Kaguya?

"Kaa-sama, please end the ritual of the Divine Tree!"

The voice echoed in his mind—soft but desperate, tugging at a memory Naruto didn't know he had. Kaa-sama? Who was calling him that?

Naruto blinked open his eyes, but instead of his apartment ceiling, an impossibly tall tree loomed above, its roots entangled with the sky. His body felt heavy, unresponsive, as though he were trapped in someone else's skin. His limbs refused to obey, like a puppet held in place by invisible strings.

Is this a nightmare?

Surrounding him were endless rows of trees stretching beyond the horizon, the air thick with an unfamiliar energy. The gigantic tree stood at the center of it all, a living monument to something ancient, something sacred. And yet, Naruto couldn't shake the overwhelming feeling of wrongness.

"That is not possible," his voice replied—cool and detached, though he hadn't willed it. Panic swelled inside him. He could feel, hear, and see everything, but it was as if he were reliving a memory, a fragment from deep within him, playing out without his control.

A distant voice, calm but insistent, drifted through the air. "The ritual must continue... until the others arrive."

Ritual? Others? Was he part of some kind of ceremony? His body shifted slightly, bringing two young figures into view. They looked like boys, but something about them felt... ancient. One had long, silvery white hair and eyes eerily familiar—Byakugan eyes, like Hinata's. The other had short hair tinged with a pale pink hue, and both bore small horns jutting from their foreheads.

"What others, Kaa-sama?" one of the boys asked.

Naruto's stomach twisted. Kaa-sama? They were calling him that again. But why? I'm not their mother... I'm not even a woman!

Confusion mounted, battling with the strange sense of familiarity that crept through his mind.

"You do not need to know about them just yet," the voice—his voice—replied, cold and unyielding. The sensation of his body moving, his lips parting, felt alarmingly real, amplifying the terror that coursed through him. The inability to control these actions intensified his fear, leaving him feeling utterly trapped.

Now he was more than just curious. Who are these others? Why are they important? Why am I calling the shots?

Before he could question further, a sharp, booming voice sliced through the haze, like thunder rolling across the heavens:

"Okaa-sama!"

Naruto jolted awake with a gasp, his heart hammering in his chest. His room came into focus—the small, cramped apartment in Konoha, bathed in the soft blue of early morning. He could still feel the weight of the dream—no, the memory—pressing on his mind like a fog that wouldn't lift.

Breathing heavily, Naruto fumbled for the glass of water on his nightstand, gulping it down as if his throat had been parched for days. His skin felt too hot, as though he'd been standing under the sun for hours.

What... What was that?

Glancing at the clock, it read 7:34. Great! He thought, I'm going to be late for school.

Stumbling out of bed, Naruto made his way to the bathroom, his body weak and unsteady. I never get sick, he thought, clutching the door frame for balance. Never. But this feverish heat? It was different. It was like something else was happening inside him.

Reaching the bathroom, he splashed cold water on his face, but it felt like ice against his burning skin, biting deep into his nerves. His pulse thudded in his ears as he slowly lifted his head to glance into the mirror.

His breath hitched.

A stranger was staring back at him.

The reflection wasn't his usual messy blond hair and blue eyes. It was a woman. Long, pale white hair cascaded over her shoulders like a waterfall, and her eyes—those eerie, lavender-white eyes—seemed to peer straight into his soul. The two horns on her head gleamed faintly in the dim light.

Naruto's heart leapt into his throat. Who the hell—?!

Before he could react, he stumbled backward, his head colliding painfully with the shower rail behind him.

"Gah!" He groaned, clutching the back of his head as the world spun for a moment. His knees wobbled, but he forced himself to stand again, the cold tile underfoot grounding him.

When he dared to look back at the mirror, the woman was gone.

His own reflection greeted him this time—wild blond hair, deep blue eyes, and the familiar whisker marks etched on his cheeks. His heart slowly began to settle, but the confusion only grew.

What the hell is going on?

Naruto's pulse quickened as fragments of the dream swirled in his head. Kaa-sama... the Divine Tree... that woman...

He grabbed the sink, fingers gripping the cold porcelain as he stared at his reflection, trying to shake off the remnants of the vision. His face looked the same—blond hair, blue eyes, whisker marks—but the memory of the woman's lavender-white gaze lingered, sending a chill through him.

Who was that woman?

The question gnawed at him, but he forced himself to move. Shaking his head, Naruto turned away from the mirror and made his way to the shower. He didn't notice the subtle change at the roots of his hair—a small tuft of white beginning to grow, almost imperceptible against the rest of his blond strands.

The water hit his skin, but despite setting it to the warmest it could go, it remained bitingly cold. He winced, muttering under his breath. Of course, he thought bitterly, the landlady always makes sure of that. She had never been one for maintaining the plumbing, and today, of all days, it felt like the universe was conspiring against him.

As the icy water poured over him, Naruto hoped it would wash away more than just the sweat clinging to his skin. His body ached with an unfamiliar heaviness, the kind of deep fatigue he had never experienced before. I've never gotten sick before…

The thought lingered as he slumped down against the shower wall, the cold tiles pressing into his back. He shut his eyes, letting the water continue to cascade over him. The pounding in his head dulled as a haze settled over his mind, clouding his thoughts. His legs felt too weak to hold him up any longer.

Just for a moment, he told himself, his body sinking lower. I'll rest... just for now.

The steady stream of water drummed against his skin, a faint rhythm that echoed somewhere in the distance of his consciousness. But even that sound began to fade as exhaustion swallowed him whole, pulling him deeper into the strange, disorienting fog that seemed to wrap tighter around him with every passing second.