Shadowed Sun

Interlude - Kitsune

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An ANBU's mask was their identity.

They could never take it off in the presence of anyone other than the Hokage, or else they risked losing their identity.

It was created for the purpose of safety. The ANBU took many missions that often created a lot of enemies.

Kitsune rolled his head, feeling his bones crack pleasantly in his neck, and he resisted the urge to stretch out. The rebuilding of Konoha had been started swiftly, with him and Jiraiya taking main lead. With Jiraiya's departure, as the ANBU Commander, Kitsune had taken it upon himself to lead the reconstruction.

He had split up the building in accordance to priority, and assigned the high-priority buildings to professional construction workers, and Jōnin. Buildings such as the hospital, ANBU HQ, T&I. The Chūnin (and some Genin) were assigned to rebuilding the apartments, and some of the shops. The Genin (with a handful of supervisors) were in charge of clearing away debris, cataloging the found items, and whatnot.

The ANBU were in charge of recreating the security seals, maintaining a constant patrol around the village for safety and protection, as well as distribution of supplies.

"Kitsune, Shizune-sama was wondering if you could spare some extra hands at the new hospital. Some of the equipment is malfunctioning and we need some mechanical help," a kunoichi chirped.

Kitsune nodded his head, and looked away from her, already, mentally, moving on to the next task. "Grab Yamcha, and Kiyo from T&I."

"Yes, sir."

When she hadn't left, Kitsune resisted the urge to sigh, and turned back to her. "Yes?"

The kunoichi blushed, and lowered her eyes. "Um... I'm sorry, Kitsune-sama, but I've noticed that you've been working very hard these past three days for our village—"

"It's my job," Kitsune cut in.

The kunoichi's cheeks took on an even darker shade of red, and she smiled nervously. "Y-Yeah, but... I mean... I was wondering... if you wanted to take a break. To eat. If you wanted to take a break to eat. Um... with me."

It took a surprisingly good amount of self-restraint for Kitsune not to groan in annoyance, and roll his eyes. Instead, he kept his voice polite, but firm, "I'm afraid I need to focus on the reconstruction of Konoha for the time being. I won't be taking a 'break' any time soon, but thank you."

"Oh," she squeaked. "Okay. Have a good day, Kitsune-sama."

Kitsune released the sigh he had been holding back the second she left.

"Another waste," Okami said, walking up to Kitsune and wrapping his large arm around his shoulders. Kitsune felt a cross between annoyance and affection at the grizzled veteran ANBU. "How many girls are you going to reject?"

"As many as I want," Kitsune retorted. "What are you doing here? I thought I assigned you to the ANBU HQ."

"Just checking in on you," Okami said easily. "I know you haven't slept since the invasion. You got to be running low on energy by now."

Yes.

"No. I'm fine."

Okami just shook his head. "Liar. But, I won't push, Commander."

Kitsune snorted. "Get back to the HQ, old man."

Okami wheezed a laugh and ruffled Kitsune's hair. "Alright, alright. But, I'm serious, pup. You aren't getting any closer to your 'dream' like this."