The return journey to Konoha for Team Seven had been relatively quiet, which was unusual for them. Since they became a team, every meeting ended with one of them arguing or being at odds with another. But now, that was nonexistent, simply because the lively, empty-headed Uzumaki Naruto had been silent throughout the journey, not speaking to any of them, merely staying on the sidelines as if he didn't want to talk to any of them.

This was strange for them because ever since they met him in the ninja academy until now, he was always the one who talked the most, animatedly keeping the team engaged when they were silent. But now, none of that had happened; he just stayed on the sidelines throughout the journey until they reached the gates of Konoha. He simply parted ways with the team without saying anything, disappearing into the crowd of villagers, some of whom looked at him, while others ignored him, knowing who he was.

For the remaining members of Team Seven, who were still at the gate, watching their teammate leave was even more puzzling because they assumed he would return to his usual self upon reaching the village, asking his teammate Sakura Haruno out on a date as he had done many times in the past, even before they became Team Seven. But instead, Naruto simply left without a word.

They looked to their sensei for an explanation, but he only shook his head, indicating subtly that they should leave their teammate alone for now while he went to report to the Hokage about the mission. He left them to do as they pleased until the next mission.

Meanwhile, the two remaining teammates stood in silence for a few moments until Sakura glanced at her teammate, Kaori Uchiha, the last of her clan after the massacre that occurred years ago at the hands of what is now considered one of Konoha's greatest traitors, Uchiha Itachi. However, before Sakura could speak her thoughts about going to the hot springs or shopping for new clothes, she saw Kaori already walking away, heading somewhere different from where Sakura intended to go.

This caused Sakura to sigh in disappointment as everyone had gone off to do their own things, leaving her alone again, as they had done on previous missions. Unwilling to stay there any longer, she simply began to walk home to rest after the mission where they almost died. Before her sensei came with a new mission in a short time, she preferred to rest as much as possible.

With Naruto -

Walking among the crowd of villagers after parting ways with his team without saying a word, Naruto found himself still weighing the events of the past few days in Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) in his mind. The image of Rika's body when he found her in the hospital after killing two cat thugs was still imprinted in his mind. He hoped she was still alive so he could take her somewhere she could be healed and fulfill the promise he made to her because Uzumaki Naruto never broke his word.

But as soon as he reached the room where he had visited her so many times, only to be greeted by her with a smile, all of that was now shattered by the grim sight of the only girl he had ever felt something genuine for, unaffected by the loneliness of years, dead before him, with no signs of life, her blood staining the floor from where he stood at the door to her lifeless body on the ground. She was the first person to recognize him simply as Naruto, without any tragic association like Iruka's.

As he stood there, his mind focused on the scene burned into his mind, he lost touch with reality, only snapping back when he felt something collide with him, causing him to fall on his backside. As he returned to reality, he saw a person who had also fallen on their knees from the collision. Quickly getting up to help the person, he realized it was Kasuma, the mask vendor from the market, the same one who had kicked him out of his market for merely looking at the masks in his shop, pulling the mask Naruto was looking at so he would leave his market. In the midst of other villagers who were only watching the scene without doing anything more than murmuring behind his back, Naruto had to run away at that time just to avoid hearing their comments, and now...

The scene was repeating itself just because he was lost in his thoughts. Looking at the man who was still glaring at him, Naruto glanced around to see if there was a way out, only to find that the villagers' gazes were already pointing at him as the culprit, without being able to explain how things were. Reacting to having to go through the same scene again, he looked back at Kasuma to end it all and be able to go to his apartment to be alone.

But before his gaze focused on the mask vendor, a strange sensation came over his body, making him turn to a specific place and seeing a strange creature about two meters tall with six legs clinging to a post, its four eyes scanning the villagers as if they were prey.

He was about to take a step back to warn everyone to stay away, but before he could do so, he felt a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn around to see who had stopped him, only to find a tall, muscular, and slim man with loose hair, only the top of which he usually tied into a bun, wearing a checkered-patterned outfit and a yukata underneath with black pants, tabi, and zori as footwear.

Using a calm smile, the man looked in the same direction where the creature was silently signaling him not to say anything, so he stayed silent, understanding the signal. The man nodded when he saw that his signal was understood, looking at the mask vendor who was getting nervous under his gaze.

Suguru: "Can someone tell me what's going on here and why so many people are murmuring in secret?"

Kasuma: "That brat knocked me to the ground!"

Suguru: "Yes, I saw that, and yet he helped you up while he also fell, so I wonder what the problem is here."

Kasuma: "The thing is that-"

Suguru: "The thing is, he was just helping you, rectifying his mistake."

Kasuma: "..."

Suguru: "That's what I thought. Now, if you'll excuse us, the boy and I will leave if you have nothing else to say."

As he watched the strange man who helped him out of that uncomfortable situation, Naruto saw him make another gesture for him to follow, but before he could do so, he looked to where the strange creature had been, only to find it gone. Turning his gaze back to the man who was waiting for him, he quickly followed him to avoid the villagers' stares. If this man had helped him without hesitation, he was one of the few people in the village who did something for him, so he would follow him now to thank him and find out what that creature was because if he wasn't the only one who saw it, he would resolve his doubts about what that creature was.

Following a few steps behind, Naruto looked at the man who still wore his calm smile, paying no attention to the gazes of some villagers who observed the two of them, but without either of them looking back at him, just behind Kasuma, a kind of dark spot appeared in the air, and hands came out from behind him, taking hold of his head, feeling them as he turned to see a grotesque creature.

Unable to even scream, the creature acted swiftly, making his arms go in opposite directions, making his head sound like a branch being stepped on the ground due to the force exerted on his now broken neck, falling to the ground lifeless. As a natural reaction, the people near the man began to scream upon seeing how he died out of nowhere, drawing the attention of some nearby chunin to the unpleasant scene.

And with that, the chapter ends.