Dusk Till Dawn

13

The troops were lined up, complete in shining armour and porcelain masks. In Naruto's own opinion he had to admit that he was intimidated by these fighters but his face remained stern; they were trained professionals and he was currently in their domain.

He knew that if he showed even a miniscule amount of fear in the face of these Shinobi that they would turn against him. They were like wild animals; a hint of submission and there was no going back. You had to exert your position as soon as you came across it; otherwise you may as well submit yourself into a life of being lead by them.

The basic clothing consisted of ANBU uniform, armour plating, masks and an optional cape. Many of the troops assembled had various other weaponry or protective gear but each and every one looked after their equipment. Naruto supposed they had to in order to avoid Danzou's wrath.

"Here they are, Hokage-sama."

In all there were approximately thirty Shinobi before him and Naruto ran his eyes from each figure, easily identifying the younger ROOTs from the elder. One figure caught his eye and he called the mask forwards,

"Mujina-san, please."

The badger masked ANBU stepped forwards and Naruto crouched down a little so he was within eye level of the member. Whoever was behind the mask appeared to be a child; their bone structure behind the clothing and armour was thinner and lighter than that of the adults and the clothing itself seemed of a lesser quality; good if someone was going to grow out of it.

"Please remove your mask."

The head turned to Danzou and Naruto blinked slowly; each and every one of these people would check with Danzou, he was sure of it. Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto noticed Danzou shake his head and the ANBU merely saluted at the Hokage.

It was easy to tell that the Ne member would now refuse all of Naruto's requests and he fought the urge to snarl in Danzou's direction. The man really did have the whole of this division in the palm of his hand.

"Danzou-san, I do believe that your subordinates should take the full weight of their priorities. The Hokage does, after all, have a higher status to their superior."

Danzou smiled wryly and shook his head once again, the bandages over his eye slipping down slightly as his face crinkled.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama, but all of my subordinates only refer to me. It was declared that way in the contract I signed when ROOT was first set up."

Naruto dismissed the badger Nin before him with a wave of his hand and he glanced at an emotionless Sai. An idea sprang to mind and Naruto faced Danzou, eyes alight with emotion.

"Let me talk to them one on one."

Danzou's face fell and he fought to control his expression. Naruto knew this was exactly what Danzou had feared, after all, Naruto had been able to get through to one of his best men (Sai had been told by Danzou himself that he had been chosen primarily because he was of the same age group, but also because he was one of the best ROOT had to offer) and most likely could do it again.

No matter how much you trained or broke a person, there was always a change - no matter how slim - that you could return them to how they used to be. Naruto had a healing quality in this respect and would be able to help anyone who came near him; on the conditions they were willing to try and it was within their personal capacities.

"I don't think that would be wise Hoka-"

"Danzou this is a direct order from your Hokage. You will allow me to talk to each of them, unmasked and without influence or I will shut this organisation down."