Flash to the Future Series (Omakes, Backstories, Deleted Scenes, and More)

ANBU Kitsune Arc: The Black Ops

Naruto yawned as he stretched in his uncomfortable bed. When he opened his eyes, he was met with a pair of dark shades staring down at him, slightly shocking him. He blinked for a moment. What in the hell was he doing there?

"Get up, brat." Kuzai said as he kicked Naruto out of the bed.

Naruto groaned as he picked himself up off of the floor. He groggily glanced at the clock and saw what time it was. He inwardly cursed at himself. He was late for training. And he knew Chief hated when his subordinates were tardy. In his Corps, shinobi ran on his time. And if you were late, you reaped the consequences. Naruto lightly began to sweat as he scrambled to his feet and stood at attention, forgeting about his Gama teddy bear that landed on the floor. Kuzai looked at the child with a scrutinizing gaze before speaking to him.

"Tardiness is unacceptable, Uzumaki." Kuzai snapped. "Even if you are not official ANBU, as my student, I expect nothing, but punctuality from you. I will end your training if this happens again."

Naruto's eyes seemed to darken at the mention of ending his training and straigtened up. "It won't happen again, sir." he said with much conviction.

"Hm." Kuzai said as he turned around to walk out of his room. "You have less than 5 minutes to get ready. You know what happens if you're not."

Naruto nodded quickly as he ran into his bathroom quickly to freshen up and get ready. Kuzai was looking around the boy's apartment and frowned at its state. The place looked like it was about to fall apart. The wood was old and rotten and the walls were rough and there was evidence of possible mold in the ceiling. His face contorted into a look of disgust as he watched a roach crawl underneath the old couch in the living room. He walked into the kitchen and went to the old refrigerator marked with brown stains. He opened and saw a flickering lightbulb along with a few goods left there.

Shutting the refrigerator door, the Chief walked toward the cabinets and opened them. They were stocked with instant ramen, expired and new. He raised an eyebrow at this. Was he addicted to the stuff or was it all he could afford? He closed the cabinets and looked at the sink were another roach had crawled out of the drain. He turned it on and cold water came out of the faucet. When he turned the knob to hot, he frowned when the water stayed cold. He turned it off and turned toward the living room, where Mai was standing and appeared to be looking around as well. He saw her eyebrows furrow before her brown eyes met his own.

'He lives in this filth.' Mai signed since she was mute.

Kuzai sighed at this. "Unfortunately." he said. "I want you run and grab supplies. This will be a part of his training."

Mai nodded before she disappeared out of the apartment. The Chief was sitting at the kitchen table when Naruto finally appeared and stood in front of his master at attention. Kuzai inwardly smiled at this.

While he will never tell the boy this, he was extremely impressed with. He was the type of prodigy that only came once in a generation. He had grown in leaps and bounds in the past 7 months he's been teaching him. Most shinobi can barely stand his training and are happy to when left alone, but not Naruto. No matter how hard he worked the kid. No matter how hard the task was. The little blonde gaki always came back for more. He was eager to learn new things and worked himself to the bone everyday. He was obedient and soaked information in like a sponge. If Chief had any say in the matter, Naruto was his unofficial apprentice.

Seeing his sensei silent, Naruto spoke. "Reporting as ordered, Chief." he said at attention.

"Have a seat, Naruto." Kuzai said.

Naruto nodded and went to sit at the other chair of the table. His legs draped over the seat as he looked at his sensei expectantly. It was silent between the two that was neither tense nor comforting. Ending their drawling silence, Kuzai spoke.