Chapter Eight: Turning Over the Tables

Tenten led her friends over to the bank, where the people were banging on the barred doors. Coming to a halt, she tapped a man on the shoulder. He turned and looked panicking. "Hey, uh, what's going on?"

"The banks have been calling loans in like crazy because of a series of robberies," said the man. "The Legendary Sucker made off with a whole lot of them. We've got to get our money out before they take it from us."

"Get these gates down! I need to get my money!" said a woman.

"Hold on a moment," said Tenten. "Panicking isn't going to solve anything. Give me a sec, and I'll get this gate open.

"It is open right now, isn't it?"

"Yeah, always around this time. They shut it when they saw us coming," said a man.

"Alright, alright, nobody panic," said Tenten, pushing through to the doors. "They probably just got scared and closed the doors. I'll head in there and see what is going on, and then see if we can't get you your money."

Quickly, Tenten scaled up the gates and came over the other side. Dropping down, she landed on her hands and feet and looked back.

"Well, who are you?" asked a man.

"Relax, I'm a ninja of the Leaf," said Tenten. "Now, Neji, Lee, talk to everybody; I'll see if I can sort this out.

"Be right back."

"All of you stay calm," said Neji. "No one will leave this bank until Tenten has completed her negotiations."

"Indeed! You can be sure of that!" said Rokas.

Tenten rushed up the steps and through the door. Within, she found an elderly man pacing back and forth restlessly. "Hello?"

"Please don't open the gates," said the man. "You can't! I... they'll lynch me or run me out of town!"

"Now hold on, I'm not here to hurt anybody," said Tenten. "I just want to know why you closed the gates?"

"The bank they..." The man halted. "The bank called in my loan as well as everyone else. Every store in every place is getting called to pay up what they owe. My entire safe is empty."

"Well don't you keep some reserve cash around here?" asked Tenten.

"Well, I did, but..." the man halted.

"But what?" asked Tenten.

"This incredibly beautiful blonde woman came in, and she, well... just looking at her is like looking at your dreams," said the man, eyes glazing over. "I could hardly think, and she asked for a loan, and... I didn't know what would happen, so I gave her one."

"How much?" asked Tenten.

The man told her an amount.

"What?!" said Tenten. "You gave some random blonde woman that kind of money with no assurances?! What is wrong with you?! Did she even say what she wanted it for?!"

"I thought she was the daughter of a Feudal Lord and must have been rich anyway," said the man.

Tenten put her face in her hands. "Okay, okay, so, what happens when I open that door? What happens when these people find that all their money has been stolen? Assuming that they don't lynch you, I need to know what will happen to the town."

"Well... all their savings will be gone," said the man. "The ones that are in a bad way will have to close up. The ones who are well off are going to have to live off the land. The whole town is going to go to pieces and... and it's all my fault."

"It sure is!" said Tenten, who had half a mind to leave him to rot. The problem was that leaving him to rot would also kill off the economy in this town. And doing that would kill off the economy in surrounding areas.

And if the same thing happened in a lot of different places, the problem would just get worse and worse. It would be a chain reaction of economic destruction that could completely ruin her. So, Tenten sighed and took out her Fuijutsu scroll. "Okay... okay... how much do you need?"

"What?" asked the man.

"How much money do you need to give them to give them their savings?" asked Tenten.

The banker went off and later came back with a number of checks. Tenten read through it. "Alright, I... I might be able to pay that off." Tenten sighed. She was not giving this bastard charity. "This is what is going to happen here. You're going to open that door and let them in calmly and quietly. Then you're going to explain to them what you did, and how I've decided to lend you the money to pay them off.

"Make it clear that my funds aren't infinite.

"They need to take just enough money to stay in business. And I expect you to pay me back later. Actually, nevermind, no way am I going into finance. Okay, I'm going to give you the money you need.

"Then you're going to send a message to the Hokage and tell him that your bank officially owes the Leaf a favor because of Tenten, Neji, and Rock Lee. Some day, we're going to need to take a loan from you or ask you to do something.

"When that happens, you help us out?

"Got it?"

The banker nodded. "Yes, yes, I understand."

"Good," said Tenten. "Now, let them in."

Tenten had half-hoped the bastard would be lynched so she could keep her cash. But no such luck, and a bunch of people asked for comparatively small amounts of money. All of it added up, though. By the time they were done, Tenten, Lee, and Neji were walking out quite a bit poorer.

"Well... that cost us a lot," said Neji.

"I'm sorry I used the money without consulting you guys," said Tenten. "A third of that was yours. But we were about to send the Land of Fire into an economic dark age."

"It is no trouble, Tenten," said Lee. "It was for a good cause. Albeit one I do not understand."

"I technically can't own property anyway," said Neji. "Everything I own belongs to the Hyuga, so let us just say my share belonged to you.

"How much do we have left?"

Tenten sighed as she realized it wasn't over yet. Not by a long shot. "A lot. But we can't stop here. We've got to head to the next town and fast, top speed."

"Why?" asked Rock Lee.

"Some blonde woman called the Legendary Sucker has set off an economic crisis," said Tenten. "We've got to make sure as many places stay in business as possible, or there's going to be economic collapse."

"Is the economy really that important, Tenten?" asked Rock Lee.

"Of course, it's important!" said Tenten, offended. "No economy, no money. No money! No missions! No missions, no Leaf Village! Now come on, we've got to stop this while we can!"

"She is right, Lee," said Neji. "A single stone cast into a pool in the right way can make waves.

"The Leaf Village does not stand to gain by this. And it's not like we need the money we found."

"Still, it is very generous of you to give this money for free," said Rock Lee.

"I didn't give it for free," said Tenten. "I traded it to them in exchange for telling the Hokage they owed the Leaf a favor. So if the Leaf ever really needs a loan, we can get one. Now come on, we've got a lot of loans to make!" And she raced off to get directions to the next bank town.

"Um... Tenten, we are turning away from Itachi-sensei's genjutsu!" warned Lee as they walked.

"This is not about Itachi, Lee!" said Tenten. "We can get tortured by him later!"

That was one bonus, at least.

And so began a long, exhausting, and above all else, boring, saga. Neji, Tenten, and Lee had gotten a lot stronger and faster. And moving at top speed, they raced from one banking town to another. Often they'd arrive just as people were about to make the run, and they could never stop. For all intents and purposes, they were outrunning the rumors.

Now and then, they heard about wealthy businessmen bailing out banks as well. Tenten, however, was only too happy to steal the chance. It was better if the Leaf had economic power as well as military.

But they were often too late. Now and then, they came to towns that had already been cleared out. The land was being repossessed or sold, and some people were being turned out of their homes. Closures were everywhere in these places. Though Lee used some of his share of wealth to help some of the stores pay their rent. Tenten reluctantly did the same in the name of the Leaf.

Many towns were filled with despair as merchandise was sold for bargain prices. Tenten purchased a lot of this stuff and kept it for later. Then, in the next town, she sold the stuff for what it was actually worth. The money was then used to bail out more people. And it was always in exchange for a favor to the Leaf.

Day after day, they went around their purse, lightening gradually. When they ran low on cash a second time, Tenten opted to sell some of the less useful weapons. Many of them were ceremonial and useless anyway. That got her the cash she needed to infuse another bank.

And then they were done.

Finally, they'd run low enough that they could spend no more.

What made it worse was that the Legendary Sucker had hit several more banks during this time. It had only made things worse. And the next few towns she went through were a similar story. Tales were spreading of a mass recession as small businesses were destroyed. The lucky ones were bought out by some of the larger corporations growing up for a fraction of their worth.

All because of some worthless jerk who'd gone around ripping off banks for fun.

"...well, that was exhausting," said Neji, as they entered another town, miserable.

"I am so beat," said Tenten. "That's uh... six towns we've bailed out. And we are broke. And it didn't even do that much good. We didn't stop the recession, just blunted it a bit."

"Maybe, but... at least there's something to recover," said Neji. "And numerous banks now owe the Leaf a favor."

"Hey, look, an inn," said Lee, motioning to a building out.

"We don't have any money Lee," said Tenten, noticing the sign. "Besides, that's not an inn; it's a... gambling den." She came to a halt as she heard a voice.

"Hey, the Legendary Sucker is playing well tonight! Get her another drink, free of charge!" said someone.

Tenten raced over to the door and peered into the room. There she saw Lady Tsunade playing dice with a variety of leering men. Alcohol was being drunk in copious amounts as people played games. But where was the Legendary Sucker?

"It can't be," said Tenten under her breath.

"Lady Tsunade, are you really sure we should be gambling like this?" asked Shizune to one side. "A lot of businesses have failed recently and... well, couldn't we use these winnings?"

"Relax, Shizune. I'm on a roll here," said Tsunade, and at her feet was a veritable pile of chips.

"But Lady Tsunade, I mean... a lot of people are going out of business," said Shizune.

"We'll help them with some of our winnings afterward," said Tsunade dismissively.

"But Lady Tsunade, you never have any winnings!" said Shizune. "Don't you think we should cut our losses just this once?"

"Nope! Raise again, boys!" said Tsunade.

It wasn't possible.

It just wasn't possible. Tenten's mind turned back to that young pauper girl. She hadn't wanted to give her money because she ought to find honest work. But what honest work was there in the world now? How many stores that people could have learned a trade at had been shut down now? How many families had lost not just their trades but their source of food? Some had even the homes in which they slept?

And here was Lady Tsunade gambling with stolen money in amounts that could have saved dozens of them. Laughing and drinking with these scoundrels, dismissing others' plight as unimportant. She was saying a handwave that she'd help them anyway to shut Shizune up. But Tsunade didn't give a damn about any of them.

Suddenly, something snapped in Tenten.

She raced forward and grabbed the table at which Tsunade sat and flung it over. Booze and chips shattered on the floor. At the same time, Neji and Lee sprang into action. Tables were turned as the gamblers fled away from them, driven out with a blade behind them. Some tried to fight and were smashed against the wall.

Tenten raced forward and grabbed a shelf filled with alcohol. She knocked the bottles off to shatter on the floor. This kind of place...

Its very existence was unforgivable.

"What are you doing!?" said Tsunade.

"Out! All of you out!" roared Lee.

"Who do you think you are, girl!" said Tsunade. "You call yourself a Leaf Ninja!"

"What are you doing?!" said Shizune. "You're breaking up this establishment and driving out the employees!"

"They're thieves! They're all thieves!" roared Tenten. And she pointed at Tsunade, the woman she had dreamed of being. Until now. "Parasites!

"...Just like you."

"Just who the hell do you think you are to call me a parasite, girl?" asked Tsunade.

"Do you know what I have spent the last few days doing, Tsunade?!" said Tenten. "I have been paying a fortune just to keep the banks afloat. Banks that you made nearly go under in the first place. And I wasn't able to get them all!

"Three days ago, my teammates and I were rich! We've gotten a fortune from defeating an enemy of the Leaf! Now we're right back where we started because of you!"

"Oh, so you're mad about a lack of payment, are you?" scoffed Tsunade. "Well, take the money; it means nothing to me."

"Of course, it means nothing to you. You didn't have to work for any of it!" snarled Tenten. "You stole it! You took on a different form, you batted your eyelashes, and you got gullible bankers to break the law! And then you just ditched without paying!

"How many IOUs are inside your luggage Tsunade! How many of the people you owe them are still alive?! Huh?! Can you answer that?!

"Men, women, children, all of them could have had their lives ruined! And why? Because their finances were destroyed! Children forced to live on the street as beggars, many of them will end up turning into thieves! Thieves like you!

"And for what? So you could gamble and drink up a storm for a few hours before descending into oblivion!" Tenten, on some level, knew what she was doing was insane and suicidal, but she could not control herself. Rushing forward, she grabbed Tsunade's green robe and tore it in her hands. "You don't deserve to be called a Senju! You don't deserve your title as a Sanin! You don't even deserve to be called a Leaf Ninja! Your unworthy to be related to Hashirama! You... you..."

Tenten halted, looking at Tsunade, and saw her eyes were wide. The woman was staring at her in a mixture of shock and horror. But it didn't matter because nothing Tenten said mattered. All those people would still be on the street, all those children would still become thieves. And Lady Tsunade had never given a damn what she thought.

Tenten fell to her knees and realized she was crying.

"Shizune I..." Tsunade paused. "I think we should... use this money to pay off some of our debts..."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade," said Shizune.

Tsunade and Shizune quickly gathered up their winnings from the wreckage and left. Maybe they'd gotten the point; maybe they hadn't. It didn't matter.

"You were supposed to be better than this," was all Tenten could say as they left.

It was the most honest thing she'd ever said.