Ganryu
Your Lovable Jackass GM
Summer heat beat down from above as a lazy haze shifted in the distance, and the sounds of insects' chirpings rose. A slight sigh came as a hooded figure ran blood between his fingers, dried blood splattered across the fence posts. Beneath him, a similar robed figure lay motionless on the ground, a large slash-mark tearing open the chest.
The smell of gunpowder, iron, and death mixed with the humidity, and the figure looked upward. "Another one. Good help is so hard to find too." He shook his head, and took off the mask of the corpse, slowly closing its eyes with a pass of his hands. He quickly pocketed the mask, and sat on a nearby bench. The masked man took off his own mask, a brilliant mustache showing, and stroked a goatee as his eyes searched the scene. A pebble kicked against a wall... They had pivoted on one foot, caught unaware until the last moment. The earth was slightly disturbed, leading from a handprint, cracks showing where it had tried to rise up, but they had been killed before the Earth Style hand gone off. But no additional footprints, nothing identifying the attacker... again.
"And with Lord Hibiki Hyuga dead, tensions are up on the Hokage. Not that I think he's... particularly bothered in the first place."
As the man stroked his goatee, he slowly put his mask back on, as other robed figures flickered in around him. He raised a hand.
"Yes, yes, I know I'm late. I'll have a double attend as Kaito. Get the cleaners out here. There's no evidence, and seeing a dead ANBU might... give the wrong impression to leaf."
Insects began to crawl out of one of the robed figures, and Kaito facepalmed, holding up the hand for 'stop'. "Wait until AFTER I've left. Heavens knows I have enough to have nightmares about. Don't need to watch a beetle come out of someone's eye."
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Meanwhile, in a black out room, all curtains heavily shut, and the walls laced with a genjutsu making them seem endless, 12 genin would wait.
The only light source was a swinging lantern, that moved almost hypnotically, revealing seals across the floor each time it swung like a pendulum. The lantern seemed to have an effect of distorting time, making it difficult to tell if they had been in the room 5 minutes, or 5 hours. Each glance at it made time pass quicker, but each look at the walls made it slower. The entire room seemed to almost gently sway as well.
With another sway of the lantern, a masked face suddenly appeared in the passing flame. White with horns, the mask was a Hannya mask.
As the lantern swung back, he was gone, but a voice sounded.
"Welcome to ANBU. Apologies about the wait! I had urgent business. Now, there's many analogies I could make of how we're the shadows of the falling leaf, and each of us follows the squirming foliage as it falls, until at last, for the first time it meets it's own shadow on the ground. But..."
The man clapped his hands, and torches began to light, showing more of the circular room, with a clock on the wall showing it had only been 45 minutes.
"I'm not one for poetry. I am Kaito Chosokabe. ANBU Commander. But I'm not important here. You are. Today, you're the little Shadows of the Leaf. Our work's not glorious, but it is important. We do the crap no one else wants. Starting off, you all will have Squad Leaders watching your every move. They'll be like your sensei's, but will generally be giving helpful advice while helping you garrot someone in a back alley, and cleaning the blood off. All the things your best friend was too chicken to do in the academy. Or maybe I just wasn't hanging with the cool crowd. The work is tough. There isn't any appreciation for it. But it is important. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise. Oh. And the pay's good. Afterall, before you were Genin Ranked... now you are ANBU, and that's out the window. Speaking of benefits..."
The Hannya mask individual pulled out a crate, turning, and began to toss out cloth and mask to each genin there.
"Uniforms. Each uniform has a design on the back. Red, is under Kasane Uzumaki. Gold, is under Taisei Hyuga. Green is Kazuo Senju. Blue is Miyu Ogumo. Oh. Some of them were supposed to have been dead. Oops.
If you find anything secret in ANBU... you aren't looking hard enough. Everything is classified. If that stops any of you, I'll fire you immediately. Know what you're supposed to know... and figure out what you aren't.
Pay is semiweekly, collect it in your drop box, if you're out on a mission, it will accumulate. Keys to dropboxes are with the mask. Where they are at is the first ANBU hazing, have fun with that. I'd tell you, but I've been informed 'it's funnier if I don't.'. ANBU quarters is large and expansive. Explore it. Don't get caught in classified areas. We have a forge for kunai and blades, a primer who deals with explosive tags. They'll make other tags, as long as you provide the designs. There's a sleeping quarters here. A training ground that can take any shape. A medical facility; some rumors say there's a hidden area we call the 'fleshpit', where dojutsu and other body parts are stored. Silly rumors of course. Oh, and there's a large expansive library, some sections forbidden. Try not to get caught.
This room right here, by the way, is the interrogation room, one of, anyways. Put a kunai on a string in the door if it's in use and we'll try to not disturb any sessions. Here's a list of cleaners provided with the packets, contact them if you need any corpses cleaned. Try to make it ANBU related. They get really homicidal if you call them too much. Oh, and they aren't morning people for the most part."
Kaito shrugged, and made a finger to neck motion and fake gagged for 'death'.
"Now, your squad leaders are dying to meet you. Sadly, I've given them all the wrong room. Who knows what room I told any one of them. Oops. Here are your marks. None of them are wearing masks. Oh, that reminds me. Mask policy. In ANBU headquarters, no one cares. If you are a civilian, don't wear your mask. If you're ANBU. Wear a mask. Break it, and I'll have to call the cleaners. That's the policy." The masked man chuckled at his own joke, then handed out bingo books to every person there. In a bit of macabre humor, the last entry for each book ended with their respective squad leaders, including pictures, descriptions, and ranks.
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Squad Miyu
Heat sweltered within the large brick room, a shimmering orange illuminating the entire place. A clanging of hammers echoed, and below, blades were being folded, again and again, molten ore glimmering as it was beaten into shape.
Above, a figure crouched on an stone outcropping, and dipped a cigarette into a nearby vent, lighting it instantly. A sleeve was missing an arm. She took several stuttering drags on it, a shaking hand slightly crushing the cig as she puffed it.
"Why the FUCK did I bother to come to the forge when I know Kaito. Heaven's knows where the Kazuo, Taisei, or Kasane ended up. Geez. I don't know what's worse, Kaito, or Doppel... tch. Both are as annoying as shit. I said I didn't want to be squad leader... and not only am I here, he tells me the wrong freakin' room like some sick joke."
A long, drawn out exhale left a cloud of smoke, before she put the cigarette back in her mouth, biting it in place as the figure took off her mask, and slid down a zipper on the robe, revealing her regular clothing underneath... as well as copious amounts of sweat, the forge not being the coolest place in ANBU. She shuffled through papers, singed by the hot embers drifting in the room.
"Ton, Ren, Yumi. Wait, shit, that an Ogumo? Ha, that's hilarious." She spent more time on the other two, looking over Ton's evaluation at chunnin exams again and again. "Seriously. No aptitude. No weakness...? Average at everything...?" She switched folders. "Archer, huh. Nice and simple... wait, none of these guys are good in a fight! GAH!!!!"
Miyu's shriek echoed up the tunnels of ANBU headquarters, a slight lacing of killing intent with it. She dropped her cigarette, and fell to the ground, cradling herself in one arm, the mess of papers falling around her.
"I can't do this... I can't do this!"
The killing intent began to grow... The blacksmiths nearby shuddered, before looking at Miyu, and deciding to leave that one alone. It took them a minute to continue the clinking of hammers. One of them was hitting the anvil... with nothing in front of him, obviously distracted and watching what would happen next.
