The “stage” magic that Mana performed was unique, it, obviously enough, wasn’t actual magic but it was the closest it got to the real thing. How did one define what is magical? Was it something that could not be explained? Life had many mysteries, probably less was known of it than unknown and people seemed to be strangely more attracted to learning of how to take it away than to understand what it actually was. With that in mind one wouldn’t have to twist their mind around too much to empathize with Mana’s peaceful point of view.
What the young kunoichi did when she performed was a combination of both simple practical magic but she most of all preferred ninjutsu. After all the point of her magic was to show ninjutsu as something other than a tool to claim lives or to ruin them. Instead of cutting people to pieces or burning them alive, Mana preferred that her techniques looked impressive to provide a certain spark of joy for her audience. The girl took great pride in the preparation work she did before each performance, she always grinded her magic to perfection.
For that simple reason the audience of teens and children just couple of years shy from being qualified as teens looked like they were colored impressed. The very first thing that Mana did was weave a single handseal and force a small and harmless current of wind chakra out of her sleeve, then flick the device around her wrist hidden behind her sleeve that shot out the deck of cards she had hidden. The combination was an impressive display of cards twisting around in a horizontal and round twister. With swift movements of hands Mana caught each and every card and started shuffling the deck.
“So does anyone want to volunteer? I promise not to turn you into things or hypnotize you or anything.” Mana smiled when a kid jumped up and ran up to her, his face didn’t look like it belonged to a fan, he looked eager to make a fool out of Mana and to bust her act. Reading faces to some extent was something that was taught in the Academy, for a ninja it was essential to identify the dangerous faces from the harmless ones in a large crowd sometimes, sensei probably had no idea that Mana would use it for magic shows…
“Thank you, now if you could please pick a card we can finally see some magic.” the young ninja magician smiled as she quickly shuffled through the deck gesturing with her chin for the teen who looked like he was just slightly older than her to pick a card. With a rather rude and powerful movement the teen drew a card out of the bunch and the raven haired magician grinned with a half of her mouth – he played right into it. “I think someone has the King of Hearts.” Mana declared as the kid showed it to the audience.
This wasn’t the sort of trick to represent Mana’s arsenal of stage magic, this was just a warm up trick that used a very intricate and psychological tricks rather than sleight of hand. The trick was to remember the card she caught that she wanted the audience member to draw, to know exactly where it was in the deck, and to flick it open to him several times during shuffling. The teen’s mind perceived that card as special and subconsciously chose it most of the time, had he not chosen the card Mana had several backup plans how to develop the trick further but for now this part had to end.
“That’s pretty cheap, show us more tricks like that flying cards bit!” the volunteer decided to heckle for some reason. Mana didn’t really want to overexert herself with chakra usage, she usually did three to four ninjutsu or genjutsu tricks per show and those were the only things she knew. All of her ninjutsu or genjutsu techniques were harmless techniques made for magic shows and all of them were made by Mana herself. Truth be told if she did not possess precise enough chakra control to train genjutsu and the ability to invent her own impressive visually but ultimately harmless techniques she’d have not passed the Academy test.
One thing that was odd about Mana was her refusal to use jutsu that were not invented by her. As an artist she felt very uneasy about ripping off other artists which proved to be difficult in the Academy because it was all centered around learning the generic Academy techniques. By no means were they any easier to learn than Mana’s own techniques, most of them had tricks and practical uses to them unlike the jutsu that Mana used but that was not the obstacle that prevented Mana from using them – it was her hesitance to use the techniques she didn’t invent.
“Shut the hell up, Shinjiro, I’m enjoying the show.” Koji, the son of Mana’s sponsor, replied. The magician was glad to hear that for the time being at least Hanada’s son was entertained. Still, artist’s honor demanded her to step her game up and entertain everyone. “Well, I suppose I could show you a more appealing trick, I always appreciate a demanding audience, keeps me on the top of my game.” Mana smiled gently as she quickly weaved some handseals looking right in the eyes of her volunteer. Suddenly the boy crouched down and started acting like he was a monkey, letting off strange yelling sounds, jumping around on all fours and butting his head into the furniture.
The kids that were circled around couldn’t keep it in, they couldn’t have been any happier than they were at that moment, in a way this was also part a psychological trick combined with some harmless genjutsu. The genjutsu technique in question was one of Mana’s favorite – “Polymorphy Jutsu”, however if it was used on a different audience member it may have annoyed the kids, the exchange of dialogue between Koji and his friend who was now looking in the cupboard for bananas suggested that this Shinjiro kid was the pretentious kind and everyone wanted to see him being taught a lesson.
Without letting the genjutsu eat up too much of her chakra as her reserves were already almost half empty Mana let go of the audience member who instantly started yelling at her, “You promised you won’t hypnotize me!”, Mana made an innocent face and slapped her own cheek, “I did? Oh my, I guess you’d have been wise not to trust a magician. Artists these days do all sorts of things for a cheap laugh…” Mana finished that part of the show and was getting ready to move it to the main part when she realized that her show was all going to blow up in her face.
A loud bang came from behind the magician and loud yelling broke into the room, multiple loud voices started coming in and out of the house, they started spreading to every room and probably even every floor, there must’ve been a party for adults going on as loud shrieks of women came in from the floor above – Hanada Estate was under attack. Before the kids and their entertainer recovered from shock the door that lead to their room burst open and four mercenaries rushed in, seeing how they were all wearing the clothes that Hanada’s guards were wearing. The kids had all calmed down but something was wrong – they rushed up to Shinjiro, who was now back to normal, and Mana and put their hands behind the kids backs and commanded them to kneel down on the floor.
“Wh…What in the world is going on?! Junjo, what are you doing? What’s going on?!” Koji started freaking out as the men he thought were supposed to protect him were now tying up his hands and feet. “Just keep your mouth shut, kid, this doesn’t concern you, it’s between us and your backstabbing father.” one of the muscle-heads replied. The guards offered no more words, they just picked the kids up and started taking them upstairs to a room that reminded Mana of an attic. The kind of an attic rich people have, mind you, but an attic filled with art and expensive furniture was still an attic.
The mercenaries put the kids down and left one of the mercs to watch the kids while the others left the room without even bothering to lock it. After all, the people there were just kids, what could they do against a grown and trained mercenary? This wasn’t a good situation to be in, Mana never thought this day would require combat expertise so she left her ninja tools at home, all she had with her was this quite uncomfortable uniform and all the practical magic tools like fake flowers, decks of cards and the sort. Mana never was any good in the Academy with the physical arts anyways, she lacked any notable skill in weaponry combat, her aim was one of the worst in the class and her taijutsu skills placed her in the one of the lower quarters of the class.
Koji yelled out at the mercenary, “You betrayed my dad! He should’ve never hired a shit-head like you, you mercenaries are just backstabbing snakes!” The man calmly approached Koji and kneeled up so that his blocky head could reach the boy’s level. This was good! Koji was getting the mercenary to keep his eyes away from the kids and focusing on him, he probably didn’t know that Mana was a ninja but this was still better than nothing for a start. The best option would’ve been to just play the scared little girl and let the events go as they did, Mana was under no mission, no orders, no assignment. To sit still while people got hurt was not her style, however.
Mana had the gift of ninjutsu in her, the gift that most people lacked, her magic of life was more powerful than that of everyone else in this house and that gave her the responsibility to use that magic to protect everyone! Even if that meant placing her own life on the line, even if that meant getting hurt and risking this by entering a combat situation clearly unprepared. At least the girl had decency to wear sandals and not those shoes that mom suggested, they looked nice but no fighting ever could be done in them.
“The real snake is your slimy daddy, brat. Do you even know why we’re doing this? Haven’t you ever wondered why so often mercenaries attack the mansion? Well once we did, we didn’t submit one for the Konohagakure Police Force and questioned him ourselves, turns out they worked for your father, just like us. When time to pay up came your father just gave them up for Police Force and paid those dirtbags to stick some crimes up on their files. We decided to teach your daddy a lesson before he screws us over like he did every other mercs he hired.”
So that was it? Finally Hanada’s own greed was catching up to him, on any other day Mana would’ve loved to see his own slimy affairs explode in Hanada Katsuo’s face but… These men meant business, they probably wanted to hurt or kill the man, that’s what mercenaries do, they have little restraint, if any. They follow their own sick and twisted code of honor and if they feel like their payment is threatened they will most likely not stop at just quitting the job, they’ll feel as if they have to pay Katsuo back and that Mana and her own moral code could not allow.
There was an easy way to escape these restraints, this was a simple rope knot so the basic Academy Rope Escape Jutsu would’ve sufficed but that really was not Mana. She never used a technique that she didn’t invent in public, only by herself and only on special occasions, her getting through Academy with this silly rule was a story all of itself, story for another time. “Sir, I don’t know if you know me but I’m a magician, I have bunch of pointy tools on me and the way you put me down made one dig into my side and it really hurts, maybe you could flip me over?” Mana asked attracting the guard’s attention. Before that she used her natural sleight of hand to escape the binds on her arms, being a stage magician offered some more skill in escaping binds as one did that for fun every Tuesday.
The brute approached Mana and bent over to flip her on the other side, “Whatever you say, Konoha’s Sorceress…” the man grunted out using that ridiculous stage name with the most condescending tone imaginable. Swiftly as the man’s arms went under her side to push her the girl shot her elbow straight into the man’s eye and jumped up driving her palm into the man’s face. Mana had a pretty puny punch, just barely strong enough to make her graduate the Academy but the man staggered back and hit the wall making all sorts of statues and ancient clocks fall on his head and knock him out.
The magician proceeded to untie her legs and then went over to Koji’s binds, then everyone else’s. Everyone looked at her funny, they were impressed up to an extent but also they realized they’ve underestimated Mana, that was what they all did, that was why she succeeded when she did. She may not have been the most amazing prodigy or had the most impressive bloodline or come from some ancient clan of ninja but everyone always looked down on her. It was a good decision to leave her headband at home, otherwise these mercenaries would’ve made sure to keep her better contained…
Mana’s eyes slipped up on Koji and saw him lifting a heavy head of some statue above the head of the mercenary, she silently let out an alert for him to stop. “I know you’re angry, I know you feel betrayed but don’t kill them. I saved you, you owe me, if you just look the other way and escape the mansion I’ll consider the debt paid.” Koji looked at her with a berating and enraged look, he probably couldn’t believe it – a ninja that refused to let the enemy die? This must’ve been the dumbest thing the teen had ever heard but Mana considered all life sacred and would have never let anyone die. That was her ninja way.
“Whatever… Go save my dad, I’ll go get some REAL ninja here.” Koji grunted out and gestured for the other teens to follow him as he followed Mana who slowly opened the attic door and looked down. Of course she’ll try her best to save Hanada, she may not have liked the guy at all, the genin may have just a little bit been on the side of the mercenaries but… This wasn’t the way, hurting people and possibly killing them for something they haven’t even done yet. The magician took off the blazer that was obstructing her movements and waved for the kids to move, if they were silent enough they’ll pass right through.
There was some amount of activity, sounds of pounding, painful grunts and women crying, excessive cursing, those were all over the house. The kunoichi wasn’t sure exactly how many mercenaries did Katsuo hire for protection, still, it would’ve been best to not directly fight any of them. Mana’s legs felt tired from all the time they’ve been tied together so the exhaustion made her sit down on the stairs, this was a bad plan, she couldn’t take these men on, not alone. She may have been a kunoichi of Konoha but her arsenal of techniques was just lightshows and useless visual illusions, even more some of her chakra was spent in that magic show previously.
Loud shout of pain, coming without a doubt from Hanada came Mana’s way forcing the girl to jump up. Even if she’s taken out, even if these men beat her, every second she fights them saves Hanada some suffering, she was given the control of ninjutsu and chakra manipulation by fate for a reason, if she just whined over how unfair the world was on the stairs she wouldn’t deserve this gift she was given and if she died fighting these men that meant that she didn’t prove herself worthy of those gifts and wasted them. Mana was burning with fire that made her wish to prove that wasn’t true. A fire that burnt away all the fear, all the stress and all the shock and forced her to go save a life!
“Wait, you shouldn’t be here…” a voice came at Mana’s side as a mercenary was standing on the lower side of the steps, this one looked slimmer, he most likely slacked off his training hours. The mercenary didn’t speak loud enough for the others in the shut room to hear, it took yelling of a man in pain for it to be heard all the way here. Through sheer instinct the kunoichi’s hand reached for whatever she could find, flicking the switch that shot her cards out of the device and making the man flinch in surprise of bunch of cards being shot in his face, as he recovered Mana’s kick had already reached his face, he was stunned and the magician couldn’t stop for a second because that would mean she lost – she had the advantage and the kunoichi couldn’t waste it! One punch after the other from her palm came at the man’s chest and his face before the magician found a hard object – a vase on the table to knock him out with.
She could already hear a commotion and loud yells in the room at the western part of the building, the doors opening and some men confused by all the noise leaving – it had finally begun. It was time for Mana to prove her worth, to prove that the man that signed her Academy graduation papers was right to put the trust of the village on her. The magician glanced behind her only to witness the kids leave through the front door, she quickly jumped to hide behind one of those ancient couches getting ready for her first actual fight.
“Shit, the kids escaped!” one mercenary yelled out as several of them filled the room and started looking around. It was only a manner of time before the kids reach a ninja, a “real” ninja not a newbie disgrace like Mana… She may not have been willing to kill but she was ready to put her life on the line to protect a man she would’ve liked to slap with a wet cloth on a spare day. Life as a ninja was strange…
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