The Grim Reaper

A/N:Gah another short one! I'm sorry. I'm just worried if I cram it all in, in one chapter it'll be too much.



A big thank-you too usmorgan and Mija for you super long review. They made me feel all warm a fuzzy inside! Which obviously helps the muse :)



The_Widow: You got the representation's dead on! That's exactly what I was going for. I'm glad your enjoying the story so far- I hope this chapter is just as good!



Warnings: Language. Sorry no lemon yet.



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Sasuke sat, head pressed against the cool surface of his kitchen table and cup of sake in his pale hands. Once in a while he’d raise is head to take a deep swig of the alcohol in his possession. Normally he didn’t drink, he didn’t ever see the need too, his life was easy. Or rather his life had been easy. But as he thought back of his past week he decided he deserved something to take the edge off of life.



The Fates visit had been helpful, if slightly painful. He shuddered as he remembered Tsunade’s fist connecting with his cheek. That had left a colourful bruise that had taken days to disappear- it had completely ruined his mystic air when performing his duty as Reaper. As hot liquid went down his throat he remembered the trauma of The Fates.



At first nothing appeared to happen, except that their eye’s had a more detached look- as if seeing something that wasn’t really there. The a popping sound echoed around the room whilst smoke swirled. Sasuke strained to see through the wispy smokes haze, when the smoke finally began to subsided however forced his eyes to widen in shock-something that didn‘t sit well with his pride. He had never seen The Fates work before, he wasn’t sure how they found out all they knew and he’d never really been interested enough to ask.



But boy was he interested now.



Three Naruto’s stood in the centre of the circle, each facing one of the women. Although there was no doubt in his mind that the men before him were Naruto they were by no means identical. The one facing Tsunade was shorter than the others in both height and hair length. The boy couldn’t be any older than seven or eight- maybe ten at a push. He stared up at her with a frown and a pout- Sasuke couldn’t help thinking he looked adorable. He had his arms crossed across an orange t-shirt (apparently it wasn‘t just present day Naruto that had a thing for orange),blue eyes glaring as Tsunade began to speak. Sasuke strained his ears to catch the conversation- he saw lips moving but couldn’t hear a word pouring from them.



Sasuke would have gotten frustrated if his attention hadn’t been claimed by another Naruto standing opposite Ino. This Naruto was one Sasuke was very familiar with. He stood with a broad grin on his face, hands placed behind his neck. The blue eyes shimmered and danced as he talked with Ino, occasionally he would throw his head back appearing to be laughing. Sasuke resisted the urge to break the circle and claim the blonde man as his own. When he noticed his thoughts taking this dangerous turn he pulled his eyes away from his Naruto and looked towards Hinata.



The Naruto before her was very different to the others and yet the same. His appearance seemed no different to present-day Naruto. Except for one thing, his eyes. They were still that same blue colour, yet they were harder and colder. Distant. They weren’t Naruto’s eyes! Where was the life? Was that it, did this Naruto not have ‘life’ anymore- would Sasuke finally set his soul free? With that thought the future Naruto shimmered and changed. Once again he was similar in appearance except for a white cloak wrapped around him. Sasuke sighed in relief, his eyes were normal. Bright and lively- Sasuke could swear he’d never seen anything so beautiful. He watched as the numerous Naruto’s shimmered and changed, although he only really noticed those blue eyes and the life within them.



The women unlinked their hands and the Naruto’s vanished with another pop and a swirl of smoke. The smoke cleared and several moments of silence ensured.



That peace was shattered by the lively voice of Ino calling out teasingly “Well, well, well Sasuke. Haven’t we been a naughty boy.” Sasuke shifted on his feet slightly whilst Tsunade lifted a golden eyebrow at Ino.



“Explain.” Tsunade demanded. Sasuke wasn’t sure if she meant Ino or him but he sure as hell wasn’t going to answer.

“Our friend Sasuke revived this human. He restarted his sand and has apparently been stalking him ever since-” Ino’s eyes sparkled as she continued “-Although I can’t blame him, Naruto is quite the catch.”



Sasuke barely managed to stop the frown at Ino’s implications, although he managed, he was a Uchiha after all. He didn’t register the hit to his face until he was picking himself off of the floor. Tsunade was practically red with rage, her fists clenched by her side as she trembled with suppressed wrath.



“What is the meaning of this?! You stupid brat, do you know what you’ve done? What you’ve dragged us into, now we’re accomplices in your crime! When the G-” Her rant was cut short by Hinata raising a pale hand and a mummer of “There will be no punishment for his crime. We are safe.”



Tsunade was still seething, she stormed over to the sofa and sat down again violently, crossing her arms and legs. Sasuke could feel the filthy looks he was being shot. He guessed he wouldn’t be getting any answers out of her anytime soon. Instead of questioning the fuming blonde he kept his attention on Hinata, whose eyes still seemed unfocused.



“No punishment? What do you mean? Will I be forgiven?” Sasuke dimly realised this was the most he had spoken in several years.



“No Sasuke-kun, there is still the chance you will be punished. I was merely stating we- The Fates- wouldn’t be punished for your mistake.” She answered him sadly as she fidgeted with her fingers to distract herself from the tension in the room.



“Hn. And Naruto?”



“Naruto future is currently undetermined. I can’t go into detail Sasuke-kun as your fate and his seem to interlink so closely. I can tell you however that in each of the futures I’ve seen he has been alive.”



Two gasps and one ‘Hn’ filled the air at Hinata’s proclamation. So Sasuke’s and Naruto’s fates were interlinked? That made sense, after all it was Sasuke who’d decided to keep his soul in that body and it would have to be his choice what to do next. Would he let him live or die? Could he live like that? A soul trapped in a dying body didn’t sound pleasant- surely the blonde would notice if he started rotting.



Not that Sasuke could say for sure what would happen to Naruto if he kept him in this bizarre state between life and death. This both annoyed and intrigued him. Annoyed because he couldn’t stand not knowing something and intrigued because keeping the blonde man alive would let him find out. Sasuke considered keeping alive as a type of experiment, to see what happens when a soul gets imprisoned within a body- empty, dead eyes appeared in his memory, making his stomach twist.



No he couldn’t do that. Naruto might hurt.



He needed a plan and he needed one desperately.



He turned to Ino who was observing everyone with an amused expression, as if she found the whole situation hilarious. Sasuke could feel his anger brewing, did she find his plight amusing!? A man could be in agony and all she could do is stand there grinning! His jaw clenched and teeth ground together as he contemplated chopping off the hair see seemed so fond of. His thoughts of dyeing her hair pink were cut short by her enthusiastic chatter,



“Seems we’ve gotten ourselves into a mess Sasuke. Well I suppose I better tell you what I know. Seems he’s been having the feeling of being watched lately-” She stared at him accusingly. “-and things have been weird since he had a strange dream about a mysterious male in his room. He wouldn’t elaborate any further.” She let out a loud chuckle which set Sasuke grinding his teeth together again. He couldn’t help thinking that he was behaving like a child, if he kept this up he’d soon be sticking his tongue out at her.



He turned to Tsunade to try and pry some information out of her, that is until he saw her expression. Her features were twisted into a deep frown, hazel eyes glared outwards whilst her lips were pressed into a thin line. Luckily Sasuke had glared at his own reflection so he was immune- however he’d already been on the receiving end of her fist once that day.



“Tsunade. Anything to add?” He hazarded asking, not really expecting anything relevant to come from the furious blonde.



“Brat, I have nothing further to say. Apparently your going to be paling around with this Uzumaki anyway. You can find out about his past for your self.” With that she stood up, grabbed her photo album and stalked out the living room. Sasuke watched her back as she left, considering what she said. Find out about the boys past on his own? He found that oddly exciting. But how? Naruto was meant to be dead damnit!



Ino tapped her foot nosily against the wooden flooring as she fiddled with her phone.



“Will that be all Sasuke?”



Sasuke waved a hand as a dismissal, thoughts to busy trying to figure out what he should do to save Naruto. He barely registered Ino’s heels banging nosily as she walked away. A gentle hand on his shoulder made him turn to face pale eyes and a warm smile.



“You’ll make the right choice Sasuke-kun.”



With that Hinata followed her friends and closed the door gently behind her.



Sasuke groaned into the table as he remember Hinata’s words. It had been over a week ago and he still didn’t have a plan! He took another swig of sake before pushing the drink away- getting inebriated wasn’t going to help. He fisted his dark locks and considered bashing his skull against the wood. However his own death wouldn’t save Naruto.



It was times like these he wished he had some proper human company-not that they would have understood his problem, he didn’t think many people were interested in the problems of The Grim Reaper. But still, maybe if he’d had more social interaction he’d know how to handle this situation. He shook his head to dispel the ridiculous notion, what human had issues with not slicing a soul free? Although having someone to talk to about it might be nice, someone to come home to.



He repressed a sigh as he snatched the sake cup back, he wasn’t going to think of a plan tonight, not with the depressing turn his thoughts had taken.



He was tired of being alone.

So very tired of the large, echoing house he called home.



And that’s when the idea struck.



And luckily it struck when it did because as soon as the plan formulated he received his summons.



The day for judgement had arrived. Dooms day.

Although he wasn’t worried. No, because a pair of sparking blue eyes engulfed his mind, as blonde locks fell over a white cloak.



He dragged himself out of his chair and strumbled-no-glided to the bathroom to freshen himself up.



The Gods of Death did not approve of sloppiness, even from one of their own.



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Can you guess who the Gods of Death are! I think I’ve made it pretty obvious. Although I hope the plan’s still a mystery!



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