I, of course, don't own Naruto.

Dattebayo has logged in.

Dattebayo: What's up guys!

10-10: Naru! You're late!

Troublesome_Deer: Ten, you really thought he'd be on time?

10-10: Of course, it's about his job. He's supposed to be here earlier than us!

Dattebayo: Well, you see, Dolphin passed by and wanted to explain the details of our job. And he brought Ramen! How could I possibly deny?

10-10: ...of course, you'll choose ramen over us.

Troublesome_Deer: ...troublesome.

Dattebayo: Shikamaru, is the chat secure?

Troublesome_Deer: Avoid calling me like that if you're not sure!

Dattebayo: Whoops, sorry :P So, it is?

Troublesome_Deer: Yes, it is.

Dattebayo: See?

Troublesome_Deer: ...

10-10: Cut him some slack, Bambi. He's not a badass hacker like you. He can barely use his PDA.

Dattebayo: Hey! T_T

Troublesome_Deer: Bambi? And I'm a decker, not a hacker. There's like, a world of difference.

10-10: Yeah yeah. So, what's the job, ramen-boy?

Dattebayo: Delivery job. I need to get a package and take it to a place.

10-10: And you need our support for a delivery job?

Dattebayo: Yeah, I would prefer to do it alone. More money for me. No offense. ^_^''

10-10: None taken.

Troublesome_Deer: Same as above.

Dattebayo: But Dolphin and Scarecrow have insisted about it, you know. The whole "there's no milk run on this job", blah blah blah...the stuff veterans always say.

10-10: Yes, even Green Beast tells me and the boys the same thing, all the time.

Troublesome_Deer: So? Why are you asking our help? Even if they insisted, you could just do the job alone.

Dattebayo: Either I take some people to cover my ass, or Dolphin and Scarecrow won't pass me jobs anymore. -_-

10-10: Ouch. :P

Troublesome_Deer: Sucks to be you, mate.

10-10: How come you're not asking Sakura or Kiba?

Dattebayo: Job description ask for meeting the contact alone. Which means, long range support. That's you, Ten.

10-10: Do you expect trouble?

Dattebayo: Nah, just take the usual.

10-10: Lock & Load. ;)

Troublesome_Deer: You want me to hack into the CCTV of the area, right?

Dattebayo: How did you know? Here's the details.

Dattebayo shared an item.

Dattebayo: So? What do you think?

Troublesome_Deer: Hang on, troublesome. Checking. Is that Little Chiwa?

Dattebayo: Indeed it is.

10-10: Poor district, still up enough to not be a slum. Tall buildings, lots of alleys.

Dattebayo: Yep. The meeting place is inside one of them.

Troublesome_Deer: So, when are you suppose to pick up the package?

"Next stop, Little Chiwa," the synthetic voice of the monorail car's blurted.

Naruto opened his eyes, taking a moment to admire the view from the window in front of him.

The giant urban sprawl of Konoha looked just the same as always. A monolithic cold mass of concrete, metal, glass and streets.

Cold and unforgiving.

But the dawn...the dawn was beautiful.

It didn't help to soothe his irritation though. Having to work at such ungodly hour...at least it was an easy job.

He got up and walked towards the car's automated doors. The dirty car was empty, save for a pair of homeless people who were sleeping in the end of it, lying down on a row of seats.

This was not a busy line, especially at this hour of the day. All the wageworkers were still sleeping. Maybe, had he been able to have a normal life, he would have found a normal job with a stable paycheck. And he would be still sleeping.

The train finally reached the station, slowly decelerating before coming to a complete stop.

Naruto got out of the train as soon as the door opened with a hiss. He ignored the small assembly of nightshifters that started to board the vehicle to go back to their homes.

He felt a light buzz from his pocket, the sign of an incoming call on his PDA. Without stopping, he reached under his hood and pressed the earpiece connected with the device.

Naruto could see Shikamaru's face on his optic nerve, with information about the incoming call. He picked it up.

"I just arrived," he said, yawning.

"Yeah, I can see you from the station's security cameras," said Shika's voice. "What's up with the hoodie?"

"Camouflage. This way I'm just a random guy from the boondocks."

"You picked an orange one, Naruto," pointed out the bored voice of his friend.

"Orange is an awesome color," the blond defended.

"It's more noticeable and it stands out in a crowd," added Shika.

"It's the only thing noticeable about me, right now," Naruto insisted. "If anyone would ask, they would all remember the guy with an orange hoodie on. Not his face."

"Whatever, let's move on. I checked around the meeting place. Your contact hasn't arrived, yet."

"Bet fifty credits he's still asleep," snarked the young man. "Or he's already arrived and you can't see him."

"Or something went wrong," replied Shika.

"You're paranoid, man. It's just a delivery gig."

"Paranoia is what keeps us alive, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah. Kakashi says that all the time. Look underneath the underneath and so on."

"And he's still alive, with decades of experience."

Naruto had to roll his eyes, but conceded that his friend had a point.

"Back on the job," said Shika after a while. Naruto was now far from the station, he could barely see it, the sky was getting a little more bright. "Ten? Your status?"

Tenten's face appeared alongside the small icon with Shikamaru's picture, informing that she joined the call.

"I'm on in position, placing a nest. I can see the meeting place from here. Alley's empty."

"Any trouble entering?"

"Not really, but I had to use my last E-lock to enter in the building. I'll need to buy a new one, Naru. That's 250 credits as expenses on the job."

"Are you kidding me?!" sputtered Naruto."I need that money to pay a week's rent!"

"Sorry, Naru. You know how it is," said Tenten apologetically.

"I'm starting to think we shouldn't have taken you for this job, Ten," muttered Naruto.

"I'm here to cover your ass if things go south, blondy!" replied the girl on the comm.

"True, but I'll need to get another gig immediately after this if I want to arrive at the end of the month and still have a roof on my head!"

"Children, don't fight. I'll give those credits to Ten, alright?" interrupted Shikamaru before things could escalate.

"Are you sure Shika?" asked Naruto hesitantly, after a few seconds of walking in silence the half-deserted streets of Little Chiwa. Even Tenten hadn't replied.

"Yeah, I'm not risking my hide by being on the place in person, anyway," said the decker, matter of factly. Naruto could feel the shrug even by comm.

"Fine by me!" chirped Tenten.

"Thanks, Shika. I'll offer you something, next time we meet at the Watering Hole," said Naruto, smiling faintly.

"Yeah, ye—I've found our Mr. Suit, guys. A few blocks from the meeting place," Shika declared, his tone changing from 'lazy' to 'professional' in a heartbeat.

"That's good!" smirked the orange-clad young man.

"And he's not alone," added his friend with a cold tone.

"Aaaah, shit," murmured the blond. He hated complications on a job.

"Told you," sang Tenten on the PDA call.

"How many, Shika?" asked Naruto, avoiding to say something he might regret to the woman armed with a long-distance rifle.

"Wait...I'm cycling to the closest camera...there. We have five uninvited guests, accompanying our man."

"Armed, of course."

"Either that, or they're great fans of sportive bags. Ten?"

"Wait," replied the brunette's voice "I see them. They just turned into the alley, they're going towards our meeting place." said the girl, in her 'business' voice.

"That's five minutes from your location, Naruto," added Shika.

Naruto stopped in front of a shop's showcase, making a good show to actually observe the merchandise. An ammass of horrible junk. Who buys this stuff? It was even worse than kitch. Around him, people were starting to leave their condos, starting another day just like the day before.

"Suggestions?"

"I could always shoot all of them," said Tenten, cheerfully.

"You're joking, right?" snarked Naruto.

No response came.

"Please, tell me you're joking…" pleaded Naruto.

"Of course I am," replied finally Tenten. "Bullets ain't cheap."

"I lost them, there are no cameras in that point. I can hack a surveillance drone if you want," suggested Shika.

"No, they could spot it. Better avoid that. Tenten? Can you describe the guests to me?"

"Matching clothes, young. They're taking their weapons out of the sacks. SMGs, shotguns, and various pistols. Cheap stuff. No muzzle discipline, no tactical formation of any kind...probably a local gang, I can see the tattoos."

"Mr. Suit hired a bunch of gang bangers for protection? How can he know they'll not shoot him and steal his stuff?" said Shika with a stupefied tone.

"Probably didn't pay them yet. Still, an idiotic move from his part," muttered Naruto.

"Maybe Mr. Suit just wants to show some muscle and impress you?" called Shika after a while.

"Who knows? Are they setting up an ambush, Ten?"

"No. They're just...standing there. It's like a shooting range," replied the girl. She sounded genuinely confused about the 'guests' behavior.

"I don't like this a bit, anyway. think we should just drop the job, Naruto. But it's your call," claimed Shika with a final tone. "After all, it's your life on the line."

Naruto remained in silence for a while, not bothered by the crowd that was now marching up and down the walkway. Konoha was awakening.

He knew that he should have just ditched the job, and find something else maybe. But quitting at the first sign of problems wouldn't be professional. Rumors could start. Clients would be less likely to offer him jobs if they thought he was a quitter. It could take months to fix his reputation among his customer's circles.

Also, he needed that money. To pay the bills. To pay the rent. To pay for food.

And he was sure that Shika and Tenten did, too. Maybe less than him, but money was money.

"Naruto?" called Shika, waiting for his decision.

The blond kept looking at the awful merchandise inside the shop window without really seeing it.

He touched his chest, feeling the kevlar vest under the cheap hoodie. Reaching further down, he checked his pistol, hidden inside the hoodie's pouch, to be sure he could extract it quickly if the shit hit the fan.

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.

He ran a quick diagnostic on himself. He had made his decision.

"Alright," the young blond whispered.

"What did you say?" asked Shika, confused.

"I said that we do the job," said Naruto, leaving the horrible shop window and starting to walk again, navigating through the crowd. "Tenten, how does our Mr. Suit look?"

"Nervous. He keeps checking the watch."

"Alright, I can see the alley from here. Tenten, cover me. I'll do the usual signal if things go wrong."

"Got it, boss!" said the sharpshooter. Naruto could hear her taking the safety off.

"Anything you want me to do?" asked Shika. "Once you're in there, you'll not be able to talk to us. They would figure out that you've got support."

"Just do your thing and check the area around the block."

"Will do. Good luck."

Naruto entered the alley to finally have his business meeting.

Showtime.

He walked in slowly, but firmly, without showing any hesitation. His hands well visible and opened, to show that he wasn't carrying a weapon.

The men in the narrow passage saw him immediately, and tensed, watching him coming nearer and nearer.

'At least they didn't shoot me on sight,' he thought.

He quickly scanned the backstreet. It was dirty, humid, and it smelled bad. Probably because of a sewage drain in there, somewhere.

The place offered some cover, in case bullets started flying around, but nothing really reliable.

A rusty, broken husk of what probably once was a car, and some trash cans. A bullet with enough power could easily pass through them.

"Hello there!" he greeted.

The man in the middle was obviously his contact, Mr. Suit. It was, of course, a fake name. But it described him perfectly. Around thirty, shaved face, probably had received plastic surgery to look like a perfect businessman. His attire, that would have looked quite poor in the highest offices of the upper city, made him stand out inside the dirty alley much more than Naruto's hoodie. Especially since he was surrounded by five young gangers, with cheap clothes and bizarre hairstyles.

On his shoulder, he carried an hard-casing satchel. The package.

"Who are you?" asked the suited man, narrowing his eyes.

"Strawberry ice cream is the best," said Naruto, in an annoyed tone.

"But chocolate chip cookies are even better," replied the man, nodding.

"Sweeth tooth, Mister?" grinned Naruto. It was his best shit-eating grin. Guys like these, people that had the mania of passwords, playing cloak and dagger without knowing how it was to really live inside the shadows they tried to emulate…they irritated him.

"You're late," said Mr. Suit in a flat tone, ignoring Naruto's jab.

"And you're not alone," stated Naruto, matter-of-factly. He eyed the five goons. They looked brash, twitchy, and very nervous. Especially the one with the shotgun.

Analysis: Subject under influence of chemical substance.

'Great,' thought Naruto, clenching his jaw 'the asshole hired a bunch of junkies as bodyguards.'

His 'business partner' just glared at him for a few seconds, not saying anything.

"Huh, you know," said Naruto scratching his orange-cloaked head, breaking the silence, "this is supposed to be the part where you give me the package, and then we go our own separate ways."

The man stared at him passively for a few more seconds, before slowly taking a PDA out from his right pocket.

There were a few beeps as he pressed a pair of buttons on the display without breaking eye-contact, then he checked the screen. He smiled.

"Your customer made the transition. I will make mine," said Mr. Suit, before passing the satchel to one of the goons. Luckily for Naruto, it wasn't the one on high.

The hired muscle got close to him, slowly. His weapon was lowered, and his finger wasn't on the trigger. He offered the satchel's strap to Naruto.

For a single, eternal second, Naruto was sure that the easy, milk run job was over. Now he just had to go back to the station, travel to the other end of the city, get paid and call it a day.

Then the echo of gunshots was heard in the alley. Everybody froze. After a few seconds, they heard the sirens, getting closer.

"Oh, shit," muttered one of the gangers, with all his brainpower not burned by who knows what drug, "he's a cop!"

"What?! No!" exclaimed Naruto, as five weapons were pointed straight at him. They remained like that for a while, with the gangers pointing their guns, but watching towards Mr. Suit, as if asking for orders. All of them, but the guy with the shotgun, who was pointing it at Naruto with his shaky hands.

"Naruto," said a voice frantically on his earpiece. Shika's icon appeared in his vision, "there's been a robbery at a store, half a block ahead. The robbers were spotted by a police patrol right when they left the place, and a shooting started. They're not coming for you, so try to reason with them."

'What a rotten luck', thought the blond.

"Come on, do I look like a cop to you?" he said, in a dismissing tone, hands up.

"Naru!" stated Tenten. "I can drop them. Give me the signal."

He could have done it. He could have just closed his left fist, and Tenten would have started to open new holes in the junkie's bodies. But Naruto doubted that she would have been able to kill or incapacitate all of them before the automatic fire of their SMGs hit him somewhere vital, at close range.

He was resistant, true. But he didn't know how much, and didn't want to test it.

No, he could fix this mess avoiding bloodshed.

"How do you explain the sirens, then?" asked Mr. Suit in a cold tone.

By the Sage, this guy was such a tool!

"Didn't you hear the shots? They're not coming here. They don't know we're here! You already paid for the stuff, if this was a bust or something you would have been already surrounded by a SWAT team, don't be an idiot." explained Naruto, harshly.

He was thinking about it. Naruto could see the suit's eyes, too bad he was taking so long. The guy with the shotgun looked really eager to press the trigger.

'Come on, come on...'

Finally, Mr. Suit raised one hand in a placating gesture, signaling to his rent-a-mooks to lower their weapons.

'Yes!' exalted inwardly Naruto. He was pretty proud of himself, but didn't change his expression. He had to maintain appearance in front of the business associates.

Then a police over car passed right over their heads, ten stories above the alley. At top speed, with the sirens screaming.

Shotgun Junkie, startled by the sound of the law, raised his weapon, screaming.

A shot was fired.

The aim was awful, but part of the volley of pellets collided with Naruto's chest. And to the guy with the satchel's flank.

Naruto fell down because of the impact, but the vest under the hoodie had probably saved his life. Satchel Guy wasn't so lucky. His left flank exploded, spraying blood in the alley and on Naruto's clothes.

As Naruto touched the ground, a red, gaping hole opened above Shotgun Junkie's left lobe, freezing his demented expression on his face as his corpse fell to the ground.

Tenten had started to gain her paycheck.

Seeing two of their own going down, even if one was a case of friendly fire, the remaining goons panicked.

Naruto, still breathless from the buckshot's hit, saw three gun's barrels pointed at him, again.

Mr. Suit, instead of stopping them, dived for cover behind the ruined car, swearing.

The ganger in the the middle jerked back as his chest was punctured by a round, courtesy of Tenten.

In his descending arc, he squeezed the trigger of his submachine gun. Bullets were sprayed on the alley's walls, ricocheting everywhere, forcing the other two young gangers to step aside to avoid being killed by their friend's weapon.

This gave Naruto two, maybe three more seconds before they decided to empty their mags on his prone form.

At his side, he saw the fallen weapon of the guy with the satchel. He grabbed it, since its owner didn't need it anymore. Pointing it low against the two gangers, he opened fire, spray-and-pray style.

No time for finesse.

Firing multiple rounds, he peppered their lower limbs, basically kneecapping them. They collapsed on the ground, clutching their legs.

"Naruto! Are you alright?!" almost screamed Tenten into his ear.

"I'm...fine, Ten," he said, slowly getting up, letting go of the empty, useless gun. "I'm just a little winded, that's all."

In front of him, the two gangers were prone, moaning and rolling in pain.

As they saw Naruto getting up, one of them, with a mohawk hairstyle and facial tattoos, gritted his teeth and tried to reach for his fallen weapon.

Naruto sprinted towards him, ignoring the fading ache on his chest. He kicked the wounded man's chin, still running. The blond felt a few teeth going loose.

Then, just to be sure, he grabbed the man's collar with one hand, slamming his head on the concrete with enough force to knock him out.

As Naruto composed himself, the last conscious ganger started rambling about how he wanted his mother. The young blond watched him, as he went to take the satchel that was laying a few meters before.

The ganger was younger than Naruto himself, probably under eighteen. He was on the verge of crying because of his wounds. Naruto kicked him in the head, so that he would not suffer until a medical unit could find them.

Then he finally recovered the satchel. He still had a job to finish.

'But first…' he thought, looking to the place where had hidden himself.

Naruto strode towards the car wreck, not surprised at finding the "businessman" curled up in the little space offered by the broken vehicle, trembling.

He clutched the older man by the neck, and pinned him on the brick wall. The man tried to struggle, but Naruto just strengthened his grip.

"You idiotic piece of shit!" he yelled in Mr. Suit's face.

"Naruto," called Shika on the comm. The blond just ignored him.

"You brought junkies to a simple package delivery? How stupid are you?!"

Mr. Suit tried to respond, but Naruto was so furious that he was practically strangling him.

"Naruto!"

"WHAT?!" he asked, yelling so loudly that some spit landed on the man's face.

"...look towards the street," said Shika, hesitantly.

Naruto did. He saw street where he had came from, the sun was finally shining on the city, accentuating the difference between the main street and the dark, narrow alley.

Three bodies were sprawled dawn, immobile, just outside of the passage. Five more people were twitching, screaming in pain.

He had been so focused on the short firefight, that he hadn't realized that the ricocheting bullets fired by the ganger had crossed all their way to the end of the alley. The morning crowd was so clumped on the walkway that even a few stray shots had hit multiple targets.

No, not targets.

People.

People that weren't involved in this mess.

Naruto's eyes glared at the man which he was holding the neck. He lifted him until the tips of the imitation shoes were barely touching the ground.

Naruto smelled urine.

Mr. Suit had lost what remained of his cool exterior and had wet himself.

"Naruto! Police units are closing in. They're just out of the alley, you have to get out of there!" communicated frantically Shika.

"Yes, Naru. I can see them. Run!" said Tenten.

He had to run, yes.

But Bastard had to pay.

"Hey," he asked to the man, easing his grip enough to make him talk. "Are you left-handed or right-handed?"

"Huh?" coughed the man, stupefied from Naruto's question.

"Left hand or right hand. Which one do you use to write?"

"The left one," replied finally Mr. Suit, confused "But why—"

In a swift motion, Naruto twisted the mentioned hand, breaking a few bones into it

Mr. Suit let out an anguished scream. He wouldn't write with his left hand for a while.

Naruto let him go, and started to run towards the other end of the alley.

It was then that he heard the other voices behind him.

"Freeze! Hands up!"

He just kept running. The blond heard the wounded Mr. Suit scream for help, and saying something about the bodies. Naruto wasn't listening.

"Stop now or I'll shoot!" intimated the cop's voice.

Then he heard the sound of a bullet impacting the concrete. No sound of gunshot. What—

"Oh shit!" said in alarm the same voice. "Sniper! Go to cover!"

"Ten, what did you do?!" asked Naruto, worried that his friend made a terrible mistake.

Cop killers were hunted down like rabid dogs, everybody knew that.

"Relax, Naru. It was just a warning shot, I missed him of at least half a meter. That way, they'll try to find me, instead of chasing you. Or shooting you," added the girl with a snark.

"But—"

"Enough of this. I'm leaving the nest, by the time they get here I'll be long gone. Shika, take Naruto to safety, I'm counting on you," said Tenten.

"I will, Ten. Good luck," replied Shika. After he said so, Tenten's icon disappeared from Naruto's vision. "Alright Naruto, the police are already sending out a dispatch about a suspect with an orange-hoodie. Ditch it."

"Told you it was a good plan!" replied Naruto, as he arrived on the other end of the alley. He kept running, passing through the people and dodging the traffic. Luckily for him it was a local street and not a freeway. As he arrived to the other side of it, he entered the first passage he found. He could hear more sirens in the distance.

"Shika? What can you tell me about these policemen? What company are they from?"

Police, like everything, was private these days. If you had the responsibility of managing a district and you wanted some form of public order, you had to pay a police company to have that.

And the company had jurisdiction only inside areas where they had a contract.

A lot of times, if a suspect was able to escape their jurisdiction, they would let him go.

There were some cops who still chased the fugitive and took him back into their territory, kicking and screaming, and then arrested him.

But they were exceptions.

"They're...UPP. Uchiha Private Police," said Shikamaru grimly.

"FUCK!"

The Uchiha Private Police was one of the biggest companies, along with ANBU Security and a few, selected others. Their jurisdiction was huge. Their equipment was the top, almost-military grade.

Naruto had a lot of running to do.

"Kage Bushin," he muttered without stopping.

KAGE BUSHIN, ENGAGED.

Lines of light surrounded Naruto's running form for a second, with a low buzzing sound. Once they vanished, another orange-clad blond was running besides him.

Naruto stopped, as the decoy kept running. Unzipping his hoodie, he threw it inside a trash can.

The solid clone would last for a few minutes, or until something hit him.

Strapping the satchel to his body, Naruto started to run in a different direction from the holographic projection.

If he had any luck, he would be able to disappear before the Uchiha would understand that they had been fooled.

His shift was almost over.

He left the 24/7 market where he usually crashed at the end of his night with a steaming cup of coffee, nodding to the clerk as he exited the door. The cheap caffeine would have helped him drive at least towards the station after the long night.

Not before giving his usual report, of course. That could take an hour or two, another hour to go home and then he could fall asleep on the bed without a problem.

It had been an easy night. Only two robbing attempts, three brawls in two different pubs and an attempted rape. He would probably gloss over in his report about how the perp for the last one was injured in the groin area.

The agent knew why he had been assigned that shift, of course. It was because his vicinity to that man.

That was the reason why he got all the shitty shifts. Not in the slums, of course. Too rough for a cop that always patrolled alone because of a "personnel shortage". He had always found himself assigned to poor districts with some gang activity, but not so much that required a big presence of their forces.

He was sure that someone way up in the company hoped that he would die in the streets, killed in a fight with a gang or during a drug bust. A few of the company councilors lost some old-time friends during that night, and they were holding a grudge against that man.

And they had started to redirect that grudge to him when he started to work in the force.

It wasn't just the higher-ups that rendered his life more problematic. Even the veterans in the police units joked about how he was good, but not good enough.

They still compared him to him.

But he would show them. He would show it to all of them.

His thoughts were interrupted by an incoming call from the central command.

"To all units in Little Chiwa. Multiple 187, some wounded. Medical units inbound. Suspect fleeing from the scene, local units are under fire, not able to pursuit." said the dispatch voice.

He sighed. He was almost over with his shift…

"Dispatch, here is Unit 7. Do they need back up?"

"Negative Unit 7, your orders are to pursue the suspect. Suspect is wearing an orange hooded sweatshirt and—"

Orange? Could it be...nah.

"Dispatch repeat. Did you say that the suspect is wearing an orange hoodie?"

"Confirmed, the suspect is wearing an orange hoodie. Suspect is to be considered armed and dangerous. He is using solid holograms as decoys. Last seen a few blocks from your position, I'm sending the waypoint to your bike. Good hunt, Unit 7."

Shit, it was!

Sasuke Uchiha gulped down the whole coffee mug in one swig before jumping on his motorbike and starting the engine.

'Naruto Uzumaki...You won't get away this time!'

Activating his Sharingan implant, he swiftly raced through the traffic, his face set with determination.

A\N: There you go, this is one of the various side projects I have. Please give feedback, but keep in mind that my main focus for the time being will be Drunken Space-Time Ninjutsu.