Treasure
The gates of Konoha loomed over a lone shinobi, heading into the sacred village hidden in the leaves. He wore Anbu clothing along with a mask hiding his face from the world. Walking in silent steps the man stopped at the entrance of his hometown, the wind playing with his grey locks. He lazily walked across the wide open streets of Konoha, making his way to the Hokage's office. As he passed by the various streets and shops, a strong smell of ramen over clouded his sense of smell. It had been days since he had had a nice meal. However, before he could even think about eating, he had to report to the Hokage. Quickening his pace, the young male turned into a sharp corner and took a shortcut. In a matter of minutes, he emerged from the dark hallways into light of a busy main street. For some reason, the attention in the street was directed towards one point instead of numerous. A large crowd had gathered around someone. The young male blended into the crowd easily and reached forward to observe the situation. A shopkeeper was yelling at a small kid, who just stood there, like a deer caught in headlights.
"You demon! I knew from the moment you entered my shop that you were trouble. How dare you try to steal an item from me?" The old man's shouting had really gotten into Naruto's head. All he had done was go into the shop, take a look at all the cool masks they had. He had wanted a mask ever since he saw a cool one on one of the guards that the old geezer had. After picking one up, he had went to the counter to pay for it but the old man had simply looked at him, grabbed his collar and led him outside. And now he started this talk about stealing.
"I didn't steal anything!" Naruto yelled back, overwhelmed by the loud voice of the man in front of him.
"Of course you did." The man looked at the crowd for support. "This boy right here barged into my shop, made a huge mess and he stole that mask without paying for it." Many people in the crowd nodded in agreement, some of them throwing nasty glances at Naruto.
"But, i didn't get to pay for it!" Naruto's protest did nothing to the disapproving crowd. "Take the filth that you touched with you, you monster!" The man threw the mask into Naruto direction. Fearfully, Naruto covered his face with his hands to protect himself and waited for the blow, but it never came. He opened his eyes to find a tall figure holding the mask thrown at his direction.
"Even though I wasn't there when all this mess happened, I'm sure this little boy had nothing to do with stealing." He spoke, a slight annoyance in his voice. The shopkeeper stood there, jaw wide open.
"How do you know!? Besides, he never paid me!" He yelled back.
"He never got the chance. I suggest you let him off, unless of course if you want to spend majority of your life in a cell at the Anbu headquarters. Also, because you were so rude to the boy, i suggest you give him this mask for free." The coldness in the male's voice sent tremors down the old man's back. He quickly bowed and started spluttering nonsense.
"O-of Course, here you go son. You can have it." He quickly bowed to the Anbu male and hurried off. The crowd quickly dissipated, but with new gossip to share.
The Anbu male turned to Naruto and gave him a hand. "Come on, I'll drop you to your home." Naruto nodded once and climbed on his back. The male quickly jumped off, heading in the direction Naruto pointed. They quickly arrived. Naruto fished out a key from his pocket and stood on his toes to open the door.
It creaked open and both of them entered. The Anbu observed the living room, impressed. Even though Naruto was just a little kid, he still kept his small apartment neat. He was about to leave when Naruto grabbed his hand.
"W-wait! Since you are here, i need to offer you something." Naruto kept on mumbling when something caught the shinobi's eyes. The little blond had bruises on his wrists and around his neck. The Anbu quickly took out a roll of bandage and a little bottle of salve. "Where did you get those bruises from?" He asked.
"Eh? Oh...um, i fell." The lame lie was so pathetic, The Anbu scoffed. "Obviously not. Tell me honestly." He demanded as he quickly opened the small bottle and applied the cream on the bruise marks. He wrapped them up firmly and looked at his work, satisfied. Naruto fidgeted for a while but finally spilt the beans.
"Well... When i was walking back from the Ramen shop at night, these people, um... They grabbed my wrists and neck and yelled at me. They eventually let me go. It doesn't hurt though!" He laughed nervously.
"I see. What did they look like? Can you remember?" The male asked gently. Naruto was puzzled but nodded. He described their features quite accurately. The Anbu leader quickly jotted down all the details Naruto had given. He glanced at the mask in the little blond's hand.
"How about an exchange? That mask you have looks nice. I'll give you my mask. That way, if walk at night, you can put it on and no one will bother you." Naruto looked down dejectedly. "I already tried that. It didn't work."
The young male chuckled.
"Well, if you put on this mask, it will work."
"How?"
"Anbu masks hold a special meaning. If someone has a mask of a fox, they hold a good authority in the village. The highest Authority however is the mask of a Bulldog. Just like this one i have right here. If anyone tries to hurt you, they will be in serious trouble by the Hokage. Try it on and walk around. I'm sure I'll work." Naruto's blue orbs widened and he laughed. "Thanks!" He handed his mask to the male and got a bulldog imprinted mask instead.
"What's your name?" Naruto asked. The silver haired man smiled.
"Kakashi"
Tsunade looked at the two Shinobi standing in front of her. In their 20 years of shinobi career, they had shown great potential. Well, not the raven haired one though. Naruto and Sasuke stood proudly in front of their leader. Both had smiles and smirks of their faces. Kakashi stood on the side along with a teary eyed Sakura.
"As the leader of this village, i hereby appoint you both Anbu of Konoha." She proudly held out two masks, imprinted with the design of a bulldog to them. Sasuke took his but Naruto refused his, instead taking out an old and worn out mask from his pouch.
"I'll wear this mask instead." Kakashi's eyes widened at seeing his mask and he smiled. Tsunade looked between the two and smiled. "I don't see why not. But tell my Naruto, why?" She asked, curious.
"Because this mask is a precious treasure!"
This is a little oneshot you guys can enjoy while you wait for my next chapter of review and tell me what you think!
~Thejollyhyuga