Mitsuko was laying down on the inn bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.

It's been a few days since the attack, and they had finally made it to the capital. It had taken them almost a month, and the Konoha-nin were very ready to go home. However, as the client had lied about the amount of danger he was in, and the subsequent upgrade in mission rank, they had to stay another few days for 'negotiations'. Genma had sent a hawk to the village explaining what happened, and one of the various paperwork ninjas from the mission hall is on their way to have a talk with Nakashima. It would be a couple days for them to get here, but at least it wouldn't be a month like it had taken the team. They would need to stay and make sure the merchant wouldn't make a run for it once left alone, only able to leave once their replacement arrived.

The client had graciously paid for a room at one of the inns in the outer ring of the city. Completely willing, of course. Nothing to do with the fact he had been awfully rude to the team of shinobi that had saved his life, and that he had also lied to. Not related at all! Mitsuko only felt a little bad for him as he had been a nightmare to deal with for a month, and quite frankly he kind of deserved this in Mitsu's opinion.

The boys had gone off on an adventure around the city, since the capital was a large city with plenty of interesting things to do. Kurenai had decided to stay with Mitsuko, though she was currently not in the room. The young girl wasn't really paying attention and had no clue where she was at the moment.

She was more focused on the thought that she shouldn't be alive right now.

When she had faced that mercenary, had been cornered by a fully grown man twice her size, she shouldn't have won that fight. She was only eight, and barely a chunin. It didn't matter she was a prodigy in medicine when she didn't have the physical strength or skill to win that fight fairly. She only lived because that man had underestimated her. Mitsuko was certain that for once, her baby face looks had actually been useful in saving her life.

It was common by this point for people to assume things about Mitsuko. Civilians think that Mitsuko is a little girl playing at being a ninja. Her quiet and shy demeanour paired with her age led them to believe that she was a weak little girl. Civilian men were the worst in this aspect, though women would do it too. Her fellow Konoha-nin might respect her skill in medicine, but they didn't think she was all that strong in combat. They were right, of course. For now.

If people are going to assume I am a weak, harmless little girl, then I won't try to dissuade them anymore. I am going to use this to my advantage, dammit.

The door to the room swings open, breaking Mitsuko out of her thoughts.

Kurenai is back from wherever she went. The older kunoichi notices the young girl's mood near instantly, and crosses the room to sit on the end of the bed. She gives Mitsu a concerned look. Mitsuko stares back, somber and grim.

Kurenai opens her mouth, but hesitates for a moment.

"Mitsuko-chan, are you ok?" The brunette has a small frown on her face, her eyebrows furrowed. "I know your first kill is rough, and I'm here if you would like to talk about it."

Mitsuko sits up, pulling her knees into her chest loosely. She wraps her arms around her legs and buries her face in them.

"I'm fine, sempai. That man would have done much worse to me if he was given the chance. I don't really feel bad about that." The medic answered grimly. "It's more the fact that I shouldn't have won. The odds were so against me, and if he hadn't underestimated me, then I wouldn't be here right now."

The older teen winces, not really able to deny that statement. She reaches forward and places a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder.

"It's okay to be upset about that. It's not a pleasant feeling to realize you are severely outmatched." Her voice softens as she says this. "What matters now, is how you react."

Mitsuko pulls her head out from her arms, staring Kurenai down with steel in her eyes.

"If people underestimate me, then I won't try to convince them otherwise. They won't be the first, or the last. But they will be wrong. And I am going to use that."

"You deciding to take advantage of your baby face?" Kurenai grimmly quirked her lips. "It's a good strategy, if people constantly misjudge you, then they will never truly know what you are capable of. Until it's too late, of course." Her voice had a teasing lilt at the end.

Mitsu faintly smiled.

"Sempai, do you have any advice on how I can do this? How do I purposefully make people misjudge me?"

The older kunoichi hummed as she thought. "Well, you could change your wardrobe up for one. First appearances do matter, doubly so when your opponent only gets a quick look over before the fight begins."

It was a good idea. Mitsuko knew there were more girly options available for kunoichi than her current outfit, especially for those of academy age. She might have graduated early, but she was still on the small side for a young girl. Maybe she could replace the plain tunic and legging for a dress of some sort? She should also start wearing her hair down in pigtails again. Her normal ponytail was really only meant to look less her age, she preferred the braids to be honest. She would find a way around the disadvantages of them later.

After a minute or two of silence, the older teen spoke up again. "Mitsuko-chan, would you like to go window-shopping with me? The capital is known for their boutiques, and I have a feeling there will be a few shops aimed at kunoichi if we look hard enough." Kurenai stood up off the bed, before reaching down to offer the girl a hand up. Mitsuko gave a soft smile as she grabbed it. Kurenai pulled her up, but didn't let go like the girl had expected. She was instead playfully dragged to the door.

"Come on Mitsu-chan, let's go exploring!" Kurenai cheered, determined for the two to go have some fun.

Mitsuko couldn't help but giggle as they left.

-vVv-

The capital of fire country was quite a large city. It was separated into various districts, with the various tourist traps near the entrance and living spaces for residents towards the back. The very center of the city sat the Daimyo's palace, visible in the distance.

The two kunoichi had been passing through the market, curiously looking at the various stalls. There were so many, and for so many different kinds of products. Fresh fruit and vegetables to various books and scrolls and quite a few food stands. The smell of street food wafted through the air as they ambled.

They had just turned a corner when Mitsuko heard someone muffle a scream of pain. Both kunoichi were immediately on guard. It had taken only a moment to pinpoint where it came from.

One of the workers at a nearby food stall was bent over, clutching his hand while cursing. Blood was steadily streaming down, and Mitsuko while couldn't see the actual injury, she didn't feel okay just walking away from him when she knew she could do something.

"Excuse me, let me by please." The young girl had to shove through the small crowd gathering. They watched curiously, like this was entertainment for them on their day out. Mitsuko quickly grew frustrated when they didn't move fast enough.

By the time she had made it to the front of the crowd, she could see another worker trying to hold a towel against the man's hand. The unsure placement of it made it easy to see the finger hanging by a thread of skin, nearly completely cut through.

"Excuse me! Stranger-san, I'm a Konoha medic-nin, may I please assist?" The girl gave a firm and brisk introduction, lifting her hitai-ate slightly from around her neck. She refused to let her nerves show. He barely gave a nod, more focused on the amount of pain he was in from nearly cutting his finger off. Mitsuko could see the bloody knife in the food prep section of the stall, and guessed that he had been a bit too hasty in his chopping.

The young girl jumped over the front of the stand, not wanting to shove her way through the crowd again. With a slight chakra boost, she was able to clear it easily.

Mitsuko noticed the doubtful look from the man's coworker, even with her easy show of chakra use. She irritably looked him in the eyes as she activated Mystical Palm. He immediately broke eye contact, ducking his head and focusing back on his coworker.

The young girl reached forward, and with efficiency hard earned from her time working in the Konoha public hospital, she mended the torn flesh with ease. Starting with the joint and muscles, then the tendons on top, and finally the skin. It had taken her less than a couple minutes to fix. The cut had been clean, done with a sharp knife. She had seen much worse and would see even more in the future.

That didn't stop the stares from the gawking spectators. Mitsuko could feel their gaze on the back of her head. It was like this was a particularly interesting soap opera and a plot twist was just revealed. She ignored them to the best of their ability, wanting to make sure her patient was okay. They're just civilians, not even from a ninja village. It's fine, they are only watching so closely cause they haven't seen something like this before. It's okay. Mitsuko thought, trying to reassure herself. It wasn't helping much.

Mitsuko had the man curl and move his finger in a few motions, wanting to be sure everything was reattached correctly. The look of awe he gave his freshly healed hand felt like a bit too much, but civilians always had interesting reactions to chakra. She bowed her head before speaking, all while fidgeting with her tunic.

"Please be careful with it the next few days, but you should be fine now. Put some ice on it, take some over the counter pain relievers as needed." Mitsuko put a decent amount of effort into sounding unbothered, but she knew it didn't really work. Her face felt so warm.

She turned to leave, but the man reached to stop her.

"Wait!" She looked back to see him ask, "Please tell me your name kunoichi-chan, so I can say thank you." He had such a wide eyed but earnest look, and she couldn't help but answer.

"Hatake Mitsuko, I'm glad I was able to help you." Her smile was shy and hesitant, but still there.

He bowed to her, thanking her quite formally. She gave an unsure wave and left quickly. While she was happy to be in the right place and right time, losing a finger would really suck ninja or not, the looks from the civilians crowding her were uncomfortable. Her skin prickled as she hurried back to an amused Kurenai.

"Mitsuko-chan, that was awfully sweet of you." The older teen let out a soft snicker seeing how red the young girl had gone.

"I just didn't feel okay ignoring him, to walk away when I knew I could do something…"

"That didn't mean you were expected to. They definitely didn't expect it at least, did you see their faces?"

Mitsuko finally let out an embarrassed giggle. She nodded in agreement, and the two girls continued their exploration of the city.

-vVv-

"What are you looking at, Mitsuko-chan?"

The girl looked up for a moment, before turning her attention back to the jewelry case.

They had finally made it to the tailors and clothing shops, and had even found one for kunoichi specifically. She had enjoyed looking at the various combat-ready outfits but was laser focused on the jewelry case. Tucked away in the back near the check out area, Mitsuko had found her newest project for when she got home.

"They have seals on these." She simply stated. Her mind was preoccupied with the thought of all the possibilities.

Seals were notoriously hard to put in small spots. To have a working, quality seal, you normally needed much more space than what these had to offer. The assorted pendants and rings were all large and bulky for womens jewelry, but all had various useful seals engraved. Privacy seals, seals for silence or to muffle noise, there was even one that had the tiniest storage seal Mitsuko had ever seen.

Kurenai gave an interesting look at them. "I can practically see steam coming out your ears from how hard you're thinking." She gave Mitsuko a mischievous glance. "I take it you found some inspiration?"

Mitsuko nodded furiously, her hair bouncing along with it.

"I can think of so many seals that would be useful prepared in this way. I wonder if it's limited to metal, or if I could put seals into fabric too. Maybe if the fabric had metal attached to it, the effect of the seal would carry over to the different material?"

"But what exactly are you planning to do with this idea?"

"You said if I change what I wear to girlier kunoichi gear, it would help make people underestimate me more. What if I took it a step further? I know kunoichi should never wear loose or dangly things, including our hair, since they are such a good handhold in a fight." The young girl then turned to look fully at her comrade.

"What if I wore things that would normally never be used by kunoichi? Long earrings, ribbons in my hair, or maybe even my usual pigtail braids? I think I know of a way to make seals that could store my chakra, and release it when touched by somebody other than me. I might be able to hide in plain sight, if I looked civilian enough."

Mitsuko had a cheeky grin as she asked, "What if I made myself look like an easy target, and to give my opponents a shocking surprise." Kurenai let out a groan at that.

"That pun was awful Mitsuko-chan!"

She couldn't help but giggle at her reaction while she grinned at the brunette.

"Well, it sounds promising. If you made what looked like easy handholds in a fight, I could almost guarantee somebody would fall for it. I say go for it."

The young medic was glad to know Kurenai believed in her skills. She was really thankful she had been on this mission with her.

Is this what's it like to have an older sister? It's really nice.

Mitsuko grabbed Kurenai's hand, and dragged her off to continue exploring. They only had a couple hours left before they would need to head back to the inn. The runner from Konoha should get to them tomorrow, and Mitsuko was so ready to go home.

...Nii-chan is still my favorite though.

-vVv-

The team of Konoha-nin were gathered at the gates of the city. The caravan of civilians they had escorted here safely were saying their goodbyes and well wishes before the ninja departed.

They had finally been relieved of duty and allowed to go home, as the negotiator from the mission hall had arrived. Mitsuko didn't pity the elder Nakashima for what was coming. There's a reason it costs so much to order a mission from Konoha, they don't mess around when talking numbers.

The younger Nakashima had been hanging in the back of the small crowd, but pushed forward before they could leave. He stopped in front of the young medic, thrusting a small bundle forward.

"...thank you for saving my dad. And saving me, I guess." Seijii grudgingly said. It was like it was physically painful to say the words. Or maybe it was because he was admitting them out loud? "Dad said to give these, not that I wanted to..."

When Mitsuko didn't take his offering, he shoved it into her hands before shoving his own hands into his pockets. She looked down at the brightly colored strips of fabric, before realizing they were ribbons. Nice ones too, a few velvet and silk ones too.

"He said girls like this kind of stupid stuff. Use it for clothes, put them in your hair, I don't care."

Mistuko looked at him blankly. She was so confused, what's going on?

The boy hunched his shoulders and wouldn't make eye contact. "Dad forced me to give these, it's not like I like you or anything." And with that, the boy stomped off again.

What? What the hell just happened…?

Mitsuko turned back to her teammates to see they had all been watching. Kurenai was trying to hide her grin behind her hand, while Genma and Raido didn't bother to hide their smirks. Gai was already ahead of the group, moving at a decent pace considering she could see birds in the distance startled from their trees.

"What just happened?" Mitsuko wasn't sure when Seijii decided to not ignore her, much less be something close to civil.

"Pigtail pulling, Mitsuko-chan." Genma quipped, giving her an innocent look even as Kurenai playfully punched him in the arm.

The girl gave a small pout, "I'm guessing I won't get an answer from you guys."

Raido snorted at her response.

Mitsuko let out a small sigh "Well, maybe Nii-chan could explain why Seijii would do that when we get home."

It got awfully quiet for a moment, before Genma and Raido started outright laughing, as if she had told a hilarious joke. The young girl felt even more puzzled than before.

Kurenai offered to help her put one of the ribbons gifted to her in her hair. Mitsuko now had her hair down in her preferred pigtail braids, since the run back shouldn't take more than a couple days and they were in the heart of Fire country. After tying a couple red ribbons into small bows on the end of her braids, the older kunoichi ruffled her hair a bit.

Mitsuko grinned at her new sempai. Her eyes were shut and nose crinkled at how big of a smile she had. The young girl had quite a few changes during the mission, and not just her new scar. (which thankfully was quickly fading into a thin white line.) She felt a bit more confident around her teammates and more sure of her skills. She knew she still had a long way to go though.

Tree-running can get awfully boring, so Mitsuko spent the trip daydreaming about things to do, and seals to make. She was so ready to be back home. Mitsuko hopes her brother will be proud of the progress she made, she couldn't wait to tell Nii-chan how her first out of village mission went!