A cool breeze drifted through Konoha.
For once, the workshop wasn’t filled with hammering.
Rain during the night had delayed several deliveries, leaving everyone with an unexpectedly quiet morning.
Kamui leaned against the doorway, watching clouds drift overhead.
Daichi carried a stool outside and sat beside him.
“…Feels strange.”
“What does?”
“Not working.”
Kamui nodded.
“My shoulders are confused.”
“They’ll survive.”
“I hope so.”
The old carpenter appeared with a broom.
Without saying anything, he handed it to Kamui.
Kamui looked at the empty street.
“…There isn’t even any dust.”
“There will be.”
“So we’re sweeping future dust?”
The old man folded his arms.
“You’ve finally understood.”
Daichi burst into laughter.
Kamui sighed.
“I’ve entered a level of carpentry beyond my comprehension.”
Around noon, the rain finally stopped.
The streets slowly filled with life again.
Children escaped their homes the moment their parents stopped saying no.
Kamui had been sent to buy nails.
Simple enough.
Or so he thought.
Halfway to the hardware shop…
A paper windmill rolled across the road.
It bounced once.
Twice.
Then came to rest against his sandal.
He picked it up.
Bright blue.
Slightly crooked.
Homemade.
A little girl came running around the corner.
“My windmill!”
Kamui crouched and held it out.
“I believe this belongs to you.”
She reached for it…
Then stopped.
One of the paper blades had torn.
Her shoulders immediately slumped.
“…It’s broken.”
Kamui looked at it carefully.
“It is.”
She lowered her head.
“I only got to play with it once.”
For a moment, Kamui simply looked at the tiny toy.
Then at the little girl.
“…Can you wait five minutes?”
She blinked.
“…Why?”
“I’d like to try something.”
The hardware shop owner looked thoroughly confused.
“Nails?”
“Yes.”
“And…”
Kamui pointed toward several scraps of colored paper lying beside the counter.
“…May I borrow those?”
“…Those?”
“They’ve been sitting there for months.”
The old shopkeeper scratched his beard.
“…Take them.”
Ten minutes later…
Kamui sat beneath a tree with tiny pieces of paper scattered around him.
The little girl watched with complete concentration.
“So…”
Kamui folded another corner.
“…I think…”
“…I remember how these work.”
“You don’t know?”
“I know enough to be dangerous.”
She giggled.
After several failed attempts…
One successful one.
And one that somehow resembled a flower…
Kamui finally held up a finished windmill.
It wasn’t perfect.
Far from it.
But when the breeze caught it…
It spun.
The girl’s eyes widened.
“It works!”
“It does.”
She accepted it with both hands.
“…It’s prettier than mine.”
Kamui smiled.
“I don’t know about that.”
“I do.”
She held it into the wind.
The little paper blades began spinning faster and faster.
She laughed.
Not politely.
Not because she wanted to be nice.
A genuine child’s laugh.
The kind that made nearby adults smile without realizing it.
She looked back at Kamui.
“Thank you!”
Then she ran off.
The little windmill spinning happily above her head.
Kamui watched until she disappeared into the crowd.
“…Worth the ten minutes.”
“Not bad.”
Kamui turned.
The hardware shop owner stood in the doorway, arms crossed.
“I would’ve just sold her another one.”
Kamui smiled.
“That works too.”
The old man shook his head.
“No.”
“…Yours was better.”
Kamui looked down at the scraps of paper still scattered around him.
“I don’t think I did anything special.”
The shopkeeper laughed quietly.
“You spent ten minutes…”
“…to save something that would’ve taken one minute to replace.”
He looked toward the street where the girl had disappeared.
“People remember things like that.”
Kamui was silent.
The shopkeeper picked up a small pouch from the counter.
“You forgot your nails.”
“…Right.”
“I was wondering if you’d remember.”
Kamui accepted them with an embarrassed smile.
“I got distracted.”
“I noticed.”
That evening…
Naruto wandered through the market after another long day at the Academy.
He wasn’t looking for anything.
Just…
Walking.
As he rounded a corner, something blue spun in the breeze.
The little girl from earlier ran past him holding the paper windmill high above her head.
“Look!”
“It spins!”
Her mother smiled.
“I can see.”
“A nice man made it for me!”
Naruto watched the spinning paper toy until they disappeared.
“…A nice man?”
He tilted his head.
For some reason…
The first person he thought of…
…was Kamui.
Back at the workshop…
Kamui sat on the front step carving another small wooden animal.
This one looked less like a fox…
And more like a very confused dog.
The old carpenter walked by.
He stopped.
Looked at the carving.
Then at Kamui.
“…Better.”
Kamui smiled.
“I’ll take it.”
The old man nodded once.
“You should.”
He walked inside.
Kamui looked down at the little carving.
Then quietly laughed.
“…Improvement.”
The word felt familiar now.
Not because someone had said it to him.
Because…
He was beginning to believe it himself.