I don't think you can even get NAA's in Mass, so the Companion is your only option so long as the seller is willing to ship to you.
I don't think the NAA is a good choice for a first black powder gun, I think the Pietta 1858 New Model Army is, but you can't exactly carry them easily. BTW, I assume you have an LTC because if you carry a black powder antique firearm without one, you'll surely be arrested.
Your question is on the NAA and with the right grip, they are shootable. The Black Widow/Minimaster grip is excellent, I make repeatable hits on steel at 50 yards with my Minimaster. No reason with a short barrel that you couldn't make good hits out to 7 yards with that grip. The issue with be the sights, the short radius doesn't help much.
If you really want an NAA Companion, there's a 4 inch model that I would buy, but I'm happy with the Minimaster. 4F and Triple 7 should get decent velocities with it. They're tough to find and they're longer, so if you want small, the Super Companion is the best choice for ultra small. Also, don't bother with the non Super Companion, there's not enough room for powder in the cylinder, it's a novelty and nothing more. The Super Companion has potential, especially if you use smokeless in it.
What no one other than me is going to say is that you can load smokeless powder in the companion and really up the power. So long as you don't use too much powder and you don't seat the bullet too deeply, you'll be fine. There is a larger room for error tho, so you'll have to do your research and be careful. I won't tell you what powders and amounts to use, but back when the Companions were first being made, they were advertised to use a certain amount of Bullseye powder.
With smokeless they'll pack quite a punch and personally, I feel more confident in the NAA Companion than I do the rimfire NAA's because rimfire ammo is sketchy and every range trip I've shot .22 LR, I've had at least one failure to fire. Yeah, if you get a misfire you can go to the next chamber, but I've never had a percussion cap fail to fire, I've just had powder fail to ignite or have a piece of cap get stuck and interfere with the hammer hitting the cap hard enough. If I was down to my last shot and had to choose between .22 rimfire and percussion cap, I'd choose percussion cap.
The NAA is probably the highest quality percussion revolver made today, I doubt it will have such issues. Also, you can buy spare cylinders for them, so you could have a fast reload with a pre-loaded cylinder at the ready and loaded with 5 shots because it's not being carried in the revolver with a cap under the hammer. BTW, if you do carry a Companion, you can only load it with 4 because the empty chamber will rest under the hammer.
Alternatives? 1863 Pocket Remington and 1862 Pocket Police. The 1863's are very small, but I've heard the quality on them is very iffy, especially the Pietta made ones. Stuff like chambers being way oversize or the grooves being too big. Pietta's not the only one who has made repro's of them, CVA has, but idk what they're like. The brass frame ones usually go for a good price and I would steer you in that direction. You won't need steel frames as long as you don't shoot them regularly with max loads.
The 1862 Police is made by Uberti, I have a used one with a pitted bore that I am planning to chop down to 2 inches. You'll need a hacksaw, a file, and some way to put a crown on the barrel if you do this. I'm a machinist, so it's a piece of cake to me.
Besides revolvers, there's always true muzzleloaders like the Philadelphia derringer. You can get those used very cheap. There's the Twister derringer, but those are tough to come by. I always keep my eye out for Ethan Allen by Hoppe's. Hoppe's made some repro guns back in the 70s/80s and I've seen Pepperboxes, derringers, etc. and I'm led to believe the quality on them is very good.
One last alternative is an expensive one. There's a company in Czech Republic called Great Gun. They make over/under double barrel percussion derringers in 9mm, .45, and .54 calibers. Because they're over/unders, they're quite flat and they're available in a variety of barrel lengths, from 2.5 inches up to 6 inches depending on the caliber. IDK how you get them in the US, I think you'd have to order them through the company directly. The 9mm starts at $250, the .45 is $290, and the .54 is $340 if the conversion rate is correct on google. Shipping is what will set you back a lot and Idk what that will cost.
IDK all what's available in Taxachusetts as far as the approved handgun roster goes, but I wouldn't turn my nose up to a snub revolver.