I wasn't sure that this was going to get off the ground, but now that I know it will, the official update schedule will be every Sunday and Thursday.

Thanks again to Wideyedwander and now to Dreaming of Rocketships for the great reviews! I was a little worried that it would be too much scene-setting since this story is so AU, but it seem like I'm doing something right! This chapter and the next should be the last of it, fleshing out Sasuke's relationships with every character, and after that will start the action!

Thanks again for all the support!

Great patience.

That's what it took Sasuke to spend the morning cramped up, looking through old photo albums for any sign of Naruto, learning everything he never wanted to know about the Hokage's previous owners, including an old doctor named Tsunade, a frog collecting enthusiast named Jiraiya, and a grandfather and grandson son duel ownership of Hiruzen Saritobi and Konohamaru. There was an album for every owner, starting in 1903 with the opening of the Hokage and ending with a partial one for Kakashi, the current owner. Sasuke had started in the sixties and worked back, sure Naruto couldn't be less than a half century old, but he grew more irritated as time went on, and he was forced to delve deeper into the archives.

At the height of the Great Depression, a man named Zabuza was tried for the murder of his son, Haku. His reason for the kill had been that the inn was doing so badly, he couldn't afford to feed the boy, and didn't want him to starve. Zabuza committed suicide before he was convicted. Sasuke shuddered at the thought - how did one have the strength to kill someone they loved to save them from an even greater horror?

During the roaring twenties, the Hokage changed hands several times, from a man named Nara to one named Aburame to another named Inuzuka, unable to find a steady owner. Inuzuka was even accused of running a speakeasy in the basement of the Hokage, and making his son be a bootlegger.

An hour into his search, Sasuke slammed the second to last photo album closed in frustration. Not a single image of Naruto could be found in any of the archives! Sasuke was almost ready to give up, but the memory of the mischievous smile little spirit's face that morning came up in his mind. His need to find out Naruto's identity was slowly turning from a simple assurance that he was a phantom and not a draugr to an obsession to know what had happened in the boy's past. The burning smile haunted him, driving fingers to turn pages.

With a sigh, Sasuke reached for the last and oldest album: 1903, the opening of the Hokage. Ghosts couldn't live for over a hundred years, they simply didn't have the mental stamina to remain awake and aware for that long. Hell, even humans couldn't live a hundred years without turning into a slobbering, forgetful mess. Thus, the chances of finding Naruto in the album were very slim, but Sasuke still cracked it open.

There, looking up at Sasuke as if to mock his assumptions, was an image of the Hokage in its early days, complete with the first owner and his family. The caption read, "The Hokage opens, 1903, under the direction of Minato Namikaze, pictured here with wife Kushina Uzumaki and son Naruto Uzumaki."

Even without the name, Sasuke would have recognized him. The mischievous grin gave him away, seeming to bleed blue into the the sepia eyes so full of glee. In the photo, Naruto looked to be about eight or ten years old, and, curiously, was holding a pair of fox kits, identical except for a white patch on the head of one kit.

Sasuke had what he was looking for - a last name, the name of his father, and a relative time period - yet he couldn't bare to tear his eyes away from the colorless continence. It drew him in with the power of a whirlpool intent on a victim, raising new questions to take the place of the answered ones. Why did the father have a different surname from his wife? Were they not married? Considering the time period, that was unlikely, but then, what other circumstance would allow different surnames in the same family? Additionally, why did Naruto take his mother's surname, and not his father's?

Unable to help himself, Sasuke turned a few more pages, hoping to be rewarded with another glimpse of a colorless Naruto, but they were all of Minato and the Hokage, showing off the different rooms. With a sigh, he closed the photo album and placed it back on the shelf.

According to the second photo album, the Hokage had changed hands in 1912, but it didn't say why it had changed hands. In other words, Sasuke could count on at least Naruto's father being alive and in Konoha until 1912, but after that, it was anyone's guess as to where the family ended up.

A box labeled Death Records seemed promising, but Sasuke found that it only went as far back as 1943, so it was useless. He stood in the center of the room, gazing around for another lead.

At the far end of the room, Sasuke spotted a desktop computer, and remembered Iruka mentioning something about digitized newspaper articles. He sat down before it and hit the power button. It gave a loud tone as it started up, and Sasuke jumped, looking around guilty even though he knew he wasn't doing anything wrong.

The clunky desktop started up slowly, loading with graphics at least five years out of date. Sasuke wrinkled his nose at it, used to the much more sophisticated technology in Chicago libraries. But it did the job, he soon found out, as it opened up to a homepage with three folders, each labeled with a different newspaper. He clicked on the one labeled "Konoha Journal-1908-1933". It was the oldest one, probably an early monthly paper that went out of business during the Great Depression.

Someone had taken many hours to scan in every page of every available issue of the newspaper into the computer. Some were missing pages, and a few time a whole issue was marked as "unable to find this edition", but on the whole, it was the most complete collection of old newspapers Sasuke had ever seen. He started in January of 1911, looking for any mention of the Hokage, Naruto, or Minato Namikaze.

It was in the June issue of 1912 where Sasuke found his answer. The front page headline was unassuming, something about a two-headed cow born a town over, but a smaller article halfway down the page caught his eye. The title read, The Hokage Changes Hands after the Death of Owner and Family. Reading further, he found little pertaining to the deaths of Naruto and his family, only the crossover. Frustrated, he was about to give up when the last line caught his attention. "Namikaze and family died in a train accident in the neighboring town of Sunagakure, and were laid to rest there."

There was the answer. Naruto had to be a phantom, because both his place of death and his place of rest were outside of Konoha. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, feeling an unexpected relief spark through his chest. It shouldn't matter to him; this was just a precaution, a measure to know how careful he had to be around the spirit. It wasn't as if Sasuke had taken Naruto's proposition of spending time together that morning into actual consideration. Besides, humans and ghosts couldn't coexist. Uchihas put ghosts to rest; that's all there was to it, and all there would ever be.

"Find what you were looking for?"

The unexpected voice directly behind him made Sasuke jump so high, he fully left the seat and dropped the mouse on the floor.

Iruka laughed as Sasuke turned to face him, but in a kind way. "I take it you were concentrating pretty hard. You look like you've seen a ghost!"

"Something like that," Sasuke muttered.

Iruka leaned forward to see the page Sasuke had been looking at. "Ooh, two-headed cows! Some people think that the birth of a double-headed calf heralded a year with a particularly large number of spiritual sightings! You believe in that kind of stuff?"

Sasuke just shrugged, uncomfortable with the question. It was hard for him to talk openly about any kind of spiritual happenings, since his power gave him much greater insight than normal people.

"Well, anyway, library's closing soon, so I hate to boot you out, but you're gonna have to leave." Iruka picked up the mouse from the floor and closed the newspaper article, then shut down the computer. "I hope you found what you wanted, about that guy. What was his name? Naraki?"

"Naruto," Sasuke corrected automatically. "Yeah, I found out what I needed. Thanks."

"Hey, it's no problem." Iruka smiled sadly. "Did you see anyone else come in here? No teenager around here would spend a glorious summer Sunday in a library."

Sasuke looked around, aware for the first time that the library had been unoccupied except for him this whole time. He picked up his satchel in preparation to leave, and pulled out his phone to check the time. "Why is the library closing at 2:30 in the afternoon?"

"It's Sunday," Iruka explained as he started shutting off lights. Sasuke quickly hurried to the main part of the library, not wanting to get in the way. "All business have shortened hours on a Sunday; it's a town law. What can I say, there's just too many backwoods religious nut jobs around here. At least we can open on Sunday's now; it used to be that everything went on lockdown except for churches."

No wanting to hear a history of religious nut jobs, Sasuke started edging toward the door, but Iruka stopped him with a shout.

"Hey, don't leave yet! I got something for ya." He grabbed a white card off his desk and thrust it into Sasuke's hands.

At the top, in a fancy font, were the words "Konoha Public Library". Under that was Sasuke's name and a five digit number. "What's this?"

"A library card. I don't usually give them to people who just come for the summer, but Kakashi insisted."

So that's what had been in the note. Sasuke gazed at the card, then shook his head and proffered it back to Iruka. "I'm sorry, but I really can't accept this."

"Of course you can." Iruka pushed his hand back. "Any avid reader is welcome here. And I can guarantee you'll like it here, because in Konoha Public Library, there are books you can find nowhere else. We have a collection of stories by local authors that remain unpublished, and the only copies that exist live inside this Library."

"Really?" Sasuke's curiosity was piqued against his will.

"Of course!" Iruka seized a novel from off a nearby bookcase and dumped it in Sasuke's arms. "Here, take one with you!"

Not knowing what else to say, Sasuke managed a weak, "Thank you."

Iruka flustered about him then, and for the second time that day, Sasuke found himself suddenly outside of a door, wondering how people in Konoha survived day to day life with such boisterous neighbors.

With a start, Sasuke realized that the book had just been a ploy to get him back to the library, one concocted by a lonely librarian. If he took it, he would have to return it. Without even looking at it, he thrust the book, with the card, into his satchel in annoyance and, turning on his heel, marched away from the library.

Two minutes later, Sasuke realized he was heading in the opposite direction from the Hokage. He kept going, however, not yet ready to relinquish the rest of his day to the indoors. Yesterday, in the car, Kakashi had mentioned something about nature trails this way, and Sasuke felt in dire need of some nature. The business with Naruto, on top of his frustration at his parents, was putting his mind in a turmoil that only green living things could straighten out.

Sasuke didn't find the nature trails, but he did come to a small park with a memorial stone erected in the center. The park was deserted, but well cared for, with a beautifully tended garden and a recently mowed lawn, and the memorial stone was clear of moss. Somehow, Sasuke felt a little like an outsider as he stepped onto the clipped grass, but the feeling was soon eclipsed by peace as he made his way further into the park. More calm than he had been since his parents had informed him of their decision to stay behind, Sasuke sat down on a bench to enjoy the serenity of the moment.

Too much of a perfectionist to let a moment slide idly by, Sasuke reached inside his satchel for the book he had brought, the one he was supposed to read for his summer assignment. It was open in his lap before he realized that it was much lighter than A Tale of Two Cities. Flipping it closed, he looked at the cover, which read The Girl and the Stone, by Kage Bushin.

"Figures," Sasuke sighed. The book he had pulled out was the one Iruka had shoved in his hands. He had to admit, though, that it was quite a work of art. The cover was a detailed watercolor painting depicting a young girl lying in a bed of flowers next to a stone shaped suspiciously like a grave marker, and the book itself was beautifully hand-bound, though that was be expected of a one-of-a-kind tome. The pen name was clever, too: Kage Bushin, or Shadow Clone, for someone anonymously writing a novel.

"Why am I doing this?" Sasuke muttered to himself as he flipped the book open to the first page and started to read.

The next time Sasuke looked up from the book, it was almost sunset, and the clock on his phone said 5:43. Shaken from the story not by boredom but by hunger, Sasuke realized for the first time that the only thing he had eaten the whole day had been an apple, and his stomach was now loudly complaining of the fact. With a sigh of real regret, he closed the book and stowed it in his satchel, still partially caught in the world of the unnamed girl who took it upon herself to carve a message on her brother's gravestone.

Sasuke was a well-read self-proclaimed writing expert, and he could tell that this book was undiscovered gold. So simply, yet elegantly written, heavy with description and yet light overall, traveling down a plot road neither straight nor twisted, the book had sucked Sasuke in and refused to let him go. In fact, if his stomach hadn't protested, Sasuke might have stayed in that very same spot for another three hours, lost in the fictitious land.

But his stomach had protested, and so Sasuke set off back toward the Hokage, hoping the kitchen that had smelled so deliciously of pancakes in the morning also made dinner.

Sasuke wasn't disappointed, for when he pushed open the front door of the Hokage, the delectable smell of ham with honey glaze rushed out to meet him. Sniffing deeply, he allowed a contented smile to grace his face. I could get used to this, Sasuke thought to himself. No parents, amazing food, and the whole summer to do what I want.

A girlish giggle cut into his thoughts. "You're right, he is really hot."

"Shh!" A second voice shushed the first. "He'll hear you! Besides, he already knows me."

"You can't just call dibs like that!"

"I wasn't! I just wanted to let you know that I'd be serving him dinner, because I met him already."

Sasuke felt his good mood evaporate like fine mist on a summer morning. Everywhere he went, he had to contend with this. Just because of his looks and the money his father had, girls had a tendency to freak out around him, and it bothered him to know end. Other than his powers, it was the reason he wasn't able to make friends. Well, those things and one other thing about himself that his parents still refused to believe.

With a fake smile plastered to his countenance, Sasuke turned in the direction of the voices. To his surprise and slight disappointment, one of the speakers was the pink haired girl who had given him the apple this morning; Sakura, if he remembered correctly. The other was a blond he didn't recognize. Sasuke had looked forward to seeing Sakura again, thinking her above such vapid reactions as fangirling, but apparently he had been wrong.

Catching sight of him looking in their direction, Sakura straightened her back, hauling on the other girl's arm with a very audible hiss of, "Be good!" before advancing on Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke! Did you have a good time at the library today?"

"Yes." It was the only answer that would satisfy her and not leave Sasuke with a bitter taste in his mouth.

"Good." Sakura gestured to the blond beside her. "I'd like you to meet my friend Ino. She works meals with me here at the Hokage, but she was on duty early this morning so she missed you."

Ino smiled daintily at Sasuke, offering a hand to shake. "Nice to meet you, Sasuke."

If Ino had one good point, it was that she had a firm handshake and was able to keep herself together at his touch. "Likewise, Miss Ino."

"There's no need to be so formal!" Ino said, though she did blushes at the added formality. "We work lead back here. We don't even have uniforms, see?"

Sure enough, the two girls were casually clad in shorts and flowy blouses. It didn't make Sasuke any more comfortable, though.

Sakura flipped her hair over her shoulder in a girlish fashion. "So, can we get you something, or is your stomach still on travel mode?"

"No, I'm hungry now." The words were barely out of his lips before the two girls each clasped their hands in identical delight before pushing him to an unoccupied table for two in the dining area.

"Do you have any allergies?" Ino asked as the two girls practically shoved Sasuke into the chair.

"I don't think so," he answered, a little off balance. Why was it that people in Konoha were so intent on pushing him around?

"Any particular dislikes?" Sakura asked.

Thrown a little by the question, he managed, "Junk food." The two girls stared at him. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just not something we get very often." They shared a glance before Sakura turned back to Sasuke. "Any favorites?"

That one was easy. "Tomatos."

Ino wrinkled her nose. "Really?"

"Ino!" Sakura gave her friend a not-too-gentle shove. "The kitchen is serving ham tonight, but we like to personalize every plate for our residents. It adds to the pleasant, homey atmosphere of the Hokage."

"Sounds... good," Sasuke managed, now understanding the nature of the questions but still a little perturbed the exuberance of the two girls.

"Excellent!" Ino grabbed Sakura's arm, and the two backed away from the table. "Your food will be out in a few minutes."

Sasuke shook his head as the girls disappeared into the kitchen, then took advantage of the moment to look around the dining area. The only other people sitting at the mismatched tables was a couple sitting at a table under the window and a family of three, a couple with a daughter, at a large round table in the center of the room. The girl couldn't have been more than four, and she was cheerfully scribbling on a placemat with crayons.

As Sasuke watched, Ino and Sakura brought plates to the family. Ino, having brought the adult's plates, quickly took her leave, but the little girl tugged on Sakura's sleeve.

"I don't like peas!"

"They're good for you," Sakura admonished.

The little girl pouted. "I still don't like 'em."

"But what did you tell me you did like?" Sakura asked with a smile.

"Pizza!"

"And what goes on pizza?"

"Um..." The girl thought a little. "Cheese!"

"That's right." Sakura picked up the girl's fork and stuck it in her peas. "And that's why I put some special spices and cheese on your peas, so they'll taste a little like pizza."

The child's eyes got a round as saucers. "Really?"

Sakura laughed. "Try some!"

Gleefully, the little girl stuffed some of the peas in her mouth, then exclaimed something unintelligible around the mouthful of food.

"You're welcome," Sakura answered before heading back to the kitchen.

Though he hated to admit it, Sasuke had been amused by the display. With a shake of his head, he pulled The Girl and the Stone from his satchel and started reading while he waited for his food.

"Sasuke!"

Annoyed at being torn away from his book, Sasuke looked up to find Sakura in front of him, holding a plate of food.

"I've been standing here for a whole minute! You must be really into that book."

"It's good," he muttered as he closed it. Sakura placed his food in front of him, then, much to Sasuke's dismay, plopped down opposite him. "Aren't you on duty?"

"Do you see anyone else waiting for food?" It was true: everyone else in the dining area already had food. Sakura glanced around before lowering her voice. "Actually, I wanted to apologize. You heard us earlier, didn't you?"

Sasuke didn't know what say to that, so he just nodded. Perhaps his initial thoughts about Sakura had been right, after all.

Sakura winced. "God, that's embarrassing. Ino's kind've a boy freak, so I thought I'd warn her, then it just blew up in my face."

"I noticed," Sasuke commented dryly.

"Anyway, I just wanted you know that when I said I'd serve you, it wasn't me 'calling dibs' as Ino so bluntly put it. I thought you'd feel awkward if Ino started flirting with you, which she would. That's all."

Sakura was clearly waiting for some response, pulling on a lock of her hair nervously, so Sasuke graced her with a smile. "Naw, it's cool."

Her eyes lit up. "Really? We're good?"

"We're good," he confirmed.

"Thank god! I thought I was going to have to go the whole summer with that, and stuff would get super awkward."

Smiling and shaking his head at the delight caused so easily in the pink haired girl, Sasuke turned his attention to the food Sakura had brought him. There was the ham, but next to it, instead of the normal fare of potato and vegetable, was a salad. He frowned slightly, a little thrown off by the nontraditional side dish, until he noticed the thick slices of fresh tomato atop the salad. We like to personalize every plate, Sakura had said. Sasuke was unable to keep a small smile from stealing to his lips.

"Oh my God, is this a Kage Bushin? I love him!" Sakura's voice abruptly shocked Sasuke out of his thoughts. She had grabbed his book and was looking at it. "The Girl and the Stone. Huh, I've never read this one, but I've read a lot of his other books. My favorite's Entanglements of Destiny."

She read! He had someone to talk books with! Sasuke was ecstatic. "What's it about?"

"Forbidden love, but nothing so cliche as a Romeo and Juliet knockoff. It's completely original." Sakura examined the cover. "What's this one about? The stone looks a little like a gravestone."

"It is. It's about a girl that carves a message into her brother's gravestone after his death, even though it takes her a long time and her fingers bleed and everyone tells her to stop."

"Wow." Sakura placed the book back down on the table. "That's kind of dark."

Sasuke shrugged. "I like dark stuff. It makes you think, you know?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but I can't read it very often or I get too many thoughts running around, and then I have to read something nice and light to clear my head." Sakura passed the book back across the table. "Well, I have to get back. Nice talking to you."

"You too." Sakura had gotten halfway across the room before Sasuke called after her. "Sakura?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," Sasuke said, really meaning it.

A grin broke across her face. "Don't mention it."

And then she was gone, leaving Sasuke alone.

He ate while reading, sucked back into the realm of the book. When he left the dining area, he couldn't bare to put it down long enough to traverse the stairs, so he climbed them while holding the book open in front of his face. It was only at his bedroom door that he closed it, remembering for the first time since leaving the library his trouble with Naruto.

With bated breath, Sasuke pushed the door to his bedroom open, half expecting some prank to come crashing down on his head. At least now he knew it would be a harmless prank, rather than a life threatening one.

When no audible crash came, Sasuke strode into the bedroom, and stood in shock at what he found. The massive shadow explosion of this morning was gone, every article of clothing folded neatly and placed in still-open drawers. Sasuke felt hope sizzle in his heart; perhaps Naruto had decided to leave him alone, and he could have the normal vacation he wanted.

Quickly, Sasuke put on a pair of pajamas and texted a single line to his parents, telling them that he was fine and going to bed. When his phone rang a minute later, he shut it off, not wanting them to spoil his good mood.

Sasuke shut off the lights and, after climbing into bed, turned on a bedside lamp, picking up The Girl and the Stone, determined to finish it before going to sleep. It was a short novel, and Sasuke was a fast reader, but it still took him several hours of emotional rollercoasters as he explored the soul of the girl trying to erect a memorial for her brother.

Close to midnight, Sasuke turned the final page, a few tears escaping from his eyes as he read of the girl refusing to leave her brother's grave when it was in danger of being destroyed, and how she perished atop his resting place, happier than could be imagined because she was going to be with her beloved brother at last.

The book shook in his grasp, and Sasuke was almost afraid to put it down, already decided that he needed to go back to the library the next day, no matter that he was playing directly into Iruka's hands. If the bait was this sweet, Sasuke would gladly sit in the trap the whole summer.

When he turned off the light, bright images of the girl still flashed behind Sasuke's eyelids, not dissipating even when sleep encroached upon him. The last thing that he thought before falling into an easy slumber, so unlike his sleep of the previous night, was that perhaps this vacation wasn't going to be so bad after all.