I am back! I am so sorry to you all that I took so long for the update! My professionalism has plummeted indeed. Four days is waaaaay too long for you lot. Although, I had homework and birthdays to go to X_X ... And don't forget the ever so romantic boyfriend *le whisper*. Anyway, my vocabulary has decreased in sophistication in this chapter for which I personally apologies. And as for a certain Review-ee that I explained to about this, I have issues with past and present tenses! But fear not my lovies, I will stick with past tenses. But, when a character speaks, they will use present tense since that is an occurring event for this story is spoken/written in a tell-tale manner.
Never Said Hello – Chapter 2
Tenzo was taken aback of how concealed the ANBU Headquarters were. Atop a hill not too far from the Hidden Leaf Forest, a chasm between two mountains lay. It seemed like an obvious place at first, but apparently as Kakashi told Tenzo, 'Genjutsu-specialized ANBU shroud the borders of the forest in a reversal genjutsu that makes you walk in circles.' This seemed true by the evidence of a small tower overlooking the forest. As Tenzo saw, the tower had 4 people sitting cross-legged and focusing with a maintained jutsu hand sign.
"How can they maintain chakra control and not suffer chakra exhaustion?" Tenzo was astonished watching them not move an inch by discipline.
"They eat a chakra-dense food pill that replenishes most of their chakra half way in their shifts." Kakashi replied simply. He seemed to not be surprised at Tenzo's amazement.
"Well, how long is their shift?" Tenzo asked more curiously.
"Huh… Two hours tops. There is an overall of three, five-manned genjutsu squads that takes turns every two hours." Kakashi seemed bored and his voice was plain.
"Hey, why is that guy standing?" Tenzo pointed to a masked shinobi standing stock still. The masked shinobi didn't maintain any hand signs.
"The fifth member of the squad is a Hyuga using Byakugan. Using this visual jutsu has the tendency to tire them out more quickly than the Genjutsu Users. So they take a break and recuperate every thirty minutes." His voice may have been plain, but Kakashi was very explanatory. Tenzo was more amazed by Kakashi's sudden talkative behavior –he didn't say a word on the way to ANBU-.
"Oi Hound! Is this guy your new squad member?" Tenzo almost jumped out of his skin the disembodied voice was so loud! He looked to his left and saw a massive man approach them.
"Hello Steel. Yeah, he's my new subordinate." Kakashi was not at all fazed by this huge man's voice. As usual, he looked laid-back and bored.
"He should come and fight me sometime; I'd give him a good challenge! Oi, challenge me at the training grounds when you're all settled in!" Steel obviously meant no harm to Tenzo. In fact, the approaching big man seemed excited and cheery to see him.
"U-uh… Sure? Okay, challenge accepted." Tenzo was not prepared for this bronny man to be so… childishly boisterous.
"Excellent! You'll see me at the training grounds if I'm not occupied with work!" Steel was very straight-forward and provocative, but he made Tenzo feel welcome.
Kakashi waved at Tenzo to follow him.
"Excuse me Steel, we have business to attend to." Not a single sign of any visual acknowledgement was given to Steel as Kakashi walked by.
Steel side-stepped Kakashi and pat Tenzo on the back, "I look forward to our sparring match!"
Tenzo smiled then faced forward and kept in Kakashi's direction.
Tenzo then walked down a dark navy blue stairway with Kakashi. The double doors had a Leaf carved into it with magnificent detail.
Kakashi released the sealing paper and the leaf separated. Kakashi signaled Tenzo toward a desk in the cave's wall with bars guarding it.
"Hello, are you new here at ANBU?" A professional female voice said.
"Yes, I am. Is this where I get my gear?" Tenzo asked.
"Indeed. I believe this is your gear, Tenzo." The women had a very office-like voice.
"Thank you." As Tenzo grabbed the box, he noticed the very soft features this women had. Her eyes were a brilliant sky-blue, even with faint lighting from torches. Her lips were full, and long wavy dirty-blonde hair flowed down to her shoulders. She was quite exotic. Most people in the Hidden Leaf had black or brown hair with black or brown eyes.
"You're welcome." She replied.
"Tenzo, the changing room is this way." Kakashi called.
Tenzo turned on his toes and walked toward another door with the Leaf insignia.
The wood-user no longer believed he was in a cave. Light bulbs shine a bright white light in a massive room of lockers rowed in long columns that reached near the other side of the room. Benches lay close to lockers with some people chatting away while changing. Some were wearing masks, others were not.
"That's not true! Lightning Style: Burst Bolt is way faster than Wind Style: Puncture Bullet!" Some guy argued. His argue-e was smirking, not believing a word he says.
"You're ridiculous! You lack knowledge in the art of jutsu. I even heard that you're Taijutsu is petty compared to a Genin." The man replied.
"You think so? Prove it." The guy bit back.
"Fine then, let's see you take me on you, useless." The guy casually replied.
"You and me, training grounds now. Bring it." The guy irritably replied.
"Tenzo, I'd like you to get changed and observe this fight. These two are recruits just like you." Kakashi offered.
"Sure." Tenzo didn't want to ask any questions. Kakashi is his senpai and his reasoning seemed logical.
"Be sure to wear your mask whenever you go to the training grounds." Kakashi reminded.
"Understood, Kakashi-senpai," Tenzo wasn't sure about this.
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The two shinobi were on the training ground. The guy who defended Lightning Style had pale skin with light blue, side-swepped hair, and his codename was Volt. The guy on the other end had tanned skin and black hair, spiky hair. His build was much thicker than Volt's and he seemed to be skilled in Taijutsu just looking at him. His codename was Panda.
"Lightning Style: Burst Bolt!" A burst of lightning erupted from Volt's hands after weaving his signs. The brightness almost forced Tenzo and some others to look away because it was so bright.
Panda anticipated this and jumped to the side and rolled on the ground. Evading Burst Bolt with almost inhuman speed, he weaved hand signs and charged at Volt.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere!" A powerful burst of cylindrical wind currents hit Volt. The blue-haired man tumbled backward but used the momentum to crouch on his feet. Unfortunately for him, Panda was already onto Volt. Panda swung a mighty fist for Volt's head, but the blue-haired man caught on quickly and kicked hard at Panda's ankle, twisting to the left. Panda's foot slid and he lost balance and the fist just barely missed Volt. The fist hit the ground, and there was a fracture on the impacted earth.
"Taijutsu of a Genin, huh!?" Volt shouted as he jumped off his right foot and landed a quick uppercut to Panda's jaw, but seemed to have little effect. Panda grunted and swept his arms inward toward his chest, aiming for Volt. With lightning speed, Volt ducked then jumped back weaving a few more signs. Panda quickly assessed the situation then weaved his own hand signs.
"Lightning Style: Shock Wave/Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!" Both shinobi cast their jutsu at the same time. Wind collided with lightning and with little protest; the electrical burst gave out and the mighty wind directly hit Volt.
He flew back and slammed into a tree, leaving a dent on the bark's surface. The bear-named man appeared in front of Volt with incredible speed and threw another punch. The fist was about to connect, but Volt quickly substituted with a log. The tree Volt slammed into, split in two by Panda's punch.
"Volt you coward, show yourself!" Panda frustratingly roared.
"Tssssssssssssssssssk." There was a strange sound and Panda looked down to the sound, and a paper bomb on the Substitution Log was almost completely disintegrated.
"Shit!" Panda jumped back and the tag burst in a fiery explosion. The tanned man inhaled air, then exhaled a gust of wind, uplifting and supporting his body weight in the air. The cloud of dust dispersed as Panda descended to the ground. From the location of explosion, nothing was there except tree shreds.
"Pewt, pewt, pewt," 3 Kunei shot from the treeline. Panda grabbed out his kunei and blocked the first one, dodged the second one, and as Panda threw his own kunei to change the trajectory of Volt's; the blue-haired man swiftly appeared behind Panda and lay his hand on his back.
"Lightning Style: Electrical Watts!" Panda was shaking and shivering; little streams of lightning were visible along the wind-user's body.
"Wind Style: Bodily Wind Blast!" A gust of wind exhaled from all over Panda's body, and the electrical currents dissipate.
Volt ducked as Panda performed an arm swing, and jumped back when Panda attempted to kick him.
"Come and fight me fair and square you little rat!" Panda roared. He seemed well adjusted proving his point that his Taijutsu is superior compared to Volt's.
"Only if you can catch me, Panda. For someone who holds his Taijutsu and Wind Style so highly, you move pretty slowly." Volt said nonchalantly
"I'll show you slowness." Panda said roughly.
Panda began waving his arms. At first, he seemed pretty mundane but eventually, wind waves were soaring through the air. Volt with wide eyes was attempting to dodge them one by one, but eventually, Panda's arm movements were almost as fast to a Hyuga using one of their 8 Trigrams jutsu.
"AAAAAHHHH," Volt was stricken by a wind wave and one hit lead to many more continuous attacks.
"Wind Style: Puncture Bullet!" A dozen visible air bullets shot from Panda's mouth and hit the dazed Volt with such an impact, he seemed to have had holes through him. Volt fell on his knees and lay there, unmoving. "You think I don't know that's a clone?" Panda called. The clone poofed with a bright flash of lightning.
"Lightning Style: Catastrophic Rush!" Volt jumped from a rock behind Panda during the flash and burst rows of lightning from his hands.
"Wind Style: Great Wind Sphere!" A rush of wind dispersed all shot lightning and Panda smirked at Volt's expression of shock.
"How are you doing that?" Volt asked anxiously.
"I already told you, moron. You lack knowledge in any form of jutsu. Wind will always subdue Lightning." Panda said as he charged at Volt with a wind sword. "All morons die! You're a shitty excuse for a shinobi. Your life ends here, useless!"
That's not right! You can't just kill your comrade, ANBU or not…! Tenzo felt disgusted at Panda's actions.
Panda slashed whatever burst of lightning Volt had to offer. Volt got up and attempted to run, but was intercepted by wind currents swiping him off his feet. The bear-named ANBU smiled evilly and seemed to lavish every moment of Volt's horror.
I can't just intervene! It's there fight and Volt shouldn't have provoked him… But Panda is scum for killing a comrade! What do I do? I can't interfere, and I can't just watch Volt die! Tenzo was having a war with himself. He felt conflicted of what to do. Then he made his decision: he was going to break the rules.
"No!" Volt yelped as Panda swung down his sword.
"Earth Style: Earth Core Ascension!" A chunk of earth Panda stood on rose like a pillar from the ground fast and hurried.
"Who… are you?" Volt asked, looking up at his savior dashed in front of him.
"My name is Yamato. This guy should treat you as his comrade and a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf ANBU. For now, recuperate and let me handle this guy." Tenzo may have forced himself to sound badass brave, but he honestly felt a decent level of fear. Panda is willing to kill someone he spars with, so this puts him in danger.
Panda jumped off the chunk of risen earth and used a Wind jutsu to help him gracefully float to the ground. He was infuriated at Yamato for his interference.
"Do you think you're someone who can just intervene in a fight whenever he wishes!?" Panda yelled.
Tenzo was nervous, but it's too late to turn back now. He was doing the right thing in his mind, and that gave him the valiance to reply with certain resolve.
"I am someone who protects my fellow comrades instead of slaying them; I don't want to fight you. I am asking you nicely to turn back now and forget about this fight before I may have to restrain you." Tenzo replied. He thought that sounded too high on himself, but he couldn't help it, the words flowed from his mouth.
"Well, a fight is what you're going to get!" Panda charged at Tenzo, wind sword in hand.
"Water Style: Raging Waves!" Tenzo dispersed a gush of water at Panda, holding him back with a mighty blast.
Panda resisted the raging water and hopped up out of the water's range, and slashed downward at Tenzo with his sword.
Tenzo rolled to the side, weaved a few signs and had an earthen fist come out the ground and hit Panda in the chest. The wood-user was not done. He threw kunei when Panda hastily regained balance, and as the bear-named ninja blocked them, the explosion tags on the kunei exploded. The smoke cleared, but Panda was not there.
Where has he gone to? Tenzo wondered.
"Summoning Jutsu," Tenzo looked behind him to see a massive cloud of smoke. A giant paw emerged from the smoke and Tenzo just barely dodged it. He looked down on himself and saw a cut in his armor. No blood, or pain though, which is good. In the midst of observing himself a giant Panda with cloud patterns appeared.
"This must be why they call you panda…" Tenzo mumbled to himself. This did not look good. The wood-user may have studied much forms of jutsu, but his knowledge in summoning was dim.
"Let's see your fight me now!" Panda roared confidently, his summon charging.
"Earth Style: Boulder Launch!" A few dozen boulders cannoned out the earth and were aimed directly at Panda's summon.
"Wind Style: Hurricane Guard!" A powerful wind struck, and the boulders were knocked away. Tenzo did a triple flip backwards, but was already being pursued by the giant panda. Tenzo had trouble evading the Giant Panda's relentless attacks with its paws, and wind bursts. Attack after another, the battle was not in his favor. The usage of both Earth and Water jutsu, even his trump cards, seemed to do little. The Giant Panda would make wind shields or merely gut it through.
If I don't use my mokuton, I will die! Tenzo thought wildly. He didn't want to present his Gekkei Genkai to those watching this fight. He wanted to avoid isolation and resentment.
"Wind Style: Panda Slash Barrage!" Wind currents hit Tenzo and gashed his flesh and he went flying in the air and roughly landed on the ground. He looked to the side and saw not just the spectators, but Kakashi observing this fight. Strange, Kakashi is using Wood Style hand signs. Is he, hinting Tenzo?
"You're dead," Panda stated with a impish grin. The Giant Panda rose his paw, and swung down.
"Wood Style: Scaled Dragon!" A dragon grew from the earth and even though its body was not completely grown, its developed arms clawed the Giant Panda's paw away from Tenzo.
"What is this!?" Panda shouted infuriatingly. The Wood Dragon completely emerged from the earth and aggressively hissed at the Giant Panda.
"Me teaching you not to underestimate your opponent," Tenzo said in a serious voice. He had a hard time, but he stood laid his hand on the Wood Dragon and the wood-user's body merged into its tail. A few moments later, his head, then the rest of his body was on the Wood Dragon's head.
"Bring it!" Panda shouted, having his Giant Panda growl.
"If you insist," Tenzo replied with equal power in his tone.
The Giant Panda roared, standing on its hind legs, swiping and smashing with its massive paws. The Wood Dragon hissed, dodging and clawing with its talons.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Slash Barrage!" Wind currents piled up in sharp edges. Tenzo saw this coming, and had his dragon jump backward.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!" Trees and roots ascended from the ground and formed a thick, forest-like barrier.
Kakashi was amazed.
The giant bear jumped over the trees and attempted to pounce on Tenzo's dragon, but was dodged and struck in the face by the Wood Dragon's tail. The Giant Panda roared in pain and hastily charged at the Wooden Dragon. Tenzo was cautious, but his dragon was aggressive. The Wooden Dragon knelt lower than the Giant Panda, and tackled its chest, clawing and slicing at the bear. Roaring pain, the Panda disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Unf," Panda grunted as he hit the ground.
"Hiiiiiiiisssssssssssssssss!" The Wood Dragon maliciously looked at Panda. If it weren't for Tenzo communicating the dragon to refrain anymore from combat, it would've killed Panda by now.
"I'll fuck you up!" Panda angrily shouted as loud as he could.
In reply, Tenzo had his dragon roar so loud, the earth vibrated. Panda is glaring at Tenzo, and Tenzo is glaring back.
"I don't want to fight you anymore." With that, Tenzo sunk into the Wood Dragon's head and emerged from its tail. He doesn't bother to look back toward Panda and returns his Wood Dragon. He just focuses on Volt, wearing amazement on his face. He approached Tenzo and began thanking him.
"You really saved me back there! Say, can you train me sometime?" Volt asked earnestly.
"I don't know Lightning Style. Although, I'll help you sharpen Taijutsu." Tenzo replied promisingly.
Volt grinned. He had quite a liking to Tenzo.
"Yamato, you've exceeded my expectations." Kakashi leaned against the wall. He was beside the entrance to the changing room.
"Your senpai is Kaka- I mean, Hound-Taichou!?" Volt astonishingly implied.
"Uh… yeah." Tenzo answered. He didn't know Kakashi had quite an effect on people.
"Yamato, I must show you the rest of my subordinates now," Kakashi bluntly said.
"Okay?" Tenzo wanted to meet the squad, but what if they're pissy like Panda?
"I guess I'll see you soon, Yamato!" With that, Volt was gone.
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Kakashi lead Tenzo through the changing room. There was a separation between male and female for very specific reasons. Of course, Kakashi took Tenzo into the male room since the very beginning. They both walked out the doors leading to an apartment-like layout. The halls were carpet flooring with very intricate patterns, lights were installed on the side of the hallway walls, and doors with numbers on them were every so often walked by. Some doors were loud, others were quite, either way, Tenzo had a hard time wrapping his mind around that this is all in a cave.
Eventually, Kakashi and Tenzo stood next to a door. There was noise of punching and grunting. Tenzo looked over to Kakashi and he seemed comfortable and used to these noises, so Tenzo did not feel so worried. The punches were rhythmic so he figured someone was training.
Kakashi looked over to Tenzo and grasped his shoulder.
"Don't worry about them. They're nice people." Kakashi reassured with a bored tone.
"Understood, Kakashi-senpai," Tenzo accepted his reassurance. Though, he was a tad jumpy.
Kakashi grasped the doorknob and turned it. As soon as the door made a 'click', a man with bushy eyebrows slammed the door open.
"WAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOH! OUR NEW RED-FACED SQUAD MEMBER HAS ARRIVED!" Gai cheerfully roared in excitement. Tenzo was blushing a shade of red.
"Ooh, uh… Hel-." Tenzo attempted to speak, but he was already embraced by this man wearing green tights. His bulging muscles harshly wrapped around Tenzo, and he was being swayed side-to-side like a rag doll. All the while, some guy behind this bushy-browed man with a senbon in his mouth was mischievously laughing.
"Gai, Tenzo. Tenzo, Gai." Kakashi introduced a little too late. Why didn't he tell Tenzo this was going to happen?
"Gai man, I think you're going to scare off our new recruit if you don't kill him with your hugs." The senbon-wielding shinobi implied.
Gai let go of Tenzo with a wide smile on his face.
"Hello Tenzo! My name is Might Gai, the Green Beast of the Leaf!" Gai boisterously greeted with an outstretched thumbs-up.
"H-hello. My name is Tenzo. I am the new recruit." Tenzo said with heaved breaths; those hugs are what kill his enemies.
"Oi! What about me? You can't just hog this honey babe recruit and not let him see me!" The senbon shinobi sarcastically chided.
"O-oh hey! Uh, what's your name?" Tenzo asked, cautious for another hug-attack.
"Heh, my name is Genma. My codename is Snipe. And dude calm down, I ain't a hug bug." Genma handed off. He noticed the relieving expression Tenzo had on his face when he heard that last part. Of course, he snickered from that as well.
Tenzo was overwhelmed by his squad. A withdrawn senpai who is sluggish and bored, an abrasive, over-excited muscular man with bushy eyebrows, and a sarcastic man with a mischievous grin on his face.
Tenzo walked in the room when Gai gently nudged him in. There were four beds, one in each corner of this surprisingly large room. Two opened doors on each side of the room had a washroom inside. Beside each bed were nightstands with porcelain lamps on top. Two drawers were in the bed frames where soft mattresses lay. Beside one bed, was a desk with books and unorganized files. Obviously, that must have been Kakashi's.
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Gai kept chatting with Tenzo and made him feel welcome while he was punching a bag near the end of his bed. Genma was throwing senbon at a target board with much skill while lying on his bed. Kakashi was reading his orange book on the bed. Eventually, everyone went to sleep. When Tenzo left the shower and padded off to his bed, he saw a note.
"Make yourself feel at home! We already have some spare clothes in the drawers whenever you feel like exploring the village. Make sure you wear an ANBU mask when you decide to go out the ANBU HQ with your armor on. Oh, and if you have any questions, I'm willing to help. –Front Desk" Tenzo found this note on his nightstand. He searched through his bed's drawers and found spare armor. He didn't feel like wearing armor, so he closed the drawer and looked in the next one. Surely, there was a green vest, long-sleeve shirt, flannel pants, and shinobi sandals. The Uzumaki Clan's symbol was on the back of the vest and shirt. Also, a Hidden Leaf headband lay folded by the clothes.
This works… Tenzo felt like exploring the ANBU Headquarters. He can't just stay here and know only the simple locations. He put on his clothes, buttoned the vest and tied the headband around his head.
As soon he was out the door, he turned and walked right into a solid object.
"I want to show you around instead of having my friend get lost." Gai's voice calmly said. Tenzo was surprised he could be so serious and calm.
"If you really want to, that'd be great." Tenzo said. He felt glad that Gai was willing to show him around.
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From Tenzo being shown around by Gai, the training grounds are actually outside behind the mountain to the left, which is also guarded by the Genjustsu Squads. No matter what you do, a special type of transportation justu formula is cast on the changing room entrance. This justu detects your gender, and then transports you to the corresponding changing room. The same thing applies for the entrance and exit for the training ground. Eventually, Tenzo asked about killings in ANBU HQ. Gai was thoughtfully listening as Tenzo explained the whole situation with Volt, Panda, and himself. When Tenzo finished explaining, Gai said that you are allowed to kill a fellow ANBU as long as both ANBU instigate the battle together. Although, you remain at a lower ANBU rank, put in a "Bad Pool", and am not trusted with high priority missions. This clarified many things for Tenzo. And while they engaged in conversation about ANBU, and how ANBU works, they found themselves back at their squad's apartment.
"I hope you were answered all your curious questions, my friend. If you need anything, come to me. I know much about ANBU." Gai said quietly.
"Thank you Gai for being here for me." Tenzo thanked gratefully. He always takes acts of kindness to heart.
They both went back into their squad's room and Gai went to sleep. Tenzo took off his clothes, and went to grab his pajamas. He heard some movement and quickly looked behind him.
He could have sworn that for a split second, he saw Kakashi stare at him. But he was asleep by then.
Well, I am tired… Tenzo reasoned with himself. He changed in his pajamas and slipped under the covers on his bed.
I am so tired… I am excited for what's in store for tomorrow. I like Gai and Volt. If it weren't for Kakashi edging me to use my Wood Style, I could have died… Tenzo thought gratefully to himself. He also recalled Genma making him laugh a few times. He was a very humorous guy. Slowly but surely, Tenzo closed his heavy eyelids and soundlessly went to sleep.
I know I know, horrible way to end the chapter. But I am so bummed! I have no other idea of how to end this chapter! Although, I am already working on Ch. 3! And yes, as someone noted, I am trying to make Tenzo express his nervous and skittish traits a bit more. Besides, it makes him more cute! And as a reminder: THE ROMANCE IS NOT GOING TO COME FAST! And when I do get to romance, the sex won't be frequent. Although, I will provide good description for those of you who enjoy the climatic scene of romance which so happens to be sexual intercourse.