Streetgang Lovers
Chapter Twenty
"Sakura and Sasori bicker like an old married couple." Ino commented as Detective Tanaka yanked open the sliding door of the van. Deidara hummed in agreement, peering over the top of Sasori's head.
Of course, the girl who always had the most to say and the guy who always had the least to say were quite literally stuck with each other and at the very front of the group. Go figure.
"It's weird, un. Usually he just avoids girls altogether."
"HEY! QUIT THAT!"
"Pinky, don't yank so hard. My wrist is still cuffed to yours." An exasperated voice reminded the fuming Sakura.
"This is what we were trying to avoid… Large crowds and explosive behavior." Pein commented quietly, closing his eyes and turning away from the chaos. Unfortunately, every which way he turned was into the face of a police minion.
"Single file line." Detective Tanaka barked, clicking a handheld device in her left hand while keeping a close eye as the rest of the students began boarding the massive vehicle. Sakura rolled her eyes for the nth time, wondering how stupid this woman had to be to think she would risk running away whilst pulling a deadweight Akatsuki member along with her.
"Which bus driver do you think she stole that counting meter from?"
"Sakura, don't get us in even more trouble. Now is not the time to sass the police."
A pair of green eyes glared back at Sasori.
From her place in line, Hinata exchanged a look with Ino, somewhat surprised that Sakura had finally come across a person who could get her to be quiet when appropriate. Perhaps there was a first for everything. Getting arrested, however, was not one of them.
The cacophony of sirens and police officers shouting combined with onlookers staring at them in the parking lot made Tenten wish she had a bag on her head for some dignity. No, she wasn't handcuffed like Sakura or Sasori, but this still was beyond humiliating. Talk about a walk of shame. Now, if only there was a string of obnoxious yellow caution tape separating them off, that would be the icing on top of the cake.
She stopped in her tracks, staring at the long line in front of her. The pinkette and monotone redhead needed to just get into the van and stop causing a scene. The faster they got their butts into the vehicle, the faster all these people would stop staring at them.
Hiashi and Neji had caught up to the van where the Akatsuki and quartet of girls were being shoved into. A police minion immediately intercepted, attempting to block their view while another one rushed up, holding them back.
"Tammy Tanaka, you will be hearing from my lawyers."
"We are operating ethically, Mr. Hyuuga." Came the detective's sharp response, not even bothering to look up from her handheld clicker. "Your daughter and her friends will be released accordingly after we ensure their innocence in all this."
Hiashi protested something she couldn't quite hear, and that was by choice. Despite his air of authority, even the richest man in all of Konohagakure couldn't bribe his way out of this one. About three heads in front of her, Tenten saw the back of Hinata's silky dark hair. She was sure that the Hyuuga heiress could hear her father's attempts to save her, but like the rest of them, thought that he should just trust the process and save them all from further humiliation.
"They could have allowed me the decency of changing back into my normal clothes." Hidan snapped from behind her.
"I don't even want to hear it." Tenten muttered, looking up at the sky.
"Relax, Panda. I'm not naked under here! But it would help to have my clothes back. Jashin knows where we're headed next. Just look at this flimsy, shitty material!"
"Okay, enough!" Tenten shouted, shielding her eyes. Hidan was right. One wrong move and that hospital gown would rip right in half. She was not in a mood to see skin.
Sakura hobbled into the dark van, yanking her handcuffed hand with her as Officer Baka moved out of the way, making his way back out to the parking lot, presumably to keep an eye on the rest of them should they escape. The windows were completely covered by mini curtains.
Talk about sketchy. The driver was in his or her own little bubble, separated by a good sized plexiglass that was tinted dark. She didn't know what the proper protocol was, so the bubblegum haired girl simply muttered a 'hey there' to the driver who nodded before crawling to the back of the van as Sasori trailed behind without a word.
Now, it's well into springtime, so why is this weirdo driver cloaked in black from head to toe? She thought, trying to catch the faintest of glimpses through the reflective slab that was the rearview mirror. Not an inch of skin was showing. The driver had on giant sunglasses, a face covering, and hair, or perhaps lack thereof, had been stuffed into a knit beanie.
"Sakura." She snapped her head to the right, not expecting to see his face so close to hers.
"W-What?"
"Can you move over, there's more of us that have to get in."
"Yeah, sure." And with that, she slid over, making sure to yank extra hard on the cuffed hand.
What had she been thinking about? That redhead interrupted her train of thought.
As she took baby steps towards the dark van, Tenten felt a hand grab her wrist. Thinking it was Hidan, the bun haired girl closed her eyes and sighed, not bothering to turn around.
"Hidan, your arm was the body part that got injured, not your legs."
"This is Neji." Came a quiet voice that made Tenten almost pee in her pants. With great reluctance, she turned around.
"Neji! Uh… I am kind of in a pickle right now and can't talk." The brunette started, promptly yanking her hand out of his grasp and taking a few steps back, bumping into Itachi's shoulder. It wasn't that she was trying to be mean, but the Hyuuga boy was bringing more drama to the matter. Clearly, the guy was not blind. This was not an appropriate time to talk unless he wanted to join them in the van.
Neji's eyebrows narrowed, slightly taken aback by her sudden action and Tenten was forced to state the obvious. What was next? Teaching him his ABC's? For someone who was considered an academic prodigy, he was about as dense as a brick.
"Look, you can try and help Hinata and I escape but Detective Tanaka and her minions aren't going to let us get very far so I'm just going to have to accept my fate."
"Is that a wise choice, Tenten?" His pupils locked with hers. She tried to stop her eyes from rolling all the way back to her head but it was much too late for that. Clearly, Hidan and Sakura had been rubbing off on her.
Tenten exhaled through her nostrils, thinking that it would be one and done once she told Neji to just go with the flow. After all, they were outnumbered. Cop cars were stationed all over the parking lot, and was that a group of men in full on SWAT gear? They looked like they were ready to bust a drug raid, not take a bunch of teens into custody. From the front of the line, she heard Detective Tanaka telling them to speed it up and not waste anymore time.
Hidan, who stood about half a head taller than Neji, was also watching. His light colored eyes were blinking rapidly with disdain, and Tenten took it as a sign of dislike. Why was it that whenever she was in the same vicinity as these two that something weird always happened?
"Pretty boy, just shove over. I'm sure you wouldn't want to get your hands dirty anyways."
"Uh Hidan-"
"What are you implying?"
Great. Now these two were going to butt heads. Tenten looked to the front of the line. Ino had just climbed into the van so it would be too late to ask the blonde for some pepper spray to nozzle into her eyes and excuse herself from this uncomfy situation.
Since when did Neji Hyuuga become so dramatic? I knew he was hanging around Lee too much. What is this, an audition for one of those soap operas Gai-sensei secretly loves to binge?
"Neji. You're partially if not the sole reason we're even in this mess and the only way for you to undo it is to just stay out."
The bun haired girl couldn't believe the words that had flown out of her mouth. It was harsh, but necessary. Neji simply blinked in silence, seeming to understand what Tenten implied, or so she hoped. This was going off of the assumption that he had perhaps an ounce of self awareness. Meanwhile, Hidan was punching the air.
Perhaps if this scene played out a year ago, Tenten would have been swooning over just the idea of Neji approaching her. His attempt to 'rescue' her from these blaring sirens and tightlipped detective was just a fantasy that she had been infatuated by.
Now that she had interacted with the Hyuuga boy on numerous occasions, this grabby hand situation just made her cringe. Truly, nothing killed a crush more than actually having to spend time with them and realizing they weren't all how she chalked him up to be in her head.
Did I ever think a day would come where I would render the Hyuuga prodigy speechless?
Well, you did. But not in a good way.
A minion of Officer Baka's stepped forward with a line of caution tape and with that, Neji was forced to step back and join Mr. Hyuuga watching helplessly from a distance. Casting one last look at his stunned expression, Tenten heaved a sigh and climbed into the van after Itachi, trying to keep her own facial expressions to a minimum.
"Goodbye Neji." Was all she mustered in a voice too low for anyone but herself to hear.
There was no sadness in her heart, no hatred. Just neutrality.
It was an interesting seating arrangement. This was by no means, a standard van. Considering the bottomless budget of office supplies, they should have expected nothing less than fabulous when it came to transportation. But why Detective Tanaka couldn't find a better wardrobe for the life of her, well, that part remained unanswered.
It looked more like a mini tour bus… To jail. Sakura, Sasori, Ino, and Deidara were in the very back row-three very big personalities plus a level headed voice of reason- and they were already in deep debate about the practicality of handcuffs. Tenten silently wished the best of luck to the driver.
The Akatsuki leader was seated in his own lone seat at the edge of the second row, an aisle gap separating him from Konan and Hinata, who had not said a word during this entire clownshow.
And in the front was Tenten, seated in between Itachi and Hidan.
Great. The statue who barely talks and the volatile Jashinist who talks my ear off.
Detective Tanaka peeked her head through the open side door, taking one last look at the group of delinquents.
"Behave yourselves. We have our eyes on you, and don't think about trying anything funny for a second. See you in an hour."
"An hour? Where are we going?" Hinata asked, poking her head from the second row.
"You mean you're not riding with us?" Sakura called, frantically trying to unbuckle her seatbelt. Unfortunately, it was the kind that had a retractable lock so the loudmouthed girl was unable to free herself as efficiently as she wished.
"No. Officer Bara and I will be driving our separate cars to the designated location." Came her flat reply.
Sakura gasped.
"Please save some air in here for the rest of us." Sasori said, reaching over and clicking the pinkette's seatbelt back in place as the van door slammed shut.
With that, the vehicle began moving.
The first ten minutes in the van were just silent aside from Hidan who began complaining about the non-functional air conditioning that was continually circulating hot air. The driver, who had still not uttered a word, responded by twisting the temperature knob from medium to cold with such force that the knob cover fell off and rolled away onto the floor of the van. What a fail. Now they were just sitting in humidity without a clue in the world where this stranger was driving them to.
"Hey driver, we've been on the road for almost an hour and I'm not seeing any sight of a solitary confinement building. Where exactly is this prison?" Hidan called, leaning forward.
"The motion sickness is starting to kick in, un." Deidara mumbled from the back row.
The driver said nothing, and continued in silence.
They had reached just a few minutes past the forty minute mark when it happened. All the emotions, all the anger, frustration bubbled over like a can of soda that had been shaken far too many times. The fact that they were trapped in this stuffy van made it all the more worse.
Tenten looked out the window on Itachi's side of the van. They were truly in the middle of nowhere. Pastures of grassland and odd wired towers that seemed to function as upside down sprinklers sprayed beds of agriculture with water, an odd sight for city kids. She reached into her pocket for her phone, only to realize that Detective Tanaka had confiscated all of their mobile devices prior to loading the van. The brunette sent silent curses.
Next to her, Hidan seemed to notice she was searching for her nonexistent phone and laughed.
"Don't laugh at me. Your arm can be snapped back in half." She warned.
"While the pretty boy might have been the reason we're here, the detective did imply that you helped direct them to our location." Tenten snapped her head.
"What?"
"Well I dropped my phone to escape getting chopped by those idiots during the fight and you kept calling me while it was in the hands of the police."
Itachi mhmmed quietly in agreement as he continued to stare out his side of the window, hands folded across his lap. Tenten glared at the side of his head.
"Oh, so it's my fault then?"
"I don't know, maybe we shouldn't have tried running away from the police. I sure don't think we would be in handcuffs if a certain someone thought about time and place before she openly threatened to kill me." Sasori chimed in, lifting his handcuffed hand before Sakura yanked it back down with a huff.
"Don't try to pin the blame on me! If anything, this is Hidan's fault for running off into a gang fight where he clearly was outnumbered. And Itachi! You're the worst one of all, making us accompany you to the hospital… Ugh." Sakura attempted to cross her arms, unsuccessfully.
"Sakura, I thought it was you and your friends who accepted a ride from me." Came Itachi's voice.
"OH SHUT UP ITACHI!"
"Pinky, what I did was a heroic act on behalf of the Akatsuki! Don't make me sacrifice you to Jashin-sama once we reach land!"
"Children, please tone it down." Pein said wearily, massaging the temples of his head as Hidan tried to turn his head around as best he could.
"What if this interrogation drags on for days? I'm a busy girl with busy things to do." Ino began to look worried.
"I can see the headlines tomorrow- Local high schoolers exposed as Akatsuki members. But it's not even true!" Hinata wailed, pressing her face against the window of the van, which continued to move at a steady pace down a hill taking them further and further from civilization. Maybe she should have taken the chance and attempted to escape with Neji and her father. Too late now. Many regrets.
"That would require a good amount of evidence… Which I'm sure does not even exist." Konan replied quietly, reaching over to pull the curtain shut so Hinata would calm down.
Tenten rested her chin in her hands and leaned forward, trying not to feed into the rising chaos.
"What are you thinking about?" Itachi asked.
"What am I thinking about?" Tenten paused dramatically, taking a deep breath.
"WHAT AM I THINKING ABOUT?! WE'RE ON OUR WAY TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE FOR KAMI KNOWS HOW LONG! I MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE MY FINALS! BECAUSE OF YOU AKATSUKI CLOWNS AND HINATA'S TATTLETALE COUSIN, I'M GOING TO FAIL JUNIOR YEAR AND GET HELD BACK! MY BIRTHDAY IS ALREADY LATE, AND EVERYONE'S GOING TO THINK I'M A DUM DUM! CURSE ALL OF YOU FOR RUINING MY FUTURE!"
"... Alright then."
The van soon came to a stop with much more grace than Itachi could ever muster. The driver's gloved hand pointed to the rightside window, where they saw a gas station. With a beep, the locks on the van automatically unlocked.
Hidan and Sakura were still arguing loudly as Pein attempted to mediate while Konan was playing therapist to Hinata. Tenten turned to who she believed was the most responsible person in the van, which unfortunately was Itachi. He did not seem the least bit fazed by her outburst moments ago.
"We're out of gas." He said quietly, pointing to the driver who was starting to unbuckle the seatbelt and stepping out of the vehicle. "If anyone needs a bathroom break I think this is a good time."
Some shuffling was heard from the second row as Pein made his way between the aisle and out the van, muttering something about breathing real air. Ino climbed down, taking the opportunity to peruse the convenience store and dragged Deidara with her. Hidan jumped out, sprinting towards the sad looking bathroom a few feet away. Sasori made a move to follow, until he remembered he was still handcuffed to Sakura.
"Look, I have to pee and I don't know how much longer we have until we reach the destination."
"I'm not going in with you! That's asking too much of me."
"Sakura, it's a portapotty. I'll just close the door and-"
"No. You can stay here and pee on the floor."
"Okay, you made this difficult." Sasori got up, pulling her with him.
The driver was now completely out of sight.
The rest of them made no move to leave the van and instead sat in silence, appreciating the slight breeze coming in through the open door along with an absence of arguing.
Hidan hoisted himself back up into the van, fastening his seatbelt. Konan looked at her watch impatiently, then back at the driver who was tapping a gloved hand on the steering wheel. Sasori and Sakura had returned moments ago, and now they were just waiting on Ino, Deidara, and Pein.
Tenten refastened her hair, shoving a bobby pin through the left spacebun. She tried to ignore Hidan's staring. Well, that was the silver haired Akatsuki member. Shameless in everything he did. The hospital gown was still sitting over his frame, thank Kami. Ino and Deidara, everyone's favorite blonde duo, had finally returned with bags full of snacks and other useless things and took their seats in the back row.
Even when Tenten turned her gaze, the Jashinist did not falter in his stare.
He was obnoxious to no end, from his profane nature to his unnecessary excessive use of hair gel that sculpted his shiny silver hair to the flashy triangular pendant which was still clasped around her neck. But in this moment, now that he was just wearing the hospital gown instead of a cutoff tank or any piece of clothing that accentuated his physicality, he almost seemed… Likeable.
She met his eyes. They were unique in color like Hinata and Neji's, but instead of the soft lilac, his were more of a light brown with flecks of heather purple.
"Can I help you?"
Hidan blinked, and she felt herself pulled in by his eyes.
"You're cute like a panda but you've got an edge. Hell, Jashin-sama knows you could probably step on me with those elephant feet of yours."
Well, way to kill the moment.
The driver cleared their throat before pressing the automatic lock button to close the van's doors.
"Wait, excuse me driver." Konan put a hand on the top of Tenten's seat, trying to stand up.
"We're missing one person, we can't leave just yet."
The four girls exchanged wide eyed looks, their facial expressions doing all that was needed to communicate telepathically.
Sakura : Do you think the Akatsuki leader made a run for it? He's a bold one.
Hinata : No wonder he looked so calm… I have so many questions.
Tenten : This driver is an idiot. So much for high security. If he really did run off, then good luck to them trying to track him down. Officer Baka took all our phones.
Ino : I'm just going to sit back and look forward to when Detective Tanaka chews the driver out for losing a prisoner of war.
The driver cleared their throat, before speaking in a very muffled voice. Why they didn't choose to simply pull down their face mask was beyond everyone sitting in the van.
"We must go to the designated location. Enough time has been wasted already."
"So you don't even care that one of your suspects disappeared under your watch?" Itachi asked, squinting at the rearview mirror.
"We will wait another ten minutes. But if he does not return, this will not be pursued any further." And with that, the driver turned the keys, bringing the engine back to life. Hot air began circulating throughout the van once again.
"How can you call yourself a professional?"
Meanwhile, Hinata was reeling in her mind, wondering why the voice of the driver sounded familiar. However, between Konan's protests and Itachi's monotonous challenging, she couldn't pinpoint who she thought it sounded like.
The ten minutes waiting for Pein seemed like an eternity. As soon as the phone timer went off, the driver pulled out of the gas station, as promised. But there was nothing any of them could do. The Akatsuki leader running off into the void certainly had not been on the agenda for any of them.
While the four girls remained flabbergasted, Hidan's eyes darted to the driver and back at the locked doors, toying with the idea of escape while Itachi and Sasori sat in silence to accept their fate. Konan had come down from her yelling mood and was now spouting curses under her breath, glaring at the back of the driver's head in disbelief while Deidara closed his eyes, thinking this was an appropriate time to dissociate.
The second portion of the drive went by significantly faster. Now, they were moving up a hill past flanks of trees. The momentary shade made them all breathe a little sigh of relief.
"Does this area look familiar to any of you?" Ino asked, leaning over a sleeping Deidara to yank back the curtain and take a good look out the window of the van.
"This has got to be a joke…" Itachi muttered, pressing his palm and side of his face against the glass, trying to look behind.
"Can we at least have some information here?" Hinata called.
Tenten looked out Hidan's side of the window, then to Itachi's, and back to the front where the driver indeed was going down an notable looking grassy path. If the others were right, the van would stop in about five or six minutes and they would soon reach the fabulous yet dreaded building in the woods.
But why here out of all places?
"The mansion? Oh hell no, I can't do this again." Sasori covered his face with his free hand.
"I guess taking my finals is really out of the question." Tenten moped.
"Hey, look at it this way, Panda! The police think we're such a danger that they couldn't risk putting us in a normal facility so that's why we're being transported to this stupid house again."
The bun haired girl could not meet Hidan's enthusiasm, unfortunately.
"Do you think we're going to be split up for questioning like the time Detective Tanaka caught us?" Sakura pondered aloud. "Because this time I might actually crack under pressure, depending on if they use torture tactics."
"I didn't even bring an extra change of clothes!" Ino burst out, her hand sliding down the window as they drove further and further into the woods. Deidara attempted to reassure her.
"You look good in whatever you wear, un."
"But-"
"You can always wear my clothes."
That shut everyone up quickly.
As soon as the van unlocked, everyone sprung out the doors. Sure enough, Detective Tanaka and her posse were there to greet them, and they naturally fell into a single file line.
"Here's how things are going to work- Officer Bara is going to pull up your profile information and make sure it's a matchup before he lets you into the house. Once you get inside, you are to remain in place until we give further instruction. Tomorrow morning, two officers are going to take your fingerprints and ask each of you a series of questions regarding your time at Konoha High. Anything is fair game, we're looking at some serious offenses and accusations. Answer honestly and don't waste our time. You're going to be held here until we are in the clear, got it?"
Let's see, there's Tenten, Hinata, Sasori, and then myself left to go. Maybe I should risk it?
"Damn, I wish they hadn't confiscated my phone like that." Sakura rolled her eyes, blowing a stray pink hair out of her face. A minion of Officer Baka's had so kindly freed her from Sasori and she never wanted to see a pair of handcuffs again.
"You can borrow mine." A quiet voice said from behind.
"Ah! Konan. I forgot you were even there!" The pinkette practically shouted. Sasori turned his body sideways to see what was wrong.
"How did you-" The bubblegum haired girl stopped as Konan stepped closer to her and a smooth device was placed in her free hand.
"There's two more before they check in you and Sasori. If you need to make a call, do it now." The female Akatsuki member's face was calm but Sakura saw a sense of urgency in her eyes.
"She's right. This might be the only chance for us to call for help." Sasori said.
"Okay, you talked me into it." The green eyed teen huffed, pivoting her body to dial the one number she knew by heart.
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
Now she couldn't tell if the static and cutting out of sound was due to the poor connection or just Konan having a shitty phone, but Sakura took her chances and spilled her guts in the allowed thirty seconds of a voicemail.
"Principal Tsunade! You have to save us! Detective Tanaka and her stupid minions have us all in the middle of the forest-the same one you and Shizune-sensei made us go to during that detention period! I don't have much time and I know if that uptight Tammy Tanaka sees me talking on the phone she's gonna take this away too so-"
Click.
"Well that was something." The pinkette sighed, switching the phone off before moving up the line, seeing as Sasori was about to get checked in.
"Hey, Konan you saved the day. I don't know how much of my message was recorded but it's better than nothing." She said, swinging her hand back to return the phone.
But no hand came up to grasp the object, causing her to turn around.
"Konan?"
Detective Tanaka and Officer Baka had relocated to a different part of the house, probably to gossip and leaf through each of their files. Their minions had driven off, eager to be relieved of their tedious duties as soon as Sakura had gotten checked in.
Now, the teens were left in the living room of the mansion, utterly confused.
"So what, we just stare at the wall until tomorrow when the real shit starts?" Hidan said to nobody in particular.
"Language." Itachi warned, pointing a finger upstairs.
"I feel like I have to ask this because it's going to bother me for the rest of the day, but are any of you planning to escape?" Tenten asked, scanning the remaining Akatsuki members. They all shook their heads, except for Hidan who shrugged.
"Huh… Really?"
They nodded.
Tenten dragged the girls upstairs and into what would have been known as her 'old room' from the time they had been under house arrest. Everything was just as she had left it. The brunette sat on the edge of the bed. Yup, the mattress was as thin and lifeless as it was the first time around. Hinata closed the door behind them.
"Well, this is an interesting case of deja vu." Sakura said, crossing her arms as she surveyed the room, giving a nod of approval upon spotting zero cobwebs or built up dust between corners.
"I'd say the stakes are higher this time." Ino commented.
"What's the plan now?" Hinata asked as they all turned to Tenten, like the mastermind panda that she was. The bun haired girl took a deep breath before unfolding a neat square of paper from her pocket. They all leaned in for closer inspection.
"What is that?" Ino asked, blue eyes blinking as she tried to decipher the sloppy handwriting.
"I started writing a plea letter to anyone who will listen to my case. I need to take my finals and that's the bottom line."
"Don't you know it's bad to write in red ink?!" Sakura screeched, reaching for the paper to rip it into shreds but Tenten was faster, tucking it back into her pocket.
"God, you are so superstitious."
After hearing no movement from anywhere else upstairs, Hinata tried the door to the rooftop. Keeping a firm grip on her cup of tea, the Hyuuga heiress twisted the heavy doorknob and wedged herself through the narrow space. The door slammed shut behind her.
"Hinata."
"Itachi! I… didn't know you were up here."
He motioned for her to take a seat on the pool chair next to him and she did just that. She wasn't sure how many minutes had passed of deafening silence before the onyx eyed Akatsuki member spoke.
"You're awfully quiet."
Okay…. A statement that she couldn't really respond to. Hinata gripped the mug in her hands a little tighter, feeling the awkward vibes set in. Or maybe it was just her making things awkward.
"Uh… I'm used to silence. Father and Nii-san never talked much."
They continued to sit in silence and the violet haired girl somehow found it in herself to fill the said silence.
"Even though the circumstances are not ideal, I feel like there's something nostalgic about being here again."
Itachi turned his head to look at her.
"How so?"
"W-Well I feel free for some reason. No nagging, no Nii-san to be compared to, no Father watching my every move ready to offer critique." Hinata set her mug down in her lap and rested her chin in her hands, admiring the rooftop view.
"Right now, there's nobody telling me what I should stress over."
"Does that come from something?"
Now Itachi's face was extremely close to hers. Hinata swallowed dryly.
"Um… Just being the oldest sibling I guess."
"I see."
"And coming from a high achieving family who expects nothing but the best."
"I also grew up in a strict household." Itachi said quietly.
They said nothing after that, but continued to watch the sunset in mutual understanding.
Unsure of when he might see the outdoors again before interrogation the next morning, Sasori decided to take a quick evening stroll along the mansion's premises. He was well aware of a pink haired girl watching him from the bushes and finally called out to her.
"I can see you, Sakura."
"Just trying to make sure you aren't going to escape!" The pinkette said defensively. Then in a lower voice added, "But if you are then you better take me with you."
"You left the door open, right?"
"Wait, what do you mean?" She whirled around.
"...The front door is an automatic lock…"
"WHAT?!"
"Sakura…"
"Great, now we're locked out of the house. NICE GOING."
"This is your fault." He slapped his forehead.
They attempted to climb up to the windows, which did not go over so well.
"If only Pein were here, he would know what to do." The redhead sighed.
"Are you sad about it?" She asked.
"Not really." There was that indifferent tone of voice again. Kami, how it irritated her.
"I would be! What kind of leader abandons his henchmen?"
"He is not our father, Sakura. We just operate in a team and he happens to be the leader."
"Are you mad?"
He shrugged.
"Pein was always… Different."
"I'm going to need you to be a little more specific there."
Sasori shrugged, sinking down into a sitting position on the grass. Seeing that climbing the window to the second floor seemed like a nearly impossible task, Sakura sat down as well. They would just have to wait until everyone else noticed their disappearance.
"What would you do if I ran off right now?" She asked suddenly.
"You wouldn't."
Sakura frowned.
"I know you, and you wouldn't leave your friends. Well, you probably wouldn't be able to survive without them."
"AHAH! YOU DO LIKE ME SASORI AKASUNA!"
"... And how did you come to that conclusion?"
Is that a surprised look from him? WE GOT HIM FOLKS! Inner Sakura cheered.
"Given your apathetic nature, if you really had no feelings for me, you would simply ignore me. But you always have something smart to say, always a snarky comment and even making fun of someone requires an extent of feelings. The fact that you can predict my behavior means you've been watching me." She finished with a smug smile, nudging his shoulder a little too harshly and he fell over into the grass.
"You are quite the detective, Pinky. Maybe you should apply for Tammy Tanaka's position."
"Oh shut it."
Back inside, everyone's favorite blonde duo was currently sitting on the couch. Ino was rummaging through her plastic bag of useless convenience store purchases while Deidara was doing his best to try and take another didn't know what to make of this waiting situation. It was oddly quiet and they were beginning to wonder where Hidan and Sakura, the two resident loudmouths, had gone.
The platinum blonde girl held up a long silver object, switching it on and admiring how it crackled at the tip.
"An electric candle lighter! Have you ever seen something like this?" Deidara opened one eye sleepily.
"There's no candles in this house, un."
"I know, but when we're finally released from this place I can't wait to go home and try this thing out." She smiled widely, and he couldn't help but smile back. Setting the item back in the bag, Ino scooted closer to the blonde Akatsuki member, resting her head on his shoulder. He responded by resting his head on hers.
"Now that you're leader-less, what's next?"
"We're used to operating under orders, un. But if I've learned anything, it's that ninety percent of the time, plans don't go accordingly." He ran a hand through her hair.
"I don't know what my plans are. Nothing has gone how I thought it would, but strangely I'm the happiest I've ever been."
Ino smiled.
"Panda, I'm telling you, that detective is nowhere to be found." Hidan stated, crawling out from the depths of a closet as he looked up to a stubborn faced brunette.
"Where could they have gone? We all saw them!" She insisted, zipping over to every window of the room, hoping to catch a glimpse of Officer Baka or Detective Tanaka. Nope, all she saw was Sakura sitting in the grass outside talking to Sasori. They looked a little too calm though. She was sure as soon as she turned her back, the pinkette would be punching the redhead's lights out.
"I don't know what kind of answer you want me to give, Panda."
"So we're trapped in here again."
"Well, yeah." He looked at her in a way that made her blood pressure jump.
"Stop looking at me like that!" Hidan walked closer, and the bun haired girl willed herself to walk backwards in order to set distance but her entire body was frozen. The Jashinist was perhaps three centimeters away from her, and alarms were going off in Tenten's head.
Is he going to kiss me again? I'M NOT READY!
No, he just reached down to touch the necklace around her neck. Right. That old thing.
"You don't mind being with a gang member?"
Tenten frowned, grabbing his hand.
"But you're more than just Hidan of the Akatsuki." He swung an arm around her shoulder, and she jumped slightly.
"I'm kidding! You know who I really am- a total softy. Just like how I know you're a cute panda underneath that tough exterior of yours."
He's alright I guess.
They made their way back downstairs, just in time to see Hinata open the door for Sakura and Sasori. Ino and Deidara had fallen asleep side by side on the couch and Itachi was just sitting off to the side, on guard for who knew what.
As she looked at each of her friends who had begun to pair off, herself included, Tenten couldn't help but smile. Life really did unfold in the craziest ways. These past months had been the craziest, yet most memorable moments that she would never forget. They were like one huge, chaotic family in the best way possible.
"Whatever tomorrow brings, I feel a little better knowing we're in this together."
A figure dressed in all black from head to toe entered the basement, quickly shedding off layers of outerwear along with a black face mask. She marched past Detective Tanaka, rolling her eyes and took a seat beside the man hunched over a computer monitor displaying a street view of a gas station. There was nobody in sight. She clenched her teeth, ripping the knit beanie off her head and throwing it to the floor with force.
"He got away again."
"I thought you were better than this Tsunade." The man spoke, turning so she could see his face. The edges of her mouth curved into a smile.
"Well, without the star of the show, this is pretty much useless. Say we let the kids go now?"
"We'll give it a week."
"You sound confident."
"I am."
"Good to have you back."
"It's been too long."
"How do we plan to carry out from here?"
"This is round two. The test run last time didn't go over too well, but they've got a year left until graduation. Third time's a charm?"
"Guess we'll see."
"I guess we will."
Fin.
A/N : And that's a wrap! Super long chapter I know, but it makes sense for the final installment of this crazy fic. I want to sincerely thank everyone who has diligently read, favorited, followed, or left a review for this story! Having started this fic in 2012, my little old self had absolutely no idea where this was going, abandoning it for five years, making sporadic updates in 2017 to finally completing it in 2021. It truly has been a wild ride. For the longest time, I've forgotten how much I enjoy writing but I'm glad to have rediscovered this pastime of mine in lockdown. Having Streetgang Lovers take place in a highschool setting allowed me to reflect and implement my own experiences into this fic ^^
I'm feeling a little sad that it has now come to a close as it marks the second piece of mine finally completed. I have never been the biggest fan of sequels but a prequel has been in the works since Chapter 10. It will be a twoshot! I don't know if I'm completely done with these characters and it is sometimes nice to have supplemental material to fill that void. That's the best thing about writing- you're never truly done with it.
Well, that's that! I hope you've had as much fun keeping up with this fic as I've had writing it. Thank you so much for sticking around. As the world slowly begins its return to normalcy, please stay safe & be healthy! Much love.
xo, D. Sparkle