randomness: my mother will be gone on a motorbike trip fri, sat, sun, and mon. this means...
WRITING DELUXE!OVERLOAD!WHATEVER!
hah...now let's just hope the heavens are nice to me and I don't get writers' block...°worries whether she just jinxed herself°
okeedokee...many zanks to all you reviewzees...
randomness2: listening to one of Schandmaul's most boring songs. Would change it, but...too lazy.
all righty! Candy's in a bowl at the end of the chapter, and cookies are under the review button!
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Whore Street
It was grey, but the rain was still hiding behind a thick cloudbank. The atmosphere under the Konoha's awning was tense and worried, reflecting the sky's mood.
"Are you sure -- " Sasuke had probably smoked three packs in the two hours since he'd awoken without Naruto next to him.
Tenten looked exasperated and yelled, "Of course I'm sure, idiot! Why would I be lying? Naruto is just as much my friend as he is yours!"
Kakashi watched them, his forehead wrinkled in worry. The kids were seated in a loose circle, debating on what to do next. Even Shikamaru had made his reluctant way to them, and now stared at the ground in bored contemplation. Sasuke had completely lost his usual cool, and was repeatedly asking everyone when they'd seen the little blonde last.
Lee was there as well, tugging at his hair and staring fiercely at one of Shino's insect boxes as if it held the answers to everything. The two older kids were also sitting in the circle, Akamaru and Kiba's heads cocked to one side and Shino looking expressionlessly up at the awning.
Kakashi'd been woken up at seven by a loud banging on his shop door. Once he'd made it, annoyed and drowsy, out onto his steps, he'd been assaulted by a Sasuke in the midst of a total nervous breakdown and the rest of the group caught in an agitated round of bickering. Now, at shortly before nine, they weren't much better.
Kiba and Akamaru had gone to the other whores on the Street to ask whether anybody'd noticed Naruto around, but those who had gave the same answer as Lee; the last time the blonde had been seen had been around midnight. Kakashi was pretty much at a loss. Sure, they could always go to the Force, but...the Force had a knack of putting 'unimportant' things into file cabinets that got opened once in a decade, and Kakashi had the helpless feeling that this would count as insignificant.
He watched as Sasuke, quiet after Tenten's rebuke, raised his cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply. The boy's hands were shaking, and he had dark rings under his eyes. He looked so...unlike himself. Kakashi wasn't as dumb as some people thought he was, and you really didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that Sasuke felt something for Naruto. The silver-haired shopkeeper mused on that for a second. Was he as obvious as Sasuke when it came to Iruka? He hoped so. Maybe the older man would get the hint then sometime.
"Kakashi-san!" Kakashi started. Speak of the devil!
Iruka's breathing was ragged, and he pointed over his shoulder. "Naruto... I've already called a medic..."
Sasuke stood up so quickly that his cigarette fell from his lips. "What? Where is he? What -- "
"Shut up, Sasuke." Kakashi muttered. It was kind of hard to keep his mind straight when Iruka was so close – well, shoot him, he was a sexually active twenty-nine year old male, what'd the world expect? A saint? -- "What happened?"
Iruka, as usual, showed no sign of even remotely reacting to Kakashi's presence. "I don't know. He was lying in a corner of the parking lot. He was crying and screaming – I think he's pretty badly hurt."
Sasuke had lit up another cigarette. "Is he – did you leave him there alone, Iruka-san?"
Iruka shook his head. "There are a few of my men there." He watched carefully as the boy's strange, swirled eyes hardened for a second, the meaning of Iruka's statement sinking in. No one at the Konoha – not even Kakashi, at least Iruka was pretty sure he didn't – knew that Iruka worked with the Force. The cool expression was gone as quickly as it had came, though, and the boy shrugged almost imperceptibly.
Iruka breathed an inward sigh of relief before checking whether Kakashi took it as lightly. The younger man wore a slight frown, and Iruka froze. Aaah! Please no! Let him just brush it away...
Kakashi suddenly grinned, and despite the tension in the air, he leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "You won't tell anyone about my warning sign being half the regulation size, will you?"
Iruka gaped at him. The silver-haired man's eyes twinkled for a few more seconds, then he looked serious again.
Iruka snapped his mouth shut and suppressed an amazingly strong urge to grab Kakashi and...
"Once you guys have finished fucking flirting and have made out the motherfucking wedding date, could we get back on topic?" Sasuke hissed. He felt as if his nerves had been flayed open and dunked into boiling oil, and these ...lovebirds... were busy batting their eyelashes at each other. By the fucking mother of fucking God!
Iruka looked startled and then chagrined. "Uh...yes. Sorry about..that." He stammered. A flush stained his cheeks – barely, but it was there. Sasuke looked from him to Kakashi, who was staring at the other man like a hungry lion at a juicy steak, and back to the flustered Iruka.
Tossing his hands in the air, he bit out, "I'm going down to see how I can help Naruto."
He looked around at the other kids under the awning. "Is anybody else coming?"
Kiba stood, scratching his hair. "Yeah. Can't let the little brat die on us, now can we?" He grinned.
Sasuke had to choke back a panicked cry at that. Naruto dying...not a joking matter! He'd woken up at five after only a half hour's sleep, wondering why Naruto hadn't come by then. He'd chalked it up to the fight about insane eyeliner-man, and supposed that the blonde was simply sleeping somewhere else under the awning. But after another half-hour of uneasy tossing and turning, he'd looked around under the pink overhang.
Naruto hadn't been there.
He'd woken everyone up and gone pretty damn well crazy over the whole thing. Ino had been staring at him unbelievingly throughout it all, and Shikamaru had actually sat up to stare at him when he'd admitted – and this had even surprised Sasuke himself – that he was worried about Naruto.
Shino got to his feet with a sigh. "Let's go, then."
Sasuke looked up at Iruka, and the man nodded. "Don't worry, I'm not that unfocused," he said with another slight blush.
"Sasuke," Tenten called softly. "Tell him we're worried about him, okay?"
He nodded.
The eight o'clock rush hour had ended a bit ago, and Whore Street was empty again. The four of them walked in an uneasy silence, and Sasuke occupied himself with praying.
Please, let him not be hurt too badly...
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God that was some sappy shit. Bad Sasuke! Can't you see that Naruto only loves one sadistic, insane bastard and that the sadistic bastard in question is way cooler than you! Give up already, hon!
REVIEW!I'm not getting very many, so move those lazy fingers!
Randomness: Nirvana. All Apologies. Home Demo. Sweet.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh...lala...CLICK. CLICK. CLICK.
