Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Naruto fragment

Things that win: the person who reviewed Fair Play and referred to Yondaime as "old yeller."

That's special, that's what that is.

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(unfinished snippet for the prompt "camera obscura")

There was a row of picture frames on Naruto's windowsill; Gaara liked to take them down late at night and run his fingers along the frames. They were scratched and nicked, worn down from years of travelling in the bottom of Naruto's pack.

It became a nightly ritual, just one more among multitudes. Gaara waited until Naruto fell asleep, then took down the pictures, one by one. He laid them out on the floor and touched the frames reverently, memorizing the lines of Naruto's smile in each of them.

"That was my academy graduation picture," Naruto's voice was low and sleepy in his ear; Gaara froze as Naruto's arm reached over his shoulder to point at the picture. "Stupid photographer made me take a normal picture, but he let me have a copy of that one anyway."

He'd never been caught before; he waited for Naruto to ask why he'd taken the pictures with a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, but the question never came. Naruto rested his chin on Gaara's shoulder, turning his head so they were cheek to cheek.

His skin was very warm. Gaara picked up another picture with a slightly unsteady hand. "Tell me about this one."

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