wrapping this one up!

Drive Me Crazy
-
Blasting Zone Ahead

The day of the race dawned bright and clear, and the checkered flag dropped just as the sun crested the horizon. Forty-five minutes in, and Shikamaru still wasn't truly awake.

"I thought they usually do these things at night," he grumbled, refilling his coffee.

"They do," Neji's eyes flicked from screen to screen in the police van, watching the monitors with a sharp and quick eye. "Most of these socialites don't even wake up before noon."

"I know the type," he snorted. "And I might be jealous. So why the change in routine?"

"You can blame Hanabi," Neji smirked. "She made sure there was way too much alcohol consumed at last night's soiree, and it forced them to move the race to this morning. It also gave us a chance to get our hands on the route maps - or at least pictures of them."

"Them?"

"Sirs," one of the officers piped up, nodding to the monitors, "We've got company."

"Right on time," Neji's eyes glinted as he exited the van, standing hands on hips as three cars came flying up the dirt road only to speed over the spike strips and spin to a halt in the middle of a police barricade.

One of the drivers kicked open his door and tried to run, but was quickly met with several officers, guns drawn.

"Gentlemen," Neji eyed them as the other two got out of their cars with their hands in the air. "Nice of you to join us."

He nodded to the officers who swooped in to cuff the three men while others searched their cars. One trotted over with a folded piece of paper, that Neji held up between two fingers.

"I see you were given a different map than the other drivers. Now why would that be?"

"We're better than the rookies," one of them sneered. "So, we race a harder route."

"I don't think that is it," Neji said, studying the map with pursed lips. "Finding anything interesting in there, officers?"

"Drugs," one of the uniformed men approached, scribbling on a clipboard.

"Any stolen goods in the vehicle?"

"Too early to say - but definitely plenty of illegal ones."

"Imagine that," Neji crossed his arms and considered the three drivers now being cuffed and presented to him. "And the race?"

"Still going," he tapped his earpiece. "We've got several live feeds from the drones and are trying to predict the routes so we can intercept the other racers."

"Good luck with that," one of the drivers snorted as the officer finished frisking him. "Fukusuke isn't that easy to catch."

"Mubi!" another snapped. "Keep your mouth shut."

"You go right ahead, Oboro," he snorted. "But Kagari and I aren't taking the fall for anyone. You want names?" he looked at Neji. "I got names. Good ones. Kyūroku Wagarashi, Fukusuke Hikyakuya, Aoi Rokushō – I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"We already know a good deal of it," Shikamaru drawled lazily, stepping out of the van. "Jirōchō Wasabi already gave us those names. Don't think you can tell us much."

"What a joke," Mubi's eyes sparked with indignation. "Jirōchō Wasabi doesn't know shit – the boss has been running this right under his nose for the better part of three years. He wishes he was half as powerful as the Wagarashi family."

"So Wagarashi managed to set up an illegal race circuit," Shikamaru shrugged. "That's barely even original, much less something that equates to power."

"Yeah, but do you know why he set it up?"

"I'm sure when we question all of the racers we will learn they paid an exorbitant amount of money to participate," he sighed, bored. "And that Wagarashi even went so far as to have their cars repaired discreetly to keep his cash cow fed. Hardly anything impressive."

"You want impressive?" Mubi glowered, shaking the officer's hand off of his shoulder. "I've got impressive. He set up the entire racing circuit to move stolen and illegal goods in and out of the land of Fire and Tea. Once the kids trusted him and the few of us planted in the group, he'd ferret out information about different things he wanted to have moved - goods that were worth more than you make in a year - tell him Kagari!"

The other man looked between Mubi, Oboro, and the officers, and decided on self-preservation. "He's right. We moved a necklace just last week that was worth $1.2 million."

"Sure you did," Neji chuckled. "I don't think even these kids are dumb enough to hand over something worth that much."

"They do if they want to race and think they are getting it back," Mubi shot back. "Oh?" he elbowed Kagari conspiratorially. "Not so smart now, are they?"

"No, but the boss is," Kagari smirked. "He'd let them out of the racing fee if they showed up with a specific item. If they didn't have it – no go. If they did, it got verified by one of the guys in charge, and then sealed into a hidden compartment in the car until the end of the race."

"Only it wasn't the original that was given back," Mubi sneered. "Boss had copies made for each item on the list, which is why he requested what he did."

"So they were switched out with a fake?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah." Mubi warmed to his subject. "But that was only part of the genius. The fakes also had transmitters so Dao – one of the insiders – could track them and then get to where other goods were stashed. He'd usually steal the fake to keep anyone from finding out about it, but sometimes he'd steal a bigger ticket item that the boss had been targeting all along. And the best part? He didn't even have to get it out of the house – he'd just hide it in whatever car got raced at that house. The goods would stay stashed until the next race."

"Risky," Shikamaru shook his head.

"Sloppy," Neji corrected. "Anyone could have found the stolen items on accident."

"Not if the compartment is hidden and can only be opened by us," Mubi challenged. "Smart, right? All of the cars were inspected at the start and end of every race – all under the pretense of making sure they hadn't been tampered with and keeping the race fair. The drivers had to be out of the way, so that is how they were used to start moving stolen goods and drugs across the borders."

"They all moved drugs?" Neji raised his eyebrows. "Without their knowledge?"

"Yeah," Mubi elbowed Kagari. "Every single one of them. That's Aoi Rokushō came in. Once Wagarashi decided to use the race to move drugs, Aoi coordinated the goods and the routes of the drivers."

"He used to work in Konoha," Shikamaru said to Neji. "Took up the drug trade in Ame."

"Yeah," Mubi gave a sigh. "Wagarashi's timing was good – we'd overstayed our welcome in Ame. But if you want more information about these guys, I'm going to need some assurance."

"You've already told them everything, you idiot," Oboro barked. "You've just assured us a prison sentence."

"Not quite," Mubi pinned them both with an intense gaze. "I've proven that I know about the inside of this gang, and I can give you information on the drug trade that is hella huge. I'm gonna need some kind of immunity for the three of us."

"And why would we do that?"

"Because the most important thing you need to know about those maps is where the traps are, because once Fukusuke decides to make a getaway, anyone trying to follow him is going to be out of luck."

"And what precisely," Neji met his eyes. "Do you mean by that?"

"That the races are usually pretty tame," he shrugged. "Any damage to cars is either incidental or done on purpose and never enough to incapacitate the car entirely. All scripted, of course – Fukusuke knows how to get drivers into a tough spot and the three of us help make sure the damage gets done. But there is always an escape to the course that only Fukusuke can drive – following him would be a seriously bad idea. He's not the brightest person out there, but he is a wickedly good driver, and if the order comes down to make sure he isn't followed back – then ain't no one going to be able to keep on his tail. Not on this route."

"Fukusuke's broken away from the pack," the officer monitoring the drone feed announced. "Our driver is going after him."

"Bad move," Mubi shook his head. "The get-away path is fucking insane, and only Fukusuke knows how to navigate it without pretty much dying."

"Get a call into the driver immediately," Neji snapped at the officer nearest to him. "Tell them to back off right-" Neji's hand flew to his pocket where his phone buzzed insistently. "Hyūga," he barked into the phone.

"Man, you have got this asshole cop thing down!"

"Kankurō?" Neji narrowed his eyes. "I don't have time for nonsense."

"Oh, wow, you are good. So close to script. Good news – my drones are up there and giving Tenten the overview she needs. Better news – I had some of my drones ram the Wagarashi ones, and - oh it was epic! - we've got more eyes on what's going on than they think. I'm diverting Tenten so he thinks he's gotten away, and then giving her a route to give straight chase."

"Then you need to give us the intercepting coordinates," Neji began to motion to the officers around him.

"No good," Kankurō sighed. "The current trajectory means intercepting in the Land of Tea and that is outside of your jurisdiction and presumably Kakashi's bribe range. Have to head them off a different way."

"You'll never 'intercept' Fukusuke," Mubi snorted. "The emergency route has traps. If he crosses onto a certain route, it automatically kicks on the defenses. It is suicide to follow."

Neji felt his heart pause as he said to Kankurō, "Did you catch that?"

"Yeah," the man said tightly. "I caught that. Hand me to Nara."

Neji handed the phone to Shikamaru, who listened for several beats. "Understood." He ended the call and fished his keys out from his pocket even as he motioned for Neji to follow.

"We can't end Tenten's pursuit," he said, pressing a button on the key fob to unlock his black SUV. "So we have to go with Plan B."

"What do you mean by that?" Neji narrowed his eyes. "As a civilian she has no business in this – her part is done."

Shikamaru's answer was to open the door and say "Get in."

Neji started to plant his hands on his hips – to protest, but Shikmamaru's not-too-subtle glance at his watch reminded him that he didn't have time to argue. He slid into the driver's seat and buckled up, starting the car as Shikamaru got into the passenger seat. Neji watched as he leaned over to press the green button on the dash, blinking with surprise as it lit up with multiple screens, including one with Kankurō on it.

"We patched in?"

"Of course we are," Kankurō scoffed. "Here," the screen flipped to a map with multiple blinking lights, "is your route. The red is the target, the green is Tenten. We are going to try to intercept here," a dashed blue line wound over the road on the map to intersect the target's trajectory, "and blockade them. That means you have to hurry."

"You heard the man," Shikamaru slid out of the seat. "Get going." He closed the door and stood back expectantly. Neji gave the barest of nods as he backed up.

"Is there a reason you are wired into Nara's car?"

"Oh, lots of reasons," Kankurō readily agreed. "Some professional, some personal, and at least one as potential blackmail, but that is a topic for another day."

A smug look twisted his lips. "I look forward to the conversation."

With that, he peeled out, rocketing past the other officers, who cheered him on as they loaded the three drivers into cruisers to be brought back to the station.

Tenten hadn't heard from Neji.

She supposed that was actually a good thing, as she needed all of her concentration right now, and having him worry or do silly things like warn her of the logical stupidity of following the driver into treacherous terrain would do nothing for her nerves right now.

She bit off a curse as she down-shifted and jerked the wheel around the tight turn, ignoring the pings of rock kicking into her vehicle.

"On your left in ten meters!"

"Got it," she shifted again.

"So, I bet this is the last time you talk to a strange guy at a party."

"I wouldn't have talked to him," she narrowed her eyes at her target, "but you ID'd him."

"Well, yeah, but how was I supposed to know it would land us in this mess?" Kankurō scoffed. "Jirōchō Wasabi approaching you seemed pretty harmless."

"And by harmless, you figured he wanted me to race for him."

"Obviously! Idate liked working with him right up until…" Kankurō trailed off awkwardly, realizing too late what he had been going to say.

"Until he found out about the tampering of the races? Until they figured out the Wagarashi family rigged them and sabotaged his car and almost got him killed? That's him, isn't it?" she locked her eyes on the car ahead of her. "The one they hired to mess with Idate?"

"Is it worth reminding you he failed and was banned from racing?"

"He might've failed in wrecking Idate's career," Tenten glowered, shifting hard and taking another corner, "but he did a great job messing with his head. Do you remember what he was like in the shoot we did right after that? The one in Kumo?"

"I remember he was a total ass that nearly got you killed," Kankurō snorted, "I remember that he was reckless and was trying to pull off stunts that were way beyond what he should have been even thinking of attempting. I really thought that whole mess was going to come up before now, since the press got a hold of some dicey stuff."

"You mean where the press tried to accuse me of drunk driving and spiraling?"

"Which they wouldn't have done if you hadn't been covering for Idate – who was, in fact, spiraling."

"We got him help," she winced as a large rock bounced off her fender and zinged off into the unknown. A tone blipped across the system. "It didn't matter what they had to say about me as long as he was recovering."

"Yeah, well, he's lucky he had you around, and that his sponsor was so damned observant. Speaking of help – going mute." She waited a moment while he muted her line and spoke to whoever else he was coordinating with – probably Shikamaru, whom she had just learned was dating Temari and had been for quite some time. She made a mental note to grill him about details later, since she and Temari were close friends, as well as to bust Temari's chops for not telling her about it.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a warning alarm. She shot a look to the dash and muttered a curse. "Kankurō! Your drone is yelling at me!"

The line snapped off of mute. "I know, I know! Looks like we've picked up some tech and…. Oh, shit."

"What kind of "oh shit" is that? The one that comes right before you get excited and things get tricky, or the legit "oh-shit-now-we-worry?"

"…Can't it be both?"

"Kankurō," she warned.

"Ok, ok, it is more of a 'your-backup-went-awol-and-i-am-trying-to-figure-out-what-to-do-about-it sort of thing."

"Backup," she frowned as she turned sharply to veer off the road onto a worn and bumpy path. "Is it that blue pineapple on the screen?"

"Ha! I forgot I did that to his icon!"

"So it's it Nara?"

"It is Nara's car, which, by the way, his being manhandled right now."

"Didn't think Shikamaru had it in him."

"Still not sure about that," Kankurō scoffed, "and quite frankly I don't want to think about that."

Tenten grinned wickedly. "I bet Temari likes being manhandled."

"Ugh I hate you so much right now. If it wouldn't get you killed, I would hang up on you."

"Thanks for not," she flicked a glance to the screen and back. "Nara has almost caught up with us – you can give me the silent treatment after we get this guy cornered."

"Yeah, sure, once we – hold up! -What the fuck – THAT'S NOT A ROAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

Tenten watched the blue icon take a sharp detour, and frowned.

"You're yelling at him not me, right?"

"Yes, because you left the road ages ago, but at least you know what you are – NO YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! DO YOU WANT TO END UP IN A BODY BAG?"

Different blips appeared on the map now – and Tenten was fairly certain they were not other vehicles.

"Kankurō? What are those things your drone found?"

"Landmines – don't go near them they -ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? NO I WILL NOT CALM DOWN! YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND!"

Tenten watched as Furosuke narrowed the gap between him and the Wagarashi minefield.

"Gotta catch him now," she muttered, and pushed on the gas.

"Wait, Tenten – fall back! You need to give him space so he doesn't – HOLY SHIT, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU THINKING?! YOU ARE GOING TO -"

Tenten shrieked inadvertently as the streak of black came flying in from another path. She slammed on her brakes and swerved, watching in horror as the other driver t-boned Furosuke's car, skidding both vehicles to the edge of the minefield. In seconds, she was out of her car and racing toward the wreck, almost stumbling as Kankurō's voice switched from her car to her earpiece mid-rant

"-ucking crazy idiot! No, I didn't tell him to take that route, are you shitting me?"

"Back in a sec," Tenten barked before pocketing her earpiece, Kankurō's voice screaming profanities the whole way.

Furosuke's car door opened first, and he stumbled out, disoriented and dizzy, but still trying to escape. Tenten had a sudden memory of a birthday party when she was a kid, where people had to bend over and rest their foreheads on the top of a baseball bat and run around in circles before trying to stand up and walk.

He fell on the ground and she scooped him up by the front of his jacket.

"You alright?" she demanded.

"Y-yeah," he gasped, eyes still unfocused. "Airbags… Nothing broken… who was the crazy fuck that-?"

She cold cocked him across his jaw and let him crumple to the ground.

"That was for Idate," she nudged him with the toe of her boot even as the sound of creaking metal made her turn. The driver's door of the SUV opened with a large protest before falling off of it's hinge and onto the ground with a clatter.

And all Neji Hyūga could do was stand and mutter "Oops."

She was at his side in a moment, bracing him when he stepped out of the car.

"What in the world were you thinking?" she asked, scanning him quickly for blood, bruise, and broken bone. She heard colorful cursing burst from his ear, making him cringe.

Neji unsteadily took out his earpiece and shoved it in his pocket with a grimace.

"So loud," he muttered.

"Neji," Tenten tried to duck into his wandering field of vision. "Neji, are you alright? Can you hear me?"

His eyes shifted from glazed over to focusing on her suddenly and with a piercing intensity that made her sigh with relief.

"You must not be too badly off if you can still glower like that."

"What were you thinking?" Neji frowned at her. "You were careening toward an active mine field!"

"Me?" she blinked at him. "What about you? You apparently went off-roading to slam into Furosuke, barely missing the minefield!"

"Still had a good 500 meters," he shook his head dismissively. "And you were careening toward an active mine field!"

She adjusted quickly, catching him as he swayed on his feet, still disoriented from the crash. With a nervous glance to the damaged and smoking cars, she draped his arm over her shoulder. "C'mon - let's put some distance between us and the carnage of your crappy driving."

"I caught him, didn't I?" Neji retorted, following her on shaky legs.

"Yeah, you caught him alright," she snorted. "But we might need to go over the idea of 'pursuit' again. I, for one, am sure I did not teach you to ram your car into the vehicle you are trying to intercept."

"Details," he said dismissively.

"Easy," she hissed, helping him drop safely to the ground to lean against the passenger side of her car. She began checking his eyes, and pressing a hand to his forehead before doing a basic vitals check.

His eyes swiveled to her hip.

"Your pocket is swearing at me."

"It is swearing at both of us," she grimaced, fishing out her earpiece and putting it back in gingerly. "Ok- OKAY!" she interrupted Kankurō's tirade. "Help me now, be mad later. We are going to need a medic here. Furosuke probably has a concussion and took a hit to the face. Neji, I'm guessing a concussion."

"Hit to the face?" Neji frowned. "Did his airbags go off?"

Tenten shrugged, listening to what Kankurō was saying on the other line.

"Authorities from the Land of Tea are on their way," she told Neji. "So is Kakashi. Nara says to hold off on investigating Furosuke's car until there are witnesses."

Neji nodded, his eyes roving over her face as if he couldn't concentrate long enough to let his gaze find purchase. She studied him critically.

"Think you can stand long enough for me to get you into the car?"

"Probably."

She stood and dusted herself off, holding out a hand to him. He grasped her arm, and they managed to get him into the passenger seat where he promptly buckled himself in, much to Tenten's amusement.

Neji was peering at the myriad of dash displays when she took her own seat behind the wheel. "Which kid owns this car?" he asked. "And who needs all of these bells and whistles?"

"I do," she grinned. "I had to leave town to fetch it, but Kakashi thought I might need to have something with a little more oomph to chase after any get away cars."

"So that's where you went," he murmured. "And what about your job?"

"My job? As a Lyft driver?"

"No," he turned in his seat to meet her eyes. "The one that will take you out of town for a while. The one that makes you leave Konoha."

"Oh, that," she waved a hand dismissively. "Stunt work. Not the toughest gig I've ever had and it pays well until my next big job."

"Another one?" he blinked.

"Yeah. Combination driver and bodyguard assignment. Just got the contract this morning."

"Is it here?"

"No. Traveling."

"Oh."

She studied him as he sat, thinking.

"You don't stay still much, do you," he asked abruptly.

"No," she shrugged. "Never have. Kinda can't in my line of work."

"But... you will come back, right?" he met her eyes, and the earnest emotion there took her breath away.

"Well," her grin was slow. "I have to bring Hanabi back at the end of our trip, now, don't I?"

"Hanabi?"

"Mm. Got the contract this morning from your Uncle. Looks like he wants me to be with Hanabi when she travels later this year, and to consider taking on a few assignments for Lady Hinata as well. So," she glanced past his shoulder where the first hints of police lights were flickering as the authorities raced to the scene. "It looks like we will be seeing more of each other."

The warmth in his chest glowed with her smile, and he couldn't help it when the corners of his lips turned up ever-so-slightly (which Tenten would later learn was, for a Hyūga, on par with an idiotic grin).

"It does, indeed."

The warmth remained with him through his once-over by the paramedics, his explanation to Kakashi and Nara (and apology to Nara for his car), his repeat of the explanation to the authorities from the Land of Tea, and his repeat of the repeat of the explanation for the governor when he called to check in with Kakashi.

When it was all over, Tenten was waiting for him.

"C'mon, Detective," she nodded to her car. "I'll give you a lift back." She waited until they were back on actual paved roads to ask, "Are you hungry?"

"I could eat," he allowed. "You?"

"Starving," she grinned. "You want to let Kō know to pick you up at the usual place?"

"No," he said simply, keeping his eyes focused on the road ahead of them. "Lady Hinata will have need of him today. I am sure I can arrange for a ride home."

"You mean to another fake address? Another book store, perhaps?"

"Hardly seems worth the trouble," he shrugged. "I can't imagine I will find another driver I can trust as much as I trust you."

"Wow," she darted a glance at him. "That concussion must've gotten you good."

"That was honesty," he scoffed. "However, I suspect the concussion is playing a rather large role in my asking you out for dinner tomorrow night."

"Are you asking me out to dinner for tomorrow night?"

"Didn't the concussion just say so?"

"Alright, then," Tenten kept her eyes on the road, and tried not to smile. "It's a date!"

Neji gave a small, satisfied nod. "A date."

Later, he got a text from Kankurō, complaining that he had cost him a bet with Nara by letting Tenten drive him home, but if he could manage to kiss or be kissed by Tenten (without being punched) in the next 48 hours, he could win all of his money back.

Neji smiled to himself as he watched her drive away, his lips still warm from where she'd left her goodbye, and typed his reply.

"I'll do my best."

And that wraps up the Drive Me Crazy miniseries!

PS: Kankurō still lost the bet on a technicality. He thought he'd suckered Shikamaru into giving him more time to win when he agreed the 48 hour clock would start the next day. Shikamaru, on the other hand, calculated that a concussed Neji would equate to a less inhibited/more blunt Neji, and paired with a clearly interested/concerned/compassionate Tenten would result in at least a chaste good-night kiss on the cheek.

Thanks for reading! - GL