The influx of fresh chills in her nostrils as Mana breathed in after leaving the Administration made her chest quiver before her whole body closed in to subdue the odd sensations. She was working again. With a dream as mighty and titanic as becoming a Sannin looming ahead, there was no time for doubts or philosophical self-reflections about the utilitarian qualities of her work.
This mission was all responsibility and almost no recognition but it was the kind of mission Mana had to do to get ahead. This was her chance to do something no one else will and this was only a warm-up before the magician would tackle the true mystery that many have tackled but none have resolved.
Overcome by the worry and responsibility of the work ahead of her, work that Mana was quite unfamiliar with and felt unprepared for, despite the best of her intentions and wishes for the future, the magician went to the Academy. Maybe Tori was still present and willing to offer some insights. Mana would only step into her shoes for one day but the last thing she could afford was to underestimate this mission.
Having in mind how seriously Team Oak used to take washing the dishes, the education of the young was of gold value compared to that.
The yard of the Academy was quite hectic at this time of day. It must have been the break in-between lessons, as a student who has roamed these halls herself, Mana should have known the schedule better. Before she approached the yard any closer than she already had, the magician took some time to look around and take in the schoolyard sights, as they felt strangely nostalgic.
If she concentrated and let herself get absorbed by these memories she could see her own five-year-old image trying to stand tall and look respectable like a hero from the book covers and play posters with a sniffling nose and wet eyes. Even as a five-year-old, the girl was plagued by her self-placed responsibility and the role she wanted to play.
The moment Mana did leave the shade and approached the yard closer she was surrounded by the students. Unless ninja were scheduled to meet the students for whatever reason their teachers would have planned such a meeting, an actual ninja showing up in the Academy was rare. There was, therefore, nothing unusual with kids that idolized ninja to be drawn to even the most ordinary and average ranked ninja. Hell, if she was still the little snotty nosed brat she once was, Mana would herself be all over such a visitor, even if they were just a lowly genin with just menial labor task missions under their belt.
Amongst the hectic harmony of yells and cheers, Mana could hear her stage name being thrown around, also something about the finals of the Chuunin Exams. The fact that the Konoha's Sorceress was not only a stage magician but a ninja too used to be a difficult to believe in secret, even if revealed, now it was an inescapable part of her image. Just another side of her to be scrutinized by the most scrutinizing eyes of children.
It was time to let go of her fear, it was time to hide the difficulty that the inner sense of responsibility placed on her and the blue color of her face when it dragged her underwater.
"Fine, just a couple of tricks but I really need to see Tori-san," Mana promised the kids.
Mana had to have known better. She should have been able to predict something like the eventuality of what happened… Of course, her tricks would have taken too much time. Of course, there would be no end to the "one mores" that came her way and to Mana's complete disability in denying a request. Luckily enough, what the scared teen with a performer's façade lacked in better judgment was soon fixed by an authoritative figure appearing in front of the front entrance to the Academy.
"What is the meaning of this?" a woman of amaranth hair appeared with hands crossed over her chest. The flames in her eyes, magnified by the lenses of her glasses, fired blazing beams of pure fury wherever the woman's vision turned. It did not take a degree in vision-related sciences to deduce that her vision almost immediately turned at Mana and tend to focus at around her general area. "Why aren't you guys in my class right now?"
Mana sat in the vacant seat of a student for well over an hour, watching Tori Gomato, a woman as famous for her skill in teaching kids as she was sometimes infamous for her strictness, excel in her field.
She was about as mechanical in her approach as she looked. A tall woman of well-defined build, if Mana crossed path with her on the field, she would have guessed her to be a weaponry user. Strictly tied hair that was so well tended to that they dragged her upper scalp back to an extent, enough so to even out any remnants of the woman's age if she had any.
One oddity that the magician did notice was that the woman lacked any militaristic approach to her person. Besides her athletic figure, she lacked any traces of signs that told on her being a ninja. She did not wear the green flak jacket that most chuunin wore as a sign of pride nor did she adorn the ceremonial short blade or carry even the most elementary ninja pouch by her side. Dressed like a civilian with only the most insignificant detail of anything related to her ninja status that Mana had noticed, apart from the "Leaf" headband she wore tied to her arm, being a small scroll stuck to the top of her skirt.
It was not as if combat was a taboo subject. Tori extensively implemented combat scenarios in the problems she gave to the students she called up, she also spoke of a battlefield about as much and about as often as a ninja teacher would be.
The way Mana interpreted this was that the woman did not wish her students to see her as a military unit. To them, she was their mentor first. A trusted figure and a guide and while Mana was scared enough to sit in the same classroom as the woman teaching a class to anyone but her, that much, at the very least, she could respect. So much of her own Academy days were made much fonder to return to by an understanding teacher figure.
"Now then, may all but Nakotsumi Mana-san be excused." The woman declared. An odd detail – her eyes softened for a mere moment after the lesson ended before returning to their previous state, albeit slightly less scary and intense. She watched the kids bail her classroom like an aftermath of a bloody battlefield with an odd sense of pride and fondness for the children and the magician noticed that.
"I've spent the entire day raising my voice so it could reach people all the way there, dear. Could you please give it a rest for at least the after-hours?" Tori referred to Mana directly. Overcome by shame and awkwardness of having almost been lulled by the thousands of things and details she was focusing on about the woman she would replace tomorrow, Mana walked up to Tori's desk as if she was a student up for a scolding about an assignment they failed at.
"I'm sorry about earlier, I… I guess I couldn't handle the kids. I'll do my best tomorrow!" Mana tried softening her standing with the teacher but after the middle-aged lady turned at her with a simple but effectively quiet look, Mana could not help but look away in shame.
"Well, I suppose that much is all one can ask of a person." Tori sighed. "Then again, if your performance in the Exams is any point of reference, I suppose you trying is enough of a push for satisfying results."
Mana wondered for a moment if the woman even knew of the fact that Mana would be substituting her while she was away so she reached inside her jacket to pull out the file inside. Just a small show of its cover was enough to tip the Academy teacher off. The woman did not even look at it, almost like the shuffling of the file's pages and sheets was enough for her to get the clue.
"Ah, well… I am glad that you, at the very least, are taking your assignment seriously enough to come see me before trying to fit my shoes, if only for a day." Tori actually smiled. Even when such a small victory peeked through a corner, the woman's smile was controlled. Genuine, yet without the option to shake off the feeling as if it was made to be by a machine operator pulling switches and pressing buttons inside the control room of this automaton.
"I do realize that even if just for a day, the lessons heard in these rooms have the potential to stay with these young spirits for their entire life." Mana nodded her head in acknowledgment of her compliment.
A short pause of grave silence followed before Tori relaxed in her chair and turned at Mana fully, granting the magician her full attention.
"I want you to understand one thing, Mana-san. This Ringo-Bodo conference I am leaving to is a gathering of Academy teachers from around the world to share their experiences and improve each other qualifications through pooling what these kids have come to teach us. It shows great promise to help me guide these young minds anywhere else but an early grave. Under no other circumstances would I have ever left otherwise."
"-san…" Mana let it slip out loud under her own nose. A babble that made her blush, once she realized that the sparrow had left its nest and made her feel like she had thusly undone any progress of appearing capable of handling the task that she was beginning to make with Tori.
"Yes, is there a problem with me treating you as you are – my equal and a colleague in rank?" Tori raised an eyebrow. She looked at Mana just now like she did at one of the students – Kanra Haguki, a troublemaker and less than a bright future star if one was to place a bet.
"No, none at all, ma'am. Just haven't gotten used to it yet…" Mana tried mending her standing.
"Slow learner? Would not have guessed."
Tori appeared to change her position, choosing to stand up before Mana could even begin to wonder if she was being praised or belittled for her awkwardness and her odd choice of words because of the innate desire to say all the right things.
"In any case, tomorrow you will have to deal with this schedule." The woman opened up a drawer, pulling out a sheet from it and handing it to Mana. "A lesson of mathematics for second years, two lessons of science for third years, a genjutsu class for second years, a ninjutsu class for fourth years and a special course in tactics and strategy."
Mana was impressed by the fact that the woman knew her schedule for any given day by heart, then again, back when she was a student herself, she easily memorized all of her schedules after a couple of weeks without much effort. Given how the woman had been teaching this way for this whole past year, it was likely that she did not have to exert too much effort into it.
"A special course? Are you sure you want to leave me in charge of it?" Mana wondered.
As far as her memory served, those were an hour and a half long sessions of preparatory classes before larger and more important tests. Tactics and strategy was also a bit of an advanced course that only came in during the third year, that meant that she would not be quite teaching a bunch of children but children who were getting close to graduating.
"I have no choice. It sort of fell into play this way. The subject of the course will be interrogation. If you wish you can freely invite someone from the Intelligence Division." Tori suggested. "Given how you are on a special assignment issued by Lord Sixth himself and not just a lowly substitute teacher, they'd be more inclined to actually put in some work."
It was just a wild guess but the woman may not have been overly fond of the Intelligence Division… That being said, it was too far off the topic and the woman herself far too intimidating for Mana to check.
"I have some experience interrogating people. I am sure I could provide some insights…" Mana's eyes wandered off while she shyly dragged her foot across the platform on which the teacher's desk was located. Something about the way this woman carried herself made the usually bold stage performer behave like a schoolgirl being scolded.
"Excellent. What exactly are your qualifications?" Tori inquired.
"Well… I interrogated someone on a recent mission."
"I would hardly count having interrogated someone at some point as valid interrogation qualification. Was it at the very least successful?"
"Yes, it was. If it does not fit your standards, I have also worked with a Yoruma and I know someone from the Yamanaka clan with inspirations of joining the Intelligence Division", Mana shrugged.
"Well… I suppose that should suffice. The Yamanaka are disciplined and efficient interrogators and the Yoruma are… Less disciplined but similarly efficient." Tori sighed. "Oh, for the special course I have acquired a very special guest. I was hoping to see if some of the common interrogation methods would help clear up the sky with something but…"
The woman certainly sold being disappointed by having to leave on the conference on a day she had plenty planned for.
"What would that guest be?" Mana wondered. The way she saw it, as someone who would have to pick up from what Tori planted, she at the very least had to know.
"It is one of the few gentlemen that have managed to return from those mysterious disappearances." Tori scratched her chin, it was evident that she regretted not being able to interrogate the man herself with some of her textbook techniques and see where it would have gotten her.
At the very least, this teacher appeared interested in combining helping the village with this dead-end investigation that was going nowhere for the longest time with her everyday teaching. It was not too different from Mana's own aspirations.
"There have been a lot of those that came up into my everyday conversations, honestly," Mana noted.
"That is because the rate of those who re-appear has increased, dear. I'm not quite sure of just what it means, however, neither is anyone. Mostly because our Intelligence Division is quite bad at gathering intelligence."
"In any case…" Mana tried changing the subject away from a clearly spiteful bashing of the Intelligence Division and the overall political state of the village, "I suppose trying to get my Yoruma friend for help would be unjust for the poor guest who agreed to come and be interrogated."
"That is a rational conclusion." Tori nodded. "I believe you will do well as my replacement."
Mana did not reply. Somehow she did not share Tori's optimism. This entire mission did come up rather erratically and Mana was unsure if she would be able to replace someone like Tori.
"If you still feel discouraged, you should have this." Tori pulled out another file from the same drawer she pulled the schedule from. "It is a preliminary plan of what exactly I planned to teach tomorrow. It is obviously just a plan, topic by topic, but I am sure that someone who has already graduated the Academy and chose to take up such a mission and has enough common sense to coordinate with me beforehand should be able to read up according to it."
"I will, thank you." Mana bowed her head in gratitude. This kind of aid was exactly what she came here for.
"Oh, and don't get discouraged by Hagaki's behavior. He is a troublemaker and an attention seeker and plenty of other teachers would have disregarded him as a lost cause by now. It is only because I do not take up tasks I do not intend on finishing that I still tolerate that boy in my classroom and I will shape him into a ninja, eventually. He will stand out, he will disrespect you but he is not malicious and an easy task shall easily occupy his attention." Tori brought up.
"A task? Would a troublemaker like young Kanra take any task I give him?" Mana was not too quick to believe such a thing.
"Your edge is that he truly wants to become a ninja, despite his behavior. He will perform whatever physical or mental task you give him because he sees it as necessary to become a ninja. He is merely… Unusual. I'd be worried about the rest of the second years in his class."
"How so?"
"You see, they will be quick to catch on to the fact that you let Hagaki get to you. His buffoonery will be your undoing if you sanction it enough to shake the entire class out of balance. They will run you over if you let them and it will compromise the entire class. Deal with him. Decisively." Tori looked at Mana with the same warm and caring eyes she had when she saw the class out today.
"It sounds like you are suggesting me to murder him." Mana tried alleviating the mood.
"Maybe it would, for a ruffian." Tori punished and shut that thought down immediately. "In any case, I wish the best of luck tomorrow. Not only because what you do will plant the seeds which I will have to then tend to, but also because you seem like an honest person. Under no other circumstances would I let you anywhere near my classes, make no mistake about that, dear."
Mana helped the woman tend to the classroom and to make sure that it was left in a presentable condition. She then bowed before the two parted ways in the corridor with the teacher heading for another classroom while Mana head back home.
Somehow it felt like dodging a chopping block to the point where Mana felt some sharp tension around her neck and a pressure around her chest the whole rest of the day.