ANBU boot camp

Chapter 33

Temari walked into the tournament floor an hour before the first card was dealt. She arrived with Baki sensei and her father the night before and had not slept well, she hated going anywhere with her father. Her mind was trying to think about a hundred different things and not getting anywhere, so she closed her eyes and took a breath, picking one question out of the many.

'The numbers don't add up,' she thought.

"Ok, eight sections with eight tables with eight people each," she started. "That's five hundred twelve people playing. At half a million-registration fee or 'Buy-In' that's two hundred fifty-six million, that is only half of the winner's purse."

This thought had struck her a few hours before and it bothered her, the entrance fee only covered half and she knew the casino was going to cover the rest. What she did not know was how they would make a profit, and it was well known that this tournament made the casino a massive profit every year.

"How do they..." she started to ask herself but stopped.

She had come across the cage where people were taking bets, she saw hundreds of different odds on chalkboards stating the odds for, 'picking a tables winner, a section winner and of course who would win the grand prize.' And as she watched she must have seen a hundred and fifty million Ryo handed over in bets from various people in less than twenty minutes.

"That, I guess is how the casino makes up the difference," she told herself.

And that was it, that simple question and answer helped the Suna Kunoichi focus her mind,

"Ugh did not need to see that."

She had spotted her father in line to make a bet (with money she knew he did not have) and she watched him chatting with some girl that looked just a few years older than her. She really hated going someplace with her father.

Quickly she moved away and started her search, she was dressed in a kimono of rich silks, white with gold trimming and a flower print. She knew she would need it to fit in but she hated having to spend the money, her village was strapped enough for the money. But she needed to be here, it was too important, and her brother's sacrifice will not be in vain.

The players started to arrive, she was very glad to see Naruto. This way she knew the time was not wasted, but she could not get near him without drawing attention. Nor could she reach the Hyuga girl, she was not sure who the three people were that were with her and could not risk it. Moving around she spotted the pervert, she had to admit he did clean up well, but what really shocked her was the Toad. Never once had she expected this. But she could not find that Chief guy nor the mute girl...Mai.

She moved around watching all the tables, there was no mistaking the large chested Senju, stories of her healing skills were the stuff of legend even in Suna. In another section, she found a very attractive woman in a green sparkling dress. She seemed to be enjoying herself as she wrapped all the males at her table around her finger, Temari smiled just a little at the woman's skill.

Moving to another section she found a very loud and annoying guy wearing a bandana covered in lightning bolts and holding a large toothpick in his mouth, the next player she spotted was a boy about Naruto's age. He too wore a fine suit with a pair of dark glasses, his playing style was mechanical following a rhythm that was as smooth as glass. Though he acted very restrained he had a habit of saying off the wall commentary with a deadpan voice that would through the other players off without warning.