Did you know... Sakura's birthday is about to come up... I think it already
passed, but in the story she's almost seventeen! Hee hee...
Chapter Title: 39. Haunted
Everyone decided to wander around once the funeral was finished and the adults closest to him, tried to figure out what to do with Naruto's empty coffin. Sasuke stood from his chair and began walking towards the doors to the stairwell when an old familiar voice caught his attention, as well as the words.
"That little brat deserved everything he got! I warned you that he would never be able to keep the Kitsune subdued for long and no body listened to me." He saw the old woman from the hut yelling at Tsunade, who was just barely containing her temper. Kakashi stormed over, not caring to be polite or even civil with her.
"That boy is DEAD!" He snarled back. "Don't you have any respect for the dead?"
"I wouldn't care even if this is his funeral!" She had a menacing look in her eyes.
"Well it is, and you should!" Tsunade butted in. "How would you like it if someone said something like this about your child at their funeral?!
"Do you even know who I am?!"
"No, and I don't care!" The two women continued their shouting match until the old woman reached up and smacked Tsunade across the face.
"Do YOU know who *I* am?!!" The Hokage shrieked and Kakashi had to restrain her from attacking the woman, while some other villagers came and dragged the older of the two away.
Both boys were wide-eyed at the exchange and as Sasuke turned to leave the soul whistled low under his breath. He'd never seen this side of Tsunade before, except when she was irritated by Jiraiya.
"What a bitch." He muttered, deciding to follow his old rival. Sasuke nodded his head and grunted in agreement.
"I know." Naruto stopped suddenly and gasped at the reply, and it wasn't for another couple of footsteps that Sasuke did the same and whirled around. He scanned the area around him for the speaker but almost everyone had already left and he was alone in the stairwell. He narrowed his eyes, allowing them to glow red with the use of the Sharingan, but even then he saw no chakra. After another moment he continued down the stairs, a lot less relaxed than he was when he'd entered them.
Naruto was surprised, more than anything else and followed after, chattering away, but nothing he said afterwards was heard by his friend. After a couple of minutes, the blonde finally gave up and his steps became heavier as he became even more frustrated than before.
***
They continued on towards the Hokage gardens in silence, occasionally interrupted by Naruto's inaudible curses, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't remember how he'd made his voice heard. He tried everything from shouting to whispering, but nothing worked. He sighed and sat down at the base of the tree Sasuke was sitting in.
"Sasuke, you bastard!" He mumbled. "Maybe it's just YOU who can't hear ME, and not the other way around." In his sulking he tried picking up rocks and chucking them at the silent boy. Stones, pebbles, everything. Some of them didn't move, but occasionally he caught one and it flew through the air recklessly. He never even noticed, his sense of touch still with the Kitsune in his body. He only became aware of it when one whizzed past Sasuke's face and he looked down, only to be met with a smooth pebble to the forehead. He winced and was on his feet in a second, trying to determine the source of the stones, while Naruto stared dumbstruck at his hands to see what he had done to make the stones move.
Through his translucent skin, the blonde was aghast to see the thin chakra lines fading from his finger tips. He smiled to himself and tried to pick up another stone. The chakra surged through his arm and the stone was lifted.
"This is almost better than the Byakugan." He grinned to himself, turning to see Sasuke hop down from his branch, scanning the area for signs of life. It was only when Naruto was using his chakra that he could be seen with the Sharingan and, although Sasuke was beginning to pace nervously, Naruto's face brightened up entirely. He'd figured out how to touch things, and with a little bit of effort, he knew he'd be able to talk aloud.
He began circling the boy and released some chakra, chuckling to Sasuke. The Uchiha whirled around again, but saw nothing but a small wisp of used chakra disappearing.
"I know something you don't know!" Naruto sang, his voice filled with laugher.
***
Sasuke couldn't relax. Every step he took filled him with nervousness at the disembodied laughter or the sight of objects floating in mid air. He realised quick enough that no one else was going to see or hear these things. He'd once asked Sakura to turn around to see the floating apple behind her head, but when she turned around the apple had been dropped back into the basket, earning him a confused pitying look. He never said another word about it, knowing they would think he'd started to go crazy from grief.
Ironically enough, he never had the time to mourn over Naruto's death anymore; he was so busy with looking over his shoulder every day. He tried everything he could think of to get to the source of his hauntings, but in the end he could do nothing but ignore them. They weren't hurting him after all.
One night, a few days later, Sakura invited him and Kakashi to dinner at her house. He could tell she thought him crazier every time she saw him and felt almost insulted that both her and their teacher had taken it upon themselves to look out for him. If he'd had any choice in leaving his house, he wouldn't have gone, but Kakashi stopped by just to make sure he came over.
They walked in silence, which irritated Sasuke almost as much as the glances Kakashi continuously shot him, though he thought the younger boy didn't notice them. In fact, Sasuke was about to growl a warning at his teacher when they finally reached the house. Sakura and her mother were waiting in the doorway, and the snow had been brushed off the front porch. It was only mid march, but the spring thaw seemed to be late.
"Come in, you two." The older of the two women exclaimed, ushering them inside. "You must be cold." She took their jackets and shooed them towards the dinner table, which was already piled with food.
Sitting down quietly, Sakura and her family began passing dishes around and filling their plates. Sasuke refrained from taking too much and listened idly to the dinner conversation while he nibbled at his chopsticks.
"Did you know there was word that the Kitsune's already destroyed several villages on his way to the Hidden Sand?" Haruno-san spoke up, spreading a bit of gossip he'd heard earlier that day in the flower shop. Sasuke's ears pricked up, but he made no other motion to show he was even paying any attention.
"Really, dear?"
"Yeah, the word is that it is planning on allying with them instead of the Hidden Leaf."
"That'll be two demons they'll have gotten a hold of then, wouldn't it?" Kakashi shook his head.
"Haruno-san, there's no need to worry yet." He didn't look like he'd even touched his meal yet. "When Tsunade-hime feels there is a threat in the Kyuubi's advancement to the Sand, he will be dealt with. Either way, no harm will come to the village."
"You might think so, Hatake-san, but it's our daughter's life that may be on the line fighting this monster."
"As is mine." He replied sternly. Sasuke rose from his seat abruptly and cleared his throat.
"Sumimasen." He muttered under his breath, not liking where the conversation was heading. He left the room and, grabbing his jacket, went outside into the snow for some fresh air. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Naruto watched him from a distance.
He'd held back from bugging Sasuke all day, and though he was itching to do something to his friend, he was halted by the slight speckle of sadness that seemed to seep through the cracks in his rival's face of stone. He wondered if there wasn't something he could do to change things around. He sat on the steps of the porch, gazing blankly into the snow, while Sasuke walked slowly down towards the lawn.
Both boys were lost in thought until Naruto jumped up, apparently having seen something to spark his creative side. He grinned mischievously at Sasuke's back and began walking on his tip-toes, forgetting that it made no difference. Without a second thought, he sent out chakra to the palms of his hands and picked up a large handful of snow, chucking it at the back of his rival's head. He snickered to himself as Sasuke froze where he was and slowly turned around, a look of murder in his eyes.
"Stop hiding from me, you idiot!" He yelled. "Show yourself!" Naruto bent down and wrote one word in the snow.
DOBE
"NARUTO!?" He exclaimed. "But I don't believe in ghosts." He huffed stubbornly. Naruto stepped closer and poked him in the forehead.
"No, baka." He whispered softly into the other boy's ear. Both were surprised at Naruto's ability to have his chakra felt and the 'ghost' grinned as a wicked thought came over him.
He waited for a couple of seconds until Sasuke turned around subconsciously before concentrating a gentle flow of chakra to the palms of his hands and thrust them against his back, testing out his new-found ability. Sasuke wasn't quick enough to catch himself from falling, which earned himself a mouthful of the fluffy cold.
The blond erupted into laughter and jumped around beside his growling and cursing friend. It succeeded in bringing out both Sakura and Kakashi. They stood on the porch, eyeing Sasuke in the snow carefully.
"Daijoubu, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, her face showing concern at the sight of him on his hands and knees, covered in snow.
"Yeah." He muttered, standing up and brushing off a little of the snow. "Daijoubu."
"We heard laughter." Kakashi exclaimed.
"Laughter?" Sasuke hesitated, looking around for any sign of his 'ghost'. "I tripped and fell in the snow. What would make that a laughing matter?" He asked rhetorically, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Are you coming back inside?" Sakura asked after a moment of silence. He nodded and started up the steps, following them inside and back to the dinner table. The two elder Harunos smiled at his entrance and they began to finish eating.
Not two minutes back into the meal, Naruto began to test Sasuke's patience again by poking and prodding not only the boy's hands and arms, but his face and sides as well. It wasn't anything that would catch the others' attention, and even Sasuke knew it.
Throughout the meal, the dark-haired genin was close to breaking, but he managed to stick it out until he had locked his door behind him.
"NARUTO!!" He yelled, looking around the front hallway. "What the hell were you doing!?"
"Hey, it was fun!" He laughed, poking Sasuke in the side again. His friend flinched and turned to stare at where the chakra had come from.
"It was not! Have you been the one doing this the whole time?!"
"Aa!"
"Dobe! You've had me thinking it was an enemy."
"I know. I've been with you for a while." Sasuke frowned, and his voice softened.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Yeah... but I didn't feel like dying just yet... maybe in a few more years."
"Naruto!" Sasuke snapped. "This isn't supposed to be funny! Everyone believes you're dead! Even I was starting to."
"Well there's nothing I can do about that right now. You're just stuck with me for the time being." The blonde shrugged out of habit.
"How long is a while?"
"What?"
"You said you've been with me for a while, how long?"
"I saw you run to your house to try and kill the Kyuubi."
"And you didn't think to tell me you were still here then?!"
"I couldn't figure out how this whole thing worked!!" Naruto retorted. "I only just got the hang of it all." Sasuke nodded and moved into the house.
"So have you been to see anyone else?"
"Nope, I've been with you for the whole time. I liked staying with you, even though it frustrated me that I couldn't do anything for so long. It's not like I would have gone to visit Sakura voluntarily anyways."
"Did you hear what she said about you at the funeral?"
"Not really, I tuned her out. But I did notice that you wouldn't talk, why?" Sasuke flushed and sagged into a recliner lazily. He turned away from the direction of the voice, hesitant to answer.
"I didn't want to." Naruto sighed deeply and shook his head.
"Fine, be stubborn. I've been using my chakra for too long, I'm going to let you go to sleep."
"Wait!" Sasuke looked up. "You're using chakra?"
"Yeah, I figured it was the only way I can use my voice or move things. Use your Sharingan while I talk... I'm sure you can see the source of it." Sasuke nodded and let his Sharingan be released. Sure enough there was a small amount of chakra right in front of him. He blinked slowly and his eyes returned to their natural colour, a brief smile flitting across his face.
"Naruto." He exclaimed.
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're not dead."
"Me too. I plan on haunting you for a long time yet."
"And you don't already?"
~~~~~~~
To Teki Star don't worry about the SasuNaru stuffs. I'm sure that next chapter you'll be very happy indeed. I'm not going to give anything away, but there is a little bit of a realisation... and Naruto puts his chakra to good use, letting his prankster out. Also, starting next chapter FOR SURE the rating will jump to R... so if you're reading this, you might not see my story on the general ff.n page because they only show up to PG-13 on the first one.
And also, a couple of people mentioned the Kyuubi. He'll come up again, soon... I just want to start with the LIME scenes between Sasuke and Naruto first before going back to that... The thing is... I really can't see Naruto without the Kyuubi... he just becomes a boring character... so no I don't plan on killing off the Kitsune just yet.
I never noticed it until people brought it up, but Naruto wasn't creeped out by the funeral, mostly because his mind was elsewhere... and he really didn't care about it... there was no body, and he's not really dead. Heh... but I suppose if he'd been paying attention he'd be a little weirded out about it all..
I'm definitely going to have fun with the next chapter. It's not a full lime, but hopefully it will be suggestive enough to satisfy all you people, especially those who enjoy torturing Sasuke. And on to the lime...
Chapter Title: 39. Haunted
Everyone decided to wander around once the funeral was finished and the adults closest to him, tried to figure out what to do with Naruto's empty coffin. Sasuke stood from his chair and began walking towards the doors to the stairwell when an old familiar voice caught his attention, as well as the words.
"That little brat deserved everything he got! I warned you that he would never be able to keep the Kitsune subdued for long and no body listened to me." He saw the old woman from the hut yelling at Tsunade, who was just barely containing her temper. Kakashi stormed over, not caring to be polite or even civil with her.
"That boy is DEAD!" He snarled back. "Don't you have any respect for the dead?"
"I wouldn't care even if this is his funeral!" She had a menacing look in her eyes.
"Well it is, and you should!" Tsunade butted in. "How would you like it if someone said something like this about your child at their funeral?!
"Do you even know who I am?!"
"No, and I don't care!" The two women continued their shouting match until the old woman reached up and smacked Tsunade across the face.
"Do YOU know who *I* am?!!" The Hokage shrieked and Kakashi had to restrain her from attacking the woman, while some other villagers came and dragged the older of the two away.
Both boys were wide-eyed at the exchange and as Sasuke turned to leave the soul whistled low under his breath. He'd never seen this side of Tsunade before, except when she was irritated by Jiraiya.
"What a bitch." He muttered, deciding to follow his old rival. Sasuke nodded his head and grunted in agreement.
"I know." Naruto stopped suddenly and gasped at the reply, and it wasn't for another couple of footsteps that Sasuke did the same and whirled around. He scanned the area around him for the speaker but almost everyone had already left and he was alone in the stairwell. He narrowed his eyes, allowing them to glow red with the use of the Sharingan, but even then he saw no chakra. After another moment he continued down the stairs, a lot less relaxed than he was when he'd entered them.
Naruto was surprised, more than anything else and followed after, chattering away, but nothing he said afterwards was heard by his friend. After a couple of minutes, the blonde finally gave up and his steps became heavier as he became even more frustrated than before.
***
They continued on towards the Hokage gardens in silence, occasionally interrupted by Naruto's inaudible curses, but no matter what he tried, he couldn't remember how he'd made his voice heard. He tried everything from shouting to whispering, but nothing worked. He sighed and sat down at the base of the tree Sasuke was sitting in.
"Sasuke, you bastard!" He mumbled. "Maybe it's just YOU who can't hear ME, and not the other way around." In his sulking he tried picking up rocks and chucking them at the silent boy. Stones, pebbles, everything. Some of them didn't move, but occasionally he caught one and it flew through the air recklessly. He never even noticed, his sense of touch still with the Kitsune in his body. He only became aware of it when one whizzed past Sasuke's face and he looked down, only to be met with a smooth pebble to the forehead. He winced and was on his feet in a second, trying to determine the source of the stones, while Naruto stared dumbstruck at his hands to see what he had done to make the stones move.
Through his translucent skin, the blonde was aghast to see the thin chakra lines fading from his finger tips. He smiled to himself and tried to pick up another stone. The chakra surged through his arm and the stone was lifted.
"This is almost better than the Byakugan." He grinned to himself, turning to see Sasuke hop down from his branch, scanning the area for signs of life. It was only when Naruto was using his chakra that he could be seen with the Sharingan and, although Sasuke was beginning to pace nervously, Naruto's face brightened up entirely. He'd figured out how to touch things, and with a little bit of effort, he knew he'd be able to talk aloud.
He began circling the boy and released some chakra, chuckling to Sasuke. The Uchiha whirled around again, but saw nothing but a small wisp of used chakra disappearing.
"I know something you don't know!" Naruto sang, his voice filled with laugher.
***
Sasuke couldn't relax. Every step he took filled him with nervousness at the disembodied laughter or the sight of objects floating in mid air. He realised quick enough that no one else was going to see or hear these things. He'd once asked Sakura to turn around to see the floating apple behind her head, but when she turned around the apple had been dropped back into the basket, earning him a confused pitying look. He never said another word about it, knowing they would think he'd started to go crazy from grief.
Ironically enough, he never had the time to mourn over Naruto's death anymore; he was so busy with looking over his shoulder every day. He tried everything he could think of to get to the source of his hauntings, but in the end he could do nothing but ignore them. They weren't hurting him after all.
One night, a few days later, Sakura invited him and Kakashi to dinner at her house. He could tell she thought him crazier every time she saw him and felt almost insulted that both her and their teacher had taken it upon themselves to look out for him. If he'd had any choice in leaving his house, he wouldn't have gone, but Kakashi stopped by just to make sure he came over.
They walked in silence, which irritated Sasuke almost as much as the glances Kakashi continuously shot him, though he thought the younger boy didn't notice them. In fact, Sasuke was about to growl a warning at his teacher when they finally reached the house. Sakura and her mother were waiting in the doorway, and the snow had been brushed off the front porch. It was only mid march, but the spring thaw seemed to be late.
"Come in, you two." The older of the two women exclaimed, ushering them inside. "You must be cold." She took their jackets and shooed them towards the dinner table, which was already piled with food.
Sitting down quietly, Sakura and her family began passing dishes around and filling their plates. Sasuke refrained from taking too much and listened idly to the dinner conversation while he nibbled at his chopsticks.
"Did you know there was word that the Kitsune's already destroyed several villages on his way to the Hidden Sand?" Haruno-san spoke up, spreading a bit of gossip he'd heard earlier that day in the flower shop. Sasuke's ears pricked up, but he made no other motion to show he was even paying any attention.
"Really, dear?"
"Yeah, the word is that it is planning on allying with them instead of the Hidden Leaf."
"That'll be two demons they'll have gotten a hold of then, wouldn't it?" Kakashi shook his head.
"Haruno-san, there's no need to worry yet." He didn't look like he'd even touched his meal yet. "When Tsunade-hime feels there is a threat in the Kyuubi's advancement to the Sand, he will be dealt with. Either way, no harm will come to the village."
"You might think so, Hatake-san, but it's our daughter's life that may be on the line fighting this monster."
"As is mine." He replied sternly. Sasuke rose from his seat abruptly and cleared his throat.
"Sumimasen." He muttered under his breath, not liking where the conversation was heading. He left the room and, grabbing his jacket, went outside into the snow for some fresh air. He took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. Naruto watched him from a distance.
He'd held back from bugging Sasuke all day, and though he was itching to do something to his friend, he was halted by the slight speckle of sadness that seemed to seep through the cracks in his rival's face of stone. He wondered if there wasn't something he could do to change things around. He sat on the steps of the porch, gazing blankly into the snow, while Sasuke walked slowly down towards the lawn.
Both boys were lost in thought until Naruto jumped up, apparently having seen something to spark his creative side. He grinned mischievously at Sasuke's back and began walking on his tip-toes, forgetting that it made no difference. Without a second thought, he sent out chakra to the palms of his hands and picked up a large handful of snow, chucking it at the back of his rival's head. He snickered to himself as Sasuke froze where he was and slowly turned around, a look of murder in his eyes.
"Stop hiding from me, you idiot!" He yelled. "Show yourself!" Naruto bent down and wrote one word in the snow.
DOBE
"NARUTO!?" He exclaimed. "But I don't believe in ghosts." He huffed stubbornly. Naruto stepped closer and poked him in the forehead.
"No, baka." He whispered softly into the other boy's ear. Both were surprised at Naruto's ability to have his chakra felt and the 'ghost' grinned as a wicked thought came over him.
He waited for a couple of seconds until Sasuke turned around subconsciously before concentrating a gentle flow of chakra to the palms of his hands and thrust them against his back, testing out his new-found ability. Sasuke wasn't quick enough to catch himself from falling, which earned himself a mouthful of the fluffy cold.
The blond erupted into laughter and jumped around beside his growling and cursing friend. It succeeded in bringing out both Sakura and Kakashi. They stood on the porch, eyeing Sasuke in the snow carefully.
"Daijoubu, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked, her face showing concern at the sight of him on his hands and knees, covered in snow.
"Yeah." He muttered, standing up and brushing off a little of the snow. "Daijoubu."
"We heard laughter." Kakashi exclaimed.
"Laughter?" Sasuke hesitated, looking around for any sign of his 'ghost'. "I tripped and fell in the snow. What would make that a laughing matter?" He asked rhetorically, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
"Are you coming back inside?" Sakura asked after a moment of silence. He nodded and started up the steps, following them inside and back to the dinner table. The two elder Harunos smiled at his entrance and they began to finish eating.
Not two minutes back into the meal, Naruto began to test Sasuke's patience again by poking and prodding not only the boy's hands and arms, but his face and sides as well. It wasn't anything that would catch the others' attention, and even Sasuke knew it.
Throughout the meal, the dark-haired genin was close to breaking, but he managed to stick it out until he had locked his door behind him.
"NARUTO!!" He yelled, looking around the front hallway. "What the hell were you doing!?"
"Hey, it was fun!" He laughed, poking Sasuke in the side again. His friend flinched and turned to stare at where the chakra had come from.
"It was not! Have you been the one doing this the whole time?!"
"Aa!"
"Dobe! You've had me thinking it was an enemy."
"I know. I've been with you for a while." Sasuke frowned, and his voice softened.
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Yeah... but I didn't feel like dying just yet... maybe in a few more years."
"Naruto!" Sasuke snapped. "This isn't supposed to be funny! Everyone believes you're dead! Even I was starting to."
"Well there's nothing I can do about that right now. You're just stuck with me for the time being." The blonde shrugged out of habit.
"How long is a while?"
"What?"
"You said you've been with me for a while, how long?"
"I saw you run to your house to try and kill the Kyuubi."
"And you didn't think to tell me you were still here then?!"
"I couldn't figure out how this whole thing worked!!" Naruto retorted. "I only just got the hang of it all." Sasuke nodded and moved into the house.
"So have you been to see anyone else?"
"Nope, I've been with you for the whole time. I liked staying with you, even though it frustrated me that I couldn't do anything for so long. It's not like I would have gone to visit Sakura voluntarily anyways."
"Did you hear what she said about you at the funeral?"
"Not really, I tuned her out. But I did notice that you wouldn't talk, why?" Sasuke flushed and sagged into a recliner lazily. He turned away from the direction of the voice, hesitant to answer.
"I didn't want to." Naruto sighed deeply and shook his head.
"Fine, be stubborn. I've been using my chakra for too long, I'm going to let you go to sleep."
"Wait!" Sasuke looked up. "You're using chakra?"
"Yeah, I figured it was the only way I can use my voice or move things. Use your Sharingan while I talk... I'm sure you can see the source of it." Sasuke nodded and let his Sharingan be released. Sure enough there was a small amount of chakra right in front of him. He blinked slowly and his eyes returned to their natural colour, a brief smile flitting across his face.
"Naruto." He exclaimed.
"Yeah?"
"I'm glad you're not dead."
"Me too. I plan on haunting you for a long time yet."
"And you don't already?"
~~~~~~~
To Teki Star don't worry about the SasuNaru stuffs. I'm sure that next chapter you'll be very happy indeed. I'm not going to give anything away, but there is a little bit of a realisation... and Naruto puts his chakra to good use, letting his prankster out. Also, starting next chapter FOR SURE the rating will jump to R... so if you're reading this, you might not see my story on the general ff.n page because they only show up to PG-13 on the first one.
And also, a couple of people mentioned the Kyuubi. He'll come up again, soon... I just want to start with the LIME scenes between Sasuke and Naruto first before going back to that... The thing is... I really can't see Naruto without the Kyuubi... he just becomes a boring character... so no I don't plan on killing off the Kitsune just yet.
I never noticed it until people brought it up, but Naruto wasn't creeped out by the funeral, mostly because his mind was elsewhere... and he really didn't care about it... there was no body, and he's not really dead. Heh... but I suppose if he'd been paying attention he'd be a little weirded out about it all..
I'm definitely going to have fun with the next chapter. It's not a full lime, but hopefully it will be suggestive enough to satisfy all you people, especially those who enjoy torturing Sasuke. And on to the lime...