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The link is also in the synopsis
———
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Takuma stood in one of the several corridors of the ANBU Headquarters, gazing at the first version of the ANBU uniform framed on the wall. Instead of grey and black, the colour scheme used to be very dark and dull shades of blue and green, referencing the Hidden Leaf's uniform. The mask design was different; the animal motifs were introduced near the middle of the third decade of ANBU's existence. The materials and designs of the accessories had been refined over the long years.
On the surface, the first version of the uniform looked nothing like the current base configuration, but if one observed them side by side, they would find them unexpectedly similar all over the place. Put all the versions in a line, and one could observe the changes introduced with each iteration and see how the current configuration came to be.
"Ratel…"
Takuma turned around and sighed when he saw Krait standing a few steps away.
They were both part of Campbell Squad under Barbary's Inquisitor Unit. Krait had been his partner on his trip to Taiheiyo Evergreen Forest, where they had found a ROOT laboratory conducting genetic experiments that attempted to implant animalistic traits of chakra beasts into humans. It was the nexus that had eventually led him to become the contracted summoner of the bear clans.
"I only planned to take a ten-minute break before heading back. Of course, you managed to find me during my break," Takuma said.
He wasn't surprised to see his former squad mate. Krait was an Aburame. Within ANBU, he had significant connections to two members of the clan. He was glad, just glad, that he didn't have to deal with Captain Tachinid.
As for how Krait found him, he would guess it had something to do with Mor. Takuma had hired Mor on Tachinid's recommendation; Mor's connection to the Aburame clan was well-known. He didn't blame his subordinate. People had to play such games when they got involved with the clans. Sending Krait his way instead of Tachinid was already plenty of consideration on Mor's part.
"I need to know what is happening," Krait asked, stoic as always, even when he was in urgent need of information. "What are you doing? It's chaos out there."
"Congratulations on your promotion. You are a squad leader now," Takuma said, offering a subtle but joyous smile. "I'm sorry that I didn't reach out sooner. I, at least, hope you liked the gift I sent. Are you angry with me?"
"This is not the time for that, Ratel. I…" Krait stepped forward before stopping. He gazed at Takuma in silence for an extended moment. "You're not going to tell me anything?" Takuma didn't say anything. "This is all your doing. There has to be something you can give me."
Takuma didn't reply immediately because he thought about what he could disclose. Shutting out Krait was always an option, but he wasn't keen on that because after today, he would be firmly on the Aburame's persona non grata list. It would be good for him to have a bridge into the clan if he had the need in the future.
"The Aburame got beyond greedy. That elder of yours who we thought was our saviour… he's the devil, isn't he?"
"Elder Shigeki? What did he do?"
"His biggest claim to fame is a lie," Takuma said. "There's no two ways about it; this won't be discounted no matter what your clan tries, so tell the higher-ups to stand down and not make any foolish moves… When we are done with this, Lord Hokage will summon your clan head to get answers on how this happened."
Krait suddenly looked nervous behind his high-collared jacket. Not the captain or the commander, but the Hokage himself. Everyone was aware that ANBU enacted the Hokage's will, but most of ANBU's actions were their own, and most matters didn't go above the ANBU commander's level. The Hokage would be made aware, but he wouldn't engage directly unless he deemed it necessary. Matters regarding the major clans were often sensitive in nature, and the Hokage maintained some distance so he could step in afterwards in case things soured between the two parties. The Hokage getting involved from the start meant this was no small deal that could be pushed aside.
The Aburame clan would know the truth in no clearer terms soon enough. Even if Aburame Shibi were going to be summoned by the Hokage, he would most definitely talk to ANBU first in a mostly informal setting. The crime had already happened; the Hokage wanted answers on why it was allowed to happen, what was being done to remedy the situation, and how to ensure it didn't happen again. He would be mighty displeased if the Aburame clan showed up without any answers.
Takuma was done, but then decided to add one more thing. "Krait, keep your mask on and your head down. Do not let this thing drag you down. We don't know how high things go within your clan. My words may seem confusing to you, but to someone in the know, they would've understood in a—" SNAP! The sound echoed in the corridor as he snapped his fingers.
"Ah, I need to leave, or I'll be late. See you around, Krait," Takuma said as he walked away.
As an Aburame, Krait would be expected to help his clan. Takuma just hoped that he would do it from a safe distance that wouldn't get him roped into something he had no part in, because the Aburame clan would unquestionably try things when they got a clear image of their predicament.
———
.
The interrogation room was quiet.
Aburame Shigeki's frustrated eyes bounced from one corner of the room to another, looking for any movement—any stimulation—but the room remained unchanged and silent. The only source of sound was his restless leg. He rubbed the spot on his neck where he had been stabbed with the needle a couple of hours ago. Over the hours, his hive had gone to sleep; whatever they had injected into him was interfering with his body. He wished he could study whatever ANBU had concocted, but they had sealed his chakra.
The heavy metal door creaked open, and the operative who had arrested him stepped inside. He wore a mask resembling a honey badger. He carried with him a small stack of papers and a handful of pens that he placed in front of Shigeki before sitting across the table.
"If you confess, my captain is willing to put in a good word for you," the operative said.
Shigeki scoffed and rolled his eyes with his arms crossed in his lap. He wasn't going to say anything until he had a chance to meet someone from the clan and get a view of the current situation.
"We already have everything we need to put you away. You'd be doing yourself a favour by writing an apologetic confession. Write one that would pull on the heartstrings so the reader will feel pity for you." Shigeki didn't meet the operative's eyes, pretending to ignore him no matter what was said. "Lord Hokage might read that and perhaps decide that death is too harsh for you…"
Shigeki's restless leg settled, and his resolve slipped just a bit. Thinking back to what he had done, it wasn't strange that things would reach the Hokage's Office. That was even more of a reason to stay quiet and let the clan work on his behalf.
"I wonder if your clan is going to defend you on this," the operative said. Shigeki couldn't see his face behind the mask, but there was a hint of carefree casualness that ticked him off.
"You're a fool if you think they won't," Shigeki said, mockingly.
"Ah, my bad. Let me rephrase that: I wonder how far they'd be willing to go for you on this."
Shigeki frowned. "We are a hive. We protect ourselves—"
"That's true." The operative hummed. "But I can't help but wonder, you know. Greenhouse Twenty-Seven and your home lab were raided. So you should know what all we found in there. That experiment log on the conjoined development of the pale beetles and chakra pest was especially juicy. It's all in your handwriting as well…"
Shigeki dug his nails into his palms. If the ANBU had found the logs from his home and the breeding setup in the greenhouse sub-basement, there was no way for the clan to avoid problems for the foreseeable future. Even if they somehow managed to throw out the seized evidence in a best-case scenario, now that ANBU were aware, they would continue to come after the clan until they got something they were satisfied with. And satisfying ANBU meant significant pains for the Aburame clan.
In a suboptimal scenario, even if the clan helped him out of ANBU custody, they could decide that he could be used as a sacrificial piece to hang the blame on to protect the clan. Shigeki didn't want to admit it, but the real possibility of that happening scared him because once he met with the clan, he would have to answer many questions for hours on end, and depending on how he answered, he could sour the higher-ups' opinion of him.
"Unfortunately, you have earned them an absurd amount of money over the past few years, so there's a chance that they may look at you kindly." The operative's sigh made Shigeki's hope and confidence rise, only for it to fall the next moment. "But that engineered business scheme of yours will have to stop now that we have discovered it. And your clan will need to pay fines that Aburame Shibi will feel in his bones till the day he dies because you decided to extort civilian farmers, and that may very well get the Fire Daimyo involved, and Lord Hokage wouldn't be happy to deal with that."
Shigeki felt a shiver down his spine. All his prestige and political cachet were tied to the pale beetles; if that was not only stopped but also publicly revealed to be an engineered problem, it would all vanish into thin air.
"How about it? Confess and get ahead of this. Be self-sufficient instead of relying on the clan," said the operative.
"I'm not interested," Shigeki said, feeling a sharp irritation at the nonchalant tone and light-hearted comments.
"How about this: I'll leave this here. If you feel like pouring your heart out, feel free to do so." The operative stood up to leave, but stopped at the door to look back at him. "It's a pity that I don't have the authorisation to persuade you to cooperate. You're a shinobi of a major clan, a highly respected tokubetsu jōnin at that."
Shigeki scoffed. He was aware of his status and certain unspoken protections that came with it, but hearing it from the operative's mouth certainly put his mind at ease as he leaned into his chair, only to find that his hive was quiet, and he found that deeply unsettling.
"I'll leave you be. Enjoy the silence, Tokujō Shigeki. I was told it's a novel experience for an Aburame."
Shigeki glared at the man as the restlessness returned full force.
———
.
Takuma left the interrogation room and stepped into the corridor. He looked to the side to see a subordinate exit the observation room attached to the interrogation room, used to watch the occupants through a two-way mirror.
"Lieutenant, can we really not touch him? Even though we know what he did?" The operative cracked her knuckles as though she had an itch that she wished to ease through inflicting a good pummelling.
"The higher-ups want him intact," Takuma said.
"What if we don't leave marks?"
"Don't tempt me… The others are fair game, though. We will get valuable information from them."
They had other Aburame and affiliates in their custody, but those weren't tokubetsu jōnin. Being a clan shinobi didn't make one immune unless they were immune. The benefit of leaving Shigeki alone was that the higher-ups were willing to turn a blind eye to the others' interrogations.
"Rather than hearing from lower-level chumps, I would rather have Shigeki sing. I'd like to know the extent of corruption inside the clan."
"That'd be valuable, but those guys are equally valuable," Takuma said as they gazed inside another observation room connected to an interrogation room where a low-level Aburame sat alone, levels more anxious than Shigeki was. The Aburame hadn't said anything because it hadn't been long since his arrest.
His subordinate looked sceptical, so he explained:
"Unlike Shigeki, these guys are at a greater risk of getting screwed over by the clan to protect Shigeki and themselves. Their confidence in the clan is more fragile than Shigeki's because, unlike him, they don't have regular dinners with the clan head. We can work on that and get troves of ground-level information as we did with Aburame Resa."
Takuma wanted more information to assign proper blame. The more he had, the less room would be there for the Aburame clan to twist the facts. And with access to multiple actors that participated in the scheme, he would be able to corroborate their information with each other, making it harder to dispute when multiple people claimed the same thing. And because the Aburame clan was caught off-guard, he was confident in procuring evidence that would back up his claims.
"It's fine if Shigeki doesn't squeak. He's already helping us," Takuma said.
"How so?"
"Right now, the Aburame clan is doing everything in their power to get their people out of our custody. Their focus is going to be on Shigeki, and we will use that against them," Takuma said, a pleased smile stretching on his lips. "Shigeki is so bright that he'll blind them. The clan wants him out of ANBU's custody to stop any potential statements or confessions that could be used against them…"
"Oh!" The operative slapped her palm once. "If we act tough at negotiations, they'd use all of their political capital on getting Shigeki released, leaving the others behind! If we make it seem that the Aburame clan forced our hand, they wouldn't be able to request more releases immediately. They'd have no choice but to wait… Yes, yes, I can see that working," she said with a positively impressed look on her face.
"Imagine how they would take it when we tell them that their clan only negotiated for Shigeki's release, who is now safely back at home while they are stuck with us," Takuma said.
His subordinate's eyes widened as she looked through the two-way mirror inside the observation room to gaze at the Aburame, who already looked fearful, anxious, and paranoid. The shinobi looked much worse than Shigeki, and ANBU hadn't done anything other than injecting them with the concoction that quietened their hives.
"It would shake their trust," she said.
"That it would." Takuma nodded. By that time, they'd be using some level of advanced interrogation on them, worsening their churning pool of negative feelings.
They would chip away at them until they decided to strip themselves bare on their own
.
———
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The link is in the synopsis!