"Ahem."
Kakashi strolled over with a large bundle slung over his shoulder.
"I meant that literally."
With no hands free, he could only lift his chin toward Zabuza.
"This guy was beaten head-on by Hayashi in the Land of Waves."
"Don't let the wheelchair fool you. Without him on this trip, you might not have seen any of us come back today."
"That's right!!"
Naruto was the first to jump in, his voice startlingly loud.
"Exactly! Hayashi is super amazing! Especially that new mode of hers—whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
He waved his arms around for ages, but nobody understood what he was trying to demonstrate.
Sasuke stood behind him and turned his face away, pretending not to know him.
Zabuza's expression darkened. He snorted heavily but ultimately said nothing.
He had lost to that slash. That was a fact.
Haku stood quietly at his side with his eyes lowered, saying nothing either.
Hayate remained silent.
His gaze lingered on Zabuza's bandaged forearm, then shifted to the great sword with its row of chipped edges, thoughtful.
"Really?"
Yugao blinked her still tearful eyes, looking from Kakashi to Hayashi.
"Of course."
Hayashi looked at Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao, his eyes curving with his smile.
"It's all thanks to your swordsmanship lessons, Hayate-sensei. Otherwise, we really would've been done for this time."
Then he stuck out his tongue.
"Hehe."
Hayate: "..."
Seeing that carefree expression on the boy in the wheelchair, he finally released the breath he had been holding all this time.
With a soft click-
The Tachi slid back into its sheath.
He stepped forward and gently stroked that head of red hair.
"Honestly... you're always making your teacher worry."
"You have no idea how frantic Yugao and I were when we received Kakashi's letter."
"There were only a couple of