Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto and am making no profit from this fan fiction.

Turn of Blade, Twist of Fate

Chapter Seven: ANBU

By Nessie

"Does it sting?"

Yuugao could see better than she had anticipated through the small, round eyeholes in her ANBU mask. The most difficulty came in having to move within the confines of the armor built into the standard gray and black uniform. Looking at the taller form beside her, she thought it fitting that both of them had been given the faces of hounds in their porcelain masks, the designs slightly different. In answer to her friend's question, she gave a shake of her head.

"Mine does," Gekko confided, rotating his right shoulder as though that would alleviate the muscle ache from the newly-applied ANBU tattoo. He and Yuugao wore bandages over the scarring symbols.

They stood in the Forest of Death, where, Yuugao had learned the ANBU shinobi and kunoichi regularly trained. The thick canopy made the area dangerously dark, and the intermittent call of carrion birds and carnivorous beasts loaned the evening a high-risk feel. But it was getting to be too far past midnight, the time they had agreed to meet Kakashi here.

Presently, however, the familiar voice of the silver-haired nina came from behind them at the west gate. "She's lying, Hayate. These tattoos are infused with special chakra that will allow the ANBU mark to return even if that section of the skin is cut out." He managed to sound cheerful and professional at once as he added, "And they hurt like a bitch when they're formed."

If Yuugao had been used to her face being covered, she might have taken advantage of her mask and smirked. Instead, she focused on the fact that her shoulder did ache, quite brutally, and kept her face straight. "Where have you been?" she asked blandly. "We have been waiting for an hour."

"I hope you won't begrudge a young man his ponderings of the universe on a perfect night."

Unimpressed, she folded her arms, letting the tip of one cleverly-stashed kunai to gleam from the opening in her arm guard, reminding Kakashi of what she could do and why she was here.

"Right then." Stepping forward between his two trainees, his new team, Kakashi kept his one visible eye on the shadowy forest around them as he spoke. "By the time the symbol on your shoulders scar over, I will have trained you to be indispensable ninja."

That was more like it. Yuugao could feel the same sense of thrill she knew Hayate was experiencing, albeit hers did not cause her to break out in a coughing fit. To her surprise, it was Kakashi who engaged her first, running into the deepest shadows for her and Hayate to take up the chase. Their training began.

Kakashi decided the next day that an A-rank mission would do well as their first team outing. Yuugao was feeling ready for an S-rank, but she knew better than to push Kakashi. Friend though he was, he was also her captain. He went on to explain that because ANBU operations were usually long and constant when in progress, ninja in the organization did not have the luxury of separating practice from field work.

"What does the Third have for us?" queried Hayate when the three were entering the building of the Hokage, fully decked in uniform.

The Hatake emitted a short laugh in response to the question. "ANBU is far too complicated for the Third to keep track of its activities in response to the main reserves. It's not him we're visiting. Watch me, and learn this."

They reached the staircase that led to the Hokage's office, but instead of walking up, Yuugao and Hayate were halted by their sempai. Yuugao took in every movement Kakashi made with the eager alertness of a newborn cub. Her former adulation of him had lessened and was now replaced by an honest, voluntary respect. Her third for knowledge and growth could only seemingly be quenched by the older shinobi. And it gladdened her to know that Hayate was at her side – she knew she was dangerously attached to him, but this could not be helped as she couldn't afford to let an exhausting emotional struggle distract her from training.

Kakashi looked around to ascertain that no unmasked persons were in view of them. Once that was confirmed, he made a quick hand sign, and a rectangle of space hidden by a long tatami mat began to lower.

Instinctively, Yuugao caught at Hayate's arm; she did not fear heights, but she rarely trusted machinery, and the low grinding in her ears gave away that they were indeed upon a piece of such. Her friend steadied her, and for a second she could see his dark-ringed eyed through the holes in his mask. She hurriedly pulled away as the concealed elevator continued its descent, though she thought she might have heard Kakashi's chuckle over the whirring.

When the platform at last touched the floor with a shudder, Yuugao was too happy to step off. She could feel a chill that indicated they were underground. Around them, dozens of men and women in ANBU dress walked both solo and in groups.

"Where…" Yuugao began, but she let the question hang freely.

"ANBU headquarters, of course," answered Kakashi, who did not need clarification. "You didn't think we had our own building with a big sign in front, did you?"

Yuugao, like everyone else who wasn't a part of it, had never known where ANBU's base of operations was. She appreciated the location – where better to station Konoha's best than within seconds of the Hokage?

Kakashi led them forward and through several corridors, explaining that while the Third did decide which missions Konoha accepted, the ones meant for ANBU were most often sent to a committee below, which then distributed assignments according to the specifications of its agents.

"Ah," Kakashi said when a leanly-built shinobi emerged from a room he was leading Hayate and Yuugao into. "Are you taking an A-rank assignment by yourself, Itachi-san?"

He appeared no older than thirteen, fourteen at the very most. Yuugao could catch only glimpses of coal-black in the mask of the man named Itachi, but for one moment she thought the eyes turned crimson. Without knowing why, she averted her gaze.

"No," replied a cool, even voice from behind the porcelain. "I am taking the weekend off…to spend time with my family."

"Ah. Please give them my respects – Captain Uchiha."

There was a short pause, in which the young shinobi registered Yuugao and Hayate's unseen surprise at his ranking. "Of course," he murmured at last, "Kakashi-san." There was no real hesitance in Itachi's tone, only calculation, and neither did he hurry to depart. When Yuugao straightened from the proper bow to a senior officer, she thought right away that the Uchiha boy who was an ANBU captain was someone she could not like.

"He is a prodigy, and as strong as me," murmured Kakashi lowly, staring at Uchiha Itachi with a somewhat dazed lethargy. Then, "I suppose we should go!" he suggested as if he had said nothing and the oddly tense encounter had not occurred.

Leading them into the room from which Itachi had come, Yuugao saw a man who was not masked and sat behind a wide desk. He was muscled into physically large proportions; his eyes were keen, so even though he looked like a brute, Yuugao took him to be highly intelligent. A mouth that could be both cruel and kind as needed curved at their entrance. "Welcome, Kakashi," he rumbled. "You're late – as usual."

From behind the safe barrier of her mask, Yuugao shot Kakashi a glare. He had sworn to her that they would be on time!

But seeing as you have new agents with you, I supposed a degree of leniency is permissible – again." The gruff tone emphasized the afterthought in quite a threatening manner, but Kakashi's exterior remained calm.

"Thank you, sir. Allow me to introduce my team – masks off, you two." Kakashi removed his own mask (revealing only his usual cloth mask). "This is Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yuugao."

As her mask was lowered and her violet bangs spilled out, Yuugao saw the superior's gaze land on her. "You're the girl who combined the trick with the Jounin test. In fact, I heard you fought—"

"Me," reported Kakashi. His voice was bright, but she wondered if vestiges of surprise lay beneath it.

The older shinobi looked at his junior in the astonishment that Kakashi did not show. "Did you go easy on her?"

Kakashi's tone deepened with seriousness. "You know the answer to that." Hurriedly, he continued, "Yuugao, Hayate – this is Morino Ichiki, the director of the ANBU Reconnaissance and Interrogation Division."

"Considering your strengths," Morino began, forgoing introductory pleasantries, "the mission you are receiving should be perfectly matched."

Kakashi lifted the file extended to them from Morino's desk, flipping it open to scan the contents with his visible eyebrow raised. "Sunagakure?"

Yuugao stiffened. Never having had a real team that exerted itself, she had only been dispatched northward, and then only as far as the Land of Waves. The idea of traveling through the Land of Wind to the Sand village seemed refreshingly opportune.

"It's nothing too serious," Morino said. "The Third, at the urging of his counselors, has simply agreed to a check-up on Sunagakure preceding next month's Chuunin Exams. I don't think you'll find anything unusual. If they pass your inspection, it's likely we'll leave them alone for several years."

"It sounds simple at any rate," commented Hayate. He did not sound pleased by the notion. Like Yuugao, he enjoyed a challenge.

"Very," Morino concurred, disappointing them. "I estimate you'll only be gone for a week or so, including travel time. This is only a glance at the country's current doings. Actually, this was to be a solo mission for Uchiha Itachi before he requested the time off. The distance should provide you time to work on operating as a team."

"Agreed. We'll be going now to prepare, Morino-sama." Kakashi lead his subordinates in a bow before ushering them out.

"This is an A-rank mission?" she intoned to her captain when they were on the lift going up and she needed distraction.

"Relax. Don't be so impatient," Kakashi told her, though nothing, least of all impatience, had been inflected in her voice. "There is more to scoping out an ninja village than you suspect."

"An allied ninja village?" Hayate inquired with a sulkiness befitting a seventeen-year-old boy, regardless of health.

Kakashi laughed. "Allegedly allied. Politics can be very fickle in times of peace."

"You don't think the Sand—"

"No," Kakashi interposed, turning to her once they stood out on the street. "Not yet, anyway. Now go home, pack, and sleep. We will leave at dawn tomorrow. I imagine you'll find the route to Sunagakure rather scenic." With that partly-cryptic instruction, Kakashi left in a puff.

Hayate walked toward a nearby tree, and Yuugao followed. "What is it?"

When they stood on the side of the tree that would hide them from the villagers in the street, he lifted the edge of his mask and coughed harshly into his fist. "It's hard getting used to this thing," he told her.

Her shoulders visibly slackened. Only Hayate could inspire her to relax, by doing absolutely nothing. "Are you feeling well?"

"Better than usual. I get excited just thinking about the missions we'll have together." Before she detected the movement, he had grabbed both one of her hands and her mask, pulling it over her head. "Shame, though, Yuugao – we have to hide your lovely face."

"Stop it." Since she had emerged from her depression, Hayate had grown quite positive in his moods. Yuugao wasn't sure, because she had liked the focused young man she had first met, but it was possible she was growing to like this bright-sided shinobi even more. As she pulled the porcelain back down, she felt unfamiliar warmth rush into her cheeks. "We should do what Kakashi-sempai said, Hayate. If ANBU missions are so constant, we probably won't have much of a chance for sleep while we're gone."

Relenting, Hayate dropped her hand. She brought it to her chest, held it there as though he'd burned it. In reality, she only felt a slight tingling beneath her glove. "Fine. I'll see you in the morning. Don't pack so many weapons you can't move."

"Of course not," she replied solemnly. "I've taken to carrying them in summoning scrolls."

Hayate gave an airy chuckle that, for once, did not cause him to erupt in hacking. "You're always so serious, Yuugao." And he too left her to get ready for their first mission as ANBU.

It was not until she arrived home that Yuugao realized Hayate had made her normally straight mouth tilt up.

To Be Continued