The compensation for the mission was substantially larger than anticipated since its difficulty was raised so greatly. After reserving a lot of it for his savings and supplies, the remaining was enough to support him and his mom for at least two months. This reduced the economic strain on Kannin's mother significantly. She had been sustaining them on her own for years, and seeing the sum of money Kannin's mission made her consider rethinking her stance on Kannin being a shinobi. She wouldn't have to pick up any shifts at the hospital for a while now.
Kannin, on the other hand, was thinking about what to do with his free time. Shin informed the team that they were getting at least a month's respite before going on another mission given the toll the last one had taken.
This meant he had nothing to do for at least a month. Well, it really meant he had to figure out something to do for the next month. At the current moment, he had three ideas for what to do: 1) keep refining his adamantine chains, 2) begin learning kenjutsu, and 3) begin strengthening his wind release.
Option one was a no brainer, the adamantine chains were a long-term investment, so he wanted to work on them constantly. As for kenjutsu, he realized in his fight with Emiko how unpolished his swordsmanship was with Koseki. If he could get a good teacher, his utility in battle would rise significantly. He could only think of one kenjutsu master in Konoha, Hatake Sakumo, but he quickly dismissed that idea. Right now, he was basically a nobody--and though a rather skilled nobody, he didn't think Sakumo would take out the time to teach anyone below jonin rank.
Working on his wind release was another key focus. His water release was helpful because there weren't many good water release users in the Land of Fire, at least not since the Second Hokage died. But when Kannin saw Harakaze-sensei's lightning chakra mode, he realized that he was substantially lacking in body enhancement techniques. Wind release offered him a way to increase his speed, and augment the speed of his other jutsu. Kannin thought of Shisui and his body-flicker, and wondered what it would look like augmented with wind chakra.
Kannin was struck by the dilemma in front of him: either learn kenjutsu or wind release. He wanted to be as dedicated to whatever he chose as possible, so half-assing both to try and do them at the same time was not an option. He sat in his room sharpening Koseki for about an hour when he suddenly exclaimed,
"Oh, I'm an idiot!"
While he was thinking back on the battle with Emiko, he had overlooked something: his shadow clone. When he substituted himself with a shadow clone, he didn't think much of it--and when he popped the clone, he didn't realize, due to the heat of battle, that he regained the memories the clone had experienced. With this, theoretically he actually could try and learn kenjutsu and wind release at the same time without a drawback.
He quickly split into three, one to search for a kenjutsu master, another to go to the jutsu library to check on wind release techniques, and another to stay home developing his chakra chains.
-
At the Sarutobi compound
Tetsu sat in his room, thinking about the mission. He felt pretty useless the whole time. First he fell to the enemy's genjutsu hard, and had to rely on Kannin to get him out of it. Then all he was able to do was give them a height advantage and throw some rocks into the dark, while Warai's Sharingan spotted Emiko through the inky void that encompassed them.
He, like Kannin, was also considering how to increase his combat potential. He knew Warai awakening her Sharingan was an obvious advantage. She was able to see clearer than before, probably memorize jutsu, and, if she got more proficient, even begin using advanced genjutsu.
As for Kannin, he didn't really know what to make of him. As an Uzumaki, he knew Kannin would have large reserves of chakra, but he hadn't gotten the opportunity to learn the clan's specialty in fuinjutsu. His chain technique was also progressing slowly. But no matter how disadvantaged Kannin was, he never seemed to fall behind; the rate at which he absorbed jutsu was staggering. The Sarutobi were pretty renowned for their general proficiency in learning all types of jutsu, as exemplified by the Third Hokage, but Kannin was almost scary.
Thinking about his friends, he resolved himself to getting stronger. He went up to his father and asked him,
"Dad, can I go to the family library? I want to learn more powerful jutsu."
His father looked down at Tetsu and sighed. Like Kannin's mother, he had reservations about his son becoming a shinobi, but he also knew his son was skilled, and wouldn't hesitate to help him grow. He led Tetsu to the family's library and showed him jutsu which he would be able to learn and help his combat efficiency.
-
In the Uchiha compound
Cries of celebration erupted when Warai returned home.
"I can't believe you awakened your Sharingan!" Her father said, ruffling her hair.
Her mother came in and said, "Babe, we're so proud of you! What happened?"
Warai related the events of Uzushiogakure to her parents, and their initial joy at seeing their daughter's Sharingan slowly descended into stern contemplation as they realized the danger she was in. Warai's parents, however, fully understood the dangers involved in being shinobi, and were proud of her ability to get through it. Though they still worried about her.
Pushing those thoughts to the side, her mother said, "Why don't we have a celebratory dinner? How about that? You can even invite your team members over."
Warai's eyes lit up and immeediately agreed. She ran around Konoha trying to find her friends to invite them, eventually just going to their respective houses and knocking on the door.