Chapter 61: The Tenshi Scroll

I made my way back to Shisui's and paused at the door. I heard laughter coming from inside. I relaxed my fist which was raised to knock and instead dropped it down to my side. I didn't want to ruin whatever fun was happening. I could hear the voices of Shisui, Itachi and Angel. I wondered if this is how it always was to an outsider looking in. To hear and see so much happiness between close friends and lovers. A small smile spread across my lips before I turned away from the door.

I would find a private area to go and focus on the scroll. It contained a lot of useful information but the truth was...I already knew that I wouldn't have my hands on it long. Luckily Angel hadn't had the chance to read any of it before she was excused from the Hokage's office. I had purposely distracted her from the words by pointing to the pictures. The thing was filled with jutsu that would be deemed forbidden in a heartbeat. I would copy it onto another scroll and return the original to the Hokage. It was risky, however I believed it necessary. If I was successful in not being caught, then returning the original scroll would help secure the trust our Hokage has for us and the scroll would be locked away, protected under high security. If word got out about the scroll, it would put Angel and I in danger from enemy ninja. I couldn't risk people knowing that we had access to it.

After renting a hotel room, I quickly locked the door behind me and closed the window blinds. I pulled a blank scroll from my bag and a writing utensil, then unrolled the Tenshi scroll. I had maybe two hours to copy down what I could before Itachi or the others would become suspicious of my absence.

Those two hours passed quicker than I had anticipated. With a deep sigh, I rolled it up again and put everything back into my bag. I would have to finish this tomorrow, somehow.

...

Shikara has been away longer than Itachi anticipated. Angel and Shisui seemed to notice as well.

"Shikara should be finished visiting with the Hokage by now...right?" Shisui asked, looking to Angel for answers.

"She was having a private conversation with Lady Tsunade after I was excused..." She replied, gazing to Itachi with worry written all over. "The Hokage gave her that scroll...maybe they were going over it together."

Angel had excitedly informed them of the scroll being in Shikara's possession when she had returned to the house. It was possible that Shikara may have gone somewhere to study it in peace. With what the Hokage told the girls about informing her of any forbidden jutsu, Itachi was starting to wonder if Shikara had found any. It was likely, considering the couple of times she had already performed such jutsu's accidentally.

"Maybe it's time for me to locate my girl..."

Shisui placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry so much. Angel and Shikara are too honest to do anything that would jeopardize our future here."

Itachi blinked with an unconvinced expression. "They have been known to be reckless before..."

Angel puffed out her cheeks. "Hey. I'm standing right here, Itachi-sama..."

The look on Shisui's face proved to Itachi that they were in agreement with his statement. Time and time again Shikara has always seemed to drum to her own beat. With a heart as wild as hers, he wouldn't put it past even Angel to do something reckless. Suddenly, a light tapping sounded at the door.

"See?" Shisui laughed before answering it to reveal Shikara. "It's like you've been summoned. We were just talking about you."

Her eyebrow raised. "I swear...if I hadn't ran here in time, you all would have been storming the streets..." She really had ran all the way here and was lightly trying to catch her breath. Her eyes met Itachi's and he knew she could see the curiosity he had. She stepped in and made her way over to him. "Itachi-sama...I need to speak with you."

He gave her a slight nod. "We will discuss it later."

"Okay." Was her simple response before turning to Angel. "When you're free, I'd like to study the scroll together."

Angel beamed a huge grin. "Yay! I can't wait. Let's study now, the boys are busy anyways."

"Hm?" Shikara looked from Itachi to Shisui. "Busy with what?"

Shisui grinned. "She's making us do things before our wedding."

Shikara blinked. "Oh, I see." She then eyed Angel. "Isn't it your job to see to the wedding planning?"

Angel blushed. "Well...the boys deserve to have a bachelor's night..."

...

A smile spread over my lips. I had to catch myself before Itachi saw the gears turning in my head. "Oh! How nice!" I smiled to the boys. "Have fun." My smile was genuine, however I could tell that Itachi was suspicious based on the eyebrow that rose.

"Angel...make sure the two of you behave..." Itachi said with narrowed eyes.

She saluted. "Sure thing!"

Now Shisui is suspicious as well. Great.

He was eyeing the two of us before glancing at Itachi. "Maybe we need to hold off for one night..."

My eyes narrowed. "You're going to hover just because we have a scroll that's nearly impossible to read?"

Angel's eyes rolled. "Maybe I need to rethink this engagement thing...right Shikara?"

Wow. That was savage...especially for her. I simply smirked. "Well...it's too late for me but given the stipulation we've made in the past...it would be fair."

Shisui's eyes widened. "You wouldn't..."

Angel shrugged. "I can deal without sexy time for another year as well. I bet you could, too, Shikara."

I grinned. "Yep, putting them in the doghouse for a year sounds about right." Extra savage. Itachi didn't have a year to wait for said 'sexy time.'

Itachi quickly grabbed Shisui to head out the door. "Be good, don't use any of those jutsus while we're away." He called over his shoulder before disappearing.

I gave Angel a 'thumbs up.' "Way to show him who's boss."

She looked really worried. "I hope I didn't take it too far."

An evil grin spread over my lips. "He'll just take it out on you when you finally do have 'sexy time.'"

I couldn't tell if she was excited or scared by the expression on her face. I laughed before finding a place at the table and cleared it off before taking the scroll from my bag.

"Let's start from the beginning with our history, then work towards the explanation of the light and dark chakras."

We slowly made our way through the history of the Tenshi clan. I softly read aloud so that Angel could just sit back and listen. She was so excited and ready to learn more about ourselves that it caused me to smile.

"It says here that they resided in the Village Hidden in the Heavens and were the only clan to remain separate from all others of the earth. The only way to reach the Village of the Heavens was by flight. In other words, using chakra to form wings. This is how the name Tenshi came to the clan. They were mistaken for angels when they came down to the earth to help bring peace to the world during times of great turmoil. Hundreds of years ago they were called upon to put an end to long lasting wars. They protected, healed and brought balance to the world below before returning to their sanctuary. The light chakra users were capable of great healing abilities from small wounds, all the way to fatal. They were capable of sealing away demonic presences as well. The dark chakra users were more like warriors. They had the power to cause mass destruction and could also summon demons to do their will. The two together were an unstoppable force. They were unified by one who could use both light and dark chakra, known as the Priest or Priestess of Harmony. They remained silent for many centuries and kept to themselves. A long lasting disagreement began to shatter their unity as a clan. After the last great ninja war, the Tenshi started to quarrel amongst themselves. Some wanted to continue to protect and nurture the world below, whilst others wished to eradicate what they thought had been corrupted and eventually rebuild a new, more pure earthly civilization. From this, a Great War broke out between the light Tenshi and the dark Tenshi. In fear that their war would make it's way to the innocent below, the late Priest of Harmony called upon a powerful demon to put an end to their quarrels. This demon was so ferocious and wild that he struggled to remain in control. The demon possessed his body and eventually brought down with him every single Tenshi. All but one, the young heir to the Tenshi clan's monarchy, who was cast from the Heavens to save their last hope of redemption."

Angel's eyes narrowed in thought. "That's strange."

"Hm?"

"This scroll is ancient, however if it speaks of us, then it must have been written or at least finished sometime around the time we came upon the earth. So it must have been completed somewhere around twelve years ago."

We stared at one another for some time before I spoke. "Maybe it was a prophecy?"

"Or maybe there's another one of our kind who still lives."

We examined the scroll carefully. It's very old, however in great condition. There are no signs to show that another had added to it. It's easy to say that it is a mystery to us. I unrolled it further so that we could continue on with the explanation of the light and dark chakras.

"It starts with light chakra. This is good because I don't think I'll ever have use for the dark..."

"Don't say that!" Angel beamed a smile. "It's like it says, I'm the healer while you're the warrior. If you continue with the ANBU, the dark chakra will be useful!"

"We'll see...let's continue."

I continued to read about the light chakra and it's healing properties. Angel grew more and more excited as I explained the many uses for it. Her energy seemed to be emitting from her and it didn't take long before her aura showed. I was eyeing her from time to time to make sure she wasn't going to explode in a beam of light.

"Do I need to pause for a moment?"

She gasped. "No! Please don't!"

"If you can calm yourself, we will continue."

"Sorry..." She closed her eyes to meditate and then after a few moments opened them again and gave me a nod. "Ready."

"Okay." I turned my attention back to the scroll and watched as something appeared. "Hm..."

"What is it, Shikara?"

"Some kind of a seal appeared."

"What!?" Angel popped up from her seat and observed what I spoke of. She worded out the direction that encircled around the seal. "To the master of light and dark, release your power here to reveal these secrets." She eyed me. Doesn't the scroll already hold secrets without releasing our chakra?"

"Yes...but I thought it was odd. None of the jutsus shown seemed to be completed."

"So if we release our chakra, maybe we will see the completed steps for each jutsu?"

"It's possible."

"Let's try."

"Wait!"

Just as she was about to place her hand on the seal, the boys came through the door.

"Hold it! Take your hand away from the scroll, Angel." Shisui came in first and quickly made his way over.

She pulled her hand back with an irritated expression. "Were you there the whole time!?"

"Luckily we were. Gods knows what you two would have done otherwise." Shisui said. He looked to me and arched his eyebrow. "Were you really going to tell her to stop?"

I slowly rolled up the scroll and tied it before placing it back in my bag. I was afraid he would take it away. "I'm not ready to use the dark chakra." I simply explained. "It would need both light and dark to fully reveal the jutsus."

Shisui turned to Itachi who calmly made his way in, his eyes locked on Angel. "I trusted you to be the sensible one. It seems that I should have asked Shikara to keep the two of you out of trouble." A small smile appeared on his lips before he looked to me. "Do the two of you think we're dull?"

I blinked in confusion before realizing what he meant. "Oh...Angel set this up so that you two would stay out of the way...this makes sense now." My eyes met hers. She seemed really ashamed. "I want to learn more as well. I'd like to find a way to heal Itachi-sama. That's my goal. However I never asked you what you wanted from this."

Angel's eyes met the table. "I just want to be able to control my chakra. It's getting more difficult with every day that passes."

I gazed up at Shisui. "May we search for an answer to this?"

He seemed a bit reluctant but because I asked nicely he gave a nod. "Don't try anything though, just because I care for the two of you doesn't mean I won't stop you."

"I understand, Shisui-sama." I said as I grabbed the scroll once more from my bag and unrolled it. Itachi came over and sat beside me. I felt like we were on lockdown. What Shisui said was true though, just because they care for us it doesn't mean they'd allow us to do anything that could jeopardize the Leaf or it's people. It's not like we wanted to cause harm to anyone but to actually have the scroll in our possession is really exciting. We all knew where excitement usually got us.

Angel shifted so that she could see better. "There." She pointed to the light chakra section, way at the end. "It says if the light chakra user does not expend their energy often, it will build and eventually explode outwards."

"That's why..." I muttered. My eyes met hers. "You must use your chakra, otherwise it has effects such as the ones we've seen."

"Right!" She eyed Shisui. "Because my chakra doesn't cause harm, may I use it? Only to heal and give energy. It's all I can do until I learn more jutsus."

We both knew we had to ask, rather than just do when it came to Shisui. He was funny that way. I guess it was necessary, considering that we promised not to use our chakra until we've studied the scroll...even though that promise has already been broken once.

He sighed. "We've seen you freely give energy before without issue..."

"I think it's fair until she learns more. We don't have much choice, either way." Itachi seemed amused by this. Even if they wouldn't allow her to do something so simple, eventually it would just burst out of her anyways.

"May I use it on you two?" She asked the boys.

They looked to one-another and then gave a nod. Angel and I knew they actually enjoyed the chakra, they'd be lying if they said otherwise.

While she focused to release some of her chakra, I stared at my hand. I was glad that I didn't seem to need to use the dark chakra, at least not yet. Kurai had been lying all this time about nearly everything. He even acted as though the dark chakra was his when it was really my own. I felt a hand rest on my thigh and peered over to Itachi. He seemed energized again after allowing Angel to use her light chakra on him. Oddly enough I felt some envy. I wanted my chakra to make him feel better, too.

"What plagues your mind?"

My eyes went to the scroll. "I want to be able to heal you as Angel can."

"You're jealous?"

Angel peered at Itachi when he asked this and then looked to me curiously. She seemed a bit worried about hurting my feelings.

"A little...even though it's odd to view one's self this way, right?" I sighed. "It's just...I was left with damaging chakra. I can only bring pain to those I use it on."

"But you can summon demons! I can only seal them away." Angel said encouragingly.

We all eyed her. "Angel...I have no intention of ever summoning demons..."

She looked at the scroll and found the section on dark chakra. "Look." She pointed. "They're loyal to those who use the chakra, it's how they take form. They're powerless without dark chakra."

I felt my teeth clench in annoyance. "Remember Kurai?"

Angel blinked. "He was different."

I stood from the table and my eyes narrowed down at her. "You don't know that. For all any of us know all demons are dishonest, murderous creatures, who would love to take control over ones body and destroy anything they love before their very eyes. Not to mention the contracts they form." I motioned to myself. "I'm not going to use the dark chakra...so we can drop the subject."

Shisui sighed in relief. "At least you're sensible."

Angel shot him a look and muttered under her breath. "Doghouse, one year."

He smirked at her. "You just wait..."

The two became silent as Shisui grinned at Angel and her glare deepened. I rolled my eyes before looking to Itachi who seemed to be in thought, ignoring the two. He must be in agreement with Shisui and was contemplating what to say.

Itachi eventually eyed me curiously. "You mentioned something before, that the dark chakra would begin to deteriorate you from the inside out."

I blinked, a little surprised by his recollection. "The demon lied."

Shisui responded with slight reluctance. "You said you could feel it before you split into two. That's why you were trying to use it then."

I shot a glare at him. "It doesn't matter."

"It does matter! You forget that I felt it too." Angel joined. "You're so hell bent on not using the dark chakra that you would actually lie about how you're feeling?"

I dropped my glare to the table. "Just let it go..." I muttered.

They were all staring at me. I sighed and knelt down before rolling up the scroll.

"What are you doing?" Angel asked, creasing her brows.

"I think that's enough for now." I let out a breath and gave a small smile. "I won't be trying anything with the scroll, so it's best if I hang on to it for now."

Shisui held out his hand with a smug expression. "I'll hang on to it."

Angel sighed. "I feel so...mistrusted."

My eyebrow arched as I reluctantly handed the scroll over to Shisui. "I mean...can you blame them...?" I placed a hand on her head and gently ruffled her hair. "Don't be upset. We will study more tomorrow after your meeting with Sakura."

Angel rolled her eyes. "Fine. But right after I want to study the scroll extensively so that I can help people as soon as possible."

Shisui walked to his room and then returned without the scroll. "It's safely locked away." He said to Itachi who gave him a nod.

"Really...?" Angel seemed frustrated again.

He approached her and held out a hand which she eventually took, giving him a salty look. "You'll have your scroll back tomorrow." Shisui coaxed and brought her up to him.

"What are you? My dad?" Angel softly retorted.

I smirked when Shisui gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead, then whispered something in her ear that caused her to turn bright red. I already knew what was said. Angel was on her way for a massive punishment and almost felt a sting of jealousy. I made note to not be anywhere around them when their marriage finally came.

"Okay...I have to make preparations for tomorrow." I looked to Itachi with a smile. "You and Shisui should go out and have fun...now that you don't have to worry about that scroll."

Itachi looked out the window. "It's still early..." his eyes met mine again, "you girls should come with us."

"That defeats the purpose of a bachelor's party."

"So does not being a bachelor." He countered.

Shisui jumped in. "It would be more fun with girls."

"There will be plenty of girls out. Last chance, boys." Angel winked teasingly.

"Not interested." The boys said in unison.

"Why don't you two want to go yourselves?" I asked with a hand on my hip.

"Maybe because the safe Shisui put the scroll in isn't to my standards..."

"Hey! It's a good safe!" Shisui said a little deflated.

My eyebrow raised at him. "You honestly think that Angel or myself couldn't figure out the combination? That thing is older than all of us...combined..."

"Really...? Don't give us away like that, Shikara." Angel complained.

"Oops." I covered my mouth sarcastically.

"Maybe I should give you some light chakra. You've been edgy lately."

I moved myself behind Itachi and glared at her from around him. "Don't you dare."

Angel grinned. "Fine, willow in your darkness, I'm going to go get ready." She skipped off to Shisui's room and I shamelessly bolted for the door.

"Whoa!" Shisui blocked the door. "Where are you going?"

"Please..." I begged, "I must escape before she puts me in something frilly and girly..."

Shisui eyed my dress. "So...you're running away...because of that?"

"Shikara!" My name was called from the room.

Shisui grinned. "You're being summoned."

"I hate you right now..." My flat expression caused his grin to widen.

"Shikara, come see what I got for you!!!" Angel called again with a sing-song voice.

My eyes narrowed at Shisui. He chuckled before spinning me around and pushed me towards the hallway.

"Good luck."

I looked to Itachi for help but he was acting like he was watching the sun setting outside the window.

Traitor.

Angel came storming out of the room wearing a frilly white dress and matching white stockings with baby blue bows at her thighs.

No...please no...

"Seriously!? You're acting like I'm about to murder you, come here." She grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the room. I could hear Shisui stifling laughter the whole way.