Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Bleach, but I wish I had some affiliation with it. Just imagine how rich Kubo and Kishimoto are! Whoooey~

This chapter is a lot of re-iteration. The parts you already know just feel free to skim through. The most important things are the little things I've embedded in the actual Naruto plotline. But for the most part, this chapter is fairly un-original. Just a fair warning!

xXx

( Karakura Town )

It had been a morning like any other. Karin and Yuzu were downstairs with their breakfast, mocking their older brother as he stumbled out the door. Ever since that night he came home battered and bloodied up, both sisters had been worried. However, it was a good thing to see him get back into cycle, especially since Rukia wasn't there anymore.

Ah…Yuzu missed Rukia. Nonetheless both girls put on a happy face for the sake of Isshin, their father, who was perhaps the most distraught about her leaving and Ichigo's strange behavior.

They had to admit it felt weird watching him leave the house, alone. Still they acted like normal, Karin with an appreciative snort and Yuzu a gentle wave of the hand. They never expected things to turn out like they did that day. Coming home from school they had waited patiently for their brother, Yuzu wanting to know what he wanted to eat for dinner and Karin just to give him a bad time, but they ended up waiting far too long.

Ichigo never came home.

A whole day had passed where Ichigo did not return. The whole Kurosaki family was worried, and once they inquired with the school they knew that he never went there either. That morning when he left in such a rush…was he hiding something? Yuzu refused to believe that her older brother got into trouble. Karin and Isshin, on the other hand, both had their suspicions.

News traveled fast, and the first people to know of Ichigo's disappearance were none other than his closest friends, who each grew especially worried as the hours passed and they still hadn't heard a word. All of his friends were confused, but only three understood the danger of the situation. Tatsuki, Keigo, and Kojima were all unaware of Ichigo's special circumstances; but the same could not be said for Orihime, Chad and Ishida.

Rather than eating their lunches on the roof, the three took a more private a scenic route for midday. In other words, they left school. It was too risky to talk about Soul Society there, where anyone could stumble over and eavesdrop on them. Out in public, where people were talking a mile a minute was the only true safe place. They walked into town, the notion of eating lunch forgotten.

"It doesn't make any sense!" Ishida grumbled, throwing his head back violently. He was increasingly confused, nothing made sense. They had been to talk to Ichigo's family, and they too had not a clue what was going on. The loose facts just didn't add up. As far as they knew, Ichigo wasn't depressed, or in any trouble. He was just stuck in a self-loathing rut ever since they came back from Soul Society badly injured.

Orihime dainty hands clasped near her heart. "I hope Kurosaki-kun is all right…" She murmured. Chad and Ishida nodded their heads in agreement. Everybody was hoping for the best.

Walking and talking about the situation was not enough for the three. Oh, no, they wanted closure and they wanted to help. Ishida was the first to jumpstart the notion of finding Ichigo in their minds when he loudly expressed his desire to be able to do something about the situation. They had helped Ichigo out once before, and no matter how dangerous it was they were willing to do it again. All three made eye-contact, instantaneously thinking the same thing. 'We've got to go to Urahara's'.

Hat n' Clogs, as Ichigo so unceremoniously would call him, was well connected with the shinigami world, and there was no doubt in their minds that he would know what to do. They found themselves perched on the steps of his little shop, ignoring the eyes of two children. Harsh footsteps on the other side could be heard, until they stopped. None other than Urahara Kisuke thrust the door open, smirking madly at the three before him. He hadn't got this much business since…well…ever!

"What can I do ya for?" He asked, ushering the teens inside with his arm. He sent a scheming look to his two young helpers from over three sets of shoulders. He would try and sell these kids something to the best of his abilities.

Ishida ran a hand through his hair. "No, we're not here to shop. We're here for answers." Urahara looked perplexed at this, feigning innocence when in reality he knew just what they were talking about.

"We want to know where Ichigo is." Chad spoke up.

Urahara smiled politely, clapping his hands together. "Ah! Well, I'm afraid you don't know my current status with those shinigami, so let me rephrase. Banished. Kicked out. Never to return. Ring any bells? I don't know why you think I would know about Kurosaki Ichigo's mysterious disappearance." It was a lie. Of course he knew, he just wasn't in the mood to get three teenagers involved. Soul Society had enough to worry about.

But the look on their faces was so desperate…so needy…perhaps giving up a little information wasn't so bad? Urahara nodded to himself, for he was always right, and led the others into another room. Yoruichi was living in the shop with him and the others, and if she knew the teens were here it was likely she'd try and wrangle them into another dangerous and expensive adventure.

Once they were all settled around a table, Urahara let his façade of happiness drop. He looked solemn, for the first thing he could think to say was perhaps the saddest thing Ichigo's friends would ever hear. "Kurosaki Ichigo is at, this current moment, presumed dead." It was not wise for Urahara to say that, yet he had no other way. But that didn't stop Orihime's eyes from watering, or Chad and Ishida to clench their fists and be stricken with grief. If Orihime sniffled any louder, Yoruichi was sure to hear…

"Ah! No! Chotto! It's not like that, you see…" He corrected himself with his hands raised like a criminal. That caught their attention. "He's not necessarily dead. His Reiatsu is just…missing. In fact, he's not the only one to have gone missing. Kuchiki Rukia and Abarai Renji are also missing, as a matter of fact. Even Kon is gone."

Ishida quirked a brow. "What are you saying…?"

Clenching his jaw, he leaned into the table further, straining his voice to a hushed slur. "It's all the work of Jiryokou, a Hollow Soul Society hasn't been able to nab for years." He leisurely leaned back again, looking as lazy as ever. "The entire thing is the Hollow's fault, really. Ichigo and the others probably felt like they needed to be the hero and tried to fight him, when in reality the only person strong enough would be Yamamoto-taichou." He shrugged nonchalantly.

The only one who seemed to glow with the news was Orihime. "So Kurosaki-kun is still alive?" She boasted.

"Yes my dear, he probably is." Still with that pesky smile of his one he continued to lay on the bad news. "But not for long. No shinigami has ever survived Jiryokou's power. It's said he takes them to a place where they're weak, a place they can't really fight back in. Shinigami and hollows alike avoid this place, because it's the only place where they're not on equal ground I guess…" He saw their confusion on their faces. Each and every last one of them, even the two children whom he knew were listening on the other side of the door, wanted to know how he knew this. Urahara sighed, "Jiryokou talks a little too much when he fights, alright?"

"Then it's settled! We have to find Ichigo before it's too late!" Ishida said, a determined fist slammed down on the table. "We need to rescue them. If we find Jiryokou, then we can definitely find Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and Kon."

A plan to save Ichigo and the others? It was a noble thought, but Urahara knew it was impossible. Following Jiryokou to wherever he disappeared to (the same place Urahara suspected he dumped his victims) was impossible; though he failed to mention that to the three before him. They would learn soon enough…

xXx

( Soul Society: Seireitei: Captains' Assembly Hall )

Not many shinigami took Yamamoto's authorization kindly. Even Byakuya, who usually kept a level head about political situations, was barking crazy at the notion of killing Jiryokou off. Nonetheless it had to be done, and Yamamoto wouldn't take much more of the harassment he was getting. If they didn't like his decree, they would just have to live with it. He was determined not to change it.

"You can't just kill Jiryokou! He has m-"

"ENOUGH!" Yamamoto bellowed, taking a step down from his seat. The only other person in the Hall with him was as angry as everyone else who was personally involved with Jiryokou's victims. "This is the second time I've had to yell to end a conversation, Isshin. If you so much as continue on this topic I will have all connections with you severed. You hear me? This would be the end!" He shook a wrinkly fist in the male's direction.

Isshin, looking nothing like the quirky father his children knew, was dressed in the classic shinigami wear and Zanpakutou. Rather than the crazy, fun-loving persona he usually took on he was serious and distraught. With such a face, it was likely his own children wouldn't recognize him. He looked oddly handsome and strong, but at the same time weak. He couldn't bear to have his only son killed.

"Jiryokou has Ichigo! My son!" Isshin pleaded.

Yamamoto was not affected. "You should have thought of that before you consorted with the human woman. Or better yet, before you let Jiryokou slip your grasp twenty years ago!" Hurt was visible on Isshin's face. "You've failed to do your duties as a shinigami, and because of that Jiryokou has returned stronger than ever. Loosing your son is a price to pay for the damage you've caused Soul Society."

The old man strode to the end of the hall, followed by Isshin who never ceased to deliver his reasons why Jiryokou should be left alive. Once again Yamamoto was stone cold about the situation, and unable to change his opinion. At the end of the Assembly Hall he stood by the doors, Isshin now standing on the outside of the room.

"I've heard what you have to say, and it does not change anything." Slowly he pulled the doors to a close. "Now be gone!" The doors came together with a bang.

xXx

( Kage Summit )

Things had escalated too far. The stakes were high. Even the Raikage's closest ninja were wondering about his choice of action. Heck, Gaara certainly was. He found the Raikage to be too rash. Albeit the man was a beacon of controlled strength he was still unstable and certain places. His emotions gave him away, and he let himself get too personally involved with Sasuke. Before Gaara knew it he'd seen the Raikage not only snap Zetsu's neck and cut off his own arm all in the same hour.

There were so many things Gaara wanted to say to Sasuke, but simply no time. In the middle of the trouble with Zetsu he had to remain calm, and pay attention. He noted Renji leaving, no doubt to fight whatever it is he had sensed earlier. Even though Gaara hardly knew the shinigami, he found he could trust him. A strange quality indeed. In a way Renji and Sasuke were similar; always running off. Of course Renji's reasons were good and wholesome, whereas Sasuke's were just evil and plain mad.

With Temari and Kankuro at his side they analyzed the situation closely. Despite the even balance of power between the two, near the end he looked badly beaten. Gaara saw no hope for him. His allies, the two males that had assisted him were taken down, and now he was about to go too. Gaara was tempted to let the Raikage do what he wanted, but alas, he couldn't. While thinking of Sasuke dying, Gaara could only imagine Naruto's reaction and an unleashed Jinchuriki fury. For the safety of the Elemental Nations, it seemed Gaara would need to step in.

Just in time Gaara spread his ultimate defense over Sasuke, stopping the Raikage's foot from penetrating his body and breaking him like a twig. He and the other Sand nin took part in saving the Samurai who were stuck in the crossfire of Amaterasu. Their flaming armor was ripped off.

"Stand back Samurai, this is between the shinobi," Gaara stated, walking forward towards Sasuke and the fuming Raikage until he was a good, safe distance away. They wanted to know why he saved Sasuke, and only to Temari and Kankuro the answer was simple. "Because I want to talk to Uchiha Sasuke." He answered blankly.

Gaara looked to Sasuke closely, and more specifically, he looked at his eyes. There was no hint of emotion as he said, "Your eyes are still the same." Sasuke remained unfazed. "I've realized that living for revenge won't solve anything, it's not too late for you…don't escape into your own little world, possessed by hatred." He let the thought sink in before he continued. "You won't be able to escape."

Sasuke didn't seem to understand what Gaara was getting at, for he retorted with a question. He wanted to know what there was to come back to. Indeed, when Temari and Kankuro interjected about Sasuke's new status of an International Criminal they were right. Sasuke did not have an apparent future, but he still had a life to go back to. He could end the nonsense now and return to Konoha to face his fate and his former friends. Though Gaara doubted Sasuke would consider this. Looking in those eyes…he could already tell that Uchiha Sasuke was already too absorbed. Hate was now the only thing driving him. His official source of energy was the desire to destroy.

"Sasuke, you and I are alike. We have both walked through the darkness of this world," Gaara told him, "That's why we are able to see even a sliver of light, both back then and even now." Gaara knew that making the situation personal was wrong, and he heeded his siblings' warnings, but he couldn't just stand by. The very person who saved him from darkness was burdened with the memory of Sasuke, the cost of a life lived searching for and trying to "fix" Sasuke. Gaara respected Naruto, and once upon a time he even respected Sasuke. But even so this wasn't right, and despite his diplomatic impartiality he still felt the need to try and "fix" things.

However, it seemed Sasuke didn't want to be fixed. It was truly evident he'd deserted anything good and whole when he said: "I have long since closed my eyes. My only goal is darkness."

Gaara expected that. "Yeah, I know," he said disappointedly as he and the others took a defensive stance. The fight was back on as they all fired their own jutsus to Sasuke in the hopes of taking them down. At least now Gaara could tell Naruto that he tried. It was a swirl of colors and a flash of bright lights. Dust was blown into the air, and only when it cleared could they see Sasuke, unharmed, in the midst of his own personal ultimate defense.

Susanoo was a large attack. Sasuke didn't seem to account for the environment, and Susanoo blew right through the pillars of the Kage Summit. Samurai and shinobi alike cursed at their bad luck. They were all going to be crushed if Gaara didn't do something, soon.

As the roof caved in Gaara set his sights out for protection, and saved them all by raising his sand high and forming a protective roof over their heads. 'At least I tried,' he thought to himself, knowing that this alone would be the perfect chance for Sasuke's escape.

At least he tried.

xXx

( Land of Iron )

Madara was gone, having left as quickly as he came. Ichigo clearly felt Naruto's desire to react, and with Madara gone there were only three people he could vent to. Needless to say, Yamamoto didn't take the wooden cage down for a while. When Naruto finally gave in to his exhaustion the bars were lowered, and things seemed to simmer down.

While Naruto was perched high on the roof in concentration, Ichigo was on the snowy ground with Kakashi and Yamamoto, who seemed to be gossiping about Madara's appearance like housewives. It was astonishing, but unfortunately the unlikely situation ended sooner than he expected and they were back to being "manly", Kakashi reading his pervy books, Yamamoto using his jutsu to repair the damage done on the building and Ichigo clutching his injured ribs. All in all it was a very uneventful few minutes, and Ichigo spent it stalking on the ground. He paced back and forth, putting the pieces back together in his head. Making sense of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura's past with each other took a lot more brainpower than he expected. Thus he failed to notice the approach of one particularly familiar Chakra signature. Fiery and slightly obnoxious, it could only be one person.

She arrived with three other people, and Ichigo was not suspicious that all three were men. In fact, Ichigo didn't even care about those men. His eyes seemed to be glued to her, and only her. Why? He had no clue. He was flabbergasted at his own peculiar behavior and made an attempt to hide it by briskly waving. The fact that his wave looked more like his hand having a seizure didn't seem to bother Sakura or the three others. The pain in his side seemed to ebb away.

"Why are all of you here?" Kakashi seemed to ask, striding right past Ichigo and to the group. His words went unheard by the shinigami, his ears were attuned to Sakura's voice, waiting for her to say something. He couldn't describe it, but ever since he left in search of Naruto and was attacked with so many questions by Ino, he'd felt weird. It was like he was off-balance, and he couldn't explain it.

When they made eye-contact Ichigo felt his body stiffen. He presumed this to be left over anger from their first opinions of each other. He was still under the impression that he disliked her, and even if he knew that wasn't the case he wouldn't acknowledge anything but. Still, he couldn't control his reactions. Her eyes found their way to the blood on the side of his hakama, and he couldn't tell if she was worried or amused.

"What happened?" Sakura asked as she approached Ichigo, gesturing to his side.

He waved her comment off. "It's nothing," he lied. He lie was almost believable, if it hadn't been for Sakura. While he was busy looking back towards her three friends –two he recognized as Sai and Kiba- she took the liberty of jabbing him at the center of his pain: his ribcage. He gasped, short of breath, and bent over to help ease the pain. "Un…fair…" He breathed.

"Life is unfair." She murmured, looking at his side skeptically. In the end she sighed, gently pushing him over to the building. "Sit down somewhere, we need to get this patched up."

Ichigo obliged, still in too much pain to say anything. He knew it would heal faster since he was in his Shikai, but that didn't stop it from hurting. He stepped to the side of the building where a bench was located, right below the whole in the wall. Sakura seemed to notice it, and when she looked to Ichigo for answers he merely shook his head as if to say 'Don't ask.' Divulging about his fight with Naruto wouldn't make the situation any easier. He already felt awkward, why make it any worse?

Kakashi and the others seemed to give Sakura space as she knelt in the ground, holding her hands out in the air right above his injury and performing the medical ninjusu necessary to heal Ichigo. "So how did this happen?" She asked, glancing to Ichigo curiously. She noticed his momentary look towards the wrecked roof and wall of the building and nodded. "I see…" Needless to say, she wasn't very impressed.

Ichigo wanted to say something, but didn't know what. To be completely honest, the close proximity was hard to ignore, and anything he could have said would have come out an incomprehensibly slur. He didn't want to incriminate himself, and thus kept his mouth shut.

"There you are finally!" A voice called out. Ichigo trailed the sound with his eyes, seeing it was none other than Kiba. He had already met Kiba, and knew that he didn't like him. Hearing the "strawberry" joke so many times automatically signals out anyone who uses it as an enemy. Kiba's voice was directed to the roof, where Naruto was. In a brief motion the Jinchuriki slid right off the roof landing on his feet. Ichigo felt Sakura's jutsu tense up, as if she was expecting something.

Soon enough Sakura was done and standing up, facing the others. She wrung a single glove in both her hands nervously. "Naruto, we have to talk." She said. Evidently it was something important.

Ichigo didn't like the way things were going, it felt too weird. He got up, albeit slowly, from the bench. The mood felt serious, like someone was going to give a confession. Ichigo couldn't help but feel that it was Sakura. She was the one who looked the most suspicious, the most nervous. She let the anticipation of the moment, and any silence didn't help for Ichigo, who was right behind her and couldn't see her face.

"Naruto…I love you."

Three words that Ichigo, as well as Yamamoto or Lee never expected to heard. Their faces clearly distinguished surprise. Or at least that's how Ichigo's was at first. It slowly changed, forcibly morphed into something lighter, something less-obvious. Instead his hesitant eyes flickered from Naruto to Sakura and back again. Did Naruto expect that? What was he thinking? Or better yet, what the hell was Sakura thinking? She told Ichigo that Naruto was like a brother!

"What? What did you just say? I dunno if I heard you wrong…can you say it…again?" Confessions were confusing little buggers, that much was for sure. Not only was Ichigo confused, but he was hoping that Naruto did hear it wrong. That they all misunderstood her and they could laugh about this later.

"What I said Naruto, is that I love you."

Nope, that was definitely not a misunderstanding. Ichigo turned his eyes elsewhere to his feet, the only sight that couldn't deceive him. With his ears he listened closely and dishearteningly as she continued.

"I'm saying there's nothing between me and Sasuke anymore! I don't know what I was thinking, liking a person like that." She told them shakily. The surprise didn't seem to go away, and when all that followed was silence she briefly barked, "I'm confessing my feelings here, so listen up."

Naruto's face slowly changed from shocked to displeased. He almost looked angry. "But how…why?" He asked, the same questions that were running through Ichigo's head. "If you tell a joke in a situation like this, it isn't funny, Sakura-chan." A joke! Oh! How much Ichigo would have welcomed this as a joke!

"It's not a joke!" She countered like the mere notion of it being a joke was blasphemy. "I just realized there's no sense in continuing to like someone who's a fugitive and a criminal. I can't stay a kid forever…I need to face reality."

It almost felt like Sakura was defending herself, but who needed to defend themselves during a confession? Only someone who didn't really mean what they confessed. That small thought gave Ichigo a little hope.

"So Naruto, no need to keep that promise…" She murmured. Ichigo felt this confession tied back to what she told him only hours ago, what she told him about Sasuke and how Naruto promised to bring him back. Was this what the confession was all about? She continued, "Won't you stop chasing Sasuke?"

Now he finally risked a glance up towards the back of her head. She wasn't twiddling with the glove in her hands anymore. Now both gloves were on both hands, and she looked eerily serious.

Naruto didn't believe it, either. "Did something happen, Sakura?"

"Nothing happened! Sasuke-kun just keeps getting further from me, but Naruto, you've always been by my side…" She slowly approached him, taking everyone by surprise when she embraced him in a hug. Of course it didn't end there. "You've encouraged me…I finally realized who you really are, Naruto; the hero who protected the village…beloved by everyone in the village. I'm just one of them."

Ichigo felt like he was intruding on their privacy even though Naruto didn't fully believe what Sakura had to say. The shinigami slowly made his way to the open doorway of the Inn, his ears still peeled to what was happening behind him.

"That mischievous little dummy I knew…little by little becoming this great, important man. That's who you are, Naruto, and I've been watching this whole time right beside you. You make me feel safe…right now, from the bottom of my heart I-"

"Give me a break, Sakura-chan!"

Ichigo froze, compelled to hear more. He swiveled to watch as Naruto took Sakura by the shoulder's and pushed her away. He was determined to show her he wasn't falling for it, it seemed. To him it was just one big joke. Did he not believe someone like Sakura could fall for him? As much as he would like to ignore it, Ichigo could see the possibilities between the two of them. Sakura continued to defend herself, but at this point it wasn't very convincing. Ichigo felt his insides lighten, a weight taken his shoulder. Why he felt this he still wasn't very sure.

Naruto looked enraged. His face was one of pure concentration; eyebrows knitted together, his eyes stone cold. To top it all off, he countered by roughly accusing her of lying. "I hate people who lie to themselves."

"People who lie to themselves?" Sakura questioned. "I'm the only one who knows what I'm thinking! If you don't like me, just say so. But if you're going to make up excuses-"

Naruto cleanly cut her off, "It's just weird! You and the others come all this way to tell me something like that? It doesn't fit! It doesn't make any sense!"

Ichigo couldn't help himself, and where it was clearly not his place he heard himself saying, "Why did you come all this way, Sakura?" The glare of daggers his direction silenced him.

"All this way?" She reiterated. "Do you think it's easy for a girl to confess her feelings? Of course I'd come all this way!" She learned forward, jabbing Naruto in the chest. He didn't budge. "I don't want you to go after Sasuke if it means putting yourself in danger like that! I'm here to take you back home, to Konoha!"

"That sounds like an excuse to me…"

"You don't know anything! I don't care about Sasuke anymore, so forget your promise to me!" She said, clearly annoyed. That was the second time she mentioned the promise, and the others couldn't help but feel that was the reason for this confession. She thought that distracting Naruto from Sasuke could potentially save Naruto's life.

Naruto shook his head, letting go of Sakura and taking a step back. He avoided eye contact. "This isn't about the promise. I know why Sasuke is so obsessed with revenge…the truth is…"

The truth? What truth? Unanswered questions were buzzing through everyone's minds (even Ichigo, who after the talk with Madara already knew what the truth was).Kakashi and Yamamoto were close to stepping in to stop Naruto from revealing the sticky truth to the Uchiha clan when they all froze. What was that? Naruto was the first one to glimpse it, followed by everyone behind him. Ichigo looked around, but couldn't see, at least not until he noticed the direction of what they were looking at. All eyes weren't necessarily on him like he originally thought, but behind him.

Ichigo turned to look off in the distance, but turned far too soon. There was a flash of gleaming metal that came slashing towards Ichigo, and he had no choice but to take Zangetsu and defend himself. The metals clashed with sparks. Only in that brief moment where their strengths pushed against each other did Ichigo get a good look at his opponent…red hair, black tattoos above the eyebrows, and a black hakama?

"Renji? / Ichigo?" They asked in unison.

xXx

( approx. two minutes prior )

Sakura didn't completely think things through. She knew the basis of what she was going to tell Naruto, and was in the process of going through it when they finally arrived at the Inn where Naruto was staying. Along the way a part of her was wondering if Ichigo had made it in time, and found out what Naruto was up to. To tell the truth she felt bad for sending Ichigo on that mission… It was a pointless once considering that she'd figured it out soon after he'd left. Nonetheless, she was still incredibly appreciative.

She thought she had everything planned out, but when it came time to actually say something to Naruto (whom she saw sitting on the roof concentrating) she blanked. Her eyes caught Ichigo instead. It felt like forever since she had seen him, when in reality it was only [almost] a full day. A day didn't usually matter this much to Sakura. The last person she thought this about was Sasuke, and she had to remind herself of her new "revelation" that she was about to tell Naruto, to erase Sasuke from her mind.

Ichigo, on the other hand, was hard to erase from her mind. She was still a little angry and confused about how she should feel towards him. Were they friends? Enemies? Or were the feelings tight in her chest something deeper? She didn't think the latter could be true after all the bossing around she did. But if it was true, she would merely deduce it to the face that Ichigo was new to her. Every girl was a little bit curious about the new guy, especially when he was tall and handsome. 'Oh great! Now I'm acting like Ino!' She told herself, dreading the thought.

She did her best to steer her eyes elsewhere, somewhere that wasn't Ichigo. But it was hard when she noticed the bloodstain in his clothes. Blood meant an injury, and injuries could only come from fighting. For a brief moment she lost focus of her goal and rushed straight to him, determined to fix him up so that she wouldn't have any more reasons to think about him and worry.

With a fight in mind she took in her surroundings, or more likely she absorbed the damage to the Inn. She knew how boys were, especially boys that knew how to fight. It was obvious to her that Ichigo and Naruto did the damage to the Inn, which Yamamoto so graciously patched up. Still, that didn't mean she was happy. Something like a childish fight between two allies was seriously disheartening. Quickly she went back to her business, not wanting to think on that train of thought any longer than she already had.

She must have been stalling for too long, because Kiba was the one who called Naruto down. It was at that precise moment that she knew what she had to do. She focused to make Ichigo better in a shorter amount of time and then turned to the others. She faced away from Ichigo purposefully, although she didn't know it. It was her body's reaction, since her subconscious was the only part of her that knew she didn't want Ichigo to hear this, or see it. But it had to be done.

At some point she caught Ichigo walking away, and as bad as she felt about it (even though she didn't know the full reason behind his departure) she couldn't do much to solve it. She would send a brief look Ichigo's way, just to see what he thought. As if to cover that up she would look Kiba, Kakashi, Lee and Yamamoto's way as well. All over were the same responses: deadpan expressions.

Perhaps viewing the little venture as a business arrangement for political stability (aka. Saving Naruto from himself) was a bad approach. Somehow she felt like she'd done something wrong, how else could Naruto see through her acting? She had to have given it away somewhere, but as hard as she thought she could not pinpoint what it was. She thought a hug might fix things, but it didn't Naruto just ended up pushing her away.

In the end she felt angry, she felt like she needed to defend herself and her feelings. It was as if Naruto was attacking her by accusing her of turning a confession into a joke. She sure as hell wasn't joking. She could never joke about something so serious! Thus her temperament took a defiant turn near the later half of her confession. Before she knew it all she could think about was going home and forgetting it ever happened.

She was even in the process of thinking how to "excuse" herself when those around her suddenly seemed derailed. What had just happened before them was lost to them as they all focused on something behind her. At first she believed it to be Ichigo, but that was clearly not the case when she saw what was directly behind him. Storming towards them was a blur of vivid color. At first she thought it could be a rabid animal or a summons, but the closer she looked the more she realized it was a person. An actual person who, odd enough, was dressed almost exactly like Ichigo.

Sakura thought the pursuer might at least slow down so he wouldn't barrel into anybody, but he didn't. He continued at his frightening pace until he was right up in Ichigo's face, sword raised with a malicious grin plastered on his chin. She never thought she'd see it, but this man was actually taller than Ichigo. He had long red hair that was pulled back and held by a bandana of sorts. Underneath that she could see the edges of eerie black tattooing. All in all she didn't believe she could trust him, and just like so many others in their group she tensed.

But alas, being defensive was not needed. Ichigo could handle himself, it seems, and was quick to react. Though that wasn't the part that made them realize help was unneeded and unwarranted. It was the verbal recognition both males had for each other. They exclaimed the other's name loudly, questioning whether or not that person was actually there, no doubt. So it was settled; they knew each other, but Sakura and the others didn't know how they knew each other.

Those that knew what Ichigo really was –not a swordsman, samurai, or accomplished tokubetsu Jounin- could put two and two together. The fact that both he and this "Renji" were wearing the same clothing was a dead give away. Here in the Land of Iron was a second shinigami. Oh joy! They were already becoming so accustomed to Ichigo. Judging by all the drama, Sakura couldn't help but feel exhausted at the thought of yet another outsider.

Wasn't one enough?

xXx

Author's Note: Howdy y'all! Sorry for this boring chapter. I didn't like writing it for the most part, because it was all just restating what happened in the manga. But hey, I had to put important events into it. I can't veer off into my own official plot until they all return to Konoha. So for now you're just going to have to sit tight and wait as Ichigo and Sakura's relationship gets more complicated.

What are these unrecognizable feelings they're both feeling? Hehehe~ You'll find out soon (if it isn't already painstakingly obvious)

Btw, the next chapter is MUCH more original. It doesn't stay so much on the Naruto plotline. It's mostly my own stuff squeezed in. Yippee!

See ya later, Aligator. In a while, Crocodile.

Adieux! Chow! Sayounara~