It's easy to forget Sasuke's original dream and gloss over how shattering it must have been for Sasuke to lose his childhood dream of fighting at his clan's side by becoming a part of the Uchiha police force. But that loss of a child's innocuous dream, his first ever sincere dream/goal, had to be completely devastating to Sasuke on a very personal level. Sasuke’s dream might be easy to overlook and forget, because in light of how insanely strong Sasuke becomes, him existing as a police officer seems a comical notion. The strongest ninja of his age, a mere policeman in an era where local crime rates were stated to be low? It would be easy to dismiss Sasuke's dream as folly, nothing more than a childish notion. It’s especially easy to forget about his original dream since Sasuke isn't one to lightly complain; he's a mature person (more mature than he often gets credit for) and he doesn't whine and gripe about his lost dream post-massacre. He quietly and internally accepts that his dream is lost forever and will never become a reality, never voicing or venting this shattering realization that his life’s dream would never become reality.

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But the thing is, Sasuke’s dream wasn't just a childish dream or a passing fancy; he meant it. Sasuke's dream of serving alongside his kin was real and something he truly wanted to achieve.

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When Sasuke reads Naruto's letter in the Book of Sunrise arc, Sasuke is startled when Naruto compares him to the Uchiha police force of old. It’s here we see that Sasuke hasn't forgotten his old dream, not at all. It's still there simmering beneath the surface, a regret that Sasuke doesn’t voice, because as I said, Sasuke’s not one to complain. But even though he never verbally voices his regrets, it’s obvious that he still feels the regret of that lost dream.

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The timing of this scene makes the moment exponentially more interesting in regards to Sasuke’s feelings towards his clanmates, since at this point in time Sasuke has information about the fall of his clan he wasn’t privy to before, namely that the police force institution was created to be a bitter hinderance for his clan, a political ploy intended to limit the Uchiha’s power, influence, and even ability to serve their homeland. At this point of the timeline, one might imagine Sasuke would view the police force as vile shackles that had historically held his people back, a disgusting political maneuver designed to rein his people in and control them. In light of the political, social, and power restraints the police force institution had trapped his people into, one might speculate that Sasuke would’ve come to revile his childhood dream of wanting to be part of the police force, viewing his past self as a naïve child unwittingly falling into the systematic oppression pushed unto his people. Yet knowing all this, Sasuke doesn't view his original dream with disgust - it's the opposite. He still desperately wants it, even after all these years. It was still a dream he wanted and still regrets not ever being able to have.

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I doubt even Naruto and Sakura guessed just how much Sasuke needed to hear these words, how deeply touching their comparison of him to his Uchiha kin was to Sasuke, to know that he was like his clan of old, a part of them, not an unnecessary part too pathetic to even be worthy of dying as one of them (as Itachi and his survivor's guilt had been telling Sasuke for years). Naruto’s letter offers an indirect form of reassurance to Sasuke by likening Sasuke to his clanmates. It was a note of encouragement in a time of Sasuke's life when he was being eaten by guilt and despairing over whether he would be ever able to rise above his crimes. Likening him to his family and clan, his nakama, were words he'd been desperately needing to hear.

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When Sasuke gets Naruto's letter, a letter telling Sasuke he is like his clanmates, it is a huge deal for Sasuke. To Sasuke, it's not just an offhand or trite compliment (“Oh, isn't that nice? Naruto thinks I'm like my fellow Uchiha members. That's cool I guess.”), but rather a super meaningful and deeply impactful praise. It's exactly what Sasuke wanted and needed to hear: that even though his nakama are all deceased and gone, each and every last one of them exterminated until only he remained standing as the lone survivor, even so he is still united to his clanmates by a shared sense of purpose. The Uchiha were tasked with upholding law and order and protecting Konoha, and now Sasuke is doing the same, carrying on the purpose of his people and thus carrying the torch of his people's legacy. Sasuke never got his chance to work and fight alongside his clanmates, but despite the many unpleasant twists and turns Sasuke’s life took, he is still an Uchiha, and he now proudly carries on the purpose of his clanmates and ancestors who came before him, albeit in a different way than how the police force handled crime.

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Naruto reveals to Sasuke that, in a way, he is living his childhood dream by being like one of the police force. Sasuke is deeply moved by Naruto’s letter. It causes him to remember his childhood dream, something that Sasuke had buried away long ago, as he’d regarded it only as an unachievable child’s fantasy, lost alongside his people. But Naruto pulls that dream back into the light, saying that living out that dream is not fully lost but still a possibility. Sasuke is, in his own way, living that dream of his youth, even if not precisely in the way he expected or originally wanted. Sasuke is still connected to his clanmates, his nakama, even long after their deaths, and it is a shared purpose that connects Sasuke to his clanmates. It should be obvious that Naruto's comparison was encouragingly impactful on and sweetly poignant to Sasuke, seeing as how the letter triggered memories of his first dream, as well as how Sasuke resolved to return home to Naruto and Sakura for the first time in two years after reading Naruto’s heartfelt scrawl.

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Naruto’s letter stands as one of the positive reinforcers of Sasuke’s affiliation and fealty to his clan, as like Hashirama, Naruto doesn’t scorn Sasuke’s identity as an Uchiha. Naruto doesn’t just accept Sasuke’s Uchiha identity, he actually celebrates and praises it. Naruto frames Sasuke's identity as an Uchiha in a positive light, not using Sasuke's clan name as a measuring stick of what Sasuke should aspire to be, but as an observation of what Sasuke already is: an Uchiha, purposed with protecting the innocent from lawbreakers and evildoers.

 

In so doing, Naruto sends a subtle message: being an Uchiha is not earned through power and godlike feats, but through purpose. Naruto never admired Sasuke as an Uchiha because of his insane power levels, but Naruto openly admires Sasuke as an Uchiha because of his good personal choices and deeds. All the power in the world (or lack thereof) could not make Sasuke more or less an Uchiha. Rather, the way Naruto sees it, what truly makes Sasuke a worthy Uchiha is not his battle prowess, but his choices and his actions that Sasuke chooses for himself. Protecting the innocent from criminals is what the Uchiha are meant to do, as Naruto shares, so he acknowledges Sasuke as a true Uchiha, protecting the innocent from lawbreakers as his ancestors did.

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Interesting, since as I've mentioned before, it is a shared sense of purpose that binds nakama together. Nakama do not band together on elite terms of talent or capability or skill - those are not what unite nakama. What unites nakama is a shared sense of purpose, not power. Naruto’s letter stands as a positive enforcer, accomplishing what other praises of Sasuke’s feats of power could never do for Sasuke. Sasuke needed to know that he was worthy of his clan name. In a positive and healthy way, Naruto assures him that he is worthy of his clan name because he is on the right path and doing the right thing, and that is what makes him a member of the Uchiha clan.

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Naruto (with Sakura's contribution) is one of the few to send wholesome and positive reinforcers with Sasuke's identity as part of the Uchiha clan, which helps bolster Sasuke’s confidence and esteem, which generally tend to be lower than is healthy. Naruto and Sakura are not pressuring Sasuke to do better but encouraging him to continue doing good.

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Naruto's letter also shows Naruto's characteristic tendency to make the best out of a bad situation. Naruto knows that the police force was meant to stifle the Uchiha's power, influence, and effectiveness, yet Naruto doesn’t treat that knowledge with sympathetic pity or write their role off as unfortunate. Instead, Naruto embraces that the Uchiha clan were formerly tasked with the noble purpose of protecting their homeland and keeping their fellow villagers safe, a task they carried out diligently, and that was not meaningless and should not be disregarded but rather honored and respected and even stand as an example to be followed. Naruto cleverly weaves a double-sided compliment into his letter. Noticeably, Naruto doesn’t only praise Sasuke, he praises Sasuke and Sasuke’s clan/ancestors, both at once.

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This cues to Sasuke that through all his striving and struggles with his responsibility as the lone surviving Uchiha, he has at last managed to bring honor and praise to the clan. Itachi told Sasuke he was a disgrace and embarrassment to the clan, not even worthy to die as one of them, but Naruto tells Sasuke an entirely different story, telling Sasuke that he is a worthy Uchiha, one who brings honor to his clan and family.

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This is a very positive and kind compliment from Naruto. Let’s not forget how much suffering the Uchiha clan personally caused Naruto, seeing as how Obito is the reason for why Naruto is an orphan and why Naruto is a jinchuriki who was hunted down like a dog by the powerful Akatsuki. Tobi was also the mastermind who destroyed Naruto’s village, the cause behind the deaths of several of Naruto’s friends and comrades (including Jiraiya), the reason Naruto had to be the leader in a war by the young age of 16, the reason Naruto was almost killed when his tailed beast was extracted from his body, and the man who nearly ended the world. It should be self-evident the amount of suffering Sasuke put Naruto through during his lifetime, including attempting to kill Naruto several times, and Itachi likewise contributed a lot to ruining Naruto’s life. Naruto has every reason to feel bitter towards the Uchiha clan and blind himself to the Uchiha’s good points and focus only on their misdeeds and the pain they caused everyone.

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But he doesn’t. Naruto acknowledges the best aspects of the Uchiha, and who the Uchiha (that is, Sasuke) can be: the strong who protect the weak. Naruto first knew Sasuke as the strong protecting the weak in Team 7’s bell test, in which the competent and skilled Sasuke stooped to aid the hapless and useless Naruto by sharing his lunch, even though Naruto appeared to have nothing to contribute to the team’s efforts. Now as adults, Naruto recognizes Sasuke behaving as the Uchiha were meant to be. Naruto believes that the strong should exist to protect the weak, a philosophy Sasuke likewise holds, and Naruto praises Sasuke as being on the right path, like his ancestors who once protected the denizens of Konoha were. Even if the rest of the world hates and fears the Uchiha as the murderous traitors who tried to end the world, Naruto doesn’t remember his best friend’s clan that way. Rather than remembering Sasuke’s people for only their worst traits, as most people tend to do when judging others, Naruto elects to remember Sasuke’s people for their best traits. And so Naruto remembers and honors the Uchiha not as villains, but as proud shinobi who once protected their homeland.

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Aside from being a beautiful moment of friendship between Naruto and Sasuke, this moment highlights Naruto’s maturity and growth, as back when he was an immature genin Naruto ridiculed Sasuke’s clan when he was upset. Now having a better sense of both his best friend and the Uchiha and who they are, Naruto treats Sasuke’s clanmates with respect, honor, and courtesy, and understands well how important Sasuke’s clan is to Sasuke.