Naruto: The Author and The Jinchūriki

[aizenDuchiha0]

Upto 10 Advance chapters available ahead of public @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

---

The Candlelight Sealing

Far to the West of Konoha

The night was cold, a biting wind sweeping through the desolate lands. Far from the familiar warmth and life of Konoha, Minato Namikaze stood with his back to the setting moon, a harsh contrast to the peace that had once blanketed his home. The village, the people, all were in danger of being destroyed by the very force that he had long known would be their greatest enemy—Kurama, the Nine-Tails Fox. But now, standing on this bleak, empty plain, Minato found himself more alone than ever before.

Beside him stood the woman who had once been his anchor, Kushina Uzumaki. Her vibrant red hair, the same color as the evening sunset, hung limp in the wind. She was weary, but still strong, as her chakra surged through the chains she summoned from the depths of her own life force. The Adamantite Sealing Chains, the legendary binding technique that her clan was known for, held Kurama in place. For now.

Minato held his breath as the enormous chakra of the Nine-Tails writhed before them, its immense power fighting against the restraints. The world around them seemed to tremble with the force of its fury. But even Kurama, as mighty as it was, could not break the chains that Kushina had summoned, at least not yet.

Kushina's face was pale, her body trembling with the strain of maintaining the seal. Her breathing was shallow, and Minato could see it clearly: the toll it was taking on her. "Kushina," he began, his voice soft but firm, "your life force is draining. You can't keep this up much longer."

Kushina's lips twisted into a bitter smile, a wisp of warmth fading in her eyes. "I know, Minato," she whispered, her voice breaking with the weight of her knowledge. "This was always going to happen. I knew it... even before we had Naruto. I knew that one day, this day would come."

Minato's heart tightened at the words, but he couldn't afford to show any weakness. Not now. He needed to be strong for her. For Naruto.

"We can't let it end like this," Minato said, stepping closer to her, his hand gently brushing against her trembling one. "Kushina, there's one last thing we can do."

Her eyes snapped to his. There was anger in them, an understandable rage at the cruel fate that had fallen upon them. "What are you talking about?" she demanded. "What are you suggesting, Minato?"

Minato swallowed hard, his throat tightening with the gravity of what he was about to say. "I want to seal Kurama in Naruto."

For a moment, Kushina said nothing. Her face drained of color, her hands tightening around the chains, causing them to pulse with power. "What?" she gasped. "You want to seal that monster in our son? Our baby?"

Minato's heart shattered at the pain in her voice. "I believe in him, Kushina. I believe Naruto can handle it. It's what Jiraiya-sensei's prophecy was about. He always thought it was me, but I think it could be our son." Minato's eyes locked with hers, his voice lowering. "I will seal the Yang part of Kurama in Naruto, and I will take the Yin part into myself."

Kushina's face twisted with disbelief and sorrow, her chakra chains flickering as her emotions surged. She looked at the helpless child in the cradle at her feet, tiny and vulnerable, unaware of the storm that was about to envelop his life. "I will not allow it," she snapped. "Naruto is just a baby! He doesn't even know what we're doing. He shouldn't have to bear this burden."

Minato stepped forward, his hand resting on her trembling shoulder. "I know, Kushina. I know this is hard. But we have no choice. We don't have much time left. The only way to keep Konoha safe, the only way to make sure Kurama doesn't destroy everything... is to make Naruto the new jinchūriki."

Her eyes welled up with unshed tears, her hands shaking in despair. "I won't let our son suffer the way I did," she whispered.

Minato's expression softened, his voice carrying a weight of unspeakable sorrow. "I don't want him to suffer either, Kushina. But this is the only way to protect him. To protect everyone."

A long silence followed, filled only by the distant howls of Kurama, who continued to struggle against the seals that bound it. The chains were holding, but Minato knew that they would not last forever. And as much as Kushina fought it, he could see in her eyes the inevitable truth: She understood. Deep down, she knew they had no other choice.

With a heavy heart, Kushina nodded, her shoulders slumping under the weight of their decision. "Fine. Do it," she whispered, her voice barely audible over the howls of Kurama.

As Minato moved to prepare the sealing, his mind raced. He had already thought of everything, planned it all. He would perform the Eight Trigrams Sealing Jutsu (Shiki Fūin) on Naruto, the forbidden seal, the one that had cost him so much to learn. The same seal that had been used on Kushina to bind Kurama inside her. The same seal that would ultimately cost him his life.

But it was the only way.

With careful hands, Minato placed Naruto into the cradle of the candlelight seal, a special place that would aid in the delicate balance required for the sealing. He could already feel the immense weight of Kurama's chakra pressing against him, the Nine-Tails' wrathful energy seeping into his skin. He took a deep breath, then began the seal.

Kushina, straining to maintain the Adamantite Chains, watched him with fearful eyes. But the moment the seal began to take shape, everything changed.

Kurama, sensing what Minato was attempting, roared in fury. Its massive form struggled against the chains, thrashing violently, seeking to break free. The chains trembled under the force of the beast's chakra, and Minato's heart raced as the extraction began.

The moment Minato placed his hands on the sealing array, Kurama's chakra lashed out. He could feel it—its malice, its anger, its hatred. And in that moment, he knew that everything they had fought for was now hanging by a thread.

Then, something unexpected happened.

---

Check out other works: Demon Slayer: Iron Requiem | Naruto: The White-eyed Demon

---

if you like the story, You can support me at patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

 

[aizenDuchiha0]

Upto 10 Advance chapters available ahead of public @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

---

A growl of pain echoed through the air as Kurama found a weakness in the Adamantite Seals. With a terrifying crack, the mighty beast managed to free one of its claws. It was too fast. It swiped at Kushina, aiming to end everything before Minato could complete the sealing.

Minato moved, too late.

Kushina's scream tore through the air as Kurama's claw impaled her, pushing through her chest with terrifying speed. Minato's eyes widened in horror as the blood spilled, darkening the earth beneath them. He didn't hesitate—he leaped forward, throwing himself in front of her. But it was too late.

Kurama's chakra was too much. The beast's rage too uncontrollable. Kushina's body was torn, and Minato, despite his best efforts, was struck as well. His body crumpled to the ground beside her, his soul beginning to tear away from the world as the final blow was struck.

And in the midst of this chaos, Naruto, innocent and unaware, began to cry.

Kushina's eyes, glazed with pain, lifted toward the baby, her heart breaking as she whispered a final, motherly prayer, "Naruto... you have to be strong. You have to be strong for us..." She tried to reach out, but her hand fell limp, her life force fading with the blood that poured from her wound.

Minato's gaze found hers, and in that final moment, he managed to speak, though his voice was barely above a whisper. "I love you, Kushina. I always will."

Naruto cried louder, the sound piercing the empty night, a call for help.

<Author's Room>

The house was quiet—eerily so. A strange silence filled the corners of my room, interrupted only by the ticking of the wall clock and the slow exhale of the night wind rustling past my window. I had drifted into sleep with a strange unease, yet nothing had prepared me for what came next.

A baby's cry.

Sharp. Piercing. Desperate.

It wasn't just a sound—I felt it. My skin crawled, and my chest tightened as though it had reached into my reality and curled around my ribs. At first, I thought it was a dream. Then, a hallucination. But the sound came again, and again, like a rhythmic chant of grief beyond this world.

I bolted up in bed, eyes wide, scanning the dim corners of my room. There was no child. No echo. No sound at all.

And yet, I closed my eyes again—driven by a strange compulsion—and that was when I saw them.

Naruto. Kushina. Minato. Kurama.

Not as characters. As real beings.

Minato stood bloodied, bearing the burden of a decision carved into legend. Kushina, her crimson hair splayed across the ground like spilled ink, was forcing the last dregs of her chakra into adamantine chains, binding Kurama in place. Naruto, small and crying with a grief too old for a newborn, lay in a faint candlelit cradle. And the demon fox—monumental, furious, magnificent—thrashed against the bindings, fueled by the threat of being split in two.

The scene unfolded as though I were inside it, as though a veil had lifted and fiction was no longer fiction. I could hear Kushina gasp, "I won't allow it, Minato! He's just a baby!" And Minato's sorrowful resolve: "He's our son. He is the child of prophecy… I believe in him."

Their voices weren't lines from a script. They were pleas, the last utterances of people caught between fate and choice.

And me? I was there. Watching.

No. Not just watching. I felt something stir within me. A memory. No—a delusion I had often entertained: that if fiction were real, I would be the one who shaped it. I would become its god.

Here it was. Naruto's world. Alive.

Real.

And I, somehow, connected to it.

A feverish thrill rushed through my veins. My heart pounded. I closed my eyes tighter and focused. If this was truly real, then I would shape it. I imagined the Gate of the Great God—the tori gate used to bind tailed beasts. I pictured it, sculpted every line in my mind. The color, the divine aura, the thrum of power.

Nothing happened.

Kurama raged. The chains strained. Naruto screamed.

I tried again. Imagining seals, techniques, words of power I had memorized from countless readings. Nothing. Not even a flicker of change. Not a shimmer of chakra, not a whisper of intervention.

The fox broke one chain. I saw the moment his massive claw lunged forward. Minato stepped in front of Kushina, but it wasn't enough. The claw pierced both of them. It stopped just short of Naruto's tiny face.

My heart raced—not from sorrow, but frustration. Here was a moment I had fantasized about. To be a god within fiction. And all I could do was watch. I wasn't reincarnated. I wasn't a hidden player. I was merely... tethered. Voiceless. Powerless.

Naruto screamed. Again.

And again.

The noise grated against my consciousness. I couldn't sleep. I couldn't think. His cry was raw and ceaseless—a sonorous reminder that I was nothing more than an observer. No different than before. Only now, the pain was real. His pain.

But my irritation rose, not out of empathy, but out of failure. I had dreamed of this moment. To experiment. To intervene. What good was a god if his voice echoed into a void? What purpose did power serve if it never arrived?

I watched as Minato activated the Eight Trigrams Sealing Jutsu. His hands moved swiftly, elegantly, as though even death could not hurry him. He whispered final blessings into Naruto's soul. Kushina, bloodied and barely alive, still found the strength to speak motherly advice.

Brush daily. Eat your vegetables. Make friends. Don't be picky.

Remember… we love you.

The words felt weightless and warm. But they weren't for me.

I tried to speak. I screamed inside my mind. "Minato! Kushina! I'm here! I see you! I know what's coming!"

But they couldn't hear me. Nothing I said mattered.

The fox's chakra settled. The Yin portion sealed inside Minato. The Yang half sealed into the crying child. The candlelight seal burned softly under Naruto's belly.

And still… Naruto cried.

---

Check out other works: Demon Slayer: Iron Requiem | Naruto: The White-eyed Demon

---

if you like the story, You can support me at patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

 

[EyeOfAbyss]

Very interesting, and with a lot of potential, since this is the first time I've seen this approach.

Honestly, Naruto is a practical prodigy, so a decent teacher or a few pointers here and there are more than enough to turn Naruto into a Kage-level monster before he turns 12.

Naruto:

• Mastered Kage Bushin in a few hours.

• Mastered Tree Walk at the same time as Sasuke.

• Mastered Water Walk instantly.

• Mastered Rasengan in a few weeks.

• Mastered Rasenshuriken in a few weeks.

• Mastered Sage Mode in a week.

• Went on to create Rasenshuriken variations on his first try in the War Arc, such as the Lava Rasenshuriken, Shukaku's Sealing Rasengan, etc.

Honestly, the best approach would be the carrot approach, offering information in exchange for Naruto reaching important or notable milestones. Mainly because the author only has 30 pages to influence the world of Naruto.

From what I remember, Naruto was quite depressed until he was 5 years old, until he made it his goal to become Hokage so that his existence would be recognized by the village as a person and not a monster.

The Shadow Clone seal is composed of only one hand seal that is not among the 12 standard hand seals, so teaching it to Naruto would be easy since it is just a "+".

It is better to direct Naruto when he is 4 years old, guiding his mindset to become an independent person who seeks strength so that the author reveals more information about himself and the world, and becoming Hokage does not bring Naruto any advantages and will only lead to an unhappy life putting the village above his family.

In fact, because the author is in the real world, he could give Naruto the information on how to perform the hand seals for the basic Academy jutsus, Tree Walking, Water Walking, Elemental Manipulation, etc. Due to Narutopedia.

 

[aizenDuchiha0]

Upto 10 Advance chapters available ahead of public @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

---

I ground my teeth. "Shut up," I whispered.

But Naruto wouldn't.

Something wasn't right. I was linked to this world, somehow. I could see it. Hear it. But I couldn't touch it. Couldn't bend it. Couldn't rewrite it. Not yet.

And that infuriated me.

I wasn't sympathetic. I wasn't emotional. This wasn't a moment of empathy. It was annoyance. Disruption. That child's sobbing cut into my thoughtslike a knife. It denied me sleep, control, serenity.

I tried to speak into the world. To reach Naruto. Or Minato. Or anyone. My voice felt thick, like screaming underwater. I knew what was happening—like a lucid dream where control is an illusion.

Hiruzen arrived, flanked by elite jōnin. They scooped up the child, wrapped him in a blanket stained with the blood of his legacy. But Naruto wouldn't stop crying. His tiny voice clawed into my reality, dragged across my eardrums like a jagged blade.

I slammed my eyes shut. Nothing worked. I covered my ears. Nothing.

Naruto wept.

And I?

I stared into the nothingness, cold sweat on my brow, gnawing on my own helplessness.

This wasn't a dream anymore. It wasn't playacting. I was connected to Naruto—somehow, inexplicably. I could see, hear, and feel him. But there was no magic word, no hidden seal, no whispered command that could grant me influence.

Just observation.

And irritation.

Finally, Naruto's sobs grew quiet. His energy was spent. He whimpered, a final plea echoing into silence

And in that silence, I collapsed into sleep once again, not from peace, but exhaustion. My dreams were bitter and heavy, tasting like ash.

I was supposed to be a god.

I was supposed to shape the world.

This wasn't about Naruto. Not for me. I didn't care about him.

I tested again.

I whispered, Open, willing the fabric of the world to respond.

Nothing.

I visualized a portal between our worlds—Shinrabanshō no Kekkai, a theoretical rift. I poured intent into it. Still nothing. I tried for hours, like a god trapped behind unbreakable glass.

And eventually, Naruto's energy gave out. He stopped crying. Just as suddenly, the connection blurred. My thoughts faded. My vision darkened.

And I finally slept.

Not because of peace.

But because exhaustion swallowed my frustration.

Morning came, but it felt meaningless. I sat on my bed, barely feeling the sun, wondering why the world dared to move forward while I remained powerless.

<The Morning>

That morning began like any other, or so I thought. The crust of sleep still clung to my eyes as I stumbled through the apartment, mechanically going through the rituals that kept me sane in a world I didn't care for. I brewed the bitter coffee I never finished, I opened the blinds that let in light I didn't need, and finally, I sat at my desk—the sacred altar of my mind's escapism.

My old, scarred laptop hummed to life like a dying beast, ready to receive the next chapter of my current project: Naruto: The White-Eyed Demon. It was a fanfic I wrote not for fame or praise, but because I could bend that world to my will in ways this one never allowed. I gave Neji the power he deserved. I rewrote fate as I saw fit. In that world, I was God.

But that morning, something was wrong.

There it was, sitting beside the keyboard like it had always belonged there: a book.

I don't read physical books. Haven't in years. They collect dust, take up space, and offer no control. But this one—this one was different. It had a black leather cover, cracked and matte, unmarked by title, author, or publisher. No barcodes. No identifiers. Just...there.

Curiosity, rare and poisonous, pulled at me. I touched it.

Cold.

I flipped it open. The pages were bone white, untouched. Thirty of them. Clean, fresh, meaningless.

Until the last.

On the final page, scrawled in immaculate ink, was a message. A preface. A prophecy. A confession.

You must have started seeing Naruto. The real one.

You must have tried everything in your imagination to control the world. Nothing worked.

That is because the world does not respond to thought. It responds to this.

This book.

The Rules:

1. You must write in this book to influence the Naruto world.

2. You are not the creator. You cannot will things into existence beyond logic.

3. There are only 30 pages. Use them with caution.

4. You cannot initiate conversation. Only Naruto's extreme emotions create a bridge (In the Initial Phases).

5. Your influence grows as Naruto's power grows.

6. You may observe the Naruto world through the Shingan.

7. The Shingan is always activate. Do not seek control without clarity.

8. Should Naruto die, your connection is severed.

9. The book is a relic. Destroy it, and you will lose everything.

The weight of those last words hit differently.

I closed the book, but its existence refused to vanish. My heart was racing, not with fear but with something darker. Elation. I had seen Naruto, hadn't I? I had heard his cries echoing in my head, interrupting my sleep, unraveling my dreams. I thought it was delusion, obsession, burnout from too many hours writing fanfiction.

But no. It was real.

Fiction was reality.

And I was tethered to it.

I fell back into my creaking desk chair, letting the ideas swirl. My hands trembled, not from dread, but from potential. I had tried to summon torii gates in my dreams. I had tried to speak words of command. None of it worked. Not until now.

My mind immediately danced through possibilities. Rewrite the Fourth Great War? Eliminate filler arcs? Make Naruto a prodigy from day one?

No. Too soon. Too powerful.

I turned back to the first page of the book. It was blank. Inviting. Hungry.

I didn't write yet. I needed to see. I needed to feel what was happening in his world now.

I closed my eyes.

---

Check out other works: Demon Slayer: Iron Requiem | Naruto: The White-eyed Demon

---

if you like the story, You can support me at patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

 

[aizenDuchiha0]

Appreciate the deep breakdown and you're absolutely right on multiple fronts. Naruto's a monster of practical learning. Give him the spark, and he'll torch the forest with it. That's partly why I'm walking a fine line with how much influence the reincarnated author-character can exert without breaking the pacing or stakes.

The carrot approach is exactly the angle I'm going for. Every "reveal" from the author is earned either through Naruto hitting a milestone or making a key emotional breakthrough. I don't want to dump too much too soon and risk killing the arc of growth.

On the technique side, I agree. The beauty of canon is that Naruto doesn't need years of lectures. Give him access, a goal, and one or two nudges and boom. If all goes well, the author's influence will feel like a scalpel, not a sledgehammer - subtle but world-changing by the time Naruto hits Genin age.

Very interesting, and with a lot of potential, since this is the first time I've seen this approach.

Honestly, Naruto is a practical prodigy, so a decent teacher or a few pointers here and there are more than enough to turn Naruto into a Kage-level monster before he turns 12.

Naruto:

• Mastered Kage Bushin in a few hours.

• Mastered Tree Walk at the same time as Sasuke.

• Mastered Water Walk instantly.

• Mastered Rasengan in a few weeks.

• Mastered Rasenshuriken in a few weeks.

• Mastered Sage Mode in a week.

• Went on to create Rasenshuriken variations on his first try in the War Arc, such as the Lava Rasenshuriken, Shukaku's Sealing Rasengan, etc.

Honestly, the best approach would be the carrot approach, offering information in exchange for Naruto reaching important or notable milestones. Mainly because the author only has 30 pages to influence the world of Naruto.

From what I remember, Naruto was quite depressed until he was 5 years old, until he made it his goal to become Hokage so that his existence would be recognized by the village as a person and not a monster.

The Shadow Clone seal is composed of only one hand seal that is not among the 12 standard hand seals, so teaching it to Naruto would be easy since it is just a "+".

It is better to direct Naruto when he is 4 years old, guiding his mindset to become an independent person who seeks strength so that the author reveals more information about himself and the world, and becoming Hokage does not bring Naruto any advantages and will only lead to an unhappy life putting the village above his family.

In fact, because the author is in the real world, he could give Naruto the information on how to perform the hand seals for the basic Academy jutsus, Tree Walking, Water Walking, Elemental Manipulation, etc. Due to Narutopedia.

Click to shrink...

Mainly because the author only has 30 pages to influence the world of Naruto.

Click to shrink...

That chapter was posted today, how did you read/know before?

 

[EyeOfAbyss]

That chapter was posted today, how did you read/know before?

Click to shrink...

Spacebattles. I couldn't comment there due to a Temp Ban, so I commented here.

 

[EyeOfAbyss]

Appreciate the deep breakdown and you're absolutely right on multiple fronts. Naruto's a monster of practical learning. Give him the spark, and he'll torch the forest with it. That's partly why I'm walking a fine line with how much influence the reincarnated author-character can exert without breaking the pacing or stakes.

The carrot approach is exactly the angle I'm going for. Every "reveal" from the author is earned either through Naruto hitting a milestone or making a key emotional breakthrough. I don't want to dump too much too soon and risk killing the arc of growth.

On the technique side, I agree. The beauty of canon is that Naruto doesn't

Click to shrink...

It would be fun for the author to convince Naruto to maximize the Academy's Basic Jutsus and take them to new levels with Naruto's talent.

For Henge:

• We know that a person can transform into other people, objects, and animals. Even applying Henge to something else, like Naruto applying the Kyuubi Henge to Gamabunta, and the Henge was capable of ripping trees from the ground with the construct of its tails, biting, scratching with its claws, and withstanding an incredible amount of damage.

• Tsunade's Henge is maintained 24/7 until she runs out of chakra or dies.

• Kawarimi is practically short-range teleportation in practice, considering ninjas use it to escape restraints or when trapped by switching places with objects, and Kage-level ninjas use Kawarimi against each other.

Maximizing chakra control is all Naruto needs, as he possesses a mountain of chakra, and perfect chakra control would allow him to create jutsus or modify them instantly.

Have you considered moving this story to the NSFW section? Feedback in the FSW section is practically dead, and everyone puts their stories in the NSFW section even if they don't have NSFW content.

The author could have Naruto adopt Rock Lee's type of training due to his endurance and regeneration, with Naruto replicating Tsunade's physical enhancement with perfect chakra control, and stack this with the multiplier of the 8 Gates. The 1st Gate gives a 5x multiplier and the 8th Gate a 100x multiplier.

Now that I think about it, this kind of story with someone like Sasuke after the Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre would be fun, with the author as an external entity feeding him the truth little by little while Sasuke would have no choice but to follow his guidance to become a powerful ninja and then discover the truth.

 

[aizenDuchiha0]

Have you considered moving this story to the NSFW section? Feedback in the FSW section is practically dead, and everyone puts their stories in the NSFW section even if they don't have NSFW content.

Click to shrink...

I will see if i can shift this story to NSFW section. I am pretty new to QQ idk much abt the happenings here. Thanks for pointing out. And no, i will never write NSFW. maybe some pure romance. I will leave NSFW to experts
I am just a newbie with unique idea with no time to write, i have 2 more unique stories which i have yet to write.

Now that I think about it, this kind of story with someone like Sasuke after the Night of the Uchiha Clan Massacre would be fun, with the author as an external entity feeding him the truth little by little while Sasuke would have no choice but to follow his guidance to become a powerful ninja and then discover the truth.

Click to shrink...

Having to control sasuke is pretty much easy with him turning into emo. it would be too monotonous as sasuke would listen to anything the author says in his greed for power.

I dont want to spoil, but i have an idea for what to do with sasuke.

 

[EyeOfAbyss]

Having to control sasuke is pretty much easy with him turning into emo. it would be too monotonous as sasuke would listen to anything the author says in his greed for power.

I dont want to spoil, but i have an idea for what to do with sasuke.

Click to shrink...

To be fair, Sasuke's situation is kind of messed up, even before Itachi's retcon as a good guy in Shippuden.

• At 7-8 years old, he witnessed every member of the Uchiha Clan killed down to the last man, woman, child, and baby, including the adorable aunt from the corner food stand.

• He saw the bodies of his dead parents.

• He discovered that it was his beloved older brother who murdered everyone.

• He was tortured by Itachi for three days straight in the Tsukiyomi, witnessing Itachi's perspective of him murdering every member of the Clan in a loop until his mind broke (and he awakened the Sharingan).

• He tries to understand why his brother did what he did, but Itachi just throws the "I did it to prove my power" line, then puts it back in Tsukyomi and leaves.

To be honest, I'm surprised Sasuke remained more or less stable until he was 12 and not a drooling, catatonic mess, and then there are the revelations of Shippuden that make everything even more fucked up for him.

In retrospect, after the series ended and people had a chance to revisit everything multiple times with the full context and discuss it, Konoha is pretty fucked up.

 

[aizenDuchiha0]

Upto 10 Advance chapters available ahead of public @ patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0

---

The Shingan opened.

Not physically, of course. There was no ocular glow or bleeding iris. Just sight beyond sight. Like slipping into lucid dreaming. But I wasn't dreaming. I was there.

Naruto was a baby again. A pink-cheeked bundle of raw life, returned to Konoha after the tragedy. Minato and Kushina were gone, sealed in death and chakra and myth. Hiruzen, ancient and worn, held Naruto as if he were both burden and treasure.

The child was placed in one of many cradles—nameless, faceless, one of dozens in the orphanage nursery.

Naruto cried.

And cried.

And kept crying.

It grated on me. A high-pitched siren of vulnerability. I winced. My Shingan wavered.

I didn't feel for him. He was annoying, loud, helpless. He wasn't the shinobi of legend. He was a noise in my mind. A disruption to my curiosity. My sleep.

And yet—when he cried, the tether pulled tighter. When he wailed, my mind surged with clarity. My fingers twitched to write. I opened the book again.

The page glowed faintly.

The rules were true.

Naruto's extreme emotions opened the channel.

I dipped a pen into ink, my hand shaking slightly. Not from nerves, but anticipation. The divine kind.

I wrote slowly:

Let the orphanage matron turn her head. Let her see Naruto, not as a burden, but as a silent challenge. Let her set him apart, not out of cruelty, but fear.

The ink sank in. The page did not tear. The words felt final.

I closed my eyes again.

The Shingan showed me the matron. Her head turned. Her eyes narrowed. Naruto's wailing subsided into whimpers, exhausted. Her gaze lingered longer on his cradle than the others. Not warmth. Not affection. Distance.

I smiled.

It worked.

I had nudged the world. Not reshaped it, not rewritten it. But touched it.

The tether was real.

And now I knew: the world wasn't a sandbox. It was a chessboard. Naruto was my rook, my bishop, my king-to-be. And I—I was the hand behind the veil.

For now.

But frustration returned quickly. I could only act when he cried, raged, felt deeply. I could not converse. Could not impose logic or strategy. I could only respond.

That was intolerable.

I wanted godhood, not commentary.

But I had thirty pages.

Thirty cracks in the dam.

Thirty windows to force open fate.

I would bide my time. I would learn the rhythms of Naruto's heart. I would provoke emotion if I had to. If pain opened the door, then let him hurt. If loss gave me leverage, then let him be alone.

This was no longer a fanfic.

This was authorship over reality.

And I had a book to fill.

That was weeks ago. Since then, I've watched. From this pathetic shell of a reality, I've looked through the eyes of Shingan. That accursed gift, a curse in gold.

A crimson cradle. Straw mat floors. The smell of antiseptic and neglect.

That was Naruto's world now.

After the sealing, after the blood and fury, after the fang of the demon beast plunged through both Minato and Kushina, the child was alone. The last thing Kushina did was whisper sweetness into his ear: brush your teeth, be kind, make friends, live strong. Nonsense. Mortals cling to sentiments in the face of entropy.

I watched him placed into the orphanage. The Hokage had done what he could: anonymity, a sealed record, a whisper to the caretakers to "be kind." But kindness is currency in scarce supply.

He cried. Day and night.

Not for food. Not for sleep. But for the warmth he remembered instinctively. The heartbeat of the woman who bore him. The voice of the man who died to protect him.

I listened to that cry echo in my mind through the Shingan. Piercing, shrill, maddening. At first, I was curious. Then, I was bored. Then I was angry.

"Shut up," I whispered, though he could not hear me. Not yet.

I opened the book. Page one, started to write in small letters.

"Dim the candlelight above Naruto's cradle by half. Let the shadows comfort him or scare him. I wish to see."

The candle flickered. A soft breath of wind, as if unseen fingers pinched its light. Shadows gathered. Naruto flinched.

It worked.

Not perfectly. Not instantly. But subtly. A nudge.

Like a god with a trembling hand reaching into the tides of another world. A ripple.

And so I experimented.

"Remove one toy from the cradle." "Cause a mouse to scurry across the room." "Make the blanket warmer."

Small things. I didn't care about Naruto. Not as a person. He was an avatar. A focus. A conduit. The louder he cried, the more intense his emotions, the clearer the Shingan's window became.

Sometimes I whispered observations aloud, imagining myself as a scientist in a great glass dome.

"Subject shows resilience despite abandonment. Subject responds to cold by curling into fetal position. Primitive defense. Instinctual."

The orphanage caretakers, pitiful beings, often ignored him. Once, I wrote:

"Have the caretaker forget Naruto's feeding for one hour."

He cried again. Loud. Anguished. The Shingan's vision surged in clarity. I saw the world through him—his blurred baby vision—light and shape, no form. I heard the rustle of robes. The distant bell from the village square. The low murmur of another baby being rocked, not him.

That night, I slept uneasily. Not from guilt. Guilt is for people who care. It was anticipation. Excitement.

What else could I do?

What else would he endure?

Month Two.

He had stopped crying for long intervals. The human body cannot cry forever. Exhaustion claims all.

He stared at the ceiling sometimes. Wide-eyed. Unblinking. I wondered if he saw the remnants of Kushina's chakra, sealed into him. Or if the beast within whispered dreams.

I wrote again:

"Cause the shadow of the fox to appear on the wall, for one heartbeat."

He blinked. Flinched. Began to wail. The vision through Shingan surged like a wave crashing onto shore.

Emotion. Pure and undiluted.

I tried to speak again.

"Naruto," I whispered.

But no reaction. Just a child's sobs. Words meant nothing yet.

The book glowed faintly. A lock symbol appeared near the bottom of the page. A warning:

Conversation unavailable: Emotional threshold not met.

How cruel. I would need him to break more, that is how Protagonists get stronger not by babysitting.

---

Check out other works: Demon Slayer: Iron Requiem | Naruto: The White-eyed Demon

---

if you like the story, You can support me at patreon.com/aizenDuchiha0