Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of What Defines Us

Night on the Rooftops

"Wow you really don't eat that much, do you?" Kiyomi grinned at Mana while the two slowly advanced towards the old Yamanaka mansion where the meeting for the money that was promised the bounty hunter was supposed to take place.

"I guess not, I was pretty famished too, haven't eaten anything for days, I needed that," Mana replied with a smile, she was used to just barely finishing a plate meant for one person, no matter how starving she thought she was or what giant animals she imagined being able to eat at those moments of weakness.

"It's kind of odd how you can even fight as good as you do, I mean ninja should probably be eating a whole lot given how strong they are" Kiyomi wondered about the relation behind the wonderous things ninja did and the number of calories that they consumed.

"Maybe, then again, I don't think chakra has anything to do with calories, it's just a force our universe has" Mana shrugged with almost utmost indifference.

"Wait, you said there were also ninja in that other universe you went to, what was that all about?" Kiyomi felt pretty curious about Mana's tale of her adventures in another universe, invaded by godlike people from yet another universe.

"I'm not sure, I think Sasuke-san said that our universe was special, he looked really surprised by the amount of chakra I had. Come to think of it he mentioned something about some fruit, I think that ninja on that universe are merely descendants of someone who took a bite of a chakra fruit, whereas our universe is overflowing with it which is why they were all so surprised by my chakra level." Mana did her best to recall the experience, strangely enough, it wasn't something she tried recalling that often. She kind of missed all the people she met on that adventure and thinking of what happened made her miss all of them even more, as a result, Mana just filtered it all out of her mind so that she wasn't reminded of that painful farewell.

"Hmmm... That's pretty weird." Kiyomi bellowed delving deep into her thoughts, trying to imagine a world as described by Mana. "I wonder if we got stronger if we went back there and ate some of that fruit?"

"I think every fruit is chakra fruit here. Just eat an ordinary apple or something..." Mana smiled.

"I think eating too many fruits is the problem as to why I'm feeling so heavy right now," Kiyomi complained tapping her full belly while breathing out her final easy breath.

Not too long after the view of the classical large Yamanaka mansion came into sight. Even from the ground level the ninja waiting for the bounty hunter could be seen. Most may have taken the presence of hooded ninja as an offensive gesture but truthfully it was a welcoming one. For a ninja to just wait around, out of the hiding was some of the most welcoming gesture they could've shown the bounty hunter. Hell, he wouldn't have been too off to think of himself as an honored guest being greeted like that. Mana and Kiyomi quickly ran up the endless flights of stairs until they found the exit to the rooftop.

"Lady Heiress..." some Yamanaka bowed their heads a little or at least noted Kiyomi's presence. Some others still didn't even bother. Truth be told Kiyomi wasn't an actual princess or her inheritance of the clan's leadership wasn't completely confirmed. Even if she did inherit the reins of the clan, she could still surrender them by getting married, even if she didn't marry someone from the clan.

"Who is this young lady?" one of the hooded ninja inquired directing their eyes at Mana. The bright blue eyes of a Yamanaka clansman shined bright even through the evening chills and gloom. Many of the ninja had such rich and thick blonde hair that they didn't stay in the hoods and ran wild out of the cover.

"She's my teammate, she fought to protect me from this bounty hunter, she deserves to be here. Seeing to it that I'm OK is her personal interest, you see." Kiyomi pointed her chin at Mana who just bowed her head for the collected circle of Yamanaka ninja.