Star: Hey guys. I'm really sorry that I've been away for so long after promising to update my fics. Life has taken a horrible turn, and nothing seems to be going right lately. I can't tell you how many times I've just wanted to run away from it all, even for a month. But you aren't here to listen to my problems.

Bright Shadows and A Mask Over My Heart are on hiatus until further notice. The reason I'm writing this fic is because it's been floating in my head for a while. And because my friend is a tard and got me hooked on Naruto slash fics. Also, because Halloween is coming soon, and I thought that this fic would be appropriate.

One hint: there is a MAJOR plot twist in later chapters.

I hope you guys like this fic as much as you've liked my other fics. I promise to restart the Yu-Gi-Oh fics soon, though I can't say when.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Just the plot.

warnings: yaoi fic. 'nuff said.

Summary: Sasuke can see ghosts. He is supposed to lead them to the afterlife, but he doesn't bother. They are dead, so who cares about them? But his world changes when he meets the young ghost of a murder victim. This ghost will not rest until he has revenge on the one who killed him. The only problem is, the ghost can't remember who killed him, or why he had to die. As they uncover of the truth, Sasuke comes to realize that love really can surpass the grave. What is he to do when 'till death do us part' already came for one of them? And is everything he knows really the truth, or is there one last secret Sasuke needs to discover?

"True love is like ghosts

which everybody talks about

but few have seen."

Francois de la Rochefoucauld.

I've always been able to see them. Even when I was little, it wasn't hard for me. And by the time I was older, it had become second nature to see them. Some were floating orbs of light, others only came half way, and others looked as they used to be. When they were alive, that is. Though sometimes they appeared to me the way they looked like when they died. And quite often it wasn't a pretty sight.

Yes, I'm talking about ghosts.

No, I'm not crazy.

My family has always been able to see ghosts, and for hundreds of years we had been hired as priests or exorcists. My ancestors once lived with the emperors and kings of different countries, all because of this power. But it wasn't all because of our strange powers that we had such fame. No, my father wanted to make sure that we were also known for our business strategies, our political influence, and our money. That's why Uchiha was a household name.

And I am Sasuke Uchiha, the youngest son of the Uchiha empire. And I'm one of the people in my immediate family with this damn power. The other is my older brother, Itachi. Of course he had the power too, and of course his powers were far more advanced. And, as you might have already guessed, he was put up on a pedestal that I could never reach. But that's how it normally is in families, isn't it? The elder siblings are made to look like gods, and we are raised to look up to them, and to hate them. And boy, did I hate my brother.

Someone called my name, but I barely heard them. I was too busy watching the ghost of an elderly man float around a bus stop. His aura felt lost, confused, and alone. I had long ago stopped wondering what the ghosts were still doing on this plane. If they realized they were dead, they disappeared. If they didn't, oh well. Though some chose to stay on in this plane because of "unfinished business". Not that it was my problem. Even though it technically was; I was supposed to be a medium between this world and the afterlife, and leading lost souls to said afterlife was why I had these powers. I didn't care.

My name was called again, and I lazily turned my eyes to the person sitting across from me in the limo. Though I wished I hadn't. Her pink hair bothered me greatly, and the way her green eyes gazed at me as if I were a piece of meat bothered me more. Not to mention, her hyper aura was filtering in through my sixth sense and it was exhausting me. I can't see auras like my brother. I can only feel and analyze them as they flow through my senses. "Yes, Sakura?" I asked in a bored tone.

"Sasuke, your mother called again and wants to know if we are still going to meet her and Itachi at the restaurant tonight?"

"And my father?"

"Busy."

"Hn."

Of course. I had long ago come to understand that my father would always be 'busy'. Even when he was home, he was 'busy'. "Fine. Tell her we'll be there." We, meaning Sakura and I. We, meaning my girlfriend and I. And by girlfriend, I meant a complete pain in the ass. I wouldn't be dating this crazy bitch if it weren't for the fact that her family was almost as rich as mine. It's good for our social status, my father once said to me. But what was good for our social status was hell for my nerves. And my already naturally short patience.

"Sasuke!" I cringed. "Why don't we go out on a date by ourselves one time? To the new Italian restaurant near the river. It'll be so much fun!"

How could a human voice reach such a pitch? It wasn't natural at all. A date with Sakura? I cringed again. God, now I wanted to throw up. This relationship was only for show, and nothing else. I had thought she understood that when our parents introduced us. But she had it in her head that I was really her boyfriend, and now she wouldn't leave me alone.

"Because I have no time for things like that," I said in my patented cold voice. Uchihas were very good at being cold bastards. The look on her face proved that. But as soon as the disappointment came, it was gone in favor of another obnoxious, happy look that only she could pull off. She then began to ramble on about something which really didn't interest me. I turned back to look at the old man, but he had disappeared.

Ah well, there were more where he came from. It wasn't as if there would ever be a lack of ghosts in the world. It wasn't that they bothered me, but I hated it when they came to me expecting me to solve their problems, or carry out their last request. It annoyed me most when they actually had the gall to ask if they could possess my body to talk to their loved ones. I wasn't a body for rent. That wasn't my job. That might have been the job of my ancestors, but it was not MY job. No, my job was to become the best heir to my father's company, and overthrow my brother's rights to the inheritance.

The limo turned down a street lined with massive oak trees that greatly stood out against the hard, steel skyline of the city. Up ahead was a large gate with a security station nearby. This was going to be my new home. In this gated community with all the other rich bastards that lived in the city. Sakura's excited shrieks drowned out any other thoughts I had about this place. I didn't see why though, since it wasn't as if she'd live there. Though there was one thought that couldn't be drowned out: fucking hell.

The limo pulled up in front of a large mansion at the end of the street. Pure, white walls, huge glass windows, and the biggest flower garden I'd ever seen in my life. Damn my mother and her love of nature. The most nature I'd ever tolerate was a vase of flowers on the dining room table. If they were fake, even better. But this was practically a forest of flowers and trees. The large ornate fountain in the middle of the driveway was even more gaudy. Really, who had lived in this house before, and why didn't they have better taste?

I looked towards the front door and suddenly wished to be somewhere else. Standing there was my parents' real estate agent, Tsunade. The woman was a fucking loose cannon, and she never went anywhere without a bottle of sake shoved in her purse. Her aura screamed 'crazy, drunk hag'. It amazed me that she could sell any houses. Though I had to admit that she was good at her job, even though I was quite sure most of her clients bought the houses out of fear of her temper. I got out of the car and greeted her with a nod; it was more than enough. Sakura, however, went and immediately chatted with the older woman about flowers or garden gnomes, or something. I wasn't paying attention to her anymore.

Looking around the driveway, I watched all the workers scurry about to complete their jobs before we were to move in next week. Gardeners, electricians, maids, butlers, furniture movers, more gardeners, pool men, and all sorts of people. It looked like a circus out here! I couldn't wait to get back to our hotel room and relax in my bed. At least there it would be quiet, since my father didn't really tolerate too much noise. It was unbecoming for people of our status to run around making noise like the peasants. My father was impossible to live with sometimes. But I'd made it through nineteen years, so I was sure I could make it through a few more. At least till I moved far, far away. And I mean FAR away.

I looked around some more at the flower arrangements and ended up walking around the corner of the house and looking into the back yard. It was even more elaborate back here. There was a huge pool at the end of a large staircase that reached up to the third floor. Marble statues of half naked men and women lined the pool, and I felt as if I were in some Greek forum. Huge bushes separated the garden from the pool area. A tennis court was in the distance. I counted at least three fountains. This was definitely not a place that said home. More like institution. Well, at least it suited my family.

"Sasuke! Come on!" Sakura yelled, her pink bubble head peeking from around the corner. "We need to look around the house before going to dinner."

I sighed but knew she was right. That was why we came. So with an uninterested 'coming', I made my way through the crowd of workers towards the front. As I was walking, my eye caught something bright towards my right. Instinctively, I turned my head to search for whatever it was. My eyes landed on a teenage boy half hidden behind some large bushes that had trimmed down. He wasn't looking at me, but more at the progress being made on the house. By the look on his face, I saw that he disapproved. Suddenly his gaze turned my way, and a chill shot through my body, making my breath stop. Now that he was looking straight at me, I could make out his features perfectly. He had a long, slender, athletic body, and, even from here, I could see the light tan that kissed his skin. Golden blonde hair that looked as soft as silk covered his head, falling into the most hauntingly beautiful azure eyes I'd ever seen. On each cheek were three whisker like marks, and his rosy lips were formed into a small frown.

I'd long ago admitted to myself that I had no interest in females. They all seemed so fake to me, and only ever wanted me for my money and fame. Besides, I'd taken plenty of biology classes, and not once did I find…that part of a female attractive. No, I liked guys. And it seemed that this one caught my interest. But who was he? He looked too young to be hired by these companies, unless he was a relative of a worker. But all he was wearing was a pair of baggy jeans, a black t-shirt, and a bright orange jacket. Not even shoes. Not work appropriate, that was for sure. Maybe a neighbor that had wandered onto the property? His aura confused me even more. It was…flickering. That was the only way to describe it. Like it was confused about what it should be feeling, or where it should be.

I went to approach him, when suddenly Sakura's voice cut through my dreamy state like a chainsaw. "Sasuke, what are you doing? You're keeping us waiting, and that's very rude!" She tried to make a cute pouting face, but it failed miserably. Instead, it looked like she was trying to take a dump. "It's rude to keep ladies waiting!" I was tempted to call out 'what ladies?' but I knew that my mother would have my head if I said that. I turned back to get another glimpse of the boy, but he had disappeared. Shrugging, I pushed him to the back of my mind for the moment, figuring I'd see him again soon. Now I had to go entertain the whore and the bitch. Cookies for whoever guesses exactly whom I'm talking about.

The house looked like every other big, fancy mansion I'd ever been in. The floors were pure, white marble, and all the furniture was a dark mahogany. The huge grand hall had a large chandelier hanging over the biggest staircase right in the middle of the room. To the right was the main dining room with a table that could sit twenty people easily. To the left was the large living room, and all the furniture was pure white. I counted at least seven gilded mirrors, twelve chandeliers, nine lamps, thirteen vases, ten more vases with flowers, four busts, and ten large paintings. Basically everything in this house was big and numerous. Once again, the people who had lived in this house before had the tackiest taste ever.

Tsunade and Sakura were babbling about something, but I wasn't listening once again. But this time it wasn't out of boredom. There was a strange, otherworldly energy about this house. I knew immediately what it was; a ghost. Possibly the ghost of a murder victim. Maybe that was why it was for sale. No one liked haunted houses. It was recent too, since the spiritual presence was strong. But where was it? I left the two to themselves while I wandered about the house. I could tell that it had been at the front of the house recently, so my first guess was the dining room. It was cliché for someone to be poisoned, but it hadn't been in here. Wandering into the living room, I looked around, stretching out my 'sixth sense' to locate the ghost. Nope, not here either. This was strange; why couldn't I locate it? I knew that someone had died here. They had to have died, otherwise I wouldn't have picked up on the spiritual presence. The question was where had they died? If I could locate the ghost, I could find the source of their presence, since the energies would be the same. But this ghost, or whatever it was, didn't seem to want to be found.

With a frown on my face I headed back towards the grand hall. "Sasuke, you really need to stop wandering off," Sakura scolded, but I didn't listen again. She couldn't keep me chained to her side all the time just because we had this faux relationship. "I'm sorry, Tsunade. He's so hard to keep track of," she added with an annoying laugh. What am I, a child?

"I understand," Tsunade added, while wiping her mouth on the back of her sleeve. One guess as to what she had just chugged. "I've had plenty of clients with rebellious teenagers. In fact, the teenager that lived in this house before was a complete pain." She said that with a look on her face that was as if she'd just smelled something horrible. But I heard the tenderness in her voice. "Never listened to authority, never followed orders. A complete brat."

I wanted to ask what had happened to the kid that would make her talk as if he had died. I wanted to, but it wasn't my business. "Come on," she said sharply, any hint of fondness in her voice completely gone. "We're going up to the second floor now. Here are all the bedrooms. There is a wing on both sides of the house, with three bedrooms on each wing. Six and a half baths, one common area on each wing…"

I had stopped listening, but this time there was a reason. It was that boy. He was standing in the doorway of the living room, staring at us. How had he gotten in? And WHY was he in MY house? A frown came to my face and I opened my mouth to speak to him, but Sakura distracted me. They were heading up the stairs, so I headed up quickly behind them. The last thing I wanted was to get lost in this place. One glance behind me, and I saw that kid was still there. Didn't the maids or workers see him as they walked past?

I went up the massive staircase with my hand on the railing, and I had made it to the middle when I suddenly stopped. A jolt of electricity had just ran through my body so fast I was actually left shaking a bit. I let out the breath that had been caught in my throat, and took a moment to steady myself. So that was where it was. The source that I had been looking for. The last place a soul had touched before it passed, leaving it's presence behind. But this was different than normal; the presence was incredibly strong. I could tell that it was a recent death, but this was even stronger than normal. It was strange to feel such a large amount of energy. It was almost as if the soul hadn't departed completely. But it didn't feel like the presence of a ghost. With a ghost, it was more of a lucid, airy feeling. This was like having a brick wall slam into me repeatedly to get my attention.

For some reason I looked back at the boy. He was now staring at me with those deep blue eyes of his. However, now that I thought about it, there was something strange about him. His eyes were bright, but they seemed almost lifeless. His body suddenly seemed transparent. At least his aura was not flickering anymore. Also, why didn't anyone see him, even though he was standing right in front of everyone? Then it hit me. "Tsunade," I called, trying to keep my voice steady, even as I stared straight at this boy.

"What is it?" she answered, clearly annoyed that I was keeping her from her job. I looked up at her, and saw that Sakura was giving me a strange look. Well, I must have looked funny to her, since I was standing in the middle of the staircase, just staring off across the room like I had seen a ghost. Even though I was sure that I had.

"Why did the other family move out?"

"What? Sasuke, I can't divulge information about-"

"What happened in this house? What happened to the boy you were talking about before?"

"Sasuke, I don't think that's any of your business," Sakura interjected. She had a nervous look on her face, and was glancing back and forth between myself and Tsunade. Sakura had no idea about my family's powers, but she had been around me enough to know that something was up. "I'm sorry, Tsunade. He's just acting out. You know how teenage boys can be."

"Sakura, don't interrupt," I said. My voice was stern, and I kept a hard gaze trained on Tsunade. "Tsunade, tell me the truth. What happened in this house?"

Tsunade bit her lip in a nervous fashion. She knew something, and she was about to break. Finally she couldn't take my stare anymore, so she looked way and heaved a heavy sigh. "Last year…there was an accident. The boy came home late one night…drunk. While climbing the stairs, he tripped and fell. He was found on the very step that you are standing on."

Sakura gasped, but I remained silent. I knew it. That blonde boy was a ghost, haunting the site of his death. Though why I hadn't sensed it before was a mystery. I glanced back towards the living room, but the boy was gone. I looked around for him, even stretching out my sixth sense to find him, but he was gone. Hn, probably hiding now that he knows I found out about him. Now I was even less interested in the house than before. So I turned and walked down the stairs, tuning out Sakura's calls. I didn't need a tour of a house that I'd be moving into in less than a week. The calls stopped, and it seemed that Sakura and Tsunade had gone on without me. Good, now I'd be able to focus in peace.

I went back to the doorway of the living room, and easily picked up the boy's residual energy that was lingering on the doorframe he had just been beside. By now I had memorized it completely, so I'd be able to tell when he showed up. I tried stretching my sixth sense as far as it would go, but he wasn't in this area. Probably in another part of the house, or even outside. I wondered how far this ghost was able to wander from the source of his energy.

I spent many more futile minutes trying to find his presence, but I finally gave up. This ghost didn't want to be found. Deciding to try it later, I turned around to go find the other two. However, I ground to a halt and my heart skipped a beat. My onyx eyes widened as they stared straight into azure eyes. How…how could he be behind me?! I didn't sense him at all!

"So you really can see me, huh?"

Star: So that was chapter one. Not really long, but it was a good start. At least I think so. Please leave any reviews and comments about the story. Helpful criticism is appreciated.

Next Chapter: Who is this boy, and what happened to him? Was Tsunade's story the truth? Or is the truth being hidden?