Come on up and gather around the fire, everyone! Let me tell you this very scary adventure I have faced!
I have traveled far and wide in the realm of studies to the point I almost drown myself in a sea of research. Through all and all, I have struggled to stay alive. Little did I realize that something was missing... Until I found it, the treasure of all time. My USB holding all my fanfictions stories. I have re-read through all the chapters and faced countless mistakes. It is with shame yet honor that I decide today to pick it up again.
All jokes aside, I have indeed been busy with my university studies and had quite an intense session. I probably have another one coming up but I realized that writing my fanfictions does help me relax.
I also have re-read all the chapters of Like or love and was quite embarrassed by some mistakes that I found.
Thus, there are two things I need to apologize for, before we start this chapter... One, I am very sorry about how long it took me to pick this up again. I did feel like I needed to re-read it again to be order to continue the flow this story had. I also gave a tad too much importance to the reviews and I shot myself in the foot by doing so... Two, I am very sorry about the mistakes I did. The grammar mistakes and typos I did... ugh. I did re-read my chapters before posting them, but seems like some times I didn't give enough attention to it. I was probably too excited to post some updates.
So if you had the courage to read this whole, thank you. I am back now and I sure hope to be able to keep a steady pace until the end.
The sun was almost reaching its peak when team 10 reached the mountain chain that was separating the two other teams. As they stood in front of it, the trio grasped the immensity of the rocky peaks and its river which was flowing along the left side. What was the most impressive, however, was that the top of the mountains were not imposing peaks but were actually flat, creating a path for whoever was courageous enough to try to reach the top.
"Have they realized that we are only three?" whined Ino.
"Yeah, well, if they did then this must be our punishment for breaking the rules," answered Choji, also whining.
Shikamaru let out a sigh.
"If we want to cover this, we'll need to split up and meet back here before it gets too dark," declared the black hair boy.
Truth was that he was feeling pretty discouraged too but he couldn't stop yet. They needed to find Sora as soon as possible and if they stayed altogether, they wouldn't cover enough ground.
"So here at sun down," confirmed Ino, regaining some composure.
Once Choji nodded to show that he understood the orders, they all left in different directions. Ino headed right while Choji headed straight. Shikamaru decided to take the left side that was parallel to the river. The black hair boy soon discovered that his path was no easy task to follow. Because of the current of water, the side of the mountains was slippery from the humidity. Thus, very carefully, he made his way along the mountain. If he looked properly, he could find small paths here and there that were wide enough for a person to walk on.
Spending a few hours making his way along the mountain flank made him realize how long this chain of mountain was. It was becoming clear that it would at least take two whole days to explore the whole rocky way. At least, from his calculations, his sensei's team should be arriving tonight. With their help, the second part would be much much easier. Still, if it hadn't been raining so much, a nin dog's nose would have been quite helpful. Since the rocks were so slippery, the boy felt like he was wasting more energy on staying safe than finding some clues.
The sky turned pink, indication that the sun was coming down. The team had ran out of daylight quicker than they would have imagined. Shikamaru had hoped that he would have at least found something, anything, to indicate that they were on the right track. Discouraged, the boy started to make his way back. He was really hoping that Choji or at least Ino would have found something. If Sora had gained consciousness, she would have definitely left some clues for someone to find her.
An unusual sound snapped him back to reality. He immediately stopped and strained his ears to listen carefully. It sounded like a constant buzzing. It was the kind of noise that one would hear when seeing a group of bees flying together, except the sound felt distorted and much more intense. Shikamaru started looking around to locate the source. Soon enough, a colourful cloud came flying straight at him from below. Surprised, he concentrated his chakra in his hands to hold onto the rocky wall and closed his eyes shut as the cloud flew by him. Small things were hitting him as they flew by. Finally, the boy opened his eyes just in time to see that what had taken him by surprise were really thousands of small colorful dragonflies. Astonished, he let go of the wall and looked up as they flew away. He had never seen so many dragonflies flying together like this.
Eventually, he didn't see them anymore. Deciding to get back to his difficult task of making his way back to camp, he gazed back down at the rocky path where he had been heading. As he made a step, he noticed that something was flying like crazy around him. Unsure by what to do, he stopped once again. As if on cue, a little blue dragonfly slowed down its crazy demeanour and started flying on the spot right in front of Shikamaru's face.
"Huh. A blue dragonfly..." said the boy out loud.
It kept flying there, as if waiting for him to do something. The boy's first reaction was to look back up in case the dragonfly's presence meant that the others were coming back. Yet, the sky was, for once, clear. The blue dragonfly, on the other hand, had followed his face and was flying above him. Soon enough, Shikamaru realized that wherever he looked, the insect would follow his gaze.
"Would you stop that?" asked the boy, helpless.
Of course, no answer came from it. He stood there for a few minutes while staring at it. Eventually, a crazy idea crossed his mind. He took off his backpack and opened it up. With his hand, he rummaged through all the content until he found what he was looking for. Very carefully, he took out a stack of drawings made by Sora. He had ended up tying them together and bringing them with him. As if curious, the blue dragonfly started flying around the stack of paper. Still being careful, Shikamaru flipped through the pages until he found the one drawing he had in mind: the one of a blue dragonfly. The insect automatically reacted by flying down and landing on the bottom right corner of the page. Following its path, the boy's gaze fell on the writing.
"If you are lost, follow the dragonflies. They are great guides," he read out loud.
He was very well aware that it was a crazy idea but he still looked hopefully at the dragonfly. It first flew off the drawing a floated in the air for a bit while Shikamaru wrapped his cloak around the drawings to then put them away in his backpack. In a sudden frenzy, the insect flew in a few circles before flying down. The boy crouched down and looked over the edge of where he was standing. It took him a few seconds but he saw it. On a ledge, not too far below him, a headband was lying there. He first lied down flat on the surface where he was standing and then he stretched his left arm to reach for the headband. He was just about an inch away from it. So close yet so far. He shifted his weight slightly to be able to reach further down. Touching it with the tip of his fingers, he continued the process. As he was able to grab it firmly, he suddenly realized that he had shifted his weight too much. In panic, he tried to grab the rocky path with his other hand but it slipped. Helpless, his body rolled over the edge and he started falling toward the crazy water flow which was waiting for him right below.
All while bracing himself, the boy took a deep breath just before entering the water. Unfortunately, the impact was much harder than expected and the air in his lungs instantly escaped. In panic, Shikamaru tried to do his best to swim out of the currents to then realize he wasn't sure which way was up and which way was down anymore.
The last thing he remembered was being pulled backward as he held on for dear life unto the headband he had just found.
"At this point, I'm starting to strongly believe that we also need to re-educate him on the meaning of the word 'reckless'."
"I understand that you are angry, and trust me, so am I, but let's give him the benefit of doubt until he gets to explain himself."
"You sure are easy on your students. If it were me, I would make them all run five times around Konoha on their hands!"
"Good thing they're not your students then."
Voices were booming all around Shikamaru as he regained consciousness. When he slowly opened his eyes, he was welcomed by yet another voice.
"Ah! You're waking up! Are you okay?" asked Ino from beside him.
Trying to answer caused a fit of coughing.
"Take your time. You might have swallowed a great amount of water," said another voice.
Looking up, he found Kurenai on the other side of him
"You gave us quite a scare!" shouted Choji as he also reached him.
Shikamaru tried to apologize but he only managed to cough more.
"Well, at least we know he's breathing..." added Ino, obviously trying to reassure herself up.
Asuma soon kneeled down before him.
"Remember how I told you, on the radio, not to be reckless? This counts as reckless."
Behind him, the boy heard Kakashi mumbled: "To say we almost lost a second shinobi... "
Now understanding at this point that he couldn't talk for the moment, Shikamaru did the only thing he could think of: he stretched out his left hand and gave to Asuma what he had been holding all along. His eyes widening in surprise, the man took the headband from his student. From the looks of it, it had to be Sora's. Finally understanding, the man looked back at Shikamaru. Instead of showing anger, his face was now showing relief.
"I'll forgive you this time but don't think you should go pull another stunt like this on me," he said as he got up.
Everyone seemed to resume their activities after that. Camp was soon set up and with Ino's help; Shikamaru met everyone around the fire for supper. The group's mood was much better now with the boy's discovery. Reena's group had been called back with the radio and they had answered that they would follow the river back to the mountains, thus meeting up with them probably during the next day. Filled with new hope, the boy looked at the chain of mountain. Sora just had to be there.
Aaaand that's it! It seems a bit smaller but it is much more condense.
If you guys are still reading this and got 30 seconds, maybe give me a bit of your opinion?
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