Ghosts

"The people you love become ghosts inside of you, and like this you keep them alive."

- Rob Montgomery

He kept his eyes strictly focused on the black board, ignoring the pointed stares and whispers of his classmates. He ignored how every once in a while Iruka-sensei would glance at him when he asked a question to the class at large, like he was currently doing.

"What event started the Second World War?"

The answer was simple, really. It had been ignited by the destruction of Uzushiogakure, but Sasuke didn't raise his hand like he would have before the massacre and let Haruno Sakura, the teacher's pet as she was commonly referred to, answer it. Again. The civilian girl meekly gave the most textbook answer possible. It was good to know that things really hadn't changed whilst he'd been gone.

That was how he knew that the next question would be harder, and that Naruto Uzumaki, a Clanless orphan who not only had an honorary last name because of the aforementioned Uzushiogakure, but also the dead last in their class, would be asked to answer it. More than likely the blond, who boasted about wanting to become the Hokage, but had no skills whatsoever to back up that claim, would answer it wrong. Every once in a while, though, the boy would surprise all of them by getting it right. Sasuke wondered if now would be one such a time, given that the boy literally owed his name to this historical event. It was a 50/50 chance, and he decided to give the dead last the benefit of the doubt this time around.

In any case, he was content with knowing that the boy would capture the active interest of the whole class – Naruto always made a spectacle of himself – and it would thus keep the heat off of him for a while. This was only the second class of the first day and he was already itching to punch the next person who so much as glanced in his direction. He could not wait for Taijutsu class and utterly trash someone. He wondered if Mizuki-sensei would also handle him like he was a frail doll, or if the man was still as ruthless a teacher as always. He really hoped the latter; beating someone who looked at him with pity would be very cathartic indeed.

Taijutsu he would not slack in, not even in order to keep up appearances of being average, and this was mainly because holding back on theory was so much easier than holding back in Taijutsu. Hell, he was already holding back most of the time, Clan Kata's banned until next year. Plus, if ever the day came and he confronted the traitor, then theory and politics wouldn't help, but this would.

"So, Naruto-kun," started Iruka-sensei, "if the tenuous joint effort of Yukigakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure and Takigakure is what wiped Uzushiogakure and started the Second World War, what and who put an end to it?"

The blond, who was sitting a row in front of him next to the Inuzuka heir, scratched his head. He looked at the puppy, which yapped. This yap was, apparently, the answer because the Uzumaki responded.

"Well… that'd be us and Wind, right? Led by Jiji – I mean the Sandaime. Oh and Tanigakure too… Uhhh I…uhhh think it was called the…Alliance of Three?"

Iruka-sensei blinked. All eyes were on Naruto, who'd done it again; he'd given the right answer. For many it was like seeing the Hyuuga heir curse, which, for the record, still had to happen. The absolute silence it caused always amused him, and his lips twitched.

"Well, yes. It was colloquially called that, officially it was known as the Southern Front. Well then Naruto-kun, if you know that, do you also know which battle and what treaty marked the end of the Second War?"

Probably not, he thought, but maybe the blond did know; he'd already surprised them once today. Hell, Naruto had probably heard it from the Sandaime himself, which was why he knew it in the first place. The Uzumaki absolutely adored and revered the Sandaime – given that he was lauded the God of Shinobi, it was not a bad choice for a role model at all – and had, through his excessive pranks, somehow come up on the leader's radar and even his good graces. How he got away with calling the Sandaime "Jiji", Sasuke would never know.

Funnily enough, he'd also come up on his Father's radar. He remembered how one evening he'd been told to not hang out with the Uzumaki, because the boy now officially had a file at the Police Bureau. Not that he had at any rate, his peer too annoying and loud, but it had been said.

Now that he thought of it, though, a lot of files were in the Uchiha compound's Police station - the main office actually contained the prison, so there was no way he was getting access that. Maybe he'd get access to it when he was older, it was his by right, but that was a worry for later. For now the station in the compound would do; it was something to start with, because if he was going to restore honor to the name of his clan, one of the ways of doing so would be by restarting the Police force. Well no there'd be no need for that, really, because he wasn't under the illusion that it would remain in disuse for much longer. They were only doing it out of respect for his Clan, and he was thankful for that, but he also knew that a police force was necessary in a village this size. So he'd contend himself with one day claiming the spot that had been his fathers.

He'd look into what files they had at the compound when he got home, for now he wanted to see if Naruto actually knew the answer. Again, it was like predicting a coin toss, so this time, instead of going for heads he went for tails; the blonde wouldn't know it. He reasoned that that would be the outcome because the answer needed was very specific and Naruto was infamous for not knowing specifics. Vaguely, he entertained the notion of starting a betting ring around the concept.

Again the blonde scratched his head, this time even cocking it to the side. He turned to face the dog, and once more it yipped. The blonde scowled at the dog, and the Inuzuka heir grinned, showing off his wicked canines.

The prankster faced Iruka-sensei, who only raised an eyebrow in response to the exchange. "The battle that ended the Second war is… is the Battle in which Jiji gains the title God of Shinobi! Don't remember its name though…but I know it was beast because he used all five elements! And uhh…the treaty was… the Treaty of Whirlpools?"

"You're not wrong, a name for the battle and the proper respect for the Hokage would have been nice, Naruto-kun, but you're not wrong." Which was about the closest thing to praise that Naruto would receive from Iruka, or any teacher for that matter.

It was cool to learn that it was the first time the Sandaime had demonstrated his mastery over all five elements in battle, because that hadn't been in the text book. He wondered if the blond had ever even opened said book.

A massive grin was on the Uzumaki's face and he turned to the dog. "Heh! I told you I got this shit! Who the fool now, Akamaru?"

Gloating to a dog wasn't very impressive – a puppy at that - but if proving he was smarter than the canine gave him pride, who was Sasuke to argue? Besides, it was amusing as anything.

Kiba, who tied with Naruto for most rambunctious student, sniffed and answered for his pet. "You got lucky is all!" Akamaru barked in agreement.

"Lucky?! Kiba, you don't know the name of the battle either!"

"I do too!"

"Oh, really," interrupted their teacher, a gleam in his eyes, "and what would the name be then, Kiba-kun?"

The pre-teen gulped and Sasuke felt a corner of his lip curl up; this was exactly the spectacle he'd been hoping for and he had front row seats.

It was during the lunch break, all five years of the students released in the school yard, that the loss of his clan once more hit him like a particularly good thrashing. Not only were there a lot of pitying glances sent his way and a lot of whispers floating around – all of which only served to anger him – but the loss was clear even in this small society. There were three trees in the yard: the one that was the most removed was the dobe's spot, the biggest and most central one, surrounded by a few benches, had been claimed by the older years and the last one had been the spot he and his cousins had claimed through a show of force.

He had never particularly gotten along with his peers in part because he thought he was better than them, but also in part because he'd grown up in a compound that was basically a small district in its own right. He had grown up and bonded with his cousins long before he'd met any of his peers, and they hadn't exactly enticed his interest. And now, as he sat beneath that tree alone for the first time, surrounded by the laughter of children, the emptiness that the loss of his family had left behind became so much more prominent. He'd thought that the clan compound had been the worst, but he'd been wrong.

In the clan compound, there was an oppressive silence and emptiness that reigned supreme; it blanketed and smothered the whole area. It was unavoidable there and the trauma overshadowed everything. Blood and death lingered there, and the very idea of life being there was a foreign one, which was probably why any good memories were banished to the deep recesses of his mind.

Here, though, here there was an abundance of happiness and life; chaotic and busy, instead of desolate and empty. Here he expected to hear Sachi ask about Itachi, or Akio boast about the fact that he'd beaten "that longhaired Hyuuga brat," or to even see Jun lazily wave at all of them from the most central bench. It was almost more than he could bear, because these were the first happy memories he'd had since the massacre. They had been small, inconsequential interactions, but right now he'd give anything to relive even one of them. For the first time he saw the ghosts of his family, instead of their corpses. It took everything he had to keep it together and keep the tears at bay.

He rolled to dodge the kick that the Uzumaki aimed at his face and jumped back to get a better grip on the situation. The blonde annoyance had gotten better in the month that Sasuke had been gone and going by the smile on the idiot's face, he'd realized it too. Not that it was monumental, had he been allowed to use Clan Kata he'd have destroyed his opponent in seconds, but it was there. The inverse was also true; his prowess had decreased a little. As much as it irked him, he also knew why. Sasuke's opponents for the last month had been training posts, whilst Naruto had had actual sparring partners.

He wasn't afraid to lose because he was still leagues ahead, but there was something about realizing that the world had truly gone on without him whilst he'd recuperated. On the other hand he was glad to get back into the swing of things, especially to keep his mind off of the recently uncovered ghosts, and Mizuki-Sensei's biased and tough Taijutsu class was definitely the remedy for that.

Naruto, in that respect, had always had the short end of the stick, having had to face the genius Hyuuga for a full year before any of them had even joined the academy, and for the last year him. See, Mizuki-Sensei was what Sasuke liked to term a weeder; he was the teacher who took it upon himself to weed out those who were unsuited for the ninja lifestyle, and it just so happened that Naruto – not entirely unjustified either - was deemed one such soul. It meant that the boy was dealt the harshest hand, but, and here he had to respect the blonde, Naruto refused to stay down for long.

In any case, this was a familiar dance, if a repetitive one. Sure, it was juvenile to feel any pleasure from solidly beating the Uzumaki into the ground, but it never failed to bring a lift to his mood and he could use one of those right about now. The blonde's stances and kata were atrocious, but it was in brawling that the boy truly shone. If he got his hands on you, which had happened in the past, you could be sure to get hit at least a few times – hard at that – before you'd get the upper hand. He also wasn't above playing dirty, which had gotten the boy some wins over the other civilians and even one time the Yamanake Heir.

He kept all of that in mind as he went on the offensive, and easily bypassed the horrible defensive stances and maneuvers that the blonde tried. It was almost sad because Naruto was a good fighter, regardless of his technique; even Mizuki-sensei had to admit that much. Sasuke's punches and kicks were fueled by the anger he'd bottle up all day (he even slipped into a few Clan moves, and he was glad that Mizuki-sensei was the kind of man who would let it slide every once in a while) and when that was spent he saw the dobe try and get up. He pinned him down, and their teacher called the match for what it was. They made the sign of reconciliation and bowed, the blonde scowling all the while.

Sasuke smirked, and as usual, this pissed the blonde off even more, but it was more for the sake of tradition than that it was done with feeling. He went to the sidelines as Kiba and Ino got ready for their match and the smirk slipped from his face. Why did he feel so hollow, he'd won hadn't he, so where was that sense of victory? He shook it off because almost all happy emotions were hard to access these days and the stark reminder of the ghosts he'd seen earlier that day weren't helping. He told himself that in time he would be smirking with a sense of pride once more, that that feeling of victory would flood his body. That he would feel more like his old self.

It had to get better because there was no lower he could go.

AN: Well, here we see Sasuke on his first day back in school, a mix of both good and bad. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter because I certainly enjoyed writing it. For those of you interested in more Uchiha goodness, check out some of my other stories! You know, its odd that all but one of my Naruto fics are centered around this Clan when the only Uchiha I genuinely like as a character and a person is Itachi. To be fair its probably because they're such a mess, I mean I write fanfiction mostly because Canon one hell of a clusterfuck. Anyways a huge thank you to ravenreux for editing this, check out her awesome stuff.

Tell me what ya think, R&R!

Cheers,

Ray the Red