Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or the other vague items I reference.

Naruto Shippuden: Desert Assassin

Arc 1: Casino Clash

Chapter 4: City of Vices

Kousa. The city of the golden sands. A hotspot for gambling of all sorts to take place, and where the illegal in any other place was common practice for most people. For anyone who went there, it was a 'last stop' where they'd lose the more part of their money before they laid themselves to rest. This included a surprising number of shinobi, who were simply too tired from the amount of duty and the stress of their jobs.

For those just passing through, it was a strange sight. To those who passed through on multiple occasions, it was a place wherein they could satisfy their personal vices. It didn't matter who you were, they had something for everyone.

Bars, casinos, geisha houses, and clubs of all sorts lined the streets. While sand may not have appeared as a suitable building material to some, it allowed for buildings to rise up higher then in most casual cities; some of the taller sand buildings went up as far as eight to ten stories. Besides the sand though, there were also a dozen wooden structures. They rose us even higher then the sand structures, drawing attention to those who first entered the city.

On the streets though, despite the reputation of the city, there was a semblance of order that was headed by a combination of the strong police force that was constantly on alert for any potential threat, and the underground side venues that had people keeping their noses clean so as to not get caught.

At the moment, carried throughout the chaotic scene of carriages and travelers, there was a single person who remained unmoving. Despite the powerful flow around him, he stood resolute, adjusting his hat as he looked onwards. After all, no one could move Uzumaki Naruto when he didn't want to be moved.

At the moment though, Naruto was having troubles of a different sort. For if he wanted to travel to Kaminari no Kuni without the necessary passports, Naruto had found that he'd have to travel through Kousa. Since he wasn't what would be considered a 'legal citizen' of Kaze no Kuni, he didn't have any way of getting said passports. Not legally at least. And since he'd had some experience with getting passports through illegal channels before, and the results…hadn't been pretty, he found that this was his only option.

Now he stood in front of one of his own personal vices, staring in with a slight twitch as he went over the pros and cons of going in.

"Log help me, this is hard." Naruto muttered, rubbing his forehead in exasperation. He'd been standing in the same spot for nearly a half hour, simply contemplating. "I swear I've been perfectly fine until the last city I went too. And the worst part is if I don't go in now, I'm going to regret it later tonight. Then again, I haven't had enough ramen to help keep me sane. So if I go now, I can excuse it because of how pricey ramen is here." Shaking his head, he laughed hollowly. "Yeah, because I'm so desperate for an excuse. I just want to do something."

Naruto took a step back, barely avoiding a cart as it raced on behind him. Naruto mumbled a curse as he stumbled forwards. Glancing behind himself, he rolled his eyes as the driver of said cart shouted obscenities back at him. Everyone was the same in this city; angry and constantly jumping down each others throats.

"Man, that was nuts." Naruto muttered, returning to face forward. "Well, I guess there's nothing too it. Onwards and forwards!" Punching his fist into the palm of his opposite hand, he nodded. "Don't give up until the end. Never forget that, and nothing will be impossible."

Naruto strolled into the building, putting behind him the worries he'd had seconds before. He planned on making the most of this, and nothing was going to get between him.

-xxxxx-

"Are we there yet?"

"No Sasuke."

Sasuke huffed, the heat of the sun bearing down on him. While he would never admit it, he loved the feeling of the heat. He was sweating like a pig, but it was still an awesome feeling. "How 'bout now?"

Itachi's eyebrow twitched in aggravation. "No." Turing to Sasuke, he leveled his glare onto him in its full intensity. "Ask me again, and see what happens."

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, but stopped when he remembered the last time he'd provoked Itachi. The incident had forced him to recognize Itachi for the creative genius he was. He also had to bow out due to the fact he now knew better then to continue this game. Itachi knew strange people, and said people were scary since they had a wide variety of skills to utilize.

Seeing Sasuke back down, Itachi gave him a small nod. "That's what I thought. Now we need to focus. Now that we're here at the Sabure Hokousha caravan, we can get some of our money, and I can get confirmation."

Sasuke nodded. Seeing a small tent with what appeared to be a wooden plaque with a sword-like logo on it, he dug in his heels and turned towards it, holding up his sword as he went. "Later aniki. I'm gonna see if I can learn how to use this right."

Itachi nodded, watching Sasuke walk off into the shop. Shaking his head, he turned in the opposite direction, heading towards a tent that had a plaque with a picture of a bird holding a pear in its claws. The Gokurakuchou (Bird of Paradise)was a popular bar for people passing through the caravan, and was filled with a wide variety of people. For Itachi, there was only one person he was looking for.

Ducking into the bar, he searched the room slowly, carefully taking in as much of the place as he could. The bar was a simple as it came, though admittedly there was a lot to see. Mainly, there were many lovely women to look at, taking orders and delivering food to the customers. While he couldn't see them, he knew from past experience that the cooks were also lovely women.

He gently rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I come to these places way too much."

"Oh, Itachi-dono!" One of the older girls shouted, waving him down. As he drew near, she leapt forwards and embraced him. "It's so good to see you again! How are you?"

"I'm fine Yuri-chan." Itachi said, lightly hugging her back. After a couple of seconds, he gently pushed her away. "You're still as mischievous and clingy as ever I see."

Pulling his hand from behind her, he waved his pocketbook in front of her face. Yuri blushed at having been caught. She ran a hand through her hair nervously, sidling up to Itachi. "So, why are you in this neck of the woods? Don't you normally stay in areas that are more, flammable?"

Itachi glanced around, noting that business was booming for the day and that there wasn't much privacy out in the open like they were. Knowing what he was going to ask for wasn't something that he wanted anyone else knowing what he was asking for. Motioning for her to lead him to somewhere more private, he allowed himself to be lead off. Once in the more private back room, he sat down. "I need information. This information you might be privy to, what with the several side businesses your companions in Kousa have."

Yuri sighed, plopping herself down next to Itachi. "It figures you'd come for something like that. You never come to enjoy the finer parts of our establishment."

"You know why I can't do that." Itachi said, his expression not flinching.

"Yeah I know. You remind me every time you come here and I say that, and then tell me that you want to at least attempt to get Sasuke a girlfriend." Batting her eyelashes, she grinned impishly. "I could just take him into another room and make a man out of him here and now."

"Don't you dare." Itachi hissed, his hand reflexively shooting to his kunai holster.

Yuri held up her hands defensively, knowing better then to continue provoking Itachi. "Relax Itachi-dono, I won't do that until you want me to."

Itachi slowly pulled his hand away from his kunai holster, taking a breath to keep himself from attacking Yuri. "Good. Now, details."

Yuri nodded. "Yes Itachi-dono. What would you like to know?"

Itachi drummed his fingers against the arm of his chair, thinking over what he wanted to know. "What is the prize for the tournament in Kousa?"

Yuri giggled. "Which one? There are so many different tournaments in Kousa, you'll have to be more specific."
"The high stakes gambling tournament that's coming up."

"Oh, that one." Yuri quickly sobered, remembering the information she'd received about said tournament. "Well, the first thing you need to know is that the tournament is that it's being held by Gato Industries. They have a habit of picking up things that no one else seem to be able to get a hold of otherwise, and then turn around and sell it for outrageous prices."

Itachi nodded. "I've had several encounters with them in the past. They've have the strangest assortment of items I've ever come across before. Mainly artifacts from every country ever founded." His eyes narrowed subtly. "I heard he's come across several items from when Konohagakure was around."

"Well, whatever they've found, they're keeping it under wraps. No one from Gato's company that has access comes to the Gokurakuchou in Kousa, so we haven't heard anything more then speculation."

"And what are people speculating it is?" Even though they might not be true, the guesses would give him an idea of what everyone else would believe it was, and how hard they might fight for it.

"Most people believe it's a weapon of some sort. The kind of thing that could shift the already teetering balance of power between Suna and Kumo." Yuri gave Itachi a look, knowing what she said next would get his attention. "Others say it's a relic from the noble clans Konohagakure had gathered together."

Itachi's head snapped up, a scowl marring his face. He knew of a multitude of different artifacts that hadn't been taken from what was left of Konoha, though even he didn't know where they were at. If Gato had somehow found one of them, and was giving it away to a winner of some gambling tournament meant nothing good. His mind raced as something didn't make sense to him. "If it's something like a weapon, something that must have been difficult to find, then why go and give it away to a bunch of random gamblers?" Itachi stopped tapping the armrest of his chair, a new idea coming to him. "Unless…yes that would make sense."

Yuri blinked in confusion. "What?"

Itachi chewed on his lip, thinking over his new direction. "What's the buy in amount to get into the tournament?"

"One hundred thousand yen."

Itachi nodded. "Bodyguards?"

"Just a shadow to take their place should 'something' happen to the person. But then that shouldn't be saying much since those sort of people are rarely used." Yuri raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Why do you need to know that?"

"Because this is a very special gambling match." Itachi mumbled, the pieces falling into place.

Gato was notorious for hiring small groups to do his dirty work, who would then go missing. He had a constantly tight hold over his pocketbook, and wouldn't simply part with anything for free. If what he was setting up was what Itachi thought it was, then the place where this was going to take place was going to eventually turn into a potential bloodbath.

Getting to his feet, Itachi gave Yuri a small bow. "Thank you for the information Yuri-chan."

"Don't mention it." Yuri said, leaning back into her seat with a perplexed expression, uncertain of what Itachi had determined. As Itachi began to leave, she shouted after him. "Kasumi came by on the way to Kousa."

Itachi paused in midstride, his mind coming to a halt. "Oh?"

Yuri grinned coyly. "I was told to tell you, that you were to meet at the Sakura Hotel. Said something about there being a special surprise too."

Itachi, his eyes still forwards, nodded to let her know he'd heard her. As he began to leave though, she noticed his arm move up to his face, likely to pinch the bridge of his nose. Yuri giggled. "Itachi-dono is so easy to tease. And the surprise should prove to be…surprising."

-xxxxx-

A trio of Suna shinobi sat in the shade of a quickly raised wall, a fourth person standing in the middle of them. The three men were tired and sweaty from their long walk; having not stopped for a break before seeing the outskirts of Kousa since they'd left the Oashisu Sector. Their companion, with bare chest and normally paler complexion with a rope around his neck, was now sporting a painful looking sunburn all across his chest.

"How much further do you think it'll be before we make it to Kousa?" One of the men asked, gently patting down his forehead after removing his hiate.

The second man took a quick sip of water, looking out from the shade of the wall to check their position. "I'd say we're about…a mile away?" Turning to the third member, and only girl of the group, he tossed her his water. "You've always been better at judging distances. What do you think?"

"A mile and a half." She muttered without looking over the wall, taking a rather quick swig of the water. "I'd say that we'll make it in the next hour, since this guy seems particularly eager to move."

The second man sent a fleeting glance to the fourth person, scowling as he turned away. "I swear I've never met someone like this guy. He almost seems eager to get to the city."

The girl shrugged. "He's likely just trying to do the sane thing and get out of this blistering sun." Heaving a sigh, she gently began fanning herself. "I do swear for a breeze."

"I don't." The first man said, all the while keeping his eyes trained on his female companion.

When she finally took notice of his staring, she growled at him. "If you don't take your eyes off my chest, I'm going to take your eyes off my chest personally." Leaning forwards, her mouth twisted further into a scowl. "Do not make me ask you again."

Laughing rather reluctantly, he pushed himself to his feet to try and distract himself. Stretching himself out, he turned his attention back to their fourth companion. Raising an eye in confusion, he began edging towards him. "Hey guys, wasn't his rope closer to us a moment ago?"

The second man gave him a nod. "Yeah, why?"

"Because he's holding the end of the rope in his hands."

The girl scrambled to her feet, her eyes narrowed as she stood next to him. "That's not possible. With the collar on, he shouldn't have the mental capacity to cover for a sneeze, let alone pull rope back. Plus, slaves don't know anything about seals and counterseals."

"Well, he's holding it right now." The first man said as he took slow, deliberate steps closer to him. "What's this guy's name again? The…animal?"

"The Beast." The second man muttered, hastily pulling out a piece of paper. Scribbled across it was a list of fighters, and several names next to them. "I think his real name is…Goken? No, it's Lee. Rock Lee."

The first man rolled his eyes upon seeing the paper. "I don't care what is name is, we need the rope so we can keep moving."

Unknown to his three companions, Lee had experience in being 'collared' before he'd been taken from Minami Sector. After having been collared several times before, he'd taken the time to ask around to figure out what it was, and what it did to him. It had taken a bit of time, but eventually he'd found out that the sealing array was meant to shut down all conscious thought so that the collared person couldn't try and get away until the collar was removed. They left more subconscious actions like walking, breathing, and eating alone since that meant they could transport the person by simply leading them along, rather then making a big scene.

Taking that to heart, and remembering an old training method he'd been taught when he was younger, he begun training to the point he passed out while training. When he'd awakened, there had been several times he'd been in the middle of the very same workout he'd passed out doing. Then, he'd taken it a step further. He'd asked different people to attempt to fight him while he was asleep, making sure they were trying to physically harm him every time they did so. After months of training, he was finally read. For behind his delirious state, he had hidden an animal that would strike out should someone get just too close.

So, when the second man shouted out to the first man as he reached for the rope, it was too late.

Lee's hand reached out and caught the man's grip. Before he was able to react, a sharp twist and popping noise indicated that Lee had just broken his wrist. Crying out in pain, the man attempted to back away from Lee as the girl behind him cursed and began franticly attempting to remove something from her pouch.

Continuing forwards, he yanked on the man's arm, pulling him in close to better take him down. With a series of elbow strikes and a quick knee to his gut, the man fell to the ground, coughing and sputtering as he went. Still acting on autopilot, he let his knee fall and connect harshly with his head, knocking him out of the fight.

By that time, the girl had managed to grip and unwrap a length of cloth she had summoned while Lee had taken down her teammate. Moving deftly, she ran a length of her chakra down the cloth which began to animate it to form a form of shield around her. Spinning rapidly, she whipped the end of the cloth past Lee in an attempt to get into a position to trap him.

Unfortunately for her, while Lee had never had to face a challenge like she was now throwing at him, he was excellent at improvising and keeping on his toes. As the cloth began to wrap around him, he surged forwards, diving between a seemingly impossible gap created as the cloth circled him. Rolling to his feet, she found herself stumbling back and blocking with her cloth to avoid the vicious flurry of kicks as he gripped the ground in a handstand to rapidly beat down on her.

When she finally regained her balance to focus on a counterstrike, she made the mistake of wrapping the cloth loosely around her in a shell-like manner in an attempt to buy herself some time. Still completely unconscious, Lee dropped low to the ground and rolled beneath the cloth. Popping back to his feet, he fell literally head over heels before arching his back and slamming his forehead into her own. Dazed, and not expecting the strike, she quickly found her vision going black before she tripped over her cloth and passed out.

Lee remained where his head had last impacted; said impact beginning to stir what was left of his conscious state behind the collar. Reaching up almost hesitantly, he gripped the collar tightly. Then, with a sharp twist, the collar ripped in half and fell to his feet.

"Whoa." The final standing member of the Suna shinobi muttered, still pressed against the wall. A freshly minted chunin, he'd barely been able to see even a small portion of the entire match. Lee had lashed out so quickly and effectively, the young man felt a shiver of fear. "That was…wow."

Lee snapped his head towards the man, now fully awake and aware that he wasn't alone. Blurring forwards once more, he pressed his forearm against his throat and lifted him against the wall. If he was caught here, then everything he'd have done would have been for naught. He'd come too far to have them following after him now.

To his surprise, while fear was evident on his face, the man's face held more awe then any other emotion. "You're the real deal! Man, I thought they were pulling my leg when they said you could move like that." His breath coming out slightly raspy, he motioned to Lee's forearm. "Could you please? I like breathing."

Cautiously, Lee let up on the pressure. He didn't let the man fall to his feet just yet though, as he had some questions to ask still. "Where are we?"

"Uh, about a mile and a half from Kousa." The man replied, seemingly unperturbed by the fact he was being suspended in the air. "We were going to have you cycled through arenas and fight clubs. All ones where you won't be allowed to kill, since you apparently don't like to kill people."

"It is unyouthful to take a life when there are other options." Lee said, looking puzzled as to why he'd been sent to a place he'd actually fit into.

"Hey that's cool man. I don't kill either. Though, I've never really had to kill anyone before." He grimaced, his mind going over the morbid details he'd heard from other people when they'd described their own kills. "Then again, I don't do real well with that sort of stuff. I like being a messenger, or a delivery boy." He tilted his head to the side, a sad smile coming to his face. "But then again, all the people I know are shinobi. If I leave, I'll be alone."

Lee slowly let him down, feeling the man's pulse on his arm. It was odd to know he was being truthful, but then stranger things had happened. "I'm going now. I need to know where the closest village, that isn't Kousa, is from here."

The man blinked in confusion, slowly pointing in the direction of the first city that came to mind in terms of distance from Kousa. "Uh, there's Shoukyaku it's about a day's travel for shinobi, four for a civilian. Why?"

Lee brought the palm of his hand down sharply onto his forehead. "No reason." Walking around the wall, he began his trek to Kousa. "I just need you to lead everyone on a wild goose chase for a bit, to give me some time to find the city Gai-sensei told me to find." Looking to the sky, he grinned widely as he remembered where he was preparing to head off to. "Just you wait for me little town of Ranbatsu. Rock Lee is coming."

-xxxxx-

Sasuke groaned as he stumbled from side to side, the heat going to his head after the last three days of travel. "Oh man aniki, this journey totally sucked. Why'd we have to take the long way again?"

"To keep suspicion off of how we got here." Itachi replied.

Sasuke brought his hand to his neck, fiddling with his collar absentmindedly. "Okay, how about why we had to come in these ridiculous outfits then?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow, looking over their attire. He had on a khaki kimono, with a deep red shirt and obi to accentuate his clothes. His hair was in its usual slicked back manner, tied back in a ponytail that went to his mid back. All in all, he looked formal yet very comfortable.

With a small chuckle, he looked over what Sasuke was wearing. Unlike Itachi, he had on a black kimono with a red undershirt and obi; the obi wrapped snuggly around his waist in a way that allowed him easy access of his sword. When Itachi had explained what they were going to be doing, he'd figured that they'd only be wearing them once they got there. He hadn't expected Itachi to insist that they wear them into the city so as to attract people's attention to their 'status' so they wouldn't look out of place. As such, he'd had to bear with the heat. To his credit, Sasuke hadn't started complaining until they'd actually gotten with the city limits.

"I warned you that we were going to be traveling on foot to make an appearance. It was your own fault for wearing that." Itachi replied, slowly taking in the sights of the city. "And we're wearing these because we're entering the tournament."

Sasuke gave Itachi a deadpanned glare. "You're insane, you know that right? Seriously, do you know how to gamble?"

"…" Itachi kept his gaze averted, knowing full and well that the answer wasn't one he liked.

Sasuke scoffed, crossing his arms across his chest defiantly. "That's what I thought. Even if we get in, we won't know what we're doing, and sure as hell won't get through even the first round without some help." Grimacing, he jabbed a finger at his brother. "This is so not like setting a fire, and you know it."

Itachi said nothing for a moment as a small, out of the way building caught his attention. Raising an eyebrow, he grinned. "You're absolutely right Sasuke. We have no idea what we're doing."

"Yeah, that's what – huh?" Sasuke's eyes widened in confusion as he processed what Itachi had said. "Wait, I'm right?"

"Yes, you are."
Sasuke nodded slowly, before shaking his head. "There's a catch, isn't there?" Not getting an immediate response, he put his face in his hand. "I'm not gonna like this answer, am I?"

"We need to call in an expert. And we both know only two people who are experts at this particular craft." Itachi said, walking to the building that had previously caught his attention. "And there's no way I'm asking Kasumi to take part in our business."

"But Kasumi's the better choice." Sasuke pleaded, following after Itachi. "I mean, we know and trust her, so we won't have to worry about covering our backs every two seconds."

"You're being overly dramatic." Itachi replied, flashing his Sharingan to put an illusion over the man who bared the way. After a moment, the man stepped to the side, allowing them to continue. "Besides, it's not like we'll be in bad hands. We can trust him."

Sasuke sulked in defeat, grumbling under his breath. "Easy for you to say, you know who we're looking for."

Itachi paused, taking in the scene before him. Despite the seemingly small exterior, the building seemed to house an extraordinarily large interior. There were a few people milled about lazily at the bar across the far wall, but for the most part, the rest were consolidated around a ring situated in the middle of the building. Hearing their shouts of triumph, he could only guess that something good was happening at the moment.

Turning back to Sasuke, he shook his head. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said 'easy for you to say, you know who we're looking for'."

Itachi stared at Sasuke blankly for a moment, making Sasuke both uncomfortable and twitchy. Then, he slowly began to smile. "Oh? Is that so?"

If Sasuke hadn't been twitchy before, he certainly was now. There were very few times where Itachi had so outmatched Sasuke that he talked like he currently was. It was never a good thing.

"Well, I suppose I could give you a hint." Itachi replied cheerily. Hearing the bell go off, ironically the moment he noticed something he wanted to go get, he gave Sasuke a dismissive wave. "On the other hand, you're a big boy now. Watch the match for me; pocky calls me."

Seeing his brother take off, almost skipping to the pocky, he grumbled and moved to get a better view of whatever was supposed to be occurring here.

As he got himself situated, he turned to the man sitting next to him. "What's going on here?"

"It's unbelievable!" The man shouted to be heard over the roar of the crowd as something in the ring happened. "This guy, he walks right in and demands to take part in the ring. Says he'll go a hundred before the end of the week. Today he's at ninety-eight – " The roar cut him off for a second. "Sorry, ninety-nine."

Sasuke peaked over the crowd, trying to see what was happening. "A hundred what?"

"Fights boy, fights!" The man replied cheerily. "This new guy has gone for the last three days straight in the ring. No sleep, no food, and just splashes of water after each round. And yet he's still going strong!"

"Three days?" Sasuke asked skeptically.

He'd heard of fight clubs before, and while he'd never been to one previously, he knew the rules. Fight until knockout, and the matches are allowed as many breaks as the person needed. For someone to just go for three days without a break meant only one thing to Sasuke; shinobi training.

Seeing a box on the ground that the man beside him had previously been using, he discreetly shuffled it in front of himself and stood on it. Cupping his hands around his eyes, he focused on the ring in an attempt to see who it was. After several painstaking moments of trial and error zooming in with a technique he'd accidently copied a few years previous, he finally got to where he could see as though he was standing in front of the ring. When he saw what was happening, he finally understood what Itachi was talking about.

His face twisted into a grin/grimace as he softly spoke. "I was so right; I do not like this." Dropping his hands, he shook his head. "But why did it have to be him of all people?"

-xxxxx-

The roar of the crowd seemed somewhat distant as another fist came rushing into his gut. He let out a whoosh of air as he stumbled back, slamming into the wall. The disorientation left him, letting the crowds cheers hit him loudly once more to break him from his stunned state.

Naruto grinned as he leaned against the wall. "Is that the best you got?"

The man in question didn't seem to take his playful banter very well, as he began a new vicious assault. Having already dealt with many berserkers previously, Naruto ducked and rolled behind the man, clapping mockingly as the man whirled from his place against the wall. Seeing the man rushing him again, he stepped into his charge, raising his arm to collide with the man's throat. Blinded by rage, the man struck his arm and went don't like he'd been hit a brick wall.

"And he's done it again!"

Naruto stepped back, waving his hands to the ever enthusiastic crowd. Seeing him waving, the crowd seemed to grow louder. While not why he'd come here, it was an added bonus in his eyes to hear them shouting for him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I've never seen such a beast grace my arena!" An announcer said, walking around the ring as he spoke into a microphone. "However, as you've all seen, he's won ninety-nine fights. For the hundredth, he's going to have to do a lot better then he's been doing now. So what do you think, should we bring in the big boys?"

The crowd roared, clapping and stomping their feet in a thundering manner. Naruto just looked around confused. "Wait, did he say 'guys'?" Chewing on his lip, he shrugged and turned to his corner, tilting his head back patiently. After a couple of seconds, a pair of men began pouring a quick stream of water from outside the ring. Naruto quickly opened his mouth, trying to get as much of the water as he could in attempt to keep hydrated from what little water he could get.

As part of his own fighting style in the ring, Naruto wore only his faded pants. To the surprise of many, there were a series of scars that marred his body; one of which – a discolored scar that appeared to be either acid or poison made – was like the painful canvas wherein many of the others were later added. His clothes were in a locker to retrieve after he lost a fight; if he lost a fight. Thus far, he was on a roll, and was not planning on stopping any time soon.

"Alright then folks, it's time to let them loose." With a flourish, he pointed to the far end of the ring. "Been fighting here for the last ten years, with no sign of defeat, give it up for the Densetsu no Bakakyodai (Legendary Stupid Brothers)!"

Naruto resisted the urge to rub his face with his hands as he turned around when he heard their name. "Log I'm tired. There's no way there giving me a freebee after all they've put me through." Felling a small trembling in the ground, he frowned and looked down at his feet. When he saw the shadow lumbering towards him he growled and cursed under his breath. "…log damn it."

From the other side of the ring, two very large men strode forwards. Both had a striking resemblance; both large, wearing vests – though of different colors – that seemed to spike from the inner seam out. Both wore high tied ponytails hairstyles, but again with a slight difference; Raijin's portion of the ponytail was spiked, while Fujin had his in a tie running down his back. With large grins, they stepped into the ring, easily looming over Naruto's form.

Naruto slowly turned to the announcer, giving him a flat stare. "…this is it? These guys are the best you can throw at me?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the final round! If he managed to defeat the unstoppable force of Fujin and Raijin after the last hundred matches he's been through, he'll win the coveted ten thousand yen grand prize!"

Fujin turned to Raijin, looking rather befuddled. "Nii-san, is that a lot?"

"I dunno." Raijin replied, looking just as perplexed as his brother. "I've never had that much of anything."

Turning to point to the three, the announcer shouted loudly. "Let the match…begin!"

Naruto wasted no time in his assault. Getting low to the ground, he brought his fist with as much power as he could possibly put behind it into Raijin's gut. To his astonishment, Raijin didn't budge, merely looked down at where Naruto's fist was placed in his gut. "Eh? What're ya doing?"

Naruto blinked up at the brother, a sudden understanding coming to him. This was not going to be easy.

Before Naruto could say anything, Fujin held up his arms and began hooting. "Oh, oh! It's started, it's started!"

Raijin's eyes seemed to gleam, his gaze on Naruto turning far more lethal. "If we win, we get twice the food!"

Raising his arm, his wide grin returned. Naruto dug his feet into the ground, launching himself backwards. As Raijin's fist impacted the ground, Naruto realized that their size was a very good indication of their strength as his fist created a fist-sized crater. Stumbling backwards, Naruto tried to regain his bearings to think of a counterattack. Before he could though, Fujin had crossed the distance between himself and Naruto and swung his fist into Naruto's face. With a loud grunt, Naruto was sent further head over heels back, slamming into the wall of the ring. Grunting in pain, he tried to push himself back to his feet. Fujin, while his title definitely spoke true of his intelligence, was not dim enough to miss the opportunity that was presented before him now. Taking long strides forward, he was almost immediately standing before Naruto, he fist cocked back for a brief second before it was buried in Naruto's gut. Flecks of saliva erupted from Naruto's mouth as he coughed rapidly, his breath literally taken from him by the blow.

Fujin raised his other hand in the air in a sign of victory. "Nii-san! I won! I won!"

Raijin gave a loud whoop as he and Fujin raced to one another and gripped each other in a hug. "Twice the food!"

Fujin bounced on the balls of his feet happily. "Yay! Let's go eat nii-san!"

"Ugh…that was new."

Fujin and Raijin turned to where Naruto lay, watching as Naruto slowly pushed himself back to his feet. A trail of saliva dribbled down his chin, which he quickly wiped away. Rolling his head, he rubbed his neck to alleviate the pain from Fujin's first strike. Hacking a bit, he spit off to the side, wincing as he noticed a tint of red in his spit.

"Aw man, I think I bit my tongue." Naruto muttered awkwardly, sticking his finger into his mouth tentatively. Wincing several times as he poked and prodded in his mouth, he pulled his finger out and nodded. "Yep, definitely bit my tongue."

"Eh? Nii-san, is he allowed to do that?" Raijin asked.

Naruto grinned, sliding into another staring stance. "Let's see if we can do this again, the right way."

Rushing in a second time, he already knew that it wasn't going to work quite the same as the first time he'd rushed them. Both brothers were now aware that they were fighting, and had shifted into sloppy defensive stance. What set him apart from the brothers though, was that his planning skills were able to exceed 'punch, leave, and eat'.

Diving onto his stomach, he rolled to a crouch at the brother's feet, his fists clenched on either side of his hips. Turning in between them, he thrust his fists forwards with a twist, painfully burying his fists into their guts. Unlike the first time though, both of their eyes bugged out as their feet left the ground and they were launched upwards. They didn't go very far, but the fact that Naruto had gotten them off the ground got the crowd roaring once more; a mixture of confusion and excitement in every voice.

Picking themselves up, Raijin rubbed his gut. "Owie, what hit me?"

"Nii-san, I'm hungry." Fujin muttered, a pained expression on his faced. The blow to his stomach reminded him that he'd forgotten to eat before he'd come out.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, you guys look like you didn't stop eating before you came here. I haven't eaten in…" He turned to the announcer. "How long have I been in here? Two – three days? Has it really been that long?" Naruto scratched his head. "Oh burn me, I can't believe I lost track of time in here."

Fujin and Raijin stared at Naruto with horrified expressions, unable to fully comprehend what Naruto had just said. Slowly, Raijin turned to Fujin "N-nii-san. Did he say?"

"Three days, no food?" Fujin muttered. Hearing his stomach growl, his mind was easily brought back to previous thoughts. Without warning, he landed a painful looking uppercut to Naruto's jaw, roaring out in a primitive fashion. "FOOD!"

The crowd began banging and screaming louder when Naruto once again began to stir from what looked like a damaging blow. It only increased as Raijin launched himself into the air in an attempt to perform a pile driver and end the fight. Naruto, hearing the screams, pushed himself into a roll to scramble away from the colossal weight of the overweight man slamming onto the ground where he once lay. Undeterred by his brother's failure to hit Naruto, Fujin began stomping after Naruto. Naruto simply kept rolling for as long as he could, pushing himself further from Fujin's persistent attack. Before too long though, he found his back against the wall. With little else to do, Naruto fell back on an age old tactic; do something stupid, and pray to the log it works.

Getting his hands under him, he put as much of his strength as he could into getting back to his feet. To his delight, with a rush of air, he was quickly stumbling backwards and slightly away from Fujin. Fujin, his foot landing where Naruto had once been, looked down with wide eyes. "Who-wha-wha? Hey, where'd he go? Did he disappear? Or was he never there to begin with?" Hearing footstep rushing towards him, he turned. "Oh, there he is."

Naruto leapt into the air, leaning back slightly as he gripped either side of Fujin's vest tightly. Burying his feet into Fujin's gut, he straightened his back as he readied himself for his next strike. With a grunt of exertion, Naruto brought his forehead to Fujin's with a painful crack. There was a moment of perpetual silence. Then, a small trail of blood that came from both of their heads, punctuated by Fujin wobbling backwards and crashing to the ground.

"Fujin!" Raijin shouted. He barely had time to pick himself off the ground before Naruto had managed to get in front of him.

Naruto would later lament on his next course of action. He had a wide variety of taijutsu techniques he could have fallen back on to take out a larger opponent like Raijin. Even the headbutt would have been better in hindsight. However, with his head still ringing from beating a thick skull with his own, he didn't really think things through all the way. Which is why, for what would be considered one of his oddest victories, Naruto picked up a foot and slammed it as hard as he could between Raijin's legs. Like any other man would, Raijin's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he fell flat on his face.

Every noise stopped as they stared at the scene, an underhanded tactic like that having never been seen in a final match like this before. Slowly though, someone started clapping. Like a wave, the clapping spread through the entire arena. Naruto rubbed his forehead, still in pain with the clapping not helping any.

"And the winner ladies and gentlemen," The announcer said with a flourish, leaping down to grab Naruto's arm and raise it into the air. "The new comer, Naruto-san!"

-xxxxx-

Naruto hissed as he slowly sat himself down nearly a half hour later. Gingerly rubbing his jaw, he sighed as he began opening his locker to get his stuff out. Exhausted from going on a three hour marathon of fighting, and having received several injuries throughout, he was more then happy to take a nice little break.

Looking at the five thousand yen in his hands, he groaned under his breath as he set the money on a shelf while he began to remove his clothes. While admittedly the money was a nice bonus, and the fight got his blood pumping, neither were why he'd come to the fight club. Pressing his hand against his jaw, he felt the sharp pain shook through his head like a searing hot knife. With a small hiss, he let his hand fall away. Slightly more awake, he felt his awareness enhance slightly.

Reaching into his locker, he gingerly lifted his shirt out. Despite how dangerous it was to keep them with himself, Naruto still had his spring-loaded kunai and shuriken holster hidden in either of the sleeves of his shirt. Strength notwithstanding, it never hurt to have an insurance policy just in case he was attacked.

Which was looking like a very real possibility at the moment. Heaving a heavy hearted sight, he glanced wearily over his shoulder. "What do you want?"

Behind him, three men stood stoically shoulder to shoulder as they stared him down. "You lost us a lot of money kid. We're just here to take what's ours."

Naruto gently cracked his neck, his shirt held loosely in his hands. "Really? And why would you need five thousand yen?"

"It's none of your business." A second man said, a scowl on his face. As he attempted to step forwards to confront him, the first man held him back. Snapping around to growl at him, he barked at him. "What are you doing? Isn't this why we came here?"

"No need to make a scene if we don't have too." The first man said slowly. Keeping his eyes on Naruto, he continued. "Now, if you don't mind, we want the money."

Naruto shrugged. "Sure."

"If you don't we'll have to…" The three men blinked in confusion. "Wait, what?"

"That's what you want me to say, isn't it?" Naruto muttered sharply. The three men shivered as the room suddenly felt colder. Turning to face them, the three men noticed that Naruto's hair was currently shadowing his eyes from view; something that increased their already nervous state. "But there's just one little problem with that. I don't like bullies, and I won't let anyone push me around because they think they have the upper hand." Lifting his head, his eyes narrowed as he stared them down. "Especially delusional crack heads like you."

Before the three of them could respond, a flash of red enveloped their vision. Weapons seemed to protrude from their bodies, with limbs strewn about from being violently ripped off as rage rolled off of Naruto. A second flash of light later and the three found themselves completely unharmed, albeit, they were mentally shaken by the experience.

Naruto looked the three over, contemplating what to do next. His threat had obviously been made, but he had no intention of fulfilling it for the time being; he was still tired and hungry. Grunting, he motioned to the door with his chin. "Beat your feet."

Not needing any other incentive they scrambled away, tripping over themselves and pulling each other back as they tried to get as far away from the demon that had stood before them. Naruto watched with no amount of amusement in his eyes. He hated using that technique, despite it usefulness. It was…morbid. It clashed with his style, and continuously reminded him that he was capable of such acts.

Pulling his shirt over his head, he groaned as he felt his ribs protesting the movement. While they didn't feel broken, the blow to his body had left a bruise, and would annoy him for quite some time. Pushing through the pain, he threw his duster on and gingerly placed his hat on his head. Slipping his money into the inner right side pocket of his duster, he silently slipped out of the room.

He'd barely made it three steps before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Slipping his kunai discreetly into his hand, he lazily rolled his head to look at the perpetrator. With a small sigh, he returned his kunai to its hiding spot in his sleeve.

"Oh, it's just you." He muttered.

"Well hello to you too Naruto-san." The person said, the voice distinctly female. She was dressed in a tightly closed trench coat that fell just past her knees, with high-heeled sandals that doubled as shin guards. "After all I did for you, that's your attitude?"

Naruto smiled lightly, his entire body relaxing at the lighthearted jest. "I'm sorry, I just…I've been having a rough couple of days."

The woman rolled her eyes. "No kidding. I'd say letting people beat the tar out of you for three days straight, against a hundred different people, with not breaks for food, and no sleep would do that." Giving Naruto a light poke, she smiled lightly. "Then again, I'm pretty sure that my little brother-in-law would do the same thing in a heartbeat if he heard you'd already done it."

"No he wouldn't; not unless he heard that I was the last guy he had to fight." Naruto said with a chuckle. "Beat a guy into the ground and mentally scar him once, and suddenly he wants a rematch every time he even thinks I'm in the area."

"Thank goodness he doesn't know you're here yet."

Naruto shook his head. "He's here. And so's Itachi."

At the mention of Itachi, the woman straightened considerably. "Itachi-kun's here? Here, here?"

"Yeah." Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion. "You didn't sense him in the crowd? It's not like he was trying to hide."

"Uh, right." The woman crossed her arms defensively. "I totally sensed him."

"No you didn't." Naruto muttered. Stepping toward her, he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Who are you and what have you done with Kasumi?"

Kasumi felt her eye twitching angrily. She was an excellent shinobi, and was more then assured of her skills in sensing and combat in general. To have someone insinuate that someone had the capability to impersonate her was insulting. "Oh, so you think someone could possibly impersonate me? Well impersonate this!" Clenching her fist, she launched Naruto into a nearby wall. To her surprise, Naruto quickly bounced back, and dusted himself off. Eye still twitching she deflated slightly. "Okay, how do you always do that?"

"Hm? Oh this?" Naruto grinned, looking from the mark in the wall back to Kasumi. "You hit hard, but I've been hit harder."

"…right." Kasumi deadpanned, trying to imagine just how Naruto had to have been hit to simply shrug off hits like that.

Naruto ignored her skepticism, focusing on Kasumi. Letting his eyes grow distant, he appeared to be staring right through her. Still trying to imagine Naruto being bludgeoned, she nearly missed his thousand-yard-stare.

Too late, she attempted to stop him. "N-Naruto-san wait!"

Naruto shook his head, his eyes wide in awe. "Whoa, I wasn't expecting that."

"And you'll keep your mouth shut about it too." Kasumi said, puffing out her cheeks in aggravation. "I swear, it's impossible to surprise you when you use that."

"You'd be surprised." Naruto muttered. Yawning loudly, he winced as he felt his head bob slightly; an action that did not go unnoticed by Kasumi.

"Oh ho, it looks like I'm not the only one who's keeping secrets." Kasumi said with a grin. As she stepped closer, she began actively searching for what was wrong with Naruto. Since she hadn't done so before, she was genuinely surprised when she realized that there were several things off about him. His normally bright eyes were dulled, dark bags under his eyes making this more pronounced. His clothes, while generally thrown on hap hazardously, appeared slightly more disheveled then normal. She already knew she could blame it on his lack of sleep, however, she also knew that there was something else that was influencing said lack. "They're back, aren't they?"

Naruto said nothing, letting his eyes stare back into Kasumi's. She knew Naruto better then most other, being a confidant on a few occasions in the past after Naruto had literally crashed on her doorstep. She still didn't have all the details, but she knew what she what was wrong with Naruto at the moment, and it scared her that he'd come back to this state of mind.

Bad things tended to happen when Naruto was like this.

"I'm fine." Naruto muttered unconvincingly; though who he was trying to convince was anyone's guess. "I just can't give up until I'm through."

Kasumi looked him over, trying to understand what was going through his head. Already realizing that Naruto wasn't going to say another word about what was going through his head, she sighed in defeat. There were few things that were certain and stable regarding Naruto, and his resistance to anything and everything when he didn't want people to know something was practically legendary. Resigning herself, she pulled out a bag she'd hidden behind the door Naruto had come through.

"I got your winnings." Kasumi said, sliding it over to him. "I made sure to bet on you for every match." Giggling to herself, she leaned against the wall. "You'd think they'd learn to not to bet against you after the first ten rounds."

Naruto smirked, opening the bag and beginning to count how much they'd won. "No way they'd do that. I was fighting non stop for three days. Anyone else might've gotten tired and quit before the first day was over."

"Yeah, most people would've.' Kasumi muttered. Poking him gently, she circled him slowly. "How do you manage to stay on your feet for so long?"

"Everyone has their secrets." Naruto said with a smirk. Finishing his count of the money in the bag, he whistled softly. "Like how you could possibly get eighty-two thousand yen in three days, only by gambling."

"That's not much of a secret. I just made sure to bet on the guy who was sure to win, and then find all the suckers who were still too stupid to not bet on you." Kasumi said proudly. "Then again, it's not that hard to find the idiots. Just look for the ones who can't make eye contact."

While she smirked, taking different poses to accentuate her curves to get her point across, Naruto looked on in confusion. Hearing no sort of praise for her amazing plan, she slowly stopped posing. Seeing her settling down, he raised a hand like a kid in school. "Why can't they make eye contact?"

Kasumi's mouth opened and closed slowly. "I…you…" Placing a hand on Naruto's shoulder, she made sure he was looking her in the eye. "Okay, you're looking me in the eye, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah."

"Good. Now, I want you to try keeping eye contact with me." Kasumi said, slowly unbuttoning her trench coat. With each button, she unveiled more of her clothes underneath; a mesh shirt and short blue skirt, the modesty of her upper body protected only barely by her coat. When she'd finally unbuttoned the coat all the way though, Naruto's eyes hadn't strayed from her eyes once. Frustrated, she turned away. "It figures you'd be one of those guys I wouldn't make a bet with. You're good at focusing; it's what would make you a good shinobi if you'd been in Kumo or Suna."

"If you say so." Naruto said unsurely. He had no idea what had just happened, but he felt like he'd somehow missed the big picture on whatever Kasumi was trying to teach him.

"Alright then, enough fun and games. We need to meet up with Itachi-kun and Sasuke-chan." Kasumi said cheerily. Skipping down the hall, she glanced over her shoulder. "You know where we're going to meet at?"

Naruto nodded. "The Nejibana hotel. We meet at that hotel whenever we're in the same city." Cracking his neck, he grinned in a feral manner. "And whatever they're here for, it's bound to be loads of fun."

AN: Okay, so I wrote another chapter to this. I just felt inspired, buckled down, and cranked it out.

I also do belive it is possible to have too much fun writing Itachi and Sasuke; especially since I altered their personalities a bit for my AU. Sasuke just feels so...right, acting childish and whiney. Of course, it helps that he's had practice in cannon, but that's redundant seeing as he's complaining about mistakes he's making, and not really just blaming other people for it. He still has much, so very much, to learn, but that's just character development waiting to happen (insert creatively witty evil laugh here).

The Lee scene...came from no where. I swear, he was going to show up in the next chapter to help give Naruto some more character flesh, until I realized I could have some fun with Lee. Seriously, we've seen him unconcious and still fighting before. Someone trying to make him 'not think' (something I'm not sure he does much anyways) would just make things harder for themselves. Plus, it's Lee. If he lost to some not-combat oriented chunin, I'd have trouble keeping from laughing. Of course...you never know with me.

And Raijin and Fujin made a cameo appearance to fight Naruto. Why? I dunno, writting Mizuki reminded me they exist. Plus, the Nappa lines simply had to be put in.

For those of you who misssed it, Naruto's got some new issues to deal with. As for what they are...take a wild guess. They'll give me stuff to throw around for other characters while I continue with how Naruto's new past has shapped him. I've been playing my cards in Word of Honor rather well, and I plan to use the expereience to work this story into the masterpiece I want to make of it. Which means I'm going to have to hurt and possibly even break Naruto...and Sasuke...and Lee...and pretty much all the characters I love. It'll be for the best.

Oh! And try guessing what the prize really is. I want to see if anyone else shares my interestingly sharp method of planting plot twists.

Until next chapter, Guru out.