The only training you all have to do is climb a tree," Kakashi says pointing at a tall tree.
"Climb a tree?" Sakura asks.
Naruto growls in frustration "But we already did that!"
"That's it?" Sasuke asks.
Kakashi sighs and says "I want you to climb it, without your hands"
"What?!" Sakura and Naruto yell.
He nods "Like this"
He walks over to the tree then puts his foot on it and starts walking up like it's normal ground.
Everyone watches in awe but I'm not as impressed.
Clearly, they didn't have to do anything I had to do when I was younger.
Kakashi dangles upside down on a branch and looks back at us.
"Focus your Chakra into your feet and climb." Kakashi says throwing down knives. "Use these to mark how high you made it"
We all pick up one and concentrate on our Chakra.
It's easy to slip into this state. "Go ahead" Kakashi's voice says from behind us.
I glance back and see him standing behind us.
Everyone runs forward and I follow.
They all go to their own tree and run up.
Naruto gets one step up before falling.
Sasuke gets up a few steps but breaks the tree with too much power and falls.
Sakura sits up in the tree. It seems she's actually pretty good at this.
Sakura laughs and says "You guys need to work on your Chakra!"
The boys glare at her and I chuckle.
I'm one branch above her and lay on my stomach.
"You can say that again, Sakura" I say laughing.
She looks up and sees me. "You got up too!" She exclaims.
I smile and sit up, criss crossing my legs. I slide backwards but instead of falling stay on the branch and dangle upside down.
My head is in front of her suddenly and it makes her blush softly.
I hold my hand out to fist bump her.
" Excellent climbing skills Sakura!" I exclaim. It's nice to know that I'll have help if it comes down to fighting.
She giggles a little then fists bumps me.
I wink at her then look down at the boys who are glaring up at us.
Kakashi chuckles and says "It seems those two are the closest to becoming the next hokage, Naruto"
The boys get back up and try to run up again but there is little progress.
Sakura and I watch them for twenty minutes while she and I talk.
Sakura is actually not an annoying lovestruck girl like I had originally thought.
She's kind of funny and strong. She works for everything she wants, I respect that a lot.
We talk and I finish my joke making her laugh.
"Stop laughing! We're trying to concentrate!" Naruto yells in a complaining voice.
I look down at him then raise an eyebrow.
"Have you made any progress?" I ask.
Naruto's face reddens. "Yeah I have! You just can't see it from up there!"
I laugh and look at Sasuke. He is actually making a little progress.
"Hay Naruto, it could just be the angle I'm looking at" I start "But it looks like Sasuke is higher than you"
Naruto growls and jumps up to try again.
"That was a little mean" Sakura says giggling.
I shake my head and point down at him. "Watch"
Naruto runs up and this time gets a whole foot higher than before.
I crack a smile and Sakura's eyes widen and turn to me.
"How did you do that?" She asks.
I lean against the trunk and cross my arms "People like Naruto can't stand someone in a higher skill level then them so they push themselves to get just above their competitors. And look, it worked"
Sakura laughs.
"You're really smart," Sakura says.
I smile and say "You're smart too you know"
"Yeah I know, but sometimes I don't feel like I'm smart enough" She says rubbing her arm and looking at Sasuke.
I look at Sasuke then back at her.
He doesn't know it but Sasuke makes Sakura feel like she's not good enough.
I sigh "Can I ask you something?" I ask, putting my hands in my pockets. She looks at me then nods. "Why do you like Sasuke so much?"
She blushes and looks away. "Oh well, because-" She chuckles nervously "Well look at him! He's perfect!" she waves a hand at him.
I look at him and raise an eyebrow unimpressed.
"He's strong, handsome, and amazing!" She sighs dramatically.
I look at her then say "Yeah but he's not perfect"
"Huh?" She asks turning to me "What do you mean? Of course he is!"
I shake my head. "Nobody is perfect"
Sakura scowls and says "Then you don't know Sasuke!"
I crouch down to her and say "If he was perfect in skill then he would be sitting up here with us from the beginning"
Her eyes widen "Well that's not fair! Nobody can get it on their first try"
"Except for you" I say standing back up and smirking.
She stutters "Well, well, um" She thinks for a second getting more flustered.
I chuckle and look away at the trees.
"Sakura I'm not trying to make you feel like you have to defend him. I just wanted you to see that you are amazing too! You heard Sensei, he even thinks you're better than Sasuke!" I say. I smile at her and say "So why not own it! If you want Sasuke to really appreciate you then you need to show him that you're not something he can walk by without a second glance! He'll like that you stand your ground instead of stepping out of the way"
She's silent and I wait for her to say something "You're right" She says quietly. Then more confidently she says "You're right!" she hops up to her feet then points down at the boys "Hey Sasuke!" She yells.
He looks up at her and she yells "Get used to being in second place!"
His eyes are wide and I smile at his shock.
I look up smiling and see something that makes me smile.
Naruto yells in excitement "Yeah Sakura!" He yells.
Sasuke stares at her for a long moment but then tilts his head down and smiles a little.
"I'd like to see you try!" Sasuke says smiling up at her.
I laugh then jump up a branch above Sakura.
"Sakura" I say.
She looks up at me and I hold my hand out to her. "Come on, I have something to show you!"
She looks at my hand and blushes a little.
Finally, she takes my hand.
I pull her up next to me then yell down "Kakashi Sensei! We'll be right back!"
I don't give him a chance to answer as qe run up the tree and she follows me.
"Where are we going?" She asks as we hop from tree to tree.
I smile then stop.
She looks around then sees a nest.
Her eyes widen as she walks on a branch to it.
I follow her and she looks in.
She gasps. "It's a baby bird!" She exclaims.
Three baby blue Jay's chirp in the nest and flap their fluffy wings.
I pick one up and hand it to her.
She holds it and her eyes soften as she smiles at the bird.
I look at the bird then at her. She stares in awe at the bird.
My smile softens at her as she sets it back in the nest.
"Is that what you wanted to show me?" She asks.
I blink then shake my head "No that was just a bonus." I say, taking her hand again.
We climb up the tree but after a few minutes she stopped and said "I can't go up to the top. I don't think my Chakra is strong enough!"
I stop and smile at her.
"What happened to all of that stuff about being number one?" I joke.
She frowned "Yeah but not today!"
I laugh and say "Don't worry, if you fall I'll catch you!"
Her eyes are wide as I pull her up.
"How much longer?" She asks.
"Now" I say breaking through the top of the tree.
She breaks through it too and looks around. Her breath gets stolen away as she looks around.
The top of the trees rustle in the wind but the beautiful part was the sunset that cascaded on the trees.
It shimmered in orange, red, and yellow.
She stares at it and says "Hadeki! It's beautiful! But how did you know it was sunset?"
I chuckle and say "I saw it through the leaves. I don't know if you're the kind who likes sunsets but I do so I thought you might"
She doesn't say anything but stares out at the beautiful sunset.
We stay there until the sun is almost gone.
"We should probably go back," She says, turning.
I nod and we make our way down.
I stop and say "Hey, watch this"
She raises a questioning eyebrow when suddenly I jump off of the branch and fall.
"Hadeki!" She yelps.
I fall through the branches and to the ground.
I sore down then land on the ground silently.
I look up at her and smile.
"You weren't worried, were you, Sakura?" I ask.
Her face is red in anger as she makes her way down.
"That was stupid of you!" She says landing next to me.
"Maybe but it was fun" I say walking away.
She rolls her eyes as we walk away.
We find our squad seeing as they're still working.
"Are you coming to eat?" Sakura asks them.
They nod and follow us back.
Kakashi wasn't there so I assumed he went back to the house.
We walk back and talk together. I play with my yoyo as Sakura tells them about the birds and sunset.
They stop talking and I glance at them. They're all looking at me now.
I raise an eyebrow "Yes?" I ask.
"You're yoyo made a dent in the ground," Naruto says.
I remember that they haven't seen me use my yoyo yet. They have no idea how dangerous and heavy it is.
"Now that I think about it, you carry those yo yos around all the time? Is it like an heirloom or something?" Sasuke asks.
I pull my yoyo up and hold it out "Do you want to play with it?" I ask. I know I'm avoiding the question but this could be funny.
They all look confused.
"Come on it'll be fun!" I say cheerily.
Well it's going to be fun for me and hurtful for them.
Naruto reaches for it "I will. I used to play with yo yos at my school so this should be easy."
I nod and stop.
"Just do this" I flick it down and back up again.
He scoffs "That's it?! That's too easy"
"Well if you want to try a trick then be my guest" I say. "But don't take the yoyo until you have your finger in the string" I say, flicking the string out to him.
He puts the string on and I really wonder if it will just take his finger off in the drop or if he'll go down with it.
I hold the yoyo up for him before I say "Okay, do a trick"
I let go and shock fills his eyes as he immediately drops down with the yoyo.
I laugh as it creates another dent in the ground.
The motion Naruto did was hilarious! He couldn't even hold it. As soon as I lifted my hand off of the yoyo he went down.
"Hey what is this?!" Naruto yells as he tries to lift the yoyo but it might as well have been apart of the earth now.
I snicker at him and ask "What do you mean? It's just a yoyo. I thought you were an expert?!"
He used his entire strength to lift it up but it only wavered slightly.
He uses the string to try to march away with it but it only moved a few inches before he let it go.
"I can't move it!" He yelled kicking it. That only made it worse for him as he held his foot in agony.
I sigh and reach down then pick it up swiftly.
"Anyone else?" I ask flicking the yoyo down and back up again.
"I'll try" Sasuke says.
I hold the string out to him and when he puts it on he says "The string even feels heavy"
"Yeah," I say, handing him the yoyo.
He goes down, same as Naruto, but a little slower.
"What is this even made of?" Sasuke says through his strain. He manages to get the yoyo to dangle a few inches off of the ground.
His feet had dug a hole in the ground from how heavy it was.
"Osmium" I say laughing. "It weighs around ninety pounds or so"
"Ninety pounds?!" They all yell in horror.
I smirk and grab the yoyo from him.
"You did good though" I compliment before I pull out my second one.
"You have two?!" Naruto asks, almost falling over from the shock.
I flick them both out then back again. "You guys would have be able to lift them up easily" I smirk and say "If I wasn't stronger"
They all growl as I play with both while I walk away.