Children Make Great Guard Dogs

[Tsubame]

D Rank Mission
Tsubame, Natsumi, Matsuko, Tadaomi

In the early morning, when fog still waifed through the streets of Kumogakure and silence lingered before morning first footsteps, Nanjiro Tsubame came down from her studio apartment and began to head towards the front gates. Sword at her hip and a scroll clenched in one hand. The young girl was in her ninja garb- ready for battle. The rubber soles of her knee high boots clapped softly against the worn dirt street she traveled on. An idle hand attempted to adjust her elbow length gloves to make sure they were tight and in proper place. The adjustment felt better but the glove actually hadn’t moved much. Her black scarf was held tight to her chin but the nervousness of her eyes could not be hidden.

Today was something of a special day. A day of firsts in fact. Today would mark the first day Tsubame had left the village since she arrived four years ago. Today was Tsubame’s first mission. It was a D ranked mission detailed in the scroll that she clenched like a hall pass. It’s mystical properties somehow made it ok for her to approach the front gate with intent to leave.

She, and a group of three other Genin, were being dispatched to guard a storage yard for a prominent landowner and exported of the Land of Lightning. It had apparently come to pass that he had to terminate a large number of his work force due to stealing. Now, he was concerned about the stored products being stolen by those men. The locks and security details have all been changed at the yard but the scheduled delivery and departures are all still the same. So, there is merit to the concern that someone would know when the best time to attack is. Hence the need for shinobi that no one but the owner knows about.

At the gates, Tsubame presented the scroll and had to fill out some paperwork. It would be there that she waited for the rest of the group. Two more females and one male- all genin. They weren't a formal team and there was no team leader appointed for the task. Tsubame suspected that this was some kind of test to see which of them could take a leadership role. Though extraverted enough for the task, the young girl felt she was likely too timid for the role. She would have to wait and see what the other three were like before hand.

WC: 413

 

[Takamura Natsumi]

Her first mission and her family had simultaneously praised and managed to ruin everything about the moment.

Furious and stalking back and forth in her room, she eyed the window, knew very well her retainer was probably watching it like the damned hawk he was named for, and kept pacing. Why would they tell her she'd have to decline it? Didn't they get it? There was no declining a mission handed down; you weren't the Raikage or anyone actually important enough, or powerful enough, to say no. You did as you were told in this case and you made yourself look good!

She slipped out of her room and into the hall. Listened for the sounds of her parents' voices, talking in hushed tones they thought she couldn't hear-- which she could, thank you very much-- about how they were going to excuse her absence without getting her into trouble with the authorities. Ugh, parents still trying to ruin her life again.

She could really learn to hate them.

Into their bedroom and out their window, stupid parents and their thinking their room was off limits. They should really know better; where there was a will, there was a way for her to get what she wanted. And what she wanted was freedom and to go on her first ever mission.

Sticking to the shadows despite wanting to race along the rooftops like so many others in the academy-- the ones running on the wires were some of the coolest too, she couldn't wait until she was good enough to do that and make it look as effortless and graceful as it seemed-- Natsumi raced for the gates with as much speed as she could muster within her young body.

The gates. The outside world!

Against her typically surly demeanor, a wide grin broke out on her face and the urge to yell in excitement kept strangling her from her inside out. A leap of faith and a solid landing from a triad of shipping traits landed her on the main part of the road. Straightening herself up, making sure her messy black hair and ears weren't too conspicuous, the young Academy student marched over with her identification and copy of the mission she'd been assigned in her hands.

And saw someone roughly her age and shorter than should have been possible with an all too familiar hair color and, as she approached, sword.

She scowled. Not this girl again.

"Takamura Natsumi reporting in." She announced herself in her best solemn tone and expression. The glitter of excitement and wide pupil in her amber eyes betraying her true feelings. She was, after all, still a kid even if she believed herself otherwise. She shot a sidelong look at Tsubame, mouth curving into a frown of disapproval.

She'd better keep her love and peace and friendship speeches to herself; and that stupid follow the rules crap too. They were shinobi; they had to do whatever it took to fulfill their mission-- even if and especially if it meant somebody had to get hurt or die.

---
WC: 534

 

[Hakiri Tadaomi]

A sensation curiously like excitement flowed through Tadaomi as he looked down at the slim piece of paper in his hands and fought the urge to crush it. Not even out of the Academy yet and it was time for his first mission. This was exactly the kind of thing he needed to stand out from the rest of his peers and start being noticed by someone. And even if that didn't happen, he might be young, but he definitely knew that live combat was different than sparring. And far, far more valuable. Not that he really knew that yet, but he'd heard it often enough from his parents and grandpa, and even the teachers said that. So what better way to learn than by an actual fight against people who wanted him harm?

The minor fact that there was no guarantee of any fighting was lost on him. If a mission was being handed out, surely there would be, right? It was so clear, so obvious, that he didn't even bother to question it.

He glanced around his spartan room once before he crossed over to his gear, swiftly tugging on his gloves and his sandals. He gave a short nod of satisfaction as he felt the snug cloth on his hands, eyes hardening as he thought of how long it had taken for him to get to this point. Did he even have anything to fear on this mission? His parents probably hit harder than any workers could! Tadaomi snorted as he looked at his reflection in the mirror, checking the cold boy looking back at him before he nodded and turned towards the door.

Maybe it wouldn't be dangerous, but he'd still give it his all. That was the only way he could get stronger after all, and it wouldn't do to fail his first mission ever. He needed money and recognition from his teachers and the rest of Cloud...and from his family as well. If he couldn't do this, then he wouldn't be able to satisfy his family's ambitions.

Or, for that matter, his own.

The young student jumped out the window and shot to the nearby rooftop, leaping across the wood as he took the opportunity to work out on his way to the front gate. This would be his first time leaving through it, and his second time going through it at all. Tadaomi didn't know much about it, but he approved of the security that Kumogakure had in place. It wouldn't do for anyone to sneak into the village after all! Or, he admitted, for their own Shinobi to go missing too easily.

But those thoughts were far from his mind as he held up the sheet of paper to the guard at the gate and walked through. Instead all he felt was eagerness. He wanted recognition...and this was the first place he could get it.

And with that thought in mind he walked up to the two girls standing nearby. There were supposed to be four of them total, so one of the girls had yet to show up. Looking at them now he recognized one of them from school, but the other one already had the cloud headband which marked her as having graduated. So, one Genin, and two or three students then.

Plenty of opportunity to stand out.

Tadaomi spoke clearly, nodding at both of the two girls with a somewhat aloof expression that couldn't quite cover up the gleam in his eye. “Hakiri Tadaomi reporting in,” he unwittingly echoed Natsumi's words. He glanced to the side of the one girl he didn't know, noting the sword, and wondered if she was also someone who concentrated on Taijutsu. If she was, then he'd just have to work harder than she did in order to stand out.

WC: 636

 

[Matsuko]

Maybe it was a mistake.

The clean, crisp roll of paper in her hand couldn't have actually weighed more than a few ounces. At the moment it passed from the messenger's big hands to Matsuko's nimble ones, that's all she felt. The few ounces, nothing but paper and ink. And then she started to unfurl it, and read.

Each word, in its bold, black script, seemingly added a few ounces. Defense and security, from ounces to pounds. Group of four, pounds and pounds and pounds. Did that include other students? Would she know them? Was it better or worse if she didn't know them? Were they going to be the type that were easy to know? If they were picked for a mission, probably not. But then again, she was apparently picked. Of all her questions, that one bothered her the most. Why? What was it in her performance and her grades and assignments that had got her assigned to, of all things, a D-rank mission? She'd tried so hard to stay in the background, out of the other students' way, her teachers' way. So why, why, why? Why her, why now?

Matsuko's hand, tight on the parchment, fell to her side under the weight, the mental tonnage of the problem at hand. A big, unforeseen, monster of a problem; her first group assignment. Breath, lost for a few seconds there, came in a deep, expanding inhale. The type of inhale one would take in the hopes that it brought some calm and clarity.

It was pretty useless.

Setting the scroll down helped a little bit. Matsuko would've dropped it eventually anyway, but necessity demanded that action sooner than later. The messenger seemed rather ready to get out of the cold, and apparently, send her out into it. Call it dutiful schadenfreude. Probably for the best, given the girl's thoughtful nature. She sat down at the door after closing it, laced up her boots all meticulous and fast, and tied them almost painfully tight, as the walk through the village unveiled. Her toes, pinched under the cloud of numbing cold, sent the sensation ringing up through her. Into her head, into her thoughts. Disruptive, until the cold covered the feeling of having any nerves in her feet at all. The only way she could tell she was moving at all was by the jangle of her gear on her back, and the sight of the gates growing closer and closer and closer. It felt like walking towards a maw.

The world outside the village, as far as she could tell, was a beast. And out there, each malicious element another tooth in the maw. Matsuko had never left Kumogakure. She still didn't want to. Even standing in front of the gates, holding the paper taut between shaking hands, she wasn't ready.

They opened. What was it that Rin had said?

There ain't no better outside Kumogakure. They still got nin out there, after all. Anywhere you can find a nin, you can find rot.

In the cool, cool shadow of the gates stood three others. An extremely tall... girl, one a foot shorter but a rank higher, and a boy. A student? He looked much more serious than the usual student. And shorter than the usual student; the closest in height to her, with none of the frailty. Alright, then. That was them, wasn't it? Who else would it be, hissed the scared, nervous part of her. Maybe it was a mistake, it hoped. Maybe it was a mistake.

"Hi," Matsuko approached in even but alert steps, and hurriedly bowed. "Matsuko, reporting." She stood up, arrow straight. "This... is the warehouse security D-rank, is it not?"

WC: 622

 

[Tsubame]

It wasn’t long after Tsubame finished the paperwork to leave the village that the other members of the team began to arrive. The first to show up was a familiar face that brought a genuine smile to the young face. Takamura Natsume- a cat girl with black hair, ears, and tail. She’s an incredibly tall twelve year old with a generally bad attitude but a heart of gold. The two girls had met about a week ago on a field trip to the Tea Country. The encounter was a little… less than favorable for Tsubame but she had still already settled on making this girl her friend.
”Takamura-san!” The happy blonde called out a little bit louder than was necessary for the feet of distance that was between them. Her head went down in an enthusiastic bow before she bounced back up with an ear to ear smile that pushed her eyes closed. ”It’s good to see you again. Looks like we’ll be on this mission together.” Was she deliberately like this because it got under Natsumi’s skin? Could she really be that manipulative and just enjoyed pushing this kind of response on her? Only time would tell.

The next to arrive was a boy that Tsubame didn’t know or recognize. He introduced himself as Hakiri Tadaomi in the exact same fashion that Natsumi had. Made Tsubame a slight bit nervous as she hadn’t spoken up in that manner. He was a short boy. Shorter and younger than even Tsubame, which meant that he was under four and half feet. At only eleven years old he was trying his best to come off as someone cold, calculating, precise, and slightly arrogant. It wasn’t very effective when he was still a head under the shortest girl ever. Ganesh was laughing wholeheartedly from within the sword at the boy’s attempts to look so hard and rough. His black on black outfit helped him match up to Natsumi’s with such accuracy that you would think they shopped at the same outlet store.

With a happy bow she greeted the boy cheerfully. ”Good morning Hakiri-san. It’s good to meet you. I’m Nanjirou Tsubame.”

The last to arrive was another girl, younger than all the rest and the shortest yet. Natsumi must’ve felt a giant among her peers. Matsuko introduced herself in the same fashion as the previous two but accompanied it with a polite bow. She must’ve only been four foot three and fifty pounds. Made her seem even less fit for this line of work than Tsubame. She had the darker skin that was pretty typical of their region but seemed a little weak. Sullen. Perhaps slightly malnourished. It wasn’t so uncommon. Orphans were fairly common in the academy since it was an easy way for them to get steady jobs and training. Tsubame was such an orphan and in relatively the same boat. Well, they weren’t exactly the same but Tsubame still understood to not judge.

The blonde returned the bow and introduced herself once more. ”Nanjirou Tsubame. Pleased to meet you Matsuko-san. This is, in fact, the warehouse security detail. And since you make four, that means we’re all here.” The sword wielder pulled out that map that detailed their route into the lowlands and the yard where they would find their charge. ”It should take us the majority of the day to get there. We’ll meet with the client, oversee security overnight, and them leave once their shipment it secure in transport. It has been assigned a D rank and we’ve been and selected for the mission. Any disturbances are expected to only be made by civilians. There is no chance of rogue ninja or ninja from other villages interfering. We stick to the rules, play this by the book, and we should all be just fine. I suggest that we move quickly and only take one break along the way. If we make good time we can take one more break once we’ve arrive before our detail begins. Does anyone have any objections?”

Before she had realized it she had begun to ramble the mission details that the others likely knew. Unconsciously she was taking control of the mission due to Natsumi’s standoffish nature and the youth of the other two.

WC: 722
TWC: 1135

 

[Takamura Natsumi]

Natsumi's ears flattened against her skull and her expression, not yet accustomed to hiding or masking her emotions, turned to blatant exasperation and dislike. Why this? She asked herself silently with a roll of her eyes heavenward, studied something crawling up in the ceiling with interest. Aforementioned ears perked up, golden eyes with their slit pupils focused on the movement.

Spider? No, centipede! For a moment, she wondered if the guards standing at the gate would be impressed if she bounded up the wall, launched herself up, snagged the often poisonous insect between her claws, and somersaulted to the ground and stuck the landing.

Decided against it because nah, they'd probably already known the centipede was there and were ignoring it. Fully grown and graduated from academy and higher forms of shinobi training weren't gonna be impressed by a poisonous bug being handled with bare hands. Especially when they were probably making bets on how long it'd take for it to make a mistake, get dislodged, and fall into some poor unsuspecting merchant, visitor, or even another shinobi's hair.

"Yeah, great to see you too." Eyes still on the prize above. Maybe she could will it to fall on Tsubame. She had the kinda voice that would pierce and go all shrill when she'd scream. Oh man, that'd be amazing. If, of course, it'd happen. Painful because her voice was already loud for her liking, but probably worth it.

A shorter boy showed up. How could one be shorter than Tsubame, Natsumi would never know, but this one sure as hell did it. Mean ass look on his face, probably never heard the word 'fun' before in his life, and did not look pleased to see any of them. Hakiri Tadaomi, huh? The fuck kinda name was Tadaomi? A pretentious noble? Hakiri was an okay name, sort of. And she was not using honorifics with any of them. At all. Ever.

And an even shorter girl showed up. Small enough she looked ready to blow away with a strong enough wind. Dark skinned. Tightly braided hair, also dark, and bright brown eyes almost shading towards gold. Natsumi stared. She looked nervous as hell and like she was going to collapse the moment they set foot outside of the gates.

Matsuko, huh. More like matsukasa than an actual pine tree if you asked her.

She shot a look to Tsubame as if asking her if she were actually serious, that these two were going to actually be of any help whatsoever instead of being literal kids who'd tagalong and probably get into trouble at first chance they could get.

"Nope, let's hurry up and go already. I wanna go before anyone gets cold feet, no pun intended," she gestured to the warmer layers people were wearing. "and before someone decides to second guess our orders." That, and she wanted to be well on her way the hell to their destination before her parents realized she wasn't sulking in her room like usual and had taken off like the proverbial demon out of hell's gates.

But she wouldn't be telling any of them that.

WC: 529
TWC: 1,063

 

[Hakiri Tadaomi]

Three students.

He liked that. Three students meant that he could truly measure himself against others at his rank to see how powerful he was, plus one Genin to measure himself against. The way this mission was starting gave him a good feeling, especially if he could pressure himself on the travel over. There was no time like the present to train after all. Since the mission was only D rank, surely there wouldn't be anything like an enemy attack on route, right? So there was no problem at all with pushing his limits on the way there.

With that in mind he glanced over at the last to join their crew, taking in her appearance from top to bottom without a care if someone saw him doing it. Would she be able to hold up her own portion of the mission? For that matter, would the other two? Of them all, this Matsuko seemed the least impressive from the way she dashed in and was so uncertain. Hopefully her talents as a Shinobi made up for her lack of confidence, he finally decided with a faint shake of his head, turning his attention back to the girl who'd clearly elected herself to be their impromptu leader.

His lips curled into a faint smile. “By the book,” she'd said. Heh. He wasn't exactly sure what book she was referring to, but he knew that if everything went south, his own book had a single line in it. Complete the mission. If anyone attempted to destroy the goods, they beat the shit out of them and stopped any one of them from harming the merchant's stuff. As far as he was concerned, that was the end of the matter. And at that point, unless she'd truly proven herself to know what she was doing, he wasn't going to listen to her orders. But he would give her a chance to fail and make sure he kept an eye on the enemy himself to see if he needed to move on his own.

That said, she did have one thing absolutely right. Moving out now. Natsumi said the same thing and he gave a swift nod, although he snorted slightly. Cold feet. Like he'd mention a thing like that. For that matter, he wasn't dressed with many more layers than he would if he were down in Suna. A slightly thicker shirt and pants were all the concession to the cold he made. After all, he thought with a mental sneer, what kind of Kyoujouran would be afraid of something like a little cold weather? Only the children! He wasn't nearly so young as to need extra layers.

Even if it was a little nippy.

But he ignored that thought as best as he could and said, “No objections here. I agree. Let's get there quick and set up, the faster we get there the better.” They were going to be guards after all, and guards couldn't do much when they were still kilometers from the goods they were guarding! He slightly adjusted the pack on his back and then looked down the rocky and inhospitable Dragon Tooth Pass. A glint of excitement shone in his eyes as he prepared to leave. His first mission.

Hell yes.

WC: 545
TWC: 1181

 

[Matsuko]

Such a small thing, such a meaningless thing, a greeting. Greetings were perfunctory, and team leaders-- Matsuko didn't remember one being assigned, but Tsubame-san certainly seemed fit for it -- had an obligation and knack for perfunctory duties. Like a teacher, that was part of the job. And yet, coming from someone roughly her age, her peer group...

Some sudden flame, all too faint behind the shroud of malnutrition and anxiety, lit Matsuko's face from within. And a smile, with its nervy claws stretching towards that little light, twitched her lips. Neither emotions showed beyond the ephemeral. But the excitement couldn't hide in those translucent, honey eyes.

Maybe... this will be fun? Maybe...

Awareness cascaded down. The brief stare and head-shake caught her eye, as did their owners. You're being oversensitive, said the lingering flame, hopeful and uncertain. They meant nothing. The rational part of her knew, though, that this was how students were. How they've always been. Maybe they didn't all have funny kitty ears, or a lack of a growth spurt, but regardless; students were not each others companions. They were competitors. One mission did not camaraderie make. And the fear, the animal instinct, the years she survived by paying attention to every one of Rin's verbal clues and body language tics, backed it up. The rational words lay over an instrumental of hissing and spitting.

"Well then," Matsuko murmured, dry of mouth and dull of tongue, the anxiety gone with the uncertainty that caused it. "I'm sure we'll start feeling warmer once we're moving, so." She slipped past her... comrades, like a shadow. Coworkers? Coworkers felt fitting. Bloodless. Perfunctory.

Just practice for the future. After the academy it only gets tougher.

The even, slow beat of snow-crunching footfalls sounded like determination given a voice, but her lips pursed themselves at the sight ahead. Dragon Tooth Pass; yeah, it felt like walking into a monster's maw alright. The long stretch of rock face might've exuded simplistic elegance any other day, but displayed under duress, they only jump-start claustrophobia. Can't go back, can't go left or right, and can't go anywhere but the single path forward.

Her zen, stone-faced mindset lasted all of a few seconds, dying soon after birth with one thought; do her kitty ears get cold? They must get cold, Matsuko reasoned, because they didn't make cat-friendly earmuffs. She smiled at that, cat earmuffs. Maybe I could sew... some...

No. Her face hardened again. This is not the way any of this is gonna be. Show up, do the mission, go home, done with each other. Little automatons, that's all the four of them are. Automatons for assassination, specifically. Or that's what they're supposed to be. Matsuko never much liked aiming for the skull in training practice.

The other one, though, you could tell he didn't mind. He was one of those pinched face boys she always saw at the crack of dawn running through obstacle courses, every day, on the dot. They ate like hogs and acted as such. But, god, he just looked like he was gonna freeze to death...

Her face screwed itself up in opposition to that train of thought.

There was no logical reason to be concerned for them, other than that little bit of hope! And that wasn't exactly logical in the first place. All that it could be is self-preservation. Because, worst-case scenario, they all go down and so does she. Second worst-case, they all go down and she's fast enough to run away, because damn if she ain't fast. Not the fastest though, and not well-stocked enough to last alone (although perilously, heavily close). So it's only right, wanting them to be at the top of their game. That's all it is. That's the kind of ninja Matsuko preferred to be. Not the skull-smashing type, but the background type. A shadow. A real nin. That's all.

She looked over her shoulder at them. Yes, definitely all.

WC: 658
TWC: 1280