Skeletons in the Closet

Chapter Nine

by: Lazuli

Standard Disclaimer applies. Warnings? Well, possibly some spoiler-ish things going on, angst and loads of it, ooh, look—is that a plot I see? ^__^ I hope that you all enjoy this chapter. Many thanks goes to Aishuu and my roommate for their help with suggestions and odd little things to help this chapter along.

Sasuke was barely aware of Inara meeting him at the Valley of the End, her eyes moving over him and slightly concerned "It seems that we're getting to know each other quite well, Sensu-san." Her voice was heavy with amusement as she half supported him. Most of the class had already departed, with only Kuri, Abira and their professor remaining to watch over him and to await his escort.

He made a face at that, still feeling slightly dizzy but not wanting to lean on anyone. "Naruto's going to be pissed…" His voice said he didn't really care and Inara stared at what seemed to be a complete change of personality from the Sasuke she met earlier. "At least he didn't have to come all the way out here. I think it would have hurt him."

Inara swallowed and shook her head. Apparently Sasuke was still a little out of it from the fall he had, and this place… She shivered slightly at the imposing statues, the way everything was so quiet except for the sound of the waterfall. It could make anyone act strangely. "I'm taking you back to him, Sensu-san." Her voice remained steady as she half-carried him back to the Uchiha estates. Naruto could deal with him from that point on.

~

It wasn't easy having to deal with Sasuke, and especially when things like this happened. Inara had brought him back from the Valley of the End, a quick explanation of what had happened. Sasuke looked rather dazed himself to see Naruto, but didn't get many words out before he stumbled to bed. Naruto watched over him, and he was struck at how familiar this all was—the situation and the setting.

It was like the past was repeating itself in more than one way, and events were piling up on top of one another, too fast to count the number and crowding too thickly to separate all of them. Naruto was helpless to stop the flow of it all, and even though Neji warned him about this, he couldn't do anything about it short of locking Sasuke out of the estate, and even that wasn't guaranteed to fix anything. Naruto didn't know the extent of the damage yet, or if he was just seeing too much into it, but he didn't want to see—he didn't want to face a Sasuke that couldn't forgive him for the past.

"Why is it that I'm always in bed these days?" Sasuke muttered as he woke up, one hand pressing against his throbbing temples. "I thought Sakura said I didn't have to be stuck here anymore?" His brow furrowed as he met the shocked gaze of Naruto. "What's with that stupid look, dobe?"

Naruto gaped at him and shook his head, trying to form words but unable to respond that. "Um… Sasuke?" He asked cautiously. "Why are you calling me dobe?" His blue eyes were wide with concern and he was hoping that it was just a little blip, that he would shake it off and mumble something about weird dreams or …

"Because you are one, even if you are going to become Hokage one day." Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Did you hit your head or something? You're acting weird." His brow furrowed as he took a closer look at Naruto. "And you're not dressed in your ANBU uniform—you off duty or something?" As he leaned forward to grab onto Naruto's clothing, his hand went right through him.

Sasuke's face immediately drained of all color. "You said that was a dream." He said shakily. "You're not supposed to be see-through, damnit!" His voice broke on the last word and it seemed his world had been rather badly jolted. "Naruto.. if this is a joke, it isn't very funny."

Naruto sighed, trying to hide his shock at the oh-so-painful phrase. Sasuke, before he died, had dreams that Naruto was dead. He said how he saw Naruto as a ghost and he pleaded with Naruto to reassure him that it was all a dream. Naruto didn't know if he could answer, if he could keep the pain out of his voice as responded to a question that had been long buried in the past.

He settled in the air, ignoring Sasuke's disturbed look for the moment. "Maybe you are still dreaming." He said helpfully. It was the only thing he could think of for the moment to explain things. "I mean… you don't remember me dying or anything like that… right?" He watched his friend carefully, watching for any sign of either the old Sasuke to scoff it off, or the Sasuke that was supposed to be there shrug and say he wasn't alive then, but he heard the story.

His heart sank when Sasuke rolled his eyes at him. "No, you haven't managed to get yourself killed yet—although I don't know how." He stretched his arms over his chest, staring down at the unfamiliar bed sheets and his confusion increased when his gaze searched around the room. His self assured look faltered, and he licked his lips before speaking hesitatingly. "What's going on here, Naruto?" He asked quietly, trying to hide the way his voice shook.

Naruto bit his lip and reached out for Sasuke from habit, then drew back his hand when he realized it would only make things worse. "You're having a bad dream." He said finally, closing his eyes and not willing to tell Sasuke—he couldn't tell Sasuke that he died and he failed and … he just couldn't. "You need to wake up now." He was hoping that the other Sasuke would 'wake up' in a sense, that this one would go back to sleep, go wherever it was supposed to be. It wasn't fair to him.

Who did I piss off so badly that I have to go through this again? He wanted to cry, he wanted to escape this for just one moment, to hide away from the eyes that should be comfortable and friendly, instead of confused and angry. Eyes that shouldn't hold the pain of a life that was over a long time ago. I was a good ninja, I took care of my village and my friends… I did my duty in protecting this estate. Why… why the hell is this happening? There was no answer, but he didn't really expect one.

Sasuke just gave him a confused look, shaking his head. "I meant with how I was passing out all the time, Naruto." Naruto stared as the switch was already made when he didn't notice—the old Sasuke and the current Sasuke… he stared, running one hand through his hair in a subconscious nervous gesture.

"Passing … out?" He asked cautiously. "Was this from your visit?" He phrased his words carefully, not wanting to say one thing or another, lest it do more harm than good, messed up Sasuke's head more than usual. Even if it was a different Sasuke, there were apparently some things that didn't leave when one was reborn.

Sasuke gave Naruto a weird look. "Yeah, from visiting that place called Valley of the End." He eyed Naruto as if the ghost wasn't entirely thinking in the same timeline as him. "You know—my school went to visit there?" He raised an eyebrow. "And I thought I was the one confused because I keep passing out." He swung himself out of bed and went straight to the kitchen, kneeling on the floor to rummage through the cupboards. His voice was still audible from the kitchen, but Naruto drifted closer anyhow, to keep an eye on Sasuke more than anything. "I thought Inara explained things to you."

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Well, yeah—but she looked rather startled and busy and ran out the door as soon as I removed the seal long enough for her to get back. I don't think a lot of people like going to that place." His eyes were sad, and he was glad that Sasuke wasn't paying attention to him. He noticed that Sasuke seemed to be searching for something specific in the kitchen and getting frustrated when he couldn't find it. "And what are you looking for?"

"The ramen stash, Naruto." The tone was vaguely annoyed. Naruto blinked and tried to process the sudden change, but before he could, Sasuke seemed to find something to his satisfaction and the sound of running water filled the kitchen. Well, it had been rather ironic at the time that Sasuke put the ramen he bought in the same place Naruto always stored his…

Naruto groaned and suddenly wished he did get more visitors, that someone could take a look at Sasuke and fix the parts rattling around in that head of his. Things were too surreal, it was almost as if the past didn't happen, that he never died—that things could continue on the way they did. Even if it was for such a short time, it was one of the happiest times in his life. But as he looked down at the way the light filtered through his hands, the way the place looked and how Sasuke was muttering something under his breath as he nearly vanished in the fridge getting a drink—he knew that it could never return to normal.

For the first time in a long time, Naruto felt very tired. He knew that he couldn't handle things on his own for much longer—it was time to ask for outside help in this matter. Neji could offer some advice—mostly about how Naruto was screwing up, but he didn't want to bother him again. The best thing to do was write a message to the current Hokage, and hope that there was something that could be done on his end. Naruto was fast running out of ways to keep silent about what was really going on, and he hoped there would be a way to reverse things before it came to that.

~

Sasuke was more aware than ever of the strange looks he got, but somehow he wasn't as bothered by them now that he had an excuse. It wasn't like he could ignore them, and Naruto had specifically asked him to deliver a message to the Hokage for him. The gennin team wouldn't be arriving for a few days, but Naruto was anxious and said that he needed this done now. Naruto had been acting strange ever since Sasuke had came back from his class trip.

He kept on giving Sasuke strange looks—the same ones that the gennin team gave him after he sort of lost himself and snapped Kia that one day. It wasn't as if he was acting any different, but Sasuke was starting to feel as if he was the one doing something wrong—by simply being there. He caught the sad, confused looks that Naruto gave him from time to time, and it was with a sickening realization that he saw what was wrong.

He must be reminding Naruto more and more of his old friend—by simply being there. Sasuke clenched on hand around the message scroll, chest tightening at the thought. He didn't want to hurt Naruto, but he also didn't want to leave. He was finally in a place that felt like home to him—and…he shook his head. He could just be jumping to conclusions, seeing too much into it. Wasn't this the reason that Naruto didn't want him to see the picture? He told Sasuke right off that he knew he wasn't the same person and he wasn't going to act that way. He supposed that sometimes Naruto felt lonely, too.

Not that he didn't know he was lonely before, but someone who had never been liked his entire life, shunned by the village… he tried not to think about it, to remember echoing corridors, the only sounds there were his and Naruto's. He could picture it even now, surrounded by noise and laughter—to see everyone around him and so much life. It seemed unreal for the moment, yet perfectly in place at the same time.

He paused in front of the academy, eyes drifting to the empty schoolyard. Either everyone was inside, or it was a day off—he wasn't sure which. His gaze drifted to the large tree in the front of the yard, it's branches bare with the coming winter. A swing hung down from the lowest branches, the rope and the wooden board new looking. A breeze swirled by him, and for a moment, he almost saw a younger looking Naruto sitting there, eyes downcast and hands gripping a frayed rope.

The vision passed and he shook his head to clear it from any other images that might crop up. Naruto's stories of his childhood were getting to him, of when he was a young kid and barely graduated from the academy. He remembering the boasting, scornful words. "I was twelve when I became a gennin." His lips quirked up briefly as he left the academy grounds and headed towards his original destination. Not without a lot of struggle.

He arrived at the Hokage Tower, the ANBU giving him a strange look, but one of them promised the message would get to the Hokage. He nodded absently at that, knowing that Naruto would want some type of confirmation as soon as possible, but the Hokage was also busy and he couldn't expect to answer every missive as soon as it came across his desk—even if it was from the ghost of the long dead Rokudaime. That reason alone was enough to set it aside, Sasuke thought privately.

It was a few moments later when the ANBU returned. "The Hokage wishes that you stay in town until he has had time to go over the message." The way he held himself reminded Sasuke of Naruto—but he never saw Naruto wearing the ANBU uniform—and it wasn't like Naruto was restricted to one outfit as a ghost. "One of us will come for you when he is ready to speak with you."

Sasuke nodded absently, already moving away from the Hokage offices. He really didn't want to stay in town—but he didn't want to go back home either until he figured out what was going on with Naruto. His eyes suddenly lit up as he realized who he could talk to. That old teammate of Naruto's—Sakura.

~

Sakura looked startled to see him at the door, and Sasuke felt a little ashamed at dropping on her unannounced, but her smile was warm. "Sasuke.." She murmured. He had to consciously remind himself that she was close to a hundred years old, the same as Neji. It was the fact that fact she didn't look like it that set him off balance. "Come in—I was just sitting down to have lunch."

His face flushed and he backed away slightly. "I didn't mean to interrupt at such an inconvenient time." He said quickly. "I… I just wanted to talk." It sounded lame to his own ears and he felt the need to explain further. "About Naruto…"

She ushered him in, waving off his apologies. "It's not a bad thing at all to want to come to visit." Her smile was warm and without any warning, Sasuke was settled into a chair, a cup of warm tea pushed into his hands. "You look troubled, Sasuke." Sakura's voice was caring as she sat beside him, an identical cup in her hands.

He stared down at the foamy green liquid, gaze far away. He didn't feel that it was right to dump problems on someone that was practically a stranger, but he felt like he could trust her, he wanted to drop his problems on her, because some part of him knew that she would understand. He didn't speak for several moments, and she was patient as she waited for him, supping her tea slowly.

"I.. I don't know if you know—if it got around or whatever…" His gaze was still focused on the rapidly cooling tea, and he took a quick swallow to wet his suddenly dry throat. "My class—a few days ago—was given special permission to visit some of the outlying areas around Konoha." He saw her surprise for a moment, then she nodded for him to continue. "One of the places… was the Valley of the End."

Sakura's eyes widened as she stared at him, still pink locks falling into her face as she jerked. It was clear that name evoked a reaction in her, just as it had Naruto—but Naruto hid it better. "I didn't know they were allowing people to go there." Her voice was deceptively calm as one shaking hand rested on her leg. "What did you think?"

She couldn't pull off the cheerful act as well as Naruto, who seemed to have perfected it down to an art, and her worried green eyes met Sasuke's. He was careful in the way he answered—for all the Sakura looked young, she was a lot older than her image led people to believe, and had probably been through a lot in her life. Not that she was weak or anything—but he knew some things didn't get easier as the years passed by, no matter how many of them there were.

"It was very peaceful." He said softly. "But… sad." Hands gripped the cup tighter and he couldn't quite look at her again. "Our professor told us of the battle that started the formation of Konohagakure… and…."

"Of Naruto's battle with Sasuke?" She asked quietly, her voice calm and resigned. She managed a tired smile. "It's been a long time since that happened. Sasuke left Konoha after that battle, and we didn't see him for years and years after. By then… he was so changed…" Her expression saddened. "He cared about Naruto more than anything, even during that fight—that was the whole reason for the fight, and the reason why he couldn't … not in the end…"

Sasuke could see his image in the cup, pale skin tinted green and dark eyes reflecting an unknown emotion back at himself. "The way Naruto talks, Sasuke was his only friend." He murmured, half to himself. "I didn't mean to bring up bad memories for you… but…" His eyes didn't change as he continued to stare at the distorted image of himself. "I'm starting to wonder if my being at the… where Naruto is… is a bad thing." He murmured. "I think I bring up too many bad memories for him."

Sakura's hand closed around his own, and her smile was gentle. "Sasuke was my friend, too." She reminded him. "Even if were weren't as close as he and Naruto were." She took a long swallow of tea. "And I think that he really enjoys you being there, Sasuke. You don't bring up bad memories—memories for certain, because Naruto never forgot anything about his friends—but they're not necessarily bad memories."

Sasuke looked up at her, startled gaze meeting her calm one. "But…" His brow furrowed. "He's been giving me the weirdest looks ever since I came back from the Valley of the End." He said slowly. "As if he was afraid of how to deal with me." His look was slowly becoming frustrated. "As strange as it may sound, I count Naruto as a friend. It doesn't matter to me that he's a ghost, that I look like a friend he's had ages ago—I… I don't want to lose his friendship, but at the same time, I don't want to hurt him."

Swallowing the rest of the tea in a hurried gulp so he wouldn't have to stare at his own accusing gaze, he set the cup aside. "I don't want him to look at me and see anything that went wrong in the past, I don't want him to see me as a friend that hurt him—or one that he hurt." His bangs hid his eyes as he continued. "I don’t want to be a painful reminder of his past. He'd been hurt too much when he was alive and always hid it. The idiot always hides his feelings behind that stupid smile of his…"

Sakura fiddled with her cup, gaze unreadable for a long moment before she spoke. Her words were calm and meant to be reassuring, but her mind was racing as she tried to hide her shock at how casually Sasuke spoke of Naruto's childhood—as if he knew him. It was no wonder that Naruto saw this Sasuke as their old teammate at times. "He hid his emotions around everyone, except possibly Sasuke. The fact that he's trusting you with the real parts of him shows a lot. I think he'd be very hurt if you were suddenly to leave."

Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his hair impatiently. "Then the idiot should say something to me." He grumbled. "All powerful-dead Hokage or not, he obviously still has feelings and I think that I'd like to know if I'm the one that is bothering him, or it is something that I can help fix."

Sasuke was about to reply to that, when a knock on the door had both of their heads turning. When Sakura answered it, he could easily see the ANBU member waiting. He didn't question as to how he or she knew that he would be here, it was expected that they would know. He turned to Sakura before he left, though. "I should visit you again sometime." He said softly. "I'm sure you would like to hear more about Naruto and what's going with him." His look was unsure for a moment. "And it's nice talking with you."

Her own smile was warm as she clasped his hands in between her own. She was rapidly coming to her own conclusions, but she wouldn't say anything, do anything yet until things were proven. She had a feeling that the Hokage had some of the answers, or Naruto did—and she only hoped that whatever happened, things would end up happier for both of her friends.

~

When Sasuke was let into the Hokage's office, the man was pacing and barely managed to wave him into a chair. He heard various mumbles of "Why me?" and "I knew that this would come back to get me… why did it have to be me…" While the Hokage was away from the desk, Sasuke took the chance to take a closer look at the type of documents that were there, hoping to spot Naruto's letter among them. It was the only thing Sasuke could think of that would have him called in here, instead of just a normal reply given to him.

There were a few scattered items on the desk, mission reports or something close to it, a picture of a family--? No—a gennin team. One of the various scrolls had to be the message that Naruto had given to the Hokage. He peered over at it, trying to be careful about peeking at it, his mind trying to process the upside down letters.

He wasn't able to catch most of what was written there, but he did see his name and the word 'worry' his hands clenched involuntarily in his lap. How dare Naruto write about him—if there was anything that concerned him, Naruto should have talked to him about it, not just passed it off—not gone to an outside source. It concerned him, damnit! He was about to lean over and read the whole thing—forget the consequences—when the Hokage suddenly noticed where he was looking and snatched the paper up.

"Do you know what this is talking about, Sensu-san?" The Hokage gave him a curious look, which in no way dampened the shock that still lingered in his eyes. His hands were clenched around the letter, waving it about. Whatever he read there caused some kind of distress, tilted a worldview that had been rather straight before. And it was starting to piss Sasuke off that everyone was beating around the bush about it.

"No." He kept his voice carefully controlled as he sat in his place, watching the Hokage carefully. "All I know is that it has something to do with me, is that correct?" His dark eyes watched the movements of the man carefully, expression giving nothing away of what felt. It wasn’t necessary to let anyone see what he felt—

"That is correct—Naruto does write about you." His look was intense as he stared at Sasuke, as if he was searching for something—expecting something to jump out at him unexpectedly. "You shouldn't be angry that Naruto went behind your back, Sensu-san." There was that weird emphasis on his name again. "He is just used to handling things on his own when it concerns the estate, and it is rather hard for him to get anything out here. I think something happened that finally made him worry a great deal about you."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at that. "What could I do that would worry him?" His voice was soft, dark eyes taking on a different look. "I live there, I go to school somewhere else—he haunts the place and never leaves. It's not like I do anything spectacularly weird or wrong, unless this is concerning those scrolls that the gennin team took away a few weeks ago."

The thought of those lost scrolls still hit him hard, and wasn’t even sure why. Maybe it was the fact that Sasuke entrusted them to Naruto, and it was his fault they were taken away. It didn't seem to explain all of it, but to think of anything else was stretching things a bit. Although considering the person he shared his apartment with was a ghost…Perhaps Sasuke needed to be a little more open minded.

The Hokage continued to watch him, even as he moved to a locked cabinet in the office and pulled out several familiar looking scrolls. "Would you like these back?" He asked softly. "They really do belong at the Uchiha estate, I don't know what that team was thinking to bring them back here. I would have had them sent back a week ago, but something came up." He placed a few of the smallest scrolls in front of Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes widened and his hands went out to the scrolls before he could stop himself, but he managed to draw back before he actually touched them. He gave a mental curse at his lapse, and fisted his hands in his lap to prevent anything else like that happening. "I would be grateful to have them returned." His voice was steady, he was pleased to note. "As they do belong to the Uchiha clan." His eyes narrowed briefly. "I'm sure that you already made copies of what they contained, though."

A raised eyebrow was the only thing that met the slightly accusative statement, but the Hokage didn't voice any displeasure to the rude words. "It is still jutsus that our village could use in a time of need. Granted, I don't know how well anyone will be able to learn them—it could possibly be shuffled along with the forbidden jutsus of Kage Bunshin, but as for right now, I have the only copies."

Sasuke felt himself relax at that and gave a cautious nod. He could trust the Hokage to keep the jutsus secret—until the time was right and they were needed. He did want the originals back, though. As the Hokage said—they belonged in the Uchiha household. "Thank you." It almost felt like he was thanking the thief who gave back a slightly used version of precious items because he already got their use from them, but a thanks was needed nevertheless. He wondered what Naruto would say… Naruto! That damn letter…

"Now what was in that letter?" Sasuke demanded, uncaring now of the fact he was being rude. He wanted answers—he had wanted answers since he first came here, since people first started giving him looks and treated him funny, since he had weird dreams and mood swings and a multitude of things that he couldn't begin to explain on his own.

"Naruto is worried about you—" He continued where he left off before, and Sasuke gritted his teeth at the delay. "He says that little things have happened around you, have affected you—he's worried that you being around a ghost all the time … is hurting you." There was something else and Sasuke focused his gaze on the Hokage, eyes narrowed and lips thinning out.

"Yes, he already mentioned that to me." He resisted the urge to tap his fingers on the hardwood desk—it would only make him look childish and he wasn't going to present that image of himself. "There must be something else in that letter that disturbed you so much. Does he want me gone? Am I bringing up bad memories for him?" He had to struggle to keep his voice calm—it was never this hard before—but kept it intense and demanding of an answer.

"No—no! Nothing like that at all." The Hokage was obviously more nervous, eyeing the contents of the letter, then Sasuke. "I don't know why I didn't pick up on the possibility before…" His thoughts wandered for a moment and only a discreet cough from Sasuke redirected his attention back to the young man waiting for an answer. "Sensu-san.. what do you think of the possibility of past lives?"