Daughter of a Snake

Chapter 25: The Daimyo

Chapter 25: The Daimyo

Lady Tsunade: "The Daimyo of the Land of Fire himself urgently requested our help. Both him, his wife and their personal bodyguards will go on a vacation around the world for a year. The problem is that their son, the only heir, will be left alone without any protection. That is why he asked for a ninja that will act as his son's personal bodyguard for the year to come. Since you're the only one available who's strong enough to handle this on your own, I therefore assign you to this A rank mission."

That's the emergency... A bunch of rich royalty want me to babysit their son so that they could have fun? And for a whole year! Well now it's confirmed that I won't be able to see Gaara for at least a year... I wish there was a way I could keep in touch with him. The only way would be messenger birds, but I don't exactly get along with birds.

Lady Tsunade: "You will be leaving immediately since the Fire Daimyo and his wife will be leaving for their trip tomorrow. If there's any trouble that you can't handle on your own, send a soldier from the royal court there who'll relay your message. If only you could use messenger birds it would've made things much easier..."

"Birds are afraid of me, I guess they sense a predator in me."

Lady Tsunade: "Of course they do. Everything about you screams snake. Now get going."

"Yes, Lady Tsunade."

Now I'm officially in a bad mood. Not only do I have to go on this useless mission, but I have to go on this useless mission immediately. I guess as a ninja I can't do whatever I want when it comes to missions. Especially since I'm still a genin.

I pack my things and head for the village gates... I'll miss everyone. I head out.

I finally arrive in front of the Daimyo's palace. There a few soldiers stop me.

Guards: "What's your business here?"

"I'm the bodyguard sent from Konoha."

I show them the mission documents.

Guards: "You may pass."

I go in and cross a large garden. I arrive at the palace doors where more soldiers stop me. They have enough security here, what do they need me for?

I show the soldiers the same documents and one of them escorts me to the Daimyo.

The Daimyo is an old man who looks pretty fickle. He's extremely skinny compared to his wife who's almost triple his size. She always carries her cat around. I recognize the cat that Naruto and his squad had to capture as one of their first missions. Their son seems to be around sixteen years old. They had him late...

Daimyo: "Oh! So you must be our son's new personal bodyguard. Allow to introduce him. His name is Hotaka. He can prove to be a little difficult, but he's a nice boy."

Hotaka is a pretty tall guy with dull brown hair. He looks like he's a spoiled brat, but I shouldn't judge him that fast. I'll see how he really is since I'll be spending a whole year here...

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Akia, kunoichi of Konohagakure. I'll carry out my mission as best as I can."

Daimyo: "Well I'll leave my son in your hands then. Come, Madame Shijimi, let's depart on our vacation."

Madame Shijimi, his wife, follows him and they leave the palace. That's it? I don't even get a tour of the place or anything? I don't even know where my room is or if I even have one... I should ask their son.

"Excuse me, Hotaka-sama, where am I supposed to stay?"

Hotaka: "Like sleep and stuff? In my room, where else? You're my personal bodyguard you got to stick to me 24/7."

In the same room as this prick? How am I going to survive a whole year?

Hotaka: "Don't look so worried. I wouldn't touch you even if you were the last woman on earth."

"I didn't even think of that possibility."

This is proving to be much more than what I signed up for. I already know that this guy won't be the easiest person to get along with... Who does he think he is anyway? I wouldn't even let him get near me! And what does he mean by that? Am I unattractive or something? Probably... I'm not exactly feminine either.

Hotaka: "Hey, bodyguard, don't space out."

"I'm sorry, Hotaka-sama."

Why do I even have to be respectful to him... He gets up and starts heading to the backyard.

Hotaka: "Bodyguard! You're supposed to follow me everywhere."

"Yes. I'm sorry about my incompetence."

Hotaka: "You better be."

I think this boy is in more danger than ever, because I might kill him before the mission ends!

A few weeks go by and I'm still receiving the same treatment. I got used to it and learned to ignore it.

Something I noticed during my stay is that many of his food was being poisoned. My job was to protect him so I told him what to eat and what not to eat. I would try to find who poisons the food, but that's not part of my job. I can't get away from Hotaka at all. I need to literally stick to him... That doesn't leave me much openings. I can't really conduct much of an investigation having to follow a noisy brat everywhere I go. Since I'm immune to poisons, I eat most of the poisoned food. I have to admit, whoever cooks here is great at it. After what I had to eat at the Ryuuchi Cave, this is like heaven.

Months go by... Right when I thought that this mission can't get any easier, a guard comes running to Hotaka.

Guard: "Hotaka-sama! We are being attacked!"

Hotaka: "Can't you take care of it?"

Guard: "Sir, they're rogue ninjas! Most of us have been slayed."

"Rogue ninjas?"

They probably thought they could seize the palace now that the Daimyo, his wife and their top class bodyguards are gone. Well they don't know who they're messing with.