“You can’t be serious,” I protested. “I’m a ninja, and my chakra isn’t like yours—”
“That’s why I said angel, not goddess,” she interrupted. “Sakura, you’re already light-years ahead of most part-mortal recruits. I didn’t find my name until my last year at goddess academy, and I’m a bit above average. You’re a prodigy. Any of the warrior angel academies would love to have you, and you could probably work your way up to full goddess in under a century if you put your mind to it.”
My head spun. Me, a kami? And not just a lesser one like the spirit animals, but an actual goddess? It was terribly tempting, especially the implication that I could leave all my current troubles behind. I might even be able to live in that city outside the window…
But I didn’t want to live happily ever after alone.
“Is there a rule against going back? Because there are people I can’t just abandon…”
She smiled. “You mean Naruto? The hero of the age? The man Special Ops is hoping will turn back the tide of darkness on your world and open the way for a return of the Hosts? Sakura, they’d send you back to help him the moment you earn your wings, and he’s already a demigod so there’s certainly no problem with the fraternization rules.”
She rose, and came around the desk to take my hands in hers. “Sakura, please. You carry the blood of a proud line of celestials. You belong with us. Say yes, and you can have a life in a place that isn’t dominated by hatred and despair. You can have teachers who understand your powers, and friends who aren’t going to grow old, and missions that are about saving souls instead of protecting a city built on lies. Just let me help you.”
Some nagging instinct in the back of my head was telling me this was too good to be true, but I couldn’t see the catch. It sounded wonderful, and this place had such an air of serene benevolence that I couldn’t help wondering if perhaps they were for real.
“What do I have to do?” I asked.
She smiled in relief. “Not much. Just fill out an aspirant application, and I’ll file it for priority processing. I doubt it will take more than a few minutes to get an acceptance, and then we’ll see if any of the big shots decide to swoop in and snatch you up. If not you’re welcome to stay with me for a few days while we figure out which academy you should apply to.”
She went back to typing at the keyboard, and a slim panel of crystal covered with writing appeared on the desk in front of me. I picked it up and frowned at the odd characters for a moment, before the writing resolved itself into a surprisingly normal-looking application form. Name, age, gender, file number…
“Oh, and you’ll need to let go of that damned soul,” she went on. “I’m sure you meant well, but they don’t allow that sort of thing in the academies.”
I froze. “Excuse me? Do you mean Hinata?”
She tapped a few keys, and nodded. “Yes, that’s her name.”
I didn’t like the sound of this. “What happens to her if I do that?”
Astoria blinked innocently at me. “Why, she goes to one of the Hell planes, of course. What else would we do with a mass murderer? It says here she’s even killed her own family. Really, I don’t know how you can stand to touch a soul that dark.”
I carefully put down the pane of crystal, and stood. “No.”
“What? Why not?” Astoria asked cluelessly. “Sakura, you can’t keep her from facing her judgment forever. I know it hurts to see someone you care for fall, but don’t let your feelings for her keep you from assuming your rightful place.”
“There is no place for me in any organization that would condemn Hinata to the Pit,” I growled, so furious it was all I could do not to snap the little bitch’s neck. “Do you know what they do to mortal souls there? I am not going to abandon the woman I love to an eternity of torture so you can look good to your boss!”
She paled. “Sakura, that wasn’t why… I mean, yes, it would get me out of trouble, but… I was trying to help you!”
“Spare me your kindness. Are you going to keep our agreement?” I asked harshly.
She stepped back as if I’d struck her, and tears sprang to her eyes. “Yes, of course!” She exclaimed. “Sakura, I wasn’t trying to trick you!”
“Sure you weren’t,” I retorted. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you’re the one who told me you can’t lie? I should have known better than to listen at all. Now show me what caused the loop, and I’ll sign your form, and we can be done with each other.”
“A-all right.” She said, and typed another series of commands. “If that’s what you want. Here’s the wish advisory.”
“Wish?” I frowned. “You people go around granting wishes?”
Before she could answer a window formed in the air between us, showing a scene that was both familiar and strange. Konoha, the day after it was destroyed by the invasion. The devastation was even worse than usual, with large stretches of the city burned and flattened in the Kyuubi’s characteristic fashion. A young Naruto, so bruised and battered that anyone without his inhuman toughness would have been dead, sat atop the shattered remains of the Hokage monument looking out over the destruction. But he wasn’t alone. Beside him floated an ageless beauty with ankle-length brown hair wearing a dress no human seamstress could have duplicated, with the marks of a class one goddess on her face.
“Why couldn’t you have come yesterday?” Naruto sobbed. “It’s too late! Everyone’s dead. S-sakura-chan, and Sasuke, and Iruka and Kakashi-sensei, even the old man. They’re all gone! Everything’s gone…”
“I’m sorry, Naruto,” the goddess said sadly. “I don’t control who gets wishes, or when. You could say I’m like a ninja on a delivery mission. All I know is that Heaven has chosen to grant you a wish today.”
Naruto hung his head. “You gave it to the wrong person. I’m an idiot, just ask anyone. I don’t know what to do. There’s nothing I could wish for that will make up for this.”
The goddess laid a gentle hand on his shoulder. “May I offer advice?” She asked.
Naruto slumped. “That’s what my precious people were supposed to do, but now…” He choked back another sob. “I just wish we could go back and fix everything.”
The goddess froze in shock. A moment later her head flew back, and a beam of white light shot from her forehead to pierce the heavens. Naruto scrambled back as an aura of the same white power erupted around her.
“Wish granted,” she said, and the scene dissolved into a complex diagram of symbols I didn’t know. I stared at it in shock.
“Fix… everything?” I said numbly. “Everything? What does that mean?”
“Oh, so now you want my help?” Astoria said sullenly. “Are you sure you can trust my answers?”
That brought me back to reality. “No, I suppose I can’t.”
Again, she flinched as if I’d slapped her. How could someone so sneaky be so vulnerable? Was I right to think she’d been setting me up, or was it just a misunderstanding?
“How did I mess this up so badly?” she muttered disconsolately. “I thought I was making a new friend and saving a lost kami at the same time, but now you hate me and I’m going to be stuck in a penal unit for decades.”
It was an obvious ploy if she was trying to manipulate me, but she looked so pitiful I just couldn’t make myself believe it was an act. “I don’t hate you, Astoria,” I sighed. “I just… I’m a ninja. We don’t do trust. I don’t know anything about this place or your people or how anything works, and I don’t have anyone to ask but you. It makes me really paranoid, not knowing what’s going on.”