Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Weapons of Old and New ❯ Four ( Chapter 4 )

 

Weapons of Old and New

Or, Not Another Super Naruto Story

(Really. It's Not.)

By Andrew J. Talon

Disclaimer: Oh, yeah. I SO own Naruto. That's why I have to bust my ass working at minimum wage to pay for college. Psh. Sure.

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“I knew letting that pervert take you on that trip was a bad idea,” Tsunade sighed, shaking her head before taking a large gulp from her sake bowl. Across her desk Naruto reclined in a chair, a cup of sake in his own hand as yet untouched. He shrugged with a more subdued version of his trademark foxy grin. Tsunade briefly wondered if she'd ever see the original again.

 

“Nah. Wasn't all bad. He taught me better chakra control for summonings, helped me work on my muscle tone.” The blond smirked. “But I didn't learn how to sneak up on you from him.” Tsunade smirked back indulgently.

 

“Hm? Oh really? And from whom did you learn that from, praytell?” Naruto took a sip of his cooled sake, his eyes looking to the side as though hesitating.

 

“Someone who referred to this section of ANBU… Section 6, I think.” Naruto turned his eyes back to Tsunade, his ears and nose noting a definite increase in the Hokage's heart rate and hormone levels. She remained composed, raising a single elegant eyebrow.

 

“Who was this someone?” Naruto raised his eyebrows at her suddenly harder tone.

 

“… Andoryuu Tusume. I met him in the village he lived near, a few months before we came back.” The blonde woman knit her fingers together, a definite frown on her face.

 

“… I see.” There was an awkward silence for a few moments. Naruto shrugged.

 

“He didn't talk about… His section. Much. How it related to the training he gave me…” Tsunade's forehead knit above her nose, and Naruto could immediately sense irritation building inside her. There was also a hint of the scent of… Fear?

 

“So… He gave you that training, then.”

 

“… What's wrong with that?” Naruto asked, curious and a bit nervous, but managing to keep the latter out of his voice. Tsunade closed her eyes and bowed her head slightly, as though in prayer, and looked back up again. Her usually warm brown eyes turned darker.

 

“Did Tusume tell you what section six did?” Naruto shrugged.

 

“I… Guessed what the rest of ANBU does-Tracking missing nin, fighting rival nin, defending the village…” Tsunade nodded.

 

“Officially Naruto, there are five sections of ANBU. Missing Nin, Torture and Interrogation, Intelligence, Training, and Administration. Officially, Section 6 does not exist.” Naruto blinked.

 

“But it does… Unofficially.” Tsunade nodded. Naruto frowned.

 

“So… What does Section 6 do?” Tsunade leaned back, her imperious gaze pouring into Naruto's eyes and nearly making him shiver.

 

“What do you think it did?” Tsunade asked quietly. Naruto blinked a few times… He swallowed.

 

“… Something to do with assassinations,” he responded softly. Tsunade nodded.

 

“Section 6 is-was-our trump card against the most lethal threats. Our best spies who would get the job done where no one else could. Who were sent in to kill missing nin and traitors and always, always come back with their heads.” Tsunade shook her head, as a key part of Tsunade's grammar flashed into his mind.

 

“Wait… What do you mean was?” The blonde woman shrugged.

 

“I'm sure Tusume told you Section 6 was disbanded?”

 

“Yeah… I mean, the whole needing more nin faster thing, right?” Tsunade raised her eyebrows.

 

“That was part of it… The other was that the Third Hokage preferred to take missing nin alive, and gather intelligence by more… Conventional means. He didn't like the idea of shinobi going undercover, oftentimes having to give up their entire identity, lives…” Tsunade shook her head.

 

“Section 6 recruited loners, orphans, the outcasts of the village, and turned them into the perfect killing machines. Made them into a demented kind of family. The Third felt that the same thing that had happened with ROOT would happen with Section 6, so he had it disbanded, and its members all retired.” Naruto frowned thoughtfully.

 

“Demented, huh?” Tsunade immediately realized her mistake, and opened her mouth to correct it.

 

“Naruto I didn't mean it like that-!”

 

“I know, obaa-chan, I know,” Naruto soothed with a raised hand. “I guess… That's why the old man and I connected so well, when he trained me. His dad created the section's training program… But doesn't look like he lived to see Andoryuu enter, you know?” Tsunade nodded slowly. Naruto frowned.

 

“You know him?” Tsunade smiled sadly.

 

“He was the one who killed the missing nin who… Killed Dan,” she spoke quietly. Naruto grit his teeth behind his lips, but only nodded in response. Tsunade shook her head free of that memory, of the man she loved dying in the rain, his body covered in blood and grime. Her own assistant at one side, anxiously monitoring his vitals, while the Section 6 assassin sat on the other, stoic, keeping his senses on their surroundings while concerned eyes were locked onto Dan's face…

 

One shake doesn't do as much as it used to, she thought darkly.

 

“I hope there isn't more to this line of questioning than curiosity,” Tsunade stated, warning in her tone. Naruto smiled foxily at her.

 

“None, obaa-chan. I'm just putting the pieces together.” He got up, circled the desk, and hugged her once more. A bit surprised, Tsunade's gentle smile returned and she gave him a hug back.

 

“I'm glad you came back when you did, Naruto… We're going to need all the help we can get,” she murmured. Naruto stiffened.

 

“What's happened?” The blonde woman released her hug, and pulled a file from the stack on her desk. She handed it to him.

 

“This will get you caught up. I suggest you get some sleep now. If you feel you're up to working again…?” Naruto nodded. Tsunade's sort smile warmed at the restrained eagerness all too clear in the boy's eyes.

 

“Then I'll see you tomorrow.”

 

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Next time: Naruto learns of a serious leak somewhere in ANBU. And, with a little advice from his mentor, seeks out an old informant of Section 6. But who is Sakura dating? And what has happened to everyone else in the three years Naruto's been gone? All this and more in the next chapter! R&R!