Sehnsucht [Naruto Fanfiction]

Chapter 5 - Crows

Chapter 5 - Crows
One month later

Hitori and Haruko were sitting in the barbecue restaurant and had just ordered. A couple of other newer members of ANBU were also with them. Inuzuka Kiba had tried out only last week and gotten in successfully; his tracking skills would be helpful. Akamaru was in attendance as well, of course. There was another girl, thankfully, in amongst the testosterone with her. Her name was Ryuka, and she was nice enough, but they didn't really click as well as Hitori did with Haruko. Since Hitori had been in ANBU for a few months now, she didn't feel like such a rookie any more.

The four of them had just returned from their last mission, which was a simple get in, get the information and get out deal, which they completed without any trouble. Haruko had captained the mission, being the most experienced member of their team, and even though Hitori disagreed with a few of his decisions, she had kept her mouth shut and luckily nothing had gone wrong. They had all returned without any injuries and were perfectly on schedule, which was a rare commodity, especially with ANBU.

One of the older members came in, looking like they were trying to find someone, but saw their group first. Hitori only knew him as 'Gruff' because he had a gruff voice. It was a terrible nickname, but she had no idea what his actual name was and didn't really have the courage to ask, so she went along with the nickname instead.

"Have you guys heard the news?" He spoke quietly, but even his whisper was just as rough as his normal voice.

"What news?" Kiba asked him quickly, his ears practically perking up at the sound of gossip.

"We are getting a new ANBU Commander. They are taking over control from the Hokage and the old ANBU Commander," he replied, his eyes still wide from the news.

"Who did you hear that from?" Hitori piped up suspiciously.

"Genma," he answered her, and the four of them nodded since Genma was a reasonably reliable source.

"Do you know who it is?" Ryuka asked as she leaned her elbow on the table and her chin on her hand.

"He wouldn't tell me that much. Or maybe he was bluffing and didn't actually know." Gruff thoughtfully crossed one arm over his chest and brought the other to his chin.

"Isn't it obvious who it's going to be?" Haruko purposely kept his voice casual, but Hitori thought that she might have a good guess. His suspicions were usually accurate.

"Go on then, know it all. Who's it going to be?" Hitori nudged him in the ribs with her elbow, and he glared at her.

"Uchiha Itachi. The man is a fucking legend. He knows how ANBU works, and not only that, but his intellect is second only to Yondaime. He's the most logical choice to take on the role. Kakashi will be Hokage soon, so it can't be him. It has to be the Uchiha." Haruko lectured their group and watched their various expressions as they took in his educated guess.

He was right. The logical thought would be that the man who just got pardoned and was now a Konoha shinobi again would be the obvious choice. Uchiha Itachi had only become an ANBU Captain when he was 13 and had more experience in the field than probably anyone else in the village aside from maybe Kakashi and the Hokage herself. Not only that, he had a brilliant understanding of how plenty of organisations worked outside of Konoha and that extra intelligence would make his mission plans formidable.

"That may actually be quite plausible," Gruff answered after they were silent momentarily.

"Well, if anyone is taking full charge of ANBU from the Hokage, I want it to be someone I know is a loyal shinobi. Not someone who uses their own splinter factions or some old fuck who is so old school they don't even understand my job as a medic. I want to take orders from someone who fights for our village." Hitori spoke and shrugged. "At least we know that Uchiha Itachi isn't going to turn out like that."