The journey back was much slower than the journey there.
On the way there, a day or two of travel had been enough.
On the way back, hauling a wheelchair and bringing along the still-injured Hayashi, they spent several full days on the road.
"Ugh-"
That morning, Sakura was pushing the wheelchair when she suddenly let out a long, mournful groan.
"What's wrong, Sakura?" Naruto turned back.
"Hayashi is still in a wheelchair!"
Sakura stopped, looking as though the sky were falling.
"How am I supposed to explain this to Ino when we get back? Before we left, she specifically told me to take good care of Hayashi! If she sees him coming home in a wheelchair, she'll tear me apart first!"
Naruto blinked.
Then a thin sheen of sweat broke out across his forehead.
"R-right..." He swallowed hard. "What are we supposed to say if our classmates ask...? We said we were going on a mission together, but now we're coming back with Hayashi in a wheelchair..."
"And Sasuke fainting!" Sakura added in a low voice. "We absolutely can't tell them about that either!"
"...Hmph."
Walking beside them, Sasuke turned his face away and pretended not to hear.
Ino's fists, Kiba and Akamaru, Shino's bugs, Shikamaru's face with "what a drag" written all over it... One face after another paraded through Naruto's mind.
He couldn't help shivering.
Zabuza, walking at the rear of the group, scoffed.
"Ninjas get injured. Nothing could be more normal."
He carried that enormous bundle, taller than half a person, his voice full of impatience.
"You brats think too much."
"Easy for you to say!"
Naruto exploded on the spot, turning around to yell at him.
"Hayashi isn't supposed to get hurt! Besides-besides, she got those injuries fighting you!"
Zabuza didn't even lift an eyelid.