Mission Taken - Recovering the Stolen Jewels (C Rank):

A yawn pierced the air as the young ten year old female woke up. Eyelids fluttered open until eyelashes parted enough to reveal beautiful blue eyes. She stared up at the ceiling while the constant beeping of her alarm clock disturbed the silence. She couldn't remember right away exactly why she had decided to wake up so early - or for that matter care at that exact moment enough to silence the clock that was violating the sanctity of the morning silence with its horrible noise.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Why was she awake?

Beep. Beep. Beep.

What was it she had to do today?

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Something important, right?

Beep. Beep. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Kaia blinked, torn from her thoughts, and finally focused on not only the fact that her alarm clock was going off but the fact that someone - likely her father - was knocking on her bedroom door. Kaia reached over and with a simple press of the large red button on top of the alarm clock shut it off. "Come in!", she called out as she looked toward the door from the top bunk of her strangely shaped bed.

The door opened and sure enough her father popped her head in. "I was just making sure you were awake, love. I heard your alarm clock still going off... don't want to be late for your mission pick up, do you?" Oh, so that was the thing she was supposed to do today but had momentarily forgotten about.

Kaia threw the covers off herself and climbed her way down the ladder that led up to her bed, noticing as she did so that her father was fully dressed. "When did you wake up, daddy? It's only five in the morning..."

Her father chuckled softly. "I've been up for quite a while.. hurry up, breakfast is almost done.", he said before shutting the door to give her her privacy. Kaia, now more motivated than ever at the idea of a nice hot breakfast, quickly found herself a warm knee length dress and a matching pair of leggings to wear underneath of it. Socks and then boots were put on her feet before a quick brush was pulled through her hair and a ponytail used to hold all of the long blond locks out of her face. Once satisfied she headed downstairs, following the delicious smells that led her right to the kitchen.

Her breakfast was already on a plate and at the table for her, so she sat down and made quick work with eating it. She listened to her father talk, responding when needed between bites, but otherwise wondering what her mission for the day was going to be. She was hoping that whatever it was it would be exciting like her last one. When she was finished eating she rinsed off her plate, put it in the sink, and then gave her father a kiss on the cheek before waving goodbye on her way out the door and to the mission board.

She didn't have to wait long to be given her assignment: another C rank mission, and one that sounded like it wouldn't be dull or boring at all. Last night, apparently someone had stolen an emerald jeweled necklace and the individual the culprit had stolen the necklace from not only wanted his property returned but the culprit needed to be brought to justice. It sounded simple enough but Kaia knew it would be a lot easier to kill this individual than to bring him in - and killing him wasn't an option. She also knew it wasn't going to be an easy task to recover the stolen item considering the criminal was likely to try and sell it as fast as possible.

So that was the question then, right? Where would a bad guy go to sell something he stole. A fence. Someone who would risk dabbling in stolen goods if the profit made the risk worth it in the end. There were a couple known ones she had heard about; ex criminals trying to play like they were 'doing it right' but who really were just trying to skate beneath the law as much as possible. So, those would be the people she went to first. Kaia studied the picture of the stolen necklace for several minutes before heading out and toward the market where she would begin her search: hoping all the while that her childish appearance would cause most to overlook her, allowing her to get in closer than say the average adult shinobi would be able to.

The first fence that Kaia came across seemed to be doing business the legitimate way that day; someone selling him old heirlooms for a few extra dollars in their own pockets. The second however... well it caused Kaia to pause and pretend to be tying her shoe while she watched. The guy was trying to sell the necklace off fast: he was dressed in ragged clothing and looked like an underclass citizen - someone who by no means was well to do enough to have a necklace worth that much: and it definitely was the necklace in the picture. The fence, who clearly was acting paranoid, took one glance at Kaia and despite her innocent child tying her shoe act bolted the second he got the chance, leaving the thief behind.

Given her issues at the moment were with the thief and not the fence she stayed where she was instead of giving chase. The thief turned her her and raised his fists like he planned on fighting: one hand still holding the emerald necklace. Kaia too took a classic fighting stance before the thief rushed her. Given her smaller size, and obvious advantage with speed she was able to duck under his first blow and sent her own fist straight to his kidney: the shot wasn't meant to cause him permanent harm, but a punch to the kidney would make anyone pause.

The thief turned just as Kaia darted down and preformed a classic leg sweep on him; knocking him off of his feet. Back up on her own feet she looked ready to pounce on the man and lay a serious beat down on him when he suddenly lifted his hands in obvious surrender. Kaia, though still weary of the situation, stopped her attack but remained on her guard in case it was a ruse to get her to lower it. The man stood up and put his hands behind his back, another clear indication he was truly surrendering. Kaia grabbed his arms and made quick of securing them there before matching him toward lockup. As she went she pondered questioning him herself, but outside of one single question decided against it, "Why'd you do it? Why'd you steal that necklace... You had to know you were going to get caught stealing something that valuable."

Kaia hadn't really expected an answer so she was quite shocked when the man replied "I did it to feed my family. That necklace would have given us more than enough money to feed my family for the next few months at least..." Kaia frowned, but didn't say anything further before turning the man over to the proper authorities. She had no idea what the man's punishment would be but a quick stop and a favor asked later she made sure his family would get the assistance they needed while the father rotted in jail.

Word Count: 1,257 / 1,000

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