2nd chapter~ finally finished this... heh. I just have to say... I absolutely HATE Additional maths and Chemistry. In fact I hate everything that has to do with numbers! ARGHH!! i almost have no time at all to write... so here it is!! Enjoy!!

One more thing, I've decided to break this into the Naruto and Bleach categories since not many people go into the crossover section much… I'm doing the same for Mistletoe as well as any future crossover stories I might come up with. Of course this will still be in the crossover section but I wanted to expand it. Like I said. Not many people read the crossover section.

I've also decided that there will be no seasons! It'll be easier. Trust me. I hate adding seasons to my stories. It makes me really confused. So it'll be Spring/Summer all the way!!

Oh. And please do review. Reviews keep me alive!! Or else I'll send Kenpachi and Itachi after you… and please. No excessive flames if you want to flame. I mean. Excessive flames make me NOT want to write. I'm serious. And don't flame me if the characters are too OOC. This is what fanfiction is about. Bending the stories the way fans want it. So there!

Disclamer: I do not own Bleach or Naruto. They belong to Tite Kubo and Masashi Kishimoto respectively. I already said it. So dont sue me... XD

=.=

Memories II

Friends and Wind

=.=

Emerald green eyes carefully scanned the gravestone in front of her. Her hands delicately poured water to clean the already clean gravestone. Her eyes softened as she traced the kanji on it with her middle and index finger. She smiled slightly as she felt her tears flow down her cheeks. Soon, she was sobbing hard. Her palms were placed on the cold gravestone.

She felt eyes watching her and turned towards the forest, just in time to see a pair of turquoise eyes turn away and disappear. She cried harder as when she realized whom those eyes belong to. Her heart twisted when she realized she might never see those eyes again. So she did the one thing her heart and mind registered.

Run and chase him.

=.=

Sakura sighed as she watched the children playing in the park. She had volunteered to watch them while Iruka was sick. She smiled slightly as her eyes landed on the two children separated from the others playing in the sandbox. Her eyes softened as she remembered her time with Toshiro. She had been remembering him more now. She wanted to hold the memories she had with him in her heart always. She just hoped she could meet him again in their afterlife.

At this, she frowned. Naruto had been acting more distant around her. Was it because she's been spending more time at the cemetery than with him? He needed to understand that even though Toshiro was dead, she would still love him. She loved Naruto too of course, but not more than a brother. Then, her eyes softened. He still liked her.

Sakura sighed again. She knew she was hurting him more than when she loved Sasuke. But his huge-mega crush on her made him completely oblivious to the Hyuuga heiress who's been love in him since they were kids. Naruto was just too stupid sometimes. She made a mental note to talk to Naruto later. She mused at the idea of asking Hinata to confess her feelings. Knowing she would probably faint at even the thought of it, she decided not to.

She was brought out from her musings when she felt a familiar chakra signal. She smiled slightly and turned to face Shikamaru.

"Hey, Shikamaru. How's it going?" Shikamaru sighed and looked at her with a bored expression to which Sakura raised an eyebrow at.

"Naruto just told me you've been spending more of your time at the cemetary than with him. He's been sulking at Ichiraku's he didn't even finish his 3rd bowl of ramen." He paused. "Teuchi-san was getting worried so Ayame asked me to ask you whats going on…" He sighed. "Troublesome..."

Sakura giggled. She knew Shikamaru was making up the story of Ayame asking him to ask her about Naruto. Her smiled faded and she turned to watch the children running about. Shikamaru sat beside her and stared at the clouds. He knew Sakura was collecting her thoughts. After all, he was the only person besides Ino, Naruto and Kakashi, who she trusted most.

"When I was 6." She started. "A couple of months before I entered the Academy. The grandfather of my best friend, Toshiro-kun, was sick and in the hospital, so he asked me to accompany him that day." She paused and breathed in. "But he never came. Later I found out from my parents that his house was robbed and he was killed by a group of C-class Missing-nin." She lowered her head so that her bangs covered her eyes as Shikamaru eyed her. "After his funeral, I was so sad and scared of living without him I decided to just forget him. Ino helped me with that. She helped me forget about everything without even realizing it. I was happy... until I suddenly remembered him a month ago. Since then, I made up my mind to spend as much time as I can at his grave." She sighed, her eyes lifted as she observed the two children playing in the sandbox with glassy eyes.

Shikamaru inwardly sighed. He couldn't blame her for wanting to make up for the time she lost not being able to see his grave. He lifted his gaze to the clouds.

"Maybe you could bring Naruto or the others with you sometime. Just to let them know you haven't abandoned them yet." He said and stood. "See you later." With that he left lighting a cigarette on the way.

Sakura stared at Shikamaru's retreating back and smiled. "Thanks Shikamaru."

"Sakura-chan!!" Naruto's loud voice came and she turned to his direction and smiled.

Naruto momentarily stopped before grinning and running towards her.

"Hey, Naruto! How bout some ramen later? I'm starving!" Sakura cheered and Naruto cheered too but then he stopped and his eyes darkened a bit.

"But what about going to the cemetery?"

Sakura smiled. "I just thought I wanted to spend some time with you and the others too."

Naruto brightened and started pulling her towards Ichiraku Ramen. Sakura's eyes softened.

'I'll find a way to balance my time with my friends and visiting the grave… That would be what you wanted right, Toshiro-kun?'

Sakura smiled and laughed telling Naruto she still had to watch the Academy students. Unaware of teal eyes following her every move.

=.=

"Toshiro-kun! Toshiro-kun!"

It was a bad day for Toshiro. The older kids in the academy had called him short like a 3-year-old and made fun of his white hair. What's wrong with white hair really?! The great Copy-Nin Hatake Kakashi had silver hair. And Sakura had PINK hair. For gods sake! Who in the world had PINK hair?! Why don't they pink on her instead of him?!

He growled as Sakura kept calling him. He was having a really bad day. Even his grandfather had scolded him because he went into the forest alone. All he wanted to do was get a bunch of flowers for Sakura's upcoming birthday in 3 days. Was that so wrong? And he didn't even get the flowers. Then he had come running to the park where he would meet Sakura everyday. But he tripped on one of the older kids foot and scratched his knee. Even now, he still felt a tiny pain on his knee.

"Toshiro-kun, are you okay? What happened to your knee?! Toshiro-kun!"

At that moment he just snapped. He didn't mean to. He just did. Things were a little haywire today and he just snapped since she was bombarding him with non-stop questions.

"Shut up! Do I look like I'm okay?! Sheesh Sakura, look carefully will ya?! I'm hurt and today's been really, really awful and you're being so annoying asking me if I'm okay! Tell you what Sakura? Just go find some other friends! I'm not your only friend am I?!" By now Toshiro was breathing hard. He had never yelled at anyone before. He rarely ever raised his voice at anyone, sometimes the older kids or his grandfather. But never Sakura. No. Never Sakura.

After realizing who he had just yelled at, he stepped out of his angry state and watched with wide eyes as tears began to well up in Sakura's hazy green eyes. Only now did he notice the cuts and bruises on her arms, legs and face. Her lips quivered before turning her head downwards. Her short pink bangs covering her eyes as she cried silently in front of him.

Toshiro felt guilt well up inside him as he stared at the crying girl in front of him.

"Y-You are my o-only friend, T-Toshiro-kun…" She said with a cracking voice. This angered him. Even he had other friends other than her.

But before he could retort she said something else; "T-They say t-that I-I'm a f-f-freak because I-I have p-pink hair a-and a-a-a b-big f-forehead." She cried silently. "T-they th-threw r-rocks a-and k-kunai's at me w-while I-I wa-was c-c-coming here…" She lifted her crying eyes to him and smiled brightly trough tears. "But I wanted to come to meet you, so even though it hurts, I still came!" She said with a forced cheerily voice.

By now Toshiro felt really, really bad for yelling at her. All he got was a scraped knee and he was complaining. He had many friends but he was complaining. Sakura had bruises and cuts and it looked like it hurt a lot. And Sakura didn't have any friends except him because of her appearance. Toshiro's eyes saddened.

"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan. I shouldn't have yelled at you…" He said looking at the ground.

"Eh? No, no! Don't worry about it! You must have had a bad day anyway!" Sakura said waving her arms frantically but winced when she felt pain go through her body.

Toshiro noticed this and became worried. Screw the scraped knee, Sakura needed to get to the hospital! With that thought, he gently grabbed Sakura's hand and led her towards the hospital.

"E-eh?! Toshiro-kun, where are we going?!"

"The hospital."

"B-but--" Sakura started to protest.

"No buts. You're really hurt so you need to go to the hospital. Granpa always said that if we're really hurt, we have to go to the hospital." Toshiro said with a sense of finality.

"But I'm fine, really! I've had worse than these!"

At these words he stopped, making Sakura run into his back.

"Toshi--"

"How many times?" He suddenly asked

"Huh?" Sakura said confused.

"How many times were you hurt because of them?" He asked as he turned around to face her.

"O-Oh…"

They stayed like that for a few minutes before Toshiro got impatient.

"Well?"

"A-a few t-times" She stuttered.

"How many..."

"I-I lost count after 10…"

Toshiro's eye twitched at the thought of her being bullied without him knowing it. And for more that 10 occasions?! Those guys were gonna get a piece of Hitsugaya Toshiro!

He growled under his breath but Sakura heard it.

"Don't do anything!"

Toshiro glared slightly at her. "Why not?!"

"Because they're Academy students. About 2 to 3 years older than us…"

"So?!"

"They could hurt you really bad, baka! Worse than they hurt me! They have sharp kunais' and shurikens! I don't want you to get hurt! Especially if its because of me…" Sakura's voice lowered at the last sentence but Toshiro heard it. He sighed and continued to walk towards the hospital.

"Saku-chan, can you promise me something?"

"Hai?"

"Promise me you'll find and make friends? You need more friends besides me…" He said turning slightly to her.

Sakura stared at him for a moment before smiling slightly and nodding. "I'll try. I promise."

=.=

Toshiro blinked a few times, adjusting to the light. He lay on his bed as sunlight fiercely streamed in from the open window. He had left it open since it was too hot and the night air was cool and refreshing. He sat up and stared at the palm of his hand. He had frequently been having dreams about his human life for the past month, not that he was complaining. But even the Yamamoto Sou-taichou had found it strange for him to recover his memories.

'I've been trying to find what's causing your memories to leak. But something powerful in your mind is stopping me from getting closer. The door to your memories was open. But when I tried to close it, some sort of seal repelled me.' Hyourinmaru said in his head. Toshiro scratched his head at this.

'A seal? Well, all I know is I've been growing since I've been getting my memories back.' This was true, ever since he started to remember his memories; he's been growing an inch every week. Currently he was 4'8. Again he wasn't complaining.

The shinigami tensai lifted the thin sheet he used as a blanket and got out of bed, stretching and stood up. When he did, he felt something was different. Shrugging and making a mental note to visit Unohana-taichou of the 4th division, he put on his shinigami uniform and a white sleeveless haori before exiting his room and headed towards his office. (Okay, in this story, every shinigami is given a room in each division)

Once there, his eyes widened slightly at the sight of Rangiku doing paperwork at his desk. He stared at her for a few moments before approaching her.

"Matsumoto, is something wrong?" He asked stopping in front of his desk.

Rangiku looked up and smiled. She stood up and greeted her captain. Toshiro notices he was taller than before. He estimated his height to be about 5'2'' now. Rangiku noticed this and ruffled his hair. When Toshiro didn't respond like usual she stopped.

"Taichou, is something wrong?" Rangiku asked. Toshiro blinked.

"Nothing. Why?"

"Its just that… you didn't get mad at me for ruffling you hair like usual…"

Toshiro shrugged. "I'm a bit off today… I had another dream about her…"

"You mean Sakura-san?"

Toshiro nodded. He had told Rangiku and Momo of his memories of her since they kept pestering him about him. And he had accidently singed her name instead of his on a document from the 13th division causing the said captain to pester him until he told him of his memories of her.

"Yeah. This time I think it was my first time yelling at her. From my other memories, I never remember yelling at her except that one time." Toshiro said. Feeling a headache coming on, he rubbed his temples.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Rangiku suddenly exclaimed. She smiled at him brightly. "Sou-taichou said you could have the day off if you want and ordered me to do the paperwork. And Unohana-taichou said to drop by over at the 4th division for a check up."

Toshiro blinked. A day off? Shinigami rarely get a day off. Especially Captains. "Why?" H asked.

"Unohana-taichou said she reported to Sou-taichou about your headaches that could occur at any given time. And that your soul was taking a toll at releasing your memories and that you should take a days rest so that your body could cope with your sudden growth spurt." Rangiku explained sitting back down and taking the pen. "Now, shoo. I have paperwork to do." She said, smirking.

Toshiro nodded and began to walk towards the 4th division, his mind still circulating on his pink haired friend. He turned around the corner and bumped into a tall figure. He looked up annoyed. Even though he had grown a few inches, he was still short to the 11th division Captain. Kenpachi Zaraki looked down at him as his lieutenant; Kusajishi Yachiru peered down at him from over Zaraki's wide shoulders. The small girl smiled broadly at him that made him uncomfortable.

She jumped down to the ground and beamed at the young captain. Toshiro raised a delicate eyebrow at this.

"I heard from Ukitake-taichou you used to know a girl with pink hair! Is this true?" She exclaimed balling her hands into fists in front of her face.

'Shit' "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Aw, come on! Everyone knows about you having flashbacks of your past, especially on a pink haired girl!" She whined. "So, tell me. Who is she? Is she in soul society? Is she still alive? Can I see her? Pretty please? I promi--" She was cut off by Toshiro.

"Shut up!"

Yachiru closed her mouth, her brown eyes looked shocked at Toshiro. Sure he had yelled at her countless of times for calling him 'Shiro-chan' instead of 'Hitsugaya-taichou'. But he had never yelled at her with such malice and hatred in his eyes. Even Zaraki was surprised and confused.

Toshiro had his head down, covering her eyes. After a few moments, he lifted a cold and icy gaze to Yachiru that made her flinch a little. And that was saying a lot. She had never seen him so enraged before.

"She was an important person to me when I was alive. I just recovered bits of my memories of her and I do not know much about her. It's been more than a 100 years. So I'm pretty sure she's dead. And I do not know if she is even in rukongai…" He paused briefly before lowering his sad eyes from view. "She might have been eaten by a hollow for all I know…"

Yachiru's eyes saddened and she placed her hand in her pocket. She produced a box of expensive looking candy and held it out to him. Toshiro looked at the box confused and Zaraki was surprised. After all, half his paycheck went to Yachiru's candy and he knew for a fact that Yachiru absolutely loves the candy she's currently offering to Toshiro.

"I'm sorry for asking a lot of questions about her. I was just curious. It's hard to find someone with pink hair like me. So I wanted to meet her. I didn't think of the possibility of you never meeting her in Rukongai before. Or if she even made it to Soul Society. So here." She said softly, thrusting the box in Toshiro's hands. "Eat it! It'll put a smile on your face, guaranteed!" She beamed at him before climbing onto Zaraki's shoulders once again. "Come on, Ken-chan! Lets go buy some candy!" She exclaimed, a trace of regret in her voice.

Zaraki looked at Toshiro skeptically before he went off to Seireitei to buy some candy for Yachiru. Toshiro simply stared at the box of candy in his hands before smiling at a fond memory.

"You must always make trustworthy friends, Toshiro.

For they will always be by your side when you need them the most."

=.=

"Rasengan!" Naruto's shout of his famous jutsu tore the silence of the dark forest. Sakura, Sai and Kakashi sat on the tree far away from Naruto's practice area watching. Kakashi had his nose buried in his little orange book, Sai was sketching something while Sakura watched Naruto walk towards them with a grin on his face.

"Ah~~ Now that was some way to let off some steam!" He exclaimed jumping and landing on the tree branch Sakura was sitting on. Sakura smiled at him sweetly before she let the wind hit her face. It was such a nice day out; a good day for a nice session of training and relaxation.

"So... since all of us have an off day..." Naruto trailed off, glancing at Sakura who raised an eyebrow. Kakashi still read his book but nodded his head to show he was listening while Sai looked at Naruto quizzically. "Do you mind telling us about Toshiro?"

Silence.

Kakashi and Sai wanted to smack Naruto for asking that question. Naruto just looked at Sakura innocently while Sakura's eyes had widened for a sec before returning her gaze towards the field, the wind blew softly in her face and lifted her hair. Once she closed her eye, contemplating on her answer, Kakashi kicked Naruto's head with his foot while Sai threw a rock at him, making Naruto realize what question he had just asked his best friend.

"Er. You don't ha--" Naruto started but was cut off.

"His name was Hitsugaya Toshiro." Sakura paused. "I met him when I was 2. He was living with his grandfather because his dad died during the Kyuubi attack. His mom died giving birth to him. He was born on December 20th. His grandfather was sick so he left him with my parents. Our families were close because my grandmother and his grandfather were best friends. We stayed friends after we met. He would always come to my house. Or I'd go to his. We loved to play at the park, watch cloud, go on top of Hokage Mountain to feel the wind..." She trailed off; an affectionate smile on her lips. "Soft winds like this one..."

=.=

Sakura sighed as she and Toshiro sat on a bench on top of Hokage Mountain. The soft breeze relaxed their tensed figures. They had been chased by the elder kids who went to the Academy.

Toshiro and Sakura would never know what possessed those kids to suddenly up and chase them so suddenly. All they did was walk by the Academy gates and they were trailing after them like a rat does when it smells food.

They lay on each other's backs, supporting each other. Toshiro sighed making Sakura stop her cloud gazing and look at him quizzically. He smiled slightly at her.

"Jii-san was put in the hospital again…" He said turning his head away from her. He felt her get up and saw her sit right next to him.

"You know I'll always be there for you right? Dad and Mom love you like their own son too. So even if Jii-san goes away, you can always stay with us…" She smiled gently at them. Toshiro smiled back and nodded.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan."

"You're welcome, Toshiro-kun!" She beamed at him before looking at the sky. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Then, she turned to him. " Don't you think the breeze is great? I love feeling the feel of wind on my skin…"

Toshiro watched as Sakura turned her attention back to the sky. He smiled slightly. He would definitely love the wind from now on.

=.=

"Shiro-kun!!!" 13th Division Captain, Ukitake Jushiro, called at the young annoyed captain. Toshiro's eye twitched at the nickname. Not even Sakura called him that. He briefly wondered if she ever did call him that.

He turned towards Jushiro and glared. Hard. But, like always his glared were rendered useless against the often-sickly Captain. "What?" He snapped, already dreading what Jushiro wanted to tell him.

Out of no where, Jushiro pulled out a huge hamper filled with food and sweets and drinks and dumped it in Toshiro's hands who, even though he had grown physically taller and stronger, still staggered a little due to the weight of the red hamper. Toshiro noticed a brightly coloured note on it that read; ''Shiro's' must stick together! Here's some comfort food for you!'

Toshiro twitched again and suppressed himself from beating the hell out of the oblivious Jushiro.

"I heard you got a day off, so I came with some comfort food, Shiro-chan!" Jushiro exclaimed.

Twitch. "That's Captain Hitsugaya to you! Besides, don't you have paperwork to do?"

Smile. "Nope. Kotetsu and Kotsubaki are handling that."

Twitch. "That was highly disrespectful. Making your 3rd seats, do your paperwork."

Smile. "I was coughing up blood again when I was doing it. So they panicked and offered to do it instead."

Twitch. "Then shouldn't you be resting in bed?"

Smile. "Already did. I'm refreshed but they refused to hand me the paperwork I had to do, saying I needed the rest because of my condition."

Silence.

Then Toshiro did a 180˚ turn and walked away, hamper forgotten on the floor. Jushiro waved at him until he was out of sight. He saw the hamper and shouted;

"Shiro-kun, you forgot your comfort food!"

And he ran with the comfort food towards Toshiro's direction, not noticing Toshiro leaning against a wall as he turned a corner. Toshiro sweat dropped but smirked at his antics. He was a good friend… but mildly irritating. He turned his head towards the garden and smiled slightly as a soft breeze touch his face.

A cherry blossom tree was in full bloom in the centre of the whole garden; the petals dropping gracefully to the ground. A few petals floated to him and he caught it before it met the ground. He smiled, a girl with pink-hair that was named after these cherry blossoms made its way into his mind.

"Sakura…"

"Reminiscing, are we?" A cold voice cut trough the silence and Toshiro snapped his head towards the man who disrupted his thoughts. He nodded at the 6th division captain and his lieutenant, Kuchiki Byakuya and Abarai Renji.

"I have heard of your flashbacks of your human life." Byakuya started and Toshiro narrowed his eyes. "How was your human life?"

Toshiro stayed silent before turning away from him. "That is non of your concern." He started walking but then stopped. Byakuya raised an eyebrow at this.

"Sorry for the sudden question… but, how did you feel when you were with Hisana-san?"

Renji sucked in air sharply. He knew that Toshiro was a genius. So why the hell did he ask something about his captain's dead wife. He prayed silently, this wouldn't lead to a fight.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes as he eyes Toshiro. He looked sincere in his question. He was about to say 'Stay out of my business' but something flashed through Toshiro's turquoise eyes made him sigh and answer him.

"I felt like my world was complete. As long as I had her." He said and started to walk towards the 6th division Barracks and Headquarters.

Renji stood dumbly before catching up with Byakuya, leaving Toshiro to his own thoughts.

Once Byakuya and Renji were alone, Renji built up enough courage to ask; "Why did you tell him that?"

Silently, Byakuya continued to walk. "Because his eyes held a love that I understood."

Renji stopped and stared after Byakuya's back. He smirked slightly before going in a different direction; the 13th division.

Meanwhile, Toshiro lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. His white haori tossed carelessly on the chair. He thought about Byakuya's words and smiled slightly.

It was good to have friends.

He sat up and opened the window. Night had already fallen on Seireitei. The breeze hit his face lulling him to sleep. He fell asleep, pink and green covered his mind.

He was deep in sleep, he didn't notice Momo come in and tucked him in bed. He was deep asleep, not noticing Rangiku giving him a peck on his forehead. He was deep asleep, he didn't notice Jushiro sneak in and place a hamper of food by his door. He was too deep asleep to notice a person with teal eyes come in the room and leave a box on his table along with a piece of paper.

He was deep asleep. And he didn't care. For elsewhere, a pink haired girl was sitting by his grave with her teammates, enjoying the night breeze.

And they had the best sleep in their life, the breeze and their comrades, always beside them, helping and supporting them.

=.=

Yay!! End with 2nd Chapter!! Please review this~~ I'm sooo stressed with schoolwork; I didn't have time to finish this last week. Ah well, Chemistry homework, here I come!

Review Please… or I'll send Kenpachi and Itachi to kill you! Haha! Love and Blessings to all who review!!