With a  spring in his step, Hiromasa quickly moved up the marble staircase, whistling a cheery tune that the two stern guards in front of the gate did not seem to appreciate, deep, disapproving frowns appearing almost simultaneously on their faces. Stopping at the closed gate, he took in the lavish household he was to be entering and wondered if the girl he was supposed to watch would even be visible underneath the absurd amount of gold she would be wearing if the tackiness of the home was any indication.

With the guards not acknowledging him in any way other than their frowns at his whistling, he stopped whistling for a moment and stared. Nothing. Moving directly in front of one of the guards, he slowly moved his face closer and closer, barely holding back a smile, until their noses touched, and he gave up and grinned. "Hey, uh, bud. I'm here to escort Little Miss uh..." pausing, he looked at the paper he'd taken off the mission board. Looking up, he saw that the family name was carved into almost everything on the building, as well as the helmet of the guard he was having fun with. "Hai. Not like 'Hi' as in I'm greeting you, though I suppose greeting you would be polite, so, hi, but you know, the family you work for the Hais...yes. Temporary guard for the day, big bad Jonin smacking down schoolyard bullies and such...so...I should probably get through this gate so I can meet the little lady...so I can guard her. Kinda hard if I can't even get in to see her, doncha know."

For a moment the guard remained motionless, then lifted his spear slightly. Hiromasa's grin widened in anticipation of this guy trying his luck, but the guard simply slammed the spear into the ground, which was apparently the sign for the gate to be opened, as it began to do just that. Removing himself from the guard's personal space, he nodded. "Well, not a conversationalist, but you let me through and that's all I can expect. Have a good day, gents, and try to relax a little. Being stressed all the time is awful for you, trust me, I used to work in a clinic which practically makes me a doctor!" With still no reaction whatsoever, Hiro began to wonder if the guards were simply illusions and briefly debating poking one with a senbon, but decided against it. School would be starting soon and he needed to pick up his charge and get moving.

As soon as he walked through the gate he was greeted by what he guessed was some kind of caretaker, who was far more polite than the guards outside. "Ah, you must be Hiromasa! Not a lot of folks go walking around in clothing as...well, not warm, as you are reputed to. Anyway, Little Princess is almost ready and should be ready to depart shortly. I'm sure you read the mission thoroughly and are prepared to give your life for hers if necessary, of course." Hiromasa shrugged. They were really scared about these threats, then, if they thought a Jonin  would be threatened by whatever thugs they thought could be sent after their little girl. Cowardly types, trying to kidnap a girl to gain some advantage over the parents. Anyone who tried was in for a short lifetime of getting fucked up and frozen if he had any say in it. "Little Princess, huh? What's her actual name?" If the parents had literally named their child "Little Princess"..."That does not matter. Today, she wants to be called Little Princess, and we  do as she asks, as we, and you, are paid to do." My, but the cordiality had faded fast there, he thought. "Whatever, suits me fine."

After waiting a short time his charge finally descended down from an extravagant staircase, looking every bit a pint-sized member of royalty. She said nothing, simply walking out the door, which was hastily opened before her by worried-looking servants. The journey to the school was rather dull, the girl simply walking to school, saying nothing and doing nothing to acknowledge his presence, causing him to wonder if in fact the guard at the gate was her father, to which he laughed. His charge pause for a moment as if in reproach, but did not break her silence and resumed her travel after a second. Arriving a few minutes later, the Jonin followed his charge into a classroom full of other, more normal-looking students dressed in clothing of value significantly less than that of good-sized house. Stepping into the room , he shook his head at the teacher, who seemed to be asking him to stand outside with her expression. Not pressing the issue, the teacher began her lesson, on the geography of the world and the various villages. Dull. Most of the students seemed to agree, staring blankly forward, clearly lost in daydreams, but "Little Princess" spent the whole class writing down notes, her expression never changing.

The whole day passed largely uneventfully, and Hiromasa followed his young escortee around everywhere. The question passed his mind as to bodyguard protocol should she need to use the bathroom, but she never indicated any need to, simply walking from class to class with no breaks or lunch. A few children made as if to tease her, noting the lack of her usual bodyguard, but were quickly dissuaded with a few warning senbon or a stern look. Eventually, after many boring classes and a lot of keeping an eye out for threats, the day came to a close and Little Princess  began walking home, silent as ever. As the gates of the Hai compound loomed on the horizon,a young woman approached with a warm smile. "Hey there, sexy! It's pretty hot seeing a young stud like yourself protecting a little girl...I don't suppose you'd like to come with me after you drop her off...keep me safe on my own way home? I can't offer much money, but I do have other-" "Gonna stop you right there, my lady. I'll happily continue this discussion, after I finish my mission and get..." In his concerted effort to keep himself looking the woman in the eye, he noticed her gaze shift, if just for  moment, at something behind him, before quickly returning to him, her posture shifting to reveal ample cleavage and leg from beneath her thick fur coat. Temptation nearly lead the ninja to believe it a simple nothing, but his ears were sharper than most and the sound of a fourth set of footsteps was not missed, however quiet they were attempting to be.

Whirling around, Hiromasa saw a masked figure still some distance away, though obviously attempting to sneak up on Little Princes and snatch her. In a simple attempt to force the stranger back and away from his charge, Hiro grabbed a ball of snow and tossed it at the would-be kidnapper. To his surprise, his target reacted with an inexperienced slowness, managing to move only slightly before getting pegged in the face and knocked down. Incredulous, he picked up another snowball and threw it at the attacker, who was struggling to his feet. This time his throw was dead on, again hitting them in the face and knocking off the mask, revealing a terrified-looking kid. Hearing the woman dashing away awkwardly across the snow, he sighed. She'd been the distraction, meaning he wasn't getting any, not from a babe like that at least. With a final snowball, the Jonin knocked the formerly masked boy back down, a crunch indicating he'd picked up some rock in there and likely broken a nose. Whoever this punk was, he wasn't worth anything and the Hais were overreacting something awful if this was the best the threats made against them could muster. Turning around, he resumed his trek with Little Princess, deciding that although it had been some easy money, the day had overall been pretty boring.

Reentering the palace, he was greeted again by the caretaker, who looked for a moment at Little Princess as she walked back up the steps and out of sight without a word. Once the girl was out of earshot, the caretaker looked at Hiro apologetically. "She may look and act royally, but really she's very shy, though it's better not to let her hear that you think so. Even Mr. Tadakichi, her usual bodyguard, has only rarely gotten words out of her and even then it's only along the lines of "Repast, home, or goodbye."  Don't feel too badly if she doesn't acknowledge you. At any rate, here's your pay. I heard about your little...I can't think of a word small enough for the snowball beatdown you handed out and I'm sure the common thugs we have to deal with are nothing to you, but...anyway, I was asked to let you know that any time you would like to escort Little Princess or whatever she likes to be called on a given day, you are more than welcome. Tadakichi gets precious little time off and wouldn't mind you taking over some of his duties and pay whenever you want some extra money or just feel like it for whatever reason." "Sounds like a plan, then. I might drop by again occasionally."