Sorry for the late update. I got sick, and then some things happened in life… well I'm not making any excuses, and I'll try and update more frequently. I want to personally thank Kurama Thunderstorm for your support. Sorry it took so long to reply to your review but I live in Nigeria so things like electricity and internet are not exactly constant. Anyway, you came to read, not to listen to me rant about things you guys don't care about. So, on to the show!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto… I also don't own a car, a plane, a boat, a house, a waterslide, and classic Adidas. What!? I really want those two last things though, the rest are a luxury items.
Chapter three: The Trainee
Just Barely ANBU
"Can you believe that old hag!? If she actually believes that I'm gonna show up to the ANBU Headquarters at 3am she's got another thing coming!" "Oi, are you even listening to me teme?" Naruto paused long enough in his tirade to look at his best friend.
Sasuke was wearing a dark blue long-sleeved collar shirt with the Uchiha crest on the back, black pants, and black sandals. Sasuke had run into Naruto outside of the Hokage tower, on his way home from a mind-numbing border patrol mission. All he wanted to do was take a shower and sleep, but for some reason Kami was punishing for something he did. Well, he'd find out what he did wrong later and fix it, because surely no one deserved to be punished like this right?
"Of course I'm listening stupid." Sasuke groaned as he turned to his left to stare at his best friend. "I'm sure half of Konoha is listening now too."
Naruto blushed slightly as he looked around to notice that everyone was indeed staring at them. In hind-sight, maybe he shouldn't have been yelling so loudly while using elaborate hand-gestures to paint a picture of what occurred in the meeting. If he wasn't too careful he would attract… shit!
Naruto's expression grew dim as he looked at the position of the sun in the sky before he finally turned to Sasuke. "Sasuke, what time is it?"
"Hmmm? I think it's around 3:50… oh shit!" Sasuke left Naruto talking to his after-image while he bolted full speed down the street toward his house. "Damn you Naruto! You talk too much. If they catch us together again…" Sasuke shuddered as he tried to expel the nasty thought in his head.
"Really! It's like that Teme!?" Naruto yelled besides a distraught Sasuke as he finally caught up to him. "Dude, we fought in a war together, and you're running from some fangirls?"
"Don't talk like this is just my problem, your fan club is out there too."
"Oi, my fan club is awesome. How can you hate anyone that understands my greatness so well?" Naruto flashed a bright smile towards his rival as he remembered his great fan club girls. Yeah, sometimes it was good to be alive. "Plus, its your fan club that does that weird thing anything way. Don't lump my followers in with yours!" Naruto pointed at his friend as he continued to run next to Sasuke at breakneck speeds. "…Why are you so fast?"
"Hmm, continue to waste time talking and I'll leave you behind. I still remembered what happened last time our two groups meet…"
*Start Flashback*
Two months ago…
"Oi Teme, they let you out for a walk?" Naruto shouted as he ran toward his friend down the street. "Why didn't you tell me they were letting you out sometime this week when I saw you yesterday?"
"So that exactly this sort of thing wouldn't happen." Sasuke mumbled as he slowed down his stride enough to allow Naruto to catch-up with no problem. "Can't you see that I'm enjoying my momentary freedom with some peace and quiet?"
Once in a while, Tsunade let Sasuke out his cell, and allowed him to roam the village for some fresh air. Of course, while he was out of his cell, she was placed chakra repression seals on him, and put the gate guards on high alert. After all, she was generous, not stupid.
"Aww, come' on don't be like that." Naruto smiled as he swung his right arm over Sasuke's shoulders. "You know you love having me around."
"I really don't." Sasuke replied as he removed Naruto's arm from his shoulders with a look of distaste on his face. Sasuke actually didn't mind having Naruto around, I mean they were best friends for a reason, but he would kill himself before he ever admitted that out loud. Naruto was already insufferable as he was now, no need to make things any worse.
Before their conversation got any further, a group consisting of mainly young girls and women stopped the duo. As soon as Naruto spotted the flag they were holding, he smiled and walked toward the girls.
"Hey guys, I see there are a few guys mixed into the crowd this time… that's not creepy at all." Naruto gave a half-hearted smile as a large sweat-drop rolled down the back of his head.
"Hello Naruto-kun." A girl will long blonde hair with bangs around her face and light green eyes stepped forward to greet him. "It's always nice to see you."
"WE LOVE YOU NARUTO-KUN!" rang out from the crowd as the flag bearer began to twirl the flag as the continued.
"Naruto, get over here." Sasuke hissed as he motioned Naruto to come closer. "Why the hell do you know members of your own fan club?" Sasuke asked as Naruto finally got enough to hear his question over the chanting.
"Well Yeah." Naruto shrugged as he started to name some of the members in the crowd. "The cute blonde I was talking to is Ami. She's the vice president of my fan club. Not everyone is like you Teme, I actually like women." Naruto faced Sasuke with a smug look on his face as he finished answering his rival's question.
"Shut it dobe! And if that's the Vice-president, where's the president?"
"Oh, Hinata-chan is on a mission right now."
"…Wait, Hinata, as in Hinata Hyuga is your fan club president!?"
"Yeah, I thought it was weird too, but she told me that she became president in order to keep my fan club from sexual harassing me… kinda like what they do to you. Isn't she really sweet?"
"…"
"What?"
"I've never met anyone as stupid as you are in my entire life."
Before their argument could escalate any further, another group of solely women entered the field waving a similar flag.
"Oh great, now my fan club is here." Sasuke sighed as he began to rub his forehead in an attempt to ease his growing headache.
"HI SASUKE-KUN!" The fan club squealed as they finally got close enough to spot the object of their affection.
"Ha!" Naruto laughed as he spotted Sasuke's fan club enter the field. "My fan club is bigger than yours. I guess defection did wonders for your popularity."
"Will you shut up! Can't you see something serious is about to go down." Sasuke hissed as he pointed in the direction of the two clubs.
Both Naruto and Sasuke were expecting some sort of fight, or at least an argument from the two groups. What they didn't expect was that the two groups would join forces. It seemed like each group loved the idea of a NaruSasu relationship more than they liked the actually people.
"What the Hell is that!" Naruto screeched as he saw the two groups converge into one. "And how the hell did they do that to the flags? Ninjustu isn't supposed to be used like that!" What Naruto was referring to, was the fact that the two flags had somehow combined to create a single flag with a picture of a big heart surrounding the faces of Naruto and Sasuke.
"Teme, I think its best that we… teme!?"By the time Naruto turned around to tell Sasuke to run, he spotted Sasuke's figure in the distance entering the forest.
"You Bastard! You think you can just leave without me!?" Naruto shook his fist towards the distant figure that had now disappeared into the forest. He then took off after Sasuke as he remembered the danger behind him.
"Get them girls!" The fan club started to chase after the fleeing men right after Naruto fled.
Soon the only people that were left in the field were the few men that were a part of the Naruto fan club. One of the guys finally spoke after a few minutes of silence.
"…Maybe this wasn't the best way to meet women."
*End Flashback*
"I remember now you bastard! You left me to die!" Naruto yelled at his rival as they finally entered the Uchiha compound.
"Stop being so dramatic." Sasuke mumbled distracted as he fished for his house keys in his pockets. "Plus they were basically harmless. They're a group comprised of both civilian and ninja a like that have too much free time on their hands."
"Then why did you run so fast?"
"… Go home Naruto." Sasuke growled as he finally opened his front door, and then preceded to shut the door in Naruto's face.
"So you're not going to invite me in!"
"No."
"You really are a bastard." Naruto mumbled as he turned around and began heading home. "I wonder what's on Tv."
*3am: Naruto's bedroom*
"Tsunade-Sama was correct" One voice spoke softly as they stared at the snoring form of the last Uzumaki. "He really had no intention of coming to the headquarters this early."
"Well it's to be expected after reading his profile." Another voice sighed as he continued to stare at the sleeping ninja in disappointment. "It's a shame, I was at least expecting him to be better."
"We came discuss this later" the third voice finally chimed in. "It's time to wake him up."
Three ANBU stood at the foot of Naruto bed and began form hand signs as a fourth voice stopped them dead in their tracks.
"That won't be necessary" Naruto and two clones had Kunai placed on the throat of each ANBU member as the clone that was sleeping in his bed exploded into smoke. "Now tell me who you are, and why you're in my bedroom. You have ten seconds."
"Can't you tell just by looking at us?" The second ANBU spoke up sarcastically. "We're ANBU!"
"You're not very smart are you?" Naruto's voice was cold, and the killing intent in the room began to rise. "You're provoking someone that has a kunai to your throat. Besides, just because you're dressed in ANBU attire, doesn't mean you can't be impostures."
The third ANBU raised his hands in a disarming notion, and slowly turned around to face his captor. This ANBU had a falcon mask, and seemed to have seniority over the other two members.
"You've every right to be wary Naruto-san. It's not good for a ninja to be too trusting, but I have a seal by the Hokage validating us as ANBU." He then reached into his vest and handed the clone a scroll with the Hokage's seal on top.
After verifying the seal, the clone nodded to his boss, and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The other clone followed in suit, while the original Naruto let go of his captured ANBU.
"So what do you guys want? It's a little early for a mission." Naruto asked as he studied the other two ANBU. The first one appeared to be a woman with chopped brown hair, and an average stature. She was wearing a zebra mask as well as what seemed to be a slightly modified version of the ANBU uniform. The second ANBU was wearing a mask that resembled a parrot. He was slightly taller than Naruto, and had messy black hair that only reached his ears.
"Congratulations Naruto Uzumaki, by order of the fifth Hokage you have been inducted into the ANBU training program effective immediately." The falcon masked ANBU stepped forward to hand Naruto a storage scroll. "This scroll contains your new uniform and supplies you will be using during your training. Please note that you are not currently an ANBU member, but merely a trainee until further notice."
Naruto twirled the scroll absent-mindedly as he absorbed all the information that was presented to him. "Alright," Naruto yawned as it was apparent that he wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. "When do we start?"
And that's a rap! Chapter 3 took much longer to finish than I thought it would. I planned to have this out weeks ago, but I lost track of time. You can expect the next chapter within a week, I don't intend to take this long for another chapter again. Anyway, Naruto begins ANBU training next chapter, and we catch up with some of the other rookie nine members as well. Feel free to ask any questions or make any comments. Till next time Aku knight signing out!