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“Arrrgh I almost had it that time!”
Training with Jiraiya-sensei had been going well, they were learning new ninjutsu and chakra control, and they were exceling! Well… actually, Nagato was the one exceling, Yahiko and Konan were still getting the hand of chakra control. In fact, Nagato at this point sitting up in the tree waiting for them, and it had been like that for the past few days. He cheered them on of course, but the frustration every day kept building and building in Yahiko.
This time he did make it further than usual, but he fell right down on his ass again. He didn’t have the chakra reserves Nagato did, the training exhausted him way faster than it did Nagato. And yet the boy high above smiled down at him.
“Keep going Yahiko, I know you’ll get it this time!” Nagato called down with a smile and eyes that truly said he believed in him. This didn’t actually help his frustration at all.
“You know I will! You won’t be sitting up there alone for long, Nagato!” He backed away further from the tree than before and got in a charging stance and dashed straight at the tree. His feet made contact, he ran up a good distance… but all it took was his foot shoving down too hard for him to push himself off the tree and fall straight to the ground below… And it wasn’t even worth it, he didn’t get that much higher than before.
“Come on I was so close!” He laid there on the ground, starting to lose his breath from how much he was pushing it, but he still had enough energy to complain about it. From here, Nagato looked further away than ever, it felt like he was miles away.
Just as he was about to ask Konan how she was doing; he saw as she ran past and right up the very tree he’d just fell down. He saw her stumble a couple of times, but she was getting further and further away from where he lay… until the next thing he knew, there were two people sitting up on the branch looking down at him.
“I… I made it.” Konan was just as tired as he was, but that second wind was all she needed to get up there. She smiled at Nagato next to her, whose eyes had brightened the moment she was resting by his side on the branch. “Now you’re not all alone up here, Nagato.”
“I knew you could do it Konan, you’re amazing.” A smile that just screamed how proud he was of his friend, but as far as Yahiko was concerned it should be friends. And just as he was thinking that they both looked back down at him.
“Don’t worry about it Yahiko!” Konan called down to him. “Soon it will be all three of us up here, okay?”
Well after seeing how hard Konan worked as if he could give up now! “Right, I’ll be up before you two even realize I’m there!” And just as he was getting up and ready to give it another try…
“I think that’s enough for today, Yahiko.” And there came sensei from behind the trees, arms crossed over his chest as though he was trying to act all stern (of the few times he was). “Don’t push yourself so hard, you’ve done more than enough today.”
“But Jiraiya-sensei I’m right there!” He pointed to the last spot he made it to. “All I need to do is try one more- “
“-You can do that tomorrow. For now, let’s all head back, have dinner, rest, and then you can make it to the top in the morning.” He walked over to Yahiko and put a hand on his shoulder. Looking up at the other two above. “You two as well, especially you Konan, you did great today but now it’s time for you to rest and celebrate.”
Nagato and Konan looked at each other, smiled and nodded, and headed down. But Konan quickly clarified, “I’m not going to celebrate until all three of us are sitting at the top, sensei.”
A soft smile found its way to Jiraiya at those words, “Of course, that sounds like a plan, Konan.” He looked over to Yahiko again, “Hear that? That means the celebration will be three times as big once you’re done.” Nagato himself had refused to celebrate his success until the other two were done. They really did stick together through everything…
He knew how lucky he was to have these two as friends, they didn’t brag, they didn’t care when he said things that didn’t make sense, they didn’t mind waiting for him as long as it took. He took the lead when they were trying to survive, they don’t need to do that now with Jiraiya-sensei here, and despite that, they still acted like he was their leader. He wanted to be as skilled as them, he wanted to sit by them above it all and see the view they saw from high above him. And he wasn’t going to be satisfied until he could.
“Heh, you better start making a grand feast soon, sensei, because tomorrow will be the day!”
Everyone’s smiles said that they believed in him, and as nice as it was to have people believe in you so strongly… it was frustrating that he wasn’t there yet.
Dinner was great, laughing with his friends and sensei was great, the warm blankets wrapped around his body and his friends sleeping by his side were so much better than sleeping outside on the cold ground. Yet he couldn’t sleep despite all the comforts and happiness he was feeling. All overshadowed by the frustration coming to a head, fidgeting in bed in impatience for the next day. He wasn’t going to rest at all at this rate…
“Yahiko…” A soft voice whispered next to him, and when he turned on his other side his eyes met with Nagato’s unique eye staring right at him, his eyes, he swore, giving off the slightest glow in the pitch-black room. “You can’t sleep?”
“No, I want tomorrow to come already.” He whispered back with a shake of his head. Though after a quick pause he sat up, reached over, and grabbed Nagato’s arm. “Hey, you did it no problem right? Come with me.” Before Nagato could say anything, he was already starting to try to quietly pull the redhead out of bed.
A very quiet sleepy groan came from Nagato before he gave in and stood up and followed Yahiko out into the cold rain after being forced to leave his warm bed. It was obvious where they were going, right back to their little training grounds in the trees. As much as Yahiko didn’t want to admit it, he needed help. Sleep be damned until he was satisfied.
When they arrived there, standing among the trees Yahiko stopped and looked to Nagato. Well shit, now that he had to ask Nagato for help directly to his face this became a lot more awkward. Nagato stood there, giving a yawn, and rubbing his eye as he waited for something to happen.
“What is it, Yahiko? If this is about the training from before…” Yahiko knew that Nagato surely already had an idea of what he wanted to ask, but his friend couldn’t just offer advice without him having to ask could he? Thanks a lot, Nagato…
“Yeah… it is.” He rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the tree instead of Nagato. “You managed to get it pretty quick, huh? How uh… did you do that?”
And by the lack of surprise on Nagato’s face and how quickly he answered, he knew Nagato was practically waiting for this. “It took a lot more control than you’d think, Yahiko.” Well from Yahiko’s point of view it sure as hell didn’t look like it. “Focus, control, and I couldn’t let any concern of my previous attempts get in the way.” Yeah, the whole two times he didn’t make it to the top…
“But I’m super focused on getting up that tree and yet every time it’s like the tree itself is rejecting me!” The frustration was only becoming clearer the more he spoke… He was almost glaring at the tree at this point.
“Your previous tries are probably distracting you. Try not to worry so much about that Yahiko. It’s good you’re passionate, but maybe it’s too much. When Konan made it to the top, she had the same determination in her eyes, but it was calm. A calm determination, that’s all I can offer you.”
A calm determination… Ok, fine, he could be calm and cool like Nagato and Konan. No problem. Just watch him.
“Fine then, let’s give it a try.” Yahiko faced the tree, getting ready, focusing his chakra…
“Wait, right now? But Yahiko you should be resting- “
“I can’t rest like this, not until I get this right!”
And at that moment, he dashed towards the tree, ignoring his concern, and focusing as hard as he could on the tree. Calm determination, calm determination… He cleared his mind as much as he could, and he swore he could feel his chakra at his feet, keeping him attached to that tree. It was working, it had to be working. When he looked at the tree for just a split second, he saw he passed his previous mark. He was there, he was almost there! The branch he was aiming for was just a step away! But said next step never came, his excitement flared, and his chakra shook, and his feet detached in that next moment. He fell, fell further than he had before.
Shit, shit! There was nothing he could do to stop it, hitting the ground at this height was going to hurt worse than any other time. He braced himself for impact, squeezing his eyes shut, but it was a lot less painful than he thought it’d be. When he opened his eyes and turned his head to the side, he saw Nagato there. He felt Nagato’s arms around him, Nagato’s breathing quick and short, eyes a bit wider than before staring directly at him. He’d… caught him.
“You… that was… reckless, Yahiko.” Nagato pushed the words out, hands squeezing onto Yahiko’s arm tightly as he sat there in silence. “You could have been hurt… you…” His voice shook, his eyes filled with worry. Here Nagato was, worrying about him as always.
Why was it only making him feel worse? His fists clenched, then he shoved Nagato off him and turned away from him. He didn’t see Nagato’s expression, and he didn’t want to, it’d just make him feel bad, he knew it.
“Why… why is it always you?” Now it was his turn for his voice to shake, but it was different. “You didn’t have to help me, I can deal with a bit of pain, you didn’t have to come save me again!” Again… exactly, this is how it always was.
“If you’d fallen from that height, it wouldn’t be just a few bruises you’d walk away with Yahiko!” Nagato was raising that quiet voice of his for once. Why did he have to worry about him so much? “I… I don’t want anything to happen to you, I don’t understand, what’s wrong with that?” He heard a crack in his voice as it quieted down again, back to that passive, gentle voice of his…
“You want to know what’s wrong with that? Really?” He squeezed on his knees, every bit of frustration he was holding in was starting to pour out. He finally turned back to him only to raise his voice as it blew up inside.
“You’re always the one saving me, Nagato! I know that if it wasn’t for you, I’d be dead by now!” He knew it better than anyone, Nagato was the reason he was alive, why even Konan was still alive, and they survived walking through battlefields like the dumb determined kids they were. “How can I ever protect you and Konan if both of you are the ones protecting me instead?!” Tears were building up in the corners of his eyes, damn it, he was man, crying about this of all things would be so pathetic. “I… can’t do anything for you two…”
“Yahiko…” He finally made eye contact again with Nagato, and where he expected to see hurt, he saw a gentle smile, one that somehow made all that yelling he just did feel ridiculous. Nagato got closer to him, and as he did, even in the rain, it was clear to Yahiko that Nagato had tears in his eyes too. Cold, pale hands took hold of his, squeezing them firm, but gentle.
“You’ve already done so much for both of us…” Nagato look down at both their hands together. “If it wasn’t for you and Konan, I wouldn’t still be alive today.” He squeezed tighter. “If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be as strong as I am today. You helped me understand what it means to survive, to fight the cruel hand life dealt us.” He looked back up into Yahiko’s eyes, the tears mixing in with the rain. “Without you, I would’ve given up. So please, Yahiko, let me do all I can for you now. Konan and I need you, and we know you would protect us to the end. Let us do the same.”
Despite the tears falling, his gentle smile only grew, the belief he held for him… It kind of made him feel like an idiot for all the things he just said. Yahiko couldn’t help it, he let out a small laugh, directed at said idiot who was blind to something so obvious. He squeezed Nagato’s hands back, and finally, a matching smile was returned.
“Fine, whatever, stop getting all mushy on me, Nagato.” Seriously he did not know much more he could handle while continuing to keep it together. “I’ll let you guys protect me for now.” But this was immediately followed by squeezing Nagato’s hands so hard he was sure it would hurt. His smile turned to a wide grin. “But just you wait, soon you two will be coming to me for protection.”
He could see it now. Nagato and Konan, damsels in distress, the very cool and very charismatic Yahiko of Amegakure jumping to protect his friends and all their enemies fleeing in terror once they’d known they messed up going after his friends! He was snickering to himself as he got lost in this little fantasy, looking up to see Nagato just smiling, even as he squeezed his hands so tightly Nagato didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Of course not.
Soon he let go and stood, looking up at the tree, pointing up at it. “Tomorrow, I’ll be right there next to both of you.” He looked back at Nagato, a proud smirk across his face. “And then you and Konan will see a brand new Yahiko blossoming before you.”
Nagato stood, standing by his side and looking up at the tree beside him. Pointing at the tree in the same manner as him with an almost teasing smile. “I’m looking forward to it.”
And by the next day, the four of them all got to enjoy a truly grand feast.