Storm Warning (Private)

[Santaru Ayanasu]

“What?” Ayanasu asked in irritation, glaring at the the old Jounin in front of him. Tachibana Jin, the man who usually acted as his direct superior, simply stared back with dull grey eyes.

“On your next assignment, a Genin will be accompanying you.” Jin repeated, reaching for a folder on his desk. “I’m well aware of your...aversion for such things, but it is a responsibility of all Jounin to help guide those below us on occasion. I’m sure you’ll find the kunoichi in question interesting enough. She’s skilled for her age much like yourself.”

“You want me to take a Genin on an A-Rank kill mission?” The Santaru spat. “You know as well as I do that rogue shinobi are suspected to be involved with those bandits. I won’t have time to babysit.”

“You will deal with any shinobi involved. The girl will handle the bandits.” The old Jounin said simply, sliding the folder over to Ayanasu.

There was no getting out of this then. Damn it.

The teen took the file with a look of distaste and flipped it open. Narrowing his eyes, he glanced through the dossier on the kunoichi they had decided to stick him with. “Senju Shizuka?” He said to himself, turning a page. The Senju were a well-known clan, and from the reports in the girl’s file she would be skilled enough to at least hold her own supposedly. “I suppose I should thank you for not sticking me with some mongrel.”

Jin snorted, and Ayanasu closed the folder and threw it on his desk. He sighed in resignation.

“Fine. Have the girl meet me at the Academy Dojo in three hours. If I’m going to take her along, I want to get a look at what she’s capable of first. Hopefully she lives up to the reports at least, otherwise this will be a waste of time.”

Jin merely nodded.

“I’ll send word to her.”

Three hours later

Ayanasu, clad in his usual white uniform, stood with crossed arms outside the Dojo Annex. “She should be here any time now…” The boy mused, a frown on his face. He was still annoyed that they’d decided to stick him with a Genin for this mission, but he supposed that things could’ve been worse. The girl was at least from decent stock, and if her file was accurate she had some level of skill.

He’d find out for himself soon enough. The Santaru planned to put the girl through her paces to see what she could do. He wasn’t expecting much, but maybe she’d prove to be unlike most of the trash that made up the village’s ranks and this would actually be interesting. It had been a while since he’d found a new toy to play with.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

A messenger arrived holding a tiny scroll that only mentioned the place, the time and the Jounins name that would be awaiting her there. Having learned from her last meeting with a Jounin and being late to it - if only by an insignificant amount of time that was a couple of minutes - she made sure to be a little bit early today. It wasn’t that hard to do because she knew the designated location well enough. Above that it would prevent her from getting into trouble from the very start. In her eyes that was a good thing because getting out of a predicament would cost more energy than just leaving the house ten minutes earlier.

Still holding the third ball of dango on the stick while chewing on the second one, she landed on the porch of the dojo with very little noise. The fact that she was still fairly small and skinny only helped her to move in silence. Not that she didn’t want to grow taller, but that was an entirely different matter. Swallowing the second piece she went in for the third one while pushing away some of the escaped strands of hair behind her ear. The ponytail she wore had become a daily routine now that she had to do more and more tasks that didn’t involve simply sitting behind a desk. She liked it more that way, if she was honest. Even when it was physically more exhausting it was less boring.

Wearing a black T-shirt with sleeves reaching until her elbows she had tied her forehead protector to the upper side of her left arm. A huge cactus with its tongue sticking out made up the major part of her torso. Its green matched her bright eyes. The slacks she wore were a very light type of beige. They would get dirty, they always did, but she liked them.

After a second of consideration when noticing the young man standing not too far away, she got rid of the tiny wooden stick, swallowed the rest of her breakfast and set out the meet the one she assumed to be Santaru Ayanasu.

There was a confidence about her stride but no arrogance that met the eye. Some curiosity seemed to seep from her presence, her eyes betrayed it as she studied him before smiling disarmingly. The right corner of her lips curled a little more. “Sir,” she greeted with a nod, extending her right hand in case he was into that type of greeting. “my name is Senju Shizuka, you’ve requested my presence?”


**

 

[Santaru Ayanasu]

With a few minutes to spare, Ayanasu saw a girl matching the photo in the dossier approach him. She was a tiny little thing with green eyes like his own and brown hair, dressed in silly clothes that better suited a civilian child than a kunoichi. The Santaru had to resist the urge to sigh in distaste at that. Honestly, she was from a respected clan yet she was content to walk around looking like a commoner. It would’ve been disappointing if he’d had any real expectations of the girl.

Ayanasu smirked at Shizuka’s greeting as he turned to meet the girl. She was respectful at least, even if her manners were lacking. She was only a Genin, so offering to shake his hand was hardly appropriate. “Right on time then. Come along now, duckling.” Ayanasu began, turning toward the Dojo and gesturing for the girl to follow him with his right hand as he walked. “I’m Santaru Ayanasu. Our superiors have decided that you are to accompany me on my next assignment.”

Stepping through the entrance, he moved toward one of the training areas.

“It’s an A-Rank mission to eliminate a group of bandits that have taken up residence in the Thunder Mountains and they’ve been harassing merchants and the like. So far they’ve somehow managed to avoid our patrols, so shinobi involvement is suspected.” He continued, and after a moment he reached their destination. It was a reinforced arena meant for Ninjutsu training. Coming to a stop in the middle of the arena, he faced Shizuka.

“Honestly, I have no interest in bringing you along, but orders are orders.” Ayanasu told the girl bluntly. “So we’re going to see where you stand, duckling. I need to know exactly how capable you are and if I’m going to have to babysit you the entire time.”

Smirking, he spread his arms, lightning crackling from his fingertips.

“Now then, we’ll start off with seeing how well you can dodge and go from there.”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

He appeared to be not that type of man, the handshaking one, that is. She didn’t mind. Following him into the dojo she grimaced a little at the new nickname but didn’t take it personally. In a way she - and all the others lower in rank - could be considered as one of those. They followed their superiors, just like he did. He was just the bigger duck here. The idea almost had her chuckle, but she regained control of herself right on time for him to start his explanation. It was a bit of surprise, if she was honest. Joining a Jounin on his mission was rather extraordinary, she felt. Especially because she’s only been a Genin for a very short time.

Was this another test?
Well, this obviously was, but the mission itself.

She felt curious and slightly suspicious. An A-rank sounded way out of her league. That’s why she didn’t blame him for not wanting to take her along. Not that she thought he had to ‘babysit’ her as he had put it.. but if there were indeed other shinobi involved then she didn’t know if she was ready.

Frowning lightly when his smirk appeared she stretched her neck a little and cracked her fingers by bending them backwards. It turned out that today would become a work-out. Perhaps she could practice some of the taijutsu she had been learning lately?

Maybe later if there would be an opening for that, she figured. Besides, Don wasn’t with her, only the knuckles and shuriken were. That’s why when the lightning came in orbs and crackling lines she went with the one thing that was in her opinion the fastest and easiest to do. ‘Wooden tendrils’ erupted from the ground in the form of massive spears. They didn’t launch like they usually did, though. Instead, she kept more of them coming as a way to block the incoming lightning. Splinters flew all around them when some logs got crushed and others came in their place to form a small forest between the two ‘opponents’.

A particularly strong orb passed through the side of her defense and soon she felt her left arm jerk back from the biting electricity. She shook it off, biting her lip as her still tingling hand formed the necessary seals for a rock golem. With them somewhat out of sight, or that’s what she hoped for, the two split. She let the rock golem go from the right while throwing shuriken from the left. After that, the young Senju worked on a lightning elemental clone to have something for whatever would be coming next.

Meanwhile the rock golem tried to slam its fist into the Jounins chest while the shuriken came flying toward his knees. Shizuka didn’t dream of actually hitting him, she just wanted him to pay attention elsewhere while the clone took her place and she backed off between the damaged trunks still standing from the Mokuton display.


**

 

[Santaru Ayanasu]

Seeing that Shizuka had prepared herself, Ayanasu sped through hand seals, firing off a volley of low level Lightning techniques. He held back quite a bit even then, as he wanted to test the girl, not seriously harm her. He quirked his eyebrow in amusement when, instead of dodging Shizuka instead decided to counter with Ninjutsu, calling on a small forest of wooden tendrils using her bloodline. “Not bad.” Ayanasu called out. “Countering Ninjutsu with Ninjutsu is a sound strategy. But…” Completing another set of seals, he fired off a stronger technique that tore through her defense and tagged Shizuka in the arm.

“Always keep in mind that your technique might be weaker than your opponents, and be prepared to act accordingly.”

Giving her a moment to recover from the rather nasty shock his jutsu had no doubt inflicted, he waited to see what Shizuka would do next. Her counterattack came soon after, the girl forming a stone golem that emerged from the right out of her makeshift forest, she attacked from the left, throwing a barrage of shuriken. Ayanasu merely tilted his head, his eyes glowing a poisonous green as he drew upon his bloodline, summoning a gust of wind of that sent the projectiles veering off to the side.

Glancing back at the forest as the golem approached, Ayanasu spoke.

“I’m going to get a bit more serious now. You’ll really want to make sure this one doesn’t hit you.”

Clasping his hands together, lighting swirled in the palms of his hands as he charged one of his stronger techniques, Gigavolt Cannon. Releasing it as the golem finally moved to attack him, the wave of lightning shattered the stone creation and crashed into the forest, exploding with a crack.

“Still in one piece, duckling?” Ayanasu asked the girl as he waited for the smoke and debris to settle. He had aimed it away from her position for the most part, so he was pretty sure he’d given Shizuka enough leeway to dodge. But ninjutsu was a destructive art, and he was particularly good at blowing things up. So it was better to be sure. If he maimed the girl he would never hear the end of it.

“Now, I want you to throw everything you got at me. Don’t hold back. Let’s see if you can impress me, or if you’re just a waste of time.”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Yes, she would try to keep that in mind, but battles never went flawlessly. At least not with her, but she was learning. That’s why when the crackling lightning came rushing toward the small forest of broken trunks she knew that the logs wouldn’t do here. Sliding to the side she reflexively put up a wall of wood. Only a part of the dense ray crashed into it, but it didn’t set the thing on fire, neither did it entirely beak it. Not that it would hold another one of these. Shizuka had to get out of there while she could, or his next ray would tear through the wall like a hot knife through butter.

Angrily the wood creaked while the fire caused by lightning devoured it. She paid it no mind. All of her concentration was on the attack she was planning right now. Seeing as he gave her time to prepare it was easier to do than it would have been against a moving and attacking opponent. Maybe he only wanted to estimate the power she held and the size of attacks she was capable of generating. Hence, she put it in the next gear.

‘Water shark bomb - feeding frenzy’, she thought while the water she brought forth took on the shape of multiple sharks. They rushed forward, sliding upward before diving toward their target. Meanwhile Shizuka did everything in her power to add to the attack by manipulating the gravity around her opponent through the ‘Newton’s apple’ jutsu. Having not entirely mastered it yet, she hoped that it would be enough to at least slow down her target. Immobilizing a Jounin wasn’t something she expected to do, but that wasn’t too necessary right now. For the ground was already wet and her next jutsu came down from the sky.

‘Raijn’s Vengeance’ rushed down in a flash as she jumped onto one of the higher logs that still stuck out. They weren’t wet, so the sizzling electricity spreading across the area shoudn’t hit her, or at least not as strong as it would should one be hit directly or while standing on a wet surface.

Hopefully it had left some sort of impression, because while she wasn’t one to really worry about what she was called, it did irk her a little that he viewed her as nothing worth looking at. Her skills were pretty good - at the moment of being handed the forehead protector she had doubted it, but Suika had convinced her that she hadn’t been just an average student. Not toward the end of her Academy career. Well, at least not when it came down to Ninjutsu. Mostly because she loved it and kept on working on developing whatever she already knew. The process itself was enticing - she wanted to conquer more elements and see if they too could be mixed into something new.


**

 

[Santaru Ayanasu]

Shizuka had taken his words to heart, it seemed.

“That’s a pretty high level technique..” Ayanasu hummed in approval, watching as shark-shaped constructs of water chakra swarmed through the air toward him. He thought about simply dodging out of the way, but there would be no fun in that. Instead, he began chaining together seals, preparing another jutsu to counter it.

That proved to be a mistake.

Moments before he could complete his technique, Ayanasu felt pure force began to bear down on his body. ‘Gravity?’ The Santaru thought in surprise, and he attempted to perform a Body Switch but the technique crushed him to the ground before he could do so, pinning him.

‘She actually got me.’

Grinning ferally as the intense gravity wracked his body, Ayanasu watched in glee as the sharks bore down on him. He hadn’t expected this much from the girl, it was fantastic! She might’ve actually managed to do some serious damage if he didn’t have plenty of tricks still in store.

Eyes still burning green, he caused the air in front of him to distort, creating a powerful updraft that threw the sharks into the air moments before they could reach him. The constructs exploded above him, creating an impromptu downpour that drenched the Santaru. He paid it no mind though, and instead looked up.

He had other things to worry about, after all. It seemed the girl wasn’t done yet.

‘...This is going to sting a bit.’

Ayanasu barely finished that thought when lightning tore down upon him. He narrowly managed to dodge to the side, but it didn’t matter. The bolt struck the ground and arced through the water coating the arena and himself. Thousands of volts of electricity surged through his body instantly, causing his muscles to spasm and his bones to heat.

“Yeah…That definitely stings.” the Santaru hissed loudly, clenching his teeth as the lighting chakra ran its course through his body. Had he been anyone else, he’d probably be screaming. But he’d been playing with lightning to often disastrous results since he was a child, and he was used to this particular sensation. Though, it had been a while since he’d gotten this big of a shock.

It was actually impressive, and beneath the pain, he was incredibly amused.

He had absolutely underestimated this girl, and the thought thrilled him to no end.

How long had it been since he’d had a chance to have some real fun? Weeks? Months?

He couldn’t remember, but it had been far, far too long.

He laughed wildly, everything else but elation fading away.

“So, you aren’t so worthless after all, Duckling.” He grinned, the smile all teeth. “That’s good. More than good really. If you can dish out this sort of punishment, I don’t have to hold back nearly as much as I thought.”

Ayanasu slipped off his now scorched gloves and tossed them to the ground. Plasma-like Storm chakra began to gather in his right hand, forming a pike that was nearly as tall as he was. The Santaru spun it around for a moment and pointed it at the girl.

“Which means we are going to have fun.”

 

[Senju Shizuka]

From her spot on the log she watched her combination unfold in something she considered to be a successful attack. Even when the wind tore through her shark and had her cover her face a little with her forearm to keep the water out of her face, she still felt excited. There had been a moment where he had been surprised and that made her feel happy and fairly excited. Keeping herself safe required more wood now - dry wood. And when the bolt came crashing down she was a bit worried that some of its power would hit her, but luckily the wood held its stand.

When the electricity faded out and the water had mostly been absorbed by the arena, she heard him laugh. Unsure whether that was a good sign, the young Senju kept to her log while observing the Jounin. She didn’t like the razor sharp smile he gave her. This was meant to be a test, a show of her skills, not a spar. There was no way she could hold her own against someone of such a high rank!

The thought had her worried.

She really doubted that his idea of having fun was the same as hers. Damn, if only she hadn’t pushed herself this far then she wouldn’t be in this predicament. The amount of effort that would go into whatever would come next would probably be way more than what she was willing to give. However, she had no choice. His weapon - the fire melted with light, or whatever it was because the sight of it was new to her - made that much clear.

Quickly going through what she could do, Shizuka decided that taking him head on would be her last option. So, hiding, or at least trying to, would be safer. That’s why the seals she went through resulted in a chakra infused landscape that quickly grew into tunnels of gemstone in various colors. It swallowed them up with walls from all sides. With that in place she started to run while creating a crystal eye that could help her navigate through the maze and perhaps show her where her opponent was.

The little orb went flying, up and over the walls. She felt somewhat nervous. The maze wasn’t something she loved because it harmed her sight as well. Still it was the best option or at least the best one she could think of during this somewhat stressful situation. Preparing the seals for the upcoming jutsu, the little Genin figured that she didn’t actually have to wait for this one. The eye would allow her to see if damage was done, but she could already go ahead and try.

Water was able to change directions - that’s why she released the Scorn of the Aquarius. The wave rushed through the curls of the maze and left the walls screaming beneath its pressure here and there. The techniques cost Shizuka quite some energy, but she knew of no other way to engage with someone who outclassed her so badly. Ninjutsu was her speciality, so she held onto it firmly.


**
MFT: 522

 

[Senju Shizuka]

There had been surprised, but it’s been fun. In the end, she came out without too heavy injuries and more experience - in fact, she felt excited about the prospect of both a mission and a potential spar with this young Jounin. He possessed techniques she had never heard of before. The idea of learning more about them by hanging around him was intoxicating. She really wanted to see if in time she too would be able to command the wind and melt lightning into something higher. For now, though, she had to restore her chakra and treat the burns and cuts that could cause a problem during the mission. It was time to rest.

* * *​

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