Chapter 16

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Sasuke woke up and immediately felt for Naruto. He'd had a bad dream but couldn't remember what it was. Right now he just had a bad feeling. His hand found Naruto's arm but something was wrong. He whipped around in the bed and saw that Naruto's eyes were open. And his body was growing cold.

His body was growing cold.

No. No, no, no.

Shock paralyzed him, twisted his insides. This couldn't be happening. Couldn't be real.

Then anger. Anger rose within him and spread like a wound welling blood. And he saw red. Red trickled down the walls of his bedroom and met on the floor in a circle.

Yes. This was good. He needed to go, now.

He let go of Naruto's body. He couldn't keep touching his cold, lifeless skin. Not if there was a way to undo this. He was a necromancer for fuck's sake. So he swallowed the lump that had begun to form in his throat and jumped off the bed. Crying was a luxury he couldn't afford right now.

With one knee and one palm down in the red circle created by his own will power, he closed his eyes and shifted.

When he opened his eyes again and looked up he saw that he was atop a mountain. The sky was black and the mountain tops were pure white. The wind was so strong and icy that it almost knocked him over.

Black smoke curled around him and clung to him, clothing him in black, shimmery clothes. Bending reality. Sasuke remembered what Deidara had taught him. But this was like instinct. Like he'd done this before, even though he couldn't remember. He rose to his feet and saw Naruto. Something gripped at Sasuke's heart and wouldn't let go. Naruto was in trouble; he was going to fall off the cliff. Sasuke started running to him.

Naruto had tears in his eyes. Sasuke didn't know if they were there because of the violent wind or something else. Sasuke ran as fast as he could but it still wasn't enough. Naruto slipped and fell, the fragile rocks giving way below his feet. Sasuke wanted to scream but no sound came out.

He reached the edge, his hands catching at the dusty ground. And he saw Naruto fall, a vision worst than any nightmare. Birds flew above—white birds, not black, those ones. And they were making distressed sounds, like they were crying. Something was wrong here. Horribly, horribly wrong. Dread clutched the pit of his stomach and made him feel sick. Why couldn't he make this right?

Naruto's body had fallen among the rocks, so, so far below, broken. Wiping at his eyes, Sasuke started climbing down the cliff. What was real and what wasn't? He didn't know anymore. The rough edges of the mountain side scraped his hands and feet, making them bleed. He kept climbing down, finding hooks and creaks in the pale rock. The cold wind suffocated him. It was all around, and it seemed like the wind had a color; as black and inky as the sky. The birds were gone. Everything else was heavily quiet. There was just the wind, and his own ragged breathing. The tears in his eyes clouded his vision, but he climbed down like this was one of the walls at his climbing gym in Brooklyn; like he'd done it fifty times before.

He must have climbed down at least sixty feet when his trembling hands slipped. If this wasn't real, then why did his body feel so sore? Nothing made sense. He let himself fall, giving up for a moment. And the feeling was strangely liberating. He felt free and light.

But he had something he needed to do. He could still hear Naruto's voice in his head, his laughter, and the brightness of his green eyes.

So he made everything slow down. Suddenly he could hear himself breathe again, calmly. The distance seemed to shrink between himself and those rocks. But he wasn't falling. He was jumping. He wouldn't hurt himself. Nothing was real. Not really. None of it.

He landed in a crouch, his fingers brushing the ground before he leaped back up. He went to Naruto.

But someone was already there.

"Temari." He said her name out loud.

Of fucking course.

She draped her red coat over Naruto's body.

"Poor Naruto," she said softly, thoughtfully. "So afraid of falling. With no one to catch him."

Sasuke stepped forward. He wished he had his sword. No, he wished he had Deidara's sword. A Dark Angel's blade. The one that could kill her for good.

His hatred for her almost made him dizzy. He could imagine so many scenarios in his head, and in every one of them he was hurting her, stabbing her in a different place.

"Get away from him." His voice was calm, but it betrayed his shaking.

He wasn't thinking clearly. Temari didn't move. She studied him.

"What are you doing, Sasuke? Don't you want me to bring him back?" She spoke slowly, like she was talking to a stubborn child. Her curly hair danced in the wind. Her bright red clothes were wrapped tightly around her curves, like snakes hugging her. She seemed to him like a poisonous demon.

"Get away from him," he said again, trying to keep his voice calm. "I'll bring him back. Don't you think you've done enough? Like I would let you take him, too." He stepped closer, but she put up a hand to stop him. She looked amused.

She lowered two fingers. "Three words for you," she said, and her smiled widened slightly. "Are you sure?"

His heart skipped a beat. If he did this, Naruto would love him.

Fuck.

Temari laughed at his expression. She was enjoying this, clearly.

Naruto would love him, adore him, look after him, be there for him.

But he would never know. He would never know if any of it was real. Neither of them would ever know. And what a nightmare to live like that. It wasn't right. It couldn't be right. Sasuke couldn't do this to him.

Not like that. Not like this.

Sasuke's voice was a whisper carried by the wind. "Just do it."

Blood red lips smiled at him, and she nodded. Seconds later, they were both gone. Sasuke was alone in the white mountains, not a soul in sight. The wind was so harsh and cold, it seemed to cut through his skin. He closed his eyes, tears sliding down his cheeks. He thought he heard those birds again. They sounded scared.

…

Sasuke went through the next morning like it was some kind of hazy dream. Among other things, he was very much sleep deprived. Showering, getting dressed, eating the bagel and drinking the coffee that Kiba had bought for him—he did all those things but without really remembering he'd done them.

"I mean we're all nervous," Suigetsu was saying to Kiba in a low voice, "but I think there's something wrong with him."

"I think he can hear us," Kiba replied, holding his unfinished coffee. "Where are you going?" He asked in a louder voice when he saw that Sasuke was stepping in his combat boots and shrugging on his jacket.

"To a meeting," he answered. And he left before they could ask any more questions.

He hadn't told them about Naruto. He couldn't. Not yet. Just the thought of Naruto being manipulated by Temari. Naruto with Sai…

His hands curled into fists at his sides. Rage churned inside him. He pushed the door of the apartment building open and rushed up the stairs to the sidewalk. It was raining pretty hard today. He didn't care. Barely even noticed.

Deidara was walking next to him. Sasuke remained quiet. He didn't feel like talking, not even to Deidara. So they just walked side by side, on their way to the Upper East Side. Sasuke didn't feel like taking a cab or public transit. He was too early for the meeting, anyway. He just felt like walking, rain or no rain. People rushed past them with their umbrellas going all over the place in the wind. Sasuke was annoyed. He didn't like umbrellas. Then again he felt like he disliked just about everything today.

"I already know," Deidara said at some point. Sasuke let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Good." His voice sounded much weaker than he'd intended.

He wanted to keep walking, but Deidara stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. People gave them weird looks but they didn't care. Cars splashed water. Buildings loomed above. City life went on. But it all seemed so surreal and… pointless. People were trying so hard. What for? When precious things could be lost in such a fleeting moment.

"Sasukey… I know what it's like. In 1917 I lost my little brother in the war. But this is different. Naruto is still alive. We'll make it right."

They didn't hug or anything. But it didn't matter. They were together. In a silent agreement they resumed walking.

…

They were meeting the werewolves at a Starbucks. Quite busy, as all Starbucks were. People walking in and out to get their daily doses of sugar and caffeine, paying very little mind to the four young people in the corner, who happened to be discussing some epic fight that would take place in Hell.

Their potential allies were Neji and Hinata. Plus three other wolves, or so they said. Friends that also felt bad about what they did to Naruto. And they wanted to help. Sasuke was in such a sour mood that he would surely kill Neji and Hinata on the spot if he didn't know that five werewolves could make the difference in that fight.

Hinata was very fidgety. Her hair was up in a messy bun. She kept biting her lip. And she wasn't drinking her coffee. She just clutched the warm mug, her green sweater sleeves in her palms. Neji looked calm and composed. He wore a suit, which was kind of weird. Maybe he wanted to have his nicest outfit on in presence of a reaper, just in case.

"How did you guys find out about the situation, anyway?" Deidara asked, sipping his hazelnut latte.

The bustling of the busy coffee shop covered their conversation, but they still avoided obvious words, and tried to remain vague.

"Naruto told me about pretty much everything," Hinata explained in a little voice.

She had already told Sasuke about this on the phone, when she'd contacted him. And he'd told her that, wow, Naruto must have really trusted her. Which had made her cry. He wasn't going to make her cry again. This was pointless chit chat. He'd been avoiding the topic, but these people needed to be filled in if they were going to be their allies.

He cleared his throat. Pushed away his coffee. It was almost empty. He was drinking a lot of that stuff today.

"So you guys are really serious about this?"

Neji nodded. "I owe Naruto, personally, so…" He looked across the table at Deidara. Deidara smiled at him. Neji looked away.

"And three more of you are willing to join?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata sniffed. "Sorry, allergies," she said. "But yes. Three of our friends. They all feel really bad. And this is a good excuse to use their powers, too."

"Well," Deidara shrugged, "whatever the reason. We'll take all the help we can get."

Sasuke put his palms on the table. "And all five of you… are able to transform even when it's not the full moon?"

Hinata nodded. "We've been practicing."

"Have you told Naruto about this yet?" Neji asked.

There it was again. Sasuke couldn't keep avoiding it, he supposed.

"I wanted to tell him as soon as it was settled, today. But there's been… a complication."

Neji blinked. "A complication?"

Next to him, Hinata looked really pale and tense.

"The other necromancer has him," Deidara explained in a low voice. He tucked his blonde hair behind his ears and drank some more coffee.

"What?" Neji hissed. "You've let him get captured? I warned him about this. I knew—"

Sasuke wanted to kill him. Instead he just interrupted him. "You've no right to say this. Not after what you did to him."

Neji stared at him with his odd, pale gray eyes. "You have no idea what it's like, being in a wolf pack. They were direct orders from my father, who is also the pack leader. I had no choice."

"Well, then," Sasuke said, "just quit the fucking pack."

He sighed. "It's not that simple. My father—"

Deidara slapped the table. "We're not here to talk about your wolf problems, you guys."

"The reaper's right," Hinata said.

"I have a name," Deidara replied.

Sasuke took a deep breath to try to calm down. He kept having these urges to just attack everyone. And other times he just wanted to sit in a corner and hug his knees to his chest.

"Shut up. Everybody shut up. It doesn't matter that they have him." Of course it mattered. Fuck. But if he could just finish his little speech, then they would leave, and then… and then he could wait for night fall. "It doesn't matter, because tonight we'll fight them. We'll kill Temari. We'll free all those people she brainwashed, and enslaved, including Naruto. And we'll kill Sasori, too. The city will remain Deidara's territory, and everything will be okay."

Hinata and Neji nodded. Hinata grabbed her purse. Neji stood and cleared his throat.

"We'll tell our friends."

"See you at night fall," Hinata said.

And then they left.

Deidara sipped his latte. "That little speech," he said, "almost convincing."

"Shut up."

Deidara looked to the side pensively. "You looked like you wanted to kill our friend Neji."

"I did."

Deidara tapped his black fingernails against the side of his cup. "If you could just re-direct that anger at Temari and her army tonight, that would be splendid."

Sasuke rattled the chair back, getting up. "You don't have to tell me that."

…

Waiting was excruciating. Like an itch he couldn't scratch. A shaking of his legs he couldn't stop. Thirst he couldn't quench. The stupid sunlight slipped through his curtains like it was mocking him. Night fall still seemed so far away. Kiba and Suigetsu wanted to talk to him. But he was shutting them out, leaving them with Deidara. Sasuke just couldn't be around anyone right now. His head felt like it was going to burst. His eyes were dry. But he didn't want to sleep. He knew what he would dream about if he slept. About Naruto.

God, he felt like he was going to explode. He needed to do something, anything.

On a whim he grabbed a piece of paper from his wall and folded it before shoving it in his pocket. Then he stormed out of the apartment, three pairs of eyes staring from the living room.

…

He was back two hours later, feeling better. Well, that had been somewhat calming, but now he still had some time to kill. Deidara and his roommates had left a note. 'Gone training.' Yeah, they needed their training montages, too. Sasuke slid his sword from under his bed. He stroked the black leather sheath. He didn't feel like joining them. He didn't need any more training. He needed to fight. Needed this to be over with. He could feel the restlessness prickling his skin. He felt it in his fingertips. Felt it in his bones.

A presence appeared in his room, followed by a strange wave of warm, sweet-smelling air. He opened his eyes. He didn't remember closing them. Kurama was here. In human form. Wearing all white; white long sleeve shirt, white jeans. He looked so much like Naruto, if Naruto had hazel eyes and reddish hair. It was troubling. Sasuke almost felt like crying. He was probably just really tired.

Kurama stood by the door, crossing his arms. Crossing his ankles. All crossed up.

"I'm not too happy with the situation," he said.

Sasuke stared. "And you think I'm having fun?"

"No. I think you're losing your shit."

"You've got quite a mouth on you, for an angel."

"Getting a tattoo of a fox isn't going to help Naruto, you know."

Sasuke clutched the left side of his chest and winced. "You have no right to stalk me, you creep."

"You said it yourself, I'm an angel." Kurama arched an eyebrow. "I can stalk whom I like."

"Why are you here?"

"I want to help you. To fight with you," Kurama admitted.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Really?"

"You think I'd joke about this?"

"But… you can't go to Hell… can you?" He leaned forward on the bed, laying the sword down next to him.

"I'm not supposed to, no. But I'm ready to face the consequences, whatever they might be." His hazel eyes darkened.

"That would be…" Sasuke's heart started beating faster. "I mean, we'd have an actual chance, I guess, with your powers." Whatever those were. Sasuke thought it might be rude to ask. But surely Kurama was powerful. He had protected Itachi against Temari and Sasori, after all.

"I see you're not as dumb as I thought. You do realize it was still suicide, even with a couple of cute little wolves by your side, right?"

Sasuke took the blow. Swallowed.

"Why would you be facing consequences, anyway? Can't be that bad. Don't they know you're doing this for Naruto? That's a noble enough cause."

"Not really. They don't care about that stuff. That's not how it works."

"How does it work?"

Kurama gave him a slow, long glance. "It's complicated."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Try me."

"All right. Each spirit guide is given a list of people to look after. We're not allowed to look after anyone who isn't on the list. And we better not get too attached," Kurama said in a bittersweet voice, "because the list can change anytime. And we're not allowed to say goodbye."

"Shit," Sasuke said, "that's kind of harsh." He considered this for a moment. He was curious. Hey, the sun was still shining out there. Might as well kill some time. "How many people are on your list?"

"Twenty."

"And how many spirit guides are there?"

"There's fourteen of us right now."

"That's not very many."

Kurama uncrossed his legs. Uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands in his white jeans pockets instead. Looked at him with amused hazel eyes, a strand of copper hair sliding from behind his ear.

"No, that's not very many."

"I guess the rumors that Heaven is pretty fucking exclusive are true, then."

Kurama laughed. It was a beautiful, melodious laugh and Sasuke was pleasantly surprised to hear it. Shit, he looked so much like Naruto. It made his chest ache.

"I am so not supposed to tell you any of this," Kurama said thoughtfully.

"Then why are you telling me?"

He shrugged. He looked young right now. Like a boy. A young man. Not like some spirit guide that had been dead for a long time. This was so surreal.

Sasuke took a deep breath. "So Naruto is on your list?"

Kurama nodded slowly.

"Am I on your list? What about Itachi?"

Now he shook his head.

"But you're still looking after us?"

"I guess I've been known for breaking the rules once in a while." Kurama smiled like he was really enjoying this conversation. "Might as well go to Hell with you and give my boss a good reason to fire me. She's been looking for one. I'll save her the trouble."

"She? So God's a woman, then?" Sasuke joked. Well, he wasn't entirely sure if he was joking or not.

Again, Kurama laughed. But he said nothing.

"Glad I amuse you," Sasuke said, standing up. He approached Kurama slowly. "You're hiding something from me."

"I'm hiding a lot of things from you."

Sasuke shook his head. Smiled, though he didn't really know why. "No, not a lot. Just one big thing."

"How do you know?"

"I got this feeling."

There was a silence, like they were intrigued by each other. Studying each other.

And then, Kurama's expression changed and he asked, "Does Malachy talk to you a lot? Did he say anything about me?"

An unpleasant cold feeling spread across Sasuke's chest and he didn't like it. He felt betrayed. Vulnerable.

"So you know him, too. How?"

Kurama looked like he was in pain. Like he wanted to take a step back, but he was already backed against the wall.

He whispered, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought this up."

Sasuke stepped closer. He felt like he didn't recognize himself. Like something was possessing him. He wanted to threaten Kurama. To make him speak up somehow.

"But you did."

"Sasuke… Tonight we fight. I'll protect you, even if you're not on my list. The reason doesn't matter, for now. I don't know what will happen to me after. I haven't been afraid in a long time." There was a strange fire in his amber eyes. "But I am now. It's good to feel something." He took a deep breath. "I knew Malachy, a long time ago. We were friends. And when I saw him again, after so long, I was with Kushina. Naruto's mother. But he wasn't himself. He was possessing your father… was your father… you already know this. There was nothing I could do to save him. I watched as they destroyed him. And now he's in Purgatory, probably. He'd never been there before." Kurama turned around suddenly, and held up his hair. Sasuke frowned as he saw a small number tattooed just below his hairline. 486.

"I've been to Purgatory, Sasuke." He turned around again, letting his hair drop. "I might go there again after tonight. I guess I'll be with my old friend. I don't care anymore… for this. For being a spirit guide. I don't know what it means anymore. I… I can't believe I told you about all this. I guess I… needed to. I…" He interrupted himself. Then, "I can't do it anymore. I try to help people, but I don't even like them anymore. I can't. The list changes all the time, anyway. I can't even keep track anymore. I burned the last list she gave me. Naruto wasn't even on it," he whispered. "But I wanted to keep looking after him. He's my family, you know? I feel like I'm going insane. Sasuke," he shook his head, "Sai Cook was on the list instead."

Sasuke didn't know what to say. What could he say? Sai. He couldn't blame Kurama. Who would want to be Sai's guardian angel? Except maybe Temari…

For a lack of a better thing, he said, "Your boss sounds like a bitch."

"I hate her." And he sounded like he was going to cry.

A part of Sasuke was frustrated because he knew that Kurama was still keeping information from him, about Malachy, about everything. And he still felt betrayed and there was this aggressiveness inside him that he didn't really understand.

But he didn't say anything. Instead he just threw his arms around Kurama and held him close. And Kurama held him back. He leaned into him and closed his eyes. It was clumsy and awkward, like Kurama hadn't touched anyone like this in years. Maybe he hadn't.

Sasuke's new tattoo hurt as he pressed himself against Kurama but the pain felt strangely good. He closed his eyes, too. Kurama's hair smelled sweet. His body was somewhat smaller than Naruto's. Less athletic, he supposed. Reminding him that even though they looked alike, he wasn't actually hugging Naruto right now.

So he pulled away from him and cleared his throat.

"You're right about one thing, Kurama. Tonight we fight. And you're gonna help me save Naruto."

…

Twilight finally came, like a soft, dark blanket slowly covering the day and soothing Sasuke's uneasiness, if only a little. No more waiting, at last. Waiting was the worst. Rain had stopped, leaving the evening air refreshing and just slightly damp. The four of them made it to Central Park. They were meeting their last minute allies here.

Suigetsu and Kiba walked up front, deep in conversation. Deidara closed the walk with Sasuke. They were cutting across the south of the park to make their way to the pond, the path crunching underfoot. Deidara made himself invisible to everyone else, which was quite convenient, because this way he could hold their swords for them until they got to the portal.

Sasuke supposed they must have looked like any normal group of friends taking an evening stroll in the park, enjoying the early spring, with its green and floral scents. The wind had stopped along with the rain, and the evening was eerily calm now. Sasuke listened to his friends' conversations, if only to distract himself—to stop thinking about Naruto.

Well, they might look like normal friends taking a walk, but their conversations weren't exactly normal.

"So Kiba," Suigetsu was saying, hands in his pockets, leaning toward his friend, "what happens if you die during the fight?"

"If I die, I die," Kiba said, scratching his curly brown hair, "no big deal. Been there, done that."

"But what happens? I mean," Suigetsu shrugged, and lowered his voice, "do you just go to Hell again, or…?"

"God, I hope so."

Suigetsu was taken aback by that answer. You couldn't really blame him.

"Why would you say that?"

"I don't want to go back to Purgatory," Kiba said simply.

Sasuke's ears pricked at this. He couldn't help but be intrigued. He glanced sideways at Deidara. But he showed no sign of wanting to partake in the conversation. He just gazed at the trees with all the pretty flowers. If he was listening, then he was pretending not to. Good thing he was in discrete mode, too, what with all those swords at his back and belt. He looked like some crazy blonde ninja.

"Is it really that bad?" Suigetsu asked.

"Yeah," Kiba said heatedly. "It's like this giant underground prison. There's never any light, or fresh air. You're always hungry and thirsty, but they never give you any food or water. And there are torture rooms…" He shuddered. "Sometimes they lock you up in cells, other times they let you out. And then they make fun of you, cause you try to find your way out, but there's no fucking way out. So we all look like idiots running around in those stinky ass tunnels, and they laugh."

He was getting all worked up. Suigetsu looked over his shoulder at Sasuke, raising his eyebrows. They'd never really seen Kiba like this before.

Clearly this brought back rather bad memories for him.

"Those guard freaks. You can't see their faces cause they wear big ass black hoods all the time." Kiba shuddered.

"Sounds awful," Suigetsu said in a sympathetic voice.

Kiba just kept going. "I heard there's a way out, and some people find it and escape. But I never found it. I think it's just a rumor. At least I found my dog, though. He was just sitting there in one of the tunnels, a nice white dog like the one I had when I was a kid. Like he was just waiting for me. And I think he tried to show me the way out, but just when I thought I saw a light in an opening in the ceiling, some asshole guard crept up behind me, and he hit me in the head or something cause I passed out. And when I woke up I was back in my cell. Everything was dark and quiet like always. And then after what seemed like hours, Nagato opened my cell and he introduced himself. My dog was with him. Nagato was scratching Akamaru's ears like they were best friends. Nagato asked me if I wanted to go to Hell with him." Kiba laughed. "So I said, you mean this isn't Hell?"

"What happened?" Suigetsu asked when Kiba paused.

He was gazing at someone walking two massive German Shepherds in the opposite direction. Then he said, "I went with him. Later Nagato told me that I was one of the rare ones. Most people imagine the worst. They think it'll be even worst than that crap jail. But I tell you man, at that point, I was just like, fuck it. Anything's better than this shit hole."

"Well," Suigetsu said, "fuck. I hope I don't go there when I die. What were you in your human life anyway?"

"A casino dealer," Kiba answered. He hesitated, like there was more to it. But he kept quiet.

"That's cool. What about you Deidara?" Suigetsu looked over his shoulder.

"I was a chauffeur for some posh family, just before the first world war…"

"In England?" Suigetsu asked.

"Yes, in England. You think I'm doing this accent for fun?"

"That's so cool. Like in Downton Abbey."

Deidara tilted his head, confused. "What?"

Suigetsu almost bumped in a bench since he was so busy looking over his shoulder as he walked. "You know, the TV show. Did you seduce one of the lord's daughters and elope with her?"

"No… I did have an affair with one of his sons, though."

"Ha, nice," said Suigetsu.

"Not really. The lord's wife found out and had me poisoned."

"Oh."

There was a bit of an awkward silence.

Then Suigetsu kicked some rocks with his sneaker and said, "Anyway, I hope I get to skip all those other ones and go straight to Heaven when I die."

Kiba laughed, then Deidara joined in, and even Sasuke couldn't help but snort.

"Why're you all laughing?" Suigetsu asked, but no one answered. "What? I've never done anything bad."

"Are you kidding?" Kiba exclaimed. "You constantly steal stuff from other people. Like," he patted his jeans pocket and frowned, "I'm pretty sure you stole my wallet. Which is pretty fucking stupid, considering you went through all the trouble to help me get a fake ID."

Suigetsu gave him back the wallet, looking sheepish. "Sorry. I start therapy next week."

"Anyway," Kiba said, "doesn't matter if you've got charity donations and volunteering on your resume. They don't care. They choose people from time to time. That's all I know."

"I've heard it's not all that great, anyway," Sasuke put in.

They both looked at him like they'd just seen a ghost.

"He speaks," Suigetsu said teasingly.

"Yeah. I'm not dead yet," Sasuke replied.

Deidara stepped in. "No one is going to die, boys. Calm down."

"You don't know that," Suigetsu said.

Deidara didn't reply.

They found the portal amidst some trees, overlooking the pond. Everything was very calm. The others weren't here yet. They'd notice if they were, considering they were waiting for five wolves and a giant fox. Sasuke really hoped Kurama hadn't bailed out of fear of upsetting God or something like that. And he hoped Hinata's parents hadn't found out about the whole thing. For all he knew Hinata and Neji were grounded in that shitty wolf basement place.

While they waited, Suigetsu was having a bit of fun. The portal was smaller than Sasuke had expected. And it wasn't red or anything like that. It was very discrete. Seemed to be made of some weird fog. They only found it because Deidara knew its exact location. Suigetsu didn't shift right away when he stepped in, so he kept stepping in and out. It made him all blurry—and he said for him the outside world got blurry too—and then clear again when he stepped out. It had a sort of invisible dome over it, and could hold maybe up to three people at once.

"Am I invisible now?" Suigetsu asked as he stepped in for maybe the seventh time.

"No," Kiba rolled his eyes, "we can still see you."

"It's so weird." Suigetsu put his hand in and out of the fog. "Like, here it's cold, and here it's not. Like, how did they do this?"

"Stop it get out of there," Kiba replied, "what if you accidentally teleport? They'll kill you."

"They won't kill me I'm adorable."

Deidara leaned against a tree, crossing his arms. "You won't accidentally teleport. Only Sasuke or myself can activate it."

"How?" Sasuke asked him.

"With our blood."

Obviously.

"Hey, are you all right?" He stepped closer to Deidara while the two others were arguing about one thing or another. He had noticed Deidara looked nervous.

"Just tired of waiting."

"I know what you mean."

But they didn't have to wait much longer, thankfully. The five black wolves arrived furtively through the forest, heads slightly lowered. Neji and Hinata were the two wolves at the front. Sasuke recognized their gray eyes. Neji was surely the bigger one.

And Kurama sort of just materialized; a bright red fox even bigger than Neji's wolf form. Sasuke had texted Hinata about this earlier, but the wolves still looked a bit shocked at the sight. Well, he couldn't really blame them. Foxes weren't supposed to be bigger than wolves.

Deidara touched Sasuke's back briefly, before walking past him. "I'll go in first. Here." He gave him back his sword. Then he gave Kiba and Suigetsu their swords back, too. "You go in last," he said, still addressing Sasuke. "Make sure everyone goes in between."

"Well," Sasuke said somewhat weakly, "it's not like I'm forcing anyone…"

"I know," Deidara said, "but I still want you to go last."

Sasuke just nodded. He held his sword, and felt very nervous all of a sudden. This was really happening.

The others were all getting ready to go, lining up behind the reaper, next to the portal. Sasuke frowned.

"Wait, everyone…" He took a deep breath. He just felt like he should say something. Warn them. "For some of you this will be the first time." He looked at the wolves. "Just make sure you all stay together. Just stick together. Ignore everything else. Don't let your fears get the better of you. And… when we fight those people, remember they're being manipulated by a necromancer. We don't have to kill them. Just distract them as best as we can, and Deidara and I will go for the other reaper and necromancer, and then it'll all be over."

He just felt nervous. It was really hitting him. What they were doing. Suigetsu and Kiba. And those young werewolves. They were all looking at him now, wondering if he was done or if he had anything else to say.

"Just," he said, "don't get killed."

They figured he was finished after that. Deidara cut his palm and activated the portal, and the others followed him, one after the other. Sasuke could almost feel the uneasiness in the air. Kurama was the last to go just before him. He glanced at him with his round hazel eyes before stepping in.

Sasuke glanced around to make sure there was no one in this area of the Park. Then he went through the portal after Kurama.

And he heard a voice in his mind.

'Don't worry so much Sasuke. I'm here, aren't I?'