Skeletons in the Closet

Chapter Seventeen

By: Lazuli

PG-13

Warnings/Disclaimers: Not many warnings here, possibly some bad language, but nothing horribly bad. XD Naruto doesn't belong to me. Too bad… ^_^ Thanks again goes to proud_snapist for her super hard work in going over this chapter. Her suggestions and corrections made it tons better. Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen 

Sasuke sat up all the way, looking rather astonished at the old man that had spoken. "What do you mean, you made a mistake?" He asked, eyes narrowing at him. "This is my mind you're talking about, what type of mistakes are involved?" His tone gave no room for argument or delaying. He didn't care if he was still technically under probation and didn't have that many rights—when it concerned him personally, he was going to demand answers.

"Your mind, Sasuke?" He asked dryly. "I doubt there is anything to mess up—" It was the first time that Sasuke ever really heard Neji joking—"but my mistake was that we didn't pull information about Sound, but another event—something about Naruto." There was nothing but bland honesty in the man's voice, but Sasuke knew something was up. "Where is Naruto, anyways?" He asked warily. The blond was nowhere to be seen.

"He went home." Neji answered, and Sasuke turned his attention back on him. Neji was looking more normal now—his brain was just fuzzy from earlier. "The Hokage said that it was fine for you to be escorted by me back to your home, so that Uzumaki could get some rest before she puts him through more training." His eyes showed a brief amusement. "You know how thick Naruto's head can be."

Sasuke nodded grudgingly at that—it made sense, after all. He wasn't so much a threat anymore, because Tsunade knew that he wouldn’t chance making Naruto look bad or screwing up his chance to get off of parole and back into normal society. "So are we finished here?" He asked brusquely. Not that he didn't want to be away from the estates for even a short amount of time, he and Neji never got along that well and nobody in the Hyuuga family seemed to care a great deal for him anymore. Something about abusing his bloodline limit—but Neji just nodded in response to his question, no judgmental looks aimed his way.

Sasuke shook off the thoughts. Neji was at least polite to him, and the older man seemed almost amused and rather lost in his own thoughts at the moment. Perhaps a bit of worry, but Sasuke knew he had to be imagining that because a Hyuuga simply didn't show that much emotion. "Wait here for a moment, Sasuke. We have to clear it with the Hokage first that you are ready to leave. We will be right back." Sasuke frowned at being left alone in the examination room while the other two went to talk to the Hokage.

You should be used to this, Sasuke. It isn't the first time this has happened. They usually have to report without me around. He was gone before Sasuke could follow him or make a reply, and he cursed the soundproofing that enclosed the office so he couldn't even listen in on the conversation.

~

Aki turned to his Neji, eyes wide with shock. "What.. what just happened in there?" He demanded. Politeness could be overlooked for this one moment. He had linked with his grandfather so he could access the level of memories that Sasuke requested be retrieved, but there was almost something like a static shock and now this happened. "He isn't supposed to recall his past life!"

"Do not forget your manners even in this unusual situation." Neji reminded him sharply. "It is not as if I have all the answers. Uchiha Sasuke always was trouble—so this should not be a surprise. Even reborn, he causes problems for other people." His face was shadowed slightly. "Especially for Uzumaki."

The Hokage looked at the both of them, taking in the implications of their words. "You are saying that you got rid of the wrong personality?" He demanded. "That… how did this happen?" After Sasuke in the trance, he requested that they try to suppress the personality of Uchiha Sasuke which had been resurfacing as of late—and Neji had agreed right away that it was a problem that needed to be corrected. But now this—that the memories of Uchiha Sasuke were on the surface, and the personality his reborn self had formed was now… gone? Suppressed?

Neji frowned a little. "I told you—Sasuke was a pain in the ass in his previous life, it's not like I expected him to be any different now. I had not realized that those memories were so close to the surface of his mind; something must have triggered it and dredged them up. At this point, if I hadn't intervened, it could have caused him problems more serious than this."

"More serious than losing a part of himself?" The Hokage slumped back in his chair, rubbing his head. "Or regaining back the memories of a life that has been dead for eighty some years?" He shook his head. "It's not good for him or anyone else around him."

"He would have gone insane anyways." Neji said bluntly. "He was teetering on the edge, his memories fluctuating. If you could see the chakra that makes up his metaphysical structure, you would understand what I meant." Hokage or not, Neji was older and had experience beyond the current leader of their village, and knowledge in matters that the Hyuuga family specialized in. "While this is not the best or most promising solution, it saved him from losing his mind."

"He may still lose his mind, Grandfather Neji." Both the Hokage and Neji turned to look at Aki. "Regaining the past life memories of one such as Uchiha Sasuke, dealing with Uzumaki Naruto who was part of the trigger for those memories resurfacing—if he remembers the point of his death and how it occurred, it will have much more long-lasting effects and he could possibly die from the shock of it all."

The Hokage frowned, considering Aki's words. "We have to play this very carefully—give him the illusion of the past as much as we can—" He looked at Aki thoughtfully. "You look enough like your grandfather did when he was younger, I gather—so do you think you can maintain a henge for a short time to keep the illusion of a twenty year old Neji?"

Aki nodded, observing his grandfather for a long moment. "I have seen enough pictures of him at that age where I could manage it. Not for long periods of time, but for what will we need it for will be sufficient."

Sometimes I wish the Hyuuga clan wasn't so serious all the time. Even at the age of twelve they're ten times more serious than an adult twice their age. "Fine—we'll also get Haruno Sakura in on this—she knows a jutsu to make her look younger than her years and if she can stretch it a little more than the current status, that would help as well." He wrote a two brief notes and then got up briefly to talk to an ANBU member outside the door, handing the messages to him.

"We'll have Naruto take care of the rest—I trust that once he gets wind of this, he'll take all necessary steps to ensure the well being of Sasuke. In the meantime, I'd like for your clan to work on a solution for this." Neji and Aki nodded, Aki using the henge to take on the appearance of a younger Neji. Aki waited outside while the real Neji went to retrieve Sasuke.

~

"I don't believe that we've met." Sasuke said casually, tilting his head and watching the man with sharp eyes. Not that anyone would be dumb enough to try and henge a Hyuuga—but Sasuke was positive that he would have recognized a family member.

"You don't know all of our family, Uchiha." Sasuke frowned at the odd way his name was emphasized it, but put it off as just another disapproving person. "Even with those sharp eyes of yours, you miss a great deal." Sasuke wasn't sure to say to that, and just settled for an impassive stare.

The two Hyuuga had been gone for quite some time, and Sasuke wondered just what was said out there, or if he had to wait for the Godaime to have time to see him. His impatient sigh was purely internal. The door opened a moment later, Neji poking his head in. "We can leave now." He looked at his grandfather. "If you will excuse us, I will escort Uchiha Sasuke back home."

The elder Hyuuga nodded his consent and Sasuke followed Neji out the side door, bypassing the main office of the Hokage all together. He gave a nod to the ANBU guard beside the door, but otherwise didn't try to initiate any conversation with Neji. He wanted to get through town and away from any stares that would be directed his way. The walk through the town was silent as well, no one calling out to him, but Sasuke could feel the pressure of the stares just the same. Probably wondering why Neji and not Naruto is guarding me. He thought with a grimace.

He was relieved when they arrived at the estates. Even when it became essentially a prison and no longer held the same comfort it used to for him, at least someone was there that could be upfront and honest with him—someone was waiting for him there and actually cared for him. It eased the hurt from the past, before Itachi took away any hope of trusting someone.

Before he could open the doors, Naruto was there, looking a little startled and his eyes went to Neji first, then to Sasuke. "You weren't joking." He muttered as he opened the doors further to let Sasuke in. "Why me?" Neji just gave him a weird smile and pushed Sasuke forward.

"I'm sure that someone will be in touch to help you out, Uzumaki." Neji gave a nod to Naruto and let himself out the gates, back into town. Naruto gave Sasuke a slightly sheepish grin, but his expression was a little strained.

"If you were that tired, you didn't need to get yourself up, Naruto." Sasuke said sharply. "I thought you had more trust in me than that." He didn't even touch Naruto as he followed him down the empty pathways to their shared home.

Naruto made a face at him. "Don't flatter yourself." He said dryly. "I was already up." Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him. Even though it wouldn't be obvious to most people, Naruto was obviously distracted or agitated about something. Naruto must have sensed the look, because he turned back to stare at Sasuke with an upraised brow. "What?"

"Something is up." Sasuke's eyes narrowed at him, feeling something off about Naruto, about the whole place. It was … different—but that was ridiculous. When would Naruto have the time to change everything in his house—and why would he dare to? Naruto was a nuisance at times, but he wouldn’t deliberately do something like take out everything and rearrange it, just to mess with Sasuke's head. "Does it have anything to do with what Neji did to me earlier? He said something about a mistake."

Naruto started guiltily at that and Sasuke didn't bother to hide his smirk. Sometimes Naruto was entirely too easy to read. "What did he do, Naruto? I was told I'd feel a little out of it and my memories are a little fuzzy, but that doesn't explain the guilty looks and smug expressions. Explain." He'd put up with evasions from Neji, but not Naruto.

"Just… he apparently pulled the wrong memories." Naruto said easily, meeting his eyes. "I'm serious, Sasuke! He didn't expect to pick up the memories from your past at all." He had an easy smile on his face. "You must be hungry after going through Neji's mind games. Why don't you get something to eat?" He turned away and Sasuke glared at him, his hand reaching out to grab Naruto's jacket to pull him back, but he grasped nothing but air.

He stared dumbly for a few moments, but he figured that Naruto evaded his grasp and frowned. "Listen, Naruto—I'm not going to be played off like that. I'm not stupid and you know it." He crossed his arms over his chest, moving in front of the blond so he couldn’t escape him. "Damnit, Naruto—you don't usually hide things from me!"

Naruto gave a slight shrug at that. "I'm not lying to you, Sasuke—you know me well enough for that. Neji picked out the wrong memories so you're a little fuzzy over the details of things. Now—I can't actually stay around because I have a meeting to attend, but Sakura should be here soon."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t contest the fact that Naruto had to be in town a great deal more since the Hokage position was moving up faster than ever. "She won't try to kill me, will she?" He asked, a bit apprehensive. "Or is there something that I forgot about her as well that I need to know about?"

"Don't think so." He said casually. There was a gentle rapping on the door, and Naruto fled for the entrance, moving faster than Sasuke had seen him move before. Annoyed now, but putting aside questions temporarily for fixing himself something to eat, he waited for Naruto to come back with Sakura.

~

"Naruto… what is this all about?" Sakura demanded, hands on her hips as she faced him. "That note from the Hokage only said how I was needed and I had to use Tsunade's jutsu to make myself look about eighty years younger than I am." She peered at him. "And you're looking like your old self and you're wearing your ANBU gear and…" Her brow furrowed. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is." She begged.

Naruto gave her a sad smile. "You were always the clever one, Sakura-chan—it's probably what you think it is. Sasuke—this present Sasuke—lived here when he was younger. I never told him, his parents had his memories suppressed. But he found out today and he was determined to get those memories back. I…I pushed him out into Konoha…it's my fault…" Naruto's expression was pained as he continued. "Neji tried to retrieve his childhood memories, but the ones that he held as Uchiha Sasuke were too close to the surface and…"

Sakura's expression turned horrified. "You mean … he only remembers himself being Uchiha Sasuke?" She demanded. "Naruto—how could that.. I mean.. what are we supposed to do about it? He's going to notice sooner rather than later how you are—"

Naruto shook his head quickly. "That's why you're here, Sakura-chan." She distrusted the bright smile and gave him a suspicious look in return. "You're so good at Tsunade-baa-chan's jutsu that I know you can fool Sasuke for a little while. Just until I figure out a way to fix this." His expression turned pleading. "Please, Sakura-chan—we have to make this work. It's not like I'm going to leave, but I just won't be visible to Sasuke. We have to treat this like old times for now."

"If I didn't care about you so much…" She sighed in defeat. "I'm getting too old for this nonsense." She muttered under her breath. "Always with you and Sasuke there were problems. Why do I have to deal with it this late in life?" She gave Naruto a direct look. "I don't know how you'd repay me, but I swear, Naruto—you owe me for this." Closing her eyes, she exuded the chakra needed to expand the jutsu a little bit more than usual, changing her appearance enough so that she looked like the Sakura that Sasuke would have known.

He gave her a grateful smile. "I'll find some way." He promised, half reaching out to her. "We're going to make this work."

~

Sasuke looked up when Naruto reentered the room with Sakura beside him. "Sakura will be keeping you company today while I go do stuff in town." Naruto said softly. "I know this is short notice but…."

"Idiot." Sasuke snorted. "It's not like I need you holding my hand. I know you have duties in town—with Tsunade making noises about moving you up to the Hokage position even sooner now, she's going to need that extra time to pound knowledge into your head." Taking a sip of his drink, he smirked. "I don't envy her."

Naruto made an outraged face, while Sakura started and then laughed. "Same old Sasuke." She snorted. "Glad to see you haven't changed." She gave Naruto a direct look. "Why don’t you go take care of things? I'm sure I can handle it from here."

Naruto nodded and with a quick smile to Sasuke, he hurried out the door. Once he was far enough away from Sasuke's presence, he let the intense concentration of chakra drop, his appearance fading into transparency once more.

~

Sakura was obviously nervous around him, and Sasuke wondered just what was wrong with her. She never treated him like this before—eyeing him like she was uncertain of who he was or what he would do. "You're acting weird." He said bluntly. "Is this about the things I've forgotten?" He pressed. "Neji screwed up and apparently my memories are messed up as well. What have I forgotten about you?"

She started and gave a nervous smile. "Nothing, really—" She began to say, but the look he gave her stopped her sentence. "Well… um… do you remember that I started dating Lee?" She asked tentatively. She could at least grasp some sort of time frame here. Shortly before Sasuke died, she started dating Lee. It was as if some part of her knew that she'd need something stable to lean on, some one who would be there for her to help her through the roughest patches of her life.

Sasuke gave her an incredulous look. "I forgot something like that?" He demanded. "Jeez, now I really wonder what else I forgot. That's …" He tried to think of a way to express what he thought of that particular piece of news. "I'm happy for you?" He tried.

Sakura giggled at his reaction—it was the same one he had all those years ago when he first heard about it. Naruto was rather shocked but since he'd already begun showing feelings for Sasuke at the time, he hadn't been too put out by it. "I'm glad you approve, Sasuke-kun. I couldn't keep chasing after you forever, ne?"

He smirked and propped his chin up with one hand. "You had a chance while chasing me?" He drawled. At the glare sent his way, he couldn't help but continue. "I mean—you were a competent enough fighter and all—but…" He paused. "You were missing something to interest me."

"And what was that?" She snapped out, caught in the feeling of long-ago, as if the past eighty years hadn't occurred and they were their younger—or in Sasuke's case—previous selves. It was a situation that she never expected to be in, and it took all of her strength and willpower to not show how affected she was by it. She almost hoped that Naruto would come back soon, that he could save her from this. It was Sasuke, but it wasn't him… and that made it that much harder. The dead couldn't come back to life—even if they did become ghosts like Naruto—and to be faced with Sasuke like this again hurt.

"I'm not crude enough to say it out loud." He smirked and was gratified when the dark blush spread across her face. "Or do you need me to spell it out for you?" His dark eyes watched her with amusement as she obviously struggled with something. Her fist lashed out and he found himself on the floor, her eyes sparking with anger. He didn't see the punch coming, and that irked him. I really need to train some more, I've gotten soft!

"I think Naruto has been a bad influence on you." She snarled, one foot pressing into the ground as she cracked her knuckles. "I don't care if I am supposed to be watching over your stubborn ass, I'm going to pound you."

"I think you're the one that has let Naruto influence them." He said dryly, pushing her foot off with no visible effort on his part. "It's not like I encouraged anybody—I thought I made it rather obvious I didn’t care for anyone in that way." He absently picked himself up, a distracted look on his face. "At least I didn't think I did."

Sakura was silent for a moment, knowing that he meant Naruto, but again she wasn't sure where he was in the whole memory scheme. She had to give it another try, to narrow down the field a little further. "Why haven't you told him?" She asked casually. At least she could speak with confidence over who it was. That wasn't a problem.

Sasuke just gave her an impassive look, not rising to her bait. "I don't know what you mean." He murmured. "It is certainly not any of your business if I tell anyone that I like them." He drank the rest of his tea quickly. He eyed her. "And what makes you so certain that you know who it is, Sakura?"

She smirked at him. "Because I'm a girl and I can see these things." She stated blandly. Bullshit. Her mind provided. No one had really seen it coming—not even the two idiots that fell in love with each other. When his expression didn't change from it's look of eloquent disbelief, she continued. "I mean—you guys were all over each other when we were younger, and you came back for him—"

Sasuke gave her a somewhat—at least for him—horrified look. "You can't tell him." He said sharply. "He doesn't need to know—it's better if he doesn't know. He has too many things to worry about right now." Sakura stared at him dumbly. It was one of those rare instances where Sasuke was acting like a human being. She didn't know if it was leftover from Sensu Sasuke or just a weird glitch in his personality, but the fact he was actually saying something… almost nice concerning Naruto was nothing short of a miracle.

"You're acting as stupid as Naruto." Sakura grumbled. Why she had to go through male stubbornness again was beyond her. She knew that Naruto was nearby and probably listening to the whole conversation, and made sure her next words were aimed at him. "If both of you didn't beat around the bush so much, you'd make each other happy—instead of worrying over what everyone would say. Idiots." They wouldn't have normally, but at that time, Naruto would have been training to be Hokage and Sasuke was still a criminal. She recalled them saying something about waiting until Naruto was secure in his position and Sasuke was a member of Konoha before announcing it publicly.

Sasuke gave her a disgusted look. "I don't wish to alienate my only friend, Sakura. We're stuck here together and he has to worry about his Hokage training and finding someone to carry on his line—much like I wanted to carry out my line years ago. If either of us end up with each other, our lines effectively die out."

She opened her mouth to say more, but he stood up, silencing her. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. I'm going directly to my room—I can't escape from there so you don't have to worry. Tell me when Naruto comes back." She couldn't do or say anything—it wasn't as if he was really under house arrest, but he thought he was. He only knew of the past, his memories stunted to a time before he even admitted his feelings for Naruto. She could only nod as he disappeared down the hallway into his room, and only after she heard the faint echo of his door shutting did she sink her head onto the table, unable to cry. For the past, for the chances that Sasuke could have had, and for Naruto who didn't deserve any more pain.

~

Sasuke relaxed as soon as he got to his room, relieved that this at least, was the same—that nothing had changed here. It was a comforting familiarity, one that the rest of his house didn't share. The furniture was different, the food was in the wrong places and even the shadows seemed to fall in different patterns. He was trained to notice this stuff, and the magnitude of the difference disturbed him. He had known the layout of his house intimately as a child and training as a shinobi throughout the years only heightened his awareness. And the time spent with Orochimaru made that training an absolute necessity to survive.

He had to make sure that he wasn't going crazy—and to catch up on what he had forgotten. Kneeling by the hiding place in his closet, he pulled out his journal, smirking. No matter what they tried to hide from him, they wouldn't be able to keep the truth away from him forever. If it concerned him or people he cared about, sooner or later, he wrote it down.

He flipped through the earlier pages, not bothering to reminisce on a childhood that couldn't be given back. His main concern was with the latter pages—he stopped a few pages before the end, his eyes catching Naruto's name and his in conjunction with it. Eyes scanning over words he didn’t remember writing, but were unmistakably in his hand, he fisted a hand at his side. So he had already told Naruto—and Sakura was acting like he hadn't. No wonder Naruto was acting so weird, avoiding him and practically running out the door. It wasn't fair to him that Sasuke didn't remember any type of relationship they had.

He continued to read, eyes shadowed slightly as he took in the information—including the implications of how close he and Naruto had actually gotten. He felt his cheeks darken at the thought, but a part of him sighed in relief that he didn't have to worry anymore, that Naruto was happy with him. Not that I'd ever admit that I could be happy about something like that, about letting someone getting close to him. Naruto is the only one, because he is strong enough to handle anything that comes our way. There is only a few more months until my probationary period is over, and then things can go back to normal.

He put the notebook away, satisfied that he had caught everything of vast importance concerning his life at the moment. Now to check on the rest of his home and make sure that not everything was as changed as the initial living area. His first stop would be the storage area—some things were missing from the main part of the house, and the storage area was the best place to find them. Why Naruto would have put things away when he didn't need to was beyond him, but Sasuke guessed that he had something to do with it as well, even if he didn't remember.

He was surprised at the amount of stuff in the room, from furniture to wall hangings—no wonder the place looked so bare! It was like Naruto was preparing for a move or major redecoration. Sasuke made a face. He had pulled those things out of storage for a reason—he didn't agree with them all being locked away again.

His eyes were caught by the trunk that Naruto had used when he first came to watch over him—Why is it in storage and not in his room? Sasuke wondered in surprise. He was positive it wasn't empty, and it looked a lot more beat up and aged than he remembered it being. He put a hand to his head in response to the sudden throbbing at his temples. The other hand fiddled with the chakra protected lock and managed to 'pick' it and throw open the lid.

His eyes widened when the trunk revealed all of his weapons, all of Naruto's weapons—Uniforms, neatly folded, the colors faded. A set of Hokage robes—Sasuke made a choked sound as he lifted each item out, mind trying to comprehend the reason why the items were there—why the weapons were put away, why the uniforms should have such a look of disuse. The picture of Team 7, the glass cracked—Naruto's old training dummy and his stupid walrus sleeping cap. Why… why is this all put away? The most startling item was the necklace that Tsunade had given Naruto to wear as a symbol of the promise she made to him when Naruto was thirteen. He had enough looking around—he needed to find out answers.

Necklace in hand, he stood up abruptly and left the trunk lid open. He needed to confront someone—anyone about what was going on. Sakura is the only one around at the moment—she'll have to do.

~

But when he ran out of the room, it was later than he thought and Naruto was already home. Sakura and him were talking in low voices, Sasuke unable to hear everything. It only deepened his confusion and suspicion. He hated when he wasn’t in control of a situation, when his mind desperately tried to think of answers that weren't forthcoming. Even though he originally had plans to grill Sakura over the missing details, he was grateful for when she left, because that meant he could talk to Naruto, could relax and not have to worry so much about appearances. It meant he could seriously question Naruto about things that Sakura didn’t need to know and stuff he never let anyone but Naruto find out.

Naruto gave him a cheerful smile when Sasuke walked into the room, a plate of some type of food already waiting for him at the table. "I thought you'd come out once Sakura left." He said, grinning. "But I didn't think she scared you that much, especially with her dating Fuzzy Eyebrows."

Sasuke shrugged as he sat in the proffered seat, raising an eyebrow when he realized he was the only one eating. "I didn't feel like talking to anyone, not after today. I had my fill of socializing." He smirked and waited to chew and swallow a bite of his dinner before continuing. "I never liked people at the best of times, and having people fawn all over me now that I'm almost pardoned makes me sick." He would let the casual conversation go on, until he figured out what Naruto was hiding.

"Even with your memories scrambled, your personality is as crappy as ever." Naruto muttered, but his voice bordered between amused and resigned. "I take it you tried to hunt down your memories of the past few months?" He questioned. At Sasuke's startled look, Naruto snorted. "Oh, please—someone as anal as you would have to write down the important parts of his life. Like.. "I got my ass kicked by Naruto today, He really is better than me."

Sasuke's lips twitched at the arrogant tone Naruto used on the presumed words that Sasuke wrote. "More like 'I beat the dobe again. It's been the fifth time today.'" He deadpanned. "'I don't know why he doesn't give up and admit that I'm stronger.'" Expecting a smack from his taunt, he was surprised when Naruto just scowled and him and muttered 'bastard' under his breath. Sasuke blinked. Now he knew something was wrong. Even if, by chance, Naruto did confess how he felt for Sasuke, it shouldn't change their earlier relationship of biting insults and sparring.

He decided to change the subject, switching tactics and attacking the issue of the trunk head on. "I was in the storage room today." He said bluntly, and almost regretted it when the smile fell away from Naruto's face and the look of unease appeared. It was that uneasy look that spurred him on. "Why was so much stuff locked away in your trunk, Naruto?"

Naruto fiddled with the ties to his mask, biting his lip and looking away. "I guess it's just old stuff, Sasuke." He said after a moment. "I mean—you have your weapons in your room, right? And I have mine—" He gave Sasuke a bright, obviously false smile. "So what's the big deal if a few pieces of old equipment are put away for the moment?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "And my family's belongings were put away in storage, too. The hangings, scrolls—a lot of stuff was in that room, Naruto. And don't even think about giving the excuse of it cluttering up the place. It's not like we're hurting for space here." His mouth turned downward.

Naruto just shrugged at that. "You were the one that didn't want to … to have my stuff all over the place." His voice sounded strained for a moment before it evened out and he continued his reply. "Did you want to put some stuff back?" He got up from the table, clearly intent on taking care of it at that very moment, but Sasuke held up a hand to forestall his movements.

"Maybe later, Naruto. Just why did you do something like that? I told you, I didn't mind your stuff being there. I liked it being there, it was good to see stuff…" his hand clenched at his side. "Things that belonged to someone living and breathing—alive and someone who held memories that were… were…" He growled and slammed his fist on the table, angry when Naruto avoided his gaze again.

"Stop looking away!" He demanded. "The Naruto I know doesn't avoid a confrontation and I'm not going to deal with one that does! Damnit, Naruto—just tell me what the hell is wrong with you! I thought we understood each other enough that we didn't have to deal with this bullshit dancing around the subject and hiding from each other!"

Naruto glared down at him, blue eyes sparking with anger. "I'm not dancing around the subject, I'm telling you the truth." He protested. "That stuff is old and locked away for a reason."

Sasuke smirked at him and held up the necklace. "Then why was this in the trunk?" He asked softly, eyes narrowed as panic covered Naruto's features. "Why are there Hokage robes tucked away among the gear—why is the picture of our team shoved away?" He stood up as well, facing Naruto directly and getting close to him. If he had to beat it out of Naruto, he would get an answer. "You never take this off, Naruto—I swear—not even to shower! Just.. tell me what is going on!" He couldn't quite keep the desperate tone out of his voice.

Naruto muttered something under his breath and moved back from Sasuke, but made no move to grab the necklace. "I can't answer that, Sasuke." He said after a tense few moments of Sasuke's incredulous stare. "It.. it's not something that you can know about."

"What the hell is wrong with you, Naruto?" He demanded. "You've never kept information from me before—you said I needed to know what was going on—or you gave me a damn good reason for when you couldn’t' say anything. Tell me what's wrong, damnit!" He reached out for Naruto again, the other being too caught off to evade the action this time. It took him a moment to realize his hand didn't grab cloth, didn't feel the warmth of Naruto's flesh beneath the jacket. Instead he felt a type of sharp tingle, like static electricity, the small shocks running up and down his arm.

"Na…Naruto…" He gasped out quietly. He knew, instinctively, that this was not a dream like last time. There was a brief spark of chakra and the late evening sunlight streamed through the window, outlining the reason for the problem clearly. For some inexplicable, unexplainable reason—Uzumaki Naruto was as transparent as a ghost.

Naruto gave him a sad look, and the meal was forgotten, any story that Naruto had concocted now entirely lost. "I guess I have some explaining to do."

~