Disclaimer: I don't own the Naruto characters, but i do own everyone else.

Chapter 1

The Return

The first thing she was met with as she opened the door was the loud pounding music blasting through the house. Sakura grinned as she stepped into the crowded house and made her way through the crowd to her blonde-haired friend. Sakura found Ino on the dance floor, grinding and dancing with Genma. Sakura rolled her eyes at the smirk on said man's face. Ino looked up and saw Sakura standing there, holding 4 bags in her hands. She grinned as she detached herself from the Jonin and quickly walked over to her friend, rolling her eyes at the sound of a complaint from Genma.

"Forehead-girl! You finally here!" She practically had to shout in the pink-haired girls' ear to be heard over the blasting music. Sakura motioned her head towards the kitchen, and the blonde nodded in understanding, following her friend through the crowd of ninjas. The two girls made it to the kitchen, and Sakura placed the four bags on top of an empty counter with a sigh of relief. She turned around and was immediately pulled into a breathless hug.

"Geez, I thought you wouldn't make it forehead." Sakura smiled and hugged back.

"You know I wouldn't miss this party for the world piggy. No need to worry." Ino let go and crossed her arms over her chest with a "hmph."

"I wasn't worried." Sakura let out a laugh.

"Sure sure piggy, whatever you say." Sakura finally noticed what the blonde was wearing. She smirked.

"A devil? Hehe, suits you." Ino playfully slapped her arm. She had on red fishnet tights with red 4 inch thin high heels. Her sparkling red "dress" only reached mid-thigh, and stuck to her like a second skin. She was wearing two pointed red horns on top of her head. Ino looked at Sakura's own costume and smirked as well.

"A witch again? At least it's not as bad as last year." When Ino said that it wasn't as bad as last year, she meant that it was more revealing this year.

Sakura wore black ballet flats with the ribbons twisting around her calves up to 2 inches below the knees. She wore a black sparkly spaghetti strap tunic that had two layers. The first was the solid black color and the second was a thin sparkly mesh layer on top. The tunic reached mid-thigh and she had on black biker shorts underneath. She also had on a long black silk cape with a collar that reached the back of her knees. Her long pink hair had some black strands here and there, and was left down and floating about around her. On top of her head rested a medium-size worn out black witch hat. All in all, she had a lot of skin showing.

Sakura laughed and twirled around. Ino rolled her eyes at her friend's childish antics.

"C'mon forehead, let's go find the others." Ino took Sakura's hand and pulled her back into the crowd of people, looking for the rest of their friends.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(time skip, later at night)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The streets were peacefully quiet as Sakura leisurely walked back home. Ino's Halloween party had been a lot of fun, but she didn't want to spend all of her Halloween night there. Sakura let out a laugh as she thought back to what costumes the rest of their friends were wearing.

Naruto had dressed as a fox. Surprise, surprise. Hinata looked absolutely gorgeous as Cinderella with a long sparkling white ball gown, glass slippers, and a silver tiara atop her long purple-haired head. Tenten had decided to dress as an army girl to stick with her boyish personality. Her outfit consisted of short green camouflage shorts with a matching tube top and knee high black boots. Neji dressed as an army general. He wore a black army general suit with the cap.

Kiba decided to be a werewolf. Sakura had expected him to wear something dog related anyways, so she wasn't really surprised. Shino hadn't really dressed up, so no costume to really describe. Choji dressed as a chef, understandable. Shikamaru dressed in all black, she didn't really know what he was though. After a while of contemplating, she finally asked him and he told her that he meant to dress up as a shadow.

Temari wanted to dress according to her personality and chose to be a boot camp officer. She wore an army green long-sleeved cropped top with military patches and embellishments, matching mini skirt with patches, and a marine's hat, along with white gloves, black high-heeled boots and fishnet stockings. Kankuro had lost the black kitty suit he usually wore, and instead had on a red and black showy suit with a black top hat, claiming that he was a puppet master. Finally, Gaara dressed as Danny from Grease. He wore black leather pants and a white t-shirt with an open black leather jacket on top. For the finishing touches, his blood red hair was slicked back with gel, causing it to give off a glossy look.

Sakura came out of her musings when she realized that she had finally reached her house. As she walked up the creaky porch steps she glanced at the now empty bowl that she had left out, piled high up with candy.

Good, she thought. They're all gone. Wouldn't want any leftovers.

As she entered her house she heard noises coming from her kitchen. Her mood immediately turned serious as she silently crept towards the voices. She cautiously peeked her head into the kitchen. Her eyes wandered around the room, scanning everything in sight, until they rested on three very familiar figures. Sakura's eyes widened and she let out an unintentional gasp. She stepped out so that she was now fully standing in the doorway.

"H-Hitomi? R-Ryouta? R-Ryuu?" Her voice was small and quiet, but the three figures still heard her and stopped talking to look at her.

"Sakura!" The pink-haired girl was suddenly pulled into a tight hug, successfully cutting off her air supply.

"Oh wow! It really is you! I've missed you so much!" Hitomi exclaimed as she hugged her sister to death.

"Hitomi, I suggest you let her go now before you kill her." Ryuu's deep male voice interrupted her joyful words.

"Eh?" Hitomi looked down to see that the pink-haired girl's face was now turning blue. She immediately let her go and watched as the color came back into her face. Sakura took a few deep breaths before turning to the older girl.

"I missed you too Hitomi." Someone cleared their throat. Sakura looked at the remaining two figures and gave them a beautiful smile as well.

"I missed you guys too." Ryuu, the elder of the two boys, smiled back at her while Ryouta gave her a childish grin. Suddenly, Hitomi grabbed her arm and started pulling her to the back door.

"Alright, now that that's over, time to go."

"What?" Sakura looked confused as she was pulled out the door into the cool night air.

"We have to leave now or else we're gonna be late." Hitomi's vague answer didn't help much.

"Where are we going?"

"To the castle in the sky," Ryuu's voice replied from behind her. Sakura dug her heels into the ground, successfully stopping her and Hitomi. The older girl looked back at Sakura with an impatient look on her face.

"What?" Sakura hesitated. The annoyed tone in Hitomi's voice caused painful memories to resurface. Sakura nearly started crying right there, but quickly berated herself mentally for feeling this way. Anger flowed through her at the thought of crying, she would not be weak!

"Just wait a sec so I can get my broom." Hitomi nodded her head as Sakura let out a whistle. Something zoomed out the second story window and flew towards her, slowing down and stopping completely in front of her.

Sakura mounted her broom and then looked at her waiting friends. She gave them a nod and then pushed off the ground at the same time as the other three did. Once they were high enough she pulled up next to Hitomi who was leading the way. Sakura closed her eyes as she just relaxed and enjoyed the cool winter wind against her face. A few minutes passed and all was silent, until she heard someone chuckle next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Ryouta flying on his broom to her right and laughing at her. Sakura just rolled her eyes. She turned back to look at her older sister. Hitomi wasn't her actual blood relative, but the two were so close that they could practically be sisters.

"So why exactly are we going to the castle, and why am I invited? I mean, why would they invite me after all this time of excluding me and keeping me unaware and away from everyone?" Ryuu sped up so he was now flying slightly above her.

"Gomen Sakura, but we don't really know everything. We just know that there is a meeting between all the queens and everyone was invited, especially you." He answered her, his purple eyes portraying nothing. A worried look appeared on Sakura's face. Hitomi saw this and sighed.

"Ne, Ryuu no need to worry her like that. Don't worry Sak. Besides, we're going to the party first." Sakura's eyes lit up at the word party. Yes, it was true that she had just returned from one, but these parties were different. Sakura smiled.

"Hey Sakura," said girl turned her head to look at Ryouta, "race ya to the castle!" and with that said, he sped off into the night sky. Sakura grinned as she tripled her speed as well, saying a few words before taking off. Suddenly music started playing in the air. Ryouta and Sakura laughed as they raced to the castle, flying with the pace of the music.

There's a place in my mind
No one knows where it hides
And my fantasy is flying
It's a castle in the sky

It's a world of our past
Where the legend still lasts
And the king wears the crown
But the magic spell is law

Take your sword and your shield
There's a battle on the field
You're a knight and you're right
So with dragons now you'll fight

And my fancy is flying
It's a castle in the sky
Or there's nothing out there
These are castles in the air

Fairytales live in me
Fables coming from my memory
Fantasy is not a crime
Find your castle in the sky

The song began to fade as they finally reached the castle door. Ryouta and Sakura landed and waited for their other two companions. Sakura looked up and saw a familiar figure kneeling on one of the stone ledges. Her gaze caught with his and she waved her hand smiling brightly.

"Hey wolf!" said creature grinned back at Sakura and nodded its head in reply. Sakura noticed the chains around him and realized that he was one of the castle guards. Before she could ponder more about it the remaining two finally arrived and landed beside her and Ryouta.

"Let's go." Hitomi took the lead and opened the big wooden door. The noises of a party immediately reached Sakura's ears. Before she could comment, a rush of wind passed her and a squeal was heard.

Sakura, Ryuu, and Hitomi looked behind them to see Ryouta being hugged by a very familiar figure.

"Ryouta-kun!" Sakura held back a flinch towards the annoying voice. The female figure turned to Sakura. On her face was a wicked smirk.

"Well look who it is. Little Saki finally decided to come back and show her ugly face again." Sakura didn't even flinch at the insult. Her deep emerald eyes stared back at the witch, boredom written all over her face.

"You haven't changed a bit Ami. You're still that stuck up, annoying, loud, slutty witch." Hitomi snickered behind Sakura and Ryuu smiled. Ami growled at the pink-haired girl.

"You Bitch! Well at least I don't have a humongous forehead and I'm not ugly like you. Geez, you and you're friends are such losers. No wonder you don't have a family. They probably left you-"

Sakura fist met with Ami's cheek before she could finish her sentence. Ami flew back 100 feet. Hitomi, Ryouta, and Ryuu stared wide-eyed at Sakura's form as Ami finally painfully pulled herself up and ran back at Sakura. When the annoying witch was a foot away from her Sakura disappeared and then reappeared behind Ami. Ami's eyes widened as Sakura kicked her up into the air, following close behind. Once they were 30 feet up, Sakura flew passed the girl's body so she was right above Ami. As soon as the witch got close enough, Sakura swung her leg down in a hammer-like motion. Ami's pathetic body plummeted to the ground, going so fast that the force of impact with the ground caused a 10 foot deep crater to form around her body. Ami looked up at Sakura in fright as the pink-haired witch landed gracefully next to her. Sakura leaned down and pulled back her fist. Ami closed her eyes and waited for the finishing blow. Instead she heard a crumble right next to her head and slowly opened her eyes and turned her head towards the sound. Another giant crater was made right next to her face. Ami gaped at it, before looking back at Sakura fearfully.

Sakura stood up and began walking away from the girl on the floor. After a few steps, she paused, her black cape billowing in the breeze.

"I don't care if you insult me. I don't care if you degrade and embarrass me. But NEVER insult my family or friends. What you just saw and experienced now was not even half of my full power. I am much stronger than you. I don't want to hear another word from you about my family or friends. You have been warned. Next time, that punch won't miss." Sakura's voice was deadly calm, but you could hear the underlying note of warning and a threat. Her voice sent shivers up Ami's spine.

Sakura continued walking back to the door, not once sparing a glance back at the fallen witch. Hitomi, Ryouta, and Ryuu stared at her as she stopped in front of them. Then she did something that none of them expected her to do. She bowed. Her long pink hair fell and the tips reached the ground.

"Gomen. I lost control of my emotions. I'm sorry you had to see that." Hitomi pulled Sakura into a hug.

"There is no need to apologize, especially to us. Ami insulted people you care about, and you defended them. There is nothing wrong with that, and we appreciate how you acted. Now, let's go party!" She let go of her younger sister and smiled down at her. Sakura smiled back and then the four of them walked into the castle to party to their hearts content, or at least until they had to go to the meeting.

Hitomi and Sakura sat at their table and drank their drinks in content silence. Ryouta had left a while ago to dance with some other witch that Sakura didn't recognize. Ryuu had left only a moment ago, saying he had to go somewhere. Now it was just Hitomi and Sakura left. So far Sakura was having a wonderful time. She was greeted by many familiar faces and met some new ones. The music was awesome and Sakura enjoyed dancing to it. However, she couldn't help but feel that something, no, someone was missing. Someone very important…

"Ne, Hitomi, where's Kaito?" Sakura asked suddenly "I haven't seen him all night."

Hitomi quickly sobered up and let out a deep sigh. Sakura frowned at her actions. Something was wrong.

"Sakura…ano…we don't really know-"

"What do you mean you don't know!?!" Many heads turned their way at Sakura's outburst. Hitomi ignored them, but Sakura turned and gave everyone a glare before facing Hitomi again.

"Sakura calm down. We didn't lose him. We just don't know where he goes." Hitomi explained gently. Sakura studied her for a minute before sighing.

"What exactly do you mean, when you say 'where he goes'. I think you should start from the beginning." Hitomi nodded her head and took a sip of her red wine before placing it back down on the covered table and starting the story.

"Well, it all started a few days after you left. Everyone was gloomy and blue when you were taken away, but in my opinion, I think it affected Kaito the most. One day he just stopped talking to everyone. And when I say everyone, I mean everyone. He still went to class and all, but when the teachers called on him, he wouldn't reply. Even when we tried to talk to him he just stared at us. It was really depressing. We didn't know what to do. Then he started locking himself up in his room all the time. He continued going to class, but right when it was over, he would silently leave and lock himself up till class the next morning. I think his little pet brought him his food to his room so he wouldn't starve. Anyways, one day, maybe a year after this started, we decided to go and see what he was doing in his room all the time. So we got to his door and started knocking. We waited a while and still no one answered. We were worried that something happened to him, so we picked the lock and finally opened the door. Nobody was there. In fact, it looked like no one had occupied the room for a while. The next day we tried asking him, but he kept silent. So we don't really know where he is now since its break. The only time we see him is in class." Hitomi finished with a sigh.

Sakura was shocked to say the least. 'Was Kaito really like that? Just because I left?' Suddenly Sakura had a flashback.

Flashback

"Ne, ne, Kaito-kun ikuzo! Hayaku!" A pink haired little witch called back to her friend.

"Hai! Hai! I'm coming!" Kaito replied, speeding up so he was now right next to her.

After a little more running they arrived at secluded area in the forest. The two children stared in awe. The place was absolutely beautiful. A sparkling blue waterfall flowed gently into the lake below. Bright colorful flowers sprouted up from the ground. The large green trees provided nice shade if the two sat under them. The sun shone through the gaps in the canopies, creating a picturesque look.

After their initial shock wore off, the two walked under a large tree and sat back against its trunk. A gentle cool breeze caressed their skin as they sat in peaceful silence. Then Sakura turned to look at the boy lying next to her. Said boy looked back up at her. The two stared at each other before breaking out into smiles.

"Ne, Kaito-kun. Let's make this our secret spot. We can come here whenever we want and no one will know about it. Just the two of us. Our secret, okay?" Sakura looked down at him with hopeful eyes. Kaito silently thought about it for a second before smiling and nodding his head. He sat up so he was now face-to-face with Sakura and stuck out his pinky. Sakura looked down at it before smiling and linking her little pinky with his.

"Promise," They said together smiling.

End flashback

Sakura gasped. How could she have forgotten that? She quickly pushed her chair away from the table and stood up. Hitomi looked at Sakura.

"Sakura, where are you going?"

"To get some fresh air." Hitomi's red eyes seemed to be looking deeply into her green ones, as if she knew where Sakura was actually going. After a few moments, the older of the two gave up and nodded her head.

"Fine, but don't take too long. And make sure you both come back." Sakura was momentarily shocked when she realized that Hitomi knew where she was planning to go. Her shock was replaced by determination as she nodded her head.

"Hai," and then the pink-haired witch quickly walked away towards the elegant doors leading outside, dodging tables as she went. She completely forgot her cape sitting on the chair in her determined stay, as well as being oblivious to a pair of bright purple eyes watching her intently from the shadows.

------------------------------------------

Once Sakura was outside, she quickly teleported to an area close to the secret spot. She observed everything around her as she walked to the secluded area. It hadn't changed that much; still green and bright and beautiful.

After a while of walking she finally made it. Sakura took three steps further into the clearing before freezing in her spot. There, lying peacefully on a large root of a big tree slept Kaito. Sakura watched him in complete fascination as the moon lit up his pale skin on his chest. She noiselessly made her way over to him before kneeling down next to his sleeping form, making sure not to wake him up. A few moments passed as she just drank in his appearance. 'He sure has grown,' she thought absently. Without thinking, she slowly brought her hand gently down atop his head, before running her fingers through his soft hair.

In the blink of an eye, she was laying on her back with a male body holding her down. She brought her sparkling green eyes up and gazed into a pair of beautiful silver-gray ones. She smiled gently at the boy above her before bringing one hand up and caressing one side of his face.

"Ne, gomen that I took so long to come back…Kaito-kun." Gray eyes widened as she spoke to him.

"S-Sakura?" His voice was rich and mature. In her opinion, it sounded quite sexy. She continued smiling at him.

"Hai?" The shock on his face quickly washed away as he sat up and then pulled her body towards him. Sakura felt two strong arms wrap around her and pull her against a warm muscular chest. She felt him lean his head down and bury his nose in the junction between her shoulder and her neck. Sakura's eyes warmed, and she wrapped her own arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.

The two sat in that position for a while. Neither spoke a word, just enjoyed the other's presence. They put all their pent up feelings, emotions, and everything else into that one hug. Pain, hurt, sadness, relief, happiness, and even love, could be felt.

"I missed you." Sakura gave a teary smile before replying.

"I missed you too." And then the tears spilled out. It shocked her how that one little sentence could bring her to tears. Sakura tried holding them back, but they wouldn't obey, and slid down her delicate face before landing on his shoulder.

Kaito pulled back when he felt something wet on his shoulder. Sakura tried to look away so as not to show weakness, but he gently grasped her chin and turned her head to face him. He brought his other hand up and lightly brushed away the tears.

"…Don't cry Sakura…" Sakura gave him a watery smile as she tried to stop her tears.

"Gomen. It's just…I missed you so much! And you must have been in so much pain while I was gone!" She immediately pulled him back into a hug and tightened her hold on him, as if he would suddenly disappear. Kaito's eyes widened, but quickly returned to their normal size. He smiled warmly at her concern, and rubbed her back gently to comfort her. After a while, he pulled back and twisted Sakura around. Now he was sitting on the floor with his back pressed against the bark of the tree, while Sakura sat in between his legs and against his back. Kaito wrapped his strong arms around her waist and leaned his head back against the tree. He looked back down at the little witch in his arms and leaned down and kissed the top of her head lightly.

"Arigato for your concern, but I'm okay now. You don't need to waste your tears on me. Why don't you tell me about your time away instead." Sakura nodded and wiped away her tears before relaxing in his arms.

"I guess I'll start at the beginning. I was first sent to a school. Except this time, it was a school to train kids to become ninjas. I was always picked on a lot because of my unusual hair and eyes and I was too small and shy to do anything about it myself. Then this one girl, Yamanaka Ino, saved me from the bullies and helped me become more outgoing. We quickly became friends, not as close as you and I were, but pretty close. She was the only friend I had. Then Uchiha Sasuke came into the picture. He was the "cool" guy that every girl liked. I wasn't used to everything there, so I assumed that all girls were supposed to be fan girls, and thought that I should pretend to be one too. I didn't like him, but I didn't want to be alone either. One day, I decided to voice that I liked him. After that, it seemed that Ino and I were slowly growing apart day by day. A year later, she ended our friendship and declared us rivals. I was so sad. She had been my only friend. But I soon got over it after she started insulting me, and I got used to being alone.

There was also this one kid, Uzumaki Naruto. Everyone despised him for some unknown reason. I was curious as to why they hated him. Turns out that he has a bijuu sealed inside of him; the nine-tailed fox to be specific. I never hated Naruto, but I did respect him to a certain degree. He constantly got in trouble and got injured, but he just kept smiling and pulling pranks. I think he did that to get noticed, but not in a bad way. I don't think I ever remember seeing him frown or act sad when we were younger. After all he went through, he still maintained that cheerful attitude, and I respected him for that and his ability to never give up.

One day at the academy I was sitting down and waiting for class to begin when I heard all the Sasuke fan girls gasp. I looked over at him and almost laughed out loud. Turns out Naruto was squatting in front of Sasuke on his desk, and someone elbowed Naruto in the back by accident so he was pushed forward and kissed Sasuke on the lips—"

"Hahahaha. Wish I could have been there."

"—and after they pulled apart they started spitting and wiping their mouths. Suddenly, I felt a dark aura coming from the fan girls. I looked at them and saw that they were stalking towards Naruto like predators, really loud and un-stealthy predators I might add, ready to pounce on their prey who just so happened to be Naruto. I didn't notice that I had moved, until I was standing right in front of him and holding Ino's fist that she threw at him. I pulled Ino's arm towards me so that my face was right by her ear. I whispered 'Don't touch him' and then threw her away. She went flying back and hit the wall at the back of the classroom, leaving a five inch dent of her body. Everyone looked back at me with a shocked look and were about to start questioning me, when I was saved by our teacher, Iruka, who came in and asked for everyone to take their seats because he was assigning teams that day. I wound up on a team with Naruto and Sasuke. Our sensei was Hatake Kakashi. I tried keeping up my fan girl act, but it got increasingly harder as time went on. Finally I just decided to give up being a fan girl and instead become his friend so we would be better teammates and he wouldn't be so moody all the time.

That plan didn't go too well. He continued being cold and indifferent to me, always calling me weak and annoying to the point that it became one of the only things that he would say to me. He was always brooding and I heard that it was because of the Uchiha Massacre. Apparently, his older brother killed everyone in his family but let Sasuke live. I wondered why Itachi, his brother, would do that in the first place. I had seen him once or twice before it happened, and it didn't seem like he was the type who would kill someone to see how strong he was—"

"So you decided to investigate, didn't you?" Sakura let out a laugh.

"You know me too well." Kaito just grinned.

"Anyways, yes, I did do some snooping. I actually snuck into a forbidden archive, and looked at some secret documents. Turns out that Itachi didn't want Sasuke to end up like him. Apparently the Uchiha elders were controlling Itachi's life and what he did and all that. It also said that the Uchiha's were planning to take over Konoha. When the village elders heard of this news, they ordered Itachi to kill every last Uchiha. They didn't plan for him to leave Sasuke alive or for him to become a missing-nin and join an evil organization.

I wanted to tell Sasuke right away, but realized that it would only bring questions like how I knew that. I didn't want anyone to be suspicious of me and think that I had done some snooping around. So I kept it to myself. It was hard at first, trying to keep from telling Sasuke, and extremely hard to stop the pitying looks I might have given him. But somehow, I managed. However, that didn't stop me from still trying to befriend him. I spent so much time on that that I didn't train as much as I should have and that was my mistake. It also didn't help that Sasuke was Kakashi's favorite, so he spent more time training him, than he did with Naruto and I. But then, whenever we had to spar, I felt exhilarated to be able to fight. I didn't know what was wrong with me and I thought it was a bad thing. Now I know that it was partly because I'm a witch and that we used to spar and train so much to the point where we enjoyed doing it. But I didn't know that back then, so I tried not to fight a lot so I wouldn't get that feeling.

Then, the chuunin exams came. That was when I met the Sabaku siblings; Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. They were from Suna and were also participating in the exams. Turns out that Gaara had a bijuu too; Shukaku if I remember correctly. When I looked into his eyes, I saw loneliness and so much sadness, but I thought it better to not involve myself with them. So I acted the scared and weak little girl. Then in the forest of death we met Orochimaru, one of the three legendary Sanin. He gave Sasuke a mark on his neck, and said to come to him if he wanted more power. Later on we found out that there was a planned attack on Konoha by Sound and Suna. The fourth Hokage fought Orochimaru and 'killed' his arms, but Orochimaru killed him.

A little while passed and then Sasuke and Naruto had a big fight. Towards the end, they both had finishing blows ready, a blow that would surely kill the other. I couldn't stand by and watch anymore, so I ran in between them, but neither could stop themselves because of their momentum. Naruto looked horrified while Sasuke looked indifferent, like he didn't care that I got hurt. That damn bastard! Suddenly Kakashi appeared and stopped their finishing attacks. Sasuke saw how powerful Naruto had gotten, and apparently decided to take Orochimaru up on his offer of power. So one night he left. I tried to stop him, tried using everything I could to keep him from going, but the bastard knocked me out and left me on a cold, hard, stone bench." Sakura paused to take a deep breath. She didn't know why, but just retelling all this was making her emotional. Kaito saw the distressed look on her face, and rubbed her arms soothingly.

"It's okay. You don't need to tell me anymore if you don't want to." Sakura looked up at the boy, no, at the man holding her. She looked deep into his grey eyes and saw emotions he was not willing to verbally express. Yes, she saw the sincerity and kindness, but also a hint of pain as if it was hard just saying that, and hurt if she decided not to share with him anymore. Sakura's eyes welled with tears once more. How could this one man make her feel so much in such a short amount of time?

Kaito saw the tears starting to gather and made a split second to decision before the water works started. He didn't think he could take seeing her cry again; it was too heart-breaking. Before the first tear escaped, he turned her around so her body was now facing him, and tilted her face up towards his as he brought his down to meet hers. Their lips met and a spark ran through their bodies. Sakura's eyes widened instantly.

Her best friend since forever was kissing her.

He was kissing her.

He was kissing her!

Before she could react, she felt the lips leave hers and she opened her eyes, inwardly pondering when she had closed them. She looked up at Kaito to see the look of realization, horror, and regret pass over his face. Realization of what? Horror at the thought of kissing someone like her? Regret for the kiss? Was it really such a grotesque thought to kiss her? All these questions just brought more tears to her eyes. Even if it was short, she actually enjoyed it. To think that he was so disgusted by it, shot pain through her fragile heart.

Kaito saw the tears and began to panic. Stupid last second idea. He made her cry again. Shit.

"N-no please d-don't cry again Sakura. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. It was my fault, I—"

"Why?"

"Huh?" Kaito looked confused as he watched Sakura look up at him with pain-filled eyes.

"Why?" She asked in a quiet, almost whisper-like, voice.

"Why what?"

"Why are you apologizing? Why do you look horrified? Do you regret kissing me...Does the thought that you actually kissed someone like me disgust and horrify you that much?" Her voice shook as she choked out the words.

Understanding dawned on him. She thought that he regretted what he did, and didn't like it. Well that was probably the farthest thing from the truth. In fact, he had to restrain himself at an unimaginable level so he wouldn't do something he would regret for real.

"Come on Sakura, you know I would never do something without a reason." Now that she thought about it, it was true that he never took action just because. Well then if he had a reason for kissing her, what would it be? Sakura voiced her question aloud. For some reason, she felt hopeful.

"Well, I wanted you to stop crying—" Kaito saw the hopeful look change into a rejected one.

"Is that the only reason; to stop me from crying?"Sakura felt as if a knife stabbed her in the heart. Why did it hurt so much? What, was she expecting him to admit his deep heart-felt feelings towards her? She looked down at the ground in sadness.

"—And because I wanted to." A burst of anger flared through her being. Because he wanted to!?! Did he kiss other girls just because he wants to?!? Before he could say another word, she looked back up at him with the fiercest anger-filled gaze he had ever seen. Her fists clenched by her sides as she swiftly stood up and looked down on him, trying her hardest to control the chakra that was trying to flow into her balled up fists.

"YOU BASTARD!" Her self restraint snapped and she quickly lunged at him and punched him square in the jaw, sending him flying through 10 trees. Sakura angrily stomped towards him, craters forming under each footstep. Kaito picked himself up, albeit slowly, and leaned against a tree. The previous feelings were quickly replaced with anger.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!? I just said it was because I wanted to!!!" Sakura let out an animalistic cry before sprinting towards him once more. This time, he was prepared, and dodged the oncoming glowing fist. The ground cracked and then formed a large crater with many over-turned slabs of land sticking up. Kaito didn't have time to gape at the damage for he had to dodge a barrage of punches and kicks thrown at him by an enraged pink-haired witch. The more he dodged her blows, the more frustrated she got.

"DAMNIT! Stop running away and fight me you coward!" Sakura was flying through the air as soon as the word 'coward' left her mouth. Her back painfully hit a tree and she couldn't keep in the gasp of pain. She looked back up to see Kaito's head looking down at the ground, his whole body shaking. His bangs fell like a curtain, covering his face from sight. He began speaking in a deathly calm tone, keeping his head down, and his face hidden from view.

"Don't you ever call me" he raised his head up and his deep blue bangs fell away. His grey eyes locked with hers and she could see the deadly look in them, "a coward."

A brief look of fear crossed her face before it was replaced by a smirk. Finally, someone she can vent her pent up frustration on. She thanked Kami that her outfit was short and allowed for easy movement. She slid into her fighting stance and looked back at him. Neither moved an inch, only looked at the other. The tension grew until it was unbearable. Sakura smirked.

"Let's fight." And those were the starting words as they jumped into action.

so ya, it took a while, but i finally got to fixing this chapter up. it's not perfect, but it's what i got so far. i'll try and revise it some more if i can, and i WILL try to start writing the next chapter. i have it all planned out in my mind, now all i have to do is put it down on paper...or type it up. watever. also, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! i love you all for reading this, i love you even more for those who have favorited it and put it on alert, but those reviews are what i love best. they keep me motivated to continue writing this. it is such a let down when you spend so much time writing something then trying to perfect it so people will like it, and then they don't give you feedback. so ya. please don't forget to review.

also, the song is called Castle in the Sky by DHT

p.s. i'm going to have at least one song in each chapter now.

p.p.s. i had first planned for this to be a sakuxgaara, but now i'm not so sure. if you have any specific pairings you might want then please go ahead and tell me.

here are some that i already have in mind:

sakuxitachi

sakuxgaara

sakuxoc

sakuxkaito

any others? the only thing that i won't do is yaoi and yuri. nothing really against that sort of thing, i'm not very fond of those pairings and i can't write them well, or i can't write them at all. ya.

SS