Midnight.
No dreams.
Just whispers.
Too quiet to understand… but loud enough to hear.
He sits upright.
Eyes wide open.
Dark room.
Single candle flickering on the desk.
He senses something.
Wrong.
A pressure in the air.
Faint chakra.
Moving.
Not human.
He gets up.
Steps into the hallway.
Silence.
But the shadows move.
He activates the eye.
And he sees it.
A trail.
Faint red chakra.
Leading… outside.
He follows.
No hesitation.
Street lights dim.
The village sleeps.
But something lurks.
He walks past alleys.
Roof edges.
Empty roads.
The trail leads to the forest near the village wall.
He steps in.
The eye glows.
His breath visible now.
Cold.
Too cold.
Then he sees it.
A figure.
Standing still.
Back turned.
Small.
A child?
No.
Closer look.
Naruto.
But not him.
Something… is off.
The chakra.
Red.
Boiling.
Toxic.
Naruto turns slowly.
Eyes… slitted.
Iris glowing red.
Fangs visible.
A voice not his own.
"Why… are you here?"
He steps back.
The eye pulses.
Tries to understand the presence.
It's not just Naruto.
It's the seal.
Weak.
Cracking.
The Nine-Tails is awake.
Partially.
Not fully out, but present.
Watching through Naruto's body.
He responds calmly.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Naruto—no, the fox—smiles.
"Neither are you."
Sudden flash.
Red chakra whips toward him.
He dodges.
Barely.
Tree bark explodes behind him.
Naruto moves.
Fast.
Too fast.
But the eye catches it.
Predicts it.
He sidesteps.
Counters with a palm strike.
Not strong.
But enough to knock Naruto back.
The fox growls.
"You can see it, can't you?"
More red chakra oozes out.
The air distorts.
The forest feels like fire.
But he stays calm.
"The seal is failing."
"You think I don't know?"
Naruto's voice echoes. Layered.
The fox laughs.
"I've been trying to break it for years. But now… your presence sped it up."
The boy freezes.
"What?"
"You brought something with you. That eye… it doesn't belong to this world."
His heart skips.
"I didn't choose this."
"No one ever does."
A surge of energy.
Naruto charges again.
Fangs bared.
But this time—he doesn't dodge.
He raises his hand.
Eye fully open.
It shines.
And time—
Stops.
Again.
But longer this time.
Everything halts.
Naruto frozen mid-air.
Red chakra like glass around him.
Motionless.
He walks forward.
Touches the strands.
And the eye responds.
It absorbs.
The chakra pulls inward.
Naruto's body twitches.
He falls.
Consciousness lost.
Time resumes.
A crash.
He catches him before he hits the ground.
Naruto breathes.
Normal again.
The fox retreats.
Silent.
For now.
He carries Naruto back to his apartment.
Puts him to bed.
The boy mumbles in sleep.
Tears leaking from his eyes.
"…I just want to be accepted…"
The weight in his chest grows.
This world is cruel.
Unfair.
And he's starting to see why he was brought here.
The next morning.
Rain.
Dark clouds.
Thunder rumbling far away.
He walks into the academy soaked.
Iruka notices.
"You alright?"
He nods.
Sits down.
Naruto isn't in class.
Sick, they say.
No one knows what happened last night.
No one but him.
Sasuke watches him again.
Longer this time.
No words.
But the message is clear.
He's suspicious.
Then—it happens.
The door slams open.
A masked shinobi walks in.
ANBU.
Everyone freezes.
Even Iruka.
The ANBU speaks calmly.
"I need to speak to him."
Points directly at him.
Iruka objects.
The ANBU flashes a scroll.
Orders from Hokage.
Iruka backs down.
He follows silently.
Through halls.
Up stairs.
Into the tower.
And finally—
Into the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Third.
Old. Wise. But sharp.
The man smiles.
But his eyes don't.
"Sit."
He obeys.
A pause.
Then Sarutobi speaks.
"We've been observing you."
"I know."
"Your records say you were found unconscious near the forest. No family. No origin."
He nods.
Silence.
Sarutobi continues.
"But now… strange chakra readings. Irregular incidents. Your eye."
He doesn't respond.
The Hokage leans forward.
"I don't believe in coincidences."
"Neither do I."
A stare-down.
Then Sarutobi lifts a paper.
Unseals it.
Puts it on the desk.
A photo.
Blurry.
But clear enough.
Him. Last night. With glowing eye. Standing over Naruto.
A trap.
A test.
He says nothing.
Sarutobi waits.
Then speaks again.
"I won't ask what it is. Yet. But know this—if you're a danger to this village… we will stop you."
He nods.
Gets up.
"I understand."
He leaves.
But the weight on his back grows heavier.
That evening.
He sits on the roof.
Looking at the Hokage monument.
Eyes half closed.
His eye twitches.
He breathes slowly.
Then hears footsteps.
Naruto.
Bandaged.
Carrying ramen again.
"You saved me last night, didn't you?"
No answer.
Naruto sits beside him.
Silent for a while.
Then says—
"…Thanks."
He nods once.
A rare moment of peace.
But not for long.
His eye pulses again.
And this time… it hurts.
A tear of blood rolls down his cheek.
The crack in the eye…
Just grew deeper.