Author's note: Hey, second chappy is up! (Yay?) This will focus on more than one character, namely Ino and Sasuke.

I N O

Yay. Happy Monday. Shoot me. Please.

I just got here, and I'm already being harassed by a middle-aged woman trying to find a CD for her son. If this lady's son is anything like her, I doubt he even has a soul. Maybe if I can survive until lunch, I'll get takeout from Panda King.

The chimes on the door jingle, and he walks in. So far, he has no name. More like every time I try to ask him, I say something stupid and end up wishing I could stuff my foot in my mouth.

He's wearing dark grey cargo pants, converse, a black t-shirt, and a 'shoot me now' look on his face. His hair is up in a spiky ponytail. I debate for a good 5 minutes whether I should go over and ask if he needs help finding something. Like he would, he's in here all the time. He'd probably think I was some kind of freak.

What am I doing?! He's in the middle of raising his cigarette to his mouth when he spots me walking over.

"Can I help you with anything?" I ask, immediately wanting to kick myself for talking when he cocks an eyebrow.

"Yeah, actually. You guys got any Dispatch?" OH. MY. GOD. He's talking to me. He's talking to me. What do I do? What do I do? He takes a puff of his cigarette.

"Hello? Anybody home?" He waves a hand in front of my face, then mutters something about 'troublesome'. I want to die right now.

"Y-yeah, its over here." The cigarette hangs loosely from his mouth as he stuffs his hands in his pockets and follows me.

Five minutes later, the awkwardness has disappeared, and we're discussing the finer points of Radiohead. As I tally up the total of the two Dispatch albums he's buying, he pulls out his wallet. A schedule pokes out of one of the pockets.

I take a deep breath.

"I've seen you in here a lot, but I never caught you name. I'm Ino."

"Shikamaru, but Shika is fine."

WOOOOOOOHOOOOO! I KNOW HIS NAAAME. As I finish my mental dance, I find him looking at me funny. I can just feel my face reddening. Gotta think fast.

"You go to school around here?" Points: Ino: 1, Awkward Turtles: 0.

"Yeah, I go to U of K. I'm a sophomore." He takes a long drag.

"Really? Me too!"

"Cool. We should hang out some time." He checks his watch. "Shit, I gotta meet a friend for lunch, I'll see you later."

"Don't forget your receipt!" I call. He turns around and walks back towards the counter. My breath hitches as he looks me in the eyes. He scribbles something on the receipt. "I don't need it." Shika slides the paper towards me. There's a phone number written on it. By the time I look up, he's gone.

The chimes jingle as Dei walks in, clothes covered in paint and clay, bearing Starbucks and Chinese food. He takes one look at my face and says, "What happened, un?" I explain over lo mein and black iced tea.

S A S U K E

I get home from eating lunch with Shika, Chouji, and Naruto to find Itachi sitting at the counter, drinking coffee and reading the paper. "Hello," he says quietly. "Hey," I reply as I set down my books. It's only 4:00. I have at least 7 hours to kill before I go out for the night.

"You gonna work tonight?" I ask. If he's already drinking coffee, then it's more than likely. "Yeah," he replies. To be completely honest, I have no idea what Itachi does, just that he works at a nightclub.

"If you plan on working tonight, then you need new tires on your car," he murmurs. Crap. Forgot about that. I make a mental note to have Kisame put some new tires on it while it's in the garage.

I reach in my pocket to see if I have the money and find it missing. Damn it. I need a wallet chain. Or something to keep Konan from stealing my wallet. Itachi slides his credit card towards me.

About an hour later, I'm on my way to the garage.

The subway is crowded as hell, so I end up standing. I step off the train and jog up the flight of stairs. I walk for a few blocks and find the garage. It's actually more of a warehouse.

The mechanics look up as I slide the metal door back down with a loud clang. I spot my car immediately. Kisame nods his greeting, and Pein tosses a wallet, my wallet, at me. "Konan said this is yours," he says, snickering slightly. I grimace and make sure all my money is there. It is. My car is up on the lift.

"Can you put new tires on it?" I ask.

"Yeah." Kisame replies, "the usual?" I nod.

"You've got some tough competition tonight--" He's cut off as Suigetsu and Karin enter, flinging the door open with a bang, bickering loudly.

"Why the hell can't you just leave me alone?" Snaps Karin, walking quickly in front of Suigetsu. He grins wolfishly, "Because all my stuff is still at your place"

She almost snaps her neck turning around so fast, "So you're only staying with me because I have all your shit at my place?" she screeches. We all wince. Suigetsu's grin disappears in an instant, replaced by a serious face.

"No, I'm staying with you because I love you." The grin is back. "And yes, you do have all my stuff." Karin pouts as he places a chaste kiss on her forehead, and ruffles her cherry coloured hair. She relaxes. Kisame coughs.

"Anyway, as I was saying, your racing the exit 8 loop, and Shihouin and Rock Lee should be there. It's gonna be a tough race," Pein says. Kisame and Karin nod in agreement. Suigetsu is taking the wheels off my car. I fear for the navy blue paint on my car as he works the second wheel off.

Four hours later, I'm sitting in my car at the starting line of the exit 8 loop. We don't race here very often, and the parking garage is normally abandoned, so the police don't normally catch on. I'm surprised they don't, there have to be at least 600 people packed around the cars, listening to music, buying parts of questionable legality, and waiting for the race to start.

Karin steps into the middle of the ramp leading downward, and pulls a flag out of her back pocket. My engine growls as she raises the flag. I hear a muffled "Ready...set...GO!" and I'm gone. There are about six cars in this race. I'm in third as we race down through the parking garage and onto the street. I drift around the corner and I'm on the ramp to the freeway, now in second place. I'm chasing a purple Subaru WRX STi, probably Shihouin.

We take exit 8 and drift on the ramp, taking a hard left. Halfway there, if I come in second, I win $300. Suddenly a black car with a green snake on the hood is on my right. SHIT! That asshole cut me off! He hits the front end of my car. The world spins outside my windshield. The sounds of breaking glass and tearing metal ring out.

The world goes black.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

OOOH!! CLIFFHANGER!!!! OH NOES!!! What will happen to Sasuke???

PLEASE REVIEW!!!!! I really do love the feedback. Feel free to flame me if it makes you happy, but as always, the constructive criticism is the Fluff to my Nutella.

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