Sasuke and Naruto sat side by side on a weathered bench in the ninja school's playground. The morning mist lingered low, curling around their feet like smoke from a dying fire.
Sasuke handed over a chilled can of iced Americano.
Naruto popped it open, took a big sip, and immediately grimaced. His face scrunched up, tongue sticking out, as the bitterness crashed over his taste buds like a wave of betrayal. He nearly spat it out, but then caught Sasuke's unreadable expression and forced himself to swallow.
Sasuke didn't flinch. He just sat there, completely calm, as if iced coffee were the most delicious drink in the world. Naruto, embarrassed, forced himself to act nonchalant.
"You said your dream was to become Hokage?" Sasuke asked casually.
Naruto immediately perked up.
"Yeah!" he said with pride. "I'm going to become a Hokage that everyone acknowledges and respects—believe it!"
Sasuke nodded slightly, his eyes thoughtful.
Naruto was used to being laughed at or ignored whenever he spoke about his dream. Most kids mocked him, and adults brushed him off like a nuisance. But Sasuke… Sasuke was different. He was actually listening, seriously thinking about what Naruto said. He didn't mock him. He didn't dismiss him.
And that made Naruto feel a little… strange.
"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked, noticing the shift in Naruto's expression.
Naruto scratched his cheek, hesitating, then admitted, "I thought you were going to laugh at me."
Sasuke tilted his head. "Why would I laugh?"
"Well, in the past, whenever I talked about becoming Hokage, people said I was delusional. They told me I was just some orphan with no talent and no chance of making it. They said I was dreaming way too big."
Mist swirled in the air, softening the edges of the playground. The world felt distant, like a memory.
"I asked Logan about this once," Sasuke said suddenly.
Naruto turned toward him, curious.
Sasuke continued, "I asked him—'Is it a delusion to talk about dreams that feel far away? Should we wait until we're prepared before we take action, or should we just dive in, ready or not?'"
Naruto paused, genuinely considering the question. "I think… we should probably prepare first, right? Like, plan things out?"
"Most people think that way," Sasuke said. "They wait until they've saved enough money to confess to someone they love. They wait until they're strong enough to challenge an opponent. They wait, and wait, and wait. And that seems logical. But Logan said… that kind of thinking can become a trap."
He rested his hand lightly over his heart.
"According to that logic," Sasuke said, "we imagine that we can isolate ourselves, train in a corner, and emerge as perfect beings. Then, from that place of perfection, we try to go out and change the world."
Naruto tilted his head. "That… sounds kind of smart? But also kind of weird. Like… is it wrong?"
Sasuke shook his head.
"No, it's not wrong exactly. But it's incomplete. Reality isn't a game. It's not some story where you level up in peace before facing the boss. We're people living in the real world. No matter how much you train in isolation, the world won't always accept the 'perfect' version of you. There's always going to be a gap between what you think is perfect and what actually works in reality."
He paused.
"And if you train with a mindset of arrogance, thinking that one day you'll swoop in and change the world just because you're finally ready... it often leads to disaster."
Naruto blinked.
"Because," Sasuke said quietly, "knowledge without action is empty."
He looked off into the distance, his voice soft.
"When Logan first met Terumi Mei, she was just a spy. She got punched twice, had a swollen eye, and couldn't even talk straight. And yet... even when she became Mizukage, she wasn't truly ready. But she kept going. She learned by doing. And she got better."
He turned back to Naruto and gently tapped his can against Naruto's.
"You're not just dreaming about being Hokage. You're already walking the path. Coming to Kirigakure—that's part of your journey."
He gave Naruto a sidelong glance.
"So why would I laugh at that?"
Then Sasuke grinned and held out his fist.
"Hello, future Hokage."
Naruto stared at the hand extended toward him. Something inside him twisted—like a tightly wound ball of rope had just come loose. He found the end, tugged, and the knot in his chest unraveled. A feeling of pride, raw and honest, swelled in his heart.
He grinned, raised his fist, and lightly bumped Sasuke's.
"You're… kind of amazing, you know that?"
Sasuke chuckled and waved off the compliment. "That was all Logan's teaching. He called it…"
"Unity of knowledge and action," Naruto repeated, committing the phrase to memory.
He looked up at Sasuke again. "So, what about you? What's your dream?"
Sasuke leaned back on the bench and stared up at the fog-veiled sky.
"When I first left the village… my dream was to kill someone."
Naruto looked at him in surprise.
"But now…" Sasuke trailed off, struggling to put it into words.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps echoed across the playground.
One set approached from the left.
Another from the right.
From the left came a girl with soft pink hair—Sakura Haruno.
From the right, another pink-haired girl—Momo.
Little Sakura twirled a strand of hair between her fingers. "Sasuke-kun… do you remember me?"
Sasuke gave a polite nod.
"Yesss!" Sakura's inner self did a celebratory fist-pump. She quickly tried to appear calm and delicate, ready to keep talking to him.
Before she could say anything more, Momo stepped forward and offered an orange.
"Hello," Momo said with a soft smile. "Want one?"
Sakura blinked, taken aback.
Only then did she notice that Momo had pink hair too—and not just similar, but her entire aura seemed more natural, more in sync with the group.
"Wait… is she my type?!" Sakura felt a wave of panic rise in her chest.
Not far away, Ino Yamanaka adjusted her blond hair and placed a cute hairpin just above her ear. She was about to approach Sasuke when—
A hand grabbed her arm.
"Huh?"
Ino turned and saw Shikamaru.
She scowled and yanked her arm free. "What's your problem?!"
Shikamaru sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It's not your circle, Ino. You don't fit in."
"What? That's rude!"
"Little Sakura's going in."
"Exactly!"
"But is she really part of it?"
Shikamaru lowered his voice. "Look, I don't like gossiping about other people's backgrounds, but didn't you notice? Sasuke, Naruto, Momo… they've all lost their parents."
Ino paused.
"Their shared experiences have shaped them. You and Sakura… we just can't understand them in the same way."
Shikamaru's eyes drifted toward Sasuke, who was still talking about dreams and goals, using words most kids their age never used. "Unity of knowledge and action…" the phrase echoed again on the breeze.
He thought about everything he'd seen in Kirigakure—the revitalized village, the peaceful streets, the subtle discipline of the Ripple practitioners.
"I really want to meet Logan in person someday," Shikamaru muttered.
Ino, oblivious, rolled her eyes. "You're still talking about childhood trauma, huh? You act like you're not a kid too."
She poked him. "Didn't you just cut your hair to look older? And you're still shorter than me!"
"Go away," Shikamaru grumbled, swatting her hand.
Ino ignored him and pulled out a compact mirror to check her smile.
Click.
Mirror snapped shut.
---
In Cloud Shinobi Village, Samui opened the locker door.
The mirror on the inside reflected her bare skin. She had just finished another grueling training session with her master, Killer Bee, and had taken a long, hot shower.
Samui stared at herself and tried to smile—lifting the corners of her mouth, baring her teeth politely.
After a few seconds, she sighed.
"I look like a debt collector pretending to be friendly to avoid suspicion from the patrol."
Still, she kept practicing.
Ever since returning from Kirigakure, she had been implementing everything she'd learned from Logan's teachings. Even small pilots were showing big results.
It was startling.
People were changing.
The village was changing.
"If Logan could see this… if she saw the smiles we're seeing now… she'd be so happy."
She dressed quickly and stepped out.
Killer Bee was waiting nearby, notebook in hand, muttering lyrics and scribbling ideas. But today, he didn't seem quite himself.
He sneezed violently—again and again.
"You okay?" Samui asked.
Bee rubbed his nose and sniffled. "Not sick. You don't smell it? There's been a snake stench in the air all day."
"Snake?"
At that moment, two figures approached from a distance.
"Samui-sama. Killer Bee-sama."
The two Cloud shinobi dropped to one knee.
"The Fourth Raikage requests your immediate presence at an emergency meeting."
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