"Oh yes," said the Hokage. "On seeing a demonstration of his skills, Hawk wanted to see if Naruto could be fast-tracked to join ANBU."
"Naruto?" asked Kakashi, his voice indicating the sort of disbelief one might face on hearing there was a movie about a swashbuckling cat whose main claim to fame was that he wore little boots.
"Naruto," said the Hokage.
"I see," said Kakashi. "Well, the Bell Test is right out then."
"The one where you invite your genin to do their level best to kill you?" asked the Hokage.
"Yes, which underscores my unease with that particular test," said Kakashi. "If Naruto has gone this way, he's not used to working with a team. However, in order to fit in with society again - he's going to need to learn to do so."
"It's concerning that I haven't heard one word about his dream to become Hokage since his return," said the Sandaime. "I get the distinct impression his people skills will need some work. Further, if his recounting is as accurate as I fear it is, he needs to depressurize."
"True," said Kakashi. That WAS a problem with ANBU who spent too much time doing that sort of work. It got to you and you needed to get away for awhile. "What about these enemies?"
"It's something to consider, but we have no further idea about these 'Wolkenritter' or other menaces he refers to," said the Sandaime. "If he finds any of them, we'll have to assess things at that juncture. His device WAS able to provide likenesses of these Wolkenritter. We've already arranged to leak information about them as 'dangerous S-Rank ninja' possibly operating abroad."
"So that if one of the other villages run into them, we might hear about the fight," noted Kakashi.
The Hokage nodded slightly.
"Hmm. Simulated Mission maybe," said Kakashi.
"Which sort?" asked the Hokage.
"How about guarding a VIP?" asked Kakashi. "I think I can make Guy a bet and have an attacking team."
"Just make sure that you stress to Naruto that there is to be no killing involved," said the Hokage.
"Well, yes, I'll use the 'touchy diplomatic situation' cover, ne?" asked Kakashi.
"So... it was important we not eat breakfast and this was going to make us throw up... why?" asked Sakura.
"Oh, not important at all, really," said Kakashi, realizing he'd changed the mission parameters AFTER giving them those instructions. Oh well, it was all good.
"Why did I decide to go on a diet?" complained Sakura softly.
Naruto frowned at her for a moment, then shook his head. "To summarize then. We have to defend a designated VIP from attack, said attack will occur sometime within the next eight hours, in a simulated mission. Nonlethal responses only."
"Which also fits some scenarios," said Kakashi easily. "I've had missions like this in fact. You can't kill the enemy because of various diplomatic or legal-political considerations."
"I see," said Naruto.
"And let me add," said Kakashi, moving to directly in front of Naruto. "As this is a simulated mission with a simulated enemy, that 'do not kill' also means no maiming, permanent injury, disfigurement, crippling, or other problem that would NOT go away by the end of the day."
Sakura and Sasuke blinked at that.
"You're really limiting me here, Kakashi-sensei," protested Naruto.
"I mean it, Naruto," said Kakashi.
"Okay, okay," said Naruto. "Who's the designated VIP?"
(Posted Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:35)
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