мοrι ηo κο 『森の子』

Fourteen || Accomplishments

》Dιsсlαιмεя: I own no Canon characters that shall be used within this story。Only the OCs, as well as the setting in which the beginning of this tale has taken place。 All other things within the Narutoverse belong to none other than the marvelous, Masashi Kishimoto! READ ONWARD, LOVELIES!! ( ' ▽ ' )ﾉ《

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"You guys are going to be all day at this rate and we won't get to relax!" exclaimed Toru from atop the ledge, his hands cupped around his mouth to create a microphonic effect.

Aoi and Midori were below. For the past half hour, they had been struggling to climb the rocky structure. Lee and Guy were being supportive of their effort by cheering them on from beside of Toru, while Tenten stood on the side of the obstacle and attempted to teach them how to do as she was with her chakra.

Ken stood next to Neji, almost twenty feet away from the two girls and sneered at their ridiculous effort. Impatience ran wild in their blood as they watched Aoi and Midori fail time-and-time-again. Thanks to prior training, Ken already possessed the necessary skills to scale the obstacle with ease, while his fellow teammates were left unlearned.

"This wouldn't be happening right now if you woulda taught us this shit sooner, ya know?!" exclaimed Aoi as she sat up and stood to her feet once more to attempt it again.

Tenten furrowed her eyebrows at her friend, then leaped from the side of the basin. "Aoi-chan," she began, patting the ravenette's shoulder. "Come on, I'm sure you can do it this time, for sure! You've mastered to where you should focus your chakra, now you just have to keep it steady," she finished with an endearing smile.

Neji strode past Aoi and paused next to Midori, a cocky smirk etching his pale lips as he bowed his head. "A word of advice: the longer you both exert yourselves, the less energy you'll have to even get there," he flatly said, glancing over at the blonde with a jeering expression evident in his light lavender eyes. "So I'd advise you both to stop being so easily agitated by your sensei and climb whether you learn how to do it the shinobi way or not."

Aoi glared at the back of his head, sending imaginary kunai into it. She scoffed and feigned interest in her trimmed fingernails. "I'm Neji Hyūga, and I think I'm a genius and that everyone should listen to the terrible advice I give," she sneered, her voice low. She pulled down the skin on her lower eye area and stuck out her tongue in a childish manner. "Blah, blah, blah, buh-blah."

Tenten blanched at her friend, then sighed, her shoulders slumping.

"I heard that," added Neji as he peered over his shoulder and stared at Aoi. "Maybe next time ... you should try whispering, if you don't want me to hear y---"

The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and cocked her eyebrow at him. "Maybe I wanted you to hear me."

Neji's left eye twitched in annoyance at the ravenette. Disregarding her, he turned his attention towards walking up the rocky surface and reaching where his sensei and other teammate was.

Midori narrowed her eyes at him as he effortlessly scaled the cliffside and arrived at Lee's side. She envied their ability, but knew if she and Aoi focused just a little bit harder, they'd be capable of doing the same. The blonde suddenly swiveled on her heel and sent her friend a smirk. "I hope you haven't given up on it just yet, Aoi; we're one step closer to getting up there, too!" she cooed, a determined gleam in her emerald eyes and an anxious grin marring her youthful features.

Aoi immediately perked up, an overwhelming sense of excitement filling her as she nodded and walked up to Midori. "Yeah! We've got this, blondie," she exclaimed, raising her hand above herself to high-five the girl, who returned the gesture.

Both kunoichi fluctuated theirselves towards the side of the cliff-like structure and grinned. Placing their hands into the necessary positions, they glanced at each other, and nodded.

We'll show them, thought Midori. We're not weak!

They concentrated the chakra into the soles of their feet, the amount distributed evenly and maintained. With a quick jolt towards the side of the waterfall, they planted their feet against it and ran up the side. Satisfaction taking hold of both girls as they maintained their grip on the rocky surface and neared the top.

Tenten smiled at her friends. She cupped her hands around her mouth and cheered them on, along with Guy and Lee, who were ecstatically leaping up-and-down over their success.

Ken, who was casually following after them, shoved his hands into the pockets of his beige shorts. The fiery haired boy rolled his eyes and internally scoffed at their swift success in learning how to control their chakra; it had taken him almost two weeks to properly train himself to maintain his chakra to scale even a short obstacle. Midori and Aoi were exceptional shinobi, he'd give them that much, even if they were a bit dimwitted at times.

"Way to go!" exclaimed Lee, who rushed up to Aoi and Midori to greet them. He gifted them each with a high-five and grin. "Your hard work has paid off!"

Toru smirked and shook his head at his two subordinates, then waved at them dismissively. "I knew you guys could do it eventually," he commented, strutting by them in a sassy manner, his butt swaying mockingly to-and-fro as he walked towards the direction of their destination. Pausing, momentarily, he glanced over his left shoulder and winked at them, a grin plastered on his goofy, pretty face. "Nice work!"

The raven-haired girl narrowed her eyes at the smug man as he turned away and continued on. "Blondie, remind me again why he's qualified to lead us as a team," she spat, her nose twitching out of annoyance.

"Aoi ... even I couldn't make up a reason for that man," Midori answered, sighing, her head shaking in disdain.

Lee trotted up behind them. "Do not worry, Aoi-chan," he cooed, a solid, eccentric gleam in his round eyes. "Toru-sensei will make up for this once we get to the village, I am sure of it!"

Midori and Aoi blanched at Lee, causing him to sweatdrop and awkwardly rush up to Guy's side.

"He doesn't know the half of it," Aoi mumbled, her head lowered and shoulders drooped.

The blonde sighed and patted her friend on her back. "I guess there's no point in complaining about it now, though, eh? Toru-sensei's a sorry excuse for a leader, yeah, but we'll manage." She groaned and hunkered her own head. "I hope, anyways."

Aoi peered over at Midori and grimaced. "Maybe we can hire a tutor or something back at the village." Standing back upright, she hefted her backpack further onto her shoulder and trudged on, her pal at her side, with Tenten ahead, next to Lee.

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The fire for my love of Naruto has recently been rekindled, so expect updates to come more often, you guys. c: