What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

# What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

## Chapter 1: The Awakening Legacy

Stars exploded into existence, galaxies spiraled into being, and worlds formed from nothing but pure thought. Naruto floated in a vast emptiness that somehow felt more like home than his bedroom in Konoha ever had. Golden light poured from his fingertips as he shaped nebulae with casual gestures, each movement creating new cosmic wonders.

"*You are remembering who you were, who you are*," whispered a voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere.

Naruto extended his hand toward a newly formed planet, watching life bloom across its surface in accelerated time. Civilizations rose and fell in the blink of an eye, their hopes and dreams flashing like fireflies in the cosmic night.

"Who am I?" he asked the void.

"*Veldanava*," the universe answered. "*The Star King Dragon. The Creator of All.*"

The dream shattered like glass as Naruto bolted upright in bed, sweat drenching his sheets despite the cool October air streaming through his half-open window. His heart hammered against his ribs as fragments of the dream clung to his consciousness – the feeling of limitless power, the weight of creation in his hands, the profound loneliness of being the only one of his kind.

"Again," he muttered, raking fingers through messy golden hair. "That's the third time this week."

Sunlight spilled across his bedroom floor, illuminating scrolls and training gear scattered about his room. Today marked his sixteenth birthday, though the dreams had been intensifying for months. Each night they grew more vivid, more real.

A sharp knock rattled his door. "Naruto! Are you planning to sleep until noon on your birthday?" Naruko's voice pierced through the wood, bright and insistent as always. "Mom's making your favorite breakfast, and Dad's actually taking the morning off from Hokage duties!"

"Coming!" Naruto called back, swinging his legs over the side of the bed. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and froze.

Golden lines like liquid sunlight traced intricate patterns across his bare chest and arms, pulsing with an inner light that seemed to bend reality around them. He blinked, and they vanished, sinking beneath his skin as though they'd never existed.

"What the hell..." he whispered, running fingers over now-normal skin.

"Naruto, seriously! The food's getting cold!" Naruko pounded the door again.

"I said I'm coming!" He pulled on his favorite orange and black jacket, shaking off the remnants of both dream and hallucination. Yet as he reached for the doorknob, a whisper brushed against his consciousness.

"*Remember who you are*."

* * *

The Namikaze-Uzumaki household buzzed with energy. Kushina's long red hair whipped around as she spun between stove and table, loading plates with stacks of pancakes drizzled with syrup and topped with fresh berries. Minato, the Fourth Hokage, had shed his official robes for the morning, his bright blue eyes—so like Naruto's own—crinkling with amusement as he watched his wife's controlled chaos.

"Happy birthday, son!" Minato rose to clap Naruto on the shoulder as he entered the kitchen. "Sixteen years. Hard to believe."

"Thanks, Dad." Naruto grinned, inhaling the delicious aroma of his mother's cooking. For a moment, the strange dreams and golden markings seemed distant and unimportant.

Naruko tackled him from behind, wrapping her arms around his neck. Her blonde pigtails brushed his cheeks as she squeezed. "Happy birthday, big brother! Even if it's only by five minutes."

"Five minutes is still five minutes," he laughed, disentangling himself. "I'll always be the older, wiser twin."

Kushina planted a kiss on his forehead. "Wiser? That's debatable. Now sit down and eat before it gets cold."

As they settled around the table, Naruto couldn't help noticing the occasional concerned glances his parents exchanged. When Kushina placed a particularly massive stack of pancakes in front of him, he seized the opportunity.

"Something wrong? You two keep looking at each other like you've got a secret."

Minato paused, chopsticks halfway to his mouth. "You've been... talking in your sleep lately. Mumbling things."

"Things about... creating worlds," Kushina added, her voice carefully neutral. "And sometimes you speak in a language none of us recognize."

Naruto's appetite suddenly vanished. He pushed a piece of pancake around his plate, avoiding their eyes. "Just weird dreams. Nothing to worry about."

"You mentioned hearing voices yesterday," Naruko chimed in, her usually mischievous expression uncharacteristically serious. "After training with Kakashi-sensei."

"It's just the stress of upcoming missions," Naruto deflected, forcing a smile. "Besides, aren't teenage ninja supposed to be a little crazy? Comes with the territory."

Minato's gaze was penetrating. "Naruto, if something's happening—"

"I'm fine, Dad. Really." He shoveled food into his mouth to avoid further questions. "These pancakes are amazing, Mom."

Kushina's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'll make more if you want."

Later, as Naruto helped clear the table, he caught his mother staring into empty space, one hand unconsciously resting over her stomach—over the seal that contained Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox.

"Mom? Everything okay?"

She startled slightly. "Yes, of course. Just thinking." She hesitated, then asked, "Has... has Kurama ever spoken to you? Through your connection with me?"

The question caught him off guard. Though he'd grown up knowing his mother was Kurama's jinchūriki, the Fox had never shown any interest in communicating with him. "No. Why?"

Kushina turned to the sink, scrubbing a plate with unnecessary force. "No reason. I just wondered." Her knuckles whitened around the sponge. "He's been unusually quiet lately. Especially when I mention you."

Naruto felt a chill despite the warm kitchen. "Maybe he just doesn't like me," he joked weakly.

"No," Kushina murmured. "I think it might be the opposite."

* * *

Training Ground Three echoed with the clash of kunai and the thud of fists against training posts. Naruto and Naruko had been sparring for over an hour, their movements a blur of orange, black, and yellow against the autumn landscape. Their fighting styles complemented each other perfectly—where Naruko was all flash and improvisation, Naruto moved with precision and unexpected bursts of creativity.

"Getting slow, brother!" Naruko taunted, ducking under his roundhouse kick and sweeping at his ankles. "Special treatment from Mom and Dad making you soft?"

Naruto flipped backward, landing gracefully on the side of a tree. "I'm just getting warmed up, little sister."

He launched a barrage of shuriken, forcing her to deflect with her kunai. In the split second she was occupied, he created three shadow clones that surrounded her from different angles.

"Shadow clones? Boring!" She grinned, forming hand signs with lightning speed. "Wind Style: Gust Blade!"

A cutting wind sliced through all three clones, dispersing them into puffs of smoke. She spun, ready to face the real Naruto, only to find the clearing empty.

"Where—"

"Below you," came his voice as hands burst from the earth, grabbing her ankles.

Before he could complete the Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu, Naruko substituted herself with a log, reappearing on a high branch.

"Too predictable! Kakashi-sensei used that same move on Sasuke years ago." She formed more hand signs. "Water Style: Raging—"

A tremendous crack interrupted her as the massive branch beneath her feet suddenly splintered. Naruko's eyes widened in shock as the enormous limb gave way.

"Naruko!" Naruto shouted, his body moving before his mind could process what was happening.

Time seemed to slow. Naruko was falling, thirty feet above jagged rocks. She was attempting to twist in midair to land safely, but her position was all wrong. Naruto wasn't close enough to catch her. No substitution jutsu would reach her in time.

"*Protect her*," whispered the voice in his mind.

Heat surged through Naruto's body, pooling in his chest before rushing down his arms. Golden energy erupted from his outstretched hands, enveloping Naruko in a translucent bubble of light. Her descent slowed instantly, as though she were floating in water rather than air. She hung suspended for a heartbeat before the energy gently lowered her to the ground, dissipating once her feet touched the earth.

Naruko stared at her brother, mouth agape. "What... what was that?"

Naruto looked down at his hands, which still glowed faintly with golden light. The mysterious energy flowed through his veins like liquid sunlight, both familiar and foreign. "I don't know."

From her hiding place at the edge of the training ground, Hinata Hyuga pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle her gasp. She had come to wish Naruto happy birthday, carrying a small, carefully wrapped gift. But what she had just witnessed had rooted her to the spot.

It wasn't just the golden shield that had protected Naruko. For a fleeting instant, when Naruto had reached out, his eyes had changed. The familiar blue had shifted to something impossible—cosmic voids filled with stars, galaxies swirling in infinite patterns. Eyes that had seen the birth of universes.

As quickly as they'd appeared, they had returned to normal. But Hinata knew what she'd seen, and it sent a shiver of both fear and wonder down her spine.

* * *

Evening descended on Konoha in a tapestry of amber and purple. Naruto sat on the roof of his home, knees drawn to his chest as he stared at the emerging stars. The events of the afternoon replayed in his mind: the golden shield, the surge of power, the shocked expression on his sister's face.

The roof tiles shifted as someone climbed up behind him. He didn't need to turn to know it was Naruko.

"You gonna hide up here all night?" she asked, settling beside him. "Mom's worried. She says you hardly touched dinner."

"I'm not hiding. I'm thinking."

"Dangerous activity." She nudged his shoulder.

Naruto didn't smile. "Something's happening to me, Naruko. Something I don't understand."

She was quiet for a long moment, her usual boisterousness subdued. "The dreams? The voices?"

"And now this." He held up his hand, trying to recapture the golden energy. Nothing happened. "Whatever I did today... it felt like I'd done it a thousand times before. Like muscle memory, but for something I've never learned."

Naruko hugged her knees to her chest, mirroring his posture. "When we were about five," she said slowly, "you told me you remembered making the stars. I thought it was just a game."

"I don't remember that."

"Mom and Dad got really weird about it. That's when they first took you to see Inoichi Yamanaka—told everyone it was just a routine checkup."

Naruto turned to stare at her. "They had a Yamanaka look into my mind? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

She shrugged. "I forgot about it until recently. But last week, when you started talking about those dreams..." Her voice trailed off.

"What?" he pressed.

Naruko bit her lip. "The night we were born—during the Nine-Tails attack—something happened that nobody talks about. Something that scared Kurama so badly he broke free from that masked man's control and voluntarily sealed himself back into Mom."

Naruto felt his pulse quicken. "How do you know this?"

"I overheard Dad talking to Jiraiya last year. He said Kurama looked at you and just... freaked out. Started backing away, calling you..." She hesitated.

"Calling me what?"

"'The Creator.'" Naruko met his eyes. "Naruto, what if your dreams aren't just dreams? What if they're memories?"

A cool breeze swept across the rooftop, carrying the scent of autumn leaves and distant rain. In the silence that followed, neither twin noticed the figure crouched in the shadows of a nearby chimney—Izumi Uchiha, Sasuke's older sister, who had come to deliver a message from the Hokage.

Her Sharingan eyes narrowed as she processed what she'd heard. The Creator? What could that possibly mean? And why would the Nine-Tailed Fox, one of the most powerful beings in existence, fear a newborn baby?

As the twins continued their hushed conversation under the stars, Izumi slipped away, her mind racing with questions. Whatever secret Naruto Namikaze carried, it was far greater than anyone in Konoha had imagined.

And far more dangerous.

# What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

## Chapter 2: Whispers of Divinity

Mist clung to the shoreline of the Land of Water like spectral fingers, swallowing the horizon in its ghostly embrace. The small boat cut through the fog, its wooden hull slicing the glassy surface with barely a whisper. Team 7 sat in tense silence as their navigator guided them through the treacherous hidden reefs that had claimed countless unwary vessels.

"Everyone stay alert," Kakashi murmured, his visible eye scanning the impenetrable wall of white that surrounded them. "We're approaching Mizugakure's outer territory."

Naruto sat at the bow, one hand trailing through the cool water. Ripples spread from his fingers, oddly luminescent in the murky light. Since his birthday three weeks ago, the strange occurrences had only intensified—objects moving when his emotions flared, dreams so vivid he woke exhausted, as though he'd lived entire lifetimes while sleeping.

"Hey." Sasuke's voice snapped him from his reverie. The Uchiha nodded toward Naruto's hand. "The water's glowing."

Naruto yanked his fingers from the sea, heart hammering. A faint golden trail lingered in the waves before fading.

"You okay?" Sasuke asked, uncharacteristic concern flashing across his usually stoic features.

"Fine." Naruto forced a smile. "Just thinking about the mission."

Their assignment seemed simple enough—deliver a peace accord to the newly-appointed Mizukage and establish diplomatic relations strained since the Bloody Mist era. But nothing about this mission felt routine. From the moment they'd departed Konoha, Naruto had sensed something pulling him toward the Land of Water, like a hook lodged beneath his sternum.

"Land ho!" the navigator called, his weathered face breaking into a gap-toothed grin as a jagged coastline materialized through the fog. "Welcome to Mizugakure, home of the hidden temples and the worst damn weather in the Five Nations!"

Sakura leaned over the side, peering at the mist-shrouded cliffs. "I can barely see anything. How are we supposed to find our contact?"

"They'll find us," Kakashi replied, tucking away his ever-present orange book. "The Mizukage's guards are exceptionally skilled at tracking visitors. No one enters their territory unannounced."

As if summoned by his words, silent figures materialized on the dock—five masked shinobi wearing the distinctive striped uniforms of Mist ANBU. Their porcelain masks gleamed like bleached bone in the diffuse light.

"That was fast," Naruko whispered, fingers instinctively brushing her kunai pouch.

"Too fast," Sasuke agreed, dark eyes narrowing. "They were waiting for us."

The boat bumped gently against the wooden dock. Before anyone could move, one of the masked figures stepped forward, bowing formally.

"Welcome, emissaries of Konoha." A woman's voice, cool and measured, emerged from behind the painted mask. "The Mizukage awaits your arrival. But first, there is a... detour we must make."

Kakashi's posture stiffened. "A detour wasn't mentioned in our mission parameters."

The masked woman tilted her head. "The Temple of Drowning Stars has specifically requested the presence of..." She paused, her mask turning deliberately toward Naruto. "The golden one."

A chill raced down Naruto's spine. How could they possibly know?

"What temple?" Sakura demanded, stepping protectively closer to Naruto. "And why Naruto specifically?"

"That is not for us to say." The ANBU straightened. "We merely convey the message: The Guardian of the Temple sent word upon your crossing into our waters. She insists on meeting with him before any diplomatic proceedings commence."

Naruto felt the eyes of his teammates boring into him. "I've never been to the Land of Water before," he said carefully. "I don't know any temple guardians."

"Nevertheless, she knows you." The woman's voice carried an unsettling finality. "And the Mizukage has acquiesced to the request. It is... unusual, but we do not deny the Temple."

Kakashi exchanged a long look with Naruto before nodding curtly. "We'll accompany our teammate to this temple, then. Lead the way."

The ANBU escort guided them inland, along narrow paths that wound through misty valleys and over swift, silent streams. The deeper they traveled, the thicker the vegetation grew—massive ferns unfurling beneath ancient trees draped in hanging moss.

"This place feels ancient," Hinata murmured, walking close beside Naruto. Her pale eyes surveyed their surroundings with unease. "My Byakugan can't penetrate the mist fully. It's as if it's saturated with chakra."

"Natural energy," Naruto replied without thinking. "This forest is alive with it."

Hinata blinked at him in surprise. "How do you know that?"

Before he could respond, the path opened into a staggering vista. Below them stretched a vast lake, perfectly circular, its surface mirror-smooth despite the breeze rustling the surrounding trees. In the center of the lake stood a stone temple, rising from the water as though grown from the depths rather than built. Seven concentric rings of pillars surrounded a central dome, each ring joined by delicate arching bridges.

"The Temple of Drowning Stars," their escort announced. "The oldest structure in the Land of Water, predating even the founding of the Hidden Villages."

"It's beautiful," Sakura breathed.

Sasuke squinted at the structure. "Those aren't natural materials. That stone... it almost looks like solidified chakra."

One of the ANBU chuckled behind his mask. "Very perceptive, Uchiha. The temple is said to have been raised from the depths by the Star King Dragon himself, in the days when gods still walked among mortals."

"Star King Dragon?" Naruko echoed, shooting Naruto a quick, significant glance.

"An ancient deity," the female ANBU explained. "The Creator of All, who once took mortal form to better understand his creation. Or so the legends claim."

Naruto's heart thundered in his chest. The words echoed those from his dreams, resonating with a truth he couldn't explain.

"Look!" Hinata gasped, pointing toward the temple.

A slender figure emerged from the central dome, gliding across the water's surface with effortless grace. Long, dark hair streamed behind her like ink in water, and even at a distance, they could see the glimmer of her ceremonial robes—pale blue silk embroidered with silver constellations.

"The Guardian approaches," whispered their escort, dropping immediately to one knee. The other ANBU followed suit.

Naruko leaned close to her brother. "Is that—"

"Haku," Naruto confirmed, instantly recognizing the figure despite the years and the distance. The former tool of Zabuza, the ice-wielder they'd encountered on their very first C-rank mission—now transformed into something ethereal and commanding.

Haku stopped several yards from the shore, standing atop the water with perfect poise. Her eyes—a warm brown that Naruto remembered—swept over the group before locking onto him with startling intensity.

"Naruto Uzumaki," she called, her voice carrying clearly across the water. "You have returned."

Confusion flickered across his face. "Returned? I've never been here before."

A smile touched Haku's lips. "Not in this life, perhaps." She extended one delicate hand. "Come. The temple has waited lifetimes for you."

Kakashi stepped forward. "Our mission requires all of us to proceed together to—"

"The temple requests only him," Haku interrupted gently but firmly. "The rest may wait here. He will be safe. I give you my word."

Naruto felt the invisible pull in his chest strengthen, tugging him toward the temple with an urgency he couldn't ignore. "It's okay, Kakashi-sensei. I'll go."

"Naruto!" Sakura protested.

"I don't like this," Sasuke muttered.

But Naruto was already moving, stepping onto the lake's surface as naturally as breathing. The water beneath his feet felt strange—not solid like when using chakra control, but supportive, as though the lake itself recognized and welcomed him.

He approached Haku, struck by the changes in her. No longer the fragile-looking boy he'd once mistaken her for, she now radiated a serene power, her features refined and graceful.

"You've changed," he said when they stood face-to-face.

"As have you." Her eyes studied him with uncomfortable perception. "Though perhaps 'revealed' would be more accurate than 'changed.'"

She turned, gesturing toward the temple. Together they walked across the water, crossing the first of the stone bridges. With each step closer to the central dome, Naruto felt a strange vibration building in his bones, a harmonious resonance like striking a perfect chord.

"After our encounter in the Land of Waves," Haku said quietly, "I wandered for many months, lost without purpose after Zabuza's survival and decision to pursue a different path. My journey eventually led me here, to this ancient place that called to my blood."

"Your blood?"

She nodded. "My mother's lineage, unknown even to me, traced back to the original caretakers of this temple. When I first set foot on these grounds, the waters recognized me." A soft smile graced her lips. "Much as they recognize you now, though for entirely different reasons."

They passed through the final ring of pillars, approaching the central dome. Up close, Naruto could see that what looked like stone was actually crystallized energy—translucent in places, revealing intricate patterns flowing within like frozen lightning.

"What is this place, really?" he asked, voice hushed in the temple's presence.

"A waiting place," Haku answered enigmatically. "A memory keeper. A beacon." She paused before a set of massive doors inscribed with spiraling patterns. "And now, a witness."

She pressed her palms against the doors, which swung inward without a sound. Cool, blue-tinged light spilled outward, illuminating their faces.

"Enter," she whispered. "They've waited so long."

Naruto stepped through the doorway into a vast circular chamber. The domed ceiling arched high overhead, its interior surface a perfect map of the night sky, stars glimmering like embedded diamonds. Water flowed in channels along the periphery of the room, bubbling from unseen springs. At the center stood a raised dais, upon which sat an ancient figure wrapped in robes of midnight blue.

The Elder's face was a web of deep wrinkles, skin translucent with age, yet her eyes shone with startling clarity—irises the color of crushed opals, pupils like pinpricks of darkness.

"Come closer, young one," she called, her voice surprisingly strong. "Let these old eyes see what has returned to our world."

Naruto approached cautiously, each step echoing on the crystal floor. As he neared the dais, something remarkable happened—the inscriptions carved into the floor and walls began to glow, pulsing with golden light that matched the rhythm of his heartbeat.

The Elder's breath caught. "The temple recognizes its creator," she whispered, eyes widening. "After all these eons..."

"I didn't create this," Naruto protested, alarmed by the intensifying light. "I've never been here before."

"Not as Naruto Uzumaki," the Elder agreed. "But as Veldanava, the Star King Dragon, the Creator of All? Yes, this place knows you." She raised gnarled fingers toward him. "May I?"

Hesitantly, he nodded.

Her cool fingers pressed against his forehead. The contact sent a jolt through his system—not painful, but shocking in its intensity. Images flashed behind his eyes: his hands (not his hands, massive and scaled and glowing) raising islands from the sea, fingers tracing patterns in reality that hardened into temples, breathing life into the first guardians who would watch over his sacred places.

"You do not yet remember fully," the Elder said, withdrawing her touch. "But it stirs within you. The ancient power awakens."

Naruto staggered slightly, overwhelmed. "Why now? Why me?"

"Balance shifts," she replied cryptically. "Darkness gathers. Creation remembers its master." She turned to Haku, who had knelt at the edge of the dais. "Guardian, you have found him as foretold. Your task evolves."

Haku bowed her head. "I understand, Elder."

"Wait," Naruto interjected. "What task? What's happening here?"

The Elder's opalescent eyes fixed on him with unsettling intensity. "When the Creator chose to be reborn as mortal, fragments of his consciousness were scattered for safekeeping. This temple houses one such fragment—a memory crystal of immense power." Her withered hand gestured to a small alcove behind her, where a crystal the size of a fist pulsed with golden light. "It has waited for your return, to be restored to its rightful vessel."

Naruto's gaze locked on the crystal, feeling an immediate connection—like recognizing a piece of himself he hadn't known was missing.

"If I am who you say," he said carefully, "why don't I remember? Why live as a human at all?"

A smile crinkled the Elder's ancient face. "Even gods can grow lonely, child. Even creators can forget the joy of discovery." She lifted a hand toward the crystal. "Would you reclaim this piece of yourself? Not all—you are not ready for that burden—but enough to begin understanding?"

Something deep inside him responded to her words, a resonance that couldn't be denied. Almost without conscious decision, Naruto found himself stepping forward, hand outstretched toward the glowing crystal.

The moment his fingers touched its surface, the world exploded into light.

* * *

Outside the temple, tension grew with each passing hour. Kakashi paced the shoreline, visible eye darting repeatedly to the central dome where Naruto had disappeared.

"He's been in there too long," Sasuke growled, arms crossed tightly over his chest.

"Three hours and seventeen minutes," Hinata confirmed, her Byakugan activated futilely against the temple's strange energy. "I can't see anything inside."

Naruko sat apart from the others, unusually quiet. When Sakura approached, she startled visibly.

"Hey," Sakura said gently. "You okay? You seem worried about Naruto."

Naruko's blue eyes, so like her brother's, clouded with unspoken concern. "Something's happening to him, Sakura. Something big. And I don't think any of us are prepared for what it means."

Before Sakura could question her further, a pulse of golden light erupted from the temple dome, so bright it momentarily turned the misty afternoon to noon. The shockwave rippled across the lake's surface, sending concentric circles racing outward.

"Naruto!" Hinata gasped, leaping to her feet.

The ANBU guards, who had maintained a respectful distance, suddenly tensed, hands moving to weapons. "That energy," the female leader murmured. "Impossible..."

Kakashi was already racing across the water's surface, followed closely by Naruto's teammates. They had barely reached the first ring of pillars when two figures emerged from the central dome—Haku, supporting a dazed-looking Naruto.

"What happened?" Kakashi demanded, reaching for his student.

"He has reclaimed a fragment," Haku said, her voice reverent. "The first step on a long journey."

Naruto blinked slowly, his eyes gradually focusing on the concerned faces surrounding him. "I'm okay," he managed, though his voice sounded distant. "Just... remembering."

"Remembering what?" Sakura asked, medic instincts kicking in as she checked his pulse.

Naruto's gaze drifted skyward, to the mist-shrouded heavens. "Starlight," he whispered. "The sound of worlds being born."

Hinata slipped under his other arm, supporting him opposite Haku. "We should get him back to shore. He needs rest."

"I'm coming with you," Haku announced suddenly.

Kakashi's eye narrowed. "Coming with us?"

"To Konoha," Haku clarified. "My duty is now bound to him." She gestured to her ceremonial robes, where a small golden emblem now gleamed over her heart—a spiraling star pattern identical to the markings that had appeared on Naruto's skin. "The Elder has released me from temple service to fulfill a greater purpose."

"And what purpose is that?" Sasuke demanded.

Haku's serene expression never wavered. "To help the Creator remember who he is, before those who fear his awakening can destroy him."

* * *

The journey back from the Mizukage's palace was unnervingly quiet. The diplomatic mission had proceeded smoothly—almost too smoothly, as if the Mizukage had been eager to see them depart after learning of the incident at the temple. Haku traveled with them now, her few possessions packed in a small bag, her temple robes exchanged for simple traveling clothes that did nothing to diminish her elegant bearing.

Naruto walked at the front of the group, lost in thought. Snippets of memory—or were they dreams?—flickered through his mind like fragments of a shattered mirror slowly reassembling. Stars. Dragons. A throne of cosmic energy. Loneliness so profound it had driven him to sacrifice godhood for mortality.

"You're quiet," Naruko said, falling into step beside him. "That crystal did something to you."

He glanced at his twin, wondering how much to share. "It was like... finding a piece of a puzzle I didn't know I was solving. I saw things, Naruko. Felt things."

"Things that made you Veldanava?"

The name sent a shiver through him. "Maybe. I don't know yet. But it feels true, somehow."

Behind them, Hinata watched their hushed conversation with growing concern. Since the temple, her Byakugan had begun perceiving something extraordinary around Naruto—a golden aura that pulsed with cosmic energy, visible only in flashes at the edge of her enhanced vision. Whatever had happened in that temple had accelerated the changes in him.

The path narrowed as they entered a densely wooded area, forcing them to walk single file. Kakashi took point, with Naruto and Naruko behind him, followed by Hinata, Sakura, and Sasuke, with Haku bringing up the rear.

Hinata activated her Byakugan briefly to scan the surrounding forest, a precaution she'd taken regularly since they entered this stretch of territory known for bandit activity. This time, her breath caught.

"Kakashi-sensei," she called softly. "We're not alone."

The silver-haired jonin didn't break stride, but his posture shifted subtly. "How many?"

"Twelve," Hinata replied, her doujutsu tracking heat signatures through the trees. "Surrounding us in a standard ambush formation. Chakra signatures suggest chunin level or higher."

Kakashi gave a nearly imperceptible nod. "Everyone stay alert. Defensive formation beta."

The team smoothly adjusted their positions, moving Haku to the center as they continued forward. Minutes passed in tense silence, each step carrying them deeper into the obvious trap.

"Why wait?" Sasuke muttered. "They know we've detected them."

"They're herding us," Kakashi replied quietly. "There's a clearing ahead—more open space for them to maneuver."

The trees thinned, revealing a small meadow dappled with afternoon sunlight. Kakashi halted at its edge, visible eye scanning the seemingly peaceful scene.

"No choice but forward," he decided. "Stay tight."

They had barely taken three steps into the clearing when the attack came—not from the surrounding trees, but from below. The earth erupted beneath their feet as Hidden Stone ninja burst from underground tunnels, the surprise attack momentarily scattering the Konoha team.

"Ambush!" Kakashi shouted, already engaging two attackers with a lightning-enhanced kunai.

Chaos erupted as the remaining attackers emerged from the forest. Steel clashed against steel, jutsu flared in brilliant displays of elemental fury. Sasuke's fireball technique illuminated the clearing, driving back three attackers. Sakura's chakra-enhanced fists shattered the ground, destabilizing another opponent's footing. Naruko's shadow clones created momentary confusion, while Haku's ice mirrors materialized to deflect a barrage of shuriken aimed at the group.

Naruto found himself facing a massively built man wielding a war hammer imbued with Earth chakra. Each swing created shockwaves that cracked the ground.

"The golden one," the attacker grunted, his eyes gleaming with malice. "You're worth quite a bounty alive."

Naruto dodged another devastating swing. "Who sent you? What do you know about me?"

The man's only answer was another attack, this one catching Naruto with a glancing blow that sent him tumbling across the meadow. Pain blossomed along his ribs—at least one was cracked.

"Naruto!" Hinata's voice cut through the chaos. She appeared at his side in an instant, Gentle Fist stance ready as she faced his attacker. "Stay back!"

The hammer-wielder laughed. "A Hyuga protecting the prize? Bonus payment."

He charged, weapon raised high. Hinata's hands blurred as she struck at his chakra points, her precision momentarily staggering the larger man. But a second attacker appeared from her blind spot, blade flashing toward her exposed back.

"Hinata, behind you!" Naruto shouted, lunging forward despite his injured ribs.

She spun, too late to fully avoid the strike. The blade slashed across her shoulder, drawing a ribbon of crimson. Hinata stumbled, momentarily vulnerable as both attackers converged.

Time seemed to slow for Naruto. Hinata's blood spattered the grass, each droplet suspended in his perception like rubies catching sunlight. Her face, contorted in pain yet still determined as she tried to regain her stance. The gleaming weapons descending toward her.

Something snapped inside him. Not broken—awakened.

"*ENOUGH!*" The word tore from his throat, resonating with power that didn't belong to any human voice.

Heat surged through his body, golden light erupting from his skin. Scales—iridescent and gleaming like polished armor—materialized along his arms and neck, catching the sunlight in prismatic bursts. His eyes blazed with inner stars, galaxies spinning in their depths.

The attackers faltered, weapons dropping slightly as they stared in shock.

"What the hell—" the hammer-wielder began.

Naruto moved, faster than mortal eyes could track. One moment he stood beside Hinata, the next he materialized between the attackers. No jutsu, no hand signs—just pure, impossible speed.

His hands shot out, gripping each attacker by the throat—not squeezing, merely holding. Golden energy flowed from his fingertips, enveloping the men in luminous cocoons.

"You will not harm her," he stated, voice layered with harmonics that seemed to vibrate in the bones of everyone present. "You will not harm any who stand with me."

The men's faces registered terror as their weapons disintegrated into motes of light, armor dissolving like snow in sunlight. The remaining attackers around the clearing froze, witnessing the impossible transformation.

"N-Naruto?" Hinata whispered, pale eyes wide with wonder and fear.

He turned to her, still holding the immobilized attackers. The rage that had triggered his transformation softened at the sight of her injured form. With a casual gesture, he released the men, who collapsed unconscious to the ground, unharmed but thoroughly neutralized.

Kneeling beside Hinata, Naruto gently placed his hand over her wounded shoulder. "Forgive me," he murmured, the double-toned voice gradually fading back to his normal timbre. "I should have protected you better."

Golden light spilled from his palm onto her injury. The slashed flesh knit together before their eyes, leaving unblemished skin where the grievous wound had been moments before.

Hinata gasped, not from pain but from the visions suddenly flooding her mind—stars being born, worlds taking shape under massive golden hands, civilizations rising and falling like waves on a cosmic shore. And through it all, a profound, ancient loneliness that finally found purpose in mortal form.

"You see me," Naruto whispered, his eyes gradually returning to their normal blue as the scales receded beneath his skin. "You see what I was."

Around them, the clearing had fallen silent. The remaining attackers had fled or been subdued by the others, who now stood in a loose circle, staring at Naruto with expressions ranging from awe to fear.

Kakashi recovered first, approaching cautiously. "Naruto. Are you... yourself?"

A tired smile tugged at Naruto's lips. "More myself than I've been in a long time, Kakashi-sensei. But still me."

From her position at the edge of the clearing, Haku bowed deeply. "The awakening accelerates," she murmured. "Faster than the Elder foresaw."

"What does it mean?" Sakura asked, her medical training warring with the impossible healing she'd just witnessed.

"It means," Sasuke said grimly, "that someone put a bounty on Naruto's head specifically because of what he is. These weren't random bandits. They were hunting him."

Naruko moved to her brother's side, helping him stand as exhaustion from the transformation overtook him. "We need to get him home. Dad needs to know what's happening."

Kakashi nodded, already forming hand signs. A small ninken appeared in a puff of smoke. "Pakkun, I need you to deliver an urgent message to the Hokage." He scribbled quickly on a small scroll before handing it to the dog. "Top priority. His eyes only."

The pug nodded gravely. "Got it, Kakashi. This about the kid's little light show?"

"That and more," Kakashi confirmed. "Tell Lord Fourth to prepare for our arrival—and to activate Protocol Celestial."

Pakkun's eyes widened slightly before he vanished in another puff of smoke.

As Team 7 gathered their belongings and secured their unconscious attackers for interrogation, Hinata remained close to Naruto, her fingers occasionally brushing the unmarked skin where her wound had been. The visions she'd seen while he healed her flashed through her mind—especially one that stood out among the cosmic wonders.

A prophecy, etched in starlight: The Creator Reborn shall gather nine stars to his heart, and together they shall face the Void that hungers for all creation.

She glanced at Haku, noting the golden emblem above her heart that matched the patterns she'd seen on Naruto's skin. Then down at her own hand, where a faint golden glow had begun to manifest beneath her skin, pulsing in time with her heartbeat.

Two stars gathered. Seven yet to come.

# What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

## Chapter 3: Celestial Convergence

Konoha's massive gates loomed ahead, bathed in the amber glow of sunset. The village's stone faces watched over the returning team with impassive eyes, sentinels carved from the mountain itself. Naruto felt their weight, particularly his father's stern visage—as though the stone knew what the man did not.

"Home sweet home," Naruko quipped, but the usual bounce in her step was missing. Dark circles shadowed her eyes after three sleepless nights watching over her brother.

Izumo and Kotetsu straightened at their guard posts, their casual demeanor evaporating when they spotted Kakashi's raised hand—the covert signal for high-priority arrival.

"Lord Fourth is waiting in the Hokage Tower," Izumo said, voice pitched low. "Straight to the secure chamber."

Kotetsu's eyes darted to Haku, then narrowed. "This the one?"

"She's with us," Kakashi replied, brooking no argument.

They passed through Konoha's streets like ghosts, taking rooftop routes to avoid curious eyes. The village hummed with ordinary evening activity below—vendors closing shops, children being called home for dinner, shinobi changing guard shifts. Normal life continuing, oblivious to the cosmic revelation walking above their heads.

"I can manage on my own, you know," Naruto muttered when Sasuke gripped his elbow to steady him after a particularly wobbly landing.

"Sure you can," Sasuke snorted. "Just like you 'managed' to fall face-first into that river yesterday."

"I was communing with the water spirits."

"You were unconscious."

"Semantics."

The easy banter masked the tension crackling between them. Neither mentioned how Sasuke's Sharingan had been active since Naruto's transformation in the clearing—watching, recording, analyzing every golden flicker that occasionally rippled beneath his friend's skin.

The Hokage Tower's secure chamber occupied the lowest level, a room reinforced with seals older than the village itself. When they entered, Minato was already there, his Hokage robes discarded for a simple jōnin uniform. Kushina paced nearby, her red hair whipping around as she turned.

"Naruto!" She crossed the room in three strides, enveloping her son in a fierce embrace. Her hands trembled against his back. "What happened? Kakashi's message said—"

"I'm fine, Mom." Naruto returned the hug, inhaling the familiar scent of home—ink and herbs and the subtle tang of chakra that always clung to his mother.

Minato approached more cautiously, blue eyes—mirrors of Naruto's own—assessing every detail of his son's appearance. "Protocol Celestial," he said quietly. "I haven't heard that code since the night you were born."

Kakashi stepped forward. "You need to see this, Lord Fourth." He handed over a sealed scroll. "My full report. But the short version is: your son transformed in the Land of Water. Golden scales. Cosmic eyes. Immobilized two jōnin-level attackers without hand signs, then healed a potentially fatal wound with a touch."

"And the temple recognized him as its creator," Haku added, bowing formally to Minato. "I am Haku, former Guardian of the Temple of Drowning Stars. I have come to serve the awakening of Veldanava."

The name hit the room like a physical blow. Kushina's face drained of color. Minato's fingers tightened on the scroll until his knuckles whitened.

"How do you know that name?" he demanded.

Haku met his gaze steadily. "The temple records speak of the Star King Dragon who took mortal form. The Creator of All Worlds."

Minato's eyes flicked to his wife. Some unspoken communication passed between them before he turned to the assembled team.

"Kakashi, have your team checked by medical. Full debriefing tomorrow." His tone brooked no argument. "Naruto, Naruko—stay. The rest of you are dismissed."

Hinata hesitated, pale eyes lingering on Naruto. "Lord Hokage, I should mention that during the healing, I experienced... visions."

Minato's expression sharpened. "What kind of visions?"

"Stars. Creation. And a prophecy about nine stars gathering." Her fingers unconsciously brushed her chest, mirroring the location of Haku's golden emblem.

After a moment's consideration, Minato nodded. "Stay then, Hinata." His gaze shifted to the others. "The rest of you, not a word of this to anyone. Understood?"

"Yes, Lord Hokage," they chorused, though Sasuke's eyes flashed with frustrated curiosity before he followed Sakura from the room.

When the door sealed behind them, Minato sagged visibly, the perfect posture of the Hokage giving way to a father's concern.

"I've been dreading this day since you were born," he confessed, running a hand through his spiky hair. "When Kushina was pregnant, she had dreams—visions of a golden dragon curled around the world. Then the night of the attack, when Kurama looked at you and..."

"Freaked out?" Naruto supplied. "Yeah, Naruko told me."

Kushina shot her daughter a sharp look, which Naruko met with defiant blue eyes.

"He deserved to know," the girl said. "Especially with this happening." She gestured to Naruto's hands, where faint golden light pulsed beneath the skin.

Minato crossed to a hidden panel in the wall, pressing his palm against it. Seals illuminated in complex patterns before the wall slid aside, revealing a small chamber. He emerged moments later carrying an ancient scroll case—the wood so dark with age it appeared almost black, bound with chains of a strange, faintly luminous metal.

"After that night," he explained, placing the case reverently on the table, "I began researching. The Nine-Tails' reaction was too specific, too terrified to be random." His fingers worked the complex lock mechanism. "I found references in scrolls predating the founding of the hidden villages. Fragments of myths that appeared across all cultures, telling of a divine being who created the world, then vanished—promising to return when balance faltered."

The case opened with a soft hiss, releasing the scent of ancient paper and something else—a hint of ozone, like the air after lightning strikes.

"Many names," Minato continued, carefully unrolling the brittle scroll. "The Star King. The First Voice. The Dragon Who Sings Worlds Into Being. But always, in the oldest texts, one name appears."

"Veldanava," Naruto whispered, the syllables resonating in his chest like the tolling of a massive bell.

The scroll unfurled to reveal illustrations of breathtaking detail—a massive dragon formed of golden light, stars scattered along its scales, creating galaxies with sweeping gestures of clawed hands. Below, a prophecy written in an ancient script:

When chaos threatens to consume order, the Creator shall walk again in mortal form. Nine stars will gather to his heart, forming a constellation of power to balance darkness and light.

Hinata's breath caught. "That's what I saw."

"Me too," Haku nodded. "The temple holds similar prophecies."

Naruko leaned forward, examining the illustrations with narrowed eyes. "So my brother is... what? The reincarnation of some cosmic dragon god?"

"Not exactly," Kushina spoke for the first time, her voice tight with emotion. "When I asked Kurama about it years ago, he said Veldanava wasn't reincarnated. He chose this form—chose to be born as our son."

The implication hung in the air. Not chance. Choice.

Naruto stared at his hands, trying to reconcile this cosmic destiny with sixteen years of ordinary childhood. Well, as ordinary as being the Hokage's son could be.

"Why can't I remember?" he asked nobody in particular. "If I'm really this... creator being, why don't I know it?"

"The temple Elder explained that Veldanava's consciousness was fragmented for safekeeping," Haku offered. "The crystal Naruto touched contained one such fragment. There are others."

Minato rolled the scroll carefully. "Which explains why someone put a bounty on you. They're hunting these fragments."

Naruto's head snapped up. "How do you know about the bounty?"

"Because it wasn't the first attempt," Kushina admitted, pain flashing across her features. "There have been three other attempts since you were a child. We... neutralized them before they got close. ANBU has standing orders."

The revelation struck Naruto like a physical blow. Sixteen years of happiness, of normal childhood—carefully curated by parents who had been fighting shadows he never knew existed.

"That's why you never let me go on missions outside the village until I made chunin," he realized. "Why there were always 'coincidental' ANBU training exercises near my Academy field trips."

Kushina's eyes welled with tears. "We were trying to protect you."

"From what?" Naruto demanded, frustration boiling over. "From myself? From whatever I'm becoming?"

"From those who would use or destroy you before you were ready," Minato answered calmly. "Veldanava chose mortal form for a reason. He chose to grow, to learn, to experience life as human. We wanted to give you that chance."

The simple truth in his father's words deflated Naruto's anger. He slumped into a chair, suddenly exhausted.

"So what now?" he asked quietly.

Minato exchanged a look with Kushina. "Now, we prepare. If the awakening has begun, we need to understand it—and help you control it."

* * *

Dawn painted the Hyūga compound in shades of pearl and silver, the traditional architecture softened by morning mist. In the central training ground, two figures moved through the rituals of Gentle Fist—one with the practiced grace of lifelong training, the other with raw power tempered by growing skill.

"Your form has improved," Hinabi observed, circling Naruto with appraising pearlescent eyes. At fourteen, she already possessed the poise and precision that made the Hyūga fighting style so formidable. "But you're still thinking too much."

Naruto adjusted his stance, trying to mirror her fluid movements. "Thinking too much? That's a first."

"Gentle Fist isn't about strength." She demonstrated, her palm striking a training dummy with deceptive delicacy. The impact barely disturbed the straw surface, yet the back of the dummy exploded in a spray of stuffing. "It's about precision. Intent."

"Intent I understand," Naruto muttered, focusing his chakra. When he struck, the training dummy shuddered—but instead of the clean internal damage of true Gentle Fist, golden energy erupted around the impact point, disintegrating the entire dummy in a flash of light.

Hinabi's eyes widened. "That was... not Gentle Fist."

"Sorry." Naruto grimaced, staring at his palm where golden light still danced beneath the skin. "It keeps happening. I focus my chakra and it just... changes."

Since his return from the Land of Water three weeks ago, these incidents had multiplied. Ordinary jutsu warping into something luminous and strange. Enhanced strength without effort. Objects responding to his emotions rather than his chakra.

"Don't apologize." Hinabi approached, curiosity overcoming the typical Hyūga reserve. Without asking permission, she activated her Byakugan, examining the network of energy flowing through him. "Your chakra isn't behaving like chakra at all. It's more like..."

"Like what?"

"Starlight," she breathed, entranced by the patterns spiraling through his system. "It follows different pathways than ordinary chakra. Creates new channels where none existed before."

She reached out hesitantly, thin fingers hovering over his chakra points. "May I?"

Naruto nodded, curious himself.

Hinabi's touch was feather-light as she traced the new energy pathways visible only to her enhanced vision. "These aren't in any of the Hyūga medical texts. They form... constellations." Her brow furrowed in concentration. "And they're growing stronger each time I see you."

"Is that bad?"

"It's unprecedented." A rare smile touched her lips. "But then, so are you."

The compliment caught him off guard. Hinabi was known for her serious demeanor—a necessary persona as the second daughter of the clan head, forever proving herself worthy of recognition. This glimpse of warmth was unexpected.

"Hinata told me what happened," she continued, voice dropping to ensure privacy despite the early hour. "About the healing. The transformation."

Naruto tensed. "Did she also mention the part where I'm apparently some reincarnated dragon god?"

"Creator deity," Hinabi corrected primly. "And yes, though not in those exact words." Her expression grew thoughtful. "Our clan records speak of the Age Before Chakra, when different energies governed the world. Celestial principles rather than elemental ones."

She stopped tracing his chakra pathways and placed her palm flat against his chest, directly over his heart. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, responding to some instinct, Naruto channeled a hint of his strange new energy toward her touch.

Golden light bloomed between them, flowing from his chest into her palm. Hinabi gasped, but didn't pull away as the energy traced delicate patterns across her skin, forming a constellation—different from Haku's emblem, yet clearly related.

"What's happening?" she whispered, watching the light sink beneath her skin, leaving a faint golden glow.

"I think," Naruto said slowly, "you just became one of the nine stars."

Hinabi's pale eyes met his, wide with wonder and a hint of fear. "What does that mean?"

"I have no idea," he admitted. "But it feels... right."

The sound of approaching footsteps broke the moment. The golden glow faded as Neji rounded the corner, eyebrows rising at finding them standing so close.

"Lady Hinabi," he nodded formally. "Lord Hiashi requests your presence for breakfast with the elders."

Hinabi stepped back, composing herself instantly. "Thank you, Neji. I'll be there shortly." She turned to Naruto with a formal bow that didn't quite mask the new understanding between them. "We'll continue training tomorrow."

As she departed, Neji's penetrating gaze lingered on Naruto. "My cousin speaks highly of you," he said finally. "Both my cousins, in fact."

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly self-conscious. "We're friends."

"Hmm." Neji's expression remained impassive. "Friendship with the Hokage's son is politically advantageous, certainly."

"It's not like that."

"No?" A hint of a smile touched Neji's lips. "Perhaps not. After all, I've never seen Lady Hinabi voluntarily spend time with anyone outside formal obligations." He turned to leave, then paused. "Whatever's happening with you, Uzumaki, be careful with their hearts. The Hyūga don't give their loyalty easily, but when they do..."

The warning hung in the air as Neji departed, leaving Naruto alone with troubling thoughts. Each new connection he formed seemed to accelerate his transformation. What would happen when all nine stars gathered? And who was hunting the fragments of Veldanava's consciousness?

* * *

Midday sun beat down on Konoha's eastern gate, heat rippling above the dusty road. The guards slouched in whatever shade they could find, occasionally taking sluggish sips from canteens. Perfect summer doldrums, disturbed only by the appearance of a solitary figure stumbling toward the village.

"We got a live one," the senior guard muttered, straightening reluctantly. "Looks half-dead."

As the figure drew closer, details emerged—a young woman with crimson hair plastered to her sweat-streaked face, glasses askew, clothes torn and bloodstained. She staggered the final steps to the gate before collapsing to her knees.

"Help," she rasped, throat parched. "Asylum... seeking asylum."

The guards exchanged glances. Protocol dictated caution with unexpected visitors, especially those in distress—too easy to fake, too often a prelude to infiltration.

"Name and village?" the senior guard demanded, hand resting casually near his weapons pouch.

"Karin," she managed, pushing her glasses up with trembling fingers. "Former Sound... defector..."

At the mention of Sound, both guards tensed. Anything connected to Orochimaru triggered immediate security protocols.

"Detain and inform Intelligence," the senior guard ordered.

Before his partner could move, Karin's head snapped up, eyes widening. "He's here," she whispered, staring past the guards into the village. "I can feel him."

"Feel who?"

"Golden chakra," she murmured, almost to herself. "Unlike anything... I've been searching..."

The guards exchanged concerned looks. "Definitely Intelligence," the senior guard confirmed, moving to secure her arms. "Probably delirious from—"

"STOP!"

The shout came from above. A blur of orange and black landed between the guards and Karin, materializing into Naruto Uzumaki. His sudden appearance startled both guards, who hadn't even sensed his approach.

"Lord Naruto," the senior guard recovered quickly. "This doesn't concern you. Potential security threat—"

"She's not a threat," Naruto stated with absolute certainty. "She's expected."

This was a blatant lie—Naruto himself had no idea why he'd rushed to the gate, drawn by an inexplicable pull that had interrupted his lunch at Ichiraku. But looking at the exhausted redhead, he knew with bone-deep certainty that she was connected to everything happening to him.

Karin's eyes filled with tears as she stared at him. "It's really you," she whispered. "The divine chakra. I thought I was going crazy."

"Stand down," came a new voice as Minato appeared beside his son in a yellow flash. The Hokage assessed the situation with a swift glance, noting the strange recognition between Naruto and the newcomer. "I'll handle this personally."

The guards retreated immediately. No one questioned the Yellow Flash.

Minato knelt beside Karin. "You said you're seeking asylum. From what?"

She dragged her gaze from Naruto to the Hokage. "Orochimaru. He's... experimenting. Testing subjects. Looking for compatible vessels."

"Vessels for what?" Minato pressed.

Karin's eyes flicked back to Naruto. "Divine essence. He calls it the 'Star King Protocol.' Uses detectors like me to find traces."

"Detectors?"

She nodded weakly. "My bloodline ability. I sense chakra—its nature, its patterns." A trembling finger pointed at Naruto. "But his isn't chakra. It's..." Her voice dropped to a reverent whisper. "Divinity."

Minato's expression hardened. "Get her to the secure medical facility," he ordered Naruto. "I'll meet you there after I alert ANBU. If Orochimaru is hunting fragments of Veldanava—"

"Then he's the one who put the bounty on me," Naruto finished grimly. He bent to help Karin to her feet, surprised when she flinched away.

"Don't—" she warned. "My ability—physical contact with chakra overwhelms me."

Naruto paused, then gently extended his hand anyway. "Trust me," he said simply.

After a moment's hesitation, she placed her hand in his. Instead of the expected sensory overload, warmth flowed from his touch—healing, strengthening, restoring. The cuts on her arms sealed before their eyes, color returning to her pale face.

"How...?" she gasped.

"I'm still figuring that out myself," Naruto admitted with a wry smile. "Think you can walk?"

She nodded, amazed. As they moved through the village, her hand remained in his, drawing not just physical healing but a sense of security she'd never known. For someone who had spent her life as a tool—first for Orochimaru, then for herself—the feeling was dangerously addictive.

* * *

The secure medical facility beneath Konoha Hospital hummed with activity. Medical ninja moved efficiently between monitoring equipment, while ANBU guards maintained a discreet perimeter. At the center of this controlled chaos sat Karin, now cleaned up and dressed in borrowed clothes, answering Ibiki Morino's methodical questions.

"And Orochimaru specifically mentioned 'divine essence'?" the scarred interrogation specialist pressed.

"Yes," Karin nodded, fingers nervously adjusting her glasses. "He has scrolls—ancient ones with symbols like constellations. Says they're maps to fragments of a power that predates chakra itself."

Naruto leaned against the wall nearby, ostensibly giving her space while keeping close enough to intervene if Ibiki's questioning became too intense. His protective instinct toward this stranger surprised even him—yet didn't feel strange at all.

"How many other 'detectors' does Orochimaru have?" Ibiki continued.

"None like me," Karin stated with certainty. "My Uzumaki heritage gives me unique sensory abilities. That's why he kept me close, even after I refused to participate in the experiments."

At the mention of 'Uzumaki,' Kushina stepped forward from where she'd been observing. "You're from my clan?"

Karin blinked in surprise, really looking at the older redhead for the first time. "You're... Uzumaki too?"

"Kushina Uzumaki," she confirmed. "Wife of the Hokage and apparently your distant relative."

The revelation visibly shook Karin. "I thought... I was the last."

Kushina's expression softened. "Not even close, child. There aren't many of us, but we're survivors."

Ibiki cleared his throat, impatient with the family reunion interrupting his interrogation. "Focus. What exactly does Orochimaru know about these 'fragments'?"

Karin collected herself. "He knows they're scattered across the nations. He knows they respond to certain bloodlines—Uzumaki, Hyūga, Uchiha, and others with ancient lineages. And he knows they're awakening."

"Because of Naruto," Minato concluded, entering the room with Shikaku Nara at his side.

Karin nodded. "Orochimaru calls him 'the Catalyst.' The original vessel that will draw the fragments together." Her gaze drifted to Naruto. "That's why I came here. I kept sensing pulses of divine chakra from Konoha's direction. Getting stronger. Calling."

"And now that you've found the source?" Ibiki pressed. "What were your instructions if you located the Catalyst?"

For the first time, Karin's composure cracked. Tears welled in her eyes. "I was supposed to mark him. Place one of Orochimaru's tracking seals." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "But I couldn't. Not after feeling what his chakra really is—pure, untainted creation energy. It would be like... defacing something sacred."

Ibiki exchanged significant looks with Minato and Shikaku. "She appears to be telling the truth. Though the quasi-religious overtones are concerning."

"It's not religious," Karin protested. "It's empirical. His chakra signature is fundamentally different from anything in existence—except the fragments Orochimaru has collected."

Naruto pushed off from the wall. "How many does he have?"

"Two confirmed. He keeps them in special containment fields—says they'd destroy ordinary matter otherwise."

Silence fell as everyone processed the implications. Orochimaru, one of the most dangerous missing-nin in history, collecting pieces of a god's consciousness.

"We need to secure the remaining fragments before Orochimaru does," Shikaku finally stated, giving voice to the obvious strategy.

"And protect those already connected to Naruto," Minato added. "Hinata, Hinabi, and now Haku all bear celestial markers. They could be targets."

Naruto crossed to where Karin sat. "You risked everything to warn us. To find me." He knelt before her, meeting her gaze directly. "Why?"

Something vulnerable flickered in her crimson eyes. "Because all my life, I've been used for my ability to sense chakra. To detect and track. To find weaknesses." Her voice strengthened. "But when I sensed your chakra—even from hundreds of miles away—it felt like... purpose. Like belonging."

Without warning, she reached out, placing her palm against his chest—exactly where Hinabi had touched him earlier that day. "Your chakra calls to mine. Resonates with it. I don't understand it, but I know I'm supposed to be here. To help you."

As she spoke, golden light bloomed between them, flowing from Naruto into her palm, tracing a unique constellation pattern across her skin before sinking beneath the surface. Karin gasped, not in pain but wonder, as warmth suffused her body.

"The third star," Naruto murmured, watching the transformation with a strange sense of rightness.

When the light faded, Karin stared at her hands in awe. A subtle golden glow emanated from her skin, concentrated at her fingertips.

"What did you do to me?" she whispered.

Ibiki moved forward, alarmed, but Minato held up a hand to stop him.

"I think," Naruto said slowly, "I gave you a piece of myself. My... ability to heal."

To test his theory, Karin hesitantly touched a small cut on her arm. Golden light flickered at her fingertips, and the wound sealed instantly.

"Impossible," Ibiki muttered.

"No," Minato corrected, eyes fixed on the phenomenon. "Divine."

Kushina stepped closer, maternal concern warring with awe. "Naruto, what's happening to you? These connections you're forming..."

Naruto looked from Karin's glowing hands to his mother's worried face. "I think I'm remembering—not just who I was, but why I chose this." He gestured around the room, encompassing everything. "Human form. Human connections."

Karin's eyes widened with sudden understanding. "The fragments aren't just pieces of consciousness," she realized. "They're aspects of power, distributed among chosen vessels." She looked at her hands again. "Healing. Creation. Destruction. Knowledge. The scrolls in Orochimaru's lab listed them all—nine divine aspects divided to prevent their misuse."

"And now reconnecting," Shikaku observed. "Forming what the prophecy called 'a constellation of power.'"

Naruto helped Karin to her feet, a wry smile touching his lips. "No pressure or anything."

Minato's expression grew grave. "If Orochimaru realizes Karin has found you—and received one of these divine aspects—he'll come for her. For all of you."

"Let him try," Naruto stated, an unfamiliar edge hardening his voice. Something ancient and powerful stirred beneath his human compassion—the protective instinct of a creator for his chosen ones. "I'll keep them safe."

As if responding to his declaration, the golden light beneath his skin pulsed once, illuminating the room in a brief flash that cast no shadows. In that instant, everyone present saw not a sixteen-year-old boy, but the silhouette of something vast and majestic superimposed over his human form—wings outstretched, eyes containing galaxies, a crown of stars adorning a draconic head.

The vision lasted only a heartbeat before fading, leaving behind stunned silence and the certainty that whatever Naruto was becoming, the transformation had just accelerated beyond anyone's ability to control.

# What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

## Chapter 4: Divine Recollection

Lightning split the midnight sky above the Hokage Tower, illuminating the scrolls and maps scattered across Minato's desk in staccato flashes of electric blue. Rain lashed against the windows, drops striking like tiny shuriken against the glass.

"These readings make no sense," Minato muttered, pushing a chart toward Shikaku Nara. The tactical advisor's perpetual expression of boredom had given way to intense focus as he studied the pulsing energy signatures mapped across Fire Country's northern border. "We've never recorded chakra disturbances on this scale."

"Because it's not chakra," Naruto said quietly from his position by the window. The storm's reflection played across his face, momentarily illuminating the golden flecks that had begun appearing in his irises. "It's something older."

The room fell silent. Over the past month, they'd grown accustomed to these moments—cryptic statements emerging from Naruto seemingly unbidden, knowledge he couldn't possibly possess bubbling to the surface of his consciousness.

Minato exchanged glances with Kakashi, who leaned against the far wall, single visible eye narrowed in thought. "The location is significant," the silver-haired jōnin noted. "Those coordinates put it near the Valley of Echoes. Archeologists have never been able to explain the ruins there."

"What ruins?" Naruko demanded, materializing from her uncharacteristically quiet corner. Her hands planted firmly on her father's desk, scattering a few less important papers. "Why haven't I heard of these?"

"Because they're classified." Minato's tone was mild but firm. "ANBU discovered them decades ago. Anyone who spends too long among the stones experiences... unsettling effects."

"Hallucinations? Nightmares?" Shikaku asked.

"Dreams of creation," Minato corrected, eyes flicking to Naruto. "Stars being born. Worlds taking shape."

The implications hung in the air like the electric charge before a lightning strike.

"We need to go there." Naruto's voice cut through the tension, not a request but a statement of fact. "Now."

"Out of the question," Kushina snapped, red hair whipping around as she spun from the bookshelf she'd been examining. "You want to take our son—who's already experiencing accelerated awakening as some divine entity—directly to a site radiating mysterious energy? Energy that happens to cause visions matching his condition?"

"It's not a condition, Mom," Naruto sighed. "And those aren't hallucinations. They're memories."

"All the more reason to proceed with caution," Minato said, diplomat to the core. "We'll send an advance team to—"

"There's no time." Naruto stepped away from the window, and something in his movement silenced the room. It wasn't just confidence—it was authority, ancient and absolute. "The energy signatures are harmonic resonance patterns. They're responding to my awakening, growing stronger as more fragments of Veldanava's consciousness return to me. If we wait, they'll destabilize completely."

"How could you possibly know that?" Kushina asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Naruto's smile was sad, almost apologetic. "Because I designed them that way. Safeguards, to ensure the fragments would only be accessible to... well, to me."

Outside, thunder crashed so loudly the windows rattled in their frames.

"I'll assemble a team," Kakashi said into the stunned silence. "Ready to depart at dawn."

* * *

First light found them racing through the forest canopy, leaping from branch to branch with the fluid precision that marked elite shinobi. The storm had passed, leaving the world washed clean, sunlight refracting through droplets clinging to leaves and bark like scattered diamonds.

Naruto set a punishing pace at the front, his usually boundless energy now focused with laser precision on their destination. Behind him, Naruko matched his tempo stride for stride, refusing to be outdone even as her lungs burned with exertion. Hinata and Hinabi moved in perfect synchronization to his right, their Byakugan scanning the terrain ahead in alternating pulses. Sasuke, Kakashi, and Karin brought up the rear, the former two alert for threats, the latter monitoring the steadily increasing flares of divine energy that only she could sense.

"Two miles ahead," Hinata called, voice carrying on the morning breeze. "The forest opens into a valley. Unusual rock formations, unnaturally symmetrical."

"I see it too," Hinabi confirmed. "The stones emit no chakra signature, but they... disrupt the natural energy flow around them. Like water moving around stones in a river."

Naruto nodded without slowing. "They're not of this world."

"Comforting," Sasuke muttered, just loud enough to be heard.

Kakashi signaled a brief halt as they reached the forest's edge. Before them stretched a mist-shrouded valley, emerald grass rippling in waves under the gentle morning breeze. Rising from this sea of green, massive stone monoliths formed a perfect circle around a central plaza. Each stone—easily forty feet tall—was carved with intricate spiraling patterns that seemed to shift when viewed from different angles.

"Those patterns," Karin breathed, eyes wide behind her glasses. "They match the scrolls in Orochimaru's laboratory."

"They're starmaps," Naruto explained, his gaze distant. "Navigation charts for traveling between worlds."

"Other worlds," Kakashi repeated flatly. "Of course. Why not?"

Naruto stepped forward, descending the gentle slope into the valley. The others followed, a subtle tension building with each step. The air grew thicker, charged with an energy that raised goosebumps on exposed skin.

"Hinata, Hinabi," Kakashi instructed quietly. "Maintain constant Byakugan observation. Sasuke, sharingan active. I want to record everything that happens here."

"The monuments aren't just stone," Hinabi reported, veins bulging around her pale eyes as she intensified her vision. "There's... something inside them. Flowing, like liquid light. It's responding to Naruto's presence."

Sure enough, as they approached the circle, faint golden illumination began to trace the carved patterns, pulsing in rhythm with Naruto's heartbeat.

"It recognizes you," Karin whispered, close at Naruto's side. "The energy signatures are synchronizing with yours."

At the center of the circle stood a raised dais of the same strange stone, unmarked except for a single handprint depression in its center. The stone here was different—not gray like the monoliths but a deep, midnight blue that seemed to contain depths beyond its physical dimensions.

Naruto approached it slowly, drawn by an invisible force. The others fanned out behind him, maintaining a respectful distance from whatever was about to unfold.

"Are you sure about this?" Naruko asked, her usual brashness subdued by the weight of the moment.

Naruto turned, a half-smile curving his lips. "Not even slightly. But that hasn't stopped me yet." His gaze swept over his companions, lingering on each face as if memorizing them. "Stay back. All of you. Whatever happens next... it's meant for me alone."

"Like hell," Naruko snorted, stepping forward to stand at his shoulder. "Twins, remember? Where you go, I go."

"This isn't a training exercise or a standard mission," he warned, a new severity hardening his features. "What's locked in these stones—it could overwhelm an unprepared mind."

"Good thing I'm too stubborn to be overwhelmed, then," she retorted, folding her arms across her chest in a stance that brooked no argument.

Naruto recognized the futility of arguing with his sister when she had that look. "Fine. But if anything happens—if I start to lose control—you pull back immediately. Promise me."

"Promise," she lied smoothly, with no intention of following through.

Naruto sighed, recognizing the deception but knowing it was the best he'd get. He turned back to the dais, studying the handprint with newfound intensity.

"It's a key," he murmured, half to himself. "A fragment of memory, preserved in a form that could withstand the passage of ages."

Without further hesitation, he placed his palm against the depression. The fit was perfect, as though the stone had been molded specifically for his hand—which, he realized with a jolt of clarity, it had been.

For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then everything happened at once.

Golden light erupted from the point of contact, shooting upward in a column so bright it turned the morning sun pale by comparison. The monoliths around them blazed to life, the carved patterns shifting and swirling like constellations rearranging themselves. The very air crackled with power, static electricity lifting hair and charging the metal of their weapons.

Within the column of light, Naruto stood transfixed, eyes wide but unseeing as memories cascaded through his consciousness—not as abstract knowledge or distant recollections, but as immediate, visceral experiences, as real as the ground beneath his feet.

He was vast beyond comprehension, a being of pure creative force, coalescing into existence from the void. Consciousness without form, power without limit. Loneliness without equal.

With a thought, he manifested physical shape—a dragon of cosmic proportions, scales formed from condensed starlight, eyes containing the depth of space itself.

He spoke, and universes blossomed from his words. He gestured, and galaxies spiraled into being. He sang, and life awakened across countless worlds.

Eons passed. Civilizations rose and fell, each one watched over by his benevolent presence. He established cosmic laws, created guardians to maintain balance, crafted realms of beauty and wonder.

Yet emptiness grew within him. To create all, to know all, to be all—where was the joy of discovery? The thrill of uncertainty? The connection that comes from equals sharing experience?

He made a decision. Division. Fragmentation. Rebirth.

Nine aspects of his divine power, separated and scattered. His consciousness, bound into mortal form. A chance to experience his own creation as a participant rather than an observer.

Safeguards put in place, keys hidden in ancient monuments. Guardians assigned to watch and wait for the time of awakening. A prophecy spoken into the fabric of reality itself:

"When chaos threatens harmony, the Creator shall remember."

Images crashed through Naruto's mind faster now, overwhelming in their intensity—the planning of his own incarnation, the selection of Minato and Kushina as vessels suitable to birth a divine being, the careful crafting of a sister-soul in Naruko to anchor him to humanity. The deliberate scattering of his power into worthy vessels that would one day find him again.

And beneath it all, a growing awareness of the threat that had necessitated this elaborate plan—a primordial darkness, a void-hunger that sought to unmake all he had created. An adversary as old as existence itself.

With gasping suddenness, Naruto returned to his body, still standing on the dais but now vibrating with power barely contained within human form. Golden scales rippled across his skin in waves, eyes blazing with interior galaxies, hair floating around his head in a corona of energy.

"Naruto!" Naruko's voice seemed to come from miles away despite her standing right beside him. Her hands gripped his shoulders, face contorted with alarm. "Come back! You're overloading!"

He tried to speak, to reassure her, but the words emerged in a language never meant for human tongues—sounds that caused the air itself to shimmer with new possibilities, reality rippling around him like disturbed water.

The monoliths responded, their illumination intensifying until the entire circle blazed with golden fire. The ground trembled. Cracks appeared in the dais, not from damage but from an overflow of creative energy seeking expression.

"He's destabilizing," Hinabi shouted, Byakugan straining to track the exponential expansion of energy. "The divine chakra is overwhelming his human form!"

"We need to ground him," Karin cried, hands extended toward Naruto but stopped by the sheer force radiating from him. "The energy needs somewhere to go before it tears him apart!"

Sasuke darted forward despite Kakashi's warning shout, Sharingan spinning wildly as he analyzed the chaotic energy patterns. "Naruko! Your connection to him is strongest. You need to draw off some of the power!"

"How?" she demanded, still gripping her brother despite the energy now burning her palms.

"The gift he gave you," Kakashi realized. "The 'Celestial True Dragon Mode'! If you're truly his twin star—"

Understanding flashed across Naruko's face. She closed her eyes, focusing not on restraining Naruto's power but on connecting to it, accepting it, channeling it.

"Brother," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his. "Let me help carry this. You're not alone."

Something shifted in the maelstrom of energy. Naruto's eyes cleared slightly, recognition flickering in their depths.

"Na...ruko..." His voice cracked, human again but strained.

"That's it," she encouraged. "Focus on me. Share the burden."

With deliberate intent, she reached for the power he had gifted her weeks ago—the latent divine energy he'd instilled when he'd first begun to remember his true nature. She had never fully accessed it before, uncertain how to tap into something so alien.

Now, with her brother's existence hanging in the balance, instinct took over.

Golden light erupted around Naruko, different from Naruto's but complementary—where his blazed with the force of creation, hers shimmered with protective radiance. Twin dragons of light, one gold, one silver, coiled around the siblings as Naruko's transformation took hold.

Her hair lengthened, flowing like liquid sunlight down her back. Pearlescent scales appeared along her temples and the backs of her hands. Her eyes, usually mirror images of Naruto's blue, shifted to a luminous silver with vertical pupils like a dragon's.

"Celestial True Dragon Mode," Kakashi breathed, Sharingan recording every detail of the unprecedented transformation.

The effect was immediate. As Naruko's power rose to meet her brother's, the chaotic energy stabilized, flowing between them in a harmonious circuit. The violent trembling of the ground subsided. The blinding light moderated to a steady glow.

With a deep, shuddering breath, Naruto regained control, the scales receding from his skin, his eyes returning mostly to normal—though now permanently flecked with gold. He swayed on his feet, exhaustion crashing over him as the memory-visions settled into their proper place in his mind.

"I remember," he said simply, voice rough with emotion. "Not everything, but enough. I remember why I came here. Why I chose this form."

Naruko supported him, her own transformation fading more slowly, silver light clinging to her hair and skin. "Care to share with the class?" she asked, a weak attempt at her usual sass undermined by the tremor in her voice.

Before Naruto could answer, the ground beneath them shifted—not in destruction but in renewal. The cracks in the dais sealed themselves. The weathered, ancient stones of the monuments shed centuries of erosion, revealing pristine surfaces of a material that resembled crystal more than rock. The faded carvings deepened and clarified, now clearly depicting star systems, dimensional gateways, and beings of light moving between them.

Most dramatically, the entire central plaza transformed. What had appeared to be uneven ground covered in scrubby grass now revealed itself as an enormous mosaic, with the dais at its center. Layer by layer, dirt and vegetation peeled away, replaced by gleaming tiles that formed a vast map of interconnected worlds.

"You're restoring it," Hinata gasped, Byakugan taking in the full scope of the transformation. "The ruins—they're becoming what they once were."

Naruto nodded, still leaning heavily on his sister. "A waypoint. A nexus between realms." His gaze tracked across the revealed majesty of the site, recognition in his eyes. "I built this place as one of many anchors between dimensions. Places where travelers could rest, where knowledge could be preserved."

"Travelers," Sasuke repeated skeptically. "From other worlds."

"From other realities," Naruto corrected. "Before the formation of the Five Great Nations, before chakra as you understand it, there were those who moved between planes of existence. The Ōtsutsuki were merely the last and least of these travelers."

The name sent a chill through the group. The Ōtsutsuki clan—alien beings of immense power, progenitors of all chakra-users through Kaguya's line.

"Lesser beings?" Kakashi asked incredulously. "Kaguya nearly destroyed our world."

A shadow of something ancient and terrible crossed Naruto's face. "Because she was a pale imitation, grasping for power never meant for her kind. The true Celestials—" He stopped abruptly, grimacing as if in pain. "It's still... fragmented. The memories aren't complete."

Karin approached cautiously, her sensory abilities allowing her to track the fluctuations in Naruto's divine energy. "The resonance is stabilizing," she reported. "But there's something else..." Her head tilted, eyes unfocusing slightly as she extended her senses beyond the immediate area. "We're being watched."

Instantly, the shinobi shifted to defensive positions, scanning the perimeter. Sasuke's Sharingan swept the treeline while Hinata and Hinabi extended their Byakugan vision to maximum range.

"There," Hinabi said quietly, nodding toward a rocky outcropping that overlooked the valley from the north. "A single chakra signature. Powerful, but... restrained. Not hostile, I think."

"Show yourself!" Kakashi called, kunai appearing in his hand with practiced ease.

For a long moment, nothing moved. Then, paper butterflies drifted into the circle—dozens of them, swirling in a graceful dance before coalescing into a humanoid form. The paper folded and flattened with liquid precision, revealing a woman with blue hair, amber eyes, and a small purple flower tucked behind one ear.

"Konan," Naruto breathed, recognition immediate despite never having met her in his current life.

The woman's eyes widened slightly at being addressed by name. She completed her materialization, standing at the edge of the restored plaza with perfect poise, her black cloak with red clouds—the uniform of Akatsuki—rippling gently in the morning breeze.

"Naruto Uzumaki," she replied, voice melodious and calm. "Though perhaps that name no longer encompasses all that you are."

"Akatsuki," Sasuke snarled, moving protectively in front of Naruto. "What do you want?"

Konan's gaze never left Naruto. "Understanding," she answered simply. "For years, I followed Nagato, believing his vision of peace through pain was the answer to this world's suffering. I watched him invoke the name of a god while wielding power that was merely borrowed, not divine."

She took a single step forward, hands open at her sides in a gesture of non-aggression. "But what I just witnessed..." Her voice faltered, emotion cracking the perfect composure. "That was true divinity. The power of creation itself."

"You've been tracking me," Naruto stated, not a question.

She inclined her head. "Since reports reached us of unusual energy signatures in the Land of Water. I came to investigate personally, unwilling to trust Nagato's increasingly... dogmatic interpretations."

"So Akatsuki knows about me," Naruto said grimly.

"No," Konan corrected. "I know about you. The others believe I'm investigating a potential new jutsu. My report will reflect only what serves our true purpose."

"And what purpose is that?" Kakashi asked, skepticism evident.

"Peace," she answered without hesitation. "True peace—not the hollow victory Nagato envisions through forced subjugation." Her amber eyes locked with Naruto's. "I came seeking a weapon. I found something far more significant."

"You found the truth Nagato has been twisting," Naruto said quietly, fragments of divine knowledge filling gaps in his understanding. "That pain isn't the answer to this world's suffering. Creation is. Renewal. Harmony."

Something shifted in Konan's expression—a softening, a flicker of what might have been hope. "Nagato speaks of himself as a god. But you..." She gestured to the restored monuments, to the lingering glow of divine energy. "You don't need to speak of godhood. You simply are."

The moment stretched, taut with possibility. Then, with fluid grace, Konan sank to one knee, head bowed.

"The world has waited for true guidance," she said, voice barely above a whisper. "I have waited, following false prophets and hollow promises. If you are what I believe you to be—what I have just witnessed you to be—then perhaps hope is not lost after all."

Naruto stepped forward, gently disengaging from Naruko's support. He approached Konan with steady strides, coming to stand before her kneeling form.

"Stand," he said gently. "I didn't choose human form to be worshipped. I chose it to understand, to connect, to experience this world as an equal participant, not an overlord."

Konan looked up, surprise evident in her amber eyes. Slowly, she rose to her feet.

"Then what would you have of me?" she asked.

"Truth," Naruto answered simply. "Return to Akatsuki. Watch. Listen. Learn what Nagato truly plans. But stay true to what you've seen here today." He reached out, palm upward in invitation. "Will you be my eyes where I cannot see?"

Konan stared at his offered hand for a long moment before placing her own atop it. "I will."

The contact triggered an immediate reaction. Golden light flared between their palms, racing up Konan's arm in intricate patterns that mimicked the flow of her paper jutsu. The light settled over her heart, forming a unique constellation mark—different from those borne by Hinata, Hinabi, Haku and Karin, yet clearly part of the same celestial system.

"The fifth star," Naruko murmured, recognizing the significance immediately.

Konan gasped, eyes wide as she felt the divine energy settle within her. The paper butterflies that perpetually floated around her transformed, edges gleaming with golden light, movements more fluid and precise than ever before.

"My jutsu," she breathed, watching as a paper bird took shape in her palm without conscious direction, its form more perfect than any she had previously created. "It's... amplified. Purified."

"Creation energy," Naruto explained. "Paper was always your medium. Now it can become something more—a conduit for creative force rather than merely destructive potential."

The implications weren't lost on Konan. Her jutsu—already formidable—had just evolved beyond anything the shinobi world had seen. Paper that could not merely cut or bind, but create and transform.

"This gift," she said carefully, "carries responsibility."

"All power does," Naruto agreed. "Use it wisely. And when the time comes—when balance truly falters—return to my side. The constellation must be complete before the darkness arrives."

"What darkness?" Sasuke demanded, frustration evident in his voice. "You keep hinting at some cosmic threat without explaining."

Naruto turned, facing not just Sasuke but all his companions. The morning sun haloed his figure as he stood amidst the restored monuments, momentarily highlighting the otherworldly nature that had begun to assert itself through his human form.

"Because I don't fully remember it myself," he admitted. "Only impressions. Warnings embedded in my fragmented consciousness. Something ancient. Something that hungers for unbeing. A void that devours creation itself."

He gazed up at the sky, eyes tracking something invisible to the others. "And it's awakening, just as I am. Our dance is eternal—creation and destruction, light and void. But this time..." His voice hardened with resolve. "This time, I won't face it alone."

Around them, the restored nexus hummed with power, ancient technologies reactivated after millennia of dormancy. The monoliths pulsed in sequence, sending signals skyward—beacons announcing to the cosmos that the Creator walked once more among his creations.

And somewhere in the vastness of space, something noticed. Something stirred.

The countdown to confrontation had begun.

# What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

## Chapter 5: Shadows of Creation

Moonlight spilled across Konoha's rooftops, transforming the village into a landscape of silver and shadow. From his perch atop the Hokage Monument, Naruto watched the sprawl of lights below, each one representing lives he'd known only as Naruto Uzumaki—never as Veldanava. The wind tousled his hair, carrying the mingled scents of cooking fires, blooming night jasmine, and fresh rain.

"Impressive view," came a voice behind him. "Though I imagine you've seen better."

Naruto didn't turn. "Hello, Jiraiya."

The Toad Sage settled beside him with surprising grace for such a large man. Moonlight glinted off his forehead protector, catching in his mane of white hair. "Your father told me everything." He paused, studying Naruto's profile. "Well, everything he knows, which I suspect is just the tip of the iceberg."

"He's right." Naruto extended his hand, palm up. A miniature galaxy spiraled into existence above it, stars swirling in perfect celestial choreography. "I'm still... remembering. Fragments returning, pieces clicking into place."

Jiraiya's eyes widened at the casual display of impossible power. "That's... not a genjutsu."

"No." Naruto closed his fingers, and the galaxy vanished like snuffed candlelight. "It's memory. Creation."

Silence stretched between them, weighted with questions neither knew how to ask. Finally, Jiraiya cleared his throat.

"I've seen a lot in my travels. Inexplicable things. Villages where time flows differently. Ancient temples that rearrange themselves when no one's looking. But this..." He gestured vaguely at Naruto. "A god reborn as my student's son? That's a new one, even for me."

Naruto's laugh held a trace of his old carefree self. "Believe me, it's weird from this side too."

Jiraiya's expression grew serious. "Your father's concerned. The energy you released at the Valley of Echoes was detected by sensory-types across three nations. Reports are coming in from everywhere—weather disturbances, strange lights in the sky, wildlife behaving oddly."

"The world responding to my awakening," Naruto nodded. "Like an instrument being tuned after centuries of silence."

"That's poetic," Jiraiya grunted. "Also terrifying. You're painting a target on yourself, kid."

Naruto turned, moonlight catching the golden flecks that now permanently marked his irises. "The target was always there, Master Jiraiya. The difference is, now I'm remembering why."

In the shadows far below, just beyond Konoha's walls, a pale figure stirred. Its form was half-embedded in the trunk of an ancient oak, mismatched yellow eyes peering through the darkness toward the distant figures on the monument.

"Such power," Black Zetsu whispered, voice like dry leaves rustling. "The rumors were true."

* * *

Dawn painted Konoha's east gate in hues of amber and rose. Guards stifled yawns as they prepared for shift change, the village still slumbering behind them. Their drowsiness evaporated at the sight of an approaching procession—ornate palanquin borne by four attendants in ceremonial robes, flanked by armored guards whose insignia marked them as elite warriors from the distant Land of Demons.

"Halt!" the senior gate guard called, straightening to attention. "State your business in Konoha."

The palanquin lowered to the ground with practiced precision. Silk curtains parted, revealing a slender young woman with pale blonde hair and lavender eyes that seemed to look through rather than at the guards. Her robes—layered silk in shades of white and pale gold—rustled faintly as she stepped forward.

"I am Shion, High Priestess of the Land of Demons," she announced, voice musical yet commanding. "I seek audience with your Hokage on a matter of utmost urgency."

The guard hesitated, protocol warring with the obvious importance of the visitor. "Lady Shion, we weren't informed of your arrival. The proper channels for diplomatic—"

"The Creator's awakening waits for no diplomatic channels," Shion interrupted, her eyes suddenly flaring with inner light. "The stars align. Shadows gather. Fragments scatter."

Her voice had changed, resonating with harmonic overtones that raised goosebumps on the guards' arms. One of her attendants rushed forward, supporting her as she swayed.

"Forgive us," the attendant murmured. "The Lady's visions come unbidden. She has traveled without rest, driven by prophecy."

The senior guard swallowed hard. "I'll... I'll notify the Hokage immediately."

* * *

"She's been waiting for three hours," Naruko hissed, pacing the hallway outside the Hokage's office. "Dad can't seriously think this is a coincidence. A priestess shows up ranting about 'the Creator' just weeks after you start going all cosmic dragon god on us?"

Naruto leaned against the wall, affecting a calm he didn't entirely feel. "The council has to follow protocol. Foreign dignitaries, security concerns—"

"Bullshit," Naruko cut him off. "They're stalling because they're scared. Everyone's walking on eggshells around you since the Valley incident."

She wasn't wrong. The last two weeks had seen subtle but unmistakable changes in how people treated him. ANBU shadows followed him more openly. Conversations faltered when he entered rooms. Even his friends had begun watching him with a mixture of awe and unease—everyone except the five who bore his celestial marks, who seemed drawn to him with increasing intensity.

"Can you blame them?" he asked quietly. "I accidentally altered weather patterns across three countries. Civilians are reporting strange dreams. Animals are migrating out of season."

Naruko's expression softened. She bumped his shoulder with her own. "You're still you, idiot. Just... more."

The office door swung open. Shikaku Nara emerged, looking even more exhausted than usual. "They're ready for you."

Inside, the atmosphere was tense. Minato stood behind his desk, Hokage robes immaculate, face carefully neutral. The village elders Homura and Koharu flanked him, their ancient faces creased with concern. In the center of the room, Lady Shion knelt upon a cushion, posture perfect, hands folded in her lap.

The moment Naruto crossed the threshold, her head snapped up. Lavender eyes widened, pupils dilating until they nearly disappeared.

"*Veldanava*," she breathed, the name emerging like a prayer.

Naruto stopped, startled by her recognition. Golden light pulsed beneath his skin, responding to her presence as it had with the others who now bore his mark.

"Lady Shion," Minato began formally. "Thank you for your patience. As I was explaining, while we respect your position and your nation's prophetic traditions, we must approach claims of—"

"He stands before us wearing flesh, yet contains galaxies," Shion interrupted, never taking her eyes off Naruto. "The Star King Dragon, Creator of All, choosing mortality to save what he loves most."

The room fell silent. Shion rose in a fluid motion, her robes whispering against the floor as she approached Naruto. Without hesitation, she sank to her knees before him.

"My bloodline was created to serve yours," she said softly. "Our prophetic sight—a gift from you in the Before Time, that we might recognize your return when the stars aligned once more."

Embarrassment heated Naruto's face. "Please don't kneel. I'm just—"

"Not 'just' anything," she corrected, rising again to meet his gaze. "And I kneel not in servitude but in recognition. My entire life has been preparation for this moment."

She reached into her robes, withdrawing a small lacquered box. "For a thousand generations, the high priestesses of my line have guarded this, awaiting your return."

The box gleamed with subtle energy, nearly imperceptible except to those attuned to power beyond ordinary chakra. Naruto felt drawn to it, recognizing the resonance.

"Another fragment," he murmured.

"Not merely a fragment," Shion corrected. "A warning."

She opened the box with reverent care. Inside lay a crystal sphere no larger than a plum, its surface clouded like frosted glass. As Naruto gazed into it, the cloudiness shifted, forming images—stars being devoured by expanding darkness, worlds crumbling, reality itself fraying at the edges.

"The Devourer stirs," Shion whispered. "The antithesis to your creation. It has sensed your awakening and hungers for the fragments of your power."

"This Devourer," Minato interjected, professional composure momentarily shaken by the images in the crystal. "Is it a being? A force?"

"Both and neither," Shion answered, eyes never leaving Naruto's face. "Before Veldanava shaped reality, there was only the Void—the endless hunger of unbeing. When he created, he gave the Void purpose: to consume what was no longer needed, maintaining cosmic balance." Her voice lowered. "But the Void grew jealous, hungering for more than its appointed role. It developed... awareness."

Koharu scoffed. "This sounds like a religious fable, not intelligence worthy of the Hokage's attention."

"Does it?" Naruto asked quietly, the crystal's images stirring fragmented memories. "The Void. The Hunger. I remember it now—the reason I scattered my consciousness, divided my power." His gaze lifted to meet his father's. "I wasn't hiding from it. I was setting a trap."

* * *

Afternoon sunlight slanted through the trees of Training Ground Seventeen, dappling the forest clearing with shifting patterns of gold and shadow. The crack of kunai against kunai punctuated the otherwise tranquil scene as three figures moved in a lethal dance of attack and counterattack.

"You're holding back," Sasuke accused, Sharingan blazing as he tracked Naruto's movements. "Stop treating me like I'll break."

"He's right," Izumi added, her own Sharingan—three tomoe spinning lazily—fixed on her brother's sparring partner. At nineteen, Sasuke's older sister moved with the predatory grace that marked elite Uchiha. Her long dark hair was pulled back in a practical tail, sweat beading along her aristocratic features. "You've been pulling your punches since we started."

Naruto sidestepped Sasuke's fire jutsu, the heat ruffling his hair as flames roared past. "I'm trying not to accidentally level the forest," he retorted. "My control isn't exactly perfect these days."

It was an understatement. Since the Valley incident and Shion's arrival three days prior, his power had been fluctuating wildly—sometimes responding to his smallest command, other times exploding outward at the slightest emotional trigger. Training with the Uchiha siblings had been Kakashi's suggestion—their Sharingan giving them the best chance to track and understand his evolving abilities.

"Perfect control requires perfect understanding," Izumi said, circling to flank him. "You can't suppress what you don't fully comprehend."

"Spoken like a true Uchiha," Naruto snorted, but there was no malice in his tone.

Sasuke seized the opening, hands flashing through signs. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

Multiple fireballs spiraled toward Naruto from different angles. Simultaneously, Izumi attacked from behind, her tantō channeling lightning chakra in a crackling arc.

Time seemed to slow. Naruto felt something shift inside him—not the explosive power he'd been struggling to contain, but a deeper awareness. He could see the pattern of the attacks, the flow of chakra, the underlying structure of reality itself.

He moved, not with the practiced techniques of a shinobi, but with the instinctive grace of something far older. His hand swept upward, and the fireballs curved around him, their trajectory altered by an invisible force. His other hand extended toward Izumi's incoming blade, not to block but to welcome.

The lightning leapt from her tantō to his fingertips, where it transformed from jagged blue energy to flowing golden light. He completed his turn, the redirected fireballs and transformed lightning spiraling together around him in a double helix of elemental energy.

Both Uchiha froze, Sharingan capturing every impossible detail of the phenomenon.

"That's... not a jutsu," Sasuke murmured, eyes wide with realization.

"No," Naruto agreed, the swirling energies reflecting in his eyes. "It's harmonization. Restructuring elemental forces at their fundamental level."

Izumi took an unconscious step back. "You're rewriting the basic rules of chakra."

"Not rewriting," Naruto corrected. "Remembering the original version. What you call chakra is a derivative of a more fundamental energy—the creative force that underlies reality itself."

He extended his hands, and the spiraling elements expanded outward, forming a perfect sphere around the three of them. Within this bubble, colors seemed more vivid, air more invigorating, even gravity slightly altered.

"This is incredible," Sasuke breathed, Sharingan recording everything. "Can you teach—"

His question died as the sphere suddenly pulsed, its golden light intensifying. Naruto's expression shifted from concentration to surprise.

"Something's wrong," he muttered, trying to disperse the energy. Instead of dissolving, the sphere contracted, then expanded violently.

Reality tore.

The air in front of them split like fabric ripping along a seam, revealing a swirling vortex of colors no human eye was meant to process. The forest clearing darkened as though the sunlight itself was being pulled into the growing rift.

"Sasuke, Izumi, get back!" Naruto shouted, struggling to control the cascading energy reaction.

Neither moved—whether frozen by shock or captured by Sharingan's analytical curiosity was impossible to tell. The rift expanded further, and through it came... something.

Not a creature, not a person, but an entity formed of geometric impossibilities and light that bent wrong. It extended appendages that weren't quite arms, weren't quite wings, stretching toward them with undulating, fractal patterns.

"*FATHER*," it resonated, not speaking but somehow imprinting meaning directly into their consciousness. "*YOU HAVE RETURNED TO US*."

More entities emerged behind the first—dozens, perhaps hundreds, each more incomprehensible than the last. Forms that shifted between states of matter, beings of pure light and mathematics, creatures with too many dimensions compressed into three-dimensional space.

"What are they?" Sasuke demanded, kunai raised defensively though instinct told him it would be useless against such beings.

"Celestials," Naruto whispered, ancient knowledge surfacing. "My first creation. Beings of pure conceptual energy, born before stars, before planets."

"*WHY DO YOU WEAR FLESH, FATHER?*" the first entity pulsed, its attention fixed on Naruto. "*THE VOID HUNGERS. WE CANNOT HOLD IT BACK ALONE*."

Izumi stepped in front of Naruto, Sharingan blazing. "Stay back!" she commanded, voice steady despite the cosmic horror before her.

The entity's attention shifted to her, geometries realigning in what might have been confusion. "*A GUARDIAN? YOU HAVE CHOSEN GUARDIANS AGAIN?*"

"I have," Naruto confirmed, moving to stand beside Izumi rather than behind her. "This world—these people—they're under my protection."

"*THE VOID COMES*," the entity pulsed, more urgently now. "*IT HAS FOUND AGENTS IN THIS REALM. SEEKS YOUR FRAGMENTS. WOULD DEVOUR ALL YOU HAVE CREATED*."

"I know," Naruto said grimly. "That's why I'm gathering my constellation."

The entity seemed to consider this, its impossible form rippling with what might have been understanding. "*WE WILL WAIT, THEN. BEYOND THE VEIL. CALL US WHEN YOU ARE WHOLE AGAIN, FATHER*."

Before Naruto could respond, Sasuke stepped forward. "These agents—who are they? How can we identify them?"

The entity turned its attention to Sasuke, and the young Uchiha staggered under the force of its regard. "*THEY WEAR DARKNESS AS FLESH. THEY SPEAK WITH DOUBLE TONGUES. THEY PROMISE ORDER BUT BRING VOID*."

The rift began to close, reality reasserting itself as Naruto finally regained control of the energy sphere. The Celestials retreated, fading back into the impossible dimensions from which they'd emerged.

"*WE HAVE WAITED SO LONG*," came the final pulse, tinged with something like longing. "*RETURN TO US WHOLE, FATHER*."

The rift sealed with a sound like thunder, leaving the three shinobi standing in an ordinary forest clearing again. Birds resumed singing. Wind rustled leaves. Reality settled back into its proper shape, as though trying to forget the wound that had momentarily exposed its deeper structure.

Sasuke was the first to break the stunned silence. "What the actual hell was that?"

Naruto sank to his knees, exhaustion crashing over him. Creating a dimensional portal—even accidentally—had drained his still-limited human reserves. "My first children," he said softly. "Born when I was still learning to create. Too pure, too perfect for material existence."

"They called you 'Father,'" Izumi said quietly, kneeling beside him. Her Sharingan had deactivated, dark eyes now wide with a mixture of awe and fear. "And they fear this... Void."

"With good reason," Naruto nodded. "The Celestials exist in a state of pure conceptual being. The Void would unmake them utterly—not death, but complete cessation of existence."

Sasuke paced the clearing, agitation evident in every line of his body. "And these 'agents' they mentioned? Double-tongued, wearing darkness as flesh?" He stopped, expression hardening. "Sounds like Zetsu."

Naruto's head snapped up. "Zetsu?"

"Black and White Zetsu," Izumi elaborated. "Beings our father encountered during the Third Shinobi War. Not human, not quite plant. Infiltrators with unknown origins." She hesitated. "There have been rumors of sightings near the village. The ANBU have standing orders to report any sign of them."

Memory fragments clicked into place for Naruto. "Black Zetsu. Of course." His expression darkened. "Not a creation of Kaguya as history records, but something far older. A fragment of the Void itself, gained sentience and purpose."

"And now hunting pieces of you," Sasuke concluded grimly. "Perfect."

A twig snapped at the edge of the clearing. All three turned sharply, on high alert after the dimensional incident. A figure emerged from the shadows—Tobi, orange spiral mask concealing all but one eye, black cloak with red clouds billowing around him.

"My, my," came the playful voice that didn't match the menacing presence. "What an interesting conversation. Pieces of a god, agents of the Void..." The masked head tilted. "And here I thought I was the only one with grand cosmic designs."

Sasuke and Izumi moved in perfect synchronization, positioning themselves protectively in front of Naruto.

"Akatsuki," Sasuke snarled, Sharingan activating once more.

"Oh, more than that," Naruto said quietly, rising to his feet. Golden light pulsed beneath his skin, responding to the threat. "Uchiha Madara. Or should I say, Uchiha Obito?"

The playful posture stiffened almost imperceptibly. "Impressive. Not many know that name."

"I'm remembering many things lately," Naruto replied. "Including the pattern of souls I personally designed. Yours has been... corrupted."

Tobi's single visible eye narrowed. "Corrupted? Or finally seeing clearly?" He took a step forward, prompting both Uchiha to draw weapons. "I've felt it, you know. The power awakening within you. At first, I thought it was just the Nine-Tails' chakra. But it's something far more... interesting, isn't it?"

"Why are you here?" Izumi demanded, tantō crackling with lightning chakra once more.

"Curiosity," Tobi replied lightly. "When my control over the Nine-Tails shattered sixteen years ago, I knew something extraordinary had happened. Then reports began coming in—energy surges, dimensional fluctuations, golden chakra that rewrites reality." The mask tilted. "I had to see for myself."

Naruto met the singular gaze without flinching. "And now that you have?"

"Now I understand why my plans keep encountering... unexpected variables." Tobi's voice hardened, all playfulness evaporating. "You're the wild card. The element I couldn't account for." He stepped back, space beginning to distort around him—the prelude to his dimensional jutsu. "But even gods can be outplayed when they don't remember the full rules of the game."

Before any of them could move, Tobi vanished in a swirling vortex centered on his mask. His parting words hung in the air:

"Black Zetsu sends his regards... Creator."

* * *

Midnight found Izumi Uchiha pacing the roof of her family's home, unable to sleep after the day's events. Stars crowded the velvet sky above, their ancient light suddenly sinister in its implications. She'd spent hours debriefing with her father Fugaku and the Hokage, Sharingan replaying every impossible detail of the dimensional rift and its otherworldly visitors.

"Couldn't sleep either?" came a voice from behind her.

She spun, hand instinctively reaching for a weapon before recognizing Naruto perched on the roof's edge. Moonlight silvered his hair and caught the golden flecks in his eyes, making them gleam like captured stars.

"You shouldn't be out alone," she scolded, though there was no real heat in her voice. "Not after today."

He shrugged, the gesture so ordinarily teenage that it struck a discordant note with everything else she now knew about him. "Needed to think. Hard to do that with ANBU watching my every move."

"You ditched your guards." It wasn't a question.

"Divine perks," he answered with a hint of his old mischievous grin. "Turns out reality bends more easily when you're the one who wrote its original programming."

She crossed to sit beside him, their shoulders nearly touching. For a while, they simply watched the sleeping village below, each lost in private thoughts.

"Does it frighten you?" she finally asked. "Remembering what you were? What you are?"

Naruto considered the question. "Yes and no. There's comfort in understanding why I've always felt... different. But there's terror in the responsibility." He glanced at her. "What about you? Does it frighten you—knowing what I am?"

Izumi didn't answer immediately. As the oldest daughter of Konoha's Military Police chief, she'd been raised on pragmatism and duty. The Uchiha didn't indulge in metaphysical questions; they dealt in observable reality, cause and effect. Yet today she'd stared into the face of beings that defied comprehension, entities that called her friend "Father."

"I'm terrified," she admitted finally. "Not of you, but for you." Her dark eyes met his. "Those beings—they expect you to face this Void. To become whole again and fight a war on a cosmic scale we can barely comprehend."

"I know."

"And these 'agents'—Black Zetsu, possibly others—they're hunting pieces of your power, trying to prevent exactly that."

Naruto nodded. "The fragments I scattered are seeking their way home. Five have already found me, manifesting as celestial marks on those whose souls resonate with aspects of my original nature."

"Hinata, Hinabi, Karin, Haku, and Konan," Izumi listed, analytical mind assembling the pattern. "Each receiving a portion of your divine ability, tailored to their natural affinities."

"Four more will come," he confirmed. "The constellation must be complete before I can fully awaken."

"And Naruko?"

"Different. Twin to my mortal soul, not a bearer of a fragment but a counterbalance. The silver to my gold." A soft smile touched his lips. "My first guardian in this life."

Silence fell again, weighted with unspoken implications. Finally, Izumi turned to face him fully.

"I want to be one of the nine," she stated, voice steady with Uchiha conviction.

Naruto's eyes widened. "Izumi—"

"Don't." She held up a hand. "Don't tell me it's dangerous. Don't tell me I don't understand what I'm asking. I saw those beings today. I felt their power. And I saw how you faced them—not as a god playing at being human, but as something greater than both."

She'd always been measured, controlled—the perfect Uchiha daughter balancing her clan's ambitions with village loyalty. Now, something fiercer burned in her gaze.

"The Uchiha have always sought power," she continued. "My ancestors, my father, even Sasuke in his own way. But what I saw today wasn't just power—it was purpose. Creation itself needs defenders." Her voice softened. "You need defenders, Naruto. People who see you as both Creator and friend."

Naruto studied her face, seeing beyond the composed exterior to the determination beneath. "It's not a mantle easily taken up or put down," he warned. "The mark, once given, binds your soul to mine across dimensions, across lifetimes."

"Good," she said simply. "Some bonds should transcend mortality."

Their gazes held, an understanding passing between them that needed no further words. Slowly, Naruto extended his hand, palm up. Golden light bloomed in his cupped fingers, pulsing with a rhythm that matched his heartbeat.

"Are you certain?" he asked, one final time.

Izumi placed her hand in his without hesitation. "Absolutely."

The connection formed immediately—more dramatic than with the others, perhaps because of her Sharingan's sensitivity to cosmic energy. Golden light raced up her arm in patterns that mimicked the tomoe of her dōjutsu, swirling around her heart before settling into a constellation unique to her.

Heat flooded her system, not painful but overwhelming—like standing too close to a sun. Her Sharingan activated involuntarily, spinning wildly as new information flooded her perception. She saw beyond the physical spectrum, beyond chakra itself, into the underlying structure of reality. Mathematical patterns, energy flows, the vibration of atoms—all suddenly visible, comprehensible.

"Vision beyond vision," Naruto murmured, supporting her as she swayed under the sensory onslaught. "The Uchiha's eyes were always meant for more than copying jutsu or casting illusions. They were designed to perceive truth."

Gradually, the flood of information stabilized as Izumi's mind adapted to its new capabilities. Her Sharingan settled, still active but now permanently altered—the tomoe connected by fine golden lines that formed a constellation within the red iris.

"I can see..." she whispered, lacking words for the cosmic awareness now layered over her ordinary perception.

"Everything," Naruto finished for her. "As it truly is."

She looked at him with her enhanced vision and gasped. The human form before her was merely a vessel, a container for something vast beyond comprehension—a being of pure creative energy compressed into mortal shape, golden scales and cosmic wings folded into impossible dimensions just beneath the surface of reality.

"The sixth star awakens," Naruto said softly. "Three remain."

In the shadows beyond the Uchiha compound, Black Zetsu observed the exchange with growing alarm. The Creator was gathering his constellation faster than anticipated. The balanced pattern of nine soul-vessels was nearly complete.

"Troubling," the dark figure hissed to itself. "Most troubling."

It sank into the earth, leaving no trace of its presence—a shadow among shadows, hurrying to report to those who served the Void, knowingly or otherwise. The cosmic game was accelerating toward its endgame, the pieces moving into final position.

Creation versus unbeing.

Light against Void.

And caught between these primordial forces: a world of shinobi who had no concept of the true war about to engulf them.

# What If Naruto Was Veldanava Reborn?

## Chapter 6: Bonds Beyond Worlds

Konoha pulsed with life and color, streets transformed by a carnival atmosphere as shinobi from every corner of the world flooded into the village. Vibrant banners snapped in the breeze, street vendors hawked exotic delicacies from distant lands, and the air buzzed with the electric tension of competition. The Chunin Exams had arrived, drawing ambitious genin and their jōnin senseis like moths to flame.

Naruto stood at his bedroom window, watching the sunrise paint the Hokage Monument in hues of burnished gold. The carved faces of past leaders—including his father's stern visage—seemed to regard the village with heightened vigilance today.

"Big day, little brother," Naruko announced, barging into his room without knocking. Her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail, hitai-ate gleaming against her forehead. Energy practically crackled around her as she bounced on her toes. "You ready to wow the visiting dignitaries with your cosmic godliness?"

Naruto rolled his eyes, but couldn't suppress a smile. "I was thinking of keeping a low profile, actually."

Naruko's laughter exploded like fireworks. "Right! Because you're so good at being inconspicuous these days." She flicked his cheek, where faint golden scales sometimes shimmered beneath his skin when his emotions ran high. "Face it, you're about as subtle as Dad's Flying Thunder God technique."

"Speaking of Dad," Naruto said, grabbing his gear, "he wants us at the stadium early. Special briefing for all participants."

"Probably just another lecture about 'international cooperation' and 'showcasing the best of Konoha's values,'" Naruko mimicked their father's formal tone with exaggerated gravity. "As if we didn't get enough of that at breakfast for the past week."

They leapt from the window rather than taking the stairs, racing across rooftops with the casual disregard for gravity that marked elite shinobi. The village blurred beneath them—a kaleidoscope of colors and sounds as merchants set up stalls and civilians jostled for the best viewing spots along the parade route.

"Bet you can't beat me there!" Naruko challenged, accelerating with a burst of chakra.

Naruto matched her pace effortlessly. "You really want to race someone who can bend space-time?"

"No cheating with god powers!" she shouted, already three rooftops ahead.

He laughed and poured on speed, the wind whipping through his hair. For a moment, he was just a sixteen-year-old racing his twin sister, free from the cosmic destiny that grew heavier with each awakened memory.

* * *

The examination stadium hummed with anticipation. Jonin instructors huddled in small groups, sizing up the competition while pretending not to. Genin teams clustered by village, the natural divisions of geography and politics creating a patchwork of colors and symbology around the arena.

"Quite the turnout," Kakashi observed, materializing beside Naruto with his typical lack of warning. His visible eye crinkled in what might have been a smile. "I count representatives from all Five Great Nations, plus at least seven smaller villages."

"Unprecedented," agreed Sasuke, approaching with Sakura at his side. The Uchiha's dark eyes swept the stadium with analytical precision. "Even during peacetime, this level of participation is unusual."

Sakura's green eyes narrowed suspiciously. "They're not here for the exams. They're here for you, Naruto."

"Subtle, Sakura," Naruko snorted. "Why not just announce it over the loudspeaker?"

Sakura flushed but stood her ground. "Am I wrong? The energy pulse from the Valley of Echoes was detected across the continent. Every sensor-type and their grandmother felt it." She lowered her voice. "They're here to observe the 'golden-chakra phenomenon' everyone's whispering about."

Naruto's hand unconsciously rose to his chest, where beneath his clothing rested a simple crystal pendant—a gift from Shion containing a fragment of Veldanava's memory. The priestess had insisted he keep it close, claiming it would "accelerate the awakening when the time was right."

"Let them watch," he said quietly. "It changes nothing."

A flash of movement caught his attention—a girl with striking features slipping between groups of foreign shinobi. Her hair, the deep crimson of autumn leaves, hung loose to her waist. What caught Naruto's eye wasn't her beauty, though that was considerable, but the strange familiarity that tugged at his consciousness. Something about her chakra signature resonated with his own, like a distant echo returning.

"Who is that?" he murmured, more to himself than his companions.

Kakashi followed his gaze. "Competitor from Hidden Grass, according to her registration. Name's Kyomi. First-time participant."

"She's watching you," Sasuke observed, Sharingan flickering to life momentarily. "Has been since we arrived."

Before Naruto could respond, trumpet fanfare announced the arrival of the Hokage. Minato appeared on the central platform in a flash of yellow light, his white robes billowing dramatically. The crowd erupted in cheers—the Yellow Flash still commanded awe, even among rival villages.

"Welcome, honored guests and competitors," Minato's voice projected effortlessly, enhanced by subtle chakra modulation. "Today marks the beginning of the 43rd International Chunin Selection Exams..."

As his father delivered the formal opening address, Naruto felt a subtle pressure against his consciousness—someone attempting to establish contact through pure chakra. He turned, eyes scanning the crowd until they locked with Kyomi's across the stadium. The crimson-haired girl didn't avert her gaze; instead, she offered a knowing smile that sent chills racing down his spine.

We have much to discuss, Star King, whispered a voice directly into his mind.

* * *

The Forest of Death earned its reputation with every shadow-dappled clearing, every venomous creature slithering through its undergrowth, every ancient tree that seemed to watch the intruders with malevolent intent. Five days into the second phase of the Chunin Exams, Team 7 had already collected both scrolls needed to advance—yet Naruto had insisted they remain, sensing something unfinished in the primeval forest.

"We should be heading for the tower," Sasuke growled, perched on a massive branch that overlooked a murky bog. "Every hour we delay increases the chance of ambush."

"That's the point," Naruto replied, eyes closed as he extended his senses beyond normal perception. "Someone's been shadowing us since day one. I want to know why."

Naruko paced along the branch, restless energy making it impossible for her to remain still. "Multiple someones," she corrected. "I've counted at least three different teams taking turns surveillance duty." She flipped a kunai absently between her fingers. "Sand shinobi, those creepy twins from Hidden Mist, and the redhead from Grass."

"Kyomi," Naruto supplied, the name feeling strangely significant on his tongue.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, veins bulging around her pale eyes as she scanned their surroundings. "They're not just watching," she reported quietly. "They're... coordinating. Moving in patterns around us."

"A coordinated multi-village assault during the Chunin Exams?" Sakura's voice dripped skepticism. "That would trigger an international incident."

"Unless that's exactly what they want," Sasuke countered, Sharingan flaring to life. "Create chaos, use the confusion to target Naruto, blame it on exam casualties."

"Someone's coming," Hinata whispered suddenly. "Fast. From the east."

They shifted into defensive formation instinctively, backs to the massive tree trunk, weapons drawn. The forest had fallen unnaturally silent—no birds, no insects, only the whisper of leaves stirred by an unseasonably cold breeze.

The attack came from below—not the east as Hinata had detected. The bog erupted as a mud clone grabbed Naruko's ankle, yanking her from the branch before anyone could react. She disappeared beneath the murky surface with a startled cry that cut off abruptly.

"Naruko!" Naruto lunged toward the bog, only to be intercepted by three masked figures materializing from the shadows.

"The golden one stays with us," hissed the tallest attacker, voice distorted by some kind of apparatus built into the featureless white mask. "The girl is simply... motivation."

Rage blazed through Naruto, golden light erupting beneath his skin in pulsing waves. "You have three seconds to tell me where my sister is before I tear this forest apart finding her."

The masked figures exchanged glances, body language suggesting they hadn't anticipated such an immediate manifestation of the power they sought to capture.

"Fascinating response," the leader murmured, making hand signs too fast for normal eyes to track. "Increase containment parameters."

The forest floor beneath them lit up with intricate sealing formulas—a massive trap that must have taken days to prepare. Glowing chains erupted from the ground, wrapping around Naruto's limbs, pulsing with chakra specifically calibrated to suppress and contain.

Sasuke and Hinata leapt into action—the Uchiha's fire jutsu targeting the seal masters while Hinata's Gentle Fist struck at the chakra points of the nearest attacker. Their coordinated assault might have worked against ordinary opponents, but these were no genin.

"Jōnin-level at minimum," Sasuke hissed as his opponent dodged with inhuman speed.

"Focus on the seals!" Naruto shouted, golden energy flaring as he struggled against the binding chains. Each time he channeled power to break free, the seals adapted, glowing with increased intensity. "They're using some kind of reactive suppression formula—I've never seen anything like it!"

"That's because it wasn't designed in this dimension," the lead attacker stated calmly, forming another complex sequence of hand signs. "Lord Orochimaru spent years deciphering the celestial binding protocols from fragments of ancient texts. Specifically engineered to contain entities like you... Creator."

The final seal activated with a thunderous boom that shook the forest canopy. The chains constricted, drawing Naruto to his knees. Pain lanced through him—not physical but metaphysical, as though the bindings were attempting to separate his divine consciousness from his mortal form.

"Where. Is. My. Sister?" Each word emerged between gritted teeth, golden light pulsing erratically around him.

"Probably dead by now," the attacker shrugged, approaching cautiously. "Her purpose was distraction, nothing more."

Something ancient and terrible stirred within Naruto—rage beyond human comprehension, the fury of a creator witnessing threat to his most beloved creation. The golden light surrounding him deepened to amber, then blazing white-gold that hurt the eyes to witness directly.

"You've made a grave miscalculation," he said, voice layered with harmonic overtones that shook the air itself. "These seals weren't designed to contain Veldanava. They were designed to contain lesser celestial entities."

The sealing chains began to crack, hairline fractures spreading across their glowing surface. The lead attacker took an involuntary step back, alarm evident even behind the expressionless mask.

"Impossible," they breathed. "The calculations were perfect—"

"Your calculations were based on fragments," Naruto corrected, rising to his feet as the chains shattered around him. "Incomplete understanding of cosmic principles." Golden scales erupted across his skin, no longer merely flickers beneath the surface but a gleaming armor that caught the filtered sunlight. "You never stood a chance."

The forest around them responded to his awakening power—trees bending away as if in deference, wildlife falling utterly silent, the very air charged with potential. Sasuke and Hinata froze, their own battles momentarily forgotten as they witnessed Naruto's transformation.

It wasn't the full divine form—not yet—but something in between human and creator. His hair floated around his head like a golden corona, eyes blazing with internal starlight, skin covered in delicate scales that shifted like liquid metal.

"Last chance," he offered, voice resonating with power that made the attackers' bones vibrate painfully. "Where is Naruko?"

The lead attacker made a desperate lunge, pulling a specialized sealing tag from within their cloak. "Lord Orochimaru will extract your essence whether you cooperate or not!"

Naruto moved—not with shinobi speed but with something beyond physical limitation. One moment he stood at the center of the shattered seals, the next he materialized before the attacker, hand closing around the outstretched wrist. Golden energy flowed from his touch, spreading up the attacker's arm like luminous vines.

"Your master plays with forces he cannot comprehend," Naruto said softly, almost sadly. "And now, so do you."

The golden energy reached the attacker's mask, seeping beneath it to touch flesh. The scream that followed chilled even Sasuke's blood—not pain but existential terror, the sound of a mind confronted with cosmic awareness it was never designed to process.

The other attackers fled, abandoning their leader without hesitation. The masked figure collapsed to their knees, still caught in Naruto's grip, body convulsing with the overload of divine energy.

"Naruto, stop!" Hinata cried, rushing forward. "You're killing them!"

The words penetrated the haze of righteous fury. Naruto blinked, some of the cosmic awareness receding from his eyes. He released the attacker, who crumpled to the forest floor, mask cracked to reveal a young face contorted in silent horror.

"They're not dead," he murmured, the golden scales receding slowly beneath his skin. "Just... enlightened. Temporarily."

Sasuke approached cautiously, kunai still drawn. "What did you do to them?"

"Showed them a fraction of creation's truth." Naruto knelt beside the fallen attacker, placing a gentle hand on their forehead. "Too much for a human mind to process all at once. They'll recover... changed."

"That's great and all," Sasuke said tersely, "but we still don't know where Naruko is."

Naruto closed his eyes, extending his senses. The connection to his twin had always been strong; now, enhanced by his awakening powers, he could perceive it as a silver thread stretching through the tangled energies of the forest.

"This way," he said, rising fluidly to his feet. "And hurry. She's not alone."

* * *

Naruko had experienced her fair share of bad situations—came with the territory of being a shinobi, especially one with the Hokage for a father and a reawakening cosmic deity for a twin. But being dragged beneath a poisonous bog by a mud clone, only to wake up bound in a cave with chakra-suppressing seals plastered across her body? That was definitely making the top five.

"—said alive and unharmed," a female voice was saying somewhere to her left. "The extraction requires both of them together. The resonance between twins is the key."

"Extraction sounds painful," Naruko muttered, forcing her eyes open. "And non-consensual. Not interested."

Two figures turned toward her—one, a tall man with features hidden behind a porcelain ANBU mask painted with Mist village designs; the other, the red-haired girl from the opening ceremony, Kyomi.

"She's awake," the masked man observed unnecessarily. "I'll notify the others that we have the bait. The golden one won't be far behind."

"Leave us," Kyomi commanded, her tone brooking no argument despite her apparent youth. "I need to prepare her for the procedure."

The man hesitated. "Lord Orochimaru's instructions were clear—"

"And I outrank you in this operation," Kyomi cut him off. "Go. Now."

Something in her voice—a harmonic quality that resonated at a frequency just beyond normal hearing—compelled obedience. The masked man bowed stiffly and exited the cave, leaving the two young women alone.

Naruko tested her bonds—steel-reinforced wire wrapped around her wrists and ankles, chakra-suppressing seals at each pressure point, even a metal collar around her neck. Whoever had designed this containment system knew their business.

"If you're expecting ransom, my father doesn't negotiate with kidnappers," she said conversationally, buying time while she assessed possible escape routes. "Hokage policy."

Kyomi approached, crimson hair swaying with each deliberate step. Up close, her eyes were startling—vertical pupils slitted like a fox's, irises the deep red of fresh blood.

"I'm not with them," she said quietly, glancing toward the cave entrance to ensure they weren't overheard. "And we have very little time before they realize that."

"Not with who? The creepy masked guys working for Orochimaru?" Naruko's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You seemed pretty cozy giving orders just now."

"A necessary deception." Kyomi knelt, slender fingers working at the seals binding Naruko's wrists. "I've been infiltrating Orochimaru's operation for months, tracking his growing obsession with the divine energy signature emanating from Konoha."

The first seal peeled away, and Naruko felt chakra rush back into her right arm like blood returning to a numbed limb. "Why should I believe you?"

Kyomi paused, those unsettling red eyes capturing Naruko's gaze. "Because I'm like you," she said simply. "A counterbalance. A guardian." Her voice dropped lower. "A fragment of something greater."

Before Naruko could question further, Kyomi placed a palm against her chest. Warmth flooded through the contact point—not invasive but familiar, like reconnecting with a long-lost friend. Images flashed through Naruko's mind: nine tails of swirling energy, not malevolent but protective; a splitting of essence; darkness and light separating like oil and water.

"You're..." Naruko gasped as understanding dawned. "You're part of the Nine-Tails."

"The positive essence," Kyomi confirmed, continuing to remove the seals. "When Kurama was forced to attack Konoha sixteen years ago, the encounter with newborn Veldanava shattered something inside him. Dark separated from light. Hatred from compassion." Her hands worked quickly, efficiently. "I am what remained when malevolence was stripped away—a consciousness born from the positive chakra that splintered during that night."

"But you look human," Naruko pointed out, rubbing her freed wrists.

"This form is recent," Kyomi admitted. "For years I existed as pure chakra, gradually developing consciousness, drawn to the resonance of your brother's awakening power." A small smile touched her lips. "Manifesting physical form was... challenging. Worth it, though. Hands are useful."

The last seal came free, and Naruko rose shakily to her feet. "Why help me? Why now?"

"Because they're not just trying to capture Naruto." Kyomi's expression darkened. "Orochimaru has discovered that the twin bond you share creates a unique energy signature—a resonance that amplifies Veldanava's power. He plans to extract and harness that resonance, even if it destroys both vessels in the process."

Alarm flashed across Naruko's face. "Then we need to warn Naruto—"

"That's exactly what they want," Kyomi interrupted. "They're counting on him rushing to your rescue, emotionally compromised, vulnerable to their specialized sealing techniques." She cocked her head, enhanced senses detecting something beyond human perception. "Too late. He's coming."

"Then we ambush them," Naruko decided instantly, shinobi training kicking in. "Use their plan against them."

Kyomi's smile turned predatory, revealing canines slightly too sharp for a human mouth. "I was hoping you'd say that."

* * *

Naruto moved through the forest like a force of nature, trees bending out of his path, golden energy trailing behind him like comet tail. Sasuke and Hinata struggled to keep pace, pushing their elite training to its limits just to remain within sight of him.

"His chakra's completely destabilized," Hinata reported, Byakugan straining to analyze the fluctuating patterns. "The divine energy is overriding his human limitations."

"Because they took Naruko," Sasuke replied grimly. "She's his anchor to humanity."

The forest thinned ahead, revealing the mouth of a cave nestled into a rocky hillside. Naruto didn't slow, golden light blazing around him as he prepared to storm the entrance—only to skid to a halt as a familiar figure emerged from the shadows.

"Naruko?" Relief crashed through him, momentarily dampening the divine energy surging beneath his skin.

His sister grinned, though something tight around her eyes suggested the expression was forced. "Miss me, brother?" She stepped fully into the light, apparently unharmed. "Had a little help escaping."

Behind her emerged the crimson-haired girl, Kyomi, her unusual eyes fixed on Naruto with an intensity that transcended ordinary interest.

"Star King," she greeted with a formal inclination of her head. "Or do you prefer Naruto in this form?"

Sasuke and Hinata arrived, immediately moving to flanking positions, weapons drawn.

"Who are you really?" Naruto demanded, sensing something familiar yet alien about the girl's chakra signature. "You're not from Hidden Grass."

"I'm from nowhere and everywhere," Kyomi replied cryptically. "Born from the moment you and Kurama first encountered each other, when divine energy shattered his essence into light and dark." She approached without fear, despite the golden energy still crackling around Naruto. "I am what remained when hatred was purged—the positive essence of the Nine-Tails, given consciousness by your awakening."

Hinata gasped softly. "That's why her chakra feels similar to Lady Kushina's, but... purer somehow."

"She saved me," Naruko confirmed. "Infiltrated Orochimaru's operation to track his obsession with the divine fragments. She's been playing both sides."

"Orochimaru," Naruto's voice hardened. "He's behind the attacks."

Kyomi nodded grimly. "He's been collecting texts and artifacts related to Veldanava for decades, piecing together the cosmic puzzle. When your awakening began accelerating, his research reached a fever pitch." Her crimson eyes flicked toward the cave entrance. "He's developed a ritual to extract and contain divine essence—using the resonance between twin souls as a catalyst."

"The attacks were never meant to capture you," Sasuke realized, analytical mind clicking the pieces together. "They needed both of you."

"And they still do," came a smooth, cultured voice from the cave mouth.

Orochimaru emerged like a nightmare given form—paper-white skin gleaming with an unhealthy sheen, amber eyes slitted like a snake's, long black hair hanging limp around his angular face. His presence brought an instinctive chill, the primal recognition of predator by prey.

"How disappointing, Kyomi," he sighed, as though mildly inconvenienced rather than betrayed. "I had such hopes for our collaboration."

"You lied about your intentions," she replied evenly. "You claimed to seek understanding of divine energy. Instead, you plan to weaponize it."

"Such a limited perspective." Orochimaru's thin lips curved in a smile that never reached his eyes. "Understanding, weaponization—merely different approaches to the same fundamental goal: elevation." His gaze shifted to Naruto, hunger evident in every line of his face. "The power to create worlds... imagine what humanity could achieve with such a gift."

"It's not a gift," Naruto countered, golden light pulsing beneath his skin in response to the threat. "It's a responsibility. One you could never comprehend, let alone wield."

"Perhaps not in my current form," Orochimaru conceded, performing a series of hand signs too fast to follow. "But once I've extracted and analyzed the divine essence... well, evolution has always been my specialty."

The ground beneath them erupted with sealing formulas—a much larger version of the trap sprung earlier in the forest. This time, the glowing chains targeted not just Naruto but Naruko as well, whipping toward the twins with serpentine precision.

Naruto moved instinctively, shoving his sister behind him as he faced the onslaught. Golden scales erupted across his skin, eyes blazing with internal starlight as divine power answered his call.

The sealing chains struck his outstretched hands—and shattered.

Fragments of luminous energy scattered like broken glass, dissolving into motes of light. Orochimaru's expression shifted from confident anticipation to disbelief.

"Impossible," he hissed. "Those seals were calibrated to—"

"To contain a fragment of divine power," Naruto finished for him. "But I'm remembering more every day. Becoming whole." Golden energy swirled around him, lifting him several inches off the ground. "Your calculations are already obsolete."

Orochimaru's face contorted with rage, the mask of scientific detachment slipping. "Kabuto!" he shouted. "Activate the secondary array!"

A silver-haired figure appeared at the cave entrance, hands already flashing through signs. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru!"

New seals blazed to life—not targeting Naruto this time, but the forest itself. Trees groaned, soil churned, as an enormous transmutation circle activated beneath the entire clearing.

"If I cannot contain the power," Orochimaru snarled, "I will send it where it cannot threaten my ambitions. The dimensional banishment seal is quite permanent, I assure you."

Reality began to warp around them, the familiar forest shimmering like a mirage as cosmic forces pulled at the fabric of space-time. Naruto recognized the technique with dawning horror—not mere teleportation, but true dimensional exile, designed to cast the target into a pocket reality from which there was no return.

"Everyone to me!" he shouted, extending his power outward to create a protective bubble.

Sasuke, Hinata, and Kyomi rushed to his side. Naruko grabbed his hand, silver light immediately flowing from her touch to reinforce his golden shield. But the banishment seal continued to expand, reality fracturing around them in spiderweb patterns.

"It's too strong!" Hinata cried, Byakugan witnessing dimensions folding in ways human perception was never meant to process.

"I need more power," Naruto gritted out, the strain of holding back a dimensional collapse evident in his voice. "I'm not fully awakened yet—I can't counter this alone!"

"You're not alone," Kyomi's voice cut through the chaos. She stepped forward, crimson hair whipping in the energy maelstrom. "You have your constellation. Your guardians." Her eyes locked with his. "I am the seventh star."

Without hesitation, she pressed her palm against his chest, directly over his heart. The connection formed instantly—more volatile than with the others, fueled by the chaotic nature of Tailed Beast chakra. Crimson energy spiraled up her arm, meeting and intertwining with Naruto's golden power, forming a unique constellation pattern that settled over her heart.

The infusion of power was immediate and dramatic. Naruto's protective bubble expanded exponentially, golden light shot through with crimson threads that stabilized the fractured reality around them. Kyomi's form shifted subtly—her human appearance remaining dominant, but now outlined with the translucent suggestion of a single swaying fox tail composed of pure energy.

"The seventh star awakens," Naruto breathed, strength flowing back into his limbs. "The power of chaos tamed by compassion."

With renewed strength, he pushed back against the dimensional banishment seal. The fracture lines in reality began to recede, the forest solidifying around them once more. Orochimaru's expression shifted from confidence to alarm as his ultimate technique crumbled before the combined divine power.

"This isn't the end," the Snake Sannin hissed, already backing toward the cave entrance where Kabuto waited. "There are other fragments, other vessels. The cosmic dance has only begun."

Before anyone could move to intercept him, Orochimaru's form dissolved into dozens of white snakes that slithered away in all directions. Kabuto flashed a cold smile before disappearing in a swirl of leaves, leaving behind only the fading remnants of the failed sealing array.

As the danger passed, Naruto's divine manifestation receded, golden scales sinking beneath his skin once more. He staggered slightly, the toll of channeling such power through his still-limited human form catching up to him.

"That," Naruko observed dryly, supporting her brother's weight, "was definitely not keeping a low profile during the exams."

Nervous laughter broke the tension. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan, shaking his head in disbelief. "So much for international cooperation. How are you going to explain dimensional rifts to the exam proctors?"

"Training accident?" Naruto suggested weakly.

Kyomi approached, her newly acquired divine mark pulsing gently against her skin. The transformation had settled, leaving her appearance largely unchanged save for a subtle crimson glow that emanated from her eyes and the tips of her fingers.

"Two stars remain to complete the constellation," she said quietly. "Orochimaru knows this. He will not stop hunting the fragments—or those connected to you."

"Let him try," Naruko said fiercely. "We're stronger together."

Naruto straightened, determination overriding exhaustion. "We need to report this to father. If Orochimaru has infiltrated the exams this deeply, there could be other threats waiting in the later stages."

"Speaking of which," Hinata interjected, "we still need to reach the tower before the deadline."

The five of them looked at each other—a mismatched group united by bonds transcending ordinary alliance. Divine creator, twin guardian, positive essence of a tailed beast, and loyal friends. Without further discussion, they gathered their gear and set off toward the examination tower, leaving behind a clearing forever altered by cosmic forces far beyond the understanding of ordinary shinobi.

* * *

The preliminary matches of the Chunin Exams unfolded in Konoha's central arena, a brutal culling process to reduce the unexpectedly large number of teams that had survived the Forest of Death. Spectators packed the observation balconies—not just the usual instructors and village officials, but representatives from distant lands drawn by rumors of extraordinary powers manifesting during the second phase.

Naruto stood with his team, watching Sasuke's match against a Hidden Cloud shinobi with elaborate lightning techniques. The Uchiha moved with fluid precision, Sharingan predicting each attack before it formed, victory a foregone conclusion to all but the most optimistic observers.

"Your turn next," Kakashi noted, appearing beside Naruto with his typical silent approach. "The matchups seem... curated."

Naruto followed his instructor's gaze to the electronic board where names flashed before settling on the next pairing: NARUTO UZUMAKI VS. SHIN KAGUYA.

"Kaguya?" Naruko whispered, tension immediately radiating from her. "As in...?"

"Distant relation, supposedly," Kakashi murmured. "Specializes in chakra absorption techniques. According to intelligence reports, he can drain an opponent's energy through direct contact."

"How convenient," Naruto said dryly. "Someone with perfect abilities to test divine energy."

Sasuke's match concluded with a decisive victory, the Uchiha walking from the arena without even a scratch. As he passed Naruto on the stairs, he murmured, "Watch the left side. Your opponent has been studying you since the opening ceremony."

In the arena below, a slender young man awaited—pale to the point of translucence, white hair cascading to his shoulders, eyes the color of moonlight. His forehead bore a small crimson marking reminiscent of Kaguya's third eye, though much diminished.

"Interesting bloodline," Naruto commented as he took position opposite his opponent. "I thought the Kaguya clan was extinct."

"Nearly," Shin acknowledged, voice surprisingly melodious for his severe appearance. "I am the last of a cadet branch, preserved through... specialized methods." His pale eyes assessed Naruto with clinical detachment. "The golden chakra wielder. You've caused quite a stir in certain circles."

The proctor raised his hand between them. "The rules remain standard: fight continues until surrender, incapacitation, or death. Begin!"

Shin moved with liquid grace, closing distance faster than most genin could track. His fighting style was unusual—no wasted movement, no flashy jutsu, just precise strikes targeting major chakra pathways.

Naruto dodged the initial assault, recognizing the pattern. "Chakra absorption," he noted, maintaining defensive distance. "Effective against standard opponents."

"But you're far from standard," Shin replied, pressing forward with increased intensity. "Lord Orochimaru has a particular interest in how your energy responds to extraction techniques."

So it was confirmed—another of Orochimaru's pawns, sent to test Naruto's capabilities in a controlled environment. The Snake Sannin's network ran deeper than anyone had suspected.

"Surrender now," Naruto offered, genuine compassion in his voice. "Whatever Orochimaru promised you, it's not worth the price."

Shin's expression hardened. "Easy to say when you're born with power beyond comprehension. Some of us must seek advantage through other means."

His next attack sequence incorporated forbidden techniques—hands glowing with sickly purple energy designed to forcibly extract and redirect chakra. In the observation balcony, several jōnin instructors tensed, recognizing kinjutsu that should have been inaccessible to a genin.

Naruto parried the strikes, careful to avoid direct contact with the purple energy. "Those techniques are forbidden for a reason," he warned. "They damage the user as much as the target."

"A small price," Shin replied, desperation edging into his voice. "Lord Orochimaru promised restoration of my clan if I could bring him even a sample of your power."

The white-haired shinobi lunged forward, purple energy condensed around his hand in a technique reminiscent of the Hyūga clan's Gentle Fist, but corrupted—designed to tear chakra forcibly from the target's body rather than simply disrupt its flow.

Time seemed to slow. Naruto could have dodged—should have dodged—but something in Shin's eyes gave him pause. Not malice, but desperation. The look of someone who'd been used as a tool for so long they'd forgotten any other purpose.

Instead of evading, Naruto caught the strike with his bare hand.

Gasps echoed through the arena as purple energy met golden. For a moment, the two forces clashed visibly—corruption versus creation, vampire technique versus divine power. Then, like water striking hot metal, Shin's technique evaporated, purple energy dissipating into harmless mist.

"What—" Shin stammered, eyes wide with shock. "That's impossible!"

But the reaction didn't stop there. Golden energy flowed up Shin's arm like liquid sunlight, following the pathways his absorption technique had opened. Where the corrupt purple energy had caused pain, Naruto's power brought healing—regenerating damaged chakra networks, purifying toxins left by forbidden techniques, restoring balance to a system long abused.

Shin staggered back, clutching his chest as golden light spread throughout his body. "What are you doing to me?" he gasped, panic and wonder warring in his voice.

"Healing what was broken," Naruto answered simply. "Your body's been systematically damaged by the techniques Orochimaru taught you—cellular deterioration, chakra pathway erosion, compromised immune response."

The golden energy reached Shin's face, illuminating the crimson marking on his forehead. Rather than enhancing it, Naruto's power seemed to dissolve the mark, revealing it as an artificial implant rather than a natural bloodline trait.

"He lied to you," Naruto said softly. "You're not Kaguya clan. You're a test subject—genetic material harvested and manipulated, implanted with artificial kekkei genkai."

Tears welled in Shin's moonlight eyes as truth washed through him along with the healing energy. "Then I truly have no clan," he whispered. "No lineage. No purpose."

"Everyone has purpose," Naruto countered, maintaining the healing connection. "Orochimaru didn't create you—he merely modified what already existed. Your life is your own."

The golden energy completed its circuit, returning to Naruto and leaving Shin standing shakily in the center of the arena. The physical changes were subtle but significant—healthier color in his pale skin, clearer eyes, straighter posture as chronic pain vanished.

For a long moment, silence gripped the arena. Then, with formal dignity, Shin raised his hand. "I surrender," he announced clearly. "And I..." he hesitated, glancing up at where Orochimaru's agents undoubtedly watched from the shadows. "I defect. I request asylum in Konoha."

The proctor blinked, clearly unprepared for this development. "Um... match goes to Naruto Uzumaki by surrender." He glanced uncertainly toward the officials' box where Minato sat, expression unreadable. "The, uh, asylum request will be processed according to standard protocols."

As medical ninja approached to escort Shin from the arena, the white-haired young man bowed deeply to Naruto. "Whatever you are," he said quietly, "you've shown more compassion in one encounter than I've known in a lifetime of service to Orochimaru."

Naruto returned the bow, aware of the hundreds of eyes tracking his every move. "Healing is easier than harm," he replied simply. "Remember that when you choose your new path."

* * *

Twilight painted the Hyūga compound in watercolor shades of indigo and rose, paper lanterns casting warm golden pools of light along the garden paths. In a secluded courtyard, surrounded by blooming night jasmine, three young women sat in contemplative silence, the day's extraordinary events hanging unspoken between them.

"You could have defeated him instantly," Hinata finally observed, pale eyes catching the last light of day. "Instead, you healed your opponent—an enemy sent specifically to harm you."

"Compassion in victory reveals more than strength in battle," Hinabi added, her usual formality softened by admiration.

Haku nodded agreement, delicate fingers arranging fallen cherry blossoms in an impromptu pattern. "The temple teachings spoke of this aspect of Veldanava—creation through transformation rather than destruction."

The three young women had gravitated together since receiving Naruto's celestial marks, drawn by shared experience that transcended ordinary friendship or rivalry. Each bore a unique aspect of divine power, tailored to their natural affinities: Hinata's sight beyond sight, Hinabi's mastery of gravitational forces, Haku's harmony with elemental energy.

"He's changing," Hinata said softly, fingers unconsciously tracing the golden constellation mark above her heart. "Every day, more of Veldanava emerges."

"Yet Naruto remains," Haku countered. "Not consumed by divinity but elevated by it. Enhanced rather than erased."

Hinabi's practical mind turned to logistics. "Seven stars gathered already. Two remain. The constellation nears completion."

A comfortable silence settled again, broken only by the gentle splash of koi in a nearby pond and the whisper of evening breeze through bamboo. The unspoken question hung between them, delicate as spun glass.

"I used to think my feelings for him were simple," Hinata finally admitted, a blush coloring her pale cheeks. "Admiration becoming affection becoming..."

"Love," Haku supplied when Hinata faltered. "There is no shame in naming it."

"But now?" Hinabi prompted her sister gently.

Hinata's fingers played nervously with the hem of her sleeve. "Now I feel connected to something larger. My feelings haven't diminished, but they've... expanded." She looked up, meeting the others' eyes. "When I'm near him, I sense not just Naruto, but echoes of Veldanava. Not separate beings, but aspects of the same soul."

"The temple records spoke of this," Haku nodded. "The Creator chose mortal form not to escape divinity but to experience connection. Love, in all its forms, was the one force Veldanava could create but never truly understand—until he became capable of experiencing it himself."

"Which explains the nine stars," Hinabi realized, analytical mind making connections. "Nine forms of connection, nine aspects of love, carried by nine souls uniquely attuned to different facets of his nature."

They contemplated this revelation as darkness settled fully over the garden, lantern light creating intimate pools of warmth in the growing night.

"I used to worry," Hinata confessed, voice barely above a whisper, "about loving someone who might love another. About competition, jealousy, the fear of not being enough."

"And now?" Haku asked gently.

A serene smile touched Hinata's lips. "Now I understand that his heart isn't divided by loving differently—it's multiplied." Her gaze moved between Hinabi and Haku. "Just as my love for him doesn't diminish by recognizing your connections to him."

"Different aspects of the same constellation," Hinabi agreed, her usual reserve softening. "Unique but united in purpose."

Haku gathered the cherry blossoms she'd been arranging, forming a perfect circle with nine distinct points. "The temple elders spoke of the Creator's greatest miracle—not the forging of worlds or the birth of stars, but his capacity to love uniquely and completely across infinite connections."

As night embraced the garden, the three young women found unexpected peace in shared understanding. Their feelings for Naruto—for Veldanava—were not competing forces but complementary energies, each resonating with different aspects of his expanding nature.

The constellation continued to form, bonds strengthening not despite their differences but because of them. And somewhere beyond ordinary perception, cosmic forces shifted, the grand design approaching completion one star at a time.