Chương 453: CH_12.20 (453)

Taro gritted his teeth through the headache throbbing in his damned skull. The bloody ANBU-nin told him that he was picked last because of his relative inexperience—that it was a measure to insulate the ANBU squad from any mistakes or delay on his part. So why was his first assignment to look into a minor clan for any and all of their misdeeds?! It was a time bomb dumped into his lap, waiting to explode in his face. Looking into their own was never part of his duties.

He sought and sifted through foreign information collected by the village's spy network, documented the relevant parts, and created actionable intelligence. Every step he took to do it properly required effort. How long had it taken him to earn the trust of the on-field shinobi handlers working the assets? How many painstaking double and triple shifts in the office, sleeping on the floor, working through difficult situations did he need, before he built a good rapport?

Just the after-work hours spent learning the history of whatever he was dealing with so as not to embarrass himself were staggering. He had none of that inside the Hidden Leaf Village. If he were to poke around, he wouldn't know where to start, who to approach, or how to do it under wraps. The thought of what could go wrong made him shiver. Consulting with his commanding officer had been anything but useful.

"Sir, ANBU-nin Ratel submitted this request," he said, presenting the formal request form to Chūnin Yamanaka Nakushi. The rude, badger-masked operative didn't even have the decency to submit the request in person and sent it via the liaison. The man took one look at the form and straightened in his chair. His expression mirrored Taro's own when he first saw the contents of the request.

First of all, this sort of stuff was done in-house by ANBU because keeping the shinobi families and clans, big or small, was part of their core responsibilities; they had the tools and expertise for such work. If it were somehow assigned to others, it would be common sense to give it to someone at least tangentially experienced in it, not to someone who would feel utterly lost upon reading the request form. The real curse wasn't Taro's inability to complete the request. It was its contents.

Ratel hadn't pointed out any wrongdoings of the clan. He had pointed at the clan and asked him to dig up all the skeletons in their background. It could very well be persecution. Maybe it had something to do with ROOT, or maybe it was a gross abuse of power. He had no way of knowing that.

"I see. Get on with it then… This will be a great experience for you, Taro. Do things properly and don't disappoint the ANBU." A cursory read. No questions. Poorly hidden nervous encouragement. His boss was trying to distance himself from it and push the responsibility onto his shoulders. Even though he would only be following orders and wouldn't be blamed for it, mud splashed on everyone standing nearby. And that was going to be really annoying. For now, he could only get to work and figure out a way to do it.

———.

"Careful, it's hot," Nenro said, working a pan over a portable gas stove. The smell of pan-fried gyoza, fresh off the pan and sizzling with oil hit his nose made his stomach demand immediate sustenance. He turned around and held the plate to Masaaki, who was manning the charcoal grill with vegetables and mushrooms, and loaded his plate. He sighed; it was too much, it always was. Spending time with friends after a tough day at work was definitely one of the better ways to relax.

He walked to the edge of the roof, setting the plate on the parapet despite knowing Ai would lose it if the ceramic took a tumble and shattered. She would've screamed at him if she were here; she was at a theatrical play with her girlfriends.

"Here." Takuma held a can of cola that he opened with a fizzy pop.

"Thanks," he said. The can was wet and cold to the touch. In return, he handed him a pair of chopsticks from his pocket so they could share the plate. The Hitoge clan, the target for the ANBU request, was located in the Hidden Leaf Village, and while he didn't have any concrete connections within the village, some of the people he knew in the department did, so he relied on them for introductions, but the time frame he had to complete the request was not that long.

Fortunately, he had some of his own connections he could rely on.

"I have a favour to ask," he said.

"What's up?" Takuma said after a pause. There was always a pause with him as though he was thinking about what he was about to ask, though he didn't seem to be aware of it. Maybe it was an occupational hazard as a former officer of the Leaf Military Police Force.

"I'm looking into the Hitoge clan. Can you introduce me to some of your contacts at the Police Force?"

"For work?" Takuma asked. He nodded.

"Sure. What are you looking for?"

"I want to do some digging on what they're doing. Ongoing investigations, past cases, officers who worked on them. Their business involves chemical production. Maybe misappropriation of funds, unreported orders, off-the-book dealings. Can you get me help with those things?"

"Of course, that's easy enough. More than happy to help." He smiled.

"You can start with Arisu."

"Isn't she part of the Narcotics Taskforce?"

"It's the Department of Narcotics Control now," he said, picking up a piece of charred capsicum.

"And yes, she would be of great help. A lot of what the Hitoge clan produce falls under the controlled substance category, and she has to keep an eye on that as part of her duties. She's also well-connected, so you'll be able to get help and introductions." If he were familiar with them after hearing their name, then she would be too. Taro breathed out, leaning into the parapet.

He knew Fuma Arisu, and what kind of kunoichi she was, and thus felt confident about getting a good foothold in the Police Force for sourcing information.

"Just…"

"What?" he asked when Takuma started to say something, but stopped and bowed his head.

"Things… have been tense between her and me. It's not going to affect you! Of course. She's an absolute professional. Don't worry about that, but I'm just saying so you're not caught off guard if the conversation suddenly gets awkward… It'd be better if you avoid mentioning me altogether," he said, scratching the back of his lowered head. This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Seeing Takuma low was rare.

He was a person with tempered emotions, not showing high highs and low lows —or at least good at hiding them—so seeing him visibly dejected meant it was eating him up.

"What happened?" Taro put a hand on his shoulder. These two were as close as they got; their friendship was built on a long-term partnership strengthened by the fact that they had fought danger together.

"Made some choices when I was there without including her and then asked her to do something that dredged them right up for her to live with," he replied with pursed lips.

"Rather not talk about it… Actually, I can't talk about it." Taro nodded. It was work-related, and he had seen people make choices they weren't exactly proud of. In this case, those professional choices had affected a personal relationship. Maybe that was to be expected in a relationship like theirs, where trust was tied on both ends.

"I'm always here to talk, you know?" He nodded.

"Thank you. And hey, this will go well. I'm sure you'll blow this out of the water."

"I hope so too." ———. Takuma was well-connected. His connections within the Police Force were one thing, but he knew shinobi, former shinobi, civilians, people from all around the village. Everyone and their grandmother, really. He was like the handlers Taro worked with. Apparently, he had gone around a lot during his time in the Police Force. Most of his contacts were shady personalities with questionable backgrounds, but those were often the people with the good information. Nosy people.

Those who wanted a leg up. People who liked to gossip. A lot of them had interesting things to say.

"Listen, I know something, but the days have been tough. I got kids back home," said a red-faced former worker for the Hitoge clan, stinking of booze as they sat in a back alley pub in the middle of the day. He ignored the gazes on him from around the pub and kept focused on the man before him. He set a few bills on the table but snatched them back when the man reached out.

"You'll get all of it if I like what you've got to say," he said, sliding across half of the money. He had paid two people before to reach this guy and had been ripped off on both; his inexperience was forcing him to learn quickly. His respect for his handlers was growing with each person he spoke to. The man told him that, for their controlled substances orders, they diluted or added impurities just enough that it wasn't easily noticeable and sold the excess on the black market.

They also had a way of reporting inventory that allowed them to produce and pocket the extra, which also went on the black market.

"Happy?" The man reached out for the money, but Taro pulled it back.

"No, I'm not. I need more. How can I confirm what you said?"

"You said—""I said you'll get all of it if I like what you've to say. I'm not happy yet, but I'm getting there."

"All the workers know what's going on. No one says anything because the clan pays well and hires our family members. There's loyalty there; everyone does their job to keep the scam running smoothly. That's why the fuzz never even comes near them, because they don't even know anything's wrong." That was good enough. Taro pulled his hand back from the money, and the man snatched it and went straight to the bar for more drinks.

The secret behind the Hitoge clan's success was that they took care of their people; they were right to do so because it had worked. Unfortunately, one had slipped through their fingers. And that alone was enough. With that, he had collected enough to formulate a first report. ———.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting this at all," Ratel said, reading Taro's report in the conference room.

"This is very good. Good job collecting all of this in such a short amount of time." Was he expecting him to fail? If so, then why assign it to him in the first place? His opinion of the ANBU-nin didn't improve despite the compliment. Even though he was forced to learn from the challenges he faced throughout the ordeal, the result wasn't a product of skill. It was luck.

He was lucky to know people like Takuma and Arisu to depend on, and even more fortunate to find what he had managed to, because it was just as likely he could've come out empty-handed. However, it certainly felt good to produce something that he wasn't embarrassed or hesitant to present to an ANBU-nin. It wasn't his best work, but it was the work he was most proud of recently.

"This is certainly interesting. It's impressive that they managed to keep it under wraps, don't you think so?"

"No, I don't think so," he replied.

"You're right. It's not impressive if one drunk is all it takes to open up their secret operation." That man was probably left alone because he was a drunk. His state was so pathetic that they either took pity on him or just thought that he wasn't going to be a threat. If he weren't a drunk, maybe they would've dealt with him. No, if he weren't a drunk, he would still be working for the clan.

"I see that there's a lot of personal stuff here," Ratel said as he flipped through the report. Despite their competence in running their business, they had issues elsewhere, ranging from minor to serious, that weren't as well hidden. A second family. Gambling debt. Mistreatment of Genin Corp genin. Disparaging remarks on an official complaint about a jōnin when she was still a chūnin that had possibly bumped her promotion by a year.

Multiple personal letters from the same man who had very frank thoughts, like the 'weak' Fourth Hokage's inability to protect the village without dying, among others, that should never see the light of day. A lot of it wasn't their misdeeds, but things they could be blackmailed with. He felt conflicted while collecting that information because it was easier to get, and he needed most of the stuff for the report, especially since he didn't have the experience or tools.

"You have potential, Oishi Taro. You've exceeded my expectations. Honestly, I was worried that the request would be too hard for you because it's not in your wheelhouse, but I feel you can advertise this type of work if you want." Taro clenched his fist under the table. He knew about it and still dumped the work on him. He had barely done on-fieldwork, and for this case, he had most of his time away from his cubicle, bouncing around from place to place, person to person.

"It was tough. I would appreciate it if the requests were more focused and structured."

"You don't say," Ratel retrieved a request form from his person, "because I have more work for you." Taro nervously gulped as he peeked at the form. Tension sagged from his shoulders; there were names, archive and document references, and more stuff to go off of. Having that much information gave him a structure that he could use to focus his efforts. Maybe it was only a one-time thing, and the requests would be more traditional.

"I hope you're ready to travel. These guys are in the east. Treat it like a vacation; get out there and have some fun while you work," Ratel said. And just like that, his plans to better rely on Arisu and the Police Force disappeared in smoke. He decided. He didn't like the ANBU-nin named Ratel. ———. Takuma put Taro's file on his table in the office. It was genuinely good work from someone who wasn't used to this type of work.

If he did it on his own, he would've gotten it done faster and probably acquired more information. He could've given it to the ANBU intelligence desk, and they would've done it better than Taro. But Taro had potential. He was a smart guy who needed a push to get him moving. He hated doing anything until the end, when he finally felt a sense of accomplishment and completion, and suddenly, all the effort became worth it.

However, until that point, he hated every moment of it, and no matter how many jobs he completed, it didn't take that feeling away. As his friend, Takuma wanted him to do well. And given their positions, he was going to use every opportunity to push him just enough to gain more experience, build expertise, and make him someone people would seek out. As an operative, Takuma wanted an intelligence connection outside ANBU for when he wanted things done without people knowing.

And building that connection was a lengthy and challenging process. If he could turn his own, trusted friend into someone he could rely on for intelligence, that would be the best-case scenario. However, it still wasn't going to be easy. He trusted Taro, but Taro didn't trust 'Ratel'. He needed to build that professional relationship first and do it properly before he could connect his personal relationship to it and create something powerful.

For that, Takuma would need to rely on Taro, show him that he was valuable and build his self-image and pride for his own work so that he would be willing to engage in that type of relationship. Takuma could be all-in to make that type of relationship, but it wouldn't mean anything if Taro wasn't interested in a deeper professional relationship.

"To a long relationship, Taro. I hope you're ready."