1 Keeping the Merchants Safe [Kensaku, or Invite] Mon Jun 11, 2018 7:37 pm
Niala
D-rank
- Mission Taken - Escort the Merchants out of Iwa (B-Rank):
Mission name: Escort the merchants out of Iwa
Mission rank: B
Objective: To get the merchants safely to the border so they can go and sell their goods.
Location: Iwagakure border
Reward: 500 ryo
Mission description: There have been bandit attacks in the passes in the past. Recently these have increased. Protect the merchants from all threats.
Mission details: At some point the caravan of three wagons and six merchants will be attacked. Three chunnin ranked bandits with all D-3 rank stats and Battle axes will descend upon the caravan from above. Kill them to send a message. Iwa will not tolerate bandits. If any of the caravan is damaged you fail the mission.
I’m happy to be home, yet something doesn’t feel right.
The first day back home had been a joyous occasion: all three adults within the home welcoming the trio back: a feast of all of their favorite foods having been planned just as Niala had been hoping for. Talks late into the night had occurred, the adults of the house more than interested as to what Kensaku, Kannon, and Niala had got up to while out on their little adventure. For the most part Niala kept her business to herself: glossing over the darker aspects of the things she had learned, while skipping over portions of her and Kannon’s more private affairs entirely. She had kept her answers as genuine and honest as possible, but she had fallen to sleep that night wondering just how much of that the adults believed, as well as wondering if they suspected that she was now hiding many secrets. She had always been open and honest with her mother and father, Hanae and Genki had proven time and again to be more than supportive. Now though? There were things she wanted to keep to herself, things she wanted to keep private, things she didn’t feel they had any reason to know about. It was just one of the many signs of the way Niala had begun to change. If they had noticed though none of them said anything as they had bid Niala goodnight and watched her disappear up the steps to her bedroom that evening.
Of course, then all hell had broken loose in the household: Genki destroying the peacefulness that was their family, trying to kick Naila out - insulting her and going to attack her. That had been an interesting day, made more so by them moving and then by a union that Niala had wanted for so long. This had lead to the revealing of secrets, and a type of comfortableness with the people she lived with that hadn’t been there before.
Even though she had claimed she was going straight to bed she had in fact lingered with a cup of tea at her desk, going over various scrolls she had picked up as well as some which she had used as notes for her own ideas for techniques she was attempting to create or learn. Most of them, as was Niala’s way, were in depth with giant diagrams that explained in further detail what she was trying to accomplish, while others - the ones she had secured while in Kirigakure - were just basic scrolls filled with the knowledge that should sustain her while attempting to learn new jutsu. Niala had spent the majority of the night reading, well after her cup of tea was empty, and had ended up falling asleep at her desk still fully clothed. In fact, it wasn’t until a knock at the front door occured that she would awaken at all: her face stuck to one of the scrolls she had apparently laid her head down on at some point during the early morning hours when sleep had finally won and claimed her. Even as she heard someone else answering the door, her father Hanae from the sound of the muffled deep voice she could hear, she found herself having to unstick her face from the scroll as she sat up with a soft groan: she felt stiff from having been in the same bent over position for so long, and her body was screaming at her to get up and move.
Days that start like this never seem to end well.
Shifting sideways in her chair she uncrossed one left from beneath the other, moving to stand when a loud crunch sounded out in the quiet room followed by a sharp deep pain radiating up from the bottom of her foot. “Shit!”, she cursed out loudly, immediately lifting her foot to find the remains of the tea cup she had been using the night before scattered in pieces on the floor: the cup apparently having fallen and shattered at some point during the night though the noise clearly hadn’t woken her up. Shifting her leg so that she could see the bottom of her foot she noticed several drops of blood falling to the wooden floor of her bedroom and winced as she took in the sight of the shard of thick glass sticking out from beneath her foot. With ginger and careful steps - walking on the side of her injured foot as to not push the glass in deeper - she cleared the mess on the floor, making sure as she headed over towards her bed that she didn’t accidentally step upon anymore glass.
On her way to the plush, comfortable bed she snagged her bath towel down from its hook, quickly laying it upon the bed when she reached it so that her foot was laying on it - keeping the blood from seeping out and onto her sheets and comforter. Now seated where she could have her leg bent so she could get a proper view of her foot she reached forward and gently touched the glass sticking out of it, wincing and hissing with pain as the slightest touched caused pain to shoot up her foot and through her lower leg. “Fuck…”, she found herself muttering. Releasing her hold on the glass she opened and closed her hands into fists several times while taking a deep breath.
Reaching for the piece of glass once more, knowing she needed to pull it out before she could begin healing her foot, she was about to touch the glass when, “Kensaku, Niala! There’s a scroll for you. Come down here please”, she heard her father call out.
Gods, I really am changing, aren’t I? This isn’t like me at all.
Feeling irritable, and just generally miserable due to the pain in her foot she found herself becoming a bit snappish instead of responding in her usual kind and polite manner, “I’ll be down in a minute!” The silence that followed spoke drastically on how her tone of voice had surprised her father, but after apparently getting over his initial surprise he called out, “Are you alright, Niala?”
Feeling suddenly even worse than she already was she sighed and called out, “Yeah, sorry… I didn’t realize I broke my tea cup last night, I stepped on some glass. I’ll be okay, I just need to get the glass out.” Her answer seemed to appease Hanae as he called back, “Alright, come down when you can. Let me know if you need your mother, she’s next door at the clinic. I’ll go get her if need be.”
Niala didn’t respond as she focused back on the piece of glass in her foot: what kind of medic would she be if she had to go to her mother for help with something as simple as removing a piece of glass from her foot and healing a minor cut? Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly Niala squared her shoulders and reached for the piece of glass again. A hiss would leave her lips as she pulled the piece from her foot, tossing it onto the towel as blood began to flow openly from the wound. A smaller piece followed, and then another, until her foot was free of the destroyed cup. Focusing healing chakra into her hands, both of which began to glow with a faint greenish color, she hovered them above her foot, watching as the wound closed up, pucked shut, and pulled together, leaving only the faintest of lines behind where the glass had been which began to fade from sight until finally all traces of the wounds were gone save for the blood that remained behind. Adjusting the three pieces of glass on the towel so they were out of her way she picked up a clean edge of the bath towel and ran it along her foot, cleaning as much blood from the bottom of her foot as possible. With the pain gone and only the clean up remaining she found herself wondering what the scroll waiting downstairs was all about: she had only got back yesterday, could it be a mission already? Or was there something else? As curious as she was she knew she had a mess to clean up before she could go find out - that was, if Kensaku didn’t bring the scroll upstairs with him.
As her thoughts drifted to her twin she found herself pausing in her clean up of her foot, allowing the edge of the towel to fall from her hand as she lifted her head and stared at the bookcases lining the wall across from her without really seeing them. Her brother: her twin. She had been worried about him since their trip home had begun: his smiles hadn’t quite reached his eyes, he had been uncharacteristically quiet, and instead of walking with her and Kannon he had kept himself behind them - as if keen on keeping some kind of distance between himself and them. She had been confused about the behavior considering how unlike him it had been, while at the same time his distant behavior had hurt as well. It had made her replace the events of their trip over and over again in her mind: had she done something wrong? She honestly couldn’t remember, couldn’t think of a reason as to what could have caused the behavior, but nonetheless even now she felt the familiar pang of emotional pain shoot through her.
Let’s hope the day doesn’t have anymore surprises in store for me.
Pushing the thought from her mind she got up from the bed, mindful to watch her step, and grabbed the waste basket next to her desk. With the trash can in one hand she carefully kneeled down, picking up the largest pieces of glass followed by the smaller ones, filling the trash can with them piece by piece until all were gone from the floor - thankfully, the cup hadn’t shattered into anything too small for her to pick up by hand. With the glass in the basket she put it next to her desk, more concerned with getting the blood washed off the bottom of her foot instead of empty the trash can of glass: at least she didn’t have to worry about stepping on anymore pieces of the broken cup. Heading into her attached bathroom she didn’t bother closing the door as she sat on the edge of the tub and rolled her pant leg up. Turning the water on she waited until it got to a comfortable temperature, adjusting it as needed, before sticking her blood covered foot beneath the spray, watching as the water turned a murky brown color before disappearing down the drain. After a few seconds of this she grabbed her wash cloth nearby and lathered it up with soap, scrubbing not only her foot clean but her hands as well before rinsing off. Shifting herself on the edge of the tub she carefully placed her feet on the bathroom rug before tugging a towel free from a nearby hook and using it to dry her feet and hands, making sure that her feet were completely dry.
Standing up she was about to walk out of the bathroom and head downstairs when she caught her appearance in the mirror: her eyeliner was still impeccable, but her hair was a mess. Pulling the ponytail holder out she brushed her long pale blonde strands until they were free of knots before pulling it back up into a high ponytail. Deciding afterwards that she wasn’t likely going to get a chance to get a shower - still not knowing what the scroll waiting for her and her twin was about - she washed her face quickly, making sure not to smear her makeup before drying it and stepping out of the bathroom.
Now what’s this about a scroll?
Heading over to her bed she balled up her blood covered towel after depositing the three pieces of bloodied glass she had removed from her foot into the trash with the rest. The towel was tossed into the dirty hamper by her bathroom before she headed to her bedroom door and exited the room. Heading downstairs she took the steps carefully - one injury was enough for one day - before heading into the living room and towards the kitchen where she could smell the delicious scent of food. “So what’s this scroll about?”, she called out, hoping that someone had an answer for her.
Word Count: 2,280