Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ A Time to Love ❯ Angel's Wings ( Chapter 2 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
Chapter Two: Angel's Wings
Naruto ventured away from the window and contemplated about actually leaving the room. The house was silent except for soft footsteps moving about occasionally. Naruto's stomach growled loudly and decided for him.
He cautiously opened the door and looked both ways down the hallway before stepping out of the bedroom. His bare feet met plush carpet. Naruto blinked before taking a hesitant step forward. Then another and another step. He turned his head when he heard, what he thought, the front door shut and the soft footsteps fade away slowly.
After a few minutes of confusion, Naruto found himself in a rather large, and clean, kitchen. He neared a small table with pancakes stacked upon a plate next to a glass of milk and a bottle of maple syrup. In front of the plate was another piece of white paper.
Eat up! I've just gone shopping for more food.
I'm running low on ingredients, herbs and ramen.
Enjoy your breakfast and I'll be back soon.
~Y.
Naruto placed the note back on the table. Ramen? If this mysterious person liked ramen, they couldn't be all that bad. He sat down before the stack of pancakes before he realized he didn't have an appetite at all. Naruto swallowed before he forced himself to eat a few bites. His stomach seemed content with the few bites as Naruto stood up and wandered into the living room.
He sat on the couch and rested his head against the back. Rain began to fall from the skies at that point. To him, the sound of the rain pounding on the roof reminded him of the beating of angels' wings. Naruto closed his eyes and listened to the rain.
Rain…
~*~
Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temples as the rain fell outside. Sakura had finally left after arguing about the search party. Finally, the medical nin had left for Tsunade to have some peace and quite. Yet, peace eluded the Hokage's grasp.
“Oh, Naruto. Where are you?” Tsunade asked the silence as if it had an answer for her. She rested her head in her hands as the thunder roared outside.
~*~
Sakura sat between Sasuke and Neji in a café. Ino, Shikamaru, and Hinata sat across from them.
“Naruto's really missing?” Ino asked.
Sakura nodded sadly. “Hokage-sama wants to wait a few more days before she sends out a search party.”
A silence washed over them as the sadness overtook their feelings.
“He was the sunshine of the group,” Neji said softly, resting his head in his hand. He closed his eyes and sighed.
“He was,” Sasuke agreed. He bowed his head and sighed sadly, the sigh itself barely audible. Out of all them, Sasuke was probably taking the news the worst.
“A few days, huh?” Shikamaru asked. “He could be dead by then.”
“Don't say that!” Sakura yelled standing up and planting her hands firmly on the table in front of her. “We have to stay positive! What would Naruto say if he saw us moping around like this?”
“Get yourselves together,” Ino whispered.
“Lighten up,” Sasuke murmured.
“Everything will work out,” Sakura mentioned as she sat back and folded her hands in her laps.
“Fate can be changed,” Neji muttered softly, mostly to himself, as if he was trying to remind himself.
“Exactly.” Sakura nodded and smiled weakly before burying her head in her arms. Quiet sobs racked her body. “Shikamaru's right. He might be dead by the time a search party is sent out.”
~*~
Naruto opened his right eye when he heard the front door open and close. He sat up straight as he heard incoherent mumbling. A slender figure glided into the living room. Black hair was pulled back in a messy bun. Wet, black curls fell into piercing, cat-like, golden eyes.
“Oh, you're awake. Good,” she said. Her voice was filled with kindness and worry. “I was starting to worry about you.”
“How long have I been asleep?” Naruto asked, leaning forward and folding his hands between his knees.
“Two days,” she answered as she rubbed her arms. “I'm Yueri. I found you in the woods. You were really battered.”
“Uzumaki Naruto.”
“Pleased to meet you.” Yueri smiled. “It's good to see you're awake. Mind me asking why you were so battered and so far away from Konoha?”
“How do you know about Konoha?” Naruto asked, his eyes narrowing at the woman.
Yueri sighed and bent down, opening a drawer of a side table. She rummaged through the contents before handing a package wrapped in black silk to Naruto. Naruto looked down at the package before folding back the silk. Cold metal greeted his fingertips. He traced the insignia of the Konoha engraved in the metal.
“You're a…” Naruto trailed off as his breath caught in his chest.
“I'm a Missing Nin,” Yueri finished for him. She sat on the floor and stretched out. She casually brushed a black curl out of her cat-like eyes. “I was hunted because I was born in a different village and because I was the vessel for a neko demon that had become troublesome. I went to Konoha for a new life, but the secret got out as the neko's chakra changed my appearance.”
“Like the Kyuubi's chakra.”
Yueri nodded. “The Kyuubi has a very interesting story to tell, as do all the demons that are sealed away. Tales of such interest.”
“Nani?” Naruto asked.
Yueri sighed and began her explanation; her voice was soft and willowy for that moment. “Each demon that's sealed away was sealed away for a reason. Whether it is betrayal or love that causes their temper and fury to break their patience. But the Kyuubi's story it the most interesting, you could say, to know. His story intertwines betrayal and love.”
“Will you tell me?” Naruto asked as he pulled his knees up to his chest.
“Not today, maybe another day, Naruto-san,” Yueri told him as she sat up.
Naruto wrapped his arms around his knees and rested his head on them. He watched Yueri lean back and pillow her head on her hands. The sleeves of her red shirt rose to reveal the tattoo of the Anbu.
“Were you an Anbu?” Naruto asked curiously. He took in the design of her shirt for the first time. The red of the shirt was dark but faded, as if it had been washed several times. A lion's body wrapped around the shirt and the lion's face, in mid-roar, rested against Yueri's side.
“I was, and a Medical Nin as well,” Yueri answered as she stared up at the ceiling.
“How?”
Yueri smiled secretively. “Konoha is an interesting place to live. After I became an Anbu, they refused to send me on missions, so I studied medicine and became a Medical Nin.”
“How old are you?”
“Seventeen.”
Naruto's jaw dropped. Yueri looked at him and laughed. “Is it that shocking?”
“Yes,” Naruto answered bluntly. “Seventeen, jeez. How did you do that?”
“Shishi helped me. She's the neko demon sealed inside of me. Early on I learned to tap into her chakra to help me. The seal placed upon me was weak,” Yueri answered. Her voice held a smile. Naruto swore he could see a pair of angelic, white wings on her back when she sat up and smiled at him.
~*~
Sweet smiles from a distance,
glowing innocence divine.
Beauty surpassed within dew drops,
glittering upon the morning's light.
Feathers brush against tan skin,
soft and a sigh made from the air.
The only presence amongst the dew.
Dew glistens about the ground,
cold and wet beneath feet.
A resonating sigh echoes in the dawn,
silver amongst all the colors.
Silver halo placed upon curls of night,
formed from the molten stars above,
shimmering and glowing against the contrast.
Merlot lips parted in a sleeping sigh,
as this angel lays her head down to rest.
~*~
TBC…