Memories of the Blossom Heart

Chapter 26: When The Pain Comes Back

After the countless obstacles and the struggle to climb the rigged ladder, the teams have made it to the top as they were now in front of the wooden altars. They stole glances at one another and nodded in confirmation to place the scrolls on the stand holders. Thus, they automatically activated the power that began to unleash the two twin dragons flying to the sky signaling their finish line.

Shikamaru and Temari whipped their heads with a startling look at the shimmering green light.

"Did they-?"

"Duh! We've gotta go!" She said giddily.

"Man, they're fast," he said exasperatedly as they both hopped onto her fan and flew off into the air.

The others decided to follow along by transporting themselves in a puff of smoke. Eventually, they set their foot on the grass as they witnessed the creatures swirling upwards around the stones. In such awe and admiration, they started applauding their teammates, patting them on the shoulders and their backs.

"Oh my, kunai! Y'all did it!! That was top-notched!" Tenten squealed.

"We're proud of you," Hinata said smiling.

"Who would've known that y'all could beat the shit out of those hoolas?" Kiba smirked.

"It's like everything went as smoothly as I thought," Ino stated confidently.

"Wow. You're such a sneaky mind reader," Naruto said.

"It's what I do, duh," Ino pointed out.

"The final round was not as strenuous as it seems," Sai thought.

"Yeah, it looks pretty easy to me, but committing to it isn't," Choji said.

"Actually, it was hard," Neji corrected.

"Really? How did you pass the ladders?" Lee raised his thick eyebrows surprisingly.

"Well, we had to merge our techniques and fuse it to form an adhesive force underneath our sandals," Neji explained simply.

"Ooh, so that's why I felt those chakra strings flowing above my head," Lee gasped in awe.

"Yeah, they were shooting gummy stuff right towards us," Choji tapped his chin with intrigue.

"It was our first time to think of that idea," Shino said.

"That was still awesome, though. Not going to lie," Naruto nodded impressively.

"Thank you very much, Lord Hokage. I'm truly honored to hear that from you," Neji placed his palm on his chest and did a little bow gesture that made the others chuckle.

"What can I say? I'm a man of my words," he said, grinning.

"What about you, guys? Gaara and Sasuke..." Hinata asked in shock.

The dark-haired ninja blinked twice and made a small pause to look at his teammate meticulously.

...

FLASHBACK:

A few minutes later, the two young men were gazing sluggishly at the steep ladder after beating each other up.

"You know, you've done a lot of things that shouldn't have happened. Your presence is irksome," Sasuke affronted.

"Do you really think so? After all, who was the one who committed all the crimes against the people, including her? You're no better..." Gaara retorted, which his teammate huffed ignorantly and looked back at the front view.

They both became silent for a moment until he muttered in a calming manner. "We are just going to reconnect the rope around our wrists. If we don't, our friends will be skeptical about us."