Mornings are never easy for anyone. Even Minoru, the kid who constantly pushes himself further and further, would cling on to the last few minutes of sleep for dear life. However not even the most powerful of wills cannot withstand the heavy blow of an annoying alarm. Especially this particular Genin’s alarm. Rather than opting for the more traditional ringing or something more modern and tasteful Minoru settled with a constant clash of heavy percussion and a thrashing melody. Almost like ninja punk rock. It was pretty disgusting to the ears but it most definitely fulfilled its job: Waking the young Senju up.
Senju. A word which could embody multiple things, be it the name of the clan or the influence of the founders of Konoha there was something which constantly seemed to escape the recognition of those who didn’t understand it: Their will. Something that cannot be earned nor forced into existence the will of the clan is instinct, a drive to better oneself for the benefit of others. A want to share what others need and protect the good that are in danger. That’s what it means to be a Senju and boy did Minoru know it.
A boy of goals Minoru would rise just before the sun and sleep in the step of the night. Powering through his morning in a flurry of exercising and practicing through pure determination and drive a lot of the Genin’s average schedule demanded a lot from him. And this day would be no different. Sloppily dropping out of his bed and tumbling towards his dresser the young Senju began to get dressed. First his netted vest was scooped over his head before tiredly stretching his arms through the sleeves straight into a half-hearted yawn. After completing his somewhat short release of tiredness the Senju would continue to add his green t-shirt over his torso area and his cargo-styled pants to his bottom half. Casually stumbling over to his shinobi sandals which were flung carelessly around the room one by one and slipping them on comfortably Minoru then grabbed hold of his black cardigan and simply put it on. Ready. At least the worst part of the morning was over.
Motioning over to the crusty and slightly outdated rice sat upon a small wooden table within a bowl in the room the orange-haired ninja peeked into the bowel at the rice. It wasn’t much but it was enough. Dropping onto the wooden stool not far from his bottom the Senju proceeded to chant some sort of thanks to whomever it was he was meant to and dug into the rice. He done so by utilising the chopsticks he had formerly left in the bowel, not bothering to clean up after himself which worked out quite well in this situation. See the sun was beginning to come up and Minoru hadn’t even set into his morning jog yet never mind figured out what sort of ninja related training he would be forcing himself through later in the day. Like everyone else he felt it was a pain putting himself through all that but his personality wouldn’t let him do otherwise. Sometimes he would even wish he was lazy just so he could relax for a little while, never worked.
The bizarre thing about the orange-head almost thoughtlessly digging into the going out of date bowl of rice was that he didn’t live alone. Living with his mother he really didn’t have to eat what would be considered unsatisfying because his mother was more than happy to wake up early and cook up some wonderful meal just so he could handle the oncoming day. Unfortunately this day was different: He was running late. By the time he had finished his ‘breakfast’ it was already around six in the morning which meant he had to get the hell into action. Popping up out of his seat and jogging to his window Minoru pryed open the sheet of glass via its handle and briefly looked back to see if he had forgotten anything. His room was so cluttered it was hard to find anything. The bed sat in the top left corner of the room across from the window so the sun would be at the head of the bed, his mother’s idea. Minoru’s wardrobe and dresser stood aligned next to each other a short diagonal distance away from the bed and next to those was the door. All three were made of wood and were marked to some degree with the signs of Mokuton. Between all three lay a clutter of mess. Dirty clothes, random ninja equipment, stale food and a table and stool marked the centre of the room which was just below the wall holstering a row or two of shelves. The shelves seemed to be the only organised things in the room, displaying Minoru’s academy/career achievements along with some memorabilia. Looking back into the mess the Genin spotted what he missed, miraculously. Hanging from a heap or clothes and outdated cereal boxes was a belt with a ninja pouch attached.
Backing away from the door towards the pouch Minoru picked it up and began fastening it around his face. All the while taking in the morning smell thanks to the open window. Konoha really did have a magical smell in the morning. Something which could be attributed to the wonderful flower shop not far down the road from the Senju estate, or simply an area of houses in which a decent amount of Senju members resided, on a corner. The morning breeze blew in the smell of the flowers on a perfect angle for Minoru to bask in their glory.
Finishing positioning his belt and pouch at his waist in no time the Senju turned back to the open window. It wasn’t particularly strange for him to jump out of his window, the sudden rush of blood and powerful push against wind provided a rush in the dead wake of the morning, but he wasn’t one to jump out of windows without reason. In fact the pressing concern that he was late for his own schedule was more than enough of a reason to hop out of his window and he was bloody well going to. Planting his left foot onto the ledge of his window Minoru prepared to pump forwards into the outdoors whilst grabbing hold of the headband resting on the ledge not far from his foot. Taking the ends of the band in each hand the orange-haired youngster pulled it up so it was positioned at his forehead and tied it in place. He was really ready this time and with it the Senju pushed forwards into a leap with the hazy morning sun floating beautifully in front of him.
The Art of Growth
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The Art of Growth
As Minoru hopped out onto the rooftop underneath his window the extent of his Bonsai practice was clearly visible. Multiple small plants crafted into forms and shapes of trees sat across the rooftop holstered safely within wooden stands and Mokuton crafted bases. In all the Mokuton streamed along like the roots of multiple trees laying unseen to position its trees in the sun proudly. Just by looking at the rooftop anyone would be able to tell it was the roof of a Senju household, bearing nothing but life for decoration. Upon walking a short distance along the wooden footpath, which had been crafted as a point to tend to the plants as well as take in the beauty of Konoha in the comfort of his own home, Minoru leaned down towards one of the more wonderful creations. The plant was up to his knees in height and featured a brown trunk with multiple groove-like markings on it. On top of the trunk lay well-kept fan-like greenery which were rather pointed and cut into a circular shape as a whole with all the singular fans united. Around the base of the tiny tree plant thing was a bandage which was clean and clear white which held a wooden stick against the trunk, leading it to grow straight. Unravelling the bandage and plucking up the wooden stick in his other hand the orange-haired kid casually tossed the stick into the grasp of his teeth like some sort of toothpick just for something to do. Meanwhile bringing up the bandage in his hand to his hair and pulling up the extensive part above his headband band at the back of his head Minoru wrapped it into a small ponytail using the bandage to keep it in place.
Strolling towards the edge of the wooden footpath Minoru took a last glance upwards towards the sun. Even though it was just orange shades in the sky at that time in the morning it was enough for him to be fuelled with enough energy to continue on with his day. It wasn’t like he was depressed or anything just the morning sun gave everyone a brighter look on things right? Simply letting his body fall forwards off the edge of the building Minoru leaned forwards in mid-air into a quick ninja style flip before landing safely on his feet with a jump of dust. Kicking off instantly from the fall Minoru set off into a run just above a jog, clearing the simply street into a backstreet type thing within a few moments.
As he moved into the backstreet the Senju hopped up onto a stack of three crates briefly before jumping again to gain distance out of the backstreet. Kicking off the side of a corner building onto his feet Minoru continued into his jogging motion again. Usually he would run down to the training area, usually the third or fourth grounds where he would meet up with his uncle Tahashi. Tahashi was a man known amongst their clan as an anti-hero, someone who didn’t quite go about things in a good way but wasn’t the sort of person who would do a bad thing anyway. In particular Minoru associated him with pain. For a while Tahashi had been developing training sessions which would be ‘tested out’ on the young Senju which would usually amount to some sort of physical damage and heaps of pain which the older Senju would pass off as productive training. While what he would test would hold some amount of stamina benefit Minoru considered the short term pain too much of a disadvantages for such gain. Despite his hate for his uncle’s methods Minoru would still visit him though, largely because on more than one occasion he would provide some sort of beneficial information or simply update Minoru with what was going on at the time. Something which many people went to him for. It was almost like he was some sort of information underground full of bad news and happy hints. Mostly bad news though.
Tahashi was a man whose appearance matched their reputation. His hair was orange like Minoru’s but a darker tone whilst his physical shape was one of supreme muscles from his extensive hand-to-hand training. Muscle which was usually shown off as he barely ever wore a shirt and was almost constantly tensing like it was going out of fashion. Meanwhile Minoru was still jogging his way towards the training grounds, almost subconsciously preparing himself for the pain that would no doubt follow upon his arrival by tensing up a little. As he approached the grounds the expected increase in forestry seemed to relax the Senju yet again in a subconscious tone. Being a Senju meant he was pretty much in is comfort zone around trees and plants, which explained why there were so many at his house.
Shortly afterwards Minoru made it to the grounds. As expected Tahashi was positioned on a wooden stool in the third training area, tensing in a leaned over position you would expect from an ancient Greek sculpture portraying some weight-lifting type guy like he was godly. It didn’t make Minoru’s rather slim and lean figure fitted for fast fluid movement look good. As he entered there was no doubt in Minoru’s mind that Tahashi had saw him, he always spotted him. However he would always play it down like he never saw him and all of a sudden break from his stereotypical ‘warrior’ pose to try and scare Minoru. And the pathetic thing was no matter how much he saw it coming Minoru would always be caught surprise by it simply because he thought he was going to be hit and this time was no different either. What a weird kid.
”Yo, uncle, what’s going on?”
All of a sudden Tahashi leapt from the stall into some punching motion. His fist was easily about the size of half of Minoru’s face and would no doubt knock him clean out if it connected. In a movement as sudden as the first the fist stopped not even a centimetre away from the Genin’s face, who had closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst. Clearly mocking him in what he thought was a friendly manner Tahashi laughed loudly in Minoru’s face, spraying out a horrible few taps of saliva here and there. He was no doubt Minoru’s worst uncle but he could whip out some information like he just invented it.
”Hahaha Minoru you’re such a wimp!” taunted the muscled mess. Across his bare torso were multiple scars and signs of damage from his career as a ninja. Just his presence screamed out experience and power, something which was very intimidating to a simple Genin like Minoru. After moving from formerly preparing to be pounded straight into a deep sleep the young Senju began to lightly laugh, which was clearly fake, in tune with his uncle. To get an update on what was going on around Konoha and what could potentially help him become stronger he would have to put up with his uncle’s childish macho man antics even though he wasn’t that above it as he would fall for it every single time. ”So what’s going on lately Tahashi-sama?”
In response the man simply laughed. A deep, cutting laugh which suggested some sort of seriousness despite the basic use of a laugh. Tahashi was the type of guy who smiled in the face of danger and to put it simply thought what other people would consider bad was funny. Funny in the way that he could get something new and interesting out of it or just another scar. ”You remember Senju Toudo right? Some hotshot higher up in the council or something or another has brought him back to the clan’s attention in the bounty book. The thing is no-one really wants to fight him because right now they’re all going through some sort of peaceful this peaceful that stage. You can’t really take him now but if you claim it I’m pretty sure you could get to around to it with time. What’cha think kid? Up for a challenge?” Just the mention of Toudo’s name forced Minoru’s right hand to clench into a fist. The young Senju wasn’t a fan of people abandoning the village and naturally associated it with people against his hometown, which was something that didn’t sit well with the orange-haired teen. The fact that this particular missing ninja was part of his clan was even more of a reason to push himself into being strong enough to take this guy out.
”Damn right I’ll take it!” A slight smile seemed to spread across Minoru’s face. A new long-term challenge which would force him to further his goals and no doubt into life or death situations was something the orange-haired lad enjoyed. He didn’t enjoy them in some sort of sick twisted way, it just meant he had to become a stronger and more experienced shinobi which was his main goal in life: To become one of the best. He could even want to become the Hokage eventually but he wasn’t one to be unrealistic. In response to Minoru’s ‘claim’ of the mission Tahashi let out a series of small laughs again. Watching determination fill up a kid was genuinely an exciting thing to witness for a shinobi, the same sort of rush Minoru would get from taking a seed and transforming it into a beautiful miniature tree via bonsai. Planting his large hand onto the top half of the young Senju’s head Tahashi ploughed it downwards using his strength unconsciously, smashing his head straight into the ground. ”You never fail to disappoint kid! You’re like a loser and an expert all in one, haha!” As expected a brute like Tahashi wasn’t good with words. On the other hand Minoru, who could be quite good with words on an unrelated note, was moaning hollowly under his breath from the sudden amount of force pushed down on him. It was totally unexpected, especially when receiving a compliment, which probably resulted in more pain than what would of been normal. Visiting Tahashi was always a pain.
Strolling towards the edge of the wooden footpath Minoru took a last glance upwards towards the sun. Even though it was just orange shades in the sky at that time in the morning it was enough for him to be fuelled with enough energy to continue on with his day. It wasn’t like he was depressed or anything just the morning sun gave everyone a brighter look on things right? Simply letting his body fall forwards off the edge of the building Minoru leaned forwards in mid-air into a quick ninja style flip before landing safely on his feet with a jump of dust. Kicking off instantly from the fall Minoru set off into a run just above a jog, clearing the simply street into a backstreet type thing within a few moments.
As he moved into the backstreet the Senju hopped up onto a stack of three crates briefly before jumping again to gain distance out of the backstreet. Kicking off the side of a corner building onto his feet Minoru continued into his jogging motion again. Usually he would run down to the training area, usually the third or fourth grounds where he would meet up with his uncle Tahashi. Tahashi was a man known amongst their clan as an anti-hero, someone who didn’t quite go about things in a good way but wasn’t the sort of person who would do a bad thing anyway. In particular Minoru associated him with pain. For a while Tahashi had been developing training sessions which would be ‘tested out’ on the young Senju which would usually amount to some sort of physical damage and heaps of pain which the older Senju would pass off as productive training. While what he would test would hold some amount of stamina benefit Minoru considered the short term pain too much of a disadvantages for such gain. Despite his hate for his uncle’s methods Minoru would still visit him though, largely because on more than one occasion he would provide some sort of beneficial information or simply update Minoru with what was going on at the time. Something which many people went to him for. It was almost like he was some sort of information underground full of bad news and happy hints. Mostly bad news though.
Tahashi was a man whose appearance matched their reputation. His hair was orange like Minoru’s but a darker tone whilst his physical shape was one of supreme muscles from his extensive hand-to-hand training. Muscle which was usually shown off as he barely ever wore a shirt and was almost constantly tensing like it was going out of fashion. Meanwhile Minoru was still jogging his way towards the training grounds, almost subconsciously preparing himself for the pain that would no doubt follow upon his arrival by tensing up a little. As he approached the grounds the expected increase in forestry seemed to relax the Senju yet again in a subconscious tone. Being a Senju meant he was pretty much in is comfort zone around trees and plants, which explained why there were so many at his house.
Shortly afterwards Minoru made it to the grounds. As expected Tahashi was positioned on a wooden stool in the third training area, tensing in a leaned over position you would expect from an ancient Greek sculpture portraying some weight-lifting type guy like he was godly. It didn’t make Minoru’s rather slim and lean figure fitted for fast fluid movement look good. As he entered there was no doubt in Minoru’s mind that Tahashi had saw him, he always spotted him. However he would always play it down like he never saw him and all of a sudden break from his stereotypical ‘warrior’ pose to try and scare Minoru. And the pathetic thing was no matter how much he saw it coming Minoru would always be caught surprise by it simply because he thought he was going to be hit and this time was no different either. What a weird kid.
”Yo, uncle, what’s going on?”
All of a sudden Tahashi leapt from the stall into some punching motion. His fist was easily about the size of half of Minoru’s face and would no doubt knock him clean out if it connected. In a movement as sudden as the first the fist stopped not even a centimetre away from the Genin’s face, who had closed his eyes and prepared himself for the worst. Clearly mocking him in what he thought was a friendly manner Tahashi laughed loudly in Minoru’s face, spraying out a horrible few taps of saliva here and there. He was no doubt Minoru’s worst uncle but he could whip out some information like he just invented it.
”Hahaha Minoru you’re such a wimp!” taunted the muscled mess. Across his bare torso were multiple scars and signs of damage from his career as a ninja. Just his presence screamed out experience and power, something which was very intimidating to a simple Genin like Minoru. After moving from formerly preparing to be pounded straight into a deep sleep the young Senju began to lightly laugh, which was clearly fake, in tune with his uncle. To get an update on what was going on around Konoha and what could potentially help him become stronger he would have to put up with his uncle’s childish macho man antics even though he wasn’t that above it as he would fall for it every single time. ”So what’s going on lately Tahashi-sama?”
In response the man simply laughed. A deep, cutting laugh which suggested some sort of seriousness despite the basic use of a laugh. Tahashi was the type of guy who smiled in the face of danger and to put it simply thought what other people would consider bad was funny. Funny in the way that he could get something new and interesting out of it or just another scar. ”You remember Senju Toudo right? Some hotshot higher up in the council or something or another has brought him back to the clan’s attention in the bounty book. The thing is no-one really wants to fight him because right now they’re all going through some sort of peaceful this peaceful that stage. You can’t really take him now but if you claim it I’m pretty sure you could get to around to it with time. What’cha think kid? Up for a challenge?” Just the mention of Toudo’s name forced Minoru’s right hand to clench into a fist. The young Senju wasn’t a fan of people abandoning the village and naturally associated it with people against his hometown, which was something that didn’t sit well with the orange-haired teen. The fact that this particular missing ninja was part of his clan was even more of a reason to push himself into being strong enough to take this guy out.
”Damn right I’ll take it!” A slight smile seemed to spread across Minoru’s face. A new long-term challenge which would force him to further his goals and no doubt into life or death situations was something the orange-haired lad enjoyed. He didn’t enjoy them in some sort of sick twisted way, it just meant he had to become a stronger and more experienced shinobi which was his main goal in life: To become one of the best. He could even want to become the Hokage eventually but he wasn’t one to be unrealistic. In response to Minoru’s ‘claim’ of the mission Tahashi let out a series of small laughs again. Watching determination fill up a kid was genuinely an exciting thing to witness for a shinobi, the same sort of rush Minoru would get from taking a seed and transforming it into a beautiful miniature tree via bonsai. Planting his large hand onto the top half of the young Senju’s head Tahashi ploughed it downwards using his strength unconsciously, smashing his head straight into the ground. ”You never fail to disappoint kid! You’re like a loser and an expert all in one, haha!” As expected a brute like Tahashi wasn’t good with words. On the other hand Minoru, who could be quite good with words on an unrelated note, was moaning hollowly under his breath from the sudden amount of force pushed down on him. It was totally unexpected, especially when receiving a compliment, which probably resulted in more pain than what would of been normal. Visiting Tahashi was always a pain.