A/N: Another update in less than a year! It must be a record :)
4: Limbo 101
"Okay then, tour time! Let's go, Sasuke!"
Sakura stood up, rounded the desk and grabbed the arm of one man busy plotting away his escape from Limbo.
"Hey wait!"
With a snap of her fingers, Sasuke found himself standing in a bright blue sky hundreds of feet in the air.
For the second time that day, Sasuke's body went rigid. He wasn't afraid of heights but they were standing in midair and completely unsupported by anything. Determined to keep his surly mood however, Sasuke maintained what he hoped was a stoic look on his face and acted as though this new environment was not worth the time.
Sakura on the other hand stood next to him as happily as ever and unconcerned with the fact that they were airborne. "This, Sasuke, is the whole city of Limbo!"
Although Sasuke couldn't quite shake the possibility that he could die a second time-this time by a gruesome 700 foot drop-he was overcome by awe as he stared down upon the city below.
Limbo was in one word: busy. It was a metropolis of people rushing about, going from one enormous skyscraper to the next looking harried. Of course these 'people' were actually just fellow souls like himself and angels like his current companion. Proof was that about half of the specks moving about were zooming in and out of windows, gliding through the sky and pelting back down to the ground.
"Why are we going on a tour?" Sasuke asked as he eyed a particular angel landing roughly on the ground and ended up doing a rather painful face plant.
"I'm showing you around so that you can understand how this place works. After all, you'll be staying here for some time while we wait for your file to be processed. Could take a couple of days to a couple of decades."
"What?!"
Ignoring his rude outburst, Sakura continued. "As you've heard before, most souls come to Limbo for judgment. It takes a little while for their file to be processed so in the meantime, they have several options to occupy their time. First, they can watch the scenes of their life in the New Perspective Room otherwise known as the NPR."
Sasuke barely had time to register what Sakura had said before being distracted by a snapping noise and seeing shimmering wings erupt from her back.
"NO WAIT!" Sasuke shouted but was too late. Sakura had looped her arm around his and dove. For a brief second, Sasuke saw the ground hundreds of feet below rush up at him for a moment before he felt something jerk his body up again.
They were actually flying.
"Did you say something?" Sakura yelled over the wind rushing through their ears. With each beat of her wings, they propelled through the sky and Sakura skillfully avoided buildings and other airborne angels. Her charge only shook his head. Sakura had to control her laughter as she felt him hang onto her tighter. Last thing she needed was for him to feel worse than he already did.
Truthfully, Sasuke was mortified. The situation couldn't look any worse. Here he was, holding onto a dainty looking girl for dear life as though she was Superman and he was her Lois Lane. It really, truly could not be anymore humiliating.
Finally they slowed down and gently landed on the roof of a building. Sasuke immediately sprang away from Sakura, straightened his jacket and tried to look composed. As Sakura started walking to the entryway, Sasuke inwardly kissed the solid ground beneath his feet.
Once inside, there were doors lining the hall just like the place where he had initially arrived. Sakura pressed a finger to her lips but motioned for him to look into a window. Inside, he saw a relatively normal looking scene. The souls sat in rows, each watching his or her own television set. They had a remote control in hand and earphones so as to not disturb their neighbors.
"Looks a little hypnotic doesn't it?" Sakura asked as she peered in as well. Sasuke wondered what she meant for a moment before noticing the look on each soul's face. They were all mesmerized by the screen in front of them and only moved when pressing a button on the remote control. Sasuke assumed it was to rewind, fast forward or pause certain scenes of their life.
It was strange having the opportunity to relive your experiences. Sasuke felt a little nauseated at the thought of having to watch his memories again. What was the point of looking back? There was nothing you could do about it now. He'd probably end up forgoing this option.
"Most souls actually choose this option." Sakura announced, breaking his train of thought. Sasuke momentarily glared at her and wondered if she could read his mind as well as do other magical things with a snap of her fingers. "They like to see things from a third person's point of view so to speak. Sometimes it's for the better, sometimes not. A lot of souls don't watch their entire lives and end up going to counseling which is where we're headed next."
Sakura motioned for him to follow her down the hall. "What, no flying this time?"
"Aha, nope! I figure you've had enough of that for today. No need to worry, your guardian knows you best." She flashed him a thumbs-up and continued walking.
"Well, thanks." Voice dripping with sarcasm, Sasuke grit his teeth and grudgingly followed her. Shrugging it off and reminding himself of his mission to get out of this strange place, Sasuke soon got his temper under control.
Down the elevator and out the front door, the two ended up in the building next door. Once again, the place looked like a normal office building. After coming out of the elevator, Sakura stopped outside of room number 729.
"Go ahead, open the door. This is our room."
Sasuke eyed her warily and then looked down at the doorknob. Easy enough. What harm was there in a simple doorknob?
Placing his hand on the cool brass surface, he turned and pushed the door open.
-FLASH-
A light burst through the door and momentarily blinded the Uchiha.
"What the hell?" Sasuke shielded his eyes from the intensity. "Why are all the lights in this place so bright?"
"This is just procedure." Sakura chirped as she pushed him into the room. Noticing the light had died down, Sasuke opened his eyes and grimaced. A screen had come down and taken his picture and not a very flattering one at that. Suddenly the picture switched to show data about his profile. An automated voice announced:
"Name: Uchiha Sasuke. Age: 24. Cause of death: Gunshot wound. Family: No current living relations. Total days deceased: 1."
"Good, good! Sounds like everything's in working order." Sakura approved as she made her way over to a desk that was cluttered with paperwork and full of personalized items. Pictures, awards and certificates hung on the crowded wall.
It was your typical office room.
Sasuke looked to the other corner of the room and saw a lounge chair. Scratch that. This was your typical psychiatric office room.
Seeing the irritated look on Sasuke's face, Sakura laughed. "Well come on now, I did say this was where we do our counseling."
Sasuke chose not to comment.
"Think of this as your room too, Sasuke. Since you're my charge, you touched the doorknob and the room now recognizes you. It can only open for either one of us. Feel free to come here anytime whether I'm here or not."
Quickly making up his mind to come here whenever she was definitely not, Sasuke nodded. "I'm surprised there's still some privacy left in this place."
"Of course! This is life and death we're dealing with here. Your privacy is always in our list of priorities…well, until your judgment day. Word gets around. But other than that we're really careful. Take the NPR for example, if anyone but you looked at your television screen, all they'd see is static." Sakura shifted through the mess on her desk and found a manila folder. "This is your file. I'm going to drop it off with the processing room so we can get this investigation started."
The sooner the better thought Sasuke as they both headed for the door. "Alrighty then, we've covered two of the three options. The last choice is the Ghost Training Gym or-"
"Let me guess, GTG?"
Sakura smiled. "Well, you always did catch on quick!" Sasuke forced back the urge to roll his eyes but listened intently. This sounded like a promising place. "Let's take the subway this time."
Sasuke looked around and couldn't help but grin a little. It was just like a normal subway station. Souls were everywhere, bustling to get to their destinations. A voice boomed overhead announcing when the next train was coming and to stand behind the yellow line. Sasuke noticed that the only thing missing were angels which was kind of strange seeing as how they were everywhere in the streets and buildings above ground
"You didn't think you'd be joined at the hip to me, did you?" Sakura asked as she and Sasuke both stepped onto the train. "These methods of transportation are for the souls' convenience when they're not around their guardians. Unless of course you want me to personally fly you around. I honestly wouldn't mind."
Sasuke shot her a dirty look. "No and listen, can you stop reading my mind? It's rather annoying."
Sakura only slapped him heartily on the shoulder making him almost lose his balance. "I can't read your mind so there's no need to worry."
He scoffed. "Right."
"No seriously," Sakura shook her head vigorously. "I can't do that. It's not my gift."
Sasuke looked at her not convinced. "Then what is your gif-"
"Is this your charge, Sakura?"
The two both turned around at the sound of a droning voice. A man with a bored expression his face greeted them with a yawn.
"Excellent manners as usual, Shikamaru." Sakura said curtly as she turned back around. Even though Sasuke had only been with Sakura for a short period of time, he felt that her coldness was rather uncharacteristic.
Shikamaru only scratched his head which resulted in further messing up his unkempt ponytail. "Aw, come on Sakura. You're being troublesome. You're usually not like this."
Sakura only 'hmphed' and crossed her arms. Apparently, she was quite determined not to speak to this Shikamaru fellow.
"Would it help if I apologized?"
"No!" Sakura suddenly rounded on Shikamaru with her hands on her hips. "And what are you doing taking the subway anyway? You're a guardian. You have wings you know!"
Shikamaru only put up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright. I give up, Sakura." As the train stopped and opened its doors, Shikamaru backed out. "See you guys later and Sasuke-"
Sasuke looked up at the man, surprised that he knew his name.
"Don't let her spoil you." With that, Shikamaru saluted before his wings emerged and he shot off the ground.
Sakura let out a huff of breath and blew a strand of pink hair out of her face. Even though Shikamaru was gone, it was clear that she was still in a bad mood.
"How'd he know my name?" Sasuke asked as the train stopped and they were pushed into the crowd going out.
Sakura shrugged. "We're pretty good friends actually. I might have mentioned your name once to that lazy bum- whoa, watch your head there!"
Instinctively ducking for any overhead sign, Sasuke looked up and saw that there weren't any. He glanced back and realized that she wasn't talking to him at all. Sakura bent down and picked up an actual severed human head. Sasuke stood there in shock as he watched them hold a conversation.
"Sorry miss! I lose my head at least five times a day. Such a hassle." The head apologized profusely. "Ah, here comes my body-hurry up there!" Sure enough, a headless body came stumbling over to where they stood.
Sakura held the head on one hand and took the arm of the body with her other. "Here, let me." She expertly set the head back on the neck, making a popping sound. "There you go, good as new."
"Thank you so much! Ah-" The man suddenly paused before taking a hold of Sakura's hand and shaking it. "I recognize you! You're Sakura! I've heard so much about you."
"Well, I hope they've been good things."
"Yes, of course! And meeting you myself, it seems like they're all true. Quite a pleasure, miss!"
"It was nothing. Well, we've got to be on our way. See you!" Sakura shook the man's hand one last time and walked over to Sasuke who still couldn't tear his eyes away from the retreating soul that was previously headless. Sakura waved her hand in front of his face. "Hello? You okay there?"
Sasuke pushed her hand away. "Yeah, that was…something else."
"Eh you get use to it after awhile." Sakura suddenly slapped a fist into her hand. "Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn't I? When you come to Limbo, you look exactly like how you did when you died." She lifted his suit jacket and pushed the tie to one side to reveal the bloodstained shirt. After seeing the wound, Sakura sighed deeply and looked away. "See?"
Slightly ruffled, Sasuke straightened his tie and buttoned his jacket. He didn't want to look at it either. A memory of the soul that was mauled to death resurfaced jogging his memory. It made sense. He was beginning to think that being shot in the stomach wasn't so bad after all.
"Anyway, most souls look relatively normal nowadays seeing as how most deaths are illness related. It's all heart disease lately! You don't get souls like him very often anymore but just be on the lookout."
After going up a long flight of stairs, they finally emerged into the light and stood in front of what looked like a gym facility. A sign on top read: Ghost Training Gym.
Sasuke mentally rubbed his hands together in anticipation. Here was his reasoning: Ghosts in the living world meant scary, supernatural beings. Ghosts in Limbo meant that they could perhaps have the ability to travel back to the living world. Or so he hoped.
They both headed through the doors and were greeted by a familiar masked man at the front desk. Sasuke recognized him as the man he'd spoken to when he'd first arrived.
"Ah, it's Mr. Uchiha and Sakura." Kakashi leaned over to whisper in Sakura's ear. "Glad you found him."
Sakura nodded in agreement. "Yes, well Neji found him first." At this, the two burst out laughing making Sasuke prickle with anger. Sakura cleared her throat. "Listen, can you show Sasuke around this place? I've got to go drop off his file."
"Sure thing."
"And please don't read that perverted book of yours while you're at it."
"Can't promise you that." Kakashi crinkled his eye in amusement before patting her lightly on the head. Suddenly an agonizing yell resounded in the room. Kakashi shrugged nonchalantly. "Duty calls. Just come on in when you're ready." With that, he disappeared through the double doors.
Sasuke looked after him uncomfortably. What sort of training was this?
He suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder. "You're in good hands, Sasuke. Kakashi might seem kind of…apathetic but he's actually pretty amazing. He manages the GTG and the incoming souls on most days. He's quite the multi-tasker-"
"And pervert." Sasuke finished as he noted the poster of a busty young woman clad in very scanty clothing on the wall.
Sakura slapped a hand to her forehead. "Yes, and a pervert. Anyway, I'll be gone for a bit so take this. It's a communication device."
"A seashell? Really?" Sasuke looked skeptically at the small conch shell in his hand. He distinctly remembered Kakashi using something like this in his office as well. Could this place be any stranger?
Sakura laughed, "Technically it is but in Limbo, it's a phone so call me if you need anything. I'll have mine on me." Making sure the file was safe in hand, Sakura snapped her fingers and wings appeared again; this time a halo appeared atop her head as well. "Gotta look official." Sakura winked at an exasperated Sasuke before swiftly leaving the room in a gust of wind.
Sasuke pocketed the conch and headed through the double doors. He found himself in a gym with shiny vinyl floor, florescent lights on the ceiling and normal looking souls looking like they were practicing yoga on mats. Kakashi sat on a stool next to him, giggling as he read a book. Sasuke frowned as he was sure the book had explicit content in every page.
Seeing Sasuke however, Kakashi immediately pocketed the book, stood up and cracked his neck and shoulders.
"Well then, ready to become a ghost?"