Genin Astray [Mission/Solo]

https://www.narutoroleplaygame.com/t47435-genin-astray

It seemed that, on yet another occasion, Nova had been called in to do something she really couldn’t care less about. Well, not specifically ‘called’ persay, but the mission had gone out to all available Kumogakure shinobi and she’d just been the unlucky one to one to receive it first. Apparently some genin had managed to get himself lost in Kumogakure’s mountain range and had been missing for a day or so by now. If Nova was being honest, she could totally see how the kid had gotten lost in the mountain range; it was a nightmare to navigate. Even with the vast majority of trees being burned down the winding passages between large rocks, multitude of caves and no directions or signs of human life for miles made it a massive pain to navigate. Nova had no doubt that, had she been a young genin out on a routine mission, she would have been the one stuck in the mountains needing someone to rescue her. Okay, so maybe she did actually care about getting the kid back home safely. Not that she’d admit it to anyone but her own thoughts, though.

Nova rolled out the box of supplies she always kept safely under her bed and cranked it open with a level of strength not possessed by many. Inside was her two sets of armor, all her equipment and enough food to last her a week if things went awry. She eyeballed the elegant garb her parents had gifted her with an unreadable expression. It was good armor, the best money could buy in fact. But that was why she hated it. Many expected Nova to be a being of pride considering how she acted, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. She hated her parents and, by extension, anything given to her from them. However, their gift could very easily save her life some day. She wasn’t the kind of idiot to not wear it because of anger, since she lacked the pride to do so. She didn’t have to be happy about it, though.

With a sigh, Nova got undressed from her sleepwear and slipped into the armor with ease, hating how comfy it was every step of the way. Once in the armor the taijutsu practitioner got to work fixing herself up with all her equipment. If someone knew Nova well, which was basically no one since she didn’t speak to people all that much, then they’d see that she’d gotten rid of her custom-made staff she used to carry around with her. The reason was simple: Nova had come to the realisation that she would perform much better as a speed-based fighter rather than an overwhelmingly strong one like she had before. She’d had to return the staff back to the blacksmith since she could no longer use it to its fullest potential like she had before she’d restrained herself to better suit the speed-based fighting style she now used. It had been a good decision, though. She was now much faster and had stronger chakra, and she wasn’t that much physically weaker. She was still stronger than the vast majority of shinobi, probably.

Armor on, Nova moved on to securing the two ninja pouches to either of her thighs, double-checking their contents as she did so. Six kunai, five shuriken… There. She checked the other one: six senbon, two smoke bombs, and two explosive tags… All there. Good, it paid well for a kunoichi to be prepared. The one day she didn’t check her pouches was the day she’d try to reach into a pouch to draw a kunai, find nothing there, and get killed for it. After checking her pouches, Nova slipped on her two ninja tool sealing bands onto either of her wrists and her Kumogakure headband around her waist. Finally, Nova put a bo staff around her torso and strapped her newly-purchased ninjato horizontally at the base of her spine. All in all, she was probably over-equipped for whatever potential dangers might show up on the mountain. At most, Nova was expecting a few bandits or maybe a dangerous animal or two. Nothing she couldn’t handle, she was sure.

Giving one last check of everything on her person, Nova jumped out of her flat’s window and into the street below. She landed softly, but that didn't prevent multiple people around the point of impact from jumping in shock as a sharply-dressed woman armed to the teeth fell from the sky. She ignored their reaction and quickly began jogging towards the village exit, only stopping when she went to pick up some fresh pastries from the market stall that had set up shop next to her apartment complex.

“Hey Tao, just the usual.” She said briskly.

The large man running the stall nodded with a big smile donning his ruddy face. He quickly and efficiently put two croissants into a small paper bag and handed them to Nova, who gave him some Ryo in return. “There you go, Miss. Good to see you’re alive and well!” He laughed and then turned to serve the next customer behind Nova with the same level of enthusiasm. How someone could be so happy all the time was a mystery to the young woman, especially when having to deal with people all day. Tao was probably one of the few people in the village who she could bare to be somewhat on friendly terms with. He always knew exactly how little to say to Nova to not make her annoyed, people who talked too much really rubbed her the wrong way sometimes.

She arrived at the village gate and was briefly told to stop while they checked over her details to make sure she had a reason to be leaving the village and all that lovely stuff. When it looked like they were going to be taking a while she flat out told them that stalling her was potentially putting a kid’s life in danger. That got them to speed up and no more than two minutes after that she was let through to head towards the mountains where the genin had gone missing. It felt weird to be outside Kumogakure, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone this far out.

She walked carefully along the path, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any danger. She was out of the village now, anyone could be waiting for her. Bandits, thieves or even Missing Ninja who could all be watching the gates for a potential payday to leave. Once she’d turned a corner and got out of sight of the gate guards, this feeling increased tenfold. She instinctively brought her hand behind her to grip on to the hilt of her new ninjato, its position meant she’d be able to draw it in a reverse grip at a moment’s notice.

With her senses as strained as they were, Nova heard the sound of a stone falling behind her. Instantly, she whirled around with all her speed, blade drawn, to see… Nothing, just a bird flying off from where the sound of a rock falling had come from. She blew air through her mouth, annoyed at herself more than anything. She’d been getting worked up and worried over nothing. The saying ‘you’re your own worst enemy.’ wasn’t invented for moments like this but it certainly applied. Just as she was lowering her weapon, however, an arrow shot out at intense speeds towards her face, coming from where the bird had just flown off.

With the speed of the arrow and the fact she was already lowering her guard, Nova had a tough time deflecting the arrow. In ninja terms, it was barely moving at a snail pace, but it was enough to prevent Nova from fully blocking it. The arrow skimmed off her blade and into her right shoulder. At least, it would have; had she not been wearing her armor. She grit her teeth in frustration even as the arrow harmlessly clattered to the ground. She’d let her guard down and should have paid the price for her mistake. Instead, she’d been forced to rely on something that wouldn’t always protect her.

She waited with baited breath for more arrows to appear, sword at the ready; yet nothing further came at her. Was that it? She edged closer to the source, eyes peeled. She eventually made it up the slope and found absolutely nothing, except wrapping paper for what looked like someone’s lunch. The spot around the discarded wrapping paper was flattened and had been cleared out, like someone had been waiting or something. Her eyes narrowed as she looked around, unable to find any further tracks that might indicate where the individual had gotten too. Was this attempt on her life linked with the disappearance of the genin? She hoped not,because that didn’t bode well for his survival.

“Come out from wherever you’re hiding, coward.” Nova shouted into the empty air, part of her angry, the other part hoping to provoke a reaction from the would-be assassin. Dead air was her only response, much to her annoyance, “Come on! What, are you scared of an actual fight or something?” Once again, no reaction. She growled and sheathed the ninjato behind her, too annoyed to realize that it would be smarter to keep it out in case of another attack.  She resumed walking down the path to the mountain, still slightly on edge for any potential attacks. This meant that when the next arrow came hurtling towards her neck, she was ready.

In a flash, Nova dashed to the origin of the arrow and was soon face-to-face with a very scared looking man. He looked to be in his late 20s, though it was hard to tell since he lacked personal hygiene. Greasy hair, missing teeth, dirty face. He looked exactly like someone who’d been living on some mountains for a few years would look. He was laying down on the ground with a crossbow in hand, since he lacked the reaction time to react to Nova’s movements. Before he had a chance to withdraw his arm Nova raised her leg and brought her foot down on the man’s wrist with a satisfying crunch. He cried out and tried to pull back his arm once more but the weight on his wrist prevented him from doing so.

“Imsorryimsorryimsorry!” He cried between sobs of pain, “I’msosososorry” He cried again, pitifully trying to draw his arm back into himself.

She raised an eyebrow and removed her foot, now sure she wasn’t in any danger from such a weak-looking man. He pulled back into a fetal position, cradling his arm delicately. Just to make sure there would be no further attacks from this man, Nova crushed his crossbow with the same movement that she’d done to his wrist. He barely even noticed his weapon being crushed through the tears in his eyes. Nova sighed, unsure what to do.

“Why did you attack me?” She asked, starting simple. He didn’t seem to hear her so she asked again, rougher this time, “I said, why did you attack me?”

He flinched from the aggression in her tone and paused his crying to look up at her with fear, “I’m sorry!” He said again.

“You said that already.” She growled, “Answer my fucking question.”

“It’s what I do! I shoot people, then steal their stuff so I can sell it. It’s the only way a guy like me can-” He didn’t finish the sentence as Nova kicked him in the stomach, hard. He doubled over more, almost folding back into himself. His breaths were pained.

“You’re disgusting.” The smoldering intensity in her voice belied how pissed off she was feeling. Through all his pain he still froze in fear, “Are you working with anyone?”

“No! No!” His fear-stricken face suddenly turned ugly, “Why would I share MY spoils with anyone? I was the one who worked hard for them, they’re all mine!”

Nova kicked him in the stomach again, shutting him up. She had no idea what to do with him now, should she turn him into the authorities? Leave him be? Did this man have something to do with the disappearance of a genin? Suddenly, the mission seemed a lot darker. Scared to actually hear the answer, Nova asked him, “Have you robbed anyone recently? Someone with a headband like this,” She gestured towards the Kumogakure headband she used as a belt.

From the floor he looked up and squinted and, to Nova’s dread, recognition sparked in his eyes, “Yes… I think I’ve seen that recently. Some stupid kid, heh, he had lot’s of stuff on h-”

Nova interrupted him again and punched him right in the nose, breaking it and knocking him out cold. She stood back up, entire body shaking with anger. Scumbags like this were a waste of air as far as Nova was concerned. She went through his bags and found some rope, which she used to tie him up; she’d bring him to the authorities later. For now, she had to try and find this genin. Kumogakure shinobi weren’t the kind of shinobi to go down from a single civilian’s arrow, he’d still be alive. She just wasn’t sure how alive he would be. Ninja or not, arrow wounds could do some nasty damage if left untreated.

After leaving the bandit tied up, Nova started running through the mountains now on high alert for any kind of signs for an injured person. She was looking for blood, footprints, any signs of someone passing through. She wasn’t a sensor-type shinobi, and likely never would be, so the task was proving to be difficult. She grit her teeth, speed decreasing. She wasn’t going to give up but it was clear that she wasn’t going to be finding anything any time soon. Just in case, she activated her newly-learned Chakra Sensory skill and spread out its range as much as she could. It was only 10-meters, but it was better than nothing.

Nova continued her search for several hours, and day time quickly turned to night. She chewed her lower lip hard enough to draw blood as she continued her fruitless search, annoyed at herself more than anything. She should have found something already, and now that it was night time there wasn’t likely anything further she could do. At least until day time. Night times were already dark enough, and when you consider that she was so far from civilization that there was no artificial light, it was ten times darker. She brought a fist into a nearby rock, a spiderweb of cracks spreading out from the point of impact.

Just as Nova was defeatedly going to find a place to camp out for the night, her foot slipped on something wet. She managed to catch herself thanks to her sick reflexes, but the random source of wetness wasn’t natural. She crouched down and touched it, unable to see it at all in the dark. It felt… Sticky, and whatever it was was starting to dry. She brought her fingers to her nose and sniffed it; coppery. It was blood, a smell she was very familiar with considering her background in fighting. Now that the moon was high in the sky and shining brightly, and with her eyes adjusted to the darkness, Nova could see the slight murky reflection of the pool of blood.

She looked around and there, about 15 meters ahead of her, she could see the tell tale reflection of another pool of blood. This was what she needed! Nova started following the trail, each time finding another pool to follow. This continued for several minutes until she finally found the entrance to some cave on the side of one of the many mountains around Kumogakure. She carefully crept up to its entrance, heel first to make as little noise as possible. This could very easily be a trap set by another bandit like the man before. Despite her instinct telling her to run in and make sure the genin was alright, Nova remained firm in her carefulness.

She pushed into the darkness, the combination of night time and the deep cave making it completely impossible to see anything. She shuffled forward, slowly inching herself forward instead of taking full steps. She wasn’t even breathing at this stage, having been holding her breath for the last minute or so. As she continued pushing into the cave, her ears started to pick up on a faint noise; the pained, ragged breathing of someone injured. From their breathing patterns she could tell they were asleep, but it definitely wasn’t an easy one.

“Hello? Is anyone here?” Nova called out into the darkness. She heard the shifting of clothes and then nothing, the person obviously waking up and then attempting to hide from her. She put on a gentle voice, well, gentle in her terms, “I’m from Kumogakure, I’ve been sent to help you.”

“R-really?” A young voice answered, only to burst into a series of intense wet-sounding coughs.

“Of course,” Nova said, lowering her voice to try and take some of the default aggression she had, “Do you have a light? I may be able to help you with your injuries.”

“Hold on…” The boy said, and soon the entire cave was bathed in a warm orange glow. The source being a small stream of fire from the boy’s mouth lighting a pile of slightly charred logs alight. Now that the boy was visible, Nova could see he was in rough shape. His skin was pale, clammy and lightly cold to the touch. The boy’s center was covered in bandages, just below his ribs, so that was where Nova assumed he had been shot. She slowly approached him with her hands in the air, her Kumogakure headband clearly visible. She saw him visibly calm down when he saw it.

“Okay, it’s okay. I’m not the best at this but if you show me the wound I may be able to help before we move out, can you move?”

WC: 3026

Claims:
B-Rank mission done
90 AP
6100 Ryo
1000 words into Eight Inner Gates (Gate of Limit)
2000 words into Ninjutsu third specialty

Is approved.