Pitch-black eyes opened to reflect the darkness and emptiness of the world that surrounded her. Bereft of light, or even depth. It was like a two-dimensional world.
There were several unsettling details for Azrael, but the one that made her frown the most, the one that peeved and infuriated her the most... was the cross she was hanging on. Her body hung up on a cross in a picture similar to what she had witnessed thousands of years prior with her own two eyes, unable to move a muscle.
The remembrance brought along pain.
"I thought for a second that genjutsu doesn't work on you, but... even you have your limits"
She heard an unnervingly relaxed voice. One wild Itachi manifested out of nowhere, holding a sword in his hand. A blood-red moon hung in the sky; it was the only colour in this world.
It was the only colour there would ever be.
He resembled a child who once feared ghosts but had now grown up and was in control. At the start, he had feared that she was an odd existence with a lot of eccentricity. But as expected, no one could escape the grasp of the Mangekyō.
He expected surprise out of her, perhaps a bit of fear... but he was greeted by frowning brows, a stare of disgust and hatred as if he had exterminated her whole family.
"Do you even know the meaning of this sacred cross? Do you know... what it represents for us Angels?".
Her tone was low, eerie... still beautiful, but with a hint of danger, like a kettle that had been boiling for too long; the steam contained within had reached a huge point of pressure, and it was about to explode.
Itachi's brows raised before he sighed and lifted his sword, pointing it at her bottom ribs.
Thinking she was just acting strong, he pierced her slowly and painfully. Pain was capable of overriding pride, dignity, and everything else.
But her eyes didn't contort as the white blood poured, her hatred didn't diminish; instead, it only increased.
Having been in the secret corps of Anbu, Itachi hadn't personally engaged too much in torture, but he knew a fair deal on the matter, and this was not the natural response in the slightest. Unconsciously, he took a step back to re-evaluate her, re-evaluate his genjutsu... re-evaluate if he was really the one in control here, but it didn't matter how much he checked, everything seemed to be okay.
"I shall ask you again. Do you know... the meaning of the sacred cross...?"
For the first time, Itachi flinched a little, staring at those dead abyss black eyes. It didn't matter if the world had turned black or white; those eyes remained the same. They looked at him like he was no longer alive, like a pile of flesh.
Itachi didn't answer and went to pierce her again with the sword. He would pierce a hundred times if necessary; at the end of the day, her soul had to crumble. In any case, in the real world, Kisame ought to be doing his thing, trying to restrain her and capture her so they can inspect her further.
But sadly for him, the Archangel Azrael was no longer just an Archangel, nor was she a common Starlight Angel either; she was a Deathstar Archon who had been endowed with an unimaginable amount of milk- cough! blessing.
Even if her soul had been imprisoned here, her soul was still that of a deity.
Azrael's hand (which was supposed to be pressed to the cross) moved swiftly and grasped the sword before it could completely retreat.
Itachi didn't see that coming at all; he wasn't even prepared. She yanked and pulled, bringing Itachi's body alongside, unable to resist. Before the man knew, her hand was on his neck, strangling him.
!!!
She was still in the same position, crucified. But willing to show him that even in that position, she was still the one with the upper hand; the mortal here was him, no one else.
"U-UGH!!!" Itachi groaned as oxygen became scarce and the pain extended from his neck to his upper torso. The pain she should be feeling, now inflicted on him. In a world that was supposed to be his playground, this woman did whatever she wanted!
"Do you dare profane the cross in front of me?! Do you even know how painful that pain was for all of us?! Unable to intervene!?" She said again, her voice a bit colder but a lot more dangerous.
Unknowingly, he stumbled upon something he shouldn't have.
"HOW?! UGH!– CAN YOU MOVE?!"
As the coldness of her eyes seeped through, her grip on his neck tightened more and more until a pop was heard.
BAANGG!!
Reality shattered like broken glass; both Azrael and Itachi came back to reality. However, what she noticed was that her body was lying on the floor, soaking wet and with her robes ragged, exposing quite a bit of flesh.
SNORT!
...
Kizame, now robeless and with a scorching wound on his chest, looked at Itachi, who was coughing blood on the floor and holding his itching eyes.
"I tried to restrain her, but every ninjutsu that gets in contact with her body just scatters. What is this woman anyway? She's too weird. What's the plan to take her down?".
"cough! cough! we have to retreat"
Rather than his usual plans and flawless teamwork, it was the first time Kizame heard Itachi mutter the words 'retreat'.
"Why? If we capture her–"
"She's angry now".
He staggered up and looked towards the cluster of black miasma, her body re-materialised with ten wings instead of two, her cloak extended until it reached the floor, merging with the shadows. Her white wings seemed to lose their lustre.
They looked at her and got ready to fight, only to notice how there was something forming on top of her head. It was akin to a pitch-black halo.
"YOU MISERABLES!".
**
**
The distance between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire was immense, perhaps more than hundreds of kilometres apart.
Ray had been sleeping in his room with Haku, Albedo, and Yasaka. Waiting for the morning for the Raikage to settle his issues, to set off towards Konoha.
And yet they felt it.
Four pairs of eyes opened up at the same time.
"Found her," Ray said. He stood up immediately, "I was wondering where she was... she had been concealing herself the entire time we were around".
Upon arriving in the world, with energy records, there was nothing that could conceal his senses. Except, of course, a deity trying to conceal itself.
However, he knew not to worry about Azrael. Tsunade was calm and steady without worries, so he didn't have to worry about Azrael's whereabouts; she was more than likely just doing her bidding and would soon appear (more than likely in front of him as an expectant surprise)
He hadn't been wrong, but never did he expect that the first energy reading he got from her in this world would be so chaotic.
"Azrael-chan is angry?" Yasaka yawned and rose, her ears fluttered for a moment before she collapsed back in the bed. The energy released by Azrael was so acute that even they could feel it, even when their senses were not that strong. However, that energy reading decreased just as quickly as it peaked.
Whoever had been the target, they were no more.
"Come back to the bed, master... that woman probably just got looked the wrong way by some guy, he must be gone now. There is nothing to worry about, she will come soon." Haku was not in the mood and even actively pulled Ray back to the bed since she was enjoying her sleep quite a bit. The only way she could sleep was by her master's side.
As for Albedo, she also rubbed her brows and looked at her master, awaiting his decision.
Ray sighed, he knew that it was more than likely there was nothing to worry about... perhaps a slightly stronger opponent.
"Ray-sama, would you like me to go and have a look? You may remain here; there is no need for you to wake up from your slumber".
"..."
Ray looked back at the bed where the two busty naked milf pets were pretty much just offering their bodies as pillows. Then he stared out at the horizon at how the sun he represented still had a bit more to go before it rose completely.
He collapsed in the middle of two naughty bodies and closed his eyes.
"Bring her back to me once you are finished, Albedo".
"As you wish, Ray-sama. I shall bring Lady Azrael safely".
Before she could go, her wrist was pulled, and her eyes met her master's kind and alluring ones, "Thank you, dear".
Unable to help herself, Albedo kissed her master one last time. Realising that the 'lovestruck' phase was far from finished.
With one simple step, her body disappeared into dark fog.