I know the first chapter was short so I should probably warn you that my chapters will be of varying lengths. You can think of that first chapter as a prologue. I'm going to try to update as much as possible.
You can request side stories and I'll try to write them at the end of a chapter.
I've uploaded this story on AO3 as well under the same author name and story name. It will be uploaded there at the same pace as on here.
Thank you for reading!
Dumbledore appeared in a large room with wooden walls, floors, and ceiling. There was a door behind him that led to the outside of the building and a large desk with a smiling lady sitting behind it. She beckoned for Dumbledore to come forward as if he hadn't just appeared out of nowhere.
"Excuse me, I would like to request a mission," Dumbledore said as he stood in front of the desk. The lady nodded and took out a blank scroll.
"Could you please inform me of the basics of the mission?" The lady asked, her voice light and pleasant to the ears.
"It's a guarding mission that would last around a year. I was wondering if it was possible to hire shinobi to discuss war strategy as well?" Dumbledore asked and was relieved when the lady nodded.
"That is not a problem. Since it is a year long, you will probably have to hire ANBU. I should warn you that they are a bit difficult to interact with and I must advise against annoying, angering, or looking down on them." This time, the lady looked up and Dumbledore almost flinched at the cold look in her eyes.
"Of course," Dumbledore said quickly. "What are ANBU?"
"ANBU stands for Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai. In English, it would translate to Special Assassination and Tactical Squad. They report directly to the Hokage, our leader, and they are all trained on strategies, but how smart of a shinobi you get to hire depends on how much you are willing to pay." The lady said.
It was then that Dumbledore realized several things. One, the lady had been speaking English the entire time. Two, she had explained everything knowing that he didn't know the details of their village. And three, he realized that these shinobi put the priority of the missions based on money and time.
"I can pay in galleons." Dumbledore said. This time he did flinch as her eyes met his since they were practically glowing with sparkles.
"Gold?" She asked eagerly. When Dumbledore nodded she shot out of her seat so fast that her chair toppled over. "I'll be right back, sir." She said over her shoulder, before disappearing behind a wall on the other side of the desk.
When she came back her face was glowing with renewed vigor and she smiled so widely that if it got any bigger it would be touching her ears. "You are in luck! The Hokage has personally requested to meet with you. It's a great honor since the Hokage is the strongest shinobi in the entire Fire Country."
Dumbledore gulped nervously before following the excited lady to the other side of the wall behind the desk. There was a very steep staircase and as they continued, Dumbledore noticed that they passed several floors before stopping at a large door.
On the other side of the door was a hallway with an even larger door at the end. In front of that door, was a black haired lady holding a small pig. "Shizune-san, I brought the client." The lady from the front desk said happily.
"Thank you, Miyu-san." The lady, now known as Shizune, said. Miyu bowed to her before turning around and going back downstairs. Shizune turned towards Dumbledore and motioned towards the door behind her. "Hokage-sama is right in here, you can discuss the details of the mission with her."
Dumbledore nodded his thanks and walked into the room feeling terrifyingly nervous. When the door opened, he was surprised to see yet another young woman sitting at the desk. It made him think that maybe most shinobi were female.
"Are you Dumbledore-san?" The lady asked.
"Yes, but I never told you my name?" Dumbledore said, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.
"We keep up with the wizarding population, Dumbledore-san. We are not as ignorant as you arrogant wand wavers who only care about yourselves and don't bother to learn about other cultures because you don't see them as a threat." The lady said, and Dumbledore's eyes widened at the disrespect.
"I-I'm sorry if I offended you, but I'm only here to request aid in our current war," Dumbledore said, trying to continue with a more peaceful tone. She looked at him sharply and then sighed as if she was exhausted.
"Fine, I suppose I can forgive your ignorance." Dumbledore had to restrain the vein that was threatening to pop on his forehead. "Since you obviously don't know, I am the Hokage of Konohagakure, in the Fire Country, Senju Tsunade."
"It is nice to meet your acquaintance Ms. Tsunade. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore." Dumbledore said, not informing her of his entire title since she obviously already knew about him in detail.
"So, what's your request? I wasn't informed of the details." Tsunade inquired.
"I need guards for Harry Potter and my school as well as people to help with the strategy. Both missions would probably last around a year in length, maybe longer."
"I see, you'll need ANBU for both requests and I must warn you that ANBU are act first, ask questions later people," Tsunade said way too happily considering what she was saying.
"Would the children be safe with the ANBU?" Dumbledore asked.
"Right, you people are pacifists," Tsunade mumbled under her breath, but Dumbledore heard. "They'll be fine, my guards are the best of the best, they won't get mad when a couple of brats insult them."
"And they won't display violence in front of the students, right?" Dumbledore asked, concerned for the mentality of his students.
"If the enemy is right in front of a crowd, then they will try to draw them away, but if there is no way to, then they will kill on sight, perhaps sparing one or two for information gathering," Tsunade said. "I wouldn't worry too much though, it's not as if we all love killing and blood, this is just our society so it might be hard for some of us to change the way we do things."
"Do you know which ANBU will be sent, how many?" Dumbledore asked.
"That's a good question." Tsunade mused. "Shizune!" The lady with the pig ran into the room. "Get me Deer, Fox, Snake, Dove, and Wolf," Tsunade said and Dumbledore wondered where those names came from. Shizune ran out of the room and left an awkward silence hovering over the room before five cloaked figures suddenly appeared in the center along with a giant white dog.
They all wore large white cloaks that covered their entire bodies and porcelain masks that resembled different animals. The one in front had bright yellow hair and a fox mask with bright blue eyes that seemed to shine through the mask.
The two that stood on either side of him, but slightly behind him, both had black hair but with vastly different styles. The one on the left had his hair in a spiky ponytail with a deer mask that showed dark eyes that contained hidden intelligence. The one on the right had black hair that was so dark it looked blue and stuck out in the back with a snake mask covering his entire face, but revealing dark black eyes.
The last two stood behind the others. One of them wore a dove mask with completely white eyes and no pupils and long black hair that reached his waist. The other had shaggy brown hair, a wolf mask, and vertical eyes. The giant white dog stood menacingly next to the shinobi with the wolf mask.
"Dumbledore-san," Tsunade said, interrupting his observation. "These are the members of the best ANBU team that I have. They have all been in ANBU for two years and quickly rose in ranks. We don't allow our shinobi to stay in ANBU for too long and I can assure you that they all have plenty of experience outside of ANBU."
"I see," Dumbledore said, slightly intimidated by the tall cloaked figures. "What are their names?"
"ANBU has a very strict secrecy policy, Dumbledore-san. I'll give you the details once we reach an agreement on the fine points of the mission. For now please call us by the animals on our masks." The ANBU with the deer mask said in a stern voice.
"Alright then." Dumbledore conceded. "What else needs to be done?" He asked, turning to Tsunade.
"How much are you going to pay for my best ANBU team? We just got out of a major war, so hiring this team at such a vulnerable time is going to cost you." Tsunade asked, a glint in her eyes.
"How about a thousand galleons?" Dumbledore offered, trying not to wince at the insane amount. One of the ANBU coughed suspiciously, but Dumbledore couldn't figure out which one it was.
"Hmm, only a thousand galleons to get you out of the supposed worst war the wizarding world has ever experienced?" Tsunade asked mockingly. Dumbledore sweat dropped as he realized that this woman was going to try and get every last drop of money out of him.
"I could raise it to a thousand one hundred?" He suggested, his stomach sinking at the thought of so much money getting spent at once. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at him and he realized that the wolf ANBU was slightly shaking his shoulders in concealed laughter. "A thousand five hundred?"
"We have a deal!" Tsunade said happily as she stood up and Dumbledore noticed that she was very voluptuous and her breasts were of very considerable size. She slid the scroll from the front desk towards Dumbledore and motioned to a place for him to sign.
Dumbledore took the offered ink brush and quickly signed his name on the bottom of the document. Tsunade smiled and signed her name below his. Then, she turned to the ANBU and Dumbledore looked towards them as well.
"I shall now let Deer inform you of the rules of ANBU," Tsunade said, waving her hand at the spiky haired shinobi.
"We are not allowed to reveal our identities to anyone unless given permission by the Hokage or, in dire circumstances, the Team Captain, which in this case is Fox-Taicho. There are a specific set of rules for Guarding missions as well. We are not allowed to go undercover in a position that interacts with the target, we are not allowed to form any emotional attachments to the target or his acquaintances, and we are not allowed to reveal any information about the mission to anyone besides the client unless the circumstances allow it."
Dumbledore felt his eyes getting wider and wider as he heard the rules and restrictions that the ANBU had. "We are allowed to get involved with foreign country's politics as long as there is enough evidence as to why we had to. In your case, we should be allowed to interfere with your ministry if necessary. Since you are hiring us not only as guards but also to help with your war, you are given permission to give us assassination requests if we deem them necessary. We will also physically protect the students of Hogwarts and will try to protect their mental state, but if we accidentally scare them, we will not take responsibility."
"I-Is that all?" Dumbledore asked, accidentally stuttering from the shock of more rules. However, Deer shook his head and continued.
"That is all for the official rules, but I should inform you of our personal strengths along with the rank order within our team. I am Deer, head strategist of this team and the entire village. I can fight, but am better at team fights and one vs one fights."
"You can call me Fox, I am the captain of this team as well as the head fighter. The highest number that I can fight solo against has been nine hundred, so if there are any major battles, then I would be most useful on the front line. All orders to and from the team have to go through me, and I also have the ability to break the rules in dire situations."
"Snake, second in command. In the very unlikely event that Fox-Taicho dies, I will be in charge. I am best at assassination and espionage." Dumbledore felt an involuntary shiver go down his spine at the cold voice that came from the snake mask.
"I am Wolf and this is my dog, Akamaru. He fights alongside me and has the IQ of a human, so please treat him with respect. I am the team tracker and hunter." The dog by his side nodded to Dumbledore and he nodded back out of respect even though he thought that the situation was quite strange. He turned to the last ANBU and his gaze was met with emotionless blank eyes.
"I am Dove. I specialize in surveillance, scouting, information gathering, and torture." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows in surprise, he had thought that this man was blind because of his pupil-less eyes. Dove noticed his unasked question and answered it, "I am not blind, my entire family has these eyes because of their genetic ability to have complete three hundred and sixty degree vision at all times along with the ability to see through walls."
"You guys should get going soon, Slug is coming." Tsunade suddenly said. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows again as all the ANBU suddenly turned towards him with urgency. "Dumbledore, please apparate them out of the building as soon as you can."
Dumbledore held out his arm and all of the shinobi grabbed it tightly, causing him to wince at their tight grips. Right before they apparated a pink haired ANBU suddenly burst into the room, but before anything else could happen, the group of six disappeared.