Naruto remained frozen in the hallway, staring at the strange symbol forming across his palm. [His fingers trembled slightly as the black lines slowly connected, creating a pattern he had never seen before.] He tried rubbing it away, but the symbol didn't move. It wasn't ink. It wasn't dirt. It looked as though it had appeared beneath his skin.
"What are you?"
The moment he whispered the words, the mark pulsed.
Naruto immediately pulled his hand back.
A sharp wave of warmth traveled through his arm and disappeared just as quickly.
Then the voice returned.
"You finally found me."
Naruto looked around.
"Who are you?"
No answer came.
He waited.
Nothing.
The hallway remained empty.
Naruto looked down at his palm again.
The symbol was gone.
His hand looked completely normal.
For a few seconds, he simply stood there, trying to understand what had happened. Then footsteps approached from the other end of the hallway.
[Naruto quickly closed his hand.]
Iruka appeared around the corner.
"There you're."
Naruto looked up.
"Yeah."
"You should go home."
Naruto nodded.
He walked past Iruka, but the teacher noticed something unusual about him.
"Naruto."
He stopped.
"Yes?"
Iruka studied his face.
"Are you sure you're alright?"
Naruto forced a smile.
"I'm fine."
Iruka didn't look convinced.
But he didn't push him.
"Alright. Be careful on your way home."
Naruto nodded and left the Academy.
Outside, the afternoon sun was beginning to disappear behind the rooftops.
He walked through the streets of Konoha quietly, keeping his hand inside his pocket.
For once, Naruto wasn't looking for trouble.
He was thinking.
Who had spoken to him?
Why had that figure been watching him?
And what was that strange symbol?
He was still thinking about it when he noticed something.
The feeling of being watched had returned.
[Naruto slowed down.]
He looked behind him.
Nobody.
He looked toward the rooftops.
Nothing.
Then he noticed a small movement above a nearby building.
A shadow.
Naruto stopped.
The figure stood there for only a second before disappearing behind the roof.
Naruto immediately ran after it.
"Hey!"
[He climbed onto the nearest rooftop and looked around.]
Nothing.
The figure was gone.
Naruto clenched his fists.
"Who are you?"
Silence.
Then a voice came from behind him.
"You shouldn't be following things you don't understand."
Naruto spun around.
Nobody was there.
His heart began beating faster.
"Show yourself!"
Only the wind answered.
Then something landed softly behind him.
[Naruto turned.]
A small black object rested on the rooftop.
It looked like a piece of broken stone.
Naruto slowly approached it.
The moment he touched it, the world changed.
For an instant, Konoha disappeared.
Naruto found himself standing somewhere completely dark.
There was no sky.
No ground.
No sound.
He looked around.
"Where am I?"
A faint red light appeared in the distance.
Two enormous eyes opened within it.
Naruto froze.
He knew those eyes.
He had seen them before.
Not in real life.
In the reflection of the window.
"What are you?"
The eyes stared at him.
Then something moved in the darkness.
A massive shape.
Naruto took a step backward.
Suddenly, a roar shook the entire space.
Naruto covered his ears.
"Who are you?!"
The creature moved closer.
Nine enormous tails emerged from the darkness.
Naruto's eyes widened.
"The Nine-Tails..."
The beast stared directly at him.
For several seconds, neither of them moved.
Then the Nine-Tails spoke.
"You're not supposed to be here."
Naruto swallowed.
"Where is here?"
The beast's eyes narrowed.
"You don't know."
"Know what?"
The Nine-Tails stepped forward.
"Why you can see me."
Before Naruto could answer, the darkness began to crack.
A strange light appeared behind him.
The beast suddenly looked past Naruto.
Its expression changed.
"He's found you."
Naruto turned.
"Who?"
The Nine-Tails didn't answer.
Instead, it roared.
"GET OUT!"
The entire world shattered.
Naruto suddenly opened his eyes.
[He was lying on the rooftop, breathing heavily.]
The black object was gone.
His hand was burning.
He looked down.
The symbol had returned.
This time, it was brighter.
And for the first time, Naruto noticed something beneath the symbol.
A second pattern.
Much smaller.
Almost like a seal.
Inside the Hokage Tower, Minato suddenly stood up.
[The papers on his desk fell to the floor.]
Hiruzen looked at him.
"What happened?"
Minato stared toward the village.
"Naruto."
"What about him?"
"I felt his chakra change."
Hiruzen's expression became serious.
"Where?"
Minato closed his eyes.
He focused.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then he felt it again.
A strange fluctuation.
Not dangerous.
Not exactly.
But unfamiliar.
And beneath it...
Something else.
Minato's eyes opened.
"He's not alone."
Hiruzen frowned.
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know."
Minato immediately moved toward the door.
Hiruzen followed.
"Where are you going?"
"To Naruto."
Far beneath Konoha, the ancient chamber remained silent.
The cracked seal had opened slightly more than before.
[Something moved behind it.]
A hand slowly touched the inside of the stone.
The two voices from before were gone.
Only one remained.
"The time has come."
A second voice answered from deeper within the darkness.
"Not yet."
"The boy has awakened."
"Only a fragment."
"The fragment is enough."
Silence.
Then the second voice spoke again.
"If he remembers too soon, everything will be lost."
The first voice became quiet.
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then a low laugh echoed through the chamber.
"Then we make sure he doesn't remember."
Naruto was still standing on the rooftop when he heard footsteps approaching.
He turned.
His father stood several meters away.
Minato's expression was calm, but his eyes immediately moved toward Naruto's hand.
"Naruto."
Naruto instinctively hid it behind his back.
"Yeah?"
Minato walked closer.
"What happened?"
"Nothing."
Minato stopped.
He knew that answer.
"You've been saying that a lot lately."
Naruto looked away.
"I just felt strange."
"Strange how?"
Naruto hesitated.
Then he remembered the Nine-Tails.
The enormous eyes.
The words.
You're not supposed to be here.
He couldn't explain any of it.
"I don't know."
Minato crouched slightly so they were at the same height.
"That's okay."
Naruto looked at him.
"You don't have to understand everything immediately."
For a moment, Naruto almost told him.
Almost.
But then he remembered the voice.
He's found you.
Naruto closed his hand.
"Can we go home?"
Minato smiled faintly.
"Of course."
They began walking together.
Neither noticed the figure standing on a distant rooftop.
[The stranger watched them in silence.]
He reached inside his coat and pulled out the same piece of paper from before.
The message had changed.
The old words had been crossed out.
A new sentence had appeared beneath them.
The seal has awakened.
The stranger stared at it.
Then, for the first time in years, he looked worried.
He folded the paper and whispered,
"We're out of time."
Behind him, another figure appeared.
"Should we proceed?"
The stranger looked toward Naruto.
"No."
A pause.
"Not yet."
"Why?"
The stranger's eyes narrowed.
"Because if the boy can see the Nine-Tails..."
He looked toward the Hokage Tower.
"...then he may be able to see us too."
Far below Konoha, something suddenly slammed against the ancient seal.
BOOM.
The entire chamber shook.
A crack spread across the stone.
And behind it, something opened its eyes.
End of Chapter 5