The ship cleared the harbor mouth, and the sea grew calm.
Kiyoshi leaned against the gunwale, watching the waves pass, one after another.
By the seventh, he had lost count. He did not start again.
Out at sea, he could judge neither distance nor the time of day.
There were no other ships.
The water beneath the hull made a steady sound.
...Just this expanse of water, slipping backward at an unhurried pace.
A white wake trailed behind the stern, growing fainter as it stretched away. He pressed a hand against his chest. The inner pocket was empty.
He withdrew his hand and rested it on his knee.
Sakura's bag sat beside her legs, a bulge tucked deep inside. Even through the cloth, it pressed against her hand.
Naruto sat opposite him, recounting what had happened in the cave that day from the beginning, very slowly.
The first time, he said the light had risen from the cave on its own. The person standing in it had not moved a step, and no one had seen clearly who it was.
Naruto paused every few sentences. During the pauses, he stared at the deck, clutching the hem of his clothes.
The second time, he told it differently. He said the light recognized people, that all the brightness in the cave had gathered around one person. Even he never made clear who that person was.
The third time, he started over again. Before he began, he gave the light a name.
"That light... that light came up on its own."
"Rainbow Color."
"I named it."
Sasuke sat at the stern with a cloth in his hand.
He wiped something back and forth, turning it over after a while, then turning it back when he finished.
From beginning to end, he did not