku wrote that part.) Anyways, I'm sorry about the boxes…Hiniku wanted to do that. I hope you like your gift, Hiniku tried to get you a snake-in-a-box and I thought a mini skirt was going to be a cute present, but I didn't think you, OR REI, would have liked that very much, so I wish you a very, merry, happy birthday. .

Your friends,

Saitoshi and Hiniku

"THANK YOU SAITOSHI!" And with that, Sakura threw herself onto the grinning leafe knight of sound and gave him a crushing hug. Rei, whose face turned red with rage, cleared his throat.

"AHEM! Can we please get to the rest of the presents now?" After Sakura sat down with a smile finally replacing the frown that most of the gifts had implanted, she reached over to grab the last present in the pile. Already knowing the sender, the cherry-blossom loving teen brightened up further and tore through the wrapping paper. In high spirits, she looked down into her lap to see a small velvet box. With a tilted head in innocent curiosity, she lifted the lid of the small container only to let out a small gasp. In the box was a small ring with a purple jewel in the center. The silver band looked like vines that were entwined together to create a rope. The ring glistened in all its glory as almost the whole party's jaws dropped to the floor in shock. With her mouth open slightly still in surprise she looked at Rei with wide-eyes.

"Rei…are you…PROPOSING?" she inquired in a small, amazed voice. Sadly, her boyfriend shook his head no and looked back at her with wistful eyes.

"No, not yet. Maybe someday…" the raven-haired neko-jin trailed off in a thoughtful manner while gazing at a surprised Sakura. Tenshi, Hiniku, and Kaze resisted the urge to "aw" at the sweet moment. And the guys didn't really care, that is, except a certain auburn-eyed teenage boy. Hiro had been watching the whole gift-giving event, only to be left in heartbreaking mood as Sakura and Rei had their moment, forgetting entirely about the last present…

And so the party had ended shortly after the great and mighty "last" present. Sakura bid her friends goodbye as they left in groups. After the last group left, the tired birthday teen closed the door and crawled upstairs and plopped down on her purple bed. In an exhausted manner, she turned her head slightly to look at the time. The clock on her bedside said 9:39. She let out an exhausted sigh as she turned onto her back to look up at her ceiling. Memories of the day's events floated across the space in her mind. The tears the night before, the reassurance for today's party, the laughter of small people, an obnoxious auburn-eyed male…Sakura suddenly sat upright in her bed, realizing that she had yet to open Hiro's birthday present to her. She reached to her bedside table and grasped the beautifully wrapped gift. Unlike the others, she gently unwrapped the present. Untying the satin ribbon and tying her long oak hair back with it, she began to tear silently through the paper. Then all that was left was a small box with a hand-written note taped to it. Taking off the note, she allowed her eyes to wander along from word to word on the page.

Dear Sakura-san,

Happy birthday Sakura. I know I may never be able to have you as my own, but I want you to know that I will still care about you. So enjoy your present and good luck with you and…Rei.

Hiro

A pang of heartache stabbed Sakura as she was reminded of Hiro's unrequited feelings for her. Shaking it off, the birthday female put the note aside and opened the small box. Inside was a silver bracelet. It was a chain bracelet that had a small silver plaque on part of it that read "Sakura" in etched letters. Vibrant purple flower-like jewels hung from each chain like a charm. Sakura's eyes softened as she stared at its beauty before clipping it onto her wrist. Getting up to turn off the light, she lay back down and crawled under the warm covers of her bead. As she thanked God for the great day and her best friends, a sort of peace and tranquility overcame her. Little did she know, the young teen was being watched by the ever-lonely Hiro. His heart had pulsed with joy at the glint in Sakura's eyes as she opened the present. But although a gloom soon trampled back over it, he sat there wistfully. Maybe…someday…there was hope. It would just have to go day-by-day, year-by-year, and birthday-by-birthday, but to him, that will always be known as the day the cherry blossoms bloomed…

ENNNDDDDDDD!

FINALLY! WE COMPLETE THE FIC AFTER …1…5…8…64…3 MONTHS! THREE I TELL YOU! Well, I'm just glad it's over. Tenshi or Kaze screaming "HURRY UP AND TYPE!" was getting annoying and all this fuss about it being late was………o.o" Like it was mentioned in the first A/N, January 16th was our dear friend MuraSakura's "17th" birthday, so be sure to wish her a VERY VERY VERY late birthday and REVIEW!