Go on and make your move...  I'm gonna finish this quick, unlike last time...

Hmm...  I wonder how I wound up in this fight in the first place...  Who cares?  I'm gonna win this easy.

Don't forget about me, boys...  Keep your eyes off me and its over.

...

"He's moving!"

Batsu Ichimonji kept his eyes on one of his rivals as he ran towards him.  Darrell was charging right in front of him.  To his left was Sakura, who just braced herself as she eyed Darrell, and to his right was a special guest.  The famous Kyo Kusanagi, heir of the Kusanagi flames and main man of the King of Fighters tournaments, was in the area and decided to join in to kill some time.  At the moment he wore a white jacket over a black shirt with a cross on it and blue jeans to go with his black shoes; Sakura wearing a sleeveless blue shirt with jeans and her new red sneakers; Darrell wearing a white shirt with a black dragon on the back with black jeans and sneakers to match, and Batsu wearing blue sweats and a white tee.

The time: 12:28 P.M., the day before Karin's big party was going to start.

The setting: Downtown Tokyo, just outside the enterance of a shipping complex, spectators taking time off to see the exhibition fight.  The street was even closed off to all vehicles to stage it.  Unlike yesturday, the day started off fine but clouds settled in fast, darkening the area.  However that changed in a few minutes.

Batsu was prepared to defend against anything Darrell would throw... but he was fooled.  Darrell got to within a foot of Batsu's range, then changed directions fast, jolting towards Kyo, who immediately went into his fighting stance.  A bit startled, the Taiyo fighter kept his eyes on his rival... only to get hit from behind by a strong kick, stumbling forward.

"Gotcha sleeping, Batsu!" Sakura chimed, pointing at the teen that she just attacked before getting back into her fighting stance.

"So that's how you like to play, huh?  Fine!"

Batsu turned around and rammed his elbow into Sakura's chest, the blow stunning her for Batsu's energy attack, the Guts Bullet.  Batsu quickly recovered from his move and started to build an offensive but Sakura quickly countered.

"Shouoken!"

Batsu was popped up into the air by a two-hit jumping uppercut but flipped while coming down to guard her following two jabs.  Upon landing he retaliated with a body blow that Sakura blocked.  Batsu kept on the offensive, throwing blows at random but for the most part Sakura was able to avoid getting hit.

However this caused a problem.  After a missed punch to her face Sakura tried her counterattack with a kick to Batsu's stomach.  Batsu shut it down by turning around with a roundhouse kick to her face.  The force of his counter spun uprooted Sakura from the ground like a screw being unscrewed, making her spin furiously as she flew through the air and to the ground.  Somehow she managed to stop by planting her hands on the concrete, staring down at the spinning ground below her.

Letting out a small moan from her slight dizziness the cherry blossom fighter took her time getting up to a standing position, holding the cheek that stung from her opponent's blow... this gave Batsu all the time he needed.

"Maximum..."

Sakura looked up towards Batsu and saw his hands in the air, collecting his energy...

"GUTS BULLET!!!"

...and just as he fired she rolled to her side to dodge.  Sakura then ducked in, Batsu read with another fist aimed at her body.  He expected another Shouoken but instead met a quick jab to his face.  Sakura feinted her special move to start another offensive, using the jab to set up a hard-hitting kick to Batsu's chin that sent him flying.  She followed by jumping after him, starting a small air combo before cupping her hands to her side...

"Shinku..."

Her ki energy relocated to her hands... then grew bigger, its aura charging up flashing orange and blue...

"HADOUKEN!"

The Hadouken came out 3 times bigger than her normal Hadouken and was much more powerful, crashing into Batsu dead on.  When it exploded Batsu's body was sent to the ground, bouncing off it before settling on it, the force of the attack ripping his shirt up a bit.

"So how was that?" Sakura asked while landing and brushing her blue handguards against one another.  Batsu responded with his painful groans while getting up to his feet.  Apparently their battle wasn't over.  As soon as Batsu go ready Sakura continued her assault...

----- -----

"Body ga amei ze!"

Kyo delivered a burning cross to Darrell's body that he wasn't prepared for then an uppercut that popped him into the air to finish with a kick to knock him down the street.  As he met the ground Darrell quickly backed away to his feet and found Kyo running towards him.  Anticipating Kyo's famous "202 Shiki: Koto Tsuki You", Darrell braced himself... waited for Kyo to come close...

"Yah!"

...and countered with a swift knee to Kyo's stomach, breaking him out of his move, then...

"Shakunetsuken!"

...a flaming uppercut that nailed Kyo and hit him into the air to recover once he touched the ground.  Darrell moved in and the two squared off.

Darrell's elbow.  Blocked.

Kyo's right cross.  Blocked.

Darrell's roundhouse kick to the chest.  Ducked.

Kyo's sweep kick.  Jumped.

Darrell's air kick. Parried...

"Oriya!"

...but Kyo's "100 Shiki: Oni Yaki" hit clean before Darrell could land on the ground.  Darrell was hit into the air but air recovered, charging his vigor into his hands.

"Hadouken!"

Whipping out an arm downward Darrell unleashed his ki energy and it nailed Kyo just as he landed on the ground.  Stunned a bit from the blow, Kyo couldn't see Darrell approaching him as quickly as he could.  However Darrell could sensed that Kyo's stun wasn't long and responded by giving a jab to a light kick to the ankles combo.  He then tried to go into a hook but Kyo countered by twisting his body away to absorb the hit then came back with a burning cross of his own, then a backhand, than a jumping elbow that sent the younger flame user into the air once again.

This time Darrell's body hit the ground and stayed down for a while before getting up.  As he did he noticed that Kyo wasn't in front of him.  Following instinct he blocked Kyo's R.E.D. Kick aimed at his head and as he landed grabbed him by his right hand.  Darrell then used his right leg to do some hard, close-ranged kicks to Kyo's body before pushing him away to finish with a roundhouse kick to knock him to the ground.  Taking the delay as a go-ahead, Darrell charged up most of his energy, a flaming aura covering his body as he brought his hands to his side...

"Shakunestu..."

A pause, then a red-orange ki ball formed in his hands...

"Shinku..."

It reached its appropriate size and once it was ready he smirked.

"HADOUKEN!!"

The crowd watched in awe as Darrell launched his huge flamming Hadouken towards the nearby Kyo, who was just getting back up to his feet and barely had time to block.  Darrell brought back his hands in a stylish way and as he got back into his stance the Hadouken exploded... revealing Kyo's blocking body a few seconds later.

"No bad, Kusanagi!" Darrell shouted while dashing in with intentions of catching Kyo off guard... but as he got close he noticed a crimsom flame being raised up past his nose... and into Kyo's raised palm...

"Miseteyaru..."

A flashback of the last fighting tournament went through Darrell's mind and he immediately went into a defensive stance.  He knew that move that Kyo was going to perform...  He FELT the burning pain that followed from that move...  This time he was ready.  Instantly Kyo slammed the flame into the ground and it exploded into a huge column that went all the way up into the sky.

"Kusanagi no kobushi yo!!!!"

Kyo then followed with 5 burning punches while on fire, happening so fast that it seemed as if there were multiple images of him teleporting in and out of view, then 5 more with the other fist, then finished with a spiral Oniyaki.  It was stronger than Darrell remembered but this time he was able to block.  Now he could counter since it took a while for Kyo to come down...

"Rekka... NAKKURA!!!!"

As soon as Kyo landed Darrell landed his 18-hit barrage of flamming attacks. Even though they weren't as powerful as Kyo's  "Saishuu Kessen Ougi 'Mu Shiki'", they still hurt regardless.  Darrell then ended with the Shakunetsuken than blasted Kyo down the street and skidding to a halt.  Darrell smirked as he ran after him and watched as Kyo got back up to his feet, a bit slower this time.

"Not bad..." Kyo congratulated while sitting up and brushing his jacket off and then his brown hair.  "You burn well..."

"Heh, thanks," Darrell responded while running a finger under his nose.  "Better than last time, huh?"

"Yeah... you could say that..."  Kyo was now on his feet.  "Let's just hope you're not just an ember, eh?"

Darrell took that as a challenge, lifting up a hand and letting his ki erupt into flame form.

"I'll show you how bright I burn, Kyo!"

Kyo smirked and did the same, lifting his hand up and showing his crimsom flames.  At this moment the rain started to come down a little harder but to them it didn't matter.  All that did matter was their match...  Together they clenched their hands and snuffed their flames.

"Ikuze!" they both yelled at each other and then dashed at one another, revving up their fists to strike...

"Haaaaaaaaaa!!!!"

"Yaaaaaa!!!"

Their fists clashed with tremendous force as they faced off in the rain.  Holding this pose for a moment they then broke off and backed away, Darrell moving to his right and Kyo moving in.  Using his momentum Darrell threw a roundhouse kick that stopped Kyo's advancement and made him evade backwards.  The younger fire fighter then dashed in, throwing some random punches to the body.  Kyo either blocked or evaded them, the last one he countered with a heavy forearm punch.  Darrell barely moved slightly to his right to dodge and retaliated with a slow but heavy left hook.

It landed but it didn't land with the power that Darrell thought.  Kyo still took the hit and quickly countered with a strong fist to the gut that knocked the wind out of Darrell, causing him to gasp for air while reeling backwards, his eyes closed from the pain.  Kyo then followed with a strong left hook that made Darrell's arms drop.  He put his weight behind that fist and it paid off, totally dazing Darrell.  As the younger fighter moaned while dropping to his left knee, seeing bright stars circle his head, Kyo decided to charge up.

"YyyyyyyyyyyyyyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Kyo lifted a hand like he did before for his "Mu Shiki", but this time his whole body erupted into flames.  As soon as Kyo was about to attack, however, Darrell shook his head and washed away his dizziness.  Looking at Kyo, he quickly noticed that something big was going to happen.  He never saw that move before... but something was telling him to get out of dodge...

"Oh, SHIT!!!!"

"KURAI YAGARE!!!!!"

-----

"Wow...  I never felt this way...  It's... crazy..."

As Hinata wondered down the streets of downtown Tokyo, wearing her light raincoat over her jeans and orange short sleeved shirt, she still couldn't get over the dream she had two nights ago.  Although she didn't dream last night, the last dream with her and Sakura was enough to keep her thinking a lot more than she normally did.  She had left her house about an hour ago after doing some house chores and just walked through the streets, looking at her surroundings and thinking about Sakura...  She just couldn't get her mind off her.  It was like she was a magnet to her attention as of late.

"I wonder what she's doing now...?" she wondered out loud, turning the corner and walking down that block again, barely noticing that the drizzle had stopped.  A smile found its way across her lips.  She didn't know what she was going to the next time she saw her.  Maybe she'd...

Wait...!  The next time I see her is tomorrow at the party...!

Hinata's head snapped stiff at that realization and her heart started to beat.  In the midst of thinking she had almost forgot about that big party Karin was throwing.  A wave of emotions crashed into her body all at once.  For one, what would she do when she does see Sakura again?  She couldn't just blurt out that she loves her.  That would just be weird...  She'd have to take it slow...  There was another problem...  One that made Hinata worry...

What if she doesn't really feel the same way as I do...?

Hinata bit her lip.  That was the one that really worried her.  All that emotions she was going through wouldn't mean much if the one she liked didn't feel the same way.  It would crush her...  Then yet ANOTHER thought came about...  This one was one that Hinata just now noticed.

"Darrell..."

He was her friend and Sakura's fiancée...  By all means something like this could definitely go the wrong way with him... and if he found out about how she felt she'd probably die right then and there.  Somehow she needed to get the message across to Sakura without Darrell knowing.

"This is going to be tough..."

Sighing, Hinata blinked... then noticed the sound of a street fight being held nearby, most possibly the next block up.  Without thinking her legs took on their role and Hinata started to run up the street, carefully navigating the pedestrians that walked along with her.  Within a few moments, just as she got to the next courner that was opposite of a shopping complex, a voice rang through the air...

"Shunpukyaku!"

Instantly the Taiyo girl's eyes widened.

"It's Sakura...!"

Taking off full speed, Hinata turned the courner and stopped, looking into the street.  People were watching 4 figures duke it out in the middle of the street, the two closest to Hinata were Batsu and Sakura sparring against one another.  The other two were just out of her range so she couldn't make them out.  Feeling a rush, Hinata forced herself to calmly walk towards the fight on the sidewalk, hoping that Sakura wouldn't notice her.  Luckily she was busy with Batsu so she didn't have to worry about that little tidbit.

Sakura had just had her Shunpukyaku blocked and Batsu retaliated with a blow to the head.  Sakura blocked that with her right arm and gave Batsu a hook with the left that landed and sent him moving backwards.  Hinata then had the urge to cheer for her but fought it.  She wasn't going to make a scene...

Sakura got close to her opponent and went for another follow-up but Batsu was quick to counter by grabbing her left arm and bringing his leg behind hers.

"Sourei!" he yelled as he threw Sakura over his shoulder and to the ground.  Luckily she was quick to her feet and moved backwards a bit....  There Hinata could see one of the fighters that she couldn't before she moved up...  It was Darrell, who looked to be dazed from an attack.  Hinata's eyes then went in front of Darrell... and saw a brown-haired young man in a white jacket and blue jeans... and his hand was up into the air...

"What's he doing...?" she asked herself... then found out her answer.  Instantly his body caught on fire... just as Darrell shook his head and looked at him... wide-eyed.  Hinata heard Darrell yell out a curse and move to the side... and at the same time found out that Sakura's back was to that flamming man.  She didn't have a clue about what was going to happen...  Something then took over Hinata's body... and before she knew it... she started to run as fast as she could.

"SAKURA!!!!" she yelled at the top of her lungs, startling Darrell, Batsu, and definitely Sakura, who turned her head to find the Taiyo girl rushing head on towards her.

"Hina-aaaah!!!"

"KURAI YAGARE!!!!!"

Just as Kyo released the flames from his body into a crimsom wave that swept forward, Hinata dove forward and tackled Sakura, knocking them both out of the way of the attack just seconds before it landed.  The two landed on the concrete rather hard and Sakura yelped out in sharp pain.  Instantly Hinata realized that she might have hurt her...

Oh, no...!  What did I do?!

"Hinata!" Sakura called her, her voice more surprised than angry.  Hinata kept her face away from her friend, her eyes shut.  She couldn't bring herself to look at her.  She didn't want to see her hurt.  From her position she decided to ask a question.

"Sakura!  Are you ok?  Did I hurt you?"

She didn't realize that she said that rather quickly, but quickly calmed down a bit as she heard Sakura's voice again.

"Yeah...  I'm fine...  Just a few scratches on my elbow but I'm fine...  A lot better than being burnt to a crisp, that's for sure...  I guess I should be thanking you."

Hinata found herself smiling.  She actually did a good thing...  She then opened her eyes and brought herself to come face to face with her friend... perhaps... a bit too close...  As soon as she did that, their lips met and they found themselves actually kissing each other...  Hinata... AND Sakura instantly grew wide-eyed, blushing madly.

Omigodomigodomigodomigodomigodomigod!!!! Hinata screamed inside her head.  I'm kissing Sakura!

She had a heavy urge to fight it off and break the kiss but something caused her to keep going.  For some odd reason Sakura seemed to enjoy it as her eyes went back to normal... and even closed a bit... and... and...

"Mmmm...."

I... I.... is she... moaning...? Hinata asked.  So many things swarmed into her mind all at once it was starting to make her dizzy.  She wasn't aware of what the crowd was doing or thinking...  She wasn't aware that Batsu, Darrell, and even Kyo were just staring at them a few feet away in a slight shock.  She wasn't aware that her panties were growing damp while all this was happening...  All that she could clearly think about was Sakura's reaction... how the cherry blossom was moaning lightly beneath her body... and that she was actually enjoying their accidental kiss...

Seconds passed very, very slowly to her.  Incidentally, Hinata found herself pressing her tongue through her lips... and into Sakura's mouth... and to her surprise, Sakura was pressing against hers.  A shock ran though her body that made Hinata relax a bit.  It was growing to seem like a dream... but she knew this was for real...

After what seemed like an eternity of tongue-kissing, the two then slowly broke their kiss, their blushing going down.  Hinata was relieved to see Sakura smiling back at her.  It made something within her rest easy.

"Hinata..." she whispered so that only she could hear.  "...that... was... was... wonderful..."

"Yeah...  It was..." Hinata found herself panting back breathlessly just like her friend...

"Hey, girls?"

Hinata instantly jerked her head up to look up to the faces of Darrell and Batsu.  She twisted her face when she was that Batsu was just looking at her in disbelief... but when she saw Darrell she almost dropped her jaw.

He's... smiling...?  Does that mean...?

Before Hinata could carry that thought any more, Darrell cut her off.

"Hey, you two..." he opened up, giving both Sakura and Hinata a smile.  "How about we go somewhere where it isn't wet..."