When best friends Alison McKay and Michelle Prince found a small piece of paper bearing a promise of the greatest Naruto experience of their lives, they were unwittingly sucked into the world they had only ever watched and read about. Now, hearts will be stirred, Bonds will be formed, blood will be spilt, and worlds will collide as fantasy and reality fuse inextricably into one.

Disclaimer: Obviously, as this is a fanfic, I don't own Naruto. Anything found in this story that does not exist in the real Naruto plot line though, including the characters Alison, Michelle, Shinjako and Kai, I claim as my own.

This is a comedy/drama/romance story I've been meaning to write for a long time. Any pairings will be decided as the story progresses, though suggestions are welcome. Also, before I begin, I realize that there are some of you out there who may not like my writing style, or the angle I'm taking with this story. As much as I'd like constructive criticism, please do not simply review to say how much you hated it. It's common courtesy.

Okies, part B is done! Time for Kai to have a little romance! Also, this is you're last chance to vote on my pole-pick Lee or Naruto to be paired with Alison! Lee's still winning! -joy-

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Chapter 17 B- Blossoms

Kai and Sakura's Story

Sakura set her novella down and glanced up at Kai, her pale green eyes curious. The silver-haired genin was already blushing profusely, doing his best not to tremble pathetically as his mind raced to phrase what he wanted to say.

"Uh...What is it Kai-san?"

Sakura asked after a long moment of awkward silence.

"Uh...umm...uh, S-Sakura-san I...umm..."

Biting his lip he pulled the flower ring from behind his back and thrust it at her, bowing his head for the sake of being his bashful self.

"My mom told me to give you this! Er..t-that is she makes a lot of these...a-and she taught me how to make them and...and I was...uh, supposed to give the first one I finished to a girl to find out if it was any good, but Riku-chan just left and Atsuko-chan is missing and so I though you might want it?"

It was at that point he realized that he'd forgotten to breath, and took a deep breath, feeling his racing heart slow ever so slightly. Damn. Why had he said something so stupid? That was totally untrue! Although...it was true his mom had suggested flowers, and she did make wreathes and garlands for a living. It was probably those thoughts popping into his head at that moment that had stopped him saying something absolutely ridiculous like, say...the ducks told me to do it.

"Uh...wow it's...it's very pretty Kai-san!"

The boy chanced a quick glance upward to judge Sakura's reaction. While the kunoichi looked somewhat confused by his behaviour, she took the ring from his trembling hands and examined it. Kai straightened up, tucking his hands into his pockets in a terribly poor attempt to resemble Sasuke's calm and aloof way of standing. As Sakura turned the small token over and over in her hands, her face lit up, and she traced her fingers over some of the woven designs.

"Wow...this is really, really pretty! The weave is so complex and the colours are...hmm...wait."

Kai felt his breath painfully catch in his throat as she examined a flower that had gotten crushed during his 'encounter' with Alison.

"What happened to this patch? It's all squished...and over here too."

"Ah...that...that was kind of an accident, you see Riku kinda grabbed it and-"

"Other than that it's really nice though!"

She enthused, smiling up at his from her sitting position. Kai blushed an even darker shade of red, feeling the knot in this stomach loosen slightly.

"You can keep it! Um...I mean...i-if you want that is..."

Sakura nodded once, placing it on her light pink crown with a bright smile.

"Thank you Kai-san! It's just like the one in my book!"

"Eh?"

Kai asked, confused by the statement, Sakura gestured for him to come closer, which he did, kneeling on the ground next to her. Sakura picked up her novella, showing him the cover. It portrayed the typical gorgeous couple kissing passionately in a valley at sunset. What was special about this picture though, was that on top of the girl's dark hair, there was a garland of pink and white flowers. Sakura smiled dreamily, hugging the book to her chest.

"This is great Kai-san! I should find Sasuke-kun and show it to him! He's sure to realize it's a sign that we're soulmates!"

Kai felt his heart sink painfully, and let out a small sigh. And here he had thought he was doing so well. He should have just not bothered at all. Right now he wanted to do was crawl into a dark corner and sulk...maybe listen to some Linkin' Park...Wow, Kai realized- Atsuko was right. He really was a girly man.

Sakura must have noticed the hopeless, liquid quality come to Kai's pale eyes, since her expression softened in concern.

"Kai-san? Is something wrong?"

Caught by surprise, Kai quickly plastered a goofy smile on his face, blinking rapidly to dispel the tears that had come unbidden to his eyes.

"Wrong? N-nothing's wrong Sakura-san!"

"Really? You look kind of...sad."

"It's uh...n-nothing. I just...uh...I have this cold see, and..."

"You know, if you tell me maybe I can help."

Kai looked up at her in amazement, nearly getting lost in the cucumber hue of her eyes before deciding to speak up. Now was his chance to be romantic.

"Ah...well...you see, there's this girl..."

"A girlfriend?"

Sakura asked, that playful feminine glint coming to her eye that all girls reserved just for when they helping the opposite sex with relationship troubles.

"N-no..j-just a girl and uh...she's...really something. And I want to tell her I like her, but..she's kinda obsessed with another guy."

Sakura nodded knowingly, encouraging him to continue.

"She's really...REALLY, pretty...a-and smart but...she...doesn't really seem to know I exist... and-"

"Well then just come out and tell Riku-chan you like her then!"

Sakura said brightly, her face shining with realization. Kai stared at her in wide-eyes horror.No. This was bad. This was very, very bad!

"W-what!S-Sakura-san no! Not Riku-chan, I meant-"

"Oh don't be shy about it Kai-san! Just because she's obsessed with Lee-san doesn't mean that you can make her notice you! I mean, maybe the flower crown idea wasn't very good in her case, you just have to get out there and keep trying! You're a great guy , and any girl would be thrilled to have you!"

Kai closed his eyes and sighed, wondering if he could spontaneously combust on the spot if he focussed his chakra correctly. Reigning to the fac that he just want going to get a chance to be effectively romantic, he shifted his pale eyes up to evenly meet her gaze, usign all the strength he could muster not to start trembling again

"Sakura-san I...I was... trying to do this poetically but um..I..."

Sakura's green eyes fixed on his squarely, questioning. Kai took a deep breath to finish-but was interrupted by the crashing of branches and shouting coming from not so far to their left. He and Sakura immediately broke their gaze to look up. Their eyes were met with the picture a terrified Michelle-still dragging Sasuke along behind her- tearing toward them

"KAI-SAAAAAN! HELP! Ino's going MENTAL!"

Unwilling to waste time explaining her plight to her obviously very confused teammate, Michelle and her captive raced past the pair, charging off into the brush. As quickly as they had come, Michelle and Sasuke were gone, leaving Kai and Sakura to stare at the place they had vanished.

"Why...was Atsuko holding his hand..."

Sakura asked, her expression darkening from surprise to quiet anger, her eyebrow twitching rapidly. Kai shrugged, shaking his head back and forth to tell her he had no idea. Seconds later Ino burst into the clearing, eyes blazing and hair in disarray, holding a kunai above her head menacingly.

"You just WAIT until I catch you Atsuko-midget! You'll PAY for hugging SASUKE-KUN!"

"Atsuko did WHAT!How DARE she!"

Sakura shrieked as Ino disappeared into the brush after her quarry. The raging strawberry-blonde jumped to her feet, her inner self screaming who know what kind of profanities.

"Come on Kai!"

She ordered, grabbing the still bewildered genin by the hand and dragging him with her as she charged after her rival. He made a small yelp of protest as he was dragged up, but otherwise kept silent and matched Sakura's furious pace.

Sorry Atsuko, he sighed internally. There was no way he was getting involved in this mess.

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He he he. Alas, poor Michelle. Why must she always be tortured in such horrific ways? Because it's fun:) Stay tuned for Part C!