Ghost of a Chance
Chapter 1
In which Naruto slowly comes to terms with her new ability to see dead people -one dead person really, but who's counting?- and Itachi figures out that the afterlife might not be as boring as he'd thought it to be.
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She fled the hospital as soon as she could. Which, considering Tsunade was busy off at the Hokage Tower and thus not present to man her battle station against her, was rather soon.
Blonde pigtails snapped about as the air raced through them and Naruto cursed her lack of balance, losing the weight of an arm on your right side appeared to do that for you. Once again, she cursed her current lack of fingers, unable to so much as create a shadow clone to aid her escape.
Her mind was whirling. It was all suppose to be over now, it was suppose to go back to normal. No more wars, no more Uchihas popping up out of the woodwork, certainly no more dead people. And yet, she already had two of the three happening right here.
Naruto ducked into her new apartment through the open window, slamming it shut and making a beeline for the bed.
Once there, she burrowed beneath the thick covers, pressing her face into the pillow and sucking in deep breaths, each one whistling through her teeth. One hand clenched at the bed sheet beneath and hot tears gathered in the corner of her eyes at the fact she couldn't do the same with her right hand because her right hand was no more.
The stump had healed over nicely, it wasn't as tender as it'd been when the flesh had been freshly healed. But it was still the most delicate part of her body, the one that throbbed with pain if she put too much pressure on it, caught it at the wrong angle. Naruto hated it.
Screaming, the pillow muffled the sound and Naruto whimpered beneath her breath once again. She needed to figure out what was going on, she needed to figure out what had just happened. But to do that, first she needed to calm down.
.
It took her five minutes of meditation, of calm and steady breathing, before Naruto felt even remotely ready to start tackling the problem at hand. With Kurama sleeping right now, attempting to recover his chakra, that left just her to figure out what was going on.
Standing up, the blonde made her way over to her desk, pulling out a piece of paper and picking up a pencil as she went. It felt decidedly odd to be holding a pencil in her left hand, twirling it back and forth between her fingers. Sure, the academy trained them to be able to write with both their hands, but it had been a while since Naruto had last exercised that skill.
With a sigh, the blonde dropped down into a seat, drumming her fingers against her lower lip as she thought.
Right, she needed to take stock of what had happened, what information she already had.
First thing first, Uchiha Itachi was currently in the village. He'd been stood beside Sasuke, but no one else had been able to see him. She liked to think there would have been a stronger reaction had anyone else spotted the Uchiha. Especially since no one but herself, Kakashi and Sasuke knew the truth.
For now.
One of Sasuke's demands had been a declaration of Itachi's innocence, for the truth to come out so the village could know just how good a protector it had lost. Naruto didn't have a problem with that.
What she did have a problem with was the fact Itachi was dead and yet, somehow still around.
He'd been stood by Sasuke's side, a sad smile on his face as he watched his younger brother in that short glimpse that Naruto had gotten of him.
She knew for certain Uchiha Itachi was dead. Very dead. Sasuke had the man's eyes in his skull for god's sake, he couldn't be anything other than dead.
And yet, he'd still been stood there, neither alive nor dead. He wasn't resurrected as he had been in the war, the sclera of his eyes hadn't been black, no cracks had been painted across his skin.
All the same, he'd not been alive. He'd been transparent. Like a ghost.
Naruto squirmed in discomfort.
She really, really did not like the idea of ghosts. Ghosts were not suppose to exist, it wasn't allowed Why didn't the Uchiha seemed to understand that his presence here was not allowed?
And why was it only Itachi?
Where was everyone else? All the souls of the dead who'd died in the war, all those that, like Itachi, had been brought back and forced to fight? Why was it only the Uchiha she could see?
And why was it only she who could see him? Not even Sasuke, who would've made more sense with his Rinnegan, appeared to be able to see his brother. That would have been much more logical an option than her.
Sighing harshly, Naruto reached up to grip at her ponytails, a nervous habit that'd formed years ago in childhood, and then let out a desperate cry when she realized only her left ponytail would be getting tugged. Because her right hand was still gone.
Sakura and Tsunade needed to hurry up with that prosthetic, Naruto didn't know how much more of this she could take, reaching for something and not being able to pick it up with her first choice of limb. Sometimes she could still feel her fingers, phantom digits that twitched to her desires, that tricked her mind into believing her arm was still there.
Pushing herself away from the table, Naruto stared down at the small nine tailed fox she'd been absentmindedly doodling onto the paper in front of her, a bittersweet smile crossing her lips.
She couldn't wait until Kurama woke up, the fox would know what was going on, this was like, his area of expertise. The strange and unnatural. And what was more unnatural than a ghost?
Nothing as far as Naruto was concerned.
Plucking up a plain orange sundress and a fresh pair of undergarments, Naruto disappeared into her bathroom, ready for a shower to work the kinks out of her back. Those hospital beds were in no way, shape or form comfortable.
.
Head under the spray of the shower, Naruto watched the dark blonde strands gather, fanning about to form a curtain before her breasts, water dripping from their ends.
For years she'd kept her hair short, to keep the villagers from grabbing it, to keep the enemy from grabbing it. But then, then Jiraiya had come along, come along and told her all about her mother, who had worn her brilliant red hair long, as long as her calves.
And so, Naruto had gained a new goal. To grow her hair out, to let it grow as far as she could deal with. it now came to rest mid way down her back after four solid years of growing it, and she didn't plan to stop there. She wanted it to go at least to mid thigh, as homage to her mother, in the same way her orange and black flame cloak was a nod to her father.
Even if she hadn't known it when the toads had passed on Jiraiya's last gift.
Flicking the long strands back over her shoulder, Naruto snatched up the shampoo bottle, scowling when she realized she had to squirt the substance directly onto her head. Sure, she'd been trained to use her left hand, but that was with the impression she'd be on infiltration, posing as someone who preferred to use their left hand over their right. She was not trained to handle a missing limb.
There was so much more she had to think over now, and it was not pleasant.
Rinsing the suds from her hair, Naruto played with the idea of leaving the shower right away, but knew that the second Sakura or Ino or even Tenten saw her they'd be furious about her lack of conditioner usage.
As a fresh genin, Naruto hadn't bothered too much about her boy short hair, washing it thoroughly with soap every few days and leaving it at that.
Unfortunately, when she grew it out long, apparently that meant she had to take better care of it, according to her fellow females. Even Hinata had agreed, and the Hyūga were unofficially the best at hair care in all of Konoha.
With a sigh, the blonde quickly returned the shampoo bottle to the shower basin, plucking up the conditioner.
The things she went through so her friends wouldn't yell at her.
.
Water droplets still dripping from her hair, Naruto scoffed as she walked out of the bathroom, swearing under her breath as she did so. Putting up pigtails was so much harder with only one hand. No, wait, it was impossible.
Snarling, the blonde threw the bobble to the floor, tears of shame burning in the corner of her eyes. What if Sakura never figured out the prosthetic? Would she be stuck like this forever, not even able to tie her own hair up?
Chomping down on her lip in order to stop the tears, Naruto turned her gaze to the kitchenette of her room, and then stopped cold. There was someone in her apartment, someone who should most certainly not be there.
Uchiha Itachi glanced back at her, in an almost nervous manner that spoke volumes on his usually emotionless face. Naruto could feel her ribs expanding outwards as she drew in a sharp, shocked breath, heart beating horrendously fast in her chest.
"My apologises Naruto-chan, I did not wish to invite myself in, but given the circumstances…" Itachi trailed off, evidently taking in her rapidly beating heart, the way her one hand was clenched up in panic.
Slowly he raised his hands, placing them on either side of his head. A surrender position. Not hands up and free like the civilian police used, seeing as a skill ninja would be able to fly through handseal before another could blink. With the fingers curled up and around the skull, it'd take a second long for hand seals to be formed, a second she could use to her advantage.
Still, Naruto's breath was caught in her throat, and she hacked a cough, trying to voice her thoughts.
"A-are you a ghost?"
The Uchiha stared back at her for a second, then his eyes -dark eyes, not the Sharingan- turned to gaze upon his obliquely transparent hands.
"I believe so. Though I have met no other like me, nor has anyone been able to see me. All except for you."
There was a lull in the conversation as Naruto digested what she'd been told. So, she'd been thinking the right thing earlier today then? He really was the only ghost around? And, and she was the only one that could see him?
Stumbling over to the kettle, Naruto struggled for a few minutes to fill it up with water, to open her cup ramen.
Eventually though she made it to the table with her steaming snack, sitting herself down, kicking out the chair opposite her as she did so. Itachi appeared hesitant to move, but at her jerky gesture, carefully took a seat. Naruto tried not to grimace when his hand passed through the table as he did so. They sat quiet for a moment, Naruto clicking her chopsticks together for a second, and then repeating the action as her mind whirled, trying to find something to say.
Thankfully though, it appeared that Itachi was going to fill the silence, before he leaned back slightly, cautious of going too far and phasing right through the chair.
Naruto shuddered.
"Thank you Naruto-chan. For bringing Sasuke home."
Warmth that had nothing to do with her cup ramen hit her stomach and Naruto looked away, feeling the heat rise on her cheeks.
"I just gave him a little push."
Itachi's soft smile dimmed slightly, looking quite blatantly at her upper right arm, which wasn't attached to anything else.
"No, you did not. Thank you, for taking your promise so seriously."
Rubbing sheepishly at the back of her neck, Naruto shuffled about on her seat, watching Itachi attempt to rest his elbow on the table, only to pass right through it. From the man's pinched expression, this had happened a few time already.
"Wh-why are you a ghost?" Naruto grimaced.
She really, really did not want to end up a ghost herself. When she went, she was going to the same place as her parents. But not before she'd lived a good long life, until she'd done right by Kurama, but the Leaf Village and by all her friends.
"I believe it has something to do with the circumstances of Edo Tensei. Due to the influence of Shisui's eye, the implanted will, I have concluded that my soul has been cut off from the Pure World, so to speak. When Kabuto was forced to release the jutsu, it only released the hold that kept my soul tied to the sacrificed body."
"So you're stuck here?" Naruto summed up, mouth having popped open in horror at the thought. The Pure World was suppose to be the end, the place after death. Her parents were there, and she didn't doubt that Itachi's were. To be cut off from family, and for his only family to not know he was here-
"Wait! I've gotta tell Sasuke you're here!" Naruto shot to her feet, squeaking when her ramen almost toppled free of its confines.
"No Naruto-chan. If Sasuke were to know I was here, he would not live his own life. He would attempt to live for me, from a misplaced sense of guilt. Please do not inform him."
The blonde's brows puckered, a frown forming across her lips as she slowly sat back down.
"Think about this objectively Naruto-chan, were Sasuke suddenly able to speak to your mother, would you be able to go on, knowing he could relay any message she had to you, would you be able to go about your day, knowing it was Sasuke who could interact with her, not you?"
Naruto opened her mouth to argue, but closed it after a seconds pause. Itachi was right. No, it wasn't fair on all three of them, not at all. Sasuke was just starting to build his life up again, she couldn't pull this on him, not right now. Not while the both of them were still recovering from the loss of their arms.
Drumming her chopsticks upon the rim of her ramen cup, Naruto looked across at the spectre of the man sat opposite her. To know that he'd sacrificed so much to keep the peace of the Leaf Village, and was suffering for that, even now… She didn't like it. Why did they all get to live happily, when Itachi couldn't even have his peace in death? It wasn't right, it certainly wasn't fair.
Inhaling another mouthful of ramen, the blonde's brow creased as she thought, looking over at Itachi once again.
The dark haired male was politely looking away from her, staring out the window and watching over the village with the softest of smiles on his face. He really did love this place.
Naruto's heart leapt up into her throat, hardening her resolve.
It was decided then. While she was waiting for Kurama to wake up, while she was waiting for the world to recover from war, she'd help Itachi get his peace. She'd help him move on to the Pure World as he wanted, so that he could have what he'd fought so hard for them to keep.
It made perfect sense to her. Ninja had invented ways to summon the souls back from the Pure World, surely sending one back wasn't that difficult?
And if it was, she wasn't Konoha's most unpredictable ninja for nothing. That much, she knew for truth. Hell, she was going to need to do some research, lots of research. She needed clones. Which meant-
"I need to see a woman about an arm." Naruto declared, getting to her feet and throwing her empty ramen cup into the bin. Dark eyes tracked her movement across the flat, watching as she put her sandals on. Naruto was sure he didn't miss the way her right arm twitched, wanting to help, but no longer able. Twisting this way and that to make sure her footgear was on correctly, Naruto turned to look at her unexpected guest, frowning at the blonde hair that attempted to get in her way.
"Are you coming with?" Itachi got to his feet smoothly. He clearly hadn't been a ghost for very long, considering he took the time to step back and away from the table, instead of just walking right through it. Naruto tried not to grimace at the thought.
"You are the only one I can interact with Naruto-chan."
"But don't you wanna watch over Sasuke?"
That made more sense in her mind. Itachi had done everything for Sasuke, had given up everything for the boy.
"Sasuke is in a better place then he has been for years. I need not observe his every movement."
Acknowledging the dead man with a nod of her head, Naruto spun on heels, playing with the idea of leaving via window but deciding it was perhaps best she used the door until she had a second arm again.
She hoped she'd have a second arm again. Zetsu's clone cells had been good enough to give Obito use of his body again, surely that meant Tsunade, the greatest medic in the elemental nations, could turn it all into something that she could use?
Naruto crossed her fingers and hoped reverently that such a thing was true. She really, really did not like the idea of only having one arm forever.
"Please refrain from informing anyone of my presence Naruto-chan."
Glancing back at the Uchiha as she locked the door up, Naruto gave a small smile, determination burning even stronger in her stomach.
She would see him free of this latest torture, that she promised.
"Will do Itachi."
Being back in the Leaf Village was both his antidote and his poison.
It was incredible, to walk through the streets again. But to not truly be there, to not enjoy the peace they were experiencing, to be unable to interact with his brother who was steady for the first time in years…
It hurt.
Pleasure, at seeing the village at the calmest it had ever been, but pain, over not being able to fully appreciate it.
He was neither dead nor alive.
It'd been that way since his temporary body had flaked away, since his spirit had remained alongside Sasuke as the body dropped to the floor.
Unseen, unheard.
Neither present or absent.
He had taken to following Sasuke, as no other option had presented itself during that time he'd stood by a frozen Kabuto's side, unable to do anything. He'd made his way to the Leaf, had shed tears over his sibling's missing him. Even more so when he noticed the matching injury that Naruto sported.
But the girl had been true to her word, had brought Sasuke back to the village. Had fixed him, even if his brother was still very obviously fragile. He should really have a handle with care stick slapped over him.
Only Naruto seemed capable of bringing out the best in him, though Itachi really wasn't that surprised. From what he'd heard, what he'd seen, Naruto had brought out the best in everyone. It was why there was now peace. Tentative, infant peace, but peace all the same.
Only Sasuke, Sasuke was the only one that Itachi would prefer to see him. Naruto, there was no better person than Naruto, it was only Itachi's love for his little brother that had him believing otherwise.
When he had followed Sasuke to the girl's hospital room, he'd instantly clocked on to her the moment those blue eyes landed on his form. She had seen him. Looking right at him, at this body that was both here and not. And she had panicked.
Itachi had been quick to work out it was a childish fear of ghosts, but since Edo Tensei had been used so liberally in the war, he didn't doubt that more than one ninja had walked away with a fear of the undead. He'd given her space, meanwhile mulling over what to say to the girl.
What could he say? Thank you was obviously going to be the first thing on his list. She'd stopped the war, she'd saved lives, the village. She'd saved Sasuke. Itachi couldn't even begin to describe the gratitude that welled within him over such a thing.
To ask her not to tell his little brother had hurt. But he knew Sasuke wouldn't be able to leave alone. He would badger Naruto to be their middle man, to stand between their conversations. And the blonde would be too kind, too polite to say no. He didn't want that for the whiskered teen, she'd already done more than enough for them. For all of them. He refused to add more to her workload.
Instead, he'd began to look at what he was able to do in this form.
The answer had been obvious. He wanted to help his village, even if it was from the shadows, from this in-between world he was now stuck in. And as a ghost, no one would be able to stop him from snooping now. Naruto could relay the information.
He could still keep the village safe.
New purpose burned bright inside of him, the idea taking root almost instantly. Yes, it sounded good. If he wasn't allowed to move on, if he had to repent for his sins, then he would do it the only way he knew how.
By protecting that which he held dear.
.
Phasing through another person the street, Itachi grimaced. Just because he could pass through people, it did not mean his sense of touch had disappeared. He could not just actively move things, could not make an impression upon anything.
He could still feel the slick muscle of the human body, the sharp corners of a wooden table.
The silken blonde strands of Naruto's hair as she ran ahead of him, greeting every person that took the time to acknowledge her. And there were quite a few.
It was obvious why Naruto was taking this whole ghost business so well. She was at the end of her tether, struggling to handle the fact she only had one arm now. With a ghost haunting the village, well, that was something she was clearly content on ignoring for at the moment.
He'd seen the way what remained of her arm had twitched, watching as it tried to aid it's match, but had been unable to.
Something heavy sat in his stomach, well aware that it was because of Sasuke's ideals, ideals that were unfortunately twisted; this was the cause of Naruto's injury. Of his little brother's injury.
He'd seen his younger sibling cry when he thought there'd been no one in his hospital room. Itachi had forced himself to stand vigil by his brother's bedside, aware that had he made a better choice, had he handled the situation with Sasuke better, then maybe his baby brother wouldn't be missing a limb right now.
That Naruto wouldn't be missing one either.
Had he not tried to do everything on his own, had he accepted help instead of going solo, had he only just trusted in others as much as he had his own abilities… Things might have turned out for the better.
"Itachi?"
Snapping his gaze up to look at the whiskered blonde that'd stopped just outside of the Hokage's office, the Uchiha forced his expression to soften, to remove itself from his bitter thoughts.
Naruto stared back at him for a second, blue eyes dripping with curious suspicion, but nevertheless she accepted the fact he wasn't going to say anything.
Instead, she turned on her heels, pushing open the door to the Hokage's office and striding into the whirlwind as if it weren't there.
Itachi followed in a somewhat more cautious manner, each and every ninja passing him by without so much of a first glance, never mind a second. He'd grown use to it, these past three days, but it could still catch him off guard even now, it could still sting. It had been a long, long time since people had ignored him in such a manner, a long time since no one had been watching.
He noted Naruto's expression, shocked and quite clearly confused. She'd obviously been hoping she wasn't the only one to see him. Itachi was unsure why it was only her, he still didn't have an answer over that, no matter how much he pondered such a thing.
"Baa-chan! Is my new arm done yet?"
Itachi snorted, unable to help himself. He'd heard rumours, but this was the first time that he'd actually been able to witness Naruto address the Hokage as something so familiar as 'Baa-chan'.
The girl shot him a funny look, but continued onwards regardless.
"I wanna go on an adventure."
The busty blonde Hokage, who'd previously been snapping out orders before Naruto's exuberant entrance, paused, sharp honey eyes assessing every inch of her fellow blonde.
"Excuse me?"
"I've got some questions that I want answers to. I wanna go on a journey of self discovery. Like Pervy Sage did. But I need an arm for that." As if to empathize her point, Naruto waves her stump up and down, reminding Itachi rather forlornly of a chicken.
It was not the kind of action he'd associate with the strongest ninja in the world. And she was, his brother a close second. It was Naruto's will, her charisma, that won her that title. She'd never lost when it really counted.
"Konoha is recovering from war, the citizens are insecure and this peace thing is as fragile as Hyūga Hinata's pre-Chũnin exam confidence, and you want to just leave?"
Naruto spluttered, eyes darting around the room in an effort to keep from looking at him. Itachi was surprised to find out it was amusement bubbling away in his stomach. He had no idea what Naruto had been expecting, but this kind of reaction clearly wasn't it.
"Please Baa-chan? I'll stop by all the villages and make sure everything's running right, and if you fix me up with a new arm I'll be able to defend myself just fine! You can call it a diploc- diplowam-"
"Diplomatic?" Itachi offered drily, watching as Naruto straightened, flipping him the bird behind her back with her one good arm and thus, out of view from Tsunade.
"A diplomatic mission!"
The Hokage heaved a sigh, nursing her temples with one hand, the other twitching for something. Itachi's sharp gaze picked up on the shape her fingers attempted to form, not the kind of grip required for a kunai, but something leaning more towards, a bottle?
Well, if his information was correct then Tsunade was still a notorious a drunk as she'd been before taking up the hat. He trusted his instincts that much at least.
"So you'll let me?"
"Fine brat! Stop by in morning and we'll talk it over. Now I've gotta go look at those blasted cells again."
Naruto let out a cheer of victory, spinning on the spot and shooting out towards the door. Itachi didn't miss the way she reached out to snatch up his wrist, but remembering at the last second she'd just pass right through him.
'Well,' he mused, following after the young woman that was making a beeline to the new market place, 'at least this in-between won't be terribly boring'.
Thought I'd get the first chapter out before I disappear to finish off some Uni work for the next few days. So, here we go. I'm aiming fro about 5,000 words per chapter in this fic, give or take 500. Thoughts?
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Coming up next chapter;
In which Naruto once again totals four limbs, and Itachi gets suspicious on Naruto's sudden desire to see more of the world.
Tsume
xxx