Return of the Flash by Kamikaze132

Chapter 10

Naruto had the others arrange into a formation. Sasuke and Sakura would guard Tazuna from the front while he would protect them from the rear. Sasuke had rudely questioned who had made him the leader. Naruto had coolly responded that if he had a better idea, then speak up.

As Naruto suspected, Sasuke didn't exactly have a lot of bright ideas. With a glare hot enough to burn metal, he had growled at Naruto, "Just because I am doing this doesn't mean you can order me around, dobe. You will tell me everything about your sensing ability."

Naruto had sighed at that. It seemed Sasuke's inferiority complex was acting up, probably because of what happened with Zabuza and the demon brothers. Maybe he was also pissed about seeing the hunter nin from before. Someone their age and already a part of the hunter nin program must set him off. They thankfully made it to Tazuna's house without any more attacks.

They all saw it, the lakeside house. They all waited on the porch as Tazuna went and knocked on the front door. After a minute, the door swung open and a slim, pretty woman rushed out and embraced Tazuna. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her, 'Probably must be his daughter.'

"Tou-san, I'm so glad you are safe!" She spoke with obvious relief in her voice before she spotted the ninja behind him. She gave them a small bow, "I'm sorry, where are my manners? I'm Tsunami, please come in. Is he hurt?" She asked, pointing towards the half-conscious Kakashi on the stretcher. Her eyes widened at the three identical blondes, but she was quick to recover.

Naruto spoke up, "He's simply exhausted, Tsunami-san. Is there a room where we can put him?" She smiled and moved aside for them to come. Sasuke and Sakura removed their shinobi sandals and went inside while Naruto first removed Kakashi's sandals and then removed his shoes, going inside. The small gesture of caring brought an unseen smile onto Kakashi's face.

Tsunami answered, "I just need to put down a futon. I'm sorry, but I didn't get your names....."

Sakura smiled, "Haruno Sakura, Tsunami-san." Tsunami smiled tightly at her. Something about the girl just unsettled her.

Sasuke was much ruder, "Uchiha Sasuke." He barely glanced at her, dismissing her as unimportant. Naruto threw him a dirty glare for that, which was whole-heartedly reciprocated.

Naruto turned around and smiled, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto, Tsunami-san. Nice to meet you." When you are nice to others, they are nice to you. This was demonstrated when Tsunami returned his easy grin and replied, "Nice to meet you too, Naruto-kun. Follow me upstairs where you can lay your sensei down for rest."

After the futon was laid down and Kakashi on it, Naruto just stared at the wall blankly, processing what happened to them so far. A hand on the shoulder snapped him out of trance. He looked up to see Tsunami's face, full of concern. It was a bit strange, having someone look at him like that. It gave him a funny feeling in his stomach.

"Are you ok, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto took some time to respond, "I'm ok." Standing up and putting a small smile on his face, he turned to her and asked, "So, Tsunami-san, how about I help you cook dinner?"

XXXXXXX

It took two days for Kakashi to regain consciousness. Naruto dutifully changed his bandages, helped Tsunami cook dinner and kept a watch on Kakashi while Sakura and Sasuke.....Well, they really didn't do anything significant. Sasuke trained; Sakura did too, but not as much. She only did a little before sitting on a rock and watching Sasuke with hearts in eyes. What those two didn't know that twenty of Naruto's shadow clones, divided in to two groups were learning the two new jutsu Naruto brought with him, far deep into the forest.

Naruto was in Kakashi's room, drawing up ideas for new types of flash tags and explosive tags when he noticed Kakashi's breath hitch. Putting his sealing supplies aside, he walked over and knelt down, removing the wet cloth from Kakashi's forehead. Something just in case Kakashi caught a fever.