.: This chapter surpassed the 100 page milestone in the Word document I use to write this fanfic in. And Thomas, you have made some reviews that regarded what the Tenshi Clan could have been like. Well, it inspired me a little bit to elaborate on the matter. So here you go! Also, I apologize for how slow the plot has become. I think it will start speeding up once a certain canon event occurs. :.

The Archangel of the Hidden Leaf

Chapter 17:

Rude Awakening

"Archangels?" Sasuke repeated, retracting his Sharingan as he stared at the fleshy wings. Akuma and Kyojin stood before him with bare torsos. The white appendages that extended behind their backs proved that they were the successful test subjects Akuma claimed to be. But the origin of uncanny additional limbs came from a clan?

"The Tenshi Clan had a dastard kekkei genkai," Akuma continued, tossing his garment back over his body to hide his "souvenirs."

"They were bloodthirsty and hunted in packs," Kyojin added. "The Hidden Stone Village ordered for their execution on sight nearly a century ago. Orochimaru took in anyone who remained to try making his own weapon, but there weren't enough of us to make his plan tangible."

"We can share the whole story with you on the journey to the next research lab. That is, if you were sent to join us," Akuma said, turning his back to Sasuke.

Since he had covered his wings back up, Sasuke got the impression that there would be no more flying as long as the sun was up. He released his chakra's hold on his curse mark and felt his transformation ebb away. Kyojin watched as his skin returned to apricot and his hair length shrink, but more so his monstrous wings folding into fists and contract into his back. As he slipped his arms back into his spacious white sleeves, he began to follow Akuma. "Only to ensure the girl is returned safely," he confirmed.

"So he doesn't trust us. I see how it is," he joshed in response. "By the way, we haven't caught your name."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

He had seen the Sharingan already, so he knew what his clan affiliation would be. Nevertheless, he was still impressed to be in the presence of one of the last Uchiha clansmen. "It is an honor to work with Lord Orochimaru's next vessel," he flattered.

Sitting against the trunk of the tree, Dolia pressed her back against the bark while pressing the bottoms of her blue sandals to some smaller branches under her. While she did not want to admit it, but the lack of sleep was starting to catch up to her now that she was still. It did not help, either, that the black cloak Sakura gave her was warm like a blanket. Her eyes felt heavy, but she was worried that she would fall out of the tree if she tried to snooze. Plus, all of the noise Naruto was making below her was hard to ignore.

She could see him through the leaves of the tree. He and all of his clones were still straining to create those weird swirling blue orbs. Aside from his grunts and shouts, some explosions were powerful enough to shake the ground. The bodies of his clones would fly and crash down from the powerful force the orbs caused. The number of his clones diminished each time it happened, but he would make more appear quickly after. Even though she was used to the constant failures, it continued to alert her that she was close to dozing off.

Seeing how hard Naruto was working was admirable to her. It was obvious he was struggling. She just wondered if he was regretting staying up all night like she was. But whether he did or not, it was not stopping him from trying to figure out this new obstacle. Dolia faced a similar issue with the jutsu Naruto tried to teach her. She only completed it once with a disappointing result, but she still thought about what she possibly did wrong. Was it the speed of the hand signs being formed? Her concentration?

Curious, she untucked her hands from underneath the cloak and tried to recreate the series of signs he had shown her, but faster. A little surge coursed through her inner being and a puff of smoke burst next to her. She did not flinch this time but was startled when a limp Shadow Clone tipped forward off a branch and tumbled down the tree with a distinct thump! at the bottom. It was not a pleasant sound, so she cringed, but quickly the clone dispersed back into a cloud and then vanished.

Oops, she thought.

Kakashi looked up from his book and walked under the shade. The cloud of smoke could be seen from outside the tree. "Hey, none of that," he warned. "You're supposed to be hidden, not giving away your location."

She peered down at him with a pang of guilt. She was not trying to make his job harder.

He accepted her silent acknowledgment as an understanding and stepped away. There was nothing stern toward her, but he had to show her that protecting her was a serious concern. It was a duty the Hokage had assigned him. Failure was not an option.

Disappointed, Dolia sighed and let her limbs go slack so that they all dangled in the air. Doing the hand signs faster did not improve the quality of her Shadow Clone. And now she could not practice more to try another method. What was she to do now?

The heaviness in her eyes returned to her attention, so she decided to relieve it by closing them. With the world visually blocked out, she could only rely on her sense of touch and hearing to know that she was still perched uncomfortably on a tree branch and that Naruto was still busy exploding himself. It was not the ideal way to fall asleep, but there was not much else to do.

"They carried quite a deceptive name," Akuma expounded as he led the trio. "You would expect them to be beautiful, but they're more hideous than anything."

"You make it sound like they were nothing more than a bunch of savages," Sasuke bluntly commented after listening for a few minutes.

"Because they were. The Tenshi Clan preferred isolation, and anyone who entered their territory was brutally murdered. They had clever methods of luring in prey by intriguing them with their blank faces and then pulling out their fangs when it was too late to escape. The Hidden Stone was accumulating so many casualties because of it that it was time to drive them to extinction at all costs."

"But Lord Orochimaru saw worth in them," Kyojin butted in, keeping his stride next to Sasuke. "He tried to help them regain lost numbers in exchange for their services, but they refused to comply. So, he took away their most precious tool."

"And gave them to people who were loyal," Sasuke guessed.

"Precisely," Akuma answered. "Although, it wasn't easy attaching wings to people. Just like the risk of the human body rejecting an organ transplant, there were plenty of test subjects whose wings began to rot instead of accepting the new blood supply. And in the process, the archangels' numbers dwindled even further until only one remained."

Sasuke followed the story with a haunting familiarity. Although the Tenshi Clan supposedly experienced decades of eradication, it only took one night to bring the Uchiha Clan to the brink of extinction. Only he and his brother Itachi remained. Now, this faceless girl was the sole survivor of the Tenshi Clan.

"We are to capture this girl just to kill her like the rest of her kind?" Sasuke questioned.

"That, I am unsure about. Orochimaru only punished her kind when they did not abide by the deal he had with them. They all died off because we found out too late that removing wings was like slicing into your femoral artery; the blood loss is significant and hard to stop. I want to think Orochimaru will give her a chance. Besides, we sealed away her wings long ago. She probably doesn't know that she has any. There are other forms of punishment to consider if she decides to follow in their footsteps of insubordination."

Sasuke kept a dense expression. He should not have to care about what his master would do with the girl. His only job was to deliver her to him.

Inside the cave, the small cry echoed against all the jagged rocks that composed it. It was a cry of pain, one that was helpless and desolate. From the outside, the small band of shinobi stood. They could hear it but were unsure if they should check it out or not. To their dismay, the cries only increased in volume and desperation.

"Come on," one of them prompted, getting up from his kneel to head over to the cave's gaping mouth.

"But what if it's like the cry from the reports?" another shinobi asked with worry.

"What if it's someone who's actually hurt?"

The others in the group gave each other looks. Nobody was sure who to agree with since they both were making viable claims. But when their leader turned his back to them to trek through the thick brush to get to the cave, they all started following in obedience.

As they all approached closer, the cry started bringing chills down spines. "H-Hello?" one of them stammered. "Hello?"

The crier did not respond but choked a little bit. The dimness surrounding their body was not enough to shroud their outline as they sat on the cold ground. One by one, the team spread out to locate the person. The decrease in echoes told them that they were getting closer to the source. When the leader did a jutsu that would create a small fire in his palm, he found himself standing in front of a child. His back was turned, and his long, unkempt hair stayed ominously still. But the orange light hit him, and he instantly huffed and whipped his head around to reveal his missing face.

The shinobi knew exactly what he and his team were confronting at that very moment. Right as serrated teeth erupted from the boy's mouth and his eyes rolled back with an inhuman screech, he shouted, "RUN!"

The rocks of the cave suddenly moved all around the shinobi. They unwrapped themselves of the fleshy wings that were keeping each member of the Tenshi Clan cocooned as a camouflage. Each ran for their lives as more screeching joined that of the youngling. Archangels beat their wings and blasted forward to mow over victims. Others dropped from the roof of the cave and joined together as a single unit that flowed effortlessly like a flood of water. They all targeted a shinobi, not giving any of them a chance of survival as they jostled them and sank their teeth into their flesh. Screams of dying joined the fray as blood splattered in all directions.

BOOM!

Dolia suddenly jolted awake from her dream, flinching hard enough to doubt her balance in the tree. She gripped a branch above her head fast as she looked around for Naruto. He had been causing explosions, but nothing to that extent.

"Hey! Tenzo!" Kakashi alerted Yamato, watching as one of Naruto's clones lost control of the Nine-Tails chakra. His body was suddenly enveloped in a bubbly orange substance with his eyes red and teeth bared like an animal. The sheer power that radiated from him was too much for the surrounding clones to handle. His Rasengan grew too unstable and blew them all away.

"I know," Yamato replied, plotting his extended hand against the ground firmly. Dolia watched as the once still totems abruptly uprooted themselves individually and all launched themselves at Naruto. The wooden mouths latched onto the orange substance that had oozed over the ground and ultimately chomped down on the jinchuriki himself. He was shoved into the dirt and grit hard enough to not be able to move, but the substance was absorbed by the wood and soon disappeared.

When the totems lifted to release him, Dolia waited for him to move, but he did not. Her breath caught in her throat. He was dead!