CH_9.2 (317)

CH_9.2 (317)

The day after Takuma returned from the ANBU recruitment, he found himself visiting the Torture and Interrogation headquarters. While he was away, they sent an invitation to Maruboshi's house. How did they find he was living there? Oishi Yori, Taro's mom, asked her son who gave her Takuma's current location along with the fact that he was away at the moment.

"T&I is interested in me?" Takuma asked Anko as she gave him a tour of the headquarters. He had already been to the headquarters while leading the Narcotics Taskforce and consulted with Yori on cases—but it was his first time roaming around the facility instead of making a bee-line to Yori's office.

"Yes, they are," Anko grinned and slapped him on the back. She wore an outfit made from thin metal mesh that fit the lines of her body, covering her from neck to thigh. Over it, she wore a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam and a dark orange mini skirt. "They know all about your work in the Police Force; they found out about the interrogation you did before you arrived at Camp Banana—and I told them about the information gathering and interrogation you performed in Yu."

Takuma was momentarily worried about what Anko might have shared, but the nervousness faded almost immediately. He trusted her to be discreet because she knew what he thought about their time in Yu. He also considered that T&I would regardless know about his actions as they were part of his file, and it wasn't difficult to access it. He was about to meet two Tokubetsu Jonin, who would have enough clearance to know all about him. The only thing they would struggle to access would be his Police Force records, as those files weren't shared with outsiders without a proper reason, and even then, the Police Force made it difficult as they didn't want their internal matters to be aired out.

However, they didn't need his official records because informal flow of information always existed. People knew things, and they talked. There was bound to be someone somewhere in the Police Force who shared what they knew about him. Moreover, Yori knew a lot about his important cases—because he only called her when there was a problem the Narcotic Taskforce couldn't handle on its own.

Takuma just assumed they knew plenty. Since they were interested, he believed they liked what they saw or, at the very least, didn't mind it. It was no use wasting his time and mental bandwidth thinking about what they knew.

"How was your trip?" asked Anko.

"Tiring," Takuma replied with the truth. "I should've just stayed at home and trained." His time in the Narcotics Taskforce, which was around nine months, had slowed down his growth to a crawl. The exuberant free time at Camp Banana had allowed him to learn new ninjutsu, improve his chakra augmentation, and even work on bridging the energy imbalance—but he felt he hadn't done enough. There was so much more work he could, wanted, and needed to do.

"You need to rest more and train less," she sighed.

"Have you already started work?" he asked.

Anko joined Torture and Interrogation after her return from the Steam-Frost war. Although she had been selected before the war, her deployment delayed her joining.

"Yeah, it'll take some time to get used to working, but I've already made acquaintances and friends. It's sure to be smooth sailing," she said before humming a tune softly.

He gazed at her from the side. She seemed much more carefree from when they were at Yu or even Camp Banana, and he was glad to see that as it meant that she had shed the weight she carried during the war. He knew what the position at the Torture and Interrogation meant for Anko; it represented a chance to start fresh.

His eyes briefly gazed at the back of her shoulder. Even though they hadn't discussed it, he knew the true burden she carried. Her past with Orochimaru was something that might never leave her, but as long as she could prove herself in this new place, she could at least move forward.

"Have you seen the dungeons yet?" he asked.

"Dungeons? You mean, the interrogation cells?"

"No, I mean dungeons. You haven’t? Yeah, they have dungeons where they keep people for months."

"No way, come on."

"Nasty place. Keep one of those herbal fragrant inhalers on hand."

No such dungeons existed. He was just pulling it out of his ass because it fit T&I's image to have some dungeon-like place. If it were someone else, they would show concern and nervousness, but as he glanced at his former team leader, who had poisoned him in the name of training, he saw curiosity and excitement in her eyes.

Perhaps it was impossible for her to leave her connection to Orochimaru behind.

They arrived at the Head of Torture and Interrogation's office.

The nameplate on the door said:

{Tokubetsu Jonin Morino Ibiki}

The assistant shinobi dressed in the standard grey Torture and Interrogation uniform guided them into the office. In fact, everyone else other than Anko wore the uniform. He was dressed in the standard Leaf shinobi gear.

"That is indeed competitive," said Ibiki, his tone hiding that he disagreed.

Takuma wanted to nod. Even though he had worked with Taro's mom, that wasn't enough for the Head of Torture and Interrogation to be convinced that he was worthy enough to warrant such a generous compensation package. The demands would've been much more acceptable if he was a seasoned chunin—but for a genin, who would take up one of the department's promotion slots—the demands were difficult to accept.

"Very well, we will return to you with our decision," said Ibiki while standing up, signalling that the conversation was over.

They had barely started to talk, and the conversation had already ended. Takuma knew that Ibiki didn't appreciate his terms.

"Please, take your time," Takuma smiled. Being so upfront with his demands was a gamble, so losing Ibiki's interest wasn't that surprising. He didn't blame the man; his response would've been similar if he had been in the position.

"May I ask where you base your expectations from?" asked Ibiki.

"I have been offered something similar," Takuma replied.

"Oh, and who might that be?"

Takuma couldn't answer the question because neither the Uchiha nor the ANBU had officially extended their offers. Without official confirmations, he couldn't voice his claims—but he could hint without going into the specifics.

"We can talk about that when you extend an offer in earnest," he smiled.

———

.

After he met with Ibiki, Takuma visited Anko and Yori separately and set up plans to have a meal with Anko along with Kameko and visit the Oishi family at their home for dinner. As he was leaving the headquarters, he looked up and saw Amami walking in his direction with four other shinobi in tow, all looking busy and in a hurry.

The Torture and Interrogation uniform looked surprisingly suitable on Amami. Perhaps it was because she looked comfortable in it.

She had been very playful during their team-up. He decided to return the favour.

Amami looked up and saw Takuma wave at her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she stopped, utterly surprised.

Takuma didn't stop and patted her on the shoulder.

"I came to apply for your job, of course," he said before leaning in to whisper in her ear: "You better pass the recruitment because you're out of the job here."

He winked and patted her shoulder before walking away.

"Huh?" she asked, startled.

Takuma didn't turn around and simply waved his hand as he continued to walk.



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