::Chapter Three:: (I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic)

One week and 3 days and 7 hours. That is how long it's been since the life altering incident happened. But who's keeping track?! Sasuke had made the decision that it would be best to avoid his wake and funeral—seeing his dead body once was enough to last him for a long time. He also figured that seeing Naruto like that was MORE than enough. Seeing Naruto's face when he says his goodbyes to Sasuke—he shuttered just thinking about it. Hence; Sasuke walked aimlessly around the town.

Despite his torn heart and shattered feelings, he still found it fairly amusing when the occasional living being ended up walking right through him. He also found some joy on the face that the person makes once they've passed through him—much of the "…what the eff?" sort of face. Sasuke still remembered the first time someone passed through him. Once during the week; when he was strolling through one of the outlet malls, when he saw Ino (an ex girlfriend—don't ask…) shopping. His first instinct was to run and hide, that's when he remembered he was dead. (hah! Fancy that!)

So, Sasuke just stuffed his fists in his torn jean's pockets and kept on walking foreword—Ino walking towards him. Now remember, at the time he didn't know that people could pass through him, so he began to avoid walking into her. Just then, Ino must have spotted a sale or someone that looked hot—either way, she made a distinct change in direction. Sasuke stiffened when Ino darted right towards him but before he said anything (knowing full well that it was useless—people can't hear him) she phased right through him.

Sasuke couldn't help but be amazed, yet a little creeped out. He let his left eye twitch when he saw Ino shiver and speak to herself. "Brr. An air vent must have just turned on…"

Anyways, back to the present, Sasuke meandered around the town when something strange caught his eye. There was a young boy standing behind a tree—he was leaned over, looking as if he was watching someone from behind it. What the boy was doing wasn't the strange part; it was WHO the boy was…

Sasuke recalled seeing the boy's face before, in the paper. He had been struck by a car not two weeks before Sasuke's own accident. Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized—the boy's dead and can't pass on—just like him!
The late Uchiha thought for a moment, shifting his footing a bit. Finally, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and casually walked over to the boy. Upon reaching him, Sasuke smiled—a little sheepishly—and lifted one of his hands.

"Hello!" He said. The little boy had not seen Sasuke walk up to him, but he was not shocked. He simply turned his gaze towards Sasuke and nodded. "Hi." He said in a quiet voice. The boy's appearance matched his soft voice. His eyes were pale blue—sort of like a whiteish blue—and his hair was a dark shade of what looked like purple. Before Sasuke could say anything else, the boy spoke again.

"You're dead…" He said point blankly, "Just like me." Hmm, sounds familiar doesn't it? Sasuke made a sound that sounded like a half cough half choke; his feet became a little clumsy. Pulling himself back together, Sasuke cleared his throat. "W-well…yeah. Why else would I be able to see you here…" He leaned over—mimicking the boy—and gazed in the general direction that he was. He tilted an eyebrow up when he realized what the young child had been gazing at, "staring at that pretty girl." He said with a smirk.

The young boy's face darkened to a shade of pink. "I-I wasn't…staring…" He said weakly, knowing that it was useless to try to hide it. Sasuke let out a small laugh. Just then, the boy's expression became angry. He stood up straight; his hands balled into tight fists. "Y-you should talk! I'm not the only one here with an 'unfulfilled desire'!" Sasuke's attention was immediately wrapped around that sentence.

"Un…unfulfilled desire?" He repeated. The young boy made a confused face.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Why we can't pass on…Come on, you mean to tell me you're seriously not wondering why you aren't in 'heaven' or 'hell'?"
Sasuke paused for a moment. He did know why he couldn't move on—well, sort of. He shrugged. "All I know is that I'm dead but I'm still here…and that there's something I need to do."

The boy smiled. "So you do understand!" he was silent for a couple of moments. Just then, he blurted out, "W-will you help me?!" Sasuke tilted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Come again?"

"Please! It's my only regret, but I still don't know how I can fulfill it—I've been alone for so long…I just want to leave…" The boy grew silent yet again. Sasuke sympathized with him. He understood the feeling of being alone—not being able to have a decent conversation with anyone. Come to the think of it, this was the first person he's talked to in over a week. He figured—why not make the best of it?

"Um," he finally said, "Sure. Mind if I ask you your name though?"

"O-oh. Right." The boy laughed. "My names Yuuri!"
Sasuke smiled back. "And mines Sasuke… now I can't help if I don't know what it is…"

Yuuri smiled, his face becoming that familiar shade of pink. His expression reminded Sasuke of Naruto—a painful name to be reminded of. Inside, he grimaced. Yuuri pulled Sasuke's shirt, guiding him to look forward. With his free hand, he pointed his finger towards a certain girl on the playground. Sasuke gaze followed Yuuri's finger, all the way to the girl. He blinked a few times. She was sitting on a swing, alone, her face a little sad. She had short, curly chestnut hair. Her eyes were blue; similar to Naruto's (Sasuke flinched at the thought of Naruto—again!).

"That's her. Her names Kirimi. I really liked her when I was living. Every day I told myself. 'Ok Yuuri. Today, you're going to give her that pretty purple flower she likes so much.' But…" His gaze drifted down, "I never got to."

Sasuke couldn't help but be slightly moved by this side love story. But—to make things move a little faster I'm going to cut right to the chase. Sasuke helped the poor love-stricken Yuuri develop a plan to give Kirimi her flower. And since Sasuke planned it out, of course everything went according to plan. It was a brand new day; early morning, the sun shone brilliantly. Kirimi went to her swing, like she does everyday—ever since her best friend, her crush, died. To her surprise, there was one single purple flower sitting on the swing. Waiting for her. She picked the flower up delicately and held it to her heart. The only words to pass her soft lips were. "Thank you, Yuuri."

Sasuke gazed from behind the tree; he did a silent fist pump, celebrating his awesome planning skills. He laughed, turning around he spoke out, "Hey. The plan worked bud…" His eyes widened when he saw Yuuri's state. His skin had become transparent; his figure slowly began to become nothing but shining light floating into the air. Through the blur and shine, Sasuke saw Yuuri smile. His last sentence came out a tad bit echoy, but audible nonetheless. "Thank you Sasuke nii-chan! I hope you too can fulfill you're one desire and move on, just like me. I can't wait to see you again!"

And with that, Yuuri disappeared. Sasuke outstretched his hand, only to grab nothing but air. Although he felt happy that Yuuri was finally able to pass on, he couldn't stop the feeling of remorse come over him. Now what was he supposed to do? He was alone—again. Sasuke tightened his hand into a fist. Turning around, he leaned against the tree and slowly slid down it until he was sitting on the grassy ground. He pulled his knees into his chest; he rested his head on them. A gentle wind tousled his raven hair; carrying soft sounds of distant cicadas with it. Sasuke slowly lifted his head; his eyes drooped—not from being tired, he didn't have the need to, it was just an expression that many people can make. The bored, yet somewhat sad, look.

A small sigh drifted past his pale lips. In his mind, thoughts jumbled around like jumping beans. What Yuuri had said being the main focus. What WAS his 'unfulfilled desire?' Maybe he could use what he just experienced with Yuuri these past two days as a guideline.

"It seemed that when Yuuri was alive—he was always telling himself to do this one thing." He spoke to himself; don't judge him; he has no one else to talk to! (So what if he talked to himself when he was alive too?!) "He liked that girl so much and all he wanted to do was give her that flower." He laughed to himself, "It seemed like more of an obsession to me…" Sasuke's train of thought derailed when the sudden realization crashed upon him like a tsunami. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief. An ever-so-slight shade of red flooded his face.

"No…" He whispered. Abruptly, he stood up and pointed an angry finger at the sky. He yelled to an unseen being. "You have got to be KIDDING me?!" The fuming Uchiha shook his head, and folded his arms. Irritably, he began to pace—something he always used to do when he was living. A few minutes passed before Sasuke grew impatient with the lack of response—how did he even know that there was supposed to be one? He stopped his immature pacing and unfolded his arms.

Clenching his fists on either side of him, Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and yelled. "You're meaning to tell me that I have this 'unfulfilled desire'" He used air quotes on the desire part, "because I didn't have SEX with Naruto?!" He yelled as loud as he could, knowing full well that no one could hear—thank goodness.
Silence. There was no answer.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, these lack of answers were really getting the best of him. In a fit of rage, he took off his right shoe, hurdling it towards the sky only to have it fall right back down onto the concrete sidewalk with a soft "thunk". A few moments passed.

"Oh. Come on!" He pleaded to his new friend—Mr. Sky. "I wasn't THAT obsessed with it was I? I mean, sure I really wanted to but…was it really so bad that not I can't even pass on to the next world?!" He continued on with his rant, answers or not, he wanted to get this stuff out there and off of his chest.

"A-and how am I even supposed to fulfill this desire, eh?! Oh, and--" Just then a Frisbee glided along the air, passing straight through Sasuke's forehead. Soon after, a teenage boy came jogging to retrieve it—he passed through Sasuke just as the Frisbee had.

"…" Sasuke's emotionless face showed it all. His next words were spoken a little more quietly. "Yeah. The whole intangible part might make that a little tricky…." Sasuke let his gaze fall to his feet. All this was way too much to soak in. Also, the sudden thoughts of Naruto had cast him into another case of post-death depression. He let out a deep sigh.

Whispering to himself, he said "He can't even see me…" Sasuke trudged over to his lonely shoe, put it back on, and began heading towards downtown. Many thoughts danced through his mind as he walked, but what was he supposed to do about them? The clouds in his mind weren't planning on becoming any clearer anytime soon, so Sasuke decided that it was best to just ignore them for now. Besides, it was embarrassing enough to think about his "unfulfilled desire". Sasuke felt his face heat up from the thought. He rubbed his temples as he walked.

"Ugh…how the hell am I supposed to fulfill that?" Somewhere in Sasuke's mind yearned for a glimpse of hope. "Maybe that's not your unfulfilled desire. Maybe that's not it. Maybe it's something else!" But deep down, Sasuke knew. There was no going against it, no 'maybe'ing it…It is what it is…

Yepp. He definitely was a horn dog when he was living. Oh, how he regretted it now. (Let that be a lesson to all you weirdos out there! Lol jk)

Sasuke walked for quite a while—I mean, what else did he have to do? He walked, and watched people talk, walked some more, until… Something familiar caught his attention. Sasuke had been passing by the all-too-famous Ramen shop when his old boss, Anko, walked out with one of her girl friends. A small silver watch was firmly wrapped around her left wrist, in which she held it up to her friend. "I just got this this morning! Isnt it nice?"

Anko's friend nodded. Anko gave a cheeky grin. "It belonged to one of my workers; he passed away about a week ago, so his brother's selling all of his shit." Anko let out a bellowing laugh, one that shouldn't belong to such a pretty woman. (She's not womanly, I'll give ya that!)

Sasuke felt his heart drop to his butt. His eyes went wide. "What?!" Was all he said before he high tailed it out of there, making a B line towards his house. (He knew the town like the back of his hand, so he didn't need to stop and think about where he was going)

Upon reaching his old house—much to his displeasure—Itachi really was selling all of his belongings. It wasn't an estate sale, seeing as Itachi still owned the house, but basically everything that Sasuke owned was up for sale. Sasuke slowed his sprint to a jog and soon on into a walk. He paused at a nearby tree—not too far from his house. In shock, he saw almost all of his belongings on tables and hangers. People—but mostly neighbors—looked around, looking at his stuff like it were some thrift store.

Sasuke let out a loud burst of air. This exaggeration caused him to lose his footing a little, so he steadied himself on the trunk of the tree. He decided it was best to play audience just one more time—it wouldn't hurt. In his sight, he saw another familiar face. Kiba Inuzuka (an obnoxious friend of Naruto's) gazed around. Sasuke muttered a small prayer as Kiba strolled along the yard sale's temporary isles.

"Please God…don't let him see it…please don't let him…" And of course, something caught the dog boy's eyes. A sharp toothed grin stretched across his tattooed face as he dug into a pile of folded shirts. "YES!" He yelled out.

Sasuke slapped his hand over his face.

"I knew he would be selling this!" He held Sasuke's favorite (and apparently Kiba's too) in front of himself. An evil snicker escaped his mouth. "I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't care if I bought this! He always said it looked better on me, anyways." Sasuke felt the heat in his face flare up. He gritted his teeth. "I never said anything like that you bastard! You can't have that shirt! It was a present from--"

"Naruto!" Kiba yelled out. Sasuke let out a surprised gasp, he snapped his head in the direction Kiba yelled. Sure enough, Naruto was there—his expression blank. The blonde haired boy had just pulled up in his car, he was stepping out of the door when Kiba pranced to him, yelling his name. Sasuke saw Naruto force a small smile, it was if it hurt him to smile.

Naruto's face returned to an expressionless statue; his eyes caught sight of the shirt in Kiba's hands. He pointed towards it saying, "You going to buy that?" Suddenly, Kiba felt really rather awkward. He felt his heart skip a beat; his face turned a little red in embarrassment. "U-uh…w-well…No, not exactly…I was just…" His nervous stuttering was interrupted when Naruto shook his head and placed a gentle hand on Kiba's shoulder.

"It's ok Kiba." Naruto smiled—Sasuke noticed it was another fake one—and reassured Kiba. "Really, you don't have to act any differently towards me now…I'm fine…" With this, Sasuke watched as Kiba whispered something to Naruto, patted his shoulder, and continued walking (he caught sight of Neji—his potential love interest…heh) Sasuke noticed something, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Naruto was defiantly different. I guess losing the one you love does that to a person. (Also, Sasuke couldnt help but feel some satisfaction that now Kiba probably didnt want the shirt...but anyways...)

Sasuke laughed at his own stupidity; nevertheless, he continued watching Naruto meander through the yard sale. Every once in a while, something would catch his eye, he would let his fingers softly glide upon it, then he'd continue on. Just then, Itachi caught sight of Naruto—he made a B line towards him—stopping his conversation with one of the neighbors. Sasuke watched as Itachi put his arm around Naruto's shoulders; he edged closer to the tree, feeling the need to lean in to hear better. (He's like a creeper…dead…but a creeper nonetheless…)

"Hey kid." Itachi greeted Naruto; Naruto plastered the fake smile on his face as a sad attempt of a reply. The blonde's eyes avoided contact with Itachi's, knowing full well that with his keen older brother skills he'd be able to see right through his act. Itachi caught notice of this; he leaned in close to Naruto; he spoke in a low voice. (Sasuke leaned in closer as well—although I bet it didn't do anything, seeing as he was still a good couple of yards away)

"Up in his room. I left everything in it—this is just all of his old stuff—early high school years…" Naruto kept his gaze elsewhere. Itachi took in a deep breath, then said. "You can go up there, take whatever you'd like." Itachi gave Naruto a friendly smile; squeezing his arm in a side hug. With this, he left, leaving Naruto there
staring at nothing in particular.

Just then, a steady breeze blew, rustling the leaves a little. For some odd reason, Sasuke saw Naruto's gaze shift over to the tree he was standing by. For a similar odd reason, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat, he darted behind the tree—as if he felt the need to hide.

At the same time, when Naruto had shifted his eyes, his own heart skipped a beat when he swore he saw Sasuke by the tree. He shut his eyes tight, he shook his head. Reopening his eyes revealed an empty space over by the tree.

"Weird…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he began to pace his way into the Uchiha house. Meanwhile, Sasuke slowly came out from behind the tree; his heart beat was still a little wild. He noticed that Naruto was going into his house; he pondered for a moment. Within minutes after Naruto entered his house, Sasuke came to a self-agreement. Following Naruto, Sasuke began heading towards his house—watching Naruto a little more couldn't hurt…could it?

Naruto took in a deep breath; he knew what lied just beyond this closed door was more than enough to tear his heart apart. There was hardly a night this week where he hasn't thought about Sasuke—but going into this room like this…throwing himself into heartbreak central…was he really about to do that?

"Here goes…" He said to himself; grabbing a hold of the doorknob, he twisted and pushed, the door opened with ease. (Yeesh. It's not like his room hasn't been abandoned for THAT long, it's only been a week! Lol) Naruto felt an eerie chill crawl up his spine as the room appeared before him. With his hands a bit shaky, the cautious blonde went in.

Now, I'm sure we all know how much of a neat freak Sasuke was—so there really wasn't that much to look at. In the right corner of the room against the wall stood his bed; unmade, with pajamas lying atop it. Naruto couldn't help but let a small smile cross his lips as he remembered the petty argument they had over Sasuke's sleep wear. Naruto—still to this day—thinks Sasuke slept like such a prude, but that's beside the point.

The silent room filled Naruto with an anxiety; he felt as if he shouldn't be in it. There was something odd about it—it sort of felt as if Sasuke aura was still in the room. It gave him an peculiar feeling. Nevertheless, Naruto stayed put, letting his eyes drift around the room. Soaking in as many memories as his mind would let him. Over on Sasuke's dresser, Naruto saw, there were bottles of unused cologne—although, one particular one was almost used up—Naruto's favorite. The whiskered cheeked blonde gave a sad smile as he let his hand drift over the dark wood and onto the glass bottle.

"Waste not, want not, am I right?" With this, he sprayed the last of the cologne in front of him; he took a step forward into the delightful smelling mist. Feeling nosy, Naruto opened the top drawer of the dresser only to have his eye twitch upon what he saw. A box of unopened condoms.

"…I swear…was this the only thing that was on your mind?" Naruto spoke aloud while picking up the small blue box. As he said this, a certain someone…DEAD someone walked into the room (well, he stopped at the door way…but you get my drift…). Sasuke watched silently as his boyfriend stood by his dresser—with a box of condoms in his hands?! He felt his face burn up…He knew he should have just gotten rid of those. Besides, it was Itachi who bought them anyways… What Naruto said next caught Sasuke's attention.

"Even so…I was so dense…that I didn't even realize just how much you wanted to have this connection with me. If you just would of given me a hint…"

Sasuke made an annoyed face at this comment. He thought to himself. "How much more obvious could I be?!..." He shook his head at Naruto's innocence; even if it was cute, his innocence is what has Sasuke in this predicament now. With a smile, he continued to watch Naruto—who just tossed the condoms aside and went on looking at Sasuke's dresser.

Bordering Sasuke's mirror, were man pictures of them. One in particular caught Naruto's eye—it was one that Sasuke took without Naruto's permission. In the photo, Naruto was lying on the couch fast asleep (you could even see a little drool at the corner of his mouth). His arms were sprawled; one over his exposed stomach and one above his head. Sasuke's head and shoulders, however, were just popping into the picture in the top left corner. One of his arms was outstretched; he was obviously holding the camera, as he made a face.
Naruto stared at the Sasuke in the photo—a corner of his lip was curled up while the eye on the same side was a little more closed than the other one. (basically giving the 'stink eye' as my sister would say…) He let his fingers glide along the picture; he took in a slow breath, letting it out just as slow. That's when, in the corner of his eye, he saw a peculiar thing on Sasuke's cork board.

Sasuke immediately realized what Naruto must have seen. Mentally, he punched himself for not getting rid of it while he had the chance—but, he just didn't have the heart to throw out something with Naruto looking twice as cute!
Naruto walked over to the tanned colored corkboard. On it, various things where tacked up but something was sticking out from behind Sasuke's old work schedule.

Naruto moved the paper to reveal a bunch of photos. Well, it was one photo technically since they were all connected; it was an old photo booth photo strip. The photos went:


1) Naruto mimicking Sasuke's bored look—obnoxiously of course.

2) Sasuke making the "grr" face while Naruto laughed his butt off.

3) Sasuke's mouth wide open, his brows furrowed, obviously yelling at Naruto. Naruto has an interestingly evil face.

4) Naruto catching Sasuke off guard, kissing him. Sasuke "O///O"

Naruto tilted an eyebrow up; didn't he remember distinctly that Sasuke said he was going to get rid of this? Something about being humiliated by getting a photo of him blushing. Naruto pouted his lips and furrowed his brows. He complained out loud,

"And YOU said you hated these pictures. Dirty, stinkin', liar…"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, blushing a little in embarrassment. Without thinking, he blurted out. "Well, SORRY. I couldn't just say I thought it was cute, that would be humiliating!!"

"Huh?!" Naruto's eyes shot open wide, without delay he jerked his body around towards the door. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? The sight before him made the color rush out of his face.

Sasuke was standing in the doorway.

Right as the two made eye contact, Naruto took a horrified step back and began screaming. He outstretched his shaky arm and pointed his finger at Sasuke. Like a domino effect, Sasuke did the exact same thing.

From downstairs, Itachi heard Naruto screaming—and his screaming alone—right away he dropped the glass of water he was getting and ran up the stairs. When he got to the doorway, he stopped.

"Naruto? Wha-What is it?!"

Naruto's eyes widened. What he saw—and what Itachi saw—where two completely different things. Sasuke was…inside of Itachi…or rather, Itachi was through Sasuke—either way it was creepy as hell.

"What's wrong?!" Itachi asked again.

Naruto's scream only got louder—it echoed throughout the town…people outside the house were making questionable faces. One woman even covered her child's ears as they hurriedly fast-walked to their car.

Back inside the house, Naruto watched a horror-struck "Sasuke" (quotes around it because Naruto believes there is no way in hell that could be Sasuke…) back up—through Itachi—and run away. Naruto was frozen, stunned by what he just saw. He felt his legs give out as he fell to his knees—practically a faint. Immediately Itachi ran to him, placing a concerned hand on his back.

"A-are you alright?" He asked. Naruto's arms shook as they tried their best to hold him up. His voice quivered as he whispered. "S-Sasuke…"

Itachi's eyes widened, he quickly let his eyes scan the room. "SASUKE'S..." Quickly, he let his loud voice soften, "Sasuke's…not here anymore Naruto. You know that…"

That's when he came to a self agreement. He pat Naruto's shoulder. "I-I'm sorry Naruto…I shouldn't have let you see all this…it's still too soon…" And with this, Itachi help Naruto onto his feet; he guided him through the hall and down the stairs—to get him something cold to drink. When they were at the top of the stairs, just about to head down, Naruto looked back over his shoulder—only to see nothing but an empty hallway.

Although he knew Itachi didn't understand what he meant by saying Sasuke's name—if he told him, he'd probably think he was crazy. But Naruto was confident. The only thing that he spoke in his mind before heading down the stairs was, "I know what I saw…"

Boring chapter I know. But I needed to clear things up...I guess...sorta like a filler? lol

MORE TO COME!!