Umm...ya know, I'm sitting here at five-thirty in the afternoon and realizing as I check my hit counts-- all my reviewers live thousands of km away. ha...the power of the internet transcends AAAAAAAAAALL!°cackles°

naruto doesn't belong to me.

randomness: listening to Lordi again. haaaaaaaaah...would trolls fit into the story? And Tanzwut's coming on now...latin chants rock too!

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Whore Street

"I won't be driving you back, kid. I've gotta be home in fifteen minutes." The man said gruffly.

Lee shrugged and took his hint. "That's fine."

He slid out of the car, tugging at his bodysuit to straighten it. He glanced around the parking lot, which was full of cars, engines either idling or off. Two automobiles were just pulling out, and another driving in from the Street.

Lee made his way out, the damp gravel crunching under his feet. A drunk stumbled out of the Arcade's glass doors as he reached them, reeking of alcohol and sweat. Lee curled his lip and navigated his way around him. He went on, passing the snoring group of old whores.

It was pitch-black out, and the long line of cars only started further up the Street, close to the junkies' hang out, so no blinking tail-lights intruded on the silence just yet. Lee raised his arms, stretching. He'd gone back to Master Gai and his apartment soon after finishing his breakfast with Shino at the Konoha this morning. Thankfully his Master's lover had been gone by then, and Lee had been able to get a good day's sleep. Or at least enough that he could work well tonight.

It seemed that he'd missed something significant at the Konoha, though, because Ino and Tenten had been gossiping an awful lot at the curb about some sort of fight between Sasuke and Naruto. Too bad he hadn't left a bit later! He was really curious as to what was going on, but despite the girls' giggling and whispering they had about as much of an idea as he did about it all. So the only way to figure it out seemed to be asking one of the two -- Sasuke or Naruto.

Sasuke had been looking murderous, though, sweetening his voice only for customers, and Lee hadn't felt like being stabbed with a burning cig. And Naruto... Lee stopped short. He hadn't seen the blonde since shortly after midnight.

That was strange. One hour without seeing someone again was acceptable, maybe even two if you had conflicting customers. But four hours? A slight pang of worry hit him, but he brushed it aside. Whore Street was safe. The only thing that could really happen was that you got bruised by an overzealous client.

Well, Lee mused with growing alarm, that was all that could happen to people like Master Gai, Sasuke and himself. Naruto was a different matter. The blonde had less reservations that the others in the group, probably because of his time on Slum Street. He did things that Lee wouldn't do for an original ABBA vinyl disc.

Lee shivered a bit. Hewas probably just over-reacting, he told himself firmly. Naruto was probably just tired and had gone to sleep early at the Konoha -- yeah, right. As if Naruto would ever stop working just because he was tired. Lee frowned, telling the niggling, doubting voice to be quiet, and started off again.

Shortly before he reached the junkies' currently deserted hangout, a sound to his left made him look up. The apartment building here was dark, as it should've been -- it was four in the morning, after all --, but a window on the first floor was open. A person was sitting on the sill, facing towards the busy end of the Street.

Lee was pretty sure he recognized the long black hair and the slender build, and when the person turned to look at him, his suspicions were confirmed by the milky eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. He stopped for the second time, casting the dude a nervous smile. In the silence that followed, Lee became aware of the red and yellow lights that shone, blinking, onto him -- the line of customers' cars started a few meters away. The occasional revving sound of an engine and the growl of passing cars didn't really penetrate the quiet.

After a while, the dude -- Neji? -- returned his smile.

Lee cocked his head. "Isn't it a bit late? You go to school, don't you?" The moment the words were out, he regretted them -- they sounded really patronizing.

The other kid shrugged and nodded. "Yeah. Can't sleep with all this blinking."

Lee grinned. "Oh, I know that. When we moved here, my teacher and I couldn't sleep right for nights. I mean, the nights when we didn't..." He realized he was babbling.

"Work?" Neji smiled a bit.

Lee nodded. "Yeah. But my friends are even worse off. With the sleeping, I mean. The lights are always blinking directly into their bedroom, kind of."

Neji looked slightly bewildered. "You mean the ones in front of the shop? But you sleep their too, don't you?"

Lee shook his head. "Not usually. My teacher and I have an apartment across the Street. You moved here new?"

The black hair swung a bit as he nodded. "Yeah."

"Like it?"

The kid shifted. "It's...new."

Lee laughed. "Right. Well, I've got to get back to work. See you around, hopefully!"

Neji nodded, and Lee started to walk toward the brightly lit part of Whore Street, but turned for a second to call back, "My name's Lee. And for the not-sleeping... try counting whores."

He heard a soft laugh behind him, and smiled slightly as he passed the junkies' place and reached the Konoha. Here, he started worrying again.

Naruto and Sasuke's mattress was very empty.

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OH MY GOD! THAT WAS SOOOO FUCKING HARD TO WRITE!

°breaks down into tears of exhaustion°

But...next chappie will be more GaaNaru yummyness.

Please review this and tell me whether it's any good. I'd thought this would be the easiest couple...if it isn't good, then I'll make it to LeeNeji friendship and that's it.

oh, and is anyone actually wondering where Sakura got to? °grins evilly°