Takeshi rose up from his bed with a sour taste in his mouth. All he had on was his boxers, as he threw his covers off of himself. He positioned himself on the side of his bed and reached for a pack of cigarettes that was on the night stand. After he got it, he then reached for the lighter that was right next to it. He shook the pack of cigarettes causing one to push it self up. He grabbed it out of the pack with his mouth and put the pack on his bed. He then flipped his lighter open and flicked metal which in turn caused a spark that started the fire. He held the fire up to his cigarette for a few seconds before closing the top of silver lighter as he took a deep puff of his cigarette. He flicked the ash off in the nearby ashtray and walked over to his window. He put the cigarette in his mouth and opened up his blinds letting in the sun, causing his small apartment to be lit up. The sky was clear, with little to no clouds in the sky. There wasn't much going on outside since he lived in a place where there wasn't too many out walking around. He lived in peaceful place where there wasn't too many kids running around. This was Takeshi's favorite feature of his apartment. He stood there smoking his cigarette a little longer before putting it out in the ash tray. He then grabbed some clothes from his closet before heading into his bathroom for a shower. He grabbed a pair of dark jeans with a white v neck shirt and some new boxers.

After a quick wash up, he put on his clothes and walked barefoot back into the main part of his apartment. He put on his white socks and grabbed his lighter and cigarettes. He walked back over to his closet and grabbed his black coat that had a fur collar. He put it on lazily, after which he put the lighter in his right pocket, and the cigarettes in the other. He then walked closer to his door and put on his black boots that, unlike normal shoes, didn't have the toes showing. Takeshi never really liked those type of shoes, he preferred to keep his toes covered and warm. He then opened and locked the door before walking out of it. He started on his way down the street. As he walked down the street, he pulled his forehead protector from out his pocket. He then proceeded to tie it around his neck and wore it like a necklace like he always did.  He was on his way to the main gate, he was going to meet and an old friend of his. He hadn't seen him in a good five years, and this seemed like a good time of any to meet him again. It was around noon, maybe later, and Takeshi didn't really know if his old friend would show up. There was a good possibility that he had something else that required his attention, he was, like Takeshi, a Jounin now after all. Takeshi knew that Jounin could be called to do just about anything. So they never really had time to just chill out.

Takeshi drew closer to the main gate, as he walked closer to it, he pulled out another cigarette from his pocket and lit it up. He walked up to the Jounin behind the desk who asked what his business was outside the gate. Takeshi stated his business, and there wasn't any problem, so he got to leave. Takeshi walked through the woods, feeling the nostalgia of times past. He walked this same path more than five years ago, though, it seemed like yesterday. He exhaled his breath, releasing a small cloud of gray smoke in the air. He then took the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it on the ground. He then crushed it with his boot and took off into the trees. He sped off through the trees, landing from branch to branch with no problem. He had been doing stuff like this for years, so this was like walking to him now. He was speeding off towards the spot him and his friend agreed upon. He getting closer to the spot and decided to slow down his pace a bit. There wasn't really too much of a point to rushing, though he wasn't sure if he was going to be late. Even though they kind just set a window of time instead of a specific minute to which they should be there. He arrived at the spot, which was a medium sized clearing in the woods, big enough to spar anyway. There was also a lake that was nearby, though it would require going through the woods a bit.

Takeshi didn't see his friend right away, there was also a good possibility that he was just in the woods somewhere. Takeshi decided to jump into the clearing, there he took out another cigarette. He put the cigarette in mouth and lit it up with his lighter, after which he took puff and exhaled. The friend he was meeting was Owydelu, someone he met back at the academy. They sparred a couple of times before, and he was a pretty cool guy. Takeshi took another puff of his cigarette and exhaled. He walked over to a nearby tree and posted up against it. The wind was mildly blowing which was enough to cause the nearby branches to shake their leaves. Takeshi took the cigarette out of his mouth and shook the ash of the end. He didn't know how long he was going to wait until Owydelu came, so he just took the time to chill out for a moment. He listened to the birds above him as they chattered along. He watched the green leaves shake their hips, and the occasional dirt that would get swept away in the wind. Takeshi took another puff and shook the ash off before exhaling.

WC: 1019

Owydelu woke up in the morning in a hard way. The sun kept laying his rays on Owydelu's face, making it impossible to sleep at that time. He wanted to sleep some more, so he turned around, trying to take a quick nap. Suddenly, he got up in a rush. He remembered that he had to do something today: To teach Takeshi the art of Taijutsu, of the Kung Fu. He got to the shower first, trying to get the sleep off his eyes. The shower was not as usual. It was a short and cold shower, that made him wake up his mind, to be prepared for the work. Owydelu knew that he couldn't work while he was asleep. He got out of the shower after a minute or two. He didn't seem like he cared about this kind of things. As a senju, he had to stay always alert, for any enemy that could come in the Hidden Leaf Village. Adding the fact that he was a Jounin was making it a bigger responsability for Owydelu.

After some time, Owydelu got to the kitchen, where he started making something for him to eat. He decided to make him an omlette, but this wasn't enough. After all, he had a hard day up ahead. He had to eat a lot to keep his energy at his biggest streak. For this, he made some peanut-butter jelly with a cup of tea. After ten minutes, Owydelu finished eating. He washed his dishes and then he started dressing-up. This was a really stressful day that was coming onto him. He got out of his house and he locked out the door, this way protecting the house from burglars, thieves and other harms for his house.

The Village was very silently in this morning. Owydelu was walking on the street, trying to get the hang of something, trying to see if he sees something that he can do while he gets in the Small South Forest, near Konohagure, the place where he had to meet with Takeshi, to do his Kung Fu Training, and also teaching him the basics of Taijutsu. Takeshi was a cool guy. He was a member of the Uzumaki Clan. In the past, the Senju Clan and the Uzumaki Clan had a History together. The Senju and Uzumaki clans are distant blood relatives whom they retained strong connections with. For this reason Konoha-nin uniforms have the symbol of Uzushiogakure emblazoned on its shoulders. Hashirama's wife would also come from this clan, further strengthening their ties. Throughout the years, the Senju retained their supremacy over Konoha, and made the village into what it is today. After the First Hokage's death, his younger brother, Tobirama Senju, stepped up to become the Second Hokage.

Although likely not a Senju by blood, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who would become the Third Hokage after the Second's death, was trained by both the First and Second. His successor, Minato Namikaze, was the student of Jiraiya, who was a student of the Third. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, was not only a student of the Third, but also the granddaughter of the First and the grandniece of the Second. All of them strongly held to the Will of Fire philosophy.

Takeshi was exactly was Owydelu was calling "The Balanced Ninja". He wasn't getting too deep in the "Ninja thing", but he also was a Special Jounin that made it this far training. Owydelu had to admit that there isn't anyone that can balance these two things easily. Takeshi knew Fuuinjutsu at It's finest level. He knew how to use the Uzumaki's most fearful techniques and Owydelu had to admit that it wasn't that easy to do this. Takeshi was an old friend that he met back then, at the academy. He was almost the same as he was back then. After some years, Owydelu met Takeshi when they were both Chuunin. They had a fight back then, which Owydelu, using a trap, won. But he knew that Takeshi was able to defeat him too. That was just pure luck, by Owydelu's mind.

After some time, Owydelu got there, in the Small South Forest, the place where those two had to train. When he arrived there, there was no sight of Takeshi. Rushing like that, Owydelu got there too early, so he had to wait like 10 minutes for him to come along too. Owydelu climbed in a tree, trying to meditate a little. Owydelu was feeling now like a leaf in a forest. Even if he did managed to get to the Jounin Rank, he was just another ninja. There was nothing special about him. He had to create some new jutsu to make himself more powerful. Who knows, maybe someday he'll get an ANBU, or maybe, the Kage. Owydelu was sustaining Takeshi as the future Kage. He was wishing that, if the current Hokage would die, Takeshi or his old Sensei Sousetsu, that was also his cousin, could take his place instead.

Suddenly, Owydelu heard the steps of someone that got in the forest. Owydelu opened his eyes, trying to watch closely. It was Takeshi that got there. Takeshi was looking like he had to wait for Owydelu. Suddenly, Owydelu spoke from the tree: "Hey Takeshi! Didn't expect me to get this early, didn't you?" With a rapid hop, Owydelu jumped up high, getting down in a second. He started to walk closer to Takeshi. "How have you been?" asked Owydelu while looking at Takeshi and walking. The sun was laying his rays once again on Owydelu's face. It was just beautiful how the clouds were laying a shadow over the sun's powerful glaze. The ground was filled with the green grass. It was a perfect color to match the trees' powerful glaze and shine. The sky was now giving an illusion to the people, making them thing that the sky was moving instead of the clouds.

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Takeshi was thinking about if he should get a bite to eat later on, he didn't even get a chance to get breakfast this morning. Though, that was his fault, he should have at least got some toast or something. He could hear his stomach having a temper tantrum as the wind caused his hair to move slightly in the wind. The wind was also making the smoke from his cigarette move to the right, in the flow of the wind. Takeshi then heard a loud thump in the nearby area, instead of moving his head to see what it was, he simply moved his eyes left. Looking from out the corner of his eyes, he saw Owydelu, so he closed his eyes and took another breath of smoke from his cigarette. After which he threw it on the ground, stomped on it, and exhaled out of his nose, releasing smoke. He started to walk towards where Owydelu was to meet him half way. He noticed how much Owydelu changed over the years, he looked like a full grown man now, though, that's to be expected. He even grew a beard of sorts, he indeed had grown up. He then heard Owydelu ask him how he was, it didn't take long to find an answer to that though. I'm fine. What about your self. Takeshi said in a calm almost lazy fashion. After giving a moment to let Owydelu answer to his question, he backed a few feet away from Owydelu.

Alright, so what are you going to teach me in Taijutsu. He said in the same manner as before. He started to have flashbacks to went he was at the academy. He hadn't been taught anything since he was little. He never had a sensei, and was never in a squad. He taught himself just about everything he knew about being a shinobi. It wasn't really anything for him to brag about, and in reality he felt like he missed out on a lot. He knew that there wasn't much to be done about it now, so he just had to make up for what he missed. Which was part of the reason on why he accepted the chance to learn taijutsu. He knew Owydelu had some experience in the art, so he took this as a chance to make up some lost time. Even if he didn't seem like it, he was very grateful that Owydelu agreed to help him on this subject. Takeshi waited for Owydelu to explain what his intensions were.

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Owydelu was waiting for Takeshi to respond at his questions, when he finally heard him saying:I'm fine. What about your self. Takeshi said in a calm almost lazy fashion. "I'm fine Take! I just finished my morning stuff that I needed to do and I actually trought that It would be nice for me to come by and say hi earlier!"  After giving a moment to let Owydelu answer to his question, he backed a few feet away from Owydelu.
Alright, so what are you going to teach me in Taijutsu. He said in the same manner as before.
Owydelu was now face to face with Takeshi. Owydelu wanted to show his intentions from the start, but Takeshi was looking like he was deep thinking about something, somthing that happened in the past. Maybe he this meeting reminded Takeshi from when the two of them were just some little kids at the academy. Back then, they didn't care about how powerful they were or how many jutsu they knew. They were just the most beautiful days, or how every ninja likes to call it, the golden days. These were the days when they didn't care about nothing and they were just sitting around, having fun all day and playing "Ninja".

Then, after some years from the Academy graduation, Owydelu and Takeshi met in a friendly spar that they had. The winner was not important, the real thing was that they were some powerful Chuunin back then, that really made it to there. Not everyone can cling that far from the genin path. Now, after five years from that fight, they really got far. Owydelu was now a powerful and respectable Jounin and Takeshi, the best Uzumaki member in Konohagure. Now they had to do an important training for Takeshi. He needed this to make his way trough the people who might discourage him from the good work he's doing as a ninja. With a silent voice, suddenly, Owydelu said: "Now that we're all good, let's take to the serious things! You're here to train in the art of taijuts, being more specific in the art of Kung Fu, the legendary fighting style that the Shaolins were using! Now for the start, we'll have a taijutsu, hand to hand fight! You start attacking me and I'll try to defend myself! Then we'll switch places, is it good with you?" Owydelu was now waiting for the response of Takeshi and if it was a pozitive one, he was also waiting for him to start attacking.

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Standing at his spot as he waited for Owydelu to tell him exactly what he was training in, he got the urge to pull out a smoke. He had started smoking a couple of years ago after he met somebody who taught him the basics of the fire element. He was a Sarutobi by the name of Yamato, so he was pretty much the best person he could have gone to. Yamato would smoke all the time, but he would say that he's not addicted in any way. It just helped him work out some of his stress, that and the company of a nice lady every now and then. In a way, maybe Yamato was like a sensei to Takeshi. Takeshi even had some of the habits Yamato had, smoking being one of them. So like Yamato, Takeshi wasn't addicted to smoking, it just helped his stress, and like Yamato, he enjoyed the company of a pretty lady every now and then. Takeshi noticed after a while that he was drifting off into space, though only a few seconds had passed since then. He heard Owydelu his explanation on what he was teaching Takeshi today. "Now that we're all good, let's take to the serious things! You're here to train in the art of taijuts, being more specific in the art of Kung Fu, the legendary fighting style that the Shaolins were using! Now for the start, we'll have a taijutsu, hand to hand fight! You start attacking me and I'll try to defend myself! Then we'll switch places, is it good with you?"

Kung fu huh? Well that sounds different. I have never even thought about using such a style. Takeshi took a breath and took that time to think about if he should say anything else. If I had to say anything else, I would want to say thanks for teaching me man. I'll make it up to you some day. In the mean time, lets get started shall we? With that, Takeshi ran up to Owydelu at a slower pace. Since this wasn't really a heads up spar, Takeshi didn't feel the need to go all out in any way shape or form. He drew back his right arm for a punch, though he didn't pull it back all the way. Takeshi found it somewhat hard to try his hardest in doing something like this for the first time. The more he thought about it, the more he thought about the academy and all that. So he stopped in his tracks and looked at Owydelu. I don't mean any disrespect, but is there any other way to do this? I mean, it seems a little odd doing it like this. Takeshi looked at Owydelu and waited for his answer. He hoped he didn't offend Owydelu by just stopping the way he did. But in his mind, it didn't feel right just running up with a punch. It all felt so stiff, and all planned. Takeshi hasn't seen Owydelu in years and all they say to each other is alright hit me? That didn't seem right.

WC: 1963