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The meeting continued for some more time before Ratel left for his round of greetings. He dismissed the squad for the day, but they hung around to decide who would use which office. They had to set up their offices quickly so they could start working, as the assassination attempt had already delayed their launch.
Boobook, standing in her office while wondering how she would fit in her usual, turned around from a knock on the door.
"Hi, neighbour," Mor greeted with a smile.
"I thought Aquilla wanted that office."
"He wanted a room facing east. I got him one. Brokered a three-way deal with me, him, and Hippo. Hippo wanted a corner office, so I gave him mine. He gave his to Aquilla, and I got the one beside you."
"What did you get out of the deal?"
"I get to be near the snack room." Mor winked. "Hey, can I ask a question?" he asked when she nodded.
"About Ratel?"
"Uh-huh. You're the only one who knew him before this. I have talked to him a couple of times, and don't get me wrong, he seemed pleasant, but it's by no means enough to know someone. Especially my squad leader, whom I'm going to be spending a lot of time with."
It was crucial to accurately assess a team's culture, which was always shaped by the leader, to avoid potential problems by getting on the leader's bad side.
"What do you want to know? Just remember, our relationship was more of a collaboration than teamwork." Boobook had never actually worked under Ratel because that's not how the initiative worked. Instead, he was the source of information that many others used. Ratel's goal for the squad wasn't a new strategy. He had been finding ROOT's known associates and allies, and getting others in the initiative to target them.
"It'd be nice to know more about him, so I, at least, don't get on his bad side by something I wouldn't've done if I knew he didn't like it," Mor said.
Boobook thought for a moment. "He values work. Produce results, and he'll look at you favourably. He's not unreasonable either. He's willing to listen and offer flexibility on how you want to do things."
"So, no micromanagement?" Mor asked, hopefully.
"He's hands-off for the most part, but you need to keep him in the loop unless he specifically asks for plausible deniability. Don't misunderstand, he likes control. He'll read the reports, likes to be up to date, and asks questions that you must have answers to," she replied seriously.
While Ratel valued results, it wasn't above all else. He was very involved with the people to whom he shared information and what they did with it. Someone dodged him after getting vital information, trying to covet credit, but then they screwed up badly. The kicker was that none of it would've happened if they hadn't avoided Ratel. He worked with them again, but they never got anything more than scraps.
"He takes responsibility for things tied to him even if he's not the one working on them, so if you aren't trying to do a good job, he'd rather not associate with you. Respect him and the work, and he'll respect you."
That was probably why Ratel had chosen her. Out of everyone he worked with, Boobook hadn't produced the best results, but she worked with him the best. They argued and had differences in opinions, but they always managed to reach an agreement that satisfied both of them without any feelings of misgiving.
"What about politics? Feel like he doesn't like to dip into that pool," Mor asked.
"It's not his favourite, but he will absolutely do so to get what he wants out of it, so don't worry about our squad getting screwed over because he doesn't know how to play. But in the team, I think it'll be better if we just do the work. He's good at identifying credit, which also means he's also good at knowing who doesn't deserve it."
"So, you're a big fan, huh?"
Boobook shrugged. "I like him. Doesn't mean I agree with everything he does."
Just looking at the squad. She was the only one from the initiative. If it were her, she would've taken at least two more to ensure the team had a stable base of experience and would've supplemented it by hiring two people with skills others didn't have.
Ratel might not like politics, but the way he had formed the squad was clearly motivated by politics. Instead of forging a closer relationship with the anti-ROOT initiative, he chose to build connections elsewhere. Why else would there be a Shimura on the team?
Boobook knew that a lot of people in the initiative weren't fans of the hiring decision. They felt he had taken advantage of their efforts and reaped the rewards without sharing with them—even though most of them wouldn't have gotten said reward if the entire squad was formed from the initiative. In fact, being the sole initiative member in the squad made Boobook a target of envy, dissatisfaction, and anger, because she didn't produce the best results.
Ratel had prioritised someone he got along with, and that itself didn't sit well with the others. It was a choice—whether it was right or wrong, only time would tell.
———
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While Mor and Boobook talked in the latter's office, the remaining three members themselves were having a similar conversation about their squad leader in the snack room over coffee.
"So, what do you think about Ratel?" Hippo asked as he poured an amount of sugar that disgusted the others into his coffee. "I've never worked under someone this young, but you guys are closer to him in age, so help me out, yeah? How old is he anyway?"
"Fifteen," said Aquilla as his finger hovered over the selection of snacks.
Hippo whistled. "Is that younger or older than Weasel?"
"Do you have a problem working under someone younger?" Tern asked him.
Hippo waved his hand with a laugh. "Not at all. I've worked under plenty of younger people, but not someone as young as Ratel—at least not directly. Honestly, I was doubtful if someone so young would be able to efficiently lead a team. I mean, not everyone can be like Weasel."
"That's an unfair comparison. That guy is an anomaly," Tern said.
"If you have doubts, then why did you join?" Aquilla asked.
"I got a recommendation. I'm past my days of spending more time in the field than at home." As a genin operative, Hippo spent much of his time in the field doing a lot of things, from collecting information to keeping an eye on a person of interest and sometimes even sabotaging things that ANBU didn't want to happen. He was away from home for weeks, sometimes even months at a time.
"I felt it was time to step away from that type of stuff. I had a choice between this and switching to a staff position," said Hippo. Genin operatives who were interested opted to switch to a staff position whenever a position opened, and if they passed their training and trial period, they successfully transitioned.
"Didn't want to switch to staff? That would've kept you behind a desk permanently," said Tern with a smirk.
A lot of genin operatives didn't want to switch to staff because most of them knew they didn't have what it took to become a chūnin and would remain career genin until they joined ANBU and became "special." It was a matter of immense pride for most, and to forgo that position to become a staff member didn't sit well with them. If they were going to stop being operatives, they would rather leave ANBU altogether than switch to a staff position.
"I did it for my marriage," Hippo replied.
Both of them were confused by the response.
"I have been married for eight years. During that period, the number of times I have spent two months at home at a time, where I returned home every night, can be counted on my fingers. If I suddenly started coming home every day, it would drive my missus crazy."
"How? Isn't that good?" Aquilla said with a frown.
"Oh no, it's not. The 'normal' of our marriage is that we spend a couple of weeks to a month together, passionately, before I disappear for a while, and then we repeat that. It's fun, and we try to make the most of our limited time together. I'm sure the first three months of being around all the time would be great, but then we would start driving each other crazy being together every day, because it would be too different from what we have been living. We need a transition, and while this job isn't perfect for it, it's the best option I have."
Aquilla and Tern looked at each other. The words made sense, and it was surprising to hear them from Hippo because his first impression was of a butch man who wouldn't usually think about things like these, much less share them with his new coworkers.
"I must say: the assassination attempt does help with my confidence in the young boss," said Hippo.
The whole thing was more than impressive. Just being a big enough problem for ROOT to send assassins into the Hidden Leaf Village added to Ratel's reputation, but his turning the tables on them and killing the assassins made him somewhat of a legend.
"Weasel chose him; I guessed he must be good," Tern replied when Hippo turned to her.
In truth, she didn't have much of a choice. Her situation was terrible. For the past two years, she had been stuck. She was an outcast in her own team and was kept away from any and all good cases. She couldn't even transfer because no one was willing to take her.
Tern wanted to quit when she realised there was no future for her, but her clan shut her down because a member of ANBU was important for them, given their current situation. Even an outcast agent had value. She tried to reason with her clan multiple times, but they didn't budge.
It was such a tough time in her life that she was furious when Ratel called her, thinking it was a cruel joke, but then she realised it was a real offer. She still couldn't believe it until she was sitting across from Ratel, talking about her history to see if she would be a good fit.
When he finally offered the job, there was only one answer.
"I wanted to work under Weasel," Aquilla answered straightforwardly. "He's the foremost candidate for the next ANBU Commander. When I heard he was going to form a new squad, one that would be taking on the ROOT case, it was a no-brainer. I applied immediately."
The squad's position in the hierarchy was advantageous because they weren't part of a unit and reported directly to Weasel without an ANBU lieutenant between them in the chain. It put them closer to Weasel than others in their position, giving them a higher chance of leaving an impression on the captain.
Ratel was a prime example of what that could become. He caught the eye of Weasel and was made a squad leader when he had only been in ANBU for a little over a year. Most squad leaders were only promoted to their positions after 5 years of experience, at least.
Aquilla had given the reason why he had applied, and they could guess why Ratel had chosen him. Among the squad, Aquilla had the least experience—but none of that mattered when he had the pale eyes that could make up for that lack of experience.
"As Tern said, Weasel chose him. I'm sure he'll be at least competent," he said.
A staff member called the entire squad to the bullpen. He held a stack of files and distributed them to the gathered team.
"This is the official report for the Ratel's assassination incident. The squad will be in charge of the case, so Ratel wants all of you to get familiar with it," said the staff member.
In truth, everyone in the squad was curious about the assassination attempt before, but they couldn't because they didn't want to bombard him with questions on his first day back. Boobook had asked them to avoid the questions until some other day, but now they had the report in their hands.
Even though all of them got a copy, none of them moved; they settled down in the bullpen to read through the report together. They didn't notice when the staff member had gone away as they continued to read the account of events.
They learned about the training field, the barrier that trapped Ratel inside, and they found out about the Gemini Brothers. The agent duo was infamous enough that ANBU had records on them, which stated their speciality. They saw the images of destruction in the training field, pored over the first-hand accounts, and read Ratel's medical records, giving them a picture of what might have happened.
"So, I think we can agree… We have a madman amongst us," Hippo said, voicing others' thoughts.
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