A.N.B.U.
by dreamaker13
"No matter how much I try, the blood doesn't seem to come off."
Chapter one: Shikamaru
The air was still and the moon was full. The silence was overbearing as the half-darkness filled their senses. The shadows were pitch black and the trees were dormant as if petrified by the tension building up in the atmosphere.
They waited. Their black cloaks effectively camouflaging them within the looming shadows. Their black hoods covering the white ceramic colour of their masks. Breathing was shallow and every muscle was tense, awaiting the signal of their strike.
"Point three had just been passed. Target approaching point four."
The message slid in his ear as a smooth whisper. It was loud enough to be heard accurately but soft enough to be concealed from the outside. He remained unmoving as he stated his command.
"Target to point four. Sasuke, Megitsune, in position."
"Aa."
"Uruse. (Shut up)"
"Oi, ba-"
"Target at point four."
"Yoshi. Ikuze. (Let's go)"
Seconds after the exchange, their attention was turned to the rustling of the bushes on one side of the clearing. A cold wind blew and more rustling was heard. The tense atmosphere grew thicker and thicker as the sounds of the bushes became louder and louder. Almost an eternity had passed before the rustling stopped.
Sweat trickled down his neck as he waited in anticipation for their next move. Here they come he thought to himself just as four figures leaped out of the bushes and into the clearing. The four figures stopped in the middle of the clearing on high alert. He crouched down, hiding himself entirely from the enemy's view. In ten seconds...
juu (10)...
At that precise moment, kunai from every direction were thrown towards the centre of the clearing. All four leaped off in time, two went up into the trees while two stayed in the clearing. Silence was once again abundant as a cool night breeze blew.
nana (7)...
Both figures on the ground looked around, tense. Their eyes were shifting from right to left, searching each shadow for any sign of movement. Sensing none, one of them looked back only to find his teammate trembling and frozen to his spot.
go (5)...
"Oi! Doushita? (What's the matter?)" one of them cried to his teammate who had a haunted look on his face.
"T-T-Taichou (Captain)..." he was shaking more violently, sweat was trickling down his forehead, his eyes wide and were directed to the ground.
"Wha-" the captain's eyes widened when he saw what he did when he looked down at his teammates feet.
There were swarms of them pooled at his teammates feet, slowly making their way up his legs. His teammate started to frantically stomp his feet, trying to brush off the bugs that were ascending his body. "Get them off! Get them off of me! They're disgusting!" his teammate cried as the bugs made their way to his fingertips, steadily consuming his arms.
san (3)...
"Ta-Tasukete! Taichou, tasukete kore! (Help me, please!)"
Despite the frantic cries of his colleague, the captain stood his ground, his own body shaking, his own sweat dampening the cloth of the forehead protector he wore on his head.
"They're sucking...they're eating me alive! Help! Help me! Taich-..." his voice was muffled as the creatures got up to his face and slowly sucked him dry of his life.
ichi (1)...
The captain watched in horror as his teammate was consumed alive by the swarm of small creatures crawling up to his carcass. His fear had taken over him as he turned to run for his life but as he turned, he found out that he couldn't move. His whole body and his look of complete horror was frozen.
"Time's up...taichou."
Four black-cloaked figures stepped out form the shadows, surrounding him. One behind him, two at his left and right respectively both holding two of his - now dead - teammates and one in front of him. Their white ceramic-like masks easily visible in the darkness. His eyes, upon seeing the masks, widened as he conceived what the four were.
"A-ANBU..."
The masked figure in front of him - who had the mask of an eagle - raised both his arms and connected them at the fingertips over his head making a circle. "Maru. (Correct)"
The captain found himself mimicking the actions of the figure in front of him. He felt his mind detached from his body as his body moved out of its own accord. The captain gasped when he saw the symbol tattooed on the arm of his captor. Konoha...
"Now, taichou, give us back what you stole from us," at saying that, the masked figure tapped his right shoulder. Again, the captain mimicked the actions and felt the knot of the cloth that held the item they stole from Konoha.
"And another thing, when your teammate cries for help, it is your obligation as captain to respond to that cry and do what you can to save him even if it means your death. Wakatta? (Understand?)" the captain cocked his head to the side as the masked figure did so. The eagle-like mask was the last thing he saw before...
"Sasuke."
Woosh!
Shikamaru released his juutsu on the dead captain before taking his mask off and sighing. He looked at the dead body with bored eyes. "Che, mendoukusai na."
"Aah, mou! This guy's so heavy, datte ba yo!" Naruto said throwing the dead corpse he had been carrying on the floor with a violent thud. He took off his mask and wiped the sweat off his brow. Naruto looked at the unmoving captain - now with a kunai impaled painfully on the side of his neck - curiously. "There's nothing more annoying than a guy who won't even save his teammate. Oi, Sasuke, are you sure that guy's dead?"
The figure with a tiger mask took his mask off. "Mochiron, dobe. I've hit his pulse point. I cut the circulation to his head and his wind pipe. Of course he's dead, baka."
"Che," Naruto spat as he crossed his arms over his chest and looked away in annoyance. "Then again I may be wrong," he muttered to himself.
"Naruto," Naruto stood straight hearing their leader's commanding tone. "Patrol the vicinity for any incoming squads."
"Hai," Naruto placed his mask back on and leaped out of sight.
"Sasuke, check the retrieved item. Check for authenticity and pitfalls."
"Aa." was Sasuke's simple answer as he took the item from the captain's make-shift pack.
"Shino," Shikamaru turned towards the figure with a mask that had a resemblance to an ant. Shikamaru paused as he thought of what to order him to do. He looked down at the ground and back up at Shino. "Collect your bugs."
Without a response, Shino watched as Shikamaru walked away for a few paces before their leader turned back to his team.
"Meet at the entrance in one eighty seconds." Shikamaru then leaped out of sight.
Naruto, coming back from patrolling and hearing the command, looked at his fingers then at Shino. "How long is that?"
"Three minutes," Shino simply said, his mask still intact.
"Che," Naruto spat in annoyance. "Why can't he just say 'three minutes' like everybody else?"
x x x
"I'm hungry, datte ba yo," Naruto placed a hand on his stomach when a loud growling noise erupted from it. "Ne, let's go to Ichiraku for dinner."
His three other teammates didn't respond at his suggestion. They just kept walking down the busy street dressed in their everyday clothes and with their sling bags containing their ANBU uniforms over their shoulders. Another loud growl was heard from Naruto's stomach, making Naruto blush bright red while clutching his stomach. His three teammates stopped walking and looked back at Naruto with sweatdrops.
Naruto cracked. "Mou! Let's eat somewhere already. I won't last much longer! Mou!"
"Baka," Sasuke muttered as he walked on.
"Oi, Sasuke-teme," Naruto cried out, obviously hearing the muttered insult. "Where are you going?"
"The hospital," was Sasuke's simple answer as he walked on without looking back.
"Hospital? What for? You don't look wounded or anything," Naruto said, looking at Sasuke curiously.
"Sakura, baka," Sasuke said, pausing to toss the answer over his shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.
"Che," Naruto spat out as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I don't know how Sakura could live with that baka-yarou."
"Mendoukusai na," was Shikamaru's usual reply.
"Ne, ne, Shikamaru," Naruto came up to Shikamaru with his sly fox grin. "Want to go to Ichiraku? My treat."
"Heh, baka. Knowing you, you'll just skip out on the bill and leave me to pay for it," Shikamaru said, turning his head away from Naruto and walking forward. "I'm tired of ramen anyway."
With a short wave, Shikamaru weaved his way through the crowd. As he steadily walked away from his two other teammates, he could hear Naruto's faint cry of, "Aaah, Mou!"
At that Shikamaru gave a heavy sigh. "Ba-ka."
Shikamaru walked on through the busy district of Konoha, ignoring the advertisements being cried out by various people in front of various shop. One shop however caught Shikamaru's bored gaze. Without hesitation, the ANBU squad leader entered the shop.
"Irasshaimase (Welcome)," cried the host when he heard Shikamaru come in.
"Konbanwa, ji-san. Is it finished yet," Shikamaru asked, looking at the expensive contents in the shop with a bored gaze.
"Ah, gomen, Shikamaru-san. I'm afraid it's not done yet," answered the shop owner with an apologetic smile.
"Hn? I asked for that about two weeks ago already," complained Shikamaru, his gaze falling on the shop owner.
"Well, my daughter got sick and had to be in the hospital for a few days and I had to pay for the hospital fee. My son could have done it but he just got married so he's on his honeymoon," the shop owner scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "Plus, orders have been piling up. I'm really sorry, Shikamaru-san. If you want I could give you a discount for-"
"Iie, never mind." Shikamaru turned around and started for the door. "Thanks anyway, ji-san."
"Mata okoshi kudasai (Please come again)," the shop owner cried out behind him as Shikamaru stepped out of the shop.
Upon stepping back onto the crowded street, Shikamaru took a glance at his wrist watch and cursed, "Kuso!" before running off, weaving through the crowd before the got fed up and started jumping from roof to roof.
x x x
DING DONG!
Ino looked up from chopping the vegetables when she heard the faint sound of the doorbell.
DING DONG!
It went again. Ino put the knife down, turned the heat of the stove to low and went to answer the door.
DING DONG!
"I'm coming," Ino cried out, as she momentarily checked her appearance in the mirror and taking her apron off while wiping her hands on the fabric. Smoothing out any wrinkles on her dress with her hands, Ino opened the door to find a panting Shikamaru with his left hand leaning on the doorframe for support and his right hand holding the string of his sling bag over his shoulder.
"Shikamaru," Ino said with mild surprise at his state of being as she stepped aside to let him in.
As Shikamaru entered the house, he dropped his sling bag on the floor of the living room and collapsed on the couch with a tired sigh.
"Mou, Shikamaru," Ino said, a small frown on her face. "Just now? You're thirty minutes late." Ino looked at her wrist watch with her frown still intact.
"Maa maa," Shikamaru said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'm here now, aren't I?" Shikamaru then laid his head on the back of the couch.
"Demo, Shikamaru, you could be on time at least once," Ino walked over to Shikamaru, just close enough to tower over his tired form. She stooped down to tug at his shirt. "And you didn't even bother to chan-" Ino gasped when Shikamaru pulled her onto the couch.
"Warui ne," Shikamaru whispered as he touched his nose with hers. Ino blushed when Shikamaru nipped at her neck then eagerly placed butterfly kisses down to where her low cut neckline mildly exposed the side of her breasts.
"S-Sou na, Sh-Shika-maru," Ino faltered as Shikamaru's hands trailed up her leg exposed by the long slit of her dress. "Th-This isn't...f-fair." With that last form of rebellion, her one hand clutched the shirt of the ANBU squad leader and the other let his long black tresses flow out from his hair tie.
Feeling his hair loosen, Shikamaru surfaced from his girlfriend's chest and went up to kiss her feverishly on her red, made-up lips. As a reply, Ino wrapped her arms around his waist and proceeded to slowly lift Shikamaru's shirt.
Ino had had exposed half of Shikamaru's torso and his hand was half-way in Ino's underwear when a high-pitched whistle blew. Upon hearing the whistle, Shikamaru's whole body tensed. He broke his and Ino's kiss and scanned the room with his dark glare, his free hand going into his pocket for a shuriken.
"Shimatta, the food!" Ino gasped, slid out from underneath Shikamaru and darted into the kitchen while tugging her dress down. At that, Shikamaru's glare turned into dumbfounded look before turning into a look of frustration.
"Troublesome food!"
"Shikamaru!" Ino called out from the kitchen.
"Hm?" Shikamaru answered lazily as he tugged down his shirt and sat on the couch.
"Don't just laze about, come help me in the kitchen."
"Ha? Doushite," Shikamaru replied as he kept his head on the back of the couch.
"Because you were late so this is your punishment."
"Heh, if you want punishment, let's take it into the bedroom and-" Shikamaru's mumbling was cut off by Ino's threat.
"Shikamaru! If you don't come in here in five seconds, you can go back home and get reacquainted with your hand!"
"Che," Shikamaru spat out as he stood up. "Mendoukusai no onna. (Troublesome woman)"
"Go (5)!"
"Hai, hai. I'm coming," Shikamaru said as he trudged on to the kitchen.
The first thing Shikamaru noticed upon arriving at the kitchen door was how cute Ino's butt moved as she chopped and stirred. Shikamaru smirked at the sight and advanced slowly towards his girlfriend, his hand poised to caress her backside.
"Here you go."
Shikamaru stopped and looked at the chunk of red meat presented in front of him. "Nani...kore?"
"What do you mean, 'What's this'? It's beef," Ino said, holding up the chopping board with the red meat higher.
"That's not beef. Beef is brown and juicy," Shikamaru looked at the red meat once more. "That's nowhere near what beef looks like."
"It's raw beef, baka," Ino said placing the chopping board on Shikamaru's hands.
Shikamaru swallowed noisily as he looked at the meat then at Ino. "W-What do you want me to do with this?"
Ino went to the counter and drew out a large chef's knife and handed it to Shikamaru. "I want you to cut it into discs."
"Discs?" Shikamaru asked, an eyebrow up as he looked at the red meat.
"Aa. You've seen steaks, ne?" Shikamaru nodded. "Well, I want you to cut the meat so that they would look like steaks. We're having steaks for dinner." With that, Ino left him alone.
Shikamaru, with a few small complaints, placed the meat on the counter with the chopping board and proceeded to chop the meat into steaks. A few minutes later, Shikamaru inspected his work. He held one steak up with his free hand and looked at it from all angles. One thing caught his attention...
Shikamaru's darks eyes watched as a drop of blood made its way down the piece of meat.
"Wakatta?...Sasuke."
Whoosh!
Clang!
"Shikamaru?"
Shikamaru snapped out with a gasp and was breathing heavily. He looked at the counter where the steaks and the chef's knife was littered. He then looked at his hands. His eyes widened at the bloody state of his fingers and palms.
"Shikamaru? Daijoubu (Are you alright?)," Shikamaru turned his head to the left as Ino walked towards where he was. "Ara, you're done."
Shikamaru looked from his girlfriend to the bloodied counter. "Hn."
"Yoshi! I'll just mount them on the grill and then we'd be ready to eat," Ino said as she carried the meat towards the stove. "Ne, Shikamaru, go wash your hands then set the table, onegai (please)?"
Without a reply, Shikamaru turned the tap in the kitchen on and placed his bloody hands under the running water. Shikamaru stared blankly as the blood was washed down from his hands down the drain...
"Ta-Tasukete! Taichou, tasukete kore!"
"Shikamaru, do you mind if I make the steaks a bit rare?"
"Hn," was Shikamaru's answer, not really hearing the question.
"They're sucking...they're eating me alive! Help! Help me! Taich-"
"Shikamaru, could you set the table? The steaks are almost done. Oh, and remember to bring out the forks and knives. We're not using the chopsticks tonight."
"Aa," was Shikamaru's curt reply as he turned the tap off and gingerly wiped his hands on a paper towel before proceeding to set the table.
x x x
"And then Chouji started bloating himself up saying that we should shoot the thing out of his throat. We tried to squeeze the air out but he ended up inflating and inflating that he went rolling around Konoha the whole afternoon," Ino said as she went into another fit of laughs. Shikamaru joined her, clutching his stomach.
"Anou baka," Shikamaru exclaimed, making the couple laugh harder. "I could see that he hasn't changed at all."
"Aa."
Shikamaru sank his fork on the beef as he used his knife to cut the meat. After making the cut, Shikamaru froze, looking at his stake.
Ino took a sip of her wine to calm her down then she noticed Shikamaru grow tense. "Shikamaru, what's wrong?"
Shikamaru stared at the blood that oozed out of his steak...
"Ta-Tasukete! Taichou, tasukete kore!"
"They're sucking...they're eating me alive! Help! Help me!"
"Oi...are you sure that guy's dead?"
"Mochiron..."
"Sasuke."
Whoosh!
"Shikamaru!" Ino cried as the ANBU squad leader swiftly stood up, knocking down his glass of wine on the table.
Shikamaru walked away from the table, his form shaking and his hands on his head. He was whispering, "Stop. Please make it stop."
"Shikamaru, nani-"
"Don't come near me!" Shikamaru cried as he turned his back to Ino who stood up from the table to comfort him.
Ino took a few steps closer and extended her hand. "Shikama-"
"I said don't come near me, baka no onna!" Shikamaru quickly turned around, extending his arm out and hitting Ino's hand away from him.
Ino looked at Shikamaru with widened eyes as she cradled her hand on her chest.
"Shikamaru? Why are you acting like this," Ino asked, watching Shikamaru shake and mumble. "Calm down. Just calm down and we can celebrate our anniversary-"
"Anniversary?" Shikamaru said, his incoherent muttering halting to a stop and replaced by laughter. "Don't be a baka, Ino. We weren't even together for half of the year!"
"Shikamaru..."
"Or have you forgotten," Shikamaru said, walking towards Ino with a threatening gaze. "On and off, on and off, on and off was how we went through our relationship. For so long we were on and off and every time we would break up you would be with another man. Don't be naïve, Ino. This is just your childish way to preserve your purity!"
Slap!
"You ungrateful bastard!" Shikamaru had his head to the side, his eyes wide and his cheek burning from the strong slap. "I tried to live with you. I tried to stay with you. I believed that we would always be together no matter what the situation was. I tried to hold on to you, to keep you from leaving but I became tired of trying. I became tired of waiting for you, for us, to grow up. I tried to forget you. I tried to let you go...demo...every time I would close my eyes, your stubborn memories would surface back up!"
Shikamaru didn't face her. He hung his head low in shame as he stared at the wooden floor of the living room.
"And now, I cook, I dress up, I give some time for you because I want to tell you how much I've loved you for the past year and yet you can't even be on time or let alone compliment me! You even put the blame on me! If we're just going to be like this then maybe we should just stop trying!" Tears were now falling down Ino's cheeks, her chest heaving up and down, breathless.
"I," Shikamaru started, trying to find the right words to say. "I...made out with you."
"Baka! Is sex all you could think of?!"
"I said, made out not sex!"
"Ahou!" Ino cried out as she threw his sling bag towards him and opened the door. "Get out!"
Slam!
"Kuso!" Shikamaru kicked the door before turning to leave.
"Mou!" Ino cried out as she kicked the door before she ran into the couch and cried herself to sleep with the scent of Shikamaru enveloping her senses.
x x x
The water ran down full blast from the taps as Shikamaru placed his hands underneath the running water, rubbing the invisible dirt from his hands. "Come off, come off..."
"Ta-Tasukete! Taichou, tasukete kore!...They're sucking...they're eating me alive!"
"Oi...are you sure that guy's dead?"
Whoosh!
"Kuso!" Shikamaru cried out as he punched the tiled wall of his bathroom. Out of breath, he leaned his forehead on the cool glass of the mirror as his bare chest heaving up and down and his hair loose and wet from water and sweat.
As Shikamaru closed his fists, drops of tears splashed down onto the sink. Shikamaru trembled as he collapsed on the bathroom floor, hugging his torso as he sobbed.
"Tasukete...Ino, tasukete."
x x x
Naruto gulped down the remaining soup in the bowl before he puts the bowl down noisily on the table. He gives a sigh of satisfaction then holds up his bowl. "Okawari! (Seconds please)"
"Aa! Coming right up."
Naruto, still holding up his bowl, felt another presence in the stall. He looked to his right to find Shikamaru coming through the short cloth drapes of the stall.
"Ara, Shikamaru," Naruto placed his bowl down, still looking at his leader who sat down beside him with a heavy sigh as he buried his head in his arms. "Why are you here?"
"Tsk. Mind your own business, baka," was all Shikamaru said before he turned his head to look away from Naruto who scratched the side of his face with wonder.
"Hai, Naruto. Dozo," Ayame, the waitress, said as she placed his fifth bowl of ramen in front of him.
"Arigato, Ayame-san. Saa," Naruto picked his chopsticks up as he cried, "Itadakimasu!"
Tsuzuku...
The A.N.B.U. Case Files: Golden Edition
"Ne, Naruto onii-chan, you're part of the A.N.B.U., ne?"
"Sou, sou, Konohamaru-kun! Impressive, darou?"
"Aa! Demo, I have one question, Naruto onii-chan."
"Nani, nani? If it's about the A.N.B.U., you can ask me. I know ev-"
"What does A.N.B.U. mean?"
. . . ? Ha?
"Naruto onii-chan?"
"A-Ah, eto, A.N.B.U... (light bulb) Ah! Sou ka! Ne, Konohamaru-kun, you know that there are four Jounin in an ANBU squad, ne?"
"Hai! Demo, why is that?"
"Because A.N.B.U. has four letters, A-N-B-U."
"Hmm...I thought because four members would give the maximum efficiency of the squad while retaining the high speed of a ninja."
"Hai, hai, that too but those are just technicalities. Saa, because in different squads, there are four different members so the meaning of ANBU varies for every squad."
"Hontou?! What does it mean for your squad, Naruto onii-chan?"
"Hehe. In my squad, A.N.B.U. stands for: Aburame Shino, Naruto Uzumaki, Baka Shikamaru, Uchiha Sasuke."
"Oi, ahou! What the hell are you saying about me?!"
"A-Ah, nothing, Shikamaru-sama, aha-ahahahahaha." "
OWARI
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in the anime Naruto nor any of the components in the story linked to the anime or manga.
A/N: I understand that there are two versions of Naruto that are going around: the original version (Japanese sometimes with subs) and the dubbed version (English). There are a lot more but I'm not going to go into that. Judging by the fan fiction that I have read in the Naruto community, most people watch the English dubbed one. I may be wrong but since I personally prefer the original one with subtitles, I used a few Japanese phrases in the fic to help keep the characters in character and help the readers find out who the character is (because that's how I know them). I know that some might feel lost if I put in too much Japanese phrases so I tried minimising them. I also tried to put into context the meaning of some of the phrases but I can't do that for every phrase or else the story would just go around in circles. So, to remedy this, I made a key. It is not 100 accurate so if anyone finds any errors please don't hesitate to tell me about it. Don't flame me for it, though smile. I admitted that I was not sure. I made it so that you guys would know what's going on a bit better.
Translation key:
Tora - tiger
Megitsune - vixen; female fox (guess who this was hint: who had the demon named the Kitsune Kyuubi (Nine-tailed Fox) sealed within him?) It was a joke made by Shikamaru. You could tell when the next answer was, "Uruse." (just in case you didn't get it sigh)
Itadakimasu - 'Thank you for the food' or 'I'll help myself (to the food)'
In the first part of the chapter, Shikamaru did the countdown in Japanese. I included the numbers beside the words so you could get the meaning from there.
(Gomenasai, if the translation key was so long that you thought that it was a super long chapter. I hate it when you look at the chapter and you think that it's long only to find that the author's note takes up almost half of the length, so, hontou ni gomenasai.) - I edited this chapter so some things might be different. I also removed a chunk of the Japanese phrases. For those of you who liked the phrases, sorry. After re-reading it, it did seem quite silly to have a whole scene with Japanese dialogue. 09 - 07 - 08
Anyway, I hope you liked the first chapter. It took me about 3-4 days to write this up since I had distractions and I had to think a lot but, I pulled through.
Please review. I would really love to know what you think of this. I have it all planned out more or less so...feedback please!
And if you have any questions, please leave them in the review and I will try to reply to them just as long as you leave your e-mail address if you would be an anonymous reviewer.
Saa, until the next chapter!
Next up: Sasuke!