Chapter 4:
As soon as the real culprit was caught, Mitsuki was released from his cell and the hypnotist took his place. The authorities were apologetic but not too many locals showed up to apologize. Mitsuki didn't care if they did, but Boruto thought that an apology was in order after the way they accused him in the street without even a trial.
The performers showed the shinobi their gratitude along with the town headman.
"Perhaps his greed stemmed from lack of wage," said Mitsuki, trying to understand. "You even said that you felt you deserved more money than you were given when partnered with the magician."
The magician spoke up before the contortionist had a chance to. "Of course, I deserve more. My skills have been polished over years of training. I come up with all the tricks and build the props, which requires some carpentry skills. Everything I do had to be learned. Her talents lie in her natural ability. To contort one's body is a skill but in terms of talent, I prevail."
The woman glared at him.
"But… I suppose you do deserve some of the credit. Afterall, the trick wouldn't have worked if it hadn't been for you," he went on.
She grinned.
"I suppose it is unfair that our income comes from tips alone," said the dog show man. "I've witnessed my fair share of fights between acts over the years we've been together, so I can't say I blame the man for wanting more."
The contortionist nodded. "Like that argument between the jugglers and the freakshow man. They had that fight a few months ago about how one was luring away the other's crowd. The jugglers were getting more tips than the freakshow man. If he doesn't get tips, he doesn't eat."
"I told him to work on his act or change locations," said the magician."
"That won't do anything if people aren't willing to pay money for their act, no matter how good it is," said Boruto.
"Have you considered a communal tip jar type of thing?" asked Sarada. "All the money you guys make will get pooled together and evenly distributed. No one will have to accuse anyone else of taking their audience or getting more tips."
The magician shook his head in disagreement. "That just gives the other acts an excuse for being lazy. If they get paid either way, they won't work. Why should my tips line their pockets?"
"The more money you make as a whole means more money for everyone at the end of the day," she explained. "Everyone will work hard to raise the amount of money because everyone will get a piece of the profits. It makes sense. If they barely get anything, everyone will barely get anything. I think it'll motivate them to work and eliminate the unnecessary competition."
"And that would mean less fights and less people pulling what the hypnotist did," added Boruto.
The contortionist looked at the men. "I'm for it if you are."
"We all need that money to live and it'll stop people from getting too greedy and fighting like the boy says," said the dog show man. "I think it's a good idea. Shared profits is good."
The magician sighed. "Well, we can put it to a vote tonight before we pack up for tomorrow. See what the other acts think."
"Sounds good to me."
Mitsuki looked concerned.
"What's wrong?" Boruto asked him.
Mitsuki lifted his gaze to Boruto. "The hypnotist may be behind bars, but… does he still have power over me? What if I steal again and don't know it?"
"I doubt that," said the magician. "Hypnosis doesn't work like that. If it's a behavior you don't want to perform, you won't do it. Hypnosis can't make someone do something they don't want to do."
"How do you know?"
"Because in my profession, I know a ton of little tricks here and there. And one thing most magicians dabble in is hypnosis. It doesn't make us very good at performing it, but we understand it. And I understand that now that you're aware of what happened to you, as long as it's something you don't want to do, you won't do it. Awareness kills its power. Besides, it wears off eventually. It's probably out of your system by now anyway."
"Really?" Mitsuki gave him a hopeful look.
"Yeah. That guy's no good at long-term hypnosis. His trances only last a day. You should be fine."
"Hear that, Mitsuki? As long as you don't want to do that stuff he told you to do, you won't." Boruto patted him on the back. "You got nothing to worry about. And it's probably worn off already, like he said."
Mitsuki smiled.
With the villain locked away and the headman in charge of returning all the stolen goods to the proper owners, the Genin left for home.
"Why'd you want to see if you could be hypnotized anyway?" Sarada asked Mitsuki as they traveled.
"I was curious," he answered simply.
"Alright."
Mitsuki thought of something else. "The hypnosis might be out of my system, but I hope the hypnotist won't use his skills to escape his cell."
"I doubt that," said Sarada. "Those guys from the other acts said awareness diminishes its power. As long as they're aware and don't want to do as he says, they won't. Besides, it's not the same as Genjutsu. What he does takes time and they have to be willing to listen to him."
"The guards are outside the room, anyway," added Boruto. "They can't hear him from out there unless he shouts and they can see him through the little window on the door. He's got a private cell and everything. I doubt we have much to worry about. And if he does use hypnosis to escape, we'll find him and kick his ass."
Mitsuki grinned. Then he said, "By the way, thank you both for back there."
Boruto scoffed. "Did you really think we were going to leave you there and not investigate? We're friends, you know."
"And we knew the real culprit was still out there, so of course we weren't going to leave it alone. We had to clear your name, Mitsuki."
He nodded. "I know."
He understood that it wasn't blind faith that kept them from leaving him in a cell, but their own inquisitive nature and a need to see their mission through. Even so, it was nice to know that his friends believed him in so much that they would do all they could to help him. He knew they wouldn't have tried to break him out of prison because of their morals and understanding it would have things so much worse, but he also knew it was because they wanted to make sure people saw him the way they did.
That was humbling to know and kept Mitsuki in good spirits all the way back to the Leaf Village.
The end!
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