The locker room was bustling with activity, as the Anbu prepared for the day's missions. The rustling of armor being situated over broad shoulders, the clink of kunai, and loud halting conversations filled the small dusty room.
Boar leaned over to ask a question to his friend who was checking on the squad's mission packs. "Did you hear? Wolf-san was promoted to Captain yesterday."
Finished with his gear, the Anbu smirked and poked his friend's thigh. "Boar, you might want tone it down a bit. Just because you are friends with the guy doesn't mean you will get any special treatment."
Rubbing the back of his head Boar chuckled, "I'm just happy for him, he works harder than anyone I've ever met. He's a natural leader, it's about time his talent was recognized."
"Just hope he doesn't find out you've been blabbing his promotion to the whole village. He's a bit of a loose cannon when it comes to his privacy." The Anbu slid his cat mask over his face.
Boar adjusted his mask and slouched against the wall. "You don't think I know that. He doesn't even show his face. He keeps it half covered with that half-mask of his…" No matter how many times he tried to trick the young blond into taking it off. "We've been teammates for five years and I haven't even seen what he actually looks like."
"No one has…" Cat clipped his final belt into place and appraised his friend once more. "You realize while you've been day dreaming the whole unit left."
Boar looked around lazily and waved his hand absently. "Psh…so what."
Cat walked to the door and paused, "It's his first day on the job, do you want to be the last punk to show up to roll call?" He chuckled ominously, "But if you think it's all right take your time, polish your armor, or walk through the halls like you're taking a nice stroll in the park."
Boar paled behind his mask and his upper body stiffened.
"Kami knows I could use some entertainment this morning." Cat's figure blurred from the doorway.
Boar stiffly grabbed his bag and tried to keep calm. Wolf-san was the Captain of their squad now. He felt sweat bead on his neck and trickle slowly down his thick shirt. "I'm gonna get killed." He teleported to Room C, hurrying to his spot in line and glared at Cat, who was chuckling beside him.
He barely stilled his racing heart beat when he sensed the Captain's chakra somewhere in the room. It was intentional, to let them know he had arrived. Postures straightened, and any whispers instantly faded out.
"It's nice to see a change in command doesn't hinder this unit's functionality. It will be an honor to serve as your Captain. Now, let's move on to more important matters." The calm voice of Wolf permeated into every corner of the room.
Wolf could command a room with just a whisper, he even had the most senior members listening intently. Boar was impressed. There were some very capable members in this unit. Every Anbu no matter their rank had some experience leading squads. But, Boar knew that Naruto deserved the promotion more than anyone.
Naruto's official rank as Captain was given to him based on his experience and performance, as was custom in the Anbu. The duties included directing teams of three on missions as a Squad Captain, and leading large units in times of crisis. It was a huge honor for any Anbu to receive the promotion.
"You have your missions." The Anbu stayed at attention respectively, as Wolf continued, "Guard your comrades well. Dismissed."
The Anbu silently made their way out of the underground room, leaving behind Boar's team of three with the Captain.
Boar squirmed when Wolf turned his gaze to him. "Boar."
"Yes Captain." He cursed inwardly as Naruto idly walked behind him.
"I was dining with a friend last night who had some interesting news to tell me. Care to guess what he had to say?"
Boar spluttered. "I ignore village gossip when I can, Sir."
"Really." The Captain now stood directly in front of his squeamish subordinate. Even though he was shorter than most of the Anbu, Naruto had no problem intimidating any of them. "Apparently a rather loud village idiot was declaring that the youngest Anbu Captain was promoted. I tell you this, because that village idiot reminded me of someone.
"I'm sorry, Captain. I was just so excited for you, I couldn't keep the news to myself."
"What a fine quality that is to find in an Anbu. The inability to keep your mouth shut." Naruto's wolf mask looked frightening among the shadows, the haunting red snarl etched on the faded porcelain mask seemed to come alive. "Apparently exceptional Anbu also arrive later than everyone else."
Cat laughed aloud and shared amused glances with the other member of their squad, Rabbit. The Captain didn't miss a thing. Boar may not have been tardy, but arriving close to tardy is inexcusable. It can encourage lax behavior.
"Sir, I'm sorry. I will be more prompt as well as silent."
The Captain tilted his head to the side, giving him the look of a predator about to play with his food. "We should train later." The change of topic took Boar by surprise, and he was about to interject when he remembered his promise to be silent not ten seconds ago. "I have plenty of jutsu I have been wanting to try out. No one else has the time to train with me."
The three Anbu blanched at their Captain. It became a true battle for survival when one trained with Wolf. Naruto's mischievous nature was a terror. His prankster abilities helped him immensely, often leading to elaborately planned traps and a world of hurt for anyone training with him. When a ninja joined Anbu, special talents like that were exposed and cultivated.
"Training would be great, but how about I take you out for Ramen instead?" Boar gulped, his mouth going dry as he uttered, "My treat."
His teammates couldn't hide their amusement any longer and started to laugh. "The Captain's a bottomless pit…that's more than enough punishment." Rabbit slapped Boar across the back.
Boar was crying inside, hoping Naruto would sense his anguish and let him off with a simple warning. He was not so lucky.
"Okay, after the mission we will all train in the Forest of Death and be treated to Ichiraku's Ramen by our good friend Boar."
"Wait, why are we being punished too?" Rabbit stopped gleefully slapping Boar and crossed her arms. "We didn't do anything wrong."
"It'll be good training." Wolf gleefully rubbed his palms together. "In the meantime, we have a mission to complete." He ignored their grumblings and walked out of the room.
Boar let out a breath he had been holding. "I'm such an idiot."
Rabbit punched him in the arm as she stalked past him. "No kidding. Get ready to go hungry this week, because I plan to match the Captain bowl for bowl tonight.
Hey guys, I guess a little explanation is due for the lack of updates. I'm not a great writer and even though I can picture how I want this story to go in my head, I feel like it's getting lost in translation when it hits the paper. I've been editing the chapters trying to make it flow better, but its just not working out. I need to move on from this story. I'm going to be posting chapters, and you might notice some weird discrepancies in the characters. Just a heads up. So, if you feel like its not flowing well, that's because at this point, I'm just trying to move on with this story, so I can write the scenes I've been looking forward to and get this story finished. Its been almost a year since I last updated this story and I'm not making any promises on when updates will happen, but just know it won't be a year for the next update. I'm tweaking another chapter I have already written which will come out soon after this chapter. Thanks for reading, and kudos to those who are still following this story. It's been a treat! Until next time…
