The Academy emptied with the usual explosion of noise.
Children rushed toward home in little groups, arguing over games, homework, and who had cheated during shuriken practice.
Naruto wasn’t paying attention.
Iruka had given everyone an assignment to build a simple birdhouse from scrap wood.
Most of the class groaned.
Naruto had simply stared at the paper.
A birdhouse.
He didn’t even own a saw.
He wandered through the village with the folded assignment tucked into his pocket.
Without realizing it, his feet carried him toward the workshop.
The familiar tapping of hammers reached him before the building came into view.
Naruto smiled.
“…Figures.”
Inside, Kamui was kneeling beside a long dining table, carefully smoothing one edge with a hand plane.
Thin curls of cedar drifted onto the floor.
Daichi was fitting drawers into a cabinet.
The old carpenter stood beside the window, sharpening a chisel.
Nobody looked up immediately.
The workshop had taught Naruto something.
People concentrating shouldn’t be interrupted.
So he waited.
After a minute, Kamui set the plane down.
“You’ve been standing there long enough that I was beginning to wonder if you’d turned into a statue.”
Naruto walked in.
“I got homework.”
Kamui blinked.
“…Should I be worried?”
“A little.”
Naruto unfolded the assignment and laid it on the workbench.
Kamui read it.
Then handed it to the old carpenter.
The old man adjusted his glasses.
“A birdhouse.”
Naruto nodded.
“I don’t have tools.”
The old carpenter looked at him for several seconds.
Then pointed toward a pile of leftover wood.
“Take what you need.”
Naruto’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
“You’ll make it yourself.”
The excitement disappeared immediately.
“…Oh.”
An hour later…
The workshop floor was covered with tiny wooden scraps.
Naruto’s first nail had bent.
His second had missed the wood completely.
His third somehow ended up in the table instead of the birdhouse.
Kamui silently pulled it out.
“I’m pretending I didn’t see that.”
“I meant to do it.”
“I’m pretending I believed that too.”
Daichi laughed so hard he nearly dropped a drawer.
By sunset…
The birdhouse stood proudly on the workbench.
It leaned slightly to one side.
The roof didn’t quite match.
One wall looked suspiciously crooked.
Naruto stared at it.
“…It’s ugly.”
Kamui walked around it once.
He gently pushed the roof.
It didn’t move.
He lifted it.
It stayed together.
Then he smiled.
“It’ll keep the rain out.”
Naruto looked up.
“That’s enough?”
Kamui nodded.
“For a bird.”
Naruto looked back at the little house.
Somehow…
He felt proud.
As Naruto packed his birdhouse into a cloth bag, movement outside caught Kamui’s attention.
Across the street…
A little white bird fluttered helplessly beneath a tree.
One wing dragged awkwardly across the ground.
A small girl crouched nearby.
Dark blue hair.
Pale eyes.
Hinata.
She held out both hands, trying to coax the frightened bird closer.
Each time she moved…
It fluttered away in panic.
Naruto noticed too.
“What’s she doing?”
Kamui looked for another moment.
“…Helping.”
Without another word, he crossed the street.
Naruto followed.
So did Daichi, curious.
Hinata noticed them approaching and immediately became flustered.
“I-I…”
Her words tangled together.
Kamui didn’t ask questions.
He simply knelt a short distance from the bird.
Instead of reaching for it…
He stayed still.
The bird continued breathing rapidly.
A full minute passed.
Then another.
Naruto whispered,
“Aren’t you going to catch it?”
Kamui shook his head.
“It’s terrified.”
“If I rush…”
“…it’ll only be more frightened.”
Hinata quietly watched.
After a while…
The bird stopped trying to flee.
Only then did Kamui slowly slide his hands underneath it.
The tiny creature didn’t struggle.
Its injured wing hung limply against his fingers.
Kamui examined it carefully.
“Not broken.”
Naruto sighed in relief.
“Just strained.”
Hinata let out the breath she had been holding.
Back at the workshop, Daichi found a small wooden box lined with soft cloth.
The bird settled inside almost immediately.
The old carpenter glanced over.
“Temporary.”
Kamui nodded.
“Just until tomorrow.”
The old man returned to sharpening his chisel.
That was approval enough.
Hinata stood near the doorway.
“…Thank…
you.”
Her voice was so quiet Naruto almost didn’t hear it.
Kamui smiled.
“You were helping before we arrived.”
She lowered her eyes.
“I couldn’t…”
“…catch it.”
“You didn’t give up.”
Hinata blinked.
Kamui pointed toward the box.
“That’s why it’s safe now.”
For a brief moment…
The shy little girl smiled.
It was small.
Almost invisible.
But genuine.
Naruto picked up his crooked birdhouse.
He looked at it.
Then at the injured bird sleeping peacefully in the box.
“…Do you think…”
He hesitated.
“…when it’s better…”
“…it’ll use my birdhouse?”
Kamui laughed.
“I have no idea.”
Naruto scratched his cheek.
“…That’d be kind of cool.”
“It would.”
The evening bell echoed across Konoha.
Hinata bowed politely before heading home.
Naruto waved as he left in the opposite direction, carefully carrying his birdhouse with both hands.
Soon…
The workshop grew quiet once more.
The only sound left was the soft chirping coming from the little wooden box by the window.
Kamui glanced toward it before returning to his workbench.
Tomorrow would be another ordinary day.
And somehow…
He was looking forward to it.