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Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_380
🕑 Added 2025-04-27 18:16:37 +0000 UTCThe two ANBU-nin stared at each other for a moment until someone else's footsteps broke the silence in the stairwell. Both of them looked up and saw a kunoichi skipping up the stairs by leaping from railing to railing every couple of floors. She looked at Takuma, ignored him, and did the same with Itachi until her eyes widened in recognition a moment later. She slipped on her landing and fell down with a short but shrill "eep" screech.
Both of them hurriedly looked down the stairwell because it was tall enough that people could fall to their deaths. They saw the kunoichi had managed to catch a railing and immediately vanished from their way in embarrassment before they could ask if she was okay.
They again looked at each other momentarily before Takuma walked down the steps.
"Ratel," he introduced himself. ANBU operatives' real names were actively discouraged.
"Weasel," Itachi returned.
He already knew Itachi's codename. Uchiha Itachi was the youngest shinobi to be ever admitted to ANBU, the youngest squad leader, lieutenant, and captain. There wasn't an ANBU employee who didn't know about him. He was currently one of the most influential ANBU Captains among the two branches and held the consensus that he was one of the top candidates for the next ANBU Commander of the Domestic Branch.
"Here for work?" asked Itachi.
"Yes, sir," Takuma replied, feeling some of his nerves. He was talking to an ANBU Captain, all of whom were jōnin, and thus, vastly out-ranked a new chūnin like him.
"... Let's drop the formalities in private. We're the same age, and you know my mother."
Takuma thought he heard a hint of awkwardness in Itachi's voice, but dismissed it as his own imagination.
He glanced at Itachi as they descended the stairs. The first time Takuma had ever seen him, he was scared shitless because, at the time, he thought he was near someone who could commit familicide in the form of the Uchiha massacre—which never happened in this reality. The chances of this happening in the future have gone low, with Danzo being run out of the village.
He was undoubtedly scared of Itachi, but that fear had somewhat tempered. It wasn't because he had grown stronger—an ant was no different to a cockroach to the sole of a boot. It was probably because the chain of events he knew had changed, and the fact that he had been visiting his home regularly for so long. Despite his regular visits to Mikoto, he only saw Itachi a handful of times in all that time.
"I heard about your team's findings in Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest. How's the progress?"
Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest was the location of the bunker.
"It's still early days. We're still setting up," Takuma replied. Even though Itachi was an ANBU Captain, he wasn't his direct superior, so sharing information about the case wasn't okay. If Itachi wanted to know more, he could follow proper channels.
"This is the second time you have encountered ROOT. If this goes well, you might become a ROOT expert," said Itachi. When Takuma looked surprised, he continued, "Your team's report from Land of Hot Waters was directed to the Foreign Branch as it came under their purview, but I was keyed in because of my position."
"Ah, well, I don't mind becoming a ROOT expert. Institutional knowledge is important after all. ROOT is a hole in our national security. It's imperative we exterminate them as soon as possible, as thoroughly as possible, before they start helping foreign powers in their machinations against us."
While his words were calculated, aligning himself with ANBU and Hidden Leaf, he meant every word of it because he did want to demolish ROOT for personal reasons, but also that Shimura Danzo being out there, planning against Hidden Leaf, could be anything but good.
"That's commendable," said Itachi, still calm as ever, but Takuma knew he wasn't a fan of Danzo either. The Uchiha clan might still be alive, but Uchiha Shisui was dead. "I'll be keeping a close eye on this case's progress. As soon as a few months, I'll be heading a targeted initiative against ROOT involving units across the department. Someone like you with experience will be essential in that initiative. I hope I'll be seeing some good results from you."
Takuma's eyes widened when he heard about the initiative because it very much sounded like the department-wide shift towards ROOT that he had been targeting. Itachi's position as an ANBU Captain gave his words credibility, so that he could believe them.
"The team will deliver," Takuma said confidently, the previous gloom about his situation dissipating as Itachi's words renewed his focus. "Save me a seat on that initiative of yours and I'll give you the results you want."
A faint, close-eyed smile appeared on Itachi's face as he nodded.
"Work has kept you busy, hasn't it. Mother has been complaining that you aren't visiting as often," he said.
"Ah, yes. I do wish to visit more often." Takuma scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Learning from her has been an absolute delight and one of the best opportunities of my life. I can't even imagine how I would go about repaying her for everything she has done for me. Her birthday is in a few months. Do you have any recommendations—"
Takuma stopped and looked up a couple of steps where Itachi had stopped. He gazed at him with his onyx eyes; the pronounced tear-troughs below his eyes gave him a more mature look, making him seem older than he was.
Itachi looked like he was considering something as he observed him, and the gaze made him nervous. He tried to recall if he had said something that would cause such a reaction, but nothing came to mind, which only served to make him tenser.
"What?" Takuma asked.
"You wish to repay her?" he asked.
"Of course."
"This is a piece of advice," Itachi spoke, the lighting casting a shadow on one half of his body. "If someone asks you to spy on my family, don't do it... It'll destroy everything you have with her because she'll know the moment you try..."
He didn't need to say because Takuma instantly understood what he was talking about.
"She knows..."
———
.
Itachi saw Takuma's face fall with realisation that his mother knew about his job as an ANBU operative. Officially speaking, Itachi should've reported it to ANBU, which he hadn't, so telling Takuma put him at risk of being reported for breaking rules.
He wasn't that concerned about it. However, he did care about his mother, and she really liked her student. After his father found out that Takuma was an ANBU operative, he talked with her, and they had gotten into a fight about what to do about the situation.
His mother trusted Takuma and didn't think he would spy on them, and even if he did, now that she knew, she would be on the lookout and be careful about not leaking any information. On the other hand, his father reasoned that keeping an ANBU operative near them was an unnecessary risk and an unreasonable decision, regardless of whether she trusted Takuma, and insisted on phasing him out to be completely safe.
In the end, Takuma continued to visit, and the topic was pushed aside even though neither side agreed with the other. In some ways, his reduced visits due to work had benefited the situation as it had kept both sides quiet. However, Itachi knew another fight was bound to happen somewhere along the line.
Thus, his decision.
It wouldn't be out of ANBU's wheelhouse to spy on his family, especially when they had an operative already present in the perfect position. He also understood that telling Takuma like this guaranteed nothing; he could still very much agree if someone asked, but it was the best he could do because if ANBU decided to spy on his family, he would be the last to know.
He gazed at Takuma, who rested his palm on his forehead with a pained expression on his face.
"She knew," he replied with a pained groan, "which means she was probably forced to consider my words to see if I was trying to get information out of her"
Itachi didn't know Takuma personally, so he had a limited impression of what kind of person he was, but he was aware of him for a very long time. Even before Takuma had become his mother's favourite student. They were the same age and would've been from the same batch if he hadn't graduated early.
He remembered meeting Takuma while in town with Izumi. His two recollections were that Takuma was scared of him for some reason and how he had suddenly gone from a decent academy student to someone worse than a first-year kid. At that time, he had theorised that Takuma was holding back his real skill to make it seem that he was improving rapidly. Given Takuma's rank and his current employment at ANBU, that theory seemed to hold some weight.
However, since then, Takuma had not only become a Police Force officer, but also his mother's student, led an immensely successful taskforce, and had been deployed to a war. From what he heard about him from her, he was a dedicated, hard-working shinobi driven by the intense desire to improve. To reach this stage, it was clear that he had actually improved over just pretending to be rapidly improving, and given his age, his progress was nothing less than impressive.
Not to mention, Takuma had introduced Izumi to Itachi's mother. He hadn't met with Izumi in a while, and talked to her when she visited home to talk to his mother, which is where he learned about the introduction. Izumi, too, had a positive impression of Takuma.
Did he trust Takuma? No. But seeing how the reaction was focused on his mother being inconvenienced showed that he cared about her.
"What are you going to do?" Itachi asked.
Takuma leaned against the wall with a tired expression on his face. He stared at the floor with a silent gaze for a few seconds before finally turning to him. "I'm going to talk to her... It will require me to inform my lieutenant that she knows about me. I'm assuming your father knows about it as well," he asked, not happy about it at all.
Itachi nodded. It was a problem because he would have to explain how they knew, and even if Takuma claimed that he didn't tell them, they wouldn't believe him, mainly because of his known relationship with Uchiha Mikoto and his previous employment in the Police Force. And once that got out, which it would given how high-profile Itachi’s parents were, Takuma would be bound to get some pushback because many would undoubtedly see him as associated with the Uchiha clan.
There were many ANBU operatives tied to clans, but no one talked about it. However, once it came to light that someone had done something for their clan, it became impossible to ignore. Reporting, in Takuma’s case, would have similar consequences. Most operatives didn’t report people beyond their spouse and parents because ANBU didn’t like their operatives sharing with more people.
"You're an operative. You need the ability to lie well to succeed in this job," said Itachi.
"You're an ANBU Captain." Takuma stared at him with an unsure look. "You're telling me not to report it?"
"I'm telling you nothing, Ratel. This conversation never happened."
He didn't doubt Takuma's ability to keep it a secret. He had read the file on the precursor mission at the Spring City of Yu in the Land of Hot Waters. Takuma had shown incredible competency, which was probably the reason behind his ANBU selection at such a young age. His recent work had also been impressive, so he didn't think he needed to spell it out to him.
"Very well. Thank you," Takuma said.
"My mother would like something she can use as a kunoichi. She hasn't been active for a very long time; she would appreciate it if your gift says that you see her as a shinobi," Itachi said, replying to Takuma's question about gift recommendation before he changed the topic. "It'd be better if you don't wait till her birthday to give it to her."
Takuma nodded, and the conversation was over. He walked to the railing and leapt down.
Itachi followed him with his eyes until he disappeared. Telling Takuma about the situation wasn't just only about peace at his home. "Ratel" was handling a case about ROOT, which was important for ANBU—it was important for Itachi.
When Takuma talked about institutional knowledge, he agreed because they needed more people familiar with ROOT. He was going to wipe them out from the face of the planet, and he needed all the help he could to accomplish that.
By giving a little heads-up, he not only gave Takuma a chance to clear up a future potential problem because he didn't believe Takuma's relationship with his mother would've remained smooth sailing when both sides were keeping a related secret from each other.
It was a small favour, which he hoped Takuma would remember in the future.
Comments
FictionOnlyReader
Plot: He doesn't remember the steps. Binged the manga once, no fanfics; it wasn't a landmark piece of media for him, so he doesn't remember a lot of details. I also don't want him to learn it because Rasengan is a very prominent jutsu, which I would need to make a centerpiece of his combat style.
yuuzzlol
It has nothing to do with today's chapter, but, what was the reason he haven't try to recreate the rasengan?
FictionOnlyReader
You're absolutely right. ANBU definitely have people spying on clans because they hold too much influence in the Hidden Leaf. It'd be unwise for any government not to be watching their moves. However, when I wrote this, I was talking more about putting a spy close to the leadership. I'm sure it's extremely difficult to install a spy in these inner circles, so Takuma here is in a very rare position. He isn't a Uchiha because turning a clan member against their clan will be extremely tough, but an associate is much more viable. I think the spying ANBU does is collecting information like "who is meeting who", "political alliances", "the rising stars", "the favored people", "what are the power groups within a clan"—anything that would indirectly giving them a look at a clan's situation or what they're targeting. For example, if a clan's head is aiming for something that the village wants to discourage, they might approach someone in the "opposition" inside the clan, who holds power and can hinder the progress. After all, there's no big group that ever agrees on a topic. ANBU tries to keep a lookout for who that "opposition" is in the clan; they can approach and support. ——— Itachi was initially a spy for the Uchiha clan against the village, which isn't that uncommon, as probably many clan shinobi in ANBU do share some information, as I mentioned in the chapter. His situation becomes unique when he turned double-agent because he doesn't support the "Coup". If the Uchiha clan wasn't planning that, I don't think he would've become a spy, especially when the Uchiha clan was getting the shit treatment by the village. If the Uchiha weren't planning a coup, they would've been treated like other clans. But because they did, Danzo got his way to particularly target the Uchiha clan, which he had been doing as long as he had power. I bring this up because that didn't happen this time around. Hiruzen kept things mostly to himself and didn't make things official. There was another person who knew. I haven't introduced them yet. Itachi(and Shisui) were spies, but there was no formal team against the coup. FINALLY, none of the "spying on clans" activities have been dissolved. That's a huge part of the Domestic Branch's job. Clans and jōnin are just as much their targets as terrorist forces.
Joaquín Repetto
It's literally Izumi dude
Eldar Zecore
Out of curiosity, does anyone remember that one girl whom Itachi used Genjutsu on to literally live another life-time with before killing her as part of the Massacre? I vaguely recall him having a girl he had a crush on (if not his actual girlfriend) and he used his Special Eye genjutsu to spend a simulated life with, which never happened in this time-line due to Takuma’s interference. She could be an angle to pursue to ground Itachi / humanize him
Javier Ricaurte
"It wouldn't be out of ANBU's wheelhouse to spy on his family, especially when they had an operative already present in the perfect position." That's the understatement of the century, that phrasing makes it sound like it's something ANBU might be willing to do instead of something they already did. They literally had an entire sub-department whose entire purpose was to spy on the Uchiha, and Itachi himself was an spy for them. That probably would have gotten dissolved after Danzo was declared a missing nin over Shisui's murder and stolen eyes and ROOT left with him, since a lot of the Anti-Uchiha sentiment was his doing and still having a part of ANBU spying the Clan the government official who supported them (if not created them) was accused of Bloodline Theft of might be seen with suspicion, specially when ANBU has to fill the gap ROOT left so they couldn't waste agents. Maybe Itachi should comment about how with ANBU mostly stabilized he is afraid the surveillance might resume, and how they might use Takuma for it the same way he was.
Luca Brunacci
might just be wishful thinking but I kinda want them to become friends, or at least friendly acquaintances of some sort. Like someone else already mentioned with Shisui dead Itachi has no friends left and that kinda makes me sad (yes there's Izumi, but like cmon). It doesn't even have to be friends it can be a 'I scratch your back you scratch my back' kinda thing like how Itachi wants Takuma to do him a favour in the future. Or maybe they can train together, not that Itachi needs training but supposedly taijutsu is his weakest strength and Takuma does have an aptitude for genjutsu itachi might find interesting, and Takuma has shown a desire to fight Jonins and who better than Itachi.
KingCed
Itachi and Takamura Weasel and Ratel Two of the youngest anbu operatives both who hate root who's mask share the same faimly in the animal kingdom. Someone has a sense of humor in the Anbu
Maxemuud
Just realized, that in this story, shisui died, meaning Itachi has no friends looool
Arana 1
they finally meett!
Arana 1
righttt
Joan Casado
Again, it’s never not going to be hilarious the suspicion the Uchiha Family has towards Takuma when he willingly gave up Meta-Knowledge of the future, one of his biggest advantages, just to save Mikoto. It sucks they’ll probably never find out (Maruboshi is too good at his job) but if it does come out organically, it’ll be a treat to read.
DraponsArmy
Thank you for the chapter!
