23 A Tree With Roots or Without Roots

"Shikamaru?" Chouji hummed as he chewed his meat. "Honestly, I don't know. I haven't seen him in four years."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Kiba frowned. "Aren't you guys buddies? I thought your families were super close."

"Yeah, we were. But Shikamaru was pulled out of the academy after first year. I haven't seen him since then."

Hmmmn. Where could he be?

"I heard he's in ANBU." Naruto took a swing of wine.

"ANBU?!" Kiba rocked back in surprise, voicing my thoughts. "I thought the ANBU minimum age was the graduation age?"

"Not really. I mean we've had a few ninjas who were ANBU before sixteen. I think that's just an accepted rumor that isn't actually true."

Konoha's two biggest under sixteen ANBU are Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi. Konoha's white sheep and Konoha's black sheep. Itachi Uchiha, the figurehead of the Uchiha coup and Hatake Kakashi, the bulwark of the village forces on that day.

Nine years ago, the Uchiha tried to take over Konoha. It all began when Itachi Uchiha graduated early from the academy. Hailed as Konoha's new genius, he rose quickly among the ranks and was accepted into the ANBU. Talks began circulating through the village and before long, it was generally accepted that Itachi was the best candidate for the position of the fifth hokage.

After some unspecified tension between the village leadership and the Uchiha clan, Itachi withdrew from the ANBU to join his family. Things were quiet until the day of the coup.

It all began with the poisoning of the fourth hokage, Minato Namikaze. Immediately after the death of the fourth hokage, several bombs went off in strategic locations in the village. The Uchiha stormed the Hokage tower and a few key areas and quickly seized them.

Naruto is too good a person to be poisoned by hatred like Sasuke but if there's one group of people he hates, its definitely Uchihas.

On that day, the attacks were spearheaded by Itachi Uchiha and his father Wicked Eye Fugaku. Responding quickly, the elite ninjas quickly organised themselves and launched attacks on the Uchiha strongholds. This was the battle that highlighted how powerful the two young geniuses were.

It was during the battle that Itachi unleashed the jutsu that earned him his D-rank designation. The Amaterasu. He shot ever burning dark flames from his eyes, destroying every opposition in his path. His main opponent was Kakashi who also showed why he's one of the most powerful elite A-rank ninja in Konoha.

Kakashi battled Itachi and displayed his most feared jutsu. Kaminari no Mai. The Lightning Dance. Kakashi was able to fight him on even grounds. However, the whole battle was decided by the other ninjas who overwhelmed the Uchiha clan ninjas. It was also this battle that made Yuhi Kurenai into a rising genjutsu star.

The Uchihas fled and Itachi fled with them. They took various valuable information with them, giving Konoha a massive hit. They took that information and joined the traitor, Orochimaru to become the ruling clan of Otogakure.

This gave Oto some much needed credibility and this made various reputable ninjas flock to the village. Oto grew incredibly fast and is now a fully recognised hidden village on par with Amegakure. Till this day, Konoha absolutely detest Oto ninjas. Back to our discussion.

"Those under sixteen ANBU already graduated the academy. Maybe graduation age means whenever they graduate." Kiba turned to Chouji. "Did Shikamaru graduate early?"

"No. He was pulled out."

"He can't be in ANBU. Why? Even if he was in ANBU, he won't disappear like this." Shino adjusted his sunglasses with a finger. "We may not know their ANBU designation but ANBU members still come back to their homes regularly. They do have a life outside of ANBU."

"I've heard of a new division within the ANBU." Naruto lowered his voice, forcing us to lean closer. "A black ops within the black ops. He might be inside that division."

ANBU within ANBU? Root? Is Shikamaru in Root? That's.... possible. A kid that disappeared young. Since the Uchiha massacre never happened, Root could still be legal. That means he could be drafted into ANBU and then dropped down into Root. Isn't Root a small division within ANBU? How did Naruto even know about Root? Was he invited or something? Does Root send invitation cards?

"Dude, come on." Kiba scoffed waving a hand in dismissal. "ANBU within ANBU? Why would anyone do that when you already have ANBU?" Then he caught the look of consideration on our faces. "Guys! You can't seriously be considering this. I mean, look how ridiculous it sounds!"

"It does have merit." Shino nodded. "How else would you explain his disappearance with no one raising an alarm. It means they know where he is and what better place could he be than in the ANBU?"

"Let's forget about this." I grinned as I raised my cup. "Cheers to Shikamaru wherever he is." I at least, have a few pieces of the puzzle.

"Of course you'll want to cheer." Kiba raised a glass. "Let's also cheer Yuji and his inability to join ANBU." We all laughed and clinked our cups.

"How about a bet?" Naruto asked. At our inquiring glance, he continued. "How long will he take Yuji to become ANBU?"

"Three years." Shino stated.

"Five." Chouji munched. "I give you five years."

"Five?" I leaned towards Chouji. "Do you have such little faith in me."

"Yes." Kiba grinned. "I bet never. You'll never be ANBU."

"Now I'm hurt." I laughed.

"ANBU don't take in people who plan such perverted boob face planting acts."

"On the contrary," I grinned. "Kakashi sensei is the biggest pervert I know and he was an ANBU captain."

"True." Naruto nodded. "I'll bet three years."

"Come on guys. Are we really doing this?" I grinned. "Also, two years. I'll make ANBU in two years."

"Two years? How about a handshake to seal things?" Naruto asked. We shook and continued catching up, exchanging stories and drinking wine. We drank and eventually, we parted. I stumbled home, drunk. I opened the door to the apartment to see Tenten stashing food supplies into a storage scroll.

"Going somewhere?" I slurred.

"Long-term mission. I don't know when I'll be back." She replied. "Take good care of the house. Got it?"

I hummed in affirmation and stumbled to my room. I collapsed on the bed and sleep claimed me.