After their meeting with the Hokage, Ren and Naruto walked side-by-side down the hall, sunlight streaming in through high windows.
Naruto sighed loudly, hands behind his head. "Man, I thought it was something important! Just another speech about the Will of Fire nonsense."
Ren glanced sideways, a small smile tugging at his lips. "You really thought he was gonna hand us some top-secret scrolls?"
Naruto shrugged, grinning. "You never know."
As they arrived at the team room corridor outside the Academy annex, a handful of instructors were already guiding students to their assigned rooms.
One instructor squinted at a clipboard, then at the approaching twins.
"Uzumaki? Team 1 — right this way."
Naruto blinked. "Wait, me? Isn't it—"
Before he could finish, the instructor waved him along with a firm nod. "Come on, don't hold up the others."
Naruto gave Ren a confused look but complied with a shrug, walking through the door.
Ren blinked slowly. "That's… the wrong room."
He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Figures."
A moment later, another instructor gestured to Ren. "Uzumaki, right? Team 7, down the hall."
Ren raised an eyebrow.
"Now they've got me mixed up too."
He didn't correct them.
Instead, he quietly stepped back and leaned against the wall between both doors, folding his arms.
"Let's see how long this takes to fix."
Inside both rooms, the instructors began their introductions. Meanwhile, Team 1 and Team 7's official rosters were still being finalized.
Unbeknownst to Naruto and Ren — this mix-up was only the beginning.
And their real journey was just about to unfold.