Kakashi swallowed the teasing remark on the tip of his tongue.
Seeing Sasuke like this, he figured any more teasing might make the kid bury himself right there.
He straightened up and called toward the edge of the field:
"All right, all right, that's it for today. Everyone go home and eat!"
Cheers erupted from the sidelines.
"Yeahhh!!"
Naruto was the first to jump up. Halfway through his leap, he remembered something and turned toward the middle of the field, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Sasuke! Come on, let's go! I'm starving!!"
Sasuke lay face down on the ground without moving.
"He needs to lie there a little longer." Kakashi waved a hand. "You go on ahead."
Sakura used a wooden post to pull herself upright. Her legs were still wobbling, and she couldn't help glancing toward the middle of the field a couple more times.
"Sasuke... is he really okay after training that hard?"
"Don't worry." Hayashi turned her around. "Kakashi-sensei's watching over him."
Haku sidled up to Hayashi and asked quietly:
"Lord Hayashi, shouldn't we wait for Sasuke?"
"No need."
Hayashi glanced back again.
Kakashi was slowly walking toward Sasuke.
A private chat, huh.
Hayashi mulled it over.
Then it was probably that.
"Let's go, let's go." He turned back and called to everyone, "Time to go home and eat!"
Zabuza had long since run out of patience. With his sword over his shoulder, he walked to the front without a word.
As he passed Hayashi, he gave a snort by way of greeting.
Haku hurried after him.
The group headed off in a lively crowd.
Naruto's booming voice drifted back the whole way, alternating between "Tomorrow I'm going three hundred rounds with Kakashi-sensei!" and "I'm eating three bowls of rice tonight!" Somewhere in between, he