Something didn't feel right. It was not that the cloud-like softness under her head felt painful or bad in any way. It was just that Mana was simply so used to sleeping on actual hardened minerals and rocks or getting roughed around by the battles she ended up in that feeling soft, warm and cozy made her snap out from whatever clouded her mind and open her eyes.
The magician laid inside a warm room with the early spring Sun beaming down through the windows and feeding the nice orchids on the nearby window. Something about this made no sense. Mana looked around and once the people sharing the room noticed the magician's eyes they smiled in return with warmth in their eyes, unlike anything Mana could remember for a while. Recently her life's been about reptilians, venom and saving herself and others from not getting eaten or killed just for someone's fun.
"You've woken up. That's great." The middle-aged lady near Mana's bed smiled at the magician. "Usually medical ninja don't feed people pills like that, I was worried that you may have been in a dire condition. I mean, if you're like that and I'm in the same room as you, how bad were my kidney stones actually, huh?"
The woman chuckled to herself, she just tried to lighten up the mood but the confusion Mana felt made her feel a little past the laughing point. She didn't feel bad about just looking around with those weird eyes instead of smiling for the kind woman who spoke up to her but… It was just the genuine way she felt. The need to find out where she was and how things ended was just too great.
"Medical ninja? You mean I am in a hospital? This does not look like Konoha…" Mana mumbled before trying to stand up. Almost instantaneously a gruesome collection of sights flashed through her mind. Her own legs crushed and broken, the bone ground and splintered inside and blood that fed her own well-trained muscles with oxygen spraying all over the hardened magma before instantly evaporating from the heat.
She had no more legs, did she? This was one of those nasty awakenings when she realized that while she was alive, life would no longer be what it used to be… Just like back then, when she lost her chakra control and she thought she had no more chance of being a ninja. Mana feared of looking under her covers and seeing her legs completely busted up and mangled or completely gone but she felt the soft and warm touch of bandages against them – at the very least they were still there.
Slowly and with a very hesitant glance, Mana peeked under the covers and noticed that while her legs were bandaged, they were not something she'd see in one of those horror pictures on the television or in a play. The girl sighed with relief. She was not sure just how well her legs still worked, just how much functionality she retained but at the very least they were still there and somewhat intact.
"Konoha?" the woman to Mana's left grinned, "Oh, no! This is Kusagakure. I'm not sure why they'd bring you here if Konoha is all you know. Seems to me like it would be counterproductive, Konoha is a pretty big place with a whole bunch of fancy medical ninja. Guru Ayushi is from Konoha, isn't he?"
"I… Yeah…" Mana rubbed her eyes with her knuckles before dragging her hand over her face. She wondered if she should stand up and look through the window to outside. She tried making the subtle motions of standing up and her legs, while a little bit aching, barely acted up. She could, at the very least, move them.
"Oh, maybe you shouldn't do that just yet. I'll call the medical ninja for you." The woman to Mana's left smiled before blowing into a wooden pipe of sorts that carried the airborne tune to an, as of yet, an undetermined location outside the ward. Shortly after a male medical ninja entered the ward at a moderate pace.
"Did someone need help?" he asked. Mana tried memorizing the man's unremarkable features like his well-stricken, light brown hair, his stubble or his glasses but the eyes of Kouta, shyly staring through the narrow gap between the almost shut door behind the man was all she could focus on. Once their eyes met, the Konoha ninja rushed into the ward and ran up to Mana, embracing the magician in a hug.
"Oh…" the medical ninja smiled subtly looking at the scene of affection. "The rabbits are still not allowed inside, by the way." The man reminded Kouta before he left the ward for a short while to give the two time to catch up.
"Kusagakure?" Mana asked her boyfriend.
"Yeah. The ninja rushed in not too long after we took that thing down." The boy scratched his neck shyly. "It was pretty impossible to miss the whole damned world going to hell like that, I guess. They said that oceans were heating up and just the presence of that thing was causing massive crashing waves and typhoons on the other side of the planet. If Kusagakure did not deal with this situation, they'd have been seen as weak by the other countries."
"How many died?" Mana sighed.
"Maybe that's not…" Kouta tried comforting the magician by keeping his arm gently positioned on her shoulder but Mana shook her head.
"I need to know. I did everything I could but… How many?" she asked.
"I think Mongohi mentioned around fifty-four mongooses having died. Around a hundred got pretty banged up too. I wanted to help but I was too tired…" Kouta tried breaking it to the magician as well as he could but it was not like news like this could have been told too well.
Mana bent her legs and pressed her forehead against her own knees. Her eyes blanked out for a moment just to process the number of mongooses that she couldn't save in that maddening turn of events. When her focus returned to her eyes, Mana felt them feeling a bit damp with the cover that warmed up her bandaged legs feeling warmly wet from her own tears.
"Fifty-four… That's one-sixth of the whole population, probably." Mana repeated struggling to believe what she was hearing. Then again, what was she expecting? She failed to save about half that many berserk mongooses in the starting moments of the fight.
"Yeah, pretty much…" Kouta shrugged. "But Kusagakure was pretty worried about the event too. They said they'd make the mongooses a preserved species under the protection of the village. You helped a great deal, please don't work up too much over this. Sometimes we can't save everyone. I would know…"
"Yeah. But that can't happen to me. I must save everyone, I have to. I have to be better…" Mana whimpered out. "How are the rabbits?"
"They were protected by the squad of mongooses for the most of the fight. I guess the mongooses were worried that the rabbits would start killing them from behind when they hit the field and saw the opportunity. In the end, Usukari managed to convince the squad to fight that thing together." Kouta replied.
"And Usuzoku?" Mana looked up at the medical ninja with wet eyes.
"You can meet him after they let you out of here. Getting him the anti-venom was all I thought about. I wanted to run after you, to curse-out and punch that thing a whole lot with all I had but… I figured you'd want me to see Usuzoku's recovery to the end." Kouta looked away, he was scratching the back of his elbow. He did not look entirely content with how he played that battle. He clearly wanted to fight on the front lines, watching over Mana and helping her take the beast down instead of just coming up right after and picking up the pieces.
Mana reached out to wrap her arms around her boyfriend. Kouta looked at her for a couple of seconds with eyes that looked pretty rejecting and a little scorned, making Mana worry that maybe the two of them were splitting apart again. As world-ending as that possibility seemed, it itself was shattered when the young man took a pair of steps forward and hugged Mana back as well as let the girl wrap her arms around him.
"It felt terrible. Just standing by the side and finding you like that. Your legs were… If you did not have a whole bunch of chakra, if you did not augment them so much when they were crushed, you may have damaged them permanently." Kouta sighed. He actually sounded terrified by the possibility of Mana getting hurt like that.
"You mean?" the magician looked up at him with hopeful eyes.
"Yeah, they'll recover. May hurt and feel numb for a while, they forced a blue food pill into you to give your chakra a quick, short boost just to jumpstart your metabolism. After a couple of hours, your legs started regenerating slowly and with a little guidance from medical ninjutsu – they'll be in prime shape in a pair of days, maybe a week." The medical ninja recounted what looked to be a petrifying experience to him.
Mana sighed a bit easier. The woman beside her bed smiled kindly to her once the magician's eyes wandered onto her neighbor's face before she congratulated Mana on her quick recovery.
"Amazing things those ninja bodies. I wish I was trained in ninjutsu, recovery after a surgery is such a bother normally. Why can't they just shine some of that green light on me too, I'll never understand…" Mana's neighbor joked.
"If you're a civilian, using too much medical ninjutsu is dangerous. There is a limit to how many times the human cells can multiply and regenerate. If that limit is passed, the risk of cancerous regenerative tissues increases. The ninja metabolism has a much greater resistance to those dangers but even it is not entirely immune to it." Kouta looked at Mana with a stern look. The magician was not used to her normally subdued and relatively shy boyfriend looking at her so sternly.
He was trying to tell her something with this, no doubt. She was tempting fate getting beaten up to the verge of getting hospitalized again and again. How many times has she gotten the shit beaten out of her in the past couple of months? She's taken her body to the limit and then tackled it through that limit in the Rabbit Caves, she got pummeled by Stea in the Chuunin Exams, then the Diamond Hand, now this…
Maybe Kouta had a point? If there was a limited amount of times the human body could just renew itself like this, how many years has Mana shaved off of her life by just surviving this one fight? The magician's eyes turned determined and just as stern as they looked right back at Kouta.
No, she was in the right here. Sure, she should have been stronger, faster, she should have trained her chakra resources to even greater heights so she could fight longer and better. That was her fault, not the act of fighting itself. There was nothing wrong with fighting for what one believes in, for standing up and refusing to give way when the stakes could not have been greater. Mana lost too much blood, too many things all too dear to her just to learn that lesson just so she could backtrack on it now.
Five whole days passed before Mana was let out from the Kusagakure hospital, the entire remaining species of Ninja Rabbits cheered on her loud enough to overpower the thunderstorms that ravaged the country and, from what people spoke of, the entire world not too long ago. Mana was not too used to such a welcome, her chest started beating and shifting inside all warm-like and the magician felt herself getting all emotional.
The rabbits used to take her as one of their own, perhaps on the rank of one of the younglings that played in the caves and did foolish things. They had no trouble letting her train and play around with them but she was never viewed with this much respect and adoration by not only the rabbits but anyone ever. Not even Konoha cheered on her like this, not after the Chuunin Exams or one of her shows.
These feelings were filled to the brim with respect, with honest feelings of gratitude for what was done and even the Kusagakure ninja that accompanied the rabbits and were relatively neutral about the entire affair applauded in moderation and looked amused by the welcome of the furry mammals meant for their precious summoner.
Usuzoku stepped out of the crowd and turned his snout to the other direction. His eyes were severe, his grimace was grumpy but he looked well. Mana would not have had him any other way. The rabbit warrior approached the magician as if meaning to say something but then he just crossed his arms over his chest and turned his back to Mana.
"Yer legs are busted. Yer a shitty rabbit cause ye can't run no more. Get lost, we dun need you no more." The rabbit grumped out. Deadly silence reigned over the rabbits who all looked crushed and absolutely dumb-founded by what the rabbit just said. A thunderous pound picked up winds that tore leaves off of the natural scenery that intermixed nature and man-built wonders in Kusagakure. Usuchabi's eyes were flaring up.
Mana closed her eyes and looked down. Her body quivered before a loud laughter erupted from her chest. Usuzoku looked back at the magician with a dumb smirk before walking up to her and giving her a one-handed hug in an almost paternal way. He showed gratitude for risking everything just for his own life the only way he knew how. That was so male of him to do…
If he ever tried to wrap his head around the thing that Mana and the other rabbits were willing to sacrifice for him, he would probably erupt into tears himself and, as a strong rabbit warrior, he could not allow this to happen.
"That was horrible, Usuzoku-san…" Kouta tried to relay the idea to Usuzoku that joking like that was pretty mean.
"Tsk, whatever, what da hell do ye understand of da humor of da mighty rabbit warriors, pipsqueak?" Usuzoku grumbled back at him.
"I'll have you know, my mother always laughs at my jokes!" Kouta crossed his arms over his chest as the two looked at each other with the eyes of a friendly rivalry. It was evident that while the two bickered at times, both of them respected the other a great deal for what they were doing for both people important to each other and one another.
Usuzoku protected Mana every time she called out to him or any other rabbit. Ever since she obtained the contract, no other rabbit answered her call, despite having every chance to do so. Usuzoku was always there, he may have been grumpy and acted like he hated working with Mana but, truth be told, he'd have not consistently pulled her out of every trouble she got herself into if he did not care.
Kouta, on the other hand, meant nothing to Usuzoku but the fact that he was pleasing for Mana to look at and be around. After these past couple of days, however, the way that Usuzoku looked at Kouta changed from just being a practical toy to the magician, who was like an orphan girl that the rabbit watched over to him, to an actual friend who risked his own life and was not too stingy to expend every maximum effort he could to save the rabbit's life, if need be.
"Well, we were ready to extend the same helping hand we did to the mongooses to the Ninja Rabbits too." One of the Kusagakure ninja spoke up, momentarily interrupting the moment that the medical ninja and Mana's trusted rabbit shared with each other.
"Despite the troubles, the Ninja Rabbits and Ninja Mongooses had in the past…" the other Kusagakure ninja joined in.
"There will be no need for that. There is no more scorn alongside the mongooses and the rabbits after fighting side by side against a common foe. Mana-san said she'd find us a better home than our old one, we trust her." Usukari spoke up after approaching the handful of ninja leading the rabbits around the natural wonder of a village. To a herbivore, like the rabbits, this harmony of stone, marble, trees, and vegetation must have looked like actual paradise so it meant a great deal that the rabbits were willing to leave and follow Mana to the end of their journey.
"Usukari-san, maybe the honorific is not necessary?" the magician rubbed the back of her head shyly. Even though she was beginning to hear it more and more commonly after ranking up to chuunin, she was still nowhere close getting used to people referring to her that way.
"Well, if you need any more time to recover, Mana-san, or if the Ninja Rabbits need anything else, we're willing to pitch in." another one of the Kusagakure ninja offered. These ninja looked so oddly non-militaristic. They wore no body armor or military gear other than their headband protectors and their pouches, their bodies were adorned with only fine silk and fishnet shirts.
"Indeed, let it be known that Kusagakure is allied to Konoha in more than writing and fancy words." One of the Kusagakure ninja nodded.
"Yes, I am aware of the admirable diplomatic achievements of your village. I actually greatly respect the neutrality and positivity that your administration fosters in the face of conflict." Mana bowed in acknowledgment. "That being said, it would not be very comfortable for me to ask for anything more from your village after you have already done so much."
"As you wish." A Kusagakure ninja nodded before he bowed to the magician, followed by the respectful bow of those that accompanied the ninja. "We wish you a safe journey home, in that case. It is not a long trip so, with a little bit of luck, it should be a pleasant and relaxing one."
Mana gave her still a little bit weakened legs a short glance, she'd likely be forced to travel at a slightly slower pace for at least a day or two more if she was to let her legs heal properly. Maybe Kouta could have accelerated that recovery process but asking him for something as trivial as that was the last thing Mana felt like doing.
The rabbits, accompanied by the two human ninja that led them forward, took off from Kusagakure on their way home – Konoha, at last.