Naruto hated meetings.
He hated them even more now that everyone looked at him like he already wore the Hokage hat.
"You're being groomed," Shikamaru said flatly. "Whether you want it or not."
Naruto leaned back in his chair. "I want it. I just don't want to become someone else."
Sakura, seated beside him, placed a hand on his knee under the table—grounding him.
"You won't," she said calmly. "Power doesn't change people. It reveals them."
Naruto smiled at her.
Across the room, elders exchanged uneasy glances.
She wasn't just his weakness.
She was his backbone.