DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE

With a wave of Yahiko's hand Naruto was dismissed, left to follow Gaara out of the apartment and then without so much as even a second glance and infuriatingly easily, out of the building. On the second to last step in the cold dimly lit lobby Gaara whipped around to face him with narrowed his eyes.

"If you try to escape, you will be killed, whether it is by me or someone else. It would be wise not to doubt me" With that he turned again and Naruto stuttered a bit, the clarity of his eyes stunting him before following suit.

"What's in the package?" Naruto asked in a faint whisper after a couple minutes of silence.

"Does it matter? Drugs, guns, bombs, just deliver it and receive the payment. That's all we do. Don't linger." Gaara spoke quickly but monotonously and softly so Naruto had a hard time keeping up.

"Where are we going?" Naruto asked after the second sharp turn Gaara had taken almost losing Naruto. The rain had left a flim over the asphalt of the streets, making it a confusing maze of twists and crosses.

They ducked under a jaggedly cut fence before they came upon the attractive lights of the city.

The two boys crossed into the more populated areas, with clearly intoxicated people, some guy was even trying to climb a street light. Gaara quickly darted into the underground subway and the boys slipped into the crowd, lost in the waves of faceless souls. They boarded the packed subway onto a rocky ride. Naruto almost lost his balance even though he stood against the walls. He never was the graceful type. Naruto noticed that Gaara moved with fluidity, movements of just what was needed and nothing in excess.

In that moment Naruto had a self aware realization of what they were really doing, and everyone else was oblivious.

The jerks that spread their legs too far, encroaching on others people's space did not care. The rugged looking homeless man did not notice, the two men asleep, leaning on each other were lost in the land of dreams and the other nameless bodies with earphones in their ears in the land of melodies and rhythms, whether it was phones or books in their noses people didn't even register they're presence. The first feeling was the feeling of dread and the second was the somewhat grounding feeling of loneliness, it crept back in like an anchor let go on a boat at sea. It felt like the last of his fingers were losing grip on reality.

When everything came back into focus the lighting tinted everything a harsh greenish blue color and Naruto hadn't noticed that he'd spaced out, staring at a woman until she had got up scowling and muttering something he hadn't caught. Gaara ended up tugging him out of his trance as they unboarded the subway with the flow of people.

Again, Gaara had set out without really any warning or signal, plowing straight ahead without looking back. Naruto had had enough and jerked his sweater sleeve, irritation written clearly in the lines and curves on his face.

"Hey! if it's as bad as you say, then at least tell me where we're going!"

With a murderous look on his face Gaara leaned in and murmured low and deadly, "Keep your voice down. Red light district. "

As if that was enough Gaara crossed the street and actually waited for Naruto to catch up. Naruto was familiar with red light districts, Haku worked in the one at Suna. The street was lined with bars and sleazy strip clubs and other shady places. Women tried to coax both boys from both sides of the streets and soon they stood in front of a small bar, the neon lights spelling out The Red Dragon.

A clammy sweat broke out on Naruto's brow and it was too warm and suffocating inside his jacket. Gaara entered without hesitance and the bartender acknowledged hims and jabbed his thumb behind him. The haze of smoke, sweat and liquor was offensively thick and pretty soon they found themselves outside an entrance. An ugly burly man stood outside, but once Gaara held up the package he stepped aside.

"Come here often?" Naruto whispered squeezing through the space the man left and Gaara grunted, he was taking that as a yes.

Behind the heavily piled red velvet curtains was even more smoke and the first thing he noticed was that large potted plants that stood at the corners of the room. In the center was a large pool table and a black haired man with amber almost yellow eyes immediately caught his attention. He had an air of royalty around him. The man stared Gaara down and then another boy, older than them, with short white hair and large glasses materialized at his side. Around the tables were other people but it was obvious who was the receiver of the package.

"Ahh, looks like you've finally arrived. The package?" Gaara went over and handed it to the man before quickly side stepping back out of his grasp. The man handed it to the boy to open all the while assessing both. Naruto was tense and subconsciously trying to hide himself until he felt Gaara elbow him in the side. He grunted and his heart was thumping and leapt up into his throat when the wrapping of package was peeled away to reveal baggies of white powder. The man looked to the boy and the boy mechanically snorted the powered from one finger.

After watching him silently for a couple of moments he must've been content with the reaction, as the man nodded to one of the butlers in the corner of the room who brought out a duffel bag. Inside the bag was wads of unopened, sealed money and a gun. Naruto, in actuality, had no idea what the hell was going on with the glances everyone seemed to be giving each other, but was told to stand guard so Gaara could count the money.

Naruto observed the lazy looking men, quietly smoking or chit-chatting amongst themselves. He felt and heard shifting behind him and the unsettling man gave him a long unimpressed glance that then shifted to Gaara. A droll smirk stretched out on his face.

"As always, it's a pleasure to do business with Yahiko." Neither of them responded and after a second Naruto felt the other move towards to exit.

A subtle movement caught his peripheral and in a flash all the men were armed but even as light bounced off metal, Naruto's brain still hadn't caught up.

It was the click of the gun that fast forwarded the world and Naruto grabbed at Gaara's hand as his breath caught. They froze rigid, staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Dont. Leave. Just. Yet."

There was a stillnes to all the bodies and the toxic air became very heavy. The man tsked and then there were several more metallic clicks, Naruto's eyes going wide, everyone was pointing a gun at someone, even the butler in the corner.

"It's rather rude to point at others, especially guests. Wouldn't you agree, officers?" A handful of the men tensed further and the one holding a gun to their face slowly brought it to his side.

"We've got the place surrounded, Orochimaru. You might as well give up" the gun was now aimed at the man, who looked like he was sitting in his very own throne.

"I could say the same for you" one of the men said.

Orochimaru was no longer amused and gave them a rather intimidating look. Still, there was no movements on any side and Gaara tried to quietly edge his way to the exit but two more guns were quickly shifted towards them.

"You two don't move. Drop it"

Naruto heard the muffled thud of the duffle bag hitting the carpet. He noticed that Orochimaru's hand twirled just a bit and he looked over his shoulder to his butler.

Naruto didn't care about anything else besides getting the hell out of there. His eyes frantically scanned the room and he heard quietly concealed footsteps making their way towards the entrance, slivers of shoes were peaking out just a bit from under the velvet curtains.

Both sides were occupied with each other and the only other exit was the window concealed by the plants. Naruto hadn't realized that he was still holding Gaara's hand until it twitched. He edged closer and looked over his shoulder discreetly, it wasn't that high but it was hidden in the shadows and the possibility that more than a bone or two would be broken was very high.

It felt as if the softest exhale would cause the pull of the trigger, and while the thought of jumping was crazy, at least it wasn't the third story.

There was another stretched moment of tense silence before someone decided to fire the first shot, the sound was rattling and ricocheted madly inside Naruto's head, deafening in its sound and vibration. Naruto's legs made a beeline for the window, even though they felt like noodles. He was pulling at Gaara frantically and was scared to find resistance.

"The bag" he heard him hiss and he slipped out of his grip. Naruto looked up just in time to see one of the barrels aiming for Gaara so acting on instinct he gripped the back of his jacket and pulled.

The shot caused a wave of deeply rooted dread to run through his body. Naruto gripped tighter, shut his eyes, and jumped. A muffled shout of "Wait! Stop!" was faint but it was already too late.

The feeling of free falling would have been exhilarating at any other point if he wasn't worried about dying or whether he had pissed himself. For a second he welcomed death rather than the landing. The air was forced out of him and when he landed on his bottom he saw stars behind his eyes. The pain shot up his spine straight to his head and for a moment he thought he had shattered every bone in his body. Something was stabbing him and he heard an 'oomph' besides him.

Naruto was swarmed in total darkness and after blinking for a couple of seconds he realized nothing was broken but he was temporarily blinded. The commotion in the distance caught his attention and his eyes adjusted to the far away sight of the lit streets. Disoriented his hands felt around, touching slime and something resistant and a groan escaped him. Naruto heard rustling and a grunt and a horrible odor assaulted his senses.

"Gaara!? Psst Gaara are you ok?"

"I'm in a dumpster" it was a mix between a statement and a question. The sound flooded him with indescribable relief and he almost started laughing, Gaara wasn't shot and they were alive.

Naruto almost started stupidly laughing until he heard dogs barking in the distance, that was their signal to go. The barking made Gaara go stiff and there was frantic rustling before he whispered,

"Go! Now! They're coming"

The boys made an attempt at a mad dash to get out of the dumpster, but it wasn't easy wading through a sea of trash, stomach deep. There was undignified flopping and uncomfortable sensations all around. Naruto almost face planted to the ground, he'd never gone dumpster diving before. Maybe the offensive odor would repel the dogs, Naruto mused on the cold ground catching his breath. The front was indeed surrounded by police and Gaara yanked on Naruto's jacket before he could dart out into the light of the streets.

"Other way"

Together they managed to jump over a fence and into a neighboring street. The street was still crawling with cops but less and adrenaline sparked within Naruto, he had nearly escaped the death and the feeling was incredible. This part was the easy part, I'm good at this part. They managed to tiptoe past the cops and by simply throwing a heavy rock in their opposite direction leaving them time to make a beeline for the subway station.

Naruto almost stumbled going down the stairs and once they were finally in the awkward space of the subway he noticed Gaara had food in his hair. He laughed and he got a scowl in return,

"You don't look any better"

There was some dark humor on his face regardless of his scowl and Naruto clicked his tongue and smirked lightly at the dirty ground.

*OoOoO*

The trek back to the apartment was covered in silence and the uneasiness once again settled over Naruto as they neared Yahiko's door. Gaara knocked heavily and once Konan saw them surprise came over her features and her nose scrunched.

"Where the hell have you two been?"

They merely walked past her into the living room where Yahiko sat smoking something with two people and Deidara and Sasori. He looked surprised,

"What happened?"

He came over and Naruto felt a rush of something unpleasant when Yahiko started eyeing for any injuries on them.

He picked at strands of Gaara's bloody red hair and pulled away a noodle, laughing. Gaara thrust the duffle bag that had a burnt bullet sized hole in it towards Yahiko and waited.

"Did anyone see you that shouldn't have?" He asked in what Naruto could tell was formed into another question altogether. He pawed through the bag for anything amiss, counting the money and admiring the gun.

"They were cops"

Yahiko froze, face unreadable

"...and?"

"They're probably all dead"

"Probably?"

Gaara shrugged.

"Orochimaru?"

"might as well be"

He was tense, with his arms crossed, he was waiting for something.

"How'd you get out then?"

"Jumped out a window"

Yahiko almost smiled and snickered like it was a joke,

"Kids these days...So reckless."

He turned to them and his amber eyes looked sharp like a hawks.

"How was Naruto?"

"Fine. He pushed us out the window" Gaara averted his eyes for just a second and said it like he said anything else but there was an edge to it, something in his face or voice that told Naruto that he distinctly didn't like it. Yahiko seemed to be satisfied and leaned back from his intense watch.

Naruto was surprised when he found money out into his dirty hand.

"Run along now. Good job, not so bad, right?" Yahiko was staring him down and Naruto nodded once because he got the feeling that that was what he was supposed to do.

"Any oppositions this time?"

Naruto merely blinked at him, still with defiance and muttered 'no.'

"I'll see you in a bit" he said to them and Gaara was turning to leave when Yahiko called out over his shoulder.

"Watch him"

Gaara was as passive as ever but shot a look to Naruto and went across the hall. The door was left open and when Naruto was about to ask why Gaara disappeared into the bathroom slamming the door behind him. Everyone from across the hall could see them and Naruto retreated to the room. There was bits of food plastered all over him and in his hair and a mysterious substance coated his other hand. The money was nestled in his other hand and the thought made him giddy.

His head whipped left and right to look for a hiding place and then settled on sticking it under the mattress. Probably not the best idea but it'll do for now.

A knock sounded on the door and Naruto opened the door to find sweatpants and a plain long sleeve on the couch. Confused, he searched for Gaara but realized he was gone. The door was still wide open and Yahiko and them were obnoxiously loud with their music and laughing but Naruto knew better than to shut the door, instead he darted into the safety of the bathroom. The warm water was pleasant on his skin and the layers of grime were slowly washed down the drain. Even though the place was in a rundown, dingy apartment it was better than most, Yahiko's place was probably the best and most spacious. This made questions whirl around in his head, knocking into each other and running on endlessly. Maybe he could ask Gaara.

Naruto ended up staring at his reflection in the mirror, his hair looked better without all the food in it and the whisker marks on his face were almost invisible. He was skinny and had always been the pipsqueak but now he was long and very obviously awkward. He made faces in the mirror, pulling and poking at his skin and body. He felt different, but he didn't look different.

When Naruto emerged in a billow of warm air he found Gaara in the kitchen with a cereal bowl cradled in his hand leaning against the counter wearing the same exact thing. The door was finally closed but Naruto could still hear the damn music.

"Oh, hey, you're here. I thought you had left." Gaara merely watched him, chewing.

"Who gave us these clothes?"

"Who would?" Yahiko.

Naruto nodded and sat down, helping himself to some cereal. There was awkwardness now that they weren't in immediate danger so Naruto ignored it by reading the back of the box.

"Don't the neighbors ever file a noise complaint?" he chewed through the question and Gaara eyed him with distaste until Naruto got the message and shut his mouth. Alright then, kill them with kindness Naruto sighed at his own thought and faced Gaara with his arms around his knees.

"Why?"

"They all work for him"

"Everyone here works for him? Why?"

"They're all like us"

The thought was unsettling, Yahiko did make Naruto rather suspicious with all his smiles and fake interest in their well being, he saw how he had stared at the contents of the duffle bag.

"Does that always happen? I mean,...what happened tonight?" Gaara looked irritated at answering all these questions but Naruto would persist until he answered them.

"No" and just like that Naruto had run out of questions. He was wondering whether he wanted to get personal with Gaara and thought what the hell. When he turned his back on Naruto to the sink he cleared his throat and stupidly asked,

"...So you live here?"

There was crickets chirping in the car distance and Naruto winced because that was not the right thing to say.

"Why don't you lea-"

"You ask too many questions"

"I'm just curious"

"Haven't you heard curiosity killed the cat"

"I have, don't care for it. Why don't you ask me something then if it bothers you"

He found himself meeting the dangerously narrowed green eyes of Gaara before he even finished his sentence.

"Why did you pull me out the window"

"Because you were going to get shot at if I didn't?"

"Why" the thought bothered him and Naruto frowned at him.

"Because I didn't want you to die"

"You don't know me. I wouldn't have done the same for you"

"I don't have to, I don't want your blood on my hands especially if I could've done something about it. Would you've preferred if I hadn't?" Naruto twirled the spoon in his hands and eyed his reflection.

"You'll end up in a ditch if you play the hero"

"I wasn't, I'd just want someone to be there to pull me out if I was stuck"

Gaara lessened his glare and turned back to his dishes. Naruto almost missed the low murmur,

"This isn't the place to make friends"

He wasn't entirely sure if it was directed at him.

*OoOoO*

The rest of the night they sat in front of the television in silence. Well Naruto was watching whatever was playing and Gaara was seated against the window ledge, looking outside.

Naruto couldn't help but ask,

"Why don't you leave? If they give you money and stuff..."

"Why didn't you run when we were coming up or down the halls? Or when they weren't watching?"

Naruto stared at Gaara before his eyes floated back to the screen, unseeing and detached. The thought wouldn't leave him alone and echoed in his head long after Deidara had shown up and Gaara left.