Lost in the Whirlwind (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter 36

Cadet 307.

That was what they called me. Not yet an ANBU but not a ninja of ordinary ranks either, just somewhere in between, like a lost soul in a limbo.

Contrary to my prior belief, you didn't need to be a high ranking nin to be considered for an ANBU position. I had sparred with fellow cadets, half of whom I was pretty sure skills were not up to Jonin standards (myself included, for quite obvious reasons). That was the reason why they have an (ridiculously) extensive cadet training before getting assigned to specialized groups.

Your ranks: genin, chuunin, jonin or tokubetsu, still have to be obtained outside of ANBU if you wish to, which is a route most shinobi tend to go after.

"Nakaaaaa," Naruto whined, hands grabbing my shirt to drag me out of bed. "Let's go trainnnn."

My body remained rock solid on the bed, not budging even an inch. "Naruto," I groaned, voice raspy from sleep. "Let me sleep, please." ANBU training was a bitch, so was the trainer ANBU Leopard. He was ruthless, fishing out training regimes one after another. For the first time in a month of nonstop training and living off on 4 hours of sleep every single day, us cadets finally get a day off.

It was also a day to reconsider our career path and quit if need be. And oh, believe me, the temptation is real.

As much more relentless the training was than Yamada-sensei's or Shisui's and as much as my body protested and hated it, I could feel myself improving leaps and bounds. My ninjutsu finally shaped up to be something more tangible and practical, mostly stemming from the fear of dying during spars than the training itself. Basic ninjutsu of all five elements were drilled into us cadets, letting us figure out our specialized elements on our own (or perhaps under our new team or mentor, Leopard hadn't quite explained that part well).

What ANBU really emphasized was weapon training, letting us practice from dusk till dawn until our stances were nothing but perfect and until we could unsheathe tanto even in our sleep. You'd think I was joking, but I really am not.

So on this rest day, a well deserved one I might add, I was determined to make the most out of it by sleeping, which made me realize my ANBU name was more fitting than I'd originally thought it was. I could literally see Shisui giving me a smug smile and a I-told-you-so look.

Naruto had questioned my disappearance quite often, but I'd always blamed it on overnight missions outside the village, or crashing at Shisui's place after a rigorous training day, which was more believable than not.

Back to the present, the blonde continued his whining, his hands now grabbing my upper arm instead of my shirt to wrestle me out of bed. I shot up on the bed, awake at the sudden pain. The force Naruto had put into my new ANBU tattoo was unexpected. Did Naruto get so much stronger, or was it because I had just gotten the tattoo yesterday, so the pain was still fresh?

Naruto blinked at my bewildered expression (or as bewildered as I could express). "Are you okay?"

"I-," I faced the blonde, now looking into his hopeful eyes before letting out a sigh. "Yeah, okay, let's go train."

My so-called brother let out a shout of joy before scramming out of my bed and back into his bedroom to prepare his weapons.

I quickly got dressed, glad to finally be wearing something other than the ANBU gear. My hand reached out to grab my tanto in the closet, before thinking otherwise. A sudden weapon change was too suspicious, even to Naruto.

I walked down the stairs to see Naruto impatiently waiting for me, bouncing on his heels. Walking past the dining table, I patted Konohamaru's head, turning a little amused when he let out a growl of annoyance.