-Bellagio Hotel Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada-
-March 30, 2005, 1045h local-
"You went in there with him!?" Pepper shouted angrily. She started pacing back and forth again. "And you're the one who wanted to go with! What if you've been hurt or worse, killed!"
"Well, I'm not that hurt, am I..." Tony said while checking his body for any injuries. He only saw a small gash by his temple. "Besides, you should have seen Naruto. The guy is a force of nature. He took out everyone without a gun..." Tony took on a contemplative face. "Maybe I should hire him as a bodyguard. He can take on an army."
"What? No! You and that guy got in more trouble together than should be possible. My hair is turning white just thinking about what would happen." Pepper immediately denied the idea.
Tony just laughed nervously. Pepper immediately had a bad feeling. She stopped pacing and stared
"What did you do?" Pepper asked dangerously.
"You remember the final bet?" Tony asked, his nervousness showing.
"Yes." Pepper drawled out.
"Well, It's not only the three favors that I gave. I also would give him a room on LA and give him engineering and computer lessons." Tony said, waiting for the inevitable blow-up.
"What!?" Pepper reacted. She sat down next to Tony and took a deep breath. "Just, just continue with what happened." Pepper said, giving up on the prospect of a dark future ahead of her.
"Uh, sure." Tony said, hoping not to agitate Pepper more.
~Flashback continue~
Ricardo Falcone is a high positioned member of the Bianchi crime family. Although not related to the Bianchi's, his father was one of the first outsiders who joined the crime family. His father's resourcefulness and loyalty allowed him to rise quickly through the ranks.
He inherited the loan shark gig from his father and allowed it to grow to a profitable venture for the family.
Ricardo would always be loyal to the Bianchi's, that's why he ordered his men not to join any faction between Vinnie and Giovanni. He would usually join Vinnie's camp since what Giovanni did goes against everything of what a family stands for, but the family needs to survive the aftermath.
Whatever happens between the brothers, the family would need capital to recover, and bringing everyone in for the confrontation would just fracture the family and increase the damage that would happen. That's his reason and what he told the two when they called for his support. They really can't question his loyalty since he's been loyal from the start.
He slept in one of the family's bases to make sure that if someone retaliated for him not joining any sides, he would be as far away from his family as possible. The eight-man guard is just extra precaution. He would be proven right to have them, but it wouldn't do a thing for what's to come. At least it's not one hostile Bianchi brother that came for him.
Ricardo is looking at the clock, waiting for it to strike 2. That's when the Bianchi brothers would meet, and the fate of the family would be decided.
He was lounging on the sofa with his men when someone knocked on the door. Everyone immediately tensed up and drew their weapons. The situation they are in had everyone on edge.
The knocking continued until one of the guys closer to the door peak through the eyehole. He saw a blonde guy with shades wearing a hoodie. He's relatively young too. The guard walked over to Ricardo and said,
"There's some blonde guy on the other side of the door. Early 20's, I reckon."
"Check what he wants. Just be prepared for anything." Ricardo advised.
The guard nodded and walked back to the door. He unlocked the door except for the door chain and opened it.
"What do you want?" He said, trying to be more intimidating.
"Hi!" Naruto said in an overly cheery voice. "I'm looking for a Ricardo Falcone."
The guard drew his pistol and pointed it at the guy behind the door, ready to kill him if he did anything wrong.
"There's no one here by that name. Leave." The guard closed the door while still pointing his gun at it. He walked towards his boss and said, "He's looking for you. I sent him away."
"Good. We don't want any distractions tonight." Ricardo said. As soon as everyone sat down, they heard another knock on the door.
The guard jogged to the door, annoyed and ready to turn the guy away again. When he was trying to reach for the door, it suddenly burst open.
Naruto saw the guy running to the door with his Shinigan. This was the perfect moment to attack. They would be unprepared, thinking that the same guy is just looking for their boss again.
He kicked the door open and immediately disabled the guard with precise and accurate attacks on the guards tenketsus. He saw everyone frozen in their spot. He ran towards the center of the room. He lowered himself and extended both of his hands and said,
"You're within the range of my divination. Eight Trigrams 64 palms."
He hit each person left mobile in the room, including Ricardo Falcone, eight times, effectively temporarily paralyzing everyone. He dragged everyone and lined them up on the wall.
"You can come in now!" Naruto said towards the hallway.
Tony saw almost everything that happened by peaking by the end of the hallway near the staircase. He was pretty sure his gun wouldn't do a thing even at this distance. What he can't figure out is how did Naruto paralyze everyone with only a few pokes here and there.
Tony walked towards the apartment and saw Naruto looking over a guy in a grey three-piece suit.
"That's Ricardo Falcone. Holy shit, That's a big catch." Tony said with a little bit of shock. He didn't expect some of the big guys to be here.
"Yup! Can you check the cabinet for files or anything incriminating? Take a picture of everything if you can. Call the cops too before we leave." Tony nodded to Naruto's request but not before mumbling about something about him not being his sidekick.
Tony began checking through the drawers and cabinets. He laid out every document he could find and laid it out on the table, and took photos of everything.
While Tony was doing that, Naruto was opening up some tenketsus on Falcone so he can be mobile enough to ask some questions.
"Where's your boss?" Naruto asked so he can take down the crime family straight from the top quickly.
Falcone just kept his mouth shut, knowing that someone like this guy going after Vinnie during his showdown might as well cause the family collapse.
Seeing that Falcone wouldn't talk without some extreme measures which he can't use since apparently torture is frowned upon in this world. He applied a small genjutsu on him to make him more cooperative. Due to the atrophied chakra network of the residents of this world, Falcone can't even put up a fight against the genjutsu.
"I'm going to ask again, where's your boss?"
"He's at the abandoned warehouse north of the city where the underground fights usually happen." Falcone said, not adding the part about the Bianchi brothers showdown since he wasn't explicitly asked about it.
Naruto knocked out Falcone and went over to get Tony.
"You done here?" Naruto asked.
"Yep just about. Can't believe the dirt on these guys, and it's only one side of their business." Tony said while fixing up the file on the table. Tony then jogged out of the door, followed by Naruto but not before taking a photo of the guards and Falcone. He texted a contact he has from the FBI about what they found out. He's pretty high up the ladder to make sure the Bianchi can't bury the case.
When they got in the car, Naruto said,
"We should go to the warehouse district. Do you know the address of their base there? If not, I can guide you."
"Yeah, one of their bases is around there..." Tony started the car and drove north. "You know, what we did back there was kinda fun even though I didn't do much."
"What are you saying? You did most of the work. I just beat those guys down." Naruto reassured.
When they were nearing the warehouse, Naruto told Tony to pull over.
" Why'd you want me to stop here? We're still two blocks away." Tony argued.
"We might encounter guards outside since their boss is there. It's easier to sneak in on foot than this huge car." Naruto said, already knowing that there are guards posted outside with two factions meeting on the inside of the warehouse. He formed a plan quickly in his head that would make them do the least amount of work.
Tony almost banged his head on the steering wheel for not thinking about it. The two immediately dismounted the car and walked towards the warehouse. They're sticking in the shadows with Naruto still on point.
When they were a building away from the warehouse, Naruto pointed an alleyway for them to enter.
"Here's the plan. I want you to find a way to get on top of the warehouse and go down to the catwalk. I'm going to cause a distraction. When you see it, fire your weapon. After that, hang tight and enjoy the show." Naruto said with a grin.
Tony had no idea why Naruto would plan something like that, but seeing Naruto operate, he just decided to trust Naruto with this. But still, he has a question.
"What's the distraction?" Tony asked.
"You'll know it when you see it." Naruto said. Tony just nodded to the vague answer.
The two separated with Naruto running towards a shadow and somehow disappearing in it. In his slightly intoxicated state, he just dismissed the event.
Tony lurked around the warehouse, looking for a way up, making sure he was sticking to the shadows. He finally saw a fire escape.
Tony climbed up the ladder. He looked around to look for any guards. Seeing none, he proceeded to go to the skylight and drop down it to the catwalk.
Naruto's plan finally made sense when he saw the scene inside the warehouse. He didn't even question how he knew. There looks like two groups with the two older guys leading the groups. They looked like to be talking calmly, but an undercurrent of tension can be seen on everyone.
While he was looking over the developing situation, he finally understood what the distraction was. Thick white smoke was rolling in from every crevice. He had no idea how naruto did it, but it was goddamned effective. Tony aimed at the back of one group and fired.
All hell broke loose. Both factions were already tense before the smokescreen, but the tension skyrocketed after it. The sound of gunfire immediately prompted both sides to fire in the general direction of their enemy. Gunfire was raining from both sides, hitting enemies and allies alike due to the smoke. The only one unharmed were the two older guys who have been protected and pulled away pretty fast.
The fighting was just about to die down when a bullet flew past Tony, causing him panic and backpedaled. He tripped backward and hit his head on the guide bars of the catwalk. This immediately knocked him out.
Naruto saw this happen even though he's quite the distance away watching the situation unfold. He always kept an eye on Tony to make sure he's safe. He knew the bullet wouldn't Tony, but he should've accounted for the instinctual reactions of civilians. He immediately shunshined to Tony's location and checked on his vitals. Naruto finally took a relaxing breath when he determined that Tony was just knocked out cold.
Losing his patience for the fighting to stop entirely, Naruto threw another smoke bomb, covering further the whole warehouse with smoke. He jumped down and used his Shinigan to determine all the conscious or abled bodies left inside the warehouse.
Naruto determined that there are 15 people left able to fight back, excluding the two leaders. They're both hiding behind some crates on the far side of the room.
He rapidly struck down all the fighters with a little less finesse than he used on Falcone's men. He has some little leeway on the damage since both sides are already shooting at each other. Naruto used a combination of intercepting fist and gentle fist fighting style. He struck down everyone he came up against while hiding himself in the smoke. The high-speed bullets certainly made the fight a little more enjoyable.
When every one of the guards is down or dead, Naruto attacked temporarily paralyzed both of the leaders and dragged them to the middle of the room.
Naruto was going to start asking questions when he heard the sirens indicating the cops are nearby. They must have responded to the gunshot reports from the area. He gave up on trying to get more information and just decided to bug out. He picked up Tony and sealed his guns. He shunshined towards the car and sealed it too after making sure that no one is around.
Naruto only used shunshin all the way to the hotel, since he hadn't left a hiraishin tag in there. When he reached the underground parking of the Bellagio, he unsealed the car in the garage and shunshined towards Tony's penthouse. He looked for Tony's room. When he found it, he left Tony on the bed and walked away, making sure the door is closed behind him.
Naruto walked towards the penthouse door and said to himself,
"What a night. I think I earned myself a little ramen." Before going out and finding somewhere who serve ramen in this city at this time.
~Flashback end~
"That's all I remember..." Tony finished his story. "Where's Naruto anyway?" he asked while looking around the penthouse with Pepper following him.
"I don't know. I didn't saw anyone when I came here 2 hours ago." Pepper said.
"Happy's missing too." Tony stated his observation.
"He's with Joey and the Feds giving their statements. Don't worry; there's a lawyer with them." Pepper reassured. She's one of the people who's managing the damage control for Tony and this Naruto's mess.
"Just let them tell the truth. That two guys took down a criminal empire in Vegas that everyone else can't." Tony said, with a proud smile.
Pepper just took a deep calming breath and said,
"Just call your lawyers and work it out with them before giving a statement. I'm going to try to find your friend."
Tony poured himself a cup coffee and looked behind her.
"No need, he's right behind you." Tony said with a grin.
Pepper immediately turned around and saw a blonde-haired guy with blue eyes wearing a hoodie. He was eating a cup of instant noodles using chopsticks. What infuriated her more than she already is was the carefree look he has.
"You!" Pepper shouted while pointing at Naruto.
"Me?" Naruto asked dumbly, not following the conversation.
"Yes, you! What do you have to say for yourself? Dragging around my boss across town to bring down the mob!"
Naruto's expression took on something like he finally understood something. He took on a cheerful smile. It was Tony's turn to feel the chill running down his spine, seeing the smile in Naruto's face.
"Oooh! You must be Pepper..." Naruto said while extending his hand. Pepper just shook Naruto's hand, getting swept by his friendly demeanor. "Did Tony finally asked you for a date? That's why you're here, right?"
Tony spat his coffee, hearing Naruto's question.