"Stars… Come to my tent," one of the new Regimental Commanders approached the Stars from behind, separated from the party of benevolent spirits seeing Damisan off.
Mana accidentally caught Shige's wary glare. Endo, from the looks of it, just needed a pointer. A direction to move toward and he didn't much care where said pointer came from or where it led. It already devoted him to follow the woman in the short and sleeveless black tank top. Shige-H gave the Supreme Leader an inquisitive look.
"Yeah, I was buttering up your asses for this but I guess that dumb cunt Boriya has other methods…" the Supreme Leader pulled on the beak of her military hat to hide her tired eyes and walked off back toward the command tent. This left the Stars few options but to follow the woman into her tent just as she requested. Technically, as Allied Ninja, they were subordinates of any Regimental Commander.
What nobody expected to see in the tent of the kunoichi with camouflage face paint was another young woman. This one was a handful of years younger than Mana, which already placed her as a couple of handfuls younger than the rest of the Stars. She had an attitude of a brat, apparently, for when the Stars entered the tent, the brat just sneered at them once before turning away. That was a curious way of looking at a group of people one had never met before. It would have been hard to forget having seen this fancy hairdo of locks this bright yellow. The eye-catching sharpness of the color would have left even Kiyomi's natural look in the dust. Hair this exotic was either an artificial work of art or a genetic trait of a clan.
Just not any clan Mana has ever heard of.
The Regimental Commander approached her chair and unfolded it to take a seat beside a stretched-out, shabby table. The conditions after the Four-Tails' attack had been this dire that leadership sat on unfolded steel chairs and worked on unfolding campsite tables. Just like the rest of their subordinates, even the leadership slept in bags, as evidenced by a couple laying on the left side of the tent.
"We haven't met yet. My name is Boriya Chromium. I am the new Western Regimental Commander. This young lady here is a fellow Allied Ninja. I've brought you here to assign you four your new mission," Boriya ran her hand over her short, white hair and slumped in her chair, testing its mettle as the poor thing cried out in sharp-pitched agony because of the rashness of the woman's butt-slam.
"An Allied Ninja? Someone your age must be a rookie, yet I've never seen you before," Endo turned to the blonde. What interested Mana more than this girl's identity or credibility as a kunoichi was Endo's interest in her. Endo cared about very few things, which is why he was so blazing passionate about the few things that riled him up. Just what could this spike of interest have been about?
"She is a rookie. In fact, she's only joined us a few days ago," Boriya nodded. Seeing the alignment of Boriya's face paint, Mana wondered which country or village she could have been from. The camouflage nature of the decoration was obvious, though it would have only concealed one in very few environments. A swampy one or perhaps some underground mine?
"Then how is it possible that she's working alongside us? Are we supposed to take a prep course recruit with us on this supposed mission? We've just returned from a mission that would satisfy one for a lifetime, so we'd rather not do survival or training drills. My team is a few members short and exhausted," Shige-H pointed at Mana and Endo. Their clothes and cleanliness have seen better days.
"You're not in it for no survival drill," Boriya grit her teeth. Her right eyebrow twitched, which was difficult to tell because of the camouflage paint obscuring even her thoroughly trimmed eyebrows. "This is going to be even direr than your last job. I've been told you were ready to cut a schedule that no Allied Ninja squad has ever performed on before. Was I wrongly informed?"
Shige opened her mouth but Boriya's fist slammed at her table, showing enough restraint not to bust or dent it too badly but sending every pile of papers flying and landing in a perfect flop in the same position they stood in. This shut the Stars' leader up before she could answer.
"I don't care if I was wrongly informed or not. I'm the Regimental Commander, which means I assign you lot with missions. If I tell you you're going to Iwagakure–you pack climbing boots and khakis," Boriya growled out before sneering at the mysterious youth. "This chick here is a recruit, technically, but most of our instructors are fucking dead from a massive rampaging chakra ape monster. We technically don't even have a school anymore, but we're real choking short on members. That means that recruits are taking missions but for six months they're still recruits. They don't get paid, they get nothing but battlefield experience and if you think they suck–you're free to tell them to fuck off and we boot them out for you."
Something about Boriya's attitude smacked differently from how, say, the Supreme Leader cursed. When the Supreme Leader showed instances of having a disturbingly potty mouth, one understood she didn't mean any of it and it was just an incredibly peculiar speech habit. Kind of like a verbal tick or a mental quirk of a fully socially functioning patient. Boriya cursed like a sailor, but she seemed to mean every word that she spat out. She cursed when she felt like saying those exact words, not because her nature and quirks compelled her to talk this way.
"Wait, isn't the Supreme Leader supposed to give us our missions? Aren't you guys just cheerleaders for her or something?" Endo scratched his head. While he was being a dork, Mana couldn't help but crack a grin at how offensively Boriya seemed to take it when she jumped up and shoved the table into the ground by forming a pancake out of it. All that restraint went right out the window.
"We've been receiving our missions directly from the Supreme Leader because the Supreme Leader was substituting for the KIA Regimental Commanders," Mana pointed out, soothing the Regimental Commander after she had already totaled her flimsy table. "Technically, we're subservient to any Regimental Commander and each Regimental Commander oversees matters of their own region–with Boriya-san, it would be the western region of the world. Land of Earth and the Land of Wind."
Another curiosity that Mana noticed in Boriya's eyes was how difficult it was to tell exactly whom she was looking at. Because of the unusual marigold color of her irises, the Regimental Commander's eyes blended with her whites into a somewhat disturbing look, almost as if she had no irises at all unless one peered deep enough to pick them out.
"That's about the gist of it…" Boriya sighed, throwing her hands up before approaching the newbie and smacking her on the shoulder. It looked like the blonde wanted nothing more than to skin the Regimental Commander for it, but she must have realized that this was not a murder she'd have been successful at. "In any case, this brat's coming with you."
"That's not possible," Shige-H objected. Boriya sneered at her with the face of someone willing to start a fight over it. "The Stars only work with other Stars. An outsider would ruin our team dynamic. We're not even sure what that is anymore after we've lost almost half our team on one mission."
"I guess that makes her a new Star, or whatever you call yourselves, then…" Boriya approached Shige-H almost to where the noses of the two women touched and started a stare-down competition. Mana didn't much care for meaningless, borrowed macho games such as these, but it intrigued her to see if Shige-H would fold. The pressure of Boriya seemed insurmountable. The woman had the presence of someone who punched someone's head so deep into the pavement that they hurt their hand on the pavement after there wasn't much of a head left to mash any longer.
"I am the one who will be the judge of that," Shige-H spoke slowly, almost flexing at how effortlessly she withstood the psychological pressure of her superior. "You may be the Regimental Commander, but I am the leader of this unit."
"Wouldn't piss her off if I were you, woman…" Endo shrugged. "Not even you would enjoy hearing the Supreme Leader's ranting about having driven our unit to disband and walk our separate ways on you."
Before he could top the spray of cream with a cherry snicker on top, Endo felt the ground float away from under his feet as he hovered in mid-air after Boriya reached out and lifted him over her head by the collar of his shirt under the robe.
"This is not looking very productive," Mana sighed. "Though please understand, Boriya-san, we're just back from an extremely taxing mission so we're just as tired and overwhelmed by all this as you are to take this important position out of nowhere and face the expectation to be respected and obeyed by everyone you work with."
"Shut the fuck up. From this point on, only your leader talks to your superior. The way it's supposed to be," Boriya pointed at Mana. From the mean look in the woman's eyes, the only reason Mana avoided being taken for a glide was that she said nothing rude when she spoke out of turn. Endo landed flat on his sandals and received a crude nudge from Boriya's elbow that sent him sliding across the tent and hitting a metal support beam that made the entire structure wobble.
"It's become abundantly clear that we are going to do this mission. If that is the case, we'd like the necessities like the mission briefing and the objective. We'll work with the rookie and decide if she's Stars material on our way there. You'll have my decision after we complete the mission," Shige-H struck a compromise that seemed to suit Boriya just fine as she stepped over the wrecked pancake that was her table.
"Your mission is near Iwagakure," Boriya grabbed an aluminum ring and pulled on the thread attached to it to unravel a large map containing the map of the world. It seemed a tad superfluous to do so, given how Iwagakure used to be a major player in the world's scene and one of the Great Ninja Villages. "This location. A mountain range near Boulder Town. I'm afraid I can't give you a more exact location. You'll have to find a cave opening in a twelve-kilometer area so you might want to hire a local to assist you with that."
"The mission objective?" Shige-H asked.
"Your recruit here brought us some interesting intel that all but confirms that a group of rebellious Iwagakure loyalists mean to kidnap Kaguya Yaban. The man that used to be the Fourth Tsuchikage before the end of the Coltan Conflict with Kumogakure made Iwagakure lose its autonomy as a ninja village. It's unclear what they want with him but given how they're supposedly Iwagakure loyalists and the man is the leader that lost them their war - it can't be good." Boriya pointed out.
"That sounds more like Iwagakure's problem. It ain't any of our business…" Endo grumbled out despite Boriya's earlier warnings which earned him the flying wreckage of the Regimental Commander's table. Because of the agility of the swordsman, he leaned down under it and let it fly right out of the tent and splat on some gravel on a ridge-shaped trail.
"What did I fucking say about you keeping your trap shut? I already told you–Iwagakure isn't a ninja village anymore, but it ain't nothing either!" Boriya pointed her finger at Endo, warning him.
"While the Coltan conflict may be over, it's not like Kumogakure can just claim Iwagakure as their own land as they've claimed their autonomy," Mana explained to her ally. This made the Regimental Commander jump up and begin thinking about how she should murder the other disobedient Star, but then it dawned on the woman that Mana wasn't talking to her–her superior, but to her own comrade. While talking over a briefing was rude, Mana didn't technically break any of Boriya's orders in doing so. "This raises an interesting issue because Iwagakure belongs to the Earth Lord while Kumogakure is Lightning Lord's territory. The Coltan Conflict only caused louder disarray as now the Feudal Lords are bickering about the actions of each other's ninja on their land. While the Earth Lord doesn't much care about the ninja they govern, they can't be too pleased with Kumogakure ninja acting freely on his property. He lost no wars, he owes no reparation, even if his vassal–the Tsuchikage lost and owes autonomy and land to the winner."
"Well… Something like that," Boriya ran her hand over her hair that fell over the right side of her face, extending longer on one side over the other due to how unevenly and crudely the woman trimmed them. "Essentially, because neither Kumogakure nor Iwagakure dares to act on it, because Kumogakure doesn't want to aggravate the Earth Lord by causing more trouble on his land and risking outright war between Land of Earth and Land of Lightning, Iwagakure doesn't want to act by itself either, not to aggravate Kumogakure's wrath by flexing autonomy they don't have anymore as a ninja village. This is an international case, which makes it our business."
"You said our recruit here brought us this information… Just who exactly is she and how does she know of this? Her headband states that she's from Kirigakure. Just about the farthest place on the map from Land of Earth," Shige-H pointed at the mystery girl who kept quiet through all of this. She looked bored more than anything.
"You can have fun extracting all that from her," Boriya shrugged, looking quite content with stinging the Stars in the ass as they've been nothing but an ache in hers all this time. "She's all yours from the moment you leave the tent."
"You mean you don't know her identity?" Shige-H insisted. "That's impossible. Everyone's scouted and accounted for amongst the recruits. Priceless information or not, her name would have been checked and verified with the Mizukage the first thing after she steps anywhere near our camp."
"That's true, we know her identity and we've straightened everything out with the Mizukage," Boriya confirmed. "She just asked me not to tell you guys her name, so that's what I'm going to do, I've decided."
"Why would you not want us to know your name, woman?" Endo sneered at the mysterious blonde, who tightened the lock of her arms over her chest and turned away. She looked almost offended that Endo would address her, whereas Endo looked proud of himself for having picked up Mana's clue about how he could still speak without having heavy objects flung at him inside this tent.
"It doesn't matter. Your objective is to foil this group and find out their identities. Without a doubt, that'd be useful to both the Lightning Lord and the Earth Lord. Let's try not to give those two any further cause to really fucking go at it and devolve the continent into war, alright?" Boriya clapped her hands, gesturing that she was more than okay with the Stars and their tagalong leaving the tent.
"So… What's your deal? Do you plan to give us the silent treatment even though you're working with us?" Shige-H asked the newbie after the Stars left their tent to pack the necessities and depart for Boulder Town in Land of Earth immediately.
"No. I have no problem working with you. I look forward to eliminating those criminals with your aid," the blonde bowed in front of Shige-H. This cracked Shige. She wasn't sure how to take this and got flustered. Mana wasn't overly fond of how this young lady played their leader and how easily she stumped Shige-H.
"We don't have to kill anyone," Mana objected, willing to take a crack at the newbie herself. "Our mission objective is to find out their identities and prevent them from succeeding in their plot. Obviously, as much information about their organization and their goals will go a long way as well, but nowhere in our mission objective does it state we have to kill anyone."
"If a weakling is in your way–you eliminate it. It's as easy as that. I'd have thought a world-renowned kunoichi like the Konoha's Sorceress to know that," the blonde mocked Mana with faux surprise. "Then again, perhaps you're better known for your stage-prancing skills and not your qualities as a ninja. In that area, you might be rather bland, I suppose."
Would it be wrong to kill a person? Just one person? Just this once? No. This was wrong. Though maybe it was possible for an accident to occur, maybe Mana just didn't have to go out of her way to save this arrogant brat from certain doom. She could use not spraining an ankle trying to save everybody once in a while… Mana gasped internally, realizing that the newbie just had her just like she had Shige-H.
"Shut up…" Endo's grumpy tone addressing their new teammate cracked through the shell Mana felt closed inside of and let light seep in and sift her back into reality. "You're nobody and you're not called by any name. The Regimental Commander didn't give us your name because you've got none. You've done nothing cool or useful, so being nameless is the right pick for you. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if your parents didn't even give you a na…"
Endo stopped with wide-open eyes. He exhaled and stepped around something invisible before swinging the hilt of his sword where the next step would have carried him. There was nothing there but Endo just couldn't stop examining the spot, almost as if he felt certain death coming his way if he took that next step and finished that sentence. It wasn't rational knowledge; it was just instinct that helped Endo avoid that danger.
Sometimes Mana thought Endo was cool. When she didn't hate his guts when he wasn't being rude or explicit for its own sake, and when he stood up for his comrades, or when his arrogance and barnyard mule mentality irritated other people. The enemy of Mana's enemy just this once felt like an alright guy.
As shocking as it seemed, demanding a few breaths to seal the deal even, but Mana called for an inner truce with Endo for as long as that nameless brat tagged along with her team. The Stars needed members, but they didn't need this brat.