Oni Hogosha

Disclaimer: Naruto is a product of Masashi Kishimoto, so I don't own him.
Legend: "": quote, "italic": thought, italic: new Japanese word (check glossary), underline: techniques.

Chapter 6: Return of the Hero

"This place…why am I surrounded by cherry blossom leaves? This is that dream again... is that you mother? It is you…what do you wish from me, why do you keep hunting me, say something" said the blond haired teen as he got close to the maiden wearing a silky red kimono surrounded by her foxes. But as soon as he got neared her; the dream began to fade away.

It was 7:00AM and Naruto had been awaken by sound of his alarm clock. He cursed at the clock, why did it had to wake him up when he was so close to actually talking to her. Then he remembered that he had an appointment at 7:30AM at the armory to get his ANBU equipments that he needed for today's mission. So he got up quickly, folded his cozy futon and ran trough his morning toilet. Then he ate his breakfast, which consisted of boiled eggs, milk, an apple and two pieces of breads. He then got dressed into on of his fashionable attires the same one as yesterday's but with a few changes, gray colored baggy pants and his blue colored cap sleeved trench coat. He then ran towards the armory.

He was still a bit tired; he had to attend a party held in Onimakai, as it was the birthday of the Oni Hogosha no Tanuki who just turned 30. It was big party, but not as big as the one he received for his 15th birthday, it was his first birthday celebration so the clan decided to throw a majestic party at his honor. He really loved being with them, it wasn't like in the village, each guardian had a different set of personalities, and sometimes it hardly made sense that they were one big family. They were an odd clan indeed. He did return home early but he still required five more hours of slumber.

He reached the armory as soon as the shop owner opened his door. Naruto wanted keep the matter secret and avoid the glares so he figured the best time to strike would be early morning as people would be still sleeping and the shop owner would be too drowsy to glare at him properly. The shopping went well, the owner did not have much trouble equipping Naruto with what he needed. He already had most of the stuff but ANBU wore metal pieces so he needed the metallic versions of his current equipments. The new additions were the ninja-to hidden animal mask, which he chose to be the fox. Even the owner didn't disagree with that selection. After having done his shopping he returned hope for a few more hours of sleep.


Around 12:00PM his doorbell rang, which only meant one thing, it was that lazy chuunin. Shikamaru was the only other villager apart Jiraiya and Tsunade to enter his mansion. Each time he did enter, he was amazed how beautiful Naruto had renovated it, not to mention clean. They sat down for coffee Shika's favorite beverage. Naruto simply needed it to wake up, but for Shikamaru coffee was life, he was the expert of coffee blends. He even has taught about opening a coffee shop, after he retires from shinobi duties.

"What beings you here today you lazy bum", said Naruto as he sipped his coffee.

"Well I was just passing by the neighborhood so I figured I'd give you a visit. I also wanted to congratulate on becoming part of ANBU. Tsunade-sama told me she had great hopes on you. It is also the reason of my visit… It seems she wants me to go for the trial also. I really don't know if I am up for the job, after all it is troublesome and I heard that most of the missions are dangerous, so I need your advice. Do you think I might be good in it?" asked the lazy chuunin.

"Well Shikamaru, it is hard to say, even I have no clue on what to expect. I do not like the way that old hag was praising me yesterday. She must be up to something to force me to fight against a jounin", said Naruto.

"This is troublesome, I thought we had to only face an ANBU, if I have to face a jounin to get in… I won't even consider the offer… way to much work", complained Shikamaru.

"Don't worry, I don't think you will, it was probably only meant for me, since I am the Toad Sannin's apprentice. I think you will be a fine addition, you skills could be very useful, and you are not stubborn like most others as will not stick to only using family related jutsus. So you would make an excellent candidate, it all depends of your attitude though. It's not a place where you can work lazily that could cost you your life", replied Naruto.

"Speaking of stubbornness, before I went it, the Hyuuga leader was complaining about your ranking again. He really hates you, god he complained for a full hour about how great his nephew and future son-in-law were better then you. He said it was an insult having you ranked before them. I wonder what he will do if he found out that you also became an ANBU before them", he chuckled.

"Glare version 4000, I guess. I am already having trouble facing his Glare version 2000; even my great shinobi adventures books cannot stop those. I don't really give a damn what he thinks anyway. As for his protégés getting into ANBU, all I hope is that I never have them in my team. It's not that I hate them or anything, but having them around would mean having Hyuuga Hiashi on the back of my neck and those Hyuuga are creepy. Sometimes I wonder if they can shoot infamous death glare x-rays out of their eyes", replied back Naruto with a smirk.

Both friends laughed hard for some minutes imagining how those laser projectiles would shoot out of their eyes. That's one of the advantages of having Shikamaru as a friend, his great imagination.


Meanwhile Sakura and her team were one their way back from their first escort mission. It hadn't been a long or hard mission but she had been plagued by Ino's complains about "how lucky" she was getting to bump with the great Naruto. She supposed it was luck, after all last time she sore him was nearly two years ago. She still had to pay him his due for that absence though. He was the last person she thought of abandoning her. One day he was licking her feet for a date when the next day he acted like she didn't even existed and all that without telling why he pulled a 180 on her. Tsunade for all her greatness didn't have much explication either apart that he probably abandoned his love for her, when that day he brought the Godaime to heal Sasuke.

Apparently Naruto lost all hopes when he saw her pouncing on the Uchiha awaken from his mental attack. Tsunade then made an outrageous comment that it didn't matter anyway its not like she had any feelings for him, so it was probably for the best. This saddened Sakura; she never realized how much Naruto meant for her, two years made her understand that. Don't get her wrong she wasn't in love with him, but she did miss all the support he used to give her. Oh course all that changed yesterday. All she wanted to do now was to greet him with one of her shindou tekken attacks. That bastard how could he leave her like that without even saying a hello, not to mention becoming a lecherous pervert like Kakashi-sensei with those infamous books. That simply drove the line, after all she wanted to do was unleash her inner-Sakura's wrath on him.

Ino had a better idea, why not seduce him then beat the hell out of him, the idea was pretty good till Sakura reminded her that unlike her she wasn't a tramp. This led to a cat fight between the two best friends and rival till Chouji broke them up with his own addition of information. Chouji being Shikamaru's best friend revealed that the mission they just performed was nothing for Naruto who had been doing solo escorting to places far outside of Fire country. This left, Sakura into another depression, as she realized Naruto had already tramped her new exploit way before she had some time to enjoy it. Chouji received a few large whacks from Ino as his reward for causing Sakura to go to depression mode.


That afternoon, Naruto went to meet with Godaime for his mission, instead he was blasted with details about his new responsibilities. He was right the old hag did have something in store for him, but even he didn't think that far. First he learned that he was ranked ANBU Captain. Then he learned that he had a team under him that he was to meet tomorrow. Then she added that he had a whole division under him, being the leader of division X and to make the matter worst, she had officially cranked him up to jounin. Now the last part didn't feel so bad, but the first three kill him. Being the division leader, he was responsible for the whole gang, not to mention heavy paper works during his off time starting from today.

"You can't do that, I am inexperienced in the field, I have yet to do a mission as an ANBU, I have yet to do a dangerous mission like assassination. You just can't shove this on to me like this?", he protested.

"I can and I will. Naruto, the ANBU had been battered to scrap now, they need an inspirational leader and you will be that inspiration. You have the skill, the attitude and the conviction for the job. Plus you are a jounin now, so obviously you are qualified", she replied.

"The hell I am qualified, all I did was toy with Shizune oneesan. That doesn't mean jack when compared to these responsibilities. YOU ARE ASKING ME TO ACCEPT A POSITION WHERE A SLIGHT JUDGEMENTAL ERROR COULD COST MANY LIVES! I AM 15 FOR GOD SAKE, GO USE A EXPERIENCED JOUNIN FOR THE JOB", he yelled.

"Jounin cannot be forced to take these responsibilities, neither can I force you. If you want you can leave them today if you wish too. But Naruto try to understand the situation, I need someone like you to get their morals up and prepare them for their task. You have the knowledge and the tactical skills to take this responsibility. Besides you did want to be Hokage didn't you, think of it as a first step towards that goal. I seriously need you for this job. You have the will of fire these men must learn that. If you reject it I won't hold it against you, but know that the next person in charge will be much worst then you. So what is your decision?" she asked while giving him her sad puppy face.

" I need to ask the old geezer before I make my decision…" he replied calmly noticing she was winning on him.

"He already agreed, see here is his approval letter. Don't worry only a few will know about your promotions, I know they can give you a hard time. Think on the positive side, you get to become famous without having to reveal your name. Plus you would have plenty of followers and its not like I am asking you to take over the whole ANBU, now am I?" she added handing him the document signed by Jiraiya.

Naruto finally resorted to his faith, he didn't want this he already had enough things to do in life, most of them were hidden but damn this meant that he would be officially grounded for life. Her last words already confirmed what she intended for him. He took the stack of files reserved for him and preceded to his new office. He then had to meet the other division leaders who welcomed him with a smile to his surprise. Why wouldn't they obviously the old hag had already made him their long awaited Messiah. After meeting them, he took the files about the division and its members and proceeded home.

"Sweet, nice job Mr. Shinku. Kiss you fun life goodbye, now you already got large responsibilities that you didn't want for another five years. Why does everyone want be to take responsibilities! Oh yeah now I remember, I happen to be the son of a Hokage and a demon guardian at the same time, oh joy! That should teach me for showing off. At least no one will know about it, I am not ready for the death glare version 8000 yet", he mumbled inside his head, while cursing every object he could find on his way. Kyuubi tried to calm him as he was pretty much venting killer intent around him. The villagers afraid upon who he was thinking of unleashing his wrath were praying for their lives.

Meanwhile, the copycat shinobi entered Hokage's office. He was amazed and Tsunade's power over Naruto he was certain the teen would reject it even Jiraiya felt the same.

"How in the hell did you do it?" he simply asked in amazement.

"Simple, my dear Kakashi. I gave him guilt and used his own nindo against him. Naruto isn't the type to back away when people need his protection. That's the main reason why he will be a great Hokage. Unlike me, he would risk his life for anyone in the village even if he doesn't like their face. He has the will of Konoha in him", she said proudly.


The next morning Naruto wakes up around lunchtime, again thanks to Shikamaru. Who just had to show him an anomaly. He was gazing the clouds around when he suddenly thought he sore those renovation workers at Yuki's house hop around while they worked. Naruto realizing the problem ran straight at the location. He then unleashed a set of curse that frowned the poor hares to death. They resumed their work without a grunt, after all if the gentle Shinku Asura gets angry with them it meant that mistress Yuki would deep-fry them. Naruto finally returned near Shikamaru, who took the time to prepare his coffee.

"Seems like Tsunade-sama gave you a lot to do. By the way the way what you think of my new outfit? It's not as fancy as you I guess I would get those types when this fashion designer of yours settles here. Ino helped me select them and Temari added some flavors also", said the lazy chuunin.

He was wearing nettled t-shirt with the coolest black protection jacket he could find in town and a new light brown coat similar too Naruto's own. To customize it, he added the a few sets of armors and wore dark baggy pants. Naruto was too preoccupied to notice at first, but admitted it looked much better on him. It was a great day after all, who would have thought Shikamaru would be lively enough to actually go shopping? Guess those ugly flak jacket jokes got to him. Either that or Temari was coming to town, the blond haired lady had made quite some impression on the lazy teen.

Naruto had been reading his team files all night yesterday, it took quiet some times to get used to it. The old hag was right, these guys needed Uzumaki Naruto infamous training guide 101, which he started to work on right away. Naruto still feared his new position though, he knew a slight mistake could create a huge uprising from those annoying clan leaders, especially Mr. Glare 2000, Hyuuga Hiashi. That's why he was pushing the Nara to join ANBU. If he was going to decide on tough situations he needed the best mind in the village. The Nara finally agreed to give ANBU a shot.

Naruto was scheduled to meet with his team that evening, but as luck would have it, he had his second encounter with Sakura. He was again too busy on his novel to notice her. She however, did notice him and was awaiting him with her special gift. She had been with Hinata for a medical conference that just ended and Ino was waiting for her at the door for some shopping when the three girls noticed the blond haired shinobi walk towards them with his face buried in his book.

"This is for ignoring me you bastard, shindou tekken", yelled pink haired kunochi as she launched forward on him with her punch.

The spectators watched and were expecting Naruto to fly right trough the Hokage's door, but Sakura went trough him, as Naruto simply vanished for a split second. Sakura not hitting her target lost her balance when she felt someone grabbed her by collar of her dress from behind, stopping her from crashing on the floor.

"Nice punch, but too slow, maybe you should focus more on how to land next time", said the said the white sleeveless coat teen with his face still buried in his book still unaware who he was grabbing.

When he did realize there was silence for a minute after which he began to walk towards his destination, till Sakura called him a pervert. He gave her his confused expression. She began to tell him how dirty he became reading those dirty books, when he threw on them, the first volume of his favorite novel, at her and recommended her to read it before actually accusing him. Then proceeded to Tsunade's office leaving Sakura and her companions dazed by his action. Inside the room, Tsunade asked Naruto what was going on outside her room as she was still hearing Sakura swearing her lungs out.

"Ah nothing, let's just say your favorite student tried to show me what she learned and failed hitting me, so she got upset. You should really work on her landing", said the teen with a smile.

"Anyway, Naruto, this is your new team, Yori, Osamu and Takeshi, together you will be Team 12", said the old lady as she pointed towards three shadowy figures behind him.

Naruto glanced them, he had read their files yesterday night but this was their first encounter. Yori was the oldest of the gang, being 28, followed by Osamu 20, and Takeshi 18. The oldest one seemed to be pissed at him, he figured it must have hurt him when he heard he was going to be under the command of a 15 years old teen. He probably argued with Tsunade and lost miserably. Clearly changing his profession from medical units must not have paid him greatly. Osamu was the nice guy of the gang, but also very efficient when it came to spying and Takeshi was the new recruit along with Naruto he only had one mission and he did quite well. All three were chuunin ranked, Takeshi the beginner, while Osamu and Yori were mid-chuunin. All together it wasn't a bad team he had a trapper, a spy and a former medic.

"Godaime-sama, this is an outrage to let him lead us. We all lost relatives to him, Takeshi-kun even lost his parents to him. He doesn't even have any experience in our fields", protested Yori.

"Did you forget what punishment resides for talking about that matter Yori-san, or did you forget that?" said Osamu trying to stop his friend from getting into trouble.

"Screw that law, will yea? I already know who I am and I don't give a jack of what you think. As far as I am concerned, if you got a problem with me, just bring it. Now that this is settled, mind giving the mission obaasan, I don't have all day you know", said the blond haired shinobi.

"Well, looks like you shut the complaints up for some time. Anyway, your mission is at a familiar place of yours. You will be heading to Wave country tomorrow, an old acquaintance of yours sent a request for your assistance, it's a B rank and you will be leaving at dawn. Team 12, you are asked to take care of the bandits, that had been plaguing the village for sometime. Be careful thought, it seems their leader is a missing-nin and their might be more of them. That old geezer tried to play me for a fool declaring it as a C rank mission so I am not taking any chances given that last time it went from C to A", she said with an evil smirk.

"If they specifically asked for me, that means that they don't have resources to pay up for the mission your giving us, so why not simply send me instead?", asked Naruto.

"Well, their message was urgent and I am not heartless bitch. So I won't simply reject their plea just because they don't have the money. Besides, I want to see how good your teamwork is you pretty much convinced me on all other tasks, so make me proud kid", said the Hokage with her thumbs up.


Naruto asked the team to wait for him at the briefing room, as he had some things to discuss with Tsunade. After they left, he gave her his view of the current status of the division and also demanded that if Shikamaru was accepted into ANBU he be added to division X claiming that he still needed his genius mind to help him at the tasks she bestowed upon his shoulders. Tsunade agreed and added that she was also planning to add Neji, Shino and Lee in the division if they succeed their test in a month. That Naruto rejected, he didn't want anything to do with Hyuuga and future relatives or eyebrows. He was already happy that there were no Hyuuga's in his division. Tsunade said the matter would be discussed if they succeeded and requested that he present himself to his whole division after this mission.

After their chitchat Naruto proceeded towards the briefing room, where team 12 was waiting for his briefings. They were much more obedient then what he had expected and he figured it was probably due to fear. So he began by handing them a document about himself, as he figured it would cut his speech time.

The document didn't reveal his actual stats but had enough information to shut the team's complaints for good. After all, what can they say, if they were teamed up with the apprentice of the great Sannin Jiraiya and who was ranked jounin. Not to mention having words such as "amazing power", "deadly skills" and "brilliant strategist" in the comment section. The final part, revealed that he was ranked ANBU Captain and was their division leader. That sealed their mouth for good. Naruto then proceeded with the briefing on their mission.

"I will be clear, our mission is simple yet hard. I am guessing we might even have hostage situations, so don't let your guards down. I don't have a problem if you hate me as hell, you can add your names to the long list in the village already, but I do expect us to work in a team. Screw up and you will be responsible for your own deaths, although I fully intend to keep all of you alive, as it is my responsibility. Don't get overworked with the document you just read. It doesn't even say how many goddamn jutsus I have that I am sure you don't want to see them, as they are like Jiraiya-sensei says "breath taking". My goal is to fix you guys up and make you into a one unit strike force. I have gathered all information given about you three and this is what I am suggesting we do for the mission", said the leader as he began writing on the black board.

The plan was simple, they were to go in and first learn about the situation of the village. Then locate the enemy hideouts and set them up for a capture. He required that the group bring as much traps they can and asked Yori to bring his medical kit, as they might have to give first aid to the villagers. He wanted Osamu to be his lead spy man, while he wanted Takeshi's trapping expertise at its best. He was expecting around a total of 50 bandits at minimum, given that it was probably Gatou's old henchmen.

"50 vs. 4, isn't that suicidal? I am seriously starting to hate you now, if you think we'll be facing that many you could have asked for 1 or 2 more people…" replied Takeshi.

"Well, I think there shouldn't be more then four or five mist shinobis among them, so its not that hard. Plus you got me so don't worry. We can elaborate more when we reach the location and collect the necessary data. I will be waiting for you at the east gate, so be on time", replied the ANBU Captain.


The meeting ended soon after. The next morning, the team left Konoha at dawn towards the eastern coastline where the country of Wave was located. By noon of the second day they had reached their destination. Naruto was shocked at the recent destruction of the village, the situation was grave. ANBU team 12 first headed for the burning house in their path.

"You three check for survivors I will handle the fire", ordered Naruto as the team leapt in action.

The villagers suddenly gazed upon the skies when four shadows came to their rescue. The local people were unable to enter the burning house as blazing heat blocked the front. Inside screams could be heard of trapped victims. Naruto began to form his seals and unleashed at set of water streams via suiton kawanagare. The move took the team by surprise because not only did the water appear from underground but also the amount exerted was huge. The water rained down on the flames and quickly extinguished them leaving a path open for them to rescue the victims.

After rescuing the villagers, the team proceeded to the house of the leader of the village, who happened to be Inari, the boy Naruto saved when he came here with team 7. After several knocks at his door an old man opened the door.

"ANBU? I thought we asked for Konoha team 7 we can't afford ANBU here", said the old Tazuna.

"Your report stated, a lot bandits and even possibly and a nukenin, I don't think a single genin team can handle that, so Hokage-sama sent us instead", replied Yori.

"Are you kidding me? Last time they came here, not only did they scared those bandits away but they also took out two high ranking shinobis", grunted the old man.

"Tazuna-san, team 7 is dead, may I speak to the village leader Inari", replied a voice from the back.

"Dead? How? Oh those poor kids, guess now Inari will have to meet them in his after life. He tried to fend off those bandits by himself and for wounded in the process with some kind of poison…", replied Tazuna shaking his head.

"What? Where is he? Yori you come with me, Takeshi go and survey the damages in the village while you Osamu to your assigned job. We will meet in the designated location that I indicated earlier, later tonight to assess the situation", yelled the leader as he charged trough the house.

Yori was a former kangohei before he decided to enlist in ANBU so he diagnosed the feverish boy, who was surprised to see Naruto's face when he opened his eyes. Yori declared that the boy has been poisoned with high concentration of chlorine, but luckily he knew the treatment, he just needed the required herbs, which Tazuna helped him find in the wilderness. He made a serum and fed it to the patient. Finally noticing that the boy is out of danger, Naruto sighed, Inari was still too weak to speak but Yori could read in his face that he was happy to see his leader, which was strange for him. As far as he remembered the teen was always cursed at and hated in the village, but here he was treated like a hero. He finally learned from Tazuna the reason of their behaviors. They were happy because their Hero had returned.

Meanwhile, the bandits received words of the arrival of 4 ANBU at the village, their leader was impatiently waiting for more details. He felt he was too nice to this village, who now dared to threaten him with 4 puny Konoha ninjas. He would make them pay dearly for their mistake but for now he waited, to receive his latest shipments of goods from the village.


End of chapter 6
Please review! If there are any words you do not understand, check the glossary or check previous chapters for explications. Thanks for all the reviews. This chapter has been edited. Hope you enjoy it, I rewrote this section adding more real character involvements as well made the story more interesting (I hope). Hope your liking the Naruto and Sakura clashing, don't take it as a pairing though, its just character development.

Character Introductions

Osamu: Aged 20, he is an ANBU specializing in espionage. He is apart of ANBU team 12. He is also a mid ranked chuunin. OC character.

Takeshi: Aged 18, also part of ANBU Team 12. He is ranked low-chuunin, but is an excellent trapper. OC character.

Yori: The oldest member of ANBU team 12. He is a mid ranked chuunin. He was a former kangohei now an ANBU. OC character.


Glossary

Nindo: Will or dreams.

Ninja-to: Katana made for ninja's.

Nukenin: Missing-nin or fugitive ninja.

Obaasan: Old lady, grandmother.

Oni Hogosha no Tanuki: Demon guardian of the raccoon-dogs.


Techniques

Shindou/Impact: A taijutsu style used by Tsunade and Sakura. The style consists of using devastating strength to overpower their opponents. This taijutsu style attack's tend to create fissures upon impact is considered deadly if hit directly. This style requires extreme chikara manipulations. User: Tsunade, Sakura.

Shindou tekken/Impact punch: A D ranked taijutsu attack, where user gathers their chikara with deadly precision and releases upon impact. This move is a low powered variation of the isshi resshin. User: Sakura, Tsunade.

Suiton kawanagare/Water element river stream: A C rank water elemental ninjutsu. Where the user creates a stream of water to wash away its victims. User: Naruto, Mist chuunin.