[Naruto Fanfic] Team 4: The Copy Ninja's Little Brother

Chapter 4: ANBU Root Recruitment

[10-year-old Kaname POV]

I got home after training with Sasuke and Misaki at around five in the afternoon. I was starving, but too tired to go out and buy some food. Kakashi wasn't home to cook me something. He's probably out on another damn mission. Even if he is a fully fledged ANBU member, would it kill him to at least come home once in awhile to check in on his little brother?

Back to the food situation, I decided on eating a small bag of chips. I was so hungry that I didn't even care that the chips were slightly stale.

My stomach still growled. I honestly couldn't find anything else to eat. I opened up the fridge and saw a delicious.. spoiled potato. It looked disgusting. I'll just let my nii-chan deal with that.

I sat on the couch and rested my head on a pillow, molding my body into the couch. As I stretched, I noticed I was laying on something hard near my lower back. I reached and found that it was a book, one that I always see Kakashi read.

"Make-out Paradise," I read the title aloud. It sounds awfully crude, although I do tend to let curiosity get the best of me. I flipped to a random page in the middle.



"I love you," he whispered in my ear as he thrus-


ALL RIGHT THAT'S ENOUGH READING FOR ME! Does Kakashi actually read this stuff?! It's vile! I closed the book and threw it across the room, accidentally knocking down a picture frame.

I went over to the frame and set it back up. It was a picture of Kakashi when he was a Genin, with his sensei (Who, by the way, was the Fourth Hokage, which is totally cool!) and two teammates. The girl to the far left was very pretty, and the boy in the middle looked like a total joker. Kakashi looked unimpressed. Kind of reminded me of Sasuke.

Someone knocked at the door, startling me. I probably looked like sweaty, exhausted, utter shit but I hoped I looked at the least presentable.

I opened the door and was greeted by an old man, with white wraps almost completely around his head. He wore a white robe with black covering. His forced, insincere smile looked like a bad attempt at a polite and sociable one. This guy was a bit.. creepy.

"Can I help you?"

"Are you Kaname Hatake?"

"I am. Who's asking?"

"I am interested in recruiting you to ANBU Root."

ANBU.. I'm not even old nor experienced enough to join ANBU. And Root? I've never heard of ANBU Root before.

"ANBU Root?"

"Yes. ANBU Root recruits children and trains them to their full potential. We think you have what it takes to be a member of ANBU Root. You may come with me for your training to begin."

Whoa, this sounds sweet! If I accept this offer, I could get to Kakashi's level in no time! I wondered what type of training I would do. Would I be trained to excel in taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu? Will I learn a bunch of S-Ranked ninjutsu? I'll never know till I found out for myself!

"Alright, I'll go with it."

"Good, good. Now come, I will take you to Root headquarters and get you situated."

I filed behind the old man, and I realized I didn't even know his name. I'd feel too awkward to ask. He doesn't look like the conversational type.

On the way out of the apartment building, we bumped into an ANBU member. I immediately recognized his mask and smiled from ear to ear.

"Nii-chan, you're back!" I exclaimed. Nice to see him for the first time in awhile.

"Yeah. And just in time too.." he muttered under his breath. Just in time? What'd he mean by that?

"Kakashi." the old man said coldly.

"Danzo." They both sounded quite hostile. I wonder why. "What are you doing with Kaname?"

"I was just about to take him to Root headquarters. Now if you'll excuse us."

Kakashi gently grabbed my shoulder. "Don't go with him," he whispered, only loud enough for me to hear.

"Your younger brother will become a member of Root, Kakashi. I'm not asking for permission. It's an order."

That sounded uber scary..

"I will not allow this." Kakashi said sternly. He glared at Danzo, a flare of intensity in his eyes.

"I'm afraid that's not for you to say."

If Kakashi says it's bad then it probably is bad. What's so bad about it, though? I swear, there are too many secrets in this village that I don't know about.

"As his guardian I'm afraid it is. We'll be taking our leave then." Kakashi had a tone of undefying finality. Danzo scowled and walked away, his cane making a distant clank-clank sound.

When Danzo was out of sight, Kakashi released a sigh of relief. "That was a close one. Really close one."

"I don't understand what just happened.." I said, puzzled.

"ANBU Root is no good. Their ways are inhumane. They are raised without emotion and only focus on the mission. They will, without a second thought, let their comrades die for the sake of the mission. In the Ninja world, those who break the rules are regarded as scum. But-"

"Those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum." I finished for him. Kakashi made it clear that that was the way a Ninja should go about. I definitely agree with him on that.

"Precisely. And that's all we'll speak of this subject."

Sounds serious. I'll leave it alone then.

We walked back into the apartment. Kakashi took off his ANBU mask and tossed it on the couch.

He frowned as he looked across the room where Make-out Paradise laid nicely atop a rug.

"Why is my book on the ground?"

Well, I completely forgot about that. "I-uh, I used it to kill a fly."

"Don't damage good literature for killing insects!" You call that good literature? Seriously?

"I'll keep that in mind.."

Kakashi examined the tiny apartment. It was kept neat and tidy, the way we liked it. I can't say I'm a fan of sloppy surroundings.

"I see you've kept this place in order." Kakashi said approvingly.

"Yeah, I did."

My older brother seemed to be totally lost in his thoughts. I should probably leave him to it.

"I'll be turning in now, then. Good night."

"Good night. Oh, wait, we need to talk for a sec."

"What's up?"

Kakashi looked lost in his thoughts, and slightly strained to add. Perhaps he's overworked. "It seems like something's on your mind."

Something on my mind? Did I really look like I was troubled?  I was bothered that he was always busy, but not so bothered that it would affect (A/N: Affect as a verb and effect as a noun, right? #grammarprobz) my body language or tone of voice.

"Not really. Why do you ask?"

"Come on, now, you don't have to hide your thoughts from me."

I sometimes forget that he can read me as easily as I can read him.

"Well, it's nothing. I just wish you were around a bit more is all."

Kakashi blinked before smiling and ruffling my hair affectionately. I didn't want to sound like a little kid in front of him, but I can't help slipping up sometimes.

"I promise I'll stick around a bit more now."

I wondered how. As a member of ANBU he's an extremely busy man. But whatever.

"Okay then. Good night."

"Good night."

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Fun chapter written out of boredom and love at 5AM <3