It came with no surprise that Genins were, undeniably, the ones who were tasked most with D-rank missions. Bringing back an old lady’s lost cat, running an errand from one side of the village to the other – such simple tasks were given to those generally considered weakest in ability and lacking in experience.  Having known that since before attending the Academy, Ryuzoji Miyako had come to terms with such procedures, and had – at that point – bore no resentment to it.

Until, that is, she was presented with her first ever mission as a Genin of Kumogakure: to babysit a three year old child. Seeing as she lacked the experience dealing with young children, Miyako immediately labelled this mission as one that could be potentially dangerous – whether to herself or to the child was unknown. Still, she accepted the mission with a respectful dip of her head, quietly retreating to the comforts of the street before reviewing the mission details given to her by the Raikage. It was quite the last-minute mission, seeing as she was expected at the written destination in less than an hour. But there was no way she was willing to back out of this one - especially since it was her first solo mission.

Making a quick stop at her house - in which a few moments were spent deciding whether or not to bring her katana (her gut won out and she left with her katana strapped to her side) - she eventually headed off towards her mission location, coming to a stop at a decent-sized house with a neat row of flowers decorating the lower window-sill. The door was slightly ajar, and voices could be heard trickling out. Closing the distance between the sidewalk and the door, Miyako made sure to rap at the wooden structure twice before stepping inside.

“Sorry for the interruption -- I'm Ryuzoji Miyako, here to complete my mission."

[ D Rank Mission - 319/600 ]

Both adults turned to face her, the lady – Misoki, as Miyako recalled from the mission details – with a warm, welcoming smile while the man, presumably her husband Sora, simply gave her a quick once-over. A small movement caught Miyako’s attention, and her gaze lowered to see a glimpse of a short frame with brown hair, tied up in cute pigtails. The target of the mission, the little girl peered out from behind her mother’s leg at Miyako with wide brown eyes.

“Welcome, welcome Miyako-san! Thank you for taking on this mission. My husband and I will be back in three hours. Well then, I hope you and Mia will become good friends! Mia, listen to this nice onee-san, okay?” The quick, whirlwind introduction left Miyako standing there in a bewildered state, and within moments, the couple had left, leaving Miyako staring blankly at the little girl standing before her. Letting out a sigh, Miyako knelt down until she was at eye-level with Mia, mustering a smile.

“Hello, you’re Mia-chan right? I’m Miyako.”

“I know!” The little girl’s retort made Miyako recoil, eyes widening in surprise. ‘I know’? Since when did three year olds have the ability to make such snarky comments? But the little girl had a beaming smile on her face, and Miyako felt herself melt a little, offering a hand out.

“You know? You must be really smart then – you were listening to me talk to your parents right?” Miyako wasn’t entirely sure whether the child understood everything she was saying, but the nod that she received in response made her smile softly at the child. “Did you eat lunch yet?” It was well past the usual lunchtime for a young girl of this age, and Miyako had only inquired to start a conversation with the little girl. But Mia shook her head, taking Miyako’s hand and declaring that, “I want cereal! Lots and lots of cereal!”

[ 638/600 ]

Brows furrowing, Miyako could only comply, letting the child lead her to the kitchen and direct her to where the cereal was held. As she walked, Miyako let her thoughts wander, trying to figure out how this family functioned. The mother seemed nice enough, the father slightly intimidating, but neither seemed cruel enough not to feed their young daughter – perhaps it was just a matter of accidental negligence on their part in their haste to … do whatever it was they were doing at this time. Placing her katana down on a chair to allow for easier movement, she went to fill a small bowl of colored cereal, turning to search the fridge for some milk when she heard something hit the floor. Whirling around to search for the source of the sound, she spotted her empty sheath on the floor and immediately searched the room for the little girl – only, Mia and Miyako’s katana were nowhere in sight. Down the hallway, the clack clack clack of a blade being dragged against the wooden floorboards could be heard, and, hastily putting the bowl down, Miyako left the kitchen in search of a certain young girl.

Mia hadn’t made it really far, the length of the sword proving too much for the little girl to handle. What surprised Miyako was that the three-year old had been smart enough to put the curved edge against her shoulder as she hauled the weapon towards … wherever she was heading. Every little action done by this little girl seemed to reflect her youthful intelligence, something that Miyako admired – but not enough to trust her katana with the girl for any longer.

“Mia-chan … What are you doing with my katana?” Miyako asked quietly, hoping not to startle the child into doing any sudden movements. But her concern was needless, as Mia turned a wide circle to face Miyako, eyes still bright with energy. “Mia wants to play with your katana! Mia wants to do Kenjutsu!” She exclaimed without any guilt at all, referring to herself in third person – something which Miyako found absolutely adorable.

Smiling, Miyako gently took the katana out of the girl’s grasp with one hand, reaching to scoop the child into her free arm and carrying her back into the kitchen. “Here, how about you sit on the couch with your cereal, and I’ll tell you about training Kenjutsu?”

Three hours later, with an empty bowl set in the sink and her katana placed safely on the counter, Miyako was laying on her stomach on the floor in the living room area, helping Mia cut out little paper swords. When the doorbell rang, it was only Miyako who got up and walked to open the door for Mia’s parents, with Mia refusing to budge until her mother’s third call of greeting.

That night, Miyako left the house with her mission completed, katana still intact, a promise to visit Mia often, a new fondness of young children.

[ 1138/600 -- Completed ]