"Oi, Kurenai." The red-eyed jounin waved half-heartedly as she sat down on the chair next to the caller.
"What's with the long face? I thought you would be pleased with your promotion."
"You do realize it won't be long before we are given our genin teams." The renowned genjutsu mistress of Konoha was a green jounin and was therefore anxious about the prospect of taking on her first genin team.
Her friend, Sarutobi Asuma, a veteran of many seasons, was noticeably less worried. "Don't worry too much about that. You'll get used to the brats."
The young kunoichi rolled her eyes. And here, she was actually thinking of asking her fellow shinobi for advice. Never mind that. Sometimes she wondered if she was the only one who took her job to Konoha seriously. As if to vindicate her, a silver-haired masked man walked in.
"Yo." He greeted as he popped down with his trusty orange book in hand.
Kurenai tossed the man a disgusted look, which he did not seem to catch given the silly giggles coming out of him. "And this is supposed to be the epitome of the greatest hidden village in the land?"
Kakashi answered with another string of perverted giggles.
"Where's Gai?" the genjutsu specialist asked.
Kakashi shrugged before muttering something that vaguely sounded like the word for "mission."
"I really wish he would put that diseased book down once in a while."
"Why don't you make him?" Asuma offered not very helpfully.
"Don't you think I would if I could?" Kurenai shot back archly. She was not delusional enough to think she could take down a former ANBU captain, especially one of Kakashi's caliber.
"Is Kakashi pissing off Kurenai again with that book of his?" Iruka questioned.
"Yep," Asuma admitted as he puffed on his cigarette.
"How's the school?" The female jounin asked, deciding that a change of topic was in order. Plus, she figured it could not hurt to know a bit more about the candidates for future team.
"Same old, same old…" Iruka stated. "… well, there was something, someone actually. Haruto joined the graduating class today." The name caught everyone's attention, well almost everyone. Kakashi was still reading and giggling.
"Haruto as in Haruto Uzumaki, the jailer of the you-know-what?" Asuma seemed interested.
"That's the one. I'm surprised the Hokage managed to get him into the academy. Kakashi, when you were still in ANBU, didn't you help look after the boy?"
"Mm-hmm."
After a minute of silence, the others figured Kakashi was not going to say anything more so they turned to Iruka instead. The masked ninja was not known for being very outspoken, not to mention how everyone in ANBU tended to be rather terse when talking about their duties.
"What's he like?"
The academy chuunin frowned and shook his head. The other adults nodded in understanding. While they definitely were not rooting for the little guy, the ones seated here did not exactly wish the demon container any additional ill will. On the other hand, if Haruto failed to graduate, this would be a good excuse to siphon the demon container off to some other profession. Even the most open minded shinobi and kunoichi were somewhat uneasy about training the vessel of the Kyuubi.
"I don't know. Pretty much what you might expect: Loud, obnoxious, attention seeking. He did well against Sasuke Uchiha when he was challenged to a spar. And last I saw, he seemed to be getting along with the Inuzuka, Akimichi and Nara boys. Still, he's really out of his depth in class. I don't think he's cut out for being a shinobi. I wonder what Hokage-sama was thinking."
"He could be just hiding." The lazy reply came from the masked ninja. Others looked him questioningly. "We used to constantly get called up to rescue the poor kid back when he was really young. But then after a while, it sort of stopped. It's like the kid learned how to avoid trouble. You know, the whole 'gathering information without giving any in return' concept. It's one of the lessons members of ANBU learn."
"Surely you don't suggest the boy is ANBU material?" Iruka looked at the gifted copy-cat nin like he was crazy.
The jounin only shrugged in response.
"Stranger people have joined." Done with his input, Kakashi smiled as he began reading his little orange book again.
"That's for sure," was Kurenai's sour reply.
The atmosphere around the table of mixed ranked ninja suddenly quieted as a masked ANBU darted into the room. Cheer gradually returned, however, as the person removed the mask, revealing the youngish face of a twenty something kunoichi.
"Hey, guys. Sorry for being late. Hayate's not around is he?" The woman asked cheerfully, defying others' expectations of what ANBU was supposed to be like.
"He's on a mission."
Yuugao nodded slightly to the copycat ninja by way of greeting. Kurenai shook her head. She understood that Kakashi was once the other woman's captain in ANBU, but it really baffled her how any woman could honestly respect the guy. This act was not missed by the ANBU kunoichi.
"Reading all that smut is not healthy for you, senpai." Yuugao lightly chastised her old captain. Kakashi offered her a tight smile in return.
"That's ok. I can take care of myself. How are you and Captain Tenzou?"
"Very busy, we've been getting a lot of missions lately. In fact, I'm supposed to report in for a special mission later today."
"How special?"
While ANBU missions were supposed to be secret, some leniency was allowed amongst ranking colleagues. Yuugao smiled benignly. She really was not supposed to say anything lest anyone became suspicious. When she took up the captain's offer in becoming another one of Haruto's instructors, it took all her training to hide this part of her life from her friends and teammates. It was not easy, but the fact that they accepted the secrecy that came with her work helped. Still, it couldn't hurt to reveal her student's recent induction into her unit. That was non-classified information and it was going to come out sooner or later.
"We are taking a Special ANBU on his first trial run."
Everyone's eyes lit up, even Kakashi's.
"I guess it makes sense. I was wondering when the Hokage was going to lift the unofficial ban. It didn't make sense to scrap an entire program because of just a single fluke," Kakashi noted.
In the aftermath of Itachi's treachery, one of the first political casualties was the very program that created him, the accelerated course for special liaisons to ANBU. An ANBU captain at the time, Kakashi had vocally opposed such a drastic measure. The program was not perfect, but it did train some of the finest ninja in Konoha.
"This definitely is a day of surprises then. First, Haruto Uzumaki joins the academy, then the accelerated ANBU program is reopened. Who's the lucky fellow, Yuugao?" The red eyed jounin teased her friend, knowing that she could not give out the name.
"If he is as good as the captain says, you'll find out sooner or later." Yuugao answered with a smirk. Her answer apparently caught everyone's interest.
"At least that is good news." Iruka offered.
"Why the sad face, Iruka? Does this have anything to do with your new student?"
The chuunin proceeded to recount his day to the ANBU. Yuugao had to bite her tongue to keep herself from laughing. Good heavens, the little brat was good. She knew about the plan to insert Haruto into the academy to drive the suspicion off of his ANBU activities, but she did not expect him to play his part so well.
You keep on finding ways to surprise us, don't you, Haruto? The elite ANBU was not surprised to notice the hint of pride in her thought. She did after all train him along with the captain.
The more she got to know the young boy, the harder it was to remain dispassionate about everything. Just the other day, she almost murdered a couple of lower ranked shinobi when they were verbally "trashing the Kyuubi brat" as the village pastime was called. Instead, she settled on giving them an ultra strong dose of killing intent that made them soil their garments.
"I must be going now. The mission might take a few days so pass my regards to Hayate when he returns?"
"Will do. Good luck on your mission, Yuugao," Kakashi added.
Haruto felt strange looking out at the world from behind his mask. Everything suddenly seemed so small and insignificant, reduced to just two peep sized holes. He stepped out into the designated area and immediately tensed. From the onset, he knew something was wrong, as no one else was here.
Haruto was already in motion when over a dozen shuriken and kunai shot toward his previous location from all directions. He crouched and released the ninjatou strapped on his back from its sheath. He then charged forward, avoiding the projectiles from the sides and smoothly deflected the ones from the front with several deft flicks of his weapon. Not only that, Haruto also succeeded in deflecting two of the shuriken back to the sender, but at reduced speed. While he didn't think the returned shuriken were going to hit anyone, he did expect his attacker to be surprised and forced to move. He pounced instinctively as his senses caught a flurry of movement. The soft pressure against his blade told him that his gamble for a rapid counterattack was successful.
"Kai!" The genjutsu illusion disappeared to reveal roughly a dozen masked ANBU agents, one of which was held under the Special ANBU's blade. After years of training, Haruto was nothing if not ruthlessly proficient at kenjutsu and genjutsu. Now, if he could just learn to do one handed seals, then he would be all set.
"Stand down," Tenzou commanded.
Haruto backed off and returned to a ready stance.
"You attacked rather recklessly, young one," one of the ANBU rebuked.
That was true enough. Haruto did leave his flanks and rear dangerously exposed, but he had an answer for that.
"I assumed it was a test. As such, I figured that taking one of my attackers hostage would be enough to get me a passing grade. Or was I wrong in my assumptions?"
"No. You were correct on both counts. In fact, I believe that was the fastest time anyone has ever come to passing our final exam; fastest barring Hatake Kakashi, of course."
Kakashi was known as the copycat ninja and the master of over a thousand techniques. Haruto definitely knew of the man. Alas, the great shinobi was taken off of the active ANBU roster and now reduced to spending his days preparing and testing genin teams.
"That was indeed your last test. You are now officially Konoha's first Special ANBU in almost four years. While you may be called to serve with any one of the ANBU squadrons, you will be placed for now under Assault Team Alpha."
In a quasi-ceremonial gesture, Tenzou and the rest of his team slowly removed their masks. It was a ritual of sorts. If they were to fight, kill and maybe even die together then the least they could do was to bare their mask-less faces to one another.
Haruto followed suit to reveal his carefully constructed disguise. Gone was his wild sun kissed blond hair, his trademark whiskers and his usual foxy smile, replaced with the stern expression of a short, brown-haired youth. He also carried himself with such a serious demeanor that it would have made the Hyuuga clan proud.
"Ninja of Konoha ANBU Assault Team Alpha, please welcome our newest member. For now, you may address him using his code name, Genji," Captain Tenzou stated before going on to introduce everyone else.
The only one Haruto recognized was his other instructor, Yuugao Uzuki and the others were only able to pay him scant attention before Tenzou proceeded to brief them on their mission.
"This was a B-rank assassination mission that has been upgraded to A-rank and has been expedited to us after an initial assault failed. Newly acquired intelligence tells us that the target has hired for his protection the service of a mixed band of experienced missing nin, including at least two A-rank missing nin. Our target is currently camped near the border so it will take us a few days to reach him. We move out from the East Gate in standard covert formation. Newcomer! You will be attached to Yuugao's wing. Let's go, people."
"Yes, Captain!"
As the team sped off to their departure site in staggered formation to disguise their strength, Haruto thought he was going to enjoy working with this group. Excitement and anticipation and also a bit of fear of the unknown coursed through him. This was it; what he had been training for after all these years. Haruto vowed to not disappoint the people who had supported him for so long.
A full ANBU team against a ragtag group with just two A-rank ninja? Despite the A-rank classification, Haruto did not believe this was going to be a very hard mission. But he would be on his guard just in case.