Title: Ghost Story
Rating: PG-13 ( T ) – becuz of all th' dead people.
Disclaimer: This idea's not even that original, lolz...

Spoilers: I SEE DEAD PEOPLE

Summary: AU. "You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. SasuHina.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 2012

Chapter 1

Sasuke tensed as five cold fingers closed around his hand. They laced through his own digits with affectionate familiarity, squeezing lightly. As the chill seeped into his skin, the hairs on his limbs stood in petrified attention.

Tentatively, Sasuke rolled his eyes to the side. When his admirer came into view, his pupils contracted sharply in terror.

"You're a real cutie, you know that?" said a pretty teenage girl with wide brown eyes. If it weren't for that gaping head wound and blissfully vacant expression, he might have mistaken her for a living person. She brought her free hand up to clutch at his bicep as she continued, "I've got some free time. Want to catch a movie, or something?"

"N-No," replied Sasuke, his teeth chattering erratically. He leaned away from her as far as her grip would let him, but she closed in on him again to nuzzle his cheek. He shivered.

Even through the layers of clothing he wore he could feel the numbing ache of cold as her fingertips longingly stroked the inside of his arm. "You don't like me," the girl accused, her blue lips forming a pout. "Do you prefer blondes?"

"No."

"Do you think I'm pretty?"

"I guess."

"Are you gay?"

"No."

"Do you have a girlfriend, then?"

"No."

"Then why don't you like me?"

Deep down, Sasuke knew that he would have rejected this girl in either life or death, taken or single, but he certainly wasn't about to let her in on that little secret. There was no telling what horrifying supernatural powers she could unleash on him if he let her down less-than-gently. "Long distance relationships are too hard."

The spirit drew away from him for a moment and Sasuke could feel some of the warm feeling return to his arm. She looked confused as she said, "'Long distance'?"

"You're not from around here," Sasuke claimed, nodding vaguely at the room around him. The walls were bare, the bed was made, the curtains were drawn and the ramen cup on the desk was still steaming. It almost looked as if no one lived there. "I can tell."

The ghost girl took in her surroundings and a frown formed on her face. "Where am I?"

Sasuke sighed. He always hated this part. "613 Rei Street, apartment seven."

The girl, surprisingly, giggled. She swatted at his bicep playfully and her fingers went right through his flesh, causing Sasuke to shiver. "Oh, you naughty boy!" she accused, leaning down to wrap her arms around his neck from behind. Her cold lips were pressed against the shell of his ear as she whispered, "Taking me back to your apartment when we hardly even know each other..."

Okay, that was his limit.

Sasuke pushed his desk chair back with enough force to disintegrate the crushing specter. As he bisected her ectoplasmic form, she vanished in a swirl of grayish-white steam which hovered above his desk like a menacing cloud. Passing through her was like diving headfirst into a cold shower; when he emerged on the other side of where her body should have been, Sasuke's entire body was puckering up with gooseflesh.

"How rude...," the puffy remains of the spirit whined as it began to reform. The silhouette of the girl was vague at first, then a little sharper and, after a few extended seconds, she reappeared with complete clarity. Her hands were balled against her hips and her chocolate-brown eyes glared at him, little drips of gore from her head injury collecting in her eyelashes. "Is this how you usually treat guests?"

Sasuke levied himself out of his rolling desk chair and stood, placing the piece of furniture between him and the ghost-girl. His fingers clutched at the back of the chair, nails digging into the worn fabric, as he said, "You're not a guest, you're a ghost."

The spirit tilted her head to one side, a silly smile creeping onto her lips. "Oh, right, I'm so sure. And what are you? A demon?"

"I'm a living, breathing human being," Sasuke countered, eyes trailing the girl as she floated slowly toward him. How could any being – from this world or the next – completely overlook the fact that they hovered inches above the ground at all times? "So...So please leave me alone."

The ghost-girl stopped before him, her lower half bisected by Sasuke's desk chair. She peered at him with slight disgust. "If you don't like me, then why did you bring me to your apartment?You could have just left me alone."

"Believe me, if I could, I absolutely would," Sasuke replied, backing up until his back was flattened against his front door. One of his trembling hands clutched desperately at the door knob. "I don't know your story – and I don't want to know, either – so please, just go to heaven or...wherever it is you belong. Just leave me alone."

Uh-oh. She was doing that glowy-thing.

"How...dare you...," the specter hissed, her features slackening into what a disinterested observer might categorize as passive. Her body faded into translucence and within her chest, right where her beating heart used to be, a tiny flame of white-hot light began to shimmer.

Shit, shit, shit –

Sasuke began fumbling with his doorknob but, stupid him, it was locked. He chanced a peek over his shoulder at the ghost-girl and found that the light was glowing ever brighter. She was liable to go "critical" at any moment.

"Come on, come on!" Sasuke demanded, struggling with the lock. Finally managing to twist it with his bumbling fingers, he yanked at the knob and pulled the door open – only to be foiled by the chain at the top. "Shit!"

"I only wanted you to like me..." complained the spirit, her voice echoing around the room as if they were deep inside some dark, haunted cave. "Why don't you like me?"

Sasuke could feel the cold, curling tendrils of her fingers tickle his neck right below his ear. His heaving breaths were exploding from his mouth in white clouds of smoke, dissipating into the freezing air. Much later, the Uchiha would wonder if that was his soul trying to escape the terror that was crashing upon him.

Knock, knock.

Had Sasuke not already been at the limits of his terror, the rapping at his door in the middle of this hellish exchange might have startled him. Instead, he was merely baffled.

The spirit, too, seemed to be taken aback by the sudden intrusion. The wall of cold, hanging heavy over Sasuke, stopped approaching and held perfectly still. As if waiting for something.

Knock, knock.

Sasuke wasn't aware of when, exactly, it had happened, but suddenly the ghostly presence was absent. The temperature of the room had risen back up to its usual seventy-two degrees, the echoing had abated back into whatever hell it had come from, and the tingling dread that pricked his skin like pins and needles was gone. He turned and looked around; no more ghost.

Knock, knock.

Fingers still trembling a little, Sasuke reached up and disengaged the chain lock above his head. With a slightly steadier motion, he turned the knob in his clammy palm and pulled the door inward.

Waiting for him on the other side was a girl. A living one (as far as he could tell).

She stood on his doormat – which didn't say welcome, only "wipe your feet" – twiddling her fingers and looking up and down the hallway and seemed, for lack of better adjective, a little frightened. He viewed her curiously from the crack he had produced between the door and its jamb. "Yes?"

The girl jumped and, perhaps accidentally, turned her face up to look him directly in the eye. A moment later she seemed to realize this was some kind of mistake and averted her gaze down to her twiddling fingers. It was too late, though; he'd already seen the ghostly-pale eyes. Creepy.

"Ah...I'm s-sorry to bother you so late, Sasuke-san...," the girl stammered and blushed and Sasuke figured she must be there to declare her undying love, or something similar. "It's just...um..."

"I don't want to go out with anyone right now," the Uchiha informed her, moving to close the door.

Her tiny, pale hand darted forward to hold it open. Blushing a little more furiously, she said, "W-Wait! I just...um...b-brought your assignments. Iruka-sensei asked me to."

Sasuke watched as she, daring to move her hand for a moment, slid the straps of her backpack from her shoulders and lowered the satchel to the floor. She unzipped the larger pouch at the back and withdrew a blood red folder. She stood back up and held it out to him, clearly expecting him to take it.

The Uchiha observed the folder a little more closely before accepting it. It had Iruka's handwriting on the front, so her story about bringing him homework seemed legitimate. Deciding he could just burn whatever love note she'd inserted into it later, Sasuke reached out and accepted the proffering. "Thanks."

As the folder passed from her possession into his, the tips of their fingers touched for a single instant. The contact produced a static charge that Sasuke could feel down to the soles of his feet and the ends of his hair. He figured that she must have felt it, too, because she withdrew her hand quicker than she had offered it and clutched it to her chest. After a startled moment, the girl began twiddling her fingers anxiously.

"Um...," the girl began again, perhaps buying time before he closed the door in her face. Maybe still a little stunned, Sasuke paused to wait for what she had to say. "Are...are you okay here? By yourself?"

"Fine," Sasuke said, firmly and succinctly.

The girl peeked up at him through her dark indigo bangs, fixing him with that eerie moony stare. A shiver climbed up Sasuke's spine as their gazes met, far stronger than the little spark that passed between their flesh. "I-If you need anything...Iruka-sensei said to call him. H-His number is in the folder."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow in her direction. "Not yours?"

The girl looked a little baffled at this. "N-No...but, um, I guess...if you want it..."

"I don't."

"Oh...okay, then. Did you – ?"

Their conversation, such as it was, halted to an immediate stop when a loud, squealing creak interrupted them. Both teens tilted their heads in the direction of the disturbance and focused their attention on the interior of Sasuke's apartment.

Right there, in the middle of Sasuke's bed, was the ghost-girl. Seeming to finally notice that all attention was on her, she stopped filing her nails (Sasuke didn't know where she'd gotten the nail file; could ghosts conjure stuff like that?) and waved cheerily. Both Sasuke and his guest waved back.

"I-I'm sorry," Sasuke's moon-eyed guest apologized, bowing low. Standing back up, though with her shoulders still slouched down, she finished, "I didn't realize you had company. Feel better soon a-and I hope to see you at school tomorrow."

With that, the girl retrieved her backpack from the floor, slipped it back onto her slim shoulders, and turned down the hallway. Sasuke watched as her long sheet of dark blue hair whipped around the corner and down the stairwell.

It wasn't until she was completely out of sight that Sasuke realized what had just happened.

Author's Notes: I started this story sometime in 2010 (I think) so everything until the part where Sasuke reveals his address has been sitting on my computer for years. I thought it was a pretty cool start, though, so I picked up right where I left off.

I have some grand plans for this story, so stay tuned.

Please note that the rest of this story is a WORK IN PROGRESS so please consider this a "teaser" chapter. I hope to post updates on the last day of every month.

Next Update: 11/30/12

Self-beta'd.

. ( . Ms Videl Son . ) .

– Love can be black and white. SasuHina