Disclaimer:

If I owned Naruto or any of his little buddies, things would be a lot different. I won't go into the details, but let's just say that it wouldn't play on day-time television anymore, shall we?

Warnings:

See first chapter.

Author's Note:

I've said it once and I'll say it again—Reviewers, I LOVE YOU. You guys really brighten up my day! I'm still smiling!

Oh, and the little automatic-line thing isn't working, so I have to use dashes. Please ignore the ugliness.

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Naruto kicked open his classroom door just as the second bell rang, his dazzling grin breathtakingly present. His arms were full of monstrous piles of papers, several sheets of which were fluttering haphazardly to the floor. His jean jacket was hanging off one shoulder, his blonde hair was still wet from his morning shower, his tie was undone and draped around his neck, his shirt was untucked, his belt was non-existent, and a dollop of (seemingly) whipped cream stuck to the end of his nose.

And he looked gorgeous, as usual.

"Hey, guys!" Naruto greeted, sauntering into the room and dumping his papers on his desk. He pull off his jacket and slung it over the back of his chair, simaltaneously running a slim hand through his wet hair. He struck a victorious pose —fist in the air, two fingers split into the "V" sign. "Guess what? The essays are graded!" He winked. "Believe it!"

Sakura propped her elbow on her desk and propped her chin on her palm. She fixed her teacher with a flat stare. "You're late, Sensei," she stated. The rest of the class murmured its agreement.

Naruto blinked. Then he broke his pose, laughing sheepishly and rubbing the back of his neck. "Heh-heh...Well, I had some last-minute grading to do, and, well...duty calls!"

Ino rolled her eyes as the class snickered/groaned. "Will you just pass out the essays already? We were supposed to get them back last week anyway."

Naruto pushed out his lips in an unconsciously sensual pout. "Yeah, well...I'm the teacher, alright? I have very important things to do. I might not get all of my corrections back to you on time, but I will as soon as I can, okay? Believe it!"

"Just for comparative purposes, what constitutes as a 'very important thing,' Sensei?"

Naruto froze. He looked up slowly, the low voice triggering an automatic blush-response. Naruto raked his azure gaze over his students, rapidly searching for the speaker.

And there he was.

Naruto swallowed.

Sasuke was seated four rows back and one desk in from the left—a fairly nondescript spot, really, but from that moment on, Naruto knew his gaze would be tugged there every time he faced the class. It was inevitable. Sasuke was just one of those people. One of those people that was so irrevocably beautiful, you literally couldn't take your eyes off him.

Usually, Naruto would love to have that kind of person in his presence. Less so now, considering he was a sexually frustrated teacher with a vivid imagination, and said person was one of his students. In this case, things were a little more complicated.

Scratch that. Things were extremely, totally, stupendously, incredibly complicated. In fact, things were absolutely and utterly screwed. And maybe a tad fucked up on the side.

Naruto cleared his throat, wishing he didn't blush so easily. "Err, could you repeat that, Sasu—um, Uchiha-kun?"

Sasuke smirked. The simple expression was enough to send a delicate shiver up Naruto's spine. "I said, 'What constitutes as a "very important thing," Sensei?' I was just curious."

Naruto moved to loosen his collar, then realized that he hadn't buttoned it yet. He started tying his tie to do something with his hands. "Oh, you know, Sa—Uchiha-kun. Different things. Paying the rent...buying food...dealing with—" He broke off. "—err, people...Just adult stuff, I guess."

Sasuke cocked a black eyebrow. "Hm. 'Adult stuff,' huh?"

Naruto blushed darkly at the blatant innuendo. He glanced around the room nervously, but thank God, the class wasn't paying enough attention to notice Sasuke's less-than-innocent implications.

Sakura slapped her forehead to her desk. "Senseiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" she hollered. "Pass out the essays already!"

Naruto blinked. Then he laughed. "Oh, right. Sorry! Just give me one more second, okay?"

The class sighed collectively as its teacher stalled yet again. Naruto shook his head violently, excess water flying off his hair and sluicing the kids in the front row. He dried his golden face with his loose shirt tails, unknowingly gifting his class with a flash of perfect, provocative abdomen. (Sakura, Ino, and several other girls in the class blinked at this—it had never fully registered how heart-stoppingly gorgeous their teacher was. They thought, "With Sasuke on the premises, who cares about other guys?" But now they couldn't deny it—however annoying, Uzumaki Naruto was a bona fide sex-god. Who would've thunk it?) Naruto clumsily stuffed his shirt tails into his pants, buttoned his collar, and straightened his tie. He blinked and paused briefly, as if trying to remember something. Then he colored slightly and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, removing the dollop of whipped cream.

Semi-presentable at last, Naruto turned and gathered up all the essays. He crossed through the rows and slapped an essay on its corresponding desk, calling off comments as he went.

"Awesome as usual, Lee. Very creative topic!"

Rock Lee, a boy in a bowl-shaped hair cut and a green jumpsuit, looked up at Naruto reverently. His eyes started to water with tears of joy.

"Oh, thank you, Sensei!" he said. "I shall spend the rest of the day basking in your overly-generous praise!"

"Err...you're welcome, Lee. Heh-heh...yeah." Naruto resumed walking. "Nice job...Really good structure...Um, well, it was a nice try!...Ino-san! If your history paper was as good as this, you have nothing to worry about!...Sakura-chan! It was great! I loved your ending!"

Then Naruto's hand came down on Sasuke's desk, pinning the boy's essay to the surface. When the teacher didn't move away, Sasuke looked up into Naruto's face. Sasuke blinked in surprise. Strangely, the angelic face was stony, and the brilliant blue eyes were serious.

"See me after class," Naruto said gravely.

Naruto moved on to the next desk, ignoring the sudden influx of whispers. ("Sasuke-kun is staying after class?" "Oh my gosh, what happened?" "What is Uzumaki-sensei's problem? Sasuke-kun has very important things to do!" "Yeah, he can't stay after class!") Sasuke silently raised his eyebrows. What, did he tank or something? He was certain he didn't. Sasuke never tanked. He was ranked as the number one student at the school. His grade point average was so high, it was almost incalculable. He hadn't failed anything since that stupid science test in the fourth grade. So...

After waiting a minute for the class to loose interest in him, Sasuke subtly lifted up the corner of his essay, checking the grade. A+. A+ with a smiley-face, at that. Hmm.

The period passed fairly quickly, Naruto spending most of it reading a few highlights of the students' essays. 10 of Sasuke's brain was paying attention, 10 was wondering why the hell he had to stay after class, and 80 was fantasizing about what his teacher looked like naked. Sasuke down-graded this last part to only 70 when he realized that he was getting hard.

When the bell rang, Sasuke stayed in his seat. The classroom emptied slowly, each kid glancing over at Sasuke curiously. When the last student finally left the room and shut the door behind him, there was a moment of silence. Sasuke got out of his chair and walked to the front of the room, his eyes on his teacher. Likewise, Naruto was staring at Sasuke with enough intensity to make the boy catch his breath. Sasuke stopped in front of the teacher's desk, unblinking. The boys looked at each other, silent and solemn.

Then, as if taking cues from an internal director, they simultaneously reached across the desk, grabbed the other by the hair, and crashed their mouths together. Naruto shoved his tongue into his student's mouth, awkwardly sliding over teeth in an attempt to go deeper. Sasuke kissed back, hard and eager, moving his hand to the base of his teacher's neck. Teeth clicked and lips sucked and bruised, the sound of broken pants filling the classroom.

The two pulled apart briefly, only to crawl onto the teacher's desk and crush their bodies together. Sasuke tugged insistently on Naruto's tie, but the blonde was unable to help, since he was preoccupied with pushing his hands underneath Sasuke's shirt. Naruto ran his hands up his student's torso, feeling hard muscles stretch and jolt under his fascinated touch. Sasuke shivered beneath the bold caress, and his arms went around the teacher's waist, pulling them even closer. Now they could feel each other's every movement, the thin clothing between them acting as a stimulate. By now, Naruto's brain had degenerated below thought, and he moved on pure instinct alone, kissing Sasuke with a burning hunger that he didn't know he had.

After an unidentifiable length of time—it could have been ten minutes or thirty—the craving for air grew to be too much, and the boys parted. A string of saliva connected their tongues, and Naruto shyly pulled his back into his mouth. Sasuke smirked at this and gave the blonde a chaste peck on the lips. Then Sasuke tangled his fingers into blonde hair and pulled Naruto's head to the side. He ran a thumb lightly over the exposed skin of Naruto's neck, using no more pressure than a feather. Naruto trembled slightly and his breathing hitched, and when Sasuke brushed a spot where his throat curved inwards, Naruto was flooded with icy-hot sensation and shuddered in Sasuke's grip.

Sasuke's expression turned to something similar to a grin. It wasn't a pleasant expression.

"Cool," Sasuke said. "I found one of your 'spots.'"

"Err...What exactly do you mean by—ahh!"

Sasuke had clamped his lips on said "spot" and initiated a searing suck. Naruto let out a choked sounding squawk and clutched at Sasuke's hair. Sasuke sucked again, yanking delicate blood vessels to the surface of Naruto's skin. Naruto's head fell back in pleasure, arousal gushing through his veins like fire. Sasuke bit and licked, thoroughly abusing the tanned patch of nerves, clenching it between his teeth and massaging with his gums.

"Ha..."

Naruto subconsciously arched his back and grabbed the collar of Sasuke's shirt, desperately wrenching the boy closer. Sasuke smugly took up the provided slack, pressing on Naruto's lower back and busily sucking the hell out of him.

Just as Naruto realized he was in danger of coming right there on the desk, Sasuke's lips pulled off his neck with a sultry pop. Sasuke leaned back and took a deep breath. He had almost gone farther than he meant to, there. A little too close to comfort. Sasuke made a mental note to take things to the next level soon, before he just snapped and raped the poor teacher. Yeah, taking things up a notch sounded pretty good. Just...not in the middle of the day in an unlocked classroom.

Good plan.

Sasuke blinked and refocused on the matter at hand. Naruto had sunk into an unstable sitting position and panted openly, a red stain on his cheekbones and a tan hand on his stomach. Catching the hazy desire in Naruto's sky blue eyes, Sasuke couldn't help swallowing. He glanced to the right and something caught his attention. He smirked.

"You've got a hickey, Sensei."

Naruto's eyes widened. His left hand flew to his neck, gingerly touching the place that had been so wonderfully abused moments before. He shivered lightly at the feel of cool fingertips on the newly raw skin. His fingers came away damp. He looked up at Sasuke imploringly.

"Sasuke! What am I going to do? I-I can't walk around school like this!"

"Why not?"

"'Why not!' Because-because people will notice!"

"Probably, yes."

"Exactly!"

"Right."

Naruto waited. When Sasuke didn't say anything, Naruto threw up his hands in exasperation. "You don't find anything wrong with that!"

Sasuke placed a thoughtful finger on his chin. "Hmm...not particularly, no."

"Sasuke!" Naruto clutched the front of his student's shirt in desperation. "Don't you see? Can't you understand? If I walk around school like this, someone is going to notice, and if someone notices, then they're going to want to know who did it, and if they find out, then I'll—"

"Hush," Sasuke said, covering Naruto's mouth with his hand. "Relax. Jesus, you're almost as high-strung as a girl."

This proclamation produced a noisy, indignant squawk. Sasuke smirked and pushed a little harder against Naruto's lips.

"Hush. Now. What did I tell you about relaxing?...That's better. Now. Don't worry about the hickey thing, okay? First off, I can't imagine people besides your friends having the balls to ask you about it, if that. And, on the off-chance that someone does ask, just tell them that it's none of their business. Which, really, it isn't. Okay?"

Naruto fixed Sasuke with an irritated look, but he yielded with a heavy sigh. Sasuke nodded and took his hand away.

Naruto bit his lip in the following silence. "Ne, Sasuke-kun—"

He was interrupted by the loud ringing of the bell, announcing the end of that period. Sasuke grimaced and slid off the desk. Naruto muttered to himself darkly as Sasuke walked to the door. Sasuke cocked an eyebrow and turned around.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing," Naruto said, swinging his legs off his desk with a dispassionate grunt. "I just realized that I'm aiding and abetting you in skipping class."

Sasuke blinked in surprise. Then his bit his lower lip harshly and, almost, almost grinned. He hunched his shoulders and let his black bangs shield his eyes, his shoulders shaking with the concentrated suppression of silent laughter.

Naruto was a little taken-aback. Sasuke was shaking a little. Was he sick?

"Sasuke-kun?" he asked, carefully approaching Sasuke with a concerned look on his face. "Are-are you okay?"

Sasuke's arms snapped out and grabbed Naruto's collar, yanking their lips together. Naruto let out a startled squeak at the sudden movement, but instantly relaxed when Sasuke's pale fingers came up and softly caressed his cheek. The kiss was gentle and sweet, and when Sasuke slowly pulled back a few moments later, Naruto felt his heart actually flutter.

Sasuke's eyes were unusually happy, and a very small, very genuine smile lit his face. Naruto's heart gave another joyous flutter—Sasuke smiled!

"You know, Sensei," Sasuke said, carefully turning his smile into a smirk. "...That was a very cute thing of you to say."

Naruto's blue gaze flattened. "Hmph. Was not."

Sasuke shook his head and released his teacher. "Whatever you say, Sensei." He turned back around and opened the classroom door. He stepped into the hallway and thew back a half-wave. "Ja," he said. Then Sasuke paused, tossing a sexy black glance over his shoulder. He smirked. "We'll pick this up later, ne?"

----------------------------------------------------

Naruto brooded.

Yes, brooded. What was so different about that, huh? Everyone else brooded, why couldn't he? He could brood just like everybody else. And he had every right to do so, damn it!

...Okay, so maybe "brood" wasn't exactly the right term. More accurate would be "fumed" or "was intensely pissed off."

Why, do you ask? Becasue no one would leave him the hell alone! From the moment his second class had started (well, technically it should have been his third class, but during the previous period, he had been...otherwise occupied), everyone was all, "Sensei, where did your hickey come from?" "Oh my gosh! I didn't know you had a girlfriend!" "Yeah! That's so weird!" "Hey, hey—Sensei is finally getting some!" "Ew, that's disgusting." "Who is it, Sensei?" "Yeah, Sensei—who is it?"

Naruto had been so tempted to tell the lot of them to just fuck off, he had had to physically leave the room to prevent from doing so.

But the treatment he got from his students was nothing compared to the tirade he got from Kakashi. It would have been better if his boss was a disapproving old hag, but no. Instead of unveiled contempt and callous remarks, Naruto heard something along the lines of, "Uzumaki-chan! What a delightful hickey you've got! I'm so proud of you! Ah, young lust. It gives me such a thrill! Just be safe, okay, Uzumaki-chan? STDs really aren't cool, let me tell you. But all's well that ends well, right? So anyway. Tell me about your new lay! Please tell me he's hot. It's not nearly as pleasant to have an orgy with ugly people, don't you think, Uzumaki-chan?"...Etc, etc.

Naruto just about wanted to die.

...After he thoroughly killed Kakashi first, of course.

Naruto ground his teeth as he stompted through the hallways, arms full of papers. Toting around Kakashi's paperwork wasn't exactly helping his mood, either. That lazy pervert. Couldn't he get someone else to do it? Didn't he have some sweet little intern to terrorize or something? (Naruto had, in fact, asked him this, to which Kakashi had replied, oh so pleasantly, "Why would I? You're just so much fun to bother, Uzumaki-chan. When you get all flustered, you look almost as adorable as Iruka!") Stupid sadistc jerk.

And speaking of jerks, there was someone else Naruto was pretty pissed at. "Don't worry about it," Sasuke had said. "No one will notice," Sasuke had claimed. Yeah, right. "No one will notice," indeed. Humph. Well. Somebody wasn't getting a goodbye-kiss that afternoon, that was for damn sure.

...Probably.

Naruto grumbled unhappily to himself as he shuffled through the empty hallways. "Stupid...perverted...jerky...bastards. Always making fun of me, those two. Damn them! In fact, ONE THOUSAND CURSES ON THEIR ANCESTORS!" Naruto flung his right index finger towards the sky with a dramatic fling of his wrist.

Then he blinked, the realization of how hopelessly stupid he must have looked, shouting random voodoo into the silent hallway like that.

Somewhat sheepishly, Naruto let his hand drop back to his side and continued walking. After he was almost half-way back to Kakashi's office, his unusually sharp senses started to prickle. He stopped abruptly, a concentrating frown on his face. Something...wasn't right. It was quiet. Too quiet. Like in horror movies, just before the gorgeous comic-relief character was killed off (i.e. Naruto, of course). The normal, random scuffles and clangs of a school hallway were unnaturally absent, and a heavy hush seemed purposely draped over the entire school.

Then, suddenly, Naruto's body relaxed. He let out an annoyed sigh.

"Come on out," Naruto said boredly. "I know you're there, so whatever you're planning, don't even try it." Silence greeted him. Naruto turned to his right, glaring (or, as close to glaring as his natural sweetness allowed) at a suspiciously dense pile of backpacks, clumped strategically together on top of some lockers. "Come on," Naruto said. Unbidden, a dazzling grin appeared on his face. "I've caught you in the act, Konohamaru. Believe it!"

There was a moment's pause. Then the pile of backpacks released a dejected sigh. A moment later, a brunette, wild-haired freshman popped his head up and slid grudingly down to the floor. In his hand was the most brilliantly colorful, completely full, and utterly horrifying water gun that Naruto had ever seen. Konohamaru's shoulders slumped forward in defeat. He sighed again, heavily.

"How did you know I was there?" he asked, looking up at Naruto irritably. "I was so careful this time! I didn't make any noise at all!" Despite Konohamaru's obvious annoyance, several layers of awe were fully visible in his gaze.

Naruto chuckled evilly, azure eyes shimmering. Oh, it felt so good to be victorious! "Because I'm the coolest person in the world, duh. I have a special power. See, my Ass-Kicking Senses tingle whenever I'm in a rival's vicinity."

Konohamaru scowled. "Liar! That's so not true!" A pause. "Err, what exactly does 'vicinity' mean?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh...it means...'area,' I think. No, wait—actually, yeah. Yeah, it means area. Like, your terrain."

Konohamaru raised a dubious eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

Naruto scoffed. "Of course I'm sure! I'm an English teacher, aren't I?"

"Hmm..."

"Well, better luck next time," Naruto said, recommencing his walk to Kakashi's office. "You'll need it. Not that you'll ever actually get me, of course."

"Yes I will!" Konohamaru vowed. "I so will! Just wait! You'll see! And—and I'm looking that word up as soon as I get home! You'll be wrong!"

"Will nooooooooooooot!" Naruto sang, grinning back over his shoulder at the scowling freshman.

"Will so!" Konohamaru insisted tirelessly. "And while I'm telling you how wrong you are, be ready to be pranked!"

Naruto laughed, continuing to walk forward and watch his student over his shoulder. "I already told you, Konohamaru-chan. I can sense danger a mile away—"

"Uzumaki."

Naruto whirled his head forward and stepped directly into a wall. Or, at least, it sure as hell felt like a wall. So much, in fact, that before Naruto even realized it, he was sitting flat on his ass, a flurry of Kakashi's papers swirling down around him.

Only, he wasn't alone.

And the company he was referring to wasn't Konohamaru.

Naruto swallowed, hard.

...Shit,

he thought, his heart rate already in full-panic mode. Serious, serious shit. Like, super-ultra-mega shit.

Naruto swallowed again and looked up hesitantly, almost flinching.

Through the sea of falling papers, Naruto could make out flashes of color and their corresponding objects—black pants, white shirt, sand-yellow tie, elegant pale features, fiery red hair, ferocious lime-green eyes...

The shapes and shades molded together into one gracefully feral form—Gaara.

Naruto really did flinch then.

As the last of Kakashi's papers settled on the floor, nothing guarded Gaara's fierce stare from burning a hole into Naruto's face. In fact, Naruto could almost feel his eyeballs cooking in his head. It wasn't a particularly pleasant sensation.

Naruto swallowed for a third time.

Then he smiled broadly, lifting a hand and sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck with it.

"Heh-heh...Sorry, Gaara-san. I, uh, didn't see you there!"

Gaara's expression was stone. "Clearly," he said. As usual, his voice was little more than a harsh murmur.

"Ah...Gomen," Naruto said awkwardly, still rubbing the back of his neck. He wished he could rub the ache out of his butt too, but he didn't want to give Gaara any...inspiration.

He opted instead to hoist himself to his feet. He glanced over his shoulder and spotted Konohamaru. The wiry boy was frowning, and he was slightly hunched in a defensive position. The look he was sending Gaara was far from friendly. The redhead met the boy's stare and returned it tenfold. Konohamaru backed down almost instantly, actually taking a step away. He looked far from relaxed, however, despite his submission to a more intense gaze. When Naruto noticed Konohamaru's unsettled expression, a sudden spark of protectiveness flared in his gut. He sent Konohamaru an unconsciously beautiful smile.

"Hey, Konohamaru," he said. The boy looked over at him. "You're late for class!" Konohamaru blinked, this idea seeming to be new to him. "Why're you looking so confused? Have you never been to class before?" Naruto laughed. "Well, today's your lucky day! You're going to get a whole new experience. Now, get to class or I'll give you detentions all through next month. Believe it!"

Konohamaru graced him with a delicately dirty look before turning and heading back down the hallway. Before he turned the corner, the dark-eyed 14-year-old paused and gave Naruto a timid smile.

"Will I see you later, Sensei?"

The question was perfectly reasonable. Totally normal and totally innocent. But there was something else in it. Something written in the subtext—in the tone of Konohamaru's voice and the subtle concern in his eyes. To use one of Kakashi's favorite expressions, something "underneath the underneath." When Konohamaru asked, "Will I see you later?" what he meant was, "This guy is weird. Will you be okay?" Naruto was touched by the boy's concern and surprised by his perception. That kid was just full of surprises, it seemed.

Naruto smiled again. "Of course!"

Konohamaru smiled back, then nodded and continued around the corner.

Naruto was still for a few seconds, unsure of what to do. Now that Konohamaru was gone, the inexplicable tension of being in Gaara's presence was undistracted. Naruto glanced awkwardly to the floor, and his gaze landed on the splayed mess of papers. He immediately dropped to his knees, gathering the papers and beginning to babble by default.

"I haven't seen you around too much, Gaara-san. Do you like the school? Sorry, stupid question—you already said you did. Err, sort of. Anyway. Can you believe how much of a jerk Kakashi is? I can't get over him! He's the reason I'm carrying this stuff, by the way. For some reason, he gets an unnatural pleasure out of torturing me. I mean, he clearly has other people to do this sort of thing for him. Seriously—do I look like a messanger-boy? No, of course I don't! But does Kakashi care? Apparently not! Ugh, how annoying! I really have no idea how Iruka-sensei deals with him all the time. I swear, if I was within an eight-foot radius of Kakashi five days a week, I would totally lose it. I'll tell you what I'd do—I'd shoot him, and then shoot myself. I have half a mind to do that anyway, especially after this little stunt. Believe it!"

Naruto let out an aggravated sigh. Then he blinked. Somehow, throughout his mini-monologue, he had managed to collect all of the fallen papers. Unfortunately, a quick glance upwards confirmed Naruto's suspicions—Gaara was still there. In fact, not only was he there, but he was staring at Naruto with almost enough intensity to make him shiver.

And not the good kind of shiver, either.

...Well, actually, Naruto had always considered Gaara to be pretty sexy, in that maniacal-killer kind of way...

No! No, bad thoughts,

Naruto scolded himself sternly. Focus, Naruto.

The blonde cleared his throat. "Ah...Right, then," he announced brilliantly.

He scooped up Kakashi's papers and stood swiftly. Gaara was still staring at him. Naruto flashed him a smile, hoping it didn't come off as too uncomfortable.

"I'll...um, see you later, then, okay? I've got to go deliver these to the jerk before he makes a public announcement about my ass."

...Oh Jesus.

Naruto closed his eyes, praying to God to let him freeze reality for a second.

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

No. No, Naruto did not just say that. No. There's no way in hell. There's just no way that his foot could be so goddamn far up his mouth to utter that verbal execution. Not even in this ridiculous situation would Naruto be that stupid. Surely not. Because who, regardless of talkative-ness or stupidity, would be so unabashedly brainless as to draw attention to their ass in the presence of—not only their boss—but the man who, less than a week ago, expressed an adament interest in Naruto's sexual harrassment! Not Naruto, certianly. Granted, he almost always spoke without thinking, but surely he wasn't this moronic. Surely not. Not Naruto.

...Right?

...Right!

Naruto peeked open his eyes. He took one look at Gaara's smirking face and barely prevented himself from groaning out loud.

...Wrong, apparently.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Naruto sighed, vowing to slam his head into a drawer repeatedly until he knocked some sense into in. He dropped his eyes to the floor, too embarrassed to even feel the blush on his face. He didn't need to. He knew it was there.

Then Naruto looked up, a ridiculously large smile plastered on his face. "Ha ha!" he laughed brightly. "Just kidding! Who would do that? Heh-heh...Anyway. I've really got to run now, Gaara-san. Uhm...Ja ne!"

Naruto began to scuttle down the hallway, still blushing like mad and trying incredibly hard to ignore Gaara's ominous presence behind him.

"Wait."

Naruto froze.

Shit. I knew it wouldn't be that easy.

Naruto worked to compose his features into something less than terror as he turned around. But when he caught the flashing look in Gaara's remarkable eyes, it took every ounce of his will-power not to bolt in the opposite direction.

Ahh! He's gonna eat me!

And it certainly looked like it. Gaara was giving Naruto the same interested examination one might give a hunk of steak at a barbeque. Naruto bit his lower lip nervously, then immediately released it, hit with a memory of how Sasuke looked when he bit his lip—much too delicious to resist. Naruto smiled faintly, trying very hard to keep the situation light and casual.

"Err, yes, Gaara-san?"

Gaara promptly reached forward and seized Naruto's tie, giving a sharp tug. The blonde found himself stumbling forward, reflexively attempting to regain his balance. The reflex didn't work, and he ended up colliding with Gaara's extremely hard chest.

A sharp tang of unidentified spice pricked Naruto's nose—Gaara's smell. A very absurd, remote part of Naruto's brain compared Gaara's scent to Sasuke's. Gaara smelled like those hot, strong spices hanging from the ceilings of hard-core Mexican restaurants. Sasuke's scent was a mix of subtle laundry detergent, "unscented" shampoo, and... mint. Yeah, the boy actually smelled like mint. But not the harsh, super-strong kind of mint that burnt your tongue off—the addictive, sweet kind of mint that kept candy-manufacturers in business.

Naruto blinked, too stunned to move for a second. Then he felt his face heat up again at Gaara's very apparent closeness.

"Oh! Sorry, sorry!" Naruto said, trying to step away.

Naruto quickly noticed his retreat was inhibited—Gaara had a vice-like grip on the end of his tie, keeping Naruto flush against his body. Naruto's brain quit function as Gaara's free hand crawled up his back and grabbed his hair. Naruto's head was pulled to the side and Gaara lowered his mouth. Naruto tensed, trying very hard to think of nothing at all. Or, if he had to think, to think of something really unarousing.

It didn't work.

Gaara's hot breath on Naruto's neck made the blonde shiver slightly—from anxiety or excitement, he wasn't totally sure which. Probably both. Gaara leaned down even more, and Naruto could feel the feather-light pressure of dangerously sharp teeth.

"Hmm," Gaara said. The vibrations from his voice made Naruto shiver again. "Where did this come from?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh...what?"

"Your hickey." Gaara rubbed a cold thumb over the spot in question, just in case Naruto needed specification.

Naruto jerked in surprise, managing then to back out of Gaara's grip.

"H-huh!"

"Where did your hickey come from?"

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no, oh NO! "Uh...well...You see, what happened was, erm...um—!"

"Sensei."

Naruto jumped and whirled around. His eyes widened at the dark figure sauntering toward them.

"Sa-sasuke..."

Sasuke stopped a few feet from where Gaara and Naruto stood, looking as immaculate and intimidating as ever. His hands were casually pushed into the pockets of his jeans, but Naruto could sense tension rolling off of him in waves. His black eyes flashed dangerously, their beauty coated by malice. Naruto was almost stunned by the infuriated look in Sasuke's eyes, grateful for one thing—Sasuke wasn't looking at him like that. He was looking at...

"Uzumaki and I are busy, Uchiha."

...Gaara.

"Yes. I'm sure you two were very...busy, Gaara." Sasuke smirked coldly. "...-sensei," Sasuke adds as a contempt afterthought.

Naruto winced and shifted to the side—subconsciously removing himself from the line of fire. He glanced to the left to gage Gaara's reaction. The redhead's expression was as stony as ever, but the unabashed hate in his eyes would have vaporized a lesser man on the spot. Luckily, Uchiha Sasuke was lesser than no one—a fact that he intended to prove.

Immediately.

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Author's Note:

Ack! I'm so sorry, you guys! I am really sorry for leaving a cliffhanger. I don't intend to do this in the future, but this chapter is so long already! See, I have another Naruto story that I want to release, but I didn't want to publish it before I updated this one. Again, I'm so sorry! I'll update again as soon as I can, okay? I know you deserve to, but please don't hurt me:cowers behind Sasuke: