It had been a while since she'd been this stagnant and she was getting restless. Tora spent days rotating between her room and the Raikage's office. She wanted to go see the village, but she was denied. She wanted to train in the surrounding mountains, but she was denied. If they expected her to sit still this whole time, they were in for a rude awakening because that was not her way of operating.

"Hey, are you decent?"

Tora heard a couple knocks on her door followed by the question. Telling the person to come in, she continued focusing on her exercise regiment. Nigai walked into the room and saw the female in the middle of the floor doing pushups. Seeing as she showed no signs of stopping, he settled with leaning against the wall to pass the time.

"Did you come here for something?" Tora asked as she worked out.

"I figured you would want some fresh air, but I see you're busy." He responded easily, already knowing what her reaction would be.

Tora stopped mid-push up and immediately stood up. "Seriously?" She cleared her throat after that burst of excitement and nonchalantly stretched her arms out, but the deed had already been done.

"You're like a kid in a candy store."

"Shut up! I am not!"

Spending time with Nigai, she realized he wasn't bad as a person and she thought his dreadlocks were cool. He was just very loyal to his village, which was quite expected. He didn't talk much, but he did have a slight sense of humor. Once she took a quick shower, she left the room with him.

Tora looked out the grand windows of the building out to the skyline of the rest of the village. "Where exactly are we getting this fresh air?"

"The training grounds." Nigai answered. "Lord Raikage wants to see you there."

It didn't take long to get to their destination. As they traveled, Tora saw just how high the village was stationed; it was literally in the clouds. With her abilities, she felt like this was an area made for her. How much would she have changed if she'd grown up here instead?

At the main grounds, Karui and a boy Tora had never seen before had just finished a sparring match. The moment the redhead spotted the newcomer, she promptly rolled her eyes and began to pack up. They hadn't seen each other since that afternoon in the Raikage's office, but it was very apparent that they weren't going to become friends any time soon. As Tora walked onto the field, Karui brushed past her without sparing a glance and quickly disappeared.

"She'll come around." Nigai spoke up. He knew Karui was a good person at heart, she just wasn't as accepting of change or new people.

Tora shrugged and stretched her arms. "It's fine. I didn't come here to make friends anyway. I only came to see my father."

As she started to warm up, Nigai joined her until the boy from earlier approached them. After the two males spoke to each other, Tora learned that his name was Omoi and he was a newly promoted chunin. Their conversation was short-lived as A appeared with Mabui in tow.

"I called you here to assess you." A announced as he came closer to the group. "Show me what you got."

Tora nodded and analyzed A. She wanted to see what his fighting style was and what her best approach would be. On top of that, she didn't want to be viewed as less than in front of him. Playing it safe, she threw a barrage of senbon his way.

"I hope you plan on taking me seriously."

A's body was suddenly engulfed by lightning and he disappeared before the senbon could reach him. Instantly, he was right in front of her and she narrowly avoided a punch by dropping to all fours. Her reflexes weren't as fast so she couldn't avoid his next attack as his foot collided with her abdomen and she was sent flying across the ground.

Not giving her time to think, A came after her again and she focused everything on evading until she thought she could get a decent attack on him. He was way above her level, which was expected since he was a Kage; however, she couldn't back down now. Using genjutsu, she made replicas of herself. These replicas exuded fake chakra cloaks in the shape of a tiger and jumped to attack A.

In close combat, Tora was finally able to exchange a few hits with the Fourth but she was fighting a losing battle and it was frustrating her, not that she would let him know. A could see that she was starting to get antsy as her movements were a little more jagged than before. Finally, the moment he'd been waiting for happened. Tora's body acquired a spark before becoming shrouded in a blanket of lightning. Lunging for her father, she failed to tackle him down, however she did land a deep gash into his arm. The sudden burst of speed knocked her off balance and she tripped over her feet, immediately face planting into the ground.

"You have potential, but it's clear you don't know how to use lightning release."

"Yeah, I think I mentioned that before." Tora sat up and wiped the loose gravel off her face. "I've only used it successfully once, though I wouldn't count it because technically I was unconscious."

"What I really want to know is where you were trained." A crossed his arms. It was plain to see that she was holding onto more than she was putting out.

"I was trained by my mother."

"Your mother never fought like that."

Tora frowned as she stood up. "Well I tend to put my own spin on things."

Wanting to see more, A had Tora spar with Omoi, since he stayed and hung around, then with Nigai. She won her spar based on sheer experience with Omoi, though kenjutsu was not something she was big on. She also put up a good fight with Nigai as well, although he ended up beating her in the end. While Nigai gave Omoi a couple of tips to help him improve, A pulled Tora to the side to talk to her.

"Why did you come find me?" He started off, getting straight to the point.

"Because I wanted to know more about you for myself." She answered. "Also, I wanted to learn how to use lightning style and my mother can't help me with that."

A mulled over her answer before replying. "Teaching you would come at a cost. You being my daughter plays a big part in this, but it's contingent on if you stay in the Hidden Cloud."

Tora averted her gaze and looked around at the training grounds. She'd been imagining to a point what it would've been like to grow up here, but now she was going to be given that opportunity for real. The only problem was…what was her mother going to say?

•─────⋅ ⋅─────•

Pacing around her room, Tora couldn't find it in herself to sit down; she again had too much energy. She'd been thinking about what her father said and, in that moment, she knew what her answer was going to be, but the reality of her choice felt like more of the deciding factor than anything.

What would Itachi do?

Stopping by the window, Tora looked out into the view of the surrounding mountains illuminated by the moon. Nothing would please her more than to be able to talk to him or even Hana or Koji. She'd spent this time in Kumogakure, but she was feeling homesick for Konoha.

Feeling like she needed some air, Tora walked over to the door and opened it, nearly walking into Nigai in the process. Obviously this wasn't going to go how she planned, but she knew it was going to be a different story if she tried to gain the upper hand against him.

"Can't sleep?" Nigai asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can't seem to breathe either." She shrugged, hoping he'd catch her drift. Ever since he was made her bodyguard, she'd been feeling him out and overall he hadn't given her any bad vibes.

"You're not supposed to leave your room after nightfall."

"Five minutes is more than enough time, I promise."

Nigai crossed his arms as he felt himself getting swindled. "Say I close my eyes for five minutes. What's in it for me?"

"I'll buy you dinner."

"With what money?"

"You have currency exchange, right?"

Nigai looked down into Tora's expectant eyes and eventually sighed as he caved in. If Lord Raikage found out about this, he'd be put into a headlock and decapitated with no exaggeration. Quickly ushering her out, he told her they had five minutes and he wasn't going to let her out of his sight. Seeing as this was her one-in-a-lifetime chance, she took it and left the building with him.

"Where are you really from, Tora?" Nigai asked as they circled the village. It was a little chilly overall, but it felt like a nice night.

Tora hugged herself as she walked, rubbing her arms for some extra warmth. With a smile, she responded jokingly. "I can't just be the anonymous daughter that shows up out of nowhere?"

"Not if you have the training to kick someone's ass." He glanced over at her, which only made her laugh.

"Okay, okay." She waved him off as they approached the edge of the mountainside. "I'm from the Land of Fire."

Nigai gave her an annoyed look and stopped walking. "Haha, very funny. You know what I meant. When you end up staying here, you're going to have to open up."

"One, I'm stubborn so that's not true. Two, it's if I stay here, not when."

"The Raikage has offered to teach you, and you're thinking of rejecting it?"

"Well, first lesson of Tora 101, I have a habit of making 'questionable' decisions." She shrugged. "I also have a habit of trusting 'questionable' people too, apparently."

"The way you act is very interesting." Nigai noted. "You're direct, yet wishy-washy at the same time."

Tora laughed at his comment as she looked into the trees. "Well, I'm glad you think I'm interesting." Spotting a bird she'd been looking for, she held her hand out and waited until it flew down and perched on her finger. "I wouldn't say wishy-washy though… maybe I just keep you on your toes."

Nigai moved closer to her to see what she was doing with the bird, but after taking a step, the crow cawed and immediately fled the scene, disappearing through the leaves of the trees.

"Aw, you scared it off old man…" She pouted as she put her hand down.

"Old man?" Nigai's eye twitched in annoyance. "I'll have you know, I'm still in my 20s which is prime time-"

"You know you're old if you're saying things like 'prime time'." Tora cut him off. When he reached to grab her, she evaded in a fit of giggles. He seemed pretty appalled by what she said and that only entertained her more. Getting too distracted, she was finally caught by him.

"Guess I almost forgot you were still a child."

Tora raised an eyebrow. "A child? Oh, you have jokes now."

"Tell me how old you are then."

"Tell me yours first."

The two stared at each other until they agreed to say them at the same time. Tora counted off and, after three, it was revealed that she was nineteen whereas he had just turned twenty-eight. Covering her mouth, she stifled another giggle as he let her go, a sour look overtaking his facial features.

"Old man-"

"You're going home. It's past your curfew."

•─────⋅ ⋅─────•

She'd successfully sent a letter out to Itachi. It was unclear whether she'd hear back from him or not, but she figured it'd be best to let him know what she was up to and hopefully she'd see him again soon. After all, he told her the last time they were together that if she ever needed to contact him, a crow would be nearby. She didn't think he was serious at first, but she was glad she took the chance to look and see.

"Have you made your decision?"

Tora stood in her father's office and nodded. She decided to stick by the decision she'd first thought of when he initially gave her the ultimatum. "I'm going to stay here and learn from you."

"Excellent! I knew you'd-" A grinned as he started talking, however a big commotion outside his office doors interrupted him. It sounded like Mabui was arguing with someone, however the conversation abruptly ended when the doors burst open.

Furious amber eyes met shocked ones as a familiar face stepped into the room. Although they were immediately surrounded by guards, A stopped them as he stood up from his couch. Tora's mouth went dry as she could barely get out the first word that came to her mind.

"...Mom?"