Nindō: Dominion

As Naruto was having dinner with his family, his clone was still accompanying Sarada. Right now, they were at Ichiraku Ramen.

"How are you doing, old man Teuchi?" Naruto asked.

"Hokage-sama," The gray-haired aged man who sat behind the cashier counter greeted him back, "It's always a pleasure to have you here."

"Please, old man. I'm not used to such formalities," Naruto said, making him laugh.

"I just saw you with a newcomer and thought that you might prefer to maintain some airs, Naruto-chan," Teuchi laughed, "Your usual?"

"Yeah," Naruto shook his head and rested his hand on Sarada's head, "I'm going to Sakura-chan's place to drop her daughter off. Thought I shouldn't go empty-handed."

"Ahh, that's why I felt that this young lady felt familiar. She's Sakura-chan's daughter," Teuchi nodded. "So three to-go orders of your usual then?"

"We'll be at my table," Naruto said before walking to a reserved table with Sarada.

"You really don't need to go through all this trouble, Hokage-sama," Sarada told him, feeling a weird swirl of emotions in her head. She felt like the entire day was more of a dream than reality. First, she was offered to become the official apprentice of her idol and goal. Then he told her that he was planning to groom her as his successor. And now, the same idol whom she thought of as an untouchable existence was walking her home and even buying dinner for her and her mother.

"Nonsense, Sarada. I rarely get any time to talk to hang out with Sakura-chan anymore," Naruto said. "Getting ramen is just a reason for me to catch up with an old friend."

"I see …" Sarada seemed to understand and didn't say anything further, pulling back a seat for herself and sitting opposite Naruto.

"Say," Naruto said, "while we're waiting, how about you tell me if there is anything specific that you wish to learn from me."

Sarada was startled by the question and looked up at Naruto with wide eyes, "Um …" Trying to quickly come up with an answer, she faltered.

As Naruto saw the awkward blush appear on her face, he smiled, "Calm down. It's not an end-of-the-world decision. I'm just making conversation. Your training will start sometime after the chunin exams. You will have enough time to think of the specifics. For now, just tell me the first thing that comes to your mind."

Naruto's words undoubtedly calmed Sarada down, allowing her to come up with an answer, "I wish to … learn how to form the deep-rooted connections that you have formed with everyone, Seventh-sama," She said before continuing as she saw Naruto's expression that showed interest. "I believe that a person is defined by what kind of an impact they leave behind in the world. The foremost thing I wish to do in that case is to be connected to everyone, affecting each and every person's life in a positive way. Such that … such that once I'm gone, I'm not forgotten by history. I wish to leave an impact on the world. And that's why I wish to become the Hokage."

Naruto smiled at her answer which almost made him feel a sense of nostalgia, "That is a very good answer, Sarada," Naruto praised, "almost feels as if you've prepared it more than a few times."

An image flashed in Sarada's mind, one of her looking in the mirror and imagining the day when the Hokage passed the mantle to her. It was a speech that she had practiced more times than she would like to admit. With an increasing blush on her face, Sarada tried to change the topic, "What about you, Seventh-sama?" She asked, "Why did you choose to become the —" She was interrupted by a weak thud.

"Three orders of ramen, to-go, Naruto-kun," A familiar brunette who was wearing an apron looked at Naruto with a smile on her face.

"Ah, thanks, Ayame," Naruto said with a nod, standing up and picking up the bag.

"Hold it," The woman stopped him from grabbing the bag. "You know the policy, where's the card? No card, no unlimited free ramen."

"Oh, come on," Naruto complained, "How do you always know when I don't bring the card?"

"Pay up, Mister Hokage," She extended her hand to him.

"Fine," Naruto sighed, pulling out a few notes that he'd grabbed before leaving the office. The original had the wallet with his money, the clones all had mere copies of it that would disappear once he dispelled the specific clone. And Naruto wasn't exploitative to such an extent, especially for a place that he's been coming to since he was a child.

"Thank you," Ayame smiled sweetly and allowed Naruto to pick up the bag with three servings of Naruto's favorite ramen.

…

"Mom," Sarada called out after having opened the door with her key, "I'm home. Seventh-sama is also here."

"Be right there, Sarada," Sakura called from upstairs. "Lead him to the living room."

"Please take a seat, Seventh-sama," Sarada said after leading Naruto to the couch. "I'll bring you something to drink." She quickly moved to the kitchen before Naruto could say anything, leaving him to shake his head.

The young kunoichi quickly returned with an awkward smile on her face, "Here you go," Sarada said as she extended the tray in her hands toward Naruto, on it, a glass of water.

"Thanks," Naruto said. "How about you get the dining table ready, Sarada? I'm sure you must be starving," Naruto pointed to the bag of ramen that he'd placed on the coffee table.

"Yes," Sarada nodded, "I'll get on it right now. She grabbed the bag and quickly moved to the dining table, almost tripping over her own foot. Despite her training as a shinobi, her nerves had been extremely tense since noon when Naruto told her about her possible promotion. Her coordination was at an all-time low right now.

As almost an entire minute passed, Sakura came down from the stairs. Naruto had a fond smile as he saw his old comrade once again after eternities. Her pink hair was almost the same length as Hinata's but she styled it differently, giving her a unique look, especially with the Hundred Healings mark. She was wearing her usual dark pink qipao and white pants.

Standing up to greet her, "Sakura-chan," He said with a wide smile. "How've you been?"

"To what do I owe this surprise?" She asked with a smile of her own as she stepped closer to him to give him a brief hug.

"I asked Sarada to help me out with some work," Naruto said, "the least I could do was to drop her home. I decided to get some ramen on the way as well."

"Ichiraku?" Sakura asked with a knowing expression.

"Where else?" Naruto answered with a question of his own.

"Mom, can you come here for a bit," Sarada called, probably needing some help.

"Take a seat at the dining table," Sakura said. "I've already eaten dinner so you and Sarada can enjoy the ramen."

"Great," Naruto said shamelessly as he followed Sakura, "more for me then."

"Always the glutton when it comes to ramen," Sakura shook her head with a smile, "Naruto."

Soon, the three of them were sitting at the round dining table. Sakura had already eaten dinner, so it was just Sarada and Naruto who were going to split the three bowls between them.

"Heavens, I've missed this," Naruto smacked his lips after devouring half of the noodles in a single bite. Without waiting, he started drinking the soup directly from the bowl.

"I saw you at Ichiraku two days ago," Sakura laughed with a hand in front of her mouth.

"Two days too long," Naruto said without hesitation as he continued devouring the bowl.

As for Sarada, she was slowly eating while stealing occasional glances at Naruto, internally glad that she was getting to know her idol more.

"Let's give him and his ramen some alone time," Sakura said before turning to Sarada. "Tell me, what did you do today? Shikamaru let me know that Naruto had something that he needed from you."

"Ah, about that …" Sarada hesitated. She didn't know if she was allowed to divulge the information of Naruto's offer to anyone. She looked over to him for permission, "Is it okay for me to tell my mother about this, Seventh-sama?"

Naruto didn't respond for a few seconds and kept chewing peacefully, only speaking once he'd swallowed, "It's fine, but limit it to your mother. I don't want anyone else to know about this." He gave not only Sarada a look, but also Sakura, who furrowed her brows, "Okay?" He asked again, maintaining his expression until both of them nodded.

"Hokage sama offered to take me as his personal disciple once I become a chunin," Sarada blurted out excitedly. It might not have seemed like it, but she had been dying to scream at the top of her lungs about her achievement. In the end, she was just twelve and such a prospect excited her to the extreme. In truth, Naruto was already impressed when she asked him for permission before divulging the information.

Sakura was surprised, "An apprenticeship?" She spoke with a raised brow. "Has the stress of the position already gotten to you, Naruto?" She couldn't help but make a little joke.

"No," Naruto shook his head, his expression serious as he ate another bite, "I just appreciate Sarada's character and think that she embodies the Will of Fire very well."

"I see," Sakura felt that Naruto wasn't saying everything but decided not to probe too deeply into it. At least not in front of Sarada.

"Are you going to have the second bowl, Sarada?" Naruto asked, eying the third bowl that still needed to be warmed.

"I still have some left, Seventh-sama. You can have the second bowl," She said politely.

"Nonsense," Naruto shook his head, reading her expression easily. "You're still growing, you should never sleep on an empty stomach." He picked up the second bowl and cast a single seal with his free hand. Moments later, the soup started bubbling and seemed as if it was completely fresh.

"We'll split it in half," Naruto said, pouring half of the soup into Sarada's bowl that still had some left, filling it back up to three-quarters with noodles and soup.

***

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