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Seeing Naruto's exhausted state, Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a helpless glance. The two of them carried Naruto to the bed, moving with a synchronized care that only years of proximity could forge.
"Let Naruto get some proper rest first," Sakura said softly. Her gaze swept past the bedside and noticed several scrolls lying open on the floor, covered in complex jutsu annotations and spatial geometry that made her head swim just looking at them.
While carefully rolling them up and putting them away, she gently tugged the pillow—nearly slipping off the corner—back into place beneath Naruto's neck and patted it until it sat just right. Sasuke stood by the bed, watching the frown still etched on Naruto's sleeping face. He nodded, voice equally low: "We'll talk about the mission after he recovers."
Once Naruto was settled, Sakura rolled up her sleeves. She moved through the apartment like a whirlwind of efficiency, sorting the scattered scrolls and scrubbing the kitchen until it sparkled. Meanwhile, Sasuke dashed to the rendezvous to report to Kakashi.
By noon, the room was bathed in a warm pillar of sunlight. Sakura tiptoed to the bedroom and eased the door open a crack. Naruto's expression was finally peaceful. The "little sun" of Team 7 was deep in a slumber bought by utter mental fatigue. A tender curve lifted Sakura's mouth. After a lingering look, she carefully closed the door with a soft click.
She left on light feet to buy groceries, leaving the quiet apartment to guard the sleeping boy.
"Really sorry…" Naruto forced open eyelids that felt glued shut. His voice was raspy, like sandpaper scraping wood. Heavy fatigue wrapped him like a soaked quilt.
I really overplayed my hand this time...
To master the Flying Thunder God, he had gone on like a man possessed. Between the Shadow Clones handling mundane missions and the clones helping him study, the mental backlash was relentless. He had survived on Soldier Pills for days, losing all sense of time.
"No worries—eat first." Sakura's voice pulled him out of his self-reproach. She set a warm bento on the low table. "After eating, we need to find Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke."
"Thanks." Naruto took the bowl. It was Char-siu Rice, the savory aroma cutting through his grogginess. With each bite, he felt his spirit returning. Sakura sat nearby, nudging a cup of water closer. "Slow down, Naruto—don't choke."
An hour later, Naruto and Sakura found the rest of their team. Sasuke was leaning against a wall, looking irritated, while Kakashi stood nearby, his single eye full of helplessness.
"What's wrong? Mission didn't go well?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah," Kakashi sighed, scratching his silver hair. "The client won't cooperate."
"Won't cooperate?" Naruto and Sakura blurted in unison.
"It's an escort mission," Sasuke said coldly. "But the one to be escorted refuses to go to the designated location."
"No-no-no, how could it be kidnapping!" A bespectacled man hurried out from an inner room, mopping sweat from his brow. "I am Asama Sandaifu, Miss Yukie's manager. We wish to hire Konoha to escort us to the Land of Snow for filming. But Miss Yukie is... resistant."
Land of Snow? Naruto's heart stirred. Memories of the movie Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow flashed through his mind.
"Miss Yukie?" Sakura's eyes lit up. "Could it be Fuji Fuuyuki, the actress who plays Princess Fuun?"
Naruto looked at the closed door where the actress was hiding. If his memory served him right, this wasn't just a movie shoot. They were about to walk into a civil war involving Ice Release users and the legacy of the Land of Snow.
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