A.N. - Sorry for the delay. I ended up sick and exhausted. Unlike other authors that will update during a typhoon, I am not that generous or selfless.

-LINEBREAK-

Story Title: LEARNING CURVE

Series: The Way of Shadows, The Way of Shinobi (1/3)

Warnings: mentions of infidelity & methods of killing

"Speech"

'Thought'

Chapter Five: Mission Parameters

It seemed that in Shiro's eagerness to leave the village and pursue his own agenda after fulfilling missions tasked to him from Sarutobi was coming back to bite him. After he'd finished his assigned B-Rank with Kotetsu, Izumo, and Raidō, he had been more than ready to either go on a different mission with a different team, or have some down time. Anything to get him away from the two chūnin. They weren't difficult by a long measure, but their personalities together were a bit much for Shiro. They didn't give a conducive environment for thinking either along with him not being able to relax completely while in mission mode, he wanted to strangle the two long before they got back to the village. At least he'd managed to send out one of his summons who brought back some very interesting news. It had been a nice coincidence that Hige brought back information that a certain silver haired bespectacled genin and his teammates were doing a border patrol. If a malicious light entered Shiro's eyes and his lips turned up in a cruel smile, he couldn't really be faulted. If he had also substituted himself with a carefully placed kage bunshin, that wasn't anyone's business as he took off after the genin team.

His mercurial mood had caused Raidō, Izumo, and Kotetsu to eye him warily and keep a bit of distance between them when he'd switched back, much more cheerful than when he'd left them. Shiro couldn't help the jubilation he felt at having put the little snake down before he became a much bigger threat and problem. His two goons that he'd recalled from the chūnin exams weren't there, but that was alright. The boy's jōnin instructor tried to intercede but realized he needed to prioritize the protection of the other two little genin under his command. Still, Shiro had had to incapacitate the man and the two little genin had run away. It was unfortunate, but necessary that he'd left just enough evidence of Kabuto's death while Shiro made sure the slippery snake couldn't pull off any kind of miraculous heal. Nor had he wanted any bits of Kabuto to be absconded with to help out Danzou or Orochimaru. It was just a shame that the bastard's name was going to be put on the memorial stone.

Once back in the village, the report handed in, Shiro only had a chance to bathe, eat, and have a short rest before he was sent out on another mission. Once that one had been completed and the mission report handed in, he was given another mission scroll and only had time to repack his bag before he was gone again. It seemed that Sarutobi was passive aggressive in his own way. It caused him to be very tempted to just say, 'screw it' and go rogue. It would be a lot easier to get things done without having to split his time doing missions that he didn't want to be on. He was very aware of time slipping away from him and he still needed to come up with a decent attack plan on the major players that needed to be dealt with.

At least he was given enough time to actually sleep before he was given his latest mission scroll. One which he was most curious about as his teammates for this consisted of three Tokubetsu Jōnin. Raidō, he understood as the man was an assassin which their current mission had been marked as. He would have assumed it would have been handed to the ANBU as assassination was one of the primary job descriptions for the group. Yamashiro Aoba also made sense as he was in the Intelligence Division and worked well with Raidō. That left Shinranui Genma as well as Shiro himself. Shiro knew the man was quick and quite skilled. It said something that he'd been a guard for not only the Godaime's detail but had been on the Yondaime's as well. Genma was not to be taken lightly.

Was this a test? Was Sarutobi testing him? Usually Shiro's position was support not lead like it was with this mission. Shiro was sure if the old man knew he'd attacked a fellow Leaf shinobi and murdered another it wouldn't matter what his successors in the future had written or his reasonings, Shiro would be in T .

As they traveled, it had crossed his mind more than once if Raidō and the other two had been slated for this mission last time in the original timeline. Who had their fourth been? Or had it just been Raidō alone or had he had Aoba for back up? Had this mission even taken place or had it cropped up due to Shiro's existence? He knew there would be ripples and consequences for his presence in this timeline. The more changes he made the more they would expand and cause further ripples and alterations. He hadn't been that concerned about what would result from the premature death of Hidan, but knew that there would be considerable more and further reaching for the removal of Kabuto.

Whether this mission had existed before or not didn't matter anymore as it existed now. On paper the objective appeared to be relatively easy and straightforward which had been another reason he'd been curious about the members selected for this. Perhaps it was because it was a request from the Daimyo himself which had piqued Shiro's interest alone. Surely it must have done the other three but they didn't voice any questions or opinions other than how time sensitive it was. Shiro wasn't sure what type of requests the Daimyo usually sent to Konohagakure aside from the guards or tasking Gennin to collect his wife's infamous cat. As he was the Daimyo though, perhaps this type of mission wasn't as unusual at all? Their mission was to take out a political rival of the Daimyo through any means necessary. It seemed that a political rival wanted to take out Hi no Kuni's current Daimyo and this particular person had blackmail which needed to disappear as well. It was the latter part that would prove problematic and cause Shiro to wonder if this mission had taken place before, and if Raidō had been the one assigned, how the man had interpreted the parameters of the mission and the resulting actions taken.

The first part of the mission had gone according to plan. The team had made it to their destination and found their contact who was actually one of Jiraiya's informants and a servant in the noble's household. It was from him that Shiro learned to blend in as a household servant. Whenever he had to be corrected gave Genma amusement and didn't seem cowed in the slightest at Shiro's glare. Shiro's excuse that he hadn't had to do this sort of thing for a LONG time wasn't very strong. It hadn't mattered that he barely remembered (more than likely forcefully suppressed) his days doing D-Ranks. In fact, it had taken him a while to adjust to sleeping regularly and not be restless for a fight. He had been so used to fighting from sunup to sundown with only snatches of sleep and breaks to grab a ration bar before repeating. His time repairing the house in Konoha in this time period had helped him go back to a more reasonable schedule but it hadn't taken much to fall back into the routine of sleeping lightly and being ready to fight at a moment's notice while outside the village walls. Then, there had been no need for disguises or alterations of body language so thoroughly to be able to lie without speaking. It was regrettably necessary for him to suffer through this now to be able to pass inspection when he joined the noble's house. During that week of preparation, the contact gradually became 'sick' so that it wouldn't be suspicious for Shiro to fill in for him.

Being a servant he was privy to all the gossip and that came in spades! Some of the current gossip was naturally about Shiro when he began his duties. Finding the incriminating evidence being used against the Daimyo hadn't actually been against the man himself, rather his wife. It seemed as if Madam Shijimi had gotten into some kind of scandal due to her personality and her spending habits. Shiro had thought that sounded much more reasonable and likely than having anything against the Daimyo himself. The man was too fickle a being who did whatever he was too swayed by what others thought. The traveler had raised his brow when he'd seen the actual evidence before he destroyed it as requested.

It was while he was observing his quarry in order to find the most suitable way to eliminate him that Shiro found a snag in the whole thing. It was what had him questioning the exact parameters of his mission orders and what Raidō must have done when it had most likely had been given to him in the past which was now Shiro's present. The most logical thing would be to eliminate all the evidence as was instructed, but the order had been for one assassination not two.

No one would or could have guessed -Shiro hadn't- that the Daimyo still followed some of the older traditions and had a second wife! Shiro would have thought the man too meek, but he supposed he had no idea why the Fire Daimyo had married his wife. There had been rumors he'd married Madam Shijimi for the money and power to get him to his current seat. While having a second wife wasn't exactly unknown nor even something that would prove scandalous per se for someone like the Daimyo, it might have been frowned upon as they were no longer in the warring states era and certain traditions were dying out.

A second wife that was very involved in the blackmail against her husband. Due to that, Shiro had to figure out what he was going to do. He had been instructed by the Daimyo to wipe out the threat to him, but one of the threats was a member of the Daimyo's own family. With that person being of the noble family from his country protected by the Hokage, it would be treason to harm her. This was in direct conflict with his orders which meant that he had to interpret them how he willed. Or how he assumed that the Daimyo and his Kage would have the least amount of backlash and more importantly one where Shiro didn't end up having to visit T .

Thankfully, Shiro had more than a few weeks to come up with a plan and enact it before he went for his primary target. Poison had been his first choice but after spying the silver vessels he almost rethought his decision. If Shiro were to use the typical poisons that were commonly available it would be caught. It was a good thing he had some that were anything but available to the average poisoner. He would have to be very careful how he distributed it so that the targeted noble was the only one receiving the poison. He did have some that needed to be consumed over a stretch of time. He would have to think it over tonight and decide tomorrow.

Shiro had gone with a long acting poison. It meant that they had to stick around longer than any of the shinobi were comfortable with. He knew that his teammates wanted to get the job done and go home, he'd seen the glances at him and heard the murmurs. He'd explained the method he'd used and was now just waiting.

"What is taking you so long?" Genma asked one evening as he approached Shiro who was sitting on the engawa relaxed as can be. Shiro still wasn't sure the man's purpose was in coming other than as back up. He knew that both Aoba and Raidō had been about gathering their own intel and passing some along to Jiraiya's informant to give to the Sennin.

Shiro didn't bother glancing at the man as he waited for his summons to come back with whatever they heard. He needed to make a decision and whatever news was brought back would be the deciding factor of what he would do with the Daimyo's second wife. He heard Genma tsk then say, "I hope you know what you're doing."

He did too. He was rather attached to his head and while he wouldn't care in the grand scope of things if this mission was the one that caused him to end up as a nukenin since he'd been foolish enough to rejoin the ranks, it would hinder the plans he had made for a blond chaos gremlin. It would also take away nearly all of his limited options when it came to the mess that was the atmosphere between the village and the Uchiha Clan. If he were to defect now, he would be free to pursue the greater threats, it would make certain other plans more difficult if not impossible to achieve. He sighed heavily as he flopped back down on the cool wooden floor he eyed Genma's retreating back speculatively. Maybe he should utilize the players the Sandaime had given him?

"Tsk. That geezer knew about the second wife." There was no doubt in Shiro's mind when it came to this. He didn't stir when he felt a light pressure on his chest informing him that his summons had come back. Listening to the report, his brain started churning up ideas before he gave a decisive nod. "Alright. That's what I'll do then."

Getting up, he went and told his team to move out and that he would rendezvous with them the next day. In the meantime he snuck back inside the noble's house and was able to knock the woman out. He left a henged kage bunshin in her place. She woke up while he was running and got him pretty good with a kick. He growled as she began to yell demands at him. Not having time to reason with her and explain her options, Shiro dropped her to the ground while still holding onto one of her arms leaving her completely exposed and vulnerable to the quick strike to the bundle of nerves under the clavicle to knock her out again. Picking her back up again he wondered if he was doing the right thing or if he just should have left her behind to be implicated in her lover's demise. If he'd done that though, there might have been the off chance that someone would have believed she had been acting on the Daimyo's behalf.

It might have been petty, but Shiro was more than pleased to literally dump his burden into the laps of his babysitters when he felt her beginning to stir. "If you're going to be here, make yourselves useful and watch her for me, will you?" As an afterthought he warned, "You might want to watch out, she has a strong kick."

The warning came too late as the woman's leg swung out in a strong kick to Genma's groin causing the young man to groan in pain and glare at Shiro with a, "I'm going to make you pay for that," expression. Shiro just gave him a shit eating grin in return telling him to bring it while ignoring the other two's expressions of curiosity and surprise at the extra person.

Before he could explain the woman began making demands again and having had enough, Shiro stated, "You aren't really in the position to be making demands. Your life is forfeit if you go back." He explained how he'd poisoned the lord with one that had to be dispensed and ingested over a period of time that when stopped suddenly would cause the victim to die. The woman was horrified and angry and Shiro didn't care, just smiled and stated, "Well, then. You should just do what other jilted women do. Either kill him or hire someone to do it for you." His companions looked at him sharply at that. "Or just run away and keep low instead of connecting yourself to someone who could easily expose you."

While the woman wailed that he didn't understand, Shiro tuned her out more concerned with if this was something that had happened before and what the best outcome would be. He could take her back for the Daimyo to reprimand even if he lost face with the few in his circle that would likely know about this, or he could possibly create more false trails than he was originally going to do to throw off pursuers and help her on her merry way? Tilting his head in thought he glanced at his companions and again wondered how it had played out the first time. Had Raidō helped her or killed her?

"It's your call."

Realizing that he'd missed them coming to some kind of decision, Shiro turned his gaze to Genma who had spoken then to Aoba and Raidō. Not wanting to admit he hadn't been paying attention he stated, "I hear that Tsuki no Kuni is delightful this time of year. I'm sure you'll fit right in there."

-To Be Continued-

A.N. - Yes, I went there and invented a bit for the Fire Daimyo. As far as I can remember they don't really give him any depth or history. The wiki wasn't very informative either. So free rein! Plus, fanfiction! Interesting fact was that it wasn't that unusual for the Shogun and Daimyo's to have more than one wife to ensure an heir back then. Silver was used to detect arsenic and other sulfide poisons back in the day hence why they used silver. I still haven't seen all of Shippuden so I apologize if Genma, Raido, and Aoba get more screen time there and I messed up their personalities horrendously.

Guest – Ummm, Thanks for reading my story and commenting even though I have no idea about some of what you wrote. I haven't finished watching Naruto (first time I watched it was YEARS ago) or Naruto Shippuden (have only seen episodes here and there and that too was YEARS ago) yet, so have no idea how it really ends. As for the manga again, haven't read it in YEARS but think I got as far as the Pein arc of him attacking Konoha? I know I got at least to Jiraiya's death and Naruto reading The Gutsy Ninja book. I have not seen or read Boruto and don't have any plans to do so at this time.