This story spawns off of an interesting article I read, a movie that I watched for five minutes before deciding that it was worthless, and some mythology from my culture. The article talked about Mafia and Political Bosses, and weird things like that. The movie is called Luck and I watched the opening scene, thought that the story line was stupid and turned it off. However, the opening scene is pretty much the same as the opening scene of this story, so I can't really take credit for it. However, the rest of the story is mine. Finally, there is a story in my culture that has to do with gambling. While that ends with the traditional moral lessons, this story probably won't. So enjoy 

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never will, but I can still dream.

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The Game

When you have nothing left to lose, nothing left to gamble, what do you do?

Chapter 1: Luck

Five men stood blindfolded and handcuffed inside a solid steel cage. There was only one way out, and that was when one side of the cage rose up. None of the men moved a muscle, their keen senses taking in the scents of smoke, dirt, and metal. Their ears gauging the sound of steel grating on steel. The task was simply put, yet impossible to complete. The five men had to run across the rail yard, across every track at full speed without getting hit by a train. While being blindfolded and handcuffed. Every man was nervous, yet none showed it on their faces or in their body language. They simply waited as the steel cage opened, not moving to get across the tracks. Only when a train whistle sounded did they silently bound off the cage, beginning their sprint to safety. They were neck to neck, all of them, yet they showed no indication that they knew a man was next to them, shoulders barely touching.

They ran like bats out of hell. Every step was a danger, tripping meant having your guts splattered across the railway. But none faltered, even when they felt the wind of a rushing train as it crossed over the area their feet had been a moment ago. Suddenly, one slowed ever so slightly almost if relieved to have escaped that train. He didn't make it across the next tracks. All the other men heard was a squelching noise, but they never faltered, never turned back. Luck was against them, they had the slimmest of slim chances of making it across alive and they all knew it. Suddenly, another man fell, his feet tripping over a rail. He dragged a man down with him. Three down, two to go. The remaining sped their pace slightly, not wanting the other to make it out alive.

If the two made it out alive, it would be a fight to the death. The stakes were higher in this game than any other game played. The winner would not only have his life, but he would also collect the hundreds of thousands of dollars that were placed in betting. This was the game they played, the game of Luck. They were a handful of the luckiest, having survived over five years in the business; which is why today was the biggest event of the year. Four people were going to have their streak violently ended and in the brutal world they lived in, it meant the largest betting pool in the past two decades.

But none of this mattered to the two men racing across the tracks. All that mattered were their own lives. Suddenly, a shoelace was entangled with a bit of barbed wire. The last thing that man saw was the black and dusty grail at the front of the train.

And then there was one. One man running for his life. The number of rails quickly decreased as he crossed each and every one with inches of room to spare. But he was tiring; sweat clung to him as well as the dust that had been kicked up from running. His breaths were labored, but he continued the punishing pace. 5 rails, 4 rails, 3, 2, 1…he was free. The last train grazed past him as he took his final leap. He didn't stop running until his mind registered the change in ground. Instead of dirt and dust, he felt his feet landing on softer substance, perhaps grass. With speed that told nothing of his previous endeavor, he got out of his bindings, his wrists bruising from the pressure applied as they slipped out of the handcuffs and the eyes blinking rapidly as the blindfold was torn off. Focusing his eyes, he staggered towards the group of men waiting in the field.

"My money," he rasped. He felt like rolling his eyes; they were immaculately dressed, in solid black suits under the boiling sun. "And a one week recovery."

"You did well Hatake. Here's your three hundred thousand as we agreed. The Council expects you to be back for duty with your partner in ten days. Spend your time wisely." Danzo eyed the man. It was hard to believe that this haggard and tired man was the most feared and luckiest man in Konoha. But this was how they made the money they needed to support the dying village, surprise and deceit. Today had been a good day, they had made over 15 million dollars off of Rain, Mist, Sound, and Rock. He had felt worried when Zabuza and Hatake had been the final two, but that barbed wired quelled his nerves. Naturally he knew that no matter how lucky the others had been, they were no match for Hatake. As the man trudged back to his motorcycle, Danzo signaled to the others to return. He just had another idea, one that would spin the tables of Luck so much that in the end, no one would be able to tell heads from tails.

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A slam was the only warning that Iruka got as he roommate walked through the door. Taking one quick glance at him, Iruka pulled off both the shirt and pants from the unresisting body before shoving it under the shower. He left as soon as the water became hot, just this side of scalding. Steam was billowing out of the shower as he silently closed the door. Once outside, he went through the standard procedure. A basin of hot water, clean towels and rags, aspirin, muscle relaxant cream, bandages, and gauze were all placed on a small table near the king sized bed. He spread a tarp on the bed, not wanting it to get wet from the water or bodily fluids. And then he sat, waiting for the man in the shower to come out.

Fifteen minutes later, the bathroom door opened and out walked Kakashi, clad only in a pair of clean boxers. Now that the dirt and grime was gone, Iruka was easily able to see the knicks and scratches that occurred. He noted the tense muscles as Kakashi slowly walked towards the bed. Once he was settled, Iruka began to efficiently clean away at the wounds and bandage the larger ones. Handing two aspirin over with a glass of water, he cleared away everything as Kakashi swallowed the small pills and lay face down on the sheet. Grabbing the muscle relaxant cream, Iruka stepped onto the bed and began working the kinks and knots from the body under him. Kakashi made no sound and no movement. Finally done with the back, he easily rolled Kakashi over and began to work on the front of his body. Half an hour later, he wordlessly propped Kakashi up and worked on his arms. Finally done, he went to the bathroom, wet a towel, and began to clean off the excess cream. Removing the sheet, he moved the bed covers so that Kakashi could get some sleep.

"Three hundred thousand, ten days, and partners." Kakashi said before dropping his head and becoming dead to the world.

Iruka nodded to the already sleeping man. He walked over and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Welcome home. I'm glad you came back safe."

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Silence still prevailed the next morning as the two men ate breakfast. Iruka sipped on his piping hot, black coffee as Kakashi chowed down a bowl of cereal. Both men were calmly reading literature; Iruka had Time magazine open while Kakashi had his nose in his beloved Icha Icha. Still quiet, they cleaned their respective silverware and headed into their two separate bathrooms to shower. Fifteen minutes later, they both emerged, wearing only towels around their waist. Heading into their own rooms, they dressed before meeting each other on the couch in the living room.

"So how much did you make yesterday?" Kakashi asked lazily, propping his Icha Icha on his chest.

"Eighty five thousand. It was a basic challenge, jump off a 4 story building. Everyone survived the jump, only I survived the fight."

"Track running. It was me, Zabuza, and three others from Mist, Rain, Sound and Rock. Zabuza was with me until the very end. I'm sorry to have him gone, he was a good fight and a good man."

"I'd rather have you come back to me any day Kakashi. If I had to choose anyone's life, it would be yours."

"My life exists because of luck. There is nothing you could do to every change that fact. You had better not forget it." Kakashi got up and walked into his room, slamming the door behind him.

"How can I forget when every night I pray that your luck will hold out and you'll be safe at home once again? How can I forget when I love you so much?" Iruka whispered to the empty room.

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well...should i continue? actually, i've written a couple of chapters of this...they still need to be edited. this is the first time that i'm actually trying to write something that's longer than 1000 words.

feedback is really appreciated, especially something that might help with how to develop a plot well!

READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!!!! THANKS!