"Just how much time did he put into this," Kano muttered to herself as she went through Takuma's case notes.

The boy's notes were crammed with notes, stats, and his collated thoughts. There was a lot to go through. She appreciated the dedication Takuma had put in, but that same dedication made it difficult for others. She didn't know what was important and what she needed to prioritize to get herself up to date as Takuma was temporarily out of the picture.

She wondered if Takuma had done so on purpose to slow down the investigation without him.

Kano shook her head. Takuma didn't know he was going to be suspended.

Arisu knocked on Kano's office door. "The people from T&I are here," she said.

The punishments of those involved with Takuma hadn't been finalized yet. The department was focusing its resources to progress before the Maiko Triad could make moves to hide their people and wrongdoings. If everything went well, it would take at least a few months before prosecution ended and people were sentenced.

Kano stood up and walked out of her office to greet the person from T&I division of the Hidden Leaf's Intelligence Department. Torture-and-Interrogation division was a support division that housed shinobi specializing in information extraction from people through various means. They were called by different departments when the latter required their services.

The Police Force used them frequently in important cases where information from people of importance was critical. ANBU had a long-standing relationship with T&I and had invested much in their training and growth. Even the Fire Daimyo and his Samurai availed T&I's services in sensitive matters. T&I division played a massive role in protecting the safety of not only the Hidden Leaf but also the entire Land of Fire itself.

The Department of Organized Crime had deemed the current case important enough that they had called in the professionals to get the information Takuma wanted out of the people he had targeted.

The person they sent was a cleanly dressed, tall woman with shoulder-length hair, dressed sharply in the standard T&I uniform. She had a confident and disciplined posture, and when Kano met her eyes, she felt a sharp gaze peer through her.

Kano introduced herself. "Chunin Uchiha Kano. Thank you for coming; we have a lot of work to do."

"Chunin Oishi Yori." Yori shook Kano's hand. "Then let's start working immediately."

'Oishi,' Kano recognized the name. She had heard of the name in the deep circles, the gossip of unorthodox methods, high success rate, and many more unspeakables— much more than an average T&I member of Oishi's station. 'But didn't she stop working for everyone else but ANBU?'

What was she doing working on a case with the Police Force?

Kano led Yori to the conference room they had reserved for her.

"This will work fine," said Yori, setting her belongings on the big conference table. She emptied her bag and took out a large binder thick with papers.

Seeing that made Kano's brow furrow. "Is that?"

"Hmm? Ah, I did some research of my own before coming here," said Yori.

"Are those Takuma's notes?" Kano asked, this time a bit more forcefully.

"Yes, they are. Got them straight from the source," Yori smiled.

Before Kano could say anything, Arisu, who was in the room with them, spoke, her voice louder in surprise. "Oishi! Are you related to Taro by chance?" she asked.

Yori turned to Arisu with a smile. "You know my son? Let me guess, dear. Were you his batchmate?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And you're listed as the secondary in this case. It's nice to see batchmates working together."

Kano interrupted the chat and returned the conversation to where she wanted it to be. "Chunin Oishi, I don't believe I need to tell you the problem with obtaining case information from an outsider. You know better than most that this is restricted information."

"But I didn't obtain it from an outsider, Chunin Kano," said Yori. "I received it from the primary investigator of the case, Genin Takuma. For me to do my job well, I need to know every aspect of the case. Who better to ask than the person who knows the most about the matter." Kano wanted to dispute her, but Yori cut her off. "If you're worried about the legality of the situation, worry not. I only touched the material after the request was accepted and was given clearance. I do not want to step on your toes. Please remember, I'm only here to help. This case is still entirely yours."

Kano wasn't satisfied.

"You say that you only looked at the materials after the request was accepted, but how did you have these materials in the first place? The only way to know details like the identity of the primary lead was to get it from us."

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

The case was still in its infancy and hadn't been publicized. The official case report was formed yesterday, and only then were Takuma and Arisu named primary and secondary lead, respectively. There was no way for Yori to know these details unless she had prior information.

"That's easy," said Yori. "Genin Takuma personally requested me to take up this case. He is my son's best friend, I had time, and well, he was very passionate and convincing about this case. I thought it would be a change of pace from what I usually do, so I thought, why not."

Kano looked down at the binder full of Takuma's case notes. She recalled how one of the recommendations Takuma had given on how to proceed was to invite an interrogator from T&I.

It made her wonder if Takuma had planned this all along.

"Worry not, Chunin Kano. Not to toot my own horn, but I'm confident in my abilities. Takuma has done your department a service by getting me involved. I will be involved in this case to my utmost professional ability. It's a great opportunity for the village, and I would like to see it succeed," said Yori, subtly revealing how she already had a great awareness of the case.

To maintain his control over the case even while he was away….

———

.

A week's suspension with pay was clearly a vacation disguised as punishment. So, when Takuma found himself unable to enjoy the said vacation, he felt frustrated with himself. He tried to keep himself busy by catching up on hobbies(training) and giving his mind some rest, but his thoughts wouldn't stop wandering to what was happening at work while he was forced to stay away.

He wanted to barge into the office to see what they were doing. To go bother Arisu and demand she gave him the details. Ask Taro's mom to share what they were doing, but he held too much respect for the woman, and she was doing him a favor; he couldn't bother her while she did her job.

Takuma heaved a sigh as he sat down on his living room floor to service his gear laid over a tarp. Once again, before he knew it, his mind wandered off as his hands absentmindedly applied a light coat of oil on his kunai, shuriken, and senbon to prevent rust.

*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*

Takuma could see his front door from his living room. Who could it be? Takuma thought as he got up. Was it one of his asshole neighbors again?

But before Takuma could step over the tarp, a loud bash stilled him. The lock on the door snapped, and the panel swung from its hinges, crashing into the wall, leaving the entrance to his house wide open.

"You have been a naughty boy, Takuma~."

Standing on his threshold was Enomoto, with two more shinobi standing at his back.

Takuma knelt back down on the tarp and made no attempts to hide himself collecting kunai. Enomoto didn't seem to care and walked inside the house. The two shinobi with him didn't accompany Enomoto inside and closed the broken door behind him, leaving Takuma inside with him.

"What the fuck is this? You don't just break into someone's home like this, Enomoto," Takuma spat. He knew what this was about; the timing couldn't have made it clearer.

"Let's not do the whole dance where we beat around the bush, and I try to force the truth out of your mouth," Enomoto said while looking around the house. The man didn't seem to care that Takuma was armed; he even had his back to Takuma as he read Takuma's notes wall. "It's cozy, your house. It has that warm, lived-in feel, and I can see you have taken good care of your possessions. What is this?" Enomoto pointed at the notes pinned to the boards.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said Takuma.

"Oh please, didn't I say I don't want to do the entire thing?" Enomoto sighed. "Your name was the case file— the primary lead. Don't pretend, Takuma. Remember when you sent Sango to me to set up a meeting? You'd be a fool if you think you can get away with this. This risks my business interests, Takuma. I very much don't like when those are hampered in any way."

Takuma squeezed his grip around the kunai. Enomoto had a contact inside the Police Force. He was under no delusion that Enomoto wasn't aware he was in the Police Force. Who was it? Someone in Organized Crime, or someone who could access the case files, or just someone who could obtain the information by asking around.

"Of course, I have someone in there," Enomoto looked into Takuma's eyes, startling him. "Don't make that stupid face."

Enomoto pulled out a chair from Takuma's small dining table and sat down.

"Get out of my house," said Takuma.

"I'm not going to do that. What are you going to do about it?" Enomoto said nonchalantly.

Takuma could attack Enomoto, but he doubted his chances against a chunin even if Enomoto was an iryo-nin. Moreover, any battle would wreck his house, something Takuma wasn't keen on happening. He didn't even need to mention the future ramifications if Takuma straight out attacked Enomoto.

The fact that Enomoto had come to 'meet' him and hadn't attacked him at first sight or ambushed him was a sign that Enomoto wanted to have a 'conversation' of some kind.

"You didn't seem to care when Ryuu was screwing me over," said Takuma.

"Of course, I didn't care. Why would I? You were a small-time dealer, Ryuu's my distributor, and he conducted his business perfectly well. And you're not a green academy student; I don't need to hold your hand because the world gave you a boo-boo. Handle the problem between yourselves."

"But now you're interested?"

"I am. It would be strange if I weren't. Your little stunt has put one of my distributors at risk and has extended an unrelated risk to me. No, let's be honest; what you did was anything but small."

"It's not my fault he's doing business with the Maiko Triad."

"But it's your fault that he almost got caught."

Takuma felt his frustration bubble up. He didn't like the tone Enomoto was taking with him.

'Almost got caught?' thought Takuma.

"What do you want here? I can't stop this; the ball is already rolling," said Takuma. "If his men open their mouths, our people will get their hands on him."

"I agree with the first part; not so much about the second part," Enomoto crossed his legs.

"… You're protecting Ryuu?" asked Takuma. From the conversation they had, it was clear that Enomoto had much invested in Ryuu, but Takuma thought Enomoto to be the type of man who would cut off his limb to stop the infection from spreading.

"Let's say I still have use for the old man." Enomoto then smiled, "And Takuma? 'Our people'— should I take that as where your allegiance lies? Because if that is so, then you hurt me. I thought we were friends."

"Friends don't bust down friend's doors," Takuma spat with a snark.

"I keep friends and business separate. Take that as a free piece of advice; it will serve you well in life," said Enomoto. "But enough about the old man, let's talk about you. You have moved up in your life since the last time we met. The Police Force, eh— Organized Crime at that. That's a big jump. You make me proud. And seeing the moves you have made in your life, I think it's natural for you to get rewarded. My dear Takuma, I think it's time for us to become business partners. That sounds fantastic, don't you think?"

Takuma did not.

Not at all.