Naruto: Multiversal Shadows

Disclaimer: This story is 100% AI-generated fanfiction based on the Naruto universe. Characters, settings, and lore belong to Masashi Kishimoto. No copyright infringement intended.

The creature's roar shook the ruins. Ash rained from the sky as the Nine-tailed beast loomed, its golden eyes burning like twin suns in the haze. Naruto stumbled backward, but the ANBU—Kakashi, it had to be Kakashi—grabbed his arm with a grip like iron.

"Move or die!"

They sprinted through skeletal alleys, the beast's footsteps cratering the earth behind them. Naruto's lungs burned, the ash-clogged air scraping his throat raw. The masked man dragged him into the husk of a collapsed building, its walls barely standing.

"Breathe quietly," Kakashi hissed, pressing Naruto against the rubble. Outside, the beast sniffed the air, its tails whipping craters into the ground.

"What… what is that?!" Naruto whispered, trembling.

Kakashi's cracked Sharingan flickered. "What's left of your friend."

"My… friend?"

"The Nine-Tails." Kakashi peeled off his mask, revealing a gaunt, scarred face. His left eye socket was empty, a jagged burn stretching to his jaw. "In your world, the Fourth Hokage sealed it inside you. Here, he failed. The fox destroyed everything… including itself."

Naruto's stomach twisted. "But that thing outside—"

"A puppet. A corpse animated by the gold-eyed ones." Kakashi spat blood. "They've hunted every version of you across the multiverse. You're lucky you're still breathing."

"Why? What do they want?!"

Before Kakashi could answer, the wall exploded.

"DEMON CHILD!"

Five figures cloaked in tattered red robes stormed in, their forehead protectors etched with the same spiral-and-crescent symbol defacing the Hokage Monument. The leader, a woman with a melted cheek, pointed a shaking kunai at Naruto.

"You… you're him! The one who let the fox loose!"

"I didn't—!"

"Liar!" A skeletal man lunged, his blade aimed at Naruto's throat. "Our children burned because of you!"

Kakashi intercepted the strike, disarming the man with a kunai before slamming his head into the rubble. "He's not your demon!"

The woman screamed, hurling explosive tags. Kakashi shoved Naruto aside as the blast tore through the room.

"Run to the east gate!" Kakashi barked, parrying a katana strike. "There's a rift there—jump through it!"

"But you're coming too, right?!"

Kakashi didn't answer. His Sharingan bled freely now, the cracks in its crimson iris spreading like broken glass.

Naruto ran.

The streets blurred into a nightmare collage—collapsed hospitals with bodies still chained to beds, playgrounds reduced to charcoal and bone. A child's doll, half-melted, stared up at him with button eyes.

"There he is!"

The red-robed ninja descended from rooftops, their hatred sharp as kunai. Naruto ducked a senbon volley, but a blade slashed his cheek. He cried out, blood dripping onto his orange jacket—blood that glowed faintly gold.

"Freak!" the woman snarled, pinning him against a wall. "You'll pay for what you did!"

"I'm not him!" Naruto screamed, his scar blazing like a brand. "I'd never hurt anyone!"

"They all say that… before they burn."

Her knife pressed into his throat—

"Kamui!"

Kakashi's voice. A vortex opened above them, swallowing the woman whole. Her scream echoed as she vanished into nothingness.

Naruto collapsed, gasping. Kakashi stood over him, swaying, his Sharingan now completely shattered. Blood streamed from his empty eye socket.

"Why… why'd you save me?" Naruto choked.

"Because you're the only one who can kill it." Kakashi slumped against the wall, his breath shallow. "The gold-eyed demon… it's the source. Find it. Kill it. Or every world dies."

"Wait—don't close your eyes! Tell me how to save you!"

Kakashi gripped Naruto's wrist, his hand icy. "You already did… by being a better monster than it."

His body dissolved into ash, carried away by the bitter wind.

"NO!"

Naruto's scream ripped through the void. Golden chakra erupted from his scar, tearing reality itself. The ruins, the ash, the roaring beast—all vanished.

He floated in darkness, clutching Kakashi's broken ANBU mask.

"Please… take me home," he whispered.

The mask glowed.

Cliffhanger: Naruto awoke in his Konoha—but the Hokage Monument now bore the spiral-and-crescent symbol.