from Academy to Anbu by theriku260

chapter 5

Three days later, Training field seven…

Naruto walked slowly to the training grounds that would be his hell hole for the next three months. As ordered by the Hokage he was wearing his off duty clothes and the new 'official story' was that he held an aid position with the Hokage's office. His new companion slept on top of his head, and he smiled up at the sight.

Angel was a black hell cat, a species of felines that specialized in changing their size and using fire jutsu to an extent. They could also use a type of demonic genjutsu, but as he bought her at the kitten stage, it would be awhile before any of these abilities became usable. Until then Naruto had to teach his new companion to speak and fight- or, Pakkun did at least, when Naruto bribed him with pork ears today. When Angel was trained she would add to team Ro, and Tenzo was busily creating some attack formations that included the black cat. Now, though, she was just a ball of sleeping fuzz.

"Aww, chibi-kohai and Angel- have you gotten her to speak yet?" Hikaru dropped down from a tree to walk along side his teammate, also in normal shinobi wear. The fifteen year old had forgiven Naruto for selling him out when Naruto promised the Hyuga the chance to spar with the Uchiha, some sort of rivalry between the two clans. Apparently Hikaru had fought against many different Uchiha before they were massacred and wanted another bout, even if Sasuke was hardly worthy. After all, Hikaru graduated at eight, became a chunin at ten through field promotion, and then a special jonin at thirteen where he joined ANBU (AN: There is NO way Konoha only has like five early graduates: I would say there'd have to be more, but like any village they use a couple as poster children and the rest just get on with their lives).

"She can say "Naruto" half the time and "no" without fail. Nothing else yet" Naruto grumbled. The cat was sweet but could drive him insane with the random "no!" while they worked or he read. Hikaru grinned.

"Hah! She sounds like a two year old." Then his face turned sullen. "Captain gave me another medical jutsu to learn and I'm supposed to instruct the Haruno over medical ninjutsu." It was a known fact amongst ANBU that while Hikaru was surprisingly adept at the medic arts, his flamboyant personality and wish to be in battle made him shirk off his studies. Unfortunately for him he lived next to the captain who did weekly tests. Having the threat of Tenzo with his ghoul face standing over you made Hikaru begrudgingly improve.

"Which one?" Naruto asked sympathetically, Angel yawning on his head.

"The one that closes cut arteries- after I've learned this one I'll be ready for the intermediate series."

"That's great Hikaru! Before you know it you'll be the next Tsunade"

"Hmph. I'd rather just keep spamming jutsu and gentle fists" He pouted, being melodramatic: he was only learning for the field and in case Konoha was attacked. "So…when are you starting training with "it"?" Hikaru asked after some silence. Intelligence from spies showed Suna intended to send their unstable jinchuuriki to the exams without informing Konoha: sending any jinchuuriki to an exam was considered impolite and by not informing them they were it could be considered an act of war. To prepare Naruto was beginning his jinchuuriki training, and Jiraiya would be called back within a few weeks to continue his sealing and some jutsu that his father left him.

"Tomorrow. The plan is Wednesday and Friday Capatain will take me to the place my mother trained at with it. The Hokage and shinobi council issued orders for me to be able to use a two tailed version one cloak by the exam. They also agreed for Hokage-sama to help with my water manipulation and teach me a few water based jutsu to deal with the Ichibi." Naruto was miffed at the first part: Tenzo had argued the council saying Naruto wasn't ready yet and that Jiraiya and he could take care of the Jinchuuriki. They refused, however, stating that even if it wasn't needed yet, as Konoha's jinchuuriki he had a responsibility to master as much of the beast's chakra as he could. The last part though, Naruto didn't mind: learning from the Hokage every Sunday was an honor.