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Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve: CH_279
🕑 Added 2024-07-28 04:21:08 +0000 UTCAround one o'clock in the afternoon, Maruboshi was washing dishes when his front doorbell rang. He wondered if Takuma had returned from visiting the Police Force headquarters and hoped everything had gone well. The timing made him think that perhaps his plans to have lunch with his friend had fallen through, and he had returned early.
But when he opened the door, he found a cloaked and masked ANBU-nin standing before him. He was almost as surprised as he had been when he had found Takuma at his door a week ago.
"Genin Maruboshi Kosuke," said the ANBU-nin.
"...That is me, yes. May I ask what business an ANBU-nin has with me?" he asked. It was not every day that one encountered an ANBU-nin, and it was seldom a good thing if one showed up at one's house.
"I woud like to meet Genin Takuma. I'm told that he's currently residing with you."
"Yes, he is living with me. Unfortunately, he's not in at the moment," he said. The ANBU-nin was here for Takuma? This surprised and concerned Maruboshi. Many possible reasons flashed through his mind, including the letter to Uchiha Mikoto. But then he also remembered that Takuma had told him he had interacted with a pair of ANBU nin. He had decided not to pursue the matter, but it still concerned him.
"I see... Then can you perhaps pass this on to him?" The ANBU-nin retrieved a scroll from his cloak and gave it to him. The scroll was sealed with fuinjutsu and had the official seal of the ANBU department stamped on the front.
"This is?" he asked.
"All relevant information is in the scroll. He'll understand when he reads its contents," said the ANBU-nin. I shouldn't need to say it but do not open the scroll. The contents of the scroll are for his eyes only."
"Of course," said Maruboshi.
The ANBU-nin nodded and disappeared, leaving Maruboshi with a sealed scroll for Takuma.
———
.
"Wow, this place, huh," said Arisu as they sat in a familiar diner.
"Well, it's been a while for me," said Takuma. He took Arisu to the diner they frequented when they still worked under Kano. After they started the Narcotics Taskforce, they had no time for consistent breaks, and when things settled down, they started ordering the team's lunch directly to the office. "What about you?"
"I've been here a couple of times here and there, but it's good to be back here with you," she smiled.
"So, the usual?" he asked. They ordered the same meals every day because it took away one choice among the dozens they had to take from their day.
"The usual," she said and ordered for both of them.
"I remember we used to pay for our own stuff every day, but then we got a weekly tab and started paying it alternatively," said Takuma. "And you owe me money because your food costs more than mine."
"And I wouldn't change a thing about it," Arisu laughed. "So tell me, what's your plan? I'm sure you're planning for the Chunin Exams, right?"
"That's on the docket. Wanna join me?" Takuma asked. He planned to ask Nenro and Masaaki, but if she said yes, he would take the exam with her because, as much as he loved the boys, he already knew he worked perfectly with Arisu because of their work history. He would choose her over any other genin in the nation.
Arisu shook her head. "Not this time. My first attempt will be the exam after the coming one. I don't think I'm ready yet, but I think I'll be ready to start participating by the next one. Of course, I'll be happier if I get promoted internally, but you know how that is."
Takuma rapped his fingers on the table and gazed at Arisu.
"What?" she asked, confused.
"I met with Setsuna and well... he said he might be able to get me promoted internally."
"Seriously?!" Arisu asked as a glimmer of excitement shimmered in her eyes. "That's great, Takuma! That means you're staying in the Police Force. Oh my god, this is the best possible outcome!"
"Before you get too excited, it's not guaranteed. I don't think Setsuna will be able to pull it off."
"Why are you being so negative?"
"I'm being realistic," said Takuma. "If the Police Force wanted to promote me, Setsuna would've guaranteed it... yesterday and served me a five-year contract for me to sign with a golden pen and sealed the deal. The fact that he's asked me to wait until the end of my contract and not sooner says that he will be campaigning for my promotion. I think he will most likely come back with more benefits and promise of a promotion a couple of years down the line."
Perhaps he was pessimistic but would rather set lower expectations and overachieve than the opposite. When he started the Narcotics Taskforce, he truly believed that he could take it all the way to the top, but in mere months, that foolish dream had been beaten down; the more success he achieved, the more eyes coveted his effort—and because he was growing his crop on borrowed land, he had limited power from the start.
"It's no use thinking about it until Setsuna delivers on his promise," said Takuma. "Let's change the subject. When do you think you're free? This is not enough time to catch up. Let's train together. We can talk more and spar. I'm thinking about getting back into a routine."
Arisu didn't look like she wanted to change the topic but sighed. "Sure, let's train. Maybe once a week, but I can't commit to a specific day," she said quickly when Takuma perked up. "On the topic of catch-up, there's a class gathering on Friday. You've never come to one; you will come to this one—I'll drag you to it if I have to."
"Should I come? I mean, I've never been to one. I don't want it to be weird," said Takuma. Before he had started working with Arisu, he had never actually gotten an invite—to be fair, they were informal events open to the entire class, but he was never informed of the time and date because he wasn't connected to the class. There was Taro, but he barely cared about the gatherings and didn't bring them up during their conversations. Arisu 'invited' him to the gatherings, but they were held on weekends, and he was busy with primetime Ring fights. Then the Narcotics Taskforce came along, and he was literally too busy to ma.
"It's not going to be weird. If it is, we can just grab a corner and chat," Arisu smiled.
"That sounds nice," said Takuma. "So what's the occasion?"
"A celebration. Inuzuka Hana got promoted to chunin—third one from our batch," said Arisu.
"Three. Who else?"
"Take a guess."
Takuma thought about it, but it was difficult to make an educated guess when he had no idea where his classmates were in their careers. He narrowed it down to the people who passed the jonin's team test. He thought about it more, and the memory of a poorly executed B-rank fire release ninjutsu coming his way.
"Okubo Momoe," said Takuma. If she could shoddily use a B-rank jutsu before the Narcotics Taskforce existed, then she must have progressed a lot in that time.
"Correct, the girl genius won the entire thing six months ago," said Arisu. The Chunin Exam was a bi-annual event, and two exams were conducted during his eleven-month war tour. Momoe got promoted on her first attempt, whereas Hana grabbed her promotion on her second go.
"As for the last one," Takuma raised his hands while shrugging. He had no recent data points to base his decision on, so he used the old ones: "I don't know, Uchiha Izumi. How about that? Am I right?"
"Two on two," said Takuma. "First attempt?"
"First attempt."
"Great for them," he sighed neutrally. "I guess I'll go to the gathering. I'm assuming Hana is paying for it all?"
"Free food for all."
"Can't say no to that. But don't blame me for leaving if it's boring or something."
He would have Arisu with him, but he would also get to see Taro and Kameko, so he wouldn't be alone if he went. As for his other classmates, they were practically strangers, but they had the academy connection with them, and if any of them were willing, he didn't mind creating and growing a few connections.
———
.
After lunch with Arisu, Takuma went to have his haircut restored to his previous style and then sat down in a tea shop to write letters to his acquaintances, informing them that he had safely returned from war. Handwriting all the letters took time and could've been done much quicker if he had made copies of a generic format and filled in names, but he opted for the longer route because nothing else was occupying his time.
It was early evening when he posted the letters and returned to Maruboshi's home.
"I'm back," he announced as he returned. Maruboshi had given him a key in case he wasn't home when Takuma returned.
"In the living room," Maruboshi called from within the house. "Please come here. I've something to show you."
"Yes, I'll be there in a minute," Takuma said as he entered the bathroom to wash his hands and feet before heading to the living room. There, Maruboshi sat beside a floor table with tea that had long gone cold. Takuma sat on the floor opposite Maruboshi and placed a paper tote bag on the table. "I brought these tea snacks; please have them."
Maruboshi nodded. He had a slight furrow between his brows, and his lips were lightly pressed into a line. Takuma noticed that his posture and shoulders were stiff.
"You look tense. What is it?" asked Takuma.
Maruboshi took a deep breath and placed the sealed scroll on the table. "This came for you. Do you recognise the symbol on the scroll?" he asked.
"For me?" Takuma was confused. Only a few people knew that he was living at Maruboshi's house, and he didn't think they would send him anything when he had met all of them in the past three days. He picked up the scroll and turned it around to see the symbol. He recognised it because he had just seen it in the past month. It was tattooed on the arms of both ANBU-nin he had met in Yu.
"ANBU?" He looked up at Maruboshi.
"An ANBU-nin delivered it today with instructions for you to read it," said Marubsohi.
"What is it? Did they say anything?"
Maruboshi shook his head. "He said that all necessary information is inside... Should I give you some space?"
"No, no, it's okay; please stay," Takuma said as he gazed intensely at the scroll. He had no idea what could be inside it. Was it from the ANBU duo from Yu? Was the scroll additional information on Kon? He doubted it because their deal had been fulfilled and because he had extorted the information, there was no reason for the duo to feel generous and send him more information.
"Do you think it's from the pair you met?" asked Maruboshi.
"That seems the most likely and unlikely option simultaneously." Takuma took a deep breath and injected a burst of chakra to burn through the outer layer of paper, which had a seal on it. He unfurled the scroll and read the text.
A several-minute silence hung over the room during which Takuma read the scroll with little change in expression, and Maruboshi observed those changes to identify the possible contents and sentiment of the scroll.
After a few minutes, Takuma reached the scroll's end and took a deep breath as he put it down. He stared at Maruboshi for a few seconds until he said,
"They are trying to recruit me..."
"The ANBU?" Maruboshi's brows rose.
"Yes," Takuma nodded slowly, his face stunned by his understanding of what he just read. "There will be multiple rounds of interviews and testing, but if I pass through the process and they deem me worthy... I'll join them as a chunin."
———
.
"Wait." — FictionOnlyReader
Comments
DraponsArmy
Hype
Eldar Zecore
I might be misunderstanding, but from my understanding what fucked him up was what he did when cut off from his team (I.e. several days of minimum sleep while also torturing multiple enemy combatants, and then his Bombing) while he was being hunted for, as well as Rikku dying literally in his place. On top of his guilt for his contacts being pointlessly tortured. I would assume that as the ANBU is a long establish division they would have a proper support network set up to keep there people from breaking. They can also employ the specialized divisions of the Leaf (like the T&I). I might be wrong, but I struggle to think anything they could make him do would break him (unless they had him kill someone he cares for, or murder a whole bunch of innocent civilians).
CMA27
Unfinished sentence- he was literally too busy to ma.
JonJon
I am so glad he doesn't need the police force to become chunin and its this instead. Would have been the most cucked way to get it relying on favors rather than merit.
Kameron Dias
Gracias por el capítulo 👍
Sean
That's not worth it, after seeing how what he did in the war effected him ANBU wet works operations would destroy him.
GN
I’m looking forward to the next canon character that’s going to be part of his growth
cameron stewart
Wooohoo!!! But I have been reading since there was only 18chapters… I am ready to see his backstory unveiled.. I just want to know so badly now.
Aleksandar Gojkovic
Again, you cooked and you made a delicacy! Cliffhanger after cliffhsnger, and all of them are great! I'm patiently waiting for your next masterpiece my bro
TysonG
As much as I enjoyed the Uchiha Police arc, I hope Takuma joins the ANBU (it seems the direction the story is taking) his stint with the police seemed to have come to a natural end and so much has happened since during his time at war. It would almost feel like a regression to join the police again. Especially with the offer at joining at chunin level, which I think every reader agrees takuma has more than earned. Whatever you decide to do I'm sure you're going to cook up something good as you have been doing. Looking forward to the next chapter.
SwiftFate
More interested in him joining ANBU for sure. Let him learn from some of the best Ninjas in the leaf for a while and experience politics etc from that angle. He's done the police thing, he's done the team/war thing. Now he can do the spy thing for a bit, gain some truly dangerous skills and maturity as a Leaf Ninja. Maybe even get his own little genin team down the line ;)
HYP3R
This is such an awesome development! I will admit I did not see it coming at all, but it makes complete sense. What wouldn’t create interest among ANBU recruiters like a ruthless war veteran who can survive behind enemy lines, gather reliable intel, AND defeat high level enemy combatants in both covert and overt ways. On top of all that, he has the balls to challenge active ANBU agents as a GENIN!?! Really excited to see this storyline develop, as I feel its a perfect place for Takuma
Lazybeep
I knew ittttttttttttttttr
BlackPanda
But this story did the recruitment so well though
BlackPanda
Anbu seems much more exciting for so Many new scenarios , the happy go Lucky stuff all the time is boring fr
Vincent Mason
Honestly, so many stories have the mc join anbu, I want to see someone reject it as a concept.
The Duke of Nova Scotia
Our boy doesn't half measure, he wants Kon. His rage will drive him, and his single-mindedness will guide him. I'm stoked about the idea of him, Itachi, and or Kakashi working together.
Dodgy
Nothing beats reading this at 5 in the morning half cut👍
moitrezaf
Thanks for the chapter!
Green0Photon
Bro I want him in the police force. Also, dangerous to be ANBU considering the association with ROOT and the ability for them to disappear him. Takuma may be tempted though, because it could let him investigate ROOT. I really hope he doesn't. I hope he follows the happy path of doing stuff in the police force.
