Chapter 10: ANBU

"No, these scrolls have the steps to follow to complete and finalize the training for each of you, until you accomplish what is asked of each of you in these scrolls none of you will be able to start performing missions."

All except Canteen looked with some confusion at Skull.

Skull's voice had become more rather than cold:

"You have agreed to become and be part of this ANBU team. If a shinobi is a working hand for his people, then you are now his weapons"

"We Anbu are a cell. We have to know each other's fighting styles and habits inside and out so that we can compensate for our weaknesses and be more than the sum of our parts."

"But when it comes to the line, duty will be more important than teamwork. The mission takes priority over your teammates. Each of you has to learn to fight alone and refrain from the consequences if your teammate fails to do so."

The four nodded understanding that.

Skull's voice still sounded distant:

"This is the way we operate in ANBU. The mission cannot fail. If one goes down, the others keep going. We use our teammates to strengthen us, but we don't depend on them, and we won't come back for them if they fall. Just make sure the body disappears"

"I suggest you think about this during training. Once the missions start, you'll have to live and die by it"

The silence was all there was after that, all four understood those words perfectly, but it was still hard for them to process.

Most Shinobi once they graduated and became Genin were told a few words of inspiration about the village, teamwork, and recognizing the need of others as a necessity for the betterment of the Village.

But now, Skull's words were the exact opposite of what they had once been told.

And even though Rasa still didn't have that mentality and had his own beliefs.

He would listen and accept it for now as long as he kept those he cared about protected and for now, he didn't have a bond with his team and didn't really expect to, so he didn't care.

The others didn't think like Rasa.

This was why they had joined ANBU and they would comply regardless of not quite being in complete agreement, even if they had formed a bond with the others they would prioritize the mission.

Canteen despite being the new Captain of the team, also seemed to have his own thoughts and disagreements with those words, but still seemed to have accepted them as did Rasa.

" Alright!" Skull clapped his hands, causing the three ANBU rookies and the new captain to look at him.

"You will begin training tomorrow earlier in the morning, for now, you are dismissed," Skull said laying down the four scrolls on the ground.

It was obvious which scroll belonged to each of the members, there was an orange one, a blue one, a golden one, and a green one.

After doing this, Skull retired while Canteen as team captain took the scrolls and handed them out to each one without looking at their contents.

Then he said some words to the team to get organized for tomorrow's training and achieve the objectives.

He also pointed out certain important rules to follow as Suna Anbu, apparently, Canteen had already been a special Anbu who used to do missions alone, and now he had become a captain for the first time.

This was a kind of examination not only for the rookies like Rasa but also for the new captain.

After conversing with each other for a few moments they each retired on their own.

None of the four opened their scrolls at the time, all deciding to see what was asked of them in private.

Rasa returned home only to find Pakura and Karura already inside waiting for him.

He could only sigh and smile at their concern, so far they were the only ones Rasa had managed to feel comfortable with.

" Hey there, did you miss me?" asked Rasa with an amused smile.

"Finally about time, I was starving" Pakura grumbled, but despite her grumbling, you could tell she was worried about him.

"Don't listen to her, she was all the time you left nervous to know how you were" said Karura with a smile, making Pakura blush and reproach her.

While Rasa just looked at them amused as they fought.

"So..., everything okay?" finally asked Karura after calming Pakura down.

"Yes, perfect in fact, you would never guess what..." started saying Rasa, but before he could finish what he was saying, Pakura spoke.

"The Kazekage asked you to be his apprentice?" asked Pakura suddenly with his eyes wide open.

And Karura seemed to be just as intrigued as she was.

"This..., wait, how the hell do you know?" asked Rasa.

Even he didn't expect that not now at least, he knew it would happen at some point, but he believed that when he was already a Chunin and he had become more well known in the village.

"Well, Pakura was so nervous when you left that she demanded answers from her family and they told her that there was a rumor that the third Kazekage was planning to teach you himself at some point," Kakura said again betraying Pakura.

But this time, Pakura didn't argue with her but just stared at Rasa.

"So, that means it's true, you're the Kazekage's apprentice!!!" said Pakura highly exalted.

"Yeah, well... wow, I didn't expect there were rumors about it already, but yeah, I'm indeed the Kazekage's new apprentice!" replied Rasa calmly to them.

"Congratulations Rasa!, that's amazing, now you're just a few steps away from being a great Jonin of Suna," Karura said happily as he gave Rasa a warm hug.

"You, you...!, it doesn't matter, even if you are the Kazekage's apprentice I will surpass you and win, just wait Rasa and you'll see," said a proudly red Pakura not sure if from embarrassment or anger.

Karura and Rasa already expected her to react like that, it was nothing new.

After saying that, Pakura approached the door to leave before turning around when she was right in front of the door.

"By the way, I'm happy for you" Pakura ended up saying in a low voice full of embarrassment before opening the door and quickly leaving Rasa's house.

Rasa could only shake her head in amusement at Pakura's actions, while still hugging Karura who was extremely happy about his new achievement.

The two chatted for a while longer and had dinner together, Karura cooked all kinds of food in celebration of Rasa becoming the Kazekage's apprentice.

Later Karura's brother arrived at Rasa's house as well and when he heard the news he made quite a fuss, causing Karura to die of embarrassment again and reprimand him as she used to do at the academy.

It was one of the reasons why she didn't want her brother around when she was with Rasa.

Finally, when it had become quite late, Rasa accompanied Karura and her brother to their home.

Then he thanked them for everything and said goodbye to both of them and went back home to rest, tomorrow would be a very tiring day with his Anbu training plus his research and personal training.