Chapter 263 - Shikamaru's Plan 02

Fire Capital.

Kakashi and Daichi were escorting their client through the streets of the capital. It wasn't long before they reached a large mansion.

Daichi immediately recognized the building. "This is Lord Taji's home."

"Lord Taji. Hmm… So this is the home of the Minister in charge of overseeing businesses huh. I assume he wants a report." Kakashi had never met the man but he had heard of him.

Ryoma nodded. "Indeed. After everything that has happened he wanted me to give him an update as soon as I returned. I'm sure he would also want to speak with you two. And I have a feeling he'd be delighted to see you again Daichi."

The Jonin and Genin nodded. "I'm also somewhat curious about the prisoner that was taken?" Kakashi said as he put his book back in his pouch.

The guards standing in front of the gates immediately recognized Daichi and Ryoma 'The Dealmaker'. Soon the two were escorted inside for a meeting with the minister.

Within a few minutes the 3rd minister of the Fire Capital came to greet them. The two ninjas and their client bowed and straightened.

Lord Taji smiled as he looked at the three. "Welcome. I take it, the journey back was pleasant?"

"Yes my Lord. After dealing with the small interruption at the Inn, everything proceeded smoothly." Ryoma replied.

"Wonderful! So what was their response?" Taji asked his man.

"They agreed to cease all hostilities and agreed for an alliance. They'll be here next week. A merger between the two is in the works but it will only move forward if their children agree. I'll have a report within the day sir."

"Good." Lord Taji smiled and turned his attention to the two ninjas. "Kakashi Hatake. I've heard quite a lot about you. You have an impressive reputation."

"Thank you Lord Taji." The Jonin smiled and gave a small nod.

The minister turned his attention to the Genin and his smile widened as he looked at the boy. "Hello Daichi. How have you been?"

"Very well sir. Thank you… How is your nephew, Leorio?"

"He's doing well. It was a difficult few months for him emotionally after that whole ordeal, but he's now back to his old self." The minister replied joyfully.

"I'm glad to hear that."

"You also protected my friend here and found the spy hidden amongst them. Thank you. Your skills are very impressive… But there is something I wanted to ask. Why did you let the attackers get away? Was it really to get information on Yuta Genjira?"

Taji asked the question that Kakashi and Daichi were expecting. "I didn't know if there were any other threats aside from Yuta present at that meeting. Capturing and interrogating them would have taken time and those ninjas had suicide jutsus as contingences. They were just hired hands and it would have been more trouble than it was worth and we wouldn't have found the evidence needed in time. So we made a deal with them. Information in exchange for freedom. Our priority was to protect the client and this felt like the easiest way."

The minister listened and nodded. "I see… Hm… You're right. I don't care about the methods but the results. And they speak for themselves. We now have two of the biggest resource corporations working together and have evidence against another conducting illegal operations. Well done."

"Thank you." The Genin replied with a short respectful bow.

"Lord Taji, has Yuta given you anything?" Ryoma asked.

"We're still interrogating him but it seems he was only tasked with sending information about The Satoru corporation to Fujin. He doesn't know any credible information about his father's company."

"To think Fujin would sacrifice and make his own son a spy from such a young age… To Fujin his son was just another piece on the board. All to further his goals." Ryoma spoke in a low tone.

Lord Taji sighed as he thought about the young man currently being interrogated by his men. His mind then briefly went to Junichiro. 'It's such a sad fate. Good men being obligated and forced to follow the path of evil men… But such is life.'

The minister didn't dwell on the negative thoughts for long. He put on a cheerful face and looked at the two man ninja team. "I'll have accommodations prepared for you two. Now that your mission is completed you're more than welcome to rest and relax here for as long as you need."

While Daichi considered it a grateful gesture he wanted to get back to the village as soon as possible. Kakashi glanced at his student out of the corner of his eyes and knew Daichi wanted to get home quickly to see his friends. 'The graduation exam is today. I'm sure he's eager to see them…'

With that in mind Kakashi spoke. "We appreciate the offer Lord Taji but I'm afraid Daichi and I have to head back to the village now that our mission is completed."

The minister looked to the Genin and saw the boy give a small nod.

"Very well then. Next time. Have a safe journey back home."

The 3rd Minister and Ryoma said their goodbyes to the two ninjas and soon Kakashi and his student left the mansion. In half an hour they left the capital and were slowly making their way back home.

The Genin was hopping through the trees thinking about what Naruto and Mizuki were up to in the village. 'What's going on right now? Did Mizuki use the same trick or did something else happen?'

Kakashi looked at Daichi and his eyes slightly narrowed. 'He seems off...'

"Are you alright Daichi?"

The Jonin's question brought the boy out of his thoughts. He looked at his teacher from the corner of his eyes. "Why do you ask sensei?"

"You seem…. How do I put this?... Distracted."

The boy chuckled hearing that. "I'm fine sensei. Just a lot on my mind." Daichi gave a smooth reply and kept a cool face as he looked forward.

Kakashi looked at his student for a few more seconds before he shook his head and decided to ignore it. 'Eh. I'm sure it's nothing. Must be thinking about some new jutsu… Probably…'

The silver haired ninja took out his orange book and flipped to the marked page and slowly began continuing from where he left off.

—-

With Shikamaru and Hinata.

Shikamaru and Hinata were atop a small building a short distance away from the Hokage tower. They were hidden in a corner that wasn't easily visible to everyone.

Shikamaru sat in his spot and let out a deep breath. "This area has a good vantage point. We'll be able to see if there is any movement or if anyone is scouting out the tower."

"Do you think Naruto is going to escape through this section?" Hinata asked and the Nara Genin nodded his head.

"Yeah. If I'm right Naruto's gonna enter the tower through the lower entrance and then once he has the scroll he'll most likely exit through this area."

"But do you think… he'll get the scroll? If the Hokage or his guards are present he won't be able to escape." Hinata said.

"Yeah. If he stumbles into the Hokage or anyone else, he'll be in trouble… Well, let's see what happens…" Shikamaru replied and he soon got comfortable. But despite his relaxed posture he was alert and on the lookout for any suspicious movements.

The two sat there in silence while Hinata occasionally used her Byakugan to keep an eye on her surroundings. Shikamaru had warned her to keep an eye on anyone moving suspiciously.

As she used her Byakugan she asked her friend a question that's been on her mind. "Shi-Shikamaru… Um… If we can't tell any Jonin or Chunin, then why don't we tell the Hokage about this? He'd believe us right?... He knows Naruto wouldn't steal a scroll out of the blue… Right?"

Shikamaru was silent and sighed.

"You… You don't think he'd believe us?"

The Nara shook his head. "No. I'm pretty sure he will. If we tell him what we know, what you heard, I'm sure he'd believe us and take our words at face value…"

"Then why aren't we…?" Hearing that response Hinata was confused as to why Shikamaru wasn't taking that option.

"Two reasons mainly. Number one. Mizuki knowing about the existence of the Forbidden scroll isn't that surprising. But knowing where to find it in the tower and how to get it… That's a whole different story. That's information he couldn't have gotten without high level access. Someone in the Hokage tower or someone who once worked there must have tipped him off. Mizuki isn't dumb enough to believe he can fool the entire village and get away with it on his own. At least I don't think he is…"

"So someone must be helping him."

"Yeah. That's what I'm thinking. And we don't know if the spy is still there or not. If we alert the Hokage he would come to the same conclusion I have and I'm betting he's going to take the wait and see approach. He'd probably let Naruto take the scroll, in order to draw out the spy and catch Mizuki in the act, clearing Naruto's name. I'm also sure he'd also have an Anbu or two shadow Naruto to make sure he wouldn't get into any trouble…"

Hinata's eyes widened. "Th-Then why aren't we-"

"Going inside the tower and warning him? That's reason number two…" Shikamaru said, raising his second finger. "We just graduated from the academy. We should be celebrating with our family and friends. We have no business seeing the Hokage at this time. So if we go into the tower to meet with Lord Hokage and the spy or anyone who knows what's going on see us or finds out about our meeting they'd get suspicious and alert Mizuki and things could get chaotic fast."

Shikamaru remembered the words his father once said to him during a shogi match.

'Vigilance and paranoia are not your enemies Shikamaru. We should take into account every possible possibility. No matter how miniscule. Our greatest strength lies in anticipating our enemy's next several moves before they even know to make them… Checkmate.'

Shikaku moved a crucial piece and defeated his son in another match.

"Aww man…" The boy slumped and laid back down.

The Genin came out of his memories and looked at Hinata. "We can't take any risks and tip our hand. You eavesdropping on Mizuki's conversation was lucky but we don't want to push it. We need to be careful on how we proceed."

Hinata nodded and was silent for a few moments before she made another query. "But then what about our parents? We can trust them."

"Yeah we can. But we can't tell them. Not yet."

Seeing the girl's questioning gaze Shikamaru sighed and began explaining. "Our parents would believe us. Yes. But they would be obligated to inform the Hokage of what's going on. Even if we told them that we have a well made plan to catch Mizuki and make sure the scroll would be returned, they wouldn't just sit back and do nothing. They wouldn't listen to kids that just got headbands a few hours ago… We just graduated, Hinata. We're not even assigned to Genin teams yet. Our parents have an obligation to the Hokage. They wouldn't keep sensitive information like this to themselves. They'd wait for Lord Hokage's orders. And we're back to my first reasoning."

"But we… We have to tell him. We can't keep this a secret for long."

"I agree." Shikamaru took out a small sheet of paper and a pen from his pocket and began writing something. "After Naruto takes the scroll and leaves the tower I'll have a message delivered to the Hokage in secret explaining everything. He'd make the needed arrangements."

"Okay."

The two entered a comfortable silence while they kept an eye out for anyone suspicious. A short while later Shikamaru spoke.

"Are you worried about him?"

Hinata looked at her friend's face and instantly knew who he was talking about and she blushed. "Um… Yes…"

She didn't say anything else and the Nara smirked seeing her expression. "Don't worry. It'll all be fine. Everything's gonna work out fine."

Hinata nodded and looked ahead as the sun disappeared and night fell. 'I hope so…'

Fire Capital - Ryoma's Home.

The Dealmaker was in his office and had completed the report a few minutes ago. As he sat in his chair and relaxed he suddenly felt a little dizzy. As if his vision was going dark. He shook his head for a few moments and everything seemed to return to normal.

He immediately stood up and looked around. Seeing nothing amiss and sensing no one's presence but his own he sat down in his chair and let out a breath. "I must be more tired than I thought. I better send this to Lord Taji and get some sleep."

Ryoma took the report of his negotiations with the two corporations and sealed it in a scroll. He went outside and had one of his men deliver it to the minister and soon went to bed.

Neither Ryoma nor his guards sensed the presence of an intruder leaving the compound in the shadows.

—-------------

Author's Note:

The conclusions Shikamaru draws are due to questions from his point of view.

How did Mizuki know where to locate the scroll?

Mizuki should know the military strength of the village so he must be confident he can escape. So that means he has a plan. Maybe even a few accomplices? How to draw them out.

Most people in the village hate Naruto. So how many are helping Mizuki with this plan?

What would happen to Naruto if Mizuki's plan is ruined before he escapes?

Shikamaru knows Mizuki isn't dumb so he is being extra cautious. It's why he's keeping information close to his vest.

Putting myself in a character's shoes and seeing things from that character's P.O.V and thinking about the limited information that character would know is not an easy task. I applaud all of you writers out there.

In canon we all know the only reason Mizuki knew the location of such a dangerous scroll and how Naruto got in was because of plot….

Anyway, I hope my reasoning satisfies you.