Title: My Days with the Reaper

Pairing: Naruto/Itachi… please note that this is NOT Itachi/Naruto.

Disclaimer: nothing is mine, gees.

Note: Please enjoy –and review, because we all know reviews are full of love… mostly.

Warning: There's always going to be a slight possibility of out-of-character-ness, I can't do much about that. Also, possibly some holes in how things work. T_T

x

My Days with the Reaper

Chapter Seven

x

Something was happening. There was no sign of it, nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a feeling. It could mean anything, but there was no denying that the constant tingling in his guts had him looking over his shoulders and around corners every five minutes. It wasn't a particularly unpleasant kind of tingling. It was nothing like that time where he had an assassin on his tail for a full three hours. No, this was just a feeling. Okay, so maybe the fact that his dad and the Reaper were avoiding him gave something away. Kakashi, Iruka and the Old Lady were also being suspiciously tight-lipped. Something was definitely up. It grated on his nerves that he wasn't in on what was going on. Hello, future king here!

He would have been a lot more interested in digging up the truth –or whatever conspiracy was going on- if he had not been granted permission by his dad to go to the circus. Whatever secret mission that was going on had nothing on the circus in the end. This was an unofficial circus. It was… slightly illegal. No, it was exotic… dangerous, mysterious. Everything that a true circus from the Land of Wind should be! And Naruto didn't waste a moment. He got out of the castle and headed straight for the cluster of dusty, brown tents in the distance, enjoying himself even further when the squadron of guards assigned to accompany him protested at the speed at which he travelled.

It was a good way to start the week.

The first thing, the very first thing that grabbed his attention when he slowed down on the outer edge of the cluster of tents, was the largest tent at the centre of it all. It. Was. Big. All the other tents were only as high as his head. He assumed they were where all the people in the circus slept. The one in the middle was way taller, grander. It was as tall as a tree from the central canopies of the Land of Fire. Looking at the circus camp site as he travelled towards it, Naruto had known it was going to be big. Still, he had no idea it would be this big. Its shadow covered over half of the smaller tents scattered around it and when a particularly strong breeze came around, the massive tent breathed.

"Gees," Naruto breathed deeply, exhilaration shaking in his voice. He was so excited that he may as well be bouncing from it. He turned his head to his guarding companions, eyes never leaving the towering tent. "Isn't it great?" He asked them. "This is nothing like I've ever seen before!"

"It's impressive," one guard to his left admitted softly. "But it also looks… shady, Sir."

"That's because this is where all the fun can be had!"

Naruto laughed, a big, boisterous laugh, and marched onwards. This was definitely going to be a good week.

Definitely.

x

He woke up lying on a bed in the Old Lady's healing chamber. Quite comfortable under the warm blanket, Naruto took his time in fully regaining consciousness, and let his eyes wander across the stone ceiling above him. It'd never occurred to him before, but there was a lot of stone above him. What if it all just crumbled down on him? Then where would he be? Somebody needed to change that. On the other hand, that wouldn't be too great for the level above him. Hmm, this was not a dilemma he ever expected to have.

Right, what was he doing here again?

"Why don't you tell me?"

Naruto jumped, flailing a little when his limbs got tangled up in the blanket. Then he glared at the deceivingly youthful woman standing over him with her arms crossed under her intimidating bosoms.

"That…" he started hoarsely. "That's a really bad angle for me, Old Lady. Could you move back a little?"

Lady Tsunade's bright amber eyes narrowed as a twitch appeared on the tip of her left eyebrow.

"You're going have to deal with it, brat. This is the least of your problems."

Groggily Naruto got up onto his elbows, then, when the room began spinning, flopped back down. He groaned and rested an arm across his forehead.

"I don't have any problems," he argued weakly, whimpering when more of his senses began functioning and he realised that he was indeed very naked. "What happened to me?"

"I want to know as much as you do. I'm sure it'll be a very interesting story. So, why don't we start from the beginning?" Lady Tsunade sat down on the edge of the bed, patting his blanket covered chest sympathetically. After all, she knew better than anyone the effects of too much alcohol the previous night. "How was the circus?"

"Great," Naruto answered immediately, without thought. Then he remembered the circus. "Great," he answered again, truthfully. If he wasn't feeling so weak, he would be wearing a very, very satisfied grin.

"I'm going to need more than that, kid. I distinctly remember that you were sober when you left the castle. Sober and sensible."

The memories of last night came flooding back to him, bright and vivid and with many gaps of missing information.

There was the memory of heat on his skin, of excited murmurs of the crowd surrounding him. There were softer sounds of animals in the background, roars and howls and cackles. And everywhere, everywhere there were all the different shades of red and brown and sand. All the colours of the Land of Wind.

"Was nothing I've ever experienced before," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut tight at a particularly painful throb of his head. "These ones are way more fun. Shoulda let me go to them instead of those tight-ass old circuses." Wow, okay, his breath really needed freshening up. He wrinkled his nose. "How did I end up here?"

"The men tasked with protecting your life had to carry you back in here, a drooling, naked mess. Now, tell me again how fun this circus was. Any assassination attempt? Poisoned darts? Accidental animal stampede?"

"No~" he groaned long-sufferingly. "No assassination attempt at my life."

"So how did you end up in this state? Were you drunk, then naked? Or were you naked, then drunk?"

"Err…"

Another memory reeled him in. There was the press of another body against his; naked and warm and sinuous. His fingertips tingled with the memories, phantom sensations of tracing over hips and thighs, curling into soft red sand-coloured hair.

Naruto groaned. He rolled onto his side, sighing a little when his cheek pressed against the cooler part of the pillow.

"Why didn't they put my clothes on for me before they brought me back?" He asked, beginning to drift off.

The lady above him snickered. "It's not in their job description, boy. They protect you. They don't dress you."

"Traitors," he muttered darkly, eyes drooping shut as the lull of sleep became harder to ignore. He felt a hand pat him gently on the shoulder over the blanket and thought proudly of how small it felt now, when years ago it used to feel so big. It didn't feel any less warm or comforting, however, and that was all it took to pull him under.

x

When he came to again… well, Naruto wasn't sure if he was really coming to. There was a soft, dreamlike quality on the edges of his vision. His senses were still numbed from whatever herbal drink the Old Lady gave him in his sleep (and it never ceased to freak him out that she could actually do that), and he was very, very warm. So of course it was hard to know if he was still dreaming or not. His fingers were still tingling from the vague memories of the awesome (it could only be awesome if it left him feeling like this) sex he had last night, and he thought it a damn shame that he couldn't immediately recall every detail of it.

'It would have been a dancer,' he thought dreamily as he snuggled deeper into the blanket. 'A dancer who travelled with the circus, who's been all over the magical world. Maybe, possibly, even over to the human lands too.'

Somebody was purring.

No, that was him. He was purring… like that giant sand lion last night. Ah, he was still amazed at how it just came out of the sand like that. At how its massive mane continuously flowed into the sand, even as it performed for the crowd, and at how it soared above the audience as a massive wave. Maybe the lion was part of the sand, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, Naruto had never seen the sand lion like that. The sand lion from last night, despite being contained, was dangerous. It was exciting.

Still, he was curious as to how he ended up in this state. It wasn't the first time he'd had to be carried home like that, but this was definitely the first time he'd had to be carried from a circus. Yet again, maybe this was all part of the true circus experience. Have fun, be entertained, get drunk, get naked, and get carried home. All good.

Someone knocked on the door. It was a tiny, jerky little knock. A fairy.

"No," Naruto grumbled, because he was not in the mood to be judged by a tiny little judgemental, winged person.

But of course it was too late. Loyal and doting (depends on who you were –not Naruto-) as they were, fairies tended to ignore commands. Unless they came from the King. But Naruto was no king; therefore, what he wanted wasn't always what he got.

"Oh! So you are awake. I thought you were just talking in your sleep." She gave him a big, little grin, her sharp teeth gleaming suspiciously in the windowless chamber. "How are you feeling, young Prince? Still naked?"

Naruto mustered enough force to glare up at her floating form, which was quite an impressive feat itself.

"I don't think you respect me as much as you should," he muttered, still too weak to really be speaking in his usual tone of voice. He sniffed. "You fairies used to be so nice to me."

"Yes, of course! That was when you were just so cute and adorable!"

Well, what could he say to that?

"But then you became quite unimpressive."

"So sorry?"

"Then the Reaper appeared and we all thought you were becoming the prince you promised us! You were going to your tutoring with Iruka and your training has increased in intensity and intricacy."

Naruto thought about his response for a minute, and then just said, "Yay."

"You have been so good, young Prince. Now we don't know what to think of your stunt last night."

He scoffed. "I wasn't that bad," he said surely. "Old Lady Tsunade didn't make a big deal out of it."

The little fairy didn't respond right away, instead she hovered there, tiny wings humming in the silent chamber. Naruto turned to her, expecting to be met with a polite yet insulting remark. Instead, the fairy only gave him a momentarily sad look.

"I don't think you understand how disappointment works, young Prince. I was disappointed with your actions last night because my hopes for you were sky high. I was so happy to see the prince that you promised you would be. Do you remember?" She flew closer to his face and he went cross-eyed. "When you were just a babe and you were already so much bigger than us. You said 'I'll grow big and strong and protect everyone! I'll be a good prince and a better king!' We didn't care for the Reaper, but he wasn't touching anyone and his influence on you was good!" She flew back a way and threw him what he was sure was supposed to be a disappointed frown, which did not work properly because she stilled managed to look to fiery and aggressive. "Lady Tsunade wasn't disappointed."

He knew what she wanted to tell him. He knew what she was trying to say with her tiny little looks, but he wasn't ready for that. He didn't want to go there, because there laid a ton of pain and misery and self-hatred. So he dealt with it the only way he was comfortable with.

"Say, where is my Reaper?" He asked. "He hasn't been around to see me."

The fairy… The fairy exploded. Her tiny little invisible wings suddenly turned a fiery red, her brown hair lightening until it glowed red and all of a sudden she was vibrating, her tiny little fists clenched in front of her and Naruto feared for his life because suddenly he was remembering all that he's learnt from Iruka about fairies and their volatile tempers and he. Was. Going. To die. No worries for the Reaper because this fairy was going to end him, end him well and true.

"That's all you took away from my speech?!" She screeched.

"I'm sorry!" He cried.

She beat him. She beat him with harsh words and shaking fists and glares and more harsh words. And it was all he could do to just lay there and take it. He'd brought it on himself, after all. What anger and insult she fired at him on the outside only added to the beating he gave himself on the inside.

x

"The King will be in his private library," Kakashi said to the guard he would leave in charge in his place. "For the rest of the evening he will not be disturbed. Anything that comes up that you can't handle, you go to Lady Tsunade. You will let nothing disturb him tonight. Understood?"

The guard nodded, his helmet hard and passive. "Yes, sir."

"Good. Go to your men and begin the rounds."

"Yes, sir."

Kakashi waited a moment and, when nothing out of the ordinary happened, he turned and walked towards King Minato's private library. The place was located right beneath the King's chamber and could only be accessed through there. As he passed the guards outside the King's chamber, he nodded. Security was tight, which was always good. Especially tonight. The King will be out of commission. He'll be in his private library with his chakra constantly drained from him. The tightest of security was what they needed.

The King's chamber was dimly lit with candles. The windows were shut and locked, thick curtains drawn. The King himself and their guest were missing.

Kakashi allowed himself a sigh, momentarily thinking of other things he could be doing tonight, if he wasn't so loyal to Minato.

He walked to a bookshelf carved into the thick stone wall and stopped. Right; this was where he would open it and allow himself into the King's private library, where Minato and the Reaper would be waiting for him. Only, he'd forgotten how. There was a book, he was sure. There was a book and he was supposed to pull it and the shelf would move even more into the wall and open. But the whole shelf was full of books.

Kakashi raised a hand to a book, paused, and lowered said hand. He did it again, and stopped.

"Oh, dear," he sighed. "How embarrassing for me."

Though, to be fair, it had been years since he'd been down there. No one could blame him if he forgot which book opened the door.

He thought of what else he could do, but there really was only one way to open it. Well, he could just blow the whole thing down, but he doubted Minato would like that. In the end, he raised his hand again and formed a fist. Then he knocked on the stone wall beside the shelf, loudly and heavily with his chakra-powered fist. He waited for a response and when he didn't get one, he knocked again.

The shelf pulled back from his fist abruptly and an irritated Minato faced him.

"You forgot, didn't you?" the King said curtly.

"No. It's polite to knock, don't you know that?"

The King gave him a dark look, rolled his eyes and stepped back to allow Kakashi passage. Kakashi walked in with a smirk hidden behind his mask. Silently they walked down a narrowed hall way, lit only by a single candle, and then down a spiral stairway.

"Hello," he said to the Reaper, who had been looking at a book. The dark figure looked and nodded in his general direction.

"Have you done this before?" The King asked the Reaper, going back to a conversation that Kakashi knew he had interrupted.

The silver haired man listened to the conversation even as he looked around the private library. Well, there wasn't much to look at. It was just a large, underground chamber with no windows and only one door. It had one wide wooden table, on top of which laid many open books, and the rest of the chamber was filled in with high shelves. It was like many other royal private libraries that Kakashi had snuck into as a wilful child, all those years ago. Not that he was going to make that observation out loud, hell no. Minato was unreasonably proud of his library. Then again, the King had never seen any other private library. He probably didn't even know that his was just as ordinary. No need to burst his bubble.

"No. I have never done this before, however I know the theory of it. That should be enough."

Minato sucked in a deep breath through his teeth. "If you say so," he said. "Though, it is my chakra that we're going to be using. Let's try not to have to do this more than once."

"Get it right the first time and all that," Kakashi added.

"Yes. Of course."

"Right. Come on then, let's get to it!" The King grinned and shrugged off his outer coat.

"Try to be a little excited," Kakashi muttered sarcastically. The King only grinned wider at him, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his hands. It was sad, really. It had been so long since Minato had taken some time off from his office. Anything will excite him these days. Poor soul.

The Reaper took a candle into his covered hands and glided a pattern over the stone floor, tilting the candle sideways to let the wax flow out. They watched him, captivated by something so dark and intimidating, yet so unbelievably entrancing. When he finished, he set the candle down, waited for all the wax to harden and motioned the King into the centre with him. Kakashi gave credit to his long-time friend when Minato pretended to hesitate. The Reaper could touch them, but he couldn't kill them, not unless it was their time. But the Reaper didn't know that they knew this, and so the King hesitated for show, before taking a deep breath and then stepping over the wax line.

"What would I need to do?"

"Nothing you're not already doing. Though, I would also appreciate it if you didn't publicise this." The Reaper floated into the centre of the seal, standing close in front of the King. "I know you will record this into your book."

"Yes, but that book will remain in my private library."

"Thank you."

"Anything else?" Kakashi asked out loud.

The Reaper hesitated only momentarily.

"My new form will look like any other man," he said slowly. "I would… ask you if you will reveal to the castle staff of my true being."

"Ah."

"Yes," the King muttered. "It would seem suspicious if the Reaper were to suddenly disappear, and then for you to come out of nowhere. And yet, it would be so much better for my people if they didn't have to tiptoe around, fearing you even when you're not there."

"In the case that you still fear I might not hold to my end of the truce, then be assured that in my physical form, I'll be dressed accordingly. I can wear ordinary clothes which would protect your people from my touch."

Not that that was really a problem, but, again, the Reaper didn't know that they knew that.

"And remember the reason why I am adorning my old form," the Reaper added. "Hyuuga Hiashi would be much easier to fool if everyone else was also fooled."

"I wouldn't use the word 'fool'…" Kakashi muttered.

"Yes. I see your point. In that case, after you have a new look, you shall be my guest." The King paused. "Well, a newer guest."

"Agreed."

"Anything else?" Kakashi asked again.

The Reaper hesitated.

"Seriously?" the one eyed guard asked. "There's really something else?"

Minato sighed and gestured for his younger friend to be patient.

"My… form. Although it will look like any other, it will not be living."

"So?"

"I only wanted you to know, should anything come up."

Kakashi moved to speak, but the King glared him into silence.

"Thank you, Reaper." He paused, frowned. "What is your name? My son mentioned that you have a name, but that you refused to tell him what it is. Well he's not here, and we would need something other than 'Reaper' to call you."

With his head tilted curiously, the Reaper answered them. "My name is Itachi."

Right.

Kakashi was tempted to ask the Rea… to ask Itachi if there was anything else, just to be sarcastic, but the Reaper had already begun the process. Itachi. What an unusual name. Well, it wasn't that unusual. It was just strange now to attach a name to this still, intimidating figure of death. He was suddenly… more.

The King's ancient, powerful chakra flared. Kakashi stepped back into the shadows, keeping the King, the Reaper and the door in sight.

Whatever he was expecting, nothing like that happened. There was no flashy light, no floating objects. There was only the King and the Reaper, Itachi, in a strange and complicated circle of wax. There was only the King's powerful chakra flowing into Itachi. There was only Itachi, whose many layers of cloak moved as if there was a storm in the underground library.

Hours flew by them.

Kakashi felt that it was already past midnight when the King swayed and stumbled back from the circle of wax. Kakashi caught him by his arms and held him up. He wasn't worried. This was King Minato. He'd been through much worse than chakra fatigue.

"Thank you," his friend muttered as he straightened himself, his powerful chakra already beginning to strengthen. Kakashi just hoped that the guards outside weren't too panicked about their King's chakra fluctuation. Kakashi made to voice his concern aloud, but a loud thump of covered bones hitting stone floor startled both him and the King. They turned their sharp gazes to the Reaper.

He was on the floor now.

That was the first observation, and with it came so many implications and changes. The Reaper had had no legs to touch the ground with, previously. But now he knelt on the ground. He was touching the ground in such a physical way that there was no doubt in Kakashi's mind that the spell had worked. When the Reaper made no move to… well, to move, the King asked him, "Are you alright?" For a long, long time the Reaper didn't respond. Kakashi could only imagine why. Beneath all those layers there was now a body. It wasn't a truly alive body, but a physical one nonetheless. And everything had to work differently. To speak, the Reaper's voice had to come from his throat and to do that, he would have to relearn how to speak and breathe and move all over again.

"I… have forgotten," the Reaper, Itachi, said lowly. "How heavy this was."

King Minato's blond eyebrows rose.

"Your body?"

"Yes."

"Can you stand?" Kakashi asked.

"I would presume so."

Another beat of silence.

"Well, why don't you?"

"Give him some time, Kakashi."

So they gave the Reaper time. He stayed on the floor, head bowed, more than likely concentrating on how to move his arms and legs again. Then, unexpectedly, he untied the rope around his neck and pulled the layer covering his head off. Beside him Kakashi saw the King startle, but, there was another layer underneath that one, and the Reaper remained faceless for now. The anticipation was palpable.

"How many layers of cloth are there?" Kakashi asked.

"Seven."

"Ah. That may be the reason you can't stand. Seven layers is a lot, you know? It must be very heavy."

"Yes."

He pulled another layer off his head, and long, tangled dark locks of hair sprang free. Kakashi stepped back in shock, and beside him the King did too. Whatever face they had picture for this Reaper, it was not what the saw. The man before them was simply, exquisitely beautiful. His face was pale and supple, not unlike the finest of porcelain. Surrounded by thick, dark lashes, his eyes, like his hair, were dark and unsuitably wide. Still, pretty as they were, those eyes did not seem incapable of installing fear. Every feature of this Reaper seemed as if they had been made; carved and painted on by gentle, loving hands. He was simple, a creature of black and white, but he was unearthly beautiful. He was… human, and that's what had them taking steps back.

With a startled intake of breath, Kakashi jumped back and grounded himself against the furthest stone wall from the Reaper.

"That's a human body!" He snapped.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you warn us?" the King asked, urgently but still politely, now holding himself up against a table. "Itachi, this changes everything."

"It does not, your Majesty. There was no way for you to negotiate with the Hyuuga clan, once they knew that a Reaper was here, and I would not leave the Prince. This was the only way."

"But that's dangerous," the King argued, his voice low and hard. "You are in a lot of danger. Right now, even as we speak, it is taking everything in me and Kakashi to not tear you apart. There is every reason why humans live away from us!" He abruptly shut up, looking apologetic over raising his voice.

The Reaper shrugged off another layer of ancient cloth, only to reveal some more layers. He did this repeatedly until only two layers remained. Still only his head was revealed, but now he stood. Through his raging haze, Kakashi noted that the Reaper was a lot thinner than he first appeared. Still tall, but without the bulk of all those layers he was thinner than even Iruka. All the more vulnerable. All the more breakable.

Kakashi turned his head away with a quiet groan. By the Gods, if it was this bad for Kakashi, he would hate to think of how the rest of the castle would react. Naruto, especially. Naruto: who always had a penchant for touching the Reaper.

"This body does not live. All that attracts you is my scent. Scents are easily masked, are they not?"

Okay, that was a good point. But still, in this particular case, it wasn't only the scent that was distracting. There was the overall human aura… and…

"But… your face…" the King mumbled to the ground.

The Reaper… Okay, Kakashi should start calling him Itachi. Itachi tilted his head sideways, like he always did when considering things.

"My face?"

"Umm…" the King turned to Kakashi, blue eyes begging for help. How was he to tell a Reaper, who probably hadn't seen his own face in centuries, that his face was too distracting for people not to stare and touch?

"You're right," Kakashi said hurriedly to the Reaper. "We have spells that can help mask your scent. And you can wear someone else's clothes. And cover yourself up… a lot… like, even the face. You know, don't even expose your face. Just in case. Faces have smells too."

The King could only stare incredulously while the Reaper brought a covered hand up to his face. He wore a confused frown, and how ridiculous was it that that should be his first ever expression? He stepped out of the wax circle and made his way, on unsteady legs, over to a small mirror on the wooden desk.

"Really?" The King hissed quietly. "That was the best you could come up with?"

"What did you want me to say?" he hissed back.

"I don't know! You're the strategic genius!"

"So? You're the King!"

King Minato spluttered a little and, when he couldn't come up with a better argument, muttered grudgingly to the ground. "Faces have smells too."

"You know it's true."

The Reaper, finding nothing out of the ordinary with his face and ignoring Kakashi and the King's ridiculousness, turned back to the wax circle and bent down to gather his discarded cloaks. He folded them neatly and with care.

The King, ever the curious leader, asked him, "If I touch those cloths now, would anything happen to me?"

"No," Itachi replied in his usual smooth voice. It was still the same voice he had spoken to them with, but it was more solid, somehow. After all, now it came from a real, physical voice box and not some magical source. "My magic lies within me, not the cloaks." He paused, then held the cloaks up to Minato. "Would you like to touch them?"

And the King tried very hard not to jump like a giddy child.

"Yes, please," he said calmly.

Very carefully the Reaper deposited the neatly folded bundle of cloths onto the King's hands. The King's hands dipped slightly.

"Oh!" He exclaimed. "Wow, they're heavy."

"Yes. They have to be to keep my form from dispersing."

The King rubbed a corner of the fabric in between his fingers with a curious frown while the Reaper went back to folding the last of the cloaks and gathering the rope that had been around his neck.

"It's thin," the King noted quietly to Kakashi. "And it's very soft. You wouldn't think something so heavy could be so thin and soft. What a curious thing." He turned the fabric, now rubbing the inside. "Oh, wow, that's very soft."

Now curious, Kakashi touched the fabric too. It was very soft. It felt even softer than the most worn leather. It really was a wonder how something this delicate could weigh so much. The King's arms were already starting to waver after holding onto the bundle for but a few moments.

"It has to be soft, I think," Kakashi said. "This is the inside. This is the side that was always in contact with his chakra form."

"Yes, that makes sense. And it's all the more curious how Itachi could feel pain through this fabric, when chakra forms usually don't feel anything."

Kakashi shrugged. "Well, nobody said Reapers were like the rest of us."

"Indeed."

The Reaper returned to them and added the rest of his cloths onto the pile in the King's arms. Then he took it away completely. Unlike the King, his arms did not waver under the weight of the cloaks, and this strength defied his elegant, lithe appearance.

"I think you should find that spell to mask my scent now," Itachi said. "I would like to have it activated before I leave this library."

Kakashi nodded once and went in search of the spell book, hidden further in the library. He breathed a little easier when he was further away from Itachi. He was calmer, now that his hands weren't trembling with the need to destroy. Nobody knew where magic and chakra came from. All they knew was that the source, the most original and oldest source of magic, was evil. It caused a lot of angst and controversy when scholars revealed this, but it didn't change anything. Each and every person in the magical world got their magic from an evil source. Pure demons, most likely. Of course, that wasn't to say that they were all evil. It was just that, now, eons after the first generation got their magic, there would always be a corner in everyone that was… unhinged, and this part grew and struggled to the surface in the presence of humans. This dark part of their soul grew smaller and smaller with time, but Kakashi felt that it would be eons more before they could co-exist with humans again.

Even as he searched, he kept an ear out and listened as the King questioned Itachi.

"Could you tell me why you couldn't leave my son? What is it that would make you put on a physical form and risk yourself?"

"Someone is after Naruto's soul before his time."

Kakashi heard the King suck in a deep breath through his teeth. "Another Reaper?"

Itachi hesitated. "Yes."

"So you're here… to protect my son?"

"If this other Reaper came to take your son's soul, I doubt there is anything I could do to stop him. He is much older and stronger than I."

"But, my son is immune to your touch. Could he also be immune to any other touch by a Reaper?"

"I don't know. Compared to this other Reaper, I am very young. I'm younger than you. I'm younger than Kakashi."

That was certainly a surprise. Really, it was a surprise. They had thought that the Reaper was centuries old. He certainly behaved that way.

"So why are you here, then?"

"To find out why. Naruto's soul is… important. Of course it is. All souls are important, but I was sent here to reap him, before his time, and that cannot be ignored."

Oh, great. They have a rule breaking Reaper on their hands, it seemed.

"I see."

"I know you want to ask more questions, but at this point I ask that you refrain yourself, your Majesty. Things are very unstable at the moment, but I can assure you this. The other Reaper sent me for Naruto. This means that there is a reason why he hasn't come himself. Something about your son is keeping him at bay, and I intend to find out why."

Oh, boy.

Oh, oh boy.