Mission:

Namika approached the building to which she was heading to with a slight air of trepidation. It was her first mission as an official kirigakure shinobi. It was only a D rank mission, but everyone was given D rank missions when they first became genin. After all, of you want to prove yourself, you first need to do the tasks given to you. Do them well and that will show you are ready for more. That's just how it works. But Namika wasn’t going to complain about it. Firstly, it was an assignment to keep the peace at the pool. This was the ideal D rank mission for her. Swimming was Namika's biggest enjoyment. And this would be her first trip there with her companion, Tatsuo.

Namika had been on a fishing trip on some of the small islands around kirigakure. Fishing was another pastime for her. And camping was fun. So to celebrate her graduation from the academy she spent a half week camping far from the village. She met Tatsuo there, when she discovered the juvenile dragon-otter trying to sneak off with the fish she had been planning to make for dinner on her first night. Namika had always been good with animals. But she had never seen a dragon-otter before. Legend said sometimes sea drakes would take a fancy to a sea otter… And if the baby was viable, a dragon-otter was born. Namika was still, as the animal stared at her as he realized he had been caught. Moving as slowly as possible, Namika took a fish off her stringer and held it out, holding it as lightly as possible, by the tip of it’s tail.

It had been hard to get Tatsuo to stay around her at first. But after he took the fish and bolted, he came back the next morning. She emerged from her tent with him laying on a boulder in the water and eyeing her tent curiously. It had taken her entire trip to earn his trust. In fact she had had to extend her trip to a full week. She doubted many people could have made it work. But her family had a pet otter, so she had some experience with them. But beyond that, Namika had an uncommon knack with animals. By the end of the week, they were best friends. They had grown inseparable, and there was no doubt Tatsuo would come with her.

Tatsuo walked along beside Namika, an easy smile on his otterish face. People shot him mildly startled looks. After all, how many others stood 3 feet tall on all 4s, paws to shoulders. He was enormous for an otter, and his stance and build was almost wolfish. It was said this was due to the sea drake blood in dragon others, combined with them being mammals. Namika laid a reassuring hand on his head and stroked it, from the top of his head down to his upper back. His scaled, fin-like ears showing part of why they were known as dragon otters. His long otter tail, which ended in a long fan of scales that helped propell him through the water with speed and grace.

The duo entered the building and showed their pass to a receptionist. As they walked into the pool area and were accosted by the lifeguard. “Hey! No animals allowed in the pool!” Namika stood still, eyeing the lifeguard hesitantly, before composing her body language into something that displayed affronted dignity completely. The set of her back and the way she looked at him displaying her status as the firstborn of one of the wealthy Sangotatsu families. She wasn’t particularly haughty or arrogant. But she had been brought up to always uphold the dignity of her family in particular, and the clan as a whole. ”You would deny a kirigakure shinobi and her partner entry?” The lifeguard squared his shoulders in an attempt to look as though he would not back down. “No animals. That's just the way it is. That thing stays outside. Our pristine pool water can't be soiled by some animal making a mess or using the pools as a bathroom! That's just how it is.” He raised his voice slightly as he spoke. Namika knew the rules… But… this was the partner of a village ninja. Not some wild animal. Not some family dog. Tatsuo sat, but stared at the lifeguard, giving him affronted looks as though he had been terribly insulted. However, sensing danger, a manager quickly walked over.

“What's going on here?” “This girls trying to get into the pool with this... animal.” Namika eyes him, her body language displaying perfectly that she was gravely insulted, but too polite to say anything. The manager eye her, looking slightly startled, and motioned her to go in. “You don’t deny a member of the wealthy Sangotatsu clan entry! Her family in particularly are wealthy silk merchants! Don’t you know how much trouble they could cause if word got out their daughter had been kept out of the pool?” Namika sighed slightly as She walked by. She hated people being so intimidated by her family. Part of it perhaps was the horns and the luminous gold eyes. But her family in particular we're wealthy silk merchants. The fact that they had permanent membership at this pool also caused a bit of a problem. It wasn’t surprising the manager was quick to solve this. She tried not to listen as the pair talked while she walked towards the pool. “Besides that we hired her to keep things in control… the field trip will arrive any moment now.” “Well how was I supposed to know who she was or…” “The eyes! The horns! You can’t fake being a member of that clan easily. Anyway… get back to your job… I need to head to reception to help with the kids.”

Namika strolled into a changing room and changed into a swimsuit, a modest 2 piece that wasn’t quite as revealing as a typical bikini. She stowed her silk outfit in a locker and secured it with her own combination lock. After a quick shower she was out and sitting near the pool as kids emerged. She had been forewarned of one kid in particular. She wasn’t given a name but instead told there was a major class clown who was bound to cause trouble. They looked fairly normal. They seemed quite happy and playful, carrying their towels and swim clothes. Several had their swim clothes bundled in their towels. One was laughing and whacking his classmate with his bundle. Namika watched, and noticed it seemed to swing more slowly. It also seemed to hit harder as his classmate stumbled. Something more than clothes was in that bundle….

But there was no reason to interfere. Not yet at least. The kids changed into their swim clothes as a teacher watched them. It seemed the pool hadn’t trusted the teacher to keep things in check. Not if they had hired someone to keep the peace. But… 1 teacher to more than a dozen kids… well… They couldn’t catch everything. Namika took a position on the edge of the pool, her calves and feet submerged. The kids emerged one by one and walked into the pool from the shallow end. A couple of the braver ones that could swim ran to the diving boards and began a cannon ball contest, seeing who could make the biggest splash. A few climbed up a water slide and slid down. The kid that had been whacking others with his goal emerged with a friend and ran to a diving board, leaving his bundled towel on a table. His friend didn’t want to dive, and slowly eased himself in while the rowdy boy teased him over not diving. Tatsuo was enjoying his swim, much to The earlier lifeguards dislike. Several of the kids swam up and began petting him, and Tatsuo seemed happy and playful about the attention. More kids shot him weird looks, perhaps wanting to play but too scared. Namika smiled happily as she watched, them turned her eyes back to the rowdy boy and his friends. They were now laughing and grabbing something in their towels. Probably a snack or sunscreen, something like that. Her eyes were about to return to the other kids when SPLAT, the lifeguard from before was struck in the side of the head with mud. Kaiya got up and sprinted, but Tatsuo, who was closer, swam down, then leaped out of the pool like a crocodile leaping from a river to snag a bird from the air and blocked the second mud ball with the scaled sail-like find on the end of his tail, and landed in front of the boy.

Namika grabbed the boy and pulled him away, while Tatsuo stared intimidatingly around, as if daring anyone else to try something. Namika hadn’t been lying when she called him her partner. Tatsuo was no ordinary animal. He was smart. He knew perfectly well what their job was. Where had he gotten the mud? One look at his towel showed that he had a huge clump of mud in a plastic grocery bag he had kept wrapped in his towel. Tatsuo walked around and gave a few other bags a sniff before picking up another towel bundle and staring at the boy it belonged to. The teacher finally caught on a minute later, and raced over. “Koga, what are you doing!” The boy named Love looked up defiantly, without any shred of respect or fear, and seemed to be enjoying all the attention. The other boy, his friend who had been caught before he joined in,looked queasy. As though hoping the teacher wouldn’t turn to him next. The unpleasant events After that took about half an hour. Both boys parents were called, but as the other one hadn’t joined in term he got off with a warning. Thankfully nothing else happened. From there one, there was no disturbance at the pool.

[EXIT]

Word Count: 1,675
1,675-600 (D rank mission wc) = 1,075
1,075-750 (Training Tatsuo to D rank) = 250+75= 325
325-225 (Training Speed to E2) =100
100-75 (Training Reaction Time to E1) = 25

Training Stats -
E ~> E-1, 75 words and 0 Ryo.
E-1 ~> E-2, 150 words and 0 Ryo