Two weeks for Zoro—still another week or two from being nearly crushed by a ship falling from the sky—and three months for Sasuke, at which point he was finally deemed psychologically healthy enough to go back to the Academy. That's how long it took for Zoro to convince the kid that devoting his entire life to revenge wasn't worth it.
"Find a dream, kid. Find a dream and stick with it. Put everything you are and can be in that dream if you want, but make sure it's a good one."
Sasuke stared at his feet, curling his arms around his knees where he sat next to the swordsman. "Zoro? Can you tell me about your crew's dreams again?"
They make me feel like there actually is something bigger out there.
"Robin wishes to find the Rio Poneglyph, and learn the True History."
Uncovering the lies, finding the truth, getting rid of the conspiracies and deception.
"Chopper wants to become the greatest doctor, and find a cure for all diseases."
To help everyone he can, regardless of whether they want him dead or not.
"Sanji," for once, Zoro eschewed the insulting nicknames, "to find the All Blue, every cook's dream."
To have a profession, and find something only others like you would understand the beauty of.
"Usopp wants to become a brave warrior of the sea, a great pirate like his father."
To follow in the footsteps of family you may have never even met, and be greater than them.
"Nami dreams of sailing the world and drawing the first world map of the entire thing."
A promise since childhood, the desire growing only stronger with age.
"I wish to become the greatest swordsman in the world, defeating Hawk-Eyes Mihawk in a battle to ring in history for centuries."
A dream of the past, enhanced by the legacy of a friend long gone, and a dream that is the only thing he now has in mind.
"And Luffy… Luffy will become the Pirate King." A statement. Not a dream, but an actual statement, as if it were a fact. There was no doubt in his tone.
To rule that kind to which you belong, even if you hold nothing but a title.
Sasuke was quiet again, though still staring at the ground. The expression he wore was a bit more relaxed than before, his arms a bit looser around his knees.
The last one almost sounds like that orange kid that's always talking about being Hokage. Didn't he start at the academy early but get held back or something?
"Zoro… what makes a person strong?"
Zoro shot him a look, frowning slightly at the question. He always made sure to try and keep Sasuke from thinking about revenge and getting stronger for the sake of it. He turned to stare back out at the clearing, staring past the gnarled old tree. "There are three things that make a person strong: the determination to get stronger no matter what; a goal or dream to reach in strength; and the third is the most important."
"You need to have someone or something to fight for."
Zoro glanced down at Sasuke, watching his expression carefully. "Determination in training is fine enough, but determination in a fight can be the only thing that saves you for another day. Where that determination comes from is even more important.
"If you're willing to survive no matter what the odds, you have to have something to keep you going. If you just want to live on just for the sake of living, it may not be enough. You need something bigger than you."
Zoro turned to glare at him a bit at that. "Something other than revenge. I've seen people live for that before, and it took them over. I'm not going to stop you from killing your brother, but I am going to say that you'll be empty afterwards."
Sasuke frowned, but nodded sullenly anyway.
Zoro turned to look back out at the meadow, eyes focusing to somewhere beyond the octopus tree. "Of course, the thing you really need someone to protect or fight for, or something that is just as poignant. A dream is all well and good, but the third of the things that I mentioned is always the most important. A person is always strongest when protecting something or someone dear to them. In the crew, we all have each other. You may not think you have anyone left, but you'll find someone eventually."
Sasuke made a face. "You're not going to tell me that I should get married or something like all those weird girls that follow me around all the time, right?"
Zoro looked at him blankly for a few seconds before sniggering, which soon turned into full-blown laughter. Sasuke inched away from him, frowning. "What's so funny?"
Zoro finally calmed himself down, still snickering a bit. "Nothing, nothing. I haven't laughed like that in a long while."
Sasuke glared. "Why were you laughing?" he demanded.
Zoro snorted. "Maybe I'll tell you in a few years. Or you'll figure it out on your own."
Sasuke folded his arms. "A few years for me or a few years for you?"
"You, kid. Still…" Zoro started chuckling again. "You're only eight and you already have…"
He glanced down at a scowling Sasuke, and snorted, looking back out at the field again. "Anyway, are you sure there's no one that you can be friends with? No one that'll keep your secrets, no matter how bad the skeletons in your closet are? Someone that'll be at your back no matter how much you anger them? Someone that you can trust to keep you together when you're falling apart? Becoming that close would take a few years, but there must be at least someone with potential."
Sasuke pouted stubbornly. "Whatever."
o.o.o.o.o
Contrary to his words, Sasuke actually did keep an eye out to see if there was anyone that he would even get along with. The trouble was that there was absolutely no one that he thought he could get along with. The girls were out of the question entirely, and there were issues with most of the boys. He wouldn't even bother trying to befriend a kid from a civilian family—that was a disaster waiting to happen; he didn't want to shatter another kid's innocence the way his own had been, and it would just be worse with a civilian-born—so that just left the boys from clans, but there were problems there too.
Shikamaru and Chouji were already friends, and he doubted he'd be able to get along with them anyway.
Kiba had a tendency to insult just about everyone around him without even meaning to, and always smelled like the dogs that lived in the Inuzuka kennels. While Sasuke would work with him if necessary once he became a shinobi, Sasuke didn't really think that he'd be able to stand dealing with the smell voluntarily as often as friends hung out.
Aburame Shino—and saying his full name was almost a habit, Sasuke had to admit—was stoic and Sasuke may have been able to get along with him, if it weren't from the bugs. There had been an incident with his cousin Shisui several years ago where the older boys had somehow dropped a glass jar of poisonous spiders in the kitchen while Sasuke's mom was cooking, and it had taken hours to get round them all up. Apparently, he'd been on his way to deliver them from the Aburame to the Nara for some sort of poison or medicine or something. Sasuke had been scared of most bugs since then, and it would be a few years before he would feel comfortable around an Aburame again.
There was one kid that didn't fall under the label of either civilian born or clan kid. Uzumaki Naruto was an orphan who didn't know the identities of his own parents, and was even louder than Kiba. The difference was that if Naruto insulted someone, you could be sure that he was doing it on purpose. Sasuke knew this because he'd often been on the receiving end of one of those insults, usually after lobbing one of his own at the boy first. The kid was one of the worst in the class, but he still insisted that he'd be Hokage one day. The freaky thing, though, was just how much Sasuke was reminded of Zoro's stories of his rather ditzy captain, Luffy. That, and Sasuke saw almost as much pain in Naruto's eyes as he did in his own.
What cinched it, though, was when Naruto followed him, without even getting caught, out to the field only a week later.
o.o.o.o.o
EDIT: I can't believe that no one called me out on including Brook and Franky, despite this clearly taking place before Skypeia. And here I was, claiming to love One Piece, and I actually forgot that. I'm such a moron. Well, I went back and fixed it anyway.