A/N: Alright, so I'm gonna bore you with some stuff first before you can read, but I'm just letting you know that this is a COLLABORATION between the amazing, beautiful, talented and epic Miss Fahreheit, so it's not just my writing you're going to be reading (come to think of it, she did more writing than I did this chapter) but hers as well, and if you review I think you should be directing compliments at her, not me. I'mma put her link on my profile, so it'll be there.
Now I can tell you story stats. 4, 708 words, ItaSaku, AU and some OOCness, as this is a crime drama. Try listening to 'Bang Bang' by Melanie Fiona, aaand... Enjoy. :3
It was the darkest of nights, the slight dampness from the new rain staining the ground a shade darker than it was supposed to be initially. Streetlamps left their pale orange glow over the sidewalks of downtown Tokyo. Cars flew by at high speeds, unhindered by their normal traffic that was never present at this time of night. Stars that should have been sparkling overhead were nowhere to be seen, considering that all the light pollution from such a huge city would drown them out easily. A city of high crime and gang violence, a place where you could find anything if you knew the right places... And the right people.
That's not to say that it was easy to get involved in the underground, as the deep recesses of that world were covered and closely guarded. It was hard enough to arrest them, and the networks were all too closely-knit to slip someone into. Mostly overrun by males, but occasionally a female who had proven herself could break in and wreak havoc. Something completely unheard of, but the best in the business was a girl, and her contact was harder to get than anyone else's. Her name was nearly unknown; the only thing that people knew about her was what she did and how well she did it. Literally untraceable, her mind mediating every crime she ever committed to the highest degree so that it was perfect.
The perfect crime... It was what she planned to do tonight.
A high-rise jeweller had recently come out with a line of 'functional' accessories, functional meaning that no one would ever dream of using them unless they planned to leave a calling card to the cops, and if they owned a gun. Which she did, and the woman in question thought that she deserved a reward as well as finally allowing the police a chance to try and catch her. She had been captured many times in the beginning, but she had a natural talent for either talking or breaking out of sticky situations: all those years underground had to be good for something, after all. And quite honestly, it had not been where she had expected to end up... Her story was not tragic by any means, but completely ridiculous. Not that anyone knew it... Any potential people had been neutralized long ago.
On top of that, it's not like it would have mattered anyway: she was so different from the girl she once was. Her appearance remained the same, but inwards she had grown cold and callous to the world around her. Good grades plummeted as she fell into the scene and the deeper she delved into it, the more she forgot, and the more she liked it. At the age of twenty one she was a hardened criminal, a bad girl the likes of which no one had ever seen. She garbed her body in leathers and blacks, hid underground so that no one would catch a glimpse of her pale, angelic features and pink hair. Gods, if only someone she had known could see her now. Haruno Sakura... Thief.
Scratch that... She was the best.
She had worked with amateurs before, but not tonight. Tonight she was in it for herself, to 'reward' her hard work and give herself some sort of signature item. It had been nearly six years since she had started this kind of work, and she had decided that now would be a good time to gain more prestige: the chase was not as interesting when no one could follow you, or even pose a threat. Sure, her head may have gotten a bit swollen over the years, but just because she was good at what she did and was as secretive as she could possibly be did not mean that she wasn't right about this. The woman had grown awfully rich off of this job (which made complete sense, because it was hard work), and had been able to buy more privacy than ever.
That didn't mean she'd stop stealing, though. What was the point of having the talent and never using it? Sakura honestly thought that it was silly just to hide something like that, or instead pay legit to get what she wanted. And what she wanted right now happened to cost ten thousand American dollars a pop... Well, per bullet. And there were fifteen of them. Platinum plated, studded with diamonds and amethysts. She had seen them last time she had broken into this building, but had put off thieving them until she knew that they would be shipped back off to America for a convention. She was smart when it came to this kind of thing, because she had also picked the night where there would be the least security: one man.
Well, the one man was a top detective, but did that really matter? And of course there were the cronies that always hung around the bottom floor... They were easy enough to deal with. The woman moved silently to the side door, pulling out her tiny lock pick set before setting to work. It did not take more than a few moments for her to hear the soft click that meant it was open, and push the door open. She knew that there was a silent alarm system that would page the guard upstairs, but Sakura dealt with that immediately after, making it seem as if there was only a slight glitch in the system. She could have done it so that it wouldn't have gone off, but what was the point of making herself known if she was going to be so silent?
There would be no point, and she would deal with the guard that was coming around the corner in the same sloppy manner. The young woman pressed herself against the wall, the black leather and silk meshing easily with the shadows that were cast along the plaster due to the time. She waited until the burly man passed before grabbing him from behind, gloved hands covering his mouth before reaching into her side pouch for a pre-moistened cloth. Sakura held the fabric to his nose and mouth for a few seconds, ignoring the elbow ramming against the bulletproof vest she wore over the low-cut shirt. Her teeth gritted in silent pain before she dropped the now-limp man to the floor with a dull thud. Ugh... It would have been so much easier to just have snuck past him.
But no, she had to get caught this time. The woman let out a dull sigh as she made her way to the elevator, her padded boots making no sound against the handsomely tiled floors. She pulled her crowbar from the holster on her back, jamming it in the crease of the door and pulling on it with all her weight. A quiet grunt escaped her lips at the effort, and she finally heard the satisfying grinding noise that meant the door had opened into the abyss. Verdant eyes travelled up to check where the elevator was—it was in parking, which was below her and therefore a very good thing—before ducking underneath the bar and hoisting herself up the line. The floor that she was heading to had an air duct above the elevator doors, something she remembered from when she scouted out the building.
It was a good thing she had trained for this, too, because it took a lot more strength than she would have thought to pull herself up the cable that the elevator car hung on. She remained as quiet as possible, the occasional groan passing her lips as her arms began to ache due to the exertion. Okay, this was the last time she ever scaled a building using a cable going up. This was ridiculous... But it was only a few long moments before the white number that read '23' passed her vision and a note of laughter sounded through the shaft. Ohhh, yes. It would be so good to finally get out of this place... Sakura pushed off the wall, swinging around with enough velocity to kick out the grate and make in land inside the duct with a loud clang. Well, if that didn't give away her position she didn't know what would...
It didn't matter. Calculating inside her head, she swung around once more before grabbing onto the edge of the duct, gasping at the sudden pain in her fingers as she pulled herself up. Yes, definitely the last time she went through the elevator shaft... Next time she would take the stairs. It was gritty in here anyway, and Sakura could just feel the cobwebs and dust getting into her hair as she crawled through... Gross. She remained silent as she made her way through the duct, occasionally glancing through the grates until she could hear the sounds of footsteps in the hallway. A smirk crossed her face as she lifted the panel, dropping down without so much as a sound onto the floor below.
Yes, this would be an interesting night. She could see him turn the corner farthest from her, and could see the safe in the other direction... All she needed now was a plan before he saw her.
'He' happened to be quite a renowned officer in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Force—Uchiha Itachi—the nearly disowned son of the famous and quite affluent Uchiha family, who had made their fortune with their business… And yet, he managed to make his own way in the world protecting the capital city and its citizens—as well as its most precious assets, which, at present, was not guarded so heavily…
The young man knew it was foolish for them to have only placed him in front of the safe where the precious bullets were kept. Everyone in the police force knew that nothing valuable was safe, whether its purpose was for aesthetics or practicality. It just so happened the on-tour items were both; thus, the top officer had been stationed as a last resort, a final defence.
It seemed they would need him.
Itachi knew he was facing an adversary who had evaded capture for several years, who had pulled off more heists than anyone in the history of Tokyo's crime. She had no name, left no evidence. No department had a single lead, nor anything to trace her. She targeted only the most expensive and extravagant things—at least, that was the thefts that were attributed to her at all.
She was stealth, she could become the shadows. Within an hour, she could be in and out without anyone so much as realizing anything was amiss so much as absent entirely… Never had the law been so frustrated about a 'simple' thief. There was a high reward and an even more substantial reputation boost for anyone who could catch the woman simply known as the Nightshade.
Coming in here tonight, he had expecting nothing terribly exciting to happen, yet, with the woman just around the corner who examined him with a mirror in her palm, he found he would be sorely mistaken.
Her green eyes, reflected in the surface of the mirror, glinted with an almost childish but smug mirth. How seriously did they take her? Their precautions were less than difficult to navigate through… Perhaps they were mocking her by placing a single guard in front of her and her pretty diamond-studded prizes.
Her nimble, gloved fingers brushed along the expanse of her belt and her fingertips rested on her target—a flash bomb. She unlatched it from its perch and calmly pulled the pin from it. With an upward quirk of her lips into a smirk, she casually rolled it down the hall and watched the surprise overtake her enemy's face. She could not help but let out a quiet sound of laughter when the bomb detonated with a 'bang' and a flash of light.
Pleased and recalling what she had researched, she procured a pair of dark-tinted glasses from her pocket and slipped into the room. She darted by quickly, casting a passing look at the dazzled officer, and then punched in the code she had obtained prior to the heist on the keypad situated outside the safe. Sakura allowed herself the satisfaction of a slight smirk before slipping inside the safe and closing the door behind her.
Her eyes fixated on the item she had come for… A box was situated deep into the small space, and she approached it. It was embroidered with swirling patterns and lacquered thread; she could almost feel the fine, soft material from between the barrier of her gloves and envisioned the gemmed bullets rested upon velvet within…
Her fingertips brushed across its surface, and with a pleased sigh, she pocketed it and slipped it into her bag. When the sound of the door opening with a metallic hiss came from behind her, the thief immediately threw herself back against the wall, with her fingers brushing over the hilt of her gun.
"Show yourself," his voice called out t her, authoritative and with a pleasing, masculine lilt to it.
Sakura tilted her head slightly, deciding that perhaps a bit of fun could be had with the odds stacked in her favour… "What's the matter?" her singsong, taunting voice echoed throughout the safe. "Are you scared? Poor thing."
Itachi tensed slightly, wariness welling up within him. With his experience, it could have perhaps been easy enough to enter and take her down… But when she was needed alive and well, with her new load intact, he could not afford to rush in. He pulled out his own weapon, loaded and pointed into the door, but even the barrel could not be seen through the thick walls. They were invisible to each other, only disembodied voices in this showdown, where neither was willing to make the first move.
"Of course not."
"Then why don't you come inside?" Sakura replied languidly, slowly pulling the gun out from its holster at her side.
Itachi paused, reconsidering for a moment. "I am not so brash."
A click bounced off the walls—her safety catch flicked to off. "Clever boy," she muttered. There was a touch of dryness in her voice that bled into a more mocking tenor, and her eyes fell to a half-lidded glare. "I won't hurt you. I promise."
The intensity was crackling in the air. It was electricity and the need for the hunt welling up within them both. Cold adrenaline poured through them. Every muscle was ready to run with every ounce of strength and skill within their trained bodies.
"I cannot promise the same."
Her pink lips pulled down into a pout, and it reflected in her voice. "Why not? What did I ever do to you?"
Itachi's eyes narrowed, but he refused to be ruffled or perturbed by her almost childish methods. "You are breaking the law in my city."
A laugh passed her lips, scoffing, while she lowered her gun to her side to show a degree of casualness. "Well. They are merely standing in the way."
"Of what?" the officer retorted, daring to move just a bit deeper into the safe. This could not go on forever, even though he had her cornered. She was dangerous—she was tantalizing this way. He knew better than to underestimate the elusive Nightshade, who he had not even caught a glimpse of yet.
Green eyes rolled slightly, and her tone had not reverted to anything more than a teasing note; she knew very well not regarding her opponents with respect and some seriousness was infallible in eliciting reactions. "Nothing to worry your pretty little head over."
A pause followed—she assumed he was struggling to compose himself like most of these self-righteous men tried to do. She was not so foolish to fall for it. "Really, you read too deeply into things… My only motive tonight is a petty theft…"
"So you are selfish." His tone was not strained, and she was surprised to note it.
Recovering smoothly, she kept her voice blasé, her stance nonchalant. "I guess. I saw something I wanted." Her muscles pulled taut as she sensed his intent. "I figured I deserved a little reward after my hard work."
Itachi glanced from the source of her voice to his gun, glinting dangerously in the harsh lights overhead in the safe. "You are not going to get it."
She let out a 'pfft' of contempt laced heavily with amusement. "And who's going to stop me? You?"
His face moulded into an expression of focus and slight agitation. "Yes."
A chuckle passed her lips, high and almost melodic. She flipped open the box she had stolen to admire the lovely bullets within, which were silver and swirled with colors of blue and speckled with gems. She took a fleeting second to admire them before she flicked open her gun to allow the bullets to clatter to the ground. Then, to let him know what she had done, she reloaded the gun with each precious piece of ammunition.
Relaxed and patronizing, she emerged from behind the wall. "Come and get me."
Itachi, thinking quickly, immediately procured a smoke bomb from his pocket and tossed it into the safe, the ominous sound of metal upon tile causing time to slow for the girl. Her eyes widened a fraction, but before it detonated, she acted quickly to cover her mouth and nose. Almost immediately thereupon, the smoke poured out from the sphere and snaked up quickly to consume everything in a gray cloud.
Itachi pulled a mask over his head to intercept her in the thick, oppressive pall, while she made a dash for the exit of the safe. He grazed her, but she slipped beneath his arms and rolled out of the diversion and into the open, her gun and equipment in tow.
She scrambled to her feet, her heart racing and hormones rushing hotly through her veins. Though her life was balancing on the edge of a precarious cliff, there was a strange exhilaration that had her feeling somehow free as she tore down the hallway, with his feet hammering behind her in close pursuit.
"Freeze!" Itachi called out, his gun at his side. He knew he could not fire at her while they were moving—too risky, too inaccurate… It was a hopeless warning, but it was some release of tension as both frustration and passion for his work mingled in the most peculiar of rushes.
"In your dreams!" The air poured in cold surges into her lungs, and the high she received from the chase was wonderful; she laughed loudly as she gripped the corner and slid around it and felt satisfied when she could hear him stumble from behind in the attempt to keep up.
However, he was much faster than she anticipated… Thus, she was completely caught off guard when something hard and warm hit her back, before something more solid and chilled struck her from her stomach and up to her arms. She grunted and hissed at the pain as they slid together along the floor.
Immediately, she resisted, forcing her elbows back to strike at him. Sakura knew well enough that her capture was inevitable, but she felt a sick enough pleasure when he seemed to let out a wheeze from the force of the impact. It was not as if she were terribly concerned… No bars could keep her in.
Itachi procured his handcuffs and scuffled with her ever-moving hands to try to get a grip on her. "Trying to take me in?" Her green eyes rolled.
Dryly, he replied. "That is correct." He tried not to feel some amusement mingled with sheer annoyance when she so haughtily retorted, "You know who I am; I'll be out in an hour."
"Hardly."
She wrestled for her weapon, and her fingers touched the cool metal. "I'm good at playing keep away." She glared at the floor and growled when he grabbed her wrist to pinion them at her sides.
She twisted her hands until she wrenched them from his grip. Sakura slid on her stomach forward, but he was upon her. Grunting in frustration, she turned her profile to him. "I'm not gonna use my new bullets on you."
Itachi felt a surge of frustration, focusing only on keeping her still until he could figure out how to more effectively bind her. "Then what could you possibly want?" he growled.
Her eyelashes fluttered as her voice turned sweet—dripping with a viscous but poisonous honey. "I just want to knock you out with it… You should feel special; I never use my weapon on cops." She watched agitatedly while he slid the gun after scrabbling past her until it was out of her reach. "That's a custom, you know."
With a final surge of effort, Sakura scrambled forward. While they scuffled for a moment, she managed to grab the handle of her gun. A quiet 'yes' passed her lips while she could hear him quietly swear. Suddenly, the tables were turned; she wrenched her arm back to press the cold barrel against his chest, and she felt sick satisfaction at the infinitesimal widening of his eyes.
Their hearts raced in sync, and their harsh breathing was the only sound in the building. "Come on, now," she managed out between her pants, her voice sweet as her smirk overtook her. "Help me up."
Clearly defeated but unwilling to accept it, Itachi narrowed his eyes at her. Simply belligerent, he countered, "And if I do not?"
Sakura did not skip a beat. "I send a three thousand dollar bullet through your heart. I don't have all night."
Solemnly, Itachi removed his weight from her, and, still feeling the thrill of the chase, yanked her roughly to her feet by her elbow. He looked at her with a expertly masked bale, and she kept her gun to his body. She was satisfied by the snapping restraint, the desperation in his eyes. "Not letting me go? Does your pride mean that much?"
Quickly thinking, the young officer gripped her collar and pulled her closer, just enough so that she let out a muted sound and nearly stumbled. The scuff of their feet broke the silence, and they were locked together for the moment.
"It is selfish to concede just because I am at gunpoint."
Almost as if she were pleased with the answer, she slipped the gun back into its holster. She gave him a sideways look, as if to question him if he was better now, and was filled with a sense of curiosity that had the adrenaline tingling in the fire of her blood.
Their narrowed eyes clashed in a chilling connection of electricity. When he pulled her closer, the discomfort welled up within her. "What do you want with me if you do take me in?"
It was impossible to shrink back, nor would she allow it. His stance was dominating, controlling, and she was begrudgingly succumbing despite the fiery spirit within her. His smooth voice replied simply, "To find your name, motives, accomplices…"
"I remember the last time they tried that." Her lips were pulled into an almost severe smile. "Hardly worrying. I didn't talk."
Silence fell over them. The tension in the air felt like an immense weight, yet neither of them yielded in their glares, nor the rigidly still postures. Her eyes glimmered while he only seemed to seethe. "Eight hours," Sakura mused softly, her voice lowering. "Think you can beat that?"
Their eyes clashed, and she remained rigidly still while he held her collar tightly. "I believe so," he replied coolly.
Grunting with an agitated flash in her eyes, she snapped, "Then do it."
"Just like that?" His eyes were challenging, almost mocking her.
"Yeah, just like that. Unless you'd rather I knock you out, 'cause I can do that, too." His eyes rolled while he procured the cuffs to fasten to her wrists; Sakura only cheekily held them out for him without resistance. "Just make sure my stuff isn't wrecked."
"Cocky thing," Itachi muttered. His hands closed the cuffs until the metal was pressed firmly into the skin of her wrists. Discomfort drew a sound of distaste from her parted lips, but other than a heavy rise and fall of her shoulders, she showed no protest.
"You would be, too," Sakura remarked after a small pause, "if you were me."
Itachi merely shrugged and made a conscious effort to ignore her smirk. Her smugness could not be rewarded with any notable reaction. "I suppose." It was all he offered while he tugged her along more urgently, seeing his car just beyond the doors.
He pushed them upon, and she, whose bangs had brushed over her face and irksomely tickled her nose and lashes, blew the strands of hair away from her face. Green eyes fixated on the back of his head, and though some agitation with the man stewed within her, there was a degree of undeniable curiosity. Looking down for a moment to phrase her question, she instead chose the blunt route.
"So what do you know about me?"
He hardly skipped a beat. "Nothing." He angled his head slightly to reveal the line of his profile to her, but the long, confident strides did not falter.
A frown creased her lips. "Hm… But you knew I would be here, or were you just lucky?"
"I received a tip—and I know you like expensive things."
Another twinge of agitation, and her shoulders tensed with the knowledge that she would have to do some hunting down of whoever was stupid enough to betray her. "Sometimes," she replied smoothly, sweetly, only to annoy him and rouse some suspicion. "I have taken plenty of things you don't know about. But you think I'd know to stay away from expensive things." She raised her wrists slightly, eyeing the chains that joined them.
"Perhaps," Itachi replied. She certainly was derailing what the force thought to know about her. "You are either selfish or believe you are doing something good."
Sakura sighed patiently. "Well, this one was selfish. But I do have other reasons—if you are so smart, you'd know they were related."
He gave a noncommittal grunt, to which she replied with an affirmation that she indeed have reasons. However, there was some distraction in her tone, for she raised her wrists against and shook her arms slightly. Itachi, immediately wary, locked his gaze onto her. "What are you doing?"
"Itchy," she replied immediately. Her eyes were narrowed, and she continued to manoeuvre her limbs until she felt the satisfying drop of the hairpin touch her hand. She looked up and smiled sweetly. "All gone."
Itachi immediately was on edge, his every muscle tensed. However, he did nothing and only nodded stiffly.
Sakura rolled her eyes slightly and twisted the pin just enough to slide it into the lock around her wrists. Her wrist was twisted at a nearly grotesque angle as she jiggled it within the keyhole. The click was both relieving and sent a raw chill through her blood that forced her stomach down to her feet… The sound echoed.
He was faster than she gave him credit for, and she let out a sound of alarmed protest when he whipped around to pinion her wrists with a bruising grip. For a long few seconds, their eyes clashed with electricity shooting between them. His glare was intense, almost intimidating, but she did not back down.
Finally, his jaw clenched and rolled. "An itch."
Her glare only intensified. "Damn right it was." With that, she dug her heel into his foot.
Her smile was smug as she examined his gritted teeth when he forced her into the car.