How about a quickie of Hakari doing some capacity training with watermelons?
“Ummm, what the hell’re you doin’, dude...?” Nara asked with confusion as the young mercenary scratched the back of her head with confusion. “If ya wanna get yer fiber, we got oatmeal in the camp, so-”
Hakari sighed and shook his head. “This isn’t for nourishment, Nara. I’m training,” Hakari insisted as he laid about four rather sizeable watermelons before him.
“To do what, be a ninja-fied Gallaghar? You know that dude turned out to be a giant piece’uh shit, right?”
Hakari rested his eyes shut and said, “I have no clue who that is, so I will take your word for it. At any rate, no, this is capacity training. I may not digest my prey the way my brethren did, but I DO still need to ensure my capacity for consuming prey doesn’t wane.”
“Why? You said it yerself, ya don’t eat people the way the others do.”
“True, but potential targets don’t know that. And fear can be a very effective motivator to cooperate, or to be scared out of doing something terrible,” Hakari corrected. Then, more to himself, he added, “...That their squirming isn’t entirely unpleasant doesn’t hurt either...”
“But don’tcha hafta be in like, umm, yer big burly snake-dude form to eat people?”
“We train in this form because while our capacity is limited, enduring like this translates to my true self in a big way,” Hakari explained. “It’s hard to explain, but because my muscles are more restrictive and tenser in this form, when I shift into my true form, the impact is more exponential. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Nara blinked a few times, then held up a finger and said, “...I’mma say ‘yes’...?”
“...Is that true?” Hakari asked, not remotely convinced.
“......I’mma say...nah...”
All Hakari could do was sigh to himself once again. He tended to do that with Nara a lot. Still, her company was always very welcome, as she was one of the few mercenaries at the camp not deterred by Hakari’s more stoic, introverted demeanor.
Then, Hakari pulled his mask down, revealing his soft, youthful face and thin, small lips. Across his cheeks were camel-brown scales, making them and his black eyes with green, snake-like irises the only parts of him that truly appeared inhuman. He took a breath, revealing the other part of him that wasn’t human, a mouth full of fangs instead of teeth, and a long, snake-like tongue.
The young Saurian took a breath, composing himself. Then, he grabbed a melon and held it up to his mouth. For someone with lips so small, the young ninja proceeded to practically unhinge his jaw, revealing his MANY fangs as his long tongue lathered the watermelon up. Then, with his eyes clenched shut. Hakari slowly pushed the melon into his mouth. Nara never ceased to be amazed by the sight of the teenage ninja eating. For someone so composed and well-mannered, he could eat enough to put the entire camp to shame, and despite his reserved personality and small mouth, his inhuman features became all the more glaring as his mouth stretched far enough to engulf the entire melon.
Slowly but surely, Hakari forced more of the long watermelon into his mouth, without ever once chomping down. THAT was the hardest part. It was in Hakari’s nature to chew his food when it was inanimate. But he had to devour the watermelon like he would a resistant target, swallowing them whole and doing his best not to let his fangs harm the person, since he fully intended to let them out afterwards. To accommodate, Hakari’s jaw expanded just a little wider. He could feel his jawbone creaking somewhat, which always hurt, causing his already clenched eyes to clench even harder with discomfort.
Still, Hakari had endurance and willpower to spare. He continued gradually forcing more of the watermelon down his throat, causing his normally slender neck to bulge out obscenely, stretching to the point where a clear imprint of the watermelon could be seen slowly sliding down Hakari’s throat. Hakari couldn’t even properly gulp with how his esophagus was being blocked off. A low, wet sounding squelching sound emitted from his throat as tiny swallows rapidly emitted one after the other. Hakari’s head bobbed in and out repeatedly as he tried to work the melon down as best he could.
His armor-clad chest pushed out noticeably as the watermelon began to steadily push past his collarbone and began to force itself past his chest and oh so slowly enter his stomach. The more Hakari slowly pushed the watermelon down his throat and swallowed again and again, the more it began to fill him up. Hakari’s bare, normally concave, athletic-looking stomach began to steadily push out. His abs thinned out as his belly expanded, until his abs were nowhere to be seen. The concave shape of Hakari’s belly flattened, then had a rounded, protruding edge to it. One that only grew larger the more the melon was worked down.
Until finally, enough of it was forced down Hakari’s throat that he could finally gulp, and with one especially thick and wet-sounding gulp...
*GLLL-GLLLUUUUUUUUUUULLLCK!!*
The watermelon had been fully consumed, weighing heavily on Hakari’s bloated, very rounded belly. Hakari huffed and panted breathlessly as he sat down on his rump, resting his back against a tree, desperately catching his breath as he wiped trails of slimy saliva from the corners of his maw and chin. His belly looked painfully bloated; skin taut and stretched out, stomach gurgling like crazy with such a heavy mass just festering inside of him.
Nara just whistled, clearly impressed as she clapped her fingerless gloved hands with amusement and said, “Bravo! Ha! Eat’cher heart out, Discovery Channel!”
Hakari was too unbearably winded to respond. He just sat there, desperate to catch his breath as he tenderly rubbed his aching belly with one hand and brought the other to his mouth, when he felt a burp coming up his throat.
“Hurr-BrruUuuUuUuh-UUUUUUUUUUUPHH!!!
Hakari belched deeply behind his fist. It was a deep, wet-sounding belch, one that broke off for a fraction of a second, before picking up, heftier sounding by the end. When it ended, his scaly cheeks darkened and he grunted to himself.
“Urgh, pardon me,” Hakari apologized, voice strained as he continued rubbing his aching gut.
Nara just snickered and plopped down next to Hakari. “Man, it’s crazy how much you can pack away, Ninja Turtle!”
“...Urf...I’m not a turtle,” Hakari grumbled. He’d be more annoyed if training weren’t so grueling. In his human form, Hakari could eat enough to put anyone to shame and usually sported a nice and bloated belly after each feeding frenzy as well. However, there was a distinct difference between pigging out and one lengthy, grueling swallow where such a heavy, singular object just sat in his gut. In his true form, he could endure with ease. But even as a Saurian, his ‘human’ form had its limits.
“So, when’re ya gonna do the other three?” Nara asked.
Hakari grimaced, holding a fist to his mouth as he just barely managed to hold back another burp he felt rising up his gullet, then swallowed down, making him grimace again when his gut gurgled unpleasantly in response. “Guh, mph, shortly. I need to keep this one down for at least ten minutes before I can get to work on the next...”
“...You ain’t gonna swallow them all whole at once, are ya?”
Hakari’s face almost went green at the prospect. He shook his head a little more assertively and said, “...N-No. Part of training which is NOT what my brethren endure...is regurgitating my prey back up. That requires making sure I don’t crush them on their way up or accidentally bite into them...”
"...That...sounds like it’s gonna suck...” Nara admitted.
Hakari groaned miserably and said, “...Most certainly...but if I must endure so my target is unharmed, then so be it...”
Nara shook her head, leaning against Hakari’s toned torso, then gently, she rested her hand against the taut, drum-tight stomach and began to steadily rub Hakari’s bloated belly in slow, circular motions. Almost immediately, the young ninja shuddered with delight as he rested his eyes shut, sighed and arched his back a little, causing his rounded belly to protrude outward even more. Nara stroked Hakari’s aching belly all over, and kneading into it. There was absolutely no give whatsoever. It was tight as a rock.
Nara was amazed that he could pack away so much in this form, and continued digging her fingers into his tight, toned flesh. She was trying to undo the knots and relax the ache in his stomach as best she could. But even as she rubbed, she was a little bewildered...
“I ain’t never seen someone go against their own nature the way ya do fer what’cha think is right,” Nara remarked in a hard to read sort of tone before adding, “...but is it really worth it?”
Strained as Hakari was, he slowly glanced back at Nara with one brow raised.
“...I mean, let’s be real; we both know some dudes’re just rotten to the core. Literally every other person at this camp has taken a life at some point or other, present company included,” Nara remarked. The last part of her sentence was said in a way that almost sounded like there was a slight tinge of guilt attached, but nothing that truly weighed on her in a crippling sort of manner. “Why put yerself through all this fuss, man?”
Hakari groaned as his belly emitted a deep churning sound, making him recoil a bit. He held a hand to his mouth for a moment, but when it passed, he huffed and removed it before answering Nara’s question. “I understand why a mercenary would find it strange...as a ninja, I do as well. Urgh, mph, the reason is simple...mph, I love life...and the idea of any creature being on this earth...then not being on this earth...because of me...no matter how deserving, I just...I cannot justify to myself being able to take that light out of a persons being. Putrid as their souls may be, they are not mine to purge from this world...”
“...And how d’ya feel ‘bout people who HAVE...purged souls from this world...?” Nara asked, sounding just slightly nervous.
Hakari turned to her and despite his discomfort, managed a soft smile.
“...You know I would never judge you. You’re my friend after all...and I know that heart of yours is as big as your...” Hakari’s smile trailed off slightly as he sighed and had a slightly annoyed look on his face. “...Ugh, as big as your quote unquote ‘sense of humor’...”
Hearing that warmed Nara’s heart, but the last part put her mind at ease and made her grin wickedly. “Ya mean my Machiavellian GENIUS?” She insisted.
“...I believe I’m going to go with noOOoOOOORRRP!!!!” Hakari attempted to respond, calling back to Nara’s earlier comments. Unfortunately, he ended up accidentally belching out the last part of his sentence, making his eyes go wide and his cheeks burning bright red. He immediately covered his mouth, eyes wide as saucers.
Nara blinked, then burst into a fit of hysterical laughter.
Hakari just sat there, blushing profusely. And, mouth still covered with his hands, he muttered to himself, “...This is why ninjas prefer to train WITHOUT an audience...”
