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Afternoon.

Shin stood with the members of the Hyuga Clan on Konoha's main thoroughfare, waiting alongside all the villagers.

Both sides of the street were packed with people. The villagers had hung banners of their own accord, bearing slogans like "Welcome Home, Heroes."

A few unruly children tried to run into the middle of the street, only to be tightly pulled back by their parents.

A group of Ninja Academy children stood in the middle of the road, each holding a bouquet of flowers, their little faces tense as their teacher comforted them nearby.

The surroundings were somewhat noisy. Shin could hear people arguing, some quietly sobbing, and even more laughing and cheering, as though they were all happy about the victory in the war.

After waiting for a long time, they finally heard a ninja returning from the village gates shout from afar.

"They're back! They're back!"

The band, which had long been prepared, immediately began to play at the sound of the cry, its music joyous and soaring.

But after only a few seconds, someone ordered the music stopped, leaving many villagers confused.

A procession passed through Konoha's main gates. At its head was not the Third Hokage, but a carriage draped in black cloth.

Then came another carriage. Someone craned their neck to look into the distance beyond the village, only to see an endless line of carriages, each carrying numerous bodies beneath black coverings.

The entire street fell deathly silent, and the sobs that had once been suppressed now became especially clear.

Some people rushed out from both sides of the street like madmen, throwing themselves at the procession in search of their loved ones.

The convoy continued forward until it reached the children holding bouquets.

These Ninja Academy children had originally meant to present flowers to the Hokage. Even the person responsible for arranging this part had never expected that the first to enter the village would be the bodies of the fallen.

Their teacher hurried forward to call the children back, telling them not to block the heroes' way.

But one little boy stepped up to a carriage and placed the bouquet in his hands atop a body covered in black cloth.

Two other children followed suit.

Three bouquets: sunflowers, lilies, chrysanthemums, carnations.

Victory, homeland, gratitude.

The ninja driving the carriage silently stopped as well, waiting for the children to finish laying down their flowers.

The sight reddened the eyes of the surrounding villagers. The sound of crying spread uncontrollably, grief blooming outward like ink slowly bleeding through paper.

Only after every carriage had entered the village did the Third Hokage and the Konoha ninja following behind come into view.

Yet every one of them wore a grave expression, and many were still injured. Looking at them, one might have thought they had returned from a defeat.

Konoha had won, but the price of that victory had been far too terrible.

"Lord Hokage!" someone shouted from the crowd.

"Lord Hokage!"

"Lord Hokage!"

More voices rose one after another. Everyone looked eagerly toward the Third Hokage, hoping he would say something.

Hiruzen Sarutobi could not help but stop. He looked at the convoy gradually disappearing ahead, then at the expectant gazes around him.

The weather was bright and clear today. Not a single cloud could be seen in the distance.

"Everyone!" Sarutobi took a deep breath and shouted.

"We have won!"

The moment those words rang out, the emotions of the entire street were ignited. Cheers surged from every direction. Some people danced with joy, some screamed and roared like mad, while others covered their faces and burst into tears. In that instant, the atmosphere reached its peak.

Shin saw Orochimaru and Minato behind the Third Hokage.

As if sensing Shin's gaze, Orochimaru glanced in his direction, his expression impossible to read.

"They're back, they're back!"

Shin heard Ayari's excited voice beside him. She had spotted Hiashi and the others among the procession.

Ayano was also unable to suppress her excitement, but Hizashi's gaze was somewhat complicated.

Hiashi and the other Hyuga members in the procession waved toward Shin and his group as well, but there were far too few of them. Shin remembered that nearly the entire Hyuga Clan had gone to the front lines, over a hundred people in all. Now, only twenty or thirty remained.

"Shin." Natsu's voice sounded beside him again.

"Did you see Iroha?"

Shin froze, his gaze sweeping over every Hyuga member in the procession.

He could not help glancing at Natsu, only to find her eyes red as she pressed her lips together in silence.

The image of that straightforward, cheerful boy surfaced in Shin's mind. Before leaving, Iroha had even come to say goodbye to him.

Their relationship had not been particularly close, at least not in Shin's eyes. Perhaps he had been affected by the emotions of those around him, but his chest felt strangely tight at that moment.

Once the entire procession had entered the village, several wagons carrying supplies came at the very end.

The crowd left the street and followed the Hokage to the plaza beneath the Hokage's Office, where the Third Hokage would say a few more words to the villagers.

The Hyuga family all went as well, but Shin quietly slipped away alone.

He did not go home, nor did he know where he wanted to go. Every street was empty. He wandered alone without purpose until he finally found a bench by the roadside and sat down.

Cheers from the villagers suddenly rang out in the distance. Even from so far away, they were clearly audible. Perhaps the Hokage had said something inspiring at the plaza.

Shin lay alone on the bench, quietly watching the sky.

After an unknown amount of time, the horizon began to turn faintly red. Shin heard footsteps in the distance and assumed the crowd had dispersed.

"You have no manners, lying down like that."

A voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Shin immediately sat up upon hearing it. He knew the person beside him—Kakashi Hatake, the one who had saved him at the front lines.

"Sorry." Shin shifted to the side, making room for Kakashi on half the bench.

Kakashi seemed somewhat tired. After sitting down, he took out a canteen, pulled down his mask, and turned his face aside to drink.

Shin looked over and saw that Kakashi had lowered his mask to drink water. But before he could get a proper look at his profile, Kakashi had already pulled it back up.

"Why are you here?" After thinking for a moment, Shin took the initiative to ask.

"It ended over there," Kakashi said blandly. He had nothing else to do while sitting on the bench, merely leaning there and quietly looking into the distance.

What Shin found curious was why Kakashi had specifically come to this bench. Kakashi had no intention of speaking to him at all, and if he wanted to rest, would it not have been better to go home?

Neither of them spoke again. They sat there for quite some time before Kakashi finally got up and left, without even saying goodbye.

Not long after Kakashi left, Shin was preparing to leave as well when another familiar figure walked over.

It was Rin.

"Shin?" Rin was quite surprised to see him.

"Rin."

Shin did not use honorifics, and his direct use of her name surprised Rin even more. She thought their relationship was not close enough for that.

"What a coincidence."

"Yeah." Rin smiled.

"Did you come here for something?" Shin asked.

"Nothing. I just wanted to sit here for a while."

Sit for a while... Shin looked at the bench beside him.

"Does this place have some special meaning?"

"Huh?"

"Kakashi came here too."

Rin was stunned for a moment, then murmured to herself, "So he came here too."

Seeing Shin still looking at her, she hesitated before saying, "...A friend of mine used to like coming here."

Shin nodded. "I see. Then I won't disturb you."

Rin wanted to say that he was not disturbing her. She felt it was rude to make someone leave because of something like this.

But Shin continued, "I was about to leave anyway."

They said goodbye. Shin thought that there were probably many people visiting the Memorial Stone today, which was why those two had come here instead.

After walking some distance, he looked back once more. Rin sat quietly alone on the bench, the setting sun falling upon her shoulders, her shadow stretching long across the ground.