Mission name: Convert a Troubled Nin (Repeatable)
Mission rank: D
Objective: A Kiri ninja is thinking of going rogue, convince them otherwise.
Location: Kirgakure
Reward: 60 ryo
Mission description: A slightly depressed ninja by the name of Kiya Satoha is thinking about leaving Kirigakure, his worried sister reported the mission.
Mission details: Find the person before he leaves the city and convince him to stay, fearing the future he doubts his abilities, and perhaps only needs some training to build his/her morale.

Hyouga read the mission scroll once more even as he trudged leisurely through the village of Konoha.

Apparently a newly-graduated Genin was beginning to feel the toll of losing his teammates. Both of them and his Jonin-sensei had been slain in a D-rank turned B-rank mission that had taken even Kirigakure’s administration by surprise. The details of the mission weren’t included for security reasons, and the administration had also been rather tight-lipped about the entire mission, since they didn’t want to give it out to a newly-minted Genin when it had taken a team of a Jonin and three Chuunin to get the actual mission settled, before they returned with mild injuries.

It had made Hyouga’s task slightly more difficult. The Genin had been showing some signs of depression and had refused to eat his meals, before one day declaring to his sister that he wanted to leave the Village Hidden in the Mist to train alone, so that he could be strong enough to protect himself, without worrying about the dangers to his family and friends. He had then left the house, and his sister had immediately reported the incident to the mission administration after failing to locate him outside of their house.

Hyouga himself had been at the mission administration building hoping to get a simple D-rank, but considering he was one of the few people there, and the others were all more fit for the higher ranked missions, he had been assigned to talk this Genin out of leaving the village. The village was very sure that he had yet to defect, or their ANBU would have been alerted, and they had also alerted him to hurry, as no one could save the young boy if an ANBU engaged him in combat, especially not a Genin, veteran or not, like Hyouga himself.

Of course, the lack of details about what made the boy want to defect in the first place was very annoying. The mission administrators had just told him that the boy was very down about his lack of strength, and had told him to think on his feet about the issue. He had approached the boy’s sister, but even she was not aware of what made the boy want to defect in the first place, only knowing that it was because the boy himself had a very severe case of depression which stemmed from his weakness.

Hyouga wasn’t in a hurry though. He already knew which route the boy was taking. The mission administrators were at least helpful in that respect.

He reached the northern gates of Kirigakure, where he saw the boy trying to argue his way out of the village gates, only to constantly be refused access by the Chuunin on duty. He walked up to the pair, the boy and the Chuunin, and tapped the boy on the shoulder. The Chuunin ignored the both of them as the boy turned to him, an anxious expression his face.

“What do you want?” he asked urgently.

“So, word is you’re trying to defect?” Hyouga asked nonchalantly, and the boy looked like he had taken a punch, while the Chuunin on duty looked at the two of them confusingly, but decided it was best if he not intervene.

“You don’t understand! People die around me! My mission… it was… It was a sign! My mission went terribly and it’s all because of me!” At this point, the boy grabbed Hyouga’s shoulders, and was trying to shake the boy into seeing things his way. Hyouga didn’t even flinch, letting himself be shaken by the boy, just sporting a bored look on his face. “I need to get stronger so that I don’t become a burden to my village, or my sister!”

He kept shaking Hyouga, ignoring the look of irritation that flashed across Hyouga’s face as he heard that piece of information. When he didn’t get the hint, Hyouga threw an actual punch at him, causing him to fall onto the ground. The Chuunin on duty looked ready to intervene at a moment’s notice if things got further out of hand, but to his credit he was still ready to let Hyouga handle things.

Hyouga bent down next to the boy on the floor, who looked up at him.

“See? You punched me, and I fell! I am weak! Let me leave!”

“You don’t get it, do you?” Hyouga asked, and the boy shot him a confused face. “I punched you and you fell. Yes, you’re weak. But you’re not weak here,” Hyouga tapped on the boy’s shoulder, arm, and gut, before tapping on his heart, “this is where you lack conviction. Here is where you’re weak! You’re weak not because you don’t have enough physical training! You’re weak because you’re not ready to stand up for what you want to protect! Think about your situation! You’re leaving your sister behind! How sad do you think she’ll be? You think you’re protecting yourself, but in actuality you’re just hurting your sister more! I know a pair of parents who would die to see their daughter again, and do you think your sister will be any different? Do you think she’ll ever stop looking for you? And what will you do when she finally gets into trouble? You’re not going to be able to help her, that’s for sure.”

“You… you really think so?” the boy stammered.

“If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t be here spouting all of this to you right now,” Hyouga said as he stood up and pulled the boy up with him. “Now come on, you have a lot of explaining to do at the mission desk.”

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