Ten Minutes (Naruto fanfiction) EDITING--DO NOT READ!!

CHAPTER 1 // First Impressions

"Cross over to the other side of that wall.  This world's fragments are continually going mad.  Coming unstuck, starting to fall and disappear like a daydream." -Daydream Syndrome

CHAPTER ONE // First Impressions

A warm breeze drifted about, teasing silver bangs out of place.  Tenshiuta, her wings again hidden and the rips in her jacket hidden under the navy flap on the back of her collar, looked with calm eyes over the village.  It was now daytime, and, sure enough, the town was amid the chaotic hustle and bustle she had predicted.  As relieved as she was that she still remembered the human world clearly, there was another emotion running rampant.  Disappointment?  Yes, she supposed so.  'I was hoping this village may be better than...'  She quickly cut off the thought, pinching herself to snap out of it.  Of coarse it was better; anything would be.  She sighed.

Blinking in the unfamiliar glare of sunlight, she looked about, marking off obvious landmarks in her mind.  There was the giant building in the center of town, the slightly smaller building off to the side, and the large mountains with faces carved into them.

Where the largest building stood, she had marked the spot with an X on her map.  Scraggly and picture-perfect letters swirled around it, both bearing the same title.  When she had finished deciphering them, confirmed they both called the building the same thing, and put away the map again, she brushed her collar upwards.  There were two rips running up the back of her tan jacket, as well as her white blouse underneath; they both were sewn neatly to appear built-in.  Smiling slightly at the idea of anyone ever seeing the rips, Tenshiuta took wing.

She swooped down on top of a fairly-sized house and shook the blood from her wings, making barely a spot on the roof below her feet.  Her eyes flickered closed as she concentrated, her voice coming out in an echoing trill.  "Guard Kkill: Distortion."  A shimmer ran from her toes to her hair, making her image waver before dispersing like mist and leaving only a single feather as proof of her existence.  Her wings lengthened considerably, causing several painful cracks to make her shoulders shiver.  One last resounding crack! vibrated through her back as she stretched, then flapped her new and improved wings a few times to test them.

Tenshiuta bent her knees to the ground, placing a hand down to steady herself on the tilted surface, then shot up into the air with her wings stretching up.  That way, she could simply pull them back down to finish the flap rather than having to fight the current that her takeoff created.  She had done this so many times that it came almost as instinct to her.  Downdraft blew a shingle from the roof with a crack and she winced.

Wingbeats slow and steady, Tenshiuta sped off, heading towards the large building.  She glanced once more at her map, taking it from her pocket.  'Hokage's Office,' the paper read in big letters.  Hokage: the leader of the village, or so she assumed.  That was how she remembered it working.  She brushed hair out of her face and glided down to rest on the roof and think her story through.

Depending on how her first meeting with the Hokage went, she may need to improvise, but it was best to think as much through as possible.  She needed the man to accept her into the village; otherwise, she would have to return to her home and admit that she belonged there, which would happen over her dead body.

Once she had sat there for several minutes and swallowed several bugs--an occupational hazard she had faced many times before--Tenshiuta had come up with a good story.  Much of what it required was to be ambivalent as always, so that was a plus.  A few faked emotions over her "dead mentor," a few half-truths, and a hopeless look would likely do the trick.

Stepping off of the building and letting herself fall feet-first down to the ground, she kept a straight face.  Realizing too late that people would be suspicious of a sudden draft, she quickly began flapping her wings progressively faster, making more of a rising wind than a sudden downdraft.  Eventually, she touched down, and slowly shortened her wingbeats until the "wind" had abated.