Sehnsucht [Naruto Fanfiction]

Chapter 6 - Job Titles

Chapter 6 - Job Titles

"Come on, Hitori. You're usually faster than me!" Sakura called out from the other side of the training ground as Hitori tried to dodge every kunai and shuriken her friend threw at her.

They had finally gotten a chance to train together and had been here for two hours already. They always focused on keeping their evasion ability sharp since it was so important for medical ninjas to be able to avoid mortal injury at all costs. Stamina was a massive factor, and since they had both spent their weapon stores by throwing them at each other, they were both getting a decent workout.

"That's all I've got left." Sakura shrugged after a massive fuuma shuriken landed with a heavy thud in a tree behind Hitori as she jumped high to dodge it.

"Shall we work on taijutsu?" Hitori suggested and saw Sakura nod in answer.

The younger woman grinned darkly and charged at her with her full speed, and Hitori groaned even though she had made the suggestion. For the next half an hour, they used every technique and every combination they had within their arsenal. Being medics, they could heal themselves as they went, though Sakura had a massive advantage, being able to heal any damage almost instantly. Hitori was nowhere near as proficient in that regard, and they eventually had to stop so she could fix up the worst of the damage. Sakura helped to speed up the process before they went at it again.

Since they sparred and trained together reasonably often, they knew each other's attack patterns and strategies quite well and constantly had to think outside the box to try and take the other off guard to gain the upper hand in the fight. Fighting against Sakura meant that Hitori didn't have to hold back her strength as well, though Sakura had to make sure she didn't shatter the earth beneath them or her friend's skull.

Around midday, they stopped to collect their weapons and ate their picnic lunch, which Sakura had brought along. As always, it was delicious, and Hitori was as jealous as ever of her ability to heal, cook, and just generally be exceptional. Once she had finished eating, she still had plenty of time to go to her next appointment for the day.

"I've got to go. Got that ANBU meeting today. They are finally announcing the new Commander. Then I've got to head off first thing tomorrow for a mission." She stood up and dusted herself off before extending a hand to Sakura to help her stand.

"How interesting." Her tone suggested she knew exactly who it was, but Hitori didn't press her. "Miho should have your extra stuff, too. The batch was completed yesterday. Thanks for training and hanging out. I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again. Take it easy." Hitori strolled towards HQ and waved over her shoulder at her friend.

It was a short walk, and almost everyone had already arrived. There was little space on the ground floor, but everyone squished to make space. She found Haruko in the crowd and stood with him since he was the only person she actually knew and could see from here. They chatted quietly until the familiar black-masked figure appeared in the doorway with a few more people trailing behind. The first one she recognised was Hatake Kakashi. Although he had retired from ANBU a long time ago, since he was being groomed for Hokage, Hitori guessed that he was here for politics' sake. Behind him, a slightly shorter man with long dark hair pulled into a ponytail.

Haruko and her were right. It was Uchiha Itachi.

Kakashi and the black-masked man walked to the front while Itachi hung off to the side. The entire room went dead silent as they waited for one of them to speak. The Copy Nin spoke up first.

"As you all know, we have been looking for someone to be given the position of a full-time ANBU Commander. This will allow the Hokage much more time to focus on the relations we are developing and improving with the other hidden villages." His single dark eye looked over the crowd evenly.