Chapter Two
"B-bastard, what are you doing here?" Naruto glared at the impassive black-haired boy who refused to reply.
"Oh Sasuke-kun, you were called here too?" Sakura giggled and stepped closer. Of course Sasuke-kun would be here. He was so great that ANBU just had to pick him.
The paler-than-usual Sasuke remained silent and clenched his fists. Didn't these idiots realize that being called by ANBU was not a good thing?
"So, Sakura-chan, why d'ya think we're here?" Naruto tried to grin brightly, but sudden yawn derailed his attempt.
"I don't know," she mused. "Maybe we're being called to join ANBU?"
Sasuke scoffed, but Naruto simply looked thoughtful.
"I dunno either," said the blonde boy, "but maybe there was another 'ssassination attempt."
Sasuke didn't contradict him, and Sakura could have sworn that the expression on his face seemed to show a tiny bit of agreement.
She looked down at her hands. "But then why would call they me out? I'm not important... " Sakura suddenly glared at Naruto. "And who'd want to assassinate you, idiot?"
Naruto shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "Not sure, but they've tried before." Both Sasuke and Sakura looked surprised at that statement.
"Your presence here is not because of an assassination attempt." The three whirled to face the expressionless voice. "You are here because of the Hokage's orders."
Hound examined the genin. Thankfully, all of them had changed into their day clothes, though they really should have been sleeping in them. Pajamas were for civilians. He glanced at the boy, eyes narrowing at the orange jumpsuit. He had half-expected the blonde to show up in his nightclothes, but that jumpsuit was almost as bad.
"Old man's orders? Well, were his orders?" asked the boy boldly. Hound waited, building up the suspense until they were fidgeting.
"His orders were for me to train you." He almost, almost smiled at the shocked expression on their faces.
"W-what?" the boy shouted, nearly falling backwards in disbelief.
"Does that mean we're becoming part of ANBU?" questioned the barely-kunoichi nervously.
The Uchiha looked almost pleased, though he was just as stunned as the others.
"Of course not." Hound's muffled voice took a sharp edge. "Your skill level is not sufficient to join ANBU." He paused. "However, training all of you to ANBU-level is my aim." How I am to achieve that aim is a different matter. By the Shodaime, these kids in ANBU? He resisted the urge to shudder. "I will treat you like any other trainee operative, and I expect you to treat me as your commander. Is that clear?"
There were mumbled words and nods.
The air grew several degrees colder. "When I give you an order or ask you a question with the expectation of verbal agreement, you will respond by saying yes sir or yes commander. In most situations, you will use the sign of confirmation." He demonstrated the hand signal slowly. "Is that clear?"
"Yes sir!" the three said, synchronized, using the signal awkwardly. Hound frowned at them behind his mask.
"Unless otherwise stated, all questions are presumed to be answered nonverbally."
They hesitated, and then signed their agreement. Shinobi were taught the standard sign language in the academy, but Hound fully intended on drilling them in it until they could do it in their sleep. Of course, Kakashi could take care of that. He had other plans for training.
"I will not address you by your names." Hound faced the Uchiha. "You are now Pup." He looked at the girl. "You are Cub." Finally, he turned to the last boy. "And you are Kit." He ignored the irony and continued. "In my presence, you will only answer to those names."
"First, we will work on physical conditioning. We will start with stamina, before moving on to speed and power. Give me fifty laps."
He glared at them, silencing their cries of indignation. "Understood?"
They signed their affirmation reluctantly.
Hound nicked his thumb and summoned Akino, Bull, and Ūhei. The ninken looked at him, waiting for orders.
"Permission to use force granted. Chase them until they drop." They barked in agreement before sprinting after the children. At their wails, Hound briefly, briefly smiled.
Naruto couldn't move.
It was a new day, with birds chirping and the sun shining. He could hear the bustle of activity outside as the village sprung to life. He could also hear the obnoxious blare of his alarm clock.
And he absolutely no matter what I-don't-care-what-happens could not move. Every single muscle in his body was aching, screaming its displeasure. For one hazy moment, he wondered why. Then, like a bucket of cold water had been dumped on his head, he remembered.
Naruto groaned. That damn ANBU commander had drilled them mercilessly. First, there were those stupid dogs, followed by a billion pushups, and finally, he had beat them up—oh sorry, sparred. That commander had barked—Naruto snickered at the pun—non-stop orders, forcing them to obey while they dodged random kunai and recited passages out of the shinobi handbook.
Naruto continued to stare at the ceiling, wondering if he really had to move. Slowly, he moved his arm, testing the muscles. Naruto brightened. It actually wasn't that bad. Naruto knew that he healed quickly, but he had expected the muscle pains to be worse. He slammed down on the alarm clock and jumped out of bed.
"Alright!" he shouted. "Believe it!" Naruto promptly toppled over as his body refused to cooperate. Actually, it was worse than he expected.
After many curse words and failed attempts, Naruto Uzumaki finally managed to get up and make instant ramen. He shoveled down the food of gods and limped out the door. He had to go to the Third Training Grounds to meet with asshole-sens... er, Kakashi-sensei. Though, in comparison to Commander Hound, Kakashi-sensei had been downright lovely.
Finally, Naruto arrived at the grounds. He was late, but neither Sakura nor Sasuke said anything.
"Huh," said Naruto, looking at his teammates. "You both look like crap."
Sasuke didn't even have the energy to glare snootily at him, and Sakura barely raised her fist before deciding against it. Naruto plopped down next to them, and together, they all stared off into the distance. Honestly, they didn't have the energy to do anything else.
"Well, if it isn't my adorable little team. How are you all doing?" a sickeningly cheerful voice said behind them.
Naruto twisted his body to get a better view of his sensei, and then winced as his muscles protested. He mumbled something in response.
"You all feel absolutely wonderful? Excellent! I have some training exercises and amazing D-ranks for you to do!"
Naruto groaned. Missions were great, but training required movement. He wondered if they'd be rescuing princesses, and then he speculated if he had any energy to do so. The gray-haired teacher turned to him, a smile frozen on his face.
"Is something wrong, Uzumaki?"
Naruto paled, thinking about the Commander's warning to make them disappear if they told anyone about the training. "N-no sir, just a little sore from yesterday. Yesterday's test, I mean! Where you beat us up. You know... that one."
Kakashi-sensei stared at him. "Alright." Their teacher gave an eye-smile, scrutiny of Naruto seemingly lifted. "Now, is everyone ready?"
Without thinking, the three signed in agreement, last night's training still fresh in their mind. Kakashi-sensei brightened.
"Oh? You three know signing?" There was suddenly a gleam in their teacher's eye that made them very, very nervous. "That gives me an idea... "
Sakura fumed, extremely tempted to punch the living daylights out of anyone or anything that came near. Finding that dumb cat was hard enough, but doing it while communicating only with signing? Inner Sakura screamed with the fury of a thousand dying suns at the injustice of it all.
'Split and check sky,' signed Naruto. Sakura glared at him, confused, while Sasuke sighed.
'Split and check trees?' Sasuke made it into a question by tilting his hand upwards. The sign for sky and tree were somewhat similar. He would have added an insult, but he didn't know any in sign language.
Sakura rolled her eyes at Naruto and signed her agreement. 'Meet here in thirty minutes?'
Naruto and Sasuke confirmed the plan, and the three separated. They were going to find that cat, even if it was the last thing they did.
Kakashi glanced up from his book. Now that they couldn't talk, the three were getting along quite well. And by well, he meant not killing each other. The threat of extra laps and pushups for every word they spoke seemed to be effective.
"Alright! We did it!"
Maybe not that effective. Kakashi silently flickered to his genin's location. There, a triumphant Naruto held up a disheveled and extremely cranky cat. The boy turned to his sensei and waved the frantic cat around.
"Look sensei!" Kakashi ignored the kid and cat, turning instead to his teammates. 'Mission successful?' he queried. Glumly, the two signed the affirmative.
"Congratulations on your first D-rank. However, Uzumaki spoke five words, so the three of you will be doing two-hundred extra pushups and twenty-five laps."
"What!? But sensei, we completed the mission! I didn't say anything until after I got that stupid cat!" protested the culprit.
"Did I say that the mission was complete? The mission isn't over until the leader confirms it is."
The blonde boy deflated slightly. "But why are you punishing Sakura and Sasuke? They didn't say anything."
"No, they didn't. However, you are their teammate. The actions of one member affect the others in a team. Never forget that." Kakashi fixed the three with his serious gaze. "Those who... " he trailed off as he looked at the team, so bright and full of hope.
"Those who what, sensei?" piped up Sakura. The genin looked at him curiously, waiting for his answer.
After a moment of deliberation, Kakashi spoke, voice low. "While those who break the rules are trash, those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."
Naruto enthusiastically agreed, as if what Kakashi had stated was just common sense. Sakura nodded thoughtfully. Sasuke though... he looked uncertain.
"Just think about what I said." He paused then suddenly cleared his throat. "Right. Let's return the cat and continue training. We can't forget those extra laps and pushups, after all."
The children—mainly Naruto—groaned and grumbled their way to the Hokage's tower. Kakashi let them. They could complain all they wanted. Their training was not going to get any easier.
Quickly, Team 7 fell into a routine. During the day, Kakashi would work on ninjutsu, teamwork, and anything he considered general knowledge, and during the night, Hound would train them in taijutsu, stealth, and survival skills. But the one subject both planned to cover was something called... strategy.
After a grueling bout of taijutsu sparring, Hound signaled to his trainees. Immediately, all three stiffened and fell into the ready position, lining up in a row. The trainees looked at him keenly, warily, as they wondered what he'd do next. They were used to Hound's random commands and drills by now.
"Discuss the difference in approach between a three-way battle and a two-on-one battle where you are on the outnumbered side."
They stared at him.
"What?" Kit's face scrunched in confusion. He paled when the atmosphere grew heavier and quickly corrected his mistake. 'Clarification needed,' he signed instead.
Hound frowned. The question was pretty straight forward. He had made it intentionally vague to gauge their level of strategic thinking. "Tell me the tactics you would use in a three-way battle and a two-on-one battle."
"Er..." Kit frowned. 'Permission to speak verbally?'
'Permission granted.'
"What do you mean by tactics, sir?" Cub and Pup hid it better, but they were also confused—and interested in his answer.
Hond tilted his head slightly. "Did you not discuss battle strategies in the Academy?"
"Well, yeah, but what does that gotta do with this?"
Pup and Cub also requested to speak verbally, and Hound granted it and shifted his focus to the other two.
"Sir, could you give us more details?" asked Cub, her voice somewhat shaky.
"It's difficult to discuss strategy without knowing any specifics," Pup said. After a moment, he added, "sir."
Hound bit back a sigh. Well, he had drilled the importance of gathering information in their skulls. Knowledge was power, after all. It was a bit disconcerting that they couldn't discuss abstract strategy, but it wasn't too big of a problem.
"The terrain is flat, with no tree cover. The opponents are genin-level with mainly mid-range attacks. Your objective is to eliminate them as quickly as possible."
"That's easy!' shouted Kit. Hound winced, but motioned for him to continue. "I'd make a bunch of shadow clones and pound them all!"
"Idiot," scoffed Pup. "I wouldn't need any clones. If they're only genin-level, I'd be able to defeat them easily."
"Um… an ambush might work?" Cub murmured, looking down at her feet. "Though Sas—I mean, Pup would be able to take them down without it."
A heated argument quickly broke out as Kit shouted insults at Pup and Cub took Pup's side.
Commander Hound stared at them with dismay. Clearly, they knew nothing about strategy. Sure, the jōnin-sensei handled the bulk of the tactical training, but the genin didn't even have a weak foundation from the Academy, let alone a strong one. What evil had he done to deserve these children? Well, thought Hound dryly, perhaps the karma from killing hundreds of people has finally caught up with me.
This was going to be difficult. So far, Hound had been using a very watered-down version of the ANBU conditioning. Everything he had been doing was proven to work; he had simply tweaked it to suit the genin. The teambuilding exercises, the stealth-training, the physical conditioning... all were from ANBU. Tactics, though, dealt with concepts. Those couldn't watered down. He'd have to teach them himself.
And Hound knew that he was a terrible teacher. Was he a genius when it came to practically everything? Yes, but that was exactly the problem. As a child, he had been able to learn almost anything without difficulty—whether it be complicated concepts or high-rank ninjutsu. The Sharingan had made learning even more intuitive. Add his utter lack of experience with children...
Yes. He was a terrible teacher for these kids.
Hound released killing intent sharply, freezing the kids in their places. "Dismissed," he said briefly.
His team blinked at him in surprise. While Hound did vary the length of time they trained (predictability was practically death for a ninja, after all), never had their practice been so short.
"Dismissed," he repeated. Startled, the three acknowledged him and dispersed. Frowning, Hound took to the rooftops. He had to ask for a favor.
The Nara clan was most powerful at night. After all, that once the sun set, the ground was covered in shadows.
The Nara clan was even stronger in their compound. The place was built like a shadow fortress to maximize coverage.
Therefore, concluded Nara Shikaku, the enemy who invaded the compound is an utter idiot. Or, he thought, recognizing the chakra signature, they aren't an enemy at all.
Reluctantly, the clan head stood up and made his way to the balcony outside his study. Shikaku folded his arms and smirked at the man trapped in his shadow jutsu.
"Commander Hound," he drawled, releasing the jutsu, "to what do I owe this pleasure?" At the same time, Shikaku signed 'Emergency situation?'
"Commander Nara," acknowledged the other man. "Perhaps we can discuss this somewhere more private." 'Negative. Current situation stable.'
Shikaku sighed. "Troublesome. Alright, come in."
The younger man followed him into the study. The jōnin commander studied his ANBU counterpoint before gesturing to a plush seat. "Sit down," he grumbled. "I have a feeling this will take a while. So, what do you need?"
Hound hesitated. "I... need a personal favor."
"What?" Shikaku narrowed his eyes as Hound took his ANBU mask off.
"A favor." Hatake Kakashi's lone eye gazed at him steadily. If it weren't for the placidness of the young man's expression, Shikaku would have sworn he looked embarrassed.
"Well," said Shikaku slowly, "who's asking?" And why did you need to come in the middle of the night to ask me?
"I'm asking as both the ANBU Commander and Hatake Kakashi."
The jōnin commander sighed. "Even more troublesome. Now, don't leave me in suspense. What do you want?"
Then, much to Shikaku's surprise, Kakashi fidgeted. Fidgeted.
"Ah... I need your help training my genin team."
The Nara clan head stared. And stared. And stared some more. He tried to keep the amusement off his face, but he didn't succeed.
"Your genin team?" Shikaku raised an eyebrow and openly grinned, giving up on hiding his mirth.
Kakashi twitched with annoyance and embarrassment. Shikaku had never seen the man look more human. "My team is completely incompetent when it comes to strategy. And," he paused, "I'm not a very good teacher," admitted Kakashi.
The jonin commander chuckled. "While I have no problem with teaching your kids, why in the world did you come as the ANBU commander in the middle of the night? This isn't exactly a priority mission."
"Training the genin team technically is an ANBU mission," confessed Kakashi. "The Hokage asked me to give them the ANBU training as well. The Uchiha and Jinchukiri are practically walking targets, after all."
"Right." Plus the Hokage probably knew that you would refuse to accept the team if he didn't make it an official mission.
"Thank you, commander. I appreciate your help." Kakashi put his mask back on, preparing to depart.
"Call me Shikaku. How about you come over for tea at two tomorrow to discuss their training further? Bring your kids, too."
Hound halted. "Of course, Commander Nara."
"It's Shikaku."
Hound tilted his head in acknowledgement and disappeared through the window. Nara Shikaku smirked again before glancing at his paperwork.
"Hm. Troublesome."
AN: Thanks to everyone who read, followed, and favorited. Special thanks to Poppy Grave Dreams, Shinobi of life, and alex6177 for reviewing. Super special thanks to LongRoadtoNowhere for the incredibly helpful criticism and advice.
Again, thanks for reading. All comments, criticism, and concerns are welcome.