Chapitre 279: CH_8.14 (279)
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The link is also in the synopsis
———
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Around one o'clock in the afternoon, Maruboshi was washing dishes when his front doorbell rang. He wondered if Takuma had returned from visiting the Police Force headquarters and hoped everything had gone well. The timing made him think that perhaps his plans to have lunch with his friend had fallen through, and he had returned early but when he opened the door, he found no one at the door.
When he turned around, however, he saw a cloaked and masked ANBU-nin standing before him, nearly stopping his heart
"Genin Maruboshi Kosuke," said the ANBU-nin.
"...That is me, yes. May I ask what business an ANBU-nin has with me?" he asked. It was not every day that one encountered an ANBU-nin, and it was seldom a good thing if one showed up at one's house.
"I would like to meet Genin Takuma. I'm told that he's currently residing with you."
"Yes, he is living with me. Unfortunately, he's not in at the moment," he said.
Many possible reasons flashed through his mind, including the letter to Uchiha Mikoto but then he also remembered that Takuma had told him he had interacted with a pair of ANBU-nin prior to returning from the war.
Maruboshi had decided not to pursue the matter, but it still concerned him.
"I see... Then can you perhaps pass this on to him?" The ANBU-nin retrieved a scroll from his cloak. The scroll was sealed with fuinjutsu and had the official seal of the ANBU department stamped on the front.
"And this is?" he asked.
"All relevant information is in the scroll. He'll understand when he reads its contents," said the ANBU-nin. "I shouldn't need to say it but do not open the scroll. The contents of the scroll are for his eyes only."
"Of course," said Maruboshi.
The ANBU-nin nodded and disappeared, leaving Maruboshi with a sealed scroll for Takuma.
———
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"Wow, this place, huh?" said Arisu as they sat in a familiar diner.
"Well, it's been a while for me," said Takuma. He took Arisu to the diner they frequented when they still worked under Kano. After they started the Narcotics Taskforce, they had no time for consistent breaks, and when things settled down, they started ordering the team's lunch directly to the office. "What about you?"
"I've been here a couple of times here and there, but it's good to be back here with you," she smiled.
"So, the usual?" he asked. They ordered the same meals every day because it took away one choice among dozens they had to make in their day.
"The usual," she said and ordered for both of them.
"I remember we used to pay for our own stuff every day, but then we got a weekly tab and started paying it alternatively," said Takuma. "And you owe me money because your food costs more than mine."
"And I wouldn't change a thing," Arisu laughed. "So tell me, what's your plan? I'm sure you're going for the Chunin Exams, right?"
"That's on the docket. Wanna join me?" Takuma asked. He planned to ask Nenro and Masaaki, but if she said yes, he would take the exam with her because, as much as he loved the boys, he worked perfectly with Arisu because of their history and he would choose her over any other genin in the nation.
Arisu shook her head. "Not this time. My first attempt will be the exam after the coming one. I don't think I'm ready yet, but I think I'll be ready to start participating in the next one. Of course, I'll be happier if I get promoted internally, but you know how that is."
Takuma rapped his fingers on the table and gazed at Arisu.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"I met with Setsuna and well... he said he might be able to get me promoted internally."
"Seriously?" Arisu asked as a glimmer of excitement shimmered in her eyes. "That's great, Takuma! That means you're staying in the Police Force. Oh my god, this is the best possible outcome!"
"Before you get too excited, it's not guaranteed and I don't think Setsuna will be able to pull it off."
"Why so negative?"
"It's called being realistic," said Takuma. "If the Police Force wanted to promote me, Setsuna would've guaranteed it yesterday and served me a five-year contract for me to sign with a golden pen. The fact that he's asked me to wait until the end of my contract and not sooner says that he will be campaigning for my promotion. I think he'll come back with a promise of a promotion a couple of years down the line along with some benefits to soothe the burn."
Perhaps he was being pessimistic, but he would rather set lower expectations and overachieve than the opposite. When he started the Narcotics Taskforce, he truly believed that he could take it all the way to the top, but in mere months, that foolish dream had been beaten down by office politics. The more success he achieved, the more eyes coveted his efforts and because he was growing his crop on borrowed land, he had limited power from the start.
"It's no use thinking about it until Setsuna delivers on his promise," said Takuma. "Let's change the subject. When do you think you're free? This is not enough time to catch up. Let's train together. We can talk more and spar. I'm thinking about getting back into a routine."
Arisu didn't look like she wanted to change the topic but sighed. "Sure, let's train. Maybe once a week, but I can't commit to a specific day," she said quickly when Takuma perked up. "On the topic of catch-up, there's a class gathering on Saturday. You've never come to them, so you'll come to this one—I'll drag you if I have to."
"Should I come? I mean, I've never been to one. I don't want it to be weird," said Takuma.
Before he had started working with Arisu, he had never actually been invited—to be fair, they were informal events open to the entire class, but he was never informed of the time and date because he wasn't connected to the class. There was Taro, but he barely cared about the gatherings and didn't bring them up during their conversations. Arisu did inform him about the gatherings, but they were held on weekends, and he was busy with primetime Ring fights. Then, the Narcotics Taskforce came along and he was literally too busy to make time for it.
"It's not going to be weird but if it becomes too much the two of us can just grab a corner and chat the entire time," Arisu smiled.
"That sounds nice," said Takuma after a moment of thought. "So what's the occasion?"
"A celebration. Inuzuka Hana got promoted to chunin—she's the third one from our batch," said Arisu.
"Who else made it?"
"Take a guess."
Takuma thought about it, but it was difficult to make an educated guess when he had no idea where his classmates were in their careers. He narrowed it down to the people who passed the jonin's team test. He thought about it more, and the memory of a poorly executed B-rank fire release ninjutsu came to mind.
"Okubo Momoe," said Takuma. If she could shoddily use a B-rank jutsu before the Narcotics Taskforce existed, then she must have progressed a lot in that time. It had been a few months short of two years since that fight—he wondered how strong she was right now.
"Correct, the girl genius won the entire thing six months ago," said Arisu.
The Chunin Exam was a bi-annual event, and both the previous exams were conducted during his eleven-month war tour.
"Hana was promoted after the more recent one, though."
"As for the last one," Takuma raised his hands while shrugging. He had no recent data points to base his decision on, so he used the old ones: "I don't know, Uchiha Izumi, maybe? Am I right?"
Arisu nodded with a smile. Izumi and Arisu were close friends since before the academy as the Uchiha and Fuma were closely allied.
"Two on two," said Takuma. "Did she get it on her first attempt?"
"She did."
"Great for them." He sighed neutrally. "I guess I'll go to the gathering. I'm assuming Hana is paying for it all?"
"Free food for all."
"Can't say no to that, then, but don't blame me for leaving if it's boring or something."
He would have Arisu with him, but would also get to see Taro and Kameko, so he wouldn't be alone if he went. As for his other classmates, they were practically strangers, but they'd also seen him at his worst. If any of them were willing, he wouldn't mind creating and growing a few connections.
———
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After the lunch with Arisu, Takuma left to get a and then sat down in a tea shop to write letters to his acquaintances, informing them that he had safely returned from war. Handwriting all the letters took some time and could've been done much quicker if he had made copies of a generic format and filled in names, but he opted for the longer route because nothing else was occupying his time.
Besides, it was more personal too.
It was early evening when he posted the letters and returned to Maruboshi's home.
"I'm back," he announced as he returned. Maruboshi had given him a key in case he wasn't home when Takuma returned.
"In the living room," Maruboshi called from within the house. "Please come here. I've something to show you."
"I'll be there in a minute," Takuma said as he entered the bathroom to wash his hands and feet before heading to the living room. There, Maruboshi sat beside a low table with tea that had long since gone cold. Takuma sat on the floor opposite Maruboshi and placed a paper tote bag on the table. "I brought these snacks from a tea shop; please have them."
Maruboshi nodded. He had a slight furrow between his brows, and his lips were lightly pressed into a line. Takuma noticed that his posture and shoulders were stiff.
"You look tense. What is it?" asked Takuma.
Maruboshi took a deep breath and placed the sealed scroll on the table. "This came for you. Do you recognise the symbol on the scroll?" he asked.
"For me?" Takuma was confused.
Only a few people knew that he was living with his teacher and he didn't think they would send him anything when he had met all of them in the past three days. He picked up the scroll and turned it around to see the symbol. He recognised it because he had seen it just in the last month.
It was tattooed on the arms of both ANBU-nin he had met in Yu.
"ANBU?" He looked up at Maruboshi.
"An ANBU-nin delivered it today with instructions for you to read it," said Marubsohi.
"What is it? Did they say anything?"
Maruboshi shook his head. "He said that all necessary information is inside... Should I give you some space?"
"No, no, it's okay; please stay," Takuma said as he gazed intensely at the scroll.
He had no idea what could be inside it. Was it from the ANBU duo from Yu? Was the scroll additional information on Kon? He doubted it because their deal had been fulfilled and he basically extorted the information from them too. There was no reason for the duo to send him more information and he was sure they weren't feeling particularly generous towards him.
"Do you think it's from the pair you met?" asked Maruboshi.
"That seems to be the most likely and unlikely option." Takuma took a deep breath and injected a burst of chakra to burn through the sealed outer layer of paper and unfurled the scroll.
A long silence hung over the room during which Takuma read the scroll with little change in expression, and Maruboshi observed those changes to identify the possible contents and sentiment of the scroll.
After a few minutes, Takuma reached the scroll's end and took a deep breath as he put it down. He stared at Maruboshi for a few seconds until he said,
"They're trying to recruit me..."
"The ANBU?" Maruboshi's brows rose.
"Yes," Takuma nodded slowly, stunned by what he had just read. "There will be multiple rounds of interviews and testing, but if I pass through the process and they deem me worthy... I'll join them as a chunin."
.
———
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A/N: Because I wanted this week to end on this, I had to release 4 chapters. To rebuild that one chapter deficit, the next week's chapters will be released on Fri/Sat instead of the usual Wed/Thurs—and Fri/Sat would become the new posting day.
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———
Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!
Chapitre 280: CH_8.15 (280)
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to Patreón @
[ https://www̧̧.patreón.com/fictiononlyreader ]
The link is also in the synopsis
———
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The location of the Leaf Village's ANBU headquarters wasn't a secret. It was common knowledge that the headquarters was inside Hokage Mountain. A single path carved into the mountain led to the entrance, which was restricted through several security checkpoints manned by regular shinobi.
Takuma walked that path and passed through all the checkpoints. The seal drawn inside the recruitment scroll served as his security pass but he was extremely nervous as he passed several signs bolted into the thick metal warning people that unlawful entry could result in death. He was given no time to prepare for his first interview as it was scheduled the very next day after he received the barely gave him the time to update and modify his resume to appeal to the ANBU but the problem was that he didn't know what they were looking for and it wasn't like he could ask someone for advice on the matter.
Beyond the entrance lay a sizable front lobby area with a single reception desk and two receptionists sitting behind a long desk. They were dressed in the standard Leaf uniform like him, which was a surprise, but it made sense that not everyone in ANBU would be masked operatives.
The hall was shaped like a dome and lined with a thick layer of metal for structural integrity and fortification. It was spacious and clean, giving it a sanitary look, but the illumination was on the warmer side, projecting some light into the space.
Two more regular shinobi guards stationed inside the headquarters flanked him as he approached the reception desk.
"How may I help you?" asked a middle-aged kunoichi with a tight bun wrapped with a mesh cloth.
"I am here for my interview," Takuma said and presented his recruitment scroll as instructed within the scroll.
The kunoichi handled the scroll as though she had seen several of them and unfurled it to a point with a fuinjutsu seal. She weaved hand seals and pressed her thumb in the middle of the seal for the ink to reassemble into a pattern.
"I have confirmed the authenticity of the scroll." She smiled and returned it to him before reaching underneath the table to retrieve a tray. "Please deposit all of your weapons and belongings in here. You can collect them when you exit."
"I don't feel comfortable parting with my weapons," said Takuma. He had vowed not to leave home without the necessary weapons after the assassination attempt.
"Genin Takuma, you are a shinobi. We are taking your weapons away, not your ability to protect yourself," the receptionist said in an assuring manner. "I'm afraid there'll be no exception. If you don't wish to submit your weapons, you're free to leave, and we will consider our recruitment offer rejected."
Takuma bit the inside of his cheek and stared at the uncompromising receptionist before relenting with a sigh. He unbuckled his utility belt and weapons pouches and set them inside the trays.
"Please allow the guards to check you," said the receptionist.
The guards patted him down, and Takuma wasn't embarrassed when they found a tiny dagger and a few rolled-up explosive tags hidden on his body.
The kunoichi asked him to follow her and looked completely unbothered by his attempt to hide weaponry. They entered a circular staircase with multiple exit points on each floor. Takuma looked down into the well; it was deep enough that he would fracture a bone if he tried jumping. He looked up, and noticed there were fewer floors above than below.
"May I ask a question?" Takuma said as he observed the kunoichi.
"Please do, but I might not be able to answer the question."
"How did you end up working at ANBU?" he asked. Takuma noticed a weapon pouch with an open flap hanging from her waist.
"I was recruited for the position just like you're being recruited for your position," the kunoichi replied.
Their voices echoed in the staircase.
He couldn't take the pouch off her, and if he tried to pick something, the sound of metal would get him caught. He glanced at the railing along the stairs and felt the metal beneath the white paint.
"Oh. Any advice?"
"I don't know if my experience will help you, but if I have to say something, I'd say: be true to yourself. Let them know exactly what they're getting; if they like what they see, they'll take you. The work done here is of the utmost importance, which is why they need people who fit the bill. Presenting a false version of yourself will only get you in trouble when they find the real you."
Takuma charged his ring finger with a sliver of chakra and then flicked the metal railing. The metal sang like an instrument, filling the stairwell with a metallic, semi-melodious trill.
The kunoichi stopped and looked back at him in surprise.
"Sorry about that. Intrusive thoughts won," Takuma put on an apologetic and embarrassed look. "It's good advice, though. I'll be sure to follow it."
The kunoichi gazed at him for a moment before turning around with a sigh.
Takuma followed her down the stairs but couldn't help but be disappointed because he had only managed to steal a few senbon, a smoke bomb, and a small loop of metal wire. The smoke bomb was useful, but he didn't like senbon much and usually didn't carry metal wire, though anything was better than nothing.
They got off the stairs, and the receptionist stopped at a large, heavy-duty yellow door with a rectangular cutout of frosted glass.
"They're waiting for you," the kunoichi said.
Takuma stepped into an empty workspace. The floor was at least four times the size of the Narcotics Taskforce's new space. One half was converted into rooms and offices, while the other half was an open workspace. The walls and ceiling were white, with every light on the floor switched on.
Two masked ANBU-nin sat behind a desk in the middle of the floor and that desk and the accompanying chairs were the only pieces of furniture on the entire floor. One of the agents was a large man so jacked that it felt like his muscles wanted to pop out of his skin; he wore a boar mask with black and red markings. The other one was a brunette woman with white streaks in her hair and she wore a hornet mask with yellow markings.
"Welcome, Genin Takuma. Please call me Swine," said the large man. His voice was quite light for his size.
"Thank you for having me," Takuma said as he sat opposite them. He thought it was amusing that the boar-masked ANBU was codenamed Swine, but the name made sense.
"Have you settled down since your return? I know that you stopped renting your home when you were deployed and that we had to deliver your recruitment offer to your mentor's home," said Swine.
"It's in process. He has been kind enough to open his house for me," Takuma said shortly. Frankly speaking, it was creepy that they delivered the scroll to Maruboshi's home. He briefly glanced at the hornet-masked woman who silently stared at him.
"I wish you the best in that regard. I know it can be jarring to return home from war," said Swine. It made Takuma wonder if they knew about his breakdown, which he didn't want strangers to know about. "Please consider this meeting as a simple introduction. This isn't part of your testing process, so you aren't being judged now."
"I see," Takuma nodded.
"Now, before we start, we have to clear the most important question," said Swine. "Are you interested in joining the ANBU? There's no sense in continuing if you don't want to join. Of course, I understand you might have doubts, so we will dedicate this meeting to clearing them. By the end of this meeting, you'll have to give us an answer—which won't be a final commitment, mind you. We are interested in you and want to see if you feel the same."
"Fair enough. I'll give you my answer after you have cleared my doubts," said Takuma, appreciating their straightforwardness. He could tell they wanted him to say something in the vein of being interested in the offer, but he withheld his answer.
"Excellent. How do you wish we proceed? I recommend you ask us questions, and we'll answer them to the best of our abilities."
"Hmm... I don't know anything about the ANBU. You said this meeting is an introduction; give me an introduction," said Takuma, pushing the ball in their field.
This question-and-answer system didn't sit well with him because they would only need to answer what he asked, and if he didn't ask the right questions, he wouldn't get the correct answers. He didn't think they were doing it on purpose because, as Swine said, they were interested in him—or maybe they were doing it on purpose and this was some kind of test.
"The Department of ANBU is in charge of matters pertaining to national security. It's our responsibility to keep domestic and foreign powers in check to protect our great nation. You have worked for the Police Force; a good portion of our work is not dissimilar to yours—and it can often look much like we're doing the same thing as them, but our scope is on a higher level with a reach that goes beyond the Leaf Shinobi institution and our borders."
ANBU sounded like a traditional intelligence agency. Takuma knew their existence wasn't a secret from living in the world, but he didn't know much beyond that, as there was not much about them in his incomplete meta-knowledge about this world.
Swine continued, "It's a misconception that there's no war if there aren't boots on the ground. The Five Great Nations are always at war with each other. Peace is a deadlock achieved by the great powers constantly trying to preempt threats from others."
"Peace is a deadlock," Takuma couldn't help but whisper as goosebumps rose. He had never considered it that way, but he couldn't help but feel those words were especially true in this world. "That is a grim outlook on the concept."
"It's the reality," said Swine, heavily. "The ideal future would be for the deadlock to persist through eternity, but we know that isn't possible, so it's our job to ensure that when this deadlock breaks, the Hidden Leaf will be on top. No matter what people might say— we aren't in the business of control; we simply exist to protect."
Takuma didn't believe that last part. Wasn't control the best way to achieve protection? There was no need to protect against the threats if one could control them.
"Why me? Why do I interest the ANBU?" Takuma asked. He kept his questions short to get as wide an answer as possible.
"We have been following your career since you started in the Police Force. Thriving in an environment controlled by a few who only allow certain people inside and decide who gets to succeed and doing it as one of the first outsiders is impressive. Establishing and running the Narcotics Taskforce as you did was a highly impressive feat. In fact, you were so impressive that we thought it would be a waste to recruit you as you could've been a catalyst of change in a closed system that is the Police Force."
"What changed your mind?"
"Your demotion and deployment to the war," said Swine.
"I see." Takuma's lips pressed into a thin line. He had promised himself to let go of his bitterness, but it was an ongoing journey and a difficult one.
"Once we discovered that the Police Force didn't value you as much as we did, we decided we wanted to work with you. We were planning to approach you as soon as you returned from the war... and then you went ahead and showed us something that blew away any of our doubts."
He expected his war contributions to factor into ANBU's assessment of him. He didn't hold his experience in the Steam-Frost war in high regard and would rather forget it ever happened, but there was no denying that he had worked his ass off to accomplish what he did.
"You and your team were responsible for bringing down an oppressive power controlling that city. We read the reports, and we know how important your role was. The cherry on top is that you killed a jonin," said Swine, openly showing how impressed he was.
Takuma simply blinked as he was transported back to Yu for a moment. The sounds of explosions and screams echoed in his ear as he sat in the back of the banquet hall. He smelled the scent of blood and felt the weight of Rikku's body in his arms.
"...Thank you for the compliment," he said as he shifted in his chair to make it so that he was finding a comfortable spot, but in reality, he didn't want them to notice in case he was showing what was happening inside his mind. "The killing of a jonin wasn't received well by many."
"Of course, the way you did it shouldn't be done lightly by anyone, and I'm sure it was a difficult choice for you."
"It was."
"But there are times when someone has to make those choices. You made that difficult choice, and it had real, measurable benefits. You not only saved the lives of our shinobi, but you also damaged a foreign nation by killing one of their jonin, who could have escaped during the invasion," said Swine.
"I chatted with two of your ANBU-nin when I was in Yu. I don't think they liked me very much. How will that affect my chances of getting in?" asked Takuma.
He didn't want to get his hopes up, go through whatever arduous testing process they surely had, only to have the door shut in his face and waste his time.
"If you're implying what I think you are, then I feel insulted. If you fail to get in, it'll be because we don't think you can survive here," Swine said with the seriousness of a principal addressing students.
"That's great to hear." Takuma nodded.
"Though I must say, the so-called chat you had with our operatives was interesting in itself. I think if you manage to pass, you'll do well in ANBU."
Takuma thanked Swine for his confidence in him and swiftly moved on to the next question, "What will be my role here?"
"We don't know that currently. The Department of ANBU is divided into two sub-departments. One handles domestic affairs and the other deals with foreign threats. We will decide where to place you depending on your skills and how you perform in our testing process."
Takuma took his resume scroll out of his pocket and placed it on the table. The scroll got him on Iruka's team when he was doing D-rank missions. Iruka himself had used a semi-updated version of his scroll to get him into the Police Force and it worked with Anko when he joined the team when it was already established.
"These are my skills for your reference," he said.
"I like the initiative," Swine said as he received the scroll.
"Now that I know why the ANBU wants me," said Takuma as he sat up straighter, "it's time for you to tell me why I should join the ANBU."
"The ANBU is the best there is. It's an honour for anybody to serve with the best because you'll be among the best; I can promise you that you'll grow here—"
Takuma raised his hand to stop Swine from speaking. "On the risk of being crude, I understand how valuable the ANBU is in protecting the village and our nation, and the prestige that has been developed over decades of hard service, but the last time I joined a place because of its prestige and the promise of growth, they stripped me of the fruits of my effort and shipped me off to war.
It frustrated him that he couldn't see their reactions behind the masks, but Takuma continued to speak anyway.
"If you want me to be interested by the end of this meeting, I want you to tell me what tangible, measurable benefits ANBU can offer me."
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———
Chat with me and the rest of the community on our DISCORD server.
The link is in the synopsis!
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
109 Power
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