Naruto walked alone through the streets of Konoha as night fell. The paper lanterns on the stalls and houses were beginning to light up, illuminating the darkness with patches of warm, orange light. His steps were light, almost floating. The exhaustion he had felt after the Falna ritual had vanished, replaced by a vibrant energy that wasn’t just chakra, but pure and simple happiness.

He brought his left hand to his chest, right over his heart. He could still feel the memory of Hinata’s laugh, a sound so genuine and liberating it felt like it had cleansed something inside of him, something he didn’t even know was dirty. He replayed the day’s events in his mind, over and over, savoring every detail of the memory. The moment she believed him. Her courage in taking him to her apartment. The way her eyes had lit up when she saw his new power. The clumsy, ridiculous fall that had made them laugh on the floor. And her promise. The promise that they would go get their picture taken together.

“Family,” he had said. The word had left his mouth without thinking, an impulse born from an emotion he couldn’t name. But thinking about it now, he realized it was true. In a single day, Hinata had become more than just a classmate. She had become the first person in his life to whom he had entrusted his true self: the confused, the scared, the lonely one. And she hadn’t run away. She had stayed. She had cleaned up his mess. She had smiled at him.

A goofy, genuine smile spread across his face as he walked. The world felt… different. Less hostile. Brighter. He was so lost in his thoughts that he almost bumped into a figure coming out of the Academy.

“Naruto!”

Naruto snapped his head up. Iruka-sensei was standing in front of him, a stack of scrolls under his arm and a tired look on his face. But upon seeing Naruto’s face, his expression changed to one of surprise.

“Whoa,” Iruka said, adjusting the scrolls. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you with such a genuine smile. Normally by this time, you’re already plotting your next prank or complaining about something. What’s with the good mood? Did you hear they’re adding a new ramen flavor at Ichiraku?”

Naruto laughed, a bright, happy sound.

“Even better than that, Iruka-sensei! Today was the best day of my life! I graduated, I have a team, and…!” He paused for a second, the secret bubbling up inside him, and channeled it into the simplest, most important truth of all. “And I made a friend!”

The declaration, so pure and full of childish joy, took Iruka completely by surprise. His tired smile transformed into a warm, fatherly one. He saw the boy he had known for years—the lonely one, the outcast, the one who fought desperately for any kind of connection—and saw that he had finally found it. The pride he felt was immense.

“A friend?” Iruka said, his voice full of genuine affection. “That’s… that’s wonderful, Naruto. It really is.”

He looked at the boy, saw the light in his eyes, and knew that a moment like this couldn’t pass without a proper celebration.

“You know, news this big deserves a celebration. What do you say? How about I treat you to a bowl of ramen? To celebrate your graduation… and your new friendship.”

Naruto’s eyes went wide, shining with a gratitude that took Iruka’s breath away.

“REALLY?! IRUKA-SENSEI, YOU’RE THE BEST TEACHER IN THE WORLD!”

****

The steam from the broth at Ichiraku Ramen created a warm, comforting atmosphere. Naruto was in his element, sitting on his favorite stool and already halfway through his first bowl of miso ramen with extra pork. Iruka was beside him, eating more slowly, watching his former student with a mix of amusement and curiosity.

“So,” Iruka began after swallowing a bite of noodles. “Who’s the lucky girl? Who managed the feat of becoming a friend to Konoha’s most unpredictable ninja?”

Naruto loudly swallowed a piece of pork, nearly choking in his excitement to tell him.

“It’s Hinata! Hinata Hyuga!” he declared, as if announcing the name of a legendary heroine.

Iruka blinked, feigning surprise. After all, he had been the one to finance their date the night before.

“Hinata? Hiashi-sama’s daughter? Wow. I wasn’t expecting that. She’s always been so… quiet.”

“That’s what everyone thinks!” Naruto exclaimed, waving his chopsticks and splashing a little broth. “But she’s not, Sensei! Well, she is quiet, but that’s not all she is! She’s incredible!”

Iruka set down his chopsticks and turned to give him his full attention, fascinated by the passion in Naruto’s voice.

“Tell me. Why is she so incredible?”

“Because she’s the kindest person I’ve ever met!” Naruto said, his voice taking on a lower, more serious tone. “After graduation, I was… well, you know. Kinda lonely. And she was the only person in the whole village who noticed. The only one who came up to talk to me. Not out of pity. Just… to be kind.”

Iruka listened, his teacher’s heart swelling with pride. Naruto wasn’t bragging about a new conquest. He was valuing kindness.

“And she’s super determined!” Naruto continued, his energy returning. “Everyone in her clan tells her she’s weak, but she’s not! She works harder than anyone! And she’s super smart! And brave! She stood up to her little sister for me this morning! You gotta see her, Sensei! She’s gonna be one of the strongest kunoichi in history, you’ll see! I’m sure of it!”

Iruka smiled. A genuine, warm smile. To see Naruto speak of someone else with such admiration and faith, to see that he was able to recognize someone’s inner qualities beyond superficial strength, was the greatest proof of his maturity. It was a more important milestone than any jutsu he could learn.

“I’m very happy to hear that, Naruto,” Iruka said sincerely. “You’ve made a good friend. That combination of strength and kindness is rare. It’s the mark of true heroes.”

Naruto nodded his head vigorously, his mouth full.

“You know,” Iruka continued, his tone turning more reflective, as if a distant memory had been stirred, “the way you talk about her reminds me of a story. A Konoha legend about one of the Sannin.”

Naruto swallowed hard, his blue eyes fixed on Iruka with sudden curiosity.

“A Sannin? Like the Pervy Sage? There are more like him?”

Iruka let out a small laugh. “Yes, they were a team of three. And one of them was the strongest kunoichi and the greatest medical-nin the world has ever known. Her name was Tsunade Senju.”

The name echoed in the small ramen stand. Naruto leaned forward, completely captivated.

“She was the granddaughter of the First Hokage,” Iruka began, his voice taking on the tone of a storyteller. “She had monstrous strength. Legends said she could shatter the ground with a single finger and that a single punch of hers could change the landscape. She was feared on the battlefield like a demon.”

“Whoa!” Naruto exclaimed. “Super strong!”

“But that wasn’t her true strength,” Iruka continued, his expression darkening slightly. “Her true strength lay in her desire to protect her comrades. You see, Naruto, Tsunade had a little brother, Nawaki. He had your same energy, your same smile… and your same dream. He wanted to be Hokage.”

Naruto’s heart skipped a beat.

“Tsunade gave him the First Hokage’s necklace as a good luck charm so he could achieve his dream,” Iruka explained, his voice filled with a restrained sadness. “But the very next day, on his first mission in the war, he died.”

Naruto gasped. The ramen in his bowl was forgotten.

“His death shattered her. And the pain pushed her to do something revolutionary. She proposed an idea to the Konoha council that would change the rules of war forever: to include one medical-nin in every four-man squad.”

“A medical-nin?” Naruto repeated.

“Yes. Back then, medics stayed in the camps, far from the front lines. The wounded often died before they could receive treatment. Tsunade’s idea was to bring healing to the heart of the battle. It was an idea born from her pain, from her desperate desire to prevent other children, other siblings, from dying like hers. At first, the council refused. They considered it a waste of resources. But she fought for it with an unbreakable passion.”

Iruka paused, looking at Naruto to make sure he understood the weight of the story.

“And then there was Dan, her love. He supported her dream. He also believed in a future where no shinobi would have to die in vain. But he died in the war, too, bleeding out in her arms while she, the world’s greatest medical-nin, was powerless to save him.”

The tragedy of the story wrapped them in a heavy silence. Naruto could feel it, a tightness in his chest.

“After that, something inside her broke,” Iruka said quietly. “She lost the two people she loved most, the two people who shared her dream. The First Hokage’s necklace, the symbol of the Hokage dream, now seemed like a curse to her. She lost faith. She lost faith in the dream, in the village, in herself. And one day, she just… left. She abandoned Konoha and became a wanderer, roaming the world, drowning her sorrows in sake and gambling.”

He finished the story. The silence that followed was deep, respectful. Naruto stared at his now-cold bowl of ramen. The image Iruka had painted was that of a tragic heroine. A woman of incredible strength, driven by an even greater love, and ultimately broken by unbearable pain.

“A Sannin who’s super strong… and the best doctor in the world… and who fought to protect her friends…” Naruto muttered, recapping the points that had impacted him the most. He turned to Iruka, his eyes shining with a new, fierce admiration. “She’s the coolest woman in history! She’s like a Hokage, but even better! Because she doesn’t just protect, she also heals! Where is she now, Sensei? Someone like that has to come back to the village! We need her!”

The passion in Naruto’s voice was so intense that Iruka was moved.

“Nobody knows, Naruto. It’s been a long time. She became a legend, but also a ghost.”

They ate the rest of their ramen in a thoughtful silence. The cheerful celebration had transformed into a profound lesson.

****

Later, as Naruto walked home alone under the starry sky, the story of Tsunade was spinning in his mind. He reached the base of the Hokage Monument and looked up at the stone faces that watched over the village.

His dream had always been simple: to become Hokage to be acknowledged. To be the strongest.

But now… now it was more complex. Hinata’s kindness had taught him the value of connection. And Tsunade’s story had shown him a new dimension of strength. The strength to protect. The strength to heal.

The name “Tsunade” was etched into his mind, not as a mission or a goal, but as an ideal. A new kind of strength to aspire to, alongside the Fourth Hokage and the old Third.

He looked at the stone face of the Fourth Hokage.

“To protect and to heal,” Naruto thought, a new determination forming in his heart. “That’s what a true Hokage does.”

And with that thought, the story of a distant legend began, unbeknownst to anyone, to influence the future of a boy who was destined to change the world.