Angel's Touch

Artemis: You people are scary with your suggestions. XD But I need to correct something I said earlier. I love to read about them getting it on, but there must be plot. ^^ Unless I’m in the mood for a fangirl squeal, but that’s what one-shots are for.

Ok…a new character this chapter. =)

P.S. I’m a let-them-be-equals person lately. So Naruto isn’t exactly uke, though he comes off as such since he is an angel. But later on I probably might swing Sasuke and Naruto both ways.

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Chapter 3: A Fateful Challenge

Sasuke had learned something the previous night. Angel’s did not know how to clean. And of course, he was quickly learning that the same went for cooking.

Upon visiting Naruto’s apartment next door, Sasuke had been bombarded with the strong scent of ramen. The floors, the counters, the bed, everything…covered with empty ramen cups and bowls. Somewhere mixed with this mass of trash were articles of clothing and feathers. Naruto had seemed completely oblivious to anything wrong, having dragged him around through it all to show him everything from his room to his broom closet full of cobwebs.

“Hee hee…it’s a lot different in heaven,” Naruto had replied with a sweatdrop when he’d finally stopped the blonde and asked about the mess.

Sasuke had sighed and ran a hand through his hair, before beginning to pick up things and clean the place up. He wasn’t sure why he’d decided to clean Naruto’s place for him. Possibly because a part of him was neat freakish and possibly because he couldn’t really leave with the knowledge that Naruto was living like this. Naruto hadn’t reacted well when he started to clean, either.

“No! Sasuke, please don’t. You shouldn’t be cleaning my messes…Let’s go over to your place and I’ll make some tea while you study,” Naruto had franticly suggested, trying to stop him.

“I’m not letting you live in a trash heap,” Sasuke had insisted, then given Naruto a pointed look. “Don’t worry. I don’t mind cleaning.”

Naruto had pouted, “But…”

The argument had ended there, and Sasuke had spent most of his night cleaning Naruto’s apartment up.

Sasuke thought all of this as he discreetly emptied a plate of charcoal that once had been bacon into a napkin when Naruto wasn’t looking. He mentally scolded himself for letting his clean side go free on Naruto’s apartment. He’d fallen asleep soon after he’d finished and never got a moment of study time out of that night. And today really was the mock entrance exam. But…it was just a mock exam for senior high school, so he supposed he could just live with it. But he’d have to be stricter when the real entrance exams came up.

“Wow! Sasuke, you ate it all?” Naruto smiled happily when he spotted Sasuke’s empty plate.

A little guilt devil poked at the back of Sasuke’s mind, but he squashed it and gave Naruto a brief half-smile, “It was good.”

Naruto brightened even more and took the plate to the sink, so happy to be able to at least supply Sasuke with compliment worthy food.

Sasuke had a pretty good suspicion that in the past few days he’d lost about ten or twenty pounds just out of starvation. Sooner or later he’d have to break it to the blonde that the other couldn’t cook worth shit, but he didn’t want to right now because Naruto apparently had a bad tendency to go into a depressive state when he thought he wasn’t being a proper guardian angel for Sasuke. And for some reason Sasuke couldn’t stand a depressive Naruto. It just seemed…unnatural.

Sasuke stood up then and grabbed his backpack, starting for school with Naruto quickly catching up behind him.

However, unknown to Sasuke Naruto wasn’t as stupid as he looked. Especially when he could hear a growl from Sasuke’s stomach.

‘Man…I can’t do anything right…’ Naruto pouted, staring at his feet as they walked along. He couldn’t cook so Sasuke was hungry, and he couldn’t clean and because of that Sasuke had spent all night doing it for him. He also wasn’t doing to great of a job protecting Sasuke, especially from those two scary women at the school. ‘I don’t know why Sasuke allows me to stay around. No…I can’t think like that! I have to think positive. I’ll just do better next time. Right!’

Naruto clutched his fist and smiled with new found determination. He was going to be the best guardian angel ever for Sasuke and one day he’d also be the Head Angel!

Grinning happily now, Naruto glomped Sasuke from behind thus scaring the hell out of Sasuke who hadn’t been paying attention. He’d been trying to go over what he could remember for the exams.

“Naruto, are you trying to kill me?” Sasuke growled at him, but softened inside when he caught sight of the huge smile on Naruto’s face.

“Nope!” Naruto shook his head before nuzzling his charge happily.

Sasuke blushed faintly and sighed, “Dobe…I told you to stop jumping me like that.”

Naruto stopped nuzzling and glared at the nickname, making Sasuke smirk in amusement. It never failed.

“All right…enough. We’re going to be late,” Sasuke sighed and shrugged the still slightly scowling blonde off him, heading into the school building for class.

Naruto made to follow but froze on the spot, sensing that someone close to Sasuke was in trouble. He couldn’t allow harm to come to anyone in Sasuke’s life that made him happy! Naruto glanced nervously after Sasuke, but he knew where Sasuke would be and it wasn’t like anything bad could happen during class or anything. So Naruto took off in the direction of the trouble he had sensed, tightening his fists in resolve. He wouldn’t fail!!

Rounding the corner, Naruto crashed right into someone who’d been just standing there. The force knocked him to the ground, leaving the blonde to whine painfully. The person he knocked into turned around, looking down at him with familiar eyes. Naruto blinked, and then remembered why those eyes were familiar. They were the same kind of eyes that Hinata-chan had! Speaking of which, Naruto then noticed that Hinata was there as well and looking slightly pale.

“N-Naruto-kun!” Hinata gasped, staring down at the blonde with worry. She was pressed into the corner between wall and locker, looking rather meek and scared.

Naruto blinked in confusion, looking between the person he’d run into and Hinata. So it had been her in trouble, but who was this guy?

“You know him?” The boy asked, his eyes narrowing at Naruto. Hinata seemed frightened that the other had spoken and nodded gently. Naruto frowned, seeing her so scared and realizing that it must have been this guy that had caused the trouble that had called Naruto’s attention.

Naruto scrambled to his feet and pointed a finger into the boy’s face, “Who are you and what are you trying to do to Hinata-chan!?”

“My name is Hyuuga Neji,” Neji supplied, eyes narrowing even more on the blonde. “And this is none of your business…so beat it.”

Naruto blinked, surprised that this guy had the same last name as Hinata. Were they related? He then huffed and scowled at the other’s rude words, “Hey! This is my business! Hinata-chan is a dear friend of Sasuke’s and you’re endangering her, so I will protect her!”

“Protect her? And is that your purpose…your meaning of existence…your fate?” Neji shot at him darkly.

Naruto stood there with a serious expression for a few minutes, before looking suddenly confused, “Nani?”

“Loser,” Neji huffed before turning back to Hinata. “Hinata-san…give it up. Someone like you born to your fate could never succeed in anything. That is just the way things are.”

Hinata looked down at her feet sadly. Naruto was still confused by this guy, but realized that he was saying Hinata couldn’t do something and that was a lie! “Don’t listen to him, Hinata-chan! You’re Sasuke’s friend and a really smart, nice person. You can do it, no matter what it is, as long as you try hard!”

Hinata perked up and looked up at Naruto, blushing and smiling happily, “Naruto-kun!”

“I said stay out of this,” Neji snapped at him angrily.

“But you said Hinata couldn’t do something and that’s a lie!” Naruto glared back at him angrily.

“So you think someone that can’t even boil eggs without burning something can possibly win the upcoming Youth Chef Competition?” Neji scoffed at him. “I’m simply trying to save her from embarrassing herself.”

“I do think she can and if you really cared, you’d be supporting her rather then telling her she can’t!” Naruto snapped back at him.

Neji growled angrily, stepped forward and into the other’s personal space, “You think fate can be ruled that easily.”

“I don’t know what you mean by fate…but I know Hinata-chan has God watching over her. If she tries hard, I bet she’ll even get first place!” Naruto insisted, not backing down.

Neji continued to glare into Naruto’s eyes, but letting out a brief laugh and walking off.

“H-Hey! You’d better be nice to her from now on!” Naruto called after him, slightly thrown off course again.

“I don’t have to listen to a loser,” Neji called back and kept on his way to his class.

Naruto pouted at that. He wasn’t a loser…

Hinata relaxed after Neji had vanished into a room and slumped to the ground, resting her forehead onto her knees. Naruto got worried and stepped over, crouching and poking her gently.

“Hinata-chan, you ok?”

Hinata looked up and blushed, smiling warmly at him, “Naruto-kun…thank you. But Niisan is right.”

“Niisan? Is he your brother?” Naruto frowned, slightly confused.

Hinata shook her head, “Not really…he’s my cousin. But…he’s like an older brother to me.”

“That’s hard to believe. He was so mean,” Naruto sighed and glared in the direction the boy had gone.

Hinata stood slowly and brushed off her skirt nervously, “He wasn’t always that way. We used to be very close…but then my father became ill and needed a transplant to save his life. Everyone in the family decided that, since niisan’s father was my father’s twin and they had the same blood, that he would have to give up the organ my father needed to live. They put a lot on pressure on them, and niisan’s father finally agreed. Because of that, my father lived but he died……and niisan’s never been the same since.”

“Oh…” Naruto bowed his head, rubbing the back of his neck. So Neji’s father sacrificed himself for his brother. That sort of act was always a ticket to heaven. But then Neji must be really lonely.

“N-Niisan thinks now that…everyone’s fate is death…and who you are can never be changed……” Hinata continued, frowning sadly. “I can’t cook…but I wanted to show him that he was wrong. That there’s more to life then predetermined fate. But he’s right…I’ll just embarrass myself.”

Naruto gripped his hand into fists, feeling his determination rise. This was a job for a true angel worthy of becoming the Head Angel someday! And that’s what he was! Smiling, Naruto turned to Hinata full of confidence, “Don’t give up, Hinata-chan! You decided to do this for Neji’s sake, right!? Winning that contest will prove to him that he’s wrong and he’ll finally find happiness in life again!”

“Naruto-kun…” Hinata blinked, blushing again.

Naruto grinned and thrust a thumb to his chest, “I’m a bad cook to! But I’m sure if we work together, we can both become good cooks! Then Sasuke won’t go hungry anymore and you’ll win that contest and save Neji! Come on, Hinata-chan. Let’s work together and do this!”

“Naruto-kun…thank you!” Hinata smiled happily, clapping her hands together.

Naruto blushed slightly and chuckled, rubbing his nose with a finger. All right…he was going to do this and make a lot of people happy! Father would be so proud of him! Sasuke would be to!!

“Naruto…you made Hinata and Neji both happy,” Sasuke would say and smile, hugging him. “I’m so proud to have a great guardian angel like you. Please stay with me forever.”

“Yes. You really did fabulous,” Father would agree, then place a halo on Naruto’s head. “You’re a full fledged angel now.”

“Naruto…I’ve decided I’m too old to keep on this duty. I’d like to retire,” Sarutobi, the head angel, would say. “I’m passing my duties to you, the new Head Angel.”

Naruto grinned and blushed even more, flattered at all the attention he was getting from his important people in his imagined world. Hinata blinked in confusion, wondering what Naruto was thinking at the moment, when the bell suddenly rang.

“Huh!?” Naruto was rudely snapped out of his thoughts by the sound, looking confused now. “What was that?”

“Ahh! It’s the minute bell! Naruto-kun, we have to get to class fast or we’ll be late!” Hinata quickly informed him.

“AHHH!! We’ve gotta go!!” Naruto panicked at this knowledge, grabbing Hinata’s hand and making a mad sprint for class.

Hinata’s entire face flushed a deep red at their clasped hands, but was too dragged about to really react much besides follow.

***word dictionary***

Niisan - means 'older brother'

-kun - used when referring to a male you know. It's less personal then just calling them by their name. (I'm sure of this, but opinions are welcomed always. Knowledge shared is knowledge learned ^^)

***Angel stuff explained***

A little help here for explaining some of the things about the angel world of my story. Some of these things will be seen, others mentioned, but so you know if your curious...


Father - the term angels use when referring to God. Its sort of informal and personal. They refer to him as God to humans sometimes, and that's when they are being more formal.

Arch Angels - Not mentioned yet, they are the seven angel generals that serve God personally. In my story they are Michael (life), Gabriel (death), Azriel (fire), Oriel (water), Daniel (earth), Raziel (wood), and Syriel (wind).

Head Angel - Head of all the angels in heaven, he is the voice for them all and ranks directly under the Arch Angels in importance. He has many duties and is basicly like a secondary leader, God being the first of course.

Angels with Halos - These are full fledged angels just under the Head Angel in rank. They have graduated from school and served their time on earth, making many people happy and/or proving thus that they are worthy of their halo.

Angels without Halos - These angels come in two kinds. Guardian Angels and Soldier Angels. Soldier Angels remain in heaven and undergo a sort of college, training to become warriors who will serve under the Arch Angels in times of need. Guardian Angels are angels that choose to descend to heaven and watch over a charge assigned to them, along with the people close to their charge.

Fledglings - These are angels with new wings, attending school in heaven to learn how to fly, use magic, and most other things that future angels must know.


***Reviewer Responces***

Nyuchan - thank you. I knew I spelled Usuratonkachi wrong. XD You helped a lot. *hugs ya* ^^

Kinkay D.J. - Here's the new chapter. I hope I did well. Halfway through I started to worry about losing Naruto's character, but that's cause I focused on him today rather then Sasuke. Hopefully it was still good, neh? ^_^

kawaiicrimsonkitsune - updated as resquested. glad you like it. ^^

RubyLips - beta reader...XP I had one before and I didn't like having one. *shrugs* I don't know, I use my reviewers like you as my beta readers. lol. I reread the chapters like a million times. Hee hee. Sorry, but I don't think I'll have a beta reader for this. ^^ Personal taste and all.

kyuubigirl - Fluff is good so long as its not to mushy mushy. And lets see...Naruto will get a little something. It will be a love scene later on, probably soft and cuddly to. God doesn't mind. =) You think he'd refuse true love? Not my version of God! ^^ Now if Naruto just ran around having sex with everyone, then yeah...maybe lose his wings. But true love and making love to express it isn't something my God will condemn at all. ^^

Anon - I never watched Oh! My Goddess....I want to...but haven't been able to. ^^ There's a reason behind Naruto wanted to be Sasuke's guardian, but Naruto doesn't remember. I'll focus on that later on in the story so keep a sharp eye! ^^

Me Loves You - Lol...hiya Me! And yeah, Naruto would probably fall on you when he loses his wings, because he'd be above you pouting and pleading for you not to die at the time. =P

Anna - I'm glad you're not offended. ^^ And yeah, Sasuke laughing I felt was a nice thing that would brighten Naruto up since he doesn't do it often.

Miko hanyou - Naruto pita-ten style is very cute. Imagine his kitsune pajamas looking like the Misha's bunny pajamas. That's how I thought of it when I wrote that scene. Eeee! So cute! ^^


REMEMBER EVERYONE! ANGST IS OK, BUT TO MUCH IS BAD! BRING ON THE FLUFF! ^^