Kumo's newest bodyguard [Mission/Solo]

Mission:

To say Nova was pissed would be an understatement of the highest order. Mere words could not get across just how angry Nova currently was. The expression she wore was absolutely thunderous, and was one that promised great pain and suffering to any who crossed her. Her fists squeezed tight enough that her short fingernails had punctured the skin and left four bleeding crescent-shaped marks in her skin. The only reason she wasn’t leaving a blood trail was because her grip was strong enough to almost form a perfect cocoon in her fists in which no liquid could escape from.

She felt trapped, unable to do anything but seeth. She wanted to scream, lash out. She wanted to run from the village just to escape the horrible oppressive anger that plagued her. She loathed the feeling. While she was normally content serving her village with nearly anything they required of her. Today was different. Today she’d been hired to guard her scum father during a business meeting.

She lashed out with her balled-up fist at one of the walls of her apartment but managed to stop herself just short of punching right through it. She breathed deeply through her nose. One, two, three, four, five. Exhale through the mouth. Count to five again. She repeated the exercise several more times until she no longer felt the need to roar in anger. Oh, she was still angry all right, but it was manageable now. She could think clearly… Somewhat.

It was unlikely that her father had hired her specifically to guard him, and had instead just put in a request at the mission center for ‘a ninja’ to protect him. He’d be just as uncomfortable with her there as she felt being around him, though for different reasons. She was strong now, she had some power. She was still just a lowly genin, nowhere near the league that a wealthy merchant like her father was in. However, she was the lowly genin who had bested Shin-Fist-Lee, the genin who had taken down a potential Missing Ninja in the middle of the day while showcasing incredible speed and strength. She wasn’t entirely unknown in the village any more.

Yeah, her father would be scared to see her now. He didn’t have authority over her anymore.

The realization brought a cruel smirk to Nova’s face as she stepped back from the wall and got back into packing up her things. According to the briefing she’d received, her father’s meeting was going to take a couple days at least so she had to prepare accordingly. As much as she despised her father, she wasn’t going to let him ruin her nearly perfect record of successful mission completions. She was going to detest doing it, but she’d do it anyway to the best of her ability. Unless any assassin sent after her father was overwhelmingly powerful. She was prideful without fault, but she wasn’t going to die to protect her father and mission streak.

For longer missions like this, ninja were expected to pack with the entire duration in mind; it was something academy students were taught for an early age on how to do. Thankfully, Nova had recently learned a new technique that completely rendered all packing obsolete, since it gave her access to a storage dimension that, due to its nature, kept all supplies fresh as the day they were stored. She’d bought several fresh breakfast pastries from a market stall just outside her apartment building yesterday, and they’d still be as warm and as fresh as they were if she took them out now. It was a pretty hand technique, and one that Nova wished she’d learned earlier.

Speaking of the new dimension, Nova brought each of her hands to the opposite wrists and brought out the three ration pills she’d stored in them earlier. While the bands she’d bought were quicker to retrieve items from, Nova wasn’t sure what would happen if the bands were destroyed. Ration pills were pretty expensive, and she really didn’t want to lose them because of a mistake in a fight. So, she put them in her storage displacement realm where they would be more secure. Hopefully. Nova wasn’t really an expert on Space Time.

Once she was done, Nova quickly double checked her packs to make sure she had everything she needed. Extra change of clothes, check. Food for at least a week, check. Weapons, check. Nova was so positive that this mission was going to be a chore that she’d even bought some books to help pass the time. It had been six years since she last spoke to her father, she didn’t know how he’d react to meeting her again. Would he even recognize her?

Nova stepped out of her bedroom with all her bags fully packed and slowly brewed a coffee. The mission wasn’t due to officially start for another hour so Nova had time. Plus, making her dad wait a little bit wasn’t the most objectional thing in the world. She also summoned a breakfast pastry, a croissant, to eat with her coffee. It was absolutely delicious, the type of pastry that just crumbles and melts in your mouth. Once again, Nova thanked herself for moving into an apartment so close to a stall that sold such wonderful food. If she hadn’t, she would have had to make her own food, and Nova was a horrid cook.

Finally, with a mug of coffee in hand, Nova stepped through her front door and began the quick trek across Kumogakure towards the inn where she would be staying. As she jogged across the rooftops a pit started to settle in her stomach. Through all the anger at the world and violence, Nova was still the 8-year-old little girl who acted out and misbehaved just to get her parents to notice her. She was nervous to meet her father again, as much as it sickened her. The asshole could burn to death in lava for all she cared, but there was still a part of her that was that lonely little girl…

‘What the fuck are you thinking?’ Nova suddenly stopped running as the thought ran through her mind. She wasn’t nervous at all, no, she was angry at her dad. He was the one who should be nervous of her! His life was literally in her hands for the next few days. She punched herself on the shoulder hard to clear her mind and another random shinobi gave her an odd look as he jumped past her. She was strong, damnit!

With her aspirations firmed, Nova continued to run across the rooftops all the way to the inn. It was a fancy place, she noticed once she jumped down to get a good look at it. The construction looked solid and she found her ninja-trained eyes already spotting several non-traditional entrances and exits where a potential assassin could get in, or where she could make a quick getaway if needed. It was riddled with holes that a skilled assassin could take advantage of, which made Nova think that this was the kind of inn that preferred to spend its budget on making itself look pretty instead of actually protecting the people inside.

She took a deep breath to prepare herself, fighting the urge to check her equipment one more time to stall, and stepped inside through the front door.

Almost immediately she was hit by how oddly nice the interior smelled, like a mix of cinnamon and oak. It was an odd combination yet one that still worked; it was certainly a step up from the usual puke and ale smell that inn’s usually possessed. Along with the fancy smell, Nova could tell from a quick glance that this was an upper-class establishment. Tables with, what she guessed, silver cutlery, suit-adorned waiters running around, booths separated from the rest of the room with a red curtain. She couldn’t see her father anywhere but numerous booths had their curtains closed so she assumed he was in one of those.

“Miss, are you the kunoichi hired by Mr Tsuba?” A thin posh-looking man asked as he approached her. He was dressed in a black tailcoat, white dress shirt and a black bowtie. The hair on his head was as dark as his coat but was beginning to thin, which was only exacerbated by his poor attempt at a gelled comb over. All in all, he looked like a posh wanker.

“I am.” Nova responded, breath hitching slightly at the mention of her dad’s name. It was really happening, she thought. How would she react when they were face-to-face? She’d calmed down from her anger earlier, but she didn’t trust herself to not react violently when actually confronted with him.

“Very good miss, if you’ll follow me, please. I’ll take you to him.” The man said with a small bow as he turned around without waiting for a confirmation. The man spoke with exactly the kind of sense of superiority she expected a person working at this place to speak like, and it really rubbed her the wrong way. Though, truth be told, the man could have been the most respectful man in the world and he’d still somehow find a way to rub her the wrong way; that was just how Nova was.

She followed him through the inn, ignoring the stares of the wealthy patrons, to a booth with one of the curtains closed. He then, standing outside, gently rapped his knuckles on the oak frame surrounding the doorway and cleared his throat before he began to speak.

“Mr Tsuba sir, the ninja guard you hired has arrived.”

A gruff voice came from the other side of the curtain, “Good. Come on in, then. I want to see the ninja who’ll be protecting me.”

Nova stood completely still as she felt the pit in her stomach drop. That had been the voice of her father. It hadn’t changed at all in the six years since she’d last seen him. It hadn’t changed from when he’d told her face-to-face that she’d no longer be a part of the family. Bad memories bubbled to the surface as Nova clenched her fist hard enough to make the indents in her palm start to bleed again. She felt that overwhelming sense of being trapped again. She wanted to scream, to run. But she stood firm. She would not let her dad win over her by simply talking.

She’d been standing still for about 10 seconds now and it seemed her father was getting impatient. The sound of approaching footsteps shuffling against the wooden floor was the only warning she was given to prepare herself as the large imposing frame of her father marched up to the curtain and flung it open. When they finally locked eyes they both froze like a deer caught in headlights.

Her father hadn’t changed much since she last saw him, he just looked slightly older. His skin was darker than Nova’s, and he kept his hair and beard shaved and well-groomed. He was much taller than Nova, having almost an entire foot on her, and was much broader to match. If Nova didn’t know any better, then, judging from his physique, it would be easy to assume the man was some kind of ninja. If one were to look more closely and see how soft his hands were,in comparison to an active-duty ninja, and also the fact that he was wearing an expensive suit that no self-respecting ninja would ever pay for, one would find that assumption to be false.

There was a beat as they both took each other in; Nova saw he was just caught off guard by her appearance as she was his. Her father was the first one to speak.

“Nova! I… Didn’t expect you to be the one hired to protect me.” He stammered out semi-quietly. Despite his best efforts to keep himself quiet, his comment had still triggered a series of whispers throughout the now-silent inn as they watched the staredown between daughter and father.

“Well, here I am.” Nova scowled in an unexpected, but not unwelcome, venomous tone. Her father flinched back and the whispers hushed, waiting to see if it devolved into a fight. Out of the corner of the eye she could see the waiter who’d greeted her at the door slowly back away.

Her father blinked and took a loaded breath, “Well… Uh, it’s good to see you?” He tried, unsuccessfully.

“Fuck off, dad.” Nova spat and this time her father actually took a step back out of fear as the hate in her eyes manifested as her naturally-blue iris flashed a deep red.

He cleared his throat and adjusted his tie - some kind of nervous tic, probably. Sweat rolled down the side of his neck as he realised that his life could possibly be in the hands of a person who absolutely loathed him. Through her anger, Nova felt an immense amount of satisfaction at seeing her father cower like this.

“Right…” He trailed off and the whole inn waited in collective baited breath for the fight to start. “Do you need anything or-”

“I’m fine.” She interrupted him succinctly, “Go do your thing, I’ll do mine.”

Her father nodded, thankful for the out she had given him, and quickly retreated back into the other room he’d been in. The interior of the inn remained silent and only began to return back to the usual chatter once Nova had gone to sit down. A timid waiter was sent to serve her but was scared off by her glower. She wouldn’t be able to afford anything here anyway, plus she already had brought all the food and drink she needed.

The day passed quickly and Nova was left completely alone to study new fuinjutsu techniques by herself. Something she desperately needed was more chakra stores, since she found herself flagging quite quickly in fights. She could hit hard and fast, but only for a limited time. What she was researching was a seal that would allow her to store chakra reserves for a later use, and release them when needed. As she was now, she wouldn’t be able to store much chakra in the seal, but hopefully that was something that would change with time.

Finally, as the day came to a close, her father appeared again from the room. When they looked at each other she saw her father shy away which made Nova sneer cruelly. She then collected up the various scrolls she’d left on the table surface and went across the room to speak to him.

“What room are you staying in?” She asked simply. Her father blinked and she could just tell that he was wondering whether or not he should actually tell her the truth, lest she smother him with a pillow in his sleep. Not that Nova would ever do that, but it was fun seeing him consider her an actual threat, “So I can make sure no one sneaks in at night.” She clarified when it looked like he decided on lying to her.

He breathed a small sigh, “Top floor, room 12.”

“Got it.” Nova said, making a small mental note so she wouldn’t forget. Knowing her father, it was highly likely that he’d splurged and bought a room with a balcony, which was an easily exploitable entry point for any assassins. She snorted once her dad started to head up to his room, looking weary. Obviously business talks had been going poorly and she couldn’t care any less if she tried. The man deserved all the uncomfort life threw at him as far as she was concerned.

She went snuck through a window on the ground floor and walked up the side of the in to the slanted roof. After looking for a few seconds she spotted the room her father was going to be staying at, and she sat down on the roof just above his balcony. Being able to function for a few days at a time without sleep was another vital tool that all shinobi and kunoichi alike were taught in the Academy. It was for missions like this, where she would have to keep watch over a person and one slip-up could lead to their death and subsequent mission failure.

She looked out to the sleeping village of Kumogakure, and for a few seconds could almost forget about the asshole in the room beneath her. The night was calm and serene, which allowed Nova to reflect on the past few days. After her mission with Fist-Shin-Lee, she hadn’t left her apartment in over a week and hadn’t been doing very well mentally. One of her Shadow Clones had acted as a therapist and forced her to go outside, where she had apprehended a crazed genin and proved to herself that she was capable of fighting people without almost killing them. Finally, she’d participated in this mission. When she first learned who exactly the mission had been posted by, Nova had been absolutely livid and literally could not think straight. But meeting her dad had done her some good, somehow. It put a face to her two most hated people in Kumogakure. Showing up to her dad like that felt great.

While she maintained her watch, an assassin had tried to sneak past her into the balcony of her father’s room. Unfortunately for that assassin, Nova was both very perceptive and also a rather capable fighter. The resulting scuffle had ended up with Nova taking a shallow knife wound to her stomach, but it wasn’t anything a bandage and a few days wouldn’t fix. She’d made a Shadow Clone to bring the criminal to the prison, and the rest of the night was uneventful. Though, in the morning her father had been confused about the bandages wrapped around her stomach. Nova, not one to brag, just told him an assassin had tried to have him killed last night so he’d have to watch out.

Watching his face lose all its colour had been fun.

Over the course of the next few days, nothing really changed. Every night, without fail, an assassin would attempt to get into the inn to kill her father. Nova wasn’t worried though, in fact she felt pretty confident in her abilities after she apprehended the fourth ‘world-class’ assassin. She doubted they really were world class like they said, but it was a nice thought.

On the third night, Nova finally cracked the chakra storage seal. With her expanded chakra density, she even managed to make the seal stronger when she applied it to her right shoulder during a night watch. When the mission was officially over, Nova told her dad in no uncertain terms that someone dangerous was gunning for him, and that he’d have to watch out. She also warned him that skimping out on defenses to save money like he usually did was not a good idea when someone so potentially dangerous wanted him dead.

Eventually, it was time for the mission to end. Nova, completely exhausted after a few days of minimal sleep, left as soon as she could. She didn’t say bye to her dad.

WC: 3214
Claims:

• 6100 Ryo (B-Rank mission pay + Genin rank)
  
• 30 AP
  
• 32 Stats (20 into Vigor, 12 into Strength)
  
• 1500 words into learning Chakra Storage Seal
  
• 900 words into finishing C-Rank Block, other words trained here
  
• 500 words into finishing B-Rank Block, others words trained in this thread.
  
• 300 words into Eight Inner Gates Gate of Pain
  
• Placement of Chakra Storage Seal on right shoulder with 40 power (30 base power + 10 from scaling with 50 Vigor)
  

Approved