You want a story, huh?
Well, it just so happens that I have one to tell, one full of adventure, romance, and the occasional attempts at humor. Now, where to start I wonder... But I think I know where.
There was a village. The name is unimportant, what is important is the large village market in the center of town. On this warm, breezy spring day, the bustling bazaar was a veritable cornucopia of sounds, sights, and smells that assaulted the sense all at once. Villagers milled about the open-air market, shopping amongst the various stalls, streetcallers and storefronts. Vendors called out, vying for the attention of all the potential customers and trying to top the competition, proclaiming thier wares and the 'mind blowing' specials they were having. Children scampered around the feet of their parents, yelling at and wrestling with one another in play. The men guffawed at crude jokes, while they took shots at the various sake bars that lined the town square, while the women gossiped and bragged about thier children, as they wandered amongst the material items and food they wished to take home.
Most didn't notice, or chose to ignore, the small shadow that made it's way through the crowd. A few, namely the village's shinobi, cast reproachful glares towards the small figure as it moved past them. As a matter of fact, the small shadow was actually a boy of about seven with whisker lines on his cheeks. His name was...