01. Don't call me 'Princess'.

It was a quiet morning in Konoha.

The sun was just starting to rise and the birds had just started chirping; filling the village air with their song. Many of the citizens had yet to rise from bed, while the local merchants were organizing their goods and getting ready for the morning market rush.

It was a peaceful morning in the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

One woman, the matriarch of the Senju clan, was among those awake and running around the kitchen, while trying to get ready for the morning. Breakfast needed to be cooked, the tables set, and everything double, maybe triple checked before she sent her family on their way for the day.

Humming a happy tune and some pep to her step, Sayuri continued making breakfast for her family and went over a mental list of things her child would need for the academy. Graduation exams were the following day, but Sayuri wasn't worried because she knew her child would ace them.

Upstairs, the child in question woke to the sound of birds chirping outside her window. Twelve year old Minako rolled onto her back and tried to remember the dream she had. It had been a good dream. It had been about her graduating; the only thing on her mind since last week announcements.

Putting the dream from her mind in place of the excitement the day will bring, she stretched a little and got out of bed before making her way to the bathroom across the hall.

A morning person like her mother, Minako only looked slightly tired as she fished around in the medicine cabinet for her toothbrush. As she started brushing her teeth, she got a good look at her appearance. Her hair - an orange brown chestnut color - was a mess; it stuck out in clumps all over her head.

When she had been younger and just started at the academy, her hair fell to her shoulders. In the five years between then and now, it grew to the point it went to her upper thighs.

Unlike a pinkette and blonde she grew to know, Minako didn't vie for a boy and grow out her hair in hopes of impressing him. She did it for her mother, who on many occasions, told her how proud she is that Minako took after her in looks, as opposed to her father.

Minako ran a brush through her hair and styled it in a braided half do, letting the rest hang down her back, with chin length bangs framing her face and a single lock to fall between her eyebrows.

After finishing up in the bathroom, she returned to her room.

Minako walked over to her closet and pulled out a hanger with her clothes on it. This consisted of a simple, sleeveless, red kimono top worn over a short sleeved mesh shirt, bound by a black obi and brown ties, and black form fitting pants. Her black ankle length, open toe boots were in their usual spot at the *genkan.

'Yeah, I look awesome.' Minako gave a quick twirl in front of the mirror, smiled and winked at her reflection. 'At least it's not what great grandpa wore -'

"Minako!" her mother called from downstairs. "You don't want to be late, now do you?"

"No mother! I'm coming!"

Minako turned her attention back to the photo of her great grandfather and great grandmother that sat on a small circular glass table beside her mirror. Every morning, before she leaves to begin her day, Minako always paid respects to her great grandparents; Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki, respectively.

Minako always thought of her great grandma to be a very beautiful woman and so gentle, standing there beside great grandpa in his traditional Senju robes; one hand on his forearm and smiling up at him.

She held out her hand and there, in the center of her palm, a small, pink and white lotus bloomed; that Minako sat at the base of the picture frame. "Well, I'm off now." She told them, her palms now pressed in a namaste gesture. "I'll make you proud, the both of you."

That is all she said before walking out of the room, down the stairs and in to the kitchen.

____

"Minako. Good morning dear! Can you set the table for me please?" Her mother asked as she entered the room.

"Good morning mother," Minako took the plates sitting on the island countertop. "and certainly." Sayuri smiled over her shoulder at Minako, watching as she went about the task.

"Do you have everything packed?" Sayuri asked her daughter. "Books, scrolls, homework?"

"I got everything prepared yesterday," Minako paused to hand her father, who joined them and sat down at the dining room table, his cup of tea. "my bag is hanging on the hook in the *genkan. I'll grab it on the way out."

"Good, I wanted to make sure you had everything." Sayuri let out an excited yell, somewhat startling Minako. "Tomorrow are the graduation exams. I was so nervous when I took them, but in the end, it all turned out okay. What about you? Are you excited?" She asked with a large grin.

"Yeah." After setting the table, Minako joined her mother in the kitchen to talk while she cooked. Occasionally, she went back and forth from the kitchen to the dining room with trays of food. "I can't wait. I just want it to be over and us in our squads already."

At the academy, the instructors sometimes teamed them up in some cases, such as shinobi sparring, to determine team dynamics and see first hand, who works best with who. Minako wouldn't mind being put in the same squad as Naruto (assuming he even passed the exams), they were friends after all, even if her other friends didn't understand why they were.

Sayuri smirked. "You've been waiting five years. Another day or two won't kill you."

"True there."

Minako joined her father at the table, her mother joined shortly after carrying a tray of toast, jam and tea. Daiki ate his yogurt as he worked on a mission report he needed to file.

"You know, I noticed Sakura doesn't hang out here anymore. Why is that?" Her mother asked, breaking the silence between them. "Weren't you and Ino her friends?"

Daiki looked up at the question.

Minako remembered the day she met Sakura Haruno, a month after they started the academy. She and Ino were walking home from the academy and took a shortcut through the park, that's when they heard what sounded like someone crying. Of course, they decided to investigate and that's where they met Sakura.

In Minako's opinion, Sakura looked pitiful sitting there beside the swings with her bangs covering her face, knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around.

They heard from the other girls in their kunoichi class about the girl with the billboard brow. 'Billboard brow' that's the nickname the other girls, Ami and her gang included, all dubbed Sakura.

Ino explained to Sakura that by hiding her forehead behind bangs, she is proving to the girls that she's sensitive about it and they'll only tease her more. Minako encouraged Sakura to embrace her forehead and the cuter aspects of her face, not hide them behind her bangs, and to that end, Ino gave her a red ribbon to tie back her hair with.

That is how their friendship got started. Until four years ago..

"Not anymore, mother." Minako answered, buttering the toast on her plate and added some of her mother's homemade strawberry jam on top of that. "Sakura decided keeping her friends weren't nearly as important as earning the affections of a boy. A boy, might I add, that don't even know she exists."

She bit down with a huff and chewed angrily.

"So, uh, who's the boy?" Daiki asked.

"Sasuke Uchiha," Minako let out a very unladylike snort. Like she'd ever see him like Ino and the other girls do. As if. "The academy dreamboat."

'Dreamboat?' thought Minako. 'More like, I'm too cool to know you.'

"D-Dreamboat?" Daiki's mouth fell open.

"Ino's choice of words, not mine."

"Ah."

"And you are letting a boy come between your friendship?" Sayuri asked.

"Ino and I are still friends. We hang out during lunch, sometimes sit together during class and all that. Sakura's the one being a total dumb ass about the whole deal. When she finally wakes up, that is when I'll start talking to her again, and I don't see that happening anytime in the near future."

"I'm sure you'll work things out."

"Your father is right," Sayuri frowned in disapproval of Minako's choice of words. "Anyway, eat your breakfast, you don't want to be late for the academy."

"Yes Mother."

____

"See guys you later!" Minako called out, slipping her bento box inside of her white and floral print satchel, then adjusted the strap so the bag hung comfortably and left the house through the front sliding door. Sayuri, when she found out she were to have a daughter, went nuts; buying clothes and hair accessories in shades of pastel, neutrals and some in floral print.

At the end of the stone walkway, marking the sole entry and exit point of the Senju family residence, stood a wooden archway; styled like torii, and flanked on both sides by a hedge wall that wrap around the entire property. On one side of the yard, a medium-sized pond surrounded by stones and plant life with a dragon fountain in the center. Sayuri's prized fish lived inside; twin koi named Osu and Hiku. Osu, the male koi, had a white body with a black spot on its head. Hiku, the female koi, had a black body with a white spot on its head.

They swam in circles, around and around each other, leaping out of the water in arches, and going through the tunnel of the island in the center; the same island the fountain sat upon.

Minako passed through the arch and turned to stare up at the small green flag that waved in the breeze; from the top of the lookout tower of her house. On the flag, the Senju symbol had been etched in black.

"The Vajra," Minako smiled warmly. "a symbol that represents both indestructible and irresistible force. I promise to one day embody the meaning of the Senju crest." She spoke out loud, more to herself than to anyone in particular. It's a promise she's been making for the past five years since starting the academy.

She continued on her way.

Minako wanted, more than anything, to make her family proud and to live up to the reputation the Senju were known for. The Senju clan had been, at one time, a large and prominent clan in Konohagakure responsible for the creation of the village. While not as large as they used to be; like the Hyūga, Sarutobi or Aburame clans still thriving, that didn't mean anything. The Senju still live on in the hearts of every villager who believed in the 'Will of Fire' and called Konohagakure their home.

The villagers all expected great things from Minako, it showed whenever they stopped to stare, to point her out and to talk to her. Hashirama Senju, her great grandfather did great things in his lifetime, having built the foundation of the village and Tobirama, her great granduncle, took it a step further. He implemented the institutions that made a hidden shinobi village work. Tsunade, her aunt, is a medic ninja and after the second shinobi war, she became a legendary ninja in her own right.

As she continued to walk towards the academy, Minako took a moment to observe her surroundings. Much of it remained just the same as she read in A History of Shinobi: From The Era of Warring States to The First Hidden Village and Sign of the Times: The Shinobi ​​​​​​World Wars Vol 1-3.

She loved to read; with history and world geography being her favorites.

Civilians and ninjas alike walked around, gathering together outside the shops, laughing and chatting amongst themselves peacefully. The places and people may not be the same as decades past, but Minako often envisioned her great grandfather walking the streets.

Sometimes, it still shocked her that these very streets used to be a battlefield.

"Hey Princess! Hey!" A familiar female voice called out, stopping Minako in her tracks. Turning around, Minako saw a girl with blonde hair and blue eyes running up to her; one hand in the air and a smile upon her face.

"Ino! Good morning." Minako waved, watching as Ino ran up, did a full circle around and gave a friendly shoulder bump before settling in step beside her.

"Morning," Ino giggled. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"You didn't." Minako shook her head and gave a pout. "We're friends, aren't we? Then you don't have to keep calling me 'Princess'. The villagers call me that because my clan are the founders of the village and I'm related to the first two Hokages."

"I know, but it still feels right to."

Minako rolled her eyes. "Maybe.. but, if I'm going to be called by any honorifics, I at least want it to be something I actually earned. Not something I have because of my blood relations or whatever. Anyway, let's go before we're late and Iruka has a huge cow behind it."

Ino nodded, smiling. "Okay."

*** ***

WotD (Word of the Day):

Genkan are traditional Japanese entryway areas for a house, apartment, or building — something of a combination of a porch and a doormat. It is usually located inside the building directly in front of the door.