- Author's note: I hope you enjoy this chapter! Thanks for reading!-

It was the early morning and Shikadai was waiting for Himawari to arrive. His mother just returned from a short trip to Suna, to see her brothers.

"Shikadai? What are you doing up so early? Isn't it supposed to be your day off? I was hoping to spent some time together, it has been awhile."

"I'm sorry mom, it's going to have to wait. Lord Seventh send me on an S-rank mission."

"On your own?"

"No, Himawari will join and we'll meet up with Sasuke at the border of the land of Birds"

Just as Temari was about to say something, Himawari arrived. She wasn't wearing her usual yellow top with black shorts, instead wearing a black, long-sleeved t-shirt ending in gloves, black shorts, knee-high socks and her usual shinobi sandals, topped off with a yellow kimono-like jacket, held together with the band of her kunai bag. She looked like she was ready for a battle.

"Oh hello Hima. Shikadai just told me the two of you will departing on a mission. Take care of him, alright?"

Himawari nodded and Temari left the two of them with a wink.

"So…" Shikadai started in a desperate attempt to break the awkward silence. "Are you ready to depart?" It's going to take us quite a few days before reaching the land of Birds. Did you pack enough food for the way there?"

"Yes Shika, don't worry about it, let's leave, shall we?"

With a final nod from Shikadai, the two shinobi departed.

"Are you worried about this mission?" Shikamaru looked at Naruto with a worried look on his face. He knew his close friend well.

"Yes and no. I'm very well aware of the fact that Himawari and Shikadai are two of the most capable shinobi in the village and it eases my mind knowing Sasuke will be with them, but she's my daughter, dattebayo. Of course I'm worried."

"Well maybe you should have waited for Boruto's team to come back from their mission, so they could go in a bigger group. Besides, the skill in medical ninjutsu from both Sarada and Mitsuki could have been a huge advantage for this specific reason."

"I know, 'bayo. It's mainly why I chose Hima. She's trained in medical ninjutsu now, and besides, aside from Inojin and ChoCho, Hima is by far the most compatible with Shikadai, based on fighting style."

"Can't really argue with that, I've seen that with my very own eyes when we went to save your butt. It was almost as if they were meant to fight together. It's a piece of cake for Hima to take out the enemy once it is trapped by the shadow possession jutsu."

"She's grown a lot over the years, dattebayo, she isn't purely a taijutsu-user anymore, like she used to be back in the day."

Just as Naruto was about to tell Shikamaru all about Himawari's training over the past two years, a staff member came in with a bunch of new paperwork.

They had been running for two days straight. Himawari and Shikadai should reach Sasuke at the border of the land of Birds very soon.

"Hima, lets take a break here. Sasuke won't have much use of us anyways if we aren't rested enough to mean something in a fight."

Himawari immediately dropped on the ground, letting out a big sigh in the process. A small groin left her lift and Shikadai couldn't help but smile a bit at the thought.

"So, Shikadai, how's your training been going over the past few years. It's been quite a while since we had a proper conversation."

Hima looked at him with her big blue eyes, softly smiling with the setting sun enforcing her beauty. She was right, they didn't have a conversation since quite a while. Every time he was at their house, Hima was out somewhere training. Even her own brother didn't know the full extent of it.

"Well, obviously dad has been further teaching me all of our clans jutsu, as well as making me play even more shogi. He thinks it's important for me to be even better at coming up with strategies than he is. I don't really mind, tho, I quite enjoy it. Over the past few years mom has been teaching me her jutsu as well. I'm almost as good as she is with a fan, and I've even been able to create a few original jutsu of my own, sometimes even with combining my dad's jutsu with my mom's.. What about you?"

Himawari's face lit up with the mention of her training. Shikadai was dying to know what exactly she had been working on.

"Well after our last mission together, I started wondering whether or not the shadow clone jutsu could be combined with the gentle fist taijutsu. Grandpa and auntie Hanabi weren't sure about it either, but after a while, we figured it out and a lot of hours of training later, I mastered it. Mom also taught me some of her original jutsu, so that was cool. I also really got interested in my heritage, I studied grandpa Minato and grandma Kushina. They were so awesome.. Oh! Come to think of it!"

Suddenly Himawari grabbed Shikadai's shoulder. The young man stiffened a bit by the sudden tough.

"Don't worry, Shika, it's part of my new jutsu. I hope I don't end up having to use it, but it's a very useful trump card." She shrugged and smiled.

Shikadai yawned, shortly followed by a yawn from Himawari.

"Go to bed Hima, I'll take the first watch". He had barely finished the sentence and the younger girl had already fallen asleep.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.