Mana pushed a greasy dumpling around the wooden board with her chopsticks. Her cheek was feeling numb to the point where the magician wondered if the imprint of her fist could actually stay engraved in her flesh after such long period of time she spent resting her face on it. Mana was not quite a believer in the old spinster tales but… She switched her hand from a fist to a palm, just in case.
"That's odd, you usually love dumplings, is the filling bland?" Mother raised an eyebrow, she had long finished eating and had only briefly entered the kitchen to pick up a coat she left resting on the chair.
"I still love dumplings, it's just… I'm thinking that's all", Mana wanted to jump up, acting like she did not hear her mother coming ever since she ran upstairs to get dressed and was now occupied with minor blitz-chores to occupy the five minutes she had until she planned to leave the home for work.
Mother clacked to the guest room with elegance, before placing her coat in the wardrobe and returning to the kitchen. She fixed her skirt and her blazer before settling down and pressing her cold hand to Mana's forehead.
"I'm not sick, mom", Mana growled. She had to admit though, feeling her mother close after spending so much time away from her and in the big and mysterious world, or in the caves of total darkness and scorching heat did feel cushy and intimate.
"Oh, yeah, big ninja girl… You know, your father actually got sick more than other people. Sickness is an immunity reaction, you know, a supercharged immunity means monstrous flu", she teased Mana while glancing at the clock with just the side of her eyes.
Mana quickly stuffed her face with the final dumpling, not because she wanted to, as evidenced by how cold and unacceptable the little piece of her meal tasted and how difficult it was to keep down. The magician just barely fought off the instinct to sip some of the soy sauce down just to wet her palette a little and help it down.
"Don't worry, you were amazing out there, you'll get promoted. Or do you not want that anymore? It's tough to tell with you…" mother teased. The lack of time remaining for family matters made her approach the matter in a much blunter manner than she'd have usually done it.
"I was not the last one to complain about me resuming my training…" Mana snapped back at her mother. Almost right after the sparrow had left the nest, she felt a bit rude for the manner it came out and wanted to apologize but… Somehow, the timing for apologies seemed wrong. What was wrong with her? Why did she keep offending people she loved like that recently? Or was it longer than just recently? What if she spent more time being blunt like this than she did how she wanted to behave?
Did that mean Mana was blunt like that, no longer what she was raised and taught to be?
"I just wanted you to be happy like all parents do. If being a chuunin, like your father, will make you happy, so be it. Granted, I have trouble imagining you playing a role in snuffing people out and spying for the village. This is where things get serious, you know…" mother jumped up and fixed her clothes again.
Mana did not reply, after one final look at the clock, mother began slowly collecting her immediate possessions, like her handbag and the like, and leave. Somehow this felt… Wrong.
"Mom", Mana raised her voice up, mother's scarcely blushed face appeared in an odd angle from a side of the kitchen doorframe. "How is the café doing?"
"Just great, with the influx of foreigners we really made a huge profit. Maybe one day you can just actually retire and I can keep you two safe and strictly under my supervision, a girl can dream…" mother's eyes eased to a degree of devotion and a spice of affection before the woman ran off.
Knowing what Mana knew about mother's history with the village and her family it was not tough to understand why mother felt like she felt. She did not want Mana serving Konohagakure, the village that played a hand in the extinction of her "people". If there even was a "people" as the Wandering Ninja were more of a social group than a "family". To her, Mana being a tool in the village's disposal would have felt too close to a complete subjugation and surrender from her part.
Getting into mother's shoes was elementary to a degree it was scary. Had Mana lost her entire family due to the decision of an establishment, the last thing she'd like in her life was to marry a member of that establishment and then have her child serve that establishment. It just felt so… Prideless and submissive. Two things, Mana knew, her mother was not.
With a deep sigh, Mana stood up and washed the wooden board under a running stream of water, followed by washing her tools and running up to get ready. Her preparations were interrupted by a loud bang on her door, in her mad dash Mana ended up leaving the house without her hat or all of her equipment, she didn't completely finish getting dressed, leaving all of her more detailed and fancy accessories laying on the bed untied, as they were placed by Mana earlier.
"That was a heck of a match". Hanasaku commended Mana. There were no hints of anything negative or somehow belittling, then again, the magician doubted someone as blunt and simple-minded as Chestnut Hanasaku even had the capacity to bite verbally as elegantly and subtly as many of her friends and enemies could. If her sensei disliked anything she barely even cared about it to keep watching, she either punched that thing until it disappeared or just left the room.
"Oh, so you watched it that long?" Mana felt both impressed and humbled simultaneously. "I had thought someone of your caliber would have gotten bored and left… Wait, you weren't in the Ninja Council, were you?"
"No, Ninja Council requires more than just strength. It's as much about perception and analysis as it is about the experience. Strength is only optional with that group…" Hanasaku shrugged.
"You're early, that's unlike you, Hokage-sensei", Mana felt a bit uneasy about calling Chestnut Hanasaku "sensei" again, she always did after the woman voiced her displeasure with Mana's involvement in Team Hokage but more recently, the chestnut-head appeared to have no problem with that word or any of its implications.
"I just… Wanted to get something straight, before Kiyomi joins us", Hanasaku sighed.
That was so unlike her! Even if this was the basis of social scheming, such elementary social strategizing could have only come from her experience as the Fifth Hokage. Mana was almost curious as to what exactly was so important that the Lady Fifth wanted her to know but keep secret from Kiyomi.
"Your performance was impressive, you beat someone much stronger than you, that's pretty cool. Thing is… I may respect you but…"
"You don't trust me, still", Mana completed the sentence for her mentor. Judging from how Kiyomi described being trained and participating in missions with this woman in the roster, she would have been in for a whole lot of that, if the course stayed the same.
"Yeah, I'll give you more recommendations than I can count to, it may not be that many but… Kiyomi and I go way back, we're more than just student and mentor, we're basically family. I've not had bonds like that since… Little Bro and Misu".
"It's okay, really. I plan on quitting anyway, focus on my magic shows." Mana mumbled out captured by shyness and embarrassment teamed up in one nasty group of feelings.
Mana looked up to Hanasaku. Lady Fifth was definitely a respected mentor of Mana's, an example of what a remarkable kunoichi was, even with all of her simple human flaws. Being told by such a person that they distrusted Mana and, given all that happened and how long ago it did happen, that they may never trust her again was discouraging and crippling.
"Oh, that's too bad. I think you could have become a truly amazing ninja if you kept going." Hanasaku replied with surprising honesty and straightness. The anger and resentment that the woman first looked at Mana with, when the magician woke up in the hospital after fighting the Imarizu was gone without a trace. Just a hole and the shattered shards of trust remained.
"For all it's worth, I do respect you, Hokage-sensei, I think you'll be the best for Meiko and Kiyomi and the future generations. I could not have asked for a better mentor during that tough time of having lost Tanshu-sensei. I'm glad to have had the chance to meet you", Mana tried to speak with the same carelessness for the consequences and implications that it may summon and honesty that was present in Hanasaku's voice whenever she spoke.
"Are you implying that Kiyomi won't get promoted?" Hanasaku winked at Mana with a teasing question.
"Not at all," Mana shook her head with gentleness, she was clearly misunderstood in what she intended to say. "I just know that it does not matter if she does end up getting promoted, or not, you two will always remain sisters for life."
"Oh, you seem to have gotten the hang of our bond", Hanasaku looked away to greet the approaching Yamanaka teammate with a warm smile.
How could Mana not get the hang of it? After all, she once wanted to share that very same bond with her teammates. When she felt alone, when she felt far from home. She wanted to look at Lady Fifth as she looked at her mother, she wanted to look at Kiyomi like she would have looked at an older sister, if she had one, an epitome of beauty, strength, and wisdom. She wanted to look at Meiko as both her best friend and her sibling too…
It did not appear too much to want back then but… Maybe it was. Maybe those bonds were occupied and in order to obtain them, Mana would have had to sever old ones and step in between their ruins. That was simply not the kind of person Mana was, or ever aspired to be. She would rather spend her life a wanderer, sad and alone, as long as she could see other people all bonded and happy, while she wandered on, from one family to another, doomed to never find a place of her own.
"Hey, Kiyomi! Got a good feeling for us…" Mana grinned with a teary smile as she raised her fist for a bump.
"Awww, you little softy, of course you do, after the match you had…" Kiyomi hugged Mana, leaving her extended fist hanging before it withered away into a soft and weightless mess of fingers and hand-flesh.
Kiyomi, Mana and Hanasaku were the last three to arrive at the Hokage's office. By that time, all of the other Konoha genin and their mentors were already grouped up in his office and waiting for Team Hokage so that the hearing of the Ninja Council's decision could officially begin.
This was the first time Mana had seen all of the participating Konohagakure genin lined up like this. Naturally, none of the genin who did not qualify for the finals were present, even if the number of jounin was greater than the total number of teams, meaning that even if their team did not qualify, the mentoring jounin were still required to participate.
Dorimi and Shibari, the duo that saved Mana, Shimo and Sugemi were present but standing the whole office apart. Another young woman with dark flowing hair, red knee-long bodysuit, and the Konoha flak jacket was present, as was an athletic looking jounin with broad shoulders and rich hairline both on his face and on his scalp. The only Konoha finalist Mana could not see in the office was Nanaba Aomyaku – given her hearty performance in the Exams, it was surprising to not see here to at least hear her case out. Her letting so much of Seven Tails' influence slip out must have really ticked the Administration off the wrong way…
"Well, I suppose we can begin now", Lord Sixth noted, seeing Hanasaku enter the office and carelessly nod her chin at his direction. Technically the Team Hokage trio weren't really late so there should not have been any irritation caused. The tension Mana felt in the air must have just been the worry planted deep in the hearts of every genin present there.
"Alright, I'm not gonna hold you here for long. Going to go straight to the point as most of you already know why you're here. There are much more important things I have to tend to today", Lord Sixth stretched his tired neck out before sifting through handfuls of papers and files on his tables. "Once you hear the decision of the Ninja Council – it is final. The roster of the Council was a secret to all except the Council members and assembling them again for a complaining procedure would be incredibly hard, which is why, starting from the Second Hokage, complaint procedures were shafted when Chuunin Exams and the Ninja Council are concerned."
"For someone who is trying to get straight into the heart of things you're wasting a lot of time", Hanasaku sneered at her superior with a bored pair of eyes.
"Not all of us wish the cacophony of whining children on our schedules, not all of us have the tolerance, or the number of tables to express our frustrations on, Lady Fifth. Some of us would rather word things in too much detail to avoid having that fiasco of yours on their hands." Lord Sixth responded. There was no bitterness or frustration in his voice. The man was absolutely cold and calculated.
"Now, Aozora Yushijin, please step forward", the Sixth instructed, Kouta's teammate did as requested, bowing his head and body halfway as he approached the Hokage.
"The Council was impressed with your show. Perhaps it could have been the fact that there was a noted genjutsu specialist amongst them but they were able to clearly see your talent in the field. For that reason, your value as an infiltrator and a saboteur would be of great use to the village higher-ups. You are promoted to the rank of chuunin."
The assistant of Lord Sixth pulled out a green flak jacket from a stack in a box and a tanto blade, handing them over to the humble genin who bowed again as he took the accessories of his promotion over from the assistant with courteous politeness
That was a great shock to Mana. Not because she did not consider Yushijin worth being promoted, he definitely displayed an impressive amount of knowledge and raw talent in the genjutsu field, possibly surpassing Mana in that regard. He also performed a fine fake-out at just the right time to pull off his victory. Still, the magician realized, with some unease nagging at her chest, that she underestimated the perceptive abilities of the Ninja Council and just how much they could see.
"Nara Sugemi, please come forward", Lord Sixth requested with Sugemi following the request except without the overly formal bowing that Yushijin did in front of the Sixth. Sugemi's eyes were different, they were just as cold and apathetic as those of Lord Sixth when he looked the young Nara right in the eyes.
"The Council noted your amazing hand-to-hand skills but they were expecting something entirely different from a Nara clan member. You appear to lack the strategic insight common amongst your peers and appear to still focus your approach on brute force, only resorting to strategy when brute force does not cut it for you. Because of that choice in fighting style, the Council advised not to promote you to the rank of chuunin. I have also noticed that you have not completed an actual mission in quite a while, choosing to stay in the Eden containment facility instead. You are free to choose between continuing your containment with an indefinite suspension of your license until the day you choose to return to active duty, or return to active duty as of today and end your stay at Eden."
"In that case, I would stay in Eden, if it is all the same to Lord Sixth…" Sugemi replied without his face as much as twitching. It was not like Mana did not see the shadow of disappointment cover up the face of her friend but it was not a literal shadow, more of a bad aura surrounding him while his face remained cold and distant. Some would say, a face of a true shinobi.
"Very well, I will suspend your license, please be advised that it will be terminated within three years of you choosing not to fix that situation and you will require to take the Academy graduation exam again if you will wish to return to active duty in that case." Lord Sixth glared at Sugemi, trying to instill some fear or at least respect for the ninja profession in the young man's heart but the rock that was Sugemi at that point stood adamant.
"Sugemi…" Mana whimpered to herself, almost breaking the strict line-up by stepping forward towards her friend. With nothing but a soothing look right at her eyes, Sugemi left the office after being addressed.
She could not believe that her friend would throw his ninja license away like that. As if his ninja status, his rank as an advanced genin with countless missions in his record and powerful techniques in his arsenal meant absolutely nothing to him. What would he do, where would he go? Why did he wish to return to Eden this much? Why would he choose that place over Konoha, over her? Was he that close with Nanaba and Daidao? Did all those days together in Team Oak mean nothing to him since he was ready to just throw it all away and leave it all behind?
"I know it's tough but please don't do something rash", Kiyomi's whisper reached the magician's ears breaking her out of a desperate and sad train of thought.
There may have just been plenty of surprises in the hearing of the Ninja Council's decision, as Mana have come to learn from the first two decisions.
