It All Started With A Smell

One Shot - Uchiha Estate

Sasuke's POV:

He took a shaky breath before unlocking the padlock. The chain on the gate fell away with a loud rattle. With a hard shove, the gate swung open. He looked at the blonde next to him who gave him a smile and a waiting look. Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart, he took a step into the Uchiha Estate. Naruto stayed a beat behind him, letting him take everything in at his own pace.

The shadows of his family followed him around as he walked the familiar, weathered path to his old house. When he was facing the door, his feet moved him away, leading him to the wharf jutting out over the pond. He sat down at the end, his feet dangling over the crystal surface. He looked over at Naruto when she ungracefully dropped down beside him.

"This place," She paused as though checking her next words, "Must have been a nice place to live."

He nodded, flinching at the implications Naruto had tried to avoid. With a sigh, Sasuke found his voice. "This was where my dad taught me the Fireball Jutsu. It took me ages to get it. My brother got it straight away so I thought my dad was disappointed in me. But when I got it, I think he was proud at my effort. I like to think that, anyways."

"I'm sure he was, Sasuke. You're a powerful ninja... even if you are annoying."

He couldn't help but snort. Before long he found himself describing different memories he had of his parents and clansmen. He told her about his mother's odd habit of getting redecoration ideas in the middle of the night and reorganising the entire living room, kitchen, and even Sasuke's room around three in the morning more than once. Shusui, who was a man that if you saw him smiling you knew to run in the other direction and pray he wasn't after you. Sasuke was surprised that he was able to mention the day Shusui had used his eyes on Itachi to make him hopefully infatuated with a girl from the village without pain. It had lead to some embarrassing moments for his usually stoic brother including a horrible attempt at poetry that Sasuke was certain had been put into Itachi's mind by Shusui, since his brother had no liking to poetry. Sasuke still saw the girl around the village and couldn't help but smile at her and talk to her when given the chance. He hated his brother but she was still a trigger to a pleasant memory he never wanted to give up. He had had to fight the urge to punch a man that started to flirt with her a month ago. Apparently part of his brain still saw her as 'Itachi's future wife' as Shusui often sung at the mere mention of her name.

"Well, I don't think she would hate the thought that you see her as family," Naruto commented softly when Sasuke told her about his view of her.

Sasuke smiled bitterly. "I think she can do a lot better than my brother." Swallowing his hate, he turned to Naruto. "What about your parents? I know they are... you know, but I wouldn't mind knowing which one you got your insanity from."

Naruto shrugged. "I don't have any stories. I don't even know who my parents are."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Others ask me at times as a way to insult me. A couple of kids have said that it's better they are dead then having to be associated with me."

"Tell them you're a Uchiha, it'll make people too uncomfortable to say anything." He smirked when Naruto laughed.

The blonde laid down on the wooden planks of the wharf. "But I'm happy to listen to your stories. I can always pretend they're mine."

With a laugh, Sasuke laid down beside Naruto. "Having you as an annoying sister would have made life... interesting. Shusui would have loved you. He would have encouraged your pranking, mainly towards my brother. The funny thing is that those two were best friends. My brother looked up the Shusui. Admittedly, it was hard to not like that guy. He was powerful, but humble, always had time for those around the village, and could make even my dad crack a smile, and that wasn't easy."

After a few hours Sasuke's throat became dry from talking. Still looking up at the clouds drifting overhead, the boy sighed. "Thank you for coming here with me. I haven't been able to enter the place since... then. But with the Chunin exams coming up I wanted to visit this place, and remind myself what I'm working so hard for. I wanted to bring you because I knew you'd appreciate it and not ask questions I'm not willing to answer. Not only that but... Sakura has said some things about orphans that made me uncomfortable." He grinned. "You should be careful if you want to make a move on her."

"I don't like girls!" Naruto stated in exasperation, making Sasuke snigger. Naruto sat up, crossing her legs and looking down at the boy. "But I'm glad you brought me here. Even if I want to push you in the pond." Naruto took a relaxing sigh. "I think we will do really well in the Chunin exams."

"In all honesty I'm worried about Sakura. I know she's good with chakra control and theory, but I'm concerned that she hasn't made much advancement in actual battle." When Naruto stayed silent, possibly confused, Sasuke went on. "Whenever we are in battle, she stays back, guarding our client... or just staying back. I want to believe that she's doing that to make sure we don't get ambushed from behind but I'm starting to worry that she feels we can handle ourselves well enough that she doesn't have a place in the fights. That is going to hurt her in the long run. If she went in the direction of a medical ninja that would fix that problem and she would probably good at it, with her chakra control and her ability to quote information."

"Maybe you should talk to her about it. She admires you, so she'll probably work to make herself a great healer if you put the idea in her mind." Naruto shrugged, looking around at the estate absentmindedly.

Sasuke could see the faraway look in her eyes and had a feeling that she was picturing what it would be like to have grown up in the Clan before the horrific tragedy.

"That's why I haven't mentioned anything to her. She'll do it to impress me." He could feel his cheeks warming at the thought. "It's not fun having her drool over me... especially when I am talking to her."

Naruto snorted. "And she says I'm a pervert."

"You're too much of an idiot to be a pervert."

"Teme!"

"At least I have someone crushing on me!" Sasuke taunted.

"At least I don't get covered in drool whenever Sakura is around."

"Yeah, instead you get hit on the head."

Naruto touched the crown of her head with a comical wince. "I hope she stops that when we get older."

"Once you mature I'm sure she'll be out of reasons to." Sasuke stood, brushing any dirt off his pants that might have clung to them. "If she becomes a medical ninja she'll have to."

"In that case, please tell her to join the hospital," Naruto dramatically begged as she jumped to her feet.

Sasuke laughed, leading Naruto off the wharf. When he closed the gate as they left, he chose to leave the chain and padlock off. With it gone, the estate looked like it was asleep and waiting to be awoken rather than haunted and abandoned by its only remaining member. Standing straighter than he had since deciding to visit the estate, Sasuke turned, smiling when Naruto complained about her hunger and dragged him off to get ramen.