The Nara district was quieter than the rest of Konoha.
Kamui noticed it immediately.
There were fewer voices.
Fewer merchants shouting.
Even the birds seemed content to sing a little more softly.
“…Either everyone here is relaxed…”
He adjusted the empty cart behind him.
“…or they’re too lazy to make noise.”
“Probably the second.”
Kamui stopped.
He turned his head.
Shikaku was standing beneath the same tree as yesterday, one hand resting against the trunk.
“You have excellent timing.”
“I live here.”
“…That explains it.”
Shikaku walked over.
“Delivery finished?”
Kamui nodded.
“Your servant insisted on giving me tea before leaving.”
“He does that.”
“I almost missed work.”
“You didn’t.”
“I know.”
Kamui sighed.
“But it would’ve made a better story.”
Shikaku actually chuckled.
A small one.
Easy to miss.
Kamui noticed anyway.
“Ha.”
“What?”
“You laugh.”
“I do.”
“I was beginning to suspect it was a myth.”
“…Don’t spread rumors.”
“I make no promises.”
They stood beneath the shade for a while.
Neither seemed interested in rushing the conversation.
Finally, Shikaku asked,
“What did you do before becoming a carpenter?”
Kamui looked toward the drifting clouds.
“A little of everything.”
“That’s vague.”
“It has to be.”
“You don’t want to answer?”
Kamui smiled.
“I don’t think the truth would make much sense.”
Shikaku accepted that answer more easily than most people would.
“…Fair enough.”
After another minute, Kamui asked,
“And you?”
Shikaku looked upward.
“I think.”
Kamui blinked.
“…Professionally?”
“Apparently.”
“I’ve never met anyone whose job description is ‘thinking.'”
“You have now.”
“I should’ve studied harder.”
A pair of children ran through the nearby street chasing a wooden hoop.
One tripped.
The other immediately stopped to help him back up before they continued running.
Kamui watched them until they disappeared.
“Kids recover quickly.”
Shikaku nodded.
“They also forgive quickly.”
Kamui was quiet.
“…Adults could learn from that.”
Shikaku glanced at him.
“You say strange things.”
“I’ve noticed.”
“But…”
Shikaku looked back toward the street.
“…not wrong ones.”
When Kamui finally returned to the workshop, Daichi was wrestling with a heavy wardrobe by himself.
“…Need help?”
“No.”
The wardrobe immediately slipped from his hands.
“I’ve changed my mind.”
Kamui hurried over, grabbing the opposite side.
Together they managed to set it down without breaking anything.
Daichi wiped sweat from his forehead.
“…Let’s never speak of this again.”
“I’ll remember it forever.”
“I knew you’d say that.”
The old carpenter stepped into the room.
“What happened?”
Daichi answered first.
“Nothing.”
Kamui answered second.
“Everything.”
The old man looked between them.
“…I’m surrounded by idiots.”
Kamui raised a finger.
“One and a half.”
“Which half are you?”
“I haven’t decided.”
That evening…
Naruto sat alone on the swing outside the Academy.
Classes had ended long ago.
Most children had already gone home.
The playground was almost empty.
He kicked lightly at the dirt beneath his sandals.
“Stupid test…”
He’d failed another written exercise.
Not badly.
Just enough to annoy him.
A familiar voice drifted across the yard.
“I wondered where you’d disappeared to.”
Iruka.
He carried two popsicles.
Without asking, he sat beside Naruto and offered him one.
Naruto accepted it.
“…Thanks.”
They ate in silence for a while.
Then Iruka asked,
“Have you made any new friends lately?”
Naruto frowned.
“…Maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“There’s this weird carpenter.”
Iruka smiled despite himself.
“The loud one?”
“How does everyone know him?!”
“It’s a small village.”
Naruto looked at his melting popsicle.
“He’s strange.”
“In what way?”
“He listens.”
Iruka didn’t answer immediately.
Naruto continued,
“And…”
“He actually believes people when they say they’ll do something.”
Iruka looked out across the empty playground.
“…That’s a nice quality.”
Naruto shrugged.
“I guess.”
“But he’s still weird.”
“I never said he wasn’t.”
Both of them laughed.
For just a moment…
The swing didn’t feel quite so lonely.
Across the village…
Kamui sat outside the workshop sharpening a chisel under the fading evening light.
The old carpenter walked past carrying firewood.
“You’ll ruin the edge.”
Kamui examined the blade.
“I will?”
“You’re holding it wrong.”
Without another word, the old man took the chisel from his hands.
He adjusted the angle.
Ran it across the whetstone twice.
Then handed it back.
“There.”
Kamui tested it against a scrap of cedar.
The blade sliced cleanly through the wood.
“…That’s amazing.”
“Hmph.”
“You could’ve taught me yesterday.”
“You didn’t ask.”
Kamui smiled.
“…I’ll ask more often.”
The old carpenter walked toward the house.
Halfway to the door, he spoke without turning around.
“Good.”
Kamui looked down at the sharpened chisel.
Then toward the old man’s back.
A small smile spread across his face.
Not every lesson needed a speech.
Sometimes…
It was just someone quietly showing you the right angle.