Neither the story nor the characters belong to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
SHIKA
The scent of coffee filled the kitchen as I tied my boots, and my fingers froze.
Temari.
I'd been the one to push brew a couple of minutes ago, but she'd ordered the coffee for me. The bottom fell out of my world for the millionth time since Thursday, and my stomach reeled like it was my body in freefall and not just my heart. Fuck, it was hard to breathe without her. Everything reminded me of Temari. My bodywash reminded me of kissing her in the shower. My sheets reminded me of her skin. Memories of her in my truck made it hard to drive. She was every room in this house. It was more hers than mine when I thought about it. Until this weekend, I'd never spent a night here without her. If I was being honest, I never wanted to sleep here without her again.
I loathed nighttime and the hours I spent tossing and turning, reaching for her in the slivers of hours I managed to find sleep.
She'd forgotten a lone bottle of perfume in the bathroom, and I'd tortured myself last night by spraying it on her pillow. I'd made the jump from miserable to absolutely pathetic.
So, pick up the fucking phone.
And say what? That I was sorry I hadn't been here when shit had gone down? Of course I was sorry, but part of apologizing meant changing, and I couldn't promise her it wouldn't happen again because it would. I would leave her over and over when the call came. And as much as we'd both known the score before jumping into this game, neither of us had been prepared for the actual price.
I stood, only to be met with the little fire truck that had been perched at the end of the island since Thursday. A whole, fresh jolt of pain singed my nerves. This was wrong. All of it. I should have been getting the boys ready with Temari and helping her buckle them in this morning. There should have been a hundred different sounds coming from every direction—toys singing, kids laughing, alarms going off to remind us it was time to go. Instead, it was silent.
I was going to have to sell this fucking house.
Everything was off, including me. I was four hours late for work, and I knew it didn't matter because the guys had barely gotten back this morning. No one else would be there except Sakura, and I wasn't exactly looking forward to anything she had to say about what had gone down between Temari and me.
The doorbell rang and my head snapped toward the entry hall.
Temari.
My feet moved without instruction, and I practically flew to open it. My face fell when I found Naruto on the other side.
"You look like shit." He looked me up and down, then pushed his way past me, walking into the house.
"Come on in," I said sarcastically, shutting the door a little harder than necessary.
"Let me guess" He turned and folded his arms across his chest "You were hoping I was a different Uzumaki."
I winced.
"If you're here to punch me in the face, just get it over with." I threw my arms out at my sides.
Naruto narrowed his eyes.
"Tempting as that might be, I'll take a rain check. I'm just here for a fire truck."
Now I was the one glaring.
"What the hell do you want with Denki's fire truck?" It was the last piece of him I had... besides the bike in the garage, and I wasn't forking it over to Naruto.
"I need it to complete my matchbox collection." Naruto rolled his eyes "What do you think? Denki wants it." He flinched. "Turns out, the boys are having a hard time adjusting."
"And how do you know that?" My chest clenched.
"Because Nolan told Temari this morning." He cocked his head to the side. "You do remember Temari, right? Your wife? The one you let walk out?"
"You mean the one who kept her apartment the whole time as some kind of fallback plan because she didn't trust me to see us through?"
Just saying it hurt.
His eyebrows hit the ceiling.
"You think she kept the apartment as a plan B?"
I gritted my teeth and counted to five for patience.
"You really want to have this conversation right now?"
"Nope. I'm afraid that I won't stop hitting you if I start, and my sister asked me to keep my hands to myself, so here we are." A muscle popped in his jaw. "I'm just here for the fire truck."
Naruto knew more than I did about what was going on with the boys, and the ugly green monster of jealousy reared up for a second before logic beat it back down. Naruto knows what's going on.
"Tell me what happened."
Seven hours later, I knocked on apartment one twelve's door and held my breath. This was such a bad idea. There was no guarantee I'd be able to hold my temper or soften my words and every chance that I was about to make this a whole lot worse.
The door opened, and Nolan Clark's eyes flew wide when he saw me.
"You know who I am." It was a statement, not a question.
He nodded. The guy was a handful of inches shorter than I was, with a leaner build and wary eyes. Eyes that looked too much like Denki and Hoki for me to hate him on sight.
"Take a walk out to my truck with me." It wasn't an offer. "It will only take a couple minutes."
"Give me a second to put Hoks in the playpen?"
"Sure." I respected that.
He shut the door, and I leaned back against the opposite wall of the tight hallway. There was no finding fault with the apartment building. Pretty much everything in Konoha was new construction, so it wasn't like it was old or dingy.
It was just hard knowing Hoki and Denki were right behind that door and I didn't have a single right to even so much as say hi to them. It was excruciating to go from being a pivotal part of their world to not even having spectator status.
Nolan opened the door and shut it quickly behind him, denying me even a glimpse of the boys. I walked out and he followed, the fresh evening air doing nothing to relieve the tension between us.
"Look, if you're here to yell at me, or threaten me, then let's just get it over with," he said as we reached the truck, a healthy dose of trepidation on his face.
I snorted back a laugh. He looked at me like I'd lost my mind.
"Sorry. That's just really similar to something I said to my best friend this morning." I'd backed the truck in, and my hand hovered on the tailgate latch.
Was I actually about to do this? Absolutely, because it was something Temari would have done. When Naruto told me why Nolan needed the fire truck, I knew that wasn't all he needed.
"I can already guess what I did that pissed you off. What did you do to your best friend?" he asked, folding his arms over the Coulter Construction logo on his T-shirt.
"Broke his little sister's heart."
The truth of the words cut me like a thousand little blades.
"Ouch." Nolan grimaced.
"Yeah, but I'm not here so we can bond over our mutual fuckups."
"Why are you here?"
Because I'm trying to be the person Temari deserves.
"Because it's the right thing to do." I lowered the tailgate, revealing the disassembled parts of Hoks's crib and Denki's bike. "Because hating you isn't going to help Denki or Hoks, and I love them more than I'm pissed at you."
"I don't understand." Nolan swallowed, glancing from the crib to me and back again.
"You can't afford a crib. Now you have one. All the bedding is inside the cab." I nodded toward the back of the truck.
"You loathe me," he said slowly.
"I loathe what you did," I corrected.
He looked away, but to his credit brought his eyes back to mine.
"Because I didn't come back immediately."
"Because you walked out in the first place." My fist clenched. "They didn't deserve that."
"No," he admitted quietly. "They didn't. I'm man enough to know that I fucked up."
"Are you man enough to stick around this time?" I snapped. "No bullshit. No lawyers. No DSS workers. No judges. Just you and me, right here on this sidewalk. Tell me the truth. Are you going to bail on them again?"
"Never." His chin rose in the air.
I stared at him long and hard, trying to get a read on this guy. Judging character was something I was usually pretty good at, and I wanted to be right about this guy for the boys' sake. He didn't flinch. Didn't flush. Didn't look away. After a few tense moments,
I nodded.
"Okay then."
He visibly relaxed.
"All the nuts and bolts are there, so it should be pretty easy to assemble. You have a tool kit?" I hauled the largest pieces forward and out of the bed.
He shook his head.
"All my tools are at the job site."
"All dads need a tool set at home." I shook my head and handed the first pieces to him. "A tool set and a shitload of double A batteries. Their toys eat them up like candy. I have a bag in the cab. You can borrow mine."
"Really?" He took the two, longer sides of the crib and laid them in the grass next to the sidewalk.
"Really." I handed over the shorter ends, then the mattress. "Hoki deserves to sleep tonight, and so do you."
Besides, this was all I had to give them.
I unloaded the bike, Denki's helmet, and the crib bedding set, then reached into the front seat. My hand curled around the tiny fire truck as I shut the door.
"And this is for Denki." I held it out for Nolan to take.
His forehead wrinkled, and he looked up at my hat.
"Denki has that same hat."
I nodded.
"Won't take it off, even for bed."
"It's our hotshot crew." I breathed into the ache that seemed to live in my chest now. "Well, not exactly. We're in the middle of getting certified, but we should be hotshots again by next week."
"Yeah, I know. He talks about you constantly." A corner of his mouth lifted in a sad half smile. "It's kind of hard to compete with one of the Konoha hotshots. That was always my problem with their mother. I never quite measured up to her first husband."
"Then measure up now." I held out the fire truck a little farther.
He reached, then pulled his hand back.
"Why don't you come inside and give it to him yourself?"
My jaw slackened and my heart tripped over its own beats.
"You mean that?"
He nodded slowly at first, then faster as he smiled.
"Yeah. They'd love to see you." He glanced at the crib. "And honestly, I could use some help putting that together."
My answer was instant.
"No problem."
An hour. that was all I'd gotten with Denki and Sir Pukes-a-lot before the call had gone out. There was a fire three hours north of Konoha, and we'd been called in, not as a Type 2.
It was time.
No field simulations for us, it seemed. The certification crew was in the vehicle just ahead of us as we drove into a tiny town that reminded me way too much of Konoha. The sky was pitch black, except for the ominous orange glow that outlined the ridge to the west. This fire would make or break us.
There was a palpable hum of both anxiety and excitement in our minibus. The crew was split in two, half in our bus and half in the other, with Neji and Kakashi taking point in the pickup at the head of our caravan. Lucky for us, the certification crew was in a whole other vehicle, so our nervousness couldn't be held against us.
The seat next to me was empty and Naruto sat across the aisle, casually glaring my way. He looked calm and collected, but the way he chewed that gum told me he was dealing with his own nerves. I twisted the platinum band on my left hand around my finger and debated texting Temari again. I'd fought off the urge at least once every thirty seconds on the drive up. She'd know about the fire from Naruto. She'd already be worried. And the things that needed to be said between us weren't the kind of words you texted. There was too much ambiguity in the tone, too many ways to be misunderstood. But the caterer calling me this afternoon, telling me Temari was canceling our October wedding date? That spoke volumes.
We parked outside the community center that was acting as our command center, and we all shuffled off the buses, stretching the stiffness out of our limbs. The Konoha logo was painted on the side of each of our brand-new vehicles, but the certification crew had slapped a "trainee" magnet right beneath it, reminding me what was at stake.
"Trainee," Neji muttered as he unfolded himself from the truck.
Guess I wasn't the only one being served the reminder.
"Circle up," Kakashi ordered, and we did so, putting our supe in the center.
I knew they were a few feet away, but it felt like the certification crew was breathing down our necks.
"I'm headed in with Neji to get the latest situation report," Kakashi said. "There are two other Type One crews on the way that we know of, and a few Type Two's, when I last heard about an hour ago. The 8:00 p.m. flyover showed it burned twelve hundred acres from when it started this afternoon."
The wind whipped through the parking lot, and we all grabbed our hats.
"And that, my people, is what we're up against. Forecast isn't helping us out tomorrow. Squad leaders, get your people fed and set up camp in that gym." Kakashi pointed across the road. "I'll find you once we have our plans for the morning."
I spotted my five and gestured for them to follow as Sasuke and Naruto did the same.
"Feeling a little antsy?" Daikoku Funeno asked, a corner of his mouth rising in a smirk.
"Shouldn't you be with Hatake?" I asked as we walked across the road to the gym.
"Nope. We have guys with them. I asked for the honor of sticking with your squad for eval." He sounded positively giddy.
I muttered a curse word.
"Your chickens are coming home to roost, and I can't wait to watch," Daikoku warned.
"Who the hell even says that anymore?" Naruto came up on my left, pushing his way between us. "Are you eighty?"
"I'm the one evaluating you," Daikoku snapped. "Well, evaluating Nara, here."
"Awesome" Naruto said as Sasuke opened the gym doors ahead of us "Then unless you're evaluating how Shika zips up his sleeping bag—or you're interested in zipping it up with him—how about you back off? The fun doesn't start until tomorrow morning, and you've made your point."
Daikoku put up his hands like he was under arrest but gave us a shit- eating grin as he walked off toward the other evaluators.
"I had him handled," I said, crossing the threshold into the gym. There were already fifty people in here, all lining up their sleeping bags and hitting the long line of tables that looked to be stocked with food and drinks.
"Fuck off and get your squad situated."
Gone was the cool and collected facade he'd shown Daikoku, the one he'd perfected through years of high- pressure scenarios. Nope, I got blasted with full-on side-eye as he trudged forward.
"So, I'm guessing he's still pissed," Sasuke remarked, coming up to my side.
"That feels like a safe bet."
I directed my squad where to lay their bags out and shook my head at Chance when he started to set up next to Karin. That was so not happening on my watch.
"But you've talked about it, right?" Sasuke leveled his no-bullshit stare atme.
"If, by talking, you mean him telling me that he wasn't sure he'd be able to stop hitting me if he started, then briefly discussing what's going on with the boys, then sure, we've talked." I laid out my bedroll and bag with quick, practiced motions.
"So there's no tension to worry about there." Sasuke set up at my side, eyeing Naruto's position a few rows over.
I winced.
"Fucking awesome," he quipped sarcastically.
Kakashi came back with the situation report, and it hadn't changed much since the last one.
"Get some sleep," he ordered. "We're hiking in as soon as the sun is up."
Sasuke called Sakura. Naruto called Temari. I called no one and told myself it was a decision made to protect my battery life, since there were more firefighters in here than outlets.
When I fell asleep, I dreamed about Temari for what felt like all of ten minutes before I was being shaken awake.
"Is it five already?" I mumbled, blinking up at Sasuke.
Naruto stood behind him, his jaw locked.
"Four thirty," Sasuke whispered. "Get dressed quietly. We have a meeting outside."
I threw on what few clothes I'd taken off—I'd long since perfected sleeping fully outfitted—and laced up my boots, swiping the sleep out of my eyes as I followed Sasuke and Naruto through the rows of sleeping firefighters out of the gym. The predawn air was cool but carried the heavy scent of smoke. That smell was more effective than a cup of coffee at waking me up. That smell meant death for people caught sleeping.
We walked through the parking lot and onto a playground that was illuminated from the streetlights above. I glanced at our surroundings and found Naruto doing the same, but Sasuke simply turned to face us both.
"Where is everyone?"
"This is everyone," Sasuke answered.
"I thought you said we had a meeting?" Naruto finished buttoning up his shirt.
"We are the meeting." Sasuke pointed to both of us. "The three of us."
"I'm going back to bed," Naruto snapped, turning toward the gym.
"Consider it a board meeting of Konoha, KLC," Sasuke countered.
"You're actually serious," I muttered, raking my fingers over my sleep- mussed hair.
"We don't have a board, jackass." Naruto pivoted back to us, his arms crossed. "We're managing members."
"I don't give a shit what we are. You two are going to talk," Sasuke ordered.
I glanced at Naruto. He glared back.
"Good morning, Shika," Naruto said with a sarcastic smile before looking at Sasuke. "There, we're talking. Happy?"
"This isn't a joke!" Sasuke's voice rose. "Today is our only shot at this!" He gestured toward the orange glow from the ridgeline that made it look like the sun was rising from the west. "Everything that we've been working for, the years and the money we've dumped into this, it all comes down to today, and you two are going to fuck it up for everyone if you don't hash out your shit."
"No one knows..." Naruto started.
"Everyone fucking knows!" Sasuke interrupted. "I'm surprised the town council didn't put out a press briefing when Temari moved her shit out of your house, Shika."
I spun the platinum ring on my finger.
"And everyone is watching us. From the council waiting for us to fail, to the town who expects us to represent, to the eval crew who is watching for every misstep. And the crew in there..." He gestured to the gym. "The one we fought tooth and nail to assemble, they're all looking to you to work together and lead your squads."
Guilt and responsibility settled on my shoulders.
"Do you two really think our fathers want to look down on us and see you two like this?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows like he'd delivered the death blow.
"I think my father would kick his ass for what's happened with Temari," Naruto commented, shrugging his shoulders.
"For fuck's sake." I spun, facing my oldest friend. "We should have dealt with this yesterday."
He narrowed his eyes.
"Dealt with you blaming her for the boys going back to Nolan?"
I flinched.
"Not my finest moment."
"Obviously."
"She left me, Naruto. She packed her stuff and left before I even had a chance to process what had happened in court that day. I left for that fire with a wife and two kids and came home to nothing."
"You pushed her out," he accused.
"I know!" I shouted, my hands balling into fists. "Don't you fucking think I know that? Don't you think I regret every single word that left my mouth that night?" I shook my head, struggling to explain, to put words to the misery of the past few days. "When push came to shove, she never trusted me to stay, and hell, with my track record, I can't exactly blame her. She never gave up the lease on her apartment. What do you want me to do, Naruto?"
"Stop proving her right, dumbass." He rubbed his hands over his face. "This is exactly what I didn't want to happen..."
"I know, you put her name on the list..."
"Fuck the list!" he snapped. "I didn't want to become some kind of intermediary between the two of you, but you're both so damned self- righteous. She wasn't keeping a back door open for your inevitable fuckup, Shika. She was working to sublet the space for a vacation rental to make some extra money on the side."
"She what?"
All of the indignation left my body.
"If you'd ever taken the time to ask her, she would have told you."
I opened and shut my mouth a few times, trying to come up with something that didn't make me out to be the jackass.
Naruto arched an eyebrow.
"I didn't ask, because I didn't want to know," I finally admitted "She was already spooked about the second wedding, and everything just seemed too perfect to be real. I didn't want to chance popping that bubble."
"It popped."
"No shit." I threw out my hands. "I didn't plan any of this, Naruto. Not finding her in my house, not falling for those boys, and definitely not hurting her."
"Yeah, I know."
"If I could take it..." I paused. "You what?"
"I know." He shrugged. "I don't think you hurt her on purpose, Shika. I think you ran your mouth, and kindergarteners could teach you a thing or two about communication and feelings, but I never thought you did it on purpose."
"Kindergarteners," I repeated, ignoring Sasuke's smothered scoff.
"Yeah." Naruto nodded. "I think when the shit hit the fan, you two went at each other instead of going through it together. She didn't give you a chance to process it, and she felt abandoned. You looked at her and subconsciously saw your mom walking out on you."
Sasuke and I both stared at him.
"That's…some impressive analysis for someone who avoids relationships like an STD," Sasuke remarked slowly, his eyebrows rising.
Naruto looked between us and rolled his eyes.
"Oh, fuck off. It's Psych 101. And just because I prefer not to be in a relationship doesn't mean I'm incapable. It's a full-time job watching you two tie yourselves into knots over women."
The light in the park shifted into a predawn glow. It was almost time get the rest of the crew moving.
"I don't know what to do about Temari, Naruto. She made her choice, and I can't promise her to be around the next time something goes wrong. Neither of us can."
He stared at my left hand for a moment.
"Did it ever occur to you that maybe she wanted you to go after her?"
My brow puckered.
"No."
Now Sasuke was gawking at me.
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." I nodded once. "She's never been one to play games, and besides, what could I possibly say to make this all better?"
Naruto blinked at me.
"Oh, I don't know, maybe take a few notes from every other man in history who's ever had to actually fight for his girl?"
I looked to the only guy I knew in a relationship: Sasuke. Sasuke stared back for a second, then laughed.
"Oh my God, you're not kidding, are you? Start by apologizing. No flowers, otherwise she'll think you only bring flowers when you've fucked up."
"You might want to write this down," Naruto stage-whispered.
"Shut up," I retorted.
"Tell her you screwed up. Tell her it will never happen again—and follow through." Sasuke pointed at me. "They're big on that part. Grovel. Finish up by swearing you'll love her until your dying day, and then await judgment."
"Tell her that I lo..." I barely stopped myself from saying the words.
"You. Love. Her," Sasuke repeated. "Shit, maybe you do need a pen."
Naruto's eyes narrowed.
"You do love her, right? Because she sure as fuck loves you."
Of course I loved her. I'd just never told her.
"Even if I did, I think she deserves to hear those words before you."
Naruto's jaw hit the ground.
"You've never told her you love her?" His eyes widened. "Is that why you said you fell for the boys, but you didn't say you fell for her?" Rage rose in his eyes.
"I didn't have to fall for her this summer, asshole. That happened seven years ago."
"You have to tell her, man." Naruto clapped his hand on my shoulder. "You have to tell her, and then you have to trust her to love you back. You don't always have to step out onto the ledge by yourself. That's the advantage of being with someone."
I nodded, and we fell silent as the sun began to rise.
"Should we group hug?" Sasuke offered.
"Fuck no," I blurted.
Forty-five minutes later, we'd packed up and driven to the highest point the road could take us into the national forest.
"Circle up," Kakashi ordered as I tightened the straps on my line pack.
Neji held a map against the rough surface of a nearby boulder, and we gathered around him as the wind tugged at the edges. Kiba stepped up and held the other side so the damn thing didn't blow away.
"She chewed through another thousand acres last night with these winds," Kakashi told us. "And we've got two likely hours to get this done. Then the winds are picking up again until tonight, and the forecast is seventy-mile-an- hour gusts."
"Ninety degrees. Dry timber. Seventy-mile-an-hour winds," Naruto said with a shrug. "What could possibly go wrong?" A dry chuckle went up.
The evaluation crew didn't look amused.
"We're going to cut a line right here." Kakashi pointed to a steep ridgeline on the map. "Squad one, you'll hike in from here and cut here." Kakashi looked at Sasuke, who nodded. "Squad two, you'll split off here and hike down to start cutting here." Naruto nodded. "Squad three." Kakashi looked at me. "You'll hike in from the bottom and cut to join squad two."
I leaned in to look at the map.
"Supe, wouldn't it make more sense to use the creek right there?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"If the wind shifts, you can't get out. You're trapped. And it's not on the topographical, but there's an old quarry right here." He pointed to an area just beneath where he wanted us to start cutting. "If we can get line cut to the south of that quarry and burn it before she crests that hill, we can save the town. The quarry gives us an advantage."
"And if she sweeps north? Right along that ridge?" I asked.
Afternoon winds were a bitch to predict around here. Cutting a line there might stop the march.
"Then she'll eat up some acreage, but the town is still safe."
I nodded, still looking at that creek. Sure, it made for some sketchy terrain, but if we were fast enough...
"Keep your radios on. I'll be with squad one, and Neji's going with squad two." He looked at me. "You got this, Nara?"
"I got this," I assured him.
We were handed maps as we split up, each taking the worn but craggy hiking trails we'd been assigned. Naruto and Sasuke headed up with their squads, and I took mine down the trail that led toward the quarry. Lee carried the chain saw just behind me, and when I looked back, I breathed a sigh of relief that while Kiba brought up the rear, Karin was more than keeping up as we headed down the path. Gaara would be proud.
An hour into the hike, we started uphill, sweat streamed down my back, soaking my shirt.
"Stay hydrated!" I yelled back as we continued through the forest. It would all be ash by nightfall if we didn't get this done—as long as Kakashi had chosen the right tactic.
"I can see the wheels turning in your head," Daikoku said, pushing past Lee to hike behind me.
"You can't even see my face. You don't see shit," I threw over my shoulder.
"You're thinking that you know better than Hatake," he continued. "That creek seems like a mighty fine natural barrier, especially if the winds don't give you those precious hours you need to burn."
"I thought your role was to observe."
"I thought your role was to lead your squad." He raised his eyebrows in question.
The terrain grew steeper, and the trail curved abruptly to the right, toward the stream, and I stopped, taking in my surroundings. The smoke plume rose above us, still moving west, but without eyes on the fire, I couldn't tell if she was shifting north or not.
"What are you going to do?" Daikoku asked.
I checked my map. This was where the trail ended for us if we followed the plan.
"Are you going to lead with your gut? Or follow your orders?" Daikoku pushed.
Kiba raised his eyebrow at me.
"Is she going to sweep north?" I asked him. "Or is she barreling down this hillside as that front pushes through this afternoon?" Second to me, he had the most experience on our squad.
He studied the smoke and held out the wind meter, taking a reading. Then he shook his head.
"It's too soon to even guess."
"What's it going to be, Nara?" Daikoku asked again.
"We're heading up here. Watch your footing." I started up the hillside, leaving the path behind.
"You're going for the quarry," Daikoku commented. "Against your gut?"
"Shut up and observe."
"If you say so." He fell back.
"I fucking say so," I muttered and climbed.
We gained altitude, my legs burning as we continued up.
"This is squad one. We've reached our location and we're starting to cut," Sasuke said over the radio.
"Roger that, squad one. This is squad two, estimating we're five minutes out." Naruto's voice filled my handheld.
I unclipped my radio and pushed the button.
"Roger. This is squad three. Estimating five minutes."
Five minutes later, we made it to the edge of the quarry, sweaty and breathing heavily. I glanced over the squad and looked up the ridge, where I could see Naruto's squad already cutting line. The winds had given us a break, just like Hatake predicted.
"Take two minutes and hydrate," I ordered. "Then we cut."
Minutes later, the sound of the chainsaw filled the air as Lee cut away the brush. The rest of us had our Pulaskis in hand, silent as our concentration and sweat went into cutting, working our way up the ridgeline toward Naruto. Daikoku had his fucking stopwatch out, timing us as we completed chain after chain. My heart pounded with exertion and my muscles burned with complaint as we moved steadily across the rugged terrain. Not a single one of us complained. We were efficient. We were quick.
We were good.
It felt like hours, but we met up with Naruto's line as the fire licked over the top of the hillside above us. We had an hour. Maybe. Less if the winds picked up sooner than forecasted. The lookout reported in over the radio. Winds were holding. We'd hit our window perfectly.
Once the line was complete, Kakashi gave the order to set the fires. We lit it up, and then we got the fuck out of there, hiking down toward the road as quickly and safely as possible.
"It's holding," Kiba said, catching up with me. "There's a pretty black line right where Kakashi wanted it, and the flames are climbing to meet the approaching front."
I glanced over my shoulder to see for myself and nodded.
"Good."
We met up with the other squads, and the mood was already lighter, although exhaustion beat at us. Even if we'd simply shaped the path of the fire, we'd led her away from the town.
"Interesting choice you made out there," Daikoku noted as I finished off a portion of my water. Winds had picked up again, bringing the blaze down the ridge. It was time to get out of here. "I always thought you were the kind to trust your gut instincts."
I glanced over at Kakashi, who was already back at the map with Neji, talking on the radio.
"I choose to trust my superintendent."
Daikoku lifted his brows.
"I guess we'll know soon if he made the right call."
"Guess so."
"Load up!" Kakashi ordered, and we started toward the vehicles.
"Hey, Daikoku," I called out.
He turned back in question.
"You still owe us twenty bucks." I flashed him a grin, then climbed aboard the bus.
Our part of the evaluation was done. Now all we could do was wait.