I do not own Naruto.
Half an Hour later…
Naruto and Shino carried the exhausted Asuma on their shoulders, grunting every few minutes under Asuma's weight. Tazuna, who looked worse for wear, was supporting Shikamaru's uninjured arm. At least he was still alive and breathing.
Team 8 and Tazuna had seen what Naruto had done to the water, but…no one knew what to say. Shino and Naruto had looked well-glared at Shikamaru when Asuma landed right on Naruto thirty minutes earlier with his signature lazy look on his face. Naruto himself was exhausted, but he was still able to walk.
According to Tazuna, his home was not too far from wherever they were, so the boys just ignored their grumbling stomachs and aching bodies and followed the man. When Tazuna started picking up the pace, they assumed they were close. Naruto signed as Asuma seemed to grow even heavier. Or was he just that tired? Tazuna stopped within two steps of one of the biggest houses he had ever seen.
A woman around 5'2 with long ebony hair ran out of the house, passed by Tazuna without a single glance and immediately inspected Asuma.
"He'll be alright. He's just exhausted from our previous fight." The women nodded, and surprisingly helped carried Asuma into the house with Shino. Shikamaru and Naruto were busy supporting each other as Tazuna showed them to their rooms.
Naruto crashed onto the nearest bed in the room, snoring lightly. The others sweat dropped, but took a much-welcomed rest themselves.
Later that day…
It was dark by the time Naruto had woken up again. The room was empty, but there were lights on downstairs. His limbs were sore, but as he trudged down the stairs, he smiled as a bowl of miso ramen appeared in front of him.
The woman from earlier guided him to the table, where Shikamaru and the others were already stuffing their mouths with food. Naruto gulped his ramen down his throat and helped himself to the rest of the pot. Shikamaru and Shino knew better than to mess with Naruto when he was hungry.
"This food is delicious ma'am." Naruto nodded vigorously still slurping the ramen.
"Please call me Tsunami. I'm must thank you for protecting my father. He can be a real hand full." Shino waved her off.
"As boys of our word, he refused to abandon him. We were just doing our duty, Tsunami-san."
Tired and full, Naruto laid his head on the cool table. Asuma was still in bed recovering. Tsunami had already fed Asuma while Naruto was sleeping. Asuma's room was the second one on the right.
As Naruto trudged up the stairs, he thought about what had transpired earlier. He hadn't meant to do whatever he done. Those crystals had appeared on their own, but at the same time-they had felt like they were apart of him. As if they were a mere extension of his arms or his body in general.
Still, he couldn't feel anything now. When the crystal wall had appeared in front of him, he felt cold. Not freezing cold, but just colder than normal. Asuma didn't seem to notice this when he grabbed Naruto, but they were in the middle of a fight. When Naruto popped into the room, he saw his sensei laying on the bed, wearing bandages all over his body. At least the man was still alive.
That thought brought Naruto to Zabuza. He was the strongest opponent that Naruto had faced in a real fight to the death. The man enjoyed seeing Naruto and the others shake and squirm with fear. Naruto clenched his fist.
Their lives were a game to him! He didn't really care about slaughtering them, he just liked seeing them be scared and wetting their pants. Naruto had felt the man holding back as they crossed blades. Naruto felt his body getting colder as he leaned against Asuma's now closed door. Naruto found his way to his own room, his head now swarming.
