Rain.
They say it washes the world free of sin. Not to Naruto, not to the young angel who held his brother as he bled. Held his brother as his blood stopped flowing and his body went cold. Held him as he begged Naruto to save him. Held him as the shinigami came.
He could have sworn he saw the death god as it came and stole away his family. He cursed the heavens. He cursed Kami. He cursed his Sensai for teaching him the rasengan. He cursed the Kyuubi for giving him the ability to heal. He cursed himself for caring so damn much.
She cursed his brother. She watched from behind the veil of the cleansing rain. She watched as her angel weeped. She watched as the feathers fell from his wings. She couldn't move. She couldn't go to him. His pain was so intense that she could feel it from her hidden spot in the tears of heaven.
His was a wound she could not heal. Not with all the chakra in all the world. Not will all the ninjitsu in all the world. His was a pain of an angel, fallen from heaven and broken his wings.
She had to try though. The tears of heaven clensed her of her fear. She moved foreward, toward her fallen angel. She took him in her arms, and she felt his body shake as he wept. She felt his heart slamming against his chest as the horror of what the devil had made him do filled him.
She remembered a legend. Angels who had fallen from heaven could not return unless they were returned by another angel. She turned his face upward, and despite the pain of her bruised lips and the cold of the rain. She kissed him.
She would return her angel to heaven, even if it took the rest of her life.
