Death City Nevada. Home of the Death Weapon Mister Academy, and the personal home of Lord Death himself. The city under the laughing sun was enjoying one of its more cooler days. Some having scarves around their necks while others wore sweaters with skulls on it.

Yet at the mouth of the city was the great Nevada dessert. A wasteland of sand dunes and the occasional cacti. Some say that a strong and evil witch lives among the sand, others say it is only a myth, yet no one was expecting to see a figure slowly make their way into town.

The only thing was she looked like she had gone to war. Her clothes looked both torn and shimmered as if they had been close to fire. Yet the charred black near the edges of her robe looked like even lightning had struck. The woman's face was covered in sand and a few needles as well. Her eyes had a deadpan expression but one could almost feel the aggravation she was giving off.

Amazingly, the purple haired child she was holding in her arms seemed completely unscathed. He was looking up at her, worried. "Um...I can pull those needles out for you..." He offered. She looked at him and held him up higher.

"I'd appreciate that." She replied, smirking slightly. Crona pulled one out. Her eyes widened at the stinging pain. "...Ouch..."

"Sorry! Did I do it wrong?!" Crona panicked.

"Ah, it would have hurt no matter who yanked it out." Ragnarok chipped in, popping out of the child's back.

The woman gave the blob a dull look but winched as Crona pulled out another needle. "Never speak of this." She said.

Ragnarok just then started to shake his head but she could see the amusement in its features. "So, you mean to tell me, that the all-powerful ninja of stealth, was bested by a dessert?" he asked with great amusement.

Sasukue gave the demon a red eyed look. "Stop talking or I will find a way to hurt you." She said and her eyes narrowed more when the demon just started to chuckle.

She growled low and continued her way into the city ignoring the laughing demon. "Trained killer of the night my ass." He muttered way to amused by this.

"I SWEAR..." Sasuke said in a low voice so Crona wouldn't hear. Ragnarok leaned back.

"Right...Shutting up now." He squeaked. Sasuke sighed and looked down at Crona fondly. He was a good boy...He actually kind of reminded her of herself when she was young. Except he was far more timid and afraid, understandably so...Still, he still had that good natured behaviour she used to.

Yes, that was something she intended to keep alive. No way was this boy going to turn out like she did.

As Crona yanked out needles, Sasuke looked around at the city. It was large, and it seemed to have some kind of gothic theme going for it. There were a lot of skulls, and it was in general a very dark place.

Yet what was strange was that the people seemed to be the opposite. They were mostly all smiles and enjoying their day. Joy seemed to radiate from around the city folk and it was very confusion. 'Very odd. I have never seen a place that has this kid of feeling other then…' She sighed softly at that and shook her head. 'No need to dwell on that.'

She winced again when she felt him pull out another needle then he smiled and clapped. "All out!" he said happily.

She grinned down at him and patted his head. "Thank you."

He grinned wide up at her happy that he did something to make her happy. She continued to walk around before noticing something strange. The skulls all looked…goofy. Like they were made for a child to wear.

She scoffed slightly. She had seen death, oh she knew what the reaper looked like. His pale skin and snake like features still haunted her dreams at times. He brought death and tainted those who wish to have power. Oh, yes she had seen death and knew how evil it could be.

These skulls were basically a mockery of what Death really was. Not that she was complaining. If anything, it brought some form of relief to her.

Shaking her head, she looked at Ragnarok. "Blob. Do you know what this place is?" She asked. Ragnarok popped out.

"You are in Death City."

Sasuke stopped walking and looked down at the blob with a raised eyebrow in disbelief. "Death City?"

The blob nodded. "Yup. Home of Lord Death."

The ninja only blinked a few times before a dull look came over her face. "Right." She said in a dull tone as she resumed walking. Ragnarok however looked annoyed.

"You calling me a liar?"

"I've seen Death, and he would never condone goofy skeletons like that." Sasuke replied. Ragnarok scowled.

"Are you kidding?! The guy's a huge goofball, he'd DEFINITELY condone all this weird skull crap!" Sasuke snorted.

"Death? A goofball? I don't buy it for a second." She said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh yeah?! I'll bet you'll be singing a new song when you meet the man in person!"

"Doubt it." Her tone was even and a tad bored which aggravated him to no end.

As they continued to walk the female shinobi started to sense that she was being followed. She had noticed a man following her for some time now and he seemed to have something coming out of his head. Her gazes into the nearby windows confirmed that he was on her tale.

She glanced down at the blob. "Get back inside." She ordered. Hearing the seriousness of the order the little weapon decided to not argue and returned to inside the child.

Crona looked up at her confused seeing her tensed up slightly. Something wasn't right.

Sasuke spun on her heel with a glare. "What do you want?" She demanded, looking at the man and pulling out a kunai. "Don't think I'm not willing to fight." The man looked at her impassively.

"I never said you weren't." He said with a shrug. "But who said I was planning to attack you?"

"Then why would you be following me? I want answers. NOW." Sasuke said firmly.

The man pulled out a cigarette and lit it up with a lighter and it allowed Sasuke to observe this very strange man.

He was tall, man looking very gray wearing a white lab coat that had tears that looked stitched on. It was open showing a black shirt underneath and he had on black pants and grey shoes. His face was a bored expression, eyes hidden behind glasses that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Yet the strangest thing about this man, was coming out of his snow-white hair was a large screw.

Her eyes narrowed darkly as the man took a puff of his cancer stick. The grip on the kunai tightened and her hold on the child grew more protective as she pulled him in closer to her. Something was off with this man. He gave off a dark vibe, she would not let her guard down.

The man let out an annoyed sigh. "I've got orders." She tensed, "To help a lost traveler who came into town looking a little worse for wear."

Sasuke blinked. "So you were looking for me to provide assistance." She clarified.

"Basically. How'd you get like that, anyway? Get into a big fight?" Sasuke blushed.

"Um...Yes, that's it." She replied, not wanting to reveal that a mere half hour ago, her posterior had been sticking out of a pile of sand.

The man gave her a pointed look that made the shinobi wary. His gaze looked right through her as if he was looking at her very soul. Her grip on the kunai tightened and she could feel the chakra begun flowing into her eyes. Yet to her surprise the man just huffed and turning around. "Follow me then. I know a place to get you patched up."

Her eyes widened and any focused she had was shot down from that. Her chakra returning to normal and her grip on the kunai lessened drastically. Crona blinked at the strange display before looking up at the surprised woman. "Are you okay?" he asked softly.

It snapped the ninja out of her gaze and she looked down and nodded at him, adjusting her hold on him to make him more comfortable and to better hold him. "Yeah…Just fine." She watched as the man walked away and wondered what to do.

Would she trust a blind stranger who had followed her and told her he wanted to help…or more like was told to help? Or ignore him and find help on her own. In the past, she would have gone with the second option, but with the bundle in her arms and having sand in places it should not be, she decided to suck up her pride and see what help this man could provide.

And so, rather reluctantly, she trailed along behind the man, sighing softly to herself. This whole scenario was a load of rubbish...

Eventually, she noticed the man was leading her to what looked like some kind of large academy. The place even looked like a large skull, much like the ones she had seen decorating the town.

"Well, here we are." The man said. "The DWMA, residence of Lord Death himself." Sasuke blinked.

"Lord Death? That's some kind of code name, right?" She asked. Stein looked at her.

"What rock have you been living under?" He said with a small smirk. "No, this is the home of Death himself."

'Great, this town's full of basketcases.' Sasuke thought with a bead of sweat forming on the back of her head.

The man lead her inside and she was proven right as she passed by younger kids and students alike. She frowned at a few of the ones giving her looks. A scowl was sent their way making them yelp and hide behind their friends.

Her training kicked in once again as she noticed that everyone seemed to be in pairs. A girl and a boy. She found this oddly familiar as flashbacks to her days as a member of Team seven flashed before her.

Shaking her head, she returned her focus to in front of her, her grip on the child not lessening an inch. She did not feel safe yet and would not put this child in danger if she could help it.

Soon the man had lead her down a hallway and stopped a door. He turned to her and smirked slightly. "Ready?" he asked.

Sasuke hesitated for a moment, before nodding her head. "...Yes." She replied. Stein knocked on the door.

"Enter!" A voice on the other side said. Sasuke watched as the doors opened.

She began to sweat slightly. With a title like Lord Death, whoever awaited on the other side had to be imposing. She tightened her grip on Crona in preparation to see who the mighty Lord Death was...

"Yo yo! Wassup?"

…This was not what she was expecting.

Instead of the imposing being of death and caller of the end of days. The giant…thing before her looked like something out of a cartoon. Its mask was goofy and not threatening in the least. Its black robes were close to how she knows, but it looked spiky and…wrong.

Not only that but the thing before her was pouncing on one leg. This…this was death? Sauske just stared for a long time before finally saying, "…This is a joke, right?"

Stein huffed in amusement catching her attention. "Only if you want it to be." The ninja did not look amused.

"Now, now!" The being said getting their attention. "No need for that. I can assure you young lady that I am indeed Lord Death."

"But...But how?!" Sasuke exclaimed, stunned by this revelation. Lord Death tilted his head.

"Oh? How what, may I ask?"

"How can you be so...so...THIS?!" Lord Death blinked under his mask.

"Well how incredibly rude." He said. Sasuke frowned.

"You're DEATH! You're supposed to be vicious, cruel, terrifying!" Lord Death nodded.

"Ah! I see! Well, you see... I was weary of everyone fearing me, so I simply took on a less fearsome identity."

Sasuke just gave him an unbelieving look. "Your Death! Your supposed to be feared!" she shouted sounding almost hysteric.

Lord Death tilted his head at her. "Well…at one point I did. But I wanted to try and help the people and well my old mask didn't help at that." He remembered as many people ran screaming when they saw his old much fiercer mask.

Sasuke just shook her head at this. "I can feel a migraine coming on." She wined softly to herself. Before turning her gaze to the lord of the dead. "Prove it then."

"Huh?"

"Prove to me that you are in fact Death itself." She challenged.

Lord Death tilted his head. "Oh, I'm not sure you want me to do that." Sasuke glared.

"I'm sure I do." She said firmly. Lord Death shrugged.

"Well, if that's what you really want, here's my collection of souls." He pulled out a small chest and opened it up. Various small orbs rose out from it.

"Let us go!" A voice called out from one of them.

"This is ridiculous!"

"Release us, Lord Death!"

Sasuke stared wide eyed at the man. He may be goofy but the small orbs did have a kind of power to them. Sighing she decided to see for herself. She activated her Sharingan and stared into the chest full of talking orbs.

And gasped in shock and horror at what she saw.

Seeing her horrified look Lord Death shut the box with a snap. "Noisy little buggers, aren't they?" he asked.

The ninja looked rattled as she had instinctively held the child closer to herself to protect him and reassure herself.

"You believe that I am death now?" the being asked.

She swallowed feeling how dry her throat was winced and coughed before nodding slowly. "Yeah…I'm starting too." She said.

"Wonderful!" Lord Death cheered. He then noticed her demeanour. "Oh no, no, don't worry! I only keep these souls because they've committed great crimes, and therefore are in need of punishment." He explained.

Needless to say...That did absolutely NOTHING to quell Sasuke's fears.

Crona looked up at her. "Um...Y-You look scared. He doesn't seem like a bad guy..." He said to her softly.

Lord Death finally took notice of the child and rose out a large hand from his robe. "Thank you!" he spoke in a joyful tone.

Sasuke took a calming breath and her features returned to being dull. Shocked and rattled as she was. She would not show it anymore.

She glared at the being in front of her and started to wonder. He could be the death of this world. It would make sense, things are different here then from the elemental nations.

Sighing she gave the death god a pointed look. "Fine your death. Good to know, now why am I here?" she asked in her dull tone.

Stein rose an eyebrow at the girl. She went from terrified to just impassive in a second. Interesting.

Lord Death simply tilted his head at the girl. Sasuke could feel the being studying her, yet she felt it went deeper than that. She felt her eyes activating out of instinct and her hand griped the child tighter and her hand rested on her sword.

Lord Death waved his hands back and forth. "Now, now, young lady! There's no need for that! I wasn't intending on doing you harm!" Sasuke frowned.

"Then what WERE you planning?" She asked.

"Why, nothing at all! I was just curious about you is all." He explained.

"Curious?" Sasuke asked.

"You ARE a very strange girl." Stein chipped in.

The kunichi gave the man a side look before turning back to lord death. "What do you mean?"

"Your soul." Stine started. "It looks like a witch's soul, even have the negative energy that surrounds it." The woman's eyes narrowed at that.

"Yet, at the same time it shows pain and…vengeance." Death said seriously.

Her expression did not change, something that Stine noted with amusement. Very interesting.

Lord Death however still looked at her. "But I also see a willing to change. A desire for something that you gave up…your soul is incomplete." Her flinching was the only reaction she gave.

Crona looked up at her confused and worried. She was hurt? He did not want her hurt. "Y-Your hurt still?" he asked softly.

Sasuke looked down at the child and smiled sadly at him and ran her hand through his hair. "It's nothing. Don't worry." She reassured him gently.

Crona frowned. "It doesn't sound like nothing..." He said softly. Sasuke patted his head.

"Like I said...Don't worry about it. It can't be helped anyway." She replied.

"Young lady...Do you have a story you would like to tell?" Lord Death asked. Sasuke frowned.

"This is very personal. Why should I be expected to give out information like that to someone I just met?"

"Well, there's the fact that it makes you quite suspicious, but I'm just throwing in my two cents." Stein shrugged.

Lord Death waved his hands back and forth nervously. "Professor Stein please have a bit more tact…but you are right." He looked back at the shinobi in front of him. "I have proven to you that I am in fact death, something that I did not have to do. It is only fare we here a bit about you."

Sasukes eyes narrowed at that, staring deep into the black holes of the mask. She held his gaze for a long moment before sighing and looking away. "What do you want to know?" she asked in a clipped tone.

Lord Death clapped his hands! "Excellent! Let's get some chairs for us, oh and some tea as well! Stories are always best with tea!" he said excitedly.

"I could go for some tea!" Ragnarok chipped in, popping out from Crona's back. Sasuke's eye twitched as she looked at the blob angrily.

"Why, oh WHY did you come out?" She demanded through gritted teeth.

"I was getting bored in there." Ragnarok shrugged.

"...I'd like to know who this individual is, first and foremost." Lord Death said.

The ninja felt a migraine start to form as the black blob stared now a tad nervous up at the lord of the dead. She sighed softly, "It's a long story."

She told him, the whole story. Of the witch who was abusing a child, to the experiments that had been done to him and the blob. To her killing the witch, and to how she ended up in this city. She left nothing out, except on how she killed the witch. A ninja never tells their secrets.

They had migrated to chairs and a small table not long after she started her story, and on said table where a few cups of fine tea made to heal the very soul. She did not drink it, instincts and training telling her to not except anything, but glared at the demon who gulped it.

Lord Death had stiffed when she spoke of the experiments, something her trained eyes did not miss, and he looked like he was observing the child who was resting in her lap in a new light.

"Oh dear..." Lord Death said softly. "An abusive parent...It never ceases to amaze me how cruel people can be..." Sasuke raised her brow but said nothing.

Spirit, for his part, had his face buried in his hands. His shoulders were shaking with sobs and whimpers. "How could anyone do that to their own kids?" Lord Death nodded.

"Indeed...I could never imagine raising a hand in violence to Kid." Sasuke blinked.

"You...have a son?" She asked. Lord Death nodded.

"Oh yes indeed! Here's a picture!"

Sauske, and Ragnarok gazed at the photo with interest. There sat a small boy with a frown on his face his hair split evenly in front of him with a single line on the right side. He also wore a little suite.

If the ninja was being honest, the kid looked kind of cute like that, if not for the golden eyes staring at the lens with disinterest. The demon looked at the photo then up at the Lord Death then at the ninja. "Do you see the resemblance?" he whispered to her.

She smirked lightly at that and handed the photo back to him. "Cute kid." She commented.

"Thank you!" He said cheerfully.

Lord Death took another sip of his tea. "And yours is quite adorable as well, I must say." Sasuke blushed.

"Well...I don't think I'm ready for him to be considered MY kid...Still pretty young..." She said, flustered. She managed not to mention her past sins, thankfully.

"Oh, well, all in good time, I suppose." Lord Death shrugged. "Still...Our very own nurse, evil...Who'd have thought?"

"You didn't pick up on how obviously evil she was?" Ragnarok asked, somewhat baffled.

"She never acted that way when she was here." Stein said suddenly making the demon jump. Sasuke had tensed, she forgot he was there. He had a lit cigarette in his mouth. "She was kind, kids loved her." He said with a shrug.

"A very unassuming kind of person." Lord Death spoke up.

"And smoking hot!" Spirit said with a dreamy look.

Sasuke scowled while Ragnarok shrugged. "The sex appeal kind of dies when she is torturing you."

"In any case," Lord Death spoke with a mild tone of annoyance. "I don't believe any apology will take back what has been done. However, if my information is true. You don't have anywhere to go."

The ninja glared up at Lord Death, suddenly on guard "Why do you say that?"

Lord Death tilted his head. "Well, judging by your current state, it would seem you have been travelling for a fairly long time." Sasuke looked down at her outfit, which was still filthy from the sand.

"...Oh...I see..." She said, grimacing with a blush.

"I would like to make a bargain with you." Lord Death said. "I will allow you to stay here...In exchange for you becoming a teacher."

Her eyes grew wide in shock. "Excuse me?!"

The masked man sipped his tea calmly. "You see my dear. You have done something that not many can do. You killed a witch, and you don't appear to be a mister or weapon so, you defeated her with something more, a skill not many have."

She could only stare at the masked man in shock. Then narrowed her eyes into her iconic scowl her hair now covering her eyes. "Why me?"

"I just told you?" Lord Death said confused.

"No…you don't know me. You don't know what my intentions are, or what I am capable off. For all you know I could be here to kill you and all the students here." She said in a calm even tone.

Both Stine and Spirit sat up straighter at that but Lord Death did not seem effected.

"Well, you see, there is one very simple reason I know you would not do that." Sasuke raised her brow.

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Lord Death pointed to Crona.

"Him." Sasuke blinked.

"What does Crona have to do with it?"

"What kind of assassin would you be if you treated a young child you just met with such care?"

She gazed down to see the child was nestled on her lap his head resting snug on her tummy and she had not even noticed her hand was gently messing with his pink hair. She felt her cheeks grow warm at the small smile on the child's face.

"It says that in the presence of one so innocent as a child, that person's true nature will surface." Lord Death said wisely. "I do not know of your past, but what I see before me proves you are a good person."

Sasuke stared down at the child with a soft frown on her face. "I'm not."

"Hmmm?"

"I made mistakes. I gave up everything…to gain the power to kill someone." She reviled still gazing down at the child. She continued to run her fingers through his hair. Her tone turned cold, "I became an avenger. One who strives to avenge my family…to kill the one who killed them all." She gazed up at the man her once onyx eyes now blood red with black pentagrams in them. "I succeeded."

Stein looked at her from the corner of his eyes. "And I enjoy vivisecting my enemies. You can't be much worse than me." Sasuke looked at him with wide eyes.

"Vivisect?!"

"Yeah. It means dissection while still alive and-"

"I know what it means, don't talk about it." Sasuke said, shuddering.

"The point is, you are not the only one who has a dark past." Stein said. "I'll be honest with you, I'm not a good person. Hell, I might not even be human anymore. But I am here to make a difference with these brats. So, they don't end up killed." He said bluntly.

The shinobi gazed at him with wide eyes, before the red eyes returned to their onyx. "I guess you are right." She gazed back at the reaper. "But teacher? I am barley over their age. Hell, I could pass as a student here myself."

"While that be true. You hold experience and wisdom far beyond your years, making you much their senior. I believe you can help them, guide them to make sure their lives are not extinguished so young."

Sasuke looked thoughtful. 'I want to atone for my sins...Maybe this is a good start...' She thought to herself. Eventually, mind made up, she turned to Lord Death.

"I'll do it." She said with a nod. Lord Death nodded.

"Excellent! We'll have you start next week!"

"What will I be teaching, anyway?" Sasuke asked.

Lord Death rose his large hand into the air. "My dear, you will be teaching a very special class! The course is! High Corse Combat and Survival training with a hint of stealth as well." He said having no idea he just described that of a ninja.