Umm... I'm really trying to get the chappies longer.
Randomness: Nirvana. "Something in the Way."(I love this song)
chap 24, served on porcelain:
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Whore Street
Kakashi came out of his shop, looking worried, and announced, "Naruto has disappeared."
The Konoha crew broke into a babble of "What?", "Why?", "How?", and he raised his hand to shut them up. "I don't really get any of it. Iruka just called me. He's at the hospital."
Sasuke was busy trying to breathe. Disappeared. Again. He inhaled deeply of his cig, trying to calm himself down. His thoughts were a complete jumble. But Naruto'd been in the hospital, not working -- who --
An image of eyeliner-man flashed up, and suddenly everything clicked into place.
Of course!
God, he had been so blind.
He barely noticed the rest of the crew around him as they walked together to the bus stop. As they got on the bus, Sasuke's eyes caught on one of the dominas, looking tense. Fuck! That fit in as well! Hadn't the ramen guy said that there was a kid missing from that clique? Blond and blue-eyed?
It explained everything.
The ride to the hospital was lost on him as he puzzled through it, looking for any possible misconceptions. But no, it fit. Perfectly so. And the unbelievably neutral feeling -- he'd started to call it acceptance – was gone.
They were noisy and obnoxious, hurrying up to Naruto's corridor, and Sasuke saw medics frown at them as they passed. He didn't care, too busy with his revelation.
Iruka-san was standing, worry all over his friendly face, in front of Naruto's room door. Sasuke could see Forcers inside, checking all over for clues.
Iruka scanned the Konoha crew, pausing a bit at Sasuke. The black-haired boy looked... angry. Strange.
He sighed. "Hey, kids. I'll tell you what I'm allowed to – basically, we had a suspicion that Naruto was in danger, and came here to leave him a few... watchers. But we came too late. He's been gone for about an hour."
Gaara, leaning against the opposite corridor wall behind the kids – they seemed not to have seen him yet – along with some of Iruka's team, was staring at the floor, one hand hidden in a pocket and the other curling and uncurling, forming a fist and then relaxing. Iruka had never seen him like that before, and it frightened him. The kids were quiet, digesting what Iruka had just said.
Sasuke spoke, his eyes narrowed. "And why did you think he was in danger?"
"I can't tell you that. Most of this is completely classified, kids. All I can say is... we'll look for him."
Soft mutters came from the group, the two girls biting their lips and whispering to each other, Shikamaru frowning a little while Sasuke continued looking furious. Or something. Kakashi was looking uneasy beside them all, shifting from foot to foot.
Despite the fact that he wanted to comfort the kids – and Kakashi! --, Iruka needed to do something about Gaara.
Quickly.
The redhead's gaze had intensified, his eyes almost glowing teal as he glared at the floor. His free hand stayed a fist now, the skin even paler than usual from the strain as Gaara pressed his fingers together.
Iruka chewed his lip. What should he do? Asking what was wrong might bring Gaara back down from his... fit or whatever, but it might also be the catalyst for... something. The members of his Forcer team that weren't needed in the combing of the hospital room kept their distance, looking nervous.
Thankfully – depending on how you looked at it -- , the decision was soon taken out of his hands.
Iruka saw Sasuke turn as one of the Forcers standing behind the group laughed loudly at something another had said. His swirled eyes skipped over the team members, hard and cold, and rested on Gaara. They widened briefly, and then he lunged.
Iruka gasped, stepping forward – but the three Forcers whose (neglected) responsibility it was to watch over Gaara finally did something right, and caught Sasuke, knowing it was senseless to try and hold Gaara if they had to.
Sasuke struggled helplessly.
The Konoha kids and Kakashi looked almost comically clueless, since the two who already knew Gaara, the hobos, were not there.
Iruka stepped forward and said sternly, "Sasuke, I don't know what's between you two, but your little petty squabbles aren't helping us in any way."
The kid ignored him and snarled at Gaara, "Where is he, asshole?"
Iruka cursed and looked up at Gaara – no.
The Sandman.
The redhead's eyes were no longer glowing. They were like flat almond-shaped disks of teal-colored ice. One filed incisor peeked out beneath his upper lip, and his fist now uncurled into the likeness of a claw – middle and index finger crooked and tensed, the nails gleaming in the corridor's neon light – at his side. He advanced on Sasuke, step by step.
Iruka said softly, "Gaara."
The Sandman's eyes flickered back to green for a second, but then they grew hard and dark again.
"Gaara."
This time the green stayed long enough for Gaara to return to his perch at the wall. His hand still moved threateningly at his thigh, and his glare was still present, but at least he was no longer moving towards the kid.
Iruka breathed a sigh of relief. "Sasuke, don't ever do something that stupid again. Gaara won't hesitate to kill you. The fights before were just jokes to him."
The kid hissed. "It's him. He's got Naruto."
Iruka swallowed hard and said the words he didn't really believe yet, "Sasuke... he works with us. He wouldn't --"
"FUCKING HELL, HE SNUCK IN HERE TO FUCK NARUTO THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY AND FOR ALL I KNOW LAST NIGHT AS WELL! IT MAKES SENSE, DAMMIT! I SAW NARUTO'S BODY! HE FUCKING CUT HIM!"
There was silence in the corridor after that very un-Sasuke-like outburst. The other kids and Kakashi were staring back and forth between Gaara to Sasuke, shocked looks on each face – even Shikamaru's.
Iruka took a bit to process that information. Then he turned to Gaara, whose uncurling hand had stilled at the outburst and was now slid into his pocket. "So that's where you went?"
A distinctly evil twist of the lips was the only answer.
Sasuke snarled again, and this time it sounded so desperately unhappy that the Forcers let him go. The black-haired boy fled down the hall. Iruka could have sworn that the kid was crying as he passed him. One of the girls wanted to run after him, but Kakashi stopped her with a soft murmur.
Ugh... he wanted to go home and go to sleep. Why was it always him? He favored Gaara with an exasperated glance, but the kid ignored him. Iruka was pretty sure that Gaara had nothing at all to do with Naruto's disappearance. After all, it had been his idea to give the blonde some kind of Force protection.
Iruka had to shake his head a tiny bit, a slight smile on his lips.
So these were Gaara's reasons for helping the Forcer team.
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hahahaha... Sasuke bashing!
naruu: I completely agree with your whole reply – hehe... please review again!
And for all the others as well... REVIEW!
