Chương 429: CH_11.26 (429)

Mitarashi Anko was feeling the blues on Monday morning. She had so much fun drinking and dancing at the club late into the night, but now she had a work week in front of her before she could let go again.

"I don't want to work," she whined while getting ready for morning training. Fortunately, she had flexible work hours so she could go in a little late if she felt so. It was at that point that she smelled coffee and sauntered into the kitchen. She greeted her roommate with a good morning as she slid into a dining table chair. Soon after, she had a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Thank you. You make the best coffee," she grinned.

"You're only saying that because you're lazy," Yuhi Kurenai, a jōnin of the Hidden Leaf, sighed as she sat opposite Anko. Unlike her roommate, she was ready for work and had a full meal prepared for breakfast. Anko hummed in delight as she sipped her hot coffee, in anticipation of the miraculous effects of caffeine.

"Hey, did something happen yesterday? There was a lot of buzz at work about something, but no one really knew what exactly happened," she asked. Torture & Interrogation worked closely with ANBU, so she knew they had been active in the village. She asked Kurenai because a jōnin might have access to more information about the topic.

"I'm unaware of the details, but it was significant enough for ANBU to raise the security alert yesterday," Kurenai replied between bites. ANBU had kept things under wraps as they usually did, but some information had reached her ears through both formal and informal channels, so she knew they were taking the incident seriously.

"Apparently, they're going around kicking down doors of anyone who might be in the know."

"So, it's serious, huh?"

"It is." As Anko was about to finish her coffee, the front doorbell chimed. They looked at each other, not expecting anyone this early in the morning. Their house help, who was responsible for cooking and cleaning, didn't arrive until a few more hours.

"I'll go look," Anko said as she gulped down her remaining coffee. She opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Takuma standing in front of her home.

"What are you doing here this early in the morning? What would you have done if you had disturbed my sleep? I get cranky, you know." As she joked, she noticed that Takuma was a little pale. Her eyes roamed over her body; at first look, nothing stood out to him, but she felt like he was leaning on one side, not unusual for a civilian, but for a shinobi of Takuma's level, it felt off. Before he could say something, she not-so-gently hit him in the side, causing his face to twist in pain with a groan.

"You're injured. Something happened; a tough mission? I told you about your combat style, didn't I? Trading too much damage will wreck you someday. Focus on protecting yourself," she said, frowning in worry. Takuma sighed with a helpless smile.

"It's so difficult to get a word in edgewise."

"He's not a salesman. Let him in first!" Kurenai said from inside. Anko invited him inside. It was his first time visiting her home, which was why the impromptu visit was so much more surprising.

"Sorry to disturb you so early in the day at your home, Jōnin Kurenai," said Takuma, bowing to the jōnin.

"Nonsense, it's her home as well, and you're a guest. I'm happy to see you, Chūnin Takuma. I have heard a lot about you from Anko," Kurenai said before she turned her unique red eyes to her roommate.

"You already make a positive impression by not being a random man she picked up at a bar or club." Anko rolled her eyes and ignored her friend.

"You want some coffee?" she asked and pointed him to the dining table.

"I was wondering if you could talk alone," Takuma said with a faint smile. Anko narrowed her eyes, glancing at where she had hit him before. She wondered if this had something to do with his condition. She and Kurenai lived in a spacious three-bedroom apartment, owing to their considerable income as chūnin and jōnin, respectively. She led him to the living room where they sat across from each other on couches.

"It's not good news, is it?" she frowned.

"It's good news," Takuma said with a small smile. He took a deep breath before looking right into the eyes.

"The bastard who killed Rikku is dead." Anko almost responded on instinct, but her words died on her tongue as memories flashed past her eyes, and the most painful of them were of the taciturn girl who only said what was on her mind without hesitation. Once every week, the thoughts of regret would visit her. Rikku had died without Anko being able to anything to help her. It would've one been one thing if she had failed, but to not even been given a chance.

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"How…"

"I killed him, so I can confirm that he truly is dead," Takuma said with clenched fist, but with a melancholic expression. She could tell he was thinking about Rikku. Even though he had taken revenge, it wasn't going to bring her back. Anko wasn't surprised that Takuma had killed Rikku's murderer, but it was something she could imagine. In some ways, he was the most affected by it because he was there, and Rikku jumped in to protect him.

"Huh… but wasn't he from ROOT?" she asked. Takuma nodded.

"Then how…"

"I can't tell you that, but he's dead and that's all that matters," Takuma said and then turned his head away to avoid eye contact as though he didn't want to lie to her, so he was avoiding the conversation. Anko was going to respect his wishes, but then a flash hit her head, and the disconnected pieces in her mind fell into place. A dead ROOT agent, ANBU raising the village's security alert level, Takuma showing up the very next day injured, and his unwillingness to talk about the details. Takuma was an ANBU-nin.

It made so much sense that it was absurd. It also answered her question on how he managed to find a ROOT agent. She sighed, looking at her former teammate and war buddy. Had he joined ANBU to seek revenge on ROOT? If so, she didn't want him to live his life in pursuit of revenge. But from what she saw from his body language, he was relaxed as though some burden had been lifted from his shoulders. After some thought, she theorised that while revenge was a part of his motivation, it wasn't just that.

"Did you tell Kameko?" she asked.

"I went to her first. She was closer to Rikku than any of us ever were," Takuma said with a sigh. The team, except Takuma, spent their entire time together in Yu. Rikku and Kameko had grown closer in that time. She didn't express it outwardly, but everyone could sense that Kameko was affected by Rikku's death.

"She thinks she could've stopped Rikku from going back into the mansion," said Takuma, his face etched with gloom.

"But the only reason she went in there was because of me…"

"Don't insult her choice," Anko said.

"What happened that day wasn't an accident. She went in there because she cared about you. Blaming yourself devalues her decision. She was a brave kunoichi who protected her teammate on the battlefield. The only thing you should do is to honour her sacrifice." Losing someone wasn't easy. It was a nightmare if someone thought that it was their fault. Everyone in the team felt some level of responsibility for Rikku's death, but the one who felt it the most was probably Takuma.

She could tell that while taking revenge on her killer had helped, it hadn't absolved him of his guilt—most probably nothing ever would. What he needed right now was to learn to live with it.

"What's with the stationery?" she asked, pointing to the plastic bag with paper, pen, envelope, and stamps in it.

"Daiki and Iori. Need to tell them as well," Takuma muttered.

"Somehow, the idea of writing a letter to tell them feels more difficult than telling both of you in person. What am I supposed to write to them?"

"Tell them what you told us, and then tell them about how you're doing. They'll be glad to know that Rikku's killer is dead, but I think they'll be happier to know how their friend is doing," Anko said. The dead were going to remain so; there was nothing one could do about it, but the living were still within reach. She gazed at the boy in front of her. People steeped in the desire for revenge often forgot about that simple fact.

They thought that because they cared about the dead so much, everyone else did as well.

"It'd be good to know how they're doing," Takuma said, smiling faintly.

"It would be. So, let me write one too; we'll get Kameko to write one as well. Let's send them together," Anko said with a smile. ———. Itachi sat in his office with an ANBU-nin standing in front of his table.

"He visited Taketori Kameko and Mitarashi Anko. Both of them were on Ratel's team when he was deployed at the Steam-Frost war," the operative reported Takuma's movements after he left the hospital.

"Between the visits, he bought stationery and stamps for letters. As for why he visited them, it's still unknown." Itachi gazed at the files of the two people mentioned. Takuma had asked to leave the moment he was in walking—barely—condition. He guessed he wanted to meet these two as soon as possible. The operative in front of him didn't know the identities of the ROOT agents that Takuma had killed the day before. If he had known, he would've understood why Takuma went to see them before heading home.

ROOT agent known by the name Kon. The agent who had tried to kill Takuma on multiple occasions. He had also killed one of Takuma's war buddies. If Takuma had joined ANBU for the career prospects, then Kon was the reason he targeted ROOT. Itachi was sure that the dead agent was the sole reason Takuma's work bordered on obsession. Itachi had to acknowledge the irony that while Takuma was working so hard to one day catch Kon, the man had come to him on his own accord. But he also had to be thankful to the agent.

Because of him, ANBU got Ratel, who was soon going to work under him.

"I suspect that the visits and the letters have something to do with the ROOT assassination attempt. I would recommend that we bring all the involved parties in to contain the leak of information."

"Scrub the record," Itachi looked up at the operative and ordered, "Instruct his security detail to omit the details of his movements from the time he left the hospital and arrived at his home from their reports. I will personally approve their reports into the record. Tell them if anyone, for any reason, asks, they should tell that Ratel went straight home."

"…Yes, sir," the operative obliged, but there was a hesitation.

"What is it?" Itachi asked.

"May I ask why?" the operative asked. For ANBU, records were deemed sacred. In a place of spies and conmen, the written word was the only thing that could be trusted. One thing they taught every agent and staff was to never lie on their reports because it was the only way to piece together the truth in the often messy and complicated situations ANBU dealt with.

ANBU understood that operatives often had to do things that would get them into trouble, but the authority given to them allowed their actions, which was why everyone—even if they exaggerated, understated or dressed up the facts—always told the truth. Operatives also knew that no one outside would ever read those files because such was the existence of ANBU. The people at the top maintained and enforced the practice, leading the people at the bottom to do the same.

So omitting something from the record was a serious ask, even for the two ANBU Commanders, much less the captains.

"Because some things just need to be done regardless of the rules."