Sorry, sorry, sorry! I know it's been a while! Thank you everyone who has reviewed and liked me recently! That coupled with the recently added Naruto chapter has really kicked my butt into gear.

On that note, let me take this moment to squeal: (*spoiler* Holy Flippin' Shiznits! Not only are the Hokage's frickin' awesome, but Sasuke is back AND Kishimoto has not forgotten about Sakura! THEY ARE A TEAM 7 AGAIN! AHHH! *End Spoiler*)

This chapter is a bit shorter and on the more introspective side of life, but I tried to make it more interesting. Lots of Death in this one :)

**Note: I tried to keep death gender neutral. Then I gave up. Death is now officially a male figure in my story. It was too difficult to work around gender neutral pronoun usage.

Because I Could Not Stop For Death
.:Chapter 4: Of Death, Life, and everything in between:.

"What now?" Sakura asked as Sasuke put out the fire. After she healed them, Sasuke decided that they both needed to rest. He had retrieved their hidden packs and they both took turns taking watch through the night. "If we are to believe them, none of those missing nin took the papers from Orochimaru." She carefully roll up the blanket only to force it into the small opening of her pack, "I'm also betting that whoever took the papers also planted that exploding tag so we wouldn't be able to tell what was taken."

"Now we ask around." Sasuke finished placing everything but a map in their pack and stood up, adjusting the bag on his back.

"In the village?"

Sasuke nodded as he unrolled the paper and pointed to an area close to their camp, "They might have a noticed something strange. I don't think the notes were taken very long ago." His finger traced a line from the hideout to the nearby village as he spoke, "Some of the things in the room were moved or taken recently." After poking the village on the map once for emphasis, he rolled up the parchment and placed it in a pocket inside of his top. He began walking.

"Right." Sakura picked up her own pack and fell in step with Sasuke, "I don't suppose you know anyone there that we can ask?"

"No." His lips pressed together. He was not looking foreword to visiting the Sand village again, but it was their best chance.

The village of sound lived up to its name. At all times of the day, many noises could be heard. The streets were brought alive by the sounds of venders shouting to get the attention of potential customers. Musicians dressed in varying degrees of poverty showcased their talents on every street corner. Children's laughter came and went as they chased each other in the streets.

Despite the many sound options, Sakura was amazed had how loud silence actually was when in the village. As soon as they stepped foot into the crowded street, the area around them became silent. The couple was given a wide berth as though they had the plague. Though, Sakura, noted, the silence was broken by the occasional flurrying of footsteps (which echoed quite loudly), and most of all by the low hum of whispering locals.

Sakura glanced at her husband. He seemed to be taking everything in stride, but she could tell by the clenched hands and the sharp glint in his eyes that he was reaching a limit. Sakura stopped and turned to the nearest woman. "Excuse me-"

"Don't talk to me!" She hissed. Her eyes were not on Sakura, but on the man behind her. Sakura stepped back with hands held up. The questioned woman seemed to jump in her skin before disappearing into the crowd.

Sakura visibly winced. The tension was rising. "Sasuke-kun," She started carefully, "I don't suppose you want to split up? I'll ask around here and you check around another area. You know… one that's not around people?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but it quickly shut without a sound. He squared his shoulders and eyed the people around him. "Gladly." The word was squeezed from tightly held lips before he flash stepped away.

The collective sigh of relief and sudden release of tension nearly blew Sakura away. People still eyed her with apprehension, but overall ignored her existence. In less than 10 seconds, the only evidence that the feared Uchiha was once there was the occasional whisper and the lingering rumor of a deadly traitor.

With Sasuke gone, Sakura found her investigation went much faster in no particular direction.

"My flower died." One lady with brown hair and brown eyes stared woefully at the wilted flower and pot in her hands.

"I'm sorry?" Sakura's regard and vague attempt and interest was rewarded by the pot being shoved closer to her nose.

"My plants never die! I sing to them everyday. Did you know that plants are affected by your attitude?"

Sakura lifted her hands, trying to gently, and as subtly as possible push the plant away. "I think I have heard that." When she didn't have to cross her eyes to focus on the plant, she continued, "So that's the only strange thing you've noticed?"

"It's strange enough!" The lady defended herself. She pulled the pot close to her body, holding as one would hold a baby.

A storekeeper complained of food missing. "Last week when I was taking inventory, I counted seventeen watermelons. The next day when I recounted, there were sixteen." Sakura nodded politely and wrote a few notes relating to numbers and a missing watermelon.

"My husband is selling his medicine." One lady jutted a thumb out to the man behind her. In response, he let out an 'Oi!' dropping his lit cigarette in the process. While he bent to rescue the stick, the lady continued, "He never sells his medicine. So that's strange."

"What's strange his how long it took for my sulfur medicine to catch on!" He carefully held the smoldering stick in his hands, inspecting it. "People here don't really like change." The man continued, finally returning the cigarette to its place between his lips, "That's the only reason it didn't sell."

"So why the sudden change?" Sakura asked.

The wife's shoulders raised and dropped, "Beats me. I'm not complaining about the sales."

Another female had a similar complaint but different take, "His medicine is selling!"

"Yes," Sakura said patiently, "I heard. Is there anything else strange going on?"

"That's strange enough, isn't it?" She leaned in to whisper quietly enough so that the entire town could hear her, "I bet he's cheating somehow." She leaned back and began to fiddle with the bottles. "I was selling my medicine just fine and then-" She slammed a container down, "BAM!" causing Sakura to jump slightly, "His sales picked up and mine dropped! I bet he put something in mine! Sabotage!"

"Hey," Sakura stopped and looked to her left. She heard a shaking sound and looked down. A balding unshaven man waved a can at her from a seating position, "I'll give you some information if you donate to my little fund. You know," He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "I scratch your back, you scratch mine?" He jingled the can again while a wide grin showed off his two very yellow and brown teeth.

Sakura let out a heavy sigh and reached into her pocket for some spare change. She pulled out two 50 yen coins and stared at them, debating whether or not it was worth the money. Her gaze drifted past the change towards the hopeful dirty grin and still jiggling can then back at her change. Coming to a decision, she reached over and let the coins drop. They pinged loudly, landing on other gems.

The beggar's grin faltered slightly as he gazed into the can. He shook it pathetically while his shoulders drooped. "Cheapskate." Sakura heard him mutter.

"You said you have information?" Sakura's voice betrayed her weariness. Not that she didn't like helping out the poor, but his constantly wiggling eyebrows and less than toothy grin were tugging on her already frayed nerves.

"Bah." The man placed the can down. He then spit in his hand and ran his fingers through his dirty hair, "What's strange is," he reached up and snatched Sakura's hand. "I'm poor and lonely!" He tugged on her arm. Had Sakura not been a ninja, she would have fallen down into the waiting arms, but fortunately, she was a ninja. She yanked her arm back, causing the beggar to fall foreword. He quickly let go of her hand to stop himself from falling on his face.

"Shame on you!" She snapped. She felt her leg twitch, eager to kick his bent over form. One hand actively held down her fist while she stalked away.

Against her better judgment, Sakura stopped a frazzled looking mother. "Something strange?" The mother muttered, absentmindedly yanking her son closer. He looked at her with large blue eyes before pulling away reaching for the shiny toy just inches out of reach, "I smelled kerosene a few days ago."

"Is that unusual?" Sakura made her pencil move, not especially paying any attention.

"I suppose." The mother shrugged, and hoisted up the girl in her arms. "It wouldn't surprise me if my son-" She pulled at the boy and the boy again, "got into some. I don't know where he'd get it. I swear," She sighed heavily and another girl holding onto her mothers skirt patted her leg. "Some of the other children here are terrible influences. But you didn't hear it from me."

Sakura approached the elder slowly, her feet beginning to drag. Her eyes had a glazed look and her question was automatic, "Have you noticed anything strange?"

"I heard screaming."

The words took a moment to filter in, drifting loosely in her overworked brain. She blinked when they finally settled in, hitting a gear and whispering that she might want to pay attention.

"Screaming?" She visibly perked up – her shoulders squaring and her eyes glistening with hope, "Who? When?" She fumbled around for her pencil and notebook.

"Sound is very noisy." The old man continued, Sakura nodded while her hands patted her being, trying to find the pencil. There, she pulled it from behind her ear as he continued, "I've been listening to the sound of my village my entire life and I know when something is different or does not belong."

Sakura leaned in, "I bet. Did anyone else hear the screaming? Do you know who it was or why?"

"It was not a physical scream."

Sakura fought to keep her shoulders perked and interested while her insides plummeted. "No?" She swallowed back the tears of frustration and anger.

The older man shook his head. His eyes closed and he moved his hands so that they cupped his ears. "I know this village. Something is different. Someone is screaming."

"But you don't know who or where, huh?" Sakura stood up and placed the pencil behind her ear again.

"I do not." The elder man shook his head slowly. "But I can tell you that something is very wrong."

Sharp eyes watched the world around him bustle and move about. The world ignored his existence, and he was completely fine with that. But oh, he certainly did not ignore the world. He took in everything, from the triumphant smirk of the child that touched a toy he was not supposed to touch to the passing lady murmuring sweet nothings to the plant cradled in her arms. This also made the present problem glaringly obvious. Two ninjas were digging their noses into his business. He watched the girl as she ran around, asking questions and jotting notes on her paper. The other ninja was not far, no doubt.

His eyes narrowed into slits. He was not naive enough to think that they would give up before they got anywhere, but he was confident that he would not be caught. He knew how to blend in (certainly unlike the traitor and the pink blossom). He was one with the people of Sound and he would get away. He would live.

If there is one thing that is absolute, it's that everything is relative. For every one thing, there is always another side. A total dick could really just be painfully honest. That walker slowing everyone down could be trying to give another person time to get to his or her designated area. A life in prison is a life ended. Taxes means money taken from one person given for another use (hopefully for the greater good). A person's death means a job well done by Death.

And really, that's all it was. Death is not a mean being; he's simply terribly good at his job*.

For the record, Death does not in fact kill people. He is merely there for the time of death and takes the appointed soul, helping it move onto whatever came next (Death never bothered to find out what was next. It wasn't his job and he didn't particularly care to find out). He doesn't report to anyone. No one makes him do his job. It is just the way things are – the order of things (And Death loves order). Plus, there is the whole mass chaos and end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it issue that would ensue if Death does not stick to his job.

Again, it's all a matter of relativity.

So when Death watched Sasuke punt various sized rocks and deface a few trees out of frustration simply for his own amusement – keep in mind that Death was going against his usual job. A give a take, if you will.

And, oh, Sasuke Uchiha provided such great amusement.

It wasn't really his character, because as far as humans went, Sasuke Uchiha was as cliché has they got. The troubled boy with a dark past who desperately wanted to prove himself. The lone wolf who nearly every girl will tear off their panties for at the drop of a hat. The one that goes off the 'righteous' path, goes through some difficult times, learns a lesson, and eventually returns to the side of 'good' (Remember, all things are relative, even notions of 'good' and 'righteous'.) And, of course, in the end gets the girl.

It certainly wasn't his looks. Sure, with his piercing eyes, rippling lean muscles, and flawless skin, the man was beautiful - but Death, if anything, is not shallow nor superficial.

And it most definitely was not his checkered life before returning to his place of origins. One of the things that Death does not find particularly pleasing is when a human trieds to play 'death'. It isn't that he dislikes the whole taking another's life bit. It isn't even that the humans try to be another being entirely (because Death does not think he is any better than humans). It is just so tiring to clean up after their messes. When a particularly nasty 'Death pusher' (as he calls them) comes along, Death finds himself particularly busy and quite frankly, he doesn't understand the thrill of holding a life in one's literal and figurative hands.

So what made Sasuke Uchiha so amusing was perhaps all three of these combined – or even more so, maybe it was because Sasuke was given a second chance at life (in both senses of the word). Contrary to popular belief, Death loves second chances. Maybe it's because they are different, maybe because he can't (or isn't supposed to) offer them, or maybe Death just wants to hear a happy reaction instead of the overall less then pleasant greetings and sending offs that he receives – regardless, Death has a soft spot for second chances.

When it came to second chances, Sasuke Uchiha was the luckiest. He survived a mass genocide, he, like many ninja, faced and lived through many potentially life-threatening situations, he even lived through his supposed-to-be-scheduled death. More than that, Sasuke Uchiha got a second chance at the metaphorical life. And even though that is the time when people are most likely to meet Death (Murphey's law and all – Murphy is in fact a mischievous being that lived off of those types of situations. Death often wonders why he didn't get that job), Sasuke also had excellent luck with timing.

Which is brings us back to where Death found himself watching Sasuke for amusement.

The land around Sasuke was not quite leveled, but it was missing a bit of 'wholeness' to it. Since he had disappeared from the Sound village, Sasuke became increasingly violent towards his surroundings – as though it was what had wronged him. The sun was just hitting over the trees when Sasuke began. It was now just beyond the middle of the sky.

Sasuke Uchiha was not only stubborn, but quite prideful. Pride is something else that Death does not understand. In Sasuke's case, it was both his rising and downfall. On one hand, it kept Sasuke going strong – took him places where others would have fallen to despair and even death. On the other hand, it led to moments such as this – when that great pride takes a hit and anger results.

Sasuke breathed heavily, his shoulder hunching up and down with every inhale and exhale. His supported himself with one open palm on a boulder. The dust beginning to settle after a particularly violent string of attacks.

Death watched, curious. There were two ways Sasuke's pride could take this. It might make him pick himself up and try to get some headway in the case – make some progress while his lovely wife (who, incidentally, Death was slightly fond of – he did 'work closely' with her given her profession and all) actively inquired in the village. Or, Sasuke could continue to nurse his wounded pride and show his manly qualities by beating on nature – which Death did not understand in the least.

The dust settled. Sasuke's head fell back as he blinked up at the sun. It appeared as though he was also running through the possibilities. And there it was – the scrunched up nose, the narrowed eyes, tensed jawed, clenched fist, and grinding teeth. Another bout of manly beatings commenced.

Amusing, indeed.

It was dark when Sasuke finally returned to camp. He trod along, slowly dragging his feet. A tug of regret and a guilty conscious was pushed back. He had nothing to show except some bruised and bloody hands. With that in mind, Sasuke shoved his hands in his pockets, hoping to at least attempt to fool his wife.

The soft glow of firelight could be seen as he approached their area. He listened carefully for any signs of life. Only the crackling of fire could be heard. He stopped, closed his eyes, and stretched out his senses. He met a gentle flicker of familiar chakra.

Black eyes opened and he continued on his way. When he reached the area, the first thing he noticed was Sakura's posture. She was sprawled out on the ground with her neck draped over a log normally used for sitting. She was tired. His eyes narrowed and his previously dragging footsteps changed into a beeline towards his wife.

Sakura sat up to greet him with a warm smile as he approached. "You finally came back!" When he didn't settle down next to her, her grin faded and her head cocked to the side; her brain working out what his posture and silence meant.

Taking advantage of the silence, Sasuke continued to examine his wife. When nothing aside from her exhaustion appeared out of place, he allowed himself a sigh of relief. Reaching for a stick to poke at the fire, Sasuke began to sit down. It wasn't until he heard the gasp did he realize his mistake.

"Sasuke-kun! Did you get into a fight?" His hands were immediately enveloped by Sakura's followed by the warmth of her healing chakra.

"No." Sasuke shook his head. He resisted the urge to yank his hands away in shame.

The healing didn't take long. The green glow faded, but her hands remained. "Then what –" She looked up at his face; her focus finally off of his previously wounded hands. Sasuke did not meet her eyes. He kept his stare on the fire – but he was still paying attention.

He heard her sigh and the warmth of her hands left. He suddenly felt cold. There was a shuffling sound and suddenly his side was warm. Sakura did not question him any further, and he loved her for it.

"Did you find anything?" He asked.

Sakura shrugged against his shoulder. "If by 'anything' you mean some disgruntled shopkeepers, a stressed mother, and some creepy old men – then yeah."

Sasuke nodded – though to what he didn't know. He felt conflicted. On one hand, no information meant that they would have to stay here longer. On the other hand, it made him feel slightly less guilty.

"Do you think we'll find anything here?"

Sasuke didn't respond, unsure of the answer himself. His shoulder got a little heavier.

"We're probably more likely to find something outside of the village. It's not exactly conspicuous inside the village." Sakura paused to snort, "Especially with everyone in everyone's business." Something grazed his hands, causing Sasuke took look down, entranced by the soft fingers curling around his own. "It's probably better that we split up." Her voice was getting softer and slower, her words slurring a bit. Sasuke's shoulder was getting heavier. "And you don't have to worry about me as much since I'm around all those busybodies." He felt more than heard the breathy complaint against his ear.

Sasuke's gaze drifted back to the fire as he squeezed her hand and whispered, "Go to sleep, Sakura." It was curious – how he felt heavier and lighter all at once after listening to her.

(Chapter End)

Sorry it was short, but I wanted to get something out there and (as a little hint) I know it doesn't seem like it, but a lot of things did happen.

I had a stupid amount of fun writing from Death's POV. In fact, I may have run off a little too much (and added some snark in there), but I hope you all enjoyed it as well. And then, to appease all of the SasuSaku fans out there, I added a small scene at the end. It's not amazing, but I thought it was simple enough for now.

And… that's all for now. Please review!

*Sentence loosely and purposefully taken from Terry Pratchett.