always wanted to write a cop/criminal story. 'cause that kind of morally grey relationship really fascinates me.

"Hey, satsu. Been a while. Remember me?"

She tilted her head back to glance towards the open warehouse door from her place lying on the concrete floor to see a tall, dark silhouette striding towards her. His face caught the moonlight streaming through a nearby broken window and she smiled in recognition. No, not smiled. Grimaced. "How could I forget?"

He slowed as he approached where she was lying and collapsed next to her, leaning back on his arms. But instead of turning towards him in response, she sat up and got to her feet, brushing the dust off of her slacks and cocking her gun. She moved to lean against a wooden pillar a few feet away instead.

He looked over at her, the mock sadness in his eyes barely visible through the darkness. "Can't stand to be near me huh? I'm hurt. Thought we were friends."

"We're not friends." She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes with the tip of her gun, the danger of the loaded pistol leaving her seemingly unfazed. "We're not friends." She repeated.

He chuckled, moving to stand up himself. "You're right, satsu. We're not." He took a step closer to her, the movement bringing him full-bodied into the moonlight. "We're accomplices."

She scoffed. "If you feel like acting so familiar with me, then stop calling me satsu. You know my name, Uchiha."

"Sakura, you're a cop." He laughed humorlessly. "What else am I supposed to call you?"

Haruno Sakura wasn't just another member of the Konoha Police Force. She was the best. Objective. Astute. Without hesitation. And without mistake. Supposedly. Her work was her everything. On the job it was as though nothing else mattered. Life otherwise was superfluous. Even her appearance complimented her lifestyle. She never wore the women's uniform. The skirt impeded chasing after any respectful criminal who would think of running over five miles an hour. The tie was just an occupational hazard all around. Especially around paper shredders – though irrelevant.

It was always an outfit consisting of black slacks, black blazer and a blouse of a similar color. The only feminine aspects being her long rose-colored hair, never held by a band but left flowing, and pale skin, holding a gentle face. Otherwise, in all honestly, one wouldn't be able to tell her apart from her male colleagues.

"And what about you?" The young man continued, slowly taking step by step closer to the female cop. "Since when have you called me by Uchiha? You're acting as though times have changed."

As he ambled closer, Sakura's eyes held no fear. Only the reflection of the man, his appearance flashing through light and darkness as he stepped through the moonlight in the window and the frames. Times hadn't changed. Still the bandana tied carelessly across his forehead, the worn T-shirt rumpled around the shoulders, the slim fitted jeans torn at the knees, and dirtied and mismatched canvas rubber shoes duct-taped in various areas. A deceivingly slovenly appearance contrary to the precision shown in each subtle movement he made.

But it wasn't the familiarity of his appearance that caught her attention. Her eyes lingered on the man's lower torso. The change was so slight, Sakura didn't know how she managed to catch it but she did.

He was wrong.

She ripped her eyes away from him, unable to take one more look at the man. "Haven't they?" Sakura moved as if to walk away and escape from Sasuke's ever closer steps, but before she could even finish that thought, she felt a hand on the side of her face and lips against her own. He held her there for a moment before dropping his hands to his side and gazing back at the emerald eyes.

"Why are you here?" Sakura demanded in a whisper, her voice needed only to travel mere centimeters between them. "What are—"

Sasuke leaned in to kiss her once again, the touch between them resounding not from affection but from desperation. "I could say the same for you, satsu." He murmured against her lips.

Sakura clenched her fists at the touch. It was at this moment that she realized her hands were empty. At some point during their contact, Sasuke had deftly taken the pistol clean out of her fingers. She shoved him away with a violent glare. "You didn't answer me, Sasuke. Why the hell did you come back?"

"Are you really going to ask me that, Sakura?" Sasuke closed the few feet between them with a stride. He grasped her hand and pressed it against his abdomen. The flinch Sakura gave in response nearly threw her hand out of his. "After everything that happened."

"Don't say it." Sakura managed to get out through clenched teeth.

"After what happened here."

"Don't."

"Right here."

"Shut up."

"Right where we're standing."

"Shut up."

Sakura ripped her hand from Sasuke's grasp and reached for her gun in anger, but before she could pull it out of the holster Sasuke pulled her into his arms. The sudden movement loosened her grip on her half-pulled out handgun. It fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Why are you so angry, Sakura?" Sasuke whispered into her hair, the warmth of his breath rippling the soft rose strands.

Sakura remained tense against his chest. Acquiescing to his embrace, but nevertheless unable to feel the comfort he was attempting to bring her. No matter how soft his words were, his hold felt infinitely more like a restraint than anything else. Sakura could feel it deep in her gut, rising up to clench her throat every time she uttered a word, every time she looked at the man before her.

Guilt.

"Because I can't put it past me."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

Sakura adjusted the dial on her police radio with one hand, somehow still keeping her eyes on the road as she weaved in and out of traffic. She pressed her foot harder on the accelerator, raising her speed up to borderline psychotic velocities. "What was that, Commander?"

"He said Uchiha Sasuke, Sakura-chan," the blonde-haired man replied from the seat beside her, sporting a similar KPD uniform.

"Don't call me that, Naruto. Partner or not, I already told you next time you addressed me that way I'd throw you out of the car," Sakura said flatly. The man to her right merely grumbled to himself in reply. "So, who's Uchiha Sasuke?" the rose-haired cop called into the radio.

A loud laughter could be heard through the static of the cheap speakers. "If you don't even know who Uchiha is, I guess I should stop handing you all the S-rank criminal missions and re-familiarize you with the regular delinquents around Konoha. Then again, that would mean I'd have to give them to Kiba or something. How troublesome—"

"Shikamaru."

The loud groan was abruptly cut off by an equally loud sigh. "Alright, alright, Captain," the young police commander drawled out through the radio, "It's not like your ETA is going to be less than how long it takes me to debrief you."

"Keep stalling and it will," Sakura replied tersely.

"You never change do you? So troublesome." Shikamaru heaved another sigh, the breathy sound of it only serving to augment the static. The two cops could just imagine their indolent commander slouching on the worn leather chair in his office, cigarette half-hanging from his mouth and his radio mouthpiece nearly fallen out of his hand. How he ever obtained such a high position was a mystery. Although the heroic stories of the commander's missions that got him the position two years ago were plenty, they were equally doubtful.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the commander continued. Sakura could hear him flipping through the criminal's undoubtedly thick file. "Previously a fairly typical pickpocket, later a notorious jewel thief. Actually, I suppose it's wrong to classify him as a jewel thief. Stolen a few antique trinkets from art museums. Robbed a bank twice. Really anything that could fit into a backpack."

"And you sent me and Naruto to catch a petty thief because...?" Sakura interjected irritated, "You could've easily sent Kiba and Shino, and they'd be back before dinner."

"Well, that's the thing. He's more than your ordinary petty thief—" The rest of Shikamaru's words were abruptly cut off by the increasing static. Naruto rolled his eyes and reached over to bang on the top of the radio. "...traceur."

"A what?" the blonde asked loudly.

"He's a traceur," the commander repeated, "Free-runner. Urban acrobat. Whatever you want to call it. The point is that Uchiha Sasuke has had over fifty ventures across Konoha and stolen more than double the amount of valuables, and not once has the KPD been able to even get close to catching him."

Sakura scoffed, pausing as she turned a sharp corner before asking skeptically, "He's that good?"

Naruto had to lunge across the dashboard to keep the radio from bashing through the window just in time to hear their commander heave another static-inducing sigh. "So I hear. I don't know where this guy learned parkour, but corner him in a hallway and he'll just jump over you along the walls. Corner him on a rooftop and he'll just jump onto another goddamn rooftop. Agile. Quick on his feet. Uchiha is nigh unstoppable."

"So, you sent us to catch him," Sakura finished dryly.

"Well, you are our best," Shikamaru replied, undoubtedly with an apathetic shrug on the other end of the radio.

Sakura turned another sharp left and screeched to a stop in front of the target jewelry store. "Figures." She cocked her handgun and tugged on the car door handle slightly, kicking the door the rest of the way open with her foot. "Take care of all the civilians and carnage, Naruto, thanks!" she called out into the car before slamming the door shut with her leg and running towards the store.

Ignoring the "You always give me the best jobs, don't you?" behind her, Sakura pushed open the elaborate glass door to the jewelry store and raised her gun. "KPD! Everybody down—" But before she could even finish, there was a loud shriek and then a flash of black flying past her. In that instant, Sakura turned towards the dark blur and the two's eyes met. Blazing emerald and dark raven.

Then he was gone.

And before she knew it, Sakura was sprinting after him. "Uchiha Sasuke! You're under arrest!" Sakura yelled after the criminal.

But even as she ran down the street after him it was already clear why no one in the KPD was able to catch the thief. The man was like a cat. Running as though the intermittent gusts of wind did nothing to hinder his speed. Dashing through the mingling crowd as if they were stationary obstacles. Not to mention, the way he glanced over his shoulder to flash the female cop a mocking grin every so often was just as infuriating as the way he jumped over trashcans and mailboxes scattered on the sidewalks with apparent ease.

But Sakura wasn't called the best of the police force by the commander himself for nothing. The rose-haired cop clicked her tongue as the street jumper somersaulted over a moving car and sprinted across the crowded intersection effortlessly. But instead risking suicide trying to run after him, she turned down the nearest alleyway and ran through the door of the building at the end of it. Having been a cop for the past five years, she had nearly all of the blueprints of many Konoha buildings memorized. She ran down two flights of stairs to the connected underground subway tunnel that connected the two buildings from across the street, emerging safely at the other end.

If Uchiha Sasuke was as elusive as he was reputed to be, clearly just running after the man wasn't going to get her anywhere. Literally. Sakura needed to get into his mind. The way he thought. The way a criminal would run. She closed her mind as she let her thoughts flow, internally predicting the thief's every possible move.

There was the annual convention at the Civic Center down the general path he had took. The crowds of eager spectators and paparazzi would be chaos for any runaway to maneuver through, which would leave only two directions. The west side of Fifth Avenue had a popular movie theatre with two premiere shows that night. People would be lining up for tickets up and down half the entire street no matter how early that night. That would only leave the east side. Empty roads. Multiple projects and abandoned buildings. The ideal hide-out.

With a deep breath, Sakura took a right at the nearest alleyway and ran even faster, ignoring her burning leg muscles. After quickly scaling several fences along the various empty alleys, she emerged onto the open street. It took mere seconds to locate the runaway thief, who seemed to be under the impression that he had lost her completely.

Sakura pulled out her handgun again and resumed sprinting after him now in earnest. "Uchiha Sasuke!"

"The hell?" she heard him mutter before running off towards the nearest building, despite the fact that an unsuspecting man was just making his way out the front door. Sakura had expected that the man would slow the criminal at least slightly, if not entirely, but the thief simply increased his speed, jumped up to grab the mere half-inch surface of the door frame and launched himself nearly horizontally over the man's head and into the room.

Sakura brushed past the man hastily, his bulky stature almost knocking her to the ground, and chased after her target. "Uchiha Sasuke! You're under arrest!" she yelled again as she ran up the many staircases, cursing as she watched him ascend the stairs merely by grabbing hold of the railings and jumping to and from the narrow surfaces. But even as she was finally on level ground with him, the street jumper dived through a small open bathroom window into a civilian's apartment, while Sakura had to resort to shooting down the door handle and kicking open the front door.

The hectic chase continued through the thankfully empty apartment and up the fire escape, but when the thief finally reached the rooftop of the building and prepared to leap to the next, Sakura aimed her handgun from her place still half on the fire escape and shot at the central water tank beside him. The compressed water shot out like a jet, the spray momentarily blinding the man just long enough for Sakura to tackle him to the floor and get him in an arm lock.

But the thief didn't struggle, even though Sakura was easily light enough to overcome. After a moment of silence, he began to break into fits of laughter. It sounded more out of surprise than amusement.

Sakura pressed her handgun against the side of the man's head, using her knee to replace her hand against his arms. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

Sasuke looked at her from the corner of his eye and laughed again. "You're good." His voice was surprisingly alluring. Husky, yet not harsh. But somehow the undertones of the voice was cold and emotionless, despite the seemingly playful tone. "Really good. How 'bout you run with me sometime?"

"Fat chance, criminal," Sakura replied flatly, pressing the muzzle of the handgun harder against the side of his forehead. "You talk as if you'll actually get out of this." She knocked the sight of the gun against his head before tucking it back into its holster and pulling out a pair of handcuffs. The female cop clicked a cuff over one wrist. "Let's see you try."

The thief smirked at her words and before Sakura could fully cuff him, Sasuke kicked her to the ground with the back of his leg and flipped over to straddle her around the waist within seconds. Still with that apathetic smirk plastered on his face, the criminal fastened the second cuff around Sakura's wrist and held it up for the cop to see. "I'd say the same for you, satsu," he retaliated, "Let's see you get out of this one."

Sakura stared at the cuffs around their wrists in disbelief and glared at the thief. "What the hell are you doing, Uchiha?"

"Sasuke," he corrected, clinking the metal mockingly, "Seeing as we'll be cuffed for the duration, we might as well get real personal real quick."

"Well, what the hell are you doing, Sasuke?" Sakura demanded again, acquiescing only out of exasperation and anger. "Don't think I'm not going to take you the station with you cuffed to me. You've just made it all the easier!"

Sasuke chuckled and held Sakura's arms up over her head, bringing his face closer to hers. "You really think you're in a position to be making demands?" He paused for a moment. "Yeah, what's your name anyway, satsu?"

"Like hell I'd tell you!" Sakura spat at him angrily.

Sasuke smirked again at her words. "You know, I really like you, satsu. Out of everyone in the KPD, you're the first who has successfully cuffed me. What are you, top of your class, right?" he asked mockingly, "Best female cop in the entire force? If you ask me, your skills are much better suited to a criminal."

It was not easy to get Sakura past any emotional level above being professionally indifferent - or on occasion, sufficiently irritated. But this Uchiha Sasuke had her completely infuriated. "Will you just shut up already?" Sakura threw out her arm to the side, attempting to yank the man off of her but the action only served to bring him even closer.

Making no attempt to resist the pull, Sasuke found his lips pressed against the female cop's, the touch surprisingly gentle. His lips slid against hers and through the initial shock of it all, Sakura must have laid there for several seconds. It was the perverse feel of the thief pressing her into the ground that ultimately shook her out of the trance.

"Get the fuck off me!" Sakura broke away from the kiss, slid her knee between their bodies and shoved the criminal off of her. But as Sasuke got thrown up and off the ground, the connected handcuffs unfortunately flung her up along with him. She slammed into Sasuke once again against the now empty water tank.

Sasuke smirked at the cop's frustrated expression and clinked the metal cuffs again. "This is surprisingly amusing."

Sakura shot the man a deathly glare and reached into her pocket with her other hand for the key to the cuffs, but before she could grasp hold of it Sasuke grabbed her arm and pulled it behind her back in an arm lock. Sakura winced in pain as her arm was pulled higher up her back. First the kiss and now an arm lock. It all seemed like some sick joke.

"You know..." Sasuke began as he leaned closer to her again, catching Sakura's subsequent kick with his own leg and wrapping it in a lock. "I know your type."

Sakura shut her eyes tight in apprehension. It wasn't her nature to be afraid of a target. But there was something in this criminal's deep raven eyes that made her shiver inside. The slight tint of blood in his eyes. The cold emptiness in his words no matter what feeling he layered them with. The way she knew he was twice as strong as her but was just playing with her out of amusement. Something about it almost terrified her.

"Judging from your natural skill, I'd say your father was a cop," Sasuke continued, his voice only needing to travel mere centimeters between them, "He taught you everything you needed to know to become a part of the police force when you grew up. The law. Guns. How a criminal thinks. And you admired him. That's where you get your strong sense of justice. But from the way you so quickly declined the offer to join me, I'm guessing... he died in the line of duty. And you vowed to be the best in the force to live the rest of his legacy for him. Am I close?" he added in a whisper.

Sakura opened her eyes, staring at the raven ones before her. Her head was throbbing and her heart was pounding.

Sasuke gave her a crooked grin before leaning in to whisper against her lips. "They say cops make the best criminals. You should stay away from me unless you want it to come true. Think about it."

There was a clink and suddenly he was gone. Sakura spun around just in time to see him run off and leap onto the rooftop of a lower building, landing on the metal rooftop with a loud bang. Within seconds, he was completely out of reach.

Sakura looked down to see the empty half of the handcuffs hanging from her wrist and the key to the cuffs dropped carelessly on the floor, no doubt pick-pocketed by the thief. The rose-haired cop took a step forward and then turned around to lean against the water tank with a groan. She brought the half-empty cuffs to her face before slamming her fist into the metal tank behind her.

"Damn it," she muttered to herself, "who the hell is he?"

After slowly meandering her way out of the slums of Konoha, Sakura finally reached police headquarters well after midnight. Once the elevator door opened on her floor, it was the only light across the entire room of cubicles, save for a hardly noticed white shine through the venetian blinds of the commander's office.

Sakura nudged the door open to find Shikamaru sitting slouched on his worn leather chair, his legs propped on the table and a book open over his face. Seeing as the book was haphazardly placed there upside down, it had clearly been used for blocking light, rather than reading. "Uchiha sure led you on a wild goose chase, huh?" the commander said suddenly, when Sakura moved to close the door. "You got back pretty late. Sounds troublesome."

"I thought you were sleeping, Commander." Sakura raised her eyebrows as she nodded briefly in greeting. But since Shikamaru made no move to take the book of his face – or just move at all – despite being wide awake, there was clearly no point.

"I was," Shikamaru answered simply before asking, "Didn't catch him huh?"

"No." Sakura shook her head grimly. "No, I didn't. It's my fault, Commander. Even though we got a quality tip from the Yamanaka Jewelry Store, I still let him get away in the end."

"Interesting guy, isn't he?" Shikamaru said suddenly, completely ignoring Sakura's previous comment. "Ever since you joined the force, you never let a criminal escape. Not once. And put against Uchiha Sasuke, no matter how close you got to finally arresting him, he still got away in the end."

Sakura pushed the question of how the commander knew she actually successfully caught him to the back of her mind and looked at him bemusedly. "You talk like you actually know him."

Shikamaru shrugged. "Yeah. I knew him," He answered vaguely, before finally taking the book off his face and his feet off the desk to sit upright. He reached across the table to hand her a file. "Do you want to?"

the final half still to come!

by the way, satsu= japanese mafia slang for police. if i used it wrong, then just ignore it, haha.

okay, so sasuke is a bit OOC this first half. or maybe more than a bit. but i'd like to think that when he's not completely obsessed with itachi he could actually be a bit devious and fliratious in a twisted way.

let me know what you think!