The 20th. ANBU locker room.
Just after finishing a routine patrol in Konoha, every operative faced their locker, peeling off their ANBU flak jackets.
Yako's breathing was lighter than usual, as if making himself smaller would save him from being picked.
You know the fear when your team leader calls your name?
Like slacking off for a week, only to have the manager ask you to present the proposal.
Like walking in from a massage parlor and your wife says, "Get in bed. Now."
And then the squad captain called Yako's codename.
"Fox. Tonight, watch the Tsurugetsu Izakaya."
Dammit. It's me again.
Is it because I'm the most useless?
Everyone else gets rest. The weak have no right to rest?
He put the flak jacket he'd just taken off back on.
Not standard shinobi armor—this was the grey iron vest, just like the one Kakashi wore during his ANBU days.
Iron armor that didn't give the slightest sense of safety.
After nightfall, Yako hid again in the woods at the street corner, eyes on the distant izakaya.
A flick of his eyes beneath the mask—he thought he was alert enough to anticipate it, but he still didn't know how the squad captain showed up so silently.
Even after all that mental prep, he still flinched when the captain arrived.
He asked for money again. This time, he thickened his face and asked for three bundles.
Why not? He bled for ANBU. ANBU should treat him right.
Back in the Tsurugetsu Izakaya, he went straight to the corner.
"Bring me your most expensive sake!"
The same sultry proprietress showed up, bottle in hand, seductive smile in place, sidling up to Yako.
That neckline. So low.
Yako stared, entranced.
So big, so perfect—but why didn't they bounce? Just a little less than ideal.
Same setup. Her high, heavy chest pressing into his side again, they walked into the rear side room.
She closed the door behind them.
"Ninja-sama, do you prefer Yang Release… or Yin Release?"
"Oh, I get it. I really get it. Sometimes I like Yang, sometimes Yin. When I'm tired, Yin—you get on top. When I'm good to go, Yang—I get on top!"
"Hehehe… Ninja-sama, you truly do understand."
Yako joked with his mouth, but his mind was steel-wire tense.
Movement!
Something shifted!
In the corner—something was coming up from the ground.
No surface change, but he knew this trick—he had Earth Release: Fish in the Earth. He felt the tremor, the subtle ripple of chakra.
"I can't wait anymore! Let's go! Yang Release first!"
He threw the woman down, lunging not at her, but toward the shadow where the movement had come from.
From his lower back, he pulled the hidden kunai and drove it between the woman's legs.
She thought, Damn, this Konoha shinobi is eager…, but then caught a glimpse of the kunai's iron ring just past Yako's shoulder.
Shit!
Between her legs—cold.
She hit the ground, just about to react, when a muffled grunt came from beneath her back.
Even worse!
The kunai wasn't meant for her—it struck someone underground!
That grunt—it came from the spy!
The kunai had hit something vital—most likely the heart.
This Konoha ninja had just so happened to drive the blade through her legs into her hidden comrade's heart.
Her mind went white-hot.
The village had paid a high price for this spy identity. So many comrades died for it. Teammates who trained beside her, mentors who taught her—they all fell to Konoha.
To protect each other, she and this teammate had never met in person. All their exchanges were via coded marks and signals.
But now—he was exposed. And she must not be.
Only way to preserve her cover: play dumb.
Exposure meant death. If she passed out, maybe Konoha would think she knew nothing.
Only chance she had.
"Ah—!"
She slammed the back of her head against the floor, and went limp.
Yako could clearly feel her body go soft—out cold.
Was she a spy? If she was, why risk passing out now? Why not fear he'd just finish her off?
No time to dwell. First, get the captain. He was still in the woods at the corner.
Yako left the side room, leapt onto the rooftop, flickered away to signal the captain, then returned to the room.
The door swung open. Seconds later, the captain entered.
Cautiously, he closed the door and surveyed the room. "Blood around the kunai… someone underground. Fox, was that your kill?"
"Yes, Captain. My chakra nature's Earth. I sensed something below and stabbed the ground with my kunai."
The captain nodded. "Good. Very good."
With a motion, he shattered the floor. The body below surfaced.
Caked in earth, streaked with blood.
He checked the corpse and said:
"Earth Release specialist. Judging by the square face, looks like someone from the Land of Earth—likely an Iwa-nin spy."
"Excellent. Fox, you've just completed a B-rank mission."
"A fresh Chūnin completing a B-rank assignment—your luck is good. White Fang once said luck is a kind of strength, too."
Yako blinked. His squad captain had met White Fang?
So Kakashi's line about luck being strength probably came from his father, Hatake Sakumo.
Yako corrected him: "Captain, my skills aren't that bad."
"If not for the thousand-dead massacre at the Hot Water border, the wartime Chūnin exams wouldn't have gone soft. You wouldn't be Chūnin for another three years."
Yako knew he couldn't fix the man's impression of him, so he gestured to the unconscious woman.
"She's still breathing."
"No problem. The landlady's out cold."
"Captain, is she an Iwa spy?"
"Can't say yet. First we'll extract intel from the corpse. Maybe we can trace a lead from there," the captain said.
"If she's a spy, we won't let her go. I'll take the spy. You clean up. Make sure no one sees ANBU was here. Then report back."
He slung the body over his shoulder and vanished.
Yako painstakingly restored the ground, then moved the landlady to the bed.
He looked down at her one last time. Pity, really. Didn't bounce, wasn't soft, but damn was she big.
Back at the grove, Yako retrieved his gear, then returned to the ANBU base.
He and the captain pushed the corpse to Intel Division.
A Yamanaka clan ninja came to receive it.
Yako said, "Captain, can I take a few days off? These days of patrol, surveillance, and this spy op—it's wearing me down."
The captain was about to refuse—but thought of Yako's trash-tier skills. Whether he was there or not made no difference. Since the kid completed a spy op, he said:
"Alright. You get three days of rest. But stay on standby. Konoha needs manpower now. Be back in three days, no delays."
"Understood. Thank you, Captain."
Yako had to survive until the next full moon on the 15th to use his resurrection.
That gave him 25 days.
He'd drag out each one as long as he could.