A crow perches on the top of the roof, silent and watching. A flash of red strikes through its eyes, though it is faint and quick, almost inexistent, but is undoubtedly there. The bird does not leave its spot, unafraid nor flustered by the great volume of people that walk on the roads beneath. It knows well that none can see it, and does not move.

It watches, with an inhuman softness to its beady eyes, at the people bustling around. The streets are loud today, for the naming of the village's new leader is to be held. There are few animals due to this, for the unnatural amounts of sound and speech and shouts have scared them.

But to the crow, this is normality. These sounds are the ones it longed to hear, over the course of its hard life. The crow is calm with these noises, the anxiety out of its feathers the moment the dawn led to the first voice.

After a length of waiting and watching, the crow lifts its wings. It is time, it knows, for the moment that will change all the courses of history. It takes flight, following the flow of lively men and women to the clearing. It continues its flight, until the people stop, crowding around a familiar red building. The crow finds a comfortable and close enough spot to land, and waits as the villagers wait for today's hero to arrive.

It does not need to wait long, though, for the famous figure steps into view atop the building. A shot of white hair and a face veiled by a black mask; the crow knows this man well. It dips its head towards the man's direction, though the man would never see it. A force of habit, that was, and the bird will only feel comfortable if it does this.

Strong words, a powerful speech, the white-haired figure says, and steps to the side, revealing the hero long awaited. The crowd erupts in a mixture of screams, claps, and cheers. The crow does not follow along, staying to its silence, but there is an even brighter glint in its eyes as it watches the events in front of it unfold.

The crow almost caws in happiness as blond hair meets the sun, and blue eyes reach the people. The voices grow ever a pitch higher, welcoming this man, whose presence alone builds hope.

Though the crow laughs here, because it knows that all those cheering are ever blinded by this small ruse. This is not the man they are waiting for, not the hero that holds the powerful fox within him. The crow only needed a look to know that this was just another pretending to be the whiskered boy.

The crow shakes its head, and takes flight again. Although this ceremony is indeed auspicious, the crow cannot stay. Knowing that it is a fake now, it no longer needs to stay here. The bird came for the man himself, and must find him before its time runs out. There is not much longer until the crow must return to its place in the lands afar. It will have to make haste.

It does not take long to find the hero. The crow sees him, with his children, back in their humble home.

The crow takes one look at the blond man, and with a tilt of its head, gives its first words of the day.

Thank you.

It takes flight shortly after, to see the many other people it wishes to meet.

00000

Naruto often sees that crow that perches on odd places in the village. He knows that there are few that can see it, and he pains for that truth.

For he knows that only those who know of the true past behind the crow's life will ever see it, understand it, and thank it.

He heard those words spoken on the day he was supposed to be taking the reins as leader. He heard them loud and clear. Those words that should have been from him to the crow.

Naruto sighs as he is reminded of the familiar black feathers. He wonders if it will ever find peace, and rest.

00000

A few years past after that memorable day, the crow perches on a tree facing a familiar house. It watches in utter silence, with love so much that it flows out of it. The three inhabitants of the humble home are the ones the crow most wants to protect, and it sighs in pure bliss at the sight of the family together laughing.

It finds comfort in knowing that this family will be whole, that the only man in the home will finally find the love the he had searched and begged for for so long. The man no longer has a look of vengeance in them, nor the cold sorrow that had plagued his eyes all those years ago. Instead, love and happiness fill them now, and he openly laughs with those around him, accepting them into his once before guarded heart.

The crow watches them for the longest of times in many years, and when it feels its presence and life start to fade as the sun downs, it leaves, back to the place that it rests.

00000

Sakura only heard of the truth behind that loving man until many years after the war. Her husband had hastily told her, one night, when he could no longer hold in the tears and sorrow of having lost a man he so admired.

She was terrifyingly shocked when the words rang in her ears, and when they finally sunk in, her heart hurt tenfolds for both the crying man in front of her, and the man that was cried over.

It was then did she notice and see the crow that lingered around the streets of the village. It did not take her long to realize who it was, and she almost leaped to catch it when she saw it. She wanted to pull it to her, to make it sit in front of her, and force it to tell her the whole truth. She wanted to know, to understand just how much love a man needed to make the decisions it made.

But she always held herself back, because she knew how cruel it would be if she did. It would be fine. She could always wait until her husband or Naruto finally found the right time to tell her the whole story.

00000

Perhaps Sarada is the only one who could see the black feathered bird without truly knowing the tale of its life.

No, that was incorrect. Sarada did not see the silhouette of the bird as her Uncle Naruto or her parents did. No, what she saw was a man. A man as handsome as her father, with the same smooth black hair and facial features.

The first time she saw him, she almost ran to him, thinking it was her beloved father. It took her several moments to realize that this man was much younger than her father, but also much older.

It had surprised her, but it did not take her long to figure out that he was the uncle that her father only spoke tidbits of. She knew that her uncle had done terrible things, for she often heard, once in awhile, scornful words uttered next to his name.

Though whenever she saw that man again, watching over the people of the village and her family, she could never come to hate him. She loved him, although she has never spoken to nor known this man in his life.

She loved him because she didn't see the murderous hatred or killing intent that the other villagers spoke so often of.

Instead, she only ever saw the kindness and love in him. She could only see the beautiful, warm smiles he had ever on his face, and the small flashes of anger whenever the village was threatened.

Therefore, Sarada did not listen to the words of hatred and fear of the villagers. She could not, for after seeing the wise eyes of the man that sits atop the roofs of the village homes, guarding the village of its dangers.

00000

"Brother, you came to the village again, didn't you?"

The stone in front is silent, as though unwilling to answer.

There is a deep sigh from the man who spoke.

"Brother, the village will fare without you to watch it. The shinobi will protect it. I will protect it. So for goodness sakes, just rest, brother. Or I'll never hear the end of Naruto's worries."

The stone stays silent.

"Brother, one day, there will be a time when the village acknowledges your love. It's changing, brother. Danzo and the elders' ways are no longer present. Soon the village that you wished for, that we wished for, will be here.

The village that will accept the Uchiha with open arms will be here."

The man smiles at the stone. The wind sings through his ears in agreement. The man takes one last look at the bird on the stone, smiles again, and turns back to the roads.

The crow watches as the man leaves, caws its goodbyes, and flaps its wings.

Though it never reaches the sky, for the bird fades, its black feathers turning translucent, and soon, its body follows.

There is no longer a need for it to stay.

… goodbye, otouto.

00000

*A/N: I have not read nor watched Boruto: Next Generation, so please bear with me if there are any differences in this to the main storyline. I have no idea if Sakura nor Sarada know of the truth, so this is all my own thoughts of how it should be.