Kusari no Naruto

Seventh Link

If he was being perfectly honest with himself, Naruto was rather confused as he stood before the Hokage; or rather knelt, as was correct for an ANBU. For one thing, it was strange that he was here alone without his squad, and on top of that it was rather strange for him to be here at all. The Hokage had a set of very experienced and very loyal ANBU who he dealt with directly, the ANBU commander included. Simple grunts, even with five years' worth of experience, answered to their captains, who in turn answered to the commander. That was currently an operative under the pseudonym Ookami, the mask supposedly every good ANBU aspired to.

For Naruto to be kneeling in front of the Hokage himself was unorthodox. Missions handed directly from the village's leader tended to be of the upper S-ranked kind. That, or it was for bad news, which the aged Sandaime was known to give out directly. As Naruto tried to avoid looking up at those kindly, but age-wizened eyes, he had an unsettling feeling that he was not here due to the former. Finally, after a long few moments of the Hokage looking at him and gently puffing on his pipe, which quickly became awkward, the man gave him a subtle motion to rise.

"It's good to see you Naruto-kun."

Behind his mask Naruto's eyes widened considerably; he hadn't heard his own name spoken in five years. In fact, he was so used to going by Karasu it was almost unsettling to hear his birth name. There was also the fact that while under service in the corp, an ANBU's name was tantamount to their greatest secret, even if their identity became compromised.

"Hokage-sama?" He managed in as neutral a tone as possible, if nothing else to hide the confusion that would be evident on his features were it not for his mask. While the blond may have had a few issues with authority, and Saru was occasionally willing to let slide the occasional lack of proper suffix, he knew no such courtesies would be extended when it came to the Hokage. To his furthered confusion the Hokage seemed mildly bothered by his proper and formal greeting.

"Ah yes, Karasu-kun; I apologise for the slip."

Naruto had a feeling that it was nothing of the sort. It hadn't taken long into his first year for Naruto to realise he had been placed in ANBU to curtail the more abrasive side of his newfound personality. He had thought the Hokage would be pleased, or at least satisfied with the changes that had been made to the blond. Even he had to admit that he was thinking clearer and acting with far greater efficiency than a few years ago. He couldn't say the changes were completely welcome, but there were certainly benefits to not being a murderous psychopath with no regard for human life. Now at least, he was only a sociopath with very little regard for it; a marked improvement in his squad's eyes.

"How are you doing in ANBU Karasu-kun? Five years is a rather long time for any operative to stay in the service; especially for one as young as you."

Naruto blinked; his confusion was subsiding as it became clear just what this meeting would be about but it didn't make his answer any more certain.

"I am fine Hokage-Sama, my mission record is well above corp standards, my training is progressing at a rate my captain finds suitable and I have a tolerable relationship with most members." It was a clinical answer that left out the fact there were also many members within ANBU that did not tolerate Naruto's presence in the slightest. It was hardly a secret who he was to anybody that had even been on a single mission with him; he wasn't in the habit of hiding his chains after all.

Despite the answer that would be met with a cheerful and satisfied nod with most members of the organisation, the Hokage once again looked displeased.

"Is there anything else Karasu-kun; how about the relationship with your squad mates?"

Naruto couldn't help as his head tilted to the side ever so slightly. He wasn't sure how to answer that. It wasn't as though he could simply tell the Hokage that he had never felt more like he belonged to a family than when he was with his squad mates; it would be highly inappropriate. It was enough to say the realisation had shocked Naruto when it had come to him one day when training with Nezumi. Instead, he simply opted for a safe answer that wouldn't reflect badly on him or the squad.