A heartwarming melody of a song, sadly sung by a less than exemplary singer, broke through the bone chilling embrace of death. Pain equal to that of a bear trap snapping onto her skull worked hand in hand with the overwhelming grace of sunlight peeling Mana’s eyelids open and showering her briefly opened whites with its almighty beauty. A feeling containing all the subtlety and softness of acid being poured into her eyes and working its way through the girl’s nervous system right into her brain. Living often felt worse than dying in the first moments of one’s rebirth, Mana should have known, of all people.
The girl jumped up and covered her body up with the cover she was snugged under. She was in a wooden cabin surrounded by smoked fish and meats, cheeses and homemade apple wine. The old man who was singing as he worked his butt off peeling layers of old wax off of his wheel of cheese noticed the girl and turned at her, seeing the knife in his hand Mana’s body twitched energetically, life rushed back into her body and the magician felt her chakra being at its peak “ a bad sign. She must’ve been out for a while for her network to repair itself completely.
“Don’t worry, if I wanted to hurt you, you’d have already been hurt. Been laying here for quite a while…” the old man said in a rough and masculine voice, his eyes didn’t waver or display the slightest sign of fear or weakness, on the other hand his chest did move quite ecstatically suggesting that he may have even been relieved of the magician’s awakening.
“Where am I, why am I alive?” Mana asked. She was no fool, remembering the exact sort of injuries she had sustained was immensely painful for her recently awakened mind but she definitely realized that she should have died of her injuries. The men working there made sure to leave no one alive, they were fast, efficient, professional and more than anything “ strong. “What use can I possibly serve to you?” the magician assumed that she was somehow useful to this old man if he salvaged her dying body and nursed her back.
The old man calmly laughed out with class and restraint. He was clearly an old gentleman in control of his emotions, at least those he displayed in public.
“Well, you’ll keep me alive, for one…” he appeared to try and jest but seeing Mana’s confused expression he just sighed.
“That’s what I feared, you’re completely oblivious to what you’ve been involved into…” he spoke.
“Wait… You’re… You’re not Yamanaka Tenma, are you!?” Mana suddenly jumped up and on her feet, beginning to frantically look for her weapons and clothes.
“Your things are on that chair, luckily enough, you weren’t wearing most of your clothes when… Whatever happened hit you. Those are some fancy robes though, you don’t look like a Yamanaka snob to me. I’d really like to hear your story but I’m afraid it’s more than it is my business to know…” the old man returned to tending to his cheese wheel, slowly peeling the wax off of the gigantic mountain.
Mana grabbed the clothes that were on the chair and got dressed while the old man worked, she was surprised to find pretty much everything she had on her at that time intact. Even whatever pocket money she had was completely untouched.
“I am beginning to believe that we both don’t know anything of what’s going on here, that means there’s a third party involved, something connecting us. Mind telling me all that you know? All I remember is bathing, getting ready to go to bed and leave the Yamanaka Resort in the morning, go home. That’s when we got attacked, my friend was kidnapped. I should’ve been killed “ it’s clear those men meant for me to die. In fact they should’ve meant for Kiyomi to die too, at this point I don’t understand anything at all…” Mana admitted.
“You’ve been brought here by a man, a hooded figure, his head was the only part I saw and it was covered in bandages “ he said he had a whole bunch of fresh tattoos made and his skin was sensitive or something. He healed you completely back to life, you didn’t look like you even had hopes of making it when he got you here. He said that you were lucky he had found you, anyone else would’ve not been able to help you. I was told that he did everything he could have and that you’d live, he told me that he’d kill me and everyone I have ever met or as far as exchanged glances with if you died. Apart from some very impolite talking, he was a pretty nice and exalted man. Said he was heading for Iwagakure… Not much more to tell you.” the old man told Mana everything he knew.
The magician sat down and wrapped her arms around her knees, she had no idea what this old man was talking about. Who could’ve cared enough about her and not all those poor Yamanaka ninja getting slaughtered by the people that got Kiyomi? Who was Mana to deserve such a rescue? It all tied back to what she was told by Hachiro “ the rogue Uchiha mentoring Shimo. All those fearful tales of some extremely terrifying man with an interest in Mana.
“Do you know anything of the accident in the Yamanaka Resort? The one that left me dying?” Mana asked politely, she needed some extra pieces to complete the puzzle, she felt like she was getting close but she was missing a good handful. Namely what exactly was the group involved “ the Imarizu, what state they left the Resort in and who they may have been affiliated with.
“Not that much, a handful of good strong men got themselves killed in an attack. If you had actually died, that’d have meant everybody died. That mysterious man appeared to care very little of anyone else but you, I asked him if he caused that attack but he said he was just passing by. I don’t think he liked what you were involved in.” the man finished peeling cheese off, he went off and picked up a large bowl from the corner as well as a grater, returning to his mountain of cheese with those tools.
Mana stood up and flexed herself, she appeared to be back into a fighting shape “ she must’ve been out for at least a good couple of days.
“Do you know anything about the Imarizu, by any chance?” Mana asked.
“Not really, no. Are they the ones that left you like you were? May not be a good idea to run after them in that case. Remember, for a while, our lives are interconnected…” the man calmly explained. It didn’t seem like he was overly scared of the mysterious man’s vengeance. It was just an unfortunate option he tried to avoid, something he felt obliged to remind Mana of but not something he preached.
“They have my friend, they have my dead friend’s sword. I can’t let this go. My friend had a bounty on her head and frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t kill her. Did you hear about the line of succession of the Yamanaka being passed? Living close to the Resort you should’ve heard of something major like that.” Mana inquired.
“No.” the old man shook his head, “You’re right, I should’ve, usually clan matters are the evening rumors for old spinsters around here. I’ve heard no such thing.”
“That means she has to be alive, which is incredibly strange. I don’t know what’s going on here anymore… But I will figure it out or die trying, that’s my duty to Kiyomi as her friend and to my deceased friend’s memory. That sword needs to rest by his grave.” Mana combed her hair in front of the mirror and sat back down on the bed, crossing her arms on her chest and closing her eyes to think.
“Those men have a long head start on you. If they left when you were injured they may have already achieved what they wanted to do.” the old man suggested.
“No. Kiyomi is a future heiress of the clan, that cannot be a coincidence. It would’ve been something major like… A marriage.” Mana suddenly realized.
“Marriage?” the old man appeared to be curious while sounding incredibly indifferent to anything but his cheese at the same time.
“It makes the most sense why those men wanted Kiyomi alive. Whoever put the bounty was no rogue ninja trying to spite the clan “ he was in the line of succession somewhere. By removing Kiyomi he or she would’ve skipped ahead, then at some point after trying to kill her went nowhere they must’ve realized that marrying may have been a superior option all along and they changed their approach.” Mana spoke to herself trying to make these events around her make sense. She made brief pauses, browsed her mind trying to put things together and weave all of this complicated web into something that resembled something with motives and goals that would’ve made sense.
“Well, that’s just great, you really shouldn’t do anything yourself though. A young kid like you will just get yourself killed. Yamanaka folk would love to hear about this.” The old man suggested.
“No. I can’t know for certain who’s a suspect yet. I know nothing of their line of succession and who’s loyal to whom there. Also I’m pretty sure they would never let me leave the Resort after I enter having survived that attack “ I’d be their first suspect and it’d cost me too much time to resolve that. I won’t let Kiyomi get married!” Mana jumped out from the bed having determined her next course of action.
“That’s mean.” The old man shrugged.
Mana sighed, “I will need to make a valid strategy for fighting the Imarizu again, I will also need to examine the Yamanaka documents and know who’s the most viable to make such a heinous move in the line of succession. That means I’ll need to… Wait… You’re not gonna report this to the Yamanaka are you?” the magician looked at the old man questioningly.
“I don’t need to report anything. They could just read my mind if they wanted to, then again, to do it they’d need valid proof they are not just wasting their time reading some old farmer’s mind. There are thousands of small farms like mine in these parts. They’d take a literal hundred years scanning through everyone “ they’ve got better things to do.” The man smiled.
“You sound suspiciously sharp for a farmer…” Mana squinted.
“I was a writer before I got my farm here. I wrote Academy textbooks, you should’ve heard of me if you ever bothered to read the author’s name on the textbook, my books even have the bio on the back with my picture “ I am Aporius Noregin.” The man turned back at Mana with a small grin expecting to be recognized.
“No. They have upgraded your books already. This generation is studying from Tate Ashuoka’s books.” Mana let the old man know, she had only stumbled on the old man’s name while having a pleasant history read in the Konohagakure archives and she had never seen a single textbook written by the man. She just assumed the whole time that the update was a significant improvement.
“Heh, Tate was a very skilled kid, a bit flashy but quite bright. He was never meant for physical side of ninja work but I always expected him to teach the Academy students or to head his own discipline someday. Quite an eccentric kid as well, always wore shades indoors and a green and purple jumpsuit which he never washed.” The old man recalled wiping a tear off his cheek when reminded of his old days. “So you were about to tell me how you plan on sneaking into the Resort and obtaining information on the line of succession, weren’t you?” the old man asked Mana.
The magician jumped up in surprise. “How did you know?” she asked.
“Simple. That’s what I’d do in your shoes, if I had no other choice. But you must know that you’ve no chance of accomplishing that. If you really wish to save your friend informing the clan, even if it means getting imprisoned and being suspected yourself, would be the smartest thing to do.” The old man advised.
“No. I still have hope this can be resolved without killing anyone, plus I cannot allow my friend’s sword to fall into anyone else’s hands but mine. Yamanaka wouldn’t let up owning an Audra blade.” Mana shook her head before sitting back down on the bed she woke up in. “Although you are right, I’ll need help in both beating the Imarizu and obtaining the needed information.”
“Who can you turn to? Whoever you see will advise you to turn yourself in, who can possibly be crazy enough to help you with this? Strong enough as well…” the old man put down the grate and pushed the bowl of grated cheese away from himself with his foot, turning back at Mana.
“A question for another time. Right now I need to get stronger, I need to invent a technique that’ll help me beat the Imarizu. Luckily enough, I had the honor of seeing how they fight, how they kill… I know just what I will need.” Mana wondered scratching her chin as she delved deep into her thoughts.
“You’ve no time, girl. It takes weeks to even make up a concept of a new technique. Mastering it might take months if not years, some ninja take entire lifetimes to perfect a single jutsu. Luckily for you I know a thing or two about jutsu and ninja arts “ I quite literally wrote dozens of books on it. I can help you.” The man suggested.
“That’d shorten the time-span of my training. But why would you do something like that? What’s in it for you?” Mana wondered.
“Every moment you stay in my sight and train is a moment you aren’t getting yourself killed. If you take a good couple of more days training maybe that crazy stalker of yours will stop blaming me for when you do eventually get yourself killed. I’m quite literally saving my own life here. You’ve no reason to suspect me of being a slimy man.” Aporius explained.
“Well then, I need a genjutsu technique “ quick in activation, one hand seal, not more. One that’d allow me to disperse into an illusion after my physical body gets hit, I’ve read of such illusions existing. One to make me completely invulnerable to a head-on reckless assault at close distance, luring my opponent into a chain of endless illusions that I place them under while they think they are fighting me. A technique like that would cripple all of the Imarizu, the problem is that they are too fast, they don’t let me weave more than one hand seal before they overwhelm me so I need a middle piece of the chain, one that’d allow me to cripple them all at once and buy me time.” Mana explained.
“You should’ve spoken to Budonoki Cheri, she is the strongest genjutsu using ninja in Konoha. One of the prodigies I heard about from my own students once they started teaching students of their own. She possesses the technique you need - Genjutsu: Flower Petal Escape.” Aporius smiled, his eyes looked up into the shoddy roof above the man’s head as his mind fleeted into his memories.
Mana blushed and looked away, she felt a bit embarrassed about what she wanted to say so her lips pouted unwillingly. “I can’t do that. There’s a rule I follow, part of my ninja way “ I don’t use techniques that are not my own. Truth be told, I have used simple Academy techniques before but those were moments when lives were in danger. This technique would give me a good replacement for the Substitution Jutsu to use.”
Aporius sighed. He was clearly looking disappointed and feeling like he was wasting his time with Mana. A sentiment that the magician saw in many teachers’ faces when she was a child.
“Very well. Then perhaps a similar principle but a different result? A technique that would be undoubtedly immensely similar but not quite a case of artistic plagiarism?” the old textbook writer suggested.
Mana, feeling guilty that her own personal principles and artistic integrity of viewing the battlefield like the extension of the stage she performed on was getting in the way of her quest, nodded.
“Alright. I expect you to stay here until your technique is polished. In that case I would appreciate some help with…” the man began asking Mana before the young girl fell on her knees and bowed her head in front of the man.
“Can I please cook?” she almost begged the man. The magician had always wished for the opportunity to improve her cooking, after the endless snappy remarks made by Shimo, Meiko and Kouta during their quest for the Box of Ultimate Bliss. She never once found time to practice her cooking extensively and this man looked like quite the treasure box of knowledge. His cheeses smelled sophisticated, his wines had fancy looking names and his meat looked well-seasoned and preserved “ Mana’s clothes were well seeped with the smell seeing how they were placed in the same room.
“I know I shall regret this decision but… I believe there’s nothing wrong in allowing a young lady learn to prepare a proper meal. If you’re bad however I shall be stricter as a cooking coach than I shall be as a genjutsu trainer. You also have no time to slack around “ those Imarizu punks are making their way towards their goal with your friend as we speak. It is fair to assume that they’ll reach their destination halfway through your training so no slacking off!” Aporius laid down the rules.
Mana bowed again. “I would never forgive myself a moment of levity!” she affirmed the man.
“I will also only eat things from this recipe book. I am a very sophisticated taster, after all. You have the finest ingredients and recipes so making anything less than a perfect meal and the perfect genjutsu technique will be your failure as a ninja and as a young woman trying to learn how to cook!” the old man pointed at an old book with trashed and ruined cover.
Mana nodded. She had to work hard to earn back her return to life, one amongst many, the exact count of which she had lost long ago already.
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