Book of Masks (I) x Book of Ambition (I) 

 A garden requires patient labor and attention. Plants do not grow merely to satisfy ambitions or to fulfill good intentions. They thrive because someone expended effort on them. 

Konoha

Done.

Finished.

Naruto's eyes widened in complete and utter shock. He rose from his desk slowly, pushing his chair and backing away slowly. Quickly and quietly the hokage snuck towards the window, opening it slowly.

"Hey! What do you think you are doing?" a voice shouted at the escaping ninja.

Naruto visibly tensed, shoulders hunching over as he turned. A man - clad in a simple long sleeve with the Konoha Military Police Force symbol and an eye patch over his left eye - had entered his office without even making a sound. The younger ninja met his advisor's gaze with a goofy smile, the lines on his cheeks stretching with it.

"Hi Sasuke."

The man at the door stared at his friend rather emotionlessly. Of course Naruto had attempted to escape work before, but it had been such a long time since the last incident Sasuke just assumed it had stopped entirely. Well, that was until now. The hokage ruffled his own hair and waved slightly at his friend.

"Where are you going?" Sasuke asked once more, approaching the yellow haired male.

Naruto walked towards his best friend and leaned into his ear as close as possible.

"I finished..." he whispered," all the paperwork..."

The hokage backed away and smiled at his advisor. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the still immature 43 year old. It was completely unheard of. Totally impossible. The paperwork was never finished. There was always something to do.

"Did you finish going over the new store and housing contracts?"

Naruto nodded enthusiastically.

"And the Konoha Military Police Force papers I gave you?"

Another nod.

"What about the Chunin Exam proposal tests from the other villages? And the list of potential anbu?"

After everything Sasuke listed, the hogake became more and more enthusiastic. When the older man could no longer think of anything else, Naruto was literally jumping up and down in excitement. He grabbed the Uchiha's hand as he jumped," let's get out early before anyone finds something else for us to do!"

The older man nodded curtly, still unable to fully believe the situation," As long as we get back before mission debriefing."

Naruto dragged Sasuke to the open window and started climbing out when he heard a knock on his door. The hokage let out a small whine and was about to return to his desk when his advisor pushed him out of the window abruptly. Naruto yelped at the sudden push as he crashed into the cold yellow tiled roof and proceeded to roll off. Sasuke hopped out the window after him, closing it and quickly disappearing before whoever was at the door could enter. He landed smoothly on the cement next to the Hokage Mansion, causing tufts of dust to rise around his feet. Casually Sasuke glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Before he realized where Naruto was, something was pulling him downward. Sasuke's arms flailed as his body fell to the ground suddenly, causing more dust to puff up around him. The Uchiha coughed after inhaling the dirt. He heard a sudden fit of laughter.

"That's what you get!" Naruto shouted, hovering over his best friend," That was for pushing me off the roof!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes as Naruto offered him a hand up. Grinning, Sasuke took his friends hand. He gripped it tightly, other arm reaching for the man's elbow and pulling him down to the ground with him. Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what Sasuke was doing but was too late. Before he could react, he was face first in the dirt groaning. Rolling over, Naruto hissed, looking at the side to his friend before bursting out in laughter. Sasuke couldn't help but to smile at his laughing friend. They were definitely happy. The two men rose from the dirt, patting themselves off before strolling towards the center of the village.

"So, what should we do?" the hokage asked, his arm slung over his best friend's shoulder," Can we go get ramen?!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and cocked an eyebrow," You need to calm down with the whole ramen thing - what kind of example do you think you are setting for your kids?"

The other man pouted," But Ichirakkuuuu's!"

Shaking his head, Sasuke pushed Naruto's body away from his own, successfully detaching the two before walking away.

"Sasukeh~," Naruto whined," Where are you going!"

Ignoring his friend, the Uchiha continued to walk along. The hokage followed his friend throughout the bustling village, hands buried in his pockets and face still scrunched up in a pout. A voice from behind the two snapped the Uzumaki out of his mindless walking.

"You look like a lost puppy!"

Naruto stopped and whipped his head around, glaring into the eyes of whoever was making fun of him. 

"Oh, Kakashi-sensei!"

Noticing Naruto had stopped following him, Sasuke turned around and walked back to the younger male, joining in the conversation with their former teacher. Nothing much had changed about Kakashi in the years since the war - his silver hair hadn't changed much with age - except his eyes drooped a little lower than usual. Both eyes were now visible, the sharingan having been extracted during the last ninja war by Obito. Luckily, though, Naruto's new six paths power gave him the ability to regenerate a normal eye for the man.

The older man smiled at his former student, cheeks rising under his face mask as he gave a small salute," Sup!"

"Aren't you a little old for slang now?" Sasuke murmured, shaking his head slightly when-

SMACK

The Uchiha snapped his head to the side and glared at Naruto," What was that for?!"

The hokage glared at his friend," Don't be rude to Kakashi-sensei! Or... Or I'll fire you!"

Sasuke just shook his head before walking away. "No you wouldn't!" he shouted as he continued his travels to wherever he planned on going.

*They will never change will they* Kakashi thought to himself.

"So," Kakashi started," Are you excited?"

Naruto stared at his former teacher, face blank," Uh... for what?"

The elder face palmed," For your kid's graduation. Duh."

"Oh yeah!" The hokage's eyes brightened significantly," That's soon isn't it!"

Kakashi nodded," The tests are next week... As Hokage you should really try to remember these things.

Naruto laughed and shook his head," Nah, that's what Sasuke is for."

The two waved goodbye to each other and Naruto ran after his advisor. When he finally caught up, Sasuke was standing in front of the main classroom of the Ninja Academy talking to a woman in the Anbu get up.

"Ok, so we'll just-"

"Hi! You're Yamato's kid right?" Naruto asked, appearing in front of the Anbu and interrupting his advisor.

The woman nodded and bowed to her superior," Mizuki Kimura at your service."

"She's the new Anbu captain you chose, she's here for-"

"So why are you here?" Naruto questioned, interrupting and ignoring his friend once more.

"Iruka-sensei requested for a demonstration - incognito of course - to demonstrate the power of an ANBU and what students should be aiming for as ninja," Mizuki answered, shifting her cat mask to cover her face. "I beg your pardon. I must enter now. I don't want to be late."

Naruto nodded as he watched the anbu enter the classroom and waved.

Sasuke pulled the hokage's robe and dragged him towards the Ninja Academy doors, "She can't see you ."

The man flailed uncontrollably as his advisor threw him through into the room.

"That's for interrupting me. Twice!"

The whole classroom was silently listening to their instructor when a blur of white and yellow flew through the doors and landed on the floor in front of Iruka. A man with an eye patch strolled into the classroom following the blur. Iruka straightened visibly when he realized who had just flown through his door.

"Students!" the instructor started," Please stand and bow to your Hokage."

On command the students stood and bowed the full ninety degrees towards the now rising blob and his advisor. When Naruto finally regained his balance he turned to the mass of students and then to Sasuke.

"Look Sasuke! We're popular!"

Sasuke groaned, shaking his head in disapproval.

"You may be seated," Sasuke mumbled, waving his had at the students.

A series of whispers and murmers began erupting around the room, questining the sudden appearance of their hokage. The hokage stared at the classroom of students and they stared back.

Sasuke nudged his partner and whispered," I brought you here to work. Say something."

Naruto rolled his eyes. *You just wanted an excuse to see your kids*

The hokage waved to the class and grinned.

"Hi kids! So, uh, just ignore us and keep doing what you're doing!"

Both Iruka and Sasuke stared blankly at Naruto as he walked to the other side of Iruka's desk and plopped into his chair.

The teacher cleared his throat.

"Okay, like I was saying, this here is an Anbu Captain. As most of you should know, the Anbu are an elite force of ninja handpicked by the Hokage or his advisor. Their identities are kept secret from the general populice: only the Hokage, his advisors, the village elders, and the other Anbu warriors know them. Because of this, I cannot tell you her name, I don't even know it myself. Anyway, she is here to show you some of her elite fighting skills."

He clasped his hands together in excitement," So! Who wants to volunteer?"

Heads around the room turned, some down and away in the hopes of avoiding selection and others up in a sort of adrenaline filled excitement. Two bodies stood up in unison.

A simple "I'll do it" contrasted with an arrogant "I can totally take her down!"

The two students looked at each other and then back towards the front of the classroom, usure what to do. 

Iruka grinned and turned toward the woman standing next to him," Well let's have our Anbu Captain choose shall we?"

Nodding, the masked woman looked between the two standing students. She thought to herself, diliberating between who to choose.

*The shorter obnoxious one is obviously an Inuzuka child... but what's the other one...*

She continued to watch the two, trying to piece together what clan - if any - the teen could be from. As she watched the two, she noticed the taller teen's eyes flicker towards the hokage's advisor.

She grinned under her mask. *Uchiha... I should have known.*

The whole room watched as the woman raised her hand, about to choose her 'victim', but a loud pounding on the door attracted everyone's attention. Everyone watched as a very truant Tao nudged the door open slowly. He scratched his head, looking down at the floor to avoid all the eyes currently on him - especially his teachers.

"Him."

Everyone, including Tao, looked at the source of the voice.

The anbu spoke once more," I choose him."

Iruka moved next to the boy," Zitao, outside. Now."

The boy stared at the masked woman, taking in her appearance. The boy snapped his attention back when Iruka placed a hand on his shoulder, causing Tao to move back through the doors he had just entered from.

Iruka turned to the rest of the class and forced a smile," Ok kids, lets go outside and watch this skilled anbu teach our infamous Zitao a lesson."

The school teacher led the students outside, the Anbu Captain following them and the Hokage and his advisor in the back. When they got outside Iruka and the Anbu approached Tao while the others stayed back.

Iruka cleared his throat," So, Tao, this is what is going to happen. You are going to try your very best to overpower this Anbu Captain in order to demonstrate to the rest of the class what kind of powerful ninja are out there."

Tao merely nodded, eyes locked on the woman once more.

"Ok class," Iruka stepped out of the way," ready?"

The two warriors in the middle nodded, Tao pulling a scroll from the pouch attatched to the back of his pants while the Anbu Captain tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Begin!"

With the simple command, the woman lunged towards the young male, aiming a fist to his stomach. The boy jumped back, crouching on the floor and unraveling the scroll instantaneously. With a small puff of grey smoke a black rod appeared. Tao grabbed the rod and swung it at the woman's knees as she ran towards him. To his slight surprise, the metal rod hit its mark between the two pieces of anbu armor on her upper thigh and lower shin. He looked for any sign of pain in the woman's body when the Anbu Captain suddenly grabbed the rod. Using her own boy's momentum the woman expelled the weapon from the boy's hands and pushed the boy to the floor, rendering him defenseless. She landed ontop of him and pressed her hand to his throat in a choke hold. Tao visibly gulped, looking up wide eyed at the woman who bested him. He felt helplessly captivated by her and couldn't help but stare. She could kill him with just a simple flick of the wrist if she wanted to. This was the power of the Anbu Corps.

Iruka grinned, "Anbu one, Tao zero. Rise. Thank you Miss. You may leave."

The anbu woman rose off the boy and bowed towards the class before disappearing. Tao remained motionless on the floor, still mentally stunned by the woman's skills.

The teacher cleared his throat," While we wait for Tao to recover, why don't you come show us a jutsu or something Hokage-sama."

Naruto's eyes widened as he pointed to himself," Me?"

Iruka rolled his eyes," Yes you, now come on."

The hokage walked towards his former teacher while thinking about which ability to show the future ninja of Konoha. He smiled mischieviously when he made up his mind.

"Prepare to be amazed!" Naruto shouted, forming the generic "ram" hand sign.

A flood of white smoke appeared in Naruto's place as he transformed. The whole audience stared wide eyed at the hokage's jutsu. In Nauto's place stood a very real, very female form of himself. Sasuke groaned and looked away while Iruka's eyes stayed glued on the woman's figure, blood visibly draining from his nose.

"I call this one y Jutsu!" Fem Naruto grinned," It's my very own jutsu!"

Iruka finally snapped, lunging at Naruto and causing the jutsu to end.

"HOW DARE YOU SHOW THAT KIND OF JUTSU TO THESE YOUNG MINDS!? YOU WANT TO CORRUPT THEM?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH-"

"Iruka."

The teacher's rage was stopped as the hokage's advisor placed a hand on his shoulder and then looked at the students. Eyes widening, Iruka rose, brushing himself off and attempting to piece together whatever pride he could.

"Well class," Iruka forced out, wiping his nose," Here's what you have to look foreword to as ninja, so keep practicing for exams! It won't be easy! Oh and, uh, there's tissue in the classroom for anyone who needs it. Class dismissed."

The students went their separate ways, some heading towards their homes while others headed out for lunch or back into the Academy. Tao remained motionless on the floor until his best friend came over with the biggest smirk his face had ever adorned. The Hokage and his advisor smiled as they embraced their children before heading back to the Academy for work.

The Inuzuka child from earlier grinned. *I finally know how to achieve my dream!*

"Promote me to anbu!"

There were currently five elite ninja at the Mission Assignment Desk: Naruto and Sasuke were in the center, the elders - Kakashi and Tsunade - were on the left side, and the Anbu Captain from the demonstration was on the right. On the matt in the center of the room stood a female with long brown hair, violet eyes, and long red triangle tattoos on her face. She wore mesh arm sleeves and an aqua cropped top over a mesh undershirt tucked into long aqua pants and knee-high boots. Beside her sat a young red Siberian Husky. When no one responded to her request, she shouted it again.

"Make me an anbu warrior!"

Her dog barked in agreement, wagging its tail in excitement. Both seemed super enthusiastic about the idea. Still, no one spoke. Kakashi looked blankly at the girl, and then to his hokage, and then back. Tsunade muffled a laugh, never before had this happened and she couldn't wait to see how her successor would deal with it. The anbu stayed perfectly still. Sasuke looked down at his friend who merely stared at the young girl.

Seeing as no one was going to speak, Sasuke decided to start," I'm sorry but-"

Naruto raised his hand, stopping his advisor mid sentence. His eyes flickered briefly to the anbu woman before returning to the young girl.

"You're an Inuzuka right? I can tell by your dog there. What are your names?"

The girl grinned," I am Ashi Inuzuka! And this is Shiroko!"

The dog barked on cue and ran around her partner.

"I see..." Naruto mumbled, turning his head.

He flicked his hand towards the girl and she yelped almost instantly. Ashi's eyes widened when she realized what was happening. There was an arm fastened around her neck and a sharp weapon at her back which she assumed was a Kunai. She gasped as the cold metal arm guard on the arm around her neck

"You are the child from earlier who volunteered to beat me. Why do you think you can be an anbu," a voice echoed in her ear. "if you can't even realize when someone in the room disappears right in front of you?"

Ashi gulped, suddenly nervous. Looking around, she noticed who was missing. The person currently trapping her was none other than the anbu lady that had given her class a demonstration earlier this morning.

The Anbu Captain continued," I didn't even have to use any jutsu on you yet I could kill you right now if I wanted to. I barely batted and eyelash and look, I've rendered you and your puppy immobile."

Ashi's eyes widened. *Shiroko!*

The girl began to thrash her head around, looking frantically for her now missing dog.

"Don't worry, she's safe."

The Inuzuka slumped into the woman's grasp, realizing she wasn't getting anywhere by fighting.

Seeing as his point had been received, Naruto ended the confrontation with a simple "That's enough."

The Captain released the girl and instantly took her spot back at the desk. Ashi immediately fell to the floor, gasping for breath. Sniffing the air, she pinpointed her dog companion who was knocked out cold behind her. She hugged her dog and pouted. *This is all my fault*

She stood, with the limp dog in her arms, and bowed towards her hokage.

"I'm sorry sir," she apologized and turned to leave.

"Wait," Naruto stopped her.

Ashi turned to face her elders once more.

"Why do you want to be an anbu?"

She smiled weakly," I want to become Hokage! Anbu is a step towards that dream."

Naruto smiled but addressed the young girl in all seriousness, "I can't make you an anbu now. I hope you understand that it would be bad for everyone. You don't have the abilities yet; take things step by step. First, focus on becoming a genin. You have the will of fire within you. I believe in you."

Ashi smiled and nodded, leaving the room with a new kind of ambition and determination.

Naruto turned to his new Anbu Captain," I see I made a good choice in picking you to replace Sai, Mizuki. Keep an eye on that one okay?"

Mizuki nodded before resuming her static position.

"So!" Naruto shouts," Who's next?"

I know the beginning is kinda long and pointless but I couldn't help but put some NaruSasu moments. BROTP man. Other than that I hope you liked the chapter. Stay tuned, for next time we get to see how the students are preparing for exams.
 

-Author's Note