The Fateful Uchiha

If there was a secret base of the ANBU, it was probably not in the middle of the village, between a stand of ramen and an adult bookstore. It would make sense if the place was isolated. The Forest of Death was the perfect location for such a place. Izumi followed Karasu in silence, leaping from branch to branch, gently avoiding the fauna that roamed the trees.

“I haven’t introduced myself. I’m the ANBU Commander. My codename is Karasu.”

Izumi slightly nodded her head next to him as they jumped to another tree.

“Being recruited in the ANBU is done on recommendation by the Hokage. Most recruits receive a week-long mission that is an intensive assessment of their abilities. It is often done in this forest. We recruit them in groups of four to six. We have them fight, hunt, chase, and train until exhaustion day and night until the best emerge. Individual recruitments, like yours, are rare.”

“Is that a good thing?” 

“It means the Hokage felt it wasn’t necessary to have you go through the normal evaluation. We’ve had similar cases in the past.”

Izumi’s mind instantly went to Itachi. She was sure his recruitment was also a special case. She chased the thought away and refocused. The Sandaime had personally chosen her. She had heard from Jun that the old man could be crafty sometimes. She didn’t know what to make of it. Was it a good or bad thing?

“The test you just passed was at my request,” Karasu continued. “I wanted to see your ability in person to access your level. Your future captain will certainly ask you for a demonstration of this kind, but it will come later. You won’t be assigned to a unit immediately.”

“Ah… And what’s going to happen immediately?”

“Learning… Stealth, tracking, sabotage, assassination… You will learn the ANBU way. We will teach you jutsus specific to our force, our sign language, our coded language, the location of our bases… Normally, you would learn all this slowly. But you are a special case. Captain Byakko will have you learn it in a couple of days. Then, he will place you in a team.”

“Lord Hokage also mentioned a Byakko…” Izumi said.

Karasu nodded. They arrived at the end of the forest. The vegetation was still too dense, but there were fewer animals. 

“The ANBU is divided into seven specialized divisions. The Falcon Division, the Owl Division, the Bear Division, the Cat Division, the Frog Division, the Wolf Division, and the Dragon Division.  Each Division is composed of several units divided into teams. Byakko is the captain of Unit 4 and has three teams under his command. You will be assigned to one of this team.”

“What’s their division?”

“Falcon Division.”

“What’s their specialty?”

“The Falcon Division specializes in the hunt and disposal of enemy ninjas. They are considered Hunter-nin… Ninjas Hunters if you prefer. They mostly go after people in the Bingo Book. They usually work with the Owl Division for information retrieval and their stealth skills as well as the Frog Division for support in case of injury.”

“I see.”

Karasu pulled out a cloth from his beige cloak and threw it a Izumi. She caught it and realized it was a black ANBU cloak. The piece of clothing was wrapped around an ANBU mask representing the Falcon Division.

“Put it on with the coat to hide your clothes. The Uchiha emblem on your back stands out too much.”

Izumi obeyed, but she didn’t put the mask right away. She was hesitating.

“You will wear the mask until Byakko assigns you a team. After that, you are free to not wear the mask if you want. The face of some ANBU is no secret within the organization. Others go to extreme lengths to conceal their identity by using Genjutsu in addition to the mask. You are free to reveal as much or as little about yourself. However, you must never talk about your ANBU missions to outsiders. By outsiders, I mean anyone that is not ANBU or the Hokage.”

“Understood,” Izumi said.

She slipped the mask over her face. There was no strap to hold it in place, but the mask naturally frame her face and stayed on.

“It’s a special jutsu that allows the mask to stay in place,” Karasu explained. 

They emerged from the forest, and Karasu jumped over the barrier that surrounded the training ground without slowing down. He walked toward a thorny bush and lifted a hatch hidden within.”

“Our main base has several entrances,” he said, going down the stairs followed by Izumi. “This is the entrance number 3.”

They arrived in a sort of hall furnished with tables and chairs, where a dozen people were scattered. Some read, others played cards, and others seemed to just argue. All were wearing ANBU masks. Izumi suddenly wondered if there were people she knew. She would have liked to have Karin's sensory skills right now.

None of the ANBU turned when Izumi and Karasu arrived, but the girl didn’t need to be a sensor ninja to feel the way their attention had been on her. They probably knew she was new despite of her mask. Izumi suddenly felt as nervous as she did when she went to the Academy for the first time when all the children were nervously looking at each other while worried about being judged by their peers.

“Byakko,” Karasu said. “Your recruit has arrived.”

A man stood up with a growl of acquiescence. He had brown hair, and an imposing stature without being massive. In short, he had no distinct characteristics. His mask had reddish patterns. He motioned to Izumi to follow him and headed towards a corridor. The young woman walked behind him in silence. 

Byakko guided her to another tunnel with other exits and small cells. The Uchiha also saw closets, storage areas, one or two laboratories, and also offices. Byakko entered one of the offices. There was a table and two chairs. Byakko closed the door behind Izumi, and then went to sit on one of the chairs. To the Uchiha's surprise, he took off his mask.

He must have been about thirty years old. He was a man with straight and hard features and a piercing look that evoked that of a bird of prey.

“You can remove your mask here,” he said in a gruff tone. “I already know who you are.”

Izumi hesitated, then obeyed. Byakko looked at her for a moment.

“You will hear the ANBU call me by a couple of names, Byakko, and Koguro. Koguro is what I go by as a non-masked Jonin. Byakko is my ANBU codename. These two identities must remain distinct. Do not mix them up. It is common for ANBU to have several identities. You will be expected to memorize them all and under no circumstances should you compromise them.”

“Understood, captain.”

“Good, now let's start…”

And he went on one of the fastest, most dense, and most complex lessons that Izumi had to endure. The coded language of the ANBUs, both verbal and nonverbal,  their routes, the secret exits in the village, the hierarchy … Izumi had to remember everything. It was a test, too. So Izumi focused and memorized. She wanted to succeed in the ANBU. She had a goal to achieve… Becoming better than Itachi Uchiha to make sure he’ll never hurt her loved ones again. Joining the ANBU may bring her a little closer to her goal.

Guests were starting to arrive in Konoha. The Genins of Suna, Kiri, Taki, Ame, Oto, and Kusa. However, there were no genins from Kumo or Iwa, the two nations with which Konoha currently had the most strained relations. The visitors boosted the village’s economy. The local businesses were happy about it. To make sure no incident happened, many jonins were dispatched along with the police to patrol the village. They were on high alert. The tiniest incident could create a diplomatic incident. 

In the Division, Jun was going through the list of exam participants. The document was officially transmitted to Konoha at the last minute when the Genins were already in the village. He was flipping through the files, hoping that a name would trigger his memory. His memories of the story weren’t exhaustive. He didn’t remember every detail. And sometimes seeing a face or name triggered more memory.  But he did know Orochimaru would mess up the exam.

For instance, when he saw the files of Dosu, Kin, and Zaku and their photos, it triggered his memory. He recognized the trio. They were ninjas from Oto who came for the Chunin exam. In the original story, Orochimaru asked them to attack Team 7 to test Sasuke’s ability. Knowing Orochimaru’s personality, Jun was sure he would send them for Sasuke.  

The Uchiha clan leader also recognized Jirobo Tayuya and Kidomaru. They were part of a team from Oto with two other members, Sakon and their leader Kimimaro. According to Jun’s memory, these people would escort Sasuke out of Konoha upon his desertion. Jun sighed. He was pretty sure Orochimaru would act according to his memory. But what would Sasuke do? Jun had no idea. He had done his best to make him feel loved and part of the family. He had shown him he wasn’t alone. Jun hoped Sasuke’s decision would be different from what he knew from the original story.  

Jun found another familiar name, Kabuto. He was the Jonin listed in charge of the genins from Oto. Jun didn’t need anything else to know for sure Orochimaru was Oto’s true leader. Kabuto was the Sannin’s right-hand man. If he was in the village, then Orochimaru would be here too. However, he couldn’t use his memory from another life as proof to present to Shikaku. He had investigated the past few months, looking for something that would tie Orochimaru to Kusa or Oto. But he didn’t find anything to present to his superior. Jun was stuck. He couldn’t bring his knowledge forth to the Division. That was very frustrating.

But at least, the village was on high alert. The brewing coup in Suna made everyone worried. They were worried the Kazekage would be attacked on Konoha’s soil. Shikaku and the rest were prepared for it. Moreover, Jiraiya and Tsunade were also around. Jun was a bit reassured. Maybe, they could avoid the worst. 

Jun looked at the files on the Kusa genins, but the names didn’t ring any bell to him. He then examined Kiri’s genins. They sent out four teams. If none of their twelve genins reached the third stage, their Mizukage would have no reason to come to Konoha. Jun hoped for this case scenario. He didn’t particularly want to add to the mess he knew would happen.

Jun didn’t recognize any of the ninjas from Kiri. He had expected to see Chojuro or Suigetsu, the current Mizukage’s little brother. They should be around the same age as Sasuke and the rest if not two or three years older. But their names weren’t on the list. Jun thought for a moment. Was Chojuro still alive? About Suigetsu, he knew Orochimaru would get his hands on him at some point. He just didn’t know when. Had it already happened? Jun had no idea… So many unknowns that could change the future. The Uchiha clan leader sighed, put the files down, and moved on to the next. He would get him nowhere to overthink. He could only focus on what he knew and how he could use the knowledge to protect what he cared about.