Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, and I hereby proclaim that I am not profiting from this story.

Chapter One

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There's no question that there is an unseen world. The problem for most of us is, how far is it from midtown and how late is it open? Unexplainable events occur constantly. One man will see spirits. Another will hear voices. A third will wake up in the middle of the night and find himself stranded on an isle fleeing from savages. How many of us have not at one time or another felt an ice-cold hand on the back of our neck while we were home alone? Poor Naruto has, and he wondered, what is behind these experiences, or in front of them, for that matter? And after death is it still possible to take showers?

Last year for example, Naruto awoke in the middle of the night and saw his good friend's mentor, Gai Maito, who had been dead for five years, sitting at the foot of his bed posing ridiculously. Flustered, Naruto asked him what he was doing there, and to which Gai replied not to panic, he was dead and was just visiting for the weekend.

"What's it like in the other world?" inquired Naruto, tightly clutching his comforter.

"Not unlike this town actually," said Gai, grinning and flexing his muffins of steel. "I have a message for you, Naruto."

"A message…for me?"

"Yeah, I peeped at your profile without my higher-ups noticing," muttered the ghost somberly as if rising from a bloody battlefield. "When you turn sixteen next year, you will make a new friend. One who understands you more than anyone in the waking world."

Smiling lopsidedly, Naruto sheepishly answered, "Heh. Really? A new friend. I look forward to it. Thanks Gai."

At that point, Naruto's godfather, Jiraiya, entered his room and saw Naruto talking to a "green silhouette" which reminded him of Gai Maito, but better looking. Finally, the apparition convinced Naruto to join him in a hymn of youth and lotus, which he reluctantly agreed and sang along with a fervent Gai.

Those days weren't so bad. But now…getting worse…pervy sage's away all the time…

Lately, sleeping at night became so incredibly difficult to the point that he would lay on his bed and stare at the ceiling for hours. For the past several nights, ever since he met Sasuke, Naruto harbored intense, uneasy feelings that someone was trying to break into his home. In fact, several hours before twilight, he saw shadowy forms flit across the walls, and every now and then Naruto reached for the bat under his bed as a means for self-defense.

The problem is, no one had a vendetta against him.

It's just with Jiraiya transforming into a full-blown hermit, Naruto finds himself alone in a home large enough to make echoes when you utter a word. Gets lonely. Although sometimes a friendly ghost stopped by for a visit, and he had a baller time chit-chatting about Heaven's gossip. Of course, talking to dead people never made anyone popular at school, and in Naruto's case, it already worsened his reputation as the oddball. Nobody from school wanted to visit the crazy kid's house.

Actually, Naruto taps his chin thinking, Jiraiya's magic wards off the other entities—so he was safe, entirely safe. But for how long?

For as the night closes in, Naruto's hackles rose—he felt someone watching him, like a shadowy hand reaching for him, looming nearer than ever. He slowly trailed down the little hall to his bedroom, taking each step with extreme caution as if some unearthly spirit might jump in front of him. Thankfully, though, he met no such startling surprises and entered his private quarters peacefully.

Sprawling on his bed, Naruto dialed Jiraiya's number on his cellphone and nervously waited for the other line to connect. He knew Jiraiya was unreachable during these 'missions', but he might be lucky in catching the sage on a break. His godfather could deliver him from this lonely misery.

Jiraiya finally answered, "What's up kid?"

Heartbeat speeding up, Naruto said everything in a breath, "Where are you? I didn't even eat dinner yet or shower. I can't do anything without…just—just when are you coming back?"

White noise could be heard as though the line threatened to break apart.

"Old man? You still there?"

"Yeah," is the response.

"I feel like someone is watching me."

He heard his guardian sigh. "No one is watching you, Naruto."

"But I still don't feel safe. I'm telling you old man, right as soon as you left, the neighbor moved in from across the river. Something's up. All of a sudden I'm seeing snakes on our lawn, and you should see the house the neighbor's moved into...I swear it's straight out of the Adams family. Haunted Mansion, whatever—"

"Nice try, Naruto but there is no other house."

Frowning, Naruto felt his breath hitch. "What? Yes there is. No…I'm not lying to you!"

"Well then what are you talking about? The only neighbors are miles away. We live on a remote hill. Not to mention by a river and forest, so it's natural snakes come and go since it's their habitat."

"I…I'm telling you, he must have lied to me…but I swear there's a house right across the river. It musta been built without you noticing or..."

"Naruto—you'll get through this like the other times."

The pressure in his chest skyrocketed. "I'm not making this up, believe me!"

"I can't just come back every time you feel your hunches, Naruto. We've gone through this. Light the incenses from my cabinet and meditate. You're old enough to tame these sticky situations on your own."

"Let tonight be the last time, I promise I won't ask you to come back again."

"Calm down."

Is he…? "So you'll come?"

Static roared over the fragile connection between them.

"You won't need me. I've set up powerful seals around and inside the home," upon Naruto's whine, Jiraiya added further, "Malicious entities can't cross the barriers. What? You don't believe in me and what—you think I'm just saying this for kicks? You're safe, kid. Drink the sleeping medicine on the kitchen counter and close your eyes. In twenty minutes you'll be fast asleep."

"Right. Sure..."

"Naruto…"

"I'll be alright, thanks," added Naruto, despite the sinking feeling in his chest.

"I'll be back by the end of the week. This mission is taking a while longer than I had planned."

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but through the open door, he saw a dark shadow rapidly flit across the hall. No words can explain the amount of terror which seized him at that moment. He stopped breathing and his gut weighed a bunch of bricks. Shakily, he got off the bed, phone forgotten. Who just ran down his hall? Or better yet, what ran down his hall?

With utmost trepidation, Naruto tip-toed out of his room and he stood in the very middle of the hall, and upon seeing no one, he felt obliged to admit that his imagination went rampant again. However, at that moment, a terrible sound erupted from downstairs—the sound of metal pans falling. He had no metal pans, he thought horrified and so Naruto quickly retrieved the sturdy bat from his room and then ventured to the first-floor kitchen.

Clenching the bat in his hand, ready to swing at anyone who dared to surprise him, Naruto anxiously flipped the light switch, and the whole of the kitchen illuminated before him. At first, all seemed normal save for the dirty floors and the lack of upkeep when it came to the dishes. Upon a thorough inspection, however, Naruto discovered that his refrigerator had been ransacked and that the delicious rice balls he made the other day were missing.

His stomach let out an unhappy growl upon discovering that there will be no food tonight. The barren, entirely empty fridge glared at him mockingly.

"Damn you ghost!" Naruto spat, momentarily forgetting his fear, "I was going to eat that tonight too."

As if hearing Naruto's exclamation, loud footsteps sounded from upstairs. Bristling, Naruto froze and strained his ear to catch air of which room the awful noises came from. When he heard the footsteps again, he noticed a distant quality to them, and that the mischievous poltergeist haunted his attic. He'd need to get up to the attic at this late hour, how perfectly dreadful.

"If it's a ghost then a bat won't do…" Naruto thought seriously, contemplative enough to rub his chin. "I need to get some of those spell tags Jiraiya, that pervy sage, recommended."

But how can it be a ghost, if it took your rice balls? Ghosts can't eat! His subconscious had a good point. But to Naruto's experience, people presented more trouble than any apparition could. But who would be in his house?

A homeless person, obviously. "But if he's armed?"

Then you'll have to kill the intruder. "Kill? No, no…God no! If I kill a homeless person in this house, wouldn't he be stuck haunting the place for eternity?"

Despite the frightening realization, he drifted slowly to the stairway, and warily progressed up the steps as though to avoid any harsh creaking noises. Alas, the last stair step he trod emitted a dreadfully slow creak, much to his disdain, causing goose bumps to burgeon all over his skin. The person upstairs must have heard his noisy advancement because Naruto heard a frightening bustle upstairs.

Thump! Bump.

Was that his heart, or someone thrashing around up in his attic?

Naruto clenched the base of the bat tighter, and ever gingerly made his way down the dark corridor. On the way, he passed his brightly lit room and took a peep, his eyes surveying every inch from corner to corner. When he found everything appeared normal within his quarters, he proceeded down to the end of the hall towards the wooden door leading up to his attic.

Fisting the doorknob, Naruto whispered, "Here I go…."

He pushed the door open and stood back, waiting a little bit before entering the darkness, as if reconsidering. Bat in his grip, Naruto carefully ascended the little steps up to the attic. Every step higher, he ascended deeper into the darkness. Frantically he thought, he must make a run for the light switch, and so for the next three stair steps he fumbled quickly and when reaching the attic floor, he dashed to turn on the light.

Unfortunately, the attic harbored a single light bulb, of low wattage, and the corners of the attic remained obscured in darkness. Naruto whimpered involuntarily when he saw shadows of the objects in the room projected onto the wall as funny yet frightening shapes. He saw no one. And he freaked. How could there not be anyone up here? He was sure he heard footsteps and very loud at that.

However, his eyes noticed right away the most unusual thing. Sprawled on the dusty floor by the attic window, was a parchment scroll, about a meter long with ancient incomprehensible writing. Someone, whoever invaded his attic, found this scroll and unrolled it for him to see.

"Whatever this is…must have been up here for ages," Naruto said with a breath of wonder, "I never knew…"

"It's a contract. A nuptial agreement, I'd say," said a voice behind him.

Frightened out of his wits, Naruto turned around, swinging his bat. However, he swung at the air, and he saw no one.

"Right here, moron. Are you blind?"

At that, Naruto immediately made out a pale figure sitting on one of the rickety chairs in the darkest corner of the room. The light scarcely touched the stranger, only revealing a haughty silhouette whose legs were crossed.

Gulping, Naruto tried to sound intimidating, "Get the hell up and face me!"

Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind Naruto as if by a violent wind, effectually startling him. It is impossible to describe how terrified he felt, he almost died for fear right then and there. Though his heart skipped three beats, he dared not to turn his gaze away from the intruder and kept a tremulous stare on the shadowy form.

"Well, well, you seemed to have prepared yourself for me," said the man mockingly, still seated cozily in the darkness.

He…he sounds… "Sasuke?"

"Want to know a little secret?"

Stiffening into a hard rock, he bit his lip and said nothing.

Sasuke's voice broke the silence with a frighteningly melodious voice. "If you, and only you, say my name three times, I'll instantly be at your side. You're a master of seals, don't look so surprised."

"You mean…like Beetlejuice? This isn't funny! Stop screwing around," shouted Naruto, tightening his hold on the bat, "Get up and face me!"

"Just this once, I'll let you speak to me like that," he replied huskily, "I wanted you to know a little about me first before I played rough."

Angered, he blew out like a fuse. "Why? So you can lie to me again?"

Naruto wished he hadn't said that. The light bulb started to flicker out, and he was engulfed in darkness. His heart almost gave out, especially when he heard Sasuke approach him. There was no escape. The door was sealed shut behind him, and he'd been swallowed in pitch blackness. He couldn't see his own hand in front of his face, let alone the bat he wielded.

He felt Sasuke violently snatch his weapon away. "Do you even know why Jiraiya left?" he asked tauntingly.

No… Naruto's throat constricted when he felt Sasuke's cool breath. I can't see anything…

"It was me. I needed to get rid of him. See how nice I am? I could have killed him. Instead, I've given him quite a nice distraction on his mission."

Instinctively, Naruto furiously backed away until he tripped over something hard and metallic. He fell backward and his head collided onto a soft pile of antique pillows, causing a lot of dust to rise and penetrate his innocent lungs. His legs felt numb down to his toes and in this vulnerable state he thought any second he'd die, that the other boy would dash his head with the bat that he confiscated.

The light flickered on again. Naruto, coughing his pained heart out, looked up to see Sasuke looming over him with a cat-caught-the-canary smirk. How could someone so handsome be this dreadful? And after all they went through, after everything they did together!

Sitting up, he glared hotly at the lofty pale boy. "What do you want?"

Naruto gasped when he felt Sasuke's index finger hooking under his chin, pulling his face closer. Midnight eyes descended into his sky of vision like two dark, unforeseen planets and they coldly gazed down at him, omniscient and all-knowing. He felt the heat radiating off Sasuke and his chilling breath like waves. Naruto shivered, fear paralyzing him like a potent poison, and he was still helplessly riveted on the floor. That is, the heavy unknown burdened him from rising to his feet. This wasn't the same Sasuke he met several months ago or the same person he'd befriended these past few weeks.

"You see, Naruto," whispered Sasuke, glaring intently into uncertain blue eyes, "I've found myself in a dire strait and I require your deliverance."

"What? No," he mumbled. "I can't help you…"

A dark shadow cast over Sasuke's face. "Can't or won't?"

Confusion struck Naruto like a deafening thunder, and he blurted out, "I think you have me mixed up with someone else."

"Naruto Uzumaki, 17th generation of the Senju clan…no, I'm not mistaken."

The hell? "Senju who? Listen, I have no clue what you're talking about. I think this is a giant misunderstanding—"

Sasuke jerked away, almost violently, and retreated further back into the shadows, murmuring, "Idiot."

Ignoring the insult, Naruto imploringly asked, "So, can we clear up this misunderstanding and call it a night? Obviously I'm not who you think I am."

"This isn't a misunderstanding."

The deadly threat laced in Sasuke's voice sent him aquiver.

"At first, you kindled doubt in my mind," professed Sasuke, eyes gleaming balefully, "Though you do remind me of myself, before I learned the truth."

Is he insane? Naruto scowled. "What truth? Explain yourself."

Sasuke drifted closer to the boy, again, and sneered, "That we're cursed."

"Get out!" growled Naruto jabbing two fingers forward threateningly, to which Sasuke only smirked. "How dare you? After what we've been through, after I let you into my life! And now? You threaten my family, stalk and harass me. Not to mention break into my house. And then say I'm cursed?"

In that moment, Sasuke kneeled down on an eye-to-eye level with the petulant blond. "Your powers, your abilities, you don't think they happened from a coincidence, do you?" Sasuke whispered, in an uncharacteristic gentleness. "Naruto?"

"I can't trust you."

Sasuke simply stared at him. "Try."

"No," murmured Naruto, suddenly realizing how close Sasuke was, and he breathed nervously, "You lied to me. I thought you were normal, I thought we were normal. You said you lived in the house across the river. But none of this is true!"

"I always tell the truth. Even when I lie. You can trust me."

A cloud of deep intensity hovered over Naruto's flushed expression "No...it seems I can't."

Slowly, Sasuke's lips curled upwards. "Oh?"

"Because the house doesn't exist." Horror and dreadful insight seeped in like icy liquids into his veins. "It was an illusion...you created it."

"Very good, Naruto. Did Jiraiya accidentally give you that idea over the phone?"

He was listening to everything...watching me. "Why would you do such a thing?" growled Naruto.

"Because," answered Sasuke, schooling an expression as blank as paper, "I wanted to meet you under normal pretenses. That is, before I needed your help. I can't wait anymore, you have to understand."

Stiffening into a ramrod, Naruto felt the air grow heavy and weigh down upon him. "And that involves what, Sasuke?"

"Well, first I want you to acknowledge the nuptials our ancestors agreed upon," he continued slyly when Naruto blinked bewilderingly. "You do know what that means, right?"

Naruto hesitated and swallowed hard. "No, are you talking about that scroll over there? I see it but I can't read it…"

"It means you are entitled to me."

He leaned away from the smug boy. "I'm not entitled to anyone."

"You are, and you're going to help me."

"You keep saying I have to help you," he fired back, brows furrowing, "but I don't know how I possibly could, and why I'd do it…"

"Don't you know anything?" asked Sasuke almost bitingly, to which Naruto glared daggers at him. "Why you are the way you are, why your parents are dead, why I'm here…"

"Apparently, I don't," he deadpanned in return. "Alright Sasuke...here's the deal. I will take this scroll to a trusted interpreter and have it translated. If your name's on it, and it turns out we have weird kinship ties, who knows? I'll call you over for dinner and we can talk...but..."

Naruto glared hotly before finishing with, "I refuse to deal with someone I can't trust. So I'll walk you out of my house, and don't bother me or my friends again. Consider this a warning."

With that, he sucked in a shaky breath and trailed for the door. He wanted to get out of the attic. He wanted out. He wanted his bed and to pretend Sasuke never harassed him. That their friendship and history wasn't a lie. That this actually's a joke. He wanted to fall asleep and be left alone. He wanted food, too, but life was tough. Perhaps those missing rice balls symbolized his perpetual need or hunger for sanity. He groped the wall for support, and walked around Sasuke, desperately hoping that he wouldn't be stopped.

Alas, Naruto froze when he heard Sasuke angrily demand from behind, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Escorting you out of my property," fumed Naruto, turning to face the other, too tired and hungry to really consider his situation. "Didn't you hear what I said? Our talk for tonight is done."

After a tense moment, Sasuke said as dark as sin, "You're done? Well, so am I."

The light flickered out. Darkness swallowed Naruto whole, who unable to see anything again, frantically groped the wall. Terror seized his heart like a hostage at gunpoint. Was this it? Was he going to be tortured tonight?

In a second, he heard Sasuke leave the attic through the door, and the sound of the lock clicking.

No…

Naruto flung himself onto the attic door. He fumbled frantically for the knob and discovered that it truly was locked. He sensed Sasuke on the other side.

He cried out, banging the wooden surface, "God damn it Sasuke, open this door!" When the other said nothing, Naruto belligerently added, "I don't know what you want from me, but whatever it is I can't help you with it."

The deep monotonous voice replied, "You can. And you will."

In a ferocious roar, Naruto heaved for air. "Sasuke, come on! Don't leave me in here."

No response.

Hot red rushed to his face, and he slid to the ground. Just damn it all to hell, he thought, clenching his fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white. Why me? Tormented, Naruto wondered, who will deliver him from misery? A shrink, hypnotist, or death itself? He felt in a word, suffocated.