Sasuke looked around. Everything seemed to be bathed in a bright white light. Soon his eyes got used to the unnatural brightness and he began making out moving figures. The raven walked forward, hoping things would become clearer. They did, and soon he could see he was in a long room. It was decorated extravagantly, almost everything coloured the purest white.
He moved up the room, and at the top, was a large desk with an aged man sitting there quietly. Sasuke made his way to the person, hoping he would get some kind of explanation. His eyes shifted to the left slightly and, as he got closer, he noticed a young man stood by the side of the desk. He had large white wings spread out behind him. "Am…am I dead?" the raven asked stupidly. The old man looked up from his desk, almost like he had only noticed Sasuke's presence. He smiled at the raven. "Ah, Sasuke Uchiha, I presume."
The man spoke slowly and clearly. Sasuke was surprised the man knew his name. It was then he noticed the man had wings too. They were white; similar to the ones the young man had standing beside his desk. Except the elders appeared to be bigger. The raven eyed the white wings sceptically, wondering if they were somehow attached to his back. "Where am I?" Sasuke asked. The man picked up some papers and began shuffling them.
Once he was finished, he placed them back where they were. The whole action seemed pointless to Sasuke, like the man was just trying to annoy him more by stalling with the answer, but, trying to be as polite as possible, Sasuke said nothing. "You are in the court of angels." The man replied simply. Sasuke simply gaped. Court…of what? That would explain the wings then, he thought. The raven remembered his fight with Orochimaru. "I am dead then." He mumbled. "So…your all angels here then?" he asked. The man answered with a nod of his head.
"Then what am I doing here?" the young man beside the desk stared at the raven with an annoyed look, but said nothing. "You are to be a guardian." The elder said. Sasuke didn't reply to this.
"I thought I would end up somewhere a little…hotter, you know? Fiery flames of hell type hot." The man smiled and picked up a large envelope. He pulled several pages from the envelope and scanned them quickly. "I know you made several mistakes in your life, however-" Sasuke broke the man's speech with a loud snort.
"I think several would be an understatement." He said. The man stood next to the desk stepped forward, wings outstretched. "How dare you speak with such disrespect and arrogance!" he hissed. Sasuke ignored him. he knew right from the start he wasn't going to like this person. "You should apologize immediately!" the man continued. "You have no right to-"
"Rowan." The loud voice echoed throughout the hall.
The young man, who Sasuke now knew was called 'Rowan' stepped backwards, muttering apologies. "This is Rowan. He is a guardian, the same as you will be. A guardian's job is to watch over the one they are assigned to."
"Right." He said. Rowan seemed infuriated again.
"How dare you speak to Lorde-sama like that!" the old man placed his arm in front of Rowan and motioned backwards. The brown-haired man moved back again. "Just speak with some respect." He hissed to Sasuke, before falling silent again.
"I'm sorry…Lorde-sama?" he added the name, wondering if he had been correct this time. Rowan didn't say anything, so Sasuke presumed he was correct. The man nodded.
"Now, you will be assigned to someone you need to watch over. We believe, because of your death, this person may be a risk. You need to watch them day and night." Sasuke nodded. "No one in the real world will be able to see you, or hear you." Lorde continued. "That means you will, in no way, be able to contact anyone. Some humans may be sensitive to your presence, and may feel something, but they wont see you." Sasuke nodded again, letting Lorde know he understood everything. "The only thing important to you should be the one who you are assigned to. If you find that their life is in danger, truly in danger, then this is where this comes in." Lorde pulled a small box from his robes and placed it on the desk.
He pushed it forward for Sasuke to take. The raven opened the box and found a necklace. Hung on a delicate silver chain was what looked like a teardrop. Sasuke picked it up and touched it gently. To the raven's surprise, it was solid. "This is something all guardians have. Contained in that small glass case is a single unicorn teardrop. It is probably the most important thing I can give you, and it is a last resort to save the one you must protect." He gave Sasuke another moment to stare at the small necklace. "Put it on." Sasuke complied, and quickly put the necklace around his neck. "If you believe your charge is really going to die, simply let the teardrop fall to the floor. It is most delicate, and once broken will give you a limited time to save your charge. You will become visible, and able to touch anything your desire. Once it has been broken, it cannot be used again." Lorde cleared his throat and picked up another sheet of paper. "The person you will protect will be…Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki."
He pushed forward a picture of the familiar blonde. Sasuke didn't even need to look at the photograph to know who Lorde meant. Sasuke simply stood there with his eyes wide. "Ah, you know this boy?" Lorde asked. Sasuke nodded.
"I know- I mean…I knew him well. He was my best friend. Well, I don't suppose I deserve to call him that anymore after what I did to him, but…" Sasuke trailed off, feeling he had said too much. "Wait…" Sasuke said, remembering something Lorde had said earlier. "Because of my death Naruto is at risk?" Sasuke asked. Lorde look at Sasuke thoughtfully. "Yes. That is why you have been assigned to watch Naruto Uzumaki. Rowan will take you down to the real world, and tell you how to get back."
Sasuke jumped and looked down. Was this heaven then? Were they in the sky? The raven groaned. This was all too much to take in at once. He stared at Rowan. Perhaps this was some kind of a joke? Suddenly his body felt heavier and the raven fell backwards. He hit the hard floor with a thump. Sasuke looked behind him; it had felt like someone had pulled him over from behind. What he didn't expect was to see a large pair of wings protruding from his own shoulder blades. Rowan smirked down at Sasuke, who was currently trying to stand up again.
Finally the flustered raven managed to get to his feet. Rowan was still smirking; obviously enjoying the fact Sasuke was struggling with his new development. Sasuke desperately tried to unfold one of his painfully bent wings, only to nearly fall backwards again. At this, Rowan simply smiled wider. Sasuke shot a glare in his direction. "Oh yeah? Well these things are bloody heav-"
"Sasuke!" the raven's head whipped round to meet an angry Lorde. The man's usual gentle expression was gone, replaced by one of anger. "Please refrain from using such profanities in the court of angels. Remember your place Sasuke." Sasuke stared at the floor. "I'm sorry, Lorde-sama." He said quietly. The man relaxed.
"Just make sure it doesn't happen again." He said shortly. Sasuke nodded, but was still confused. He could tell, by the way Rowan treated him with such respect, that this Lorde-guy was probably important. Perhaps a leader of some kind. Sasuke glanced around the white room. Or a god? The man looked up. "Rowan." He said quietly.
"Yes, Lorde-sama?" he asked.
"Take Sasuke down now, also tell him how to get back. He should be able to find his charge by himself." Rowan bowed slightly and motioned for Sasuke to follow him. The raven took one last disbelieving glance at the blinding white room, before following Rowan.
A/n: Well, this is the first chapter - hope you liked it! I will be posting the next part soon.
Whippasnappa.