Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_577 (Patreon)

ANBU Captain Weasel’s office was silent as Itachi looked through the developed photographs taken in the office of Kikyo's founder and leader. Takuma and Tern sat across the table from him, and surprisingly, it wasn’t only the former who looked tired. They had just finished telling the captain about the covert operation they had carried out at a party in the capital attended by several of the inner city’s heavy hitters.

“You found these in Kyohei Watari’s office?” Itachi asked, holding up a photo of a section of a jutsu scroll.

Even though Takuma hadn’t taken the jutsu scrolls with him, he had captured shots of them with his camera. While they had rolls of photographs capturing the ledger, none would be as impactful to any ANBU-nin as photographs of unauthorised jutsu scrolls.

“That’s right,” Takuma said. “We haven’t been able to confirm the source, but we know that these jutsu exist in our libraries, so if we get official dispensation, we can match the text in the photographs with the jutsu scrolls in the village’s archives.”

“I know this jutsu,” Itachi said, holding up another photograph. “I’ve read it before and remember this portion. The text here doesn’t match what I remember. We can check the jutsu scroll’s update history, but I doubt it’ll match. This isn’t from the village’s archives… But I agree that this isn’t an amateur’s work. This is most likely an official scroll.”

“So, if we assume for now that this isn’t from us, where did it come from?” Takuma asked.

“And you suspect the Hidden Sand?” Itachi asked.

“Kikyo has a rich history in the Land of Wind,” Takuma said. “In fact, we were the ones who drove the founder there… We can’t be sure that those scrolls came from the Hidden Sand, but they do seem to be the most likely source.”

“We also suspect that Kikyo is colluding with the Hidden Sand for some kind of attack on our soil.” Tern passed a thin manila file to Itachi. “Recently, I arrested Basara, a supposedly dead former Leaf genin…”

“Pardon?” Itachi asked, looking up from the folder.

“Long story,” Takuma said, gesturing for Tern to continue.

“…I found him researching what seemed to be an extraction corridor. Upon investigation, we found that Kikyo employed him. Not only that, but the endpoints of the corridor led to the Fire-River border.” The Land of Rivers was sandwiched between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. “And given Kikyo’s presence in the Land of Wind, it’s not a crazy theory that the Hidden Sand is behind them… As Ratel said, we ran Watari out of the country. He may hold a grudge and could be partially motivated by revenge.”

“Plus, Kikyo stands to profit if our two nations are at war.”

Itachi read the prepared document for a few minutes before setting it down on the table.

“I agree that there’s something here, but we don’t have any evidence. I’m not going to push this up the chain.” Itachi raised his finger when his two subordinates leaned forward to argue their case. “Not yet, that is. If you want Stag to see this, then you need to make a case that’ll convince him to push it up to Lord Hokage. Only then will I show it to him.”

“We will do that,” Takuma said, with Tern nodding beside him.

“Set up a team. High confidentiality.” Itachi looked at both of them. “If what you’re claiming is true, then you better build this case as soon as possible because, as it stands, we have no idea when this extraction corridor is going to be used.”

Fortunately, that wasn’t true, because one of them knew exactly when that extraction corridor would be used.

———

.

On a rare morning, Taro found himself unexpectedly free. He leaned back in his creaky chair, feet up on his desk, and hands folded behind his head. The work of an analyst was surprisingly dull and mundane; they spent their days in front of a desk, sifting through data, writing letters and requests for more of it, and explaining their findings through reports and meetings to people who often enough weren’t paying attention or were only interested in twisting the analyst’s report so it’d somehow agree with their plans or intentions.

Taro had the ‘pleasure’ of doing occasional fieldwork to dig up and collect important data, but otherwise, his job was just as dull and mundane.

But that morning, he sat with nothing to do. His workload didn’t require active attention at the moment, and more importantly, Takuma was out of town and hadn’t sent any requests his way.

He opened his desk drawer and fished out a brochure for the cinema, listing the shows they were screening that week. He could leave work early and catch an evening show. But as he read the brochure, a pit formed in his stomach.

“Taro, my office!” his boss yelled from his office at the end of the bullpen.

“Of course,” Taro whispered to himself with a heavy sigh. He returned the brochure to the drawer and walked to the office, where his boss waited with the ANBU liaison. “Genin Konimitsu, you have returned to increase my suffering. Is anyone ever happy to see you?”

“What can I say? I love my job. It’s my calling.” Konimitsu bowed with a hand on his chest.

They smiled at each other and shook hands.

“As usual, ANBU has requested your time,” Taro’s boss said, not presenting any resistance because it brought him benefits.

“Big guy back home?” Taro asked.

Konimitsu nodded.

“Alright, hand over the files. I’ll get started.”

“Not this time, Genin Taro. This matter is different. For the foreseeable future, you’ll be working from an undisclosed facility controlled by us,” Konimitsu said, exchanging a nod with Taro’s boss. “You’re not to discuss anything you see with anyone not permitted—not your colleagues, friends, family, or peers. Pack everything you need; you’re leaving with me.”

———

.

Taro looked at the charcoal-grey walls of the silent hallway, which didn’t have a single painting hanging on them. If not for the signs on the walls and doors, he wouldn’t have been able to distinguish the near-identical hallways from each other. Whoever designed the place either didn’t like their job or had no joy in their life and wanted the same for others.

“Be truthful, Genin Konimitsu. The ANBU thing was a lie, and you’ve brought me here to murder me because you’re a serial killer and I’m your latest victim,” Taro said.

“I wish. Unfortunately, it’s not your time yet, Genin Taro,” Konimitsu said with a smile that was a bit too merry. “Now, I was serious about what I said back there; anything you see or do in here stays within these walls. You’re not to take work home—”

“That won’t be a problem,” Taro chuckled.

“—and that includes removing any material from the premises, including your personal notes. You’ll be checked when you enter and exit the facility. It’ll be a restrictive work environment, but we will try our best to facilitate your needs; anything you want, you can tell us, and we will get it for you.”

“Okay, I want a full lobster dinner and a triple serving of vanilla ice cream.”

“The best I can do is instant coffee and stale biscuits.”

“That’s even better.”

Konimitsu knocked on the door of a small conference room and then peeked inside. “They’re ready for you. Go on in.”

“You’re not coming?”

“Not this time,” Konimitsu said. Liaisons often attended the meetings as facilitators unless the topic of discussion was strictly confidential. “Now, I know you’ve done ample work for us and the lieutenant trusts you—that’s why you’re here—but be careful this time around, yeah? He’s keeping his cards close to his chest this time.”

Taro nodded appreciatively. Given how secretive ANBU could be, most people working with them relied on liaisons to smooth out cooperation with operatives who doled out information like penny-pinchers. Konimitsu paid attention to the analysts so they felt confident coming to him with their problems.

Taro entered the equally dull conference room and was surprised to see Takuma wasn’t alone, as he usually was when they met on official business. Takuma sat at the head of the table without his mask and was accompanied by a kunoichi with a bird-motif mask who sat one seat down from him.

“Take a seat, Genin Taro,” Takuma said, looking tired as usual.

“Yes, Lieutenant.” Taro picked up on the vibe, used formal language, and sat opposite the female operative. “My name is Oishi Taro. I’m an analyst from the Analysis Team at the Intelligence Division.”

“Tern,” the woman introduced herself.

“She’s my subordinate and will be working closely with you on this case.”

“I look forward to working with you,” Taro said.

Tern only hummed.

‘So friendly,’ he thought.

“This case will be different from what you’ve dealt with before, Taro. The material you’ll be looking at will require a high level of security clearance. You’re expected to receive it by the end of the week, so take care of your usual workload by then. You’ll be exclusively working on this case.”

That, Taro didn’t like. He had worked hard on his current cases, and that would mean someone else would get to enjoy the fruits of his labour. It could also mean whoever took over his cases could royally screw everything up—and that felt somehow more frustrating than someone else seeing his cases through successfully and getting the credit for it.

However… he was curious about where this was leading.

“Can you tell me what I’ll be working on, or does that have to wait until after my clearance comes through?”

Tern glanced at Takuma, who didn’t answer immediately. The location, the liaison’s words, the talk of clearance—all of it reaffirmed that he was about to work on something sensitive.

“…You’ll be looking into a mercenary group. It’ll involve investigating their history, members, jobs, and connections—the full-body check-up. It’ll be a lot of work, and there’ll be many restrictions on how you can go about doing your job, but the expectation for results will be high.” Takuma paused. “It’s a matter of national security… seriously.”

Taro had seen Takuma serious and grave before, but this felt different.

“Are you up for it?”

“Count me in,” Taro replied without hesitation.

Takuma nodded appreciatively and then got up. “I have other commitments, so I’m leaving. You two will be working together on this, so take this chance to get to know each other.”