| [Mar. 2nd, 2011|11:23 pm] |
“I would like some cake,” Hana said, turning back to face Ibiki. Tsume grunted and braced with the shifting weight, careful not to pull on her own chakra. Not that she had any reason to think it would be a problem, but the impulse to use her pathways made her heart race and her hands go clammy.
“Okay, cub,” Tsume said, arcing to look up at the faces ringing them overhead. She spoke louder, then. “Everyone’s fine! Someone grab her!” She heaved, switched her grip to Hana’s hips, and lifted straight up.
Hana put a foot on Tsume’s shoulder and stretched. A teenager grabbed her, heaving her up to the top amid cheers.
Which left only Tsume and Ibiki at the bottom, Ibiki still shaky and pale and, Tsume had no doubt, feeling a little uncertain about chakra-climbing the cliff. Whether or not the clan would notice...
“If we wade to the edge,” Tsume pointed back into the water, “there are roots sticking out of the cliff. The water’s only about knee-deep, there.” She offered a wary smile, still uncertain of the big man and all the questions beneath those sharp eyes. “We’re both already soaked.”
Ibiki gave the water and the cliff dual looks. Tsume recognized that look; every teenage boy and young man she knew had worn it at one time or another, usually when the smart thing to do was also the less impressive thing to do. Her anxiety washed away and she lifted one eyebrow.
Ibiki relaxed, decision made, and smiled at her as if he were doing her a favor. "Okay. I guess that must have been a real scare for you. It was a lucky thing I was already in the water." With that, he started wading back in.
“Hm, yes,” she said dryly. “I’m still all a-flutter.”
He glanced over his shoulder, torn between giving her a serious look and being sheepish. It wasn’t a particularly good combination.
Tsume relented and followed him into the river, picking her footing carefully beneath the frothing water. Softly, she said, “I’m glad you were in the river. Thank you.” Then she rounded the corner, found a root that would hold them both, and blazed a trail upward so he didn’t have to think about it. |
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