Chapter 1
For all her life, they had been there, following her around or just lurking in the background. In the beginning it hadn’t seem unusual to her but the older she got the more she had chosen to ignore them. Yes, Sakura would even go as far as saying that they had become a plague.
They weren’t hallucinations but they weren’t alive either. They were just….there.
Over the years more and more had appeared and ignoring them had gotten a lot more difficult. She missed the times when it had only been one. Now they had stupid fights or made jokes in the background, making her nearly burst out laughing like a crazy person.
But it was whenever they leaned in close to her or even went as far as touch her that she wanted to punch them right into their faces- unfortunately her hand would pass right through them... Lately it had gotten worse or maybe Sakura had just finally reached her limits but there were times when she couldn’t even sleep anymore because someone was looking through her window or talking way to loudly right next to her.
Her training sessions with her team were getting more brutal with every time but that was still the easiest way to relieve the stress they caused her, even if that meant to put one of the last two Uchiha into the freaking hospital nearly every week.
Not that she was sad about that. Sasuke did not deserve better anyway. For fucks sake he had tried to kill her! He deserved to suffer a little now and then.
Today should have been another training session but since the temperatures had gotten annoyingly high during the last few hours, her team and a few other shinobi had decided to go to a lake not very far outside the village and relax for awhile.
She liked the idea of doing nothing for a while, especially because the last few days in the hospital had been filled with paperwork and she was growing sick of being stuck inside all day long.
Her mood dropped when she saw them standing next to her group. To that point, she had had a little hope that they might leave her alone but of course they chosen against it.
Her friends however, were completely obvious to the fact that they were standing next to a bunch of dead and also very famous people.
“Sakura-chan. What took so long?” her best friend asked her as soon as she reached them. Naruto already wore his swimwear along with some tank top. It was strange how different he was from his dead father, who stood next to him right now. Hell, they didn’t even look alike, aside from the blonde hair. Minato was one of the lesser annoyances of the group. He usually only appeared when his son was near. A bunch of the dead Uchiha clan had gotten clingy.
“Sorry overslept,” she mumbled and pressed the blonde man quickly against her chest. Due to the temperatures their hug didn’t last longer than a second and even that was long enough to make her feel sticky.
Even though she was already late, her sensei still appeared even later than her but after years of training with him, they had all gotten used to it.
Their group wasn’t that badly mixed. There were Guy and Lee, Tenten, Neji, Sasuke, Naruto of course, her friend Ino, Shikamaru and finally even Kakashi.
As usual he appeared in a puff of smoke and greeted them with his usual “Yo.”
“Does that man ever change?” one of the dead man named Shisui Uchiha asked and rolled his eyes. Minato chuckled.
“I don’t think so,” he said.
“Let’s get going, this heat is killing me!” Tenten said and shouldered her bag. The other’s did the same and then they were off.
Both Guy and Lee decided to turn the way into a training session and ran the whole way on their hands. They were still faster than the rest of them. Naruto was chatting with Sasuke and Tenten was engulfed into a conversation with her boyfriend Neji while the other two were talking about some techniques of their clans. Sakura just trailed along behind them and didn’t bother to pay any intention whatsoever in any of the held conversations. Kakashi did the same but he had his nose buried in the dirty books he read whenever he got the chance.
“Hard to believe that Kakashi actually turned into a pervert since we died,” Shisui mumbled next to Sakura’s old sensei. He was reading over the shoulder of the white haired man, who was completely obvious to that. Another man stepped to Shisui’s side. Over the years, Sakura had learned that his name was Kagami Uchiha, he was not just a legend but also Shisui’s grandfather and just like all of the other Uchihas, he happened to be…quite attractive.
“Well he did lose everyone he ever loved. It’s probably just his own personal way to distract himself,” the man said. It wasn’t the first time they talked about her sensei. She was not necessarily mad about that topic either because it was the only time she actually managed to find things out about that man with the mask.
“Has anyone ever seen his face?” no other than the actual first Hokage asked into the little group. There weren’t that many people today. Only Hashirama, who had also dragged his three brothers along and of course Madara and Izuna Uchiha, the fourth Hokage Minato and the other two Uchiha’s Kagami and Shisui.
Madara Uchiha had been the first person to ever appear in my field of sight. He had been standing in a crowd of people and yet he stood out. She would never forget those dark eyes that had pierced into hers… Sakura had been four back then. She remembered that she wasn’t scared…no there were times when she would even try to hand him flowers because to her he had always looked so sad. Thinking back she could have slapped herself for being so foolish as a kid.
“I doubt it,” Minato said but he also didn’t seem to be as curious as all of the others. Sakura herself would die to know what her sensei kept hidden beneath that piece of clothing and if he had some facial hair or not.
“Maybe the women he’s been with,” Kagami said after a minute or so of silence. Shisui rubbed his chin.
“If he even had women before. Maybe he’s still a virgin,” he suggested and started laughing.
“You are a moron,” one of the Senju’s said behind her. Sakura couldn’t tell who it was because if she turned her head to find out, they would get even more suspicious than already were. The whole ignoring thing would be a tiny bit easier for her if she hadn’t made clear as a baby and child that she was capable of seeing and hearing them. And even though she only remembered a few of those times, she regretted them deeply.
“Don’t you think it’s strange that a woman like Sakura never had a boyfriend before?” someone asked randomly behind her and the pink haired woman could feel her stomach clench. She hated when they talked about her, especially when it came to topics like that.
“What do you mean?” the second Hokage asked now. Of all those people around her, she still liked his presence the most, simply because he stayed quiet most of the time and focused more on the changes of the villages than on her.
“Well she’s strong, very pretty and there is absolutely no reason for her not to have one,” the first one said and a second later Kawarama appeared right beside her. He was around her age and while Sakura had no idea how that was even possible, he seemed to like her, maybe even too much.
“So? She’s only twenty. She’s got a lot of time ahead of her,” Hashirama said. Kawarama turned around so that he was walking backwards and raised a finger.
“Technically yes but she did see us when she was younger so maybe she is afraid of having a boyfriend because we might watch her,” he said matter-of-factly. Sakura would have loved to roll her eyes but she couldn’t deny that because that was indeed one of the reasons why she never really went out with someone.
“Could you really blame her if that was the truth? We are just a bunch of dead people, clinging to the only person who might be capable of seeing us and we don’t even know if that is still the case,” his little brother Itama said now. Kawarama sighed. He was adorable and as annoying as he could be, right now she just wanted to tell him everything was going to be fine but, Sakura did not do that. She just kept walking.
“I guess,” the blonde Senju mumbled and for the rest of the way they were surprisingly quiet. However, Sakura still notice every look they cast towards her.
Once they reached the lake, those looks were completely forgotten and all that mattered was the cool water that was awaiting her.
The group dropped their bags not far away from the water. Gai and Lee were already inside when the rest of the group had finally caught up with them. Naruto had simply gotten rid of his shirt and followed them quickly. The rest took it a little slower. Sakura could feel several eyes on her when she pulled her lose shirt over her head and revealed the white bikini top she wore.
“Damn…Ow!” Shisui said and patted the spot on his head that his grandfather had hit. Sakura had to turn away to hide a small smile.
“Oh please, you can’t feel a damn thing,” Kagami said and crossed his arms before his chest.
“You coming forehead?” Ino yelled just when Sakura had taken her pants off. She rolled her eyes at the stupid nickname but went over to her blonde friend. The group dead of people sat down at the beach and Sakura could feel their eyes on her almost the entire time.
-
These feelings were wrong and Minato was very well aware of that. It wasn’t just the fact that he was dead and she was alive, no it was also the fact that she was his son’s best friend.
He had practically seen her grow up, even if he had not paid much attention to her for several years.
Now it was different. When he saw her smile, the world seemed to stay still for a moment and when he heard her laugh, it was the most melodic thing in that whole goddamn world.
He hadn’t felt anything like that since Kushina and god, he missed her so much but this woman, this pink haired lady was driving him crazy. But, he had to make sure that no one would ever find out about his little crush. He knew well enough that she would never be his and that, even if she was able to see him, she would never agree of a relationship, simply because…he was dead and she was not.
Still, he couldn’t bring his hopes down and over the last two years he had gotten tired of fighting his feelings. That’s why he had at least decided to admire her beauty and elegance from afar.
Minato looked away from the water, where now everyone was bathing when someone sat down near them. It were Kakashi and Guy, but of course the two men couldn’t see or hear them.
Minato had always liked Guy, even though he was not capable of using Ninjutsu, he had never given up. Now he was a master in taijutsu and so was Lee. Kakashi had also grown into a very strong shinobi and that made Minato proud…at least one of his students had survived.
This situation however was a little strange. Guy was not in his usual youthful mood but actually looked concerned and very worried at his friend.
“Is that…thing still causing you trouble at night?” Guy spoke barely above a whisper and even though they sat close to them, it was hard to make out what they were saying. It did draw the attention of the other dead men towards them.
“Strange,” Shisui said quietly and moved closer to them. Tobirama as well as Madara rolled their eyes but sent each other glares when they realized they had done the same thing at the same time. These two were ridiculous.
“No,” Kakashi answered even quieter than his friend. Guy didn’t seem to believe him. He turned his head back to their students and watched them quietly for a while.
“Well as I see it, you can either keep it a secret, have your ass kicked by Tsunade or you let it slide completely,” Guy said eventually and went to join the others.
“What was that about?” Itama asked curiously when Guy ran back to the water. Kakashi just sighed and ruffled his grey hair before he got up as well and went back to where he had dropped his clothes.
“Let’s find out,” Shisui said excited and jumped up. It was no secret that Shisui was easily bored and used every chance to lift secrets of his old comrades. Minato usually ignored it but Guy’s strange behavior had sparked his interest.
Minato got up too and followed Shisui over to his old student. He had taken his orange book out once more but he wasn’t as calm as he usually was when he read. His free hand was drawing absently circles in the sand and even after five minutes, he was still stuck on the same page.
“By now he should have memorized it. So what’s distracting you,” Shisui mumbled and crouched down behind the white haired man. He looked over his left shoulder and followed Kakashi’s restless gaze. Minato did the same on his right side but it was only when Shisui raised his hand and moved it from Kakashi’s eye in a straight line towards a certain person that he realized what was going on and Minato didn’t like it at all.
“You dirty old bastard,” Shisui mumbled but a grin was plastered onto his face.
“So?” Kawarama asked curiously when they walked back over to them.
“Looks like he has a crush on a certain pink haired woman,” he said and pointed to Sakura. She was sitting at the edge of the lake and showed her wonderful back towards them. Her female friends were sitting next to her.
“Seriously?!” Izuna asked a little shocked but mostly surprised. Minato nodded.
“Seems so and it does add up with the things Guy said earlier,” he said and sat down next to Tobirama. Shisui took a seat as well.
“But that’s so wrong,” Kagami said with a grimace. Oh god if he knew… perhaps I should visit a bit less often and concentrate on finding a way to pass over… then I would finally see my beautiful wife again.
“We could try to stop it before it even starts,” Kawarama suggested with a shrug and everyone turned to look at him with confused looks. Minato couldn’t say he wasn’t against stopping it at all but, how?
“How? We’re dead,” Tobirama said.
“But we can move things, if we practice or do it together, we might be able to keep them apart from each other and who knows maybe we even find out if she ignores us or truly lost the capability of seeing us,” he said. Minato did like the idea a bit… even if he hated to admit it.
“And if we fail?” Izuna asked but the Senju shrugged again. A small smile was playing on his lips.
“What if we don’t? There is no bad outcome for us anyways and this could be fun,” Kawarama said. He wasn’t wrong. Being dead and yet being stuck in the world of the living was getting old after such a long time and Minato really did not want to see the woman he liked with his old student. As selfish as that was, he just couldn’t bear the thought of her screwing his old student or screwing anyone for that matter.
“Fine. I’ll do it,” Kagami said and crossed his arms. Everyone looked at him surprised. He was usually the one who hit people for stupid ideas like that.
“What? He’s right. There is no bad outcome and maybe we even succeed. Just imagine what people would say about the village when perverted old men suddenly started dating their students. That’s nothing I would want to witness,” he said. Shisui began to grin at his grandfather’s words.
“I’m in too. What about the Kage? In or are you scared?” he asked and looked at the three men. Hashirama began to sulk but nodded eventually.
“Fine. I don’t want the village known to be full of perverts. Brothers?” he asked and looked at Itama and Tobirama. Itama nodded and Tobirama rolled his eyes.
“I believe this will turn into a disaster but you can count me in as well, for the sake of this village,” the white haired man mumbled. Minato cast a look at his old student before he nodded too.
“I’m in. What about you?” he asked the last two Uchiha. Madara looked over to where the pink haired woman was still chatting with her friends.
“Fine. We’re in too,” the older one said as intimidating as ever. Over the last years, Minato had come to like him more than he ever thought he could. History listed him as one evil bastard and in the beginning he had been quite intimidating to the blonde Hokage but the more time passed and the more they spent some together, the better they actually got along and Minato was even able to call the man his friend now.
“Awesome! This is going to be great!” Shisui said excited. Little did he know that everything would turn to hell very soon.