Sasuke's words jolted Naruto back to his senses. Only then did he notice the tears running down his cheeks, and embarrassment immediately welled up inside him. He hurriedly wiped his face clean.
Then, pretending nothing had happened, he chimed in, "Y-Yeah. Let's go over there."
But his wandering gaze and forced tone made it clear that Naruto was nowhere near as calm as he appeared. Not to mention, his expression was completely unnatural. After all, Naruto had never been someone who could keep things bottled up.
"Mm. Yeah," Sasuke muttered vaguely.
Sakura cast several suspicious glances between Sasuke and Naruto. Though she had no idea what had happened, her self-proclaimed feminine intuition told her one thing: there was definitely something going on between those two!
Still, this was not the time for questions. With a belly full of doubts, Sakura followed the two of them toward Kakashi and Ueno Kei.
When the three of them arrived at Kei and Kakashi's side a moment later, they happened to witness Haku and Zabuza's bodies freezing into blocks of ice before shattering into icy fragments.
They were immediately stunned. Who would have thought that several mortal enemies, who had been fighting desperately just moments ago, would meet their ends in such a manner?
"Big Brother Kei... what was that?" Naruto asked from beside him.
Kei shook his head without saying anything. Then, his eyes met Kakashi's, and the two understood each other without a word.
"Well! Everyone did exceptionally well on this mission! When we get back, I'll treat you all to a meal!" Kakashi said with a smiling expression. "But Sasuke, you need to get plenty of rest and recover properly."
"Yeah!" Naruto beamed with delight. For him, Sasuke being alive, the mission being successfully completed, and Kakashi treating them to a