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ANBU Files

=ANBU=

Prologue: Masks

=ANBU=

T&I HQ

Konoha

There were two kinds of interrogation rooms in Konoha. One was reserved for friendly 'clients' and debriefing loyal Shinobi. The other kind, well that was where people like Anko and Ibiki went to play with all their toys. Appearance wise, there wasn't too much difference between the two kinds. A few metal chairs bolted to the floor, a table in between them, a lamp protected by reinforced glass and metal mesh on the ceiling and one way mirror, again with a meal mesh woven within on the wall beside the door. The only real difference was the place didn't reek of disinfectant or even blood if the poor bastard meant to clean it up missed a spot or two.

For ANBU Captain Uchiha Satori, who was officially died on a mission a few years ago just before Itachi went insane and slaughtered their Clan, this was only the second time he saw one of these rooms from the inside. He felt awfully exposed without his Tiger mask. For years now, Tiger seldom removed it even when he went to bed. After all, it was safer that way, both himself and his cousin Sasuke, the only other survival from the Clan. He had to become his mask, merely a weapon for Konoha and bury everything deep inside.

Tiger had been if not happy, then content with that state of affairs. With his Clan gone along with the love of his life, there wasn't much left for him. Becoming a faceless ANBU for good was easy, it really came as a relief. He really didn't know why he was in this room, without his mask too under orders of the Hokage no less. His onyx eyes focused on the door when a sound of scraping feet upon a stone floor reached his ears. Soon the door opened soundlessly courtesy to well oiled hinges and Sarutobi Hiruzen himself waked in wearing the full regalia of his office.

"Satori-kun, it's good to see you back." The old man gave him a kind smile.

"Hokage-sama!" Tiger acted on reflex ingrained by years of service in ANBU and bolted out of his chair to give his commander a proper salute with his fist clenched above his heart.

"There's no need of that, Satori-kun. Please, sit."

Tiger did so but only after Sarutobi sat as it was proper.

"We both knew that a few years ago Konoha did you a disservice, Satori-kun." The Hokage began. "You shouldn't have had to hide, however..." The old man shrugged. His eyes relied an unsaid message.

Itachi didn't just slaughter the Uchihas in Konoha. He hunted down those lucky enough to be out on missions and either assassinated them in the night or tore them to pieces along with their teams. If news of his survival had reached the outside world, he would have become a target along with anyone nearby. Besides, having an operative with the Sharingan and its unique capabilities when the world believed that it was safe from the Uchiha's blood limit, well, in the past few years Tiger served his village very well indeed.

"Your last mission was a test, on many levels." The Hokage continued.

That statement made Tiger frown. He had faced harder missions before, often alone too and this time he was in charge of an ANBU unit. As far as he was concerned the mission went off flawlessly too so he was at loss about the purpose of this interview.

"While the execution was flawless as expected, there were some concerns raised about you, Satori-kun. It became like picking up the groceries, didn't it?" The Hokage asked.

For a moment, Tiger was at a loss. It has been months since he had the spare time to do something as mundane as shopping at a grocery store and cooking. Eating at the ANBU cafeteria or field rations was where he usually got his food. Then in clicked – it was something his mentor into ANBU, the previous commander of the whole corps who was medically retired after the Fox attacked told him.

The moment killing became as trivial as picking up the groceries or throwing away the trash after cleaning, you had to either seek counselling or retire before losing yourself. Because otherwise, you might just become another Itachi or Orochimaru.

The Hokage gave him a pointed look and Tiger's mind drifted back to the last mission…

=ANBU=

Stone country

The target was a mercenary camp holding a mixed unit of samurai with a smattering of missing nin to act as power multiplier. That particular band was ran professionally enough so they would be more dangerous together than the sum of their parts would otherwise suggest. More importantly, they were on Iwa territory and operating with the blessing of that old bastard Onoki.

Intelligence believed said mercenaries would cause trouble to Fire Country by preying on their foreign business interests. It was one of those deniable operations that the Hidden Villages ran all the time to fuck over their rivals without risking a Fourth Ninja War. More often than not, it fell to Konoha's ANBU and their foreign counterparts to clean up such messes and sometimes even strike pre-emptively.

Like today for example.

It was a nice warm evening in late spring, there was no moon to illuminate Stone Country's rocky landscape and a smattering of clouds helped deepen the darkness on the ground. The deep shadows helped Tiger and his subordinates approach undetected. They had their Chakra suppressed as much as possible, their gear was darkened to avoid catching stray light and tested and true Uzumaki delivered seals covered their scent.

The strike team moved like the next best thing to a group of ghosts but only after spending the better part of a week carefully scouting their target, marking patrol and guard rotation schedule and searching for any and all unpleasant surprises meant to deter intruders.

The camp itself was competently made – wooden palisades surrounded it from all sides and there was even a trench outside complete with sharpened stakes. The place could have held a division of troops from any of the great countries as long as they lacked Shinobi to help crack the defences. With the missing nin augmenting their numbers, well those mercenaries weren't to be taken in lightly.

Tiger channelled Chakra into his eyes and his sight immediately sharpened and cut through the shadows with ease. A bit more and his Sharingan transformed into the shape of a spinning three pronged shuriken. He spared a moment to glance at his subordinates and tag them with a subtle Genjutsu that would make them all but invisible and they broke away from the small reedy forest to the right of the camp – the same place that the mercenaries used as source for the wood for their fortification in the first place. The ANBU covered the open ground, close to a kilometre, faster than ordinary humans had any right to move, especially if they took painstaking care to be silent. Once they reached the trapped ground making up the outer perimeter, the squad went single file with Tiger leading and using his Sharingan to avoid all deadly surprises meant to stop or at least reveal any uninvited visitors.

It took the trained killers five minutes to creep through the minefields, ten more to avoid being noticed by sentries as they slowly and carefully crept up the palisade while avoiding even more traps. Tiger had seen and assaulted worse defended places during the last war, a fact that simply reinforced how dangerous those mercenaries were and served as another proof that they had Iwa's backing. Otherwise, Onoki would have dispatched his own STONE operatives to burn down the place. Perhaps even one of his Jinchuriki just to make a point.

When the whole unit reached the top of the palisade, they paused for a few moments so the sentries would be most vulnerable and exploded into action. The ANBU removed a large sealing scroll from the small of their backs and threw them in the air before making a hand sign and flaring their Chakra. A moment later they were moving, vaulting over the palisade with weapons already drawn and the sentries died while looking up at they initially thought to be a trick of the eyes. The Chakra flare would have alerted the enemy ninja that trouble was at hand but it would be too little too late for them to save their samurai comrades. The scrolls burst open when they reached a pre-determined height and launched a barrage of kunai with smoking exploding tags attached. Many a sleeping mercenary died impaled by the sudden bombardment, while others didn't even have time enough to scream in pain and surprise before the explosives detonated. In just under five seconds bright explosions blossomed all over the camp while a pair of ANBU dashed over the palisades to the left and right to slaughter the stunned sentries there. Only Tiger and the units regular commander remained at their entry point ready to engage the enemy Shinobi who unless the ANBU got very lucky would have survived the initial onslaught.

Sure enough, soon Tiger's eyes saw Chakra signatures moving through the smoke obscuring the shattered camp.

"Two left, one right, one coming straight at us." The Captain whispered in his throat microphone – an expensive technology that was more than worth its weight in any precious substance you cared to name.

Tiger and his fellow ANBU Captain charged the approaching missing nin and a Genjutsu ensured that the enemy attacked a fake image just before the Uchiha ensured his target ended with kunai in the throat and tanto tearing through his heart. Then they went to reinforce the left flank making the engagement three versus two surprised and under equipped Iwa ninja. A short but furious exchange of blows and jutsu later it was all over.

A minute later, the ANBU unit gathered back at the forest, gave each other a nod and once over to confirm that there were no injuries that had to be treated and began a fast retreat towards the border.

All Tiger felt was satisfaction that his subordinates made it out unscratched.

=ANBU=

T&I HQ

Konoha

"You might have a point, Hokage-sama." Tiger allowed. "Therapy?" He asked hopefully. Retirement didn't sound appealing. Not at all.

"I thought that much, Satori-kun. As of today, I'm pulling you from active ANBU service. You do have a lot of vacation saved up and you'll be taking some of it while undergoing treatment. Once you've become accustomed to being back into society, I do have a job for you if you accept it. Kakashi-kun's evaluation came up worse than your own and Sasuke-kun will be graduating in a few short months..." The Hokage trailed off and smiled pleasantly.

"You want me to be a Jonin-sensei?!" Tiger exclaimed. For a moment all thoughts about what was proper flew straight out of his mind.

"If things turn out as I foresee, we'll have a most troublesome three man cell to deal with." Sarutobi did a decent enough imitation of a Nara.

Tiger just stared at his commander. Who in their right mind would entrust young impressionable Genin of all people to someone like him?! Then again, the Hokage just admitted that he had intended to sick Kakashi on them and everyone knew that boy had issues.