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While the Ratel Squad was primarily focused on ROOT, all operatives had their own side investigations that were either 'tangentially' related to ROOT or not at all. It was all up to Ratel's discretion. Hippo wasn't sure where one of his own investigations lay on that spectrum. He was asked by Ratel to keep an eye on one Yakushi Kabuto, a genin and iryō-nin working at a hospital in the Hidden Leaf Village.
According to Ratel, the subject was a potential ROOT sleeper agent, but after observation, Hippo wasn't sure if that assessment was entirely accurate. There was no doubt that there was something wrong with Kabuto. For the most part, the young man was firmly in the mundane category. He was well-liked, smart, and hardworking, and his daily routines were dominated by being overworked as an iryō-nin at the hospital. He spent most of his time with people from work and some outside friends, but from time to time, he would abruptly meet people far outside his expected social circles.
He met a combination of very suspicious people with less-than-legal dealings that no normal person should be meeting without a specific reason.
"What am I seeing?" Ratel asked as he sat down at his desk in his office.
"The people Yakushi Kabuto has been meeting in his free time," Hippo said, pointing at a list he had prepared.
"Yes, I recognise some of them," Ratel said, perusing the list.
"Boss, I don't think Yakushi Kabuto is connected to ROOT."
"Why?" Ratel asked, tapping the list.
"He's definitely suspicious, but the people he's meeting with don't run in the same circles as ROOT. These are the people who would rather confess their crimes than admit to having anything to do with Danzo's cult."
The people Kabuto sat down with included Amane Kiteretsu, a former Leaf chūnin who had opted to let his contract lapse without renewal to become a lobbyist for affluent businesses and cities seeking the vast amount of wealth and influence the Hidden Leaf its shinobi clans possessed. As a former shinobi, Kiteretsu commanded respect and acknowledgement from other shinobi, and he was familiar with village politics and thus could act as a bridge or proxy for outside interests. He had built himself substantial wealth and influence by appealing to his clients' interests.
There was value in his work for the Hidden Leaf as well. However, there were rumours that he wasn't just lobbying for parties native to the Land of Fire. It was said that he had been getting money from the Land of Wind and possibly even the Hidden Sand to do their bidding and influence policies in the Hidden Leaf. ANBU certainly thought so.
Of course, he was careful not to leave any clear evidence of his dealings that could get him in trouble. And his connections inside the Hidden Leaf, built through wining and dining people of influence, kept him safe. And as shady as Kiteretsu was, he wouldn't touch ROOT with a ten-foot pole because he knew that his clients in the Hidden Sand would drop him like a ton of bricks if he had the ROOT stink on him; people knew that getting into business with Shimura Danzo was dangerous.
So, it was strange that Kabuto, a genin without a notable background, was sitting with people like Kiteretsu.
"There's merit in continuing surveillance on him, but I think we should pass it on to someone else. This doesn't align with our responsibilities."
"That's a valid assessment," Ratel said as he looked over the list again, closely this time, and put check marks against some of the names, "but I want this to remain under us, so continue looking into him. I'd also like you to look into these people."
Hippo was silent for a moment. "May I know why you want us to handle this?" Relative to the size of their squad, their workload was possibly the highest among the ANBU. They already had their hands full with ROOT, so he couldn't understand why Ratel wanted them to keep more on their plates.
"I believe there's value in pursuing this." There was a pregnant pause in the room before Ratel asked, "Do you have a problem with this assignment, Hippo? If you want to switch out, I will release you from this one."
There was no threat in his tone, and yet it seemed like one. Hippo often forgot that Ratel was only a teenager. A youngster of his age would be idealistic, but Ratel was anything but. Before coming to work under him, Hippo looked into Ratel's past, and there were rumours about his work in the Police Force and his tendency to bend the rules. Hippo found those rumours to be substantiated. Ratel abused his authority and skirted the rules, which wasn't strange in ANBU, but unlike his peers, who usually had personal benefit, padding results, or departmental politics in mind, Ratel's rule-bending was always geared towards getting the job done.
It definitely made Ratel more powerful, giving him influence over people and situations that he should have nothing to do with—influence that he could further abuse, increasing the risk of a dangerous consolidation of power—but those on the squad knew that a man as obsessed as Ratel had nothing but work on his mind. Most only feared what would happen if his focus did deviate from work.
"I only wish to understand the reasoning behind this," Hippo said. He knew of bosses who told their subordinates to shut up and follow orders even if they were wrong, but Ratel hadn't pushed anyone to the point of keeping their tongues tied in fear of retaliation.
Ratel sighed. He clearly didn't want to discuss it. "I can't reveal my source. Yakushi Kabuto is a dangerous individual. I fear that if we pass him on to others, they will find what you found and may choose to bring him in the moment he slips up. However, as dangerous as he might be, I believe the one who's above him is undoubtedly more dangerous…"
"And who might that be?"
"I have no idea. I want to find out."
Hippo didn't know if he believed that. Ratel was upfront with his team, but that didn't mean that the young boss didn't have his secrets; he probably had a lot of secrets.
———
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Hippo had more or less figured out how to keep an eye on Kabuto's suspicious activities.
There were only so many people Kabuto could meet, and after a while, Hippo managed to nail down a cast of individuals he could track the subject through. Many of them had some connection with the Land of Wind and the Hidden Sand. The names Ratel had marked on the list revealed that pattern, which became further visible after extended surveillance and investigation. These people already had some level of surveillance tagged onto them. Hippo could just piggyback off that to keep an eye on Kabuto.
Unfortunately, Hippo didn't have eyes inside the hospital.
The iryō-nin status, though legit, was clearly meant to keep him in the Hidden Leaf Village. At first, he didn't think much of it, but according to the hospital records, Kabuto had a lot of personal lab hours despite not having published any research papers or performing any dedicated work under a senior iryō-nin. But that didn't mean there was an obvious fault, because the lab hours could be for training or something else. Because he wasn't an expert in the field, he consulted an iryō-nin friend, who did seem to think that the amount and distribution of hours were strange enough to take a look. But to assess the truth, he needed someone on the inside.
Fortunately for him, he had extensive experience in developing assets and had candidates in mind.
"No, find someone else," Ratel said, pushing the profile of the asset away from him.
"Pardon?" Hippo was surprised. They had discussed asset cultivation numerous times before, and every time, Ratel had questions, suggestions, and support that helped, but this was the first time he had rejected an asset outright without any follow-up. "Boss, she's the best option we have. They know each other and have a great amount of intersection throughout the day. She could collect intel for us with minimal effort."
The asset he wanted as an informant was Genin Ai, an iryō-nin in training. She had frequent run-ins with Kabuto due to their duties, and they were personal friends who often took their lunches together with a group of young iryō-nin.
She had a clean background. A talented kunoichi who was invited to the Hidden Leaf to try out for jōnin tutelage, and even though she had failed that test, she eventually became a personal apprentice under Tokujō Oishi, an elite iryō-nin and a high-ranking member of the Leaf's Medical Corps, and was in line to become the head of his hospital after the current head stepped down. She was a hard worker, had good grades, great reviews, and was all set to become an iryō-nin with a great pedigree. Nothing from roommates to friends to financials raised any alarms. There were no bad habits that could cause trouble. Her psychological profile, which said that she would be calm and stable under pressure, made her an attractive candidate to be developed as an informant.
Hippo wanted her. In fact, he had already started the process to convert her and simply wanted the authorisation to get to the next level.
"Find someone else," Ratel said.
"Why? Is there something wrong with her?"
"No, there's nothing wrong with her, but you should explore other options."
Hippo sank into his chair, feeling incredulous. There was always something with the Yakushi Kabuto investigation. Everything else, he and Ratel got along, but with this one, Ratel always had something to say. Not passing it along to someone else better suited? Fine, he didn't have a problem with that. He had wanted to get closer personally, but Ratel banned it, not allowing any amount of acceptable risk, which was bizarre for Ratel, who had an appetite for risk, and now, rejecting a perfectly good informant candidate.
"Boss, if you don't want me to do the job, why did you give it to me?" Hippo asked.
Ratel stared at him before getting up to close the office door. "Did you do a background check?" he asked.
"Of course I did. Everything's fine with her."
"I know. But you clearly missed something."
"Missed what?" Hippo frowned. He was always extra careful with the background check of potential assets. He needed to be sure; otherwise, the smallest of things could generate problems afterwards.
"Me. You missed me," Ratel said, raising his hands.
"I don't get it."
"I know her, Hippo. Personally. We are close."
Hippo silently blinked as he stared at his squad leader. "That's not possible. Sure, I didn't go down the entirety of her social network, but I would have caught it if you were close to her."
Ratel looked like a mix of ashamed and offended before a tiredness settled on his face—a type of tiredness that looked so out of place on a young face, even on the face of Ratel, who looked perpetually tired.
"Well, I didn't say I was a good friend," he sighed.
"So you know her," Hippo leaned in, eager. "If you have a personal connection, then you should be on point for this."
A personal connection could be dangerous, but it also increased the asset's willingness to follow orders and reduced the chances of careless behaviour.
"I don't want her involved in this because it's personal. She's a good kunoichi with a great future ahead of her. Do you know that she should already be an iryō-nin? She's good enough to be one, but Doctor Oishi has higher standards for his students and wants her to meet his criteria before she gets her coat and seal. She doesn't have the time or freedom to be involved with us… Find someone else, Hippo."
Hippo pursed his lips and then sank into his chair with a sigh.
"As you order, boss."
———
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The morning light in Clinic Room 3 filtered through thin blinds, casting striped shadows across the linoleum. The air held its usual clinical, sharp scent, softened only by the vanilla hand cream that Ai applied between every five patients. She smoothed the front of her white coat, the fabric still stiff from the laundry, and glanced at the chart on the clipboard.
A familiar shuffle sounded in the hallway, followed by the door creaking open.
"Still moving, I see," Ai said, her voice warm as she looked up from the chart that documented a middle-aged shinobi and the many complications that came with it.
She saw many shinobi at her job. Most of their problems didn't have anything to do with battle, but were from long careers of physical labour as farmhands, couriers, and in construction and mining after they had retired. They didn't tend to visit the hospital, confident and prideful of their bodies, but so slowly, punishment from labour crept in silently until it became a big problem in middle age.
Her current patient was similar. Small aches that slowly accumulated until they caused problems while sitting and made sleeping harder.
"How are you feeling, sir? Have you been doing the exercises I told you?" she asked.
"I have been busy, miss."
"You won't get better if you don't take care of yourself."
"I did a little," Hippo said as he sat down in front of her with the smile of a jolly, middle-aged blue-collar man.
Ratel may have given him the investigation, and sure, he didn't want to do it at first, but it was his investigation now, and he was going to take the steps for the best of the investigation. And if that got him in trouble with his boss? Well, he was getting old and wouldn't mind getting stuck behind a desk.
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