"Ready?" I asked.

Misaki gave me a determined nod. The veins around her eyes bulged as she activated her byakugan.

I placed a hand covered in glowing green energy on her shoulder just in case something went wrong.

"I am starting." Misaki said. I felt her chakra swell. Small jolts of electricity danced around her body. She flinched, her face contorting with minor grimaces of pain and looks of interest.

I kept my focus on my technique. If something went wrong, I needed to be ready to fix her.

This was the second of many steps involved in helping Misaki steal the Raikage's lightning cloak technique. The first Misaki had done on her own. With her control being as good as it was, it wasn't too difficult for her to figure out how to direct her lightning-attuned chakra back into herself rather than into a technique. Now came the tricky part of figuring out how to use it to enhance herself rather than do damage.

Luckily, she had two major advantages in this vein. The first was her byakugan. Her eyes were capable of seeing almost anything. They easily let her see her own body, both inside and out. I'm sure that was probably weird – or maybe not if she was used to it – but it was also very helpful for watching how techniques interacted with her muscles.

I felt through my Mystic Palm as Misaki slowly experimented with her lightning, striking certain muscle groups one at a time before hitting everything at once. She flinched in pain when she did something wrong and grinned in triumph when she managed progress. Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.

This wasn't something she would master overnight. Minor steps were monumental.

After close to an hour of prodding at herself with her chakra, Misaki waved me away, letting her byakugan go inactive as she took several deep breaths.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm fine. It's just harder to use my Chakra on myself than I would have thought. I need to expend a lot just to keep the technique active, then I have to expend more to direct it. I haven't even figured out how to make a cloak yet and I'm already running into capacity issues. I could keep up this for a full day, but having lightning all over my body and using it to fight simultaneously will leave me exhausted in a few minutes."

"So you need to work on growing your chakra reserves." I said. "That's something we can work on."

Misaki shook her head. "I don't know if I can grow them enough for me to maintain that technique. I haven't even worked it out yet, but by my estimate, using it will leave me unable to fight. I need something else."

"Are you thinking about trying to learn something else instead?"

Misaki shook her head, her lips thinned into a determined line. "I will learn that technique, but I need to figure something out for using it regularly. I might need to modify it."

"What if you just focus on pure defense rather than using it to attack? You already have your Hyuga techniques and your byakugan to attack with."

Misaki shook her head. "I wanted to be able to weave the Chidori in between strikes by shaping some of the lightning in the cloak into the technique. That will also consume a lot of chakra. I need to figure out how to make up that deficit."

"Well… sealing might be something to look into. I've read about seals that can store chakra for later use. Tsunade of the Sannin has one, though I doubt you'll be able to convince her to teach it to you if you can even track her down." I said.

Misaki pursed her lips, looking thoughtful. "I hadn't considered sealing. Touji showed me some tricks one day while I was learning from his sister. I believe… Yes. That would be a good place to start."

I nodded. "I'll talk to Shikaku to see if he knows anyone who could teach you. All I know how to make are seals and explosive tags, so I'm not much help in that area."

Misaki smiled at me, looking exasperated. "Not being able to help me with one thing doesn't make you useless. I wouldn't be as far along as I am without you."

I shrugged. "What can I say? If you need help, just ask. If I can't help, I'll still see if I can track down someone that can."

Misaki opened her mouth to say something, but stopped, turning to look up at the darkening sky. "We've been out here a while."

"That we have."

Misaki gathered up the supplies she'd laid out. "Sorry, Shinto. I need to get back to my mother."

I waved off her apology. "Don't apologize. Go. Tell her hi for me."

"I will." She gave me a quick hug then ran off towards the Hyuga Compound. Her mother was due to give birth sometime in the next month or so, but the mednin thought the child might come early due to complications. Nothing bad I'd been told, but Misaki was understandably anxious all the same.

As Misaki left, my mind turned towards my own improvement.

Training with Cernunnos had shown me just how much further I had to go. It turned out the 'fighting style' he was teaching me was more an evasive style than a striking one. Nara rarely got up and personal with our enemies, preferring to trap them with their shadows and eliminate them from a middle distance. Being able to dodge effectively helped enormously with that goal.

Still, Cernunnos was faster than I was. I could see him holding back to give me effective training rather than knock me over every other strike. In my line of work, being slower often meant being dead. I needed a way to bridge that gap.

Unfortunately, it seemed I was reaching the physical pinnacle for my age. I wasn't a fully matured adult yet, so my top speed would continue to improve as I reached my prime, but I needed something that would help me close the gap now, and open my own gap once I reached that point, and I had an idea.

I wasn't sure how viable it was, but I'd shared it with Shikaku and Cernunnos, and both had seemed to think it would be viable if I could pull it off. Combine that with how it took advantage of the skewed chakra nature that made me a terrible candidate for sage mode, I was still a little bitter about that, and it was practically a match made in heaven.

The only clicher was that I needed to not cripple myself trying to pull it off. That was why Shikaku had put his foot down, demanding that either he or Cernunnos were to be present when I worked on it.

The limited timetable slowed my progress, but it was worth it to not accidentally blow myself up. I wouldn't get much faster if I accidentally blew away one of my legs.

Still, working with Misaki had made me anxious to show some improvement of my own. The only ways I could see to do that right now were to keep working on my new technique or try to scrounge up a summoning contract. Shikaku had sent feelers into the village for someone with a contract that would be willing to take on an apprentice, but he hadn't heard back from anyone. Summoning contracts were rare and fiercely guarded. It wasn't looking very promising that I'd be able to get one. That left working on my new technique.

Rolling my shoulders to banish the stiffness in my joints, I turned towards home and took off at a run.

I spared a wave at the gate guards as I passed. They'd set up pillows on either side of a pillow and were lazily playing shogi, both their heads resting on the table so they could sleep and game at the same time.

I ran out of the Clan proper and into the woods.

"Shinto. It is good to see you again. What would you like to work on today?" Cernunnos asked.

"I need to get my new technique figured out. If Misaki cracks the Raikage's lightning cloak before I figure this out, she is going to leave me in the dust."

The great deer nodded. "Very well then. Summon your armor and begin channeling your chakra. I will supervise."

My shadow flowed up around me, solidifying into my armor. With that in place, I called upon my kekkei genkai, flooding the interior of the armor with steam, slowly increasing the pressure.

I was making progress. Time would tell if Misaki would beat me to her breakthrough or if I would unlock my new technique first.

X

ANBU Hound knelt on the marshy earth, hidden between blades of grass.

'Target spotted. 30 meters ahead.' a Telepathy message from his team's sensor reported.

'Alone?'

'No other targets in range.'

'Cover me.' ANBU Hound sent.

'Confirmed.' All members of his team sent back. He felt them shift away, moving into position to be ready to strike if something went wrong.

With them in place, Hound flickered out into the open. His target spotted him immediately.

The woman rounded on him, sending three kunai towards him as she leapt back and away.

Hound easily dodged the kunai, not moving to attack. "I have not come to fight." he said, distorting his voice with Telepathy.

The man did not relax, but nor did he continue to attack. He gripped a massive, thick blade in a tight grip as he lowered down into a stance, ready to strike at the slightest provocation. His face was covered by a white mask as he snarled out his reply. "What do you want, tree-hugger?"

Hound held up his hands, showing they were empty. Slowly, he reached into his pouch and produced two scrolls. He held them out at his side and dropped them, slowly backing away from them. "You have friends in Konoha."

The man snorted, a dark expression passing over his face. "You have to think I'm an idiot if you expect me to open storage seals given by an unknown."

"Not an idiot. Desperate. You have few allies. You are hunted wherever you go. Your fight will soon end before it has a chance to truly begin. You need every advantage. Konoha offers an advantage."

"What will this advantage cost me?" the man asked, skeptical.

"Remember who your friends are." Hound said simply. Taking a step back, he flickered away.

Far away, he regrouped with his team.

'We return to Konoha. Full speed.' he sent with Telepathy.

His team ran. They ran for nearly a full day before they encountered the ANBU team that would escort them back.

Once safe within Konoha, Hound dismissed his team to rest while he went to report to the Hokage.

The Hokage had likely been waiting for him because he was permitted entry to the Hokage's office the moment he arrived. The door was closed and sealed behind him. The Hokage watched him expectantly.

"Is it done?"

"We delivered the scrolls to the target, Hokage-sama. There were no issues during the journey there nor the return trip."

The Hokage nodded, a small, pleased smile worming its way onto his lips. "Good work, Hound. I will arrange for your team to receive their pay. In addition, you can all expect a week off before your next mission."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama." Hound said, bowing. "By your leave."

"Wait a moment, Hound."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hound knelt before the Hokage, awaiting orders.

"How has Weasel settled into his role?"

"Weasel performs well, Hokage. I have nothing negative to say about his actions thus far."

"That is good. Hound, I will be altering the makeup of your team."

Hound was confused. "Is something wrong, Hokage-sama?"

The Hokage shook his head. "No. You have all performed expertly, but I will be altering Team Ro's main mission. With our patrols expanded into both Hot Water and Grass, we have fewer ANBU left to protect the village in case of attack. I will be pulling Ro from out of village missions and moving you into the village itself. Lynx and Mink will be moved to Team Senbon. Weasel, Cat and Panther will remain with you. You will also receive two new members to take the place of Lynx and Mink in 3 months."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Hound said. The Hokage had spoken, so it would be as he said.

"Hound, I want you to observe Weasel and your new teammates. Watch their growth closely. They are all important to Konoha's future."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. I will carry out this task."

"Thank you. You are dismissed, Hound."

Hound bowed and flickered out of the office. He was conflicted by the Hokage's orders. His team had gone to war together. With the exception of Weasel, they'd all fought on the front lines during the Kumo conflict at each other's backs. Weasel's addition to the team had been strange, but not so strange as to mess up the team's rhythm, and he'd learned fast. Now, Hound's half of Hound's team would be nin that didn't fight on Team Ro during the war.

Hound shook his head. It wasn't his place to question the Hokage. If the Hokage were placing them on his team, then they were skilled enough to keep up. The Hokage would not intentionally limit his best ANBU team.

Hound left the Hokage building to deliver the news of their brief break to his team and tell them of the changes coming to their team in the near future.