[A MONTH AGO]
Keiko was watching Satoru's match with great interest. Satoru was keeping Ay on his toes, having the upper hand...till the point she watched.
"Big sis Keiko!" Shizu said, a young boy from her clan with slightly long hair which covered his hair.
"What happened Shizu? Why do you look worried?" Keiko's face instantly mimicked the worry of the little boy.
"Brother Shiro...h-he is sick again." Shizu said with teary eyes.
"It is one of those attacks! Was he exposed to any fighting or something?" Keiko stood up.
"We were playing and suddenly he heard the sound of kunai." Keiko immediately lifted Shizu and began running towards the clan compound.
"Thank you for informing me Shizu." She turned to look back at the fight, 'Sorry Satoru...I won't be able to watch your match till the end.'
---
Keiko quickly placed shizu on the ground before rushing towards Shiro, who was in a fetal position, trembling and twitching in the playground.
Some other kids watched from afar, scared of what they didn't know, and even more scared to try to fix the situation.
"Hey look! It's big sis Keiko!" One little girl pointed with a smile.
Keiko quickly knelt down near Shiro, before weaving handseals and placing her gentle palm on his chest.
"Water style: soothing lullaby." She whispered, causing a faint hum to resound through the playground.
The sounds was sweet as if it was made from a complex cacophony of water dripping that resembled a song.
Shiro, who was uncontrollably trembling in what appeared to be fear—slowly calmed down and stopped shivering.
He looked up to see Keiko with a soft smile. He was taken aback when she quickly grabbed him into a tight hug.
"PTSD is a nasty son of a bitch! I'm glad you're fine, Shiro!" Keiko said.
"I'm sorry big sis Keiko...you were watching the finals, you missed the match because of me. I'm sorry." Shiro's face could only show remorse ruining an important day for Keiko.
"You shouldn't apologize for things like this, your health matters more than anything to me." She looked to see her other clan children, "all of your health and well being matters to me. Never forget that!"
Keiko took Shiro and Shizu returned back to their homes, the other children did the same.
"Do you need me to stay with you here? The effects are still there and can came back at any moment." Keiko said.
"Thank you for helping me, but I don't won't to keep you busy any longer. I'll just sleep...or at least try to." Shiro replied.
"Fine...you're really a good kid."
She rubbed her forehead making the stress lines which had developed from worrying on her forehead move.
---
Keiko went back to see the match—the suspense was killing her. She needed to know who won.
She saw fireworks from the distance, signaling that the match had been finished. Satoru and Ay were laying on the floor side by side.
It was difficult to figure out who had won from the condition of the two fighters.
"Screw my luck!" She said out loud into the sky.
Keiko was then suddenly touched on the shoulder, making her jolt up and turn abruptly.
"Hey...where were you? You missed the match." Mitsuki lit a cigarette, releasing a cloud of smoke.
Keiko made a face of disgust, the smell of nicotine filling her nose. Mitsuki began laughing before putting out the cigarette.
"You make the same face as Satoru does, it makes me feel bad for smoking." Mitsuki said, before walking towards the infirmary wards.
Keiko kept pace as she asked "If it makes you feel bad then it's working. Did Satoru win? What happened to them both?"
"He won. Satoru that is. What happened to the two of them...well, that is something only those two know about."
"Will he be fine? He looked like a bloody mess." Keiko asked in concern.
"Don't be such a worry wort! He'll be fine, but why did you leave?" Mitsuki waved her hand, dismissing her question.
"Shiro had a PTSD attack. His brother came running to fetch me." Keiko replied.
Mitsuki's expression changed immediately, a deep frown was on her face.
"Poor kid...it's more difficult to treat children suffering from PTSD compared to adults. They are affected for life." Mitsuki turned away, her eyes stared at a group of children in the distance.
"There are a few others who are also affected besides Shiro...I can't be present with all of them at the same forever." Keiko looked down at her rough palm.
"You shouldn't take such a big responsibility onto yourself like this. You are young yourself and need help too! We can help you when you need it."
Mitsuki placed her hand on her back, her palm warm to the touch, soothed the worried girl to an extent.
"They have no one to help them besides me. If I don't take this responsibility then...they'll have no one." Keiko spoke with a hint of determination, that made Mitsuki back off.
"Thank you for the offer, I'll seek your help when I'll need it." Keiko said, before leaving, her path diverting from Mitsuki's.
---
"Lord Hokage. I was told you summoned me, how can I help you?" Keiko said, knelt down on one knee.
The Hokage too busy with the form he was filling out, tossed a scroll at Keiko, who promptly caught it.
"That's your mission. You have to investigate, find evidence, and destroy. You will lead two other chunins on this mission." The Hokage said, not even looking at her.
Keiko opened the scroll and began reading.
A fishing company in the east of the land of fire have been reported to have workers who use ninjutsu.
Usage of ninjutsu by anyone who is not an active shinobi is considered a threat to national safety and is a glaring red flag signifying the presence of freelancers, sleeper cells or spies within the country.
"I must wipe them out? Bringing them in for questioning might be the better...Lord Hokage." Keiko said, eyeing the Hokage.
He placed a form into a folder, before throwing it into a huge pile of files.
"Uh huh...sure. You can leave once Tatsuo comes out of the hospital and Hiten comes back from his mission. They will be your teammates." The Hokage said, before picking up another form.
'Does he even care? Or is he too tired to bother with it."
Keiko stood up and left, the mission is was a b rank, and required preparation on a whole different level.
---
"How are you doing right now? Will you be able to recover by the weekend?" Keiko asked, crossing her arms.
"What day is it today?" Tatsuo asked.
"Thursday night."
"Yeah. Count me in for the mission." Tatsuo grinned.
"Count you in? I was ordered to take you even if you hadn't recovered." Keiko smirked.
The door slid open as Hiten stepped into the hospital room. His onyx-black eyes looked more tired than ever, but his uniform was immaculate—not a single crease or stain on it.
"Now that you're here, we can discuss the mission." Keiko opened the mission scroll. "Sit."
Hiten pulled a chair next to Tatsuo and gave him a quick dap before turning his attention to Keiko.
"This mission involves investigating and eliminating suspicious individuals," Keiko said. "So let me ask—are either of you uncomfortable with blood or killing? Hiten?"
"I killed someone three hours ago," Hiten replied with a shrug.
Tatsuo gasped dramatically.
"Oh wow, look at that. We've got a real hardened killer here. Three whole hours ago!"
Hiten grabbed Tatsuo's ears and twisted them with a wide smile.
"Ow! Ow! Alright! Alright!" Tatsuo yelped, swatting at Hiten's hands.
*cough* *cough*
Both of them froze and turned toward Keiko.
She wasn't smiling.
A vein pulsed on her forehead as she forced herself to stay calm.
"When your team leader is speaking..." she said slowly, "...you should listen."
The two immediately straightened up.
Keiko continued.
"This mission will take at least a month. Two or three if things move slowly. You should tell your families and friends that you'll be leaving."
"That long?" Tatsuo glanced at the calendar on the wall. "Are all B-rank missions like this?"
"Some take longer like this," Hiten answered. "Others are B-rank simply because they're dangerous."
Missions that lasted this long required survival skills most genin didn't have yet. Living outside the village for weeks demanded far more than just combat ability.
"Satoru will be fully healed by then..." Tatsuo muttered.
"Since this isn't an undercover mission, our identities being known doesn't matter," Keiko continued. "You can send letters back to the village while the mission is ongoing."
"Really?" Tatsuo brightened. "That's good to hear! I bet you're going to send Satoru a ton of letters, aren't you?"
Keiko's hand slowly rested on the hilt of her sword.
A dangerous aura filled the room as she stepped forward. "Who I write letters to..." she said quietly, "...is none of your business."
Tatsuo's survival instincts immediately kicked in and he scooted his chair back several inches, making Hiten burst out laughing