“We were happy once, a normal little family, with normal little kids. I had a mom, a dad, and older brother, and I love them all. I thought those days would never end.”

“Until…one day my brother went mad. He killed them. He killed them all. My mom, my dad. And he laughed! Laughed while covered in our parents’ blood!”

Kiyosuke glared at Nagahiko.

“You’ll never understand! None of you can understand! You with your happy little family, your happy little team, your happy little friends. My parents’ blood cries out for justice! I cannot rest, will not rest until I kill him! And to do that, I need power.”

Kiyosuke turned around.

“I have no time to play games with you kids in the village. I’m going to find real power, grasp it for myself. Then I will kill that man, and put my parents’ souls at rest. That is what it truly means to be a shinobi, not these idiotic games we play. And if anyone tries to stop me, whether you or Shio or Sensei or the village or the world, I’ll kill them too.”

“Then you won’t like me.”

Both the boys turned. At the other end of the field walked a man, dressed in black armor and with a gas mask over his face.

“Who are you?”

“A guest of the village.”

“The village has no guests.”

“None that a kid like you knows about.”

Kiyosuke’s eyes narrowed, then he shrugged.

“Well, I don’t care. Get out of my way.”

The man stopped and crossed his arms.

“And if I don’t?”

Kiyosuke’s eyes narrowed. He vanished, appearing behind the man, his blade on the interloper’s neck.

“Then I’ll…”

“Got you.”

A puff of green smoke shot from the man. Kiyosuke stepped back, coughing, and then fell flat on the ground.

Bob shook his head and checked his neck.

Teenage ninjas are so annoying.

Just then a group of shinobis landed in the field, weapons at the ready. One of them stepped forward.

“Halt! Who goes there?”

Bob reached into his pocket and pulled out a scroll.

“A friend of the village.”

The man turned and nodded to the rest of the shinobi, who lowered their weapons. Two of them began to treat Nagahiko. The leader nodded his head towards Kiyosuke.

“Is he dead?”

Bob shook his head.

“Just unconscious.”

The man let out a sigh, and then held his head.

“Today…of all days…anyways, I apologize for the inhospitable greeting, but welcome to our lands, fair traveler. What business do you have with us?”

“I’m here for the bargain.”

“Oh…I see…”

Bob raised an eyebrow as the shinobi suddenly looked away.

He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.

He turned his head towards the teenager on the ground. He turned back to the leader, who still wouldn’t meet his gaze.

“Is he…”

“He, um, was playing a little prank?”

“...”

“You know…boys will be boys and all…”

“...”

“Ok ok, he, um, wasn’t this bad before…”

“...you’re telling me you want the Scroll of Demonic Binding in exchange for…this?”

The man continued to look away.

“H-He’s top of his class you know! He can already take on the average shinobi as a mere student! H-He’s a great asset, I assure you.”

“...you just want to get rid of a timebomb, don’t you?”

“N-No, of course not! We just thought, with a little experience, some real world missions, that he might grow a bit. Probably, possibly, maybe…”

Bob let out a sigh.

“How many rogues does that make?”

“What? There are no rogues!”

“We encountered five already.”

“Four! That business in Shanghai doesn’t count!”

Bob let out another sigh.

“Why don’t you just hire a therapist?”

“It is forbidden for outsiders to learn the exact location of the village!”

“Then do a video call.”

“...the cable guy is also an outsider.”

“Then set up a hut on the border and bring them here.”

“...therapy is expensive.”

Bob just stared at him.

“...come on. Our village is entirely isolated from the outside world! And we’re very selective with our contracts, as per the founders’ teachings. So…we don’t have…much income…”

Bob just held his head.

“L-Look, you already proved you can handle him, right? His skills are no joke, so I’m sure he’ll be a valuable asset to you, with a bit of work. Um, we can throw in some basic scrolls, enough to teach some basic tricks?”

“...how about I give you some cash instead of the scroll? If you also throw in someone who isn’t a psychopath. This kid threatened my life before he even met me, so I’ll need some insurance.”

“Oh gosh yes, please. I haven’t had meat in over a year.”

Bob just shook his head.

Ninja clans are so annoying.

Bob held his head and let out a sigh. Seriously?! Not one. Not a single one. Every last one of these kids had some sort of problem. Or an unhealthy obsession with someone who does. The only two with remotely functioning families and social skills? Teammates of Kiyosuke, one of whom Kiyosuke just beat into a pulp and the other of whom was on the verge of stalking him.

“...is there anyone else? Someone? Anyone?”

The village elder averted his gaze.

“Well…there’s one girl left in that class. I personally wouldn’t recommend her though, her scores are near the bottom of the class, and she lacks any sort of special potential to make up the difference.”

“Is she normal?”

“Um, well, her teachers say she never causes any particular trouble and is generally polite. She is a bit shy though.”

“I can live with shy, bring her in.”

A few minutes later, Bob eyed the kunoichi that knelt in front of him.

“My name is Bob.”

“...Ueno Nana…greetings to you, honored guest.”

Bob nodded. Manners. That was a start.

“Miss Ueno, was it? I have some questions for you…”

It’s over.

It’s finally over.

He did it.

After so many hours, so many interviews, he found one.

Just one ninja teen who isn’t a psychopath. Or had some horrible trauma, repressed or otherwise.

“Miss Ueno, I’d like to offer you a job.”

The village elder raised an eyebrow.

“Are you certain, Bob-san? Her personality aside, compared to Kiyosuke, her skills are…”

“I’m certain. She is the one I want. She’s the best of the lot.”

The girl jumped a bit, and stared up at Bob with wide eyes. He nodded at her.

“What do you say?”

She bowed her head.

“I-If that is what you wish…Bob-sama…t-then I would be…honored…”

Bob held out his hand.

The girl froze.

She gingerly, slowly, extended her hand.

Bob took it and shook it once.

Then he saw the girl’s eyes widen even more.

A bit too far.

“...he touched my hand…”

Bob held his head, the pounding there growing stronger. No, it’s ok. She’s normal. She has to be normal. He can just ignore that. She’s a teenage girl and seems quite shy. She’s just a bit sensitive to men. That’s all. He definitely didn’t do all this for nothing.

He shook his head, and buried that bad feeling somewhere deep.

“Have you been on a plane before?”

“...what’s a plane?”

Right. Broke ninja teens from an isolated village. Bob sighed again.

“...There’s a lot we’ll have to bring you up to speed on.”

Kiyosuke awoke on a metal floor, in some sort of cramped room with seats along the walls. He groaned and tried to move.

And couldn’t.

He was tied up, with metal chains. But he smirked. They were fools if they thought they could hold him. One slash of his mighty blade…

He didn’t have his mighty blade.

Or any of his blades.

“Looking for this?”

A man walked in front of him, the same one from before, holding a sheathed katana in his hand.

“Is this the village?”

“Just outside of it.”

Kiyosuke glanced around, narrowing his eyes as he saw another kunoichi standing in the corner of the room. She was vaguely familiar to him but not anyone worth his attention.

“Are you taking me back?”

“Yet to be determined.”

Kiyosuke gnashed his teeth and squirmed against the chains. But the chains held firm. The man shrugged.

“They said even a senior shinobi can’t break out of those. I hope they were right, they were quite expensive.”

The man shook his head, muttering something about cheapskate ninjas.

“Let me go.”

“Why, so you can go get revenge or something?”

“It doesn’t concern you!”

“It kind of does. The village loaned me your services, after all.”

The man held out a scroll in front of Kiyosuke.

“I don’t care! The village is just holding me back! Now let me go, or I’ll kill you too.”

The man let out a sigh.

“You’ll never get your revenge this way, you know?”

“What was that?!”

“You’ll never get your revenge this way.”

“That’s why I’m leaving! To get power!”

“It’s not power you lack, kid.”

“What do you know?!”

“I know that you’re on the ground, wrapped up in chains, because I put you there. So you might want to quiet down and listen to what I have to say before I decide to return you to the village.”

Kiyosuke glared at him but shut his mouth.

“It’s not power you lack. It’s experience, and composure. I have no power. You could have killed me in an instant if you tried. Or better yet, you could have just ignored me and left, and there wasn’t a thing I could have done to stop you.”

The man tapped Kiyosuke’s head with the katana.

“But you didn’t, did you? You’re emotional, and you’re letting your anger control you. It was easy to provoke you and predict what you would do. And so I caught you without any power at all. And guess what?”

The man unsheathed the katana, pointing the tip at Kiyosuke’s neck.

“Now you’re at my mercy. And I, someone weak, can kill you anytime I want. You don’t need power to kill someone, kid. You just need a good plan, and the composure to see it through.”

Kiyosuke grit his teeth. The man sighed, and sheathed the katana.

“Look kid, I heard your little spiel. You want to kill some guy? I don’t care, that’s your business. You don’t want to make friends? I don’t care, I’m not your friend. I can’t understand what you’re going through? I don’t understand and I don’t care to.”

The man looked him in the eye.

“I’m offering you a job, and if you get the job done and don’t cause problems, then I don’t care what you do otherwise. And a job is a chance to get what you need. Resources. Money, weapons, connections. The things you need if you actually want to track someone down. Experience. The knowledge to actually use that power of yours effectively. The ability to plan an engagement and maintain your composure, so that when you meet that guy of yours, it will be you dictating the pace. And I’ll even show you some of that power that you want, power like you couldn’t dream of.”

“But the little outburst I saw tonight? Attacking your coworkers, running off on your own, threatening a random guy, killing anyone who annoys you just because you feel bad? Deal-breakers. If you choose to work with me, then you work how I say. And if you work with me, then I work with you. You cause me problems? I get rid of you. Simple as that.”

The man shrugged.

“Or I can send you back where you came from and just take the girl with basic self-control. Choice is yours.”

Kiyosuke grit his teeth. What did this jerk know? Part of him wanted to refuse, to make this man suffer.

But…

The man was right about one thing. Right now he was standing with a weapon.

And Kiyosuke was lying on the ground.

Kiyosuke narrowed his eyes. If it would help him get his revenge…

“Fine. I’ll do what you want, for now. But you better not hold me back.”

The man sighed and walked towards a small door.

“Hey! Where are you going? Aren’t you going to untie me?”

“Trust is earned, kid. And our interactions consist solely of you threatening my life.”

“How do you expect me to move if I’m lying on the ground like this?!”

“You don’t need to. Miss Ueno, strap yourself in and watch…the other guy. Make sure he doesn’t hurt himself too much or something.”

“...yes sir…”

The man left the room. Kiyosuke glared at the door.

Don’t need to? Don’t need to?! What the heck does that…

Kiyosuke heard a loud humming noise, then a roar, and then the whole room started to rise.

In the cockpit, Bob smirked as he watched the boy panic and try to figure out what was happening. Guess the poor ninja boy never saw a plane before.

It’s the little things.