Naruto Fanfic - Prisoner of Nightmare

Chapter Thirty-Six[XXXVI]: Red's Healer

   Uzukaze Naruto wiggled a little in Kakashi's grip as they grey closer to Tetsu's home, Kakashi letting him go in response which is what Naruto wanted. He basically bounced up to the small little wood cabin, a gentle stream of smoke coming out from the stone brick chimney and the flickering light of a fire escaping from the drawn white curtains. The path leading up to the door was neatly packed gravel, medical herbs on either side of it of all different kinds.

   Before he even knocked on the door it swung open, and the smiling face of Tetsu was seen. He was a tall man with little wrinkles near the corner of his eyes and a large nose, black hair peppered occasionally with strands of grey, eyes a kind caramel brown. He wore black ANBU pants, black shinobi sandals, and a loose light pink short sleeve shirt that was tucked into his pants. All across his right arm was a burn mark starting from the tips of his fingers and ending at his shoulder, a little of it seen because of the wide collar.

   "Naruto-chan!" Tetsu exclaimed, opening up his arms and catching Naruto was he launched himself into the man's arms, hugging his neck.

   "Heya, Tokage-san!" Naruto said, laughing as Tetsu spun him around a bit before placing him down and ruffling his hair.

   "My, my, you've grown so much since I last saw you." Naruto beamed proudly, grinning. Tetsu crouched down, grabbing Naruto's chin gently and tilting his head so he could examine the cut underneath his eye. "How did this happen?"

   Naruto pointed towards Kakashi even though he couldn't see the man. "Inu-sensei made us go into the Shi no Mori for a week so he could test our skills, we came across a giant spider in the process."

   Tetsu chuckled, rolling his eyes. "Of course you did," he muttered. He turned his attention to Sakura and Sasuke, who were standing a little awkwardly in front of Kakashi though Naruto could tell from Sakura's semi-erratic chakra signature that she was really excited. "Come on you two, I'll heal up your wounds as well." Tetsu's gaze went up to Kakashi. "You can enter too, I guess."

   Kakashi scoffed. "As mean as always, Tetsu."

   "Well, what can I say? You haven't brought Naruto-chan over in a while to visit, I was lonely, I have every right to be a little mad at you," Tetsu responded, his tone serious but the smile on his face revealing his true feelings. 

   He stood up, stepping to the side and ushering everyone inside before closing the door. Inside of the cabin was warm, everything illuminated by the fire in the hearth. It was quite small, a living room connected to the kitchen and then two separate doors leading to a bathroom and a bedroom. 

   "Go on and sit in the living room, I'll go get some tools to remove the stitches." Tetsu went into the bathroom, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto removing their sandals before sitting together on the dark red coloured couch while Kakashi sat in the same coloured armchair to their left, a small coffee table made of spruce in the middle.

   "It's so nice in here," Sakura said, getting comfortable on the couch. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

   "Cozy," Naruto added, "Tokage-san built it himself, I think."

   "I did," Tetsu confirmed, holding a small tray that had suture scissors, cotton swabs, saline, and little cup to presumably hold the stitches, on his hands were some normal white rubber gloves. He placed the tray down on the table and sat down in front of the couch so his left side was towards them, he motioned for Naruto to come down, which he did.

   He already knew the drill so he also took off his jumpsuit, placing it under the table as he sat down in front of Tetsu with his back to him. With the perfected ease of a man who had done this countless times before, Tetsu began to clean the stitches one by one before removing them, cleaning them once more before healing the cuts and bruises.