I Have a Dream

That "thank you" was like a warm current, instantly washing away every barrier in Iruka's heart.

His eyes grew hot. The worry and heartache he had accumulated for so long nearly spilled out as tears.

What was that supposed to mean? That sullen face had just been a child throwing a tantrum.

The Naruto Uzumaki he knew—the one who grinned foolishly and pulled pranks—was about to come back.

Iruka opened his mouth excitedly, wanting to say something more.

But Naruto Uzumaki had already stood up.

He pulled several coins and bills from his pocket and, with a clink, neatly arranged them on the greasy tabletop.

That action lodged all of Iruka's words in his throat.

The money was like a solid wall separating him from Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto Uzumaki turned around.

Just before leaving through the ramen shop curtain, he looked back and calmly gazed at Iruka.

"Iruka-sensei, you're a good person."

"But good people are the easiest to use."

As soon as he finished speaking, he vanished into the bustling street, leaving Iruka sitting there blankly as the long-cold bowl of ramen reflected his bewildered face.

Deep underground in Konoha.

The air was cold and damp, carrying the rotten stench of earth and rust.

A Root shinobi wearing a featureless mask knelt on one knee in the darkness, reporting to the figure in the shadows with only one eye exposed.

"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki has displayed combat skills and insight far beyond reason."

"On the street, he noticed the surveillance positions of the three of us and marked them with food. This was not a warning, but a demonstration."

Shimura Danzō's bandaged face showed no expression in the shadows.

The cane in his hand lightly tapped against the cold floor, producing a steady, unnerving sound.

"Has the Nine-Tails' power begun to lose control?"

"Or has this vessel itself undergone an unforeseen mutation?"

Another shinobi stepped out from the darkness nearby.

"Lord Danzō, according to our intelligence, the target has a close relationship with Chunin Umino Iruka and strong teacher-student feelings."

"Iruka may be used as shackles to control the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki."

Danzō's lone eye narrowed slightly, a sinister gleam flashing within it.

"Emotions... teacher-student feelings..."

"They are the most fragile, and also the deadliest, weaknesses of human nature."

"Continue surveillance. List Iruka as a Level One influence target."

"Yes."

The shinobi vanished in an instant. In the dark underground, only the sound of the cane tapping the floor echoed through the deathly silence.

Ninja Academy classroom.

Iruka stood at the podium, announcing the team assignments that would determine the course of the students' ninja lives.

When Sakura heard that she and Sasuke had been placed in the same team, uncontrollable joy bloomed across her face.

Sasuke, however, frowned deeply. He had no interest in the pink-haired girl. What truly concerned him was the blond-haired boy whose expression was even colder than his own.

A month ago, Naruto Uzumaki had been the class's perpetual dead last. But now, merely sitting beside him brought Sasuke immense pressure.

It was the kind of pressure that made him feel weak.

Meanwhile, Naruto Uzumaki had remained quietly seated from beginning to end.

His gaze moved back and forth over his two future "teammates" like a scalpel.

[Tactical Unit Assessment]

[Sasuke Uchiha: Individual combat ability acceptable. Arrogant personality, driven by hatred, extremely unstable. Prone to impulsiveness. Can serve as an assault force, but is highly likely to become a tactical weak point.]

[Sakura Haruno: No combat value whatsoever. Easily distracted, severely emotional, entirely a liability. On the battlefield, she belongs among the first batch of noncombatants to be removed.]

Conclusion: an undisciplined, inefficient rabble.

His heart remained completely still. If anything, he was somewhat irritated.

"The Jonin instructor for Team 7 is..."

Iruka paused before reading out the name.

"Kakashi Hatake."

The afternoon sun had heated the railings on the Ninja Academy rooftop until they were almost too hot to touch.

After Iruka dismissed them, Naruto Uzumaki was the first to arrive.

He paced along the edge of the rooftop, but he was not admiring the view.

He was measuring.

The direct distance from the rooftop to Hokage Rock, and the wind's effect on thrown weapons.

The density of the crowd in the streets below, and possible evacuation routes.

The rooftops of the surrounding buildings were all potential ambush and sniper positions.

The data formed a cold tactical map in his mind.

Two sets of footsteps approached, one after the other.

The second carried a girl's urgency and barely concealed hesitation.

Sakura Haruno had arrived.

Her gaze automatically filtered out Naruto Uzumaki, who was pacing around, and precisely locked onto the proud, solitary figure in the corner—Sasuke Uchiha.

A flush rose to her face. She softened her steps and carefully walked over, intending to sit beside him at just the right distance—not too close, not too far.

Sasuke did not even raise his eyelids.

Just as Sakura was about to sit down, he subtly shifted half a foot away from the wall.

The movement was slight, but the distance he created was like a silent chasm.

Sakura's smile froze on her face, and heat burned from her neck to the tips of her ears. She could only awkwardly sit farther away, as if nothing had happened.

With nowhere else to look, her gaze finally fell reluctantly on the blond boy still pacing back and forth.

Naruto Uzumaki was far too strange today.

He no longer chased after her with that eager, foolish gaze. From beginning to end, he had not even looked at her once.

He simply kept walking, every step as measured as if by a ruler, giving off a sharp chill that made people not want to approach him.

Time passed second by second.

The sun gradually moved westward from its position overhead.

Sasuke leaned against the wall with his eyes closed, resting. Yet the fist on his knee, which occasionally tightened, exposed his impatience.

Sakura, meanwhile, had gone from restless unease to complete boredom. She quietly muttered about why their Jonin instructor still had not arrived and whether something major had happened on the way.

Only Naruto Uzumaki maintained that patrol-like pace, patient as a stone.

This was not tolerance.

He was simply recording.

[Jonin Instructor: Kakashi Hatake.]

[Scheduled assembly time: 12:00 noon.]

[Current tardiness: two hours and three minutes.]

[Preliminary assessment: Lacks basic awareness of time. Discipline rating: "extremely poor." Alternatively, this may be the first stage of a psychological pressure test, intended to observe the targets' response patterns.]

"Yo."

A lazy voice suddenly appeared at the rooftop entrance, accompanied by a puff of smoke.

A silver-haired man with his left eye covered by his forehead protector leaned there, holding an orange-covered novel.

"Sorry, sorry. I got lost on the road of life."

Kakashi Hatake smiled and waved, his visible eye curving into a crescent.

Sasuke opened his eyes and shot him a cold look.

Sakura let out a long breath and thought, What an unreliable teacher.

Kakashi enjoyed the resentful stares of his new students. This was his usual little opening act whenever he took on a team.

"Sensei."

Naruto Uzumaki stopped walking, turned around, and calmly looked at him.

"You were late on purpose."

It was not a question.

It was a statement.

"You were already here, weren't you?"

The smile on Kakashi's face froze.

He looked into Naruto Uzumaki's icy blue eyes. There was no emotion within them—no anger, no impatience—only a calm that seemed to see through everything.

An awkward atmosphere spread through the air.

"Well, well, let's start with introductions."

Kakashi forcibly changed the subject and cleared his throat.

"You first, pink hair."

"Yes!"

Sakura immediately sat up straight.

"My name is Sakura Haruno! The thing I like is..."

She shyly glanced at Sasuke.

"What I hate is Ino Pig! My dream for the future is..."

She glanced at Sasuke again, her cheeks flushing red.

"Mm, her mind is completely off being a ninja."

Kakashi casually commented before looking at Sasuke.

"Next, you."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke's voice was as cold as ice.

"I don't have anything I like, but there are plenty of things I hate."

"My dream cannot be called a dream, because I will make it reality."

His fist suddenly clenched, and bone-deep hatred burst from his eyes.

"My goal is to revive the Uchiha clan, and then... kill that man."

The air on the rooftop suddenly turned cold under the weight of his killing intent.

Kakashi's gaze also deepened.

A girl whose mind was full of romance, and an orphan consumed by the flames of revenge.

His gaze finally settled on the boy who had stood straight from beginning to end.

"Last, you."

Naruto Uzumaki stepped forward, clasped his hands behind his back, and stood at attention.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

His voice was clear and steady. It was not loud, yet every word struck the listeners' ears.

"What I like is Order, discipline, and loyalty."

"What I hate is heresy, corruption, and inefficiency."

His gaze slowly swept across everyone present, including Kakashi.

"My dream... or rather, my ultimate mission objective."

He paused, every word carrying unquestionable weight.

"Is to ensure that Konoha, humanity's final bastion of civilization, can endure under any internal or external threat."

"To that end, I will purge every enemy."

"No matter the cost."