AN - I updated so quick because of that one reviewer that told me to stop writing crack and kill myself. You sir, can suck my balls TWO times.

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The Bikers.

The Betters.

The Drifters.

The Racers.

The Fighters.

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Chapter Two

Old Friends

The bend.

A particularly long stretch of road carved from the mountaintop. Being on a mountain, each turn was narrowed and had the added risk of the driver tumbling off the edge. Into the ocean. To their death. Because that's safe.

"Um, Hinabi…"

The younger Hyuuga was sitting on her knees, backwards on the back seat. Her full attention was on the back window and toward the road behind them.

"Why are we taking this road? The main road cuts through the mountain and is much s-safer."

"You worry too much." She grabbed Hinata's arm and pulled her to sit next to her. Her light eyes were bubbling with excitement. "Besides you gotta see something." She looked at her Rolex, "any minute now."

Hinata obediently looked out with her younger sister. She heard the noise first. Like the purr of a kitten escalating to a roar as two cars approached. Then two dark dots that morphed into shapes and colors. One was orange, the other black.

In the next few moments the cars practically flew forward. The black car looked like a Bugatti Hinata once saw in a car magazine (she found a stack of magazines under Neji's bed, thinking it was porn at first). The dark car had the familiar lines, angles, and chrome finishes from the ad. The other car, a Ferrari, made her think of Naruto. Probably because the orange color was bordering on obnoxious.

"T-T-they're gonna crash into us!"

"Oh hush."

"Hinabi!"

She was yanked like a rag doll to another seat. They watched the black car zoom past the right of their limo, the orange a millisecond behind and from the left. Hinabi pressed a button and the sisters stuck their head out the window. The speeding cars came to a turn and Hinata cringed.

They were side to side, tires screeching and engines yelling. Hinata couldn't stop starring.

They're going too fast, they're gonna fall.

Simultaneously, the million dollar cars clawed the corner like tigers. They reared around the turn one tire of the orange Ferrari coming off the edge. But then the engine revved and all tires were on the pavement. It was nose-to-nose with the Bugatti again. Both cars flew off, leaving the smell of burnt rubber and gasoline.

Hinabi fell to the seat and sighed. "And that's why I take this road. They do this every morning."

"W-Who?"

"Today was extra good though. Like they were showing off for you or something."

"E-Eh? Who?"

Hinabi sat up on her elbows and gave Hinata an incredulous look. "You couldn't tell? Who else would paint a Ferrari bright ass orange? Naruto and Sasuke."

Ino found this whole 'job' thing to be pure hell. It's not that she was a stranger to hard work (4.0 straight through high school over here!), it's just that she preferred work to not center around the catering of other people. She was a little of a princess, you could say. No surprise given she was the only child of the successful owners of the Yamanaka chain of flower shops.

Alas, this whole working situation was very uncomfortable. Her father had insisted it a way to learn the value of money. Ino could only grumble and accept. She was a daddy's girl after all. But two days in and she was seconds away from smacking the next customer who complained that their caramel-vanilla-skim-venti-cappuccino had whipped cream that they specifically asked to leave off (they didn't). So it was a good thing an old friend showed up right before she could seriously injure somebody.

"Hinata?"

Her eyes widened as her former classmate approached the coffee stand, blushing faintly and smiling sweetly.

"H-Hi Ino."

The blonde's eyes softened measurably. She pulled Hinata into a hug that stretched across the service counter. They were never best friends as children, but seeing her grown up and still so much herself, Ino acted on pure emotion.

"I didn't know you were in town."

"I got here a few days ago.." ah, what did Hinabi say, "..and i-i've been sort of busy."

"Sounds like an excuse to me."

Ino extracted herself from the girl. She opened her mouth to speak-

"Ino… we have customers."

She whipped around to face her co-worker.

"Shut it Choji. Can't you see Hinata's back?!"

Hinata watched a large teen emerge from behind one of the coffee machines. He wore the same uniform as Ino, a white apron with red emblems and the store name. His hair was thick and brown, tied at the back and falling between his shoulders.

He looked just as surprised as Ino.

"Hey!"

Hinata was crushed in a second hug of the morning.

"When did you get back? Are you staying?"

"You moved back right?" Ino added.

Hinata smiled at her friends enthusiasm, "yes."

Someone in the line cleared their throat loudly. Chouji got the message, "We have to get back to work. But it was good seeing you!"

"Y-You too Chouji."

He scrambled back to his station.

Ino clapped her hands together and smiled, "so what would you like? It's on the house!"

"Ano, you really don't have to-"

"Well it's not for free! I expect you to hang out with me tonight, in return."

"Um.."

"I'm taking that as a yes. Here-" she grabbed a napkin from the counter and a pen from her ponytail. She scribbled down a phone number and passed it to Hinata.

"My shift ends in three hours. Call me, k?"

…

On break, Ino and Chouji sent texts.

…

Ino: Hinata's back in town!

Sakura: Seriously? :)

Sakura: Hinata's in town!

Sasuke: Obviously.

Naruto: I know I saw her yesterday! We should all hang out! ;p

Sakura: Jerks. You could've told me Hinata was in town.

Kiba: The fuck?! I didn't know! She's here now?

Shino: I was unaware. Why? Because you are the first to inform me.

Kiba: Yo dickface. Why didn't you tell us Hinata was in town?!

Neji: How did you get my number? Delete it.

…

Chouji: Hinata's back

Shikamaru: Another Hyuuga? Troublesome.

Temari: Who the hell is that?

Shikamaru: That wasn't meant for you.

Temari: I think we have one more Hyuuga to worry about

Gaara: *no response*

Kankuro: For real? Are they competing?

Temari: How the hell would I know

Kankuro: Pmsing?

Temari: Fuck. You.

Kankuro: LMAO!

Kankuro: Hey little bro did you get the news? We got another Hyuuga to destroy

Gaara: I am in a meeting.

Kankuro: Did you just send me an automated response?

Gaara: *no response*

Kankuro: Another Hyuugas in town

Sasori: What did I tell you about texting me?

Kankuro: Not to… thought it was a joke man

Sasori: It wasn't.

Kankuro: Bitch.

Sasori: You play with dolls. Bitch.

Kankuro: I look forward to eating your babies

Sasori: Another Hyuuga is in town.

Deidara: Sweet. More competition, un?

Kisame: Tasty

Pein: I see.

Hidan: Fuck bitches get money

Zetsu: Interesting.

Konan: w/e

Kakuzu: The problems of mortals do not concern me.

Tobi: YAAAAAAYYYY

…

Hinata texted Ino, as requested, exactly three hours later. Approximately two seconds later Ino had texted back. She suggested meeting up by her workplace. This was easy enough for Hinata; the coffee shop was ran inside the university. That's the only reason they ran into each other in the first place. After an exchange of hugs and smiles, Ino looped her arm into Hinata's and they set out for Tenten's place.

"Around the corner," Ino had said.

"Always stocked with food," the blonde added when Hinata's stomach growled.

That's how the two ended up arm-in-arm in a rather shady looking apartment building. Ino made up most of the conversation until they stopped at a door labeled 'B21'.

The hinges creaked and the door swung open as a set of brown eyes evaluated them. Hinata recognized the unchanged hairstyle, two buns stolen from Princess Leia after Tenten fell in love with Star Wars. The brunette was taller then before. Any extra weight from youth looked trimmed to a fighter's body.

"What an asshole," the brunette said.

"Tenten!"

"I-I-I'm sorry."

"Ha! Not you Hinata, I meant your asshole of a cousin. He didn't tell me you were back in town."

Ino rolled her eyes. "Well now you know, so let us in before you're the asshole."

"Nice to see you too."

The blonde wedged herself between Tenten and the door, pulling Hinata with her.

"You could have just asked to come in. Have I ever told you you're the reason I hate blondes."

"Yeah, yeah. We all know you're into the dark haired, light eyed type." She raised her eyebrows suggestively.

"Shut it."

Ino crackled all the way to the couch.

Hinata took the moment to look around the small apartment. Weapons of all shapes and sizes were hanging off wall hooks and sitting on table space. Hinata suspected none of this was legal.

Tenten put her hands on her hips, "What do ya' think of humble abode?"

"I-It's very lovely Tenten."

Ino snorted. "Tenten became a little weapons master since you left."

Tenten beamed. "Yes I did! Ino hasn't changed at all. Still a spoiled princess."

"I have a job now!"

"Uh huh, how's Starbucks treating you?"

"You can't say that it's licensed!"

"What?"

"Nothing."

Hinata spotted a small kunai next to Ino's propped feet on the coffee table. She picked it up, curious if her mandatory martial arts training could be applied to weapons. She was pleasantly surprised to find it easily spun between her fingers.

"Well look at that. I always pictured you as a racer. But maybe a fighter…"

Hinata peered at Tenten, "what do you mean?"

"Shut up Tenten!"

"Wait, she doesn't know?"

"K-Know what?"

Tenten blanched, "haha let's just watch a movie, yeah?"

Ino facepalmed.

From car races to weapons, Hinata felt like things were very different since she left, "w-what don't I know?"

Tenten looked to Hinata, then to Ino, then back to Hinata. Then to Ino.

Ino held her hands up defensively, "Don't look at me. It's your funeral if Neji finds out you told her."

"Please." Hinata unconsciously tightened her grip on the weapon. Her voice was still soft, unrepresentative of the frustration she felt at being left in the dark. As always. "What don't I know?"

They looked at her little lapse of clarity, Ino smirking slightly while Tenten formulating a way out of this.

"Aw damn." The brunette sighed, "alright. Too late to go back now."

She walked to the Hyuuga and took away the kunai. Tenten led them both to sit on the couch, making Hinata feel like she was in a sort of intervention. This must be serious.

"When you were gone this thing started up between some of the older kids. I heard it started with a few street races, but then it kept growing and growing. Other racers wanted to join in. Bikers stuck their nose in-"

"Hey!" Ino shouted.

"- and pretty soon it turned into this big thing. It's secret, though. Cause it's, you know… illegal."

As an after thought, "we call it the Underground."

"Um…" The Underground. It sounded silly and dangerous all at once. Did people race there? Like some sort illegal street races. Hinata had heard of things like that, but never thought it was real. Why would her friends want to watch that?

Hinata's racing thoughts were evident on her features.

Ino spoke to Tenten, "she's not gonna get it. Why don't we just take her there?"

"Neji will actually kill us."

"Do you two go?" Hinata wondered aloud.

"We do more than go. We compete."

Hinata's eyes widened.

"Don't give me that look. It's really not as bad as it sounds. Just a way to blow off steam."

"And win buckets of money," Ino added with a witch laugh.

"And hey," Tenten elbowed her playfully, "Naruto will be there. You still like him right?"

Hinata turned all shades of red.

Ino clasped her hands in front of her chest, "and my Sasuke-kun!"

"Asshole number two."

"Don't insult my future husband! He's a God."

"That respectful shit only flies in the Underground. On the street he's just an asshole."

"A very handsome one - "

"Eh - "

"He's not an asshole." Because he didn't seem like one the other day. Sasuke wasn't as nice as Naruto (who was?) but he gave her his jacket. That had to count for something.

Ino and Tenten stared at Hinata incredilously.

"W-What?"

A sly smirk emerged on Tenten, "You into the Uchiha now?"

"I'll fight you for him!"

"N-No, no, no! He's just, um, n-never been mean to me?" It sounded so lame.

Both girls sighed in relief.

"Oh. Well that's good. Kami knows he doesn't need more fangirls. Like this one."

She pointed to Ino, who was evaluating Hinata. Hinata started fidgeting under her gaze.

"We gotta change your clothes."

"Hmmm…" Tenten contemplated, "that's a good point. You'll be recognized instantly."

Ino kept looking at her, "You've filled out a lot. I know! Something tight!"

Hinata stood straight up and waved her hands at her friends. "I'd rather not. Please."

Tenten pulled her back to the couch, "calmate, Hinata. We're not gonna let you go out there nude."

"Although some girls do."

"Right?! They think they're in the Fast & the Furious or something."

"We're so getting sued."

"So it's settled then! The three of us, late night, fast cars-"

"- hot boys-"

"Focus Ino. We go this weekend!"

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"Wait. Hinata, you do wanna go right?"

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