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The 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 with a short but shrill 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 a figment of 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 had disappeared along with Danzo, though.
He was undoubtedly scared of Itachi, but that fear had somewhat tempered now. It wasn't because he had grown stronger—an ant was no different to a cockroach against 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 Itachi's home regularly for so long. Despite that, he only saw Itachi a handful of times.
"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 the 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, so it's we must exterminate them as soon as possible, as thoroughly as possible, before they start helping foreign powers."
While his words were calculated, 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 for him.
"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.".
"Ah, yes. I'd like to visit more often, though." 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. 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."
"Then here's 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 truth the moment you try anything."
He didn't need to say anymore because Takuma instantly understood what he was talking about.
"She knows..."
———
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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 sooner or later.
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 not to spy on his family guaranteed nothing; he could still very much agree if someone important enough asked, but it was the best he could do because if ANBU decided to spy on his family, Itachi 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 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 at the very least.
"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 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 have, given how high-profile Itachi's parents were, Takuma would be bound to receive 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 a 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 competence, 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.
"By the way, my mother would like something she can use as a kunoichi. She hasn't been active for long; 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 about peace at his home. "Ratel" was handling a case about ROOT, which was important for ANBU—and thus 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 him a little heads-up, he 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.
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The link is in the synopsis!