Sold

Cold Blooded Killers

(A/N: -Kira_Nightcore- the angst was written just for you! I hope it is satisfactory, haha xD)

The blade of a shinobi is to be swift, silent and precise. 

The words rang in Shikamaru's ears. He can't recall where he heard the phrase, but it made sense. As the bottle of sake began to make its rounds between his peers, the young shinobi thought to ask a few pressing questions. Ever since their failure to win that fight against the anbu, nothing seemed to be quite right. The world ran on, but issues never left him. 

"What do you guys think of this Naruto guy?" the drinking suddenly stopped. Sake was usually consumed after successful missions, but the urge to numb the minds plagued all of the young ninja. 

Out of the eleven shinobi who graduated around similar times, only seven of them were present. Neji would never be in the same room as Hinata, and vice versa. The wounds left from the chunin exams were still unhealed between them, forever remaining a rift between kin. Ten Ten never left Neji's side, and the boy called Sai would not easily associate with them. As for Nayu, she was away on a mission to improve what little taijutsu she had. Guy had taken her with personally as a way to maintain the spirit of youth within. Shikamaru shook his head at the notion. 

"Dunno and don't care." Kiba nursed an equally fresh wound; one of broken pride for being beaten not once, but twice by the anbu. Akamaru whined from his place, sounding just as his master did. 

Choji spoke through a crunch. "Why do you ask?"

"Jiraiya and Kakashi seemed pretty adamant on getting the idiot back, but I can't be the only one who doesn't have any real memory of the kid. Right?" he searched the expression of his peers and found that they agreed without a word. "So, what do we think of him? If he's our age and an anbu with such a renowned reputation, then the timeline doesn't match up."

Seated beside Ino, Sakura rest her head against her friends as Ino did the same. Similar thoughts had crossed her mind not long ago. If Naruto is Fox, then he is the same boy from all those years ago. The same one who pinned Sasuke and her down in seconds and slaughtered dozens of full grown ninja in without hesitation. An uneasy shiver crawled up her spine. There was no easy answer to their struggle. 

"Does the anbu take children into their ranks?" Choji innocently inquired. 

Sakura pondered the question. "For Naruto to the the anbu Fox, they would have to." All eyes fell on her. Cheeks flushed red, she sat up and furthered her point. Ino noticed the anxiety and clutched Sakura's hand. "When Sasuke and I were still a team, we dealt with Fox after running into him on our first mission. So, around twelve years old. But his skill is beyond that of a kid, meaning-"

"He would have been younger when being taken into the program. What a drag." Shikamaru felt the notion twist his stomach into knots. To be nothing but a kid and trained to fight- really, that's what they all were. Just a bunch of child soldiers fighting other peoples wars. But he consider the difference between his situation and Naruto's. Taking a life is not an easy thing, yet Naruto did so with what seemed like ease. One brought up to be a soldier, well fed and cared for. The other: an assassin to starve and keep the even bigger monsters at bay. 

With that, Shikamaru took another drink. So did they all. The young shinobi began to draw up thoughts on the boy and what might have been. Who Naruto might have been behind the mask he wore. Shikamaru found the desire to know almost overwhelming. His recollection of the hospital incident during the chunin exams was weak, but entirely forgotten. Was it really the same boy? He silently hoped that Naruto had a doppelganger, just so he could sleep at night without considering what hell the boy might have been put through.