First, I do not own Naruto or anything related to it. This is purely an idea that I envisioned as I played through the MMO Naruto Online. This story chronicles five ninja that are assigned to the ANBU Black Ops division that serves directly under the Hokage. While the characters of this story are familiar with the main characters of the show, they will have minimal interactions with them. The only exception will be numerous interactions with Danzo, Tsunade, Hiruzen, Jiraiya, Itachi, and various Leaf Jonin. However, these characters will largely be involved in a story that is removed from the main storyline but is directly related to those events. Our story begins with Hiruzen compiling dossiers on the five members that will make up this highly advanced squad of ninja. Lastly, this story will stick as close to canon as possible. As such, characters' personalities in the story will reflect their counterparts from the manga/anime. Thank you for reading my first attempt at writing.
The Decision
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat down in his chair and turned it to face the window overlooking the village. He sighed heavily. Turning back around to his desk he found the stack of five dossiers of potential ANBU Black Ops members that had expressed interest. These shinobi were highly skilled, but showed abilities that were more valuable as special forces instead of the typical shinobi or even that of a Jonin leader. The first on the list was a ninja named Mikai Akazaki. Hiruzen glanced at the ninja's file. He was a large young man with short spiky rust colored hair. His facial features reminded him of the late Hashirama Senju. Of course, it was highly unlikely that there was any relation. According to his file, Mikai was skilled at Taijutsu and was an earth nature ninja. Also mentioned in the file, Mikai had no living relatives, thus making him suitable for this team. There was not much doubt in Hiruzen's mind as he read through the rest of the file. Mikai would make an excellent addition to his personalized team. He set Mikai's file to the side and looked at the next file.
Myri Haruno, the older sister of Sakura Haruno, was an exceptionally skilled medical ninja. Her medical skill rivaled that of his former student Tsunade when she was younger. Also, unique to her was her skill with poison and mastery of the water element. Hiruzen smiled softly as he thought of how his sensei Tobirama would have loved to teach a fellow water nature prodigy. Myri had set herself apart from others with her actions during a previous skirmish with a rogue ninja from Iwagakure. The sheer magnitude of her water style jutsu overpowered the enemy and her team only had to support her. Ironically, Myri was a big supporter of Tsunade's idea that there should always be one ninja per team that specialized in medical ninjutsu despite being such an adept offensive ninjutsu user. After finishing reading through Myri's file, Hiruzen picked up the next file.
This ninja was Keigo Hatake. The younger brother of Kakashi Hatake, the famous Copy Ninja, was almost as skilled as his elder brother. Without the aid of the Sharingan, he had managed to adapt to the tunnel vision of the Chidori that Kakashi had invented. This variant was not nearly as powerful as the original, but it was still effective if utilized properly. Following in his brother's footsteps, Keigo was interested in joining the ANBU from the time he was old enough to lift a kunai. He even utilized ninja hounds as his summoning. Of all the ninja that he was looking at, Keigo was by far the most fitting ninja for the ANBU task force that he was preparing. Hiruzen set Keigo's file down and picked up the next file in his list.
Tamarei Namikaze, niece of the late Fourth Hokage Minato, already able to effectively utilize the Rasengan that Minato had worked tirelessly to develop. She truly was nothing short of a prodigy with wind style. She was able to learn some lower level sage jutsu because of her family's relationship with Jiraiya. Because of this, she had formed a summoning contract with the toads of Mt. Myoboku. However, this isn't what caught Hiruzen's attention; in fact, it was her ability to summon wave after wave of shadow clones. Only one other person was capable of creating that sheer number of shadow clones and he was too busy causing trouble to utilize his clones effectively. Hopefully, Tamarei would be different. Hiruzen set her file aside and picked up the last file. His brow furrowed as he saw the last applicant. It was his troubled eldest grandson.
Kaito Sarutobi was a highly skilled ninja even by Hiruzen's standards. He was already able to utilize multiple nature transformations, although he focused primarily on the fire element. His proficiency with genjutsu was only rivaled by the Uchiha and the Jonin Kurenai Yuhi. Kaito was so skilled that even Enma, who had never acknowledged any shinobi other than Hiruzen, had been willing to contract with him. Kaito had a sharp intellect and keen battle sense that was second only to the Nara clan. However, Kaito's past was what worried Hiruzen. Kaito would have made an excellent Jonin teacher if he hadn't crossed paths with Orochimaru before. For this, Hiruzen blamed himself for not having the resolve to take down his former student. Witnessing his grandfather's weakness, Kaito had followed Orochimaru to find the answers as to why his grandfather couldn't bring himself to harm Orochimaru. Upon catching up with Orochimaru, it was revealed that Kaito and his younger brother Konohamaru's parents had been killed while carrying out a mission assigned directly by Hiruzen. After that, Kaito was never the same. Believing that he was only interested in the ANBU to find out more about his parents, Hiruzen had denied Danzo from taking Kaito under his wing. Perhaps allowing him to join an ANBU unit under his own direct command would alleviate some of his worry. Briefly looking over all five of the dossiers again, Hiruzen made up his mind to allow the five of them to become a team. He sent for Shikaku Nara. Shikaku was his most trusted advisor, an extremely sharp intellect that always seemed to know the right choice to make. About ten minutes later a knock came from the door. Shikaku walked in.
"You asked to see me Lord Third?" Shikaku asked as he closed the door behind him.
"Yes, I've read through all of the files you compiled for me, and I have come to the decision to allow the formation of this team. I think at this time it is wise to have an elite unit capable of fulfilling missions that can benefit the entirety of the Leaf village," Hiruzen responded, knowing full well that Shikaku had planned this all along.
"I see. I will go and retrieve them, except for Kaito. I'll leave him to you, Sir," Shikaku said as he proceeded to leave the Hiruzen's office. Hiruzen once again looked out towards the village and wondered if having Kaito assigned directly to him would be good for both parties.
This is only the first part, and I apologize that it is so short. But I wish to get as much feedback as possible and if I should continue posting it on here. I have other chapters planned if this is well received.