121 CH_4.21 (121)

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It wasn't long ago, Kano remembered. The day Yakumi had dumped Takuma on her because he couldn't be bothered with the new outsider, who was the representation of a broken status quo brought upon the new developments in the political battleground between their clan and the Hokage's administration.

His situation wasn't unique, per se. There were others in the same position as him; it was just that he was the one sent to the Department of Organized Crime, while others were not. Perhaps it was her bias speaking, but Kano considered her department was different— stricter. The people had pride in their station as most had earned their way to it.

Her first impression of Takuma had been simple. The boy felt like one of those people who only had the job on their radar without a hint of interest in office politics, chatting with colleagues, after-hours get-togethers, in-office bets and games— in short, one of those really dull guys. At the same time, there was this veil over Takuma; she didn't think anyone knew of his life outside work. He got to work on time and left the moment his work was done. Kano was thankful Takuma at least informed her before he left for home every day in case she had additional work for him.

So, she didn't think Takuma would do what he had done yesterday, giving completion to his plans which, according to the boy, had been in the works for a good while. At least, now she knew what he did after work… more work.

And now she sat in her boss' office. Yakumi was behind his desk, looking as stoic as ever with a hint of displeasure between his brows as he stared down Takuma, who was sitting beside her. To the side, Setsuna sat comfortably on a double-seater couch with a steaming cup of tea on the table next to him.

"Let's hear about this gang war you claim you prevented, Genin Takuma," said Yakumi sharply.

Takuma was one to follow the proper dress code on a daily basis, but today he looked like he had spent an hour getting dressed up.

"The anonymous report that began it all wrote that one of the state pharmacies was supplying illegal medical drugs to the Maiko Triad," started Takuma. "At first, I didn't put much thought into the motive behind the procurement. My focus was towards the 'how,' 'what,' and 'who' of the situation. All the energy and efforts went into uncovering and outlining the supply chain of this operation.

However, as I began uncovering the details, I came across a string of unsolved cases regarding stolen raw medical-grade material from various refineries and producers. They were restricted materials used to make shinobi-grade medicines and combat enhancers. The medicines and drugs we seized yesterday had many of those stolen materials as part of their ingredient list."

Yakumi looked at Kano. She nodded. Haven read Takuma's references to those unsolved robberies in his report and the seized property. When those two things were put in front of her, it was clear, even without her iryo-nin background, that they were connected.

Takuma continued, "Of course, that wasn't my first chain of thought. I was of the mind that if someone had stolen something like restricted material, they would try to sell it for a profit. So, I approached our black-market contacts, but to my surprise, no one had even heard a whisper of those materials listed anywhere. That is strange, sir. I understand concealment is the law in illegal circles, but not even having a rumor in the mill is unnatural.

My conclusion: the robbers had stolen the materials for self-use."

Kano caught Yakumi glancing at Setsuna, who hid his quirked-up lips behind his teacup.

What was that about?

"The question then was of 'why'," Takuma took out three spiral-bound files and handed one to each chunin.

Kano was flabbergasted. When did he have time to prepare those? He had been in her eyesight from the moment she had gotten into the office late last night.

"What you have are the recorded cases of conflicts between gangs. On the first page, there's a graph of the rise in cases in the past year or so where known or suspected members of Maiko Triad are involved."

Kano didn't intend to give voice to her thoughts, but they unintentionally leaked out.

"Smart."

Kano expected Yakumi to fix her with a glare but found her commanding officer occupied with the file in his hand.

When she said 'smart,' Kano meant it.

The Hidden Leaf village was a military state, and while the majority were civilians, the shinobi minority held the most power. A military state which ran on shinobi couldn't maintain control when those same shinobi didn't want to be under control. There were several groups and organizations which had nothing to do with official shinobi work and were simply people seeking to fulfill their own goals, desires, and greed. The administration ideally wouldn't want those groups. They had tried to quash them and had failed on their quest. The Hidden Leaf village was where the best shinobi gathered; the administration couldn't threaten to replace them with others if they refused absolute obedience.

There were case categories pertaining to gang-related crimes, but many of them were practically useless since combat and conflict were a regular part of the shinobi life. When two gangs fought, the people involved would claim they were training— and even if the injuries were over-the-top for 'training,' when chakra was involved, anything was possible.

So, as long as no physical property was egregiously damaged, gang-related charges didn't stick. The Police Force had tried to push for changes in law, but they never got anywhere due to the gangs having collectively gotten influential enough to stop any attempted changes that would jeopardize them.

So, how did Takuma get the rising statistics? Even though officers couldn't record when they encountered a charge they couldn't stick, there were still 'records.' Not on the people involved but on the officer's side who was involved. Takuma had pulled the statistic of how many times officers had failed to stick the charges.

And those numbers had risen.

"Why would they need these drugs?" Takuma asked the question. "It won't be for missions. No gang is buying wholesale for their members so they could get it for cheap. That's not the relationship. No, I think the Maiko Triad is preparing for a territorial war to strengthen their position."

"Do you have proof supporting this?" Yakumi asked.

"No, sir. I do not. This is speculation on my part. Though, I wasn't able to come up with an alternate reason they would be hoarding supplies," said Takuma. "Well, now we can get the truth out of the men in custody."

In the end, Yakumi didn't say anything other than suspending Takuma for a week without pay.

Kano expected Takuma to be relieved and satisfied with what he had gotten. It was essentially a vacation after a hard case. But when they got out of the room, Takuma had a tight crease between his brows.

"What?" she asked.

"Those fuckers are going to divvy up the cases while I'm gone," he spat.

According to Takuma, this was the worst time to be suspended. Not only was he missing the interrogation part of the process, but he was also sure that people like Yoshiaki would steal the good cases connected to these raids. By the time he returned, all he could get were leftover scraps.

Kano sighed. She wasn't happy with how Takuma had handled the situation, but she could see his point.

"I'll try to hold something good for you," she said.

"Thank you, ma'am," Takuma looked relieved.

"But do something like this next time; you'll be out of my team." Kano couldn't take insubordination from her team, even if it resulted in outcomes like this time.

Good for Takuma for grabbing an opportunity, but if he was going to do it again, then he could do it under another chunin.

———

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Takuma groggily packed up his belongings at his desk that he wanted to take home for a week. He hadn't slept in more than 48 hours and wanted nothing more than the softness of his bed. All the reserves he had been pulling during the last day were running low, and his body had stopped his access to whatever was left on the bottom.

But as he was about to leave, someone called Takuma and felt the irritation from being sleep-deprived bubble up.

"Genin Takuma," Setsuna stood a few steps from his desk. "Let me see you out."

Takuma hadn't seen Setsuna in a while. They had been in frequent contact during his training, but ever since he had started duty, their interactions had dwindled to run-ins which then turned into a couple of lunches when both of them were free.

"I must say, I wasn't expecting any of this when I came in today," Setsuna smiled.

"Did they call you personally?" Takuma questioned. As far as he knew, Setsuna was in charge of recruitment and training; his responsibilities didn't extend beyond that point.

Setsuna shook his head. "I was merely interested when I heard my secretary gossip. I had to see what you had done."

"And, what do you think?"

"Impressed," said Setsuna.

Takuma eyed Setsuna. What was the agenda here?

"I wasn't expecting you, or anyone of your peers, to make a move this big so soon. I don't know all the details, but I know Yakumi; he might have been displeased, for which he has cause— but I could see the gears in that man's mind turning; he was most definitely thinking if he could use what you gave him to eradicate a gang from the face of the village."

'He better do it, or none of this would be worth it,' thought Takuma. From today onward, whatever success originated from his operation would be in some way connected to him. The more they achieved, the more he was to benefit.

"Now, I don't disagree with Yakumi's punishment for you, but I do believe a reward is in order. What do you desire, Takuma? I will try to compensate you within the reach of my ability," said Setsuna.

Takuma took in a deep breath, feeling the tiredness settle in his bones.

'A reward, huh,' Takuma mused.

There were a hundred things he wanted, varying from impossible wishes of returning home to material wishes of a pay raise. But what could Chunin Uchiha Setsuna give him? What did he want from the man?

Takuma would've preferred to sleep on the offer and take some time to weigh the pros and cons of his wishes before giving an answer, but perhaps it was the fatigue and exhaustion that made him speak out the thing that stayed atop his mind.

"A teacher," he said.

"Pardon, I missed that."

"Get me a teacher… a genjutsu teacher."

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