Konnichi wa!

Ah… Sunday. And I have done all my homework. Ah – life is good.

So I'm posting the next chapter!

I hope you like it!

Ja ja!

Wingless Flight

Chapter Seven – Tainted Beginnings

Neji and Genbu were close to the clearing when the large turtle suddenly stopped.

The Hyuuga blinked.

"Why'd you stop?"

The huge turtle was grinning. He shifted, resting his stomach on the floor.

"I wanna watch this," he murmured in response. Neji blinked at him.

"Watch WHAT?"

Still grinning, the huge turtle nudged Neji's back slightly, making the Hyuuga take a few steps forward.

"See for yerself – but don't get caught."

Neji inwardly scoffed.

Caught? Who does he think he's talking to?

But he complied anyway, disappearing into the foliage. But I wonder… WHAT is he talking about?

"Heheh – you look stunning in human form, Byakkou,"

"Oh – Suzaku-love, stop saying that!"

"Why? I can't deny the truth. Would you rather me call you ugly?"

"Oh, Suzaku dear, don't be daft."

"Very well then. Stop complaining."

Neji instantly flattened himself against the branch he was on at the very first word, straining his eyes to see and not daring to risk using the Byakugon.

He saw Sasuke leaning against the trunk underneath him, arms and ankles crossed as he looked at another man with happy, half-closed eyes.

Neji himself had to admit – the other was stunning. Everything about him was white. White hair, eyes, clothing, nails – everything except his skin tone – which was as light as it could be without being sickly looking – was the absence of color. He was slender and well-built, with a katana wrapped around his belt with a white sash.

The Hyuuga blinked.

His eyes look just like the Hyuuga clan's.

The other laughed, his mouth not moving as he spoke.

"Oh dear Suzaku – I'm not complaining! It just… embarrasses me!"

Sasuke laughed gently.

"You get embarrassed way too easily, Byakkou."

The other blinked and then glared at the phoenix vessel.

"I do not!"

"Do too."

"SUZAKU!"

Sasuke laughed again.

"All right – all right. I'll stop. Happy?"

Byakkou sighed and relaxed.

"Very. Thank you."

Then he raised his head, and merely looked at Sasuke for a moment. Sasuke blinked at him.

"What is it?"

Byakkou sighed once more.

"It's just that…" he surveyed Sasuke again. "I'm not used to seeing you – like – that. I just…" he cut himself off and shook his head. Sasuke smiled at him.

"What Byakkou? You think I have changed?" He asked, pushing himself off the tree trunk and nearer to Byakkou.

The other blushed furiously.

"No! No – not at all! Of course you haven't changed! You're just like –"

"But I HAVE changed, Byakkou," Sasuke cut him off softly, his gaze as intense as the power behind the voice. "And you know it. But relax," his voice became truly soft and he leaned forward to whisper in Byakkou's ear. Neji's sharp hearing picked up every word. "I haven't changed towards you."

Byakkou gulped, still red.

"And what about – the boy –?"

"Sasuke is free to choose whom he loves," Suzaku replied easily, turning slightly so that his sides were to Byakkou and the tree that Neji was hiding in. "In fact, I believe he may already have someone in mind."

Intense red eyes snapped open to zone in directly where Neji was concealed, and he felt his limbs stiffen.

He knows I'm here!

Byakkou got excited.

"Really? Who?"

Sasuke's gaze left Neji's hiding place to lock on Byakkou.

"Since when did you care about mortals outside of war, Byakkou?" His voice was deathly icy.

Neji's eyes widened and so did the identical ones of Byakkou – the celestial body hadn't expected that. Sasuke's entire aura had changed so suddenly.

But then the moment of shock passed, and Byakkou's white eyebrows furrowed, and he looked to the ground, clasping his hands in front of him.

"You were right, Suzaku love," his voice was soft, but the last word was even softer – it sounded forced.

Neji saw Sasuke's eyes widen, and Byakkou's own orbs rose to lock gazes with his. The winged serpent's voice was hard. "You HAVE changed."

With a spiral of wind, the serpent was gone.

Sasuke laughed bitterly.

"Yes," he spoke to the air, turning his head slightly and raising his right palm to his forehead. "But for better or for worse?" Shaking his head, he ran his fingers through his hair. He chuckled, still with that same bitterness. "Oh child, how you've changed me!"

He closed his eyes.

"You really know how to break a heart, don't you?"

Sasuke turned to see Genbu lumbering through the trees. Neji had to cling on for dear life as the tree he was hiding in uprooted itself with a mighty jerk and got out of the huge turtle's way.

The Uchiha smiled grimly.

"Don't remind me, Genbu. I know – I'm a horrible person."

Genbu snorted.

"No – that blasted boy that lives with you is! You were never like this before –"

"Don't you DARE insult him!" Sasuke snapped, bristling. "That boy was my salvation – he was the one who awakened me and HE was the one who chose to accept me instead of killing us both! I won't hear one ill word against him!"

Genbu looked taken aback for a moment before he sighed and shook his head.

"Still as protective as always – I see. But still, that boy is mentally ill."

"No he is not," Sasuke growled dangerously. Genbu gave him a long look.

"You've picked up his ability to deny, at the very least."

"The poor child lost his entire family when he was eight – of course he would try to deny –!"

"THAT BOY HAS TAINTED YOU, SUZAKU!" Genbu roared, cutting Sasuke off. "WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT – THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED! FACE IT! THAT BOY WAS DRENCHED IN DEATH AND BLOOD WHEN HE WAS A CHILD! HE HAS ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THAT! EVERYWHERE HE GOES, DESTRUCTION AND CHAOS FOLLOW! YOU MIGHT LOVE THAT BOY TO PIECES, BUT –" Then Genbu seemed to gain control of himself as he heard his own words. His entire demeanor seemed to shrink, and he took a deep breath, beginning again – more calmly this time. "You might love that boy to pieces, Suzaku. But please…" he strained the last word. "Don't forget about the life you left behind."

Sasuke had bowed his head, letting his hair fall to hide his face. He shifted now.

"Thank you, Celestial Body Genbu." Sasuke raised his head, giving Genbu a good look at the raging Sharingan. "Suzaku…" He hissed out the name."…will make sure to take it to heart."

With that, Sasuke whirled and disappeared into the trees. Genbu sighed.

"Do yer job, Byakkou child," he called over his shoulder to Neji, who was still in the tree. "Follow him."

Neji – after a moment – complied.

I don't understand ANYTHING that's going on.



He found Sasuke on the stone Hokage faces, curled up against a tree to the side and watching the sun.

"Uchiha," he greeted simply, watching from a few feet back to make sure Sasuke didn't break the seals and whip out Chidori on him.

"Neji."

The name was emotionless – Sasuke hadn't even looked at him. The Hyuuga took that as a sign of safety. He went closer to the Uchiha, sitting next to him. He saw the look in Sasuke's eyes.

"Uchiha –"

"Is what Genbu said true, Neji?" Sasuke asked him suddenly, cutting the Hyuuga off. "Did I really cause change in Suzaku that badly? The need to take revenge on Itachi for so long… seeing my entire clan get murdered… gaining so much power – did I really became tainted because of it?"

Neji thought about this, and after a moment, sighed.

"Well, I'm sure many people here think that," he replied, looking away.

There was silence for a moment. Then Sasuke looked at Neji. The Hyuuga, catching the movement in the corner of his eye, turned his head to meet the Uchiha's gaze.

Sasuke's eyes were intense and searching.

"Do you?" He asked.

Neji merely looked at him for a moment. Then his eyes narrowed.

"Even if I did, why would you care?" He asked carefully. "Daily, people tell you that they despise you – that you should, 'jump off the nearest cliff' – they're not secretive about their feelings at all, yet you just brush them off! Why should the way I feel be any different?"

"It's that fact alone that makes the difference."

Neji blinked.

"What fact?"

Sasuke met his gaze with an even one of his own.

"The very fact that you are you makes the difference."

Neji gave him a hard look, but then he sighed and shook his head, breaking the connection. He shifted to sit closer to Sasuke, sitting on the tree's right side and leaning his back against it.

"I don't have a clue about what's going on."

Sasuke gave a weak chuckle.

"Don't worry – neither do I." Neji turned his head slightly to look at the black hair cascading down the slender back.

"But you have the spirit of a celestial body inside you – you MUST know SOME of the answers."

He heard Sasuke sigh as the sun sank lower.

"What is the use knowing the answer to one question when millions of others spring up in that one's place?" The Uchiha asked. Neji smirked.

"That bad, huh?"

"Worse."

The smirk fell from Neji's face. His gaze shifted to the setting sun.

"So… what CAN you tell me?"

"Whatever answers I could possibly have for whatever questions you could possibly ask."

The smirk was back again.

"All right. Let's start with you. Where do YOU fit into all of this?"

"I am a child of Suzaku's," Sasuke replied, not looking at Neji. "Like you, I am a child of a celestial body – a celestial warrior."

Neji blinked.

"I see. Do you know of the other celestial warriors?"

"Only if Suzaku tells me of them. Right now, he doesn't want to make contact with any of them, therefore he won't tell me their names."

Neji shifted again so he was sitting next to the Uchiha and facing him.

"Are you… all right… with a celestial body inside of you?"

Sasuke gave a dry grin.

"Well, it makes my skull a little cramped at times, but other than that, it's all right. It's…" he closed his eyes. "Comforting. Like there's someone always there for you – always watching over you." he laid his cheek in his crossed arms, his knees pulled up underneath his chin. "I've never had that feeling before – not until he awoke."

There was silence for a moment. Neji was fighting to find a way to put his next question into words.

"So… who am I talking to? Right now? Sasuke Uchiha, or the celestial body Suzaku?"

Sasuke merely looked at him for a moment before smiling gently.

"Well, a little bit of both. If Suzaku is in complete control, my eyes are red. However, if I'm in control, they're black. If it's both of us though, my eyes are black with traces of red."

Neji's face scrunched up.

"I can't see any red."

"Because you're not close enough. They're there."

"Really?"

"Yes."

Neji gazed hard into Sasuke's eyes. The other stared back, amused.

"Well?"

"I still can't see it. I swear – there is NO RED in your eyes."

"Tsk – for a Byakugon user, your sight isn't that good."

"Don't bring my bloodline into this!"

Sasuke laughed gently.

"But it's there – I swear it!"

Neji's lips pulled into a distasteful sneer. He didn't care if it was such a trivial thing as eye color – he wanted to see the red, dammit!

"May I… get closer?"

"If that's what it takes for you to see it, sure."

Neji shifted, resting again when he was shoulder to shoulder with the Uchiha, facing the tree as Sasuke's back rested on the bark. The fact that they were extremely close was lost upon the Hyuuga as he gazed hard into Sasuke's eyes, trying to see the red the other spoke of.

He still didn't see it, and he was less than eight inches away! Neji grit his teeth in frustration, and Sasuke stayed silent.

Then, he saw something change in the black orbs, and he leaned closer, his nose nearly touching the apple of the Uchiha's cheek.

"Do you see it?" Sasuke's soft voice made him blink. He cocked his head slightly.

"I thought I did, but…" his eyes narrowed. "I'm starting to think I imagined it."

Sasuke laughed gently.

"You didn't."

As Neji stared, Sasuke's eyes began to change. The black orbs seemed to be spinning as if on a wheel, and as he watched, a sliver of red slipped down through the retina and into the pupil, growing outwards in a spiral as more of the color was added. This continued until the blood red color stretched all the way to the edge of the eye, dousing the normally-black orb completely in the color.

The Hyuuga was fascinated. He drew back slightly to see that Sasuke's legs had stretched out from their spot against his chest, and his hands were in his lap. The Uchiha's entire demeanor was completely different.

"So…" Neji began hesitantly. "You are Suzaku now, correct?"

The other chuckled – a deep, throaty sound that didn't sound like Sasuke at all.

"Correct." Then those eyes locked onto him again, surveying him – testing him. "Which one do you prefer?"

Neji's voice was firm.

"The other."

Sasuke laughed again.

"Of course – with one pair of eyes red like blood and the other pair as black as burning tar, what good could come out of any of it?"

"Save your riddles for Byakkou," Neji hissed. Sasuke's gaze became hard.

"Don't mock ME, child –"

"Sasuke Uchiha," Neji stated. "Come back."

Sasuke gave him a hard look before reaching out and taking Neji's cheek in his hand, drawing the Hyuuga close again, so that they were eye level and Neji's nose was brushing against Sasuke's cheek.

"You might want to see this," the Uchiha explained, his entire body relaxing.

Neji once again saw the commanding eyes – now red – bleed the color away as they spun in reverse, the red slowly being drained away, and leaving the orbs once again as black as night.

Sasuke gave him a grim smile, and Neji could tell in the way he sat that it was truly Sasuke Uchiha.

"Forgive him," he breathed. "He's still a little uptight about the fight with Byakkou."

Neji snorted.

"If Byakkou truly loves him, then everything will be fine," he snapped. "The bird should just STOP worrying about it!"

"And since when did you know that, Neji?" Sasuke asked softly. "Since when did you know anything about LOVE?"

Neji blinked and turned his head to face the Uchiha. He smirked grimly.

"Don't be fooled, Uchiha. We all have tainted beginnings."

Chapter Seven – Tainted Beginnings

Hmm… I'm beginning to make Suzaku look like a bad guy…

But don't worry! He's just a little…

Touchy. Right now.

Well, please review! I would like 68!

Ja ne!

DDB