Kurt walked into Tazuna’s home with a lighter heart. After his talk with Jeff he felt better, more content with himself. There were many people in his life he strove to protect. Burt, the lovable father who took him in when he was alone, Lady Sue despite her rough exterior, really cares about him and tries to get the elders to accept him. Quinn the fragile blonde who he once thought was a bitch, was now becoming one of his closest friends. And Blaine, the abandoned Uchiha who acted stronger than he really is, who Kurt wants to protect the most. Kurt sees a little bit of himself in Blaine. He knows the darkness of being alone; the trauma of realizing you don’t have a family, but Kurt intends to be family for Blaine. He and Quinn and Schue Sensei even. They can all love each other, grow with each other.
He just needs to help Blaine ignite his light.
Kurt walked into the living room. He saw Quinn hunched over Schue Sensei laughing. Her green eyes shone in a way that he’d never seen before. It made Kurt want to smile himself.
“Quinn,” Kurt sat down next to her while trying to stifle his own laughter, “what’s so funny?”
“Schue’s awake, I’m really happy.”
Kurt gasped and turned to their sensei, sure enough he was in a sitting position talking with Tsunami. After telling their hostess something he turned back to Quinn.
“So how long have I been out?” Schue Sensei had so much humor in his tone. Everybody seemed happier today, and Kurt treasured it, the small fleeting feelings of happiness.
“About a week, Tsunami has been taking care of you.”
“Oh yeah!”
Kurt got up and ran to the kitchen. He grabbed the first aid kit out of the wooden cupboard and snapped it open. He looked through its contents and pulled out a clear bottle. He ran back into the room to find a confused looking Quinn. She eyed the bottle in Kurt’s hand.
“Here Schue Sensei,” he kneeled next to his once comatose teacher. “This is a mint elixir; it’ll ease the nausea of coming out of your coma.”
Schue Sensei looked at Kurt with thankful eyes, “That’s very thoughtful Kurt, thanks a lot.” He took the bottle to his mouth and drank all the medicine in one swig. He placed the medicine bottle down on the bedside table.
“I can taste the mint,” He licked his lips, “wow that’s strong.”
Kurt and Quinn laughed, “I’m glad you’re feeling better, me and Kurt were worried sick.”
“We can’t relax yet, were not done here.”
Kurt and Quinn exchanged glances, “What do you mean?” Kurt asked after a moment.
“Yeah, we’ve already brought Tazuna home safely; can’t we head back to the Leaf?”
“Blaine’s not here,” Schue Sensei observed, “I’ll tell you when he wakes up.”
~X~
“Jeff.”
Nick walked out of his suite looking battle-ready; his old clothes got destroyed in the battle with Will so Jeff got him some new ones. He was now sporting a dark blue wife beater with gray ninja pants. His executioner’s blade was strapped to his back, he looked menacing, the hilt of the giant sword shining in the sunlight. It was amazing how Nick looked so put together and intimidating effortlessly.
“Yes, Nick?”
Nick walked towards the blonde boy, “I really do hate it when you wear that mask,” He joked, “It hides your beautiful face.”
Jeff rolled his eyes, “It was successful in deceiving our Leaf ninja friends. I thought I could keep up the act.” Jeff lifted a hand to his worn ANBU mask. Before his parents had died they had been in the Hidden Mist ANBU-Black Ops. There was a long thin scar down the middle of the mask. He assumed they had gotten killed by one of the Leaf ninja so he kept it around as a memento.
“Hey, I didn’t mean anything; I know how important it is to you.”
Jeff allowed himself a faint smile, “Doesn’t matter, I have things that are more important to me now.”
Before Nick could respond one of Gato’s many lackeys bounded to the pair. His face was covered in sweat and he had a long red scar down his chest.
“Sir Nick, Sir Jeff, there’s an intruder. He’s trying to get to Gato!”
“What?!” Nick hissed, “Why didn’t you kill him?”
“We tried sir,” The minion looked terrified, “He’s a Hidden Mist ANBU; he’s killed over twenty our men alone!”
Nick growled and brought his palm to his face. “Fine. I’ll deal with him, where is he?”
“He’s most likely defeated all of them by now; He’s probably on his way here.”
“Perfect. Go alert Gato, tell him to evacuate for the moment.”
“Yes sir!”
And with that the minion left the fearsome duo to clean up the mess.
“Nick, you go with Gato, I’ll take care of the Mist.”
Nick smiled; a toothy grin that revealed his shark like teeth, “Thanks bro, don’t go overboard.”
Jeff watched the assassin leave the room and turned back just in time to see the ANBU run in. He was clad in a black cloak with a hood shadowing his white pig mask. He could make out the Hidden Mist symbol etched into the middle of it like his own. He had a standard katana in his hand, already bloodied from the other fights.
“Are you holding Gato hostage?” He spoke with order, no fear or emotion laced into his voice, the way the Academy had drilled into them.
“Why would it matter?” Jeff walked leisurely towards the ninja, “You’re about to die anyway.”
The ANBU laughed, “You’re just a kid, in way over your head. I’m an elite ninja, you can’t stop me. If you tell me where Gato is I can let you go. Simple.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Well I guess you’ll pay with your life.”
The ANBU surged towards him at a speed that would be impressive to other ninja, but not to him. He dodged him easily and launched multiple senbon into his back. He made sure to pinpoint the tendons so he couldn’t move as swiftly. The ANBU fell to the ground with a loud thud.
“Am I still in way over my head?”
The ninja swore and reached for his katana, Jeff moved behind him before he could grab it and kicked it out of his reach. It slid on the pavement until it hit a stack of crates in the far corner of the room.
“You’re a punk, worthless like that Nick Momochi. You’ve both betrayed your village. Your scum.”
Anger flared through Jeff. This no nothing, weak ANBU can call Jeff whatever he wants, but you cannot talk about Nick like that. Nick has saved him from death, he’s the best friend Jeff has ever had and the most selfless person he knows.
“I wasn’t going to kill you, maybe rough you up, and send you running back to your village with your tail between your legs. But you’ve crossed the line.”
Jeff could feel the ninja’s smirk from underneath his mask, “Hot headed much? That’s not a good trait for a ninja.”
It was Jeff’s turn to smirk, “Nope. I’m perfectly cool.”
~X~
Kurt. What to do about Kurt. Blaine lay in his bed staring at the ceiling. His mind kept racing back to two nights ago. He shouldn’t have kissed him. He didn’t even know he was under the influence of the Nine Tailed Fox. Blaine couldn’t believe he said all those sappy things about himself to Kurt. He wondered not for the first time since then if he was weak. If the demon Fox controlling him meant that he couldn’t control himself. Blaine still hadn’t apologized for his acts that night. He felt disgusted, he’d never felt that way ever and he hated that it came out. Blaine made up his mind last night. He was going to stay as disconnected and platonic to the boy as he can. He needs to be strong to face his brother. He needs to cut all of his emotions.
“Blaine!”
Speaking of Kurt.
“Yeah?” He said groggily, he was still drowsy. In that state where your bodies awake but your mind is still in a dreamy trance.
“Schue Sensei has something he wants to talk to us about.” Kurt’s light voice rang up the stairs.
Blaine gave an inward groan. The last place he wanted to be was around people. He wanted to lay in bed and dream of how he was going to kill his brother- and how he was going to stay away from Kurt.
“Coming.” Blaine heaved himself out of bed and shuffled over to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, and slicked his curly hair down. He pulled on his clothes and made his way to the main room barefoot. He was met with a green eyed Quinn, a tired looking Schue, and an angelic looking Kurt.
Wait. Demonic looking. Okay maybe that’s a stretch but he needs to get these thoughts out of his head. Maybe he can meditate later. He’ll have to ask Kurt how to break the Fox’s control.
“Alright were all here.” Schue sat up straighter on his pallet and glanced at all of them, as if they were ready.
“Well?” Quinn broke the silence. “Blaine’s awake, what do you need to tell us?”
Whatever it was couldn’t be that important. Blaine needed to train; this whole mission aside from Nick’s death has been quite relaxing. They haven’t learned anything and Schue has been knocked out for half the time.
“Nick isn’t dead. He’s alive and he’s probably planning to attack us again.”
~X~
“Where are you taking me?” The small businessman demanded, “I have a lot of stocks to put in order and you’re not the best person to ask for investing advice.”
Nick snorted, “Nice to see you again Gato. And trust me, the feelings mutual. Er, aside from the investing shit.”
Gato was appalled, “You’ll watch your mouth around me Momochi. I hired you and I can fire you.”
Nick laughed; the small man really had a superiority complex. “That’s fine, I leave you and you die. I know where all your money is. Me and Jeff can live off of that. It’s a win-win for me.”
“Ah, the blonde. Why do you keep him around? Other than his fighting skills he seems rather… Useless.”
Nick stopped. He had to calm down. It wasn’t a good idea to kill his client. He took a deep breath like Jeff taught him to do when his rage usually got the best of him and chose his words carefully, “Jeff Is probably the purest ninja in this God forsaken world. Don’t talk about him unless you know him.”
“It seems I’ve hit a sore spot. I won’t make that mistake again.” Although his statement was apologetic, Gato had a sarcastic tone. Nick hated that.
“You better not; it could be your head I’m after next.”
~X~
“What!?”
Kurt jumped off the floor. How could Nick still be alive, they all saw that ANBU ninja kill him their own eyes.
“Yeah, we all saw that masked ninja kill him.” Blaine took the words right out of his mouth. He turned to smile at the Uchiha but when their eyes met the shorter boy turned away. There was something darker in his eyes, something was off.
“That’s the thing, I don’t think that ninja was on our side.”
“I’m confused,” Quinn interjected, “Why would he be on Nick’s side?”
Schue Sensei closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again, light with realization, “The ANBU is an exclusively trained part of all the ninja in a village, firstly, they’re almost always skilled farther than even me, a Jonin, an elite ninja. They carry out the dirty jobs, the assassinations, they bring back ninja that have departed from their village, kill anybody who has something dirty on the Hokage or the Land of Fire.”
“Ok,” Blaine crossed his arms and crooked an eyebrow, “Where are you going with this?”
“Ah,” Schue Sensei reached into his bag and pulled out a single senbon. “This is a senbon, a ninja tool. Its original purpose is for medical use, to scavenge a brain or muscle for any hidden information after a ninja dies. It is not a killing tool.”
Quinn’s eyes widened, “You don’t think…”
“Yeah, the ANBU are specially trained to know how to use these, if you hit the right area, it could shut off the blood flow to the heart and simulate death. Of course it would only leave the person in a comatose state for a few minutes.”
“But why would he use them to kill Nick? Why not a kunai or shuriken?”
Schue Sensei eyed Kurt, “In short he wasn’t trying to kill him. He was trying to save him.”
Quinn gasped, “The ANBU was on his side all along, I bet their all healed up and ready for round two.”
Schue Sensei smiled, “Yeah, and we have to be ready for them.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Okay so we know that they’re alive, but we don’t know when they’re gonna strike. Our best bet in this situation is to get them before they get us. An ambush.” Blaine glanced around the room, “This might sound crazy but why don’t we just wait. This is obviously not our territory. And we can’t find them.”
“It’s sad that you doubt me.” Schue Sensei took the senbon and sliced a clean cut down his thumb, “Summoning Jutsu!!”
The room filled with white clouds in an instant and everyone was trying to wave away the smokescreen. When the smoke settled, sitting beside Schue Sensei in a poised manner was a beautiful black husky.
“This is Tenjimaru;” Schue motioned to the canine, “my ANBU partner and ninja hound.”
“Wait,” Quinn started, “That statement raised more questions than answers.”
“Nice to meet you.”
Everyone’s eyes shot to the ninja hound. Who could now apparently talk.
“Did he just talk?” Kurt whispered to Blaine.
“Okay good, I thought I was the only one who heard it. I thought I finally lost my mind.”
“Oh right, I’m sorry,” The canine started, “I’m Tenjimaru, Will’s faithful ninja hound. Nice to meet you all. Kurt, Blaine.” He lifted his paw to Quinn’s hand and licked the palm, “Quinn.”
Quinn gave a strained smile as she pulled her hand away slowly, “Okay…”
“Tenjimaru isn’t an ordinary dog. He was trained for years to track scent acutely and notice large amounts of chakra. That’s how were goanna find Jeff and Nick. I have Nick’s scent still on me. We’re going to track down their hideout and ambush them.”
“Isn’t that a little risky?” Quinn asked, “I mean if they are elite ninja what can we do?”
“Don’t worry,” Schue Sensei pulled of his covers and stood up. He was shaky on his knees at first but the regained his composure, “This old dog’s still got some tricks up his sleeve.”
Like the Sharingan. Blaine thought.
“I would love to have a few more days to rest and train, but we need to move now if we have any chance of surprising them.”
“Will’s right,” Tenjimaru cut in. The hound’s voice was husky. No pun intended. It was low and gruff, he sounded almost like an old ninja veteran, “Nick is no fool. If we have any chance of attacking him it’s when he thinks we’re at our lowest.”
“Alright, I’ll give everyone an hour. Then we move.”

Blaine pulled his ninja headband into a knot and shrugged his sandals on. It was time for him to redeem himself from the earlier battle with the Demon of the Mist. He will not freeze this time. He was an Uchiha. Battling was in his blood. And he wasn’t about to let his first mission break him. As he was straightening his shirt he heard a knock in his door. He spoke without turning to the intruder.
“Schue I told you I’m alright.”
“You don’t seem alright.”
The voice wasn’t Schue’s. It was light, warm.
It was Kurt’s.
He gave an inward sigh and turned around.
“What do you want?” Blaine made sure to put more venom into his voice than needed. He needed to make clear to the countertenor that he was different, that their little chat the other day meant close to nothing.
“Are you okay?” Kurt looked timid, “Ever since that night you’ve been acting distant…”
“It’s none of your business!” Kurt flinched. Oh how Blaine hated seeing the boy so frightened, his usual bright blue eyes were a sea of heartbreak and sadness. He needed to get it out now or he probably never would.
“What happened that night was nothing. You said it yourself, I was under the influence of the Nine Tailed Fox and I was bending to his will. I asked you not to talk about it.”
Kurt looked away from him; he’s never seen the pale boy so… cautious. “I just wanted to make sure you weren’t confused… about what you want-“
“Because everybody wants you, yeah I know.” Blaine stared into Kurt’s eyes. Kurt was quite a bit taller than him, but he made his gaze as fierce as possible, “Kurt. I don’t want you. I’m sorry I did what I did but it wasn’t in my control. I would love to be teammates but that’s all.”
Kurt’s eyes were brimming with tears Blaine could see it. He could make out the watery blues mixed in with the stormy ones. Kurt’s eyes really were beautiful.
“Whatever Blaine, I was just making sure you weren’t having another bitch fit. I won’t bother you again.”
Blaine was silent as Kurt turned back to the door. Before his body completely turned the corner he spoke again; “You know Blaine, if you stopped pushing people away I bet you’d be closer to avenging your clan.”

The forest outside the Land of Waves Swamp was dense. The foliage was clumped together and made it hard to navigate through. Team 10 was in the Hachi formation, Schue Sensei was at the top of the arrow. He was leading the search with Tenjimaru, who was right at his side. Kurt and Quinn were on the offense so they got the sides, they were to watch for enemies that might try to blindside them. And last but not least was Blaine. He was soaring through the trees at the rear position. He had good eyes; he was to check for ninja that might sneak up on them from behind. Overall, it was full proof, and Kurt felt safe.
“Kurt!”
Kurt blinked at the sound of Schue Sensei’s ordering voice.
“Y-yes Schue Sensei?”
“Stop daydreaming, we need to be on full alert!”
Kurt nodded and tried to focus on the mission. He tried, he really did but he couldn’t get what Blaine had said earlier that morning out of his head:
“Kurt. I don’t want you. I’m sorry I did what I did but it wasn’t in my control. I would love to be teammates but that’s all.”
He felt the tears sting his face and he realized he was crying again. He was hurt. He was hoping Blaine would at least want to be his friend. Teammate was such a businesslike term. It was as if teaming up with Kurt and Quinn was a chore to Blaine. Who does he think he is? He thinks he’s so much better than everyone else. And that temper is totally unattractive.
“Kurt are you all right?” Quinn turned to look at him, her pretty face full of concern. This was a friend. Kurt was slowly finding out he could really count on Quinn to be there for him.
“Yeah,” He wiped angrily at his tear stricken face, “peachy.”
“Okay…” Quinn let the subject drop but she gave him a determined look that said “we’ll talk later.”
“Guys!” Schue Sensei’s voice rang out again, “focus! Is Blaine the only one listening?”
“Sorry,” Kurt apologized, “I’m just dealing with a lot right now.”
Schue Sensei stopped abruptly on a large tree branch causing the rest of the squad to awkwardly try to halt themselves.
“This is before we continue I have to inform you on something. This mission is above standard ranks. Somebody could actually die.”
The forest was silent save for the sounds of scurrying animals below and a few swamp bugs buzzing around the thick air. What did he mean above standard ranks? Who would die?
“What are you saying,” Blaine turned to Schue Sensei with a cocked eyebrow.
“I’m saying,” Schue Sensei started, “That this is an A-Rank mission, only intended for elite ninja like me to carry out. This will test my abilities. We cannot afford a screw up.”
Kurt understood. Now was not the time for feeling sorry for himself. He needed to be on his a game; he had people worth fighting for, no matter what they thought of him.
“Whatever faults you’ve had this week,” Schue Sensei turned to look each Genin in the eyes, “you need to put them behind you to fight as a team. Were like a factory, we’re capable of great things but we only function if everything works together.”
“You’re right,” Quinn turned to Kurt and Blaine, “We may have only been a team for a short time but I’m starting to really like you guys. Now whatever problems we have, we need to push through. We have to start acting like a machine.”
“Yeah,” Kurt watched Blaine’s warm honey eyes find his own. He tried to look away but something held his face in place. Did Blaine look apologetic? Kurt couldn’t tell, but he already forgave him nonetheless. They need to start understanding each other; Empathizing.
“Will!” Tenjimaru barked gaining Team 10’s attention, “I got a lead on a huge chakra’ it’s coming from the east! We need to get a move on before it disappears!”
“Right! Team 10 move out!”
Schue Sensei and Tenjimaru dashed through the trees at intense speed. The giant oaks trembled with the combined steps of the squad. They were running. Running so fast that the swamp marsh and other plants all blended into a murky green.
“I can feel it!” Tenjimaru was leading the group now; the hound’s bright green eyes were fierce. He was so focused, like a real ANBU Black-ops member, maybe even better.
They came up upon a slate gray building shadowed by the trees. It was shaped like a giant saucer, the point of the structure piercing the sky. Kurt could make out small black windows placed here and there along the walls.
“This must be Gato’s hideout.” Schue Sensei was crouched behind a bush peering through the leaves. Kurt, Quinn, and Blaine did the same as Tenjimaru stayed on lookout.
“There’re minions everywhere,” Blaine noticed, “They have to be the large chakras Tenjimaru sensed; there must be at least a hundred!”
“Nah,” Tenjimaru replied still scoping out the area, “They’re not powerful enough. And besides, the chakra’s coming from behind the building.”
“What are we gonna do?” Quinn asked.
“I have an idea,” Schue Sensei turned to Kurt, “Kurt I need you to make shadow clones.”
Kurt’s eyes widened, “Sensei, there’s no way I could make enough to hold off all these ninja.”
Schue Sensei smiled and winked, “Who said you’d be going in alone?”
The Jonin got up and formed a few hand seals swiftly, “Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
In a flash there had to be a thousand Schuester’s fill the forest. They all launched at the minions simultaneously. To Kurt’s surprise only a few of his clones were destroyed, the rest were fighting with immense skill.
“I could use your help Kurt.” Schue said with a laugh.
“Oh right, sorry!” Kurt formed his own seals and summoned some chakra, “Shadow Clone Jutsu!”
There weren’t nearly as many as Schue Sensei summoned, but Kurt sent his own small amount of clones into battle. Many of them got destroyed, but fighting alongside Schue made them stronger. As if being in the heat of the battle ignited something inside of Kurt.
“Good work Kurt!” Schue praised, “alright, we can sneak around the side while there all busy. Follow me.”
The team did as they were told. They had to stay in cover of the trees as long as they could; they found a door around the side of the structure.
Schue Sensei pressed a palm to the door. ”It’s pure steel,” He further empathized his point by clanking a fist on the hard surface, “We’ll have to find another way around.”
“Hurry,” Tenjimaru exclaimed, “were losing time!”
“Wait!”
Everybody turned to Quinn; she was staring at the door with her back to the once retreating ninja.
“Yes Quinn? Is everything alright?” Schue studied her. Her posture was perfect and her fist was clenched.
“I can get in.”
“What!? How?” Tenjimaru was getting impatient. With each passing second he could sense the chakra getting stronger, they might not be able to defeat it if they wait too long.
Quinn smiled. “Just watch, I learned some things over the summer.”
This is my time to shine. I keep watching Kurt and Blaine help with so many things. I want to help in some way. They can make clones and use their strength, time to use mine.
Quinn formed the tiger seal. Since it was the first time she used the technique she had to focus for a minute. Soon, she felt her chakra rush to her arms. Like rain washing over her. She felt it. She was in control.
She took a deep breath.
And screamed.
“Inherited Iron Arm!”
Quinn raised a fist and swung at the impenetrable steel door. At the last second she released all the charka she stored in her fist on impact.
With a deafening crash, Quinn’s single fist dislodged the steel door sending in crumpled into the room destroyed. After the smoke cleared she could see that she used a bit too much power, instead of just destroying the door she took off half the wall. And the earth around her was in craters.
“Whoops,” Quinn said shaking her fist out, “I kind of overdid it a little huh?”
She turned to her team to find all faces frozen and mouths down to the floor.
“When, what… how?” Kurt was speechless. His pale face was even paler, his eyes big and blue.
“Quinn?” Even Blaine’s eyes bugged out. She watched him study the debris, eyes widening more and more with every glance.
“Quinn, why didn’t you tell us you could do this? It takes precise chakra control. If we timed it right you could’ve taken out Nick with one punch. Schue was amazed; he kept staring at the point of destruction like it was the next natural disaster.
Quinn blushed and looked down, “I wanted it to be a surprise. I was going to try it on Nick but you told us to stay back.”
“Nevertheless,” Schue started, “This is amazing, you cut our time down by a ton.”
“Happy to help, now we should probably get going before your clones start to diminish.”
“She’s right,” Tenjimaru bounded down the hall inside the building, “come on! I sense the chakra down here!”
Team 10 followed the ninja hound’s voice through many corridors and pathways. Kurt was surprised to see there weren’t any minions on the inside. It was like they had all evacuated beforehand. But why?
The halls filled with the sounds of sandal soles on the pavement. Gato certainly had exquisite taste. There were many famous works of arts lining the halls. As Kurt turned to pass another picture something stopped him in his tracks. A shrill scream filled the air. It was definitely male; it carried through the halls all the way down to him.
“What was that?” Quinn looked around anxiously, her green eyes shining in the dim sunlight.
“I don’t know,” Schue Sensei started, “but it didn’t sound good come on!”
After running through more and more halls the screams finally stopped. Team 10 trekked on but that didn’t stop most of them from noticing.
“It stopped.” Blaine broke the silence.
“Yeah, that’s not necessarily a good thing either.”
Schue was right, either someone was being attacked, or the attacker was already finished.
As they ran through one last corridor light blinded them. The sun was harsh and as soon as the team could focus they all gasped in unison.
There lying in the middle of the room was a ninja. He was dressed in black with a bloodied pig mask with the Mist symbol etched into it. That wasn’t the shock. They body was definitely dead, it had to be. It was surrounded by thousands of senbon. They were clear as crystal. Kurt focused on the rest of the body and a wave of nausea passed over him.
“Oh my God.” Quinn was close to tears, her hand covered her mouth.
“He’s a Hidden Mist ANBU. “ Tenjimaru informed. “The best, his name was Anji; he was an expert in extreme assassination.”
Anji’s body was horribly mutilated. His right arm was detached and thrown across the room. Kurt found it and grimaced at the bloodied katana still gripped in it. That wasn’t the most horrifying sight though. Crushed into the middle of his stomach was a giant screen if ice. It was as thick as steel and covered in blood giving it an ominous glow. The ice severed his upper body and lower body on contact leaving Anji in a horrible mess of two.
“Who would do this?” Quinn’s voice was thick with tears. Kurt looked to Blaine and was surprised to find that even he was shaken immensely. His knees were trembling and his usually tanned skin was milk white.
“We have all of Nick’s files in the Leaf,” Schue started slowly, “And he does not have this kind of power. It must’ve been his ANBU partner.”
“This is bad,” Tenjimaru was whimpering, making sad dog noises.
“If that ninja can kill one of the Hidden Mist’s this ruthlessly, were in trouble. I haven’t seen this kind of power at so young since Sebastian.”