Nao no longer had the strength to rush over, her legs softened and she sat down at the entrance crying. A burst of hot air completely blocked her throat, her nose felt sore and she couldn't stop crying.
Even though Nao covered her mouth, the tears still fell in big drops onto the floor. An overwhelming sadness and grievance surged in her heart, making her feel unbearably miserable.
All the emotions she had been holding in erupted at once, and she couldn't stop them. She regretted it a little and wanted to stand up, not wanting to let him see her so broken.
But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stand. It wasn't until she saw Naruto close the door and squat down in front of her, wrapping her small frame in his arms.
"Why are you crying? I'm back, aren't I?"
Falling into his warm embrace, Nao cried even harder. Her sobbing was so intense that Naruto felt a twinge of guilt.
'If it hadn't been for Nobi's reminder, I really would have just left her like that.' Naruto realized now how heartless that would have been.
Nao trembled violently in his arms, her face buried in his shoulder, crying like a child who had been wronged.
"Every day I'm…" Nao spoke through her sobs, her voice choked. Naruto could feel that the area of his shoulder where her face rested had become soaked with tears.
"… worried about you."
"Every day... I kept convincing myself…" Her hot breath hit Naruto's shoulder between sobs, and her voice trembled with emotion.
"That you weren't lying to me."
Naruto's shoulder was completely drenched by now. He felt uneasy because, at the time, he really hadn't planned on coming back.
'If it weren't for the fact that the document posed a danger to Nao, perhaps I…'
As he thought about it, a sense of guilt welled up in him. He felt a bit suffocated, listening to her sobs, unsure of how to comfort her.
He originally treated this like a dream, taking the documents and planning to use the Ryumyaku to return, leaving nothing behind. So, he had acted recklessly, cold and cruel.
The reason Naruto had decided to get close to Nao in the first place was partly out of convenience and partly because he believed someone with her personality wouldn't care too much even if she got deceived.
He thought that at most, she would consider it a bad experience, curse him a few times, and then forget about it after a few days.
But he never imagined Nao's personality had such a stark contrast. He thought he would only leave a small scar on her heart, yet it turned out to be an unbridgeable chasm.
Some people are merely passersby, like fleeting clouds. But others eventually become monuments, standing firm no matter how many years the wind blows, always renewed and remembered.
"I... I couldn't even function properly these past few days. I wanted... I wanted to find you."
Naruto's shoulders were wet with tears, then the wetness spread all the way down, as if her grievances had taken shape, turning into threads that hooked around his heart.
"I couldn't stay here anymore." She sniffled, her body shaking with each breath, "I wanted to be with you…"
"Yes, together." Naruto echoed her words softly.
Now, Naruto felt genuinely guilty. Reflecting on how he had tricked her so completely, he realized that if he hadn't returned, how much karma would he have to pay off? His small store of good deeds might not even be enough, and he might have had to borrow some from Minato.
Standing at the entrance, they embraced tightly. Naruto felt a swirl of complex emotions, and the light above them shimmered, as if signaling new hope.
After crying her heart out, Nao realized she had lost her composure and, embarrassed, hid her face in Naruto's chest, unwilling to look up. She clung to him even tighter, comforted by the familiar scent.
She wished this moment could last forever, with the light shining down on them never dimming. The brown shoe cabinet stood silent, and the entryway grew quiet.
Her breathing was heavy, and after a long while, she finally raised her head from Naruto's chest, revealing her flushed face. Her breathing remained rapid, her eyes wet with tears.
As she looked up at Naruto, she suddenly realized what he truly looked like, which is very handsome, and she blushed even more.
"Is this what you really look like?" She asked in a low voice.
"Yeah, what's wrong?"
"I don't know... You look kind of familiar, like I've seen you before." After she said that, she seemed afraid that Naruto would misunderstand her, so she added hurriedly, "It seems like someone I have met before. It seems like... Minato-sama."
Naruto was speechless for a moment, thinking to himself, 'This body has Minato's gene, so how could I not resemble him? His gene even directly wiped off the signature red hair of the Uzumaki Clan… This is truly the most dominant set of genes in this world.'
"The world is big. Sometimes people just look alike. It's a coincidence." he explained.
"Oh, okay." Nao would never imagine that time travel could be involved, so she naturally didn't think further on the subject, "How did you survive?"
"You'll find out later. For now, just know that that level of battle wasn't enough to kill me."
"I'll get you some water." She said quickly, trying to stand up, but she fell back to the ground.
Her stomach growled loudly, and Nao immediately covered her stomach, her face turning red with embarrassment. The blush spread down her neck as she bit her lip, feeling utterly mortified.
Seeing this, Naruto chuckled and scooped her up, placing her on the sofa. Then, he casually put on a pink apron and headed into the kitchen.
Before long, the sound of cooking came from the kitchen, and soon a few simple dishes were prepared. They sat quietly across the table, eating together.
"Anyway, I'm just glad you came back." Nao said with a happy smile. There were bits of food on her lips, which she licked off with her tongue.
"Yeah, it's all okay now." Naruto replied.
After dinner, they took turns showering. Nao wore loose clothes, and with every slightly larger movement, her face turned redder. Barefoot, she walked across the floor, the soft creaks accompanying her steps as she shyly urged Naruto to take his bath.
Late into the night, Nao snuggled close to Naruto and whispered, "Will you stay? Just you and me."
"Hmm?" Naruto could feel her toes fidgeting under the blanket, "No, I won't stay. This is my last time coming back here. I won't be coming back to this place anymore."
Hearing this, Nao's face turned pale, and she tried to sit up with her hands, but her body gave out, and she remembered how exhausted she was.
"Then take me with you. Don't leave me behind."
"I'm going to a very far place." Naruto said quietly.
"I don't care how far. You..." She grabbed Naruto's hand, her voice trembling slightly, "You can't give me hope and then take it away."
"That's not my intention. I came back this time to take you with me." Naruto paused, reached out his hand to comfort Nao, and frowned again.
"But that place is very far. So far that you'll lose all your friends, your family, even everything you know."
"Huh? Where is that place?" Nao asked in surprise, blinking as she tried to understand, "Is it in the Land of Water?"
That was the farthest place she could imagine, across the mountains and seas, so the Land of Water was the farthest she could think of.
"No, it's even farther than that."
"Where?"
"Twenty years in the future."