Chương 512: CH_13.31 (512)

It took two around-the-clock days for the team to wrap up the entire ROOT base. It was, frankly, more tiring than the battles at Fune and the base combined. They would have taken it easy if not for the fact that the two ANBU captains were required at home, so the team hurried, supported by having their numbers bolstered by Takuma's clones. The journey back home was tough for Takuma. He had been working hard in the weeks preceding the mission.

The battle at Fune and the raid were tough, but the two days of going through the ROOT base were more tiring. Sensing the job was done, his body finally gave up before he could reach home. Every step felt like he had to drag his feet to keep moving forward. Others noticed and offered to carry him, but he refused help—half because of his own pride, not wanting to show weakness, and the other half because he didn't want to bother others. He wasn't injured, just tired.

He could endure it, knowing that his return home would only be sweeter. It was a little before evening when Takuma returned home. He knocked on the front door, feeling impatient. He thought of entering through the back garden, only to hear his name just as he was about to turn.

"Takuma…" Maruboshi stood at the front gates. He had a fish hanging from a wire at his side that he had spear-fished. It was the perfect size for both of them to share over a meal.

"You were expecting me?" Takuma asked. Maruboshi wouldn't take more than he needed from nature. Maruboshi just gazed, taking in the sight of him. Takuma hadn't told him the details of the mission, only that if things went as they expected, it was going to be dangerous at the very least. The news of Danzō's death had already reached everyone in the village. That was all Maruboshi needed to guess what Takuma had done.

"Welcome back."

"I'm home." It had been stressful when the other shinobi returned, but Takuma didn't come home. He had lost many over the course of his life; it was part of the shinobi life, and it never got any easier.

"You are exhausted." Takuma nodded.

"Would you like to take a bath?"

"Only a wash. I'll fall asleep in the tub if I take a soak."

"Then a warm meal before you rest."

"That'd be perfect." Maruboshi walked to him and hugged him with one arm. Takuma smiled, returning the gesture with both arms and feeling the remaining tension slip right off him as he finally felt at home. ———. The next morning, a sizeable group of ANBU-nin gathered in a training ground that had been closed off for the day. The majority of the numbers were made up of the operatives and staff under the ANBU captains Fox and Weasel.

Among those present were ANBU Commander Stag and departmental friends of the operatives who had died. All were dressed in mourners' black as they gathered to pay their respects to their fallen comrades. Their official funerals had been held the same way as all the shinobi who had fallen doing their duty during the raid against ROOT.

Besides the funerals, ANBU observed a long-held tradition to add a personal touch to their farewells because the families of the fallen couldn't advertise that their loved one had died serving the country as an ANBU. Sometimes, the families didn't even know that their loved one was ANBU, and the department preferred to keep it that way. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

To acknowledge them—most operatives considered being ANBU a matter of pride—ANBU held an informal ceremony. In front of the gathered people, a stonemason, a retired shinobi with an earth affinity, carefully carved the names of the fallen ANBU into one of the many memorial stones around the Hidden Leaf Village so they were memorialized with other fallen Hidden Leaf shinobi who were considered worthy. It wasn't anything special.

The other names on the stone were those of killed-in-action shinobi, not a single ANBU among them. The only thing that made it different was that for regular shinobi, the families were informed of the stone's location afterwards. ANBU's ceremony had them pay their respects as the names were carved out. Those who attended the ceremony were required to arrive before the carving began and stay until the mason was done.

The fallen comrades had given their lives; the least the others could do was spare some of their time. Takuma watched Kingfisher's real name being inscribed in stone along with the rest of his subordinates. There was also Kakashi's assault squad operative. He couldn't help it when his eyes were pulled to the top few lines of the stone where Rikku's name was engraved among others who had died in the Steam-Frost war.

This particular memorial stone was new, and the Steam-Frost war was the last event in which a large number of Leaf shinobi had died for their village. He looked around, and many looked emotional, which showed that even trained spies struggle with holding back their emotions. Though different, the emotions in the place were the same as the first time he visited the memorial stone with Anko and Kameko and the letters he wrote to Daiki and Iori about it.

He tore his eyes away from Rikku's name and looked around, his gaze settling on the pale-faced Yazo and his plastered hand. They had avoided the worst-case scenario of losing the hand. Unfortunately, the iryō-nin weren't able to start significant treatment on time. It was too soon to tell, but it was all but confirmed that Yazo would lose some functionality in his injured hand. For shinobi who heavily relied on hand seals for all jutsu, a lasting injury in the hands was perhaps the worst sign after amputation.

Yazo and Koyal, the assault squad's iryō-nin, stood afar from each other. They hadn't said a word to each other since they had returned home, but it appeared that Koyal was burdened by self-blame for the damage to Yazo's hand. Even though Yazo knew the risks and accepted responsibility for his hand by agreeing to wait while Koyal participated in the battle plan against Orochimaru, emotions were a fickle thing.

Given Yazo's larger-than-life nature, he just needed some time to come to terms with the situation before he returned to a semblance of his usual self.

"Did you have a good rest?" Itachi asked as he settled beside Takuma.

"A quartet could have performed an entire set in my room, and I wouldn't have known," Takuma replied, looking rested by his standards, which meant he still looked perpetually tired.

"How about you?" Itachi nodded. Both had questions for each other, but they decided to keep them to themselves so as not to sully the honor of their comrades.

"Mother asked if you were alright. I told her that you were tired but uninjured."

"She found out?"

"…She tricked me," Itachi said, sighing.

"She asked about it with such confidence that I truly thought she had somehow gained that information. I asked how she knew. She replied that she didn't, but I had just confirmed it. It was a truly inane mistake."

"Well, don't blame yourself completely. You were tired, in the safety of your home, talking to your mother. It's not surprising that it somehow slipped out," Takuma said, not a hint of flattery in his tone. Takuma's competence was the prime reason why he had asked him to fill the open lieutenant position, but it was the comfort between them that had led him to offer him the most important squads under him. In essence, this made him his right-hand man.

They had opposing ideas, argued a normal amount, and disagreed on many things, but there was a level of comfort and respect that ensured that no resentment lingered. They could put aside their differences in opinion to come together to find a proper solution for any problem they had.

"May I ask you a question?" Itachi asked.

"About what?"

"Why were you afraid of me?"

"Pardon?"

"When we first met, I had an acute sense that you were afraid of me. Was I wrong?"

"…No, you were not," Takuma said. He scratched the back of his head and stared at the numerous names on the memorial stone.

"At that time, I was afraid of death—I mean, I still am, but not to that extent—and at that time, a jōnin seemed like the biggest threat to my life."

"Even though we're from the same side?"

"I'm sure you know that doesn't mean much because the man we have been hunting for the past year and the freak you fought were supposed to be on the same side," Takuma said with ample negativity.

"When I saw you, I couldn't wrap my brain around you. How could someone so young be so powerful? The level of power you held while looking the same as me was something I couldn't even imagine back then. So yeah, I was terrified back then."

"And now?"

"It was the fear of the unknown. Now, I like to believe that I understand you."

"I see. Thank you for sharing that with me. I'm busy tomorrow," Itachi was going to break the Orochimaru news to his clan, "but I want to meet you the first thing the day after tomorrow, and I want your answer."