Nayoko looked on to the large estate in front of which he stood. The iron gate surrounding the large home was the pinnacle of wealth and status, and as such intimidated Nayoko a little bit. As he approached the wrought iron gate he turned to look at the small intercom attached to the fence. He looked around for any indication of what to do next before finally sighing, stepping forward, and reaching for the intercom button. Well, here goes nothing… The mission had sounded simple enough, but seeing as it was a B-Rank mission, Nayoko was on his toes. Since he would be leaving for Kirigakure no Sate soon, he wanted to make sure he was doing his part for his village before moving on for a time, so he had opted for something a little more difficult. It was his first B-Rank mission, and though he was excited to test his new skills, he was hoping that he would not have to protect another person for his first high ranking assignment. Alas, fate was not on his side, and so he found himself replacing the body guard of one Miss Hai, the daughter of a wealthy family who constantly receive threats. Being sensible people, they always had a guard with their little girl; but today he was sick, and so Nayoko would be the one to fill the position.

Nayoko’s finger pushed in on the intercom button, releasing a small crackle before going silent and waiting for Nayoko to speak. “Good morning, this is Nozara Nayoko, the shinobi tasked with protecting Miss Hai for duration of her school day, reporting.” He released the button and waited patiently for a response, unsure of what to expect from a family like this. He was never one to spend time with the upper class, but since his recent promotion he was confident that he would be afforded the respect he deserved. A moment passed with no response before the radio crackled to life once again, a man’s voice on the other end. The voice was stern sounding, but gentle enough to remind Nayoko of his own father. “Yes yes, good morning. Thank you for arriving so promptly, I know this assignment was somewhat last minute. I’ll buzz you in.” With that, there was a soft buzzing noise as the electronic lock on the gate unlatched and opened itself.

Nayoko stepped through the gate and began to proceed up the front walkway to the house proper. He could not help but look around at all the sights. There was a lush garden on both sides of the walkway, and about 15 feet before a set of stairs ascended to the home, the path diverged to walk around a fountain that stood prominently on display, water flowing from the top of it and cascading down the decorative stonework before pooling at the bottom in a large bowl. Nayoko shook his head in amazement. He stepped up the stairs and straightened the Konoha headband that he wore around his waist before knocking on the door. It was opened almost immediately by a man who looked to be in his early thirties wearing a white shirt that was only half tucked in. He smiled as he opened the door the rest of the way to allow Nayoko to enter. His voice matched the one that had come over the intercom earlier. “I’m Miss Hai’s father. You must forgive me for my disheveled appearance. I’m just getting ready for a meeting I must get to while also trying to make sure my daughter gets to school on time! Thank you again for coming at such short notice.” Nayoko bowed formally, “It’s not a problem sir. That’s what us shinobi are here to do. Your daughter will be safe in my care for the rest of the day, you have my word.” The man nodded affirmatively, “I appreciate the reassurance. I have no doubt that today will be like any other. But we can never be too careful. I’ll go get my little girl and bring her for you.”

With that, the man walked away and up a nearby set of stairs, calling out for his daughter who approached him soon enough wearing a backpack and a school uniform. The girl appeared to be about 7 years old, her long black hair was pulled into two braids that hung down her back loosely and bounced around as she hopped down the stairs toward Nayoko. He could not help but smile. “So, you’re my guard for today huh? Well I’m pleased to meet you, but we must really be off! You see I have homework due today and if I don’t get it in on time the teacher will dock me points! So, let’s go let’s go let’s goooooo!” Raising a hand into the air and pointing forward, she ran out of the open front door, heading to the gate that was still swung open. Nayoko chuckled to himself and turned to her father who was standing at the top of the stairs, looking down and smiling. “I’ll bring her back safe and sound, you can count on me.” He waved and turned to follow his charge to her school, happy that he had not ended up with a stuck of brat to keep in his care for the day.

The trip to Miss Hai’s school was uneventful, and consisted of the young girl regaling Nayoko with stories about how well she was doing in school along with the occasional tale of how her complicated friend groups seemed to be starting their own small war with in the classroom. Nayoko listened intently, offering advice whoever he could to the young girl, but mostly just listening as she spoke of second grade politics. It was a welcome change of pace to the serious ordeals Nayoko had recently been going through, and as such, Nayoko found himself enjoying the silliness of the entire situation.

The rest of the day at school consisted of much of the same. Miss Hai sat in her classes and worked hard the whole day through, only once getting distracted by some of the other girls who seemed to be trying to bring her in on their incessant gossiping. Nayoko was to sit at the back of the classroom, as the regular guard did, and tried his best not to fall asleep while the children were being taught second grade mathematics. He must have looked fairly bored because at one point the teacher asked him to come help teach, which was embarrassing to say the least. He was, however, successful in conveying the intricacies of addition to the young minds in the room, and was relieved when he heard the final bell ring to signal the end of the school day.

On the walk home Nayoko found himself being asked a plethora of questions regarding his life as a shinobi and what the academy was like. He happily told the young girl about his time there and what he had to do more recently, excitedly ending his tale with how he would be travelling to the allied country of Kirigakure no Sato soon. She seemed to find that part of the story very interesting, asking about what it was like in other countries and if she could go. Nayoko told her all he knew, but made sure to tell her that she could not go unless her parents said it was alright. Nayoko smiled to himself as a lull came in the conversation. Well, this has been a pretty enjoyable mission. Maybe I’ll be able to take over another day once I get back home. I wonder-. Nayoko’s thoughts were cut short as he saw a figure out of the corner of his eye dart behind the corner of a nearby building before vanishing from sight. Nayoko’s muscles tensed. I knew it was too good to be true.  Keeping an eye out, Nayoko kept up conversation with Miss Hai, but was sure to watch the shadows the whole way back to the estate. Twice more, he saw the same shadow pass out of sight, sending danger warnings blaring through his mind. As they finally rounded the street’s end and came to the front gate of the house, Nayoko’s fears were realized.

There, standing in front of the gate, was a man dressed entirely in black, his face hidden beneath a hood and face mask. Nayoko’s eyes narrowed as the man stepped forward. “Miss Hai, get behind me.” The little girl looked up at him, eyes searching for an explanation. “But…but why Mr. Nozara?” “No questions young lady. Behind me, now.” He watched as fear spread across her face, but she stepped back behind him about 10 feet or so. He hated to scare her like that, but he knew he had to. He turned his attention back toward the man who was walking forward, he stood about 20 feet away now. “Listen here, I don’t know who you are or what you want, but if you want to walk away from here, now is your only chance.” The man only stopped and stood still, slowly raising his hands to his chest. Nayoko’s eyes went wide as he watched the movements the hands began to do, realizing just in time what was coming. He jumped back, quickly grabbing the girl and exhaling a stream of fuuton chakra from his mouth as a fireball erupted from the mouth of the assailant, narrowly escaping it's radius. Ok, so we’re doing this.

He landed and set down the girl, wasting no time on words of comfort as he dashed in toward his quarry at 15m/s, reaching him in no time. Keeping with the fast approach, Nayoko released a torrent of strikes against the target, exercising his Taijutsu that he had spent so much time training. Gritting his teeth, launched into his Leaf Great Whirlwind, starting with a low, sweeping kick that sent the assailant spinning uncontrollably. Nayoko smirked, right where I want you. He followed up with a second and third kick to his target's midsection, knocking him into a horizontal position and sending him upwards into the air before finally finishing off the combo with an aggressive heel drop. As he brought his leg down, intending to finish the fight right then and there, he watched in horror as his foot connected only with a wooden long. Substitution?!? Damn! Nayoko quickly flipped forward, landing on his feet and scouring the area for his quarry, making sure that Miss Hai was still alright. It that moment, he watched in horror as three shuriken flew toward her. Quickly slamming the palms of his hands together and releasing his Gale Palm technique, a stream of air sent the projectiles flying into a nearby tree.

Nayoko turned to the direction where the items had come from, and was rewarded by seeing the enemy cursing and shirting to face him. “Enough!” Nayoko shouted has he chained together a complicated series of hand seals. “You will not touch her!” He shouted as he completed the last seal and a circle of water pulled itself from the ground around him before spinning upward into coalescing into a great Water Dragon. It hung in the air for a split second before launching itself toward the man at full speed. He didn’t stand a chance. Nayoko heard a garbled scream as it crashed into him, easily fracturing his bones and knocking the man unconscious. As the destroyed dragon rained down from above, soaking Nayoko, he turned to see Miss Hai, tears in her eyes and fear plastered on her face. Nayoko stood up straight and walked over to her, heaving breath but trying his best to smile. “It’s over now Miss Hai. It’s over.” With that, he took her by the shoulder and led her through her front gate and toward her house, leaving the man on the ground, intending to apprehend him on his way to get his payment.

Well…at least most of the day was peaceful.

[Exit Thread]

WC: 2045
B-Rank Mission: 1500/1500
Unused WC: 545