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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 24, 2013 11:45:07 GMT -5
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Masumi was, to say the least, not very enthusiastic about this mission. She stood in front of the family of four, silently observing them as they checked their bags, for the fifth time, to make absolutely sure they had all their possessions. The father was an older man, solid, tough-looking, clearly forged in the fires of his smithy rather than in the home with his wife and sons. She was a younger woman, his junior by a decade at the very least; the difference in the two was astonishing. She was soft and had about as much spine as an invertebrate. It was already clear to the chunin who was really in charge here, and it most definitely was not her. Rather, it was the elder son. He was about ten years old and looked likely to follow in his father's footsteps. The elder child, and thus the favorite, the one that got everything he wanted without even having to ask for it. Spoiled to his rotten little core. The younger son was all of two, sitting quietly in his mother's arms and gnawing on what looked to be a cracker.
By the time this mission was over, she was sure she would want to tear her hair out. "Have you finished looking through your belongings? Could we depart now?" The irritation she felt was very thinly disguised, and some of it leaked through into her usually apathetic tone.
"I'm sorry, miss... ah, what did you say your name was again?" The mother grinned sheepishly, fishing around in a pocket to find another cracker for her toddler.
"You can call me Maeda-san." she informed them, not bothering to ask for their names in return. The woman, clearly having expected the question, was silent for a long moment before she spoke again.
"My husband's name is Akio, the boys are Junichi and Ryota, and my name is Aika."
Masumi hadn't been listening. She had gestured for the family to follow her and began to walk away. If they didn't follow her, that was their own fault. But of course, they managed to at least have the sense to keep their escort in their sights. They were stopped only momentarily at the gate, and then they were off. As soon as they'd gotten a fair distance away, the chunin stopped and turned to face them.
"I wish to make one thing clear: I am not your friend. I am here to protect you, and nothing more." she spoke, tone stern. "I advise that you refrain from trying to have discourse with me so I can focus on doing my job. After all, if you get killed, I don't get paid."
None of them quite knew how to respond to that, and they resumed their journey in stony silence.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 24, 2013 12:02:09 GMT -5
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They had walked in silence for near to an hour before the older child piped up. "This isn't fun. It's stupid. Why did we have to hire a dumb ninja to get home?" Masumi twitched, but said nothing. Aiko looked nervously at her husband, prompting him to respond.
"We hired this fine young woman to keep us safe. You wouldn't want to get hurt or robbed on the way home, would you?" he pointed out, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You should be thanking her for her protection, not calling her names."
"But I'm bored! Walking isn't any fun, and no one's even talking or anything!" Junichi whined. "Why did we have to get this ninja? I bet there are better ninjas that aren't dumb like her!"
It seemed that her earlier observation had been correct; the boy was so used to getting what he wanted that he would throw a fit if things didn't go his way. At the moment, though, he was merely an annoying pest, one that she was quite capable of ignoring. If his parents did not control him, however, she would have to step in - and that would not be pretty for anyone.
"Please, Junichi, be quiet. There's no need to say things like that." his mother urged, shifting her grip on the toddler, who was still contentedly chewing on what seemed like an endless supply of crackers.
"Listen to your mother for once." Akio added.
She had to refrain from rolling her eyes. Yes, it was quite clear who was in charge. People like Aika disgusted her. They let other people step on them and run their entire lives, and not once did they say a word about any of it. They were content to be doormats, steps for other people to climb in pursuit of their ambitions, and they would never amount to anything living that way. Aika had probably come from a family that pushed her down just so they could step on her, and she never would have tried to fight it.
The chunin had long ago decided that a large majority of people were downright worthless, and for the most part, they hadn't proven her wrong. She supposed this trip would be similarly enlightening, and would not improve her opinion of humanity as a whole.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 24, 2013 12:24:27 GMT -5
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High noon had passed a while ago. She was unsure precisely how long it had been, but the whole thing was beginning to grate on her nerves. After the wonderful discussion that had taken place earlier, the child had deigned to shut his mouth. That hadn't lasted for long, however; he had started a full-blown temper tantrum not ten minutes ago. The only thing that was keeping her from killing him was the fact that she wouldn't get her ryo if he was dead. Well, technically, they only had to reach the family's home village safely. Once there...
No, she couldn't kill him, regardless. The mission came first; she would do nothing to jeopardize the mission. And killing one of your clients most definitely counted as jeopardizing the mission.
Masumi spoke for the first time since she had laid down her rules. "Control him." she snapped. "Or I will be forced to take action."
"I don't want to walk anymore! Walking is dumb! I shouldn't have to walk!" Junichi ranted, coming to a halt. He had apparently decided that walking wasn't worth the effort, and he was refusing to continue on. Masumi sent a silent glare at his father, and he scooped up the pest and continued walking.
This was the last time she ever agreed to take on an escort mission. The last time. Leave those to the shinobi that thought it was fun to talk to their clients and watch the antics of irritating children, the ones who were weak enough to actually care about the well-being of people. Every time the child spoke, the toddler whined, the father grunted, and the mother tried to start a conversation, Masumi thought of the paycheck that would await her upon her return. That was something she could appreciate; money was solid, it was constant, it didn't want to talk to you and be your best friend. It was simply money, and that was worth more to her than a human life.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 24, 2013 12:48:46 GMT -5
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After a while longer, Akio began to sing, of all things. Pub tunes and drunkard's songs seemed to be the only ones he knew, and it was made worse by the fact that he was unable to carry a tune at all. She was, again, tempted to kill the client. But Masumi was good at resisting temptation... for the most part, anyway.
They reached the village just after sunset. Though she wished to leave them there and be done with it, she followed proper etiquette and led the family to their house, waited while they carted the children (who had both fallen asleep) and the luggage inside, and told them goodbye before heading off.
The chunin had reached the main path when the woman called out to her. "Wait!" She came to a halt and turned around, slightly irked by the minor delay. After all, Masumi had hoped to arrive home before sunrise and even the slightest of delays could cause her to be late, and that simply would not do.
Aika caught up with her, smiling, and handed the chunin a small container. "Here. For you. Since you had to put up with my husband and the children for so long. I could tell you weren't happy about it, and I thought maybe some homemade cookies might help."
The chunin opened the box, pulled out a cookie, and took a bite. They were a couple days old, and so didn't taste quite as good as they would have when they were fresh out of the oven, but they were acceptable. She placed the partially-eaten cookie back in the box, put the lid back on it, and nodded. "...Thank you."
Aika waved as she began to walk away again, this time with her progress unimpeded. She easily left the small village behind as the world was swallowed by darkness, the stars littering the sky doing little to light up the night.
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Post by Tsubasa Masumi on Jun 24, 2013 13:23:09 GMT -5
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The trip home would take place far more quickly than the journey to the little border village had been. When traveling with a civilian family, one had to keep to their sluggish pace, after all. On her own, the chunin could travel at many times that speed, and she fully intended to. Starting out slow, so as to conserve her energy for a while longer, she scarfed down a protein bar and some water; she had done the same this morning, before the mission, and when the family had wanted to stop for lunch. It wasn't a very tasty substitute for a meal, but it was filling, contained nutrients, and was cost-efficient, so it would do just fine.
Masumi kept up her slow pace - which was still much faster than her pace with the clients - for quite a while, until the sliver of moon was quite high in the night sky. Then she picked up speed at a moderate rate, careful not to break into a full sprint immediately, as that would tire her out too quickly. The chunin didn't even bother traveling in the sparse copses of trees that were littered about the sides of the path. That would be another waste of time, she would cover more ground walking.
Traveling at her maximum speed was truly enjoyable. The wind whipping through her hair, the scenery whirring by in a blue... it was a wonderful experience, one that she liked to savor, as there was not often a need for her to move so quickly.
She arrived back home to Iwagakure just as the sun was beginning to rise. She passed through the gates with nary a comment from the sleepy guards, former classmates of hers that knew better than to try having a discussion with her. They gave her a single look and sent her through.
Masumi fished the key to her apartment out of a small, hardly visible pocket and headed inside, flipping the lights on. She would sit down and write her report now - and its conclusion would most definitely be 'Please refrain from giving me any further escort missions.'
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[M:3290:120750:]
