Everyone in life has something that annoys them. For some, it's losing in a video game; for others, it's learning that those who you believed that respected you actually showed disdain behind your back. For Yoichi, it's constantly being ignored by someone he wanted to talk about.

"I'm getting damn tired of waiting," Yoichi groaned. "If the boss keeps ignoring my request, I swear I'm going to…"

"Yoichi."

Yoichi violently flinched in response to the sudden voice. Nearly breaking out in a nervous sweat, he timidly turned around, trying his hardest to keep himself calm as he mentally prepared himself for the rare opportunity he has been waiting for. In no time at all, Yoichi was face to face with the ominous figure that he's been waiting for.

"B-Boss…" Fear clutched his chest as the robed figure approached him. Yoichi could always tell what his standing with others were by looking them in the eyes, but a mask in the shape of a fox kept him doing the same with his boss. "I see you finally got my messages."

"I been got your messages," the man responded in a calm, yet bored tone. "It's just that your request was so ridiculous that I thought you were initially joking."

"What made you think it was a joke?" Yoichi asked.

"Because you don't stand a chance against those three," his boss answered bluntly. "Better people have tried and failed."

"They're just kids, Boss. I bet that I can take care of them for you no problem," Yoichi boasted.

"Bet, huh…?" the robed figure silently stared at Yoichi, scanning him from head to toe. "Alright, then… If you can catch those kids within a certain amount of time then I will promote you from Head Bandit #52 to Chief of all Bandits."

"Yes!" Yoichi was delighted to hear that. With that kind of promotion, he could finally get the respect he deserved.

"In fact, I'll also provide you with some aide in your endeavor," the figure added.

Yoichi could not be any happier. With his boss's help, there was no way that he could not succeed.

"But…" one word was all it took for fear to supplement Yoichi's happiness. "If you lose this bet, then you'll have to face a punishment of my own design. What do you say?"

"It's a bet, boss!" Yoichi saluted.

The very next day, in a vibrant green forest blanketed by the golden rays of the sun, 9-year old Naruto Uzumaki stared down the hole he made to trap a young boy.

"You seriously put a trap hole here, Naruto?!" the boy yelled. "That's cheap!"

"Cheap nothing. As far as I'm concerned, it's totally not cheap," Naruto retorted with a satisfied grin. "Besides, if it's cheap, what does that say about you?"

Naruto laughed as he watched the veins on the boy's head pop. But his laughter would soon stop as he watched in awe as the boy's eyes changed from white to pure yellow.

"Uh oh. That's never a good sign…" Naruto mumbled to himself.

Following his instincts, Naruto quickly backed away from the hole just as a giant vampire bat flew out.

"Didn't count on you flying…" Naruto confessed.

But his foe didn't care for anything Naruto had to say and swooped down towards its prey. Naruto quickly fell on his stomach, barely avoiding the creature's large claws. With its target still alive, the bat forced itself to turn around and lunged towards Naruto once more. The target once more narrowly escaped its assault and continued to do so with every attempt.

"Alright, enough dodging! It's time for my counter-attack!" Refusing to back down from his claim, Naruto stared into the creature's eyes and smirked. "Bring it on!"

The creature once again swooped down towards Naruto as he prepared to attack. Only a few feet away, Naruto raised his right fist and was surprised to watch the beast easily kicked away from him.

"Whoa…" Naruto said as he curiously looked towards the attacker. The silver hair that fluttered in the wind was all he needed to see to know he was no longer in danger. "Hey, Moka!"

The young girl casually turned around and silently stared at him with her blood red eyes.

"What?" asked Naruto.

Moka silently turned back to the creature she rendered unconscious then shifted her gaze back to Naruto.

"Do I even want to why you were fighting a giant bat?" Moka questioned.

"Well, he wasn't a bat at first…" Naruto shrugged.

"Only you, Naruto, only you…" she chuckled slightly as she shook her head.

Such an acquisition only made Naruto grin.

"Anyway, what brings you out here?" he asked. "I know you didn't come here just to see me fight a giant bat."

"I just needed some time away from my sisters," Moka replied. "I love them, but sometimes they can be a bit clingy."

"And kinda scary," Naruto added.

"And kinda scary…" Moka agreed.

The two went silent as the dreadful memories of said upset vampires resurfaced in their head.

"Anyway, the only reason I'm here was because I heard the ruckus that thing was making on my way back home," Moka continued to answer. "Why was it attacking you anyway?"

"I don't know," Naruto shrugged. "One moment I was minding my own business and the next I'm spending my morning fighting a kid with the ability to turn into a giant bat."

The two began their journey home as they continued their conversation.

"Is it kind of sad that that isn't the weirdest thing that happened to you?" Moka queried.

"That sounds weird coming from a vampire," Naruto retorted. "Can't vampires turn into bats?"

"Actually there's a very complex explanation to that question," Moka replied.

"How complex can it be?" asked Naruto asked.

Naruto would soon learn that "complex" was a simple way of explaining the explanation. The lesson he just learned not only went over his head, but also lasted the entire trip to the manor estate owned by Moka's father.

"My head hurts…" Naruto moaned. "I need to lie down."

Naruto cradled his aching head as he walked towards the courtyard. There he caught a glimpse of a young boy who sitting on top of a tree branch with a notebook neatly tucked between his hands. He gently laid it on the branch and started to tap his right cheek with his pencil, his face revealing how deep he was contemplating. Minutes passed by, before the child sighed and picked his pencil up once more.

"Hey, Gohan!" Naruto called.

Recognizing the voice that called him, Gohan stuffed his notebook in his backpack and, using his monkey tail, swung down to the ground where Naruto was waiting for him.

"Were you writing again?" Naruto asked.

"Mm-hmm," Gohan nodded. "I got to write everything down since I can't exactly trust my own head."

"What if we dropped you on your head?" Naruto suggested.

"No… I think all the times I've been hit in the head would have counted for something. I don't think any more head trauma is going to help me." Gohan chuckled, gently rubbing the back of his head. "Anyway, where've you been this entire time?"

"Fighting a kid that can change into a giant bat," Naruto shrugged until a soft growl caused him to instinctively stroke his stomach. "Spending hours fighting a bat boy really makes a kid hungry."

Suddenly, an idea appeared in Naruto's head; one so good that it unknowingly caused a big smile to spread across his face.

"Oo! Let's get some Ichiraku!" Naruto suggested.

"Sounds like a plan," Gohan nodded in excitement.

Suddenly, a net dropped down and trapped Naruto within its nylon strands. Two bandits soon followed and dragged Naruto in a quick and efficient manner.

"Naruto!" Gohan cried. He dropped down from the tree to give chase, but was immediately intercepted by two more bandits. He couldn't see their faces through their tan balaclava, but he could tell by the look of their eyes, that they intend on capturing him too. "Please get out of my way."

"Not a chance, kid!" one of the bandits said. "The boss is gonna love us for bringing you two in."

The bandits lunged at Gohan, but were easily knocked backed by two quick punches to their stomachs. Wasting no more time, Gohan jumped into the air and flew after the bandits that captured his friend. In no time at all, Gohan caught up to the kidnappers and easily kicked them away from the captured Naruto.

"Thanks, Gohan. I was really getting tired of being dragged around on my face," Naruto thanked his friend. "Think you can get me out of here?"

"Sure," Gohan kneeled down next to the net. He then reached for the net until he heard the rustling sounds leaves make when someone brushes up against them. "Oh no…"

Gohan's worries were immediately confirmed as a kunai knife flew at him. It was close, but he was able to dodge the deadly weapon. But it did not end there. A maelstrom of kunai knives dropped down from the branches above, all targeting Naruto and Gohan.

Gohan' instinct kicked him, guiding him to grab the net trapping Naruto and fly deeper into the forest to avoid the weapons. He continued to fly deeper and deeper into the forest, dodging even more knives and unaware that his haphazard flying caused Naruto to run into almost every tree in the forest. He soon broke free of the forest and landed in the middle of an old, beaten path.

"I… I think we lost them…" Gohan breathed a sigh of relief as he turned to Naruto. The barely conscious boy trapped in a net was covered in many scraps and scratches. "Sorry, Naruto…"

He gently freed his friend from the nylon cage, allowing Naruto to stretch his aching limbs.

"I don't want to sound ungrateful but OW!" Naruto cried.

"Sorry," Gohan apologized once more.

Just then, even more bandits appeared and surround the children.

"These guys are determined to catch us," Gohan noted.

"Why the heck are you guys attacking us?!" Naruto demanded to know.

"One of them said that their boss would like us captured," Gohan answered.

"Like I'm going to let that happened," a confident smirk formed on Naruto's face as he jumped on his feet. "You guys want to capture us, then you're going to have to beat us down first! Bring it on!"

Naruto prepared to charge but when an azure colored blur sped past him, the blur itself followed by a group of metallic silver bees. The blur immediately stopped in front of one of the bandits, revealing it's visage to everyone in the area as that of a blue hedgehog.

The robots that chased him fired, but because the hedgehog's speed, they were only able to hit the bandit that was behind their target. This act continued on until all the bandits surrounding them were incapacitated. The hedgehog then curled himself into the shape of a ball and dashed towards the deadly robots, instantly destroying them upon contact.

"And I thought wasps were the aggressive ones," the hedgehog chuckled.

"Sonic!" Naruto said, happily waving at the human like animal in front of him.

Sonic quickly turned his attention towards Naruto and Gohan and grinned.

"Hey, guys. Long time no see," Sonic waved.

"That was a pretty cool way of dealing with the bandits and the robots," Gohan complimented.

"Bandits?" the confused hedgehog looked around and was surprised to find unconscious criminals surrounding them. "Huh, didn't know they were here. What are you guys doing hanging around bandits anyway?"

"They're trying to capture us for their boss for some reason," Gohan answered.

"It's a bet."

The trio turned towards the source of the interjecting voice. What they found was an elderly man casually smoking a cigar against a tree.

"YOU?!" Naruto exclaimed, before he was restrained by Naruto. He knew that he didn't have the strength to escape, but that knowledge didn't keep him from struggling. "Dang it! What the heck are you doing here?!"

"I'm here to help you kids," the man answered.

"You're not exactly the helping type," Sonic retorted.

"Maybe not, but everyone has their 'off-days'," the man snickered. "The men who attacked you work for a bandit holed up in the mountains. He made a bet with his boss that he could capture you three in exchange for a higher position."

"You mean we're just targets in someone else's game?" Gohan asked.

"Pretty much," the elder answered as he expelled a puff a smoke from his body.

"I hate it when that happens…" Naruto groaned. "That said… What do you get out of helping us?"

"Let's just say I have a bet going on," the man replied. "I'll be rooting for you, kids."

Blowing a puff of smoke one final time, the elder disposed of his cigar before disappearing at the blink of an eye.

"Great, now we're pawns in two guys' game," Naruto groaned.

"Maybe so, but on the bright side, we get to take down one of the guys who made this bet," Sonic grinned.

"Good point," Naruto grinned at the thought at storming a bandit hideout. "Alright, guys, they tried to bring the game to us, so we're going to bring the game to them!"

Later that afternoon…

"Where are those guys at?" Yoichi wondered as he paced back and forth in his office. "They should have been back by now."

"I wouldn't expect your boys to be back anytime soon."

Fear gripped Yoichi's heart as he slowly turned his gaze towards the direction of the voice. Fear's grip on his heart tightened as he laid his eyes on a familiar old man with a cigar.

"Kuzuryu…" he muttered. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought I'd come here to give you fair warning, your targets are on the way to make you regret your bet with the boss," Kuzuryu replied.

"WHAT?! How do they know to come here?"

"I told them."

"Why?"

"Because I love seeing your whimpering face."

"I don't make whimpering faces," Yoichi said with a stern look.

"Really?" the elderly man tossed his cigar at Yoichi and laughed as he watched it bounce off his head. "You're pathetic. But good news for you, you probably won't see me around for awhile."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Yoichi inquired.

"It means I got to get ready for a special task straight from the boss. I get them naturally, instead of pestering him until he's forced to pay you some mind. And all you wanted to do is catch some kids that are going to beat the crap out of you."

"You don't know that. I could beat the crap out of them."

"And that'll make you feel good right? The fact that you beaten a couple of kids?"

"Ugh… I hate you."

"You're not the only one. See ya, Yoichi. Or maybe not. I don't really care about something so insignificant. Just remember the danger you brought upon yourself is coming real soon.

The elderly Kuzuryu left laughing heartily.

"I'll show you…" Yoichi muttered as he clenched his fists.

Meanwhile, the young trio travelled up the mountain side, determined to end the bet that has been set against them. As they travelled up the beaten path, Gohan couldn't help but be bothered by the grey fog that surrounded them.

"All this fog is giving me an eerie feeling…" he said.

"Yeah, didn't expect mountain bandits to hide out in such a dreary place," Sonic added. "It usually isn't their style."

"Not like it matters," Naruto shrugged. "I bet that they just picked this place, hoping the fog would just scare people. Too bad for them that it's not going to work on us!"

The three continued to journey through the mountains until they suddenly found themselves in a derelict village. The dread in the atmosphere quickly set in as Naruto nervously looked around.

"What the heck?! Why does this place feel like a graveyard!?" he exclaimed.

"Funny you should say that."

The three immediately turned the direction of the sudden voice and noticed Yoichi standing triumphant on a nearby rooftop.

"You're not going to say you're a grave robber too are you?" Sonic snarked.

Gohan, giving the surrounding area a closer inspection, noticed a few man made holes and stone slabs.

"That would be appropriate and/or ironic…" Gohan mumbled under his breath.

"So you're the guy who bet that you can capture us right?!" Naruto yelled at Yoichi. "Why don't you get down here and try to see if you can really do it!"

"You sure have a lot of guts for a kid," Yoichi smirked.

"Of course I do. You're dealing with the one and only Naruto Uzumaki! The guy that's going to kick your butt!"

"That's some boast, but what about everyone else?"

As if on cue, an army of bandits arrived and surrounded the trio. Just as quickly as they arrived, the bandits were quickly knocked down by a blue blur.

"Now that the goons are dealt with, what do you say we get the main event underway?" Sonic proposed with a confident grin.

"Sounds good to me," Yoichi smirked.

Suddenly, a pair of hands wrapped their hands around Gohan, completely constricting his movements. Naruto and Sonic quickly turned towards their friend and were surprised to watch him struggle out of a single bandit's grip.

"Let him go!" Naruto roared as he charged at the criminal, He swiftly kicked the bandit in the head and watched in horror as it turned in a 180 degree angle. The horror he felt quickly increased as he watched another pair of hands come from behind the bandit and readjust the head. "What are these guys?!"

"I'm guessing they're zombies," Sonic noted before a arm broke through the ground and grabbed his leg. The young hedgehog blankly glanced down at the hand and looked back at Naruto; the expression on his face showing he knew what was coming next. "Yep, definitely zombies…"

The hand effortlessly threw Sonic away and into the arms of one of the surrounding bandits.

"I don't get it. How can a bandit control zombies?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"They're not zombies. They're modified bandits," Yoichi replied.

"Modified bandits… huh?" Naruto shot a confused look at Yoichi. "They act like zombies to me."

"Kinda strong for the undead," Sonic said as he struggled against his captor.

"The hedgehog is right. These are the products of pure science," Yoichi proudly announced.

"Guys, did the bandit just boast about science?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

"Well, you never know what people are interested in," Gohan pointed out.

"Hey, you're not a full time scientist are you? I would hate for the other one I beat all the time to think I'm fighting other ones behind his back," Sonic joked.

Yoichi glared at the trio.

"Can you take this seriously?!" he yelled. "I'm about to capture you!"

"I don't think so!" Naruto clenched his fists and jumped at Yoichi. Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his leg and slammed him on the ground. "Dang it!"

He quickly jumped to his feet and once again found himself surrounded by bandits.

"These guys are fast, tough and got the others…" Naruto thought. "Alright then, guess I'll have to go all out and crush them all at once."

Naruto clasped his hands together and formed a tiger seal. Suddenly, a mass of red chakra erupted from his body and engulfed the young boy. Yoichi could do nothing but watch in horror as the monstrous chakra filled his entire body with dread. Soon the chakra dispersed, revealing a small fox with nine long tails.

"Oh come on!" Naruto cried. "Why can't I do it right whenever I want?!"

Yoichi blankly stared at Naruto. Disbelief was all he felt.

"This is the legendary demon fox?" he wondered aloud. "Oh forget it, GET HIM!"

Naruto quickly slid under the attacks of his enemies and, with a swift use of his tails, knocked some of his foes away from him. He continued to use the speed his small fox form provided him to dodge enemy attacks as he charged towards the enemies that held his friends captive. The moment he was in range, the young fox pounced and bit the arm of the bandit that held Sonic.

"Urk…" Naruto's eyes widened as he desperately tried to keep himself from letting go. "This guy tastes like a corpse!"

He kept his fangs buried deep in his opponent's arm as he felt the other bandits try to pull him away. This constant fight loosened Sonic's constraints enough for him to break free and kick him away from the two. He then grabbed Naruto and used one of the surrounding bandits to springboard the two of them into the air.

"Gohan! Now!" Naruto yelled.

Gohan closed his eyes as a bright blue aura surrounded him. With a loud roar, an explosion of energy surged out of his body, incapacitating all the bandits in the area.

With his energy expended, the young child fell to his knees and attempted to catch his breath.

"Nice job, Gohan," Sonic patted his tired friend's back.

"Yeah," Naruto said as he reverted back to his normal state. "You really know how to blow them away."

A small smile formed on Gohan's face. Naruto then looked up at Yoichi and smirked.

"I'd say you lost your little bet, bandit!" he boasted. "I assume you're going to leave us alone now, right?"

"Not yet," Yoichi extended his right hand forward and watched in glee as the bodies of the bandits were torn apart and circle around him. "It's really working."

Shock was all that the Trio could feel as they witnessed the ody parts wrap around Yoichi's arms and back.

"Wh-What just happened?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"I told you, everyone here was genetically modified. Each one turned into nothing more than a husk for battle," Yoichi answered.

"You turned them into-?" Speech was temporarily stricken from Gohan's repertoire he tried to wrap his mind around what he just heard. "You turned your own friends into mindless weapons? How could you do that?!"

"Because, Oof!"

A quick spin dash to the jaw instantly stopped Yoichi answering the question and an equally fast kick knocked him off the rooftop. He was then met with flurry of punches to the gut by Naruto and blasted away by an energy wave from Gohan.

Once the dust settled, the Naruto and Sonic helped Gohan onto his feet and began their journey back down the mountain.

"What just happened?" Yoichi wondered aloud.

"You just lost your best, just as the Giver expected."

The beaten bandit slowly lifted his head and was shocked to find a familiar face staring down at him. The cold and uninterested look she sported was enough to fill him with the same amount of fear he felt earlier when confronted by his boss.

"W-What are you doing here, Serva?" Yoichi fearfully asked.

Serva swept her violet bangs from over her eyes and answered with, "You made a bet with the Giver and he has given me the task to mete out your punishment. He also wanted me to inform you that he isn't pleased that you abused your position lead experiments on your men."

She proceeded to kneel down towards the injured man and gently placed her hand on his chest.

"Farewell," said Serva.