~Sachiko's Training Sessions~

Lately Sachiko, a tiny academy student, had been pondering about the training weights her Sensei had given to her a little over three days ago. Despite what her Sensei had said, the weights weren't getting any lighter! In fact, if anything, the girl felt more weary and cramped than anything. W

Worried about her lack of progress, the young girl hurredly went to her mother who was in the spacious and lush backyard practicing throwing kunais at the ginormous oak tree they possessed and voiced her fears to her. Her mommy was an experienced ninja who doubtlessely had prior knowledge about training weights and would have the answer to her problem!

The woman had laughed and said, "Silly Sachiko, you must be patient and train hard for the weights to work. If you stay in bed all day, those weights won't get any lighter! You have to run, jump, do push- ups, sit- ups, anything really! Just do what you normally do, except with the training weights on."

"Ok, Mommy," Sachiko had replied happily, grinning while thanking the woman profusely, elicting a chuckle form her normally serious mother.

In present time, Sachiko was currently stretching herself in preparation for the vigorous running excercise she was going to perform in order to get stronger. She would run laps around the (admittedly) large courtyard as many times as she was capable of doing everyday as long as she wears the weights to get faster... and stronger!

After several minutes of stretching passed, Sachiko began to slowly stand from the soft lime- green grass that glistened in the setting sun, and took off, pacing herself. She had learned long ago to not sprint at the beginning of a run, otherwise she would tire herself out faster.

Keeping a steady pace, Sachiko completed her fist lap around the courtyard and grinned in triumph, continuing to run.

Minutes later and she finished her second lap with an surprising amount of ease.

The third lap was a bit more difficult and she was beginning to pant a little, but the young girl pushed herself onward stubbornly, refusing to give in. She was usually able to do five laps around the courtyard without hesitaion, but the training weights were weighing her down. If she took them off, however... NO! She shouldn't think like that!

The fourth lap proved to be a harder than any of the previous ones, the girl was beginning to wheeze for breathe but she ignored her body's protest and continued to jog, speeding up a little.

After several momments passed, the girl completed her fifth lap and was beginning to feel the strain of the weights on her leg muscles while panting heavily, but the headstrong girl continued onwards, menatally setting her goal to another five laps around the courtyard until she can finally relax.

Sachiko slowed her pace to a power walk for her sixth lap, not wanting to over- exert her body too much. She finally caught her breathe after several minutes of walking, and grinned triumphantly.

She continued her power- walking pace for the seventh lap as well as the eighth before finally picking up her speed again for the ninth lap into a quick sprint.

Panting heavily, her muscles screaming in pain the girl successfully completed her ninth lap before continuing onto her tenth and final lap, grinning widely in happiness. She would make it!

After the girl successfully completed her final lap, she promptly flopped onto the grass and groaned loudly, her muscles aching wildly. Now she just had to stretch so her muscles wouldn't freeze up on her. The girl let out a weary smile of contentment; she had achieved her goal.

Word Count: 614 (Speed and Stamina)

Approved, +3 stats. +3 JP.

Distribute them between speed and stamina however you wish.

For the past week and a half of doing the running excercise Sachiko had slowly but steadily begun to notice a decrease in the amount of strain her muscles had with the weights. This particular thought caused the young academy student to break out in a wide grin filled with happiness. and pride. She was, without a doubt, getting stronger and faster with each passing day.

The young girl was abruptly jolted from her musings from the loud voice of an academy teacher who possessed chestnut brown hair and almond colored eyes saying, "Alright, class, today we're going to have a race! Now listen up, children, in this race you have to do fifteen laps around the courtyard. Every time you complete a lap, I will give you a blue stick. You have until the end of today to finish this task. Any questions?"

Silence reigned for several moments before a young boy with raven black hair raised his hand high in the air.

"Yes, Mr. ----------?" the academy teacher inquired kindly, smiling.

"Sir, do we have to run ALL the laps? I mean, some of us won't be able to do that!" the boy proclaimed incrredously, elicting a chuckle from the academy teacher.

"Good heavens, of course not! You could power- walk the entire thing if you really wanted to!" the man laughed heartily before stopping and then giving each and everyone of his students a stern glare. "I expect each and everyone of you to do your best on this course as it affects your grade!"

"No fair!" a female student with long hazel nut brown hair called out angrily, hissing,

"The ones who can't run that fast get a bad grade while the fast ones get a good graade!"

"Quiet, Miss --------! If you wish to ask a question you must raise your hand first!" the teacher reprimanded sternly, giving the rude girl a (scary) glare before releasing a small smile and saying, "And no, you will NOT be judged by how fast you are, but by how much effort you put into the race."

This response seemed to alleviete the remaining tension in the atmosphere, causing Sachiko to rise from her seat and release a cheer of, "We can SO do this!"

This little outburst caused the teacher to give Sachiko an angry glare which in turn made the young girl flush sheepishly and hurriedly sit back in her comfortable seat placed near the back of the small classroom.

"Now, if there aren't any more OUTBURSTS," the teacher started, throwing Sachiko a pointed glare, "You can go in the courtyard and begin the race."
The majority of the children hurried outside to begin their laps, Sachiko being among them. The young girl quickly dashed outside, grinning widely. For some reason, the young girl had a feeling she would be the winner of this race. Maybe it had to do with the fact that I've been doing this with weights? the child thought to herself smugly, smirking inwardly.

Once Sachiko reached the spacious courtyard, she began a quick series of stretches to loosen her muscles before standing up from the soft grass and beginning to steadily run her fifteen laps.

The first lap was, in Sachiko's opinion, just plain EASY. She had completed her first lap within a few minutes, earining a small encouraging smile from her Sensei along with a saphire blue stick, causing the girl to grin widely and thanking the teacher.
She completed the second lap with practiced ease, earning another saphire blue stick from her sensei.

By her third lap Sachiko noticed that a couple of the other students around her were beginning to tire. Regardless of this, she continued to run and earned yet another saphire blue stick from her Sensei, who appeared to be a bit surprised Sachiko was completeing the laps so quickly. The young girl inwardly smiled in triumph at this response.

Her fouth lap was passed with ease and she earned yet another saphire blue stick from her Sensei, who by now, was accepting of the speed at which the red- headed girl was finishing the laps in. She noted by this time that the same weary looking students of the previous lap were now power- walkling.

On her fifth lap, Sachiko noticed that she was beginning to notice some symptoms of fatigue of several other students around her such as panting, wheezing, and gasping for air. The young girl merely passed by these students, continuing to jog at a steady pace that elicted another saphire blue stick from her Sensei.

Sachiko noted that on her sixth lap the majority of the students were power- walking and that a few of the students who continued to run appeared to be quite weary, causing the young girl to feel a wave of sympathy for them. She remembered how tired she was the very first time running a set amount of laps. She earned another saphire blue stick from her Sensei before continuing onwards.

By her seventh lap Sachiko began to feel slightly strained but continued to run at her steady pace, grinning as she received yet another saphire blue stick from her Sensei.

Her eighth lap Sachiko noticed that the weary looking children were now running again, causing the young girl to smile happily, proud of her fellow classmates' determination. She also noticed that it became a bit difficult to breathe for air, but the headstrong child continued to run steadily, earning another saphire blue stick.

The ninth lap was somewhat of a challenge to the red- haired girl as she began to feel her muscles protest against her along with her lungs starting to feel as if they were on fire. Regardless of this, however, the stubborn girl continued to run the lap and successfully completed it, earning another saphire blue stick from her Sensei.

The young girl's tenth lap was very difficult. Her lungs began to feel as if they were burning slowly with fire and her breathing grew ragged, but she refused to give in and power- walk. Five more laps to go, the stubborn girl thought as her teacher handed her a saphire blue stick for he pain. She was too focused on the task at hand that she didn't notice anything particular with her fellow classmates.

Sachiko's eleventh lap was sheer torture. Her lungs felt as if they were about to burst and she was literally gasping for air, but she refused to slow her pace. I'll go one more lap before power- walking! the girl thought with conviction, her eyes flashing in detemination as her teacher gave her yet another stick.

Her final running lap was her greatest challenge yet. The pain was unbearable. Her feet ached, her lungs felt like a mix between burning slowly and bursting at exertion, her heart pounded like a hammer in her chest, and she literally was battling to catch her breath as she continued to run at that steady pace of hers. Once she finally completed the lap and earned a saphire blue stick, she let out a sigh of utter relief.

The final three laps she power- walked before before she shoved the bundle of blue sticks in the academy teacher's hand, plopping on the grass with a groan. The girl smiled in a nostalgic fashion, remembering her first time training with the weights on. She released a small, weary chuckle and closed her eyes in content. All she had to do now was stretch so her muscles wouldn't freeze up.

Word Count: 1,250 (Speed and Stamina)

Approved for +6 Stats (Split between Speed and Stamina) and +6 JP

Training Session: Chakra Control
Word Count: 1.075

One warm and humid day in the Village of the Leaf, where the sun shone radiantly through the crystal blue sky, a small female academy student with fiery red hair and sky blue eyes dashed as quickly as a lightening bolt to her school, passing by several irritable civilians along the way.

"Hey, watch it, kid!" a man with a poofy midnight black afro yelled angrily, causing the girl to slow her pace down considerably and look, her eyes apologetic.

"Sorry, old man, but I'm in a hurry!" she called out loudly as she picked up her pace again, leaving a shocked (and then fuming) man behind.
After several minutes of running on the worn dirt road, a large snow- white building began to appear over the horizon with the pitch black words: Konoha's Ninja Academy enscribed on a small sign that promptly sat in front of the friendly building. At this sight, the girl released a grinas bright and radiant as the sun , speeding up her pace a little.

Five weeks had passed since the race transpired and Sachiko had noticed that she barely felt the strain of the weights anymore. She inwardly smiled with pride. There was no doubt that she was much stronger and faster than she had been a couple of weeks ago-- in fact, the young academy student had added ten more laps to her training regimen, making the total number of laps she had to do be twenty. An impressive feat for a mere academy student, if she did say so herself.

The girl burst throug the wooden doors of her classroom and yelled out, "Sorry I'm a little late, Sensei!"

This sentence caused many of the children to shift their attention from the teacher to the young girl, chuckling pitying her, or outright laughing at her predicament. Their Sensei HATED it when people were tardy to class for any reason at all-- in fact, Sachiko highly doubted if she were dying and was late to class that he would let up on her and not give her a lecture on how being late can be deadly to a ninja even though she was already DYING.

"Sachiko! You have detention for being late to class!" the teacher stated furiously, his face flushed with anger as his chocolate- brown eyes flashed angrily.
Sachiko groaned before mumbling a soft 'yes sir' and striding to her seat near the front of the classroom and plopping down into it. According to the dry- erase board, it appeared that they would be learning about chakra today... cool! She hung onto her teacher's each and every word concerning the lesson.

"Well, children, chakra is the manifestation of life energy a ninja uses in jutsu and the source of all their power. There are two different forms of chakra: Physical and Spiritual. Physical Energy consists of all the cells of the body working together, while Spiritual Energy is the source of primal energy developed through experience and training. Every jutsu requires both energies to work in different ratios. The handsigns we use in jutsu assist in focusing the chakra and helping us unleash it and manipulate it as well," the teacher explained, simpifying the explanation for the children's benefit.

A child with sunshine blonde hair, pitch black eyes along with glasses, and a pair of pink goggles adorning her head raised her hand high in the air.

"Yes, Miss ---------?" the teacher asked curiously to his student, smiling gently.

"Sensei, can we try calling out our chakra since we've never tried it before?" the girl asked eagerly, causing some of the other students (including Sachiko) to fill with excitement and trepidition.

"Of course, Miss ---------! Why don't you all try right now? Close your eyes and hold out your hand! Concentrate on your body and calm yourself! Do you feel the flow of something inside there? If so, try and gather a bit of that flow in the palm of your hand! Don't give up or become frustrated if it doesn't work on your first try; it may come easier to some of you than others. That is because you have a little less chakra than your fellow classmates and therefore can control it better," the teacher explained patiently, a small smile adorning his face as he watched his students' eyes close and hold out there palms, focusing on their chakra.

Throughout the teacher's explanation Sachiko had scrunched up her face in concentraion, closing her sky blue eyes and holding out her palm. She tried focusing on the natural flow of chakra in her body, but it was quite difficult. As soon as she felt it (which was after a minimum of ten minutes had passed) the girl attemtped to gather it in her palms, failling miserably the first time. This caused the headstrong girl to frown, but try again, refusing to give up. She attempted to again, failing. Angered by this, she tried again, refusing to give in.

She failed yet again.

For several minutes the following cycle resumed faithfully: feel chakra, gather it in palms, fail.
Man, this is so hard! Sachiko thought sadly, but then continued in determination, But there's no way in this world I'm giving up! I'll just keep trying until I get it!

Suddenly, after many minutes passed, she finally felt the chakra tingle on the top of her palms. She snapped her sky- blue eyes open hurriedly and gazed at her palm, seeing a blood red sheen of something on top of her palm.

The girl grinned at this and thought, Holy cow, I did it! YES! I DID IT! I knew I could if I just kept trying!

Abruptly pulled out from her mental cheering was the kind but tardy- hating teacher's voice that said, "Well, class, that concludes today's lesson! You may go home now! Please have a good nights rest and come to school tomorrow for the next lesson!"

The majority of the students began to file out of the wooden doors of the academy one by one, Sachiko being among them. She attempted to sneak past her teacher, mentally cheering when she succeeded her goal, pumping her fists up in the air.

... At least until she heard a very familiar, sickeningly- sweet voice say, "And where do you think you're going, Sachiko?"

The young female academy student who was known for her bravery silently wept as she thought of the torturously long lecture that was soon to come.

Approved +5 Chakra and +5 JP