Mana opened her eyes and glared at the ceiling, laying perfectly still on her back. Despite her head resting on Damisan's arm, which undoubtedly would give him a mother of all numb sores when he woke up, Mana's body couldn't have been more relaxed and calm. She felt like a drop of dew, daintily balancing on a blade of grass and threatening to tick down on the ground off its tip, but never quite doing so.
This mission was over and, for once, Mana could hardly get an hour's worth of sleep because of excitement rather than stress. Agbarah had changed so much since Mana was gone, finding the strength within to grab hold of its identity and drag it out to the surface. To find meaning and entertainment not in bloodshed and the trampling of human life but in the art of combat itself. And its future appeared to be even brighter.
It wasn't like Mana was giddy about the concept of the World Sports Games, but she loved what it drew out from Ryoku Genshi and the rest of the athletes, as well as those who would be the witnesses of this celebration of sportsmanship worldwide. Perhaps, in time, more and more places around the world would see the value in sports games and join the example set by Agbarah. That, of course, depended entirely on how successful these games would be. Greed and ambition were the driving force in quite a lot of things, though it didn't always have to be a bad thing.
As long as the outcome was positive and made the world better, Mana found it hard to care if the world leaders were benevolent in their intentions or not.
Mana felt a breeze washing against her naked body. When she went to bed, the scorch of the desert was still making itself clear, so Mana had kicked her cover off in the nocturnal thrashing and unease. Now, both the prospect of shame of being seen like this if she were to slip into a deeper slumber than she's had so far until the later hours of the morning if someone came to check up on her and Damisan in the room, as well as a slight chill covering Mana in shivers made her pull her cover-up and turn over to Damisan while she hid underneath the sheet.
The puppeteer looked groggy and half-asleep. Stuck somewhere in between the daze of slumber and awareness, making weird faces and twitching. Something told Mana that soon enough, he'd wake up and pull back his arm, massaging it to resume the blood flow and alleviate the soreness. She'd probably do it herself. It would be at least one thing she could do for him as opposed to all the things he does for her. Damisan was probably more worked up about Mana's constantly growing leg stump than even Mana was, insisting on constantly measuring it and adjusting the size of her prosthetics. All she had to offer him was her company.
It didn't feel right. Damisan probably felt like Mana had more to offer than that, he must have had his reasons for getting involved with her, but… Somehow, Mana struggled to see what it was he saw in her, of all people. Since the Sky People restored his original body before his undercover mission went awry and he was left to die quartered and disfigured, he could have pursued any woman and they'd have found it hard to say no.
Even though it felt selfish of her, Mana stroked her cheek against Damisan's arm and nuzzled in closer to him, pressing her forehead against his. Wheezing in numbness, Damisan found a compromise between his dislike of the idea of pulling his arm away and resuming the natural blood flow in it by wrapping it around Mana and pulling her in closer. They could both feel each other breathing from being this close. There was no chance that they would last in this pose, but… Neither of them made a move to change a thing.
They just lived and enjoyed the moment for as long as it would last.
"Good, we won't need to check after you. I was worried," Shige-H sighed in relief when Mana and Damisan left their room together only to see the Stars having reassembled. Then again, it was easier for them to regroup when the other three were spending the night in the same room, separately from Mana and Damisan, which, each party involved agreed, was for the best.
"Before we leave, we should see the future Sheikh and check up on him," Damisan suggested. "It would feel rude to leave without seeing how he's holding up, congratulating him and the sort."
"Oh, sure… I'm sure we'll be allowed real close to the most important person alive in the joint," Asuka rolled her eyes.
"I agree, it would be the right thing to do," Shige-H nodded. Given the leader's insistence they left yesterday, as soon as possible, and the fact they had to convince Shige-H not to rush things, Mana was a bit taken aback by how easily Shige-H agreed to spend some more time in Agbarah, even though their mission was already complete. "Ryoku Genshi will become an important figure in the region now. It wouldn't be a bad idea not to hurt his feelings. Besides, if we stick around for a little bit, we might find out how things went for the Kazekage. Their battle with Fennec must be over by now."
"Fennec's goons must have hurt so many innocent people," Damisan gnashed his teeth in frustration. "If only we could go to Sunagakure and help with the relief effort…"
"That's not our mission," Shige-H said with noticeable discomfort while Mana comforted Damisan by gently stroking his back. "Besides, something tells me Sunagakure won't want to see any foreign agents for a while after yesterday's attack."
"Hmph… Those mercs are so weak, that they can only pick on civilians. Disgusting!" Endo expressed his distaste, which sounded somewhat surprising coming from him. Having known the swordsman up to this point, Mana would've been sure he'd express his distaste for the weakness of Sunagakure and blame the victims for being exposed long enough to be attacked in the first place. Maybe Endo really had matured somewhat after getting to meet some other people and know them as clients and allies rather than enemies or lowly chonin to test the integrity and sharpness of his blade against?
"Ah!" a loud exclamation made everyone stiffen and turn around, directing their attention toward a lone, patched-up, and wearing shoddy and battered prosthetics young man. "I made it! You guys hadn't left yet!"
"What are you doing, you buffoon?" Damisan scolded the athlete. "You should have stayed in bed! We were going to come visit you in the infirmary!"
"Sorry, everyone…" Genshi snickered with a smile that was missing a few teeth. Together with plentiful wrappings of bandages crisscrossed all over his body and wrapped even over Genshi's eyes, as well as his worn and damaged prosthetics that had only a fraction of the articulation they once offered, the athlete made for quite a miserable-looking future Sheikh. "I was so worried you'd rush back and leave without saying goodbye and giving me a chance to… To tell you all…"
Through the stuttering movement of his prosthetic limbs, Genshi collapsed on the floor and pressed his head against it. "THANK YOU, STARS!" the voice of the young man was becoming shaky, and the bandages wrapped over his blinded eyes were becoming soaked with tears, with occasional droplets squeezing their way through the damp sheets. When Genshi picked himself back up and looked at the Allied Ninja, who had helped him realize his life's dream, he couldn't keep back his uncontrollable weeping and drooling. "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!"
"Don't get the wrong idea, cripple," Endo turned his head away in disgust at the wet works. "We only backed you because you were the only guy we could nab. Besides, Damisan kind of got us off to a questionable start by backing you first. It would've been irrational to abandon our support after having helped you already."
"Would it hurt you not to shake off what little credit you're getting?" Mana nudged Endo on the elbow. "Besides, that's a gambler's fallacy…"
"You should stop groveling," Damisan said plainly. "You're gonna be a Sheikh now, man."
"Damisan-san…" Ryoku Genshi stood up, rubbing his busted-up prosthetics against his tearful eyes and doing a less-than-adequate job at keeping himself together. "How can I even begin to repay the favor? After that battle royale performance, I… I thought I was as good as dead…"
"That's because you're too stubborn," Damisan crossed his arms, looking more frustrated than proud of his protégé. "That's why I can't accept too much credit. If you didn't insist on facing off against a samurai while missing an arm and a leg and being blind and almost deaf, I don't know if I'd have kicked myself in the ass hard enough to keep you from getting yourself killed. Even when I offered you a fighting chance, you went above and beyond, putting your neck on the line every time. When I just wanted to keep you alive in defeat, you bet your life on victory every time. So keep your gratitude, Genshi, you believed in yourself far more than I ever did, and that's why you've won."
"Mhm," Mana nodded with a warm smile. "And don't you dare ever stop believing in yourself or give up on yourself. You've given sports and athletes everything, you've sacrificed pounds of your own flesh for sports, it's about time you do what makes you happy too."
"Come on," Damisan approached Ryoku Genshi and raised him on his feet and off his knees. "Let's go find a workshop and let me build you a proper pair of arms and legs. Don't let the folks see their future Sheikh walking around with those busted old things."
Endo and Asuka glared at Shige-H, as if questioning if their squad leader should allow this diversion, but Shige-H merely pushed herself into motion and followed the pair. "Come on," she instructed the rest of the squad. "Let's not fall too far behind so that we don't have to waste any more time regrouping."
After wandering around the town for a bit, the Stars and the future Sheikh of Agbarah found themselves a wooden workshop and invited themselves in. Even though it would have been a long shot under normal circumstances, after seeing Damisan dragging around the future Sheikh of Agbarah and the Allied Ninja explaining to the workshop's owner their purpose of coming to his store, the balding and stout man moved aside, and led them back deeper into his workshop where countless unfinished projects laid scattered across tables and floors or boxed and placed further away in the room.
Not wanting the job to take the entire day, Damisan unsealed a handful of his old fighting puppets and removed their limbs, instead of building entirely new prosthetics, the puppeteer instead updated his old projects by coating them with new materials and improving their design since the days of his youth when Damisan cared more about the deadliness of his puppets than their design or myriads of impractical for a ninja puppet functions.
"There you go. They're armed with concealed blades and have bolt launchers. I've removed the poison gas compartments, so the blades and bolts won't be poisoned," Damisan pushed the finished prosthetics to the edge of the table, showing them off to Genshi. "I wanted you to keep some weaponry for self-defense purposes, but keeping the poison sounded dangerous and improper for a Sheikh. I'll leave some blueprints for some of the old functions and parts I've installed in your past prosthetics and suits of armor. Any workshop owner should be able to commission them for you, given enough time. Sadly, I don't think we have the time for me to install all of it…"
Uncomfortable silence filled the workshop backroom as everyone realized it was time to say goodbye. With most of his upper face bandaged, it was normally difficult to say what Ryoku Genshi was thinking or feeling, but now, his lower face was shaking and stretched a long way down. Weeping, the athlete bit his lower lip to restrain a breakthrough stream of tears.
"Thank you, Damisan-san! I graciously accept them!" Ryoku Genshi yelled out with a formal bow, picking the prosthetic limbs off the table like a feudal lord, accepting the servitude of a swordsman, and replacing his old and worn-out parts, leaving them for the old workshop owner to strip for useful parts and scrap. "I won't forget your kindness and hard work! Needless to say, all of you will always be guests of honor in Agbarah!"
"Oh, is that so?" Endo smirked. "I've actually come to like this place. I wouldn't mind fighting my way to the top in the arena after I get sick of ninja work."
By the time the sorry and sluggish farewells reached the streets of Agbarah and the Sheikh, along with the party of Allied Ninja, proceeded toward the gate of the Sheikhate to head out back home east, across the entire continent, little by little, an entire crowd formed behind them. It was the sight of the Sheikh's successor that piqued the interest of the Agbarahans, but it was the sight of the familiar Allied Ninja being seen off on their trip that made them drop their morning routine and gather to see them off. Before long, guards and palace officials have all gathered and shuffled into the crowd, alongside the Salvari and other local arena fighters to see the Allied Ninja, who have done Agbarah a great service off.
"Until we see each other again, Stars!" Genshi waved his hand farewell, wearing an expression that was colored by both cheer and sadness. "I will never forget you! Come back and visit some other time!"
"Take care of yourselves!" Damisan waved his hand, unable to drop his massive smile and looking more content with himself and the good work they did here than Mana had ever seen him before.
"Bye!" Mana exclaimed, jumping up and turning around to wave farewell, inspired by the emotional farewell to let her emotions run free as well. "Thanks for letting us in, thanks for everything!"
Tendrils of shadows extended past the pockets of black taint, naturally infesting the dark and moist underground facility of the top secret organization that dared not utter its own name and acted as the Black Ops branch of the village's Black Ops itself. The shadowy strands converged into a singular pass from which a humanoid shadow construct emerged. The outermost ink-like layer of shadows broke with the black ooze watering down and revealed a pale young man with a black, shoulder-long side shave cut and eyes sunken in a blotch of dark eye shadow.
"Sir, ma'am!" the gothic shinobi, dressed in an ash-gray shirt and a gray flak jacket, reported, remaining on his knees.
"Skaven, isn't it?" an old man with a bushy mustache, dressed in a bowler hat and a brown overcoat, turned to the underground ninja. The elder's facial features looked grandfatherly and, undoubtedly, he could look soft and friendly, but those same facial features were now sharp and edgy. Strict and uninviting. "You wanted to speak to us, so I've heard…"
"Thank you for finding the time, Sir, Ma'am!" Skaven addressed the duo of geezers he wouldn't dare lift his head or get off his knees in the presence of. "I wanted to request that you appoint me to oversee the safety of Nakotsumi Mana again."
"The Konoha's Sorceress? Ah, that's right, she's unquestionably an asset this village owes a great debt to. Where were we on that?" the old man in a bowler hat turned to his fellow officer in the underground ninja organization.
"We currently have no eyes on Konoha's Sorceress," the elderly woman in an overcoat replied. "We've assigned Skaven as an undercover operative to oversee her safety while keeping his identity and affiliations a secret, but our little secret became revealed and we pulled Skaven out."
"Ah, unfortunate, however, we cannot ensure Konoha Sorceress' safety unless we have someone watching over her. While she's working with the Allied Ninja, she's outside our immediate reach of influence. We must therefore make a decision, whether we consider our debt repaid and cut her loose, or if we continue to have eyes on her and keep her protected to the best of our ability," the elderly man in an overcoat insisted, tapping the back of his walking cane to the old and moist steps.
"We may yet have use for her. Besides, we've invested too many resources into taking care of her. It wouldn't be wise to cut her loose now," the elderly female operative known only by the codename of "the Lady" replied. "However, how exactly do you intend to proceed, Skaven? It's not like the Konoha's Sorceress will let us protect her out in the open with our people out in the open…"
"I believe Mana will work with me, even if she knows my affiliation with the village's underground," Skaven replied. "That is because we were more than just comrades back on the Allied Ninja, we were… Friends."
"Friends. Is that so?" the old man chuckled to himself, looking amused. "In that case, we are fortunate to have formed such a bond with young Mana. What do you think, Lady? Do we have any immediate tasks that require Skaven's expertise at the moment?"
"Not right now, no," Lady shook her head. "Besides, if we insist on keeping track of Konoha Sorceress, we can afford to send one man after her regardless of our workload. I'd agree that, given Skaven's familiarity with Konoha's Sorceress, he's our best agent for the job of keeping track of that young woman."
"In that case…" the man in the bowler hat pressed the beak of his back down firmly while addressing Skaven with an order that made the kneeling shinobi stiffen up with tension. "Head out to the Allied Ninja Headquarters and do what's necessary to resume your work there as part of the Konoha Sorceress' unit. Your task is to ensure that she is alive and safe, also, that she does not break her deal with our Organization and reveal the secret she's been entrusted to keep."
"Understood!" Skaven exclaimed before disappearing inside a pool of an inky mass of shadows that soon merged with the shadowy corners of the room and disappeared without a trace of having ever been present.
