Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or his merry band of friends. I also don't own money that is associated with owning a manga like Naruto. Not that anyone really cares….

Chapter 4: Crash course

Just Barely ANBU

There are a lot of words you could use characterize Naruto. He was loyal to a fault. If you were his friend, then you had a friend for life. He was honest. It might be because he was a fairly terrible liar, but honest is honest. And most importantly he was powerful. There are few ninja that can stand up to the force of a sage master, or a Jinchuuriki that has full control over the chakra of the tailed beast sealed within. Naruto has successfully done both. So to say that he was just powerful, was an understatement. But nobody ever accused Naruto of being patient.

"Why the hell am I still up here!? This is a waste of time. The target isn't even doing anything!" Naruto yelled into his headset. Naruto had spent the last two days in a tree watching what seemed to be a civilian, do nothing but sit in the middle of a training field.

While staring at the middle-aged balding man in the center of the training field, Naruto began to remember the events that led him up to this point.

**** 2 Days Ago****

After Naruto changed into the ANBU uniform, sans the mask, he left his apartment with the three ANBU and proceeded to head straight to the ANBU headquarters. Once there, the zebra and parrot masked ANBU left without a word and the remaining ANBU began to relay instructions.

"This is the ANBU headquarters, whenever you are summoned for training or practice missions, you are to report to this destination immediately. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah, what the hell should I call you?" Naruto asked as he waited for the ANBU to finish before asking his questions. "I mean I can't just go around calling you "pigeon guy" can I?"

"This is a falcon mask!" the ANBU hissed angrily.

"Really? Coz it looks like a pigeon." Naruto shrugged as he made his comment.

"… Never mind. For the duration of this exercise, you can call me Tori." It seemed like the file was right. Naruto really had a talent for picking sore spots. Anyway, it was time to move on. "Any other questions before we start the first exercise of the day?"

"Yeah, I got several." Naruto drawled as he began to lose interest in talking to the ANBU in front of him, and started to study the ANBU headquarters.

The ANBU Headquarters looked like it belonged in the commercial district, as opposed to be stationed behind the Hokage tower. The first thing Naruto noticed about the building was that it was very plain. The outside of the building was painted a light brown color, and the windows were boarded up. It was about four stories in height, and seemed to be quite wide, aside from that, it was like any other building he saw in the village.

"Am I going to be staying here from now on? And why the hell couldn't you wait till morning to make these introductions!"

Tori took a deep breath and answered the questions Naruto asked. "No, you will not being staying here. This is only the operations central. Contrary to what you might think, ANBU often do not move out of their apartments and houses, and move in. That kind of movement would cause people to ask questions that could compromise the identity of an ANBU member. Second, you are currently too well-known to suddenly "up-root" you from your home. If you were to suddenly go missing for an extended period of time, people would come looking for you."

Tori paused slightly to check to see if Naruto had digested the information he had just presented to him. Naruto wasn't going to be trained to be a typical ANBU member; rather he was going to be used as a show of force. So basically the conventional methods were not going to apply to him.

"Now to answer your second question," Tori began again once Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "It is essential for any Shinobi to be able to operate at an efficient efficiency regardless of the hour."

"…. Okay, this time in English please." Naruto had a deadpan expression on his face after hearing the explanation to his second question. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why people felt the need to explain things using such complicated words. Naruto knew he wasn't the sharpest tool in his pouch, but why explain things using such complex words, when there were smaller words that explain the same thing? Now that's food for thought!

"Well, basically it means that you should be prepared at all hours."

"You couldn't say that to begin with? I feel like you just wasted five minutes of my day!"

The only thing that was preventing Tori from slapping his forehead in frustration was his years of training. This kid was impossible, and if he wasn't so sure he would lose, he would've attacked him already. "Well, at least the drill sergeant is going to put him through hell." Tori thought to himself, as he began to smile behind his mask.

"Uh, you know I'm not interested in guys right?"

Naruto's voice broke Tori out of his daydream. He immediately noticed the disturbed look on Naruto's face, and deduced that he had probably been staring. What had been even more embarrassing was that Tori had just finished explaining to Naruto that Shinobi needed to be alert at all times. So either he explain that he was daydreaming, or let Naruto believe he was gay. It wasn't even a decision.

"I was, uh testing you. Yeah, I just wanted to see if you were the type to get easily intimated by others. Don't worry, you pass!" Or there was always option three… lie your ass off.

"… yeah, I don't believe you. So you're going to walk in front from now on, so you don't stare at my ass on the way to our next stop."

White hot rage filled Tori's being as he looked at the Jinchuuriki in front of him. How dare he insinuate that he liked men. And even if he did, surely he could do better than Naruto Uzumaki! Yeah… he could probably even land a date with someone like Sasuke Uchiha.

"What are you daydreaming about pigeon guy?" Naruto asked as he noticed that the ANBU had began staring into space again.

"I was just thinking that I could much better than… Shit!" Tori cursed as he almost revealed his borderline homosexual thoughts. Worse yet, he could see the grin on Naruto face as he lost composure, the brat was toying with him! "That's it! Orders be damned, I'm going to show you why exactly I earned the position of beta squad captain." Red charka in the form of claws surrounded Tori's forearms as he took a low stance.

"Finally, the battle portion of the exam! I was starting to get bored." Naruto began to bounce around on his feet to loosen up his body. "I'll try not to make this too quick."

XxX

(Elsewhere with Team 10)

"…Tsk troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled as he watched his best friend Choji devour another plate of BBQ. "There goes my B-rank mission pay."

"Oh stop whining Shika, last week Choji ate through all my shopping money. At least you didn't have any plans for your money." Ino huffed as she rested her head on her hands and continued to stare at Choji as he finished yet another round of food. A few years ago she would have been disgusted by how one of her best friends was eating, but she was completely used to it by now. It's funny the things you get used to over time.

"Don't worry Shikamaru, next week is my turn to pay, so you can eat as much as you like!" Choji grinned as he had stopped eating long enough to join in on the present conversation.

Ever since Asuma died on that mission against Akatsuki, Team 10 had made a silent promise to try and eat at Asuma's favorite BBQ restaurant at least once a week in remembrance of him. Usually they'd only be able to meet up once in a while due to an influx of recon missions they had been assigned to in Earth country, however, things had slowed down somewhat of recent.

"…Yeah Choji, that's what I was worried about, not getting enough to eat." Shikamaru mumbled sarcastically as he looked at the grinning face of his best friend. Even when he was supposed to be annoyed, Shikamaru could never stay mad at Choji for very long. Choji was a kind heart, and never really did things to purposely irritate you; he was kind of like Naruto in that way. Speaking of Naruto…

"Hey, have either of you guys seen Naruto lately? I have a mission coming up and I wanted to recruit him." Shikamaru turned to face his teammates as he wondered about the whereabouts of his friend.

"Naruto? I remember seeing at Ichiraku the other day. He caused a scene in front of the store, then Sakura dragged him off somewhere. Then I had 3 Extra large portions of pork Ramen followed by…." As Choji had started to drift further away from the important parts of the conversation, Shikamaru and Ino blocked him out and continued where he left off before he started to daydream.

"Oh yeah, I remember now." Ino hummed as she tapped her head with her index finger. "I saw forehead yesterday and she told me what happened at Ichiraku. You know, Naruto is pretty rude sometimes, you should really talk to him about how he talks to women. Well, he has gotten kinda handsome recently so I suppose..."

This was the problem Shikamaru faced whenever he asked his teammates a question. He loved them both, but they tended to drift into their own worlds as soon as the conversation lasted longer than a few minutes.

"…Troublesome." Shikamaru grumbled his favorite word as he tried to get Ino to focus on the topic at hand. "Ino, focus! You were telling me about where Naruto is."

Ino paused mid rant to realize she had gotten off topic. She rubbed the back of her head embarrassed and continued from where she left off. "Yeah, I was getting to that. Well the short version is that Sakura said something about him joining ANBU."

Shikamaru paused as he digested the information. "What would ANBU want with Naruto?"

*** Present time ***

(ANBU Training field)

Apparently that was not the best time to fight a commanding officer. Not only had the fight been broken up before he could really get into it, Naruto had been punished for fighting outside of the ANBU headquarters and was given this "trial" as punishment. He didn't even know what he was supposed to do! All he had been told was to watch the target for any unusual activities. The only thing that was unusual here was him for sitting in a tree for two days as he basically peeped on an old man. This was disgusting!

"That's it, I'm outta here." Naruto whispered as he finally left his spot in the tree and descended down toward the ground. "First I'm going to get some Ramen, and then I'll go find Sakura-Chan and see what she's up to…" Naruto stopped for a second on his way out of the training field and took a deep breath as he stretched out of his sore limbs. "Yeah, maybe I should shower first." Naruto mumbled to himself as he got a whiff of his clothes. "Yup, definitely a shower first."'

"Halt!" A voice rang out through the field that made Naruto stop mid step.

An ANBU member appeared in front of him in a whirlwind of leaves and wind. He was taller than Naruto by a few inches and had short black hair that was well kept. The two main differences between this man and other ANBU members were instead of wrist guards with a hidden blade attached to each wrist; instead, this man wore silver and black gauntlets. The other was his mask.

In Konoha, the leader of each military department was represented by a mythological creature. There were three military departments in Konoha to date. The first is the I&T department. The symbol for the department is said to be a symbol of Cerberus, The three headed guard dog said to guard the gates of Hell. The second is the Reconnaissance department… he didn't remember what the symbol for that department was, but he was sure it wasn't as badass as the other two were. And lastly, the ANBU. The ANBU were lead by a man that wore a dragon mask. Dragons; the most powerful mythical creature to date, and the man that wore that mask was right in front of him.

"How can I help ANBU Commander?" Naruto asked as he suddenly he realized why he was so anxious. This man was one of Konoha's most powerful Shinobi. He had once been told by Neji, that if Naruto hadn't defeated Pain, it might have been this man. He really wanted to fight this guy!

"At ease ANBU recruit Uzumaki Naruto, registration number: 00101392, Alias: Naruto the…"

"Ahhh, no need for all of that!" Naruto interrupted before the commander could say that stupid nickname. He was really going to have to do something about that terrible name.

"As I was saying before I was interrupted," The ANBU commander continued where he left off. " I usually don't come here to speak personally to new recruits, but you've done Konoha a great service these past few years, and I wanted to personally meet "Konoha's newest Hero." The commander trailed off as he extended his hand to shake Naruto's.

Naruto rubbed his head in embarrassment and shook the commander's hand. After all this time he still wasn't used to people seeing him as a hero, he was just doing what he thought was right.

"Now to this business portion of this encounter" The commander continued after he finished shaking hands with Naruto. "I see you just finished the first portion of the many trials that are to come."

"Trials?" Naruto asked as he scratched his head in confusion. "I was told this was some sort of punishment for fighting with that pigeon masked guy.

"No, that was not a punishment." The commander answered as he continued on to his first point. "This trial was designed to see if you could 1) follow orders without question, and 2) to see if you had the patience and fortitude required to be in ANBU."

"You mean I sat in a tree for two days just to see if I could follow orders!" Naruto's voice began to rise as he realized he had just be tested without his knowledge. Didn't they read his service record?... Oh damn, maybe they read his service records.

"Make no mistake Uzumaki, the ANBU only takes those that prove themselves capable to us, not to anyone else." The commander's voice began to sound colder as he continued. "Each trial is designed for every new recruit regardless of his stature, or abilities. These trials help us to determine whether or not you have what it takes to be an ANBU. There will be missions that require you to watch an enemy combatant, or a civilian for days at a time with barely any rest in between. And sometimes, you will be given orders to do things that would make you sick to your stomach, but we do it so that others don't have to, so that others can live in peace."

The commander trailed off as he finished his speech. He looked at Naruto and studied his expression before continuing in a smooth and even tone. "Are you ready for that kind of commitment? Are you ready to serve Konoha with every fiber in your body?"

The commander didn't even need an answer, he could see it in Naruto's eyes as clear as day. He smiled beneath his mask and his tone softened. Good, he was exactly the kind of man that Hokage-sama had described him as.

"Come back here tomorrow at 0800 sharp. We'll commence the second trial then."

"What's the second trial?" Naruto finally spoke up, as he had kept competently silent during the commander's speech.

"Tomorrow is the combat portion of your exam. Usually you'd be pitted against another ANBU recruit, or sometimes even an actual ANBU member, but in your case, I'm making a special exception."

"Oh, then who will I be facing tomorrow?" Naruto asked as he appeared puzzled by the commander's comment. He didn't seem like that kind of guy that made exceptions.

"You'll be facing me." The commander grinned as he disappeared in the same manner he appeared.

Things had not really be going Naruto's way the past couple of days. He'd been beaten up by one of his best friends, drafted to ANBU without his consent, woken up in the middle of the night, and he had just spent the last two days in a tree doing nothing. Finally, things were looking up for him.

"I can't wait." Naruto grinned as he made his way out of the training field. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

I'm so sorry for the delay in Chapter 4. It's been half finished for over a month now, and it kind of just sat there on my computer. I should have posted this like a month ago, and I don't even have a good excuse why I didn't. I also wasn't terribly happy with this chapter either, but I didn't want to waste even more time by re-writing the whole chapter. Hopefully the next chapter is better, and it shouldn't take too long before I release chapter 5.

Thanks for reading, if you have comments, questions or anything you'd like to say, please leave a review. It'll motivate me if I can at least get up to 10 reviews.

Till next Time.