Nine days from Konoha
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ANBU Team 4 located the group of missing nin late into the ninth day of the mission. Using the earth Juutsu so renowned of their home country, they had set up a makeshift camp in a newly carved cave just inside the borders of fire country. Their position was in no way concealed, in fact they seemed to have picked a spot devoid of trees for the exact purpose of putting themselves on display, showing a disdainful and potentially deadly sense of pride.
A lone ninja watched the thugs leer at their ill-gotten gains, bone-white mask leering from between the trees.
It was pointless, the lurking ninja mused. To steal such magnificent items yet do nothing but hoard it, where was the point? They had no home to speak of, nowhere to return to and reap the benefits of the wealth their hoard would bring. To carry scrolls filled with gold, jewels and other gains 'acquired' from unlucky merchants they had come across… it was both useless and dangerous. No doubt there was another team of ninja, rogue or otherwise, who had their eyes set on this very group and the wealth they held, seeking to make it their own.
He moved not an inch as he tracked each individual, eyes hidden behind a Weasel mask, noting every weakness they displayed. The group was disorganized, leering distrustfully at each other as they hunched over a fire. No doubt they all slept with an eye on the loot, lest they lose it to a greedy member in the night.
His eyes fell on the two females, who seem to have the most camaraderie out of the group. Whether it be because of their shared gender or a bond from the past, he could offer no insight.
His chin lifted almost imperceptibly as he looked to the treeline not a kilometre away. They were so close to the border. Any misstep could send the group fleeing to another territory, where they would have little to no chance to operate without inciting discord with the other country.
"We should wait." Spoke a quiet voice from beside him, as though they had heard his train of thought. "They are in their comfort zone, under the earth, and they could easily slip over the border. We'll get them when they leave tomorrow."
The first ninja nodded and they silently faded back into the shadows, returning to the rest of their team just beyond the tree line.
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Unlike Iwa, they preferred to camp out of sight in the branches of the trees; hidden in the leaves, as their village name suggested.
Snake was there, mask off to one side as she let her long tongue lazily lick the last remnants of Dango off the stick. Her arm was swung back, lounging lazily as her feet dangled back and forth. Like the Iwa nin, she gave off an obvious air of confidence. Unlike the Iwa nin however, there was a certain look to her eye that suggested she could back it up with her abilities.
Next to Snake, Owl perched neatly, his straight back and still limbs the antithesis of his more laid back team member. However, the slump of his shoulders indicated that boredom was already setting in.
The two ninja's postures were in direct comparison, yet they both remained sitting close together on the same branch. They tilted their heads slightly in acknowledgement as their two team members alighted on a branch nearby.
"We'll wait til morning." Repeated the captain for the sake of the two other ninja.
Snake grinned cruelly, flicking away the finished stick. "Great. I like to see the looks on their faces when they die."
Owl shifted subtly away from her.
"Their defence is poor." Weasel noted, taking off his mask. His young face contrasted strangely with the deep look in his black eyes, and the lines beneath it. He gently placed the mask on the branch beside him as he sat. "They have no traps for any enemies outside their camp. They are either overconfident or lazy."
"Mah, all the better they're stupid." Decided Snake with a flick of her wrist. "I always feel better knowing I've gotten rid of at least one moron from the world."
"Simple comforts, eh Anko?" Smiled Owl as he sweat dropped.
"Killing and food, what else does a woman need?" She shrugged as she tugged another stick of Dango from her pack.
The rest of the team began to ration out the food they had left from the last town they had passed through. But Weasel didn't step forward to claim his portion. He instead turned his eyes turned to the direction he knew where the Iwa nin were still snapping over their gains. It was unusual that such a large group had remained intact for so long. Usually they would have either disbanded or killed off a few over petty possession disputes.
He frowned. Despite their careful study of their enemies files to gain knowledge of their tactics and abilities, he still felt something amiss.
He felt the sudden presence of his Captain beside him. Just the presence, not the arrival. Without his Sharingan, he didn't stand a chance of noticing the movements of his captain.
"'Tachi." His Captain interrupted his thoughts.
He tilted his head to meet bright blue eyes and a hand waving a bread roll in his face.
"You gotta eat." Pressed Taichou. "I know you don't like much so I got you some bread." He waved the offering again.
With his ANBU gear on, their captain was almost six foot, his snarling fox mask peeking out from under the standard issue ANBU hood. Anonymity was important for an ANBU, so outside the organisation he was just another masked figure.
Inside it, however, he was the youngest prodigy to ever join their ranks. Team 4 were the only ANBU who even knew his name.
His name was Uzumaki Naruto.
He was 6 years old.
Having taken off his ANBU gear, the formerly imposing ANBU shrunk to less than a metre high. Now unbound by the cowl of his cloak, sunshine blonde hair waved gently in the breeze, and the scowling mask couldn't be any more juxtaposed from Naruto's sweet, childish face.
By day, Naruto wandered the streets with a care free smile, seemingly uncaring of the glares and disdainful glances of the villagers. He played his act perfectly, shouting about becoming a ninja and playing pranks like an average boy.
Unlike an ordinary child, Naruto was the container of a demon. A Jinchuuriki. In the ninja world, such a word was synonymous with power, and many were trained from the day they could walk to be the ultimate defence or weapon for their village.
Konoha was different, however. Naruto's status as a Jinchuuriki was born from the rubble of their village and the deaths of countless ninja. The power of the demon was proved to all that day, and none who witnessed it could bear the thought of it every gaining such power again. Fear was so strong among the politicians of Konoha that the Sandaime was forced to give in to their demands that the boy remain untrained and therefore harmless.
For the first year of his life, Naruto lived as a normal child in Konoha's orphanage. Then Naruto turned up at the hospital with internal damage resulting from having swallowed razor blades, and the Hokage nearly tore the village apart until he found answers.
It was easy to scratch away the indifferent surface of the villagers and uncover the hatred and fear still simmering hot amongst the populace, ninja and civilians alike. It was apparent Naruto would not be safe, and in fact leaving him untrained was only leaving him open to more harm.
As the Hokage paced his office as he considered his options, he was approached by slightly hysterical medic nin regarding Narutos' situation. He listened with a closed expression as the nin recounted the situation that had occurred as they prepared surgery to remove the blades from Naruto. The toddler had simply sat up in bed, scrunched his face up in discomfort, and vomited them up, now molten in to a puddle. His internal injuries had also healed to the degree where there was no evidence of their existence, and the hospital was now housing an extremely active and perfectly healthy young boy.
Sarutobi thanked the medicnin and sent him on his way with a short word. He now knew what was best for Naruto, and if all went well, the village would gain a strong shinobi as consequence.
Naruto was swiftly handed to the best trainers in ANBU. Sworn to secrecy, they trained Naruto daily, quickly realizing they could increase training beyond what they thought would be possible for such a young boy.
His young body adapted marvellously to training, and with the enhancement afforded by the Kyuubi, he joined the ANBU shortly after his 4th birthday. Under the oblivious noses of the Council, Naruto was handed his mask. Itachi supposed it was an interesting bit of humour on the Thirds' part, the use of a fox, and the fact it looked so horrifying in juxtaposition to the adorable face it hid
Consequences be damned, Sarutobi was going to stick it to the old toads on the Council and hide the fox boy right under their noses. He couldn't even have made it any more obvious.
Itachi had an entirely different upbringing. Praised as a genius, the Uchiha had been given supplementary lessons to accelerate his learning after he graduated early. He begrudgingly basked in the praise of his fellow Uchiha and the village at large. He was provided all the training and support he desired.
It was, however, an empty living. The Uchiha people were naturally proud and cold in disposition. Itachi himself had drawn the Elders' attention, and he quickly found himself becoming a pawn in their plans for power. His strength left him head and shoulders above others his age, and he never formed any lasting friendships from his friend groups.
His only light was his baby brother Sasuke, who was too young to be troubled by the cold faces and politics going on around him. His smile and happiness was what kept Itachi going, if only to create more of a target on himself so Sasuke could grow up in peace.
As he entered ANBU, he was paired with the young boy who would eventually reveal himself to be Uzumaki Naruto. The two worked well together; their fighting styles complementing each other perfectly - Itachi's subtle Genjuutsu attacks working to provide cover and distract multiple opponents while Naruto's high-damage strategic juutsus took out large groups effectively. When it came time for them to join an ANBU team, it was nobodys' surprise they were paired together
Upon meeting who would be their new teammates, already-anbu Genma and Anko responded respectively with scepticism and ridiculously loud cackling. Perhaps they would have been accepting of Itachi because of his honoured Uchiha heritage, but the four-foot blonde baby that stood front-and-centre looking distinctly lost brought the two to glance questioningly at the Hokage to see if he had decided this would be a great idea for a joke. But no, the Hokage assured, the four were, in fact, going to be made into an ANBU team.
It barely took three missions or the team to work themselves out, and the four were inseparable upon return.
Strong, quiet and compassionate, Naruto exuded a continuous presence within the group, even when not participating in the conversation. Bright-eyed and with a gentle smile, Naruto somehow maintained his childhood beauty even after having slaughtered countless ninja.
The Third didn't seem at all surprised when the remaining three elected Naruto as captain.
Naruto did, though and argued against it with a pout that ensured nobody would take him seriously.
The team were perfect on missions, and forged strong bonds through struggle and success. However they could not maintain the same friendship outside of uniform.
In public, Anko was the psychotic frequenter of Konoha's dango shop, who enjoyed assisting in the happenings of the T&I department... even when off duty. Her insane personality and tendance towards violence meant most of the general population gave her a wide berth
Genma was a nara-esque attendant who was actually given the occasional C rank like guarding the gate because of his pure lack of interest. Other than that, he was found reading in the Jounin lounge. He generally slipped under the radar, and in fact many ninja who were asked would say they weren't too sure who he was.
And so, the four ninja avoided any contact, and passed each other passively in the street. It was imperative that the group and each members status as an ANBU remained a secret, or, in Itachi's case, as secret as could be with a clan of smug Uchiha who liked to brag.
Away from prying eyes, however, Anko would love to feed Naruto sticks of dango from her fingers, willing to share her treats to see his tiny teeth nibble small bites.
Itachi enjoyed sparring with Anko and Naruto - both of whose front attack style of fighting gave him a wonderful challenge.
Genma -although never showing it- enjoyed the training and missions he went on with the team. Even sparring was enjoyable for the team, who liked to alternate sparring and lounging under trees.
Itachi was immused immensely by the fact that their team Captain made sure to look after every team member like - well - a captain. And yet, because of his diminutive size and innocent persona, the rest of the team were drawn into watching his every action, so that he wouldn't hurt himself or be hurt.
Kind of funny, considering how much their spars indicated how good he was at destroying each of them in a fight.
...
And so Itachi found himself two months from his teams conception, on their thirty fourth mission, taking bread from the tiny boy's hand. He offered a gentle yet real smile.
Naruto flashed him a brilliant, wide eyed grin in return as he bounced down to sit beside Anko, who was attempting to stick her third finished stick of dango in Genma's ear.
Itachi smiled, lifting his head again to gaze at the unseen camp below them. He was not worried about the slaughter they would commit the next day. It was common place in their twisted, strange lives.
It was just a routine mission, after all.
What year is it?! Yeah so I recently summoned some motivation to finish/redo this story. Will be editing some chapters and then re-posting. Some of the plot will change for various reasons but the general story will remain the same. Cheers!