"Whooo—"
A dull train whistle sounded across the open plains outside Konoha.
The pitch-black chakra hover train slowly started up like a steel beast that had eaten and drunk its fill.
Its wheels ground against the tracks with a clattering rumble, kicking up clouds of dust.
Yoru leaned back against the soft leather sofa and cast one last glance through the window at the village, which looked especially desolate beneath the setting sun.
A cold curve lifted at the corner of his lips.
Goodbye, Konoha.
No, never again.
"Big Brother Yoru, are... are we really just leaving like this?"
Naruto pressed himself against the window, watching the Konoha villagers outside waving at the train, tears still streaking their faces. His little face was filled with confusion.
"They look... so pitiful."
"Pitiful people always have something hateful about them."
Yoru shot him an annoyed look and popped the last dumpling into his mouth.
"When they treated you like a demon fox and threw stones at you, they didn't look pitiful at all."
Yoru wiped the sauce from the corner of his mouth, his voice utterly devoid of emotion.
"This is what they owe you. And what they owe the Uchiha."
"But..." Naruto wanted to say something else.
"No buts."
Yoru cut him off and pointed outside.
"Look. What's that?"
Naruto followed his finger and froze.
Behind the slowly departing train, a vast procession had somehow gathered.
It was a dark mass of people, no fewer than several hundred.
They carried simple luggage and brought along their families, trudging unevenly behind the train.
Every face was filled with exhaustion and confusion, yet their eyes carried the resolve to break free from the past and hope for the future.
Naruto recognized several of the people leading the group.
One was Kakashi, the dispirited