~Randy's P.O.V~

Howard was over at my house eating breakfast before we head to school and somehow went into the topic of swords and bulldozer.

"All I'm saying is a Ninja sword cannot cut through a bulldozer." Howard said munching on a sub.

I looked at him in disbelief as I ate my apple. "Come on! It slices through Robo-Apes, Robo-Lizards, Robo-Donkeys, Robo-Birds..."

"That's great! Can it slice through a bulldozer?" Howard argued trying to egg me on. "Cause I'm pretty sure I didn't hear you say bulldozer." 

I didn't give in to the taunting, shaking my head determinedly. "Not falling for it. I don't care how hard you try, there is no way-"

                                                 ~~Time skip/ 5 minutes later~

I was now suited up and on top of a bulldozer holding my sword. "How do you like your 'dozer? Sliced, diced, Shoe string, waffle cut? O'Brien?" 

Howard was leaning against a dirt pile still munching on his sub. "Ninja's choice."

With that, I jumped into the air and brought down my sword on vehicle. "Yah!"

Instead of slicing the bulldozer, my sword bounced off and began to vibrate in my hand. "Oh, no." Deep red cracks started climbing up from the hilt to the blade causing me to panic. "No no, nononononono!" But it was to late, my sword fell to my pieces in my hands.

"I did tell you it wouldn't cut through a bulldozer." Howard said.

Really!

"I can fix this. Just find a bag and start scooping." I said trying to push nervousness to the back of my mind.

~Riley's P.O.V~ 

-Twitch-

"Riley, you okay honey?" My mom asked as I suddenly stare at my breakfast with an annoyed expression out of no where.

I didn't answer right away as I got emotion together. "Yeah...I think so. Just got a funny feeling."

"Funny haha or funny your gonna hurt somebody?" My dad asked looking up from some papers he was reading.

"The second one. I think someone I know did something stupid." 

"Well if nothing bad happens, I'm sure it will be alright." My calm-as-always mother reassured.

I smiled at bit while finishing my breakfast. "Right, I'm gonna head out."

Kiss/ hugging my parents goodbye, I went upstairs to my bedroom to grab my bag.

Before shouldering it, a blue glow shined through the bag.

Confused by the sudden call, I pulled out my Nomicon and sat on my bed. "What's up Nomicon? You don't usually call this early."

I opened the book and flipped through the pages feeling my mind go blank.

"Arwoooh!" 

~Inside the Kunoichi Nomicon~

When I opened my eyes, I see I was floating and also see a picture of a man hammering a sword. With each hit of the hammer, words appeared. 

       -In the realm of the Kunoichi, a swordsmith crafts weapons in a cauldron of fire.- 

I looked at the words confused. "Okay, I don't really get what your saying but I'll keep an eye out, I guess."

A force then pushed me out of the of the book.

~Back outside~

Gasping as I sat up, I looked at the book feeling really confused but stuffed it into my bag and started my way to school.

'I'll worry about this later'

                                                                    ~~Time Skip~~

After arriving to school and meeting up with Rachel, we were walking to class talking about some random stuff but my mind was still on the Nomicon's message.

My eyes at that moment decided to look to the side just as we were passing by the metal shop class. Looking at the plate below it made me stop in place and stare hard at it.

S. Ward Smith. 

I stared a little harder 

Sward smith. Sword-smith, Swordsmith!

"It can't be that easy." I said aloud.

"What was that?" Rachel asked coming up behind me.

"Uh nothing." I waved off the question. "Hey listen, I got to talk to Mr. Smith about something. You go on ahead to class and I'll catch up."

"Um...Okay if your sure. Later." Rachel said walking away looking unsure.

"Later." I said back before looking at the door. "Either I'm right or this is one of those big coincidences."

Taking a breath, I went inside the empty room looking around seeing no one.

"Uh.... Mr. Smith? Hello? Is anyone here?" I called out when a stick suddenly blocked my path making me jump. On closer inspection I see it was probing cane.

Following the cane up to the handle I see to who I presume is Mr. Smith.

"Uh... Hi?"

"And what are you doing poking around in my metal shop? I've already had a visit from your sword-breaking boyfriend earlier, Kunoichi."

"W-well I'm here to ask-" Hold up. "Boyfriend!? I don't have a boyfriend! And what do you mean sword- and how do you know-"

"The two of you reek of smoke bombs! How can one not tell when your walking around smelling like a blueberry bush." He said pulling his cane away.

Weirded out , I brought me arm up to my face and sniffed it. Huh? You cane smell it.

"S-so you are the Swordsmith that make the weapons for the Ninja and Kunoichi."

"Darn right. So why are you here. Did you break your tessens too?" He asked leaning on a table.

That made me confused. "No....I did not break my tessens- what do you mean by too?" I asked, a growing feeling of annoyance building up inside me.

He didn't say anything. And that answered all my questions.

"I'm gonna kill that shoob...." I groaned into my hands feeling a headache.

Mr. Smith just snorted at my comment. "Well if you didn't break anything, why are you here?"

"I was told to come here, but I have I no idea why." I replied rubbing my head.

He 'hmm'd' at my words before going over to a leaver, pulling it down. I watched in amazement as the chalkboard that was next to the leaver shift to the side to reveal a large room with a fire pit right in the middle and all kinds of weapons all over the place.

"Wow...." I gasped.

"Alright girly, let me see your tessens." He held out his hand, snapping me out of my daze.

"Uh...yeah sure." I took out my mask, reached inside, pulled out my tessens, and placed them into his hands.

He flipped them open and inspected them letting out a "Hmmm..." 

"So... do you have any idea why I'm here? I'm mean meeting you is important towards future Kunoichi training. Do I need to learn more about weapons or-"

-Snap!-

-Crack!-

My words died in my throat as I watch in horror as this teacher destroy both of my tessens.

"WHAT THE JUICE ARE YOU DOING MAN!" I yelled grabbing my head in disbelief, watching him throw away the pieces.

"Cleaning up, what else?" He said calmly as if he didn't just destroy my main weapons.

"B-b-but h-how...why...?" I stuttered still in shock.

"Pfft! You think I don't know how to find weak spots in weapons? And why, is because you apparently need an upgrade." Was his answer.  

"......Upgrade?" I echoed, trying to comprehend everything.

"Do you know how old your weapon is, girly." Mr. Smith then asked out of know where.

"Uh..." I fumbled with my answer, caught off guard by the question. "....800 years?"

"30. And that's double in comparison for how long the Ninja has had his sword." He said. "Ninjas and Kunoichis need to have their weapons in tip-top shape in order to complete their missions. So they either have them constantly repaired or get a new one."

"So if I'm understanding this right.... I'm in for a mandatory upgrade." I clarified carefully.

"You understood right." He then said something under his breath that I barely caught. "...got the brains this time..."

Wha-?

"Come back later to get your new tessens." He said turning around to what I presume to get started on working.

"B-but what do I do if a monster or something attacks?!"

"You got other weapons don't ya?"

"But-" My Nomicon decided to make itself known.

"I think you got a call...."

Growling, I tore the book out of my bag and opened  it.

"Arwoooh!"

~Inside the Kunoichi Nomicon~

Landing in crouch, I stood up and see I was in crowd that was watching a doodle Kunoichi fighting some bandits.

During the battle, doodle Kunoichi ended up losing both of her tessens and the bandits started closing in.

Doodle Kunoichi started looking nervous until she spots some rope around the bandits feet. Spying the end of the rope just above her, she jumps and pulls on it hard. The rope tangled around the bandits feet and suspended them above the ground. She then lets go and the bandits fall into an unconscious pile. The stars spinning above the bandit's heads transformed into words.

                                -A Kunoichi must learn to adapt in any situation- 

"Your right and I completely agree with you on this stament." My tone then went sheepish. "...But I think I would be more comfortable with my tessens...."

Doodle Kunoichi looked at me sternly with hands on her hips.

"What?"

Shaking her head, she pulled on another rope next to her and I fell through a hole that appeared under me, dropping me out of the book.

~Back outside~

Gasping, I sat up from the floor quickly only to wince when I felt a small bump on my head. 

'Must of hit my head on a chair.'

"Soo..."

My head snapped towards Mr. Smith, who was leaning against a counter seeming to stare me down.

Well I think he was.

Grumbling under my breath, I stood up, dusted myself, and went towards the door. "I'll come back later...."

"You're still here?"

Growling, I stomped out of the room.

I can do this.

                                                                        ~~Time Skip~~

I can't do this.

All morning I was fidgety about not have my most reliable weapon on hand. Horrible scenarios popping into my head and making me paranoid.

Repeatedly I would have to wave off people's questions and concerns cause I didn't know how to answer and they were starting to get on my nerves.

It was now science class and I was tapping my foot impatiently as the class and I stood in front of the gates of the Norrisville High Cactus Maze.

Why do we have one? I have no idea.

"Hi Riley-"

"What!" I snapped turning towards the voice and see Howard and Randy leaning away from me with wide eyes and hands up in a 'don't shoot' fashion. Or for Randy, using a balloon as a shield.

My temper simmered down when I took a breath and gave them a apologetic look. "Sorry guys, didn't mean to snap at you."

"Its cool, What's up with you anyway?" Howard asked.

I sighed and crossed my arms. "Just....a little on edge."  

I then turn my attention towards Randy's balloon. "What's with the balloon?"

Randy and Howard tensed up as Randy's grip on his balloon tightened a bit as he stuttered. "I-uh-this um..."

"A BET!" Howard then cut in suddenly.

I looked at him weird. "A bet?"

"Uh... Yes!" Randy agreed with a large smile. "I have to...keep this balloon safe! For the whole day!"

"Okay....Well I hope your prepared for class today." I said glancing at the gate.

"Why?" He asked looking confused.

I retuned the look. "You do know that we're-"    

"As a special treat," Mrs. Driscroll said interrupting me making me glance at Randy with sympathy. "We're going to spend a fascinating 45 minutes walking through the poorly lit and completely unmarked Norrisville High cactus maze."

She opened the gate and everyone can see the field of cacti with their long, sharp needles gleaming in the sunlight.

Glancing at Randy, I see him hugging his balloon protectively with a petrified face.

The class reluctantly stepped through the gate as we heard Jerry 'say'. "It's a-maz-ingly educational."

To sum up the experience.

It sucked.

Hard.

And Randy lost his balloon.

It was now lunch time and my mood has not gotten any better.

Rachel pointed this out as we sat down to eat.

"Riley are you sure your okay? You look like you wanna hit somebody." 

I was glaring at my lunch and tapping my fingers on the lunch table. "Just having a test of wills, Rach, with a dash of a headache."

It was at that moment that my day decided to get worse as monster decked out in armor suddenly burst out of the ground in the middle of the cafeteria. 

"Weinerman!" It screamed as it grabbed said boy and then dove back into its hole.

During all the chaos, I slipped under a table, pulled on my mask, and then jump into the hole, after the monster.

I was following the sound of the roars of the monster and Howard's screams as I ran through the hallways when I heard footsteps behind me.

Knowing who it was, I slow down slightly before picking up again as Ninja appeared at my side.

"Afternoon, Kuno."

"Hey Ninja." I glanced at him, doing a doubletake when I saw a balloon cradled to his chest by his scarf.

Before I could ask, we appeared under a new entry hole and hoped through. Looking around, I see we were now in the metal shop class.

Howard, who was still in the monster's grip, sent Ninja a hard look as he said. "Please tell me you're not going to fight this guy with a balloon!" 

"I'm actually curious about the balloon and why you're carrying it?" I threw in, looking at my partner.

"I'll tell you later." Ninja said to me before looking back at Howard. "And I'm not going to fight this guy with a balloon."

"Well, then, what are you going to fight him with?" Howard asked. 

"The heart and soul of a responsible Ninja!" Ninja replied completely serious.

Howard and I shot him a look of disbelief.

"Oh, great, I'm dead. I'm dead." Howard grumbled out.

"And this is getting old." I say before throwing some flash ball at the monster.

The monster screeched, shielding its eyes and tossing Howard away in the progress. 

"Ninja sais!" Ninja said pulling out said weapon while I pulled out some kamas.

The monster grabbed a near by tool box and dumped the contents into it's mouth. Turning towards us, it began spewing the tools at us.

We jumped over the monster while throwing our weapons at it. But that did nothing as the monster just rubbed the attacked spot as if a mosquito just bit it.

Seeing this, Ninja started throwing random weapons at the monster but nothing worked. 

Pulling out a pair of chain sickles, my mind began rushing for a plan. Looking at the discarded weapons on the ground by the monsters feet, I saw the Nomicon's message from before.

                                   -A Kunoichi must learn to adapt in any situation- 

Gaping in realization, I smirked under my mask. "Now I get it...."

"Get what?" Ninja asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Oh nothing... just THIS!" I threw the end of the chains of my weapons and had them each  wrapped around the monsters arm.

Being quick on my feet, I began to twirl, jump, throw, and wrap the chains in different directions around the monster. And it couldn't move without injuring its feet from the weapons on the ground.

Being close to the end of my chains, I landed on a counter and tightened the chains with all my strength that had the monster completely wrapped up.

The monster immediately began struggling causing me to get dragged a bit.

"A little help here Ninja!" I grunted out trying to keep the monster at bay.

Said monster then breathed fire at Ninja, making him duck behind a table.

When Ninja came out from behind the table, he was wielding his balloon like a sword.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?" I yelled loosing concertation which allowed the monster to break free.

I was thrown back from the force as the monster pulled a sword out of it throat.

Dizzily getting back to my feet, I held onto a counter and watch as Ninja fight the monster with his balloon.

And by fight, I mean swatting that did nothing.

Mr. Smith took that moment to come out from behind the chalk board. "Ninja, what do you think you're doing?!"

"I know what you were telling me." Ninja said hanging off a ceiling light. "This is my sword, and I'm gonna Ninja with it!"

"That's a metaphor, ya shoob!" I paused and looked at Mr. Smith. "It better be a metaphor!"

"Of course its a metaphor!" Mr. Smith said back before turning to the Ninja. "And are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Ninja ignored him and clashed 'swords' with the monster's and to no one's surprise, the balloon popped.

Landing on a table after being punched away, Ninja looked down at his popped balloon sadly. "I wasn't behaving like a clown, I was behaving like a Ninja, and you all saw it. All you guys saw it"

"No duh." Mr. Smith before going into his forge and grabbing something.

Pulling out a flaming object, he threw it towards Ninja. "Why do you think I made you this?"

Ninja caught the object by the handle, he held it over his head until the flames died down to reveal a new sword.

"Ah, yes!" Ninja cheered looking over his new weapon. "So Bruce!" 

"Now that sword would cut through a bulldozer." Howard said making my eye twitch.

He tried to cut... a bulldozer!

That's it, I'm hurting him. 

I looked at Mr. Smith, trying to suppress my violent thoughts. "Hey! What about me!?"

"Oh hush girly, I got yours done too." He said before throwing some things at me.

Catching them, I flicked them open and marveled at the craftmanship.

 I whistled. "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Quit drooling you two and get in there and poke that monster!" Mr. Smith ordered.

I quickly threw a tessen at the back of the monsters head making it turn it's attention towards me and swing it's flaming sword at my direction.

Blocking it with my tessen and jumping to the side, I wait for him to bring down it's sword again and then slice that thing to pieces.

Seeing it's weapon destroyed, the monster brought out a glowing green hammer.

"I'll be slicing that." Ninja said while dodging a swing from the hammer.

Jumping onto the monster's shoulder while dodging swings from it's hammer, Ninja kicked off it's helmet.

When the monster swung its hammer again, Ninja flipped over it and sliced the end of the hammer, releasing the green mist from it.

More stank soon left the monster and what was left standing was a confused kid in an apron.   

Smiling at job well done, I went over to Ninja and we did our regular high-five.

"Well now thats all over, there is just one last thing to do." I said calmly.

"And what would that be?" Ninja asked, curious.

"Just this...."

-SMACK!-

"OW! What the juice!" Ninja cried after I smacked the back of his head and backed up in fear when I raised my hand again.

"A bulldozer! Really?!  Out of all the things you've done-!"

                                                                    ~~Time Skip~~

After giving Ninja a well deserved earful, we went our separate ways and I met back up with Rachel.

"Well you seem to be in a better mood." Rachel pointed out as we walked through the halls to leave.

"Yeah." I laughed a little embarrassed of my attitude from earlier. "Kind of need to lighten up with change."

"Well change can be different for everybody."

"True." I said just as me and Rachel jumped in surprise when Randy and Howard suddenly dashed around a corner.

"Jeez guys, what's the hurry?!" Rachel asked, hand over her heart.

They didn't answer as they panted, trying to catch their breaths.

"Were you guys doing something stupid again?" I asked hands on my hips.

"No." Howard said trying to look insulted. "Just doing some uh.....exercise!"

Everyone looked at him blankly. "Howard you hate exercising." Rachel pointed out.

"Oh yeah."

I just shook my head. "Whatever." I then noticed something. "Hey Randy, where's that balloon you were hanging on to?"

Randy looked surprised for a sec before puffing out his chest in a proud fashion. "Don't need it anymore. I won the bet and learn a valuable lesson in responsibility!"

I smiled amused before it dropped as memory rose up in my mind.

~"Well, then, what are you gonna fight him with?"~

~"The heart and soul of a responsible Ninja!"~

"-ley? Riley?!"

I snapped out of my daze and see my group looking at me concerned.

"Riley, you okay?" Rachel asked.

"Uh..." My eyes dartted towards Randy for a moment before I shook my head. "Yeah, I'm- I'm fine..., we should get going Rach."

"Uh okay.." She said before looking at the guys. "Bye guys."

"Bye."

"Later."

I didn't say anything and started walking, my mind cramped with questions and thoughts.

Responsibility.

Carrying a green clown balloon.

There's just no way....

Could Randy really be.....