Tsume felt his ribcage vibrate. He was speaking. Could he hear? She couldn't. Not a thing. She counted her breaths, counted her heartbeats, and tapped out, Can you hear? against his collarbone.

Muscles flexed and shifted, but he didn't bring a hand around to answer her. She didn't know what that meant. She did know there was metal to either side, and a wall of Asuma in front. She tried to focus on how that felt.

She couldn't breathe for all the nothingness.

And then everything was back. There was a keening whimper that stopped as soon as she heard it. The sound of the ocean hammering against the sides of the ship. Laughter, ricocheting around the cell.

Tsume clapped her hands over her ears, huddling into a ball. A growl rose in her chest.

Asuma wasn't expecting her to dodge under his arm, shooting out around him so she stood directly under the grate, glaring up. Terror whipped into anger, and she snarled furiously, fangs bared. "You crotch-infected pus farm, I'm gonna rip your throats out and feed them to you!"

"Did someone forget to housebreak you, sweetheart?" the ninja asked, crouching on top and peering down. "We could fix that."

"Why don't you come try."

His eyes flicked toward Asuma. "You might want to muzzle your mutt."

Tsume snarled wordlessly, impotent rage coiling. "If you just tossed me upward, I bet I could rip a toe off," she muttered to her teammate, hands flexing at her sides. Hooked claws gleamed a dull yellow in the faint light.