As I said I would, I'm gonna have a crack at another Naruto Cliche, Undercover ANBU Naruto! This is just a tester, and it might just stay at this one chapter if I feel like it, but it's so hard to find a good ANBU Naruto story, though I know they're there, I just find it, to borrow a certain someone's phrase, too troublesome, so I'm gonna try and write one! Anyone wanna place bets on how hard it'll tank? Oh, I'm dropping random trivia, usually people just ignore it anyway.
Title:Protecting From The Shadows
Pairing: None Right Now, Maybe Later...
Warnings: Another cliche
Disclaimer: If Naruto was mine it would make no sense whatsoever, so be glad it isn't
Chapter 1
As the young ANBU cleaned off his gleaming, midnight black katana, his cold, calculating, ice blue eyes darted around the forest, always watching for any danger to his comrades or himself. His fox mask grinned demonically.
Not far away from the fox ANBU stood one with a cat mask, who was talking, seemingly to himself, though the fox knew that wasn't the case. Finally the cat seemed to be done speaking, and the fox called out to him.
"Neko, what does Hokage-sama say about our current status?" he asked, and the cat, Neko, turned to him with a sigh.
"She says you are far too young to be in this sort of danger, Kitsune, and to send you home immediately." he answered, his voice sounding dead serious for only a moment before he succumbed to the amusing quality of the situation, though the fox, Kitsune, didn't join him.
"This is beginning to get old. I know the Hokage is just worried for my safety, but she must realize that I have performed over a hundred missions like this successfully. Please inform her that I refuse, and will return at the end of the mission, like usual." Kitsune told his companion, who had finally got a hold of himself.
As Neko was about to do as ordered, the trees surrounding the stated to rustle, like the were being ruffled by the wind, but both ANBU knew that was not the case.
"No time! Neko, quickly contact Inu, Ookami, and Mizuhebi and tell them to get into position, it's time. They should know to act on the signal." the obviously younger ANBU ordered.
"Hai, taicho!" Neko grew serious, and did as he was told.
Kitsune pulled a kunai from the pouch at his waist, and tied an exploding note to the weapon. He waited silently, breathing shallowly as the trees swayed again, though this time it really was wind.
Finally, a cry echoed through the sleeping forest, and the enemy rained from the trees. Kitsune threw the kunai straight up into the air, performed a hand seal, and the small weapon exploded vibrantly.
Suddenly, as the enemy had all entered the clearing, small strings of chakra surrounded it, encircling the unsuspecting foreign ninja. Both Kitsune and Neko disappeared in a poof of smoke, the kage bunshin dispelling themselves.
The foreign ninja shouted their outrage at being tricked, none of them noticing the trap that was enfolding them like a venous fly trap until it was too late.
One of the more observant ninja pointed to the chakra strings, which were now domed around them, and his comrades tried hacking at them with kunai, katana, and various jutsu. As their combined force touched the seemingly delicate strings, it set off a chain reaction, and each strand exploded individually, harming nothing but the targets.
When the strings had all been obliterated, and all that was left of the enemy was tattered flesh and shattered bone, a small force of ANBU, lead by Kitsune, dropped from the trees above the clearing and checked for survivors. There were none.
They began to pick through the remains until the one with the dog mask, Inu, cried from his assigned search area, "Taicho, I found it, and it's mostly intact." He approached Kitsune and held up a slightly battered head, the ragged scar on its cheek proving it to be the target. All of the other ninja had just been in the way, thus had to be dealt with.
"Excellent." Kitsune said, reaching into a pouch on his calf and extracting a small scroll. He used his katana to slice his thumb and pressed it to the seal, and they put the head into the sealing scroll.
Kitsune slid the scroll back into its hiding place and nodded at his team. All five ANBU dashed off into the night, leaving behind the gory mess for the night time predators.
~~~~The Hokage Tower~~~~
Tsunade raised her head from her desk and called a drunken welcome to her midnight visitors. The spotless ANBU stood at attention in front of her desk, silently wondering how their Hokage could still be conscious with the copious amounts of alcohol she had consumed, if the amount of empty bottles around her desk were any indication.
"How was your mission, brat. I told you to come back, but did you listen to your dear big sister? Nooo~ooo!" she slurred, glaring at Kitsune, who only placed the sealing scroll on her desk in response. The ANBU in the wolf mask, Ookami, placed the mission report next to it, glad his mask hid his grin.
The ANBU then bowed and excused themselves, all but Kitsune.
After Tsunade was certain the young ANBU's team were out of hearing range, she seemed to sober instantly, and the glare she gave the fox masked boy this time was venomous.
"I told you to come back, not to finish your damn mission. I was worried about you gaki, and you disobeyed a direct order!" she hissed, and Kitsune grinned behind his mask.
"But, baa-chan, I can't just back out of a mission, and you of all people should know that. These people were going to raid one of Konoha's caravans, and had to be stopped. I didn't get hurt in any way at all." he told her, his voice sounding much younger than it did only moments ago.
He dodged her sudden punch easily, then allowed her to envelop him in a crushing hug.
"What if you had not seen one of them coming at you with a sword until it was too late, what if one of them henged as on of your team so he could attack you? What if-" she continued to voice unlikely outcomes, not noticing the boy in her arms was quickly fading from lack of oxygen. When she finally allowed him to pull away, the poor ANBU was half dead and gasping for air.
"So glad- cough- to know- cough gasp cough- you care!" he managed to gasp out. Finally he was able to breath normally and excused himself.
"I'm sorry, baa-chan, but, you know..." he wouldn't allow the excuse for his departure pass his lips for fear of someone listening, but Tsunade understood and waved him out, commanding him to get a good nights sleep for once in his life.
As the ANBU slipped out the window, the woman suddenly felt her age, and whispered sorrowfully to the empty room, "What would I do if you had died out there?"
She didn't get an answer because there wasn't one.
~~~~The Next Day: The Bridge~~~~
Naruto yawned as he leaned against the rungs of the bridge where Team 7 usually met, watching without interest as one of his team mates, Sukura, chased around the other, Sasuke, with the offer of a date. It was three hours after the time they were told to meet, and their jounin instructor had yet to show.
The blond boy gazed down at the icy river running below and contemplated a quick swim in the sub-zero waters to wake himself up. He dismissed the idea when, in a swirl of leaves, the team's sensei, Hatake Kakashi, finally made an appearance.
"You're late!" Sakura shouted, raising her fist in fury. Kakashi held up his own hands, palm out, in surrender.
"Maa, maa, Sakura, I was on my way here when a bunch of birds started to attack me, and I had to get away from them before I could come here!" was his excuse.
"LIAR!" Sakura's shout scared birds from their nests in the forest. Kakashi sweat dropped at her outrage, and glanced over at his unusually subdued blond haired student, who was still staring at the thunderous waters below.
"Ne, Naruto, what's the matter, cat got your tongue?" he teased, then grumbled when he was ignored.
Sasuke grunted, then glared at the oblivious blond too, as if the intensity of they're combined glares would get his attention.
Needless to say, it didn't.
A hawk suddenly flew over their group, screeching and swerving majestically. That caught the day dreaming boys attention, as he stared up at the wheeling bird. Kakashi glanced up, too, then looked back down at his students.
"Well, it's late, so I guess training is canceled for the day." he told them cheerfully. Sakura began to berate him for making them wait just for that, and Sasuke watched their sensei being insulted by the kunoichi with concealed amusement. No one noticed that Naruto had already walked off.
Once out of sight, Naruto's hands flew through the hand seals for the typical shunshin, and he disappeared from the street, only to reappear moments later in his spotless apartment. He bit his thumb and brushed it on a seemingly random part of his living room wall, and a compartment opened soundlessly.
Inside was two long black katanas, a pile of neatly folded black clothes, and, placed carefully on top of the clothes, the red and white porcelain fox mask.
Naruto walked into his bathroom, and walked out a short while later dresses in a black tank top that showed his ANBU tattoo, loose black pants made of a stretchable material, a pouch tied around his waist and another to his calf. The black katanas were strapped to his back, making them easy to reach. Naruto adjusted the fox mask carefully, and his blues eyes, which were wide and sparkling with innocence only moments before, were flat and merciless now, and gazed around the room coldly before he shunshined again, this time to the Hokage Tower
~~~~Hokage Tower~~~~
Kitsune appeared precisely in front of his team, and the masked greeted him silently, which he returned. The Hokage's office was filled with three other teams, all of which were older and taller than the fox masked boy, though they bowed respectfully to him. Experience was nothing without power, and though the young ANBU had less of the first than any in the room, he had more power than everyone else combined, and knew how to use it with deadly force.
The Godaime finally stood from behind her desk, and the friendly mood in the room grew somber.
"As you know, the Kazekage will be arriving soon with the genin from Suna to take the chuunin exams. I want all of you to watch any genin that seem suspicious, from any village. There are rumors that Orochimaru was not too happy about loosing his new toy before he got to play with it much. Watch for him. Any signs or even just suspicions, please report them to me or Shizune immediately. DO NOT attempt to engage him in battle. I don't want to lose any of you to his hands. Do I make myself clear?" Tsunade seemed to be glaring at one team, or more precisely, one person.
All of the ANBU nodded gently, and Tsunade announced that was all, and to get out of her office so she could do her paperwork. She chose not to notice the sweat drops on everyone's heads. Whoever believed she was actually going to do her paperwork was not very bright.
In seconds all of the masked people disappeared. Tsunade sighed and grabbed a sake bottle from under her desk. It was going to be a long day.
~~~~The Next Day: The Bridge~~~~
Naruto seemed to be back to his usual self, and immediatly picked a fight with Sasuke. The fight didn't last long, because suddenly, and unusually early, Kakashi jumped down from the trees.
"Ah, sensei, there you are." Naruto stopped fighting with Sasuke and turned to the silver-haired jounin. "Ne, sensei, I kind of don't want to, but I've got to go on a mission by myself, and won't be here for a week or two. Just thought I'd let you know." then the boy dispelled into a cloud of chakra smoke, not even the real thing, but a Kaga bunshin.
Kakashi shrugged and turned to his other students, giving the exact same excuse, and telling them that Yamato and Sai would be joining them for a while. Sasuke grunted and Sakura pouted childishly, both were wondering why the dobe, dead last, idiot got to go on a mission alone. Neither noticed that Kakashi had disappeared in another cloud of smoke, the bunshin leaving the two teenagers to fume alone.
~~~~Two Days Later: ANBU Headquarters: Noon~~~~
Kitsune finally sunk down into the hot bath after duty, glad for the room he was provided at ANBU Headquarters. He didn't have to pay exorborant prices for this that he did for his crappy apartment, and it wouldn't do for his genin team to see him leaving his apartment when he was supposed to be away.
A knock on his door drew him reluctantly away for his thoughts and his bath, and he wrapped a towel firmly around his waist and tied on his mask before opening the door.
Sakura could not believe that Tsunade had ordered her to come wake up some grouchy ANBU because he had forgotten to file his missions report, and knocked irritably on the door again. She gasped when it was flung open by a very wet, very well toned, and very young man. She stared with wide eyes at the man's fox mask, trying to keep them from wondering down the fox's body in fear of getting a nose bleed.
"U-uhm, Tsunade-sama wants you t-to file your report!" she managed to shout before running off, not hearing the laughter she would have found familiar echoing through the hall behind her.
Kitsune watched Sakura run off in amusement, then sighed and turned back to his room. He reluctantly emptied the tub and got dressed.
He shunshined to the Hokage Tower, ready to give the old lady a piece of his mind, and opened her office door to find a red headed man sitting across from Tsunade, apparently bored while listening to her drunken rant on how hard it was to be in charge.
The red head turned to Kitsune, and his green eyes widened slightly. He recognized the ANBU's chakra, but... that was impossible!
"Naruto?" he murmured, and Tsunade, apparently just now realizing that her audience had gone from one to two, grinned at Kitsune.
"Take off your mask, gaki, no secrets here!" she crowed, and Kitsune obliged, reaching behind his head for the ties, releasing the mask and revealing his whiskered face.
~~~~Meanwhile: At The Yamanaka Flower Shop~~~~
"No way, Kitsune is just a legend!"
"I'm telling you, the guy opened the door, and there he stood, naked, wet, and with a fox mask!"
"As much as I hate to agree with bill board brow, she's... hack cough hack... right." Ino said the last part dramatically, and the group all raised their eyebrows at her antics.
Choji and Shikamaru had been forced to come help at the store, and Tenten and Lee were looking around when Sakura had burst through the door, claiming to have just personally met the Kitsune, the prodigy ANBU that had earned the title of captain at age six.
When Ino realized her audience was not interested in her theatrics, she sighed and continued with what she was saying. "Yeah, my dad says he sees Kitsune and his team come in from missions sometimes, he says they're always assigned the hardest ones, yet they never come back with a scratch on them." she spilled the gossip, and the others looked sceptically, except Lee, who was shouting about the unbelievable amout of youthful flames the Kitsune had.
They never noticed Sasuke come into the flower shop, and the fact that he was now listening, a scowl firmly in place.
Yep, that's all you're getting right now. It's so late, it could be called early here. I'll continue later if this gets some good feed back. If not, well, hey, I tried. (shrug) I had fun writing it, that's all that matters to me, but if y'all like reading it, then, hey, bonus. Ah, well (yawns) oyasumi nasai.