More grinding [Missions/solo]

Spoiler:

"This is the latest... Defacement we've found so far."

"Cool..." Nova hummed, looking around at the scene of the 'crime'. Nova didn't get what the big deal was, it was an ugly wall anyway. If anything the "Kumogakure smells!" sprayed onto it made it more aesthetically pleasing. The elderly man who had hired her for this mission frowned at her flippant response.

"Young lady, I'll have you know that I am an esteemed member of the civilian council and I will not tolera-"

"Yeah yeah, I get it." Nova interrupted particularly aggressively with a roll of her eyes. Babies and stray animals she could deal with any day of the week. Adults, on the other hand? Ugh, they were the worst. Especially ones that thought so highly of themselves. "Talk to me like that again and I'll punch you through this wall."

The man's wrinkled face turned white with anger and he opened his mouth to clap back, but one look at the young woman's glare shut him up. She was being dead serious, and if he wasn't careful with what he said he very well would find himself through that wall and missing a few teeth. He swallowed his indignation and cleared his throat.

"We have reason to believe that the boy will strike somewhere within this neighborhood again tonight, as it's your job you mus-'' his words caught in his throat and he had a brief coughing fit. Nova waited for him to finish with a scowl on her face; the impatient tapping of her foot hurried him up and he resumed speaking, "Yes, as I was saying. Please could you scout out the area tonight and apprehend the boy? And please don't rough him up too much? Intel suggests he's just a boy, an academy student. Just find out who he is, and capture him for punishment. Understood?"

"You think I'd beat up a little kid? Nova asked, head titled and her eyes flashing dangerously. The man spluttered, it was fun to see him squirm.

"N-n-no! Of course not! Just, you know, be careful?" He tried again, sounding hopeful. Nova relented her gaze and turned back to the graffiti. Instantly, the man could feel the tension in his body leave, and the air in the alleyway suddenly felt a whole less heavy. He pulled his collar from his neck to get some air and said, "Do you need anything else?"

"Nah, you can go." Nova said dismissively, ignoring the relieved sigh from the man as he scrambled to grab his things and leave. Now alone, Nova let out a tired sigh and pinched the space between her eyebrows. People pissed her off so much sometimes, and that guy hadn't even been the worst person she'd had to deal with in recent times. Why people couldn't just say what they had to say and leave? Why did that guy think she was going to beat up a little kid? Was the problem with her? Or was it with him?

She clenched her hands hard enough to leave bleeding crescent-shaped divots on her palm, teeth grit. Times like this were hard for Nova. Where she had to face the question of whether it was the world or her that had to change. No one liked the idea that they could be the one in the wrong.

Nova shook her head and cleared the depressing thoughts, bringing her mind back to the matter at hand.

"Right, so. A random kid wants to vandalize a building for some reason, where could I catch him in the act?" She said to herself. To get a better view of the surrounding area, Nova walked up the side of a nearby building and levelled herself at the top, looking around. "Ah, there's a good spot," she muttered upon seeing that the building opposite her was the tallest in the neighborhood.

Nova made her way over to the taller building and plonked herself down, already feeling boredom begin to settle in. It would be a couple of hours until sunset, which was when the kid was likely to make his move, which left Nova with a big fat nothing to do. Well, except for train. It was a bit of a weird place to train - on top of a building - but Nova adjusted quickly enough. While working out, Nova continued to experiment with the Eight Gates. She was so close, she could feel it. She now understood the basics and the how of the technique, all that was left was just putting it into practice.

It was several hours later of trying to work out the Eight Gates when Nova heard the sound of pressurized paint leaving a can. A specific sound to be able to pick out above the sound of a city, but one that she was familiar with considering the... Troubles of her childhood.

Nova immediately lept up from the press-up position she had been in previously and skulked towards the sound, uncharacteristically quiet. She reached the edge of the building and peeked over, immediately spotting the perp red-handed. It was definitely a little boy, judging from the tiny build. He was wearing a massively oversized hoodie with the hood up that completely obscured all his features, going down to his knees. He was wearing a backpack and had a can in one hand, spraying "Kumogakure Smells!" on the wall.

She walked down the building slowly and crept up behind him, the little boy none the wiser. Seeing him work on the graffiti, Nova had to admit that the kid had talent. If he put his artistry skills to more productive things he'd go far. Shame such a skill was being wasted on this kid who seemed to find it funny to write the exact same graffiti message every day.

"You know, you really have to step up your originality. 'Kumogakure Smells' again? Come on now." Nova suddenly said.

The kid turned around and shrieked in terror as his wide eyes locked with Nova's own curious ones. He stopped spraying his can and in panic tried to throw the can at her head and run away. Unfortunately for him, Nova had been in the game for a long time, so something like this wasn't going to hit her.

In one smooth motion, the young woman caught the can with her right hand and used her left to grab the scruff of the neck of the boy as he tried to turn tail and run. She lifted him up and the boy continued to uselessly try to run in the air before giving up, hanging up in the air from his neck like a disobedient puppy. She turned him around and her face wrinkled in disgust when she saw he was crying, snot coming out of his nose.

"Please don't tell my mummy!" He screeched, throwing a mini fit in her grasp. Nova even had to hold him a little further away from her torso lest she receive a kick right into the stomach,

Nova groaned. She'd expected the kid to put up some semblance of a fight, not go straight into winging and balling his eyes out. She was caught completely flat-footed.

"Uh, sorry." she said lamely, "But there are some people I need to bring you to."

WC: 1216
No claims yet

Spoiler:

It was an unusually sunny day in Kumogakure when Nova found herself heading to the location the mission had stated. It had been particularly vague, much more so than other missions she had taken recently. She'd simply been given the location, which was deep within the forests near Kumogakure, and a time, which was the morning. Nova used the bandages on her right arm to wipe the sweat off her forehead as more dripped down her face. Nova never thought she'd be thinking this, but she missed the usual shitty weather Kumo usually offered.

"Watch out!" a panicked male voice suddenly came out from just beyond a bush where she couldn't see. Nova was instantly on guard and she jumped to be ready for whatever the voice was warning about. Which turned out to be a good idea, since very soon after a large, grey wolf came jumping out of the bush, jaws flexed ready to clamp down on one of her legs.

The taijutsu specialist reacted instantly and shifted her right leg out of the way so the wolf came short, jaws clamping on air. Before it had a chance to react, Nova lifted her leg and brought her foot down lightly on top of its head, putting just enough strength into it to hold it down but not harm it. It struggled against the strength of her foot for a few seconds before realizing it was useless, ceasing its struggles with several desperate whines.

"Don't kill him!" Nova heard the panicked male voice again before he made himself known, appearing from the same bush the wolf had just jumped from. He was a portly man, slightly shorter than Nova herself but much wider. He was wearing what Nova could only describe as a bush transformed into a suit, and he had a camera on a strap around his neck. All in all, he looked ridiculous. "Don't kill Tweedles! He's being very helpful by being a model for my new photoshoot, I call it 'Mother Nature - Unfilitered'." As he said the name of his photoshoot, Nova could hear very heavy pride in his voice. Her face screwed up in confusion as a million and one questions flooded through her mind.

"Tweedles? Photoshoot?" She asked, eyebrows furrowed before everything clicked, "Wait, you're the guy who posted the mission!"

The man preened at getting recognition. "That I am! Now, if you would please release my pet?" He asked hopefully.

Nova blinked, too confused to be angry. "This wolf is your pet? Are you insane?"

"What? No! Tweedles is quite friendly, he just got a bit confused with my instructions. You see, I told him to go 'kill' something so I could capture it on film, and he must have smelled you because instead of going for a rabbit or something like I wanted, he went straight for you! Haha, lucky you're a ninja, huh?"

Nova rolled her eyes but did as he asked, releasing the wolf from its hold. Remarkably, the wolf didn't immediately try and bite her foot off like she'd been expecting, it just got up and went to sit next to its master. Now, Nova was too impressed to be mad. How had such a weird-looking guy managed to tame a wolf?

"Okay! Let's get to work. You, ninja, I need you to protect me from the wildlife whilst I get my shots. Who knows, I might even let you use the camera! You seem like you have the talent!" He said cheerily, as if he hadn't just almost got her killed, and turned away, marching off to god-knows-where.

Nova sighed, it was going to be a long 4 hours.

WC: 607
TWC: 1823
Claims:

• 3200 Ryo from 1 D-Rank and 1 E-rank Mission, +200 for Genin rank
  
• 15 AP
  
• 18 Stats
  
• Completion of Eight Inner Gates (Skill) with 900 words, rest of technique was trained here
  
• Genjutsu Release with 250 words
  
• Rest of the words (650) into Weaponry as a Secondary Speciality
  

Approved