Naruto: The Seraph Project

Chapter 46: An Icy Gaze

As the humidity slowly drowns my apartment, familiar whining makes its way to my ears after just a few minutes. This is Naruto, visibly in the throes of an impending crisis. Without wasting time, I leave my book and hurry into the bathroom. I can clearly hear the moans interspersed with increasingly jerky puffs of air.

I open the glass door, calling out the name of my student. He painfully turns his head to look back at me; his face reflects great physical suffering and not mental as I thought. His back bent and leaning against the walls of the shower, Naruto barely stands. His legs are wobbly and I notice that his left arm, which he keeps out of the water, is shaking. He clenches his fists so roughly that his fingernails dug into the flesh of his palms. In addition, all his muscles are excruciatingly tense.

With horror, I realize that he's experiencing the same symptoms as I did when I suffered martyrdom after slashing my forearm with deep cuts. Clearly, the sapphire-eyed boy has inflicted heavy internal damage on his arm and looking back at the way he bit himself, he wasn't gentle at all.

"That's enough, Naruto," I say, quickly turning off the water.

The blond didn't have time to wash, of course, but I forbid myself to leave him any longer in this hell that I've faced with agony. I grab a towel and spread it out in front of him, inviting him to wrap himself in it. Grimacing in pain, Naruto comes towards me to fold in the fabric. However, he keeps his head down and avoids my dark eye; he's ashamed, probably due to the fact that he failed to clean his body.

"It's all right, Naruto. It's not your fault. I'm not mad at you," I reassure him in a soft voice, smiling.

The teenager gives me a shy smile, but nothing more. He just stays still. The shower has somewhat upset him.

"You need to dry off so I can take care of your left arm."

I wait with infinite patience for him to comply despite his absent desire to do so. Nonetheless, Naruto finally gets to work after the time of a breath. His gestures are clumsy and inefficient; omitting his still waterlogged hair, he's too wet for my liking. In response to the sharp pain that must be stabbing him like a sadistic dagger, he utters a few silent lamentations while gritting his teeth. 

Without warning, Naruto wildly shakes his head and tail like a dog, propelling many drops of water everywhere. Instinctively, I raise an arm to protect my face.

I frown and a hint of irritation sets in. I don't like to be sprayed like this and although he doesn't do it on purpose, it makes my hair stand on end. Even my ninkens piss me off after a jump in the river or the aqueous matter. I sigh for a long time, so as not to let annoyance creeps in me.

Presenting me with his back, Naruto offers me his left arm; thus, he eliminates the slightest risk of seeing the traumatic marks. I take a bandage roll out of my pocket before removing the towel adorning his wrist. Like last time, I gently wrap the bandage, making sure the bruises can be forgotten. I cover the holes his bite created too.

"I'm done, Naruto. You can get dressed and join me when you're ready," I say, sliding a hand in his wet mane.

The teenager quickly looks at his arm and pays no more attention to it. Plus, that gentle caress in his blond locks is enough to chase away the dark clouds that were veiling his face, as he lets out a happy, albeit silent, chuckle.

I go to my room and sit at my desk to start my report. Dressed up, his shinobi headband on his forehead, Naruto doesn't take long to join me... However, out of the corner of my eye, I see him get on all fours. He walks around me and once in front of me, he puts his head on my thighs while hugging my abdomen; at that, his tail wraps around my legs, snatching a sigh out of me.