Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve

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The link is also in the synopsis

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"How much are the grapes?" Takuma asked.

"A thousand ryo for half a kilo," the middle-aged woman running the fruit and vegetable shop answered.

"I'll have two kilos."

The woman seemed surprised, but he wasn't paying attention to her. He had been her regular customer for several years now to the point she was worried about him when he went to war and was happy to see him alive when he returned—but in all those years, there was not one instance where he had not tried to haggle the price.

But here he was, opening his wallet to take out the money without any back-and-forth.

Takuma didn't think a grocery shopping trip for dinner would have him looking over his shoulder. The moment he entered the city centre, he felt like he was being watched. That only made him assume that he was under watch from the time he left home because the shopping run wasn't scheduled, nor had he told anyone but Maruboshi about it.

He moved through his usual spots while looking through the crowd to look for anyone he recognised and spotted two people—a man and a woman— he had seen multiple times. The problem was that they had nothing in their bags after half an hour of shopping.

Secondly, he was always sandwiched between them—one of them was always ahead and behind him.

He felt more eyes on him, but he wasn't able to find anyone else but the two. It made him nervous. It couldn't be a coincidence that he was being followed when he was only a couple of days from his first day at work.

But why now? What did they want from him?

Takuma glanced at the two he had spotted, and suddenly, they were nowhere to be found. The thought that he was mistaken about the situation didn't even enter his mind, and instead, his first thoughts were whether they had spotted him looking at them and decided to pull away so as not to attract attention.

But he could still feel eyes on him.

He used his grocery bags as cover to double-check the weapons on his body. Ever since the assassination attempt, he never left home without weapons on him. His friends called him paranoid; he called it being safe.

He stopped in front of a cigarette and tobacco shop and looked in the reflection of the glass pane of the drinks fridge sitting in the front to spot someone standing on the roof of the building across the street, which wouldn't be strange because shinobi laid claim to rooftops for travel, but the man was staring at him.

"Hey, move," said another customer as he opened the fridge.

Takuma turned around to look at the building's roof, but the man was now missing.

It was clear. He was being watched.

A plan of action formed in his mind.

He didn't want to confront the people who were following him. They seemed to be following him, but that could only be while he was in a crowded place, and there was no telling when they might jump him. It was safe to assume that this had something to do with ANBU—so he wanted to inform them of this as soon as possible for support and further instructions.

The rookies were given a thick document with contingencies and standard operating procedures to memorise, so he knew what to do in a situation like this. He had to connect the headquarters. For that, he needed to find a telephone. Fortunately, there were phone booths all around the city, but he wanted to be safe, so instead of finding the nearest telephone booth, he made his way to the nearest Police Force precinct.

As luck would have it, he didn't have to answer many questions because he was recognised the moment he entered the building.

"Genin Takuma, is that you?" said a man dressed in the Police Force uniform.

Takuma recognised the man as an officer with whom he had collaborated during his Narcotics Taskforce days. The network of local precincts that did the lion's share of the groundwork was essential for the Narcotics Taskforce's output and efficiency.

"What brings you here?"

"I was wondering if I could use a phone," Takuma asked.

"Of course, please, be my guest."

Even though he had left the force, many of his connections were still usable and would remain in place for years to come.

Takuma grabbed a wired landline and hunkered down in the corner with a view of the entrance so he could see who was trying to peer inside and perhaps memorise their faces. He then dialled a special phone number, which picked up after two rings.

"Baratie ocean restaurant. What's your order?" asked a gruff and impatient voice, perfectly fitting for a busy restaurant.

"I will have a Number Eight, two sets of Number Three, a party platter..." Takuma listed an order that delivered a code confirming that he was an ANBU-nin, along with identification tied to him, so they would know who they were talking to without revealing any information.

"It will be nine thousand ryo."

"That's fine."

There was a pause before the gruff voice smoothed out as the person on the line patiently asked, "Location and situation, in that order, please."

"The eighteenth precinct. I suspect I'm being watched. I have identified three suspicious individuals following me."

"Do you have them in your view?"

"No, not currently."

"Do you believe yourself in imminent danger?"

"...No, I don't believe so." He wanted to say he felt in danger, but the logical part of him reasoned that he was safe inside the Police Force precinct located near a crowded street. If they wanted to kill or pick him up, they would've done so near his home, which was away from the city centre and thus had a relatively low shinobi presence.

"How sure are you that you're currently being tailed?" asked the voice.

"I am sure," Takuma said through gritted teeth. Why the fuck would he lie about something like that?

"Alright, sit tight. We are sending an escort team to bring you in."

Takuma put the phone down and stayed in his spot. Perhaps he was too nervous, and it was showing on his face, or he had overstayed his welcome because the people in the precinct were taking glances at him.

"Is something wrong?" asked the officer he knew.

"I'm not feeling well. I called a friend; they will be here shortly, so I will be out of your hair soon," Takuma said with a thankful smile. "Sorry to disturb you again. Can I use your washroom before I leave?"

He didn't have a good feeling about what was to come.

———

.

"Ah shit, he really made the call," said the man who had been following Takuma.

"I score him high for reacting so quickly. I'm glad he's not a dumb kid; it was smart of him to choose the precinct," said the woman with an approving nod.

Campbell gazed at the Police Force precinct as two ANBU-nin in civilian clothing exited the building with Takuma in tow, who looked just a bit jittery as he scanned his surroundings for signs of his pursuers. They had not gone easy on him, and he had done a decent job detecting them, and his reaction after confirming that he was being followed was also acceptable.

"He wasn't fast enough; there's more work to do there," said Campbell. He looked at his two teammates and subordinates. "Observe him carefully; you will have to bring him up to speed with the squad's standards."

"I will make sure he gets there," said the woman seriously while the man made a mock salute.

He looked at his other subordinate and asked what she thought.

She smiled. "I think we're going to have a lot of fun with him."

Campbell sighed because neither smile nor her words made him feel like he was going to be able to enjoy the fun.

"When will the captain join?" asked the man.

Campbell felt a headache come on while thinking about the man who had forced him to do all of this. He wanted to end this as peacefully as possible, and Takuma going to the headquarters was a good point to end, but he knew it wouldn't end there, and he had no power to refuse because his boss was insistent on doing things his way.

"Let's wrap this up quickly when the time comes. I want to go home," said Campbell, trying to manifest his wishes into reality.

———

.

"As I've been telling you, I have no idea why I'm being followed."

Takuma felt a headache after an hour-long interrogation where a masked ANBU operative drilled information out of him in a room purpose-built to make the people feel claustrophobic and uncomfortable. He had been in enough of these rooms, but on the other side, to know this room was only used for interrogations.

"I frankly find that hard to believe," said the masked operative.

He had been made to repeat everything thrice in the name of accuracy and better recall.

"That's not my problem," said Takuma. He initially understood their concern and fully cooperated, but somewhere along the line, it felt like the tone of the conversation had changed, and they were looking at him with suspicion as though this was sort of a ploy and he was part of it.

"You aren't getting the severity of this situation. You might have caught them today, but who knows how long they have been following you. You might have revealed several of our secrets unknowingly."

Takuma didn't appreciate the accusatory tone.

"Alright, wait here," the operative stood up and walked out of the room.

Half an hour later, Tapir walked in with a tired expression. He sat on the other side of the table with a sigh, which did not make him feel good about the situation.

"This is not looking good."

"What?"

"They're thinking that you're compromised," said Tapir with a deep groan.

"Compromised?"

"They think that your identity as an operative is compromised. And you haven't worked a single day!" Tapir sounded fed up. "Maybe it's better that you haven't worked a single day. This makes it easier for me to re-assign you—"

"Re-assign! What do you mean?" asked Takuma, not liking the idea.

"It's possible that the people who followed you found out about your assignment and are interested in using that to get an in into the ANBU. It's too risky for you to keep your assignment—"

"I'm not going to be fucking mole!" Takuma yelled, pissed by the insinuation.

"You don't need to be a mole for them to get information. Just by following you around, they can get plenty of information. They can stake out your place of work; you will be blowing all of your team's covers—and that's the easy stuff. There's so much more they will be able to find out."

Takuma was speechless. He had no response to that because that sounded serious.

"...From the looks of it, you'll be transferred to the Foreign Branch to separate you from your current assignment," Tapir said.

"But that's not fair," Takuma grabbed his head. "I'm not prepared for this. I shouldn't be here..."

"We need to talk about something important here, Takuma," Tapir said, his voice growing deeper.

"Important? I think what we have been talking about has been plenty important."

Getting transferred to the Foreign Branch meant derailing everything he had planned. There was so much he wanted to accomplish, but being away from home meant changing the plans completely and focusing on different things that would be more suitable for the situation.

"...Who all have you told about your employment with ANBU?" asked Tapir.

Takuma stopped worrying about what he had been worrying about and focused on what was being insinuated. He had only told one person about ANBU, and he trusted Maruboshi more than he trusted himself. And if they were even thinking about blaming him, he would rather leave ANBU than entertain that thought.

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The link is in the synopsis!