Defying Gravity

Chapter 40

Written on phone = typos

Third person pov

Ethelia's dad had no fully grasped the situation. He had no idea how much chakra Ethelia really had. Minato could tell just by watching him as Obito, Kakashi and Rin walked vertically up the large trees that seemed to cover a vast majority of The Land of Fire. He was completely and utterly floored by the display. Chakra was a foreign concept to him.

"She can't do that!" He insisted, eyes wide in surprise. "She's no ninja!"

"There we go, folks. Case closed. Let's head home." Ethelia gave a lazy salute, turning to walk away. She was far too lazy for this. Tree climbing? Why climb trees when she could simply stress herself out and fly straight into the sun instead? Plus, Kakashi could do it. She couldn't do any of the cool shit Kakashi managed to pull off. He was an asshole and a whiny bitch, but damn could he do a vast array of badass stuff.

"No." Kakashi scoffed. They'd invested far too much time in her for her to bail now. Besides, they needed to get her battle-ready so she could be used as a chakra bank for the other ninja. She had the expanses for it, and didn't seem opposed to the idea. Not that Kakashi cared all too much about her feelings. Just her progress as a soldier.

"Come in, Ethelia. Give it a go!" Obito encouraged.

"Don't put too much or you really may set something on fire." Rin had seen chakra light things on fire before. Even if Ethelia had wind chakra, she didn't want to take any risks. The slightest spark could set the whole forest aflame. And knowing Ethelia and her lack of control over her erratic reserves, that would be one massive spark.

"Ah, damn. Foiled my plans again, Rin. I was just aching to burn down half the village." Ethelia responded sarcastically.

"Just give it a go and I'll buy you food." Obito prompted. "And let you take a nap."

Ethelia was already walking towards the trees before Obito could finish speaking, cracking her knuckles and popping her neck. Ethelia's dad didn't seem surprised, nor did Minato. Rin simply sighed. The short list of things that motivated Ethelia was an odd one. Rin was surprised that Obito had managed to figure any of the things on said list out. He wasn't exactly the brightest of team Minato. Although, Rin and Kakashi hasn't been trying to figure the girl out all too hard.

Ethelia stared at the tree. The tree would have stared back if it had eyes. It was like one of those Western stand offs, except in a forest. Ethelia imagined the classic music anyway as she stared down her opponent. She could feel her dad's eyes on her. It made her more nervous, for some reason. It's not like he was here to bag on her decision. He was here to watch and give those awkward dad smiles, which he'd been doing spectacularly.

Ethelia took a deep breath and ran at the tree.

It wasn't the fastest run ever, no. But it was a run nevertheless. Her foot made contact with the tree in no time at all. Things seemed to freeze for a moment, and Ethelia could just feel her heart drop moments before she and the tree we're blasted apart.

Her dad's mouth fell open as she flew through the air with the force of a missile. Obito jumped to catch her mid air, taking the force of the fall for her. Opposite them, a large tunnel of trees had been uprooted, leaving a wide berth of dirt and torn roots. Minato pressed his lips together.

"I-It's not on fire." Ethelia wheezed as she forced air back into her lungs. She was lying on top of Obito, her face  right in the crook of his neck, but she couldn't care less. He couldn't either, staring wide eyes at the sky as he struggled to pump oxygen back into his body. They'd both almost died. Ethelia didn't even have the brain power to remove Obito's arms from around her.

"Yeah, no shit it isn't on fire. You blew it up!" Kakashi threw his hands in the air out of exasperation.

"That's about what I expected." Minato sighed. He then smiled. "We'll get better!"

Ethelia's dad could only gape at the destruction.