Well, this is Operator chapter one, or at least rough draft of thereof. Tell me what you think and I'm as always open to any constructive comment and criticsm that can make it better.
If he had hoped that the report would calm the Hokage down, Naruto was in for a dissapointment.
The old ninja left in even grimmer mood than he had entered, after grilling young Operations specialist with rows of seemingly unending questions. Just after the door closed, Naruto fell back on the bed with a pained grunt.
He would have done so sooner but that would mean showing weakness. The old man would have propably understood and Naruto was sorely tempted, as his legs started to turn into two jelly pillars of spasming pain but he stood on for the duration, lest his pain invite yet another ägrandfatherlyö tirade. He knew that the old man only did what he thought best but he had long ago found that though Sarutobi meant well he had type of... selective blindness to some things. That and far too much trust in Konoha and itÆs people.
He shook his head tiredly before cursing, as the white spots started to creep in slowly in his field of vision from the rapid movements.
æMigraine aura. Shit.Æ He thought laying down with exaggerated slowness, not wanting to agitate his throbbing head even more.
He wanted to leave the wing and get home before it started but it was too late now. In next five minutes, the spots would turn into all out torrent and he would be literally blind for next few hours. Not to mention in a pain that would make him want to split his skull open with a kunai just to silence the pulsating waves of pure agony that made his muscle spasms and pains almost nice in comparision.
He closed his eyes, trying to breathe slowly and deeply, trying to distance himself from the pain.
æBreathe in... Let it flow into me... Stabilise the heart to make it beat slower... Breathe out...Æ
It was actually one of the first steps into meditation he learned from a monk during one of his missions. He had never been good with meditation, his chakra and mind being what they were, but ironically enough, the migraine allowed him to enter near-zen like state in matter of minutes, which helped as the vertigon increased, making the room spin wildly. If not for the deep breaths he would have propably puked by now. In fact, he almost always DID after the regeneration until he learned the breathing trick.
He had been brought out from his reverie by silent rustle of cloth that was almost like a scraping of the nails on the blackboard to his senses running haywire. He felt the cool, delicate hands touch his face, welcome respite from the burning feeling in his veins.
The hands caressed his cheeks for a momment before settling on his forehead and he sighed at the pleasurable, chilly torrent that slowly crept from his head and seepeed into his veins with gentle firmenss. He didnÆt need to open his eyes to know that the hands were bathed in greenish, live giving tinge of healing chakra that slowly made the acidic sludge of his disturbed chakra calm down and recede.
The hands went away for a second, before returning with the rustle of cloth, cloth that was equally cold when it touched his face and settled on it. With another rustle of cloth and barely-there movement, the skilled fingers tied the knot at the back of his head and fastened the cloth securely over his face. The next breathe he took was slightly chilly and clean of typical odour of the hospital air, filtered by the mask.
He caught the hand just as it receded, giving it a gentle squeeze and he could feel two smooth, chilly palms touching him in return.
"Thank you." He muttered opening his eyes. The polarised lenses of his mask, attuned to his chakra with a well placed seal immideatly dimmed the hurtful rays of the sun but even then, he could see the alabaster features and flowing mane of inky darkness that sorrounded them.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, gently helping him up, her voice like her hands, chilly but pleasant.
"Better." he admitted "But the jolts are as annoying as always, even after you forced into submission."
She frowned, clearly unhappy.
"I only forced them back for now. They will pick up later. You will need to go through Kyoushin as soon as we get home."
Naruto stiffened, before relaxing with a long sigh.
"So itÆs that time, is it? IÆve almost forgotten. Blood letting... Shit. I hate it. And the post-regeneration buzz wonÆt help things one bit." He winced.
"Goddamit. The seals?"
"I prepared them this morning. They will be complete in a few hours."
"Well, no way around that, I guess." He muttered with disgust before leaving that train of thought. "The others?" He asked, getting up gingerly.
She helped him up gently and he awkwardly started shedding his hospital gown as she answered.
"Hana-san is fine, although she has broken arm and Santenmaru wonÆt be in fightig shape any time soon. Kyo-san is shaking the after effects of the genjutsu as we speak, but he is weak from the wounds and will need to rest. ItÆs nothing life threatening so he should be up and running in a day or two."
He finally managed to free himself from the clothes and she gave him the small package that turned out to be his spare uniform which he started to put on, cursing under his breath at the occasional spasm. She chased away his hands and buttoned up the shirt herself.
"Yashiro-san had few broken ribs, but she is mostly fine and Tenrou-san is nearly unscatched, save the gash on her abdomen that is already healed." She glared at him as he struggled with yet another button
"Naruto-sama! Do stay STILL, please." Her voice a sacharinne meneace that was at odds with her calm face.
"Sorry, sorry." He waved apolegtically "And the rookie?"
Young womanÆs hands froze for a second, before returning to dressing him.
"Murasaki-san... Murasaki-san is in coma, Naruto-sama." She said quietly. "The genjutsu hit her... rather hard."
"...Goddamit." He growled through his clenched teeth "I knew it, I just KNEW it taking her on this mission was a mistake! Greener than the spring leaf... She wasnÆt nowhere near READY! What was the Commander THINKING?!"
"Plase try to remind calm, Naruto-sama." She said forcefully, fastening his vest
"Anger agitates your chakra."
He exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself.
"Sorry." he said after few momments "Can you take me to her?"
Any other medic-nin would have just argued and told him to stay in bed, but she knew him almost better than he knew himself.
"Yes. But we must go home immideatly after, Naruto-sama. Promise me." she said, her inky orbs drilling into his relentlessly
"All right." He nodded
*
It was worse than he thought. The girl, bereft of her ANBU armor and mask looked almost ethereally fragile, her already pale countenance only paler with the lost blood, her violet hair spread out on the pillow only enchancing the image. Her bed was sorounded by stadard recovery seals and...
Naruto started a cold, dispassionate litany of foulest curses he could muster.
On the girlÆs head was Class Three Gyakusou seal.
If they had to use THAT wretched thing... This was NOT looking well, by any stretch of the immagination.
The girl was annoying, greener than grass, full of that self-important, mornic pride and rash but she didnÆt deserve something like that.
Nobody should be forced to go though even first phase of that kind of monstrosity. To actually make a Class Three... The girl would be lucky if she wasnÆt stark raving mad after she woke up. If she woke up at all.
The chances of that were... slim. He, after all, knew best. Better than any idiot medics puting it on her, that was for sure.
"Rookie...I swear, if you donÆt wake up... IÆll fucking DRAG you back to the waking world... And IÆll kick your ass from here to Snow country right after." He said with a growl, slipping bonelessly into the nearby chair.
"You foolish, stupid rookie..." He whispered feeling old and tired beyond his years. He closed his eyes.
*
Murasaki Rei, chuunin, proud graduate of Ninja Academy at age ten, chuunin by twelve and ANBU before she hit sweet sixteen, was officially confused.
She didnÆt know what to expect after being assigned to Operations team, but it certainly wasnÆt a pitying look from the few ANBU she asked for directions in the maze-like corridros of the ANBU offices. She didnÆt even KNOW ANBU had offices until today!
The ANBU were helpful, if professionaly detached as she approached them but immideatly after showing them her assigment card, the looks of pity started. She actually caught one of the kunoichi whispering 'Poor girl.' to her collegue after she asked them for directions!
æPoor girl, my ass!Æ She thought with a snort æSome 'poor girl' would never make to ANBU a day after her sixteenth birthday!Æ
Although what was so alarming about this Team 4 she had been assigned to that provoked the looks?
Were they some kind of psychos? Bloodthirsty monsters killing right and left with glee? Cold killing machines without a shred of humanity left? Casual killers without any semblance of higher feelings?
It was possible. After all, this was ANBU and it was well known fact that some ninja were somewhat... not right in the head after few years spent in the ranks, thanks to stress and grueling conditions, even for shinobi life. Even more so, as rumor went, in the Operations division, where the nins could spend months in hostile territory, returning to Konoha for short R&R and going back to the field right after.
Finally reaching the designated door, she stilled herself mentally before knocking.
"Come in."
Obidiently, she opened the door and entered.
The room was suprisingly large. almost as large as HokageÆs office, though far less cluttered. Also, despite the big oaken desk in the middle and rows of file cabinets, it felt oddly empty. Or at least it felt that way until you looked into the eyes of the woman behind the desk.
Yusani Kanna was short and petite woman with dainty features that made her seem like a young teenager rather than the thirty five years old woman she was.
Her oversized, wide sleeved robes and big desk she was sitting behind certainly didnÆt help matters, making her look like a small child that played dress up. One look in her eyes, just one look in those twin pools of frost and suddenly Kanna seemed to dwarf not only her desk or cabinets, but the room as well.
"Murasaki Rei reporting for her assignment, Commander!" The girl saluted smartly, as she was taught, and tried not to loose composure as the two pools of azure meneace that seemeed to stare right through her mask and straight into her soul, measuring her, weighting her in every possible way.
Though it took only a second or two, Rei could feel herself sweating at the CommanderÆs gaze.
"Well, at least youÆre punctual." Muttered the woman "You can stop standing like a pillar of salt and sit down, girl." She gestured to one of the chairs before her desk.
Relaxing slightly, Rei took the nearest chair, sitting down on the edge of the seat, ready to leap back to attention at mommentÆs notice which drew a snort from Kanna.
"Relax, child. I donÆt bite." She smiled slightly "Unless youÆd like me to." she said with an amused glint in her eye.
Rei froze before discreetly backing deeper into her seat.
Kanna shok her head with a chuckle, opening her mouth before the doors slammed open making Rei almost lep out from her seat in surprise.
"Playing with ickle rookieÆs heads, Commander?" Came the wry female voice from behind Rei and she turned to find a feral looking woman with two claw-like stripes on her face, ANBU uniform worn in proper manner but still managing to look somewhat wild on her. She was accompanied by three grey dogs. Three LARGE grey dogs.
"Well I had to pass my time SOMEHOW..." Said the child-like woman sweetly before her face turned into a homidical grimace "...wating for a certain team captain who is over twenty. Fucking. Minutes. LATE." She growled, looming over her desk and radiating killing intent that made Rei want to crawl under her chair or suffocate on the spot. The feral woman blanched slightly, drawing back and her dogs suddenly looking like a set of small and fluffy puppies as they hugged the ground.
Kanna glared at the women before snorting.
"Oh stop cowering, for kamiÆs sake!" she muttered, the killer intent vanishing as if it was never there. "Little bit of intimidation and you fall to pieces. And you call yourself ANBU?" She sighed rubbbing her temples
"ThatÆs the problem with youth today, no endurance at all." She grumbled
Rei stared at the commander dumbly.
æLittle bit of indimidation?Æ
äYes it was.ö
Rei stared at her child-like commander in wonder. She was sure she didnÆt say that out loud. Was she reading her mind?
äNo I didnÆt.ö
Rei boggled.
äUh, commander?ö said the ANBU captain äMight you stop weirding out the rookie, please?ö
äNot my fault you brats are so easy to read.ö the woman grumbled äThat they even let you out of academy without most basic skill in containing your own emotions is a disgrace to Konoha. Katon this, Raiton that, the bigger and louder the better, and to hell with stealth! Who needs it, letÆs just blow things up in louder, more obvious ways! Shinobi, my bony ass!ö she sneered, falling into a well reharsed rant that was cut short by a loud cough.
äCommander? As much as I LOVE,ö The feral woman rolled her eyes äyour most FASCINATING opnion on current state of shinobi education, eveluation of our skills and pointing out the faults of the world in general, might we get to the brass tags here?ö
Kanna loked at the Captain flatly.
äI hate you.ö she grumbled äAnd I had the whole speech going so nicely, too.ö
*
Rei followed her new captain trying to shake off the... slight shock. To say that the ANBU Commander was not waht she expected would be an understatement of the month.
She expected a cold, efficient ninja, proffesional to the core excluding commanding presence on near-Kage levels. Instead she got petite, childlish looking woman who ran hot and cold at the same time, as likely as to crack a joke as she was to radiate killer aura that left you a quiverking bundle of nerves.
äKinda hard to wrap your mind around, right?ö The captain looked at her with a grin äDonÆt worry, youÆll get used to it. She just likes to mess with peopleÆs heads to keep them on their toes. But believe me, you wonÆt find a better commander anywhere. She might seem little weird but once sheÆs all business, get the hell out of her way. SheÆs like flood. Impossible to stand agianst or argue with.ö
ä...Yes, sir.ö
The feral woman rolled her eyes before stopping.
äLook, rookie. You donÆt need to call me sir. I work for a living.ö she said äMy nameÆs Hana, Inuzuka Hana. Captain or Inu-Taicho when we are on a mission or on duty, Hana or äthat gorgeous babeö rest of the time.ö she grinned
ä...Rei.ö
äHmm?ö Hana blinked
äMurasaki Rei. ThatÆs my name." she said äNot rookie.ö
äRookie,ö Hana sighed äI donÆt fucking CARE what your name is. You could be named Sarutobi, Uchiha or even be Fire LordÆs freaking love child and I wouldnÆt care either. Until you get some expirience and stop being a baggage and become useful, youÆll be called ærookieÆ and like it.ö She gazed at Rei for few seconds äYouÆre what, chuunin, right?ö
She nodded.
äGreener then grass, then.ö The woman shook his head with disgust äNo matter. You made to ANBU. Rejoice. YouÆve been assigned to ANBU Operations Division Team 4. Yay. Bet youÆre all proud of yourself, huh?"
"Funky mask, cool looking armor, badass sword in hand, ready and willing to tackle S-class mission, hmm? Ready for all the accolades, the honor, glory and big bucks that you are due, being part of KonhaÆs elite? Well you can stop now.ö
Rei froze as HanaÆs warm gaze suddenly chilled, becoming hard and unforgiving
äReality check, rookie. All that stuff ähonorö and ägloryö they preach about in the academy doesnÆt have the grain of truth in it and the big bucks you get could as well be coated with sweat, tears and blood. Mostly yours. This is a job that leaves marks on the body and stains on the soul mile wide. So if youÆre after that honor and glory, get out. Get out NOW.ö Hana said forcefully
äI know what IÆm doing, Inuzuka-taichou.ö Rei said stiffly äIÆm not some wet behind the ears genin, there is no need to try to scare me.ö
äScare you? Girl, I donÆt think you understand what IÆm trying to tell you at all.ö Hana said calmly äBesides, I donÆt need to scare you. First mission will take care of that. If you survive it, that is.ö
äOh I think IÆll manage.ö Sad the young ANBU wannabe frostly, glaring at her captain. The whole condescieding manner that woman, two or three years older than herself, was displaying was seriously getting on her nerves.
äCocky little thing, arenÆt you?ö Hana raised an eyebrow cooly äPiece of advice, rookie. Faith in your ability is a very good thing to have, but donÆt be too cocky to ask for help. Genin, chuunin, Jounin... That doesnÆt matter here. This is ANBU. Different rules, different mindset, different world and you barely touched the surface. Until you learn how to swim on your own, youÆll need somebody to show you how to swim, or youÆll sink.ö suddenly, the air was thick with killer intent that froze Rei in place äSo loose the attitude, keep your eyes peeled and learn because if you fuck up, the cost wonÆt be just your life or hell of a mess for Konoha but also life of your teammates. And IÆll kill you with my bare hands before I let that happen, understood?ö
ä...Yes, Inuzuka-taichou.ö Rei said meekly, still cowed by the savage killer intent.
äCool.ö Hana grinned cheerfuly and the pressure vanished without a trace äLetÆs go and meeet your new teammates then.ö
æAre everybody in Operations Division bipolar psychopats or something?!Æ Rei thought following the cheerfuly whistling Inuzuka.
*
Carefully, she pressed the knob and slid the door open without a sound.
æOpen? So why...?Æ she opened the door fully and was about to enter before freezing in place as the unbelievably fast kunai flew right in front of her face.
æWhat the hell?!Æ she thought as yet another kunai felw by, this time lower.
äOi. You.ö came the voice from inside the room. She looked inside, careful not to step into the room and blinked. In the corner of the room was a man in full ANBU uniform, sans the armor, sprawled on the chair, his legs on the desk, thick, partially unrolled scroll in his hand. He was rather short, she noticed, with unruly mess of golden-blonde hair and one of the stranger maks she had seen in her life. It wasnÆt the hard mask, typical for ANBU, but cloth that covered his entire face from the brow down, although it was somewhat loose at the bottom.
It was olive in color, with two black triangles, stretched at the upper and lower edges, in the place where his eyes should be. Instead of eyeholes, there was dim grey shape in the middle of triangles, some kind of glass or something similar she guessed, but one that didnÆt reflect light at all. In all her ninja career she had never seen anything even remotely like it.
On his left was a kunoichi in full ANBU attire, like the man wouthout the armor, neatly pressed as if straight from a tailor. Only way she could describe her was...Fierce. She radiated odd type of readiness, despite sitting calmly, as if she was ready to fight for her life at moments notice without a pause. Her midnight black hair were cut rather oddly, falling into her eyes, covering them from view completely and there was a single white strand in the inky darkness that started somwhere on the top of her head and went all the way to her face.
æHow can she even see anything with that haircut?Æ
Her face was angular and rather pretty, deeply tanned to a golden bronze hue, as were the other visible parts of her body. She had a tea service, full with the mat and the beautiful bowls and kettle around her, steaming cup in her hands that she sipped gently from.
äYeah, you.ö the manÆs voice was odly high pitched and, she notticed immideatly, rather annoyed äClose the damn door, itÆs hard enough to read this crap withtout it flabbing in the draft like some demented hummingbird.ö
She rasied her hand, only to retract it as yet another kunai flew by. She carefully looked at the direction it flew and froze.
Near the wall fo the room there was a tall man, his dirty blond hair unruly, ANBU Operations uniform dishelved, as if he slept in it for few days straight and, she noted with distaste, outer mesh nearly open and sleeves rolled up in messy fashion that was blatantly against any dress code regulations. Oddly constrasting with his messy appearance were glasses neatly positioned over his angular, if average face covered in two day stubble. Both of his palms held a kunai... or rather a whole fistful of them, she realised as the man moved his thumbs, fanning out the blades in his palms as if he held a deck of cards.
Few meters in front of the man was a pale woman in...
Rei could feel her eyes widening.
It was picture perfect ANBU uniform in shape and cut, sans the battle armor but it differed in one, glaring way.
æIs that fishnet?Æ Rei thought stumped æAnd that almost see-through material.. Silk? And leather? And... is that TATTOO?! My god... she is practically NAKED!Æ
She wasnÆt far from the thruth, actually. The young woman (and oh, the uniform didnÆt leave ANY doubt at all that this was a woman. Very much of a woman, really) was covered in double layer of see through fishnet that covered her legs, arms and most of the midriff, leaving it bare enough to see a long, serpentine tattoo of twin dragons coiling sinously from her abdomen to the rather impressive cleavege, along with some... strategic, intimate places covered in very thin straps of leather and silk arranged in a manner not unlike a swimsuit.
Skimpy one, at that. And fishnet. LotÆs of fishnet. Although dragons rising äfrom abdomenö would be rather misleading, since judging by the shape, the tails must have started...
Rei blushed in embarassment and outrage.
æWhat a... a..ö she wanted to think äslutö but there was something about the woman, despite the outrageusly slutty get up, that radiated control, poise and odd sense of grace. She was hot and cold, all at the same time without clashing, that was the best way she could describe her. And there was power there. The same thing she felt the first time she laid her eyes on her Jounin sensei, a confidence unmarred by empty arrogance, air of a veteran killer, a dangerous, capable nin that stated in no uncertain terms that abody mornonic enough enough to mess with the kunoichi did this at his own risk.
Well, that air might be accented by the fact that the woman just deflected the kunai thrown by the dishelved man so fast they looked like a stream of metal. With her bare hands. With her eyes BLINDFOLDED. And, Rei relised with a sinking feeling, with enough precission to embede them into several targets positioned at the nearby wall.
No, that woman was no simple slut.
And the man was no pushover either, judging by the casual, lazy ease he displayed throwing few kunai with enough precission to alter the trajectory of some of the deflected blades into second row of targets on the ceeling. Mid flight.
äOnly seven? Sloppy, Kyo-chan.ö the blindfolded woman chukled throathily äA girl might think she is being... neglected. Or maybe you canÆt...handle more, hmm?ö
The man, Kyo, snorted with a smile.
äPrincess, between us two, itÆs YOU who canÆt handle what I have.ö he leered, waggling his eyebrows comically
äSomehow I didnÆt remeber you complaning about my ähandlingö last night.ö she shot back with a smirk
äI didnÆt want to hurt your royal pride, your highness.ö the man waved his kunai as if holding a fan.
äWell you certainly didnÆt hesitate in making me hurt in other ways.ö this time it was the woman who was leering
äNot my fault youÆre so kinky. Not that IÆm complaining, mind you.ö he shrugged
äWell youÆd better.ö the woman sniffed in indignation äAlthough that was fun. Never knew there were so many ways to use a kunai.ö She appeared to be deep in thought for a second äTad tiresome, though.ö
äSee, and I wasnÆt even going full out.ö the man pointed out, oddly sage-like expression
äOh reallly?ö the woman drawled with a.. rather sinister chukle, but the tone was like honeyed velvet, one that made Rei blush up to her hair just hearing it. äYou should show me the... äfull outö then. IÆll be looking forward to it."
äGirl, you canÆt handle full out.ö the man sneered in patronising manner
äOh REALLY?ö even through the blindfold the rised eyebrow was clearly visible
äReally.ö
äWanna bet?ö she asked slyly, taking the blindfold off.
äWhat do I get if I win?ö asked curious man
äWell, you know...ö the woman came up tot he man and bagan whispering and the man perked up almost instantly.
äYouÆre on, princess!ö he shouted with glee
äH-hh... Hh-hh..ö stammered Rei pointing shaking finger at the womanÆs unvelied milky white orbs.
äOh GREAT. The Wonder-duo strikes again.ö muttered the masked man, slapping his face äCanÆt you get a hold on youself once in a while, you perverts?ö
äOh we plan to. Get a hold on ourselves, I mean.ö the woman smirked
äThat we do.ö agreed the man, rubbing his hands with obvious glee
äH-hhh... H-h-yyy...ö stammered Rei again before stopping and clearing her throat with a squeak äHyuuga!ö she finally managed and deflated. The eyes left no doubt to the womanÆs identity but when she tried to reconcile the regal (some might say anal retentive), dour, humorless and proper to the point of obsession Hyuuga with unabashedly perverted, sex-oozing, brash...woman (and she usd the term loosely) was little too much.
äNo Hyuugas here, little girl.ö the woman scowled, her eyes going cold and suddenly Rei could feel a downright suffocating ammount of killer intent directed at her.
äBut...ö she started.
äAre you deaf?ö the woman said coldly äNO. HYUUGAS. HERE.ö
äNo Hyuugas here, right!ö the girl said meekly, doing her best to mold herself into the door
äGood.ö suddenly the not-Hyuuga-with-Hyuuga-eyes was all smiles and turned to the kunai throwing man, embracing him in rather familiar fashion. äNow, where were we...ö
äScaring rookies now, Yashiro? You taking after the boss, or something?ö came HanaÆs wry voice from behind äBad form, princess.ö
This Team 4 was full of surprises, all the...oddness besides. Rei didnÆt know about the short blonde and the girl with the tea-set, but judging by the Inuzuka and the Hyuuga, there were some heavy hitters here. And the man û Nagi, she reminded herself û to throw Kunai with such precission and speed... That took serious skill.
äAnd you two slackers...ö she looked at the blonde and the woman next to him äKyo I can understand, whipped as he is...ö
äHey!ö the man protested weakly
ä...But not to hep your new teammate...? Bad form, bad form all the way, guys.ö she shook her head in mock disapointment.
äExCUSE me?ö said the blonde laying the scroll on his desk äPlease do repeat that, taicho, because I think I just misheard.ö he said slowly
The Inuzuka woman only grinned.
"Oh you gotta be SHITTING me, Bitch.ö said the blonde flatly äWe are one man short for, like, forever and when they deign us äworthyöö he made quotation marks with his fingers ä... all they send us is some wet behinds the ears rookie? Is that some kind of a fucking joke?!ö
äWell youÆve been bugging the Boss for addition to the squad. Now you have it.ö the Inuzuka shruggd
"Addition, yes. Some goddamn rookie? NO.ö he said exasperated äI was asking Kanna-chan for a goddamn genjutsu specialist, or at least a mildly genjutsu-capable Operator! Not some rookie chuunin, for kamiÆs sake!ö
äHey!ö yelled Rei with indignation. ANBU or not, that shrimp was insulting her. Nobody did that! Well, except for Commander... And Inuzuka-taicho...
äQuiet.ö the word was whispered but had power like a whip crack The woman with the tea looked (or at least Rei thought she looked, with all that hair she wasnÆt sure) äYouÆre interrupting my tea time.ö
äSorry Tenrou.ö the masked man apologised, looking oddly nervous. So did, she realised with astonishment, the captain. And the not-Hyuuga. And even that Nagi person.
Inuzuka-taicho coughed, clearing her throat.
äAll right, rookie, meet the team. On the left is Sagato Kyo, first class slacker, glutton and perv...ö the man made a mocking bow, or at least as much bow as the woman holding him would allow äKyo is our resident long-range weapon and ninjutsu specialist and also doubles as a seal specialist from time to time. The oversexed slutpuppy hanging on him...ö the said æoversexed slutpuppyÆsniffed.
äYouÆre just jelaous because you donÆt get any.ö she said haughtily and HanaÆs brow twitched slightly before she picked up again ä...is named Yashiro, no last name. Whe sheÆs not being her usual, annoying self, sinÆt giving Hyuuga clan a collecitve ulcer or hanging on from Kyo she doubles as our close combat specialist and field medic.ö
äThe guy in the mask is Mugen.ö she gestured and the blonde waved lazily äMugen, aside from being ninjutsu specialist also handles some aggresive scouting, äloudö assassination and counter-genjutsu work. The gal with hair in her eyes is Hijikata Tenrou, inflitration, äsilentö assassination and espionage. Though annoy her and she can turn you into sashimi with her sword. And then there is me.ö she gestured to herself äCommand of this merry little band of outcasts, nymphos and slackers aside, IÆm close and mid-range combat, wilderness and tracking.
äOkay, so she is a rookie. Ourö Mugen said with obvious distaste ärookie. What now?
äSO glad you asked, Mugen!ö HanaÆs smile was wide and positively gleeful
Mugen aka Uzumaki Naruto had a sudden sinking feeling.
æOh this WONÆT be good.Æ
*
äYo, blondie.ö the forceful, if silent voice shook him from his slumber
Naruto yawned opening my eyes
äWhuzza...?ö he said sleepily
äGeez, how can you sleep now?ö came the disgusted female voice from the rookie. äWhat kind of ninja are you? IsnÆt this supposed ot be stakeout?ö
Wolf-mask on the upper branch chuckled hearing that.
äYo, Bitch.ö He said tiredly indicating the rookie. äYou brought that, right? What for?ö
äSheÆs actually competent, Mugen.ö she chukled at the outraged sound from the female. äJust a rookie. SheÆs slow on the uptake a little bit but bear with her.ö
äHey!ö protested Rei
äOh shut up and go to sleep, you moron.ö He muttered with disgust. äYou might not get the chance later and itÆs rather hard to make seals while falling asleep on your feet.ö
äDonÆt act so high and mighty with me, shrimp!ö She snarled, her voice edgy. Your mask is still featurless, which means youÆre not much longer in ANBU than me.ö
äOh man.ö Wolf said in low voice to Wolverine. äNow sheÆs done it.ö
Although he couldnÆt see Cat under the mask, Naruto knew she had amused look on her face.
He could feel his eyebrow twitch. Was he getting that predictable?
äIf you had more than two brain cells to rub together, you would notice that one of the veteran ANBU that accompany us has those funny, pearly white eyes.ö he started, explaining slowly, as to a child äAnd what are those funny, pearly eyes famous for? ThatÆs right!ö He mock cheered at the realisation hitting her that was clearly visible in her body language. Girl was way too open. äByakugan, the all seeing, all famous Konoha bloodlimit! Which means that regardless of we watch or not, our friend hereö Naruto motioned to the Cat faced mask äwill notice it faster that any of us. So why waste time, if you can recover and gather strength you might need later?
äAnd on the final note.ö He said pointedly touching the forehead symbol of his otherwise feateruless and clean mask. äThis little swirl here marks me as a veteran, rookie. Learn the difference.ö
"Maaan... And I SO waied for the ämoronic rokieö tonguelashing." whined the äBitchö sulkily giving small pack of coins to Cat. "You just cost me my new set of shuriken, man!"
He stared incredosuly.
They were making bets?
äOh grow up, Bitch.ö He said tiredly, closing eyes again. äIt is way too early for that shit.ö
*
äBitchö took of her mask, revealing young and quite attractive face of the Inuzuka Hana.
äSo, howÆs it?" asked Kyo, taking of his wolverine mask and clearing off the sweat that had, as always, gathered at the edges.
äThe Boss has the reports which means that we are almost home free.ö Hana stretched luxoriously, moaning loudly as her neck poped loudly
äWould you PLEASE stop doing that. ItÆs disgusting.ö Cat mask already off, the frown was clearly wisible on YashiroÆs face.
äDonÆt get your panties in the bunch, glass-eye girl.ö Hana rolled her eyes over the old argument
äExcuse me?ö YashiroÆs voice gone deceptively calm over the hated nickname
äShikaku is right. Women, so troublesome.ö Naruto muttered before whistling shrilly, stopping the escalating argument in itÆs tracks. äNow that I have your attention... What do you mean äalmostö home free? He asked
äTwo words... Evaluation report.ö Hana said disgustedly
äThere was a collective moan with hefty dose of cursing from their usually well mannered sword nut. Tenrou hated paperwork with passion fit for better cause.ö
äNow?ö Kyo asked incredously äItÆs freaking three in the morning!ö
äYeah, what gives?ö Naruto said cursiously. äWe havenÆt even made our qouta yet, there is hardly anything TO evalute, for KamiÆs sake!ö
äTrue. Most curious.ö Yashiro frowned
"YouÆll get creases." he smirked at the ex-Hyuuga
"Well, atl least IÆll look more mature." she said serenly, staring from her superior height.
He muffled a curse and Kyo laughed out uprariusly.
äIÆll get you yet, princess.ö Naruto muttered with a glare at which she smiled, ruffling his head affectionally. äYou will try.ö
Yeah, Yashiro was cool for the fact of posessing sense of humor, something that most Hyuuga wouldnÆt know it it bit them in their constipated asses. Even if her jokes came at NarutoÆs expense. Of course, the äsophisticated punkö with lots of skimpy, see-through fishnet look was also a factor
He gave up, rolling his eyes and taking off his ähard maskö, revealing the cloth mask hanging from the wraparound on his forehead.
LotÆs of people made altertion to their ANBU masks, making them more comfortable, but for him a full undermesh was needeed since the mask was simply too big for a ten year old.
Instead of going through the trouble of stripping old mesh each time he grew a little, he got another mask, cloth one from strong, elastic material that went under it. He also shelled out some buck to turn it into a reasonable filter for some poisons, which saved him and the team on one of the missions two years before.
He quickly learned to like the mask û it was elastic and so light he sometimes forgot he had it, it could be lenghtened or shortened, uncovering the mouth but leaving upper face covered if he needed to eat and û most importantly û it gave anonmity.
He sighed feeling the cloth of the mask cooling his face. Damn, but those ANBU masks could get hot!
äYo, Mugen.ö He turned to the äBitchö, as they affectionally called their captain
äWazzit?ö He asked lazily reaching for the first cigarette in days.
äAfter we do the evaluation and catch some zÆs, you up for little drinking?ö She grinned
Naruto cocked his head, liting the cigarette with small, one seal Katon.
äHome or bar?ö He asked finally
äChe, as if I would WANT noise and crowd after a mission.ö she snorted äHome.ö
äBYOB?ö
äNah, Kyo still owes me, the slacker.ö Kyo hung his head. äAnd he owes you that bet from month ago. I thought weÆd make him pay it collectively.ö
äHey!ö protested the man in question. äThatÆs cheating, Bitch! ItÆs not like I am rich here!ö
äOh?ö Yashiro raised her eyebrow in very proper, highbred fashion accompanied by identical gesture ftom Tenrou. Naruto often wondered if äthe eyebrow trickö was bred into all bluebloods. Though Kyo didnÆt exhibit it. But then he WAS black sheep.
Kyo cursed.
äSo okay, I am.ö he said sulkily. äBut even my wallet is not without limits.ö
äYeah, right, as if anybody actually believs that.ö Hana rolled her eyes
äI canÆt win, can I?ö he sighed. äOkay, sakeÆs on me.ö
äKnew I could count on you, blue-blood boy.ö Hana smirked. äNow, a little propostion for you, Mugen. Since I know you utterly hate to fill the evaluation reports, IÆll fill out yours...ö
äIÆm all ears!ö Naruto said eagerly
"...if you debrief the rookie." she finished
äThatÆs all?ö he asked sarcastically äMaybe you want pound of my flesh as well, and eye, maybe a leg? Filling out rokieÆs paperwork is just as bad as doing the evaluation report for the team. And giving the ädebriefingö is real pain in the ass too.ö
äWeÆll see about that pound of flesh some time soon.ö Hana smirked and the blonde blanched at her lecherous grin.
æOh man. And here I thought she had forgotten my lewd comments from the month ago.Æ He thought, a skinking feeling deep in his stomach.
äMinor here!ö he raised the hand
äPffttt!ö Kyo snorted. äYeah, riiight. æAny citizen reaching the rank of Genin is hearby treated as an adult in all legal aspects, including marriage and personal relationsÆ Konha civil codex, page thirty one. So technically you ainÆt no minor and you know it.ö
Sometimes, KyoÆs upper class upbringing and diplomatic training as child showed itself in those small actions... Like knowing each law Konha had by heart.
äTraitor!ö Naruto muttered. äOn whos side are you on, bastard?ö
äHey, survival instinct, man.ö he gave Naruto a loopsied grin. äWith male to female ratio in our merry little squad... Well, you know how it is.ö
äIÆll get you for that, Kyo.ö he threatened with a scowl
äYeah, yeah.ö He waved. äGo and debrief the greenhorn.ö
"Umm, could you please not talk to me as I wasnÆt here?" came the timid voice
Hana and Kyo blinked before spotting said rookie standing at the edge of out little team gathering.
äYou were still here?ö they exclaimed in well-practiced unison. Break the rookie, ANBU Team 4 style no jutsu û dismissive disbielief.
Yeesh.
æAnd Hana wonders why people are so goddamn leery of our squad.Æ Thought Naruto rolling his eyes.
It wasnÆt hazing, per se, but very close. It was something practiced by all ANBU field teams that stayed together on permanent basis. ANBU Ops was little bit different than the usual squads. They stayed together permanently and unless somebody died, the squad never accepted substitutes. The cooperation in ANBU Ops teams went beyond simple teamwork. It nearly bordered on kinship. Long-term missions, permanent team-mates, high risk, lack of any support from anyone else save your teammates for months on end... It created bonds that made familiarity shared by Genin teams pale in comparision. On the day Sandaime allowed Naruto to enter ANBU there was a condition û he would enter an Ops team instead of Assassination Squad.
His last stab at the whole äfriendship and will of fireö thing Naruto supposed. That and shielding him from äexcessive violenceö of AS squad. Not to say he didnÆt get his share of violence as an Ops, but Operators usually killed and maimed ninja or hired thugs, not the civilians like Assasination Specialist often was forced to.
äI didnÆt notice her. Did you?ö Hana blinked
äCanÆt say that I have, nope.ö Kyo responded thoughtfully. äYashiro?ö
äShe must have escaped my Byakugan. Quite a feat.ö she said, her voice dryer than Sand country in summer äTenrou?ö
äHer skill is great. I must commend her.ö The tone was as almost chokeful with sarcasm, even more so than TenrouÆs usual little comments äMugen?ö
äTruly, epitome of ninja. She hid well.ö Naruto nodded solemnly
With each sentence, the had-been boisterous rookie ANBU made herself smaller and smaller. There was no trace of pre-mission bravado and self confidence.
æWell, almost getting killed gruesomly by your own bravado and getting abused verablly ever since the mission ended might account for that.Æ Thought Naruto with a scowl
Hana opened her mouth, propably to start another round of äsmack the rookieö but he cut her before she had a chance.
äOkay, funÆs over. Let her live and cease the trauma on the poor greenhorn, sheÆll get enough from me as it is. Get lost. Write the report and IÆll debrief her.ö he took a drag, taking in the herbal concotion deeply into his lungs, allowing it easy acess to his messed up chakra, calming the increasingly erratic flow. äDrinking time like usual?ö
äYeah.ö Hana nodded before waving. äTake care.ö
äYou too, bitch, you too.ö The blonde smiled watching her go before turning sour as he turned to the rookie. Since lower part of his mask was rolled up, she could his scowl.
äNow, rookie, letÆs find ourselves a nice, secluded spot, because in the name of ANBU Operations Team 4 IÆm going to give you an official debriefing. Feeling fucking scared is permited. Shows that you have more than two braincells.ö He said cordially
*
Naruto used to feel weird giving verbal trashings to older nins, especially women. That is until his former captain showed him that good tonguleashing can save life of your comrade, even if it made him or her hate you on pritvate footing for some time.
He had been given one or two similar ädebriefingsö when he joined ANBU, which were nothing more than caustic, harsh and mercilles list of mistakes and weaknessess made just after the missions, when pain was still fresh and adrenaline was running out, leading straight for physical and mental crashdown. Not an easy thing to swallow by any stretch of imagination.
It was actually one of the tests for ANBU candidates û if they could take the criticsm and DO something about it, they passed. If they threw a hissy fit or û worse û ignored it, they got permanently kicked from ANBU.
Excessive pride and oversestimation of abilities was not something ANBU could afford. It got ninja killed and, even worse, it made ninja FAIL. In ANBU, due to the sensitive nature of the missions, failure was not an option.
Still, for all of itÆs good points, making the girl, still traumatised by near-death expirience via acid, collapse in tears as he ripped her to pieces verablly was not something terribly pleasant.
The girl was a prodigy û from prestigious clan, earned genin early, breezed through chuunin exams and got assigned to ANBU on top of the list, despite beeing only a chuunin. In a word, remarkable specimen. She got through academy with top grades grades, got named genius and, according to her overly proud teachers, had a bright, glorious future. She propably had, but it wasnÆt in ANBU. Since they had lower stress level and were unused to failiure, ANBU broke most geniuses, something that chuunin teachers at the acedmy, never serving in ANBU themselves didnÆt, couldnÆt, know.
By all rights, he should have left there and then, but the utterly pathetic, nearly teary image the girl presnting made him symphatetic.
äListen, I know you are taking this hard but a piece of advice û you either weather it and learn or you might say goodye to ANBU.ö He said bluntly.
äStress, blood, sweat, tears and mission parameters changing so fast that instinct and improvisatoin are the only things keeping you sane and in one pieceû thatÆs what each and every ANBU mission is in the nutshell. It is not glamorous, honorable if demanding job that it seems like or is painted on by academy teachers. ANBU, especially Ops units like ours, is hell on wheels. It is harsh, brutal and bloody job that will leave you with good deal of scars, not even half of them physical and either make you develop a hefty dose of paranoia and several psychoses that will either help you cope or KILL you û either literally or it will make you off yourself.ö
äIf you donÆt believe me, talk with the vets, go for files you have clearance for, talk with the dropouts... But above all, make some good, hard thinking if you want to be an ANBU or if you want to return to being a regular chuunin.ö
She looked at him, eyes glazed over and her face sputing utterly lost look that after three years in ANBU he learned to recognize as shell shock.
Most rookie ANBU wannabes got it when they finished their first ANBU mission.
Very few ninja expirienced the distilled dose of fear, uncertanity and danger that ANBU mission brought until they enterred the ranks. More expirienced ones just needed to deal with higer stress but those less fortunate got the ugliness of the world shoved in their face with brutal honesty of the edged kunai.
There was a reason why some missions are not avaliable to your everyday ninja despite being marked only B or A-class.
He sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead.
äThat is all. Dismissed.ö
He watched her go away, face pensive but thoughtful, before using shunshin and going home in the swirl of leaves.
TBC
Any comments on that would be useful. For those familiar with Wildstorm Comics, yes - Naruto's mask if blatant rip-off of Grifter's mask, only in olive color scheme instead of red. I thought about kakashi's but since Naruto in this fic has deep, near absurd levels of hate and resentment for Hatake, I dismissed and went with this instead.
I wonder if anybody can regognize the girl at the beginning of the chapter - and no, the character is NOT an OC. Although it has been tad...altered
And no, it is NOT Hinata since I despise her type of personality in the canon.
Edit: Cleaned it up a little, but the mess from quotation marks might come from copying and pasting from Word, although I'm not sure. Anyway, that's still the rough draft, so some mistakes still remain. I'll polish it later, but I'm leaving it now as it is as a food for thought, mostly to myself, since I'm writing a small Eva/Bleach cross smippet that had been rattling around my skull and hadn't been giving me any peace lately. Once I'll get that out of my system, I'll prpably turn to White Serpent or continue this.
If he had hoped that the report would calm the Hokage down, Naruto was in for a dissapointment.
The old ninja left in even grimmer mood than he had entered, after grilling young Operations specialist with rows of seemingly unending questions. Just after the door closed, Naruto fell back on the bed with a pained grunt.
He would have done so sooner but that would mean showing weakness. The old man would have propably understood and Naruto was sorely tempted, as his legs started to turn into two jelly pillars of spasming pain but he stood on for the duration, lest his pain invite yet another ägrandfatherlyö tirade. He knew that the old man only did what he thought best but he had long ago found that though Sarutobi meant well he had type of... selective blindness to some things. That and far too much trust in Konoha and itÆs people.
He shook his head tiredly before cursing, as the white spots started to creep in slowly in his field of vision from the rapid movements.
æMigraine aura. Shit.Æ He thought laying down with exaggerated slowness, not wanting to agitate his throbbing head even more.
He wanted to leave the wing and get home before it started but it was too late now. In next five minutes, the spots would turn into all out torrent and he would be literally blind for next few hours. Not to mention in a pain that would make him want to split his skull open with a kunai just to silence the pulsating waves of pure agony that made his muscle spasms and pains almost nice in comparision.
He closed his eyes, trying to breathe slowly and deeply, trying to distance himself from the pain.
æBreathe in... Let it flow into me... Stabilise the heart to make it beat slower... Breathe out...Æ
It was actually one of the first steps into meditation he learned from a monk during one of his missions. He had never been good with meditation, his chakra and mind being what they were, but ironically enough, the migraine allowed him to enter near-zen like state in matter of minutes, which helped as the vertigon increased, making the room spin wildly. If not for the deep breaths he would have propably puked by now. In fact, he almost always DID after the regeneration until he learned the breathing trick.
He had been brought out from his reverie by silent rustle of cloth that was almost like a scraping of the nails on the blackboard to his senses running haywire. He felt the cool, delicate hands touch his face, welcome respite from the burning feeling in his veins.
The hands caressed his cheeks for a momment before settling on his forehead and he sighed at the pleasurable, chilly torrent that slowly crept from his head and seepeed into his veins with gentle firmenss. He didnÆt need to open his eyes to know that the hands were bathed in greenish, live giving tinge of healing chakra that slowly made the acidic sludge of his disturbed chakra calm down and recede.
The hands went away for a second, before returning with the rustle of cloth, cloth that was equally cold when it touched his face and settled on it. With another rustle of cloth and barely-there movement, the skilled fingers tied the knot at the back of his head and fastened the cloth securely over his face. The next breathe he took was slightly chilly and clean of typical odour of the hospital air, filtered by the mask.
He caught the hand just as it receded, giving it a gentle squeeze and he could feel two smooth, chilly palms touching him in return.
"Thank you." He muttered opening his eyes. The polarised lenses of his mask, attuned to his chakra with a well placed seal immideatly dimmed the hurtful rays of the sun but even then, he could see the alabaster features and flowing mane of inky darkness that sorrounded them.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, gently helping him up, her voice like her hands, chilly but pleasant.
"Better." he admitted "But the jolts are as annoying as always, even after you forced into submission."
She frowned, clearly unhappy.
"I only forced them back for now. They will pick up later. You will need to go through Kyoushin as soon as we get home."
Naruto stiffened, before relaxing with a long sigh.
"So itÆs that time, is it? IÆve almost forgotten. Blood letting... Shit. I hate it. And the post-regeneration buzz wonÆt help things one bit." He winced.
"Goddamit. The seals?"
"I prepared them this morning. They will be complete in a few hours."
"Well, no way around that, I guess." He muttered with disgust before leaving that train of thought. "The others?" He asked, getting up gingerly.
She helped him up gently and he awkwardly started shedding his hospital gown as she answered.
"Hana-san is fine, although she has broken arm and Santenmaru wonÆt be in fightig shape any time soon. Kyo-san is shaking the after effects of the genjutsu as we speak, but he is weak from the wounds and will need to rest. ItÆs nothing life threatening so he should be up and running in a day or two."
He finally managed to free himself from the clothes and she gave him the small package that turned out to be his spare uniform which he started to put on, cursing under his breath at the occasional spasm. She chased away his hands and buttoned up the shirt herself.
"Yashiro-san had few broken ribs, but she is mostly fine and Tenrou-san is nearly unscatched, save the gash on her abdomen that is already healed." She glared at him as he struggled with yet another button
"Naruto-sama! Do stay STILL, please." Her voice a sacharinne meneace that was at odds with her calm face.
"Sorry, sorry." He waved apolegtically "And the rookie?"
Young womanÆs hands froze for a second, before returning to dressing him.
"Murasaki-san... Murasaki-san is in coma, Naruto-sama." She said quietly. "The genjutsu hit her... rather hard."
"...Goddamit." He growled through his clenched teeth "I knew it, I just KNEW it taking her on this mission was a mistake! Greener than the spring leaf... She wasnÆt nowhere near READY! What was the Commander THINKING?!"
"Plase try to remind calm, Naruto-sama." She said forcefully, fastening his vest
"Anger agitates your chakra."
He exhaled slowly, trying to calm himself.
"Sorry." he said after few momments "Can you take me to her?"
Any other medic-nin would have just argued and told him to stay in bed, but she knew him almost better than he knew himself.
"Yes. But we must go home immideatly after, Naruto-sama. Promise me." she said, her inky orbs drilling into his relentlessly
"All right." He nodded
*
It was worse than he thought. The girl, bereft of her ANBU armor and mask looked almost ethereally fragile, her already pale countenance only paler with the lost blood, her violet hair spread out on the pillow only enchancing the image. Her bed was sorounded by stadard recovery seals and...
Naruto started a cold, dispassionate litany of foulest curses he could muster.
On the girlÆs head was Class Three Gyakusou seal.
If they had to use THAT wretched thing... This was NOT looking well, by any stretch of the immagination.
The girl was annoying, greener than grass, full of that self-important, mornic pride and rash but she didnÆt deserve something like that.
Nobody should be forced to go though even first phase of that kind of monstrosity. To actually make a Class Three... The girl would be lucky if she wasnÆt stark raving mad after she woke up. If she woke up at all.
The chances of that were... slim. He, after all, knew best. Better than any idiot medics puting it on her, that was for sure.
"Rookie...I swear, if you donÆt wake up... IÆll fucking DRAG you back to the waking world... And IÆll kick your ass from here to Snow country right after." He said with a growl, slipping bonelessly into the nearby chair.
"You foolish, stupid rookie..." He whispered feeling old and tired beyond his years. He closed his eyes.
*
Murasaki Rei, chuunin, proud graduate of Ninja Academy at age ten, chuunin by twelve and ANBU before she hit sweet sixteen, was officially confused.
She didnÆt know what to expect after being assigned to Operations team, but it certainly wasnÆt a pitying look from the few ANBU she asked for directions in the maze-like corridros of the ANBU offices. She didnÆt even KNOW ANBU had offices until today!
The ANBU were helpful, if professionaly detached as she approached them but immideatly after showing them her assigment card, the looks of pity started. She actually caught one of the kunoichi whispering 'Poor girl.' to her collegue after she asked them for directions!
æPoor girl, my ass!Æ She thought with a snort æSome 'poor girl' would never make to ANBU a day after her sixteenth birthday!Æ
Although what was so alarming about this Team 4 she had been assigned to that provoked the looks?
Were they some kind of psychos? Bloodthirsty monsters killing right and left with glee? Cold killing machines without a shred of humanity left? Casual killers without any semblance of higher feelings?
It was possible. After all, this was ANBU and it was well known fact that some ninja were somewhat... not right in the head after few years spent in the ranks, thanks to stress and grueling conditions, even for shinobi life. Even more so, as rumor went, in the Operations division, where the nins could spend months in hostile territory, returning to Konoha for short R&R and going back to the field right after.
Finally reaching the designated door, she stilled herself mentally before knocking.
"Come in."
Obidiently, she opened the door and entered.
The room was suprisingly large. almost as large as HokageÆs office, though far less cluttered. Also, despite the big oaken desk in the middle and rows of file cabinets, it felt oddly empty. Or at least it felt that way until you looked into the eyes of the woman behind the desk.
Yusani Kanna was short and petite woman with dainty features that made her seem like a young teenager rather than the thirty five years old woman she was.
Her oversized, wide sleeved robes and big desk she was sitting behind certainly didnÆt help matters, making her look like a small child that played dress up. One look in her eyes, just one look in those twin pools of frost and suddenly Kanna seemed to dwarf not only her desk or cabinets, but the room as well.
"Murasaki Rei reporting for her assignment, Commander!" The girl saluted smartly, as she was taught, and tried not to loose composure as the two pools of azure meneace that seemeed to stare right through her mask and straight into her soul, measuring her, weighting her in every possible way.
Though it took only a second or two, Rei could feel herself sweating at the CommanderÆs gaze.
"Well, at least youÆre punctual." Muttered the woman "You can stop standing like a pillar of salt and sit down, girl." She gestured to one of the chairs before her desk.
Relaxing slightly, Rei took the nearest chair, sitting down on the edge of the seat, ready to leap back to attention at mommentÆs notice which drew a snort from Kanna.
"Relax, child. I donÆt bite." She smiled slightly "Unless youÆd like me to." she said with an amused glint in her eye.
Rei froze before discreetly backing deeper into her seat.
Kanna shok her head with a chuckle, opening her mouth before the doors slammed open making Rei almost lep out from her seat in surprise.
"Playing with ickle rookieÆs heads, Commander?" Came the wry female voice from behind Rei and she turned to find a feral looking woman with two claw-like stripes on her face, ANBU uniform worn in proper manner but still managing to look somewhat wild on her. She was accompanied by three grey dogs. Three LARGE grey dogs.
"Well I had to pass my time SOMEHOW..." Said the child-like woman sweetly before her face turned into a homidical grimace "...wating for a certain team captain who is over twenty. Fucking. Minutes. LATE." She growled, looming over her desk and radiating killing intent that made Rei want to crawl under her chair or suffocate on the spot. The feral woman blanched slightly, drawing back and her dogs suddenly looking like a set of small and fluffy puppies as they hugged the ground.
Kanna glared at the women before snorting.
"Oh stop cowering, for kamiÆs sake!" she muttered, the killer intent vanishing as if it was never there. "Little bit of intimidation and you fall to pieces. And you call yourself ANBU?" She sighed rubbbing her temples
"ThatÆs the problem with youth today, no endurance at all." She grumbled
Rei stared at the commander dumbly.
æLittle bit of indimidation?Æ
äYes it was.ö
Rei stared at her child-like commander in wonder. She was sure she didnÆt say that out loud. Was she reading her mind?
äNo I didnÆt.ö
Rei boggled.
äUh, commander?ö said the ANBU captain äMight you stop weirding out the rookie, please?ö
äNot my fault you brats are so easy to read.ö the woman grumbled äThat they even let you out of academy without most basic skill in containing your own emotions is a disgrace to Konoha. Katon this, Raiton that, the bigger and louder the better, and to hell with stealth! Who needs it, letÆs just blow things up in louder, more obvious ways! Shinobi, my bony ass!ö she sneered, falling into a well reharsed rant that was cut short by a loud cough.
äCommander? As much as I LOVE,ö The feral woman rolled her eyes äyour most FASCINATING opnion on current state of shinobi education, eveluation of our skills and pointing out the faults of the world in general, might we get to the brass tags here?ö
Kanna loked at the Captain flatly.
äI hate you.ö she grumbled äAnd I had the whole speech going so nicely, too.ö
*
Rei followed her new captain trying to shake off the... slight shock. To say that the ANBU Commander was not waht she expected would be an understatement of the month.
She expected a cold, efficient ninja, proffesional to the core excluding commanding presence on near-Kage levels. Instead she got petite, childlish looking woman who ran hot and cold at the same time, as likely as to crack a joke as she was to radiate killer aura that left you a quiverking bundle of nerves.
äKinda hard to wrap your mind around, right?ö The captain looked at her with a grin äDonÆt worry, youÆll get used to it. She just likes to mess with peopleÆs heads to keep them on their toes. But believe me, you wonÆt find a better commander anywhere. She might seem little weird but once sheÆs all business, get the hell out of her way. SheÆs like flood. Impossible to stand agianst or argue with.ö
ä...Yes, sir.ö
The feral woman rolled her eyes before stopping.
äLook, rookie. You donÆt need to call me sir. I work for a living.ö she said äMy nameÆs Hana, Inuzuka Hana. Captain or Inu-Taicho when we are on a mission or on duty, Hana or äthat gorgeous babeö rest of the time.ö she grinned
ä...Rei.ö
äHmm?ö Hana blinked
äMurasaki Rei. ThatÆs my name." she said äNot rookie.ö
äRookie,ö Hana sighed äI donÆt fucking CARE what your name is. You could be named Sarutobi, Uchiha or even be Fire LordÆs freaking love child and I wouldnÆt care either. Until you get some expirience and stop being a baggage and become useful, youÆll be called ærookieÆ and like it.ö She gazed at Rei for few seconds äYouÆre what, chuunin, right?ö
She nodded.
äGreener then grass, then.ö The woman shook his head with disgust äNo matter. You made to ANBU. Rejoice. YouÆve been assigned to ANBU Operations Division Team 4. Yay. Bet youÆre all proud of yourself, huh?"
"Funky mask, cool looking armor, badass sword in hand, ready and willing to tackle S-class mission, hmm? Ready for all the accolades, the honor, glory and big bucks that you are due, being part of KonhaÆs elite? Well you can stop now.ö
Rei froze as HanaÆs warm gaze suddenly chilled, becoming hard and unforgiving
äReality check, rookie. All that stuff ähonorö and ägloryö they preach about in the academy doesnÆt have the grain of truth in it and the big bucks you get could as well be coated with sweat, tears and blood. Mostly yours. This is a job that leaves marks on the body and stains on the soul mile wide. So if youÆre after that honor and glory, get out. Get out NOW.ö Hana said forcefully
äI know what IÆm doing, Inuzuka-taichou.ö Rei said stiffly äIÆm not some wet behind the ears genin, there is no need to try to scare me.ö
äScare you? Girl, I donÆt think you understand what IÆm trying to tell you at all.ö Hana said calmly äBesides, I donÆt need to scare you. First mission will take care of that. If you survive it, that is.ö
äOh I think IÆll manage.ö Sad the young ANBU wannabe frostly, glaring at her captain. The whole condescieding manner that woman, two or three years older than herself, was displaying was seriously getting on her nerves.
äCocky little thing, arenÆt you?ö Hana raised an eyebrow cooly äPiece of advice, rookie. Faith in your ability is a very good thing to have, but donÆt be too cocky to ask for help. Genin, chuunin, Jounin... That doesnÆt matter here. This is ANBU. Different rules, different mindset, different world and you barely touched the surface. Until you learn how to swim on your own, youÆll need somebody to show you how to swim, or youÆll sink.ö suddenly, the air was thick with killer intent that froze Rei in place äSo loose the attitude, keep your eyes peeled and learn because if you fuck up, the cost wonÆt be just your life or hell of a mess for Konoha but also life of your teammates. And IÆll kill you with my bare hands before I let that happen, understood?ö
ä...Yes, Inuzuka-taichou.ö Rei said meekly, still cowed by the savage killer intent.
äCool.ö Hana grinned cheerfuly and the pressure vanished without a trace äLetÆs go and meeet your new teammates then.ö
æAre everybody in Operations Division bipolar psychopats or something?!Æ Rei thought following the cheerfuly whistling Inuzuka.
*
Carefully, she pressed the knob and slid the door open without a sound.
æOpen? So why...?Æ she opened the door fully and was about to enter before freezing in place as the unbelievably fast kunai flew right in front of her face.
æWhat the hell?!Æ she thought as yet another kunai felw by, this time lower.
äOi. You.ö came the voice from inside the room. She looked inside, careful not to step into the room and blinked. In the corner of the room was a man in full ANBU uniform, sans the armor, sprawled on the chair, his legs on the desk, thick, partially unrolled scroll in his hand. He was rather short, she noticed, with unruly mess of golden-blonde hair and one of the stranger maks she had seen in her life. It wasnÆt the hard mask, typical for ANBU, but cloth that covered his entire face from the brow down, although it was somewhat loose at the bottom.
It was olive in color, with two black triangles, stretched at the upper and lower edges, in the place where his eyes should be. Instead of eyeholes, there was dim grey shape in the middle of triangles, some kind of glass or something similar she guessed, but one that didnÆt reflect light at all. In all her ninja career she had never seen anything even remotely like it.
On his left was a kunoichi in full ANBU attire, like the man wouthout the armor, neatly pressed as if straight from a tailor. Only way she could describe her was...Fierce. She radiated odd type of readiness, despite sitting calmly, as if she was ready to fight for her life at moments notice without a pause. Her midnight black hair were cut rather oddly, falling into her eyes, covering them from view completely and there was a single white strand in the inky darkness that started somwhere on the top of her head and went all the way to her face.
æHow can she even see anything with that haircut?Æ
Her face was angular and rather pretty, deeply tanned to a golden bronze hue, as were the other visible parts of her body. She had a tea service, full with the mat and the beautiful bowls and kettle around her, steaming cup in her hands that she sipped gently from.
äYeah, you.ö the manÆs voice was odly high pitched and, she notticed immideatly, rather annoyed äClose the damn door, itÆs hard enough to read this crap withtout it flabbing in the draft like some demented hummingbird.ö
She rasied her hand, only to retract it as yet another kunai flew by. She carefully looked at the direction it flew and froze.
Near the wall fo the room there was a tall man, his dirty blond hair unruly, ANBU Operations uniform dishelved, as if he slept in it for few days straight and, she noted with distaste, outer mesh nearly open and sleeves rolled up in messy fashion that was blatantly against any dress code regulations. Oddly constrasting with his messy appearance were glasses neatly positioned over his angular, if average face covered in two day stubble. Both of his palms held a kunai... or rather a whole fistful of them, she realised as the man moved his thumbs, fanning out the blades in his palms as if he held a deck of cards.
Few meters in front of the man was a pale woman in...
Rei could feel her eyes widening.
It was picture perfect ANBU uniform in shape and cut, sans the battle armor but it differed in one, glaring way.
æIs that fishnet?Æ Rei thought stumped æAnd that almost see-through material.. Silk? And leather? And... is that TATTOO?! My god... she is practically NAKED!Æ
She wasnÆt far from the thruth, actually. The young woman (and oh, the uniform didnÆt leave ANY doubt at all that this was a woman. Very much of a woman, really) was covered in double layer of see through fishnet that covered her legs, arms and most of the midriff, leaving it bare enough to see a long, serpentine tattoo of twin dragons coiling sinously from her abdomen to the rather impressive cleavege, along with some... strategic, intimate places covered in very thin straps of leather and silk arranged in a manner not unlike a swimsuit.
Skimpy one, at that. And fishnet. LotÆs of fishnet. Although dragons rising äfrom abdomenö would be rather misleading, since judging by the shape, the tails must have started...
Rei blushed in embarassment and outrage.
æWhat a... a..ö she wanted to think äslutö but there was something about the woman, despite the outrageusly slutty get up, that radiated control, poise and odd sense of grace. She was hot and cold, all at the same time without clashing, that was the best way she could describe her. And there was power there. The same thing she felt the first time she laid her eyes on her Jounin sensei, a confidence unmarred by empty arrogance, air of a veteran killer, a dangerous, capable nin that stated in no uncertain terms that abody mornonic enough enough to mess with the kunoichi did this at his own risk.
Well, that air might be accented by the fact that the woman just deflected the kunai thrown by the dishelved man so fast they looked like a stream of metal. With her bare hands. With her eyes BLINDFOLDED. And, Rei relised with a sinking feeling, with enough precission to embede them into several targets positioned at the nearby wall.
No, that woman was no simple slut.
And the man was no pushover either, judging by the casual, lazy ease he displayed throwing few kunai with enough precission to alter the trajectory of some of the deflected blades into second row of targets on the ceeling. Mid flight.
äOnly seven? Sloppy, Kyo-chan.ö the blindfolded woman chukled throathily äA girl might think she is being... neglected. Or maybe you canÆt...handle more, hmm?ö
The man, Kyo, snorted with a smile.
äPrincess, between us two, itÆs YOU who canÆt handle what I have.ö he leered, waggling his eyebrows comically
äSomehow I didnÆt remeber you complaning about my ähandlingö last night.ö she shot back with a smirk
äI didnÆt want to hurt your royal pride, your highness.ö the man waved his kunai as if holding a fan.
äWell you certainly didnÆt hesitate in making me hurt in other ways.ö this time it was the woman who was leering
äNot my fault youÆre so kinky. Not that IÆm complaining, mind you.ö he shrugged
äWell youÆd better.ö the woman sniffed in indignation äAlthough that was fun. Never knew there were so many ways to use a kunai.ö She appeared to be deep in thought for a second äTad tiresome, though.ö
äSee, and I wasnÆt even going full out.ö the man pointed out, oddly sage-like expression
äOh reallly?ö the woman drawled with a.. rather sinister chukle, but the tone was like honeyed velvet, one that made Rei blush up to her hair just hearing it. äYou should show me the... äfull outö then. IÆll be looking forward to it."
äGirl, you canÆt handle full out.ö the man sneered in patronising manner
äOh REALLY?ö even through the blindfold the rised eyebrow was clearly visible
äReally.ö
äWanna bet?ö she asked slyly, taking the blindfold off.
äWhat do I get if I win?ö asked curious man
äWell, you know...ö the woman came up tot he man and bagan whispering and the man perked up almost instantly.
äYouÆre on, princess!ö he shouted with glee
äH-hh... Hh-hh..ö stammered Rei pointing shaking finger at the womanÆs unvelied milky white orbs.
äOh GREAT. The Wonder-duo strikes again.ö muttered the masked man, slapping his face äCanÆt you get a hold on youself once in a while, you perverts?ö
äOh we plan to. Get a hold on ourselves, I mean.ö the woman smirked
äThat we do.ö agreed the man, rubbing his hands with obvious glee
äH-hhh... H-h-yyy...ö stammered Rei again before stopping and clearing her throat with a squeak äHyuuga!ö she finally managed and deflated. The eyes left no doubt to the womanÆs identity but when she tried to reconcile the regal (some might say anal retentive), dour, humorless and proper to the point of obsession Hyuuga with unabashedly perverted, sex-oozing, brash...woman (and she usd the term loosely) was little too much.
äNo Hyuugas here, little girl.ö the woman scowled, her eyes going cold and suddenly Rei could feel a downright suffocating ammount of killer intent directed at her.
äBut...ö she started.
äAre you deaf?ö the woman said coldly äNO. HYUUGAS. HERE.ö
äNo Hyuugas here, right!ö the girl said meekly, doing her best to mold herself into the door
äGood.ö suddenly the not-Hyuuga-with-Hyuuga-eyes was all smiles and turned to the kunai throwing man, embracing him in rather familiar fashion. äNow, where were we...ö
äScaring rookies now, Yashiro? You taking after the boss, or something?ö came HanaÆs wry voice from behind äBad form, princess.ö
This Team 4 was full of surprises, all the...oddness besides. Rei didnÆt know about the short blonde and the girl with the tea-set, but judging by the Inuzuka and the Hyuuga, there were some heavy hitters here. And the man û Nagi, she reminded herself û to throw Kunai with such precission and speed... That took serious skill.
äAnd you two slackers...ö she looked at the blonde and the woman next to him äKyo I can understand, whipped as he is...ö
äHey!ö the man protested weakly
ä...But not to hep your new teammate...? Bad form, bad form all the way, guys.ö she shook her head in mock disapointment.
äExCUSE me?ö said the blonde laying the scroll on his desk äPlease do repeat that, taicho, because I think I just misheard.ö he said slowly
The Inuzuka woman only grinned.
"Oh you gotta be SHITTING me, Bitch.ö said the blonde flatly äWe are one man short for, like, forever and when they deign us äworthyöö he made quotation marks with his fingers ä... all they send us is some wet behinds the ears rookie? Is that some kind of a fucking joke?!ö
äWell youÆve been bugging the Boss for addition to the squad. Now you have it.ö the Inuzuka shruggd
"Addition, yes. Some goddamn rookie? NO.ö he said exasperated äI was asking Kanna-chan for a goddamn genjutsu specialist, or at least a mildly genjutsu-capable Operator! Not some rookie chuunin, for kamiÆs sake!ö
äHey!ö yelled Rei with indignation. ANBU or not, that shrimp was insulting her. Nobody did that! Well, except for Commander... And Inuzuka-taicho...
äQuiet.ö the word was whispered but had power like a whip crack The woman with the tea looked (or at least Rei thought she looked, with all that hair she wasnÆt sure) äYouÆre interrupting my tea time.ö
äSorry Tenrou.ö the masked man apologised, looking oddly nervous. So did, she realised with astonishment, the captain. And the not-Hyuuga. And even that Nagi person.
Inuzuka-taicho coughed, clearing her throat.
äAll right, rookie, meet the team. On the left is Sagato Kyo, first class slacker, glutton and perv...ö the man made a mocking bow, or at least as much bow as the woman holding him would allow äKyo is our resident long-range weapon and ninjutsu specialist and also doubles as a seal specialist from time to time. The oversexed slutpuppy hanging on him...ö the said æoversexed slutpuppyÆsniffed.
äYouÆre just jelaous because you donÆt get any.ö she said haughtily and HanaÆs brow twitched slightly before she picked up again ä...is named Yashiro, no last name. Whe sheÆs not being her usual, annoying self, sinÆt giving Hyuuga clan a collecitve ulcer or hanging on from Kyo she doubles as our close combat specialist and field medic.ö
äThe guy in the mask is Mugen.ö she gestured and the blonde waved lazily äMugen, aside from being ninjutsu specialist also handles some aggresive scouting, äloudö assassination and counter-genjutsu work. The gal with hair in her eyes is Hijikata Tenrou, inflitration, äsilentö assassination and espionage. Though annoy her and she can turn you into sashimi with her sword. And then there is me.ö she gestured to herself äCommand of this merry little band of outcasts, nymphos and slackers aside, IÆm close and mid-range combat, wilderness and tracking.
äOkay, so she is a rookie. Ourö Mugen said with obvious distaste ärookie. What now?
äSO glad you asked, Mugen!ö HanaÆs smile was wide and positively gleeful
Mugen aka Uzumaki Naruto had a sudden sinking feeling.
æOh this WONÆT be good.Æ
*
äYo, blondie.ö the forceful, if silent voice shook him from his slumber
Naruto yawned opening my eyes
äWhuzza...?ö he said sleepily
äGeez, how can you sleep now?ö came the disgusted female voice from the rookie. äWhat kind of ninja are you? IsnÆt this supposed ot be stakeout?ö
Wolf-mask on the upper branch chuckled hearing that.
äYo, Bitch.ö He said tiredly indicating the rookie. äYou brought that, right? What for?ö
äSheÆs actually competent, Mugen.ö she chukled at the outraged sound from the female. äJust a rookie. SheÆs slow on the uptake a little bit but bear with her.ö
äHey!ö protested Rei
äOh shut up and go to sleep, you moron.ö He muttered with disgust. äYou might not get the chance later and itÆs rather hard to make seals while falling asleep on your feet.ö
äDonÆt act so high and mighty with me, shrimp!ö She snarled, her voice edgy. Your mask is still featurless, which means youÆre not much longer in ANBU than me.ö
äOh man.ö Wolf said in low voice to Wolverine. äNow sheÆs done it.ö
Although he couldnÆt see Cat under the mask, Naruto knew she had amused look on her face.
He could feel his eyebrow twitch. Was he getting that predictable?
äIf you had more than two brain cells to rub together, you would notice that one of the veteran ANBU that accompany us has those funny, pearly white eyes.ö he started, explaining slowly, as to a child äAnd what are those funny, pearly eyes famous for? ThatÆs right!ö He mock cheered at the realisation hitting her that was clearly visible in her body language. Girl was way too open. äByakugan, the all seeing, all famous Konoha bloodlimit! Which means that regardless of we watch or not, our friend hereö Naruto motioned to the Cat faced mask äwill notice it faster that any of us. So why waste time, if you can recover and gather strength you might need later?
äAnd on the final note.ö He said pointedly touching the forehead symbol of his otherwise feateruless and clean mask. äThis little swirl here marks me as a veteran, rookie. Learn the difference.ö
"Maaan... And I SO waied for the ämoronic rokieö tonguelashing." whined the äBitchö sulkily giving small pack of coins to Cat. "You just cost me my new set of shuriken, man!"
He stared incredosuly.
They were making bets?
äOh grow up, Bitch.ö He said tiredly, closing eyes again. äIt is way too early for that shit.ö
*
äBitchö took of her mask, revealing young and quite attractive face of the Inuzuka Hana.
äSo, howÆs it?" asked Kyo, taking of his wolverine mask and clearing off the sweat that had, as always, gathered at the edges.
äThe Boss has the reports which means that we are almost home free.ö Hana stretched luxoriously, moaning loudly as her neck poped loudly
äWould you PLEASE stop doing that. ItÆs disgusting.ö Cat mask already off, the frown was clearly wisible on YashiroÆs face.
äDonÆt get your panties in the bunch, glass-eye girl.ö Hana rolled her eyes over the old argument
äExcuse me?ö YashiroÆs voice gone deceptively calm over the hated nickname
äShikaku is right. Women, so troublesome.ö Naruto muttered before whistling shrilly, stopping the escalating argument in itÆs tracks. äNow that I have your attention... What do you mean äalmostö home free? He asked
äTwo words... Evaluation report.ö Hana said disgustedly
äThere was a collective moan with hefty dose of cursing from their usually well mannered sword nut. Tenrou hated paperwork with passion fit for better cause.ö
äNow?ö Kyo asked incredously äItÆs freaking three in the morning!ö
äYeah, what gives?ö Naruto said cursiously. äWe havenÆt even made our qouta yet, there is hardly anything TO evalute, for KamiÆs sake!ö
äTrue. Most curious.ö Yashiro frowned
"YouÆll get creases." he smirked at the ex-Hyuuga
"Well, atl least IÆll look more mature." she said serenly, staring from her superior height.
He muffled a curse and Kyo laughed out uprariusly.
äIÆll get you yet, princess.ö Naruto muttered with a glare at which she smiled, ruffling his head affectionally. äYou will try.ö
Yeah, Yashiro was cool for the fact of posessing sense of humor, something that most Hyuuga wouldnÆt know it it bit them in their constipated asses. Even if her jokes came at NarutoÆs expense. Of course, the äsophisticated punkö with lots of skimpy, see-through fishnet look was also a factor
He gave up, rolling his eyes and taking off his ähard maskö, revealing the cloth mask hanging from the wraparound on his forehead.
LotÆs of people made altertion to their ANBU masks, making them more comfortable, but for him a full undermesh was needeed since the mask was simply too big for a ten year old.
Instead of going through the trouble of stripping old mesh each time he grew a little, he got another mask, cloth one from strong, elastic material that went under it. He also shelled out some buck to turn it into a reasonable filter for some poisons, which saved him and the team on one of the missions two years before.
He quickly learned to like the mask û it was elastic and so light he sometimes forgot he had it, it could be lenghtened or shortened, uncovering the mouth but leaving upper face covered if he needed to eat and û most importantly û it gave anonmity.
He sighed feeling the cloth of the mask cooling his face. Damn, but those ANBU masks could get hot!
äYo, Mugen.ö He turned to the äBitchö, as they affectionally called their captain
äWazzit?ö He asked lazily reaching for the first cigarette in days.
äAfter we do the evaluation and catch some zÆs, you up for little drinking?ö She grinned
Naruto cocked his head, liting the cigarette with small, one seal Katon.
äHome or bar?ö He asked finally
äChe, as if I would WANT noise and crowd after a mission.ö she snorted äHome.ö
äBYOB?ö
äNah, Kyo still owes me, the slacker.ö Kyo hung his head. äAnd he owes you that bet from month ago. I thought weÆd make him pay it collectively.ö
äHey!ö protested the man in question. äThatÆs cheating, Bitch! ItÆs not like I am rich here!ö
äOh?ö Yashiro raised her eyebrow in very proper, highbred fashion accompanied by identical gesture ftom Tenrou. Naruto often wondered if äthe eyebrow trickö was bred into all bluebloods. Though Kyo didnÆt exhibit it. But then he WAS black sheep.
Kyo cursed.
äSo okay, I am.ö he said sulkily. äBut even my wallet is not without limits.ö
äYeah, right, as if anybody actually believs that.ö Hana rolled her eyes
äI canÆt win, can I?ö he sighed. äOkay, sakeÆs on me.ö
äKnew I could count on you, blue-blood boy.ö Hana smirked. äNow, a little propostion for you, Mugen. Since I know you utterly hate to fill the evaluation reports, IÆll fill out yours...ö
äIÆm all ears!ö Naruto said eagerly
"...if you debrief the rookie." she finished
äThatÆs all?ö he asked sarcastically äMaybe you want pound of my flesh as well, and eye, maybe a leg? Filling out rokieÆs paperwork is just as bad as doing the evaluation report for the team. And giving the ädebriefingö is real pain in the ass too.ö
äWeÆll see about that pound of flesh some time soon.ö Hana smirked and the blonde blanched at her lecherous grin.
æOh man. And here I thought she had forgotten my lewd comments from the month ago.Æ He thought, a skinking feeling deep in his stomach.
äMinor here!ö he raised the hand
äPffttt!ö Kyo snorted. äYeah, riiight. æAny citizen reaching the rank of Genin is hearby treated as an adult in all legal aspects, including marriage and personal relationsÆ Konha civil codex, page thirty one. So technically you ainÆt no minor and you know it.ö
Sometimes, KyoÆs upper class upbringing and diplomatic training as child showed itself in those small actions... Like knowing each law Konha had by heart.
äTraitor!ö Naruto muttered. äOn whos side are you on, bastard?ö
äHey, survival instinct, man.ö he gave Naruto a loopsied grin. äWith male to female ratio in our merry little squad... Well, you know how it is.ö
äIÆll get you for that, Kyo.ö he threatened with a scowl
äYeah, yeah.ö He waved. äGo and debrief the greenhorn.ö
"Umm, could you please not talk to me as I wasnÆt here?" came the timid voice
Hana and Kyo blinked before spotting said rookie standing at the edge of out little team gathering.
äYou were still here?ö they exclaimed in well-practiced unison. Break the rookie, ANBU Team 4 style no jutsu û dismissive disbielief.
Yeesh.
æAnd Hana wonders why people are so goddamn leery of our squad.Æ Thought Naruto rolling his eyes.
It wasnÆt hazing, per se, but very close. It was something practiced by all ANBU field teams that stayed together on permanent basis. ANBU Ops was little bit different than the usual squads. They stayed together permanently and unless somebody died, the squad never accepted substitutes. The cooperation in ANBU Ops teams went beyond simple teamwork. It nearly bordered on kinship. Long-term missions, permanent team-mates, high risk, lack of any support from anyone else save your teammates for months on end... It created bonds that made familiarity shared by Genin teams pale in comparision. On the day Sandaime allowed Naruto to enter ANBU there was a condition û he would enter an Ops team instead of Assassination Squad.
His last stab at the whole äfriendship and will of fireö thing Naruto supposed. That and shielding him from äexcessive violenceö of AS squad. Not to say he didnÆt get his share of violence as an Ops, but Operators usually killed and maimed ninja or hired thugs, not the civilians like Assasination Specialist often was forced to.
äI didnÆt notice her. Did you?ö Hana blinked
äCanÆt say that I have, nope.ö Kyo responded thoughtfully. äYashiro?ö
äShe must have escaped my Byakugan. Quite a feat.ö she said, her voice dryer than Sand country in summer äTenrou?ö
äHer skill is great. I must commend her.ö The tone was as almost chokeful with sarcasm, even more so than TenrouÆs usual little comments äMugen?ö
äTruly, epitome of ninja. She hid well.ö Naruto nodded solemnly
With each sentence, the had-been boisterous rookie ANBU made herself smaller and smaller. There was no trace of pre-mission bravado and self confidence.
æWell, almost getting killed gruesomly by your own bravado and getting abused verablly ever since the mission ended might account for that.Æ Thought Naruto with a scowl
Hana opened her mouth, propably to start another round of äsmack the rookieö but he cut her before she had a chance.
äOkay, funÆs over. Let her live and cease the trauma on the poor greenhorn, sheÆll get enough from me as it is. Get lost. Write the report and IÆll debrief her.ö he took a drag, taking in the herbal concotion deeply into his lungs, allowing it easy acess to his messed up chakra, calming the increasingly erratic flow. äDrinking time like usual?ö
äYeah.ö Hana nodded before waving. äTake care.ö
äYou too, bitch, you too.ö The blonde smiled watching her go before turning sour as he turned to the rookie. Since lower part of his mask was rolled up, she could his scowl.
äNow, rookie, letÆs find ourselves a nice, secluded spot, because in the name of ANBU Operations Team 4 IÆm going to give you an official debriefing. Feeling fucking scared is permited. Shows that you have more than two braincells.ö He said cordially
*
Naruto used to feel weird giving verbal trashings to older nins, especially women. That is until his former captain showed him that good tonguleashing can save life of your comrade, even if it made him or her hate you on pritvate footing for some time.
He had been given one or two similar ädebriefingsö when he joined ANBU, which were nothing more than caustic, harsh and mercilles list of mistakes and weaknessess made just after the missions, when pain was still fresh and adrenaline was running out, leading straight for physical and mental crashdown. Not an easy thing to swallow by any stretch of imagination.
It was actually one of the tests for ANBU candidates û if they could take the criticsm and DO something about it, they passed. If they threw a hissy fit or û worse û ignored it, they got permanently kicked from ANBU.
Excessive pride and oversestimation of abilities was not something ANBU could afford. It got ninja killed and, even worse, it made ninja FAIL. In ANBU, due to the sensitive nature of the missions, failure was not an option.
Still, for all of itÆs good points, making the girl, still traumatised by near-death expirience via acid, collapse in tears as he ripped her to pieces verablly was not something terribly pleasant.
The girl was a prodigy û from prestigious clan, earned genin early, breezed through chuunin exams and got assigned to ANBU on top of the list, despite beeing only a chuunin. In a word, remarkable specimen. She got through academy with top grades grades, got named genius and, according to her overly proud teachers, had a bright, glorious future. She propably had, but it wasnÆt in ANBU. Since they had lower stress level and were unused to failiure, ANBU broke most geniuses, something that chuunin teachers at the acedmy, never serving in ANBU themselves didnÆt, couldnÆt, know.
By all rights, he should have left there and then, but the utterly pathetic, nearly teary image the girl presnting made him symphatetic.
äListen, I know you are taking this hard but a piece of advice û you either weather it and learn or you might say goodye to ANBU.ö He said bluntly.
äStress, blood, sweat, tears and mission parameters changing so fast that instinct and improvisatoin are the only things keeping you sane and in one pieceû thatÆs what each and every ANBU mission is in the nutshell. It is not glamorous, honorable if demanding job that it seems like or is painted on by academy teachers. ANBU, especially Ops units like ours, is hell on wheels. It is harsh, brutal and bloody job that will leave you with good deal of scars, not even half of them physical and either make you develop a hefty dose of paranoia and several psychoses that will either help you cope or KILL you û either literally or it will make you off yourself.ö
äIf you donÆt believe me, talk with the vets, go for files you have clearance for, talk with the dropouts... But above all, make some good, hard thinking if you want to be an ANBU or if you want to return to being a regular chuunin.ö
She looked at him, eyes glazed over and her face sputing utterly lost look that after three years in ANBU he learned to recognize as shell shock.
Most rookie ANBU wannabes got it when they finished their first ANBU mission.
Very few ninja expirienced the distilled dose of fear, uncertanity and danger that ANBU mission brought until they enterred the ranks. More expirienced ones just needed to deal with higer stress but those less fortunate got the ugliness of the world shoved in their face with brutal honesty of the edged kunai.
There was a reason why some missions are not avaliable to your everyday ninja despite being marked only B or A-class.
He sighed tiredly, rubbing his forehead.
äThat is all. Dismissed.ö
He watched her go away, face pensive but thoughtful, before using shunshin and going home in the swirl of leaves.
TBC
Any comments on that would be useful. For those familiar with Wildstorm Comics, yes - Naruto's mask if blatant rip-off of Grifter's mask, only in olive color scheme instead of red. I thought about kakashi's but since Naruto in this fic has deep, near absurd levels of hate and resentment for Hatake, I dismissed and went with this instead.
I wonder if anybody can regognize the girl at the beginning of the chapter - and no, the character is NOT an OC. Although it has been tad...altered
And no, it is NOT Hinata since I despise her type of personality in the canon.Edit: Cleaned it up a little, but the mess from quotation marks might come from copying and pasting from Word, although I'm not sure. Anyway, that's still the rough draft, so some mistakes still remain. I'll polish it later, but I'm leaving it now as it is as a food for thought, mostly to myself, since I'm writing a small Eva/Bleach cross smippet that had been rattling around my skull and hadn't been giving me any peace lately. Once I'll get that out of my system, I'll prpably turn to White Serpent or continue this.
