Naoki and the three others wasted little time before setting off for Konoha.
"What's happened in the village lately?"
As they traveled, Naoki briefly recounted what he had been through over the past few days, then asked about what had been happening in the village.
"Nothing major," Itachi replied after thinking it over. "Most of the clan members have already moved to the new clan grounds, and everyone's happy with them."
"The fighting on the Southern Border Battlefield has completely died down. The main forces have already begun returning to the village."
The person happiest to see Naoki return to Konoha wasn't Uchiha Inabi, who had volunteered to come along, or Shisui, whom he'd known since childhood. It was Itachi, whom he'd known for only a short time. The latter told him everything that had happened in the village, one thing at a time, leaving almost nothing out.
After listening to Itachi's "report," Naoki nodded to himself.
It seemed that while he'd been away from Konoha, events had continued unfolding as he'd expected.
Then, once he returned to Konoha...
Konoha's gates gradually came into view in the morning light.
Naoki stood on a nearby hillside, gazing at the familiar place. Wisps of smoke rose from the village and drifted away in the morning sun. Everything was the same as when he'd left, and yet it seemed as though everything had changed.
It had been spring when he left, and the cherry blossoms had just begun to bloom. Now, on his return, it was already late autumn, and the leaves had begun to wither and fall.
"Naoki," Itachi called softly as he came to stand beside him. "Aren't you going in?"
Naoki didn't answer.
His gaze passed over the tree by the village entrance and settled in the direction of