Somewhere deep inside and far beneath the surface of his soul, Naruto floated.
Weightless. Suspended in black. No sky. No ground. Just an endless sea of dark water without depth or warmth.
Then a deafening roar split through the silence.
"NARUTO!"
The voice cracked across the void like thunder through the air.
"WAKE UP, BRAT!"
He stirred. His eyes opened slowly. Murky light shimmered through the dark. "...Kurama?"
Another roar.
The surface broke above him. Something massive charged through the void and collided with him, dragging him upward.
Naruto hit the black water surface and coughed, blinking fast.
Kurama stood over him, form small. Barely half his normal leisure size. Tiny paws. Shorter tail. But still fierce.
Naruto blinked again.
Then laughed as he played with Kurama's ears.
"You're so small and cute!"
Kurama growled and bit him on the hand.
"OWW! YOU FREAKIN' FURBALL! IT WAS JUST A JOKE!"
Kurama growled and released him. "I should've just left you to drift through nothingness."
Naruto rubbed his hand, still smirking. "I missed you too. So what happened to you, furball?"
"You happened," Kurama snapped. "Or more like the Sentry happened. When he punted you through the fabric of reality, I used everything I had to anchor your soul to your body. Without me, you'd be floating through the multiverse like space trash."
Naruto squinted. "Then why am I in this endless brain soup?"
Kurama's voice dropped. "Because something else took the wheel while I was out. Your other side."
Naruto blinked. "My what now?"
Kurama paced, tail lashing behind him. "In the wise words of Obi-Wan Kenobi… you were the Chosen One, Naruto. You were supposed to bring balance, not leave me alone babysitting your inner hellspawn."
Naruto stared at him. "First of all, that wasn't even the right quote. Second, if anything, you're Yoda in this situation. Obi-Wan kinda failed at every turn."
Kurama coughed. "Technicalities."
He sighed. "All the pain. The fear. The rage. Every awful little thing you've bottled up over the years? I kept it sealed away to protect you. But when reality cracked, that thing, your inner shadow, it slipped free and wore your meat suit like a bad cosplay costume."
Naruto crossed his arms. "So I've got a bootleg version of me running around, being all edgy and dramatic?"
"It's not exactly a copy," Kurama said, voice low. "But yes, you have an edgy version of yourself running around and being dramatic.."
Naruto groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "Fantastic. My trauma grew up, learned kung-fu and now thinks it's the main character."
Kurama stopped pacing. "You're already waking up. But he's strong, and only getting stronger. You'll have to take it back by force."
Naruto cracked his neck. "Right. Time to fight myself, emotionally and physically. What could possibly go wrong?"
Above, in the physical world, Dark Naruto stood still as smoke curled off the crater where America had just hit the ground.
Kamala pulled her up to her feet as Kate covered them, she was bleeding from a gash just above her eye.
Her stance was tight, almost out of arrows. Kamala's hard light gauntlet flickered as America's breath came in short bursts, jaw clenched.
None of their hits had landed clean or even affected him.
None of their words had done anything at all either.
He just rolled his shoulder with a soft pop, then stretched like a bored cat. "Round three?" he said, voice smooth, almost amused.
Kamala's fists trembled. "Naruto, if you're in there, please.. we need you."
Kate's voice cracked from shouting. "Snap out of it blondie, damnit!"
He tilted his head at them. That same lazy smile. That same silence. As if he'd already decided none of this mattered.
America went for him first again in anger. No buildup. No warning. Just a sharp blast of wind behind her heel as she rocketed forward towards him. She aimed a punch at his ribs that could have flattened a tank.
But he caught it with one hand and minimal effort.
His grip tightened, and she winced in pain.
"You think this scares me? I've fought worse than you."
Then he leaned in, too close, grinning like this was the best part of his day. "You again. You're no fun!"
With a flick of his wrist, he spun her midair and tossed her like a skipping stone. She hit the ground, bounced, and rolled around the dirt.
Kate fired two arrows in quick succession. The first aimed at his chest. The second a flashbang.
He snatched the first out of the air and let the second detonate inches from his face.
Smoke burst forth.
No flinch. No movement.
When it cleared, he was standing exactly where she'd left him. Eyes closed. Smiling.
"I like the loud one," he said. "She keeps trying."
Kate gritted her teeth. She was down to three arrows. She could feel it in the weight of her quiver. Kamala moved beside her.
"We can't win like this," Kamala muttered.
"We're not trying to win," Kate said, knocking another arrow. "We're trying to reach out to him."
Kamala charged this time stretching her noor energy into a hardlight pole. She swung at his legs, aiming to trip him.
He jumped over it, knees tucked, flipped once, and landed behind her, tapping her on the head.
"Too slow."
She spun, elbow ready, but he was already gone as the wind displaced his presence. His voice drifted over her shoulder.
"Try again."
She turned only to take a knee to the gut that shattered her pole construct and sent her sliding.
Naruto didn't press the advantage. He waited and let them catch their breath.
He wanted them standing. He wanted more.
Kate ran up, sword in hand, closing the distance. She wasn't fast like America, but she moved with precision, footwork tight, eyes sharp, and every strike controlled.
He dodged everything leaning back by inches. Tilting his head just enough to let her blade whisper past his cheek.
Then he stopped her swing with two fingers.
"You're angry," he said, tone light. "That's good."
He yanked the blade forward, just enough to pull her off balance, and flicked her forehead with the force of a sledgehammer. She collapsed to her knees, panting.
He crouched in front of her. Looked her in the eyes.
"You're wasting your time," he said. "I said I don't care."
But his hand didn't strike. His foot didn't follow through. He could've ended the fight five times over. He hadn't.
Behind him, Kamala rose again. So did America.
Still breathing. Still standing.
He stood back to them now, and exhaled like this was all just good exercise.
"You're not even close," he said. "And yet…"
He paused. Something unreadable flickered through his expression. Almost human.
"…you keep coming."
Kamala stared at him, eyes wide. "Because we know you're still in there."
He chuckled. Not mockingly. Not cruel. Just… soft. Quiet.
Then he turned to face them all again. Hair tousled. Hands in his pockets like he was just waiting in line and not about to kill them.
"You're stubborn," he said. "All three of you."
He cracked his neck. Took a step forward. The ground didn't shake, but it felt like it should have.
"Alright then," he said, voice low. "Let's make this fun."
And with a blur of motion, he disappeared again.
That was the first thing Naruto saw.
Not light. Not energy. Just white. Pure and flat, stretching in every direction. No shadows. No ceiling. No sound.
Kurama stood beside him, his small form unusually still. His ears didn't twitch. His tail didn't move. Not even his breath stirred the air.
In front of them stood two doors.
One was tall, smooth, almost glowing. Polished wood with golden handles. The kind of door you'd see at the gates of a palace.
The other looked like it had been dragged from the bottom of a swamp. Hinges rusted. Wood splintered. Marked with claw gouges and handprints that looked too familiar.
Naruto pointed at the clean one. "That looks like the obvious choice."
Kurama didn't even glance at it. "No."
"Why not?"
"You're not ready."
Naruto frowned. "Okay. You've never said anything like that before."
Kurama didn't speak for a moment. Then he looked down at Naruto and something in his gaze made Naruto take a step back.
It wasn't anger or frustration.
It was fear.
"Take the broken one," Kurama said. "And don't look back."
Naruto stared. "What's behind the other one?"
Kurama lowered his voice. "You're not ready. Not yet."
Naruto felt his throat tighten. Kurama never acted like this. Never looked like this. The fox always played things off with sarcasm, annoyance, or confidence.
But now… he looked tired. Like he was holding the weight of the world on his back.
Naruto swallowed and walked toward the broken door.
He opened it.
And the world changed.
The air was damp. The floor was wet and uneven beneath his feet.
The white void had collapsed into a long, narrow tunnel with walls of stone and metal pipes trailing down in both directions.
A sewer. Of course it was a sewer.
Naruto stepped forward, footsteps echoing. The water reached his ankles, but it wasn't the cold that made his spine tense.
It was the ominous laughter.
Faint at first, then louder.
It echoed like it had nowhere to go but everywhere at once.
He turned the corner.
There floating above the water in a criss-crossed seated position, arms resting lazily over his knees was himself.
Well at least his evil twin self.
Same face. But deeper. Hungrier.
He opened his black eyes eyes and grinned.
"Well, well," Dark Naruto said. "Welcome back. To the land of the living. Or… soon-to-be-dead, I guess."
Naruto glared. "Give me my body back, Emo Naruto."
"No."
"Not asking."
"Good," Dark Naruto said, floating down to stand on the surface of the water. "Because I'm not negotiating."
They stared at each other for a beat. Neither moved.
Then Dark Naruto spread his arms, wide and inviting. "Come on, then. Let's see if you're ready to embrace me."
Naruto lunged at him.
Their first exchange was fast, and brutally one-sided.
Naruto swung with a right hook, but it was caught like nothing. He followed with a low feint kick, hoping to bait an opening. Instead, Dark Naruto caught his ankle and flung him sideways like a sack of rice. He crashed into a rusted pipe with a dull clang, the metal groaning as it bent behind him.
He didn't stay down. He surged back in with grit in his teeth.
Blow after blow, he pressed forward with punches slicing through the air, each one just barely off. His shadow weaved around him like a jester, grinning, twisting, dodging with casual effort. Every miss was punished with a jab to his ribs, or a knee to his gut.
A backhand across the cheek that spun him off his feet.
But regardless he kept coming.
Dark Naruto didn't even look strained. His movements were smooth and effortless, like muscle memory. For every step Naruto took, pain followed. For every swing, a counter that hit twice as hard.
Kurama stood in the distance, half-hidden in the dark. Watching. Still. Eyes low.
Naruto hit the water again, hard. He skipped across it, coughing, and chest heaving.
"You done?" the other him said, voice calm as he tilted his head. "Because that was just sad."
Naruto wiped the blood from his lip and rose, eyes burning.
"Not even close."
"You're fast and strong," he muttered. "I'll give you that."
"I'm not just fast and strong," Dark Naruto said. "I'm honest about my nature."
He stepped closer.
"You pretend to fight with rules and honor. You think because you're loud and smiling and full of speeches that it makes you stronger."
He crouched, eye to eye.
"But strength doesn't come from speeches. It comes from instinct."
Naruto spat to the side. "Yeah, you sound like a real philosopher."
"You're missing the point, idiot." he said, standing again. "Let me give it to you straight."
He raised a hand and pointed a finger at the both of them.
"What's the difference between you and me? Between us?"
Naruto didn't answer.
"I'll tell you. It's not chakra. It's not techniques or power. We're built from the same soul. Same heart, mind, and body. But only one of us understands what that means."
He walked in a slow circle.
"In this world, you don't get to talk your way out of pain. You don't get to beg people to love you. You don't get to hesitate. You crush anything that threatens what's yours. You own it."
Naruto stood. "And what? You think that makes you better?"
"No," Dark Naruto said. "I think it makes me right."
His smile faded for the first time.
"You hold back because you care. You hesitate because you're scared of hurting those who seek to hurt you. That's noble."
He turned.
"And it's why you'll lose every time."
The air thickened.
"You want to protect them?" he asked, voice lower now. "Then stop pretending you're their shield. Be the sword. Because when it comes down to it, Naruto, if you hesitate even once… even once…"
He snapped his fingers.
"…they die."
Naruto looked at him. "You think this is how you protect them? By hurting them?"
"I'm not trying to kill them," Dark Naruto said. "I'm just making sure no one else does by correcting their mistakes.."
He looked back over his shoulder. There was something unreadable in his face now. Not rage. Not hatred.
Almost…
something else.
Then it vanished.
"They're trying to save you," Naruto said. "And all you're doing is pushing them away."
"They're not saving me," he snapped. "They're trying to drag you back to the surface. You. The soft one. The smiling idiot. And when they do, you'll go back to doing what you always do. You'll get hurt. Or they will. And you'll regret it again."
Dark Naruto turned around, arms loose at his sides.
"And I won't let that happen."
Naruto's fists tightened.
"I won't let you take over my body."
Dark Naruto grinned again. "Then earn your crown, King."
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