Chapter 20 – Climb Every Mountain

At daybreak they were off again and came to a cross roads, here they took a right and began to come out of the forest to a less travelled area. There were no stone walkways only the faintest hint of a dirt track suggesting the way. This path was next to the very edge of the mountain it was precarious.

"Keep a secure chakra footing," Temari warned. "We don't want to lose anybody due to blatant stupidity."

"Don't need to tell me twice," Enjin muttered under his breath.

Next to him Matsuri's heart was beating wildly as she clung to the rocks. The sheer cliff face was foreboding to say the least. She shuffled forward ignoring the little demon that was telling her to look down. This seemed to work quite well until part of the trail crumbled under foot and she screamed.

"Fuck!" Seibi-shi found himself reacting, grabbing her by the scruff of the neck. The two stare fixedly at the hole where the rocks had plunged down.

Afterwards his hands felt sweaty and warm on her shoulders and Matsuri for once was glad of the reassuring contact. "You didn't have to do that," she says fighting to maintain some dignity, "I had it under control."

"Like hell you did!" Enjin said harshly. "A ninja with vertigo on a mountain, are you insane?"

"I will conquer anything to protect Gaara Sensei!"

The engineer shakes his head not quite able to believe what he's just heard. On one side her courage and determination was extraordinary, but coupled with her blind foolishness it was too much to take. To be willing to take on phobias through hell and high water was crazy. This was a pretty dangerous crush she had on the Kazekage.

"Will you two stop yelling, you'll bring the whole mountain crashing down on us!" Yasu rebuked them with a hiss. "Matsuri, you should have told us about your phobia earlier. I'm going to attach a chakra line between us as insurance."

There was no argument. Matsuri knew it made sense especially when the weather conditions took a turn for the worse. They fought their way across an exposed ridge linking the lower part of the mountain to the upper. As the strong wind howled it played like a child trying to push the travellers off the edge, whipping at their hair this way and that. Had it not been for their ninja skills the whole team might have been at risk of taking off altogether!

The second stretch of the mountain had no path as such to follow. There was a vertical climb to be made in order to reach what looked like an outcrop in the rocks. A drizzle began to fall white strokes, fine as a spider's thread zigzagging in many different directions. After a vote it was decided to continue, as camping at this point would prove problematic. Unfortunately this was easier said than done, another hour down the line the gentle fluttering had transformed into violent rain.

"Ow!" Kankuro gave a cry.

"What's the matter with you?" Temari looks down a mixture of irritation and concern.

"Caught- my- funny- bone," he winces waiting for the painful stinging to stop. "This is happening too often, I can't get a decent grip!"

Gaara wasn't any better off. Carrying his gourd was a burden in pleasant weather, but in this it was agony. To try to use his sand here might be dangerous as the water would soak into the grains adding more weight.

"We can't go back and we can't stay here," he called down to his siblings, "there's a ledge three metres above!"

It was slow going, each inch claimed on the mountain felt like a lifetime. By the time the Kage had clambered to the top of the ledge he'd exercised muscles he never knew he had! Placing the gourd aside he assisted Temari and then Kankuro, heaving his bulky elder brother and puppets onto the platform.

Next Kankuro pulled up a grateful Enjin whose usual spiky blue hair was now completely flat.

"Man," he sniffed, "That was a challenge! How's Matsuri and Yasu Sensei doing?"

"Not good," Kankuro leaned over on his front to get a better look. The two ladies had stopped and were clinging to the slippery rock face.

"I'm so tired," Matsuri wheezed, "I can't move my fingers anymore!"

She was the verge of tears. One foot was planted firmly in a hole, whilst the other was straining towards the next foothold. With a shorter stature herself Yasu could appreciate the difficulty in trying to accomplish this. Every time the attendant made to reach out, her body would lose balance and she had to lean back into her current position. After so many failed attempts it was no wonder Matsuri was reluctant to shift.

Lady Leaf kept hastily brushing rain drops out her eyes, "This is the final push. When we get to that ledge I promise we'll warm those fingers up and get some feeling back into them. For now, you need to keep gathering chakra in your hands, bend your knees and move!"

She half pushed and half threw Matsuri towards the next foothold. It was all that was needed the girl had made it safely and was even smiling a little!

Suddenly there were urgent calls from high above them. Yasu couldn't work out what the fuss was about until there was a flash of light. From out of the rock itself came a camouflaged figure with kunai trying to take a swipe at her. With only one hand grip she didn't like the odds of close combat at 2000 feet.

"Earth style: stone shrapnel!" She cried as small boulders and sharp slate impaled the enemy. It turned out to be a clone! However her work was not done. Looking across in horror she spotted a similar clone bearing down on the Sunan.

Matsuri was still recovering before making the climb to the next section. She hadn't been alerted to the clone's presence yet, that was until a force started to try and prise her fingers away from the rock! Face to face with the clone she gave a startled yell. It took out a kunai ready to slice off the trembling little digits.

Yasu watched the appalling scene in slow motion. After the kunai had been kicked from its grasp the clone decided to pick up the brunette. Unmercifully this clone held her friend up to the rain like a human sacrifice before finally, with a malevolent glint in its eye it cast her down.

"MATSURI!"

Author's note – a literal 'cliff hanger' eh? Ho ho!

I'll leave a little joke for you:

What did the little mountain say to the big mountain?

"Hi Cliff!"

Until next time...

Allybee x