Naruto Birdcage

In the afternoon.

Makoto stood with the members of the Hyuga clan on the main street of Konoha, waiting with all the villagers.

The sides of the street were filled with people, and the villagers had spontaneously hung up banners with slogans like "Welcome home, heroes."

Some naive children tried to run into the middle of the street but were quickly pulled back by their parents.

A group of children from the ninja academy stood in the center of the road, each holding a bouquet, their little faces tense, while their teachers stood nearby, offering comfort.

The environment was a bit noisy, with shouting, some people softly sobbing, but mostly, there was laughter and cheer, as everyone seemed to be celebrating the victory of the war.

After waiting for a long time, they finally heard a shout from the returning ninjas near the village gate.

"They're back! They're back!"

The prepared band immediately started playing as soon as they heard the announcement, their music festive and uplifting.

But the music only played for a few seconds before it was abruptly stopped, leaving many of the villagers confused.

A procession passed through the main gate of Konoha, but the leader wasn't the Third Hokage.

Instead, it was a cart covered with a black cloth.

Another cart followed, and someone stretched their neck to look out towards the distance beyond the village.

All they could see was a long line of carts that seemed to stretch endlessly.

Each cart carried many corpses, all covered by black cloths.

The entire street fell into a deadly silence, and the suppressed cries from earlier now rang out more clearly than ever.

Some people went mad and rushed out from the sides of the street, trying to reach the convoy in search of their loved ones.

The convoy continued forward, passing by the children from the ninja academy who were holding their bouquets.

These children had originally planned to offer their flowers to the Hokage, and even the person who organized this event had never expected that the first to enter the village would be the corpses of the fallen.

The teacher quickly stepped forward to call the children back, urging them not to block the path of the heroes.

However, one little boy took the initiative to walk up to the cart and placed the bouquet he was holding on top of the black cloth covering the body.

Seeing this, two other children also followed suit.

Three bouquets: sunflower, lily, chrysanthemum, and carnation.

Victory, hometown, gratitude.

The ninja driving the carts silently stopped, waiting for the children to finish placing their flowers.

This act moved the surrounding villagers, and their eyes began to redden.

The sound of crying spread uncontrollably, and the sorrowful emotion spread like ink, gradually coloring everything.

Only after all the carts had entered the village did the villagers see the Third Hokage and a group of Konoha ninjas following behind.

But their faces were all solemn, many of them still bearing injuries.

Looking at their expressions, one might have thought they were returning from a defeat.

Konoha had won, but the price of this victory was far too tragic.

"Lord Hokage!" A voice rose from the crowd.

"Lord Hokage!"

"Lord Hokage!"

More voices followed, everyone eagerly waiting to hear what the Third Hokage would say.

Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn't help but stop in his tracks, looking at the long line of carts fading into the distance, then glancing at the hopeful faces around him.

The weather today was clear, with not a cloud in sight.

"Everyone!" Hiruzen took a deep breath and shouted.

"We have won!"

At the sound of his voice, the entire street's mood was ignited in an instant.

The overwhelming cheers erupted—some people danced with joy, some screamed wildly, and others sobbed uncontrollably, their emotions reaching a climax in that moment.

Makoto saw Orochimaru and Minato following behind the Third Hokage.

It seemed that his gaze was felt, as Orochimaru glanced over in his direction, his eyes holding an indescribable meaning.

"They're back! They're back!"

Makoto heard Ayari's excited voice beside him.

She had spotted Hiashi and others among the group.

Ayari was also visibly moved, though Hiashi's expression seemed a bit more complex.

The members of the Hyuga clan, including Hiashi, were waving in Makoto's direction, but there were so few of them.

Makoto remembered that the entire Hyuga clan had nearly sent everyone to the frontlines—over a hundred people, yet now only a few dozen remained.

"Makoto." Makoto heard Natsu's voice beside him.

"Did you see Iroha?"

Makoto was suddenly startled, and his gaze swept over all the members of the Hyuga clan in the procession.

He couldn't help but glance at Natsu, but saw that her eyes were red, her lips pressed together in silence.

Makoto's mind recalled the straightforward, cheerful boy, who had specifically come to say goodbye before leaving.

Their relationship hadn't been particularly close in Makoto's eyes, but perhaps influenced by the emotions around him, he now felt a heaviness in his heart.

Once the entire procession had entered the village, the last to arrive were the supply caravans.

The crowd left the street and followed the Hokage to the plaza in front of the Hokage Building, where the Third Hokage would say a few words to the villagers.

The members of the Hyuga clan went there as well, but Makoto quietly slipped away on his own.

He didn't go home, not knowing where to go instead.

The streets were all empty, and he wandered aimlessly by himself, eventually finding a bench on the side of the road to sit down.

From a distance, the cheers of the villagers suddenly rang out, clearly heard even from far away, likely because the Hokage had said something inspiring at the plaza.

Makoto lay on the bench alone, quietly gazing at the sky.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but the sky had begun to show a faint red hue, and he heard footsteps in the distance, probably indicating that the crowd was dispersing.

"You're lying there like that, it's not very polite."

A voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Makoto immediately sat up at the sound, recognizing the person who had spoken.

It was Kakashi, the one who had saved him on the front lines.

"Sorry." Makoto moved over to the side to give Kakashi half of the space on the bench.

Kakashi seemed a bit tired, sitting down on the bench and lifting a water bottle to his face, taking a drink.

Makoto looked over at Kakashi, noticing that he had taken off his mask to drink, but before Makoto could take a closer look at his profile, Kakashi pulled the mask back up.

"How come you're here?" Makoto thought for a moment and decided to ask first.

"They finished over there." Kakashi said indifferently, sitting on the bench with no particular business, just leaning back and quietly looking off into the distance.

Makoto was curious about why Kakashi had chosen this particular bench and place, especially since Kakashi seemed to have no intention of talking to him.

If he needed rest, wouldn't it be better to go home?

Neither of them spoke further, and after sitting in silence for a while, Kakashi finally stood up and left without saying a word.

Not long after Kakashi left, Makoto was about to leave as well when another familiar figure walked towards him.

It was Rin.

"Makoto-kun?" Rin looked surprised when she saw him.

"Rin." Makoto greeted.

Makoto didn't use honorifics, and calling her by her name directly surprised Rin even more.

She thought their relationship shouldn't be that close.

"What a coincidence."

"Yeah." Rin smiled.

"Did you come here for something?" Makoto asked.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to sit here for a while."

Sit here... Makoto glanced at the bench next to them.

"Does this place have any special meaning?"

"Huh?"

"Kakashi came here just now too."

Rin was taken aback for a moment, then muttered to herself, "He came here, huh."

Seeing Makoto looking at her, Rin hesitated for a moment before saying, "…A friend of mine used to like coming here."

Makoto nodded. "I see. I won't disturb you then."

Rin wanted to say that she wasn't being disturbed, as she felt it would be rude to ask someone to leave over something like this.

Makoto then continued, "It's just that I need to leave as well."

After they parted ways, Makoto thought that many people must have gone to the memorial stone today, which was probably why they had both come here.

As he walked further away, he glanced back.

Rin was quietly sitting on the bench, the fading light of the sunset casting its glow on her shoulder, and her shadow stretched long on the ground.

End of chapter

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