Operation Frost

Nariko was going through some of her paperwork at the time. The group she was seeing today wasn't going to demand her full attention, nor would she need to address them in a political and overly formal manner. After all, these shinobi were her squad and an up and coming Jounin who she intended on making her second at some point. Hence when the knock came up, she was just finishing up a few documents that needed addressing at the current moment in time. "Come in, feel free to leave the door open." she said, and Simon, or Sakata as he was going by, entered, greeting her.

"You know if the others are on their way or not?" she asked, semi distracted with her reading. Her brows furrowed slightly at the document. If Simon cared to look, it was a personnel report on a Jounin named Ayano Aishi, who since opening her store, hadn't actually taken any missions or guard duties, and wasn't displaying what she considered to be a Jounin level of service. She'd already written out most of a delivery message, but she was deciding whether she wanted to fully discharge a member of Kumogakure's military or not, as this was a much different case than some of the others had been.

Sighing internally, she made her decision, and finished the message.

To: Ayano Aishi:

Finishing the message, she attached it to one of 3 messenger falcons in her office, and sent it on it's way.

Pulling out another parchment, she began to address it to the Mizukage, while listening to anything Simon, Sakata, had to say.

Addressee: Mizukage's Eyes Only:

She paused in her writing, frowning. Wording was always key, and she wasn't sure if there was a better way to word any of this. If Simon was aware of the many crumpled papers in her trash bin, he might understand she'd been attempting to word this correctly for quite some time. Annoyed, Nariko reached into a pouch on her Flak Jacket, which she was as usual wearing: Nariko still viewed herself as a Jounin who only temporarily took office, and so wore her Jounin outfit for the time being.

Pulling out a pack of cigarettes, and put it in her mouth, holding a finger up to it and concentrating a small bit of Katon chakra to the tip of her finger, lightning the cigarette and shaking off the flame.

Nariko once again furrowed her eyebrows. She was quite annoyed at the amount of time this was all taking for her to do. "Yeah. Some help would be nice. If you're going to be the Jounin Commander you'll need to figure out how to do this sort of stuff if I'm unavailable anyhow. I guess this will be good training on that end."

Continuing on, she gave him a small run down of what she wanted to write. "Obviously I'm trying to for some diplomatic relations with the other nations. I'm planning some Chuunin Exams and am inviting the other nations to join us here as a sign of good faith. I would also be interested in a trade agreement with Konoha, for mutual benefit, but I don't know how to word this crap."

She seemingly ignored the mention of making Simon the Jounin Commander at any point and had moved on to the issue at hand. He knew she wanted to expand, and as he had said, there was a Jounin problem going on. They needed more allies , more land, and more people who could help alleviate her job a bit. "Shimiko is interested in training, but I'm not sure if she is going for Raikage or not. She has the political clout as Seigi's sister and just as much potential as he did, so it would be nice. I could see it. I think she has a ways to go , she needs to learn to temper herself when she fights or she'll give all she has in one go, but she is just a genin."

Ryuko was less then thrilled to receive a summons from Simon of all people.   She respected his strength as a ninja but after recent events she had found his tactical sense to be somewhat lacking.   In her mind being a chunnin meant more then just raw power, you needed a good head on your shoulders as well.

He wasn’t that much stronger then her, so why was it that he was higher ranked? Thinking about the differences between them she couldn’t help but wonder, what would she need to do to get herself promoted?  

Thankfully she knew the chunnin exams wouldn’t be too far off in the future. Those would be her chance to show off and make a name for herself.  Maybe if she was lucky she could even make a name for her armor as well.  She wouldn’t mind outfitting more of her fellow villagers, but the question of how to go about doing so when she wasn’t after a profit lingered in the back of her mind.

Speaking of which she still had that special scarf she had crafted some time ago to give him. She’d just never manged to find the right timing to actually give it to him.  The sooner the better since you’d never know if it might end up saving his life or not at some point.  Even thought she was deeply cross with Simon at the moment she couldn’t bring herself to actually hate him and was thinking of his safety.

He was Shimiko’s boyfriend after all, and they’d been acquaintances long enough that she could loosely consider him a friend even if only somewhat begrudgingly.  As much as she hated to admit it they worked rather well together when teamed up and it would be a shame to waste such natural synergy over a pretty grudge.  

Arriving at the office, Ryuko strolled right on in as if it was the most natural thing in the world, not even bothering to knock.  She was Nariko’s attendant after all, so she assumed that meant she already had permission to enter by default.

She’d been expecting to find Simon already their waiting for her, no doubt ready to tell her all about the mission he had planned for them but instead found a black haired stranger speaking with her liege.   Had she somehow messed up her timing and arrived here earlier? Then again this man’s face was awfully familiar,  he’d be almost a dead ringer for Simon if it wasn’t for different eye and hair color.    

Could he be a relative perhaps?  Simon hadn’t said anything about having a brother but then again what did she really know about him outside of ninja related stuff. Pretty much nothing because she’d never really bothered to ask.  Maybe she’d have to amend that in the future.  

“Oh hello Sir, I’m the Raikage’s attendant Ryuko. Whom might you be?” she quickly introduced herself to the stranger with a polite half bow while simultaneously trying to learn his identity at the same time.

She’d heard them saying something about Shimiko when she came in but that was quickly forgotten as she noticed that the Raikage had a lit cigarette in her mouth and shot a glare at the woman, Akin to kind a mother would give upon finding their child with a hand in the cookie jar.   “Nariko what did I say to you about smoking in the office?” she said in a warm but voice stern.  

It was a terrible vice to have, especially for shinobi since it diminished your lung capacity over time making you less effective in battle.   As a doctor Ryuko would have preferred that Nariko never touched one of the vile stick in the first place.  She’d had to concede on that front because telling her to stop entirely would be like almost like trying to tell Ryuko to give up drinks.   It just wasn’t going to happen.

The exhaust was filthy sticking and clinging to everything around it and terribly hard to clean which was a problem since the office needed to be keep to a certain level of tidiness for appearances sake if nothing else.   If Nariko absolutely insisted there was a always the designated smoking room just down the hall where she could do her business.

Glancing at the mounds of crumbed paper that had piled up in the rubbish bin Ryuko raised a concerned eyebrow.  “You look like you’ve been at this for a while. Perhaps tis be best you take a short break while I get you some refreshments.”  she offered wishing that Nariko had called for her sooner. “Afterwards I can help with composition on the letters you’re working on.  Well unless you have a different task in mind for me anyways. ” it was Simon who had sent her a letter after all, not Nariko herself.  The odds it wasn't mission related where slim.

Nariko listened to Sakata's suggestions, crumpling the partially written note again, tossing it with the rest of them, pulling up a new sheet of parchment and began to scribble down a little bit, taking a drag of her cigarette. She'd been trying to remain formal, and "dear Hokage" sounded a little too casual. She really wanted them to take her seriously, but wasn't quite sure how to do that without also coming off as a stick in the mud and too overly formal. It was a fine line that she walked, and Nariko wasn't a politically inclined person to begin with. "This is why I prefer going on missions to running a village. At least I know how to do missions."

She muttered a little to herself as she was writing, and when Ryuko walked in, she flashed the girl a happy but tired smile. She went back to work writing, chuckling to herself as she didn't recognize Sakata, but didn't say anything, at least not until Ryuko spoke about her smoking in the office. Looking up indignantly, Nariko took a drag almost out of spite, and blew the smoke towards her young vassal.

She stood up, moved to the balcony doors behind her desk that lead out to her usual smoking balcony, and threw them open in a playful manner, as if to say "Fuck you, I have air flow" and then moved back to her seat, reading over what she had so far. Pleased with how it turned out, she scribbled a little bit more in her almost flowery hand writing.

The letter now read,

For the Mizukage's Eyes Only:

It was rather short, but she didn't really know what else to say, so she rolled it up and sealed it with her seal of office, and gave it to the 2nd of the 3 messenger falcons. As it promptly left the room, Nariko looked back at Ryuko. "I would appreciate some advice. Sakata offered his, but the letter to the Mizukage is fairly easy to write I suppose, as it was simply an invitation to the Chuunin Exams. I've already covered many of the minor villages, but the Great Nations require much more finesse. Most specifically, the Land of Fire. I have interest in giving the same proposal to them, but also would like to open trade negotiations as well as a discussion of some land sharing. But I suppose that can wait for a little while."

Ashing her cigarette in an ash tray hidden in a drawer of the desk, Nariko gave a brief overview. "I'd like to wait til everyone is gathered to give you the full mission, but the short answer is I'm sending us on a diplomatic mission to the land of Frost."

Shimiko skipped along the street towards the administrative building. She had received a letter telling her that her presence was requested by none other than Sakata. She had agonized on what to wear, she had told herself that wearing more provocative clothing was not only appreciated but expected of her now that she was in a relationship. That being said, the summons made it seem like it was all business. Shimiko was also self-conscious about showing off in a professional environment so she opted for her more pseudo conservative style of dress. She wore her signature dress shirt, green and white striped tie, and red mini-skirt. She decided to forgo the trench coat for the time being. Shimiko walked into the building and headed towards the specified room where she saw Sakata, Ryuko, and Nariko.

Sakata had let his dark hair grow out as he had hinted before that blonde was not his natural hair color. It appeared he was fully embracing his true identity. Truthfully, Shimiko preferred blondes and it is what caused her to notice Sakata in the first place but over time she had grown attracted to many things about him. As if to make it clear she confidently walked over to him, wrapped her arms around him in a semi-childish manner and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Hi Simon" It was a bold and public display of affection right in front of her comrade and superior. Part of her wished Natsuru was around to see it, she didn't want to taunt the Senou but it would have been nice to show that he thought she was desirable. Shimiko stood next to him and clasped her hands behind her back. Ryuko looked as radiant as ever and Nariko looked stressed as her brother often did when working on the tedious tasks that came with being Raikage. Shimiko was totally unaware she had been the subject of conversation earlier but seeing Nariko did bring the thought of the position to mind. She had never really considered it to be an immediate goal but rather something to do in her later ninja years. It seemed the Kage of a village did more paperwork and politics than fighting and killing. This did not appeal to her.

"Hello everyone" she said in a more general manner. "I'm guessing this is a meeting for a new mission?"

Ryuko frowned heavily as Nariko blew smoke in her direction, narrowly sidestepping the gray plum at the last second thanks to her above average reflexes.  If it had been just about anyone else but the Raikage she would have attempted to pummel them for the insult, but since it was Nariko she stayed quite.

Right now she was working on learned to manifest her first element, but one of these days she was going to learn a jutsu that would allow her to extinguish a lit cigar from a distance.  Once she aquire it she would use it for the sole purpose of putting Nariko’s smokes out every chance she got simply out of spite.

Pretending as if nothing had happened for now she listened to the what the Raikage had to say while walking over the a small kitchenette that had been installed in one corner of the room and began brewing a pot of coffee.

“If I recall correctly the Hokage is Kazuya Uchiha.” she said naming him from memory. Her collection of Ninjabo figure included all of the kage so far with one notable exception as far as she was aware.  Nariko’s figure hadn’t been released yet, having only become Raikage fairly recently.  

“Since we know his name I would start casual but warm. Like this.” Taking a piece of paper and a pen off the desk Ryuko began to write, her letters elegant and cursive as once might expect from the daughter of a noble household such as herself.

Letter to the Hokage:

Ryuko finished her draft of the letter leaving a spot for Nariko to sign at the bottom before handing it to over for her liege to see.  The handwriting wouldn’t match but that was fine since it wasn’t unusual for dignitaries such as a kage to have a secretary compose a letter for them, often they would dictated what to write so in a way it was the same as writing it themselves.

Her father had always said then when negotiating a bit of light flattery never hurt and she’d kept that firmly in mind while writing, being carefully not to lay on the praise too heavily less they come off as weak or subservient.  If their was to be talk, it would be between two equals.

As Simon began to speak Ryuko recognized his voice.  “It can’t be.” She thought but sure enough it was him after all. She was stunned at just how complete his makeover had been. She’d seen the resemblance but it was hard to believe he was in fact the same person until he’d directly confirmed it himself.

“You’ve certainly changed Si.. Sakata. I must say, your new look suits you.” complimented Ryuko dryly. She’d started to say his old name but caught herself at the last second.  This was going to take some getting used to.   “Would you like a beverage as well?” she offered. The coffee was still brewing but once it was done their would be more then enough to share.

She smiled as Shimiko joined them, trying not to be too flustered at her very public display of affection.  There was a time when such a thing would have made her blush fiercely but she wasn’t such a child as to continue to do so after she’d had a direct hand in bringing the both of them together.  

In her heart she field a mild sting of jealousy.  If felt so unfair that her friend had someone to share the warmth of love with while Ryuko herself was so terribly cold and lonely.  She quickly took that feeling and shoved it deep down, squishing it before it could register on her face, choosing instead to focus on the feelings of pride that she’d been chosen for such an important mission. Needless to say she’d been expecting some boring chore like picking weeds or painting a fence.

On discovering the opposite almost all the negative feelings she’d have towards Simon earlier had vanished with his recognition of her and her talents.  He’d must have seen her way with words during their last mission and chosen her because as he’d said she was the best for the job.  

“Diplomacy tis practically my middle name, leave it to me.” she said firmly with her right hand planted on her chest and her left hand at her hip, a pose that she hoped with inspire confidence. “As for the weather, I’m in the process of outfitting all the Thundercats with heavy cloakes.” she said as pointed the cape currently sitting on her shoulders using it as an example.  

“If you’d like tis be a simple mater to sow an extra one for you Sakata. Speaking of which….” she said as she reached into a bag on her belt and pulled out a large strip of yellow cloth.  It was a yellow banana almost just like the one Si… Sakata had given Shimiko months ago at the gates.  Carefully inspection would reveal that it was of a much sturdier make.

“Here, Shi-chan commissioned this for you….” she said as she held the object out for him to take looking away feeling slightly bashful of what he might think of it.

"I would like the mission to take maybe a month at the latest. It really shouldn't be all that long of a negotiation, to be fair. The offer is basically going to be for us to use our resources and forces to help protect them, meanwhile we get access to build on their lands, blocking us off from a land invasion. Try moving an army through there, and we'll know about it." her response to Simon was quite short and to the point.

Meanwhile, she watched as Ryuko was writing, and nodded at the wording. "A little too formal, and it sounds like I'm sucking up too heavily, but otherwise quite good." She began to reword it a little bit as Shimiko walked into the office. Now they were waiting on Natsuru and Morikawa, although she was debating having Morikawa stay back instead of joining along with them on this mission. If she was going to the Land of Snow, then she was going to want someone here in case something was wrong. Sakata would be on his mission, so then the next Jounin in seniority of trust would be Morikawa probably.

"Welcome, Shimiko. And yes, this is about a mission, you can discuss it while I'm gone for a second, I have something to give you and Sakata." she said. Having been so busy, she had forgotten that she had finished making some scrolls with limited knowledge on them to some techniques. Since they were both here, there was no reason she couldn't go get them for the two of them.

Leaving her office, she went to another room in the building, 3 Jounin who were assigned to guard the room present. 1 Guard was stationed near the door, and the other 2 were stationed inside the room itself, to make sure that nobody was able to sneak in to the room and steal the village's scrolls. She smiled at the door guard, and opened the door, entering the room and moved towards a box that held 2 smaller scrolls.

Grabbing one of the scrolls from that box, she moved to another, larger box, and opened it, grabbing a scroll from there too. Leaving the room, she walked back to her office, handing Sakata the larger scroll and Shimiko the smaller scroll.

"These scrolls contain the knowledge of a high level technique, as well as the steps required to perform them." She began, before addressing the two individually.

"For you, Sakata, a gift of one of our restricted techniques. Burn the scroll after you learn it, I don't want anyone learning it other than you. It's revised from the full technique, so you won't be able to utilize the highest level of the technique, but you'll be able to use the technique I fought you with at that level."

She hinted that she hadn't gone full out on him, even as far as the technique was concerned. To Shimiko, she looked her in the eye, and maintained contact. "I need you to understand, this technique is dangerous, okay? I revised it even further, to allow you to access a portion of the power of the technique. It's weaker for you for a reason. The drain on the full power of the technique is a lot, so I'm letting you learn this so that you get used to it. One day I might give you the full technique, but not until you're ready."

Turning to Ryuko, she frowned. "To be honest, I'm not sure what sort of gift I can give you Ryuko. If you can think of anything you'd like, let me know."

-Giving Sakata: Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Restricted
-Giving Shimiko: Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Training Mode

Shimiko blushed when Ryuko handed Sakata a yellow scarf on her behalf. She had almost forgotten! She had been gifted one of his own yellow scarves, a single kind gesture that had brought them a bit closer. It was nice of Ryuko to replace it with one of her own making while giving Shimiko all the credit. Shimiko would have to do something extra special for Ryuko so as to give thanks. Nariko mentioned that they would be going on a diplomatic mission of sorts that involved a pact between them and a foreign nation. The Raikage left to grab a scroll and returned with a serious look on her face. She handed one to Sakata and one to Shimiko. The girl accepted it and tucked it away before turning to meet her leader's gaze. The jutsu was dangerous, costly, yet apparently very effective. What she had was an weaker version of the full technique and one day she resolved to herself that she would master its secrets.

"I understand Raikage-sensei" she indicated with a firm nod.

She looked forward to going on a mission with the Thundercats and Sakata. It was a dream come true for her. Being able to go on all sorts of exciting and dangerous missions as a group. It sounded like this mission would mainly be based around peace though so there wouldn't be as much opportunity for fighting but Shimiko was confident she could make the most of it.

Ryuko sweet dropped a little as Nariko appraised her letter to be a little too formal.  She’d been trying her best to have it sound casual but it seemed she was too polite for her own good.  Thankfully it was only ever meant to be a rough draft, a starting point to get things going which was good enough as Nariko took the letter and began making small revisions here and there.  

The fact she had managed to be helpful to her liege, even if only in such a small way brought Ryuko a surge of warmth and satisfaction.  She laughed lightly at Nariko not knowing what sort of gift to give her.  The idea of her needing such things to serve when all she wanted was to useful was cute.

“I don’t know any elements so tis can’t be helped.” she replied with a shrug. She had a hunch about what sort of jutsu she just given the two lovebirds and it wasn’t the sort of thing she herself could be able to use anytime soon, if ever.  Ryuko naturally leaned towards the fire element not lightning so it was highly likely she’d never be able to learn it.

“Actually Nariko, I have a taijutsu technique or two that I’d like to pass to you.” she said, feeling a little sullen that Sakata had gotten to the topic of showing the Raikage some new jutsu before she could.  Truthfully she would have liked to pass her entire overdrive mode to her liege but the full use required deep knowledge of ijutsu to preform.

She supposed the taijutsu portion would be enough and from there Nariko would be able to make up her own version of overdrive as if she wasn’t formidable enough already.   In any case it sure would be a trip reversing their usual roles. For once the student would be the master.

The fact Sakata was trying to dismiss her idea about negitionas flew straight over Ryuko’s head.  The way he’d worded it and the timing made her think he was simply declining the beverage she’d been offering.   Though when she’d said leave it to her, she’d meant as an assistant not as the primary negotiator since that role would naturally fall to the highest ranked officer on the mission Sakata himself.

“Tis good timing that you arrived when you did Shi-chan.  You saved me the trouble of finding you to deliver this.” said Ryuko. She’d brought a plastic bag with her and quickly held it out for her friend to take it.  Inside was a set of Knight gloves, Knight stockings and an Advanced Mantel.   “My apologies on taking so long getting it ready.”  she said giving Shimiko as short half bow.

Nariko raised an eyebrow at Sakata and Ryuko. Her subordinates wanted to teach her some things? "Oh? I can't wait then!" she said gleefully, clapping her hands in excitement. She wasn't one to turn down new techniques and information, especially if they could improve her capacity as a fighter. She didn't really usually care about that sort of thing, but since she took the mantle of the Raikage, she needed to be as effective a fighter as possible to help protect her nation and her charges. Moving back onto topic though, she felt there was more to say.

"If you could, while on the mission, help them out with any missions they may need doing, alright? I can imagine they might have some problems that need taken care of, and if we offer our aid, it'll go a long way to helping smooth the way, to show we mean to help in all cases." Nariko offered some advice on the situation. There were probably bandits or something that needed taken care of. Maybe even enemy ninja from a neighboring country. Giving Kumogakure a chance to showcase their ninja's skills and talents would be a very effective risk assessment for the Frost Nation.

It would show that they can get things done, and Nariko knew that her genin were particularly talented, which would help as well. With this group of shinobi in particular being one of her most effective teams of Shinobi, perhaps the negotiations would be short after a peace offering and a small show of force not directed towards them. "If they refuse our negotiations though, I would not like you to take them by force. I don't want that to be the impression that people get of Kumogakure. I'm sure you guys will be able to impress them enough though, you're all exceptionally talented. I know that things in the Valley didn't go perfectly, but this is much less unpredictable, and I'm sure you can handle any wrench thrown in these plans."

Frowning, she contemplated something further. "Due try and gather some information from them. Current state of political affairs, factions that are around, stuff like that. I want a full report of everything you encounter there so we can form a profile of the nation, regardless of whether they agree to an alliance. I like to know what I'm working with, and I like to know what could be working against me. This entire operation is going to be classified as an A rank mission, it's very important."

Shimiko smiled as Ryuko handed her a a bag with some new light armor in it. Ryuko was always making useful gear for her squadmates and it had inspired her to begin working on her teammates' weapons. Shimiko had already sketched out the mechanics of the weapons but she had yet to start formally crafting it. She accepted the gift graciously and bowed.

"Thank you Ryu-chan" she said with a sweet and genuine smile. She knew her teammates liked using informal endings to their name to stress their friendship and closeness. "No need to apologize really! You're always keeping us well equipped, you should feel free to take your time. Don't stress yourself out on our account." She wanted to tell Ryuko she had some new batons in the works for her but she figured that now was probably not the best time. It would be better to surprise the Priestess when the time came. Shimiko turned her attention to Nariko who explained their mission in full detail. The blonde swallowed at the mention of the Valley, it hadn't gone exactly smoothly and she cursed herself for not being there to help her squad. She had been catching up to them and recovering from her illness. After spending quite a bit of time out of commission she was out of practice and needed to spend time getting her A-game together. Now that she was ready to go back out in the field she vowed to not just be a valuable asset to her team but THE asset. Their ace in the hole so to speak. She made a tight fist and listened intently to her Raikage's instructions. The mission's strategic importance and its high ranking told her that this would be her chance to show her Kage, Clan, and village would she was made of.

Seeing Nariko so excited to learn from her made Ryuko wish they could start right this instant but sadly it would have to wait until another day if she was going to have any chance of getting the supplies she needed for Sakata ready in time.  

She was going to be hard pressed even getting another mantel ready, stockings and gloves might have to wait until they where on the trip itself.  She figured it’d take a couple days to get there so it wasn’t anything she couldn’t nit along the way depending on their method of travel.  

At least the mission itself seemed straight forward enough.  Basically it was a mission to do more missions  while gathering as much intelligence as possible along the way.  She imagined it’d mostly be things like dealing with bandits. Nothing that she shouldn’t be able to handle but even so she was pleased that Shimiko would be with going with them this time. Having reliable backup on hand would make a world of difference.

Privately she was just excited to be traveling so far for the first time.  She’d been to the capital of the land of lightning and a few of the other nobels estates but never to another country.   She was looking forward to seeing what regional edition ninjabo’s she could nab for her collection.   Hopefully they wouldn’t be gone so long that she missed the limited release of Nariko’s own figure.  

“Tis good we are going the peaceful route.  Hopefully we can serve as an example that there are other ways to do things then needless violence.”  she said optimistically.  To her combat was either to protect and defend or for sport.  She didn’t have the slightest interest in conquest.  After what had happened in the valley she wanted to prove that her way of life was the correct one.

Shimiko took the items she had been offered gratefully but her words did little to elevate Ryuko’s sense of guilt.  The truth was that they would have been ready a lot sooner if Ryuko had actually believed that Shimiko would wake up from her coma.  Instead a part of her had written her friend off already even as she had prayed to Hakkin for a miracle.   She was deeply ashamed that her faith had been so weak.  

She’d have to work extra hard to redeem herself and be worthy of Shimiko’s friendship. Helping her patch things up with Natsuru and get together with Si… Sakata had been a good start but she still had a ways to go to clear that mark off her ledger.   She'd actually been a bit worried about how Shimiko would take her giving Sakata that scarf, hoping that she wouldnt take it the wrong way forgetting the fact that Shimiko was one of the few that knew about her sapphic tendencies. Thankfully it seemed she'd been worried for nothing.

"Tis hard to say that you're well equiped when you're still wearing that old iron chain mail.  Why that's hardly better then what you can buy at the local market.  I won't be satisfied until I've replaced every piece of gear with something of at least A... Nay  S tier quality." She said her voice firm with conviction.  Between being a medic and an armor smith she saw it as her job to insure her teammates arrived back home safe and sound from every mission.  No expense spared.

“Will that be all for today then?” asked Ryuko shooting a glance at Nariko.  The coffee was finally ready so she poured the Raikage a cup, placing it on her desk.   She wanted to invite Shimiko to grab a bite together once the meeting was done but she’d hate to interrupt her time together with Sakata.    Being a third wheel was the worst and would only remind her of her own crushing loneliness that she was trying so desperately to forget.

Nariko smiled pleasantly at the group. "Yes, that'll be all. If you have nothing further to discuss, I'll talk to you later, but for now I have to finish getting these letters out." she replied to Ryuko, taking a sip of the coffee despite its heat. It didn't really bother her all that much, and she closed her eyes to enjoy the experience a little better. "This is delicious, thank you Ryuko."

After a moment, she opened her eyes again and began writing the rest of her letter, a little more sure on how she wanted to word the thing.

[exit]

Shimiko chuckled at Ryuko's firm response to the contrary. It wasn't because she was being derisive but rather because she admired the girl's devotion to protecting them. It made Shimiko want to spill the beans on her new weapon for her right then and there but she figured that such a thing might be best served as a surprise. She did see  harm in teasing what she had planned. "Thanks Ryu-chan, I really appreciate you keeping us safe. I have something special planned for you and Natsuru as well" she said. She wasn't sure she could get it all done before the Frost mission. She would rather take her time in crafting the weapons then trying to do a rush order and getting them wrong. The weapons were of a higher than average caliber which meant special care had to be taken during their construction. Nariko dismissed them and Shimiko nodded in response before walking out alongside Sakata. She wanted to hang out with him a bit more but she also didn't want to be that kind of girlfriend so she hugged him goodbye and parted ways.

Exit

[interupting Nariko]

“I look forward to your grace.”  said Ryuko pleasantly surprised that Shimiko would bother to take the time to make something for her.   She didn’t really feel like she deserved it but at the same time it would be rude to not accept her generosity.

The lovebirds wasted no time leaving the room, thought Ryuko couldn’t help but note they had left separately.   Maybe she should have offered to treat Shimiko to a meal after all but she actually still had a bit of business with the Raikage, business she didn’t want to discuses while other people where around.

Not that she didn’t trust Shimiko or Sakata, but there where some things it was difficult to share even amoung your closest friends.   Reaching into her satchel she pulled out a small folded stuff to the brim with papers and layed it on the desk for Nariko to see.

“I know tis a bit early but these are the design documents I have so far for your new raiments.”  she explained.  Included where pictures of a new raikage robe and hat as well as a set of shinobi armor to go underneath them, thought it looked more streamlined then what was traditional.

“The biggest problem is the materials. Tis tough to find something that will hold up to abuse from your lightning release and yet not hinder use.  I’m looking into a technique where metal is woven like cloth for the robe, but it’ll be a long awhile before completion mission or no mission.  In the meantime I want you to think carefully about what sort of enchantments you’d like to apply.”  she requested.

The reason she wanted to keep this to as few people as possible was simple enough.  How the Raikage’s gear was made was a national level secret.   Ryuko’s was confident that anything she made was the best around, but if there was a ckink in the armor she had somehow overlooked it was best to keep that information out of enemy hands.

Nariko had gone back to finishing up the revisions to a new letter, to send to Konoha, and was just about done with it when she noticed that Ryuko hadn't actually exited the office. As she completed it, she handed it to Ryuko to see what she thought of her revisions. They were built off of what Ryuko had suggested, and she wanted to see what sort of message she thought it conveyed.

For the Hokage's Eyes Only:

As she handed over the letter, Ryuko had handed her the schematics to her Raiments, something Nariko had quite honestly forgotten about. Looking them over, she listened to the girl's concerns about the materials, noting that it was a very valid challenge that she was presented with. "I suppose that makes sense. You don't even know that I'm working on a Black Raiton variant of my Lightning Release Chakra Mode either. As potent as that jutsu already is, converting the Raiton to Black Raiton would make it much more so."

Looking up to Ryuko, Nariko realized none of what she said probably made any sense to the girl, as she didn't know what those techniques were. "I'm sorry, I just realized that didn't make sense much, did it? Lightning Release Chakra Mode is a ninjutsu that enhances my physical abilities immensely. Makes me faster, and quicker to react to stimuli. It also incidentally increases my strength and durability by flowing Raiton through my nervous system. In addition, it creates a cloak of Raiton around my body, to protect it from damage that may be launched its way. The village scrolls remark that the technique at full power rivals the power of a Bijuu."

She casually explained, heavily indicating that she already knew the technique and could use it at full power, as she was trying to combine it with Black Raiton. "Black Raiton, on the other hand, is technically a Fuuinjutsu seal, but is also somewhat of an advanced element. It allows the one with the seal to convert their Raiton into a stronger version of it, as well as giving the users the ability to manipulate Raiton with free form control."

The implications of what she was saying was that she was already somewhat on par with a Bijuu as it was, and she was looking for a way to combine them and actually surpass that. However, with the power of such techniques, there was a delicate balance that needed to be achieved, or she could potentially do irreparable damage to her body, and that was obviously something she didn't want to do. "My point being, I suppose, that I would appreciate anything you give me to not be hindering my ability to utilize Raiton to its fullest extent. I would be more easily able to help come up with ideas on enchanting the armor, but I don't even know what sort of enchanting you can do. I'd be fine with some brainstorming though, if you have any preliminary thoughts on it."

“This… this is phenomenal.  I especially like how you stress the theme of unity and working together.” exclaimed Ryuko as she glanced over the letter. It was clear to her that Nariko had taken the bones of what she had written and fully fleshed it out.  

As the Raikage went to explain about the lightning release armor and the black lightning Ryuko paid extra special attention to every word and detail making sure to burn it into her memory so that she could make the necessarily adjustments to her designs.   Certainly combining the two would result in an incredibly powerful jutsu, own that might be almost as much a risk to the user as the target.

Hopefully if she could make her armor right she could help mitigate at least some of the strain. Anything that made it easier for the wearer to use raiton would go a long long way.   “Actually, I did know of those jutsu but not in much detail so thank you.  That was incredibly informative.”  she replied. It seemed her guess about what jutsu she had given Shimiko and Sakata was right on the nose.

How unfair was it that one lightning jutsu could allow for so much when it took several jutsu combined for her to even approach replicating that with her overdrive mode?   Chakra enhanced strength to do what the name implied,  Calm Mind to increase perception, Accel max to boost speed and Spring Chant to make her coordination higher.    

Even then it did nothing for her durability.  The cost to her stamina when in full overdrive was high enough that she couldn’t keep it active for long and she was willing to bet her left kidney it was less efficient to boot which only made the disparity hurt all the more.  

That was her main problem with most of her ijutsu in general.  If she could just become better at using them then it’d put her a lot closer to standing near the same level as Nariko rather then lagging so far dang far behind.  She had to bridge that cap as much as possible, so she could be a strong attendant that Nariko could count on.

“About that, I can’t use Fuinjutsu yet so having me enchant them it out of the question.  I plan to learn how to eventually but that will take much much longer then crafting the armor itself.  Time we can’t afford to wait.  I think it’d be better to bring Mori-san in on this one since we can trust him.”  suggested Ryuko.

She had just gotten her doctorate as a medic earlier this year.  As fast as as learner as she was getting a second one in the art of seals was going to be a pretty major task.  Between the crafting she needed to do to reach S grade, Missions and keeping in shape it would be hard to find the time to study.

“As far as spells go. One that reduces the cost of casting Raiton would be a good start.  The less energy you have to spend on your lightning armor, the longer you’ll be able to keep it up. Other then that maybe some basic protection against Fuuton since that’s the one element you might have trouble against.”  Sometimes the best suggestions where the most basic ones.

Nariko smiled as Ryuko gave her approval of the message, and applied the seal of the Raikage to it, attaching it to the last messenger falcon, sending it on it's way. "Alright, that's done for the moment." she said, moving on to the armor discussion.

"If you think Morikawa should help in the design, then by all means speak to him about it. He's a skilled fuuinjutsu practitioner, after all, he applied my Black Raiton seal, and is currently the only sealer in Kumo who can actually seal a Bijuu. Both of those techniques are incredibly high level and complex, even for sealers." she gave her affirmation to let Morikawa in on the designing process. She trusted him well enough. If he'd wanted to kill her, he had the opportunity to when he applied her seal. He could make purposely faulty seals on the armor if he was vindictive and wanted her to die for some reason, but she wasn't really reliant on armor anyhow, so even if he did, she could fight without it.

"Those sound like decent enchantments to me. To be honest, simple and basic is sometimes the best. You do know I was an exceptional Jounin not because I'm very strong or anything, but because I was a master of the basics. I still use academy techniques in my fights. But that's neither here nor there. Raiton is a good thing to have amped in my case. If I can make it both stronger than normal through Black Raiton and spend less chakra through enchantments, that would be fantastic."

"A protection from Fuuton is also a good thing. I can mitigate the weakness and neutralize it basically already, but it never hurts to cover your bases. Otherwise I already have basic elemental superiority with my Raiton as is to other interactions. Ooo, what about having the armor store up a charge of Raiton? Either through my movement, or my casting of Raiton, or even being hit by Raiton. Once charged, it would be able to let off the charge as maybe, a shield? Or a blast of Raiton? I don't know, I'm spit balling here."

She laughed a little. "Anyhow, I mean, as long as it doesn't disrupt my ability to fight with Taijutsu, and also doesn't hinder my Katon usage, I think anything you really plan will be fine. I'm sure whatever you have is better than what I can come up with. I'm not an armor designer."