Out In The Mist [Yasu]

[Senju Shizuka]

“Senju Shizuka, right here.” she waved toward one of the instructors who was handing out little scrolls to the arriving students. The disapproving look she was given told her that she probably should have opted for something like ‘present, sir’ instead of ‘right here’ but by now who really cared?

Having received the scroll with a tag attached to it that read a name of a fellow student she was supposed to meet, Shizuka frowned. This wasn’t anyone she knew, so it was time to figure out who she had been assigned to spend her day with. Today was one of those occasions on which the students got quite some freedom. Well, they still had to stay on the Academy grounds but those were large enough to get lost in if you hadn’t been around for at least a couple of months. In fact, she still hadn’t been able to explore the dorms because those were for the students actually living on the school grounds. Like Shiori.

With a practiced motion, she opened the sealed scroll. Then realized that it would have been a bit more polite to do so after finding her partner. That’s why she didn’t read through the instructions, rolled the paper back up, and went off to look for this Tsubasa Yasu.

Thankfully there was a picture. He looks differently on it, she realized when landing next to the boy. It was rare that someone appeared even smaller than her. Even rarer for them to look younger. Unfortunately, she didn’t have any other information on him aside from his name. So, she decided to start with the basics: getting to know each other.

“Hey, I’m Senju Shizuka, I got the scroll, our names are on it. Guess I just got to it first.” Smiling, the young Senju figured that if she had been a bit later then he might have been looking for her and not the way around.

“Think we’ll be partners for this afternoon.” offering him the scroll with a light shrug, she waited for him to either take and read it or read it together.. or him reading it out loud. It was really whatever he wanted to, Shizuka wasn’t a complicated person. From what she had seen so far chances were real that they were meant to stay outside.

Quickly checking the sky for any dark clouds she was glad to see that the gray was a gentle one. If it would rain it would probably be in waves of mist-sized drops instead of actual pouring. The thin jacket in pastel green that she was wearing would protect her from getting her torso soaked. Her legs and face would have to manage whatever amount of water would hit them, though. Not that she would be too happy about it. Shizuka liked the soft caresses of sun rays. Besides, the sun didn’t get you all wet and muddy like the rain did when you had to work in it.

Looking at Yasu, with a curious glow in her jade-green eyes. Shizuka hummed. “I didn’t really read it, just opened it because.. hmm, I guess.. it’s a habit?” Allowing a brief, gentle laugh to escape her to show him that she was quite at ease, the girl then hid her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

“Anything you want to get before we get on with this?”


**
[MFT 564]

 

[Tsubasa Yasu]

Yasu tried to pick his way through the energetic crowd to reach the instructors who were giving out scrolls, but his lack of height didn't help at all, leaving him caught in a swirling cloud of academy students. He stopped fighting for a second and closed his eyes. He was rather annoyed at the sudden shift in his life that came with being a student: he suddenly had almost no free time, and was, in fact, very late to this gathering. He waded out of the main huddle of other students and caught his breath nearby- his assigned partner would just have to find him, hopefully with the scroll in hand.

Suddenly, a girl who looked a bit older than him appeared. Yasu wasn't bothered by her greater height- he was used to being a bit short for his age, let alone for ages above his. He took the scroll she offered him, opening it and skimming the contents. He saw that it included information about both of them, and he assessed her profile after briefly glancing at his. His hunch had proved correct- she was about a year older than him, and had been around the academy for a while. Looking up and seeing Shizuka checking the sky, he appreciated her seemingly laid-back nature, although he supposed it was probably a calm, general casual aura instead of serving a purpose like his.

Following her gaze up to the clouds, he wondered nonchalantly if he should have brought a jacket, then decided that he was right in nit doing so- the sky was light and his wardrobe had been getting more attention than he thought it needed. Directing his attention back to his partner, who had her hands in her pockets, he answered her question. "Not really. I'm pretty comfortable."

He looked down at the scroll, not really knowing what to expect. He opened the scroll a bit wider, showing their assignment for the remainder of the day to her. "Any idea what this means?"

{WC: 399}

 

[Senju Shizuka]

“Alright then, let’s see..” she smiled, inching closer to get a better look at the instructions that he was holding now. Getting instructions was something she had gotten used to it over her time at the Academy. Of course, she didn’t always follow them down to the letter. Today, however, that wouldn’t be a problem.

“Oh, seems like we’re lucky. There are various assignments in different areas of the Academy. We have to do six of them and then we’re free. So.. if we do them quickly, we might be done earlier than usual.” Pointing to the closest location - the entrance of their private little forest - Shizuka looked up to see if Yasu would agree to go there first.

“This seems like the easiest bit.. I think that it’s going to be tree walking and target hitting.” Nodding, she hoped that she wasn’t wrong about it. Last year that’s how things had been. The Academy did these type of ‘fun’ classes once in a while to mix students so everyone learned to work with everyone, and to give them a bit of ‘enjoyment’ while training. Now they could pick from the ten points that were available. Besides, this way they could see what they were good and bad at without worrying about the handed out grades. If you passed six out of ten then you weren’t failing, and if one really wasn’t working out you could do another to get the necessary amount.

Having seen the bit of information about the boy, she figured to pose some questions as they moved out to the location. The wind was tugging at her sleeves already; she hoped that they wouldn’t take too long to do these things, but something told her that the tree walking would only be a warm up.

“I see that you haven’t been here for too long, so.. how do you like it? Do you have a favorite class?” With the last question she turned a little toward him, eyeing his face from the side. She liked ninjutsu the most of all the things taught to them. Though, genjutsu was special and exciting in its own way. She hoped to get better at that too, soon.


**

 

[Tsubasa Yasu]

Yasu walked alongside the other student, looking at the forest ahead of them. "Tree walking and target hitting, huh?" the boy thought to himself. It did sound sort of easy, but he was still new to training to be a shinobi. He was glad he was getting to learn the basics, but the basics... well, they weren't very basic to a newer student like him. Still, his companion had been here for awhile and probably could do this kind of thing without thinking too hard about it. He would have to learn by example.

Lost in thought, he sort of jumped awake as the wind blew at his side. Shizuka turned towards him, asking about his favorite type of class. "Ninjutsu is the most exciting, and I guess it would count as my favorite even though I haven't had very many classes. Taijutsu seems like something I would be good at, but Genjutsu sounds really useful..." He trailed off, thinking about all of the classes and the various ways they could help him become a better ninja.

Glancing around at the forest that now surrounded them, he realized that he had accidentally walked faster than he meant to, and he had passed the other student. Slowing down to let her catch up, he wondered aloud, "Is there a specific place that we should begin, or can we just pick a clearing and get targets somewhere?"

{WC: 241}

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Exciting, yes, she found ninjutsu to be that and a lot more other things. The possibilities seemed endless if you delved into the world of combining the elements. She loved learning new jutsu and trying to combine various techniques in hopes of getting a solid, new one. On the matter of taijutsu they appeared to be different. She couldn’t imagine one day being good at the hand-to-hand combat. Of course, there were some basic things she knew, but in a real battle relying on her hands to punch wasn’t something she planned to do any time soon. Then there was the genjutsu, something she found both fascinating and terrible. It was a headache in more than one way. She had difficulty understanding it. Its effects, however, were very simple especially when you witnessed them first hand. The memory of Shieo’s lesson wouldn’t fade in the foreseeable future, she was pretty sure of that.

With her thoughts elsewhere she realized that her pace had slowed down a bit. Shizuka wasn’t someone to hurry places. Perhaps that’s why she did get late from time to time. While she tried to keep everything organized she didn’t go out of her way to hurry when it wasn’t really necessary. Like now. Luckily, her partner decided to wait for her. It earned him a smile from the dark haired girl.

“Hmm..” She hummed, eyeing their surroundings with a bit of curiosity. “I assume they might have spiced things up a little this year.. let’s see where the targets are, shall we?”

Fumbling with the seals required to form the Crystal Eye jutsu, she watched the orb form from small pieces which drifted up from the ground. Minerals to get the amount of crystal needed. When it was ready the little ball that was an eye floated upwards through the branches of the trees, twisting and looking. It was searching for the points they had to hit. Most likely there would be two or so instructors somewhere, taking notes of those who decided to take this task.

“Well.. seems like there are a couple of targets there, on the right side. They’ve hung them in the trees this time.. smart.” From what she could see there were both kunai hanging on the top branches and little senbon sticking out of big red dots.

“The left side if full of it.. heh? I guess we’re expected to get a couple of those. Perhaps they’ll come in handy during the other exercises. If you know how to tree walk, you can pick a side and I’ll climb some trees on the other.” Pointing at the sides of the path they stood on, she got the eye back into her palm before allowing it to disperse. It was time to get a couple of kunai.


**
[MFT 466]

 

[Tsubasa Yasu]

Yasu nodded at his partner and turned towards a patch of ferns, ready to find some kunai. "I'll take the right," he answered, and, with a last glance, charged into the trees in the direction he had indicated. As he ran, he wondered if he would be able to use his chakra to climb a tree- he had been told how, and he had practiced before, but had never done it on an actual tree, just with walls. He had a feeling that a tree would be more difficult- less area to spread your chakra out onto.

He occasionally heard the sounds of other students yelling or breaking a branch in their attempts to gather kunai. He tried to stay away from the noises- he had to get kunai from the trees before the other students took them first. Reaching a tall, old-looking trunk, he slowed his pace, walking around the tree and trying to find the best place to climb. He figured that stopping to rest on a branch or two couldn't hurt, so he drew a line in his head detailing the path he should take, one that took him straight through plenty of branches. He had been told that he had pretty good chakra control, so it was with a grin on his face that he focused it onto the soles of his feet, placed one foot on the tree, and lifted the other. To his surprise and delight, he didn't fall, and he firmly set both of his feet on the thick trunk. Carefully lifting one foot, than the other, he slowly made his way up to the first branch.

As he stopped to sit on the thinner piece of wood, he stopped himself- he had almost sat on a kunai. While he was climbing, he had been paying so much attention to the higher-up limbs with the knives on them that he hadn't noticed this one. He took it and put it in one of his pouches, then made his way down just as carefully as he had inched up. He spent a while climbing up other trees, making sure to watch for concealed blades and listen for approaching students, but none came. He hit the ground for about the twelfth time, his pouches bulging with sharp edges. Careful not to trip, fall, and have knives spill out all over him, he jogged back in the direction he came, hoping to find Shizuka and begin using his freshly acquired tools.

{WC: 417}

 

[Senju Shizuka]

She was fine with his decision and took off to get the other side. Not that she planned to gather everything she could lay her eyes on. No, Shizuka opted for two kunai and the same amount of senbon for later use. She doubted that they would be necessary for anything else but hitting targets later down the line. When spars happened they were mostly tightly controlled by the instructors. Of course, incidents happened because at times they were pushed to their limits and beyond. Perhaps that’s why today was a day to relax.

Jumping from one tree to the other, she watched another student try to get to her target first. Shizuka would have none of that. While the young Senju wasn’t particularly competitive, she didn’t eagerly give up what was hers. There was a certain pride to everything she did. Once a decision was made she had to stick to it in order to proof herself that she could. Unless she genuinely changed her mind because of an actual reason rather than on a whim. That’s why she silently sabotaged the other girl - inhaling deeply she then exhaled a mist which quickly wrapped itself around the target. With the other student coughing and slipping, she rushed forward and claimed the kunai that belonged to her.

No other ‘clashes’ found place. There turned out to be plenty of items to get without grabbing stuff that was already chosen by someone. And so, with the things she had wanted in hand, she sat down on a thicker branch to take a good look around while being up high. Through the green of leaves she caught Yasu slipping but getting back up to get his weapon. From the looks of it he had already gotten quite a few. His enthusiasm intrigued the Senju whose cat-like approach to things left her mostly at rest. She lashed out, then retreated to enjoy her victory or lick her wounds - he, in her eyes, might be the opposite of taking things slowly. Somehow she didn’t mind that. High likely it was because they would ace through the following hours and get some time off.

Unwrapping herself from the branch she had made her home, Shizuka carefully put away the little weapons and made her way to the ground as Yasu was coming back. Landing some distance from him she waved. “Onto the next one?”

The scroll came out again, perhaps he wanted to pick where they would be heading to now. So, she turned the ‘map’ toward him, making it clear that she didn’t mind what was up next.


**

 

[Tsubasa Yasu]

Looking at the scroll, he scanned the list of activities. Apparently there was an area for trap-laden rock climbing northeast of them; this sounded like a useful skill to have, but not an easy one to get. Glancing again at the map, he noticed a more tame-looking activity: Ninjutsu/Genjutsu practice monitored by one of the instructors. Torn between the two, Yasu made a small sound of frustration: he didn't know how much time was left or how long each would take, and he wanted to get to both of them. He decided, after about a minute of careful consideration, that they would begin with the monitored chakra application- from his impression, his partner seemed to be more adept in that area anyway.

Wordlessly indicating his selection to the Senju next to him, he stared at the map for a few seconds, trying to find a quick route to the area without getting too close to any of the other activities, especially the more intense Taijutsu practices- he had heard rumors of students accidentally knocking trees over. Starting off into the denser section of the forest with his partner following him, he wondered what the activity labeled 'Chakra, Ninjutsu, and their various Applications in the Field' would entail. Personally, he was hoping for a chance to show off some of his jutsu- and, now that he thought about it, improve them. Although he knew how to activate and maintain them like he knew the layout of his house, he had barely used some of them more than three or four dozen times. He turned his head and grimaced slightly- judging by the glimpses he was getting of other activities and the students doing them, if he wanted to outperform some of the older students, he would have to put in much more time and effort than he already had.

As he directed his gaze back in front of him, he noticed that they were nearing their destination. As he and his partner slowed their pace and entered the clearing, he could see that very few others had chosen this activity: two students were sitting on logs, focusing their chakra onto twigs and bits of dirt on the ground to try to make them levitate; one student was practicing tree climbing with only his hands; and the last student was shooting small, thin streams of fire from her fingertips in the direction of what looked like a training dummy with an image of an enemy shinobi drawn on it. A Chuunin was sitting with the two on a third log, occasionally telling them to adjust the flow of their chakra or else try a lighter object. He looked up briefly when Yasu and Shizuka stepped in, but his attention was quickly drawn back to the other students as one lifted a large, heavy-looking rock several inches above the ground with a proud expression, earning him a gasp of admiration from his peer.

Yasu gestured to the area as a whole, asking, "Anything in particular you want to try first? If you're still impartial, maybe we could practice offensive and defensive Ninjutsu on those training dummies..." As he waited for her to choose, he wondered to himself how much skill she had; after all, she had been at the Academy for quite a long time. The boy meditated on this thought- he guessed he would just have to see.

{WC: 569}

 

[Senju Shizuka]

Unsure what the groan was about she blinked when he seemed to study her, at least that’s what it looked like to her from where she was standing. There was a brief moment right then when she had wanted to frown a bit, but before she actually decided if it would come across as rude he was already staring at the map again. It didn’t take him a long time from there to decide what they would be up to next. The choice he’s made was one she appreciated. The little bit they knew of one another indicated that both of them enjoyed Ninjutsu and might be interested in Genjutsu. So, this was a nice way to continue today’s tasks.

She went with it easily and followed Yasu in silence to their next destination. Hopefully there would be some interesting jutsu showcasted to them. The exciting thought of an advanced element came to mind but her rational side quickly stepped on that idea. If they were to show them new spell they surely wouldn’t be combined from the basic elements, they would be made from them. The realization of that had her lose some of the previously felt excitement, but her pace didn’t drop. Not that she had been walking that fast - Shizuka mostly took her time getting places.

When they arrived she spent a couple of moments taking in the competition. From the sight of it none were into doing anything out of the ordinary. That, or they couldn’t do much more than what could be summarized as those thin streams of fire she witnessed passing by. At that her green eyes narrowed a little. The dummy did catch fire. Perhaps the performance hadn’t been as poor as it had first appeared to be. She almost felt sad at the sight but then the application of -what she thought to be gravity- caught her attention. Unless this was about wind… or earth.. maybe lightning, she wondered before being forced to face Yasu who had decided to start a conversation.

“Hmm?” she turned away from what could be the start of the ninjutsu she adored.

“Sure, that sounds good. There are a couple ones free over there.” A quick gesture in said direction had her wondering if they wouldn’t break the material doing practice on them. Of course, that’s what was made for but still.. there might be other students who wouldn’t shatter the targets - oh! An idea came to mind, one that caused her to smile.

“We can always form targets too. Hmm, let’s see..” With a thoughtful look briefly lingering around the edges of her eyes she smiled and nodded to herself. Rock Golem! That seemed like a good target to practice on.

Allowing chakra to flow across the ground she let the golem form. From earth it started to take shape, slowly reaching the size of a tall man. Standing there, it appeared to be facing the duo though that was hard to tell. The creation didn’t have a face - and the humanoid features were very superficial. It were the hands and feet that betrayed the direction it was ‘looking’ in.

“Well, I have to admit that it could be more refined, but I think that this will do.”

When she took a step to the side it was clear that Yasu was allowed to take a shot first, if he wanted to.


**
[569 words - MFT]
OOC: Sorry that it's been a while^^ I'll try to post a couple of times a week from now on.

 

[Senju Shizuka]

[Considering it's been a while, I'll have Shizuka leave this topic to make room for new ones.]

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