Naruto lay in the hospital bed, deep in thought. Naruto hadn't even bothered to think about the idea that Sasuke would betray the village willingly, that he would disregard the sacrifices of so many, including the Lord Third Hokage when he had caught up to him at Valley of the End or the Final Valley as some called it, that he would try to kill those he considered friends for 'Power'?
Naruto had fought and beaten him before both were taken back to Konoha by Kakashi, knocked out from the difficult fight he had, but still alive and placed in hospital, he had been visited by the Lady Fifth Hokage Tsunade Senju, who told him how proud she was of him and a few of the other members of the Sasuke Retrieval Team, though the members who weren't injured, among many others.
Though Kakashi and Sakura hadn't visited him, they were most likely going to check up on Sasuke.
'Nah, it's most likely that weird Mark the Snake Pedo gave him, it's controlling him,' thought Naruto, cheerfully to get himself up, 'They'll visit me later.'
"Hello, Naruto Uzumaki," said a voice from the window, it was quiet, collected yet at the same time powerful and commanding. Naruto turned to find someone he wasn't expecting. The man was dressed in black clothing and gloves, metal arm guards, ninja sandals with spikes on his feet, a white cloak with the hood up, and on his face was a porcelain mask resembling a crow with two thick red stripes on the chin and the forehead, seemingly an Anbu Captain.
"I'm pretty sure Anbu aren't supposed to talk," said Naruto, a bit worried, as the Anbu nodded.
"We aren't but I, the Commander of the Anbu Black Ops want a chat with you," replied the Commander, surprising Naruto who understood what was so important about the guy, so why did he want to talk to him?
"What are we going to talk about?" asked Naruto, as the Commander walked over to the side of his bed, grabbed a chair, and took a seat, crossing his legs.
"Let's begin with Team 7, shall we, tell me, Naruto, can I call you Naruto?" asked the Commander, as Naruto nodded, "What do you think about your Team?"
"Ahh, they're awesome, Kakashi-sensei is super strong and cool and awesome, Sakura-chan is pretty and smart, Sasuke is a bastard but he's not all bad, he's strong and I think the curse mark was probably controlling him to betray the village and stuff," answered Naruto without thinking, but the way the Commander was looking at him, it felt as though he was looking into his very soul.
"Are you sure?" asked the Commander as the Commander seemed to look straight into Naruto's soul.
"Yeah," replied Naruto but the Commander decided to ask him a few things.
"Tell me, why did your sensei do nothing when Sakura hit you? Why did your sensei abandon you for the Chunin Exams final? Why did your teammates consistently belittle you whenever you couldn't get an exercise down? Why did Sasuke Uchiha attack and attempt to kill you at the Final Valley?" asked the Commander, as Naruto looked down.
"Sensei's always distracted and Sasuke needed help with the Curse mark and everything, it was controlling him and Gaara could have killed him," answered Naruto but the Commander gave off the distinct impression that he wasn't impressed with that answer.
"Neji Hyuga could have killed you, with your habits, Hatake should have easily guessed that you might provoke Hyuga into delivering a fatal blow, yet he left you off with Ebisu to go train Sasuke on his own, believing that you would lose," replied the Commander, bluntly, "Now then onto your teammate Sasuke Uchiha."
"What about him?" asked Naruto, not liking where this was going.
"He has been treated like Royalty since the Uchiha Massacre yet believing he would get more power from a traitor and the murderer of our very own Leader, he doesn't blink an eye in following the traitor simply because he doesn't believe that he could get the power he could get here and that he was jealous of you," answered the Commander.
"Jealous of me?" asked Naruto, shocked, he hadn't even considered that policy either.
"Indeed, Sasuke Uchiha saw how much you had grown, believing that you had even gotten more powerful than him, he decided Orochimaru could teach him more, no doubt if given the opportunity, he would try to defect again, especially since his defeat would do nothing for his ego and jealousy," answered the Commander.
"No, no, that was the curse mark controlling him," replied Naruto but the Commander disagreed.
"The curse mark doesn't work like that," replied the Commander.
"Then how does it work?" asked Naruto, hoping that he had won the argument.
"The curse mark activates in times of strong emotion, giving the user a burst of chakra and power that improves stamina and physical prowess, depending on the stage, it can either create black marks on the skin or do full body changes, it doesn't have an effect on the mental habits of the user but at times the power often seems addicting, it can be used to control someone shortly, but that is only if Orochimaru activates it, which he didn't the Uchiha did," answered the Commander.
"Oh yeah, how do you know that it doesn't affect someone mentally?" asked Naruto but the Commander had the answer ready.
"Simple, Anko Mitarashi has one, she isn't affected mentally though if you are wondering she is just a sadist which has nothing to do with the curse mark," answered the Commander.
"So Sasuke wanted to kill me?" asked Naruto as the Commander nodded.
"Now then, onto you," said the Commander, as Naruto suddenly got a bit nervous at what the man had to say to him, "You are often bratty, yelling and often have a habit of proclaiming your Hokage, your skills are honestly terrible in most areas, your taijutsu is deplorable, you fight more like a brawler often rushing straight in and getting beaten rather quickly, your ninjutsu is basic level at best, you know powerful jutsus but don't even use it correctly, you can't detect most genjutsu, you are at times reliant of the unstable and dangerous 9 tails power inside you, though some of this is the fault of those training you, as many times in the Academy, you would have been sabotaged and your teachers most likely knew this but some of this is your fault."
"How the heck is it my fault?!" asked Naruto.
"Simple, you don't seek knowledge when you have issues, you just shrug them off and act like your 'awesome' skills will save, when you realized that you couldn't do the clone jutsu, you didn't even try to figure out why you couldn't do it and find a solution when you were being beaten in taijutsu, you didn't go and correct it, prove that your teachers should give you attention and tips by trying," answered the Commander, shaking his head.
Naruto looked down but the Commander continued.
"However, there is clear potential inside of you, you snuck into the Hokage residence and stole the forbidden scroll of Sealing without anyone noticing and only being noticed by the luck that the Third was there, learning two high-ranking jutsu in a night and even defeating a traitor, you were able to defeat Kiba Inuzuka and the more powerful Neji Hyuga as well as Sasuke Uchiha, you protected the village by defeated Gaara of the Sand, the issue is that you don't properly know how to express your talents and potential, that is why I am here."
"Yeah, why are you here?"
"You caught the attention of many when you stole the Scroll of Sealing, showing skills in Infiltration and Stealth, and these previous feats have only piqued our interest, you see Naruto Uzumaki we would like you to join the Anbu Black Ops," answered the Commander, as Naruto's eyes grew wide, he knew about the things Anbu do, everyone knew about the things Anbu do, yet he had never believed that he would be offered to join them.
"Why me?"
"Simple both the Village and you would benefit from Anbu Black Ops," answered the Commander, "the training, you could undergo helps improve skills, allowing you to improve in the areas, teaching you focus and work on the areas that need to be improved, plus with your stealth skills, you would no doubt make a great assassin once taught how to properly and would properly benefit from the Anbu training."
"But-but," said Naruto.
"As an Anbu, you would be both protecting your friends and others inside the village, you will be required at times to do dark things, kill people, follow people, steal from people without question, even if they're innocent, and give up things such as innocence and your clothing, but you would be a member of an organization, not the 'demon brat', or 'that boy', your skills and loyalty are what's important to Anbu, you will be treated just like everyone else," replied the Commander, as he got up from his seat, "I will give you two weeks to think about this decision and once you've made it, come to the Hokage tower."
"Is Granny okay with this?" asked Naruto.
"She has left the decision up to you, to make your own mistakes and decisions," answered the Commander, as he disappeared in a body flicker, leaving Naruto deep in thought. The obvious answer should be 'no' but for some peculiar reason, Naruto couldn't say 'no', why was that? He had a lot to think about. A few minutes after the Commander had left, another presence made itself known as the door, was busted down, and in came, Jiraiya of the Sannin.
"It is I, the Legendary Toad Sage, Jiraiya!" exclaimed the man, doing his best pose. The man had many bad habits and this was one of them, randomly and annoyingly appearing whenever he saw fit, basically interrupting what Naruto was doing with a cry for attention.
"Why are you here, pervy sage?" asked Naruto, as Jiraiya looked annoyed, he hated it when the brat called him that because demanded respect despite the truthfulness of the name.
"I told you to stop calling me that, brat!" shouted Jiraiya, annoyed, "now then, I have most graciously decided to take you as an apprentice for 3 years."
"Really?" asked Naruto, shocked, two offers in one day, yet he could only accept one.
"Yep, so you agree brat? great!" shouted Jiraiya but Naruto instantly raised his hand in defiance.
"Wait, wait pervy sage, I'll think about it," replied Naruto, as Jiraiya looked at him, shocked.
"You'll think about it? But how long since I only got so long before I'm back on the road," said Jiraiya, as Naruto looked deep in thought.
"Give me 2 weeks, will ya?" asked Naruto.
"Sure brat, but whatever reason you have for not accepting better be important," answered Jiraiya, as Naruto nodded, it was important, he had three choices, three potential paths, one to the Anbu Black Ops, the other to Team 7 or one to Jiraiya's apprentice but which will he choose?