Chapter 9: Training?

Now that Rasa knew the name of this Anbu, he knew who he was: Skull, a shinobi renowned in the sand village for being the best Anbu assassin, he was the captain of the Sunagakure Assassination Squad.

He is also a very gifted shinobi praised for his talent in the ninja assassination arts, being the right-hand man of the Third Kazekage.

In battle, Skull is a truly powerful shinobi and it is said that his power and abilities are no inferior to those of Chiyo and Ebizu who were currently known as the Honorable Siblings.

Rasa knew that these three were the strongest shinobi in Sunagakure after the Kazekage.

Skull as the best assassin.

Chiyo as a famous puppeteer and an expert in poisons, but she was also a Medical Ninja.

And Ebizu who was a master puppeteer and stands out as the best strategist in Sunagakure, he has a strong and analytical mind.

Skull and Rasa walked through the complex until they came to a large subway chamber that was below the Kazekage Palace.

'It looks like this is the Anbu headquarters, but why isn't there anyone' thought Rasa as he looked around the subway chamber without finding a single person.

It was almost as if Skull had guided him on a specific path so as not to come across any Anbu.

Finally, Skull led Rasa to one of the many sectors that were in the headquarters.

Then they both entered a room filled with weapons and objects of all kinds, puppets, gauze, turbans, and bands of different colors.

" Starting from today, you are one of the Anbu ninjas of Sunagakure" began Skull saying seriously.

"Here, this is your Anbu certificate and your identification, as for your forehead protection, you can wear it wherever you want, but the turban you must wear at all times while on duty to cover your identity," Skull told him handing him a small paper sealed by the Kazekage that identified him as Anbu of Sunagakure along with his new Anbu uniform.

Rasa calmly received everything, as for the forehead protector, he had already put his protector on his leg.

He then looked carefully at the certificate.

The certificate didn't say much about him, there was only the hourglass seal stamp of the Kazekage and then his codename:

"Gold?" wondered Rasa without realizing he said it out loud.

"Yes, from now on that will be your name as Anbu, it is strictly forbidden to mention it to anyone. Only the Kazekage and I will know for now your true identity. Now get changed and get ready to meet your team" said Skull indicating to Rasa the changing room.

Rasa nodded calmly and went to the room to change into her new Anbu clothes.

When Rasa finished changing, he was wearing some gauze on his head along with a turban that covered the lower half of his face, leaving only his eyes visible, he was also wearing a black t-shirt and pants clinging to his body along with a sandy brown bulletproof vest with extended shoulders and his forehead protector on his right leg.

'I guess the Sunagakure Anbu must have their reasons for wearing these turban-like pieces of cloth to cover their faces instead of the Konohagakure animal masks' thought Rasa as he walked out of the room to meet Skull again who was dressed just like him as a Suna Anbu.

'But if I remember correctly, the Sunagakure Assassination Squad wears masks with demonic features unlike the other Suna Anbu who only wear turbans, Skull being the captain shouldn't he be wearing the same?' wondered Rasa, but not finding an answer he left it for another time.

The way the two were dressed now, if it wasn't for the difference in height between the two and where they wear the front shield, it would be almost impossible to tell them apart since their outfits were the same.

"Okay, follow me," said Skull as Rasa followed him again to another sector of the headquarters.

A few moments later, they both arrived and entered a room where there were 3 people dressed in the same clothes as Suna Anbu.　　

"Alright, let's get this started," Skull said, straightening up.

Making both Rasa and the three already present pay attention to him.

Skull held out four different colored bands to them, orange, blue, gold, and green.

"First of all, you will start by wearing these bands at all times to identify yourselves within your group and on any mission, only when I consider it necessary you will stop wearing them and you will be able to know the identity of your teammates until then your true identity is confidential."

The oldest of those present besides Skull nodded and took one of the bands, the orange one.

Then another of those present nodded and took another of the bands, the blue one.

Rasa was the third to take one of the bands and chose the golden one, which he assumed had been made on purpose because of its code name.

While finally, the fourth ninja present took the last green-colored band.

"Right, now the introductions" Skull sounded rather cold as he spoke.

"His code name is Canteen and he will be the team captain," said Skull pointing to the ninja who took the orange band.

"Orange Canteen for other teams, to distinguish you from anyone else with a similar codename."

The four nodded without saying a word.

"He is Nomad" Skull pointed to the one who had taken the blue band.

"And Nomad Blue for other teams"

"He is Gold" Skull finally pointed to Rasa.

"Golden Gold for other teams"

"And you are Custus, Green Custus for other teams" Skull concluded pointing to the last of the members who took the green band.

'Are names always based on things in the desert?" wondered Rasa amused as he heard the codenames of his new teammates.

Rasa's thoughts ended abruptly as Skull continued speaking.

" You will be training for a few days, until your first mission," announced Skull as he pulled out a map of the desert and pointed it to a wide part of the desert surrounding the village.

"That's where you will train and I will personally see if this team works or not. If you do well you can be running missions in no time to earn your commission. Until then, if you want to be reassigned to a new team or leave ANBU completely, that's your right but remember that everything is recorded on your Anbu certificate"

'Now I understand, my Anbu certificate had no information other than my codename due to me being new to Anbu, once I complete missions they should add things' Rasa said to himself in understanding.

"What kind of training?" asked the now appointed team captain Canteen.

Even though they were all dressed in the same Suna Anbu clothes and were identical, it was noticeable among the 4 on the team that Canteen, the captain, was the oldest due to his height and physique.

Orange Canteen was approximately 180 cm and was only a few centimeters shorter than Skull.

Then there was Nomad Blue which measured approximately 167 cm.

While Rasa averaged about the same as Green Custus, 155 cm.

They were both quite short compared to the others on Anbu, but Rasa knew that a ninja's age, gender, background, or previous rank didn't matter on Anbu.

The shinobi in the Suna Anbu are hand-picked by the Kazekage, chosen for their individual abilities and special skills. Age, gender, background, or previous rank have no bearing on this decision.

The only true ranks within Anbu are based on merit and experience.

Rasa knows that there are the regular forces which are all Anbu who are part of a team under a captain and cannot undertake missions alone. These usually only do A or B rank missions as a team and if very necessary they are allowed to do or assist in an S rank mission.

Then there are the special Anbu, who specialize in doing missions of a specific type such as assassination, tracking, investigation, infiltration, espionage, tracking, interrogation, surveillance, torture, and even renegade ninja hunters. These usually do S-Rank or A-Rank missions.

For S-rank missions of great importance, a team is usually formed with special Anbu led by a Captain assigned by the Kazekage.

And finally, there is the Captain or commanding officer, which is a position that is held in high esteem in Anbu, and only those with great merit and extensive combat experience can reach this position. These can be Captains of an Anbu team of the regular forces or they can go out on missions alone as a special Anbu.

The Anbu Captain is the only Anbu who can lead a team for an S-rank mission.

This is why special Anbu who have not reached the rank of Captain cannot lead an S-rank team.

"Well, that was the question I wanted to hear," Skull replied.

His hand flickered and reappeared with four small scrolls of four different colors between his fingers.

"I have a scroll here for each one of you."

"That has the training information on it?" asked Custus in a soft feminine voice.

'It seems that one of the members is a lady, no wonder she is around my stature' thought Rasa because in the village he was still short compared to other Genin or Chunin due to his young age, but there were some female Genin or Chunin ninja that despite being older in age than him, they had his same stature, it seems that her teammate was one of these cases.