The noises of gulls, curiously enough, reached Mana's ears. It was the first thing in a while that made the girl break her concentration and look up to observe the unlikely visitors fly majestically giving the enigmatic, dark blue, morning sky a little of their own heavenly shade. Like a little ball of cloud racing through the sky with a purpose.
The magician was in her uniform, all hidden pockets fully stored with the weaponry she used, all springs and devices in it loaded and ready. A hat with new storage seals, albeit not quite what those of her father's used to be but the best that her monetary situation could give her. Mana's wand could no longer be stored in her current hat, it was too high ranking of a tool, for that reason it was in an inside pocket.
Despite being unofficially and temporarily suspended, Mana was ready for a whole streak of weary training sessions and life-threatening combat situations. She would not be heading towards her destination looking for a fight but she was well aware that she would get it, possibly even more of it than she could take.
Perhaps that was why when Kouta ran up from the distance with a happier than half of a pancake smile, the magician felt a little relieved. She did not ask her boyfriend to come with her to back her up, or because of what he could do, namely his particular set of skills. She asked him because she wanted to be around him and with him and, just this once, things appeared to have worked out.
"I'm really grateful you came." Mana bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment of the boy's presence and his excitement to leave at this early hour of the morning. "I do hope though that you told your father you're leaving for a while, I do not think that we could handle him breaking in looking for you."
"Oh, that's just fine. I have no business with the village given how my team has dissolved. I'm free until another team gets put together which may take a while with the entire Academy blowing up right before the graduation exams…" Kouta looked back at the point where he would have seen the Ninja Academy from the distance.
He did raise an interesting point though. The village would be put through a little crisis of new ninja graduates given how those of this year would be forced to skip a year because of the cataclysm that took place right in their place of education.
"As far as my father is concerned… As long as I won't be slacking off from my training, he is more than fine with us leaving to… Where exactly are we headed?" The boy wondered. He must have been so shocked to hear this proposition when first asked that he completely burned the notes of the specific details in his mind.
"The Rabbit Caves near Kusagakure." Mana smiled as she looked ahead into the dark depths of the forest roads outside the village wall. "I have a promise I have to live up to and there's no better time than now. If you're looking for efficient training, you won't be disappointed – that's where I prepared for the finals of the Chuunin Exams."
"That sounds like a really cruel and awful place. I hope I won't drag you down!" Kouta bowed his head slightly. As per his nature, he was being way too modest. In terms of stamina and physical strength, Kouta was heads above Mana, it was just that the magician had more chakra in her reserves to keep pushing her past her limits if cornered. Mana had no worries about the medical ninja being able to take the gruesome conditions of the Rabbit Caves.
"No way, I can't stress out enough about how glad I am to have your company with me. You can send a hawk back to the village informing Lord Sixth about your exact location if you ever needed to return from one of the message stations on the road." Mana did her best to assure the young man.
The two passed the check-up before heading out the large village gate past the wall that surrounded Konoha and into the luscious forests that spanned endless kilometers in each direction. Kouta relaxed and yawned. Mana glanced at him with curiosity, it was a rare instance for a ninja, let alone someone as duty-bound, honest and strict on himself as this young man to let his guard down this much.
"If you're feeling drowsy, I'm afraid we may not get an opportunity to rest for a while. Shukuba is the exact opposite way, you know. This may not be a pleasurable trip." Mana noted.
"Oh, that's not it. I'm just breathing the air in. I've never traveled with a sensor before, always had to keep my guard up, you know." The boy shook his head with a smile of excitement.
"My sensory is not foolproof. If the signature comes at us from over two hundred meters, I may fail to pick it up in time. If it is too large or too overwhelmingly despicable in its nature it may not matter that I pick it up because it may just take me out of the occasion entirely. It may be wise to keep your guard up just in case." Mana shrugged. She did not yet feel confident enough with her sensory abilities even though it felt like forever since she had discovered them slumbering inside her.
"You know, I'd imagine a sensor medical ninja would be really amazing. Using their sensory to pick up on all sorts of illnesses and quirks in one's chakra flow without the need of a diagnostic scan." Kouta looked up still carrying around his general aloof attitude.
"Maybe if the sensor is experienced enough… To me, the signatures still feel blurry, too much interference from other senses to tell too much about each signature except that they are there and their size." Mana shrugged still feeling a bit on edge about being the only one keeping her guard up. She's been attacked outside the village walls too many times to completely rely on just her chakra sensory alone.
"Although… Remember when you told me about becoming familiar with someone's body after healing them a bunch of times?" Mana brought something familiar to both of the two up.
"Sure."
"I think that's the case with my sensory too. Even though from the first sniff it appears that most chakra don't have anything specific about them, I think I may be getting used to chakras of Meiko, Kiyomi and other people I hang around for a while. If I train it a little bit more, maybe just one feel would be enough…" Mana left the possibility hanging.
"We can start training that when we get to the caves." Kouta grinned. "What are the Ninja Rabbits like anyway? Do you think they'll let me in just like that?"
"They're pretty amazing. They're just as warm on the inside as they are cute on the outside… Well… Maybe with few exceptions…" Mana shrugged.
"You mean that rabbit you use in combat who talks like a hillbilly?" Kouta wondered.
"Oh, no! Zoku-chan is probably the most honorable and kind of them all. It's just that he hides all of that behind a cover that's as sharp on its outmost layers as it is easy to bust through. I meant Usujitsa and the likes…" Mana shook her hands before her look turned serious.
"Usujitsa?" Kouta somehow managed to spell it out after hearing the name just once.
"Yeah. I think that creature is the only rabbit I have encountered that is an absolute monster with no control or decency. I have never really seen him, just heard of him from the tales of other rabbits and seen his handiwork." Mana looked down.
"But doesn't you signing the contract mean that you are technically tied to him and can use him in battle if you choose to?" Kouta wondered. "I'm sure someone as monstrous as this rabbit would love to fight anyone so you could use that aggression for your own gain. Maybe even to save people…"
"It's not that at all. It isn't that Usujitsa is a sadist or an evil rabbit at all. In fact, I believe he may be quite a jolly guy. If his mad laughter before all the devastation in the depths of the caves, far far away from where the rabbits reside is any sign of his character. From the stories I've heard, he's just mad. Like a force of nature with scary destructive potential." Mana shrugged.
"So does your promise have anything to do with stopping that guy?" Kouta asked.
"Oh, no. I don't think that even the two of us could stop Usujitsa. Luckily enough, he's too stupid to find his way to the rest of the rabbits. Most of the time he just bumbles around and scares some children that tread too far from the caves. I once promised Zoku-chan that I would help the rabbits return to their previous homes." Mana shook her head before replying.
Kouta looked a little confused by that but he did not yet ask for an explanation.
"You see, there are two species of ninja animals that live deep underground – the Ninja Rabbits and the Ninja Snakes. As you'd imagine, one mostly preys on the other. Everything in the arsenals of the Ninja Snakes is genetically designed to kill Ninja Rabbits, no matter the rank of the animals fighting. Every time that the Ninja Snakes wander into their territory, the rabbits are forced to move deeper and farther away into the scorching, breathless darkness of the underground." Mana explained before her boyfriend would ask for an explanation.
"Oh, so there's hierarchy of some sort with ninja animals? That's fascinating! And who preys on Ninja Snakes?" Kouta wondered.
"From what I've heard, only the slugs of the Shikkotsu forest are designed to kill snakes as efficiently as the snakes kill frogs, toads, and rabbits." Mana shrugged. "From what I read in history books, apparently the Ninja Mongooses and Ninja Snakes used to be equally matched with each species being gifted a new evolutionary trait to counteract the respective trait of the other. That is a unique relationship between species I've never heard of before or since…"
"So then… Can we ask the Ninja Mongooses or one of their summoners for help?"
"Oh, don't mention anything like that with Ninja Rabbits. They appear to hate Ninja Mongooses a great deal. I'm not sure why or for how long they've feuded but the Ninja Rabbits seem to have been at bitter odds with the Ninja Mongooses. Even a mention of them will be pretty much a curse word amongst the rabbits." Mana warned Kouta.
"Amazing, the only species that can help them right in their neighborhood and they managed to go to war with them…" Kouta sighed, only now realizing the severity of Mana's promise to the rabbits.
Mana just shrugged with an apologetic face. She wondered if the medical ninja now began to regret involving himself with Mana's self-appointed mission.
"Hey, our kiss is as binding as the contract you signed with the rabbits. Your promise to help the Ninja Rabbits also involves me just the same way." Kouta gave Mana an encouraging gesture.
Mana nodded in gratitude. She noticed a little spark of excitement flaring up in Kouta's eyes. It must have been the Jugo part of him, which took a great interest in any prospects of war and devastation and grand-scale battles. While Mana disapproved of such an attitude, it may just have been what she and the rabbits needed here to get back their home.
The two were lucky enough to avoid any unpleasant encounters of attacks between Konoha and the outskirts of Kusagakure. One did not need to enter the actual village to find the Rabbit Caves. If they had there'd have been a lot more unpleasant bureaucracy and matters to deal with. The unnatural entry to the caves was in a large crater, still containing a bunch of coal digging tools and caravans left behind.
Right in the center, there was a slim but marvelously deep hole that lead into a wild part of the caves. From there on one only had to tread deeper and farther down to the east to find the rabbit settlement. At least it was that way the last time Mana left the place. She could recall having some trouble moving up this massive hole although now that all of her senses were intact and she was nowhere near as worn out as she was back then, the hole appeared way more claustrophobic.
Mana leaped in first. Then she waited for Kouta to follow. The long fall did feel a bit on the creepy side due to how close the edges and walls of the hole were to the falling party at each given time. In a way, the shimmer of the few falling solar rays of the clear Kusagakure sky reflecting off of the wet minerals inside made parts of the fall feel a bit hypnotic even.
"Wow! That was one mighty long fall." Kouta looked up expressing his surprise with a loud shriek that echoed all throughout the caves.
"Yeah…" Mana acknowledged the surprise of the young man who looked surprised by the reaction to his own noises. Kouta was a rather reserved young man so the magician never really considered him having to learn to keep his head down here the hard way. Then again, if one was not attacked by one of the scarier things that lived down here, was it really the hard way?
"T-The air…" he then observed, continuing to do his best to get used to the nightmare-inducing conditions the rabbits have lived on for years.
"Hot, stuffy and dark. It will get much worse from here on the deeper we go. And we will go deeper." Mana tried to let the medical ninja know as a warning but he looked pretty content with that. "You need to balance your chakra augmentations on your perception as well as the protection of your body. It must become as second nature as twitching a finger to you. The heat and the intensity won't cease even when you go to sleep."
Kouta let out an agreeing grunt as a sign that he understood Mana's advice. From there on out it was just a continuation of their trip to where the caves had some semblance of illumination with whatever the rabbits used to illuminate their caves with. While the overwhelming pressure of the cave conditions did not even come close to getting better, just seeing signs of light and civilization made Mana feel better inside.
"Mana-san!" A bunch of cutesy sounds came from the surrounding rocky platforms and natural structures while sounds of loud and powerful thuds alerted the two that someone was coming in from that way.
"Hey, you guys…" Mana smiled and crouched up to meet the resisting force of a dozen of young rabbits leaping at her with a tackle that they perceived as a loving notion.
"You came back! Will you show us tricks again before bed!?" They kept on yelling one after other. Kouta pressed against his ears to alleviate some of the augmentations he had placed on his ears to hear even the faintest drip of water on the other side of the cave system.
It was clear that regulating his augmentations on a whim was not as natural to him as it was to Mana, who kept on turning them on and off as well as regulating their intensity all the time. That would come with time. Maybe Kouta would have a much harder time given how he was not nearly as experienced in fearing his own augmentations as Mana used to be right after recovering from losing her chakra manipulation, regardless, it would come to him as well.
"Maybe. I'm here to kick out the snakes and give you guys a better home." Mana grinned.
"Will you ask the elders to turn off the lights again so you can train your sensory better?" One of the younglings wondered.
"I didn't like that. I don't want the lights to go out again. I'd be afraid…" Another rabbit youngling trembled, clutching its little ears in their hands like a cover from the outside world.
"There won't be any need for that. I can train my sensory farther from your home, if needed." Mana smiled to alleviate some of the fears that the young ones had. She did find the odd sense of dread in the younglings strange but she decided that matters like this were better brought up with someone like the elders or Usuzoku. They may have had a better idea of what actually was scaring these bunnies.
"I'm going to see Zoku-chan, you guys play carefully." Mana stood up and waved the kits some temporary farewells. Cheering and tumbling one after another, the young thumped and thudded into the eastern side of the caves but well inside the safe territory.
"Those guys are a blast…" Kouta noted, seeing them playing around.
"Something's off…" Mana mumbled. Despite her lowered tone, the Jugo was perfectly able to hear her here deep down. "They're playing way too close to home, usually bunnies are the first to explore and challenge the boundaries of the rabbit territory. They're also frightened… We need to see Zoku-chan."
Mana closed her eyes, letting her chakra sensory do the guiding. Eyes were only useful this down to a very low extent, up to the limit where one's perception with the aid of the limited illumination rabbits offered their own society could take. Chakra sensory seemed a godsend in such a place where one could have just closed their eyes, concentrated and found the person they needed in a bustling society of rabbits, all of whom were way too happy to see Mana back.
"Ey, ye little hatchlin'!" Usuzoku spoke up once Mana entered the spherical rock structure that reminded of a wasp hive in shape. One of the thousands that littered the entire caves beyond where an eye could follow and even that same distance up. The rabbits' society had grown in size since the last time Mana was there.
"I suppose it was rude of me to not let you know how it all went, wasn't it?" Mana bowed with apologetic feelings on her face. "Then again, I am still very new to the summoner-animal world I have trodden into. I sort of forgot that you went away before my fight with Stea concluded…"
"Yeah… Ya know, ya coulda asked me to summon ya here again…" the rabbit grunted before letting his eyes size Kouta up. "Dis yer mate?"
"In a manner of speaking…" Mana exclaimed while rubbing her elbow shyly. "I figured you'd be unable to summon multiple targets, especially since Kouta isn't a contracted party."
"Yeah, if yer bringin' company de rules change…" Usuzoku nodded before sighing and examining Kouta from up close, the boy looked tensed up and rather worried about the affair. Had the meeting transpired in a brighter environment, the rabbit's cute appearance would have soothed his stress. "Small but strong… A good mate…" he concluded.
"All that aside." Mana raised her voice slightly to do her best and move past that embarrassing topic. "I came here to live up to my word and bring you guys to a better home. I'm also pretty free of any engagements with the village for a while so I'll be training here for the time being as well."
"Aight." Usuzoku nodded before hopping to his sword that laid placed by a fireplace. "Ye couldn' 'a came at a better time for dat." The rabbit left it in the air ominously.
