Chapter Two

- ANGSTY ANGELS

Focus, Sakura, focus! Damn. The pink haired Virtue huffed as she went through a new taijutsu sequence she was honing in on.

"Ugh, I am never going to get this! TENTEN WHY'D YOU LEAAVEE" She shouted irritatedly. Wiping the sweat from her pale, freckled brow, she slumped to the glens grassy ground. It was a sunny summery sort of day, and the boys were all on a mission to Earth, (Something about interfering in a battle that was about to break out between two human civilizations. They thought she was a liability to their success). So when she awoke on the day of the mission, Sakura decided to train. She decided she wasn't going to be a liability any longer. Those fools! Just because I'm not as strong as them doesn't mean I am such a liability that I had to be left behind. This is the last time. I'm done being worthless in their eyes, she thought to herself with heated determination. With those words, the small, ungraceful angel sat up and took off towards a rocky precipice where her training grounds resides. I. Am. Not. Weak. Focusing her chakra to her feet, the girl of 17 flings herself from the edge, launching far into the buoyant clouds above. Unleashing her slender, ivory wings, she makes an almost graceful aerial flip. Sakura starts plummeting back down to the training ground, tucking her wings in as she goes. I will become great. I am no longer the girl who hides behind the back of a man. With a war cry, the cherry blossom angel speeds herself up by kicking the air with chakra powered through her feet. With quick relocation of her chakra to her fist, the angel pushes toward the ground. In seconds Sakura knows she will land upon the springy grass. "I AM NOT WEAK!" she yells, and with her small, dainty fist, the once picturesque, serene field becomes nothing but a mess of dirt and upturned trees and flowers.


"My,my, my!" A smooth feminine voice sang amusedly. "That was quite the show, Sakura."

The pinkette spun around quickly in her self-made crater, facing the voice who called her name.

"T-Tsunade-sama! Good afternoon." she said, with embarrassment.

"Where did you learn such a technique? You have not sought out my aid in becoming a better protector, how did you learn of my chakra manipulation practices?"

"Uhhh…" Sakura stammered, "Well, you see, I have always admired you, and well I have always been amazed on how strong you are, so naturally I watched you whenever you would train with Jiraiya-san, and can I just say, he's a bigger perv than Kakashi-sensei! Anyway, well, I simply put two and two together. I mean, your medical healing chakra is used by manipulating chakra from your hands to someone else, and I learned the same can be applied while trying to focus chakra for other purposes, like defence and striking…" she trailed off.

"Sakura Haruno!" Tsunade snapped, "I believe you to have talent. Like you expressed, you are not weak, and I believe you have the determination and intelligence of someone who could be great. I am not promising you will become powerful like myself and the other Seraphim, but I can help you become your best you. From this moment on, you will be my apprentice. You're expected to be here tomorrow, 6am sharp." With a smirk and a wink, the great Tsunade of The Virtues, one of the top Seraphim, unleashed her deep honey colored wings, that appeared to be dipped in crimson, and flew away into the skies above.

And with that, the ungraceful, frazzled girl slumped down into the now upturned grass once again. She giggled to herself, unabashedly and full of excitement. From a distance, her aristocratic and stoic teammate perched in a tree, he had been watching the events that just transpired. He gasped as Sakura launched herself from the cliffs edge, although he knew she had wings to catch the wind. He stared transfixed as she spun gracefully through the air and plummeted with heart dropping speed towards the grassy plain. He stood in amazement as she created such astounding damage with her feminine hand, and he had to agree, she was not weak. When Tsunade of The Virtues declared that Sakura would become her apprentice, he could not have been more proud and in awe of his annoying little teammate.

(a few days later)

As Sasuke walked home from his meditation, on a calm, blissful evening, he found himself wondering what his team of friends was up to that night. Was Naruto eating ramen again? Was Sakura with Tsunade, learning how to enhance her skills even more? He pictured the pink haired angel flipping so elegantly through the air, as if she had done it a million times. Sakura... when did you change? How could Naruto and I not see that you have become so different from the girl we first met? When did you start caring about your power as a Virtue and as a protector of Heaven? He walked along the edge of the paths, eyes closed and simply using his other senses to guide his way, lost in his confusing thoughts.

"Sasuke-kuuunn! Wait for me!" he heard from behind

"Tch, what do you want, Sakura? I have somewhere to be." Sasuke asked, whilst pretending the owner of that soft voice wasn't just the topic of his inner monologue.

"I was just wondering how your mission a few days ago went? I haven't seen you or Naruto since you all left."

"Hn, It was fine. We were able to interfere before there were any mass casualties, although, there were a few men who decided they could defeat us, and also defeat their enemy." he snorted. "They didn't last long, but Kakashi said not to harm them too much. It was actually kind of amazing, we never really get to apply our battle skills while on a mission..." strangely and near frighteningly, he found himself almost unable to stop telling Sakura of their mission.

"Hmph, well, I'm glad you had such a nice time. While you were away, I had a run in with Tsunade-shishou-"

"Sasuke, little brother, I think it's time you take your leave from your friend. Father and Mother have an important meeting to attend and they'd like you to be home when they leave." a deep, smothering voice interrupted Sakura's floaty tone.

"Itachi-san!" she gasped, lowering her eyes, "Good evening! I apologize for keeping Sasuke away when he has family duties to attend to, I will take my leave."

"Sakura, I'm prou-" before Sasuke could finish his sentiment, the Virtue girl bowed, then flashed away in a swirl of deep green mist, much like the color of her eyes, and a cherry blossom sent, one which often follows along with the pinkette.

"Itachi! I was well on my way home. She simply asked how the last team mission went, it would have been rude of me to ignore her. She is my teammate." Sasuke bit out.

"Now, now, little brother. I know you wanted to spend time with your little girlfriend, but there is important matters Father would like to discuss with you before he and Mother embark on their meeting to Madaras household."

"First, she is *not my girlfriend. Second, do you know what it is about?"

Itachi becons Sasuke over with a slight, sad smile. "You'll learn soon enough, *Sasuke-kun" and with that, the elder Uchiha brother lightly taps Sasuke upon his forehead, and turns to walk home. What is that all about? What will I learn? Can't he just tell me for crying out loud?! From then on out, they walked in silence. One, pouting because he was kept in the dark, unknowing of how lucky he was, and the other trying to numb his mind to the tragic truths he knew. When the pair arrived at the Uchiha compound, where all of the Throne angels reside, Sasuke finds his demanding Father in the entryway.

"Sasuke, what do you know of the humans and their purpose?"

"Father, what do you mean? They are simply living in peace as God's creations."

"FUGAKU! In here, NOW!" yelled a voice from the kitchen. "I thought we agreed we were going to discuss this matter once we returned!" Chided Sasuke's mother, Mikoto. Fugaku promptly left the boys and walked towards his wife's formidable distaste.

"Now, dear, Sasuke deserves to know!" Fugaku tried miserably to whisper.

"He is too young! He has not yet met the hundred years required to become a participating member of Heavens ranks! He should not have to carry the burden of…" her voice died out as the doors to their cozy little kitchen slid closed . Sasuke looked to his older brother in confusion, only to find Itachi had disappeared from their home. What in God's name is going on? The boy fumed quietly to himself, shuffling loudly out of the room. Whatever it is, I don't want to be kept in the dark any longer.

The meeting which his parents attended came to pass. His father never brought up what he was going to tell his son, and his loving mother pretended the events that day never occured. So he never asked.

Naruto woke with a start. What was that god awful noise?! Can't a guy get any sleep around here?!"

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"NAARUTO! You better be awake!" yelled a teasing, feminine voice. The boy groned as he rolled out of bed "Sakura-chan, you must be early! We aren't going to the lake until this afternoon!", he said disbelievingly, as he opened the door.

"You idiot, it's already the afternoon! Come on, get dressed! We have our monthly picnic by the lake, and this time I didn't forget the wine!" Sakura giggled. The two lively members of Team Seven walked slowly to their favorite spot on the lake, taking their time, joking, and smelling the flowers along their way. Heaven was a beautiful place, with lavish lakes, bubbling streams, powerful rivers, hills, dense forests, beautiful plains, and even some deserts. Heavens beauty never seemed to end, the Seven Heavens, as most angels called the group of floating land that made up the paradise in the sky. It was easy to get lost in the serenity of each and every ray of godly light that was cast upon their home.

"It's so peaceful here, I never want to leave" the pinkette sighed contently.

"Yeah…it's pretty peaceful here…"

"Nar, you okay? Whatcha thinking about? Hinata-chan?", she winked. You know, you should ask her out already! She's entranced by your daftness" Sakura teased, flicking him on the side of his head.

"Sakura," Naruto stared at her with disquieted, deep blue eyes. "What if I told you that things weren't as peaceful as they seemed…?"

"What do you mean Naruto?" The teasing tone gone from her voice, her emerald green eyes reflecting the anxiousness in her male companions.

"Well, recently, the tree has been emiting these, these vibes. I am troubled by them, I feel like something bad is going to happen. I don't know what they mean, but, it's strange... I feel almost more powerful, if that makes sense? Like... there is a part of me that can't wait for this dark event to happen." He whispered.

He looked up as he felt a delicate hand being placed on his shoulder. "Naruto, no matter what, I believe there is a solution to the reason for the Tree of Life to be acting erratically, and I know Sasuke-kun and I will help you understand what these foreboding feelings mean." With that, the two angels fell into a contemplative silence, watching the light slowly fade from their endless skies. They didn't know just how true Naruto's feelings and intuition from the tree would come be. Indeed, something dark was happening.

AN: Hello once again! Peach here! Thank you for the reviews for chapter one! When I checked the story this morning, I was beyond ecstatic to see four reviews in under 24 hours. I feel like that's pretty dang awesome for my first chapter of my first fic! Thank you, from the bottom of my heart3 This story is going to be broken up into parts. We are currently on Part One, chapter two (tbh this ch could have been waaaay longer, but for flow purposes I decided to break it up a bit more). I am not entirely sure how many chapters each part will have, and in all, I am not sure how many parts this story will have (most likely 3 or 4). The first part is going to be a sort of prelude to future parts, where there will be more sasusaku + other ship interactions. The first part isn't meant to be super duper long, but I want you all to have a good understanding of the basic plot and background information, that will relate to part two. I will try my best to update frequently, but I do work full time, and I am also a part-time student. I currently have no Beta/ anyone in general to read over my writings, so I'm sorry if there are plot holes and grammar errors. It also takes a lot to not only write, but also outline and review each chapter. I really am trying to get some chapters out fast (bc I absolutely love binge reading a fic, and I'm sure you're all excited and interested to see how this all unfolds ^_^). Please let me know if anything needs clarification! Once again, please leave your comments, questions, and critiques. Much love!

-Peach