Tales of a Ninja Magician: Of Journeys We Make

Tales of a Ninja Magician Annual No. 5

"Move along, I have a right to not serve you," an owner of a vendor of flowers flipped Mana off, prompting the magician to sigh and walk off with her hands in her pockets, pulling on her hat to cover up her embarrassed face as the judgmental stares of the vendor's clientele saw her off.

So much for getting a rose ring for her magician uniform.

Her entire life Mana had only known two things – she was the ninja magician. Right now she received no work as a ninja whatsoever. For better or worse, the village administration stayed silent. She's yet to even receive a reply for the renewal of her suspended ninja license.

Picking her life back up and getting it rolling has been a giant pain but what else was there? It had to be done, no matter how much shit she'd have to plow through and how vociferous her grunts when waking up in the morning were when looking on at the rest of the day to come. Apparently, even finding a minor accessory for her magician's uniform was a challenge...

If the Hokage refused to renew her license or even answer her call for it to be renewed, if the village didn't think it reasonable to use her as its asset, she may as well have picked her magic shows off the ground. Who knew, maybe, if her license gets taken away permanently, her magic shows would be all that Mana has left?

Then again, magic shows were entertainment. Entertainment tended to have a mean quality to it that nobody felt all that joyful when the person prancing on the stage was someone whose guts were the public enemy No. 1. Why did she bother even leaving home that day?

Whatever organization she struck the deal with to take the blame for Guru Ayushi and keep his plot a secret she'd take to the grave promised her a rank-up, Overcoat suggested that she'd never have to worry about work and yet work has consistently been the greatest pain in Mana's behind. Mother hadn't said half a thing to her about it but Mana felt so useless just sitting at home and picking back up on her ninjutsu training.

If Mana truly wanted to find out what being useless felt like, she should've just left the comfort of her home...

"I wanna be Gan Senju! Sayuri can be Uchiha Hakari! Together our ninja team will be invincible!" a kid likely in his second year in Ninja Academy posed with both of his arms placed on his hips, his callow chest puffed out as much as it was possible given his age. If his facial expression was to be taken at face value – he truly was the First Hokage himself come to life.

All machismo and jawline...

"I wanna be Chestnut Hanasaku, I'm gonna give any enemy of mine a pounding!" a young girl rolled back her sleeve and showcased her non-existent biceps though that was the selling point of childish imagination – anything was possible.

"I can be Red Dog Tanshu. Those two worked together a bunch of times, we have to get bonus teamwork points for that one!" a boy pointed out, swinging his hands around in a manner that emulated the taijutsu style of Uzumaki Tanshu, as well as a child halfway through his stint at Ninja Academy, could do.

"Yeah, I guess I should be Star of Hope Howoku, no way even the First and the Second can stand up against that team!" another boy smirked with a very mischievous smirk for somebody that decided to embody the Star of Hope himself.

"Kohana, you have to pick somebody that syncs up with our team, or else we might just get screwed!" Sayuri, the girl who chose to roleplay as Uchiha Hakari, the Second Hokage, turned to a meek brat with a simple, peach-colored dress and a straw hat. It might not have looked like much of an outfit for an aspiring ninja warrior but it was second to none in fending off summer heatwaves.

"I wanna be Konoha's Sorceress..." little Kohana but her fingers together.

"Wait, what? Why? She's not even legendary or anything..." the boy playing as the First scratched his head.