Sakura was internally panicking when a 'pop' interrupted her train of thought.
"Well, there you are!" a cheerful, female voice said.
"Took you long enough." the boy- Jaganshi, Sakura had taken to calling him, that being the only name she had for him- replied.
Sakura opened her eyes. There, in the middle of the cell she shared with Jaganshi, was a blue-haired woman in a pretty kimono.
On an oar.
Floating.
Sakura blinked, to make sure she wasn't seeing things.
Nope. Still there.
"Oh! Where are my manners?" the blue-haired hallucination asked. She zoomed over to Sakura. "Hi ya! I'm Boton! Pleased to meet you!"
"N-nice to meet you, too…" Sakura replied, wide-eyed. "I'm Sakura Haruno…"
"Onna, cease your niceties, and free me." Jaganshi growled. "The hanyou the toddler set me to watching is no threat to ningen, but the ningen here may change that. If your master wants to avoid his 'meaningless bloodshed', you'd best get moving."
Boton pouted, but moved back over to Jaganshi. "Why must you be so…so abrupt?" she asked, waving her hand over the shackles. "Is it like a youkai thing? Because Kurama isn't half as mean as you, and Yusuke is nice…when he feels like it."
The shackles popped open. Jaganshi fell to the floor in a crouch, waiting a moment before moving to the door. "Do not compare me to the fox or the detective, onna." he ordered. "I am not like them."
And then he was gone.
Boton waved her again, conjuring a swirling portal.
"Umm…excuse me…" Sakura spoke up, rattling her chains a bit.
"Oh! So sorry!" the other girl sang. She moved her hand over the chains. Just like Jaganshi's, these immediately opened. Sakura leaped to the floor, headed to the exit.
"Uhhh…WAIT!" Boton's voice, loud.
Sakura spun to face her. "What?" she snapped.
The blue-haired girl had the grace to look abashed. "I can't let you follow him…"
"The hell you can't!"
"…alone." Sakura gaped, decidedly fish-like. "So!" Boton clapped her hands, beaming cheerfully.
A red-headed young…man?…Woman?…Sakura noted a few things- special, medi-nin things, thank you very much, perverts. Yep, definitely a man.- stepped out of the vortex Boton had summoned.
"Kurama, meet Sakura Haruno!" Boton was saying. "Sakura, meet Shuiichi Minamino."
Kurama-slash-Shuiichi bowed low, drawing Sakura's hand to his lips. "Sakura…" he murmured. "That means 'spring cherry blossom', you know."
She yanked her hand away from him. "I am aware." she said flatly.
"Well…" he said, straitening. She noticed his eyes were weird- emerald green, like hers, but with flecks of amber sparkling in the depths of them. "You may call me Kurama…cherry blossom-chan." He gave her a confident smirk.
'Oh dear Kami, what have I gotten into?'