Disclaimer: I don't own any part of Naruto, nor any of its characters. I just own the plot and a little Shikamaru plushy... And maybe a Gaara poster or two. You get the point! A/N at the bottom. Enjoy!
Dignity of a Criminal
Chapter 1
Hinata tried to keep her eyes on the road as she fought off sleep. Her boot forced the pedal to the floor and her hands held the steering wheel so tightly that the leather groaned in protest. The mustang's headlights cut through the darkness of the high way. She relaxed her white knuckles and flicked at the cruise control a few times until she successfully hit it in the dark. She turned her head to peer into the back seat, but a bump in the asphalt forced her eyes back to the road. Blue and red lights flashed in her rear-view mirror and her scowl deepened.
"I don't have time for this!" She slammed on the brakes and swerved violently to the right side of the road.
"God woman, be a little more gentle would you!" The man beside her had one hand clutching his arm rest and the other holding tight to his head rest. She almost laughed at the look of outright discomfort on his face, it being the only expression she'd seen on his face, but she swallowed her laughter in light of their situation.
Hinata dug her fake license out from inside her bag and attempted to pull her stolen outfit back into place. She was positive that she looked a mess, and there was little to no hope for the once perfect make up that was caked lightly to her skin. One of her blue contacts may even be missing.
"Alright, alright. You've primped enough and you still look like crap. Who're you tryin' to impress?" His southern drawl was thick, but easily understandable. The red head threw his arm over the back of her chair, and his green eyes widened. "You might want to start the engine Princess, cause that ain't a cop."
"What are you talking about? Of course it is-not! Gunning it! Hold on! If you fly out the window I'm not going back for you." Hinata floored the gas and the tires fought for traction on the rain slicked asphalt. The 'cop' was chasing after them, and at least three gunshots hit the back of the car, but plenty of bullets whizzed past the vehicle; the guy sure was packing heavy.
Hinata glanced at the red head in the passenger seat, who's face was slowly turning a green that matched his heavily hooded eyes, then flicked her gaze back to the road. She worried her lower lip between her teeth, perfectly aware that Gaara was staring. A thump from the back seat caught her attention.
"Guy hit the floor. Don't worry Hina, I'll get him up." Gaara undid his seat belt with slightly shaking fingers and jumped over the middle separator of the front seats, managing to only bump his head once in the short vehicle; Hinata was impressed until she realized he'd called her Hina.
She heard his voice from the back seat, grumbling to himself in what must have been Spanish, but with his horrible accent sounded butchered and Americanized despite his fluent knowledge of the language, and then saw a flash of short, spiky blonde hair that was slowly being stained red in her mirrors. She groaned. Blood was going to be way too much of a hassle to get out of her carpets.
. . . . .
Heels were Satin's version of a practical joke, or maybe they were just his way of saying he was a sexist sadist. Whatever they were, Hinata was sure by the end of the night that she would be happy to slap the devil shoes-6 inch high, sparkly, pink hooker heels-into a box with no return address on an express way to Hell.
She sat down behind the bar and flipped open her cell phone, peering over the screen to the table across the room where a group of rowdy men were sloshing beer from their mugs to the floor. A grimace overtook the plastic smile that had been on her face for the past hour; she'd be the one to clean that up if her plan didn't work out. She looked back down to the out dated cell phone screen, then let out a huff of air.
She'd been undercover for two weeks, and she'd finally found her target. She shot off a quick text to her partner, who she was sure was just around the block in some kind of vehicle that he deemed 'inconspicuous', but in reality, was bound to get him robbed on any street he parked on. She stood up, her feet already throbbing with the effort of not wobbling, put her tray back on her shoulder, and did her best to pull her 'uniform's' miniskirt down as far as she could without flashing anybody. She refilled a few of the chilled mugs she'd pulled from the mini fridge under the stained bar and headed towards the men; she was going for the one in glasses.
She could tell his hair was greasy from across the room, and as she got closer, it became even harder to not notice the man's overall lack of hygene. 'Drug lords', was the first thing that crossed her mind, then 'Men' quickly followed. His silver hair was slicked back into a pony tail, and a few limp strands fell down around his face, framing the round glasses that kept sliding down his nose. She stopped next to the table and set the tray down in front of him; he smirked up at her while he pushed his glasses back up his nose.
"On the house, handsome," Hinata almost choked, almost. Her smile faltered just slightly from a megawatt to a kilowatt as she watched a drop of, what she prayed to God was hair gel, drip from his bangs down to mix with the beer and drool on the table. His skin was a sickening white behind his overly large frames, and the hollows of his cheeks almost appeared bruised in the dim lighting of what passed for a restaurant in this part of Konoha, but his eyes, his eyes were alive and swimming with intelligence. Hinata winked at him, and fought the urge to shudder when he licked his lips.
"Why don't you stay and play a while, baby. We were just talking about you." His very voice grated on her nerves. His speech was slurred, and the first thought the man conjured in her mind was Snake.
Her mission was to infiltrate, inspect, and remove by force. She ran through her checklist in her mind. Infiltrate; she subconsciously fingered the hem of her cutoff shirt that stopped just above her pierced naval; check. Inspect; she watched as the tall male beside her snake-like suspect emptied an entire pill bottle of what appeared to be illegal muscle stimulants into his mug; check. Separate by force; now this was going to be fun.
"I'll just take you boys up on that offer." She swung a chair around and planted her rear to it rather ungracefully. She swung her leg up so her calf was level with his face, and slowly rolled her ankle. "Heels are killer on a woman." She dragged her foot slowly back to her, scraping the top of her shoe on the underside of her suspects' chin, and slid her leg down his chest, smooth as liquid. She prided herself when she didn't flinch when he slid her fingers down her calf as she pulled it back to herself. She crossed her legs daintily. "So, are you gonna tell me the name of such a handsome young man?" She slipped into a more relaxed posture, allowing her shirt to reveal just a bit more to the man before her. She slid her hand onto his thigh and started drawing circles with her thumb.
"Name's Kabuto, but you can call me anything you feel like, baby doll." Kabuto slid his arm around her shoulders, pressing his fingers to the exposed side of her breast. 'Gotcha, you're definitely my man.' He leaned in and placed a wet kiss to her neck; she bit her lip to keep from screaming. She slid her hand up his side and to his neck, and quickly pressure pointed him. She watched with a smile as he fell to the ground beside his comrades, who just laughed with jeers of 'lightweight' and cat calls aimed in her direction. She pulled her phone out and dialed speed dial 7.
"Yo. Yeah, it's me Hinata. We got him. 'Kay. Bye Sasuke." She slammed her phone shut, and strutted to the front door. She held it open as a full police squad rushed in, hand cuffed the unconscious man, the tall muscle-head, Jugo, and the smaller shark-like man with the pointed teeth, Suigetsu, and watched with glee as they were less than gently thrown against the car windows and read their rights.
"Good job partner, but you may want to wipe the slobber from your neck some time soon before it starts attracting flies." Sasuke's voice rang out from behind her, and she spun around quickly to greet it. "Hey, when did that happen?" She followed his line of view, and fingered her belly button piercing self-consciously.
"About 6 years ago now, so when I was 17. I lost a bet." He held his jacket out to her, which she gladly took and wrapped around her shoulders. "What would I do without you, bro?"
"I'm not your bro," He paused to stick his tongue out at her, "but you'd be stuck watching your chick flicks by yourself on those lonely Friday nights." Sasuke took a deep breath once they'd left the bar's parking lot, pausing only for a moment while Hinata gave a brief report to the on-site 'Head Honcho' as she'd called the man, Shino, once he'd turned his back.
"You know, you should dress like that more often." He winked at her, and she feigned a gasp.
"But Sasuke dearest, I thought you were gay!" She slapped him lightly on the chest, then stopped beside the black ferari to her right.
"You know very well I'm just pretty, not gay." He raised an eyebrow, and threw her a questioning glance. "How'd you know that was my car?" Hinata just rolled her eyes.
. . . . .
Hinata slammed the car door shut once her feet were firmly placed on the concrete sidewalk. She waited until Sasuke had rounded the back of the car and locked it before she slipped her elbow around his and set off up the drive way to their house. Sasuke was the first one up the stairs of the porch, mainly because Hinata had stopped at the bottom of them to wrench the heels from her feet, so he unlocked the door and held it open for the sore young woman. He bowed with grandeur when she stepped over the threshold, to which she rolled her eyes and blushed brightly.
"You're such a geek Sasuke. You know that right?"
Sasuke almost looked hurt, but his look quickly turned to one of false indignation. "How could you say such a thing? I am the most handsome and sexy male to ever walk the planet. I don't know how you've resisted me all these years Hi-na-ta."
Hinata laughed openly and shoved him towards the stairs to the second floor. "It's because I've known you for all these years." She stuck her tongue out at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Sasuke started up the stairs to his half of the shared home, calling out a 'You know you want me, you can't resist this forever!' from his place in the stairwell. "Yeah right. When that happens, you can call my father and tell him I want to move back in with him to help run the accounting business with Neji!"
Hinata laughed to herself as she shuffled to through the kitchen, past her bedroom, and to the bathroom where she planned to use the paint scraper on her face to remove all the make up she had on. She dropped Sasuke's jacket in the laundry basket in the hall before she stepped into the cubicle of a bathroom and prepared herself for damage control. She slowly turned to the mirror, and had to catch herself on the hanging towel rack.
A hooker. That's what she'd seen in the mirror, and that is something she'd never want to be seen as. She reeked of smoke and booze, and in an instant, she'd torn her clothing off and breezed into the shower, not even waiting for the water to heat up before she'd stepped under it and started rubbing her skin raw. The fake spray tan was the first to go.
. . . . .
God, she felt good. She lay back farther on her bed and pushed the book down closer to her face to block out the light of her small bedside lamp. She listened to the soft sound of Sasuke moving around his room on the second floor. A small smile lit up her pale face as she thought of him. Best friends since elementary school, trusted companion through junior high, and practically her legal guardian in high school. They'd been friends for as long as she could care to remember, and as far as she knew, it'd stay that way. Now they were partners in crime, crime stopping that is. He'd been on the force for a year longer than she had, due to the one year age difference, but now that she'd graduated school and finished all of her training for her recent promotion, they were partners. Of course they were part of a larger team, but the two of them worked together without a team better, so she usually just stuck to him if she could. Tons of fond memories with the man, even if she still considered him a kid. She couldn't believe how much she missed having to take care of him sometimes, but then he'd open his mouth and she wouldn't miss it quite so much anymore.
"Go to bed Sasuke!" Hinata threw her book up at the ceiling, rewarding herself with a loud thump on the plaster and then silence from above.
"Shuddup Hina, I'm workin' on it!" Sasuke yelled from above. She doubled over on her bed, her sides aching from laughing so hard, and she mentally patted herself on the back. Only she could get him to loosen up like that, or to talk so freely. It felt nice, and it almost made her feel powerful, but then she'd laugh at herself, because it really didn't. He was always such a stiff whenever they went anywhere. She flicked the switch on her lamp and lay her head back on her pillow, not even bothering to get under the sheets.
The shuffling of feet finally stopped when she heard the squeaking of bed springs and a gentle thunk. "He jumped into bed." There was a loud crash, followed by a stream of what she was sure were swear words, and then a loud 'Sorry!' floated down the stairs. "He tried to turn the light switch off with his boot again. What a child." The neighbor's dog started barking angrily from across the alley, most likely from all the racket. She turned onto her side with a chuckle. "Good night, Sasuke." She whispered into her pillow.
. . . . .
"Wake up! Wake up! Wake up, Hinata! Come on! Wake up, wake up, wake up-" Hinata punched whoever it was that was yelling in her face at, she glanced over to the clock on her bedside table, 7am on her day off. She sat up slowly with a groan, as did the brunette male that was lying prostrate on her floor attempting to nurse his throbbing skull. Hinata sighed and pulled her hair back into a long pony tail with a band from around her wrist. She swung her feet over the edge of her bed and lightly glared down at the man, before she was tackled back into bed by a beast. Sasuke ran into her room swiftly after with a baseball bat in hand.
Hinata groaned from under the weight of the massive dog, before looking towards Sasuke with a judgmental gleam in her eye. "You're a cop, and the first thing you grab when you think you hear an intruder, is a bat. Not a gun. A bat." Sasuke blushed lightly, before catching himself in the act and sobering up. She shouldered the dog off of her chest to suck in a deep breath of air, and stood up beside her bed. "Ridiculous. Anyways, what did you need me for so badly that you had to break into my house with your beast-dog at 7 in the morning Kiba?" She put her hands on her hips as she addressed the brunette who was scratching at the new tattoos on his cheeks; upside down, bright red triangles that covered at least 50% of the available skin on his face.
Kiba looked up at her sheepishly from the ground, his dog, Akamaru, sitting obediently behind him. "I forgot." He closed his eyes and started laughing nervously. Hinata looked towards Sasuke, and Sasuke nodded, then cracked his knuckles.
. . . . .
"Sasuke! Hinata! Not cool man!" Kiba yelled while all the blood rushed to his head. He kicked at the rope that was holding him by his left ankle a little more than two feet above the ground. "I just forgot, c'mon! You even hit me in the head Hinata, that's gotta count for something! Let me down!" He turned towards Akamaru, who was sleeping peacefully in the lush grass of the yard. "Traitor."
Hinata sighed from her spot on the porch, tea cup in hand and watched the sun finish rising into the horizon. Sasuke soon sat down on the porch steps to her left, and turned to watch Kiba wriggling like a fish. "How long do you figure it'll take him to get down? I'd bet $20 on an hour."
Hinata paused to think about it. "I'd say $50 on 3 minutes." Sasuke spat in his hand and reached it out to her to shake. She looked from his hand up to his straight-laced face, then shook her head. She spit in her hand and quickly shook his, then wiped the mess on the sleeve of his shirt. He grimaced. "It's what you get, nasty boy." Sasuke smiled as he brought his coffee mug up to his lips.
"You don't know how nasty I can be." He muttered into his mug, and looked at her through half-lidded eyes. Hinata choked on her tea, shot him a glare, that quickly bubbled over into uncontrollable laughter, which Sasuke added to with his deep, baritone voice.
"What's so funny you guys?!" Kiba shouted from across the expanse of the lawn. Sasuke stopped laughing, and brought his drink up yet again, in an attempt to irritate Kiba by ignoring the brand new college graduates' question. Kiba kicked again at the knot, which chose that exact moment to not want to be a knot anymore. Hinata and Sasuke watched as Kiba fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. Hinata held her hand out to Sasuke, who was staring wide-eyed at the stunned boy.
"Pay up, pretty boy." Hinata smiled smugly. Kiba tried to stand, but fainted from the blood rushing from his head back to the feet he couldn't feel. Hinata chuckled quietly to herself while Sasuke dug around in his pocket for his wallet, all the time grumbling about 'stupid dog- boys'. Today would be a better day than she'd thought.
. . . . .
1. Ah, first chapter is finito! That's another language for... something.
2. I don't have much to say for this except for my character development will be different from the show and manga, so if you hate the idea of Hinata being a bit braver due to reasons I shall explain later (promise!) and a Sasuke that is actually somewhat ENJOYABLE to be around, or if you hate the idea of them just being good friends in general (a story of which I will also explain more in depth) then this ain't the fic for y-o-u!
3. However... If you like gun fights, infiltration missions, getaway cars complete with fake cop car chases, disguises, a surprise romance, major and unexpected plot twists, and loveable yet kick-butt characters with lots of real people traits, and a few that relate to the show... (I'm rambling ladidadidaaa) ... then continue to read on and stay excited for the next chapter!
4. This... is gonna be gooood! hehe. Ah Disney...
5. Rated M for future violence, suspense, real life situations, and maybe some sexual implications, but there will be nothing besides that in that genre of romance. Just thought I'd add this in at the beginning so no one's disappointed or anything. So-rry.
R & R Gracias! That's Spanish... for something! See ya, Love AMB11