Feathers.

Chapter One

The feathered wings framed by the dusk sky as they glided to an open window. The feathers, like leaves falling from a tree, pooling in a cluster of rustic wonder on the ground. The creature perched itself lightly on a railing guarding the room from the night sky. As the creature leaped from the railing there was a shift in the air as this monstrous creature morphed into another. This time the monster was more of a recognizable species. Human. But which was worse the creatures original form were he looked deviant or the shape of a human where deviance is hidden? He strolled towards a bed with sheets crumpled at the corners. It was empty. but obviously only recently been vacated. The pillow at an awkward angle, pummeled by a sleeping head. The sheets still hadn't lost the body heat from where the owner had laid. All was dark in the room making it hard for the intruder to see. Fog from the outside seemed to roll in menacingly. There was a strong smell of musk which crudely attacked the nose.

There was movement outside the room, as the figure melted into the darkness. A blond boy only in his under garments entered the room, naïve to the difference in the room, his senses numbed by sleep. The oxygen he breathed chilled from the night sky. It wasn't until a terracotta feather swam onto this blond mans face, did he realized that the window was open. As he stood to close his bay window, he trod on a very damp carpet. It was now with a spray of water from nature, he grew aware. There was a rustle in the corner of the room. When the man turned as quick as he could, there was nothing where the noise had been heard. But as he looked at that particularly darkened corner he noticed that the only living thing he had left in his room, a lily, had shriveled and died. He was truly alone. There was no animals, no plants. The air between him and the objects suffocatingly thick. Pushing and tearing at the lining of his lungs. Everything had the stale smell of blood. With a quick turn of his head that left him with a very light head he realized where the smell was coming from, the former mentioned lilies. He looked closer at the wilting petals, the crippled stork, there beading like a crystallized ruby was the blood. The man checked himself for any wounds that he hadn't noticed. There was none. There was nothing to cause this singular drop, that became two then three. They were not even coming from above they where just growing and oozing from the petal. The flower soon became a ruby in the shape of a lily instead of a lily with rubies on them. It was as hard as a diamond and smooth to the touch. Yet though it was solid the smell still emanated from the flower. Something flickered inside of the ruby and an eye appeared black as the night, with the soul of something so much darker.

The blonde boys fear was now radiating from him the creature was now the flower, and the touch of the boy as was to be expected burned. So much so that he left his soul show through the flower. He had blown it now the boy would never sleep now no human could sleep with so much fear. His blue eyes were so intense for the creature it was bizarre. The only thing that the creature could now do was to use his eyes. This creature had the ability to hypnotize humans with a single look. And with that the blonde male collapsed to the floor in a trance.

Slowly the boy raised from a cloud of darkness that left his skull with the feeling that it was being pulled apart. Quickly reaching the clock which was making a piercing sound, he rose to see that the flower in his dream was there on his table. As he looked at it the sense of life that had been there in his dream was no longer there. Dismissing his thoughts he quickly exited his apartment.

With a haze of sleepiness he walked into the office which had entrapped him since he had left school. Looking around himself he saw the same people that had been there since before he had joined. All with the faces of fifty year olds even if the oldest was only thirty-nine. The newest addition to the office had been a twenty year old woman. Who at that moment came bounding toward the boy.

"Morning Naruto!" She smiled through her high pitched greeting. The girl was shorter than the average hight with long pink hair. This company was most probably the only one in the area who would hire someone who had dyed their hair such a fluorescent colour. In the few months that she had been working there she had gotten a reputation for being the strongest in the company.

"Morning Sakura." normally Naruto's tone of voice would match Sakura's but this morning he didn't have the energy.

"Oh someone's tired, well I'm not going to make your day better, the pervert wants to see you." She smiled and walked to her work station. She was right this didn't make Naruto's day he quickly grabbed his coffee and went to see his boss. As he walked into the "perverts" office he was sat behind his desk. Naruto quickly noticed the cluster of blood around his nose. It became obvious not long after he had joined the company that the only reason his boss was in the buisness was to be able to proof read the "smut" books.

"Ah Naruto I was wondering where you were you weren't late were you?" the old man lifted his head not seeming ashamed of being caught with a smut book in his hands.

"No Jiraiya, had a long night needed some coffee." He said with the tiredness evident in his voice.

"Well if I was your age I would be having many long nights, aye?" He said winking at the boy. "Anyway enough of that we have a new worker coming into your department. As your the head I want you to show him around." After this statement he went back to reading his book.

"Okay but what time will they be here I have to finish editing the new book from James." Just as Jiraiya lifted his head there was a knock at the door.

"Well! That will be him now, so I know your preferences son and I hope you remember that office relationships never work out okay?" He said smirking behind his book.

"Just so you know you have blood around your nose boss." Naruto said feeling annoyed at the mention of his "Sexuality". He had never came out to the office, because he wasn't gay. As he left the room he saw all the old bats from his department surrounding something.

"Don't you Granny's have work to do?" Could be heard from Sakura who was evidently fighting to get to the front of the crowd.

"Don't you All have work? I believe I set you all work." Naruto said above the bickering of the women. The crowd then parted as the old bats and Sakura went back to their desk mumbling about 'how all the good guys are gay'. Finally coming up to the new worker Naruto was greeted my a man about the same height as him, maybe a little shorter. With raven coloured hair his eyes looked even darker. It was the colour that Naruto noticed though it was the blankness, like they had never showed emotion.

"I'm Naruto head of the editing department, I'll be your boss." Naruto's smile was so wide and bright many would have warmed to him immediately, but Raven haired boy was not fazed.

"I know Baka your wearing a name tag." Annoyed Naruto quickly looked at his name tag.

"Well Sasuke is it? Your attitude wont last you long here Teme. So enjoy your sarcasm while you can." He smiled and went to walk away. "Hold on if I'm such a Baka, Teme, I'm guessing you can figure out what to do and where everything is on your." Leaving Sasuke to his own devises Naruto got another coffee and made his way to his office. 'Could this day get any worse?' but it did he didn't get to do as much work as he was hoping, all he could think was the eyes in the flower from the night before. He fully intended on taking that flower to be checked out. But worried him most was the nagging feeling in the back of his head that there was something wrong with Sasuke's eyes. And why had there been a feather peaking out of the bottom of Sasuke's shirt.