from Academy to Anbu by theriku260

chapter 17

East Gate…

Naruto casually checked his gear while waiting for the diplomat, Angel chasing a butterfly nearby.

"Hey, Mouse?" Angel asked, remembering to use his code name for once. Naruto looked over and tilted his head. "Weren't we supposed to see Yakumo tomorrow for a picnic?" Under his masks Naruto paled; the sickly girl may have her chakra sealed and hit like a leaf, but her temper was fierce. Quickly he wrote a letter and ran through some hand signs.

"Summoning jutsu" and instantly a medium sized panther arrived.

"Hmmm, yes? What is it?" The panther asked in a slightly irritated tone.

"Nobu, please deliver this to Yakumo…chan. She's at the place I showed you." Nobu hissed.

"I'm a battle messenger, not a go between for couples. Summon my apprentice Fai if you want this done."

"But I've literally seen snails run faster than Fai. Please, Nobu? For me?" Staring at one another Nobu eventually caves.

"Alright fine, but only because I can't stand Fai's laziness. Already Akira's squad mocks us battle messengers." Nobu muttered the last part and bounded off with the letter in a bag attached to his middle.

As he ran, Nobu appeared to stretch in long bounds, covering twice his length with every stride. Angel chuckled as she sat by Naruto's feet.

"Slower than snails! Why is Fai on the messenger squad anyways?" She asked.

The battle messenger squad was essential to the clan. They were known for delivering every message, written or verbal, through the toughest of situations. Nobu himself had originally been feared by the Tiger clan before the merge after he slaughtered twelve of their ranks to protect his cargo. His apprentice, Fai, was a wagon sized tiger who dreamed of being like Nobu. Unfortunately the young one was better suited for guarding the clan or heavy assault but the elders wished to let the tiger try.

"Sometimes an impossible dream is impossible to let go of, no matter how foolish" Naruto said finally. Angel cocked her head.

"Huh?"

"Er, it's nothing." He assured her. Naruto straightened as the man they'd be escorting walked up.

"You must be the ANBU guy the Hokage assigned? I'm Sota, nice to meet you." Naruto eyed the man wearily; Sota Yukimura, age thirty one and official diplomat for the country of Wave. Average build, brown hair and chestnut eyes and a traveling kimono just barely above commoner standards. Overall the man checked out, but his casualness around trained assassins was…unnerving. However Naruto was on a mission to ensure Konoha got five percent more for missions taken for Wave clients and hesitation would not help his cause.

"A pleasure to meet you, Yukimura-san. You may call me Mouse, and this is Angel."

"Er, this may be a stupid question but aren't you a little…short to be an ANBU? I was told they were the elite, and you sound like a child." Sota said casually but it was clearly an attempt to test the boundaries of the blonde's temper.

"I assure you my height or suggested age doesn't impede my ability to negotiate, guard, or hide bodies." Naruto replied cheerfully and Sota sweated nervously.

"Right. We should be going." Naruto grunted and made several clones, one of which picked up a startled Sota.

"It's so we travel faster" he explained to the man. "This way we'll reach Wave within a couple of days."

Border to Wave…

"Wow." Was Naruto's intelligent response to seeing the bridge connecting the island nation to the rest of the continent.