"I'm naked," Asuma pointed out. "Anything you need to know about me you can see." And a few things besides. And, okay, it wasn't like he had any body image quirks, but it would have been nice to get a damn choice in the matter.

Tsume shivered at his side, teeth chattering; Asuma reached out, wrapped an aching arm around lean shoulders, and pulled her against his side. Surprise he expected, maybe even a squawked protest, but Tsume stiffened like a girder, muscles almost snapping with tension. Asuma hesitated, eyebrows lifting, but she relaxed again before he made up his mind about releasing her. A little warmth bled through his ribcage.

Maybe she had body image quirks--which made no sense at all, given that he could see every inch of her and they all ticked a mental box somewhere around hell yeah.

It was probably a good thing he was frozen and injured, he reflected, because there was no way he was putting 'castrated by teammate for an involuntary reaction' on a mission report.

"All I saw was a deck," he said, dragging his mind back to useful answers. "Not Shin's ship, but I reckon we already knew that. Poor bastard," he added, more quietly. "I'm pretty sure I got at least one ninja before they took me down--kunoichi, I think. And I have no idea why they're keeping us alive."

Actually, he had several, but none he really wanted to think about.

"If I can hoist you up, reckon you could get your hands through the grating and cast a lockpick jutsu? Or use your claws?" He pulled gently on his chakra, feeling it spark and hiss in his veins. "If I push hard enough, I might be able to channel some chakra to you. It's not exactly a jutsu." A belated thought occurred. "And you're not injured anywhere permanent, right? It looked like just your throat..."