Thank you again, everyone, for all your wonderful reviews. I'm always excited to hear back from my readers, especially with your suggestions. I've received some detailed reviews recently, and they've made me very happy. I'm also fortunate to have Noble Spirit 11 as a fantastic beta; thanks again to him.
My dear friend Dom has been kind enough to sketch out most the characters for me, and is working on the rest. Anyone who'd like to see can find him as NikkoAngelus on DeviantArt. Please leave him comments if you look – he's looking to improve, and there's only so much I can give in the way of suggestions.
As always, the characters aren't mine, I'm just using them in this story – the words within being the only thing I'm claiming as my own.
Burning Leaves - 5
It was less than an hour after dawn when the phone rang across town. Sasuke grunted as he set down his weights, shaking his arm out and answering.
"Uchiha."
"Hello, Sasuke. How were the roads last night?"
For a moment, he stared at the phone, trying to identify the deep voice on the other end. Given the familiar drone in the background, the voice was obviously disguised by a machine. He'd heard it often when his father called as a prank, or while sitting around the station when he was younger. However, this voice didn't belong to his father. "...Who is this?"
"That's not important right now. What is essential though, is this folder in front of me. A little something I found on a visit to your father's precinct last week."
He didn't need prompting to know what that meant, but he opted to play dumb anyway. "What, did I lose something at school?"
The voice seemed halfway amused as it answered. "You know what I'm talking about, Sasuke. There isn't an officer in the state who wouldn't love to catch you."
"I'm sure they've got bigger worries than some college kid who speeds now and then."
"Oh, they do. But our other problems are a little better at covering their trails than you are." Sasuke made a noise to indicate he wasn't convinced. "Daddy can't save you forever. You're an independent, now, and you've got a record going back eight years."
Point. Sheriff or not, even his father was bound to run out of excuses eventually. "...I'm listening."
"There's some dirty dealings going on in your little underground world, and it's costing us a lot of money... And more importantly, it's starting to cost people their lives."
Sasuke was quick to butt in, not ready to take the accusation lightly. "Hey, I don't know where you're going with this, because I don't know anything."
"I didn't think you would. But that's not to say your friends won't." There was a pregnant pause, and the voice chuckled before continuing. "You don't have to do much. Just keep me informed on where all your little races are. Someone's bound to know where we can find our culprits."
"And if I do?"
"I'll see to it this folder is buried far better than it was when I found it."
"And if I don't?"
"Covering up your trespasses for all these years... Your poor father. If word got out of this around my county... he might find himself in a bit of a predicament."
Sasuke growled away from the phone for a moment. He'd been beaten far too easily. "So this is some sort of laundering scheme, right? Because I swear to god, if you're just trying to bust up a few races-"
"Oh no, Sasuke. That's not it at all. This is more than just a laundering scheme. People have died in this."
"So the Yakuza, then?" He smirked as he suddenly realized he could still play one card against this guy. "You've got to give me a good reason not to call the whole thing off, trace the call, and report you for blackmail."
"Easy." Silence again, so deliberate that Sasuke nearly thought the man was gone, "Your brother was one of the victims."
No.
Sasuke lowered his head in disgust. As his fist tightened, nails digging into his flesh, he responded in a strained tone, "...Fine. Tuesday evening, Route 19."
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Morning and sunlight. Okay, well, noon and sunlight, but bright, hot light right in Shikamaru's eyes anyway. "Oh god, why..." he grumbled, covering his eyes and rolling onto his side, away from the window.
His bladder protested the shift in weight. One hand rubbed over his face and through his hair, smoothing it from his face as he struggled to sit up. It hurt to move anything above his ankles and below his shoulders, and the very thought of using the bathroom made him cringe, but he also didn't feel like washing his friend's sheets. He got up with a lot of wincing and made his way to the door, stepping around the blankets Chouji had left on the floor.
Shikamaru closed the bathroom door behind him, sighing heavily as he looked at his own tired face in the mirror. "That bitch," he grumbled, turning and unzipping his fly.
He wasn't quite surprised when the piece of paper fell out of his pants. She'd done that before, back when he first met her.
When he plopped down on the couch next to Chouji and Ino ten minutes later, they were surprised to see him looking freshly groomed and checking something on his Blackberry.
"Whatcha up to?" Chouji asked, offering him the bag of potato chips he was munching on.
"Well," he smirked a little, handing over the scrap of paper with a phone number scrawled across it, "It would seem I'm in the market for a car."
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Naruto was at the auto shop there that Sunday afternoon, not at all to Tenten's surprise, but she felt like some friendly conversation, talking to him between fixing cars. "What're you looking for? Thought you'd used all your cash on that ring?"
He turned and grinned, scratching his neck sheepishly. "Well, I did, but grandpa saw fit to give me a bonus after he met my fiancée."
"Buttered the old man up, then?"
"I think Hinata did that for me, just by giggling." He smiled proudly, imagining her smile. "My grandfather was so impressed with a 'charming, beautiful young lady', that he felt inspired to donate to the wedding."
Tenten rolled her eyes. "Doesn't surprise me. After almost three years, everyone still thinks you two are cute together." She leaned against a nearby wall, asking, "So you're looking for something more for her, then?"
"No, not here. I'm taking her out to dinner tonight." He motioned towards the selection of items along the wall, "I'm getting something for my neighbor. Poor kid got his ass handed to him last night by some out-of-towner, and his girlfriend left him over it."
"Ouch." She winced, nodding. "Sounds like he could use a pick me up. Maybe some new rims?"
"I was thinking some spinners. His old Chevy would look great with them."
"Why not just bring him in? He's old enough now, and I can just be careful with what I show him."
Naruto seemed surprised, looking back at her. "Since when were you careful about that sort of thing? You're more the type to just hope the customer won't realize you've got 'special' imports around here."
"Oh, nothing. Just heard some rumors about a crackdown." She moved away from the wall, and sat at desk, crossing one car off a list. "That, and your friend's reputation as a loudmouth proceeds him."
He shrugged. "Yeah, I get it. So what about you?" He glanced around the shop, noticing that several things seemed out of place. "What else is going on around here?"
"So you noticed the mess? This... crazy broad came through here last night." She stopped herself, being careful with her words. Couldn't let him know she knew who the girl was. "I think she was drunk or something. For all I know, the way the girl was walking and acting, she may have been high on something like coke or meth. She came in here when I was closing the shop, grabbed my shirt and demanded that I give her all the money in the safe." She threw a combination of punches in the air. "I got roughed up a bit, but I managed to kick her out of here. Nearly had to call the cops to get her out."
"Geez!" He said, eyes wide in surprise. "I know you worked in the shop since we were kids, but leave the addicts to the cops."
Tenten nodded. She smiled, flashing a V sign. "Couldn't help it. Can't let some crazy bitch ruin my business."
"You want me to help you finish cleaning? Hinata won't be here for another half hour."
"You talk like you have a choice." She grinned, motioned her hand toward the back of the shop. "I already got most of it cleared up. Why don't you pick up the displays over there while I work on the next car?" He nodded, turning to go do as she asked. If he was lucky, he'd get a discount out of it.
The mess he worked on consisted of two displays of different brands of oil. It took him only a couple minutes to right the displays and reorganize the bottles. Pushing them back in position, he noticed a blue cap sitting on the shelves nearby.
Naruto picked up the cap and examined it. There was no mistaking it; this was a police cap. He said quietly under his breath, "Looks like the cops came here to investigate what happened."
In his distraction, he missed the footsteps coming up behind him.
When he turned around in search of Tenten, he found a pair of bright green eyes shining at him from less than a foot away, not the brown eyes he expected.
"Awww, you caught me," the girl sighed in defeat. She flashed him an enthusiastic smile. "Surprise anyway!"
"S-Sakura? Is that you? What're you doing here? I thought you didn't graduate until-"
"June? I know. But I got all my credits done early, so I thought I'd spend a semester back here in Konoha before I started my residency." She grinned a bit, leaning to one side and looking him over as she smoothed her short pink hair. "You went and grew on me again, didn't you?" She scolded playfully as he remained shocked at the sight of his childhood friend standing in front of him. "A girl can't leave town for med school without expecting a few things to change, I guess."
He laughed nervously, the cap he'd been holding forgotten on the floor. "Nope, things are bound to change. I'm glad to see you're back though." Casting his eyes away from her body, he asked, "Decided where you're going to do your residency yet?"
"Well," her smile grew more coy as her voice changed into a soft seductive tone. "I thought maybe I could finish right here in Konoha." Her fingers brushed his cheeks, her palms cupping them. She leaned in closer. She stood on her toes, making their noses only within two inches of each other. Her emerald eyes locked with his cerulean eyes, before she whispered, "With you."
Within the next breath, her lips softly touched his. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his chest as the kiss grew more passionate. She wrapped her arms around her neck as they let the passion of the moment take them. In that instant, years of separation vanished between the two.
She giggled a little, pulling away and setting back down on her heels. "I missed you," she cooed, smiling widely.
"I missed you too," he admitted, reaching for her hair, running his fingers through it slowly.
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Outside, Hinata, wearing a dress and a gift, parked her car a few feet away from the garage. She left the apartment earlier, preparing for the evening out. However, she came early, hoping to find Tenten, and surprise him with a gift for his car, for their three-year anniversary was only five days away.
She glanced inside the shop peeking around the edge of the open garage door, only to find the lips of her man touching the lips of another woman.
She clutched her chest with one hand, and muffled her own gasp with the other. Spinning around, she closed her eyes against the impending tears. Staggering away from the door, searching for a place to sit, she whispered "Naruto," the only word that escaped her trembling lips. Now, she knew why he'd asked her to show up so close to their reservation time.
She knew who the other woman was; the unique pink hair and red ribbon was recognizable anywhere. He dated Sakura all through college, while Hinata watched and admired him from afar. They had broken up before she left town for med school...
But she'd come back. And they were in there together.
Hinata clapped her hand over her mouth again, trying to stifle the sobs welling in her throat, while her other hand wiped away the tears streaming down her face. Leaning against the wall and taking a minute to catch her breath, she tried to think.
It didn't work.
Without another look back to the garage, she staggered back into her car and drove away, heading to... well, she wasn't sure where to go. She needed a place to think. Somewhere far from here. Far from Sakura and Naruto.