This chapter came fast, but that's just because I had most of it done already. My rule is at least three chapters planned out before publication, or I won't have the motivation to get it done!

Thanks so much to wideyedwander for reviewing. My inbox dinged less then two hours after I posted the story, and I cannot tell you how much that meant to me! Because of that, I stayed up late to post the next chapter. And, as you hoped, here he gets to me Naruto!

If Sasuke hadn't already known that it was going to be a long trip, the sight he beheld when he woke up would have confirmed it. A blond boy, perhaps ten years old, sat at the end of his bed, looking mighty pleased with himself. A brief glance around the room confirmed that the mischievous ghost had ransacked his entire suitcase and placed every single article of clothing as some form of decoration.

Sasuke had always thought of himself as a little emo, and most of his wardrobe was black, so the room looked like an explosion of shadow. Socks had been placed over all four bedposts, standing like sentinels of his waking doom. Over each blade of the ceiling fan hung one of Sasuke's t-shirts, including one he particularly liked that had a single red eye centered on the black fabric, and another that had a red and white symbol that looked a little like a ping pong paddle. Every single pair of boxers, without fail, had been flung in the highest locations about the room. One was even hanging from the light fixture. The one nice outfit he had brought, a suit-like jacket and tie with dress pants, had been set up in the chair on the far side of the room, and a top hat he knew wasn't his sat balanced on the chair back, completing the ensemble.

"How do you like it?"

Sasuke stuffed his head back under the pillow. Now was not the time for- whatever this was.

"Hellooooooooo! I know you can hear me!" The sound of the ghost's voice grew closer. "Good morning, sunshine!"

"Go away!" Sasuke lashed out with his pillow, going right through the little spirit.

"No way! That actually worked?" The blond ghost tackled Sasuke, suddenly very corporeal, and pinned him to the bed. Startled eyes of vibrant cerulean stared down into sleepy black ones. "You can hear me? For realsies?"

Sasuke groaned, knowing he should have left well enough alone. "For realsies? Who even says that?"

A hand flew up to cover the ghost's mouth. "You really can hear hear me? Can you see me? How many fingers am I holding up?" He waved a finger so vehemently it almost went up Sasuke's nose.

"One, and you're going to poke my eye out if you're not careful. Get off, moron!" The last was accompanied by a shove against a surprisingly firm chest.

The ghost tumbled a bit in the air before righting himself and floating, cross legged, at the foot of the bed. With a shimmer, he adopted the form of a five year old with the same blond hair and blue eyes before turning a fakely tearful puppy dog gaze on Sasuke. "You wouldn't say that to a little kid, would you?"

Sasuke jumped so badly, he cracked his head back against the headboard. "Ow! How the hell did you do that?"

"Do what? This?" The ghost gestured to his small form, then gave a grin that could only be described as self-satisfied. "Practice, duh! How does anyone learn anything new?"

"That's not what I meant," Sasuke grumbled. "Are you altering my perception?"

"No, just myself."

Without warning, Sasuke leaned forward and grabbed the mischievous spirit's arm. To his surprise, it really was as thin as a five-year-old's. "You really are altering yourself!"

"Well, duh," the ghost said with that same grin.

Suspicion entered the Uchiha's mind. Body alteration was a highly advanced draugr ability, as well as the telekinesis and corporeality abilities the little ghost had already displayed. He let go of the spirit's arm as if it had burned him, backing himself up as close to the headboard as he could get. Sasuke reached stealthily for a silver blade on the bedside table, feeling slightly more secure when his fingers curled around the hilt. The spirit hummed to himself at the foot of the bed, clearly pleased with the reaction he was sponsoring.

"My name's Naruto. What's yours?"

Sasuke chose not to reply, instead gripping his silver blade tighter as suspicion, in turn, gripped him. A name could be used to lay a curse on people, and if this little ghost - Naruto, if he was to be believed - was a draugr, he could have that ability as well. It was rare that a ghost had the power to curse someone, for it required a soul whose body had performed rituals of witchcraft before death, but considering the powers Naruto had already displayed, it wasn't a large stretch of the imagination.

"Helloooo. I asked you a question!" With a pout, Naruto leaned closer to Sasuke.

Eyes widening in fear, Sasuke whipped the knife out in between them, and Naruto was barely able to stop his forward momentum in enough time to avoid touching the glimmering metal.

"What the Hell, man! That shit's silver! Do you know how much that could fuck me up?"

Blinking in surprise at the tirade, Sasuke was almost tempted to lower the knife. Almost. "That's a dirty mouth for a kid."

"Who the Hell did you expect, a fucking angel? You obviously know your shit about ghosts, so why pull a silver knife? That's just cruel." His eyes widened, then Naruto quickly floated off the bed, reverting to a state where he resembled a fifteen year old. "Wait, you aren't actually using that for self-protection, are you? Jesus, it was a prank! I'm not going to hurt you!"

Sasuke lowered the knife, but didn't relinquish it. "Why are you in my room?"

"The line of salt, duh!" Naruto hooked a thumb toward the door. "You can't do that and expect me not to pull something, can you? To any ghost who's not brain-dead, it's like an invitation, a 'look at me, I actually know something about ghosts!' Though, in this town, we do get lots of weirdos who just like to play along, and they run out in their undies the second they realize a real ghost lives here."

Sasuke felt his shoulders slump. That meant if he had just left things alone and hadn't acted so smart with the line of salt, he wouldn't have had the dubious pleasure of meeting the troublesome spirit, who was currently brushing imaginary dust off the borrowed top hat.

Warming up to Naruto, but still unsure whether to trust him, Sasuke asked, "Do you remember how you died?"

"Hm? Nah, but I do know I was buried in the cemetery a town over, so it must have been when I was away. My old man used to own The Hokage a long time ago, so I like it here the best. Anyway, sometimes we get people staying here who can sense ghosts, maybe once every two years or so, but people who can see them are really rare. The last one was this guy, maybe a decade ago, who had invented a special filter to go over the lense of his camera, and he took some really good pictures of me. That's how he could see ghosts, through his camera lens..."

Sasuke tuned out the mindless drabble spilling forth from Naruto. If the information was true, it meant that Naruto had to be a specter; with his body and place of demise so far away, it was impossible for him to be either a figure or a draugr. However, with his advanced powers, it was possible that Naruto could be classified in a special class of specter, the phantasma specter, also known as phantoms.

Phantoms had such big personalities, they couldn't let go of their humanity when they died, and thus were the most human-like of all ghosts. Because of this, the specter would have the unaffected disposition of a specter, the mental dexterity of a figure, and could gain the powers of a draugr by experimentation, something he would do for amusement but a draugr did with the goal of revenge. But phantom were rare, so rare, in fact, seeing one in a lifetime was extremely lucky, and it was more likely that any do-called "phantom" was actually a draugr setting an elaborate trap. Sasuke needed more information.

"I'm going out," Sasuke decided suddenly, cutting off the blond ghost's bothersome tirade.

"-But, man, was he a- wait, you're leaving?"

He looked so crestfallen that Sasuke couldn't help but feel a little bad. "I'll come back. I just need to get out and look around, that's all. I'm going to be here the who summer, so I have to make a few arrangements."

"You're here the whole summer!?" Excitement flashed in Naruto's eyes and practically dripped from his voice.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered, mentally kicking himself. He didn't want to spend his vacation being bothered by a spirit, especially if said spirit had hidden homicidal tendencies, but he minorly comforted himself with the knowledge that Naruto would have found out anyway.

"Awesome! Maybe we can do stuff together! I never get to play with humans. Ooh, maybe I can introduce you to some of my friends! We would have so much fun together!"

"Hn." Sasuke grunted neutrally, not agreeing or disagreeing. For now, he decided that Naruto wasn't going to hurt him, so he laid down the knife, but more research was in order.

Stretching, Sasuke got out of bed, and promptly tripped over a pair of pants sticking out from under his suitcase as if the heavy box had smashed down on a person's torso. Naruto gave a sheepish grin in light of Sasuke's baleful glare. Walking to the door, he issued an ultimatum to the ghost. "I'm going to the bathroom, and if you're still here when I come back, you're going to get an eyeful. And don't think I won't, because I will."

"Roger that," Naruto said with a cheerful salute. Sasuke ignored him and, leaving the room, disturbing the line of salt as he did so, headed for the bathroom. The master bedroom had its own washroom, but if Sasuke had to go, he had to use the one in the hall of the suit. Shutting the door behind him, Sasuke regarded his reflection in the mirror.

Surprisingly, he found he was smiling slightly. More of a smirk, really, but still a genuine smile. Get it together, he warned himself as he turned on the faucet to splash his face with cool water.

Running his wet fingers through his messy hair, Sasuke finally gave up on getting it to lay down and fluffed it up in some semblance of care. Upon realizing he was bereft of a toothbrush, Sasuke found that he didn't quite care enough to fetch it, and instead swished some water around in his mouth and spit it out. His teenage boy morning toilet now complete, he gazed slightly less blearily at his reflection before trekking back to his room.

True to his word, Naruto was no longer invading the private space of Sasuke's room when he returned. With a sigh, he had set about planning the best way to retrieve a fresh set of clothes when a flash of black on the bed caught his eye. There, against the downy comforter, was an entire clean outfit, complete with a soft black shirt - the one with the red eye - pulled down from the ceiling fan and and a pair of socks, taken from their spot as decoration on the bedposts and neatly folded.

Shaking his head slightly, Sasuke quickly dressed. He grabbed a satchel from inside his suitcase and hid in it a silver knife and some holy water, packing them in a secret compartment in case someone frisky decided to take a peek. It was probably too much protection and too much secrecy, but Sasuke had always found it was better to be safe than sorry. To divert attention, he threw a few extra things in the satchel, like a book he was supposed to read for his Freshmen English class and his phone.

The last thing Sasuke did before leaving the room was grab the mysterious top hat. Perhaps, he reasoned, he could find its owner downstairs, before he left for the day.

As soon as Sasuke shut the door to the suit firmly behind him, the delectable smell of pancakes assaulted his nostrils. Following his nose down the stairs to a dining area, Sasuke found a pink-haired girl serving plates of fresh, steaming breakfast a few other guests. When she saw Sasuke standing in the entranceway to the dining area, she waved at him.

"Hey! You must be Uchiha! Come in!"

Doing as he was bid, Sasuke sat down at an empty table, making sure his satchel didn't leave his side. To his surprise, the pink-haired girl plopped down opposite him.

"Hi! I'm Sakura. I work here, serving people and stuff."

"Sasuke," he acknowledged.

"Cool." Sakura fingered the strands of her short hair absentmindedly. "So, can I get you something to eat? Breakfast is on the house for all residents."

"Probably not," Sasuke grimaced. "I don't tend to eat a whole lot the day after travel."

Sakura's eyes lit up. "Right, you just got here last night! Did you have a good trip? Folks still sleeping?"

"They didn't come."

The abrupt answer shocked the peppy girl. "I- I'm sorry?" She offered uncertainly.

"It's fine. They just got tied up, is all. They'll probably be along in a few days." The unrehearsed lie fell easily - too easily - from Sasuke's lips. It always bothered him how often he had to give excuses for his parent's continued absences, thanks to his "far more needy" older brother.

"That's good." Sakura flipped her hair behind her shoulder, back in professional mode. "Can I at least get an apple or something? To take with you? If you're going to be out all day, you're going to get hungry."

"Sure," Sasuke accepted, thinking it couldn't hurt. "By the way, do you know who this belongs to?" He gestured to the top hat previously settled on the table. "I found it earlier this morning."

"My hat!" The shout from behind Sasuke made him jump, and a hand entered his field of vision to snatch the offending article of clothing up. Kakashi stepped around the table, affixing the hat on his head at a jaunty angle. "Wherever did you find it?"

Sasuke shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Hm." Kakashi's single eye glittered knowingly.

Sasuke ignored the look before remembering a thought from that morning. "That reminds me, though; I had something to ask you, Kakashi."

"Fire away."

Sasuke stood to better talk with the masked man. "Yesterday, you mentioned something about a library, and I was thinking I'd like to check it out. Can I get some directions?"

The next thing Sasuke knew, the older man was pumping his hand vigorously, cries of "He reads! He reads!" ringing in his ears.

After that, everything passed in a loud blur of swirling bodies, crinkling paper and cacophonous voices until Sasuke found himself outside the front door of The Hokage, an apple in one hand, a piece of paper with directions to the library and a note from Kakashi for Iruka, head librarian, in the other, and wondering how people survived living in Konoha year-round.

The library was a simple, if long, walk away, about twenty minutes by foot, but it took longer since Sasuke was savoring the journey, munching on the apple while picking out places he might like to visit later. Konoha was a bustling, one-street downtown, historic culture preservation kind of village, the quintessential tourist attraction for those looking for a laid back vacation, and, Sasuke noted as he passed a sign advertising midnight haunted tours, those with a flair for the dramatic and supernatural.

Except for a single old specter seated on the sidewalk, repairing a hole in a spectral net, the downtown area was devoid of ghosts, but held a mysterious aura that made Sasuke decide to never walk there alone after dark. As he neared the edges of the busiest spots, the aura decreased. The darkness rapidly disappearing into imperceptibility made Sasuke suspicious. Konoha was called haunted for a reason; it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination to count on a least a few resident draugrs.

Sasuke had to check his hastily scribbled directions twice when he reached his destination. A large Victorian style house, much like The Hokage except it was yellow where the inn was blue, stood proudly a little ways back from the road, reminiscent in all its glory of a mansion on a hill. It looked so little like a library that for a minute, he wondered if he had taken a wrong turn until he saw the small sign on the door, proclaiming the hours. With a slightly nervous deep breath, Sasuke opened the door and walked into the cool, climate-controlled interior.

A man from behind a desk looked up at the tinkle of a bell announcing Sasuke's arrival. "Hello, and welcome to Konoha Public Library. Can I help you with something?"

Relief washed over Sasuke; he did have the right place after all. "I'm looking for someone named Iruka. I'm supposed to tell him Kakashi sent me."

"Ah, a reader!" The man behind the desk stood up with a wide smile. "Kakashi sometimes sends me people he thinks will fit in here. I'm Iruka," he said by way of explanation.

Iruka was of average build, taller than Sasuke but shorter than Kakashi had been, and inexplicably tan for a man who worked inside. Brown locks were held in control by a black hair tie, glossy and smooth. All in all, he was a rather plain man, with one exception. The most remarkable thing about him was a long scar across his nose, marring the planes of his face.

"Nice to meet you," Sasuke said cordially. "I'm Sasuke. Here, this is from Kakashi." He held out the note.

"Thank." Iruka took the paper. While reading it, he remarked absentmindedly, "You like the Hokage?"

"It's... unique," Sasuke managed to say.

Iruka snorted in amusement. "That's one way to describe it. So, you wanna look around? Or have you got something specific in mind?"

"Actually, I do," Sasuke replied. "I'm looking to do some research into the history of this town. Do you have any old newspapers, photos, birth and death records, that sort of thing?"

"Hm." Iruka carefully considered for a moment. "We do have a digital anthology of old newspapers. Anything in particular you looking for?"

Sasuke hesitated before answering, not sure if Iruka could be trusted. "I'm looking for a particular person, but I only have a first name: Naruto. I do know he's connected in some way to the Hokage, though."

"Naruto, hm?" Iruka's eyes sharpened. "I don't recognize the name, but you could look through the early records of ownership, and I do know that there's some old photo albums of the Hokage that have been preserved. You're more than welcome to look through them, if you like. There in the back room, through the shelves."

"Thanks," Sasuke said with gratitude, heading towards the back room. He didn't notice Iruka pick up his phone and stealthily dial a number.

Kakashi picked up on the first ring. "What is it, my dearest?"

"Stop it! I'm working," Iruka whispered with a blush staining his cheeks. Then he shook his head to clear his thoughts and spoke in a low voice. "He's made contact."

A sigh came through the phone line. "I thought as much, with the hat this morning. But why hasn't he said anything?"

"God only knows why teenagers do the things they do."

"That's true." A lengthy pause resonated between them. "But if he has the ability I think he does, Iruka, he may be just what we've been looking for."