Hey there, first-time reader! Just in case you, uhh, FORGOT, this fanfiction is an AU, and it takes place in a city in our time. Ninjas are illegal and the most frowned upon thing in society. OOH HARSH.
WARNING: This fanfiction WILL have scenes that will, uhh, make you either need a tissue (or a bucket) or bash your head against a wall (or a nuclear power plant). In other words, lemons, limes, all of that good stuff.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of these amazing characters or the original concept. The only thing I claim to own is the alternate world I drop-kicked them into. But, unfortunately, not Sasuke's amazing duck ass... NOT YET ANYWAY

"Our greatest GLORY consists not in never failing, but in RISING every time we fall."

Van Gogh – Famous Artist

THE FLASHING CYAN AND RED LIGHTS sped by quickly as the Doppler effect kicked in on the sirens. I listened to the ear-piercing sounds drive away in the wrong direction and worked to steady my breathing, heartbeat loud in my ears.

Henh. I made it again. This game was getting a little old, I had to admit to myself, but I had to do something to ease the everlasting boredom that was creeping on me more often than not.

I collapsed against the brick wall of the alleyway I'd crept into and ran a hand through my tousled blonde hair. Some strands hung limp in my eyes, brushing my lashes. I clutched my side, cringing at the pain. When I pulled my hand away, it was splotched in thick blood. I sighed and weaved a few signs with my hands, touching my bloodied palm to the gunshot wound the police had inflicted on me, mixed with the knife wound from some hooligan, hissing as it closed. I lifted the hem of my shirt up. Good as new. I chuckled lightly at how increasingly dangerous this game I'd invented was getting each time I played it.

"I'm back," I called out into the shallow emptiness that awaited me every day. My voice didn't so much as echo. Hardly. My apartment was by no means big. The bathroom was barely the size to move around in (though it did have a bathtub… built into the shower). My tiny bedroom was big enough to hold my full-sized bed, which was a necessity since I'm a violent sleeper who therefore needs a bed larger than a twin, and my little dresser. The miniscule kitchen was about three feet wide and ten feet deep—almost no cooking was done there because I hated the hassle. The itsy-bitsy "den" housed a little beat-up couch, an ancient TV set, and a dinosaur-age computer. But, hell, it was all good enough for me.

I retreated to a certain cabinet in the kitchen to seek out a cup of instant ramen. I filled it up with tap water and stuck it in the microwave for three minutes, leaning and lying my forehead on the cool countertops until it finished, the loud beeping startling me out of a replay of the day. I stirred the ramen in the water, recalling the events from earlier.

"Hey," I called to my boss, Soya. She was only about eight years older than my sixteen, and she ran the convenience store down in the city that I worked at. To be honest, she was a total vulgar bitch, but she was hilarious and I couldn't help but adore her. "I'm heading out for tonight. I've already worked an extra hour and a half. And I already picked up all my groceries here, too." I wrapped a black scarf around my neck and slung my backpack with my work t-shirt and some groceries in it over my shoulder. I was grateful for the employee discount of shopping here. I got everything I needed here, after all, food-wise.

"Alright," she mumbled from a few feet away. She had a clipboard and some not-very-difficult-looking paperwork that she was working on in her lap, brown hair flopping over to curtain her face. She flicked a hand half-heartedly. "See ya tomorrow."

"I don't work tomorrow," I told her, confused.

She ripped a piece of paper from the stack and the staple came with it as she shoved it into my hands. "You do now," she said. I glanced at it. It was my new schedule, informing me that I was now working Saturday mornings, too. The fuck?

"I can't do mornings," I said bluntly.

"You can if you tried," she said with a slight grin playing upon her shadowed face, flipping through more papers and scribbling more things down with her green pen.

I rolled my eyes and folded the paper into eighths. "Alright then," I said, walking for the door.

"Naruto?" she said as I held the door open.

"Hm?"

"Be careful," she advised. "you take a really bad path home and I don't want you getting hurt."

"Whoa, are you being serious with me?" I asked, a grin spreading across my cheeks. "You mean, you actually care about my safety and well-being?"

"Of course I do," she said, pushing her glasses back up to her eyes.

My grin only grew. "Just like you did last week when I slipped and broke twenty-four bottles and fell in the glass, and you only said, 'Watch out, there's glass there'?"

She rolled her eyes at me and leaned back in her chair. "I don't wanna lose a good employee," she said.

I laughed a little. "She says I'm a good employee," I said to no one, and strolled out, the door's bell tinkling as I left. I continued down the street until the streetlights became few and far-between, dimmer and dimmer until I was in the "bad area" of town. Still, I strutted down the sidewalk as it became gravel as if nothing were any different. This was ordinary for me. I took a few turns down some deserted streets, a couple shortcuts through some empty alleyways, and when I came upon another alley, something came out and seized me by the wrist.

"Hey, kid," a husky voice said. "Got any money on ya?"

I sighed. I really wasn't in the mood for any of this. "Nah," I said. "I don't get paid till next Friday," I said sarcastically, turning to look the bastard who dared to try me in the eye. He had a scruffy beard and scraggly brown hair on a balding head.

"You think you're funny joking with me tonight, huh?" he said, anger tinting his words.

"Course I do," I said, then added, "cue ball."

He whipped out a huge knife (from Heaven knows where) and pressed it to my side. "You're a joker, eh?" He chuckled lightly. "Well I'm not in the mood for games tonight."

"Neither am I," I said, and he pressed the blade harder, tearing through my t-shirt.

"Good," he said. "So just hand over whatchya got and go on along."

I shoved my new work schedule into his chest. "'S all I got," I lied.

He didn't even glance at it as it fluttered down into a puddle of something unmentionable. He sliced the blade against my side and I felt blood trickle down onto the waistband of my jeans. He brought it up to my neck.

"You picked the wrong guy to mess with on the wrong night," I told him, "and the stupidest place to cut me. Like that little scrape's gonna do anything." He looked confused at that.

I twisted his arm around and shoved him against the wall of the alley. My other hand grabbed hold of his knife. I jumped and kicked him harder into the wall, kicking myself back and upward. I caught hold onto a metal stairway of someone's home and held on there. As he turned around to face me, I flung the knife at him. It stuck right in his stomach, no doubt slicing in right where his belly button was. He staggered but ripped the knife out and chucked it at me with horrible aim. I let go and it sparked along the wall and clattered to the pavement uselessly. I landed in a puddle of something that smelled less than pleasant, splashing it up onto my clothes. I was definitely not going to love the next load of laundry. He ran at me recklessly, throwing his fists around as if expecting to land a punch or two. I grabbed his fists and pushed him back into the wall. He doubled over in pain, clutching his torso.

I stood back as far as the alley would allow, then ran at him full force with a Rasengan ready in my hand. Just as he looked up, the Rasengan tore through his arm, severing it from the elbow down.

The sounds of people occupying the buildings on either side of me started to create quite a ruckus. Some people stuck their heads out their windows. Before they could shine lights on me, I adjusted my scarf to hide the lower half of my face. I figured that would be enough, if only to hide the telltale scars on my cheeks that would be dead giveaways in a line-up. Some of them shouted at me, while I could hear others calling the cops. That was my cue to ditch.

I took off running through the alley, leaping over chain-link fences and dumpsters that blocked my path. Sirens were heard behind me and I picked up my pace easily.

Eventually, I came upon an alley with no fence at the end, but another brick wall that connected the two buildings beside me. I turned around to see a few police men all pointing their guns at me.

"Put your hands up!" one of them yelled angrily. "We have you surrounded!"

I laughed, but that they couldn't see. I raised my arms up in the air.

There was no way in hell they were gonna catch me.

I flipped backward, outstretched hands catching the surface of the wall. Without needing to grip or anything, my body managed another flip until my feet came into contact with the wall. I turned around and ran up the surface almost effortlessly as the cops shouted something undistinguishable and started to fire their handguns at me. As I thought I was home free when I reached the top of the building, an officer managed to snag my side with a bullet, conveniently where the hobo dude had grazed me with his knife. I staggered a bit at the dull pain but continued on, knowing that it was an insignificant wound.

I ran for awhile, diverting them from my intentional path to get home, stopping in an alley somewhere.

A few cop cars drove by, the sounds of their sirens distorting as they came and went, one after the other.

I let out a huff of breath.

This illegal game of being a ninja I played just got better and better.

An unhappy Naruto was usually the spawn of a Monday morning of school. Soya's new schedule for me (which I'd been hours late for the next morning) was fucking me over significantly, and I'd actually lost precious hours of sleep over it. I trudged into homeroom slowly, flopping into my desk tiredly, leaning my head onto my desk.

"What's wrong with you?" a familiar voice asked. Sakura turned around in her desk in front of me and perched her chin upon her interlaced fingers, elbows on my desk. I looked up at her for a moment and groaned. "You look like positive crap," she added.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

She only smiled. "No problem!"

Her head snapped back around with an imaginary-audible SNAP! When her stalker mode kicked in and noticed a new presence in the room. She detached herself from my desk and her hands automatically moved to smooth out her already-perfect pink hair. She sat up straight and fixed her plaid uniform skirt. She sniffed her wrist inconspicuously to make sure that her flower-scented perfume (like I paid attention to what kind of flower it was…[cough] Japanese cherry blossoms [cough]) hadn't worn off in the commute to school. Finally pleased with the way she was presented, she leaned forward to rest her elbows on her desk.

"Hey, Sasuke," she said cutely, blinking a few extra times, but her words were overpowered by every other girl in the classes' dramatic, "Heeey, Sasuke~! " and a few annoying squeals. Sakura didn't notice, though, just continued to stare as the boy walked by her. I scoffed and leaned back in my chair, feet resting against the legs of her desk. He waved his hand slightly and grunted as he passed, and I could swear, that if looks could kill, there wouldn't be a single female alive in the class—or even the school—anymore. It was disgusting.

Sasuke took his place in a chair near the back of the room, placing his bag on his desk. I stared at him, scowling. He thought he was so perfect. Just because he had the top grades in the whole school (which shot Sakura's ego, though she vowed that she'd never surpass him, because that would be morally wrong, apparently… I'd love to smash him there if I could)… Ugh. I couldn't stand to look at him, but I just couldn't resist shooting him mental daggers. It gave me a selfish satisfaction that nothing else could.

He glanced up for a second, then held his gaze. His eyes were blank, holding no emotion. They caught me looking at him, but I didn't dare look away. I wasn't a coward. I continued to stare, as if to say, yeah, you caught me staring. And I'm gonna keep staring. I won't look away first. I crossed my arms across my chest and he raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto," Sakura said, arm swinging back to hit me lazily. She never once tore her eyes away from Sasuke, and neither did I. "Naruto," she said again.

"Hnn," I grunted.

"Sasuke is looking at me," she said nervously. "He's looking at me."

"And?" I said, not seeing the importance of this conversation.

"And!" she hissed under her breath. "What do I do?"

With some effort, I looked at Sakura. She had obviously given the effort to back at me, too. I shrugged.

"Thanks!" she said sarcastically. "You're so much help!" She turned around to look back at him, but he had already looked back down to his bag, pulling out a book. He shook his head, a slight, almost invisible grin on his face. His black bangs flopped down to veil his eyes, but I could tell that they were amused.

I can't believe I'd let him win that.

And I almost threw up.

The ending bell finally signaled the freedom from the rest of the day and conversation erupted all around the school. I was one of the first ones out of the classroom, knowing that I had to hurry to work in less than fifteen minutes.

Instead of going out of the front of the school, I cut through the cafeteria and snuck out the back doors that the janitors usually used, making sure none of them saw me walking through. I successfully made it out to the back parking lot of the school that was always empty because there was no point in parking back here for anyone. The abandoned soccer field was out here, too, the one that wasn't used because a new one had been made to replace it along the side of the school. The back was overall the most barren part of the school, therefore less crowded, and ultimately, in the direction of my work, so it would be faster to cut through the abandoned field and make it there faster.

I walked along the side of the building, guard almost down because it was so quiet, always so empty.

Of course, to my extreme disadvantage, I was thrown a bit off when I was shoved against the wall by two strong hands. They pinned the tops of my arms against the wall.

"Do you have a staring problem, Uzumaki?" Sasuke asked me, his voice low and accusing. I recalled homeroom period, glaring at him from across the room, and the way he'd only chuckled and shook his head when I looked away.

"Tch. Why?" I asked, not thinking anything of it. From the way he had me pinned, he seemed to be expecting a struggle, and from the look on his face, he looked to be expecting a fight. If it was a fight he wanted, it was definitely a fight he was going to get.

"It's only natural to suspect something when you catch someone staring at you several times in one class period," he said bluntly. His black hair hung in face and skimmed his eyelashes barely.

"Do you have a problem with it, Uchiha?" I spat.

His black eyes grew darker as I wondered if that was possible. His grip on my upper arms tightened. "Quite the opposite, actually."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I said, rage building up inside of me. "Let me go, you asshole!"

"What are you going to do if I don't?" he asked, calmer than a Hindu cow. He tilted his head slightly.

I struggled against his iron grip. "I'm gonna kick your ass!" I yelled at him. I managed to push a shoulder about an inch off the wall, but grunted when he pushed me back to where I was.

"As if you could," he said.

"I so could!" I shouted. "Wanna bet!"

"I'll make you a bet, all right," he said. His eyes fell for a second, then rose back up to look me in the eyes again. "I'll bet you that you won't be able to do anything in a minute here."

I stared at him blankly, crossly, for a lengthy amount of time, mouth agape, until I finally realized that I had nothing to say. I didn't bother to close my mouth, just let it hang open, to let him know that I was both shocked and disgusted at all the things that he'd just said. Why in the hell would Sasuke get a kick out of me staring at him? Did he just like the attention? He had enough of it from his little-big fan group, so why would he need me to be part of that, too? And betting that I wasn't going to do anything, hah! He was in for a sad surprise when I kicked his ass! Nothing was ever enough for him, was it?

Just then, my thoughts were confirmed.

Sasuke leaned forward swiftly and his lips seized my slightly open ones. He kissed me fiercely and shoved his tongue in my mouth. I felt my face grow hot in anger and tried to push him off, but his grip on me strengthened again. I thought of biting his tongue but his blood in my mouth was the last thing I wanted, next to his fucking tongue! I tried to kick him, but it seems he thought I'd do that and stood on my feet. As a last resort, I bucked my hips against his in an attempt to shove him off, but he only pushed me against the wall with his. I was stuck, and there was no way I was going to get out of the situation I was put in. His tongue slid across mine, tasted it, and I cringed against the touch. His body was pressed against mine and I was helpless, defenseless. He finally pulled away and caught his breath. My breathing was ragged, as I'd held my breath the whole time.

"Fuck you, Uchiha," was the only thing I could say.

He grinned darkly. "Anytime," he said, then let go completely and started to walk away.

I slid against the wall and onto my bottom trying to register everything that had just happened, feeling every pulse throughout my body.