Naruto remained standing, completely oblivious to the social catastrophe he had just caused. His expression was one of pure and simple confusion. He didn't understand what he had said wrong. It had been an observation. An honest observation.
The only movement in the entire camp was the nervous twitch that had started in Kurenai's left eye.
Sakura's brain, however, was working at a dizzying speed.
HE'S DEAD. IT'S OVER. KURENAI-SENSEI IS GOING TO USE A GENJUTSU TO TURN HIM INTO A HOUSEPLANT FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE. I'LL BE THE ONLY ONE WHO REMEMBERS TO WATER HIM ON TUESDAYS. I HAVE WITNESSED A VERBAL SUICIDE. I HAVE TO DO SOMETHING. I CAN'T LET HIM DIE BEING SUCH AN IDIOT. IDIOT EVACUATION PLAN, PHASE ONE, NOW!
But before she could launch a verbal rescue mission, Kurenai moved.
She closed her eyes slowly. She took a deep breath, holding the air for a second, two, three… and then let it out.
Naruto, finally sensing the danger, took a step back. His survival instinct, though late, kicked in.
"Sensei, I… I didn't mean to… I just saw that…"
And then she laughed.
It wasn't a small, contained chuckle. It was a full-blown laugh. The absurd innocence of Naruto's question, his complete lack of a filter after everything they had been through—the blood, the death, the demonic chakra—was so ridiculously out of place that the tension built up inside her finally broke.
"Ha… ha… oh, Naruto!" she gasped, struggling to breathe.
Naruto looked at Sakura, seeking help. "What's wrong? Did I say something bad?"
Sakura could only bury her face in her hands and shake her head, muttering, "You're a lost cause… a complete lost cause…"
Kurenai wiped away a tear of laughter, trying to catch her breath as she straightened up.
"Naruto…" she said between gasps as a trembling smile formed on her lips. "You are… incredibly, absolutely, and without a doubt… a lost cause."
That was the moment Sakura needed. Kurenai's laughter was the green light. The imminent danger of death had been reduced to a severe punishment, and that was something she could work with. She sprang into action, her panic now channeled into frantic damage control.
First, she ran to Hinata.
"Hinata! Snap out of it! Don't die because of him!" she exclaimed, kneeling and gently patting her cheek. "He's an idiot, he's joking! Don't faint over a stupid joke!"
She shot Naruto a look that could have melted steel. Then she turned to Kurenai, jumping to her feet and bowing so deeply that her forehead almost touched her knees.
"Sensei, in the name of all that is good and holy, I apologize!" she began, the words tumbling out a mile a minute. "He doesn't know what he's saying! His brain has no filter, words just fall out of his mouth without thinking! He probably has a concussion from the explosion earlier! In fact, I'm sure he does! Look at him, he has a concussion face! I'm so sorry on his behalf and on behalf of the entire village of Konoha! It won't happen again!"
Naruto, watching the scene with growing indignation, finally put the pieces together.
"Hey! My brain does have a filter!" he protested. "And I don't have a concussion face!"
Kurenai finally controlled her laughter, though a playful and slightly dangerous smile remained on her lips. She straightened up and looked at Naruto, crossing her arms.
"Oh, I'm sure it won't happen again," she said, her voice now calm, which was infinitely more terrifying. "Because Naruto is going to have a lot, and I mean a lot, of time to reflect on the importance of discretion and tact."
"Reflect?" Naruto asked, completely lost again. "But what did I do, exactly?"
"It's not what you did, Naruto. It's what you didn't think," Kurenai explained, walking slowly toward him. "And since you clearly have enough spare mental energy to make… such detailed observations, I've decided to give you a task to channel it."
She stopped in front of him, looking him directly in the eyes.
"You're going to take the next two watches. Back to back."
Naruto blinked. "Both of them?"
"Kakashi has already done his," Kurenai continued, her smile widening. "So you'll take the second and third. That will allow the rest of us to rest deeply and recover completely. Isn't that a noble gesture on your part?"
Naruto's jaw dropped. "Both of them? But that's until dawn!"
"Exactly," she replied, her smile now sweet and terrifying. "Plenty of time to reflect on which topics of conversation are appropriate and which ones earn you a full night of solitary watch. Now, to your post. The rest of us are going to sleep."
Without another word, Kurenai turned and headed for her makeshift sleeping bag. Sakura, with a sigh of relief, helped a still-dazed Hinata do the same.
Naruto was left alone by the fire, watching his teammates settle down to sleep. The bewilderment on his face was total. How had a simple question turned into an all-night punishment?
With a heavy sigh, he climbed up to the highest branch of the designated tree, beginning his long, long watch under the moon's steady gaze.
Dawn arrived with a pale, gray light that filtered through the forest leaves. The camp began to stir, lazily at first, and then with a growing awareness that something was remarkably different.
Kurenai sat up and stretched. It was a long, deep, luxurious stretch, with her arms overhead and her back arched. There was no twinge of pain. No stiffness. She felt… incredible.
"Wow…" she murmured to herself, rolling her shoulders and twisting her torso. "I haven't felt like this in years." Strong, rested, and filled with an energy she hadn't felt since she was a chunin.
Hinata woke up with a calm that surprised her. Normally, mornings after a mission left her sore and exhausted. Today, she felt light, agile. She stood up without the usual creak of her joints. Her chakra network was humming with a clean, steady energy.
She approached Sakura, who was also stretching with a surprised look on her face.
"Good morning, Sakura-san," Hinata said softly.
"Good morning, Hinata," Sakura replied. "Do you feel it too?"
"You mean… not feeling tired?" Hinata asked, with a hint of a smile.
"Exactly," Sakura confirmed. Despite the previous night's humiliation, she realized the dull ache in her shoulders and the tension in her back were gone. She felt fresh, recovered.
And then there was the other side of the camp.
A loud groan that seemed to make the trees vibrate announced that Kiba was awake.
"Man… I feel like I fought an army by myself and then got run over by a herd of deer," he complained, trying to stand up with the agility of an old man. Akamaru barked in agreement. "Oh, wait. I almost did."
Shino, stoic as ever, was already on his feet, but he moved with an almost imperceptible stiffness that betrayed the deep fatigue in his muscles. He watched Kiba struggle to get up.
"Our bodies are experiencing extreme muscle fatigue," Shino stated. "It is a predictable consequence of prolonged overexertion."
"Save the report, Shino!" Kiba grunted, finally managing to stand and clutching his back. "I can feel every single one of my bones."
And then there was Naruto.
He came down from the branch without any grace, landing with a thud, and staggered, nearly losing his balance. A yawn so big it looked like he was going to dislocate his jaw took over his face. He had deep, dark circles under his eyes, and his blond hair was messier than usual. He was completely exhausted.
Just then, Kakashi landed silently in the middle of the camp, his own watch finished. His gaze swept over the group, and his jōnin brain began to catalog the inconsistencies immediately.
Interesting, he thought, his visible eye narrowing. A clear division. Kurenai, Hinata, and Sakura are… fresh. Their chakra levels are stable and abnormally high for the end of a mission of this caliber. They look like they slept for twelve hours in a luxury inn. Kiba and Shino show the expected exhaustion from a prolonged A-rank combat. And Naruto… Naruto is at his absolute limit. Completely drained.
His gaze settled on Kurenai. He remembered the wound perfectly. He had seen the blood, had assessed the severity even from his water prison. A wound like that should have left her incapacitated for days, if not weeks. And now… there wasn't a trace of it. She moved as if it had never happened.
What did I miss? Kakashi wondered, filing the anomaly away for later analysis. Something significant happened last night while I was on watch. And from Naruto's condition and Kurenai's satisfied smile, I can guess who was at the center of it all.
"Alright, team," he said aloud, his professional tone masking his curiosity. "Break camp. We're leaving in ten minutes. I want to be at Konoha's gates before nightfall."
The team prepared to leave. Kiba and Shino, moving with painful slowness, approached Sasuke's stretcher.
"Okay, let's do this…" Kiba said, bending down to grab one of the front poles. "On three, Shino."
Shino grabbed the other pole without a word.
"One… two… three!"
They lifted the stretcher with a coordinated grunt of effort. The muscles in Kiba's arms trembled visibly.
"Ugh! Damn, this is heavier than I remember!" Kiba complained. "Either that or I'm weaker than a kitten."
"Sasuke's weight has not changed," Shino said, his voice strained from the effort. "Our ability to lift him has decreased. The reason is that our muscles are suffering from accumulated fatigue."
"Thanks for the biology lesson, Shino!" Kiba snapped, taking a hesitant step. "At this rate, we won't be able to keep up with a jōnin! Kakashi-sensei and Kurenai-sensei are going to leave us behind! We'll be sitting ducks!"
Sakura watched their struggle for a moment. Doubt and hesitation warred within her. But then, the memory of the surge of power, the feeling of weightlessness, pushed her forward.
"Wait," she said, her voice quiet but firm.
Kiba looked at her skeptically over his shoulder. "Sakura, with all due respect, if the two of us are struggling, I don't think…"
She didn't answer with words. She walked to the front end of the stretcher, right next to Kiba.
"Let go, Kiba. Let me."
He looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you kidding? It weighs a ton."
"Trust me," she insisted.
Kiba was too tired to argue. He let go of his pole with a resigned sigh. "Whatever you say. Just don't hurt yourself."
Sakura crouched down. She gripped the wooden pole with a single hand. She took a deep breath, remembering the feeling of chakra flowing, of power settling into her muscles. And she lifted.
The stretcher, with Sasuke on it, rose from the ground. Sakura held it with a single outstretched arm, showing not the slightest effort.
Wow, was the only thought that crossed Sakura's mind. It's… not heavy. It's not heavy at all. I can feel the muscles in my arm working, but… it's easy. Really easy.
For the first time since she received the Breakpoint, she felt no fear or uncertainty. She felt control. And a small, genuine smile of confidence, one she hadn't shown in years, appeared on her face.
"No way," Kiba whispered, his eyes wide. Akamaru barked, equally surprised.
Shino adjusted his glasses.
Kakashi, for his part, simply raised an eyebrow. Added to the list of anomalies, he thought. Last night was definitely very interesting.
"Alright," Kakashi said, breaking the spell with his usual sharp tone. "Change of plans. Sakura, you take the front of the stretcher."
"Understood," she said, her voice clear and confident.
"I'll take the back," Naruto said, stepping forward despite his exhaustion.
Kakashi looked at him, assessing. "Are you sure, Naruto? You've been up all night. We need to keep a fast pace."
"No problem," Naruto insisted, trying to look more awake than he was. "I can handle it, really!"
"His resistance stat is very high," Sakura said suddenly, without thinking.
Everyone turned to look at her. An awkward silence filled the clearing.
"His what?" Kiba asked, wrinkling his nose. "Is that some kind of medical code?"
Sakura blushed furiously. Idiot! Idiot! You can't just blurt out system data out loud!
"I mean… uh… he's very resilient!" she corrected herself, waving her hands. "He can handle it!"
Naruto nodded enthusiastically, having no idea what she was talking about but happy for the support. "Yeah! I can handle it!"
Kakashi stared at her for a second, his one visible eye unreadable. Then he nodded slowly. "Alright. Naruto, the back. Kiba, Shino, you're relieved. You'll act as flankers with Akamaru. Hinata, maintain the vanguard. Kurenai and I will cover the rear. This formation is faster and more secure. Move out!"
The team, now a much more efficient unit, resumed their journey at a swift, steady pace, leaving the campsite behind.
They made a brief stop at noon for water and rations. Naruto sat a little apart from the group, leaning against the trunk of a tree, fighting a losing battle against sleep. He could barely keep his eyes open, and his head drooped forward every few seconds.
Soft footsteps stopped in front of him. He opened his eyes with a jolt and saw Kurenai standing there, watching him with a gentle smile.
"Tired, Naruto?"
He shot upright, adrenaline momentarily waking him. "Not at all! I'm perfect, really! I could run all the way to Konoha backward!"
A massive yawn betrayed his words just as he finished the sentence.
She laughed, a genuine, melodious sound. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?"
Without waiting for a reply, she sat down next to him, much closer than a simple sensei would on a mission. She reached into her gear pouch and pulled out a rice ball, slightly flattened from the journey.
"Here," she said, holding it out to him. "I saved one from last night. I know you didn't eat anything during your watch."
Naruto stared at the rice ball, then at her. The gesture was so unexpected, so simple, so… motherly. No one, ever, had shared their food with him like that. Old man Teuchi gave him free ramen, yes, but this was different. This was personal. He didn't know what to say.
"I… you don't have to, Sensei," he managed to mumble, though his stomach roared in protest.
"Of course I do," she insisted, gently pressing the rice ball into his hand. "A shinobi can't function without fuel. Take it."
With a hesitation that was completely foreign to him, Naruto took it. The rice ball felt warm in his hands.
"Thanks… Sensei," he said quietly, giving an almost imperceptible nod.
"Kurenai," she said softly.
He looked up, confused. "Huh?"
"When we're not on a mission, or when I'm not acting as your commanding officer, you can call me Kurenai."
It was a clear invitation. An offer of friendship that transcended shinobi ranks. He looked at her, surprised, processing her words. Then, one of his huge, radiant smiles, a real one, lit up his tired face.
"Alright… Kurenai!" he tested the name, and he liked the way it sounded.