"Then which type of person would you call an angel then?"

"You"


All Hearts
Part 7


"A-... ahahahaha, whoa, whoo, yea, uh-um that was kinda embarrassing ae," Naruto let out an unsure laugh and flustered about by waving his hands around, because he suddenly became not quite too sure on what to do with them.
The sight of Naruto flapping his arms around almost like a chicken made Sasuke obliviously spill laughter from his usually unsmiling mouth.
Naruto stared at the other in awe, his eyes wide in shock as if Sasuke had suddenly sprouted wings, which Naruto mentally did see. But this time, it wasn't pure coal black and shimmering like a raven's feather. It was a pure white dove's feather without the slightest stain that would get in the way of the vibrant white chastity it was radiating.
This was definitely the definition of angel in hisdictionary.

Though he doesn't realise yet, that only he had the capability of making Sasuke forget and be free of any troublesome thoughts that burden his mind for a period, softening his features that was usually hardened with a layer of thick, stoic mask.

"L-l-look at me, Sasuke! I'm nothing but dirty rags and scars and a bushy bunch of hay!" Naruto stuttered, defining himself while pointing at every part of his body: his clothes, face and head, "while you're like...like... just... perfect... with nothing... missing..."

Ah, Naruto's sincerity and honesty was just too bright for Sasuke, and he stared down at the angel he coincidentally had found with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes due to the depth of solitude it reflected.

"Although appearance is definitely part of the definition..." Sasuke calmly murmured as the the pain in the heart started to return to him, gradually becoming expressed upon his facial features, "I was meaning more of the inside, Naruto."

The heart and soul... how untainted and pure...

It was impossible for Sasuke to become like Naruto whose appearance was quite similar by age and physical maturity, yet his heart and mind was still an untouched, pure child.
Not having much education as a child meant that he didn't have much knowledge on things he should and shouldn't know.
Of course education was important to get you through life and society. To learn the rules on what's the right or wrong thing to do.
What justice is and what crime is.

But not knowing anything of the sort isn't just being naive and innocent.
There are many things that are told that are things you would've never had to come across or even think about if you hadn't any knowledge of it in the first place.
Education is a world you're pulled into with information inputted into the brain to keep you in line but to tell you how to get out of line because of being informed that there is a line that isn't allowed, but isn't impossible to go across.

Honest and sincerity as pure and crystal clear as Naruto was long gone from Sasuke's heart without a trace left due to permanent scars of memories that wound his heart beyond repair like a rip that constantly leaked blood, emotions and sins that weighed down his heart that represented the burden he had to carry for the rest of his life, like a cross twice as heavy as himself.

To be frank, Naruto was childish.
But that was what made the boy have this angelic feature.
Something the opposite existence such as Sasuke, would be jealous of and attracted to.
Maybe that was the exact reason why he was so concerned about Naruto, wanting a bond and keep himself from falling below the balancing level of a scale that dared to sink Sasuke lower and lower.

Naruto scrunched his face into a very difficult expression as he tried to figure what the angel face but so-called devil was trying to say with his eyes that intensely stared into those azure blue pair.
Noticing Naruto craning his neck and trying to look at Sasuke from different angles, made Naruto unintentionally earn another chuckle from the other, as Sasuke waved his thoughts off with a shake of his head.
Jumping off the horizontally placed steel, he landed almost soundlessly down to the sand ground and started to walk towards the other side of the park.

"Let's go back..."

The gravel beneath his feet made out the only sound heard in the park, and Sasuke realized that Naruto wasn't following.

" 'Go back'...?"

Naruto's whisper almost got taken away with the wind before it reached Sasuke's ears, but catching it before it was gone, made Sasuke whip his head around.

"Yeah... my apartment?" Sasuke replied unsurely, not quite sure why the atmosphere had changed all of a sudden.
Naruto felt the hint of disappointment when Sasuke said those words, and Naruto lightened up.

"Oh, your place? If I can get those noodles in a cup again, hell yeah!" he shot a fist up in the air and jumped before trotting towards Sasuke, who once in for all, loved the extreme mood changes Naruto was able to easily create.

Though Sasuke didn't miss the look that plastered across Naruto's face for a brief moment.

'Go back...?'

It was the first time Naruto had looked hazy in the eyes as if those words were the trigger for Naruto's mind to hypnotize himself into memories of the past.
If Naruto wasn't willing to share, Sasuke wasn't going to stick his nose into other people's business, so he decided to forget that spur moment of Naruto being unlike himself.
Slightly shivering at the coldness biting at his body, he hugged the coat tighter and sped up.


Unlocking the door to the dark raven's apartment, the street boy followed in after the owner of the house like an obedient dog. The smell of the noodles he loved was still there, lingering, inviting him to hunger as his stomach growled.
Hearing the low growl, Sasuke turned back and with a questioned look, receiving a lopsided smirk from Naruto.

"Ehehe... whoops?"

Sasuke pointed towards the counter of his kitchen, indicating the hungered boy to sit, while he hung his coat on a hook.

"Sit there and give me a few minutes," Sasuke ordered, and headed off to the bathroom after receiving a nod from the obedient stray.

He closed his eyes and listened to the noises he could capture within his ear's range like he would usually do as a hobby, but to his surprise, he heard absolutely nothing.

He would always hear the wind, the dripping water, the slight noisy atmosphere and the wild cats rummaging the trash can even at the quietest moments, but here, he heard nothing, like he was closed off from the whole world.

Naruto couldn't quite understand why that was, since he had never been inside a room for a start, but he knew that there should at least be a single source of sound from somewhere within the room.
Where people were, noise existed.

That what he had thought until now, where the windows were shut, the doors were locked, the taps were tightly screwed and everything was so in place and confined, that Naruto found a little claustrophobic or rather a little unnerving and unnatural, where he instinctively felt that it was not quite right.

No sound was something Naruto couldn't understand, for he never experienced being in a place so deadly silent. Being so locked up in a place like this with no sound left him with an impression of imprisonment or hideout, which was exactly what it was for Sasuke, although Naruto would have no idea as to why.
Why Sasuke was shutting himself from the world, closing off all interactions from the outside, keeping himself all alone?
Why would Sasuke create such a solid and solitary shell to avoid everything and anything?
Was it for protection? Then from what?

"...why would he do that?" Naruto voiced out his words.

As quickly as the question naturally came out in a whisky voice, a solid reply came from the other side of the room.

"Why would I do what?"