[criminal AU]

"Catch him!"

"I'm being framed!! You've got the wrong guy! I never stole anything!"

"If that's the case, why are you still running?!"

"I don't know!"

I guess that's how my life was destined to be. I was set up for a crime I didn't even commit: A stolen eraser from the school store. From there on out, that's all I was seen as.

A thief.

Well, they were wrong... Before the chalk from the classrooms started going missing. A week later, the milk from the cafeteria fridges suddenly vanished. And before we even knew it, the crown for Prom King was lost. Ha. More like stolen.

By me.

That was high school, though. In college, I majored in forensic science and learned the ins and outs of following a criminal's trail. Well, to this day, neither school has figured out how the school banners went missing. And it's all thanks to me. By pure accident and what merely started as a prank turned me into the world's greatest thief. Of course, no one knows that yet. It'll stay that way, too, if I want to keep my butt out of jail.

"Hey, kid."

I looked up from my phone on which played the latest episode of a certain murder mystery anime, "you talking to me?"

"Yeah. What's your name?"

I instinctively shut my phone off, "Sasuke Uchiha, sir."

"You look like a smart young man with a lot of time on your hands."

I took in my surroundings and deducted that he was about accurate on all aspects of his assumption. I'm a straight-A student with a degree and nothing else in life to do except sit outside the boy's dorms on campus and watch anime.

"Care to work for an old man for a bit?"

I weighed the pros and cons in my head for a millisecond before asking the real question, "how much do you pay?"

"Oh, not much."

That's not going to cut it, "I'm sorry. Maybe you'll find services elsewhere."

"But... Mr. Uchiha. There's no one quite like you."

"Well, that's pretty bold." I slowly felt more and more uncomfortable with this conversation, "do I know you or something?"

He only looked at me and gestured for me to follow. For some reason, I did, and the last-minute decision led me to stand at a dead-end of an alley far off campus.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!"

"I know who you are."

The gray-haired man started and pointed a finger at me.

"H-how do you know who I am?"

"You're Sasuke Uchiha. The Crimson Thief."

My eyes opened wide at this sudden assumption, "h-hold on, what?! I'm no thief! I mean..."

"Shoplifting, theft, you've committed them all but never been accused. You practically live on stolen items. So..." He lowered his voice to a stern whisper, "I'm offering you an opportunity to become a professional thief undercover for me."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Is this a joke? No. A test. He's with the police and trying to see if I give in. Yeah right, "you got me. Listen, sir, this is a big misunderstanding. I don't steal--"

Just as I spoke, what looked like a blade the length of my upper arm flew past my face and pierced the brick behind my head.

"What the heck was that?!"

"Oh. Your partner." The man looked calmly at me as a shadow stepped up from behind him. I'm not going to lie. I don't like where this whole thing is going, but the fact that he's calling this girl my partner is something I can probably deal with.

"My partner?" I chuckled weakly, "partner in what?"

"Partner in crime, actually." The girl swiftly approached me as she grabbed the handle of the blade that wobbled by my face, yanked it out of the wall, and sheathed it, "my name's Sakura Haruno. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sasuke Uchiha."

I looked helplessly at the man from over her shoulder, "please explain..."

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, and I'm one of the reps from the Theft Corps. As a master thief, we want you to do some service for us."

"What's in it for me? I mean, if there's no money..."

"We can make some sort of accommodation." Kakashi held up a finger, "now listen closely. Our top secret organization specializes in the things you do."

"Stealing?"

"Yes."

Well, it's good to know that there's something out there I'm good at.

"With someone like you, you can lead your own squad to steal for our group."

"H-hang on, isn't this illegal?"

Kakashi chuckled, "I'd be asking you the same thing. But no, because I want you to steal things from the real thieves."

"The longer I stay here, the longer things are starting to make no sense."

"Listen." Sakura looked at me, "we work for the government. They deploy us in different stations around the world to retrieve stolen artifacts and things labeled 'valuable' to us."

"That's pretty cool." I shrugged, "but I still don't know what's in it for me."

"Other than the money, your freedom?"

"Huh?"

"If you refuse to join us, we know who you are." Kakashi smiled as he waved a pair of handcuffs in my face, "Sasuke Uchiha, you're under arrest for theft of... Well, just about everything you own."

"H-hang on a sec!"

"You have the right to remain silent. Whatever you do or say can and will be used against you--"

"Fine!" I threw my arms up, "I'll do it!"

"Very good!"

That little brat...

"Sasuke."

I looked up and found Sakura holding her hand out towards me.

"It's a pleasure working with you, partner."

I smirked, "likewise. So, what do I have to do?"

"Put together a team, learn some self-defense, and pick up a mission." Kakashi handed me a small smartphone-like device, "you can keep in touch with me, the captain, and your teammates with this."

This is way too much for me to handle.

"All the best teams have at least twenty." Sakura lowered her voice, "Kakashi had one of the most skilled groups in the TC with the most members. The bigger teams get the most missions and come out on top. That's just how it works."

"Stealing professionally? This just makes me feel like a criminal."

"It's not that bad." Sakura tugged at the cuffs of her gloves and clenched her fists, "I've been doing this since I was four."

Wow, four, huh? That's... Probably longer than me. However old she is. She looks about my age, but I wouldn't be too sure.

"Would you happen to have anyone in mind? I... I'm still new at this."

Sakura looked at me weirdly then sighed, "I'll help to get you started. You're on your own as the team's leader after that."

"Thanks." I waited for a response, but she only grumbled to herself and walked away, "hey! So, are we going to meet at all?"

She stopped and looked back at me over her shoulder, "maybe. If I feel like it."

What the heck.... 'If she feels like it'?! What kind of laidback girl is she?! I guess... From here on out, I have to learn to work with her, no matter how indifferent she is towards me. Before she faded out of sight, I cupped my hands over my mouth and yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Hey! By the time I get our team together... You'll love me!"

Her shadow stopped, "what did you say?"

"I can tell you hate me. You're just trying to tolerate me so this business relationship between us doesn't get out of control. But I swear to you... By the time we've got a functioning Theft Corps. team, you'll be so in love with me you couldn't go a day without me."

She hesitated, turned around, and continued walking until nothing was left of her except her echoing voice, "be quiet you pervert. I don't need a man to do what I do or to be who I am. I'm just doing my job."

I smirked at her final remark. I'll just have to prove her wrong, won't I? I don't mind.

I'm pretty good at deceiving people.

Plus. 

I'm never wrong. 

~~~

Random fan of the day: Teeigh

Written by xX_Fang_Xx