"Food, tea, my very own energy boost. You sure know how to spoil your teammates," Asuma said, taking the canteen with a quirked smile. Against chilled hands the metal felt hot enough to burn; he curled his fingers around it with a low hiss, relishing the feeling of actual heat.

The chakra pill did a whole lot more.

Eyes bright, Asuma grinned around the feeling of blazing wires dragging through his veins, and blew out a breath. It hurt, but in the dark red way that would have dropped a hundred masochists to their knees and had them weeping for more. He shivered once.

Natsumi arched an elegant eyebrow at him.

"I'm not sure I want to think about you doing taijutsu with that hand," he said, sipping weak tea and ignoring her look. His free hand fumbled with her pack, digging out the promised lumpy ration bars. "Giving up your last chakra pill already gets you serious good karma. How do they feel?" His nod tilted towards the white shadow of her bandaged fingers, but a dull, distant snap answered before Natsumi could even open her mouth.

Asuma froze. This time it had nothing to do with cold.