Chapter 4: Welcome to the Zoo(2)

Apparently, ANBU operatives were given their codename by their captain, and Inu just happened to be Nar- Nezumi's captain. Well, he was going to be Nezumi's captain once he received all of the required training. Couldn't have someone out in the field that didn't know what they were doing.

When he asked why he was dubbed Nezumi, Kakashi replied with, "because you're tiny…" a tick mark appeared on the blond's forehead, "…like a mouse…" he added, and was met with silence, "…small."

Nezumi sighed.

That was okay with Nar- Nezumi, he was only six; he had time. All he had to do now was survive Inu's "Hell School", whatever that meant. It shouldn't be too hard.

He was happy, and nothing could change that.

Nezumi was miserable.

If there was such a place as Hell, Nezumi thought that it sounded like a nice place to vacation to. Hell School was painful and exhausting, physically, emotionally and spiritually. What the hell was wrong with his captain? Was he a sadist?

That would actually explain a lot.

Nezumi was currently sprawled out on his rock hard bed, having moved into the ANBU Headquarters the day after he talked to the Hokage and Inu-senpai about joining the zoo, which just happened to coincide with his seventh birthday. It was required of all agents to live within the Black Ops building. At first, Nezumi wasn't all that thrilled about the idea, but now, after six months of the place, he didn't even notice anymore.

He chalked it up as just another thing he had to do for his village.

Today had been a particularly painful day. His ability to manipulate natural energy was incredibly advanced, and the only person that could help him further his prowess with that was still not available. The Toad Sage was the kind of person who was very hard to find if he didn't want to be found.

Apparently he didn't want to be found at the moment.

Month one and two

His training consisted of the usual required ANBU material, which included a whole lot of studying. ANBU had to have a certain level of knowledge in both foreign and domestic affairs. Nezumi found that he wasn't the biggest fan of books. But he did as he was told nonetheless, accomplishing everything Inu threw his way.

The second month he had been personally trained by the Hokage in the ways of running a village. There was a lot of politics and other boring stuff involved, but Nezumi soaked it all up; he planned on becoming the greatest Hokage the likes of which Konoha has never seen.

He really wanted to feel free and awake again. The only way he could do that was if he was protecting his village, his people.

Month three

Another huge section of his training consisted of learning other shinobi skills. Inu had told him that he needed to be more versatile. A one trick pony – whatever the hell that meant – was something he didn't want to be. Inu, who was now more of his sensei than anything, first taught him how to climb trees. Without his hands! That was something he actually enjoyed doing.

And it only took ten minutes.

Inu-senpai – after a long and detailed lesson on chakra and chakra control – explained to him that it seemed that he had abnormally amazing chakra control. Such a level of precision was something apparently only Tsunade – who happened to be another Sannin he shared something with – could accomplish. Senju Tsunade was a- the Medical-nin, and he was up to par with her when it came to control… he put that in the back of his head for later; versatility, versatility, versatility.

After the tree walking exercise, Inu-senpai taught him to do the same thing, but on water. That, too, was incredibly fun.

It also only took ten minutes.

Deciding that he needed to throw more difficult things at the boy, he began teaching him the Shunshin (Body Flicker), which took a little longer for the boy to learn.

This time it took fifteen minutes.

This was starting to intrigue Inu. The boy had said that he could understand everything so long as it was alive. That made Inu start to question; were Jutsu alive?

Because if so, Nezumi was capable of understanding any and all techniques, as long as they were performed within his sensory area. That was impossible though, the only technique he heard of that could understand Jutsu like that was implanted in his left eye; the Sharingan.

If it was true… just what were the boy's limits?

Did he have any?

The thought began to make more and more sense. Nezumi was incredibly mature, far, far from anything a now seven year old should be. He was able to speak like an adult, see things from an adult's point of view, and understand the adult world. So, how did he do it?

Inu had never been one to believe that age brought wisdom. He had known a lot of unwise, elderly people. He personally thought that experience brought wisdom, which was not the same thing.

You could live your entire life ignorant if you were sheltered or reclusive. Obviously though, a seven year old, no matter how hard their life may be, did not have the required experience to be so wise in the ways of the world.

Something else allowed him to be so mature. That something had to be his empathy ability. If he could truly understand others, then he had to have started understanding their feelings.

Learning about love, hate, jealousy, greed, lust, joy, sorrow and everything in between must have been the strangest thing for someone so young.

That was the only explanation Inu could come up with on how a mere child could comprehend the emotions that he was able to feel. It was impossible but that just made it even more special.

The rest of the month he had used to come up with a name for the tangible natural energy he used.

Month four

Nezumi was then taught shurikenjutsu. That took up a lot of his time. It was hard for him to throw the kunai at first because his hands were so small. After Inu taught him a trick that he used to do when he was young – apparently he was a young prodigy as well – that involved his chakra he caught on fast enough.

Month five

The next thing Nezumi had to learn was stealth. He was a little nervous about it at first, but after a couple of weeks he got the hang of it. Then it was kenjutsu training. After the first day Inu thought he had finally found something the kid wasn't good at. He realized how wrong he was a week later. The cut on his back still stung from that.

Month six

As of late, Nezumi learned a lot of ninjutsu, finding it to be his favorite. With his perfect chakra control learning genjutsu was too easy, and his taijutsu was still developing. With the natural energy flowing in his body he didn't even need to actually land his strikes on his target.

Ninjutsu, however, interested Nezumi the most. With his Sage Dust Techniques – which he now called the gold natural energy he could manipulate – he was already ahead of most jonin when it came to power. But he couldn't solely rely on it, one trick pony and everything.

So the Hokage and Inu began to teach him Elemental Ninjutsu. The blond's affinities were Wind and Fire, which also was special. He didn't have a Kekkei Genkai (Bloodline Limit), not really, so the fact that he already had two affinities, affinities that complemented each other, was amazing.

That's why the Uzumaki was so exhausted at the moment. Inu-senpai knew a lot of ninjutsu, as did the Lord Third, and they was making sure to drill as many into Nezumi as possible. His body was sore and limp, and he loved every moment of it. It reminded him that he was gaining the strength to do what was needed to be done. Things were going to change when he got out of these walls.

Konoha's enemies would think twice before striking.

Her people would know peace.

Nezumi would be a hero.

Even better, Nezumi would be a monster.

It had been a whole year since he joined the zoo, and Nezumi had finally been cleared 'field ready.' He was nearing eight now, and he was a certified member of the ANBU.

He was nervous now though. Today was the day he met the rest of Captain Inu'steam. He understood Inu's words when he said it would take the team a while to warm up to him. He was the youngest ANBU agent the Elemental Nations had ever seen. The others just needed to be positive that they could rely on him to watch their backs.

They could.

Inu had been extremely happy that he and the blond were the same, patriots to the core, but still cared about the lives of their fellow citizen above all else. When Kakashi told him that those who abandon the mission were considered trash, but those who abandon their friends were worse than trash, Nezumi loved the saying so much that he asked if he could live by it as well. Kakashi, of course, said yes, he didn't even have to ask.

The rate at which the blond was able to learn and process, well, anything, was amazing. Inu didn't know of anything the boy couldn't do.

He thought Nezumi was strong at first, but after Jiraiya had finally shown up… Inu prayed he never defected. Having to fight that would be bad for anyone's health.

They'd die, plain and simple.

He wasn't invincible though, and Inu was happy that the blond realized that. Anyone could fall when arrogant or outnumbered.

Nezumi took a deep breath. "Here we go." He whispered, pushing through the double doors of Team Ro's designated lounging area. He was immediately met with stares.

There was a small boy in a standard ANBU uniform and they didn't like where this was going.

The Uzumaki agent took in his surroundings for a moment. The room was of medium size and Spartan. All there was were grey walls and three very large black couches. The couches were set up so that they were connected, and a long glass table was centered in the middle of them.

"Ah, Nezumi-kohai, you made it." Inu called out over the palpable silence. "Come here, I'll introduce you to everyone."

Nezumi gulped, but obeyed nonetheless. "Yes, sir."

When the blond made it to his captain, Inu put a hand on his shoulder. "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Nezumi. He's going to be assigned to Team Ro for a while."

No one said anything, but they didn't have to. Nezumi could feel what they thought of him.

Great, we're stuck with some brat.

What is the Hokage thinking?

Hey… isn't that… no, it couldn't be…

That last one almost made Nezumi flinch, but he stayed composed. "I hope we can work well together." The blond bowed.

Inu cleared his throat. "Right, well, let's report to Hokage-sama. I think it's about time for the newbie to take on his first mission."

Nezumi gulped.

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