Author's Note: I noticed that I called the blade handed out to chuunin as "chokuto" before. That is actually wrong and it is technically a "tanto" given its specifications. I'm sorry about that and I fixed all of the mentions of the reward I could find in the previous chapters. If you find some that irritate you, please let me know and I will fix it. Once again, sorry for that :D
Holding the chuunin flak jacket and the small tanto blade pressed to her chest, Mana carefully descended the Administration stairs and left the building. A wave of curious stares offering brief congratulations rose up from a seldom administration clerk ninja before they returned to their busywork.
"There she is!" Meiko's loud exclamation reached the magician's ears right after she left the building, making her focus on the gathering of what used to be the Team Hokage. Mana's second official genin squad and quite a fateful one as it lead to her acquiring her promotion. Her victory was just as much the victory of Kiyomi and Meiko as well, even if the two were not rewarded in a manner Mana was.
From this point on, it would be just Mana managing a quickly put together squad of genin or observing their work with her watchful eye. She was not quite skilled enough to get her own squad of genin, that would have had to wait until she officially became jounin. If Lord Sixth did not keep anything hidden, she'd never even get to see a day of the dangerous chuunin work before she can retire and focus on her magic shows.
"What were you talking to Lord Douche about?" Kiyomi pouted her lips. If not from the content of her words, judging from her face, she clearly disliked the village leader who oversaw the administrative duties for the Fire Lord just so his royal highness need not interrupt his highly important game of shogi and lavish aristocratic life.
"Nothing much, just wanted some things cleared up. Why are you guys still here?" Mana wondered out loud, letting her eyes track the entire roster of Team Hokage, Chestnut Hanasaku included stand around the Konohagakure Administration building as if waiting for something.
"We've been waiting for you, dummy, seeing how you've moved up the ladder, we won't let you leave us without a proper sendoff!" Meiko raised her fist up with great energy and vigor in her eyes.
Mana's eyes lingered on Hanasaku who just looked at her with soft and motherly eyes, the woman wondered if right now she should even have involved herself in these team matters, given how difficult taking the lack of Kiyomi's promotion was for the woman. The magician wondered if perhaps her team leader would have wanted to spend a day with her protégé alone, instead of spending it with someone she voiced having troubles of trust with.
"That's right, maybe whatever made you impress the big cheese in the VIP areas will rub off onto these two if we have a relaxing day while those guys in the Administration struggle with the aftermath of the Chuunin Exams", Hanasaku smiled while maintaining an eye contact with Mana. Something the magician knew would have been impossible if the woman still felt any resentment towards Mana at all. Chestnut Hanasaku was simply too simple-minded to act one way and think another.
"I see, alright then, I would just like to return home and place all this stuff back, if it's okay with you guys, I mean, if not, you can just go ahea…" Mana tried giving her friends an option to ditch her but Kiyomi pulled the magician in by her elbow. That was rather odd of her to do, usually the manhandling and the more aggressive side of friendship was more of Meiko's forte.
"Who do you think you're kidding? Sure, go put all of your baggage back home and let's go out for a girl's day out! We haven't had that in… I think… Ever", Kiyomi curiously rubbed her cheek and her chin with her long and elegant fingers.
Mana's lips couldn't help but turn a bit to the upward side as she nodded, feeling rather pleased with the prospect of spending a nice day cooling down with her friends before resuming her training for six more months, just in case she'd need to put those skills to use at one point or another.
Due to Meiko's request, Mana gave her flak jacket and tanto for Meiko's inspection. The blacksmith examined the jacket first, spreading it out and poking around it, inside and out. She went full one eye closed and tongue sticking out inspection mode, which was always amusing to witness.
"I guess this jacket could offer better protection than what you usually wear. It looks like it has tiny bits of chakra weaved inside every thread, which could cushion a nasty blow or stop some projectiles without chakra imbuement." The redhead shrugged before handing the magician the jacket back, only for Mana to carefully fold it into the roll she received it in.
"I'm not sure if there's any point in wearing it, I've grown somewhat accustomed to my magician's uniform, really." Mana sighed, "My style was always not getting hit in the first place".
"Could've fooled me", Kiyomi teased the magician by poking her in the kidney area with her thumb making Mana jump up in alarm. She completely let her guard down around her team, honestly, what use could there have been to try and keep it up with Chestnut Hanasaku strolling beside them.
"This blade's not half bad. It looks to me like it could do some damage to an inexperienced opponent, elementary chakra resistance would shatter it, most likely, though. With a little tampering, I could make this baby into something to be proud of!" Meiko whistled out before juggling the short sword around making Mana freak out after the blacksmith tossed the unsheathed blade her way and catch it in its sheath through a mixture of luck and skill.
"It's not really meant for combat. Only support-type ninja actually use it offensively, to most it is more a ceremonial tool. Seppuku and some executions are performed with these, you know. By giving this, the Hokage gives you the honor of leaving this world without dishonoring your family name, this ceremonial blade informs you that an honorable suicide ritual is an option for you know – you have some honor to lose." Mana politely explained the meaning of the ceremonial aspect of the blade that the chuunin was given. While Meiko was a beast of a swordsman and an amazing prodigy of crafting tools, she appeared to think that the village was just handing out shoddy tools just for the sake of it like welfare.
"So… What's next for you guys? I don't mean today, I mean in terms of your service…" the ninja magician raised an uneasy topic straight out of the gate.
"Eh, Chuunin Exams were supposed to be a piece of cake, right? This year was just really difficult, compared to the other years, that means all we'll have to do is get a third stand-in member and drag his or her sorry butt into stardom", Meiko rocketed her fist up the sky, even lifting her feet off the ground in her joyous proclamation of this plan.
"Pretty much", Kiyomi nodded, looking a bit sour due to what had just happened in the office but it did not look like she was discouraged or depressed or anything, just a tad bitter. "Not sure where the next one's gonna be but we're sure as hell not waiting until the party comes back to Konoha, we're chasing after it and grabbing the bull right by the horns".
Meiko and Kiyomi bumped their fists with Meiko running full hype-mode and Kiyomi looking somewhat reserved but both girls adamant about their future. Ironically, their failure in the exams may have only made them more determined to press on forward, whereas Mana's success made her more resolute about quitting.
"You guys going to come in?" Mana invited her team to visit but the three shook her heads. Mana and Meiko shook theirs in sync, starting and ending almost at the same time, whereas Chestnut Hanasaku looked like her eyes were wandering and floating somewhere in the horizon of endless woodland and took a while to catch on to the fact she was included.
"Little Bro Tanshu was a bit familiar with your father, me - not so much. It would feel a bit awkward…" the woman quickly sowed together a reply due to sheer necessity. "We'll just wait outside."
Mana was not surprised one bit to see her father home, his daily replenishing of his miraculous over the counter pain herbs was completed and while the daughter was not entirely approving of the manner in which her dad was dealing with his pain, she did acknowledge how he was more chipper during the day and slept much easier when his hands did not relive getting fried to a crisp every passing evening and night.
"Well, what do you know!" Father exclaimed in joy as he spread his arms out wide. Mana blinked a pair of times before throwing the tanto and the flak jacket aside and running in her father's arms. A bit too late she realized that it was careless of her as the man may have been in pain and unable to answer her hug but the rather strong pressure at her back informed her otherwise.
"I made it, dad!" Mana shrieked out after placing her face and teary eyes against her father's shoulder so that the sound of her excited screams could be muffled somewhat. After she parted herself from her father, the magician's eyes calmed somewhat.
"I'll still have to spend six months on active duty before I can retire, with welfare and all. I was not sure if we needed it but… Mother works hard to support us and sometimes missions take me really long to complete so the payment, while great, is not quite stable. The magic shows can also always go wrong, you know." Mana kept on talking before father broke into laughter.
"You don't have to justify welfare, kid. Retire properly, by all means. You'll get the bare minimum of recognition for your service but it is better than nothing. At least you will be remembered for something by someone. You'll have left a record that will not need to be shamefully skimmed through, something your successors will add on to." Father calmly replied with happiness gleaming from his gestures and face.
"And before we can talk about my "successors", I'm off!" Mana jumped up with her cheeks bleeding red before bursting out the door.
She did not even get to hear what father told her on her way out. Could have been something important but it most likely was just something fathers said before a fun night out with one's sisters in arms. This iteration of Team Hokage may not have rustled any feathers, it did not appear that any of its members will be quite Sannin material, leave alone Kage. Mana will retire eventually, Meiko will achieve great things but, given her skill set and mindset, likely not epic. Kiyomi's fate was leading her clan as a clan head, very few clan heads became Kage due to a possible conflict of interests and their devotion to clan affairs made devotion to missions and service complicated.
Still, these three were Mana's team. The treasured part of her life she would always remember!
"So, what are our plans?" Mana enlivened the colorless waiting party by letting her friends know she was done with the brief visit home.
Hanasaku looked at the watch on her wrist and up into the sky. "Well, right now we've got about nine hours until everything except nightly establishments closes down", she uttered.
Kiyomi smiled as she rubbed the heel of her sandal into the dirt before raising her hand. "We should split the day amongst every one of us. That would help us remember each other by who we are by sharing a part of our soul with everyone else. Let's each select one thing we want to do and then we must all do that thing for two hours."
Hanasaku snapped her fingers, "Right, that just about covers you three".
"Actually, it covers all four of us", Mana curiously glared at the distant eyes of her mentor who laughed out in an apologetic and embarrassed manner before fixing herself.
"Right, right, anyway, I don't really feel like making you three do anything. You guys just split the day into three hours for each of you then", the woman insisted.
"Yeah, Mana was the one who got promoted so she should pick first!" Meiko heartily declared.
Mana pondered what she wanted to do with all of her friends together but, actually, she could not for the life of her put her finger on it. There were things she wanted to do, sure, but they all seemed either too specific and niche to her exactly or they were too bland. The last thing that Mana wanted was to bore her team on her last day in it.
"If you guys don't mind, I'd like to skip my turn. I would appreciate being last, maybe?" the girl squirmed in discomfort. Kiyomi and Meiko looked at Mana with some objection in their eyes but then Kiyomi's eyes changed into a more understanding glare of an older sibling.
"Very well, I shall then accept the responsibility of telling all of you what to do!" She declared after sighing in disappointment. Judging by the devilish horns that Mana could almost make out on Kiyomi's head and her outright impish face when she uttered those words, Kiyomi's activity would have a hidden agenda or be something pretty nasty. Not that Mana would have objected to pretty much anything that the blonde could have suggested.
"We will go shopping for clothes!" Kiyomi declared. "But just like that time when Hanasaku-sensei trained all of us, we won't just be buying clothes for ourselves, we'll be buying clothes for each other."
"Okay…" Mana shrugged. So far, this seemed rather tame, given Kiyomi's devilish mimic when she thought up of the idea.
"I dunno…" Meiko squinted, moving her face right up Kiyomi's as if a wild animal trying to sniff fear seeping out of their prey. "Seems kind of shifty to me".
"Too bad, you don't have a say in the matter!" Kiyomi pressed two of her fingers right up to Meiko's lips. "Meiko will buy clothes for Mana, Mana will buy clothes for me, I will buy clothes for Meiko, what could go wrong!?"
"Just because I don't know what you are up to yet, doesn't mean it's a good idea." Meiko kept on forcing air out of her nostrils like a raging bull, desperately trying to figure out the prank that Kiyomi would attempt with this.
"Oh, come on, it's either this or gardening in the garden in my estate. I trust none of you would like that, as tempting as it is to employ all of you to slave for me for three whole hours!" Kiyomi ground her teeth in a triumphant smile before glaring at Hanasaku. "Sensei can be the ref for what goes and what doesn't".
"Well, last time I got swindled into gardening for Kiyomi I got in trouble with the Yamanaka clan for messing up their treasured garden and almost sinking her estate in a sinkhole. I second the shopping." Hanasaku nodded with a clearly faked expression of a wise adult. She was most likely just as clueless as Meiko in terms of what exactly Kiyomi's game was.
"Alright! Shopping it is!" Kiyomi jumped up with a missile containing a fistful of joy fired off into the sky.
"I can't believe this…" Meiko walked like a gingerbread man or a depressed penguin, shifting her feet around with her shoulders raised up wearing an actual multi-colored circus tuxedo with stars and stripes, a giant cylinder hat and an oversized rainbow bowtie. "You've bamboozled us all!"
"I don't see why you're complaining, Mana did agree to switch clothes with you afterward." Kiyomi pressed her lips together before letting them tremble like those of a child ready to cry over a stolen candy did. The young Yamanaka lady had a giant bump on the side of her head, something that would have come up after something hit it with all the might of a crashing rogue planet. "I had a dream… A dream to see Meiko in a frilly dress and you two smashed it into pieces…"
"You technically did see her in a dress." Mana crossed her hands over her chest, wearing the sunflower-yellow dress with a matching sweater that Kiyomi had chosen for Meiko. "We only switched after the shopping was done out of the respect for Hokage-sensei's decision. You're honestly the last person that should complain after suggesting a bathing suit for Meiko to begin with."
"Plus, you definitely saw more than you should have seen after the second dozen of peeks into my cabin clocked in", Meiko raised her shaking and covered in pulsing veins fist.
"That is true, it sounded a little bit too cruel to let Meiko walk around in that in the middle of winter, even if the snowing has stopped somewhat." Hanasaku shrugged with her hands in her pockets.
"I'm just more confused as to why Meiko bought me a circus tuxedo…" Mana's face soured once the more immediate quarrel went out the window.
"I dunno, you kinda always dress like a fancy little man, magicians should be bright and colorful and flashy, kind of like the circus. Also, you should tell more jokes when onstage.", Meiko shrugged. "Plus, they did not really have any armor which would have been my first choice."
"That's because it's a clothing store, Meiko. It's not a blacksmith workshop", Kiyomi showed her interest her tongue while making a nasty grimace at her direction. She had all the reason to tease her friends and feel lucky, after all, Mana had selected a rather nice outfit for her in the same vein to what she usually wore. "You just wait, I'll get you in a dress for good when Team Hokage gets Mana's replacement and we do this bonding day again!"
Mana looked down at the dirty streets covered with patches of snow. The weak rays of the winter Sun broke through partially from time to time providing some warmth and illumination and making the village, still recovering from the festivities of the Chuunin Exams, look all the brighter and hopeful while spearheaded straight into the unknown of the future.
"My replacement…" she thought. The magician recalled feeling so uneasy after finding out she was a replacement member in the Team Hokage, replacing two friends that Kiyomi had already made in her previous years of service. She felt so uneasy and unwanted, uncertain if she could fulfill the expectations of her friends and fill that role. She kind of felt bad for the poor genin that would wriggle their feeble shoulders into this team, just like she had done before.
Will that replacement member feel like an unwanted intruder? Mana certainly hoped that he or she would not. It was not one of the better ways to feel. Or maybe they will be unsure of their place due to the extent of their abilities and mastery over the ninja arts like Meiko used to be? Such thoughts were probably quite hopeless, given that Mana didn't even know who her replacement would be.
It could have even been one of the genin from the newly restructured old Konoha teams, it was doubtful that a newbie from the Academy could ever hope to keep up with Meiko and Kiyomi, even if their current attires did not quite match their skill.