Morning again.
But the light feels heavier.
He wakes up tired.
Body drained.
Another night of visions.
No dreams.
Just messages.
His eye had stayed active in his sleep.
He touches the eyelid… warm.
Still not healed.
Still changing.
He opens it slowly.
Faint glow.
He shuts it again.
"It's evolving… with or without me."
No rest.
No warning.
Just constant pressure.
At the academy, Iruka looks concerned.
"You look pale. Are you okay?"
He nods.
Lies.
But what else could he say?
Naruto slaps his back.
"Maybe you should eat more ramen!"
He forces a smile.
Then Sasuke walks in.
No greeting.
Just a long stare.
"Something's wrong with you."
He says nothing.
Because it's true.
But not something he can explain.
Not yet.
The class continues.
Chakra control today.
Walking up trees.
Simple exercise.
Everyone takes turns.
Naruto fails gloriously.
Sakura shows off.
Sasuke succeeds with precision.
His turn.
He walks up.
Takes a step.
Another.
The tree cracks under his foot.
Too much chakra.
He adjusts.
Tries again.
It works.
Balanced.
But just as he climbs higher…
Something pulses in his eye.
A sudden flare.
The bark ripples.
He stops.
Everything freezes.
Literally.
Time halts.
Only for a second.
But in that second… he sees.
Every strand of chakra in the tree.
The flows in the air.
The signatures of people watching… even those hidden.
He sees Iruka's emotions.
Nervous. Suspicious.
Sasuke's. Curious. Jealous.
Naruto's. Bright. Loud. Innocent.
And behind the forest—two unknown signatures.
Watching.
Their chakra dark.
Cold.
Not human.
Then—time resumes.
He slips.
Falls.
Lands on his feet.
Everyone laughs.
But his mind isn't here anymore.
Later, lunch break.
He sneaks away.
Walks to the far end of the forest behind the academy.
He can feel the presence now.
Faint, but there.
He activates the eye.
Glows faintly under the skin.
Vision sharpens.
He sees the threads again.
Two figures hiding in a tree's shadow.
Unseen by normal eyes.
But not his.
He pretends to walk by.
Then speaks softly.
"You can come out now."
Silence.
Then a voice.
Female. Cold.
"So you can see us already."
They step out.
Two figures in cloaks.
Hoods hiding faces.
No headbands.
No symbols.
One male. One female.
Not from Konoha.
Not from any village.
The male speaks.
"You activated it too soon. It's unstable."
He doesn't move.
"Who are you?"
The man tilts his head.
"The ones who watched it fail… many times."
The woman speaks again.
"This version of you is different. But not safe."
He narrows his eyes.
"What do you want?"
They glance at each other.
Then throw something.
He catches it.
A scroll.
Sealed with unfamiliar markings.
"This will help you understand."
"What is it?"
"A memory. Yours. From a version that didn't survive."
Before he can ask more…
They vanish.
Smoke. Silence.
Gone.
Again.
He unrolls the scroll later, alone in his room.
As it opens—light pours out.
The room disappears.
He's pulled in.
A battlefield.
Burning.
Screams everywhere.
A man stands alone.
Covered in blood.
His left eye shattered.
It's him.
Older.
Stronger.
Broken.
Fighting an enemy unseen.
Surrounded by corpses.
All familiar.
Naruto. Sasuke. Kakashi. Dead.
The sky is split open.
A black hand reaches down.
He screams.
The memory ends.
He falls backward.
Coughing.
He throws the scroll away.
Shaking.
He can't breathe.
He saw himself.
Fail.
Destroy.
Lose everything.
This eye…
It's not a blessing.
It's a curse wearing gold.
That night.
He avoids sleep.
Too dangerous now.
He trains instead.
Silent.
Focused.
He opens the scroll again.
Traces of chakra remain.
He scans it with his eye.
New words appear.
"The Dojutsu is not yours. You are only borrowing it."
"You were chosen because you break it."
"Do not trust the known paths."
"When the eye bleeds, run."
He memorizes every line.
Burns the scroll.
No one else can see this.
The next day.
Classroom again.
But he notices something.
Sakura's aura looks… fractured.
Sasuke's darker than before.
Naruto's is dimmer.
Everyone's chakra is… off.
Then he realizes.
The eye evolved again.
It doesn't just show chakra now.
It shows truth.
Their emotions. Their health. Their lies.
He glances at Iruka.
One look… and he sees it.
Iruka's lying about something.
Deeply.
A recent lie.
Personal.
He looks away.
Too much information.
Lunch break.
He sits alone.
Sasuke approaches.
Stands beside him.
"You weren't surprised yesterday."
"…What?"
"When I attacked during sparring. You dodged before I moved."
A pause.
He says nothing.
Sasuke sits beside him.
"There's something in your eyes."
Still no reply.
"I'll find out what it is."
He gets up.
Leaves.
Sasuke watches him.
Not as a rival.
As a threat.
Later that evening.
A knock at his door.
It's Naruto.
Holding two bowls of ramen.
"Figured you could use this."
He smiles.
But the eye activates by mistake.
He sees something strange.
Naruto's aura flickers.
Inside him—something sleeping.
A sealed chakra.
Dark.
Massive.
He knows what it is.
But seeing it… so clearly…
Chills his spine.
The Nine-Tails.
He forces the eye to deactivate.
They eat in silence.
Naruto grins.
"You're weird… but I like you."
A rare moment.
Real.
He nods.
Appreciates it.
But his mind stays busy.
Because now he understands the truth.
This world is broken.
And his presence is making it worse.
He looks at his reflection again.
The eye glows faintly.
And deep within it—
A crack spreads.