Seinaru and his Genin are on their seventeenth mission, they're delivering much needed supplies to a village called Koukon. Koukon is a village that's in a severe economic crisis.
"All we've been doing are delivery missions! They're getting boring." Nobasu groaned while carrying the baggage.
"Seinaru-sensei, I have to agree... I thought after all the training we would be doing a bit more than this." Suri sighed.
"Well I don't mind." Tachi added.
"You always say that." Nobasu gave a faint glare over in Tachi's direction.
"Maybe you should learn from him." Seinaru said, you could tell that the complaints were not affecting him since he was so calm.
"You need a wheelchair, Tachi? Like an old man, huh?" Nobasu grinned.
"Shut up, Nobasu." Tachi glared.
"Aww, I think our old boy is getting grumpy~" Nobasu started laughing.
"Enough, Nobasu. You too, Tachi." Suri demanded.
"But I-"
"Shh!" Suri interrupted Tachi, succeeding in silencing them both.
Seinaru couldn't help but to laugh to himself before sighing pleasantly. "You kids really are something." Seinaru smiled. "These missions are very important, depending on what you're delivering. Right now, we're delivering food and clothing to people who are literally starving to death, and hardly having any clothes to wear. These people need our help, any help they can get. We're able to do this and it's our duty to try to make life easier for them. You're helping children and their parents live another day. So you see, it's not just a boring delivery mission, alright? Stop complaining or quit." Seinaru was calm throughout his entire lecture.
Nobasu and Suri nodded silently.
"I'm sorry." Suri quickly said.
"Yeah, me too." Nobasu sighed, shaking his head at himself.
The team continued their way to the village. When they reached the village, they saw the dead grass leaving patches on the dry dirt ground. The homes within the village were nothing more than broken woodsheds or tents made out of bedsheets and held up by sticks. Dirt, mold, and other unknown substances covered everything. The people were filthy and drinking water from a well that was obviously tainted. All of the people were just about down to their skin and bones. A child was laying in the middle of the village, breathing slowly with their mouth wide open, and the people were not paying it any attention.
Seinaru dropped the baggage, "Watch over this." he ordered the Genin before rushing over to the child.
Seinaru knelt down beside the child feeling for their pulse, the pulse was faint. He lifted the child into his arms, that's when he was approached by an older man with rags as clothing and dirt within his gray and black hair.
"Who are you, and what do you want? Why are you holding that child?" the man questioned with a stern tone, seemingly glaring at Seinaru.
"I am Seinaru Kane, I'm from the Hidden Leaf Village. We're offering food, water, and clothing to help in some way. This child needs medical attention right now, he's dying." Seinaru seemed to become tense, clearly concerned for the child.
The man stared at the child for a few moments and scoffed, "It's hopeless, and rather pointless to try and save that child. By the way, that's a girl. Her parents died a few weeks ago, they tried stealing some food and paid with their lives. Tsk, tsk... Place the child down and lets talk, Mr. Kane." the man said.
"I'm not going to just let this child die, sir." Seinaru's eyes began to glare into the eyes of the older man.
He sighed and stepped closer, beginning to speak low to Seinaru, "There is nothing we can do for the girl, she's already dead. We only have a doctor's office in this village, and they can do nothing for her now. Even by some miracle if she were to survive, then what? She's diseased, poor, and she has no family. No one will take her in for her own good, they will use her for profit. Would you want this girl to live through that, Mr. Kane? And call me Tsunoda." Tsunoda swept his dry and cracked right hand over the girl's face, closing her eyes.
She was still breathing, but it was slower. "She's probably in shock to tell you the truth. Death of anyone has become very natural here. Please, place the child down, we'll have someone come retrieve the body. You may not be okay with this, but this is an every day thing in our village." Tsunoda turned away and began walking in the direction of a dirt path free of the dying grass.
Seinaru took in a deep breath, lightly pressed his lips on the girl's forehead before placing her gently on the ground, and followed Tsunoda.
Nobasu stared at the girl who laid still, "Why the heck did Sensei leave a kid sleeping in the street?" he asked, slightly bewildered.
"Because they're very poor, remember?" Suri reminded him.
"They have houses around them though, so why not go in one?" Tachi asked.
"Well I don't know..." Suri looked around, "Come on..." she ordered the both of them. Suri walked to the child and they followed her. "Hey... wake up." Suri prodded the girl with her finger tips very gently.
Nobasu stared, observing the girl the best he could while Tachi just watched from behind Suri.
"You shouldn't sleep here." Suri spoke to the girl who remained still.
"Suri.." Nobasu upper lip quivered.
"Yes?" Suri looked over her left shoulder at him.
"That kid's dead!" Nobasu stepped back.
Tachi looked slightly frightened and stepped further back. Suri looked back over at the girl, she held her hand over the child's face and felt no breathing.
"A-Ah! Someone help!" Suri pleaded loudly.
Nobasu began breathing nervously, Tachi swallowed his spit, feeling his throat getting tight. The people around the village just stared for a few seconds and continued as they were.
Suri's eyes filled up with tears, "Didn't any of you hear me! Help!"
The people kept ignoring Suri's cries, Nobasu stared at the girl, his eyes filling with tears, but only one found it's way down his cheek. Tachi remained still and scared stiff.
Tsunoda walked into a cabin that was well built, he sat on an old wooden chair behind a coffee table and offered the chair across from him to Seinaru. Seinaru sat down across from Tsunoda, still displeased about the child.
"Thank you, Mr. Tsunoda." Seinaru folded his hands on the table.
"No, thank you. This is an absolutely very kind offering from the Leaf Village, but why?" Tsunoda picked up a mug and began sipping out of it while looking at Seinaru.
"The Leaf Village wants to help anyone that needs it, and other than that if you want some more honesty, I'd have to say that we're trying to show to other countries that we're friendly." Seinaru answered.
"Oh, that makes sense. We need the supplies, we both know that, we're in dire need of it... however I'm not too fond with the idea of my village being used to make your village look good." Tsunoda placed his mug down, folding his own hands.
"Please know we mean no disrespect in anyway. We genuinely care about this village and the people in it. We also noticed the fact that we both can benefit from this, but when it comes down to it, we want to help." Seinaru kept his calm attitude despite the tension growing.
Tsunoda snickered and shook his head, "Are you feeding me bullshit, Mr. Kane?" Tsunoda stared Seinaru straight into his eyes.
"Not at all, Mr. Tsunoda." he replied.
The two stared at each other silently before Tsunoda laughed and stood up, "I accept the gift, and tell the Hokage I appreciate this a lot, and the same from my people. On behalf of them, I thank you, and the leaf village... sincerly." he offered his hand to Seinaru.
Seinaru stood up accepting the handshake before nodding, "You're welcome, Mr. Tsunoda."
The two walked back to the supplies, where the Genin were shook up about the girl's death. Suri was sniffling beside the body, Seinaru stared at her for a few seconds.
"There was nothing they could do for her, I'm sorry that you all had to see that." Seinaru apologized to the three of them.
They remained silent, each giving a stiff nod. Tsunoda gave a slight grin, biting back a chuckle, "Children will never understand death, they'll have to wait till they're older to get a grip on it. I will have my men carry the supplies, then distribute. Thank you for this again, and have a safe trip back." Tsunoda seemed to hurry their exit.
Seinaru ignored Tsunoda's grin and began walking away with his Genin following him out the village. After walking for ten minutes or more, Seinaru decided to break the silence.
"What you guys saw back there, wasn't supposed to happen necessarily, but... it's reality. It's the reality of life and death. Sometimes death is good, believe it or not. You feel the way you feel because this is the first time you saw someone die, right?" he asked.
The three gave subtle responses, Seinaru continued, "You'll get used to it one day, we all do. Sometimes death is tragic, sometimes death is peaceful, sometimes death is punishment, and sometimes death is mercy. Don't dread on it, that's all I can tell you to do." Seinaru having slowed down to the same speed of them, gave them a pat on their heads in a comforting way before walking slightly ahead of them.
Moments later, a large shuriken was thrown from the trees in Seinaru's direction. Seinaru managed to shove the Genin to the side and lean, making the shuriken only slash a piece of his Jonin vest.
"Time to eat, eh?" a ninja with similar clothing from the Koukon village, black rags and multiple bags on his waistline, stood on top of a tree branch. His dark brown "Rat Nest" hair was held together by a gray bandanna, he laughed behind the ragged scarf over his mouth while four more ninja walked from behind trees in the area.