Chapter 84: ANBU Codename: Suzaku
Hokage Building.
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed away at his pipe, looking at the intelligence scroll on the table, his brow furrowed with worry.
His disciples were all troublesome; they always made him work overtime late at night.
Jiraiya had gone to persuade Orochimaru with full confidence but had been beaten up instead, and Orochimaru had even brazenly invaded the Land of Fire.
The actual situation was far from being as bad as the intelligence scroll claimed. The request for aid from the village was the border outpost's squad leader acting on his own initiative. Jiraiya should still be able to maintain the situation at the moment.
But as Hokage, he couldn't just turn a blind eye.
"New Year is almost here!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi scanned the people in his office, his gaze finally landing on Itachi. Whether in terms of strength or connections, the little boy was the most suitable candidate.
"Uchiha Itachi, you are to be transferred to ANBU, assigned to the Black Snow squad…" The Third Hokage glanced at Uchiha Itachi and Kakashi Hatake, continuing, "Your squad will be responsible for heading to the Land of Rice Paddies border to investigate intelligence on Orochimaru!"
"Yes!"
By the way, which one is the Black Snow squad?
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head, planning to ask who Senior Black Snow was when he reported to ANBU later. It sounded like a female, hopefully, she would be easy to get along with…
"Alright, you all go prepare!" Hiruzen Sarutobi paused, then suddenly said, "Shisui, stay behind for a moment."
"Yes!"
After stepping out of the Hokage Building, the air suddenly turned cold. Kakashi Hatake blew on his hands, "Let's go, I'll take you to report to ANBU first."
The ANBU office wasn't far from the Hokage Building. It was a rather popular department in Konoha, with a hefty monthly salary and issued equipment.
Kakashi took the little boy to the logistics department to receive a set of standard-issue ninja tools and protective gear, "Here, this is your equipment. The armor might be a bit big."
Itachi was too young. Other ninjas, even during wartime, would have just graduated from the Ninja Academy at his age... Yet this little brat had already entered ANBU.
"Thank you!" Uchiha Itachi nodded and put on the equipment on the spot, "Senior Kakashi, the Captain Black Snow that the Third Hokage mentioned, have you seen her?"
"When ANBU are on missions, members only address each other by their ANBU codenames." Kakashi Hatake blinked his dead-fish eyes innocently, "My codename in ANBU is Black Snow."
"..."
But Senior, you don't fit that word at all!
Seemingly able to sense Uchiha Itachi's mood, Kakashi Hatake tapped his own shoulder, "It's best if you also register a codename that's completely unrelated to yourself."
The ANBU system was extremely strict; secrecy was essential.
Every ANBU member more or less carried some darkness, yet Kakashi Hatake truly felt his new teammate was a bit... too bright?
Uchiha Itachi and his crow had a conflict when registering his codename.
"No matter what, 'Brother-con' is too much!" The little boy patiently squatted in front of the crow and explained, "Kitahara, the seniors will laugh me to death."
"Caw!"
Kitahara tilted its head. What the heck is 'Ju lu'? Giant millipede?
"Caw!"
Kitahara suddenly thought of a brand new codename... a codename that no one would ever suspect belonged to Uchiha Itachi.
Uchiha Itachi covered his face, "First 'Brother-con' now 'Older-brother-con'! Can't you think of a normal codename!"
"Caw?"
The crow's crimson eyes looked a bit dazed, looking at him doubtfully. The abnormal ones... isn't it always you and Sasuke?
"Actually, ANBU codenames aren't that important..." Kakashi Hatake felt that if his teammate's codename was 'Older-brother-con' or 'Brother-con' or something, the image would be too cringe-worthy!
Kakashi stepped forward and continued, "After all, if you're on missions for a long time, people will still guess your identity. Just like my codename is Black Snow, yet almost no one has ever called me that."
His identity was indeed too obvious. Whether it was his enemy-subduing Chidori or his white hair, wearing a disguise or not made no difference. Anyway, most of his missions would end with silencing the enemy.
"Hurry up! After registering, go home and get a good rest..."
Kakashi Hatake noticed Kitahara's eyes gradually light up. If he were to be on long-term missions with Itachi in the future, he would probably have to see this crow that had defeated a rampaging Jinchuriki often.
The white-haired ninja suddenly changed his tune, "What do you guys think of the codename 'Aniki'?"
Uchiha Itachi: "..."
That codename is even more shameful!
"At least with this codename, no one will think of you, right?" Kakashi Hatake explained with a straight face.
Aniki generally refers to a true man. In reality, it's a word with mixed connotations, more often used for teasing. Simply put, aniki means 'big shot'.
But if someone really used the word aniki to your face, you could just punch them. It's a word whose mocking meaning far outweighs its actual meaning.
Kitahara nodded, "...Caw."
Kakashi truly graduated from advanced sarcasm. The crow was convinced.
Uchiha Itachi would rather die than agree.
In the end, his codename was still designated by Kitahara. It was a word that both he and Kakashi could barely accept: Suzaku (Vermilion Bird).
It was clearly a very serious and grand codename, yet Uchiha Itachi could sense a strong sense of malicious glee from Kitahara's chakra.
The Black Snow squad of ANBU left the ANBU headquarters together. The captain patted the little boy's shoulder, "Go home tonight and get a good rest. Tomorrow at eight in the morning, we'll gather at the village gate."
"...Yes."
When Uchiha Itachi returned home, his parents were already asleep. In his room, a little cub opened his shining eyes, looking at his older brother.
"Why is Sasuke in my room?"
"Sleep... sleep... together..."
The little cub giggled and hugged Itachi's calf. To be so energetic in the dead of night, human cubs were truly the most peculiar creatures.
Uchiha Fugaku placed a relatively high value on cultivating his children's independence. After Sasuke left his swaddling clothes, he had his own room. Their family would only occasionally go to Sasuke's room at night to take a look.
Anyway, Sasuke was almost two years old.
The Fugaku couple knew Itachi had gone to participate in a training mission and probably thought Itachi wouldn't be home tonight, so they didn't pay much mind to Sasuke wanting to sleep in his brother's room...
A younger brother, well, it's understandable for him to want to wait for his older brother to come home. So let him wait!
As a result, the little cub actually did wait for him!
"Shh, Sasuke, don't talk loudly, you'll wake others..."
Uchiha Itachi pulled Sasuke's hands away, took the already sleeping crow out of his backpack, and placed it in his own bedding.
The whole process had to be done with extreme care.
When the two little ones were together, a chemical reaction would occur. Once Kitahara was woken up by Sasuke, none of the three would get any sleep tonight.
The moment the little cub saw the crow, he wanted to pounce.
Uchiha Itachi held Sasuke by the scruff of his neck and forcefully pressed him into the covers, "Shh... no talking at night! If Sasuke is good tonight, I'll make you breakfast tomorrow!"
"..."
The little cub looked blankly at his older brother and nodded foolishly.
(End of this chapter)