"Fuck off!"

The members of the Narcotics Taskforce were surprised to see the second-in-command hurl profanities from across the room. Arisu was not one to raise her voice in anger and handled matters with a level head, so seeing her act out of character was a surprise.

Takuma didn't mind the reception at all. He was just happy to see her after such a long time and took the sight of her in—even as she stomped across the room. He had never said it to her, but handling Enomoto while running the Narcotics Taskforce was stressful, and she had been his rock throughout it all.

"You came too soon. You should've waited at least another month before showing your face," Arisu said, her face taut with anger and her arms crossed tight.

Apparently, Kameko was so popular that the entire village knew he was back.

"Is it too hard to call or message, you asshat!"

Takuma merely hugged her, which surprised her enough to stop the tirade. Everyone in the office was looking at them, and she was technically their superior officer with an image to maintain but he didn't care.

"Stop it!" she said in a mixture of whispering and hissing.

"I'm sorry," Takuma released her, and she sighed her anger away under his gaze.

"About?"

"Not reaching out to you sooner."

"Good. How are you?" she asked.

Takuma shrugged. He was open to sharing with her, but not now at the headquarters. "Are you free for lunch? We can talk over a meal. I'd like to catch up as well," he said.

"Absolutely!" she smiled and, like a burst of sunshine, the anger on her face dissipated in an instant.

He was glad to see her so excited and responsive because he doubted whether the vibe between them would be awkward because of how they had left things before he had left. Their letters had skirted around the topic of their kiss and he didn't want to compromise his friendship with Arisu over it, nor could he pursue a relationship in his current state.

Takuma wasn't sure when that would change either.

"I see you're back."

He turned to see Uchiha Yakumi walking over. Yakumi used to be Kano's senior and was technically in charge of Takuma's development when he was a new rookie, but had dumped him on his subordinate instead. He was also the one to replace him at the Narcotics Taskforce, and because of that, Takuma didn't like the man one bit.

"Chunin Yakumi," he nodded.

"I'm glad to see that you're safe," said Yakumi as they shook hands.

"I must say, I'm impressed and happy with what you've done here. It looks unrecognisable… but in a good way," Takuma doled out praise while the members of the Narcotics Task Force watched on nervously. No matter his personal feelings, this was a place of work for people he cared about like Arisu and Minoru, and he didn't want to put them in an awkward position.

Like his teacher said, it was better to rebuild a broken bridge instead of burning it down.

Yakumi seemed to understand this motive and smiled, "I just expanded on the foundation you left and I can't take all the credit; it was a team effort. I depended greatly on Arisu while I had just taken over the command."

'But you're getting the credit regardless,' Takuma thought.

He had done the foundation-level work, prepared all the material, and trained labour, only for Yakumi to come in and build a magnificent skyscraper and call it his own.

"If you don't mind, may the three of us talk privately?" he addressed Minoru before turning to Arisu and Yakumi with a nod. "If you don't mind, of course, Chunin Yakumi?"

"I'll get back to work," said Minoru, patting Takuma's shoulder. "Let's catch up some time, yeah?"

Takuma nodded before turning to Yakumi.

"Let's use my office," he replied.

The trio went into Yakumi's office, which was twice as big as Takuma's when he was in charge. It resembled Yakumi's old office in feel, but there were upgrades in terms of decor that indicated heading the Narcotics Taskforce had undoubtedly been a promotion for him.

"What do you want to talk about?" asked Yakumi after they sat down. Takuma and Arisu sat opposite him on his desk. "Would you like some tea? I can have someone bring it down if you're in the mood."

"No, nothing. I'm hoping this will be short, and I expect your cooperation in this matter," said Takuma, switching out politeness for bluntness. "I have a month remaining in my contract with the Police Force, and I'm not going to renew it."

That elicited a response from Arisu. She didn't seem to like his decision but didn't say anything. Yakumi remained passive, reserving his reactions until after Takuma was done.

"As far as I'm aware, I'm still part of the Narcotics Taskforce, but I do not want to work here and let me be clear: when I say here, I mean the Police Force as a whole. So, I'm requesting that you give me paid leave until the end of my contract, and I'll be out of your hair—which I'm sure you'll appreciate."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

There was no way Yakumi wanted Takuma hanging around because even if he was the leader, Takuma still had considerable influence over the team as its founder. Takuma knew he wouldn't be able to replicate his output from before, but Yakumi wasn't, and in his eyes, it would be a bad look for him if a performance boost occurred the same month Takuma returned.

Arisu looked like she wanted to interject and say something, but Takuma raised his hand to stop her. Regardless of what she said, he wouldn't change his decision.

"How about it?"

Yakumi gazed at Takuma in thought for a few moments. "If that's what you wish, then I'll comply. You have just returned from war, proudly representing our nation and helping our ally—a month off work is the least you deserve. I'll take care of everything, so consider it done."

"Excellent. Thank you," Takuma said and stood up. "It was great meeting with you; I'll leave you to your work now."

"Of course, please don't hesitate to reach out if you need anything."

Both men shook hands, and Takuma left the office in less than five minutes. He was pleased it had gone so smoothly; now, he didn't have to work to cash in his pay cheque. He had also inquired about his deferred salary transfer, and they hadn't changed his pay grade after his demotion, so he would get paid the extra bit he had negotiated for when the Narcotics Taskforce was still picking up steam.

"You were hasty back there," said Arisu, displeased. "We could've worked together like before. You built this place; don't you want to see it grow? This place needs you."

His smile was complicated. "Believe me, Arisu, I'd love to work with you, but I can't stay here… not after everything that's happened."

She closed her eyes with a sigh of disappointment. "I understand," she said, "but you know..."

"Yeah, I know," he nodded as he rubbed her shoulder. "Listen, I have a meeting with Chunin Setsuna, so I'll be done by break time. I'll pick you up then and we'll go out to eat, okay?"

"...I'm looking forward to it," said Arisu, giving him a sad smile.

———

.

The final stop at the headquarters was the man responsible for placing Takuma in the Department of Organised Crime, which opened a path for him to progress as much as he did.

"Would you consider extending your contract?" said Uchiha Setsuna. The man was in charge of the General Induction Program responsible for pushing the Leaf Military Police Force into a new era beyond the Uchiha clan.

It wouldn't be an understatement to say that he was responsible for opening up the Police Force to the village at large.

"I considered it," Takuma responded with his prepared statement, "and concluded that it's time for me to move on. I enjoyed the work, but I feel it's time to start a new chapter of my life"—and that chapter wasn't going to be in the Police Force.

"You've barely returned home; perhaps you should take a while before making such a big decision."

"Thank you for caring, but I've thought about it over and it feels right," Takuma said.

Honestly, he wanted to stay but he couldn't work at an institution that placed pride above the welfare of its own employees but he understood why Setsuna was trying to get him to stay.

The General Induction Program was Setsuna's creation and Takuma was its highly successful poster boy. If the applicants find out the person being paraded before they had left the Police Force, that would have a definite negative impact.

Even if it was only for token purposes, Setsuna wanted Takuma to stay.

"Do you have anything lined up for you?"

"Not at the moment. I'm planning to attend the coming Chunin Exams. I believe it's time," said Takuma.

He was talking to Setsuna about getting a recommendation letter. In his grief, he had forgotten to get a letter from one of the Camp Banana jonin, but perhaps that was for the better—he had received backlash from the bomb blast, after all. Time would soften their dissatisfaction, increasing his chances of getting a recommendation letter.

He would also ask for letters from Iruka, Yakumi, and Anko when she returned home.

"...Will you stay if you get promoted internally?" said Setsuna.

Takuma looked at the Uchiha with faint displeasure. "Sir, please don't make promises you can't keep and don't say things you don't mean."

There were a few different ways to get a Chunin rank promotion.

By participating in the Chunin Exams, the genin declared they were ready for a chunin rank promotion. The promotion committee would then look at the genin's resume and achievements along with their performance in the exam to judge if the genin was worthy of a promotion.

The second method was earning a field promotion, which happened when a genin raked up enough achievements and showcased they were capable of a leadership position. The process skipped Chunin Exams, but if the genin had participated prior, the performance was into consideration. Generally, a chunin or jonin who had worked with genin recommended them to the promotion committee.

The third method involved jonin who held the power to promote a genin. Each jonin had an annual chunin promotion slot. They could promote one genin every year, essentially no questions asked. There were some things that needed to be considered, and jonin were expected to make half-decent decisions on their choice of genin as bad or unready candidates could damage their reputation. Jonin teachers weren't allowed to use their promotion slows on their students while the team was active—which was a minimum of four years.

Finally, there were Division/Department promotion slots. Organisations like the Police Force, T&I, shinobi hospitals, and essentially, any shinobi institution had a number of promotion slots depending on their size and importance. Their leadership had complete control and discretion on who in their organisation deserved the promotion.

"But what if I can?" asked Setsuna.

"You can't possibly guarantee that."

"If I can get you a rank promotion... will you stay?"

Takuma stared at the man who had just made the proposition he had been fishing for the entire time he'd been running the Narcotics Taskforce. He had gone to war for a rank promotion, which he was sure would raise his chances when he declared himself for the Chunin Exam and personally thought he had done enough for a field promotion, but that type of recommendation was different from a simple recommendation letter. The decision-makers hadn't worked with him, which reduced his chances. He needed to showcase himself in the Chunin Exam to get the eyes on him.

"It's not enough," said Takuma. "I want something else."

Setsuna leaned forward. "What is it?"

"I don't want to work in the Narcotics Taskforce or the Department of Organised Crime," Takuma put forth a demand off the top of his head. "I want my choice of assignments, which might very well be working directly under a jonin department head or establishing a new team like I did if there's a reasonable opportunity. I want a massive pay bump… I want access to advanced training and jutsu archives and, most importantly, I want a B-rank ninjutsu!"

He thought Setsuna would call him crazy when he talked about running a team, and he was sure he would shut him down when he asked for a B-rank jutsu but he'd followed the simple negotiation tactic of over demanding. By the time they found common ground, he would receive approximately what he wanted all along...

"I can work with that," said Setsuna.

"What?"

"Give me till the end of your contract. If I'm successful, I'll have something for you by then."

Takuma looked at the man, unable to hide his surprise. Earlier this morning, he had entered the headquarters intending to get his money and rebuild bridges to successfully put the Police Force behind him.

Now, he somehow managed to sit before a man who could get him a rank promotion, completely flipping the day on its head.