{"id":3696,"date":"2021-01-01T01:51:38","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T06:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/?p=3696"},"modified":"2021-04-12T17:20:50","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T21:20:50","slug":"finding-the-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/?p=3696","title":{"rendered":"Finding the Line"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Author’s Note: Happy New Year! This racing-themed one-shot first appeared in the 2019 NaruSaku Zine, featuring all AU fics and art.<\/em><\/p>\n

When the orange race car finally stopped rolling it was upside down, roof dented in, with a crack across the windshield like a bolt of lightning. Beyond it, a jet-black car sped away toward the finish line. The momentary pulse of blue flame from its exhaust was a message: Loser.<\/i><\/p>\n

Naruto pushed the door open and crawled out. He was unhurt, but he was livid. He had driven harder and faster than ever. But he still lost. Naruto only had five days before his next race. Five days to get his car repaired. And five days to figure out how to beat Sasuke Uchiha.<\/p>\n

Naruto had been chasing the Uchiha since before came to Konoha Race Track, when he\u2019d only heard about the racing prodigy. Back when he stupidly thought they might have been friends. The top-slotted driver even greeted the newcomer with a friendly smile. Until he pointed to the leaderboard. \u201cSee that Uzumaki? Only one winner. But there\u2019s always room for another loser.<\/i> Welcome aboard!\u201d<\/p>\n

From that moment on, Naruto made it his mission to beat him. When he drove, he gunned for the black car. When he practiced laps, he pictured the black car beside him, racing him as he tried to beat the Uchiha\u2019s times. He\u2019d imagined the start \u2014 roaring off the line and watching the Uchiha\u2019s frustrated face in his rearview mirror \u2014 so many times it felt like it was going to happen\u2026. But it never did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He burned up the five days before the next race focused only on the Uchiha. He tore around the track for hours on end, getting there earlier and staying later, trying to figure out how to beat him. He used the older track cars to try to work out the course and shave off milliseconds. He dive-bombed the curves and gunned it down the straightaways, even setting those old beater cars to rattling so much his teeth hurt.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He could drive anything, and he knew it. They all did. That\u2019s how he got a slot on the team. Raw power and sheer determination.\u00a0 <\/span>But for the first time, he thought maybe that wasn\u2019t enough. Maybe he<\/i> wasn\u2019t enough. Because even on his best day he hadn\u2019t been able to beat the Uchiha\u2019s time.<\/p>\n

The night before the next race, it was no different. He had been waiting hours in his empty garage for his car to be brought back. The time preyed on his mind. He paced around his garage, his mind running the same unending race, until he settled on a new thought. What if the prodigy wasn\u2019t really a prodigy after all? What if it was something else helping him win?<\/p>\n

Voices passed by outside, one of them familiar. He needed an edge. And by sundown, with no car in sight, he was just desperate enough to go to the one person who might hold the key.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHey!\u201d The clutch of female drivers turned, surprised at the sound from the empty garage. But only the pink-haired one slowed in recognition of the voice. \u201cIt\u2019s H-Haruno, right? Can I ask you something\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cSee you later,\u201d they said when they realized she was actually going to hang around and talk to the new guy.<\/p>\n

Naruto swallowed and screwed up his courage, the same way he had when he\u2019d talked himself onto the track, oozing confidence and asking for a chance to drive, just one lap and he\u2019d blow them away. He didn\u2019t give up, and it worked. But he had a weakness where Sasuke\u2019s mechanic was concerned. She unnerved him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She waited, peering at him in the setting sunlight, holding him in her green gaze, making him nervous all over again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He ran a hand through his hair, grasping for that old confidence. \u201cSo I was wondering if you could just uh\u2026give me some pointers. About the Uchiha, you know? Something he\u2019s doing that I\u2019m not?\u201d He turned on the charm and leaned in, smiling. \u201cI mean, I know we\u2019re all supposed to be the same, to make it fair. But c\u2019mon. You can tell me. You\u2019re his secret weapon right?\u201d She smiled and he laughed, and he saw his opening and went for it. \u201cNo, but seriously. It\u2019s got to be the engine right? He\u2019s running something different right?\u201d Her smile vanished. He swerved. \u201cAw, it\u2019s no big deal,\u201d Naruto lied. \u201cI was just curious. I know he\u2019s doing something different than the rest of them. He can\u2019t be that good!\u201d His laughter thinned. She narrowed here eyes and looked past his shoulder into the empty garage. His laughter died out. \u201cIt\u2019s okay. You probably can\u2019t tell me anyway, since you\u2019re the Uchiha\u2019s mechanic and all\u2014\u201d She frowned sharply.<\/p>\n

\u201cSai hasn\u2019t brought your car back yet?\u201d He looked away. A single light bulb buzzed in the emptiness. \u201cAnd you race tomorrow, right?\u201d He ran a hand through his hair, the nervousness coming back. He glanced at her, and she was watching him, seeing it all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She was perceptive, just like the first time he saw her, sliding out from under the Uchiha\u2019s engine, a smudge of grease on her cheek and a dirty jumpsuit with a name patch spelling it out: Haruno. She just smiled while she waited for him to catch on. She <\/i>was the Haruno the heard so much about. She<\/i> was the best mechanic on Konoha\u2019s track. She<\/i> was the one permanently linked with the Uchiha at the top of the leader board.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was driver without a car, standing in an empty garage, being scrutinized by the best mechanic on Konoha\u2019s track. It made him even more nervous than facing the Uchiha on the starting line. He knew that\u2019s why he never worked up the nerve to speak with her for too long. Even now in the dim light, with the sleeves of her jumpsuit tied around her waist, her pale shirt underneath, and her pink hair pulled loosely to the side, he felt like he couldn\u2019t look directly at her. She saw through him, and it made him feel like an impostor. She worked so hard, she knew every nut and bolt of every car on the team. She could listen to an engine and tell you what was wrong. All he did was drive faster than everyone else. He didn\u2019t even have to try, it just happened. That strategy worked, until now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He was chasing the Uchiha, but the truth was they were both out of his league. He had been joking before, but maybe she really was his secret weapon. He wouldn\u2019t be surprised. \u201cListen, I\u2019m sorry. I shouldn\u2019t have asked\u2014 \u201c\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, I want to show you something\u2014\u201c Naruto blinked, but she was already walking away. \u201cCome on,\u201d she nodded back at his empty garage. \u201cGot something better to do?\u201d Naruto laughed and followed her.<\/p>\n

Naruto followed her to a garage in the storage area for junk and parts vehicles. It was far from the pristine aisle where the Uchiha\u2019s multiples bays were. Keys jingled. She flipped back the lock and pushed up the rusty door. Inside was the front end of a tarp-covered car, angling out of the darkness. She walked in confidently, reaching up for a string to a single overhead light.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like going for a drive.\u201d She ripped back the tarp, revealing a matte-black car with shimmering pink petals rippling back from the tire wells. The flew up the sides and wrapped the back trunk, flickering in high-gloss against the flat surface. In the half-light, the black of the car disappeared, making the look like a frozen upswell of cherry blossoms. He was sure the effect was even heightened by speed. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s beautiful,\u201d he breathed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou think so?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYeah! I\u2014\u201c He had agonized over the right shade of orange paint, but this\u2014 He never dreamed a car could look like this. \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGood!\u201d Her voice turned suddenly firm. \u201cNow get in.\u201d<\/p>\n

She started it up with a huge rev, gunning the engine a few times in the empty space and letting it roar around them. For the first time there was a hint of a smile in her voice. \u201cPut your seatbelt on\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n

Naruto reached back when the car shot out of the garage, back wheels spinning wide at the lethal combination of speed and a narrow turn. Naruto hung onto the seat belt till the car straightened out, then slipped it on, glancing over at Sakura who was now shifting gears and getting the engine up to speed. Her expression was confident. And he understood her in that moment. Racing had always made him feel like he could do anything. Looking over from the passenger seat, it was clear she felt the same way.<\/p>\n

At the turn to go out onto the track, Naruto\u2019s body unexpectedly lurched the opposite way. She turned instead toward a rarely used security entrance, and then they were out of the compound. Sakura shifted gears and pushed her foot all the way to the floor. The red tail lights tore away from the darkened race track and disappeared into the wooded hills around the complex.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She drove higher and higher, following the ribbon of road up the mountains. It looped out, with only a thin guard rail, and Naruto could see huge views opening up before him.<\/p>\n

He liked this, this kind of curved-road driving. Not racing, but just enjoying putting the car through the paces. They got to the top. There was an enormous vista. Below were pockets of towns, scattered like clusters of stars in the blackness beneath them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sakura was impatient to go. She revved the engine again, and when he looked back with a nod, only to see that she was now wearing black racing gloves and her hair was pulled back and she looked as fierce as her sleek red car in the glow of the dash lights\u2014<\/p>\n

Naruto was suddenly flung back into his seat when Sakura shot out of the parking lot. She hurtled down the road gaining speed and careening toward the first big curve when Naruto\u2019s stomach flipped and he knew they were going to plummet over the side\u2014<\/p>\n

But at the last second, Sakura jerked up the hand brake and the car slid sideways through the curve. Naruto was disoriented, pinned to the seat. He glanced out to see only the view of the sky filling up window, and more panic set in. The car spun around as if tethered to a pole in the front. He heard gravel from the edge of the road echo off the low guard rail, proving just how close they were.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They rounded the arc, Sakura eased off the brake and Naruto felt the car coming back to a safer speed. The clench in his stomach began to ease\u2026.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sakura punched it again, hurtling toward the next corner. Naruto held his breath and forced himself to keep his eyes open, telling himself she obviously knew what she was doing, even as the got closer and closer, past where he thought she\u2019d brake until the road disappears and gravel flung off the side and he gripped the edge of his seat waiting to be thrown out into the void\u2014<\/p>\n

When she pulled hard on the brake, sending the back-end sliding and forcing the car into an even sharper sideways slide through the curve. She held on to the wheel hard, fighting for control, gravel ricocheting around them. Her lights shined up into the trees off the road as the went down enormous curve almost sideways. It was nearly a perfect circle.<\/p>\n

She stopped and smiled. Naruto breathed and let go of his seat. He swallowed. His mouth was dry. \u201cYou\u2019re a drifter!\u201d<\/p>\n

Sakura chuckled. \u201cI\u2019ve seen you drive. I knew you could handle it.\u201d His smile widened.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

She started up again, this time talking while she threw them through the hooked curves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou drive fast. And that\u2019s good. But you\u2019re not like Sasuke, so you shouldn\u2019t drive like him. You should stay focused on your goal\u2014\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI am!\u201d His argument was silenced when she threw the car into the next curve. He gripped the seat, but she never looked at him.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen it\u2019s not enough.\u201d Her voice was as tight and controlled as her steering. \u201cGet a new goal.\u201d The next curve was silence. Sakura focused and Naruto frowned.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like this,\u201d she said, nodding to the brief straightaway. \u201cI don\u2019t follow the yellow lines or even the shape of the road. If I want to have a good turn, then I have to be thinking two curves ahead. I have to find my own line and stay focused on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then, just like that, she was dive-bombing the next curve, holding the wheel and kicking up smoke and dust around them.<\/p>\n

\u201cFind a goal. Carve out your line. Don\u2019t lose focus. Ever.\u201d She caught him with a side glance. \u201cAnd you can\u2019t do that if you are watching the driver beside you.\u201d She shot him a quick grin before concentrating again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He smiled and relaxed into the seat, trying to think like her, trying to feel when she threw the car into the curve and when she exited. This time, he saw how she was already planning for the next curve, downshifting and braking and spinning the car until it looked the world looked like starlight around them.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When they pulled up to his open garage door, Sakura\u2019s lights bounced off Naruto\u2019s car in the garage. He flipped on the light. Instead of a screaming orange beast, it was like hers. Flat black, but instead of petals, there were glittering orange flames ripping up through the black. When in motion, it was meant to look like the car is setting the road on fire. He is speechless.<\/p>\n

Sakura smiled. \u201cSai does a good job.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cD-Did you know?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sakura shook her head. \u201cNo, but I told him if there wasn\u2019t time to paint it then give it a wrap like mine. Something\u2026you know\u2026fast. Something that looked like you.\u201d This time Sakura smiled and looked away. Naruto felt the tips of his ears going warm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

There was a keychain on the table. It was just like Sakura\u2019s as well, except with a swirl and cherry blossoms, this was a swirl and fire, and a stylized fox was in the center of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaruno, I\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n

She stopped him. \u201cCall me Sakura.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surprised, Naruto took in her hair and her whole face. He\u2019d never known anyone like her. She was a beautiful mixture of extremes, and her name, which he guessed she didn\u2019t tell many people, just made her even prettier in his eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSakura,\u201d he said softly, \u201cI don\u2019t know what to say\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n

\u201cThen don\u2019t. Just win.\u201d She opened her car door. \u201cAnd just so you know, I\u2019ve checked the engines myself. They\u2019re identical. You and Sasuke are evenly matched.\u201d She got in, closing the door, leaving him to consider her words.<\/p>\n

The window rolled down. \u201cAnd one last thing. Don\u2019t call me Sasuke\u2019s<\/i> mechanic. I\u2019m the lead<\/i> mechanic. I only work on the number one car. So\u2026if that\u2019s something you\u2019re interested in\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

She fixed him with that perceptive gaze, and smiled, letting him fill in the rest. She was thinking two curves ahead. And he was finally beginning to catch on\u2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood luck, Naruto.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Naruto waited at the start. The black car rolled up beside him, but he shut it out. Instead he concentrated on the low growl of his own car, felt it rumble beneath him. He stayed focused on finding his line, on winning the race\u2026and on those pretty green eyes\u2026. He had a new goal now.<\/p>\n

Red clicked to green. The pedal hit the floor. The Kyuubi roared off the start. To the driver in his rearview, the brilliant orange flame from the exhaust made Naruto\u2019s car look like it set the road on fire.<\/p>\n

\n\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Author’s Note: Happy New Year! This racing-themed one-shot first appeared in the 2019 NaruSaku Zine, featuring all AU fics and art. When the orange race car finally stopped rolling it was upside down, roof dented in, with a crack across the windshield like a bolt of lightning. Beyond it, a jet-black car sped away toward […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-one-shot","category-zine","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5hctF-XC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3696"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3696\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3744,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3696\/revisions\/3744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3696"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swirlingpetals.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}