Disclaimer: Naruto and all related characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. Any religious misinterpretations are unintentional and are not meant to offend. This story is nothing but a Fantasy Fiction. Please, don't take it seriously.

Those Who Burn Out the Brightest

Chapter 1

"I shall fall

Like a bright exhalation in the evening,

And no man see me more."

― William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

It was the most overwhelming pain and darkness.

She could not open her eyes and her limbs were heavy. Her breath came in swallow gasps, tasting salty iron on her tongue. She was injured – her wings were partially ripped out, many major veins severed so her back was drenched with blood. Loosing wings was fatal for an angel of her clasis, if somebody did not find her within a few hours, she would be dead.

Approaching footsteps. Strong hands cradled her face against something firm but warm. The scent of thunderstorm and fire pierced cloudy conscious. There were rapid heartbeats in her ear – not hers, his.

"Wake up," a raw demand, his voice next to her ear. She wanted to say that she's awake, but had no strength to speak.

"Dying is unforgivable, you hear me?"

I'm sorry, Sasuke.

Her awareness was fading, but she was not afraid because he was with her, and even when Sakura surrendered to the dark abyss, she was not afraid.

Sakura was awake before she opened her eyes. She immediately noticed a familiar septic fragrance of an infirmary, then she heard somebody moving about in the room – a friendly presence. Her lids were still heavy; but with much effort she pried them open.

"… Ino?"

The lithe blonde girl turned abruptly, eyes widened, mouth agape, exotic celestial blue wings fluttering. However, the forever chic Yamanaka Ino never allowed herself to appear ungracefully shocked for more than a few moments. Her expression quickly cooled into a wicked smile, "Welcome back, Forehead."

Sakura lifted a hand to rub the sleepiness off her face and successfully sat up. "How long… was I out?" her voice was rough, unused.

"Ten days. Got beaten up pretty bad, hadn't you?" Ino teased, but her tone was underlined with warmth and relief. The blonde placed a fresh bouquet of white daffodils on a table at the corner before moving closer to the bed. "Don't worry. Your wings are perfectly reattached, but Lady Tsunade said no flying business for at least eight weeks, capisce?"

Sakura nodded bitterly, that was an unfair price for a little lapse of judgment in battle. She would be a useless soldier for eight weeks. Forget the war, she would be lucky to be given mundane missions for months.

Of course, Sakura was an excellent Winged Healer, so Lady Tsunade would welcome her assistance in the Refuge. But thinking about the frontline, about the injured that would never make it to the hospital in time, made her chest tighten. Suddenly feeling exhausted, she lied back down on her bed.

Ino drew Sakura's white cotton blanket up to her chin. "Rest, and get well soon. That will make our lives much easier," said the blonde meaningfully to her best-friend-slash-rival.

The rosette winced at the implication behind that advice. "Is he angry, still?"

Ino looked at her as if she had said something very stupid. Sakura was never stupid. "Angry? Forehead, he is bloody livid."

Sakura gulped, "Hell."

Lifting both of her hands and shaking her head hopelessly, the blonde girl sighed. "Hell is right. He has been substituting for all your classes, you know?"

"No!" Sakura was mortified.

"Yes. He made Moegi cry every other day. And Konohamaru is in detention, I don't think he will be out until Christmas."

The Novices' troubles only serve to make Sakura feel guiltier. She knew very well how tricky it was to deal with their Leader when angered. The dark-haired Seraph was dangerously volatile when furious. He had the tendency to confine his anger absurdly tight only to blow up at the most unpredictable moment, and whoever was unlucky enough to be in his company during his explosion was guaranteed to experience hell.

As if on cue, the door swung open with a loud crack. There he was, a tall dark figure fully coated in pristine uniform: Uchiha Sasuke, the Seraph of Retribution. "Out," the man said tersely to Ino, though his black eyes trained intently towards Sakura.

The blonde girl rolled her eyes at his rudeness. She mouthed a sarcastic "Enjoy," to her friend before slipping away from the room like a submissive subordinate that she never was. Sakura swore. Ino was trying to get back at her for escaping Sasuke's moodiness, and it did not matter whether she was unconscious during the time.

Sasuke slammed the door shut and began stalking towards her with predatory steps. His magnificent midnight wings, all six of them, expanded tensely – ready to dive. Despite the sub-zero wrath rolling off him in waves, Sakura force herself not to look away and sat back up on the bed. She was determined not to let him intimidate her. Sasuke might still be her superior, but they have come long and far as comrades.

He caught her by both shoulders and pinned her with a pissed-off glare. "You have deliberately disobeyed me," he growled, for once his stoic mask slipped to reveal fiery anger.

"I had to," she protested, squirming to escape his hold, though he was as immovable as a fortress. Disgruntled by the unfair difference of their strengths, Sakura huffed, "I can hear the screams, we were being butchered! I can't just…."

"You did more damage than good," he condemned. Clearly, he was not interested in her reasons. "What can you do now in this useless condition?"

"That's not fair!" she pierced him with her own version of a death glare. "I may be injured, but I'm not incapable! I can still heal!"

The hands on her shoulders contracted, as if he was struggling for control. "Shut up! They are aiming to cripple our resources. You are aware that it was a trap, yet you walked straight into it! I don't need a stupid injured medic who can't even follow orders."

"That's not fair," she repeated again, more ashamed now that he had pointed out her fault. The most useless soldier was the one who could not follow orders. "It was a mistake, but one that I knowingly made. We were losing, Sasuke, the village would have been destroyed. I needed to stall until you arrived."

"Damn it, Sakura!" Her sentence, meant to appease, had only poured gasoline in his raging fire. He gritted his teeth as if he wanted to silence any further yelling. "Do you know what I will do if you were captured?" he growled dangerously, "Do you know what I will do if I found you dead?"

Her heart jumped. For the first in a very long time, Sakura wondered if Sasuke had ever considered her as something more than a comrade and a subordinate. No. She could not, would not, allow that thought.

Sasuke, did not wait for her reply. "I will burn them, Sakura," a dark promise.

Oh no. Her throat dried up.

"I will tear them limb to limb. I will hang them alive for the vultures to feed on their rotten flesh. I will wait for them to heal before I'll do it again and again for a hundred years. "

"Sasuke," she could only manage a hoarse whisper. She wanted to tell him that he should not do such dreadful things. He should not show that he cared. Because she would fall. Fall hard like that time many years ago, despite her oath to never go through all those pain again. Never.

Too late.

His promise was clear, and so was his intention. Hands still clenching her shoulders, he leaned low, the tips of his bangs brushed her cheeks, and his molten onyx gemstone met her own sea-green. "You are not replaceable, understand? You belong to me."

Crack. Her brittle armor was broken, but the cancer was already eating her resolve long time before he delivered the final blow. The sole reason why she was still able to hold her facade was because he had never welcomed her feelings. But now, he undoubtedly did want her.

There was no turning back for either of them. If they were discovered, they would be punished. Severely. Sasuke especially. Because he was the older one, her supervisor, and on top of them all, he was the arbitrator of Retribution. He should know better than anyone what was unforgivable.

Angels should know no love for another but one which is Philos, a love of friendship and comradeship. They should not possess the physical form of love such as their human brethren - the love to belong only to one person, and to claim and be claimed in return in the most intimately way possible. But knowing all this had not protected Sakura from falling in love with Sasuke, and in the end, it had not protected Sasuke from being infected with the same fate.

I did this. I did this to him.

A single tear fell down. She closed her eyes, but more had begun falling. She hated to cry in front of him. She did not wish for him to see her weakness, wanting more than anything for him to forget about the foolish child who had followed him around hopelessly years ago.

"Why are you crying?" he frowned.

"… because I'm scared."

He frowned. "I am angry, but I will not hurt you. Not like before."

"It's not that." She tried shaking her head, but his grip was adamant.

"What do you fear, then?" he caressed her cheek, calloused thumb rubbing in small circles. The gesture was so gentle it broke her heart and more tears fell.

"Tch, stop crying," he ordered, but there was edginess buried underneath layers of control. "Tell me what you fear."

She opened her eyes, the darkest jade smudged by forebode. Finally, she allowed herself to touch him, hands encasing his face. "This," she replied solemnly, surrendered and defeated.

In his eyes, there was a flash of understanding. Then, a deep fire that she had never seen before. "Sakura…?"

"Always," she lowered her head guiltily. "Always."

His grip tightened before curling around her nape. Her head fell back obediently, and right then and there he took her lips with a slow branding kiss.

Her heart soared, but more tears kept falling – those of relief, of happiness, but also of guilt and sadness for the hardships they would have to face in the future. Then, she kissed him back, with all the love and desire and longing she felt only for him, and had kept locked tightly for three hundred years.

He pulled away from her lips with a groan. "Are you strong enough?" A hoarse undertone, thick with restrained emotions. His hands had moved around her waist, caressing the spine in the center of her two tender wings. The skin was still anew and sensitive, Sakura shivered in delight.

"Please," she whispered breathlessly, hands on the collar of his military coat. "I want this."

He nodded, and then, with everything they have, they blend.

"Okay, pinkie, spill."

Sakura gave an amused look to the medic who was performing a final check up after she had been declared Fully Recovered. "What, Karin?"

The crimson haired genie kept cool while writing unperturbedly on her pad, although one of her eyebrow was twitching in annoyance. "You are glowing when you should be moping. You've been given no missions but herb pickings for weeks."

"It's spring," Sakura reasoned. That was not a complete lie, everyone knew spring was her favorite season.

Her red head colleagues narrowed eyes suspiciously. "Fine, don't tell me. I don't care."

Sakura grinned. "Thanks. I worry about you, too, darling."

If the affectionate nickname bothered her, Karin did not show it. "Shut up and let me do this check up, will you? Sasuke wants the result out before midday."

"Yes, Your Highness," Sakura mocked.

The other medic just rolled her eyes.

They were tidying up when Sasuke appeared at the door and looked intently at the rosette. "Haruno, I need you in my office."

Only years of practice in faking emotions had prevented Sakura from blushing right then and there at the sight of him. She could remember clearly what the two of them had done the last time they were alone in his office, and it had nothing to do with mission briefing.

"Can this wait? We're still warping up here." She tried to stall; hoping time will allow some recovery from her embarrassing thoughts.

Sasuke, of course, did not like to be denied anything. "Now," he snapped.

"Just go, Sakura," Karin interrupted before the pink head could start a round of petty verbal fight with the resident Seraph. "Otherwise he will sulk all day. I think we ran out of Novice to be given a detention. I don't want him to start targeting us the seniors."

"I heard that, Karin," Sasuke chided sullenly.

The red head gave Sasuke a seductive smile, but there was no faking the satisfaction in her voice, "I'm glad you did, Sasuke."

It was Sakura's turn to roll her eyes. The rosette stood up and slapped her dusty hands together. "Fine, fine, I'll go now."

Sasuke looked slightly mollified at Sakura's compliance before dragging the girl outside.

Karin sneered at the closed door. The pair might be able to fool the others or even The Sentinels, but since she was not an angel, she could clearly see what was happening between the two.

Not that she would tell anyone. She still owed Sakura her life, and Karin valued herself above anything else.

to be contintued.

Author's Note: So now you've seen a glimpse of how this is going to be. I realized that the prologue as well as the title of this story made it sound like this is going to be a terribly angsty emo piece, ahaha. But no, as you can see here, there are also rooms for snippy remarks and serious humor to balance the emotional contents. Much more will be in presented in later chapters (plus the smut, ha.), so stay tuned! :D

Trivia: The title, theme, and analogy (stars = angels) of this story were inspired by a quote in Shakespeare's Macbeth: "Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell." referring to the fall of Lucifer from heaven.

Review = love. They give me energy boost to write. :)