Imagine the sound of a jet speeding past you. Now imagine XP making that sound.
Oh. Sorry, migraine's being a bitch and a half right now. Anyway, maybe Mari won't want it? I mean, I doubt Mari would pass such an opportunity by, but she retired for a reason, right? That was one of her conditions for turning over the Skywalker seals to Leaf. And Leaf would've been a
lot more welcoming if it meant getting another jonin on their mission roster. But Mari stuck to her guns. She wanted to retire. And the reasons she wanted to retire are still as valid now as they were back then --if not more so. Of course, Mari might very well agree to learn it as a "just in case" measure and then spend enough time with it to gain familiarity, but I could actually see Mari not using the SC to its greatest optimization.
Mari's character is very much in flux right now while she contemplates on what she wants to do and who she wants to become. When was the last Team Uplift Only get-together we had where we just enjoyed each other's company? If it wouldn't ruin the whole "give Mari her space and time to think," maybe we could throw Noburi and Keiko her way? Noburi's earnest in a different way from Hazou, and Keiko --girlhood crush aside --
does seem to have a unique insight into Mari's character. Maybe we could ask Ino some questions about how we might go about helping Mari? Can we trust Ino with that weakness? I suppose we could be more vague and ask "How do the Yamanaka help their ninja who have scarred and scorched their souls in service of the Leaf?" Would the Yamanaka clan even have any worthwhile insight? I mean, a jutsu that promotes solidifies mental stability has certain implications, but we also know that therapists aren't really a thing. On the other hand, you don't need to be a therapist to be wise enough to offer advice. And Hazou can always turn down the well-intended advice if he doesn't think it'll help.
I mean, I imagine that in Mist, such ninja would be frittered away until they died on a mission, deliberately allowed themselves to die, or were offered a suicide mission. So Hazou's only reference wouldn't be helpful to him. So if nothing else, Ino could offer perspective while also seeing that Hazou's trying his damnedest to "thaw" the "snow" that Mist left upon his heart by
(trying to) adopting Leaf's the Will of Fire. Her fears would be reassured, her loyalty as a peer and fellow clan head more easily secured, and her friendship solidified.
If we trust her.
And if I haven't misread Ino --which is entirely possible.
Sorry it's a bit rambling. Migraine pounding away at my head and eyes right now. If a zombie apocalypse occurs, and I have to face these migraines without pain medicine, just put me out of my misery. I obviously wouldn't survive in the "wild" like the many survivalists who boast otherwise.
Edit: also, does anyone else think that Keiko wasn't alone in her childhood fascination with Mari? She helped Hazou learn how to understand people and communicate/connect with them, she helped Noburi get over the chip on his shoulder and his inferiority complex --not to mention Noburi's poor body image- and, back when they were all still missing nin, Mari implied that she'd be dreading the day when she had to teach them all how to...
perform seduction missions
(because she, rightfully so, saw them as a mixture of "my kids" and "my students" figures, rather than potential partners). And, being stupid teenagers, the Team Trio very likely only heard "one day sex might happen."
Edit Cont... I suspect that the only reason Mari freaked out over Keiko and not the boys is because Mari
knows how to handle boys. But Keiko reminded Mari of her much-younger self, before she gained the coping mechanisms that she did. Before Mari became strong and powerful and knew how to twist people so that she'd never be that vulnerable before a man ever again. Keiko reminded Mari of herself at her most weakest, and then Mari was faced with the sudden realization that "I have this immense power over this fragile, vulnerable mini-me. One misstep and this frail, fracturing girl will break and shatter, and it will have been
by my hand."
Edit Cont... And Mari, at the time, had no idea how to handle romantic relationships and likely didn't trust herself to have the emotional intelligence to be able to navigate how to maturely and wisely deal with Keiko's affections. Perhaps Mari was unfair to herself, but scars and trauma have lasting effects and, in fairness, teenagers are not known to be the most rational of individuals
(see: Hazou's killbox scene). Was it a little sexist that Mari worried about these things for Keiko but not Hazou or Noburi? Maybe. Maybe not. But Mari had had years of manipulating men around her wants and desires, wielding the control and power in those situations. But Keiko was a living fragment of Mari's worst years made manifest. One that Mari could, purely by accident, break the way that her uncle once broke
her. So Mari, herself, wasn't being too rational, either.
