Sasuke was not Death; he did not go about the day in dark robes, cutting his scythe into people's bodies and plucking out their souls.

That was his brother's job.

No, Sasuke was more of a collector – which sounded rather boring, so he rarely called himself such. He took those wimpy souls and dragged them into Eternal Damnation, where they would be tortured forever and a day. He didn't have the pleasure of seeing the life drain from a human's face, but he did have the pleasure of hearing stories from Itachi every now and then.

He especially enjoyed the stories of tragic misfortune, and every now and then, he'd hear a tale of the sobbing, devastated family surrounding the pathetic soul as he was whisked away. That was always a treat because, despite the rather cute girlfriend he had right now, Sasuke was cruel. He flourished in terror. He savored the taste of hopelessness that humans had when mourning the death of a loved one.

But that day –

"They're … dancing."

No such thing came, and Sasuke was more than a little annoyed.

Chapter 10

Dead People Stay Dead. Usually.

Hinata Hyuuga, he noticed, was always smiling.

Even when people danced around in celebration of the dead, she smiled; which, to him, seemed completely out of her nature. She yelped in defiance when he tried to stomp the spider under the dining table into the ground, instead letting it crawl on her hand as she took it outside. Her eyes often lit up with tears when a character died in one of the shows she was watching – a fictional, not-real character. She hated death, so when the people around her celebrated it, why did she smile?

"You are a confusing woman."

Glancing away from the performers in the middle of the street, their bodies lit up by the glow over the hanging paper lanterns overhead, Hinata lips lifted into a wider smile. "What is it?"

He gave her a look, then gestured around the place. "This isn't like you."

The crowd thickened around them, and Hinata grabbed his sleeve and led him out to the outskirts, where they could breathe and he wasn't totally overwhelmed by the stench of humans. "It's the O-bon festival, Sasuke," she said. "We honor our ancestors' spirits and visit our passed away relatives. It's a day of celebration."

"What's there to celebrate?" he asked. "They're dead."

She blinked up at him, then tilted her head, lips pursing. "It's just what some people do, I suppose."

It was so irritating. Sometimes they mourned, sometimes they celebrated. Humans seriously needed to make up their minds. "So what?" He looked around, sneering at passing people. "We just stand and waste our time?"

"Um. A-Actually, I was going to go … see … ."

She trailed over, voice dipping, and Sasuke turned back to her.

Oh.

"Lead the way." He didn't know what else to say. Hinata was smiling, but she didn't sound as happy as she usually did. That meant he didn't have to comfort her, right? Not that he'd know how to do that either way.

Fucking Hell, humans had a lot of needs. Even his human got emotional over little things that he wouldn't even give a second thought. How was he supposed to help her when he didn't think there was anything wrong in the first place?

And now she was taking him away from the busy streets and into a gated, dark area where families loomed over tombstones and graves. Hinata's eyes flickered to every face she saw, smiling at them when they looked up. She moved smoothly, not even looking down to watch her step like she often did.

She's been here before.

Someone she knew was dead.

But … they're celebrating, he reminded himself as he followed. No tears. No emotions. She'll be fine.

"Here he is."

They were at a simple tombstone. It had a name, but Sasuke didn't bother to look. Instead, he watched as Hinata knelt down and pulled out a white rag from her back pocket.

"This is my cousin, Neji," she explained, smiling. Always smiling. "He passed away about a year ago – ah, u-um, not that we need to think about that right now." Her eyes trailed the grey stone. "And, er, Neji, this is Sasuke. He's my … boyfriend. U-Um. He's also a … demon … . B-But please don't worry! He's very kind to me!"

What … is she doing?

He nearly had the mind to tell her that her cousin cannot hear her – his spirit was far away, in Hell, nowhere near close enough to listen to a word she said. But Sasuke bit his tongue, letting her believe whatever she wanted to believe.

"Sasuke," she said, holding a bucket out to him. "There's a fountain over there. Can you fill this up so I can wash Neji's grave?"

He took it and gave her a moment as he filled up the bucket, watching the people around them. None of their faces matched the description his brother often told him; pained and pale and empty. Again, a spike of annoyance stabbed him in his empty chest, and he yanked the bucket back once it got halfway full and marched back to Hinata.

And there – he saw that face he wanted to see. One so hopeless and barren that it looked like they could fall over and die at any moment.

But … it was off.

Because it was his Hinata who rubbed at the tears streaking her cheeks, ashamed. She choked and sobbed, and that did not make him feel that sick pleasure he usually felt.

"I-I'm so sorry," she gasped, then croaked. She rubbed at the dirt on the stone, cleaning it, scrubbing it hard. "I-I know I said I'd be happy – but I can't – I miss you so much and I just want you to be here, with me!"

That taste in their air when humans were hurt was disgusting, and with a sneer, Sasuke dropped the bucket and turned on his heels. When he arrived at the gate, he trailed his fiery fingers down the side, and when he opened it, he stepped out of the warm summer air and into fire and ash.

…

Hyuuga.

Hyuuga … .

Ah.

There it was. There he was.

Neji Hyuuga.

346th shelf, 72 rows back in his library of souls, Sasuke found the slim, manilla folder that contained Neji Hyuuga's soul. He gave the front a glance, where scribbled in his brother's messy handwriting were the words "Lung Cancer". The entire folder reeked of smoke, and Sasuke huffed as he dropped down to the floor and went to his desk. He pulled out a knife and cut open the folder, then dropped the small, glowing soul into the palm of his hand. It hissed and zapped at him – a fighter, it seemed. Rare. Usually, souls gave up after being in Hell for more than a week.

"You," he told it, holding it up by its wispy tail, "are one lucky bastard."

…

He's never brought someone back to life.

Usually, Naruto or Itachi did it, and even then, it was very rare.

But how hard could it be?

Put the soul in the body and – huzzah! Girlfriend stops crying because she is so happy and maybe now she'll finally, finally let you shower with her.

Okay. Problem: body is buried and probably nothing but bones.

Solution –

"You want me to do what?"

"I don't need to repeat myself. You knew my idea the second it got in my head."

Naruto would just fix up the body of the year-old corpse of Neji Hyuuga.

It was late. Hinata was sleeping in her room, far away from that grave, and he had spent the past hour digging up the casket and pulling out a skeleton. He'd gone through all the trouble already, and there was no way in Hell –

"Have you lost your mind?" Naruto barked. "No way I'm doing that!"

Problem: God was denying you the chance to have a nice shower with your lovely girlfriend by fixing up the body of her dead cousin.

Solution: Blackmail.

"By tomorrow, half of the world will hate you," he said. "They'll be cursing your name and murdering each other, and when their souls come to me and ask why you never came, I'll say it's because you wouldn't save an innocent human from utter devastation –"

Celestial eyes turned to him, lidded. "I've been dealing with your bullshit for how many eons now? I think I can handle this just fine."

Alright. Problem: He's not falling for the blackmail.

Solution:

… .

Fuck. Beg! I don't know!

"Just do it!" he snapped, kicking the side of the casket so it slid to the morphing being's nonexistent feet. "Look, I'll do whatever you want. I'll owe you whatever favors. Just give me this one, for fuck's sake."

Naruto looked at him, gaze glowing, and if he weren't in such a situation, he'd punch that look right off his face. But Sasuke was just a set away from falling to his knees, so he kept his tongue at bay and waited with an impatient scowl.

"Well," Naruto mused, glancing down at the skeleton, "it is against my moral code … ."

"Naruto."

"But because I've never seen you this worked up before, I guess I can make an exception. Just this once."

When Sasuke sighed, steam left his lungs. Naruto popped his knuckles and began to stitch together a body.

"Might take me a bit," he said. "These things take time. I'm an artist, after all."

"Sure."

Sasuke wasn't planning to hover around and watch, so with a turn of his heels and a fwap of his cloak, he vanished into the night.

…

"Hinata."

She stirred instantly at his call, eyes slowly blinking as she took in the room, then his face.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter," he said. "I want to show you something."

So without much objection, she slipped out of bed and pulled on a light jacket and her sneakers before following him out into the night.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To your cousin."

She fell quiet and followed him a few, short paces behind.

The walk was too long and too quiet and too strained, but Sasuke did not give it much thought. Because he was used to it. This was always how it was.

… Before Hinata, at least.

They got to the graveyard and he led them to the grave.

"Oh my God," she gasped, rushing past them as they arrived. "What happened?" Her eyes landed on the hole, then on the casket he had pulled out. She looked scared. "Who did this to Neji's –"

And then she stopped as she watched him move to the other side of the casket, where a perfect, still body lay. He pulled out the wiggling soul from his pocket and shoved it into the man's chest.

Life, he always thought, smelled the worst.

Too sweet. Too flowery.

Awful.

And when the lungs of the man kicked into gear and that once still mouth gaped open as his first breath tore from them, Sasuke leaned away and frowned at the stench. The sudden, powerful light in those once soulless eyes was bright and flickering, and his stomach dropped at the sight.

And Hinata –

"N …"

When Sasuke looked over, he realized … something was off.

"N … Ne … ."

She was crying again. She still looked scared. Her face was pale and empty and pained. Like someone was dying. Like she was dying.

Sasuke has never felt panic before – only humans did, and he was far from that. But whatever the hot, rapid, fumbling pain in his gut was sure felt something akin to panic, and with a racing mind, he turned to the man and buried his hand into his chest and ripped the soul out of its beating cavity.

No annoying light.

No flowery stench.

But –

"N-No! NEJI!"

There was screaming and salt and tension in the air.

"You're really hopeless with this sort of thing."

Naruto whisked in and took Neji's soul in his warm palm while the other waved in front of him. Flesh and blood evaporated as a bare skeleton was rolled back into a casket, which fell back into its hole and covered itself in dirt, like nothing had happened.

But Hinata was still by the tombstone, trembling, clinging to herself.

"Why?" she cried. "Why would you do that to him?"

Sasuke couldn't find a word to say, and Naruto sighed.

"That's what you should expect from the Devil, I guess."

Wide, terrified eyes peered up at him. "D … Devil?"

Naruto gave him a look. "He never told you."

"Demon," he muttered, "Devil. Same thing. It doesn't matter."

But it must have for Hinata, for when she got onto her unstable legs, the first thing she did was run away from him.

"Yikes. Told you it wasn't a good idea."

Sighing, ignoring him, Sasuke gave the grave a final glance before he went to follow Hinata to her rubbish apartment, close enough to protect her, far enough to protect her from him.

Chapter 10 - End