Well, I appreciate the honesty. The large wave of negative PMs and largely critical reviews were a bit surprising, but I hear you. I'm sorry for not doing better. I'll try to finish it, but I get it if you don't care
I'm sorry for not living up to what a lot of you thought this would be
Time for Chapter 9
Enjoy, I hope
Naruto frowned quizzically as Kakashi hobbled his way into the clearing. It was hardly ten minutes past noon, and the agreed upon time of meeting out in the forest had been twelve-thirty. He and the remainder of Team Seven had arrived far earlier for the sake of loosening themselves up for what they assumed was going to be a fairly brutal workout, but they had not, in any way at all, expected Kakashi to not only arrive on time, but arrive nearly as ahead of schedule as they had.
'When he's got both legs under him, he's late nine times out of ten. When he's half dead, he...shows up early? How does that work?' the blonde pondered as the silver-haired Ninja stopped several meters away from the group and wiped sweat from his brow. With the undivided attention of his cell firmly on him and him alone, Kakashi spoke.
"I already mentioned this a few days ago, but you're going to be learning how to scale vertical surfaces without the use of your hands. We'll do water drills some other day." he summarized. He then made a sweeping motion with his eyes across each of the genin.
"Pay close attention. I'm only going to show you once. From there, it's up to you to figure it out." he said. He then turned to a nearby tree and made his way over to it with his crutches as his propeller. Without hesitation, he planted a foot on the bark and began walking directly up the trunk in exactly the same manner he had been walking across the very ground the cell stood on.
"Okay, that's so cool." Naruto said breathlessly as his teacher gradually descended the tree after having walked thirty odd feet vertically with no issue whatsoever. Once he was firmly planted back on the ground, Kakashi adjusted his grip on his crutches.
"The fundamentals are largely the same as water-walking, but in reverse. Instead of using your chakra to push your feet upward to maintain a solid surface, you're using it to bond yourself directly to what your feet are touching. It takes a careful control, and either too much or too little can result in failure." he explained, earning nods from his team. The jonin then pointed his finger at Naruto.
"You take a shot at it first." he half-suggested, half-ordered. The blonde stretched his legs for a few moments before obliging and strolling up to the same tree his teacher had so easily climbed.
"Stand back and get your popcorn ready, folks." he joked as he tested the bark with the bottom of his foot. Then, with limited confidence, Naruto attempted to complete his transition from standing vertically to standing horizontally on the tree. Much to even his own surprise, he was initially successful.
"This is wild." he said in an awestruck tone as he took a careful step up the tree. The moment he set his foot down again, however, he was harshly launched from the bark and sent crashing to his back ten feet back. Once he stopped sliding across the clearing, he skidded to stop parallel with Satsuki and Shikamaru.
"That looked a little painful." the Nara said while scratching the back of his head. Naruto groaned a bit and dusted himself off as he rose to his feet. Interestingly, Satsuki didn't bite on the opportunity to mock him. In fact, she hardly looked as pleased as would have been characteristic.
"You had the right idea until you got nervous and let too much chakra leak out. You've got to keep calm. Don't let the heights or the angle scare you." Kakashi called out to him once the blonde had regained his bearings entirely. The Jonin then looked to Satsuki, who was staring off into the sky absently.
"Snap too, Satsuki. You're up next. Do what he did, but, uh, better." he said with a chuckle. The girl flinched briefly, but quickly turned her attention toward the tree and cracked her neck. As she approached the tree, she took hold of her lengthy hair and briskly tied it into a loose braid that she tossed over her shoulder.
"Here goes nothing." she muttered just loud enough for the rest of her team to hear. She then took the same steps that Naruto had, quickly finding herself sticking out perpendicular from the tree. Unlike her blonde teammate, she took several seconds to compose herself before attempting to ascend any further up the stump. Once she was calm again, she took an impressive fifteen steps upward.
"Exactly like that. Keep it up." Kakashi said with an approving nod as the Uchiha girl climbed higher and higher above the ground. Ironically, a second or two after the words had so much as left his mouth, Satsuki came crashing down from above. Unlike Naruto's tumble, hers was from a somewhat risky height. Fortunately or unfortunately, it ended up mattering very little, as she landed directly on top of Naruto himself.
"Are you both alright? That looked and sounded nasty" Kakashi asked with a mild degree of concern in his voice as the Uchiha girl and blonde both groaned with discomfort.
"I'm fine. Just...seeing stars." Naruto grumbled as he sat up and rubbed the side of his head. Satsuki, who was essentially laying flat across his legs, quickly snapped upright. As a result of her rapid movement, their foreheads knocked together, resulting in both of them crying out in pain and flopping to the ground once more.
"That was on purpose, asshole!" Naruto complained irritatedly with his hand rubbing the newly formed bruise in the center of his forehead. Satsuki staggered to her feet and glared down at him.
"Don't be a baby. It wasn't intentional. Now get up." she grumbled, reaching down as she spoke. Before the blonde could react, she simply took hold of his wrist and yanked him upright. She then let go of him and made plenty of space between them. Shikamaru, who had awkwardly watched the scene unfold, cleared his throat and glanced at Kakashi, who wore a look of humor.
"Is it my turn?" he asked in an attempt to return things to their proper pace and flow. The silver-haired Jonin snapped from his trance and nodded.
"Sure, go for it. I'm going to be holding you to a higher standard for this sort of thing, so actually give it your all for once." he said, drawing the attention of Satsuki and Naruto back to the task at hand in the process. Sighing slightly, Shikamaru casually strolled toward the trunk on which both of his teammates had failed miserably. After looking it up and down a few times, the Nara stepped onto it and began his assent with far greater ease than his predecessors.
"You were right. It's a lot like walking on water." the shadow user commented as he slowly walked upward. Unlike Satsuki and Naruto, Shikamaru's assent was interrupted and lengthy. Eventually, he perched himself atop a branch nearly seventy feet from the forest floor.
"Can I be done now? I don't really like heights much." he called down from above. Kakashi, who was visibly impressed, signaled to him with a thumbs-up and a nod. Within sixty seconds, Shikamaru was back on the ground without incident.
"Well, I figured you'd pick it up quick, but that was actually quite impressive. Most people freak out when they realize that they're a ways off the ground." Kakashi complimented the lazy genin, who shrugged and rejoined his teammates across the clearing.
"I just stared at the clouds and let my legs do the work. Nothing complicated. Just some mind games." he said dismissively. Naruto then raised his hand.
"So, is this all we're doing today?" he asked curiously. Kakashi looked from the tree to the group several times and slowly steered himself back toward the house.
"Yup. You need to get this down, so I'll leave you to that. Try to have somebody on the ground at all times to play catcher." he said with a wave as he crocheted his way down the path from whence he had come. Satsuki frowned at the team's leader.
"Wait, you're just leaving? Don't you think that's more than a little dangerous?" she questioned logically. Kakashi paid her no heed and continued his hobbled trek away from them. Eventually, after two or so minutes, the Jonin was out of sight and out of earshot, leaving the genin to socialize amongst themselves.
"You guys have fun. I'm taking a walk." Shikamaru said abruptly, turning his back to walk away as he spoke. Both the Uchiha girl and Naruto did a double take at the development.
"And where the hell do you think you're going? He said that we'd work on it as a team. You're one of us, so get back here." Naruto complained as the Nara strode away. Shikamaru glanced back over his shoulder and put his hands up pensively.
"I've got the skill down already, and I'm a shitty teacher. I'm also not a great landing pad. I'll be back in a bit. I just need to stretch my legs." he said before upping his pace to a jog and disappearing into the brush. With him gone, only Naruto and Satsuki remained in the clearing before the numerous trees they would be using to climb.
"We're not taking turns to spot each other. That'll slow things down, so try not to get yourself killed." Satsuki said after a few moments of silence. The blonde watched her quietly as she returned to the tree she had fallen from and put her foot on the bark. The following attempt was far inferior to her first, as she was sent flying on the sixth step. At this, Naruto sighed heavily and began approaching his own tree.
'Today is definitely going to suck.'
Shikamaru finally allowed himself to relax as he closed his eyes to begin his transition into sleep. Having left his teammates to practice scaling trees by themselves some two hours ago, he had wandered the woods fairly aimlessly since then. The ground was still somewhat damp from a storm that had taken place the previous night, and the forest itself still smelled of the rain. It was a tranquil atmosphere that had gradually drained his will to continue plodding along.
Just minutes beforehand, he had finally discovered a patch of ground that was dry enough to lay on, and he had collapsed onto it gratefully. Beds were an excellent sleeping surface, but the natural ground was simply a luxury that could not be beaten by human inventions in terms of comfort for the Nara. Specifically, the sounds of mother nature herself were an excellent lullaby no matter the mood or situation he found himself in, and at present, a relief of stress was exactly what he needed.
'This week has sucked. First, we get dragged out onto the road with no warning at all, then we're lied to about what exactly we're here to do, and then we come an inch away from drowning on the shore of a river.' he thought to himself tiredly. It would have been a small stretch to call the experience traumatizing up to that point, but it had certainly been unpleasant. Another aspect of where they currently stood then flitted through Shikamaru's mind.
'...and then there's those two. Not sure what it was about, but they got into a screaming match at one in the goddamned morning, and now there's enough weird tension to make Kakashi-Sensei scamper off to do his own thing instead of training them.' he thought to himself. It was hardly an enjoyable environment to work in, which had been somewhat influential in his decision to walk away to relax on his own time.
'I'd rather not be there when one of 'em finally snaps and breaks the other's neck. Being a witness at the stands sounds like a hell of a drag.' he mused humorously. He then sighed and began to embrace the transition into unconsciousness. How long he would sleep was unknowable, but no matter how long the nap lasted, it would be the most refreshing luxury he had experienced in a number of days.
"This is gonna be great." he muttered aloud under his breath. For the following two minutes, the Nara simply laid inert as he awaited the sleep he desired. Finally, hearteningly, he felt his consciousness begin to wane. Just before he could be fully taken, though, he was jarred awake by an unfamiliar voice.
"Sleeping by your lonesome in the middle of a forest? You're braver than I am."
His eyes instantly snapped open and performed a panicked sweep of the surrounds in front of him. When he found nothing, his unease only increased further. Before he could move or think any further, the voice chimed in once more.
"Straight above your head, my friend."
Taking the advice despite his better judgement, Shikamaru fixed his eyes straight ahead of him, up toward the treetops. What he saw, however, was not an assortment of branches and leaves, but the face of a girl. Her skin was fairly pale, her hair was long, brown, and straight, with eyes of a matching color. She wore an expression of amusement that was clearly at the expense of his obvious discomfort and unease. In one motion, Shikamaru rolled and hopped up to his feet a meter or two away from her.
"Who the hell are you? And what are you doing out here?" he demanded tensely. Shikamaru Nara was a calm person generally, but at present, he felt very much on edge. Strangers were not to be trusted under any set of circumstances. The girl maintained her look of humorous fascination.
"I could be asking you the same thing. Teenage boys aren't usually found sleeping in nature. I think that warrants questioning." she shot back jokingly. The Nara's left eye twitched at her complete lack of nerves or visible stress. Though he initially considered lying, he quickly came to realize that the forehead protector strapped to his bicep was a dead giveaway as to who he was in terms of allegiance.
"I'm a Shinobi from Konoha. I'm here for a minor escort assignment. I'm out here to relax. It's been a stressful job." he said as vaguely as he could. The girl raised an eyebrow and let an odd smile creep across her pink lips.
"If the task is so minor, what about it has been so stressful? I don't know much of Ninja or their upbringing, but I'd always assumed they were trained for conflict." she asked wryly. Shikamaru began to retort, but bit his tongue and held it back. Whoever he was speaking to was both perceptive, and very much enjoying subtly pushing his buttons.
"I'm a long way from home with a group of hotheads for company. Sometimes, a guy needs to unwind." he said dismissively. The girl chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her left ear.
"Well, I suppose napping is one of the more...proper ways you could be de-stressing, so I guess I can accept that. Still, you picked an odd day to nap out here. The ground is damp." she said lightly. Easily detecting the hidden meaning behind the first half of her response, Shikamaru fought the urge to adopt a look of embarrassment. Pushing it all down, he gestured to the spot on which he had been attempting to sleep.
"This area's dry, and you still haven't told me who you are and why you're here." he countered. The girl responded by kneeling down in front of him and touching the ground he had been referring to. She then stood back up with a look of surprise.
"It actually is dry. That's odd. As for who I am, I'm just a local. I live in a village a few miles north of this area. I'm picking herbs and flowers." she explained. Shikamaru nodded and stepped back to create more space between them.
"I'll leave you to that, then. Happy pickings, or whatever you'd call it." he said with a wave as he prepared to walk away and find another place to nap. For a few moments, it seemed as though he had escaped the odd encounter. That was, until the sound of crunching twigs came bounding up behind him.
"I never said you could follow me, weirdo." he grumbled as the girl fell into step parallel with him. She simply ignored him and snatched up a white and yellow flower from a nearby patch without missing a step. She then deposited it into a basket in her right hand that Shikamaru had not noticed before.
"I was heading in this direction anyway. There's a lovely patch of plant life a mile and a half ahead." she said casually. They then lapsed into silence for a minute or two, with the odd girl occasionally swiping plants from the forest floor to add to her basket.
"You have a name, I'm assuming?" she eventually asked, drawing a sideways glance from the shadow user. Rubbing away some of the sleep that had accumulated in his eyes during his attempt at a nap, Shikamaru nodded.
"Yeah, it's Shikamaru. You're not getting my last name." he replied shortly. The girl laughed a bit at his veiled intensity and picked an odd-looking plant from the side of a tree.
"So defensive. I'm a simple village girl, and you're a trained killer. I'd think you have every reason to feel secure." she pointed out in a slightly teasing tone. Shikamaru kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.
"In my line of work, you keep your mouth shut and do your job. Getting to know people can and will get you killed." he said darkly. Strangely, his words seemed to tame his unwanted companion some. When she stayed quiet a bit too long, the Nara looked at her face directly for the first time since his rude awakening.
"I suppose that's...logical." she said carefully, clearly taking her time picking out her words and the way in which she intimated them. The odd shift in mood left as quickly as it had come.
"Since I told you mind, tell me yours. I don't need a last name either." the Nara asked. The girl, who had since picked a number of flowers, snapped from her thoughts and returned her attention to him.
"My name is Haku. Quite dull, but it's mine all the same." she replied. She then hopped up on a fallen tree and balanced her way across it as they walked along. Upon its end, she jumped back down and looked to Shikamaru once again.
"Perhaps this is a bit much, but how old are you?" Haku asked curiously. Shikamaru considered the question for a moment. On one hand, it was a simple number that little could be extrapolated from. On the other, it was still personal information being given away to a complete stranger. Against what his gut told him, he answered honestly.
"Sixteen, soon to be seventeen. What about you?" he responded. Haku seemed to find amusement in his answer, as she shook her head with a chuckle.
"I was expecting a lower number. You're smooth-faced. I'm nineteen." she said. The Nara snorted and kicked a stick off to the side.
"I get that more than I'd like to admit." he muttered, earning a patronizing giggle from Haku. The uninitiated pair then reached what Shikamaru assumed to be the area the supposed village girl had been referring to as a hotbed of plant life. Indeed, there was a large, varied assortment of flowers and herbs that the shadow user lacked the expertise to identify. After taking a moment to begrudgingly admire the nature before him, Shikamaru cleared his throat.
"I'm gonna keep walking. I need my sleep. See ya 'round." he said as he prepared to leave for the second time since his strange, uncomfortable encounter with the odd girl. This time, Haku made no attempts to follow him or call out. As such, he briskly exited the clearing they had entered and created a fairly large gap of distance.
Once he was well outside of her range of vision and hearing, the Nara's eyes narrowed and expression darkened just a tad.
"I have already explained myself. Good Day."
Though it wasn't an exact match, Haku's voice had carried a strikingly similar intonation and rhythm to that of the hunter that had killed Zabuza just days beforehand. It was certainly a stretch, but the skeptical side of Shikamaru's psyche told him to keep his senses sharp. Shaking his head with a sigh, the Nara continued his search for a proper sleeping patch.
When he finally stumbled upon one, he found that he could no longer bring himself to sleep.
A/N: Not sure how that turned out, but I hope it was better than what I've been putting out lately. Forgive the lack of quality. I may delete this fic soon
Tell me what you thought of this one
See you next chapter! Read and Review!
