Chapter 1: Prologue : That Night
Chapter Text
March 17, 2010 11:47 PM
Blood and bodies littered the Uzumaki clan compound.
The garden her relatives had tended with such care—where laughter once rang beneath lantern light—had been reduced to a grotesque sea of blood and torn flesh. Flowers lay crushed beneath lifeless limbs, their petals stained crimson, indistinguishable from the carnage around them.
The once peaceful night had twisted into something torn straight from a nightmare—one that refused to release its grip no matter how desperately the little blonde-haired girl tried to wake herself from it.
Everywhere she turned, there were bodies.
Bodies of cousins she used to chase through the halls, their laughter echoing in her ears even now. Bodies of aunts who scolded her for her mischief but always pulled her into warm embraces afterward. Bodies of uncles who ruffled her hair and smiled as though the world could never be cruel.
For a girl who had lost her parents at such a young age, they were all she had ever known as family. They had raised her. Loved her. Protected her.
And now they lay scattered across the compound like discarded dolls.
The moonlight illuminated the horror in merciless detail—the twisted limbs, the frozen expressions of disbelief, the gaping wounds. No. Not died.
Murdered.
Her chest constricted painfully, lungs screaming for air that refused to come. Each breath felt like it might be her last. Tears blurred her vision, spilling freely down her cheeks, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. None of that mattered anymore.
She staggered through the courtyard, frantic, searching for any sign of life. Any rise and fall of a chest. Any flicker of movement.
There was none.
Only wide, unseeing eyes staring into nothingness, forever trapped in a moment of horror—as if they couldn’t believe this was happening. As if they had never imagined such a fate could befall their clan.
Earlier that day, she had been so excited to tell everyone about her scores in class. She could still remember rehearsing what she’d say, picturing their proud smiles.
Now, that memory felt like something from another lifetime.
A sharp sound echoed behind her.
Heavy footsteps.
Her heart slammed violently against her ribs.
“I’m going to die,” she thought wildly as fresh tears welled in her eyes. Right here. Right now.
She tried to control her breathing, to quiet the sobs clawing their way out of her throat—but choked gasps escaped her anyway.
The footsteps stopped.
“Oh?” a woman’s voice drawled behind her, smooth and utterly apathetic. “What do we have here?”
Trembling, the girl turned around, her body shaking uncontrollably. The darkness of the night swallowed most details, but she could make out the silhouette of a petite woman with short, dark hair. Moonlight briefly caught a strange stitch-like scar running across her forehead.
“Ah—!” The girl tried to scream, but no sound came out.
“Don’t be so scared,” the woman said, her tone sickeningly sweet. “After all, I don’t plan on doing anything to you.”
She tilted her head, smiling.
The smile made Naru’s skin crawl.
“Not yet, anyway. Who knows what might happen if that thing inside you were to come out if I killed you now?”
The words struck like a blade.
The girl gasped, her eyes wide and wet. “H-how…?” Her voice trembled violently. “How do you know about that?”
Panic twisted her thoughts. That secret—known only to her clan—spoken so casually by an outsider shattered her already fragile mind.
“Oh?” The woman pouted exaggeratedly. “Was it supposed to be a secret?”
She chuckled softly.
“You clans are terrible at keeping secrets. Everyone knows about the strange rituals and practices of the Uzumaki.”
Her eyes gleamed with amusement as she studied the girl.
“And you… you’re Uzumaki Naru, aren’t you?” the woman continued. “The Jinchūriki. That’s what your clan calls the likes of you, right?” Her smile sharpened. “Such a dignified title for someone who’s just a vessel.”
The words felt like knives.
“A-are you the one who killed my family?” Naru asked, her voice breaking. “Why are you doing this? Why us? Why my family?!”
The last words tore from her throat, raw and desperate, carrying every ounce of grief and rage burning inside her.
The woman sighed as if bored. “Isn’t it beautiful?” she asked serenely. “You don’t like it?”
Something inside Naru snapped.
With a furious scream, her eyes flashed red as she lunged forward, fist drawn back. “YOU—!”
“Oh my,” the woman said lightly, catching her wrist with effortless ease. “How spirited.”
She spoke as if this were a game, as if the corpses around them were nothing more than discarded toys.
Naru struggled wildly, striking and kicking—but it was useless.
Then the woman’s expression changed.
All amusement vanished, replaced by cold indifference.
“You’re annoying,” she said flatly. “Don’t mistake my patience for affection.”
Her grip tightened.
“You’re alive because you might be useful someday. That’s all.”
Her fist slammed into Naru’s face.
Pain exploded as the girl was sent flying, crashing into a sliding door. Her head struck hard, and she collapsed to the ground.
Her vision swam, black spots dancing before her eyes. She barely registered the woman standing over her, looking down as though she were nothing more than an insect.
“Why don’t you spend the rest of your life contemplating your weakness?” the woman said calmly. “Maybe if you were stronger, you could have saved them.”
Her gaze pierced straight through Naru.
“But you weren’t. You’re just a weak little girl. Nothing special at all.”
The woman raised her hand.
Darkness swallowed everything.
When Naru opened her eyes, she was standing in the courtyard again—whole, uninjured.
She let out a shaky breath of relief, clinging desperately to the hope that it had all been a nightmare.
Then the screaming started.
Her heart sank.
She ran toward the sound—only to see her family being slaughtered all over again.
No matter how she screamed. No matter how she tried to warn them.
They couldn’t hear her.
The nightmare repeated itself.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Time lost all meaning. Reality blurred into agony. Her voice grew hoarse and raw from screaming until no sound would come out at all. Eventually, her body gave out, and she collapsed to the ground, exhausted in both mind and spirit, froth bubbling from her lips.
In the deepest, darkest depths of her mind—
An eye opened.
Red.
Slitted.
Watching.
Chapter 2: As Things Were
Summary:
A quiet night spent between two friends before everything changes.
Chapter Text
June 17, 2018 — Tokyo Jujutsu High
The TV volume was too loud.
Not enough to be annoying, just enough to fill the room so no one had to talk.
Naru sat on the floor, leaning back against the couch, controller loose in her hands. Onscreen, her character missed a jump and dropped out of frame.
“…That’s stupid,” she said.
Megumi didn’t look away from the screen. “You mistimed it.”
“I didn’t mistime it,” she said. “The camera angle’s bad.”
“That’s what you said last time.”
She twisted around to look at him. “You’re not even playing.”
“I don’t need to.”
“That’s not how games work.”
He shrugged. “Looks like it is.”
She turned back to the screen and restarted the level without another word. Her thumbs moved slower this time. Less frantic.
After a minute, Megumi spoke again. “You’re thinking too much.”
She scoffed. “Says the guy who looks like he’s brooding even when he eats cereal.”
“I don’t brood.”
“You absolutely brood.”
Silence settled again. The character cleared the jump this time.
From the doorway, Gojo leaned in, arms crossed, head tilted.
“You two look domesticated,” he said. “Like a couple that’s been married for ten years and hates each other.”
Naru didn’t look up. “Go away.”
Megumi added, “We didn’t ask you to come in.”
Gojo grinned. “Wow. Matching energy. Love to see it.”
He wandered in anyway, peered at the screen. “You stuck on this part?”
“No,” Naru said immediately.
Her character died again.
Gojo hummed. “Sure.”
She paused the game and looked up at him. “Why are you here?”
“Can’t I check on my precious students?”
Megumi stared at him flatly. “No.”
Gojo laughed. “Fair.”
He crouched down, resting his chin in his hands. “You’re both unusually quiet today.”
Naru shrugged. “Nothing to talk about.”
“That’s a lie,” Gojo said easily. “You always have something to talk about. You just don’t want to.”
She didn’t respond.
Megumi shifted slightly. “We’re fine.”
“Did I say you weren’t?” Gojo stood up again. “Relax. I’m not here to do teacher things.”
Naru eyed him. “That’s not reassuring.”
“It shouldn’t be,” he said, already heading back toward the door. “Don’t stay up too late. Curfew exists. Allegedly.”
He left without waiting for a response.
The room felt quieter after that.
Megumi glanced down at Naru. “You gonna keep playing?”
“Yeah.”
She unpaused the game.
A few seconds passed.
“…You ever get tired of him?” she asked, not looking at Megumi.
“Yes,” he said immediately.
She snorted. “Good.”
Another pause.
“Do you actually like video games,” he asked, “or is this just something to do?”
She thought about it. “I like that it doesn’t care who you are.”
He nodded once. “That makes sense.”
The level ended. Victory music played, tinny and brief.
Naru set the controller down and leaned her head back against the couch.
They sat there a while longer, not talking, the TV idling on the results screen.
For once, neither of them felt like they had to fill the silence.
She huffed a quiet laugh, then went still again.
“You staying up?” he asked.
“Not too late.”
“Good. We’ve got that thing tomorrow.”
“I know.”
The TV idled, looping the same low menu music.
Megumi stood, stretching once. “Don’t leave it on overnight.”
“I won’t.”
He paused, then added, “You played cleaner than last time.”
She glanced at him. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He headed toward the dorm hallway without waiting for a response.
Naru picked the controller back up, turned the console off properly, and sat there for a moment longer before standing and headed down the hall towards her room,the quiet of the school settling in around her as the night pressed on.