CHAPTER ONE: WHITE MASKS
Nao met Captain Hound outside a little ramen shop called Ichiraku at noon. They ate inside, and as promised Hound paid for the meal. After they finished eating, Nao raised an important question.
"Who are you, other than 'I'm anbu' like I always get, and why do you want me?"
"I'll actually be an active jonin in a few months. I'm retiring from Anbu soon… You actually do know me. It's just whether or not you recognize me ."
The boy stared at him for a long time before shrugging and getting off his seat.
As they exited the stand however, Nao had a weird tingling in the back of his head, as if multiple people were watching them.
"Five?" he asked the Anbu captain, getting a shake of the head in response.
"Six, but I'm impressed that you even picked up on them. How did you know they were there?"
Nao took a look around, scanning the street around him, before picking out the sixth man… as well as a seventh.
"Don't lie to me, there are seven. Two on the roof across the street, one in that alley, two in front of that jewelry stand over there, one under that cart, and one petting that stray dog."
Three black shapes blurred across Nao's vision, one seemingly being chased by the other two. He couldn't make out much of it, but he could swear that the one being chased wore a squid mask.
"So, we were being followed. How did you find him?"
"Two ways… the first one I can't explain. For some reason, I've always been able to feel when people are around. It's like I can feel their energy… chakra right? The second one is that, because I've spent so many years running from people, I can always tell when someone is attempting to blend in. They look unnatural, twitchy; I could spot them a mile away."
"This kid's ridiculous. He's never been to the academy, his parents have been dead since his birth, and yet he can sense this well? The stealth skills I can understand…" Hound thought to himself. It was extremely rare to find a kid with this much potential on the streets of Konoha. Almost every kid with chakra was in the academy, so the likelyhood of them being undiscovered was slim to none.
"Alright, kid. Let's get over to HQ and finish your evaluation. You'll get the full rundown after the tour. Sound good?"
Were it an average ninja or police officer, Nao wouldn't trust their word if his life depended on it. But Anbu? Those guys were top-of-the-pack, no-nonsense killers. If they wanted something from him, they would've already gotten it.
"Okay, I'll check it out at least."
The two made their way to the northern part of town, one block from the Hokage's tower. They were met with a short, widespread building made of grey stone.
"Fancy home you have here, Captain," the young boy commented.
"We like to show off," the adult replied.
The two entered the building and went straight to the elevator.
"An elevator for three floors?"
The masked man just chuckled as he pulled out a set of keys. Sliding one into a small slit in the wall, he turned it and the elevator shot downwards.
"The real headquarters is deep enough that not even the Tsuchikage's earth style can reach it. Not to mention how many seals the Second and Fourth Hokages left down here. It's the most secure place in the entire nation," the Captain said with a small eye smile.
It was only now that Nao noticed one of the Anbu's eyes was always closed.
"So, you've noticed it? You really are quite intelligent for a ten year old," the silver haired Anbu commented, pointing to his eye, "Though it did take you almost an hour to realize… still, you impress me more by the minute."
"You tend to pick up on the little things when you're on the street for six years. Though, I'm sure you already knew that… Hatake Kakashi."
"Hehe… you got me," the tall ninja said, his hand rubbing his gravity-defying silver hair, "Why did you leave the orphanage anyway? You weren't exactly a troublemaker…"
"Yeah, because staying in a place run by corrupt old ladies who abuse a 3 year old is much better than being homeless? You're funny, Captain."
"They abused you?"
"Not me. Uzumaki."
The man paused, looked at Nao strangely for a moment, and then continued down the hall.
"What do you know about Naruto?"
"Annoying as hell, cocky as hell, but also one of the nicest people I've ever met. We used to hide out together before the Hokage gave him that fancy apartment. He offered for me to stay there, too, but I'm not one for mooching."
"Just stealing, right?"
"Nothing wrong with taking from those who are fortunate, as long as it isn't valuable."
The two continued to toss banterous comments back and forth as they made their way deeper into the Anbu headquarters, and eventually they reached a large, black door with the words "Evaluation: Clearance Level 5 and above only."
"Damn, that's a heavy door. I can feel something emanating from the handle… security alarm?"
"Close, it's a shocking seal. Anyone who tries to open this door without the proper clearance gets electrocuted. Want to try it?"
"Haha, funny."
They entered the room and found it to be full of white masks. Some were on ninja, some were hanging on the walls. There were enough masks to cover the entire village, or so it seemed.
"I've already tested your combat skills, as well as your stealth and perception skills. This here will be a test of resolve, intelligence, and quick thinking. Good luck."
He motioned for Nao to take a seat, and pulled a packet out of thin air.
"This packet contains over a hundred different combat scenarios that you would encounter on a standard B-rank mission. You will come up with two plans for each question, and you will be timed. You can have two ten minute breaks at whatever interval you wish. Food and water will be provided."
He handed Nao a pencil and the packet, and the boy sat down.
The first question read:
Your target is holding a hostage. The man is a bandit with samurai training, and he has spotted you. His skills lie in brute strength and swordplay, but his intelligence is sub par. On your team you have yourself, a genjutsu specialist, and a lightning style ninjutsu specialist. How do you save the hostage and capture the bandit alive?
"Uhh… what the hell is genjutsu?"
After a thorough explanation on gen- and ninjutsu, he continued reading the questions and scenarios.
The questions were focused on strategy. They ranged from potential escape plans, attack plans, and reconnaissance plans to diplomatic confrontations, solutions to financial crises, and much more.
As the hours passed, Nao felt his brain turn to mush. He pounded through question after question, page after page, before eventually reaching the halfway point.
He chose to take a break, and tore through the food and water provided. He was allowed five minutes to rest his head, and then he jumped right back in. The questions were challenging, but they were also easy. The solutions just seemed to jump out at him, begging for him to write them on the paper.
Nao chose to skip his second rest break. He didn't want to break his train of thought, and feared if he stopped he would succumb to writer's block.
At the top of the seventh hour, the young Namikaze finished his final question. It was a simple one, but possibly the most important.
In the village of Konoha, who is/are the most important person/people?
The Hokage
The Jonin and Chunin
The Civilians
The Children
He read over the question. He read it again. And again, and a fourth time before closing his eyes to think.
"The Hokage is the strongest in the village, and he's supposed to protect it, but he isn't the most important because he can take care of himself.
The Jonin and Chunin are also important, but there are so many of them and they're strong enough together that no one has to worry about them as a whole.
The Civilians… They're responsible for the village's economy, but theoretically without them the ninja could just take higher paying missions and import necessities…
The Children. It has to be the Children. They're the future of Konoha… no, we are the future of Konoha. That makes us the most important.
He circled D, and handed the packet to the anbu in the Cat mask.
"That was fast… depending on how many questions you got correct, you might break the record."
Nao's eyes widened. What had felt like forever had actually been a fast time? "Who has the record?"
"The active duty record is held by Captain Hound over there, while the overall record was held by… Uchiha Itachi, before he left the village."
"Uchiha Itachi? He was in Anbu?"
"Now, if you'll just wait a few hours, I have to evaluate your answers."
"I'll check them. Cat, take the kid home."
Nao had failed to mention that he didn't really have a home.
As they moved through the massive underground tunnels, Cat tried to crack the kids shell. Every personal question was met with silence, every joke a blank stare. Every amount of banter was countered by the piercing blue eyes.
"Okay, I give. What's your problem with me? I know this isn't just your attitude, you were fine with Hound, so why won't you talk to me?"
The boy mumbled something. As high a level ninja as he was, Cat had no trouble hearing him, but to humor the boy he asked, "Sorry, I didn't catch that. What did you say?"
"I'm not comfortable talking to a mask."
"Hound has a mask."
"Yeah, but I know him underneath the mask. There aren't many silver-haired cyclops in this village ya know."
Cat chuckled and pulled off his mask as the two entered the elevator.
"My name is Tenzo. I've been Kakashi-sempai's Second for almost ten years now. Like him, I have a 100% success rate and a 0% fatality rate in anbu. I'm a man in the Cat mask, not the Cat mask itself."
Nao would never admit it, but he was relieved to see a real face after so many hours of blank masks.
"So, where do you live?" Tenzo, now dressed in his Jounin gear, asked.
"I… don't have a place. Left the orphanage six years ago, haven't gone back."
To his credit, Tenzo didn't look as shocked as he felt. This kid had been on his own since he was 5, and was this intelligent and had this much chakra? He must've had some parents…
"Well, if you want you can stay with me for the night, and tomorrow I'll take you to the barracks to find out how you placed."
Nao's face remained indifferent, but his piercing blue eyes lit up in excitement.
"That'd be great, thanks!"
They walked through town, and Tenzo explained some of the duties of Anbu. He left out the… darker details in favor of the boys sanity. No one needed to know what S rank missions entailed.
"Anyway, our daily jobs aren't always that difficult, but they're things only the skilled can do with success. But, enough of work talk, we're here."
They walked into the apartment, and Nao noticed right away that it was empty. Untouched.
"You sure this is the right place? There's nothing here."
"I usually stay at the Anbu barracks, and eat my food on the go. This apartment is just for show really, so people don't know I'm in anbu."
"Yeah but… does that mean you have no food?"
Tenzo chuckled, turned around, and opened the door for his shadow clone. The clone was carrying two full bags of groceries, and was glaring at Tenzo.
"You know, just because I'm your clone doesn't mean I'm your slave. Get your own damn groceries," the Tenzo clone said before poofing out of existence. Tenzo dove, caught one bag and managed to hit the other one up in the air. Nao caught it, and the two just looked at each other and laughed.
"If you ever learn that Jutsu, know that clones will do anything they can to get back at you."
"Get back at you for what?"
"Making them your short-term slaves."
"Oh."
The two ate dinner and moved into the living room. There was a loveseat, a small table, and a recliner. Tenzo moved the recliner to sit opposite the couch, and pulled a shogi board from under the coffee table.
"I'm going to teach you how to play Shogi. It's a strategy game, and something very popular among the intellectual group of Shinobi."
He taught Nao the rules and played a practice game to let the boy get the hang of it. The rules weren't all that hard, it was the strategy that took Tenzo so long to understand.
They spent all night playing Shogi, and while he never could beat Tenzo, Nao improved dramatically. It wouldn't be unbelievable to think that he could actually beat Tenzo within a few months of playing.
When they woke up the next morning, someone was knocking on the door. Tenzo opened it, and found Hatake Kakashi standing with his green book in hand.
"The results are in, time to find out if you're as good as you think you are," the jonin said with a sarcastic eye-smile.
The two men, and one boy, made their way to the Hokage's office. It was there that the Hokage could accept or deny the enrollment of an Anbu recruit. Nao was brought before the Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, and asked a simple question.
"If given a choice, Namikaze Nao, would you rather enter into Anbu immediately or be enrolled in the academy? Anbu will be the quicker route to success, and will make you stronger, but I will not sacrifice your childhood without giving you the option."
"If I go to the academy, I'll have to deal with people making fun of my eyes again… but, if I go into Anbu that's all anyone will ever see."
Nao cleared his throat and, clumsily, saluted the Hokage.
"I wish to be enrolled into the academy first, Hokage-sama."
The old man smiled, as did his two finest Captains.
TnTnTnTnT
Well, there's chapter one. Sorry it took so long, school has been a nightmare that I'm not sure I'm ready to get out of. I should be writing my last College Writing paper, but instead I'm writing this. I hope you don't hate me for(possibly) discontinuing Lemons.
I have a question(PM or Review with your response, or DM me on Twitter( theAnimeFriend))
Do you guys want me to give a shitty, rushed ending to lemons? Give a quick resolution/beat the baddies like I did with Orochimaru?
Thanks for the reads guys!
Hn.