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Tern entered the squad's office in the ANBU headquarters to a round of applause that stopped her in her tracks as she stared at the smiling faces. It was so unfamiliar and unexpected that the gears in her mind came to a screeching halt before she realised that they were congratulating her for a successful mission.
She bowed in acceptance, doing her best to school her expressions because she couldn't recall the last time she had received this sort of reception. As an ANBU-nin, she was supposed to be adept at controlling her emotions, but they were threatening to embarrass her in front of her colleagues.
Standing in front of his office was Ratel, clapping as well, with a rare, pleased smile on his face. After setting her things down in her office and taking a moment to gather herself, she headed to his office.
"Congratulations, Tern. I hope everything went smoothly?" he said.
"Yes, sir. Everything went without a hitch."
She didn't dare complain about the ANBU genin operatives, who only did things when she explicitly ordered them. She would order the other shinobi from the city, and they would stand to the side, not participating or even asking for their orders. They, technically, didn't do anything wrong, but it was difficult and annoying to say the least.
"You have all co-leaders, lieutenants, and fixers in custody. Take a day, prepare the report, and proceed with the interrogations."
Scorched Wolves used three fixers to get the jobs. One of them had to be the point-of-contact for the ROOT jobs. They wanted to identify the fixer and the intermediary, hopefully an agent, who brought them those jobs. If they couldn't get them, they at the very least wanted the names of the clients and the deeds the mercenary group had done for them.
"Once we start targeting these people, what if there's pushback from above?" she asked.
"There'll be pushback, but that's my responsibility. We'll face some limitations, but I plan to circumvent them, which will require us to take actions that might fall in the grey zone. Will you have a problem with them, Tern?"
"Not a problem," she replied.
This was a call for trust. She had to be quick and confident. He wasn't asking her to do whatever he wanted and calling it a grey area. He was asking if he brought up things that weren't exactly by the book, would she be willing to listen and have a discussion about it? Any hesitation from her would've given the impression that she didn't want to take the risk.
And he was someone who had openly claimed to the team that he was planning to "take over" the anti-ROOT initiative. A refusal would probably have excluded her from most of the important happenings in the team.
He was asking her to put some skin in the game.
She knew how to protect herself, but this was also the opportunity that had pulled her out of ruin.
She wouldn't let it slip out of her grasp easily.
———
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Boobook clapped in applause for Tern completing her mission and congratulated her teammate at her desk. It wasn't a particularly difficult mission, per se, but there was a clear distinction between difficult and important.
While she was happy that the squad was making progress, she couldn't let herself fall behind. She had her own important work to do for the squad that Ratel entrusted to her. After lunch, she found herself at a rooftop terrace of a confectionery store with two operatives from the anti-ROOT initiative.
"I guess, Mister Big Shot is too important to meet with us lowly ones," said Harrier, sitting in his seat with crossed arms and legs spread wide. Magpie, sitting next to him, scoffed.
They were among those who thought that Ratel had made a mistake in choosing the people he included in his squad and were offended that only one was invited to join. They thought that they deserved to be on the squad even though none of them had even brought in anything of value on their own. Most of their contributions were a result of working on information sourced by someone else.
Ratel essentially used them as foot soldiers because, even if they couldn't be bothered with the tedious work that required time, they were still ANBU operatives who were rather skilled at fieldwork.
"So you don't want the information?" she asked, cutting into the slice of pastry.
"Listen here, Boobook. If you think I'm going to be threatened by that, you're mistaken. I don't need his fucking crumbs if he doesn't first respect us. If he wants to work with us, tell him to come to us on his own," said Magpie.
"Ratel respects you, Magpie. That's why he wants to entrust this case to you because he knows you'll do a good job," Boobook said.
She had discretion over what information to give which operatives, and it would've been easier to work with those who were more agreeable, but Ratel wanted complete control, which could only be accomplished by bringing people like the two before her to their side.
"But don't misunderstand, you absolutely need us," she said bluntly.
"What did you just say?" Harrier raised his voice and leaned forward, his facial muscles tightening.
"I heard you've not been doing well. Messed up a case a while back," she said.
The insult on his face retreated as she pinched a sore nerve. Harrier had messed up a case that was a mess to clean up. He was on a tight leash with his lieutenant, and his work with the initiative was what was keeping him floating while he tried to get back into his boss's good graces.
She turned to Magpie. "And I heard that your captain is quite proud of the number of his operatives who are participating in the initiative. I heard a few whispers that Weasel is thinking about making some changes, cutting the dead weight to make space for some fresh faces, and let me tell you, he values Ratel's opinion."
That point was true, which is why Ratel wanted more people working on his information. The more people he brought under his influence, the more relevant and significant his opinion became in Weasel's eyes, giving Ratel more of a voice in how to run the initiative.
She knew she had pinched sore nerves when she saw the insult retreat on their faces.
It wasn't like they were incompetent. If they wanted to take it seriously, they had the know-how to contribute more significantly, but they, like many others, had joined the initiative with the wrong initiative. The initiative's operatives had existing responsibilities to their squad, which meant they were taking on extra work, either by putting in more time and effort or cutting corners in their main responsibilities.
The former wasn't attractive while the latter wasn't an option.
So they operated on the mindset of doing the least, which resulted in fieldwork for someone else who had actually put in the proper effort. It was a decision made from the reasoning that, unless they were producing consistently great work, which took time and effort they didn't have, all of them were getting the same amount of recognition, which was better than suffering in their main responsibility that would have their squad leaders and lieutenants coming down on them.
Did that excuse their middling efforts?
No, it didn't. Boobook was in the same situation, and she had worked hard, and while it wasn't at Ratel's level, she had found her own information, built her own cases, and even participated in the fieldwork—and that's what had made Ratel want her over everyone else in the initiative.
In the end, everyone had their complex circumstances, and they made the most of it with their limited capabilities.
"This is a goddamn gift that you'd be fools to reject. Ratel isn't asking you to bend the knee or kiss his robes or stupid shit like that. He's giving you this stuff because he thinks it suits you." She threw a semi-redacted case file in front of Harrier. "Look at that. The fieldwork for that will take you south, right in the region that falls under the responsibility of your lieutenant. What do you think your lieutenant and captain will think when you tell them that you fought for this assignment and handled it to ensure it doesn't become a problem for your unit?"
Harrier silently swallowed as he read through the contents, and even with the redaction, he could tell that if he managed to deal with this, he would take a big step towards regaining his lieutenant's trust.
"And this is for you," she said, chucking the other case file into Magpie's chest, who hastily caught it. "It's more effort, but it's really flashy, just the kind of stuff that your captain likes to go around and brag about. And you know he's going to brag to Weasel, who will remember your name and maybe won't fucking boot your useless ass."
Right now, the sentiment in the initiative was against Ratel and his squad. There were many people who still wanted to work with Ratel because they weren't idiots and recognised the value of the intel and case preparation he provided. However, the negative sentiment made them work on their terms, at their pace. That wasn't enough for Ratel, who could be very picky about how he wanted things done.
These two hadn't put in the effort, but they were loud. They were vocal about their dissatisfaction, and they would be equally loud with kind words when they began accepting cases. That would raise the sentiment and have people be more receptive to Ratel's requests.
She didn't need to hear their response to know that they were in. She had taken a thorough look at them to determine which buttons she could push to get what she wanted and prepared cases that they would jump to grab without hesitation.
Like Ratel, Boobook also had thoughts about how to exert a wider influence on the anti-ROOT initiative and looked forward to doing so. It would take some effort, but she was determined to make it happen.
.
———
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