Foxfish
Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto
XxXxX
Ages:
Naruto and Isaribi and the Rooky Nine: 12
Anko: 22
Yamato: 24
Kakashi: 26
Third Hokage: 70
Gin- 15
Hyuuga Haran- 23
XxXxX
'Thought'
"Speaking"
"Jutsus/Demon speaking"
"Fish speaking"
XxXxX
Previously
"So it's settled, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Aburame Shino, and Mako Isaribi will be made into chunin of Konoha."
XxXxX
That night the newly promoted chunin along with their friends and family gathered together at a local restaurant to celebrate the end of the chunin exam and their recent promotions.
"To the new Chunin of Konoha! May they live long and successful!" cheered Yamato lifting his glass up to the resounding cheer of a responses from those around.
"You know, Shikamaru" said Asuma nudging his student next to him with a smile, "this means I get to place more responsibilities on you."
"Troublesome" muttered Shikamaru causing those around him to break out laughing.
"Don't worry son," said Shikaku. "It could be worse. True you have extra responsibilities to your team and more will be asked of you, but you can handle it, and the pay raise is quite nice..." he said with a smile.
This same conversation was repeating itself all over the restaurant, between Kakashi and Sakura, Shibi and Shino, and Anko and Isaribi.
As the night wore on, people began to leave until only Team Seven remained at the restaurant along with Yamato, Anko, and Isaribi.
"Shouldn't you be heading home too?" asked Kakashi looking over at Yamato before his eyes fell upon a passed out Anko.
"I don't know sensei, I could say the same to you too" he said gesturing to a sleeping Kiba and droopy eyes Sasuke.
"Well at least to girls seem to be enjoying themselves" gestured Yamato to Isaribi and Sakura who were talking friendly.
"Yea, that surprised me. I mean, when they first meet on that mission to Wave, Sakura wasn't the...nicest person to them" said Kakashi carefully.
"I heard. But you know what they say 'He who fights with me is my brother'. I'm sure something like that happened between the two. Who knows, maybe this could be the start of a friendship?" said Yamato hopefully.
"That would be nice, I heard that she doesn't have that many friends her own age" said Kakashi. "Speaking of friends, I didn't see Naruto-kun at the party hear tonight. Is he out on a mission?"
"No, no. Didn't you hear sensei? Naruto was accepted into the ANBU and is currently undergoing basic training." Yamato said in a low voice, leaning in close to Kakashi.
Kakashi's eyes widened "That was fast" glancing towards the two boys near him he said, "Best continue this at a later date."
The two men nodded, switching the conversation over to less sensitive topics. Before too long Yamato stood up.
"I think it's best that we call it a night, sensei." he said as he scooped up the still sleeping Anko into his arms.
"I think your right" said Kakashi as he woke Kiba and Sasuke up before motioning to Sakura. "I'll catch you latter."
XxXxX
"You have fun?" asked Yamato to the tired Isaribi who walked by his side. It was late at night so the streets were reasonably quiet, with the trio passing mainly other shinobi going to a fro on different tasks.
"Yes it was (yawn) fun. I never done something like that before."
The two walked in silence for a little bit before Isaribi spoke again.
"I was kinda hoping that Naruto would be able to be there too..."
"I know," replied Yamato, placing a free hand on her shoulder. "Unfortunately the basic ANBU training allows for no time to socialize and it could still be a couple of weeks before he is able to come home for a little while..."
"...but he did ask me to pass on a message to you" Yamato said with a smile as he saw Isaribi face brighten up. "He said congratulations, he's extremely happy for you and proud of what you were able to do. He also sends his love and lots of wet kisses!" smiled Yamato.
Laughing while blushing, Isaribi asked, "Did he really say that last part?"
"Well...not in those exact words, you know how he is with saying stuff like that, but he sends them to you anyway."
"That's...fishsticks for you..." came a groan in Yamato's arms. "I remember when...you two were little...he always hang out with you...no...why am I wearing...fishsticks..."
With a thunk, Anko once again passed out in Yamato's arms.
Isaribi barley contained her laughter while Yamato just smiled.
Soon they were at their apartment and a three of them went to bed.
XxXxX
The next morning came with a grown from Anko. Years of drinking helped her avoid the worse of her hangover, but now she felt all sticky and gross.
Untangling herself from her sheets Anko groggily got up and went into the bathroom to grab a shower.
When she emerged from the shower and got dressed, she found Yamato waiting for her in the kitchen.
"Morning"
Anko grunted in reply, grabbing a cup of coffee and joining him at the table.
The two sat in silence for a moment as they both drank their coffee.
"What are your plans for today?" asked Yamato setting his mug down and leaning back in his chair.
"Thinking about taking it easy, I've got the next few days off...Why?" she asked with a smile as she ran her finger across the lip of her cup.
"Well, I believe Isaribi-chan wanted to shopping for some new mission cloths and I was hoping that you would be free...I wanted to meet up with Kakashi-sensei and talk with him for a little while" said Yamato taking a sip from his mug.
"Oh" said Anko, her face falling a little before picking herself back up, "Sure, it's been too long since me and her did anything like that together anyway."
"And besides" said a smiling Yamato, "I also have the next few days off..." glancing at the direction of Isaribi's room, he continued, both his and Anko's smiles growing, "And it looks like she won't be up for at least an hour."
"Oh, at least an hour" said Anko as she gestured towards Yamato.
XxXxX
Around noon Anko and Isaribi were both out of the house and down in the shopping district of Konoha. Isaribi was wearing her normal attire, but given that she recently was promoted to chunin, she felt that it warranted a change in clothing.
"What kind of cloths should I get?" asked Isaribi with a smile. "I mean, do I go with the traditional blue suite with the green vest or something different?"
"Well, that really depends" said Anko thinking about it. "It is preferred that regular shinobi dress in the regular uniforms that you see, but it's not necessary. The hire ranking shinobi can wear whatever they want as long as it works with their fighting style, and then of course there are the different clan and bloodlimit consideration that need to be made."
As they continued walking they passed a member of the Aburame clan.
"Take the Aburame for an example, because their bodies house insects they dress in those jackets to conceal their bodies and protect their insects. And the Hyuugas all wear something different too because of the treaty between their clan and the village that gives them a level of autonomy."
"And it also takes into account your fighting style. Look at me, I technically could wear regular cloths, but due to my higher rank and the types of moves I use, I can wear this" Anko stated gesturing to her fishnet covered body.
"Oh" said Isaribi thinking about what she just heard. "But what do I do? I'm not from a high ranking shinobi but I do have a bloodline."
"Then, I guess we could always modify the traditional uniform, that happens all the time too amongst the regular shinobi and the smaller clans. For you we want something that will allow you to function both on land and underwater for long periods of time."
Turning right into a shop, Anko continued talking. "First thing we should get is a proper fishnet suit for you. The ones you have are starting to fray and are not the best quality."
The shop they entered was full of nothing but fishnet clothing. From shirts and pants, to full body suites, wrist guards, and even forehead protector cloths. There was also a wide variety of the different types of fishnet. Some, like the one Isaribi had on right now were partially see through, while there were others that were more like Anko's suite that had a gray material under the black fishnet.
"You'll be wanting something like this" said Anko fingering the cloth that was like the one she was wearing. "This is made out of ninja wire, so it's strong and flexible and the cloth underneath is light but adds an extra layer of protection. This stuff acts a lot like chainmail, but at a fraction of the cost and is much better for stealth."
Pulling one of the suits off the rack Anko said, "Here, try this on."
Isaribi obediently went onto the dressing room and put the fishnet on.
"How does it Feel?" asked Anko who was standing by the dressing room door.
"It's tight, but it's very light...I feel really exposed, how do you wear almost nothing but this all the time?"
Laughing Anko responded, "Practice, now let's see what you look like."
Steeping into the dressing room, Anko looked Isaribi over. The fishnet body suit went down to her shins and halfway down her forearms.
"Well? What do you think? Think you could swim and fight in that?" asked Anko.
"Probably, but the arms are too restricting and the legs just feel weird. It's rubbing against my scales every time I move. Is maybe just a tank-top version and I will wear other cloths too? " said Isaribi nervously.
"Sure, sure let me see, a here it is, same size an everything" said Anko holding up the tank-top she found. "Now try this on and we will think about letting you wear something else" laughed Anko as she handed Isaribi the cloths.
'What did I get myself into? I should have gone shopping with Yamato-san instead...'
By the time they were done five hours later, Isaribi had her new mission cloths, and Anko also picked up a few items for herself, that were now in the multiple bags in her arms.
After looking though the available mission cloths and consulting what was appropriate for a chunin to wear, Isaribi picked out her outfit. She found a pair of tight black shorts that would be good in the water and allow free movement and she could attach her kunai holder to either leg.
For the top She found long dark blue tank-top tunic that that went down to her mid calf and slits in the sides at the bottom up to her midsection for free movement of her legs. Over that she would place her belt with equipment pouches and a scroll holster in the back.
She initially was thinking about also wearing her chunin vest, but after a quick trial run of wearing one underwater, she decided that, while the vest works fine for quick dips into the water, in prolonged dives it was too cumbersome. So instead she settled for a sash that contained a small pocket on the front and a small waterproof backpack on the pack.
"So how do I look?" asked Isaribi giving Anko a twirl to show off the clothes.
"Looks fine to me, now all you need is Haran to give it their ok it at your next team meeting."
"That shouldn't be a problem. He said yesterday that as long as I was dressed and could fight he would let me choose what to wear give the 'unique' environment that I operate in."
Smiling, Anko said, "That was nice of him. Well, now that the fun is all over, how about we get something to eat?"
"Sure" said Isaribi and as they turned to leave she thought, 'I wonder want Naruto is up to right now?'
XxXxX
At that very moment Naruto found himself found himself creeping through a muddy mash in the Land of Rice thanking god that his ANBU mask was filtering out the mud, or else he would have had to surface for air long ago.
His orders were clear and this mission was a sort of graduation test, to prove he had what it took to become a ANBU member and do the dirty work for the village.
Even before the chunin exams, the relations between Otokagaru and Konohagaru were never great, mutual enemies make the two allies. But with their invasion plan spoiled by Garra's premature rampage and the fact that Konoha knew about it, things were turning for the worst.
Lately, Oto shinobi were probing the border between the two countries and recently they killed a genin team and their chunin leader.
This was something Konoha could not stand and honor demanded a return action.
Naruto's mission was simple. While other Konoha shinobi spied on the village and collected intelligence he was to kill one of their teams so their bodies could be examined by Konoha scientists. He had backup if things got too heavy, but this was his final test to see if he could not only pull off destructive power but also the stealth and speed required of an ANBU member.
Using a jutsu to hide himself completely in the water, Naruto waited. Already some merchants and a few teams had passed by, but it was clear that he was to get a team that had some of Otokagaru's unique bloodlimits and devices.
Movement out of the corner of his eye. Another Oto team was coming up the path.
The bend in the road he was at was a perfect blind spot and ambush point, something that the Oto shinobi knew. But what they didn't realize was that their traps and alarms protecting it were disabled and an ANBU team was in ambush.
The leader of the Oto nins was dressed in the standard Jonin outfit (the cloths they dressed in when they invaded) but had what appeared to be a harp strapped to his back. Behind him came another shinobi similarly dresses but with his entire face covered in bandages and some strange devices on his ears. The last two where twin girls dressed in what appeared to be harlequin outfits with silver bells on their arms, legs, and feet.
(1) As they began to pass him, Naruto struck. Shuriken erupted from the water and from spring loaded traps in the trees, catching the first one off guard and killing him, but the second one who didn't even have eyes to see the attack easily avoided it and the two twins seamed to flow around the flying blades.
Jumping out of the water and charging at the bandaged one, Naruto struck out with his wazaki but the man was able avoid the attack before producing two black rectangular blades and attacking.
Nothing Naruto was doing seamed to hit the guy and soon the twins vaulted over the team mate to attack Naruto's back.
Four shadow clones where waiting for this and struck as soon as they landed, but the twin's bodies seemed to be almost liquid and blurry and they avoided the clones before they were able to take them out with simultaneous kicks.
'Genjutsu combined with some kind of fighting style. Is it using those bells or is this some kind of bloodlimit?' thought Naruto as he ducked under one of the square blades while blocking the other one with his own sword. The Oto nin's sword cut deep into Naruto's blade.
'This thing won't last long, and this guy seams to rely on his hearing for everything. Well, he won't be expecting this' thought Naruto as he let out a screech from his sonar.
The twins flinched but recovered quickly, racing towards Naruto, but their teammate wasn't so lucky.
Having never encountered someone who could produce a sonar screech, he was not able to shield his ears properly and he was sent reeling backwards, dropping his swords.
This was all the opportunity Naruto needed.
Slitting the man's throat and jumping behind him, Naruto used his body as a shield as the twins threw kunai at Naruto.
Running through the hand seals and waiting for the two to be right on top of him, Naruto thrust his right hand out before clenching his fist shut.
Mirroring his movement, a hand of rock shot out of the ground and grabbed hold of the twin on the right.
"Rin!" shouted the one still standing as she raced towards her trapped, but still alive sister.
Naruto didn't let her as he completed another set of seals and three bursts of water shot out at her from the lake.
She dogged two of them, but the third cut through the arm part of the rock hand holding her sister and hit her in the chest.
The blow lost power tunneling trough the rock but it still hit her with enough force that she was coughing up blood.
Not wasting time, Naruto threw a kunai at her, only to have her body disappear in a puff of smoke and replaced with a log.
Quickly turning around, Naruto saw both sisters right before him before they kicked him right in the neck and sent him into the water.
From their vantage point, the rest of Naruto's team watched. One of the members with a bear mask moved to jump in, but their leader with a lizard mask stopped them.
"Let's see what he will do"
The two twins waited on the shore for a moment before they jumped up into the air as a wave of water crashed into the shore.
Standing on top of one of the small trees near the river they looked down at the battle scene and for Naruto.
Seeing movement both sisters began to go through hand seals. One sister blew out a stream of air while the other one blew out a stream of fire.
Their attacks combined in mid flight, increasing their destructive power and washing the entire area in flames.
When the superheated flames hit the water, steam covered the area and soon covered the girls on their treetop perches.
Peering through the steam, they saw what appeared to be a badly burnt and limping Naruto retreating back to the water.
Not letting him escape, they jumped down after him.
The moment they hit the ground a dragon made of water came crashing into the sister on the left and before the other one could reacted, six Naruto's jumped out of the shallow pools of water on the ground (using a jutsu to hide in the water) and each one impaled her with their swords.
The last twin looked up, blood coming from a cut on her forehead and seeing double. Naruto was just about to finish her off when the rest of the Anbu team jumped in.
"Stand down Kitsune. We'll take this one back alive for interrogation" said the team leader. The other members of the team had two of the bodies, leaving the corps of the dead twin for Naruto to carry.
"Lynx, make it look like a landslide happened here" said the captain to the other team member as he bound and gauged their prisoner. "We're heading home."
XxXxX
With their extra baggage it took the team three days to return to Konoha, but once they were within the detection barrier surrounding Konoha, a fresh team took the bodies and the prisoner off of their hands and allowed them to head for debriefing.
For Naruto, debriefing took longer than usual. His captain pointed out every flaw and mistake in what Naruto did, but in the end said that Naruto performed satisfactory. This meant that Naruto was allowed to paint his mask.
It is a tradition that until an ANBU member completes their fist successful mission, they cannot paint their mask, and as Naruto took the paint brush, he contemplated what to do. Inspiration suddenly hit him as he took the red paint and created a swirl right over the face of the mask, just like the swirl he had on his cloths as a little kid.
'There, not perfect, but I like it' thought Naruto as he put the mask back on.
Leaning back in the chair, Naruto just sat there for a moment before he was addressed.
"Kitsune. Walk with me" said a man in a Tiger mask.
"From now on you will be my subordinate. I work directly for the Hokage, so you can consider any order I give you as coming directly from him. My code name is Tenzo. I hope we work well together."
"Yes sir" said Naruto looking up at Tenzo. 'Where do I recognize that voice from?'
"Well, you coming or not?" said Tenzo. Only then did Naruto realize he spaced out trying to figure who Tenzo was.
"The key to a good team is to be able to trust those who work both under you and above you" lectured Tenzo as they walked the deserted halls of the ANBU headquarters at one in the morning.
"We'll start tomorrow morning at Five, so you better get up in time, Naruto-kun."
"Yes sir- Hey!" shouted Naruto pointing at Tenzo accusingly.
"Haha, still haven't figured it out yet?" said Tenzo pulling off his mask slightly, revealing Yamato's face.
"Not that this changes anything. Here I am Tenzo and you are Kitsune. And just because I am dating the closest thing to an older sister you have..." Yamato said leaning in close, "I'm not above ruling through fear" he said in a creepy voice, making Naruto nervous.
"Well! Enough of that, there will be plenty of that tomorrow...er...in four hours! Better sleep here or we'll never get any rest."
For Naruto the next day came too quickly. Heading out to the practice yard with Tenzo, Naruto was given the introduction speech.
"Given your, unique, position you will not be placed on a single ANBU team. Instead, you will work under me, the one person who has the bloodlimit that can control the Kyuubi and who works directly under the Hokage. You will be assigned missions that fit your abilities and work with other shinobi, both ANBU and non on these missions as the situation calls for it. This all comes directly from the Hokage."
"But a good team is the key to any successful mission, so for the most part you'll be working with me and these two people." said Tenzo gesturing to the two people in the practice yard.
The man to the right in a sparrow mask with four back slashes on it was introduced first, "This is Kage, a skilled assassin, and this," gesturing to the girl next to him with six hair pins and a sword on her back "is Komachi. Both of them usually work as a duo but when the need arises, they work with me and now you on harder missions."
"Kage, Komachi, this is Kitsune. You'll be working with him on the occasions you need a larger team. Kitsune specializes in water attacks as well as...um how to politely put this. Kitsune, why don't you tell them your secret. They will need to know if they can work with you as a team."
Steeping forward, Naruto said, "Kage-san, Komachi-san, it's nice to meet you, and I hope we work well together. As for what Tenzo-san said, I am the jinchuuriki containing the Kyuubi."
"Well of course you are," said Kage bluntly. "How many guys in this village, or even the world have green scales instead of skin?"
"Not to mention the fox mask and the code name is a dead giveaway" added Komachi.
This remark earned a chuckle from the guys present before Tenzo cleared his throat.
"Well, as I explained to Kitsune already, while we are on duty, we have the masks and the code names...even if they superfluous. Now, down to business. While I would love to say that I called you out here just to meet the new team member and to have us do some team drills, that will have to wait. Suffice it to say use three have worked together in the past and I have worked with Kitsune, so we should be fine."
"The Hokage has given us a mission of vital importance. It appears the fourth Mizukage, Yagura(2), is losing grip on power and there is a possibility that he will be overthrown or that something has happened to him."
"Even though the Land of Water has not diplomatic ties with the other nations, if it were to collapse, war would spread. Worst yet is that in a desperate bid for power, he might commit his forces to war with his neighbors, including us."
"To make matters ever graver is that Yagura is the jinchuuriki containing the Sanbi. It is said he has control over the beast, but if he loses his mind... That is why you are coming, Naruto. There is a potential that one, if not more potential enemy jinchuuriki will be present."
"We will leave tonight at midnight and make all due hast to the cape. From there we will travel north to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools. That will give us a close look into the Land of Water without getting too close (3)."
"You have the rest of the day to make preparations for this mission. Expect to be gone at the minimum of a month, and as long as three or more. Dismissed."
XxXxX
(1) He didn't use poison gases or some other mass affect jutsu because he wanted their bodies (mostly) intact and unaltered by any chemical agents the poison would introduce.
(2) go the Naruto Wiki to see what he looks like if you are not caught up with the manga yet...
(3) I don't actually know where the land of whirlpools was/is so I'm saying it's close to the Land of Water, but between it and the Land of Fire
Hey everyone! I'm not dead!! Sorry it's been a while...again...since the last update, but have you ever been writing so much that you just can't stop? Yea, that happened. Not only do I have this chapter but most of the next chapter is done too, I just had to figure out where to spit the chapters...
Also, before anyone complains, this was more of a filler chapter, things will start moving very soon, including the increasing romance between Naruto and Isaribi as well as the plot of the story.
Another announcement: For those who are readers of my other story "Deceiving Appearance" I have NOT forgotten about that story! I have the fate of all the Jinchuuriki plotted and for the most part, written out...What I'm stuck on is how to get the battle between the good guys and Akatsuki started/how it will play out. Have patience please, I will get it out soon...
Anyways, the next chapter will be here very soon! So please tell me what you think!!
Ja ne!