Disclaimer- I do not own Naruto.

Word Count- 15,712 (Wow, this is sufficiently longer, yay)


Fallen Feathers


.::Chapter Three – The Truth About Heaven::.

But that's not why I'm here,

I came down here to tell you it rains in heaven all day long,

I wanna find you so bad and let you know

I'm miserable up here without you, miserable up here without you


I never really knew why I was given the powers I had, nor did I ever really question it. I never knew why I met Sasuke and I never knew how much irony hurts.

It was Monday and I stopped by quickly after school as usual. Appearing in his house, I called out his name softly.

"Sasuke?"

There was no response. I frowned slightly. Since when did he ever go out? My feet traveled to the living room in hopes of finding him.

I sat on the couch and stretched. It was a few moments before I heard the front door open in the other room. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. Nothing was better than seeing him. Nothing in the world. But my smile was suddenly erased from my face when I saw who was at the front door.

It was Sasuke.

But he wasn't alone. There was someone with him. Another girl was with him.

Reminding myself not to jump to any conclusions and to be happy that he's made a friend I smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry Sasuke, I didn't know you'd be busy."

Sasuke looked like an excited child who wanted to show their mother something they just made. He grabbed said girl's hand and brought her to me. "Sakura I'd like you to meet Karin. She's another angel like me." I held my hand out to shake hers – even though I didn't want to. But it didn't matter anyway because she didn't shake my hand back. I felt slightly awkward and as I looked into her eyes, I could see no friendly features.

"Um, I'm Sakura." I stated quietly. I didn't like how this was turning out.

Things were silent for a moment. "Maybe I should come back later Sasuke." My eyes were downcast.

He tilted his head. "How come?"

I could feel her piercing gaze burning through my forehead. "Uh, I think I caught you at a bad time. I'll come back in a little while." And I turned to get my other belongings. I heard Sasuke excuse himself from Karin to catch up to me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, placing a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and smiled.

"Nothing. . . I just didn't want to be rude by staying." He didn't need to be burdened with my problems.

I grabbed my purse. "She's really nice…" I heard Sasuke mutter.

Forcing my best fake smile, I cupped Sasuke's cheek. "I'm glad you met someone else Sasuke." (lieslieslies.) "She seems nice. You can tell me all about her tomorrow, alright?" Psh, I certainly did not want to hear anything about her. The things I do for love.

He leaned into my touch. "Alright." I dropped my hand and stepped away but before I could vanish he kissed my forehead and smiled softly at me. And that smile, the one I knew he reserved for me, was the only thing stopping me from beating the shit out of Karin.

The next morning I awoke with mixed feelings. It was Tuesday and I was off of school, making me excited to be able to spend an entire day with Sasuke. However, I was not looking forward to having him tell me all about Karin. I knew I was being selfish but I didn't care. I knew him first…I wanted to be his only person. I jinxed it the other day when we had our argument, I just know it. I got dressed in a plaid mini skirt (something I don't usually do) and a black band tee. Usually when I was with him I wore skinny jeans or sweats or pajama pants, but for some reason I wanted to stand out to him today. I wanted him to know how good I could look. I applied some eyeliner that made my green eyes pop out more than usual. My hands searched for my strawberry flavoured Chap Stick. Ah ha, there it is.

Here's a tip girls: most guys don't want lip gloss reminisce on their lips after kissing you. Chap Stick is good because it gives a subtle sheen and flavor without being gooey.

Not that I was planning on kissing Sasuke or anything, but one can never be too cautious (because it's always those times that you're wearing your pajamas and look a mess when your crush decides to pay you a visit).

Plugging in my flat iron, I scurried across my room to grab my Victoria's Secret Juiced Berry perfume. I sprayed all over and smiled, quite satisfied. I gave myself a once over and nodded approvingly. Straightened hair and an application of mascara later, I pulled on my black torn up converse (my life), grabbed my cell and itouch and promptly 'left'.

Sasuke's house was eerily quiet. I checked my watch. It was one thirty in the afternoon. He should be up.

"Hime." I spun around and smiled.

"There you are." I mentally giggled as his eyes widened, taking in my appearance.

"You look…" he was at a loss for words.

"I went out with my friends before I came over." I lied easily. "What, don't I look good?" Teasing him was always fun.

He rolled his eyes. "Good is an understatement. You look so different with makeup on." He tilted his head inspecting me. Thank Kami he was too innocent to see through my plan to try and look good for him. I walked towards him, still smiling.

"Is that a good thing?" He poked my nose lightly and brushed a piece of hair from my face.

"Of course."

Walking past him, I plopped on his bed without thought and stretched my limbs. I was mildly surprised when I felt him untying my shoes. I mentally slapped myself for wearing a mini skirt; now I couldn't stretch and move around freely.

An imaginary light bulb clicked above my head.

I grinned deviously and stretched some more, revealing my stomach to him. His hands tugged at my shirt, pulling it down once more, almost subconsciously. Without thinking, I sat up and stared at him rather blankly.

"So you were supposed to tell me about Karin." His eyes lit up at my remembrance of something important to him. Score one, Sakura. My eyes linked with his and I scooted over, giving him room to sit down. "How'd you meet her?"

For some strange reason, I didn't feel the jealousy I felt an hour ago. When I was with Sasuke, and when I saw how he looked at me, I almost knew better than to be jealous. But everything changed once I left his presence.

"I was just walking around actually. And she bumped into me. And we started talking. Crazy, right?"

"Indeed." I said somewhat sarcastically.

But he continued on without seeming to notice.

"And I dunno but something just clicked. And we connected really quickly. I dunno, hime…I think I may be starting to…like her."

Everything in my mind spun and then stopped to an abrupt halt. Wait, what?! Did he just say what I think he said?

Obviously said emotion (whatever emotion 'wait, what?!' is) was evident on my face because Sasuke's expression changed from happy to worried. I couldn't speak. Whatever happened to 'I love you, hime?'

"Look, we both know that whatever this," He motioned to the two of us, causing me to snap out of my daze, "is…it can't go on. I care about you, really I do. More than anybody. But we can't be together. And there's nothing either one of us can do about it."

Whatever happened to 'love prevails' or 'love holds no bounds' or a nice 'I don't care what we have to face because I have you and that's all that matters'? But no, this was reality. This wasn't a fairytale.

There were so many things I wanted to ask him. Like, 'but I thought you loved me.' does he know what the word 'love' even means? Obviously not.

Suddenly, I felt stupid for trying to look nice for him.

"So that's it then?" I didn't sound angry, I was actually pretty proud of myself for not jumping up and slapping him in the face for making me even think that there could've been something.

But those tender kisses…his words…did they mean nothing? I refused to meet his gaze, though I felt him shift uncomfortably at my words.

"What do you mean, that's it? It's not it. It's not like you can't ever talk to me again. Things will go on like they always have. We've been fine up until last time you visited and…we momentarily lost control. But that's bound to happen. I mean, we're teenagers. We have hormones…"

Whatever he was trying to say was just digging him deeper and deeper into a hole.

"But Sasuke, I love you. Do you even know what that means?" My breathing became uneven and I knew I was fighting back the tears. Was it all really coming to an end before it even had a chance to begin?

"We don't know what true love is. We're still young." He argued.

"Are you saying I'm lying?" I protested angrily.

He looked down. "Why are you making this harder for me?" he murmured.

So now this was my fault?

"I can make it really easy if you want. I don't ever have to come back." I spat.

It seemed as if he was restraining himself from lashing out at me because he knew he couldn't. After a long moment he sighed heavily, as if he had the weight of a thousand years on his shoulders.

"You know that's not what I want."

I knew I could be difficult sometimes. And I knew I could have ridiculous demands. But right here and now, I did not think I was being ridiculous. A little selfish, yes. But aren't all girls selfish when it comes to the love of their life?

Then suddenly it clicked into place for me. This wasn't about what I wanted. If I really loved him…could I really love him…did I really love him enough to… to let him go?

Hesitantly, my gaze lifted to his. I saw pain in his eyes. I didn't want that. But I wanted him. Oh Kami, so badly I wanted him. I swallowed and bit my lip.

"I'm sorry. I just…" My hands began to shake and my vision blurred with tears. I took a deep breath, two tears falling down my cheeks. I mentally slapped myself. God Sakura, rule number one: never cry in front of a guy when you have eyeliner on. It'll smudge.

My hands wiped the tears away quickly.

"If this is really happening then I just want one thing and I'll be fine. I'll…move on. But you need to give me something first." I whispered, knowing how cliché I sounded and wondering if Sasuke caught on. But he seemed oblivious as usual. He tilted his head questioningly.

"Anything." Was his reply.

I knew how big of a request I had but I wasn't about to not ask it.

"Kiss me one last time."

He seemed to hesitate. As if even he knew that if he did kiss me one last time… that he wouldn't have the strength to move on, as if he really did love me more than he was letting on. Perhaps in hopes of sparing my feelings.

His hands cupped my cheeks. "You're so annoying." He mumbled, although I knew it was a term of endearment. My eyelids fluttered shut as I felt his breath fan across my lips before he finally closed the gap between us and kissed me tenderly. It was chaste and brief, much too brief. He pulled away with a cautious expression on his face, as if he didn't know what would happen next. And quite frankly, I didn't even know what would happen next.

I kept my eyes shut and felt his lips on mine once again. So soft and sweet. Once more… he placed two more brief but chaste butterfly kisses to my lips.

"I'm sorry." He said slowly. His voice disturbed the silence but it was not an unpleasant sound. I felt a melancholy feeling wash over me as my eyelids fluttered open.

In those few seconds I realized he did care. He was doing this for me, not him. He didn't want me to get hurt if we were together. In that kiss I realized that he was forcing himself to move on… for me. To protect me. Because that was what he was born to do.

I jumped up and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face against the contour of his collarbone. The moment was bittersweet. "You're acting like this is the last time we'll ever see each other." He tried to joke, but I could hear the real distress in his voice.

"It won't be." I assured him. I felt his body relax instantly and his arms become more natural in his embrace.

I pulled away from him, trying to hide my lonely feeling. Because I had to remind myself that he was doing this for me. "She better make you happy." My voice was hush as I brushed away his hair and cupped his cheek. "She better treat you like a God." I laughed lightly. For a brief moment pain flickered in his eyes. He didn't reply but simply placed his hand atop mine.

Then I suddenly thought to myself: There's no guarantee that she will like him back, right? Tch, stop kidding yourself…

I decided I'd better change the topic before things got awkward. I turned away from him, clasping my hands behind my back and looking upwards. "So," I turned my head to look at him and I smiled. "What do you wanna do today?"

In that moment I knew I had done something good because the smile that overtook his face was unlike any other. Like he was truly happy that I had accepted things. He seemed thankful as well. Probably that I understood. But it was all a lie. Because I simply didn't understand. I couldn't understand. How he could give whatever he had up for some stranger. For someone he met only a few weeks ago. I just didn't understand that. But I was done arguing with him for today. I didn't want to fight anymore.

He took my hand and pulled me to him. He tugged my arm lightly. I kept my gaze away from his eyes, not wanting to see him. "It doesn't matter what we do." I heard him murmur. "As long as I get to spend time with you."

My nose wrinkled in disgust. I did not want to hear those kinds of things right now. It wasn't helping. That comment made me want to shrug out of his embrace.

To pull away from him and just walk away and not care what happened with him or Karin. To find someone in my own freaking universe and love them. I gently took my hand from his and dropped it to my side.

"Actually, Sasuke. I think I should go." I was feeling so stupid for dressing up. I pulled at the hem of my skirt, trying to tug it down. He looked at me alarmed.

"Whatever for?"

He was such a child…

"I don't know. I'm going to feel weird now, honestly." I admitted. "If you do get with Karin…" I played with the hem of my skirt trying to avoid spatting her name. "Then I'm sure she would want to spend a substantial amount of time with you. And she probably wouldn't want you hanging out with another girl alone." So that was it now. I was the one that would have to leave.

He shook his head. "No trust me she likes you. She told me."

Psh, what a liar she was. I saw the glare she gave me. I shrugged my shoulders, turning back to look at him.

"I feel awkward now though." All throughout the time we've known each other it's been just us. No one else. And I liked it that way. Was I being selfish? Probably. Did I care? Only a little. Not enough to stop though. But I saw the slight anger and pain in his eyes, and decided to no longer pursue the subject.

I sighed. "Never mind Sasuke." I shook my head and turned to the door. He looked at me in confusion. "Well aren't we going somewhere?" I asked. He smiled and jogged to the door, closing it behind him.

He tried grasping my hand but I conveniently crossed my arms, not in the mood to hold his hand. We walked in the field of flowers that was in his backyard. He had such a beautiful place here. This world was so much better than Earth. It was pollution free. Except for Atrum Locus . But that was a forbidden place. That was where all of the 'bad' people went. But in my opinion, everyone that killed or enslaved Angelus Mortis' like Sasuke deserved to die themselves.

I sat down, plopping myself on the ground amidst the garden full of flowers. It was almost surreal to be here. Because Earth was so different than here. I lifted my knees, resting my chin on my kneecap. How would things change from here? I closed my eyes, not wanting to think about it. I felt Sasuke sit down next to me. Close. Too close now. He was taking my hand now. I didn't want this. He was holding it in both of his hands now. He brought it to his lips and kissed it, lingering. It burned my skin.


Found my way back in the dark tonight,

Couldn't wake up not right next to you,

I'd trade in forever to just hear you say the sound of my name,

Don't believe that the weather is perfect the day that you die.


I pulled my hand away after a moment.

And I knew that he could tell that I was not alright.

"Hime…?"

I had to listen carefully to hear his voice.

"What is it?" I was getting sleepy.

"I want to become a human."

My eyes widened in shock. "Don't say such blasphemous things, Sasuke!"

"What…?" he was confused.

"Do you even know how painful that is?! They'll rip your wings out if you say that too loud. Besides, you know that's just a myth. It's not really possible." I wasn't so sure about this, but I guessed there was something in The Rule Book about it.

He looked downwards. "You…wouldn't want me…? If I became a human?"

I shook my head at his convoluted way of thinking. "Of course I'd want you! I always want you. But I wouldn't want you to go through that pain for me, just as you wouldn't want me to throw away my life for you."

He looked away. "Promise me you won't do that to yourself, Sasuke." I demanded of him.

"…I promise…" he muttered reluctantly.

I didn't know if the look on his face was genuine or not and in all honesty, it scared me.

"Besides…" I said gently, looking down at the flowers, "You have Karin now." You don't need me anymore.

"You act like I'm replacing you with her." He sighed.

I didn't answer.

"Do you really think that?" he pressed on. After a moment of my silence he sighed again. "Hime…I could never replace you. You know that. I would never want to replace you with anyone. You'll always be my most precious person. Always you." That didn't matter, because he had to say that. He had to feel that way. The bond forced him to feel that attachment towards me. It wasn't on his own accord. I looked down at my arm where a thin scar ran across it. The scar that had bonded Sasuke and myself. The scar that made him my angel. He had an identical one on his arm. They had cut us and mixed our blood. Like when you were younger and wanted to be 'blood brothers' with your best friend. Except this was forever.

I looked at Sasuke with saddened eyes. "It's hard," I admitted. "To watch the one you love be with somebody else."

He broke eye contact with me and looked away. Things were getting too depressing for my liking. We didn't usually fight. I always came here to escape my home. Escape my world. "You weren't supposed to love me in the first place…" I heard him murmur helplessly.

"And now, I can't come to you at three in the morning if I wanted. Now I can't just pop up whenever I want because she might be here. And now I won't know when to even come. It's not like I can call you or anything." If I needed him to comfort me…like I usually did. If I needed him to just be there at any given moment, I couldn't have that anymore.

Maybe…maybe I should break the bond. I bit my lip, silently cursing myself for thinking of such things. If that happened, I'd forget about Sasuke's existence. I didn't want that…

"You can still come whenever you want." He insisted.

He just didn't get girls. They always got jealous. And when two of them were in the same room, both liking the same man, it never went down pretty.

His innocence was beginning to annoy me. What was happening to us? I never got annoyed with him like this. I never…

My fingers stroked his wings silently.

"Do you love her?" I asked in a hush voice.

"I don't know…" He replied hesitantly.

That meant he did.

I thought letting go would be easier than this. But I was just a big baby. I tugged on my skirt, and watched as Sasuke took my phone out of my pocket, examining it closely. He always did this. I had the Voyager. He'd always ask me why there were so many buttons. I remember taking pictures with him too. I had to take the flash off because he'd jump whenever it came on. I watched as he attempted to navigate through my phone, reading my messages. He was lucky I didn't speak in computer talk. He'd be so lost.

"You talk about the most random stuff with your friends…" He murmured, changing the topic. Maybe that was what I needed now. To not think about it. I leaned closer to him, looking at my phone.

"Yeah, I know. Most of it is just mindless chatter." I shrugged.

I was a little proud of him actually; he was getting the hang of navigating it this time around. I smiled softly as he looked through my pictures.

"Whose this?" He asked, pointing to a blonde boy. Naruto. It was an old picture we had taken. He had to be my best friend in my universe. In the picture his arm was draped across my shoulder and he was kissing my cheek. I was grinning and sticking my tongue out at the camera. I wondered if it made Sasuke jealous at all.

"That's Naruto." I said fondly, my eyes softening. Sasuke looked at me innocently.

"Do you love him?" he asked repeating my earlier question. But I nodded.

"Yes."

Sasuke was probably confused. "You know there are different kinds of love. Friendship, parental, partnership… I love Naruto like a brother." I clarified, just for good measure. He looked back at the picture and whispered,

"Oh." Then he promptly continued to rifle through my pictures, stopping at certain ones to smile. There were a few pictures of him and me in there, but I always had to crop out his wings in case anyone found my phone. He lingered on a picture of us where I was holding the phone out, and he was giving me a piggyback ride. It must have been really old because we both looked younger. I remembered that day so well. We had a lot of fun exploring the land together... We always used to have fun and go on adventures together, but for some reason he stopped wanting to explore. He never told me why either…

I brought my knees to my chest, resting my chin on my knee. After he was done looking through my pictures he turned to me, handing the phone back.

"Let's take a picture." He suggested.

I scooted closer to him, holding out the phone silently. His arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me close to him. For someone who wasn't used to taking pictures, he sure was a natural. Maybe it was because he was so handsome that he could never look bad in a picture anyway. I smiled, flashing my teeth and took the picture. His arm pulled back from my waist as he leaned closer to examine the picture.

"I should put this on Facebook." I snickered lightly. We both looked good in the picture.

"What's Facebook?" He asked, tilting his head. I turned to him and giggled. It was so cute when he was innocent. I was beginning to forget why I was even upset with him in the first place.

"Well in my world we have this thing called computers. It allows us to talk to people all around the world, but without having to actually talk to them. And there's certain websites people go on in order to talk to other people. Facebook is one of the websites people go on to talk. And you have a picture for your profile. But people usually have a lot of pictures of their friends and stuff." I shrugged as he listened carefully to my explanation. "I'm sure a lot of people would like this picture. You're too cute." They'd probably ask who the heck this person was and why they haven't seen him before.

I shut my phone and looked at him as he digested my words. His dark orbs met mine and I swear I could get lost in his eyes.

I cleared my throat and stood up, dusting off my skirt. I held out my hand and pulled him up (with much effort).

I kept his hand in mine, and started walking along the pathway in silence.

"You know," He began casually. "I always felt so lucky to have you. Other angels are out there being tortured, and somehow I have you. You can't imagine how much I appreciate that. I love that you treat me like an equal and I feel spoiled compared to other angels. You wouldn't even care if I did break the rules or if I did something to disobey you. You wouldn't ever hit me or punish me. And I wonder what I did to deserve you sometimes."

I listened to his words carefully, feeling a small ache form in my chest. "I can't be cruel like that. What they do is horrible." I replied, squeezing his hand. "Besides… you didn't always have it easy. Your previous owner…he was cruel too." I stopped walking to look at him. My free hand cupped his cheek as I looked up into his eyes.

"He thought I killed his son…" Sasuke shut his eyes tightly. "I was only trying to protect him." His voice was soft.

"I know Sasuke, I know." I cooed. "You didn't do anything wrong." I dropped my hand and lowered my gaze to his chest, watching it rise and fall from his breaths.

Before I knew it, he engulfed me in a hug – taking me off guard. He never really sought out comfort. But I knew he was hurting on the inside. I returned the embrace, wrapping my arms around his neck and burying my face in his shoulder.

"It'll be alright." I promised. "I'm here."


Sneak Peak of Chapter 4 – Paper Wings:

My fingers grazed the thick, dusty book. It was completely worn down – as if it had been passed down for centuries. The cover looked ancient, almost like one of those medieval kind of books. I had never touched this book before. Never seen it even. But my curiosity was sparkling with the raw impulse to just take a peek. Just a small peek. Sasuke wasn't home. He wouldn't be home for a while. He'd never even know.

Even still, I glanced around the room nervously. My heart pounded with anxiety. What if he came home and found me? What would he say? I brushed the thought aside quickly, banishing it. I sat down cross legged on the carpet and opened the book carefully.

Angelus Mortis – Owner's Manuel.

The language on the left page looked like it was Latin or something, but on the right page it was all translated into English. I guessed for the humans that lived here. All of them spoke English. So this was it. I was finally looking at the infamous Rule Book. I felt extremely guilty…but what could a little reading do? No harm done.

I flipped to somewhere in the middle of the book, my eyes scanning the pages. I already knew a lot of this stuff. I guess Sasuke was pretty honest with me. He probably respected the fact that I never pushed him to show me the book. I felt a lump forming in my throat.

This was so wrong.


A/N – I'm terribly sorry for such the late update -.- I've been sort of in a writing rut recently. But I think I'm back on top (for now). With this story I had begun to find it monotonous, finding myself running out of ideas. But I recently thought of a lot more stuff to keep you guys entertained with :P Look forward to another update (hopefully) this month. Please bear with me; I'm only human after all. Thanks for reading, please review. I know you wanna ;]