Kano wasn't happy with Takuma taking work from someone other than her, and it took some convincing and a promise not to let it affect his ongoing and future cases. However, Takuma wasn't worried— he considered time management to be one of his strong points. He did more things on a daily basis than most people. He knew how to distribute his time to get things done.

Getting the anonymous submission accepted by a chunin was the hardest part, but with that out of the way, Takuma could start with the plan he had plotted.

The Maiko Triad was still a dim room for Takuma. What he knew came from the existing reports in the archives, which did give an in-depth look into the organization, but he lacked the ground-level awareness that one would have if one were actively involved in investigating the Maiko Triad. Unlike Yoshiaki and Miwa's teams, he didn't have any contacts with informants and snitches who he could go for up-to-date information— but that didn't mean he didn't have any leads.

His point of contact with the Maiko Triad was through Ryuu's crew. The people involved on the day of delivery were well known to Takuma through his run-in with them when he visited Ryuu's place to restock his supplies. He knew their names, the company they kept, and what circles they frequented.

All he needed to do was tail and observe them until they made contact with someone in the Maiko Triad. Takuma was aiming to build a relationship chain, gather evidence, connect the Maiko Triad to the state pharmacy, and discover the reason behind the medical supply purchase.

But his plan wasn't without problems. Takuma was only one man without access to the broader Organized Crime's departmental resources. He was given the permission and responsibility to follow up on an anonymous lead— it wasn't considered a "full" case. Until he had something substantial, he was on his own.

He couldn't spend all of his time on the job doing stakeouts.

Takuma was forced to come up with a solution.

"Shen! Wassup, my man," smiled Takuma as he dapped up the man in an alley near the redlight district. He was under the guise of the Transformation Jutsu as one of the dealer personas he used to interact with his clients.

"H-Hey, Jin," said Shen, looking uncomfortable, his eyes darting around.

Takuma smiled. His usual policy was to meet clients at a place considered a middle-ground for both parties— somewhere clients would feel safe and comfortable and a location where Takuma could get quickly without wasting too much time.

Unfortunately, Shen was no longer a client, and Takuma wanted to set a vibe to keep Shen on his toes. The young man used to be one of his regulars, but it seemed that Shen had run into financial troubles by getting fired from his job. Since then, he could no longer afford luxuries like weed. Takuma cut him clean off and told Shen to only contact him when he had money, which Shen could only do a few times— nowhere close to when he was a regular.

"So, what do you got for me?" asked Takuma.

"I did what you said and listened to them," Shen said in a hushed voice. "They were talking about a delivery… and how they're looking into buying more…."

It all started when Takuma reviewed the information Sango had given him. According to her, the samples he had given to her could've come from a few state pharmacies that were known for producing the type of samples Takuma had given her. While Sango had reduced the potential origins by quite a bit, the number of pharmacies she had shortlisted were still a few too many.

Takuma had to cut it further. As such, he began looking into Ryuu's crew, and there it was. Ryuu's crew was a mix of active and retired shinobi, leaning heavily towards the latter. Takuma discovered that among the few active shinobi, one of them worked in a state pharmacy as a guard. It was a permanent assignment. He didn't even need to think for a second. He knew which pharmacy was supplying the medical supplies to Ryuu, who was selling them to the Maiko Triad.

Takuma targeted the guard and began following him. He mapped out what a day looked like for the guard and found that he frequented a bar— as did many of Ryuu's men. It didn't take long before Takuma saw Ryuu's men meet with someone who he recognized to be part of the Maiko Triad.

He had found their meeting place.

Alas, Takuma couldn't do anything from that point onward. The bar was a small establishment, the type that had few but die-hard regulars who frequented it enough for it to make enough money to stay alive. Takuma could enter one day and go unsuspected, but if he did it during a day when Ryuu's crew was meeting, he ran the risk of scaring them off— or he might have been denied at the door altogether.

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That's when fortune favored Takuma in all its glory. The old barman had hired a helper to work with him to serve his customers— and that helper turned out to be Shen.

His old client, Shen, whose new job didn't pay enough to buy weed…

It was easy from there on. Takuma called up Shen, told him that he wanted some eyes and ears inside the bar, and in return, he would supply the weed. Shen was initially hesitant, but when Takuma gave him a sample of a strain of a quality much higher than Shen had ever experienced, he agreed almost too quickly.

Just like that, he had ears on any conversation Ryuu's crew and Maiko Triad might have in the bar. There was a real chance that they didn't talk about anything of importance in the bar— but they did.

Takuma grinned. "That's what I'm talking about, Shen! I knew you could do it!" he enacted the most frat boy he could. "Spill it all, my man. What else did they talk about?"

"A-About the thing you promised," Shen looked at Takuma hesitantly.

It was Shen's awkwardness that made him seem so harmless, which he was for the most part— but there wasn't a single person who walked the earth who was completely harmless— people only needed the right motivation to do damage. Takuma had provided Shen with the motivation to do so to people who didn't know they were being harmed.

"Of course, brother, I have it right here," Takuma took out a plastic bag from his person filled with some of his higher quality products. Shen reached for it, but Takuma pulled it back and placed his palm on his chest. "We have known each other for a while now, haven't we? You know how this works— payment always comes first."

Shen stared down at the palm on his chest and nodded as he stepped back. The awkwardness came back, and he once again looked nervous, all while his eyes darted to the bag.

"Now, let's talk at length," said Takuma.

———

.

Takuma ducked into the Police Force headquarters to finally escape the pouring rain that had left him soaking wet from head to toe. He groaned to himself; when the rain started to pour, he wanted to go straight home but had documents he needed to file before he could mark his work day as over— thankfully, his pouch was water-proof.

He stood in the front reception area to allow the excess water to drip down before he headed inside. Unlike half the precincts around the village, the main headquarters closed down at night. Many people headed home, and a lot of them had umbrellas and raincoats ready as they headed out.

'Should've read the weather report,' thought Takuma.

He looked at the road outside, watching the raindrops hitting the ground. He liked the rain. Even the most roaring rain slowed the city down, bringing it to a halt— a nice change of pace. Takuma liked the feeling of walking the empty roads while the rain weighed him down. But it was only nice when he could afford to slow down along with the town— something he didn't have often these days.

"Takuma, if I remember correctly…"

As Takuma watched the rain absentmindedly, he heard someone call out to him. He turned back, and all thoughts of rain slowing things down shattered as a high-speed train crashed through as he looked at Uchiha Itachi standing behind him.

"Ah… Itachi," Takuma replied. Even though he was taken by surprise, unlike the last time, he was much more composed. He had grown up a little since their first meeting. "It's really pouring down today, isn't it."

"It is," said Itachi.

"The potholes in front of my place are going to puddle," Takuma sighed. The roads were bad where he lived; fortunately, he could travel by rooftops. "But it's good— rain's good. Replenish the underground reserves— good for the atmosphere, good for the plants, and good for us— great for everyone."

He turned to the taller person standing beside Itachi. "My name's Takuma," he said, extending his hand for a handshake.

The man had short, unkempt, dark-colored hair, black eyes and a relatively broad nose, and well-defined eyelashes that were turned upwards at each end— obviously, an Uchiha.

"Uchiha Shisui," said the man as he shook Takuma's hand.

He might have grown, but there were only so many surprises Takuma could take at a time. It took some effort not to let his hand stiffen mid-shake.

"Oh my, Shisui of the Body Flicker. I've heard much about you, sir," Takuma didn't forget that he was talking to a jonin. He called Itachi by his name due to how they were introduced, but he couldn't do that with Shisui.

"I do not deserve that moniker," said Shisui. "There are plenty of people who are much better than me at the jutsu."

'So humble,' thought Takuma.

Itachi then introduced them to each other. "Takuma is from Izumi's batch. He won the Genin Corp's basic training tournament," his eyes went to Takuma's arm where the Police Force insignia was stitched, "and from the looks of it, he has joined the Police Force."

"That I have," said Takuma with a smile. "Junior Officer Takuma, Department of Organized Crime, at your service."

"Izumi's batchmate, you say… which means you're the same age as Itachi, and you're already in Organized Crime? Now that's impressive," Shisui commented.

"Please, you flatter me, sir. I haven't accomplished anything compared to our friend here," Takuma pointed to Itachi.

Shisui shook his head. "Everyone has their own journey. Comparing those who are on a different path than yours does more harm than good. Be confident in what you've achieved, Takuma."

"Being in Organized Crime when you're not an Uchiha is indeed impressive," Itachi nodded. "More impressive when you consider he isn't from an allied clan."

An understanding seemed to dawn over Shisui. He asked, "So, you are part of the new initiative? If you don't mind, I have some questions regarding your experience here."

Takuma was surprised, but he didn't have any reason to refuse, so he agreed. There was no reason for either party to harm the other— and Takuma guessed it would be good to make a connection, no matter how slight it was.

It was a pity though, Takuma thought. It was a first impression, but he liked Shisui enough.

It was a true pity that he was going to die so soon.