My Anbu

Minato tapped his desk with a single finger, his mind not quite present as he watched Konoha go about its day in peace. Everyone on the streets outside of his office appeared carefree and blissfully unaware of his hidden struggle. Not that he could blame them. How could they know? They had no reason to suspect anything amiss. But something was indeed amiss. For him at least.

It all started when he'd made Hokage almost a year ago. It was a dream come true at the time. It still was in a way. It was everything he could have hoped for and so much more. Until he learned that he was, in fact, the second runner-up for the position. Meaning, he wasn't the first choice. The first choice had declined and pointed at him to take the position instead. Apparently, Hiruzen hadn't been all that happy about changing up the plans he'd previously made.

No, Hiruzen had not been happy, but he'd hid it well, and when Hiruzen told him that he wanted to name him his successors, he'd not suspected a thing. For all he knew, the Sandaime had kept his eyes on him from the very start.

How naive he'd been...

It was during a chance encounter with a drunk Anbu member in a bar that the truth had come out. During the man's slurs he'd proclaimed that he was happy Minato had taken the position instead of the one the Sandaime originally wanted. That Minato was far more approachable than the Fox . In-between mouthfuls of sake he was told about the encounter of the two. How the Fox had refused, throwing a bit of a fit and called the previous Hokage a senile baboon for even suggesting it. Only to earn an earful for being an 'ungrateful brat' and then promptly sent on a year-long infiltration mission in the Land of Snow as punishment.

Naturally, Minato had later confronted the Sandaime about it. He'd asked him who the 'Fox' was, but the former Hokage had only smiled wistfully at the mention of the man, explained that he was like a son to him, and that he was away from the village until the next summer rolled around.

But even now, sitting behind his shiny new desk, he could remember the sadness that flickered through the Sandaime's eyes at the mention of the man that was apparently like another son. Minato could tell he'd sent the man away in a fit of spite and as a consequence of impulse and being rash in the heat of the moment. Hiruzen regretted it. That much was abundantly clear.

To top it all of, knowing that the man was scouted to be Hokage and had declined in favor of recommending him, it made the previous feeling of triumph and success feel slightly bitter and empty.

And here he sat, thinking about a man he'd never met and knew little to nothing about, waiting for him to step into his office and announce his success of yet another flawless mission. Oh yes, he'd read the man's files. But like all Anbu files, there were no pictures to identify him. It was only the Hokage who could put a face to their names. The Anbu.

Uzumaki Naruto was his name. Two years older than himself, sporting a flawless mission record, graduated at the age of six and promptly disappeared into the ranks of Anbu at seven- never to be seen again by the regular forces. From the information he could squeeze out from his Anbu, the man was secretive and withdrawn. He kept to himself and often went on solo missions personally issued by the Hokage since Hiruzen was the only person who dared order the man around.

Uzumaki Naruto answered only to the Hokage... and now that was him.

Still, one of the most irritatingly persistent questions he had was why Naruto recommended him of all people. For all he knew, he had no idea who Naruto was. Hell, he'd never even heard his name before! Did Naruto know of him then? Obviously, since he'd been Anbu too for a short while.

The whole thing was very strange.

His finger tapped the desk a little harder as he let out an irritated sigh. He spun around in his chair, breaking the unseeing gaze of the village and turned it towards the insides of his office... only to spot a man in the middle of the room, dressed in Konoha's standard-issued Anbu uniform, a fox mask, and with long golden hair reaching to his chest.