On These Shoulders

[Arion]

“I wonder what father could want?” Katashi asked himself as he headed to his father’s house. Not just the house, to the backyard. His father had sent a letter to him, calling him to meet him back there on this day. Katashi couldn’t exactly fight it, but decided to go ahead either ways. He was somewhat curious and when he got there, got even more curious.

“Glad you made it,” The man said upon seeing his son, “You could have been here a little sooner though.”

“Sorry, wasn’t sure about this,” He replied as he looked around. Right off the bat, he noticed four wooden figures in the shape of people. They were placed as if to make a square with each of them making a corner. “So what’s going on?” He asked.

“Your training today, that’s what.”

“Huh?” Katashi was surprised. It had been a while since he trained with his father and he was glad. His father’s sessions tended to be more physically demanding, so he preferred to train with the elder Hyuuga man as he had been doing so recently.

“Like you heard,” His father stated, “We’re going to work on your stamina.”

“Stamina training?”

“Yes, and I’m not going to go slow because this isn’t meant to be slow. Are you ready?”

“Uh… sure,” Katashi replied, though he didn’t quite feel ready.

“Good, now run around the four dummies over. 10 laps should do to warm you up.”

“…” Without a word, Katashi started running. He took a brisk, cool pace, to which his father quickly made note of.

“Faster!” He shouted, “ I want you to run, not walk! Better make it 15 laps now too!”

“Ugh!” Katashi grunted as he picked up his pace and burst into a full sprint. He breezed through the first 8 laps and did well with the next four. The last three proved a bit tiring as he came to a stop after the 15th lap. It certainly took it’s toll on him, but he was far from calling it quits. “What now?” He asked, soon regretting he had.

“Now you hit the dummies around you.” He ordered. With the order given, Katashi quickly took a defensive stance and then moved up to the nearest dummy. Before he could launch a strike, his father interrupted him. “Hold up,” He called out. “Not just anything. This exercise is meant to press your limits, your stamina, and force you to use more. You’ll develop more stamina, but your going to do this as I say. For starters, your going to strike the dummies using only strikes that involve the arms. Fists, chops, even elbows, anything with your arms. I want you to strike a dummy with two hits and then move to another one and do the same to that one. You’ll hit them all and then again for a second set. Now you can start.”

Katashi shook his head after hearing the instructions. His father had an odd way of doing things. There was little to nothing he could do to complain about it, just do it. Already at the first dummy, he struck it with his right elbow and then a palm strike with his left hand straight to it’s chest. Dashing over to the next dummy, this one he struck with a left handed chop on the shoulder and a straight punch to the face with his right hand. Now he ran to the third dummy, this one he hit with a straight left punch to the chest and a chop to the side of the face with his right hand. He came to the last dummy and struck it his left elbow in the face and then gave it an uppercut with his right hand. With all of them hit, he went back to the first one and resumed the exercise per his father’s orders. He hit them all with the same moves and locations, his father didn’t object. Once done, he turned to face his father, awaiting further instructions.

“Good,” His father told him, though he just said it and not meant it. “You can probably imagine what you’ll do now. Your going to do the same thing, except that you’ll be using your legs instead now. Get started.”

Katashi sighed out, but ran to the first dummy nonetheless. He started with a swift kick to the side with his right leg and the same with his left, hitting it on the other side. Racing for the second dummy, he kept it simple and did a set of two front kicks, one with each leg. His legs were tired now, so his pace towards the third dummy was a bit slow. When he did reach it, he decided to deliver two knee strikes to it instead of using his legs fully. This was noted by his father as the boy jogged to the last dummy.

“I want you to kick this one on the head,” He told his son as he watched. Katashi looked over in disbelief, but his father remained firm. Sighing out, the boy took a step back and launched his first kick. Success! He stepped back and launched a second kick, this one only hitting the shoulder. He quickly backed up and tried again, landing the blow this time around. Shaking his head, he took a slow pace back to the very first dummy in order to resume the exercise once more. He took a bit longer the second time around since he was beginning to tire from the ordeal his father was putting him through. Once complete, he turned to face his father as he tried to keep standing up straight.

“Now your going to do run around those dummies again.”

“Again?”

“Yes, again. Your going to do it with something extra though,” The Hyuuga said as he pointed to several logs by the side. There was two sets of rope close by as well, obviously all set up by the man. “I got small ones, only about 40 pounds. Pick one up and run ten laps around the dummies with it.”

“Seriously now, what’s the point in all of this?” The boy asked, tired of the exercises.

“Stamina, endurance, speed, take your pick. This is all to put you in good physical performance. Now quit your whining and pick the log up or do you want to get to Chunin all wimpy and easily tired?”

“Ugh!” Tossing his hands in the air, the boy made his way to the logs. Taking one and lifting it up on his shoulder, he started what he considered the longest ten laps in his life. It was obvious his speed was cut down, he was carrying a log, but he didn’t linger about. He tried his best to run with the log and not show too much exhaustion or weakness to his father. By the seventh lap though, he was ready to set the log aside, but his father clapped out loud in order to call his attention. It worked, because the boy adjusted the log and kept running. Reaching the final lap, he tossed the log aside and hoped he would never have to pick up a piece of wood again.

“The log carrying is a good exercise,” The man explained, “When lugging heavy objects, your core is immediately called into action to stabilize your entire body. A conditioning exercise if you will, you still need it because if you can’t carry that 40 pound piece of wood, how can you expect to carry an injured teammate?”

Katashi had no response to the question. The man was right. He needed to be strong, not just for himself. He was a bit irritated with all the starting exercises though.

“Then why all that stuff earlier? The laps, strikes, kicks?” He questioned.

“To warm you up, that simple,” The man bluntly replied, “Now for the final exercise today. Your going to run another ten laps, this time with two logs. Before you complain, keep in mind what I told you.”

Katashi didn’t even ushered his mouth open. He shook his head as he walked back over to the location of the logs and rope. This time, his father walked over to the location as well. He assisted his son, the young Hyuuga, to tie the logs into a backpack type manner, one stacked atop the other. Katashi took the loose ends of the rope and stood up, the logs on his back.

“Don’t go too slow,” His father added as Katashi begun his trek. The boy was now carrying weight that almost equaled his own. He was tired by now, as was expected by his father, but something kept the boy moving. It wasn’t what his father told him. No. It was what the other Hyuuga elder told him, about the mission he was on. He remembered when he told him his story, that he rescued two of his teammates. The man must have been in excellent condition in his younger years. Katashi thought of that and himself and thought he was considerably weak. How could he expect to become a great shinobi when he can’t even shoulder two pieces of wood? As he kept contemplating the thought, he didn’t realize he was already four laps into the exercise.

The boy was growing weary, his pace slowing down. His legs were a bit shaky as he reached the fifth lap. He was only half way through and was beginning to question how the hell he was going to finish. He couldn’t. He wasn’t as great as his father or the other elder Hyuuga. He was just a boy whom was simply put, not in the best conditions. Was it really time to call it quits, even having come this far?

“They need you,” A voice told him. He looked around and saw his father looking out at him. He wasn’t sure what it was about, but he definitely got the message. He couldn’t give up. If he were on the field, if these logs were injured allies, how could he even think of giving up? He couldn’t stop. No. He picked up his pace, shaky legs and all, and continued. He wasn’t running anymore, he didn’t have the strength for that. He was merely power walking now. Despite this, he refused to stop. It was as if his strengths had been renewed. He powered his way through three more laps, only two more to go. Two more… there was no stopping for him. His eyes were set forward as his father looked on in approval.