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The majority of the Leaf troops departed the next day, leaving the remaining shinobi to protect the ROOT base. In part, to help with the rudimentary repairs for the damage done to the village by the fight between two jōnin.
The punishment for the villagers for housing ROOT, knowingly or unknowingly, willingly or unwillingly, was to be decided under the Fire Daimyo's law with appropriate Hidden Leaf representation, but it wasn't something for the troops to involve themselves in, so they simply helped the villagers by cleaning the heavy rubble and getting them started on repair by chopping down trees for lumber.
The responsibility for healing the damage to the forest by the battle—mostly the jōnin—also fell upon Hidden Leaf; they were required to get the reforestation started by preparing the land and planting saplings and seeds so they would one day grow to repopulate the destroyed parts of the forest. It was to be handled by a special commission whose sole responsibility was to clean up jōnin-related widespread destruction.
Both ANBU jōnin remained behind, but their operatives left with the home-going troops, the team responsible for combing through the ROOT base, relieving them of their duties. Takuma was the only operative staying behind on site.
"You should have gone home with them," Boobook said. "You've done enough; go home," Mor added. Hippo nodded.
The rest of the Ratel Squad had come along with the ANBU team. Takuma's subordinates were leading the entire group with Boobook as the one in charge. Takuma smiled. "I'll return home when this is over." ROOT had been the focus of his life for the past year; he could spend another week to see it through properly. "And both Fox and Weasel are here. I can't very well just leave when the two captains are staying."
Though both captains had told him to go home, he had politely refused. He was grateful that they hadn't ordered him, so he wouldn't be forced to return.
"So he really is dead, huh? Did you see his body?" Hippo asked. "He's dead."
Itachi had restricted access to Danzō's body, only allowing a few, like the jōnin, to see and confirm that the Hidden Leaf's traitor was truly dead. Even among the ANBU operatives, only Takuma and Tern were allowed to see the body—the latter because of her relation to the deceased.
Danzō's body was already on its way to the village. The Hokage had ordered the Akimichi clan head to bring the body home. Itachi had also asked Uchiha Sayuri to guard the body until the Hokage personally laid his eyes on it.
Takuma showed them around the ROOT base before leaving them to do their work because Itachi had asked for him. So, he went to Leaf's temporary base, erected outside the village, and entered Itachi's tent. There was a bed on one side, and a study table on the other side, outfitted with all the amenities to make it comfortable. It was bigger and much nicer than the bare bones tent Takuma shared with Aquilla.
"Sit down, Ratel," Itachi said.
They had seen each other barely an hour ago when he had met with Boobook and others in his office tent.
"How are you feeling?" Itachi asked.
"I should be the one asking that. You fought a jōnin here, and at Fune. Both of them used A-rank ninjutsu. I barely got a few scratches."
"You faced Kinoto, too."
"He was playing with me. I would have died if he were serious from the beginning. It was terrifying when he did get serious back there for a second before you arrived, but I didn't really get injured."
Rather, Takuma was feeling exhausted more than anything else. It had been a stressful few days. He couldn't wait to get back home and have a good night's sleep in his own bed.
"Kinoto's still alive and thus a threat," Itachi sighed, regretting letting the man escape.
"Think he'll just give everything up and start anew? A jōnin like him could start a mercenary career without many problems and live lavishly if he wanted. Or is that just wishful thinking?" Takuma asked.
"It's not entirely impossible… Danzō cherished his jōnin. He paid attention to them, made them feel like he trusted them, and made sure they felt valued. It would not be strange if the jōnin were the ones most enamoured by him and thus would have the most zealous desire for revenge."
"That's just terrible," Takuma sighed.
After their brief exchange, he was sure Kinoto heavily blamed him for all the trouble ROOT had faced in their post-Leaf days. If revenge were on the table, he would be high up on the jōnin's murder list.
"But they could also be the most free-thinking of the bunch and might have thoughts of their own; with Danzō dead, Kinoto might feel lost now that the most important being in his life is gone. It might force him to reevaluate his life… Though I sorely hope so, I don't think that's going to be the case."
"Right, of course…"
Itachi nodded. "I think a better question is who Kinoto blames and the extent to which he wants to take revenge. For example, if he only blames me and you, he might come at us personally. That'd be the best case scenario."
"Doesn't sound like the 'best case' no matter how you slice it," Takuma scoffed.
"But if he considers us, your squad, Lord Hokage, Fox, Jōnin Gai, and Lord Choza—or the entirety of Hidden Leaf as the target of his revenge, then the option of reviving a version of ROOT under him and making revenge their new goal would be much more plausible. We will be looking at a much bigger problem."
"He'd have to raise the new ROOT from the ground up to meet his goal. That'd require time, maybe even a decade in preparation and waiting until he has the right opportunity to pull something big. Until then, he might just harass us regularly."
Takuma sighed again. Harassment from an angry jōnin was nothing to scoff at.
"An impulsive act of passion would be better for us, but if he opts for patience, that puts us at a disadvantage," Itachi replied.
"We must plan for the worst case when we return home. I'll get the team working on it," Takuma said, unhappy because it meant adding another annoying task to the ever-growing list.
"Fortunately, we aren't completely helpless. Even if we don't know his current location, we may be able to find him easily. Jōnin Asuma recovered an enormous cache of ROOT's institutional knowledge—everything from financial documents to blackmail—on a ROOT jōnin's person. We recovered a smaller cache on Danzō as well. I'm sure we'd be able to find a list of their bases and safehouses."
"I'm sure Lord Hokage will be proud," Takuma said, making a note to prioritise finding the infrastructure ROOT had in the country. "Is this what you wanted to discuss?"
Getting their hands on ROOT's institutional knowledge was going to be a massive help in dredging up ROOT's network and eradicating it.
"I'll be direct. I want you to consider a lieutenant position under me," Itachi said, his tone more earnest. "I know that we talked about this when I recruited you, but I need someone I can trust to be my right-hand man."
Takuma was certainly surprised. Just yesterday, he had a conversation with Kakashi about the same topic, but he wasn't expecting the conversation until after the funerals for Kingfisher's assault squad back at the village. And perhaps he allowed his thoughts to appear on his face because Itachi addressed it.
"I'm well aware that it's tasteless to talk about this now when Kingfisher only died the day before yesterday." Itachi didn't add a 'but' and simply let the statement hang for a second. "Both of us are going to be dealing with things that won't leave us with much time. This was Fox's last mission, and he has already settled up the rest of his responsibilities. He'll be gone in ten days, and I'll be assimilating a substantial portion of his responsibilities under me."
Takuma didn't respond immediately. He digested the surprising words, and one thing stood out to him. "I was expecting this, but 'right-hand man', that I didn't see coming," Takuma said. Excluding Kingfisher, Itachi had two more lieutenants under him, one of whom had a whopping five squads under him.
"So you're open to the position?" Itachi asked.
"I'm not rejecting it outright."
"You and I work well together. You are a competent shinobi; I have seen you lead your squad, and I'm confident that you'll be able to lead more if given the responsibility. I'm looking to give you Kingfisher's unit, one of Fox's squads, and of course, your squad will remain under you—each of which is extremely important to me."
"Why me?"
"Because I trust you," Itachi said directly, somewhat taking Takuma aback. "One of Mother's underappreciated qualities is her ability to judge people accurately. One of the reasons I recruited you was that she trusts you. And since you started working under me, I've come to trust you as well."
"Enough for me to be your right-hand?" Itachi nodded.
"I wouldn't offer it to you if I didn't think you were a fit."
Takuma pursed his lips. "If I were to accept, would you restrict my field activity?"
"Manage your unit properly, and you'll enjoy a level of freedom I'm sure you'll appreciate." Itachi had never interfered with his work, so Takuma felt he could trust him on that. "I don't need your answer right now. We will sit down after Kingfisher's funeral."
"I understand," Takuma said, happy to get some time to think about it.
"Of course, with the increase in responsibility, I'm willing to discuss and procure increased compensation. I realise that it is important for you and I wish you to feel well-compensated."
Takuma silently gulped. Itachi's earnestness was enough to show him that he was serious, but this was a clear sign that he wasn't going to let him say 'no' easily.
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