Chiharu knew what she looked liked. The assessors' faces for the Entrance Exam of the Academy had been stony when they'd looked from her to the application on their desk. Brown hair, drab eyes - 'another civilian, who thinks they want to be superhero' - their looks had said. And it was true, to some extent. She knew enough about herself to say that, yes, being a ninja sounded awesome! She'd grown up peering through shop windows at the televisions on display showing the latest runs of 'The Greatest Shinobi' and playing ninja with the other kids at the park. Who didn't want the power to do the impossible, to have stunning strength and the wit and talent to match? Most of all, being a shinobi agent of Leaf City meant she'd be paid well, far better than what her parents were earning, should she succeed. And if she died for her hometown, then they probably had something in place for her parents. So, with those thoughts in mind, she'd glared at the two ninjas in the Exam and told them in her clearest voice that she wanted to serve Konoha, and that she was going to.
And yet right now, the civilian-born girl felt like she was failing. There were so many classes and skills they needed to learn before they could graduate, and it just seemed like everyone was ten steps ahead of her. There were kids in her classes that could throw kunai from a hundred metres away like it was nothing - on their first try! Children that just mopped the floor with her in taijutsu practice, no matter how hard she tried, and it just seemed as if she was the worst in class at everything. Not on paper, (because she suspected some of the kids liked pretending not to be as good as they were, although she couldn't fathom why) but since when did your appearance on paper count amongst ninja? In practice though, she was definitely not doing well.
She'd never considered herself stupid before. She could do sums, read perfectly fine. She'd never thought of herself as being particularly unfit either. In the park, she'd never been last to be picked for teams, and she could be perfectly speedy when she wanted to be. But here, at the Academy, she just couldn't compare. And she knew, if she wanted to actually graduate Maehara Chiharu had to get herself up there. Maybe she'd never be on-par with the top students, but she wanted to at least strive for a spot in the middle ranks.
Determined, she dropped to her knees and began filling up the old backpack their landlord had let her borrow with rocks from around the open areas of the Academy. Some were pebble-sized, no larger than her eye, others were the size of her fist. Once the bag was filled halfway, she stopped and hooked her arms under the straps. Chiharu spent a few minutes jumping up and down and securing the bag, trying not to think about how ridiculous she looked, just hopping frantically in the middle of the school grounds. Weights were actually quite expensive, especially the training kind that you strapped onto your limbs, but Chiharu was happy to have found a good makeshift substitute. The bag was weighty against her back, but not so much so that she thought she might injure herself. Satisfied, she took off at a moderate jog - heading out of the Academy grounds and towards the rest of Leaf City.
A week of this, and slowly increasing the weight in her bag, and she was sure to make some progress!
[WC: 605, TWC: 605]
And yet right now, the civilian-born girl felt like she was failing. There were so many classes and skills they needed to learn before they could graduate, and it just seemed like everyone was ten steps ahead of her. There were kids in her classes that could throw kunai from a hundred metres away like it was nothing - on their first try! Children that just mopped the floor with her in taijutsu practice, no matter how hard she tried, and it just seemed as if she was the worst in class at everything. Not on paper, (because she suspected some of the kids liked pretending not to be as good as they were, although she couldn't fathom why) but since when did your appearance on paper count amongst ninja? In practice though, she was definitely not doing well.
She'd never considered herself stupid before. She could do sums, read perfectly fine. She'd never thought of herself as being particularly unfit either. In the park, she'd never been last to be picked for teams, and she could be perfectly speedy when she wanted to be. But here, at the Academy, she just couldn't compare. And she knew, if she wanted to actually graduate Maehara Chiharu had to get herself up there. Maybe she'd never be on-par with the top students, but she wanted to at least strive for a spot in the middle ranks.
Determined, she dropped to her knees and began filling up the old backpack their landlord had let her borrow with rocks from around the open areas of the Academy. Some were pebble-sized, no larger than her eye, others were the size of her fist. Once the bag was filled halfway, she stopped and hooked her arms under the straps. Chiharu spent a few minutes jumping up and down and securing the bag, trying not to think about how ridiculous she looked, just hopping frantically in the middle of the school grounds. Weights were actually quite expensive, especially the training kind that you strapped onto your limbs, but Chiharu was happy to have found a good makeshift substitute. The bag was weighty against her back, but not so much so that she thought she might injure herself. Satisfied, she took off at a moderate jog - heading out of the Academy grounds and towards the rest of Leaf City.
A week of this, and slowly increasing the weight in her bag, and she was sure to make some progress!
[WC: 605, TWC: 605]