AU Challenge [Bluerising]
Title: Hellfire
Author: Clearheart
Theme: Angels/Demons
Rating: T
Summary: Haruno Sakura has the perfect life: straight A’s, a good job, and a stellar boyfriend. That is… until her guardian angel goes AWOL and gets booted out of heaven. Suddenly things aren’t so perfect anymore, and Sakura is not happy with the results. She must get her fallen angel to repent at all costs.
Current Word Count: 5,896
INCOMPLETE. Not in the voting, and just playing for fun. :3
Part I
Kakashi stood in the hallway.
He looked imposing with his arms crossed. Steam escaped beneath the bathroom door and curled around his feet. On the other side, faint echoes of Sakura’s off-key singing bounced off the walls. Kakashi’s ears twitched.
He waited for the girl to finish her morning routine. Having no regard for human nakedness, there was once a time when he actually stood guard in the bathroom too, but watching humans slough off dead skin cells and clean the filth away from their bodies lost its appeal to him somewhere around the third millennia. So now he preferred waiting outside, and giving some them some semblance of privacy.
Nothing about Kakashi ever decayed or changed. Even his ANBU gear (short for Angelic Noncompliance Body Uniform) never wore down or took scratches of damage. The white sleeveless vest and arm guards forever stayed the same. As well as the black mask that stuck to his face, and formfitting gloves and black pants. When it came to guardian angels, Kakashi was one the strongest, fastest, and smartest, the elite of the elite, and especially lethal when it came to crushing all forms of menace and evil. He also held the record for leading the most humans to moral and satisfying lives: one thousand and counting.
“Sakura is a very special case,” Tsunade explained him. She was the archangel ahead of his division. “The Divine One has an eye out for her, which is why you need to keep guard over her life.”
Kakashi understood the tone in her voice. Special cases referred to people of noble character, and who would usually end up living very happy, meaningful, and satisfying lives. Kakashi wasn’t sure what great things Sakura would someday accomplish, and was even dubious in the very beginning. But ever since first swooping down from the heavens to see the squalling pink-haired baby, he had faithfully remained at her side.
He was there to catch her as a toddler.
He was there to catch her as a child.
And now he was here to catch her while she stumbled around as a young adult.
++++++
Kakashi stretched out his wings with a yawn. The translucent feathers fanned out, glimmering with bright and healthy glow. After a few slow flaps, he closed them again, and gave a rough shake like a dog drying off from water. The force of the action made each delicate feather tremble and shiver. He sat on the stairs, looking out into the streets.
Sakura was doing charity work again. Which Kakashi thought was always… nice… but dreadfully boring.
He pulled the blade from his back and began whacking away at nearby dark spirits that lurked in the shadows. They were mostly harmless, but roamed all over the city like pests. With each slash the tiny creatures disappeared in smoky wisps. After dealing with them for many lifetimes and thousands of countless years, Kakashi also found them to be dreadfully boring. They were hardly a match for an angel of Kakashi’s caliber. It seemed that very few things were these days, especially when trailing after someone who lived such a good clean life as Sakura.
“Cookies! Buy some fresh baked cookies!” Sakura shouted. Her green eyes were bright, and her pink hair fluttered in the cold air as she leaned over the table. The sign in front said “Konoha 4 You and Food ~ Bake Sale!” and the tall building of the homeless shelter towered behind her.
Several citizens stopped along the sidewalk, and those who did not stop did a double-take at the girl standing at the table. Exotic hair color aside, there was something so wholesome and naturally charming about Sakura that she often attracted extra attention. Other people were drawn to her like flies to honey.
“Yes, ma’am… and thank you, sir,” Sakura smiled, as she handed out the bag of sweets. The money in the collection jar grew at a steady rate.
A boy with a dark suit and stunning black hair stepped up to the table.
“May I have some?” Sasuke asked. He carried two Styrofoam cups of coffee in his hand.
Sakura took on a bright smile, the one she only saved for the Uchiha heir. The Uchihas were tycoons who owned nearly half the city, and it was not often they were seen roaming the streets.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” Sakura said, sounding oddly pleased.
“You complain that I never show up.”
“Yes, but I thought you hated charity events.”
Sasuke merely shrugged.
“My father said I should start branching out more, and get my face seen around the town. So here I am.”
They stared at each stupidly for a moment. Sakura with a slight blush and glowing in unabashed flattery. And Sasuke with his blank face and forever dark scowl.
He shoved one of the cups towards her. “Here, I brought you coffee.”
“Thank you.” Sakura smiled. Sasuke turned and gave a cool wave back before walking off. Anyone else watching the interaction wouldn’t be able to tell that the two had actually been dating for months now.
Kakashi didn’t particularly like the boy, thinking that Sakura could do much better than someone so emotionally stilted. But it wasn’t his place to decide such direct, life-altering things that tampered with free will. So he only watched these occurrences in silence; half with interest, and half with cynical disdain. He had seen plenty of epic romances in his day, but somehow he didn’t think the Tale of Sasuke and Sakura would ever end up in the history books.
The crowd around the table cleared up.
Sakura no longer called out. Instead, a hot blush remained on her cheeks as she gazed down the sidewalk with a frown. The coffee cup hovered near her lips, while her hands paused in mid-thought. Though Kakashi could not read minds, he could sense Sakura’s conflicted feelings, and it stirred a fragile wisp of compassion inside.
He jumped down from the stairs and hovered near Sakura, until their faces were close together, and he could see every feature of her delicate profile. Pulling down his mask, he blew across the drink in her hands with a tender gentleness. The coffee cooled to the point where it would no longer burn her mouth. Then he stood up and snapped the mask back in place.
Humans were often boring creatures. They ran around in a mad dash to satisfy every crazed impulse wired into their brains for survival. The centuries passed by in nothing more than repetitive cycles of ambition, heartbreak, and competition. And then… just when they began to get a grasp on happiness, their short lives blipped off the radar.
Humans were certainly sad creatures.
But Kakashi envied the chaotic simplicity of it all.
++++++
That morning started out different.
It was hard to say what exactly about the morning was off, but when Sakura opened her bleary eyes two hours past her usual wake up time, and fell flat on the ground by tripping on her night gown-she knew something was very, very wrong.
She snapped wide awake then, gently rubbing in the scrape on her knee. She glanced out the window. It was gray and cloudy. Enough cloudiness to make her a little sad. And she reflected on this feeling of melancholy all through the morning while taking a shower and deciding what clothes to wear. Because if there were two things Sakura was not used to in life; it was injuries and feelings of sadness.
She was so caught up on reflecting on the novel sensation that it wasn’t until another hour passed that she realized she was late. Desperately late.
She quickly put make-up on and changed to a flattering skirt. Glancing around, Sakura scoured the house for her favorite pair of shoes. She cradled her arm as she ended up bumping into the wall, and muttering incoherent words as she searched high and low for the red heels. Digging under the bed, through all the closets, and making a sweep through the living room.
A solid thunk sounded from behind.
Sakura glanced into the bedroom, looked away, then immediately whipped around to glance again, feeling her heart stop. The red heels sat on top of the bed. Sakura could have sworn they were not there a minute ago, but she didn’t have time to question her sanity and grabbed the shoes, hopping around and jamming each foot in as she ran for the door.
The air outside was cold. Sakura kept her head down and hands stuffed into her coat pockets. She powered ahead with a fast walk, ignoring the cackles and catcalls that came from the alleyways. It seemed entirely too early for drunkards to be roaming around the city, but then again she had never gone by this part of town at this particular hour before.
She avoided all the broken glass on the sidewalks. To her left, a fence rattled in another alleyway, with the force of a Doberman ramming its weight against the fence with all its might. The dog had gone ballistic. It barked at her madly, digging and scratching beneath the fence in an effort to break through. Flecks of foam fell from its mouth, and Sakura found herself glued to the spot; too stunned to move.
Sakura was often a dog lover, and dogs seemed to like her. She had the uncanny ability to make any canine her immediate friend, and they would walk up to her in the streets with tongue lolling and tail wagging. Such hostile displays were never connected with dogs in her mind’s eye, and now she found herself paralyzed from the sheer surprise and onslaught of hostility.
The dog was making progress, bending the wires beneath the fence now. Sakura could feel the force of the barks go through her body. When quite suddenly…
The dog flew back in the air, as if it had been kicked. It did a complete about-face and ran off in the other direction, scampering off with tail between its legs and going yip yip yip yip yip.
Flabbergasted, Sakura clutched her purse and walked off fast at that point. She headed to the other side of the street. A car honked and came to a screeching halt nearly hitting her at the cross walk. Sakura stumbled and tripped. Several other cars screeched on their brakes from behind.
Kneeling in the street, surrounded by cars, and completely frightened now, Sakura stood up and dashed away-kicking away her heels. She clutched to her purse as she ran for the destination spot. She had no idea what was going on with the world or her body, or why she suddenly felt so vulnerable and terrified, but all she desired at that moment was to run into a safe pair off arms.
And she did end up in a pair of arms. But certainly not the arms she wanted.
Winded, she doubled over from the arm that caught her stomach. Something cold pressed to the back of her neck that felt an awful lot like a gun.
“Give me all your money,” the man said. He was tall and strong, and smelled worse than the rotting tuna Sakura once threw out, because it was too rotted to even give to the poor.
“Let go of me!” she cried. She flailed around and elbowed him in the chest. However the blow glanced off and seemed to have no effect.
“Just hand over your purse, sweetie,” he said. “And no one gets hurt.”
“Fuck off!” Sakura shouted, cursing for the first time in her young and untainted life.
“Just hand over your purse!” He was twisting her arm now in an effort to tear it away. Sakura screamed and flailed harder than ever now, alternating between two confusing impulses. One which was to lash out, and hurt him, and fight him off; and the other which was to twist out of his grip, give up the purse, and simply get away.
She thought her arm was going to break, when all at once the confusing havoc stopped. A light “oof!” sounded from the man, then he collapsed to the ground as if hit from the back of the head. Sakura wasn’t sure what happened-it’s quite possible that she somehow hit him hard enough to knock him out, but she didn’t know. All she knew is that she needed to get out of there.
And get out of there she did. Dashing off, she ran the last two blocks barefoot.
Terrified and out of breath, Sakura made it to the bridge. Torrents of wild rushing water surged beneath, drowning out surrounding noise. In the distance, the murky river stretched out into a dark skyline in a way that was unsettling, but also opened into a wide and unending horizon. The bridge stood at the outskirts of the city, making it a nice secluded spot, and often the place where she met with Sasuke.
She looked back and forth in desperation, feeling a keen disappointment when she found no Sasuke there. The bridge was deserted, with only concrete and thick industrial railings to be her companions. Glancing at the distant clock tower, she could see that it was an hour past the meeting time. Sasuke had probably waited around for her then gave up and left. It had happened a few times before, when meetings are missed and miscommunications arisen, all because Sakura had no phone.
A lump rose to her throat. The terror from before made her arms and legs tremble in weakness as the adrenaline faded away. When she looked out into the sad gray sky and listened to the surrounding rush of water, she felt very much alone.
She let out a sniffle. Her eyes began to water up. It hadn’t happened in years, or in fact… she actually couldn’t remember the last time it happened. But Haruno Sakura was certain that she was about to cry. She collapsed to the ground like a wilted flower and let out another pitiful sniffle.
“Okay… okay, you can stop that now.” Kakashi made himself visible. “Please don’t cry.”
If Sakura feared that she was already losing her mind, then seeing random men appear out of thin air and stand on top of the bridge railing was the last thing she wanted to see. Suddenly, the world was no longer lonely, but just all sorts of messed up and batshit crazy. Tears forgotten, Sakura opted for screaming instead.
Momentarily at a loss, Kakashi tried holding up a hand in a sign of peace.
“I mean you no harm,” he said dryly.
This didn’t seem to help the situation at all.
Sakura cowered behind her purse. “Don’t touch me!” she shrieked.
With a sigh, Kakashi lowered his hand. He spread out his wings and fluttered down to the ground, landing on a spot next to Sakura. She stared at the translucent wings in awe, and he could tell that she was fascinated by how the silvery feathers shimmered. For added effect, Kakashi gently fluttered them a few times. Letting them shimmer for her benefit.
Sakura was no longer in hysterics, and quieted down nicely-speechless, in fact. Though she still clutched her purse. She seemed shocked, as if she had never been close to an angel before. If only she knew the half of it…
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Kakashi finally said.
Sakura nodded. Her eyes were wide. Kakashi was reminded of the stories in ancient times when angels were sent down as messengers to offer good news to pure maidens. Unfortunately, Kakashi was not that classification of angel, and was most certainly of the more violent and less peaceful type. Nonetheless, he still felt some responsibility towards this particular human. And strangely enough… an odd twinge of guilt.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “To be honest, I was going to completely abandon you today, but you looked so pathetic back there that I couldn’t help but to, you know… help.”
Her mouth gaped open. “What?”
“Poor girl. You’ve never had a rough day in your life, have you? I suppose you can thank me for that.”
Sakura’s mind was a little slow to catch on, but when the meaning finally did hit her eyes went wide in horrified fascination. Which was noteworthy since her innocent doe eyes were already quite wide in the first place. “Hey, mister… are you an angel?”
“Yeah, in fact… I’m your angel.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “But just so you know, I’m quitting now. Sorry about that.”
He patted her head as if in apology, but before he could pull away Sakura grabbed his wrist with both hands. The touch sent shock waves through his system, and a tingle that made his hair rise along the back of his neck and feathers along his wings. Kakashi had never been touched by a human. He had never been seen by a human, either. But he supposed there was a first time for everything.
“Wait,” Sakura entreated. “By angel-did you mean guardian angel? Does heaven really exist?”
Kakashi’s eyes drooped. “Look, here’s the thing, kid.” He waved his free hand towards the sky. “There’s a whole celestial realm out there with good and nasty spirits.”
“No way,” Sakura said, awed.
“Yeah... way. So if I were you, I’d start praying. Especially since I won’t be around to help anymore.”
He lightly broke away from Sakura’s grip and disappeared with a flicker. He reappeared moments later, fluttering back down on to the bridge railings.
“Watch out for rabid dogs and bad men. Look both ways before you cross the street. Drop that deadbeat boyfriend of yours. And for heaven’s sake… put on some shoes,” Kakashi advised. He spread his wings, ready to take flight.
Sakura ran down the bridge, chasing after him. “Wait, you can’t just stop being my guardian angel!”
He hovered in place for a moment and glanced back. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.”
“But what if something horrible happens to me?”
Kakashi’s only response was to chuckle before flying off. He swooped down from the bridge and glided over the murky depths of the river, eager to explore the world and enjoy his first day off in over four millennia.
Barefoot, and with banged up arms and scraped knees, Sakura watched the figure take flight. Outraged, Sakura felt a heated and volatile emotion rise up within her. She would later recognize this emotion as anger.
She was determined to get her angel back, and get her life in order again before everything went kaput.
+++++
End Part I
Part II
The next day was not any easier.
Where the world was once a place of bright, shining harmony for Sakura, she now found the world had a brutal, seamier edge. It was a side that was unsightly and that gave a push of resistance for every action she attempted. Where angel wings once buffeted the cold wind away from her face, she now found herself very much exposed to the elements.
Sakura was in fact becoming quite familiar with many of the world’s natural laws and shortcomings. Namely-the one called gravity.
She had tripped nine times and bumped into three different walls since yesterday.
She never considered herself a clumsy girl. She enjoyed ice-skating with friends when she was in high school, and remembered being in gymnastics when she was a child. Haruno Sakura always thought she was born with some talent for grace and balance, but now she wondered just how much of her success was actually attributed by that of the high-toting angel.
That proud, handsome, lethal looking creature.
Speaking of the angel, she had not seen wing or feather of him ever since his showy departure the day before. After walking back to the city without shoes, she immediately hailed a cab and managed a ride back home. From there she showered, discovered that she owned no first-aid kits or bandages, and decided to push her luck further by climbing on to the rooftop.
She scanned the skies. Peering off at the city's skyline for any hint of glimmering silver.
She saw no sign of him, and got splinters in her fingers for that little escapade. It took her an hour to tweezer all of them out of her delicate skin. Her eyes watered up at the prickling pain. And yet… over the past 24 hours a part of Sakura had become tougher. As she gritted her teeth against the new sensations of pain, a hot fiery feeling stirred and licked at the insides of her belly. It was an emotion that thrived on adversity, and like an unused muscle, was something that grew stronger with each use.
After buying bandages from the store and doctoring up her injuries, Sakura decided to try a radical different approach to finding her missing angel. She fell to her knees by the bedside.
Uncertain of what to do, she clasped her hands together and cleared her throat.
“Um… hello. This is Sakura.”
Listening deep into the silence of her home there was no response, and Sakura felt marginally foolish as what could be seen as talking to herself, but she charged ahead anyway.
“Uh, yes. You probably know this by now. But it seems like my guardian angel has gone AWOL. I’m not sure how your policy works on these sort of things… but if you could just tag him down or send a new one… that would be great.”
She paused, in reflection.
“I mean life has been going pretty good with him before. So if you can find him and send him back… you know… that would be fine. But if you deem him too crazy to work his job, I’d be fine taking another one. So, yeah. Again-this is Sakura. And uh… thanks.”
When she finished her prayer, there was no major difference in her environment that Sakura detected. The heavens didn’t split open and the earth didn’t shake. So it was hard to gauge how successful this form of communication was with the celestial world. She wagered that the heavenly realms were probably pretty far from the planet, which meant it was probably best to give some time and leeway for the message to make it there.
“Sorry for the inconvenience,” A cool voice said. “Usually our angels don’t go beserk like this.”
Sakura shrieked. A blonde and very busty woman had appeared by the edge of her bed. She was tall, wore casual green robes, and had great wings that held a pearly sheen. They reminded Sakura of the rainbow inside of clam shells.
“Oh… sorry for startling you,” the woman apologized again.
“Who are you?” Sakura asked.
“The name is Tsunade. I run the division of angels on this continental side of the planet.”
The woman had a no-nonsense attitude about her that intimidated Sakura. And a great chesty bust that intimidated Sakura's self-esteem even more. But nevertheless, when the woman offered out a hand for a firm handshake, Sakura accepted. All the while, she really felt like sinking down into some dark corner and cowering in fear.
“Now Sakura, we just received your message and plea as of exactly 38 seconds ago, post celestial time. Once again, we apologize in the delay of response. At the moment we are back-ordered with complaints and doing our best to track down your former guardian. But your particular guardian was an especially wily one, and quite experienced enough to outfox some of our newer recruits.”
“Oh, okay,” Sakura nodded. She tried to match Tsunade’s sense of grim demeanor and grasp the gravity of the situation.
“In the best case scenario; we capture Kakashi and bring him back as your guardian. In the worst case scenario; he puts up a fight, resulting in a celestial battle that will ultimately lead to his demise, and possibly the world.”
Sakura played with the hem of her skirt. “The end of the world?!”
“Only in a very, very slim chance. I am required by the honor code not to lie and to inform you of all possibilities. But yes, there is a slim possibility that an all-out, brutal, and possibly crippling celestial battle might take place,” Tsunade held her hands up in reassurance. “But don’t worry. Any guardian angels lost in the battle will be properly insured, and we’ll find you a replacement one in a jiffy.”
“That’s… reassuring,” Sakura muttered.
“Until then, we are currently looking into sending you a substitute guardian angel. We are going through the listings at the moment for available guardians. We advise you to stay in the house until we can provide you once again with proper celestial protection.”
“I just hope everything works out for the best,” Sakura said, twisting her skirt nervously.
Tsunade placed a firm hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “So do we, Sakura… So do we. Now if you excuse me, headquarters is calling and there are some major angel matters I need to take care of. Don’t worry-we’ll get this guardian issue settled as soon as possible.”
And with that, Tsunade spread out her impressive wings, and puffed out her busty chest. With a powerful beat, she disappeared in a flicker of feathers and golden dust. All of the feathers and sparkles faded as they floated to the ground.
Winded, Sakura collapsed to the side of her bed, and considered the great insanity of it all.
Perhaps the angel lady was right, and things would sort themselves out in time.
+++++
Kakashi soared through the air, dipping and weaving between building tops. How long had he seen this city, and not be able to freely explore the place from the sky? Even after existing for thousands and thousands of years, the world was an ever shifting place, and the face changed far quicker than Kakashi could ever capture.
Especially when he spent most of his existence chained to a single human, and only being allowed to go where that human went.
He had seen the world a thousand times over, but only from the singular perspective of the ground, and in very rare instances-from the rooftop heights.
In the most recent guardianship, whenever the pink-haired one went to sleep, Kakashi would sometimes while away the nights sitting on the roof of the modest house. Gently fanning out his wings and divining the direction of the winds and breezes. His sensitive ears could pick up every little sound. From the small creatures skittering through the foliage, or the sound of cars or drunkards many blocks away in the heart of the city.
Protecting this human was not especially tiresome (though she was rather clumsier than his usual fair of wards), but the long grind of years and lifespans had a tendency to affect all sentient life, and Kakashi was no exception.
It felt good now to stretch out his powers and fly through the air. He was sharper than any knife, cutting across the skyline like a silver blade. Having a great wealth of experience, he was smarter, faster, stronger than other angels. As he went undetected through the city he was able to effortlessly avoid all the sentry guards and seraphim that flew his way. Barring the highest echelon of angels, there was none on the planet that could match Kakashi’s wit or speed.
Except for perhaps one.
“ETERNAL RIVAL!!” The great and terrible voice boomed from across the skies.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no… Without even glancing back, Kakashi immediately pinned his wings down and dropped from the sky, falling at high speeds that usually sent younger angels screaming out in fear for the Divine One.
Pulling out his wings at the last second, Kakashi curved and sliced around the buildings. He flew straight into the heart of traffic; spinning, diving, and swirling around cars. But it was still not enough.
What Kakashi had in technical proficiency, Gai always managed to match by sheer determination and brute strength. A flash of green appeared to Kakashi’s right side. Gai’s mighty wings beat him forward to match Kakashi’s slicing speeds.
“Rival, what is this madness? You must return to your post at once!”
Kakashi did his best to ignore him. But despite himself, found the words tripping out in heated frustration.
“I’m not going back.”
“Without you, that girl will be in trouble.”
Kakashi steadily weaved and bobbed between the light posts lining the streets.
“She’s certainly strong enough without me,” he replied.
Gai suddenly burst in front of him, pulling straight up and spreading out his impressive wingspan like a feathery wall. Kakashi was also forced to buffer out his wings and drag against the wind to come to a direct stop. They both hovered in the air, breathing hard.
“A guardian’s strength is not for his own use,” Gai recited, holding one finger up in the air. “But for the protection of humans! Without our human wards, our powers drain and become nothing. You’ll become nothing more than a pile of feathers, Kakashi. Feathers!”
Kakashi’s lost some height at that, despite how hard he beat his wings. Yes… it was true that they drew their strength from the heart of their humans. Sakura’s exceptional spirit was the direct reason for most of Kakashi’s greater strength.
But he wondered how valuable that strength was when compared to the value of free will.
Without saying a word, Kakashi flickered out of sight. His powers may have been draining while he stayed away, but at least he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
“They’re sending a squad after you!” Gai called into the air. But his shouts only ringed back in echoes across the city, and there was no response from his long time respected rival, and hopefully… still friend.
There were very rare cases in modern times when angels became fallen, and even the most brilliant angels became nothing more than shadowy pests and spirits, but it made Gai’s heart heavy when considered such unhappy things.
He wheeled around to begin his search again.
+++++
Sakura woke up to find a translucent veil of silver feathers in her face. The feathers lightly trailed down and dusted her nose and cheeks. In a sleep-filled haze, Sakura batted the wings away. When she creaked her eyes open, she found herself face to face with Kakashi.
Sakura immediately sat up. She was now aware that she had lived her whole life with Kakashi’s presence at her side, even if she didn't know it before. Somehow, it was unsettling to think that such a lethal looking… for the lack of a better word… man had always been so close all this time. And he did look lean and deadly with his white vest and arm guards, and that sword on his back.
His face was covered by a mask, hiding his expressions. Then his eyes had the most charged gaze Sakura had ever seen. They were focused and intense. Though he remained perfectly still, there was something deadly about that stillness.
Kakashi’s wings lightly fluttered at his side. Sakura blinked as she suddenly realized why she often woke up with the urge to sneeze all those mornings before. It wasn’t allergies at all. Unless you considered arrogant angels to be an irritant.
“You came back,” Sakura said.
Kakashi took a seat on the side of the bed. The mattress did not dip or move. It seemed that angels had no weight at all, or perhaps it was just part of Kakashi’s controlled powers.
He took in several deep breaths, looking a little calmer with each one. He visibly became more relaxed as he sat closer.
“It would seem there’s something still grounding me here,” Kakashi said. There was no threat in his voice, but his tone had gone deathly quiet.
“What is it?” she whispered. Her heart beat painfully. She was afraid.
“You.”
Ah, there was the answer she was afraid of. Kakashi brought up a gloved hand and stroked the rough back of his fingers to her soft cheek. There was a surprising gentleness that did not match his voice or demeanor that surprised Sakura.
“Did you know that it’s physically impossible for me to hurt you?” he said. As if to prove a point, he wrapped his fingers around Sakura’s throat. She saw the muscles in his arms tense up, but his fingers never tightened.
Sakura shook her head. She didn’t dare to breathe or move. His hand now lifted up to the top of her head.
He stared out the window in far off meditation. His fingers now absently moved through her hair in a calm and soothing strokes. Sakura did not like the fact that her body relaxed under this gentle touch, but she found the fear and tension leaving her muscles.
“Oh yes, it’s impossible for me to hurt you. As it turns out, my strength feeds off of your spirit, and in fact… any damage to you actually hurts me.”
He paused and glanced down at her fingertips. The intensity of his gaze trailed down, moving over each scrape and bruise.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?” Sakura asked.
“I never meant for you to come across any pain.”
Sakura didn’t quite know what to say to that. If nothing else, she thought he did a pretty fine job of protecting her over the past nineteen years. She remained quite pain-free during those happy oblivious times.
Kakashi reached down for one of his wings, and began plucking out feathers a handful at a time. The ripping sounds echoed in the quiet room.
“What are you doing?” Sakura cried. “Stop that!”
Alarmed, she reached out to still his arms.
Kakashi was stronger, and continued to tear the feathers out, throwing them into the air. They fell down like a silver mist. When he beat his wings, Sakura saw that they were as full and undamaged as ever.
“The thing about angels is that we never age. We can never take on damage or really hurt ourselves. Even though we can feel your pain, we cannot take on your pain. Do you understand, Sakura?”
She nodded mutely.
He looked down with a sigh. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you. But here we are.”
“I don’t understand... then why are you telling me all this?" Sakura said.
In all honesty, it was probably because her presence was beneficial to him, and she was the only contact he knew who couldn’t fight or capture him.
“They say I’m here to protect you, but my real purpose is to continue on my endless existence. With me around, you have no privacy. I leech off of your powers and feed from your spirit,” he said. “An angel’s endless existence is no existence at all.”
He stood up, and headed towards the window. “I’ll be back tomorrow night.”
As quickly as he appeared, he was gone. Sakura didn’t know what to think of it all. Only that a vital part of her was part of Kakashi, and whenever he was gone, she longed for that missing eternity.
And a part of her wished that her guardian angel wasn't so damn melancholy.
+++++
End Part II
Part III is coming up. So stay tuned for more exciting adventures with angel Kakashi and Sakura!
Author: Clearheart
Theme: Angels/Demons
Rating: T
Summary: Haruno Sakura has the perfect life: straight A’s, a good job, and a stellar boyfriend. That is… until her guardian angel goes AWOL and gets booted out of heaven. Suddenly things aren’t so perfect anymore, and Sakura is not happy with the results. She must get her fallen angel to repent at all costs.
Current Word Count: 5,896
INCOMPLETE. Not in the voting, and just playing for fun. :3
Part I
Kakashi stood in the hallway.
He looked imposing with his arms crossed. Steam escaped beneath the bathroom door and curled around his feet. On the other side, faint echoes of Sakura’s off-key singing bounced off the walls. Kakashi’s ears twitched.
He waited for the girl to finish her morning routine. Having no regard for human nakedness, there was once a time when he actually stood guard in the bathroom too, but watching humans slough off dead skin cells and clean the filth away from their bodies lost its appeal to him somewhere around the third millennia. So now he preferred waiting outside, and giving some them some semblance of privacy.
Nothing about Kakashi ever decayed or changed. Even his ANBU gear (short for Angelic Noncompliance Body Uniform) never wore down or took scratches of damage. The white sleeveless vest and arm guards forever stayed the same. As well as the black mask that stuck to his face, and formfitting gloves and black pants. When it came to guardian angels, Kakashi was one the strongest, fastest, and smartest, the elite of the elite, and especially lethal when it came to crushing all forms of menace and evil. He also held the record for leading the most humans to moral and satisfying lives: one thousand and counting.
“Sakura is a very special case,” Tsunade explained him. She was the archangel ahead of his division. “The Divine One has an eye out for her, which is why you need to keep guard over her life.”
Kakashi understood the tone in her voice. Special cases referred to people of noble character, and who would usually end up living very happy, meaningful, and satisfying lives. Kakashi wasn’t sure what great things Sakura would someday accomplish, and was even dubious in the very beginning. But ever since first swooping down from the heavens to see the squalling pink-haired baby, he had faithfully remained at her side.
He was there to catch her as a toddler.
He was there to catch her as a child.
And now he was here to catch her while she stumbled around as a young adult.
++++++
Kakashi stretched out his wings with a yawn. The translucent feathers fanned out, glimmering with bright and healthy glow. After a few slow flaps, he closed them again, and gave a rough shake like a dog drying off from water. The force of the action made each delicate feather tremble and shiver. He sat on the stairs, looking out into the streets.
Sakura was doing charity work again. Which Kakashi thought was always… nice… but dreadfully boring.
He pulled the blade from his back and began whacking away at nearby dark spirits that lurked in the shadows. They were mostly harmless, but roamed all over the city like pests. With each slash the tiny creatures disappeared in smoky wisps. After dealing with them for many lifetimes and thousands of countless years, Kakashi also found them to be dreadfully boring. They were hardly a match for an angel of Kakashi’s caliber. It seemed that very few things were these days, especially when trailing after someone who lived such a good clean life as Sakura.
“Cookies! Buy some fresh baked cookies!” Sakura shouted. Her green eyes were bright, and her pink hair fluttered in the cold air as she leaned over the table. The sign in front said “Konoha 4 You and Food ~ Bake Sale!” and the tall building of the homeless shelter towered behind her.
Several citizens stopped along the sidewalk, and those who did not stop did a double-take at the girl standing at the table. Exotic hair color aside, there was something so wholesome and naturally charming about Sakura that she often attracted extra attention. Other people were drawn to her like flies to honey.
“Yes, ma’am… and thank you, sir,” Sakura smiled, as she handed out the bag of sweets. The money in the collection jar grew at a steady rate.
A boy with a dark suit and stunning black hair stepped up to the table.
“May I have some?” Sasuke asked. He carried two Styrofoam cups of coffee in his hand.
Sakura took on a bright smile, the one she only saved for the Uchiha heir. The Uchihas were tycoons who owned nearly half the city, and it was not often they were seen roaming the streets.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” Sakura said, sounding oddly pleased.
“You complain that I never show up.”
“Yes, but I thought you hated charity events.”
Sasuke merely shrugged.
“My father said I should start branching out more, and get my face seen around the town. So here I am.”
They stared at each stupidly for a moment. Sakura with a slight blush and glowing in unabashed flattery. And Sasuke with his blank face and forever dark scowl.
He shoved one of the cups towards her. “Here, I brought you coffee.”
“Thank you.” Sakura smiled. Sasuke turned and gave a cool wave back before walking off. Anyone else watching the interaction wouldn’t be able to tell that the two had actually been dating for months now.
Kakashi didn’t particularly like the boy, thinking that Sakura could do much better than someone so emotionally stilted. But it wasn’t his place to decide such direct, life-altering things that tampered with free will. So he only watched these occurrences in silence; half with interest, and half with cynical disdain. He had seen plenty of epic romances in his day, but somehow he didn’t think the Tale of Sasuke and Sakura would ever end up in the history books.
The crowd around the table cleared up.
Sakura no longer called out. Instead, a hot blush remained on her cheeks as she gazed down the sidewalk with a frown. The coffee cup hovered near her lips, while her hands paused in mid-thought. Though Kakashi could not read minds, he could sense Sakura’s conflicted feelings, and it stirred a fragile wisp of compassion inside.
He jumped down from the stairs and hovered near Sakura, until their faces were close together, and he could see every feature of her delicate profile. Pulling down his mask, he blew across the drink in her hands with a tender gentleness. The coffee cooled to the point where it would no longer burn her mouth. Then he stood up and snapped the mask back in place.
Humans were often boring creatures. They ran around in a mad dash to satisfy every crazed impulse wired into their brains for survival. The centuries passed by in nothing more than repetitive cycles of ambition, heartbreak, and competition. And then… just when they began to get a grasp on happiness, their short lives blipped off the radar.
Humans were certainly sad creatures.
But Kakashi envied the chaotic simplicity of it all.
++++++
That morning started out different.
It was hard to say what exactly about the morning was off, but when Sakura opened her bleary eyes two hours past her usual wake up time, and fell flat on the ground by tripping on her night gown-she knew something was very, very wrong.
She snapped wide awake then, gently rubbing in the scrape on her knee. She glanced out the window. It was gray and cloudy. Enough cloudiness to make her a little sad. And she reflected on this feeling of melancholy all through the morning while taking a shower and deciding what clothes to wear. Because if there were two things Sakura was not used to in life; it was injuries and feelings of sadness.
She was so caught up on reflecting on the novel sensation that it wasn’t until another hour passed that she realized she was late. Desperately late.
She quickly put make-up on and changed to a flattering skirt. Glancing around, Sakura scoured the house for her favorite pair of shoes. She cradled her arm as she ended up bumping into the wall, and muttering incoherent words as she searched high and low for the red heels. Digging under the bed, through all the closets, and making a sweep through the living room.
A solid thunk sounded from behind.
Sakura glanced into the bedroom, looked away, then immediately whipped around to glance again, feeling her heart stop. The red heels sat on top of the bed. Sakura could have sworn they were not there a minute ago, but she didn’t have time to question her sanity and grabbed the shoes, hopping around and jamming each foot in as she ran for the door.
The air outside was cold. Sakura kept her head down and hands stuffed into her coat pockets. She powered ahead with a fast walk, ignoring the cackles and catcalls that came from the alleyways. It seemed entirely too early for drunkards to be roaming around the city, but then again she had never gone by this part of town at this particular hour before.
She avoided all the broken glass on the sidewalks. To her left, a fence rattled in another alleyway, with the force of a Doberman ramming its weight against the fence with all its might. The dog had gone ballistic. It barked at her madly, digging and scratching beneath the fence in an effort to break through. Flecks of foam fell from its mouth, and Sakura found herself glued to the spot; too stunned to move.
Sakura was often a dog lover, and dogs seemed to like her. She had the uncanny ability to make any canine her immediate friend, and they would walk up to her in the streets with tongue lolling and tail wagging. Such hostile displays were never connected with dogs in her mind’s eye, and now she found herself paralyzed from the sheer surprise and onslaught of hostility.
The dog was making progress, bending the wires beneath the fence now. Sakura could feel the force of the barks go through her body. When quite suddenly…
The dog flew back in the air, as if it had been kicked. It did a complete about-face and ran off in the other direction, scampering off with tail between its legs and going yip yip yip yip yip.
Flabbergasted, Sakura clutched her purse and walked off fast at that point. She headed to the other side of the street. A car honked and came to a screeching halt nearly hitting her at the cross walk. Sakura stumbled and tripped. Several other cars screeched on their brakes from behind.
Kneeling in the street, surrounded by cars, and completely frightened now, Sakura stood up and dashed away-kicking away her heels. She clutched to her purse as she ran for the destination spot. She had no idea what was going on with the world or her body, or why she suddenly felt so vulnerable and terrified, but all she desired at that moment was to run into a safe pair off arms.
And she did end up in a pair of arms. But certainly not the arms she wanted.
Winded, she doubled over from the arm that caught her stomach. Something cold pressed to the back of her neck that felt an awful lot like a gun.
“Give me all your money,” the man said. He was tall and strong, and smelled worse than the rotting tuna Sakura once threw out, because it was too rotted to even give to the poor.
“Let go of me!” she cried. She flailed around and elbowed him in the chest. However the blow glanced off and seemed to have no effect.
“Just hand over your purse, sweetie,” he said. “And no one gets hurt.”
“Fuck off!” Sakura shouted, cursing for the first time in her young and untainted life.
“Just hand over your purse!” He was twisting her arm now in an effort to tear it away. Sakura screamed and flailed harder than ever now, alternating between two confusing impulses. One which was to lash out, and hurt him, and fight him off; and the other which was to twist out of his grip, give up the purse, and simply get away.
She thought her arm was going to break, when all at once the confusing havoc stopped. A light “oof!” sounded from the man, then he collapsed to the ground as if hit from the back of the head. Sakura wasn’t sure what happened-it’s quite possible that she somehow hit him hard enough to knock him out, but she didn’t know. All she knew is that she needed to get out of there.
And get out of there she did. Dashing off, she ran the last two blocks barefoot.
Terrified and out of breath, Sakura made it to the bridge. Torrents of wild rushing water surged beneath, drowning out surrounding noise. In the distance, the murky river stretched out into a dark skyline in a way that was unsettling, but also opened into a wide and unending horizon. The bridge stood at the outskirts of the city, making it a nice secluded spot, and often the place where she met with Sasuke.
She looked back and forth in desperation, feeling a keen disappointment when she found no Sasuke there. The bridge was deserted, with only concrete and thick industrial railings to be her companions. Glancing at the distant clock tower, she could see that it was an hour past the meeting time. Sasuke had probably waited around for her then gave up and left. It had happened a few times before, when meetings are missed and miscommunications arisen, all because Sakura had no phone.
A lump rose to her throat. The terror from before made her arms and legs tremble in weakness as the adrenaline faded away. When she looked out into the sad gray sky and listened to the surrounding rush of water, she felt very much alone.
She let out a sniffle. Her eyes began to water up. It hadn’t happened in years, or in fact… she actually couldn’t remember the last time it happened. But Haruno Sakura was certain that she was about to cry. She collapsed to the ground like a wilted flower and let out another pitiful sniffle.
“Okay… okay, you can stop that now.” Kakashi made himself visible. “Please don’t cry.”
If Sakura feared that she was already losing her mind, then seeing random men appear out of thin air and stand on top of the bridge railing was the last thing she wanted to see. Suddenly, the world was no longer lonely, but just all sorts of messed up and batshit crazy. Tears forgotten, Sakura opted for screaming instead.
Momentarily at a loss, Kakashi tried holding up a hand in a sign of peace.
“I mean you no harm,” he said dryly.
This didn’t seem to help the situation at all.
Sakura cowered behind her purse. “Don’t touch me!” she shrieked.
With a sigh, Kakashi lowered his hand. He spread out his wings and fluttered down to the ground, landing on a spot next to Sakura. She stared at the translucent wings in awe, and he could tell that she was fascinated by how the silvery feathers shimmered. For added effect, Kakashi gently fluttered them a few times. Letting them shimmer for her benefit.
Sakura was no longer in hysterics, and quieted down nicely-speechless, in fact. Though she still clutched her purse. She seemed shocked, as if she had never been close to an angel before. If only she knew the half of it…
“I’m not going to hurt you,” Kakashi finally said.
Sakura nodded. Her eyes were wide. Kakashi was reminded of the stories in ancient times when angels were sent down as messengers to offer good news to pure maidens. Unfortunately, Kakashi was not that classification of angel, and was most certainly of the more violent and less peaceful type. Nonetheless, he still felt some responsibility towards this particular human. And strangely enough… an odd twinge of guilt.
He rubbed the back of his neck. “To be honest, I was going to completely abandon you today, but you looked so pathetic back there that I couldn’t help but to, you know… help.”
Her mouth gaped open. “What?”
“Poor girl. You’ve never had a rough day in your life, have you? I suppose you can thank me for that.”
Sakura’s mind was a little slow to catch on, but when the meaning finally did hit her eyes went wide in horrified fascination. Which was noteworthy since her innocent doe eyes were already quite wide in the first place. “Hey, mister… are you an angel?”
“Yeah, in fact… I’m your angel.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “But just so you know, I’m quitting now. Sorry about that.”
He patted her head as if in apology, but before he could pull away Sakura grabbed his wrist with both hands. The touch sent shock waves through his system, and a tingle that made his hair rise along the back of his neck and feathers along his wings. Kakashi had never been touched by a human. He had never been seen by a human, either. But he supposed there was a first time for everything.
“Wait,” Sakura entreated. “By angel-did you mean guardian angel? Does heaven really exist?”
Kakashi’s eyes drooped. “Look, here’s the thing, kid.” He waved his free hand towards the sky. “There’s a whole celestial realm out there with good and nasty spirits.”
“No way,” Sakura said, awed.
“Yeah... way. So if I were you, I’d start praying. Especially since I won’t be around to help anymore.”
He lightly broke away from Sakura’s grip and disappeared with a flicker. He reappeared moments later, fluttering back down on to the bridge railings.
“Watch out for rabid dogs and bad men. Look both ways before you cross the street. Drop that deadbeat boyfriend of yours. And for heaven’s sake… put on some shoes,” Kakashi advised. He spread his wings, ready to take flight.
Sakura ran down the bridge, chasing after him. “Wait, you can’t just stop being my guardian angel!”
He hovered in place for a moment and glanced back. “Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.”
“But what if something horrible happens to me?”
Kakashi’s only response was to chuckle before flying off. He swooped down from the bridge and glided over the murky depths of the river, eager to explore the world and enjoy his first day off in over four millennia.
Barefoot, and with banged up arms and scraped knees, Sakura watched the figure take flight. Outraged, Sakura felt a heated and volatile emotion rise up within her. She would later recognize this emotion as anger.
She was determined to get her angel back, and get her life in order again before everything went kaput.
+++++
End Part I
Part II
The next day was not any easier.
Where the world was once a place of bright, shining harmony for Sakura, she now found the world had a brutal, seamier edge. It was a side that was unsightly and that gave a push of resistance for every action she attempted. Where angel wings once buffeted the cold wind away from her face, she now found herself very much exposed to the elements.
Sakura was in fact becoming quite familiar with many of the world’s natural laws and shortcomings. Namely-the one called gravity.
She had tripped nine times and bumped into three different walls since yesterday.
She never considered herself a clumsy girl. She enjoyed ice-skating with friends when she was in high school, and remembered being in gymnastics when she was a child. Haruno Sakura always thought she was born with some talent for grace and balance, but now she wondered just how much of her success was actually attributed by that of the high-toting angel.
That proud, handsome, lethal looking creature.
Speaking of the angel, she had not seen wing or feather of him ever since his showy departure the day before. After walking back to the city without shoes, she immediately hailed a cab and managed a ride back home. From there she showered, discovered that she owned no first-aid kits or bandages, and decided to push her luck further by climbing on to the rooftop.
She scanned the skies. Peering off at the city's skyline for any hint of glimmering silver.
She saw no sign of him, and got splinters in her fingers for that little escapade. It took her an hour to tweezer all of them out of her delicate skin. Her eyes watered up at the prickling pain. And yet… over the past 24 hours a part of Sakura had become tougher. As she gritted her teeth against the new sensations of pain, a hot fiery feeling stirred and licked at the insides of her belly. It was an emotion that thrived on adversity, and like an unused muscle, was something that grew stronger with each use.
After buying bandages from the store and doctoring up her injuries, Sakura decided to try a radical different approach to finding her missing angel. She fell to her knees by the bedside.
Uncertain of what to do, she clasped her hands together and cleared her throat.
“Um… hello. This is Sakura.”
Listening deep into the silence of her home there was no response, and Sakura felt marginally foolish as what could be seen as talking to herself, but she charged ahead anyway.
“Uh, yes. You probably know this by now. But it seems like my guardian angel has gone AWOL. I’m not sure how your policy works on these sort of things… but if you could just tag him down or send a new one… that would be great.”
She paused, in reflection.
“I mean life has been going pretty good with him before. So if you can find him and send him back… you know… that would be fine. But if you deem him too crazy to work his job, I’d be fine taking another one. So, yeah. Again-this is Sakura. And uh… thanks.”
When she finished her prayer, there was no major difference in her environment that Sakura detected. The heavens didn’t split open and the earth didn’t shake. So it was hard to gauge how successful this form of communication was with the celestial world. She wagered that the heavenly realms were probably pretty far from the planet, which meant it was probably best to give some time and leeway for the message to make it there.
“Sorry for the inconvenience,” A cool voice said. “Usually our angels don’t go beserk like this.”
Sakura shrieked. A blonde and very busty woman had appeared by the edge of her bed. She was tall, wore casual green robes, and had great wings that held a pearly sheen. They reminded Sakura of the rainbow inside of clam shells.
“Oh… sorry for startling you,” the woman apologized again.
“Who are you?” Sakura asked.
“The name is Tsunade. I run the division of angels on this continental side of the planet.”
The woman had a no-nonsense attitude about her that intimidated Sakura. And a great chesty bust that intimidated Sakura's self-esteem even more. But nevertheless, when the woman offered out a hand for a firm handshake, Sakura accepted. All the while, she really felt like sinking down into some dark corner and cowering in fear.
“Now Sakura, we just received your message and plea as of exactly 38 seconds ago, post celestial time. Once again, we apologize in the delay of response. At the moment we are back-ordered with complaints and doing our best to track down your former guardian. But your particular guardian was an especially wily one, and quite experienced enough to outfox some of our newer recruits.”
“Oh, okay,” Sakura nodded. She tried to match Tsunade’s sense of grim demeanor and grasp the gravity of the situation.
“In the best case scenario; we capture Kakashi and bring him back as your guardian. In the worst case scenario; he puts up a fight, resulting in a celestial battle that will ultimately lead to his demise, and possibly the world.”
Sakura played with the hem of her skirt. “The end of the world?!”
“Only in a very, very slim chance. I am required by the honor code not to lie and to inform you of all possibilities. But yes, there is a slim possibility that an all-out, brutal, and possibly crippling celestial battle might take place,” Tsunade held her hands up in reassurance. “But don’t worry. Any guardian angels lost in the battle will be properly insured, and we’ll find you a replacement one in a jiffy.”
“That’s… reassuring,” Sakura muttered.
“Until then, we are currently looking into sending you a substitute guardian angel. We are going through the listings at the moment for available guardians. We advise you to stay in the house until we can provide you once again with proper celestial protection.”
“I just hope everything works out for the best,” Sakura said, twisting her skirt nervously.
Tsunade placed a firm hand on Sakura’s shoulder. “So do we, Sakura… So do we. Now if you excuse me, headquarters is calling and there are some major angel matters I need to take care of. Don’t worry-we’ll get this guardian issue settled as soon as possible.”
And with that, Tsunade spread out her impressive wings, and puffed out her busty chest. With a powerful beat, she disappeared in a flicker of feathers and golden dust. All of the feathers and sparkles faded as they floated to the ground.
Winded, Sakura collapsed to the side of her bed, and considered the great insanity of it all.
Perhaps the angel lady was right, and things would sort themselves out in time.
+++++
Kakashi soared through the air, dipping and weaving between building tops. How long had he seen this city, and not be able to freely explore the place from the sky? Even after existing for thousands and thousands of years, the world was an ever shifting place, and the face changed far quicker than Kakashi could ever capture.
Especially when he spent most of his existence chained to a single human, and only being allowed to go where that human went.
He had seen the world a thousand times over, but only from the singular perspective of the ground, and in very rare instances-from the rooftop heights.
In the most recent guardianship, whenever the pink-haired one went to sleep, Kakashi would sometimes while away the nights sitting on the roof of the modest house. Gently fanning out his wings and divining the direction of the winds and breezes. His sensitive ears could pick up every little sound. From the small creatures skittering through the foliage, or the sound of cars or drunkards many blocks away in the heart of the city.
Protecting this human was not especially tiresome (though she was rather clumsier than his usual fair of wards), but the long grind of years and lifespans had a tendency to affect all sentient life, and Kakashi was no exception.
It felt good now to stretch out his powers and fly through the air. He was sharper than any knife, cutting across the skyline like a silver blade. Having a great wealth of experience, he was smarter, faster, stronger than other angels. As he went undetected through the city he was able to effortlessly avoid all the sentry guards and seraphim that flew his way. Barring the highest echelon of angels, there was none on the planet that could match Kakashi’s wit or speed.
Except for perhaps one.
“ETERNAL RIVAL!!” The great and terrible voice boomed from across the skies.
Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no… Without even glancing back, Kakashi immediately pinned his wings down and dropped from the sky, falling at high speeds that usually sent younger angels screaming out in fear for the Divine One.
Pulling out his wings at the last second, Kakashi curved and sliced around the buildings. He flew straight into the heart of traffic; spinning, diving, and swirling around cars. But it was still not enough.
What Kakashi had in technical proficiency, Gai always managed to match by sheer determination and brute strength. A flash of green appeared to Kakashi’s right side. Gai’s mighty wings beat him forward to match Kakashi’s slicing speeds.
“Rival, what is this madness? You must return to your post at once!”
Kakashi did his best to ignore him. But despite himself, found the words tripping out in heated frustration.
“I’m not going back.”
“Without you, that girl will be in trouble.”
Kakashi steadily weaved and bobbed between the light posts lining the streets.
“She’s certainly strong enough without me,” he replied.
Gai suddenly burst in front of him, pulling straight up and spreading out his impressive wingspan like a feathery wall. Kakashi was also forced to buffer out his wings and drag against the wind to come to a direct stop. They both hovered in the air, breathing hard.
“A guardian’s strength is not for his own use,” Gai recited, holding one finger up in the air. “But for the protection of humans! Without our human wards, our powers drain and become nothing. You’ll become nothing more than a pile of feathers, Kakashi. Feathers!”
Kakashi’s lost some height at that, despite how hard he beat his wings. Yes… it was true that they drew their strength from the heart of their humans. Sakura’s exceptional spirit was the direct reason for most of Kakashi’s greater strength.
But he wondered how valuable that strength was when compared to the value of free will.
Without saying a word, Kakashi flickered out of sight. His powers may have been draining while he stayed away, but at least he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.
“They’re sending a squad after you!” Gai called into the air. But his shouts only ringed back in echoes across the city, and there was no response from his long time respected rival, and hopefully… still friend.
There were very rare cases in modern times when angels became fallen, and even the most brilliant angels became nothing more than shadowy pests and spirits, but it made Gai’s heart heavy when considered such unhappy things.
He wheeled around to begin his search again.
+++++
Sakura woke up to find a translucent veil of silver feathers in her face. The feathers lightly trailed down and dusted her nose and cheeks. In a sleep-filled haze, Sakura batted the wings away. When she creaked her eyes open, she found herself face to face with Kakashi.
Sakura immediately sat up. She was now aware that she had lived her whole life with Kakashi’s presence at her side, even if she didn't know it before. Somehow, it was unsettling to think that such a lethal looking… for the lack of a better word… man had always been so close all this time. And he did look lean and deadly with his white vest and arm guards, and that sword on his back.
His face was covered by a mask, hiding his expressions. Then his eyes had the most charged gaze Sakura had ever seen. They were focused and intense. Though he remained perfectly still, there was something deadly about that stillness.
Kakashi’s wings lightly fluttered at his side. Sakura blinked as she suddenly realized why she often woke up with the urge to sneeze all those mornings before. It wasn’t allergies at all. Unless you considered arrogant angels to be an irritant.
“You came back,” Sakura said.
Kakashi took a seat on the side of the bed. The mattress did not dip or move. It seemed that angels had no weight at all, or perhaps it was just part of Kakashi’s controlled powers.
He took in several deep breaths, looking a little calmer with each one. He visibly became more relaxed as he sat closer.
“It would seem there’s something still grounding me here,” Kakashi said. There was no threat in his voice, but his tone had gone deathly quiet.
“What is it?” she whispered. Her heart beat painfully. She was afraid.
“You.”
Ah, there was the answer she was afraid of. Kakashi brought up a gloved hand and stroked the rough back of his fingers to her soft cheek. There was a surprising gentleness that did not match his voice or demeanor that surprised Sakura.
“Did you know that it’s physically impossible for me to hurt you?” he said. As if to prove a point, he wrapped his fingers around Sakura’s throat. She saw the muscles in his arms tense up, but his fingers never tightened.
Sakura shook her head. She didn’t dare to breathe or move. His hand now lifted up to the top of her head.
He stared out the window in far off meditation. His fingers now absently moved through her hair in a calm and soothing strokes. Sakura did not like the fact that her body relaxed under this gentle touch, but she found the fear and tension leaving her muscles.
“Oh yes, it’s impossible for me to hurt you. As it turns out, my strength feeds off of your spirit, and in fact… any damage to you actually hurts me.”
He paused and glanced down at her fingertips. The intensity of his gaze trailed down, moving over each scrape and bruise.
“Sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?” Sakura asked.
“I never meant for you to come across any pain.”
Sakura didn’t quite know what to say to that. If nothing else, she thought he did a pretty fine job of protecting her over the past nineteen years. She remained quite pain-free during those happy oblivious times.
Kakashi reached down for one of his wings, and began plucking out feathers a handful at a time. The ripping sounds echoed in the quiet room.
“What are you doing?” Sakura cried. “Stop that!”
Alarmed, she reached out to still his arms.
Kakashi was stronger, and continued to tear the feathers out, throwing them into the air. They fell down like a silver mist. When he beat his wings, Sakura saw that they were as full and undamaged as ever.
“The thing about angels is that we never age. We can never take on damage or really hurt ourselves. Even though we can feel your pain, we cannot take on your pain. Do you understand, Sakura?”
She nodded mutely.
He looked down with a sigh. “I shouldn’t even be talking to you. But here we are.”
“I don’t understand... then why are you telling me all this?" Sakura said.
In all honesty, it was probably because her presence was beneficial to him, and she was the only contact he knew who couldn’t fight or capture him.
“They say I’m here to protect you, but my real purpose is to continue on my endless existence. With me around, you have no privacy. I leech off of your powers and feed from your spirit,” he said. “An angel’s endless existence is no existence at all.”
He stood up, and headed towards the window. “I’ll be back tomorrow night.”
As quickly as he appeared, he was gone. Sakura didn’t know what to think of it all. Only that a vital part of her was part of Kakashi, and whenever he was gone, she longed for that missing eternity.
And a part of her wished that her guardian angel wasn't so damn melancholy.
+++++
End Part II
Part III is coming up. So stay tuned for more exciting adventures with angel Kakashi and Sakura!