The troubled eyes of a mother stared into a specific point in the ceiling. It was so concentrated and worried that to the woman it almost seemed like she could peek through it and into the room of her daughter. The young lady hasn’t been eating or drinking, she hasn’t done much sleeping either since she returned from the mission. Nakotsumi Kei tried questioning the girl but she barely even spoke, the mother tried talking to some people in the administration who confirmed that the mission was indeed successful and completed despite colossal complications with the mission objective that, if known, may have even bumped the mission difficulty by a whole rank.
Both parents of the young magician were troubled by the girl’s refusal to talk, over the couple of days she spent just laying on her bed in her room she had never trained or meditated. That was something new and probably what raised the most concerns. Skipping a meal or two or having one or more sleepless nights was nothing unusual for young Mana but completely halting all training and not meditating even for a moment… Didn’t the girl once look so happy after explaining how her meditation worked? Did her eyes not shine in that same childish glee while explaining the stages of her meditation like it did when they first introduced little Mana to strawberry ice cream? She went on and on about how it made her aware of any problems in her body and made her one with herself, completely familiar with all that was happening inside of her…
It almost felt to the woman like her daughter has given up, maybe something happened during the mission? That much was obvious but what exactly could’ve crippled that noble yet unhealthy obsession with doing good and changing the world that Mana had? How could someone so obsessive and so kind just give up? Millions of possible explanations went through the head of the worried mother, from Mana failing to save someone during the mission to finding out that she had a sickness of some sort inside during one of her meditation sessions.
The more she thought about it the more the woman returned to the idea that maybe her daughter knew exactly what was wrong with her body which was why she didn’t meditate at all. Maybe she was even afraid to confront that problem, afraid to see it again, what could’ve been so scary as to cripple such an idealistic and naïve child? Over her still quite short life Mana saw plenty, she struggled for her life several times, she fought her best friends and saw them leave the village, she blamed herself so often for things that may not have always been up to her to decide and influence in the first place… Yet she always stood back up and went on. The girl was completely broken now.
Quiet and slow footsteps echoed through the house, slight remnants of the continuous sound of small feet tapping against the wood reached Kei’s ear and soon Mana showed herself after a long while in the kitchen. It was strange, the girl really did look tired and like she’d have just lied in that bed for days without even moving “ her hair was all over the place and her face was a bit swollen from the tears but it was evident that some attempt at fixing herself was made over the days. The girl did apparently shower, as proven by an absence of nose crushing body odor most outbreaks of self-neglect produce and there were some marks on her hair that suggested at the very least attempts at restraining the monster that was bed hair.
“Where’s dad?” Mana asked softly, she looked exhausted and despite her doing nothing but resting this whole time she still sounded tired.
“He’s out, something about those new herbs that are supposed to help his pain. He wanted to see you, he said that this new medicine, some potion or something is really helping him and he wanted to help you out with your shows more now but… You just shut inside your room and…” the girl’s mother tried to approach the problem from multiple corners but she didn’t know how to go about it. It was obvious that her child was suffering inside and she wanted to help without ruining it all or making it even worse.
“Oh… Yeah, I’ll probably cancel all shows… Not sure about that anymore… Maybe I’ll host more of them now that… Still figuring it out” Mana’s voice wandered from one extreme to the other. It was clear that the girl herself knew how dumb canceling her shows would’ve been but it was clear from the lack of emotional attachment to the statement that she had given that concept a lot of thought.
“What happened in that mission? I mean so much happened, that hostage kid was returned to the family but now the father wants to disown him or something, this Kiyomi girl came a couple of times but when I told her how you were she left, she said she was just following some advice or something… Then this new medical ninja that the village took in, some Eiju fellow came and he gave some paper that apparently classifies you as suffering battlefield injury and temporarily suspended… What happened?” Kei asked having decided to not fool around and just ask the things she wanted to know.
“So everyone was fine? Kiyomi was OK? I see Eiju was accepted as a medical ninja, he wanted nothing more than to legitimize…” Mana asked, the mother nodded, she hoped that maybe the magician would be willing to admit what happened in exchange to some information.
“Yes, Kiyomi looked fine, she had some bandages and band-aids but she said she was fine when we asked. She was mostly concerned about how you were doing which was weird because you returned without as much as a scratch…” the woman replied.
“Oh, so that’s good then. I’ll be leaving for a moment, I’ll fix myself and… I just need to see someone… Hopefully I’ll figure some things out on the way” Mana continued to talk in vague terms, noticing the worried look of her mother she tried to force a calming smile but somehow it just didn’t work for her.
“It’s alright, I… My chakra network got messed up and I can’t… You know, do anything now. I’m pretty much just a civilian from now on so I’m trying to… I don’t even know. I need to see Hanada-san and tell him that I’m cancelling my shows, he’s not paying my rent anymore but he’s still investing a lot of money into them…” Mana declared and she rushed to the shower. Just mere moments later the brief glimpse of the girl was caught again as she ran to the door and rushed off.
Something worried the woman about her child. She didn’t wear her uniform, choosing to go for a more comfortable and casual attire, she wore those weird purple shades and a hoodie almost like she tried to avoid attention.
Mana rushed through the streets of Konoha, as much as she wanted to avoid any attention from any of the other villagers a running person would attract a lot of it. Still, while people did look at her general direction they only noticed a shady looking teenager rushing through the street with a trashy leather jacket and a hoodie with half of her face being covered with those weird and oversized purple shades. While the magician was quite famous in the village, she was usually identified through her unusual clothing or her facial features, people did identify some weird girl running down the street but they couldn’t really put their fingers on who exactly she was.
It didn’t take too long for Mana to reach the Hanada estate. She hadn’t really visited that place for a while, at some point she just asked the owner of the hall where she performed for Hanada’s money to stop being accepted and started paying for the hall rent herself. She just felt like after that last visit she offended the man too much for her to still accept his money and after several refused payments the man seemed to get the clue. He still spent a lot of money promoting Mana as if she was his brand or something, he still invested a lot into the show but it was more through anonymous donations and gently asking reviewers and for the general public to be kinder towards the show.
Not that she really needed that soft nudge towards the public opinion, whenever Mana appeared on stage she was amazing, still as devoted and masterful towards her craft as she was when she started, even as new magicians started appearing in the village, Mana still proved time and time again why she was the original. Each new street magician trying to break into the scene would’ve had to struggle with Mana’s petite and slim yet important shadow serving as a barrier they’d need to at least match up to.
“Oh, hey, it’s Konoha’s Sorceress!” the familiar guard still guarding the gates of the Hanada estate recognized Mana once she walked up to the gate and removed her hood and her shades. “What’s with the stupid getup? You getting into the racketeering business… Which I would know nothing about…” the mercenary looked a bit confused by the girl’s attire. His emotions were rather easy to follow, he wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed which was why his emotional reactions were always overblown.
“No. I’m leaving the magic gig behind and I want to tell Hanada-san about it so that he stops wasting his money on me. Can I see him or will you deliver it yourself? I’d reckon he wouldn’t like to see me that much after the last time…” Mana said answering her own question and turning around as if she was ready to go away.
“Whoa, whoa, you’re quitting?! No way! Nah, kid, you gotta talk to Hanada about that, he brags about knowing you to everyone he meets, every new business associate, you gotta see him with that!” the mercenary reached over Mana’s shoulder and gently pushed her inside through the gate, gesturing for his pal to stand guard while he lead the magician into the huge mansion.
The mercenary asked for Mana to stay and disappeared in the labyrinths of the estate made of solid marble and filled with larger than life busts, statues and paintings. The girl wondered about the story of each one, how much blood should’ve been on each of them? Were they obtained by the owner buying them by bullying his competitor to withdraw from the auction or by simply removing them from the picture? The news and rumors spoke a lot about Hanada Katsuo’s methods but not all of them could’ve been trustworthy, as slimy as Katsuo was…
“Ah! Konoha’s Sorceress… I am glad to see you here, despite your apparent shyness towards me. I assure you I hold no grudge from last time, I went out of my shoes to offend you then and I’d apologize if you and your friends hadn’t made me pay for that social transgression…” Hanada’s expensively dressed body combined with that silly feminine hairdo appeared from a room to the east of Mana’s position. The girl turned at him and scratched her elbow in shyness, she didn’t really want to be there but she had to. She felt obliged to tell the man she was quitting.
“Sorry, I… I didn’t intend to even see you I just… I wanted to tell you I was stopping the whole Sorceress gig, no more magic for me…” Mana mumbled out like a teenager getting caught in the process of escaping with their parents’ car.
“Well that is quite sudden and a very life altering decision for you. I am glad you gave me a chance to talk you out of it!” Hanada smiled extending his arms to the sides as if he offered the girl a hug but Mana was smarter than to hug the king of Konoha’s shady underworld.
Mana tried to jumble out some excuse as to why she couldn’t be there but Hanada was much more persistent than she gave him credit for and also, now that her chakra control was off forever “ quite significantly stronger than her physically. Mana honestly expected that after that last meeting the man would just make her disappear or something and pin it on the dangerous neighborhood which, truth be told, was only dangerous because he was there to make it so…
“Now, I realize there must be a reason for this incredibly spontaneous and, quite frankly, stupid decision? Before I talk you out of it I’d like to hear it!” Hanada smiled with that despicable way of twisting his lips and showing off those expensive teeth of his.
“There isn’t one, I struggled with combining my life as a ninja and a magician for long, I just can’t do it anymore… Things complicated a bit and I have to give one up now” Mana mumbled out trying to hide her eyes from those of her conversant. Ever since she lost her chakra control she felt really down and even more inferior to everyone else than usual. This success killed her inside more than any sort of failure would have.
“Hmmm, you see, normally I’d believe you… I mean I heard all about your success with that infamous last mission of yours. That mission removed “Ikiro Perfume” successor from the equation making it possible for me to buy the darned thing and place myself in the kid’s place. Right now, everything you do makes me more money than you could imagine, every good deed of yours looks even more golden in my eyes. You saved a troubled and edgy young boy who decided that he’s the next criminal overlord of the village “ his father removes him from the line of succession… Surely you’ll let me repay that favor for earning me the entry into the perfume business by saving you from making this horrible decision?” Hanada smiled
“I mean… I suppose this rash move has more to do with you losing your chakra control?” Hanada looked at Mana with the most petrifying eyes the girl had ever seen. So he knew of her injury? He knew everything the whole time? That made Mana’s presence in his household incredibly dangerous and the only reason why Mana showed none of that inner fear that was rustling deep inside of her like a starting forest fire, was because she currently cared little if she lived or disappeared without a trace with her unrecognizable body being found in the trash in some alleyway like most people who crossed Hanada.
The man shrugged being cornered by Mana’s suspicious stare, “I apologize, it’s just I own the clinic that owns that medical ninja you’ve brought back, he was examined and questioned about his practice multiple times and… Some information like that slipped…”
So now Hanada owned the clinic that had in its employment the medical ninja who knew the medical kinjutsu capable of breathing life into people? The more she talked with this man, the worse the magician felt about the whole thing.
“I’m sorry, I really shouldn’t be here. I’m thankful about all you’ve done for me, Hanada-san, however I’d like to stop now, stop with everything and if you truly wish to repay me as you’ve told me you do, you’ll understand and let me just fade away…” Mana mumbled out, still hesitant to look the man in the eyes. Hanada’s hand gently lifted her chin making the girl’s messy hair slip to the sides and her eyes look into his again. Every moment of contacting the skin of this horrible man made Mana wish to scream and claw her own flesh that touched him off.
“I understand, young Mana… If that is truly your will then so be it, however, just as you asked me to respect your decision, I’d like to ask you to consider what I’ll tell you. You tell everyone in your shows again and again how you want to be a hero, several times you’ve told in those brief interviews and when meeting the fans how you wish to inspire people so that they change the violent and bloodthirsty world we live in and magic is a way of expressing that. I understand that losing chakra manipulation crippled you, destroyed your self-confidence and any semblance of self-worth you had. Still, I must wonder where that devotion to your dream went, after all, there are more ways than one in being a hero. Your mother doesn’t fight bandits in the forests, she owns a small lovely café she refuses to sell me, she is a hero, Mana, she inspires people and I think you’d agree she’s a hero for everything she does for you and her clients…”
Mana nodded, “Yes, she is a hero she always hears everyone’s stories over coffee, everyone’s problems and no matter how much I screw everything up she never gives up on me…” she added indifferently thinking back on her mother who must have been worried about staying in the dark for so long about what was going on in Mana’s heart, even if the girl wanted to admit about everything but somehow she was just too distressed to talk about it, every word had to be forced out of her at that moment and it wasn’t the best time for that kind of talk.
“Well then, I still see that same passion in your eyes that I’ve seen in the eyes of a young girl in a flowery dress performing tricks on a cardboard box out in the street, she inspired many people despite not having punched a single bandit in the face and not spitting a single fireball out of her mouth. Just because you could fight evil physically doesn’t mean that was all you could do. Your stage magic is the most powerful tool of your conviction, always was, I was never too big of a fan of your little ninja escapades anyways, I think it distracted from your main message… Please consider my words, young Mana. Ultimately, while you’re still just a young girl, you’re old enough to decide your own succession of your dream, to decide what you wish to do further…”
Mana bowed for the man, expressing some gratitude and some respect and rushed off. That bastard! He may have been a criminal, a thief within the law which Mana dreamed of having the means of taking down one day after he slipped up and didn’t tie all the loose ends. He may have only spoken about those things because of his own interest, his own need to donate huge sums to Mana’s shows and Hiro’s halls so that he could brag being a sponsor of her show. He may have been just like Eiju was “ helping Mana for his own gain, still, he was right. Mana may have no longer had the gift of the magic of ninjutsu and chakra manipulation but she still had the other, more common kind of magic running in her veins. She was still:
Konoha’s Sorceress…
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