Naruto: The Outsider's Resolve-Chapter 10.2 (368)

Coming across Kabuto lit a fire of urgency in Takuma. That weekend, he found himself in an office for an appointment. He sat on a lounger seat facing a full-wall library stacked with leather hardbacks on the mezzanine that stretched across three walls.

"Apologies for keeping you waiting."

The door behind opened, and an academic man stepped into the room. He was impeccably dressed in a crisp shirt, pants, and hair perfectly set with product. He smelled so incredible that Takuma would've not minded leaving if he had just got to know where to buy the cologne.

"How do you know Amami?" the man asked as he sat opposite him on an identical lounger.

Chunin Jonin Yamanaka Inenpachi was an iryo-nin Amami had recommended to him. Even though Sango had successfully diagnosed his health problem, the treatment was a bigger problem. He needed shadow clones to keep pace with his plans, and Kabuto's appearance made him want to fast-track them.

"We met through work." As ANBU advised, Takuma kept his response short and vague when talking about work. "Thank you for meeting me at such short notice."

"Please, it's the least I can do for Amami's friends," Inenpachi smiled. "So what's the problem?"

Takuma explained his situation. He knew the Shadow Clone Jutsu and had been using a clone for training and work purposes. At first, Inenpachi nodded while taking notes, but when Takuma got to the hours he had a clone up daily, his jaw dropped, and his pen stopped writing. It only got worse when he revealed that he had been doing so for months.

"...That's a lot, Takuma. I'm genuinely surprised that you weren't hospitalised," said Inenpachi with genuine concern. He then silently made notes for a minute. "I agree with the other doctor's consultation. You need to recover first before you can test your limit."

"There's not much research on this topic?" said Takuma.

Inenpachi shook his head. "It's a niche topic because of how few people can use the jutsu. That makes research into the topic unattractive."

"I wish to do that research."

"Pardon?" Inenpachi looked up from his notebook.

"I plan to use shadow clones extensively for productivity purposes, which includes creating more when I have chakra for it, which will happen soon, I believe. But for that to happen, my brain needs to be able to process the information. I need your help with it."

"My help?"

"You're a Yamanaka. Your clan is an expert on matters of mind and its effects on the body. It'll be difficult to find someone outside who holds similar expertise," Takuma said calmly. "I looked into you. You're active in academic circles. How about it? Would you like to work together with me?"

"As in co-authoring a paper?"

"I don't need credit," said Takuma, dangling an offer. "You can take all the credit as long we are successful. I just want to be able to use shadow clones in the high single-digit hours every day, at least. I can't do it on my own because it's kilometres away from my wheelhouse, so I need an iryo-nin with relevant expertise, and from my research, you are the right fit."

Inenpachi worked at a hospital owned by his clan, but he also ran a successful private clinic on the side. Other than seeing patients and teaching students, he was actively involved in medical research in the field of mind and neuroscience. Takuma even called Doctor Oishi, Taro's dad, to have him check the quality of Inenpachi's research. The review was positive. He seemed like the man for the job.

"What do you say? Do you want to commit?" asked Takuma. If Inenpachi refused, he had a few more options in Hidden Leaf Village, and if those failed, his last option was to try trial-and-error in hopes that he stumbled into some progress.

Inenpachi capped his pen and tapped it on his notebook. He looked at his desk in the middle of the office for a moment before closing his notebook.

"It'll require me to look into your mind to monitor it. Most people don't feel comfortable with that," said Inenpachi.

"Will you look into my memories?" asked Takuma. He had considered that possibility, knowing he was coming to a Yamanaka.

"The research won't require it."

"Then I have no complaints. When can we get started?"

"Allow me to sleep on it before I give a final decision."

"I'm expecting a positive response," Takuma said as he shook hands with Inenpachi.

———

.

With his break over, Takuma was back at the office. He was called into Campbell's office first thing in the morning and was surprised to see a new face in the office. He instantly recognised that the person was from the Aburame Clan because the man's eyes were obscured by circular blackout shades, and he wore clothes that covered the majority of his body.

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For a moment, he thought it was their ANBU Captain, Aburame Seinpachi, but the man was far too young.

"Ratel, this is Krait," Campbell introduced them.

Krait was a Campbell Squad member who had been away on a mission for months. He was supposed to return over a month ago, but a complication delayed his return.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Krait," Takuma extended his hand to his missing teammate.

"Likewise," Krait replied shortly, his voice unusually deep. He shook Takuma's hand with a gloved hand.

"Did your mission go well?" Takuma asked as he sat down.

Krait nodded wordlessly. Takuma knew about him; he was a taciturn person. He didn't want to stereotype, but the other Aburame he knew from his Land of Frost mission with Iruka also didn't speak much.

"Both of you'll be working together on your next case," said Campbell, which immediately made Takuma frown.

"Is this another mentorship?" he asked.

"I want two operatives on this case," Campbell replied, which made Takuma calm down before continuing. "Also, yes, this is a mentorship." Campbell continued before he could say anything, "Regardless, you worked your last case alone. This time, I want you to work with one of your teammates. This is not a discussion, so get on with it."

Takuma sighed before glancing at Krait, who just stared back, which didn't make him feel any better.

———

.

"I heard about what happened with Dhole from Caracara," Krait said as they settled in his office to discuss the case file.

The office was bigger than Takuma's, yet there was barely enough space to walk. There was no clutter in the office; instead, the desk was double the size suitable for the room's size. Bulky cabinets lined the walls. Where Takuma had a single couch, Krait had a full set with a table. Tall plants sat between every piece of furniture as though Krait hated empty space and did everything to eliminate it. And finally, everything seemed to be made from heavy wood.

"She also told me about your case. I was impressed," Krait continued.

"Thank you," Takuma replied as he watched an insect crawling on the desk to stare at him before continuing its way on the desk's length. He was struck by the realisation that the interior design decisions were made to create a lot of space for bugs and insects to burrow and hide.

Knowing that he was looking for insects, he instantly spotted them everywhere in the room. He suddenly felt disgusted, knowing that he was in a space teeming with insects, only to realise that the room was spotless if he ignored the insects.

"What I'm saying here is that you shouldn't worry about a repeat. As the lead on this case, I'll be transparent with you and respect your decisions if they're of value. I'll explain and justify my decisions if you don't understand. Feel free to voice your thoughts," said Krait.

Takuma gazed at his taciturn senior teammate and wondered how much he should believe it.

"That sounds great. I look forward to working with you," Takuma replied, politely.

"Great. Let's move on to this case."

The case was a curious one. A Leaf sensory-nin was travelling through the heart of the country when she felt a pulse of intense yet bizarre chakra signature from the forest. It was unlike anything she had ever felt, which made her curious. She waited a few hours to see if she would feel it again, but it never appeared. She went to the nearest Leaf post and reported the chakra signature.

The post investigated but found nothing.

A similar report was lodged at another post almost a year later by a different sensory-nin. They followed up with an investigation, which went cold quickly, and nothing was ever found. However, the same post then received another report after a year, which caused them to contact the nearby posts to see if someone else had similar reports—which was when they found that another post had a similar report.

"We are asked to come because all three sensory-nin described the signature as something they hadn't experienced before." Krait turned the page on the file and read, "They describe it as something inhuman. Our mission is to find and identify the source of the chakra signature."

"What do you think it is?" asked Takuma. Despite having a sensory-nin in Minoru as a subordinate in the Narcotics Taskforce, he wasn't knowledgeable about the world of sensory-nin and chakra signature except for knowing how to mask his chakra.

"They describe it as inhuman, so maybe it's an animal with access to chakra," Krait wiggled a finger, and a bug landed on his gloved finger. "All my bugs have chakra signatures, but they're so small that most sensory-nin can't detect them, but that might not be the case with a much bigger animal."

"What if it is an animal?"

"A record will be made about it. If the forest had been close to a village or town, we would have looked into whether there were cases of animal attacks or missing people, but there's no need for that in this case, so we will leave it in peace."

———

.

Around twice a month, Takuma visited Mito Hospital of Leaf during lunchtime because it was Ai and Doctor Oishi's place of work, and Ai insisted that they eat lunch together every other week. It was also the hospital he was brought to when he was dancing with death after the failed assassination attempt and had spent his entire physical rehabilitation and recovery in the hospital.

So it pissed him off when he found that Kabuto also worked at the same hospital.

The first thing he did after spotting Kabuto was to find where he lived and worked. The location of Kabuto's home was nothing special, but it bothered Takuma that he worked so close to the people he cared about.

Kabuto joined the hospital a few months after Takuma left for war. According to his records, he had recently completed his medical training outside Hidden Leaf Village and was officially recognised as an iryo-nin before being hired by the hospital. Since then, he has also participated in a Chunin Exam and forfeited before the final round.

Takuma stood at the end of a hallway and stared at Ai chatting with Kabuto. From every angle, he seemed like a normal, charming person, but Takuma's knowledge prevented him from seeing him as anything other than a considerable threat.

His face twitched his anger and displeasure. He wanted nothing more than to pull Ai away from him and warn her not to associate with Kabuto, but he wanted to avoid direct confrontations with the spy, so he patiently and only approached her when they were done.

"I'm hungry!" Ai rubbed her hand as she eyed the paper bag in Takuma's hand.

"Who was that guy?" Takuma asked nonchalantly.

"Yakushi Kabuto," she said while looking into the bag. "Nice guy, good at his job—he's popular among the girls. Honestly, I'm envious of how much the patients love him."

"Really? He looks dumb," he said, bluntly.

"Come on now, don't be mean."

"I don't like him."

"Why?" Ai looked up at him, surprised.

"I don't know. Just don't like his vibe," Takuma said, looking over his shoulder at Kabuto's back.

"You're just jealous he's better looking than you."

Takuma narrowed his eyes at her. "I forgot to tell the shop to not put in green peppers. I was going to eat them for you, but I'll not now. I hope they're bitter."