บท 287: CH_8.22 (287)
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Uchiha Fugaku returned home from a tough day at work to find his wife humming a merry tune in the living room with a smile. Mikoto was sitting on a tarp she had laid out in the room and cleaning her shinobi gear that had been in storage for years.
"I'm home," said Fugaku as he entered the room and walked behind her. "This is unexpected."
"Welcome back," Mikoto smiled.
Fugaku caught the shuriken she tossed at him. It looked freshly coated with oil to prevent the metal from reacting with moisture and developing rust. "May I ask what's the occasion?" His experience turned severe. "Is it a mission?"
Mikoto was a jonin of the Hidden Leaf in the reserve forces, which meant she was retired but was still employed by the village and would answer the call if they required her. There were enough shinobi in the village that they didn't need to call upon retired ones. Mikoto had only been called up once since she had retired—it was a rare enough occurrence that the mission specifically required someone with her skillset.
"There's no mission." Mikoto smiled, "I've been invited to a spar!"
"Sparring?" asked Fugaku, confused.
"Isn't it exciting? It's been so long since I've got an opportunity to move around," Mikoto smiled brightly before gazing at her husband. "I wonder when we stopped sparring with each other?"
Fugaku sat beside her on the tarp with a sigh. "I believe the last time we sparred was just before the Third War was declared."
"That was such a long time ago," she sighed. "Itachi was still a little boy back then."
Fugaku nodded, a certain memory passed through his mind of Itachi in his arms as they walked around a battlefield fresh after a skirmish. His eldest son had seen the truth of the world that day, shaping him into the man his son was now. Perhaps that event was also why his son chose to betray their clan; he could understand why Itachi did what he did, but it didn't change the fact that he conspired with outsiders, putting the clan in danger.
He verified the information in the letter they received when Shisui died. Itachi confessed everything to be true. Fugaku and Mikoto decided to hide the existence of the actual letter and forged a false one, which was presented to the Uchiha clan. In doing so, they had done the same thing as Itachi, but there was no regret because it was a parent's duty to protect their children.
Since that day, he had tried his hardest to find the letter's author, but they had run into dead-ends everywhere. Their search continued, but a year passed, and the trail grew cold every passing day. There would've been hope if they had a clue, but there was nothing they could latch onto.
"Who are you sparring with?" asked Fugaku.
"Takuma."
Fugaku hummed. He thought someone from the clan had invited her to spar, but it made seeing that Takuma was her student.
"Speaking of your student, Setsuna has been going around to get the boy a rank promotion... His contract ends in a few weeks, and he has some demands before he signs an extension," said Fugaku.
It had only been a few days, but the news of Setsuna meeting with different department heads and their deputies to see if they would be interested in having Takuma in their departments as a chunin.
As the Head of the Leaf Military Police Force, he tracked internal promotions,however, the department heads had primary authority over who they wished to promote. Interfering in their decisions wasn't his place, though he could influence their decisions even if he preferred not to.
"Apparently, he wants a B-rank jutsu and his choice of assignments," said Fugaku. He didn't know the exact details as he had yet met Setsuna, but it would happen soon enough.
"Do you think he'll get a promotion?" asked Mikoto as she checked the stitching on her thigh pouch.
"Yes, that's not a problem," said Fugaku. He recognised Takuma's value as a shinobi and his contribution to the Police Force; it wasn't hard to get him a rank promotion—the problem came with his demands and placement after promotion.
Allowing someone access to B-rank jutsu was a significant decision, even for clans as big as the Uchiha and the party which permitted access to the B-rank jutsu was held responsible in case something went wrong. When the village allowed someone access to the B-rank archives, there was a great deal of due diligence to ensure the shinobi was ready for the responsibility.
The clans were allowed the freedom to open their personal jutsu archives to anyone they desired without state interference—but they were held responsible if the shinobi caused trouble. However, that wasn't an issue. The real problem was creating a precedent. If the Police Force gave Takuma a B-rank jutsu, that opened the gates for the affiliated clans to demand the same. The affiliated clans were smaller in size and history, and while they had jutsu archives of their own, they were limited. Many people from the Land of Fire shared Fire as their primary affinity, which caused many clans' jutsu archives to be filled with Fire Release ninjutsu.
This created problems when someone had a different primary affinity and even if they had Fire as their primary affinity, mastery over two natures was a jonin requirement—which was where apex clans like the Uchiha with rich and diverse history and expansive jutsu archives came into play.
In return for allowing the affiliated clans access to their jutsu archive, the Uchiha clan received their loyalty and support. This access had to be strictly controlled to maintain the power dynamic, so allowing Takuma a B-rank jutsu right after his promotion could shift that dynamic and create dissatisfaction among allied clans if they weren't given the same treatment.
That was the only part of the problem. Takuma had demanded his choice of assignments, which was more difficult in some ways because it could create dissatisfaction wherever Takuma lands due to the favourable treatment. Ultimately, it was the department head's call, but Fugaku was concerned it would negatively affect the outlook towards the new wave of external hires.
"Retaining him is the obvious option; the question is if he'll accept what we can realistically offer him. There won't be a problem if he's willing to wait as we spread his demands apart—but I don't think he'll be willing to," said Fugaku.
Mikoto stopped stress-testing the weapons pouch and rested it in her lap.
"I offered him a rank promotion in return for swearing fealty to the clan a few days back," she said.
As a jonin of the clan, Mikoto had all the right to bring someone into the clan. Fugaku was surprised because it was the first time she had shown enough interest in someone to bring someone into the clan. What had started as Mikoto wanting to fill her free time had turned into a relationship close enough for her to invite her student into the clan.
"What did he say?"
"That he'll think about it," she replied. "You're not to share this with anyone until he gives me an answer. I don't want this to influence the process at the Police Force."
Fugaku sighed because his knowledge of it already influenced the decision. In truth, Takuma becoming affiliated with the clan would slash all barriers at the Police Force and make it easier for them to award him because they could justify his rewards.
However, there was an opposite effect where it would seem like the promotion at the Police Force was contingent on him joining the clan—which could send all the wrong signals to Takuma, who could very well assume that they wanted him to swear allegiance to the clan if he wanted to succeed at the Police Force.
If that happened, that would shatter any future beyond repair.
"Do you think he will accept?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. He seemed surprised by the offer, but I couldn't tell if he was interested or not... which was strange."
"How so?"
"He has been quite vocal about seeking a rank promotion long before his deployment to the Steam-Frost war. As far as he's concerned, there's no certainty in the Police Force promotion, so I thought he would react more to an offer that was pretty much guaranteed a promotion, but he was surprisingly passive about it. I didn't expect him to jump out of his spot in joy, but I thought he would react in some way... but he didn't, which makes me wonder..."
"What?" asked Fugaku, curious.
"... That maybe he has an offer somewhere else and is confident he'll get it," said Mikoto.
"Hasn't he only been back for less than two weeks?"
"I'm only speculating... He told me that his chunin-in-command out there was Mitarashi Anko."
"That seems familiar." Fugaku searched for the name in his memories and quickly arrived at the answer. "Orochimaru's pupil?" From his memories, Mitarashi Anko had been on a hot streak as a rising star in the Hidden Leaf until Orochimaru's defection and his subsequent branding as a high-threat rogue, which had sapped all momentum due to her association with the Snake Sannin.
She nodded.
"What about her?" he asked.
"She's joining the Torture and Interrogation Department."
"You think they're interested in Takuma?"
"If they weren't from his time at the Narcotics Taskforce, they would be after what he did in the war."
Fugaku then recalled the grape wine conversation he had heard about the Narcotics Taskforce and how they regularly invited an interrogator from the T&I Department for tougher interrogations. It wouldn't be strange that Takuma had developed a relationship with T&I during that time, making them interested in having him come over to their side.
"What did he do during the war?" asked Fugaku.
"I think it'd be better if you get that from his mission file," Mikoto said, picking up the cloth roll to wrap the handles of the kunai.
Getting a mission file from the war commission was a hectic process because of the red tape involved, but as the Head of the Police Force and the Uchiha clan leader, Fugaku could easily obtain the file. He gazed at his wife and realised that her relationship with her student was closer than he thought if she directed him to another source instead of telling him herself.
It also made him wonder what Takuma had done out there in the war.
———
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Mitarashi Anko wasn't a stranger to nervousness. It had been a part of her life since her former teacher had gone rogue after committing horrendous crimes. Her association with him had permanently tainted her life, and she had been paying the price ever since.
However, she felt the time had finally changed now that she had officially joined the Leaf Torture and Interrogation Department. They had recruited her before she was deployed for the Steam-Frost war, but the deployment had delayed her joining. She had completed her onboarding and was finally ready to get into the groove of things and establish herself in her new place of work.
"Anko, the boss wants to see you!"
"I'll be right there!" Anko responded as she set up her desk.
Unlike what people thought, the Leaf T&I Department wasn't a depressing dungeon full of horrors with barred prison cells and screams behind every door. It was a bog-standard office place where people would feel comfortable coming to work every day.
Even though the T&I Department was part of the larger Leaf Intelligence Division, they had a separate headquarters for functional reasons, situated across the street from the village prison, and the department members went to the prison for interrogations to eliminate any travel-based security risks; it was also in the same part of the village as the Leaf Military Police Force headquarters and the Uchiha Compound.
Anko reached the Head of the T&I Department's office and nodded to the secretary sitting outside, who told her to head inside. She took a deep breath before knocking on the door and stepping inside to see two people waiting for he.
"Come in," said the man sitting behind the desk in the office.
The T&I Department's leadership changed a little over a year and a half ago. The department welcomed Tokubetsu Jonin Morino Ibiki, a seasoned shinobi who had spent all of his career in the Leaf Intelligence Division, working in its various departments before settling in the T&I Department.
He was a large, imposing figure, which he complemented with a rugged head and face covered with old wounds and scars hidden behind his cap-like forehead protector.
The second person was Tokubetsu Jonin Oishi Yori, a tall woman with black shoulder-length hair and sharp eyes who had piercing looks as though she was always trying to look through the people before her. She had risen in power after Ibiki had taken his position as the head of the department was now one of his second-in-commands.
Like Ibiki, she had been in the Leaf Intelligence Division for most of her career, having spent most of it in the T&I Division.
"You wanted to see me, boss?" asked Anko. She appreciated Ibiki because he had hired her and had shown no prejudice because of her past, unlike many who rejected her before even getting to know her.
"Where's your uniform, Chunin Anko?" asked Ibiki.
He and Yori were wearing the standard uniform of the Leaf Intelligence Division as mandated.
"It's not my style, boss," Anko replied. She didn't like uniforms and preferred dressing to express herself. And it felt great to wear her wardrobe again after over a year of wearing uniform; there was no way she would wear the same uniform just when she returned home.
"Make sure that you wear it starting tomorrow," said Ibiki.
Anko didn't nod or say anything because she wasn't going to wear the uniform.
"Chunin Anko, we called you here because we are considering hiring someone for our department," said Yori, motioning for Anko to sit down beside her. "You know them, and we were wondering if you could tell us about your experience with them."
"Someone from the other departments?" asked Anko as she sat down. She knew a few people in the Leaf Intelligence Division and wondered who they were trying to pull into the department.
"It's someone from outside the division," said Ibiki, pushing a file across the desk.
Anko saw the photograph in the open file and saw Takuma dressed in the Police Force uniform.
"It's your recent subordinate in the Steam-Frost war, Genin Takuma. Yori has worked with him several times and thinks he will be a good fit for us. Yori's son is a good friend of Takuma; from what we have been told, his relationship with the Police Force isn't at its best currently, and seeing that his contract with the Police Force is set to expire, we are considering snatching him up. What do you think?"
Anko stared at the photo for a moment before nodding with a smile, "You're correct; he'll be a great fit... There's a lot I can tell you; what do you want to know?"
"Start from the beginning."
She took a seat and got comfortable, tapping a finger to her chin as she tried to figure out the best way to sell Takuma to her new boss.
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