Skeletons in the Closet

Chapter Thirteen

By: Lazuli

PG

No warnings or pairings as of yet, well—not really. Hints of it if you squint, but don't strain yourself. XD Things will be a little more obvious soon. Don't kill me for this chapter, and trust me—it'll all make sense and work out soon. Be warned, my roommate says that I'm evil for what I've planned out. Things aren't as simple as they seem. Note: Don't own Naruto. Blah. ^_^

~

Naruto,

Why I'm addressing this letter to you, I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm used to writing things down, but not saying anything. Maybe because it's addressed to you, and you were the only one that I could ever trust with anything. You'll probably never read this anyways, unless you go through my private stuff after I die. I can't see you doing that, but—it would be nice to know that I managed to say something to you without the both of us ready to tear each others throats out.

Well, I suppose the first thing to do is apologize, if I haven't by the time you read this letter. I doubt I've really apologized, because Naruto—I always knew you understood, on some level at least. Why I went off, why I was so angry—it doesn't make it better, it doesn't mean you have to forgive me. I'm not stupid, Naruto. I made a lot of mistakes in my life and whatever I do to try and redeem myself isn't going to help me after I die. But as long as I have your understanding at the end, I'll be okay.

Whatever happens will happen, I suppose. The fact that we reached this point—the fact that I'm alive and entrusting my welfare to you is something I never expected. I don't mind, though, Naruto. My ghosts have been laid to rest. There is only looking forward from here on out. I will no longer think about the past.

Uchiha Sasuke

Sasuke set the notebook aside, glad that nobody was in the room at the moment. This most current entry was only one of many, and all of them were addressed to Naruto. He knew the chances of Naruto actually reading them was practically nil, but it made him feel better to address them to his friend. And they were friends again—closer than they were before as if their battles and time apart strengthened something already unbreakable.

Today was also one of those rare moments in his life where he could pretend like everything was normal, where nothing had changed from before. He was physically better than he had been in months—it was like nothing ever happened. If it wasn't for the occasional twinge of the curse seal, he could pretend like he was fine.

Naruto, of all people, had devised some type of seal that managed to suppress the curse seal almost entirely, actually taking away a huge chunk of it's influence over Sasuke's body. It had hurt like hell, and he almost killed Naruto in the process of the act, but he admitted to himself that it was a lot better now. Not that it would solve the problem of his chakra—but it wasn't something that he told Naruto about, either. If he did, the idiot would be sure to worry more and drive himself into the ground trying to repair something broken a long time ago.

Checking to make sure that no one was around, he hid the notebook back it it's hiding place, locking the metal box and sliding the panel back in place. Not that he really believed that Naruto or anyone else would go through his stuff, but old habits were hard to break. He'd forgotten about this place in his years away from Konoha, and discovered it by accident. It had been a nasty shock to see the old items he stored away—the pictures of his family, the one of Itachi—practice weaponry that Itachi had passed down to him…the stupid picture of Naruto—where Naruto was being stupid and silly and just relaxed around him.

That had changed—but things were almost back to normal. No person could ever return to the spot they came from—the point of return was always slightly off from the one they departed from. Maybe their relationship had grown since then—they were both older and been through a lot. Stuff that he would have never thought of happening, events he couldn't have imagined when he was twelve years old and a fresh graduate from the Academy. There was one new picture—one that Sakura insist that she take as soon as Sasuke was well enough to receive visitors after he came home. He smirked at the look that both he and Naruto shared in the picture before he put it away with the rest of his pictures. Perhaps he could persuade Sakura to take a new picture soon—

"Sasuke….!" Sasuke cursed under his breath when he heard Naruto come in, and he hurried to stick his head out the door, hiding his smile when Naruto strolled through the door, a real smile on his face. It seemed whatever he did today brought him some happiness. "You wouldn't believe it! Tsunade-baba said that I did a good job today! She let me handle a bunch of the stuff she normally does!" Naruto was practically bouncing. "It was like I was Hokage already."

Sasuke's brow rose at that. "It couldn't have been very important." He drawled. "If she let you handle it." He shook his head. "Unless she's getting more senile as the years go by, but even the Sandaime wasn't that far gone in the head." He hid his grin at Naruto's outraged scowl, but he knew that neither of them truly meant their reactions. It was just an old game at this point, one that they knew the rules of, one that they played out of habit.

"You're just jealous." Naruto stuck out his tongue and plopped down on Sasuke's bed. "Man, you still haven't decorated in here?" He made a face as he looked around. "Too plain, Sasuke—I know you have more personality than this." He gestured to the bare walls, then raised an eyebrow at Sasuke. "What do you say we go into town and get something to spice this place up?" There was a bright grin hovering at the edge of his mouth as he spoke, that same happiness lingering in his eyes.

Sasuke, making himself comfortable next to Naruto, was caught completely off guard by Naruto's suggestion. Not that Naruto didn't throw him every now and then, but he was usually able to see at least a hint of it coming, This time—"What do you mean?" He demanded. He wanted to make sure, he didn't want to assume more than what was going on….

Naruto grinned even wider at the annoyed look that crossed Sasuke's features. He truly had the upper hand, and he was enjoying every moment of it, looking ready to drag out the good news—but being Naruto, he couldn't hold it in for long. "Exactly what it sounds like, Sasuke." He said, poking his friend in the side. "You get to go into town for a day—" He gave him a sardonic look. "With me watching your back, of course…" The eye roll that accompanied this statement showed Sasuke what Naruto thought of that little condition—"Because of my recommendation, Sakura's observations and the fact that it's been almost a year since you've been cooped up in this place—they're allowing you a day of parole."

As Sasuke stared at him, dumbfounded, Naruto continued to explain. "I told you that you'd be walking around the town eventually, now didn't I?" He asked. "I wasn’t lying, you know." He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, a mock scowl on his face as if Sasuke was making the accusation at that moment. "It just took a little while longer than I thought, but I did managed to get at least part of the day arranged for you to see people again."

Sasuke blinked at him, trying to fight the smile that wanted to appear on his face He knew by the way Naruto was grinning—the way he was talking about it, voice rushed and words shoved together—that it had taken a lot more effort on Naruto's part than he was willing to admit. Sasuke would bet his stash of childhood memories that Naruto begged for a long time, wheedled, and practically blackmailed Tsunade into letting him have this day. "You idiot." He said gruffly, but there was the tiniest of smiles on his face. "Who said I wanted to deal with people staring at me again?"

Naruto smirked, knowing behind the words, the phrasing…that Sasuke appreciated more than he would admit. The more he mocked it, the more he cared about it—and Naruto knew that Sasuke needed some type of connection with the outside world, besides him and Sakura. As much as he didn't care about anyone else—it was still a life that he came back to. Even if Sasuke would never say so out loud—the way his eyes warmed said enough. "You, survive this long without your fan club staring at you?" Naruto snorted. "Please—you're probably pining away with only me for company."

"I know my intelligence level has dropped." Sasuke deadpanned. "It'll be nice to talk to someone with brains instead of just a loudmouth in bright clothing." He raised an eyebrow at the picture of Team 7 that Naruto had on the table. "I'm surprised we weren't all blinded by those day glow colors."

Naruto grinned at that, edging closer to Sasuke on the bed. "That was to throw everyone off." He said in a stage whisper, as if confiding a great secret. "They would never suspect me of being a ninja, and then—" He smacked his hands together, startling Sasuke. "I'd be able to get them and complete the mission successfully."

Sasuke laughed at the look on Naruto's face, and then even harder when Naruto started at the sound of his laughter. "The number loudmouth ninja of Konoha… was undercover the entire time as a sneaky ninja?" He asked incredulously. Hearing Naruto explain it in that way, after all these years—he snickered again before calming down. His eyes were still bright with amusement though. Naruto was still staring at him like he was someone doing a henge.

"I've never heard you laugh before." He said in amazement, eyes wide. Sasuke started to stiffen and Naruto poked him in the side, grinning a bit. "You should do it more. You have a good laugh, Sasuke. I'm glad that you can laugh around me." At the sudden pronouncement, Naruto stood up and held his hand out to Sasuke. "Want to spar?"

Sasuke kept the smile on his face as he allowed Naruto to practically drag him out the door, glad that Naruto didn't push the issue or try to make it more than it was. Whatever it was---Sasuke didn't care to delve too deeply into the meaning of Naruto's words, most of which were a cover up for some other feelings. And for Naruto to direct their energy towards an activity that would be good for both of them, adding a sense of normalcy and direction to his life which he thought he lost too long ago---Only Naruto…

~

The next day, Naruto was dressed in full ANBU gear, his mask hooked on his belt. Sasuke was actually wearing something fairly new, feeling better and more like himself now that he wasn’t going to be cooped up at the estate—even if it was just for one day. He never cared much for associating with people in the first place, but sometimes when one stared at the same place, day after day—it got a little exhausting. There was no need to mention those first several months he was too sick to even get out of bed, much less see the outside.

"I guess I ought to tell you that there are a few… rules… before we go into town." Naruto looked a little sheepish. "I didn't make most of these up, so don't blame me for them!" He hurriedly said, even before he explained any of the condition. "I guess… well, I tried, but people are still asses about it all and…"

"Naruto, shut up." Sasuke said, interrupting his babbling. "We're not children and we both understood the consequences of my choices a long time ago." He stared fixedly at Naruto, dark eyes implacable. "I'm not even considered a Konoha shinobi anymore and barely rate the status of citizen, am I right?" At Naruto's meek nod, he went on briskly, even though inside it hurt—very badly—to talk about this so blandly. "You're going to be the next Hokage, I'm a missing-nin and a dangerous one at that."

Naruto smirked at that. "Don't give yourself so much credit. I kicked your ass yesterday." He pointed out. Sasuke gave an amused snort.

"Naruto, if you couldn't reasonably damage someone who hasn't been training fully when you're going to became the strongest shinobi in the village, then there is seriously something wrong with you claiming that position. Just wait until I train more." Sasuke shook his head in irritation. "But enough about that—tell me what these rules are."

Naruto looked disappointed that Sasuke cut off their bantering so soon, but took a deep breath to collect himself. Sasuke was suddenly struck at how serious he look—how responsible—he cut his train of thought short as Naruto began to explain himself.

"First rule—I guess this is the most obvious—you'll be watched at all times. Mostly by me, because you can't move out of my sight, but some of my ANBU members will be keeping an eye on your throughout the entire day in town." Naruto made a face at that. "I tried to tell them that it would have been fine to just have me near you—but they were more concerned about keeping the people around us safe as well, not just me.. um… taking care of you." An embarrassed flush crept up Naruto's neck at the need to explain things like this to his friend.

Sasuke only nodded calmly. It seemed to be standard procedure, although a missing nin was not normally allowed to wander around town or even be allowed to spend the remainder of his days at his own dwelling. Most of the time, they were killed outright by the ANBU or other special forces that caught them. Sasuke considered himself very fortunate indeed and was willing to put up with a little scrutiny and humiliation to be able to see Konoha again. "What else?"

"Well—no wandering outside of Konoha, no picking fights or using your chakra in any way…" Naruto rattled off the rules quickly. "The worst one is just that you'll be escorted everywhere by me…" He paused "Unless you want to see it as guarding the potential Rokudaime." He grinned.

Sasuke snorted, but oddly enough—it did make him feel better about the whole situation. To watch over Naruto….he was positive that Naruto did a lot more than just make sure he didn’t try and escape. He knew that Naruto protected him from people trying to kill him. To return the favor, to do something that could start on helping correct his mistakes from the past…to see Naruto realize his dream and make sure nothing stood in the way of it…"I've always been protecting you, dobe." He snorted. "To do it now won't be any different."

Naruto just made a face and swatted at him. "C'mon then—bodyguard." He smirked, settling his mask over his face and adjusting his weapons one last time. Sasuke hadn't seen Naruto with the mask on that often—Naruto chose not to wear it around him. "We only have today for you to act like a human being again."

Sasuke just mock glared at him as he stood up, brushing off imaginary dust from this clothing. "This should be interesting at the very least." He muttered to himself as he followed Naruto out the door. The empty houses no longer hurt him as badly as they did when he first came here, when he was continually haunted by memories of Itachi killing his clan—dreams of everyone gone but him, of Naruto dead and him never being able to make amends.

Now it was just peaceful—the sky was a calm blue with a few puffy clouds and it was strangely relaxing to be walking along the familiar pathways with Naruto. To know that he wasn't alone, that even though the houses were empty—the people that once lived in them were at peace. He had too many demons to contend with on his own to ever be at peace himself, but at least he knew that he was able to avenge those that deserved it.

As they neared the edge of the grounds, Sasuke could near faint sounds of life coming from Konoha—and after being shut up in the silent estate for so long, it was a little startling. He kept his surprise hidden and his composure calm on the outside, but he almost wished that he could prepare for this. Naruto, as loud as he was, wasn't like a whole town. And as they came into the town proper—the stares began.

He ignored them as he had his entire life—people looking at him because he was an Uchiha. This time, though—he could felt the anger behind the stares—the disgust and the wonder. He had enough sense not to respond and he glanced over at Naruto out of the corner of his eye, but nothing about the blond's posture gave his thoughts away. It was as if he didn't see them, didn't feel the weight of the malevolent looks. Or if he did, he was just very good at ignoring them. One couldn't have the future Rokudaime beating somebody up just because of a look, after all.

Naruto poked him in the side. "Smile, have fun." He murmured, the voice muffled by the mask, but Sasuke still heard him. "I'm only here as your shadow, remember?" Sasuke could almost hear the grin in his voice and he relaxed slightly to hear the Naruto he knew behind the persona he was forced to portray in public.

Sasuke snorted at that, giving him look that he knew Naruto could see, even through the ANBU mask. "You expect me to go shopping like a girl, dobe?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "I personally don't need anything in my room, and I doubt that they'll sell me any weapons if I'm under house arrest."

"Don't be so sure of that." Naruto was grinning again—Sasuke could tell and he gave a mental shake of his head that so little could please the blond. And how did he get accepted as the potential Rokudaime? He wondered. He's a simpleton, deep down. "As Hokage-to-be…." He lowered his voice so that only Sasuke could hear. "I have some pull with some of the conditions put on you." He smirked.

Naruto was just full of surprises today. And happier than he remembered seeing him. As if Sasuke being allowed out, positive things happening to Sasuke changed so much in his mind. "They're letting me play with sharp, pointy objects?" He asked flatly, voice tinged with disbelief. "Somehow, I find that giving a convicted prisoner, under house arrest and guarded by the potential Rokudaime, weapons a little hard to believe."

Naruto shrugged. "You're still confined to the grounds and like you pointed out—if I can't guard myself from one shinobi—even if he is an ass like you…" Sasuke's eye twitched at the modification Naruto made to his earlier words. "Then what right do I have to become Hokage?" He finished. There was something that he wasn’t saying, something else that he was hiding, but Sasuke didn't push it. He just sighed and gave in. It'll make the idiot happier.

Practically pushing him through town, they almost reached one of the more standard stores for shinobi supplies before they were stopped by a familiar figure nearly throwing herself at Sasuke. Naruto was startled and immediately went into guard stance before he realized it was Ino. With a snort of disgust, he took his hand of his sword and faced the kunoichi. "Get away from him, Ino." He said firmly.

She turned to look at Naruto and made a face. "He's allowed to do whatever he wants." She crossed her arms over chest, but stepped away from Sasuke who never even reacted to her, his expression slipping back into it's usual impassivity. "It's not like I can't hug him or anything."

Naruto shifted slightly. "I'm his guard, Ino." He said patiently. "I'm watching over him to make sure that he doesn't hurt anyone, and that no one tries to hurt him." There was a faint, apologetic note to his voice as he continued. "Even if they're old comrades, rules are rules." Sasuke had a hard time keeping his mouth from dropping open at Naruto talking so seriously about rules. As if they were meant to be followed and not broken or twisted about… Well, Naruto did always act serious when it came to certain things. And becoming Hokage was one of them—and this is part of it. He mentally conceded.

Ino's frown grew deeper at that. "I don't think that you have to worry so much." She muttered. "I'm sure there are lots of people that he'd like to see since he's in town." Her look turned expectant as she switched her focus back to Sasuke, who still hadn't said a word to anything.

Sasuke sighed and rubbed a hand over his head. "I'm only interested in seeing a few people." He said bluntly. "I don't think that a great many others would like to see me—and…" He had never really held back with saying what he meant, but with the hopeful look Ino was giving him, the way he could feel Naruto tensing beside him….And it's only for one day. He pointed out to himself. "Why don't we gather a few—and only a few—for a short lunch?" He turned to Naruto. "Is that permissible?" He was half hoping Naruto would say no.

He could feel Naruto studying him, trying to assess what he thought of the situation. He knew the blond arranged this whole day for his benefit—he'd been working the entire year towards getting Sasuke a 'day off' in a sense and didn't want to ruin anything for him. He gave Naruto a faint nod, unnoticed by Ino, to let him know that it was okay. After all, when would he get another chance?

Naruto sighed, audible even behind his mask, and nodded to Ino. "But only a small group." He warned. "I'm serious—Sasuke is still technically a prisoner and…"

"Naruto, we're not idiots." Ino said firmly. "If anything happens, I'm sure that whoever comes can handle it." She blushed and looked away from Sasuke. "Not that I'm accusing you or assuming that you'd do anything, Sasuke…" Her voice trailed off nervously. "If anyone else get the idea of hurting you, we could always…"

Sasuke cut her off with a sharp movement of his hand. "Enough." He said firmly. "I'm not an idiot, either. Like I told Naruto, I knew exactly what would happen if I was ever brought to Konoha and allowed to live." He didn't wince away from it, even when Ino did at the "allowed to live" part. "I'm grateful for anything offered to me right now." He even managed to sound sincere at that last sentence.

Ino nodded and smiled, hugging him one more time before running off, calling out something about gathering a few more people. Naruto slumped against the wall, murmuring something into a headset behind his mask. Sasuke couldn't hear and didn't try to. He assumed it was just informing Naruto's team of the change of plans so nobody got all up in arms about it. Although if he was under constant surveillance, they would have seen something was going on.

He straightened up after a moment and turned to Sasuke. "All clear." He said cheerfully. "Remember, you wanted to spend a day with a bunch of harpies crying out how much they missed their 'Sasuke-kun' and how they want him back." He sniggered as Sasuke glared.

"This won't be an overlong reunion." He said shortly, and was surprised when Naruto nodded, "Very true—we have much more important things to handle today after you console your fan club." He snickered again and Sasuke sighed, wondering why he agreed to it, why he was putting up with any of this. I should have just taken my kunai and ended it all before Naruto's team picked me up.

~

That thought was going through his head again as he was surrounded by a large, loud group of people he had once fought beside, trained with and might have called comrades before things had changed so drastically. People like Kiba and Shikamaru just eyed him—Neji was more direct in his looks and Sasuke shivered at the intensity that was in that seemingly blank gaze. The girls were another story—but not as bad as he thought they would be, but Naruto—

His gaze slid over to Naruto, who was in full 'duty' mode and not reacting to the friendly, if a little strained, atmosphere of their old classmates. He wasn't paying much attention to the talk around him, only interacting when someone asked him a direct question—which wasn't often. Even Ino, who started to whole thing seemed oddly restrained. No one knew exactly how to act around Sasuke anymore, and it was starting to piss him off.

Sakura was, not surprisingly, the most talkative—she had the most interaction with him outside of Naruto and could treat him like a normal person, rather than the apparent freak of nature that he was. Hinata, recovered from her last mission, but still weak was direct in asking her questions that nobody else would ask. "Sasuke…." Her bright gaze focused on his. "How are you really doing?" It somehow was okay from her and Sasuke couldn't find it in him to be offended.

He took a sip of his drink as he considered, very aware of how the conversations faltered and all eyes turned to him. Even Naruto, he sensed turned more of his attention towards the answer to Hinata's question, rather than just watching him. He didn't ask if she was inquiring about his health, if she really wanted to, Hinata could see that quite clearly without any effort ton her part. "I…I'm doing better." He said finally.

Her eyes didn't leave his and it was clear that she, and everyone around her, was expecting a little more detailed of an answer than that. Even if she wouldn't outright say anything, the heavy stares of everyone else said enough. "I'm better than I was before I left Konoha." He kept his sentences short, unsure of how to phrase just what he felt now. The anger was gone, the pain—that burning need to avenge was finally taken care of. "I can't really explain more than that…except…" He shrugged, not willing or unable to let his mouth articulate his feelings. His entire life was composed of putting up barriers, and it wasn't so easy to let go of them.

Hinata gave him a sincere smile, one hand patting his gently. "I understand, Sasuke." Her voice was the same he remembered from when he was thirteen, before he ran off and tried to change what the Hyuuga family would call his destiny. "You don't have to say anymore." She looked over at Neji, who only nodded in response to her silent inquiry. "I'm glad that we were able to see you again, Sasuke—we have to go now, but I hope that we will see each other again."

Sasuke was a little startled at the abrupt departure, but Sakura quickly explained. "She had to go to the hospital for regular check ups." Her voice was brisk, but the undercurrent of worry was clear to everyone at the table. "Ever since that last mission.." She didn't voice her fears and another uneasy silence fell over the group. Everyone realized that this was their life, that death was a constant companion and a risk they faced every day—but no one wanted to state so badly the fact of losing a teammate.

Naruto was listening to something in his headset, and then nodded once. "We have to get going ourselves." He gave an apologetic smile. "Sasuke and I have an appointment with the Godaime—it got moved up a little." He shrugged at that. "Guess it can't be helped—I'm surprised we got this much time as it was."

Everyone nodded in response to this as if they knew what was going on, but Sasuke was left in the dark. Don't get angry about it, Uchiha. He reminded himself sharply as he schooled his expression into bland politeness I'm sure they have their own sources for information, and it's not like you'd be let in on anything. Friends or no—they're still ninjas of Konoha and aren't allowed to compromise anything, not even for a friend.

He vaguely listened to Naruto's apologies and goodbyes, nodded his own and followed Naruto to the Hokage tower. "What is this all about?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He hoped that he would be able to get some answers before he was faced with the Godaime. Naruto was still acting way too cheerful for it to be bad news—he wasn't going to be exiled or killed anytime soon, he knew that—but he would like some answers. "Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head. "Can't really tell you—'cept that it's been a year and well…Tsunade said that she had to check on how you're doing and what you're up to and stuff." The professional demeanor had dropped away, leaving Sasuke with a Naruto that he was more familiar with. "And normally it'd just be a report, but she wanted to see your herself."

Sasuke snorted and crossed his arms over his chest as he followed the blond along the familiar pathways the led to the Hokage's tower. How many times had they traveled along this road as children, how much had changed since then? Nothing could be the same, but as he looked around, he was amazed at how little had really changed. He and Naruto could be twelve years old again, bitter rivals on the surface and best friends underneath. Both of them so similar in the way they hurt, but both had too much pride to admit to the one other person that would unfailingly listen and understand.

Naruto nodded to the ANBU members that guarded the entrance to Tsunade's chambers and Sasuke ignored the looks that must be pointed towards his way, hidden behind the masks. He didn't care. Naruto straightened up when he and Sasuke entered the chambers, then relaxed when he realized only Tsunade was there. The Godaime turned her intense stare on Sasuke, and he inwardly flinched that the power that he could almost see beating beneath her skin.

"Well, Uchiha Sasuke…" Her voice trailed off as Naruto took his place at her side and removed the mask that he wore in town. Bright blue eyes, suppressing some type of emotion flickered back and forth from him to the Godaime. "It seems the time has come to discuss the conditions of your parole."

~tbc…