A/N: A few words about the workings of this story.. something that will probably noticeably confuse you is the age of the characters in here. Personally, I've always considered the fact that the people in Naruto were ridiculously young to be doing the things they were supposed to be. Honestly, a seven year old throwing shuriken? C'mon. So, basically what I did here is make the characters a bit older. For instance, Itachi's current age is going to be 19, while normally at this point in the story, he is thirteen. Also, Sasuke and Naruto, etc, will be 13, and in the Ninja Academy, because 13 seems a much more reasonable age for them to have been learning the things they were, and acting the way they were when they were 7. Also, Kakashi is going to be 21 at the start of this, as I plan to start this story back in the time when Itachi and Kakashi were in the ANBU Black Ops, before Itachi had slaughtered his clan. If I'm missing any details in the little summary, or confusing any of you with something, feel free to review and let me know! Enjoy!

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The metal chair screeched across the smooth concrete floor as it was pulled back. It sounded like a damn banshee.

Irritating.

A young woman sat herself sinuously into the seat, clad in full ANBU armor - light gray armored vest, fitted black pants that acted like a stronger second skin, long black gloves that stopped just above her elbows, covered by armored bracers of the same material as her vest, that standard issue katana that all ANBU wore, and lastly, her mask. Each mask was unique to the shinobi, and had the face of a plethora of creatures. Hers was remarkably wolf-like, with long, black, painted spikes reaching inward to the mouth from around the white mask. Her dark chestnut hair fell long and tousled down to her middle back, and the black spiral ANBU tattoo was visible at the shoulder of her right arm. Women's were always on the right side, as men's were on the left.

The woman was obediently quiet, her back straight and her posture at attention toward the man that sat across from her, nestled behind his desk in a comfy chair. The massive black beast at her side mimicked her movements with remarkable intelligence.. of course, all Ninken dogs were clever. His ears were pricked forward, paying close attention.

The man across from her was clearly a retired shinobi - older, and worn out. His hair was salt and pepper, graying around his temples, but still shiny with health. His body, though that of a man reaching his late forties and covered by formal robes, was clearly in shape. His manner was sharp and precise.. like that of a military general. His eyes in particular conveyed that ' don't fuck with me ' attitude, keen and piercing blue. He cleared his throat, speaking with a rough, yet clear timbre.

"As you can see, I am the new Director of Distribution here at the ANBU headquarters after the unfortunate death of Hikari-san. My name is Hotaka Jurou, and I am the one who will now be in charge of distributing missions to each team." His large hands moved, shuffling some papers at his desk without looking. "My goal first and foremost, is to assess the current abilities of ANBU's shinobi, and possibly shuffle teams if I see fit. The reason being simply that I aim to make the best of each shinobi's talents and place them in a squad that best enhances and compliments each man and woman." He quirked a little smile for himself, presumably in applause for his own cleverness. "Honing the blade, as some would say."

The black beast stirred slightly, just as the young shinobi shifted in her seat.

Pompous prick.

He continued, glancing at the wolf-like creature briefly. "So. I will ask you a few simple questions, and I expect you to answer me fully and with all detail. Name."

A pause.

"Inuzuka Kaiya." The woman's tone was soft, though almost unnoticeably raspy. Feral, as though she were always on the edge of a growl. "..and this is Ryouken." The dog rumbled it's assent, also asserting itself as an intelligent creature - not to be ignored.

Jurou nodded toward Ryouken and cleared his throat, glancing down to write something on a sheet of parchment. "Age."

"Sir, might it have been easier to examine each shinobi's file, rather than call them in one by one? This information would easily have been found there." Her tone was respectfully helpful.. nevermind that her posture was tense and irritated.

Jurou looked up and scowled at her reply to his question. "You will come to find that I am quite thorough, Kaiya-san. And I am the one asking the questions. Age."

"Seventeen. Ryouken is ten."

He wrote more, the pen scratching on the paper.

"Explain to me the details of your skills."

"..Being of the Inuzuka clan, I use Ryouken, my ninken, as a fighting companion. I can communicate easily with him, and it allows the use of short to long range collaboration jutsu. We have primarily been used as trackers on search based missions, as our senses are keener than nearly any other shinobi can boast.. however, we are most definitely not a liability on the battlefield."

He nodded his approval, pen scratching wildly on the paper. Ryouken's ear twitched in irritation.

"Mm. Social skills." He paused. "Before you ask, this is so I can ascertain whether or not I can use you as a spy in various missions."

"..If anything, think of us as pack minded. A team player, loyal, territorial. Sometimes difficult to house break."

"Excuse me?"

"Sir?"

He'd stopped his writing and was looking at her as if he hadn't heard. "You got quiet at the end, what was that you said?"

"Team player. Loyal. Territorial."

His brow furrowed, and he looked down to keep writing, appearing a bit ruffled.

"And have your appearances changed at all since you were last photographed for our files?"

"No, sir. Ryouken and I are relatively new. We haven't been assigned a squad captain yet."

He grunted in reply, before pulling out a small picture. "Nevertheless, remove your mask so I may compare this picture to your current appearance."

…thorough prick.

It wasn't as though it was required to wear the mask while in Konoha, but all the ANBU members did anyhow for identity protection. Within the walls of the ANBU headquarters, it wasn't such a problem. Each and every one of the shinobi had a seal tattooed beneath their tongue, very small, that did not allow them to leak crippling information about ANBU. She always preferred to wear it simply for the fact that she didn't have to keep a respectful face to people she talked to. For example, Kaiya had to work the grimace off her face before she took the mask off, donning the ANBU shinobi's signature visage of emotionlessness.

Without a word, she lifted her hand and grasped the edge of her mask with the worn leather tips of her gloves, removing the mask up and off her face. Kaiya had tanned skin and very feral features, almost wolfish. It was a characteristic of the Inuzuka clan, for once they reached a certain age, the children were given a pup that was deemed to have a large supply of chakra, and allowed their chakra to bond. It gave the human the characteristics of a canine, and the senses to match, while giving the beast heightened intelligence.

Kaiya's eyes were large, and a bright, rich golden hue, while her pupils were diamond shaped slits. Her canine teeth were elongated and sharp, mirroring that of her companion. She had a slender face with high cheekbones and a slim jaw line. Characteristic of her clan, she had dual, red, fang shaped marks on each cheek. Also, beneath her leather gloves, her fingernails were slightly sharp with a barely definable curve like that of a claw. Her wolfish face combined with her wild mane of dark hair rendered her a strange, exotic kind of beauty. A dangerous beauty.

Jurou's eyes lingered on her for a moment before they flickered back to the picture, grunting an affirmation before slipping the image back into a file. He scratched his chin, continuing, "And how tall do you stand?"

"Five foot six, sir. Ryouken is just over four and a half feet at the tips of his ears, and he weighs just about two hundred and sixty pounds."

Jurou's eyebrow raised as he glanced over to Ryouken, appraising the size of the beast again as if re-evaluating. "Hm. Well, it does indeed seem as though you both are incredibly useful to have around in any team. Regardless, shinobi tend to overestimate their own abilities in the telling, so I intend to remedy that. You will report to the underground sparring chamber directly for a demonstration of your abilities with a few other ANBU I have selected. Dismissed, both of you."

Before he even had time to glance up again, the door was clicking quietly shut.

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Kaiya had walked only a few steps away from the Director's office door when she paused, leaning back against the hallway wall with a clipped sigh. Her gloved hand came up and pinched at the bridge of her nose, as if she were attempting to push back vexation. Ryouken gave a soft rumble and brushed his large head against her leg, looking up at her with knowing blue eyes. Kaiya glanced down at him and gave a short laugh, dropping her hand to scratch behind his right ear. "Yeah, I know.. control my temper and all that. But c'mon.. the guy was asking for it with all of that unnecessary shit." The canine gave a huff through his nose in assent, his dark tail swishing agitatedly through the air.

"What unnecessary shit?"

The smooth male voice caught her attention and she glanced up, locking eyes with a comfortingly familiar face. His one visible obsidian eye was crinkled in a smile over his mask, while the other scarred orb was relaxed shut as he slowed to a halt just next to her and Ryouken. Kaiya gave a half smile, rubbing her neck sheepishly. "It's the new Director, Kakashi.. he's unbearably tedious." He raised one eyebrow at her, clearly amused, and pushed his hands into his pockets, adopting that signature relaxed posture of his. He was surely something to look at in that ANBU uniform.. it was well known that he was one of the most powerful shinobi on the ANBU force, despite his young age of merely 21. He'd become a jounin at the age of 13, and had joined the special forces of the Hokage only a few years later. As all the ANBU did, he did not wear his forehead protector, the hitai-ate, and his wild silver hair fell over his eyes more than usual with the lack of restraint that the protector gave it.

"Tedious? Really.. I haven't had to meet him just yet, so I don't know.. fill me in?" His calm voice was amused, as it usually was with her, and he began to walk down the hall in the direction that he'd been going, though a bit more slowly as a signal that he wanted her and Ryouken to join. She pushed herself off the wall and matched strides with him easily, eagerly explaining to him the irritation that she'd had to endure at the hands of their new Director.

"I swear to Kami, Kakashi-sempai, everything he asked me could have been found on our files. And to top it off, he asked me to go to the sparring arena to give him a demonstration of my abilities after I had gone to the trouble of explaining them to him myself."

Kakashi chuckled quietly, automatically altering his course toward the location of the arena for her. "Well, he probably just wants to be thorough, Kaiya.."

She bristled, remembering those exact words from Jurou himself. "Perhaps.. but still. You know the length of my patience for such things."

"Indeed I do, and I try to indulge you to the lengths of my ability, Kaiya-san." He turned his head to look at her, the outline of a smirk visible through his mask. At that, she couldn't help but laugh. If anything, that was Kakashi's strength with her. He was always able to calm that tempest-like temper of hers with simply a few words and his calm, easygoing ways. He'd been her closest friend ever since she'd become a jounin two years prior, and he had become a team mate off and on when he wasn't busy with ANBU duties.

Ryouken however, was not as patient just now. He nudged at Kaiya's legs, urging her to speed up. He had a greater sense of duty than she did.. or perhaps he was just attempting to keep her out of the trouble that tardiness would bring. Kakashi caught his movement and agreed. "Ryouken's right.. we probably shouldn't dawdle to get you two down to the arena.." He sighed, clearly displeased at the thought of hustling. She fought back the urge to remind him of his chronic tardiness, though her snicker spoke for her. He cleared his throat, changing the subject she was leaning toward with an abashed air. "Come on, then."

Kaiya looked at him, somewhat confused. "You don't have to go, you know.. " He nodded, " I know, but that doesn't mean I'm not jumping at the chance to watch you beat down some unfortunate shinobi." He gave another one of those eye crinkles that signaled a smile and picked up his pace, Kaiya and Ryouken mirroring his speed.

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Down in the underground Sparring arena, there were about ten to twelve shinobi gathered, including Kakashi, Jurou, and Kaiya herself. It was most definitely what one would call an arena, though it was mainly used for training. It was large, made of unaltered concrete, and sparsely lit. The high ceilings allowed for the use of more explosive techniques and evasive tactics.. evidence of countless training exercises were carved into the cement with cracks and gouges. It looked as though one battle was just ending, with both shinobi kneeling on one knee, panting with exertion. However, with a short command from Jurou, they were back with the others, standing in an interested group. Kaiya had to hand it to the old man.. he didn't waste any time in getting down there.

The salt and pepper haired Director caught sight of Kaiya and her hound, and promptly motioned for her to take the center. His voice called out, clear and authoritative.

"Inuzuka Kaiya, and.. " His eyes scanned the few ANBU before continuing, "..Uchiha Itachi, front and center if you please."

Kaiya had heard the name around, and had seen the man briefly, but had never spoken to him. She was aware that he was an ANBU captain.. but she'd never had trouble dispatching captains before in her training. She turned her head and glanced at Kakashi with confident, excited eyes. "Unfortunate shinobi indeed, eh?" Promptly, she turned and trotted out to the center of the arena with Ryouken tight on her heels, her steps lithe and smooth like a hunting predator. She didn't catch Kakashi's suddenly tense expression at the name that Jurou had called.

Kaiya's right hand dropped to the ruff of Ryouken's neck, tangling her fingers briefly in his coarse fur with a low murmur. "Ready, Ryou?" He rumbled his affirmation, his stance loose and prepared. They both watched as a single masked shinobi detached himself from the rest, making his way toward the center of the ring about fifteen feet across from her. Her keen eyes took in every detail, noting the calm, unaffected air of the Uchiha's movement, and with slight amusement, the fact that his ANBU mask was reminiscent of a feline. He didn't say a word, but lifted a hand and removed his mask, tossing it unceremoniously to the side, as their demonstration required their faces visible for easy identification.

Kaiya's eyes flickered over his face, noting the distinct features of the Uchiha clan, just as his eyes were examining her, his opponent. Characteristic of his clan, he was indeed beautiful. Raven black hair hung loosely in his eyes, framing his face, while the majority of it was pulled back in a long, low ponytail. His skin was tanner than most Uchihas she'd seen, but his eyes were her main focus. They were large with obsidian irises, framed by thick black lashes. He also had dark circles beneath his eyes, as if he hadn't had a good night's sleep. She knew very well that she would likely encounter the feared and revered Sharingan during this fight. The prospect was exciting.. perhaps it was a fault of pride, but she enjoyed putting herself against foes with dangerous abilities, simply for the fact that she wanted to come out the victor, with much needed experience. He looked to be a bit older than her, perhaps nineteen, but it made no difference. She intended to take him down like countless others before him.

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