A/N: This was my entry for the 'In The Real World' challenge at Naruto100.
Assassin's Alley
There is a street on the outskirts of the bustling town that is affectionately dubbed Assassin's Alley. Anything you need for the killing of another can be procured here, quickly and discreetly. From poisons to weapons, everything is at your disposal, if you know where to find it. Some of the most creative killers in the city either ran shops or frequented the area, free from the consequences of their actions as long as they stayed within the Alley's boundaries. The law enforcement was afraid to touch it, as their last attempt at any type of arrest has ended with half their force carried out on stretchers.
The Leader of the Alley was unquestionable. Hardly anyone knew his face anymore, he hid himself away and guided things from the background, managing his lawless hole. He had originally been in the firearms business, but had amassed his true fortune through many smuggling operations before rising to the top of the totem pole. If you needed anything, you asked the Boss. He usually came through for his subordinates, as long as you paid his fees.
And then there was the young prodigy, heir to the politician Uchiha family. It was a well-known fact among the citizens of the more law abiding type that the fratricide perpetrator was somewhere within the murks of the Alley, but no one dared to fetch him. A hypnotist and weapon specialist, he dealt in drugs of confusion and hallucinogens, and the weapons with which to dispatch your befuddled enemies. He was not to be messed with by the others, under orders of the Boss.
The Uchiha's business partner was one Hoshigaki Kisame, though most people couldn't believe this was his true name. The man has undergone so many surgeries that he could hardly be considered normal, with his gill-slit tattoos, blue skin, and filed teeth. He dealt exclusively in swords, a primitive form of killing, but nevertheless efficient. He had once been a member of the Seven Swords of Mist, an exclusive terrorist cell that had carried out numerous political assassinations. But he led a quite life now, toting about that seven foot sword of his.
And then there was Zetsu, the Boss's right hand man, and the reason the boss knew everything about you the minute you walked into his domain. A spy specialist, an ex-member of the government's top bureau of investigation, he could keep tabs on anything and anyone. His devices were almost undetectable, untraceable, and untapable. He sequestered himself away from the world in the Boss's headquarters with his schizophrenia, his glowing monitors and his bonsai plants, his only contact to others in the Alley through the devices given from the Boss to his chosen subordinates.
The famed terrorist responsible for bombings all around the world, Deidara, also kept shop in Assassin's Alley. He was accredited with the bombing of a church whose mass was in session, the destruction of a chain of hotels along a beach, the explosion in a fault that triggered a Richter scaled 8 earthquake, and the bomber's personal favorite, the bombing of a firework warehouse on New Year's Eve last year. He would get you any kind of bomb, and you'd get it for free if you showed proof of artistic ability.
The bomber's business partner was the Scorpion of the Red Sand, a maker of toys of the dangerous variety. Usually used in the deaths of children, his play puppets and dolls administered fatal doses of poison through carefully concealed needles triggered by touch. He was fond of using arsenic for his kills meant to last awhile, and strychnine for the quickies. But he had many favorites.
There were many more denizens of Assassin's Alley, but those were among the most well known. Law enforcement quivered at the mention of a possible foray into the lawless den, and the governor yearly wrestled with the moral dilemma of whether to call in the National Guard. But they wouldn't do that. It was too dangerous after all…