Chapter 14 - First mission

Author's Note:

Yeah... sorry for the wait 😅

Haven't written in months, so I wanted to spoil you guys with something big — more action, more Bura, more Naruto being a little menace. I tweaked some stuff (especially Sasuke's reveal) to make it feel more grounded and logical, hope you enjoy the direction it's heading.

Thanks for sticking around — love you all, fr 💙

Next chapter's gonna hit even harder. Stay tuned ❤️

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3rd POV:

In the dim light of a secluded training chamber deep beneath Konoha, Naruto hunched over a metal plate engraved with precise ink strokes. A seal glowed faintly on its surface, reacting to his chakra.

A moment later, a flicker of light buzzed to life on the metal screen.

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Naruto POV:

I'm a genius! Hell yeah! I just made a functioning prototype of the first phone... in the Naruto world.

'Your ego is bigger than the Nine-Tails, brat,' Kurama growled.

"And yet you're stuck inside me," I smirked, watching the screen glow to life.

'Touché.'

The device in front of me was primitive by modern standards, but it worked. Chakra-conductive ink, sealed micro-signatures, and a frequency-binding matrix—this thing could send basic messages through a chakra network.

"Name it later," I muttered, hiding the prototype in a secret compartment beneath the floor. No way was I telling Danzo. Not yet. This was mine.

A soft shimmer rippled through the air.

"Ah, speak of the devil," I muttered, rising just as the door creaked open.

Danzo entered, flanked by two of his Root agents.

"Uzumaki. Briefing. Now."

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Briefing Room – Root Headquarters

The room was stark and silent. Danzo stood at the head of a table covered in mission dossiers, scrolls, and a single glowing map.

"You'll be heading to the outskirts of the Land of Sound," Danzo began, voice cold. "There are ancient ruins discovered near a chakra convergence point. Your mission: investigate and recover anything of value. Alone."

I raised an eyebrow.

"No team?"

Danzo smirked faintly. "Consider it a test. You're stronger than most jōnin. This should be trivial."

Liar.

I could smell it. This wasn't some routine mission—he was expecting something. Or hoping I'd die.

Bura's voice fluttered like velvet across my mind. "Ooh~ he's hoping you'll bite the dust, Naru-chan. How cute. You going to play along?"

"Understood," I replied, smiling politely. "I'll report directly to you."

Danzo nodded once. I turned, but before I left the room, I paused.

"Oh, and Danzo-sama?" I glanced back.

"Should anything happen to me, you may find some of your secrets... leaking into the wind."

His one visible eye narrowed. But he said nothing.

'Manipulation 101,' I thought.

Bura purred. "Mmm, deliciously petty. I like this version of you. Calculated, bold, dangerous~"

I walked out with a smile.

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Mission – Day 1: Journey to the Ruins

The wind blew harshly across the abandoned path leading into a gorge filled with black stone ruins. I paused at the edge, scanning the area with a practiced eye.

There was chakra here.

Deep.

Twisted.

Bura shimmered into view beside me in my mindscape, her illusion overlapping reality for just a moment.

"Naru-chan~ You're walking into a haunted place," she purred. "Can you handle it?"

I snorted. "Course I can. You're here, aren't you?"

She grinned, floating beside me like a ghostly presence. "Mmm~ Such a charmer. Keep your wits sharp. Something's sleeping in those ruins, something old."

Kurama rumbled lowly in agreement. 'Tread carefully, Naruto.'

I drew a kunai and walked in.

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Back in Konoha – Training Field

Sasuke stood across from Hinata, panting softly. Training had grown intense lately. Not just physical—emotional too.

Hinata wasn't the same shy girl anymore. Since Naruto left for his solo mission, she'd changed.

She was more assertive. Focused.

"Again," she said firmly.

Sasuke smirked faintly and obliged. Their spar began again, smooth and fluid.

After a flurry of strikes, Hinata landed a palm on Sasuke's shoulder. Chakra flared—and then something unexpected happened.

A binding seal activated.

Hinata blinked.

Sasuke froze, eyes wide.

In the next moment, the seal deactivated her chest binding. The cloth burst slightly from the chakra backlash.

Hinata gasped. Sasuke stepped back, expression unreadable.

"I… didn't mean to—"

Sasuke turned her face away. "Tch… You weren't supposed to find out like that."

Hinata stepped forward. "Why?"

"…To avoid the CRA." Sasuke's voice was calm. Flat. "My father—before the massacre—knew how tense things were with the elders. If I had stayed female, I would've been made a breeding tool for restoring the clan."

Hinata clenched her fists. "So you lived like this for years… hiding who you were?"

Sasuke nodded once.

Hinata stared at her.

"I won't tell anyone. But you should know... you don't have to keep hiding around me."

Their eyes met.

"…Thanks."

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Ruins – Deeper Levels

I lit a chakra flare and descended into the dark. There were carvings everywhere. Symbols. Statues. Some of them looked oddly familiar.

I knelt beside one of the sigils.

"Wait a minute…"

Suddenly, a surge of chakra exploded from the stone. A pulse shot into my eyes—

SCREEEE—

I staggered back, screaming. Pain lanced through my skull. My vision swirled.

[WARNING: BLOODLINE UNLOCKED]

My heart pounded. Bura appeared, hovering inches from me.

"Naru! Your eyes!"

I blinked. The world looked… different. Every edge shimmered with chakra. I could see the flow of energy, the weak points of structures, even the network of seals layered beneath the floor.

"What… the hell…?"

You have unlocked the Shinkugan.

Bura smirked, brushing my cheek. "The Eyes of Truth. Rare. Ancient. You, my love, are becoming quite the monster."

I grinned despite the headache.

Then came the growl.

A massive construct of chakra lurched from the shadows. A guardian.

"Perfect," I muttered, raising a kunai.

Time for my first real fight.

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Guardian Fight Begins

It struck first—blisteringly fast despite its size. I dove sideways, the shockwave from its blow shaking the corridor. Stone cracked.

"Alright, big guy," I said, flipping a kunai between my fingers. "Let's see what you've got."

The Shinkugan pulsed. My vision highlighted the guardian's core. A chakra node behind its sternum—pale blue and flickering. Weak point.

I sprinted forward. A blur. I slid under its legs and slashed upward at the node.

CLANG!

My kunai barely chipped it. The guardian roared and spun, slamming a massive palm into the wall where I'd just been.

"Tough shell," I muttered, leaping back. "Gotta soften it up."

I formed a single hand seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Three of me burst into view. We darted around, flanking the beast, slashing at joints, leaping off walls.

It roared again, staggering under the barrage.

Bura's voice cooed in my head. "Strike the node while the upper arm plates separate. Timing is everything."

"Got it."

The clones charged. One feinted left, another from behind, while I launched from above.

"NOW!"

My kunai struck the core dead-on.

A shockwave burst outward, tearing stone apart.

The guardian howled as cracks spread through its form. Its chest exploded in light—and then silence.

The creature slumped, crumbling to ash.

I dropped to a knee, breathing hard.

"Still alive," I muttered.

Kurama snorted. 'For now.'

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Post-Battle Discovery

In the center of the now-empty chamber lay a stone pedestal. A scroll rested on it, sealed in chakra wax.

I reached out, letting the Shinkugan guide my fingers. A pulse of chakra released the seal.

Inside were instructions.

Techniques. Dojutsu theory. Hidden knowledge.

And a single name.

Bura.

I stared.

"…You knew about this."

She appeared beside me, looking more somber than usual.

"I wanted you to find it on your own," she said softly. "That scroll belonged to my creator."

I looked down at it, then back at her.

"Guess I'm deeper into this mess than I thought."

She smiled faintly. "Deeper, stronger, smarter. That's my Naruto."

I pocketed the scroll.

Time to head home.

And lie through my teeth to Danzo.

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3rd POV:

Naruto trudged through the village gates just as the early morning light broke over the rooftops, casting golden rays across the cobbled path. Dirt clung to his sleeves and cuts marred his skin, but his smirk remained untouched. He moved with the deliberate gait of someone who had been through something and come out smarter for it.

The scroll was secured tightly in his pack. Chakra-suppression seals, personally layered and sealed moments before reaching the village, kept it warm enough to seem freshly acquired. Timing mattered when lying to someone like Danzo.

The Anbu at the gates didn't speak—just flickered away to report. As expected.

Naruto muttered under his breath, "Round two, old man."

ROOT headquarters hadn't changed: no warmth, no color. Just shadows and whispers.

Danzo sat behind his usual table, one arm hidden, one eye locked onto Naruto like a hawk sighting prey.

"Report," the elder said.

Naruto stepped forward, posture straight, voice clear. "The ruins were partially collapsed. Guardian seal was still active—I neutralized it. Recovered fragments of a sealing scroll. Judging by erosion and residual chakra patterns, someone else was there before me."

Danzo gestured. Naruto handed the scroll over, suppressing the instinct to flinch as chakra brushed across his skin. Danzo was scanning it, feeling for discrepancies.

"You're wounded."

"Minimal. I can resume field work tomorrow."

Danzo's eye narrowed. "Your delay wasn't authorized."

"I had to rebind the barrier to keep others out. It required a chakra exchange I didn't anticipate."

A beat passed in silence.

Then Danzo said flatly, "Dismissed. Surveillance work. No combat for 48 hours."

Naruto gave a short nod and turned to leave, but paused just before the threshold. "If anything else was buried under those ruins, I trust it'll be in more capable hands now."

He didn't wait for a reply, but felt the tension rise behind him. Danzo's silence had weight.

Inside his mind, Kurama's gravelly voice rumbled, "You keep poking the bear."

"Just making sure the bear knows I'm not dinner," Naruto replied.

Bura giggled faintly, voice like smoke curling around his consciousness. "Mm, your lies are getting sweeter. Careful, golden boy—keep this up and I might actually fall for you."

Naruto let himself grin.

Hiruzen's office smelled like ink and tobacco. The man behind the desk looked tired—not physically, but beneath the eyes, as if the weight of secrets had been piling up for years too long.

"You look like you've seen war," Hiruzen said.

"I saw something."

"Danzo?"

"Suspicious. But he bought it. Barely."

Hiruzen leaned back. "You're playing a dangerous game. Danzo doesn't leave loose ends. You're not above his suspicions."

Naruto's voice was low. "That's why I don't plan on staying under him forever."

There was a pause, just long enough for tension to settle into the room.

"Jiraiya's returning to the village," Hiruzen said. "He asked about you."

Naruto blinked. "...How does he even know who I am?"

A wry smile touched the Hokage's face. "Jiraiya's good at finding what he's not supposed to."

Naruto didn't like that. But he nodded.

He was learning. Nothing here played by the rules of the anime. That script was gone.

Back in his apartment, he collapsed on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Sealing tags littered the floor. His knuckles were still scraped from his earlier training. His body wanted sleep—but his mind was restless.

Bura appeared on the edge of the bed, wearing his hoodie like it belonged to her.

"You really going to keep pretending this doesn't excite you?" she teased. "Playing the double agent. Lying to the big bads. Flirting with death like a clingy ex?"

"You think everything's foreplay," he muttered.

She tilted her head. "Only the good stuff."

He rolled over. "Say your name already."

Her eyes glinted. "Say it first."

Naruto didn't answer.

She leaned closer, whispering, "You're getting close. One more push."

The next morning, he found Hinata on the practice field. She was sharper now—focused, less hesitant. Grace in her strikes, precision in her steps.

He waited until she finished before speaking. "You're getting stronger."

She gave a short bow. "We all have to."

"You and Sasuke been training together?"

Hinata's expression remained neutral, but something in her gaze flickered.

"She challenges me."

Naruto stepped closer. "You okay?"

"I'm not the one you need to worry about."

That made his stomach twist, but she wouldn't say more.

Later, he found Sasuke on the rooftop near the Academy. She stood alone, arms crossed, face turned toward the wind.

"You watching the kids or just brooding?"

She didn't turn. "Both."

"I saw the seal," Naruto said, casually sitting beside her. "When you fought Hinata."

Sasuke didn't answer immediately.

"I was born a girl," she said flatly. "My father… didn't want a girl. So he raised me as his heir."

Naruto froze.

In all his memories of the anime, of the canon timelines and expected story beats—this had never been a thing. Sasuke, the brooding genius, had always been a boy. Untouchable. Predictable.

But here…

Here she was.

Real.

Vulnerable.

And still deadly.

His first instinct was to speak—then he stopped himself.

Instead, he just said, "You didn't have to tell me."

"I know."

"I won't treat you any different."

She glanced at him. "I didn't think you would."

Naruto breathed in deep. He'd known this world wouldn't be the same. But this—this was the moment it truly hit.

"This isn't a stage play," he thought. "These are real people. Real lives. I can't just rely on memory."

"You're not alone," he said.

"I am. But thanks."

He didn't say anything more. Neither did she. But the silence felt like something new. Like trust.

Near the edge of the village, while checking a chakra thread trap he'd set days ago, Naruto felt the shift in the air before he saw him. A heavy chakra signature—old, weathered, and curious.

A man dropped from the trees. Tall. Muscled. White hair wild around his shoulders, and a red cloak billowing behind him.

"Yo!" the man said, grinning. "You must be Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto's hand hovered near a kunai pouch. "...Do I know you?"

The man chuckled. "Not yet. Name's Jiraiya. Toad Sage. Author. Legend."

He held up a small book like a badge of honor.

Naruto didn't relax. "Why are you looking for me?"

"Let's call it… a gut feeling."

Jiraiya's eyes studied him—too sharply for someone who played the fool. "You've got something brewing in you. Something ancient. And dangerous."

Naruto kept his voice flat. "You came all this way to tell me I'm weird?"

"I came to see if you're worth training."

There was a pause. Bura stirred inside Naruto's mind.

"He's got eyes like storms. Dangerous. But not hostile. Not yet."

Naruto gave a short nod. "Guess we'll see."

Jiraiya grinned. "I like your style."

The next few weeks passed in a blur.

Naruto trained deep in the forest with Bura. Every day, she grew more solid, her voice more distinct, her presence more real.

They sparred in silence. Meditated under waterfalls. Decoded fragments of the ancient scroll. He practiced shadowless movement, chakra molding, and whisper-casting old runes that bent the air when he spoke them.

At night, he would sit at the edge of the cliff, breathing in the silence.

Her name hovered just past his lips.

Always there.

Always just out of reach.

But not for long.

He would say it soon.

And when he did… everything would change.

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The night hung heavy and silent, but Naruto's mind buzzed like a swarm of restless bees. Sleep had long abandoned him, so he wandered out of his small room and toward the training grounds, the cool night air prickling his skin with a welcome chill. Moonlight filtered softly through the canopy, casting silver shadows across the ground.

He reached the pond—a quiet mirror nestled among ancient trees—and knelt at its edge. The water's surface shimmered faintly, reflecting the stars above.

Closing his eyes, Naruto focused inward, drawing chakra deep from his core to his eyes. When he opened them again, the world transformed.

His vision sharpened, but it was more than clarity—it was a whole new spectrum of perception.

His irises had melted away into a swirling cosmos of obsidian and silver. At the center, his pupil had changed into a jagged, crimson starburst that crackled with a subtle, electric pulse. Around it spun a delicate ring of pale-blue glyphs—intricate symbols constantly shifting and flowing like liquid light. The whites of his eyes had darkened to a smoky translucence, etched with shimmering silver veins that traced complex, circuit-like paths across the sclera, as if revealing the very map of chakra pathways within him.

Bura's voice whispered in his mind, silky and amused, "Mmm, quite the upgrade, Naru-chan. Like a constellation trapped in your eyes. Almost... hypnotic."

Kurama growled softly, a hint of grudging respect in his tone. "Those veins… they trace your chakra flow, boy. Not just seeing chakra—this is sensing it, predicting it. You're reading the world's currents like a river."

Naruto blinked slowly, staring back at his reflection in the pond. The starburst in his pupil pulsed gently, syncing with his heartbeat. The glyph ring spun in time with his breath—faster when his chest rose, slower when he exhaled.

Testing his newfound sight, Naruto focused on the pond itself. Through the dojutsu, the water's surface revealed hidden secrets: faint trails of chakra left by unseen insects, delicate seals etched beneath the stones along the shore, and subtle distortions in the air—chakra currents twisting and warping like invisible rivers.

He flexed his chakra control, willing the symbols to accelerate. The starburst flared, flickering like lightning caught in crystal, while the glyphs whirled faster, the silver veins glowing brighter.

"Careful not to overdo it," Bura teased, her tone laced with playful warning. "You don't want your eyes to turn into a fireworks display just yet."

Naruto smirked, then concentrated, slowing the rotation. The celestial dance inside his eyes quieted, shimmering gently like starlight reflected on still water.

Kurama chuckled, deep and low. "You've got power in those eyes. But it's more than power—it's awareness. Be ready; the world won't hide its secrets forever."

Leaning back, Naruto let the vision fade as his eyes returned to normal. His heart still thrummed with excitement—and a flicker of something else. Responsibility. This dojutsu was not just a gift. It was a key. A weapon. A burden.

Bura's voice softened, almost wistful, "Soon, you'll speak my name, and everything will change. But for now... enjoy the view."

Naruto smiled at the night sky, the promise of that unknown lingering like a whisper in the dark.

"Yeah..."

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To Be Continued...