The Ultimate Weapon (Naruto Fanfic)

52-Moving Up

It was nearly a month since Aoi started officially training team 13 and in that time they had gone on several simple missions and grown exponentially. Things had progressed steadily and they were now in the middle of learning chakra control via tree climbing. Aoi watched as all three ran at their trees to try again.

Shortly after there was a solid thud. A few moments later that was followed by a scratching sound of feet sliding on bark. Seconds later there was a crashing sound as the last fell to the earth head-long. A large cloud of dust followed the crash, and their two teammates winced.

"Are you alright Eiji?" Kuria hovered over his head as stars seemed so zoom in and out of his vision.

Jinhai rubbed his bottom as he stood from his fall. He hadn't gone that far up the tree before falling, having been caught off guard when he lost grip and tried to keep running futilely. None of them had done very well in climbing up the tree as Aoi had showed, and it had already been two days. Kuria had fallen first, and afterwards Jinhai, then Eiji had failed to break his fall and crashed into the ground hard.

Aoi went back to picking the sheathes off of Hane, watching from the corner of his eye as the three picked themselves up. They had only been doing this for three days so far, but they had made little progress in climbing up the tree.

Eiji finally regained his normal senses and stood up pointing a finger at Aoi. "Why are you just sitting there? Shouldn't you give us more advice?"

"I did give you advice." Aoi pat Hane's head and the bird circled a little before nestling down next to Aoi.

"'Use chakra,' isn't very helpful! Isn't there anything else you could tell us?"

Before responding, Aoi pulled out some pocky from his pocket. "Sometimes, the best skills and learning comes from figuring things out yourselves." Seeing the exasperated looks crossing all their faces, he decided to relent a little bit. "If you must have a hint, perhaps you aren't putting in enough effort?"

"It's been three days, how would we not be putting in enough effort?" Jinhai joined in the argument, but Aoi saw that Kuria narrowed her eyes slightly at his words.

"I suppose complaining is a great amount of effort," Jinhai, who had opened his mouth to respond, and Eiji, who had done the same, both snapped them shut, directing a glare at their teacher. Aoi was unfazed, snapping a piece of the pocky as he ate the candy.

Kuria thumped each of them on the head in turn. When they turned back to look at her she tilted her head to the trees. "Why don't we try again?" The two looked ready to argue, but before they could she started walking toward them. "It's already apparent he won't tell us anything else, so let's keep trying to figure it out. There must be some type of trick to it."

Jinhai sighed, resigning himself to the work, and after a moment or two Eiji scratched the back of his head, ruffling his two-toned hair, then shrugged. The three turned back to the tall trees that surrounded them, new determination in their eyes. Suddenly, there was a scratch as feet took off running. As two sets of feet pounded into the dirt, Kuria stood for a moment before making her handsign and closing her eyes.

A light glinted in Aoi's eyes as the dust moved slightly at her feet. Her eyes opened with determination and she took off after the two boys, who were already beginning to fall to the ground. The moment her foot connected to the bark, she could tell something was different. There was more traction between her foot and the wood. Her muscles pushed her forward and she didn't slip at all.

The two boys watched from the ground as she stepped higher and higher into the tree's branches before the wood cracked and she was pushed viciously from her contact point. They began to freak out as she began to fall to the ground, sure that she would break something when she hit the ground from that height.