‘What’s the point of even being a ninja if I can’t save my friends?’ Kiya thought, pulling his bag strap further onto his shoulder. ‘If it weren’t for me Kaname-kun… she could be dying because I wasn’t good enough.’ With new found resolve he walked closer to the outskirts of the village, the buildings getting sparser and further apart as he went. It’s not like he had a choice anymore, he had already told his sister the plan, his plan to leave. What good was a ninja that froze over the bodies of his first kill? What good was a ninja that needed his team members to sacrifice themselves to save him?

The 16 year old paused and stared at his reflection in a nearby puddle of water. He should never have been a ninja, he was too weak, he would die too easily, and he was too scared. “I’m such an idiot!” he cried suddenly kneeling before the pool tears flowing down his cheek. His bag, full of clothes and the little ryo he had saved, fell beside him.

“Yoink!” a voice yelled from in front of him. Looking up he no longer saw the body of water but the body of a blued haired girl running away from him. He knelt stunned before seeing the shape of something familiar in her hands. “COME BACK WITH MY BAG YOU BASTARD!“ He yelled sprinting after her.

Mizuto was running, running as fast as she could but soon enough the other genin caught up to her. “Give me back my bag!” The genin yelled, fingering a kunai with his left hand. “I’ll give it back when you stop being stupid!” The kunoichi yelled back preparing herself also for a possible altercation. The boy looked annoyed, realising that he had cried and proclaimed his idiocy literally over her.

“You know it’s rude to listen in on other people without them knowing.” He stated, not resting from his ready position. From her headband he could tell that she was a kunoichi, with how shiny it was, she couldn’t have been that far out of the academy. “You know what else is rude? Leaving behind your friends and family for no reason, that’s rude.” The girl replied shifting the weight of the bag on her shoulder, it was light but it would no doubt hamper her ability to fight.

They boy seemed to relax his guard; if she was a genin this would have had to be a D-rank mission. D-ranks were almost never seek and destroy, which meant she would be trying to guilt him into staying or would knock him out and give him to someone else who would. “If we fight, you’ll lose. Give me back my things an I won’t hurt you.” Mizuto paused for a moment. The dark haired genin wasn’t wrong, with how easily he caught up to her it was likely that he could destroy her in a fight. But there was no way she was going to let her first mission be a failure, she would just have to convince him to stay without violence.

“I know what happened Kiya. It wasn’t your fault. Kaname told me that it was supposed to be a c-rank mission.” It was Kiya’s turn to pause. He wasn’t prepared to talk about his failing yet let alone talk about Kaname. “How do you know what Kaname thinks, you wouldn’t have had time to go to the hospital and ask her.” Obviously the girl was lying. There’s no way with her pitiful speed that the girl could have made the distance.

“Actually if you cared to visit her you’d know that I’m one of her nurses. From what she said it was supposed to be a simple delivery mission but your team got attacked on the way. They split you up and you even outnumber you managed to kill two before the third got behind you. Kaname jumped in the way to save you and ended up getting critically injured. After that you killed the last guy, the rest of your team continued while you ran back here to save Kaname. She wouldn’t be alive if you hadn’t gotten back so fast.” Mizuto sighed throwing the boy’s bag in front of her. “If after doing everything right you still want to desert, there’s nothing else I can do to stop you. Just please make your decision after you hear everything I’ve said from her”

The silence was deafening. Mizuto wasn’t sure where that pensive look on Kiya’s face leading his thoughts to but as soon as she noticed it, it was gone. Kiya frowned, walking over to her and picking up his bag. He didn’t turn his back and he didn’t run away. “So are visiting hours still open?”

-exit-

WC = 798
Mission = 798/600