AFTER DARK | naruto

11 | deal with a devil

"Dead already, huh?" The sound of a familiar raspy voice had your eyes fluttering, adjusting to the dimly lit room. "That was sooner than I expected." You blinked, groaning as you sat up. When you looked up, you were met with the sight of a dragon caged behind steel bars. You jolted onto your feet, you weren't a stranger to dragons - but a live one was something beyond you.

You gulped, taking a step back. "Diaval!?" You blurted. "You're even ugl- scarier than I thought you'd be!" You said, voice echoing throughout the empty room. Whatever seal they were behind didn't look comfortable, they barely had enough room to stretch out.

Diaval huffed, the steam from their nose making the room heat up - hot enough to make even you uncomfortable. Seeing them in front of you made it more imminent to you that this is what you had sealed within you, that it watched everything you did, and heard everything you said. The threat of it posed a lot more surreal now. "You didn't think I'd be some cute pet, did you?" They asked. You were silent, they could sense the nerves coming from you. "You've died, you know that? This is the end of it."

That's right, your curse meant complete disappearance. You didn't go to heaven, hell, you didn't get to roam the earth and see your friends. "Then, why am I here?" You asked.

Diaval chuckled, "I'm gonna make a deal with you. If you die; I die, and I still have lots I need to do." They explained, standing up - making you crane your head up even farther. "The strength of that Sound Shinobi was something I'd never seen before. It seems the more generations pass, the stronger the Shinobi become..."

"... It was the worst matchup for me, I can't block sound." You sighed, lowering your head. Diaval chuckled. "It's no wonder I lost, even with a demon in me..."

"Sound Jutsus are always the most unpredictable." They said, "You didn't exactly lose, either... You killed that man." You looked up at them, wide-eyed. "If anyone here is a demon, it's you." You were silent, you knew the fight you had gotten yourself into was a bad one, but you didn't think it would end with you becoming a murderer.

You lowered your head, you could already feel the guilt bubbling in your stomach. You had to do it, your life was in danger at that very moment and you didn't have time to think about not holding back. "So what, you brought me aside for that little speech before I disappear?"

Distal chuckled. "Always so mean toward me, I brought you here to make a deal." They explained. "I can bring you back the life, but there's one condition."

You gulped, doubting that they truly could revive you, but you listened anyway. "What is it?"

_________

You felt everything before you saw it, somebody holding onto you tightly, tears wetting your shoulder. Then someone holding your hand tightly - it was only a few seconds of that before your eyes shot open, struggling to register the scene in front of you - your Politgan was activated in your eyes, a new ring circling the star in the middle. You could hear Lee crying, he was clinging onto you so tightly you were sure he could've broken something he added just a little more pressure. The sensation of someone holding your hand belonged to Neji, since he held it, he was the first one to realize your heartbeat had picked back up - the first to realize your hand twitched to life.

He opened his eyes, looking down at you. You looked back at him. There were a few tears welled up in Neji's eyes, but he blinked them away - staring at you in confusion. You didn't say a word - neither did he, the only thing either of you could do in all the confusion was staring. Lee moved away from how tightly he clung onto you - just to see your eyes were opened.