Mission: Vacation (Mission/Solo)

Mission Details:

'A group of wealthy citizens are taking their annual vacation to one of northern Lightning Country's cozy alpine villages. For some reason or another, this time, they've hired shinobi guards. Keep them safe while they do rich people stuff.'

Rich people stuff, huh?

"Oh, Baru-chan! We're so happy we're able to hire you for these missions: usually such ninja are so gruff and unfun, but since we know it's you, we'll be sure to pull you into the vacation!"

Rich people stuff, indeed.

"Aunt Mai, I'm honored to be your guide today. Of course, it feels a bit strange, since I'd usually be your plus one..."

The woman in front of her, thin and well-pampered and still fairly attractive despite her middling age, waved her fan in dismissal of her own awkwardness. Kozuki-no-Mai was an aristocrat through and through, far too rich and happy and vapid to consider the clear nepotism happening right now. Baruga figures this is more of a fun convenience and an excuse to get a "family friend" into the mix.

There was several layers of political manipulation going on here, but they were in the single digits. Laughable to Baruga. Of course she knew this was an obvious attempt at curring favoritism in the daimyo's line, i.e. her. She also knew that Aunt Mai was infamously awful to Kumogakure shinobi, and she knew it, so she was more or less just trying the easy way out by hiring what she perceived to be a publicity stunt on Baruga's part. There was that part where Baruga had blackmail on her husband, and they'd probably have a "casual conversation" about that during the travel time...

All this and more, and Baruga knew every last aspect of this so-called "protection mission". And, as complicated and deep as it goes, she simply can't bring herself to care. This was a vacation on payroll at the end of the day, and Baruga was savvy enough to know that all of Mai's machinations were harmless to her. What was she going to do, get manipulated? Like a bloody novice?

No. She's going to enjoy hot tea and refreshing snow, all while under pretense of fighting bandits and whatnot. Joyous day!

"Well, don't feel so nervous, Baru-chan. Me and my husband just want you around for a touch of safety, isn't that right?"

A sigh from a balding man.

"Yes, honey."

It's unfortunate that Kozuki-no-Zun had decided to cheat on his oblivious wife; usually, she knew him to have fun with these escapades, but he'll be miserable as long as Baruga's here. Well, all the more reason to enjoy her "mission"; she'll get to enjoy the look on his face when he tries to make a deal and she gets to give him a resounding "eat shit!". All in coded bourgeois politeness, of course. Baruga was a professional, not a barbarian.

"Well, I'll endeavor to get you to your destination safely and comfortably. If my client decides to be nice," Baruga smiles slyly, as if sharing a cute inside joke with Aunt Mai, "then Kumogakure won't mind if I stay for hot chocolate and have fun with the kids."

---

WC: 526

As it stood, most of the mission was exactly as it would entail: acting as a guard detail to Aunt Mai and her immediate family as they traveled to their spring home in Lightning Country's alpines. Of course, it would be a leisurely walk away from the ski slopes, the cafes, and the other amenities that rich people could somehow afford to install in their villa communities. The issue was getting there.

Baruga honestly didn't expect to see any big issues going forward. It's well-known that the path from Kumogakure to the aristocrat's summertime paradise village was treacherous and mostly lethal... for highwaymen and wild animals. Natural selection dictated that most people who attempted, say, a mugging or a hold-up only really got one successful bounty before, surprise surprise, any immediate family either hires shinobi next time, or worse, hires hunter nin to take vengeance on the bandits that killed anyone particularly wealthy - and then kill the bandit's family, their friends, and their friend's family.

Very cathartic for the hunter nin, but a strong sign of discouragement for the bandits. To that end, Baruga kept her watch on the side of the entourage, keeping her eyes peeled for any potential foes. No problems so far, but if nothing else, she's vigilant to the end, and who knew if some errant bear smelled the carriages and decided to try for a snack.

---

WC: 231
TWC: 757

As it stood, though, the longer time went on, the less Baruga could determine in terms of whether there was a bandit or not. Truly, this sort of work was incredibly mind-numbing, what with staying on edge the entire time. Some part of her really did despise the busywork of it all, truly, even if her rationality trying and failing to maintain her strong focus.

After a time, she simply decided she could do this in a faster, more effective, and less dull manner. Making handsigns, Baruga focused her chakra in her body as she decided upon whom to summon to aid her. Intrigued by this display, Aunt Mai and the children openly gaped, while Zun seemed to be scared shitless by the velocity at which she was signing.

"What's wrong?! Are we under attack?"


"No. The mountains here are incredibly steep and a fog's about to roll in. I'm summoning one of my contract animals for backup," Baruga bullshitted professionally, not wanting to expose her boredom and laziness to her clients.

"Summoning Technique: Katsuyori!"

The C-Rank, crystal-encrusted whale came into reality, and Baruga laid her hand on the narwhal's head as she telepathically gave it instructions to start a perimeter. As the mythical creature flew off and the civilians started singing her praises, Baruga placated their need to kiss her ass by acting exactly like the idiot magician they expect her to act like, melodramatically bowing and playing up how she actually got the contract. Truly, a mystifying and solemn skillset! ...To anyone less educated than the average summoner. 

---

WC: 260
TWC: 1017

As it stood, though, the mission had simply relaxed in terms of how vigilant Baruga had to be. For the clients, it became all the more exciting: after all, it wasn't every day that the mythical whales that flew through the endless blue sky were at a person's beck and call.

Katsuyori was simple to understand and quick to oblige, which was why Baruga felt she would be the best pick. Really, she just needed a bird's eye view (or would it be a whale-eye view?) for this, and the lower whales would be useless and genial while the upper whales would be completely, utterly disrespected by her summoning. So, not wanting to offend her summon contract, she opted for the middle man.

No signs of hostility, though, which was good. Feeling the need to be less wary, Baruga fully leaned into the fact that she was on vacation and jumped onto the roof of the carriage she was supposed to guard. Closing her eyes and breathing in the fresh air of Lightning Country's mountains, Baruga decided to take a quick cat nap, confident in her ability to wake up if there was any commotion.

...Or, y'know, if a whale started screaming. That too.

---

WC: 204
TWC: 1221

After the fact, there was no whale screaming. Baruga had a decently restful hour's worth of nap before she woke up, scratching at her cheek haphazardly as the carriage continued to trek upwards on the cliffs. Feeling her chakra flag slightly from maintaining her summon, Baruga whistled for Katsuyori to return.

The stone-studded whale soared back into place and allowed Baruga to press her palm against the whale's head, initiating the telepathic bond.

(Nothing of note from here to the destination, milady. And nothing on the way back.)

(Good, good. Rest now, you've done your job. I shall give your court a shining review of your actions.)

(Thank you, milady.)

With all that and a poof of smoke, the whale was dismissed, leaving Baruga to fend for the nobles herself. As sunset approached, she figured she'd have to go with the old fashioned way. No summons for the night.

---

Luckily, Katsuyori was proven correct. The night went by eventlessly, and Baruga had plenty of time to ready herself in the morning. They'd be arriving at the destination later in the morning, just before noon, and she suspected that once they got there, they'd be hampering to play games and spend their free time with Baruga.

---

WC: 204
TWC: 1425

"Baruga-sama, Baruga-sama, look at my snow angel!"

"Baruga-sama, could you help me make a snowman?"

"Baruga-sama..."

Baruga groaned and gave a tired smile as, once more, she was made to push a snowball to unnecessary sizes.

As it turned out, watching over children was possibly the most hampering part of this mission thus far. Trying and failing to act like her actual age was exhausting: and, in addition, she also had to attend to her actual duties both as a kunoichi and as a political chess piece.

---

It was incredibly hard to establish a perimeter to keep watch of when your actual client kept trying to suck up to you the entire time!

"Baru-chan, it's so cold up there, are you certain you don't want any hot chocolate?"

She lowered her binoculars from her perch on the highest tree near the vacation home, before doing her best to somehow acknowledge the older noblewoman from her dangerously tall position.

"No, Aunt Mai. Thank you. Please spend time with your family — I do have to keep an eye on the premises."

"Are you certain? We've even imported extra mint..."

"No, Aunt Mai. Thank you."

---

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nobody going for any assassination attempts, despite the isolated location of this particular vacation home. It'd be child's play to slip in in the dead of night and slit some throats, especially with how limited the vision was at times.

Then again, hiring a ninja was a very good precautionary measure, and in this new age world where any senior genin like Baruga was practically a death wish for most run-of-the-mill criminals, perhaps nobody wanted to take a chance.

Still, Baruga wasn't one to lose track of her goals. Every day, as a precautionary measure, she'd send out two to three whales just to scout out the mountainside leading up to the vacation home while she tended to the family's attentions and needs, and then take up her own watch whenever she had the time. Admittedly, they were starting to complain about how cold it was, but she knew that it was just whining — for goodness sake, these whales lived in the stratosphere, she was surprised they could feel the cold at all — but it was necessary to her mission.

In any case, it wasn't the worst way to pass the time, Baruga mused as she watched the kids play. If she weren't so diligent, maybe she'd even consider this mission a vacation. Most people would. Just sit back, relax, and —

Watch one of the kids trip and fall off a cliff they were playing near.

Dragon. Hare. Horse. Ram. Ox. Monkey.

Space-Time Art: Portals.

A blue portal immediately ripped open in space-time next to her, while — and she can only make guesswork — an orange portal appeared under the child that just fell. In an instant, a cute little boy was sent flying out of the blue portal, and Baruga lunged to catch him.

And immediately held him very far away from her body when he started crying.

"Waaaah —"

"Oh, good lord. Don't cry, bloody — shite..."

A few moments later, his parents came running onto the scene, just about when he was able to start dribbling snot and tears onto her gloves. She put him down on the ground and let his mother give him a proper chewing out while his father started thanking Baruga profusely, his voice shaky and rattled as he went on about some sort of life debt his family had towards hers.

Baruga pursed her lips in withheld exasperation as she accepted his generosity.

---

With that, their vacation was over, and in similar fashion to before, she escorted them safely back to Kumogakure.

Accrue a noble family's desperate alliance, play in the snow, maintain a constant 24/7 vigil using the power of extradimensional whales. All in a day's work, really.

---

WC: 650
TWC: 2075
Claiming:
+ 4000 Ryo + 100 Ryo from Genin Rank
+ 20 AP
+ 40 AP (from 2000 WC)
+ 773 WC to Summoning Art: Rashomon (A-Rank) (2750/2750).
+ 500 WC to Space Time Amplifier(B-Rank) (1500/1500).
+ 802 WC to Space Time Amplifier(A-Rank) (2303/2500).

APPROVED