Chapter 13: "The Weight of Eyes"

Hokage Tower – Dawn

Kakashi's fist slammed onto the Third Hokage's desk, scattering scrolls and upending an inkwell. Black droplets splattered the Yuki no Mōmoku scroll, its spiral symbols bleeding into the parchment like poison.

"He's deteriorating," Kakashi hissed, Sharingan blazing. "Every jump frays his chakra. Another week of this, and he'll—"

"And what alternative do you propose?" The Third's voice was calm, but his knuckles whitened around his pipe. "Lock him in a cell? Let the Ōtsutsuki carve through our world unchallenged?"

"He's twelve." Kakashi's mask hid the tremor in his jaw. "Minato would never have—"

"Minato is dead!" The Third's roar echoed through the tower. "He gambled with forces he didn't understand and left us this cursed legacy. Naruto is all that stands between us and annihilation. Would you have me coddle him into extinction?"

Silence hung thick. Kakashi's Sharingan flickered to the window, where Naruto's laughter drifted up from the training grounds—bright, reckless, and tinged with gold.

"Train him," the Third said softly. "Or I'll find someone who will."

Training Ground 7 – Midday

Naruto blinked into existence atop a birch tree, leaves rustling beneath his feet. "Beat that, teme!" he crowed, grinning down at Sasuke.

"Showoff," Sasuke muttered, but his Sharingan tracked Naruto's every twitch. "Your chakra's… off."

"Off? Pfft!" Naruto teleported again, reappearing behind Sakura. "I'm better than ever! Watch this—!" (A/N: Imagine Naruto teleporting mid-jump, just like Five from The Umbrella Academy.)

He vanished mid-taunt, aiming for the Hokage Monument. But the world stuttered.

Cold.

Naruto gasped, materializing knee-deep in the Naka River instead. His breath fogged the air, though the sun blazed overhead. The scar on his cheek pulsed, threads of gold weaving through his veins like frost.

"Weird," he muttered, shaking it off. "Must've misaimed!"

Naruto's Apartment – Night

The mirror showed a stranger.

Naruto leaned closer, breath fogging the glass. His eyes—once blue as summer sky—now flickered gold at the edges. His skin paled, veins faintly luminous under the moonlight.

"Still me," he whispered, pressing a hand to the reflection. "Still… me."

Behind him, the Yuki no Mōmoku scroll lay open on the floor, its spiral symbols glowing. The ice-encased warning—"The bridge must burn"—had melted into a puddle that refroze each night.

He teleported on impulse, aiming for Ichiraku's.

The void swallowed him instead.

The Void

Endless black stretched in all directions. No sound. No air. Just cold—deeper than the frozen mountains, older than Konoha itself.

"Hello?" Naruto's voice vanished into the abyss.

Golden eyes blinked open.

Dozens. Hundreds. Hungry.

"Little bridge…"

The voice came from everywhere, vibrating in his bones. Naruto's scar erupted, gold light spilling like blood into the dark.

"You smell of desperation. Of fear."

"Shut up!" Naruto clenched his fists, chakra flaring. "I'm not afraid of you!"

"Liar."

A clawed hand materialized, brushing his scar. Naruto screamed—

—And crashed onto the floor of his apartment, gasping. The scroll's ink had frozen again, new words etched in ice:

"You are already ours."

The Hospital – Next Morning

Sakura's green-lit hands hovered over Naruto's chest, her brow furrowed. "Your chakra coils… they're crystallizing."

"Cool, right?" Naruto forced a grin, ignoring the tremor in his hands. "Like a diamond ninja!"

"This isn't a joke!" Sakura's voice cracked. "Whatever you're doing—it's killing you!"

"I'm fine!" He jerked away, teleporting to the windowsill. "See? Perfect control!"

The room blurred. He reappeared upside-down on the ceiling, crashing into a supply cart.

"Naruto—!"

"I said I'm FINE!" Gold chakra lashed out, shattering the window.

The Third's Secret – Midnight

In the Hokage's secret archive, Kakashi unsealed a vault labeled Minato's Folly. Dusty scrolls tumbled out, each detailing a phase of Project Yūkai.

"Phase 5: Subject Compatibility," he read aloud, throat tightening. "The Nine-Tails' chakra is the only known stabilizer for spacetime incursions. Warning: Prolonged exposure erodes the host's humanity."

A photograph slipped free—Minato standing beside a younger Kakashi, their arms bandaged and veins blackened with experimental seals.

"You knew," Kakashi whispered. "You knew what it would do to him."

The Forest of Death – Predawn

Naruto teleported in rapid bursts, tree to tree, laughing as the world blurred. Each jump left him colder, his breath frosting mid-air.

"Faster!" he urged himself, aiming for the training post.

He missed.

The void yawned open again, golden eyes gleaming closer this time.

"Soon," they whispered.

________________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto awoke screaming, his room encased in ice. On the wall, clawed golden letters smoldered:

"Dawn approaches. The bridge burns."

Outside, the Hokage Monument's spiral symbol blazed like a second sun.