At times, he wondered.

What was it like to sleep? What happened when your mind roared to life while your body shut down and relaxed? How did it feel to not move for nine hours a day?

Why was it time to sleep at night?

Was it because humans knew of the monsters and demons that lurked the dark streets? Did they sleep to avoid the horrors of the world at night?

If so, then maybe that was the only instance Sasuke would ever give them credit for being smart.

Because horrible things happened once the sun was down.

And he, for the most part, caused them.


Chapter 16

If I Had a Heart, I Wonder How Long I Could Stand It


The ache in his chest was … terrible – in the most irritating sense.

Sasuke never felt pain before – he inflicted it, naturally, and it rarely came upon his immortal body. But if there was ever such a pain to come to him, this was surely it. But he did not act like any human would. He did not whine or scream or tremble in agony. It was far too tame a thing for any of that nonsense.

However, it was so fucking annoying; to the point that he would claw at his chest to get at something that was not even there. His chest, as always, was empty; no soul, no heart, nothing. But it felt like something was stuck between his ribs, pounding into the bone and making it rattle against him. It vibrated, that strange feeling. Usually. But it sometimes felt like it was sinking into the pit of his stomach, as well. Sometimes, it stopped, and sometimes it was so big and loud and fast that he could barely focus on anything but it.

It reminded him, at times, of Hinata's heart.

Pounding, beating.

But he did not have one. Never.

And he would have suspected she was the cause of this annoyance – after all, in the safety of Hell (oxymoron intended), this feeling never showed up. It was only in this crummy place where he would always find her, wide-eyed and waiting.

And even now, as he loomed about the room and listened to her slow, even breathing as she slumbered, the feeling was there. It squeezed his lungs, making it hard to breathe, and his lips pulled back in a displeased scowl as he quickly left her bedroom.

Annoying.

So annoying.

When he pressed his palm over his chest, he felt it rumble and bounce to an uneven beat. If he could press his ear to it, would it sound like Hinata's heart, too?

Something was wrong.

This must have been caused by something. Maybe it's his body's delayed reaction to his constant need to be around her. Maybe it became aware of the hollow pit in his chest and created some sort of oddity to replace his vacant heart.

All he knew is that he's been existing for millions of years – no, even longer than that. And never before has this happened until he met Hinata Hyuuga.

Fine, he hissed to himself, marching to the door, if it wants a heart, I'll give it one.

There were a million different versions of the tale of the boogeyman that parents told their children to keep them home and in bed during the night. Most of them just turned into silly horror stories, but some still held truth to them.

A being that stalked the night, sharp-toothed and waiting for innocent children to leave their homes so he can drag them into Eternal Fire. Sounded like someone he knew. But this time, instead of children, Sasuke had his eye on a staggering man falling asleep by the bus stop. His ears stretched away from his skull and picked up the sound of his heartbeat – calm, unsuspecting of the danger approaching him.

Pity.

Sasuke loved a chase.

Itachi told him it was common courtesy in the realms of death to let the dying have their last words before plucking their souls from their mortal, decaying bodies.

But, honestly, Sasuke couldn't give a shit about courtesy.

It was quick, the fool's death.

He simply grabbed his head and slammed it into the wood of the bench hard enough for the following crack to send a few crows flying off in the distance. No struggle. No begging for life. The life was gone from the man's face by the time a cool breeze caught Sasuke's shoulder and pressed it down.

"Brother," Itachi sighed, looking down at the corpse and the shocked soul stuck in his ribcage, "you never listen to me."

"I was quick," Sasuke said. "That was courtesy enough. You know I take great pleasure in seeing them feebly attempt to hang on." Long, black strands of hair swept down Itachi's back as he shook his head, not bothering to hide his disappointment. His bony hands did not move to recover the soul from the cooling corpse, and Sasuke's already thin patience snapped. "Will you hurry up, already? I have something I need."

His brother gave him a passive look as he leaned down and took the soul in both his hands. "What could you possibly need from a mortal body, Sasuke?"

He leaned over and sunk his hand into the dead man's chest, tearing out his heart. "This." Blood dripped down his arms, but Sasuke did not even notice such a mess as he tore back the skin and muscle of his own chest until the chasm within was revealed. Without much care, he shoved the heart inside and listened to its fading beat. "What the fuck?"

Itachi had slipped the soul in a small, manilla folder and was writing the date and the time of death down with a black sharpie. "Stop playing with your food, Sasuke," he mused off-handedly, pausing in his writing for a moment. "How should I word this? Murdered in His Sleep By the Devil? That will get you in some trouble."

"I don't fucking care if I – why is this thing not working!?"

Itachi finally looked at him, brows lifted in mild surprise.

"It's dead," he said. "They do that when you pull them out like that."

Sasuke sneered and ripped it out of his chest, throwing it onto the ground. "Then it's useless to me! This fucking bastard wasted my time."

"Don't play with things you do not understand, Sasuke. You could –"

"What?" he huffed. "Get hurt? Die?"

His older brother gave him a more exasperated look before turning his sharpie back onto the folder. "I got it, now," he said as he wrote, "Death By a Stupid, Little Brother Who Does Not Understand Basic Human Anatomy."

Limbo was a boring place.

Grey and dull and so quiet that you could hear a spirit's wail a hundred miles away.

It was also a slow and miserable place – emphasis on the slow. The line to Judgement had to have been at least seven thousand souls, give or take. Sasuke couldn't even see the front, where the gates of Heaven and Hell stood brilliantly before the poor, judged soul.

"I'm not waiting this long," Sasuke said to his brother. "I need to be back by morning."

"Is that so?" Itachi hummed, glanced down at the soul, then gave a small nod. "Well, I don't exactly have the time, either, so let's make this quick."

Together, they began to walk past the souls, barely giving much attention to the cries of protest from the souls in line.

Honestly, what did they expect? He was The Devil? Breaking the rules was what he did! And they must have recognized the face of their dear friend Death, for soon the protests died down, and they were allowed to cut the line in peace.

When they (finally) got to the front of the line, between the pearly gates of Heaven and the pit of lava leading straight to Hell, was a single podium where an angel, half-asleep, lay his entire torso against it as he looked down at the soul before him.

"Limbo," he yawned.

The soul flashed. "No way! I didn't do anything wrong –"

"Then maybe you need to learn how to read." The angel wagged a piece of paper in the air. "Your paperwork says it all: you planned your wedding during your sister's anniversary and didn't even invite her."

"Yes, but –"

"You stole five bucks from your work, once. That's a no-no. Oh, and what's this here at the bottom? You poached pandas when you were twenty? Yikes. You know they're endangered, right?"

"Three things!" the soul cried. "Just three things! I shouldn't go to Hell for –"

The angel sighed and rested his chin upon his crossed arms. "I said Limbo. That means no severe punishment, but definitely not the party life in Heaven, my guy." His dark, thin eyes found the approaching figures of the Devil and Death Himself and lifted a hand to lazily swat the soul away. "Are you done? You're holding up my line."

The soul sighed and drifted off into the gray, forever abyss of Limbo. Another soul approached the podium and placed its paperwork there, but the angel turned to them.

"Itachi. Long time no see."

"Shikamaru," Itachi greeted and eyed the line. "Busy decade, huh?"

"Seriously," he sighed. "Is it really that hard to just not die for a little longer?"

"Usually, it's not their choice" Itachi handed Shikamaru the soul he was holding, as well as its paperwork. "This poor guy was murdered rather savagely in his drunken sleep just an hour ago, I suppose."

Shikamaru skimmed the paper, then looked at Sasuke. "Again? Seriously, dude, are you a million years old or what?"

Sasuke huffed, and Itachi said, "I'll need to place a special request for this one."

Shikamaru turned and pressed a button on the side of the podium. "Naruto, I have Itachi and Sasuke here for you."

"Shikamaru!" the Lord's voice roared from above, and the line of souls shivered. "We went over this – you have to use the special code!"

"Oh. Right." Scratching his chin, Shikamaru tried again. "Naruto, I have Itachi and Your Greatest Nemesis here for you."

"Better!" Naruto's voice chirped. "I'll be right there."

"Greatest Nemesis?" Sasuke repeated, voice low.

"How dreary," Itachi mused. "He didn't give me a special code."

"Uhm!" The soul at the front huffed. "My judgment, please."

Shikamaru clicked his tongue. "Can't you see I'm busy? I know I have four arms and three heads, but I can't just –" He looked down and paused. "Oh."

"What!?" the soul barked.

"Nothing, just … " Shikamaru scratched the back of his neck and read the soul's paperwork. "Ah. Arsonist, huh? That would usually be a one-way ticket to Hell, but because you're so cute, I'll let it slide."

"R-Really?"

Shikamaru pressed another button, and the golden gates of Heaven swung open, harps and flutes singing overhead.

"Don't start any fires," he said, "and look for me after my shift is over."

As the soul entered, Naruto stepped through the gates, and the souls hummed in wonder as he approached Sasuke and Itachi.

"What have we got here?" he asked.

Sasuke stepped forward. "Let me explain –"

"My silly little brother killed this man and ripped his heart right out of his body."

He glared at Itachi as Naruto took the soul.

"Bastard," he growled. "I know this guy –"

"You know all of them," Shikamaru lazily corrected. "You made them, remember?"

"How could you just kill him!?"

Sasuke pushed his brother out of the way. "I was going to explain it," he said, "before I was interrupted. Can you look in my chest?"

Naruto gave him a weary look, but did as he was asked. "Looks normal," he said. "Why?"

"That's the problem." He pressed a hand on the left side of his torso, scowling. "I keep feeling something. Like a heart, but we all know that's impossible. But I can feel it in there when there's nothing."

"That doesn't explain why you killed this guy –"

"I thought it was asking for a heart." Blood from the corpse was beginning to dry on his hands and under his nails. "So I tried to put one in there, but it wasn't working."

Itachi eyed him. "It? What's it?"

"I don't know. My body? My existence? "

Naruto leaned over, his shifting face aimed towards his torso. "Is it doing it now? I don't hear or see anything."

He shook his head. "It's only when I'm with Hinata."

"Ah," Itachi said, smiling. "That explains it."

"I think that's what humans call love, Sasuke," Naruto laughed.

Sasuke frowned and crossed his arms. "It didn't happen before. Just recently."

"Because you're an idiot who doesn't understand human emotions!"

"My own brother," Itachi sighed, "in love with a human. Who would have seen it coming?"

This was getting him nowhere, and Sasuke gave his brother a pointed look. "Are we done here? I'm leaving."

His brother turned to Naruto and nodded to the soul. "Take care of him."

His shifting, his brilliant head bowed down to the soul, and said to it, gently, "Don't worry. You're alright with me."

And behind them, Shikamaru snapped paperwork against the podium, and said, "Sorry, buddy. But your attraction to men is sending you straight down to the pits of Hell."

The soul yelped. "What's that got to do with anything!?"

"Oi, Shikamaru!" Naruto called. "I told you – we're putting an end to that one. Sasuke's got a girlfriend!"

Earth was still dark when he returned to Hinata's apartment.

His chest immediately tightened, and he gritted his sharp teeth and stepped into the living room. A soft, faded light came from the side, and when he looked, he saw Neji's soul on the sofa, buzzing with loud displeasure.

Oh, right.

Smirking, Sasuke went over and plucked him from the cushions. "Guess she forgot about you," he said. The soul sparked, and his chest was momentarily filled with the relaxing heat of satisfaction and pleasure. "Can't blame her. We were showering."

He pulled Neji with him as he went to Hinata's room, but his eyes caught the time on the clock on the oven before entering.

12:00.

Christ.

All of that, and it was only midnight.


Chapter 16 - End