Disclaimer: I may say a lot of shit about Kishimoto, but chapter 515 was probably the first chapter I've had to re-read since the Pain fight. Still, if I owned Naruto, I wouldn't be doing an entire arc of needless flashbacks.
Author Note: Apologies for the lack of follow up to this story, but I have been pretty busy. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it.
Chapter 1 - Initiation
Moonlight flashed across the scorched earth of the recently blazed forest on the outskirts of Otokagure. Every so often the rays of light would catch onto the metallic shard tied around a figures upper arm as they leapt silently through the bare trees. As the figure raced towards its target, it suddenly grounded to a halt as it felt the presence of multiple chakra signatures closing in on the area. The multitude of signatures grew closer with each passing second as the figure leapt into a large crater that had been created following an assault a few weeks before, masking their body within the earth as they suppressed their chakra output.
Three cells of Oto Nins appeared from the north, west, and east. From the chakra output of the group the figure could sense at least half of the twelve were Jounin class, and the rest were all mid-to-high levelled Chuunin. A heavily fortified border patrol could only mean one thing.
'It seems the intel was correct. This is definitely the place.' The mound of earth thought to itself as it lay in wait for the group to disperse back onto their patrol routes. It was clear that the enemy shinobi hadn't picked up the figures chakra, because they were still alive. In the current climate, any foreign presence was dealt with before any questions were asked.
After what seemed like an age, two of the groups scattered into the mass of singed tree's in opposite directions, leaving one solitary group to mull over the position they were inspecting. The group stood in a standard formation, with a sensory Nin placed in the centre of the formation, searching tirelessly over the landscape for anything that was out of place. Unfortunately for him, his skills were far below that of a Hyuga, and completely missed the presence of the figure that was mere feet away from the patrol.
The group eased up as the sensor Jounin signalled the all clear, loosening up the formation as they began to converse openly. That was what the figure had been waiting for.
Three members of the patrol were dead before their limp bodies had even hit the floor. The severed head of the sensor Nin fell at the feet of the sole remaining Chuunin in the group as the other Chuunin, and Jounin, landed face first into the earth, each with a kunai embedded into the base of their skulls. The terrified youngster had no time to react before he could feel something cold pressing against his neck. The figure was merciless, slitting the young man's throat before he had time to raise his defences. The last thing the boy saw in his shortened life was a pair of orange pupils glaring back at him from behind the holes in the figures mask. He was not the first person to see such a sight upon their death, nor would he be the last.
The figure disappeared into thin air before the arterial spray could smother their porcelain mask. In mere seconds, this person had managed to decimate an entire patrol, with precision accuracy, without even making a sound. The figure crouched on a tree top as they sheathed their glistening blade, looking down at the life they had just extinguished. As much as they wanted to admire their handy work, slaughtering a border patrol wasn't the mission. It didn't take long for the merciless shadow to clean up the mess, and get back onto the mission. The fortress was only a few miles away, and inside it was their objective.
It was almost impossible to spot the figure as they weaved through the shroud of darkness covering the entire forest. Every so often their outline became highlighted by the moonlight, shining through the naked trees. A Hitai-ite glistened in the moonlight around their upper right arm, but it was almost impossible to see the insignia scribed into the metal. Judging by the size of frame, it was a male figure, but it was impossible to know for certain as their face was hidden by a menacing mask. Unlike normal ANBU masks, it was black, like the rest of his attire. The only visible colour was a number of blood red flame-like whiskers on either side of the mask, where the cheeks would be. The only thing that was clear about the figure was their hair. Long blonde spikes moved freely in the wind as they darted from shadow to shadow, as they rapidly approached the outer wall of the small fortification.
'It's crawling with clones. This is going to be more difficult than intel suggested.' He silently cursed ANBU's intelligence division as he devised a new plan of action. After many confrontations with the white-Zetsu clones, the black masked ANBU was well aware of their ability to think and act in unison. If one of them saw something, they all saw something. They were easy to overpower one-on-one, but it was extremely difficult when there was a large number of them. After careful deliberation, he eventually came down to two options. He could take on an entire fortress single-handed or live up to his ANBU namesake that had been given to him by his sensei.
If it wasn't for the uniform, he would have no qualms about taking his first option. It wouldn't take him long to bring the whole fortress to ruin. Yet, he was ANBU now, a master of silent killing. His ice cold demeanour allowed him to execute his orders without remorse. A true killing machine if ever you saw one, and usually if you saw this one...it was the last thing you would ever see.
"This is Shadow. I'm in position." A hushed voice spoke over the radio.
"Roger. Primary objective, ascertain required documents. Loss of life acceptable. Wolf out." The reply from his leader was short and to the point, exactly how he liked his orders. Now all he had to do was breach a heavily defended structure, retrieve the objective, and escape for home completely undetected.
After circling the fort from a distance, he was able to decipher the safest entry point. Now all he had to do was figure out what was on the other side of the wall.
"Kuchiyose No Jutsu!" The man slammed his hand into the ground at a safe distance from the fort. After the smoke cleared, a miniscule toad cowered slightly in fear of its master.
"W-what c-can I d-do for y-you, S-Shadow-sama?" The toad asked hesitantly as it averted its gaze from the black masked ANBU.
"I need you to sneak into that fort to assess the tactical situation before I attack." The toad hopped around so that it was looking in the direction the man was pointing towards.
"H-hai, Shadow-sama," it croaked as it jumped into his open palm before he rushed off towards the less defended side of the wall. He was exceptional when it came down to his movement. None of the centuries noticed his approach as he glided over the surface, hugging the wall with his back as he set down his summon.
It managed to squeeze itself under the wooden gate, and avoid the spotlights fitted to the courtyard before taking a good look around the area, memorising the guard's routines. After ten minutes or so it reported back in Shadow. The toad hopped back into the man's hand as it sat in silence, waiting for its master to glean all the information he could from his meditative state. In his heightened state, he had the ability to read chakra to a point that he could see into someone's mind.
He could already tell that there was over seventy chakra systems within the perimeter of the fortress, and most of which were the Zetsu clones. Fortunately, it appeared that all of the clones were patrolling the perimeter and the courtyard, meaning that the thirty or so unique chakras would be inside the main building.
"Perfect..." the figure muttered under his breath as he dispelled his summon and adjusted his mask before channelling chakra to his feet in order to scale the wall. His timing was impeccable. As he reached the top of the wall, he evaded the sights of both centuries, and managed to land safely in the courtyard, narrowly avoiding a three clone patrol by ducking behind some crates. As he monitored their patrol patterns with his own eyes, he realised that a single wrong move here could result in mission failure...or worse.
It didn't take him long to calculate the blind spot in their patrol, weaving quickly yet silently through each patrol, avoiding the spotlights by sticking to the shadows. His ability to manipulate nature chakra, as well as some...other...specialised bodily changes allowed for him to have perfect balance and speed. No more was he plagued by clumsiness and uncoordinated movements.
Shadow came to the most difficult part of this infiltration...entering the central building. Guards were positioned at both entrances and there were two lookouts on the roof, making it difficult to enter through conventional means. He used a chakra enhanced jump to scale half way up the wall before he began to run up it. The seventh floor was his target. A solitary open window invited him with open arms, yet he knew that two shinobi inhabited the room. He ghosted up to the window, catching the first shinobi unawares, driving two kunai into his chest as he puffed away on a cigarette. Before the other could react he found himself resting his chin helplessly on the masked man's shoulder, as his blade shredded through his abdomen.
As he gently laid the body on the ground, as to minimise the noise, the light from the room presented Shadow in all his glory. His mask looked even more menacing in the light. The mixture of the black and red, made his peculiar orangey-yellow eyes stand out even more. His long golden hair moved slightly as the wind wisped around the room through the open window. He wore a sleeveless black undershirt, with dark gray armour over the top. After his last kill, blood was smeared all over the lower half of the chest-plate. The black undershirt was matched by black trousers that were tied down to his ankle-high black battle sandals with white tape. He sported a conventional ANBU tattoo on his left shoulder and a Konoha Hitai-ite on his right with jutted guards on both forearms, as well as matching shin guards. As he withdrew his katana from his latest victim, he presented a number of small tattoos on his underarms.
"Infiltration complete," Shadow's deep yet hushed voice called out as he pressed the button on the headset underneath his mask.
"Understood. Intel suggests documents situated on tenth floor. Heed caution from here on out."
"Hai," Shadow's response was followed by static as he moved towards the door. He could sense another three signatures on this floor, one of which was patrolling as the other two guarded the stairwell. He waited for the opportune moment where they were all together before he made his move.
"Finally. I thought you would never get off your break. I'm dying for a smoke. Hey, where's Kato?" a scrawny looking guy with long dark hair, and a trench coat jeered as he walked towards his teammate.
"He's still inside having another smoke. He will join me in a moment." He replied as he walked casually towards his next victims. A benefit of becoming an ANBU was being able to access higher levelled henge's and basic jutsu's, which were near enough impossible to read. The two who were guarding the stairwell began to walk casually towards the room Shadow had just exited from, with the hall century walking closely behind. By the time they got within ten feet of their 'teammate', it was already over.
"Kanashibari no Jutsu!" The trio were instantly paralysed, unable to even move their mouths enough to scream as he dropped his cloak, presenting them with the last image they would ever see, his sinister black mask and piercing yellow eyes. His katana appeared to have a dull blue glow surrounding it as he swung it in their direction. He was stood too far away from them for the blade to make contact, yet seconds later the three collapsed to the floor, each with blood oozing from a slash across their chests. After shifting his mask slightly, he stepped over the bloodied mess presented before him, and carried on towards the stairwell.
He could sense chakra signatures on every floor of the building. There only appeared to be around thirty people in the entire building, seventeen of which were between his current position and his objective. If he did this correctly he could get away with only having to fight a few, rather than an entire fortress. With his blade at the ready, he crept up to the eighth floor, peering around the central reservation to see another two defending the staircase. That left three on this floor that were unaccounted for in his poor field of vision. He ghosted past them when they withdrew their attention from the staircase for the briefest of moments, moving straight up to the ninth floor. The same issue presented itself, and he used the same tactic to reach the tenth floor. Even if he was seen as he moved, it would only appear to someone as a blur considering his ridiculous level of speed which he held in his arsenal. If you blinked at the wrong moment you would easily miss him.
Seven people were on the tenth floor, and something told him that they wouldn't be as easy to defeat as the others he had come across. He was lucky that he had been able to catch them off guard, but when he peered around the reservation he could see two well-seasoned shinobi stood with stern-faces, concentrating completely on their objective. He could only assume that the others would be the same.
'I think it's time to test this new jutsu.' He mused as he pulled out a specialised shuriken from his pouch. It appeared different to a normal shuriken, with five points instead of the normal four, with a small seal placed on the side. He made his move.
The force with which he swung his blade at the two guards caused one of them to fly back into the corridor as he attempted to block the katana. His female counterpart quickly retreated to where he landed as three others joined the ranks from behind. The remaining two came out of the room at the far end, holding large blades at the ready. As the man got back to his feet, he and his counterpart began to rapidly go through a number of seals, but they couldn't beat Shadow for speed in that department.
"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" hundreds of the specialised shuriken appeared in mid-air and shot down the corridor towards the seven shinobi. It was impossible to evade all of them, resulting in a few impacts but nothing too lethal.
"You're gunna have to do better than that, scum." The man at the head of the group jeered as he held an oversized cleaver in front of him. His female counterpart had taken a shuriken to the shoulder, and two of the three behind him had been nicked. The two furthest back had evaded all of the projectiles, but that was to be expected. The whole corridor was littered with little black metallic shards. If it wasn't for the mask, they would have been able to see the sickening smile creep onto his face as he shot open his glowing eyes, before rapidly going through a number of hand-seals for his follow up jutsu.
"Hiraishin no Jutsu!" In a blink of an eye, the seven shinobi were left for dead on the floor as the orange flash of light subsided. The man casually looked back over his shoulder as he opened the door on the opposite side of the corridor to where he had been stood not two seconds ago. "Hm, it still needs some work." He sighed as he turned back to the opening door.
It only took a few moments to find the required documents, which he sealed into one of his many tattoos on his underarm, before turning back to the corridor. He looked down at the death and destruction as he walked. He really did enjoy the feeling of blood on his hands. He headed to the stairway, taking one glancing look downstairs before heading up towards the top flight. Now the difficult part was out of the way, he could have a little fun.
A bloodied figure hurled himself through the double doors that opened out onto the flat roof, where two centuries quickly turned in fear of attack. They hurried over to their bloodied comrade, attempting to aid assistance until they found that their bodies were unresponsive. They looked down as the man donning an Oto Hitai-ite began to stand up and pulled a kunai from his pouch, slitting the pair's throats as he remained completely silent.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" hundreds of Oto Nin rained down into the courtyard, confusing the Zetsu clones as they openly attacked. Many of the shinobi inside the building began to assist in the battle. Through all the confusion, the lone figure easily escaped over the wall and into the tree line. As he reached a safe distance, he activated his final jutsu.
"Bunshin Daibakuha!" as his muted voice whispered the jutsu, the night sky flashed red for a second, before darkness returned. A low grumble increased in severity until a shockwave of sound and wind shot past the fleeing ANBU. In an instant, the fortress was no more, as was everyone within the blast radius of the exploding Kage Bunshin's.
"Primary and secondary objectives complete, request further instructions." The emotionless Shadow asked his commander.
"Excellent. Mission accomplished, return home Shadow. Wolf out." An almost proud sounding voice replied before the transmission ended. Shadow shot off towards the border at some speed. He couldn't wait to get back to his home so he could get some well deserved Sake.
Konoha had become a different place since the war had begun. The liveliness and happy atmosphere had all but been eradicated from the streets. Its exuberance had been replaced by a cold and uninviting ambience. It had become too much for some, resulting in many migrating south, away from the threat of war. Many did persevere with the current war time climate, and remained loyal to the Hokage and to the village. A majority of the population were shinobi, or village guards who would be called upon only as a last resort. Luckily, the Akatsuki forces hadn't reached the walls of Konoha for six months.
Patrols were increased and guard duties were no longer as lax as they used to be. That was due to the change of personnel who took the regular duty. Kotetsu died around a year back, and Izumo was dispatched into a frontline attack squadron. Their replacements were two hot headed rookies fresh out of the academy. They were far below the skill of the previous generation, but what they lacked in ability they made up for with guts. So much so that they squared up to anyone who entered the village, regardless of rank or ability. In their inexperienced state, they had taken Tsunade's orders to be 'thorough' a little over the top.
"Halt! What purpose do you have here?" the shorter boy with light blue hair almost screamed at a figure that rained down on their position from the outskirts of the forest under the nights sky.
Upon hearing the command, the figure slowed down to walking pace as he allowed the duo to see his 'face' as he stepped into the light. He didn't speak; he just waited for their tense looking faces to pale as they saw his black mask. The instant they saw the black mask with flamed whiskers, they cowered slightly in fear. Rumours had started circulating amongst the younger shinobi a couple of weeks back about an ANBU member that wore a black mask, and he was not to be toyed with under any circumstances.
"M-my a-apo-logies ANBU-s-sama." The taller red-head eeked out as he handed him the sign-in sheet. The boy retrieved the clipboard from the ground where the ANBU had shunshined away into the night sky. All that it read was 'Shadow'.
"Shit, I thought he was gunna kill us." The red-head let out a sigh of relief as his fellow guard laughed nervously.
"I might just kill you yet if you're not careful." The young shinobi turned in unison as the ANBU member crouched on the roof of the checkpoint, staring them down. They hadn't even registered his presence. They stared helplessly in silence until in an instant he stood between the two of them. "They sure don't train them how they used to. A shinobi shouldn't show fear. Never forget that, because that may save your lives one day."
The pair were far too shaken up to move, and the killer intent the ANBU was unleashing was crippling. Yet, they somehow seemed to nod their heads slightly in acknowledgement as he turned away from them, walking off into the deserted market district as curfew was already in place. As he eventually disappeared down one of the many streets, the pair turned silently to each other and headed back to their stand where they took refuge from a terrifying experience.
Shadow walked silently through the streets of Konoha, not even his footsteps could be heard on the cobbles. Every so often he would stumble across another shinobi walking around, more often than not leaving a bar for home. He felt jealous that they had already had their drinks for the evening, when he had to report back to the Hokage immediately to hand in the documents he had acquired the night before. Hopefully the briefing wouldn't take long...
As he entered the Hokage tower, he was greeted by a sole Chuunin guard at the foot of the stairs, as well as the receptionist on the late shift.
"Greetings ANBU-san, Hokage-sama has been waiting for you. Please, go straight in." The woman smiled as she spoke, yet he could tell that there was a distinct tinge of fear in her voice. He acknowledged her words with a slight nod before turning to the guarded stairwell. The Chuunin gave a slight smile as the moved out of the way of the quickly growing living legend that was Shadow. Although no one knew his identity, his fearsome mask was becoming in-famous throughout the allied forces.
As he walked down the corridor on the top floor, he was greeted by two ANBU guards, one with a boar mask, and the other with a dog mask. They both nodded to their newest member of the fold as he walked by them, opening the double doors into the Hokage's office.
"You're late. Care to explain yourself?" The busty blonde behind her desk huffed as she placed her saucer of Sake to her lips.
"He was busy instilling fear into the gate guards, right Shadow?" The tall silver haired man donning a wolf mask chuckled as the blonde haired man turned back from closing the doors behind him.
"You should really sort out the academy, Tsunade. Those brats really aren't good enough to be guarding the main gates." It was difficult to tell if he was joking with the lack of emotion in his voice. He nipped his finger and smeared the blood over one of the tattoos, withdrawing a scroll from the smoke. "Here are the documents you requested."
"You may be the in-famous 'Shadow' now, but you weren't a great deal better when you were that age, right Kakashi?" She turned to her right hand man as she heard him let out a sly laugh before he walked out to greet his subordinate and take the scrolls from him.
"I wasn't that bad when I was that age, was I?" The first sign of humanity radiated from the dark figure as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"You were a quick learner Naruto. You just didn't get the right training in the academy." Kakashi laughed as he patted his young student. It had been almost two months since he had requested to join ANBU, and in that time Kakashi had taken him in under his wing and trained him personally. He felt a great deal of responsibility for all that had happened to him since the war had started, and found that training him was a good way to make up for it.
"Congratulations Shadow, you completed your first S-rank mission under ANBU. After some discussion with Wolf, we have decided that you are ready to become a fully fledged member of ANBU." Tsunade spoke with great pride, but her words were met with confusion from her new assassination specialist.
"I'm sorry, what? You mean for the past two months, I have only been a trainee?"
"Indeed. That is how it works in ANBU. You are required to fulfil a number of A-rank missions, and one S-rank mission before you can be placed into the full roster. That mission was your initiation, and you passed with flying colours." Kakashi congratulated him in his own way as he returned to Tsunade's side and handed her the documents. She skimmed over them briefly before simply throwing them in the bin and continued to drink her Sake.
"Hey, what are you doing? I just risked my life for those documents." A slightly angry growl came from underneath the mask as Tsunade smirked from behind her saucer.
"Baka! The documents were just a ruse. We had no idea what they were holding in that fortress. The mission was a test of your ability to carry out orders and adapt to misinformation." She laughed slightly before continuing. "You displayed great skill in infiltration, and could think up an attack plan with ease, regardless of what obstacles you faced. You completed your primary mission objective without alerting the main force, and then carried out your second objective of destroying the fortress...after you acquired said documents."
Naruto stood their quietly as he mulled over everything she just said. It was in essence a field test. They had pitted him against an entire fortress, providing him with sketchy at best information, and gave him two extremely difficult tasks to complete. He felt a tad hard done by that they hadn't informed him of the mission purpose, but after careful thought, he decided it was the best course of action to make the mission as realistic as possible.
"Very well, when do I begin?" He replied as he turned to the window and looked down at his empty looking village.
"Take tomorrow off for recovery. Return to the Namikaze estate until you are called upon." Tsunade ordered as he nodded and headed back to the door. "Oh, and Naruto? Your mission pay has already been transferred into your account." He simply waved his hand behind him as he opened the double doors and left the room and headed towards the stairs.
Just as he was about to turn the corner towards the staircase, a familiar face moved into the space he was about to move into, almost knocking him off his feet.
"Gomen ANBU-san, I wasn't looking where I was..." before the pink haired banshee could finish apologizing, he disappeared into thin air right in front of her eyes, leaving her speechless. That was the first thing she had said to him in two years, and that was probably because she didn't know who she was talking to.
The day after his birthday had been an interesting one to say the least.
~~~Flashback~~~
Naruto awoke from his drunken state with a banging headache. The night before was extremely hazy, yet he remembered that he had made his decision. He dragged his hung-over body into the freezing cold shower in order to increase his alertness before heading back into his bedroom to get dressed in his black trousers and long-sleeved mesh undershirt, with a Chuunin combat vest over the top. As he headed towards the front door, he remembered his solitary birthday present, tying the Hitai-ite around his arm, whilst picking up the food coupon that rested on his table.
After using two of the ten free bowls of ramen from his coupon, he headed to the Hokage tower to tell Tsunade that he wished to join ANBU.
It didn't take long for him to reach the tower, and moved straight up stairs towards her room. As he turned onto the corridor, he ran into someone he really didn't want to. A flash of pink greeted his eye-line as he turned onto the corridor. There was no escape. They were mere inches from banging into each other until Naruto managed to side-step her and carry on down the corridor, not paying any attention to the glares she gave him as he headed to Tsunade's room.
Without knocking he just entered the room, only to be greeted by another painful sight. Team Kurenai were being prepped for their next mission by Tsunade. "Learn to knock you little brat," the Hokage jeered as Naruto smiled nervously before apologising and turning to exit before he was stopped by something he didn't expect.
"Ano, I-it's okay Naruto, we have f-finished our briefing." Hyuga Hinata's quiet little voice seemed to call him back into the room with ease as he turned back to the group. She didn't look at him directly, but he could see that she seemed confused. 'He's wearing his present.' She thought to herself as the team walked on by him.
Sai nodded casually in his direction, but neither Kurenai nor Shino appeared to acknowledge him. Hinata gave him a slight stare, but quickly dropped her head as she realised he was looking back at her. Tsunade waited for them to leave the room before she began to speak.
"So, you here to plea to get your sorry ass moved back to the frontlines again?" She seemed a little indifferent to his gaze as he remained silent shortly.
"I have come to request that you allow me to join ANBU." The lack of emotion in his voice seemed to catch her out. He said it as if it was nothing. He was signing himself off to become an assassin, directly under her control, and he didn't seem to care.
"Before I give you my decision, can I tell you something?"
"Go ahead, but nothing you say will change my mind."
"You are the rightful heir to the Namikaze estate. Your father is Nami..."
"Yes, I know. I have known since I was sixteen. But I have kept it to myself for safety purposes. Did you think telling me about my heritage would deter me from this?" He remained emotionless as he addressed her.
"I-I...yes, yes I did Naruto. You are the shining beacon that this village needs to pull it through this war. A Namikaze at the helm would give this shinobi alliance the drive it needs to win this war." She was almost pleading him to reconsider, but she could see that his eyes were dead. That determined rash young boy had died and had been replaced by a heartless man, worthy of joining the ANBU ranks. He gave no reply, but stared at her through his dull blue eyes.
"Very well, Wolf he's all yours." She sighed as a silver haired ANBU shunshined into existence besides her.
"So Naruto, it has finally come down to this? I was wondering how long it would take you to follow down this path. Welcome to ANBU." The man held out a black mask with blood red flamed whiskers on either side, with painted white rings around the eye holes. "From now on, you will be known as Shadow, and you are under my direct command. Is that understood?"
"Hai," he replied as he deciphered who Wolf was. The voice was so familiar to him.
~~~End of Flashback~~~
After that near miss with his old teammate, Naruto definitely needed a drink, and it needed to be something strong. He walked into the bar of one Nara Shikaku, who moved into the business after he lost a leg in battle. He was head of the village guard, but he no longer had the physical capabilities to remain on active duty. During the day he worked as a tactical aid for Tsunade, and in the evenings he ran one of the most popular Shinobi bars within Konoha.
As Naruto walked into the bar, still wearing his ANBU attire but now had a white cloak over his combat suit, the background chit-chat dissipated. People began to stare openly as he walked through the tables towards the bar. It was the first time for some to see the fabled Shadow, but the regulars still couldn't help but stare when he entered his normal drinking hole.
"One bottle of the strongest Sake you've got, Shikaku-san." His monotone voice carried throughout the eerily silent bar as Shikaku disappeared underneath the bar.
"Here you go Shadow-san." The most uninterested shinobi in Konoha even took notice of this one ANBU. Never before had he seen one person become so famous in such a short amount of time. "I'll put it on your tab." He smiled slightly as he moved away to serve a kunoichi that stood at the other end of the room.
He moved towards his normal seat in the far corner. Many of the ANBU sat in this corner as it was the darkest. It allowed them to maintain their secrecy as they drank, considering it was near impossible to drink with your mask fixed to your face. The only time he ever wore his cloak was when he went for a drink. The hood was large enough that it placed his face in a veil of darkness when he wasn't wearing his pitch black mask. Unfortunately, someone was already sat in his booth.
"You're in my...seat." his ice cold demeanour seemed to dissipate as the girl that sat in his place turned up to look at him. Piercing lavender eyes met the black abyss that lingered where a person's face should be.
"I didn't realise you had your own seat. I guess you will have to wait until I am finished." The sweet little voice from the girl seemed to carry a great deal of sarcasm and a hint of anger towards the figure as they tried to move her from the booth she had occupied for the past thirty minutes.
"And what is a head family Hyuga doing in a grotty place like this?" The man's voice seemed different as he spoke to her. He wanted to maintain his facade, and he knew that this was his perfect opportunity to speak to her without her knowing it was him. Before she could protest, he sat down opposite her, plonking his bottle down on the table as she simply gazed at him for a while.
"Don't treat me like some spoilt kid just because of my lineage. I have a right to be in here as much as anyone else. Who are you to judge me?" The anger seemed to be flowing from her as she took another swig of her drink. The anger seemed to disappear as she saw the man remove his mask.
The abyss remained under his hood, yet the mask he placed on the table scared her a little. She was face-to-face with the most feared person in Konoha, and she had just shouted at him. By rights she should be dead, or at least succumbing to a wave of killer hatred like no other. Yet, all she got was a small chuckle.
"I guess you're right, I have no right to judge you. It's just unusual for someone to sit in my booth. You're not a regular are you?" he already knew the answer to the question. This was the first time he had ever seen her in here. She seemed a little more reserved now that she knew who he was, yet she didn't revert to the typical stuttering mess of the people who usually spoke to him.
"Where does it say this is your booth?" she smirked as she took another swig from the bottle. "And no, this is my first time in here, but my friends recommended this place to me."
"It doesn't, maybe I should talk to Shikaku about that. If you had been a regular, you would know that this is the ANBU section. But considering you're not a regular, I'll let you off." He poured a little bit of the strong smelling liquid into a small cup as he spoke.
"That must be a first, the in-famous Shadow 'letting someone off'." She joked as she took another swig. From what she heard the man was merciless and cold hearted, it was rumoured that no one he had come up against had ever seen anything after seeing his mask.
"Hitting it a little hard on the drink don't you think?" he pointed to the three empty bottles that was stood next to the one she was drinking at the minute.
"I'm not used to drinking so I asked for the weakest stuff he has. I need to think some things through, and my teammate told me that drinking helps."
"You're going to need stronger stuff than that if you want to clear your mind. Trust me." before she could decline, he poured more liquid into his cup and handed it to her. The smell was extremely strong, but she simply opened her mouth and drank it whole. She could feel it burn the back of her throat as it trickled down her oesophagus, causing her to gasp for air momentarily.
"Kami, how can you drink that stuff?" she panted as she took a swig from her low-concentrate bottle to get rid of the burning sensation.
"Lots of practice," he joked as she handed him the cup back.
They sat there in silence for a brief while, living in their own little worlds, drinking away contently. He could see that she was tormenting herself over something, yet he didn't want to be too forward with her. All he could do was wait and see if she wanted to tell him.
They seemed to be attracting looks from a number of the closer tables. The regulars had never seen him speak so much to someone before. Aside from Shikaku he never spoke to anyone, unless they were in his seat, then he gave them one warning before they usually left in fear. But tonight, people saw a different side of him, and it intrigued many.
"Have you ever lost someone that you hold dear to you?" Her question caught him off guard as he was busy signalling to Shikaku to send over another bottle of Sake.
"Yes, it was part of the reason I joined ANBU. I used to have precious people to me, but after they had gone I felt like I had no place in the normal world anymore..." he got distracted by the waitress who brought over another bottle of the good stuff.
"Did it help?" a single tear trickled down her face as she spoke.
"Not particularly, no. The only time I feel anything, is when I'm ending the lives of others. I am filled with a void that will not disappear no matter how many lives I extinguish. I am a mere shell of the man I used to be." Naruto lacked emotion as he spoke. He knew that she was feeling pain over something, but he wasn't the kind hearted person he used to be. There was no advice he could give her, all he could do was answer her questions.
"Can I have some more of what you're drinking?" she fluttered her eyelashes flirtatiously as she asked him. He could tell that she was joking to duck around replying to his depressing last answer, but it didn't bother him.
"As long as you promise me that I won't have to carry you home later." If she could see his face she would be able to first genuine smile he had made in months. Little did he know that her present was the last thing to make him smile.
"I can't promise anything." Hinata smirked as she took another cup full of the throat scolding drink and planted it down in front of her before looking up towards the darkness that hid the man's face. "Why do you hide yourself from the world? From the rumours I have heard you are a great Shinobi, worthy of the highest prestige?" Like everyone else, she was intrigued by the man. He was so mysterious, yet so powerful. One could only wonder why such a person would hide behind such a demonic mask.
"It's simple. I am no hero. I don't deserve to be in the limelight. The role of a shinobi should be to keep the peace, not to wage war. I am an assassin, a murderer. My face should never leave the shadows." She couldn't understand how someone could become so twisted yet remain so calm and loyal.
"Death is part of the life of a Shinobi. You shouldn't hide in the shadows because you fear it. Maybe if you show the world your face, someone may acknowledge you for what you are."
"So, why were you sat in the darkest seat in a bar full of fellow shinobi? If you can sympathise with my tormented soul, why can't you sympathise with your own, Hyuga Hinata?" After he finished speaking he downed another cup of Sake. He had been waiting for a drink for five days.
"Y-you know who I am?" she let out sheepish reply as she watched another cup disappear underneath the hood.
"Of course. Hyuga Hinata, Age 17. Rank Chuunin and serves under Jounin Sensei Yuhi Kurenai. Heiress to the Hyuga clan and older sister of Hyuga Hanabi." Naruto replied matter-of-factly to the disbelief of Hinata. Aside from her friends, no one knew a great deal about her aside from the fact she was a Hyuga, yet a total stranger seemed to know a hell of a lot.
"How do you know so much about me?" She didn't think she could possibly become any more intrigued by this person, and then he said that. 'Just who is he?'
"Did you not cover ANBU basics in the Academy?" He joked as she sat back in her seat and apologised. She forgot for a second that he was covered up for a reason. "Now, are you drunk enough to tell a complete stranger why the Hyuga Heiress is in a shinobi bar on her own?" The question was met by her pouring herself another cup of Sake from his bottle, and downing the contents.
"I lost one of my teammates eight months ago. I knew him since the Academy, and we were on the same Genin team from the age of twelve. After a tough ordeal with the person I believed to be my soul mate, Kiba was there to help me through it. He became my best friend. He helped me to get over him and allowed me to move on with my life. We were never serious but he made me feel wanted, which is something the person who owns my heart never did. Since he has left me, I have become more alone than I have ever been. I finally drew enough courage to speak to the person I have always loved, but he disappeared off the face of the earth and no one has any information on him. I think he might be..." She couldn't muster the strength to say the final word of her life story of a rant, but he knew what word she feared saying through the tears.
"Don't worry. If he was dead then it would show up on the rosters. If a person was to just disappear off the face of the earth like this, it usually means they have joined ANBU, or have taken up an S-rank mission that can last for longer than two months."
Naruto tried his best to reassure her, without actually saying anything that could give him away. He never realised how strongly she felt about him. Also, he had gotten her 'relationship' with Kiba completely wrong. After all of Kiba's bragging, from the way that Hinata talked about them, they never really got beyond the first stage of a relationship. He would love to just pull down his hood and reveal his face to her, but he wasn't ready for that. He had too many inner demons, and had hurt too many people. That is why he wore the mask.
"R-really?" She whispered through her tears as she tried to clear her throat to speak again. The nod of the hood appeared to brighten her spirits slightly. She thought that she had lost him too. "T-thank-you, S-Shadow-san. Now, I really must be going before my father sends out the entire compound looking for me." To his amazement, she was still graceful on her feet as she stood up. He fully expected her to collapse due to the alcohol, but no, her ballet dancer-like balance maintained her as she placed some money on the table for the drinks.
"Goodnight Hyuga Hinata." A hint of sadness crept into his voice as she smiled at him before turning around and heading towards the door, attracting the attention of the few Shinobi that were still left in the place. Never before had they seen Shadow so open with someone.
He slumped back into his seat and picked up his mask. He pondered what it would like to live life without this mask, but quickly decided that such a life would cloud his judgement. In a sense, Danzo had been right. Emotions are the greatest weakness of a shinobi. Yet, paradoxically, they are also a shinobi's greatest strength.
"Alright you drunkard bastards, closing time, I'm bored now." That was the only problem with the bar. Some nights, the inherent lazy bastard gene made him close up early, just because he couldn't be bothered serving drinks any longer. A disgruntled jeer came from the few remaining shinobi who slowly began filing out into the streets, leaving Shikaku and Naruto alone. "Got a little crush on the Hyuga Heiress have we, Naruto?"
"I'm sorry, who?" Shadow played dumb as he walked from his booth, placing his mask on his face and pulling the hood down, presenting Nara Shikaku face-to-face with the mask that very few lived beyond seeing.
"Don't play dumb with me kid, I have an IQ of 220, and I am Tsunade's tactical specialist. You appeared on the rosters almost straight after Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto's last known mission. You have blonde hair and a taste for seals and in all the time you have been coming in here, you have never spoken to one person aside from when you've been ordering drinks. Hyuga Hinata was a classmate and a close friend of Naruto, and she is the first person I have ever seen you so lenient towards. Don't take me for a fool just because I'm as lazy as Shikamaru."
"I don't know what you are talking about Shikaku. If you are so intelligent, you should know that only the Hokage and the Head of ANBU are permitted to know the names of any ANBU member. Goodnight old man, and put 'Shadow' on my booth so no one sits there in future." He completely dismissed the Nara's assumptions as he turned and headed for the exit. 'God damn Nara's always trying to get the upper hand.' He thought to himself as he headed home towards his family estate under the star lit sky.
Bit of a long chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed it.
There are a number of reasons for his codename...Shadow. First, anyone that reads/watches Naruto should know that 'Shadow' is the translation of 'Kage'. Kakashi gave him the name because he is easily at Kage level and also because his signature move is the Kage Bunshin. Basically it's a private joke between the two. Second, Naruto is dark and conflicted, and is a man known to keep in the dark, hence the name 'Shadow'. Third, the name is a way to constantly signify that Naruto has become a shadow of his former self.
Reviews are always welcome. I reply to all reviews good or bad.
If you have some spare time, don't forget to catch my other story A Hero's Return. After I get my final few essays finished for the semester I will be moving to a weekly rotation between stories, so hopefully I should have a new chapter coming out every week, and a new chapter for each story every two.
Thanks for reading guys.