The door to Mana’s home opened crispy clean, no squeaking or hitches. Silent like the year’s longest night. So disturbingly without a sound that the magician closed it a bit rough just to alert her family that she was back. This was odd “ father’s hands were far too damaged for precision work like maintaining the door, mother had too old fashioned of a mindset to do maintenance “ man’s work. Rubbish. Silly thoughts to distract her from the confrontation to come, yet another pair of beloved people she let down.
“Oh, God…” mother gently exclaimed before running up and hugging Mana firmly.
The girl squirmed and moaned uneasily as her aching sides flared up devouring her entire emotional specter, demanding the entirety of the magician’s attention.
“I’m sure this begging for her life is expression of love and how much she missed us, not how much this hurts…” father sarcastically remarked before softly pulling mother away.
Mana stood there with her head lowered and submissively turned away, waiting for their choice of words to yell at her. Knowing what came next after the primary expression of love and happiness that she was relatively more alright than one would’ve normally been after what the girl has been through.
She just stood there waiting only for absolutely nothing to follow. Mother returned to the kitchen and father sat down by some unseen device that was settled down inside an oaken cupboard. The device father was fixed on appeared to show moving images, just like all the screens on the buildings in the different universe the magician had visited. It was like her household, which meant any normal household, had access to a miniature cinema screen. This wouldn’t make old man Hiro happy at the slightest.
“Will you be having pancakes, dear?” mother’s raised voice came from the kitchen. She still wore a bit too fancy and formal of attires meaning she must’ve only recently returned from work and still had no time to change and settle down.
“Pancakes for din… I mean… Wait, I just disappeared without a single word from me. I know I let you guys down, okay? I’m sorry…” Mana got distracted by mother’s question seeing how she completely ignored the issue at hand.
“Yeah… Okay. I know, no one eats pancakes for dinner but the thing is that one morning I was too busy to finish making them so we had them for dinner and it sort of stuck. We now have pancakes for dinner once in a while…” mother smiled at Mana once again brushing the girl’s issues again. “Those bruises on your face don’t look too good, you may want to have those scars removed in the hospital tomorrow…” the woman smiled before returning to her kitchen work.
“Aren’t you going to punish me? Yell at me or tell me how worried you were!?” Mana felt her tone rising to uncomfortable heights straining her tired vocal cords.
“Well, it’s made quite clear you already know that…” father’s voice came from the guestroom.
“Plus, we can’t really ground you or anything “ you have training and missions and the village is really missing those few skipped magic shows…” mother forked a cake from the pan and slammed it into a plate piled with them.
“That’s… What I was supposed to say…” Mana mumbled to herself seeing how she seemed to recall a similar conversation happening at some point before. At this point the magician was well beyond tearing up even though the world she was supposed to know the best “ one of her own home defied any conventional laws of logic and understanding. Why weren’t her parents mad at her? Why didn’t they try to tear their hair out in anger trying to punish her?
“We’re just happy you’re okay and that you’re back. What’s that you have?” mother wondered pointing her chin at the sword packed and sticking outside Mana’s backpack.
The magician’s fingers wrapped around her head. She could feel her trembling hands press too hard against her skin leaving small annoying scratches. Nothing made sense anymore, the sword she worked so hard to return by her friend’s grave was rejected leaving Mana’s grief just hanging in the air, now her parents refused to punish her leaving her craving for punishment for something that Mana barely even regretted hanging as well. All of those feelings, everything was bottling inside of her.
“You okay, dear?” mother hugged Mana again pressing the girl tightly while still dividing her attention by half to mind the pan.
“Shimo’s mother rejected the sword. This was my anchor… This one thing I could’ve done to make it all feel better, the grief… You didn’t yell at me or punish me for failing you either… Now nothing feels easier, everything hurts so bad.” Mana quietly murmured under her own nose just faintly audibly to mother.
The woman let go of Mana and returned to the pan gesturing for the magician to sit down.
“Grief isn’t supposed to work like that. You don’t just do something and make it feel better. Accepting death and how it works is part of growing up, that inevitable realization that people who were always around you, part of your world just won’t be anymore. It’s scary, it hurts but it’s how it is. Even if that boy’s parents accepted the sword it wouldn’t have magically made it all better, nothing ever will…” the woman explained after, much to her relief, she found out that she was done with the pancakes seeing how not a single spoonful of mix could’ve been scraped out from a large bowl on the side.
Mana just sat there quietly, she was too tired to try and object anything her mother did or say. Not that she had anything to object, the woman had lost her entire clan of wandering ninja before. Even more, all of them were wiped out in her youth, arguably the most vulnerable age…. She had to adapt to a whole new society, whole new set of rules but instead of breaking in to the pressure she opened up her own café and did the shit out of her job… Honestly, her mother was a hero to Mana in a lot of ways, an inspiration.
“As for your punishment…” father joined in on the conversation after switching off the television set and sitting by the kitchen table. “We figured that you’d have told yourself plenty. We know you, Mana, we know that you sometimes want punishment for things you do that aren’t necessarily bad or deserving punishment. Not honoring that self-destructive impulse is the best punishment, but also the best decision a parent can make.”
“But I just left you guys in the dark, ran off to fight a bunch of bounty hunters and killers…” Mana’s tired tongue jumbled out.
“Yeah, that wasn’t handled completely right, but you’re still a child. You had to handle the knowledge that your friend’s life was in danger and all those other responsibilities you put on yourself while still grieving. Punishment is no longer productive, dear, you’re growing up, learning to accept mortality as an inevitable part of life and juggling responsibilities. Adults don’t get condescending talks from their parents, you’re not quite there but for the longest time you had to struggle with all the worst of the adult world with none of its perks. It’s about time you’ve experienced having to own up to your own worst punishment, facing your own responsibilities without someone explaining what you did wrong.” Mother sighed after the talk.
Without saying a word Mana just reached out with a fork and began stuffing her face remembering how hungry and tired she was.
“Also, please take a shower before you go to bed…” father smiled trying to lighten up the mood as he pressed his nose.
After the mandatory evening rituals of dinner, unpacking and settling down in her room and shower something unusual caught Mana’s eye. Something she had not noticed when she was unpacking, likely due to how unused to seeing her own room again she was. The magician opened up a small letter that was unopened and placed just by her bed.
The magician’s eyes quickly scanned through it and then she just weightlessly slammed down on her bed consumed by sadness. It was a letter from Hanasaku, one undoubtedly sent to the rest of the team in its entirety, completely the same. Had the woman written to Mana personally she’d have used a whole other set of words entirely. This one was warm and asking for a training meeting a couple of days later. The meeting was rushed because apparently the woman looked forward to “working with the three of them in the future”, granted recalling the words the Fifth had for Mana before such was doubtfully the case. It was quite clear that Mana was only to be present there because the team needed three members capable of working together to pass the Chuunin Exams.
Thinking about mother’s words from earlier the magician sighed. Her muscles and her entire body eased up, the pain from all around felt like getting skewered by the calming needles of resting in a familiar room where everything felt so old and nostalgic. The feeling of the soft and warm bed made the muscle pains not only weaker but also overwhelmed by all the warm feelings of nostalgia. Mana was finally home again!
*****
The very next day Mana headed to the hospital to have her body looked at. She didn’t really want to heal her injuries but she’d need to be at her hundred percent during the team meeting. Even if she wasn’t a part of the team completely, in the eyes of the team’s leader, Mana still needed to be at her best possible shape to fulfill the purpose assigned to her. All that Hanasaku cared about was getting Kiyomi through the Chuunin Exams and Mana was the woman’s tool, a necessary yet disliked mean of achieving that goal. Even if Mana disliked that status quo she needed to obey it and fulfil that purpose if she was to not fail one of her authority figures again.
Oddly enough the magician didn’t meet Eiju in the hospital. Maybe she’d have liked to, seeing the young man’s reaction to the fact that Kiyomi just by the skin of her teeth didn’t get forcefully married and she was fine with that fact would’ve been priceless. After the magician had her body looked at, some of the persisting wounds and pains looked at and quickly removed by a more skilled medical ninja and some of her troubling scars removed she settled down on a bench outside the hospital. There were just too many things she still needed to do. Mother was right, adults had it really bad, the juggling responsibilities part was especially difficult.
Only then did the magician remember that she also was completely dismissing her responsibility as a girlfriend. Before she left her and Kouta had a couple of awkward dates that didn’t really work out and the boy may have taken Mana’s disappearance from his life the wrong way. It was hardly her fault but becoming an adult meant taking up responsibility for things that may not have been one’s own fault. Right when her next course was set for the girl, she realized that she wasn’t really sure as to where Kouta lived. She had only met the boy before in pre-determined locations. This only served as a testament of how awkwardly bad their dates were “ they didn’t know essential details about each other.
Still, it made things a lot easier. If Mana was to meet her boyfriend she just needed to lure him out, much like she would a criminal she was hunting. It just so happened that doing another magic show was within her agenda, that way she could’ve made her return public, also she’d give Kouta a chance to see her again. She was well known enough around the village at this point for her return to be quite important news. With a little luck the young medical ninja would still be working for Hiro’s medical crew…
With more purpose than before Mana quickly headed in the direction of Hiro’s hall.
*****
After the show the next day, the stage magician rushed off to the medical crew. After the initial looking around she noticed that Kouta was not there.
“Sorceress! A magnificent show today, having in mind how little preparation you had it was truly splendid!” one of the medical crew commended Mana. With a little embarrassment to being commended after such a long history of being grinded to dirt by people important to her Mana felt a bit uneasy being praised…
“Thank you, I had some reserve tricks from the past so it wasn’t that difficult, is Kouta here? There was this young kid interning here, short, just a bit taller than me, dark and messy hair, really athletic build…” the magician inquired but the medical crew only curiously looked at each other before one of them appeared to remember something.
“Oh, yeah, I remember Kouta… No, he’s done with his internship here. I think he got what he needed here and was accepted in Konoha’s Hospital as an intern. Still has some time of internship left to do before being accepted as a medical ninja but that mission he had abroad really impressed the folks in the hospital.” One of the crew informed the magician. Thanking the crew with a friendly bow Mana rushed off.
Knowing that she couldn’t meet Kouta in the hall sort of irked the magician a bit. Still, at least now she knew where he continued his internship which made it possible to find him.
“M-Mana…” Kouta’s voice dropkicked Mana out of her chain of thoughts. The magician turned around realizing that her boyfriend was waiting for her after the show right there in the hall. With a warm and happy embrace the two greeted each other.
“I was almost certain you didn’t want to see me.” The medical ninja awkwardly rubbed the tip of his toes at the floor. “Can’t say I blame you, I was sort of a loser in our dates…”
“That’s a bit harsh. It was both of our fault, I also acted a bit odd. It’s just really tough to… Know what you have to do in those date… Things. I couldn’t see you in the audience today, I used to be able to recognize faces but now there’s just too many people coming. Sometimes they slip by me…” Mana awkwardly admitted feeling just as guilty for her lack of common dating success.
“I heard you were involved in something, something with the Yamanaka clan? I’m just glad you’re okay, when I heard you were injured I wanted to be there with you…” Kouta admitted shyly taking Mana’s hand and leading her outside. The magician hid her blushed cheeks under her coat collar, she was surprised by how different the boy acted. Before during their meetings he was really afraid to show his feelings, it almost looked like he was cold towards her but such wouldn’t have made sense so the magician didn’t buy those impressions.
“Yeah it was… Complicated. I am grateful you taught me how to fight though, wouldn’t have lived through that if you didn’t.” Mana smiled finally feeling comfortable enough to pull her shy head out from under her collar.
“Well, can’t take all the credit, Meiko and those fighters in the arena did plenty as well. Were you in the hospital today? Had those wounds looked at?” he asked.
“Yeah, it’s in the past. I didn’t want them removed but I needed them gone. I have a team meeting tomorrow noon.” Mana shrugged.
“Oh, you’re placed in a team? So you’ll be in the Chuunin Exams?” Kouta’s eyebrow raised suspiciously.
“Yeah, that’s the only reason I’m in the team…” Mana uncomfortably admitted as the subject of her making her second out of two mentors mad was a rather painful subject.
“Hey, come on! You’re smart and crafty and slippery like a little… Pink Dolphin…” Kouta pressed his forehead against Mana’s.
“Little pink dolphin?” the magician couldn’t help but cringe a little, “You’re the worst at affectionate words. How am I even remotely like a little pink dolphin?”
“Well you’re short and cute, that makes you little and pink because, apparently, pink is the official color of cuteness. That’s what the bubble gum commercials say in the TV. Dolphins are slippery, they’re sea creatures that swim fast “ natural slippery-ness confirmed!” Kouta explained, the magician couldn’t pull her eyes off of him. She saw that he knew how goofy and nonsensical he looked but he just didn’t care. It was almost like he sensed that these past couple of days were really the worst to Mana and he wanted to make her feel better even if it was at his own expense.
“Oh, man, I really wish I had one of those… Recording boxes… I’d really love to show you explaining yourself to your father…” Mana chuckled like a little girl. She wasn’t even sure which direction they were heading anymore, it didn’t matter. As long as this evening lasted longer, if only it could’ve lasted forever.
“They’re called “cameras”, hipster-Mana…” Kouta laughed out loud himself, “Weren’t you the one who brought back those samples of technology from wherever you were gone to?”
“Hipster-Mana?” the magician squinted.
“To be honest, I’m not really sure what that word means myself, it was in that one sample of what movies are that you’ve brought back.” Kouta shrugged, “I think I used it in a similar context so cut me some slack for not knowing what your fancy future words mean…”
Mana stopped and turned at the young medical ninja, pressing her forehead gently under his chin. She just didn’t want to go anywhere anymore, all she wanted was to stay there and just… Talk. Just let this charming moment extend into infinity. If there was just only thing she could have asked for, that’d have been it.
“Didn’t we have movies before I brought one back?” Mana wondered.
“I think we did, but we called ours something weird. Can’t blame us, didn’t know what movies were all the way back in… A couple of months ago…” the medical ninja pressed Mana’s head against himself gently before the two sat down on a cold yet luckily dry bench nearby.
“Another universe…” Mana mumbled with her eyes closed. Smiling wide like a happy macaque.
“Wha…?” Kouta wondered.
“It’s not the future I was in, it was another universe. I’m pretty sure it’s the same time, it’s just that they had a hero there who had ended all wars… Technology there advanced because people worked together instead of trying to kill each other.” Mana recalled that curious trip.
“Sounds like the world you want to create…” Kouta smiled looking up into the clear sky. “Why did you come back?” he wondered.
“I…” Mana suddenly stopped talking. She never really asked herself that question. Still, during her entire stay there she never thought about anything else but returning home. “It wasn’t my place. Those people won peace with their own hands. I think they had people living on the Moon there…” Mana laughed out.
“Do you think someone lives on the Moon here?” Kouta wondered, Mana tried to meet his gaze by sitting up straight but she noticed that her boyfriend was looking up in the Moon.
“I hope so…” the magician smiled looking up into the reflective white disc of moon dust stuck in the sky.
“Man, I wonder if there’re aliens…” Kouta’s eyes began wondering across the sky wildly. The confirmation that somewhere at some point people lived in the Moon seemed to make his imagination run wild.
“No. Aliens feel hokey and spooky…” Mana’s mood soured somewhat, for whatever reason she wanted to one day meet people from the Moon but the thought of aliens creeped her out. The thought of there being other worlds with people as scared and lost as Mana was when she herself was an alien in Naruto’s universe was intimidating. Maybe it was just that the only aliens she had met were omnipotent godlike beings that tried to destroy Naruto’s universe?
“Okay, jeez, little Ms. Diva, no aliens allowed in your world…” Kouta laughed out wrapping his hand against Mana and pressing her in closer while the two continued to just look at the sky.
If only they could’ve sat like that and looked at the sky forever…
[Reviews - 0]Chapter or Story
Table of Contents
- Text Size +