Obedient

Loyal

Willing to die so that others may live

Able to be the stability of the village, the root of the great tree.

All theese things and more described the way Danzo viewed an ideal soldier to be. He had been called many things in his time, among them was a war hawk, power hungry fiend, and many likemindedely vile remakrs. However, Danzo understood one thing to be completely true. The power of human sacrafice...the power to recognize that you are but a cog in the gears of a much larger machine, that one man is only but a thread in the tapestry...that was truly the most powerfull type of strength in the world. Its why Danzo lost his arm and eye, why he took a position on the council, why he hated Sarutobi--because he believed that sacrafices could be avoided--,and why he started to mold the root division into what he believed was to be the perfect type of soldier, if that even he should die, their ideals will carry on and protect his home. Yes, Danzo, if anything can be said of him, was a true patriot.

It is because of this that he looks now upon his two most favored pupils in all of the Ne Anbu. One of them is by far, the perfect soldier. Free from the mortal concerns of power, free of emotions, and most importantly, free of any corruption. Yes, it was a fruitfull endevour to spirit him away when he was born. And in that short 19 years, he has become every embodiment of the perfect soldier. The other, a young woman of 19, his handler. The only person he would ever completely trust besides Danzo himself.

"We are but a gear in the cogs," The girl started, eyes shifting to her male counterpart

"A root of the tree," Came the growling voice of the masked man, voice sounding rough from its lack of use.

"And the whole that embodies us will be the whole that we will bleed, burn, and die for." Said Danzo, completing the standard introduction for members among the Ne.

A moment of silence for those before them who have died, and then the briefing would begin.

"Danzou-sama, you requested our presence?" The girl inquired, already knowing the answer. She was always a strict follower of the rules, an exellent soldier, and threw her emotions to the wayside whenever the situationc alled for it...which was coincidentally very very often.

Danzou regarded the girl carefully. The best weapons, after-all, demanded the most respect.

"Yes, Kana, you have a mission."

Kana, with medium length pink hair and light emerald eyes, had a slim, lean figure. She wore standard Anbu body armour, augmented witht he Ne symbol on her right shoulder plate. She was always regarded as the most beautifull of Danzo's root division. She had very little battle skills, but excelled in medical ninjutsu and stealth. This made her a perfect candidate to be Naruto's handler.

"You are to provide backup support to Sai's unit. They are to be raiding an Oto observation post that has been detected not too far from the village. Sai's unit will be waiting in the armory for you. Youa re to depart immidiately."

Danzo said no more, knowing that the information he gave would be all she would need.

"The will of the village be done, my lord" She said, and just as quickly dissapeared into the ground, seemingly melting into it and bringing her companion along for the ride.

'Naruto...' Danzo regarded, feeling his old age get the better of him. 'I fear that soon my time will be over, and yours will begin. I may not have gotten all of the ideals right, but as long as you live through what is about to come, the future of Konoha will be secured, and my deeds will have meant something.'

He proceeded to open several drawers of his desk, pulling out plates of armour and strapping them onto himself. He finished by strapping a retractable sword onto his remaining arm. If he should die today, which was more of a matter of time and a matter of if it will happen or not, then he will die dressed in the armour he protected his home with. 'The tree of Konoha...from time to time...' he mused grimly '...must be fed with the blood of patriots.

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Kana found herself in the armory, greeting Sai.

"Kana, we have been expecting you...we are moving out when your ready" Greeted Sai, using his ominously eery smile. It made Kana wonder if someone with such bad acting skills should even be a shinobi, much less a part of root. She took no heed to the fact that no one had greeted Naruto, and even moreso that they all eyed him cautiously. She did not blame them. Her companion had that effect on almost everyone but her.

Yes, Naruto was quite intimidating. He was specially trained with Kana since birth to be the one of a kind unit in all of Ne, even all the Anbu. Naruto was a part of root, but not a member. If one would look at first glance, he almost seemed a prisoner. Dressed in black shinobi sandals, black pants, and a pitch black straight-jacket. The jacket itself, some thought, was actually quite artistic, with all the buckles and looping fabrics. It almost seemed to come alive. The purpose of the straight jacket was very obvious. It served as a muzzle for a very dangerous dog, one that would accidentally bite if not restrained. Untill this day, only kana knew how to untie that jacket from the back. Not even Danzo was privy to that information. However, what set even the most seasoned warriors on edge was the mask he wore. Yes, that mask struck fear into the hearts of many, right before he tore them out.

Emblazoned in the white boney enamle, the mask looked more like a skull than anything else. The back was a black lycra material that encomposed his hair and dissapeared under the collar of his jacket. It did not share a wicked smile like so many Anbu had tried to use, nor a saddened frown that Anbu interrogators liked using so much. No, the teeth and structure indicated complete apathy, complete indifference. This made him look all the more frightening. The perfect face for a mask with only one visible eyehole.

He wore no symbol. In all regards, he did not exist. He was a part of Ne, not a member, because he was a weapon. And together he and his handler were designated team Omega. All things ended when kana took off his straight jacket. They were the Ne's best, and only, Heavy Assualt and Siege specialized team.

"Lets go" Kana replied. And in not short turn of events, Sai and his team blurred out of existance, followed closely by Team Omega.

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Four hours later

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Team Sai was returning to Konoha, looking fresh and unharmed. They should look that way, as Team Omega has done all the work. They had scouted ahead, found the observation post, and pointed Kana in the general direction. Team Omega had come back 27 minutes later with Naruto sporting a bloodsoaked jacket. It seemed Kana hadn't seen a reason to take it off of him for this fight. oto Chuunin were notorious for being weak, after-all.

This was exactly the reason Sai hated working with Team Omega. Kana was obedient enough, but Naruto...it unnerved him. He was always glad he never had to do any of the dirty work, but Naruto, to him, seemed to be loose cannon. Why else would they keep him restrained like that?

So they found themselves at Konoha's gates.

That, is when all hell broke loose.

"Root approaching! Sound the alarm!" Shouted the Chuunin standing his post around the gates.

Several things happend in that order.

One, no less than seventeen Anbu, all veterans from their mask marking, had appeared.

Two, Sai's team was completely obliterated, all taking a sword or kunai in a vital point. Blood had splayed everywhere, and they were denied there destiny to die fighting the enemies of Konoha instead of allies.

Three, Sai leapt away and was about to stab a dog masked Anbu in the back of the head.

Four, and by all means the most important to Naruto, Kana had begun to untie Naruto's jacket.

Before she could start, the dog masked Anbu had diaaspeared in a cloud of smoke

'Kage Bunshin!' thought Sai, realizing his mistake.

And where the fake katana had gone up in smoke, its very real replica was now lodged in the heart of Kana. Naruto felt her warm, thick, sticky life's blood on the back of his jacket. Frozen in place, not in fear, but of shock and saddness. He allowed his head to and shoulders to sag downwards and his eyes to get moist. He would not shed a tear though. Kana would not order him to.

Kakashi had been shocked. He expected a retaliation from this mysterious figure that had been with the Root squad. When he didn't move, and even began to bow his head in a submissive posture, he signaled to the other Anbu. "They have suffered enough losses. Lets take the rest alive". He gestured with Anbu sign language.

The others complied and went in to restrain Sai and Naruto. Naruto complied because he had no orders not to. And Sai went along because he thought he could maybe escape later.

He was very wrong.