🌸 Eyes That Remember
Chapter 1 – The First Meeting
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Konoha was bright with late-spring sunlight, but for Naruto Uzumaki, the day couldn't have felt darker.
The streets were as cold as ever, no matter how warm the breeze was. People gave him those looks again—sideways glances, whispers, mothers tugging their children away as he passed.
Naruto pretended not to care. He grinned, hands behind his head, walking like he owned the world.
But inside, the ache never left.
He'd pulled a prank that morning—painting the Hokage Monument again. This time he added a bushy mustache to the Third's face and gave Tobirama a goofy tongue. He'd thought it was genius.
But now, half the village was mad at him.
Again.
"Stupid old man," he muttered, dodging a fruit stand. "If he'd just let me pass the exam already, I wouldn't have time for pranks..."
Chased by the furious grocer and two chunin, Naruto ducked behind a bamboo gate and slipped out of the main road. He ran until he found the woods behind the Hyuga estate—quiet, still, forgotten.
There, between twisted roots and soft moss, Naruto collapsed, panting. "Safe…"
Until he heard someone sniffle.
He looked up.
A girl sat under the branches of a cherry tree, knees tucked to her chest. Long dark hair fell across her pale face, and her eyes—soft lavender—shimmered with tears.
"Uh…" Naruto blinked. "Are you okay?"
The girl startled. She wiped her cheeks, embarrassed.
"I—I'm sorry…" she whispered, barely audible. "I'll leave…"
"Nah, you were here first," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "Besides… I don't really like people either."
The girl blinked in surprise. "You don't?"
He flopped down near her, leaving a respectful space between them. "They look at me weird. Always. Like I'm gonna explode or something."
She hesitated. "Me too…"
There was a silence between them—not awkward, just… quiet.
A shared quiet.
"I'm Naruto," he said. "Naruto Uzumaki."
The girl smiled slightly. "Hinata… Hyuga."
---
That night, Naruto dreamed.
But it wasn't like any dream he'd ever had.
He was standing barefoot on the edge of a cliff, the sky split between dusk and starlight. Around him, the wind shimmered like living light. In his hand was a katana, its surface black and red, glowing with breath.
He moved without thought.
One breath in.
One breath out.
His body shifted into a stance that didn't belong to him—left foot forward, right hand open, breathing steady.
"First Form: Flame Rush."
A shockwave of fire burst from his blade, carving through shadows. Behind him, he heard voices—battle cries, names he didn't know. But they felt familiar.
So familiar.
He turned—there, standing in the mist, was a girl with lavender eyes and short black hair. She smiled softly.
And then he woke.
---
Morning light filled his apartment. Naruto sat up, hand trembling slightly. He looked at his palm—nothing there. No sword, no flame, just skin.
"What the hell kind of dream was that…"
But deep in his chest, something pulsed.
Not chakra.
Something older.
He stood slowly and exhaled.
Then, almost without thinking, he moved into the same stance from the dream.
Left foot forward. Right hand loose.
One breath in. One breath out.
His body remembered before his mind did.
---
For the next week, Naruto returned to the woods after school. When Iruka-sensei wasn't looking, when the other kids laughed, when the Hokage wasn't assigning chores—Naruto trained.
Not like he did at the Academy. Not hand seals and paper targets.
He trained the way his body told him to.
He learned how to breathe—not just to stay alive, but to control the rhythm of his movement. He punched with focus, stepped in patterns, memorized forms no one in Konoha had ever taught him.
He didn't understand it yet.
But it made him feel real.
---
Hinata watched from behind the trees.
At first, it was curiosity. She'd come to see the loud boy again—the one who smiled at her like she wasn't broken. But what she saw was something different.
Naruto moved like a shadow. He wasn't graceful, but there was a strange flow to his body. It wasn't Academy taijutsu.
And then she felt it—a tug, deep in her soul. A pulse.
She closed her eyes, and for a moment, she saw it too.
A battlefield.
The clang of swords.
Naruto, older, fighting something huge. And her—standing behind him, hands glowing with light.
She gasped and clutched her chest. What was this feeling?
What were these memories?
---
A few days later, when Naruto tripped during training, Hinata stepped forward.
"You're breathing too shallow," she whispered before she could stop herself.
Naruto looked up, wide-eyed. "Wait—you've seen this stuff before too?"
"I… I don't know," she said, blushing. "It just feels… familiar."
He stood slowly. "You've dreamed it too, haven't you?"
She nodded.
A long silence passed between them.
Then Naruto grinned. "Cool."
Hinata blinked. "You're not scared?"
"Scared?" He laughed. "No way. This means I'm not crazy!"
She smiled for real this time. It was small, but radiant.
Maybe they were both crazy.
Or maybe… something bigger was happening.
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📝 Author's Note:
This story explores an alternate memory thread. Some canon moments are modified. Some are the same. Just like dreams—familiar, but different. This is one of those dreams.