CH_10.36 (402)

The ANBU headquarters was a block of concrete built inside a mountain without any natural light. On the best days, it was a dreary place with art curated by a sixty-year-old as the only form of common decor. That was why people who worked in the building took it upon themselves to individualise personal spaces like their offices and desks to breathe some life into their workplace.

Takuma looked around the office, decorated according to a traditional Japanese theme, with green tatami on the floor and a wooden facade covering the concrete walls to give the room a softer feel with warm lights diffused through screens. There was even a big plant in the corner with a thermal lamp hanging above it. It was a big office befitting a jōnin and ANBU Captain. The secretary outside had a small office of her own and had two assistants to help with her work.

He felt déjà vu when the sliding door on the side opened and Itachi stepped in with a tray of tea and snacks.

"Eight agents in a month. I'll admit I wasn't expecting such quick progress," said Itachi.

"Neither did I," Takuma replied as he put the cup to his lips and took a sip before putting it down.

"I guess I can't match Mother when it comes to tea, can I?" Itachi said with a small smile.

"You need practice."

It had been two days since the ROOT capture operation within the Hidden Leaf Village. Capturing and transporting the agents was hectic, but telling everyone about it was an ordeal. Everyone with clearance wanted to know how they did it. Fortunately, he only had to produce a rushed initial report; Barbary and Campbell did the rest of the talking and were missing from the evening of the operation.

"The thing we talked about..."

"The department-wide initiative?"

The gaps left behind by ROOT had been filled to a point where ANBU wasn't worried about gaping holes that local or foreign powers could exploit, so it was nearly time for the Hidden Leaf to target ROOT. As a part of that effort, Itachi mentioned starting a targeted initiative against ROOT in a couple of months.

Itachi nodded. "I've decided to move up the timetable."

"Because of us?"

"The momentum your team has created can be harnessed to rally operatives and staff behind a common goal. You can expect greater results when people are motivated and invested instead of having a case assigned to them."

Takuma couldn't agree more. He had multiple reasons to go after ROOT. He would've worked hard regardless, but then his sole motivation would've been to accumulate more results to get his performance benefits in terms of B-rank ninjutsu.

"I wanted to ask. What's the benefit of joining this initiative?" asked Takuma. There were times when some teams had the sole authority to work on specific cases, but he didn't think that would be the case with ROOT. If it wasn't for case access, then why would people join whatever Itachi was planning?

"Access to information," said Itachi. "Those who join will have to share information with everyone else. Units and even squads can be very possessive of the information they hold. There's some merit to it in many circumstances, but it is also true that when many parties are working towards the same goal, sharing information far outweighs any downside that it might bring."

There were cases where information had caused conflicts within ANBU. A team heard about another team's operation that could jeopardise their case, leading to the former leaking the information about the latter's operation to keep their case intact. Ideally, communication could solve things, but ANBU wasn't a singular-focused hive mind; people often could only care about what they were invested in, and thus were often resistant to entering a discussion that might lead them to be forced to concede.

"...And I'll declassify information about ROOT for those who agree to the terms of joining my operation," Itachi added.

Just because Takuma was an ANBU operative didn't mean he had access to all information within ANBU. He could only access information that his status as a chunin, ANBU operative of the Domestic Branch, and a member of the inquisitor squad granted him. He had access to much information, but it would mean nothing if it wasn't useful to him.

As a jōnin and an ANBU Captain, Itachi had the authority to give people access to classified and privileged information and the means to gather sensitive information.

"Do you have the green flag for it?" asked Takuma.

The Department of ANBU was helmed by two Jōnin Commanders—ANBU Commanders—one for each branch of ANBU, who reported directly to the Hokage. As part of ANBU's Domestic Branch, Itachi answered to one of the ANBU Commanders, and this initiative, which involved information sharing and access to classified information, seemed big enough to require sign-off from the Domestic Branch's top dog.

"Stag has given me the go... The orders came from Lord Hokage himself," said Itachi.

Stag was the Domestic Branch's ANBU Commander, and his word possessed immense power, but if the Hokage wanted something, even the ANBU Commanders couldn't deny him.

"Lord Hokage is going to be keeping tabs on this," Takuma half-said to himself, feeling some pressure all of a sudden.

"Who says he already isn't?"

Takuma's eyes widened because of the implication. "He knows about my operation?" he asked.

"Your report's summary was part of his daily intelligence briefing. I was there and talked to him about the initiative, and he agreed with me that your

 success has created momentum to utilise."

The Hokage knew about his work. That sounded amazing to Takuma. He met Sarutobi Hiruzen at his promotion ceremony, and the Hokage only knew about him because he blew up a jōnin and was joining the ANBU. But now his work was being talked about in the Hokage's office; it was being recognised, and he couldn't deny that it felt good.

"So, what do you say? Are you going to join?" asked Itachi.

"Of course," Takuma responded immediately, "but I'll have to discuss it with my team." He couldn't just work under Itachi without discussing it with the squad leader, lieutenant, and the captain, whom he had never seen. "What about my team? What happens if I'm the only one who ends up wanting to join?"

While he could work on missions alone, it was much more practical to have his squad's help. Even though he had worked alone on the Maizuru Quarters, at the end of it, both Campbell and Barbary had come to the military base, and everyone else had contributed afterwards.

He was afraid that if he were alone, he wouldn't be able to contribute as much and would be left behind. If he was going to join Itachi's initiative, he wanted to be the top performer.

"You can always transfer under me," Itachi offered, his expression and tone indicating that it was a serious offer.

There had been one surprise after another in his conversation with Itachi, but he was still surprised by the offer. This was the third time a Uchiha, all from the same family, had given him a job offer. He just needed Sasuke to complete his collection.

He considered the offer and realised that he liked his current situation. Campbell was strict but fair, and Barbary ensured that his subordinates had freedom as long as they delivered. Even though he hadn't met his captain, he liked that he didn't send orders down and left them alone. Not to mention, he had good luck with squadmates compared to the stories he had heard, and the staff was absolutely lovely and incredibly competent.

Working under the Uchiha Itachi sounded excellent, but Takuma believed that few things were more important than the right work culture for peace of mind and an environment in which to be productive. He didn't know how Itachi ran things—they might be wonderful—but he was satisfied with what he currently had and didn't have the need or appetite to risk it for something that might just be worse.

"Thank you," Takuma started after a thought, "but I'm satisfied with where I am now. I'm excited about this initiative, and to be completely honest, it's going to be at the top of my priorities. As long as I think I've the tools to do a proper job, I'd like to stay where I am, but if that changes, I hope this offer will stand."

Itachi seemed disappointed, but he nodded and raised his teacup,

"To a safer village."

———

 .

"Congratulations, Ratel."

The next morning, Barbary walked into Campbell Squad's office with a cake, and many of the unit's staff followed behind him. The big man looked like he was one move away from breaking into a dance. The entire group seemed in a joyous mood, like they were ready for a party.

For a moment, he thought someone had mistaken his birthday and got worried about how awkward the aftermath was going to be. He glanced at his squadmates, who came out of their offices to look at the commotion, and they, too, looked just as confused as he was.

"Congratulations for what?" he asked in doubt.

"For your debut," Barbary passed off the cake to a staff member and received an A5-sized page that he handed to Takuma. "Congratulations, Ratel. You're now part of the bingo book wanted listings."

Takuma looked down and was taken aback when he saw his recent photo on the bingo book listing, which was captured when his identity card was updated to show his rank promotion. It even showed the scar on the edge of his lip that he had gotten at Yu. The listing had his name, age, rank, physical characteristics like height and identifying marks, past and present associations, and a short list of his skills that included his preference for taijutsu, an incomplete list of his Water and Earth Release ninjutsu, his ability with genjutsu, and a special note about his personal brand of chakra augmentation.

He had owned bingo books before. He was issued one when he joined the Police Force, another when he reached Camp Banana, and two more when he joined ANBU. He had read the entries but never considered the amount of information listed on the small page; seeing so much about himself written on the page gave him pause.

"Wow... that-that's a lot," he said.

"Bingo book? Let me take a look at that." Amami appeared from behind and took the page from his hands, and immediately commented on his photo. "Hmm, you're a bad subject. Learn how to smile a little. Bring some joy into your life, dear Thirteen."

Dhole joined her in looking at his page. "Wow, that's a handsome reward. Oof, but they want you dead—but they're offering more for your body. They must hate you. What did you do?"

"How would I know?" Takuma said. They never revealed who posted the bounty.

"Let's see... Where was this posted?" Caracara asked the staff as she, too, looked at the page.

"It was in the domestic listings."

There was no single issue of the bingo book. There were several different types. A "domestic listing" meant that the person would only show up in the book that targeted people from a certain country. Takuma's listing was from the Land of Fire bingo book category, which was mostly seen and purchased by bounty hunters within the country. Some listings only targeted active shinobi, others showcased rogue shinobi, or listings officially sponsored by a hidden village, and some bounty offices even offered "recommended curations" as bizarre as that was.

"So, it's someone who knows that you don't travel out a lot, or they just put it in there because you're a Leaf shinobi. Is there a reason listed?" Caracara asked while she read before going silent as she glanced at him.

"...Killed a Hidden Frost jōnin," said Amami.

"Well, that makes sense," Krait said. "So, it's the Hidden Frost that wants you dead."

There was a moment of silence in the room as Takuma felt eyes on him. Some of the people in the room had read his file, but it was supposed to be a secret for most people here. He momentarily felt angry to have it out in the open, but just as quickly, he realised it wouldn't have remained a secret if it were in his bingo listing. ANBU watched for their agents appearing on any of the lists.

Amami immediately broke the silence. "No nickname though," she said as she handed the page off, seemingly already bored. "I was hoping it would be a fun one... a stupid one. Who else has one?"

"I do," Dhole said.

"What did you do?" Takuma asked. Dhole would've been his last guess.

"I pissed off a court noble. No big deal," Dhole waved it off.

No one else in the squad had a listing except for Barbary, who apparently had been on the list for a decade.

Takuma looked at the cake. Getting one's name might seem like a grim moment because it meant there was a price on his head, but it was treated as a sign of renown when a shinobi got a bingo book listing.

"Well screw it," Takuma said, taking the cake from the staff. "Who wants some cake!"

The crowd cheered as they got into a celebratory mood.

He already had too much going on in his life for him to overthink another one. As Amami said, he needed a little joy in his life, and what better way to introduce some joy than cake?

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