Thunder and Black Wings

Chapter 9:

– Blake –

The next morning…

"So, what's it like having wings?" Naruto asked me.

I hovered a few feet over the ocean, holding onto a large fishing net. Below me, Naruto stood ankle-deep in the water with a couple of his shadow clones, each of them gripping fishing rods. 

I had decided to do this when I woke up this morning. 

Taking all of Gato's money would stop his operations and probably bankrupt him, but it wouldn't fix the damage he had already done. Growing up in foster care, I knew what it was like to go to bed hungry, to feel like no one in the world gave a damn about you. As a kid, I used to wish that some kind of superhero would swoop in and fix everything. And now? Now I had literal supernatural powers, and I realized I could be that person for someone else.

Tsunade and Shizune had seemed proud when I told them my plan. They even took inspiration from it—Shizune was already going around town, finding people in need of medical treatment and leading them back to Tsunade at the small house we had moved into. Sure, it increased the risk of Gato finding out about us, but the guy was a damn idiot. His entire operation ran on thugs, gangsters, and slave labor. The fact that he was one of the richest men in the world was nothing short of a miracle.

I took a moment to think about Naruto's question. "Having wings is pretty great. My kind of wings, at least. They're a part of me—I can call on them whenever I want, and they make me feel free."

Naruto scrunched up his face. "Not exactly what I was looking for, but okay."

I smirked as I hovered above him. The bait I had dropped was working, and a small school of fish was gathering below. I just needed to wait a few more seconds for more to join before throwing my net. "Why do you want to know?"

Naruto hesitated. "It's none of your business," he muttered. One of his clones yanked on their fishing rod, only to reel in a soggy boot. Naruto sighed. "I just always wondered what it'd be like to fly."

I shrugged. "Pretty sure that's something all kids think about."

"Yeah…" Naruto said, staring out over the water.

Something about his tone made me pause. He wasn't acting like his usual loud, energetic self, but I decided not to pry. If he wanted to talk about it, he would.

He had actually found me earlier, walking through the woods with the net, and asked what I was doing. The second I told him I wanted to help feed the hungry people in the Land of Waves, he immediately volunteered, even though it cut into his training time.

His teammate, Sasuke, hadn't offered to help, but I wasn't going to judge a twelve-year-old. That was something I had to keep reminding myself—these kids were still just kids.

I tossed the net, watching as it splashed into the water and sank around the fish. The moment it tightened, the fish inside started thrashing, their silver bodies flashing under the sun. I grinned as I flapped my wings and pulled the net out of the water, heavy with my haul.

"Nice one!" Naruto cheered.

I grunted as I hoisted the net onto the shore, my arms and shoulders straining. Damn… I really hope I get more wings soon because this is heavy as hell.

Shizune had me wearing training weights and exercising at every opportunity, and Tsunade had me repeatedly practicing my Lightspears. It wasn't like I was slacking—my body was just still recovering. Having my fallen angel bloodline sealed for years had severely weakened me. Akeno, wherever she was back on Earth, was probably way stronger than me by now. She never had trouble summoning holy lightning like I did. I could almost picture her laughing and zapping me for fun when I wasn't looking. She always seemed to enjoy that, the little sadist. I wondered if my older sister kept that side of hers intact after everything that happened.

"You okay, Blake? You're spacing out," Naruto said.

I set the flopping fish onto the shore and rolled my aching shoulders as my wings vanished. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "Just thinking about my big sister." I glanced at Naruto. "You got any siblings?"

Naruto stiffened slightly before shaking his head. "Uh… no," he said, avoiding my gaze. "I'm just a poor orphan with no family..."

I raised an eyebrow. "Okay then, keep your secrets." If he didn't want to talk about it, I wasn't going to push.

"Snap!"

We both heard the sound of someone walking over some twigs nearby.

Both Naruto and I snapped our heads toward the forest. Three teenage ninjas, dressed in strange outfits, emerged from the treeline, looking just as surprised to see us as we were to see them. They tensed when they noticed Naruto's forehead protector.

Shit…

We weren't supposed to run into these guys until Haku finished scouting them out and Zabuza healed up. At least they weren't Jonin—I didn't get the same dangerous vibe from them that I did from Zabuza or Kakashi. If anything, Naruto felt like more of a threat than these three.

Huh. Maybe my senses were getting sharper.

The leader raised his hands. "Leaf ninjas… or just ninja?"

"I'm not a ninja. Only Naruto here is," I said. Naruto pouted at me for throwing him under the bus immediately. Obviously, he didn't realize it was better to be underestimated when outnumbered.

They relaxed slightly. They thought I wasn't a threat because I wasn't a ninja. Naruto had thought the same thing before I proved him wrong.

"Who are you guys?" Naruto demanded, pointing at them.

"They're from the Hidden Rain Village," I said. I only knew that because of Haku though.

"Hidden Rain? What the hell is that supposed to be?" Naruto asked, baffled.

The three ninjas looked immediately offended. Before Naruto could say anything else stupid, I clamped a hand over his mouth. "Sorry about him. The academy he went to had really bad teachers."

None of us had drawn weapons yet. Maybe this didn't have to end in a fight.

"You three working for Gato?" I asked. 

Yep," the leader said. "I'm Oboro, leader of Team Oboro."

"Kay…" I deadpanned at him. That was the best name they could come up with?

Before I could say anything else, Naruto wiggled free from my grasp and blurted out, "Why are you all wearing gas masks?"

One of Oboro's teammates answered in a flat tone, "So we don't get poisoned."

The other two turned and glared at him, clearly unimpressed that he let that slip. The guy visibly shrank a bit, realizing he had said too much. That gave me a good hint about their fighting style. They obviously relied on poison gas or maybe airborne hallucinogens. Not a problem for me—I could just fly above it. Naruto, though? He'd probably charge in like an idiot and end up choking on fumes.

Oboro's eyes landed on Naruto's clones fishing and then at my net full of flopping fish. "You out here catching fish to try and help the people?"

"Yep," I replied the same way he had earlier. "No one should have to go to bed hungry."

Their lower faces were covered, but I caught flashes of something in their eyes—understanding, maybe even respect.

"Do you know the history of the Hidden Rain Village?" Oboro asked. Naruto and I both shook our heads.

"For decades, the powerful villages used our lands as their battlegrounds," he said, his voice growing tense. "They destroyed it over and over with powerful jutsus, endless explosive tags—everything. The people of the Land of Rain always suffered after these wars. Thousands died of starvation. We were just kids when the last war ended, but I still remember what it was like." Oboro's fists clenched.

"Sorry to hear that..." I trailed off, unsure of what else to say.

Naruto dipped his head, his usual loudmouth demeanor fading for a moment. "Did the Leaf Village really do that?"

Oboro scoffed. "I'm not surprised they didn't bother teaching their younger ninjas their own crimes, but yes, they did. They never started any of the Three Great Ninja Wars, but they never shied away from any of them either."

There was an awkward silence. Oboro glanced back at the fish and then at his teammates. "We'll pretend we didn't see you here," he said. His team nodded in agreement. It was obvious none of them liked watching the people of the Land of Waves suffer—it probably reminded them too much of their own past.

"Won't your Jonin sensei be mad if he finds out?" I asked.

The three of them chuckled.

"Our Jonin sensei is an arrogant blowhard," one of them muttered.

"He's next to useless and hasn't taught us anything," the other added.

Naruto perked up, suddenly excited. "You guys too!? My sensei won't even teach us how to climb trees properly. He just showed us one time and made us practice over and over with no hints at all!"

For a moment, the four ninjas all exchanged sympathetic glances. Then, without another word, the Rain ninja slipped back into the forest, vanishing into the shadows.

I let out a small breath. Those guys were only fifteen or sixteen at most. I really didn't want to be forced into a fight or even kill kids younger than me. Naruto didn't look like he wanted to fight either after hearing their story.

I patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, let's catch some more fish."

There was no point dwelling on all this for hours. I'd just talk to Tsunade and Shizune about it later…

…

"...Are we going to have to fight those guys?" Naruto asked later as we walked toward Tsunami's place. He sounded a bit nervous when he said it.

Multiple of his clones trailed behind us, all carrying boxes full of fish. Since no one in the Land of Waves had been allowed to fish in the past couple of months, the ocean was practically overflowing with game to catch.

I shook my head. "You don't have to worry about fighting those guys. Your team's job is just to protect the bridge builder until the job's done."

Naruto gave me a pointed look. "Are YOU going to fight those guys?"

"Yes, are you going to fight those guys?" A teasing voice chimed in right behind us.

Naruto yelped, his hands flailing as his box nearly tumbled to the ground. I reached forward and caught it before the fish could scatter everywhere.

We both spun around to see Kakashi standing there, his single visible eye crinkled in amusement.

"It seems like you and Lady Tsunade haven't been very forthcoming with information," Kakashi pointed out. It was obvious he'd been spying on Naruto and me while we were fishing.

What? Did he think I was going to try and hurt his student or something?

Kakashi then pointed out that while I had been surprised to run into the foreign ninjas, I didn't actually seem surprised that they were there in the first place. "That's pretty suspicious," he added teasingly.

I crossed my arms. "It's obvious that Gato would hire more ninjas after his last group was taken down."

"I think there's a lot more to it than that," Kakashi said, his tone light but sharp. "It's obvious that Tsunade and you are planning something in the Land of Waves. It took me a couple of hours to think it all through, but I think I figured it out." His eye curved into a smug, knowing smile.

I probably should have just walked away. Instead, I put the box of fish down, crossed my arms, and stared at him. "And what exactly did you figure out?"

Kakashi tilted his head. "Lady Tsunade, a woman renowned across the world for her gambling debts, just so happens to come to the country where the richest man in the world lives? If I didn't know any better, I'd think you guys were here to rob him."

"What!?" Naruto exclaimed. "You guys are here to rob that Gato guy? Can I help!?"

"No," I said flatly.

"Yes," Kakashi said at the exact same time.

It looked like the jig was up. Not that we expected it to last forever—Tsunade and Shizune had already warned me that Kakashi was one of the smartest and best ninjas from the Leaf Village.

"This is our plan, and you're not part of it," I told Kakashi and Naruto flatly.

"Oh, come on," Naruto whined. "I've always wanted to pull off a cool ninja heist!"

"I've always wanted to pull off a cool ninja heist too," Kakashi said, clearly playing along with Naruto's childish excitement.

I rolled my eyes. "We already have partners we're cutting in. If we add more people, that just means we'll lose even more money."

Kakashi waved me off. "I'm not in this for the money. I've been an S-rank ninja for years now—I have enough to support myself for multiple lifetimes."

"I'd like some money," Naruto muttered, but we both ignored him.

"No," Kakashi said, and then, to my absolute horror, he started giggling. "What I'm after is a treasure far more precious. Far more valuable… It is said that deep within Gato's vaults lies the greatest treasure that a man of culture like me could ever desire."

He paused for dramatic effect. "The very first ever printed book of the Icha Icha series."

I stared at him, completely dumbfounded. "You have got to be shitting me."

Kakashi wanted to help us so he could get his hands on some limited edition porn?

"I have lost so much respect for you just now, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, shaking his head in disappointment. "And I really didn't have a lot to start with…"

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "I'll talk to Tsunade about it."

Kakashi looked smug, perfectly fine with my answer. I ignored his smirk and just decided to get the fish to Tazuna's daughter Tsunami. She knew pretty much everyone in the nearby village and would be able to make sure the food was properly distributed.

…

The next next morning…

Zabuza leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. He shot Kakashi a look of pure annoyance, his voice coming out in a low growl. "What the hell is this? Who decided to bring along the Leaf's infamous cyclops?"

Kakashi, unfazed as ever, gave a lazy wave. "Mah mah, I decided to invite myself," he said, sounding almost cheerful. His one visible eye crinkled into a half-smile. "And might I say, you look remarkably good for a man who's supposed to be dead."

Tsunade folded her arms under her chest and let out an exasperated sigh. "Can it, both of you. I'm not in the mood for a pissing contest right now." She turned to Haku, who was standing off to the side. "So, Haku, what's the situation?"

Haku nodded politely before speaking. "Gato has given orders to all of the Rain ninja. They're supposed to attack the bridge today around noon, when all the workers will be gathered there. He wants to kill them and destroy it..."

Zabuza chuckled under his breath, looking amused. "Looks like you can't join us on the heist, Kakashi. You'll be too busy doing your actual job." He smirked, clearly enjoying the idea of Kakashi being tied up elsewhere.

Kakashi just shrugged. "Guess that means you'll have to steal all the fun," he said, glancing at Tsunade. He didn't look rattled in the slightest. "But actually, I've got a suggestion." He paused, letting his gaze sweep across the room, finally settling on Shizune. "We don't all have to guard the bridge. Shizune can stay behind with the rest of the team to handle the security there. Meanwhile, Tsunade, Zabuza, and I can move forward with framing Aoi and finishing the rest of our plan."

Zabuza turned to me, an almost mocking grin curling across his face. "It's about time the pretty boy fights too," he taunted. "Don't think you can just let your girlfriends handle all the heavy lifting."

I shot him a glare, but I couldn't deny he had a point. I might not be on any of their level yet, but I sure as hell didn't want to sit around doing nothing. If the three top ninja in our group were busy framing Aoi and robbing Gato, that left me, Shizune, Haku, and Naruto's team to deal with those three Rain genin. 

Honestly, that sounded like overkill. But still…

"Were there any other ninjas Gato hired?" I asked Haku, thinking about that possibility.

Haku nodded. "Yes, there was a very pretty woman with blue hair and multiple piercings. She's also from the Land of Rain, though I didn't recognize her from any bingo books."

"Probably some random chunin, then," Zabuza said dismissively.

"BOOOOOOMMMMM!!!"

Suddenly, the entire small house shook. I staggered and grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself, half-expecting the whole place to collapse. Tsunade cursed under her breath.

"What the hell was that?" she exclaimed, her eyes darting around like she expected the walls to cave in.

Kakashi looked a bit freaked out himself. "That was one of the biggest explosions I've ever heard…"

Zabuza spat on the floor. "Fuck yeah it was. I never heard anything like that even back in the war."

A sinking feeling twisted my stomach. "It came from the direction of the half-finished bridge," I said, remembering the local geography I'd explored over the past few days.

"Fuck!" Kakashi bolted upright. It was still early morning, so Tazuna and Kakashi's team hadn't left for the bridge yet. But I could see panic flicker across Kakashi's face. 

We all rushed out of the house. My black wings burst out of my back and I took to the air, to clear the treetops and get a better view of what just blew up. 

And the water is on fire… 

The water is on fire exactly where the bridge was supposed to be. Somebody blew up the entire thing! 

Then I noticed her. A beautiful woman with blue hair and multiple piercings, hovering in the air with a pair of white wings. She looked calm, almost serene, as she surveyed the destruction.

"Random chunin my ass," I muttered, trying to process what I was seeing. Another winged person? Since when did this world have other 'angels'?

She turned her head, and for a split second, our gazes locked. Me with my black wings, her with those white ones.

XXX