Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_277

In his room at Maruboshi's house, Takuma gazed at his washed and ironed Police Force uniform he hadn't worn in a year—the last time being before the assassination attempt. Beside it sat his standard Leaf uniform. His first outing in the town the day before had been with his friends for lunch, and afterwards, they stopped by several places, including the storage unit with all of Takuma's belongings, to retrieve his clothes.

"Are you going out, young Takuma?"

He turned around to see Maruboshi standing at his door, looking at him and the two sets of clothes.

"Yes... I went to the bank yesterday, and my basic pay for the last ten months hasn't been deposited," Takuma sighed. "I still have one month on my Police Force contract, so I'm technically still employed there, and they handle my salaries. I must get this sorted before I start looking for an apartment in peace without worrying about money."

Maruboshi entered the room and stood beside him. "And you're confused about what to wear?" he asked as they stared at the two sets of uniforms on the floor.

"I don't want to work in the Police Force anymore," said Takuma. His animosity and anger against the Police Force had long since subsided; after what he had gone through, holding on to those feelings felt childish. However, that didn't mean all was forgiven; they had taken away what he had built from the ground up, and he didn't want to work with people who stole it. "But at the same time, I wonder if I should pick up another year of contract with them," there was no doubt he would get it, "that way, I'll have a higher pay, and I'll just coast with the bare minimum work while preparing for the next Chunin Exam."

The Chunin Exam was a bi-annual event; the last one ended last month. He had enough time for preparation and was thinking about asking Masaaki and Nenro to make a team with him for the next exam in less than six months. The one-year contract (minimum length offered) was a safety net for his resume if he failed his first Chunin Exam and didn't want a one-year gap where he went down from the Police Force to the Genin Corps.

"Any advice?" he asked. Choosing his uniform was his way of locking in his decision. The standard uniform signified separation, while the police force uniform meant using them as a safety net.

"Both choices have merit, but I suggest you go through with what makes you happy. It may feel as though there are several things more important, but there's rarely anything more important than one's contentment," said Maruboshi. "I'll ask you to question yourself this: does this bridge need to be burned, or does it need to be rebuilt?"

Maruboshi patted his shoulder and left the room for Takuma to decide.

Takuma gazed at his two uniforms and thought about Maruboshi's words, which brought up the faces of the team he had hand-picked. He had been angry when the Narcotics Taskforce was taken away and avoided his team in the time they would have benefited from a few words from him. He didn't regret his actions, but they deserved something better from their leader. Perhaps it was too late, but he had to try it.

He chose the option where he would be happy while deciding to rebuild the bridge, so he picked up the Police Force uniform for one last time.

———
.

Uchiha Kano was a senior officer in the Police Force's Department of Organised Crime and had great taste in fashion. The red-tinted shades that she never removed to obscure her Sharingan gave her a distinguished look, which she paired with kunai-shaped earrings and a choker to round out her look.

It was a regular day for her as she sat in her office going through case information to narrow the suspect list. Kano looked up into the bullpen at the two desks reserved for the two junior officers assigned to her. The desks were empty; undoubtedly, her two subordinates were near the water cooler gossiping.

She shook her head and returned to her file, only to catch a figure walking to one of the desks. Thinking it was one of her subordinates, Kano looked up to call out to them, only to see it was someone else entirely. He was gazing at the desk with his hands in his pocket and even leaned down to look at the things on the desk.

The man had long hair tied in a short ponytail with loose hair framing his face and wore the uniform cap, obscuring her view.

"Hey!" she called. "Can I help you?"

The man straightened and turned to her face, and Kano was surprised because even though his face was gaunt and there was a scar on the edge of his lips, she could recognise the uniquely tired eyes anywhere. They had been there since the first day she had met him.

"Takuma?"

"It's been a while, hasn't it," Takuma said casually as he walked into the office. "I see you have new subordinates. May I sit?"

"You are back. When did you return?" she asked.

"Last week. I was sent home early," Takuma said as he sat down. "I heard that the ANBU took over my case from the Police Force."

The assassination attempt on Takuma had been seen as a slight against the Police Force, and they had been adamant about finding who it was until the trail went cold, and the case naturally shuttered with no leads. They could've gotten instant progress if they hadn't been stubborn about solving the case in-house and refused to share information with ANBU, who had instantly recognised the blacksmith's touchmark.

Kano felt embarrassed because she was the lead officer on the case and had failed to make any progress. The case became active when they received a package through the war commission with another dagger bearing the same touchmark—and this time, ANBU came with it as the war commission had chosen to contact them before coming to the Police Force. It was revealed that ROOT was behind the assassination, and it automatically became ANBU jurisdiction.

"I managed to make more progress on the case while fighting in a war behind enemy lines," said Takuma. His tone was flat, but Kano could tell he wasn't pleased.

"I wanted to get our liaison with ANBU to take a look, but I was disallowed to share anything with anyone outside the force," Kano sighed.

"Useless pride," Takuma said, and it was true. Pride and politics interfered with things where they didn't belong. The case would've gone to ANBU regardless, but at least there would've been some progress. He continued, "I want the case files on the case."

"There's not much—"

"I don't care. I want any and all work that you did."

Kano wasn't allowed to give him the case file; they both knew it, and he still asked, which meant he wanted them anyway. She nodded and unlocked the cabinet behind her to take out a copy of the case file she had kept after ANBU took everything away. She knew this wasn't against the rules, but technically, Takuma was part of the Department of Organised Crime, and she could share certain material with her 'peers'.

"I am sorry that I couldn't make any progress," she said, sliding the file toward Takuma.

"I don't blame you," he said as he glanced inside the file. "This place is the real problem."

Kano's eyes narrowed behind her shades. She was part of the so-called place that Takuma called a problem. It was built by her clan and was one of the symbols of their prestige and power; saying that it was a problem was an affront to her clan. But she didn't say anything because she recognised that Takuma wasn't pleased with the Police Force and how they handled his position and case.

She switched the topic. "How was it out there?" she asked.

"Terrible." Takuma stood up, surprising Kano. "I want to stay and chat, but I have a lot to do, and I'm sure so do you. I'll just pop in to meet with the team before I meet Setsuna. Let's chat some other day."

Kano was taken aback and shook her head bitterly. It couldn't have been clearer that he was displeased, had only come to her for the files, and was leaving after he got what he wanted, wasting no time playing nice.

"Of course," she replied, standing up to see him out. "One thing, the team has moved. You won't find it in the old place." She gave him the directions to the Narcotics Taskforce's new location inside the headquarters.

Takuma had a peculiar look, and she knew why. The new location was bigger because the taskforce had grown in size, and she guessed that it was a complicated feeling that the team he had built on his own had grown in his absence, especially when he was unwillingly removed.

As Takuma left, Kano thought if she should call ahead to tell them that Takuma was coming just in case something happened, but decided that she wanted no part of the drama and left Yakumi, the new head of the Narcotics Taskforce and her former boss, to deal with it on his own.

———
.

The Narcotics Taskforce's new office space was massive. The team had added new members, causing it to grow twice in size since Takuma was forced to vacate his position. He recognised the first people he saw in the bullpen from other departments and teams, and his first thought was that he would've not added them to the team if he had been in charge.

"Hello, do you want something?" asked a man. He was a Uchiha who had unlocked his Sharingan, which surprised Takuma because he had only managed to get one Uchiha, who hadn't unlocked their clan's eyes until the farm raid.

"I'm here to meet Fuma Arisu. Could you call her, please?" said Takuma.

"May I ask what this is about? She's busy right now. If it's not urgent, you can leave a message with me, and I'll give it to her when she's free."

"... I'd prefer if you called her now. Please tell her that Takuma is here to meet her," he replied. He had complicated feelings about seeing the Narcotics Taskforce's growth, but he was pleased to see someone fielding people for Arisu; it meant that she had enough on her plate to meet people randomly, and her team members understood it.

"Takuma?" said the Uchiha, his brows rising in surprise. "You are Takuma?"

"That's my name," Takuma nodded. "Would you please go inform her..."

"Ah, yes! Please wait a moment." The Uchiha quickly walked away and whispered something to another man on his way, who looked at Takuma in surprise.

Takuma didn't notice the interaction and gazed around the new space. In the old space, there were only three rooms. Takuma used one as his office, the other as a filing room, and the final was turned into a break room. The bullpen was also small and barely spacious enough to fit the team at the start; it had become cramped by the time Takuma left. The new bullpen was tremendous with actual space to walk comfortably. Takuma found a spacious break room and other rooms labelled as [Evidence Locker] and [Archive], which used to be just the same filing room, among a couple more doors.

He was impressed and envious. The team was naturally getting more funding now; he couldn't even schedule a meeting about more money in his time.

"Takuma?"

Takuma responded to his name and turned to see Minoru, the Narcotic Taskforce's prized sensory-nin. There were big mainline departments that didn't have a sensory-nin. A lot of credit went to Arisu for recruiting him, but he was still proud that they had managed to get him on the team.

"Long time no see," Takuma said as they hugged briefly. "How are you, my friend?"

"You are back," Minoru said with a look that he couldn't believe that Takuma was before him.

"I'm back from the war, yes," said Takuma and shook his head.

Minoru read between the lines, and his smile dropped when he realised that Takuma meant he wasn't planning to return to the Narcotics Taskforce. "I-I see," he looked disappointed. "Are you sure? Won't you reconsider? Look at this place; we are bigger now and can actually do everything you used to talk about."

Takuma shook his head. "Sorry, buddy. I don't think it's going to happen." Even if he wanted to return, which he did not, he had ended his cooperation with Enomoto; trying to rebuild it would send the message that he needed Enomoto, which would give the latter some power. Going back to targeting drug trades without that connection would put him at risk of being exposed through mutual destruction. Moreover, his team would notice he wasn't as effective as he once was, which would be a problem in itself.

Minoru looked sad but nodded regardless.

"How's everyone?" asked Takuma as he patted Minoru's arm. "I hope the team is still doing good work."

"Things have changed. We have to be more organised because of our size, and Chunin Yakumi has a different way of doing things," Minoru said.

"I figured," Takuma nodded. He noticed how Minoru was careful not to praise how things were done so as not to upset him. During Takuma's time, the team had been small enough to afford flexibility, but organisation and structure were required as the size grew. Adding more people came at the cost of flexibility. The Narcotics Taskforce had moved from a "new startup" stage to an "established company" stage.

Takuma looked past Minoru and saw people in the office gazing at him. "What's up with that?" he asked.

Minoru looked back. "Ah, you have developed a reputation in your time away," he smiled. "The outsider genin who established a sub-department which regularly outperformed others of bigger size, and then you went to fight in the war, which further bumped your reputation."

"That's nice, I guess," Takuma said as he glanced at the watchers.

"It is. The people who come from the outside want to join the team, but because we are part of Organised Crime, no one can get it," said Minoru. The Department of Organised Crime was one of the most sought-after departments, but people had to pay their dues before applying for the limited number of openings. The higher-ups wouldn't allow new joiners to start there immediately. Takuma started directly in Organised Crime because the higher-ups wanted to promote the new external hiring, but that seemed to be a one-time thing. "You have become an inspiration and goal for people."

"Yeah... I heard they're using me as marketing material," said Takuma, unable to decide how he felt about that.

"Finally, you show your face!"

His musings vanished when he heard the voice he hadn't heard in nearly a year. He turned to face Arisu stomping her way through the office. She was the person he had spent most of his time before he was deployed and his partner with whom he had built the Narcotics Taskforce—his first ally and one of his few close friends.

"Hey... long time no see."

"Fuck off!"

If he could smile, he would've grinned.