Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its affiliates. Anything that you recognise is property of its respective owners. Any relations to persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
Base/s: Naruto
Title: The Orchid
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki put up with a lot of things. Being called 'girly' was just one of them. Not that anyone would dare say it to his face. ANBU!Naruto NarutoIno
Music used for inspiration: The Battle Song – Narnia OST
Naruto breathed carefully. In. Out. And in. And out.
He moved as though he was dancing. He knew it sounded cliché, but his style looked more like he was in a hip hop contest than anything else. Or so Same said anyway. Capoeira was like that.
Unlike Kakashi's taijutsu style or Might Gai's Strong Fist, Naruto relied extensively on dodging and fast, unpredictable attacks. Because of this, it required him to keep his body in top shape and to keep his already impressive flexibility at its peak. So here he was, out before anyone else in their right mind would be awake, doing his exercises. As he limbered up, shivering slightly in the chill breeze, he pondered his current situation. Taking out Zabuza and his accomplice should have been relatively simple, even taking into account Zabuza's formidable skill. While Naruto knew he was still not as skilled as Kakashi, he didn't begrudge his friend. After all, he still had a while to go yet.
His body going through the motions of his exercises automatically, his mind drifted to thinking about other things. Like why his peach tree wasn't growing as it should! He'd given the damn thing all the water, light and special Naruto Plantfeed™ it could want, so why wasn't it growing properly? Stupid tree.
The mysteries of life.
Tazuna didn't look impressed.
"You're these kids' backup?" he asked, sceptic.
Naruto nodded.
"I see. And how is one man going to make a difference?"
Naruto promptly forgot all his negative feelings towards the bridge builder. Tazuna had been elevated into the status close to a god in his mind. He knew he was male! Result!
"You are a guy right?"
Naruto sighed. He wasn't sure why he bothered.
"Yes, I am male. And I'm more than qualified."
"Uh huh." Tazuna didn't seem convinced.
Naruto huffed. Tazuna came crashing down from his godly pedestal and smashed into the earthly ground.
"I'm going to guard the bridge with Sakura."
And with that, he turned and took off at speeds no normal eye could follow.
"Yo."
Sakura almost jumped a mile as the voice sounded from behind her. She spun around, ready to deck whoever it was when she saw the now familiar mask.
"Ran." She greeted, not really sure how to deal with the ANBU. She'd never spoken to one before.
"'Sup." He answered lazily, waving in her direction.
They stood in silence for a while, before Sakura got the urge to speak. It took her a few moments to gather enough courage to do so.
"Umm, Ran?"
"Hmm?"
She faltered.
"What's it like?" she asked before quickly clarifying. "Being an ANBU I mean."
He cocked his head to one side, their hair shifted in the slight breeze and the sound of the workers sounded faint in their ears.
"It's good, I suppose." He said and she got the feeling that if she could see under the mask, his eyebrows would have been raised.
"Oh." She shifted, a little uncomfortable. "I just wondered what sort of thing you do. I see ANBU around all the time and I know you get sent on really dangerous missions... It's just that I don't really know what you do."
He waved a lazy hand.
"It's not as glamorous as you're probably thinking. It's a bit of a messy job actually, and some can't handle that."
"What do you mean?" she asked, hoping he didn't mean what she thought he meant.
"Well, some people find it hard to detach themselves from or justify their actions. We do messy jobs all the time; an assassination here, wiping out a bandit camp there... and that's just the day work!" he joked and she gave a weak smile.
"The real stuff is much worse. There is one thing I hate more than anything else about my job." He continued, sobering as his voice took on a hollow quality. She leaned forward.
"What could be so bad?" she asked softly.
"Something so horrifying, it chills me to the bone. I... I hate it so much..."
She leaned forward even further. She was interested but she wasn't sure if she wanted to know.
"What is it?"
He paused before answering.
"...paperwork."
Sakura face vaulted.
"You jerk!" she shouted, smacking him on the shoulder as he laughed. She realised who she'd just called 'jerk' and hit and rushed to apologise. He waved her off with a chuckle.
"Nah, paperwork is pretty awful, but we're Black Ops for a reason. Why did you want to know?" he asked, interested. "Thinking of joining up?"
She blushed at his teasing, finding herself relaxing.
"No. It's just that you guys seem really strong. I mean, they sent one man as backup for a whole team!"
He cocked his head.
"Where are you going with this?" he inquired.
Her shoulders slumped. She could hear the gentle sound of the water passing under the half finished bridge and the laughter of one of the workers as his friend told a joke.
"Like I said, you're really strong. I'm surrounded by superhuman strong people!" she vented. "I... I'm not strong."
She wasn't sure why she was telling a complete stranger this. Maybe it was just that, because he was a stranger, she felt safer. She might not ever see him again, it was less embarrassing.
"Oh?" he said challengingly. "Who says?"
Slightly put off by his rather childish response, she continued to explain.
"I always loose spars with my team. Heck, even Ryou beats me! I know I'm kinda clever, but I have a pitiful amount of chakra-"
She was cut off as the ANBU held up a hand.
"What's wrong with not having much chakra?"
She looked at him oddly.
"Well... everything. I can't pull out big justu, I can't add variety to my fights, I-"
Once again, she was cut off.
"Fights aren't always about 'big jutsu' you know." He said sagely. "A small amount of chakra can be a good thing, like for your control for instance. Kakashi taught you the tree walking exercise right? You were good at it weren't you?"
She nodded. He carried on.
"See? Better control is worth more than a huge chakra pool any day. At least in my book."
She looked at him shyly, hopeful.
"Really?"
He nodded decisively.
"Yup. To tell you the truth, my chakra system isn't exactly average either." He admitted.
She raised her eyebrows.
"Seriously? But you're like, really strong right?"
He laughed.
"I guess so. But I guess you haven't seen me fight yet, so you wouldn't know. Due to an... incident in my childhood, my chakra system has always been a little funky. I can't draw on large amounts at once. I have a pretty good amount stored, but I can't access it. So no flashy jutsu for me."
She was floored.
"But- but- then how do you fight?"
He chuckled again.
"With my fists of course. Well, and several sharp, pointy things. And poison, lots of poison."
"Poison?"
He nodded proudly.
"Yeah, pretty much all my weapons are poisoned in some way. It's why I wear the gloves. I make my own poison see? So there's hardly ever an antidote ready for the enemy. Unless I give it to them of course. Not that that's likely."
Sakura was officially impressed.
"You can make your own poisons?"
"My name's Ran. My sword is called Sōndansu no Kōgō, my mask has a flower on it. Notice a theme here?" he teased.
She huffed.
"All right, I get it. You're plant guy."
"Yes Sakura," he said dryly, "the name of the big bad ANBU who strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies is 'plant guy'."
She giggled and wondered why she ever felt intimidated by the man standing opposite her.
She was about to speak when he held up a hand sharply. In an instant, she could tell something was wrong. She tensed.
"What is it?" she asked, fingering a kunai.
He didn't answer, but pressed a finger to the earth and concentrated.
"Five. No, six. Not ninja. Heading towards us from the... south west." He said after a moment. Sakura nodded and put aside that trick for later.
"Should I alert the others?"
He shook his head.
"Nah, we can handle them."
She was uncertain.
"But, six?"
He laughed again.
"Don't worry, these ones are mine. You protect the civilians. Get them off the bridge and into safety." He ordered.
She almost protested but reminded herself that this was a superior officer and not to be disobeyed.
As she herded the confused workers off the bridge as fast as she could, she saw the bandits arrive. The workers were running back to their homes and as she could see all six bandits on the bridge, felt confident they would get back safely. Kunai in hand, she crept back towards the bridge but didn't join the ANBU, knowing she would likely get in the way. So she watched, tense.
Naruto sighed as the six bandits arrived on the bridge. He'd been enjoying taking with Sakura, finding her to be pleasant enough, if a little selfish when it came to her teammates and obsessive about the Uchiha.
He'd point her in the right direction.
He was jerked out of his reverie by Thug One addressing him.
"You gonna fight us, girlie?"
Naruto sneered.
"Fight? That would imply it will be two sided battle. So I'm afraid I won't be fighting you. And I'm not a girl."
The one that appeared to be their leader frowned.
"I don't like your tone, pretty boy."
Another member of the troupe tugged his bosses sleeve.
"Uhh boss? That's a ninja." E advises, not taking his eyes off Naruto. The ANBU mentally complimented him. Clever boy.
"I noticed. There are still more of us than there is of him." 'Boss' grunted.
"Nuh uh, that's an ANBU ninja. They're dangerous!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow under the mask. He was getting bored.
"Do you gentlemen mind? I'm getting bored."
'Boss' growled. Then he hefted his sword. Naruto smiled.
"You know, you likely aren't worth it, but what the hell." He commented, reaching for the twin holsters at his hips.
"Huh?" was the intelligent response.
"A good friend said something to me once that I think fits quite nicely." He started before pulling out his twin tessen and flicking them open. The thugs looked confused before the light of the watery sun glinted on the sharpened edges. They tensed.
Naruto's smile became very sharp.
"There ain't no kill like overkill."
Sakura refused to look.
She didn't know what was worse, what she knew was there, or what her mind was supplying her.
She steeled herself. Ran wouldn't be afraid. He would be such a worthless, wimp of shinobi.
She looked. It wasn't as bad as she had thought. There was blood, and it stained the new wood of the bridge a horrible brownish red. The bodies were lying in their own pools of red, still. Their corpses weren't terribly disfigured, nor were they contorted grotesquely and for that, she was grateful. She wasn't stranger to death. Once, when she was younger, her family had taken her on a holiday a little way outside of the village. They had been attacked by bandits. A passing chuunin on his way back to the village had saved them, but had given the young girl nightmares instead. Sakura could deal with it, if she tried. Logically, she knew ninja killed. She knew they could be killed. But it was one thing seeing the carnage from afar, and seeing it up close. By a man who you knew, and on your mission.
She scanned the bridge again and she saw Ran. He wasn't injured, that much she could tell. Nor was he covered in gore, there was however, a distinct blood platter running down one side of his porcelain mask, making the flower inked into it look like it was crying blood.
She shook herself. She was getting overdramatic. Levering herself up from the undergrowth from where she was hiding, she carefully made her way over to her- teammate? Backup? She settled on friend.
He was standing over something, a body, and his foot was pressing down on its neck. She realised one must still have been alive.
As she drew closer, she could hear their conversation.
"The location, if you would?" Ran said amiably.
"Go to hell!" the thug spat, struggling.
Ran shook his head.
"I asked you for the location. I'd rather not ask again."
The thug sneered.
"Go die, shinobi scum!"
The ANBU sighed.
"Original." Pressure was applied to the man's throat and he began to choke. He scrabbled despite his wounds but Ran's foot held firm. Eventually, the ANBU let up. The bandit gasped for air.
"Feeling a little more talkative?" the ANBU offered. The curses he got in return made him chuckle.
Sakura watched in fascination.
"No? Pity."
In a flash, the foot was removed and Ran had the bandit by the throat. He struggled, but was no real match for the strength of the ninja.
Ran reached into his pouch and withdrew a single senbon. He made a show of examining it, running a gloved finger along its length. His captive began to squirm.
The Special Ops agent moved what would have been his mouth close to his captives ear.
After a mere moment, the man on the floor was spilling all he knew about the location of Gato, right down to the placement of his security guard.
With a quick jab, the senbon was in his neck and he slumped, boneless onto the wooden slats.
Ran looked up.
"I'm sorry you had to see this." He said and sounded sincere. "Now you know why I said ANBU work is dirty work."
Sakura took a few moments to gather herself before replying.
"It's alright. I would have seen it eventually. Better get my freakout over and done with now and not in the middle of a fight, yeah?" she offered shakily.
Ran nodded and then spoke again and Sakura was sure she heard something like relief in his voice.
"You're a smart girl. Let's get back."
He offered to help her walk, her legs were a little like jelly.
She gently pushed his hand away and walked on her own.
He nodded, smiling a little under his mask, and let her.
Kakashi looked penetratingly at the ANBU when his student locked herself in her room, her face pale. From the blood splatter on his mask, he could guess what had happened.
He turned to the others in his team who were staring at the blood with something like fascination. Kakashi could see Sasuke was tense, his hands balled into fists.
"Sasuke, Ryou." He called softly. They turned their attention to him. "Will you go and check on Sakura? She needs some familiar faces."
Solemn, they nodded and left.
Ran threw himself down next to his friend. With one hand, he pried the blood stained mask from his face. Underneath, he wore a grey Kakashi style face mask that covered the whole of his lower face and neck.
Kakashi chuckled.
"A right pair we are."
Ran chuckled softly.
"I'm sorry she had to see that."
Kakashi nodded.
"So am I. But better now than later." He said, knowing the wisdom in his words.
Ran reached up and rubbed his eyes tiredly.
"I need to go clean my tessen, I'll be back soon." He said, sounding like he didn't much want to move.
Kakashi raised his eyebrows.
"You used your tessen on them? Were they ninja?"
"Nope. I was really bored."
The jonin snorted and closed his eyes, leaning his head back.
There was comfortable silence for a moment before the younger broke it.
"You're a good teacher you know."
Kakashi hummed, not moving.
"You are." Naruto said again firmly. "You did alright with me didn't you?"
"I'm reserving judgement on you."
Naruto chuckled and tried to sound offended.
"You don't believe in me Captain? My heart, it hurts, right here."
Kakashi chuckled.
"I'm not your Captain anymore Ran, you know that."
Naruto leant back and relaxed his muscles.
"I know. Force of habit."
There was more comfortable silence. The faint murmur of voices was coming from the bedroom where Team 7 were. They could have heard every word had they wished to, but they didn't, letting the children have their privacy.
"You up for a spar tomorrow?" Kakashi asked suddenly.
"I guess." Naruto shrugged. "Are you?"
"I'm fine. You're such a mother hen." The jonin grumbled, causing his colleague to laugh. "I'll send the team off tomorrow to guard the bridge then."
"Good plan."
Kakashi cracked open his visible eye to see his partner leaning back with his eyes closed.
"I want to see how much you've improved. Bet you still can't beat me though."
Naruto chuckled.
"We'll see."
Kakashi was pouting. Naruto was laughing.
"Shut up." Kakashi said petulantly. He would have crossed his arms if he thought he would have been able to get away without being teased.
Naruto kept laughing.
He'd lost, although he hadn't really expected anything else, but it was made all better. Tsunami just had be make that comment didn't she? He swore he loved that woman.
"Hair gel my ass." The jonin grumbled.
Naruto was still laughing.
Kakashi's arm snaked out to smack his friend, but the ANBU dodged. Kakashi scowled.
Finally, his ribs aching, Naruto's laughter tapered off into chuckles.
"I can't believe she asked me that!" Kakashi vented.
"Well, you do have very nice um... tall, hair." Naruto said, his lips working furiously under his mask. They entered the house and saw Team seven relaxing in the main room. They paid them little attention. Sasuke was staring out of the window, brooding. Ryou was shuffling a pack of cards and Sakura was reading a book lent to her by Tsunami. She was blushing as she turned the pages.
"I do not use my lightning jutsu to style my hair!"
They all looked up sharply as their sensei ranted to the masked ANBU. Sasuke raised an eyebrow.
"Wha-?" Ryou started before he was cut off.
"You're so mean. You laugh at my misery." Kakashi said, pointing childishly at Ran.
"I know, I'm your friend. I'm supposed to laugh at your misfortune." He explained, causing Ryou to nod in agreement,
"It is a generally accepted part of the bro-code sensei, duh." He commented, completely serious. Naruto adopted the serious tone too.
"And we must abide by the bro-code." He noted. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell is the 'bro-code'?" he asked cautiously. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know or not. Ryou nodded gravely,
"It is an ancient set of rules, set down by our ancestors to show us the way of truly manly friendships without mushy crap." He intoned. The ANBU picked it up,
"Praise be the bros. Praise be." He chanted, still completely serious. Kakashi took a wary step back.
"I don't know what's more weird. The fact that there is a bro-code or the fact that you two are worshipping it as if it was actually important." He commented. Naruto adopted a shocked expression and made the sign of the cross with his fingers, aiming it at the older ninja as though to ward him off. Sakura giggled. Sasuke raised his other eyebrow.
"Sacrilege!" he announced loudly. Ryou nodded, a scowl of agreement in place, although his lips were twitching.
"Thou shalt not doubt the most sacred bro-code!" he agreed, equally as loud, pumping his fist.
Sakura covered her mouth to stop her giggles.
"Boys are so weird." She commented. Then she realised what she'd just said. Her eyes widened. "Not you though Sasuke! You're not weird..." she trailed off, looking dreamy.
Ryou made gagging noises and Naruto snorted.
Sasuke twitched.
Sakura stared up at the dark ceiling of her room. Being the only girl, she shared a room with Tsunami while her two male teammates shared one across from her and Kakashi and Ran in another.
She couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned and tried to force her mind to go blank. It wasn't working. Sighing, she rubbed her tired eyes but before she could snuggle further into her blankets, she heard a noise from outside. Sitting up, she made her way shakily to the window, looking outside blearily.
Seeing nothing but hearing the noise again, she threw on her clothes as fast as she could, grabbed a kunai and crept out. She thought about waking someone else, but decided not to. After all, what if it was just an animal, then she'd look stupid.
Making her way into the dark cluster of trees, she shivered. The night was damp and cold, the trees being thrown into sharp relief by the light of the half moon.
She could hear the sound getting louder. The noise was familiar but she couldn't place it. Suddenly, she spotted a small light to her left. Kunai raised, she made her way towards it, her heart hammering in her chest.
Breaking out of the trees she stifled a relieved gasp.
Ran was there, kneeling on the leafy floor. A small flaming torch provided dim, flickering light.
She lowered her kunai.
"Ran! I thought you were an enemy, what are you doing out here?" she asked, her body relaxing.
Instead of answering, he held up a single hand, asking for silence. Slightly taken aback, she did as she was asked. She studied the ANBU in the dim light.
He was on one knee, his head bowed and completely still. In front of him were six small patches of fresh earth barely visible in the shadow.
After a moment he straightened and turned to her. He was still wearing his ANBU mask and it looked sinister in the torchlight.
"Ran?" she asked quietly, tentative.
"Sorry for ignoring you." He said suddenly.
"It's alright." She said softly, "What were you doing?"
He seemed to be looking straight into her eyes, even though she couldn't see his own. She felt a little cowed by the intensity.
"Saying a prayer for the wicked."
She was surprised.
"I think they deserved it." She muttered.
"Not them," he cut in, having heard her. She looked up, confused. "For me."
He didn't explain further. Instead, he gestured to the piles of earth.
"Each seed is for the soul of a man." He said. Then he turned to her. "Nobody is pure evil. Nobody. There are people who may be close, and there are those who are beyond redemption, but none that are less than human." He said softly, looking at her intently. "I may kill and I may be seen as a monster in the eyes of some, but I do what I do for a reason. Always remember, your reasons are never better than anyone else's."
"But that can't be true!" she protested. "Some people's reasons are things like money or power, not to protect the innocent!"
He nodded.
"True. But in their eyes, their reasons are just as valid as yours. Understand that."
She was silent for a moment, thinking. After a second, she nodded reluctantly.
"You don't have to empathise with them, in fact it's best that you don't." He said. "But never dismiss a man's reasons as insignificant."
She nodded again, then spoke.
"How could anyone see you as a monster? You're not some mindless killing machine, you're a nice person!"
He laughed softly.
"Thank you for the compliment." He sobered. "But just think. What if one of the men I killed had a son? He'd be about, nine say. And he hears the news that his beloved, doting father is dead, killed by some masked shinobi for reasons he can't understand." His voice grew even softer. "His dad isn't going to tuck come home to tuck him in at night and read him a story before he goes to sleep, he won't be able to give him that picture he drew, because he's not coming home. Dad won't play with him in the garden anymore, or give him rides on his shoulders. Do you understand?"
Sakura could feel tears brimming in her eyes and blinked furiously. She saw the ANBU walk forward slowly and pass her, but as he did, he paused. He put a warm, gloved hand on her shoulder.
"Everything is relative Sakura. Humility is a shinobi's best weapon and arrogance is his greatest weakness." The tenseness of the atmosphere disappeared and the ANBU's voice became less heavy. "At least, that's my take on it."
And with that, he disappeared, leaving her alone in the gloom. Robotically, she extinguished the flaming torch and made her way back to the house. If she had been less preoccupied, she would have thought it odd the ANBU had left her on her own. And if she had been less preoccupied, she might have seen the shadowy figure following her, keeping her safe.
Sasuke discreetly observed his female teammate. Sakura was quieter, more reserved and apparently deep in thought. She hadn't attempted to hug him, or even ask him on a date. As pleasant as this reprieve was, it confused him. And a confused Sasuke was an unhappy Sasuke.
"Sakura?" he asked quietly, dropping in step with her. "Are you alright?"
He assumed it had been about the incident a few days ago, when she had come back from guarding the bridge pale and shaking from adrenaline. They had spotted their ANBU teammate speaking to their sensei, the blood splatter on his mask stark in their minds. She had told them everything and the night had been quiet.
She looked up sharply, as though he'd startled her.
"Sasuke! Yes, yes, I'm fine." She said absently.
"Are you sure?" he pried.
She looked him in the eyes and smiled. It wasn't a flirty smile, or a obsessive one, but something else.
"Yes. I was just thinking on some advice someone gave me. It's an... epiphany I suppose." She said, bushing slightly.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
She got a faraway look and he listened carefully.
"Everything is relative. Humility is a shinobi's best weapon, and arrogance is his greatest weakness."
She fell back into thinking and Sasuke was left with her words. Ryou was up ahead, talking with Kakashi. Sasuke watched him absently, his mind on Sakura's advice.
Kakashi had hinted at something similar. He had something to think on.
End Chapter
Like it? I hope so. By the way, the pairing will NOT be NarutoSakura. Just to be clear on that one.