Life in Konoha's ANBU by Shezza

Chapter 41: The Coup: Part III

Kanoshi was burning. Fires had spread from different parts of the city, merging over near the business district into one large conflagration. Smoke rose into the air, brushing against the hazy-purple barrier that surrounded the large city. Normally, the Royal Guard and Military Police would have been on the fire in an instant, dousing the flames with carefully-placed water techniques. However, the city had been emptied of most of the shinobi, and what was left of the Royal Guard battled against the forces of Kazuma, leader of the revolutionary movement against the Third Hokage and the Fifteenth Fire Lord.

The same Kazuma that lay prone on the ground in the gardens of the Fire Palace, a trickle of blood leaking form his mouth, his face still twisted up in surprise. A man stood over him, dressed in a full-body black robe. He had spike-black hair and his face was obscured by a spiralling orange mask. His gloved hand was slick with blood.

A shinobi stood opposite him. This boy wore a grey armoured vest, and long, dark pants. His arms were bare, and a crimson spiral had been tattooed on his right shoulder. His spikey blond hair rose above the white, patterned ceramic mask that covered his face.

Naruto Uzumaki stared at Tobi in stunned surprise. His eyes flickered down, assessing Kazuma's corpse- it was real, and the man was definitely dead. He surveyed the areas around him. The last vestiges of the rapidly fading demonic chakra of those impossible Jinchuuriki pervaded his senses, but he couldn't see, hear or sense anybody else around him.

"Tobi..." Naruto's voice trailed off. It was guarded and cautious, despite the fact that the man had just defeated an enemy of Konoha. "What are you doing?"

Tobi ignored him, bending over Kazuma's body and nudging it with his toe. He cocked his head, tapping on the side of his mask, and let out a theatrical sigh of disappointment.

"Aw, man!" he exclaimed. He sagged, shaking his head. "I really shouldn't have done that." He turned and gave Naruto a half-hearted shrug. "Well, what are you going to do?" He leaned forward, as if confiding something of great importance. "He was a bit of an idiot, you know."

Naruto was confused, although he didn't let it show in his body language. He kept his guard up, observing the mysterious shinobi in front of him very carefully. He had only met Tobi twice- once on his way home from a party, where the two had exchanged maybe thirty-seconds of conversation. Then again, during the Chunin Exams, when Orochimaru had been bearing to kill him and Tobi had appeared, somehow forcing the powerful, dangerous S-rank missing-nin to retreat.

The latter just proved that Tobi, or whoever he was, was not a normal shinobi. To fight evenly against one of those monstrous S-rank shinobi- well, you had to be an S-rank shinobi yourself.

"Who are you?" Naruto asked Tobi quietly.

The man was humming absently to himself, but as Naruto asked that question he stopped. He angled his head, his swirling orange mask and the single, dark eye-hole within it regarding him. There was an almost abrupt shift in the body language, as if the simple question had somehow meant more than it should have. Then, it was gone as quickly as it had come, and Tobi was chuckling.

"Ah, well, some people call me Tobi," the man sad lightly. He tilted his head again, and his voice grew deeper and more serious. "Although, I suppose if I really had to tell you who I was, I would say that..." He leaned forward somewhat menacingly. "I'm nobody."

The air thickened with tension, the sudden blaze of hostile intent from the cloaked man made Naruto shift back a bit, his eyes widening behind his mask. Then, as quickly as it had come, the intent disappeared and Naruto could breathe a little easier. Tobi was idly scratching the back of his head, glancing around the ruined gardens around them, as if sight-seeing was more important than the A-rank shinobi in front of him.