Chapter 7

Fear is the mind-killer. When it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.

Sasuke had asked Temari if they could meet on Wednesday, since he had the day off. They had planned to go for lunch, but now she texted him that she would like them to meet at her apartment instead. Which was a bit odd, but whatever.

She lived on the Upper East Side, which was always impressive. Sasuke didn't go there all that often. He rarely had thousands of dollars to spend on designer clothes or shoes.

He was ready early, so he used the opportunity to take a walk around Central Park. It wasn't that bad this time of year. Even though it was still cold outside, some green was finally returning to the trees. The fresh wind was nice today, actually. Not too cold, for once. And the sky was a nice, clear blue. Sasuke walked with his hands in his pockets, keeping a fast pace.

Last night he hadn't been able to sleep much, after the whole Naruto incident—which he had been trying really hard not to think about, but when you lay awake at night trying hard not to think of something, well…

He sighed. He felt so tired, and drained. He had a headache, actually, which was rather annoying. Maybe he had just caught a stupid cold, or something like that.

It had taken him a little while to choose his outfit. Silly of him, really; this 'agent' woman probably couldn't care less. Well, he had gone with dark green skinny jeans, black and white t-shirt and soft zip up black sweater. And a scarf. He looked like a hipster, probably. But maybe that was good. There were lots of hipsters in the cinema industry, right? Maybe that would make a good impression.

Temari didn't live too far from Central Park—meaning she lived somewhere really, really fancy—so it didn't take him that long to walk there. The building was so high that he almost hurt his neck trying to look at the top of it. Temari lived on the fifteenth floor. Like, she had the whole floor to herself.

As he was let in the ridiculously spacious and bright lobby, some nicely dressed man with an ear piece acknowledged him and showed him toward the right elevator. Apparently Temari had already made him aware that she was waiting for a visitor. Sasuke felt underdressed just being in this building.

He didn't usually take elevators. But she lived on the fifteenth floor, so.

When she opened her door, she welcomed him with open arms, all smiles.

"It's so nice to see you again, Sasuke. Come in."

She had a British accent. It reminded him of Deidara. Unwanted thoughts.

Temari looked quite different from that time at the gym. She had been in another instructor's class, but she had left early, and she ended up talking with Sasuke at the reception desk while he was himself in between two classes. She just asked him for information, and eventually, somehow, the conversation had drifted and they'd been talking about the actors and directors she was working with these days. And somehow she had gotten Sasuke to open up a bit about himself, and one thing led to the other… And here he was. She had good people skills like that.

She definitely wasn't wearing sporty clothes now. She wore a bright red dress, simple and elegant. Her long curly blonde hair was pinned up with clips. Her nails were as red as her dress.

The apartment was absolutely gorgeous, obviously. The view was amazing from every angle, whether it be Central Park or the Upper East Side. Temari's heels clicked on the polished hardwood floor as she made her way to some vast living room. So she was one of those people that wore heels inside her apartment, then. Sasuke had one of those as his upstairs neighbor. It was particularly annoying early in the morning.

The décor was very zen, he supposed. Not much in this room. There was one painting on the wall. A painting of New Orleans. Not that he was able to recognize the city just like that or anything. It said 'New Orleans' in big white letters in the bottom right corner.

Well there was also a desk and chair and laptop, so that was something. She had just been looking at the screenplay he had sent her by email, or so she wanted him to think anyway, because the document was open on the screen. There was an expensive looking bottle of white wine—already unscrewed—with two crystal wine glasses on the desk, next to the computer.

"Shall we celebrate?" She smiled.

Without waiting for his answer, she poured the wine in the glasses. She handed him his, and he took it to be polite. But, um…

"What are we celebrating?"

"Our first official meeting, silly. Your screenplay is amazing. Come on, cheers. First we drink, then we chat. This is how I do things."

"Whatever you say."

She looked so young to own a place like this. In fact, she couldn't be more than two or three years older than he was. Maybe her parents were very rich and had shared their fortune with her, or something. They drank some of their wine, and then Temari let out a dreamy sigh.

"I just adore your story."

"Really."

"You have a great sense of humor, Sasuke. This is really funny. It would be a perfect movie. Very modern. I like that there's a transgendered character. I think the world is ready for a character like him."

"Her," Sasuke said.

Temari arched an eyebrow. "What?"

"Her, not him. She's a trans woman."

"Oh, right." She chuckled, brushed it off. "My bad."

She waved toward the laptop with her hand that wasn't holding the wine. "But yeah. With the right actors, you know."

Okay. This was too good to be true. She couldn't be for real.

Also, every time she looked at him, he felt a bit intimidated by her stare. Her eyes were a really intense shade of blue, but it wasn't only that. She seemed… amused by him. In a cruel way. He wasn't sure how he could tell. Actually, maybe he was just being paranoid.

"Thank you," he said simply. After all, she was complimenting him. Sort of.

Except not really. Because he wasn't sure she meant it. She was still staring at him, so he looked away. He drank some more wine. It wasn't usually his favorite thing to drink, but this particular one was really good.

"You're really lovely, you know that?" she said. Her voice sounded… distant, and contemplating. "I'm really sorry, but I'm not actually interested in your screenplay. Though I had a lot of fun reading it. I swear. That much is true."

"Right." He felt so annoyed. What was her deal? Why would she make him come all the way here to tell him that? He didn't care if she thought he was 'lovely' or whatever. Ugh.

He put down his stupid crystal glass and tucked his hair behind his ear, feeling awkward.

Temari was stepping towards him slowly. "You are beautiful though. Believe me." She looked up at him, her eyes studying his face. With her heels, she was almost as tall as he was. "I've seen many handsome men. But your face is one of the most striking I've ever seen. All angles and cheekbones but still somewhat soft and pretty. You should consider modeling instead of writing." She lifted a hand like she wanted to touch his face, but he stepped away.

He cleared his throat. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. Well, this has been, um, a waste of my time, to be honest. So I'll just go now."

"You will do no such thing."

But he turned away from her anyway, because honestly, she was acting really weird, and he just wanted to leave. But he realized two young men in suits were standing between him and the door.

"What's up with the bodyguards?"

"My brothers," Temari said. Pointing toward the short, skinny one with reddish hair, she said, "Gaara." And pointing toward the bigger one with brown hair and brown eyes, she added, "And Kankuro. They live with me."

He honestly doubted these three people were really siblings, because they looked nothing alike. But frankly, he didn't care.

"And you're introducing me to your family because…?"

"Oh, honey," she said, her voice sickly sweet, "they're here to kill you."

"What?"

Gaara and Kankuro produced guns. Shiny black guns. This was surreal.

Sasuke swallowed hard. He felt his heartbeat pick up, and he felt rather tense and vulnerable. Like he was suddenly naked or something. He'd never had a gun pointed at him before, let alone two. And these two guys looked really determined to kill him, too. They didn't show a single emotion on their faces. What the fuck?
"Okay, so um," Sasuke said, his voice shaking, "you know how we were talking about movies earlier? This is like, a scene from a really bad movie. Honestly, it's really weird. So, mind telling me what's going on, Temari?"

"I'm terribly sorry about all this. It's nothing personal. In fact, I was friends with the man who possessed your father at a time—a long time ago. You're still such a beginner at all this, aren't you?" Her dark blue eyes raked him up and down as she walked around him and stopped when she was standing right next to him. But she made sure not to put herself in the way of her brothers' aim. "Sasori was right." Temari sighed, and brought a red fingernail to her bottom lip. "Deidara didn't tell you anything. That's bloody irresponsible of him." She almost sounded angry.

"So wh-who are you really?"

"I'm a reaper of course. With a little something extra." She winked. "Necromancer powers. Just like your father. He's the one who taught me." She tilted her blonde head, looking at him thoughtfully. Necromancer? "I'm surprised you've survived this long. No one even thought you were real. Everybody thought Deidara was babbling nonsense, like he always does anyway. Well, I'm afraid this ends now. Like I said, nothing personal." She opened a drawer, and took out a roll of black cotton rope. "Sit down."

He hesitated.

"My brothers are completely loyal to me. If I tell them to shoot, they will shoot. So I suggest you do as I ask."

The guys in the suits didn't flinch. Sasuke sat on the computer chair. Temari tied his arms behind the back, and then she tied his ankles to the bottom of the chair. While she did this, she said, "Sasori and I have big plans for this city. We can't very well let you and Deidara roam around freely."

"I don't even know anything. I have no idea what you're talking about. Honestly."

"You really don't, do you? He didn't tell you anything." She licked her lips as she stepped back and just observed him. She seemed to enjoy doing that, for some reason. "It's all right. It doesn't really matter. Sasori will take care of Deidara, and I'll take care of you. What I'll do is I'll kill you now, and then I'll go to Hell together with you and I'll kill you again, just to make sure you don't come back to mess up with our plans."

"Wait, what? You're saying you want to kill me twice? That's harsh. What did I ever do to you?" He was trying to stall for time. This was insane. He discreetly tested the rope, but it was pretty tight and solid. She was good at knots. "And besides," he said angrily, "what was the point of reading my story and inviting me here and offering me wine and everything, if it was just to kill me?"

"Because," she shrugged, "I was bored, and I wanted to get to know you a little. I wanted to have a nice glass of wine with a pretty boy. We could've had some fun, too, but you don't seem much interested, unfortunately. And you know, at first Sasori wasn't sure if he wanted us to try and befriend you, or if he wanted you dead. Now he's made up his mind, unfortunately."

"Don't I even get to meet him, and try to make him change his mind? Maybe we could come to some sort of arrangement. I could talk to Deidara, or something."

"Mmm sorry. Sasori isn't the type to change his mind."

"Still, it's worth a shot. You don't seem to want me dead. Or you would've done it already."

Temari thought about this, but she said nothing. Sasuke couldn't stop looking at those guns pointed at him. He wondered if he could call for Deidara. He couldn't shout his name. That would be a little unsubtle. But what if he could call for him mentally? Could Deidara hear that, too? It was worth a shot.

"Why are they doing this, anyway, your brothers? Are they friends with this Sasori person, too? Don't they care about killing an innocent person?"

Their eyes looked so empty. He felt like if he tried to address them directly, they wouldn't even answer him. It would be like talking to a wall.

Deidara? If you can hear this, um…

Temari was staring at him. "They're my lackeys, silly."

"Your what?"

Good, good, still stalling.

Deidara? I'm kind of in trouble, and, um, if you could show up. Soon.

She laughed. "So you don't even know about necromancer powers? That is ridiculous."

"Enlighten me."

"If you inherited your father's powers, then you're just like me. We possess the ability to bring people back from the dead. It's pretty great. Your father was one of the first necromancers. He had quite a reputation. Everybody knew him in Hell. Unfortunately, he died when your mother's friends banished him from this world. His powers should live in you, though. But you haven't tried using them yet, have you?"

"Wait a minute, so you brought your brothers back from the dead?"

"Yes I did."

"So now they listen to your every word, without arguing?"

"Yes, of course. Why?"

"Well, it's just… Why would anyone want that?" He couldn't resist the urge to test those ropes again. But he was just scraping his skin pointlessly and he knew it. "It's not exactly a healthy relationship."

"There are different styles to being a necromancer. Some let their lackeys have their freedom. My style is rather strict. I make sure they obey me. Come closer, Gaara, Kankuro," she said. And they did. Still pointing those guns. No doubt they were charged, and ready to shoot. And this wasn't a video game. No other life.

Well from what Temari said, yes, there was another life. But she would find him there, too, and kill him again.

Deidara? I'll be your partner. I promise. Whatever that means.

"Impressive," Sasuke said, swallowing hard. "What else can they do? Sit pretty? Play dead?"

One of them finally seemed to show a flicker of emotion. The one with the brown hair. Kankuro. "You'll be the one playing dead soon."

"Oh, so they can talk, too."

"Well, Sasuke," Temari sighed, looking away, and playing with a strand that had come loose from her pins, "it's been nice knowing you, albeit a bit short. I'll see you in Hell…"

And he was pretty sure she meant that literally.

Deidara walked in the room then. Like he had been there the whole time.

Sasuke was very happy to see him right now, actually.

Temari and her brothers, not so much.

"What the hell are you doing here, Sasuke?" Deidara shouted angrily. He had his sword this time, and he held it in fighting stance; a long black blade that seemed to be shimmering even in the dull artificial light of the room. "This is Sasori's necromancer. She could've killed you!"

"Very useful telling me this now, Deidara," Sasuke replied, while trying to loosen those knots again. But it was pointless, and he was just hurting his wrists and ankles.

Kankuro was distracted by Deidara's appearance, but Gaara wasn't. He still aimed the gun at Sasuke, and he was about to shoot, clearly wanting to please his sister with his professionalism. Before he could fire, though, Deidara leaped in the air and brought down his sword. He merely scraped Gaara's hand, but his movement had been so swift and sudden that it was enough to make Gaara drop the weapon and step back in surprise.

Deidara placed himself in front of Sasuke protectively, holding up his sword.

He addressed Temari. "Don't you dare touch my necromancer. Now that I've finally got one. You're such a bitch! I'm going to kill you one day."

She put a hand at her hip, looking very much annoyed. "I'd like to see you try. You're pathetic, Deidara. You wouldn't stand a chance against me. It would take a much more powerful demon… A mere reaper couldn't possibly—"

"What's that I feel, I wonder? The skin on my back is tingling," Deidara said.

At first Sasuke wondered what the fuck he was going on about. But then he watched, astonished, as something came out of Deidara's back. His jacket made a ripping sound as two large black feathery things appeared and seemed to elongate infinitely, until they took up almost the whole room.

Huge black wings, veined with red and gray streaks. Deidara looked over his shoulder and winked at Sasuke. Well, Sasuke couldn't see much with those feathers all over the place. But he could see that Temari was backing off.

"Temari," Gaara said in a low voice, placing himself in front of her, "this could be dangerous."

"I can't believe it." She sounded upset. "They promoted you? Who did?"

"Nagato," Deidara said proudly. "He can recognize good work when he sees it, at least."

"I don't care!" Temari said dramatically. "I don't care if you're a stupid angel now. I'm not afraid of you."

But her brothers seemed to know better. Now they both placed themselves in front of her, ready to die for her.

Deidara didn't seem to want to kill anyone, though. Sasuke didn't care. He didn't necessarily want to kill them. He just wanted to get out of those ropes.

"Oh, come on," Deidara was saying, "it's dark angel or angel of hell. At least get the nomenclature right. Now, we're leaving. Come on, Sasuke."

"I'm kind of tied up to the chair."

"Doesn't matter."

"Well, no, it doesn't, because you have a sword, and if you could just—"

"Sasuke," Deidara said sharply, "it doesn't matter. We're leaving. Not just this apartment. This dimension. Do you get it now?"

"Oh."

"Yes, oh. Now, hurry. If you don't hurry, I'll go without you. Do you really want to be stuck here alone?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Then just do it. You have to learn how to do this by yourself, mate."

"Well," he said as he heard Temari laughing at them, "mate, perhaps now isn't the best time to learn. I don't actually know how, so."

"Oh, for fuck's sake."

Deidara turned around, and it wasn't easy with those huge wings rustling and shedding feathers all over the place. Seriously, that was a lot of feathers. A small black one fell in Sasuke's face and he blew it away, annoyed.

Gaara fired his gun then. Sasuke flinched; it was so sudden and scary that he thought his heart stopped. But the bullet never reached him. It had gone through Deidara's wing, and he had caught it in flight between his thumb and index.

"Watch the wings, asshole," he shouted over his shoulder. Then he flicked the bullet onto the floor, and bent over to cup Sasuke's chin.

He was still really scared from almost being shot. That had been aimed at his head. If Deidara hadn't caught it…

"Look at me," Deidara said. And Sasuke did. He looked into his pale blue eyes. "Now close your eyes and I want you to trust me. And this time, do not run away from me, please."

Sasuke closed his eyes. He knew better than to run away.

The first thing his senses acknowledged was the smell of smoke and ashes carried by the wind. He realized he was free from the ropes. He was standing on his feet. And he opened his eyes.

And it was different from the last time. Things seemed… clearer. And he felt more relaxed. In fact, his headache was gone. Huh.

He stood next to Deidara in a desert of ashy white sand. There was white smoke in the distance. It seemed to be lighting the black sky. Sasuke could see ravens flying up there. He blinked, and looked to the side, where he could make out the beginnings of a forest. The cold wind blew in his hair as he looked. And he saw someone. Or rather, several people. But he wasn't afraid. He felt detached and calm.

Unlike him, those people in the forest were afraid. They were running away from their own nightmarish visions. Some of them were screaming. But their screams sounded very distant.

Slowly, Sasuke turned to look at Deidara.

"Well, you've brought me here. What now?"

He frowned. Suddenly he wasn't paying attention to Deidara anymore. If he answered, Sasuke didn't listen. He could see a large fire in the middle of the white sand desert, as he looked over one of Deidara's black wings. He couldn't tell how far away it was. Distance seemed really difficult to calculate here. But he could definitely see it. And it was strange—and oddly refreshing—to see the orange flames rising high and licking the black sky. Some color in this gray world.

But then he realized there were people being burned alive in that fire. They were trapped there, and they couldn't get out. Like someone had tied them up all together before burning them. Sasuke could hear them writhe in pain, even from here.

"You'll learn to stop paying attention to all that stuff," Deidara said kindly, squeezing Sasuke's shoulder comfortingly. "Nothing much you can do about it, anyway. Now, come. I need you to walk with me. We have a lot to talk about."

Sasuke sighed, and tore his eyes from the fire. They walked in the opposite direction, toward the forest. "Yeah, I guess we do. So, if I'm finally going to acknowledge that all this is really happening, then we're going to start with the beginning. And you're going to answer all of my questions."

"Oh, goody…"

"So you're capable of sarcasm, too. Maybe we'll get along after all. Nice wings, by the way. Felt like I had to take that out of my system. Very fluffy."

"Thank you. But they're not very convenient." As he said this, he retracted them, because apparently he could do that. They disappeared, shedding a bunch of black feathers, and one red one, and then he was able to fasten his sword back in its sheath. "What's your first question?"

"Who exactly was my father?"

"Oh Lord. Let's not go there yet…"

"Fine. We'll save it for later. So this is Hell."

"Yes."

"Is there a Heaven, too?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes."

"So… do most people come here when they die, or is it fifty/fifty, or what?"

"Most people come here. Some go to Purgatory. Heaven hardly ever accepts anyone, honestly..."

"What's Purgatory?"

"It's… complicated. Can we save that one for later, too?"

They were approaching the forest, with its black leafless trees.

"So I'm a necromancer. How does that work exactly?"

"I'd rather show you than tell you. You have to use it sooner or later anyway."

"Why? What if I don't want to?" He didn't want anyone to become his slave the way Temari's brothers were.

"You have to," Deidara insisted. "It's a part of you. It's not healthy to ignore it."

"But—"

"So how would you feel," Deidara interrupted him, "if I killed one of your friends so that you could bring them back?"

"No way," Sasuke shook his head. "I'd never allow that."

"I see…"

Sasuke stopped, stomping the soft gray sand—or was it ash?—with his boots.

"Deidara, what did you do?"

"Well," he swallowed, "I might've…"

Oh, no. "What the fuck did you do?"

"I killed your friend Suigetsu. But just so you could bring him back!" He hurriedly added. "It'll be okay, I promise."

"You bastard!" Sasuke punched Deidara's face. He couldn't help it. This wasn't right. "Where is he? I want to find him right now."

Deidara cupped his cheek, offended. "I was taking you to him before we stopped…"

They started walking again, this time in silence. Sasuke wasn't in the mood for talking. He picked up the pace, and Deidara followed. The forest wasn't much of a forest after all, more a line of tree, which they passed. Beyond it was a cemetery. They made their way across it, finding a path between the thumb stones.

"Why is there a cemetery, anyway?"

"It turns out a lot of people fear being buried."

Made sense.

"So people come here and face their worst fears?"

"Yes."

"But can people be killed again here? And then is it final? Temari said she would stalk me here and kill me again."

He wasn't in the mood for talking, and he just wanted to find Suigetsu, but he was curious. And for once Deidara was answering his questions. Maybe because he felt guilty.

"Yes, it's pretty final. Most of the time."

"Most of the time?" Sasuke asked. "What does that mean?"

Deidara hesitated. The wind blew in his blonde hair and he smoothed it down. "Let's just say some people's spirits are more resilient than others."

"What about Temari? And that Sasori guy? Can't you just kill them if you hate them that much?"

"I don't want to risk it, Sasuke." Now he sounded whiny. "I just got promoted. I'm not supposed to go around and kill reapers for no reason. Nagato would be disappointed, and I don't want that."

"Who's Nagato?"

"He's an HD. Higher demon," Deidara added, and grinned. "He's a big deal. I got friends in high places."

"You know, I can't exactly feel happy for you right now, considering you just admitted killing my best friend."

They entered another patch of woods. These ones didn't look so scary. Sasuke even thought he saw some green here and there. And he saw those ravens flying in the sky again. In the distance, he thought he heard some rhythmic music playing, something entrancing and that made him want to go toward it and see where it was coming from. It was funny. Last time he was so scared, but now he couldn't help but being filled with a sentiment of anticipation and excitement. Like anything could happen here.

"How are you feeling?" asked Deidara.

Pretty good, actually.

But he said, "I'm angry, obviously. Where's Suigetsu?"

"We're not very far now."

"So how come you guys can go to… to Earth, I guess, and walk among people? You can even have lives there? Temari had an apartment and everything. She came to my climbing gym!"

"It takes time and practice but some of us can go to Earth for prolonged periods of time, yes. It can be practical for a reaper to have a place to stay down there, actually. Though it was pretty arrogant of Temari to get her apartment in the middle of my city." He sighed. "Well, they do want to take over, so I guess a bold move like that isn't below them."

"So you're New York's official reaper, then?"

"Well, Manhattan, to be more specific. Sasori has Brooklyn. But he's jealous and he wants what's mine."

"To be fair, anyone would probably choose Manhattan over Brooklyn…"

"I don't care! I deserve it. I've waited a long time for this position, and I'm good at what I do. I won't let stupid Sasori take it from me. And you're going to help me."

"Just one question," Sasuke said, stepping over a tree root. "What's in it for me?"

Deidara gave a humorless laugh. They could see a small wooden cabin in the woods, in the distance, and Deidara led the way toward it.

"It's too late to back out now, darling, if that's what you're thinking. They already know about you. They already want to kill you. So it's either you're with me or you're not. But if you're not, they'll kill you anyway. If you side with me, at least we have a chance of beating them."

As they approached the cabin, Sasuke heard the sound of a chainsaw.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. Some moron's worst fear is the plot from some cliché horror movie, then?"

He saw the look on Deidara's face, and understood.

"Oh. I get it. That moron is my best friend. All right," he sighed, "let's do this."

The masked man with the chainsaw was roaming around the cabin menacingly, making his chainsaw roar every now and then. Sasuke rushed over to him, eager to get this over with as quickly as possible. He wasn't even afraid. The chainsaw holder saw him, and wanted to attack him, and Sasuke was tempted to roll his eyes.

It was like time was slowing down. For everything but Sasuke. His opponent seemed excruciatingly slow all of a sudden. Sasuke just moved aside swiftly and grabbed the arm that was holding the chainsaw, bending it the wrong way so that he would drop it to the ground. The dangerous weapon was hurtled a few feet away, and stopped against a tree. Sasuke then hit the masked man in the face repeatedly, eventually throwing him to the ground. He had hit him so hard that his fist should really hurt. But it didn't. Sasuke stepped back. The wind seemed to have stopped.

Instead fog started to creep up all around them, blurring their surroundings. When Sasuke looked down again, he saw that the masked man and the chainsaw were both gone. Of course.

"You didn't have to fight him, you know," said Deidara, amused. "All you had to do was ignore him and he would've disappeared."

"Yeah, well, it's good to unwind sometimes."

"It was entertaining, though." Deidara tilted his head. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"All those violent video games."

He kicked the door to the cabin open without even checking if it was locked beforehand.

Suigetsu winced when the door was kicked open, and he muffled a cry. There he was, in the corner of the empty wooden cabin, sitting with his arms wrapped around his knees, scared.

"Please don't hurt me…"

"Suigetsu, it's me."

As he heard Sasuke's voice, he suddenly looked up, relief all over his face. He jumped up and ran to Sasuke, before hugging him tight.

"Oh my God, Sasuke, what the fuck is this place?"

"God isn't going to help you here, that's for sure," Deidara said as he stepped inside the cabin behind Sasuke.

Suigetsu winced and pulled away from Sasuke, and he pointed a finger at the reaper—or angel of death or whatever he was now.

"Sasuke… that's the guy who attacked me…"

Sasuke glared at Deidara angrily. But Deidara raised his hands in surrender.

"Hey, he's exaggerating. I didn't really attack him. I just gave him a nice and quick little heart attack, and—"

"Please don't hurt me, please, I'll do anything," Suigetsu was saying.

"Shut up!" Sasuke raised one hand. "Both of you. Just shut up. Okay. Deidara. What's my next move?"

"You just need to teleport back to your apartment with him."

Sasuke sighed tiredly. "Look, I know you always expect me to know how to do those things, but I don't, and right now I have no guns pointed at my head, so if you could—"

Suigetsu crossed his arms, and frowned. "Sasuke, what's going on here?"

They ignored him. Deidara stepped forward, nodding. "All right, I'll teach you. Mostly you just have to think about the blood."

"The blood? What blood?"

"You know. Red. Thick. Icky. Blood. That's what triggers it when we teleport. It's a symbol, the pathway through and out of Hell. The blood of all the dead people."

"Oh, right," Sasuke said. He could do that. Thinking about blood. It pretty much happened even when he wasn't trying, anyway.

"We're in H-Hell?" Suigetsu said in a shaky voice, rubbing his arms for warmth.

"Okay, look," Deidara said, "I'll show you something. This is one way to do it. Not all reapers use this technique, but it's easier, for beginners."

He slid his sword out of its sheath, and held it in his right hand. With the tip of the blade he cut his left palm, and blood poured to the floor. Then he put down one knee and placed his left hand to the floor, where a blood red circle started spreading. It started gleaming, and shimmering. Deidara was crouched in the middle of it, his palm still facing the ground. He looked up, and smiled.

"See? Easy. Your turn."

And then he disappeared, the red seeming to engulf him. And only a faint black smoke was left where he had been. The red circle disappeared, too. It was as though Deidara had never been there.
"What the fuck just happened?" Suigetsu asked.

"He teleported," Sasuke said more to himself. "It's okay, we'll do the same. It would've been nice if he'd left me his sword, though. That idiot."

Suigetsu produced a small kitchen knife with a shaky hand. "I-I have this. I was eating some cheese when he k-killed me. And I sort of… still had it on me. I just didn't think it would be much use against a chainsaw, but I kept it anyway."

"Good. Give it to me."

Sasuke used it to cut open his palm. It hurt, but not really at the same time. Like if he didn't think about it too much, he only felt a tingle.

He lowered himself and pushed his hand to the ground. He motioned for Suigetsu to come closer, and he did. They watched together as the red circle appeared again, just as it had for Deidara. Instinctively Sasuke grabbed Suigetsu's arm and pulled him down with him, and he thought of their apartment.

They saw blood everywhere.

And then when the red faded, they were in their apartment. Just like that. Suigetsu was standing next to Sasuke in the middle of the living room, but his body was motionless on the couch. He had been watching something on his laptop, probably, but whatever it was no longer played, because the room was completely still and silent. The bi-colored curtains got rustled by the wind slightly but that was it. Deidara stood next to the couch, his arms crossed.

"Took you some time."

"Well you could've waited for us. What do I do now?"

Deidara waved with a hand as though it was perfectly obvious. "Put him back in his body."

"Right."

Suigetsu was freaking out. He grabbed Sasuke's arm with ice cold fingers. "What am I right now? A ghost? Why can I touch you?"

"Because I'm a necromancer?" He looked over at Deidara.

Deidara nodded. Okay.

Sasuke brought Suigetsu closer to the couch, and they both sat together next to it. Suigetsu was looking at his body.

"I look so… dead."

"It's okay, um, Suigetsu, listen, I'm gonna need you to… to lie down there, and to get back into your body."

"What? H-How?"

Sasuke looked at Deidara for help.

"Tell him to close his eyes. It's always easier for them with the eyes closed."

"I heard you," Suigetsu said, "I'm not deaf. Just dead." He closed his eyes as he was instructed.

Then Sasuke guided him, making him sit on the couch. When the ghost Suigetsu came in contact with the real Suigetsu, it was like they couldn't touch, and instead they just sort of merged together. Suigetsu slowly lowered himself onto the couch as Sasuke told him to, until the two bodies were only one.

Sasuke was looming over him, waiting for something to happen. But he wasn't breathing.

"Then what?" he asked urgently.

"You kiss him," Deidara said.

"What?"

"I'm joking!"

"It's not funny. This is my best friend and he looks very dead to me still."

"Just be patient, love."

A few more seconds passed, and then Suigetsu's eyes opened and he breathed in sharply, before coughing, and breathing in again. And coughing again.

"Just… calm down…" Sasuke said nervously. "You're okay." I think.

"Oh my god, Sasuke!" Suigetsu sat up and fell into Sasuke's arms, leaning into him and holding him close. "That was the most horrible nightmare ever. Did you wake me up? Thank you…"

"You mean you don't remember?"

"Remember what?" He pulled away, and wiped under his eyes. "Ugh," he groaned, embarrassed, "why am I crying? It was some fucked up nightmare but I'm a grown man, damn it. I'll just go take a shower. I feel all… weird." He rubbed his chest and made a face. "Thanks for waking me up, all right? That was so fucked up…" He shook his head in disbelief as he jumped to his feet and stalked over to the bathroom.

Sasuke looked over his shoulder at Deidara for help. But Deidara was gone.

Oh, fucking hell.

...

AN: This is it for now, guys! You're awesome and I love writing for you and reading your reviews : )