Track Record!

Walking into my office I ran my hand through the table I was going to use from now on. Four Anbu commanders were kneeling in front of the table, awaiting their instructions as I reeled in the feeling of power this position conveyed and found it… lacking.

The four Anbu commanders kept their heads down, not making noise nor moving an inch as I stopped moving and looked at them from the corner of my eye. These 4 were true shinobi. They had thrown their ideals aside, discarded their ninja way as well as forfeited their lives to be of use and to protect Konoha. Some of the most questionable and dubious operations were carried out under their supervision, mainly in the form of the assassination of enemy shinobi and current Daimyo opposition to keep Konoha one step ahead and fully free of Daimyo's influence except on paper.

Reading the details of the operations it was rather easy to figure out that. Another surprise I found was from the deceased Sandaime. A folder containing every currently planted operative of Danzo in the anbu and a very short list of suspected ones. The old man was anything but a fool. Softhearted yes, but no fool. Every single one of Danzo's spies was under strict surveillance, under direct orders of the Sandaime.

It just made my job a whole lot easier as well as assured me that none of the commanders was under Danzo… if the third investigated deep enough that is. Well… in either case, there was an easy enough way to get my answers.

My Sharingan rotated as I turned to the commanders.

"Remove your masks and raise your heads."

It was an order that they obeyed without a second thought as my Sharingan rotated and each of them fell into a trance.

"Does any of you work with or for Danzo Shimura?" – I asked, getting straight to the point. My Sharingan was on a class of its own even in its base form to the point I believed it surpassed Madara's own Sharingan. It was but a mere conjecture as I've never met the ghost of the Uchiha, but the ease at which I found myself placing others under genjutsu was astonishing, not to mention that my eyesight kept getting better and better, being on a whole different level than when I first obtained the Sharingan. With just 3 tomoe now I could see better than with the Mangekyou when I first acquired it.

The answers I got from the anbu commanders were… surprising. Each of them denied working for or with Danzo themselves but suspected each other to the point of being enemies. They trusted only a few direct subordinates but not each other. It certainly improved my opinion of them.

Snapping my finger they all fell out of the trance, looked at me, and then lowered their heads once again, unaware of what had transpired but not asking any questions.

"Currently, I find the Anbu division… lacking in many ways, not fit nor capable of performing its duties." – I said as they kept their heads lowered, though I could hear faint clenching here and there.

"Failing to protect two Hokage within our own Village in the last 15 years, being by far the gravest failures of the Anbu division." – Though both cases were extraordinary, it came with the job. Little did it matter that I helped in one of those cases, it still remained as a black spot in the Anbu history.

"Not to mention the leak of Class S secrets to civilians. Secret information known only to a select few divulged to the entire village population. I don't know how Hiruzen dared to leave his security into your hands… but I will not be doing so. My safety will be entrusted to shinobi handpicked by me, and as for the Anbu division… it will enter a probation period to assess its capabilities during the following weeks."

I could see their muscles tense with each word I threw at them. The shame that the most 'elite' force of the village had to go through. Though it was all true in the end and they could do nothing but try harder. Moving to the desk and sitting in my chair I picked up a few folders, reorganized them into 4 groups of equal quantity, and pushed them one by one to fall on the floor before each of the anbu commanders, showing my disregard for their accomplishments up to this point.

"Respect is earned, trust even more so. What I had seen from your track record has been nothing short of an embarrassment. From now on I expect a full reassessment of the Anbu division. Train them harder, pit them against each other, hell… have the entire division kill each other if you think it will improve the overall performance. I will not allow the village to be put in jeopardy because of your incompetence."

"That being said, due to the Anbu previous exemplary work I will assign it occasional missions to be completed. Any, and I mean ANY failure will reflect heavily on my upcoming assessment. The folders in front of you are the first mission of this probation period. The individuals depicted in them have been found to leak information regarding the operations of Anbu to a third party. Due to the previous Hokage orders, the blame does not fall to the Anbu this time. Still, it is by my order that each of them is eliminated, including the ones merely being under suspicion. No Interrogation, No survivors, and absolutely no failure. Am I understood?" – I said as I sat on the chair, my fingers interlocked in front of my face.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." – They responded in one voice, picking up the folders from the ground.

"Then go, come back with their heads… or without your own." – I said with a frown on my face, looking at them with my Sharingan rotating menacingly.

As they left I turned my head to the only remaining person in the room besides myself. An anbu about my height, with a blank white mask, containing no traits of an animal and only the necessary holes to see and breathe. He held two sheathed tantos on his back and kept silent as he saw the events in front of him transpire.

"Take this. Read it, memorize it, and burn it within the hour." – I said to him as I pushed a folder on top of my table.

He approached, took the folder in his hand, and opened it. Looking through it he closed the folder and nodded.

"Lesson number 2. You have 3 days." – I said as he nodded and flickered out of sight.

(A/N: Was finding it difficult to start but somehow I did it. Hope you enjoyed today chapter :)