Chapter 1: Meeting With a Ghost
Eighteen year old Uchiha Sasuke walked calmly to his room. Onyx eyes roamed the school hallways in search of his friends. The only thing he spotted was his fan club, with hearts in their eyes and drool hanging from their mouths. Well, you really can't blame the mindless beasts. Pale skin, aristocratic face, deep onyx eyes and a muscular body, who wouldn't fall heads over heels for the Uchiha? Sasuke was practically a Greek God incarnate (according to his fangirls, at least).
With no sign of the lazy genius, Hyuuga prodigy, or the loud baka he called a best friend, he sat in his chair at the classroom. There were still a few more minutes before class starts, and two more subjects before class is over for the day. Sasuke contemplated this fact. Two more subjects equal two more hours at school. After that, then what? The dark-haired boy didn't want to go home yet. Not when his father and brother are still in the house. He glanced at the clock. Fifteen minutes before the bell rings for History.
"Sasuke-teme!"
The loud call and familiar name-calling brought him out of his thoughts. A tan blond walked over to him, a huge grin on his face and his hands tucked comfortably at the back of his head. Blue eyes sparkled with mirth, a usual occurrence for the boy, Sasuke mused. Once the ever-smiling lad reached his desk, the dark-orbed male raised an eyebrow. There were only two reasons why Naruto approached him before class: one is because he needed to copy his homework, and the other is to bother him. Sasuke leaned more towards the latter; they didn't have any homework for the rest of the day. Unsurprisingly, the blond spoke first.
"Ne, teme, can I talk to you?"
The Uchiha frowned. The dobe was talking quietly? Since when did Uzumaki Naruto, king of all things loud, speak silently? "You're talking to me, idiot."
Even more surprising, the blond actually had the audacity to glare at him. Whoa, back up a little. Naruto? Glare? Since when?
Still retaining the frown on his face, Sasuke looked at Naruto and stood from his chair. Nodding at his friend (best friend) to lead the way, he silently thought about Naruto's attitude. For one, he was unusually serious. The blue-eyed boy was never serious, unless something bad happened. Sasuke's brows furrowed. What, if anything, could have gone wrong? The dobe was somewhat quiet too.
When they stopped walking, he was snapped back from his thoughts. He looked at his surroundings and realized where Naruto had taken him. They were in the garden behind the new high school building. On the center of the area-his right- was a sakura tree. Near the path were a few more plants and shrubberies. It wasn't as beautiful as it should have been, since it's still new and wasn't finished yet, but the scenery was beautiful regardless.
Sasuke turned to his friend and raised a brow. "Why'd you bring me here, dobe?"
Naruto turned to look at his best friend. His face was serious, and you could see a tad bit of confusion and frustration in his expressions. Then he spoke slowly, as if testing the waters, "Sasuke… I need your advice on something."
"That doesn't explain why I'm here, baka. If you wanted to ask me something, you could have done it at the classroom."
Naruto started flailing. His eyes were wide and he was biting his lips. Then he shouted in a very Naruto-like fashion, "THIS IS CONFIDENTIAL, TEME! NO ONE CAN KNOW ABOUT THIS! NO ONE CAN KNOW THAT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO ASK HINATA-CHAN OUT!"
Sasuke snickered. With how Naruto practically shouted that to the entire school, he had no doubt the other side of the world heard it too. And he said it was confidential? Right.Nobody in the entire school knew about Naruto's and Hinata's little crush on each other. Absolutely nobody.
"You dragged me out here for that? Figure it out yourself, I'm going back."
"Aww, but don't you realize that this is really really really really REALLY important to me? I mean, what if Hinata-chan rejects me? Maybe she won't say that directly, since Hina-chan is really nice like that, and she'd be too shy to say it to me and besides, she might faint! Oh God, what do I tell Neji then? Even worse what if Neji tries to kill me? Hina-chan probably won't let that happen since…"
Blah blah blah... Sasuke blocked out the rest of the dobe's rant. It would probably just go on and on and on about a certain Hyuuga they know. Then he caught wind of Neji's name.Make that two Hyuugas, he thought.
"…and she's just so pretty and nice that I thi-ne, teme? TEME! Are you even listening to me?"
"What, dobe?"
"Argh! Ugh, fine, be that way. Just answer me this one question, alright? How do I ask Hinata out?"
"…Hn. Don't know, don't care."
"Teme! C'mon, give me a real answer, you moron!"
"I told you already dobe, I don't know. Figure it out yourself or ask the lazy genius Nara."
The blond baka known as Naruto opened his mouth to retort. He never got the chance though; the school bell rang loudly, signaling that it's time for next period to start. Sasuke and Naruto both turned to leave the small garden, but Sasuke turned his head in another direction. He looked at the pink-haired girl; he knew she had been there while the dobe was ranting endlessly about the Hyuuga girl. He also knew that she wasn't what she looked like. And that the dobe can't see her. But neither of those facts stopped him from nodding at her. So nod he did.
"Ne, teme, who you nodding at?" Naruto asked him as he turned away from her and started walking towards the high school building.
"No one dobe." Then in a softer voice, he added, "At least, no one you'd see." He knew the dobe didn't hear him, but he wasn't sure about the girl.
You see, Sasuke was different. Not just him, no, his entire clan was different. They can see things that other people can't. It was all rooted down to their ancestors- a ninja clan. One of the most powerful to ever live in Konoha. They had a special doujutsu-ocular powers- that made them see things other people can't- like for example, the flow of chakra-life force-in a human's body, attacks even before they are performed and, if talented enough, the thoughts of a person.
But once a war for power had erupted, all clans decided to seal off their kekkei genkai-special abilities. Clan heads believed that no one should ever obtain a power so dangerous it might wipe out the entire human race. They also banned the use of chakra and decided to live as mere civilians.
From then on, not a single ninja was found. There were certain rumors that a few escaped and used genjutsu-illusions-to hide their lairs. None of those were proven though. Even though the kekkei genkais were sealed, a few abilities still retained in certain powerful clans. It was kept a secret though, for the sake of the normality of the growth of the children with other children, and only the clansmen themselves knew about those abilities. The Uchiha clan was one of those clans to still transfer certain traits of their kekkei genkai, the Sharingan, from generation to generation. That was the reason Uchihas such as Sasuke himself can see supernatural beings.
He left the garden then, the Uzumaki following him and the pink-haired ghost staring at the ground in front of her.
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He didn't see her again for two weeks after that. The Uchiha still didn't know why he nodded at her, heck, he didn't know why he acknowledged her presence. One thing his mother taught him when he was younger and still afraid of the ghosts was to pretend they weren't there. That he didn't see them at all. So why did he nod at her?
Looking around the small but nice garden, he found his answer.
He remembered the scene; he had a good memory after all. She was sitting on one of the benches, looking at them as if they fascinated her. As if she knew that they didn't know she was there. She smiled like it was normal for her not to be noticed, like she was resigned to her fate as a ghost. And her hair. Her hair stood out the most in his memory. Strands as pink as sakura flowers. Add the fact that her eyes were a nice shade of green, and you have a ghost looking like she completely belonged to the scenery.
Yes, that's it. She looked like she just belonged to that school, that garden especially. He can't describe it but seeing her there in her red top and black shorts… She didn't disrupt the scenery, like other intruders would, and she didn't feel like an unwelcomed presence. In fact, Sasuke can't believe he's saying this, to a ghost no less, it felt like she's a part of that garden.
He acknowledged her existence because, with how things appeared to him, it looked like she was the owner of that garden. Like it had been made with that pink-haired girl in mind. And now, he's sitting in her garden, wondering about the enigma that was the pink-haired green-eyed girl (ghost).
"Hey."
A soft voice called out to him. It was weird, he doesn't know that voice and has never heard it before in his life. He turned to look at the source of the voice and, lo and behold, appeared the person-errr, ghost-that was troubling him just moments ago. He nodded at her (déjà vu, anyone?) as she hesitantly moved to the bench he was sitting on.
"You can see me. Right?" The green-eyed ghost asked him. He raised a brow at the question; of course, he can see her. Why else would he nod at her?
"Obviously. Would I be talking to you now if I can't?" Sasuke retorted. He wasn't being rude; he's just really blunt and frank. A bit sarcastic too.
The ghost girl tapped her chin with her pointer finger and looked towards the sky, as if thinking. Then she clasped her hands together, and a bright smile spread across her face. "You're right! Ne, that's amazing! Only a few people can actually see me. How'd you do it?" She looked absolutely curious. Sasuke had to wonder when the last time someone talked to her normally was, like what they're doing now. The girl sounded like she hadn't been able to open her mouth for ages.
"It's an ability passed down from generation to generation in our clan. Everyone in my family can see ghosts." He replied. He wasn't usually this talkative, but this ghost girl intrigued him. He can still see ghosts but that's very few and far in between compared to when he was a little boy. Besides, the ghosts he saw were normally old, this girl looked like she was around his age. He thought about her purpose here, why she was a ghost in his school.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
"Oh, well. I was just walking around campus like I normally d-"
"No, I meant, why are you here? In this school?" Sasuke knew she did it on purpose. She knew what he was asking; she just purposefully sidestepped the question and gave an answer she knew would be valid, yet not the entire truth. Huh, she's clever.
He watched her bite her lower lip and felt her high spirits sink. Her eyes were averted from his face; instead she now looked at the cherry blossom tree behind him. Finally, she spoke, but he noticed that her voice was shaking slightly and had a tinge of bitterness to it.
"I don't know."
His brows furrowed. How come she doesn't know? If she's still here and has not passed on yet, then it must mean that she still has something to do here. Unfinished business. The only reason for the presence of ghosts is their unfinished business. They had something they needed to do before they died, but they never got around to doing it because of an untimed death. After their death, their soul refused to enter the gates of heaven, believing that they still needed to achieve a few things. They believed that they should do it no matter what and how long it takes, and wouldn't pass on until it gets done. Few ever got around to finishing whatever business they left, with a human's aid, while even fewer got around to doing it on their own.
Regardless of any of those, a ghost should know its business here, so what the hell happened to her? He decided to ask her the one question in his mind right at that moment.
"What?"
The girl sighed. She looked at him again, but her eyes held a more guarded look to it, and she appeared to have some sort of internal struggle whether to speak to him or not. Despite the guarded effect her eyes portrayed, her overall posture screamed the opposite: vulnerability. She was afraid of something, that much he could tell.
When the pink-haired ghost spoke again, in a slightly hushed voice, it was a different answer than he expected.
"What's your name?"
"Sasuke."
"Well, Sasuke. Do you want to know my story?"
The ghost girl looked almost shy, hesitant. He considered it. Hey, it wasn't everyday that he talked to a pink-haired ghost beneath the cherry blossom tree in the new garden behind the new high school building. Besides, his curiosity was peaked. How come she had no idea what her unfinished business was? So he nodded. School's over anyway, and he doesn't want to go home yet.
The girl moved to take a seat next to him before speaking, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I was eighteen years old when I died, and I've been dead for about 52 years now. You know that old building there? The one used to store facilities and supplies and stuff?"
Sasuke nodded.
"I just… I dunno, 'woke up' there. I can't use any other term for it, really, because that's the closest description I can come up with."
"Wait, you woke up there? Then does that mean that you died there?"
"Well, I can't answer that Sasuke. See, I don't know anything about my past. I can't remember anything from before I died. That's a common misconception though. A ghost waking up on the place of her death, I mean. People assume that ghosts stay on the exact location of their deaths, but I've come to discover that it isn't true. It's just the general location they stay in, not the exact place."
Sasuke raised a brow, "Then how did you know that your corpse wasn't there?"
Sakura gave him a blank look. She looked more and more like her real self with every passing minute. Not that he knew what her real self was like, but you get the gist. "I searched the entire building, duh. What, you think I just stared at the wall for 52 years?"
He shook his head. He stayed silent, nodding for her to continue the story.
She did. "Anyways, when I 'woke up', I didn't know anything that happened. All I know is my name, birthday and that something felt wrong with me. I don't know anything about my past, like I said, and it even took me a while to figure out I was a ghost."
Sakura took a large intake of breath, and then sighed dramatically. "I even found out that I can't leave the school. Imagine my horror when I couldn't walk out of the school grounds. It's just… too sudden for me, you know? Not everyone wakes up to a foreign place with no memory whatsoever. Add the fact that I was still just starting to accept being a ghost then. Well, let's just say that it's something I don't want to repeat again. Like ever, in my entire ghost life."
Sakura turned to stare at the plants a few feet away from her. She spotted agrimony and red bay, if she wasn't mistaken. She stared at the plants for a few moments, pondering on the irony of it all. Agrimony essentially means, in the language of flowers, gratitude while red bay leaves signify love and memory. Well, she was thankful to Sasuke listening. Love and memory? Memory, definitely, since they are talking about her life here and her lost memories. But love? Nah. Not in a million years.
Sasuke thought about what she said. No memories? Unknown unfinished business? Huh, interesting. He thought about introducing her to the Hyuugas. They might be able to help her, especially Hinata. He knew Neji well enough to know that the prodigy didn't concern himself with matters such as this. He turned to the ghost girl-Sakura.
"You don't remember your past?" His eyebrow rose.
"No. I just told you didn't I?" Huh, she has quite a temper, he mused. She actually sounded annoyed.
He shrugged. It was her turn to raise a brow. "You're not very talkative, are you?"
"Hn."
"Hn? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"Hn."
"Argh! You are impossible. Great, the first time I actually had a decent conversation with someone, he turned out to be a completely anti-social idiot with a shortage of vocabulary and a few loose screws."
He frowned. "Did you just call me an idiot?"
"Obviously. Unless there happened to be another person I'm talking to in here. Do you see anyone? No? Good. I'm talking to you, dumbass."
He smirked. He could actually tolerate this girl. A bit. She wasn't that bad. First of all, she's not a fangirl. Girls bow at his feet most of the time. He's stalked 24/7. Even old female ghosts had their eyes set on him, and a few actually dared to flirt with him. But Sakura did the opposite of these things. She actually had the audacity to insult him. She's feisty and smart, something uncommon to most human girls around him. Wait, she wasn't human, he almost forgot about that. But still, she's a girl, and her non-fangirl attitude was really something.
Sakura sighed. They were getting nowhere. Time to pop the big question.
Sasuke turned his attention to her, sensing her mood shift. She looked more serious now, determined even. Somehow, he knew what she was going to ask. He just doesn't know what his answer will be.
"Ne, Sasuke?"
"Hn?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Just did."
"This is serious! Come on, cooperate!"
"Fine. What do you want?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Will you help me find out about my past?"
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