…and the descent of the angel was marked by the beginning of spring, and the fall of the angel was the maturation of summer.

The change in environment brought forth the demon that brought on fall, the devil came after the demon and then came winter, and with every shift in power a new season came, but spring was always the season that changed with the most violent intensity, restarting the life that was lost in winter and tired and worn down, fell into summer, to repeat the process over and over again.

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Chapter Two: of Problems

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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but this is all mine.

Warning: AU Rated 'M'

xoxoxoxox

A darkness filtered around the candles in the room, letting off a grim glow against the old stone walls, ancient markings decorated the stones, casting a foreboding feeling about the cold room.

A figure bent over the wooden table, pale and sickly with dark lines under its eyes. Eyes that stared at the remnants of a scroll from before the beginning of time, or their time at least, his time…

His time…

A pale boney hand caressed the ancient markings, "Soon," his weathered voice whispered, "Soon."

xoxoxoxoxox

"Sakura?"

Sakura paused a few yards before the three men, her hand fisting and hovering on her chest in apprehension. Emerald eyes narrowed slightly in confusion, "Kakashi?"

She hardly recognized him, his hair… his eyes, or his eye…

She stood there, just staring at him trying to figure out if it was her Kakashi, he felt so different, his aura was… was… the same just… different.

The blonde beside Kakashi looked up surprised, he glanced at Kakashi then at the pink haired female, his blue eyes blinking in confusion, "Oi, Kakashi, you know this chick?"

The black haired male stepped forward and Sakura instinctively took a step back, "Angel, dobe, angel."

Naruto blinked again and was silent for a second, and Sakura was suddenly unsure of what she was going to do.

And then, suddenly, in a flash of color the blonde was on her, and Sakura was really too shocked to do anything but stand there and be… hugged?

"Nice to meet you angel!"

Sakura blinked in surprise at the cheery exclamation having been slightly thrown over his shoulder, her hand came down on his free shoulder that she wasn't laid across to balance herself and she turned her head enough to see him grinning at her.

Sakura laughed and smiled, and Naruto smiled just as wide back at her, "It's nice to meet you too, Naruto."

"So you're an angel, and you know Kakashi? So like, how old are you?

Sakura righted herself as she was placed back on the ground, Naruto stepped back, "You know, I kinda expected you to be taller."

Sakura glanced up at the demon Naruto, he had a good half a foot on her, the devil, Sasuke, had a good half a foot on him. Kakashi and Sasuke were roughly about the same height.

"And why is your hair pink? Is that your natural color?"

"Dobe, shut the hell up will you?" The sharp growl of words had Naruto whirling around to start an argument with Sasuke.

Kakashi stood back and watched the three, his dark eye narrowing slightly, Sakura glanced over at him.

"You shouldn't be here."

All arguing between the two boys stopped and the female of the group frowned, Naruto turned to Kakashi, "What are you talking about?"

"You shouldn't be here Sakura, not you, they shouldn't have sent you." His voice almost sounded angry and Sakura took another step back.

But she did not reply to him.

Naruto's eyes flickered from the two of them, back and forth, "Why? What's wrong with her?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Nothing, she needs to go back, she needs to leave, they need to send someone else."

"Kakashi," The three all glanced over at the soft spoken name, Sakura regarded him through slightly glowing emerald eyes, pale skin softly illuminated in the now cloud scattered night.

She smiled at him, and Sasuke regarded her suspiciously, Naruto watched her curiously and Kakashi watched her without an emotion running through his visible eye.

Sakura shut her eyes and tipped back onto her heels, arms behind her, fingers interlaced, "I invoke the seal of the contract and order of the council of Babylon,"

The air shifted around them and suddenly they were alert, "And by said contract I, Haruno Sakura, will stay with the designated participants of the official contract until the threat deemed is dismissed."

Kakashi felt a feeling of foreboding overwhelm him, "I officially-" He shut his eye, "swear to adhere to the terms of the contract, and by swearing thus," Kakashi's eye slowly opened to meet with stubborn emerald fire, burning at the edges of his sanity, "you can't do anything about it."

Naruto's face twisted into a grin, "Burn."

Sasuke smirked ever so slightly, "I believe… that was the final word on the matter."

And thus the contract, enacted eons ago was made active by the participants, each swearing in, and to Hatake Kakashi's extreme disbelief, an angel was the most troublesome out of all his problems on Earth.

xoxoxoxoxox

"Are we there yet?"

Silence met the question.

"Do we even know where we're going?"

Once more silence, but this time it was met with a cold, ebony glare.

Naruto slumped bored, the two figures walking in front of him silently were no fun, and crossing the valley was beginning to wear on his nerves.

He let out a long, drawn out sigh, "Are we there-"

"Why don't you play with the angel or something, she seems to be amusing herself just fine."

Naruto's nose wrinkled up as all three glanced over at the pink haired girl a few meters away… in the flowers… playing with small valley animals…

"Yuck, squirrels have fleas, they're only good for eating."

Kakashi turned his attention forward, doing his best to ignore everything around him, he hadn't said a word since last night and he didn't plan to start now.

"Dobe, she's frolicking, who the hell frolics?"

Naruto's eyes lit up, "Ha! It's like that fairy tale where the one princess frolics with the forest animals! You know, and there's an evil witch-"

"Where's an evil witch?"

Naruto whirled around to walk beside Sakura, who had left the small animals behind when they had begun to get too far from their homes with a kindly goodbye.

"You know, the fairy-are those berries?"

Sakura glanced down at the handful of colorful berries in her hand and it held it out to Naruto, "Yes, the animals gave them to me."

Sasuke sent her a disgusted look; it was beyond him why any one wound want to be near those… things… besides for food… and he didn't mean berries.

Naruto accepted some berries from her and popped a few in his mouth.

"Mmm, where'd you find them?"

Sakura shrugged, "I told you, the animals gave them to me."

Naruto gave her a slightly funny look, "Uh, unless those animals were the demon sort, I don't think they quite have the capacity for that."

Sakura glanced down at the berries before popping some into her mouth.

"Alright," Sakura conceded, "But you're wrong."

And with that Sakura went to frolic with a new set of animals that lived in the valley, Naruto wrinkling his nose in disdain that she said he was wrong, Sasuke mumbling under his breath about poison berries.

And once more, Kakashi ignored everything while Sakura frolicked with the creatures of the field.

"Angels make me sick."

"That's because you're a bastard."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

"Does this valley ever end?"

Sasuke glanced over at the complaining blonde; he had been whining none stop since they had entered the valley.

"The mountains size give the illusion that the valley is much smaller then it actually is."

The two glanced over at Kakashi, the male hadn't spoken the whole distance across the valley and now that they where almost to the base of the mountains…

"How long is it going to take to get through the mountains?"

Naruto glanced over at mountains in the distance, it wouldn't take more then another hour of walking to get there from where they where hopefully.

"I'm not sure, it depends on the elements."

"It depends on more than that."

The three glanced over at Sakura approaching them; her eyes were fixated on the mountains in the distance.

"Those mountains are ancient," Naruto glanced over at the mountains he had been glaring at for the past hour, listening to the angel speak, "And dangerous, they say there are creatures in the mountains that have been there longer then the oldest tree."

Naruto blinked and wrinkled his nose, "Who said that?"

Sakura glanced over at the blonde, "The badger."

And with that Sakura took lead and started walking towards the mountains again.

Kakashi placed his hands in his pockets and followed after her, Sasuke shook his head, once again mumbling about poison berries.

Naruto reached up and scratched his head.

"What's a badger got to do with anything…eh! Hey wait up!"

xoxoxoxox

Naruto's eyes wondered up the side of the crevice in the mountain, it was dark and foreboding even though it was bright and practically cloudless out in the valley, this hole in the mountain had death written all over it.

"Um, so…"

Sakura glanced into the mist that wrapped around valley, then glanced over at the nervously dancing Naruto.

She was three steps in before anyone noticed anything, "EEYAH! S-Sakura-chan! Where are you going!?"

Sakura paused mid-step, "Through the trail?" Sakura furrowed her eyebrows at the nervously dancing Naruto.

Kakashi and Sasuke both glanced at Naruto, though neither had made a move to follow Sakura into the void, neither where showing fear.

Had Naruto a tail then it would be between his legs, "You can't see anything in there! You don't know what's hiding in the mist!"

Sakura frowned, "Then don't you think we should find out?"

Naruto went pale, "N-no, I do not think we should find out, don't you have any fear?"

Sakura blinked for a moment, emerald eyes regarded the fox demon, it was said animals instincts where best followed, "Not really."

And with that Sakura turned and walked into the mist, slowly disappearing into the thickening whiteness.

Naruto yowled, "AH! Don't go in there alone!"

The blonde ran into the mist after the pink haired female, their silhouette's slowly disappearing in the fog.

Sasuke resisted the urge to turn around and leave the idiots in the mist and just go around the mountains. He travelled faster alone anyway.

He glanced over at Kakashi who slowly sighed before heading forward.

He had, however, already sworn in, and at the rate they where going, he'd probably be travelling alone by night fall.

xoxoxoxoxo

"Ahhh, Sakura-chan," Naruto's voice was hushed, "It's too quiet, I don't like it, we should leave."

Sakura glanced at Naruto who was clinging to her arm, "I don't understand why you're so afraid, its just mist."

Naruto's eyes got wide, "Just mist, just mist, this is the chasm to the Valley of the Mist, it’s a demon hotspot for creatures even I wouldn't want to associate Sakura-chan, aren't you afraid?"

Sakura frowned, "Of what?"

Naruto pulled away from Sakura, his fear replaced by his curiosity, "Of the demons, of the mist? Anything?"

Sakura glanced over at the wide eyed Naruto, staring at her in disbelief, Sakura looked forward, thinking for a moment.

“What do I have to be afraid of?”

Naruto gave her a withering look, “You know, you must not have spent much time in human towns to be this carefree about everything.”

Sakura frowned, blinking emerald eyes, “I’ve never spent anytime in human towns, this is my first time on Earth.”

Naruto stopped walking.

Sakura paused and glanced back at him curiously, “Naruto, are you alright.”

Blue eyes stared forward for a moment before Naruto whirled around, “KAKASHI!”

xoxoxoxoxox

“This has to be a joke, right Sakura-chan? You can’t be serious, you’ve never been to Earth, ever?”

“I don’t see why this matters one bit dobe, she’s sworn in, we can’t change anything now.”

Sakura glanced over at Kakashi who was giving the stone wall a blank look, regarding it through one eye, almost as if he was bored.

Sakura sighed and hoped off the boulder she had been sitting on, “I’m going to keep walking, we don’t want to be here when night comes,” Naruto, who had been pulling at his hair glanced over at Sakura, “Huh, why not?”

Sakura glanced over at Naruto, “Hmm? Oh, because it's haunted.”

Naruto went pale, Sasuke ignored him and stood up to continue forward, “Dobe.”

Kakashi sighed, “She’s right, we need to get moving.”

“EAY! Right?! Right about what, that it's HAUNTED!”

“Dobe.”

xoxoxoxoxox

Sakura paused, tilting her head up towards the sky hidden behind layer after layer of mist.

She could hear Naruto and Sasuke coming up behind her, arguing as they had been for the past hour. Mostly about the importance of having been to Earth beforehand, Sakura really didn't see what the big deal was, not that she had a choice in the manner, her shishou had practically shoved her out of the Nirvana plain.

Sakura sighed and went back to concentrating on the terrain around her. Kakashi had taken up the rear and wouldn’t be far behind the two arguing boys.

Sakura frowned for a moment at the sudden sensation at the back of her mind; she could have sworn there was something above her…

She took another step forward and froze, a feeling of urgency echoed through her body, and without hesitation she leapt up, cutting through the fog to land on a ledge, the fog was a little less dense where she now stood, almost five feet in front of her was the wall to the mountain, they would have walked right past the ledge from below without even knowing it existed.

Sakura took a step forward then paused as she heard Naruto and Sasuke start to pass beneath her, “Hey guys! Up here!”

There was silence for a moment before Naruto and Sasuke appeared on the ledge, Kakashi appeared behind them a moment later.

Naruto frowned and looked around, "Why are we…"

Sasuke glanced around as well before he paused, "Listen."

Naruto frowned and went silent; Sakura and Kakashi remained silent, Sakura taking a few steps toward the ledge before kneeling.

All were silent for a moment, Naruto frowned, "It sounds like…"

"Something's coming." Kakashi interrupted, stepping forward and towards the ledge beside Sakura.

Sasuke's frown deepened as he glanced at the pink haired female in the group, "How did you know-"

"Shh! Listen teme!"

Sasuke gave a dark look to Naruto but fell silent again, slowly, cutting through the fog, voices where heard, two male voices making their way towards the small group on the ledge.

Kakashi's dark eye watched at the silhouette's appeared in the mist, his eye narrowing as they approached.

Anyone travelling through the mountain's coming towards them couldn't have come from far if they where humans, and it seemed, judging by the sound and feel of them that, that was exactly what they where.

A slight shift beside him had him glancing over at Sakura, her eyes where bright and face set in a curious expression, it had been a long time since he had seen her, but the last time he had, she hadn't quite looked the way she did now…

Her humanized form suited her, though it did a good job of taking the edge off her inhuman qualities, the slight glow of her skin, the bright shine of her eyes and wispy nature of her hair would give her away to any being that wasn't human.

"But Kakashi-sensei! Why do you have to go? I don't want you to leave again…"

"Kakashi," Kakashi snapped out of the train of thoughts he had fallen into and glanced over at Sakura, her voice hushed as the silhouette's passed below.

He regarded Sakura silently waiting for her to continue, "They're guardsmen from a village hidden not to far ahead, they seem to be having a problem with female's getting spirited away…"

Sasuke regarded Sakura silently, slightly impressed that the angel could determine so much from two guardsmen and in almost complete silence he supposed angels were good for something after all, Naruto on the other hand was giving Sakura a strange look.

"What the heck is she talking about?"

Sasuke gave the blonde a withering look, "You are such a dobe."

Sakura glanced at Naruto who flipped Sasuke the bird, "What the heck are you talking about Sakura-chan?"

Sakura smiled at Naruto, "They where praying."

Naruto snorted, "I coulda told you that, I could smell their fear all the way up here even through this damn fog-wait, you can hear them praying? But they weren't talking out loud."

Curious blue eyes turned slightly weary, "Wait, you can't like, hear our thoughts can you?"

Kakashi shifted to kneel by the edge as Sakura smiled, explaining to the wide eyed Naruto.

"No, it's an angel thing, prayers are a different kind of thought, its projected, I can hear them pray but I can't hear anything else they are thinking."

Naruto blinked again, "Oh… so… how far can you hear them pray?"

Sakura shut her eyes and seemed to be listening, Naruto watched her curiously, Sasuke regarded the angel, his arms crossed as he waited.

Sakura opened her eyes, "It's hard to catch anything in this area, it might be the mountains, it might be that we're on Earth, or it might be that holy power is weakened around certain creatures but… I can feel whispers of pray coming from ahead, but it's to weak to tell exactly where right now…"

Kakashi stood up, "The guards will be back soon, Sakura, which way is the whisper coming from?"

Naruto glanced over at Kakashi, "You mean you can't hear the prayers?"

Kakashi didn't respond, emerald eyes locked on Kakashi, her expression turning slightly sad, "The east… I think there's an entrance somewhere ahead…"

Kakashi nodded, "We'll have to wait and shadow the guards then, Sasuke, Naruto you two wait for the guards up here, don't let them know you're following them or they'll bypass the entrance to the town, Sakura and I will head forward and see if we can find an entrance on our own or at the very least more guards."

The two nodded Kakashi glanced over at Sakura, "Sakura, let's go."

Sakura stood up from her kneeling position, "Right…"

And with that the two jumped from the ledge, making there way forward silently.

Naruto glanced over at Sasuke, "How do we get ahold of them if we can't find the entrance and they can?"

Sasuke glanced over at Naruto, and in almost a sickly voice said, "Pray."

xoxoxoxoxox

Sakura shadowed Kakashi silently, listening around her as they walked, the prayers where getting louder, not because they where getting closer, but because more people where joining in.

It was odd, generally she was able to pick out just one and concentrate on it enough to hear the words, even when it started out to be just a murmur, but from what she could tell everyone was echoing the same prays in their head.

Kakashi stopped before her and Sakura barely stopped short of running into his back, his head tilted up and it almost looked like he was scenting the air.

"It smells like earth strongly ahead, strong enough to be a cave with multiple caverns, it might be the way to the town."

Sakura nodded, and realizing Kakashi couldn't see her mumbled an embarrassed, "Yes."

Sakura turned her head towards the prayers and listened a moment longer, "It's hard to determine but… I think we need to go up a little ways and to the right, the up might come later, but it’s the general direction we need to be heading."

Kakashi nodded before continuing on, slowly shifting through the mist with his nose; though it dulled his sense of smell he could still make out the smell of Earth coming from ahead.

xoxoxoxoxo

Meanwhile…

Sasuke and Naruto where behind the guards, behind and above, trailing them as far as the ledge would allow them.

"Hey teme," Naruto's voice was hushed but that didn't stop Sasuke from sending a glare his way, "How do you think Sakura-chan and Kakashi know each other?"

Sasuke ignored the blonde, he didn't know how the two knew each other, he did however know why Kakashi was a Lucifer, which meant he could probably understand Kakashi's reluctance to have anyone he had known before his 'shame' come in contact with him.

"I don't know dobe, why don't you ask the angel?"

Naruto shrugged before slinking forward a few more feet towards the advancing guards.

"It's been a while since I've seen an angel; I hear the Babylon council restricted travel greatly since this whole 'evil incarnate' thing started."

Sasuke didn't respond, "You'd think with the ranks of angels they have they would have sent someone less pink," the fox demon grinned then, "And squishy, not that I'm complaining about that particular asset mind you."

"I swear to creator of my clan you are the most annoying, perverted demon I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."

The blue eyed fox grinned at the ebony eyed demon and both fell into silence as they continued forward.

"There was once a demon fox with nine tails…

The demon fox was abandoned at birth because of the abnormality with his tails, wherever he would go rain would follow, thunder and lightening too.

The fox clan who he had once belonged banished him, and alone and scared the little fox wondered off, crying all the way until one day the storm above him calmed.

For many years the little fox wondered becoming angry with the world, but he had sworn the day he had been turned away to never turn as cold as those who had shunned him.

One day the little fox came to a hot spring, and attracted by the scent of flowers and sprites came forward, the fox clan whom he had left had always had an affinity with nature, so at first the sprites that where bathing in the hot spring did not mind the curious kit and his nine tails.

But it soon became apparent they where not alone, and out of the water appeared a frog. Outraged the sprites ran from the frog as the frog called after them.

Curious as to why the sprites ran from the frog the kit approached him.

'Maybe,' the kit thought, 'he is cursed like me!'

But that wasn't the case and the frog demon huffed up, "WHY! I am the Great Hermit Frog Jiraiya of the Springs! I am not cursed! Tehehe! Unless it is with my need to find ULTIMATE BEAUTY!"

The kit was perplexed.

"Now scram kit! I have some research to conduct on the beauty of NATURE!"

The kit, having no where else to go, stayed close to the hot spring curling up and watching the failed attempts of the frog hermit time after time.

Soon the frog hermit approached him again, "Now kit, your cramping my style! Why don't you get along home?"

And forlorn the little kit told him he could not, because he was not wanted.

Now the frog had lived many a century, been in many a battle and seen many sad, sad things, but somewhere, inside is heart, buried in regret and fond memories, the hermit saw himself.

So with a puff of his great chest and a sigh, he told the little kit he could travel with him.

And the little kit was overjoyed.

It wasn't long until the curse that had forced the Fox Clan to banish the kit was revealed, the Frog, ancient and wise helped the kit to control his tails and his curse.

And slowly the two grew together, the kit became known as the "Kyuubi Naruto" named for his nine tails and the tale of the great hero "Naruto" from a fable written eons ago. And the "Hermit Frog Master Jiraiya" traversed the demon world together.

It wasn't until one day when they came across a portal to the human world that the Kyuubi asked the Hermit Frog to teach him about the world beyond theirs, that another journey all together began.

And so the Kyuubi Naruto and Hermit Jiraiya began a new journey in the human world, one that would last a century but be remembered a life time.

A/n: Sorry that this took so long to get out, you wouldn’t believe what the heck happened to the first one; my laptop ate it -

Anyway… The italics was the story of the Kyuubi Naruto, or at least the 'beginning of the story of the Kyuubi' if you would. Just a little background, I'll kind of be doing that with all the characters throughout the story, just so no one is confused, Naruto's clan banished him because he had an uncontrollable ((sort of)) curse of nine tails, which is seen as bad luck in demon fox eyes, so his clan made him leave, and travelling the kit found the infamous Ero-sannin! Who took him in. This little tidbit ends with Naruto and Jiraiya taking off to the human world, but that's not where "of angels and darkness" takes place, it takes place a few centuries after that even.

Anyway, hopefully I didn't confuse anyone, see you next time!