Chapter 9.

Stolen Wings and Broken Hearts.

Sasuke turned onto Broughton Avenue and cursed Neji for living on Simpson Road which had taken him two hours to find. Naruto sat on the back and contemplated on whether or not it had been a good idea to hand over his bike to the Uchiha considering the fate of the Avenger.

'There it is!'-exclaimed the blond and Sasuke thanked the universe for creating the Buddy Program. He didn't even bother parking the bike right, Naruto was already running into the apartment block as they raced to the fourth floor.

'He really wasn't kidding when he said they trashed his place.'-mumbled Sasuke as they came face to face with a broken down door and the graffiti on the wood and wall surrounding Neji's apartment. Inside they found a scene that somewhat resembled the footage of the state of homes after a tornado.

'Don't you mean he made an understatement?'-challenged Naruto. Sasuke glared at him and then looked back at the wreckage.

'Where could he be then…'

'Doesn't he have a cousin, that girl in our year?'

Sasuke nodded.

For some odd reason Sai wouldn't pick up when Sasuke tried calling him via Naruto's phone, Neji still had his. And of course neither knew where the timid girl lived so Sasuke had to muster all his strength and call Lee.

As heard by Naruto:

'No Lee, I am not calling to invite you to join RunAway.'

'No, we do not need a theme dance.'

A long pause.

'Lee, I don't care if Gai has taught you the secret of the Blue Beast drawing on Sasuke's face, I need to know Sakura's number.'

'No Lee, she's all yours.'-when saying this, he turned to Naruto and made the 'yeah right' face after which he hung up and dialled the newly acquired number.

'Yes, this is Sasuke.'

'No, I don't want to date you.'

After this he had to redial the number.

'I need to know where Hinata lives.'

'No. Sakura…'

By the time they had gotten to the house, Sasuke had a raging migraine and Naruto's phone was completely out of batteries and credit. They knocked on the door and stepped back in anticipation. After a minute or so, a girl who looked a lot like Neji opened the door and froze, he eyes first taking in Sasuke, then Naruto.

Sasuke concluded that she probably would have fainted had Neji not sown up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

'Come in Uchiha, Uzumaki.'

He was fresh out of the shower, long hair clinging to his pale skin, a pale pink towel wrapped around his waist so when he turned around, the red outline of the wings came into full view.

'Neji I'm-'

'Save it for later Uchiha, there's tea in the kitchen.'

They sat at the table in complete silence so when Neji finally came into the room, dressed in a black sweater and dark blue shorts, Sasuke gave a happy sign which to the untrained ear sounded like all his other sighs but to the initiated, the difference was all too clear.

'So…'-began Neji.

'I want to apologize.'-finished Sasuke.

'Will that make the pain go away?'-asked the silver eyed boy snidely.

Sasuke shook his head, there was something else bothering him.

'That design…'

Neji nodded.

'Yes. Last year, in the school art exhibition there was a painting called Fallen Angel by an artist who had chosen to remain anonymous. At first I figured the Angels had taken on the design because of the irony and idea. It didn't seem strange at the time, after all, at least three members go to our school. But now that I think about it, I think it's more personal. This,'-he turned his head to the side, indicating that he meant his back,-'is an up and personal attack on the artist.'

'So what does that have to do with you guys?'-came Naruto's voice.

'Alright, explanation for the retarded-'

'HEY!'-exclaimed Naruto and Sasuke. The blond turned to Sasuke, his face easily read surprise. In retaliation Sasuke blushed furiously and all of a sudden, the ceiling became the pinnacle of his interest.

'I'm the artist of Fallen Angel.'-he answered finally since Neji was being a bit of a bastard and trying to suppress a fit of giggles.

'And only two people besides him and Gai knew that; the two people that posed for the drawing. Me and Sai.'

'But that might all be a coincidence.'

Sasuke would have laughed at the blond if he hadn't been trying to convince himself of the same thing for the past couple of days.

'Yeah, after all, there was also Shikamaru…'-but Sasuke trailed off when he tried to imagine Nara as the head of Angels.

'That guy that sleeps in all the lessons, what's he got to do with all this?'

'He's the unofficial member of RunAway but since, like Sasuke here who goes off into his daydreams of you, Shikamaru falls asleep at the most inconvenient times, he doesn't ride the streets with us.'

'So what was he getting at?'-Naruto still couldn't quite understand the whole point of the trip, let alone the wings on Neji's back in context with Sasuke's painting.

'On the picture, Sai is standing at the front with his back to the viewer but is hair covers his face. Neji stands facing the viewer but his body is hidden by Sai. The Wings on Sai's jacket are the exact same ones as on the jacket of the Angel's leader.'

'But it couldn't be Sai…isn't he like your blood brother and all that?'

He didn't answer but he too found it hard to believe that his friend could be that same asshole who stood before him the previous night. Even if everything matched up, it couldn't be that same guy who had accidentally kicked a football into his head. He leaned forward, his face in his hands.

'This cannot be happening; I don't need this right now.'

They had left Neji without really coming up with any resolution and came to the Uchiha mansion since Naruto claimed that his toilet wouldn't flush and he needed to stay over with Sasuke for moral support.

He really did feel sorry for the raven haired boy, he could almost touch all the pain as he observed his 'friend' moving through the last few days.

'I don't think Neji will ever forgive me.'

Naruto leaned closer to him.

'What fucked up law says that everything bad should happen at once?'

Naruto brushed away the hair from Sasuke's cheek and-

The phone rung.

TBC

I am annoying…

Anyway, this chapter is just so dull…I think, but I wont be able to update in quite some time so I figured I'd better write something than nothing…I have too much homework and two biology tests this week so…

Wish me Luck.

And you know, REVIEWS make me REALLY happy and glad I was born so please, REVIEW!

By the way, I added he Shikamaru part in to introduce him into the story...haha