Chapter 23: Brother's Heart to Heart

Fwish! Fwish!

At this moment two Anbu stealthily and silently appeared, knelt on the ground and bowed their heads to Hiruzen. They were exactly Ghost and Silent Mist returning from their reconnaissance mission. Ghost cupped his right fist in his left hand as a show of respect and said, "Reporting, reconnaissance mission is completed. On our way out of the Leaf Village we encountered four Leaf Jonin who appeared to be in a battle. They were Hatake Kakashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Yuhi Kurenai, and Might Guy. Hatake Kakashi was injured in that battle. After some investigation we discovered that the ones who fought those four Jonin were Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Both are S-rank missing ninja listed in the bingo book. They disappeared not long after the fight. The surrounding areas around the Hidden Leaf are otherwise safe. The only abnormality we detected was in a forest clearing 3 miles north of the main gate where the foreign shinobis activated a summoning ritual to summon the giant snake beast that attacked the village a few days ago."

Hiruzen had a pensive and worried look on his face as I mentioned the report about Itachi. He let out a soft sigh before saying, "Mn. Very good. It is best that you do not engage in combat with those two. I'm afraid they may be even more powerful than Orochimaru. I have already heard from Jiraiya about their organization. You will be briefed on the information concerning their organization next week when you can begin your official Anbu training. For now you both have done well. You may head to the Anbu quarters and return to your other identities. Ghost, return here once you have changed."

Silent Mist and I both saluted Lord Third and said, "Yes!"

We disappeared in the next moment. Hiruzen watched as Silent Mist and Ghost disappeared before opening his window and let a black crow into the room. He unwrapped the small note attached to its feet before letting it fly back out. "Itachi." He said in a sad voice. He unfurled the note and read about some information Itachi had written about Akatsuki. He then read about making sure to keep his mission a secret and to protect Sasuke before destroying the note and letting out a soft sigh.

As Haku and I reverted back to our normal attire I looked at Haku to see if he was going to ask why I didn't tell Lord Third about our encounter with Itachi and Kisame, however he just continued to change and didn't voice any opposition to my choice. I inwardly sighed to myself. I want him to find his own ninja way but I'm also glad at times like these that Haku readily accepts my choices and will follow what I do without question. Well, maybe that is his ninja way, I guess only he would know I silently pondered to myself.

"Guess a lot of Anbu were sent out on faraway missions. I don't see any other people around." Haku commented.

"Mn. I'm guessing Yamato-sensei also went out on an Anbu mission for Lord Third, otherwise we would of had a bit of an easier time suppressing the foreign ninja attack on the village near the gates."

"I wonder when Yamato-sensei is coming back." Haku wondered.

"Well, Lord Third said we'll start our official Anbu training next week so maybe Yamato-sensei will be back by then and be our Anbu instructor taking us out on missions." I speculated. "Since Hiruzen-sensei asked for me to return I will go see him. What about you Haku?"

"Hmm...I'll go visit Maro in the hospital to see how he's doing first. Since I've become a Chunin i'm going to see what kind of techniques I can access from the academy after. I'm sure we'll also have access to some even more advanced techniques as Anbu directly under Lord Third when we start our formal training next week." Haku replied.

"Mn. Good idea. Then I'll be off. Tell Kimimaro that I said hello and that I'll visit him after." I disappeared in the next moment leaving only Haku. He silently nodded to where I once was standing before leaving the Anbu barracks himself.

Knock Knock.

"Enter." Hiruzen said.

I opened and closed the door as I entered then stood in front of Hiruzen-sensei.

"Izaya-kun, the reason I asked you to return was because I wanted to fulfill your request. I have brought Lord First's scroll of sealing and have copied the parts of the scroll that you will be allowed to study. Please come here to take a look." He said.

"Mn." I nodded and walked up to the desk. Several scrolls were laid out before me as I picked one up and opened it. "Oh?" I said surprisingly. This is the Eight Trigram Sealing Jutsu that Lord Fourth used to seal the Nine Tails inside Naruto I mentally exclaimed. I picked up another scroll and was surprised again. "This is a detailed recording of the Flying Thunder God technique with the insights from Lord Second and Lord Fourth!" I said with excitement. With this I could probably learn to better teleport others without it draining so much of my chakra. I continued picking up one scroll after the other until I finished going through them all.

I took a step back and bowed with respect at Hiruzen-sensei and said, "Hiruzen-sensei, please accept my gratitude! With these it will greatly help me on my path as a shinobi!"

"Hahaha, good! I put careful thought in which parts to transcribe for you. I'm glad that they will prove useful to you." He said with a smile on his face. "Now then, 3 days from now please come to training ground 3 with Haku. We will begin our training. I will spend the preceding days teaching Kimimaro different theories and simulated techniques while he rests in the hospital. While he won't be able to test them out himself, he will at least be able to gain a deep understanding of certain techniques and build up a strong foundation for when he can try them."

"Mn. I shall do as you say Hiruzen-sensei." I nodded.

"Very well. You can remain and study the scrolls here. When you leave you will also need to leave the scrolls here. When you no longer need a scroll you should destroy it. That is all." Hiruzen-sensei said.

I readily agreed as I took the scrolls and sat in a corner unraveling their mysteries and committing them to memory.

Creak.

Kimimaro turned his head to look at the hospital door that opened. "Haku? You're back. You and Izaya were gone for awhile, did Hiruzen-sensei assign you both a mission?"

Haku walked in and closed the door behind him as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Maro's bed. "Mn. I can't really go into the details of Anbu missions but big brother and I returned not too long ago. It wasn't that hard. How are you feeling? Are they treating you well in the hospital?" Haku asked. Kimimaro nodded his head and said, "Mn. It's probably because it was Hiruzen-sensei who gave the orders but they are extra nice around me. Almost too nice actually. With their help my condition is currently stable, but I can't do too much physical activity or gather chakra for ninjutsu. Izaya's Nine Dragons Breathing technique has helped keep my body strong as well." Cough Cough.

"Maro!" Haku stood and placed a hand on Kimimaro's back.

"I'm fine. Even though I'm coughing more now no blood comes out. This shows that everything is helping."

Haku still had a worried look but ultimately nodded his head in agreement. "Big brother was asked to see Hiruzen-sensei about something. He told me to let you know that he'll come visit later."

"Okay, I'll look forward to it." Kimimaro replied. They both heard a knock on the door before one of the nurses came in. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you both but it's time to do our routine check-up of Kimimaro's condition." She said.

"Mn. Then I'll head out now. I'll come visit again soon Maro." Haku said.

Kimimaro nodded his head as Haku left the room. Haku walked into the academy and was granted passage to the lower levels allowing him to view B-rank level techniques. "Oh, this is the Water Dragon Jutsu, but I already know it. Let's look at some other ones. Oh, the Water Wall Jutsu, Water Bullet Jutsu, and Exploding Water Colliding Wave Jutsu. These are great! The Colliding Wave Jutsu will take too much chakra to use for it to be useful to the current me. I need to greatly increase my chakra pool. With my medical ninjutsu I've learnt how to finely control my chakra already but I need to somehow find a way to increase my overall chakra. Big brother said that by exhausting myself physically and mentally and pushing myself to the limits will help that process, but how do I do that? Would sparring against big brother help? I don't think Maro, big brother, and I ever had a serious sparring session before. Maybe we should try. Sparring against Yamato-sensei might work as well. I'll just study these and ask big brother later what he thinks.

Creak.

Kimimaro was staring out his window at the setting sun when he once again heard his door open, so he turned towards the door to see Izaya walk in. Kimimaro couldn't help but feel warm inside as he watched Izaya put on a smile and sit down by his bedside. Even though his brother was always so busy with many things, he still made time to always see him and Haku and made sure they were doing well. He couldn't help but feel a bit useless as he had watched Haku and Izaya become Chunin and then Anbu under Lord Third. They were both advancing forward but he seemed like he was just lagging behind.

As if Izaya knew what Kimimaro was thinking about he suddenly said, "Spiky! No no, how about Bone Demon? Nah, it might be appropriate for your Kekkei Genkai but I'm not feeling it." Kimimaro just watched and listened in confusion and finally said, "Izaya, what are you saying?"

"Eh?" I turned back to face Kimimaro and said, "I'm thinking about what your Anbu name should be of course. Haku and I already have ours. Naturally you need one too."

Kimimaro continued to look confused. "Me? But I'm not an Anbu."

"Haha, well for now you aren't because you're supposed to be focused on recovering. After you recover obviously you'll need one. Anbu travel in teams to complete dangerous missions for the village. Who else is going to look after Haku and I when going out on dangerous missions? I'm the one who goes out and does really dangerous things. Haku is the one who worries a lot and might decide to do something out of character. You're the only one who believes in both of our abilities and keeps us focused on the overall situation. And we don't even know if we'll actually continue being Anbu after you get better. Once you recover Haku and I might end up being relieved of our Anbu position. No matter what though one fact remains unchanged and that is, after you recover we will form our three man team again. I've already formulated what our three man combined super combo technique will be, we only need to test it out."

Kimimaro just watched as I rambled on and finally an involuntary smile graced his lips and he let out a small laugh. "Pfft! Hahaha!"

I stared at Kimimaro and a smile also graced my lips. "Kimimaro, I know you must be feeling like you aren't helpful to Haku and I but trust me you are irreplaceable. You are our brother after all so don't feel disheartened okay? You can always talk to Haku and I about anything. Just focus on recovering. We're waiting for your successful return."

"Mn." He nodded with a smile.

"OH! I know, if we decide to stay as Anbu under Lord Third then maybe your name can be Reaper. Mn, I think that sounds good. Ghost, Silent Mist, and Reaper. Alright, it's getting late, get some rest. Haku and I will visit again when we have the chance. Hiruzen-sensei told me that he'll stop by to instruct you and help you build up a good knowledgeable foundation. So even though you're in the hospital, no slacking you hear?"

"Mn! I will work hard!" He replied.

"Mn. Then I'll be off. I'm glad to see you doing well Maro, see you soon." I disappeared from the room soon after as Kimimaro laid back down in his bed feeling much better than he did earlier in the day. He soon closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile on his face.