The Konoha Hospital looked much calmer at this time of day and this particular point in time. Mana had little time to research any news or petty rumors floating around but it appeared that Konoha had relatively good political relationship with every functioning ninja village and no Feudal Lord felt like screwing up the other making the four old and rich men function almost like a small shogi club of aged gentlemen.
While there was an occasional youth injured on a mission or a victim of an accident waiting to be treated in the corridors, usually Mana was used to seeing a lot grimmer sights. Ones of mothers and other family members crying, either that or sitting and contemplating the events in silence and emotional moderation. Still struggling to comprehend the ramifications of whatever event ruined the family’s day. It wasn’t too long ago that Mana herself suffered through such a nervous night…
“Maybe I should’ve waited around outside? I’m sure that Eiju is most likely poisoning himself, in one way or the other, still…” the magician thought to herself as she took an illogically long path to the floor she needed to reach. Mana did not simply ascend the eastern wing staircase, she ascended one floor and then entered it, passing all the way to the western wing staircase and then ascending higher. It was just her way of getting accustomed to her home village and seeing which sections of the hospital were having a busy day.
It was odd how Mana used to actively avoid and dislike seeing Eiju right after the Quack abused her heroic personality for his own gain. While the magician didn’t directly blame the rehabilitated medical ninja she still got a bitter throat full of sadness every time she saw him. Now she was actually seeking for the old companion. She figured that Eiju would understand and only bother with the most necessary tests when all the cards would be put openly on the table. Even faking a protocol check-up by filling up documents out of facts extracted from the clouds wouldn’t have been too much for a bored ex-Quack.
“Wow, what have you done with your hair?” a familiar snark-filled voice reached Mana’s ears making the magician grin and close her eyes before turning around and facing the old acquaintance. Unexpectedly enough, Eiju was not popping pills or smoking anything, in fact his eyes and face looked clear enough to suggest a lack of any poison having been used or taken by the young man.
“Nothing, really” Mana stroke her hair knowing that it was her past companion’s way of complimenting.
“Yeah, I can see that… I believe that’s the problem… Not that you would be troubled by having a mouth full of your hairy self when you fight” Eiju popped some pills out from his coat’s pocket. Mana had hoped that together with his much tidier hair, his freshly shaved face and visibly more athletic build the rehabilitated Quack had adopted a more healthy style of life but maybe it was a hopeless expectation.
“So… Still racing your sickness as to who kills you faster?” Mana tried to return her friend’s offensive snark, or at least, one that would’ve been offensive had the magician still lacked her chakra control and by extension the ability to fight on the ninja level.
“Nah, lovely, these are supposed to slow that bugger down. I think that qualifies as the exact opposite” he explained showing the much more legit looking container of pills that even had the prescription on them. Before the young man just held his medication in pretty much anywhere he could place it.
Mana hugged her old acquaintance which greatly surprised him. “It’s good to see you having grown to be a responsible adult…”
Eiju began tapping his right foot impatiently until the magician let go of him and then he eerily squinted at her. “I was just about to make a sly remark about your smell but… After that expression of fondness I suppose I’d be a rude cunt if I did. Still, I’ll allow myself the luxury to ask if there’s a point to your visit to this particular floor of the Konoha Hospital this uneventful fine noon?”
“Actually I was hoping you could validate that fine coat of yours and do the examination on my chakra network, I’m looking to get my licence back” Mana smiled enjoying every moment of the medical ninja’s shifting expression. Last time she met Eiju she noted that the medical ninja did feel some semblance of blame for what happened to Mana and did feel bad about her predicament. That may have been why he was eager to continuously slowly kill himself abusing his access to hospital’s medication.
“Wait… You… It came back?” Eiju actually laughed out in surprise.
“I fail to see what’s so surprising, didn’t you say it often happens after a certain amount of time?” Mana tried to cheek her old friend and drag his past guilt through the gutter.
“Well… I mean… If it does, it usually happens within a week or two but… In your case I was certain it wouldn’t” Eiju scratched the back of his head, “I mean I still didn’t have a chance to do a proper exam after your chakra network stitched itself together after the tearing you gave it, lovely, but… I suppose that much I can do right now”
Mana thankfully nodded and followed her friend a couple of floors down to what appeared to be his actual office.
“I hope you won’t feel bad if I skim through it and not bat an extra eye? I really am not one for procedure and it’s just your life that’s at stake?” Eiju jokingly winked at Mana before gesturing for her to lie down.
“Frankly, I would’ve been offended if you didn’t swerve a few ethical lines for me…” Mana replied. Seeing someone of her old friend helped her mood a great deal, she could only imagine what actually returning to her casual life and seeing her parents would do.
“Okay, lovely, take your clothes off…” Eiju said.
“I’m not that dumb… I’ve had my network examined before but I can’t rely on that person to write the check-up because technically he’s not yet a graduated medical ninja” Mana laughed out.
“Didn’t hurt to give it a shot…” the medical ninja shrugged.
“Are things with Kiyomi so bad you’re asking other girls to take their clothes off now?” the magician found a potential topic for a conversation while her network was being checked. Mana had hoped to talk to the Yamanaka herself but Eiju clearly had more experience with relationship, to the ex-Quack it came so naturally and it was so casual that there may not have been a better person to ask.
“Nah, it’s the phase where we’re never seeing each other again for eternity to come. It was like that for two weeks now, I’m surprised one of us hasn’t apologized and made up yet” the blond youth replied. While he tried to portray a rather casual tone Mana felt his voice getting a bit more serious, it was odd seeing Eiju, of all people, getting his mind and body invested into a single relationship instead of weaving entire webs of them. The ex-Quack just reminded Mana of a master web-spinner…
“Well… That’s a pity, I wanted to talk to her about something, figured you’d know where to find her or maybe you’d be able to help with it yourself?” the right side of Mana’s mouth slid down diagonally in a disappointed stretch of lips.
“Oh… Judging by the brought up topic - has the precious little Mana finally discovered love?” Eiju stopped the procedure just to look his friend in the eyes as he asked the question as the answer to that question was just that ground shaking to him.
“Could you not interrupt that? I’ve been told by the medical ninja on our team that interrupting a check requires a complete redo…” Mana objected just trying to stall before she gathered the inner strength needed to admit that she may have actually been into someone.
“Well if that bloke is such an authority on your medical knowledge, you should just marry him…” Eiju tried to act angry as he resumed his work. For a moment an uneasy silence loomed over the room before the blonde finished his check up and stared at Mana’s uneasy and crimson blushed face.
“That’s… Kind of the plan… Somewhere down the line…” she uttered.
“I see the condition of the great problem Nakotsumi Mana can’t solve, I still don’t see the actual problem…” Eiju reset his check-up for the second time still cringing, “I mean… Unless it’s… It isn’t some… Projection thing, is it?” he lifted an eyebrow trying to suggest a much deeper psychological connection between Mana having peeked into another medical ninja.
“You know it’s not…” Mana’s embarrassment over the matter was changed into a somewhat demeaning, in a more friendly way, retort. “While Kiyomi may be into that “bad boy” thing, I’m not” she added.
“Trust me, lovely, no girl is immune to a bad boy…” Eiju casually let out while still feeling the response of Mana’s chakra system. Like a bat the young medical ninja emitted a weak shock of chakra that was supposed to be reflected by Mana’s own chakra emitting a backlash pulse. Feeling the nature and frequency of that pulse and recording it was of great importance and enhanced ninja perception was needed to fix on even the smallest changes from the norm.
“Well… You see, the problem is… I was wondering if I can balance all of my lives. It already isn’t easy being a ninja and a successful stage magician at the same time, if I add being a good girlfriend to the mix… I’m not sure I can be all those things” Mana put her concerns into feelings. Eiju was just giving so few shits in any given conversation that he was much easier to talk to about sensitive matters. He attached no stigma and felt no particular way about anything which made him perhaps a better person to ask such a question than Kiyomi. Plus, having in mind that the Yamanaka and Eiju were on a break, it was quite likely that Kiyomi would’ve given a loaded answer.
“Sure, it can be done… No matter how many lives you live, relationship doesn’t get in the way of any of it” Eiju answered nonchalantly like an axe cutting down a young linden.
“Just like that? Sounds a little bit too easy and made-up…” Mana laughed out softly in disbelief.
“Well, I may not quite relate to your problem, I’m not the overthinking kind, lovely. Can you blame me for making it up? You really need to get laid, lovely” the medical ninja sighed after he pulled his hands off of Mana and turned off his technique used to scan her network. Eiju then kicked off and rolled to the table with his chair beginning to scribble something down in the document he had on his table.
Mana continued to look at him with a bit confused eyes that clearly portrayed how totally unhelpful that reply was. Upon slightly peeking at the infinite confusion in his friend’s eyes Eiju sighed and turned his attention back at her.
“Look, this whole relationship thing isn’t even remotely this magical experience you make it out to be. It’s pretty much as casual as changing your bloody socks. The blondie-clan-princess pretty much ends things between us every other Thursday. Relationship is a compatibility check, a lot of flipped coins need to land the right way for it to go right and you’re bound to make some very bad calls. Stop giving it meaning, stop making it seem like it means anything more than it does. Just go for it, see how the coin lands and then decide if that’s fine with you” Eiju explained with much more truthfulness and fantastically less sarcasm behind his voice and tone.
“I see…” Mana turned her eyes away, while Eiju’s answer provided clarity it pretty much burst the bubble she had blown up. To Mana love really was something special, something greater than anything else and something that was supposed to push every other thing she thought meaningful out from her life instantly making them all meaningless in its infinite and exalted presence. As usual, finding a simple and experienced answer to any given question made the whole thing much more boring and casual.
“That’s as much as I can give you with all of my invaluable experience, you need to live your damned life, lovely, if you don’t “ what’s the point of bloody anything? Saving lives of a classroom of kids won’t mean jack squat if you can’t listen to them laugh for one bloody second and enjoy it” Eiju turned back at the piece of paper and scribbled something with much more nerve and even less shits given. After that the medical ninja just stood up and fixed his coat and his shirt collar before nodding at Mana.
“You don’t need to trouble yourself, lovely, we’ll send this right to Lady Fifth” he confirmed, “It looks like you’re back from… Something. So go home and have some rest… Also, by bloody god, cut your hair and just burn these clothes”
Mana laughed out softly before giving her old friend one last hug and waving farewell as she left his office leaving Eiju sitting in his chair. The magician then rushed through the floors of the hospital without seeing the endless wards and countless people waiting in the queue to see a medical ninja passing her by. She was in a whole different dimension mentally.
This whole time Mana kept on making excuses as to why she couldn’t date Kouta, why she couldn’t do anything she wanted or even remotely feared. Again and again she was told that those excuses were dumb and meaningless and a lot of Mana’s problems would actually be made easier by the presence of a certain someone she could actually fall in love with. Now when someone with such profound experience in the matter confirmed it Mana had decided for the one and final time “ she’s going to do it.
She’s going to be a great ninja “ training and meditating like she has never done before but also knowing her limits so her body never breaks like it did before. She’ll be just as great at stage magic as she was before, she’ll expand her own fame by upping the ante with each successive show. When Mana had lost her chakra control and decided to focus on being simply a stage magician she was reckless and constantly played with death, she’ll keep on doing that a hundred times more intensely but this time with purpose and no subconscious desire whatsoever to perish or get hurt.
She’ll also be a good daughter. She’ll work with her father on more extravagant and sophisticated trap constructs for her to escape on stage fuelling his inner trapster he once was. Mana will also do her best to be honest with her mother, the poor woman had enough pressure on her hands as a manager of a small but popular café to also worry her head about her daughter’s little secrets.
Despite the still lingering and bitter as ever grief that Shimo died before he could see Mana bloom again, the magician did just that. Despite all the fighting the two did shortly before he was killed they always supported each other and each knew that the other felt that way. Shimo was always ready to take the blame for Mana’s bad calls and he was always ready to say just what needed to be said, he was always there when Mana needed someone to restrain her wild and infinite need to help everyone around her in a way that made her not lose purpose. He always brought her light while at the same time channeling the one Mana shined.
The magician heard the whole house rumble from the disbelief in her parents’ faces when their little girl finally rushed home through the main door. Father leaped straight out of his armchair so strongly that the whole damned thing almost flipped up. While the girl leaped straight into his father’s arms she just wished that her mother wasn’t working at this moment and could be here to greet her. It would’ve made this return that much more exciting and fulfilling.
It was surprising to feel father’s hands wrap around her. They weren’t soft or controlled movements as his arms were still shaking and very rude in their movements but they appeared to not even pain her father even remotely.
“There’s so much I need to catch up on…” she noted, father noticed that Mana was looking at his arms when she said it.
“I found some new herbs that really help with the pain… Welcome home!” he shouted out hugging Mana again so hard that the magician released her scared bodily augmentations that raised her endurance thinking that a bear may have caught her and tried to snuggle all life from her body. The girl wished to feel her father’s affection in its entirety so she purposefully kept her chakra away from enforcing her body even if it meant going through a little pain and suffocating a bit.
As much as the magician wanted to postpone telling her father about the mission and how her chakra came back and everything about what she sacrificed and what she experienced and what she lost… Her father was just too persistent to hear it immediately. There were some things like meeting Kouta that Mana wanted to keep on telling again and again to as many people as possible but there were some, like losing Shimo, that she only wanted to talk about once and only to people that really needed to hear it.
For the second time that day the girl went through everything she and her team had experienced through the past months. She saw emotions shifting through her father’s face every step of the way and once it was clear that Mana took the heavy mantle of being the leader in the mission he immediately understood what made his girl’s eyes so sad at times and why her head sunk from being so heavy on her shoulders at other times. He was a Chuunin before the accident, he knew what it was like to lead and he understood the toughness of making a choice. He also got visibly angry whenever the magician told him for Kusagoro and how he changed from hindering their trip to finally having a decisive role in saving them. While it was clear that her father disagreed with some choices that Mana had made but it was so exciting so see someone live through the same adventure she just went through.
“Just wait ‘till your mother hears of this… Especially about that Kouta guy…” father smiled, “You think fathers are tough on boyfriends? Just you wait…” the man joked and father and his daughter shared a laugh after just being reunited after a long time. Mana jumped at her father wrapping her hands around his neck and pressing her head against his for the longest time until she got over how much she had missed the man and her home. Usually the magician was not one for affection, she rarely expressed it so openly, being rather much more reserved about it.
There was just something in losing someone so close that made one careful to never let anyone pass on without knowing how much they loved them…
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