He didn't sleep.
Couldn't.
The eye throbbed the entire night.
Not pain.
Not exactly.
Something deeper.
Like something was trying to speak.
But not in words.
Morning comes grey.
Sky still heavy from last night's rain.
No birds.
No wind.
Too quiet again.
His feet drag a little as he heads for the academy.
Mind clouded.
Naruto walks beside him. Excited about passing the first trial yesterday. Talks nonstop.
He nods occasionally.
Fakes a smile.
But something's wrong.
The villagers look at him.
Not like before.
This time—they avoid eye contact.
Whispers behind closed doors.
Even the other kids notice.
Iruka keeps glancing at him during class.
And Sasuke?
Keeps watching like he's already figured it out.
Midday.
Class is dismissed early.
Some kind of council meeting was called.
Iruka tells them to return tomorrow.
He doesn't go home.
Instead, he walks.
Into the woods again.
Farther this time.
To the place he woke up the first day.
The cliff.
He stands there.
Silence.
The wind finally returns.
The eye opens.
Without command.
It spins once.
And the world fades to grey.
Again.
But this time… it doesn't stop time.
It shows something.
A memory?
No.
A vision.
Someone kneeling.
Back turned.
Hair white.
A cloak.
The same robes as the figure he saw in that first dream.
The man turns.
But before his face is clear—
A whisper cuts in.
"You're not ready to remember."
Then—
Black.
He opens his eyes.
Bleeding again.
He wipes it with his sleeve.
Breath shallow.
Then he hears it.
Rustling.
Fast.
He turns—
Kunai flying toward him.
He dodges.
Barely.
It lodges into a tree behind.
He ducks again as three more fly from different angles.
He activates his eye.
Time slows slightly.
Just enough to react.
He spins. Counters.
Throws one kunai back.
Hits a mask.
Cracks it.
The ANBU drops to the ground.
More shadows emerge.
Three.
Four.
Five of them.
Surrounding him.
Weapons drawn.
One speaks.
"Orders from the council. You're to be brought in. Dead or alive."
He frowns.
Then lowers his stance.
They lunge.
One from behind.
He ducks.
Sweeps the leg.
Uses the momentum to slam the shinobi into another.
Another charges with lightning chakra in blade.
He sidesteps. Grabs the arm. Channels his eye.
The blade melts.
His eye pulses again.
It wants to do more.
To absorb.
To consume.
But he resists.
Barely.
Another ANBU stabs from above.
Too late to dodge.
He raises his hand instinctively.
And suddenly—
A burst.
Of black chakra.
It explodes from his palm.
Throws the ANBU back five meters into a tree.
He gasps.
Looks at his own hand.
The black chakra hisses like fire.
It sinks into his skin.
Disappears.
He shivers.
"What the hell was that…"
Only two remain.
But they pause.
They've seen enough.
One uses a scroll.
Vanishes.
The other leaves a parting message.
"You've been marked now. Don't trust the Hokage. Don't trust anyone."
And then disappears into smoke.
He breathes heavily.
Collapses to his knees.
The eye dims.
For now.
But something inside is waking.
No… not just the eye.
Him.
His body.
His memories.
He doesn't belong in this world.
But maybe—
Maybe something in this world belongs to him.
Evening.
He walks back to the village quietly.
Wearing a hoodie.
Covers his face.
Avoids crowds.
He slips into Naruto's apartment unnoticed.
The boy jumps.
"Dude?! You're bleeding!"
He waves him off.
Naruto doesn't buy it.
Starts treating his wounds anyway.
Bandages. Ramen. Silence.
Then Naruto says—
"They're scared of you, aren't they?"
He doesn't answer.
Naruto sighs.
"I know the feeling."
A pause.
Then Naruto chuckles.
"Let me guess… some secret power inside you? You're dangerous. They want to use you or kill you. Right?"
Still no reply.
Naruto leans back.
"Well, if it helps… I don't care."
He blinks.
Naruto continues.
"You helped me when no one did. So I'll help you."
He looks down.
"…Why?"
Naruto shrugs.
"Maybe you're the only person who knows how it feels… to be hated just for existing."
A long silence.
Then—
"…Thanks."
Later that night.
He sleeps for the first time in days.
But it doesn't last.
A dream pulls him in.
No forest.
No Hokage tower.
Just a black void.
And a single flame.
Floating.
It whispers.
"You are the vessel."
He walks toward it.
"You were chosen. Not reborn. Transferred."
"What do you mean?"
But the flame flickers.
And behind it—
A pair of red eyes.
Not his own.
Different.
Ancient.
And then a voice echoes—
"Soon… you will awaken the true eye."
The flame explodes.
And he wakes up.
Covered in sweat.
His eye glowing.
No longer cracked.
It's… healing itself.
Changing.
The iris is no longer grey.
It's shifting—
Red with a golden slit.
He stares into the mirror.
Breath shaky.
"…What am I becoming?"