Message Home [CLONE TOPIC / TRAVEL TO KONOHA]

Age : 32 Posts : 1495

The time when Mana departs to the Inari mountain to protect the Lightning Lord started to draw closer. The magician‘s attempts at getting some attention to the matter were lackluster, a lot of the Kumogakure‘s more powerful ninja were away on missions. It almost seemed like the village didn‘t take her or the assignment seriously. What could there be more serious than protecting the Lightning Lord? The Daimyo were the people behind the current ninja system, they were as high as the ranking goes. Maybe that was the reason why Kumo ninja didn‘t trust a foreigner who told them that the Daimyo are in danger...

Either way, Mana had another business to attend to together with the matters at hand – she needed to tell Konoha that she wasn‘t dead. The amount of times she‘s been reported as dead was quite alarming, what if she actually died and people didn‘t even believe it since she‘s died and came back so many times. People thought her dead back when she fought Ayushi and ended up in a coma, back when she faked her own death to lure the Leech away from the village and now this. It was cruel leaving her friends and loved ones hanging.

For obvious reasons Mana couldn‘t travel by herself, she was needed in Kumogakure protecting the Lightning Lord from the eventual attack. She had advised the local high ranking ninja to move the Lightning Lord from Inari Mountain to Kumo but if they listen to Mana remains to be seen. If they do listen it‘ll make the magician‘s job much more easier. Having the Daimyo reside inside Kumo at least until the Parabrahma thing is resolved would be ideal for everyone. If the name of a hero who beaten Ayushi, Honda, the Leech and one of the Parabrahma themselves means anything Kumo should listen.

The young woman weaved a handseal and made a shadow clone. It was supposed to travel to Konoha and tell the administration and her friends that she isn‘t dead, that the Parabrahma, even all of them together, couldn‘t claim her life. Also she had to warn them to move the Fire Lord to the village so that he could be protected. It might be an inconvenience to move the Daimyo to the Great Villages but it would be an even greater inconvenience losing them. The Parabrahma were right, the Daimyo were the only people influential enough to unite the villages if needed.

„You know what you need to do, go. Don‘t take too long, if I face the Parabrahma with my chakra split I‘ll die, have that in mind...“ Mana said to her clone as it ran off into the distance leaving the village. The guards just observed the magician but didn‘t say anything. They knew that the young woman meant good, at some point that was already established. The Sorceress was never sighted around strategically important objects so she knew no information that would make the guards suspect her of spying. She was just acting like a tourist these couple of days walking around and talking to the locals. Even the guards started getting used to her by now.

„Good day, I hope it does not raise your suspicion if I send my clone to Konoha to inform that I am alive?“ she asked the guards just in case. One of them scratched their head „I guess it‘d have been bit more convenient to send a letter but... Whatever.“ he replied. The magician knew just how boring the man‘s job was, she did some gate guarding when she applied for Protection Service. Just like that Mana turned back to the village looking at the clone running off. It would take some time for the clone to reach Konoha.

The clone huffed heavily as it kept moving forward, Mana‘s body still wasn‘t fully recovered after nearly avoiding death. Her stamina wasn‘t entirely what it was pre-injury. Still wasn’t that far away to the Land of Snow. Just a several hour run before the ground starts feeling rough and frozen and the air suddenly becomes chilly. There were countless small carriages, it was quite a popular business taking people through the Snow Country, the climate there was cold, it was snowing constantly with blizzards being an occasional sight. Most chose to spend a couple of coins for the comfortable and warm transport and Mana’s clone was no exception.

The young woman came up to one of the coaches and bowed her head slightly putting a small bag of coins in his hand. The man finished something he had been eating and sat onto the carriage politely helping the young lady get in and giving her a blanket for warmth. “Let’s just hope the way back won’t be as rough, huh?” the man playfully remarked before closing the door. Mana smiled, it seemed her fight with the Parabrahma had reached many ears, perhaps that was for the better – now everyone knew that they were an actual threat to be dealt with.

Just like that the carriage set off, soon the magician could hear something soft and small scratching at the window and after removing the playful small curtain it was evident that it was just large collection of snow. The snowing was quite intense even for the Snow Country and Mana thought to herself that she’d need to pay this man extra for this. Sure she didn’t need to but such were simply good manners. The man knew exactly what he signed up for but having these rough conditions sort of sucked for him, with him being outside and all that. Above all that he also had to manage a carriage and navigate… This man deserved his bonus.

It got really cold in the evening, the young lady dug deeper into the warm blanket and the carriage stopped for some rest near one of the rest stops. The coach opened the door and asked if it was OK if he takes a break and gets something warm and Mana didn’t mind, she also payed the bonus upfront for which the carriage driver just tipped his hat. The magician didn’t know if she had to watch the carriage from being stolen, she assumed that it was stopped in a safe spot with someone watching it over. Then again, did anyone really snatch carriages? Knowing how profitable of a business it was around these parts it wouldn’t have been too far off to assume they did.

“Right, sorry I took so long, young lady. We will leave shortly.” The driver apologized once he came back. There was some strange sense of coming off of him, it wasn’t that strong but enough to assume that he perhaps emptied a glass for the road. “If you’re feeling like freezing your toes off there’s some wine under the seat… If you’re old enough, that is… Then again, I’m not judging or anything.” the driver smiled and closed the door. He then jumped onto the carriage and it started moving again. Mana just sighed, traveling was really boring but it felt really cozy sitting with her legs tightly pressed to her body and covered up with a warm blanket staring into the night sky. There was something wonderful about the snow country, the sky was always clear as if the cold killed the clouds or something…

The next afternoon the carriage finally reached the Hot Springs country. Mana thanked the driver for the job and he just saluted her farewell standing up near the border waiting for a client to approach him for the trip back. The travel through the Hot Springs country was quite boring other than some folk wishing to speak to her and cheering up on her or asking about what had happened in the Snow Country. Being known around the world and loved by many meant that one could’ve been stopped at any time and asked about their life and some details were quite touchy. It wasn’t easy remembering the fear of standing in front of ten S ranked ninja and knowing you’re possibly not going to make it…

Hot Springs was a lovely small country. It was filled with vendors and reminded Mana a lot of the Shukuba pleasure town. It was small but seemed like quite a good place to retire and live the end of one’s days in. The nature combined perfectly with human touch making the Country a splendid combination of natural and manmade beauty. The Sorceress’s clone could not believe how come she missed this beauty during her trip to Kumogakure as she passed the same spot and went the same direction. Some people kept asking if Mana was going to perform here or if she was just passing by, it appeared that even the locals couldn’t escape the feeling of living in a pleasure town with all sorts of entertainers flooding to their home…

Mana couldn’t help but wish to get into some more comfortable clothes, the pleasure town feeling of the Hot Springs made it feel like spending a day looking for a more comfortable attire might be a good and relaxing idea but the clone remembered the original’s words. There may have been people in Konoha who may have wanted to spend time with the “reincarnated” once more Sorceress, it would’ve been for the best if she didn’t waste time and risk Mana’s life by having her wander around with split chakra level. Mana almost died from exhaustion the last time she faced a Parabrahma member, she needs all of her chakra to fight efficiently and stand a chance against them especially having the lack of Kumogakure cooperation in mind.

Finally the magician started to recognize the rich forest areas of the Fire Country. It was getting late and night may not have been a safe time for travelling but who on their right mind would attack the Konoha’s Sorceress? There used to be plenty of such people before, people who wanted either ransom for her pretty and well known face or just wanted the awesome bounty for the life of who looked like a overglorified brat. For some killing a sixteen year old for a lifetime of luxury granting bounty was an amazing deal. These days however such idealists were few in between, most already knew that Konoha’s Sorceress was not just a pretty face who got successful because of her name. The stories of all the crimelords and nukenin she had bested spread far and wide to the point where her word was even held in high regard in Kumogakure – a country that only seen Mana on a poster before…

Finally Konohagakure gate came in sight, Mana had missed this sight so much, she couldn’t have been more happy having been wrong when she thought that she’d never see this sight again. The clone couldn’t wait to dispel itself and bring the original all the memories of her home back, the magician could’ve used some of the warm home memories to brighten up her day full of worrying. Oh, how great it was to be home!

[TRAVEL DONE 1849/600]