Koyo took a moment in the gambling house to catch his breath and cool down a little. Running around the makeshift village set up for this festival, acting as a for-hire tour guide and "ambassador" for the various rich visitors wishing to engage in culture and to interact with those less well off, was not work for the physically meek.

Or, as he mused in his more cynical moments, for those who took major umbrage at being, however unintentionally, demeaned. At having the rich and storied tapestry of your people's history and culture reduced to a few foods and funny hats.

But the fact was that the Land of Grass was doing a fine job of tearing apart its own culture without any help from outsiders. That was why he was willing to do this. Because he would do anything to be able to afford to get his family out of the turmoil that was slowly but steadily engulfing their home.

It was why his daughter was with his wife working their herbs and tea stand. Not because he wanted to get his little girl mixed up in a village made up almost entirely of casinos, bars, and the half-psychotic super beings called ninja. But because the wide eyes of an innocent little girl were a sales tactic that they couldn't afford to discard.

The patrons of this gambling house, at the very least, seemed to keep things clean and respectful. Even the high rollers, though given the whispers around the room said that the man in the very back was the head of a clan, perhaps they were just on their best behavior.

Koyo was just about to walk towards the door when he saw a girl wearing a metal headband stride right past the counter and right to where that clan head was sitting.

Unbidden, Koyo's mind went back to those trashy spy thrillers that Noriyo had read as a guilty pleasure ever since they were kids (and secretly continued to even after they'd had Himeko). In those books, shinobi went to casinos for only two purposes:

1. To rob the place

2. To receive information covertly by winning hands of cards

Most of the content of those books was probably trash, but Koyo figured it might be time to see if there was a kernel of truth within them.

Walking back, Koyo saw that the clan head had to be quite a skilled gambler, given the large pile of chips that sat in front of him. Yet the girl agreed to play cards against him for some other kind of special coin. A rather poor choice given her stated inexperience with gambling and the man's obvious skill with it.

So, Koyo took the very small stipend he had allowed himself for bets during this festival, and placed a side bet with the dealer that the girl would win. Given the clear disparity of skill, all of the money in the audience was going the other way, making his potential payout as large as possible. And he was pretty sure she would come out victorious.

After all, how could she receive an information drop if there wasn't an exchange of winnings to hide that drop in?

When the girl won, however, she seemed genuinely surprised. And then was only handed a single token for her efforts. Not really something an information exchange could be hidden in. It seemed she really was just playing an honest game of cards.

Noriyo was never going to let him live this down, taking a gamble because her books and then winning only by sheer luck. He'd take the teasing though when it meant he made more in a few minutes than he'd probably make the last few days of the festival.

Once the proper tournament started, every paying customer would be stuck in the stands for most of the day. So he had to make the most of today's daylight hours.

Walking back to the little hovel behind their stand that his family squished themselves into for the festival, Koyo reflected that for all that there was to genuinely complain about, he'd take it all. The blood, sweat and tears, the demeaning of himself, all of it.

Because this, what laid behind the door he was opening, was what made it all worth it.

"Daddy!" cried little Himeko as she jumped into his arms to be spun around, something which he would always oblige.

"And how was your day, my little princess?"

"Great! Guess what, guess what?!" Himeko proudly puffed out her chest. "I made my first sale!"

Koyo glanced at Noriyo, cutting vegetables in the makeshift kitchen, and from her expression it seemed at least so far the story was true.

"Oh really? So you're a chip off the old block?"

"Uh-huh. I convinced them to buy it, I counted the money, and gave them their herbs all by myself!"

"Well now, I just have to hear the whole story." After being set down, Himeko ran to grab Maru and cuddle with her dad on the couch. Then she got to the vital task of relaying this Very Important Information.

"Okay, after lunch I was standing in the front of the stall with Momma like you told me to. Then a kitty ran by! But it was really fast! I could barely see it run down the street!"

She leaned in close to whisper, "I think it was a ninja kitty!"

Another glance at Noriyo, who by this time had finished and was sitting on their daughter's other side to make the cuddle pile complete, once again told Koyo that so far Himeko was telling the truth.

"A ninja kitty? Really? How do you know?"

"Becauuuse Daddy, three ninja came chasing after it! Two grumpy boys and a pretty girl with funny eyes!"

Koyo chuckled, "There's a lot of ninja in the town right now honey. They're all taking an exam. How do you know these three were after the kitty?"

"Cause one of the grumpy boys had a ninja puppy! To catch the ninja kitty!"

Before he could once more look to her, Noriyo cut in. "It's all true dear. A team from Konoha by the looks of it, an Inuzuka, a Hyuuga and the Last Uchiha."

'That’s right' Koyo remembered, 'those trashy spy thrillers tended to make their main characters lost heirs or forgotten members of various clans with just barely enough deniability to not get angry ninja at their door. At least they proved to be actually useful for once.'

"So then, Himeko, how did you hook them and reel them in?"

"Wellllll, we have those leaves that Maru goes all silly over." She took a moment to snuggle the cat comfortably napping in her lap. "So I thought maybe the ninja kitty would like some too!"

Koyo took a moment to give some scritches to the stray that Himeko years ago had found and refused to let go of. He deserved that much for leading to Himeko being so happy and proud.

"So I yelled out to them that I had a plant that might attract the ninja kitty. They looked like they really wanted to buy it!"

"You made sure to sell it at a good price, right?"

"Of course Daddy!"

"That's my girl!"

Later that night, when he and Noriyo are lying in bed, she does playfully harangue him for his hasty decision making. But given the results, the both of them can only really be happy. It was a bit of good fortune that Koyo has happy to let slip from his mind.

Or, at least it was until a couple days later when the betting books came out. Koyo had made it a priority of becoming familiar with one, not so much to place bets but to be familiar with the competitors so that he could make conversation with potential customers. Thumbing through it that morning, he came across a picture of SHIKAko nara, whose teammates were INO yamanaka and CHOji akimichi.

And who had won off an INO/SHIKA/CHO.

It was so blatant that he could only respect the audacity, not of cheating to win but cheating to get that specific result. It all but said "Yes, I cheated. What are you going to do about it?"

There must have been something that he had missed. He'd been staring right at her and hadn't seen any cheating. More to the point, there were, in the crowd around the table, other ninja who had been staring right at her and hadn't seen any cheating.

Oh, she was good. There was certainly more than met the eye there. When he showed this to Noriyo, she became excited at the prospect of one of her novels actually having some real life truth. She told him to go ahead and bet on the girl to win her first round match. Someone that good at something so trivial as cheating at cards obviously had their fighting skills up to snuff and wouldn't be a first or second round exit. Otherwise, they wouldn't bother with trivial abilities.

It wasn't often Noriyo encouraged him to gamble, and Koyo figured even they were wrong and it was all just insane luck, it didn't matter. Because that's the sort of luck you wanted to attach yourself to.

As a resident of the Land of Grass, he got free entrance into the tournament. Probably more a consequence of the Hidden Grass village trying to create better relations with the civilian population than any genuine generosity, but free was free.

So Koyo was able to skip the lines and find a booth to place his bet on Shikako Nara before anyone had hardly come in. Ticket in hand, he quickly found a seat near the front, but out of everyone's way.

Koyo would admit that there was a thrill in seeing what seemed to be supernatural powers on display in a setting where no one was getting too seriously hurt. The sight of elements like wind or lightning being wielded as easily as a shovel or a plow was not one he would soon forget. And much more pleasing than the few aftermaths of such fights that he had seen in real life.

He was most thrilled, however, to have been proven right about Shikako Nara. It took someone mighty to be able to marshal the forces of nature to their cause, it was true. But how much greater was the one who could succeed in their cause while barely having to lift a hand?

Shikako showed off the mastermind brain in her head even after obtaining easy victory. It was mildly impressive that she had memorized the guidebook page in Koyo's lap, but it was much more striking when she began rattling off information about the inner workings of Kumo's teams that no Leaf ninja ought to have.

Based off of that performance, Koyo was sure that when actually forced to fight Shikako Nara would show exactly how mighty she was. So, after her match, Koyo went down to let his original bet and winnings ride with Shikako Nara to the next round. It was a much busier throng this time, filled with accents of from foreign lands, including and especially from the tellers.

From the outside looking in, having someone not from Hidden Grass running the betting book was perhaps in the interest of keeping things fair and honest, as much as any ninja could be those things. To Koyo, it just signaled how divided the ninja in this land really were. That Hidden Grass would have to resort to outside groups to run parts of these exams was as sad as it was entirely predictable.

Indeed, the teller Koyo approached to bet once more on Shikako Nara had an odd accent he didn't have a hope of placing.

"Really mate?" The bookie cocked his head, "Don't get me wrong, she's got nice long odds on her, but it's not often we see someone bet against ninja from their own village."

Koyo was suddenly very glad for the privacy of the booths and that Hidden Grass was not running the betting. He hadn't realized exactly who she was facing in the second round. Koyo quickly thumbed through his betting book. Muku….his features looked familiar….oh good lord he was a Kantokusha, wasn't he?

Koyo and his family had made it this long through the civil war by keeping neutral and out of sight, out of anyone's notice. Even with a foreigner behind the desk, he would have to toe this line carefully.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. I just had some luck earlier with her and I've got a gut feeling it might hold for another round. I'm prepared to lose when the long shot doesn't pay out."

The bookie took his cash and started writing out a ticket.

"No judgement here mate. Besides, it's probably one of the smartest best of tourney anyway. Most of the bettin' on that match has nothing to do with the skill of the ninja."

"Oh?"

"See, you got the local folks bettin' on the local boy. Then you got outside folks bettin' on the local boy cause they figure Grass has stacked everything they can in his favor. Then you have a third group who sees all this bettin' on the local boy and they figure it must be easy money, even if it isn't a lot."

The bookie handed Koyo his ticket.

"With all this bettin', we've had to push the odds further and further just to make sure we break even. And that, my friend, means you stand to make a good deal if your girl can pull through."

Hours later, long after Koyo had gone home and bathed in the twin lights of his life, Koyo made a discovery.

That bookie was either used to dealing with huge sums of money, or was a master of understatement.

After taking another glance at how much he still needed to fund their exodus, Koyo recalculated how much he stood to make by winning this next bet. If Koyo had done his math right, then….this….this was it.

It would be enough to get his darling and his little girl away. They'd be able to afford to move outside of the brewing civil war.

He'd been smart about his gambling. He'd already set aside, to not be touched, more than he would have ever made during these exams anyway. So if she lost, he was still better off than he expected to be. But….

But….

If Shikako Nara could pull off the upset….

His family could finally be safe.

Koyo was not a particularly religious man, but he spent that night praying to every deity, spirit, and kami he could think of to give that girl victory.

More nervous than he had been even when proposing to Noriyo, and with a piece of paper in his pocket that felt like it weighed two tons, Koyo walked into the stands and found his seat from yesterday.

Perhaps it was just those nerves, but he couldn’t help but picture some of the kids fighting in the first two matches as monsters from the stories of hold. A red haired djinn that could control sand down to the individual grain. A cold-eyed mistress of the wind that was only defeated by one whose eyes seemingly stared deeper than any other.

But soon enough, it was time for Shikako Nara's fight.

Koyo would admit that his heart fell when he saw Shikako do the same. Of course a Kantokusha would know the chakra restraining technique they used in the Blood Prison. The clan had boasted quite often to the rest of Hidden Grass about how superior the technique was and that everyone in their clan worth their salt knew it. And he had managed to use it here.

But, she kept fighting. Koyo couldn't help but see the clear metaphor of his own life. The scratching and clawing for any sort of purchase, not despite the odds you fought against but precisely because the world was stacked against you.

When that explosion went off and all the ninja around him acted surprised, hope began to grow in Koyo's heart. Despite having no chakra, she still might pull it off.

When she managed to do so, that hope combusted with a detonation that was as disorienting and blinding as any tag. Amidst the scattered applause and much more common boos and jeers, Koyo slowly got up from his seat and walked back toward the betting book in a trance.

She'd done it. She'd won. And he'd won too. The struggle was over. The fight was won. It was only the fact that he was still in shock that meant he didn't start crying while trying to find the kind bookie he had used yesterday.

"Hey now! Here's our big winner! You here to cash out?"

Koyo managed to break out of his stupor long enough to nod.

"I can do that for ya, but it's probably not best for you to be seen with a big bag of winnings right after the hometown hero has taken a beatin'."

That sobered up Koyo right quick, for once again the bookie was more right than he knew. It was bad enough to bet against a ninja from one of the sides of the civil war. To get a big payday from it like this? That was sure to scream that he was being bribed in some way by the other side.

"However, if you're willing to put a small bit of it on another bet, I'm allowed to put all of it onto different tickets to be redeemed later. You know, when the timing's less conspicuous."

Koyo didn't know which kami he had pleased to have such a helpful bookie, but he vowed to continue to please them. Out of habit, he looked up at the board to Shikako Nara's next fight, but couldn't make sense of all the numbers by it.

"Ah, lookin' at your girl's next fight? Well, the boy she's facing had a reputation before he ever came here. To get people to bet, we had to put over/unders on how long his matches would last."

And then the numbers fell into place. There were odds for less than 30 seconds, 30 seconds-1 minute, 1-5 minutes, 5-10 minutes, 10-15 minutes, 15-20 minutes, 20-30 minutes, and over 30 minutes. Koyo knew not to press his luck any farther than he had to. Shikako had already delivered them salvation just with his winnings, but he could make a show of faith here.

"I'd like to let my original bet ride to the next round, and for it to be only that Shikako Nara will cover the over on your timetable. The rest just put on another ticket that I'll deal with when I deal with the one you're writing out."

"Alright then. Here's your bettin' ticket for tomorrow's match, and your pay stub to be redeemed tomorrow. Best you get here early. Your match is the first one of the day and from the rumors I've been hearing, it's supposed to be a belta!"

Koyo immediately left the stadium and did his best to not run, sprint, skip, or do cartwheels and backflips on his way back to his family stand.

When did get back there, he hugged Himeko with the same ferocity he had when she had first been born, kissed Noriyo with the passion he had the first day she had been his wife and sent Himeko to play with the kids at a cater-cornered stall.

After a passionate and joyous, if tear-filled, explanation as to what had gotten into him, Koyo and Noriyo closed their stand and commenced the sort of celebrating that had given them Himeko.

That evening, Koyo found that he couldn't sleep. He was still too full of energy. So he went back to what always relaxed him, his first love.

The humble sales booth.

Under normal circumstances he would normally be working a night shift during these days anyway, trying to recoup what was lost during the matches. So it wasn't so unusual for him to open back up, and the little adjustments and regular chores that running their little enterprise demanded helped to settle his mind.

It wasn't particularly busy, given most of those out those late were more in the mood for food or alcohol, but there was enough business to justify keeping the proverbial lights on.

Later though, he did get a customer he recognized. Which really shouldn't have happened in a town full of foreigners. That was when he realized that he saw the ginger boy in the betting book, and in the battlefield. And that this was to be Shikako Nara's next opponent.

The stray traitorous thought even contemplating sabotage got immediately and savagely rebuked. He was in too good a mood to do something like that for one thing. For another if there was any day to pay special attention to things like karma it was a day like today.

But more than that, it was the fact that in the relatively harsh lights that were left this late, it was all too clear that rather than that djinn that Koyo imagined, he was in fact a boy. One who had gained a reputation among even the morally flexible circles of ninja. And one who seemed far too used to staying up all hours of the night walking around by himself.

It didn't speak well of the life he had at home, or how he was probably treated by the rest of his village during the day.

So Koyo gave him the full "kindly merchant" act, not that it was really all much of an act. Given the wonders that Noriyo worked in growing her plants and what he could do with the kettle, Koyo genuinely believed it was the best tea in all of Grass. And it was a pleasure to go through all the variations that his wife had concocted.

That the boy, Gaara, went for the strongest strain available didn't make Koyo's thoughts turn any better about his home life, but his part wasn't to be a parent here. The nebulous politics that would have to be involved in that aside, Gaara was clearly forging his own path at these exams. So Koyo just gave him his tea and watched him leave.

Perhaps one of the hardest things Koyo had ever done in his life was walk toward the stands on this third day without keeping one hand permanently covering his pocket. It would be a stupid pickpocket to ply their craft in a town filled with ninja, but thieves weren't generally known for their intelligence.

At the very least, the only match he needed to watch was the first on the docket. After that, he could exchange his ticket and get back home.

The matches he had seen the days before were stupendous and breathtaking. But the fight that Shikako and Gaara put on…..was genuinely beyond the words within his vocabulary. It was the only the third time he had found himself speechless, and the first that didn't involve his wife or baby girl.

The previous night, after he had closed up shop, Koyo had dreamt about the various places he could move their family to. At the end of that match, all he could think was if that was the standard genin in the Land of Fire were held to, he could do quite a lot worse than Konoha.

Looking down at his betting stub, Koyo saw that Shikako had once more increased the debt the three of them owed her. Shikako had already given them their salvation. Indeed, if Koyo's fears were as real as he thought they were, she had given them their lives.

But by lasting well over half an hour, she had now potentially given them a life worth living. For what he had just won now constituted a nest egg. Something that the three of them could draw upon as they set up their new lives, rather than having to rush everything along hoping their savings didn't run out.

No salesman ever left a debt unpaid, and while he couldn't ever match the total, Koyo swore he would do everything he could to repay it if he ever got the chance.

Koyo found his path back to the betting booths easier to navigate this time around, as everyone was still wowed by the spectacle they had just seen. Indeed, most were heading back up to see the next fight. So it was that much easier to find-

"Oi, Koyo mate! Over here! If you're ready to go, I can settle everything for ya."

Ah yes, the last coconspirator in all of this.

"Well, well. Looks like you won on your last bet too. You are absolutely cleaning up here!"

Koyo could only once again nod at the massive understatement as he handed over his tickets.

"Now, if you like, we do have a side entrance and exit for those carrying large amounts of money. More so for the rich folks, but you, my friend, certainly qualify after that last fight. Won't get you all the way home, but you will get out of the stands unseen."

To say that Koyo felt gratitude for this bookie and all he had done was an understatement almost as large as all the others. So he couldn't help but ask if there was anything he could do for him.

The bookie shook his head, "I don't get to see good honest folk get big winnings like that all that often. Just keep livin' a good life and makin' love to your good wife, and you're all paid up in my book, mate."

Koyo couldn't help but let out a chuckle has he walked back to the little hovel that would now just be a stepping to their final home.

When the gossip finally made its way to their stand that someone, a supposedly rouge Grass ninja, tried to kidnap the Nara girl, a thrill of fear shot through him as though Himeko was the victim.

It was silly, he realizes. He doesn't really know her and she definitely doesn’t know him. But just as he couldn't help but see the young boy asking for tea, he couldn’t help but see the young girl putting on a show like no one had ever seen and then having to desperately fight for her life anyway.

Part of him yearns to send some tea her way. Something to help her recover, or even just to help her feel better. But he knows it wouldn't be accepted. The Leaf ninja would be guarding her around the clock and as a civilian from the Land of Grass the best case scenario would involve him being accused of trying to poison her. And a spotlight shined on him and his wife and daughter when they were so close to getting away.

It did settle one decision in his mind though. Once everything here was wrapped up, they'd be moving to Konoha. He might never get a chance to pay his debt, even to someone so deserving of repayment. But he sure as hell was going to give it a damned good try.