Knock, knock.
"Sensei Mari, we're here."
Mari Kurio wiped her damp hands on the apron tied over her robe and hurried to the door.
Kono sat at the table toweling her wet hair. The travel bundle she had checked out from the inn rested on the stool beside her.
The door swung open.
Three teens, all about the sa age, spilled into the room.
"The rain is insane today."
A blond boy in a black track jacket was first through the door. His prominent brow ridge made his eyes look bright and spirited. He flicked water from his hands with open disgust.
"I think it's fine."
Another boy, this one in a purple jacket with a wide scythe strapped across his back, calmly popped his umbrella open and set it by the threshold to drip-dry. His fine-boned features lifted toward the silver-haired, blindfolded girl at the table with a touch of curiosity.
"Tch. Says the guy with Water Release."
"Who told a certain unlucky soul to awaken Fire Release in the one village packed with water users."
The boy in purple sounded downright serpentine.
"Who are you calling unlucky." The blond bristled on the spot.
"You, obviously. Who else."
"Enough."
A petite girl in a sky-blue fitted outfit, two flaxen braids hanging behind her head, stepped in last. She expertly grabbed both boys by the collars and pulled them apart, faces almost touching as if they were about to kiss.
"Kari, if they start up again, skip the anesthetic next ti you treat them."
Mari slipped off her house sandals. Seeing her students squabble, she winked at the girl and smiled.
"She never uses anesthetic," the boys shouted in unison, Shin and Yōma equally aggrieved.
"Anesthetics interfere with dical ninjutsu outcos," the girl replied matter-of-factly. Her bright green eyes slid to the silver-haired girl at the table. "Is she our client this ti."
"Yes. Her na is Kono. Our job is to escort her to Tanzaku Quarters in the Land of Fire. C-rank," Mari said from the kitchenette, working the pan without looking back.
"My na is Kari Tongshan. Pleased to et you." Kari ca closer to greet Kono with a polite smile.
The two boys followed and introduced themselves in turn.
From their introductions, Kono pieced together the relationships. The blond was Shin Okamura. The mouthy one he kept bickering with was Yōma. Together with Kari Tongshan, the three had been close at the academy. After graduating as genin they were placed under Mari Kurio and ford her Seventh Squad.
The Five Great Shinobi Villages had a clear rule. If a shinobi left the village for any reason other than an official mission, they had to state their business and receive approval. Leaving without permission ant you were a missing-nin.
Mari slipping out during an ANBU lockdown bent the rules, but she could argue family concerns and looking for her brother, and few would press her for it.
Secretly running to the Land of Fire as a Mist jōnin without a proper reason, though, was another matter. That could earn you a spy's brand in a heartbeat.
So Mari had gone to the Mizukage Building to take Kono's escort commission herself, and confird that Kono had in fact filed it three days earlier, not just to await Mari on purpose.
As the sensei on the mission, her squad would naturally accompany her. The timing fell right at dinner, so Mari simply called everyone over to eat at her place.
Sizzle.
Oil snapped in the pan, firelight licking up the sides.
After washing up, Kari, Shin, and Yōma sat with Kono around the low table, chatting while they waited to eat.
Maybe it was Kono's gentle looks, maybe it was their similar age, but they ward to her quickly.
"Kono, I heard the Land of Fire is super flashy, especially Tanzaku Quarters. Rich folks packed shoulder to shoulder, you can knock down a whole flock with one jutsu. True or not," Shin blurted, a restless monkey by temperant and manners both.
"Are you stupid."
Yōma tapped beneath his own eye in a pointed reminder.
Shin, missing the hint, glared and was about to pop off again.
"I am sorry, big brother Shin. Because of my condition I rarely go out. I actually do not know much about it," Kono said, lifting her delicate face beneath the blindfold. Her voice was calm. Sotis she was grateful she had chosen to play the blind girl. Otherwise there were so lies she had no idea how to cover.
Inside, Kono applauded her own foresight. Across from her, Shin only wanted to crawl into a hole.
"No, I… sorry."
For once Yōma did not needle his friend. Instead he offered a practical idea. "Let Kari take a look. She is one of the few dical-nin around. Maybe there is sothing she can do."
"Impossible."
Kari shook her head at once. "Even dical-nin cannot cure congenital conditions. Her optic nerves are likely long since necrotized."
"Kari." Yōma cut her off before she launched into a full lecture, then gave Kono an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Say dical ninjutsu and she becos like this."
He was used to it. Bring up anything dical and Kari turned relentless. That was fine among teammates. Saying it to a new acquaintance was a little much.
"It is fine. I am already grateful you are willing to help get ho."
Faced with Kono's sincere thanks, the trio waved their hands in a fluster.
Watching Kari clamp her mouth shut, Kono felt a twinge of regret. She truly did want to hear how dical ninjutsu worked in this world. With a bloodline as strange and dangerous as Shikotsumyaku, and at only six years old no less, she could not be sure she would not one day suffer the sa kekkei sickness that felled Kimimaro in the original story.
Better to prepare early. Whether for her own training or to seek true experts, knowledge of dical arts would be essential.
Kari realized she had been a bit much and tried to soften it. "Well… maybe I am just not skilled enough. If it were Lady Tsunade, the so-called Goddess of Healing, she might have a way."
"Lady Tsunade."
Shin's head snapped up, his eyes going wide. He gave Kari a look that was hard to describe.
"So you know Lady Tsunade too." Kari's voice leapt with sudden excitent, like a diehard fan hearing a stranger ntion her idol.
"The greatest dical-nin in the world. One of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. Granddaughter of the God of Shinobi. Founder and champion of the dical corps system. Honored as a princess of the Land of Fire. You, with your brain full of fire jutsu, know her," Kari said, utterly proud by association.
"Huh. Then I do not know her."
Shin scratched his head. "I thought you ant that blonde bombshell in the, uh, novels."
A blonde bombshell.
The image from the manga flashed through Kono's head. She could not help blurting, "Big brother Shin, the novel would not be Icha Icha Paradise, would it."
"Hey. How do you know about that."
Shin froze like a kid caught red-handed.
"What is Icha Icha Paradise," Kari asked, curiosity piqued by a character who shared her idol's na.
"I have heard the adults ntion it. It is a… pornographic book."
Kono's tone was mild.
Pornographic book.
Yōma and Kari slowly turned to stare at Shin, their eyes full of disdain.
"It is not porn. It is art. Art, okay."
Red-faced, Shin bellowed his defense, looking ready to explode.
Which earned him an even heavier silence and deeper disdain.
Watching the three snipe and sputter at the table, Kono's lips curved like petals. She sipped the barley tea in front of her, unhurried.
From the kitchen ca the rich sll of food. Pans rang, voices rose and fell. The clatter and chatter chid together like the happiest evenings of childhood with friends.
If only there had never been that disaster.
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