The Rich Couple (Mission)

Mission:

It was still early in the morning when Jun, who was at home helping her mother with the household chores, heard someone knocking on the door. The young shinobi promptly went to answer it, hoping it was something that would get him out of the house, and that was his lucky day (or not)! Jun received from a fellow shinobi a folder that contained a mission for the newly graduated Genin: to escort and protect Kumogakure's richest businessman and his wife on a shopping day through the village. We're talking about the owner of Kumogakure's most popular cigarette brand, the notorious Inzo Kamada, and his beautiful wife, Matsuki, surely two of the most influential people in the village's high society and personal friends of the Feudal Lord of Lightning Country. According to the mission briefing, they resorted to the services of the Kumo shinobi as they had lately been receiving death threats through letters that were mysteriously left at their mailbox. Babysitting the rich was certainly not one of the reasons Jun Shibasaki became a shinobi, but the money and experience certainly put him on the path to achieving his goal of becoming a great ninja and rebuilding the Shibasaki clan.
The young Shibasaki then dressed as he traditionally does, wearing a baggy black sweatshirt, with the Shibasaki clan symbol (The Shibasaki Sun) printed in the back area, black cargo pants with two pockets on each side, and black sneakers. He straightened his gear, tied his headband on his left arm, said goodbye to his mother and set off for the designated meeting point. The mission itinerary was quite simple: go to Inzo Kamada's office to meet him, stop by the hair salon where his wife Matsuki is to pick her up and then head to the shopping district for a little shopping spree by the wealthy and stressed couple, and later escort them safely back to the luxurious Kamada mansion. "Piece of cake" - thought Jun.
After a few minutes of walking, Jun arrived at Inzo Kamada's office, a two-story house in downtown Kumogakure. The young Shinobi walked towards the door, but before he could knock, Jun noticed that there was a short, gray-haired old man by the door, smoking a cigarette while mumbling. The old man was wearing an old patched suit, worn out shoes and had a long beard that reached down to his chest.


- Excuse me, sir. Do you work here in the Kamada Office? My name is Jun Shibasaki and I need to speak with Mr. Inzo Kamada.


- You do, young man? May I ask what's your business with the richest man in Kumogakure?

- I am the shinobi designated by the Raikage to escort him through the commercial district today. – replied the young Shibasaki.

- You? YOU? Are you kidding me? I asked the Raikage for a freaking real Shinobi to guard me as my life and my wife's life have been threatened, and he sends me a damn BRAT? The feudal lord will hear about this absurd!

- Sir, I’m a skilled and extremely prepared shinobi who is perfectly capable of... wait a minute, are you Inzo Kamada?

- Yes! And you are the shinobi sent to protect me and you don’t even know how I look like!

- Si-si-sir…I’m so sorry. There was no picture of you in the mission file and I’m not originally from here so…

- Whatever, we’re late your brat! If the raikage sent you, then some talent you must have. As long that you keep me and my wife safe, I don’t care about your age or anything else...

- And I will, sir. I swear, I’ll protect you both with my life!

- Good…

- Regarding the death threats, sir…do you have any idea who could that be? Do you have any enemies?

- You don’t become Kumogakure’s richest person without making any enemies, boy…the thing is, I have 24/7 security around my house, and still no one ever saw who the hell is placing those death threats on my mailbox…It’s like this person is a ghost! So, I deduced it must be a criminal Shinobi or worse…

- I see, and you…

- Enough with the questions! You’re my bodyguard, not a detective, boy. Let’s go, we need to pick up Matsuki!

So Jun and old Inzo Kamada set off towards the hair salon where the millionaire's wife was to pick her up for their shopping spree day. During the short walk, Jun observed that Inzo smoked two more cigarettes, which he threw off on the street after finishing them, and that he didn't stop complaining for a second about the shinobi assigned to protect him, in this case Jun itself. Despite being annoyed by the old man's contempt for him, the young Shibasaki knew that his personal opinion of Inzo being kind of an a-hole shouldn't interfere with his mission to protect him. The Shinobi therefore stopped paying attention to the old man's behavior and began to observe the surroundings, looking to identify any possible threat to the millionaire's life. After some walk, the two finally arrived at the hair salon where Ms. Kamada was.

- Let's wait outside for a while, I need to smoke a cigarette. She must be coming out.

"Another cigarette? And I bet he’s thowing it on the street when he’s done…" thought Jun. The young shinobi had always hated the smell of cigarettes, but Kamada cigarettes were especially smelly. As Jun complained to himself about the unbearable smell of Inzo's cigarettes, his wife finally left the salon, leaving Jun gaping: she was really tall and young, much taller and younger than old man Inzo…and she had a fiery red-colored hair. Her face was delicate and full of freckles, and her eyes were blue as the sky on a clear day. That woman was by far the most beautiful woman that Jun ever laid his eyes on.

- Honey, are we ready to go? I can’t wait to shop all day long! Wait, who’s that kid with you, babe?

- That is the young Shinobi the Raikage assigned for our protection, honey…

- Oh, is he? Well, he’s cute, but he looks so young…But if the Raikage sent him, he must be good…right, love?

- Yeah yeah, probably…

- Hi, Ms. Kamada, I’m Jun Shibasaki and I’ll be protecting you and your husband today. Yes, I’m pretty young, but I’m also perfectly capable of guarding you both as I’m a trained shinobi, otherwise the Raikage would never have sent me! 
– Said Jun, as his cheeks turned red when talking to Ms. Kamada.

- Good, good…so, shall we? I can’t wait to shop like crazy today and forget a little bit about the death threats we're getting!

So off to the shopping district they went. After finally arriving there, Mr. and Mrs. Kamada literally ran inside of the first a luxury brand store they saw and so the spree started! As the day passed on, Jun was more and more impressed with the voracious appetite that the couple had for shopping: jewelry, designer clothes, expensive shoes, cigars, perfumes... whenever one of them entered a store, that person left carrying at least 3 full bags. And who was responsible for carrying them? Obviously it was the bodyguard, Jun. And so it went all day like this: shopping and more shopping and more shopping, followed by more shopping and ending with more shopping. Crazy! By the end of the day, Jun was already carrying a pile of shopping bags that most resembled a mountain. Until late in the afternoon, after what from the young shinobi's perspective seemed like eternity, the couple finally got tired of spending absurd amounts of money and decided to go to a coffee shop for a little chill, before heading home. So far, Jun hadn’t observed anything weird or dangerous around both of them, and the day flowed smoothly with no major problems other than Mr Kamada complaining about everything and smoking every bloody minute. They sat at a table outside the cafeteria, while Jun positioned himself at a table to the side, having his view partially obstructed by the mountain of shopping bags, but he was calm as the day had gone by peacefully and everything looked fine… That until Mr. Kamada went inside to use the restroom, and Jun heard a scream coming from Matsuki:


- AAAAAAAAAAAH.

Jun rushed to the beautiful Ms. Kamada table and found her screaming and crying while holding a piece of paper that had “YOUR HUSBAND IS A DEAD MAN” written over it in red ink.

- Ms. Kamada, I’m here don’t worry I’m here and nothing bad is going to happen to you or your husband! Did you saw who left this message at your table? Do you know the direction this person went?

- A…a…a that boy over there…. he…he…he said a hooded man paid him 10 ryo to give me this message… – said her, while pointing her trembling finger toward the boy.

- Hey, you…where is the man that paid you? Tell me now, this is official Kumogakure Shinobi business! – screamed Jun to the boy.

- I’m so sorry sir…I didn’t know what was on the note, I swear! He went that way after paying me! I just wanted some candy! – said the boy, almost crying, as he pointed towards east.

As Mr. Kamada finally came off the coffee shop bathroom to check on his wife, who was still shaking and crying, Jun noted at some distance away from where they were, in the direction the boy pointed out, there was indeed a hooded man, walking kind of weird, in a very suspicious manner. He was fast-walking while keeping his head down, and it really looked like he was trying to run away from there, while people out of curiosity would normally come closer to check on why a lady was screaming that loud. It could be just a man late for a job interview or just a distracted dude, but something in Jun’s guts was telling him that this was the person behind all of this.

- Mr. and Ms. Kamada, I know that I was assigned to guard you both…but I’ve located the man who is threatening you both and he’s getting away…please, wait inside the coffee shop with other people while I catch this son of a…

- Go get him! Please! – shouted the terrified Ms. Kamada.

- Please, end this torment! – Pleaded Mr. Kamada. 

Jun then nodded to the couple and started to run after the hooded man with all his speed. The man looked back and noticed the young Shibasaki on his heels, which made him start to run as well. He was at a considerable distance from Jun, but after a few seconds of running, the young man noticed that he was starting to close the distance of his target. "I've never seen such a slow shinobi" thought Jun. The chase continued for another two blocks, with Jun getting closer and closer to the man, who was running straight down the sidewalk. "What a stupid escape route...what a poorly trained shinobi, he must be from...unless he's not a shinobi at all!" considered Jun. The young Shibasaki was getting closer and closer to his target, who already seemed to be tired of the chase, until he made an abrupt turn to the right, entering a small alley. Jun was so fast he almost slipped around the corner, but his ninja training helped him keep his balance and young Shibasaki entered the alley at high speed. It was a dead end, and the hooded man was waiting for Jun, with his face still hidden by the shadows of the alley. "It's now, it's time to fight! Finally!" thought Jun, already starting to get anxious at the idea of ​​facing the hooded man. The young shinobi was already getting ready to draw his kunai, when the mysterious man did something totally unexpected: he threw himself on his knees on the ground and took off his hood, finally revealing himself: he was a bald old man, with a thin mustache and who should have about 80 years. The old man then clasped his hands together and started begging Jun:

- Please, please! I’m not a killer, I’m not a criminal please spare me, have mercy please!

- What the hell…

- Please, please! I’m so sorry, I’m no killer I swear, I’m just trying to… I'm just trying to scare the bastard I swear!

- Grandpa, who’s the bastard? What is going on? Explain me now why are you threatening Mr. and Ms. Kamada!

- I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! My name is Mr. Maida, I’m Inzo Kamada’s neighbor…and I was just trying to scare him enough so he would move out and stop throwing his cigarettes buts at my perfect and beautiful garden! Please I beg your mercy, I’m so sorry! I never meant to hurt anyone…it’s just…do you have any idea of how many of those cigarettes buts he throws at my garden every day? I take so much care of it for that freaking a-hole to ruin it all! It makes me so mad!


Jun couldn’t believe on that explanation, as he face palmed himself hard. Well, at least the mystery was solved, as being Mr. Kamada’s neighbor, Mr. Maida was able to approach the mailbox without being noticed by security. Jun than calmed the old man, who was still on his knees, begging, and out of nowhere, he had like a “click” inside his head, and a plan to solve this drama he devised. He told the old man to go home, and to never again to something stupid as that, as Jun would forgive him once, but not twice. The old man thanked him and left the alley running back home.
The young shinobi returned to the coffee shop to pick the millionaire couple and escort them home. As he arrived, Mr. and Ms. Kamada approached him hopeful that Jun had solved the problem.

- It’s over! – said Jun, as they both hugged him in relief.

- Who was the bastard behind this? – asked Mr. Kamada

- I’ll tell you everything on our way home, Mr. Kamada.

As they walked toward the Kamada Mansion, Jun noticed that Mr. Kamada lighted up a cigarette. That was the perfect time to execute his plan.

- You know, Mr. Kamada…it wasn’t a person who was a behind the death treats…indeed, it was a SPIRIT!

- A spirit? What the hell?

- Yeah…a spirit of nature! That’s why your security never caught it leaving the death threats… Nature is really mad at you, Mr. Kamada. Do you know why? Because of the disgusting habit you have of throwing your cigarettes butts on the floor. You see, the spirit wanted your blood for all the damage you and your cigarettes have done to nature…but I was able to strike a bargain with it on your behalf: from now on, you throw your cigarettes butts on the appropriate place, and the spirit will leave you and your wife alone…however, if you break the agreement... the consequences will be severe… you got it?!

- Ye…yes, of course! I swear I’ll never do it again, I swear! I’ll even stop smoking if that is what it takes! But please, keep that spirit away! - replied Mr. Kamada, frightened by Jun’s explanation.

From the young shinobi’s perspective, both old guys understood what they were supposed to do from now on, so Jun’s plan was a success after all. He hoped that both old timers would quit those terrible habits: sending death threats and throwing cigarretes everywhere, so peace could be finally achieved between neighbors. Besides things unfolding in a bizarre way, Jun was pleased with the outcome, as he started smiling while escorting the rich couple back home.

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WC: 2650

CLAIMS:

Approved!