"Yo, Rin-chan, we're going for some training, coming?"

Kōrin shot what he hoped resembled a death glare at his friends, knowing its ineffectiveness the moment the group snickered. Letting out an exasperated sigh, he couldn't help the grin that stretched across his face as well, reaching to lightly punch the one who spoke in the shoulder.

"Jerks. What am I, five? Are you seriously sticking with that nickname? Careful, I still remember that nickname your imouto calls you." The rest of the group laughed, and Kōrin grinned at his now-pale friend. They always joked around one another, and in all honestly, Kōrin didn't mind the nickname. Most of them had, after all, been friends since a young age. Some nicknames just stuck, even after all these years. "Kidding. You guys go ahead, I only have an hour or so before I have to go pick Kōta up from the Academy. Ignoring the calls about his brother-complex, Kōrin waved them away, heading in the opposite direction.

He did still have an hour ... and he had a location in mind. The ever unfinished construction site near the Academy was a place that many used for training, the beginnings (or was it remains?) of the framework was for the most part rather sturdy, and Kōrin was intent on trying out some new acrobatic moves on the bars. Swinging his back over his shoulder, he headed off towards his destination.

For as long as he could remember, the incomplete construction site had always been here, and had always remained as the same progress, never moving forward. Rarely would you ever see construction workers about, and the site was occasionally frequented by prospective buyers, but in the end it always still remained here, untouched. A pity, really. Even though it was an inanimate thing, there was something depressing about the fact that it was always left behind, never to be finished by whoever had started it in the first place. As he walked, the site slowly made its way into his field of vision, exactly as how he had seen it every other day.

Jogging up a thin wooden plank to get up to higher ground, he spotted a horizontal metal bar just above his head and reached for it, swinging his legs forward to build momentum before pulling himself into a sitting position on the bar. It was great, a complex framework of metal bars that served as what would be the building's foundation, perfect for what he intended to do. First, a bit of a workout. His scrawny build was beginning to show again. Letting his bag drop to the floor, he stood up on the bar, jumping to grab a higher one. Instead of swinging himself up again, he allowed himself to dangle there for a moment before pulling his body up, suspending his head over the bar before dropping back down again.

One.

Two.

His dark tshirt clung to his body as he moved, ever so slightly outlining the faint muscles of his shoulders and back. He had always been on the scrawny side, all skin and bones, but his recent training and workouts helped, albeit rather slowly.

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Word Count: 540

Nineteen ...

Twenty.

Letting one of his arms drop, still suspending his body in the air, Kōrin swung forward, his free hand reaching for an adjacent bar connected to what appeared to be a metal-rung ladder laid horizontally upwards, leading to a higher position. Quickly scaling the ladder in a fashion similar to children experienced with moving across monkey bars at the local park, he waited until there was only one run left before pulling his lower body upwards, pushing his feet through the gap and hooking his knees on the last rung of the bar. And then, he let his arms go, allowing his upper body to fall back, dangling in an upside down position. His face expression twitched ever so slightly in a grimace as the unwelcome feeling of blood rushing up (or down, to be more accurate) his head produced a rather dizzying effect.

In the corner of his gaze, he spotted a handful of other genin walking by, staring. Somehow managing a shrug in his awkward body positioning, he ignored them as was typical of his introverted personality, allowing himself to continue dangling there as his bodily equilibrium adjusted. There was something special about tomorrow that he figured he should take some time to think about. He was to finally be assigned to a squad after being a lone genin for a while, which was both a welcome and an unwelcome thought. As far as he knew, Konoha was lacking in higher ranked shinobi open to taking a squad. So getting assigned to one now ... he had to consider himself lucky, or so people told him.

He knew little to nothing about his squad, only that they were already an existing squad that needed replacements. Didn't sound very appealing to him, but again, that was probably the introverted Kōrin talking. The idea that the other members were already acquainted with each other only made him even more of an outsider, and he wasn't keen on having to divert his attention between receiving his training experiences and trying to get friendly with people.

"Ahh. How troublesome." He muttered under his breath, moving to twist and pull his upper body back through the gap of the bars and allowing himself to lay flat against the ladder. He wouldn't turn down the offer, of course, but he was quite apprehensive of this new change nonetheless.

Well then, he had a bit more time to kill before picking up Kōta, might as well use it wisely. Setting about swinging here and there with more muscle exercises, Kōrin gradually felt himself relaxing, allowing his body and mind to become absorbed in what he was doing. That is, until he heard an ominous creak from the bar he was dangling from.

Aw, man.

Well, this certainly reinforced the danger signs that were posted all over the construction site. Kōrin always did have something against rules - breaking them more often than not - and this was nothing different. Consequences he could deal with. He had always been more of a "do it now, ask for forgiveness later" kind of guy.

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Word Count: 524

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Total Word Count: 1064
Strength (E-2->D-0): 525/525
Endurance (E-2->D-0): 525/525
Remaining Word Count: 14