"There are one or two things I must attend to here, but I don't expect they will take terribly long. I will accompany the boy to see Sasuke. And ensure he moves on in a timely fashion. As a favor."

Naruto pouts, but Shikaku smiles a bit. "Heh. I'll come along too. Wouldn't want him getting lost."

"You're both mean," Naruto grumbles, but perks up when Shikaku indicates he can lead the way.

Off to see Sasuke, then.

He's resting, apparently, and looking away from Juugo, who's looming over him and seems exasperated.

Karin's leaning rather grumpily - and still on fire - against an upturned piece of concrete.

Sasuke turns to look in the vague direction of their group - and it's hard to tell at this distance, but he doesn't seem to be looking directly at them. Still, he doesn't say anything.

"Can someone please explain what happened now? Ellisaria? - And you're Naruto, right? And some Konoha jounin... I guess there's official demands, now."

Naruto gives a quick summary - he talked to Nagato, Nagato put everyone back, Konan called off the Akatsuki and left - then bounces past Sasuke to check on a girl being fussed over by medics in the background.

"We wouldn't mind some information at some point, but it'll hardly be an interrogation," Shikaku says neutrally. "Your aid went far."

"There will be time for that later. You should go follow that one, Nara."

He glances over. "Naruto seems hardly likely to run off right now, but I'll let you be," he says, waving and meandering off to hover sort of closer to Naruto but still technically in the middle of their two groups.

Fine. This isn't very secret, anyway.

"Now that we have a moment to think, Karin, you have a choice to make. Right now, you are a half-Ascended dragonsworn. To complete the process, you must drink of my blood. This will grant you power; magic, keener senses, greater strength, resistance to fire, the ability to shift into a form like mine, longer life. It will also create a connection between you and I. I will be able to tell where you are, and speak with you telepathically. Alternatively, I can craft an amulet that will suppress the dragonfire, and you can remain as you are. It will take a week, and if you remove or misplace the amulet, its protection will be lost and you will revert to this state."

She glances at Sasuke. "Does that include a loyalty oath, of any kind?"

"Traditionally, yes. Under the circumstances, I shall not require it. But if you feel yourself compelled to offer one anyway, I will not refuse you. You have... potential."

She glances at Sasuke again, asks, "What do you think, Sasuke?"

"Sounds useful."

"Right. Well then, I'm for it."

She puts her thumb in her mouth and bites down, then extends her hand in Karin's direction, a bright red droplet blossoming on the ball.

"Do I put your thumb in my mouth, or..."

"You need to ingest the blood. It does not have to be more than a drop."

She'll drink a drop, then.

It tastes of stone and salt, soil and ash. As the blood hits her tongue, the nimbus of fire surrounding her begins burning in reverse, pulling itself in through her skin and changing her in its wake. Her skin cracks and splits, revealing a coat of darkly gleaming scale, muscle bulging underneath. Her spine twists and lengthens as her skull extends and a crest fans out from where her hairline used to be. Claws push through her fingers and toes and fangs force their way out of her jaw. Her natural posture now is leaning forward, counterbalanced by her new tail. The world is sharper, with more information available to her eyes and ears and nose.

She frowns, and will try to shift back to human. If it doesn't work, she applies the Transformation Technique to get at least a seeming for now.

(Her sensory range isn't any different, but she thinks she might be able to get more information out of the sensory overlay technique now...)

(She'll have to practice, test to see if the increased physical might increased her yang chakra at all, too.)

"Thanks."

"Your human form waits within. Reach inside, and pull it out. Later, I can show you how to acquire new forms."

She'll do that.

"I'll admit, I'm not used to being the physically strong one."

"Limitations exist to be broken."

Has their little show just now attracted excess attention?

Given that there was no one around, not really.

Nara Shikaku isn't pretending not to be watching them anymore, though, but he doesn't seem inclined to say anything.

"How long will you be staying here?"