Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Games of Body and Soul

Educated Guesswork

Telling Shira and Thumb that she'd message some Aburame she knew was easier to brag about than to actually do. Mana may have been quite a popular stage magician but, as a kunoichi, she had few favors to cash in and was not all that popular. The popularity that a known entertainer gathered was quite different to the intimate bond of friendship and mutual trust that ninja shared. A popular actor could not within reason just call for one of the people who knew them to go out for lunch or ask for their help, these were different things entirely.

Mana's exhausted mind could only muster up a pair of Aburame known to her. She may as well have sent one message to the clan district in general, just to see if someone was up for helping their colleague out. Given how Mana's entire going rogue was a charade of sorts it would not be completely impossible for her to receive help from the clan but due to such a factor existing at all the chances of it were as slim as they got.

The name of Aburame Juhi was one of the names that came up. Mana had known the cheerful kunoichi from Team Pine since Academy, albeit quite to a limited extent. The two had talked about vague topics just to maintain the sense of common fondness that many children shared at that age but it had never gone beyond that. Juhi was quite popular due to her very vigorous attitude and personality, she was not stuck up or vain, in fact, very few Aburame were. She was the second least reliable source of help.

The man whose help was by far the most plausible, even if the most did not mean all that much, in this case, was Aburame Yanagi. The man whom Mana met when she traveled to the Eden prison complex to retrieve Sugemi during the whole Kiyomi's kidnapping upheaval. Recalling all that it seemed like it was years if not entire decades ago but it could not have been farther than a pair of months back... The man would certainly recall the Konohagakure girl who involved him in a war between the Black Ops of Kumogakure and Kirigakure.

Mana did not ask for much, she did not have any leverage nor was it within reason or her personal principles to do so. All she wanted was some information about the Aburame pheromones used to trace money, the ways it could be removed and if the chemicals used in the removal could have been traced by some breed of insect or other methods. While the hawks may have been intercepted mid-trip, Mana did her best to describe the reason why she needed this help and what was at stake to the point if not slightly less in detail. The trip between Shukuba and Konoha would have taken five hours for a civilian to walk, far less for a caravan, a ninja or a speeding messenger hawk so Mana would not have to wait too long before replies came back.

After that came the difficult part... Asking Burgoniya for help or any possible tips about tracing a chemical used in the removal of money tracing pheromones. This felt the most difficult part of her role in this investigation for entirely different reason most people disliked talking to people who hated their guts. Most of the time, people felt this way because people hated being criticized or felt like such toxic discussions had nothing productive to bring. There was a reason why Konoha took pride in the comradery between their ninja.

Mana hated these conversations because hearing what angry and hateful people had to say only enforced the bad things and fears she already felt about herself, they validated those thoughts by proving to her that it wasn't just all in her head. Proving that people on the outside felt that way as well and that it wasn't just Mana being quirky, the exact opposite of what Mana often told Meiko whenever the blacksmith used to get discouraged about her own weaknesses.

When Mana entered the small wing of the building used for forensics, as limited as the department was in its size and usefulness, Burgoniya was conversing with a strange elderly woman of dark complexion, likely a result of dirt and not an actual tan, and odd fashion choices all around.

"Burgoniya, I need some help with the investigation," Mana spoke up, knowing full well the minefield she was walking into.

"Your energy radiates death and gloom, young lady, begone from these premises!" the dirty and messy woman flipped out, throwing her hands around madly in a desperate attempt to "accidentally" claw Mana in the cheek or to poke her eye out.