OOC: Alternate reward of 1 free tier instead of Ryo reward. Used on Strength. D2-D3
Mission:

Spoiler:

Nozomi walked down the road, once again on a mission. She'd heard tell about a young man who doubted his own abilities as a shinobi. Now, Nozomi knew a little bit about this guy, and from what she could tell, he only needed a bit of motivation. To be honest, he had the potential, as he was already promoted to Chuunin. His own skills weren't even bad. Considering the facts, and that they don't just promote anybody to Chuunin level, Nozomi figured that he had something that made him worth it. Running away would only seal his fate and end up getting him killed or banished from Kirigakure for desertion. So she'd have to go and speak to him, on the behalf of his sister. She didn't want to see anyone get hurt of course. So that was why she'd taken on this mission. Of course, perhaps it was because she had some doubts herself, and wanted to affirm that staying was the right choice. In all honesty, if she couldn't convince him, she'd leave with him.

There were multiple reasons for that. The foremost was that if she couldn't show him that Kirigakure was the best place for him to be beyond a shadow of a doubt, then perhaps she was in the wrong place herself. The second being that if she wasn't good enough to change his mind, then she didn't belong here either, and they'd just leave. Perhaps with two leaving, it would be harder to stop? Nozomi shook her head. Of course it wouldn't matter. They'd just send more after them. Whatever, it wouldn't have to come to that. She'd change his mind right here.

Nozomi came upon the house of the guy who was contemplating leaving. His name was Izumo Santo, an 18 year old Chuunin who lived on his own in the city. He had dark brown short hair, and equally dark brown eyes. Now, from what she knew of him, there wasn't anything exceptional about him, and he certainly wasn't going to be the next kage, but he was a Chuunin after all, which meant that he was at least competent in battle. Sighing, Nozomi stepped forward and knocked on the door of his house. "Izumo Santo? I'm Nozomi Himitsu. I want to talk to you." she called out, and stepped back.

For a while there, she didn't think that he'd answer the door, as it was silent for about a minute, but then the door cracked open slightly, before he pushed it fully open and stepped out. Izumo wore the kirigakure uniform, a flak jacket that marked him as a Chuunin, and the dark colored jumpsuit underneath. He even had the headband on, signifying him as a shinobi of Kirigakure. "What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" he asked, somewhat nervously. His body was tense, almost as if he was prepping himself to take off. Judging by the glance to her headband, he seemed nervous that a kunoichi was paying him a visit.

The young blonde girl tilted her head quizzically and frowned. "Like I said, I'm Nozomi Himitsu. I'm um.... well.... I hear you're having some doubts?" she said nervously. As she said that, his eyes widened slightly, as if he'd been discovered, and he struck out at the young girl, who's quick reflexes allowed her to move out of the way of the strike. Her own arm sliced through the air and struck his hand away, and she instinctively kicked out, knocking him back through the doorway of his house. She adopted a defensive pose, but didn't advance at all, instead calling out again. "I don't want to fight you!" she said, but it appeared he wasn't looking to listen.

He charged out, now sending a flurry of strikes at her. To the young Himitsu, who had trained in Taijutsu her entire life, there wasn't much of a problem posed to her. He wasn't anywhere near as strong, quick, or outmatching her in any standard, not like the Chuunin tutor she had. But at the same time, he was starting to push her back. It was apparent that although there wasn't much of a gap in their abilities, he had the slight edge on her. It was obvious that he was only trying to push her back, not interested in killing her or anything, but neither would he listen to her. More, it was difficult for her to speak while he was attacking her, as she needed to focus on his strikes.

After a few seconds of blocking and weaving, Nozomi ducked under one of his strikes and brought her fist up, colliding with his jaw. She hadn't put too much push behind it, so it didn't do much to him, and his fist grabbed her wrist and tightened. She attempted the same with her other fist, but he grabbed that as well, and picked her up, slamming her into the side of his house roughly. A little bit of blood trickled out of Nozomi's mouth, but more because the exertion of the fight had overstimulated her weakened immune system. "You're not taking me in. I'm not good enough to be a Shinobi here, and I'm not endangering anybody else." he said, tightening his grip.

Nozomi coughed out a reply, which made him pause. "You just... beat me... you're not useless." she panted out, blood dripping out of her mouth a little still. He let go of her, dropping her the few inches that she'd been hanging in the air, as he'd had her at eye level, and he was a bit taller than she was. "I'm a genin and all... but you're still better than me. All you've got to do is apply yourself a bit more, and you'll be somebody. Leaving isn't the solution." she said as she steadied herself.

Izumo nodded as she spoke, relaxing a little. "I get it now. You only came here to convince me not to leave. I'm sorry about attacking you. And thanks. You're right. I'm not the best of the Chuunin, but I'm still better than some Genin. Naturally everyone has different skill sets. I was just discouraged a little. I'll stay. I'm sorry." he said. There wasn't much more for him to do except to go into his house and close the door behind him.

Nozomi leaned against the wall, catching her breathe a bit before she left as well. Another mission complete. Although she'd been taken by surprise, she also had a bit more confidence. She'd held her own in a taijutsu contest against a Chuunin. Maybe she wasn't completely useless either. While not Himitsu quality, she was just as good as her peers at the very least. With that thought in mind, she went to go report the mission a success.

OOC: WC: 1136/600