The warm light of a paper lantern flickered inside the Uzumaki brothers' home. It wasn't much — just a modest two-room house tucked at the edge of the village — but it was clean, quiet, and theirs.
Ren dried the last dish and set it gently on the rack. Across the room, Naruto lay sprawled on the floor with his back against their old couch, arms behind his head, a half-eaten dango stick hanging from his mouth.
"Hey, Ren?"
"Hm?"
"You ever think about what it'll be like? Y'know… when we're jōnin? Or even Hokage?"
Ren didn't answer immediately. He wiped his hands on a cloth, then turned and leaned against the counter, arms crossed.
"Sometimes."
Naruto grinned. "I think about it all the time."
He sat up, pulled his knees to his chest.
"I wanna be the kind of ninja that everyone has to notice. Not 'cause I shout the loudest, but… because I'm strong enough to protect this whole village. Every single person in it."
His voice quieted slightly near the end.
Ren watched him.
Then nodded. "Then you'll have to earn that power."
Naruto smirked. "I will. I've got wind chakra now, remember? Leaf-slicer-in-progress."
Ren gave a small shake of his head, the corners of his mouth pulling up just slightly.
"Try not to cut your own headband next time."
Naruto laughed, then yawned — the real kind, sleep catching up to him fast.
"You think we'll ever find out why we were alone? Why no one told us about our parents?"
Ren looked at the floor for a moment, then back to his brother.
"One day," he said softly. "When it's time."
Naruto nodded, eyes already drifting shut as he mumbled, "As long as we find out together…"
Ren walked over and pulled the thin blanket over his brother.
"Always."
Later That Night
The house was silent now. Naruto was asleep, mumbling something about ramen and wind blades in his dreams.
Ren stood barefoot in the backyard, under the moonlight.
He held a single chakra paper between two fingers. The second one he'd taken home from the library.
With a calm breath, he channeled his chakra into it.
The paper burned at the edge and crumbled into ash, disintegrating softly in the breeze.
"Fire," Ren whispered.
He closed his eyes.
The chakra pooled in his palm again. This time, he didn't imagine a blade.
He imagined heat — focus, pressure, ignition.
A faint shimmer of warmth danced across his hand, flickering, unstable.
But it was there.
"Still needs control…"
He lowered his hand, feeling the embers fade.
"But it's coming."
He looked up at the stars.
"One day… you'll be Hokage, Naruto."
"And I'll make sure no one ever touches your back."