"The day was not getting any younger. There were no worries about staying here overnight, we only had seventy-two hours to hold the guy after all. I had no problems slurping down a cup of chili noodles, the chili and black pepper scorched my entire mouth, just as the need to book this guy and bust this case was grilling all of our collective asses." Itemi, the male security officer and one-half of the pair that arrested Bonda earlier, was busy doing his thing.
By now Mana had gotten used to his inner narration being heard by anyone located in the same room as him. True to his vocalized internal monologue the guy was downing a cup of something that had an effluvium of garbage coming off of it with an intensity that perfectly contrasted the bored tone at which Itemi delivered his vocalized inner thoughts to the outside world.
"The magician girl kept staring at me. Wanting, craving to get into the interrogation room and get the information she came here for. Okasune had made sure to keep her within quite the distance from the perp, even if she kept the girl around. I knew where she was coming from, the kid was pretty useful. Muscle and an alarm detector all packed into one and delivered to us in a tightly wrapped package. Nothing could have passed by her, it seemed." Itemi kept talking to himself as his eyes ran down a pile of files, the fact that Mana was sitting directly in front of him either evaded the man's comprehension or was simply irrelevant to him.
"You know, you raise a valid point. All I need is to hear what the guy has to say. Once I confirm my suspicions I can return to Konoha and get out of your and Okasune-san's way." Mana tried to strike up a dialogue with the man. Not necessarily because she thought it possibly resulting in something useful, merely because two dialoguing people sitting right in front of each other made the world seem saner than letting Itemi go on.
"She tried sending her fleet, riding the stormy waves at my shore. She did not know that Itemi Manin was a wall and that none of her figurative sailors would return to their families – my composure was an iron rock, to persevere and weather the storm was my objective. Let Okasune do her thing. She was the best at it. Act intrigued by paperwork, chow down the noodles, stonewall the magician girl the best I can until Okasune finished another miracle arrest." The man mumbled to himself.
"Wait, who's that woman?" Mana pointed at a tall, raven-haired woman of darker skin, possibly Land of Wind complexion, wearing a red leather jacket and a short black dress underneath.
"When the kid first pointed me in the direction of my fate I thought it to be just an attempt to distract me. The more I thought about it from that point on, the more foolish it seemed. The brat needed no distractions, she could have just blitzed to the interrogation room and we'd all be none the wiser, no one could have stopped her. That was when I turned to see the hottest piece of femme fatale knockout I'd ever seen, it was the type of woman that literally changes your life. The fire of this western hotness and Okasune's ice were about to clash as the gorgeous goddess strut into the interrogation room unimpeded."
"Oh for the love of…" Mana slammed the table she was banging her fingers at for a while now as she jumped on her feet and walked into the interrogation room, a bunch of officers tried to halt her progress towards the room, perfectly executing Okasune's orders to keep the magician out. It was not like they ever had hopes of touching Mana to begin with, with gentle bobs and weaves the magician evaded their grasp, dancing around them and evading them like a skilled swordsman evades drops of rain in an autumnal downpour.
"Oh, come on, is no one watching the door?" Okasune grunted seeing Mana enter the room right after whoever that other woman was.
"I just need a confession, after that, I'm out of this town. That's all I need." Mana pleaded with the woman. If she was anything of what she was described as being: a wolf of justice, a hero of the town, she'd understand.
"Yeah, you and me both, missy." Okasune bit her thumb nervously as the woman in red unbuttoned her jacket and sat down by the side of Bonda, placing it on the chair behind her.
"Konoha's Sorceress has permission to be here. As per the treaty signed by the Fourth Hokage and Shukuba administrator, the Shukuba security and Konohagakure ninja cooperate where Shukuba's criminal, civil or administrative law crosses with the objectives of Konoha ninja." The woman ruffled her long and curly hair, flaring her dark blue eyes at the Shukuba Security officer, infuriating her.
"The treaty does not go into detail of how much liberty exactly do Konoha ninja have in terms of criminal procedure. The fact that Konoha's Sorceress is here, to begin with, is "cooperation" enough." Okasune slammed her hands against the steel table, lowering her face up to the face of the mysterious western woman. The eyes of the Shukuba Security officer shimmered not just with rage, they were outright hateful towards the other lady, just who on Earth was she?
"Well, as pleasing as it would be for me to educate you in the matters of international law, officer Okasune, I'd like to request that you release Tokuse Bonda immediately as his arrest is entirely unlawful." The woman requested, her calm and triumphant face showed the entire Security HQ that she held all the aces in her hand and she was not afraid to alert the world of it.
Itemi entered the interrogation room. When Okasune's eyes sparked hellfire at his direction for failing to contain Mana in the outside area of the interrogation room, the man just shrugged, shaking it off. It appeared that sometimes the man was capable of silence. Maybe it was just the sheer pressure of the presence of the western woman in the interrogation room that uneased the aged man and caused him to break out of his usual routine, just like a stammering man could sing clearly when they were pronouncing their words accompanied by a melody.
"I find it extremely suspicious that a woman associated with Yokotomo Donyoku involves herself in this case not even one hour past Bonda's arrest." Okasune growled like a dog about to lunge. Something about this situation was seriously setting the hero of Shukuba off the wrong way, she knew something Mana did not, something that clearly terrified her and it was abundantly clear to the magician that the officer was not about to let the magician in on it.
"It does not matter what you find suspicious, officer Okasune, you arrested Tokase Bonda on the grounds of a possible detainment without cause for seventy-two hours, for the sole reason of identifying the man in question and recording his ID in any relevant case documents. Has Tokuse Bonda provided any identification?" the westerner looked at Bonda with a questioning glare.
"I did, ma'am, the first thing I did, honestly! Okasune-san just won't back off my tail, however. I'm just an innocent artist trying to create some art, this is a very soul crushing experience, I think I'll come down with depression or something." Bonda wiped the sweat off his face. If this man provided his ID the first thing when delivered to the Security HQ, he was better versed in local laws than Mana, which in itself was shady enough. There was no better master of laws back in Konoha, nor a shadier man back home than Hanada Katsuo, Mana made sure to remember that for the future.
"Well then, why is this man not released yet then? This whole depression thing and the delay on the movie's production sounds to me like an application to the governor for compensation of damages waiting to happen, Okasune-san. Your first, if I am not mistaken. Perhaps it would be more tact to just release this man and not stain your stellar record?" This lady revealed herself to be incredibly well versed in the local laws.
The situation unwinding in the interrogation room was pinning more and more pictures and connecting more and more rubber bands on the conspiracy board inside Mana's head. She needed to slow it all down, catch up to all that she had found out up to now.
First of all, the leak of Fire Lord's funds is due to governor Sho's abusive executive decrees and treaties with the Fire Lord that support local artists with massive welfare payments that result in absolute disgraces to the artistic world and bucketloads of money laundered down the drain. That much was crystal clear, it also pretty much fulfilled Mana's mission objective.
Regardless, this case was much dimmer lit than that. Why did Okasune Kita, an officer with a flawless arrest record, someone regarded as a hero of her town and so well-received by her coworkers and the general audience, as proven by everyone Mana meets singing her praises, book in such a shoddy and, apparently, unlawful arrest? More so, just who was this woman, who was this Yokotomo Donyoku person associated with her, according to Okasune? Why did some completely unrelated officer try to murder Tokuse Bonda violently in the middle of his arrest, was this man connected with this western lawyer woman and this Donyoku or was he his own player?
This was six leagues above Mana's comprehension, she had most of what she came here for but this mystery kept pulling the magician in. Like the imaginary scent of an attractive female cat that drew in a male cat in one of those weekend cartoons and newspaper strips, drew them levitating above the ground towards the core of their affection, this mystery drew Mana in as well, in a manner not unlike those male cats were drawn in by.
Much to her frustration, Okasune had to allow Bonda to leave with the western woman. The sweat on the officer's forehead, the messy bangs falling over her face and constantly gritting teeth telegraphed her mood quite nicely. One did not have to be that much of a people's person to know exactly how the woman felt. Then, in a moment of levity, the woman just sighed and swallowed all of her anger before tumbling onto the same chair where Bonda was sitting just now.
"Why did you do that? Why did you arrest Bonda unlawfully, knowing quite well that he'd be released like this?" Mana confronted the woman, that may not have been the right approach, Okasune was nervous to the verge of breaking down just a moment ago, her current emotional serenity could have been a façade.
"Never mind that, it does not matter now." Okasune sighed, breathing out a huff so light that it reminded of a breath that a person who has been tortured for ages let out upon the sweet release of death embracing them. "You have everything you need. I'll give you everything we have on the leak, the Hokage won't demand as much evidence as the local tribunals. As long as the leaks stop, it's a mission complete for you, isn't it?"
Mana nodded in unease. She was not sure what troubled her more, the fact that Okasune was so deceitfully calm right after losing a man she pursued and pressed on so hard or that the magician did not want to leave this town just yet.
"Actually, I will stick around this place for a bit longer. I'll send a pidgeon to Konoha Aviary with my report and the files you give me." Mana declared.
"That was surprising. Did the kid think we were in on the leak or did she think we've missed something? Either way, I was not sure how to take it. Regardless the reason for her decision to stick around, it was negatively reflecting on our work in the brat's mind. That made me simmer, we may not have been able to quite breathe the amount of fire this kid's been used to spitting but we were every bit as devoted as she was. Who was I kidding? Half of this HQ would have sold justice out for a cup of bitter and dark coffee straight out of the jungles of southern Fire Country. Maybe that was it, the fact that Okasune and I weren't the same and yet this kid filed all of us together, the paperclip of her words sticking its sharp end straight through my chest and bleeding me out…"
Mana waited for a while for Itemi's vocalized inner monologue to cease, she actually felt a bit surprised by how well the man could control his breathing and the emotion he put into his words. It was like he was quoting it all for some sort of audio diary recording or something…
"I don't recommend jumping on the leak bandwagon, not right after you exposed it to your superiors. You'll get suspended if not demanded a seppuku." Okasune waved her hand indifferently. Wrapping her long fingers around her tired face and rubbing her eyes to fight off the weariness.
"It's not that. Bonda was almost killed today for reasons that I still do not fully understand. I have a feeling that these leaks are the least of this town's worries. Living in this town is dangerous and I'm going to change that. As a ninja I have a responsibility to use my greater power to protect those without it, change the world and make all life worth something in the eyes of the people that inherit it. That is my nindo, my ninja way." Mana declared.
She was going above and beyond her mission objective. This was no longer about the mission, this was Mana's own decision and her own actions. She no longer would have the official back-up of her superiors to use, no more mission objectives, international treaties to wave around. No more legal or procedural corners she could cut. Whatever happened here, she'd be responsible for it. Just a single word from Lord Sixth and she'd have to trek home and receive new mission objectives, leaving this behind.
Redemption was a common motive all over Mana's life, she met plenty of people in look of redeeming themselves when she was looking for the Box of Ultimate Bliss. In a way, Itemi and Okasune were attempting to redeem the reputation of this entire Security HQ, if Itemi's inner reflections made public were to be trusted. This would be the redemption of Mana as a kunoichi. Once more she would try helping people the way she wanted to as a ninja, using the skills she had learned and putting the fruits of her lifelong training to labor.
"I guess she was a good kid. Hopelessly naïve, would it take a day, a fortnight maybe, in this town before all that naivety was shredded to bits by high pressure blade firing cannons of cynicism, before her rose glasses were busted up by the bat of sarcasm, before she began drowning a blabbermouth ratty colleague in alcohol and decided to sell her soul on a roll of a dice or a draw of a card in the gambling house. Seeing stuff like that would never stop feeling crushing." Itemi lit a cigarette, despite his bleak predictions for Mana's goal here in Shukuba, he breathed out a mouthful of smoke through a reserved grin.
"Itemi's right, you are a good kid, Sorceress. I wish more stars would be like you. I wish you good luck in whatever you're looking to find here." Okasune nodded with a hopeful smile. "As for me, the workday is officially over. I'm off to drown my sorrows back home. How about it, Itemi, wanna raise a glass for another one that got away, to another day of justice well-served and tax money well-spent?"
"She asked me knowing full-well that I have changed my poison from sake to cigarettes. The old fox knew that liquor was pulling me in every time I lit a smoke of what I considered a lesser evil. If I started again I could never stop. Once more I'd give in reports soaked in rings of sake glass where I slammed them down right on my worktable. Was she just checking if my defenses were still up, like a cruel classmate that punches you in the gut in the gym shower just to teach you a cruel lesson that life will never fail to keep punching you and your abdomen needs to be tensed up at all times? Women… Who knew what they were thinking truly…" Itemi kept doing his thing. His rambling was being a bit less comprehensive as he held his cigarette tightly pressed in between the rows of his yellow teeth.
"Before I end this day, I'd like to talk to the officer that tried to kill Bonda", Mana voiced her intention, expecting to hear some more information about where the man was being held and a possible way she could do that.
"Doubt that's possible", Okasune raised her palm to interrupt a pain-ridden monologue that Itemi was about to go into again. "The guy's been taken to an arrest home already, it's a facility of much higher security and after tomorrow's tribunal hearing he'll be transferred right to prison, I'm afraid. The best time to do that would be first thing tomorrow morning, before the hearing."
Mana noted that information. Okasune did have a point, talking to a prisoner post-tribunal hearing would be immensely difficult for a Konoha ninja who had no official business of being in town. Mana's attention for today would have been best served drafting the report and the message and making sure that it is sent out and delivered by the end of today's workday in Konoha Aviary. That was not such a likely thing to happen but in terms of work progress it was better to shoot for the impossible and then deal with the best reality could offer.
"Do you have a place to go?" Okasune stopped halfway through the door of the interrogation room, with Mana standing up and following to woman, intending to use the worktable of either Okasune or Itemi to draft up the message and include the files that the hero of Shukuba promised her and Itemi was already out gathering.
"No." Mana shook her head. "I figured I'd find a hostel or something like that later. I need to focus on my report first."
"I see, well, I'm sure you'll find something, you're a bright kid. Good luck with your future ventures." Okasune playfully paid Mana respects with two of her fingers pressed to her temple before departing with a hopeful smile. There was a scent of acceptance of Mana was not quite sure what in the woman's voice.
Her reply was so odd, given her personality and what the magician came to learn about Kita Okasune, she had expected to be offered to sleep over at the officer's place. Granted, Mana would have most likely refused that suggestion either way, feeling a bit too embarrassed about such a thing, but the fact that the woman simply shrugged it off with such indifference troubled the magician for some reason.
The first day in Shukuba had proven to be nothing like Mana expected it to be or could wrap her brain around.
Author's Note: Clearly this arc's been just a big tribute to my love of noir movies. Granted, I'm not a great and mighty writer, one that would be able to weave a flawless narrative, mix in multiple complex plotlines and create timeless characters in a gritty and realistic world filled with nihilistic inner monologues etc. When I do homages for the things I like, as this whole story is nothing more but me writing about things I like, things I'd like to read myself if I was reader, I sometimes feel like a girl trying on mom's dresses when she leaves to work :D
I know that so far the whole Shukuba arc has been quite slow and uneventful, not really what people are looking in a Naruto fanfiction as its all just one big confusing mess. Partly because I wanted it to be overwhelming and confusing with threads and questions of varied importance just stacking on top of one another. Part of it is, of course, the fact that I'm still growing as a writer and learning to balance multiple ongoing plot threads... Anyway, I promise that by the end it will all make much more sense (I hope :D), in fact, after the next chapter, those who revisit Mana's clash with the Syndicate back in Fire Country and Otogakure way back may be able to piece most of the puzzle together as some of what's to come has been foreshadowed back then.
When I think about it, this whole story up to now has been nothing but foreshadowing, numbers shuffled into a deck of four aces, in what was supposed to be a full-ace deck :D
