As dawn spread across every street and alley in the village, Konoha awoke from its slumber.
As usual, Naruto arrived early at Ichiraku Ramen and ordered a bowl with double toppings, wolfing it down.
"Naruto!"
A call interrupted Naruto.
He turned his head. "Sakura? Morning!"
"Morning!" Sakura sat down beside him and said, "I've already heard about him!"
The "him" Sakura meant was undoubtedly Sasuke.
Naruto's mood sank. "I'm sorry."
"No, you don't need to apologize to me!" She shook her head and asked, "I just want to know if he's all right."
News of Naruto's battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End was still classified. Tsunade had strictly forbidden anyone from revealing that Sasuke had awakened the Rinnegan, in particular. So Sakura had only heard that Sasuke had appeared; she didn't know any of the details.
Naruto nodded firmly. "Yeah. That guy's gotten even stronger!"
Sakura breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great!"
Rumble...
Just then, an explosion suddenly sounded in the distance!
Naruto and Sakura, who had been chatting, both jumped in surprise. They rushed out into the street and looked toward the source of the explosion.
Staring at the smoke billowing into the sky in the distance, Sakura cried, "It looks like it's inside the village!"
Naruto's heart tightened. "I'll go check it out!"
"Naruto, be careful!"
Before Sakura could finish, Naruto had already vanished.
She felt a little lost. Sasuke was like this, and now Naruto too. It seemed the trio who had stood by one another at the Ninja Academy could never go back to the way they were.
Elsewhere.
As a flying Chimera swept across the sky, a shower of colorful Explosive Tag feathers drifted down on the wind, scattering over Konoha.
Soon, the feathers began exploding one after another, turning the