Kaguya?

Slap!

"Remember your place, Kaguya!"

Naruto blinked, disoriented, his vision spinning as the sting radiated across his cheek. Once again, he found himself in an unknown realm, trapped within a body that felt unsettlingly familiar but alien at the same time. The weight of it, the power coursing through him—it wasn't his own.

"Yes... Isshiki-sama," the words escaped his lips before he could stop them, his voice flat, hollow, as if ripped from his throat by someone else. His mind screamed, fighting the compulsion, but his body refused to obey. Beneath the forced submission, a sensation like millions of fire ants gnawed at his insides. His blood boiled, every fiber of his being thrumming with barely-contained rage. He wanted to lash out, to obliterate the man standing before him.

Isshiki's gaze darkened, but his lips curled into a condescending smirk. "Defiance is amusing, Kaguya. But you should know better. Your power, your existence—they belong to me now." He took a deliberate step closer, his figure looming over Naruto, suffocating in its sheer dominance. "Accept your role, or suffer the consequences."

Naruto's heart thundered in his chest, yet he remained powerless, his body betraying him with its stillness. He wasn't in control—just a prisoner in his own mind, forced to watch helplessly from behind a veil. It felt as though an invisible hand clamped down on his soul, squeezing tighter with every second. His thoughts churned with fury, hatred, and frustration, each emotion crashing against him like relentless waves in a storm.

Yet, outwardly, his lips remained sealed. His body obeyed another's will.

Isshiki's voice cut through the silence, dripping with smugness. "Soon, we will arrive at our destination. The seed of chakra will be mine." His words echoed, each one laced with cold certainty. He let out a low, condescending laugh as he circled Naruto, his presence like a predator toying with prey.

"Remember this, Kaguya," he continued, his tone soft yet venomous, his lips brushing against her ear. "A pawn will always be a pawn. Sacrificed or not, its fate is never its own."

Naruto's blood boiled. The insult carved deep into his mind, a bitter reminder of his helplessness. Rage clawed at him, but no matter how much he wanted to lash out, his body remained frozen in place. All he could do was seethe in silence, his thoughts screaming against the invisible shackles that bound him.

Only then did Naruto notice it—the rhythmic, almost hypnotic chanting of Isshiki's name echoing in his mind, growing louder and more insistent with each passing second. His breath hitched, and his pale eyes—Kaguya's eyes—narrowed in fury, locking onto Isshiki's slowly retreating figure. A cold, sharp feeling welled up inside him, one that wasn't entirely his own. It was Kaguya's murderous intent—her desire to kill him.

The hatred coursing through him was overwhelming, primal, and raw. It wasn't just anger; it was the deep-seated rage of a being who had been betrayed and cast aside. For a moment, Naruto couldn't tell if the fury burning inside him was his or hers. It felt like he was being swallowed by it, consumed by the rage that had been festering for centuries.

As he stared at Isshiki's fading silhouette, the realization struck him with chilling clarity: Kaguya didn't just want to destroy Isshiki—she needed to. And that need, that deep, vengeful hunger, was seeping into him.

For the first time ever, he felt what it meant to be a monster.

...

"Kaguya..." Naruto muttered under his breath, his brow furrowed as a sharp pang shot through his head. The heat in his body surged again, his skin burning as if something inside him was shifting, molding him into something else. But this time, it wasn't as agonizing as before. Yesterday's torment had been worse.

He raised his hand slowly, his mind too fogged to fully register the change at first. His fingers trembled as his gaze finally caught on to the unsettling transformation—his skin had grown paler, almost ghostly, and his body felt thinner, yet stronger. The heat that radiated from within was both empowering and frightening, as though something ancient, something far more powerful than himself, was clawing its way to the surface.

His heart raced, and a pit formed in his stomach. What was happening to him?

Trembling slightly, Naruto tried to flex his fingers, but they felt foreign, unrecognizable. A shadow of doubt crossed his mind—was this Kaguya's doing? Who is Kaguya to me?

Making his way to the restroom, Naruto took a quick peek in the mirror. His breath caught in his throat as the reflection stared back at him—a reflection that wasn't quite his own. As he suspected, his body had become thinner, his once unruly hair now slightly tamer, falling more naturally around his face. His eyes, once full of a carefree spark, now appeared sharper, more calculating, as if some hidden intensity was quietly bubbling beneath the surface.

It was a subtle change, so faint that no one else would probably notice. But to him, it felt glaring, like a silent alarm going off in his mind, reminding him that something was terribly off. His fingers brushed against the edges of the sink, gripping it tightly as he leaned in closer to examine himself.

"What... is happening to me?" he whispered under his breath, his voice barely audible, but full of confusion and unease.

His reflection stared back at him, the faintest trace of something unfamiliar lurking behind his eyes. A chill crept down his spine. 

His eyes wandered slightly, landing on the circled date on the calendar—graduation day.

Today was supposed to be the day. The day he would finally become a ninja. The day everyone would respect him for who he was, not the lowlife or monster they whispered about behind his back.

He clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. He had waited for this moment his entire life, working through the ridicule, the loneliness, the endless battles just to be seen. To be acknowledged. Today, becoming a ninja wasn't just about passing a test—it was about proving them wrong. Proving to himself that he was more than what they saw him as.

But as he looked back at his reflection, his confidence wavered. His thinning frame, paler skin, and sharper eyes—it felt like someone else staring back at him. Would they still see Naruto Uzumaki if he didn't even recognize himself?

The burning sensation flared up again, unsettling him further. He couldn't afford to lose focus. Not today. Taking one last look at the mirror, he shook his head, forcing a grin. He'd make it through this.

No matter what.

…

Naruto's eyes drifted to the families outside, parents joyfully picking up their kids with wide smiles and booming congratulations. His heart twisted, the sight digging into him like a blade. He wasn't part of that world.

But the worst of it all wasn't the loneliness. It was the disdain. The sneers aimed at him, subtle yet biting, as if his failure somehow validated their low expectations. The looks they gave him, filled with contempt—confirming that in their eyes, he was just a nuisance, an outsider, unworthy of standing among their children.

Naruto's eyes flickered toward the source of the voices, his heart sinking further as he overheard the conversation.

"Look, it's him," a woman whispered, her finger pointed directly at him as though he were some kind of spectacle. "The fox brat."

Naruto's fists tightened. He tried to ignore it, to push it down like he always did, but the words cut deep, gnawing at the thin veil of confidence he clung to. His ears burned as another man, his hair pink and wild, sneered openly. 

"Looks like he failed again," the man said, his tone dripping with satisfaction. "That's good. The higher-ups know how dangerous he is. Letting a kid like that become a shinobi would be a disaster."

Their words hung in the air, suffocating. Naruto felt the familiar weight of judgment, the label they had stamped on him since birth. Fox brat. Dangerous. Monster. He wanted to scream, to fight back, to tell them they were wrong. But all he could do was stand there, frozen, as the bitterness welled up inside him.

Today, he was not the future Hokage. He was just another monster, failure. Again.

Tap

A hand rested quietly on Naruto's shoulder, startling him. He turned quickly, eyes wide, to find Mizuki-sensei standing behind him with a smile.

"Easy there, Naruto," Mizuki said with a chuckle, his voice calm and reassuring. "You looked like you needed someone to talk to."

Naruto blinked, still shaken by the conversation he had just overheard. "Mizuki-sensei… What do you want?"

Mizuki's smile widened slightly as he knelt down to Naruto's eye level, his voice dropping into a conspiratorial whisper. "I couldn't help but notice how hard you've been working lately. It's a shame that the others don't see it."

Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I—I did work hard! But none of it mattered, Mizuki-sensei. I failed the test again!" His voice cracked with frustration.

Mizuki placed a reassuring hand on Naruto's shoulder again, his expression softening. "That's because the real test isn't what you think it is," he whispered, his words laced with intrigue. "There's a secret test, one that the higher-ups don't tell everyone about. It's reserved for students who show true potential."

Naruto's heart skipped a beat. "A secret test? Really?"

Mizuki nodded. "If you pass this one, you'll become a ninja, no question. You'll finally prove to everyone that they were wrong about you."

Naruto's eyes lit up, hope rekindling in his chest. "What do I have to do?" he asked eagerly.

Mizuki's smile turned almost sly, but his voice remained warm. "All you have to do is sneak into the Hokage's office tonight and retrieve the Scroll of Seals. It's a test of stealth and skill—something only a true shinobi could pull off." He leaned in closer, his voice barely above a whisper. "I know you can do it, Naruto. I believe in you."

Naruto felt a surge of excitement and determination. For the first time in a long time, someone believed in him. "I'll do it!" he exclaimed, the fire in his heart blazing once more.

Mizuki's smile grew as he stood back up. "Good luck, Naruto. Just remember—this is your chance to show them all who you really are."