Poker Chips And Scary Woods
Part 1
Sorry for the wait. Here is it the next part of the story.
Summary: Sequel to 'Down The Slope'. Our favorite trio finally arrived at their next city after spending in Onsen Town recovering. And Minato runs into some trouble in the Forest of Death.
Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata paused at the top of the hill and studied their view of Green City. There were a few buildings that seemed to touch the sky. Even the HUGE fountain in front of one of casino resorts was visible. And by the looks of things, the residential streets were on the outskirts. Though the evening was fast approaching, the city was aglow with bright lights.
The city looked close, but with it being so big, it was probably an illusion. The Pokemon on their shoulders moved around, trying to get a better view and were petted before the trio continued on. If they wanted to get there before it was too late and the Pokemon Center was closed, they had to keep going.
It had been two months since they had gone to Onsen Town and the twins had their world turned upside-down and shaken up. When Naruto had gotten off the painkillers, Kushina had gotten back to Konoha Town. The trio trained for a few weeks out in the mountains before the boy's challenge for Jiraiya's Swamp Badge, which looked like a Lilly pad. Naruto substituted Flo the Luvdisc with Mari the Chansey. Hinata swapped out Heart the Lopunny for Blue the Metagross. And lastly, Naruko switched Lady Luna the Ursaring with Edilean the Steelix. By that time, Sasuke and Sakura were long gone. During those few weeks of training, Hinata's Piplup, Spray, and Naruko's Hippopotas, Sherman, evolved. So now, Spray was a Prinplup and Sherman was a Hippowdon. They had barely gotten out of the mountains before the start of fall. It had taken them two weeks to reach Green City. Somewhere along the way, Hinata's Gible, Torpedo, evolved into a Gabite during a battle against some punks.
Five days ago, before they reached the large city, they had come across a wide, steady stream. The only way to cross to the other side was to trek through it, unless they wanted to walk five miles upriver to use the bridge. In the center of the stream was a Camerupt, stuck. Naruko was the first one to notice something strange about it. Its body was black, not red, the rings were yellow, not blue, and the volcanic humps on its back were not dark brown, they were light brown. The fire/ground-type was shiny. After helping it out as they crossed to the other side, they kept it on its feet and tried to rush it to the nearest Pokemon Center. The trio got one mile in when the Camerupt collapsed. Hinata had Blue use Psychic to levitate the volcanic behemoth as they quickly led the way. Once they made it to the Pokemon Center, the injured Pokemon was rushed in for treatment immediately. The next morning, Naruko was the first one to see it. She quickly used her Pokedex and found out that the shiny Camerupt was a girl. With a little coaxing, the blonde girl had the large Pokemon join her team. Naruko named her Lucky, because the fire/ground-type was lucky to still be alive. Now all three of them had shiny Pokemon.
And now they were close Green City and Naruto's sixth gym badge. Upon hearing that they were going there, Jiraiya had taken them aside and gave them some inside information. The physical description of Tsunade Senju made Naruto roll his eyes and gave Naruko the urged to kick him again, to which she quickly gave into it causing the perverted gym leader to sing soprano once more, but the rest sounded useful.
"If she's not in the gym, check the casinos or the bars. She's known as the "Legendary Sucker" in the gambling world. Don't leave her alone until she accepts your challenge. I would suggest you make a bet with her to entice her… but your mother would wring my neck if she found out, so don't do that."
Their mother… The whole time that she had been with them in Onsen Town after Naruto and Naruko's father's identity had been revealed, it had been like she had been bracing herself for some kind of explosion. She had almost seemed relieved to be leaving the small quaint town when it was time for her to go. But Naruko and Naruto had never gone off on her. They were more baffled by what she had done than angry.
Naruto and Naruko still were not sure what to think about their father. It should be this cool, awesome thing. Except… they rather wished that they had never found out—that things were the way they were before. They had not even told Sasuke and Sakura or anyone else anything about it yet.
When the trio reached the city and found a lighted map sign, they found out that Green City had four different Pokemon Centers. Green City was a bit shaped like a triangle and they had thought it was big for having two, but it was clear that Green was much, much larger. Picking the one that looked like to be the closest to the gym, which was the one on the middle of the city, they set off in search of a nice warm meal to eat and nice warm beds to sleep in for the night.
On the way, they passed a GIANT department store dedicated to Pokemon, which they decided to checkout because they were low on supplies. Again. There was a contest hall, to which Hinata started getting giddy, that was the biggest they had seen so far. They even passed some really pricey fine dining establishments. And then they passed several casinos and pachinko parlors. There were even some trainer-friendly ones and since most trainers were still children, Naruto and Hinata had a hard time keeping Naruko from running inside them.
"Green City aka Casino City is many things," Onsen Town Gym Leader Jiraiya had told them before they had left. "Those who love Pokemon know it is a great place to shop, a place to enter contest, and a place to challenge the gym for its badge. But top those who love to gamble, Green City is a complete and utter heaven to them."
Naruto sighed. 'Man, if we have to look for this Tsunade lady in a casino, we're going to be looking forever! Maybe I should have chosen a different gym… Well at least Hinata can compete for her third ribbon her.'
Finally, after what felt like hours of walking, they came to the Pokemon Center that they have chosen. Unlike any other Pokemon Center, this one was five stories high instead of the regular two. Every room had a balcony, making it look like an apartment complex or motel and not what it really was. The ground floor was fairly busy, but they waited in line for their turn so they could acquire a room.
When it was their turn, they found out that the Pokemon Center was also a hotel and that there was only one room left. It was on the fifth floor and it cost money to stay there. After Naruto paid Nurse Joy and she handed him a key, he was shocked when he read the tag attached to the key. The room was… the Honeymoon Suite. Nurse Joy had to explain that Green City had plenty of love chapels and with most of the hotels in town tended to be full, the newlyweds need a place to spend the night, somewhere romantic. Usually they are drunk when they get married. She even apologized for the inconvenience.
"Alright, thanks Nurse Joy," Naruto sighed once again and turned to walk away, shoving the key into his pocket. "Let's go, Naruko, Hinata."
"Enjoy your stay," the pink-haired woman behind the counter smiled. "And again, sorry for the inconvenience."
The trio walked down a hallway, heading for the stairs at the back of the building along with the elevator. They passed several rooms that were already occupied. There were even some large rooms filled with about twenty bunk beds each for large groups of trainers. They walked past one that had its door ajar.
"Naruto? Naruko? Hinata?"
The trio flinched and spun around and waltzed into the room. They found Kiba sitting on bottom bunk of one of the sets with Akamaru curled at his side. The beds were set up in a military pattern. Ten bunks on each side of the room. Two doors on the other side of the room led to the bathrooms that were designed to be like public bathroom but with showers and bathtubs included.
"Kiba?" Naruko gaped.
"You're here too?" Naruto was wide-eyed.
"Yeah," the Inuzuka grunted as his Growlithe woke and looked up at the three trainers. "Hey guys! Look who else showed up!"
Naruto, Naruko, and Hinata looked down the aisle, expecting to find Shino, and maybe some new friends they probably made on the road, nearby. They found him, but Sakura and Sasuke were there too. It was like a class reunion. The only ones missing were Sai, Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji.
You three finally made it out of Onsen Town?" Sasuke snorted, peering around his newly evolved Golbat that hung from the bottom of the top bunk of his set. "Took you guys long enough."
"Shut up," Naruto muttered.
"Sup Sakura!" Naruko waved. "Hey Shino!"
Sakura nodded to them as she read a book with her Cherrim and Happiny on her lap and Beautifly on her shoulder. Shino adjusted his sunglasses while his Ninjask was clinging to his shoulder. Why he wore those glassed inside at night was a total mystery to his classmates.
"What, did you guys have trouble in Onsen Town?" Kiba asked with a frown.
"Nah," Naruto shook his head. "We just weren't in a hurry."
"Did you lose your first try?" Kiba smirked,
"No," Naruko growled and plopped down on one of the comfy chairs in the room. "Like my brother said, we weren't in any hurry. Naruto already has five badges and the Conference is not for another six months, and Hinata already has two ribbons, so it wasn't like we were under a timer. We still have plenty of time."
Naruto and Hinata did as Naruko did and took some seats. Bolt and Duke jumped off their shoulder and made themselves comfortable in their lap. Gloss leaped onto an empty chair and curled up, but still kept a wary eye on the Growlithe.
Hinata sighed in relief as she sunk into the soft chair. "So, have any of you guys met the gym leader yet?"
"Whoa, Hinata!" Kiba was shocked at something. "You didn't stutter at all."
"No," Shino grimaced from what they saw, but the bug lover studied Hinata's changed behavior around Naruto. She would always stutter whenever the boy was around and now she seemed comfortable. 'Wait… are they holding hands?' "Everytime we go to the gym, she's not in. Kiba and I have thinking of heading someplace else. We've been trying to make our challenges for almost a month now."
"We might as well leave too," Sasuke muttered.
"But we've only been here for a little over a week," Sakura protested.
"No sense in wasting time here if the gym leader isn't ever around," the Uchiha boy replied with a careless shrug.
"Well, we won't give up," Naruko declared. "We'll find Gym Leader Tsunade and make her take my brother's challenged no matter how long it takes!"
"Whatever," Kiba muttered. "Tell me, what Pokemon did you guys start with and what do you have?"
"Naruko and I started with a Vulpix each," Naruto said. "Hinata received a Piplup from the professor."
The trio then proceeded to tell him about their catches. Kiba and Shino's jaws dropped in shock when Hinata explain to them that she had a shiny Registeel. Then it happened again when she told them about her Metagross. In the end, all for of them were shocked when Naruto told them about his Chansey, since not even Sasuke and Sakura knew about it, and Naruko told about her Steelix and Camerupt.
Kiba lay back on his bed to relax and soothed his jaw. "Dang! You three are full of surprises."
"Maybe," Naruto shrugged as he got to his feet with the girls doing the same. "We'll continue chatting in the morning with breakfast."
With that, the trio bid their friends a good night and walked out of the room. They took the elevator instead of the stairs. When the doors opened to reveal the fifth floor. They found the room and Naruto unlocked the door. They were not shocked with what they saw inside. It was the Honeymoon Suite after all. The only bed in the room was heart-shaped, like they had expected, as was the bed's headboard. It was also much bigger than a king-size. The ceiling had mirrors right above the bed and the entire bathroom. They decided to ignore everything and just get ready for bed. Han, Duke and Gloss jumped onto the only couch, a loveseat, next to one of the two windows and they looked out with fascination.
"You two take the bed," Naruto suggested as he set up his sleeping bag on the plush carpeted floor. "I'll take the floor."
"Bed is big enough for the three of us," Naruko noted. "We could all use our sleeping bags."
"That could wo—" Hinata was interrupted by her growling stomach. And then the twins' stomachs growled as well. "Hehehe, I guess none of us have eaten anything."
"You get everything ready," Naruto sighed then unleashed his Chansey. "I'll go get us some dinner. C'mon Mari."
Naruto found a grocery store not too far from the large Pokemon Center. Nurse Joy was right about the love chapels. He passed six on the way there. He and the Chansey were hit by the cool air coming from a fan hanging above the sliding doors when they walked inside. Soon they were strolling through the aisles in search of food.
"What to eat? What to eat?" Naruto said to himself as they entered the frozen foods section. "What do you think I should get, Mari?"
The Chansey just huffed and looked away.
"Come on!" he muttered. "Are you still mad that I caught you? That was almost two months ago."
Mari puffed her cheeks.
"Ah, go cry me a river, build a bridge, and get over it!" he sighed.
That did it. Mari lunged herself at him trying to use Double-slap on the boy. Naruto just dodged her until she was tired. He was lucky that he wasn't kicked out of the store.
"You done?" The Chansey nodded. "Good, now let's go get some food."
After walking through the entire store, Naruto decided in the end to go with some cups of instant miso ramen, a six-pack of orange soda, some ready-to-eat cinnamon rolls, and a box of ice pops. While paying the cashier, he grabbed some chocolate bars from the rack behind him and put them with his items. Once everything was paid, he gave one of the bars to Mari to make her happy. And boy did it. Then they went back to the Pokemon Center.
Naruto found his companions sitting on the edge of the bed watching a movie. And with them sleeping in the Honeymoon Suite, the movie was an old black-and-white romantic film. He saw the three sleeping bags on the bed, but it looked like the bed could fit three more people. That meant that each of them had some 'tossing and turning' space. Naruto had to endure the movie. With full bellies, they opened both windows and settled in to sleep when the movie was over, the four loose Pokemon slept on the loveseat.
Naruto was the last one to fall asleep, as a plan to make the gym leader accept his request for a match popped into his head. 'I'll be the first one to find Tsunade and get her to battle me. And I'll be the first one to walk off with the Leaf Badge! Oh boy, I can't wait!'
Tsunade pull the lever and watched with extreme focus as the three wheels of the slot machine slowed to a complete stop.
Pikachu… Pikachu… Blue 7
The blonde woman cursed and dug around her pocket for some more money. However, all she pulled out was lint. Snarling, she spun around and looked at the dark-haired young woman with a Spoink in her arms.
"Shizune, lend me some money, will you?!"
"No," Shizune replied with a frown. "I know that I will never get my money back, Lady Tsunade." Then she whispered, "What would Dan say if he…"
"What was that?" Tsunade snarled at her subordinate.
"Nothing, Lady Tsunade," Shizune sighed.
Tsunade glared at the younger woman then to the offending slot machine before getting to her feet and storming off.
"Where to now, Lady Tsunade?" Shizune asked politely as she followed.
"To a bar!" Tsunade replied.
"Lady Tsunade, what if trainers come to challenge and you're all hung over?"
"Too bad for them!" Tsunade snorted. "Let's go!"
She was done dealing with the endless stream of stupid trainers that were after her gym's badge. She was not about to quit, though. That would cut her off the salary she drew as a gym leader. And that money was the only thing keeping her afloat. Well that and Shizune.
'I need to get drunk,' Tsunade thought. 'I need to or otherwise the nightmare will get me…'
Minato yawned as he picked his way through the Forest of Death outside Green City with a squad of police officers. When he had left Onsen Town, they searched repeatedly but found nothing. Now after a few interviews, they got a lead. A specific location in the forest. Now he was back with Kyuubi walking alongside him and Akiko on his shoulder ready to use Flash if needed.
'I need a vacation,' he thought to himself. 'One long, uninterrupted vacation… with Kushina… and Naruto and Naruko, if they'll have me. A nice, private and secluded place with a beach, maybe…'
The lead cop held up his hand and they all came to a stop. They could hear voices in the deed darkness and pinpointed the location as they spread out and closed in. In a moonlit clearing, a large group of shady characters huddled near a few campfires were visible. They wore uniforms—light grey trench coats over solid black shirts and purple camo-patterned pants.
'Great… Nothing but Team Sound grunts… Just what I need… I was hoping to face an Admin…'
As the cops were getting ready to pounce on the criminal, five new people crawled out of a large tent that seemed to serve as base of command. These were the Sound Admins. They wore black trench coats over purple camo-patterned shirts and cargo pants. They also fashioned some grey military-like berets adorned with the Team Sound emblem. The musical eighth note. Minato could sense that they were really bad news.
He, Akiko and Kyuubi moved closer to support the officers—
It was like the Admins knew they were there, because they unleashed a flurry of Pokemon and the grunts followed suit. Minato noticed Whismurs, Loudreds, Explouds, Poochyenas, Mightyenas, and several other species. And with out warning, the Pokemon attacked the cops.
Not their Growlithes, Arcanines, Houndours and, Houndooms, but the cops themselves.
And then the night dissolved into fire and explosions.
Alright, Done! This has been the first installment of 'Poker Chips And Scary Woods'.
Oh my god, Tsunade is a bitch. And Kiba is a punk. Will Naruko get her chance to gamble?
Can you guess who the Team Sound Admins are? If you do, PLEASE tell me in your reviews. Now…
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