Yami Tenshi: Dark Angel

Disclaimer: I…own…nothing…

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

Chapter 7- Reminiscences and Art/Creative Writing

Chiyo sat at her desk in Hatake Kakashi's room again. A lot had happened since that morning. 'I only have to get through this class and then…I'm free. What a relief.' Suddenly, she stiffened and reached up to rub at her temples. Her entire body felt worn out and heavy. As the bell rang, her mind wandered back to the little confrontation she had with Haruno Sakura that morning.

FLASHBACK

"Why are you using these hunks of meat to do your bidding? What's the matter, Haruno? You enjoy mocking and bullying your peers, yet you aren't brave enough to face them when trouble arises. Are you so weak that you need these bodyguards to protect you? Pathetic."

"No one calls me pathetic and lives!"

END FLASHBACK

Chiyo now somewhat regretted her words. She understood that Sakura had a reputation and an image to uphold. She was popular, thus she needed to be a snob to everyone and she had to prove somehow that she was better than everyone to make that label stick. 'I guess I shouldn't have lost my temper like that,' she thought. 'But still, she had no right to say what she did to Hinata…'

"Hey! Watch where you're going, freak!"

'Freak.' Chiyo felt her lip curl in anger and disgust. Well, at least Tenten and Hinata were alright. They had stared open-mouthed at her afterwards and from what she heard, she had built up quite a reputation for herself, and this was only her first day. All through the day, though, she had felt many stares on her and many pairs of eyes boring holes in the back of her head. She shook herself from her thoughts when Hinata slid quietly into the seat beside her.

"How's your leg, Hinata?"

"Hmm? Oh, it's fine. Chiyo-chan, I haven't really gotten a chance to say how grateful I am for what you did this morning."

"Hinata," Chiyo laughed. "You and Tenten both have been thanking me all day and to be honest, one can get tired of hearing those two words."

"But one can never get tired of saying them." Hinata responded, smiling. "Tenten is still in the nurse's office, though. Shizune says she has to rest a bit." Her expression turned sorrowful. "I should've known that there was something wrong. Then she started have difficulty breathing in physical education…if not for you Chiyo…oh, I have to say it again! I can't thank you enough!"

Chiyo smiled gently and patted Hinata on her back. "It wasn't a problem." She picked up a pencil and idly twirled it in between her fingers. She felt a pair of eyes on her and rolled her own. 'You know, I've never really been the type of girl who adores attention. All these stares are getting pretty aggravating.' Her eyes wandered over to the door and she silently took note of who was coming in. The late bell rang and the last stragglers staggered in the classroom, some out of breath and others red in the face from running from the other side of the campus.

"As it turns out, Chiyo, the new girl, did not show any unusual behavior of any kind again, save for the fight she had with Haruno Sakura right after Gai's physics class. I'm sure Kakashi already filled you in on all the details. I told him what happened and he was supposed to tell you. No, aniki. No. She didn't start the fight, Sakura did. She was defending Hyuuga Hinata and that other girl…what's her name? Oh yeah, Tenten. What? Yes, the Hyuuga heiress. Yes, Neji's cousin. What? No. No. I refuse. No-don't hang up on me. Don't you dare-Itachi! Hey!"

Gritting his teeth in frustration, Sasuke flipped his cell phone shut. He was tired of staring at her. 'Too many times,' he growled inwardly. 'It has been too many times that she's caught me staring at her. What if she thinks I'm some sort of lovesick fool!' Coincidently, Sasuke just happened to be in each and every one of her classes. Tiredly, he put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes. Naruto sat on his right, Neji on his left, and Gaara was behind him as usual, sullen and silent.

Neji eyed the pale girl two rows in front of him that was sitting next to his cousin. 'Strange…' he mused. The Hyuuga still could not get the incident that happened this morning out of his mind. 'You are being foolish, Neji,' he scolded himself. 'How could she have been using the Byakugan? You saw yourself, and you've been seeing it all day- her pupils are black.'

Gaara had heard of what occurred that morning from Naruto, and he stared stoically at Chiyo. He, Sasuke, and Naruto had been witnesses of the fight from that morning. He could not forget the way she had stared into his eyes that morning. Stared right at him, made eye contact, and held that gaze for more than thirty seconds. Most people tore their eyes away in three milliseconds. Her black eyes held no fear, no disgust, no surprise, no shock…no nothing. They were blank, clear, empty. Yet at the same time, cold, hard as steel, and threatening.

Naruto propped his chin up in his hands, staring blankly at the back of Chiyo's head. He was in awe of the awesome amount of chakra she had been using when she was fighting Sakura that morning. Both girls were using Taijutsu and Sakura had perfect chakra control, yet Chiyo won the fight in less than a minute. When Sakura that been aiming for her fist to strike Chiyo in the stomach, Chiyo reached down and grabbed the other girl's wrist. Using two fingers, she pressed on the thumb side of Sakura's hand, against the bone and upwards. Then, she brought a foot up and kicked Sakura in the stomach, hard- but she didn't let go of the other girl's wrist. Chiyo had ducked down then, and the force of her kick caused Sakura to flip over her back and slam into the crowd of people on the opposite side. (All these details were courtesy of Sasuke, thanks to his sharingan.)

'Just with one kick,' Naruto mused. 'One kick! She was damn fast, too. At the same time, Sakura only had a lot of bruises, not one broken rib or anything. Amazing chakra control on Chiyo's part. Yet…' Naruto's eyes narrowed. 'I sense a great weariness in her body right now. She even looks tired. What a strange person.'

Kakashi stood up at the front of the room. He was no stranger to what happened this morning and had a lot of the teachers keep an eye on Chiyo. He closed the door with a loud bang, ignoring the idiot who was banging on the glass on the other side. Everyone got quiet and looked expectantly at their teacher. "I do not allow tardiness in my class," he said sternly. "Nor do I allow laziness. Some of you took this class because you thought it would be an easy A. I'm telling you now, you are wrong. If there is anyone here who fits into that category, you can leave now and have your schedule rearranged. I'm sure Tsuande-sama would just love to have to go through the extra paperwork just for you."

Three crazy halfwits who were rising out of their seats sat down immediately. Tsuande-sama was not known for her patience and it was a known fact that she despised paperwork. "Now then," Kakashi continued, "I expect that all of you in here are intelligent and creative. I would like to see that talent be put to good use."

Naruto leaned over a bit and whispered to Sasuke, "I haven't seen him this serious in a long time. What's he planning?"

"Now, I have partners already picked out. They are listed on the board. Your assignment is to get together with your partner and either write a short piece about them, draw something, or something else. I want you to put down on paper what you see in the other person at first glance. But I expect this to be your best work and I don't want anything boring, like an interview. Be original. You will turn in your work at the end of class. Begin!" Kakashi leaned back in his chair and behind the book cover of 'Come, Come Paradise,' he was flipping through the Yami Tenshi file for what, the sixth time that day?

Chiyo's eyes flickered up to the board and her eyebrows arched. Hyuuga…Neji? How interesting. She looked back two rows and caught the white eyes of her partner. Glancing at Hinata beside her, she quickly decided that it would be a bad idea to ask him to come sit beside her.

Rising up from her chair quietly, she made her way two rows back and sat down in the vacant seat beside Neji. Silently, she took out a pencil and a piece of paper. Her black eyes flickered up to meet pure white ones. He blinked and looked back down at his paper. His hand was moving the pencil in fast, fluid strokes across his paper.

Chiyo smiled gently at looked down at her paper, at her hand. For a few moments, nothing came to her. Then, she knew why. 'I know everything about him and I'm only supposed to be observing him as from first appearance. Think Chiyo, think. C'mon. Act as if you don't know him.' After a good minute or two, she slowly moved her pencil across the paper…

ONE HOUR LATER…

Sasuke looked down at his sketch and frowned. 'Thanks a lot, Kakashi for making my partner the hated family relation of one of my best friends.' Under his skilled hand, a picture of the Hyuuga heiress had appeared. Hinata was shown wearing a kimono with an intricate pattern stitched onto it. She appeared to be sitting on a glassy lake's surface, a shy smile on her face and the moon above her. 'There seems to be something missing…' Without thinking, the Uchiha prodigy once again took up his pencil. His hand seemed to move with a mind of its own and…he drew a pair of graceful wings on Hinata's back. 'What in the world? Hey…that actually looks better.'

Neji intently studied his work. He had drawn a picture of Chiyo and he had had time to color it, too. She was staring out an open window, hands folded on the window sill. She sat in a chair, slightly hunched. She was wearing a grey skirt and blouse and he drew her hair blowing out behind her, as if a breeze was coming through. But what he wanted to emphasize in his picture was her eyes. Her obsidian eyes had a wistful, faraway, saddened look, as if she was staring at something she could not have. Clasped around her ankle was a thick shackle. It was connected to a long chain that ran off the edge of the picture.

Chiyo, he could see, was also done. She was now tapping her pencil against the desktop and humming softly. Her dark eyes were fixed on a point behind Neji and he didn't have to look to know that it was the window. He couldn't help the twinge of curiosity that tugged at his mind at what she had written or drawn about him. His white eyes glanced at her piece of paper and widened in shock for a split second. His hand went up to his forehead as his eyes narrowed.

There, on the sheet of paper, plain as day was a bird. It was a beautifully drawn bird, head held high and wings spread wide. But…its wings were clipped. There were dark patches of shading underneath the bird's wings and drops of blood dripping from the jagged feathers. It was in a cage, a large lock on the door. But as he looked closer, he saw that it wasn't a lock at all. It was simply in the shape of the lock, the cursed seal on it where the keyhole was supposed to be. At the bottom of the paper, there was a single sentence that he couldn't read. Chiyo's handwriting was too slanted and small.

Neji opened his mouth, about to say something to her when the bell rang. "Class! Time's up! Put your assignments on my desk and get out of here!" Kakashi called, standing up. The drawing was snatched out from under the Hyuuga's intent gaze as Chiyo stood up and almost ran to the front of the classroom. She laid it on Kakashi's desk and walked out the door, talking to Hinata. Neji activated his Byakugan, and looked through the walls. Chiyo was waving to Hinata and smiling as the two went their ways.

"Neji! Let's go!" Naruto was snapping his fingers in front of the older boy's face and Neji stood slowly, following the energetic blond to the door. 'That girl…' he thought, laying his assignment on Kakashi's desk, 'is more than she seems.'

Chiyo ran from the campus. She ran as fast as she could, for she knew what was happening to her. She struggled to stay awake, struggled to clear her vision. The familiar feeling was spreading and she ran all the faster. She ran towards the only one that could help her. Even though she knew that she would be punished for her actions that day, even though she knew he would be disappointed and the consequences would be severe...she still ran to him. She ran for her life.

TBC...

A/N: Please, tell me which pairing you prefer!

Chiyo + NejiChiyo + Sasuke

Yes, I have already decided that our 'new girl' will be paired with one of these two. Depending on which one is picked, the rest of the pairings will be posted in the next chapter.

And to all my reviewers, thank you so much! You encourage me and I promise that another chapter will be up soon!