Chapter 37: A Deal with the Shinigami

Itachi woke up overjoyed. Chiyo took a glance over at the Hunter who couldn't stop complaining and rolled her eyes. They had more worries to think about and all Kurama was concerned about was his new vessel. The shinigami would eventually notice that he was being cheated of his deal and will come to hunt them down. Before that happens, Chiyo would require to prepare an equivalent exchange to pacify the god of death. Luckily, she had just the thing in mind.

"You over there," she called out to Sasuke.

The young Uchiha wasn't expecting to be called by the Tanuki elder and stumbled over confusedly. To everyone's horror, Chiyo stuck her hand into Sasuke's chest and pulled something out. Naruto immediately jumped and pounced on the old lady when she did that but Chiyo threw up a magic barrier that made the golden fox crash into.

"Calm down you stupid fox!" Chiyo chided and smacked Naruto on top of his head with her staff. The kit yelped and clutched his skull feeling the bruise forming. Sasuke didn't feel any pain after the initial ripping out of something from his chest but he felt much lighter now. Kurama blinked at the glowing orb in Chiyo's hands and raised an imaginary eyebrow.

The Tanuki mage examined the green orb with her silver eyes and nodded in approval. Now that she had a soul, she needed a body. Sasuke can survive without his past karma as a human after his transformation so this should be alright. It doesn't erase memories or cause any harm, just make him more suited as a demon in his transformed body. In fact, with the removal of his human karma that would take him a few hundred years to clear, Sasuke's demonic powers should have increased by several folds.

"Oi! Old woman, what did you do?" Naruto growled.

Chiyo glared at the blond boy and Naruto stiffened in fear. He wasn't sure if she was going to smack him again. To his relief, the old lady merely rolled her eyes and grabbed another stuffed toy to shove whatever she stole from Sasuke into it.

"I'm making a sacrifice for the shinigami to trade it for Kurama's body. "You," she pointed at Kankuro who'd arrived late last night after everything was over. "You have that snake mage's body dumped somewhere, don't you? Go retrieve it for me."

Kankuro stood there rooted to the ground and the mage lost her patience. She threw her wooden staff at the dork who fell backwards before Chiyo stomped her feet angrily. "Go! Do you want the shinigami to haunt us before you get moving?"

Gaara's brother scurried away quickly to do as Chiyo wanted. The mage huffed and bent down to pick her staff. "Youngsters nowadays..." she sighed and nobody dared to comment on it. Even Gaara was choosing to be part of the furniture.

The rest of the day went by smoothly with Kurama learning how to manipulate his way around with magic and the rest of the people recovering from the battle. Kankuro returned to the den late afternoon with a body bag. Itachi was amazed nobody questioned him about it on his way back. However, nobody else seemed surprised by it so he kept quiet.

Chiyo cast a convenient spell to remove the sense of smell on herself, much to everybody else's envy. All the werewolves had evacuated the den by ow, unable to bear the rotting stench with their sensitive noses. Itachi gagged and ran for the toilet. Naruto and Sasuke hid in a spare room while Iruka and Kurama were made to assist the mage with nobody else available.

Nobody understood how Iruka the gentle and peace-loving teacher could look at such a gruesome corpse with such a straight face. The teacher only took a face mask to cover his nose before wearing latex gloves and cleaned the corpse up without a fuss. This made Kakashi fall more in love with his dolphin and the rest of the wolf clan respect the human. Even Grandma Chiyo was impressed with Iruka's steadiness. It's always the quiet ones that people should beware off.

Chiyo then retrieved the soul stored in a stuffed toy and transferred it to Kabuto's restored corpse. The tanuki elder then went in search for Tsunade and told Iruka to 'make Kabuto smell nicer' before the shinigami arrived.

"How do we remove the smell?" Iruka asked and Kurama shrugged. "Furbreeze?"

The teacher didn't know what to say. While they had a very similar product in the human world, the teacher didn't know if it would work. Still, he didn't have any better options so he went to grab a bottle anyway.

Kurama blinked at the corpse who had its eyes open. The soul was attached to the body but the body was dead. Will the shinigami accept this offering?

Iruka returned with a bottle and started spraying not just the corpse but the entire house. The smell was still strong so Kurama decided to help by uncapping the bottle and dumping the liquid contents on the corpse instead. It helped a little but not nearly enough so the teacher sent Kakashi out to grab a few more bottles while Chiyo and Tsunade worked on a summoning circle.

Night came quickly and after a barbecue dinner, the clan was waiting for midnight. Kabuto smelled like mint and flowers now and was relocated to the backyard where the array was. The wind blew gently and the candles wavered but never went out. Itachi clutched onto Kurama tighter while Chiyo started chanting. Tsunade was still weak but she was able to help regulate the mana flow in the array. Everyone was nervous because no supernatural being had ever successfully defeated the shinigami. It was a different kind of creature after all.

At the stroke of midnight, the wind became more violent and the flames of the candle burned bigger than before. It changed colours and eventually became balls of flames resembling wisps. A door appeared from the middle of the array and slowly rose. When it opened, the shinigami stepped out of it and looked at Chiyo who stopped chanting. She looked at the god of death with her silver eyes and bowed low.

Everyone else followed what Chiyo did and prostrated themselves on the ground.

"Lord of death we summoned you today to right ur wrongs. We have a deal to make with you, can you hear us out and grant our wish?"

The shinigami waved a hand and the flaming orbs turned green. That was a favourable sign that the shinigami was open to negotiations and wasn't hostile.

"In exchange for the body of that child there," Chiyo pointed at plushie Kurama. "We would like to offer a sacrifice for the exchange. This is the soul of a human who has recently become a demon. His karma lasts a few hundred years and the body is one of a snake demon recently defeated and full of resentment. Will you accept the offering for an exchange of the body and soul currently in your possession?"

The shinigami took a look at Kabuto's body and Saskuke's human soul before his eyes landed on Sasuke. Naruto stepped in front of his mate protectively when he saw that. He then turned to Itachi who had Kurama in his arms and asked, "When will that pair marry?"

Chiyo blinked and Itachi blushed. "Why do you ask?"

The shinigami stared into Itachi's eyes and said, "The price for exchange is sufficient but the sins of stealing a soul from me cannot be pardoned easily. They are soul bonded so I cannot reap one without harming the other. Instead, I will agree to let the soul go along with the crimes if that one over there surrenders his karma with me."

Kurama didn't know what to say. Chiyo was quick-witted and pleaded for more time. "Marriage for foxes are sacred things. We cannot hasten it without a good date."

The shinigami thought for a while and told them that he would be back in a few more months to claim Itachi's soul.

"For now I depart with the offering and return this Hunter's body. I shall collect my dues in two months' time. Be ready, I will take offence should it be delayed."

Chiyo nodded and bowed as the shinigami took Kabuto and Sasuke's soul away. Kurama felt his soul being dragged from the temporary vessel when the shinigami presented his lifeless body. Chiyo quickly assisted with the soul transfer after the shinigami left.

Itachi was the most worried party in the group as they waited for Kurama to regain consciousness. The few minutes felt like hours to the CEO and when Kurama finally opened his eyes, Itachi allowed his tears to fall.

"Welcome back," he said.

"I'm home," Kurama smiled, happy to be alive.