I do NOT own Naruto or Tokyo Mew Mew but I DO own this fanfic.

The cool, night winds of Sunagakure blew on the strawberry that had dropped in the sand. Ichigo hated the wind. When the wind blew, it reminded her of death, because it was just like the wind that blew on the days that took her loved ones from her. She thought to herself that, perhaps, she should leave before the weather worsened or more thugs came to get her. She couldn't find much of the strength to move though, as she thought about the things she had vanished from her life. She just lay there and wait for fate to turn her world upside down again, as it seemed inevitable. She shivered in fear and cold. She heard footsteps coming steadily towards her.

Was something really going to happen again? Did fate have it out for her? She curled up slightly, as if that would protect her from whatever was coming for her.

She felt a hand on her, but it was a gentle touch.

Ichigo uncurled a little.

"Hey," the person was saying. "Are you sleeping out here?"

It was a female's voice.

Ichigo sat up to look at the person.

This person was a teenage girl, who was older than Ichigo. She had dirty-blonde hair and blue-green eyes. Her hair was tied into four short, unruly pigtails, two at the top and two at the bottom.

"Who are you, nya?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm Temari," the girl replied. "Are you Ichigo Momomiya?"

"Y-yes," Ichigo looked at Temari skeptically. "What do you want from me, Temari-san?"

Temari chuckled lightly. "So you're the girl who's been stalking my little brother?"

Ichigo blushed a bright red. "I wasn't stalking him at all!"

Temari's chuckle became laughter with Ichigo's sudden outburst.

"I wasn't accusing you," Temari grinned. "It was just a joke."

"Oh, nya," Ichigo replied.

Suddenly, a shadow appeared behind Ichigo.

"Oh, so this is the girl?" the shadow asked.

Ichigo jumped, startled, and hid behind Temari like a frightened kitten.

This "shadow" that had approached Ichigo happened to be a person about Temari's age, perhaps a bit younger. He was wearing an all black get-up and had odd, purple markings painted on his face and lips.

This guy just studied Ichigo with a look of surprise and bewilderment.

"I didn't expect her to be so…," he paused for a second, "cute."

There was a loud "th-whack!" sound as Temari whacked the guy upside the head with something she had pulled off her back. It appeared to be a huge, closed Japanese fan.

"Kankuro, stop being a jerk," Temari frowned. "Now hurry up and pick the girl up. We don't have all night."

The guy, who's name seemed to be Kankuro, winced as he rubbed the sore spot on his head and then hoisted Ichigo onto his back.

"I don't suppose I'm being kidnapped, nya?" Ichigo asked, confused at what was going on.

These people seemed nice enough but complete oddities, even for the people of this land. Then again, Gaara wasn't all that normal either.

"Nah, you're not being kidnapped," Kankuro replied to her question. "But we should take you back to your sensei. Regardless of how deadly you may be under all that cuteness, a lady shouldn't be out at night unarmed."

"'Deadly?'" Ichigo looked to Temari for answers.

"Kankuro!" Temari scolded.

"What?" Kankuro returned.

Temari sighed as she followed him along the path. Then her facial expression became more serious. "The reason we went through all the trouble to come out here for you was not just to take you back to your sensei. You could of done that yourself. You need to better your ninja skills. But that's not the point."

Temari shook her head, almost in a pitying way, and looked Ichigo straight in the eyes.

"You should stay away from us," she said gravely. "Especially Gaara. We're in a world apart from others, a world you can't understand."

Ichigo frowned.

Why couldn't she talk to Gaara? Sure, he seemed distant and cold sometimes, but she was sure he had a good heart. But then, she thought of what she had seen that night. That chilling, evil aura coming from him was just menacing.

"Why should I stay away from him?" she asked quietly, as if raising her voice louder would cause whatever entity that was causing that evil aura to hunt her down and swallow her up.

"I told you already," Temari said, firmly. "You wouldn't understand."

The group was now approaching the apartment Ichigo was staying at.

Kankuro let Ichigo off his back. "Okay, down you go. You'd better hurry inside. It's really late now."

"But why?" Ichigo repeated. "It's not fair! This always happens! So what, is everything destined to be withheld from me forever? I'm sure it's only a matter of time before everything is taken away from me. Maybe I should just go wait for fate to steal my life from me. Then it will finally be over."

Temari and Kankuro were at a loss for words.

They had no idea how to respond to her sudden outburst. They knew nothing of what she had been through or how she felt, they just knew she was a troubled little girl who was staring them down with the intensity of a wildcat.

Finally, Kankuro broke the silence. "You know, I have no right to say any of this considering I know close to nothing about you but, if you like Gaara so much why give up? I don't suppose he would be pleased with a weak girl."

Temari nodded. "It's not like we've had lives full of candy and roses. But we don't give up."

With this, Temari and Kankuro left.

Ichigo looked up at the moon and pondered what had been said.

Perhaps, she could keep trying, at least for him.

Thanks for reading~! ;o Another update after a while. Yayz~! I wish I had more time to update this but I'll keep trying my best. Thanks people~!