CH_3.18 (077)

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Takuma stood beside the five tied-up thieves, four unconscious, while the fifth trembled like a wet puppy. The carriage and its goods were secured, and the civilian driver they had brought along with them because neither of them knew how to drive horses was safe. As long as the mission was concerned, they had completed it flawlessly.

If there was more to the gang of thieves other than the informant and the five thieves— that was the Leaf Military Police Force's problem.

"Did you have to hit them so hard?" Iruka asked as he stopped beside Takuma.

"I'm sure I didn't break anything," said Takuma. He had controlled his strength, but he didn't have a measure for what a civilian could take. He also successfully negotiated a peaceful surrender from the last guy, so as long as Takuma was concerned, he did well. "I will be more careful next time around."

Iruka glanced at him before nodding. From the looks of it, the chunin wasn't displeased with him for anything.

"You handled everything on your own; we didn't even need to be here," said Iruka.

"I only acted with such freedom because Dai and Emiko were in their positions. If not for you in my ear, I would've acted with much more conservation and caution. The team was essential for the execution to be as swift as it was," Takuma knew better than to horde all the credit and make a terrible impression.​

"Hmm… I have sent Dai to the Police Force headquarters. We will be free after the officer in charge comes here… maybe we will have to accompany him to the headquarters for statements," said Iruka.

Takuma noticed how Iruka's shoulder, which had been quite tense since they had met today, had lowered in relief.

"It was my first C-rank mission," said Takuma, seeking some answers. "I'm glad that it went well."​

"I wasn't aware of that," said Iruka, his expression showing a flicker of panic that subsided as soon as it came up. He sighed, "It seems I didn't prepare enough. Like you, this was my first time leading a team on a C-rank mission or truly leading any team on any mission."

'Knew it,' thought Takuma. Ever since they had first met, he found that while Iruka did a good job at leading, he also seemed to be stressed about literally everything. It was clearly a sign that Iruka wasn't used to it. "For them to give you a mission with the Police Force as the patron must mean they trust you with responsibility, and from the looks of it, you're keeping up the trust they have entrusted you. Good work, sir," he said with a smile.

It could also mean many other things.

Iruka nodded appreciatively. The young chunin wasn't as hard-ass about hierarchy as Yoshio, which was why Takuma spoke to him as openly as he did. Takuma was following the advice he was given to make a great impression.

The officer from Police Force arrived reasonably quickly. As Takuma would expect, the officer was an Uchiha. A man with dark hair, which he wore in a topknot, and dark eyes with pronounced tear troughs. He wore the standard attire of the Leaf shinobi, including a flak jacket, and the shoulders of his shirt were emblazoned with the symbol of the Police Force. He arrived with a few men in tow.

"Chunin Yakumi," Iruka stepped forward.

"Chunin Iruka," Yakumi nodded. He looked over to Takuma and nodded that Takuma had returned. "I assume these are the thieves," he looked at the tied-up people.​

"Yes. It went as planned. I hope this will be enough to wrap this up," said Iruka.

Yakumi motioned to his men, and they placed shackles on the thieves. "I believe it will be," he said. "I'll need you and your team to come to the headquarters for statements before you're free of your duties. I appreciate that you handled the situation well. This case had the farms and pharmacy eat our ears off… we will be able to put this matter to rest now," his stone-flat face showed a crack or two of annoyance.

"Anything you require from us," said Iruka, and they were off to the headquarters.

———

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The Leaf Military Police Force headquarters was what Takuma had expected it to be. Dominated by the Uchiha clan. Wherever he looked, he found shinobi wearing clothes with both Police Force and Uchiha fan crests on their clothes. He did notice there were shinobi that didn't have the Uchiha fan crest on them and didn't look like standard Uchiha.

When he pulled them aside to ask, they told him that they were loaned to the Police Force from the Genin Corp. The Hidden Leaf village was big, and the Uchiha clan wasn't enough to provide enough manpower to cover the streets of the entire village.

Yakumi had already taken his statement, and he had to say, while the Uchiha officer had been stern, their interaction had been perfectly pleasant and professional. He had no complaint with their treatment and was re-evaluating his opinion about the Uchiha.​

Takuma was refilling his water canteen when he abruptly heard a voice behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

Takuma turned his head to come face to face with metallic amber eyes glaring… staring sharply… at him. He recognized the girl immediately and was about to reply when he felt cold water from his overflowing canteen touch his finger and hurriedly turned back to turn off the tap.

"Arisu, what a surprise seeing you here," said Takuma, turning back to the girl he had fought in the semi-final. It was purely out of reflex prompted by the memory of the fight that his eyes went to Arisu's ear.

She noticed and immediately released the locks tucked behind her ear to cover it with her shoulder-length hair. Her sharp stare turned into a glare pretty quickly.

"I can't really tell that someone bit your ear, it looks brand new," Takuma chuckled awkwardly.

"Someone?" snapped Arisu.

"I bit it off," said Takuma. "But to be fair, you did try to take a chunk of thigh off."

"You bit my ear first!"

"Did I?" smiled Takuma. He didn't want to be on bad terms with Arisu. Except for the semi-final, they had never really interacted much during the academy out. And he didn't count bickering during the heat of battle as a sign of a bad relationship.

As Takuma gazed at Arisu, he noticed, like all the people in the Police Force, she too wore the standard Leaf shinobi gear. But what attracted his attention was the Police Force sash around her arm.

"You work here?" he asked, surprised.

"I do, why?" Arisu asked, still a little snippy but much less than before.

"Weren't you in the Genin Corp like everyone? When did you move to the Police Force?"​

Arisu sniffed, "Fuma clan have been serving in the Police Force since it was founded. Our members move out of the Genin Corp after a couple months of service. I was transferred to the Police Force after four months."

Takuma stared at the girl in bafflement. He had been slogging every day in the Genin Corp, doing one D-rank mission after another, and here was someone who had already moved into THE Leaf Military Police Force

The reputations associated with the Police Force were many. The obvious one it being completely controlled by the Uchiha, which was true. Even Takuma knew that the majority of the higher-ups in the Police Force were Uchiha. Another thing known about the Police Force was them being strict and harsh against crime, especially shinobi who committed crimes. It was a near-unanimous consensus that Police Force ruled their affairs with fear. They were a big reason why a place filled to the brim with chakra-wielding shinobi was able to maintain a civil environment.

While the civilians generally liked the Police Force as it was an institution that kept them safe from the 'what-ifs' of living among shinobi. In the pages of history, shinobi hadn't been kind to the normal folk. On the other side of the coin, many shinobi disliked the Police Force for the power they wielded over them. The restrictions didn't suit many shinobi. It was a position that most law-enforcement institutions suffered, no matter what the world.​

But below all of that, regardless of like and hate, everyone agreed that the Leaf Military Police Force was that it housed and trained elite shinobi. "Elite shinobi who monitor fellow shinobi." It was a place many shinobi desired to be a part of despite knowing how closed off it was because of the control Uchiha exerted over the force.

At that moment, Takuma envied the girl in front of him. He didn't know what perks the Police Force provided to its members, there was no doubt they were more resourceful than what he had now.

"What are you doing here?" asked Arisu.

Takuma sighed as he stared at the girl. "Just completed my first C-rank mission."

"Oh, what was it?"​

"It was issued by your Police Force, actually. We just caught the Herb Robbers."​

"What?!" Arisu shouted, attracting the attention of the nearby people. "I wanted to be on that case! They told me I wasn't ready for a case like that!"

Takuma took in the girl before him. Unexpectedly, even Miss Police Force had something she was envious of. He took in a swig from his canteen as he walked by her.

"Well, I did beat you up in the semi-final. Who knows, if you try a little harder, they will let you wear the big-boy pants," he said.

"What did you say?!"

———

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The life of a Genin Corp genin was going through the chain of D-rank missions without thinking much about anything else. Most genin didn't even think there was anything else to think about. They did their jobs, got paid, and enjoyed the peaceful lives that the no-danger D-rank mission warranted them.

Most of the time, it was a question of when people realized that they had been stuck in the same position for a long time. This was when they would realize that there was much to be done if they wished to advance in their careers. The problem they would face then was that they lacked the resources to make that progress happen.

The Genin Corp wasn't a place with abundant resources for genin to progress. Most would find it difficult to find resources and would once again be lulled into the embrace of comfort they were in before. Those who did find a way to get their hands on ways to progress on the ladder would compete with others like them for what little their surroundings had to offer. Only a portion of them succeeded.​

Takuma had always known that he couldn't stay still and had to advance if he was to survive what was to come. Even then, he had been trapped in the swamp that was Genin Corp for a long time. If not for the Ring, he would've been no different than the swarms of people around him.​

It was only now after his first C-rank mission did he find that the swamp had let go of one of his feet. But only for a little while. It was a chance for him to get his second foot out. If he didn't make the most of it, the swamp would take both his feet again.

Fortunately, an opportune time had arrived his way.

Takuma stared at the building sign that hung over the lonely building that looked too big for how empty it was.

Learning Resource Center

It was like the last time he had seen it. The place where shinobi held courses for their fellow shinobi in exchange for compensation. A place that should've been brimming with shinobi wanting to learn and expand their skillset seemed to be a place people didn't even look at as they passed the building by.

And Takuma couldn't understand why he was called to this place…

"Takuma, my dear rookie."

Takuma didn't need to turn to recognize the voice as that of Enomoto. He turned to the man and saw him smiling with his eyes covered with his small blackout shades.

"Excited?" asked Enomoto.

"I'm confused," Takuma pointed to the Learning Resource Center.

"Good," smiled Enomoto. "Let's get you paid."

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