His Mask

Prologue

"I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it completely, Hokage-sama."

The young boy of maybe ten years stood in the huge office of Konoha's best shinobi: the Sandaime Hokage. He stared warily at the old man, probably in his seventees, wanting to make him understand his train of thoughts.

"But that doesn't affect my performance in any way, I'm sure you know that, Sandaime-sama."

Sighing, the older man put his fingers on the bridge of his nose to stop the coming headache.

"I know that very well, Naruto. I'm not asking that because of yours becoming an ANBU captain already, I trust your capabilities enough to be reassured about that, it's just that I'm worried about your well-being. This has deeply shaken you, no need to deny it, and I want to make sure you'll not break down and be lost to us." He looked at the kid knowing his words would not bring forth any indication to Narutos current state of mind right now.

"After all we need a mindless ninja in this village more than anything else" Sarutobi finished with a lighter tone and little wink towards the boy, trying to lighten the grave atmosphere that had built up around them.

The latter let a small, barely visible smile grace his face and bowed to his Hokage only saying "I'll be ready for the mission by tomorrow, Hokage-sama!" before wanishing on a puff of smoke leaving behind an exhausted old man who just wanted to retire to his bedroom after such a frustrating discussion.

"I saw how well you can pretend to be a completely brainless idiot, Naruto. What tells me you are not hiding your broken mind and heart behind that ANBU mask of yours?"

I know, another story with Naruto as a strong and undercover ANBU... maybe some of you start to find it lame but I still love the thought!

Still, for those who find it boring: wait a little longer, maybe at least something in this story will be better than the others and that could make all the difference, couldn't it?

This is my first English fanfic (my native language is german) so bear with me! I still hope to get a few reviews! ^^

A bit of (constructive) critism about my use of english language and my writing style are very welcome! I'll try and improve if you think it's not good enough!