Hey all, the update is a bit later than I had expected, but here it is anyway. Other than that, I've decided that most likely this drabble series will end up having twelve drabbles. If you've got comments, fire away!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.


Cold Comfort

Part Two

It's not that Sasuke doesn't accept his family, because he really does. But he also accept that they're dead, that the people he sees aren't real – and he wonders if that's true. Sasuke knows about ghosts, but his mother, his father, they both don't look like them. And what about his brother? He isn't dead, is he? He feels confused and can't concentrate on his reading. "Iruka-sensei?"

His brown-haired teacher looks up. "Is something wrong, Sasuke?" He raises a eyebrow when he sees Sasuke staring at his feet, not knowing what to say.

"Do… do you believe in ghosts, sensei?" he finally asks and carefully glances upward at his teacher's face.

"Well," Iruka replies, "I guess I do, yes. Why did you want to know?"

"It's nothing," Sasuke whispers, "is it okay if I go home now?"

And so he leaves, leaving Iruka to wonder what exactly it is that Sasuke sees, and why he is so reluctant to talk about it. He can only shake his head and go back to marking the students' tests.

Sasuke walks home and once he's there he opens the door and goes straight to his room, without looking around, trying to be blind for the facts: they are still there, and don't look like going away anytime soon. Suddenly he realises they aren't supposed to be there, because it's daytime. And they never appear during the day.

He turns around, sees his smiling mother, his father and also his brother, than walks back and sits down at the table. How long has it been since they actually did that together, sitting at the table? He doesn't want to remember, Sasuke soon realises and accepts the way things are now.