Chapter 18

Taking the Trial and setting the date

"Do you have everything you need, Itachi-kun?"
"Hai, Kaa-san," he replied as he finished tying his sash around his waist before kneeling down he double checked the straps of the interlocking metal platelets that protected the top of his feet. "Ok, and remember it's not the end of the world if you don't pass, you'll get other opportunities."

He gave her a small smile as he stood, "Thanks, Kaa-san but I'm confident I can do it." Before she could reply she heard a snort as Sasuke entered the room. He had been listening to their conversation from the hallway. He knew his older brother began his Jōnin trials today but Sasuke couldn't comprehend why people thought his brother was Jōnin material.

Itachi had been back for a little while now and what Sasuke found disappointed him, Itachi was soft, a characteristic not befitting of an elite shinobi, especially one possessing the Sharingan.

In reality it simply hadn't occurred to Sasuke that the Itachi he saw at home was entirely different to on mission Itachi. He had no idea that his elder brother was an incredibly efficient killer, how could he, he hadn't yet joined the academy although that would soon change.

"Something you wish to add, Sasuke?" Upon his return Itachi had quickly noted his brothers lack of honorifics, so he replied in kind. He never actually got an answer unless one counted a derisive snort as an answer as he sat down and proceeded to ignore them both. Something Mikoto thought very little of, she'd long since resigned herself to her husband turning his nose up at those he considered inferior but for passing on that attitude to their youngest son, she resented him.

Itachi and Mikoto simply ignored him in return. She looked at her eldest one last time. It had been nearly two months since his return. And yet despite four years in the capital he was still the same kind, calm and gentle son she remembered, she was also under no illusions that her sons kill count probably surpassed her own now. But she was proud of Itachi, clad now in black pants that tightened around the lower leg and a light grey shirt. His ankles were wrapped up but his arms remained bare. His Hitai-ate remained on his forehead with his red sash around his waist.

She had inquired as to why his sash was red not long after his return, remembering that Asuma's and Naruto's were different colours.

*Flashback*

"Itachi-kun, why is your sash a different colour to Asuma-san's and Naruto-san's?"
"Asuma's is grey because they were all grey while he was a member. About 18 months after we joined they changed it so each of us had our own unique colour, the colour became our nickname. So I became red, Naruto chose Azure blue and his nickname became Azure."
"Out of interest, what colour is Tri-san's?" she inquired. Itachi smiled slightly, "See if you can guess," he asked.

Mikoto was a little surprised by his response, that surely meant the colour Tri chose wasn't what you would expect. "Well my guess would have been green, because of his eyes but I get the feeling it's something else, right?"

"And you are correct. His is actually violet."
"Violet?" replied a baffled Mikoto. Itachi nodded, "Yeah, turns out his favourite colour is light violet, who'd have thought."

*End Flashback*

Mikoto smiled as she remembered that conversation, imagining Tri wearing anything violet in colour still felt strange.

"Anyway, Kaa-san. I'm off," Itachi said to her as he headed for the door. "Good luck, Itachi-kun," she replied. "Try not to get yourself killed like some loser," Sasuke smirked. Itachi didn't say anything, he only stared his brother straight in the eyes. Itachi having long since mastered maintaining his Sharingan permanently meant Sasuke simply couldn't win a stare down against them. Much to his frustration and petulant lamentation for not yet awakening the tomoe within his own eyes.

As expected after a few seconds Sasuke looked away, silently frustrated at being bested again. Without another word Itachi departed the house, stepping out into one of the many streets comprising the Uchiha clan holdings in Konoha. Flushing his limbs with a quick surge of chakra he vanished in a Shunshin, heading for Hokage tower.

It had taken a little longer than expected to get the ball rolling on his and Naruto's Jōnin trials but it did mean they'd taken several more missions as they were kept waiting for one reason or another. It certainly wasn't from a lack of chasing up from Hokage-sama. Ultimately Itachi wasn't that fussed since he met all the criteria required of a prospective Jōnin.

A Chūnin looking for their promotion was required to have successfully completed enough higher rank missions as well as have a success rate of at least 85% which Itachi passed since missions taken while in the Shugonin Jūnishi counted.

To ensure the promotion was to full Jōnin and not to Tokubetsu Jōnin you needed to be highly skilled in a minimum of two fields, preferably three. Itachi easily passed this thanks to his specialities in Ninjutsu and Genjutsu whilst he was highly capable in Taijutsu. Naruto on the other hand had Taijutsu and Kenjutsu as his two most potent fields with Ninjutsu serving as his third.

As he went from rooftop to rooftop he allowed his mind a rare opportunity to wander. Memories of seeing his friends and sensei again after years away brought a smile to his face. He'd been on a mission with some of them and he was delighted to see the progress they'd made. Every one of the twelve from their class had by now been promoted to Chūnin, an accolade not every academy class could claim.

He hadn't been told what his Jōnin trial would entail but he knew that he would be leading the mission, a Jōnin would accompany him to observe how he performed. To be a Chūnin you needed to display both ability and show signs of leadership qualities. To reach Jōnin, you needed to display a far greater level of ability and you had to display the traits of a leader.

Itachi knew one thing for sure, it wouldn't be a patrol mission.

-Hokage's Office-

"Alright you two, now that you're both here we can get you going on the final phase your Jōnin trials." Minato noticed the surprised looks on both their faces which made him grin. "Oh yes, your trials have been ongoing for near enough the last month. Here in Konoha, we take a lot into consideration before promoting someone."

"This includes but is not limited to: How often you train, the number of missions you have undertaken, the success rate of those missions and your temperament both on mission and off duty. You represent this village as well as yourselves, thus you must be trustworthy with the diplomatic wellbeing of this village as well as it's military wellbeing," Minato finished, his grin still present. Both teenagers silently nodded their understanding.

"Ok as for your missions as you'll have probably guessed, you'll be on separate missions, each one I feel better suits each of you. Naruto-kun, your mission is detailed in this," he explained as he handed him a sealed envelope. "To summarise, a rural town is having trouble with a minor missing-nin."
"How would you like them dealt with?" Naruto asked. "Preferably brought back alive but not required," Naruto nodded.

"Itachi-san, your mission is also detailed in the envelope but to summarise you need to steal or at least copy a series of important documents from a merchant and turn them over to the client. Killing is forbidden on this one and you can't be spotted, period. Because of this, your team will only contain you and your Jōnin observer." Like Naruto, Itachi nodded his understanding.

"Now as you're both prominent talents, the shinobi half of the council decided you needed prominent Jōnin to observe. Both are former ANBU." Ok, so that was only half true as Yamato was technically still a member of ANBU.

"Naruto-kun, you've got Yamato-san, Itachi-san, you get Kakashi-kun. Yamato-san's skill-set lends itself well to capturing someone alive while Kakashi-kun's one of the best when it comes to infiltration." Again both nodded. "That's it. Naruto-kun, your team is waiting by the north gate. Itachi-san, Kakashi-kun is waiting just outside the window as he tends to do." A revelation that got a laugh out of Naruto.

Both the teenagers looked at one another and with a handshake bid one another good luck.

Itachi pushed the window open and stuck his head out. Sure enough off to the side leant against the wall, reading his ever-present book was Itachi's sole companion for the next few days. "Yo, Itachi-san, you ready to go?" he asked not looking up from his book. "Yes, are you?"
"Yep."
"Let's get going then." Snapping his book shut and putting it away while pushing himself off the wall. He gave Itachi a nod indicating his readiness.

Itachi pushed a little chakra into the envelope in his hands, a small seal on the front unfurled itself and spelt out the word 'East'. "We're going east, Kakashi," he informed him, both shunshined away.

They both moved in relative silence for nearly an hour, having long since signed out from the village. Now they were far enough away to read the envelope. The seal on the outside of the envelope gave them a direction to travel in. The envelope was only to be opened when the team could guarantee the security of its contents.

Tearing open the wax seal, Itachi took out the mission brief.

Mission details:

Travel south-east to Shama city on the coast, find the headquarters of the merchant Koba Tako. Once found, infiltrate and steal/ copy documents on financial transactions for the previous five years. All documents believed to be held in a single safe somewhere within the building.

Once documents are secure, travel south along the coast to the town of Fuke. The client is staying in a tavern called 'The White Wave' for the next fourteen days under the name of Azun, this is your time limit.

Mission Requirements and Knowledge distribution:

Absolute secrecy, Killing is FORBIDDEN, detection is not permissable. Violation of either of these will result in mission failure. Not meeting your deadline will result in mission failure.

Knowledge distribution to your team is at your discretion.

Mission Ranking:

B-Rank.

He read through the brief a second time before handing it over to Kakashi who also read through it before returning it. "Mission brief read?" Kakashi asked, Itachi nodded before using a tiny amount of Katon chakra to ignite the brief. They waited a few moments, ensuring it all turned to ash before leaving, changing their direction of travel to the south-east.

-A week later – Shama City-

They had been taking turns staking out the headquarters of one Koba Tako for several days now. The building was of a fair size, three stories tall and some forty feet at its widest. The building had a rectangular shape and was completely detached from every other building around it.

During the day, nothing out of the ordinary occurred, employees and clients came and went. But at night the building had four guards patrolling outside the structure which didn't look out of the ordinary at all if it weren't for the six others who guarded the inside of the structure as Itachi had found out after scouting the top two floors while Kakashi watched the ground floor. It was during that reconnaissance that Itachi had found several safes on the top floor.

That was last night. Right now, Kakashi was scouting the ground floor, learning the patrol paths of the guards and their timing. They were pretty sure the safe was on the top floor, they'd already paid a visit to the cities library where they had managed to find a copy of the buildings blueprints, no basement or underground sections were excavated when the building was constructed but they had to be sure.

They knew that tomorrow night was their opportunity, the building next door, another merchant headquarters was hosting a party. Plenty of noise and bright lights as distractions, perfect.

Itachi was staked out on a rooftop alcove across the street. Kakashi had been gone nearly an hour so he was expecting him back shortly. He hoped Kakashi didn't find any safes on the ground floor, it would double their workload tomorrow night and double their risk of being spotted not to mention splitting them up. Not that splitting up mattered much when both could use shadow clones.

Itachi leaned back, the sound of the sea crashing against the stone walls of the cities port could be heard off in the distance as well as the sounds of the city, civilians going about their business, the occasional dog barking at one thing or another.

Without a sound Kakashi appeared next to him. "Find anything of interest Kakashi?"
"No, no safes or secret basements. The guard patrols are erratic and lack consistency, I believe if there is a timetable they don't keep to it."
"We can make that work, erratic likely means easily distracted. We'll devise our plan back at the hotel." Kakashi nodded as they both vanished with absolute silence.

-The Following Night-

"Ok, the parties in full swing Weasel. Ready to begin."
"Understood Scarecrow, awaiting ground floor distraction," Itachi replied through the mic.

The first phase of the plan involved distracting the guards both in and around the building or at the very least draw their attention towards the lower half of the building. Their distraction was a henged shadow clone of Kakashi's masquerading as a drunk party-goer by the name Toji.

Right on cue the clone stumbled out of the building next door, they'd entered through one of the other entrances a few hours earlier so none of the guards would recognise them. They stumbled out of the entrance a Sake bottle in one hand and a small crate of more Sake bottles under the other arm.

The clone awkwardly made their way towards the guarded building, their steps unsteady and inconsistent. They pretended not to notice the guards until he was only feet away before stumbling back in surprise.

"By Kami, I-I didn't see you boyz ther," Toji said in surprise, his words slurred. He looked them over with his unfocused eyes. "Damn you all look bored half to death. I KNOW!" he suddenly shouted. "Why don't you take these," he said indicating the dozen or so Sake bottles. Toji could see he now had their attention.

"Why that sounds like a fantastic idea, friend," one of the guards replied. Toji only seemed to be half paying attention before blurting out, "My names Toji, not friend. But you are welcome." He handed over the bottles to one of the guards, "Remember to shar them now, y-you can't have a party on your own *hic*."

Without another word he began awkwardly walking down the street again, looking unsteady on his feet, even stumbling on a pothole at one point.

The bottles all soon found their way into the hands of many of the guards, wasting little time, the drinking began. Many coughing after their first taste, "Geez, this stuff is strong," one of them muttered. And yes, while the Sake was strong what they didn't know was that each bottle was laced with a potent herbal remedy used to help people sleep.

With step one underway, they bided their time, waiting for nearly an hour as the remedy began to take effect. As time went by the guards grew more sluggish. Kakashi's clone had long since dispelled after withdrawing to a safe distance before doing so.

Eventually they began slumping over against walls or in chairs, fast asleep. "Okay Weasel, guards are asleep."
"How many do you count?"
"I count seven asleep and I believe at least one more is somewhere on the ground floor."
"Understood, let's begin." On his word both went silent as they entered through open windows on either side of the top floor.

Kakashi was further away from the safes but it was his job to locate any guards on the top floor and keep them away from Itachi while the Uchiha cracked the safes open. He slowly crept to the end of the corridor and holding his head close to the ground he peered around the corner to find it also empty. Bringing his hands together he whispered, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

A single clone appeared next to him, using just his head Kakashi silently ordered the clone to scout down the opposite end of the corridor. The idea was they would both loop around and meet up on the other side, not far from where Itachi would be.

Meanwhile, Itachi had easily gotten in through the window, made sure there was no guard nearby before heading for the safes. The door to the safe room wasn't even locked and the safes themselves looked old and worn with outdated locking mechanisms. He started on a safe that only needed a key to open, pulling out his chakra metal lock pick he began trying to open it.

The wonderful difference with a shinobi lockpick was that you could push your chakra through and around it and if your chakra detection was sensitive enough you could feel the layout of the lock and quickly learn what you needed to open it. It meant that it only took around thirty seconds before he heard the click and the door opened slightly.

Itachi leaned forward and looked around the rim of the safe door looking for any traps, finding none he slowly pulled the door open, thankfully the door swung open silently and Itachi began scanning through its contents. A few minutes of looking through payroll and expenses going back years yielded none of the files he was looking for. Placing them back in a manner similar to how he found them he pushed the door to, not shutting it though, just in case.

He turned to the second safe as he felt a small pulse of chakra. He tensed slightly but relaxed again as he felt a second identical pulse. Kakashi had just signalled the top floor was clear, now he would watch the staircases for any guards that might ascend to the top floor.

The second safe was of a more complex design, an analogue combination locking mechanism. Again being a shinobi came in handy. He leaned his forehead and left palm against the safe door and channelled chakra through them both into the door. With his free right hand he began spinning the numbered dial, with his chakra permeating the locking mechanism he'd easily detect the clicks of it unlocking.

Although made substantially easier, it still took him nearly ten minutes to finally unlock the safe. Again it swung open with little effort or noise. Speaking of noise the party was still going strong next door, the faint sounds of musical instruments and conversation reaching his ears. Again he looked through the documents and this time he found what he was looking for all in a neat little pile.

Sorting out those he needed to copy into a small pile. Withdrawing a specially designed Fūinjutsu scroll from one of his storage seals. Laying it out flat it was long enough to place two pieces of paper end to end.

Placing the first document face down on the scroll he placed a blank sheet of paper below it. Placing his thumb on the primary seal he flushed it with chakra for a few seconds. Taking back both sheets he checked them against one another. The blank sheet of paper had become a near perfect copy of the original. Setting it aside, he moved onto the next one.

It took nearly half an hour to copy all the documents but finally he was able to replace the originals and relock the safe. For now he sealed the copies and the scroll into his storage seal. Pulsing his chakra twice told Kakashi that he was done. With that both made their way back the windows they used to get in. As Kakashi made to leap through the open window he heard footsteps begin to ascend the stairs.

But it didn't matter, they were gone. Both taking a different route back to their hotel.

Meanwhile elsewhere in Hi no Kuni one would find a somewhat disappointed Uzumaki Namikaze Naruto. He was staring down at the unconscious form of the missing-nin he and his team had been sent after. They were listed in the Konoha Bingo book as a B-Rank missing-nin. Yet despite that Naruto was still disappointed, disappointed at how easy it had proved to catch them.

Placing a chakra suppression seal on the back of his neck, removing any weapons and binding his hands and feet secured them. Naruto lifted them onto a clones shoulder and they made for home.

'Wonder how Itachi's getting on?' he wondered as he and his team jumped from tree to tree.

Itachi had just closed the door behind him. He and Kakashi had just reported the success of their mission to the Hokage. His departure left just Kakashi and Minato. "How'd he do Kakashi?"
"Exceptionally well Hokage-sama. He understands the importance of knowing as much as possible before executing the mission. We watched the building for several days, day and night."

Minato just sat and listened as Kakashi continued. "We took the time to learn the layout of the building's interior, getting our hands on the building blueprints and then infiltrating the building itself to check for any hidden rooms or basements of which there were none."

"We could have completed the mission a day or two earlier but he bided his time, waiting for a prime opportunity which came in the form of a party at the building next door. Using the lights and sounds as a distraction we started the plan Itachi had devised."

"Using a henged shadow clone we used Sake laced with a sleeping remedy to incapacitate most of the guards or at the very least draw their attention to the bottom floor leaving us alone on the top floor. We waited the hour or so it took for the remedy to take full effect."

"Did Itachi chose the remedy used?"
"Hai, Hokage-sama"
"Why chose one that takes so long?"
"He chose it because it wasn't fast acting. Having the guards fall asleep so suddenly would just arouse suspicion. After an hour it came across as drunk guards dozing off." Minato had to admit, he wouldn't have thought of that.

"I'm getting the impression Itachi planned everything out to come across as civilian as possible."
"Yes, I got a similar impression when he laid out his plan to me."
"Did he ask you to help in the creation of this plan."
"He laid out his plan in its entirety first and then asked for my input."

"And did your input change the plan at all?"
"Hai, a few small details were changed or improved upon. The only significant change was my Shadow clone slipping the guards the Sake instead of his own. It would have given him too much to do since he was going to be cracking the safes."

Minato tapped the top of his thumb against his chin. 'Displays an air of authority and control by detailing his entire plan and then displaying a willingness to hear feedback and suggestions from his team as well as delegate tasks and responsibility.'

"Were there any problems obtaining the documents?"
"No, he didn't mention any issues with getting into the safes and yes I did ask whether he did. All in all, it took just under an hour to leave with the documents. Itachi cracked the safes and copied the documents while I watched for any guards. His Sharingan allows him to better see in the dark than mine. Turning on lights or bringing any light sources with us were unnecessary risks."

Again Minato found himself approving of the decisions taken. "And how did you ensure you'd leave the city without trouble?"
"we were staying in a hotel on the other side of the city and we had a shadow clone of each of us come and go during the day and stake out the bar during the early evening. It meant there were witnesses who could put both of us far away from the target as well as allow us to watch for anyone spying on us."

Minato was silent a moment as his mind went over Kakashi's report again. "Do you think he is ready to be a Jōnin?" Now it was Kakashi's turn to be quiet, he closed his only visible eye as he analysed all he had seen Itachi do and all he knew about him. Opening his eye again, "Hai, he's ready?"

It had been a few days since both Naruto and Itachi had returned from their respective missions. Both had already been informed of the decision to promote them to Jōnin in a few weeks' time. Unlike Chūnin, Jōnin were promoted in groups three or four times a year. They would be among six being promoted.

Minato and Shikaku Nara were discussing various matters and had been for nearly an hour when there was a knock at the door. "Enter," Minato called out. Itachi and Naruto entered, "You called for us, Hokage-sama?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, Naruto-kun. Shikaku-san here wanted to run an idea past the two of you."
"Thanks, Minato-san. As you'll have no doubt heard Konoha will be hosting the next major Chūnin Exams. And since it has been a few years since the village last hosted one we will need to improve the stadium facilities. When we've finished those improvements we want to trial run them, which is where you two come in."

"We want you two to partake in a pair of friendlies against other Jōnin. You can test out the fighting arena while we get to test the infrastructure."
"When were you thinking of hosting these bouts Shikaku-san?" Itachi inquired. "After the improvements have been completed, they have an estimate of seven to eight months for completion."
"Then why not wait the few extra months for Tri-kun to return, then you can have three bouts." Shikaku and Minato looked at one another, intrigued by the idea. Both quickly agreed, "Alright then Itachi-san, we'll hold off until all three of your Prodigal trio are back," Shikaku stated with an air of finality.

"Nii-chan, how long is left until Tri-nii-chan comes back?" Naruto was pulled from his thoughts by his sister's question. He had left Tou-san's office a few hours ago and had since been spending his afternoon with his little sister.

"Well, how long have I been back?" he replied. "Like two months," she answered. "That's right and that means there's still ten months left until Tri-kun comes back."
"Aww," she glumly moaned. "But what if he doesn't like me," he heard her quietly say causing him to sigh. He had noticed that about her, she could go from cheery to glum in a second. Before she could stew in her sadness he scooped her up in his arms. "Like you? Are you kidding, he absolutely adores you," he reassured her.

'It's a shame she wasn't old enough to remember. The amount of time he would spend with her.' "Nii-chan, what do you think Tri-nii-chan is doing right now," again her emotions had flipped, thankfully back to happy Naruto noted. "Hmm, I don't know Minusha-chan. What do you think?"

-Daimyō's Palace-

A figure walked with purpose through the palaces many corridors, dragging the unconscious form of someone behind them. Walking alongside them were six civilian guards. Two more guards clad in armour and armed with pikes stood in front of a large pair of doors. Upon seeing the figure wearing a violet sash around his waist coming towards them they opened the doors immediately.

"Tri-sama has returned Daimyō-sama," one of the guards announced to the rooms sole spottable occupant. There was always a minimum of two Jūnishi standing guard over the Daimyō day and night.

The Daimyō stood from his chair, "Ah Tri-kun. I trust you were successful." Tri slung his prisoner in front of him before kneeling. "Hai, Daimyō-sama. Target has been recovered alive as you requested."
"Excellent, guards if you would escort the prisoner to his cell." Two of the guards present silently complied, each grabbing the man underneath the arm and dragged him away. "Did he reveal the location of the final target?"

"Hai, Daimyō-sama. I have their location."
"Excellent then per our agreement, you may pursue them in a weeks' times."
"Understood."

The Daimyō made time to get to know the personalities and abilities of his Shugonin members so he could tell there was something else on Tri's mind. "There is something else, Tri-kun?"
"Hai. I wanted to ask your permission to send a series of shadow clones to Uzushiogakure." The surprise on the young Daimyō's face was evident but he was quickly able to put the pieces together. "You wish to see your clans former homeland?"
"Hai, the clones would learn the layout. When my time in your service comes to an end I intend to travel there myself before returning to Konoha," Tri explained.

He thought about it a few moments, "Very well, Tri-kun. But only one clone at a time that can have no more than 5% of your total chakra reserves and only after you have captured the final target and returned them to me alive," he replied, laying out his terms. "Understood, Daimyō-sama."

"There is more?" he inquired when Tri didn't move. "Hai, Daimyō-sama. There is one more small matter."

"Which is?" Tri grinned before replying. "It's not that important, it's just that I can smell the peach shampoo Maki-senpai uses from here." The Daimyō was silent for a moment before he burst out laughing. His laughter was quickly followed by a small wave in killing intent from somewhere above them.

End Chapter

I know the chapter jumps around all over the place but I didn't want to linger too long on this filler stuff.