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After becoming accustom to the constant torrent the girl felt comfortable in attempting her travels across the river. Carefully shifting her weight in the water, while assuring herself she remained suspended in one place, she found herself treading on her stomach so she was ready once she felt the slight wane of the current.

Feeling a sudden shift in the current Tenma forced one of her arms into the water and she included a powerful kick. Her strokes her even as she counted in her head: one...two...three...breath. It felt like slow progress, but it was something she needed. Something she wanted to do. The child had missed the cool flow of water against her skin as she had felt numerous times at home. Now that she was moving the sensation only intensified as a comforting happiness swarmed her mind.

Finally Tenma could feel herself moving at a constant, steady pace. Every stroke perfectly caught the current to pull her across the water. Three stroke and a breath could be seen by anyone on the shore as she advanced with unusual ease. Since the child had learn to swim at a very young age it looked like a natural motion: everything she did in the water appeared the same as it was on land. The cool lapping current oushed against her body, numbing her toes and her fingers the longer she stayed submerged. Another stinging breath of air filled her lungs as she eyes caught sight of the shore - slowly closing in with each stroke.

With her finally above the waterline and the current once again subsiding Tenma knew she needed to push through before another bought came. Another forceful kick propelled the girl forward towards the shore, her original destination. As she pulled herself through Tenma reinitiated her breathing patterns, focusing on maintaining a steady rythmn. The water continued to tug at her suit and lap over her head as she made slow, but constant, progress. With the shore gradually coming closer Tenma felt a slight spike in energy as her kicks grew stronger and her pulls came faster than only moments before.

(Okay so this post, while epicly long, was meant to be sad, depressing and emo. So while reading the first part of paragraph of this post my recommendation is to listen to "Last Night on Earth" by Green Day. This is a link to that song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHGmRcNlT9g )

As Takeshi walked down the base of the mountain, he could faintly hear his teammates talking with their new sensei, as if nothing had just happened. It was evident to Takeshi that they no longer cared for him, and it actually broke what little shriveled up, black, sludge-filled heart he had pumping his acid-blood through his body. He decided then that he would not go back to see them, he no longer cared, they were a part of his sad, depressing past. As his peripheral vision began to fill with the trees and shrubs that made up the Konoha Forest, he began to cry once more, just as he did the first day he left for school an became an Academy student. He didn't blink uncontrollably, he didn't squint his eyes from the tears, he didn't even wipe away the tears. Takeshi just continued to walk down to the bottom of the slope in Konoha Forest, his eyes obviously watering uncontrollably, but nothing else had changed. Since he had arrived at the Academy his first day, he had actually been somewhat happy. He wasn't his usual emo self, he was generally pleasant, if a little arrogant. But that was all over, his happiness now gone and turned into sadness and emptiness. So he cried the rest of the way down to the bottom of the slope that lead down into the lush maze of Konoha Forest. And when he reached the bottom, he stopped crying, as if nothing had happened in the first palce, and he continued on.

While Takeshi was walking through the forest, he ended up passing a bank of a turn in the Konoha River. He looked out into its broad expanse and caught the sight of someone else on the opposite bank. He couldn't make out the person in detail, but it looked as if they had swam in or possibly even across the river, because their clothes were drenched. "That's crazy," he thought. "That river is incredibly strong. Anyone caught in the current would surely be carried all the way over to the waterfall, before they reached the other side."

And it was there that it occurred to Takeshi that that was he was going to do. In his training to become stronger, one of his big goals would be trying to swim across the great Konoha River, perhaps several times. He was going to do everything conceivable that would increase his strength. If he was going to confront that shinobi, he would have to.

Takeshi walked for a while, it was hard to tell under the dark shade of the Konoha Forest's canopy, but he felt like it had been around an hour. He stopped at a clearing that seemed to be roughly 50 feet around. There were no trees in this area, but their branches covered all but a small hole that he could see the sky from. It cast a circle of light into his somewhat dark surroundings, and he could now clearly see a huge stump that was near the center of the clearing. He realized that someone had cut down a huge tree here, leaving nothing but a huge stump and a small opening through the leaves and branches where one could see the sky. He set his backpack down on the stump and began with the basic strength improvements: push ups. While he was pushing himself up off the ground, he didn't realize the one of his hands was on a wet patch of grass, made wet by his shoes tracking wet mud from the bank of the river. His slipped and he hit the ground.

Push-ups
Hp: 10 - 1 = 9
DC: 12
Formula: 1 + 0 = 1.
Train: 0/10
Posting: Post Hp in every post. For every DC fail subtract -1 Hp.
Rewards: +1 Constitution, +1 Strength

Takeshi did 2 sets of 15 push-ups, and by the end, he had accumulated small beads of sweat on his brow. His arms burned from the stress on his muscles, he hadn't worked out in quite some time. He decided that he would do as many push-ups as he could before he got up to take a break. So Takeshi merely paused for a few seconds while holding postion for his push-ups, and resumed training.

By the end of this set of push-ups, his muscles had woken up, and his arms stung less than before. His face was now pouring in sweat, small beads collecting on the tips of his nose and falling into the grass. He could feel that his back was now accumulating sweat, because it felt wet. It was at this point that Takeshi noticed the smell. He stank of B.O. and he just now realized it. He hadn't taken a shower in two days. He decided that his break would now be taking a wash in the river. Maybe then he would try the swimming training.

Push-ups
Hp: 9 - 0 = 9
DC: 12
Formula: 16 + 0 = 16.
Train: 2/10
Posting: Post Hp in every post. For every DC fail subtract -1 Hp.
Rewards: +1 Constitution, +1 Strength

Takeshi was getting really tired now. He had done over a quarter of the push-up training from the syllabus in under an hour, but it was putting a serious strain on his muscles. His back was covered in sweat, and his face was pouring sweat off in sheets. His nose had turned into a faucet. But he pressed on. He was determined to do as much as he could, as fast as he could. Every second that that shinobi wasn't getting the crap beaten out of him was a second that he was wasting. So he pressed on. "119... 120...121..." he thought as he reached his eighth set of 15. His body was reaching it's limit. It wouldn't be long until he slipped up. His arms bulged of muscle, his back and chest were outlines with muscular 'cuts', and his entire body stank of the sweat that he was drenched in.

Push-ups
Hp: 9 - 0 = 9
DC: 12
Formula: 18 + 0 = 18.
Train: 4/10
Posting: Post Hp in every post. For every DC fail subtract -1 Hp.
Rewards: +1 Constitution, +1 Strength

Takeshi removed his clothes and proceeded to bathe in the river. His body ached from its constant effort doing push-ups. He took the time to look down at his new chiseled body. His arms bulged once again with packed in muscle, and his chest was ripped with rock hard abs and a firm pecs. Though he couldn't see it, Takeshi was sure that his back had also gained muscle. But though his body looked to be in top physical condition, it hadn't really changed all that much. He was muscular before, it just showed more now. He went back to cleansing himself in the river, making himself smell better. Though he didn't actually have anything to make him smell any better, like soap or shampoo, just washing himself was better than nothing.

After he had washed his body, he washed his clothes in the river and went back to set them out next to his shirt, which he now had to reposition because the sun was in a different position in the sky. He felt embarrassed that now he was in nothing but his trunks, but no one was around to see him, and if they did, their attention would probably be drawn to his muscles, so he didn't really care. His clothes would be dry soon enough, so he wouldn't be without them for long.

Now somewhat clean and not-bad-smelling, Takeshi went back to work on his push ups. But he failed miserably, his muscles needed to rest. Under the new stress, his arms wobbled and fell in, causing him to collapse on the ground again, and just after he got clean. But he wouldn't listen to his body when his mind was telling him to go for it and he had the will power to back it up. His body would just have to get used to being overworked with little rest.

Push-ups
Hp: 9 - 1 = 8
DC: 12
Formula: 2 + 0 = 2.
Train: 5/10
Posting: Post Hp in every post. For every DC fail subtract -1 Hp.
Rewards: +1 Constitution, +1 Strength