The birds and the thieves

Authors notes

thinking

flash back

Alrighty, this is my first fic so please have that in mind while you read it. Yes it will be a Naruto/Sakura fic. I don't know if its any good but I will accept comments of any kind. Compliments are loved, Criticisms are valued, flames will be used to cook tonights dinner.

Yes, The fic will change points of view... a lot. It will get better in later chapters though so please bear with me.

I don't own nothing in here. Thank you

Steam billowed up from the french resturaunt's roof as the party proceeded. Through the steam bounded a silent figure cloaked in a black outfit. The figure ran gracefully across the tops of various buildings, balanced across stings of lights, and leapt across gaps to reach the top of one particular building. The persons face completely masked by a dark hood and a pair of night vision goggles. The only sound that could be heard is the faint crackling of an earpiece through which the lone figure communicated. The figure arrived on the roof of the newly refurbished museum at a skylight where the lone shadowy figure hid, waiting.

A voice crackled through the headpiece. "your clear. The last guard should pass you about.." the voice waited as a the bright illuminance of a flashlight passed underneath. "Now". Without hesitation the theif began a methodical process of cutting the glass, becoming very wary of the sensors placed on the window pane. Slicing cleanly through the pane without so much as a crackle from the alarm, the figure lowered a rope down to the first floor. At the bottom of the rope the figure peered down the long dark corridors of the museum. Feeling satisfied that no one was in sight, the figure removed its hood and goggles to reveal a long tangle of pink hair. A feminine voice spoke out from the figure's lips "Lets get started"

The large white van rattled up to the back door of the museum where three men stepped out. The largest one moved towards the alarm box. He reared back a fist and crushed the metal. Chouji may have weighed a ton but luckily at least five hundred pounds of that was pure muscle. He looked towards his two teamates as they stepped forward. One dressed in a green vest with a mesh undershirt stepped forward and promptly picked at the lock. About a minute later, the door lay open and the three waltzed into the empty museum. Their leader spoke up, "alright guys, get what you can and meet back here in about 30 minutes." they then walked their separate ways to pilfer everything in sight. The leader stepped forward down the black hallway picking paintings off the wall and placing them under his arm, all the while whistling some tune he had come up with, for which he actually seemed proud. As he walked he came across a rope where he stopped in mid-stride and mid-whistle. He looked, confusedly, at the rope and, after circling it three times, felt as though it didn't pose any threat, though he still couldn't help but wonder about it. He looked down the hallway to see a pink haired girl in a black suit completely engrossed in whatever was in the glass case that was in front of her. Silently he walked toward her, more perplexed than anything else. He arrived right behind her and peered over her shoulder to see that she was working on cutting the glass in a nice neat cirlce. Huh, now why would she be doing that

Sakura worked diligently at the glass case in front of her, focusing on absolutely nothing else. Her equipment was laid to the side because to work effectively, she needed absolute quiet. Suddenly, she felt as though someone was behind her. She spun quickly and found that the hallway was still, quiet, and lonely as ever. As she turned back to her work, she was met with a giant mop of golden hair that seemed to spike out in every direction. She stumbled back in surprise as the owner of the hair looked up from the glass case he had been inspecting. "Hey, you stealing this diamond.." She looked perplexidly at him before taking a kenpou stance deciding that he was either a cop, or competition, which meant trouble either way. He held up his hands in surrender, "hey I understand if you want this diamond but it looks like it might be worth a little bit so you don't mind if I take it do you." Without a word, she lunged at him to fight for the nearly priceless diamond she had wanted for months that would not only give her gang the ultimate reputation but would have enough pay to put them all into early retirement. He dodged still slightly surprised at her attack. It proceeded like this for about 5 minutes with her attacking and him barely dodging. She threw a punch towards his face which disappeared leaving nothing but wall for her fist to connect to. She left a nice round hole in the wall. "You know, your pretty cute when your angry, whats your name" he said tauntingly. Riled up by this new outburst she threw a punch which finally connected with his jaw. He fell on his back but was still to quick for her to catch him. He stepped back and rubbed his now badly bruised chin. Man this was fun until she hit me, I'm sure Shikamaru and Chouji have gotten enough by now. He eyed her then backed up. "Hey listen, its been fun but I think I'm done for tonight" he said still backing up toward... toward. Her eyes widened. In the confusion they had swapped places leaving him right beside the case. He promptly reached in a pocketed the small diamond. "Oh and you really do look cute" he said smiling. She ran after him as he dashed down the hall toward the back of the museum. She winced in dismay as he climbed into the back of a lare van which seemed to contain at least 50 pieces of art that were once housed in the museum. The van sped off but not before we was able to blow he a kiss and wave a farewell.

Sakura ran to her gear as a voice shouted throught the headset, "what happened, we saw it on the cameras, who was that guy." She tensed up and spoke with anger through gritted teeth, "I don't know but nobody steals from me" She gathered her equipment and erased all signs of her entrance into the museum as she headed back to the small hotel room where her team was based. I'm going to find this guy and when I do he'll get what he deserves.

In the van, the men were counting up the loot for that night as they praised there leader for the diamond that he had some how pocketed from the angry looking pink haired lady. "Man, Naruto, this rock has got to be worth something big." Naruto grinned up at his driver Kiba thanking him for the complement. "you know, I probably wouldn't have picked up if that girl hadn't been scratching at the case." said Naruto grinning his trade mark grin. His gang members just stared at him blankly. Yep this was their leader, dumb as bricks but probably the happiest guy in the world. They all laughed at his goofy expression surprised that they ever managed to steal anything with their overall happy and lazy attitude.

They arrived at the warehouse district where they had bought a small warehouse in which they had stockpiled a small fortune. Of course they would sell it all the first chance they got, probably to some big time collectors or someone who worked in the black market. They gathered in one small corner of the warehouse where a T.V., two couches, a mini-kitchen, and what resembled a bathroom had been set up. Shikamaru and Naruto crashed on the two separate couches, Naruto from fatigue after his bout with the pinkette, Shikamaru from pure laziness and boredom. Chouji moved on to the kitchen to find something to eat, though he had just finished. Meanwhile, Kiba let out a loud whistle after which a large white dog came bounding around some of the crates that contained their loot. "Hey akamaru, missed you boy. Sorry I couldn't take you with me during the heist. " Kiba said to his oversized dog. Naruto gazed up from his position on the couch at the ceiling, his mind never wandering from the pink haired girl in the museum. He moved his thoughts from the matter but something kept pulling him back to the girl. Sure, she was kinda cute, but not anything special. Well, that was a lie, she was a lot different than most of the other girls out there. Her hair was pink, but it looked way to natural to be dyed, and her eyes were nice to. She even had a nice voice, even though she was yelling. Man, why can't I get her out of my head. He shifted positions so that he was staring at the T.V. which held the latest news report of a museum break in. "I don't think thats the last time I'll see her". He said. As he thought that over, he smiled, "She sure was cute."

Sakura paced across the carpet in front of her team for probably the thousandth time. A blond haired woman leaned over to the timid surveilance specialist. "Hinata, do you think she'll ever stop." she whispered over. Hinata looked up and spoke quietly to the girl, "I don't know, she does seem p-pretty angry." The blond looked up to Sakura once more before breaking the silence that had settled, "Yo forehead, you might want to stop before you wear a hole in the carpet". "Shut up Ino-pig, I'm thinking of how to get back at the thieving, stupid, jerk who stole the diamond." Sakura replied with just a bit of venom in her voice. Ino looked back at Sakura before leaning down over her computer as she reviewed the tape taken from the hijacked securtiy camera. The image was poor but she could make out where Sakura had been standing and where the mysterious theif had come in. As she reviewed, she went frame by frame to get a good shot of his face to run through the systmes and find a match. She passed through one blurred picture after another. THERE. She moved back a frame and there was a perfect view of his face. Surprisingly she could even see the pupils of his cerulean eyes. "Hey, I just found a clear picture of the guy." she said to anyone who would hear her. Her team mates all leaned in, even Tenten, the weapons expert, who had been to engrossed in cleaning her katana to even notice the proceedings of the night. Ino scanned the picture and let the computer do the rest. "Alright, this will probably take a few..." Beep Beep Beep. She was interupted by the beep of the computer. The file of the other thief was right in front of her. "Geez to find the kid that fast he must have a record a mile long." Ino said still staring at the glowing monitor. Numerous accounts of robbery, vandalism, resisting arrest were revealed, even murder came up. They watched the screen, "Um Sakura. If this guy has murder under his bealt then I suggest we just go after a different diamond, I mean there are other diamonds in the world" Ino said with a quiver as she imagined just how might the guy, Naruto Uzumaki, might have done it. Geez, I wish I didn't watch that History Channel special on serial killers. Sakura looked over at Ino, "The coy-eye isn't just any diamond, it's one of the rarest out there, absolutely no flaws with cuts at exact angles, the perfect diamond. And it will probably fetch over 25 million on the market." Her teamates eyes widened at the amount of money, even if they had heard it before it was still a lot. Realizing that her friend had her mind set, Ino rolled her eyes and asked "So, whats the plan." Sakura had a gleam in her eyes "I'm glad you asked"

Shikamaru glanced lazily across his computer screen searching for their next heist. He looked down at the newly stolen Coy eye. He had tried to explain its importance to his team earlier but appartently they didn't quite get the concept that a two and a half inch diamond could be worth a quarter billion. Oh well, some things never change. He perused through the sites searching. He perked, though only slightly, at a new prospect of more jewels instead of their usual targets such as paintings and plain old money. This might be a new start for our little old gang. Jewel thieves, who would've guessed. He chuckled quietly to himself at the thought of their measly gang gaining some kind of reputation, especially with members like Naruto who didn't really get the whole sneak-around thing. He turned back to his computer to dig a little on his newest prospect. After a few minutes he smiled and shouted out to the rest of his team. "Alright guys, get ready cause we might actually make some money off this next one."

Kiba drove the rattling van up to the side of the building. So according to Shikamaru, we are actually going to try to be sneaky instead of just breakin' down the door and snatchin' what we can before the cops show. He turned to see the newest addition to his van, a table on which were countless instruments. Shikamaru clicked at his keyboard with a lazy expression, Kiba could almost read his mind. 'Man what a drag' was probably the top most thought. Kiba then turned his attention to the rest of his group. "Hey Chouji, what did I tell you man. No hot wings, remeber last time." Kiba scolded the ever famished Chouji as he scarfed down yet another batch of hot wings dipped in... who knows what that stuff was but it wasn't barbeque, that was for sure. He gazed shifted to the unussually quiet Naruto who seemed to be occupied with the ceiling at the moment. Geez, he's been like this ever since the last job we pulled. Wonder whats up. "Yo, Naruto" Kiba called to his unresponsive friend. "Naruto, NARUTO". Naruto finally snapped out of it. "Huh.. oh whats up Kiba." Kiba frowned at him "Naruto, you been quiet ever since that last heist man, and I've never seen You quiet in my entire life." Naruto groaned and rolled his eyes. "Don't know man, I keep thinking about that pink haired girl, but I can't figure out why." Kiba laughed as he remebered the rather loud banshee of a girl as she ran after his van. "Yeah, guess she does leave an impression huh." Kiba chuckled looking pointedly at Naruto's still bruised chin. "Hate to point out the obvious here guys but you know we were kinda breakin into a museum here so if you could wrap it up" Shikamaru said leaning back lazily and watching the two who sat in the front of the van. This is such a drag, if I knew it would be this troublesome to actually have a plan then I never would have suggested it. Shikamaru turned his attention back to the screen as he began the slow process of hacking the security mainframe of the museum. The building itself wasn't very classy, which was good for a start if they were actually going to start being smart thieves instead of the common crooks that they started out as. "Alright guys, remember what we went over at the hideout. This is simple so not much should go wrong. I'll start once everyones in their positions." he said as he slid open the door to the van, waiting as Naruto and Chouji climbed out of the bulky panel van. He reviewed the monitors, watching the hijacked security feed as his teamates got into place.

Naruto and Chouji, each in their separate locations, pushed in a code into the keybads sitting outside the museum doors. A red light just above the number pad blinked. "Okay guys lets get started" Shikamaru said happily as the light stopped and the alarms walked down the dark hall, looking at the artwork, remebering the directions to the special collections section. He spins around and finds the hall completely empty though the feeling of eyes on the back of his head is unmistakable. Though not completely convinced he returned to his normal gait as he walked down the halls. Though he walked without whistling, he still seemed to not care much for any of the security measures, if indeed any had escaped Shikamaru's superior skills. A sound caused him to spin around. He felt unseen eyes measuring his every move. He stood still, listening for a tale-tell breath, maybe the rustle of clothes, sliding shoes on carpet. He slowly turned around finding no evidence. He continued on down the hall turning the corner to the left, still wary of something lurking in the shadows.

Sakura watched, hidden behind some display, as Naruto stood searching for some sound of her. This was the second time that he had almost caught her, she was getting sloppy. He seemed to have given up and continued on down the hall. She waited before silently padding after him. She peered around the corner, after watching him turn down the hallway, but did not find him anywhere in sight. She felt strong hands pull her arms behind her back and a soft voice, "You know, spying on someone isn't the most polite thing to do, but seeing as its you, I may be willing to let it go." She had been caught. And by this amatuer no less. She broke free of his grasp and swung blindly but he was gone. She turned as he sprinted off down the hall, her following after him just as quickly. They arrived in an emense viewing room where a blood red crystaline rose sat in the center. The rose sat, however, strangely unguarded. Not even a glass case protected the precious jewel. However, these thoughts were insignificant to Sakura as Naruto plucked the prize ruby from its stand and barged through the fire exit located at the back of the room. Sakura followed through into a seemingly empty ally way catching only a glimpse of a boot as he climbed a dumpster to the top of the adjacent building. Naruto disappeared down to street level. She followed out of the alley to find herself in the bazaar. People packed the streets, building to building. She got the faintest glimpse of golden hair as Naruto faded into the crowd. She rocketed from her position toward him, dodging people left and right. Chasing him past buildings, hoping to wear him down, she found herself leaving the bazaar and quite a distance from the offending blond. He rounded a corner to an old subway station, hopping over the stairs, avoiding confrontation with a police officer who would've undoubtedly asked for a ticket, and perhaps for Naruto to remain silent until court. Sakura diligently followed him until platform 9. She was fast on his heels but he ducked into a train. She watched, horrified, as the glass doors hissed closed, ending any chance of catching him. Naruto smiled at her expression and waved a farewell. She only glared as the train rumbled off towards whatever destination. She hung her head in defeat as she began the slow walk to her teams base of operations, ( the hotel room). How was she going to explain this.

Shikamaru smiled as Naruto climbed off the train into the nearly empty subway station, the time being a little past 1:15 a.m. Another plan perfectly executed. Shikamaru thought back over the whole situation.

Shikamaru called his team mates over to the computer. "OK guys, I'm going to try to actually have a plan this time." He looked between his team mates waiting for some interuption that surprisingly never came. "Now, first, we need to deal with that other gang with the pink haired girl. My guess is they probably aren't too happy about us gettin' their prize. Now, it will be easy to deal with that group quick enough. We are now labeled competition in their books so they may be waiting till we try to steal again to jump us. Even if they aren't, we'll be taking the fight to them." Shikamaru picked up the coy eye diamond as if it were more fragile than a butterflie's wing. "This diamond comes in a set of five different diamonds. They were targeting this specifically so they will definitely be after the entire set. The next jewel is the ruby rose located in a museum 30 miles east of here. Now, they'll probably go after the jewel, so when we show up, they'll be able to get two things done at once. Naruto, you'll need to go in there alone. The pink haired girl will be after you so you need to get one up on her and..." at this Shikamaru pulled a small circular device from his pockets "...put this tracker on her so we can find her entire gang. You'll lead her out of the museum with the diamond. Chouji will remove all the stuff from it by arriving to it early, so you can just pick it up and run. This will lead her out of there so we can clean out the rest of the place. You show up back here with the rose, we walk away with more money than the mayor." Shikamaru smiled at his cleverly crafted plan. "So what do you guys say?" Shikamaru asked expectantly but already certain of the answer. Naruto looked up with his perfectly trade mark grin. "Well, what are we waiting for? Sounds like we need to get started."

Shikamaru returned his gaze to Naruto, now almost a few feet away. At this distance, Shikamaru caught a glimpse of Naruto's expression. "Naruto man, you ok?" Shikamaru said worriedly. He had never seen such a look of despair and pain on anyones face, much less expected with Naruto's ussually joyful and carefree demeanor. Shikamaru knew instantly what was troubling Naruto. A certain girl with a fiery attitude and a strong left hook. Man, I've never seen Naruto like this. He's got it bad. What a drag. We'll never be able to work like this... guess there's only one thing to do.

Shikamaru stood up and approached Naruto.

From a distance, Kiba waited in the van as he watched Naruto and Shikamaru talk. What was taking them so long? Just then, Shikamaru pulled out a small remote looking.. thing and handed it to Naruto. Kiba watched Naruto's desolate face brighten with each second until it could rival the sun. Next thing he knew, they were both in the van telling him to make his way to some hotel on the edge of town. Kiba looked confused but otherwise just drove. I don't think I'll ever understand these guys kiba thought as he looked to the brightly smiling, and slightly oblivious Naruto.

More questions and more questions. She had lost the guy and the ruby, couldn't they see she was in a terrible mood. Twice now those guys had outdone them, probably not even with any semblance of a plan. And yet, here came another barrage of questions from her astonished team mates. "Listen, I just lost him. He got away with the ruby and I lost him. Thats the end of that, now can you guys just leave me alone for a bit." Sakura stood up, about to say something else, when she was silenced by a knock at the door, followed by a muffled call of, "Pizza delivery". Her gaze fell on her team mates who were just as tense as her. So obviously no one had ordered pizza. Ten Ten was the first to move, first bringing out her 9mm pistol before looking through the peep hole. Seeing no one, she opened the door slowly and deliberately. Outside their door stood a singular box which seemed to be sent to "The Pink Haired Lady". Picking up the box, Ten Ten cast a tentative glance down towards both ends of the hallway before retreating, box in hand, back into the hotel room. The box was simply card board and tied with a red string. Sakura, recognizing that the box was intended for her, pulled the string very slowly as if expecting the box to spontaneously combust. Instead of combusting, the box fell open revealing a most dazzling red chrystal rose and a note. The note was short, simple, and to the point.

From: Naruto

Hi, I want to give this to you

By the way, do you want to go out sometime

anyway, see you later.

Sakura read, and re-read, and re-re-read the note, constantly looking back to the ruby rose. Each time she read the note she became slightly more shocked and confused until she looked up at her team mates with wide eyed shock. She stamered out her next word finding them odd on her usually steady voice. "W-what?"