Naruto had faced gods.
He had broken villages.
He had stared into the eyes of traitors and carved vengeance into their souls.
But nothing—not even the pain of his mutated Sharingan—prepared him for Fū's determined pout.
"You promised!" she declared, arms crossed, wings fluttering behind her.
"I didn't promise," Naruto said flatly, arms also crossed.
"You grunted."
Konan looked up from her scrolls. "He did grunt."
"That's verbal confirmation," Fū said, triumphant.
Naruto sighed.
"...Fine."
The ocean was blinding.
Naruto had forgotten how bright the world could be when it wasn't bleeding.
A private cove—uncharted, unguarded, unreachable by any village.Fū had found it years ago, on a mission she'd almost failed.
Now, it was theirs.
Konan stood at the edge of the rocks, paper shawl drifting in the breeze. She said nothing, but the way her shoulders loosened meant everything.
Naruto sat beneath a leaning palm, eyes half-lidded, chakra relaxed.
Fū ran into the surf laughing, throwing her sandals at the sky. She dove into the water and vanished beneath the waves.
It was almost peaceful.
Almost.
The girls arrived around dusk.
Ino, Tenten, Hinata.
Naruto didn't ask how they found him.
They didn't explain.
They just... showed up.
And Konan let them.
That surprised him most of all.
Fū didn't seem surprised. Just grinned and waved from the tide.
Konan barely glanced at them. "If they can handle the silence, they can stay."
Naruto just closed his eyes again.
That evening, they built a fire on the beach.
No missions.No jutsu.No blood.
Just waves.And the crackle of flames.And distant laughter.
Ino tried to flirt. Tenten challenged Fū to a handstand competition.Hinata just sat near Naruto. Not too close. But not far.
They didn't talk about the past.
Not yet.
But it hung between them like salt in the air.
Later, when the stars came out—
Fū lay beside Naruto, arms behind her head.
"You ever think," she said, "that maybe we weren't meant to just destroy everything?"
He didn't answer.
Konan approached.Sat on his other side.
The three of them.
Silent.
Looking at the sky.
"Maybe we burn it all down," Konan said softly, "and then plant something new."
Naruto exhaled.
The ocean hissed back.
He didn't smile.
But he didn't scowl either.
And somewhere deep inside—just for a second—
He forgot to be angry.