-

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN… GONE? ”

“I-I’m sorry sir. You know how these things happen every once in a while. The right shape, at the right time, in the right place.”

“BUT EVEN WHEN THEY… FALL THROUGH. EVEN THEN, WE HAVE ALWAYS KNOWN WHERE THEY WENT.”

“Not this time. I’m sorry sir. I should’ve–”

“ NO . NO, THAT’S QUITE ALRIGHT. NOBODY’S FAULT. LIKE YOU SAID, ‘THESE THINGS JUST HAPPEN EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE’. TELL ME, DO WE KNOW WHAT SHE WAS DUE?’

“Oh. Pretty standard package sir. Nothing too dramatic.”

“AND THERE’S NO CHANCE THAT… THIS WAS… PLANNED?”

“No sir. Even if it wasn’t an accident, it’d have to be a crime of opportunity. Nobody knows where those damn holes are going to pop up, let alone who can or can’t fall through them.”

“MHMM. I SEE. I SUPPOSE AT LEAST THERE’S THAT THEN.”

“So, what’s the plan sir?”

“OH, NO PLAN . I’LL JUST NEED TO MAKE A FEW ENQUIRIES. IT COULD BE THAT I’LL NEED TO STEP AWAY FOR A WHILE, BUT I TRUST YOU TO… HOLD DOWN THE FORT.”

“Ah. And… how long would you be stepping away for, sir?”

“OH, I COULDN’T SAY AT THIS POINT. NO MORE THAN A COUPLE OF DECADES THOUGH.”

“Of course s– a couple of what!?”

“PROBABLY CLOSER TO ONE THAN TWO. DON’T WORRY ABOUT IT. I’M SURE YOU’LL DO FINE”

“I’m an apprentice! I’m not ready to just go around doing your job! ”

“OH, ON THE CONTRARY. I THINK YOU MIGHT JUST SURPRISE YOURSELF.”

-

-

-

Hiruzen had done it.

He’d thrown away that last little shred of hesitation. That final piece of love that had held him back from doing what he knew he must.

He’d summoned the one thing that could possibly kill Orochimaru.

He’d summoned the Shinigami.

Only.

It wasn’t alone .

Next to the Shinigami, stood a figure covered inch to inch in black. The hood covering his face allowed no light inside. No hint as to the identity of the Shinigami’s companion. In fact, the only distinguishing feature was the scythe.

It was a farmer’s scythe, by the look of it, rather than one of the combat modified variants that Hiruzen was more familiar with. The wood was painted black – a bit of a theme there – but otherwise, it seemed almost… mundane.

The Shinigami, at least, was just as Hiruzen remembered him. A translucent, gaunt spectre with a visage leaning towards the demonic. It – and truly, it was an ‘It’ – towered over him with long, white hair that failed to hide the red horns protruding from its scalp.

It reached up and plucked the tantō from its mouth, revealing a set of needle-like teeth.

And then, it spoke .

“I imagine that you can take it from here.”

“YES.” Said the second figure, in a deep, booming voice that seemed to reverb across Hiruzen’s very soul. “AND THANK YOU AGAIN FOR THE LIFT. IT WOULD’VE BEEN ABSOLUTE MURDER GETTING HERE ON MY OWN.”

The Shinigami laughed .

Even Orochimaru, who’d been watching with interest, took a step back.

“You’ll find your way back well enough?”

“OH YES, I SHOULD THINK SO. NOW THAT I KNOW THE WAY.”

The figure in black strolled across the roof, paying the barrier no mind to as he stepped through it .

An entire ANBU squad descended upon the barrier in the brief hope that a weak spot had presented itself.

It was a very brief hope.

They turned, looking to the robed figure.

He was gone.

Then, the Shinigami appeared at Hiruzen’s back, as if the events of the last few seconds had never happened. It was then that he knew that whatever reprieve he’d just experienced was now, in no uncertain terms, over.

“What,”Orochimaru hissed, sounding unsure of himself for the first time in decades, “was that? ”

Hiruzen smiled the smile of a dead man on leave.

“Oh, I don’t imagine it’s going to matter.”

Not to either of us, anyway.

He was half-right.

-

-

-

There was a strange circular rainbow around the sun. A bad omen. But for who? Shikako’s thoughts were scattered, she knew, probably from the stress.

He waited.

FASCINATING.

-

-

-

“The quality of mercy is not strained”, she murmured to herself. Huh . Merchant of Venice. God, she’d hated that English paper. That quote ended up being in the final exam, too. Pity she hadn’t been able to remember it half so clearly then.

“WELL SAID.”

Everyone who could, turned just in time to see a figure hold up a bony hand and –

“ALTHOUGH, I MUST SAY, I PREFER THE TEMPEST MYSELF.”

He snapped his fingers.

Everyone froze.

Slowly, Shikako looked around. Nobody was moving.

Nobody was breathing.

“THEY WILL BE FINE.” Said the figure, answering the question on her lips before she could even bare to ask it. And while it should have been a relief to hear him say it, she couldn’t help but notice the distinction.

‘They’ will be fine.

‘You’ on the other hand…

The figure reached up with a free hand, removed his hood and…

His hands hadn’t been bony .

An ivory white skull stares out at her. In each, empty eye socket, a small blue flame smouldered. Burning out and into her soul.

They’d just been bones.

“You’re Death.” It wasn’t a question.

“IT’S THE SCYTHE, ISN’T IT? ALWAYS GIVES ME AWAY.”

His – Death’s – voice was loud in a way that didn’t involve shouting. In fact, it was almost as if the words skipped straight past the whole process of, ‘vibrations travelling through air’ and had just arrived directly inside her head.

It was only then that she realised he was speaking English.

Death reached inside his robes and withdrew a few creased sheets of paper. They’d been stapled together so messily that, despite current events, Shikako felt the inexplicable urge to snatch them away, pull the staples out and align them properly. If for no other reason than the sake of her own sanity.

“NOW THEN. I’M AWARE THAT YOU GO BY ‘’SHIKAKO’ THESE DAYS. BUT, IF YOU PREFER, I CAN REFER TO YOU BY YOUR PRE–

“–Shikako is fine.” She made a point of speaking in Japanese.

“REALLY?” Said Death, as his eyes flickered in a very literal way, from the documents to her. “FASCINATING.”

Silence hung in the air. Neither of them spoke.

Then, in a mad desperate rush, she asked.

“Am I dead?”

She had to get that one out of the way. True, she didn’t remember dying. But then… they were in the middle of an invasion, weren’t they? Anything could happen.

“YOU ARE NOT .”

Shikako looked down at herself. Then, back to Death.

“You’re sure?”

“I AM SOMETHING OF AN AUTHORITY IN THESE MATTERS.”

Well, that’s one load off her mind at least. Now for the next question.

“Are you here to…” take me back “…Kill me?”

“ME? KILL? Death looked affronted. ABSOLUTELY NOT . PEOPLE GET KILLED, YES, BUT THAT'S THEIR BUSINESS. I JUST TAKE THINGS FROM THERE. HONESTLY, CAN YOU IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE DIDN’T DIE WHEN THEY WERE KILLED?” One of the flames in his eye sockets flickered for a moment in something that could almost be called a wink.

Despite herself, Shikako smiled.

“Oh, well pardon me for living then.”

Death smiled back. A difficult thing to do without muscles or skin. All he had were those gleaming white teeth, organised into a pre-set, rictus grin.

“NOBODY GETS PARDONED FOR LIVING.”

Shikako’s laugh was a startled, morbid thing.

“No, I guess not.”

“NEVERTHELESS, YOU’RE HERE NOW.” Death glanced around, taking in the scenery as if seeing it for the first time.

“AND YOU WISH TO STAY.”

“Yes.”

It’s strange, really. She’s dreamed about moments like this. Played them out in her head a thousand times – especially when she was younger, back before she could bring herself to think of any of this as ‘real’. Something would happen, and she would be back home. In a world where she wouldn’t have to kill people. A world with cars and phones and the internet and where the training of child soldiers was generally frowned upon . She’d always thought that she would hesitate. That if the opportunity ever came for her to… leave , that it would give her pause.

She hadn’t even blinked.

“WHY?”

For the first time since their conversation began, Death sounded genuinely confused .

“THIS PLACE IS WAR. A FIGHT THAT NEVER ENDS. THEY TAKE CHILDREN AND MAKE THEM MURDERERS. ITS RULERS SPEND LIVES WITHOUT CARE. THOSE FEW WHO DARE TO IMAGINE A BETTER WORLD ARE KILLED FOR IT. AND YOU. YOU WISH TO STAY. WHY? WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS? FOR A PLACE THAT ISN’T EVEN YOURS?”

Death does not shout. He doesn’t need to. His words simply arrive; like silent jackhammers on the skull.

Why?

And what else could she do, but tell him?

“Because they matter.” She said, her voice barely a whisper.

She glanced to her brother, a look of tired surprise playing across his face. But ready. Always ready to back her up.

“Because I matter to them.” And she was still quiet, but less so; picking up steam as she went.

Sasuke’s eyes were wild, alert things, but he’d already fallen in line with Shikako – where she was, anyway. He'd been Running on fumes, barely conscious. But for her, he’d stood.

“Because I can’t leave when I know I could help. ”

Naruto was out cold, but she could see him from where she stood; a contented smile playing across his face. It was a special smile. Some smiles could have inspired whole countries to march on their orders. So could his, but not because he dreamed about marching boots, or global domination, or a dynasty spanning thousands of years. His smile inspired people – inspired her – because it said that, deep down, everyone really is decent. That underneath however many underneaths they’ve got, everyone could be friends if only they’d be willing to put the work in. And, the thing was, he believed it so strongly that it burned like a flame that was bigger than he was. He had a dream and they were all a part of it, so the world just sort of… bent around him. And the strange thing about it, was that nobody wanted to disappoint that smile. It would’ve been like kicking the biggest puppy in the universe. It was almost a kind of jutsu, when you thought about it.

“Because I believe things can be better.”

She looked to Ino. At Kiba and Akamaru. Hinata. Chouji. Shino. They’d all turned. With her .

“Because even if this place isn’t mine, I’m theirs. Forever.”

She looked at everyone and closed her eyes.

“Because I love them.”

She opened them.

There was a difference between not moving and going still. Anyone can decide not to move. People do it all the time. Going still on the other hand, is something else entirely; It’s the inverse of movement. A breath, untaken. A spring, coiled.

Death had gone still.

After a time, he asked. “YOU’RE SURE?”

“Yes.”

“WELL. ALRIGHT THEN” Death took out the crumpled form again. Then, brandishing a biro pen – cheap looking. The sort you might find in banks and post offices – he scrawled something onto the paper.

“DONE.” He said, depositing the paper back inside his robes.

Shikako’s brain tripped.

What.

“That’s it?”

“WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING, A FIGHT TO THE… WELL, ME? ”

Shikako considered this.

“I suppose… I thought I’d have to challenge you. To shogi, or chess, or… something.”

Death shook his head “EVERY TIME.” He sighed, letting his shoulders slump in a slow, deliberate motion. “WE COULD HAVE DONE THAT, I SUPPOSE. BUT YOU WOULD’VE HAD TO REMIND ME WHERE ALL THE LITTLE PIECES ARE ALLOWED TO MOVE.”

Shikako blinked. “then how –

“THE GAME DOESN’T MATTER.”

“Ah.” That said it all really. ‘The game didn’t’ matter’. When you played against Death…

Death straightened up. “GOODBYE SHIKAKO. I’LL BE SEEING YOU.” Ominous, but technically correct. At least he hadn’t used the word ‘soon’. He brandished his scythe, slashing at the air.

The air sliced open like a wound and death stepped into it.

Then, he paused.

“OH, AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY.”

What? It wasn’t her–

Oh. Oh.

“Um… thank you?”

Death nodded and then he was gone.

There was a sound like snapping fingers and time resumed.

She stood amongst friends.