"Welcome to the Torture and Interrogation Force, Rookie. I am your assigned mentor for the duration of your probationary period; Morino Fusae, tokubetsu jounin. You will work with me until I deem you ready to be given your own load," Fusae spoke sternly. "Our department doesn't have a schedule or a roster for us interrogators. You come and go as you please- as long as you get your work done. However, because you are on probation, our schedules have to align; at the end of each day, I'll inform you when I'll expect you to be here, capiche?"

Shiki nodded, and whilst he was accepting a sealing scroll from her, he discreetly did a professional eye sweep.

Morino Fusae appeared to be a kunoichi in her early to mid-thirties. She was tall for a woman, with Shiki only reaching up to her jaw. She has soft features, and would have been cute by civilian standards if not for the intimidating scar that stretched from her right jugular to her left hairline, and judging by the uneven surfaces and burnish scar of the skin, it had probably been a rushed patch job many, many years ago via cauterization.

She has smokey grey hair with flecks of silver that was styled in a short bob cut and wore her hitai-ate in a bandanna style. She wore the outdated (to him) version of the grey uniform and shinobi sandals that all branches of the Intelligence Division wore, along with a black trenchcoat and a pair of fingerless gloves. The only indicator that she was affiliated with the T&I sub-division was the dark blue armband pinned to the left arm sleeve of her coat.

"Uchiha Shiki, jounin. For how long is the probationary period?"

"It depends on you, Rookie. The bathroom's over there. Change into your uniform and I'll show you around after." Fusae gestured at the door to his left before she leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. "And don't take your time; we've got work to do," she added gruffly.

She appeared the strict, time-sensitive type so Shiki nodded and swiftly entered the bathroom to get changed. He unsealed the scroll and after a poof of smoke, a bundle appeared. There were three sets of grey uniforms, a black trenchcoat, a dark blue armband, and something rectangular with small seals engraved on them.

Shiki reached for a blue rectangular laminated card and allowed the knowledge he has on fuuinjutsu to decipher the usage of the seal. Within a few breaths, his eyebrows raised in fascination. Interestingly enough, this card was this era's version of a swipecard.

During character-Shiki's era, science had advanced to levels that could be compared to modern-day Earth; which meant swipecards with barcodes, retina scanners, and electrical locks were used, though fuuinjutsu still played a major role in its protection.

Still, he would be sure to leave the blue swipecard inside his inventory at all times unless needed. It would be highly bothersome to always retrieve it from his inventory seal, but it was better than misplacing it or getting it stolen. The seals on the swipecard itself were pretty basic stuff and did not include a 'user-bound' function. Ninjas were sneaky so as soon as Shiki returned home, he would add that function... and a few others.

Knowing that Fusae was waiting for him, he shoved everything bar a set of uniforms into his inventory. He would have to add some protection seals on them when he got home later, but for now... it would have to do. After changing into the Intelligence Division uniform and donning his personal trenchcoat (the one from the game), Shiki looked at his reflection in the mirror and frowned.

[Woah, grey is not your color. Reckon we could get away with bleaching it white?]

It'll be too bothersome to clean the stains off, Shi-sōrō.

Whilst Shiki agreed that this shade of grey was not his color, he could probably get away with using the Konoha standard uniform with the trenchcoat after his probation. Back on Earth, managers tended to be more lenient towards subordinates who were good at their job. Hopefully, Narutoverse would be the same; as the Hokage towards his students and teammates.

With one last look, Shiki exited the bathroom.

Fusae had half a cigarette left in between her lips when she turned to him. Her sharp eyes scanned him up and down before giving him a firm nod. "Not bad. Come, let's get this orientation done and over with."

Shiki fell into step with her and allowed her gruff voice to fill the air, with him hn-ing ever so often in response (which got him a few eye-rolls in return and a mutter of "classic Uchiha" under her breath).

"Do you have your swipe with you? Good. That allows you to access all the general rooms and some on our floor. Rank 2 swipes won't grant you access to other sub-division floors; only when you reach rank 3 will those floors be accessible to you. Swipes go up to rank 5, though you'll have to be near Botan's position to gain such clearance. The swipes only work in this building, so you better not lose it. The paperwork needed to get it replaced is horrendous.

"Different sub-divisions have different colored swipes, and the darker the color is, the more access you have. T&I is blue -yours is persian blue. Rank 3 is royal blue, rank 4 is navy blue, and rank 5 is black which is an all-access card that only the leaders and vice-leaders own- the Analysis Team's yellow, the pathologists are red, admin is grey, housekeeping and maintenance are charcoal grey."

"I'm at rank 2? Why?" Shiki tilted his head in askance. Shouldn't he be the lowest rank as an intern?

"You're under probation but you're also full-time. So rank 2 it is. You have access to some of the cells and interrogation rooms, but not all. We'll head to the ground floor first. There are only general rooms and offices on that floor; you'll see mostly admin and housekeeping staff there."

As they made their way to the ground floor, many of the employees gave him not-so-discreet glances, especially towards the Uchiha clan crest embroidered just below where his pinned armband was on his trenchcoat sleeve.

An Uchiha within the Intelligence Division, especially the T&I sub-division, was a rare sight to see. Most of his clanmates were affiliated either with the KMPF or regular forces. A minority could be seen working at the hospital as part of the Medical Corps or as an Academy/jounin-sensei or the ANBU, but other than that... yeah nah. Shiki found it a waste. There was so much more the sharingan could do than just... fight. The APD (Autopsies Pathologist Department), another sub-division of the Intelligence Division, for example, could use a sharingan or ten.

Hence, Shiki did not blame them for doing double-takes or staring longer than what was deemed polite, though he rather they keep their eyes to themselves. He was beginning to feel like a zoo attraction.

Fortunately, before his paranoia could worsen with all the eyes focused on him, Fusae continued from where she left off as soon as they reached the front reception.

"Most of the offices down here belong to the logistic staff. The only room I'll show you on this floor is the general staff room. The rest you can explore at your own time."

Fusae swiped her card on the panel next to the door and entered, holding it open for Shiki before shutting it firmly. From start to finish, she hid the color of the card, which Shiki took note of immediately and decided to do the same in the future.

"Rule number 1: always make sure that the door is shut behind you, and never open any doors for anyone you don't know. Most would know better than to ask someone to 'hold the door open' for them, though."

Shiki grunted in affirmation.

That sounded good for security reasons. With all the confidential information they have in the building, it would not do to let random people he did not know have access to any rooms, even the general areas. But because the building was massive and was home to five sub-divisions of the Intelligence Division, not everyone could recognize the others that worked there.

The staffroom was as big as a ballroom, with open stairs that cascade all the way up to the fifth floor. The color palate was a bland grey and the overhead florescent light washed it out even more.

The floor plan was open and separated into sections. There were lounges and armchairs, dining tables and chairs, and a few cubicles that had bed stickers on them, with privacy locks that read occupied/unoccupied. There was an open kitchen located at the corner, with numerous microwaves and coffee machines, and plenty of storage room. All in all, it was purely a resting/eating spot for the employees here.

"We'll grab a cuppa and have a chat for now," Fusae stated.

Once they have prepared their own drinks (road-tar coffee for Fusae and matcha tea for Shiki), Shiki followed after Fusae and they sat at a secluded section of the dining area.

"Though I'm sure Botan has given you the introduction booklet -and we expect you to read it cover to cover- I'll talk about the major things you'll need to know before we start anything practical. You following me?"

"Yes, Morino-senpai," Shiki responded monotonously before taking a sip of his matcha tea. Honestly, if she had given him five minutes, he would have memorized the contents of the booklet via sharingan. Then they could get into the fun stuff. It was thick, but not that thick.

"It's Fusae to you." Fusae lit another cigarette as she waved off the formalities, just like Botan. "Our department's pretty small compared to the other sub-divisions in this building. You're either one of us or you ain't. Understood, Rookie? And don't bother correcting me on your nickname- you'll be Rookie until either a new one pops up or you pass your probation."

"Yes, Fusae-senpai. May I ask how many of us are there?" Shiki asked curiously.

"Hmm... If you mean us as in the interrogators; there's Botan, Eiji, Maki, me, and now you. So, five."

[Five? That's literally just a handful! What, how?]

Shiki agreed with Shizuka's flabbergasted question. So he vocalized it in a more polite manner.

"Surprising, ain't it?" Fusae huffed, a heavy amount of smoke leaving her lips as she exhaled. "To be honest, we technically have more. But because they're either junior ANBU or Hunter-nin Corps members on rotation -meaning they only stay here for a month or two to be trained as a decent interrogator before being swapped out I don't really count them as one of us. You'll see them around with their masks and uniform. When you stop being a rookie, you'll also be tasked to train those ANBU and hunter-nins members whenever a new batch comes by.

"Our probationary period also allows the rookies to determine if this job is suitable for them. 98% flunk out and become assistants or jump departments entirely. The only permanent ones are the five of us; everyone else is too pussy to continue working as an interrogator long-term. Botan says that you'll stay, but we'll see.

"To answer your question: in this current batch, we have a total of twelve plus five. We'll probably have fifteen in the next batch since Botan insists that we only have three 'students' at a time to not stretch us. As for the others in T they're assistants that help us clean and set up our tools, record our interrogations, or do miscellaneous tasks so that we can have as much time in the interrogation rooms as possible."

Fusae extinguished her cigarette before taking a big swig of her coffee to moisten her throat. Shiki remained silent, sipping his tea every so often.

They stayed in the staff room for almost an hour for Shiki's theoretical portion of the orientation.

Fusae practically drilled all of the major and unwritten rules of their department, the protocols in the case of an escape/intruder/etc. The other sub-divisions were introduced, and the what not to dos were highlighted. She also provided him with a map of this building, which he memorized via sharingan and was told to burn after.

But all in all, there were four points to sum it all up:

1. Ground and first floor were where all the IDCD offices were located (basically admin staff). The second floor was where the APD offices were located (their medical team). The third floor was where T&I offices were located (although they only used a third of the floor; the rest were for storage since they did not have the number to fill in all the space). The fourth floor was where the Analysis Team was. The fifth floor was where the bosses lived, as well as the security team and confidential documents. The only way to access the fifth floor was by black swipecards, which only the higher-ranking people own (Shiki took note that the receptionist that guided him up to this floor for his interview was probably either an exception or someone important in disguise).

2. Use the assistants to run all errands, and they would scribe his interrogation session. Shiki was only expected to write what he deemed important and left everything else to the assistants who were assigned to him as soon as his probation ends. The interrogators were expected to work in the interrogation rooms as much as they can whenever they were there, especially now as they have a lot of other country spies in their cells. Report anything urgent to Fusae as she was the second-in-command for T&I or Botan if she was not around.

3. The basement had four sectors; sector one was the morgue where autopsies were performed, only accessible to the APD (Autopsies and Pathology Department) members or those ranked 3 and higher. Sector two was the interrogation/information extraction rooms, only accessible to T&I members and Analysis Team members respectively, or those ranked 4 or higher. Sector three was the holding cells. And lastly, sector four was their gym/training facilities/infirmary, open to all members of the Intelligence Division.

4. Don't be an idiot and use the shinobi version of common sense. And Shiki was expected to participate in T&I dinners every Wednesday and Friday; which was said in a threatening manner.

Shizuka had recorded their entire conversation into her laptop and made pointers whereas Shinkichi continued to clean the mess he made in their mind palace.

Once Shiki passed her impromptu quiz at the end of his theory-based orientation, Fusae nodded and they continued their tour after cleaning up after themselves. They headed straight to the third floor from the staff room and he was shown the location of their full-time interrogators' personal offices, the shared office cubicles for the temporary interrogators, the assistants' shared office cubicles, and his personal office.

"This is your office; do whatever you want with it. Change the wallpapers, bring in furniture, or whatever. Just don't break the walls unless you like doing paperwork," Fusae stated drily.

Shiki nodded whilst glancing around his office.

It was a decent-sized office but it was bare. The only furniture present was a desk, a chair, a bookshelf, and a filing cabinet. Apparently, he was expected to furnish his own office. Shiki did not mind just leaving it be, but he doubted his inners would like that.

[Hell naw! We ain't gonna leave our second home this boring. The chair looks like it'll break as soon as you sit down on it. We're definitely gonna re-furnish. And maybe add in a murphy bed too.]

[Tea set.]

[Ah yes, I'll make a list. Did you also want-]

Shiki heard a small click that indicated that they had turned off the mic within his mind palace. He would ask Shizuka for the list later, but for now, he shut the door and nodded to Fusae when she asked if he was done.

"We'll grab the assistants before we head to the basement."

They headed to the shared cubicles where the assistants were working and greeted the head of assistants who was manning the front desk. Without Fusae needing to, the head of the assistants told them to wait and went to call for the two assigned to Fusae today. Once they have signed all the paperwork, which took less than two minutes, they left the third floor.

Finally, Fusae brought him to where the fun happens; section two of the basement.

"There are a total of fifteen interrogation rooms; ten are for T&I to use - the remaining five are where the Yamanaka mindfuckery happens; my advice is to avoid that area. You'll be in charge of interrogation room five once your probation ends. For now, it's being used by the temps, and you'll be accompanying me in interrogation room two until I deem you fit to take on your own load.

"Botan is room one, Eiji's three, and Maki's four. You're welcome to come to any of us if you need tips to make 'em break or just for a chat. The temps share and rotate rooms six to ten since Botan rostered their shifts and they'll only be here maybe three-four times a week. We've already trained this batch so they shouldn't interrupt us too much.

"I'm currently in charge of four Iwa spies who were recently discovered and captured by our beloved ANBU Corps. I'm in the midst of breaking spy numbers 1, 2, and 3, so we'll work on number 4 today. He's fresh and hasn't been touched yet. I was told you're experienced with torture. Care to show me, Rookie?" Fusae raised a brow in expectation as she turned to face him.

"Gladly, Fusae-senpai," Shiki answered, and although his face remained devoid of emotion, there was an excited gleam in his eyes that could not be hidden.


*-_-Corpse Demon-_-*


They left the interrogation room three hours after they entered.

Fusae had an impressed expression on her features whilst Shiki had a contented look in his eyes. Behind them were the two assistants, pale in the face, having just observed Shiki's torture session from behind the one-way mirror. They skedaddled as soon as they were dismissed by Fusae, promising to send another pair to assist with the next session.

"I'll get Botan to redo this week's roster for the temps. Go home for the day; I'll see you tomorrow at zero nine-hundred hours sharp at my office, Shiki." Fusae slapped him on the shoulder and walked off without another word.

Shiki's lips curled into a winning smirk as he made his way toward the sink situated just outside interrogation room two and started washing the blood off his hands, neck, and face. His uniform would have to wait until he returned home, however. There was simply too much blood on the fabric for him to wash them off with just soap and water.

[Are my ears failing me or did she just call Shiki by his name? Does that mean we're not on probation anymore?]

[It's to be expected.]

Shiki chuckled.

Time to go home and celebrate with his inners.


A/N:

-T&I building has been changed to the Intelligence Division building for the previous chapters (only on AO3 cause am too lazy)

I'll explain my headcanon for the Konohagakure Intelligence Division. Idk how many departments they actually have in canon, but my headcanon: they have 5 sub-divisions that make up the division: Torture and Interrogation Force, Analysis Team, Autopsies and Pathology Department, Intelligence Division Communications Department, Intelligence Security Forces.

T&I: The smallest of the sub-divisions. Basically, they torture the ever-living shit out of anyone needed to gain intelligence for their village. Psychological & physical torture are most welcome. They wear the grey uniform and black trenchcoats(optional and only for permanent interrogators) with blue armbands. In this division, there are interrogators (rank 2-4 swipes), assistant interrogators(rank1-3 swipes), and temporary interrogators(rank1-2 swipes). They work closely with AT, APD, & IDCD. They train ANBU & Hunter-nins on proper interrogation techniques in case they need it during missions. Unbeknownst to them, Danzo also sends his ROOT agents to learn their techniques too.

AT: Second smallest of the sub-divisions. They extract information directly from the mind via Psycho Mind Transmission. They wear a grey uniform and black trench coats (optional) with yellow armbands. In this division, there are only Yamanaka clan members. They work closely with T&I & IDCD.

APD: They're made up of forensic pathologists and anthropologists. They wear a grey uniform and white coats(optional) with red armbands. They perform autopsies to learn about enemy clan secrets and whatnot and work closely with the T&I & IDCD. They're all medic-nins, and they hold a contract with the Konoha Hospital to allow medic-nin trainees to gain experience in their facility.

IDCD: They're pretty much a logistics and admin team for the entire building and makeup half of the numbers in the Intelligence Division. They compile and file information from all the Intelligence Division's sub-divisions. They also send mission requests to the mission desk or Hunter-nin Corps, and the ANBU Corps, especially for honeypot/recon missions or target capture. The head of the Intelligence Division and IDCD have been hounding the Hokage to gain permission to train shinobi/kunoichi to specialize in spy work & information gathering (like Shiki)... but it's been consistently delayed (cause Danzo, duh) and they have to work with the Hunter-nin Corps more often than not. Currently, in Konoha, those who specialize in spy work learn via apprenticeship or have been in the ANBU/Hunter-nin Corps, which is why Shiki was able to claim his specialization without being found out. They wear only the grey uniform and don't have trenchcoats or armbands, and they are mostly made out of paper-chuunin or lifetime genin.

ISF: They are in charge of all the security and auditing of the Intelligence Division. They're made up of retired ANBU & Hunter-nin Corps members. They take care of the security of the building/staff/confidential things/prisoners. Unbeknown to everyone but the head of the Intelligence Division and sub-divisions, their members do housekeeping + maintenance work as part of the security detail. In the event of a breach, the cleaners are practically the ones that you don't wanna encounter. They wear the grey uniform with black armbands and conceal their mid-high jounin rank. All of their swipe cards are ranked 4 (charcoal grey in color), which allows them access to all the floors, the majority of the basement, and most rooms.

If there are any questions you'd like to ask about this headcanon, or if you spot a plothole, please leave a comment :) I'll put all the FAQs in the next A/N.

Thank you, everyone. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter. I am seriously thankful for all of your support!