Race around the world: I love you Sakura Haruno!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and any of its characters and make no money from this story... support the official release and all that jazz!

Written by Ghostsammeo

AU/ Not much else to say in my author note besides reminding you to drop a review if you enjoyed the story, it would be much appreciated. Thank you and enjoy.

"Yeah, he missed the flight as well but he's got a head start driving there."

I'm standing in a dusty part of the countryside, my car parked next to a fuel pump which I am currently handling as I balance my mobile between my shoulder and ear. A couple of metres away is the small service station with a swinging sign reading: Danzo's service station. It sounds slightly rude to me, but as long as I get my fuel for the journey up to Canada I'll happily pay Danzo for his services anytime.

I've driven a good amount of miles since the airport incident, as my watch will vouch. I've done a good three hours at least, leaving me at three pm in the boiling hot afternoon.

"Wow," Ino, who I am on the phone to, murmurs, "So you're still in the race?"

"Sure am," I say, my eyes watching a blonde headed man walk into the shop-area.

Hmm, weird. The guy doesn't seem to have a car; surely he didn't walk to the middle of nowhere to buy a pack of gum?

"So, any news on your end from Sakura?" I question as I fill my tank with fuel.

"'fraid not, I haven't had time to look into it either, Suigetsu you know, always so horny, constantly on the booty-call."

"...Yeah I've gotta go," I swiftly interrupt her, not wanting to hear a story about her sexual encounters with Suigetsu, "Some guy's telling me to get off the phone, you know that whole mobiles start fires in petrol stations thing."

"Oh my god yeah, that happened to my cousin Joey once," Ino begins on a new topic.

"Right well you give him my best," I say sarcastically and go to hang up but when I look up, something distracts me.

"Oh shit."

"What is it?" Ino questions in my ear.

"Oh my god... shit," I continue.

"What the hell is going on?" Ino demands.

With my heart pounding in my chest, I watch wide-eyed through the shop windows as the blonde headed man holds a gun to the head of the old man at the counter.

"I think there's a robbery going on," I explain with a hushed tone, my eyes locked onto the events before me.

"Is there a gun involved?" She asks.

"Yes there's a gun involved! What should I do?" I whisper.

"Hide in your car, make sure he doesn't see you," Ino advises quickly.

"Are you sure? Isn't this the time I should be a hero, like on those criminal CCTV shows?" I ask, my voice steadily becoming more panicky.

"I don't know! I don't know you that well! Are you normally the hero type?"

I make a quick sweep through my memories and shake my head, "I don't know, I saved a cat from a tree once when I was eight, does that count?"

"How high was the tree?" Ino comes back quickly.

"Erm... I don't know! Tree size, normal tree size," I stutter.

"Not good enough; hide Sasuke!"

"Right," I hang up then quickly and silently get into my car and lie down in the leg space for the front passenger seat.

What the fuck is happening? Just my luck that I'm caught up in a robbery when I'm actually trying to race my old school friend across the country! Seriously.

I hear some shouting from my isolated space, then the shop door opening, then footsteps coming closer and closer.

I look up slowly as a body crashes down into the driving seat and turns my keys.

Oh my God, is my car being jacked? And with me inside it?

"Damn that old man, who knew he'd have an emergency police button, hmm," moans the driver to himself.

I lie there in silence and sneak a glance at the robber.

He has long blonde hair, styled into a high ponytail along with a long fringe going down one side of his face. Light blue eyes stare intently forwards towards the road.

I feel the car being reversed, then after twenty seconds, it speeding down the road.

Shit.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

The robber glances at the bag by his feet, presumably full of money, then at me, then back at the road.

His eyes narrow and suddenly he double-takes, his eyes wide with shock.

We both scream simultaneously. The car jerks to the side and off the road and onto the desolate sand-side.

The robber quickly recovers the car while pulling out his gun and aiming it at my head.

"Don't kill me, I've got so much to give!" I beg of him.

"What the fuck? Is this your car?" the robber demands, switching his eyes between me and the road.

"Yes, it's my car, I saw you robbing but decided I wasn't a hero so tried to let you get away with it," I explain quickly, "So in a way, I helped you escape, so you shouldn't hurt me!"

"Very smooth jackass, I'm not going to hurt you as long as you keep still yeah," the robber warns.

"Yeah, yeah," I nod and slowly shift upwards and into the seat, my eyes pinned on his gun, "but, where are we going exactly? I was in a rush somewhere."

"I was going home, but..."

He nods at the side mirror where I can see police cars over the horizon, coming through the dust. Soon I hear their sirens.

"So... you're just going to run away from the police with me in the car?" I question.

"Don't want to stay, be my guest and jump right out, but I'm not stopping, hmm."

I gulp loudly and begin to sweat. What should I do? What can I do? This is all so surreal and random! I know I shouldn't try to fight him; he'd either shoot me or drive us off the road and to our death or something. I can't jump out the car at the speed we're going. The only thing I can do is wait for the police to catch him.

I slowly reach up to my seatbelt, you know, just in-case, but quickly his gun is pressed against my head.

"What are you doing, hmm?" He growls at me, his voice as shaky and as uncertain as mine.

"I'm putting on my seatbelt," I reply in an attempted assertive tone.

He nods and releases the pressure of his gun to my head.

I belt up then turn around to look at the police cars. It seems they're steadily gaining on us, freedom soon then.

"This is a Lamborghini isn't it?" The robber suddenly says.

I turn to look at him in confusion. Is he making small talk?

"Yeah."

"Do you reckon I could out-speed those police cars?" He continues.

Maybe I should say no, to dishearten him a little, but this is my car. My beautiful, yellow, open-top Lamborghini car... so yes is the answer.

"Of course," I boast.

He smiles to the sound of the engine kicking it up a gear and suddenly my car is flying far away from the police.

"Erm... Where are we going Mr..." I mumble.

"My name is Deidara, and I've told you I don't know where I'm going, yeah," He says aggressively.

"How about Canada?" I say it before I can even stop myself.

Deidara glances at me in wonder.

Well it's out there now; I might as well work it all I can.

"You know, cuz I saw it in the Simpsons movie..." I ramble.

"Simpsons movie," He repeats.

"Yeah, and I'm pretty sure it must only be about a twenty four hour straight drive," I continue.

"I'm not driving to Canada... with you, hmm," He mutters back.

"My name is Sasuke by the way," I introduce myself.

"Okay," He replies grimly, quite clearly not interested.

Damn you Deidara, you are driving me to Canada!

"The police will probably give up chasing you once you're out of California," I say to him.

Deidara looks between the side mirrors to look at the police cars then back at me, "You think?"

"Well if you get that far. You're heading north towards the State of Oregon aren't you?" I say.

He shrugs, "I don't know, I guess so, hmm."

"Well, keep driving north till you hit Washington or Montana or some northern state, lay low there until you can return back home. You can just drop me off up there and we'll never have to meet again,"

I hope he falls for that one. In reality, he's not gonna make it out of California with the police on his tail, they'll just put up a barricade on the roads somewhere, but I can at least try and milk out a couple of extra miles with him driving. Heck if I'm lucky, he'll cover the whole of California for me before he gets caught!

"Listen to you, you sound like you've done this before, yeah," he jokes with a light but nervous laugh.

"All I know is the police here will follow you all the way, they know these roads and the roads after," I lie. I don't know that. It's called acting and I'm bloody good at it, "However they don't know the roads in the other states, get out of California and you can finally lose them."

"Yeah but then the police from the state over will be called in, they know their roads don't they?" Deidara snaps back.

"Yeah, but by then no one will know where you are. Then if you want you can swap cars to avoid the police and we'll part ways," I continue.

"If I leave this car before the police find me, they'll think you're the criminal, hmm," Deidara says sceptically.

"Nah, that old man will vouch for me, besides, I won't be stopping for the police either," I mutter and rest my elbow on the window.

Now I sound like the criminal!

"You really are in a rush aren't you, okay then here we go, yeah!" Deidara yells out and pumps up the speed.

Soon enough the police cars on our tail are gone and it's only us driving along the lonely, dusty road.

We've been driving for at least an hour now and I'm starting to get worried. Will the police see me as an accomplice for this guy's crime? I hope not. That would be stupid, I'm a victim! I'm a captive! Deidara wouldn't say that though, I think, as I watch the driver through the corner of my eye. He'd tell them the story of how I convinced him to run to Canada, and then I'd be a goner.

As I glare at the robber Deidara secretly for something he hasn't done yet, he suddenly swears out loud.

I perk up from my almost trance-like state of glaring and demand to know what's up.

He nods back as a quick siren wail sounds behind us.

I glance back at the police car. Where did it come from? Behind us, to the side, is a billboard advertising some new toothpaste from the Sound Five inc. The police probably were hiding behind that.

"Shall I run?" Deidara looks at me questionably in a panicky fashion.

I turn back to him, "No, I think they're pulling you over for speeding. Only run if they recognise who you are."

Nodding Deidara slowly pulls up my car to the side of the road in the dust. The police car pulls up behind us and I hear the opening and closing of doors.

Two middle aged police men walk up to my car.

One has thick white hair, wearing some dark, round sunglasses over his face. The other is lean, with long dark hair and a pale face.

"Play it cool," I whisper to my robber counterpart who nods unsurely.

The white haired man leans down onto my car and grins into Deidara's face.

"I know, I know I sped, I'm sorry," Deidara immediately blabs out.

Cursing, I duck my head. What an idiot.

"Well how do you know I'm stopping you for speeding?" The white haired police officer asks teasingly.

"Because I was speeding, I was in a rush," Deidara continues to blab.

Swearing to myself I lean towards the police officer, "Can I help you? This is my car, I want to take any responsibility for what we've done."

The officer looks surprised; "First off," he turns back to Deidara, "blondie, license?"

Deidara gulps and looks at me shiftily.

He doesn't have his license does he? I shake my head as I can see he is rearing to flee.

"He doesn't have his license," I say, "He's... he's my little brother... I'm teaching him to drive."

The officer raises a sceptical eyebrow, "How old is he?"

I look at Deidara, "twenty-"

Deidara shakes his head subtly.

"fif-"

He shakes his head again.

"Eighteen?"

Deidara nods.

"He's eighteen," I confirm unsurely then turn back to look at the police officer and smile.

The dark haired officer appears behind the white haired one and scoffs, "I find it hard to believe that you're his older brother."

"Well I am," I sneer, "I brought him out here because it's a straight strip of land with barely any cars, a good teaching road."

"That's still illegal anyway," The white haired cop says simply, "Can I have your licence then?"

I fish into my pocket and pull my license out of my wallet and hand it over.

"Sasuke Uchiha," The white haired guy reads then hands it over to the black haired one who goes off to the police car with my license in hand.

I watch longingly at my licence in the officer's hand.

"He'll be back in a sec, for the meantime, blondie, out of the car!"

Deidara glances worriedly at me then back at the police officer.

He shakes his head at me, eyes wide with fear.

"Don't," I say.

But it's too late.

Instinctively I dive out the top of the car door as my Lamborghini suddenly accelerates forwards. The officer barks with shock and jumps back as Deidara leaves dust in both our faces.

He looks at me then back at Deidara and my car.

"Come on you," He hisses and grabs me by my arm as I watch my car speed away down the road.

Damn that Deidara!

He pulls me over to the police car and throws me in the back.

"Jiraiya, what's going on?" The black haired officer asks from the front passenger seat.

"The blonde head kid has done a runner, Orochimaru, come on!"

Jiraiya clicks a button and suddenly the sirens are wailing and the car zooms off.

"What about him, has he got a record?" Jiraiya asks with a nod in my direction after around thirty seconds.

Orochimaru turns to look at me with his scary-ass eyes through the bars, "Sasuke Uchiha hasn't even got a point on his license."

I breathe easy, right; they know I'm not a criminal.

"Yeah well, he and his friend were up to something," Jiraiya comments, "You gonna talk Mr. Uchiha?

Yes. I'm going to talk a lot.

"Yeah, I was being held captive by that guy named Deidara, he robbed a small service station then stole my car with me inside, he's planning on going to Canada to get away!" I explain quickly.

I feel bad for telling on Deidara but everything I said was true (sorta), and he is a criminal.

"Well... he was surprisingly honest," Orochimaru smirks.

"Yeah... unless he was lying," Jiraiya says.

"I'm not lying, haven't you been warned about a runaway driver from other police cars in the area?" I ask them in an attempt to convince them of my story.

"No, we turned off our police radio so we could get some sleep behind that billboard," Orochimaru says cheerfully then suddenly lowers his voice, "That was until you and your loud roaring Lamborghini came booming down the road!"

I nod, "Nice though, isn't it?"

Shaking his head with annoyance officer Orochimaru turns his attention back to the road.

"There he is, we're catching up on him," Jiraiya suddenly says.

I look through the bars to see my car coming closer and closer, Deidara's worried glances back becoming more and more detailed.

"Alright, catch him and I can have my car back!" I grin happily.

"What?" Orochimaru turns back to look at me, "You'll be coming to the station as well my friend, we can't just believe your story then let you go."

He laughs as my face immediately drops.

Naruto will be out of California by the time everything's cleared up with the police. Double-Damn that Deidara!

"Orochimaru, megaphone," Jiraiya suddenly says and nods at something near the gearstick.

Orochimaru nods and picks up what looks like a walkie-talkie. When he speaks his voice booms out from a megaphone on the top of the police car, "Pull over, this is the police!"

My car does not slow down one bit.

"Ah, you did it wrong," Jiraiya curses.

Orochimaru looks at him with confusion, "What?"

"You did it wrong, it's meant to be 'This is the police, pull over', not whatever you did."

Orochimaru sighs, "I'm sure it doesn't make much of a difference, he'll still get the same message."

"Yeah, a none-protocol message," Jiraiya mutters.

Why are they arguing? Why are they arguing?!

"Err, hello? Deidara's getting away," I remind as our car slows significantly.

"No you don't," Jiraiya turns from debating with Orochimaru and give a quick flick of his wheel.

The bonnet of the police car slams into the back of my poor, baby Lamborghini. It swerves off the road and stops with a shout from Deidara.

I can't even speak. Instead I watch as a grinning Jiraiya and Orochimaru stop the car at the side of the road then run across the dirt and towards Deidara.

There's a dent on the back of my car. A DENT! Bastards!

I'm about to start swearing out loud when suddenly Deidara is thrown in next to me, handcuffs and all.

"That'll teach you the meaning of friendship," Jiraiya says aggressively through the window at him.

"What does that mean?" Orochimaru asks as he climbs into the front passenger seat.

"I don't know, I didn't have anything cool to say so I panicked," Jiraiya answers as he jumps into the driving seat.

Deidara turns to me slowly as Jiraiya starts speaking to another police officer down the radio.

I point my nose in the air and turn away from him.

Bitch.

"Alright lads, another police car is coming to look after the Lamborghini while we drive you two to the nearest police station," Jiraiya says and leans back to look at us.

"We just need to wait for them to arrive," Orochimaru finishes it off for him.

"Yeah so, we might seem asleep but we're not, so don't try anything," Jiraiya warns us with a stretch.

We sit in silence for five minutes. In-fact, I'm pretty sure Orochimaru and Jiraiya are dosing off.

I think Deidara notices this as suddenly he's looking all shifty again, like when he robbed my car and when he fled from the police.

After another two minutes of sitting around I turn to Deidara, "What are you doing, stop looking like that!"

Hmm, the heat must have gotten to me, and of course the fact that I'm being arrested!

Deidara looks at me with a smile, "I can't go to prison, so use this as your chance to escape."

"What does that mean?" I ask him.

He winks then shifts into some weird position like a baby getting its diaper changed. I go to ask him what he's doing but falter as he draws his leg back and kicks the glass window, shattering it into a million tiny little pieces that now cover his side of the car. The two policemen wake up with snorts as Deidara clambers out the window. I watch in surprised admiration as he falls out, stands up shaking glass off himself and then begins to run off into the sand and away.

Jiraiya turns as he awakens, blinking away his tiredness, "Huh what?"

He looks back to see me smiling innocently.

"Oh damn the blondie escaped! Orochimaru come on!"

After a big commotion, the two of them are running off after Deidara, leaving me alone.

So, was Deidara's last act for himself or for me? Probably both, I think, as I stroll up to my Lamborghini, stroking its smooth sides as I do so. Either way, for some reason I respect that weird gas station robbing criminal, despite the setback he's caused in my race to find Sakura.

What a crazy experience, I think, but now my mind has to put it aside as I have a decision to make. Here's the deal, if I get in my car now and flee, I'm a criminal, a wanted runaway. But I'm sure Naruto is nearing the north of America right now away and he IS NOT WINNING SAKURA!

I hop into my car and feel a pang of joy to be riding it again. Canada here I come!

Yes, this chapter was rushed... but review it anyway! – Re-drafted!