Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve

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The link is also in the synopsis

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Campbell watched Tapir and Takuma facing each other in the interrogation room. The tension in there could cut through the double-sided mirror clean.

"The information had to leak from somewhere," said Tapir.

"And why does it have to be my fault? You knew my assignment as well. Who's to say that the information didn't leak from your side," Takuma shot right back.

Everyone in the viewing room groaned at the words that were being thrown. Tapir was in on the 'induction' and was playing along, but everything was real for Takuma, who looked very combative, and that didn't bode well for anyone.

"Alright, we should pull Tapir out before either of them says anything they can't take back," said one of Campbell's subordinates. She pointed at Takuma and said, "He looks like he has three things ready on his tongue to throw the moment Tapir says anything at all. And believe, those are not going to be sweet and pleasant..."

"Pull him out," Campbell ordered.

One of his subordinates opened the door to head out but gasped when he found the way blocked by a humongous man so tall that he had to lean down to clear the door and instantly crowded the room with only his presence.

"Captain..."

Barbary gazed at the interrogation room through double-sided glass with a silent smile.

Campbell had been working under the man for a few years, and he understood the man who was his boss. The man was often annoyingly boisterous, forced rookie hazing inductions on the squads under his command, played silly pranks in the office, and mandated frequent team dinners where he got blackout drunk.

But he also forced his people to take regular leaves to avoid burnout, regularly talked to not only squad leaders but everyone to hear their dissatisfactions and inputs, and even helped his people develop skills in line with their interests.

Campbell's squad was taking two new rookies to replace existing members who had left the unit because Barbary nurtured them and then transferred them to places better suited to their skills and interests. Not many people would do that, as that essentially meant putting in the effort to develop someone, only to have another team member enjoy the benefits.

Barbary did it regularly, and he propped up people even if it meant letting them go.

It was a hassle for squad leaders like Campbell because his squad's synergy was affected by taking in new members, but he didn't want to say anything against it because what they had was so rare that many people who left—while happy with their decision—always missed the environment under Barbary's command.

It was perhaps their unit's best strength and advantage.

"Hot, hot, hot! I can feel the heat from here," Barbary laughed with a glint in his eyes.

ANBU was not a kind place.

People who were better than their peers and were often told that they were special by people around them would arrive at ANBU to find that they were no longer special. When everyone was special, no one was and for many, it was too much to handle.

Once they got the taste of being called special, letting the feeling and status go wasn't easy. Some people lost momentum, accepted that they were big fish in a small pond, and came to terms with their new situation in the bigger pond—but ANBU didn't hire those people.

ANBU was a den of highly competitive people who wanted to be better than the next guy and would do anything to make that happen. Some played fair and competed on merit, but when the place was training people to be spies and conmen, it affected how people played the game—deceit entered the picture.

Campbell glanced at his subordinates. He knew they were forming their thoughts about the newcomer who was about to be their squad mate, someone who they trusted their backs—but also someone who was going to be a direct competitor.

Barbary never did something without reason.

The rookie hazing wasn't to put Takuma in his place but to allow everyone in the squad to have a chance to observe him and get a candid look. People feared the unknown, so whenever someone was confirmed to join their unit, Barbary lifted the clearance restriction on the newcomer's personnel file for everyone to look at.

By allowing people a look, he smashed the illusion of the unknown and gave them an honest judgement of who they would be working with. The induction was a chance to observe his reactions and how he responded to stressful situations.

In an ideal world, all of that could be accomplished through a conversation, but they didn't live in such a reality. Barbary knew that, so he took what he got and made the best of it.

"Alright, let's move to the finale," Barbary grinned. "Get ready to give the newcomer a warm welcome!"

———

.

Takuma was angry, anxious, and tired. He had yet to work a day, and his career was already in jeopardy.

He had been told that his joining was postponed until further notice, and if he believed Tapir's words, he would not be joining the Inquisitor Unit in the Domestic Branch. If he was forced to accept that his assignment was changing no matter what, then he hoped he would stay in the Domestic Branch and not be shipped off somewhere else as part of the Foreign Branch.

Not all assignments in the Foreign Branch involved going deep into an enemy or chaotic territory, but the chances of him getting an assignment like that were much higher.

"We're ready to leave."

He glanced at the ANBU-nin assigned to escort him and guard him through the night in case the people after him returned and had some thoughts about getting to him. They were supposed to protect him through the night as he was supposed to return to the headquarters in the early morning.

The fact they were allowing him to return home was comforting and inspired confidence because it meant that they didn't suspect him of being a mole or traitor. If not, they would've not allowed him to leave and made him a guest in one of their basement cells that, according to Sango, some people never got to leave.

"Do you guys need something? Shall we stop by a shop on the way?" Takuma asked.

He had done overnight stakeouts and understood the importance of supplies. Plenty of water, food, and heat packs to soften the cold—having the little things made passing the time much more tolerable. From the looks of it, this guarding assignment was impromptu, so he wanted to ensure they had everything they needed.

"Thank you, but no need. It's getting late; we should make haste," said the woman operative, who sounded like the serious, no-nonsense type.

The male operative just shrugged.

"Alright, let's head home," said Takuma.

He had been in the headquarters for several hours, and the sun had already set. He was late for dinner preparation and felt guilty about keeping Maruboshi waiting. He hoped there was enough food at home for a simple meal.

But as they left the city centre and moved to the outskirts, Takuma suddenly felt eyes on him like he had felt earlier that day.

"They're here."

He looked around to get a visual, but it was too dark for a good look. Getting a lock on the number of enemies and their positions was a priority. He couldn't do it back when he was in the market because there were too many people and buildings.

Earth Release: Earth Tremor Sense Jutsu

He stamped his hands on the ground and sent out a wave of Earth nature chakra that came back in the form of vibrational tremors, giving him the location of people nearby. The jutsu's range was a one-kilometre radius, but he shrank it down to only focus on his immediate surroundings to better focus,

"There are five—"

Takuma's words died in his mouth because he didn't feel something that should've been there. He turned around and saw that his two guards were missing. He looked back at the front, and he was surrounded by five people in a circle.

His back started to sweat as bad memories surfaced. That day was also a night, and even though it wasn't raining, the cold in the air served a similar chill. His heart thundered in his chest as he looked at the giant of a man before him dressed in a full-body cloak like the rest of them.

He gazed at them and their gear made their identity clear, "ROOT..."

His instincts told him that the giant before him was dangerous beyond what he could handle, even if he went all out, death wouldn't be a surprising outcome. He could also tell that the rest of them were much stronger than the assassins from back then, and while he, too, was also stronger, he wasn't strong enough to overcome this group of people.

"So what is this? Revenge?" he started speaking, trying to buy time. "Hey, how is that little bitch Kon doing these days? Is he getting used to jerking off with his other hand? I bet it feels like someone else is doing it—which is good, I guess, because there is no way he has anyone in his life. He's one ugly motherfucker, and his creepy personality doesn't help."

As he spoke, he dug into his weapons pouch and threw three explosive tags tied to kunai high into the air. He wanted to cause as much chaos as possible to attract attention so people would notice.

Takuma immediately flowed into hand seals for Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu to create an opportunity for escape. Even though he had no confidence in combat, he was going to take his chances and give it his all in escaping.

Three senbon flew through the air and pierced the tags, defusing them before they could explode. At the same time, a ROOT agent moved in a flash and closed in on him with a short sword aimed at his chest.

Takuma cursed under his breath as he was interrupted mid-hand seals and wasn't able to complete the jutsu, wasting his chakra and the opportunity to escape. He blocked the sword with a kunai and immediately countered with an augmented punch but the agent immediately backed away.

Takuma expected that.

The chakra pulse shot out of his fist and slammed into the man's chin, making him stumble. If he wasn't going to escape, he would at least want to take one of them out. He rushed forth with a kunai in one hand and charged an augmentation in another to deliver a decisive strike—but another agent moved quicker, and she interrupted him.

He backed away, but she stuck closer when a scent from her tickled his nose, which he immediately thought was for an olfactory genjutsu, and he immediately disrupted his chakra while trying to figure out how to take her by surprise when he recognised the scent.

"Three... Amami?"

Takuma was flabbergasted because he had smelled the scent on Amami when she wasn't on a mission. His mind swirled with chaos. A scenario formed in his mind. Amami was a ROOT agent, and she had managed to join ANBU as a rookie, giving them a fresh mole in the organisation, and that too from one of the biggest clans in the village.

"Nice, I won the bet," the woman spoke, and it was indeed Amami's voice.

She jumped away from him and pulled off her blank mask to reveal her smiling face.

"Surprise!" she said.

"What?" Takuma was confused but didn't put his guard down.

"It's alright, Takuma."

His eyes widened when he heard Campbell's voice, and he turned to look at his kenjutsu teacher pulling off his mask. He had not seen his face during their lessons, so he wasn't sure if this was some ploy to pull his guard down—but then his eyes widened when he saw the giant move.

It was terrifying to see someone that large, move so fast that he could barely track.

Takuma swung an augmented fist, but the giant took it with his bare palm without as much as a flinch. He tried to free the arm, but it didn't budge a centimetre. His instincts were right; this wasn't someone he was supposed to fight.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Barbary, ANBU Captain and your boss," said the man as he removed his mask to reveal a face with an impressive head of hair and beard. "I apologise if we scared you, but I must say, I'm impressed by your response. Though, I must suggest that next time you find yourself in this position, run at the first chance you get. Run from all the fights you can't win."

He couldn't have been more confused as he looked at the man before him, who was smiling proudly.

"It's alright, Thirteen," Amami peeked from behind the giant's body and motioned to the other 'ROOT agents' who all removed their masks to reveal their faces.

He was then informed that this was an induction they did with all newcomers and that Amami had gone through something very similar two weeks back.

"Just a little icebreaker. Nice, isn't it?" said Barbary, patting him on his shoulder.

Takuma asked how he could believe them and that this wasn't some ploy.

"You would be dead by now," said Campbell, and that made Takuma sigh and kneel on the ground as he felt his beating heart, feeling slightly sick from the bad memories of the assassination attempt.

"It's okay to be mad. I was pissed," Amami sighed with a tone that said that she sympathised with him.

He was fuming and wanted to rip into them that they had taken it too far. He suffered an entire day, worried sick about his future, all because of some juvenile hazing. He was about to say some choice words to the man who had introduced himself as his boss at the risk of offending him and ruining his career, but he did not care and was about to spit out his raging thoughts when Barbary's words took him by surprise,

"Welcome to the unit, Ratel. I expect great things from you."

Takuma immediately knew that was the codename that he had been waiting for.

"Fuck this, I don't have the energy for this. I don't want to touch this clusterfuck," Takuma sighed deeply, all the anger clenching his body slip away. "I should've just volunteered for training." He looked up at Barbary and bluntly said, "This sucked, and you didn't even do it properly. You expect great things from me? You sure have set my expectations of you bottom low."

"Now, now, I understand you're angry—"

Takuma cut Barbary off. "Choose the correct target next time!"

"Pardon?"

Takuma weaved a single hand seal and turned to smoke.

The group was stunned into silence as they gazed at where Takuma had just been standing.

"A clone," muttered Amami, voicing the group's thoughts.

———

.

Clones weren't slaves.

They couldn't be forced to do something they didn't want, so if the user summoned them to offload work while intending to rest themselves, the clones could refuse, finding such behaviour unfair, and even pop themselves to waste chakra. The user's personality heavily affected how clones behaved and could be used. One couldn't even lie to a clone as they inherited memories and feelings, so there was no way to bypass it by anything except persuasion.

And that was difficult when the opposite side knew all the tricks.

That's why Takuma decided to give the clone a choice when tackling different tasks or give them easier tasks. He created a clone soon after waking up, and while he did conditioning training, the clone also did taijutsu skill training. While Takuma practised ninjutsu, the clone focused on reading and memorising things that needed to be remembered for ANBU.

When Takuma focused on genjutsu, he sent the clone on a grocery run.

So, he was worried when evening came, but the clone hadn't returned from something that was supposed to take an hour at most. He could tell it was still alive, so he didn't pop the clone in case it was doing something important. He didn't think it was goofing around because he knew how busy he was, and the same went for the clone.

Ultimately, the clone didn't return—but he did send back the memories and experience.

"...Fuck me," Takuma sighed as he gripped his hair as a headache from receiving the absolutely ridiculous series of events the clone had experienced. "The clone returned!" he announced from his room to alert Maruboshi as they had been discussing the clone's whereabouts over a dinner of instant noodles and boiled eggs.

"Where was it?" Maruboshi asked from his room.

"He was attacked by ANBU-nin roleplaying as ROOT-nin for a hazing prank!" Takuma replied, sticking his head into the hallway.

"Pardon?" Even without seeing him, Takuma could hear the frown in his teacher's voice.

He threw his hands up, vindicated. "Exactly!"

.

———

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The link is in the synopsis!