Skeletons in the Closet

Chapter Twelve

By: Lazuli

PG

Disclaimers apply, etc. No real warnings or pairings.

Sasuke was left alone for once, Naruto uncharacteristically quiet and withdrawn, retreating to other parts of the grounds or doing who-knew-what. After their confrontation the other day, and despite their pledge to just take it easy, one day at a time—Naruto had virtually vanished. Sasuke couldn't 'feel' his presence, he never saw him—in short, Sasuke was effectively alone in the house. And it felt strange, not right.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. It was what he wanted in the first place, when he first moved to the apartments—but after he'd gotten to know Naruto, after he saw what he was like—after they became friends—the silence now was overpowering. It was almost painful in its intensity, but all the calling in the world wasn't bringing Naruto out from wherever he was hiding. He refused to believe that Naruto left for good.

Buried in his closet, he shuffled a few things around, and his lips compressed in an annoyed line when he noticed the faintly damaged looking board. He hoped that the floor wouldn't collapse in this apartment—Naruto said he had concentrated most of his energy on keeping this place preserved, even if the rest of the apartment complex had been falling apart. He pushed down on the board, and his eyes widened at the compartment that slid open in front of him. What the hell? Sasuke carefully slid his hands in to check as to what was in there, and pulled out a small metal box a moment later.

The lock on it was rusty, and Sasuke pried it off easily, hands trembling slightly. This was something new; this was something he found on his own. There wasn't a lot in the box, but the first of the items was a set of pictures. He lifted them out carefully, mindful of how old they must have been, and untied the string holding them together.

The first of the pictures was of Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke—an older picture of Sasuke—one that looked to be his age, instead of the teenage one he saw before. It was taken in the bedroom, Sasuke sitting on the edge of the bed, and Naruto standing beside him, one hand resting on Sasuke's shoulder. He was wearing the ANBU uniform that Sasuke had seen only the guards of the Hokage wear, and his other hand loosely held a mask. Sasuke looked sullen and Naruto was serious, and he wondered what prompted this picture of the two of them. Neither of them looked happy. Judging by what Naruto had told him—it must have been around the time when he was Sasuke's guard.

The second picture was more promising, as if enough time had passed by where they had gotten to know each other again, or perhaps someone caught them in a moment where they didn't need to worry about appearances. Sasuke certainly looked healthier in the picture and not so tense—the fact that both of them were outside had to contribute to that. The slant of the sunlight on Naruto's features seemed to add a glow to his hair, even in the picture, and Naruto was smiling and poking Sasuke in the side. The dark haired boy was turned to Naruto and giving him an impassive look. There was something about his eyes, though, that showed more emotion than his face did, as if he allowed himself that one small concession and nothing more. Something in the way they stood next to each other showed some type of tie—an understanding.

There was a single picture of Naruto, eyes crossed and making a face at the camera—a younger Naruto. He wondered in brief amusement how Sasuke got a hold of that picture, or who Naruto was posing for. In a cracked frame was Sasuke's version of the Team 7 picture. The picture itself was slightly wrinkled as if the owner had taken it out of its frame at one point and to hold it tightly between clenched hands.

Then there was a set of pictures that made his heart stutter in his chest. It was a younger Sasuke, being carried on the shoulders of a man that he only saw in dreams—the one that held the gleaming sword, who's red eyes peered into his own. "Itachi…." He murmured, eyes narrowing unconsciously. Was there any sign in this picture of the person he would become? The younger Sasuke seemed actually happy to be around his shoulders, leaning forward slightly with a small smile on his face. This picture was marred as well, torn at the corner but not ripped all the way through, the tear stopping short of Itachi's face.

The next picture was a family picture—of a young woman and man—and Itachi and the younger Sasuke. The hand that wasn't holding the picture clenched painfully at his side, not knowing why he wanted to just keep it with him, why his chest ached when he looked at the family that had no idea of what was in store for them. Of something so stable, so brutally torn away. They seemed happy there—normal or well adjusted. He knew pictures didn't show all, but this Sasuke was so young—but he knew that this was the last picture of this family together, of the couple smiling, standing near their children. Before Itachi had ruined it all, before a young child became so consumed by the need to avenge that he lost sight of what made him happy.

He continued to stare at the picture, eyes blurry with unshed tears.

~

"Sasuke—Sasuke where are you?" Sasuke carefully hid his box away and stood up, brushing his hands off and hiding any signs of the hiding place. Satisfied that it wouldn't be ferreted out by anyone, he left his room, answering the call of his mother.

She was in the kitchen, directing one of the cooks in some meal, but when he stepped in the room, she smiled. "You've been hiding away all day in your room. Trying to exhaust yourself studying again?" Sasuke made a face and snatched one of the dango from a plate on the table. "You have to get ready for when Itachi comes." It was then Sasuke realized the dango on the table had to be for Itachi, the meal she was putting such attention to was for Itachi as well.

"I want to study, Mother." Sasuke's dark eyes met hers seriously. "I want to be as smart as Itachi." Swallowing the dango quickly, Sasuke smiled. "Do you think that he'll have time today to teach me shuriken throwing?" If he became as good as Itachi, she would look his way as well. She would see him and be proud of him.

His mother grew solemn. "Not today, Sasuke. Itachi is very busy doing a mission for the Hokage. He'll be back later today, but I'm sure that he'll be very tired and won't have the time to play with you." She patted him on the head absently.

Sasuke's face turned down in a pout. "It's not playing!" He protested. "He should try and train with me. That way I can learn faster and be just like him!" He ate another dango, frowning now. He didn’t care if they were for Itachi "He never spends any time with me anymore, and whenever he comes home, you always forget I'm here."

He ignored his mothers call as he ran out of the kitchen. It was always Itachi! Itachi was the best, Itachi graduated from the academy at the same time Sasuke would start it. Sasuke scowled and kicked at the wall lightly. It wasn't fair. Someday he would be as good at Itachi, and then his brother would have to pay attention to him.

~

Sasuke rubbed his head as he put the pictures down beside the box, biting his lip. It was happening again—wasn't there some fancy name for what he was going through? And not all that stupid past life crap that Naruto talked about—pyschometry… that's what it was. Not that he believed in any psychic powers before, but it made a hell of a lot more sense than being the reincarnation of a ghost's friend.

There were more objects in the box besides the pictures, and he gently set aside a set of small shuriken, a kunai—and something that almost looked like a journal or a notebook. He set everything aside, and debated opening the notebook. It might be private, but as he pointed out to Naruto ages ago—everyone that was connected to this place was dead, and it didn't hurt to go through it now. And he already thinks I'm this other Sasuke that he knew. I should be allowed to.

He flipped it over to the first page, smiling faintly at the series of notes written in a precise hand. They were written by a child, obviously—and one that was just starting school of some sort—the Academy? It listed techniques and abilities—it had observations of people—as the time went by they became more precise. It wrote about the different bloodlines—a small note and a question connecting the Hyuuga family and the Uchiha family. Curious questions, but dedicated and driven—Apparently Itachi was a driving force even before he went nuts.

He idly flipped through the pages, eyes skimming over the contents until the entries abruptly changed—it was not notes for a few pages, but angry words—questions…This had to be the point where Sasuke's life fell apart, where everything was taken from him in one brutal stroke.

Why… why did Itachi do it? Mother… Father… everyone. Because of him…I need to defeat Itachi. I'm going to be stronger than him. I'm going to avenge everyone. I'm going to train, going to surpass everyone. Itachi can't accuse me of being weak anymore.

Even after that point, other parts of the notebook were still filled with notes—the pen that was used to write the words pushed into the paper hard, as if every word needed to be committed to memory, that if he pressed hard enough, it would give him the strength that he needed. The detail of the lessons received increased, At random parts, especially during certain techniques, items mentioned—there would be additions to the lessons, putting together the information with the intended goal.

Chakra development—must control all that I have so that I can defeat him. He's already strong. Need to get stronger. What triggers the Sharingan? It is my family's legacy and I will make sure I develop it soon, I will make it stronger than Itachi's ever was. I still have the family's scrolls—I will study our family's jutsus, I won't let anyone else have them. They are mine now—I am the only Uchiha left. Itachi lost the right to that name when he committed his act.

He could see the drive that Sasuke had, the intent that he carried since he was eight and everything was taken away from him. And then he saw little notes about Naruto interspersed throughout the notebook as well. Naruto was the only name he mentioned, as if Naruto was the only person he saw in his world, besides the never-wavering view of his brother. Sasuke saw something in Naruto—there was an odd note about Naruto being an orphan as well, his observations picked up on how people treated him.

Uzumaki Naruto… stupid, lazy—but I can see he's strong. He's dumb, though. Never does things right—I heard he was in this class before me. Before me! They accepted someone like him. But he's failed before. Failed… if I was in the class before, I would have succeeded. I would have been closer to my goal. Why doesn't he try harder? I can see how people look at him—he's stupid if he thinks that he needs to fall to their expectations. Paying attention to how people see you is stupid.

Sasuke bit his lip and looked down at the hastily scrawled words, intermixed with techniques and rules and jutsus—of a life of a person that had one goal in mind—but managed to see something outside the spectrum of that narrow tunnel. Apparently Naruto wasn’t lying when he saw that he and Sasuke were probably each others only friends. But I don't exactly feel comfortable prying too much into the lonely childhood that Naruto had.

The notes seemed to drop off a little once Sasuke graduated and he was on a team with Naruto and Sakura—his only comments on that was of how annoying Sakura was and how Naruto would just get in his way of achieving his goal. He didn't specify how at the time, just that something about Naruto was always on the edge of his senses—and for the Sasuke at that moment, it was bad—he couldn't afford distractions.

Naruto is always there, always loud and obnoxious—but he's strong, just like I thought before. He can actually think once in a while and has good ideas. Most of them are stupid like he is, but there is a core of power there. I want to know more about it.

Another entry talked about the first, real mission any of them had—one that was supposed to be a simple, low rank mission that blew up out of their control—but Sasuke wanted it, needed it. He was never frightened about what was going on during the course of the mission. The only time that changed was near the end of the mission—

The idiot almost got me killed, almost made me lose sight of my goal. I knew Naruto would do something to get in my way, Why I moved to save him, I still don't know. If it was out of duty or impulse—maybe something else that I still can't figure out.

Sasuke put the notebook down for the moment, gathering up some of the smaller items and putting them away. He only kept on the notebook and the pictures, telling himself that he'd show Naruto the pictures at least—he was certain that the blond had never seen them before—except for the team picture, of course—and would appreciate them. Sasuke smiled as he gathered them up. He didn't need to be this old Sasuke to return something of him to Naruto.

~

Naruto still wasn't anywhere to be found, and as much as Sasuke wanted to stick around and ferret out the now-reclusive ghost, he realized that he had a life outside of the complex. It was weird to think of—surreal and the thought of going to the university was like trying to interpret his dreams. He almost dreaded going back to the classes and hoped the brief vacation they had would let the memories of how he passed out that day fade from this classmates minds.

But as he walked through the halls of the school, he found the memory of the event didn't fade and the whispers surrounded him. It was worse than Konoha—at least they tried to hide the fact they were talking about him. He was getting a little pissed at how direct everyone was acting, how the words seemed especially directed at him with no regard for how he felt about it.

"He's the one…." Another voice reached his ears and he gritted his teeth. "I think he's possessed or something. You know that he lives near where Konoha is?" The girl was obviously talking to her companion, and the high pitched tones as well as the topic of the conversation was starting to push at the wrong buttons with him. "I mean… those shinobi are pretty scary. What if he's one in disguise?"

Sasuke had quite enough of that, and he slammed his books on the table next to the girls, glaring at them, dark eyes narrowed. "It's rude to talk about being when you believe they are not there." He murmured. "But it's even ruder to do so when they are in hearing distance and you know your words will reach them."

Their eyes grew wide as his glare increased, and he was almost amused at the way their skin paled. "We…we're sorry!" The shorter girl babbled. "We really didn't mean to offend you.. it's just… like … everyone has been talking about you and…" She gulped nervously. "Well, there are lots of creepy stuff said about that area! Ghosts and everything. I just thought the ghost did something weird to you and…." Her eyes widened behind the lenses of her glasses when Sasuke's look focused directly on her.

"You shouldn't speak of Naruto that way." His voice was perfectly calm, reasonable. "Why it's…. sweet…that you worried about him 'doing something' to me, you're way off the mark." His gaze turned far away for the moment, and it was as if he wasn't speaking to the girls but to himself "I did something to him…and I need to correct it." Without another word or a goodbye, he turned around and left, not knowing that the scene would cause the rumors to increase even more.

His professor wasn't as bad, he just asked a simple question of how Sasuke was doing, and if there was anything he could do about it. It didn’t grate on his nerves quite as badly—after all, he was certain the professor actually meant well, but he didn't want to deal with it at all. He decided the best avenue of defense would be to take his assignments and hide out in the library.

Kuri found him there., finally having found a spot where he could study and not be bothered by people whispering about him all the time. "You're still quite the celebrity, no matter where you go." Her cheerful voice didn't annoy him, even if she was talking about the same thing everyone on campus was chattering about.

He grimaced and hid his face in his book for a moment. "You have no idea." He muttered. "It wasn't like passing out is any big deal… but I guess I did it in a rather spectacular way." He turned his head enough so he could look at her. "Does the Uchiha estate really have such a fantastic reputation even outside of Konoha?" He asked dryly. "Apparently it is not only haunted, but the site of demon activity, can possess people—will make them crazy, is scheduled to be taken over as an alien base…." He rolled his eyes but Kuri only laughed.

"Whenever something weird happens, people tend to blame it on the shinobi." She explained. "And you passed out in what is technically Konoha boundaries…" She shrugged. "Plus you live at one of the more…talked about places." Her smile was rueful and she patted his shoulder. "It'll suck for awhile, but then somebody will catch the new graduates climbing trees or something and you'll be forgotten."

He blinked, not getting what climbing trees had to do with anything, but he didn't question. "Glad to know it'll go away eventually." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Things have been getting weirder—not that I'd admit that to anyone else." He felt like he could trust Kuri—she was a great listener and her family came from Konoha—it was like there was a vague kinship there.

Her eyes widened at that. "Is Naruto showing up more?" She questioned. He was startled—he had forgotten that she didn't know how good of friends he and Naruto were now. She only knew Naruto as hardly showing himself to anyone—that he didn't like getting close to anyone. Sasuke suddenly realized that was the situation now—Naruto was hiding himself away, so that even Sasuke couldn't sense him near.

Sasuke gave a faint smile and shut his book, focusing more of his attention on Kuri. "Yeah.. for awhile he was showing up more." He gave a quick, edited version of how he and Naruto interacted with each other, but his eyes were shadowed. "But he's not around now, and that worries me. We…we're friends." He explained. "At least I thought we were. I think I did something to hurt him and now he's avoiding me."

She bit her lip, unsure of how to respond to that. "Naruto… from what I remember my family saying of him—he was a very lonely person. Maybe some things happened that made him want to be alone again. I'm sure you're still friends, Sasuke. Just give him some time alone. Things will sort themselves out." She glanced down at her watch absently. "We better get to our classes—" She grinned. "Unless you plan to hide out here until everything dies down."

Sasuke just made a face as he gathered his books together. "If I keep on running from it, it'll only get worse." He said logically. "Might as well confront it head on and deal with the consequences later."

She laughed and gathered her own stuff together, walking with him to their shared class. "That's the spirit, Sasuke. All you have to do is gather the strength to confront your problems and the rest will work itself out." And even though she only meant the immediate problem of the rumors circulating around the small campus, it suddenly took on a whole new dimension.

~

When he arrived home, his eyebrows rose at the sounds of the gennin team working in one of the empty buildings. He didn’t remember giving them permission to work today, and it was strange for them to come when no one was around…His brow furrowed. Or had the contract said for them to come until they completed their work? He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone's hand landed on his shoulder.

It was only Shiba, but the man moved so silently that Sasuke never heard him coming. "Naruto made arrangements earlier for us to be here." He explained. "In case you were wondering why we were here today." His gaze flicked over the empty buildings, the shadows falling strangely over the ground. "We've made pretty good progress and if you would like to check over some of what we've worked on—I'd appreciate that."

Sasuke nodded absently, heart calming down from the shock. Even if he was surrounded by people at school,, he was used to it being quiet here. He wasn't used to contact in his home—he knew it as being empty. "Let me put my books away and I'll check it out." He tried to make his tone casual as he walked with Shiba towards the main residence. "Have you seen Naruto today?"

Shiba shook his head. "No—he usually doesn’t show up on his own. He'll leave messages for us, but I think the only times he really shows himself is when you're around." He tilted his head and observed Sasuke. "You must have made quite an impression on him." He didn't bring up what half of Konoha suspected, he didn't talk about how much he looked like or acted like a Sasuke that had died long ago. "Stick around, Sensu-san. You're good for someone like Naruto."

Everyone kept on saying that, but Sasuke was starting to have his doubts. He placed his stuff on the kitchen counter, an uncertain look on his face at how his and Shiba's voices echoes in the empty room. Naruto always made an impression when he was there—his energy sparked something in the room, his voice was always loud—it was just him and hard to explain. And with it being gone…

Sasuke ignored the pang in his chest and let Shiba direct him towards the places where the gennin team had already worked, both of them silent now. It was strange going through the empty rooms—walking through empty hallways that used to have many people walking through them, rooms that once was home to laughter now silenced. It was almost too much for him. After the fourth or fifth house, Sasuke couldn't stand it anymore.

"You … you have all done a great job." His voice only faltered once. "I want to thank you for dedicating yourselves so much to this task." Apparently Kia had taken the task to heart and dedicated herself more to what it meant—she had gotten over the fact that it was a 'boring' task and worked even harder. Whether it was just to get the job done and over with, or to actually do her best, Sasuke didn't know and didn't ask. "Why don't you take a break for about a week and then get started again?"

The estate was almost finished, and he felt that these kids deserved some type of break. It had to be lonely out here—even he wasn't around most of the time, and he never knew that Naruto hid himself most of the time. "I mean…" He shrugged and tried to avoid the confused stares of the team and Shiba. "I'm sure that you want more exciting missions and this is hardly high priority." He managed a smile, even though it felt like his face was stretching out of proportion.

Shiba must have seen something in his expression, the way he stood or the words he said—maybe he got more information because of his higher rank. Maybe he knew what was going on even when Sasuke was foundering in the dark. He placed one hand on Mika's head and nodded. "Sounds good to me." His voice was bland and he patted Aki on the head as well, who only gave him an impassive stare. "I'm sure that there are some fantastic missions lined up for us from the Hokage…"

Kia stared at Sasuke, eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something." She accused him. "Not that it's any of my business…" Her tone was still that slightly snotty tone that got on his nerves. "But chasing us away won't make anything else disappear." Apparently she still had some trust issues with him, and he wondered what she could see, what she had picked up.

"Who said I was trying to chase you away?" He almost snapped, but he held his emotions in check just in time. He remembered all too clearly losing his temper with this girl before, and didn't want to hurt her now. "I just realize how hard you must have been working when I never even realized it."

Her eyes narrowed further and she opened her mouth to say something when Aki rested a hand on her shoulder and silenced any statement she was going to make. His unnerving gaze focused on Sasuke as well, and something in those blank eyes had Sasuke shivering. He could almost feel the power in that gaze and it had him backing up a step.

"There is something different about you, Sensu-san." He murmured. "I can't say what it is, but I warn you to tread carefully in what you are doing." His eyes never turned away from Sasuke's. "Fate can be turned and twisted, Sensu-san—but some things are irrevocable and unchangeable in the end." Sasuke was strongly reminded of Neji, of how even in the gaze of an old man, he could see deep inside of him—he remembered the hushed conversation that Naruto and Neji shared, and wondered if this was related to it. He couldn't even form a reply to it.

His warning given, Aki let Shiba guide him away, but Sasuke felt the effect of Aki's gaze on him long after the boy left and he was back in his room. He wasn't dumb—he knew what Aki was alluding to. Naruto had explained vaguely of how the Hyuuga family had special abilities dealing with their eyes, granting them the gift to look inside someone. He just didn't want to believe it, didn't want to admit that anything was going to come of it.

Before he thought about what he was doing, he was pulling out the notebook again, carefully setting aside the pictures he had tucked into one of the pockets. He knew it was wrong of him—to pry so casually into the life of a person who had been so hurt throughout his short life, to desecrate the private thoughts of someone who died almost a century ago. He needed to know, though—and as well as Naruto knew Sasuke, there were some facets about him that he didn't know, that Sasuke wouldn't let him know.

He flipped around the pages, eyes lighting on various words and phrases, events that meant nothing to him—Sasuke stopped writing for a long while—there was a gap in time that was unaccounted for. The next entry made him wince.

Naruto's power … Naruto's skills have grown far beyond mine and I don't know why. Wasn't he dead last at the academy? I was number one—I was the one with the special abilities, but now… now he has surpassed me on so many levels. If it wasn't for the curse seal… I would be falling behind, Because of this power, I can achieve my goals. I will fight Itachi eventually and I will beat him. I will become stronger than Naruto. He's jealous of me—because Kakashi taught me Chidori, but I look at Naruto and see something else, something that lurks beneath the surface—an awesome power that I cannot trace but I want to achieve for myself. What is it about Naruto? What gives him that strength, the reservoir of power that is unique to him, that only he can reach? I will find out—because Itachi wants that same power. Itachi covets Naruto's power and still ignores me. He sees Naruto as a worthy opponent, Naruto who has faced him and survived. Naruto….. why does it always go back to him? What is his secret?

Sasuke stared at the entry. The words were filled with so much confusion, hurt … all of Sasuke's life he tried to reach his brothers level. Curse seal… Naruto mentioned the curse seal and how it eventually killed Sasuke. There had to be more to it than that. He absently rubbed his shoulder, the muscles tense and knotted there. He flipped to the next page, but it was blank—as were several after it. He thought the journal entries—the notes, or whatever they were would end there, but as he turned one more page, he found a series of almost letters—and they were addressed to Naruto.

~tbc….