Me: Well since I'm sick and doing updates … I decided to write another one-shot! :D not just any one-shot! A GIFT FIC! … now turned Two-shot! -w-

Naruto: For who?

Me: For the wonderful Kitoriko! :D

Naruto: And since Sasuke and Gaara are out hunting us down at some random store, me and Neji are here to help.

Neji: Since when are Gaara and I involved with you guys?

Me: Sasuke needs someone to bug, and since Itachi is gone with Tobi … well, you get the picture?

Neji: Sure, well what is this about?

Me: Its about a young man (Naruto) finding the man he is in love with. Only problem is that … the man he's in love with (Sasuke) is dead, and needs his help to find inner peace.

Neji: Wow, so that's what you all do here, come up with the most ridiculous stories ever?

Naruto: HEY! That's not nice!

Me: ;n; … I told you I suck, Naruto! And you said I was good! -runs off crying-

Naruto: Neji you son of a bitch!

Neji: Naruto you daughter of a bastard!

Me: -comes back- what? xD? Lolz

Neji: Good, now go off and start this off, I was actually interested - w-;

Me: YAY! … I own only my Mercedes Benz, and nothing more :D

Midnight Visitor
Naruto finds the man he's in love with. The only problem is, Sasuke is dead and needs Naruto's help to find inner peace to go to heaven.

"Naruto …" Naruto looked around. He felt it more than heard it, his name a chill whisper in the dark that raced up his spine. He sat up, his heart hammering in his throat, his eyes scanning the dark room, and his legs pumped with adrenalin. The sound, or whatever it was, had woken him from a deep middle-of-the-night sleep that was so good, it killed him to be woken.

"Fucking pranks, waking me up from great sleep." Naruto mumbled out as he looked around his room, wondering if one of his drunk frat brothers had somehow come in. All he saw was darkness and silence, no movement, nothing. The room was empty except for him, there was no one else in there, but of course it was empty; he felt like a total idiot.

"No more late night scary movies with Hidan and Kiba." Naruto mumbled as he fell back into his bed. Apparently his imagination was just a little too active for those movies. He was wide awake now; adrenalin pumping through his veins, his mind working a mile a minute, and his eyes roved his room as if his body felt that the danger was not over, but his mind new it. He looked at his clock; midnight.

"Damn it! I had just fallen asleep an hour and a half ago and I have a big test at eight!" Naruto exclaimed as he fell back onto the bed. He was annoyed with himself and his overactive imagination. There was obviously no one in his room, but he couldn't shake the feeling. He punched his pillow, growling at the thought of having to sleep with the feeling, and he was just about to lay back down, when he heard it again.

"Naruto …" This time it was distinct, the velvety voice was carrying his name in the air, making him shiver as the voice caressed his ears. He hadn't been imagining it; someone was in his room whispering his name. He looked around again, his still unfocused eyes roving everything in the room, but finding nothing. He couldn't see a damn thing, but he knew he heard the voice this time. He couldn't see where the hell they were hiding, but knew they were there.

"C'mon guys, this isn't funny. Kiba you know I have an oceanography test in the morning!" Naruto hissed out from his bed, his eyes blindly searching the room for any signs of his idiot of friends. He waited, the seconds stretching out to minutes; there was no answer. Nothing was said, only pure silence that could only come in the smallest hours of the night. He sat up in his bed, stock still; his eyes the only thing moving on his body as he tried once again to find the intruder in his room. He was listening for breathing, shuffling, anything that would prove to him that it was just a prank that Hidan and Kiba were playing on him. Please be a prank! Naruto thought at he searched his room.

"Naruto …" the whisper broke the silence once more, spearing through it as if nothing; it was more pronounced. He could feel slippery coldness work its way into his body, claiming him as new territory and making it hard for him to move. He couldn't see or hear anyone else in the room, but he could feel someone there. He could feel that someone was in his room who wasn't supposed to be there, and he was scaring the crap out of him. Naruto felt he had to get out.

He grabbed his pillow, a comforter, his cellphone, and headed for one of the lumpy beer stained couches in the second floor living room. He knew he wouldn't sleep well, and his back would hurt like hell in the morning, but it had to be better than what he felt like in his own room. As he was about to turn the doorknob, he heard a final whisper behind him.

"Naruto, don't leave. I need you …" he felt a tingling feeling, as if someone was watching him, and shivered. There was no way he could stay there, not when someone or something was watching him sleep. He shut the door quickly and had to force himself to walk instead of run to the second floor living room. He could still hear those words, and he couldn't help but feel as if he did something wrong by leaving.

He laid there for what seemed like hours on the disgusting old couch, trying to find sleep and rid his mind of the thoughts about the voice. He couldn't get his heart to calm down, couldn't get that whispering voice out of his head, couldn't get that feeling of regret to leave him. He was still scared by whatever just happened in his room; wondering if that was some sort of prank pulled by Hidan using someone he never knew, or if it was actually real.

"If this did end up being a fucking prank, someone is going to get their ass kicked tomorrow, no ifs, ands, or buts about it!" Naruto growled as he fell asleep; he didn't even want to think of another possibility, that was what it was, and there was nothing paranormal about it.

Next morning

Naruto crawled into the kitchen the next morning; CRAWLED. He was tired, his body hurt, and his ass was aching as hell from him falling asleep on a mutilated beer can. He need some food, coffee, and a good kick in the ass to wake him up and get him alert for the test he had to take. He was actually glad he had to work later on; the best thing about working at a very busy Coffee shop, was the free coffee he got there.

He stood up when he heard the quiet shuffling of feet coming from the doorway. He jumped a little; feeling stupid that he would jump at something like that. He turned and saw Pein, a senior and his big brother from freshman year, staring at him strangely. Naruto raised an eyebrow and looked him over himself, smirking when Pein rolled his eyes and smirked.

"Naru, you look like shit. What happened?" Nice, tactful as always, bro.

"Rough night, couldn't sleep, saw your brother molesting you in your sleep." Naruto said, laughing his ass off when Pein's eyes widened comically in horror.

"Yahiko did WHAT?" Naruto stifled his laughter to giggles as Pein's comical response grew more entertaining.

"Kidding!" Naruto said, much to Pein's relief.

"You're in the corner room by the back stairs, right?" he asked. They'd just moved in a few weeks ago, before the fall semester even started; no one was used to the new arrangements yet.

"Yeah … why?" Naruto narrowed his eyes at Pein; the way he asked made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Am I being paranoid, or does he look like he knows something?

"No reason," Pein answered quickly, moving away from Naruto and over to the stove to heat up some water for his ramen.

"No, seriously, what?" After a night like last night, he didn't need anymore strangeness happening to him.

"Wasn't that Kankuro's room last year?" Naruto nodded and looked at the table. Kankuro had moved in with his girlfriend, Tenten, some time before Thanksgiving the year before. He was two years his senior, and Naruto didn't know him that well; just that he was into art and puppetry.

"I think so, why?"

"Never mind, just get to class and Ace that Oceanography test! We need ocean nerds like you." Pein said with a laugh as Naruto frowned and threw a banana at him. He shook his head, basically at his limit for weird creepy events. First last night, and now Pein's cryptic conversation. He shook his head again and walked out; he didn't have time for things like that, especially with a big test and a five hour shift coming up.

At work :D

He had plenty of time to think at work while avoiding ass-grabbing perverts, foaming lattes, and bagging overpriced scones for hoards of pink-cheeked collage students. He tried to rationalize the night before, think of a reason that he heard someone, whom he didn't know, whispering his name. He didn't want to believe the impossible explanation of the paranormal; that someone was in his room, someone invisible, someone dead.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Naruto said as he made yet another latte. But being honest with himself, fairly often in the past few weeks he'd come home from classes or work, to find his things in slightly different places. Like someone curious had come in and looked through it while he was gone, trying to find something, but not seeming to find it. Nothing was ever missing, so he'd never said anything, but it was like someone had been there. And he'd always gotten that feeling, not as strong, but it was there. A milder version of that, 'I'm not alone,' chill that he'd gotten the night before.

"Yeah right, like there's an inquiring poltergeist in my room. Tch!" Naruto shook his head, poured one of the bubbly sorority girls of his school a non-fat white mocha, and began packing up for the day; his shift was now officially over.

"Thanks Naruto," she purred, smiling slightly at him. He sighed and nodded with a fake smile, he hated the fact that she only knew him because he was in the 'Shinobi' fraternity. It was kind of a trophy thing for a sorority girl to end up with one of them. He wondered how long it was going to take those girls to realize that he wasn't interested.

"Naruto-senpai, Genma-sama asks that you pick up the boxes in the back." Haku said, a small freshman Shinobi frat boy working as a cashier and waiter too. Naruto nodded and walked to the back, sighing as he figured he would stay for another hour for the job to be done correctly. He continued his walk to the back, his brain still sorting through all of the slightly weird events that had happened in his room since the term started. His books were moved, the mail was shifted through, his bed was made (which he never does), and his clothes were picked up. The last two were really kind of creepy, but it was still slightly weird. He was starting to see why Kankuro found his girlfriend's apartment so appealing; even he would live with a girl if something like that was too damn creepy for him.

By the time he was done, he was worn out, and his mind had been spinning in circles for hours. He hadn't had a chance to nap earlier, and he was so desperate for sleep that he nearly slept right there beside the boxes. With a sigh, he zipped into his coat and headed for home and his unexpected room mate.

Later that night

"Naruto …" Naruto groaned as he woke up again, turning to his side to block out the whispers, but the feeling of being watched grew too much for him.

"Leave me the fuck alone," he said into the general darkness, too tired to deal with the persistence of a whispering voice. He felt like an idiot, but he needed sleep; he was just too damn tired from work, classes, and last night's sleepless night.

"Tch, Dobe, I need your help." Naruto growled and turned around, his eyes closed.

"Oh my fucking god! What part of 'leave me the fuck alone' was so damn confusing to yo—" Naruto cut off his words as he sat up in bed, more angry than scared, to glare at darkness, but was surprised at seeing something other than darkness.

He nearly jumped out of his skin, his eyes adjusting to the dark to show him the image of a pale young man with a duck-butt hairstyle sitting there. He was sitting calmly in the easy chair Naruto had squished into the corner of the room. He was watching him patiently, as if waiting for Naruto to wake up and talk to him. The funny thing was, as soon as Naruto saw him, he knew he was a ghost.

It wasn't an intellectual deduction, Naruto didn't sit there and catalog his faint edges and pale ass skin. He just knew it; somewhere inside himself he could tell that this boy was dead. Even stranger, after Naruto realized that he was dead, and the first ghost he'd ever seen, he also realized that he wasn't afraid of him. In fact, under the small arrogant annoyance on the ghost's face, he looked a little afraid himself.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked, his eyes trained on him. Other than a dead kid in my room of course.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he answered, as if Naruto should already know that. Naruto rolled his eyes at that, smiling slightly as the ghost, Sasuke, relaxed a little.

"There's no one named Sasuke living in this house." Naruto wasn't sure why he said it, but he did. It sounded stupid to him, and he regretted the question when Sasuke raised an eyebrow and scoffed.

"I live in this house. This is my room. It has been for … what year is it?" Sauske looked slightly confused as he looked around the room.

"It's two thousand eleven." Naruto supplied, watching as Sasuke nodded and settled down.

"Then I guess it's been thirty years."

"Oh." Naruto said, thinking about what Sasuke said. If it's been his room for thirty years … "What did you do to Kankuro?" he asked. He wanted to be prepared in case Sasuke tried it on him too. Sasuke looked sheepish as he smirked to the side.

"I didn't like his girlfriend's perfume. They couldn't see me, not like you can. I just played a few games."

"What do you mean, they couldn't see you?" Naruto was curious now, not afraid at all, just curious. He was starting to notice things about him, his neatly pressed navy blue pants, his snug black t-shirt that was definitely filled out, the way that his hair formed into a duck-ass without any hair jell. Fuck! I'm checking out a ghost!

"In all my years in this room, watching, learning, seeing the lives of so many guys, you are the first one who has ever heard me. Believe me, I've tried, but I don't know what it is. I decided tonight that I would try to let you see me. Obviously that worked too." Sasuke said as he stared at Naruto.

"Why me?"

"I don't know, Dobe. Maybe because it's exactly thirty years … wait what day is it?" Sasuke asked as he once more looked for the calender.

"October fifth."

"Well, not exactly thirty years yet, then." He cocked his head to the side as if considering something. Naruto noticed the long line of his neck, arched as his head turned. An image of Naruto sucking on that soft skin flashed into his mind and he realized that he was being ridiculous; he can't touch him!

"Thirty years since …" Naruto prompted. He knew what Sasuke was going to say, but he just had to hear it for some reason.

"Thirty years since I died. On Halloween. Nineteen eighty-one, dobe." Sasuke said with a roll of his eyes. Naruto rolled his own and chose to ignore the name at the end and tone of the words.

"And I'm the first one who can see and hear you? For whatever reason?"

"Yes." Naruto thought of something he's said a few minutes earlier.

"You said you didn't like Kankuro's girlfriend's – Tenten's – perfume. You can smell?" Sasuke grimaced and nodded.

"Yes. Much better, as far as I remember, than when I was alive. Smells are very overwhelming to me. But not you, you smell nice." Sasuke said with a small perverted smile.

Naruto blushed and lifted up his arms to smell. No way. Naruto thought as he looked up at the now smirking Sasuke. He couldn't believe this was happening; either he'd gone completely crazy, or he was really sitting in his room talking to a hot ghost who liked how he smelled … and liked the fact that said ghost had noticed.

"Uh Sasuke, you said you needed my help. What happened to you?" Naruto felt like he wanted to do something for the hot dead guy in his room. It must suck to be stuck in the same room for that long. Sasuke sighed exasperatedly as he glared at the floor.

"I don't remember, and that's the problem. I guess I need to fix something, get closure, something. You know? The typical story. But like I said, I don't remember what happened. I do remember everything about my life since I died, but hardly anything from before." Sasuke said as his glare of death killed the hell out of the floor.

Well that was no good. How do you help a ghost when he doesn't even know what he needs? Naruto thought as he stared at the same spot.

"I guess I have to do some research, then?" Naruto said it like a question; he really had no idea what he was going to do. Sasuke looked so hopeful that it broke Naruto's heart at the thought of not helping him. "I'll help you, I promise. I'll start by learning as much about you as I can find. I have to warn you, it might not be much." Where do you even start looking for stuff about an ordinary person who lived thirty years ago?

"I know." Sasuke answered. "I was just a nineteen year old kid. A nobody. Thanks for even trying, Naruto." Naruto raised an eyebrow as he was reminded of one of the first question he wanted to ask.

"How did you know my name?" he asked. There was a sheepish smirk. So hot! He pointed at a pile of mail.

"You're the one who's been looking through my stuff, aren't you?" Sasuke smirked and nodded, rolling his eyes at Naruto's question. He blushed again, feeling stupid for saying the obvious.

"Just a little, just wanted to know the name of the dobe whom took residence in my room." Naruto pouted at the nickname Sasuke seemed to obdurately call him.

"So you can touch things."

"Sort of, like in the movies. I've seen many of those in this room. It's hard, and I have to concentrate, but I can move things. That's how I got Kankuro and his girlfriend out of here. She was stinking up the whole room." Sasuke smirked, as if remembering a good joke. Wow. Running out girls. He was an Akatsuki Shinobi then.

"Hey Sasuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Listen, I promise to help you. I'm not gonna run away, I never go back on my word! That's my nindō: my ninja way! So I will help you, but I gotta get some sleep. I have four classes tomorrow, and if I'm going to try to figure out who you are, I can't be falling asleep in the library." Sasuke raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"What's nindō? Is that something new?" Naruto grinned and nodded.

"Yeah! Our fraternity is called Shinobi and in Japanese manga that means ninja, right?" Sasuke nodded. "So this one guy about twenty years ago, decided to create the 'nindō' which is a rule for a particular Shinobi to live by." Sasuke nodded once more at Naruto's explanation. "Geez, you sure did miss a lot, huh? I'll tell you more later, for now I really need some sleep."

Sasuke smirked and stood up, Naruto was curious suddenly as to where he would go. He actually came towards Naruto, hesitated for a second like he was concentrating on something, then brushed his cheek with his halfway translucent hand and whispered, "Thank you," then he was gone.

Naruto's cheek tingled where Sasuke had touched him; chills swept up and down his spine, but not unpleasant chills. Amazing chills, like the kind one would imagine you would get when you first kiss someone that you are totally into. All the little hairs on his back were standing and sensitized, and Naruto could feel blood pounding through his body towards his groin. All from one touch? Impossible, but yes. Naruto had his silent room all to himself, but not too surprisingly, he couldn't sleep. One would think that anyone would have a hard time dozing off after a face-to-face encounter with a hot, slightly rude ghost. But Naruto's reasons weren't what one would expect. Instead of laying awake afraid or unsettled, he stared at the ceiling and thought about Sasuke's raven hair, and those beautiful onyx eyes. He had looked so sad, alone, and dare he think it, vulnerable, but he looked so damn hot when he smirked, so beautiful when he half smiled. Naruto was infatuated, and it was with someone he didn't expect. Oh my god! Uzumaki Naruto, you've kept it together for two years, with both feet planted solidly in the closet, and now this? I want a guy … who's DEAD?

Naruto sighed and threw himself back, thinking about what he just admitted to himself. He was gay, at least he was pretty damn sure he was. He figured that he can't really say he's gay since he's never actually been with a guy. He was an eighteen year old idiotic guy who only got into collage using his brain and his grandmother's hand, but not only that, he was going to be nineteen in only five days, and he was still a virgin. He always wondered how that happened, how he was still a virgin, but it was surprisingly easy. Naruto was a classic high school golden boy (literally), smothered by his proud father who couldn't wait for his only son to join the clan of cavemen at the Shinobi house just like his dad. He was a legacy, and would have fit in anyway, no matter what appearance, so he got in no problem.

But there was a problem: he didn't really want to be there. That wasn't who Naruto was, who he wanted to be. But he just couldn't let down his dad, the only thing he had left in the word. His father had always been proud of him, and Naruto hated to make him unhappy. Truthfully, he was also afraid of what would happen if everyone else ever found out and he wasn't a golden boy anymore. He was afraid, though without good cause. His godfather, Jiraya, was gay himself, and yet his father just smiled and hugged the old man, asking him what took him so long to find out and tell. It was also the day he told his father about himself; he was just hugged and held tightly, with his father giving him a long speech about acceptance. Naruto knew he would be accepted, but he didn't want to find out that others wouldn't accept him as well, so he kept it a family secret.

Naruto was afraid of everyone's thoughts, and so there he was, living in a frat house pretending to be straight. No matter what one sees on TV, the hot guy fraternity isn't exactly a safe haven for the queers of the world. Naruto had heard the way they talked at parties, and decided long ago to keep his mouth shut; he didn't want his ass kicked, or worse.

He really didn't mind the guys, other than their ridiculously archaic views on sexuality, they were great to hang out with. Most of them were pretty cool, and some even like being nerds, the only downside was that Naruto suffers too much when summer gets there and the heat gets to them all.

Unfortunately, now he had a new problem. Sasuke the rude, hot and sexy, arrogant ghost needs his help, but doesn't even know what kind of help he needs. Naruto promised to help him, and now he finds out that he was attracted to him. A ghost.

"I'm some kind of sick fuck." Naruto murmured as he rolled on his side, sighing as the exhaustion got to him and sleep found his body.

Researching

His first step was to figure out if, in fact, he was really talking to Uchiha Sasuke, deceased Shinobi frat boy. And the best way to find that out, was in the house library. Every year, there was a group shot, and each shinobi had his picture taken on his own. They were organized into photo albums along with candid pictures from different fraternity events. There were a lot of books, dating back to the start of the house somewhere in the twenties. Naruto sighed as he looked at the bookshelf full of them and started looking through the books for the one that would contain pictures from nineteen eighty-one.

"Geez, does anyone clean these at all? Wait … does anyone look through these at all?" Naruto mumbled as he watched the dust that was caked on his hands begin to crumble and fall.

They were dusty, and not quite in order, with some missing, but he eventually found the one he was looking for beside the one from nineteen seventy-one. He opened it up and found that the one from nineteen eighty-one was combined with the ones from nineteen eighty-two and -three. If Sasuke Uchiha existed, he would be in there. Naruto nabbed it, stuck it in his bag, and headed up to his room, his eyes darting to and fro for any signs of rampaging frat boys.

He turned on his lamp and ceiling lights, a little freaked out, though he had no idea why the creepies were suddenly taking over. He wasn't scared of the ghost himself, just the opposite. So why was he freaking out over some old photo album?

"I guess its the thought that if and when I see Sasuke's picture, it would mean this whole thing was real, and that I am not sane." Naruto whispered to himself as he slowly flipped through the pages, starting at the beginning. Naruto knew that Sasuke wouldn't be there yet, but it was interesting looking through all the old pictures. The guys looked so uptight back then, with their Mr. Rogers sweaters and slicked back hair.

"Whoa! What would these guys think about Shikamaru and his 'what a drag' style, or of Hidan's 'I'm too damn sexy for my shirt so I won't use it' style? It doesn't matter how they dress, since those sorority girls fall for anything just for the social status alone. They're so damn shallow!" Naruto said to no one in particular as he looked through more of the constipated looking men's pictures.

Naruto was slowly getting to Sasuke's area, just a flip of the page and he would see him. He nervously picked up the page with ginger care as he flipped it over and his eyes hit the page. It didn't take him more than a second to find him; he looked exactly the same. Just to be sure, he checked the name typed below his picture. Sasuke Uchiha. There he was. Raven black hair shaped naturally into a duck's ass, arrogant smirk, and those onyx eyes that held him so captivated. Even in black and white their power was intense.

Sasuke was right, he was an outcast, preferring to dress as some would in Naruto's day and age. Naruto looked at his picture for long minutes, memorizing the features he had seen so clearly the night before.

"I can't believe this is happening to me." Naruto mumbled. He had never looked through those books, never seen Sasuke's picture. Thus, he couldn't have imagined him. Sasuke Uchiha's ghost was real, and he needed Naruto's help.

Naruto spent a long time looking at the pictures in the old photo book. The formal shots and candids of the brothers together. There were two guys that Sasuke nearly always stood next to in the pictures. The first had long dark hair and the second guy with white hair was always hanging around him. Naruto looked up his name and of the guy beside him. Orochimaru Sannin and Jiraya Sage. No freaking way! Pervy-Sage and his husband knew Sasuke?

Naruto shook his head from the shock, deciding that it was just coincidence and the alphabetical order of the names.

In all the pictures, Orochimaru and Jiraya were both like a Hokage or something. These golden guys who would have a crowd of admirers, which they did. Naruto wanted to hate them, Orochimaru and Jiraya, he kinda already did hate them. Mostly because there was something in Sasuke's face in all the pictures, there was always a smile and there was never an ounce of arrogance in it. It was there, in the way he smiled at Orochimaru and Jiraya that he recognized that look. It made an irrational snake of jealousy slither down Naruto's spine. Had Sasuke been in love with him? Or was he in love with Jiraya? It seemed pretty obvious, but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"One thing I do know for sure is … somehow Pervy-Sage and Mrs. Sage are the first step in solving Sasuke's mystery." Naruto tried to go to sleep early, anticipating a wake up call in the middle of the night, but he found himself getting excited to see Sasuke again. He wanted to talk to him more, get to know him. Naruto knew that excited, happy feeling, he had it a few times in high school; it nearly got him into huge trouble with one of his friends from the soccer team. He thanked god he came to his senses before he tried to kiss him or something. Naruto growled and punched his pillow, annoyed with himself for being so dumb. "A crush on a ghost? So stupid, Naruto!" he told himself.

Naruto woke a few hours later, not to the sound of his name, but to a whispering touch trailing across his cheek. He smiled, not afraid at all, and opened his eyes.

"Hi Dobe," Sasuke said quietly, smirking at Naruto's glare.

"Hi Teme," Naruto answered, smirking his own smirk at Sasuke's raised eyebrow. He sat up in his bed, feeling a silly happiness flow over him. Crush away Naruto, crush away.

Sasuke was perched next to him, as if he had been waiting there a long time for him to wake. "How long have you been there?" Naruto asked; a huge smile threatening to burst open at any second.

"A while dobe, a while." he answered, smirking. "You know, you learn a lot about someone when they're asleep." Naruto groaned.

"I wasn't snoring, was I?" Sasuke laughed a laugh that held Naruto's heart.

"No, you mumble. It's actually kind of adorable. You kept mumbling something about 'Please I want it … give it to me.'" Sasuke said, smirking when Naruto's face became pale at his perverted leer. "I would have thought you were dreaming of something fun until you said, 'I want my cookie pwetty pwease."

Okay. That's it. Naruto thought, not getting Sasuke at all. First the comment about how he smelled, the little touches, then the pictures, and now this; he had to know.

"Sasuke, listen. You've said a couple of things that I don't know which way to take. Are you—"

"Am I into guys? I think you know that answer. I don't remember much about my life, but that I know. I definitely know." he grinned a perverted grin at Naruto, winking as Naruto blushed.

"Do you think that's why I can see you?" he looked at Naruto with a confused raised eyebrow. "Maybe I can see you because I understand you. Because I'm like you."

"What … you're dead too?" he teased. His amused smirk made Naruto's pulse patter in little giggly bursts. He reached out again, this time he cupped Naruto's elbow and dragged tingly fingers down his arm until it almost felt like he was holding Naruto's hand. It was like being surrounded by bubbles. Sexy bubbles that made his blood heat and boil. Naruto couldn't really feel his skin, but he could tell Sasuke was there; the unbelievable sensations made him tremble visibly, and Naruto closed his eyes for a second.

"You don't like that?" Sasuke asked, a small hint of disappointment in his eyes if Naruto looked hard enough.

"No, I do. It feels incredible, I just can't describe it." It made Naruto want to touch him too; he reached out, but his hand dropped straight through Sasuke's arm to his bed below. Sasuke gave him a sad look.

"You can't touch me, I can't really touch you either. Just what I've been doing." Naruto thought of something and blushed, looking down.

"Sasuke, do you think you were ever … you know … with a guy before you died?" Sasuke's head dropped to the side like it seemed to always do when he was considering something. God, the things I'd love to do to his neck with my tongue … oh god! Control yourself Uzumaki!

"I think I probably was. I mean, it seems really familiar, the idea of holding someone, of kissing and touching him. I know I wouldn't get that strong of an imprint from just seeing it."

Okay, here goes the next part, Naruto thought as he took a breath.

"So, I found your picture in the old house photo albums. You're were always next to two guys. Orochimaru Sannin and Jiraya Sage. I was wondering if one of them may have been …" Naruto stopped talking when he saw Sasuke's already pale face turn ashen. He faded away quickly, turning more and more translucent.

"Oro … Jira …" he whispered, then all of a sudden he was gone.

Two days later

It was two days before he saw him again; Naruto counted them. He was starting to wonder if he was gone for good; the thought was a little depressing somehow. He was up late studying for a math test when Sasuke appeared, coming from the general area of Naruto's closet. Naruto jumped a little, startled because he hadn't expected him.

"Naruto?" He sounded hesitant, like Naruto might be angry with him.

"Hey Sasuke … are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry for the other night. It was the shock of hearing those names again. When you said them, so many memories came flooding back. It was too much an effort to sort them and concentrate on staying here." Sasuke said as he sat down on the bed.

"Who were they?" Sasuke's face looked pained.

"They were … they were friends."

"Tell me about them." Naruto could see how hard this was for Sasuke, the pain of having to remember something that hurt to know was gone for good now. Naruto wished he would hold and comfort him; obviously an impossible wish.

"They were there when … when he died, my first real boyfriend died, along with most of my family. My mother and father were kidnapped along with my younger ten-year-old brother, Fugaku, and I was left to fend by myself at this school. Oro and Jira, they were my first real friends. They knew all about me, and helped me. In time, I fell in love with both of them, as if they were family. We were all rushing Shinobi and we all became friends. I was the rich boy that everyone wanted, they were both just middle class guys who were loud and outspoken—well Jiraya was—who wanted in on Shinobi. I was a quiet brooding guy who didn't want to go to the most outspoken house out there. They dragged me along, and because I was rich and wanted in there, we all got in." Naruto waited patiently, not wanting to interrupt him.

"It didn't take long for me to figure out that they were gay too; one midnight piss trip pass their open bedroom door took care of that. But before that, there were little things that tipped me off about them. Like how they would touch each other, throw looks, and often enough, they'd sit close together, only dragging me along to make it look like a group of friends. Then one drunk night … they pushed a guy into me and watched as I kissed him. They laughed with me, and I was so stunned yet so happy that they knew. I figured that because of their families and my status, they wouldn't tell me, but they did."

A little surge of jealously hit Naruto again; right in the gut. He wanted to know what it was like to have friends that accept him, he wanted to kiss a guy, he wanted to kiss Sasuke.

"After that, we hung out more; and Oro and Jira were basically an 'it' to me. I felt so at home, I felt so happy, I was happy. We all made a pact that we wouldn't tell anyone because of my family and theirs, because of how things were. Not even in a drunken inspiration would we say anything at all; we were just that secretive and trustful of each other." Sasuke's face clouded and he looked away.

When Sasuke said the last sentence: with so much emotion, Naruto started to get a general idea of how it probably played out. His stomach churned and he gulped down some air before he looked up at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, what happened between you, Orochimaru, and Jiraya? How did such a friendship end?" he had to assume it ended, the way Sasuke looked made room for that assumption.

"I don't know. I do remember us asking to be roommates here at the house. None of the guys thought anything of it cause we were just three best friends. I was happy that I would be able to sleep soundly without worrying what I moan out in a wet dream, though not too happy about them sleeping in the same bed. God I loved those guys so much that I didn't even mind if they wanted to fuck with me there, thank god they didn't." It made Naruto's jealousy skyrocket to rage from hearing Sasuke say that he loved them. Even if it was thirty years ago and it was only friend/brotherly love, he still detested the thought of Sasuke loving anyone else.

"You don't think they had anything to do with your death, do you?" Naruto hoped not; that was family he was talking about, but if they did, then Naruto was forced to pursue the answer.

"I don't know. I remember loving them both so damn much, but now when I think of them both, I get this unbelievable sadness. I don't know what happened, but it wasn't good, and they might be involved." Naruto had already decided the same thing.

"I think they're important too, and I'll see what I can find out." they couldn't do much more to help the situation. Without the necessary information and more evidence, they couldn't do shit, and Sasuke seemed to grow more cold and distant when he thought of his friends and, unknown to him, Naruto's godparents. Naruto decided to drop the subject, wanting to know more about Sasuke than how he died.

"Hey teme," Naruto started. How the hell do you ask a ghost to hang out with you? God I'm so damn nervous, someone would think I was asking him out to my first date! Naruto thought as he looked down.

"Yes dobe?"

"I can't really do much about your situation right now but …" Naruto hesitated and hoped Sasuke couldn't see him blushing under his bangs. "I don't want you to go." Naruto nervously spat out the last part, his eyes obdurately trained on his lap. Sasuke smiled and reached across to do the ghostly finger-trailing thing over Naruto's left blushing cheek, making Naruto look up and his stomach go weak.

"I don't want to go either, dobe." Naruto's heart thumped happily and he couldn't remember ever having a crush that strong.

Sasuke and Naruto talked for hours, abandoning the topic of Naruto's godfathers, whom Sasuke found out they were, and found out more about each other. Naruto told Sasuke about how he realized he was gay, how he ended up in the Shinobi house, even if it was great he still didn't want to be there in the beginning. Sasuke asked if the Shinobi brothers knew anything about him; Naruto laughed. Things had changed so much, but he was too scared to say anything to his Shinobi brothers.

Naruto told him about how much the Shinobi house had changed. They were all known as the Shinobi house, but there were two parts of them: Akatsuki and ANBU. Naruto told him that he was rooming with the Akatsuki, since the ANBU rooms were full, and that he was practically known as an Akatsuki; Akatsuki were picky on who enters their organization, and it was a great honor. He told Sasuke about the meaning of the nindō: the rule a Shinobi must live by. Even if one's rule is unmoral, it is still his rule, and his rule is the law to him or her in the exception of the Kunoichi house. He told Sasuke how the Shinobi house made a pact with the Kunoichi house, their pact signifying that the Kunoichi house was the best possibility to have them other than the other sororities.

Sasuke told him many funny stories about some of the Shinobi brothers who had lived in the room over the years. He told him about how some of them licked their toes, or picked their noses, and even how some of them twisted their bodies in order to suck themselves off. Naruto laughed at the stuff that he would be embarrassed about if anyone were to see him doing them. Then a thought came to his head about what he'd been doing in the room since he'd moved in. Since he'd moved in, he made good use of his 'toys' and fingers, always moaning rather loudly and being a little too raunchy and naughty. It made him wonder how much Sasuke would have seen, maybe he'd even did it right in his face. Naruto blushed brightly, looking away from Sasuke's smirking, knowing eyes. It made him wonder how often anyone was really alone; people would think a lot more about their actions if they knew how many invisible eyes were on them.

Finally Naruto fell asleep around four in the morning, glad that he didn't have to go to work the next day and that it was a Saturday, meaning no classes. Sasuke sat next to him as he fell asleep, trailing his fingers around Naruto's face, neck, and arms to help him relax. Though the tingly bubbles turned him on as hell, it was comforting to Naruto; as if the ghostly caresses were dancing around him to bring him sleep. Naruto felt himself drifting off to sleep and as he did, he felt a soft, gentle half-kiss on his forehead.

"Night dobe," Sasuke whispered as he faded slowly away.

"Teme?"

"Yeah?" he answered, but he already knew what Naruto wanted and leaned over. The same half-kiss , soft and cool, drifted over his lips and his body erupted in blissful shivers.

"Wow," Naruto whispered and a ghostly chuckle drifted across his bed; Sasuke was gone.

The next day found Naruto in the library on one of those rare beautiful crisp fall days, when the sun shining through the orange and yellow leaves made everything into a dappled autumn paradise that was meant to be experienced. Naruto longed to be out in the fresh air with Sasuke on that gorgeous autumn day; getting the color to come to his skin and maybe stay in a light tan. Sasuke had barely left his thoughts since the first time Naruto had seen him; frighteningly pale in the light of the moon, but still beautiful, as if he were the prince of the night. Naruto had a few crushes in high school, but nothing like what he had with Sasuke. Nothing where the guy flirted back, and no matter how improbable the situation was, it still made him happy. The butterfly in the stomach giddiness was new to him, and he loved it.

He wished he could spend more time with Sasuke, to be able to talk freely with him without worrying about sleep, or if one of the brothers heard them. Naruto hated that he could never leave the tiny room in the fraternity where he probably spent his last minutes. It made him want to help Sasuke even more, and even if he didn't really like being inside, he knew he would have the library to himself on a day like this. Naruto knew that it was the perfect opportunity to do a little digging. He walked to the back reception, wanting to see the newspapers.

"Excuse me, can I see the newspapers from around nineteen eighty-one?" Naruto asked the tall man behind the counter. He turned around and smirked at Naruto.

"Sure Naruto. What brings such a cute sun god as yourself inside the library on a day like this, especially on your birthday?" Naruto gasped, he'd seen the face a thousand and one times, even before Sasuke, but he now realized how much they looked alike. Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke.

"Nothing Itachi-senpai, just doing a little investigating, I've been thinking that maybe I'll become an investigative scientist, you know? It seems a lot more fun than oceanography, but the ocean is still my passion." Itachi smirked and nodded, handing him a few discs and turning back to what he was doing.

"Good luck investigating Uncle Sasuke's death, I know grandfather would be grateful if Uncle Sasuke could get the peace he deserves." Naruto's eyes widened and he turned around to watch Itachi smirk and walk away. Naruto shook his head and decided to think about what Itachi said later as he walked away.

Armed with the discs that held campus and city newspapers from the time around Sasuke's death, Naruto sat down at one of the library computers and began. He started with the campus papers, not sure of what he was going to find. It turned out a lot easier than he expected; Sasuke was quite famous. There were a few articles about the events surrounding his death.

According to the earliest papers, it was a suicide. His roommates had come home to find him dead with a rope around his neck, no note, no anything. It was weird; reading about the death of a guy he was getting to know so well. Naruto imagined that a suicide victim would end up as a ghost with unresolved problems, but for some reason that explanation didn't ring true. To Naruto, it didn't seem like the arrogant, kind, and sort of sensitive ghost he had come to know and love named Sasuke.

He scanned the articles, which varied from football games, to fall formals, and after the first few weeks, where there had been tons of sensationalistic articles about frat boy suicide, Sasuke disappeared. That can't be it! I know Sasuke, and he didn't kill himself! He may be sort of emo, he may be gloomy, he might be down right rude sometimes, but Sasuke would never do that, not to himself! Naruto didn't know how he knew, it just seemed too wrong to him.

Naruto got to the last disc holding the papers from December and January; he had given up, but was checking for any possible follow-ups on Sasuke's case. He was shocked by the big heading slashed across the first page.

ALLEGED FRATERNITY SUICIDE TURNS TO … MURDER?

He read on, fascinated by the twist of events, but surprisingly not too surprised. The police had received an anonymous call with information surrounding Sasuke's death, and the case was reopened. Turns out the investigation had been badly done. The coroner's report, which had been mostly ignored, stated that the bruises on Sasuke's neck were definitely not from a rope, and actually looked more like fingers.

The fraternity brothers were questioned again, more closely this time, and eventually someone cracked. In the end, the police judged that Sasuke Uchiha's death was a tragic accident, a Halloween prank gone wrong. Whoever ended up confessing said the guys covered it up with a fake suicide scene because they were afraid of what would happen if they were found out.

"This is fucking ridiculous! Since they couldn't pin one of them down as the 'accidental' killer, they basically all ended up having a slap on the hand!" Naruto said to no one in particular as he read what their punishments were. Some community service and a bad reputation, it wasn't a whole lot and it didn't even cover an inch of the punishment they should have gotten. The fraternity charter was suspended indefinitely, but that didn't last very long as soon as the whole mess blew over.

"I wasn't even the victim, and I'M totally angry! How could they get away with something like that? No wonder Sasuke's ghost is still in this damn house! I'd haunt their asses too if it was me, and I doubt I'd stop at moving shit around the room either! I'd find some way of shoving a pole up their asses!" Naruto fumed as he glared at the computer screen, not believing what he just read.

"That's just what my grandparents said, and grandfather stands by his statement that the death was intentional, but still accidental. It was never a Halloween joke gone wrong." Naruto turned around to see Itachi sitting behind him with a sad smirk on his face.

Naruto shook his head, unbelieving. "What fraternity prank ends up in someone being strangled to death? I share your families views, this wasn't some sort of sick prank, because not even the Alchemy or Youkai house would do something like that! And I should know, Edward and Inuyasha both told me!" (Lolz, thought I'd introduce some other anime in this xD … realize this now … this collage is for the anime, no oc's here! Lolz) Itachi nodded and looked away from the furious blonde.

"So you've talked to Uncle Sasuke?" Naruto stopped his rambling and looked up, nodding slightly. "You know, I've been in that room so many times, but I never did hear or see him. Could you tell him … tell him grandfather misses him, grandmother died five years ago, and my father named my little brother after him." Naruto nodded, knowing that Itachi was very sad. He looked stoic, but Naruto knew better than that; the way his eyes were lowered, the way his lips were angled slightly down, and the way his body sagged just a fraction of an inch, Itachi was sad.

Itachi left, leaving Naruto to his thoughts of what to do. The whole thing was horrible, but Naruto felt that there was more to it than just fake pranks and cover ups; who would want to kill Sasuke? It was a question that even the guy who cracked wouldn't answer. Naruto printed the articles, thinking that hopefully when he saw them, Sasuke would remember. Naruto felt horrible; who wants to remember the day they died? It was probably going to be awful for Sasuke, but it was necessary.

As he put his stuff away and headed to his room, he thought about the anonymous caller. It had to be pervy sage and his wife, Orochimaru, it just had to … but what role do they play in this? There was no other explanation, it was his godparents. They wouldn't have wanted Sasuke to be forever known as the kid who killed himself, but that didn't explain why Sasuke was so angry with them, unless they had a part in his death. The idea that his godfathers could have had a hand in getting Sasuke killed made Naruto's stomach churn uncomfortably.

He fell asleep on his bed waiting for him, waiting for the moment when Sasuke would appear and smile warmly at him, waiting for the moment when he'd give Sasuke the papers and watch as his warm smile crumbled. He didn't want to, but he had no choice.

Sasuke showed up at midnight, right on time. Naruto was so happy to see him, he was grinning from cheek to cheek as Sasuke sat down. His pulse did a crazy little dance, and he could feel himself getting hard just remembering the gentle little brush of a kiss from the night before. He wanted so much more than that. Sasuke seemed happy to see him too, and Naruto hated the thought of ruining his smile with the copied articles that he had hidden in his bag. He knew Sasuke would get upset, and he didn't want him to disappear again, but he couldn't do it.

He couldn't not give the papers to Sasuke, it was too important to him, and as much as he wanted to be selfish and enjoy his time with Sasuke, he knew he had to help him solve his own mystery. And that meant showing him the articles.

"So …" Naruto began, wanting so desperately to hesitate so he could see Sasuke's rare, gorgeous smile for just a little longer.

"You found something, and its not good." He finished for Naruto.

"Am I that easy to read? … Never mind, that was a stupid question; I can't even lie to my dad about liking a girl." Naruto said with a blush on his cheeks that had Sasuke smirking.

"I've had thirty years of practice, Dobe." Sasuke reached out gently and caressed his cheek and neck, making Naruto's eyes flutter shut and a breathy sigh escape his mouth. A violent surge of heat distracted him, and for a second, Naruto was lost in pure sensation. "Naruto," the sound of Sasuke's voice cleared his head a little and Naruto's eyes opened. "Tell me, I can handle it."

Naruto sighed and reluctantly went to his bag and got out the printed articles.

"First they said you tried to kill yourself," Naruto placed the earliest articles on the bed in front of Sasuke; the one that said Orochimaru and Jiraya found him with a rope around his neck. Naruto could see the rage burning behind the stoic mask, in those eyes that always failed to mask themselves perfectly; betraying Sasuke's emotions for Naruto and the world.

"That's ridiculous, I'm not getting any memories from this like the last time, when you said Oro and Jira's names. I don't remember ever wanting to kill myself." Sasuke stared at the paper, his raging anger turning to confusion.

"That's because it's not a memory, and you didn't want to." Naruto said, putting the second article in front of Sasuke's face. He watched Sasuke read the flashy article, watching as hurt, anger, and sadness flashed before his eyes. Naruto could see exactly when Sasuke reached the part about fingerprints on his neck; the entire memory dawned on his entire face and the emotionless mask fell and broke to pieces.

"Sasuke?" Naruto whispered, afraid to talk, afraid that Sasuke would shatter like the mask himself. He knew Sasuke remembered; he looked so angry and it was the first time Naruto had been even a little bit afraid of him since the first night when he could only hear the sexy voice calling to him.

"Naruto, I need to go. I don't want you to see me right now," Naruto could hear the towering fury slipping from his control and knew that Sasuke needed to get away from him.

"Go Sasuke, just come back when you can tell me. We need to figure out how to fix this for you." Sasuke relaxed a little, his form shifting to where he could see Naruto.

"I will, Naruto. Thank you."

"Dobe."

"What?"

"I … I like it when you … when you call me Dobe." Naruto said, a small smile and large blush covering his face. The comment made a small smile emerge from Sasuke, which was what Naruto wanted. Just as the last time, Sasuke disappeared, this time though, he watched Naruto until he was gone.

Five days later

It was five days later that Naruto finally saw him, five days in which Naruto tried to concentrate on his classes, tried to lose himself in the hectic monotony of work, tried and succeeded in acing a huge exam – of which he remembered nothing about, nor did he remember the material he had to study to ace it in the first place – all he could do was think of Sasuke and hope he was alright.

Naruto knew he must have been thrown off my the newspaper articles, the memories, the recognition of who betrayed him, and Naruto doubted that the killing was an accident. Even if those boys hadn't meant to kill him, they sure as hell meant to hurt him badly. Naruto had an awful feeling that he would never see Sasuke again, and he wanted to find a way to get to him, to tell him that he still cared for him and that he still wanted to help him.

It was Friday night, six days after his birthday. The house was full of noises of guys getting ready to go out, playing video games, drinking, laughing. Naruto sat, wondering if any of them knew what happened there in his room all those years ago. The reality that Sasuke lost his life in the house, in that room, was overwhelming to him; Sasuke seemed so real and so present that the thought of him laying on his floor dying was horrifying.

"HEY NARU! Ya wanna go to the Kunoichi house? I hear InuYasha, Edward Elric, and Ichigo Kurosaki are going to crash the party and ruin some of the girly sororities and they asked us all to come with. We're meeting up at the Kunoichi sorority as headquarters." Kiba yelled through the door, spooking Naruto from his thoughts.

"Yeah! That Elric kid … Edward, yeah! That guy is going to show us a little thing or two he learned in alchemy class, Kurosaki is showing us Zangetsu, InuYasha is showing off his Tetsuiga, and we're showing them some of our jutsu. Are ya in?" Hidan yelled beside Kiba, making Naruto smirk. They had went out to a club on his birthday where Edward, Ichigo, and InuYasha showed them all a thing or two of what they each learned in their classes and in their houses. They'd all had a blast, but Naruto's heart ached at the thought that Sasuke might have been waiting around for him in his room; he didn't want that again.

"Sorry guys, I think I'm getting a little sick … c-could you all just go on without me? I have to study anyways and … I'm dead tired." Naruto said, smirking at the usage of words.

"Suit yourself, we'll tell the guys to come by later. If you hear any noises … Itachi invited Byakuya and Sesshomaru over. So there might be a who-has-the-largest-and-longest-stick-up-their-ass contest between those three." Hidan yelled through the door as they walked away. "Alright! Let's get going, it's seven already and they told us to get over there by six!"

it was nine thirty when the door was knocked upon again, this time it was by Itachi.

"Naruto. Byakuya, Sesshomaru and I are leaving, take a shower to feel better and get some sleep please." Itachi said as he walked away. Naruto sighed and got up, taking his long warm shower and thinking about a certain duck-butt hairstyle wearing bastard. He wished he could see him again, Sasuke. Tell him that he was still there to help him and that he would never leave him at all. He didn't want to see him only to make sure he was okay, but because he wanted him. Naruto wanted to see him chuckle again, see him smirk, and see that small smile Sasuke sometimes showed him.

Naruto sighed and cut the water off, wrapped a towel around himself, and flopped down on the bed. He meant to lay there for a minute or two then get up and dry off, but he was more exhausted than he thought and fell asleep. The next thing he knew, he was awake, and not just awake but tingling all over. His eyes popped open and he looked around.

CLIFF HANGER OF THE WORST KIND :D
(Not even a good one! It's not juicy!)

Me: We have to snip this in half, so … The second part is coming up next xD lolz

Naruto: Lol, I know what will happen to me … I want it now! Dx

Neji: Patience, all will come together!

Me: True that, Neji, true that! … REVIEW PLEASE! :D