Warnings: Male/Male relationships. Meaning there will be sexy time... eventually. Don't like, don't read. I don't go to your het fics just to say, "Ewww, are they straight? Gross." (Though that would be pretty funny.)

Murder and detailed descriptions of crime scenes. It can get a bit squeamish at times if you're not used to it. Though for the most part, I think it's pretty tame.

Akatsuki Members shamelessly being killed off. I sorry, I hate to do it but it's for the plot. I don't care how insanely awesome Hidan and Kakuzu are, or how much you want to have Deidara's babies. NO ONE. IS. SAFE. (Watch none of them die. I have no idea.)

Lastly, un beta-ed so expect a few grammatical errors now and then. I'll do my best to proof read though!

AN: I got this idea at like two o'clock in the morining while making a sandwich. It's not completely thought out yet, so I'm basically just writting it as it goes along. It's crime AU, but I don't pretend I know much about the legal system or law enforcement. (well, techncally I do pretend since I'm writting like I know what the hell I'm talking about... Which I don't most of the time.) I've done some research, and still doing it, but please don't be offended if I get some of my details wrong. Let's just call it... artistic license? ;) Well anyway, I hope you enjoy! Reviews are very welcomed!


The Distance Between Us

-Prologue-


"God, I love it when they run,"

The door slammed shut as Kiba eagerly jumped back into the passenger seat of their dark cruiser. The car shook from the impact of Kiba's excitement and he turned a toothy grin over to his partner as he slipped back into the driver's seat. "You up for a chase?" Kiba smiled.

"Not like I have much of a choice," Naruto smiled back as the car jerked into motion, sirens blaring as it zoomed down the dark city streets. It's really not part of their job description to actually chase down the perps, that's what the cops were for. But Naruto was never one to sit back and wait while in the heat of action.

The lights from the black BMW were just within sight as it raced wildly down through the once quiet streets. Naruto and Kiba were fast on their heels, adrenaline pumping as they followed the black and red blur. Naruto grinned arrogantly as he noticed the BMW taking a sharp right onto a dark, narrow street, the tail end skidding across the pavement as it turned.

"They don't seem to know the area," .The grin in Kiba's voice was evident.

Naruto shook his head with a small smile, "I guess we could call for back up now. Have them block off the intersections down on Rochester, ASAP."

Kiba nodded wordlessly, shouting his orders through the radio communicator on his side. Naruto sped up slightly, following the BMW down the narrow street. They were about to hit the intersection at any moment. Naruto's hands practically white knuckled the steering wheel as he kept on their tail. After turning down this street, there was nowhere for the other car to got except the main road heading towards the small intersection.

When the BMW took another sharp left, Naruto grinned and followed right after it. He could see the end of the intersection coming into view as he turned and saw the flashing lights up head. When the car reached the intersection, Naruto watched as it turned quickly, the rubber tires screeching loudly across the pavement as it skidded to a halt in the middle of the opening. He could hear Kiba howling with excitement from his right as their cruiser finally reached the car, skidding to a stop a few yards away from the black BMW.

Kiba was already reaching for his holster as he hopped out of their vehicle, approaching their now immobile pursuit. "Step out of the car and put your hands behind your head!" Kiba shouted as he poised his gun and made his way cautiously to the driver's side. From what Naruto could see, the culprits weren't complying.

"Put your goddamn hands where I can see them!" Naruto heard Kiba shout as he followed the brunet's lead and made his way over to the passenger side, his gun ready and poised as well. The two occupants of the vehicle had their head lowered almost out of sight. Suspicious, Naruto beckoned over to the officers already on slight, recognizing a couple of them as officers Yamanaka and Akamichi, for backup. He faintly watched them approach the vehicle behind them as well.

"Out of the car or we open fire!" Naruto shouted, approaching the passenger side closer before pausing when he saw movement. Slowly, he noticed both the occupants raise their hands before stepping out of the vehicle.

"Down on the ground! Hands where I can see them!" Kiba shouted, and Naruto watched as the duo slowly did as they were told. Naruto was almost relieved yet a little disappointed as they went down without much of a fight. They've been after these two for quite some months. Both suspected of multiple accounts of grand theft auto and attempted murder, you'd think they'd put up more of a fight.

"You have the right to shut the fuck up. Everything you say can and will be used against you when they fry your ass on the stand--" Naruto shook his head and tuned out the rest of Kiba's words and forcibly handcuffed the man's hands behind his back and threw him into the back of their cruiser followed closely by his accomplice. Kiba grinned at him from over the hood of their car, "Pretty fucking anti-climactic, huh?"

"Tell me about it." Naruto sighed. "Stay here, I'll thank the kids." Naruto smiled at him as he walked over to the "kids." That's what they all called all regular uniform cops, being just below where he and Kiba are ranked. It's not to be taken in a spiteful way, just a nickname of sorts.

Naruto smiled as he approached the long haired blonde female as she slipped her gun back into her holster. "Hey, Ino!" He waved happily. The woman looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Uzumaki. I see you got your men."

"Of course, Naruto Uzumaki always gets his man!" Naruto grinned. "But you guys got here fast. Thanks for the backup."

"No problem," Ino said as she glanced over at her partner Choji, already on radio. "We were patrolling the area when we got your call. Glad we could help."

Naruto smiled. He knew Ino for almost three years now. She was close friends with his childhood friend Sakura Haruno. They were so much alike sometimes it was almost scary, but even scarier if you actually told them that. They had a tendency to shout and argue whenever they were in the same room with each other, but Naruto knew they were close friends. Naruto had a relationship like that once--

"Earth to Uzumaki! Hello?" Ino waved her hand in front of his face. Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and grinned.

"Sorry, long night. Well I better get back to Kiba before he beats those two half to death. I'll see you around!" Naruto shouted back over his shoulder as he jogged back to his cruiser and hopped into the driver's seat.

"Ready to head back?" he smiled.

"Gun it," Kiba said.

The clock ticked at a quarter past midnight as Naruto Uzumaki sat at his desk as he narrowed his eyes at the offending sheet of paper in front of him. He hated this part of his job. He became an agent so he could help put criminals behind bars, not right reports. But that was half of his job so he knew he had to suffer through it. But really, how the hell would Naruto know exactly what time the criminals were apprehended? He was way to busy chasing them to check the damn time!

Sighing dejectedly he dropped his pen down on his desk with a clatter and reached over to his now luke warm cup of ramen. He had barely been able to eat anything all day, but that was the price of the job, not that he was complaining. Naruto loved his job. He had wanted to be in law enforcement ever since he graduated from high school. It wasn't just the thrill of the chase, or the adrenaline rush he got that made him love his job. It was the achievement and satisfaction he felt after knowing he had helped put a criminal behind bars. Just knowing that he was able to rid this corrupt world of just one criminal was enough to keep him satisfied.

But Naruto was not naïve. He used to believe whole heartedly in the justice system. He believed that anyone who broke the law will eventually be brought to justice. That's how he was raised. His grandfather who raised him was Chief of Police, and even his father was a great law enforcement agent, or so he's been told. His father had been killed in the line of duty when he was just an infant, and his mother died of an illness not long after. He had been brought up by his grandfather, Jiraiya ever since, and he was raised on that belief in justice.

That was up until high school, anyway.

When Naruto was seventeen, he knew a boy named Sasuke Uchiha. He knew him since kindergarten, actually. And even then, they didn't get along very well. They were exact opposites. While Naruto was a sunny, cheerful, and mischievous kid, Sasuke was a dark, serious, and well behaved child. Like oil and vinegar, night and day, they just did not mesh. Naruto couldn't stand how arrogant and well behaved the other boy was and constantly picked fights with him. Naruto would call him a bastard, and Sasuke would call him and idiot, or any other variations on that word, and it would proceed from there.

This lasted all the way through to high school. In high school, Sasuke was popular, smart, athletic, and chick magnet. And Naruto? Naruto couldn't stand him. He hated how many people threw themselves at him, no matter how big of a bastard he was. He hated how smart he was, even if he barely even tried. But even though Naruto couldn't stand him, and they fought and argued like cats and dogs, he couldn't deny that there was always a sort of closeness they shared. Naruto didn't have many close friends back then, and Sasuke, even though extremely popular, only really paid attention to Naruto. Neither of them would have ever admitted it out loud, but they were friends. Not the sleep over each other's house and tell each other secrets kind of friends, but they were friends; in their own weird, corrupted way.

But when they were seventeen, something happened. Something that Naruto had never dealt with and something he could not fully understand back then. Sasuke's family was brutally murdered in his own house when he was just seventeen years old. And the culprit? None other than the person he looked up to his entire life, his older brother, Itachi Uchiha.

Naruto was shocked to find out something like that could actually happen so close to home. He could only imagine what Sasuke must have felt, and even that probably couldn't compare to what the boy was actually going through. Naruto had found out about the whole incident on the news, after Sasuke had been absent from school for two days straight. Sakura had cried for her first love, but Naruto could not cry. Because back then, Naruto had believed that everything would be okay in the end. Sasuke's brother would most definitely be brought to justice for the crimes he had committed, and Sasuke would be relieved. That's what he was sure of.

But that's not what happened. The trial of Itachi Uchiha lasted for almost a year. And being an Uchiha, he was able to get some of the greatest defense attorneys around who would be willing to sink to any level to get the Uchiha out. And in the end, they found Itachi Uchiha not guilty. Soon after, Itachi had disappeared along with a few from his defense team, never to be heard from again.

The justice system had failed Sasuke that day.

Naruto wasn't able to see Sasuke the entire time during the trials. Only managing to catch glimpses of his dejected, sullen face on television and newspapers to see how the other was holding up. It wasn't until the day after the trials that Naruto had seen Sasuke again. Sakura had called him in tears, telling him that Sasuke was leaving; that he was going to find his brother and deal with him on his own. A chill ran through Naruto's body and he went to go confront the Uchiha.

What went down that day was something that Naruto would never forget. Such intense fury and rage was new to him, and he didn't know how to handle such a person. That night, Sasuke had left Naruto in the hospital. And that was the last time Naruto had ever seen him.

And now, almost seven years later, that moment was still a big part of his life, almost like a turning point. It was probably the main reason why he wanted to put himself in the law enforcement business. To prove to himself that maybe he can make a difference in the world, one criminal at a time.

"Still working on that report aye, Naruto?" The smooth, amused sounding voice startled Naruto from his thoughts as he looked up at the tall silver haired man entering his office, his only visible right eye curving in amusement.

"You know how I am, Kakashi." Naruto smiled sheepishly up at his captain. "I don't get off duty until two. I still have time."

"It's one-thirty seven." Kakashi stated dryly. Naruto gaped openly at the time, wondering how he managed to space out for so long.

"Shit, how did that happen?" Naruto glared back down at his unfinished report lying innocently on his desk beneath his ramen cup.

"Something on your mind, kid?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "No, not really. I guess I haven't been sleeping much lately. This last case was a pain."

Kakashi nodded wordlessly as he walked casually around Naruto's office, kicking a few empty cups of ramen out of the way as he gazed momentarily at a picture on top of his file cabinet. Naruto looked up at the photo Kakashi was starring at and smiled for a moment. It was a picture of him and Sakura after high school graduation. His arm wrapped tightly around his friend's neck, with a giant smile on his bandaged face. Sakura was smiling with a small grimace on his face. She really wasn't the same after Sasuke left, and seeing Naruto in his beat up state back then probably wasn't helping much.

"Ms. Haruno came by for you this afternoon." Kakashi suddenly stated, roving his eyes over the rest of Naruto's small office.

"Sakura? What'd she say?" Naruto asked as he pushed away from his desk and leaned back in his chair.

"Not much. She was just looking for you. She said she'd call you tomorrow." Naruto nodded blankly, wondering what was so important that she'd have to stop by to tell him.

With a sigh, Naruto rolled his shoulders and stretched his arms above his head until he heard that comforting pop. "Well, I better get back to work on this damn report. I really don't want to stay any longer than I have to in this place. It feels like I haven't seen my bed in weeks."

Kakashi nodded and walked around to the front of Naruto's desk. "Good job this time, by the way. You deserve the rest. Finish up here and get some rest. Who knows the next time you'll be able to do so again." Kakashi said ominously with a straight face.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at his captain suspiciously but Kakashi merely smiled and raised his hand in a silent farewell. At his captain's departure, Naruto slouched back into his seat and continued to glare at his unfinished report. He glanced back up at the clock; it looked like he would be staying late after all. With a sigh, he picked up his pen and tried to get back to work. But in the back of his mind, all he could seem to think about was his old friend, Sasuke. Someone whom he never thought he'd see again.

But little did he know, he was about to get deeply involved with his old friend again in ways he would have never imagined.

TBC


Yes, I know. It's very short. But it's just the prologue! The actual chapters will begin to get much longer. This was basically just an introduction to some of the main characters. The first chapter should be coming up soon! Please tell me what you think!