Chapter 108: Unease
"The rain has finally stopped..."
After spending a quiet but somewhat lengthy afternoon by the fireplace, the torrential downpour that had lasted for hours finally began to ease.
Naruto walked to the window and pushed it open. A cool breeze rushed in, carrying with it the mixed scents of earth and grass, along with that distinctive fresh humidity that follows rain.
Satsuki also looked up toward the window. The post-rain silence somehow made an indescribable melancholy and sadness well up in her heart.
The rain had stopped... did that mean... Naruto would be leaving too? Tonight... would she really have to stay alone in this house?
Just thinking about possibly facing the long night by herself, along with her deep worry for her parents' safety, made Satsuki unconsciously lower her head.
At that moment, a hand once again gently landed on the top of her head, bringing with it that familiar warmth as it ruffled her hair.
Satsuki was slightly startled, realizing that she... actually really liked this feeling. When her head was being petted like this, she felt cherished and protected.
At the same time, a small doubt arose in her heart—why had Naruto never made such intimate gestures toward her before?
Naruto's inner thoughts, however, were focused on taking advantage of this rare opportunity to pet her head... Once tomorrow came and Fugaku and Mikoto returned safe and sound, with her parents' love and companionship, Satsuki's mood would recover. She'd probably quickly revert to being proud again, and getting another chance to pet her head so easily would likely be much more difficult...
"Satsuki," Naruto withdrew his hand and asked in a lighthearted tone, "want to go out for a walk together?"
"A walk?" Satsuki raised her head.
"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "Just to take a stroll or something. That little grove where we train together and the riverside are nearby, right? The air after rain is really nice too. Want to walk over there?"
Naruto knew that when someone was trapped in deep sadness, the worst thing was to stay alone in a closed environment with nothing to do—that would only let negative emotions ferment and grow.
Going outside, connecting with nature, getting the body moving—that was a much better way to find relief.
Satsuki was silent for a moment. She vaguely understood Naruto's intention and gently nodded. "...Okay."
This straightforward agreement, without any trace of prideful protest, actually made Naruto feel somewhat surprised and unaccustomed.
If this had been before, with Satsuki's personality, she would have definitely turned her head away awkwardly first and said something like, "Well, since you're asking me so earnestly, I suppose I can reluctantly accompany you."
"Alright then, let's go."
Naruto deliberately chose to walk in the outskirts of the village, near the riverside in a secluded path with few people around. His intention was obvious.
He didn't want those strange looks and whispered gossip in the village about the Uchiha massacre and Satsuki's survivor status to hurt her again.
The two of them walked one after the other out of the empty Uchiha compound gates and onto the quiet path leading to Konoha's outskirts.
The storm that had just stopped seemed to have washed the entire world clean, and the air was filled with a rich, refreshing humid scent that lifted one's spirits.
Along the way, Naruto worked hard to find topics of conversation, chatting with Satsuki about the most ordinary things. Like recent insights from taijutsu training, what Iruka-sensei had been teaching at the ninja academy lately, how the mushrooms in the back mountains had been growing particularly well recently...
He carefully avoided any topics that might relate to "family," "relatives," or "last night," instead trying to use these light, trivial everyday matters to gradually fill the silence between them.
As they walked, a complex, indescribable emotion gradually spread through Satsuki's heart. Even though she felt like she was about to be thrown into an incredibly lonely future, there was still a warm presence constantly surrounding her, driving away that chill.
Her gaze unconsciously fell on the blonde boy beside her.
Naruto... was different from her. He seemed like... he'd never had family, right? He'd always been alone...
...What had she been doing all this time?
The two walked side by side for a while before arriving at a bench by the riverside meant for resting. The bench was made of heavy wood and looked very sturdy, but unfortunately, the recent downpour had soaked it through, making it far from an ideal place to sit and rest.
However, for ninja who could precisely control their chakra, this small inconvenience wasn't much of a problem.
Naruto naturally extended his hand, palm hovering above the bench's wet surface, as pure chakra began to gather in his palm.
The next moment, the chakra's nature quietly changed, taking on the warmth characteristic of fire-natured chakra.
A stream of chakra carrying just the right amount of heat gently enveloped the entire bench. Visibly, the water droplets on the bench's surface were quickly evaporated.
Yet the wooden bench itself remained completely undamaged, and its temperature was only heated to a warm, comfortable level that definitely wouldn't cause burns.
After completing this task, Naruto withdrew his hand and deliberately turned around, putting on a proud expression.
This display finally caused Satsuki's face, which had been tense and sorrowful, to show the faintest but most genuine smile.
What followed happened naturally. The two of them settled comfortably onto the bench that radiated pleasant warmth, feeling the heat from below that drove away the post-rain chill.
After sitting for a while, Naruto's attention was caught by a vending machine standing by the roadside not far away.
"Stay here and don't move," he stood up and said to Satsuki. "I'll go buy two drinks and be right back."
Satsuki nodded, her gaze unconsciously following Naruto's retreating figure until she confirmed he had only stopped at the vending machine within her line of sight and hadn't gone far. Only then did she quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
However, she soon noticed that after inserting coins, pressing buttons, and retrieving two cans of drinks, Naruto didn't immediately return.
Instead, he just stood in front of the vending machine with his head down, apparently fiddling with something.
Why wasn't he coming back? What was he doing over there?
But seeing that Naruto was still standing firmly within her line of sight with no intention of leaving, she suppressed the urge to get up and go over to him, instead continuing to watch that direction with slight unease, waiting.