The winter chill was merciless, blanketing the streets of Konoha in thick layers of snow. The village was quiet, but not for the right reasons. the sound of cruel laughter echoed against the walls, drowning out the soft whimpers of a small girl.
Hinata Hyuga cowered against a cold stone wall, her lavender eyes filled with unshed tears. Three boys loomed over her, their grins sharp and unforgiving. One of them shoved her roughly, sending her falling into the snow.
"What? The princess of the Hyuga Clan is crying?" the tallest of the three sneered, his breath visible in the freezing air. "You're weak. Just like that demon brat!"
Hinata sniffled but didn't reply. She tried to stand, but another boy kicked snow into her face, making her fall back down. The bullies laughed harder.
"What a waste of space. You're just as pathetic as that monster."
A voice cut through the laughter, small yet unwavering.
"Leave her alone."
The bullies turned. A six-year-old boy stood at the entrance of the alleyway, his golden hair messy and dusted with snow. His blue eyes, though young, held a determination far beyond his years.
"Oh? The demon himself decided to show up?" one of them mocked, cracking his knuckles. "What? You gonna save your little girlfriend?"
Naruto Uzumaki ignored their taunts. He knew these kids—he'd been their favorite punching bag for years. It didn't matter what he did; they always had an excuse to hit him. But Hinata... she hadn't done anything. She didn't deserve this.
He stepped forward, positioning himself between her and them. "I said leave her alone."
The tallest bully scoffed. "And what if we don't?"
Naruto clenched his fists. "Then you'll have to go through me."
The boys exchanged glances before their grins widened. "Gladly."
They swarmed him.
Naruto barely had time to react before the first punch landed in his gut, knocking the air from his lungs. He staggered, but another hit crashed into his ribs. A sharp pain spread through his side, but he refused to fall. He had to protect her.
Another fist connected with his face, sending him sprawling into the snow. He tried to push himself up, but a kick slammed into his stomach, forcing him down again. The cold seeped into his skin, mixing with the sharp sting of bruises forming on his body.
"Not so tough now, huh?" one of them spat, kicking him in the ribs again.
Naruto gasped, his vision swimming. He could barely hear Hinata's choked sobs behind him. He needed to stand up. He needed to fight back. But his small body refused to move.
"Finish him off," the first bully ordered.
One of them grabbed a stone from the ground, its jagged edges glinting under the pale winter sun. He stepped over Naruto, lifting the rock high above his head.
"Say goodnight, demon."
The stone came down. A sickening crack echoed through the alleyway.
The boy holding the stone stumbled back, his hands trembling. The snow beneath Naruto's head darkened with crimson, steam rising as warm blood melted the frozen ground.
"Y-You killed him..." one of them whispered, his voice barely audible.
The boy who had delivered the fatal blow dropped the stone, his face pale. "I... I didn't mean to..."
The tallest bully swallowed hard before forcing a grin. "Good riddance. We just did the village a favor, right?"
The others hesitated but eventually nodded. "Yeah... we did a good thing."
The lifeless body of Naruto Uzumaki lay motionless in the snow, his bright hair streaked red. The alley swallowed every sound except Hinata's broken sobs, her small hands clutching his sleeve as if the warmth could return if she just wished hard enough. The cold didn't answer her. The world didn't answer her. But something else did.
Far beyond Konoha's reality, unseen by every living thing on this planet, a slender hand reached through the layer of existence itself and seized Naruto's fading soul.
Bernkastel stepped into a place no human could perceive, her long steel-blue hair brushing against a void that had forgotten what motion meant. Her eyes were empty, a violet that held no concept of mercy. The black-and-white child dress she wore swayed without wind, a blue ribbon resting neatly at her collar. Cotton socks. Polished black mary janes. A small black cat tail behind her, another blue ribbon tied around it like an afterthought of cruelty.
She pressed the sole of her shoe against the soil of this world—or what the soil would be if time hadn't shattered the instant she touched it. The universe froze. Snowflakes hung midair. Hinata's tears hovered on her cheeks. The blood dripping from Naruto's skull stopped as if suspended by invisible strings.
Only Bernkastel moved. Naruto's soul twisted gently above her palm, a fragile swirl of light and broken potential. It flickered weakly, straining toward the body it once belonged to, but her fingers closed slightly, denying even that instinct.
After all these loops… this one is new.
Her lips curved just enough to imply amusement but not enough to be kind.
I never expected Naruto would be killed. Such a trivial point in time . How entertaining.
She lifted the soul higher, letting its dim glow reflect in her eyes.
Perhaps a change of pace is needed. A gift for this world. Or maybe a curse. Should this Naruto—the one I will raise—desire this realm as his own…
Her fingers tightened just a little.
He will be a different kind of Naruto. A wicked heart to mirror mine.
And then—she vanished, slipping out of the Naruto world entirely, leaving time frozen behind her. The village remained suspended in that broken moment, a snowflake caught between falling and never falling. Hinata's tears stayed mid-air. Naruto's body lay still. Whether he would ever return to this place would depend entirely on the monster she planned to mold.
If the Naruto she raised ever wished for revenge
—or for fun—
the world would be his toy.
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Elsewhere, thousands of years later Beyond Reality
A chamber stretched into a horizon no sane mind could measure. The walls weren't walls—they were concepts, languages, equations, truths, impossible knowledge layered into a shape that only resembled architecture because mortals needed the illusion of structure.
The long obsidian table reflected nothing.
Not even its occupants.
This was the O5 Council Room. seats for beings who governed the multiverse's last line of order., depending on the day. At one of the table sat a boy.
A cape draped over his shoulders like a living shadow. top hat tilted at an angle that mocked seriousness. Yellow hair, unruly, glowing faintly like an artificial sun.
And covering his left eye—an eyepatch,
Naruto Cipher. Third Seat of the O5 Council.
The same boy Bernkastel stole from a snowy alley thousands of years ago—now grown, reshaped, sharpened into something that laughed at the idea of humanity.
Across from him, sprawled lazily in her chair, a girl rested her cheek on her hand. Her steel-blue hair spilled down her back, motionless in a dimension where motion was optional. Her cat-like eyes stared at him—flat, bored, predatory.
Bernkastel, Witch of Miracles. Second Seat of the O5 Council. Naruto's mentor. His step-sister. His jailer. His teacher. His nightmare. His everything and nothing at once. She didn't look happy. Of course she didn't. Bernkastel rarely looked anything.
"You want to resign now, Naruto Cipher."
Naruto smiled, slow and tired, leaning back in his chair like someone who finally stopped pretending. "Yeahhh. I'm done. I've been living in a world I'm not supposed to be in, and the meta commentary jabbed at me for the last millenia is killing my mood."
The air warped. In an instant, wild cats erupted into existence around him—Bernkastel's cats, the kind that devoured stories, timelines, loops, and entire multiverses as if they were dry cat food. Their bodies twisted, flickered, reforming with impossible geometries. A cluster of them merged, stretching into a leviathan-like whale covered in thousands of teeth, each tooth a possible ending.
Naruto looked at the swarm. "I take that as a no, my dear step-sister."
Bernkastel crossed her legs, her gaze cutting through him like a quiet guillotine. "Don't forget," she said, "we were the ones who accepted you without question. You have luxury beyond anyone—not even your pathetic self as the Seventh Hokage could compare."
Naruto exhaled slowly. "Okay, that's a bit of a handful. I enjoy the luxury where we gaze down at lower beings, sure… but I can't stay. It's more enjoyable when I'm down there with them."
He tilted his hat slightly, a quiet signal—a trick he kept hidden for centuries.
"Lambdadelta," Naruto said, calm but sharp. "I'm cashing one of the favors you promised me."