Author's Note: I still do not own Naruto. Okay so as promised here is Chapter 5 with the race. I am not sure I will be able to update tomorrow but you at least got two chapters today. Anyway once again thank you all who have reviewed already and also thanks to the people who have added my story to their favorites list. It means a lot. A note on this chapter is that I am in no way shape or form a street racer. I know next to nothing about how street racing works or what it is actually like. I did a bit of looking into it however and gave my best shot at giving an accurate description so please don't hold it against me if it isn't all that great. I gave it my best shot. Hope you enjoy.


Hinata punched the gas, the pedal connecting with the floor as every cell in her body came to life and the adrenaline shot through her system like some sort of explosion had gone off inside of her. Her total focus on the car as it shot forward off the line, nose to nose with the rest. Red line, red line, the shift had to be perfect. Too early she lost time, too late she lost time as well and would possibly harm her engine. Better to be early than late, still better yet to be perfect. She had never had a problem with shifting. Her foot on the gas, the other by the clutch, she hit her speed and shifted gears. First to second, flawless, off to her left she heard someone grind their gears but never turned to look. That was never good for whoever had done that. Perhaps the rookie but as quickly as that thought had entered her mind, it was gone as she devoted her attention to road and car.

Everything rushed by in a blur, as she transitioned smoothly from second to third. A quick peak revealed she had a car on either side of her, the three of them all nose to nose, not one of them giving an inch. Another shift and another gear. Now in forth, the rapidly approached the first turn, which was nothing too sharp, an easy turn compared to most, only requiring a slight drift to make it around.

They hit the corner fast, Hinata kicked her clutch once, and then deciding that wasn't enough, she kicked it again. The action sent a shock up through the car's powertrain and upset the balance of the car, which was the whole point. It was how a car started to drift. The rear wheels begin to slip and cause the drift that was what she was after. Her foot hovered over the gas but angled so she could hit the brake in order to control her speed and prevent herself from spinning out. A quick glance and she saw Kabuto's gray Nissan Skyline just to the outside of her. But where had Riku gotten to? He had been right with her only a moment ago.

As if to answer her question, she saw him swing in on the inside in an attempt to get the lead. He miscalculated though, he didn't make his turn tight enough and he swung too far to the outside. The nose of his car clipped Hinata's bumper, causing her own car to start to turn dangerously towards the inside threatening to make her lose it. She had to react of else she would lose control and end up in a spin out.

Her reaction was nearly instantaneous though in her mind it seemed to have taken forever for everything to process, almost as if she was going in slow motion. She turned her wheel hard in the opposite direction of the turn and the direction her car was nearly spinning out in. And then quickly she brought the wheel back, turning it in the direction of the turn once again using the inertia of the back of the car to get back on her drift line and regain control of her car.

Silently she thanked Kakashi for teaching her about these weight transition techniques when it came to drifting. They were more complicated than the basic ones that most people, including herself, usually used, but they certainly came in handy sometimes. She remembered being reluctant to learn them because they sounded complicated and she had only just gotten good at the basics, but he had insisted. He had told her the way he saw it she might as well get to practicing them now so that she could get the hang of them faster. Plus he had added that they might actually come in handy sometime. This had been one of those times, and she was more than thankful than to have known how to handle what had happened. Whether he wanted one or not Kakashi was getting a big hug when this was all over.

Hinata, now that she had regained control of her car, looked ahead and saw that Kabuto now had a lead by about five car lengths or so. It was amazing how one little thing could put her so far behind him. And it was frustrating that it hadn't even been her mistake that had put her this far behind him, but she never let those sorts of things dwell in her mind. She pushed them away from her because it was important to focus on the race rather than her feelings. Feelings got in the way of things in the racing world. She wouldn't let anger frustration or anything else get in the way of winning.

Coming off of the turn and out of her drift, she punched the gas once again having already downshifted in order to accelerate more quickly. Her car picked up speed, the sound of the engine humming in her ears as she waited for the right moment and shifted gears again. She glanced in her rearview mirror, Riku was now back behind her even further than she was behind Kabuto. Apparently he had more trouble than she had maintaining control of his vehicle after their little bump. So right now he wasn't her concern. Right now she needed to catch Kabuto.

Coming up to the next corner, the one Kabuto had just disappeared around, she pulled her emergency brake, once again causing rear traction loss and her wheels to slip. She slid into an easy drift, taking the corner flawlessly, her attention on the clutch and her shift. Coming out of the corner, she stepped on the gas hard, causing her to slide sideways out on the corner and accelerate quickly.

Another straightaway flew by followed by another tight corner in which she used a clutch kick to get her car to drift. All of her actions coming to her like a second nature as she easily handled the car down each stretch and through each turn. Her attention devoted to car and road, her eyes unblinking as she focused her entire being on this race. She always gave it her all. It never mattered to her what the stakes were. She did her best so she could walk away from each race without a sense of regret.



Slowly she was closing the gap between herself and Kabuto. She had been back five car lengths at the beginning she was down to two now. Still they were already just over halfway done the race. She was going to have to drive her butt off if she wanted to catch him. She came off a corner, punched her gas and shifted gears perfectly, a stretch of empty road in front of them.

Her eyes remained on the road ahead of her and the gray car that she was determined to catch. Just ahead a traffic light clicked from green to yellow and finally to red but it was late and no one was on the roads at this time, or at least that was how it usually was. Tonight though, at this moment, things decided to be a bit different. She caught the flash of movement out of the corner of her eye as the car headed straight into the intersection she and Kabuto were about to cross.

The gray car in front of her swerved to the right, Kabuto taking his nearly off the road as the driver of the other car slammed on his brakes. The front of the car clipped Kabuto's bumper nearly sending him into a spin but he managed to maintain control. Hinata on the other hand, jerked her Mustang to the left to go behind the car that had just entered the intersection. She nearly took her passenger mirror off on the back of the guy's car but she managed to get around him without touching him though her heart was now pounding in her chest at that close car. She always hated when innocent bystanders got caught up in these races. The racers themselves knew what they were getting into so she was never as concerned for them.

The whole incident was over in a matter of seconds though it had played out in slow motion in front of her and had left her breathless. The fact that Kabuto had clipped the car had caused him to lose precious speed and this was something Hinata used to her advantage. She punched her accelerator and closed the distance between them, the nose of her car just behind his bumper by the time he had regained the speed he had lost from the small impact.

She pulled her emergency break and went into another drift around the corner, coming out of it and accelerating quickly once again. This time though Kabuto blocked the road. He used his own car to keep her behind him, he skillfully maneuvered his car so that he was essentially taking up the whole road without losing any of this speed. He was good she would give him that. She needed to figure out something though. With each passing turn and each stretch of road that flew by they were getting closer to the finish, and he had the lead. She had wanted to win this for Jiraiya. She wasn't about to give up. She needed to focus.

"Every driver has a weakness," she said out loud, her own voice sounding foreign to her ears at the moment. Usually when she raced it was simply the hum of the engine and the squeal of the tires that filled her ears. Her voice sounded out of place. But she was right, each driver had their weakness, whether it was something about their attitude or their driving skills, by looking hard enough it was possible to find it. So where was his, her eyes focused in on his car as he took a corner heading to the right. No there was nothing wrong there.

Hinata stayed right on his bumper. All she needed to do was get her nose past his bumper, the he wouldn't be able to come over and black her without causing them both to wreck. He took another corner and Hinata followed, this time though it was to the left. He swung wide, wide enough for her to have swung around on the inside if she could have made the turn that sharp. She had spotted something.

Another stretch and another left corner. He took it too wide again. That was going to be her chance. She glanced ahead. The next corner was to the right, the one after that was to the left. She followed behind him, staying on his bumper, kicking her clutch as they went around the right corner.

The straightened and she moved to the inside for the next corner, Kabuto moved over in front of her. That was fine by her. She focused her attention on her next move, which was to use a shift lock to take the corner tightly. She had to be careful. If she messed this up she could mess up her engine. She had to make sure she didn't downshift to early. They came up to the corner and Hinata downshifted from forth to third at the right moment. It slowed her down going into the turn, but at the same time it let her accelerate quickly off the corner, more quickly than Kabuto.

The nose of her car pushed past his bumper as they came around the corner preventing him coming over, and now she had the inside track for the next turn. The nose of her car was at his door as the two took another corner, Hinata pulling her emergency break to induce rear slipping. She punched the gas and shifted coming out of the corner, the inside track having put her nose to nose with Kabuto. This here was what she lived for, this here was a race. Neck and neck coming down to the end.

Rather than slowing down, Hinata took the final turn at full speed, simply letting her foot off of the accelerator at the last minute. The shift in the car's weight sent it into a drift and she took the corner fast, faster than Kabuto who had probably used his emergency break or the clutch kick.

Hinata hit the accelerator again, sliding out on the corner and taking the lead by half a car length for the first time since the race had begun. There was one more corner to go, and she used the same method to get into her drift. She had increased her lead to a full car length as she came around the corner and swung out into the stretch. She 

punched the accelerator once more and checked her rearview mirror in time to see Kabuto slapping his steering wheel knowing that he had been beaten.

Hinata zoomed across the finish line, pulling her emergency brake once she was over the finish line and went into a pendulum just to show off a bit. Plus she was proud of this race. She had won it for Jiraiya just like he had asked. The show manever was accomplished by causing the car's weight to sway back and forth as she counter steered the car down the open stretch before finally bringing it to stop and hopping out.

Nearly instantly she was assaulted by Naruto and Jiraiya. They were followed at a more casual pace by Shikamaru, Temari, and Kakashi. Hinata was grinning from ear to ear as Jiraiya beamed down at her grinning from ear to ear. Naruto gave her a huge hug and Kakashi simply nodded his head in a silent congratulations.

"Violet that was awesome. You looked great coming out of that last turn," Jiraiya said his voice loud to be heard above the sound of the engines. Hinata grinned back at him and then remembering what she had told herself over, ran over to Kakashi and gave him a big hug. She felt him tense under her, and his eyes widened slightly as he looked down at her.

"Uhh," he sounded confused and Hinata started to laugh.

"That was for teaching me those weight transition techniques. They saved me out there today," she said happily before her eyes fell on a glaring Kabuto who seemed to be dealing with a very unhappy looking Orochimaru. She forced herself to look away from them and keep her attention on her friends.

"I have to get my car off the track," she said once the announcer finished reading off the results. "Come on Naruto you can ride with me."

Naruto didn't need any further encouragement. He ran around the other side of the car and hopped into the passenger seat. Hinata shook her head and then opened up the driver's door. She was just about to slide into the car when a particular pair of black eyes caught hers in the crowd. He was standing where she had been earlier.

"Uchiha," she muttered under her breath. He smirked and waved. She rolled her eyes and slid back into her car. He was one thing she wasn't going to let herself get distracted with. He was anything but her type. He was the 'it' boy and she was the invisible girl, or at least she was when she wasn't Violet. It wasn't something she was going to bother with. So pushing Sasuke into the back of her mind once again, she put the car into drive and headed off the strip with the familiar sound of Naruto yelling in her ear.