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

The Rustling Menace

The noises of gulls, curiously enough, reached Mana's ears. It was the first thing in a while that made the girl break her concentration and look up to observe the unlikely visitors fly majestically giving the enigmatic, dark blue, morning sky a little of their own heavenly shade. Like a little ball of cloud racing through the sky with a purpose.

The magician was in her uniform, all hidden pockets fully stored with the weaponry she used, all springs and devices in it loaded and ready. A hat with new storage seals, albeit not quite what those of her father's used to be but the best that her monetary situation could give her. Mana's wand could no longer be stored in her current hat, it was too high ranking of a tool, for that reason it was in an inside pocket.

Despite being unofficially and temporarily suspended, Mana was ready for a whole streak of weary training sessions and life-threatening combat situations. She would not be heading towards her destination looking for a fight but she was well aware that she would get it, possibly even more of it than she could take.

Perhaps that was why when Kouta ran up from the distance with a happier than half of a pancake smile, the magician felt a little relieved. She did not ask her boyfriend to come with her to back her up, or because of what he could do, namely his particular set of skills. She asked him because she wanted to be around him and with him and, just this once, things appeared to have worked out.

"I'm really grateful you came." Mana bowed her head slightly in acknowledgment of the boy's presence and his excitement to leave at this early hour of the morning. "I do hope though that you told your father you're leaving for a while, I do not think that we could handle him breaking in looking for you."

"Oh, that's just fine. I have no business with the village given how my team has dissolved. I'm free until another team gets put together which may take a while with the entire Academy blowing up right before the graduation exams..." Kouta looked back at the point where he would have seen the Ninja Academy from the distance.

He did raise an interesting point though. The village would be put through a little crisis of new ninja graduates given how those of this year would be forced to skip a year because of the cataclysm that took place right in their place of education.

"As far as my father is concerned... As long as I won't be slacking off from my training, he is more than fine with us leaving to... Where exactly are we headed?" The boy wondered. He must have been so shocked to hear this proposition when first asked that he completely burned the notes of the specific details in his mind.

"The Rabbit Caves near Kusagakure." Mana smiled as she looked ahead into the dark depths of the forest roads outside the village wall. "I have a promise I have to live up to and there's no better time than now. If you're looking for efficient training, you won't be disappointed – that's where I prepared for the finals of the Chuunin Exams."

"That sounds like a really cruel and awful place. I hope I won't drag you down!" Kouta bowed his head slightly. As per his nature, he was being way too modest. In terms of stamina and physical strength, Kouta was heads above Mana, it was just that the magician had more chakra in her reserves to keep pushing her past her limits if cornered. Mana had no worries about the medical ninja being able to take the gruesome conditions of the Rabbit Caves.

"No way, I can't stress out enough about how glad I am to have your company with me. You can send a hawk back to the village informing Lord Sixth about your exact location if you ever needed to return from one of the message stations on the road." Mana did her best to assure the young man.

The two passed the check-up before heading out the large village gate past the wall that surrounded Konoha and into the luscious forests that spanned endless kilometers in each direction. Kouta relaxed and yawned. Mana glanced at him with curiosity, it was a rare instance for a ninja, let alone someone as duty-bound, honest and strict on himself as this young man to let his guard down this much.