Chapter 2
A sea of stars stretched endlessly above the two figures sitting in a small clearing. The trees surrounding them had parted just enough to reveal the night sky — vast, glittering, and impossibly still. A quiet breeze passed through the leaves, carrying with it the gentle crackle of a small campfire.
Naruto sat cross-legged on the grass, roasting the fish he caught, humming an off-key tune. Across from him, Gojo Satoru leaned back with one arm propped behind him, eyes half-lidded, scanning the stars like they might spell out answers to the thousand questions in his mind.
But one question was louder than the rest.
With no hesitation and his usual bluntness, Gojo asked, "So… where are your parents, Naruto?"
The question dropped like a stone in water.
Naruto froze for just a second — subtle, but noticeable. He didn't look at Gojo, just kept turning the stick holding the fish.
"I don't have a family," he muttered flatly.
Then, as if realizing the mood had shifted, Naruto let out an exaggerated laugh. "Hehe, but I don't need 'em! I've got Ichiraku ramen, I've got the old man Hokage, and I can take care of myself just fine!"
But Gojo wasn't laughing.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, observing Naruto's posture, his tone, his forced grin. The kid was trying to mask pain with noise.
"An orphan," Gojo thought. "Left alone with whatever darkness lives inside him… but still smiling like that?"
Gojo let out a loud laugh, trying to ease the tension. "Well then! Let's not waste this fish of yours, master fisherman."
Naruto blinked at him, then grinned wide and handed him one of the sticks. "Careful, it's hot."
They both dug in, the fire flickering between them.
Minutes passed in peace. The silence wasn't heavy anymore — it felt comfortable, like the two of them were drifting in a quiet space between their two worlds.
Then Gojo's memory clicked.
"Naruto," he said, swallowing the last bite of fish, "earlier, you said something about being a ninja. And a… Hokage?"
Naruto's eyes lit up instantly. It was like someone had flipped a switch inside him.
"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed, sitting upright. "The Hokage is the strongest ninja in the whole village! They're like the leader, the protector! Everyone looks up to them!"
Gojo raised an eyebrow, nodding slowly. "So they're the head of the village. Kind of like the principal and the strongest fighter rolled into one."
Naruto leaned forward, his voice filled with excitement. "My idol is the Fourth Hokage! He was awesome! He saved the whole village from the Nine-Tails a long time ago!"
At that, Gojo's eyes sharpened.
The Nine-Tails? He remembered the twisted chakra he sensed inside the boy — burning, chaotic, and massive. He connected the pieces. "So… that beast is sealed inside him?"
But Gojo said nothing. He just listened.
"So that's your dream, huh?" he said at last. "To become Hokage. Because you want to be strong?"
Naruto's excitement faltered for a second. He looked at the fire.
"No," he said quietly. "Not just strong."
He clenched his fists and added, "I want the villagers to respect me. I want them to accept me. I want them to look at me and see someone who protects them... not some monster. I don't even know why they look at me like that."
Gojo didn't move.
Those words… they hit differently. They weren't just childish dreams. They were raw, honest. The kind of dream born from pain, not fantasy.
He looked at Naruto this loud, stubborn kid who had every reason to hate the world, yet still smiled. Still hoped. Still believed in being someone who could protect others.
"This kid," Gojo thought, "he's carrying something horrible, sinister inside him. He's ostracized, abandoned. But instead of becoming bitter… he's become kind."
That's what stunned him.
Because deep inside Naruto, Gojo had sensed something twisted a presence not unlike Sukuna. But where Sukuna was poison, Naruto was sunlight. The contradiction was staggering.
And yet… somehow, it made perfect sense.
Gojo gave a rare, genuine smile — not the cocky kind, but the quiet one, the one only a few had ever seen.
He stood and walked over to Naruto, placing a hand gently on the boy's head.
"I'll support you," he said.
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
"In becoming Hokage," Gojo continued. "I don't know anything about this world yet. But if it has people like you in it… then I'd like to see where your path goes."
For a moment, Naruto didn't speak. Then his face split into a big, goofy grin. "Heh… thanks, mister!"
Gojo ruffled his hair, grinning. "And who knows? Maybe I'll take that position before you."
"Oi!" Naruto shouted, standing up. "No way! I called it first!"
They both laughed under the stars.
But for now, none of that mattered.
Under the blanket of stars, a bond had begun to form between a boy carrying a heavy burden and a man who once thought he had no future.