"I see."

My knee firmly planted into the floorboard. Head bowed. Eyes closed.

Wisps of smoke danced around the ninja shrine. This place, where I got my missions, is apart of my home. A little hidden village in the forests of Japan where the ninja clan thrived peacefully. We lived undisturbed by civilians who lived in the city, the outskirts of our location.

Hundreds of us trained everyday. Per tradition to the generations before us. Edwin Shuyaka, the master, is the elder of this generation. He old, yet capable body rests on the lone seat in the shrine, sided by his two faithful hands.

"Ibuki. My faithful pupil. Your mission is to fill this basket of whatever produce you can get your hands on. Things aren't looking good for our soil this season. As you know."

If I knew what it was. I would do something about it. Recently, a few of our good farmers had gotten sick and went out of commission. Reactively, the crops have been declining in both quality and quantity. Suppose we're going to have to rely on stealing from others for a while.

It wasn't the first time.

One of Master's hands, a fellow high ranked ninja, handed me a tall, cylinder shaped wicker basket. I slung it across my back, the straps hold onto my shoulders.

"But if you don't' mind. Pick up a few things that are on the sweet side. Fruit maybe?", A smile draws on Master's sweet wrinkled face. How could I dare deny him that?

"Of course."

I nodded in conformation. As I turned to walk from the shrine, Master spoke again, "Fail and don't return."

He always said that.

Doesn't even matter if the job is a total cakewalk or that someone was a highly ranked ninja like me doing grunt work. He made it clear to everyone and that sentence always shot chills down my spine thanks to his deep, rattling voice.

One bad apple spoils the bunch. As the saying goes. And this place is quick to get rid of bad apples.

The horror stories I've heard of people not being able to come back due to failure were absolute nightmares. Kicked out from the clan to fend for themselves in the dangerous forest or simply be executed for spilling secrets of the clan for revenge.

"Yep. Life here is pretty tough."

To be honest, this mission, wouldn't be possible if it weren't for that chance meeting earlier today. That karate girl. The one who put spit in my hand.

I leapt tree to tree using my cellphone's location abilities as a guide.

"There it is."

Then I came upon a massive clearing filled by crops, a dirt path, and what I could figure out to be the Rindoukan Karate Dojo. The sun hung directly over the dojo, which made me use my hand as a visor. The dark orange light glistened over the property.

With a space this huge, I had to wonder how has no one else found this place yet. Probably because the dojo looks abandoned. Does anyone even take those lessons she was talking about?

I stand upright on a tree branch and feel the near non-existent weight of the wicker basket on my back, "This thing is big. But there's only so much I can cram into this. Master wants peaches and regular produce."

Looking over the crops, I can make out that there are plenty stocks of cucumbers, corn, lettuce, and…peach trees? While there weren't many of them, but I figured an extra basket could let me pick the whole thing clean.

Once my feet touched the ground, I sprinted off into the myriad of crops. With my trained reflexes, ninja acrobatics, quick speed, and pinpoint precision I swept through the crops and freed the desired items from their stems.

Corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash, and cabbage, just to name a few, fill the confines of the basket.

I look over at the dojo. I'm not entirely sure someone is there, but I better play it safe and not get too close. If anything they're pretty pre-occupied and should stay that way.

Next, I zip over to the peach trees (lucky me she had some) and plucked everything I could with ease.

I lean on a barren peach tree and reward myself with an accomplished first. It went without saying, this had to be the best peach I've ever tasted. So much about just felt so right! From the texture to the fullness of the fruit itself, my goodness I was practically intoxicated by it.

Okay, I got a little greedy. I ate three more after the first. So I picked four more. Before I knew it, I started on another one. The tree didn't mind being without one more peach.

Just before I could leap away into the tree line, my brain had a good thought. Why not just stick some peaches in my dogi (ninja outfit)? By the time the idea came into fruition, the remaining peaches from the tree, which weren't that many, were in my possession. Nary a second thought crossed, my mind as I jumped back into the tree line.

Basket on my back and a clear path to the ninja village, I felt that satisfaction of a job well done.

Master will be pleased.

The next day, I entered the farmer's market around the same time I always do. Thirty minutes before noon.

The market had the strange, eye-watering smell of farm animals like it always did. And of course, the same boys were hanging around as usual. I sat down on a low wall and sighed. Had my routine always been this ho-hum? Sure, I've been a regular around here… Maybe, I outta just come around at different times. Just to spice things up a little.

Today…

"I don't know."

Something inside of me isn't feeling right. Something bad. I felt just fine walking here a minute ago. Now, I just felt a little down. I sunk a little in my position. Did I forget something back at the village? Had I forgotten to feed-?

A brief moment after situating myself, I lift up my head and saw it. My heart pulsed, a lump formed in my throat, and my stomach dropped.

Her booth. Makoto's booth. It's there. She's there. She…she looks lost and distracted. Not the same person who I shook spitty hands with.

"Maybe, I should-no I can't. That's messed up."

Any notion of being over there to cheer her up were a big no-no. That's exactly like backstabbing, except I don't think there's any trust between us. We only met yesterday.

Wait. How long have I been staring at her? Is she looking back at me? Oh, crap. I don't do anything, but look back. She doesn't give a wave or anything. Makoto just looks away.

Even with the guilt welling up in my stomach and my conscious telling me to vanish from the scene, my legs mysteriously pick me up and carry me toward her.

"H-hi, Makoto. How's it going", that damn lump in my throat bothered me.

That fire in her eyes wasn't there. Instead, I saw a spark of maleficence. As if she looked right through me and saw the guilt swirling in my stomach, "Somebody picked my peach trees clean yesterday," her voice low as she spoke through her gritted teeth. Her dimly lit eyes peer into mine, almost as if she could watch the memory of me stealing from her farm.

"Oh…you don't say", my throat dried up. My footing unsure of itself, "Well. It's not all that bad, right?"

"Wouldn't be if peaches weren't the number one produce this time of year. Without any I'll barely make enough money to get through the month. Let alone repair the-" her face dodged away for a brief moment.

I felt like a deer in headlights. Do I say something? Comfort her? Tell her the truth? Why the hell did I feel so damn guilty?

Her breath staggered, she bit her lip and looked at me again, "Look, you wanna buy somethin'?"

My funds were a little low, but the guilt in me directed my hand toward my wallet.

"I'll take a few bushels of corn ears." I said acting as though I knew how much was in a bushel. Makoto even shot a strange glance at me, but went about selling it to me anyhow.

The exchange ended with Makoto gaining twenty-two dollars and me with more corn than I know what to do with.

Afterward, neither of us seemed in the mood for conversation. Pretty much for different reasons. I gave my goodbye and carried the corn from the market. But, hey. I couldn't feel too bad. At least, she seemed in better spirits after making a sale. A smidgen of a smirk had appeared on her mouth. Which at that moment…made me feel lower than ever.

Makoto's farm is tonight's target.