Everyday struggle [Open]

[Senju Gaki]

Yaaaaghhh.... a long-drawn-out sound, like a split between a sigh and a scream, echoed through the premises of the Konoha Academy, briefly interrupting the subtle chirping of cicadas that had until then dominated the otherwise untouched silence. It was still fairly early in the morning and only the most diligent students had so far entered the various training grounds of the academy. The most diligent students, and Gaki. The young boy slouched on one of the mansized walls that separated the many exterior training areas of the campus from one another, his legs lazily crossed and one hand burried in the mass of hair that was seemingly cascading all over his head. The dishwater blonde strains hid the top part of his face, leaving only his mouth and nose visible.
He yawned again.
Today he had once again left his home early at night to avoid the derogatory looks his father had begun giving him in the early hours of the day and had made his way to the academy to finish his rest here, where no one disturbed him. Now that the sun had started to breach the first canopies, casting a soft yellow shine on the training grounds surrounding him and slowly warming up the air he slowly started to fall into his usual restlessness. Jaaa... what a bother... Somewhere in the Senju Estate his father was surely chiding his personal teacher for loosing sight of the boy, an occurrence so repetitive that most of the staff didnt really take it all too serious anymore. At least when Gaki's father was not present.
With a swift motion the boy pushed himself of the small wall and landed on the dry ground. Today was the day that he would meet his new classmates after being suspended just a few days before the first get-together. Just you wait... dont think that you can stop me with just this much...Stop me from doing what exactly? Getting into a brawl with a few peachfaced Genins again? Lets be honest, you did that just for the show... He exhaled sharply, as if offended by his own thoughts. Thats totally not true-eh!? Is it not? What would your brother think of you if he knew that YOU got almost beat up by Yujin? Hes smaller than me and still flung me across the schoolgrounds! Yeah, but to my defense, i was not prepared for him to strike back at all! To my defense... listen to you, trying to lie to yourself...
Gaki's feet had slowly dragged him across the sand, passing the marks of multiple generations of shinobi and brought him just in front of one of the targets that were used for shurikenjutsu. With an enraged howl he took a big swing at the scarred tree, imagining his fathers face in the rough bark. Arghh!... ouch! Fuck you too! He spat on one of the targets and dropped into a squat before turning on his heels and surveying the academy grounds behind him.
Being early surely had its benefits, but excitement was surely not one of them. The young genin could feel his blood starting to boil again as he observed the single silhouettes of other students. His fingers found the skintight overall he was wearing below his dark hakama and pulled the fabric up by a bit, enjoying the tight sit and the feeling of clothing that resisted his pull somewhat.
As far as he knew the information on the new class had been spread a few days before already, "a few days" being his usual timeframe for when he didnt know, and some of the other students had potentially gotten to know one another already. Doesnt matter, this time i will start right away. Find the biggest one, beat him in front of everyone and set up your superiority from the very beginning! Hold on, isnt the biggest one our sensei? Sensei... uh.... He frowned and his hands started patting down his pockets for the crumpled piece of paper that had the time and his future teacher written on it.
Fuck. FUCK!
All he found were some bits of shoestring Why do i have shoestring in here??, a bent shuriken that he had ment to fix eventually and some pieces of chewing bark he had snatched from the kitchen at home. But not paper.
I didnt need it anyway! he proclaimed to noone in particular before rising from his squat and starting to walk forward again. He felt like a bird in a cage, unable to escape this situation. He stopped smack in the middle of the training area.
AAARGHHHH!

WC: 759
[Topic Entered]​

 

[Uchiha Kuroko]

Kuroko walked, as did many others in the early hours. But unlike most, the young Uchiha had nowhere specific to be. His routine had been a bit all over the place since graduating from the academy, early mornings had purpose back then, school and socialisation being the main motivator behind getting out of bed. Kuroko had decided that his room was the superior location to be after acing his mid-term assessments, yet for some reason he was kept in his class and only graduated when they were all ready. Ever since then, his mother had insisted that he continue to get up early to stay in a ‘good habit’ which was frankly rather annoying for the boy, but he would be a fool to oppose the instructions of the family matriarch. A pause. Kuroko shook his head, returning his focus to reality.

The only feeling of comfort that the Uchiha had which reminded him of his longing to go back to bed was the warmth that his two hands radiated while tucked snugly into his otherwise empty pockets. Birdsong combined with the light pattering of ambient footsteps might have been peace and serenity for other individuals, but for Kuroko it was just an annoyance that made him wish the day would be over so he could go home without being scolded. A sigh escaped his lips, allowing for the lightest of mists to linger before dispersing as the boy continued to dwell on yet another aspect of reality that he couldn’t control. If his teeth weren’t chattering against each other then they would have been grinding thanks to the annoyance. An annoyance that apparently someone else was enduring.

A curse or two… or three… rang out from the academy grounds, each word radiating with frustration that eclipsed that of the Uchiha’s. Clearly something was wrong, and if something was going wrong then Kuroko couldn’t resist the urge to give his input on the situation. After all, he knew best, and by the sounds of the voice that was piercing the otherwise calm air – someone young was struggling, and peers are always the best to educate.

It didn’t take much time to walk to the front entrance of the academy and back round towards the primary training facilities that were on offer. The fact that barely anyone was around at this time made it even easier to locate the source of the profanity. As Kuroko rounded the corner of what he was sure was the location of the swearer was, his eyes grew wide. Greeting him on the training ground was what looked like a boy sporting a bale of hay on his head that cascaded down and over his eyes and back. The sight was something to say the least, and the shock of the boy’s appearance was what kept Kuroko from cracking a smile or even laughing; in fact, the moment was so shocking that the Uchiha began to choke on his own saliva – only recovering after a quick cough. Once the spittle had settled, Kuroko looked towards the figure in the centre of the training area.

The combination of how he was stood, and the large bladed fan that was strapped to his back caused the Uchiha to cast a rather long strange shadow across the floor, especially as the sun began to rise further from its perch low in the sky. His eyes settled on the blonde boy before any words were formed. Again he tried not to be taken aback by the mane of yellow hair that seemed to be in the middle of devouring the already frustrated individual.

“Er. What has happened here?” In truth the boy didn’t know what to say, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary apart from what must have been a heavy hairdo. He definitely couldn’t see any specific identifiers that would point out the source of the swearing, but he was pretty sure that no matter what he could see more than the boy ahead of him could, not with that blanket covering his eyes for sure. “Sounded like you were having some trouble, but it doesn’t actually look like you’re doing a lot out here.” He gestured with his left hand towards the centre of the training area quickly before returning it to the warmth and safety of his pockets once more. “Am I missing something?” His eyes continued to scan the figure, doing their best not to continue focusing on the yellow mass that continually leaked into his vision. “What are you actually doing here?”

[WC: 759]
[MFT]
[Topic entered]

 

[Ishimoto]

“Wake up boy, you don’t want to be late!”

His grandmas hard stone cane tapped rapidly on the hardwood bed frame. The boy pulled his thick covers over his head with a slow precision, the small figure curling up into a foetal position under the warm blankets, the muffled response became even more obtuse as the sound barely escaped the blanket sanctuary.

“Jus’ fif more mimits.”

The old shinobi woman scuttled quickly across the room small apartment room, her cane clacking with every assisted step. As she threw open the curtains an audible groan would emanate from the mountain of blankets.
The wise old woman did not respond with further words, instead a small weight impacted the blanket barrier and landed on the bed next to the concealed boy.
Slowly the boy withdrew the covers from over his face, sleep laced eyes looking dazedly at the thrown object now sitting in the flood of sunlight, the beams reflecting off of the polished metal.

The covers flicked aside with a speed alien to the sloth like movements the boy had utilised up until this point. With haste his small hands quickly grasped the forehead protector that was so much more than the metal and cloth it was was constructed from. A wide grin split the young boys face as he quickly fastened the shinobi forehead protector above his brow, lost in momentary reflection at the way the material felt against his skin.
His reverie was broken by his grandmothers voice, her question putting him on the spot at such an early hour.

“And now that you are a proper shinobi what’s the first thing you have to do?”

The boy looked puzzled for a moment before raising his finger in triumph.

“The first thing I have to do is…”

The boys sentence was interrupted smoothly at this point by the old woman.

“The dishes… the first thing your doing is the dishes didn’t finish yesterday. Do you think this is a hotel? You can't come in here only to sleep.”

“Ok.”

The smile did not leave the boys face, his finger tracing around the edge of the metal plate displaying the symbol of the Leaf.

“And a little soap and water never killed anyone!”

“Yes Nan.”

~~~

He had washed, brushed teeth, gotten dressed and most importantly washed the dishes from the dinner of the night before. He had then returned to his room, the first part of his daily training could be completed almost anywhere. 100 situps, 100 pushups, 100 squats, the final component of which, and a 10-km run, would see him the the shinobi training centre.

The boy moved through the motions, each series of exercises completed with practiced speed and, less than five minutes later he had given his grandmother a kiss on her wrinkly old forehead and dashed out the door of their apartment.

His Nan’s words echoing down the hall behind him.

“Wrap up warm or you'll catch your death!”

~~~

His heart raced from the exertion of the sprint, sweat dripping down his face despite the cold morning air which now sting his burning lungs with every steaming breath. His eyes scanned the quickly filling training facility, looking for faces (or other defining features) that he recognised, his gaze pausing for a moment on two boys about his age which he recognised from the academy, they too recently graduating in this examination period or the last. The thing was not that two young shonobi would talk with each other but that these two specific shinobi would be in conversation together, one an arrogant Uchiha with the natural talent and intelligence to back up his words. The other though, his reputation was slightly worse… angry… loose cannon… all descriptions the boy had heard academy staff had used when referring of the blond ball of tween rage.

Ishi would move towards the pair now, though both reputations not disregarded, he had been in a different class to the pair so he had not made up his own mind yet, after all his Nan did always say ‘You can’t tell a book by its cover… and sometimes the cover is ten pages deep…’

The boy approached the pair just as the Uchiha asked his slightly condescending questions of the other, visibly angry young shonobi.

“I believe he is here to do the same thing as us unless I am not mistaken…” the small boy interjected between them with a friendly smile.
“Kuroku was it? I think Gaki(?)…” the boys tone reflecting that he was not sure of the buys name.
“…is here to meet his new team…” the boy indicated with a vague hand invent in a circle.
“…which I think is us right?”

Ishimoto patted the larger, golden maned boy on the arm with an even wider grin.
“After introductions we can punch each other for a bit too, that will probably make you feel better too…”

Ooc: topic entered, I will do some formatting later… written on my phone…