Burning Leaves - 1
Everything else in the world seemed silent compared to the roar of twin engines as they swung through the streets. Both vehicles were jet black to blend into the night, but each bore it's own identifier on the hood; one a trio of red swirls, the other a classic yin-yang. Aside from that, the cars were essentially the same inside and out. Even their drivers were alike: both calm, cool, collected men, barely over twenty, their long hair pulled back in ponytails.
The only reason she cared who won because one was her brother and the other was not.
That night, though, everyone would lose.
What happened was unclear; perhaps it was as simple as a blown tire, or maybe their brakes finally gave way after ages of abuse. Certainly, it couldn't have been error on the part of either man, as both had been driving - and racing - longer than legally possible.
Cause aside, the effect was simple, obvious, and horrifying. One second the white was trying to pass the red at a turn. The next, both had launched off the cliff.
If there was a boom when the cars hit the river thirty feet below, she never heard it. Her own terrified voice overwhelmed everything else.
"NEJI!"
The scene, that night, everything was gone, replaced by pale walls and the outline of a window. Only her scream remained, and the pain in her heart as she shivered.
Wordlessly, a pair of arms wrapped around her, pulling her into their owner's warm chest. She whimpered, nuzzling into him, eyes shut tightly as she struggled not to cry.
"It's okay, Hinata," he whispered. "I'm here. It's over."
Today it'd been exactly five years since her brother had died in that accident. It was even about the right time of night. The nightmare had stuck with her almost every night for the first year, and had scared her out of even driving to school each day. Thankfully, it only came once a year now, but that night was always the hardest...
"Naruto... I miss him..."
"I know you do, sweetheart. You're safe though, so his memory can live on..."
She nodded quietly, sighing against his chest. It was true; she did live on, partially as Neji's legacy, but she knew she was just his shadow and always would be. After his death, she'd shied away from the sharp curves and lightning reactions of drifting, but her love of cars and speed had remained. Instead, she raced along straightaways and down the freeway, for the sheer pleasure of it and the occasional small bet.
The big money, the big races... she left those to Naruto. He had a love of speed that ran so deep, people called him a demon for it. His car had been tweaked time and time again in the three years he'd owned it, and they worked together as a perfect team, enabling him to outdrive and outrun anything. His nearly insane speed and laid back demeanor had drawn her to him, and she loved nothing more than to try to keep up with him, or to just sit back and enjoy the ride as he sped down the highway.
But he'd never known Neji. He'd heard of him, of course; he'd been a legend in his own time, famous perhaps even before getting his license. No one who raced within fifty miles of Konoha didn't know of him. But he'd never actually met her older brother, never knew what kind of person he was or how close and protective he really was to Hinata. Those things, he only knew by her own words, and she felt for certain that those could never do him justice.
Her hand wrapped around the teardrop pendant hanging around her neck, and his arms grew tighter at the motion. Just days before the fateful race, she'd turned 16, and he'd given her one half of a yin-yang necklace for the occasion. The other half hung from his keychain, even as it was removed from the mangled wreck.
That half now hung from the mirror of her own car, so that he'd always be able to enjoy racing...
She cried, and he held her until she fell victim to exhaustion. He tucked her back in and laid back down to sleep himself, silently wondering how the race's other victim was faring that night.
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Across town, the midnight blue cruiser weaved through the one way roads of downtown. He was on his way out, on his way up to the foothills, to that spot. He went there twice a year, every year, regardless of how many other times his ventures took him there.
He had no fear of the police, even as his tires sprayed tread across a major intersection, bringing him onto the freeway. His dad was sheriff, and even if his knowledge of tonight’s trap locations was incomplete, no one was about to pick him up, especially not tonight. They knew better.
And even if they tried, Sasuke could out run them without even trying.
He crossed over into the median, mirror and tires just inches away from the concrete divider, the outline of his windshield skimming over the seats again and again, faster and faster as he accelerated. Eighty, ninety, one hundred… He didn’t lay off the gas until he was going over one twenty, and even then he was still speeding up gradually. He dove between what few cars were on the road tonight, not because they were in his way but because it was good practice. Anything to stay sharp. Anything to remain the best.
And he was, of course, the best. His brother had been the best, too, so it was only natural for him to rise to the top, to beat this city at its own game.
His only regret was that he couldn’t beat the one who’d taken his brother away from him. But since the bastard had died in the process, he felt somewhat satisfied.
Not wholly so, though. Not even being the undisputed best in the city satiated him.
Which was why time and time again he found himself back on that road, winding his way in and out, with or without an opponent. He’d beat everyone who’d challenged him to that track – for some reason people found it funny, even ironic to ask him to race there. But somehow, it wasn’t good enough. Maybe because he’d never found a challenge.
Maybe he wouldn’t be happy until he followed his brother’s fate completely. He wasn’t sure. That thought did cross his mind on occasion, though.
He screeched to a halt at the top, staring down at the hairpin turns and cliffs, and at the river far below. The bridge was the finish line.
One hand dropped to the gearshift as his eyes locked on his watch.
Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine-
Gas.
Pedal to the floor, let up, clutch, shift, and pedal to the floor again. He didn’t have enough speed to need to skid around the first turn, but at the second, he pumped his hand brake, drifting 90 degrees and hammering the gas as he straightened out. Another shift, then three more quick turns, on and on down the hill. The whole track was five miles long, and took twenty minutes doing the speed limit.
He could make it in under four.
Several turns later, he slammed the parking brake on and stared at his watch.
00:03:16.78
There had been less than forty seconds left in the race when Itachi’s car had been shoved off the road.
He stared down the cliff for at least a full minute, then backed up, making full use of his car’s tight turning radius on the narrow road, and headed back up to try again.
He crossed the bridge with a time of 4:08. He’d have to try again tomorrow night.
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Chapter notes: To be honest, this spawned as a joke after watching Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift wayyyy too late at night.
But it's happened, and I'm writing it, so here it is. I've actually got five chapters done already, but I'm posting it up a chapter at a time for the next couple weeks in order to catch this archive up with my fanfiction.net account.
This is very, very AU, though still in character (or so I believe), but I hope you'll enjoy it. It's been well-received thus far at ff.net, but I figured this site would be the true test.
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to read this, and reviews would be appreciated, certainly. Thanks also to my beta, NobleSpirit11, for his help throughout this. Oh, and hey look: Not mine! Only the AU idea is mine, the characters aren't ~.~