A/N: Yes, I'm still alive. I can't apologize enough for the delay. I got uber busy with school work and I just didn't have time to write anything. It's the Christmas holidays and I decided to move and write something. For those who are not new readers to my very small story right now, I did edit the first chapter. I went back and re-read it and found things in it that made me wonder what I was on when I edited it and left it the way it was. There are no major changes. Some wording changes and some small changes to Sasuke's pity party and when he is sentenced by the Council. Anyways, as an apology for the delay, I have written TWO chapters. So a double whammy! XD On with the story!

Date: Jan.3,2007

Story: Shinigami

Chapter: Prologue 2

DISCLAIMER: Still wishing...but I don't own it! So don't bug me!

It was quick and efficient. Within a week, all necessary preparations had been made and he was now standing before the dusty, lonely remains of the decaying Uchiha district. Sasuke stared some what dispassionately at the gate before him, idly probing for the ANBU that were surely set there to watch him.

"One…two…three…four…" Sasuke frowned briefly. Six ANBU. Did they really think he was that much of a threat? Shaking his head, the boy shrugged mentally to himself. Who cared? He didn't. Picking up the only piece of luggage he had – a worn traveling pack he had had with him since he had left for Orochimaru – Sasuke took the first step in to the Uchiha district he had taken since the massacre nearly ten years ago.

The place had taken a drastic change. The once neat sliding front doors were torn and broken, the rice paper badly in need of replacing. Weeds peeked out of the cracks in the streets that hadn't been swept in years. Sasuke moved silently through the compound, the ANBU stalking just as silently after him.

It took him no more then seven minutes, his feet sub consciously taking him along the path he had always taken to get home when he was a child. The front of the house had not changed at all. The door remained unchanged as did the steps leading up to it, though both were older and dusty now. Sasuke forced the door aside as it squeaked stubbornly on its runners, finally managing to coax it open enough so that he could squeeze through.

"I am so going to have to fix this place up…" A thick layer of dust coated the floor, small tendrils of it swirling up as Sasuke stepped gently on to it. The whole place was covered in a thick layer of dust. Dust motes danced in the sunlight streaming in through the windows while cobwebs floated from the ceiling on invisible currents of air.

For a while, Sasuke explored the house, reacquainting himself with all the old nooks and crannies he had known so well. The backyard, neatly cared for by his mother had been taken over by a thick jungle of tangled weeds. Everything was still the exact same way he remembered it, right down to the stubborn scorch marks on the wall from one of his more adventurous cooking escapades he had taken up with his mother.

It had involved a Katon jutsu, dumplings and cooking oil and had resulted in a very irate Fugaku as he had surveyed the damage to his kitchen. Sasuke smiled slightly at the memories. Turning, he decided that his first order of business would be to at least clean the room that he was going to sleep in for the night. He sighed at the thought off all the cleaning he was going to have to do later on as he began searching for the small closet where he knew his mother had kept the household cleaning supplies.

Three hours later found Uchiha Sasuke on his hands and knees, scrubbing away at the wooden floor of his old bedroom. His keen eyes had observed many, many more repairs that needed to be done to the house before it would be back up to how it had been ten years ago. He contemplated ignoring the small little repairs that were needed and pretending that they didn't exist.

It was going to be too troublesome to patch up every little crack that he found in the wooden beams holding the house up. Yes, he would replace all the beams that were rotting and falling apart—on closer inspection, Sasuke had found more of them then he initially had thought there were—but surely the small cracks weren't severe enough to merit having to replace the whole entire beam. Sasuke snorted as he scrubbed savagely at the floor.

Knowing himself and his perfectionist nature, his whole entire house would be rebuilt before the week was out. The black haired boy continued scrubbing at the boards, ignoring the screaming muscles in his neck, back and shoulders. He needed to get as much done as possible. It wasn't until it got so dark that he couldn't see his hand in front of his face that he realized that he would need to replace all the light bulbs in his house.

The Uchiha stared dubiously at the flickering incandescent light bulb on the ceiling adding yet another chore he would need to get done on to his ever growing list of things to do. Deciding to finish up for the night, Sasuke moved all the cleaning supplies to the kitchen which he decided would be the next place he was going to attack with a rag and cleaning detergent.

Not bothering with a shower, Sasuke threw himself on to his old bed, belatedly adding laundry to his list when he smelt the musty and dewy smell on the sheets. Apparently, shaking the dust off the sheets hadn't been enough. With that thought, the Uchiha drifted off to sleep, absently counting the number of ANBU. "Six…"

The morning light streaming in through his bedroom window was what woke him up the next day. As per usual, Sasuke began arguing with himself, trying to convince himself to move and get up. It was so much more difficult to do so without someone or something nagging him to get up. With a groan, the Uchiha decided that appealing to his inner neat freak would the best way to force himself to get up.

"A dust free home is a good thing. A dust free home is a good thing. A dust free home is a good thing." Within five minutes, Sasuke had forced himself out of the musty but warm bed sheets and had stumbled down the hall to the bathroom, deciding that a shower would be a wonderful thing for his aching muscles. He was able to take his much longed for shower after digging around the house for half-an-hour, searching for a towel that didn't smell of things unpleasant.

"Laundry. I HAVE to do laundry." After the marginally satisfying shower—he needed soap—Sasuke set about cleaning up the kitchen, deciding he wouldn't have food until he had finished cleaning it. On the low eating table, he found to his surprise, a white packet with his name written in neat handwriting he didn't recognize. Inside was a small bundle of hundred ryo notes and a note written in the same handwriting as on the packet.

"This is for your living expenses. For the time being, until you

complete the repairs on your home; you will have access to the Uchiha funds to purchase whatever is necessary for your repairs. After that, they will be closed off."

Sasuke raised a thin eyebrow at the note. Uchiha funds? Is that what they were calling it now? Rolling his eyes, Sasuke began preparations for a long battle with the dust and dirt on the floor, deciding to leave the packet where he had found it for the time being.

Two hours later, the kitchen was sparkling again, dishes stacked and drying neatly on the clean counters. (Sasuke had seen the state of the dishes and cutlery and just HAD to wash them.) His stomach growled loudly up at him, reminding Sasuke it had not been fed yet. Deciding now was as good a time as any to go shopping for food, Sasuke changed in to a fresh set of clothes— a black t-shirt and a pair of white shorts—and gathered up the packet of money from the kitchen table before setting out the front door at a brisk pace.

He passed the high arch at the entrance to the Uchiha District and stepped out in to the dusty streets of Konoha. The sun was bright and high, indicating it was a little past high noon. The whispers began as soon as he entered the busier shopping districts of Konoha. The Uchiha caught some of the shoppers staring openly at him, while others attempted to hide their staring when he looked at them. The ANBU guarding him were now moving in full view.

Sasuke caught sight of one of the ANBU staring at him from the roof tops. He had blonde hair. Familiar blonde hair. Obsidian eyes narrowed. Naruto. They stared at each other for a while, the crowds parting around Sasuke like the flow of a river around a rock. The whispers were lost to Sasuke as he gazed intently at the blonde.

"Talk to me..." The ANBU was the first to break the staring contest. Even though it was broad day light, Naruto appeared to melt back in to non-existent shadows. He was replaced by another ANBU, one with sporting chocolate brown hair. Sasuke sighed and turned away, starting to move through the crowds again, deciding to buy some rice first.

The crowds parted readily for him, most of the shoppers still staring at him and whispering. The numbers of ANBU had multiplied to twelve and they were still stalking the rooftops in full view. Some moved in the crowd in front of and behind Sasuke. Naruto was nowhere to be seen. The black-haired boy stopped before a stand that was selling bags of rice, not bothering to look at the shop keeper who had frozen stiff upon his arrival.

"C-c-c-can I-I h-h-h-he-help, y-yo-you?" Sasuke glanced up once at the man, declining to answer. He silently selected the bag of rice he wanted and then paid the man without a word. The Uchiha hefted the rice bag on to his shoulder, and proceeded to make his way through the crowds. Each stand was the same, shop keepers stuttering and fearful trying to be as helpful as possible so as to speed him on his way.

The ANBU proceeded to follow him in full view all the way until he got back home, when they once again melted back in to the shadows. Six of the ANBU left instantaneously. Sasuke had not seen Naruto again. With a sigh, the Uchiha reentered his kitchen, stashing his newly purchased groceries in their appropriate places. He suddenly felt utterly exhausted.

The desire to clean had left him completely and inexplicably. It was apparent to Sasuke now, that his return to Konoha was not too much of a secret any more, even though he had come back under the cover of night and hadn't alerted a single ninja on night watch to his presence until he had reached Tsunade's office. Apparently, the Council did not feel much of a need to keep his presence in Konoha a secret. Maybe this was a part of his punishment.

To have the fear, hatred and distrust of the citizens of Konoha. If the presence of twelve ANBU was telling him anything, it was that nobody trusted him around the general public. He had six when he was at home, but when he went out, he had twelve. Double the number. And the whispers had been nothing short of scathing.

"It's the traitor!"

"He's come to kill us all!"

"The Uchiha family is no good any more. Two traitors in one generation. What happened to their honor?"

The staring had been grating also. Sasuke was used to being stared at. Having his own unwelcome group of fan girls had hardened or at least helped him get used to being ogled incessantly. But now he had the eye of everyone in Konoha and it wasn't for a good reason either. With a sigh, the Uchiha collapsed on to his bed, uncaring of the mildew smell that rose up when he landed on the sheets.

Those weren't the major reasons for his sudden exhaustion though. In fact, he wasn't at all certain of why he suddenly felt so exhausted. The shopping trip had been trying and if that was how going out would be from now on, Sasuke was very sure he would never set foot outside the door ever again. With a tired yawn, Sasuke slowly drifted off to sleep, the sound of nothing lulling him off. And that resonated more loudly inside his head then even the whispers had.

Two Months Later

The days had passed by as smoothly as they could for someone in Sasuke's situation. He had refrained from going out as much as possible, leaving the house only when he needed food and more supplies for the repairs to his home. As of today he had finished off the last of the repairs to his satisfaction and was celebrating with a long shower and a cup of tea.

The garden was weeded and he had planted fresh flowers in the exact variations, colours and species that his mother had always planted. It made the empty place feel a little bit more welcoming to Sasuke. He hadn't decided whether he wanted to start repairs on the rest of the district, or to just leave the rest of the place in a state of disrepair. In the two months of his return, the citizens of Konoha had gotten used to his presence and slowly, the whispering and staring had died down.

But some still stared and some still whispered. And twelve ANBU still accompanied him on his shopping trips even though he had shown absolutely no interest in anything except what he should buy for the week's meals. He hadn't seen anyone he knew in the past for the last tow months either. He caught occasional glimpses of Sakura out to lunch with other ninjas. Some days he didn't know the ninjas, on other days Ino, Hinata or Shikamaru accompanied her.

Sometimes Iruka or Kakashi. They had never seen him, or at least they did, they didn't acknowledge his presence. He had never seen Naruto with her or any of them. Sasuke did see the blonde whenever he did go out shopping for food. Naruto would be there for the first part of the trips staring down at him from the shadows through a porcelain mask shaped in the likeness of a fox. Sasuke had eventually stopped staring back at the ANBU, silently begging him to speak to him.

At the end of the shopping trips, Naruto was no where to be seen. The Uchiha had eventually figured out that two hours after noon was a shift change and Naruto's shift ended half way through his shopping trips. The ANBU always changed at that time of day. They also changed at ten o'clock at night and then again at six in the morning. The ANBU on shift were always different.

Sasuke had already learned how to recognize each of them by their chakra. Naruto never changed from the six to two group though and he was always there. It appeared that he did not have an off day from watching Sasuke unlike his fellow ANBU. The blonde never spoke to Sasuke, not once. The Uchiha's tea was ready when he stepped in to the kitchen, a towel slung over his dripping hair.

He toweled his hair off as he sipped his tea, contemplating what he would do for the rest of the day. He could sleep or watch TV or… Sasuke's face twisted in to a grimace. When he really thought about it, there wasn't a lot that he could do. Maybe he should take up a hobby or he could do some training. He hadn't trained in two months, mainly because of the repairs he needed to do to his house.

But there was also the reason of chakra bind on his system. Sasuke hadn't trusted himself to not over exert himself while he was training. And with the general method he always used to train, it would be more then likely that he would do exactly just that. The chakra bind put his chakra levels down to the equivalent of a Genin's and some of the techniques he was used to train with required almost double the amount of chakra a Genin had.

Over exertion of his chakra pathways with the bind in place had the potential to damage his chakra system permanently. Sasuke had decided it would be better for him to get used to the lack of chakra before he tried to train again seriously. And he had also really needed to get the repairs done on his house.

Sounds of panting filled the air. The sky outside was a dark violet, the sun mostly set on the horizon to the west. Sasuke had decided after his tea that he would send the rest of the afternoon training. Finishing with a flying kick, Sasuke landed smoothly on the hard concrete, wincing slightly at the impact. He was barefoot and shirtless, clad in only a pair of sweatpants.

The cool night air eddied about his hot, sweaty body as Sasuke panted, attempting to calm his rapid breathing. The training had been strenuous. Sasuke was out of shape after two months with no training. His limited use of chakra also meant he had run out of it quite quickly during the start of training. It had taken some experimenting on his part before he was able to identify the limits of his chakra. The Uchiha's last landing had been with less chakra cushioning it then he was used to normally.

His feet still stung a little as he limped back in to the house, deciding on another hot shower and then bed. It wasn't until he was in bed after the shower, drifting off to sleep when he felt it. Sasuke started out of bed out of pure reflex, sharingan activating before he could stop it. The boy ended up collapsing back on to his bed from the sudden strain to his body. It took him a good few minutes to recover, but his adrenaline was running on high.

Outside, the ANBU shift slightly. It was obvious they were finding Sasuke's antics a little bit strange. Forcing himself to calm down, Sasuke got himself under the covers again, all the while honing in on to the chakra signature he had felt. The ANBU outside began to relax again. He continued tracking the chakra signature as it made its way leisurely through Konoha, pausing very once in a while for no apparent reason. Minutes passed and Sasuke continued to track it, even though he knew he was in no position to do anything about it even if he wanted to.

"How could those ANBU not sense anything?" They obviously weren't as top notch as they were toted to be. The signature was much too familiar and much too dangerous not to be noticed. It continued moving, drawing nearer and nearer to the Uchiha district. Sasuke remained tense under his bed sheets, eyes watching the darkness as he followed the signature's movements.

Outside, the ANBU changed watch formation as they always did periodically. They still didn't seem to have noticed anything yet. The signature continued drawing nearer and nearer, finally entering the Uchiha compound. It stopped at the entrance. Sasuke continued to stare in to the darkness, nerves on edge.

What was he supposed to do? What did he WANT to do? He didn't know. All Sasuke knew was that he was here and he wanted something. But Sasuke didn't know what he himself wanted; the boy didn't know anything any more. Hands fisting the blankets, he pulled them aside and got up, making it seem like he was headed to the kitchen for a drink of water. He slipped on his weapons pouch as he went. His mouth was dry.

The ANBU continued to watch, unaware of the danger standing right under their noses. Sasuke took a long, slow drink. It was moving again, making directly for his house. In seven minutes he would be here. What would he do? What did he want to do? The boy stood there, unmoving, indecision biting in to his core. The ANBU were getting restless again, probably wondering why he hadn't gone back to bed already. Sasuke stared blankly at the wall.

"What do I do?"

Light footsteps punctuated the Uchiha's thoughts. He wasn't trying to be stealthy. Sasuke's gripped tightened on the counter.

"Hello, little brother."

He was here.

Well, that's the end of the chappy. I hoped you liked it. It's sort of a boring chapter, I had major problems writing it. (No talking! Arggghhh!) It's almost filler if anything, to get us to the next part. Please inform me of any mistakes you may have found in the chapter, any discrepancies, glaring grammatical and spelling errors. And as always, please leave a review. Constructive criticism is welcome!