Morning, the ninth day after leaving the village.
The watch had changed twice last night. Nothing else had stirred on the road.
The Main Road had ended. The boat for the final sea crossing had arrived before they did.
As soon as the ferry left shore, sea fog closed around it.
The fog skimmed the water. The waves the bow split apart traveled barely a foot before the fog swallowed them again.
Looking back, their route was already gone. The smudge of gray on shore disappeared into the fog within a few paces.
The boat was small: one gangplank, one old boatman, one sculling oar.
Before boarding, Kakashi inspected the boat inside and out, then nodded.
Everyone took their places aboard. Sakura sat at the bow, Sasuke just behind her to one side, Naruto huddled beside the cargo, and Kakashi stretched across the stern, his eyes half open.
The oar creaked slowly. Each stroke carried the boat a little farther.
Tazuna set his load by his feet. With his shoulders free, he leaned against the gunwale.
He had not counted the money tucked against his chest that morning.
For the first time since the incident on the road, Tazuna sat at ease.
The damp at sea was heavier than on the road. It settled over their coats in a thin, wet film.
Out in the middle of the sea, the planks tingled beneath their feet.
Once, then again. A muffled rumble climbed through the hull, as though someone were walking overhead with only a layer of boards between them.
They could not see far through the fog. Only the sounds felt close.
The oar, the water, and faint footsteps overhead.
Naruto gripped the gunwale and tilted his head back.
A gray shape stretched across the fog, so high its top