Redone (28/04/12)

It took all of three seconds to recognise their team leader. Through some recreational listening (It was not eavesdropping) Max had learned that Yuri was returning to ANBU. It didn't take a genius to put things together and get Yuri was their team leader. Both were trying to guess who the last member of their four man squad.

The Hokage had decided people could know about Itachi since he was a known prodigy but Max would keep her mask on to avoid unwanted attention unless she had Henge on. Only Itachi knew because he had been there and would have found out anyway. It wasn't uncommon to have an ANBU with a completely unknown identity, as long as they had been vouched for by a trusted source. That way if someone tried to infiltrate they could easily find them.

Once again Max was under a Henge but she made this persona older, about sixteen, but a short sixteen year old, like she had been before coming to the Naruto world, it was easier to make an image of something familiar. She had also made her hair colour dark silver instead of her 'natural' (for that universe anyway) hair colour of black fading to silver.

She kept to unrestrictive clothing, shorts and short sleeves. It was difficult to be under a henge all the time in combat, if things don't match up then eventually it gets figured out. Her amour had to be altered to fit her small frame without sitting awkwardly and the tattoo was hidden unless she had her henge up.

One thing that did make her stand out was her insistence on wearing full combat boots, not sandals. She didn't bother to even henge sandals, trying to concentrate on movement of toes at any given point was just not worth the effort.

"I'm bored, can't we start training then when our other team mate turns up he or she can join in," Max moaned bouncing on the balls of her feet, combat boots took a while to wear in and so she was taking every opportunity to move them around.

"We need to train as a team so we wait. Patience is a skill that ANBU require," Tora lectured, patting a scowling Max on the head.

Max growled until the patting stopped then she sighed and went and sat on the side of one of the training post. She let her mind wander, her thoughts took her to all of the things she had done so far, now being as good as any time to think about this. She had saved Gaara's mentality, well she hoped she had, only time would tell with him.

She had helped Naruto so he wasn't a loudmouth and so that he knew a few techniques and if anyone attacked him he could defend himself. Also he and Hinata were friends, Laura had befriended Hinata and helped her come out of her shell and stop being such a push over but still had no arrogance, and since Neji's father was still alive Neji wasn't such an ass. She just wished she could do something about the seal. She understood it was one of their culture things but that doesn't mean she had to like it.

The only thing on her list of things to do now was wait for the Uchiha massacre and see what she could do; she may not like Sasuke much when he's older but if she could do something maybe he wouldn't be so stuck up. She wasn't sure of the exact circumstances of it so she couldn't easily plan for it.

She was brought out of her thoughts when a kunai came flying though the air at her, looking around she noticed a book that looked awfully familiar. In a split second decision she moved, jumping down behind the newcomer and grabbing the book. She had noticed Itachi had gone to get the other team they would train with. The team turned up as she looked at the book but Itachi wasn't to be seen.

"I got your book, and you call yourself ANBU? You should be ashamed," Max crowed while holding the book like a trophy, she danced around the newcomer who tried to retrieve it. "Now I shall share what you think is so interesting with the whole squad"

Max skim read a couple of lines quickly and realized it was porn and her 8 year old self shouldn't be reading it but her 16 year old mind could she decided to mess with their heads, what she does best and of course, enjoyed doing very much. She had also realized that Inu was Kakashi, if the lateness and book hadn't given it away the messy silver hair had, though it was a few shaded lighter than hers in her Henge.

Max started to weave a tale, starting from the book but deviating it to include both an absent ANBU and the one who had been late, much to the bemusement of anyone not mentioned.

None of them had been warned of Max's imagination, Itachi should have known, but he hadn't been there to stop her and Kakashi hadn't been there long enough to figure out she was a bit odd.

Itachi managed to turn up just as Max was detailing out a graphic part that included him as a girl. She was acting completely oblivious to his appearance. Everyone else stood perfectly still, she felt a glare from behind her she turned to see Itachi glaring at her she nervously laughs hiding the book in a pocket.

"Fancy seeing you here usagi" said Max stressing his code name.

"..."

"I was just demonstrating why they shouldn't annoy me nothing personal."

"…"

"All right all right I'm sorry you don't need to nag me about it."

"…"

"Come on I said sorry didn't I what more do you want." The other ANBU were looking at them wondering how she knew what he would say. Kakashi took this exchange as an opportunity to retrieve his book from the small ANBU and put her in a headlock while he was close enough.

"Inu, Ookami act your ages," ordered Tora. Max sniggered, her age was eight, a few years older than throwing mud and mock fighting with sticks. The two teams finally got down to training for a bit, it was a standard pre-team training to see what innate cohesion they had, so they knew what to work on and how best to structure themselves on how they naturally worked.

They weren't quite getting beaten but only due to the individual skills of Kakashi and Yuri and the combined skills of Itachi and Max who had worked a lot of moves together.

Eventually they had cycled through the different scenarios that they needed to do and the other team left to do their own training. Yuri turned to her team to formally address for the first time and assert her authority.

"Right, as you know I am Tora, your team leader, Inu both Ookami and Usagi are new but talented. You two munchkins, Inu is a senior member of this team so respect him," she said glaring at Max. Said girl was mildly surprised since she couldn't remember Tora being told, but to be honest they weren't ANBU for no good reason. After working together for so long a flimsy disguise was practically transparent.

Yuri then set them goals, forcing Max and Kakashi to team up, seeing their rivalry as a possible liability. While they were professional and it shouldn't affect missions she wanted them to work together more. Both of them could learn a lot from the other. Itachi was occasionally paired with one of them for a task but he was mostly building chakra, he didn't have the years of Yuri and Kakashi or the natural reserves that Max had and ANBU required much more of a drain on chakra.

For the first few weeks the training became a regular event, Max would still steal Kakashi's book in a new and exciting way and she would still get scolded by Yuri. The team was eventually turning into a well-oiled machine under the guidance of Yuri, her previous ANBU experiences were invaluable to the build.

Tora was the best tactician of all of them, her understanding of how people worked, either on their own or in a group made her the logical leader. She had spent a lot of time deep undercover and assimilated some foreign tactics to merge with her own. Her medic training helped give that fine edge to her assassination style.

The most experienced of the team was naturally Kakashi, he had the most confirmed kills and numerous powerful techniques. He had underestimated the two young members of the team when he had summoned his dogs. Having been teamed with an Inzuka they knew how to play with nin dogs, Kakashi had scolded his dogs for being so susceptible to belly rubs.

Itachi and Max loved tag teaming against the adults, it was the only way they stood a chance most of the time. Max was the powerhouse with an imagination and Itachi had the natural skill and large arsenal of explosive justus at his fingertips. They would often henge into each other to keep the two older member of the team guessing, they knew enough of each other's techniques and habits to confuse even Yuri.

It took about a month to get to the stage of full battle readiness, before that only taking smaller missions to make sure the team was working out.

A month of taking some of the most dangerous missions was all it took for them to become a team talked about in hushed voices.

A few months and they were known through the continents as very dangerous, each team member boasting a hefty bounty in multiple countries. They were the new flagship team of the ANBU. Teams didn't normally last long at that title. If a mission seemed impossible it got handed to them, if it seemed beyond dangerous, it got handed to them.

The team managed five months with the title of Flagship ANBU Team, a length previously unheard of.

They were fleeing from a mission gone wrong, the enemy had managed to gain intel on their mission and so there had been a small army of jonin lying in wait for them, they had managed to hold off long enough for Yuri to get through to continue their mission, covered by a shadow clone taking her place, in the confusion of the battle it went unnoticed.

Yuri assassinated the traitor quickly, burning the body as quickly as she was able before heading out to rejoin her team so they could make a tactical retreat. It was clear they were not going to make it back to Konoha in their current state, the best bet was getting some of their own to come to them and aid their escape.

Kakashi had sent out some of the the fastest of his dogs trying to get as much reinforcements as possible. The unit continued to fight, trying to avoid getting herded together, it would be all too easy to hit them all in one shot if they were bunched up.

What happened next seemed to both take hours but at the same time only seconds. Max had been thrown clear of the group by an explosion, leaving her vulnerable with a bunch of people between her and her team. The enemy had seen that as a ripe opportunity to cripple the team. Max had tried to fight back to her team, ripping through people who just would not stop coming blocking her. She was beginning to panic, a bad feeling building in her gut.

She finally managed to break through, rushing to take up her part of the defense. As she moved several justu followed her, causing her to dodge around to evade, not quite noticing she was being lead, the attacks seemed to random for that.

It wasn't until too late she found she was trapped, her arms were pinned to her sides cutting into them every time she tried to move, a similar loop pulled at her throat. A powerful lightning attack was zipping down the wires, forming dual dragons. The clash of those two dragons would fry her. Even in the wires were cut the wire was special, the dragons would only jump the gap to the other piece. Only two known people of the Kumar clan used that technique and no one had ever escaped from it.

Max couldn't stop herself from closing her eyes as the dragons got close. She waited for the burn of electricity. There was a shout from Kakashi and Max's eyes snapped open, standing in front of her, holding both sides of the wire was Yuri. She had completed the circuit, the lightning taking the shorter route through the older ninja's body saving Max. There was a brief pause in Max's mind, as if her own brain had just short circuited. Then she started glowing, a small layer of pale energy engulfing her body. She stretched her arms out, snapping the wire, sending a ripple of gasps through the enemy ninja.

The connection severed by the influx of power Max had inadvertently sent back to the wires origins killed the dragons. Yuri collapsed only just getting caught by Kakashi who motioned to the two kids to retreat. Itachi hesitated, seeing Max only moving enough not to get hit by enemy attacks. Her eyes briefly met his and he knew what she was doing would not differentiate between enemies and him. He needed to leave and so he did, following in Kakashi's wake.

The glow on Max's body expanded into tendrils that quickly snapped out at anyone nearby, dispatching them with ruthlessly efficient moves. Some stabbed through the throat, some snapped necks, and some tore off limbs. There was blood showering the area, soaking into the ground, making puddles of red tinged mud.

It was only when the screams stopped Max snapped out of it, the mist being reabsorbed into her body. Her legs suddenly didn't support her anymore and she fell to her knees. The loss of control worried her, she'd never done that before, she hadn't been able to stop until they were all dead. What if her team hadn't retreated, would she have done that to them too?

She stood up on shaky legs and started walking home, concentrating on putting one foot in front of another. The sun had set not long ago and any light was fading fast.

Any sunlight had gone by the time Konoha came into sight, the streets were thankfully pretty empty as Max headed to where most of her team were, in the Hokage's office. She felt all eyes on her as she entered.

"Max?"

"I'm fine," she said automatically, her voice sounding flat.

"What is the status of your pursuers, the teams we sent came back and said there was no one following?" the Hokage asked.

"They're all dead," Max said in the same numb voice before her limbs all decided to rest after all the exertion they had done over the last few hours. Itachi managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

"Get some rest Max, we'll deal with this in the morning."

"Where's Yuri?" Max croaked, fighting to stay awake.

"She's in the hospital." None of them mentioned that she wasn't expected to survive the night. "Itachi take her home." Max didn't even have the energy to try to convince them she could make it home on her own. She vaguely remembered being half carried home but past seeing her bed there was nothing but blissful unconsciousness.

The next day came with good news and bad news. Max had dragged herself out of bed as soon as her limbs had started responding again and stumbled to the hospital only to collapse in a chair by Yuri's bed. There was a faint heartbeat, but no other signs of life from the woman.

"The doctors don't know if she'll wake up." Kakashi told her, he'd been sat on the windowsill all night watching. The two of them sat watching, hoping for some sign.

"I was hoping to find you here Max." The Third didn't often personally find you unless something was horribly wrong. Kakashi got of the window sill, standing to attention briefly in respect for the village leader. "The Kumar clan are demanding you be handed over due to your actions yesterday." Two dark glares met that declaration. A slightly crazy gleam sparked into life in Max's eye.

"I'll go." That was met with confusion. "Expect me back by tomorrow." The confusion was gone.

"You still need rest."

"Just give me some soldier pills." Max wasn't going to give this up. The Kumar clan had just crossed that line and by the time she was done there wouldn't be a clan to demand her head.

"I admire your determination." Sarutobi said tiredly, he was trying to figure out if it was worth letting her go. It would mean he wouldn't have to try to make them happy and it might remind some other clans that Konoha is powerful and not to be messed with. Some small villages had been making some noise recently. "I'm putting you on three day rest." Max's eye practically bugged out.

"What!"

"Though I have no way of actually making sure you do rest, nor where you go during that time." Both Kakashi and Sarutobi hoped to never again see the grin that spit across Max's face.

Perfect.

Max took three steps towards the window before leaping out. Tomorrow, she promised herself, the Kumar clan would be a memory, nothing more.

Still in the hospital room the two men looked concerned. The girl they had just seen was different from the girl that had shot through the ranks, the bright happy-go-lucky girl with a slightly off sense of humour and enough charisma to charm Ibiki if she ever wanted to. What they saw just now was a vengeful child with a feral canine look she'd possessed since she got back yesterday. Bad things were going to happen. Sarutobi wondered if Max realized she was still covered in blood, now a rusty red.

The musings were interrupted by Itachi turning up. "Max is gone." Had the situation been any different Kakashi would have made a joke, probably inappropriate for the age of his team mates. It was easy to forget how young they really were.

"She has a three day rest period, she could be anywhere. I would advise you don't follow her." Having seen the state Max had been in yesterday Itachi internally agreed.

"How's Tora?" This room was likely the first place Max would return to. Best place to wait.

True to her word Max was back by the next day, closely following the news of a massacre suspiciously in the same area she had been in. It was hard to tell if she was covered in more blood than the last time they had seen her.

What had changed was the state of the room. There was no reassuring beep from the heart monitor. A sheet was fully covering the body of the fourth member of the former flagship team.

Any aggression Max might have still had was gone in an instant.

"When?" she croaked, looking at her two other team mates, neither of whom had managed to meet her eyes since she had got back.

"Just after the sun rose this morning. There was nothing that could be done."

"All three of you are on mandatory leave until you are deemed fit for duty." Sarutobi hated saying those words, but for their safety it had to be done. It was standard procedure. He should have done it when they got back but he had seen the volatile state Max had been in and killed several birds with one stone.

The three remaining team members seemed resigned to this fate. It wasn't the first time for Kakashi to go through this, but for the two younger members they would need support.

"And Max, take a shower, dried blood isn't good for your skin."

As was expected Kakashi was cleared for active duty before Max and Itachi. Max had almost failed the psych evaluation and so had three weeks of probation as an active ninja. This limited her to mostly escort missions with a maximum of a low B-rank if she was lucky.

For this reason she was sitting in a tea shop waiting for her order. Fetch missions were boring but it was something and it did get her out of the village. Some guy had wanted some specific tea that was only sold in Tea Country because of its rarity.

While she waited she looked through the other variety's, she couldn't imagine drinking some of them but if she drunk tea then it would be normal with a bit of milk, no fruit or herbs. Itachi liked those, he probably would have appreciated this mission more than here but he was allowed higher ranked missions and the village had been swamped over the last few days. That didn't mean the Hokage would shorten her probation just for a bit of extra man power.

If she was honest, Max would admit it was nice to have a bit of a break, ANBU had been a lot of work and now she was actually getting more than six hours of sleep on a regular basis. She was calmer, though still trying to figure out the events surrounding Yuri's death, especially the days after, she couldn't remember all that much of it, most of it was just a hazy of colour, mostly red. She had been told the basics but it was suspected that her mind was unconsciously protecting her from the mental trauma until such a time she could deal with it. It was common in young shinobi.

Finally the order was completed and wrapped to keep it fresh. Max dumped it into her pouch and left the village, taking to the treetops as soon as she was outside the village limits. It was nice not to be chased for once but she still kept up a fast pace.

It had taken longer for the order to be filled than it should have due to some new girl working at the shop. Max would be lucky if she got halfway home before the sunrise. If she didn't take a break she could make up for the lost time and get back before 6pm tomorrow, when the deadline for the tea delivery was. If an order like this was late then the cost for the client was halved.

As it happened Max managed to arrive just as Itachi was returning from his own mission, his was high enough to report directly to the Hokage though, hers was just a simple report to the mission office for delivery.

What confused her were the looks of fright she was getting from the unfortunate bunch of shinobi working the mission office. Figuring it couldn't hurt to ask she opened her mouth to ask what the problem was. Before she could say a word most of them dove for cover.

This warranted a trip to a certain Hokage. She didn't even bother waiting for Itachi to finish his debrief.

"What is wrong with the guys at the mission office?" she demanded, knowing she was being extremely rude. Something in her gut told her something was wrong and she needed to know what and why.

"You've only just got back." Max nodded. "An hour ago the Uchiha clan was decimated. Only two people survived. Sasuke was at your house and Itachi was on a mission."

"Do you know who did it?" Max fought to keep her face from showing any emotion. She may not have seen eye to eye with the Uchiha's but she had never wished death on any of them.

"A passerby claims he saw Itachi leaving the compound, dripping with blood," Sarutobi said, reading from what was probably witness statement.

"The problem is I got back five minutes ago."

"Some suspect you helped, after the Kumar clan thing. You should know that the citizens think what they want and nothing changes that."

"So what do we do now then?" Max asked. Sarutobi fixed a wise gaze on her, as if trying to figure something out. He seemed to come to some sort of answer and Max and Itachi bother felt privacy seals snap into place. Both shinobi unconsciously shifted to attention. This was no time for joking around.

"Akastuki have been sniffing around Itachi, something you two might have noticed, I suspect they've been looking to recruit him. The organization is still largely unknown and I would feel better knowing what their objectives are. This gives the perfect opportunity to insert a spy into their midst."

The implications of this took a while to sink in, this would be a long term dangerous mission, one that Itachi may never be able to return from. Everyone would think it was he who had killed his family. They already did though, this was one of those opportunities that when they came by, needed to be grabbed else you never get one again.

"No one outside this room must know of this. Max you are his contact. I will announce a cover story tomorrow. Itachi, you must be gone by then. Do not be seen. Max you'll need to do some acting to keep up this charade. Any questions?"

"No."

"Good."

There has been a lot of change to this chapter since the original write through.

Reviews on it are always welcome though