Hinata blinked.  Did she hear right?  It sounded too good to be true.  She needed to make sure...

"Are you serious?"

Darrell, who was sitting right across from her, blinked.  "Uh... yeah...  What?  No one ever bought you lunch before?"

Hinata flashed him a smile.  "Uh... well... not anyone that wasn't a family member."

"Okay..." Darrell answered with a bit of a weird look on his face as he looked at the menu in front of him.  The two found themselves about to eat at a restaurant named "Gato's" in the heart of downtown Tokyo, a good 25 minutes or so away from the park they met at.  During the trip from point A to B, Hinata went on about thinking about the dreams that ran thought her mind.  All this was starting to worry her, since she wasn’t' the type of girl to stay stuck on one topic.  She looked up from the menu in front of her, which she just really glanced at, and stared at Darrell, who was busy figuring out what to order.

"Are you sure, Hinata?  It's my first time going out with an--"

If only I didn't cut him off... or her... who whoever that was... she thought as she stared off into space, her eyes losing focus... then she shook it off.  Did I say "her"??  What am I thinking!?  That's just... weird...!  It had to be a guy.  It couldn't be anyone else but--

"Hinata?"

She gasped as her thoughts were broken by Darrell's voice.  Hinata looked up suddenly to see him pointing to his side and looked that way, noticing that a waiter was waiting.  He was pretty good looking in the waiter uniform, sporting short black hair that was silken down stylishly along with a black suit and brown eyes and a nametag that said "Akio".  Flashing an embarrassed smile, Hinata just looked up to him as he smiled as well, and then spoke.

"Thank you very much for deciding to eat here at Gato's," he opened up in a pleasant voice.  "My name's Akio and I shall be serving you.  If you haven't already made an order I can suggest some of our specialties.  Is that ok?"

"Uh... yeah," she stuttered while flashing her menu a look then looking back to Akio.  "What do you recommend?"

"Well... we specialize in sakana, sukiyaki, and yakitori.  For only 600 yen you can try out all three at once--"

Quickly Hinata nodded it off.  "No, that's okay.  I think I'll settle for the yakitori with gohan."

"Okay..." Akio noted while jotting down her order.  "Since I already have the gentleman's order, I'll be on my way.  Hope you enjoy!"

"Trust me.  We intend to," Darrell smirked as he left, leaving the two alone.  Darrell instantly looked over to his friend and raised an eyebrow.  "You know... you haven't been on the ball lately..."

"I know, Darrell," Hinata found herself mumbling while looking behind her to the entrance to the restaurant, eyeing nothing in particular.

"Well... you mind telling me what's up?  Does it have to do with your night last night?"

Hinata paused, looking into his eyes.  She knew that she wasn't doing much to cover up her thoughts as she was zoning out very frequently just thinking about it.

"Well... yeah..."

After another pause, Darrell spoke again, his expression showing more concern.

"Go on.  You're free to say it to me if you want."

Hinata bit her inner cheek slightly.  She didn't exactly feel comfortable saying this... especially in a restaurant.  Luckily the people at the table next to her were busy in a discussion so at least she wouldn't be overheard.  She breathed in deeply before spilling it.

"Well... it goes like this...  For the last two weeks or so... I've been having these dreams...  There's not like normal dreams but they aren't nightmares.  They're like... different..."

"Different like...?"

"Different as in the fact that... uh... well..."

Hinata trailed off, finding herself at a loss of words.  Darrell frowned since he couldn't put a good enough grasp on the situation to help her out.  Just as Hinata opened her mouth again, their attention went to Akio, who just came back with the food that they ordered.

"I'm sorry if I interrupted anything... but here's the food you ordered."

Hinata gave a slightly surprised look.  "That's pretty quick..."

"Here, at Gato's, we specialize in fast service," Akio smirked as he delivered before flashing another smile to Hinata and going back to his job.  Hinata then looked at Darrell and said, "I hope you don't mind if I spoke to Sakura about this, do you?  I'd rather speak to another girl about it.  No offense."

"Oh, it's one of those womanly problems, right?" Darrell asked in an understanding voice as dug into his Okonomiyaki (a.k.a a pancake and pizza mix), “I understand..."

"Thanks.  Did she say when she'll be home?"

"Oh... around 1 P.M. or so.  You know she isn't too big on shopping for clothes and stuff like Kei does."  Darrell then smirked... then both let out a short laugh as they enjoyed their lunch.

-----

"Karin, I'm telling you now...  I better not look like some sort of stuck up in the dress you bought for me," Sakura warned as she, Karin, and Kei rode around in Karin's private limo, just exiting the mall.  Karin just rolled her eyes.

"You and I both agreed on that dress and you said it was cute.  Why are you doubting this so much?"

Sakura shook her head as she looked out the window right next to her and meeting the highway they zoomed on, the view showing a pretty nice river underneath the bridge and nice communities on the side.  She always didn't feel the need for dressing up for anything.  The last time she did dress up was several years ago, when she was 10 and needed to wear something nice to her aunt's marriage.  Boy was she glad to get out of the perfectly nice pink dress her mother picked out for her to wear.  Despite the compliments that she got on her clothes Sakura still hated it... oddly.  At the moment she was just wondering how Karin's party was going to be like.  It was to be held on her private yacht starting at 7 P.M. featuring many refreshments and live entertainment; the best of the Japanese business.  While the three were at Naiko mall Karin also said who she sent invites to.  Mostly it was of a bunch of well-known associates of hers at the schools school and in business.  People expected to show included Ken Masters himself along with his family, as well as the Imawano family and some Street Fighters that managed to break from their busy schedule to make it to the get-together.  No doubt Sakura was excited.  She just didn't want to be seen in a dress... and no, her school fuku doesn't count.  Well... at least not to her.

"Remember," Karin then said, getting her rival's attention, "you promised that you'll show up.  I've got a special surprise for you and you only."

"And that would be...?" Sakura asked, getting a frown/smile from Karin.

"Now if I told you that would ruin the surprise, now wouldn't it?" she asked.  Sakura smiled goofily while shrugging her shoulders.

"I guess it would, wouldn't it?  I thought I could get something over you."

"I guess you thought wrong.  You won't find out what the surprise is until you get there, so there's one more reason why you shouldn't miss this party."

"Okay, okay...  I already said that I'd go.  It's not like I'm going to run away or anything."

Karin gave her fancy laugh again.  "Just making sure...  I hope you enjoy this.  I mean I put a lot of planning into this party.  You won't have any idea how much work I had to go through making room for this event."

"At least you're psyched about it.  Looks like I'll be enjoying myself."

Sakura then looked out the window again, the view now showing a decent neighborhood; houses coexisting with beautiful foliage with kids playing peacefully outside.  This was her neighborhood.  Obviously she was being dropped off since shopping say was done (at 12:47...).  As the limo stopped in front of the 2-story, 1-family house that both Darrell and Sakura resided in Karin and Kei both said their goodbyes to Sakura as she got her things out of the trunk, Karin once again reminding her to show up in three days.  Sakura rolled her eyes, agreed for about the 15th time, and the limo drove off, leaving her looking at the back of it as it turned the corner and out of her sight.

Karin's gonna kill me if I don't show up, Sakura thought with a smirk on her face as she then walked up the pathway to the front door, grabbing the keys out of her jean pockets.  She shouldn't worry so much...

In a second the door keeping her from her living room opened up and Sakura found herself in her brand-spanking new house.  She and Darrell, her fiancée, got this house from help from both Karin and their parents around 3 months ago.  The house itself wasn't exactly special in any way, shape, or form, but it sure as heck was a nice place to live in.  It had everything a house needed: kitchen, living room, rec room (littered with video games, training gear and equipment, and, oddly, a bar that didn't hold liquor, but random household drinks... even sake), a master bedroom (obviously Sakura and Darrell's bedroom), two separate bedrooms (for guests), attic, patio in the back (courtesy of some of Darrell's overseas buddies that occasionally drops by in Tokyo from America), and two bathrooms, the upstairs one with a Jacuzzi in it and the works (Karin's idea).  Talk about luck...

Sakura put the bag that held her dress in the closet right under the staircase, then took off her newly bought brand-name red sneakers that somewhat resembled her old ones that she normally wears and placed them right in front of the door.  She then faced her 30' TV (used to be Karin's before she grew bored with it's... 'sub-par' quality), jumped over her couch, her leg hitting the top of the table right in front of her.  The force was enough for the remote that was resting peacefully on it to fly backwards into the air and into Sakura's waiting hand, which found the power button and pressed.

As she channel-surfed her mind began to wonder on other things, namely what would she do with so much time on her hands.  Besides the party she had nothing else planned for a while.

Maybe I should go out and visit Makoto sometime soon...  It's been a while since I've sparred with her.

I... I didn't know... that you felt that way about me...

Well I do...  Now relax...  I just want you to enjoy what I'm going to do you...

Sakura immediately stopped, staring blank at the TV screen, that stopped it's roulette on a game show.  Out of the blue those two quotes just popped into her mind...

"What the...?" she asked herself, blinking rapidly while trying to sort things out.  She could have sworn that she heard that before...  Maybe...

"No way..." Sakura immediately dismissed the idea while shaking her head.  Just then she heard the front door unlock.  She turned her head that way just as it opened and laid eyes on Darrell and Hinata.

"I knew that when I saw that limo that you'd be on it," Darrell smirked while coming in, Sakura greeting him halfway and sharing a quick kiss.

"Yeah...  It's pretty hard to miss a limo like that, huh?  What's up?"

"Nothing.  Just brought home our favorite friend to relax with."

Sakura then got off Darrell to go give Hinata her share of the welcome.  "Hi, Hinata."

"Hi to you, too.  How have you been holding up?"

"The same as ever..." Sakura replied.  "And you."

Hinata took a pause before answering, "Well... I'll tell you about it in a few.  It's something I need to tell you."

Sakura blinked.  "Really?"

Hinata nodded.

"Okay...  Whenever you're ready just let me know.  I'll be back, okay?  I was about to relax but I forgot to fix me something to snack on."

Sakura then turned away from the two and headed towards the kitchen of the house, leaving Hinata to make herself welcome... but she didn't move.  She kept her eyes on Sakura's backside, mainly the area where her t-shirt and jeans met... then her focus found itself beginning to drop...  Before that could happen, Sakura stopped and turned around, making Hinata gasp while collecting herself.

"You want anything, Hina?" she asked.  Hinata tried her best to keep from blushing and shook her head very quickly, her eyes a bit wide.  Sakura smirked.

"Suit yourself," she said before disappearing into the kitchen.  Hinata then slapped herself inside her brain.

What was I thinking??  I'm no pervert!  I don't even like her like that! she scolded herself as she looked at the couch in front of the TV where Darrell just sat down at, then decided to join him.