Angel's Touch

Artemis: Yeah! March 2 was my birthday. ^^ I’m twenty and now I officially own a Sephiroth plushie (my first real plushie!!!!) and a Rogue Mist ninja headband (they were out of konoha). ^___________^

*skips around hugging her Sephiroth plushie* ^^

Wonder if they have Naruto and Sasuke plushies where my friend got this one. O.O

Anyways, time to update. It was a busy, busy week. Finals for my class and now I’m free of Flash Actionscripting and moving on to Project Management class. Woot?


Anyways, I think some people hate me now. Let me just say this. What you say to me in your reviews just before a Special, gets posted in the special. Unless you ask in the review otherwise. So sorry. I didn’t mean to make anyone mad, if I did. *shrugs and gives everyone love-me puppy eyes*

And, I know I said Haku’s story ends by this chapter, but I moved it up to the next chapter. Small change but don’t worry. It’ll be a good ending for our Haku. ^^

Now, on to the story without further distractions!!! *glomps plushie again* ^^

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Chapter 19: Consequences


Kakashi stared at the gathering of young men in front of him, arms crossed and fingers tapping his sweater lightly. Each had their heads down and hands folded in their lap, save Gaara and Lee who were both lying on the bed nursing their wounds. Gai was finishing patching Naruto and Sasuke up while Hinata was giving Neji an ice pack for his now blackened eye. Akamaru met Kakashi’s gaze and tilted his head slightly with a whine, proclaiming his innocence in this aftermath.

Finally, Kakashi sighed and uncrossed his arms, resting his hands on his hips, “There are so many things I could say right now. I’m not quite sure where to start. I’m not condoning your actions, boys. Naruto was kidnapped, and rushing to his rescue is to be expected. But…”

Kakashi stopped and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “How to do this….Uzumaki Naruto.”

Naruto flinched at the mentioning of his name and looked apprehensively at his sensei.

“As a guardian angel, you are charged with the protection of Uchiha Sasuke,” Kakashi pointed out, lowering his hand and meeting Naruto’s gaze straight on. “But explain to me…why were you outside of your room in the middle of the night? And what possessed you to rush off into the woods? Did you pay attention even once in the Academy? You’re lucky it was a tengu’s trick and not a devil or demon’s.”

Naruto shrunk in his seat, chewing on his lip. “Err…well…I…”

Gai stood and frowned at Naruto. “You’re careless behavior led to the injuries of your comrades, Uzumaki. Or at least…most of your comrades.”

He eyed Kiba and Neji in particular. Both boys flushed and glanced at each other, before looking away with scowls on their faces. Naruto lowered his head, face red from embarrassment and shame. They were both right. He’d put everyone in danger.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto and frowned, turning to Kakashi and Gai, “Hey! It was more my fault then the dobe’s. I wasn’t in the room when he woke up, and that’s most likely why he left. He was looking for me.”

“Sasuke…please step outside. I’ll have a private talk with you in a moment,” Kakashi instructed, gathering looks from most of the teens in the room.

Naruto watched as Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Kakashi for a moment, before standing and exiting the room as instructed.

“Lee! Kiba!” Gai snapped firmly, gaining their attention. “I’m disappointed in both of you. I know I’ve been training you both better then this. The moment Uzumaki was discovered missing, you should have come and reported it to your superiors. Rushing off recklessly into the woods like that was disgraceful, and you can both expect proper punishment after your wounds have healed.”

Kiba tched and scowled down at his lap while Lee looked like he’d just had his heart crushed.

Gai turned his attention fully on Lee, patting the boy’s good leg, “Of the two of you, you are the one least in trouble, Lee. Although you did fail to inform me of the situation, both Gaara and you realized that mistake and turned back to do so. It was not entirely your fault that the enemy stopped you on your journey back. For what did happen and how well you handled Gaara’s safety as well as yours in that situation, I am proud, Lee.”

Lee immediately perked up and relaxed, looking much happier. Gaara watched silently from his bed, the corner of his mouth quirking up just slightly. Lee really seemed to treasure Gai’s opinion.

“Kiba,” Gai turned to his other student, his expression less pleased. “I’m at a total loss as to what to say to you. We’ve been training you hard to be a proper Soldier, and yet here I find you in the middle of the woods, having forsaken the mission of rescuing Uzumaki in favor of childishly brawling with Hyuuga here.”

“He was asking for it…” Kiba grumbled irritably, half tuning Gai’s voice out since his sensei would soon forget about this in favor of beaming over stupid things.

“I understand that youthful young men your age have difficulty controlling all that testosterone, but next time remember your training!” Gai commanded.

Kakashi chuckled slightly, half amused by this and half nervous since he’d obviously not prepared a lecture like that for his half.

“Kakashi, you’re up,” Gai announced, flashing the other adult a grin and thumbs up.

Kakashi coughed slightly and looked at what was left of the group he’d have to lecture. Naruto was done and Sasuke was outside. That left him Neji and Gaara.

“Er…well…Gaara and Naruto…please try and think more before you act. Otherwise…you may go to bed now. Hyuuga Neji…There are many things I’d like to say towards your actions, many of which mirror Gai’s words towards Kiba, however, you are more my host then my guest in this situation. So I feel I have no right to tell you off,” Kakashi explained, eyeing Neji sharply. “However, I will be having a slight word with your father about your actions.”

Neji scowled at the threat and huffed, glaring at Hinata’s feet.

“Please practice greater caution in the times to come, troupes!” Gai finished helpfully for Kakashi.

“Hai, Kakashi-sensei. Gai-sensei.” Everyone but Gaara and Neji replied.

Neji stood and glared at Kiba once more before heading off to his room.

“I…I’m glad you’re ok…Naruto-kun,” Hinata spoke up shyly towards Naruto.

Naruto looked at her and smiled his best, “Hai…thanks, Hinata-chan. Let’s head to bed.”

Kiba sighed, “Yeah…looks like I’m bunking with Uchiha and you, since Gaara seems to have currently claimed my bed.”

Naruto nodded and turned, smiling at Lee and Gaara, “Night, guys!”

Gaara nodded softly, glad Naruto was ok and that he wouldn’t have to get up and move. He was so exhausted from their little adventure that if he could have, he might have actually drifted off to sleep for a change. Instead, he closed his eyes and focused on his healing wounds.

Lee grinned and raised a hand in salute, “Sleep well, Naruto-kun! I shall guard Gaara-san’s life well.”

“You do that, Lee-san,” Naruto laughed and saluted the other back, sending Gaara another grin before he stepped out of the room along with Kiba and Hinata.

Outside, Sasuke was resting against the railing and staring up at the sky in silent contemplation. Hearing the others step out, he turned to look and was promptly blinded by the usual mop of blonde hair. Sasuke smiled and wrapped his arms around Naruto, hugging him back in turn.

“I’ll get stronger,” Naruto promised into their hug.

“I know you will,” Sasuke encouraged, petting Naruto’s hair softly before the other pulled away with a smile.

They stood there for a while, before all of them broke out laughing. Even Hinata, who was not exactly sure what was so funny, had to join in.

“Man…what an adventure,” Naruto finally got out as he stopped laughing and wiped a few mirthful tears out of his eyes.

“I know…” Sasuke chuckled, giving his angel a light smack on the head. “I can’t have a moment’s peace with you in my life, can I?”

Naruto’s mood dropped for a moment as he held his head where Sasuke had hit him, staring intently at the other in an attempt to discern if that had been good or bad. The smile on his charge’s lips told him that he hadn’t meant it in a mean way, so he cheered up again.

“Sorry, Sasuke. Can’t have you getting bored with me.”

Sasuke blinked then chuckled again. “Yeah…yeah…”

“Well, see ya back in our room! Oh…and Kiba’s bunking with us!” Naruto informed him with a grin, heading down the hall while waving back at Sasuke.

“Good-night, Sasuke-kun,” Hinata bowed politely and made her way to her room, leaving Sasuke temporarily alone with Kiba.

Kiba recovered from the moment of laughter and sized him up, something obviously on his mind. Sasuke waited calmly, not faltering under the other’s look. Akamaru stepped out of the room and paused, looking at the two boys curiously. Finally Kiba seemed to settle on a decision and crossed his arms in a serious manner.

“Listen, Uchiha. I don’t know what Naruto sees in you…but he really cares for you. And he’s the kind of guy who’d die to protect someone precious. And it’s really important to him to be a good Guardian Angel,” Kiba stated, narrowing his eyes on the other. “He’s a good guy. So if I find out that you harm him or his dreams in any way, I’ll kick your ass.”

With that, Kiba turned and started for Naruto and Sasuke’s room with Akamaru following along loyally. Sasuke watched him go with a raised eyebrow, noting with some amusement that Naruto’s ‘rival’ apparently had a protective streak for the blonde. Then again, Naruto was an easy person to love and care for.

Sasuke sighed and shook his head, going back to waiting on Kakashi. After a while, Kakashi finally left the room and their gazes momentarily met, before the silver haired man sighed and started down the hall with his hands shoved in his pockets.

Sasuke watched him before shoving off the railing and following after him. Neither of them spoke as they walked, leaving Sasuke with his thoughts and questions. After what felt like an eternity, Kakashi stopped and sat down on a bamboo bench, leaning back lazily.

Sasuke mimicked him and sighed. “I think I understand a little more about what you said back then. How Naruto is safer with me.”

“Oh?” Kakashi mused, turning his head to Sasuke with a crinkle eyed smile. “Hmm…I suppose you did handle this incident well. The enemy this time was far less dangerous compared to the last opponent, and you were far more prepared.”

Sasuke thought back on when Neji had been under a snake demon’s control and had to agree with the older man. He smirked slightly as realization really dawned on him. “Man…I’m so very different from the person I used to be. A couple of months ago, I was sitting on the roof of my school with two people I barely associate with…just living each day as it came. Now here I am, surrounded by peers and kicking demon ass with powers akin to something out of a fiction manga.”

“Funny how that happens, eh?” Kakashi chuckled.

Sasuke snorted slightly and shook his head in mild disbelief. Kakashi leaned forward and rest his arms on his knees, staring at the garden as his mood turned somber. Sasuke glanced at him and slumped a little, getting the feeling he was about to receive a new weight on his shoulders.

Kakashi let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair, rubbing the back of his neck uneasily. “Sasuke…You need to know something.”

Sasuke frowned, hating when he was right. “It’s about this thing I have, right? Sharingan?”

Kakashi nodded softly. “Sharingan…it’s similar in a way to Haku’s Makyô Hyô Shô, but different as well. There is a great deal of power that comes with possessing it, but at a deadly price. It’s a Demon Art, and all Demon Arts require a condition to obtain them…and a price to pay for doing so. Sharingan in particular bears a heavy toll, even more so on you because you’re still alive.”

Sasuke stared down at his feet, taking in this information before glancing at the elder angel. “What happened to me back at Haku’s hideout? I’ve had dreams of my parents’ deaths before…but this time it felt different. And I wasn’t asleep.”

Kakashi straightened and rest a hand on Sasuke’s shoulder, “You almost paid the ultimate price. Those who bear Sharingan have a ninety-eight percent chance of being destroyed.”

Sasuke looked up at him in surprise. What did that mean? Was he going to die?

“Don’t worry…I’ll help you,” Kakashi stated calmly, squeezing the other’s shoulder.

He reached up slightly and pushed his hair out of his face, letting Sasuke see his left eye for the first time. Sasuke stared in horror and shock, finding his image reflected in an all too familiar red pupil surrounded by three little black wisps. He violently jerked away from Kakashi and stood, taking a step back from the other man and apparently surprising Kakashi with this reaction.

“…you’ve seen this before,” Kakashi finally deduced, sighing and shaking his hair back into place.

“That thing…that thing……That’s the thing! The thing he killed them to obtain!!” Sasuke spat out in sudden rage and pain. “Why do you have it to!?”

Kakashi looked at him calmly, before shaking his head. “You’re mistaken, Sasuke. This eye is Sharingan. What your brother possesses is something far more foul. Mangekyo Sharingan…a darker and more sinister cousin.”

Sasuke relaxed a little bit, but remained shaken. He brought his hands up to his eyes, “T-Then…I have an eye like that?”

“Two, actually,” Kakashi corrected, glad to see Sasuke was calming down a bit. “Sharingan forms in the eye after death, though not in your case oddly enough. It does so because the bearer witnessed with those eyes an unforgivable sin. Mangekyo Sharingan, however, requires the proper blood to flow in the veins and the bearer to commit that unforgivable sin himself. Sharingan can and most of the time does destroy the soul of the possessor. Mangekyo Sharingan wields no consequences to the user other then their own guilt, if they have any, of their sinful act. For that purpose, the two are very similar and yet very different.”

Sasuke slowly sank to his knees, resting his hands in his lap and recovering from the slight fright.

Kakashi looked away, his visible eye pained. “When I was alive and very young, I had two very best friends. Obito and Rin-chan. We were inseparable, and loved each other very much. One day, some men grabbed us while we were walking home from school and dragged us into their car. They took us to a warehouse somewhere. Then they raped and murdered Rin…right in front of Obito and me. Neither of us wanted to watch…so we clung to each other and tried to look away. But her screams were hard to ignore, and we looked out and saw it. After they were done, they tried to do the same to us but Obito and I fought them with as much strength as children can muster. They gave up and killed us, erasing the evidence.”

Sasuke looked up and watched as Kakashi ran a hand over his face, struggling to keep his composure.

“When we arrived in heaven, we soon developed the Sharingan. Obito received it in both eyes. I only received it in the left one. Obito had shielded me in his arms, so I’d only been able to look with that eye. In the end…Sharingan destroyed Obito, but spared me,” Kakashi finished, turning back to the other and steadying his tone. “Those who possess Sharingan possess unique powers. The ability to see your enemy’s movements, analyze them, and even copy their techniques. However, you will forever be plagued with nightmares of the sin you saw. You’re dreams will never be rid of them. And the price for using Sharingan is the risk of Sharingan turning against you. When it does, it envelopes you in a waking nightmare. An illusion of the sinful act. What happens in that world it creates is very real, Sasuke. You will forget that it’s in the past and really believe that you are there. And if you don’t realize it’s a nightmare, you will die.”

“So back then…Itachi coming at me like that…” Sasuke murmured, thinking back to that hellish moment.

“Hai…if you hadn’t snapped out of it, you wouldn’t be here,” Kakashi answered. “In fact, you wouldn’t even be in Heaven or Hell now. You just wouldn’t exist.”

“…fuck…” Sasuke gasped and covered his hand with his mouth, suddenly feeling very sick to the stomach.

“This won’t always happen when you use Sharingan, but the risk is there. If it does happen again, you’ll need to fight it and remember that it’s only a powerful illusion,” Kakashi advised, standing and offering Sasuke a hand up.

Sasuke looked at the hand for a moment, before accepting it and getting to his feet.

Kakashi sighed and gave his shoulder another pat. “Don’t run from the Sharingan, Sasuke. You will need to learn to control it and turn it on and off at will. It’s a useful tool to use. With time you’ll get used to the illusions when they appear and it’ll be nothing more then another of those bad little nightmares you wake up from. As for now, congratulations on being among the two percent survivors.”

Kakashi smiled at him in his usual, easygoing manner, making Sasuke wonder if this was why the older man acted the way he did. Would he be like Kakashi some day? Sasuke had a momentary mental image of himself giggling while reading an orange book and immediately feared such a possibility.

“Well…best be heading to bed. Naruto’s probably worried by now, and we don’t want him getting kidnapped again, eh?” Kakashi chuckled and winked at Sasuke before heading off himself.

Sasuke shook his head and made his way to his bedroom, trying not to let what he’d learned today creep him out any more then it already did. There was just something about coming a centimeter close to non-existence that could unsettle one’s stomach. It was also probably best not to mention this to Naruto.

Sighing, Sasuke opened the door to his hotel room expecting silence.

“SASUKE!!!! Kiba stole my pillow and gave it to his stupid dog!!!” Naruto whined, pouting from his place on their bed.

“Shut up! Akamaru needs something to sleep on!!” Kiba snapped at him irritably. “Besides, Uchiha’s your lover, isn’t he? You two can share a pillow!”

Naruto flushed a brilliant shade of red, “WE ARE NOT!!”

“ARE TO!!!”

“SASUKE!!!!!!”

Then again, he should know better by now.

***word dictionary***

Hai – in case anyone’s forgotten, it means ‘yes’ ^^

Mangekyo Sharingan – literally means “Kaleidoscope Copy Wheel Eye” ^^

Sharingan – literally means “Copy Wheel Eye”


***notes***

Kakashi – yeah! We learn how Kakashi developed his Sharingan (in this world of mine) and mentions of poor Obito’s fate and Rin-chan. -.-

Everyone got in trouble - *giggles* =D Everyone got lectured. It reminds me of camp, when we’d all sneak out and then get caught and have to stand there taking the lectures of our camp leaders. XD

***reviewer responses***

dana – Sorry, Sai isn’t in this story. ^^’ *nibbles on the cookies and muffins* And I don’t know much of what Itachi’s doing with those cut-outs, but there’s been a lot of evil laughter coming from the Akutsuki’s lounge room. *glances at the door to said room*

Nomme de Plume – Hee hee. ^^ In my opinion, that was my funniest special. I just had to do the fake ninja mission thing. XD And I’m sure Iruka will forgive you…eventually. ^^ And I don’t think I’ll do one for St. Patricks…though that would be amusing. =)

CommGonn – Yes, Shadow actually said that in her review. I just copied and paste. XD Thank you. ^^

mirandler43 – I loved the last special. It was the funnest. XD And yeah, Lee is my suck up-er I mean sidekick. ^^

ClosetEmo – Yes. I loved bringing Itachi in like that. I made him fight Sasuke like me and my little sister fight. hee hee. XP

Ramen77 – O.O Bad Neji! XD And yeah…Itachi took the cardboard cutouts into the Akutsuki lounge room and I don’t know what’s going on, but there’s a lot of evil laughter coming from there. Oo

sephirothsslave – weee! A fellow slave of Sephiroth! *hugs her plushie* ^^

takako – lol. Gaara’s doesn’t have a life, though. Oo He lost it. Anyways, welcome to my story. ^_^

Shadow - *Itachi: O.O*

Damp - *huggles Sasuke protectively* The specials won’t end. ^^ And no, no harmy the Sasuke! =P

karri uzumaki – Awe, girl. I’d love to have the characters answer your questions, but that’s supposed to be before I post the special. =P But anyways, Sasuke’s confession…hmm…they’ll be getting together soon. I’ll tell you that. ^^ As for Gaara, he’s just shy and not exactly understands Lee, but who does? =P And for Neji? He’s fun to sick after Naruto. XD

yuri-san – Yes. I loved my fake ninja mission with Lee and Sasuke. XD And yeah, I figured no one would oppose their cutouts being claimed by Itachi. ^_^

Tia – yeah…my grammar sucks. I can’t and hardly catch them all, and the to/too thing…*shrugs* Bear with me. ^^’ And don’t worry, I love seme Naruto/uke Sasuke as much as seme Sasuke/uke Naruto. I believe, being guys, they don’t mind swapping places, though its iffy when they first start out, ya? ^^ As for the smut, sorries. I’m aiming for a good story and believable relationship, but their will be that later on. I promise. ^^

Magic Knight Of the Sky – Yep! Naruto is so great. ^^

kameotoluvsgaara – thank you. I’m glad you loved those moments, cause I did to. ^^ *huggles poor Itachi* ^^