GHOST TOWN

"Itachi, my father, my mother, my clan. BRING THEM ALL BACK TO ME! THEN I'LL STOP!"

Uchiha Sasuke

He had tried to block it out, had tried to pretend he was anywhere but there. Because it was private, something an outsider like him should definitely not be witnessing, and it was so awkward, and, and—

And he was jealous.

Jealous of his best friend fighting with her brother as their parents looked on helplessly.

He could almost hit himself.

There was mild mannered Shikako screaming her lungs out, throwing things and saying things so sharp it made him flinch on overbearing Shikamaru's behalf—the Shikamaru who always seemed to be looking at him like he was some bug he'd particularly like to smash on the sly—and Yoshino-san who was always so kind to him looked close to tearing someone hair's out—probably her children's—and Shikaku-san was just futilely trying to calm everyone down and all Sasuke could think of was I'm jealous.

He was so fucking priceless.

Mercifully for everyone, it was over quickly. Shikamaru walked out and slammed the door. Shikako walked out and kicked her chair aside.

There was a pause.

What now? Should he walk out and punch the wall?

"Sasuke..." Shikaku-san finally said, "I am incredibly sorry. You shouldn't have to see that."

"No, uh," he cleared his throat. "It—it was all right. I mean, of course it wasn't all right, but I—I don't mind at all. Not one bit. Of course not that they fought. I did mind that. But no! I mean, but what I mean is, Kakashi-sensei and I..." he trailed off desperately. Looked around. Checked right. Checked Left. No.

No silver hair visible.

He scowled.

Kakashi, that great big bloody, bloody donkeyass bastard.

Left his own student alone to fend for himself! Now he was fucking priceless.

Sasuke silently vowed to send him to the road of life the next time they saw each other.

Yoshino-san cracked the tiniest bit of a smile as she brought out the dustpan and broom. "Ah, yes, Kakashi is pretty good at that, isn't he?" She glanced at her husband. "Go check on Shikamaru, will you?"

He gave a wordless nod to Sasuke and his wife and then obediently went outside.

Sasuke, standing with his hands in his pockets and feeling more than a bit useless, said, "I—I'll just check on Shikako, then."

He ambled over to the living room, not sure what to do, how to deal with it. This wasn't the Shikako he knew. He never thought he'd ever even think it, but God, he wished for Naruto. This was the one thing Sasuke would wholeheartedly admit that Naruto was better at than him.

"Shikako?" he said tentatively.

The living room was exceptionally dark after the light of the living room.

His vision adjusted.

And what he saw reminded him of that terrifying incident only a few days ago, except that she looked more alive back then.

He panicked.

Instantly, his fingers flew to her neck, checking for her pulse.

What was this? Some after effect of whatever the Hidden Grass had used to drug her with? But surely Tsunade-sama would have caught something like that? And besides, why now? Did her fight with her brother provoked it, somehow? Shikako had been lying low until tonight. What was this? And why the hell wasn't she breathing? Why was she not responding? Why was she not doing anything?

"Yoshino-san?!"

Shikako's mother was there in an instant, face weary. She touched her daughter's hair and gave a soft sigh. "She's just sulking. Come on, dear. I am sorry you had to see that. I'll pack you the left overs to take home, okay?"

What else was there left to do?

Sasuke quietly murmured his thanks and then reluctantly left his teammate. After all, if it was him, he reasoned, he would like to be left alone.

His walk home was especially quiet that night.

The streets were darker than usual. Or maybe he just wasn't paying enough attention, with all the things that was weighing on his mind. Or maybe because there wasn't a Naruto to walk half the distance back home with. Or maybe because he was just worried about Shikako, the one of the few people that he could still worry about.

The part of his heart that time and friends had been able to heal ached for her.

But on the other hand...

At least she still had a family to fight with.

While he who had been blessed with everything now had nothing.

What he would give to have a father that would try and break fights. A mother that agonized about raised voices from her children. A brother that tried to keep his younger sibling safe, no matter that he was failing so badly at it.

But, really, they didn't even need to be all of that. He just wanted everything imperfectly perfect the way it was before that dreadful nightmare five years ago.

Just imagine.

Imagine life if he still had someone to come back home for.

Imagine life if the clock could turn back for all the ghosts in his ghost town until they could breathe again, smile again and live again.

And walk and walk and walk and there was his house. There was father.

He wanted his father. What does it matter if he was stern, if nothing Sasuke ever did seemed to be enough? Sasuke loved him the way he was. And mother. Mother loved him the way he was. He could be whatever he wanted to be when he was with her without the fear of having that love change a molecule. For her, the sun rose and set on him. He was her golden boy, and she was more precious than gold in his eyes.

And Nii-san—

But we can't go back there anymore.

There was a spark, a flame. And suddenly the light was darkness, and the clock was back at the present.

Father was gone.

Mother was gone.

That Nii-san of long ago had since turned to someone he couldn't even bear to name.

The Uchiha Clan was over.

And after the dinner lights, the approving pat on the shoulder and the dreams of the past, Sasuke was king in his ghost town once more.

For in a ghost town, the only living boy is king.

Author's Notes: Thank you for all the lovely reviews! It was such an inspiration to me. And I know that all of you are probably expecting a Shikamaru chapter, and I will get to that, but this just begged to be written. I mean, of all the POVs possible during that (epic) dinner scene, Shikamaru's excluded, Sasuke's called out to me the most. I hope you're not too disappointed with this! And did I even get his voice right?

And as for the next chapter...I have an idea for something lighter?

All my love.

And again, a million thanks to my hero, Silver Queen.