Okay, maybe I lied. There will be one more chapter and then the tree epilogues. Have fun reading, guys!

Addi out

"...and this is the park I spent a lot of time in at the beginning of the summer. It's a really nice place to read, and the library has this great program where it prints and binds copies of works by amateur local writers under pen names, so I ended up reading a lot of those here."

"It certainly is a nice place," Mikoto said demurely as she placed a hand on her husband's upper arm. "Don't you think so, dear?"

"Hmm… Oh, yes, it's very nice," Fugaku said, coming back to reality with a start.

After Sasuke had gone back to the Hokage, his parents had insisted he show them around Konoha and bring them to all the places he'd been to over the course of the month he'd been there without them. He'd agreed enthusiastically, glad to have the chance to spend some more time with his parents, no matter that his father had already retreated into his normal icy shell and his mother was back to her old cheery self. Sasuke didn't mind; he knew how deal with this version of parents.

"There seem to be an abnormally large number of ghosts around here," Fugaku stated suddenly, his hand twitching into a loose fist at his side.

Trying not to let his father see his sigh and his nervousness, Sasuke turned back to them and said, "I noticed that too; that's why I asked Neji out here. He said there wasn't a problem, though, just a few strong draugrs and a few phantoms whose powers were artificially lengthening some of the weaker ghosts' lives. It's nothing to worry about." It's not technically a lie. There are quite a few strong draugrs and phantoms, and one of them is artificially lengthening the lives of normal ghosts. Not that my father would care about that if he ever found out the truth of what was going on in Konoha.

"Hmm." While Fugaku didn't sound entirely convinced, at least he didn't seem to want to argue with Sasuke. "Have you tried laying any of them to rest?"

"Yes, but they're especially resilient; I wasn't successful in any of my attempts. They're almost a community with the community here, so I figured it would be better just to leave them alone until they faded naturally." Not that that would ever happen, thanks to Naruto.

"Hmmm…" Fugaku repeated, his eyes suspicious, but his wife pulled on his arm and pointed to a bench located in a bed of flowers.

"Oh, look at the bench, honey! Doesn't it look so deliciously rustic? Come on, let's take a closer look!"

Stuttering a little, Fugaku was dragged over to the bench by his enthusiastic wife, and Sasuke couldn't help but allow the corners of his mouth to curl up in a slight smile. Sometimes his parents could be strangely adorable.

"Sasuke!" A familiar spectral voice rang out from across the park, causing his shoulders to tense and the smile to slide off his face like honey from an oiled spoon.

Perfect timing, asshole ghost.

He didn't say it out loud, however, only turned to face the phantom stalking - or floating, as the case would be - across the grass with a tight smile. "What do you want, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru prefaced his angry expression with no explanation, going right for the throat and stabbing Sasuke in the chest with a finger. "Where is he?"

"Who? Naruto? Last I saw, he was by the lake-"

"No, not Naruto," Shikamaru seethed, his face livid with rage. "That damned Hyuuga! Where the hell is he?"

Well, that was unexpected. Why was Shikamaru asking about Neji? And what had him so pissed off? It wasn't as if the Hyuuga had up and left in the middle of something important…

Or, Sasuke thought suddenly, the postscript of the letter Neji had left him jumping unbidden into his mind, Maybe he had…?

"I don't see how that's any of your business," he said instead, turning his back on the phantom, but Shikamaru grabbed his shoulder forcefully and dragged him back around to face him.

"It is my god-damn business if my opponent up and leaves in the middle of a game!" He hissed through gritted teeth, and Sasuke blinked in surprise.

"...A game? Like, chess?"

Realizing what he'd let slip, Shikamaru let go of Sasuke as if he'd been burned and backed away, his face closing off. "I can see you're going to be no help. I'll just find him myself."

Turning his back to Sasuke, Shikamaru started stalking away before Sasuke called out to him.

"Shikamaru!"

Irately, the ghost turned back to regard him with an impassive glare. "What?"

Swallowing once, Sasuke answered, "He won't be anywhere near here. You won't be able to reach him."

Unexpectedly, Shikamaru's gaze softened. "I'll find him; have no doubt of that," he said, leaving Sasuke unsure whether his words were a threat or a promise. "See you around, Sasuke… Or maybe not."

And with that, he twirled his hand in a circular motion, and the shadows on the ground beneath him opened up and swallowed him whole.

Sasuke could only stand, dumbfounded, staring at the spot where Shikamaru had been. He'd known the phantom had some kind of control over shadows since he'd used that power in the fight with the Akatsuki, but he hadn't known how vast that power was until this very moment.

"Sasuke? Is something wrong?"

Turning back to his parents, who had turned questioning looks on him, particularly Fugaku, who must have seen the arrival and departure of the phantom, Sasuke graced them with a smile. "Oh, nothing. One of the resident phantoms just spotted me and wanted to ask a question, is all. So, where do you want to go next? The library is rather close and it doesn't close for another hour. If you want, I could introduce you to Iruka; he's the librarian there."

"I heard from that lovely old man who owns the Inn that there's a wonderful little beach around here somewhere," Mikoto suggested with a twinkle in her eye. "Could you perhaps take us to that?"

Nervously, Sasuke bit his lip. "I don't think that would the best idea…"

"Why not?" Fugaku asked, but his expression told Sasuke he already suspected what his answer would be.

"That beach has a resident draugr named Gaara. He's not strictly volatile right now, but we did have a bit of a conflict at the beginning of the summer. I don't think he would be a problem, but I'd still rather not chance it." Sasuke folded his arms over his chest subconsciously, knowing it was what his father had expected to hear, and also what he would say next.

"And why haven't you dealt with this draugr yet?"

"One of the phantoms took a liking to him, and he's managed to mellow him out slightly," Sasuke explained nervously, knowing it wasn't the answer his father wanted to hear. "Like I said before, there's a strange sense of community among the ghosts here; I didn't want to interfere with it and risk starting a chain reaction that would put things outside of my control."

"Hmm." This time, Fugaku was definitely displeased with his son's answer, but he still didn't remark on it. "Well, unless anyone has any other ideas, I guess it's the library."

Relieved that the conflict hadn't escalated beyond that one disapproving look, Sasuke nodded perhaps a little too enthusiastically. "I think you'll really love it; the architecture is really old and beautiful."

"Well, I for one am always interested in architectural flair," Mikoto said delicately, touching her husband on the shoulder. "After you, Sasuke, dear."

Iruka looked up from behind the desk when Sasuke walked in with his parents, a smile breaking across his scarred face. "Sasuke! Nice to see you again! You haven't been in the past week or so; how've you been?"

Hallucinating, his ever-so-helpful mind supplied, but Sasuke quickly overrode it. "Busy. A friend of the family came up to see me this past week, so I've been showing him around."

Iruka practically beamed at him. "Well, aren't you a gracious host? I must say, it's nice to see you back here. I don't get much in the way of visitors, after all." His gaze traveled past Sasuke to the couple still in the doorway, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Are those…?"

"My parents? Yeah. They just got here."

Immediately, Iruka jumped up from behind his desk and sprang to greet the couple, reaching forward to shake each of their hands vigorously. "It's an honor to meet the parents of such a well-behaved child, Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha! Your son speaks very highly of you."

Sasuke had to stifle a snort at Iruka's obviously see-through behavior, but Mikoto only beamed and even Fugaku gave him a stiff smile.

"Please," Mikoto said, "call me Mikoto, Mr…?"

"Just Iruka," Iruka said with a smile.

WIth a grunt, Fugaku awkwardly clasped Iruka's hand in his own. "Fugaku, please."

"Of course!" Iruka beamed at both of them. "What brings you here today?"

"Oh, our son was just showing us some of the places he's spent time at this summer, and he suggested I might like this library," Mikoto said with bright eyes. "Tell me, Iruka, what is this architectural style? It's absolutely gorgeous."

"You like architecture?" Iruka looked positively ecstatic that he had a captive and willing audience for a lecture, especially when Mikoto nodded her assent. "Well, this used to be a personal home built in the nineteenth century, like most of the older buildings around here, but my father purchased it in the eighties and turned it into this library. When he retired several years ago, I took over the business and renovated the building myself, giving it the appearance it has now."

"How fascinating!" Mikoto cast an appreciative eye over the inside of the building. "May we take a look around?"

"Of course! That is what it's here for, after all."

"Excellent! Come along, dear." Mikoto grabbed onto Fugaku's arm and dragged him to the back of the library, where she proceeded to coo over the wallpaper.

"Sorry, about that," Sasuke said, taking a step forward to stand next to Iruka. "They're a bit eccentric."

"Not at all. Believe me, I've had worse people in here." With a knowing smile, Iruka turned to Sasuke. "So, was showing them the architecture really the only reason you brought them here?"

"Sometimes it makes me nervous how well you can see through me." Sasuke drew a large scrapbook from his satchel and handed it to Iruka. "This belongs here, I think. I guess it turned out to be Tenten who snuck it into my bag."

Iruka closed his hand around the binding of the scrapbook. "I'm just glad it's being returned to its rightful place. Thank you, Sasuke."

"You're welcome." A twinge of guilt swept through Sasuke. "And I want to thank you for… you know…"

"The intentional misleading and blatant lies I just told your parents?" Iruka's eyes twinkled when Sasuke winced at the words. "Don't worry; I picked up enough from your explanation yesterday to know the events of this summer are something you'd rather keep from them, but I think I would like a few questions answered sometime. Who knows," he added with an even brighter twinkle in his eye, "if you send them to me in writing, I might even add them to our collection."

Sasuke felt a blush stain his cheeks. "How did you…?"

"There's no secrets in a town as small as Konoha," Iruka replied with a gentle smile. "When you get ready to face that dream of yours, all of us here back in Konoha will be rooting for you."

A ball of warmth settled in Sasuke's stomach, and he grasped Iruka's arm. "Thank you, Iruka. You don't know what that means to me."

"I hope I do. Words don't mean much without anything behind them." Iruka reached up and clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "You'll do great things, kid."

"I don't know if I will, but I'll certainly try."

"That's all you have to do."

Their conversation was interrupted from behind by Sasuke's mother's exuberant voice. "Sasuke, this place is amazing! It's no wonder you spent so much time here!"

"Yes, it is quite unique, isn't it?" Sasuke answered, turning around and slipping effortlessly into the conversation his parents were having. Behind him, Iruka busied himself about his desk, carefully slipping the scrapbook Sasuke had returned to him into a drawer, safely out of sight.

"See?" Mikoto clung to her husband's arm and gave his bicep a little pat. "I told you it was worth it coming out here, even if we were only staying a day."

All the air escaped Sasuke in a single breath as he froze, his lungs turning to a solid mass and the shards of ice from earlier returning to slice up the tender tissue inside them. When he finally managed to speak, the words that escaped his mouth were so cold, he was surprised his breath wasn't visible, flowing over his lips like a chilling mist. "Y-you're leaving? So soon?" He asked, terrified that his question would be refuted. Please let him say yes. It's got to be a yes!

But Fugaku shook his head. "No, Sasuke. We're leaving. You're coming with us."

A smile stretched across Sasuke's face instinctively, his subconscious trying to hide his feelings from his father, but the grin only succeeded in pulling the skin of his lips back over his teeth hard enough that he felt his bottom lip split and a bead of blood trail down his chin. "But… but why? We still have two whole weeks left on our reservation. You… you never even got to see the downtown! Or the harbor! Or… Or…"

He trailed off, realizing how desperate he sounded, and clenched his fists when he saw his mother's pitying expression. She wasn't allowed to pity him, damnit! He was an Uchiha!

But so was she, even if only by marriage.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke asked again, "Why?"

Fugaku cast a glance behind Sasuke at the man behind the library counter, then gestured to the door. "I'd rather not air our business in front of the general public, Sasuke. If you would."

His face closing completely off, Sasuke turned on his heel and strode to the library door, pausing only long enough to call, "Have a nice day, Iruka," before leaving without waiting for a response. Fugaku inclined his head sharply in Iruka's direction before turning and striding after his son, his wife following along close behind. As he watched them go, Iruka sighed. Whatever was going to go down, it wouldn't be pretty on either side.

Sasuke knew his parents had expected him to stop shortly after leaving the library, but he instead led them all the way back to the Hokage before turning around to face them. "Well? Ready to tell me now?"

"This is why I didn't want to tell him until later," Fugaku muttered. "I knew he'd react like this."

"Sorry, dear. That one was my fault." Mikoto hung her head.

"I'm standing right here!" Sasuke snapped, folding his arms over his chest. "You could at least pretend to know I can hear you!"

"Sasuke, dear, don't you think you're overreacting a little?" Mikoto sighed, placing her hand on Fugaku's shoulder. "Being obstinate doesn't become you."

Gritting his teeth Sasuke spat, "I think I have a right to be upset when you lie to me!"

"Lie?" Mikoto cast him a hurt look. "We never lied to you, Sasuke!"

"No, you just purposefully withheld something you knew would make me angry. Totally different thing."

"Sasuke!" Fugaku took a step forward, stabbing his finger in the center of Sasuke's chest, and Sasuke got the feeling that if they were behind closed doors instead of outside, his father would have slapped him across the face. "Do not talk to your mother that way!"

This was the father Sasuke remembered, the father he had in turns feared, loved, and hated since the incident eight years ago. A strange sense, almost like a guilty relief, settled in the pit of Sasuke's stomach. As much as he had enjoyed the brief familial connection they had shared, it wasn't them. His father was much easier to deal with when he could be vilified. It stopped the irrepressible guilt that would rip through Sasuke's consciousness when he defied him.

Bowing his head to give the impression of apologeticness, Sasuke said, "I'm sorry; I was just… surprised. I understand that you want me to come back with you, but why? Why such an abrupt change of plans?"

"Because…" Fugaku started, then trailed off, leaving Sasuke to look up in surprise. His father was never at a loss for words.

"Because what?" He pressed, watching the rare play of emotions across his father's face before it hardened.

"Because we'd like you close to home for now. You weren't answering your phone, so we had to come out and get you."

Good job turning this back on me, Sasuke's mind supplied spitefully, but he shook it off. "But why? Did something happen?"

"No…" Fugaku said, looking slightly uncomfortable, which told Sasuke he was following the right line of questioning. "Not yet."

"But something might happen?"

Fugaku's hand clenched into a fist at his side. "Damnit, Sasuke, can't you just do what I tell you without questioning it? This is for your safety as well as ours!"

Bowing his head, Sasuke backed off, uttering a respectful, "I understand. Sorry," but inwardly, his mind was whirling. What had happened? Whatever it was, it was large enough that it had caused his father to become sick with worry and race out to find him when he hadn't answered the phone. Did that mean someone had gotten hurt? No, Fugaku had said nothing had happened yet. So it was just rumors so far? Suddenly, a fist of ice closed over Sasuke heart as he remembered the Akatsuki. They'd be hungry and out for blood, and it had been an Uchiha who'd pissed them off. Would they have tried to get revenge on another member of his family?

Almost immediately, Sasuke dismissed the notion. The Akatsuki would be angry and likely would be a problem in the future, but they'd only left Konoha yesterday; the turnaround time was too quick for them to have accomplished anything of the magnitude necessary to worry Fugaku this much. What, then?

This was getting him nowhere. He needed more information.

Lowering his head once again, Sasuke asked, "I assume you've already made travel arrangements?"

Fugaku gave a single curt nod. "We're leaving on the train tomorrow to Boston, and we'll fly back home from there."

Inwardly, Sasuke made a face. He hated flying. There was a reason he'd taken the train all the way here. "Have you told Kakashi yet?"

A crease appeared between Fugaku's eyebrows as he frowned in confusion. "Who?"

"He's the owner of the Hokage."

"Oh, yes, him." Fugaku cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I'm going to cancel the rest of our reservation in person today. We'll need an early start tomorrow. You'd better go pack."

Trying to salvage the situation, Mikoto added, "And then maybe we can go out for dinner somewhere. How does that sound, Sasuke? You can tell us what the best place to eat around here is."

Sasuke gave his mother a bland smile. "Sure. I'd like that."

"Good! Then it's settled!" She said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Go pack now, and we'll meet back up for dinner at six! That sound good to you, dear?"

Nodding, Fugaku answered, "I should be done with the manager by then."

"I'll see you at six, then." Sasuke backed up a few steps, and when neither of his parents made any move to stop him, spun around and disappeared into the Hokage.

He managed to keep his rage in check as he stomped up the stairs, but it boiled over as soon as the door of his room was shut behind him.

"Fuck!" He shouted as loudly as he could, then immediately clapped a hand over his mouth when he realized where he was.

The surroundings weren't enough to keep Sasuke's anger down for long, and it soon bubbled out of him again in the form of a wildly thrown jar of rock salt taken from his bedside table. It shattered against the wall, spraying salt and shards of glass all over the floor. Wildly, almost uncontrollably, Sasuke followed its motion to the wall, banging his head against it and rearing back with his fist to follow, only to feel its progress stopped by a spectral hand.

"The wall's harder than you think. You'll hurt yourself."

Sasuke turned his cheek to press against the rough wood of the wall and looked at the phantom standing behind him. Naruto gave him a sad smile and let go of his hand, which he let tumble uselessly to his side.

"What's got you so riled up?"

"My parents want me to leave with them tomorrow," Sasuke answered tonelessly, feeling the roughness of the wooden wall scrape his cheek as he spoke.

"What?" Naruto's eyes grew wide. "I thought… I thought you were going to be here for the rest of the summer!"

"So did I, Naruto." Sasuke pushed himself away from the wall with both arms, letting his fists rest against the wood and his head hang down between. "So did I."

"Can't you just… I don't know, tell them you're staying longer, or something? They don't have any problem with leaving you alone here; they did it already-"

"That's not the issue, Naruto." With a sigh, Sasuke lifted his head up and took a step back from the wall, his shoes crunching in the mess of salt crystals and broken glass. "They're worried and want me with them. It's partially my fault for ignoring them, I suppose, but it's more than that." His eyes narrowed. "Something's wrong. And if I want to know what it is, I need to go with them."

"But… But…" Naruto looked on the verge of tears. "Aren't you over eighteen? You're not legally beholden to them anymore; you don't have to listen to them, you can stay-"

"It doesn't work like that anymore, Naruto." Turning around completely to face the phantom, Sasuke inclined his chin and crossed his arms over his chest. "I may be eighteen, but I'm still a dependant of my parents. I'm still living under their roof, covered by my father's health insurance, relying on money they've put away to pay for my college tuition- and I'd like to keep it that way."

"That's cowardly," Naruto spat, backing away.

"No, Naruto. It's sensible."

"So you're just going to do whatever Daddy Dearest tells you? Just like that?" As Naruto spoke, his hand transformed into trembling fists. "Don't tell me you want to blindly do what he says?"

This time, it was Sasuke's turn for anger to turn his hands into fists. "Yes, I'm going to do as he asks, but not blindly! I follow his requests because I choose to do so!"

"You choose? Oh, that's rich! Tell me, Sasuke, if you chose to follow the orders given you like a good little boy, why were you desecrating this room - my home - with such murder in your eyes?"

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke spat, "Just because I choose to do something, that doesn't mean I have to like it. The important thing is that I chose it."

"Ha!" Naruto pointed an accusatory finger at Sasuke. "You're just using the illusion of choice to avoid owning up to your own cowardice! Well, unfortunately for you, I'm not going to let you quiet your troubled subconscious with such cheap petty tricks!"

"Cheap petty tricks?" Sasuke's voice was rising in volume again, but he found he couldn't bring himself to care. "Says the person who's been using me to validate his existence the whole summer so he wouldn't feel as dead inside as his body is!"

Naruto froze as if the words themselves had been sharp daggers coated with a paralyzing poison, and something fractured behind his eyes. Sasuke immediately wished he could take the words back, then almost as immediately was glad he couldn't. Sometimes, there were things that needed to be said out loud, and taking them back would only cheapen their value.

"Using you?" Naruto asked with hollow eyes and voice. "Is that what you really think?"

"Haven't you been?"

Naruto's lips parted, trembling and silent, as his hands clutched at each other close to his chest. His mouth opened wider, as if to refute Sasuke, then froze and closed shut again. Without saying a word, he reached out and slapped Sasuke across the face, then whirled around and ran away, misting through the wall and disappearing before Sasuke had a chance to react.

Rubbing a hand over his sore cheek, Sasuke grimaced and leaned back against the wall. He'd been right - Naruto's reaction had proved it - but the knowledge didn't bring him any comfort. Leaning his head back to rest against the wall, he allowed his back to slide down the rough wooden surface until he sat down in the pile of salt and broken glass. A shard of glass dug painfully into his backside, harshly reminding him of other glass shards digging into his flesh. With a long-suffering sigh, Sasuke allowed his head to fall forward to rest against his knees.

Summer friendships, like summer romances, were never meant to last. This blowout between himself and Naruto and the subsequent separation were bound to happen sooner or later, and his father had turned out to be the catalyst that had changed it to the former. Sasuke had known this at the beginning, but somewhere along the way he'd forgotten it, or at least chosen to ignore it. A dull grimacing smile crept across Sasuke's hidden face. He should have seen this coming. There was really no other way it could have ended, really, besides heartbreak.

After spending a few more moments in contemplative silence, Sasuke pushed himself to his feet and dusted the salt and glass from his pants. He had packing to finish.