This morning had been an eye opener for her, Minerva admitted to herself. Actually, if she was being honest, the entire visit so far had been interesting and myth busting. Upon arrival they had been greeted by the leader of the village and a range of his shinobi. The initial meeting wasn't particularly warm, but she really didn't blame them with the history between the two cultures, it got slightly hostile when Albus decided to open his mouth. However, the rest of the evening was mostly neutral when talking with the Hokage. Of course, the conversation with the three shinobi after was not… pleasant… but really, what did you expect when Albus basically accused them of poaching a child that wasn't theirs?! There was a moment, one terrifying moment, where she had felt so cold, so depressed, and so scared that she wanted to bolt. Luckily the tall blonde shinobi had managed to reign the rage-filled parent in, and the room had returned to normal. Still darker than when they first walked in, and definitely more hostile, but better than that sensation. Minerva shivered, she never wanted to feel that again! Thank god that the shinobi wrapped it up with Albus quickly. She just wanted to get to their lodgings and take a hot shower or bath. Anything to get the warmth back into her bones!
Minerva strode along quickly behind their guide, grateful that he wasn't hanging around about going to the inn. He had explained that they had three separate rooms, all with their own small bathroom, as the village was aware that that was the custom in the west. A meal would be provided tonight, and in the morning, at the inn; whilst lunch would be with the Hokage, the three shinobi from earlier, and the 6 shinobi they wanted to hire. He had also mentioned that this wasn't the usual way of introducing the teams to the client, but for such a long mission with multiple parts involved this was decided to be the way forward. He directed them towards a simple looking inn. Wooden paneling, coated in a varnish to make them gleam in the low light of the evening, plants surrounding the walls, and a warm glow from the windows that spoke of a place to rest.
Upon reaching the inn, an elderly woman opened the door, inviting them in. They were shown where to leave their outside shoes and given a very cosy pair of house slippers for inside. They found themselves chivvied into a well-lit kitchen and provided a nicely sized portion of vegetables and fish. Minerva listened in wonder as her younger colleague thanked their host for the meal, before turning to her and Albus and translating that it was a vegetable stir-fry in a simple soy-based sauce with sesame seeds. The fish was, again, a simple piece of white fish with a miso paste coating. Picking up the provided utensils, Minerva politely thanked the woman in English, prompting Severus to translate for her, and dug into her meal. That walk through the forest, as well as the adrenaline spike from this afternoon, had left her famished. Minerva savoured the simple food, her eyes closing in delight at the amount of flavour in the dishes. Hands down, she thought, way better than magically created food or house elf cooking.
Once the three of them had eaten their fill and washed it down with a nice refreshing mint tea, they were shown to a set of comfy looking rooms. Minerva sighed a silent sigh of relief at the sight of a bed. She wasn't sure her old bones could take a futon anymore. Before leaving them to themselves, the host gave them a tour of a bathroom, explaining in Japanese how to switch things on. Thankfully Severus was on hand to interpretate for them, otherwise Minerva would have missed the information about tomorrow morning. Apparently, a guide was coming to take them on a tour of the academy, he would also have breakfast with them, at around 6am. With a faint shudder of horror at the early wake up call, Minerva bid her companions a good night. Time to soak in that bath they had been graciously given.
The gentle call of her name dragged Minerva from her memories of the trip so far. Blinking, she looked over at their young guide, such a polite and delightful young man, and smiled at him as he offered his arm to escort her to the lunch. Minerva gratefully looped her arm through his and started a conversation about behaviour management in the academy and its differences from at Hogwarts. Honestly, the morning had made her very attached to the young teacher. Hmmm, maybe she could convince him to come along for the teaching part. Clearly, he wasn't taught how to teach, but he certainly had natural talent and an instinctive understanding on how to connect with his students.
"Mr. Umino, if I offered you a role as a teacher on this mission, and confirmed it with your Hokage of course, would you be interested? I would like to help your journey as a teacher along. You have talent but need some shaping to smooth out the rough edges." Minerva spoke lightly, her tone low to prevent Albus hearing it and interfering. She noticed Severus give her the side eye, before shortening his strides to walk next to the headmaster. Minerva strained her ears to hear if he was mentioning it, but alas she couldn't.
"Do not panic Professor, Severus is distracting him with ideas of how to complete the tutoring for the undercover team." Iruka's voice was equally soft, as he leant in slightly towards her. "If the Hokage was to agree, then I would enjoy that. We don't really have training to be a teacher, outside of try to keep the kids alive."
Minerva chuckled and nodded her head. She remembered her mentor telling her that on day 1. "Ah yes, the basis of all teaching philosophy… keep the child alive. Very well Mr. Umino, I will ask if it is possible. Even if I have to pay the extra myself."
With an internal squeak of delight, Minerva directed the conversation to what equipment the students might need this year if they were to start with physical education. Whilst Iruka walked her through the needed equipment and what should be provided by the school, Minerva looked around at the bustle of the street. It was a vibrant place, she had to admit. Friendly too, from the number of waves and smiles being thrown around. She could feel herself start to drool from the amazing scents of street food and floating from the restaurant windows; she quickly patted at her mouth with her handkerchief, pretending it was the heat of the midday sun. Unfortunately, her stomach rumbling gave her away if the cheeky grin Iruka shot her was any indication. He leant in and whispered conspiratorially to her.
"It does the same to me after school. It's a nightmare having to walk through it every day. Before you leave, maybe why Severus gets the herbs he needs, I'll introduce to my favourite tea shop. It is divine." Iruka winked at her, before raising his voice a little so the two wizards could hear, she assumed. "Ah, here we go. Through the main door, and then immediately left, down the corridor to the banquet room."
Minerva let Iruka shuffle them all down the corridor quickly, noting that he removed them from the main reception as soon as he could. She could feel the eyes of the other shinobi on her, and it was an uncomfortable crawling feeling. It's oppressive weight reminded her, again, that this was hostile territory to wizards and witches. That despite the charming, easy-going nature Iruka had spent the morning displaying, the shinobi would still kill them if he thought they were a threat to his village. With that thought stuck in her mind, Minerva tugged her arm from his, ignoring his startled and slightly hurt look, as she turned to Albus and Severus. Gesturing for Severus to go on with Iruka, so she could walk with her old friend. Exchanging a wary look with Albus as the younger duo slide open the doors to show them a room filled with shinobi, Minerva steeled her nerves and stepped through the opening.
Shikamaru sulked as she scrubbed at her hair. Typical. They demand that she trained this morning and then threw her, and her team into mud pits. Mud pits that were never there before they hit the ground! She growled lowly to herself, before sighing and muttering a troublesome under her breath as her mother banged on the door…again. Sure, the reminder that she only had so long left before she had to leave was nice, but every 5 mins? Shaking her head, Shikamaru sighed heavily and rested her forehead against the tiled wall. This week had been an emotional rollercoaster for her. A strange occurrence for her. Now, this other world of people wanted her. The same people who the woman that gave birth to her belonged too, and, frankly, Shikamaru wasn't sure how to deal with it. Actually, if she was up to being honest with herself, the thought of going on this mission petrified her. What if they wouldn't let her come home again? What if they removed her from her team? Shikamaru groaned lowly, and turned off the water, stepping out of the shower. No point worrying over that, after all her dad and uncles would burn the wizarding world to the ground to find her. Now was the time to enforce her connection to the Nara clan in front of these clients.
With a deep forest green towel wrapped around her, wet hair fanned across her back, Shikamaru unlocked the bathroom door and entered her bedroom. On the bed was her mother, just sat there looking into space; a faint frown on her delicate features as she fiddled with the hem of her sleeve. Next to Yoshino was a set of clothes, Nara specific clothing. An undershirt of mesh lined in green. Black sleeveless vest top, with the clan symbol in a shiny black thread. Regular combat trousers in a matching black, and a matching set of boots and gloves with the fingertips gone. The boots and gloves were her favourite part of the get up, made from a soft supple material, it helped muffle sounds. The thin material allowed for better grip, whilst still being extremely resistant to damage. The material was a Nara secret, it allowed for the wear to channel the shadows easier, by being a conduit between them and the shadows. All of the shinobi from her clan were provided with the uniform as soon as they graduated, but most rarely wore it. It was a uniform that was specific for certain missions, or to warn others that the clan was being serious now.
Shikamaru hesitated briefly before dropping her towel and pulling on the new uniform, fingering the material of the gloves gently before tugging them on. It felt weird to be wearing it, Shikamaru mused as she twisted her hands, stretching and flexing them before glancing up at her mother.
"Is it appropriate for me to wear this? I feel like this is a declaration of war, simply for them having the balls to walk into the village and mention me."
"The older wizard declared that he was just going to take you home before they arrived. Since their arrival, your Uncle Inoichi was scanning their mind throughout the meeting. The woman and Professor Snape were terrified he was just going to kidnap you, and the leader of the light" Shikamaru was taken aback as her mother practically spat the title out with such venom. "was creating plans about turning you into his puppet. That was a declaration of war on the Nara clan, at least!"
Dipping her head in acknowledgement, Shikamaru padded across her room to sit at the vanity, her mother had insisted she had. Her mahogany eyes glanced up at the reflection of Yoshino behind her. Smiling lightly, as the older woman reached for the brush. This was her favourite bonding method with her mother! Her mum playing with her hair and brushing it, whilst the spoke in soft tones. No yelling, no demanding, no nagging happened at this moment. Shikamaru waited for the first few minutes in silence, her eyes closed in delight, just enjoying the drag of the brush over her hair, her mother's gentle fingers stroking, parting, and twisting her hair into the traditional Nara ponytail, with a twist. During a time of war, the Nara braided certain patterns into their hair for protection and healing; they also added tiny sliver beads, blessed at their shrine, and imbued with protection charms. She lazily opened her eyes, and stared at her reflection, the little sparks of silver shone against her richly coloured hair. As her mother finished and dragged a chair close, Shikamaru picked up her favourite eyeliner. A dark grey, almost black, colour; and applied it to her lower and upper lash line. She sat back and twirled her seat around to face her mum, listening closely as Yoshino filled her in one the most recent news from the Wizarding world. Her eyes darkened with fury as she heard about the war, and the way her birth mother's son was being treated as the ultimate saviour. She listened as her mother spoke of intelligence that said the Dark Lord was returning, and that the general population of wizards refused, but also tore down their "saviour" and heralded him as the new "Dark Lord". She practically snarled at the constantly shifting opinions of the sheep of the magical world. As such, when she was charged with deciding if her older half-brother was safe, Shikamaru swore to give it her full attention. Her mother stared at her for a few heartbeats before nodding firmly and gesturing to the door. It was time.
Shikamaru left the house and started her walk through the Nara compound, observing that the majority of Nara shinobi were dressed similarly to her. Many of her clan members stopped to smiled and nod at her, reassuring her that they were supporting her. It was nice, she thought, to be loved so much they would be willing to declare war. The occasional Akimichi and Yamanaka that she saw, were also dressed in their clan's traditional war uniform. The warmth that flooded her body was both unexpected and soothing. They all had her back, and damn it felt good!
Shikamaru continued out of the compound and through the village itself, vaguely aware of the InoShikaCho team shadowing her on the roof tops. It was strange, she decided, most of the time the Nara were given grudging respect by other shinobi. Both loved for their intelligence but disliked for their attitudes. Now, however, shinobi from other major clans stared at her with wide eyes before scrambling to get out of her way. Whispers followed behind her, as even the civilians noted the change in the air. A slow smirk curled across her lips, even as her darkened eyes glared straight ahead. The wizards wouldn't know what hit them. She silently acknowledged the arrival of Ino and Chouji, nodding her head at Asuma as he led them into the administration building. Shikamaru could see bright yellow robes leaving the academy and her smirk turned into a feral grin. Let the games begin.