This is a little ficlet about Konoha's Anbu forces, featuring chapters on shinobi in Anbu and why they do it.
Read, review, enjoy! x
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Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai.
There is no grandeur in being Anbu. They serve their village from the shadows, live in the dark.
They hunt, assassinate and ruin.
They kill children and civilians, destroy livelihoods, prey on the most dangerous of shinobi.
It's not the life of a hero. It's not the life of the remembered.
Yet Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, continues to swear in more shinobi into her elite Anbu force. And every time, she ignores the little voice in her head telling her she's sent one more loyal ninja to their death. She likes to remind to herself to trust in her shinobi and their ability to survive.
Before she became the Fifth, she had never understood why anyone chose to be Anbu.
Of course, she is a shinobi. She has always known what duty meant. And she has always known it is the duty of every shinobi to protect the Leaf.
But it's also an unspoken duty to die for the Leaf too and Anbu live with this more than most.
They serve the village after all.
It's not until she becomes the Fifth Hokage does Tsunade understand a little more.
There are no easy days or heroic dreams in Anbu.
But Tsunade finds them rather heroic.
They defend, save, protect.
Are killers still monsters if they do it for the right reason?
She has the humility to realise that there are no "right" reasons. But she finds that Konoha's safety is a pretty damn good one.
If no one will remember them as heroes, she at least will.
to be continued.