Hello, this is lord Martiya. I know, I normally write tragicomical stuff like The Godfather, but not this time. You see, reading What If? from Rorschach's Blot, a collection of ideas about possible Naruto fanfics, I found this idea, and got his permission to develop it. This first chapter will be in fact a remake of his idea, but from the next it will be completely original. Good reading.
by lord Martiya
P.S.: Konohagakure's Executor is my OC, created out of disgust at some anime filler, specifically the Mizuki's Return arc. I mean, Mizuki committed high treason, attempted homicide of a subordinate and a same rank ninja, spionage and passed classified data to a person without the necessary security clearance, and any single crime of these is punished with death in most armies when they're done by a private, and he was a non commissioned officer with a delicate job (training recruits) in the special forces of a society much more violent than our one. Those fillers made no sense, and in most of my fanfics the Executor first appearance is exactly Mizuki's gruesome execution...
01: Survivor
The ANBU had traveled days, searching for one person.
"Why are we searching for him? He's just a genin, and-" a weasel-masked ANBU asked.
"Because the Hokage ordered it. And I told him that I wanted guys from the First Battalion..." replied the leader.
The leader was a particular ANBU. It wasn't the fact he was in the Torture and Interrogation Squad so his face was known to everybody who cared, it were his weapon and mask, a giant sword similar to the infamous Kubikiru Hocho wielded by the missing-nin Momochi Zabuza and forged to seem stained in blood and the mask of the Shinigami, that declared him as the most feared member of the ANBU, the Executor of Konoha and Hokage's official spokesman. A guy you didn't want to provoke.
"That direction." another ANBU said. In spite of the cat mask, her black dog denounced her as Kiba Tsume. She was the captain of the team the Executor took with him, and, in spite of her Inuzuka hotheadness, she never tolerated nonsense on job. "And you, Ushi, need to be remembered to NEVER question the Hokage orders. Later we'll discuss of that."
The Executor ignored the scared wimp from Ushi and proceeded to reach the target with the ANBU, and appeared in front of him.
"Greetings, ANBU, can I offer a snack?" he asked.
"Sadly, we're here for business." the Executor replied. "The Hokage ordered you return to Konohagakure at once."
"Sorry for the Old Man, but I can't: interrupting a mission without a clear and impending cause is against our laws."
"That mission failed six months ago."
"I took a mission to protect the village nearby from a group of bandits."
"Uzumaki Naruto, you are a genin, you can't take missions."
"I was part of a genin team, who by law must be led by a jonin teacher." Naruto replied in a lecturing tone. "In the event of the leader's death, the next ranking man will take command under a temporary rank until return to Konoha. I haven't returned to Konoha from that, so under village law I'm a jonin allowed to take missions."
"Neko, talk with Uzumaki Naruto-jonin about his mission, then relive him, finish the job and take the cash before returning. Nice try, Naruto, but I was chose for this job for I'm smart and have a wild fantasy, not for my nice look."
Naruto grumbled resigned.
"Look at the good side: you have six months of rookie jonin pay awaiting for you, and when they'll edit the new edition of the ANBU manual they'll pay you the royalties for this anedoct."
Naruto didn't replied, and during the travel back to Konoha spoke only to answer the questions made by the Executor about the mission and his long absence.
"Welcome back, Naruto. It's so long that you've been away..." the Hokage greeted Naruto when the Executor led the genin to him.
"Not long enough." Naruto replied. "I was within weeks of killing him..."
"My sources tell me that the odds of success were close to zero."
"Tell them to run the numbers again. With the understanding that my survival is unnecessary, this time."
"W-what?"
"He killed my team, me included. What you see is just an empty shell."
"Death is not something you should look forward to, Naruto."
"I AM dead, that would just be reunion with the only people ever cared about me." was Naruto's reply. Then he had to massage his head in the point the Executor had punched him. "The hell?!"
"Next time you offend the Hokage the punishment will be much worse." the Executor replied. "You still have people caring about you, Third Hokage included."
Naruto was about replying when the door swung open and a kid entered screaming. And tripping on his own long scarf, making the Hokage facepalm.
"Twenty minutes early." the Executor stated looking the clock.
The kid looked Naruto and shouted: "It's your fault!"
"What?" Naruto asked.
"You made me trip!"
"I did nothing."
"It's your fault! I- LET ME GO!"
Naruto had grabbed the kid and was about spanking him when a guy in a black jumpsuit and shades entered screaming that the kid was Konohamaru, the noble grandson of the Third Hokage. Naruto looked the Hokage, who confirmed. Then spanked Konohamaru HARD.
"Like I care who somebody granddad is..." Naruto commented before literally kicking out Konohamaru.
After the kid and the man in black were out, Naruto asked: "So, what you wanted me back for?"
"The graduating class was uneven, and I needed another candidate." the Hokage replied. "They're still at school."
"What's the team I'll babysit?"
"Team 7."
"Understood."
Naruto walked away strangely silent.
"Can he recover, sir?" the Executor asked.
"I hope." the Hokage replied. "I hope. I saw a person with a similar personality falling after a similar trauma... Now, to the business without embarassing silence: I need you for an execution."