Here's 39...

love you all!

Once we reach 40( if we reach 40) I'm going to have a big buffet!

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Whore Street

The snow whirled thick around him as he walked down the Street toward the Konoha. The cliques were huddled under their shelters, looking miserable, but Naruto couldn't have felt better. His body felt like it had been dipped in warm syrup, and he felt so... comfortable... about himself, with himself, that he couldn't help but grin hugely at anyone who caught his eye.

Fresh belt-stripes decorated his back beneath his coat and sweatshirt, and he ached deliciously from the night before. He rubbed at the spot under his ribs, where the new symbol lay... splayed over the left side of his belly, sprawling over him in a blatant declaration of ownership. And the other, beneath his jeans, the intricate many-tiered and elegant strokes white scars by now, never to fade.

Sa, suna. Sand.

Ai. Love.

He had awoken alone this morning, curled up in Gaara's bed. He had taken a shower and had just been dressing when Gaara returned from.. somewhere.

Needless to say, he'd had to take another shower later on.

He sighed in contentment, his hands burrowed deep in his pockets. He was truly, undilutedly happy. He'd have to go down to Slum once more sometime to tell Haku about this.

He reached the awning and stepped under, stopping short when he saw the crew, along with Kakashi, Gai and Iruka, sitting leaned towards each other and speaking in low, earnest tones. "Wow. What's going on here?"

Nine shocked faces whipped around to look at him, and a silence threatened. Thankfully, Kakashi saved the day. "We were worrying about you."

Naruto might have considered this a great thing to do, but obviously nobody else under the awning agreed with him. Kakashi quailed a bit under the sudden barrage of glares he was confronted with. "Hey, honesty is the best."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah, it really is."

He sat down on Sasuke and his mattress and started unlacing his shoes. The others were silent behind him.

"Goddamnit dobe, we were really scared." Sasuke's voice was tight.

"Oh please... I'm in such a good mood, teme. Don't ruin it." Naruto didn't even mention the un-Sasuke-ness of the other kid's remark. If Sasuke wanted to be Mr. Hyde, he could.

"Oh really? Did you get fucked by our favorite serial killer again?" They were sitting back to back, the others a shocked audience. Sasuke's back was tense and he trembled against Naruto.

Naruto snarled. "As a matter of fact, teme, I did. I don't know why that's any of your fucking business."

Soft gasps sounded around them, and Sasuke went rigid.

The rest of the day passed in an uneasy silence. No one seemed to want to say anything. Lee and Gai went home soon, and Iruka and Kakashi went into the shop to have some fun. Sasuke stayed sitting on the side of the mattress, his knees pulled to his chest. Naruto wondered whether he should ask, but – he didn't want to get into a fight.

So he curled up on the mattress, savoring the pain on his back, and dreamed of Gaara.

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hmm. Kinda shitty chap, but there's a Sasuke bash!YAY!

heh.

PLEASE REVIEW. I know that there's times when its pretty dead on the site, but if I can see my hit count filling up and no reviews are coming in, I get pretty...

PISSED.

SO REVIEW. NOW.

(you'll get a replica of Gaara's knife)