"Of course we can," Rina told him encouragingly, brightly. "I just showed you, didn't I?" She tied off her threads of chakra with a twist, leaving the diagram frozen in its final state. Genma was staring at it like it held the secrets to Nirvana, his eyes rapt and unbelieving.

"It'll take a while--your body needs time to recover and adjust after each step. But really, we can." Her breath caught for a long moment, vision skipping back and forth between her diagram--each step detailed and drawn out and possible--and the young ninja watching it, his flat and defeated expression transformed into childlike wonder.

"We can," she whispered again, suddenly suffused with rich joy and a fierce pride. Then, recklessly, she added--

"I promise."