The first day of school!

"All right, I'll be in charge of your class from now on."

Looking at the members of his class, Iruka felt a little nervous.

After all, just look at who was here.

Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi...

They were all children of major clans, not to mention Naruto Uzumaki, whom Lord Hokage had specifically told him to look after.

Teaching this group of children would not be easy. Only after Sarutobi patiently persuaded him, promising to back him up and give him a promotion in the future, among other things, had Iruka agreed.

Everyone chose their own seats, with democracy being the guiding principle (after all, many of them already had their own circles).

Naruto sat in the middle of the fourth row, with Hinata on his left and Sasuke on his right.

Shikamaru and Choji sat in the middle of the fifth row, behind Naruto.

Sakura and Ino sat on the right side of the fourth row, next to Sasuke.

It was worth mentioning that Hinata wore her hair in a high ponytail. We would talk about the reason behind that another day.

Once the seating was quickly settled, Iruka cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Class, you'll be spending the next six years together, so let's start by introducing ourselves."

"You can tell us what you like and who you want to become in the future."

Hmm, self-introductions? Sounds interesting.

That was what Sasuke thought.

"All right, first up is Luren A-Jia."

An unremarkable child in ordinary clothes walked up to the podium.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Luren A-Jia. I like animals-fish, dogs, pigs, and cows."

Hmm, he seems like a very loving child.

"In the future, I want to become a gourmet and spend every day dealing with those animals."

A-Jia paused, then shyly revealed his dream for the future before running back down.

Hey, hey, hey! That's what you meant by liking them? Are kids these days all this terrifying?

Suppressing the urge to make a sarcastic comment, Iruka called on the next student.

"..."

Some time passed, and at last, it was Hinata's turn.

"Hinata Hyuga."

Since quite a few children had rather strange dreams and interests, Iruka's enthusiasm had waned.

Hinata rose from her chair.

"Naruto-kun, I'll go up now."

After quietly saying this to Naruto, Hinata walked up.

"You've got this, believe it!"

Naruto gave her an encouraging thumbs-up.

The tips of Hinata's ears were a little red, but thanks to the changes in her strength over the past two years and the time she had spent playing with her friends, her disposition had improved considerably compared to before.

Hinata: Just thinking about what I'm about to say makes me shy ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

She walked up to the podium. Sunlight streamed through the window onto her faintly flushed little face, and her high ponytail brimmed with youthful energy.

Iruka's flagging spirits flared back to life.

Just what I'd expect from the Hyuga Clan's young lady. With that presence, whatever she says should definitely be normal!

"Um, hello, everyone. I'm Hinata Hyuga. What I like is... my friend...s."

"My dream for the future is to become someone my father is satisfied with, and... to witness Naruto become Hokage."

Mm-hmm, she gets along well with her friends. That's wonderful.

Her dream is to become someone her father is satisfied with? Ah, just what I'd expect from the Hyuga Clan's young lady. She holds herself to a standard.

Wait!!!

Witness Naruto become Hokage?

Naruto? Naruto Uzumaki? That blond kid sitting beside Hinata, the one the Third told me to look after?

Damn, the Third never told me he was this close to the Hyuga Clan's young lady.

And with Sasuke Uchiha sitting beside him during the introductions just now, too... tsk, tsk. With connections like these, does he need me looking after him?

Iruka began to reconsider the Third's intentions.

Could he want me to take the blame when Naruto gets into trouble, or go easier on his punishments?

But Hinata had no time to pay attention to Iruka. Her face was starting to turn red now. Even though she had prepared herself, it was still so embarrassing.

"Uh, hahaha, a very good... dream. I hope it comes true."

Iruka clapped stiffly, then called on the next student.

"Sasuke... Uchiha."

Sasuke walked up with proud strides.

He spoke coolly.

"Ahem. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like my older brother and my friends. My dream is to become someone like my brother and to become Naruto's big brother."

Iruka went numb. He had known Sasuke would work Naruto into his speech.

"Yes, very good. I wish you success."

After all these years of teaching, Iruka understood children from the Uchiha Clan fairly well. They liked showing off.

No big deal.

"Next, Naruto... Uzumaki."

All right, finally my turn!

Naruto rose from his seat, walked out past Sasuke's spot, and went up to the podium.

The students below had initially been quite curious. After all, just who was this Naruto that both the Uchiha and the Hyuga had mentioned?

Then, when they saw that it was unexpectedly this demon fox, many of the civilian children's expressions soured.

"Hey, Ino, that's the Nine-Tailed Fox my parents told me about."

Sakura whispered into Ino's ear.

Naruto sensed a wave of malice, though most of it was fear.

Whatever. I'm used to it. They wouldn't dare start anything, and I can't be bothered with them.

I'd be better off spending that time going into the Sealing Space to have a thrilling, exciting horse race with Teacher and Kurama.

"Hey, listen up! My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Right now, I'm Sasuke's big brother and Hinata's good friend. I like friends, foxes, and big trees. My dream for the future is to become Hokage!"

The pineapple-haired boy narrowed his eyes. This seemed like such a pain. Was Naruto this close to people from both major clans?

Forget it. I'm still young. I'll leave this sort of thing for Dad to worry about.

"Yes, that's a wonderful dream. I believe you can do it."

When Iruka said this, he genuinely believed it a little. After all, just look at the people around Naruto right now.

He had the Third backing him behind the scenes, and openly spent time with the young master and young lady of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans.

But becoming Hokage required everyone's recognition. Who knew what the demon... Naruto would do in the future?

"Boo-hoo-hoo, this is so moving!"

Hashirama took the handkerchief he had used to wipe his tears earlier and continued wiping away the tears that had just fallen.

The seed of Naruto's desire to become Hokage had not come solely from the Third's books. In fact, more of it had come from his admiration for his teacher.

The moment he saw Naruto boldly declare his dream without caring how others looked at him, Hashirama's eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, hey, is that really necessary?"

Kurama looked at Hashirama speechlessly. Never mind, he would just let him be.