The Akira Files

One Long Night

Ibiki’s POV

I had just left the Hokage’s office and saw a blur weaving through the crowd of people. It continued right past me and towards the training grounds. I realized that the ‘blur’ was in fact the stupid kid. I laughed to myself, he was wasting his breath. The training ground was on the top of a cliff and the kid would never be able to get up there. He can’t use his chakra and from what I saw he’s all bark with no bite,

 ‘I’ll wait a few hours and then go see if he wants to give up’ I continued along at a leisurely pace, there was no sense in rushing after all.

Akira’s POV

I had finally made it to the base of the cliff and I had just discovered that it was a good 200ft high! This was not going to be as easy as I had thought. I continued to stare at the cliff as my determination slowly left me and my fear sank in. My breath hitched and I felt myself go pale while my legs buckled under me, I sank down on all fours trying to calm myself down. I closed my eyes trying to even out my breathing. I knew that if I let this fear take over me then I would without a doubt start crying. I slowly calmed my breathing and got color back into my cheeks. I looked back up the cliff.

‘No, I can’t get discouraged here; I will show Ibiki that I can do this. I’ll prove to everyone that I am fit to be a ninja. Now, all I have to do is find a way to get up there before Ibiki.’

I grabbed for a rock above my head and lifted myself off the ground; this resulted in the rock breaking, me falling onto my…butt and the rock hitting my head. So, I’m off to a great start. I sighed before I picked myself off the ground and dusted myself off.

“Alright, let’s try this again.”  I grabbed hold of a rock and tested it to make sure it wouldn’t fall again.

 I then lifted myself up a bit, put my feet on the cliff and started to climb. At first it was easy, but after a while my legs and arms were burning. My face was starting to get slick with sweat. I stopped and looked around for even a thin ledge to rest on, I found none. I looked up at the night sky and the cliff top.

‘It’s taken me roughly half an hour to get roughly half-way up the cliff. So, only another 30 minutes of climbing and I should be at the top. Hopefully, Ibiki didn’t get there first. ’

I shook my head to get rid of any discouraging thoughts. “Alright! Just don’t look down.”

Hokage’s POV

I looked through my crystal ball at the image of Akira falling down. 'I couldn’t help but chuckle at his latest antics. I watched him fall not two seconds after getting up from his panic attack. At least he has the determination. Of course, by the end of this night he may just give up. Ibiki has always been a tough ninja, he has never trained any genins before. I believe he is trying to make Akira quit, but I doubt Akira’s pride will let that happen.’

“Hmm…this could mean trouble.”

Akira’s POV

I took a few more breaths of air before returning to the climb. I ignored my burning limbs as I continued to scale the cliff wall and, roughly a half-hour later, I had reached the top. I rolled onto the flat ground and stared at the night sky. After a moments rest and despite my aching limbs I jumped up and looked at my surroundings.

It was a beautiful, clear night and from my position on training ground 66 I could see every building in Konoha and every star in the sky. I sighed in content and collapsed onto my back to watch the stars. I don’t know how long I laid there but, judging from the stars location it would have been about 2 hours. So, 3 hours since I got to the cliff and…