Standing in front of Shikamaru were two new, white faces: a cat and a monkey.

Of course, the animal faces were only masks, and from the neck down the two Anbu were completely human. They wore jet black uniforms that clung to their skin, as well as the recently redesigned flak jackets of Konoha.

The old flak jackets used to have pockets on both sidesof the chest for shinobi to keep scrolls or ninja tools, but the new design had done away with those and kept itself relatively simple. It was a side-effect of the peaceful era that had come into being after the end of the war.

Where there would have been eyes painted on the two Anbus masks, holes had been pierced like deep, dark caves. Both the masks had thin mouths painted on, curving from cheek to cheek. The cats mask had thin red markings under its eyes. The monkeys mask had thickly drawn red eyebrows that made it look like it was scowling in temper. Both the Anbu had their hands linked behind their backs, and the eye slits of their masks gave off such a feeling that Shikamaru felt like he was being sized up.

If its these two, I think they can do everything youve been hoping for. Kakashi said from where he was seated behind his desk.

From where Shikamaru was standing, the cat-masked Anbu was on the right, and the monkey-masked was on the left. The two Anbu had a very large height difference. The Monkey was 176 cm, slightly taller than Shikamaru, while the Cat barely came up to Shikamarus shoulders.

So, monkey-mask was male, and cat-mask was female

Even without the height difference, their body structure made that much evident.

Both of you, take off your masks. Kakashi instructed.

The Anbus hands both lifted to reach for their masks at Kakashis command, slowly lowering them to reveal the human faces below.

It was an Anbu custom to wear the masks with animal faces. Since they mainly dealt in shady missions such as assassination or causing disturbances in foreign countries, they loathed to let anyone know of their identities. Even most of Konohas own citizens didnt know who was and wasnt in Anbu.

People who come and go from the village without eating anything are Anbu. There were lots of rumours and speculations like that.

The man is Rou, and the girl is Soku.

The two Anbu bowed their greetings to Shikamaru in time with Kakashis introduction.

To have such a young girl in Anbu

Its unthinkable, right? Soku cut into Shikamarus murmuring. But in the world of Shinobi, competency is everything, and I entered the Anbu by proving the worth of my abilities, yknow.

Shes right. Kakashi agreed with Soku.

Shikamaru couldnt deny that he was surprised. Soku was extremely young. She was at least 5 or 6 years younger than Shikamaru, and mustve only just come out of the Academy. She had slightly red cheeks, plump with baby fat, but also a thin mouth set in a grim frown that radiated determination. Her thin eyebrows were arched, and her eyes shined with self-confidence.

Something about her made Shikamaru feel like this was what Temari had looked like as a child.

Hinoko was recognised for her abilities and scouted into Anbu the minute she graduated from the Academy. Despite only being 14 years old, shes accomplished a great number of missions. Kakashi said. Shes very relied upon in the Anbu.

Its not good to judge someones abilities based solely upon their appearances, yknow. Soku said, puffing out her cheeks a bit. And, Hokage-sama, I keep telling you not to call me by my real name, yknow.

Hinoko Its a very nice nam-

In a blink, Soku had disappeared from Shikamarus line of view and before he knew what was happening, a finger glowing orange with barely restrained chakra was pressed against his forehead.

I hate being called by my real name, yknow. Be careful not to do it.

Shikamaru could feel a sort of frizzing static from the edge of Sokus index finger. It felt like an incredibly small version of Kakashis raikiri.

Chakra was bursting from the edge of Sokus fingertips

Stop that at once, Soku.

The one who spoke was the man whod carried the monkey mask. Kakashi had introduced him as Rou. He had thick eyebrows, a strong jaw and stubborn, one-lidded eyes that were glaring at Soku in disapproval.

I have to make this clear from the start, yknow. Soku retorted. I wont allow being looked down on for being a kid, yknow.

My bad. Ill be careful in the future. Shikamaru gave a simple apology. There was no need to aggravate the situation any further, and he didnt have the time to deal with the young girls temper.

Soku turned her gaze away from Rou and back to Shikamaru.

As long as you understand, yknow. She turned her back on him and stomped back to where she had originally stood, taking on the same position with her hands behind her back.

Rou can freely manipulate the quality and quantity of chakra; both his own, as well as that of anyone he targets and recognises. Kakashi said, and Rou gave a small nod.

Does that mean you can increase chakra as well? Shikamaru asked.

A smart question. Kakashi commented.

The chakra which I can change is only that which is perceived by others. Rou said. To explain, if I increased your chakra, Lord Shikamaru, I would not be able to change the actual fighting potential in the least. Your chakra would only seem larger in the perception of other persons. In other words, my jutsu cannot be efficient in the practice of deceit if the subject of my chakra manipulation does not participate in the deception.

Rou had a very old-fashioned speech pattern, and coupled with his round, boulder-like appearance, he seemed more like a samurai than a ninja.

Shikamaru gave the man a nod to show him he understood his explanation, and then opened his mouth to speak again.

When you say you can change the quantity of perceived chakra, does that mean that you can completely erase it as well?

No matter how you looked at it, Rou was definitely in his forties. He was at least twenty years older than Shikamaru.

That is certainly possible. I can make the chakra of any target disappear in the manner youve described, while also allowing you to trace them, Lord Shikamaru.

With the mans old fashioned way of speaking, Shikamaru had half-expected the word track instead of trace, and felt a little fazed at the random modern word.

I thought his jutsu would be the best suited for this job, but what do you think? Kakashi asked.

Itll work. And the little one? Shikamaru asked, turning to look at Soku.

The girls eyebrow twitched at being called little one. The child didnt seem to be aware that shewasa child. Shikamaru wasnt sure yet if that was a good or bad thing for how useful shed be on the mission.

A demonstration would be good, wouldnt it? Kakashi said to Soku.

The girl nodded and turned around. She stretched out her left arm so it was facing the open window across Kakashis office. In line with the direction she was pointing, Shikamaru could see a single swallow flying outside.

My jutsu is all about Chakra needles, yknow Soku murmured, and an orange flash of chakra burst out of her index finger.

At that moment, the swallow which had been startled by the loud sound had quickly swooped to hide behind a pillar outside the window.

If Soku had fired her chakra with this timing, there was no way she could hit her target. Her chakra would hit the pillar and just leave a scratch on its surface instead.

But

There wasnt a single scratch on the pillar, and from outside, the swallow gave a shrill, sharp cry.

Shikamaru hurried to the window. Leaning out and twisting his neck around, his eyes searched the ground around where swallow had been flying, and found the bird on the ground. It did indeed look dead.

I dont want you to misunderstand, yknow. Im against a meaningless waste of life. Soku spoke from behind him.

As she spoke, Shikamaru stared as the swallow slowly came back to its senses, waddling to its feet and getting up. Soon, itd taken off again, flying even higher than before.

I made my chakra revitalising when it pierced through the target this time, so that swallow probably feels much more energetic than it did a while ago, yknow.

How did you get it past the pillar? Shikamaru asked, taking his hand off the window sill and turning to face Soku.

The little girl let out a delighted laugh that sounded her age for once, sticking out her tongue in childish mockery.

Once Ive aimed at my target, it doesnt matter if they go out of my sight or not, my chakra needle will follow it anywhere, yknow. My needle wont ever stop in its path until it hits its target.

So.

Rous jutsu would erase their chakras presence, and let them infiltrate the enemys ranks undetected. When they came within reach of Gengo, Shikamaru would use his kagemane to bind him. And then the killing blow would come with the foolproof aim of Sokus chakra needle.

It was alright.

They could really do it

Can I just ask you one thing?

You can, yknow. Soku gave a smile brimming with confidence.

Can you stop tacking yknow onto the end of your sentences?

They were coming.

The enemy.

Oto-nin.

Orochimarus underlings.

No, wait

Since when was I being chased?

I was the one who was supposed to be chasing someone.

Someone who had to be saved.

Uchiha Sasuke.

A classmate who could do anything perfectly, with a nasty personality.

But he was a comrade.He absolutely had to be saved.

I was leading a team for the first time. Failure wasnt an option.

My comrades

My comrades were being felled down, one after another.

Chouji.

Kiba.

Neji.

And then Naruto

We were surrounded by sneering oto-nin.

Im sorry

Im sorry, everyone.

Next time, I wont fail again.

So please- please dont die-

PLEASE!

Shikamaru woke up to the sound of his own desperate shouting, twisting out of his covers in a panic. His whole body was drenched with sweat.

Hed been dreaming

It had been his first mission after making chuunin: to retrieve the missing-nin Uchiha Sasuke whod left the village under Orochimarus guidance.

His comrades had been several classmates, and Neji. Theyd lessened, one by one, as they chased after Sasuke. Shikamaru had made the decision to entrust everything to Naruto and take on a sound-nin in a fight.

And the result of that decision had been Sasuke leaving the village, and all his comrades sustaining serious injuries.

As a chuunin, as a leader, his first mission had ended in despairing failure.

Shikamaru placed a palm to his sweat soaked forehead, and slowly took in a deep breath.

Why did he see a dream like that?

Until now, hed never seen those events in a dream.

Although, it was a fact that scars from that incident were still left in his heart. Shikamaru saw the Sasuke Retrieval mission as his biggest disgrace, and never failed to think of it whenever he was judging himself.

Hed never again been cornered like he had been on that day

Dreams were a manifestation of your subconscious.

Then, do I feel like Im being cornered right now?

Its alrightits alright, Shikamaru

Although it was unlike him to try and soothe himself, the words slipped out of Shikamarus mouth before he could stop them. His heart was still hammering, blood roaring against his ear drums like a steady warning bell.

It didnt look like hed be able to fall sleep again tonight.

They were going to set out at sunrise.