Naruto shook his head wondering why he felt off. He could feel in his bones that something wasn't right. Why did he feel like that? Team 6 was just doing a simple D rank mission as expected of a fresh genin team. After all, they had only passed their preliminary test a few days or was it weeks ago? Part of Naruto found it strange that he couldn't recall how long he had been on the team at this point. Another part of Naruto seemed to feel that such things were unimportant details.

The young shinobi shook his head to try and clear his thoughts. Something caught his eye as he was shaking his head and he turned to look. Naruto saw himself looking at, but not feeling, the moon rising in the clear sky. Such a thing could not be. The moon he saw might not be the moon that his parents controlled on earth. However, he was still a child of lunar kami and had a strong connection the moon that had only grown stronger once the connection was known.

He always knew where the moon was. Even when the moon wasn't in the sky Naruto could feel the moon's location in its orbit like his heartbeat. Seeing the moon somewhere he couldn't feel it was fundamentally wrong. Training kicked in as one word rang throughout Naruto's mind: genjutsu.

Now that Naruto knew he was under the effects of a genjutsu he needed to dispel it. Pain wasn't going to work since this genjutsu was at a far higher level than he'd ever been placed under in training at the academy. How could he tell the difference between real pain and pain simulated by the genjutsu given its complexity? The academy instructors had mentioned that the alternative to using pain to escape genjutsu was to alter one's chakra flow so that the genjutsu couldn't keep its hold on the target. They had mentioned and practiced trying to slow one's chakra flow to a standstill.

That wasn't going to work for beans. Naruto had bombed that practical terribly as he had too much chakra to bring it to a standstill given his comparatively meager chakra control. Uncle Arashi had explained that there was another method to altering chakra flow in order to get out of a genjutsu. It was rapidly exciting one's chakra flow so that your chakra forced the chakra of the genjutsu to become dislodged. Most people didn't like it since it wasted a fair amount of chakra for a regular person. Why waste your chakra when a simple control exercise will do the same thing?

Could he do it? Naruto hadn't seriously practiced disrupting genjutsus for months. Naruto only had that particular ninja art covered in his basic classes. Genjutsu was deemed to have somewhat limited utility for the cataphractarii and comitatensis specializations. How Thalia put up with the extra genjutsu lessons in praeventores training Naruto couldn't fathom. Naruto resisted the urge to slap himself as he refocused on the task at hand.

He will escape this genjutsu. Naruto knew he had chakra reserves to burn and would escape even if he didn't make it on the first try. He tried to dispel the genjutsu and got nothing. He tried again and still got nothing. Naruto took a moment to calm down and tried again. This time the genjutsu seemed to distort his surroundings a little bit for a second. At least he was on the right track. Again, and again Naruto attempted to dispel the genjutsu and the genjutsu was distorted more before snaping back in place. Finally on the 7th try Naruto was able to shatter the genjutsu.

Naruto opened his eyes to see himself sitting at a school desk in one of the Academy's classrooms. Thalia was sitting two desks to his right warily looking around while Hinata was sitting two desks to his left still under a genjutsu. Itachi was sitting at the teacher's desk. He glanced over at Thalia and Naruto before shaking his head slightly. The jonin said, "test complete" as he canceled the genjutsu on Hinata.

Thalia spoke up, "What the hell was that sir? We come in here to join your squad and find out what test we need to do to stay in the jonin understudy program only be hit with a doozy of a genjutsu that completely messes with us."

Itachi gave Thalia a firm look as he spoke. "Wait for your comrade to recover and then I will explain." Once Hinata had shaken off the effects of the genjutsu Itachi explained. "Each jonin looks for slightly different qualifications out of their potential students. Most prefer to look for some level of physical training so that they don't have to focus on that aspect of teaching. There is a minority of jonins who prefer to focus on the mental aspects of their students. For example, jonin Hatake focuses on his students' ability to work as a team under pressure."

"I am among the camp that prefers to look for mental qualities. The Academy base is solid enough and anyone who has made it through the Academy has shown the ability to physically grow stronger if they wish to do so. You three were placed under a strong genjutsu so that I could test how you would handle a certain situation in a relatively safe manner."

Naruto spoke up, "But we never got to whatever situation you wanted to test us on. Thalia and I realized we were under a genjutsu and broke free."

"Correct Naruto," Itachi replied, "None of you were able to undergo the primary goal of my test. However, you did complete the secondary goals of realizing you were in a genjutsu and then escaping it. Naruto, you deserve congratulations for being the first to realize you were under a genjutsu. Thalia, you are to be congratulated for escaping the genjutsu the quickest after realizing you were under it."

Hinata looked down at her desk in dismay. She hadn't realized she was under a genjutsu at all. Itachi turned to the heiress and said, "Do not be dismayed at your inability to realize that you were under a genjutsu. I approached several of you clansmen and requested their help in crafting that genjutsu so that you wouldn't realize you were under it for the test."

Itachi then turned to Naruto and asked, "Would you mind telling me what alerted you to being in a genjutsu? I had anticipated Thalia being the first to discover what I was doing given her extra training in genjutsu. Although she figured things out faster than I anticipated, her discovering the test is not nearly as surprising to me as you Naruto."

Naruto looked at his possible sensei and asked, "Why do you want to know sir?"

"It's not to try and redo this test if that is what you're concerned about Naruto. That particular genjutsu is rather tiring to cast multiple times and far harder to pull off once the target is alert. Besides, why would I force you three to redo a test that you have already passed by completing the secondary objectives? Yes, Hinata was still under the genjutsu when I declared the test complete, but can either of you honestly say that you wouldn't help your comrades escape a genjutsu?"

"As to why I want to know, the answer to that is simple Naruto. I like to use genjutsu when I can. It is a very useful tool to take out many enemies without using large amount of chakra or attracting attention. However, using genjutsu effectively requires the caster to not make it seem like they're using genjutsu most times. I want to know what clued you in on the fact that you were in a genjutsu so that I don't repeat the mistake again against a target that must be fooled by genjutsu."

Part of Naruto was still shocked that a jonin was asking him this. Another part of him was nervous because his escape was connected to his status as a halfblood which he was supposed to keep quiet on. He then said, "I could feel that the moon wasn't in the correct place when I spotted it in the genjutsu."

Itachi nodded his head and said, "That would make some sense. The kami your parents serve is associated with the moon and that kami did declare herself as your patron a few years ago during an Academy Exhibition. I suppose that you knowing the location of the moon instinctively is a way for Artemis=Diana to remind you of her claim on you."

"Thank you for informing me of this Naruto. I am happy to know that my mistake in crafting the genjutsu for your trial was do to a rather unique trait of yours that I didn't know existed or considered." Itachi gave Naruto a slight nod of respect surprising the genin trio.

The jonin turned to look at the trio after he finished his nod. "Let this be my first lesson to all of you as your jonin instructor. Always be learning and never be afraid to ask for help in expanding your abilities. When you do learn something from someone always show them the proper respect owed for teaching you. It did not matter in this instance that I am Naruto's instructor and his superior in both rank and experience. He taught me something I did not know and that might, even if the situation is unlikely, save my life on a future mission."

"Now then, starting tomorrow we will meet up at 8 o'clock sharp at training ground 6. For the first week we will spend the first 4 hours of our day doing a mix of team and individual exercises. This is so we all can get use to working as a team and to give you three some more training. We will then have an hour for lunch and relaxation. After lunch, we will spend the next four hours teaching codes and other military secrets you are now privy to as genin. Once those four hours are up you will have the rest of the day to yourselves."

"After the first week our schedule will change even though the start time and location will remain the same. For the rest of the month, we will operate with 2 days a week dedicated to performing missions and 3 days for training. The training composition will depend on your improvements and your specializations. Missions will be D-rank with the possibility of us getting in some extra training if you three can complete your missions quickly. In the following month we will switch to having 3 days a week dedicated to performing missions and 2 days for training. It is my expectation that the three of you will be ready by the start of your second full month as genin to be ready for a C-rank mission. Are there any questions?"

The trio of genin looked at each other and shook their heads. Naruto then spoke for them. "None sir."

Itachi nodded his head. "Very well students. You are dismissed."

The next morning Team 6 meet at their assigned training ground at the specified time. Itachi put the trio through an hour of various exercises to warm them up for the day. He then said, "We will start today's training with a series of spars. Thalia and Hinata, you will be up first for the spars. Please present the equipment that you wish to use in the spar to me not counting your armor. This is so I can apply a series of training seals on your weapons so that you can spar without worrying about killing each other."

Hinata went first and presented Itachi with a pouch of shuriken and a pair of kunai. Itachi pulled out a series of ribbons and placed them on all the items shown. He then returned them to Hinata. Thalia then presented her yari, her sword, her backup knife, a small set of shuriken for her shield, and an additional pouch of shuriken. Itachi again made sure that everything had a training seal on before returning the equipment to Thalia.

He then said, "Assume the correct pacing for sparing genin." There was a brief pause as the duo got into position. Itachi continued, "I want this to be clear to both of you. There will be times when sparing will be done in the traditional manner for training purposes regarding your techniques. Other times sparing will be done in a no holds everything goes manner to see how you do in simulated life and death struggle. This spar is one of the latter. You two will fight until one of you scores what would be a crippling hit on the other is that understood?"

Both Thalia and Hinata turned to look at Itachi. Thalia firmly nodded her head while Hinata nodded with a bit of nervousness. Itachi called out, "Begin!" Hinata opened up by throwing some shuriken at Thalia. These were casually blocked by Thalia's shield before she used the shield's inbuilt genjutsu to send a wave of fear down Hinata's spine. Thalia followed by a stab with her yari to Hinata's armpit.

Itachi called out, "Match! Victory to Thalia. Now, gather your equipment and resume your starting positions." The girls did as they were instructed. They did two more quick matches under Itachi's order. Each match ended quickly with Thalia scoring a crippling hit on Hinata with her yari.

After Hinata's third defeat Itachi said, "Come here you three." He looked at his genin and said, "It seems that we need to go over some basic combat facts. Naruto, what was Hinata's primary flaw causing her to lose her matches against Thalia?"

Hinata looked down in shame as Naruto scratched his head. "I don't know sensei. Her taijutsu seemed good to me. I mean I don't know much about the Gentle Fist. But it seemed that Hinata was doing the forms correctly."

Itachi nodded his head slightly accepting Naruto's answer. "Let me enlighten you Naruto. Hinata's primary flaw that crippled her in the match against Thalia was that she used taijutsu. Do not misunderstand me you three. Taijutsu is a vital art for shinobi and rightly deserves its place in the primary trinity of shinobi arts. However, taijutsu is a tool for a shinobi to use and one should always use the appropriate tool at the appropriate time and place."

"Let's consider the matches that the girls just had. The two of you fought in a clearing on a bright day with no form of terrain cover whatsoever. Not counting the blade, the yari gives Thalia two meters of additional reach. There is also Thalia's shield to consider. It is something vital to consider even if we disregard its powerful genjutsu that Thalia could have activated at a moments notice. Her shield provides a great defense and acts as a secondary weapon for her to use. Then there is the armor that Thalia is wearing."

"The Gentle Fist is an amazing taijutsu style that enables its user to quickly neutralize, capture, or even kill enemies. Attacks against the chakra network are not something to joke about and are not something that someone can just build resistance to having done to them. However, it has it's weaknesses like everything in this world. First, Hinata or any Hyuga has to reach their target. I know that the Gentle Fist has some range attacks in it like other taijutsu styles. However, those are high tier jutsus that take years if not decades to master for someone learning the style and the access to them is quite restricted. Do you know any of those techniques Hinata?"

Hinata shook her head and said, "No sensei." Privately, Hinata wondered if she would ever be good enough to even be shown the scrolls those moves were written on.

Itachi nodded his head as he continued. "Knowing that you have that limitation Hinata, you should have reconsidered your approach to the spar. As I said the first limitation of taijutsu for non-masters is that you have to touch the target to attack. I've seen all of your sprinting scores from the Academy. None of you three are even close to being fast enough to even think of attacking someone who is armed while you are barehanded. Weapons were invented for a reason. Those two meters of additional reach gives Thalia a great chance to cripple or kill an attacker in your situation Hinata as you just demonstrated."

"Then you have her shield which keeps you away from her body. A hard taijutsu style like the Goken can provide some help here by forcing Thalia to deal with concussive energy from hits to her shield. Even then, the Goken user is typically hurting themselves more than they would someone in Thalia's position. Some masters break this rule. However, they are a tiny minority like Might Guy who specializes in using jutsus to enhance his body's toughness and durability along with his strength."

"Finally, there is the armor that the two of you are wearing. It is primarily focused on defending against cutting attacks. However, it does offer some protection from chakra attacks. I know that it takes more chakra to go through steel than it does to send chakra through silk or cotton. The exact amount I don't know Hinata. I would suggest you talk with your clan members about how much more chakra they have to put into their strikes in order to deal with armor. I do know that just the basic amount of chakra would have been ineffective in this fight even if you had somehow landed a hit on Thalia."

Hinata felt two centimeters tall at that point. Here was her first chance to impress both Naruto and Itachi with what skills she had and she totally blew the opportunity. Worse for her was the fact that she messed up so badly against Thalia. "I'm sorry for being such a disappointment sensei."

Itachi immediately cut his student off. "You are not a disappointment Hinata. You are a fresh genin which means you and your teammates are inexperienced. Part of being inexperienced is that you do not always know the appropriate times to use your abilities in the correct setting. I have seen your clansmen clear out entire compounds using the Gentle Fist without raising a single alarm by themselves on missions before. I've seen them use the Gentle Fist to cause a target to have a delayed spasm so that they were run over by a cart in crowded crossway so everyone thought that the death was just a tragic accident. You all will have that level of skill if you work for it. I guarantee that."

On the second week after formation, Itachi led Team 6 to the Hokage Tower towards the mission assignment section early in the morning. Itachi walked up to the counter and said, "I would like a mission for my genin team."

The chunin manning the mission desk look up and said, "About time you got here Itachi. Your team is the very last of the new genin teams to show up for a mission request. Even Jonin Hatake, as shocking as it is for him to have a genin team, took a mission for his team before you and he's infamously late."

Itachi looked at the chunin and said, "We all run our teams as we see fit Ryoma. I simply see it as practical to make sure that my genin are ready to represent the village well when on there mission. Even if their mission is a simple D rank in the village. Besides, there is plenty of material that new genin need to learn quickly and I focused our training on that first."

Ryoma shook his head, "Material that genin aren't expected to have memorized until after their second month of being active. I shouldn't be surprised that you decided to have your students focus on that. You always were the overachiever in class and always focused on getting assignments done ahead of schedule. I suppose that's why you're the hot shot jonin while I'm merely a desk chunin."

"Perhaps," Itachi stated in a non-committal tone as he looked at his old genin teammate. He then continued, "What missions do you have available for new genin teams?"

The chunin looked down at his list for the day and frowned. "I'll be honest Itachi. Today is not the best day to come in for a mission request as a leader for a green genin team. Most mission requests currently on the books need at least one velite level classification in a classification besides foederati in order to be accepted. The usual pile of requests for green genin have been down this month for some reason. Most of the other missions on the books for genin have been earmarked by my superiors for punishment detail. I can put you in for a mission type reservation if you want. As a new genin team you would have priority on reservation list."

Naruto, Thalia, and Hinata all looked nervously at their teacher. They did not like the way this conversation was going. They knew from Itachi that their first set of missions would not be big and important missions. This sounded bad even for what they were expecting in their minds. That nervous feeling got even worse when Itachi gave the trio a speculative look.

Itachi turned back to Ryoma and said, "What's the worse mission you've got for newbies that hasn't been earmarked for punishment detail? I think a practical example of why the shinobi career isn't all sunshine and roses is in order."

"You take after sensei too much Itachi."

"Paying it forward, I'm just paying it forward Ryoma. Now can I have a look at the mission list?" Ryoma handed Itachi the list of available missions much to the dread of the shinobi's students. Itachi looked at the list for a minute and then smiled. He pointed to one mission and said, "My team will take care of that mission."

Ryoma looked at the mission and shook his head. "I know you don't pull any punches Itachi. But damn, that mission is just rough for newbies. Okay I'll mark that Team 6 is tackling that mission." Ryoma did as he said while Itachi led his team away. Messing with the newbies was one of the perks of this job and Ryoma thought that Itachi was enjoying that perk just a bit too much.

Itachi led his confused and worried genin out of the Hokage Tower without saying a word. The trio followed behind their sensei wondering what mission they were on and just how bad was it. Naruto spoke up. "What's our mission?"

"That is a surprise Naruto. You will often find in your career that you will need to react to surprises and unexpected situations. Consider this a practical training exercise. I will inform you all about our mission when we get there. I will expect you all to act professional and not let on that you will be finding out about the mission from the client."

All three genin promptly replied that they understood their sensei. They were all wondering what their very first mission was going to be and wanted to get started doing their jobs. Their curiosity and worry only increased as Itachi led them towards the industrial sector of Konoha and into the area farthest from the residential areas.

Finally, Team 6 arrived at a large slaughter house. Itachi led them to the entrance and spoke to the man at the entrance. "Team 6 here to fulfill the mission request sent in."

The store guard looked up and said, "Well that was quick. We only sent the request off a little over an hour ago. I'll get Keiichi so that he can show you where you'll be working." The guard entered the slaughterhouse and came out a minute later with a man wearing a bloody apron that was wiping his hands. Both Thalia and Hinata were surprised that the man whom they presumed to be Keiichi was wearing a somewhat fancy kimono more suited for office work under his apron.

Keiichi bowed politely to Itachi and said, "Thank you for accepting my mission so quickly. Several of my workers have come down with a cold and cannot work. As you can see by my state my business is rather short-handed at the moment. Otaki would be in helping us with the shipment of calves we just got if I didn't need him to man the front. Besides, a shipment of lambs is supposed to come in today and I need Otaki to let us know when they arrive."

"I understand sir. However, I would like to clarify that the mission request only listed that you needed additional manpower for the day. It did not specify the precise manpower you needed. We are at your disposal, but I would advise against putting us to work at anything requiring finesse or skill in your trade."

The manager of the slaughterhouse nodded his head as he listened to Itachi. "I expected as much when I filled out the simple mission form instead of the expanded mission request form. Couldn't afford the extra time for filling it out with the backorders and we couldn't wait for a ninja with knowledge of being a butcher to become available. I can shift the apprentices currently on duty to cover processing the cheaper and the rough cuts. They will need the experience anyway for their certification. How comfortable and competent are your genin with knives?"

"They've been fully trained the basics of knife handling."

"Good to hear sir. If you will come right this way, I can put you all on putting the calves down. A single cut across the throat is all you'll need to cut the main artery and the wind pipe. Please make the cuts quick and deep so the animals are extinguished quickly. This is a meat processing facility after all. There's no need to put the animals in extra stress or pain from a sloppy cut or multiple cuts."

Thalia dryly interjected, "I take it some of your regular employees didn't do too well on job their first day."

Keiichi nodded his head and looked at Thalia, "It tends to happen among those who grow up in the village. Konoha is called a village, but you have to remember that it has a very large population. Villages far smaller than Konoha have petitioned and gotten city charters from the daimyo. We're still a village because of being the main center of the Hokage's han. Most people who live in Konoha have little contact with animal husbandry and some of the more unpleasant parts of food processing."

Naruto bluntly cut in, "What you're saying is that most people are squeamish when faced with killing animals to process them for food."

Itachi nodded his head, "That is what our client is saying. Sadly, that is something that many urban dwellers have problems with at first. Part of the reason why I selected this mission for the three of you is that you and Hinata are behind Thalia when it comes to desensitization training even if I would have preferred her to get it from less dire circumstances. Missions like this will help you all prepare for some of the easier C Rank missions of wild predator hunting. I expect all three of you to spend equal time holding the butcher's blade."

Team 6 silently followed Keiichi into one of the larger rooms in his slaughterhouse. Inside were several dozen calves in small pens with a small area in one corner for the processing. Keiichi showed Team 6 where the butcher supplies were kept and then got a calf to demonstrate what the team needed to do. Hinata looked a little green as she looked at the carcass as Keiichi calmly cleaned his knife before putting the carcass on a convey belt. Then he hit a button which caused the belt to activate and pull the carcass to a flap covered hole in the wall.

"In there is the rough processing room where the regulars and I will be getting these carcasses rendered for butchers to make the precise cuts their customers want. If you can please complete the calves processing by noon so we can clean this room up before the lambs arrive. Does anyone have any questions?"

Thalia perked up, "Are there any store discounts on bulk meat purchases?" Those calves looked tasty and gyukatsu and quickly become a favorite meal here in Konoha for Thalia. Her comments got her a hesitant nod of agreement from Naruto and a slightly disturbed look from the still queasy Hinata. Itachi kept himself from reacting while Keiichi shook his head with a slight smile.

With his job explained, Keiichi quickly left to rejoin his employees in the next room. Itachi spoke up, "You have been given your task from the client with an explanation of how you are to accomplish it and a preferred time limit for success. Thalia and Naruto, I want you two to secure the calves for processing. Hinata, you will have first use of the knife for butchering."

Itachi looked at his queasy student not allowing himself to show any hint of the concern he felt for her. The shinobi life was rough to those who couldn't manage their emotions and properly draw on their inner strength. He wanted to delay and ease his students into the worst parts of the shinobi life as much as he could. But some things could only be eased into so much before one had to take a major step in the process and then deal with the consequences. This was the best Itachi could do on this part of the shinobi career. At least his students would be starting with animals they were unattached to instead of being thrown into a life or death battle like he had been.