.: Sorry for the late update. I kind of got stuck on my first battle sequence and decided to take my time with it instead of forcing it to be written. I'm pleased with the result, but I hope future ones will be much better. Thanks for your dedicated reviews, Thomas :) :.

The Archangel of the Hidden Leaf

Chapter 15:

The Stolen Birthright

After departing from the hideout, Sasuke activated his curse mark that was tattooed on the back of his neck. By focusing his chakra on it, its black shape morphed and spread across his skin. The color changed into that of flames as bright as his fireball jutsu, but once every inch of his body was touched, it quickly darkened into a gray. The cells in his hair follicles were stimulated to grow significantly faster, extending his raven hair farther down his back while bleeding into a bluer shade. The darkness of his irises turned yellow since he had not activated his Sharingan. The last feature to sprout was the pair of fleshy wings that resembled webbed hands with long spikes for fingernails.

It was uncommon for Sasuke to transform into such a state. Battles were few and far between for him since he spent most of his time with Orochimaru. The feeling of the curse mark's power running through his body felt good to the senses. It would be one of the ways he would kill his brother Itachi when the time came. But for now, he had to use it for other purposes.

Night had passed since Akuma left. Although he was unsure of whether or not he had traveled under the gloomy veil it provided, he had to find him as soon as possible. The best method to accomplish that would be to travel by air. He beat his wings in a downward motion to propel himself off the ground, and then quickly found a rhythm to rise higher and higher. His body laid horizontal so that his wings could flap like that of a bird.

Before he had come outside, Orochimaru provided him with information regarding the locations Akuma would be visiting. He did not know what route he would take, but it was unimportant. The subject had mentioned "old friends" that he would have to recruit to assist him in his endeavors, which meant he would visit all of the hideouts Orochimaru spoke of. Sasuke would either have to intercept him in the middle of his route or wait at a location for his arrival. Right now, he preferred to try catching up to him.

The most prominent hideouts Orochimaru had were the southern hideout and the northern hideout, but Akuma was not heading to either of those. Instead, his aim was a series of small experimentation labs that were shrouded in mystery for everyone outside of his circle. Sasuke visited several such labs before, so locating the specific ones would be a simple task. He just hoped this would not be a hassle for him.

Keeping his gaze fixed on the ground below, which turned from sand to grass to forest, the lone Uchiha searched for the man with chestnut brown hair and a brown garment that draped over his shoulders.

Naruto slipped his clothes back on after jumping down from the branch. The excitement of cutting the massive waterfall in half was sending endorphins through his brain and pushing away all hints of sleep deprivation. He could not wait to start the next step in his training! But his promise to Dolia had not been forgotten, either. "How about this, if I can cut the waterfall today, I'll properly teach you how to properly use chakra. It's only fair since you gave me good advice," he had told her not even an hour ago. Kakashi disapproved, but he still thought that knowing some self-defense was better than solely relying on someone else for protection. The unknown was too risky.

Kakashi was surprised when Naruto walked right past him. Usually, he would be pleading desperately to start training again. He turned to see his student go up to Dolia and squat in front of her. "A promise is a promise," he cheerily said to her. "Remember those hand signs I showed you?"

Kakashi sighed. "Yamato, you can get rid of the waterfall," he communicated to him without looking. He then walked to the two juniors.

"Keep practicing them," Naruto instructed her. "The faster you get, the better the manipulation of chakra becomes. Your Shadow Clones will be complete replicas of you when there's no hesitation in your form."

"Naruto," Kakashi interrupted, hearing the waterfall submerge back into the ground with a trembling rumble. "We're supposed to be training you, not her."

"Sorry, Sensei," he replied as he stood up straight. "Just keeping her occupied so she doesn't get bored."

"Right…" Kakashi trailed. Yamato's pants could be heard from behind. The three of them looked to him as he slumped over, but the absence of the enormous wall of water was much more obvious. It took a lot of chakra to put it together, and it also took a lot to bring it all down. Now there was nothing to view on the training grounds.

"Give me a few minutes," Yamato groaned as he shifted his body weight around to properly lay down.

"Hear that?" Naruto spoke up, putting his attention back on Dolia. "We got some time to practice together."

"No, you don't," Kakashi diverted. "Be serious, Naruto. This third step in your training is going to need all of your attention."

Dolia watched the two interchange in a calm argument, feeling awkward as she stayed quiet despite being in the center. They could not see it, but her eyes darted between them depending on who was speaking. While it was happening, however, she could not help but feel the urge to urinate. Naruto wanted to teach her more about Shadow Clones, but Kakashi was probably wanting to put her back up in the tree. Either way, she needed to relieve herself at some point.

"Self-defense is important!" Naruto debated.

"I'm not saying it isn't. I'm saying that you have a job to do, and she doesn't have any involvement in it," Kakashi explained.

Dolia heaved herself up to head into the copse of trees behind her. Doing so caused Kakashi and Naruto to halt their exchange. "Where're you going?" Naruto questioned, confused.

She glanced over her shoulder momentarily. "I need to pee," she answered softly.

"Ah! I don't need to know that!" he suddenly exclaimed, looking away.

She subtly giggled at his reaction to her honesty and continued to her destination.

Naruto gazed up at Kakashi, who showed no sign of doing his job regarding her. He was probably not wanting to hear something personal like that either, so he decided to have some fun with it. "Aren't you going to make sure she doesn't run away, Kakashi Sensei?" he joked, holding his hands behind his head.

Kakashi moved his eyes down to him, wanting to roll them. "Come on," he prompted, ignoring the comment. "Let's get started."

Sasuke flew without a break. He let his monstrous wings absorb the flow of wind for short periods of time, gliding to a descent. When he got too low, he flapped his wings a few times to lift higher until he was comfortable. His sight remained locked on the dirt road that cut through the dense forest that covered the entirety of the Land of Fire. There was a high chance Akuma would be traveling its path. It did not lead directly to one of the hideouts, but it was close enough.

He was being observant, but what he did not know was that people were observing him as well. In a small glade that blended in with the green environment, two men watched as Sasuke passed over them like an enormous, mutated bat. It was something neither ever expected to witness, but it was also an alarming spectacle that brought with it a sense of familiarity.

"You see that, too, right?" the stockier of the two men asked.

"I do," the other replied. Many thoughts crossed his mind. A feeling of vigilance came over him. "Come on," he prodded, running through the trees to trail the creature. With the second set of footsteps following behind him, they both pursued Sasuke without entering his line of vision. He remained in the lead unknowingly.

"Who is he?" the taller man questioned, his draping black garment swirling behind his back with the artificial breeze.

"No clue."

Sasuke dipped in his glide, so he flapped his wings again to gain more height. But in that same moment, he felt something big and powerful collide into his back. It hit him hard and unexpectedly. Wind surged through his long mane with the involuntary plunge back to the ground. Some breath knocked out of his lungs upon impact, but he cocked his head to see what was digging into the center of his spine. To his shock, he came face-to-face with a person.

The stocky man stared into Sasuke's yellow irises, giving him a full view of his coal-black shaved hair and a vertical scar on his lip from a fixed birth defect. His muscles were bunched in his arms and shoulders, making him appear to be bigger than he actually was. Looking into his eyes, he saw how unnatural the irises were and how the sclera was not white but black. His brows flared in alarm. The curse mark of Orochimaru!

Sasuke noticed his elbow, strengthened with focused chakra, was what was alerting his pain receptors. After a quick series of hand signs, he activated the Chidori in his palm, projecting its high-pitched squeal. He twisted his body in an attempt to strike the attacker with it, but he saw it coming in time to push Sasuke away. Upon doing so, Sasuke opened his wings to their fullest span and felt the wind fill-up the webbing between the grotesque fingers. The range between himself and the attacker suddenly shrunk. The Chidori still hissed in his grasp with its thin electric bolts fluctuating in all directions. He would strike once more and make contact this time.

But the attacker revealed something behind his back that completely caught Sasuke by surprise. Something triangular and made of pale human flesh jolted outward on both sides of his torso. He caught the rush of the wind like Sasuke had and used it to propel himself up and over the Uchiha like an obstacle merely in the way of his path. With him, Sasuke rolled in the air, tucking in his wings and then unfolding them again, and went in pursuit straight for the ground. He flapped his wings to speed up, seeing only his posterior and how the skin pigment of his third set of limbs did not match that of his own.

What is this? Sasuke questioned himself, watching the limbs flap just like his wings did.

Unable to catch up, Sasuke followed him as he jerked his whole body upwards to avoid colliding with the ground and instead dig his heels into it to halt in all his movement. Sasuke slowed down his descent by absorbing wind again and flapping his wings a few times to land on his feet. The man turned around to gaze at him. "You possess the curse mark," he stated, relaxing his mysterious limbs so they once again hid behind his back.

"Who are you?" Sasuke interrogated, activating his red Sharingan to replace his yellow irises.

The man noticed it and immediately recognized the legendary stare of the Uchiha, but he refrained from commenting on Sasuke's heritage.

Another man stepped out from under the canopy of trees to join the two on the path. Sasuke nearly activated another Chidori but stopped once he identified Akuma. His chestnut hair was still tied underneath a cloth headband and a draping garment hung over his shoulders to conceal his arms along with his torso. "Akuma," Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes.

Even though Sasuke was transformed, Akuma found a glimmer of recognition in the shape of his face and how the strands of hair laid. He did not have much interaction with people who possessed the curse mark, but it was easily distinguishable. Considering he had ties with Orochimaru, that he recognized him, and that he knew his name, Akuma concluded who this stranger was. "You're Orochimaru's new subordinate," he declared, picturing him standing silently next to the Snake Sage. "So sorry for Kyojin's approach. We had our misgivings about a winged human we did not know personally."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

With a smirk, Akuma reached for the clasp that held his garment in place and unfastened it. He let it fall to the ground around his feet, revealing his bare torso underneath. Just like Kyojin, the third set of limbs expanded behind his back, sharing the same pale skin pigment that did not match his own. The magnitude of them was greater than Kyojin's; triangular with a rounded bottom, they somewhat reminded Sasuke of the wings of a bat.

"You see, we are successful test subjects of Lord Orochimaru," Akuma explained, stretching his wings outward. "We hold souvenirs from the decimated clan of archangels."