Konoha, Home

Tsunade's attitude toward Naruto differed from the Third Hokage's. She would not keep watching him every moment, much less spy on his private life with the Telescope Technique.

"Let the Chunin Exams begin already."

Naruto muttered to himself.

As dusk approached, Konoha's gates finally came into view.

Konoha Gate

Two middle-aged shinobi stood guard at the entrance, one on each side.

Naruto remembered them: Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki.

The famed legendary gatekeeper chunin of Konoha. They might merely guard the gates, but in an actual fight, neither of them was to be underestimated.

His gaze passed beyond the gate and into the village.

In the distance, the red roof of the Hokage Building stood out beneath the setting sun. Above it, Hokage Rock, carved into the entire mountainside, was clearly visible.

Four faces overlooked the whole village, coated in a golden-red glow by the sunset.

Naruto only glanced at it before withdrawing his gaze, not lingering for even a second.

Kakashi led the three of them to the mission registration office to complete the handover procedures: signing, submitting the mission confirmation form, and collecting their reward.

Although the Land of Waves mission had been upgraded from C-rank to A-rank midway through, Tazuna could not afford the higher commission. By Konoha's usual practice, it was still settled as a C-rank mission.

Kakashi weighed the money pouch in his hand, then turned to face the three of them.

"Well, congratulations on completing your protection mission in the Land of Waves."

Kakashi's eye curved into a crescent, and his voice remained as lazy as ever. "As a reward, you get two days off. Hurry home and get some proper rest."

"That's great!"

At that, Sakura was the first to jump up. She clasped her hands together, and the exhaustion vanished from her face.

"I'm going home to take a nice hot bath, then sleep until I wake up naturally. These past few days in the Land of Waves, even our baths were cold. I feel like my hair is about to turn into grass!"

She excitedly spun around on the spot, her long pink hair sweeping through the air in an arc.

Then her movements gradually slowed.

Because she realized she was the only one who was happy.

Kakashi leaned against a lamppost, one hand in his pocket. His forehead protector covered his left eye, making his expression impossible to read.

Sasuke stood off to the side with his head lowered, both hands in his shorts pockets. He showed no reaction to the two-day break, as though he was thinking about something else.

As for Naruto, his gaze was fixed on the ground in the distance, his brow slightly furrowed. Clearly, his mind was nowhere near here.

The smile on Sakura's face slowly stiffened.

She looked at Kakashi, then at Sasuke, and finally at Naruto.

Kakashi and Sasuke were one thing. One was naturally expressionless, while the other had always been the cold type.

But shouldn't Naruto be celebrating with her?

Hadn't he always loved days off?

Whenever Kakashi announced a break, he would jump up and shout, "That's great! I'm going to eat ramen!" Then he would come up to her and ask, "Sakura-chan, do you want to come with me?"

But now, Naruto had not even looked at her. It was as if everything she had just said had been nothing but air.

Sakura turned her head aside and crossed her arms over her chest.

Hmph, ignoring me, are you?

Then I'll ignore you too.

I hate Naruto now. Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely will not speak to him first.

Without showing it, Kakashi took in the reactions of all three students.

As their jonin instructor, it was his responsibility to observe each student's condition.

Sasuke had become quieter after returning from the Land of Waves, but it was a different kind of silence. Before, it had been the silence of cold arrogance. Now, it was more like the silence of someone who had been shaken by something and was rethinking things.

Naruto's changes were even more obvious. He had gone from noisy to composed, almost as if he had become a different person. But after experiencing a life-or-death battle against Zabuza and Haku, that change only showed that he was truly growing.

Sakura, on the other hand, had barely changed at all. It was not her fault. She had hardly participated directly in the main battles of the Land of Waves mission, so naturally she had not gained that kind of realization that came from walking the line between life and death.

"Well!"

Kakashi clapped his hands, drawing the three of them back to attention. "That's it. You're dismissed."

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished from the spot with a Body Flicker Technique, leaving behind only a leaf drifting slowly to the ground.

After Kakashi disappeared, Sasuke turned and glanced at Naruto.

He clearly wanted to say something. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.

Then he simply turned around, shoved his hands into his pockets, and walked alone down Konoha's main street without even saying goodbye.

Watching Sasuke's departing back, Sakura's expression instantly fell.

She had wanted to use the break to invite Sasuke to the newly opened dessert shop, but he had not even given her a chance to say a word.

Sakura stood there somewhat dejectedly, then instinctively turned to look in Naruto's direction.

Naruto had left too.

He was heading in the opposite direction from Sasuke, neither fast nor slow. Under the setting sun, his golden hair gradually became a tiny point of light as he walked farther and farther away.

"That's so rude, Naruto!"

Sakura could not help blurting out.

Her voice drifted through the air. Naruto did not even pause, and she did not know whether he truly had not heard her or had heard and simply could not be bothered to respond.

Naruto continued walking. Soon, he turned a street corner and disappeared into the shadows of the buildings.

Sakura remained where she was. After giving one last look in the direction Naruto had vanished, she let out a heavy snort and stomped her feet twice. Only then did she smooth her hair, put on a ladylike expression, and turn toward home.

Naruto followed the route he remembered.

The owner of a dango shop was packing up for the day. She looked up and saw Naruto passing by, instinctively offering him a polite smile. Then she recognized him, and the smile on her face immediately froze before she lowered her head and continued tidying up.

Naruto did not care about any of it. His attention remained solely on the road beneath his feet.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, he turned into an old apartment district.

A yellow, three-story cramped apartment building appeared before him. Large patches of yellow paint had peeled up from the walls, fluttering in the evening breeze. Half the corridor lights did not work, and several cardboard boxes of unknown age were piled up around the corner on the second floor.

Naruto stood beneath the apartment building and looked up once. Then, with a few leaps, he reached the second floor and walked down the corridor to the door at the very end.

He pulled out a key from his ninja tool pouch and inserted it into the lock. The door let out a harsh creak.

The door swung open, revealing pitch darkness inside.

Naruto reached along the wall until he found the switch. When he pressed it, an incandescent light bulb on the ceiling flickered on, illuminating the entire room.

Then Naruto saw a bachelor apartment that could only be described as a disaster zone.

Several empty instant noodle cups lay scattered across the living room table, some still containing dried, congealed broth.

Empty milk cartons were piled into a small mountain.

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