When I finally ended my flight break the sky was already dark. I had transformed back to human form a ways away from the house and was silently walking back. When I walked a bit further into the woods though, I heard voices. Grunts. The familiar sounds of feet running and bark being slashes. I was puzzled.

They're still going at it?

Skeptically furrowing my brows I walked towards the sounds. In between the trees in the distance, I really did see them. My vision is pristine even in the dark.

They really were still at it. Naruto and Sasuke looked completely dead. They were both panting hard, scrapes and dirt covering them. Sakura and Kakashi though were nowhere to be found.

I stayed in the shadow of the trees and watched them. I wasn't even trying to blend in, but it was already dark and they didn't have my supernatural night vision, so no one can really blame them for not noticing me.

I watched as they kept running up the trees, each time the slash on the bark landing an inch higher than the last. I could practically feel the competitiveness in the air.

I don't know how they keep it up.

I of course had unlimited stamina. But I've been human once too. I know what it's like. But these guys... their determination is in no may humanistic. Nope. No way.

...weeell they do become the most powerful ninja of all time in the future, but still. They're just kids. Actually...

I kept watching in fascination as the future two most powerful shinobi struggled to learn the basics of chakra control. Once I realized the gravity of it, I found it both ironic and really touching.

This is where it all began.

My eyes softened as I watched my two closest people in this world compete with each other, trying to climb a tree. It was somehow really funny. Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha had a hard time mastering the basics of chakra control. Who would have thought?

Suddenly Naruto landed on the ground with a loud thump, panting hard. He couldn't even seem to be able to get up from his squatting position. Breathing harshly, the boy looked at his rival. Sasuke was still climbing, but he was slowing down. I saw him desperately slashing the treebark an inch above the previous mark and lose his balance. To avoid falling, he started skipping from tree to tree. Like wall jumping. A Mario-skill. And he ended it with a somersault. Very skilled, very flashy. Go, my cushion! Venture forth and vanquish thy enemies!

I then looked back at Naruto who was violently shaking his head before taking a deep breath, putting his hands into a hand sign and concentrating. After a while, he opened his eyes and I could see the determination and surety in them, and even I felt a little excited.

Will he make it this time?

Naruto was just about to take a step towards the tree when...

"Hey! Naruto!"

...he stumbled and landed right on his face.

I had to stifle a giggle. Sasuke's timing was impeccable.

I watched with sparkling eyes as Naruto twitched on the ground a few times, like a worm, before an obvious tick-mark started growing on his head. Suddenly his head shot up, eyes blank with rage and seething fire.

"SASUKE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TEME?! I WAS TRYING TO FOCUS MY CHAKRA!"

I had to put my hand on my mouth to hold the giggles in.

Conceal don't feel don't let them knooow~

"Well, uh, you know... the thing is..."

I looked back up at Sasuke and saw him uncomfortably shifting his weight, a slight blush spreading on his cheeks. I was frozen.

So cute... must pinch... those cheeks...

NO CEI! GET IT TOGETHER YOU DISGRACE OF A BIJUU. SHAME ON YOUR COW!!!

Naruto apparently got impatient waiting for Sasuke to continue. He sat up cross legged and crossed his arms over his chest.

"So? The thing is what?"

Sasuke's eyebrow started twitching as he prepared to answer, and I started shaking from holding in laughter. I swear, I'd suffer internal injuries soon.

"Y-you know... you asked Sakura for advice when she was here? So... what did she tell you?"

The last part he said with pouting lips and I almost fell to the ground.

I can't hold it in much longer...

Naruto's eyes widened comically as he blinked once, twice, thrice... and then the creepiest smile I've ever seen spread on his face. *Shudder*

And then his expression fell. Became completely. Blank.

"I'm not telling you."

...aaand you should have seen Sasuke's face! They kept staring at each other with their ridiculous expressions and I just couldn't hold it anymore.

My hysterical laughter sounded through the woods.

I was tired. Kakashi gave us the exercise of tree climbing this afternoon.

It's night already!

I huffed a few times to catch my breath before concentrating my chakra and charging at the tree again. Looking to my right, I saw Naruto doing the same thing. I was getting frustrated. It just wasn't working! Looking at Naruto's tree, I saw his marks are almost as high as mine.

Damn! He's catching up to me inch by inch!

I stood still for a while, thinking of what I could do. Mustering up my humbleness I decided to ask Naruto. Naruto, who was moments later lying face first on the ground. I sweatdropped.

I didn't catch how that happened...

I asked him what Sakura had told him earlier, when he had asked for her advise. But the dobe said he wouldn't tell me! I turned my nose in the air away from him when a twinkling and enchanting laughter was heard. I instantly recognized it and spun around to face the person it belonged to.

Ceiren was standing between two trees. She was bent at the waist, her breath catching from time to time as she huffed and puffed through her laughter. I frowned at her but couldn't stop the smirk that started spreading on my face.

Then the dobe decided to say something.

"Cei-chan? You're awake!"

She calmed down, slowly straightening her back and I could see her wiping the corners of her eyes.

"Yeah, I'm all good. What you doing though, Naruto?"

I felt slightly gloomy that she hadn't asked me.

"Yeaaah, well you see Kakashi-sensei was teaching us how to climb trees without hands... you know, he said that if we master this, we can master any jutsu!"

I had to correct him.

"He said in theory. If we could master this, then in theory we should be able to master any other jutsu. Dobe."

I crossed my hands over my chest and gave the dobe a condescending look.

The blonde looked ready to explode.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY TEME?!"

A laugh made both of us turn to a red-faced Cei, who was holding her stomach tightly and trying to bite back her giggles so desperately that it was visible on her face. I deadpanned at her.

"I ALMOST FORGOT! Cei-chan, you were really amazing today! You totally got that Zabuza dude!!! How did you do it?"

I winced at Naruto's loudness, is he deaf or something, but after progressing what he said I turned back to Cei, eyes flashing as I awaited her answer.

I had been really shocked by what she did today.

We are all genin. We just graduated the academy. That, was a battle between jounin. I had thought the atmosphere was so frightening that I had almost taken my own life... but she fought a jounin head on.

And destroyed him.

My eyes narrowed as I looked at the beautiful face of my teammate. She was as graceful as ever, her white hair flowing with the breeze. She was wearing a beautiful black dress, a design I have never seen before. On her feet were a pair of shoes with sticks at the back? I'd seen her wear similar ones before, but I didn't get it. They were weird.

She grabbed her chin in a thinking motion.

"Well... it was determination, I suppose? I saw that Kakashi-sensei was in trouble and that the cow was going to hurt you, and in that moment just knew that I couldn't let that happen. I felt like I absolutely had to protect my teammates, no matter what. So, I gathered all my determination and just charged at him... it was, like, on instinct. Do you understand what I mean?"

I raised a sceptic eyebrow, not fully trusting her way too far-fetched story. But glancing at the dobe, I saw him staring at her sparkly-eyed, hanging on her every word. I realized with a start that he completely believed her. And then I remembered, that Naruto was all about believing and never giving up.

I facepalmed.

She completely got that idiot. He's just too easy...

Cei suddenly clapped her hands together, looking around with an excited look on her face.

"So, tree climbing, huh?"

Just mentioning it made my mood sour. I looked back at our respective trees, each filled with slashes. Looking back, I saw her walking towards another tree beside ours. Naruto skipped after he.

"You know, Cei-chan, it isn't that easy."

I agreed with the dobe.

But Cei just put her hand on the trunk of the tree and turned to face us, smiling.

"But, it is. Everything is easy, really. Once you understand it. You just need some determination and hard work."

Isn't she just saying that to sell her previous story better??

She then turned back to her tree and took a few steps away from it. Closing her eyes, she put her hands together and stood there. Then she started talking.

"This is, at its core, simple chakra control. You must direct your chakra to a particular place on your body, and generate the right amount as well. In reality, it isn't that hard. First, is the matter of focusing the chakra at your feet. This, you have already mastered. Second, you must find the right amount of chakra and keep a steady flow... the flow is kept by clearing your mind, remaining calm, no distractions or agitations. The amount... well, you could always try different ones until it finally works, or..."

She opened her eyes, and unlike Naruto and me who had always charged at the tree, slowly walked towards it. When she reached the trunk, she put one foot on it. Then the other.

My eyes widened. She was slowly, casually, walking up the tree trunk. When she reached the lowest branch, she walked up on it and sat down before looking back down at us.

"... or, you could start out slowly and get a feel for it. Let the chakra amout shift around on your first step, before reaching the right balance. I personally think, you two were just rushing it."

She gave us a gorgeous closed-eye smile, and I couldn't stop staring at her.

This girl...

Still, I walked back to my tree and Naruto did the same. I did what she said and stepped onto the tree trunk, slowly. The moment my foot touched it, I adjusted the chakra amount. Soon, I felt it calm down and my foot suddenly seemed steady. Raising my eyebrows in surprise, I finally dared to lift my other foot from the ground. And the other securely landed on the tree trunk. My mind swam as I realized that I was currently standing horizontally with no support whatsoever, and I was steady. Excitement bubbled up within me and I speeded up the trunk, reaching the lowest branch. But, feeling like pushing it, I walked even further up. Only after reaching the top of the tree did I walk to one of the thicker branches and sit down. Looking to my side, I saw Naruto had done the same. And he was grinning widely. I just smirked.

The twinkling laughter sounded again. I looked down to see Cei laughing at us from a branch mutch closed to the ground. This time, her laughter was free and joyous. Naruto son joined her. I just smirked and looked at my teammates.

We joked around, teased and laughed all night. In the darkness of the woods.

But for some reason I didn't think the darkness was frightening. This time, it didn't remind me of that night. I wasn't afraid of anything coming from the woods. Of any hidden enemies. For some reason, I felt like I was safe in this darkness.

Like this darkness was protecting me.