Chapter 13: The Fall
Namikaze Aimisouma
My heart stops. The handle disappears out from under my hand, and I am falling.
Well, falling isn't the right word. The climbing wall wasn't straight up and down, but inclined. I was descending rapidly while sliding. Every handhold I attempt to grab ahold of doesn't stop my fall. I zip past the navy and black blur that is Itachi. He had one hand reaching out for me, but was too far away to help me.
"Easy now, Minato-san." I can hear Fugaku tell my brother. Is Oniisan worried about me? I can't allow that. I focus my mind. If I cannot stop my fall with the handholds, I'll have to do it another way. I manipulate my chakra, causing it to gather in my hands and feet.
I kick out, my feet connecting with the wall, I hear a sound, like nails on a chalkboard, as I skid to a stop. My shoes left two eighteen-inch-long skid marks on the wall.
I grab the nearest handles cautiously, testing my weight on them. When they hold, I close my eyes and press my forehead against the wooden climbing wall. I focus my breathing, which had become ragged and uneven. One deep breath, two, three deep breaths. The chakra pool that I had been amassing slowly returns to circulating through my body.
With the fourth deep breath, I open my eyes and look around. My heart is still pounding rapidly, my blood rushing through my veins, carrying an echo of my pulse from my head to my toes.
My senses seem to be on overdrive. The grain of the wood seems to be sharper. I can hear not only my heartbeat, but the heartbeats of everyone nearby.
"Are you alright?" Itachi calls down to me. Every syllable feels as if it is louder than a jack hammer.
"Yeah, just fine. Thank you." I shout back. I resume my climb. I have many splinters in my hands from clawing at the wall, but that doesn't stop me. It barely even slows me down.
I near the top, when Itachi appears, leaning over the side, offering me a hand. I pause, thinking: 'Eww! Cooties!' before I place my hand in his, and he hoists me over the edge of the wall.
Namikaze Minato
As Misou's feet connect with the solid platform, I finally find myself relaxing.
"Is it always this hard, to not rush to their aid when they need it?" I wonder, unintentionally speaking out loud.
"Yes. That is part of raising a child." Someone mutters from behind me.
"Don't worry," A Hyūga parent says, "She seems to be quite adept at fending for herself."
"Namikaze-san," A voice at the center of the platform spoke, and many people turned to bow lightly to the recently arrived Sandaime Hokage. "I know that I allowed her to enter the city without testing her abilities, because she both protected the sharingan and due to her injuries, but perhaps we should reconsider having a full evaluation of her skills, if, at her young age she already possesses this level of chakra control."
It wasn't a request. "Indeed, Hokage-sama."
Misou turned, from the bridge, and winks at me. It's an awkward wink, that contorted her face into an odd, crooked grin. Can Aimisouma hear us? Nah! She way too far away.
Both Itachi and Misou had recovered from the climbing wall, and crossed a rickety, narrow, rope bridge. Now, they needed to cross a set of monkey bars.
Namikaze Aimisouma
"Indeed, Hokage-sama." My mind reels. I shouldn't be able to hear that. But I can. I turn, and wink at him.
Itachi steps up to the monkey bars. He has to stretch up onto his toes to be able to reach the first rung.
I close my eyes. I listen to the heartbeats. I can hear them all. The forty-seven applicants, the fifty-one parents, the three proctors, and the Hokage. There are also a large number of heartbeats that I can't place. Ninjas hiding in the trees. I start counting. Fourteen. There are fourteen people here, who are hiding throughout the arena. Can the adults sense them? If they can't, are they bad people? Or can they sense them, and are ignoring them?
"HURRY UP!"
I jump, startled at the sudden loud voice behind me. The noise ringing in my ears.
I open my eyes and see the Itachi has crossed the first five rungs on the monkey bars.
"I am waiting for him to cross. The equipment doesn't seem all that sturdy." I reply calmly.
"Just go already." The voice, belonging to a tall (for a five-year-old) girl with black hair, speaks again.
"I'm letting him get across first."
I feel a pair of hands on my shoulders shoving me forwards. I swing my arms upward, nearly falling off the platform. I have to stretch upward to catch the second rung, my legs swing forward into the open air. I hear her hands smack into the first rung as she pulls herself up.
"Go already!"
I start swinging. Contemplating kicking her, but decide that my revenge would not be worth it. I quickly catch up with Itachi, who doesn't seem to have played on monkey bars before. I stay two rungs behind him, to give him space.
The girl behind me protests, then starts insulting the Uchiha clan.
"Can you please stop?" I ask her.
"Why? All of them are weak and pampered brats who-
"Would you just shut up already?" I yell. We only have four bars left.
"What's it to y-" she doesn't finish her sentence.
A loud snapping sound emanated from the bar Itachi had just moved to. The metal rung becomes disconnected from the wooden beams. Itachi lifts one hand, reaching for the next rung, but is suddenly plummeting.
I act on instinct. My legs swing out and catch in Itachi's underarms.
He clutches my ankles.
"Are you alright?"
"I am okay." He looks up at me.
"Don't look up! I'm wearing a dress!"
His cheeks redden as his face snaps downward. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, just don't do it again."
"Do you have a plan?"
"I am working on it. Any suggestions?"
"You could drop him?" The girl behind me offers.
"Any useful suggestions?" I amend my question.
"She is right. Your best bet for completing the course would be to drop me."
"Useful was the key word, teme." Opps, I will hear about that later from Minato…
He huffs grumpily.
"Oh! Hey proctor-san… are we allowed to use jutsus to get through the course?" I call out.
"Yes!" The man yells back. Ok, I could… no… how about… nah. Oh, I know!
"Ok. Itachi-kun, do you trust me?"
"I just met you-"
"I know, but will you trust me?"
A pause before he responds. "Yes?" Thanks for the vote of confidence.
"Ok, get ready, but in the meantime, hold on. Wait for my signal."
"Are you sure?"
"As I ever will be." I murmur. I channel extra chakra into my hands, to support my weight, then start swinging my legs back and forth. After several full swings, Itachi is almost to waist level. I focus, remembering the hand sign my sister taught me.
He swings back, then forward. Just before he reaches the apex of his path, I say "Now." He lets go, and arching upward, landing on the platform. He takes a few steps to balance himself.
I tuck my legs into my chest as my body rotates mid-air. Straightening as the ground returns to its rightful place underneath me. My hands link together, forming the 'bird' seal. Earth Release: Earth Pillar. The ground surges under me, rising up to create a narrow cylinder of earth that I land on. I wave my arms a few times to steady myself. I sit perched for a few second, allowing myself to revel in my success. Then I jump, my hands barely catch on the rung, the earth pillar melting back into the earth.
"Show off." The girl whispers to herself.
"I heard that, ya know." I say to her. As I swing across the last few bars.
Itachi stands on the platform waiting for me. When I land he extends his hand. I shake in gingerly. I already have enough cooties on me. I don't need anymore.
"Thank you."
"Your welcome." I say, giving a beaming smile.
"How did you know that would work?"
"Oh… heh." I rub the back of my neck. "I knew I could get you to the platform. I wasn't sure if the earth release would work. I'm not very good at it."
"So, you guessed it would work?"
"Ha, I suppose. I work well under pressure."
He shakes his head disapprovingly, then gestures to the next obstacle. "Let's get going."
How are my favorite people doing?
Sorry about the long wait. I am writing this while have twenty minutes here and there on my families shared desktop. It's an old Dell piece of junk that doesn't even have built-in wifi. It only has 16gb of built in memory. 0.0
How ancient, am I right?
Lol, but seriously. Thank you for your patience with me. Chapter 13 in what I have written at home is the 'incident' I have been foreshadowing for y'all.
I decided to insert some fluffy/filler-ish chapters full of the characters backstories. I hadn't planned on revealing the first meetings until much later, but, to heck with it all.
Then, the incident will occur.
Someone asked how Aimi-chan is going to rate on the power scale. I would LOVE to tell you, but hecka spoilers. XOXO
(Gah! My family is rubbing off on me again. I've already started calling everyone 'Honey' again. )
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!
~~Aurelia Azyton~~
