Rumors are annoying. My schoolmates are under this crazy delusion that I'm going out with our school president (which I'm not, by the way) and keep on making jokes about it. Apparently they think I'm a dumb blonde who goes after any guys she can find... Neh, not all blondes are stupid. I know quite a few really smart blondes and one of my best friends was blond (but she moved away to New York which is not cool...) Besides, I'm not even blonde. Haha. I bet I'm the only one laughing at my lame joke. Anyways, the school president is my close friend, not my boy friend. I'm not even interested in guys, which my guy friends for some reason find puzzling, or so they told me. And then they would try to guess my sexual orientation to which I laugh and tell them I'm les (which I'm not, though I'm not a homophobic) and that I'm head over heels (I never got this phrase. Isn't head always over heels?) for my awesomest lacrosse buddy.

Anyways… Hey people. Here's chapter 6 :P. There's few fighting scenes… not a whole lot but enough for me. I don't think I really like writing fighting scenes… so hard to make it interesting. I hope you guys won't find it too dull.

Naruto's personality is kind of hard to describe. I'm trying to show, not tell, but I'm not sure if I'm succeeding very well. I'm not trying to make him too AU or else… he wouldn't be Naruto, y'know? Even though he might be a bit more mature, sarcastic, and collected, he's still Naruto and has his fun/awkward moments.

Sorry for such a long A/N but you guys were commenting stuff that would make any author feel like they were floating in the clouds and asking great questions that made me smile so much that my mom thought I was high on sugar (which I kinda was. I was having a private coke party with myself. XD). I thought others might appreciate knowing a bit more about this story and so even though I do reply directly to the asker, I decided to post my answers here as well.


Chapter Four

ChronoMitsurugi voiced a great concern in the review for chapter 4. (S)he was worried that this story might end up as harem and (s)he isn't very comfy with those. Well, to anyone else who share the concern with her/him, I'm really not planning any pairings. As I had replied to her, I'm not very big on romance and I personally think Naruto has better things to do than have a complicated love life. There might be few light relationships that he might just dabble in, but I'm not planning on anything serious. There may or may not be one in the sequel that I'm thinking about (yeah, I haven't even gotten the story really started and I'm already have the entire plot of its sequel mapped out) but no guarantees. It won't be harem though. I'm not much for those kinds of things.


Chapter Five

RedRangerBelt asked about Kano and his mysterious knowledge. Well, the secret behind Kano, I'm afraid, won't be revealed until a bit past middle of the story. It's pretty complex, that's all I can tell you. It took me quite a while to get them perfect. Also, the change in Kuroibaragan isn't really unlocking a higher from of his bloodline nor is it a new ability. This is also complicated but it will be answered along with the secret about Kano and the meaning of black in aura. Besides, who said Kuroibaragan is a bloodline? (evil smile :P) The mission that Elders were talking about… hmmm… when I was writing that, I had this urge to wring their neck, y'know? And no, it's not about Uchiha massacre… but it's kinda related… kinda.

Tristan76 mentioned that circumstance about Kano was bothering him. Yeah, I get what you mean. It sounds like I'm trying to make an all-perfect kid hero who pops up just at the right moment like the batman or superman or whatever and saves the day. I really enjoyed reading your theories. He had four theories on Kano: 1) A recently dead little boy possessed by Minato whose soul was "touched" by Shinigami and became pitch black. 2) Naruto's physical representation of his bloodline (this is actually a great theory. It's not quite it but you're touching on it). 3) A relative, friend or teammate of either Minato or Kushina. (Haha, I've never thought of Kano that way. Nice try though). 4) Sarutobi under an advanced Henge. (I actually cracked up after this :D) No, it's none of these, well #2 came close. You'll be surprised at how right/wrong you were.


Chapter Six

Tristan76 commented on my comment about Kyuubi's sex. Well, I guess it's time for me to comment back. I agree with you on your analysis of man and woman, and I also agree that Kyuubi isn't really a certain sex but embodiment of whole. However, in order to give a human appearance, I had to choose a sex and I decided that male form suited his personality better. But, as the story goes on, you'll notice that (*slight spoiler… not much though) Kyuubi seems less like a human than a presence in Naruto's mind. He might seem a bit more… ethereal. By the time I'm in the main plot of this story, things will probably make more sense, about why Kyuubi's sex would just become so meaningless and etc.

RedRangerBelt was asking some great questions. Where Kano went ties in with his secret so it'll be answered much later. He'll be back, but not very soon, though. But you'll see him again. Team White's second in command is yet to be revealed. Your guess is pretty good though. This is one question that you'll be answered in about three or four chapters or so (I think). Again, I myself never said anything about Kuroibaragan being Naruto's bloodline. It may or may not be. The chakra paper turning black has its own reason that will be revealed along with the secret behind Kuroibaragan. Wow, there's a lot of secrets aren't there? I'll try to make the secrets be worth all that reading. It'll be nothing like anything that you've ever read or even dreamed of. :P What Fox said will be revealed in form of flashback so far into the story that you guys would have forgotten about it by then. Hehe. Good guesses though. Does Kano have Kaa-san and how does he know so much? Maybe. This all ties in with his origin.


I hope you guys enjoyed reading my answers and thank you for those of you who took time to review. Sorry for taking so long to get through them. The questions/comments were really fantastic and I thought you guys might like to have some in depth knowledge of this story. Next time the answering won't take quite as long as it did this time around.

Anyways, on with the chapter.


"Be good, and you will be lonesome,

Be lonesome and you will be free.

Live a lie and you will live to regret it,

That's what living is to me."

- Jimmy Buffett, That's What Living Is To Me


VI Cat vs Dog

Being a part of ANBU was supposed to be a test of my skills. Could (technically) 6 years of training be enough to get into the ANBU Black Ops? The best of the best, the dark assassins of the leaf?

I grew up quickly in those halls. I ran, bled, and killed for the sake of Konoha, and to get stronger. And I did. But Kyuubi thought I was pushing it.

Think of a normal boy determined to become stronger; to become a ninja to protect his precious ones. He becomes a genin, and soon becomes friends with his cell mates. His first mission was a boring D-rank mission consisting of weeding the neighbour's garden.

Me, I'm not a normal boy. I was determined to become stronger. But I became ANBU, and on my first mission, I killed over 10 people in cold blood. So, although I was just a 10-year-old, I really wasn't.

-Naruto

~xXx~

"What possessed you to get those tattoos on your shoulders?"

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. He was in one of what probably hundreds of rooms in the ANBU headquarters, and finally getting his tattoo. The problem was that his red bird tattoos covered the entire part of both shoulders as well as going across his back. There was an unknown rule that the ANBU symbol was to be tattooed on one shoulder but it wasn't really possible now.

Truthfully, he really liked the red tattoos. The ANBU uniform didn't have armor on the shoulders, leaving it bare. Thus, the red tattoos were openly shown. Did it make him feel badass? Why yes it did. Just don't tell Kyuubi that.

"Just put it anywhere but my face, thanks."

"Kaay," the Tattoo artist said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll put it on your lower left upper arm then."

He reached for Naruto's left arm only for it to be jerked back.

Naruto smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, how about my right arm?"

The man rolled his eyes before removing the ANBU arm guards off his right arm. After a few painful minutes, he finished. He rustled around in the nearby drawers before pulling out some white bandages and wrapped it around the arm.

"Keep the bandage on for 24 hours, ya hear?"

Donning back on his mask, Naruto waved lazily over his shoulder as he got up from the chair and went to the door. He was just about to open the door when it slammed open in front of him. Naruto blinked up at the slightly taller figure of Squirrel in front of him. Man, he loved his new height.

"There's a Squad Meeting, Pantera. Since you've just gotten the tattoo, you wouldn't have felt it, so I came to get you."

"Felt it?" Naruto asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"When the Taichou calls for a meeting, the tattoo would burn slightly, but we haven't applied the jutsu to yours yet. Now come on, let's go! You need to be tested to see if you qualify."

Naruto managed a brief thanks to the amused tattoo artist just before he was dragged off down the hallways by clipped ANBU. Squirrel led him through a dizzying number of hallways before stopping in front of a door, unique by its pure white color compared to the other wooden doors.

The door opened with a loud squeak as the two entered.

The room was pretty bare, with a concrete ceiling and floor. In the middle of the room was a large square wooden table, surrounded by various different chairs and couches.

Five ANBU masks looked up simultaneously as they entered. Naruto immediately recognized them, except one, including Squirrel, as the five ANBU who had escorted him into the headquarters from before who Naruto had already supposed must be one of the squads.

The only one he had really recognized was Cat as she was the only one he had spoken to, immediately distinguished by her long purple hair and her cat ANBU mask. She was sitting on the far side of the room on a wooden chair, and waved coolly at him.

Squirrel cleared his throat. "Squad White, meet Pantera, our new squad recruit."

The members scrutinized him carefully, especially an ANBU wearing Hawk-looking mask. It was a bit uncomfortable, getting such intense stare, but Naruto held his ground. Although, the one lounging on the couch wearing what appeared to be a Dog ANBU mask, seemed to be more like scanning his entire body, looking at him up and down.

"A blonde, eh?" He drawled in an approving voice. Cat snorted in amusement beside him and Naruto cringed inwardly.

Finally one of them stepped forward.

This ANBU was the only girl in the squad besides Cat, or at least only one who looked like a girl, and her mask was slightly different, as it was completely white with only grey lines to distinguish the animal, a bird. She was slightly small and slender, leaning towards more to a petite young girl yet to come of age than a battle-hardened ANBU, and had waist length brown hair tied in a low ponytail.

"Dove. Pleased to meet you," she said politely in a surprisingly soft soprano voice. "And that is Hawk," she added, gesturing towards the Hawk-masked ANBU that was still staring at him, his muscle still tense, which Naruto chalked it up to one of those weird ANBU paranoia. His seemed to be a bit overboard though. The ANBU stood up and walked up to him, holding out his hand, his physique tall and muscled, radiating danger from every part of him.

Naruto grinned. "Jaguar." He shook Dove's hand warmly before shaking Hawk's as well. Hawk's grip was hard and it reminded Naruto of sudden darkness, like midnight. Even without anyone telling him Naruto knew that there was a history behind this imposing man, an ugly history.

"Oh, so that's what Pantera meant." Another ANBU said suddenly. He was taller than average and had a slightly stocky built. Brown, spiked back hair was visible behind a more menacing mask of a bird of prey. "We all weren't exactly sure."

He smiled. How Naruto could see that, he didn't know. Maybe he had sensed his aura or something. "Eagle." He said, thrusting out a hand. Naruto accepted it with another grin.

Suddenly, Eagle paused for a second, before cocking his head slightly to the side. "You can see them too. Their memories, I mean." His voice still held its pleasantness but there was a slight hardening about the edge that Naruto could feel. The way he said it was more like a confirmation, than a question. What was he? But before Naruto could reply or ask anything, Cat laughed good-naturedly, though Naruto could sense certain nervousness about her that she hid, before tapping Eagle lightly on the shoulder, after which Eagle went back to his seat and plopped down in comfortable position.

"Don't mind Eagle. He's… just been through a lot." Her voice had ill-concealed pain before she quickly hid it. Naruto saw in his peripheral vision that Eagle's hands were clenched into a fist and his muscles were tense, and wondered what had happened. "Anyway, Hyena, aren't you going to greet Jaguar as well?" Cat spoke cheerfully, completely different from how she had been just moments ago, playful threatening tone directed at the last member of the Squad yet to be introduced to Naruto.

The person Naruto had previously assumed was Dog, but really Hyena, had shoulder length black hair tinted brown. It was unruly and unkempt and frequently fell into the eyeholes of his mask. Hyena looked up from the couch and waved his hand up energetically in the air as if he was asking permission for a question.

"Yes, Hyena?" Cat said with a sigh, though Naruto saw that she seemed relieved that the subject had veered off the dangerous territory.

"I want to spar with the rookie." he whined. "Taichou isn't here, so can I..?"

"Well…" Cat said thoughtfully. "We should get a grasp on Jaguar's abilities… and while Saishou no Taichou is supposed to test Jaguar, since he's not here I guess we can't. It's still possible that Taichou is just getting held up with some mission reports or something…"

"Pleeezzze?" Hyena begged in most un-ANBU –like manner to which Naruto couldn't help but to slightly smirk at.

"That's fine with me!" Naruto said quickly, trying and failing not to grin. He's been grinning way too much lately. But a spar. With an experienced ANBU. Naruto was mentally jumping up and down with excitement.

"Well, alright then! To the training rooms!" Hyena declared, walking dramatically out the room.

Dove shook her head slightly before following after his heels, everybody in tow. Squirrel walked beside Naruto, both of them silent. Cat joined them, giving some information on Hyena to Naruto.

"I normally wouldn't just give other people information on my squad members but I think you're a pretty decent kid and I think it will be good experience for Hyena to be humbled a bit." Squirrel chuckled to this, much to Naruto's surprise as he didn't really seem the type. "Hyena is our close combat fighter along with Taichou and Eagle. He combines his fire element with his clan jutsu and is very proficient at kenjutsu. Above average, anyway."

Suddenly Squirrel added in, "He's nowhere near Konoha's sword master, Hayate, of course, but there isn't many sword masters around." Naruto wondered why the aura he felt from Cat suddenly went a shade redder. Man, this emotion sensing was pretty interesting. He didn't even have his Kuroibaragan activated.

Cat continued, "Anyway, you see his mask? It looks like a Dog more than a Hyena, right? Well, that's because Hyena is officially listed as Dog, but everybody just calls him Hyena."

"Er, right." Naruto said in puzzlement. Why Hyena?

~ xXx ~

The squad arrived in one of the more private training rooms, for practice with Squads. It was a basic, bare room with the ground covered in some gritty substance somewhat similar to a dust road. The two challengers stood near the middle of the room, their masks glaring at each other, Jaguar versus Hyena. The rest of the Squad stood outside near the window. Hawk leaned against a sidewall, looking out the window disinterestedly. Naruto wondered if he ever joked before or if he even knew what joking was. Dove and Eagle had drilled a few holes in the glass so it wouldn't be soundproof, an action that Naruto wondered if they didn't have to pay for or something, and they all waited patiently.

Naruto slid into his taijutsu stance, looking over coolly at Hyena. Hyena growled loudly, and cracked his knuckles.

"Let's see that pretty little face." he half-mocked before disappearing in a blur.

Hyena was a close-ranged fighter, which was perfectly fine with Naruto. Because Kano also focused primarily on taijutsu, he was used to fighting this kind of battle and blocked the punch with ease. Kano. Naruto missed that little brunette… but now wasn't the time to think about that. His armguard had just cracked slightly under the pressure.

Brass Knuckles? Should avoid those.

From that point, it became a pure taijutsu battle, neither wanting to 'resort' to ninjutsu. While Naruto's Golden Dragon Style relied on speed and flexibility, Hyena's used brute strength and counter attacks. Their two distinct styles were completely cancelling each other out. This was the first time Naruto had really fought against Hyena's style as Kano's slightness didn't allow him to use such moves against Naruto but he quickly figured that the basics were all same. Hyena grimaced, the rookie had a pretty decent speed.

As if reading his mind, Naruto smirked under the Jaguar mask, and threw a sudden swift punch at Hyena's neck which was dodged at a hair width apart. Naruto contemplated for a second whether he should use his Kuroibaragan before deciding against it. He still remembered Karasu nii-san's warning.

"Naruto, your Kuroibaragan is your one trump card. Don't use it unless you have nothing going for you and there is nothing else you can do. Less there is people who know about it, the better. Do you understand?" Karasu asked in stern voice.

Naruto was using Kuroibaragan in a training ground where six newly made jounins, most likely friends from genin times, were training nearby when Karasu had caught him. The jounins had noticed the strangeness when a thick branch of a large tree suddenly sliced cleanly off the main body without any trace of weapons. They had looked at Naruto with puzzlement and curiosity, quickly turning to disgust when they had noticed who he was.

Karasu nii-san was just passing by when he had sensed Naruto's chakra and decided to stop by. When he saw the situation, he quickly subdued all six of them in a fast sequence of taijutsu, pressing his fingers delicately on what Naruto observed as the pressure points, and had them all down in less than half a minute. He then proceeded to perform a jutsu on all of them, a jutsu that he later explained to Naruto as memory erasing jutsu that is classified to only certain ANBUs. He then described the severity of his actions and reminded Naruto of what his godfather, Jiraiya, had warned him. Naruto was ashamed that he didn't check for other people around before jumping into his training and promised Karasu nii-san never to do it again.

Naruto instead pulled out couple tiny blades that he had customized with help of Karasu nii-san. He stared at it fondly, remembering Karasu nii-san.

"It is always smart to be equipped well, regardless of when and where. You never know what will happen, and besides, it'll come in handy in dangerous missions. If you get captured, while you should just hope that the enemies will miss your weapon, the tiny blades can be more well-hidden and increases the chance of you being more armed."

"Oh… so what should I carry around?"

"Many ninjas of high jounin rank or ANBU rank usually create their own weapons, designed to magnify their strength and make up for their weakness. I will create one that I think you'll find easy to use and incredibly effective. However, you'll have to create one that embodies you later. Weapons are like the extension of your body and so your body must be able to communicate with your weapon."

"Cool! What are you going to make? Can I watch you make it?" Naruto was excited. His nii-san was going to create a weapon for him!

"Sure."

Karasu nii-san bought a thin sheet of steel alloy with titanium covering. Naruto wondered what kind of weapon could be made from a medium sized sheet of metal that didn't even reach half a centimeter in thickness. It looked to be barely 1 or 2 millimeter and like any scrap of metal, nothing special about it. Then Naruto sensed Karasu nii-san starting to concentrate his chakra to his hand, his hands directly over the sheet of metal, by chakra-sensing that Karasu had taught him how to a while back, and saw a thin beam of what looked like water shooting out of his hand. The beam looked to be less than half a millimeter in diameter and extremely concentrated. Karasu moved his hand over the metal, drawing a shape, and Naruto noticed with much surprise that the metal was getting cut in a shape of blade.

After cutting the square piece of metal out, Karasu then proceeded to sharpen the edges, not only one side but all four sides. By the time he was done, Naruto saw a dangerous looking blade gleaming in the light, barely longer than his longest finger but deadly. Karasu nii-san then took out black moldable rubber looking clay that Naruto had failed to notice before and wrapped the blade in it, the clay thinly covering the sharp edges. He proceeded to make two dozens of them before putting them in a pouch and giving it to Naruto.

"These are the blades that I had thought up last night. I think it'll prove its usefulness once you get into higher ranks. Keep it with you at all times but don't use it too often. It's better to keep them secret. While I was making them I coated it with some chakra so to make it chakra conductive. When you throw them, throw them with the coating on and channel your chakra into it. The coating should fall off as it flies."

"What about practicing with it? Won't I need to practice how to use them?"

"Of course you do. That's why I'm going to make you the practice blades that aren't as sharp as them but sharp enough to be of use in battles or skirmishes."

Karasu nii-san then created another two dozen from the remaining sheet of metal and this time slightly blunted the edge so that it wasn't quite as dangerous. Naruto didn't believe that it would cut through anything. When Naruto voiced his doubts, Karasu nii-san gave a low chuckle before taking it out to the training ground, to where Naruto followed dutifully, and flicked it to a young tree growing across the training ground. Much to Naruto's surprise, the tree was sliced across and he saw that the tree was at least 2 inches in radius.

After retrieving the blade and returning to Naruto's place, Karasu nii-san wrapped them in the rubber-like material, this time in grey, and gave them to Naruto.

"In battles, you should use these ones instead of the ones I gave you before. The ones before are too dangerous. You'll know who you should use those against. I trust your judgment."

"Thank you so much!"

Naruto fingered the grey clay-coated blades before flicking couple in an arc, a technique that Naruto figured out made the blade return to the owner while slashing the object again, channeling his chakra into it, at Hyena who staggered back, arms covering his head, as numerous things began painfully making slashes along his arms, and chest, shredding the cloth and making long scratches against the armor. One even sliced a part of his armor and the part clanged down to the ground as Hyena busily tried to locate the blades.

Cat whistled. "Looks like our rookie got the first blood."

Hyena seemed to stare at the numerous cuts, but then snarled loudly, a feral sound that reverberated in the room. Claws appeared on his hands, and vivid yellow eyes glowed briefly in the mask. The cuts closed in a hiss of steam and one particularly deep gash slowed down to a sluggish trickle of blood.

/Feral appearance, minor regenerative ability boost, yellow eyes… huhuhuhu, the enemy is an Inuzuka, human./

Along with those traits, there was an increase of speed. Naruto found himself backing up as he struggled against the fierce onslaught of his attacks. Minor cuts appeared on his arms, and legs, before he finally had enough. Thinking fast, Naruto threw down a smoke bomb, and released a wave of shadow clones before retreating.

The smoke bomb was a special kind he had developed himself. He had listened to Karasu nii-san and researched what kind of weapons were within his ability. He then discovered that one can combine a jutsu with seals to create bombs. Naruto tweaked with some seals on regular smoke bombs and changed it to not only cover a big range, nearly half the room, but it also to release a putrid smell similar to rotten eggs. Not wanting to waste the moment, Naruto took a deep breath and created five hand seals in rapid succession. He simultaneously released his shadow clones and info crammed into his mind. Naruto turned towards the left side of 'smoke cloud,' where he knew Hyena would be, disoriented from the unexpected blindness. He cupped a hand around his mouth.

Fuuton: Daitoppa

The giant, deadly gales of wind blew away all the putrid smoke before slamming into Hyena. Hyena was blown off his feet and flew in a wide arch in the air before colliding into the wall in a large cloud of dust.

"How much chakra did he put in that thing?" Cat exclaimed in excitement to Eagle as she watched the spar. "That was one exceptionally powerful Daitoppa. Does he have a wind affinity?"

Eagle merely smiled, but Cat noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. She quietly sighed to herself before turning her attention to the two.

Naruto squinted through the dust cloud and his blood froze when it revealed… a log.

Kaiton: Rouga (Fire Release: Wolf Fang)

He whipped around just as a large suspended tornado of fire rammed straight into his head, sending searing pain through his body and sending him a few decent feet away.

Hyena crouched down against the ground, panting slightly. The Kawarimi no Jutsu was a close call. The gale had actually managed to break his ANBU mask nearly in half, before he had enough time to do the seals. The absence of the mask revealed a man in his early twenties, with long black bangs partially covering his bright yellow eyes. While there wasn't any of the Inuzuka clan's characteristic red fang tattoos, there was a single jagged scar running along his left jaw.

He smirked, oh this was fun. He broke out of his thoughts as turned his attention at the rookie, trying to make sure he had defeated the rookie.

Naruto jumped back up quickly despite the throbbing burns along his neck and arms. He didn't bother to check them as they would fully heal in a few minutes. Besides, after the relentless drills from Karasu nii-san, Naruto learned to always cover his body with thin layer of chakra to shield him from the very brunt of damage from any jutsu. Naruto always thought it as one of Karasu nii-san's paranoia but he complied, not willing to have a contest of wills with his nii-san. It might just have even saved his life, or at least his looks. He mentally thanked his ex-teacher. Suddenly, Naruto heard a crumbling noise, and felt his mask, cracked in two places, shatter and falling in pieces onto the ground. He frowned momentarily. They did have replacements for those things, right?

On the other side of the room, the entire squad members, not that there was a whole lot of it, watched in stunned silence.

Oblivious, Naruto felt a strong sense of irritation of borderline anger at Hyena. He threw a rapid burst of shuriken and kunai as Hyena just stared, gaping openly, at him. He managed to dodge the projectiles at the last possible second, and they thudded dully on the ground near his feet.

A large and rather creepy grin formed on Hyena's face.

"Well, well, the rookie finally shows his face. And what a….. nice face it is too…"

Naruto spat out blood that was pooling in his mouth from the punch that he couldn't dodge earlier. "You're paying for that mask…"

"Bring it, rookie."

Both of them smirked, and both Hyena and Naruto unsheathed their katanas before disappearing in a blur.

The katanas met with a loud clang in midair as the two rapidly charged each other. The two began exchanging blows again. Cat whistled softly as she watched the spar. The two looked more like they were in a sword dance than in a deadly spar. They twisted and turned just a split second before being nearly sliced in half by the other person's blade. To be able to predict Hyena's movements at that speed… the rookie was good, she had to give him at least that much.

Suddenly, the blades met in a loud screech of metal, each trying to push against each other. Naruto was soon distracted from the stalemate that he found annoying though, by a sudden ear-splitting sound close to his ear.

"HYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Hyena started laughing insanely in a high pitched voice as his katana began to burn red hot with a hissing noise.

/So that's why he was called Hyena… Wow./

Naruto watched as his katana began to melt under the heat, briefly wondering how Hyena's katana still managed to stay intact. Then, with a loud snap, his blade broke in half at the hilt, and Naruto had to block the burning sword's impending slash with a kunai he quickly whipped out, which also began to rapidly melt.

"KAI!" Naruto yelled, bringing his other hand into the release seal. In a large poof of smoke, the shuriken lying forgotten on the ground from before transformed back into a large group of shadow clones.

The nearest one quickly tackled Hyena who was too concentrated on Naruto in front of him that didn't notice the attack from behind, and he barely had the time to widen his eyes before he was suddenly disarmed and pinned to the ground by seven separate Naruto's.

In one swift motion, Naruto jumped up right above Hyena, and made five familiar hand seals before bringing his right hand to his mouth.

Fuuton: Daitoppa

Hyena screwed his eyes shut, his body tense and waiting for the impending gale, but it never came. He cracked one eye open, just to see a smirking Naruto holding him at sword point the sharpened point aimed right between his eyes…. Well knife point, since it was a kunai.

Naruto smirked in triumph and Hyena scowled as the shadow clones disappeared in a large pop of smoke.

Hyena staggered upright. He looked like a mess. The ANBU armor was torn and shredded in some places and his chest armor had a large slash across the middle with its lower part sliced off. His mask which was broken in half with numerous spider web of cracks stretching across it was lying abandoned couple yards away, the broken pieces held together only by the securing-bands.

Not that Naruto was looking his best, but it wasn't that bad. He also had numerous tears in his clothes and a completely shattered mask. Naruto hoped that nobody noticed that his cuts had healed already.

Hyena spat out blood before grinning wildly, showing his crooked yellow-stained teeth.

"You win this time, rookie. But one day, I will top you."

Hey fox…

/What, human./

This guy creeps me out.

/Urgh, me too…/

Naruto looked down at his now broken katana before sheathing it. The adrenaline rush was slowly fading, making him suddenly aware of his suddenly sore muscles. For some reason, the feeling only made him grin. He did it, he actually defeated an ANBU. Naruto had always known that Karasu nii-san was holding back on him and he still wasn't able to beat his nii-san. He was starting to think that he would never become strong enough to last his own in a war.

I mean, Karasu nii-san didn't even look like he was trying. He was just toying with me, Naruto thought.

/You're nii-san is a special case… There is something about him that makes him stand out from others. He's powerful, far more powerful than most ANBUs grouped here. I can feel that potential in him, like a blazing red warning light. He could probably defeat the entire White Squad and still escape unscathed. Of course, your taichou isn't included. I still need to figure out your taichou./

Well, make sure to tell me when you've figured it out.

/Ungrateful brat./

Hey! Come ON! I DID beat an ANBU, didn't I? I at least deserve some praise.

/You're still nowhere close to Karasu. When you get to his level, then maybe I'll say 'Nice job.' If I feel like, of course./

Naruto just mentally stuck out his tongue at the annoying fox.

Suddenly he was suspicious. How did Karasu nii-san make such a good impression on Kyuubi? When Kyuubi talked about nii-san's potential… it was as though he was talking about potential an unexploded bomb had, that dangerous edge of his voice. It's as though… he was warning him about something, something concerning his nii-san. Naruto then shook off that thought, berating himself for being so paranoid. Surely Karasu nii-san could take care of himself, Naruto thought and changed his direction of thought.

Anyways, he won! Naruto let himself a wide grin, proud of himself. Every second he had let Kyuubi, Kano, and Karasu nii-san (A/N: Woah, there's so many names starting with K that Naruto associates with, aren't there?) torture him was worth it for this.

"Oi, rookie." Hyena scowled, seeing the grin. "Rematch. Now."

Cat rolled her eyes, before coming up to the two. The sudden turn around truthfully made her excited. Spars between members weren't very uncommon, but they didn't usually put in everything they got. She raised an eyebrow at the grinning blond, his intense blue eyes filled with pride, but averted her eyes as she came closer.

I have a boyfriend! And Hayate is one sexy swordsman! Though his skill with his sword is admirable. Cat thought as she smirked, remembering that sword dance Jaguar and Hyena had just performed. Kenjutsu was never really her calling, but she greatly admired the beauty of Kenjutsu and the fact that Jaguar was pretty proficient at it just put her respect for him up a notch. Cat couldn't help but to wonder if she wasn't already dating Hayate she would have went for this new recruit. Something about the sword attracted her like pretty sparkly jewels would attract a child.

"No rematch. I think we have got enough of Jaguar's abilities. A mid-ranged to close-ranged fighter with a wind affinity. Close enough? Now, both of you, go to the hospital while Eagle, Dove, and I check Jaguar's performance."

Naruto elegantly raised an eyebrow, causing Cat to turn away swiftly. Okaaay. Well anyway, wasn't Ookami supposed to spar him? On another note, he wasn't even here for the meeting. Strange…

Then Naruto found his thought being contradicted. There was his taichou walking toward them, bloodied up. Ookami looked… terrifying. His armor was cracked and broken in several places. His unruly hair, once spiky and brilliant silver, was matted with blood and drooped into his face, which was seen as the Wolf mask was adjusted to the side of his head, cracks running up and down the painted porcelain. His entire frame was splattered with blood and gore, still dripping onto the floor, staining the ground dark red. He was holding few papers, which Naruto guessed to be related to whatever mission he had just come back from.

But what really got Naruto was the eyes. They were the darkest blue he has ever seen, and seemingly emotionless. They looked more like eyes of a dead man. Ookami's gaze flickered to his own briefly before looking at the pair of them up and down.

Cat followed Naruto's gaze and gasped at the sight of her taichou. The rest of the squad proceeded to do the same.

"Let me get the paper, Taichou. You just go to the hospital and take care of your injuries. I'll take care of the mission procedure," Squirrel told him as he got the papers out of Ookami's hand.

"Taichou! Are you alright?" Cat asked worriedly, rushing up to Ookami.

Ookami shrugged it off, saying, "I'm fine." He then asked bluntly, "So the 'rookie' beat you, Hyena?"

Hyena got up and stretched his legs and arms with a slight wince, his yellow eyes twitching horribly. "Meh. You going to the hospital? Why don'cha join us?"

Ookami tilted his head a little in confirmation. "I'm guessing there's no need for me to spar him myself. If he can beat you, then he's in."

Hyena scowled a bit more before making his way to the exit.

Naruto was happy that he made into the squad, but couldn't help but to feel a bit disappointed. He was looking forward to a spar with the Taichou himself. Clash of unknown quantity against unknown quantity. Huh, oh well.

Naruto and Hyena walked down the hallways in silence, Ookami leading them couple feet ahead. Heads turned more frequently as they walked past, since they weren't wearing their masks. More stares were centered on Naruto though, making him slightly uneasy. He had assumed that it must be Ookami's fearsome looking state and didn't understand the stares given to him.

"It's because you're hot."

Naruto stared at Hyena, a blank look on his face.

"It's because you're hot." he repeated, a smirk growing on his face.

"Uh, right," Naruto said slowly, not liking that smirk.

The rest of the walk was filled with an awkward silence, on Naruto's part anyway. Hyena appeared to be relaxed despite his injuries which were bleeding profusely and had his hands placed casually into his pockets, managing to slouch even while walking.

"Interesting weapon you got there. Kick ass blades." Hyena said suddenly.

Naruto cursed in his mind. He thought people would chalk it up as just fast shurikens or something along that line. Even though Karasu nii-san gave the okay to use it in battle, he still wanted to keep it a secret a bit longer. Naruto briefly wondered if he got this paranoia from his nii-san. It was possible.

"It's not a big deal…" Naruto replied calmly.

"Hell, yes it is, rookie!" Hyena laughed. "What was that you threw at me? It felt like a kind of metal. Or can you just make things invisible or something? No that can't be it. I saw the flash of light reflecting off the blade so it's tangible. It must have been incredibly thin. It's tiny, alright, but nothing like the ones they sell anywhere. You created that?"

Despite his really obnoxious and rather creepy personality, which reminded him of a certain classmate in his academy by name of Kiba…, Naruto had to give him some credit. The guy could be really observant when he wanted to.

Naruto rolled his eyes but remained silent.

Hyena looked back at him for a long moment, before snorting.

"We ain't going to tell anybody. You earned our respect, rookie. Your background is kinda suspicious, but I don't think you're any danger. From the second the others met you, I could tell that they thought so too. Your weapon can remain a secret. Lot of ninjas likes to keep their customized weapons secret after all."

Naruto blinked in surprise. "Uh, thanks." he mumbled awkwardly.

Hyena gave him that now familiar and creepy smirk.

Naruto hasn't memorized his way through the dizzying amount of hallways yet, and so was forced to follow Hyena and Ookami.

Running across the rooftops was both silent but quick. Ookami easily matched Naruto's and Hyena's speed, but had a slight limp that Hyena was quick to spot. Hyena growled and tried to slow down the pace but Ookami shook his head.

There was one incident that Naruto found a bit odd as they ran across the roofs. Almost three quarters to the hospital, Ookami had stopped suddenly, making Naruto nearly bump into him. Ookami glanced at Naruto for a split second before averting his eyes and looking down at the street below them.

Hyena paused, having noticed a bit too late and passed the two, looking back at them, raising an eyebrow. Ookami merely waved him off, motioning with his hand to move on, but Hyena snorted and sat down on the tiled roof stubbornly. Naruto figured that he might see couple things if he stuck around and so he did. Ookami rolled his eyes before henge-ing into a civilian and disappearing in a blur.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked curiously, crouching down.

"Taichou is going to buy something." Hyena replied bluntly, picking off something in his teeth.

"And we're waiting for him?"

"Obviously, rookie. Must be something important, though, for him to get it now."

Naruto didn't reply. Instead, he shielded his eyes as indiscreetly as he could and his bright blue eyes turned that familiar dark red, the black three-pointed star whirring gently as he mentally scanned the crowd. Naruto was curious after all. He barely knew anything about his taichou but just going off on his own at most random time didn't quite fit the ANBU that everyone respected and was loyal to.

His dark eyes shifted through the numerous auras covering the busy street before coming up against an aura that he suspected belonged to taichou. It stood out as it had two unique contrasting colors; silvery blue in the middle, and a black and red on the outside, nothing like the auras surrounding him. His aura was sharp and watchful, coiled in the stance of a predator, and was dangerous, so Naruto had a feeling that the aura could belong to none other than his very taichou.

The aura was floating slowly through the crowd, before going into-

"He went into a flower shop." Naruto said numbly.

"What?" Hyena whispered loudly, suddenly appearing next to Naruto and activating what looked to be clan jutsu or something which made his eyes be ringed with dark brown mark, his eyes turning animalistic. Naruto figured that it was an Inuzuka thing that enhanced the sight. "Wonder why?" he asked, giving Naruto a sideway smirk which Naruto found equally disturbing due to the mischievousness about it.

"Girlfriend?"

"Nah, probably buying somethin' for another patient."

"How about a friend?"

"Maybe a dog."

"A…. dog?"

"Taichou likes dogs."

Naruto blinked. The silvery black aura suddenly disappeared. "Hey…. I think I lost him…"

Hyena narrowed his eyes. "Huh, me too…"

Suddenly, both of them widened their eyes in realization and wiped their heads to the left simultaneously. There was a rapidly disappearing white blur off in the distance, speeding off towards the hospital.

"What the hell?" Hyena shouted indignantly, causing many heads to look up his way.

Naruto just laughed.

~ xXx ~

After paying his visit to the hospital where he went through some perfunctory checks, he moved into the only unoccupied room in the Team White barrack. The room was small and simple with Spartan furniture. A bookshelf against one wall, small closet against the other, and a bed in a corner. It was immaculately clean and Naruto wondered how it looked like when Team White's Dai ni Taichou occupied the room. He wondered how Dai ni Taichou was like.

The current Dai ni Taichou was Cat, but it was just temporary, as they needed to be able to pair up and Ookami was lacking a partner. One of the first things after he became part of Squad White was to be assigned a partner and be informed of who is partnered with who. Dove was with Hyena, Squirrel was with Eagle, and Cat was, as said earlier, with Ookami, leaving Hawk to be with Naruto. It was weird at times as Hawk was always so silent and he seemed to be brooding all the time. However, he wasn't that bad of a person to be around, though. He was always dedicated and Naruto decided that he was someone that he wanted to be close with, if not exactly in terms of friends.

Naruto spent most of his time training and exploring the ANBU headquarters. There were more people in ANBU than he thought, with about seven squads, the entire ANBU squad members totaling at around 56 people. He had no idea why they were named after colors. The person naming them probably had no sense of creativity. (A/N: Wonder who that person is…XD)

Surprisingly, there was a small library here, composing of scrolls mostly for new ANBU, and, commence sweat drop, books like 'How to Assassinate One with a Pencil.' Naruto went there a lot, usually to read up on his stealth. If there was one thing Naruto lacked, it was stealth and genjutsu. He had completely forgotten what exactly the ANBU specified on, and as such, strived to improve on it.

Thank kami (A/N: Kami means god, goddess, or deity in Japanese) for the Kage Bunshin no jutsu. There was about twenty shadow clones near his apartment, practicing as he read.

Suddenly, his ANBU tattoo began burning briefly. There was a Squad meeting.

Squad meetings were quite frequent now. Since there was a new member, himself, the squad had to cram years of info in his head in case they would have a group mission, which required teamwork, codes, ANBU hand signs, battle formations, etc. Not only that, but the Squad had to argue about which placement he would fit into. During infiltration missions and such, the group usually had to split into two groups to cover more ground. Taichou wasn't there most of the times, in fact he had showed up only once and left after talking to Eagle and Hawk for few minutes. Cat had explained to him that Taichou didn't show up very often for the Squad meeting as he was occupied with numerous missions. Apparently he didn't appear very much unless there was a mission.

Naruto cracked his neck abruptly before getting up, pushing back his chair, and leaving the library, snapping back on his Jaguar mask along the way. He walked down through the twists and winding hallways, and was about to turn right when a voice interrupted him.

/Left, human. Sheesh./

Naruto scowled before turning the other way. He hasn't completely memorized every hallway yet, and he had a sneaking suspicious the hallways went all across Konoha.

Naruto knocked three times in rapid succession, before entering. Everybody was already there, lounging around on random furniture. Cat immediately walked up in front of him, and pressed a finger onto his mask. She has done this so many times, so the movement seemed automatic. The mask glowed the leaf symbol before fading away.

Everybody waved lazily in acknowledgement before falling silent again.

Naruto began musing to himself. The second time Naruto has been in here, he was oddly touched to find that a large red egg chair was left for him, the very chair that he was sitting in at the moment, and he had collapsed into it with a sigh, and, mirroring Cat, Hyena, and Dove, propped his feet onto the wooden table. He thought about how this squad felt like… home.

Since it was slightly stuffy in the room, Naruto slightly adjusted the mask to the side of his head, but immediately regretted it when he felt yellow eyes staring at the back of his head. Oh well, too late.

Judging by the fact that everybody was quiet and still waiting for Taichou, and since he didn't usually come in for the meetings, Naruto came up with only one conclusion:

Mission time.

They lounged about in the room for a few more minutes, before Ookami finally came in, running a hand through his spiky hair with a small sigh. Instead of Cat pressing a finger to his mask, he did a few hand seals in quick succession, and they all relaxed.

He took out a scroll from out of nowhere, and unrolled it.

"Squad White, we were assigned with an S-rank mission for the entire group." Here, his eyes flickered to Jaguar. "There is a group of B-rank and A-rank missing nins confirmed to be conspiring against minor Daimyos. In other words, they are said to be planning assassination of the leaders of minor villages, most of which were known to be important trading villages for Konoha."

He flipped the scroll so that it was facing us, and Naruto had a brief glimpse of a small map of the continent, where a red marker had circled a small area near Cloud territory.

"We are to meet an informant in a small village near Cloud country. Cloud isn't particularly keen on having Konoha ninja in their territory, so we will have to go under cover as civilians."

Here, he whipped out another scroll detailing numerous faces and laid it on the wooden table, not bothering to actually look at it but instead staring at the squad members.

"We are to assassinate all conspiring members and any relatives of said ninjas. Konoha wants them and all traces of them to disappear completely. It is only because of the informant that we have this information before the other countries."

So basically, we go dress up as civilians, meet the spy, find and kill our targets, cut off their heads and stuff it into scrolls, and come back just in time for lunch? Naruto mused, wondering about his very first mission.

/Huhuhuhu, finally, BLOOD! Bone crushing, blood spurting, kids screaming, head slicing-/

Hey, fox…

/-rey FUN!/

Are you done yet?

/…Maybe./

Good.

"Anyway, we leave in two hours, so get everything ready and meet at the Konoha Gates." Ookami finished slowly, oblivious to Jaguar's inner musing.

Everybody nodded simultaneously before huddling closer to the scroll on the table, trying to get a picture and some info on the missing nins. Naruto noticed that Hawk stood off in the side, leaning against a wall with dangerous mien about him, but he chalked it up again to ANBU paranoia. Naruto didn't really care for some extra info, as he had already took a brief glance and he had pretty good memory, and so, left the room the minute the meeting was over.

Much to Naruto's surprise, Ookami followed him out.

They walked in silence, Naruto walking casually and Ookami keeping up the pace easily, reading a book. To be honest, being with Wolf at the moment was making Naruto slightly nervous. He could have sworn that the guy was staring at him from behind that god damn orange book! But every time Naruto glanced back at him, his eyes were riveted down on the book. It was extremely unnerving.

Naruto scratched the back of his head with one hand subconsciously.

"So… Why exactly did you buy flowers before?" Naruto asked, partially out of curiosity, but mostly just for something to say.

Ookami didn't reply, his eyes engrossed on his book. It was weird though, for when Naruto looked closely, he noticed that the pupils weren't moving and were instead just staring vacantly at the page. Although Naruto has noticed him blatantly ignore people plenty of times, it was the first time Naruto had seen him have that vacant look in his eye. It kind of freaked him out.

"Hellooo?" Naruto said slowly, boldly waving a hand in front of his face. "Taichou..?"

Suddenly, Ookami looked up at Naruto's apprehensive face and blinked once.

"Did you say something?"

Naruto scowled. But then the most shocking thing happened next. Ookami laughed. It was such a light and carefree sound and felt so weird yet right hearing it coming from him.

Naruto wasn't the only one shocked, though.

He noticed that all around him the ANBUs that were passing by just froze up and were staring at them, a sudden silence blanketing them. Some of them seemed to be suspicious while others seemed to be simply stunned. Naruto concluded that his taichou must have not laughed very often.

Ookami didn't seem to notice. The laugh soon faded into a light chuckle. He ran a hand through his silver hair before looking back at Naruto.

"See you at the gate," he said lightly before disappearing in a whirl of leaves.

Kyuubi was oddly quiet as Naruto began packing for the mission. It didn't take that long, probably only around fifteen minutes. He packed some soldier pills, rations, a basic medical kit, and an extra mask. The ANBU mask always either cracked or broke completely every few days, much to his chagrin, something that he thanked Hyena for. He rewrapped the bandages around his arms and legs, and strapped on a relatively new katana and had some knives stored in his boots, and armguards. He took out the mini blades Karasu nii-san made him that had grey covering and looked at it for couple seconds before putting the pouch in the small holder hidden in his ANBU garment. Naruto readjusted the red scarf on his neck and donned on the ANBU black cloak before nodding to himself in the mirror. He was ready… and he still had one hour and thirty minutes left.

The rain was pouring harder than usual, but with nothing else to do, Naruto left his apartment to go walking for a bit. There was still some staring, since he was in ANBU, but compared to his real self, it was simply weird. He became so used to them that seeing looks of curiosity instead of disgust put him on edge more than usual. So, instead of walking through the streets, he decided to go to the training grounds instead.

He saw some familiar people, like Sasuke practicing throwing his shuriken, and even walked passed Kiba, who was taking Akamaru out for a walk. But what made Naruto pause was a small girl practicing by herself at the far end of the area.

With her purple hair, soaking wet from the rain, and her large purple jacket, she seemed really familiar to Naruto. Her pale blue pupil less eyes identified her as one of the Hyuga clan, most likely close to the main branch as not everyone of Hyuga clan had such eyes. Kind of curious, Naruto slowly approached her.

"Ano, hello?" Naruto asked lightly, tapping her shoulder.

The girl startled badly, and whirled around. On instinct, she threw a chakra laden palm aimed at his chest, but Naruto dodged it swiftly and grabbed her arm before flipping her over his shoulder. She landed on the ground with a muffled thump.

She blushed lightly with embarrassment at her predicament.

"I'm so sorry, ANBU-san." She said, scrambling up and bowing. "I-I didn't see you there."

"Even with the byakugan?" Naruto laughed softly. The girl flushed again.

"I was too… busy, I guess… G-gomen, gomen…"

Naruto didn't say anything. He stared hard at the girl who fidgeted under his gaze. Something about her wasn't right. And she seemed so familiar. Suddenly, it clicked. Hyuga Hinata, his academy classmate, and the heir to the Hyuga clan.

"Why are you pretending?" he said finally.

"S-sorry?"

"You may look embarrassed and you may stutter, but your heart rate is normal. Normal people, when scared, usually let their eyes wander. You, you keep your eyes on one spot on the ground. Why are you stuttering? Acting like a shy scaredy cat isn't becoming of one of the main branch."

The girl, Hinata, stared down at the ground in silence, her fingers still twirling around each other. Suddenly, they faltered and she looked up boldly to meet his eyes and Naruto was taken aback by the cool determination in her eyes. Her eyes flashed with certain defiance that somehow suited her.

"Hinata-sama!"

The intense mood was broken as another Hyuga Naruto remembered seeing before, came forward to her. He was probably only a year older than her, and had long brown hair tied in a low ponytail. His pale eyes glanced warily at him before focusing on Hinata. Naruto just then realized that this was Neji, his classmate for the first year of Academy.

"The Hyuga Head is looking for you, Hinata-sama." The boy said in a mock-polite voice. The instant their eyes connected, Naruto felt a burning anger inside the guy that he knew he didn't like. He didn't think Neji was like that before, quiet, yes, and very respectful, but not this bitterness that he was practically radiating.

"G-good bye, ANBU-san." Hinata said softly, bowing again. "Let's go, Neji-niisan." Neji bowed stiffly and both of them soon vanished into the trees.

/What the hell was that, human?/

Naruto narrowed his eyes.

I can tell. She's wearing a mask. She stutters, and blushes but I know she's forcing herself to do it. It's weird, because it doesn't make sense why she's doing it in the first place. But the fact that she's even pretending makes me sick.

/Huhuhuhu, hypocrite, much?/

Shut up, fox. Pretending to be something you're not, lying to everyone everyday nearly 24/7, it's tiring. It disgusts me to see other people doing it too.

/Self righteous hyprocrite./

Naruto rolled his eyes, before checking his watch. (A/N: Do they even have watches? Haha.) Crap, he only had ten minutes to get to the Konoha Gates. He disappeared in a blur, heading towards the gate at full speed.

The rest of the squad, except for Ookami himself, was there already: Squirrel, Cat, Hyena, Dove, Hawk, and Eagle. Most of them were just standing around and were double checking their equipment. Cat waved lazily at him and did the normal procedure of poking his mask, before continuing gazing out the streets again.

Naruto chuckled nervously at the apparent silence which he wasn't sure if he found it awkward or comforting, and sat down by the nearby tree. Seeing as everybody seemed relaxed, ever tense Hawk being an exception to this, Naruto began double checking his equipment just for the sake of it. It wasn't as though he had anything else to do anyways. Dove was just absentmindedly staring out into the trees, and Squirrel was writing things in a random notebook. Cat was twirling around a kunai about her finger and Eagle was, eerily enough, watching her. Hyena had crouched down before whipping out a pack of cards and started playing solitaire. Hawk was leaning against a wall again, and looked into the distance, his eyes unseeing. And Ookami still hadn't arrived yet.

Eagle suddenly turned away from the still twirling kunai and stared at the sky.

"Taichou seems really tired, today." He voiced out loud.

Dove hummed in agreement while Naruto paused from rummaging in his bag.

But what really got Naruto was the eyes. They were the darkest blue he has ever seen, and seemingly emotionless. They looked more like eyes of a dead man.

That was quite a while ago but the eyes haunted him at night, the way cat's bright slitted eyes will haunt the darkness. The midnight blue that glowed eerily against the shadowy backdrop.

Hyena glanced up at Naruto from the game and scoffed. "Don't think too much of it, rookie. Taichou was probably just back from another mission. Who wouldn't be tired?"

Squirrel looked up from his notebook. "Taichou has the most number of solo missions, ANBU or not," he added.

"Dammit, Squirrel! Will you stop butting into other people's conversations?" Hyena shouted indignantly, mock playfulness about his tone.

"I was just adding to your statement."

The current Squirrel was nothing like the man who had seemed so dangerous when Naruto first met him. Naruto did notice that he could be quite light hearted and funny at times, but this was the first time he actually saw Squirrel fooling around and acting in puerile manner, even if it was just in joking way. He seemed… too dangerous for that. Guess not.

The two faltered as Ookami came suddenly, jumping down in front of the squad from the rooftops. His white cloak that he wore over his normal ANBU uniform which indicated his Captainship fluttered in the light breeze as he softened his landing by slightly crouching. Naruto was once again reminded of how much his taichou seemed like a predator more than anything. He was someone that one wouldn't want to get in the wrong side of.

He gave a two finger salute to Squad White, who quickly arranged in front of him. "Yo, team. Squad White ready and accounted for? Good, now let's-"

"Taichou!"

Ookami blinked before looking at Squirrel who was pointing accusingly at his arm, his tone dead serious. Everybody looked at it simultaneously, and frowned at seeing a small white bandage on his wrist stained crimson red with seeping blood.

Ookami sighed. "For the last time, I am not cutting."

"B-but…" Squirrel narrowed his eyes, disbelief apparent on his face mixed with slight worry.

"Really. Now, can we go?"

Everybody nodded quickly, before disappearing in a blur. The only evidence of them being there was the abandoned pack of cards on the ground.

TBC


Hope you like this chapter. It's a bit short, not even reaching 10,000 words compared to my usual 11,000 – 12,000, but I hope my talking about the story and giving insights was enough to make up for that. Here's some info for anyone who's a bit confused.


Squad White consists of eight members:

Ookami (I'll be sorely disappointed if you guys can't figure out who this is) – the sarcastic genius who everyone deeply respects and is loyal to

Jaguar (Naruto) - our favorite protagonist

Cat (I think you guys already know who this is) – A tomboy

Squirrel (You know him… you just can't connect the two.) – Extremely loyal to Ookami, and alternates between light moments and seriousness.

Hyena (An Inuzuka, but names? No-no.) - perceptive, and cocky

Dove (to be announced) - Polite and aloof, always soft-spoken and quiet

Eagle (to be announced) – Dark history, but reserved and stoic.

Hawk (to be announced) – Detached, serious and always tense, ready for a battle. Not much for joking around.

The member Naruto replaced… also known as Dai ni Taichou… To Be Announced :P

I'm pretty proud of these characters, lol. And yes, Hyena is gay. Never wrote about a gay person before, it's a nice change. But his personality and sexuality is purely for laughs. That's it.


Sorry that I changed the Kakashi vs. Naruto fight to a Naruto vs. Hyena fight. They will fight, though, but in the future where Naruto actually has a chance :P Oh man, that was a spoiler, wasn't it? Now I'll have to stay up all night trying to figure out how to set up the circumstance so that Naruto will have to fight Kakashi (neh, I already have everything figured out. I have the entire plot and every single even all written down in my notebook. Including the two sequels, I might add. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. After this story, there is two ways the sequels can go and the two are completely different. One is used more often than the other. The other one, despite having read numerous fanfictions, I've never read anything remotely close to the idea. I'm thinking about writing both of them at the same time so people can decide which one they like better.)

Kakashi is not cutting.

Anyway, the reason I did the Hinata thing was to set up for my story. A lot of the things I'm doing right now is just setting up for the main plot. The main plot, I'm afraid, won't be here for quite a while though. It's like from chapter 10 or something. There's quite a bit that I really need to set up and because I want to show how it came along, I need these lengthy chapters of securing the personality and background. (*Slight Spoiler) The main story starts from when Itachi leaves after committing Uchiha massacre. Yes, I'll have Uchiha massacre. I'm trying to keep close to the actual story, at least in the beginning, while exercising the author's privilege to twist things around a bit. But again, as I said in last chapter, I'm trying to develop characteristics of each individual person and define what makes them unique. I'm going to show the good and bad side of everyone and show that no one's entirely good or bad.

If anyone has a guess on who Eagle is or/and his history, feel free to describe it to me. I'll tell you how close you are, or how far off you are, to/from the mark. In fact, you can do that for anything that I left unanswered. All that unanswered questions will be answered by the end, I promise you, but I will be delighted to know what you guys are speculating on.


Challenge Questions:

1. Who is the Dai ni Taichou and why was he pulled out of Squad White by the Elders? Surely they didn't pull him out just to give him more missions. They give Ookami loads of missions yet Ookami is still staying as the Captain of Squad White.

2. Who, or what, exactly is Kano? What's the history behind him? (As of now, Tristan76 has the best guess XD) Where is he going and when will he come back?

3. What is Kuroibaragan? How did Naruto come to have it? From which side of his parentage, if it came from his parents at all? Or is it even from his blood relations?

4. In the prologue, we see a man leaving Konoha. From the fact that later Sasuke finds a journal belonging to Naruto, we can infer that the man is Naruto. But why is he leaving? Doesn't he want to become Hokage? Is he leaving because he's loyal to Konoha or is it because he is no longer attached to Konoha? What's the circumstances?

5. What do you think will be the main plot of this story? (Ex. Finding the pot of gold hidden by local leprechauns :P) *yes, this story won't be one of those endless stories that goes on and on. Once the plot is over, the story will also be over and its sequel will begin.


These are some questions that I had to think quite a bit on to build my story, and I would love to hear from you guys on what you guys think. Anyone who gets any one of the questions will get a big hug from me :D and public congratulation on my next chapter.

For those of you who are wondering why the chapter is titled "Cat vs. Dog," Jaguar is, if I recall correctly, a feline animal and Hyena is a canine, thus Cat vs. Dog.

I thank you all for reviewing. They mean a lot to me :)

- Jade Wylkyns