"I… haven't done anything that great."
Hyuga Kiyonari looked at the screen ahead. His voice was low, but very clear.
"Please… don't treat me as something special."
His tone was unusually serious—rarely had Hinata heard him speak like this since she'd met him. He even used the word "please," a word he didn't say lightly.
Hinata's heart trembled. Even the hand gripping his wrist unconsciously tightened.
"Hinata," Kiyonari sensed her tension and softened his voice a little. "We're friends. Friends don't need things to be this complicated. A lot of things don't come from some 'must exist' reason—they happen simply because 'I want to do it.'"
"The more you treat me as special, the more meaning you force onto 'Hyuga Kiyonari'—meaning that doesn't really exist… the farther the real Hyuga Kiyonari will drift away from you."
He let out a small sigh, then finally turned his head toward her.
"People are good at filling in the blanks. Without realizing it, we imagine things as too beautiful, or too heavy. But strip away those imaginings, and I'm just an ordinary person."
"You say you've always been the one who needs me, but what have I actually done? I've eaten with you, walked with you, talked with you. I just kept you company when you were under pressure and gave you a temporary shelter from the storm."
"But as for solving the real root of your pressure—those fundamental problems—I haven't actually helped in any substantial way."
"The one who's been standing in front all along, truly facing things and working to overcome them… has always been Hyuga Hinata."
Hinata's pupils widened slightly. The fingers that had been gripping his wrist loosened bit by bit, until her hand finally slid down and fell away.
She stayed silent for a long time. Only when the movie was nearly over did she finally lift her head.
"You're right."
Hinata was smiling.
Not a forced smile, not a smile of resignation—just a simple smile, without so many layers.
Because the sun doesn't shine for some special purpose. It simply does what it does—and the world changes because of it.
…
By the time the movie let out, it was very late.
Uzumaki Naruto dragged his tired but deeply satisfied body up to his apartment building. He lived on the top floor, in a single-room unit.
As he put the key into the lock, out of habit he called into the empty room, "I'm home."
But the instant he pushed the door open, warm yellow light filled the room.
His place was simple—so small you could take it in with a single glance, with nowhere even to entertain guests. And yet, the one visitor sitting on his bed was—
Sarutobi Hiruzen.
With a gentle smile, the Third Hokage looked at the child who'd just come home. "Naruto—did you have fun today?"
"Hokage Grandpa! Why are you here?!"
The question "why are you here," which burst out instinctively, replaced the old "you finally came," the line that used to carry expectation.
Hiruzen visibly froze for a moment. He hadn't expected his place in Naruto's heart to shift so quickly—though he'd anticipated it. Sigh.
"I came to see you," he said, pressing down his thoughts, keeping his voice warm.
Naruto bounced excitedly in front of him, arms spread, wildly acting out exaggerated motions. "Hokage Grandpa, I met so many people today!"
"First I ran into Sasuke, then I ran into Kiyonari… we went to eat barbecue together, and that place was really good. And then—and then! Kiyonari took us to watch a movie…"
Naruto counted on his fingers, then asked solemnly, "After going through all that together… they're all my friends now, right, Hokage Grandpa?"
"Of course they are," Hiruzen affirmed. "As long as you have fun together, they're friends."
"That's great!"
Hiruzen took a puff of smoke, then asked, "Naruto, I also heard you got into a fight… hmm. Was there a conflict?"
Naruto explained urgently, "Even though Sasuke and I fought, I can tell he's actually a good person."
"Oh?" Hiruzen looked amused. "How so?"
Naruto thought hard, then said, "We didn't fight just because of him. It's more like we both just couldn't stand each other. But Kiyonari called it… called it something like… 'if you don't fight—'"
"You fight and you become friends," Hiruzen supplied.
"Yes, yes!" Naruto nodded rapidly. "I burned my mouth on the barbecue, and even though Sasuke calls me an idiot, he still handed me a drink. When I ate too much, Sasuke even got me hawthorn candy."
"And when Kiyonari said he'd treat us, Sasuke was obviously worried he didn't have enough money, but he still acted like it was Kiyonari's problem. I've never seen someone so not honest."
"Then, Naruto," Hiruzen's voice grew even gentler, "what kind of person do you think Kiyonari is?"
Naruto tilted his head and thought seriously. "I think… Kiyonari is just Kiyonari. Like how, in his eyes, Naruto is just Naruto. We're all just people who keep shit warm."
The moment he said it, Hiruzen's face crumpled, and a cloud of smoke came sputtering out of his nose.
…
Meanwhile, Uchiha Sasuke pushed open his front door. He'd barely taken off his shoes when his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, heard the sound and came out from the living room.
"Sasuke, your father and I were held up by something today. Have you had dinner?"
"I already ate, Mom."
He rolled his stiff shoulders as he walked into the living room, looking a little tired.
"Out eating?" Mikoto asked curiously. "With who? What did you eat?"
"Barbecue. Kiyonari dragged me along."
"Oh?" Mikoto clearly wasn't letting him off that easily. "Who's Kiyonari? How come I've never heard you mention him?"
Sasuke paused, then turned his head slightly, avoiding his mother's too-direct gaze. In a typically tsundere tone—awkward, yet trying hard to sound calm—he said:
"Hyuga Kiyonari… kind of a friend."
In front of his family, he'd been unusually honest. No "he's okay" or "he's not bad" tsundere phrasing—he directly admitted it: Kiyonari was his friend.
A flicker of surprise crossed Mikoto's eyes. Sasuke, who talked about his brother nonstop and couldn't go three sentences without "not as good as nii-san," had suddenly made a friend—and the friend was from the Hyuga?
Before she could ask more, Sasuke continued, "It's just that he called too many people over, and we even went to watch some movie. What a hassle…"
"Who all was there?" Mikoto asked with a warm smile.
She knew her son well. If Sasuke was willing to sit down and eat together, and even go out and play, that alone said a lot.
"Three girls… and an idiot named Naruto."
Mikoto's smile froze instantly.
Sasuke noticed her reaction. "Mom, what is it?"
Mikoto snapped back as if pulled from faraway thoughts. "Nothing… By the way, that child named Naruto—how is he?"
"How would I know? I just met him today."
He had planned to end it there, but seeing the worry on his mother's face, he didn't understand why—yet still added one more line.
"With Kiyonari as his friend… he probably won't have it too bad."
~~~
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