My medical leave was over. I kept so busy that it went by shockingly fast. When I wasn't working with Cernunnos and Shikaku, I was helping Misaki or hanging out with Misaki in my garden or just spending time with one of my few friends.

I'd adjusted to my eye as well. The look was honestly starting to grow on me. It made me look wild. Seeing a guy with two different colored eyes on the other side of the battlefield with a scar over one of them might even make me more intimidating. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part, but I was starting to feel cool, so I didn't care.

Misaki and I had made progress on our respective endeavors. I was further ahead than she was, as far as actually making my technique was concerned, but she'd progressed by leaps and bounds in sealing to make up the difference. She was receiving a crash-course in a discipline few people alive could claim to have mastered. That was harder to figure out than me figuring out how to properly shape my shadows and channel my mist.

At the start of my leave, I'd been trying to improve my shadow armor to the point where I could make a bijuu-sized knight out of shadow. I bailed on that pretty quickly. As awesome as a shadow susanoo would be, I didn't have the chakra or the shadows necessary to make it work.

In order to sculpt an armor of shadows that massive, I would first need access to enough shadows to make a Gundam. The only time I would ever have access to enough shadows for such an undertaking would be if I were underground or during the night. On top of that, the chakra expenditure was absolutely ludicrous. I could maintain my man-sized armor just fine, but the chakra requirement rose exponentially as I increased the size of the armor. If it were a set cost like Misaki's lightning cloak, that wouldn't be a problem, but the chakra cost rose exponentially the larger I tried to make it. I would need three of Tsunade's seals just to power the thing for a few minutes. Making it practical for everyday use just seemed plain impossible without Naruto-levels of chakra which I did not possess.

So, I bailed on that idea and decided to tie in something that was unique to me – Boil Release. I'd had success with some small scale testing just a week after I got the idea. I called it Boil Release: Steam Vents. The technique works by sending superheated mist into the ground and channeling it into a specific direction. As the mist tries to rapidly expand underground, the pressure builds and it explodes upwards through geysers that I can control. I can also use it to split the ground underneath someone by letting the technique explode up out of a specific spot, but it's better to use the geysers when you're going for precision.

Combining the concept with my shadow armor led to some…explosive preliminary tests. Shikaku hadn't been happy that I'd singed his hair. Once it was refined, I would be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Now I was making leaps and bounds towards the final product, easily outpacing Misaki's pace with her fuinjutsu research to bridge her chakra capacity gap.

At the rate we were going, I was going to finish my technique before she did. I was still a ways off, but a year from now? I'd be done. It was looking like she'd need longer due to all of the fuinjutsu knowledge she was having to absorb. She was making remarkable strides considering how short a time she'd been working at it, but it would be a while yet unless she made a major breakthrough. I still helped her where I could, but all of the academic load was squarely on her shoulders. Her clan was far more help than I was in that department, so the most I could do was give her an encouraging thumbs up every now and then.

Just to make sure neither of us were too absorbed in ninja stuff, I forced us both to take breaks from time to time. We would hang out in my garden fostering the growth of new tea leaves and in a room in Misaki's house that she had converted into a workspace for her burgeoning skills as a tailor.

She showed me a thing or two about how to make clothes. My first attempt to make a simple shirt was a misshapen, stringy atrocity that I wanted to burn, but apparently Misaki thought it was worth keeping, because she went out and bought a frame so she could hang it on her wall.

It was nice to see her S-Rank payout was being used for its intended purpose.

Misaki and I also got together with Chiaki and Mita from time to time for lunch or dinner as well. I didn't see either of them nearly as often as I saw Misaki, but it was still nice to keep in contact with them. Chiaki seemed to be doing as well as Misaki and I. Losing our team hit us all, but we were all recovering. Mita's presence seemed to help Chiaki and her constant presence was a point of light for all of us, a fact for which I was grateful.

"How are you feeling?" Shikaku asked, sitting next to me on my porch, sipping a cup of the new tea Misaki and I had made during our leave.

"Better. I still miss my team obviously, but the pain has faded to an ache."

Shikaku nodded, but didn't say anything, sipping at his tea some more. "This is good tea."

I smirked. "I'll give you some leaves to take home with you."

"Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

"How are your lessons with Cernunnos going?"

"Well enough. He's still better than me at hand-to-hand."

"That likely won't change. He's been around a while, Shinto. I doubt Hiashi could beat him in taijutsu."

"Suddenly, I don't feel so inferior."

Shikaku snorted before frowning.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What's wrong?"

He sighed heavily, setting his teacup aside. "We need to talk, Shinto."

I recognized the shift in the mood, setting my own teacup aside and focusing. "What's wrong?" I repeated.

He shook his head. "Nothing's wrong. We just need to have a serious conversation. How do you feel about Misaki?"

I raised an eyebrow. "She's my best friend. I'm guessing this has something to do with her, then?"

"How would you feel about becoming formally betrothed to Misaki?"

My brain short-circuited. "Come again?"

"Would you be interested in eventually marrying Misaki Hyuga?"

My brain was running at a hundred miles an hour. He was asking me about getting married to Misaki? I mean, I still hadn't addressed her crush, but why was he interested? If he was getting involved, it must have been because of clan politics. Were the Hyugas–

"Ow!" I called out, rubbing the top of my head where Shikaku had lightly smacked me.

"Stop thinking about it so hard. I want a one-word answer. If you need to think about it that hard, then this isn't going to work anyway. Do you want to marry Misaki, yes or no?"

I didn't know what to say. I was a grown ass man mentally and Misaki was…

A mental image flew through my mind of Misaki's bright smile.

"Yes." my traitorous mouth said before my brain could catch up with it. Shit. When did I develop feelings for Misaki? This was bad, right?

Oblivious to my internal struggle, Shikaku bulldozed on. "Alright. Hiashi is talking to Misaki about this right now. If she agrees too, then the two of us will do some political hand-waving and officially betroth you to each other. But after that, everything is up to the two of you. I've made sure no one will mess with your relationship any further. You can take things as slow or as fast as you want to. If it makes it easier, consider yourselves as friends for the next few years if you want."

"So this is political?" I asked, latching onto the topic that wouldn't pull me down a complicated reincarnation ethics rabbit hole. "Is Hiashi-sama pushing for it?"

Shikaku rubbed his forehead, picking his teacup back up. "He initiated things, but I haven't exactly put up much resistance. We've both been working towards this."

"To make an alliance with the Hyuga?" I could see why Shikaku would want the Hyuga to be firmly in the Nara's corner. Next to the Uchiha, they were the most powerful and influential clan in Konoha.

"To set the groundwork for one anyway. Misaki's mother is distantly related to Hiashi. We don't care about that too much, but the Hyugas do. If everything goes through the way we expect it to, Misaki would join the Nara Clan in full. The Hyuga Elders will see that as them marrying one of their more influential members into our Clan. Simultaneously, it's apparent to anyone with eyes, or one eye," he said, smirking at me. "That you're a pretty big deal around here."

"But I'm…not? I mean, I might be one of the youngest jonin we have, but–"

Shikaku sighed loudly, cutting me off. "Shinto, how can you be so smart but so oblivious to the obvious? You are the youngest jonin in the history of the Nara Clan. You're one of the youngest in the history of Konoha. You have revolutionized our Clan's techniques and added to our library in ways that we haven't seen for generations. You have set our Clan ahead by generations on your own. Your poisons, your new shadow jutsu, your genjutsu, the taijutsu you brought over from the Hyuga – everything you've added to our libraries has made us stronger."

Shikaku held up his hand. Shadows flowed out of his sleeve to cement into a shadowy gauntlet. "With shadow armor alone you have demonstrated there are heights to our jutsu most of us thought unreachable."

I was staring in fascination at Shikaku's hand. "I didn't realize you'd mastered shadow armor yet."

Shikaku chuckled. "I haven't. Hard as it is to admit, your control is better than mine. I can't hold a full set of armor for longer than a few minutes, but I'm working on it."

His shadow receded down his sleeve. "Anyway, we got sidetracked. With you being as influential around here as you are, and Misaki being as influential with the Hyuga as she is, betrothing the two of you is going to set a precedent. Hiashi and I will then do a bunch of showy, annoying political stuff and we'll be allies. From there, Hiashi plans to expand relations with his clan to the Yamanaka and Akimichi which I'm already helping him with, but that doesn't really concern you. Leave all of the politics to me and just enjoy spending time with Misaki. If the two of you stay friends for a few years and realize you don't want to get married, then don't. You're not going to ruin any alliances, and even if you were, I wouldn't force you into that."

I gulped down the rest of the tea in my cup, gasping as I came up for air. "I hate politics."

Shikaku smirked, reaching out to tousle my hair. "Me too, troublesome. Don't think of it as a political marriage. Think of it as a kick in the ass from an affectionate Clan Head who is tired of watching the two of you dance around your feelings."

Shikaku stood up and stretched for a second before his shoulders slumped again. He shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking away. "Misaki is probably done with her talk by now. You should go see how…" A doe trotted up to Shikaku and rubbed her head against his arm. "Actually, just stay put." He waved over his shoulder as he patted the deer's neck with his other hand. "See ya, troublesome."

"Wait, what do you mean? Why should I…" I trailed off as I saw a white blur flashing up the road. Shikaku and the deer he was with stepped to the side to allow the blur past, then continued walking. Shikaku sent a grin my way before he departed.

The white blur coalesced into Misaki as she stopped sprinting at her top speed right at the foot of the steps leading up to my porch. Her eyes shot wide when she saw me standing there staring at her.

She coughed into her hand and straightened out her kimono before standing up straight. "Hello, Shinto. I hope you had a pleasant morning."

"Am I just supposed to ignore the past ten seconds?"

Misaki scowled at me.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Why hello, Misaki. The weather is lovely and other small talk. Would you care to come inside?"

She smiled warmly. "Yes, thank you." She followed me inside my house. I closed the door behind us and led her into the living room, motioning for her to take a seat as I fell into a recliner.

Misaki's eyes were darting around the room, seemingly trying to drink in every detail. The veins around her eyes bulged as she activated her byakugan. She stood there for several seconds, tilting her head slightly from side to side.

I raised an eyebrow at her after fifteen seconds of silence. "Are you going to sit?"

Misaki jolted. It was almost like she'd forgotten I was here. "Sorry." she said, sitting on the very edge of the couch, her back straight as a board.

I sighed. "Misaki, relax. We've known each other for years. We have literally gone to war together. A little talk like this shouldn't be what breaks our relationship."

My words had the opposite of the effect I'd intended. Misaki's breath caught as she tensed. "Our relationship?" she said weakly.

My head fell into my hands. That was a terrible way to phrase that statement given everything going on right now. She was probably freaking out because she wanted to know what I said to Shikaku. According to my Clan Head, she had her own version of our little chat, which means she wants to know what I decided about the betrothal thing.

"Misaki," I said, staring right across at her.

She swallowed nervously. "Yes, Shinto?"

"I'm guessing Hiashi-sama told you about the betrothal idea?"

She nodded sharply. "He wanted to know my opinion on betrothing the two of us for the good of the clan. He was clear that the betrothal would not go forward unless we were both accepting of it. I, of course, would never want you to be put into a situation where you are uncomfortable, so I would accept whatever your answer is, but I would like to say that–"

"I said yes." I said, cutting off her nervous rant.

Misaki went still, words frozen on her lips. "You… What?"

"I agreed to the proposal. I agreed to marry you." I clarified. "I don't want to force you into anything, and I want to take things slow. I don't want anything major to happen for a few years at least, but after that…"

"You… You want to marry me?"

I took a deep breath. "Misaki, I like you, but like I said, I want to take things slow. I don't want this betrothal to push us to do too much too fast because that will just ruin things. If you're okay with the betrothal lasting a while, then I would be glad to marry you, but only if you agr–"

"I said yes too." Misaki said quickly, cutting me off.

We stared across at each other for a moment. I smiled, prompting Misaki to smile and giggle. I started chuckling. Misaki started laughing, and I joined in. Misaki exploded off the couch and tackle-hugged me, still laughing as she hugged me close.

"I'm glad." Misaki said, squeezing me tight.

"I am too." I said, running a hand through her hair, enjoying the way the strands tickled my fingers.

Misaki pulled back a bit and stared into my eyes. After a moment's hesitation, she leaned forward and captured my lips with hers. I kissed her back.

When Misaki pulled away, she had a radiant smile on her face. "I've wanted to do that for years now."

"Sorry I kept you waiting so long."

She smiled and hugged me tight. "It was worth the wait."

X

We were sitting in one of the many hideouts ANBU personnel used. Chiaki had stayed on ANBU payroll through our break to rake in some extra cash, but, as of today, she was officially no longer an ANBU and moving on to her new job, so we were throwing her one last party to see her off.

Chiaki smirked across the table from us. "Looks like Touji won the bet."

Misaki frowned. "What do you mean?"

I fixed Chiaki with a flat stare. "You had a betting pool going on when Misaki and I would get together?"

Chiaki shrugged. "The two of you beat around the bush so long that we had to find a way to entertain ourselves or we'd have bashed your heads together. My money was on when you both got out of ANBU. Touji bet it'd be right after you made jonin."

I shook my head, an amused smile on my face. "If nothing else, I suppose I'm glad our relationship drama was entertaining to you."

Chiaki snorted. "Shinto, nothing is more entertaining than sticking your nose in your teammate's love life."

"Yeah, well, like we said, it isn't official yet, so keep it to yourself please."

Chiaki held her hand up. "I swear to be as silent as a songbird."

Misaki narrowed her eyes. "Songbirds aren't silent."

Chiaki smirked. "Exactly."

"Just hold off for a day at least. Things should be far enough along by tomorrow that it won't matter if you blab to the world."

Chiaki nodded. "I can promise that much. But afterwards, I'm shouting it from the rooftops. You'd be surprised how many nin from other teams got in on the betting."

"You're kidding me. You opened the betting pool outside our team?"

"We needed some way to grow the pot bigger."

Misaki's face fell into her hands. "To think I once respected you."

"Ah, don't be like that, Misaki!" Chiaki cheered, sliding her chair around the table so she could swing an arm around Misaki's shoulders. "Think of all the wisdom I still have to impart to you."

"I fear to consider what wisdom you would share." Misaki said, edging away from our old captain.

Chiaki pretended to wipe away tears. "And to think I got you a present to commemorate your engagement."

"Let me guess. It's a kunai?" That had been Shikaku's gift…And the gate guard's gift. I was pretty sure they coordinated it. It probably had a double meaning I didn't know, but I couldn't figure it out.

Chiaki raised an eyebrow. "I sense a story there. Nope." She held up a storage seal that popped with a burst of white smoke, leaving a leatherbound black book in her hand.

"A Bingo Book?" Misaki said. She didn't look very impressed. Not that I blamed her. As ANBU, we both had first dibs any time Konoha printed a new Bingo Book.

"Don't everyone be amazed at once." Chiaki said dryly. "It's not just any Bingo Book. I pulled some strings and managed to get my hands on a copy of one we recovered from Kumo. I figured you two should see it after I looked through it myself."

I was suddenly razor-focused on the book in Chiaki's hand. "Kumo?" I said, holding my hand out for the book.

Chiaki nodded as she passed the book to me. "It's recent too. One of our teams managed to take out an ANBU team from Kumo heading into the Land of Fire and one of the idiots had the original on them. It's damn good information to have. Especially considering… Well–"

Misaki's hand shot out and snatched the book from my hand. Her lips were pulled into a furious frown. The veins around her eyes were bulging, a telltale sign that her byakugan was active. Misaki tore the book open to a specific page and deactivated her byagukan. "The Lady of Lightning? What kind of name is that?" She flipped the book around so I could see it too.

Name: The Lady of Lightning(Alias. True name uncertain. Suspected to be Misaki Hyuga of Konohagakure's Hyuga Clan. Appeared at Chunin Exams in Iwagakure and demonstrated similar, if lesser skills.)

Age: Unknown(Presumed 16-22)

Affiliation: Konohagakure ANBU

Rank: A

Bounty: 875,000

Chakra Nature: Lightning(Suspected to have trained water nature as well due to events from Iwagakure Chunin Exams)

Notable Feats: Survived a confrontation with the Two Tails unscathed.

Fighting Style: Excels in taijutsu and close range combat jutsu; notably a technique that coats her limbs in lightning that pierces whatever it comes into contact with. Utilizes projectiles tipped in poison. Engage from range and do not rely on stealth. Expect the foe to have a Byagukan(Hyuga Clan kekkei genkai that allows the user to see in a 360 degree field of vision around themselves. Range of the field depends on the skill of the user. The Lady of Lightning's range is confirmed to be greater than 500 meters.)

Weapons: Kunai and senbon tipped with a variety of poisons ranging from lethal to sedatives.

Recovery: Preferred Alive, but prioritize retrieval of corpse if target may escape.(Eyes of target must be preserved at all costs.)

I pursed my lips. "Maybe they're trying to play off of your Chidori? The Fourth was called The Yellow Flash because he had yellow hair and teleported so he looked like a yellow flash when he used his technique. Nin aren't the most creative bunch when it comes to naming things."

Misaki's eyes narrowed as she flipped to another page and turned the book around to me. "That's easy for you to say. Look at what they're calling you."

Name: Shi no Kage(Alias. True name uncertain. Suspected to be Shinto Nara of Konohagakure's Nara Clan. Appeared at Chunin Exams in Iwagakure and demonstrated similar skills and jutsu.)

Age: Unknown(Presumed 17-23)

Affiliation: Konohagakure ANBU

Rank: A

Bounty: 550,000

Chakra Nature: Water(Suspected to have dual Chakra Natures with Water and Fire, granting him the Boil Release)

Notable Feats: Did battle with and injured the Two Tails, emerging unscathed.

Fighting Style: Uses shadow jutsu to trap opponents in close range while disorienting further opponents with genjutsu. Creates chakra armor from his shadow which will immobilize any opponent that strikes it. Uses jutsu that creates water of dangerously high temperatures and spreads fire like oil(Suspected to be Boil Release Jutsu.)

Weapons: Kunai and senbon tipped with a variety of poisons ranging from lethal to sedatives. Carries a standard ninjato that he can use in tandem with shadow techniques.

Recovery: Preferred Alive, but prioritize elimination if he may escape.

I cringed when I saw the name I'd been given. "Shi no Kage? Shadow of Death? Seriously?" That made me sound like a cringy, pathetic edgelord. I hated it.

Chiaki sighed loudly, rubbing her forehead. "Can the two of you stop worrying about what they're calling you and focus on the important bits here? Damn brats. Some of us aren't considered enough of a threat to even get a name." she grumbled.

"Sorry," I said, taking the book from Misaki and laying it open on the table in front of us. "Ignoring the awful names, it's actually kind of scary how accurate some of their intelligence is. The age ranges are off by a bit, but everything else is pretty on target. I'm not exactly thrilled that they know so much about us."

Chiaki nodded seriously. "I thought you both needed to be aware of it. As far as I know, only Kumo knows this much, and that's likely because of how…personal we've got with Kumo over the years. Expect word to spread. Give it another year or two and every hidden village will have a page in their Bingo Book about you. When that happens, you can say goodbye to ANBU work."

Misaki frowned angrily. "We'll be too well known, won't we?"

"You're too well known now." Chiaki stressed. "At least for the jobs we used to take. You can make village protection work for a little while, but even that is going to become too hot for you if you keep attracting this kind of attention. Both of you have A-Rank bounties on your heads. Konoha doesn't have many nin that draw that kind of attention. Watch your backs."

The clock on the wall chimed the top of the hour.

Chiaki looked up and winced. "Shit. I'm late." She stood up, hefting her juice box high. "To the future, my friends!"

I grinned and stood up. Misaki followed my lead, and the three of us knocked our juice boxes together before draining them in one go.

"Take care of yourself, Chiaki. Stay in touch." Misaki said.

I waved goodbye as Chiaki headed towards the exit. "Give those genin of yours a kick in the ass for me, yeah?"

Chiaki gave me an exaggerated salute. "Will do. Stay safe, you two." Chiaki turned and left the ANBU hideout for the last time, heading towards the Academy where this year's newest graduates were all celebrating passing their tests. She'd do well as a jonin instructor. There was no question that she was a good leader, and she already had experience with younger nin from having worked with Misaki and I, so I expected to hear good things about her team.

"We should probably be going as well." Misaki said.

I nodded, following her lead and affixing my new badger mask – this one wasn't a destroyed wreck – to my face and leaving the room through the opposite exit Chiaki used.

X

"Badger, Owl, with me." Hound ordered. We'd been waiting in headquarters for almost an hour when he showed up. Neither of us knew who our new team would be. The Hokage had assured us we'd be stationed in Konoha, but he hadn't said exactly who we'd be working with. Not that I was surprised by that fact given the secretive nature of ANBU.

Owl and I stood and followed Hound without a word of complaint. He must be leading us to our new team and captain.

Hound led us through the twisting tunnels underneath the streets of Konoha until we reached a staging room much like the one Team Fist had been assigned. There were lockers and weapon racks lining the walls with a table in the center of the room.

Standing around the table were three figures. I recognized two of the ANBU from the Hyuga Incident, but didn't really know them. The third was new. Not only was the third figure unknown to me, but he was shorter than Misaki. Given mine and Misaki's age and the fact nearly every ANBU operative was close to twice our age, the new guy's height was very notable.

"Masks off." Hound ordered, surprising me. Surely not, right?

A silver-haired man turned around to face Misaki and I as he clipped his Hound mask to his belt. Under his ANBU mask was a balaclava pulled up over his nose. A dark bandana reminiscent of a forehead protector was pulled down over his left eye, shielding it from view.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, captain of Team Ro and your new leader. On missions, I am Hound. Some of my old teammates transferred out of my squad a little while ago, so the Hokage put you with us."

Misaki bowed shallowly. "I am Misaki Hyuga; Owl while on missions. I specialize in close quarters combat and am skilled with my Byakugan. My current sensing range is eight-hundred-forty meters."

When Kakashi turned to me expectantly, I shook myself from my dumbfounded stupor and said, "I'm Shinto Nara; I'm both close to midrange support and a medic. I'm Badger while on missions."

"You have the Boil Release, correct?" Kakashi asked with no inflection in his voice.

I nodded. "I do."

Kakashi nodded sharply then turned to the other three figures in the room, and I followed his gaze.

A woman with long purple hair and intense eyes nodded her head towards us. "Yugao Uzuki. Kenjutsu. I'm Cat in masks."

A man with a flat face and acorn hair smiled at us as he waved. "It is good to meet you. I'm Yamato. I'm good with ninjutsu. Call me Panther in masks."

The smallest figure in the room took his mask off and smiled warmly at us. "Hello, I'm Itachi Uchiha. I'm good with genjutsu and ninjutsu. I'm Weasel while we're on missions. I hope we get along."

Oh fuck all kinds of duck.