okay...working on GaaNaru in here(hopefully)...

Gimme reviews! I will not write if my review-eating stomach is empty!

Noooo, Naruto does not belong to me!

Many thankees to Arie Date for her help with this, and thnx to all you other wonderful reviewers!

dualism: your advice is really well-taken, but I was soooooooooo bored without my Gaanaru...

hehe...here ya go, ladies and gents.

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Whore Street

Naruto snarled moodily at Sasuke as the black-haired boy accidentally brushed his arm with the tip of his cigarette. The taller kid just raised an eyebrow. "Watch it, dobe."

Naruto hmmphed and rolled over so that his back was to Sasuke. It had started raining again at around eleven, and the constant patter of the water on the Konoha's awning really went on his nerves. Besides, he was aching from one of the customers he'd gotten the night before, and the pain made him even grouchier.

But, as a plus, he'd had ramen for breakfast! Not that he didn't have ramen every day, but -- he could be happy about it, couldn't he?

Sasuke blew a smoke cloud over Naruto's shoulder. "Want to go and get cleaned up, dobe?"

Naruto stared out into the hazy rain. No, not really, but what else was there to do? "Okay."

They packed their shoulder bags with soap and towels and got up. Sasuke lit up a new cig -- he was like fucking chimney! -- and they left with a couple of explanatory mutters.

They walked through the rain in the opposite direction of the bus stop, and Naruto wrinkled his forehead. Why had Sasuke just lit that cig? It was only gonna splutter and die out here. The blonde looked over at his friend, and sure enough -- the black-haired boy was leveling a cold glare at the cancer stick in his hand.

Naruto laughed. "Shit teme, even I knew that one. Quit looking like it's the end of the world and hurry up. I don't wanna freeze and die dirty."

Sasuke transferred his cold gaze to the blonde. Naruto laughed again. The dark-haired boy muttered something that Naruto ignored pointedly, and they continued on down the sidewalk.

Past the Konoha were a few other groups of whores, and the two kids nodded cool greetings to the ones they knew. The wasted, sick-looking junkies were huddled under the scant protection of an apartment building's overhanging roof, bickering with each other in their raspy, shrill voices. Naruto shuddered inwardly. They were just plain disgusting.

A bit further on came the most pitiful group on Whore Street; the old prostitutes. The old women -- for some reason there were no men among them -- didn't work at night anymore, and were actually just beggars, but they seemed to consider it an insult not to be called whores, so everyone did them the favor. They whiled their days away in a really cramped and goddamn depressing crack in the wall, cackling insanely and muttering to themselves.

The squat, flat-roofed building right next to the one where the old women slept was a break in the tall, grey facades of Whore Street, though it couldn't hold a candle to the Konoha's brightness. It was painted a baby blue and had a blinking sign that said, "ARCADE" in an annoying kiddy-font. The two boys pushed open the greasy glass doors and went inside.

Naruto sighed in relief as they entered the dry Arcade, though the place usually disgusted him. They had to stop for a few moments to let their eyes adjust to the murky miasma of smoke, sweat and alcohol that Sarutobi, the Arcade's owner, passed off as 'air'. Game machines glowed and chimed in the half-dark thick with unlucky men's muttered curses. Seven rows of machines stood in the gloom, the chink of coins sounding at periodic intervals along with an occasional shout of anger or elation --though fury was more common that happiness.

Along the right-hand side of the room was a long bar, its dirty counter sticky with the accumulated dirt and spills of decades. Weak lights lit it up, hanging from a metal bar over it. Sasuke headed for it, and as he followed Naruto realized that his friend had just lit another cig. Rolling his eyes, he slipped onto one of the bar stools. Stupid teme.

Sasuke stayed standing, and was careful to avoid touching the grimy linoleum of the bar. They waited for a few seconds until Naruto, shouted, "Get out here, old man!"

Sasuke grinned a bit as the yell worked and a cursing, bowed figure shuffled to the counter from the door in the wall that led to the kitchen. Sarutobi had a wrinkled, high-cheekboned face, and he wore a constantly pissed-off expression. He glared over the counter. "What?"

Naruto snickered. Sarutobi was like Kakashi, all growls and snarls on top and nice grandpa underneath. The blonde tossed a one-cel-chip onto the bar. "Our week's pay for the bathroom."

Sasuke also dropped a chip onto the linoleum, and Sarutobi's glare intensified. "Well then, what're you waiting for? Go!"

The boys laughed soundlessly, turning away from the bar and walking deeper into the Arcade's smoky recesses. They reached the door labeled 'WC' and went in, flipping the light switch. The neon shone unforgivingly over the narrow, ugly room's scuffed and cracked tiles, the dull steel fixtures, the peeling puke-colored paint on the watermarked walls and dirty stall doors.

Sasuke grimaced. Sarutobi never bothered to have the place cleaned, and every customer out there at the game machines knew very well that the toilets weren't meant for the Arcade's gambling clientele. Sarutobi might be a nice guy somewhere inside, but he was stingy as fuck and jumped on profit whenever he saw the opportunity to make some. He'd turned off the hot water for the bathroom, stopped repairing it, stopped cleaning it, taken out the soap dispensers, and for some reason the whores living on the Street still paid him a cel a week to use it.

Sasuke stubbed his cigarette out on the wall and put his bag on the left side of the row of sinks, where two of the faucets had stopped working weeks ago. He kicked off his boots and began undressing, pulling his sweater off. He rummaged in his bag, getting out his soap and his threadbare towel before sliding out of his pants. He'd decided last year already that underwear was an unnecessary hassle. Bending over one of the sinks, he turned the faucet on and splashed himself with the icy water. Soaping himself down, he let his eyes slide over to Naruto, watching him in the filthy wall-to-wall mirror.

The blonde was just starting to undress -- that dobe could be so slow at times -- and Sasuke, as always, found himself unable to tear his gaze away. Naruto had dropped his T-shirt to the floor -- ugh...on this floor -- and was getting his soap and towel out. His smooth, tawny skin managed to look good even in the sickly neon light, the many pale ridges of scar tissue on his back and arms -- it was suspiciously regular on the arms, a line of evenly spaced cuts on either side -- somehow making him seem more attractive through the secrets behind them. His thin frame was almost unhealthily so, his cheekbones sharp against his skin and giving him an elfin air.

Naruto finished getting his wash stuff out and leaned over another sink, turning on the water. He didn't notice Sasuke's scrutiny, and the black-haired boy didn't mind that fact at all, continuing to stare at the blonde. He was rinsing himself off by now -- he was always finished first in the bathroom. His eyes followed the slim neck down to the hollow where the blonde's heartbeat pounded against the skin, and drifted lower, past the cold-hardened nipples and along the golden line of hair between the easily discernible ribs, the sharply jutting hipbones, to the beginning of the golden curls that showed above the loose jeans.

Sasuke sighed inwardly. Every time they washed up in here, he had to suppress the urge to ravish the blonde right then against the sinks. It was agony, but Sasuke wouldn't ever give up these possibilities to look at Naruto's body. It was amazing how oblivious Naruto was to all of it. But then, he probably just didn't expect it.

Naruto had appeared at the Konoha last year, obnoxious and irritating and fucking desirable. He'd somehow gotten here from Slum Street -- he was always infuriatingly vague when it came to the past, even though Sasuke tried to be careful with what he was asking, knowing very well that some questions hurt badly no matter how well-meant they were. Sasuke had wondered how the hell he could be so...lively, coming from Slum Street.

Slum Street was every whore's nightmare. More a quarter than a street, it was the end of the road for most runaways and those addicts that needed their drugs so badly that they'd do anything for them. It was the embodiment of all the worst fears of a sex worker; pimps, brothels, no money, dirt, disease, slavery.

Whore Street was close to the City center, and thus the Force was a bit more careful here, making sure that everyone was at least registered and disease-free. Pimps made no profit here, because the money they had to pay in Force bribes was at least ten times that what they paid on the outskirts. For example on Slum Street.

Sasuke finished rinsing off and began drying himself. Despite the dobe's stupidity and the way he seemed hellbent on annoying the dark-haired boy, they'd become good friends, even if it didn't seem like it at first glance. Sasuke adamantly refused to examine his feelings for the dobe any further, because it was much simpler this way.

Once he was dry, he dressed quickly and lit a cig, inhaling deeply. He packed his back and said, "I'll go back to the Konoha, dobe."

Naruto waved him off. "Whatever, teme."

The blonde put his head under the stream of icy water, feeling the suds of his shampoo/soap -- an amazingly practical invention -- run down his face. Waiting a few moments to make sure Sasuke wasn't coming back for some reason, he turned the water off and picked up his towel. After drying his upper body and his hair -- wincing occasionally when he encountered a bruise or scrape -- he stepped out of his jeans and began washing the other half of his body. This hurt more, and was the reason why Naruto'd waited to undress fully until Sasuke had left.

His thighs and the skin just below his hips were badly bruised, a sickly blue-green-yellow mess. He snarled softly as an image of the responsible client flashed into his mind. No, that wouldn't do at all. If there was anything important that Naruto had picked up in his puny fifteen years of life, then it was the knowledge that remembering who's fault it was never ended well. Especially not in this business; if he ever got that customer again, he'd freeze up and that would result in the dude getting angry...well, it was complicated, but Naruto had felt the consequences of such things often enough to shake the images of the customer away.

He carefully washed himself, hissing a bit whenever he touched an open welt. Hn. How the hell had the dude managed that? He'd only -- Naruto stopped that thought right there.

The blonde finished with the washing and toweled himself down. He dressed again and packed his stuff up, turning off the light and leaving the bathroom. He wrinkled his nose as the thick air of the Arcade's main room assaulted his nostrils, and walked quickly through the bleeping and clanging gloom to the doors.

He glared out through the grimy glass. Why couldn't autumn in the city be like in the virtvids(1)? Like, pretty red-leaved trees and cold wind, and that's it. Then you wake up one morning , and there's a pristine blanket of snow outside the window. Naruto grinned at the thought. As if the City even had trees. And pristine snow...ha. Good joke!

He pulled the doors open and slipped out, feeling goosebumps rise on his arms at the combination of the lingering cold of his washing up and the freezing rain. He trudged off down the drowning sidewalk, fingering the chips in his pocket to see whether he had enough for a bowl of ramen. One, two, three, one five-cel-chip, and another three one-cel-chips. Oh yeah. A grin spread over his face. Ramen!

He glanced at the old whores as he passed them. One of them was reading out loud, some stupid romance poetry stuff. Ugh. He didn't like all this talk of romance. After all, it was actually all simply a means to one end; sex. And sex was very overrated. In-out, in-out, a distinctly unflattering noise, and sticky stuff all over you. Honestly. Not exactly worth five cel in his opinion, but...he wasn't complaining. Whatever floated his customers' boats. If they wanted to pay him five cel for getting wet and gluey, they were welcome to.

He looked up in surprise as a window slid up with a creak somewhere to his left. Squinting through the rain, he made out a pale face and black hair before the person disappeared again. Weird. Who opened their window in the rain? Not that he knew much about windows, but still. He shrugged slightly and walked on. The junkies were still croaking insults at each other and fighting about a -- as far as Naruto could tell -- stuffed animal.

He laughed under his breath. The junkies always reminded him of the rare funnish times on Slum Street. It was really relaxing to get excited -- hyper, angry or happy, it didn't matter -- about the stupidest things. It easily got a person's mind off of... things.

He could see the Konoha's awning by now, the shrill color hurting his eyes even from this distance. What was Kakashi's obsession with pink anyway? He was fucking crazy about -- the shop was pink inside, too, and the sign...well. The sign spoke for its irritating, blinking, annoying and sleep-depriving self.

He frowned up ahead. There was a dark green Force car parked at the curb, and several uniform-clad men were standing on the sidewalk. What was the Force doing here? There had been no trouble on the Street for quite a while, as far as he knew.

Naruto hurried up a bit, curious. The closer he came, the more he could see through the rain. There were three uniformed Forcers on the sidewalk, and he thought he could see another person between them. A fifth man, wearing a dark suit and looking somehow familiar, stood on the steps of the apartment building across in front of the parked car and was fumbling with the lock.

Naruto walked a bit closer, and recognized the dude on the steps. It was Iruka-san, Kakashi's crush. The man always walked by the shop in the evening, and Kakashi always made sure to sit on his front steps when he did. They'd exchanged nervous greetings, and Iruka-san would walk on. It was pretty funny, actually.

Naruto grinned. "Hey, Iruka-san! Didja get yourself arrested?"

The man straightened with a weird expression on his face, and smiled weakly. "Heh...No, Naruto, I didn't get arrested. I got a lift home."

"Ah." There was something significant about that statement, but he didn't feel like puzzling it out just now, and scanned the situation. Sure enough, the three Forcers had someone in their midst. Naruto registered red hair and height before he got stuck in the eyes. Yes, literally stuck in the eyes. As in pinned to the spot by green, thickly kohl-lined insanity. It freaked him for exactly ten seconds, and then he regained his composure. Slum Street strategy number 1!

Get hyper!

"Hey! Who're you?" he shouted with a wide grin.

Naruto heard a strangled gasp from Iruka-san, still on the steps behind him, and saw the Forcers around the dude stiffen and go pale. Hmm. Interesting. What the hell was going on?

He stepped closer to the dude and cocked his head. Around then he noticed the lasercuffs binding the dude's hands together. "Ah...so you're the one who got arrested, not Iruka-san!"

The eyes widened briefly and then narrowed, and Naruto wondered whether he'd just done something very wrong. Then they dragged -- and yes they did drag, like a heavy blanket -- themselves up and down Naruto's soaking form. Naruto shrugged. Two could play that game. He started with the dude's forehead, where a silvery scar etched itself into the skin below the bright hair, and continued with the eyebrows. Um, correction. The not-there-eyebrows. He skipped the eyes and was just about to start on the chest and neck when he heard Sasuke's cold voice.

"What's going on here, dobe? I heard you shouting. Get yourself in trouble with the Force?"

Sasuke took the scene in with a raised eyebrow. Iruka-san on the steps -- the dark-haired boy nodded a greeting --, three uncomfortable-looking Forcers, a hyper Naruto (It was in his eyes. Whenever the dobe got hyper, his eyes went a couple shades darker. Sasuke had often wondered whether they would do that during sex too -- ah...off track.) and a redhead who was...

UNDRESSING NARUTO WITH HIS EYES!

Sasuke glared at the oblivious dobe. "What's going on?" he repeated, a bit of a growl in his voice.

Naruto looked bewildered at his tone. "Uh... I was just talking to him," and he gestured casually at the redhead, whose crazy gaze met Sasuke's eyes briefly. The thin lips curved into an insulting grin.

Sasuke felt his heart quicken. He was getting angry. "Oh, really, dobe? Just talking?"

Naruto's expression got even more confused. "Uh, Sasuke? You okay?"

Sasuke exploded. "Oh yeah, I'm feeling fucking super, dobe! Fucking fantastic!"

Naruto's eyes widened and he took a step back. Sasuke turned away from the blonde as a soft hiss reached his ears. He smirked lazily. "Got a problem, eyeliner-man?"

He heard Iruka-san groan softly, and then the two of them were at each other's throats, the Forcers prudently jumping back from the snarling, scratching mess they suddenly became. Sasuke could hear Naruto's confused voice in the background and more of Iruka-san's despairing groans. He struggled and writhed against the other kid, wondering for a split second where the lasercuffs had gone as a very free hand grabbed his collar. He managed to pull it away and sink his teeth into a wiry forearm.

"...TEME!" Naruto's shout finally penetrated the red haze in his mind, and he pushed the redhead away, wiping his mouth on a sleeve. The dude looked infuriatingly unruffled, not a mark on him, and Sasuke, still in a rage... hissed at him.

The Forcers quickly moved in and grabbed the redhead's arms as he readied himself to lunge again., but the kid shook them off with frightening ease. They charged at each other again, and this time Sasuke felt his fist connect solidly with a cheek. The redhead fell back a bit, only for a split second -- but it was enough for Naruto to throw his skinny self between them.

"Quit it, goddamnit!" He yelled, his eyes freezing both of them in place.

Naruto watched as Sasuke's eyes slowly went back to normal, then glanced at Green-Eyes. He wasn't looking anything close to the way he'd appeared when Naruto'd first seen him. His eyes were a deep teal now, and he didn't look like he was about to calm down.

"Hey, dude. Calm d -- "

He gasped.

It had gone to fast for him to really register it, but he suddenly found himself pushed up against the Force car with that insane glare drowning him. The redhead's mouth barely moved, and his snarl was just for Naruto's ears. The sound sent a shiver through the blonde's spine, and he gasped again. The teal wouldn't let him go, pulling him in deeper and deeper...

Just as quickly as it had started, the moment was over.

Naruto vaguely felt himself fall to the sidewalk and heard Sasuke's worried voice echo somewhere. He pushed the dark-haired boy away and stood slowly, watching detachedly as the Forcers refastened the lasercuffs on the redhead's wrists and led him into Iruka's apartment building. He ignored Sasuke's questions and concerned murmurs, tilting his face up to the rain.

What had just happened?

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heh.

alrighty, you know the drill. many reviews means full asti-stomach, full asti-stomach means new chappie.