The Desire to Protect Breeds Strength

[Rain21199]

It was a warm Summer morning. The sun slipped above the crescent of the horizon, and the air was filled to the brim with silence. Nobody would dare awake this early in the day, but still Zakuro wandered to outskirts of the village he called home. He finally decided that now was the time to do something about his strength. Whenever he tried, Zakuro couldn't win a fight. Through his time as a Genin of the hidden leaf, Zakuro had sparred with multiple opponents, but not once was he able to be victorious. He could never call himself a winner, but that would end today. Zakuro would come home a stronger man or he wouldn't come home at all.

His feet touched the field that he had gotten used to. This was far from being a strange place for Zakuro. This was the training grounds he used quite often and now was another chance to use it. Ripping off the overcoat that he always wore, Zakuro revealed the fishnet shirt that lay underneath, hidden by his clothes. The beautiful weather that surrounded the village was soon to change into a burning hell after Zakuro would get worked up and he knew, so he decided to strip now instead of later when it would be too late. Now was the time to get started.

Zakuro dropped to the ground in front of him. His hands laid perpendicular to the soft grass beneath him. Using the small amount of strength Zakuro possessed, he began to push himself off of the ground with nothing but his arms. One after another Zakuro did push ups. It wasn't long before his arms began to ache, but he knew he couldn't give up. This was what would make him a stronger person. He had to keep forcing his body up, and he wasn't going to stop until his arms fell off. The sun slowly rose in the distance, heating Zakuro's body as he continued the push ups. One by one beads of sweat dripped down his face. At first they appear slowly, but once Zakuro reached the triple digits of pushups, the sweat just poured from him. His body was heating up, and the blaring sun had started doing it's job in creating heat as well. It wasn't long until Zakuro's arms could go anymore. He simply couldn't force himself back up.

Laying on the ground with his head to the grass, Zakuro took a short break and cooled down. He was getting ready for the next part of his little exercise. Once the cascade of sweat stopped, he slowly raised to his feet. His arms limp at his side, Zakuro trotted to a large stone that laid in the grass. It's gray surface shown orange in the reflection of the raising sun. Zakuro's weakened arms wrapped around the rock as if he was giving it a hug. The stone was far to big for Zakuro's arms to fully reach around, but he still tried to pick it up. As he lifted, the veins in his neck seemed to pop out. His whole face turned red, but slowly and surely the rock raised up. With the last of his arms waning strength, Zakuro forced the rock onto his upper back. There the oversized boulder sat against his back and neck, and was kept still by his arms.

Once the rock sat upon Zakuro like he was a throne, Zakuro started moving as fast as he could towards the other side of the field, which was just a slow walk. Straining under the weight, Zakuro's legs strained with pain. He had seen others carry loads of a similar size and weight, but he had never actually known how much strength was require for those tasks. It wasn't until now that he knew. The weight of the rock slowly forced him down towards the ground, but with every step his legs raised him up towards the sky. This balance of the weight crushing him and his legs lifting him was what allowed him to keep going until the end of the walk. If anyone were to walk in on this sight they would be nothing but confused as to why this kid was carrying a rock around in an abandoned field. Zakuro's feet slowly moved towards his goal, one after another. Ever step had become an excruciatingly painful task, but it was a task he had been determined to complete. Every time he inched forward, he felt more compelled to keep going. Nothing could stop him now, even if his legs gave out he would crawl to the other side of the clearing. His feet finally touched the edge of the forest.

With relief, Zakuro through the rock off his back. When he straightened his back, Zakuro cried in pain. Obviously no one is supposed to keep there back bent with that much weight on it for that long because his back was burning with pain. Although he had finished his goal, Zakuro's training was far from over.

Strength Training
836/800
Complete