Chapter 7
After the less than stellar presentation, the meeting with the team went well.
They had planned the first training sessions and the days in which they would take the infamous D grades
.
Three weeks had passed since that moment and Keigo was sick of that exploitation that they defined as missions, he had decided to take matters into his own hands if sensei wouldn't solve the problem.
He stood to Shikaku's right and Tenzou to the man's left as they walked towards the mission desk. Today given the lack of shinobi the hokage himself was handing out the scrolls.
"Ah Shikaku another grade D for your team?" Keigo's father asked.
Before his sensei could respond Keigo jumped up "I can't stand this torture anymore and neither can Tenzou"
Tenzou made a stunned face when the words were put into his mouth.
"Come on dad, we're growing mold here" he whined before continuing "On a teamwork level we're like besties now and every day that we wait in here I see Shikaku-sensei softening more and more"
"Hold on a minute you little shi-"
Minato interrupted his friend before he could finish his sentence.
"Today is your lucky day Keigo, a mission to deliver a scroll to a Konoha convoy that is heading towards the land of waves"
His father didn't have to say anything else.
Keigo moving before everyone else picked up the scroll, shoved it into his sensei's pocket and taking the hands of his two companions dragged them out of the room.
"You can consider it already done, see ya in a couple weeks" and with that Keigo slammed the door close.
They had agreed to meet at the gate in a couple of hours, just enough time to pack and say goodbye to any friends.
Keigo he had already packed his backpack and said goodbye to his little brother. Naruto was with Obito who was studying to become a teacher at the academy and so he had offered to look after the baby for the entire time he was away.
As the last stop before joining the others he had to say goodbye to another person.
He reached the place in the blink of an eye and crouched down in front of it.
"If you see me now, you'd be proud" Keigo whispered to the memorial stone "part of a team, ready for my first mission outside the village, and kinda sorted my life without you to clean up my messes".
He pressed a kiss to his hand which he then let fall to the cold stone in front of him.
Standing up, Keigo began to walk away before turning back for one last look. At that moment a warm breeze blew and he almost seemed to feel a caress on his cheek.
With an extra pace in his walk and a bright smile Keigo headed towards the meeting point, trying not to be late as usual, after all his mother was watching over him and he couldn't disappoint her.
Keigo expected more from the moment he first set foot outside the village but was quite disappointed, no fireworks or chants of encouragement to accompany him, just his boring sensei telling him to get it together and not be a drag.
However, he was not intimidated and despite the fast pace they had engaged in to reach the convoy as quickly as possible, he still managed to speak their ears off for the entire outward journey.
After almost ten hours of intermittent running they reached their goal and collapsed destroyed near the other shinobi gathered around the fire.
They decided to walk the way back and estimated the journey would take about five days.
Keigo decided that Tenzou would be his best friend and after discovering how little he knew about normal life he decided to introduce him to the wonders that were Ichiraku ramen, dango and pranks.
Shikaku-sensei wasn't too bad either, he discovered. First of all he had a herd of deer running around his clan's land, which Keigo made him promise to take him to see, and despite the cold attitude he seemed to have, he had a softness, which now that Keigo knew him better and knew what to look for, came out every time he addressed either him or Tenzou.
As evening fell they decided to camp in a clearing not far from the main road. The camp they built wasn't very large, a small fire in the center with the three sleeping bags spread around it. A fallen trunk sheltered them from the wind.
The rations they had brought were enough to feed them and soon the guard shifts were divided and the night was darkening.
Keigo had been chosen for the first three-hour watch.
Everything was so dark with only the small fire for light and Keigo missed the glowing stars that were on the ceiling of his room.
The previous night he was so tired and the other shinobi around him didn't let him notice how dark and scary the night could be.
By the end of three hours he was jumping at every rustle and sound he heard.
He approached Shikaku-sensei to wake him up and try to go to sleep.
After shaking him and making sure he was awake and sitting ready for his watch, Keigo slipped into his sleeping bag and with his back to the fire he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.
Ever since he was little Keigo had always been afraid of the dark, he had gone from sleeping with his parents to having a night light to bright stars.
Despite everything, fear continued to grip him. He had learned to manage it and live with it.
In this moment, however, far from the safety of his home, with people he had known for just over two months and on his first mission, he couldn't handle it, the fear was stronger than him.
Sleep wouldn't come soon for Keigo and so crawling out of his blankets and dragging his sleeping bag behind him he approached his sensei who was now watching him carefully.
"You should be asleep right now" Shikaku said to his youngest student as he tapped the seat next to him.
Keigo had a shameful expression as he muttered something.
"You know that I didn't understand nothing right?"
"I'm too scared of the dark" Keigo replied with a red face of embarrassment and a higher tone of voice.
With a sigh Shikaku prepared the bed for his student right in front of him and motioned for him to crawl in.
Sometimes he forgot how young these kids could be when they were such strong and good shinobi.
Once he had tucked Keigo in and told him to close his eyes, Shikaku began to run his finger down from his forehead to the bridge of his nose, an action he had done many times before to put his little Shikamaru to sleep.
"When you grow up I won't do anything like that anymore and in any case no one will ever believe that I did something like that" came Shikaku's voice softly.
"When I grow up I would brave enough to fight the creatures that you have to fight beneath the bed each night to be a grown up" Keigo stammered tiredly.
Within seconds he fell into dreamland without seeing the affection written all over his sensei's face.
'I'm really getting softer and softer' Shikaku thought as he continued his care to the sleeping child at his feet.