Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Colourless Vanity	By : Cepheus Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1743 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Approach
- 2-Offer
- 3-Understand
- 4-Departure
- 5-Meeting
- 6-Truth
- 7-Control
- 8-Burning
- 9-Observing
- 10-Forming
- 11-Forcing
- 12-Portraying
- 13-Organizing
- 14-Honing
- 15-Entering
- 16-Bruising
- 17-Admitting
- 4
- 5
- 6
Edited: 11/09/2014

Note: Kakashi and Iruka never interacted while they were both in the ANBU troops. Kakashi mostly kept to himself, asking for solo missions, and although everybody knew of him, he never bonded with many inside the ops. Iruka had his own Hunter-nin team, and preferred to only take his mask off with them. Kakashi can also recognise Itachi’s old mask, but that will come to play later on.
Cepheus: I’m glad to see that many readers enjoy Hyoo. I usually don’t like prominent OCs, but since this plot needed one, I am trying to shape him believably.
Thank you, readers and reviewers. :3
                                                                         …–…–…–…–…–…–…
“Talking”
‘Thinking’
–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–
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                                                                         Colourless Vanity
                                                                         Chapter 05: Meeting
Naruto followed his commander without speaking.
He was paying close attention to the way he moved, having long since noticed the way ANBU seemed to move more silently than other shinobi, and not wanting to show his inexperience to the man.
He was still awed by the sheer strength he could detect from him, and the way he moved and acted made Naruto subconsciously compare Hyoodoku with other ninja he had met before. On one side, he seemed to be more restrained, more aware of his own body than other shinobi he had seen were, including not making any unnecessary movement, and Naruto wondered if that was specific of him as a person or a requirement to be in the ANBU.
Naruto had been able to observe a lot of shinobi of various backgrounds and skills, and one of the first things they were taught at the academy was to move stealthily. His own skills had only started to improve after he had used his clothes as a boost to learn to be more silent, and he still had a lot to learn, but even then Hyoo seemed to be on another level entirely from, say, someone like Ebisu.
Kakashi himself moved silently, a testament of his skills and experience, but despite that Naruto could see that even Kakashi lacked something that Hyoo possessed, at least in stealth. The commander seemed to be not just quiet, but also light on his feet, and left almost no trace of his passage.
While Naruto himself was not aware that Kakashi had been an ANBU, and so he wouldn’t know that he had once taken orders directly under Hyoo, he was right in that respect. Hyoo’s strength maybe wasn’t as great as that of other famous shinobi, like Tsunade or Jiraiya, but his speed and stealth were his best traits, and nobody alive came close to even imitating them.
After the first couple of miles, Naruto started to worry about the pace set by his commander. It wasn’t that his stamina was bad –in fact, his endurance was higher than most shinobi twice his age– but with every step Hyoo took he seemed to move faster than Naruto could follow, and he could not even hope to copy those flexuous movements.
Determined to find a way to copy him, Naruto hurried forwards, keeping a close distance with Hyoo and observing the way he moved in detail; there was nothing he could see that was different from what he did, and yet there had to be something, because Hyoo was still faster.
He tried to pace himself differently, taking wider steps and swinging with each jump, but that didn’t chance the situation at all, and Hyoo’s pace wasn’t even that different.
Was it a matter of strength or style or…
The ANBU had taken notice of Naruto’s struggles, but he had been doing some observations of his own so he hadn’t done anything to encourage or dissuade Naruto’s attempts to copy him; he decided to speak up only when he noticed his companion had started to appear frustrated with his inability to keep up.
“You shouldn’t worry so much about your pace,” he called out, breaking the silence and making Naruto look up at him, startled. Hyoo slowed down a bit. “It is not something you can learn just by looking”.
Naruto frowned. “Why’s that?”
“Because it’s not the same technique that is taught at the academy,” Hyoo replied. “Rather than trying to imitate something that you find interesting, the best course of action is to always ask. You will not be reprimanded for wanting to learn”.
Naruto flushed a bit, but nodded. “Ok,” he replied, a bit subdued. Never to refuse an offer, he perked up. “So what’s up with your speed?”
“As you might be aware, the academy teaches every wannabe ninja the roots of our profession. The basic knowledge includes theories, history and weaponry, plus the three jutsu required by all trainees who want to become shinobi”. Naruto nodded, keeping quiet. “The academy serves to prepare ninja, but if they want to grow further, they will have to do it on their own, training under a Jounin instructor or with their clans, or teammates. What the academy teaches is only a fraction of what serves to make a shinobi, and of that fraction, an even smaller percentage is devoted to stealth and movement”.
Naruto hummed under his breath, nodding after a moment.
It was true. For kids who were not from shinobi families it was harder to learn things, and that was why making friends at the academy was a good thing; teachers tried to push children together, and even if clans with private styles would not allow their kids to teach outsiders, joint practices were common and certain things could be taught regardless of family ties.
Naruto himself hadn’t had much to do with that –whenever he tried to make a friend, the kid’s parents would hurriedly intervene, leaving Naruto behind. Even with kids coming from families who didn’t care much about it –like the Nara, or the Akimichi– Naruto hadn’t had much interaction after a certain point. Shikamaru and Chouji had been his sorta friends for a while, but then they had been pushed apart for one reason or another –Shikamaru was too lazy, Chouji didn’t seem interested much in stuff even back then, and then Ino didn’t like him, as she believed all the lies adults spread about him, and other kids were very vocal about their parents ‘being right about Naruto’. He guessed that even for kids who didn’t really have anything against him it would have been hard to find reasons to play with him.
In a way, learning about stealth had been exactly like holding chopsticks. He didn’t have someone to teach him the right way to do it, but he was a good observer, so he had managed on his own, and when he had started wearing orange it had turned into a big game, too.
Maybe it wasn’t exactly orthodox, but it had worked for him.
“Maybe you have realised that already, but not all kids from your class run the same way,” Hyoo continued, dragging Naruto’s attention back to him. “You prefer to brace the weight of your body on your legs and push yourself forwards, arms unresisting against the wind, is that correct?”
Naruto nodded, looking down at himself. Even if he concentrated on running normally, once he got up to the tree branches he would automatically shift like that, bracing himself against the wind as much as he could.
He had never really given much attention to that before.
“The Inuzuka clan have a similar way of running, and it suits them and their partnership with their dog companions, oftentimes using their arms to give them a sprint forwards. There are different styles that vary from clan to clan, just as there are specific jutsu linked to each family,” Hyoo glanced over at Naruto to make sure he was following him –he was. “Of course certain things simply work without having to concentrate on them, because in the middle of a chase you would be hard pressed to find some attention to spare on your feet, right?”
Naruto chuckled. He had a pretty clear picture of how it would go if he did that while running on a tree, and face-planting on the ground did not seem nice.
“Still, indulge me,” Hyoo pointed at Naruto’s feet. “When you are about to land after each jump, you brace your body for the impact, tense your muscles, ease the abrupt contact between your foot and the branch, and then release the tension as you spring forwards”.
Naruto had never been one for technicalities, but at Hyoo’s nod he slowed down a bit and tried to focus on his own movements, which he had been doing up until then without much consideration. It took him a bit, because concentrating on them made him stumble and lose his pace, but he finally managed to follow through for a few jumps, and had to admit Hyoo had been right. His leg muscles tensed up a split second before he landed somewhere, as did the muscles of his arms, biceps and hands did when he was about to take a hold of a branch.
He tried to stop focusing on it, and hurried up once again. “Yeah,” he agreed out loud, thinking Hyoo was expecting a reply from him. “Isn’t that the right way? Is there even a wrong way to do it? Is yours different then?”
Hyoo snorted in amusement. “It depends, really. How do you feel after a long day of training and running around? Or while you are in a long–term mission away from Konoha?”
Naruto shrugged a bit. ‘I’m tired, of course… and my muscles ache,’ he thought. He said as much.
“That is because this instinctual way of running causes the tendons and muscles to be in a continuous state of tension. They grow tired and ache due to the constant strain of moving from stiff to relaxed, so the overall speed is reduced,” was the reply. Hyoo’s voice sounded distinctly satisfied. “It is a slow but steady way to work on your endurance and strength, and your muscles will grow stronger with time. Not all shinobi find this effective for their training schedules, though, or their body types are not fit for such a long-term training, and the setbacks are difficult to overcome at the start”.
Naruto pursed his lips in wonder. He hadn’t thought there could be different ways to train even just the running, he had always thought that would come naturally, and now he was learning that even thinking that was wrong.
Being a ninja meant to think about a lot of things, and he was glad someone was taking his time to explain it to him.
“Say,” he started, then belatedly realised that Hyoo was acting not just as a teacher, but as his commander, and he froze. “Hyoo-san,” he added after a split second of hesitation, feeling awkward because of the suffix but not wanting to appear disrespectful. “What about your way or running then? How is it different from mine?”
Hyoo smiled behind his mask. “Unless we are in a meeting, or in the company of outsiders, or in a mission, you’re allowed to call me just Hyoo, or Hyoo-taichou. I do not like stiff formalities when they are not required,” he reassured the teen. “As for that… yes. My style of running requires intensive training, just like yours, but an advantage is that it eases the tension in the muscles, allowing you to tire less”.
Perking up at that, Naruto once again observed Hyoo’s feet for some clue about this different form of running, looking so intent that Hyoo couldn’t restrain a chuckle.
While Naruto hated studying, he was a master in training and application, so if it was just a matter of practice, he wouldn’t mind trying out this new style.
“If you are really interested, I could explain you, but you will find it harder than the method you use now, because it won’t be something you do instinctually. If you find out your way fits you better, it would be no good to change it and have to re-learn subconscious movements from scratch”.
Naruto considered that for a moment before shrugging. He didn’t mind trying anyway, who knew, maybe it would benefit him. besides, just learning something new was enough to make him eager to start.
“Well then. The part you need to focus on is the landing. Whether you are using your hand or your foot to propel you forwards, there is a moment where all your weight will be concentrated there. It is very easy to lose your footing or slip”.
In order to offer a visual aid to his explanation, Hyoo reached out for a branch with his hand, fingers curling around the bark and dangling for a few seconds, his running halted.
Nodding to signal he understood, Naruto hurried to look closer at what the commander would do.
It was indeed easy to slip and fall, and even seasoned ninja had moments of inattentiveness or fatigue where they miscalculated their strength, or the closeness of a branch. He was used to falling because he had done that a lot before starting the academy, but even nowadays he could easily recount more than one occasion where he had been so tired he had fallen from a tree.
That was why a lot of his training consisted in exercises to form muscular strength, in order to have easy control over his weight whenever he had to put it all on a single spot.
Once the muscles were too strained, they’d fail to compensate, and result in slipping or falling.
“Instinctively, you tense up because you feel a branch approach. You consciously know that it will hurt if you are not prepared, and the memory of that pain forces the muscle to tense up. The speed is a constant unless you halt your running or decide to speed up, so it makes the movement even trickier”.
Without apparent strain, Hyoo twisted his body and applied force on his arm, swinging gracefully to the side and landing on a nearby branch.
“To say that I don’t allow my muscles to tense up is easier said than done, especially if you don’t know any better. You have to forget about muscle memory, and teach your body not to tense up every time you land. Relaxing your muscles, accepting the strain and the impact rather than preparing against it, allows your speed not to decrease whenever you land, and you swing forwards by adding to the next step the strength of the past one, acting like the branch is a trampoline. Ultimately you gain more speed, and your muscles feel less strain”.
Naruto blinked. As Hyoo had said, it was easier said than done. If he were to focus on each jump he’d lose sight of his surroundings, which would leave him completely exposed to any sort of danger.
Of course this meant he would have to devote some time training himself into not tensing up, as he couldn’t practice this while in battle or while chasing someone.
It was tricky, but Naruto always liked a good challenge, and this seemed like a good one.
Amused, Hyoo decided to offer another tip to the younger shinobi. “If you find yourself with some spare time, I’d suggest observing the nature all around you. Each animal has its own habitat, and they all move by instinct. The way they jump and run is the only possible way for them, the only way it could work. Genetics provided them with the best possible choice for their particular habitat, and as such they don’t need to change the way they interact with it in order to have the best possible outcome”.
Naruto nodded eagerly.
For a shinobi, instincts were very important, although not vital. He was used to follow his own most of the time, so Hyoo’s suggestion was fitting, in a way. He made a mental note to give this animal watching thing a try next time he had some time in his hands. Maybe Tora the cat would let him to follow him around for a while next time…
If there was something Naruto was good at, that was practicing, after all.
“Just remember that you won’t know which one suits you best until you have tried them both for a while and compared the results. It is tricky because your usual way takes more time to give results, but mine needs more training to be mastered, and until then you might keep messing things up”.
Naruto nodded, signalling he understood. It was a choice between keeping on the way he had been, or jumping in the dark, almost literally, with the new method.
As he was still contemplating it, they reached a meadow that stretched in front of them, devoid of trees; Hyoo’s pace did not seem to slow down as he moved down from the last branch to run on the grass, and in a couple long steps he was already on the other side, sailing back up in the canopy with Naruto trailing behind. He did indeed notice he had slowed down a bit while falling down from the tree onto the ground, and that cemented in him the desire to try the new method.
The way he was starting to see it was simple –his motions were a sum of a lot of actions (jumping, landing, crouching, pushing forwards and jumping again), while Hyoo seemed to move in a single, swift motion, apparently at ease.
‘I want to look like that, too’ the young shinobi thought fervently.
He switched tactic instantly. As he ran across the grass, he took this opportunity to focus on his tense muscles, trying to get them to relax. It wasn’t easy, and it took him the whole meadow to get to the point where, even with focusing on them, he could relax his muscles, but at least he was there for now.
The meadow ended and he tried to keep himself relaxed as he jumped upwards to the awaiting nearest branch, mind completely focused.
It was then that he felt it; for that single moment, as he hovered in mid-air in the middle of an action, his attention trying to split evenly between the tree in front of him, his muscles trying to tense, the rest of his body and his breathing and a million other things, Naruto felt a wave of excitement.
It had been a while since he had felt like this while running –the exhilaration feeling of forgetting everything but this, of being in the middle of learning something and at the same time without expectations. It felt wonderful, and he had missed it.
Lost in the unexpected feeling, Naruto forgot to focus on his muscles, and he landed with both his right hand and his left foot on the branch, completing the motion without thinking about it, crouching down and springing forwards without pausing. Shocked at the lack of resistance he felt, Naruto let out a hiss and felt his speed increase slightly.
The fact that he had managed (although by chance) to follow Hyoo’s example made him feel victorious, an she smiled widely under his mask, completely forgetting to keep himself in the same state of focus, and because of that he found the following branch inches away from him, and trying to not panic about it, he tensed up his muscles and landed heavily on it. His muscles sent a wave of pain through his leg, making him wince.
“Shit–” he scrambled forwards and managed not to halt his pace, but he returned to his normal running style, chagrined and slightly embarrassed.
At least he had tried out the new method, and he could feel the difference right away, just as Hyoo had said.
Determined to try again, Naruto was so focused on his feet that he didn’t even realise Hyoo had slowed down again and was now at his side.
“Don’t overdo it,” he warned the teen, his tone amused. “It will take time to learn how to do it seamlessly and without focusing on it too long. Rushing will only break your concentration and make things hut more. And this is not a suggestion –you will not skip passages just because you want to learn things faster. I won’t allow it –not for this exercise, not for anything else”.
Feeling suddenly nervous, Naruto hastily nodded. Despite the lighter tone the man had used before, it was clear Hyoo was serious now.
Not that Naruto would skip stuff just because he wanted to hurry. He’d always said he would only reach the top by using the legit road, those weren’t empty words… and yet, he had to admit that rushing was his speciality. He often thought outside the box and he guessed that was ok, but rushing through things meant sloppy learning, and he could see why Hyoo was against that.
“Naruto, look –we’ve reached the hideout”.
Blue eyes snapped up, staring in surprise at his leader and then in front of him; he hadn’t realised they were already there, too busy thinking about running and about his muscles.
Right there in front of him was a giant structure, vaguely similar in shape to the Academy, yet completely different at the same time. It wasn’t as tall as the Hokage tower, but it was large, slithering out of sight behind trees and bushes in both directions.
The building had at least three floors by what Naruto could see, though he wouldn’t know if it had a basement until he checked its interior, and the walls were of a light brown colour that easily fit in with the nature surrounding it. It wasn’t hard to spot, but he guessed they had passed some sort of genjutsu on the way, and while Naruto was bad at that kind of techniques, he was sure he’d have to learn how to recognise one at least, and soon.
As they got closer, Naruto noticed that the building seemed to curve, leaving space to a meadow with some training grounds. The area seemed rather quiet, but that wasn’t unexpected. At this time, the ANBU were probably busy doing missions or other things.
Further ahead, Naruto could see some smaller structures of the same colour, hidden in the foliage. He guessed they could be storage grounds or something.
Naruto had never been anywhere near this structure before, even though the place was obviously still within the perimeter of the protective wall around Konoha, but looking at how things were organized, he could see it was like a different place altogether, somewhere private and secluded, only kept for the ANBU and not to be shared.
By what he knew of the ANBU, they were a tightly-knitted group, and it was obvious since they only took the hardest, higher ranked missions. They always kept aside from normal shinobi, and with their own training grounds and facilities, he could get why.
For someone of Naruto’s age though, this simply looked far too cool.
“It’s… huge!” he exclaimed, his voice carrying on his excitement for the older man to hear. He couldn’t think of anything else to say, overwhelmed by where he was and what that meant.
Hyoo chuckled amiably. “You’re not the first one to say that,” he laughed a bit, probably remembering some sort of private joke, and the two finally slowed down their pace, coming to a halt in front of the doors of the main building.
In a flash, three ANBU members surrounded them.
Naruto froze –he hadn’t even felt their presence approaching. The building probably had a concealing jutsu to help hiding chakra signatures, but if Naruto had to be honest with himself, it was probably that their skills were superior to his own, and he just could not detect them.
No one from his age range could hide their presence so completely, not even Sasuke, and of the older ninja, he had only ever seen Kakashi and Jiraiya doing it.
“Hyoo-taichou, welcome back,” one of the ANBU said amiably. “Thought you’d gotten lost”.
Naruto stared at them, surprised. He hadn’t expected them to seem so relaxed, really. His mental image of ANBU was one of strict, serious troops, just like they looked while patrolling the village, or when he’s glimpsed them in the Hokage’s office, but this…
Well, it was clear it was really different. They were just like normal shinobi, they just had to keep up their pretence when they were around others, but in private they could relax. Nobody could be stiff forever, after all, not even elite shinobi. Even Hyoo laughing at him was just more proof.
‘Makes sense,’ he had to admit privately.
All at once, the three ANBU then moved their eyes from their commander to Naruto, and even though he could not see their expressions, Naruto felt a wave of uncertainty hit him. he was wearing a mask himself, but suddenly he felt self-conscious and naked under their gazes, reminded all of sudden about his identity and his status within the village.
He was the Kyuubi’s container, and despite Hyoo’s reassurances, there was a high probably that most ANBU would not accept him, or would protest their commander’s decision.
Naruto had just started out with this ANBU business, but what would happen if other members rejected him? Wouldn’t it be the same as being ostracized by the rest of the village? Or would it be harder, since he couldn’t just leave…?
“Ah! The new trainee!” one of the ANBU exclaimed, sounding exceedingly gleeful. He rushed forwards, amiably slapping his back with what looked like comradery. Naruto spluttered and observed his mask, which was painted like a Rabbit.
Well, maybe this particular ANBU had nothing against him, which was a relief. Now he just had to face the rest of them and see what they thought of him. This was his decision, his short-term goal, and he would not stop pursuing it, even if the entire ANBU division was against him. this was an opportunity of a lifetime. He would do it.
“Take him to the main room so that he can meet the rest of the division currently in site,” Hyoo ordered, pushing Naruto towards the Rabbit ANBU. “I have to go find his first teacher, and that might take some time”.
With a curt nod at Naruto, Hyoo turned around from the building and headed left, disappearing from sight, and Naruto found himself suddenly alone with the unknown ANBU trio.
Clearing his throat awkwardly, and feeling a lot less boisterous now, Naruto fidgeted and looked at the three men, waiting for them to show him the way.
“C’mon trainee-chan, get that uncomfortable mask down and follow me,” a Rooster masked ANBU chirped, just as happily as the Rabbit had sounded before, and together the two pushed Naruto into the building. The third ANBU snorted quietly, and removed the concealing jutsu that Hyoo had placed on him as they went inside.
As they walked through a well-lit corridor, the three ANBU engaged each other in an easy conversation, with the third ANBU (his mask painted as a Fish) chatting about his latest mission. Naruto, nerves finally acting up, found himself missing most of the conversation, too busy trying to push down the growing dread.
Instead of removing his mask, as the Rooster had asked him to, Naruto focused his attention on his surroundings, preferring to have a look at what would be his home for the next few years rather than indulge his fears.
The floor was stone, which absorbed the sounds of footsteps and was easy to keep polished, and the walls of this floor were made of wooden panels and concrete, with lamps every few feet that did not allow any dark spot.
As they walked through the corridor, passing by a few doors and other corridors spreading in other directions, Naruto had to concede that everything looked professional as he had expected, but nowhere as dark.
The place felt comfortable to him, and the thought almost surprised him. Naruto had always pictured ANBU headquarters as shady and scary, like he’d pictured the members to be, and now both of his assumptions had been corrected.
The three ANBU finally stopped in front of a door and pushed it open revealing an ample room that was probably a common hall. Once he stepped inside, Naruto found himself surprised at the sight.
The room was big and well-lit, with tables and couches scattered around in the corners. There were two doors on the other side, one labelled as ‘kitchen’ and the other unlabelled. On the wall in front of him there was a row of shelves filled with books and scrolls, and there was even a flat-screen television with a few armchairs in front of it.
His guess that this was the common room was probably right, but he hadn’t expected it to look so… cheerful. There were a lot of assumptions he needed to revise about the ANBU.
What made him worry though was that there were around twenty ANBU currently in the room. Some were eating, one was apparently asleep on a couch, mask still on, and two were playing a game on a shoji board.
As the three ANBU entered, followed by Naruto, some of the shinobi in the room turned to look at them, and as soon as they noticed the white mask and the petite build, they all made surprised noises, which attracted even more attention to him.
Being suddenly the centre of attention made Naruto freeze in place, and he did not know how to react to that.
Maybe discretely run away would be a good options so–
“Yo! Did you see? Here it is! The new trainee!” Rabbit pointed at Naruto uselessly, sounding smug.
Without his consent, Rooster reached out to grab his mask, and Naruto felt a sliver of panic as he could not stop the man from taking it away, revealing his face to the room full of ANBU.
For what felt like an eternity, Naruto squeezed his eyes close, not wanting to look at the surrounding shinobi and unable to move. ANBU were not villagers who could do nothing, but Hyoo would not allow them to do anything to him, right? Even if he wasn’t there. But he could protect himself if he had to, he was allowed to engage with other shinobi if they tried anything…
“Oh, Naruto-kun!” someone said, their voice seeping through Naruto’s panic. “Welcome to the ANBU headquarters, I hope Hyoo-taichou didn’t scare you too much!”
Naruto’s eyes snapped open against his will.
“Ah, damn,” a shinobi muttered, sounding annoyed. Naruto twisted his head to look at him, noticing that his mask was that of a Turtle. “I had a bet that Hokage-sama would not let you come here… I guess I owe Daichi a thousand yen now…” when he noticed Naruto was staring at him, he straightened his back. “Ah, but welcome to the headquarters!”
An ANBU who had been sitting in a corner, reading a book, looked up and waved. “The old man surely took his sweet time in getting you here, huh?” by the voice, this ANBU was a female, and her tone suggested she was waggling her eyebrows. The mental image was disconcerting. “Guess he is getting slower with old age”.
“Shut it Kohane, it’s not like you’re getting any younger either,” Fish told her, which made everybody snicker and ‘Kohane’ throw a kunai at him, which was caught between two fingers and rendered useless.
“Just wait till I get you alone during a mission,” Kohane muttered, but her tone seemed amused, not angry.
“Jeez, stop squabbling like a married couple you two,” one of the two playing shoji looked up. He wasn’t wearing a mask, and neither was the other player. “Let the kid sit down somewhere, or better then make him come here, see how I trounce Takeshi in two moves”.
Naruto had to blink, unsure how to take this sudden sense of familiarity between the ANBU. They seemed untroubled by his presence, and were actually making way for him in their usual banter –and listening to them snap at each other further strengthened Naruto’s resolve to never assume things ever again– and there was no sense of dislike that he could feel from any of them.
He hadn’t noticed it, but some of the ANBU were still around him, and he received a few slaps on his back, followed by more congratulations for getting there, and even a few jokes thrown his way, or at Hyoo’s expenses.
It was overwhelming. He had never been in the middle of a crowd where everybody seemed so positive to his presence, and he did not know what to do, even if this attitude worked wonders on his tension and his fears.
A Horse masked ANBU tried to tug him towards the shoji board, and he went without a fight, following the shinobi’s lead until he was staring down at the expectant faces of the two players.
“See? Two moves and he’s fried,” the first player said.
“What? No way, stop parading yourself in front of the trainee!”
Naruto scratched the back of his head. He wasn’t feeling uneasy anymore, but he was still feeling somewhat out of sorts. ANBU were crowding around him, people he didn’t know, and they were all acting friendly, and it was a bit overwhelming, so he unconsciously took a step back.
“Yo, you ok?”
The Horse ANBU turned to look at him, sounding worried. His voice was young, probably in his twenties.
“Ah, yes, yes, it’s just…” Naruto wasn’t even sure what to say, and his doubts had been proven wrong so he couldn’t just admit he had expected them to treat him badly, so he simply smiled sheepishly, and by the tilt in the other ANBU’s head, he suspected he was smiling back at him.
He should have expected that Hyoo wouldn’t have allowed him to go by himself it he thought he’d be in danger, but he couldn’t help it –it was refreshing to be treated like any other shinobi but it was also a rare treat for him.
“Guys, stop hounding him and acting like children!”
The voice speaking up was that of a woman, and Naruto glanced over at his side, watching a figure push her way through the crowd of ANBU surrounding him. She had long, silky hair loosely tied around her back, and a mask with some sort of bird painted on it. As she got closer to him, she slid her mask away from her face and up to her hair, revealing a steely face and a pair of white, pearly eyes.
She knelt at his side, and offered him a small smile which softened her features a bit.
“Hyuuga?” was all Naruto could ask, surprised at the sight.
Her eyes were a dead giveaway, identical to those of Neji and Hinata. Without meaning to, he glanced up at her forehead, noticing the tell-tale lack of a seal. She was from the main branch.
“Hello, Naruto-kun,” the woman greeted, not bothered by his outburst. “Please forgive our mates here for being a bit overzealous –I can assure you they are harmless, even when acting like a bunch of kids”.
Naruto’s cheeks turned red and he fidgeted, breaking the gaze to look at the floor. When serious, she had looked steely but when smiling her face twisted into something warmer, unlike most of the rest of her family (Hinata excluded).
“Ah, I’m sorry for–” he waved his arms, embarrassed at his lack of manners, and she chuckled.
“My name is Hyuuga Tomoyo, from the main branch of the Hyuuga clan, as you have already noticed,” she introduced herself, then stood up and moved her mask to her neck. Naruto finally connected what was painted with the animal it was meant to represent –a Swan. “I am one of the five squad leaders for the troops and my codename is Double Wielder”.
Naruto was about to ask why she had that name, but Tomoyo turned slightly to the side, showing the twin swords draped on her back; they were shorter than normal katana, and Naruto felt a surge of awe at the thought that she could use both. Balancing with two weapons was harder than just using one, and that showed her skills.
“You know Neji,” she said then, more a statement than a question, but Naruto nodded anyway, feeling no shift in her tone at the mention of his friend.
“Yes –he’s one of my friends,” he replied, licking his lips and waiting to see if she was showing disapproval.
Rather than that, she simply smiled again. “Yes, I suspected as much… he speaks about you a lot,” ‘and so does Hinata-sama,’ she added to herself.
Naruto didn’t fight the smirk off his face, tilting his head to the side. “He speaks?” he wondered with a tone of false surprise, feeling at ease enough to try to joke about Neji.
Tomoyo seemed to take well to his comment, because she winked at him. “I know, he is not a talkative one”.
“I thought that was a peculiarity of the whole clan, actually,” Naruto’s smirk widened. “I guess I was wrong, since you seem to like talking…”
At the jab, Tomoyo chuckled amiably. “Oh, I assure you, you are not wrong… but I am quite the black sheep among my family!”
“Stop monopolizing Naruto, you vultures,” the doors of the common room slammed open and Hyoo walked in, followed by three other ANBU. “I couldn’t find Poison Hand anywhere. Death Tune!” he looked at one of the ANBU in the room, who froze in place. “Did you warn her of Naruto’s arrival?”
The ANBU, who wore a mask painted as a Mole, fidgeted under his commander’s glare and slowly shook his head. “Err… no, Taichou. She was… throwing a fit again and… I didn’t want to get too close…”
Hyoo sighed. There were times he almost wished he could just take his mask of to rub the bridge of his nose, or his eyes, but it just wasn’t possible. “I see. Naruto,” he decided that finding Poison Hand would be postponed for a moment. “What do you think?”
At the unexpected question, Naruto looked around, smiling at Tomoyo and then at his new commander. “This place is so cool! Oh, and everybody is surprisingly nice too!”
Though Naruto did not notice it, a lot of the ANBU seemed to stiffen at his words.
They had known of the way the village and most lower ranked shinobi had treated him, of course, but orders had kept them from interacting, and they still held a grudge at those rules they thought unjust.
Another thing that not many knew was that if ANBU could not directly interact with Naruto when on duty, most of them had still found ways to circumvent the orders in ways that would not be actually openly defiant.
Some of the ANBU had asked for Naruto’s team specifically for D-rank missions, under the guise of being retired shinobi, others could do nothing more than smile at him when he passed by them at the Hokage tower (those would never know how much that meant to Naruto), and others had been actively working to make shopkeepers charge him the same amount as every other client for years now.
Not all of them were as caring or as interested in his life as Hyoo and a few others personally were, but injustice and inequality were the same for them just as well, and they disliked seeing a kid treated so differently for something he could not help.
Thankfully now that Naruto had been accepted into the ANBU, they were going to painstakingly erase all his past and offer him the chances he had missed growing up –and if in doing so they decided they also liked him, then so be it.
Above all others, together with Hyoo there were three ANBU who had been grateful to finally be able to directly interfere with Naruto’s life.
One was Tomoyo herself, as despite being from the main branch, she didn’t have enough standing or power to directly challenge the Clan leader for his choices regarding the seal put on Neji and other family members from the secondary branch. She had seen the effect Naruto had on Neji, and then even on his uncle, the Clan Head, and after their battle at the Chuunin exams their relationship had started to change for the better.
Not just that –Tomoyo had been a close friend of Yondaime’s wife, Uzumaki Kushina. Kushina had been vicious against the seal forcing part of the Hyuuga family into a life of servitude, and she had gained Tomoyo’s admiration and respect thanks to that.
It was thanks to Kushina that Tomoyo had decided to pursue an ANBU career, and they had been close friends while Kushina’s relationship with Minato had blossomed.
She had felt powerless before, but now Naruto was where she could help, and she would not let her once friend down by not doing all she could.
The second person was, of course, Iruka. He was standing behind Hyoo, looking at Naruto’s smile with pride. He had to wonder though, and that put a damper on his mood, what kind of expression Naruto would have when he found out that his old academy teacher was hiding under the Mouse mask.
Repressing a chuckle, Iruka shifted slightly.
Well, it would be a face to remember, his prankster side was already getting ready to enjoy it despite the rest of him being worried.
At first, Iruka had been one of the shinobi who despised Naruto’s very existence. He hadn’t blamed the kid for his parent’s death, but every time he looked at the blond he would be reminded of that pain, of being left alone to fend for himself. He had been bitter, and lonely.
The pain wasn’t going away, and that was why he had joined the ANBU. He had been delusional, and thought it would be the best way to cope with the loss. Thanks to the ANBU acting like a new family for him, he had learned how to accept his parents’ death and let go, and then he had seen the truth of Naruto’s life that he had not wanted to acknowledge.
For a long while two sides of him had battled –his pain against his common sense, and thankfully the latter had won.
When he had been asked to enrol at the academy as a teacher in order to keep an eye out for the ‘Kyuubi kid’, Iruka had been quick to claim it would be a wasted, useless mission.
The little kid was weak, blind to the harsh truth of a ninja’s nindo, without abilities worth being noticed, without strength…
And yet…
Day after day, slowly, Iruka had finally admitted defeat. Watching the kid being treated like scum by other kids goaded by their parents had been the last straw.
He had been wrong. Naruto wasn’t weak, he wasn’t worthless. He was a child who had been hurt without reason, just like Iruka had been before.
A strong potential was being wasted because of idiotic misconceptions and stupid hatred.
It was then that Iruka had decided to quit with his ANBU job. The academy had exercised a strong pull on him, and he’d grown to love his students; the desire to teach the new generations that misconceptions were the roots of failure had only strengthened his resolve.
Judging someone for a burden they couldn’t control was wrong. Corruption of the soul, mistreatments, hatred, nasty words and actions…
He wanted to be able to make a difference. To let those kids see the truth.
And in the meanwhile, Naruto had slowly grown to be family to him. Iruka had let this care grow even more, pushing Naruto to follow his dreams and never give up.
And now… he was proud because his little brother was taking a further step forward.
The third person was the last one anybody would ever consider. Itachi was looking at Naruto from the safety of his old mask, eyes cool but hiding a touch of melancholy as he was lost within memories from a past long gone.
While Itachi had been too young and too taken by his own duties, raising in ranks without pause, to be able to get to know Naruto while he still lived in the village, the Uchiha was possibly the youngest shinobi back then who had known about him being vessel of Kyuubi. He had been freshly out of the academy and already on his way to become a Chuunin when he had decided to visit the kid to see with his own eyes who this famous Jinchuuriki was.
What he had seen had appalled him greatly, and since then he had taken upon himself to understand the hatred that kid was going through without knowing why.
Unfortunately, by the time Itachi’s position could have given him a leeway to offer a better protection to the kid, things had taken a sudden turn for the worse, and afterwards he had changed ranks once again, this time for what he thought would be forever –from an ANBU to a missing-nin.
Years later, meeting Naruto for real in a small hotel room, Itachi had been surprised to see that despite all the harsh words and expectations, Naruto was still able to smile, and fight to protect the village.
Yes, there was a darkness within him that Itachi was particularly familiar with, together with a raw potential that was only then starting to be acknowledged, but there was also hope there, and hope was not something Itachi had felt for a long time.
In a way, Itachi felt that he and Naruto were similar, in a way, yet at the same time completely different; Itachi had been allowed to reach forwards and grow, while Naruto’s own growth had been continuously stumped upon.
And yet, despite this, Naruto’s eyes were still bright with a spirit that Itachi, in a way, envied.
Under his old Crow mask, Itachi let his lips twitch upwards in a bitter smirk. The ANBU had once again taken in someone who needed them, and as the teen’s new captain, Itachi had no trouble welcoming him in the ranks.
It would be interesting to see what kind of skill Naruto could uncover with the right amount of attention and training, together with teachers who did not let him down like it had happened in the past.
Iruka had only managed to do a little bit of work from when he had changed opinion of Naruto to when the teams had been formed, and Naruto had been already lacking basic knowledge, with only his stubbornness managing to keep him from being left behind, but now those years could be fixed. It was not too late.
Itachi couldn’t help but feel a small trickle of pride. Naruto would go far, he would make sure of that.
This would be his new role, his new mission, with the link that they had formed from their respective positions from before. It wasn’t like he had anything else left aside for his ANBU position, and he would at least try to settle back into his old role with dignity.
He still had to wonder though, what would Naruto think of him once the mask was off.
“As we’re having some trouble locating your new teacher, let’s focus on something else for now,” Hyoo motioned for him to follow. “Your training schedule, for starters”.
Naruto nodded, hastily pushing the mask back on his face.
They left the common room, and the other ANBU waved goodbye before resuming what they had been doing till then. Naruto felt grateful to leave the crowded place, but also somewhat sad. They were a bit rowdy but they had been nice.
He was also curious about who the three ANBU flanking Hyoo were.
Walking down another long corridor, Naruto couldn’t help it and kept stealing glances at the three silent shinobi; the one at his right was the tallest, and had a Dog mask; he did not have a katana strapped to his back like the majority of other ANBU had, and instead he had a pair of sai attached to his belt.
Next to him was the Mouse masked man, and Naruto was certain that the man had been glancing at him as well; the thought made him fidget slightly. Did he know the man under the mask? If yes, who could that be?
The aura surrounding him was familiar, though, and not threatening at all. It was strange.
The weapon strapped to his back was a sword, but not as long as a katana –it was shorter, the length of a wakizashi, but by the small section of the blade Naruto could see from his position, the sword was double-edged.
It was truly a dangerous weapon, and Naruto shuddered at the thought of what damage a blade of that sort could do to one’s enemies.
The third man was walking at his left, and by the tilt of his head, Naruto could easily tell the older shinobi was looking at him and had no need to hide it. The mask was that of a Crow, and he had long black hair tied up to the back of his neck.
This ANBU’s aura was strong –not one that exuded confidence, like Hyoo’s, but a more subtle, controlled one.
The usual katana was on his back, with a black handle and a dark blue sheathe, but there was something off with it that Naruto could not grasp. Still, the man’s movements were silent and fluid, and he found himself observing him with awe.
Naruto had to wonder why they were following him and Hyoo. Were they his training companions, or…
Hyoo stopped in front of a door that looked just like any other in the corridor and opening it, motioning for the four following him to enter first; once inside the room, Naruto glanced around, curious, and realised that the room was an office, much similar to the Hokage’s one.
Though he was pretty sure Hyoo would not be hiding sake everywhere, unlike Tsunade.
The room was somewhat messy, with scrolls and piles of paper scattered around the floor and on the wooden desk, where Naruto spotted some kunai and even a set of senbon.
Hyoo sat down on his side of the desk, and the remaining four shinobi stood in front of him. “Naruto, there are a few things you should know about this place before we start. First off, you have been assigned a room, and your belongings will be placed there for the remainder of your stay. The kitchen turns are settled depending on mission schedules, and we have our own cooks within the building that will make sure you are well fed, and that includes other food that is not ramen,” Naruto fidgeted, glad for the mask that was hiding his chagrin. “But more importantly, we need to talk about the test you are going to face after your starting period of training with us”.
“You mentioned that before,” Naruto nodded. He was not afraid of hard work, but he still felt worried over what kind of test he’d have to do. He didn’t want to fail. “What is it about?”
The ANBU had been nice to him. He didn’t want to have to go back to the village. This was high quality training. He’d do his best, seriously.
“You will have a month to prepare yourself. You will be following a strict training regime with one of our older members during that time, and this will help attest your current skills and your improvement. The test will take place in thirty days, and will determine whether you are eligible as a member or not. In the meantime you will also have some training sessions with the three shinobi who might become your teammates, were you to pass the test”.
Naruto nodded. He’d have a month to show them that he was worth it, to test himself to his limits and beyond, and also to make sure there was some good teamwork going.
Seemed doable.
“If you pass the test, you will be able to paint your mask with an animal that isn’t already belonging to someone here. You will also receive a codename and your shoulder will be tattooed with our brand. I suggest you to focus on whatever weakness you perceive to have, and work on minimize it,” Hyoo concluded.
Naruto licked his lips, fidgeting slightly. He could do that.
He would analyse everything and get better, and if they were willing to help him with that… well, he couldn’t fail. He just couldn’t.
“This isn’t going to be easy, Naruto,” Hyoo spoke up after a short silence. “Are you ready to try your hardest? Your training with Kakashi will seem like playing in comparison. We will invest time and effort on you, and we expect complete obedience and dedication. You will have to work hard to prove yourself worth it”.
Lips twitching into a dry smirk underneath his white mask, Naruto nodded eagerly. “Of course! I won’t betray your trust!”
Although nobody could see it, Hyoo’s eyebrow lifted up and he smirked widely, amused at the teen’s confidence.
“Now, for some ground rules. You will not be allowed to wander into Konoha without your mask or someone accompanying you, and with an authorization from either your team captain, myself, or your appointed sensei. If you pass the test you will receive the same freedom every other member has, but you still cannot be seen in Konoha without your mask”.
Well, that was easy. Besides, if he was supposed to be training with Jiraiya, he couldn’t very well bounce around in Konoha without the mask, that would be stupid.
Hyoo went on to explain the hideout layouts and where Naruto could find stuff he needed, such as the public bath, his room, the training rooms and the doors leading to the training grounds. He offered details about the whereabouts of the headquarters, where they were within the perimeter of the wall, and about the protections surrounding the area, including genjutsu and various traps.
Naruto remained silent until he saw Hyoo wasn’t going to add anything else, then dared to speak up.
“You said you were having a hard time locating my teacher, Hyoo-taichou,” he said. “Who is he? And who should my teammates be?” he had been patient until then but he really wanted to know.
Hyoo chuckled. “Your Captain and teammates were officially reinstated within the ANBU at their request. It was not just luck, as when they were made aware of your possible arrival they expressed their interest to become your future team”.
Naruto blinked, surprised. Reinstated as ANBU? Did that mean they had retired? Could one retire from ANBU service at all? Well, maybe they could, or Kakashi would still be working in there, right?
And even more surprising, they had wanted to be placed on his same team.
Lifting his mask up, Naruto looked at Hyoo with surprise clear on his face. “Someone wanted to be on my team? Willingly?”
Hyoo’s amusement vanished at Naruto’s words. “Yes,” he replied stonily, so that there wouldn’t be misunderstandings. “That was their desire. Naruto, let me introduce you Shadow Tracker, Silent Depths and Death Wings,” he pointed at each of the three shinobi at his sides, and they nodded curtly at him. “They are your new teammates. Death Wings, with the Crow mask, will be your captain”.
Shocked to realise that his teammates were going to be the three men he had spied on while reaching Hyoo’s office, Naruto looked at them with wide eyes.
Even his genin team had been chosen without asking the kids their opinion, and even if that had happened, Sakura and Sasuke wouldn’t have wanted to be with him (though to be honest, Naruto wouldn’t have wanted to be with Sasuke either). But these three had been ok with having him on the team. That made him feel welcome. Wanted.
“That’s fantastic!” he beamed, moving his attention from them to Hyoo and back to the three. “Am I… can I see their faces? Is that allowed if I’m not an ANBU yet? It would be weird to work with them without knowing what they look like…”
Unknown to the teen, all four shinobi smirked under their masks.
“Of course, Naruto,” Hyoo replied, a weird happy tone lacing his voice. “Did you hear that, guys? Masks off!”
Thrilled and on edge, Naruto stared as one by one, the three men slowly took down their masks.
And he was left completely speechless.
“Huh?!”
                                                                         …–…–…–…–…–…–…
Cepheus: there we go! next chapter you will see Naruto’s reaction to this. I am sorry if the names are a bit hard to remember, but I hope you will still find it easy to follow.
Please review if you want!
Glossary:
Wakizashi – short katana–like Japanese sword.
Taichou – captain, leader.
Sai – ninja weapon shaped like Neptune’s trident, but smaller, with the middle tooth a bit longer than the lateral two. If you ever watched ninja turtles when you were younger, like me, the Sai were Raphael’s weapons.
Senbon – thin needles used as a weapon. (think about what Haku used against Sasuke)
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