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Oishi Taro wished he had never become a shinobi.
He decided that once his ten-year genin contract ended, he would leave the service and do anything else.
He was serious. The end date of his service contract was pinned on his desk at work. He wanted to have it up at home as well, so he could see it every morning when he woke up, but he was scared that his mother would recognise the date and beat him up with a slipper. A slipper in the hand of a Torture and Investigation chūnin was no joke. It caused all the pain but left none of the marks.
Why not just leave home and live alone? He had the income. However, he couldn't forsake meals cooked by a chef or the convenience of having his room cleaned by cleaners.
It wasn't always like that. He didn't originally wish to retire as a shinobi. In fact, he liked his job. It was a respectable position on the Analysis Team under the Leaf Intelligence Division. Though tough, it was important work that gave him the sense that he was doing something valuable. Unexpectedly, he had found a job he was satisfied with.
There must've been something wrong with his fate, luck, or whatever, because he ran into a black star in the form of a particular ANBU-nin. Ever since that man had entered his life, it had been one stressful task after another.
He had been sent to places all over the Land of Fire—beautiful towns, stunning cities, and locations people would love to vacation in. While he got to enjoy them and get a taste of the 'wanderlust' people talked about, he missed his own bed more.
He was part of the Analysis Team—analysis—he wasn't supposed to be the one doing the procurement.
He liked his job because it was a desk job, and while office politics and irritating colleagues were things he could do without, he had learned to tolerate them; they were part of every job. But since meeting that man, he had been forced to interact with a range of people, civilians and shinobi alike, to gain intelligence from them. He didn't know that there were so many types of frustrating people in the world who all seemed hell-bent on making his life harder.
———
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"Yes, I could get you that information," said Chitara, a Leaf genin stationed in a larger town along one of the busiest trade routes within the Land of Fire.
"That's great. It'd be great if you could get me the information before tomorrow morning when I leave." Taro had travelled a long way from the Hidden Leaf Village because he was in urgent need of a niche piece of information.
It was, of course, the black star ANBU who had personally asked for him to be sent out for the mission. Taro's boss had been more than happy to send him out at that man's whim because their team got all the recognition as the team ANBU most relied on. In truth, it was just that one man. The rest of the ANBU squad assigned to Taro's team asked nowhere near as much of his teammates as was asked of him.
"Sure, but it'd cost you," Chitara said.
Taro, who had been in a surprisingly good mood, suddenly felt that his day and mood were going to take a U-turn because, of course, nothing could be straightforward when he was so far from home. He blamed it all on the man who had sent him so far out.
"You understand the entire reason you're stationed is so we can have the information we need," Taro said with a frown.
The town he was visiting had special circumstances. It was formed some twenty years ago by former Leaf shinobi who had a bad time with the Hidden Leaf. They had formed their settlement on a fledgling trade route that sparingly saw traffic, just enough for the townsfolk to survive. In the two decades since, that particular route had become popular, and the small settlement had grown into a thriving trade town that attracted former Leaf shinobi as residents and workers.
They had warehouses staffed and protected by former shinobi, the best courier services staffed by former shinobi, skilled craftsmen, and the infrastructure and a local administration willing to facilitate trade.
Because they had former shinobi and wished to maintain their autonomy, they shunned the Hidden Leaf. Though created by former shinobi who didn't like the Hidden Leaf, the town as a whole didn't hold any deep-seated animosity against the shinobi establishment. They only saw the Hidden Leaf as competition, a juggernaut that had a reputation for wiping out its competition. The Hidden Leaf had dared to encroach on the Hidden Sand's business; the trade town had only a small population of former genin.
The smarter heads in the town realised that blocking the Hidden Leaf out completely would cause them to be more aggressive, so the town allowed the Hidden Leaf a modest presence, ensuring the village knew they weren't doing anything nefarious.
Chitara was part of that modest presence and had managed to establish himself as a friendly figure in the town. The Hidden Leaf found that to be valuable and thus paid him to be their man on site.
"I know," Chitara replied, "but I'm in need of some cash. A man's gotta eat. You get me the cash, and I can get you the information in a couple of hours if you'd like."
Taro had access to discretionary funds, but the man was asking for an amount that no negotiation could bring down to meet the budget. Not to mention, something about the smug smile on Chitara's face made him want to punch him in the face and not give him a single ryo.
Taro didn't say anything and just left. He would need another way to get the information he wanted.
The next day, Taro was having breakfast at a local diner when Chitara briskly walked in and looked around until he saw Taro and beelined right to his table, anger marring his face.
"What did you do?!"
"Since we parted? Went to see a show at the local theatre, had a fantastic meal at the inn before a heavenly soak that sapped the fatigue right off me," Taro said happily, though he leaned back in case Chitara swung for him.
Chitara slammed the side of his fist on the desk, causing everyone in the diner to look at him. He realised the number of eyes on him and sat down at Taro's table, leaning in to whisper, "Don't bullshit me. Do you know what you did?"
"What did I do, Genin Chitara?" Taro asked.
"You blabbed about the Hidden Leaf's supposed plans for expanding their operations on this trade route. You mentioned my name. You said that I was here in the town to learn their trade secrets and that I was going to leave soon to oversee the expansion," Chitara hissed.
Someone had heard Taro, and the news had spread like wildfire across the town. It was akin to a declaration of war. The Hidden Leaf didn't like them and was trying to run them out of business.
"And what's wrong with that?" Taro said, pulling a napkin to wipe his mouth. "The Hidden Leaf sees a profitable venture and wants to invest. It's only good business, don't you think?"
"You lied! Even if there were plans, you lied about me! I'm not here to learn their trade secrets," Chitara whispered furiously, his eyes bouncing towards the other customers in the diner.
"You caught me," Taro smiled, raising his hands. "And I'm going to lie more today just to drive home the point that you're a key figure."
"Why?!"
"Because you didn't give me the information I asked for."
Chitara was dumbfounded. "You, you—!"
"I just want you to do your job and get me that information, Genin Chitara. But if you can't do that, then I don't think there's any use in paying you to be here."
"You're willing to abandon years of work, gaining their trust?" Chitara asked, unwilling to accept it.
"In all honesty, the Hidden Leaf likes towns like these. We know that shinobi are going to leave service every year and that we can't stop them. So it's good to have reputable places like these for them to seek employment. Yes, they are our competitor, but it's better than inadvertently funnelling people into banditry or other illegal activities."
Chitara stared at Taro and fell silent. Taro saw him trying to gauge if he was serious or not.
"I'll just tell them that it's all a lie," Chitara said.
"That'd be wise, but what do you think is going to win out? Their caution towards the Hidden Leaf or their trust in you? Sure, you could dispel my words as rumours, but do you think your business is going to survive?" Taro said, and Chitara looked taken aback. "Oh, you didn't think I knew about that, did you? I know about that little repackaging business that you have set up with your brother-in-law here, Genin Chitara. Businesses like that work on referrals, don't they? Do you want to test how quickly people will stop sending work your way if I make noise for just a few more days?"
Chitara nervously swallowed. Even if the Hidden Leaf wanted him to learn trade secrets, he wouldn't be the person to do it because he had opened a business and was invested in the growth of the town. It was one of the reasons why the townsfolk trusted him. He had skin in the game.
Taro took out an envelope of cash and placed it on the table between them. "Here's the cash you wanted. I'd like my information now."
Chitara stared at the envelope like it was a slap in the face. He was going to lose his life savings for a wad of cash. "I'll give you what you want, so stop it. Please," he said, his hands balling into fists on his lap.
"I didn't want to do any of this, Genin Chitara. Give me the information and don't try to fleece money out of us for the work we pay you to do, and I'll be out of your life as soon as possible," Taro said.
And so, Chitara gave him the information Taro requested. As it turned out, he had procured the information after Taro had left his office the day before. He was confident that Taro, a young twerp, would buckle under the pressure and cough up the money.
"You need to help me dispel the rumours," Chitara said with urgency in his eyes.
"That's easy. Hire another worker or two for your business. When they see you putting in more, they'll doubt the rumours. And if they come asking, deny the rumours outright and talk about how you really believe in the town and this is your way of showing it," Taro said and picked up the envelope of cash.
"But that'd cost me money," Chitara said. At the scale of his business, hiring even one more person was an expensive decision that he'd rather not make right now.
Taro, who had gotten up to leave, stopped and looked down at the man. "You tried to fleece us, Genin Chitara. Did you think you were getting out of this scot-free? Consider this your punishment and be happy that I'm not going to escalate it further."
He didn't bother giving the man a chance to respond and walked off, pocketing the envelope, which only had the discretionary budget inside that he had padded with paper to make it seem thicker and heavier.
He had learned the art of deception from his frequent visits to the theatre and cinema.
———
.
Taro met assholes like Chitara on every other trip, and he didn't enjoy dealing with them. It was a lot of work to spread those rumours and make sure they spread fast and wide enough so that Chitara would hear about them within the day. It was tiring. He had dozed off halfway through the show in the local theatre.
But none of them was a bigger asshole than Ratel.
And it seemed that his life was only going to get harder because he had heard that Ratel had gotten a promotion. The first time Taro heard about the promotion, he was hopeful that it would free him, as perhaps a change in position would bring about a change in responsibility for the ANBU-nin, severing their relationship.
Alas, he was far too optimistic.
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The link is in the synopsis!