Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does. I also don't own ninjas, or ninjutsu, or any unintentional mentionings of things from the anime Naruto (that was joke). However, I own Taniko Kazeken and her family.
A/N: This is my first time writing for this particular brand of fiction, which was spurred by the releasing of the sixth Harry Potter book... rather, I came up with this story idea after reading it. This story does not go with the canon storyline of Harry Potter, so it's a definite AU.
Taniko... well, she was originally just an ordinary witch in England by the name of Tania. Then after reading some manga, I thought, "Hey, what if Voldemort came across some ninjas?" and turned her into a kunoichi (female ninja). After a lot of other thoughts, I eventually had to change her name.
And she speaks Japanese with her family at home. Which is why there are mentionings of random Japanese throughout... I will put translations at the bottom (as well as definitions of weapons as they come. I had to research for this).
Enjoy!
Prologue
It began when fifteen year old Taniko Kazeken tripped over a cat.
It was the summer of 1942, a hot day in which all she had wanted to do was take a swim in the large lake by her home. Of course, there were tons of wooden poles sticking straight up in the lake, but she paid no attention to the poles. Just more of ninja training (which with the poles, mostly consisted of sparring with her father while balancing on top of these poles).
It always surprised her how her father kept with this old tradition of teaching ninjutsu through the family, even despite the fact that they had moved from Japan to England right before her own birth. It was strange, training with her father during the summer months, and attending school in the city during the rest of the year, especially with Germany attacking the country...
The fact that Japan was allied with Germany made it even more so disturbing. It meant that she would oftentimes feel unwelcome while at school, or even underground during a bombing attack. But in the meantime, besides that, she was content with her life (it would be better if the world war could just end).
She absentmindedly tossed a kunai at a falling leaf, watching as the knife speared the leaf through the center and pinned it to a tree. With a shrug, she began her trek towards the tree, to retrieve the kunai and slowly make her way towards the lake, pushing her black shoulder length hair back. She was completely unsurprised to see her father standing on the shore, a bokken in his hand and his eyes on the poles sticking out of the water.
With a shrug, Taniko reached the tree and pulled the kunai out of it, watching the leaf float slowly to the ground. Then she turned, sheathing the kunai and preparing to take out her own bokken in preparation for another sparring bout with her father.
A plaintive "meow!" paused her thoughts. She turned towards the tree, glancing up into the branches in an attempt to sense the location of the cat. She felt almost tempted to climb up if the cat was in need of help.
She needn't have bothered.
Without warning, an orange cat shot out of the tree with its claws outstretched. Years of training caused her to leap aside, dodging the cat before it hit her. The cat landed with a "THWUMP!", making loud hissing noises and baring its teeth at her.
Taniko blinked, and glared back. "Baka," she muttered, turning without another word to join her father by the lake.
Then she suddenly felt something furry by her foot, and before she could stop herself, she had tripped over the cat. She flailed her arms in the air, making an incredibly funny picture to her father, who burst out laughing as he watched his daughter fail to deal with as simple a foe as a cat.
Taniko, overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, was extremely surprised to fall, not onto the grass by the tree which covered the hard ground, but onto what seemed to be a spongy mattress of green that had popped up out of the ground. She blinked in surprise, shocked by the softness that had appeared.
Then she quickly glanced at the offending cat, where it was sitting and licking itself, giving Taniko a very superior glare and obviously feeling very full of itself.
Taniko scowled, feeling both embarrassed and angry. "Omae wo korosu!" she screeched at the cat, whom, seeming to sense her anger, immediately began trotting away, its tail high in the air.
Taniko was not one to be ignored however. She angrily took out her kunai and aimed for a spot very close to the cat.
The cat jumped and let out a screech of terror as the kunai appeared right in front of it, and turned to Taniko again, evidently ready to spite her. But just as Taniko was ready to pull out her bokken and whack the thing, the cat suddenly squealed and was hoisted into the air by the tail.
Taniko blinked at the floating cat, and unsure of what to do, turned to her father with a questioning gaze.
Her father only answered with a somewhat shocked "Nan da!", which of course was not at all helpful to Taniko. She only continued to stare at the cat as it squealed and attempted to free itself from whatever spell was holding it in place.
Taniko felt her anger ebb away, and flushing slightly, she quietly apologized, "Gomen, neko-san."
The cat immediately fell from the air, landing onto the grass with a "whumph!", and with one last spooked look at Taniko, the cat scampered away from the area.
While Taniko and her father stared, still in shock at what had just happened, a man with long auburn hair and a beard hiding behind the tree simply blinked, with an amused smile beneath his half-moon glasses, behind which his eyes sparkled. He gave out a soft chuckle, taking note of Taniko and making sure to talk to his colleagues about this new young witch he had just discovered, even though she had exhibited magical powers rather late.
Seemingly, even the most rural areas of England, there were surprises waiting everywhere.
"Baka" - Stupid
"Omae wo korosu" – I'll kill you
"Nan da?" - What the...? (more literally, What is it?)
"Gomen, neko-san" – Sorry, cat
bokken – a wooden sword used for both training and actual fighting
kunai – a small dagger used for both utility purposes and fighting