Naruto 1. Chapter 1

Unfulfilled Desires

"I-I think you should go home now…"

It was as simple as that. That one sentence ended all of Sasuke's plans for that night. Poof. Gone; as if they've never existed. You see, the day started off as usual. Sasuke got up, begrudgingly went to work, worked half-ass, and then thankfully went home to his house that he shared with his over protective older brother. That's when his boyfriend for three months asked him to come over. Right away, Sasuke thought to himself, "Yes! This is my chance!" Now, Sasuke isn't usually much of a horn dog, but can you blame him? Was it even legal to be that cute? Who's this oh-so-dear boyfriend of which I speak? I'm pretty sure you have a good guess.

Naruto Uzumaki. The two had confessed to each other exactly—well almost—three months ago. It was quite funny really, both blurting it out at the exact same time. Things like that don't often happen; it was just one of those once in a lifetime things, I guess. Their relationship wasn't hidden, or a secret, like so many others may think. They were actually pretty open about it; with time, people began to accept it. Anyways, back to the point, the two have been dating for this long and still…haven't done "it." Sasuke had made this quite apparent. He's clued Naruto with suggestive hints for a long time now, but to his unfortunate-ness, Naruto just couldn't grasp the hint. It was like he was clueless. Sasuke cannot count the many times he's begun something where Naruto abruptly ended it.

The reasoning behind this obnoxious obsession of Sasuke, however, isn't the plain fact that he wanted to get into Naruto's pants. It was more of a connection he was seeking, rather than a perverted motive, that kept him moving. He wanted to share something so special with Naruto; sure they've experienced things like each other's first kiss, or first one on one date…or even first roller coaster puking…but nothing as special as this. Sasuke had to admit it…he was a sucker for romantic "connections" like that.

Anyways, the two had been just hanging out the whole afternoon, doing what all couples do—no, not that—talk, watch movies, etc… When the oh-so cliché action movie ended, Sasuke decided this was his chance. The dark haired Uchiha shifted in his seat. He placed a delicate hand on Naruto's whiskered cheek and turned the blonde's face towards his. He tenderly caressed the tanned skin. Naruto's deep blue eyes met with contrasting onyx colored ones. Sasuke slowly closed the distance between their lips, tilting his head slightly. He closed his eyes, as did Naruto.

The sensation of Naruto's soft lips touching his own was enough to make Sasuke faint. He never really had gotten used to the feelings that Naruto caused him to have. As useless as it was, Sasuke just couldn't get himself past the 'first kiss' feeling every time his lips touched Naruto's.

Sasuke shifted his hand from Naruto's cheek, to his back. His other hand slid its way to the back of Naruto's hair, intertwining his fingers with Naruto's blonde locks. Sasuke slipped his tongue into Naruto's mouth with ease; Naruto had gotten past the point of resistance long ago. Sasuke felt Naruto's own hands place upon his back, gripping his shirt loosely. He tilted his head more, bobbing it into the kiss. The kiss wasn't fierce, it didn't need to be, the intensity of each other's presence was enough to thrill the two. Sasuke's heart almost skipped a beat when he heard a soft moan escape from Naruto's mouth into his own. He also heard Naruto's heavy breathing, along with his own. This excited him of course, and he figured if not now…when?

Sasuke gently began to lay Naruto down on the couch, pushing him back with as little forcefulness as possible. He took his slightly shaking hand and guided it along Naruto's torso. This action caused Naruto's own shirt to rise up a bit. Sasuke adjusted himself over Naruto; although, he did not lie on top of him. That's when it happened…

Naruto placed his hand on Sasuke's chest and pushed lightly. "I-I think you should go home now…" He said when he pulled away from the intimate kiss. His heavy breathing made his voice very whispery. Sasuke felt as if a freight truck had just hit him straight on. Was Naruto serious? All this leading up to it…and…nothin'?! Sasuke didn't say a word; he only kept his position on top of Naruto. There was a short pause; Sasuke took in a deep breath and closed his eyes. He ran his hand through his hair, using his fingers as a temporary comb. Naruto let a concerned look cross his feature. Had he done something to upset Sasuke? Reopening his eyes and letting out his breath, Sasuke smiled. Not one of those full teeth ones, but a smile none the less.

"Yeah. You're right." He said. With this, he gave up his position atop of Naruto. Naruto smiled as well, as he got up from the couch. He gazed over at the television screen; the credits were still scrolling their way on the screen. He looked at his watch; 7:00. That was a good time to have a boyfriend leave…wasn't it? To be honest, the whole thing was still a blur to him. Ever since that day when he confessed to Sasuke, things have been moving at lightning speed. Naruto had never been the type to have a relationship; he's only ever had his family friend Iruka to look after him. Sure, he has a few work friends…but nothing as serious as this. So many times Naruto wanted to show Sasuke just how much he wanted to thank him. To show Sasuke just how much he's impacted his life. But, Naruto is new to this…so he figured that being there for Sasuke was enough. (Aah, Naruto's so innocent. I love it!)

Naruto and Sasuke walked to the front door. Naruto stood against the living room door frame as Sasuke put his shoes on. When Sasuke looked up, Naruto took his coat from the stairs railing and handed to him.

"Thanks." Sasuke said; a hint of disappointment lingered in his voice. This startled Naruto, was something wrong? Naruto let his gaze fall to his feet, he chewed his lower lip. This is when he felt Sasuke's hand go on his shoulder. Looking up, Naruto met Sasuke's eyes. "Something wrong?" Sasuke said calmly. Naruto averted his eyes.

"U-um..no. Not really…"

"Not really?" Sasuke questioned; his voice becoming more dominate. Naruto loved when Sasuke got that way. He was—how to you explain it—like a pit bull, getting protective over something. Naruto couldn't help but smile at the mental image.

"No. It's really nothing. Just thinking stupid thoughts." Naruto lightly punched his head, and laughed.

"Hn. Well that's not unusual…" Sasuke's face contorted into one of his original smirks.

"Wha? Hey! Don't say tha--" Naruto was caught off guard when Sasuke planted a kiss on his lips. The silence Naruto's house made the small "smack" sound when Sasuke pulled away seem louder than it should have been. Naruto's cheeks grew a light shade a red when he looked into Sasuke's eyes.

"See ya." He said before he turned and took his leave. Naruto, still a little feathery from the sweet kiss, waved a weak hand. "B-bye…" He responded while he watched Sasuke walk to his car. The newly darkened sky made it quite difficult to see much though. Naruto keep his gaze on Sasuke's car as it pulled out of the driveway and made its way down the street, he watched it till his headlights where impossible to see anymore. It didn't take very long anyways, the streets around Naruto's house have always been poorly lit. With a smile and a sigh, Naruto turned around and head back into this house.

Sasuke drove in silence; he wasn't much of a music person really. Like his dad had always told him "Silence is golden!" He smiled, thinking about the obvious duck tape joke that always followed that saying. The young Uchiha couldn't help but feel a little disappointed after what just happened. Although, this wasn't the first time Naruto had stopped so suddenly.

"There must be a reason behind it. Nobody is that clueless…" Sasuke spoke out loud, his attention on the upcoming stop light. "Could it be that he doesn't want to? Or maybe he's scared?" Sasuke contemplated on the thought while slowing his car to a stop at the red light. Gazing to his right, he saw nothing but open fields that outstretched against the starry sky. He drummed his fingers on the cold leather steering wheel. "Come on…this light is always so fricken long…" He spoke to himself again. He had a habit of doing that…

Sasuke got lost in his thoughts again, as he waited for the light to change. He kept his eyes on the fields beside him. In his peripheral vision he saw a flash of green, instantly he pushed his accelerator; not hard though, Sasuke was a careful driver. Just as he got into the middle of the intersection, it happened—

A speeding SUV blew the red obvious red light, ramming straight on into Sasuke's car. A full on, high speed collision. The sudden blow gave Sasuke's body no time to react. No yell, no scream…nothing. There was a loud crashing sound, accompanied by an extreme cave-in of the left side of Sasuke's car. Sasuke was forced sideways; he was helplessly flung about as his car did multiple rolls. He felt a tight burning sensation against his neck; his seat belt was rubbing violently against his skin; this caused him to let out a short gagging sound. Broken shards of glass flew about, jabbing Sasuke's body every which way.  
A loud clanging sound shrieked as a shard of metal broke off from his seatbelt. A strong, unknown force hurled Sasuke up and out of his car door—which was not there—long broken off at the very beginning of the impact. Within seconds, his body was tossed upon the hard ground; skidding and rolling for quite a distance. The strong contact against the concrete burned as it cut open his delicate skin.

His car had fallen in a grassy ditch on the side of the road. The force of the crash was so great that it had caused his car to roll all the way there. Sasuke's limp body lay on the loose gravel that edged the road. His brain pounded hard against his head; pain coursed through his veins. Everything started becoming dark. Bubbles of black invaded his view, making his sight eventually gone. And with not even a second to spare…he lost consciousness.

Sasuke groaned, his mouth closed, as he slowly came to. He slowly opened his eyes; finding it quite difficult seeing as they felt like lead. It was still dark; he hadn't been unconscious for too long. Turning his head, Sasuke's blurry view showed him his car. It had an odd curvature to it, like it had been forcefully wrapped around an object. Steadily, he conjured up enough strength to get up. His body ached in protest as he forced himself to stand up straight. A trickle of blood raced down his left cheek. A bleeding cut, just above his eyebrow, stung when he placed his fingers on it. He let out a small grunt as he clenched his teeth.

Bit by bit, it all started to come back to Sasuke. He had been in a full on collision with someone, but who? He looked around, the poorly lit street made it near impossible to see anything, but he could tell…whoever had hit him was long gone. "Shit!" Sasuke cussed loudly, his anger bubbled up inside of him. What was he supposed to do now? He didn't have his cell phone, so he couldn't call anyone and it wasn't like he could get into his car for anything. So, Sasuke did the first thing that came to his mind. He began walking—limping—towards Naruto's house.

It had taken quite a while to get to Naruto's house, but that didn't matter to Sasuke, once he saw Naruto's house in sight he let out a thankful sigh. No lights were on; Naruto had probably gone to bed long ago. "It must be pretty late…" Sasuke thought. He made his way up to the cement stoop in front of Naruto's door. Sasuke fished in his ripped jeans' pocket for his key (yes, Naruto was dumb enough to give the horn dog a key…), he found it quickly. When he inserted the key in the lock and turned it, something odd happened. The door didn't open. Sasuke tilted an eyebrow.

"Come on…you stupid…thing…" He twisted the key over and over and turned the doorknob; nothing. The door didn't budge. "What the hell?" He continued to make a ruckus with the lock; it made the usual 'clicking' noise, but it still stayed shut. Sasuke gave up (unusual for him..but hey, can you blame him? He was just in an accident!) and began knocking on the door. As he knocked, his feelings finally began to catch up to him. His heart began to race, and his breathing became hectic. He felt his body move on its own; he practically laid himself upon the wooden door. He knocked louder.

"N-Naruto! Naruto open up! Pl-please!" His voice began quivering; it crack on the 'please' part. Just then, the lights in Naruto's window on the second floor shinned. Soon after, the ones from his stair case shone as well. Sasuke stopped knocking and stepped back a little. He heard Naruto's angry voice calling from inside.

"Alright! Alright! Hold your flippin' horses!" His voice got louder as he got closer to the door. "Wh-AAT?" He yelled as he flung open the door. Sasuke was a bit startled by Naruto's anger, but he knew that when he caught a glimpse of him in this state, he wouldn't dare be angry. Oddly enough, Naruto's expression stayed the same as he looked directly at Sasuke. Sasuke smiled sheepishly and lifted his hands to start to explain what happened.

"I--" Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Naruto furrowed his brows and curled up a corner of his lip. "Tssh," was all he said before slamming the door shut, leaving Sasuke speechless. Was that really Naruto? How could he just leave Sasuke out in the cold night, in his current condition? Sasuke's hands began to quiver as his thoughts got the better of him. "W-was it something I did? Is it because of my pushiness that got Naruto this angry at me? B-but I was so careful not to do anything he didn't want to…" His eyes became wide at a sudden—but biased—realization. "All this time…he was probably subduing his anger towards me. T-tonight was probably the straw that broke the camel's back!"

Sasuke dropped his gaze to his feet. What was he to do now? The only thing that came to his heartbroken mind was…"go home." And he did. Slowly but surely…Sasuke made his way into the darkness…walking—limping—home. The event filled night had put his body into such shock, that it wore him out to no end. He figured a nice long sleep was needed. When he wakes up—he told himself—he would set things straight Naruto. (Funny how his demolished car just seemed to escape his mind!)

To be continued...

XD


	2. Chapter 2

**::Chapter Two:: (I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfiction)**

Dark lashes fluttered open exposing sensitive eyes to the bright morning sun that peered through the curtain-less window. Sasuke begrudgingly woke up; stretching awkwardly in his bed and then kicking his legs so that his comforter uncovered his body. Last night's incident finally caught up to his body, leaving Sasuke sore and achy. Sasuke let out a small groan; he never really was a morning person to begin with, and now this—this is just too much. He laid there for a while; a morning dove cooed outside his window. That's when reality struck. Sasuke sprang up in his bed, causing a bolt of pain to shoot through his body, but never mind that…

Naruto. He needed to see Naruto. Sasuke had remembered the look that Naruto gave him last night; the anger in his forceful slamming of the door…right in Sasuke's face. Sasuke knew that he should've asked what was wrong right at that moment—but his mind just went blank—his body acted on his own…and he went home. But now, now he had to go straight to Naruto's house and pursue the problem. Sasuke hated thinking that he was causing misfortune for Naruto…he couldn't bear the thought of hurting the one he loves the most.

Quickly, Sasuke got out of bed and hustled out his bedroom door. He didn't bother with changing his clothes—last night, or this morning. Something in his mind just told him to skip that part… He raced down the stairs and past the kitchen. Surprisingly, his brother was not at his usual spot in the morning—sitting at the table with a cup of coffee reading the newspaper (comics).

"That's strange…" Sasuke mumbled to himself as he tucked his feet into his shoes; he stood up and tapped his foot on the floor a couple times to ensure that his feet where all the way in his shoes. Once he was outside he stared at the empty space on his blacktop driveway…

"Oh yeah…" he laughed sheepishly, "I totaled my car…" Sasuke bit his lip; should he go get the car thing taken care of first? He shook his head; no, this was way more important than some stupid car…a stupid car…that he wasn't done paying of… Sasuke sighed. He let his shoulders slump as he began to drag his feet on the drive way as he trudged his way down it. Abruptly, he straightened up.

"No!" He encouraged himself. "I can't let myself get down! I've got to get things settled with Naruto and _then _I'll worry about the car!" With sudden inspiration, Sasuke sped up his pace as he made his way to Naruto's. He paused at a turn—he thought it was best to take a different route to Naruto's…seeing his car would be too much to bear…

Sasuke walked quickly as he knew his destination was closing in. He stared at his feet; like most people do when they walk alone. They marched forward on the cement sidewalk, one after the other, not knowing what lies ahead. A forgiving settlement or a life changing breakup. Sasuke shivered at the second possibility. When he let his eyes drift upwards the first thing that flashed in his eyes were cherry and blue lights. His eyes went wide; his feet stopped. A black and white police car was parked in Naruto's driveway.

Sasuke wasn't too far away, so he could see that Kakashi (an old friend of Naruto and Sasuke's) was at Naruto's door; he knocked. Sasuke didn't know why, but his feet still did not move. Frozen in fear for why a police officer was at Naruto's house. God forbid if his house was broken into! He continued to watch from afar when Naruto came to the door; his expression showed surprise; obviously he was not expecting Officer Kakashi. Kakashi's expression, however, was fairly sympathetic. Sasuke watched Kakashi's mouth move to the words he spoke; although, he could not read lips, so what he was saying was completely out of his knowledge. Kakashi paused, shaking his head as he spoke the last words of his sentence.

Just then, Naruto's face went blank. His features turned that of a ghosts' color, as if all the blood had been drained out. Sasuke felt his heart sink when he saw Naruto burst into sobs; his legs gave out, causing him to fall to his knees. He buried his face in his hands. That's when Sasuke's body reacted. Like a bat out of hell—Sasuke put aside all tiredness from the night before and dashed through Naruto's front yard to get to him.

"Naruto?! Naruto what's wrong?!" He yelled. He panted slightly from the outburst of speed he had just strained his body for. Naruto did not look up at him. Sasuke looked towards Kakashi, whose face was turned away from both Naruto and Sasuke. The confused Uchiha laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder as he kneeled down next to his upset boyfriend. The talk can wait—right now, he wanted to help Naruto through…whatever just happened. Sasuke thought the worst—something had happened to Iruka (another good friend of theirs…). He patted Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto…" He spoke into his ear; Naruto gave no reaction, his sobs still coming as heavy as ever, "If someone did something to Iruka…I swear I'll--"

"Let me see him." Naruto interrupted Sasuke, he lifted his head from his hands; his eyes were rimmed with red as tears bled from them; staining his soft cheeks. Sasuke was a little taken back. 'See him?' he wondered. Without even acknowledging Sasuke, Naruto stood up and began walking towards Kakashi's squad car, tears still streaming down his face. Sasuke looked at Kakashi, who stared intently foreword.

"Kakashi…" Sasuke spoke, "I'm confused. What happened?" Kakashi just closed his eyes, took a deep breath in, and turned to follow Naruto. Sasuke followed as well, although he felt as if he shouldn't be there. Something definitely wasn't right with him and Naruto. Why would he so coldly ignore him like that? Even so; Sasuke still wanted to be there for him. So, a little awkwardly, Sasuke got into the back seat of the car with Naruto and sat next to him. The car started and they drove off, in complete silence.

Sasuke chewed his lower lip as he thought. "Naruto really_ is_ mad at me…But he let me come with so he can't be THAT mad…can he?" He turned his head towards Naruto, who kept his gaze directly out the window, watching the blur of images zoom by. All this was happening so fast, that Sasuke felt as if he couldn't keep up. Tension was high, and the silence wasn't helping at all. He kept silent nonetheless; for some odd reason, he felt as if he was the cause of all of this. He couldn't explain this feeling, but it was just one of those gut feelings. Hence, the three drove in silence…

After a while, Sasuke leaned over a bit, to see where they were actually going. His eyes widened in surprise. An all too familiar stop light beamed before his eyes. He felt the car begin to slow; but the light was still green. There were other cop cars parked not too far away, their formation was a little questionable. Like they were surrounding something. His heart began to pick up speed, little by little. He snapped his head towards Naruto, who lifted his head from his hand, in which he had been resting his head on. Sasuke felt his own hands begin to shake, an uneasy feeling started to brew in the pit of his stomach.

Before the car pulled over to a complete stop, Sasuke saw Naruto frantically unlatch his seatbelt, pull up the door lock (yeah, I know, Cop cars don't have locks in the inside of the car….whatever…) and dash out of the car, leaving the door wide open. "Naruto!" Sasuke yelled out, he quickly did the same as Naruto and scooted across the seat. When he got out of his car, his whole body froze on the spot. His eyes widened, wider than they've ever been, in horror. The sight before him caused this.

His demolished car was still in the grassy ditch. Debris was everywhere; shattered glass sparkled in the sun, making the street seemed to be made of crystal. He watched Naruto run over to something on the ground. Immediately Naruto fell to his knees, laying most of his upper half on—whatever was over there. Sasuke's heart beat hard against his chest; the bile in his stomach rose.

Horrified by all of this, Sasuke slowly walked towards Naruto. Naruto's sobs bubbled to the surface again; this time more loudly. His whole body quivered, as he gasped for breath. Sasuke gulped once he reached Naruto. He stood right behind Naruto, but he could not see what was there. Slowly, Sasuke leaned over to see…

**Himself lying there.**

Sasuke slapped his hand over his mouth, in fear of puking. Was this for real? Was he really looking down at himself, lying there on the side of the road? His eyes shook as he gazed, sickened at the sight of himself. Dried blood smeared across his face; some out of both his nostrils, some out of the right corner of his mouth…some was even dripping out of his ears. Purple shaded bruises covered wherever his exposed skin was. On his arm, the red, scratchy looking wound plagued his skin. Making it look rough and burned. His eyes were closed; his face in the expression of something far more serious than sleep.

He took a step back, his legs stumbling; threating to give out any second. Naruto's crying still bellowed out in the silence. Sasuke kept his hand over his mouth; he snapped his head towards Kakashi, who was walking up to Naruto now.

"He was found like this, just this morning. At 6." Kakashi said. Naruto continued crying. Sasuke felt his eyes begin to burn, a hot pain started to rise in his throat as well. He backed up a bit as Kakashi walk over to Naruto and place a hand on his shoulder—standing directly were Sasuke had just been a few seconds ago.

Naruto's head shot up, his fists grabbed Sasuke's limp body's shirt. Tears streamed down his face as he yelled. "You idiot! You fucking idiot! Why would you leave me like this, huh?! You want it to be like this?!" His voice cracked as it wavered from his sobs. With his hand still over his mouth, Sasuke shook his head, unconsciously answering Naruto's hypothetic question. His heartstrings had been tugged so hard, that they probably broke. He felt his eyes burn more, as tears flooded his eyes, spilling over onto his cheeks. His breathing was uneven as sobs began to rise in his throat.

"Wh-what about all those stupid plans of yours?! Are you gonna let all of those be flushed away?! Come on…you-you're stronger than this!..."

Kakashi walked to the side of Naruto and squeezed his shoulder. "Naruto…he's gone--"

"NO! He ISNT!" He yelled, looking up at Kakashi. His voice cracked yet again, his voice getting softer. "He….he can't be…" Naruto's voice was completely lost as fresh sobs and tears bubbled to the surface. Sasuke watched Naruto lay back down upon his body's chest. His shoulder's shook.

"Th-this is unreal…" Sasuke said to himself, after he finally uncovered his mouth. "I-I'm…dead?" Tears still streamed down his face. He looked down at his hands and moved his fingers, he wasn't translucent or anything. "Oh. That must be why Naruto slammed the door last night! He…didn't…see me…" Sasuke let his hands drop to his sides. He was so confused. He couldn't even explain to himself how he should feel right now.

He had just found out that he's…dead…and yet—here he is—standing before everyone. Although, it seemed that no one can see him. Sasuke watched as the scene before him played; like a movie, and he was the audience. No matter what he did, he would never get a reaction; that's how movies worked, right? With a sudden fear, Sasuke felt his heart race. Why was he still here…if…he was dead and all?

Was this really what happened once you died? You just linger around—watching others continue on? If that was the case, Sasuke would never in a million years be able to bear it. "Wait…" Sasuke said to himself, "didn't Naruto say something about the 'after life' once before?" Sasuke recalled that Naruto was always into that paranormal stuff…something about not being able to 'move on'?

What was it again? 'Souls that cannot pass on from this world to the next are trapped there because…they had something in their lives-- when they were living—that they had to accomplish. Until that important task is complete their souls cannot rest in peace' Naruto's quote played in Sasuke's head, like he had just heard him speak.

"That's odd…" He said. "Since when do I have such a great memory? It was almost as if…that sentence was…_placed_ in my mind…" Sasuke's eyes widened as he let his gaze drift up towards the sky. "Ok. I get it. You want me to fulfill my important desire, right?" There was no answer. Sasuke felt his heart sink as he was cast into yet another pool of confusion. He let his gaze drift back to the living—he saw that his body was being moved. Naruto stood by Kakashi, his expression on his face read 'hurt' 'betrayed' 'lost' and many others…Sasuke stared deeply at his boyfriend…for once in his life—uh, death—he was mesmerized by Naruto. Just then, another familiar voice spoke out.

"S'hard to believe that he's really gone…" The low toned voice belonged to Itachi—Sasuke's older brother. Sasuke's attention was shot towards Itachi. He watched as Itachi walked towards Naruto, who practically collapsed into Itachi's arms. Sasuke felt another wave of emotions rush through him. Seeing his brother's face was something else he couldn't bear. Itachi held Naruto; Sasuke jumped a little when he saw a tear cascade slowly down Itachi's pale cheek. This whole thing explains why Itachi wasn't there this morning…

"He…he never came home last night…so I figured he was sleeping over at your house…" Itachi spoke to Naruto, as they continued to embrace. "I should have called…maybe we could have gotten an ambulance and--"

"No." Naruto said into Itachi's shirt, his tears soaked into the fabric. "Th-this…is just…a part of life…death is a part of life…" Itachi squeezed his eyes shut as more tears bled form his eyes. His hold of Naruto tightened.

Sasuke couldn't stand it anymore. He had to get away. There were no possible words that could explain this feeling of his—

Here was his boyfriend, his friend, and now his brother grieving over his death—and he's supposed to just stand there and listen?! Sasuke began to walk over to Naruto with his hand outstretched, but stopped. Tightening his hand into a fist, Sasuke averted his eyes away from Itachi and Naruto; he bit his lip. Closing his eyes—another tear fell—Sasuke turned and began walking away from everyone. The flashing lights still beamed; people were walking around doing their jobs…living their lives. Sasuke didn't know where he was going to go—did that even matter? All he knew was…he was dead and unable to pass on, and until he figures out what he needs to accomplish, he will have to endure watching his friends and family live on…without him…

(O__O)

To be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

**::Chapter Three:: (I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic)**

One week and 3 days and 7 hours. That is how long it's been since the life altering incident happened. But who's keeping track?! Sasuke had made the decision that it would be best to avoid his wake and funeral—seeing his dead body once was enough to last him for a long time. He also figured that seeing Naruto like that was MORE than enough. Seeing Naruto's face when he says his goodbyes to Sasuke—he shuttered just thinking about it. Hence; Sasuke walked aimlessly around the town.

Despite his torn heart and shattered feelings, he still found it fairly amusing when the occasional living being ended up walking right through him. He also found some joy on the face that the person makes once they've passed through him—much of the "…what the eff?" sort of face. Sasuke still remembered the first time someone passed through him. Once during the week; when he was strolling through one of the outlet malls, when he saw Ino (an ex girlfriend—don't ask…) shopping. His first instinct was to run and hide, that's when he remembered he was dead. (hah! Fancy that!)

So, Sasuke just stuffed his fists in his torn jean's pockets and kept on walking foreword—Ino walking towards him. Now remember, at the time he didn't know that people could pass through him, so he began to avoid walking into her. Just then, Ino must have spotted a sale or someone that looked hot—either way, she made a distinct change in direction. Sasuke stiffened when Ino darted right towards him but before he said anything (knowing full well that it was useless—people can't hear him) she phased right through him.

Sasuke couldn't help but be amazed, yet a little creeped out. He let his left eye twitch when he saw Ino shiver and speak to herself. "Brr. An air vent must have just turned on…"

Anyways, back to the present, Sasuke meandered around the town when something strange caught his eye. There was a young boy standing behind a tree—he was leaned over, looking as if he was watching someone from behind it. What the boy was doing wasn't the strange part; it was WHO the boy was…

Sasuke recalled seeing the boy's face before, in the paper. He had been struck by a car not two weeks before Sasuke's own accident. Sasuke's eyes widened when he realized—the boy's dead and can't pass on—just like him!  
The late Uchiha thought for a moment, shifting his footing a bit. Finally, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and casually walked over to the boy. Upon reaching him, Sasuke smiled—a little sheepishly—and lifted one of his hands.

"Hello!" He said. The little boy had not seen Sasuke walk up to him, but he was not shocked. He simply turned his gaze towards Sasuke and nodded. "Hi." He said in a quiet voice. The boy's appearance matched his soft voice. His eyes were pale blue—sort of like a whiteish blue—and his hair was a dark shade of what looked like purple. Before Sasuke could say anything else, the boy spoke again.

"You're dead…" He said point blankly, "Just like me." Hmm, sounds familiar doesn't it? Sasuke made a sound that sounded like a half cough half choke; his feet became a little clumsy. Pulling himself back together, Sasuke cleared his throat. "W-well…yeah. Why else would I be able to see you here…" He leaned over—mimicking the boy—and gazed in the general direction that he was. He tilted an eyebrow up when he realized what the young child had been gazing at, "staring at that pretty girl." He said with a smirk.

The young boy's face darkened to a shade of pink. "I-I wasn't…staring…" He said weakly, knowing that it was useless to try to hide it. Sasuke let out a small laugh. Just then, the boy's expression became angry. He stood up straight; his hands balled into tight fists. "Y-you should talk! I'm not the only one here with an 'unfulfilled desire'!" Sasuke's attention was immediately wrapped around that sentence.

"Un…unfulfilled desire?" He repeated. The young boy made a confused face.

"You don't know?"

"Know what?"

"Why we can't pass on…Come on, you mean to tell me you're seriously not wondering why you aren't in 'heaven' or 'hell'?"  
Sasuke paused for a moment. He did know why he couldn't move on—well, sort of. He shrugged. "All I know is that I'm dead but I'm still here…and that there's something I need to do."

The boy smiled. "So you do understand!" he was silent for a couple of moments. Just then, he blurted out, "W-will you help me?!" Sasuke tilted an eyebrow in confusion.

"Come again?"

"Please! It's my only regret, but I still don't know how I can fulfill it—I've been alone for so long…I just want to leave…" The boy grew silent yet again. Sasuke sympathized with him. He understood the feeling of being alone—not being able to have a decent conversation with anyone. Come to the think of it, this was the first person he's talked to in over a week. He figured—why not make the best of it?

"Um," he finally said, "Sure. Mind if I ask you your name though?"

"O-oh. Right." The boy laughed. "My names Yuuri!"  
Sasuke smiled back. "And mines Sasuke… now I can't help if I don't know what it is…"

Yuuri smiled, his face becoming that familiar shade of pink. His expression reminded Sasuke of Naruto—a painful name to be reminded of. Inside, he grimaced. Yuuri pulled Sasuke's shirt, guiding him to look forward. With his free hand, he pointed his finger towards a certain girl on the playground. Sasuke gaze followed Yuuri's finger, all the way to the girl. He blinked a few times. She was sitting on a swing, alone, her face a little sad. She had short, curly chestnut hair. Her eyes were blue; similar to Naruto's (Sasuke flinched at the thought of Naruto—again!).

"That's her. Her names Kirimi. I really liked her when I was living. Every day I told myself. 'Ok Yuuri. Today, you're going to give her that pretty purple flower she likes so much.' But…" His gaze drifted down, "I never got to."

Sasuke couldn't help but be slightly moved by this side love story. But—to make things move a little faster I'm going to cut right to the chase. Sasuke helped the poor love-stricken Yuuri develop a plan to give Kirimi her flower. And since Sasuke planned it out, of course everything went according to plan. It was a brand new day; early morning, the sun shone brilliantly. Kirimi went to her swing, like she does everyday—ever since her best friend, her crush, died. To her surprise, there was one single purple flower sitting on the swing. Waiting for her. She picked the flower up delicately and held it to her heart. The only words to pass her soft lips were. "Thank you, Yuuri."

Sasuke gazed from behind the tree; he did a silent fist pump, celebrating his awesome planning skills. He laughed, turning around he spoke out, "Hey. The plan worked bud…" His eyes widened when he saw Yuuri's state. His skin had become transparent; his figure slowly began to become nothing but shining light floating into the air. Through the blur and shine, Sasuke saw Yuuri smile. His last sentence came out a tad bit echoy, but audible nonetheless. "Thank you Sasuke nii-chan! I hope you too can fulfill you're one desire and move on, just like me. I can't wait to see you again!"

And with that, Yuuri disappeared. Sasuke outstretched his hand, only to grab nothing but air. Although he felt happy that Yuuri was finally able to pass on, he couldn't stop the feeling of remorse come over him. Now what was he supposed to do? He was alone—again. Sasuke tightened his hand into a fist. Turning around, he leaned against the tree and slowly slid down it until he was sitting on the grassy ground. He pulled his knees into his chest; he rested his head on them. A gentle wind tousled his raven hair; carrying soft sounds of distant cicadas with it. Sasuke slowly lifted his head; his eyes drooped—not from being tired, he didn't have the need to, it was just an expression that many people can make. The bored, yet somewhat sad, look.

A small sigh drifted past his pale lips. In his mind, thoughts jumbled around like jumping beans. What Yuuri had said being the main focus. What WAS his 'unfulfilled desire?' Maybe he could use what he just experienced with Yuuri these past two days as a guideline.

"It seemed that when Yuuri was alive—he was always telling himself to do this one thing." He spoke to himself; don't judge him; he has no one else to talk to! (So what if he talked to himself when he was alive too?!) "He liked that girl so much and all he wanted to do was give her that flower." He laughed to himself, "It seemed like more of an obsession to me…" Sasuke's train of thought derailed when the sudden realization crashed upon him like a tsunami. His eyes widened in shock and disbelief. An ever-so-slight shade of red flooded his face.

"No…" He whispered. Abruptly, he stood up and pointed an angry finger at the sky. He yelled to an unseen being. "You have got to be KIDDING me?!" The fuming Uchiha shook his head, and folded his arms. Irritably, he began to pace—something he always used to do when he was living. A few minutes passed before Sasuke grew impatient with the lack of response—how did he even know that there was supposed to be one? He stopped his immature pacing and unfolded his arms.

Clenching his fists on either side of him, Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut and yelled. "You're meaning to tell me that I have this 'unfulfilled desire'" He used air quotes on the desire part, "because I didn't have SEX with Naruto?!" He yelled as loud as he could, knowing full well that no one could hear—thank goodness.  
Silence. There was no answer.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, these lack of answers were really getting the best of him. In a fit of rage, he took off his right shoe, hurdling it towards the sky only to have it fall right back down onto the concrete sidewalk with a soft "thunk". A few moments passed.

"Oh. Come on!" He pleaded to his new friend—Mr. Sky. "I wasn't THAT obsessed with it was I? I mean, sure I really wanted to but…was it really so bad that not I can't even pass on to the next world?!" He continued on with his rant, answers or not, he wanted to get this stuff out there and off of his chest.

"A-and how am I even supposed to fulfill this desire, eh?! Oh, and--" Just then a Frisbee glided along the air, passing straight through Sasuke's forehead. Soon after, a teenage boy came jogging to retrieve it—he passed through Sasuke just as the Frisbee had.

"…" Sasuke's emotionless face showed it all. His next words were spoken a little more quietly. "Yeah. The whole intangible part might make that a little tricky…." Sasuke let his gaze fall to his feet. All this was way too much to soak in. Also, the sudden thoughts of Naruto had cast him into another case of post-death depression. He let out a deep sigh.

Whispering to himself, he said "He can't even see me…" Sasuke trudged over to his lonely shoe, put it back on, and began heading towards downtown. Many thoughts danced through his mind as he walked, but what was he supposed to do about them? The clouds in his mind weren't planning on becoming any clearer anytime soon, so Sasuke decided that it was best to just ignore them for now. Besides, it was embarrassing enough to think about his "unfulfilled desire". Sasuke felt his face heat up from the thought. He rubbed his temples as he walked.

"Ugh…how the hell am I supposed to fulfill that?" Somewhere in Sasuke's mind yearned for a glimpse of hope. "Maybe that's not your unfulfilled desire. Maybe that's not it. Maybe it's something else!" But deep down, Sasuke knew. There was no going against it, no 'maybe'ing it…It is what it is…

Yepp. He definitely was a horn dog when he was living. Oh, how he regretted it now. (Let that be a lesson to all you weirdos out there! Lol jk)

Sasuke walked for quite a while—I mean, what else did he have to do? He walked, and watched people talk, walked some more, until… Something familiar caught his attention. Sasuke had been passing by the all-too-famous Ramen shop when his old boss, Anko, walked out with one of her girl friends. A small silver watch was firmly wrapped around her left wrist, in which she held it up to her friend. "I just got this this morning! Isnt it nice?"

Anko's friend nodded. Anko gave a cheeky grin. "It belonged to one of my workers; he passed away about a week ago, so his brother's selling all of his shit." Anko let out a bellowing laugh, one that shouldn't belong to such a pretty woman. (She's not womanly, I'll give ya that!)

Sasuke felt his heart drop to his butt. His eyes went wide. "What?!" Was all he said before he high tailed it out of there, making a B line towards his house. (He knew the town like the back of his hand, so he didn't need to stop and think about where he was going)

Upon reaching his old house—much to his displeasure—Itachi really was selling all of his belongings. It wasn't an estate sale, seeing as Itachi still owned the house, but basically everything that Sasuke owned was up for sale. Sasuke slowed his sprint to a jog and soon on into a walk. He paused at a nearby tree—not too far from his house. In shock, he saw almost all of his belongings on tables and hangers. People—but mostly neighbors—looked around, looking at his stuff like it were some thrift store.

Sasuke let out a loud burst of air. This exaggeration caused him to lose his footing a little, so he steadied himself on the trunk of the tree. He decided it was best to play audience just one more time—it wouldn't hurt. In his sight, he saw another familiar face. Kiba Inuzuka (an obnoxious friend of Naruto's) gazed around. Sasuke muttered a small prayer as Kiba strolled along the yard sale's temporary isles.

"Please God…don't let him see it…please don't let him…" And of course, something caught the dog boy's eyes. A sharp toothed grin stretched across his tattooed face as he dug into a pile of folded shirts. "YES!" He yelled out.

Sasuke slapped his hand over his face.

"I knew he would be selling this!" He held Sasuke's favorite (and apparently Kiba's too) in front of himself. An evil snicker escaped his mouth. "I'm sure Sasuke wouldn't care if I bought this! He always said it looked better on me, anyways." Sasuke felt the heat in his face flare up. He gritted his teeth. "I never said anything like that you bastard! You can't have that shirt! It was a present from--"

"Naruto!" Kiba yelled out. Sasuke let out a surprised gasp, he snapped his head in the direction Kiba yelled. Sure enough, Naruto was there—his expression blank. The blonde haired boy had just pulled up in his car, he was stepping out of the door when Kiba pranced to him, yelling his name. Sasuke saw Naruto force a small smile, it was if it hurt him to smile.

Naruto's face returned to an expressionless statue; his eyes caught sight of the shirt in Kiba's hands. He pointed towards it saying, "You going to buy that?" Suddenly, Kiba felt really rather awkward. He felt his heart skip a beat; his face turned a little red in embarrassment. "U-uh…w-well…No, not exactly…I was just…" His nervous stuttering was interrupted when Naruto shook his head and placed a gentle hand on Kiba's shoulder.

"It's ok Kiba." Naruto smiled—Sasuke noticed it was another fake one—and reassured Kiba. "Really, you don't have to act any differently towards me now…I'm fine…" With this, Sasuke watched as Kiba whispered something to Naruto, patted his shoulder, and continued walking (he caught sight of Neji—his potential love interest…heh) Sasuke noticed something, he couldn't quite put his finger on it, but Naruto was defiantly different. I guess losing the one you love does that to a person. (Also, Sasuke couldnt help but feel some satisfaction that now Kiba probably didnt want the shirt...but anyways...)

Sasuke laughed at his own stupidity; nevertheless, he continued watching Naruto meander through the yard sale. Every once in a while, something would catch his eye, he would let his fingers softly glide upon it, then he'd continue on. Just then, Itachi caught sight of Naruto—he made a B line towards him—stopping his conversation with one of the neighbors. Sasuke watched as Itachi put his arm around Naruto's shoulders; he edged closer to the tree, feeling the need to lean in to hear better. (He's like a creeper…dead…but a creeper nonetheless…)

"Hey kid." Itachi greeted Naruto; Naruto plastered the fake smile on his face as a sad attempt of a reply. The blonde's eyes avoided contact with Itachi's, knowing full well that with his keen older brother skills he'd be able to see right through his act. Itachi caught notice of this; he leaned in close to Naruto; he spoke in a low voice. (Sasuke leaned in closer as well—although I bet it didn't do anything, seeing as he was still a good couple of yards away)

"Up in his room. I left everything in it—this is just all of his old stuff—early high school years…" Naruto kept his gaze elsewhere. Itachi took in a deep breath, then said. "You can go up there, take whatever you'd like." Itachi gave Naruto a friendly smile; squeezing his arm in a side hug. With this, he left, leaving Naruto there  
staring at nothing in particular.

Just then, a steady breeze blew, rustling the leaves a little. For some odd reason, Sasuke saw Naruto's gaze shift over to the tree he was standing by. For a similar odd reason, Sasuke's heart skipped a beat, he darted behind the tree—as if he felt the need to hide.

At the same time, when Naruto had shifted his eyes, his own heart skipped a beat when he swore he saw Sasuke by the tree. He shut his eyes tight, he shook his head. Reopening his eyes revealed an empty space over by the tree.

"Weird…" Naruto mumbled to himself as he began to pace his way into the Uchiha house. Meanwhile, Sasuke slowly came out from behind the tree; his heart beat was still a little wild. He noticed that Naruto was going into his house; he pondered for a moment. Within minutes after Naruto entered his house, Sasuke came to a self-agreement. Following Naruto, Sasuke began heading towards his house—watching Naruto a little more couldn't hurt…could it?

Naruto took in a deep breath; he knew what lied just beyond this closed door was more than enough to tear his heart apart. There was hardly a night this week where he hasn't thought about Sasuke—but going into this room like this…throwing himself into heartbreak central…was he really about to do that?

"Here goes…" He said to himself; grabbing a hold of the doorknob, he twisted and pushed, the door opened with ease. (Yeesh. It's not like his room hasn't been abandoned for THAT long, it's only been a week! Lol) Naruto felt an eerie chill crawl up his spine as the room appeared before him. With his hands a bit shaky, the cautious blonde went in.

Now, I'm sure we all know how much of a neat freak Sasuke was—so there really wasn't that much to look at. In the right corner of the room against the wall stood his bed; unmade, with pajamas lying atop it. Naruto couldn't help but let a small smile cross his lips as he remembered the petty argument they had over Sasuke's sleep wear. Naruto—still to this day—thinks Sasuke slept like such a prude, but that's beside the point.

The silent room filled Naruto with an anxiety; he felt as if he shouldn't be in it. There was something odd about it—it sort of felt as if Sasuke aura was still in the room. It gave him an peculiar feeling. Nevertheless, Naruto stayed put, letting his eyes drift around the room. Soaking in as many memories as his mind would let him. Over on Sasuke's dresser, Naruto saw, there were bottles of unused cologne—although, one particular one was almost used up—Naruto's favorite. The whiskered cheeked blonde gave a sad smile as he let his hand drift over the dark wood and onto the glass bottle.

"Waste not, want not, am I right?" With this, he sprayed the last of the cologne in front of him; he took a step forward into the delightful smelling mist. Feeling nosy, Naruto opened the top drawer of the dresser only to have his eye twitch upon what he saw. A box of unopened condoms.

"…I swear…was this the only thing that was on your mind?" Naruto spoke aloud while picking up the small blue box. As he said this, a certain someone…DEAD someone walked into the room (well, he stopped at the door way…but you get my drift…). Sasuke watched silently as his boyfriend stood by his dresser—with a box of condoms in his hands?! He felt his face burn up…He knew he should have just gotten rid of those. Besides, it was Itachi who bought them anyways… What Naruto said next caught Sasuke's attention.

"Even so…I was so dense…that I didn't even realize just how much you wanted to have this connection with me. If you just would of given me a hint…"

Sasuke made an annoyed face at this comment. He thought to himself. "How much more obvious could I be?!..." He shook his head at Naruto's innocence; even if it was cute, his innocence is what has Sasuke in this predicament now. With a smile, he continued to watch Naruto—who just tossed the condoms aside and went on looking at Sasuke's dresser.

Bordering Sasuke's mirror, were man pictures of them. One in particular caught Naruto's eye—it was one that Sasuke took without Naruto's permission. In the photo, Naruto was lying on the couch fast asleep (you could even see a little drool at the corner of his mouth). His arms were sprawled; one over his exposed stomach and one above his head. Sasuke's head and shoulders, however, were just popping into the picture in the top left corner. One of his arms was outstretched; he was obviously holding the camera, as he made a face.  
Naruto stared at the Sasuke in the photo—a corner of his lip was curled up while the eye on the same side was a little more closed than the other one. (basically giving the 'stink eye' as my sister would say…) He let his fingers glide along the picture; he took in a slow breath, letting it out just as slow. That's when, in the corner of his eye, he saw a peculiar thing on Sasuke's cork board.

Sasuke immediately realized what Naruto must have seen. Mentally, he punched himself for not getting rid of it while he had the chance—but, he just didn't have the heart to throw out something with Naruto looking twice as cute!  
Naruto walked over to the tanned colored corkboard. On it, various things where tacked up but something was sticking out from behind Sasuke's old work schedule.

Naruto moved the paper to reveal a bunch of photos. Well, it was one photo technically since they were all connected; it was an old photo booth photo strip. The photos went:

**  
1) Naruto mimicking Sasuke's bored look—obnoxiously of course.**

2) Sasuke making the "grr" face while Naruto laughed his butt off.

3) Sasuke's mouth wide open, his brows furrowed, obviously yelling at Naruto. Naruto has an interestingly evil face.

4) Naruto catching Sasuke off guard, kissing him. Sasuke "O///O"

Naruto tilted an eyebrow up; didn't he remember distinctly that Sasuke said he was going to get rid of this? Something about being humiliated by getting a photo of him blushing. Naruto pouted his lips and furrowed his brows. He complained out loud,

"And YOU said you hated these pictures. Dirty, stinkin', liar…"  
Sasuke gritted his teeth, blushing a little in embarrassment. Without thinking, he blurted out. "Well, SORRY. I couldn't just say I thought it was cute, that would be humiliating!!"

"Huh?!" Naruto's eyes shot open wide, without delay he jerked his body around towards the door. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? The sight before him made the color rush out of his face.

Sasuke was standing in the doorway.

Right as the two made eye contact, Naruto took a horrified step back and began screaming. He outstretched his shaky arm and pointed his finger at Sasuke. Like a domino effect, Sasuke did the exact same thing.

From downstairs, Itachi heard Naruto screaming—and his screaming alone—right away he dropped the glass of water he was getting and ran up the stairs. When he got to the doorway, he stopped.

"Naruto? Wha-What is it?!"

Naruto's eyes widened. What he saw—and what Itachi saw—where two completely different things. Sasuke was…inside of Itachi…or rather, Itachi was through Sasuke—either way it was creepy as hell.

"What's wrong?!" Itachi asked again.

Naruto's scream only got louder—it echoed throughout the town…people outside the house were making questionable faces. One woman even covered her child's ears as they hurriedly fast-walked to their car.

Back inside the house, Naruto watched a horror-struck "Sasuke" (quotes around it because Naruto believes there is no way in hell that could be Sasuke…) back up—through Itachi—and run away. Naruto was frozen, stunned by what he just saw. He felt his legs give out as he fell to his knees—practically a faint. Immediately Itachi ran to him, placing a concerned hand on his back.

"A-are you alright?" He asked. Naruto's arms shook as they tried their best to hold him up. His voice quivered as he whispered. "S-Sasuke…"

Itachi's eyes widened, he quickly let his eyes scan the room. "SASUKE'S..." Quickly, he let his loud voice soften, "Sasuke's…not here anymore Naruto. You know that…"

That's when he came to a self agreement. He pat Naruto's shoulder. "I-I'm sorry Naruto…I shouldn't have let you see all this…it's still too soon…" And with this, Itachi help Naruto onto his feet; he guided him through the hall and down the stairs—to get him something cold to drink. When they were at the top of the stairs, just about to head down, Naruto looked back over his shoulder—only to see nothing but an empty hallway.

Although he knew Itachi didn't understand what he meant by saying Sasuke's name—if he told him, he'd probably think he was crazy. But Naruto was confident. The only thing that he spoke in his mind before heading down the stairs was, "I know what I saw…"

Boring chapter I know. But I needed to clear things up...I guess...sorta like a filler? lol

MORE TO COME!!


	4. Chapter 4

**::Chapter Four:: (I do not own any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic)**

The rest of that strange afternoon, Naruto was on edge. Constantly, he darted his head this way and that; always looking over his shoulder, as if 'Sasuke' would pop up behind him and say "Boo!" Itachi noticed Naruto's anxiousness and thought it be a bit odd. Every now and then when he looked over at Naruto, who was helping with the sale, he noted that Naruto wasn't acting like himself. Ever since the fiasco in Sasuke's bedroom earlier, Naruto seemed different. "What was that all about anyways?" Itachi thought to himself; his attention was brought to another customer. The rest of sale went fairly smooth; except, of course, the fact that Kiba and Neji practically started a fist fight over a petty argument…something about jelly…who knows.

Later in the afternoon, Itachi invited Naruto to stay for dinner after the cleaning up was done. Naruto accepted, saying nothing, only nodding; his mind distant from reality.

"Naruto…" Itachi said over his bowl of steaming ramen. Naruto snapped his head up from staring at his own bowl.

"W-what? Yes…?"

Itachi pointed his chopsticks at Naruto; whose eyes almost crossed since he was staring at them.

"You are not yourself…" He said point blankly. Waiting for a reaction, the eldest—and now only—Uchiha picked up more noodles and slurped them up. To his surprise, Naruto gave no reaction. The only thing he did was let his gaze fall back down to his now warm noodles. He began to fiddle with his chopsticks. Itachi ate another bunch of noodles and swallowed hard. The room became quiet, the quiet hum of the refrigerator and the occasional car zooming by were the only things to be heard.

After about ten minutes of complete silence between the two, Itachi gave a long sigh. "Listen," He said, Naruto looked up. "I know Sasuke's death has been hard on you…it's been hard on me too…trust me. But, letting it effect so much that you completely distance yourself from your friends…" Itachi paused, staring intently at Naruto, who averted eye contact. Itachi chewed on his lower lip, he came to a self agreement; it was best to leave this talk for a later time.

"Tell ya what…If you want; you can stay here for a while. It must be hard to be all alone in that empty house all the time." He gave a warm smile.

"Itachi…" Naruto said softly. Itachi arched his eyebrows and hummed an "Hm?" as an answer. Naruto continued, "Have you ever gotten the feeling that…that Sasuke really isn't…you know—gone?" Naruto felt his confidence in the question fade when Itachi made a rather peculiar face at him.

A very airy "…what?" was the only thing Itachi said. Naruto felt his heart speed up. Quickly, he decided to boycott the question.

"Uh—No, nothing…never mind! S-so, is it really ok if I stay here for a while?" His plan worked, he got Itachi's mind off his question. "Of course. You've slept over before, so it's not like it's your first time overnight here!" With this, Itachi got up and picked up his empty bowl. He slapped Naruto on the shoulder lightly as he passed him.

"But I have strict rules in this household…you have to finish everything in your bowl before you are excused…"

It was in the dead of night and Naruto found himself wide awake on the guest bedroom bed. No matter how many times he yawned, his eyes would not shut. It was as if they were glued open. It seemed that all that was in his mind was this afternoon. His mind jumbled with thousands of explanations of what he saw today, but none really made any sense. He kicked the blankets off of him, he was getting over heated. This was a never ending cycle tonight, first he gets hot and begins to sweat so he takes off the covers; then he gets freezing cold and begins to shiver so he puts the covers back on, then it starts over…

He let his deep blue eyes gaze up at the fan that slowly turned; his eyes fixated on one blade and followed it. Getting annoyed with the lack of sleep he was having this particular night, Naruto sat up and pondered the never ending question in his mind.

"Was that really Sasuke standing in the doorway?" Naruto didn't believe his eyes—or ears for that matter—when the incident happened. He told himself that it was impossible, but as time went on…he found that he was beginning to believe that that was actually Sasuke.

A few minutes passed as Naruto listened to the random cars pass outside. Suddenly, Naruto got bold and got off the bed. As quietly as possible, he opened the door to the bedroom and tip toed out. He passed Itachi's bedroom, he had to refrain from laughing at the sound of Itachi's snoring. He remembered once he and Sasuke recorded Itachi's snoring and the funny whistle sounds he makes —ah, the good times.

Naruto saw his destination; Sasuke's room.

He felt his heartbeat begin to race, and his hand quivered a bit. His breathing was loud and deep. Opening the door, Naruto peered into the room. He started at the far end, and scanned his eyes across the room—all the way to the bed…  
The BED!

Naruto's eyes widened when he saw a bulge under the covers; he almost let out another scream like before, but he stopped himself by slapping his hand over his mouth. He saw part of the bulge move—whatever was under it…just moved! Naruto felt a large lump in his throat form; he swallowed hard, trying to get rid of it.

Gradually, Naruto made his way to the bed, his feet making small 'tmp'ing noises as he walked. When he reached the bed, he hovered his shaky hand over the covers. Did he really want to see what was under this bed sheet? Could it be what he was thinking? Or could it be a madman that escaped the loony bin and was here sleeping…Naruto shook his head at that silly idea…

In one swift movement, he grabbed hold of the covers and pulled them away and off the bed entirely. Naruto lost his breath as he saw what he saw earlier—Sasuke—lying there, wide awake. His deep, onyx eyes stared into Naruto's.

The stunned blonde took a weak step back as Sasuke slowly sat up; Naruto dropped the bed sheet. Tears began to form at the corners of his eyes; he placed his hand over his mouth as the tears began to overflow onto his cheeks. Fresh sobs began to surface their way up out of his covered mouth—making them very muffled.

"N-no…please God…please…." He mumbled into this hand, his tears still flowing. "I'm not crazy…I-I can't be…I just can't…"

Sasuke sat up completely; stunned as well. Could Naruto really see him? Right at this moment…

"Naruto…" He spoke out. Just as he spoke Naruto yelled—quietly, he didn't want to wake up Itachi.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" He placed his hands on his head; squeezing hard. "You're dead! YOU ARE NOT HERE RIGHT NOW! YOU'RE DEAD!!"

Sasuke felt his hopes sink. Sure, Naruto could see and hear him, but he thinks he's crazy. This whole deal was way too much to comprehend; so Sasuke did the first thing that came to his mind—

Before Naruto could protest against his sanity any longer, Sasuke got up and leaned forward.

"There is no way that you are here in front of me! There has to be a good explaina--" Naruto was cut off from his rant when Sasuke's lips—surprisingly—pressed against his. The two stood there, lip-locked, wide eyed and stunned.

Naruto stared deeply into the eyes of the recently deceased Sasuke. He-he wasn't crazy after all… He KNEW what he saw. He KNEW. All this time he had felt Sasuke's presence and now he finally understood why. But, if why could he all of a sudden hear and see…and FEEL Sasuke?

When the two pulled away, they stared at each other in silence. Naruto was the bold one and spoke up first. "Sasuke…you…you're really here…but how--"

"I don't know." Sasuke said, shrugging. Naruto pondered for a moment; he has completely put the insanity thing past him now, so now he was all seriousness. He snapped; signaling to Sasuke that he thought of something.

"You're trapped here, aren't you?! You can't pass on!" Naruto felt his own excitement rise; this was unreal to him. He was actually talking to his recently deceased boyfriend. Most people would find it creepy as hell, but this is Naruto we're talking about. Sasuke couldn't help but let a smile cross his lips; MAN, did it feel good to hear Naruto speak again. Last time he heard him speak, he was crying and sobbing…mourning his death.

"I guess so." Sasuke said nonchalantly. "I've been around this whole time actually—I even went to your house right after the accident."

"You-you did?!..." Naruto thought for a moment. "OH! Then THAT was that annoying noise that night. And here I thought it was some punkass kid…" The blonde laughed sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head. Sasuke took in a deep breath; it felt nice to finally clear things up from this afternoon—HEY! W-wait a second!...

"Wait…what the hell?! How can we see and hear each other? And how did…did we…you know!!" Sasuke held his hands out in front of him, shaking one to himself then to Naruto.

"Kiss? Hmm, good question." Naruto replied. He put his paranormal knowledge to the test. "Maybe it's because you can't pass on…and since you still haven't fulfilled what you needed to…I guess your soul came to the person that can help you—aka ME!" Naruto said in a cheery voice.

Sasuke felt his face flare up when Naruto mentioned the "fulfilled" part—for obvious reasons. There was no way in heaven or hell that Sasuke would even consider telling Naruto what his "unfulfilled desire" was. No way, no how. Not today, not tomorrow, never.

Things got sort of quiet in the room as the two stared at each other for old times' sake—they soaked in the presence of each other—something they haven't been able to do for so long. After a while, Naruto took in a deep breath and smiled sweetly. "It…it's really good to see you again Sasuke…things have been…well…hard…for me…"

"I know. I noticed you were distant from a lot of people; you wouldn't even talk to Kiba normally." Sasuke said in reply. Naruto's cheeks became a deep red.

"I didn't know HOW to act. I didn't want people's sympathy…and I sure as heck didn't want to just forget you…s-so. I don't know, I just decided it was best to avoid people."

"You dummy. When you avoid people; that only makes it worse!" Sasuke smirked; he was liking the ability to tease his boyfriend again—it felt good…

"WELL, YOU WEREN'T THE ONE LEFT ALL ALONE, NOW WERE YOU!?!" Sasuke was a little taken back as Naruto grew surprisingly angry. He noticed new tears forming in Naruto's deep blue eyes. Realizing his crying eyes, Naruto quickly rubbed the tears away. "S-sorry…I didn't mean to yell…" Naruto said quietly.

"No…It's ok." Sasuke let his gaze fall to his feet. "I really did leave you all alone…I should be the one who's sorry." He felt his voice begin to quiver as he, himself, began to tear up. He placed his hand over one of his eyes; using his index finger to wipe the salty tears. "Y-you didn't deserve that horrible experience. It's all my fault you distanced yourself from others…it's my fault that your eyes filled with tears…"

Naruto watched as his boyfriend became a tad bit too emotional for his own good—doing what first came to his mind—Naruto reached out to comfort Sasuke. Leaning forward, he began to place his arms around Sasuke; that's when something odd happened.

Naruto felt himself touch…nothing. As soon as he let his weight shift, he found himself falling straight through Sasuke, flat on his face. It happened so fast that all that he managed to say as he fell to the wooden floor was a simple; yet, strangely humorous, "GAH!!"

Sasuke immediately realized what happened and knelt down to Naruto. "A-are you okay?" He asked. All Naruto did as he lifted his face from the floor was. "The hell was THAT?!" There was a small redden spot on his forehead. Sasuke couldn't help but let a tiny smile come upon his lips. Naruto helped himself up; refusing Sasuke's hand, he dusted his jeans off (as if there WAS any dust; lol). He lifted his hands, indirectly saying "What just happened?" to Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged in reply, and said. "I don't know any more than you do. Here, let's do an experiment."

"Experiment?" Naruto questioned. Sasuke just waved Naruto to come closer; he lifted his hand up in front of him. "Do what I'm doing." He instructed. Naruto did as he was told and lifted his hand, mimicking Sasuke.

"Now, don't move your hand…" Sasuke said as he slowly placed his palm against Naruto. Their hands touched; as if Sasuke wasn't even a spiritual phenomenon at all, but rather that he was in living flesh just like Naruto. Naruto; speaking of which, made a strange face. He tilted his eyebrow up in confusion.

"Ok. Now…" Sasuke moved his hand back to its original place, "You try doing what I just did…"

Naruto nodded and moved his hand foreword; his eyes widened as he saw his hand pass through Sasuke's like nothing was even there…just air. "…creepy…" He whispered. Sasuke smiled and nodded in agreement. "You're telling me…"

"So, what does this mean?"

"Well, it looks to me…like I can touch you…you however…" Sasuke saw his hand was directly piercing Naruto's hand, "can't touch me."

Naruto scoffed and let his hand drop. "Well, that's not very fair now is it?!" He pouted; while crossing his arms. Sasuke chuckled, "Just be happy that 'they' are allowing you to even SEE me…I could disappear y'know…"

Suddenly, things got eerily quiet—way to quiet. The two both realized at once. They said in unison. "Itachi!" Just as they said that, Naruto darted his head towards the doorway. And what do you know, Itachi was standing there. He wore black sleeping pants, his torso bare. He rubbed his eye with the back of his hand. "Nhn…Naruto?" He said in raspy voice; he was still half asleep.

Naruto froze; his eyes darted from Sasuke to Itachi—then back at Sasuke, who stood in fear as well. Sasuke mouthed the words, "Can he see me?" Naruto made a face and shrugged. Itachi spoke out again as he walked into the room towards Naruto. "What are you doing in here…at 3:00 in the morning?" Naruto thought of something quick.

"I—uh—I just wanted to remember the good times!" He said with a smile. Itachi cocked an eyebrow. "Remember the good times?" He repeated. Naruto got nervous, at this rate, Itachi will think he's crazy! He had to think of something quick! Just then, an idea popped into his head—it was humiliating, and stupid—but it would get him out of telling the truth!

"I-uh…um…ok. Listen Itachi. Y'know…Sasuke's been gone for a while…a-and I uh…got…LONELY! Yeah…and well, I wanted to…" He swallowed hard. "Find a picture of Sasuke…s-so I could…y'know--" Naruto pantomimed a rude gesture—that we know 99.9% of teenage guys do. Sasuke's eye twitched and his face flared red.

Itachi's eyes widened; he turned away. He coughed into his fist. "Oh…um. Well, then I won't delay you any longer…" With this, he high tailed it out of the room faster than you could say "masturbation." (ok..that was WAY to fun to write! Lol)

When Itachi left the room, and they heard his door close, Naruto let out a deep sigh. He turned his gaze towards Sasuke, whose face was really much like O_O

Naruto took a step back, his face grew beat red. "W-what?!" He loudly whispered. "D-don't look at me like that! I HAD to think of something—so I thought of the most logical…"

Sasuke's face stayed the same as he said "Did you really do that when I was alive?" (There was a little hope in his voice—Naruto didn't notice…) Naruto's face grew a deeper red. "Stop joking around Sasuke!" With this he turned and head towards the door. Sasuke sighed. 'He still thinks I'm joking about that stuff?...' He thought to himself.

Just before Naruto left the room, he turned to Sasuke and said. "I don't know why I can see you, and why you haven't passed on. But--" he smiled, "I'm so glad I can finally talk to you again."

"Naruto…" Sasuke said.

"Um—if you want, until you find out what's keeping you here" Sasuke cringed inside; he already KNEW why he couldnt pass on!

"…y-you can stay with me…IF!" Naruto paused; he was so flustered that he repeated almost exactly what he said at the beginning of his sentence. "Uh, if you want that is…" Naruto shifted his gaze away from Sasuke. When he looked back up towards his supposedly deceased boyfriend—the moon cascaded through the window glaring its dull rays upon Sasuke's raven colored locks. His eyes had a small glare to them. Naruto felt his heart beat hard.

"Sure…" Sasuke finally said. He smiled and walked to Naruto; who was for some reason frozen by Sasuke's looks. He placed a pale hand upon Naruto's whiskered cheek. He leaned in and softly planted a small kiss on Naruto's lips. In on swift movement, he wrapped his arms around Naruto's shoulders; holding him close. His lips hovered around Naruto's ear, he whispered into them causing Naruto to shut his eyes tight—his cheeks grew warm and red. "I'd love to stay with you…" There was a short pause.

"…Naruto…" He breathed. A deep gasp was Naruto's only response. When he opened his deep blue eyes—he noticed Sasuke was gone. He was left there, his hands still in the position as if Sasuke was still there. He scanned the room—totally empty. He arched an eyebrow up.

"Sasuke?" He whispered. Just then Sasuke popped up in front of him—reappearing. Naruto had to slap his hand over his mouth to sustain a yelp. "H-how did you do that!?" He hissed.

Sasuke shrugged. "I've kinda always been able to.."

"…and you didn't feel like telling me this BEFORE you did it?"

"I thought it would've been good for a dramatic effect!" He smirked. Naruto rolled his eyes, and went out to punch his chest—only to have his hand phase right through him. "…" Naruto pursed his lips.

Sasuke's smirk grew larger. "Oh, this is going to be WAY to much fun!"

And with this—starting Naruto's new life…living with his dead boyfriend's spirit. Who knows what's in store for this poor unknowing teen. And how the heck is Sasuke going to fulfill this oh-so-embarrassing desire?! Well, I guess we're just going to cross our fingers and hope for the best.

**Author's comment**: HI!! Yeah, so this is chapter four's end. The reason it ends so strangely, is because there's going to be a small time skip—so chapter 5 is going to take place like…idk….a few weeks or so later. So Sasuke and Naruto have already gotten used to the fact that well…Sasuke's dead…and Naruto is the only one that can see him. UNTIL NEXT TIME!! ^.^


End file.

Naruto, Angst, Romance