Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_352

Takuma sighed, exhausted after not sleeping well the previous night and the few nights before. He had been sleeping late working on the case, and when he did turn in, he couldn't sleep because his restless mind ran rampant with thoughts about it.

He looked up at the signage of the local branch of the military police at Maizuru Quarters. The military installation housed more than a couple of thousand shinobi and was larger than small towns, which required an entity to maintain order, enforce laws, and mediate conflicts. Even though they were military police, they weren't connected to the Leaf Military Police Force run by the Uchiha clan.

The station was a compact, olive-green building next to the command center. Inside, a young shinobi in his twenties manned the reception desk, writing reports as a radio crackled softly on the desk.

"I am Chunin Hoshino Araki, an inspector from the Hidden Leaf Village. May I talk to the officer-in-charge?"

The young man looked surprised as he got up and walked to the office on the side where a middle-aged man languidly read a newspaper in a sparse room with three deer heads mounted on the wall.

"I heard about an inspector visiting. How may I help you?" asked the chunin, who invited Takuma into the office.

"Just some questions about Maizuru. I believe the military police would be able to give me a unique view." Normally, he'd use his time in the Police Force to start a positive rapport that would loosen their lips, but Hoshino Araki didn't have that background.

"What would you like to know? Despite its reputation, Maizuru isn't a happening place."

"Just some regular questions. What kind of trouble do you encounter here?"

"It's the usual. Petty theft, breaking up fights, dragging pissed drunk people back to their rooms, lost-and-found. Nothing major. The punishment for disorderly conduct is more work, graveyard shifts, outpass rejections, and all types of things people here don't want to do."

Takuma glanced at the office door and noticed all three deputies standing there. The one manning the reception turned his eye away, avoiding his gaze. Interesting. He took note of the reaction and returned to his conversation with the chunin.

"Is there Anything you would like to report about Maizuru?" Takuma asked his last question. The police needed to know what was going on around the base.

The chunin shrugged his shoulders. "No, nothing. Maizuru is tame and boring—and I like that very much."

"I see. Thank you for your time," Takuma said as he stood up and shook hands with the chunin. "If something comes to mind, you know where I'm staying."

As he left the station, he flashed a knowing smile to the deputy who had avoided his eyes. There was something wrong at Maizuru—every place had something out of the place. The question was whether it related to his case and if the deputy could tell him something.

———
.

As Takuma visited the police station, his shadow clone sneaked out of his room to meet Katasu Hidebumi, the possible anonymous trash mailer. He left from the back because he knew someone was watching him—and even though the original had left from the station, he had to be careful because they knew his ability to make clones.

The destination was a warehouse. Hidebumi worked in logistics as a clerk in charge of recording the goods that flowed in and out of the warehouse.

Takuma didn't bother finding a back entrance and entered from the front. He didn't ask for directions, tell people who he was, or even look at them when they passed him by; he just walked through the building. People glanced at him, but no one stopped him because he acted like he belonged there.

After some searching, he found Hidebumi's tiny cabin, where he was hunched over a big register book with his dirty long, blonde hair, tied in a ponytail, hung over his shoulder and spectacles balanced on the tip of his nose like a senior citizen even though he was a young man in his mid-twenties.

Takuma knocked on the door. "Genin Hidebumi?"

"Yes?"

He locked the door behind him, surprising the genin. "What are you doing?" Hidebumi stood up, demanding an answer. He didn't reply and pulled the curtains closed to ensure no one would disturb them. "Hey, you can't do that—"

"I am Chunin Hoshino Araki from the Hidden Leaf Village. I would like to ask you some questions, Genin Hidebumi. Please sit down."

Hidebumi was stunned. He silently sat down as his eyes jumped to the door and window, clearly fearful of someone catching the conversation from outside.

Takuma wasn't sure if he had the right guy, but the behaviour made him surer that he had his trash mailer. He didn't speak first and let an uncomfortable silence, for Hidebumi, settle in the room and waited for the other party to fill his head with absurd thoughts.

"Uhm, what do you want from me?" asked Hidebumi, hesitantly.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Takuma asked. He noticed Hidebumi playing with his hair—a nervous habit.

"I don't know."

"Are you sure about that? Think about it; you should know why I'm here." Takuma picked up a loose page on the table and read the handwriting. He had read the trash mail around a hundred times since he had come across it—he knew he was looking at the same handwriting.

"I-Is it about that?"

"About what?"

"A-About the... you know," he hesitated and glanced at the door again, "about the letter."

"Are you talking about this?" Takuma took out an envelope from the Maizuru Quarters stationary set. He didn't even need to show him the actual letter inside.

"Y-You got my letter," Hidebumi stuttered.

"We did. I must say your claim is concerning. An off-the-books hit squad out of the prestigious Maizuru Quarters... it's hard to believe," said Takuma.

"It's true!"

"It'd be an exaggeration to say you were vague on the details. Your letter had nothing of value. It felt like an unfunny prank made just for the sake of causing trouble."

"I wasn't lying!"

"So, Second Division's Third Squad is really taking assassination jobs?"

Hidebumi gasped in shock, knocking his chair down as he hastily got up. "You-You know that? How d-did you know about that?" Suddenly, there was fear in his eyes as he backed away, jumping in his shoes when his back hit the wall.

"You're misunderstanding something, Genin Hidebumi," Takuma chuckled. "We had our reasons to investigate Maizuru Quarters, so we looked into your claim, and well, something looked right, so here I am talking to you."

The reaction wasn't unexpected. He had introduced himself as an inspector but had shown no identification and proof. His action of locking the door also didn't help. Additionally, from Hidebumi's perspective, his letter had been anonymous, but Takuma already seemed to know he was the author. It wasn't strange that he would find it alarming to be in the situation

Hidebumi looked at him suspiciously until he decided to trust him. He remained vigilant, and his body language seemed guarded as he sat back down.

"How did you get involved with the Third Squad?"

"I was assigned there when I came to Maizuru. Honestly, I got along with them, and for the first couple of months, they helped me with everything, guided me with any problem I had." Hidebumi held his forehead with a bitter expression. "Back then, I thought I was so lucky to be in that team—that I had the best teammates... But the truth was, they were softening me up, bombing me with so much kindness that I couldn't refuse when they sprang their real plan to me."

One day, they told Hidebumi about 'extra work they had on the side' and asked if he would join them.

"Even though they made it seem like they were offering me an opportunity, it didn't feel like I had a choice... As it turned out, everyone on the squad was involved, and if I wanted to remain there, I had to be in as well," said Hidebumi, hanging his head.

"Did you agree?"

"Of course not! It's illegal!" Hidebumi was offended that he had even asked.

A Leaf shinobi couldn't do an independent job that didn't involve the Hidden Leaf. It was a literal crime with punishment to take jobs that the Hidden Leaf didn't officially sanction. And jobs like assassinations came with harsh punishment like death or decades of harsh labour. Moreover, the shinobi at Maizuru Quarters were involved in national security, guarded the Fire-Wind border, and weren't eligible for commercial jobs of any kind.

"So refused?"

Hidebumi nodded. "The next week, I was out of the squad and was placed here at the warehouse."

"Why didn't they send you away? Wouldn't it be better to distance you from Maizuru?"

"They probably wanted to keep an eye on me to ensure I didn't babble to anyone. But I'm sure in a couple of months, I would be sent to the border on a long assignment."

"I'm assuming you kept your identity anonymous because you feared what the Third Squad would do if they found out?" asked Takuma. They were shinobi who took assassination jobs, had two chunin on their squad, and had all the motive to keep their secret hidden.

Hidebumi removed his Leaf headband, which had become soaked from sweat. "Uhm, a member of the Third Squad ended up in a bad state. No one suspects them because he was a piece of shit, but they made his life hell."

"Uyegita Gekin?"

Hidebumi was so surprised that he was speechless, with his mouth slightly ajar. "You know about him as well?"

Takuma nodded. "He's dead."

"What?! D-Did they kill him?" Hidebumi whispered, his eyes trembling in fear.

"He died in an unrelated incident—but that doesn't mean you're safe," Takuma added when Hidebumi relaxed and made him stiffen up again. "No one can know why I'm here, so we must limit our interactions. I have some questions I want to ask. Is this a good time?"

"Yes, I-I can spare half an hour."

"Great. Then tell me everything you know about the Third Squad."

———
.

In one of many gyms in Maizuru, Onikuma Kumagoro stood upside down on the ceiling with a weighted vest strapped to his body as he did hanging crunches as sweat dripped from his body and hair down to the floor. He had his eyes closed as he slowly raised his body that was red from strain.

Shen appeared on the ceiling beside him and waited patiently until Kumagoro addressed him.

"What is it?"

"The inspector went to the police station today."

"And?"

"They talked about the types of crime at Maizuru. He didn't ask for anything specific and left soon after."

"Anything else?"

"He wandered around for a while before returning to his office after lunch."

Kumagoro stopped doing crunches and let go of the chakra adhesion holding him to the ceiling and fell to the floor with a flip. He removed the training vest he wore during workouts and handed it to Shen, whose eyes almost popped out because of the weight. He groaned as he struggled to hold the vest for a couple seconds before inevitably dropping it to the side, almost dropping it on his feet.

Kumagoro sighed as she shook his head.

"Something doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't, sir?"

"Why is Hoshino Araki here?"

"Sir, perhaps he's just here for a routine inspection."

"I don't believe that."

He had entertained that already. He tried to simplify his thinking and considered the idea that it wasn't something serious and instead that he had done something that had displeased his contact back home, but no matter how much he thought, nothing came to mind. He had even contacted his clan to have them investigate, but they also couldn't find anything.

"What about his clones?" he asked.

"He didn't use clones until after lunch, and they stayed indoors. He's using them to go through paperwork."

'Useless.' Kumagoro shot his adjutant a look. "Get Chochiro for me. I must know what he's doing here."