Hot 'N' Dangerous

Chapter 65: Idate's History

Sakura and Sasuke lagged behind but Liz and I were still able to push ourselves to catch up with Naruto. I was sure he could've gone faster but he had a boy about the same age as him and taller on his back, what did we expect? By the time we neared the halfway point, the rain had eased and was beginning to go away. We stopped for the first time at the foot of a flight of the longest staircase I had ever seen in my life. They ventured high and they ventured far, I could barely see the top. I doubted Idate and Naruto could though, to them, it seemed endless.

"It's up there?!" Naruto gawked, as his eyes slowly followed each step up until they began to blend together.

"Yeah," Idate spoke tiredly.

"This is one long staircase," he gulped, "And a crap load of steps too," he swallowed again, "My crap load anyways."

Liz and I broke out in a small fit of laughter, allowing a moment of giddiness before the tough part began.

After calming his laughter, Idate spoke, "It's known as the 'Heartbreaking Stone Steps'."

"Hm, more like the 'Backbreaking Stone Steps'," Liz corrected.

"Heh, interesting," Naruto confronted the first step, "I'll just climb up without resting!" he announced and charged with Liz and I right beside him.

"Ah!" his war cry was prolonged and mighty.

We ran and ran, my muscles burned and I was sure Liz's did too. I couldn't be sure of how far we ran and how much further to go. I couldn't even confirm the time, I was too caught up with all the racing and fighting. Naruto was already wheezing and his steps were steady now, instead of a crazed rampage.

"Hey, you..." Idate started, quietly.

"Hah?!" Naruto shouted back, he didn't hear.

Obviously in his world, it was quite noisy.

"Let me just tell you beforehand that you haven't won my trust yet," Idate said, a frown on his face.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I don't care," Naruto said dismissively, more concentrated on climbing the steps.

"We don't expect you to. We are ninja, we are used to not trusting every single person we meet, especially if they're paid to be here," I said, my muscles screaming in agony, but I didn't show it.

If he had even heard what I had said, he didn't acknowledge it.

After a few minutes of silence, Idate spoke again, "During the Chuunin Exam," he started.

"Ah?" Naruto said again, sounding like a deaf old man.

Idate looked solemn, "You said you got the tenth problem thing, right?" he said timidly.

"Oh, it was a weird question where you had to decide whether to attempt the problem or not," Naruto replied, remembering off the top of his mind.

"Three years ago, I got a similar question," Idate began to relay what had happened during his own Chuunin Selection Exam.

Ibiki had told them that the tenth question was a competition among the three-man teams they were in. Among their three-man teams, they had to compete for the best answer. One of them had to fail and stay a Genin forever. Many had objected and questioned against Ibiki but, as usual, Ibiki was ruthless. Any who decided to quit instead, could retake the exam in six months. Like us, the continual participation of the whole team meant that none of them could quit.

"I just don't get it," Idate said bitterly.

In the end, Ibiki had failed everyone who stayed in the room. Liz and I stayed silent, thinking about the question, we had nothing better to do with our brains anyways.