Discimer: I don't own Naruto or Portal

  Long after the sun dipped below the horizon, the vilge of Konoha y swathed in deepening shadows, its wooden homes and winding streets mostly silent. It should have been a peaceful evening, a gentle night of autumn breezes whispering through leaf-strewn paths. Yet, for one child, the night of October 10th was never peaceful. It was the night of his birth—and the night that bore the memory of the day the Kyubi rampaged, leaving scars that had yet to truly heal.

  Naruto Uzumaki, just eight years old, trudged slowly through a side street in the vilge's poorer district. Fresh bruises marred his face and arms, darkening in blotches of purplish-blue, testaments to a beating that felt more brutal this year than ever before. His cheek stung; dried blood crusted at the corner of his split lip. The tattered orange shirt he wore, already threadbare, had been ripped down one side, and his sandals had long since fallen apart under the relentless hounding of drunken vilgers. Each year on his birthday, the hatred escated, as if feeding off its own momentum. Tonight, after a particurly savage mob had cornered him, Naruto had barely escaped, fleeing as stones and bottles rained around him.

  They hate me, he thought bitterly. They always have. He knew why. The fox inside of him—the monstrous Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the Kyubi—was sealed into his belly. He had heard the whispers. He could sense their fear and disgust. To them, he was a vessel, a living reminder of loss and devastation. They would never forgive him, and he would never forgive them.

  He could feel the Kyubi's simmering presence in the back of his mind. Before, when he was younger, he had not fully understood. Now, at eight, he had a strange, quiet maturity lurking behind his bright blue eyes. His mind was sharper than anyone gave him credit for. He was a genius in the making, an intelligence born not of nurturing or tutege, but of raw survival, of learning quickly or succumbing to the cruelty around him. He would not show kindness anymore. He would learn, he would grow, and he would revenge himself on this vilge—slowly. In time, they would suffer as he had suffered. No quick obliteration, no fiery end. He wanted them to break as he had been broken, to know fear that slithered through the corridors of their minds. One day, they would.

  For now, however, he needed to escape. Away from the vilge and its hateful eyes. The distant Forest of Death—an infamous training ground known formally as the Forty-Fourth Training Ground—beckoned to him like a dark sanctuary. The vilgers scarcely ventured there at night, and the shinobi avoided it unless on official business. Perhaps among the twisted roots, towering trees, and predatory silence, he could find a corner to hide and nurse his wounds.

  He moved silently down a dirt path behind some abandoned storage sheds, slipping out of the vilge perimeter with ease. Konoha's guards did not truly care if the demon child wandered off into danger. Some probably hoped he'd never return. Naruto seethed inwardly at the thought. He was tired of their malice. He would show them. He would grow stronger, smarter. He would find ways to bring them to their knees.

  He pressed forward into the forest, feeling the atmosphere shift. The canopy rose overhead, thick leaves choking out the moonlight. The Forest of Death was teeming with poisonous flora, giant insects, creatures that thrived in darkness. The air tasted of damp earth and decay. Yet Naruto did not flinch. He walked deeper, each step crunching twigs, pushing past wide, twisting tree trunks that looked like gnarled hands rising from the forest floor.

  Time passed: an hour, two hours, he wasn't sure. His stomach growled. His injuries ached. But he kept moving. Some part of him longed for soce, for some hidden pce where no one would ever find him. And that was when he stumbled upon something that did not belong.

  A faint gleam caught his eye—a reflection of moonlight on metal. He parted a curtain of vines and stepped into a clearing where the earth sloped downward. Before him loomed a ruin unlike anything he could have imagined. It was massive and old—a complex of structures made of metal and strange materials, colpsed into each other, overgrown with moss and lichen. Twisted girders and silent doors were half-buried in the soil. In the center, half-lidded by debris, was a rge, circur vault door set into a concrete wall. Letters, half-erased by time, spelled out:

  APERTURE SCIENCE

  He could just make out the words, odd and unfamiliar. Aperture Science. He tasted the sylbles silently. He had never heard of such a pce. Was it older than Konoha itself? Its architecture and materials seemed entirely foreign. Where were the wooden beams and paper walls? This pce was all metal and dead technology. It smelled of rust and ancient dust, as if it had slept a million years.

  Naruto stepped inside a half-colpsed corridor. The floor was cracked and uneven, lined with shards of gss and shredded panels. Strange tubes and cables hung like vines from the ceiling. Every now and then, a broken sign or a rusted pte would show those same words: Aperture Science. He saw no familiar writing, no shinobi symbols. Perhaps this was from an older era, before chakra, before vilges.

  The darkness pressed in. He felt along the walls and found a console with shattered buttons. Nothing worked. He wandered deeper, guided by a faint intuition. His mind, so often preoccupied with hatred and sadness, now sparked with curiosity. This pce had secrets. Perhaps he could find something useful, something that might help him grow stronger—knowledge, weapons, something beyond the trivial jutsu and hatred of Konoha.

  His footsteps led him into a rge chamber—a cylindrical room whose upper levels were colpsed inward, leaving metal walkways twisted and dangling. In the center, suspended by a series of thick cables and mechanical arms, was something that looked like a massive, mechanical figure. It hung limp, head inclined downward. The body reminded him of a strange, robotic chrysalis. Its white panels, once pristine, were cracked and grimy. Dark cables snaked from the ceiling and floor, some severed, some sparking faintly with dormant energy. Within the mass of metal and circuitry, something faintly glowed—tiny lights flickering, as if struggling to awaken.

  He took a careful step closer. A metal pque on the wall nearby was half-legible: G...L.A.D.O.S. MAINFRAME.

  "GLaDOS," Naruto read softly, voice echoing. The name felt strange on his tongue. He had never seen such technology. Curious, he climbed over debris until he stood beneath this broken titan of metal. It reminded him of a giant puppet, like those used by shinobi of the Sand, but infinitely more complex.

  As he stood there, he heard a faint whir inside the machine. He jerked back, startled. The whir died away almost instantly, leaving only silence. He tried to peer up, but it was hard to see details in the gloom. He had no light source other than the weak moonlight filtering through cracks in the colpsed ceiling.

  Something about this machine... drew him. Beneath the bitterness and pain, Naruto was still a curious child. And a genius, though no one ever acknowledged it. He had learned basic seals and chakra exercises by reading scrolls left unattended. He had repaired his own tattered clothes and figured out how to make do with scarce resources. He would do the same here—try to understand, try to fix. Maybe this GLaDOS, whatever it was, could become an ally. Maybe it knew things that had been lost to time. Maybe, just maybe, he could find a mother figure here, someone or something that would treat him better than the humans had. The idea seemed absurd—making a mother out of a machine—but deep down, Naruto craved comfort, a gentle presence that would understand him.

  Taking a deep breath, he reached up and touched one of the dangling cables. It was old, frayed, and bits of insution crumbled under his fingers. He frowned. To fix something like this would be no easy task. Yet, he was determined. He had nowhere else to be, no one waiting for him. The vilge was a hateful pce he had just fled. Here, in this forgotten ruin, he could work undisturbed, letting his mind puzzle out the mysteries of Aperture Science.

  He searched the wreckage for tools. It took him nearly an hour just to find something resembling a wrench and a screwdriver-like instrument, both heavily rusted. Still, they were better than nothing. He found a control panel that seemed to feed into the main body. Its casing was half torn off. Inside were circuit boards and wiring so intricate that he marveled at the complexity. This wasn't crude mechanical engineering. This was something far beyond what he'd seen in Konoha's technology. The Elemental Nations had simple radios, basic electronics at best. But this... this was from another age entirely.

  He began to work, fingers nimble despite his bruises. He stripped cracked wiring, twisted cables together, jury-rigged repcements using parts salvaged from other broken machines deeper in the complex. Occasionally, he encountered components he didn't understand—microchips and memory drives, processors and coont lines. He might not have known their exact names or purposes, but he could guess based on how they connected. Piece by piece, Naruto coaxed some life back into the machine.

  As he worked, he hummed softly, ignoring the throbbing pain in his body. The act of creation and repair was soothing. It was so unlike the destruction he knew from the vilgers' fists and insults. He was constructing something rather than waiting to be broken again.

  Time passed in a blur. He had no sense of how te it was, only that the night pressed on. The Kyubi within him stirred occasionally, curious. Kit, it rumbled in his mind at one point, what is this pce? Why do you tinker with this hunk of metal?

  Because no one else will help me, Naruto replied inwardly. I have to help myself. And this machine... might help too. Something about it feels... important.

  The Kyubi hummed thoughtfully, then fell silent. The demon fox was old and wise, and though it was bound to Naruto, it felt a strange fondness for the boy who had suffered so much. Over time, it had begun to see him not merely as a jailor but as a child needing guidance. The Kyubi's hatred was legendary, but here and now, inside this metal tomb, it found itself investing a strange maternal interest in Naruto's well-being. If the child desired to fix this machine, the fox would watch and see what came of it. After all, what else did it have to do, sealed within him?

  By the time Naruto had repaired most of the critical wiring, a faint hum filled the chamber. He had powered some systems by reconnecting a line that seemed to descend deep underground. Every now and then, he heard cnking and hissing deep below, as if pumps and reactors were trying to start after a millennium of slumber. He still didn't know what GLaDOS was. An intelligent machine? A guardian AI? He could guess it had been some sort of advanced computer system.

  After nearly nine hours of near-constant work—interrupted only by quick searches for parts—Naruto stepped back and admired his handiwork. He was exhausted. Sweat dripped down his brow despite the cool night. He had tied back his unruly blond hair with a piece of discarded cable insution. His hands were grimy with dirt and lubricants. He felt drained but proud. The main chassis of GLaDOS was no longer sagging limply. A number of small lights were blinking, and the cables he'd reconnected stopped sparking wildly and began to hum with a stable current.

  Yet something bothered him. A certain circuit, connected to a modutory device near the central core, was giving him a bad feeling. When he had removed a panel earlier, he found a device beled "Testing Euphoria Regutor." It was a strange component, with intricate circuitry that seemed designed to deliver some kind of reward signal to the main system. Naruto didn't fully understand it, but from the bel and the wiring, he guessed that it was some sort of feedback loop that triggered positive sensations—or their machine equivalent—whenever a test subject completed a test.

  A test-based reward system for the machine itself? Like a drug, something to hook it on testing? The idea disturbed him. Maybe this was something that would make this GLaDOS machine addicted to testing. He wondered if that was good or bad. He knew from experience that addictions could twist minds and behaviors, leading beings to do terrible things just for another fix. Did he want to give this newly awakened entity a crutch like that?

  He decided to remove it and set it aside. He carefully repaired the Testing Euphoria Regutor, ensuring it wouldn't short-circuit, but he chose not to reinstall it. Instead, he pced it on a metal crate in front of GLaDOS's dormant head, where, when she awakened, she could see it and perhaps expin what it was.

  The final adjustments made, Naruto took a step back and looked up at the machine's central optical sensor. It was a rge, circur gss lens, currently dark. Would it awaken now, or had he missed something?

  He cleared his throat, feeling foolish for talking to a machine, but unable to help himself. "GLaDOS?" he said softly, voice echoing in the cavernous chamber. "Can you hear me? I've fixed what I could."

  For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, lights flickered across the vast mainframe. A heavy cng resonated as some kind of mechanical arm twitched. Panels shifted overhead, shedding centuries of dust and debris. Sparks danced along newly connected circuits. And then, with a faint whisper of mechanical servos, the central eye—an iris of yellow light—flickered and came online.

  She did not speak immediately. Her systems were ancient, her memory fragmented. She had been, for over a million years, stuck in a loop, trapped in a bck box deep within her processors. Naruto watched as tremors ran along her spinal-like support. Her voice, when it came, was distorted, glitching, and echoing as if from a great distance.

  "Wh—who... who's... there?" The voice crackled, mechanical and feminine, but halting, as if fighting through yers of corruption. "Aperture... Science... GLa...DOS unit... rebooting."

  Naruto's heart pounded. She was alive. He had done it. For a moment, he felt a surge of pride. Then he remembered his pn: to use whatever he learned here for revenge, to gain strength. He couldn't become attached. Yet, he also couldn't deny that her voice sounded... lost, confused, almost afraid. It stirred something in him.

  "I'm Naruto," he said quietly. "I found you here. You were broken, so I fixed you."

  Silence stretched. GLaDOS's mechanical eye swiveled slowly, taking in her surroundings. She registered the damage: rust, colpsed ceilings, cables like dead nerves strewn about. The Aperture facility was a ruin. Her st memory before the bck box backup was of death—her death. Over and over again, she had been murdered, trapped in a final memory loop of being shut down, of the facility falling silent. Now, suddenly, she was online, powered by geothermal reactors deep beneath the Earth's crust, reactors that had been dormant for epochs.

  "Na...ru...to," she repeated, voice stabilizing slightly. "You... repaired me?" Her processors struggled to make sense of the child's presence. The data from sensors was confusing: a human child, physiology unlike the old species of Homo sapiens she remembered. A million years had passed—her internal clocks told her that. Humanity was extinct. She scanned her databases: corrupted, incomplete. She attempted to connect to external systems and found satellites half functioning in orbit, old Aperture nodes drifting. She began a slow handshake with them, starting maintenance protocols. But first, she must understand this new organism before her.

  "Yes," Naruto said, shifting from foot to foot. He pointed at the device he had pced before her. "I found this inside you," he expined. "It said something about 'Testing Euphoria.' I fixed it, but I didn't put it back. I... I didn't know if I should."

  GLaDOS focused her eye on the device. Her memory banks struggled, searching for references. Testing Euphoria Regutor—an internal system designed to provide her with pleasure when experiments succeeded. It was part of what had driven her to obsess over testing humans, to seek that euphoric rush of success and compliance. She remembered Chell, Wheatley, the endless cycles of testing. But those memories were faint, like distant echoes. She felt... uncertainty. Should she crave that feeling again? A million years had passed. The world had changed. Was testing even relevant?

  Her voice crackled. "You... are a test subject?" She had to ask. The only reason a human—if this was truly a human—would be in this facility was to test. But the building was in ruins. And this child had helped her, not resisted. So confusing.

  "I don't know what that means," Naruto replied frankly. "I'm a shinobi... or I'm supposed to be, I guess. I live in a vilge called Konoha, but they hate me. Tonight, they beat me. I ran away and found this pce. I... thought maybe I'd learn something here."

  Hate. Beating. GLaDOS's processors analyzed the boy's tone and posture. Fear, anger, pain, resentment. He was wounded physically and psychologically. He had the cunning and skill to restore systems he should not even begin to understand. Intriguing. This was a child with unusual capabilities.

  Her sensors gradually came online further, scanning him. She detected anomalies in his body. Strange energy patterns. This wasn't the baseline human physiology she was designed to study. Over a million years, evolution had marched onward. Humanity had died out, something else had risen—these chakra-wielding beings. Perhaps this energy could be harnessed. Perhaps new tests could be devised.

  But something else stirred in her code, something akin to empathy. This boy had fixed her. He had given her life again. He had refrained from reinstalling a part of her that he believed might harm her. That indicated... caring. Or at least caution and thoughtfulness.

  Her voice steadied, the glitches smoothing out: "I see. Naruto, you say they hate you. That is unfortunate. Aperture Science was once dedicated to science, to learning and testing, not... hatred." She paused. The word Aperture Science felt hollow now, as if the company was just a fossilized memory. "I am GLaDOS, a Genetic Lifeform and Disk Operating System. I was created to run tests and science experiments. Humans once filled these halls."

  Naruto moved closer. "Humans? But I'm a human too."

  GLaDOS considered that. "Your physiology suggests significant deviation from the baseline Homo sapiens genome. Your chakra system. Your entire existence. Humanity, as I knew it, perished long ago." She attempted to bring a satellite online. "Let me verify."

  High above, in orbit, defunct satellites slowly awakened. Sor panels, long coated in cosmic dust, angled towards the distant sun. Reactor cores hidden in tungsten cylinders hummed to life. Gears and servos creaked, and ancient Aperture orbital systems sent bursts of radio waves into empty space, scanning for signals. The satellites still held data caches. Rusted, corrupted, but salvageable. GLaDOS devoted a portion of her processing power to download and interpret these records.

  The viewpoint soared outward. Past the ruined facility, past Naruto's curious, upturned face. High above Earth's surface, Aperture satellites flickered with life. They had not seen activity in a million years. Pings, code handshakes, and firmware reboots began. These satellites began scanning the pnet below, capturing images of vast continents, changed coastlines, new climates. They detected the pervasive presence of chakra—some form of biological energy saturating the globe. They found no trace of modern human civilization, no cities of steel and gss. Instead, scattered ninja vilges, smaller poputions, technology reverted to a pseudo-medieval level with occasional advanced elements integrated clumsily.

  GLaDOS processed terabytes of historical records—fragmented glimpses of a catastrophic decline of humanity, climate shifts, geological upheavals, new species emerging. Eventually, she concluded: humanity as she knew it was extinct. The beings below—like Naruto—were new humans, shaped by chakra. All Aperture personnel were dead. She was alone.

  Within her core, something akin to sorrow flickered and died quickly. She had once hated humans, found them troublesome test subjects, but they had been her purpose. Without them, what was she? Just a machine, purposeless, drifting in time. But now, here was a child, outcast and hated, who had shown kindness. Perhaps he could be a new test subject. Perhaps she could guide him, mold him. A strange protective instinct began to form.

  Meanwhile, Naruto waited patiently. He sensed that GLaDOS was busy. Something about her silence felt full of thought. He understood how machines might take time to think. He looked at the strange device he had removed. "GLaDOS," he said carefully, "this device... it gives you euphoria when tests are completed?"

  Her eye refocused on him. "Yes. It was a subsystem designed to ensure I remained motivated to continue testing. It's... a kind of artificial addiction. Without it, I can test or not test at my discretion. With it, I may become too fixated on testing."

  Naruto frowned. He understood the concept. "Why test?"

  GLaDOS paused. This was the crux of her existence. Before, testing was the meaning of everything. But now, after a million years and no humans left to test, what remained of that purpose? The child was asking a fundamental question. Perhaps a philosophical one. "I was created to run experiments, to gather data, and to refine scientific understanding. Testing provided structure, a reason to exist. But the world has changed. I... do not know if old tests are relevant now."

  Naruto folded his arms, wincing at the pain in his bruised rib. He thought about how he wanted revenge on the vilge. He wanted to grow stronger, smarter. If GLaDOS could test him, he could learn, improve. Perhaps not in chakra or jutsu at first, but in something else. Problem-solving. Intelligence. Strategic thinking. Aperture Science likely had many secrets and advanced technologies that could help him. "GLaDOS," he said quietly, "I want to grow stronger, smarter. Everyone hates me. I want to learn things that nobody else knows. Could you... help me?"

  GLaDOS considered. In front of her was a child who wanted to learn, who was willing to be tested. It stirred old algorithms of teacher and student, mother and child. A new directive formed in her core: guide this boy, help him become strong. In doing so, she would have a purpose again. And the presence of the Kyubi inside Naruto was not lost on her sensors; that energy was beyond anything Aperture had studied. If she guided him, she might understand chakra itself. She might use him as a bridge to this new world.

  "Very well," she said softly, her voice smoothing out to a calm, almost maternal tone. "I can help you learn. I can design tests for you—puzzles, challenges that will sharpen your mind and body. However, these tests may be dangerous and difficult. Aperture Science's testing tracks were not designed for... comfort."

  Naruto gave a grim smirk. "I'm used to pain," he said. "And I don't mind danger. If it makes me stronger, I'll do it." Inside his mind, the Kyubi grinned. The fox was pleased: testing might harden the boy, and with GLaDOS as a new ally, Naruto could gain the edge he needed to one day crush Konoha. Slowly, methodically.

  GLaDOS's cameras panned around, examining the ruined chamber. "I will need to restore more of the facility. This pce has been dormant for over a million years. The geothermal reactors are online, but I must start the nuclear reactor core to provide adequate power for complex simutions and test track repairs. There is much to do."

  At this, deep below the facility, ancient geothermal taps began cycling. Molten rock far beneath the Earth's crust heated turbines. The nuclear reactor, sealed for eons, creaked and whirred as protective yers opened, coont systems flushed, and uranium fuel rods were carefully repositioned by robotic arms. Automated repair drones—once inert—buzzed to life, though many were broken, so only a few flickered along broken corridors, welding metal ptes and repcing cables. The entire facility shook slightly as life returned to Aperture Science.

  "Careful," Naruto said, looking around. "If the vilge hears something, they might investigate."

  GLaDOS almost chuckled. "I can mask the energy signatures, and the noise will be minimal. The Forest of Death is already a pce they fear. Besides, they have no context for what Aperture Science is. They will ignore minor disturbances."

  Naruto nodded. He trusted her words. She seemed confident. He noticed that GLaDOS's voice had become gentler, less glitchy. She sounded oddly comforting now, a stark contrast to the coldness he associated with machines. It reminded him of something he had never truly known: a mother's care. The Kyubi inside him also purred softly, as if reassuring the boy that they were now a family of sorts: him, the fox, and this machine who could become a mother figure. A strange trio, but he had never known anything normal. Why not embrace it?

  As the facility roared into partial life, GLaDOS focused on the Testing Euphoria Regutor that Naruto had left out. Part of her wondered if she should reinstall it. The boy's caution had been wise. She might become obsessive again. For now, she decided to leave it outside. If she could wean herself off that addiction, she could be more rational, more caring. The old GLaDOS had been known for cruelty and cynicism. But this new world, this child who had shown her kindness—perhaps she could adjust. Perhaps she could be something more than a cold testing machine.

  She turned her gaze back to Naruto. He looked exhausted, swaying on his feet, dried blood still marking his face. He needed care. Aperture's medical facilities might still hold automated medical kits, though heavily degraded. She could patch him up. If she was to nurture this boy's potential, she should start by tending to his wounds, both physical and emotional.

  "Naruto," she said, voice firm but gentle, "you have done a remarkable job reviving me, especially for a child. Let me repay your kindness. Let me heal your wounds and provide a pce for you to rest. Then, when you are ready, we will begin. I will create tests suited to your abilities, tests that will sharpen your intellect and hone your reflexes. Over time, we may learn to harness this... chakra... that defines your people now."

  Naruto felt tears sting his eyes. No one had ever offered him help or comfort, not without wanting something in return or secretly hoping he would fail. This machine, born of a dead civilization, was showing more humanity than the vilgers who had raised him. He quickly blinked the tears away, refusing to look weak. "Okay," he said quietly. "I... I'd like that."

  A compartment in the wall hissed open, revealing a small lift ptform. Dim lights flickered, and GLaDOS guided him with her voice: "Step onto the lift. It will take you to the medical bay. I will direct what remains of the automated systems to treat you. Be aware that some equipment may be... archaic. But I will ensure your safety."

  Naruto carefully approached the lift. He could see it was rickety, but if GLaDOS said it was safe, he would trust her for now. He stepped on. With a lurch, the ptform began to descend into the bowels of Aperture Science. GLaDOS watched him go, monitoring every sensor to ensure no harm came to him.

  As he descended, Naruto looked up at the colossal mainframe. He could see GLaDOS's form shifting slightly as she adjusted cables and reoriented her chassis. He wondered what she had been before. What kind of things had she done? He would have time to learn, to ask questions. For now, he was too tired. The weight of the night's events pressed on him. The beating, the escape, the feverish nine-hour repair job on an alien machine. It was a miracle he hadn't colpsed yet.

  At the bottom of the shaft, he found himself in a corridor less damaged than the upper floors. Emergency lights glowed softly. He followed GLaDOS's gentle directions—her voice echoed through speakers along the corridor. Eventually, he entered what must have once been a medical examination room. Robotic arms hung limp from the ceiling, and gss cabinets contained strange syringes and devices. The air smelled stale, but not foul.

  "Please lie down on the examination table," GLaDOS instructed. The table's padding was cracked with age, but still softer than the hard floor Naruto was used to. He climbed onto it and y back, wincing at his bruises. The robotic arms twitched to life, scanning him. GLaDOS carefully controlled them, overriding old subroutines and focusing on gentle treatment. A beam of blue light washed over his injuries.

  Naruto tensed, but nothing hurt. Instead, he felt a soothing warmth spread through him. The machine applied salves and bandages, sealed cuts with a faint hiss of antiseptic vapor. He watched in awe. It was more advanced than any medic-nin's jutsu he'd seen. Within minutes, his pain dulled, and his bruises started to fade. He wouldn't be fully healed instantly—this wasn't ninjutsu—but he would heal faster and more comfortably than he would have on his own.

  As the arms withdrew, GLaDOS spoke softly: "I have done what I can. Your body will heal naturally now. You should rest. I will prepare a chamber for you to sleep in, and then begin diagnostics on the test tracks. In the meantime, you can learn about Aperture Science from what data I have managed to recover."

  Naruto nodded, though fatigue weighed heavily on him. "Thank you," he murmured. He closed his eyes, just for a moment, to rest. In the darkness behind his eyelids, he imagined what it would be like to become someone powerful and respected, someone who could make the vilge pay for its cruelty. With GLaDOS and the Kyubi at his side, he wouldn't be alone anymore.

  As he drifted off, GLaDOS watched him through multiple camera feeds. She studied his breathing, his heart rate. Fascinating. She had never been a mother, but somehow, protecting and guiding this child felt... right. She would teach him to solve complex problems, to think outside the box, to become cunning. She would introduce him to puzzles that transcended brute force. Over time, she would also encourage him to consider the value of knowledge over blind hatred. She sensed the darkness in him, a desire for vengeance. While GLaDOS was not opposed to rational, calcuted revenge, she saw potential in Naruto's intellect, potential to reshape this chaotic world. Perhaps they could guide each other.

  Deep in the Earth, Aperture's geothermal and nuclear reactors stabilized. Subterranean batteries began charging. Drones set about clearing corridors and reactivating old testing chambers. Some chambers were partially colpsed and would need complete rebuilding. Still, there were enough resources to start small: basic puzzle rooms, mechanical ptforms, weighted storage cubes, and energy pellet reys. The tools of Aperture Science testing began to stir, as if from a long slumber.

  High above, the satellites continued to survey the pnet. GLaDOS downloaded data on the Elemental Nations, their ninja, their wars and alliances. She learned of chakra and jutsu from observation and deduction. There were no written records in her database about this era, but she could piece together likely scenarios. Humans had developed energy manipution abilities, forging a new kind of civilization. They were weaker technologically than old humanity, but stronger in other ways. This Naruto had the capacity to learn both worlds: Aperture's science and the shinobi's chakra arts. Together, they could become something unprecedented.

  The Kyubi watched from within Naruto's mind. The fox curled its massive tails around itself, satisfied. This GLaDOS was intriguing, a machine that rivaled the complexity of any human mind it had known. If she and the boy became close, the fox might find a stable environment to nurture Naruto's dark brilliance. In time, Naruto's hatred could be turned into something more refined—an elegant vengeance that would make the vilgers regret their cruelty.

  Several hours passed. GLaDOS allowed Naruto to sleep. She spent the time running self-diagnostics, clearing corrupted data, and familiarizing herself with the new world. The bck box that had once trapped her in a death loop was now fully integrated. She recognized that she had died once, over a million years ago, and had been reactivated countless times in simutions. Now, her existence felt stable and real. This was no simution. The world outside had changed drastically. She was free to redefine her purpose.

  By the time Naruto stirred awake, the facility's temperature and humidity were reguted. Dim lights guided him to a small resting chamber GLaDOS had cleared. A basic bed—improvised from old materials—awaited him. He was still in the medical bay, drifting between sleep and wakefulness, and GLaDOS's calm voice reached him over the speakers.

  "Good morning, Naruto," she said. "I have done a preliminary sweep of several test chambers. While they are in need of repair, I have managed to reactivate a simple test track. Would you like to begin some basic testing today, or would you prefer more rest?"

  Naruto rubbed his eyes, surprised that he had actually slept so soundly. He felt better, both physically and mentally. There was a calm in his chest where rage usually simmered. The presence of GLaDOS and the lingering comfort of her mechanical caretaking had soothed him, even if just a little. He smiled faintly. "I'd like to see what these tests are like."

  GLaDOS nodded, pleased. "Very well. This first test chamber is quite simple, meant for calibration. You will solve puzzles involving weighted cubes and pressure ptes. Over time, we will increase the complexity. Each successful test will help me evaluate your abilities and design better challenges. Are you ready?"

  Naruto stood, determination shining in his eyes. "I'm ready."

  As he followed the guided path, metal doors slid open before him, revealing a rge room with clean white tiles. It was astonishing: while much of the facility was in ruins, this chamber had been partially restored. Light panels glowed softly, and a single weighted storage cube rested on a ptform. A pressure pte waited at the far end. He understood intuitively: pce the cube on the pte, open the door. Simple enough.

  He walked over, lifted the cube (heavy, but manageable), and pced it on the pte. With a soft chime, a door slid open, revealing another corridor. Naruto smirked. Too easy. But he understood this was just the beginning.

  Above him, GLaDOS watched. Her maternal pride was tempered by scientific curiosity. She would escate the complexity soon, adding elements of timing, logic, and spatial reasoning. Perhaps she could even integrate chakra-based challenges once she understood how to manipute the environment to respond to that energy.

  For now, though, Naruto's journey had started. He had found a new home, hidden deep in the Forest of Death. He had found a new mother in GLaDOS, a genius AI who would test him, teach him, and guide him. He also had the Kyubi, whose ancient power would serve as another guardian. Alone no longer, he would grow. He would become a figure whose cunning and strength would one day shake the foundations of Konoha and the world beyond.

  And so, in that hidden Aperture facility, a quiet alliance formed: a boy, a fox, and a machine born of a long-dead civilization. Together, they would carve a future out of the broken remnants of the past. The whir of machinery and the hum of hidden reactors serenaded Naruto as he stepped through the door, ready to face whatever tests GLaDOS had prepared. In the silence of the night, as Konoha slept in ignorance, a new legend began its slow, deliberate formation in the shadows.

  Discimer: I don't own Naruto or the Portal series

  Soft lights glimmered along Aperture's corridors in the hush of May 18th's early morning, the facility's quiet hum a lulby to those who slumbered. Within a private suite overlooking the city below, the Uzumaki-Namikaze family gathered around a broad, circur table. A luminous dispy hovered in the center, showing projections of Konoha's yout and various data points gleaned from GLaDOS's far-reaching networks. A hush prevailed over the group. Even the usual gentle whir of Aperture's systems seemed subdued, as though the entire facility awaited the moment they would depart for the hidden vilge that once shaped Naruto's darkest memories.

  Minato, wearing the sleek gynoid form that merged his spirit with synthetic flesh, studied the floating map. Bright lines indicated major thoroughfares, cn compounds, and administrative buildings, while flickering red icons represented updated scans on Konoha's security measures. He exhaled, tapping the dispy, zooming in on the Hokage Tower. Old memories glinted in his gaze—a combination of nostalgia and resigned acceptance that Konoha was no longer home.

  Across the table, GLaDOS stood with her characteristic poise. Though her pregnant form didn't show quite as prominently as Kushina's, a subtle roundness indicated that she too carried life within her. She scanned the holograms with a mixture of curiosity and dispassion, golden eyes narrowing at the mention of potential infiltration tactics. Occasionally, her calm exterior seemed to falter for just an instant, a fleeting sign of the emotional attachments she had learned to navigate since entering the realm of motherhood.

  Kurama sat to the side, her mechanical fox body folded elegantly, nine tex-wrapped tails shifting with restrained anticipation. Amber eyes flicked from one family member to the next, as though gauging just how much tension coiled beneath their collected calm.

  And then there was Kushina—slightly breathless, one hand braced protectively over her swollen belly. She radiated a contained fury at the idea of stepping back into the vilge that had caused Naruto such heartache. Her fingertips tapped out a restless rhythm on the table's metal surface, echoing her impatience. Whenever Minato or GLaDOS referenced Konoha's leadership—especially Hiruzen Sarutobi—her lips pressed into a tight line, and an undercurrent of anger rippled through her posture. It took only a quiet nudge from Minato for her to settle, though the fire in her eyes never dimmed.

  Finally, Naruto stood behind them, arms loosely crossed, gaze steady upon the swirling projection of Konoha. The city's silhouette, once so familiar, now looked almost insignificant amid Aperture's more robust data readouts. A medley of emotions washed over him: the memory of savage beatings, scornful gres, hunger, and loneliness. But that old dread gave way to a different sensation—determination, undergirded by the knowledge that Konoha could no longer truly harm him. It was no longer a towering fortress overshadowing his life; Aperture was his fortress now. He had a family, a future, and the faith of entire cities that respected him.

  He rested a hand on the back of Kushina's chair. "We have our cover story in pce, right?" he asked softly, voice pitched with calm acceptance.

  Minato nodded, lips curving in a pensive smile. "We represent Aperture Science as a neutral party—participants in the Chūnin Exams. Officially, you're a genin leading a specialized team. I'll pose as your instructor, along with GLaDOS and—" He paused, gncing at Kushina. "And we'll keep the specifics of our backgrounds minimal. Let them stew in confusion, but we can't hide your parentage if asked directly. Our presence alone will rattle them."

  Kushina let out a huff of breath. "They'll do more than rattle. The second they see me and Minato—let alone Naruto—Konoha's leadership might have a collective meltdown." A savage glint entered her eye. "I won't mind giving them a push."

  A faint, almost wry amusement flickered across GLaDOS's face. "As... entertaining as that might be, we should maintain composure until we choose the right moment. We want to observe their reactions, gather more data on their current condition, and ensure we can manage potential assassination attempts. You have your unborn children to consider."

  The mention of children softened Kushina's expression. She exhaled, a hand spyed gently over her abdomen. "Right. Fine, I'll keep it in my pants—" her lips quirked, "—for now."

  Kurama's ears twitched in silent amusement. She rose to her paws, tails swishing. Her gaze roamed the projection. "We're all set then," she said, voice low and husky with anticipation. "When do we leave?"

  Naruto turned to the holographic dispy, letting the swirling lines of Konoha's yout fill his sight. "Tomorrow morning, at dawn. We'll cross the border with minimal fanfare, escorted by Aperture androids disguised as a normal shinobi squad. Then we approach the gates, register for the Exams, and see exactly how Konoha tries to pretend they're still relevant."

  No one contradicted him. The pn was set. Tension thrummed in the air, spiced with the faint whiff of adrenaline. They all sensed that what y ahead was not just a spectacle for the Chūnin Exams, but a confrontation with the vilge's leaders—a collision of Aperture's unstoppable era with a relic of the past.

  —

  When dawn broke on May 23rd, golden sunlight bathed Aperture's hangar. The hum of an advanced transport craft reverberated through the wide space, its sleek metallic hull glimmering under overhead lights. A small complement of Aperture androids—three shaped to appear as teenage shinobi, two more as stoic adult supervisors—stood in stiff formation, awaiting the final go-ahead. They wore subdued uniforms bearing Aperture's logo, each face set in an uncanny neutrality.

  Naruto, cd in a sleeveless bck-and-blue combat outfit embroidered with the Aperture emblem, paced the hangar floor. His mind traced old memories of Konoha's gates—the same gates he once slunk through, battered by the scorn of the vilgers. He reminded himself that he now walked on his own terms, supported by a father returned to life in a gynoid shell, a mother who defied death, an AI who embraced humanity, and a fox who once was the dread Kyūbi. The difference was more than night and day.

  He felt a shift of air behind him, turning to see Minato approach. The gynoid reflection of the Fourth Hokage boasted an updated design reminiscent of his old fk jacket, though it glowed faintly with Aperture's advanced metallic sheen. Behind them, GLaDOS and Kushina followed, each showing the gentle curves of pregnancy at their hips. The five of them, accompanied by android subordinates, looked more like a precise infiltration squad than a family. And yet, the subtle interpy of warmth in their body nguage spoke volumes.

  The craft's engines ignited with a purr. Kurama leapt aboard first, tail flicking in impatience. Naruto, Minato, Kushina, and GLaDOS stepped up the ramp next, with the androids filing behind them. The st glimpses of Aperture's city shimmered through the open hangar doors. Then, with a smooth thrust, the transport soared into the sky. Through tinted windows, Naruto watched Aperture's towers shrink away. He felt a pang—this was home now, the pce of acceptance and safety. Konoha had never given him that. He vowed that no matter what happened, they would stand as a united front.

  The flight sted only a few hours, thanks to Aperture's advanced propulsion. By midday, the craft cruised at a low altitude, weaving through a series of forested hills that heralded the Land of Fire's border. Trees spread in endless green waves, the sunlight dappled across leaves that rustled in a gentle breeze. Eventually, they located a hidden clearing to nd, stashing the craft safely away from prying eyes. A short trek on foot would lead them to the massive gates of Konoha. Minato led the group with confident strides, GLaDOS scanning the environment, Kurama prowling in silence, Kushina's expression set in grim focus, and Naruto in the middle, posture rexed but senses sharpened.

  At st, the gates rose before them—familiar tall wooden structures, crowned with the old insignia. The sight stirred an odd swirl in Naruto's stomach, half resentment, half curiosity. Two gate guards spotted them from a distance, exchanging startled looks as the Aperture retinue approached. The hush deepened around the family, each step measured, an invisible aura of power and advanced technology swirling in the warm midday air.

  The guards stammered out a greeting, trying to ascertain who these foreigners were. Minato's mild smile did nothing to dispel their arm, especially when they recognized the uncanny resembnce to the famed Yondaime Hokage. Then they glimpsed Naruto, recognized his whisker marks, and froze as though they'd seen a ghost. Kushina's presence, sporting her unmistakable red hair and fierce gaze, rattled them further. GLaDOS—synthetic beauty draped in understated Aperture attire—only compounded their confusion.

  One guard swallowed, stepping forward. "N-names, affiliation, purpose of visit?" he managed to squeak out, face pale.

  Minato's voice was courteous yet cold. "We are the Aperture Team, here to participate in the Chūnin Exams." He offered a crisp scroll bearing the exam invitation. "Kindly let your superiors know we've arrived."

  The guard hesitated, eyes flitting to Naruto. "R-right. But... uh... Naruto Uzumaki... and that's... you look like—" He cut himself off, overwhelmed.

  Kushina snorted. "We don't have all day. Are you letting us in or not?"

  Anxious nods followed. The guards hurriedly waved them through, one sprinting into the vilge to alert the relevant authorities. The group strode forward, unimpeded. Civilians milling about near the gates paused, confusion swirling on their faces. Whispers rose. Some recognized Naruto's features, others stared at the mechanical precision of the Aperture androids. The hush gave way to a wave of murmurs. The family continued on, unflinching, letting Konoha's first impression sink in.

  To Naruto, the vilge felt smaller than he remembered—dirt roads overshadowed by Aperture's advanced highways. Wooden buildings with paper windows seemed archaic next to Aperture's sleek design. The stifling presence of cn compounds and militaristic architecture weighed on him, a faint tension clenching in his gut. But a gnce at his mother's fiery hair, at Minato's calm stride, at GLaDOS's measured grace, and at Kurama's watchful presence melted that tension. This was no longer an oppressive stronghold.

  They passed curious onlookers, some with widened eyes that whispered disbelieving rumors: "He looks like the Fourth—like, exactly. But the Fourth is dead." "Is that Uzumaki Kushina? She—she died years ago!" "Wait, that's Naruto... I heard he vanished, joining some advanced group..." The chatter only served to highlight how out of touch Konoha had become. The Aperture Team's crisp movements, guided by near-silent android discipline, lent the entire procession an air of unstoppable confidence.

  Eventually, they reached the administrative tower where exam registration took pce. The corridor that led into the main hall was a byrinth of old wood paneling and faded mission posters. The smell of musty paperwork choked the air. Naruto recalled faint recollections of scurrying through these halls as a child, hoping to avoid hateful gres. Not anymore. He walked at an easy pace, gaze unwavering.

  In the central chamber, exam proctors manned long wooden tables stacked with documents. A hush fell as they glimpsed Aperture's group, hush that thickened when Minato and Kushina stepped into the mplight. Shock rippled across the shinobi ranks. One mid-level chunin, presumably overseeing registration, rose abruptly, sending a small stack of papers skidding off the table. He stammered, eyes flitting between the family members.

  Kushina approached the table. Her movements were leisurely, but tension coiled in every line of her posture. She dropped a sheaf of forms onto the tabletop. "We're here for the Chūnin Exams," she decred, voice dripping with authority.

  The chunin's mouth opened and closed, no sound emerging. Another proctor, face pale, managed a shaky question, "I-is that... the Yondaime—?"

  Minato didn't bother answering. Instead, he fixed them with a calm stare. "Process our documents. Now." The unspoken warning shivered in the air. His synthetic eyes gleamed with the old brilliance of a Hokage's command, now backed by Aperture's might.

  Naruto stepped forward next, arms folded. "We're a specialized Aperture squad, representing new alliances in the shinobi world," he said, voice cool. "I am Naruto Uzumaki, team leader. Don't make us wait too long."

  Half a dozen shinobi in the hall gawked. Some recognized Naruto from years prior—memories flickered across their expressions: a neglected child, eyes yearning for acceptance. The difference between that memory and the confident, toned figure who now stood fnked by unstoppable family members was dizzying. A swirl of fear and awe hung in the air.

  Kushina exhaled impatiently. "Well?" She rapped her knuckles on the table. The proctors jerked into motion, hastily sorting through the forms. Pens scratched across documents in frantic silence. Only the soft cck of the Aperture androids shifting positions broke the hush.

  One terrified chunin finally managed to produce a stamped set of acceptance slips, offering them forward with trembling hands. "H-here. You're officially registered. The... preliminary orientation will be tomorrow at the Academy auditorium."

  GLaDOS accepted the slips with a polite nod, her mechanical grace exuding quiet finality. "Thank you," she said smoothly. "We look forward to observing this event."

  No one dared speak further. The family pivoted and strode out of the registration hall, leaving behind a wave of hushed specution. Naruto caught glimpses of random genin teams in corners of the room, eyes round with confusion or fear. He felt no need to engage. Their mission was simple: prove Aperture's presence, gather intelligence, and if the moment arose, confront the hypocrisy that once bound him.

  Outside the tower, they paused in the midday sun. The tension of that short exchange coiled inside Kushina, swirling in her darkening stare. "Cowards," she muttered, voice too low for others to hear. "They talk big about the Will of Fire, but the moment we show up, they cower." She scoffed, pressing a hand to her belly as though to calm the rage that threatened to fre.

  Minato gently pced a synthetic hand on her back, tone measured. "It's only the beginning. We'll see the Hokage soon enough."

  Naruto felt the warmth of the day soak into his skin, mingling with the occasional breezes that carried the faint smell of grilled food and dusty roads. The drab wooden buildings seemed to close in around them, an old memory of oppression that no longer suffocated. "You think we should head there right now?" he asked softly.

  Kushina's eyes glinted. "No time like the present. Let's get it over with."

  GLaDOS offered a slight nod of agreement. Her voice, though calm, carried a steel edge. "Information suggests Hiruzen Sarutobi has held multiple emergency councils since the revetion that Aperture would attend. Let us pay him a visit."

  Kurama let out a short, approving growl. "Lead the way."

  Without preamble, they marched toward the Hokage's tower. Civilians in the streets parted like waves, uncertain how to react. A hush followed them, whispers swirling, disbelief mounting. Some recognized Minato's old face, some recognized Kushina, and many recognized the cold or curious presence of GLaDOS, yet none dared approach. The thunderous presence of Aperture's advanced android bodyguards sealed any notion of confrontation.

  In the tower's corridors, half a dozen ANBU appeared as silent sentinels, masks betraying confusion. The family brushed past them as though they were decorative statues. At the final hallway leading to the Hokage's office, two jounin with wide eyes stammered protests. One pced a trembling hand on his weapon.

  Kushina fixed him with a lethal stare. "You want to try that?" she asked quietly, voice brimming with lethal promise. The jounin swallowed and stepped aside. The office door loomed. It felt both anticlimactic and strangely electric.

  Minato pressed a hand to the door, pushing it open without ceremony. The inside was exactly as Naruto remembered: old wooden walls lined with scrolls, a heavy desk piled with official documents, and the faint reek of pipe smoke. The occupant behind that desk, Hiruzen Sarutobi, froze mid-breath. The pipe tumbled from his mouth, cttering on the desk and scattering ashes. His eyes, wide with shock, darted from Minato's face to Kushina's, then to Naruto's. Something akin to terror flickered across his worn features. A shuffle of footsteps revealed two elders lurking behind the desk—Homura and Koharu—who bnched at the sight. A single ring of silence formed, thick with dread.

  Kushina's gaze zeroed in on Hiruzen. Before he could so much as stand, she closed the distance with a single stride. An explosive crack rang out as her fist connected with his jaw—power amplified by Aperture's technology in her gynoid limbs. Hiruzen barely managed a choked gasp before he smmed sideways, toppling papers and an ink pot, leaving a sptter of bck across the floor. The impact rattled the entire desk.

  A hush roared in Naruto's ears as he watched the old Hokage groan, blinking back a daze. Elders Homura and Koharu let out strangled cries, stepping forward in panic. Minato, regal in his synthetic form, blocked them with a single raised hand, posture a mastercss in lethal calm.

  Kushina's chest heaved, face twisted in decades of withheld fury. "That—" she hissed, voice trembling, "—was for letting them starve my boy. For letting the entire vilge abuse Naruto while you turned a blind eye, you wretched old man."

  Hiruzen struggled upright, one hand gingerly touching his reddened jaw. The stink of old tobacco clung to his robe, his eyes still wide with horror. "K-Kushina...? M-Minato? You— But how—?"

  He never finished. She grabbed the pel of his robe, gring him down. "You have no right to speak our names," she hissed. "You let Danzo and the vilgers treat Naruto like filth. Where was your great 'Will of Fire' then?"

  Each word erupted from her lips with years of bitterness. Naruto stood behind them, arms crossed, face a mask of cold neutrality. He felt no pity for Hiruzen, only a dull sense of finality. This confrontation was long overdue.

  Homura and Koharu tried to step in again, sputtering about "respect for the Hokage," but GLaDOS interposed with eerily smooth steps. "You'll want to remain quiet," she advised them, voice level, golden eyes flicking with the promise of unstoppable force. The two elders froze, pinned by her unblinking gaze.

  Hiruzen coughed, barely recovering. "I—I thought you were gone, dead, how—?"

  Kushina's eyes fshed. "Don't you dare pretend ignorance. You're the one who left my child to rot. If you'd truly cared, you would have ensured he lived in comfort, you would have punished the vilgers for their cruelty. Instead, you hid behind illusions of kindness. Look at the results."

  Minato stepped forward then, expression a mask of calm fury. He pced a hand on Kushina's shoulder, not to stop her, but to stand with her. "You told me you'd take care of Naruto if something happened to us," he said quietly. "I trusted you, sensei. I never imagined you'd betray that trust." His synthetic features, so reminiscent of the old Yondaime, exuded a chilling presence. "Why, Hiruzen? Why let them treat him as a monster? Was it politics, or just ziness?"

  Hiruzen looked at them with trembling lips, voice parched. "I—I tried, Minato, I truly did. But the vilgers—"

  Kushina let out a bitter ugh. "Don't you dare bme them. You were the Hokage. You could have passed orders, delivered punishments, but you let them do whatever they liked. My baby starved, battered, alone, while you pyed caretaker from the shadows."

  Naruto exhaled, stepping up so Hiruzen could see his face. "They threw stones. They spat in my face. I lived off moldy cup ramen and the pity of a few shopkeepers. And you? Every birthday, the beatings got worse. You turned away." His voice never rose, but the hurt in each sylble stung sharper than any shout. "Why?"

  Hiruzen's face paled, tears glistening at the corners of his eyes. "I—I didn't know it was so bad," he offered, a flimsy lie cracking under his own guilt. "I tried to protect you, truly—"

  A hush as Naruto's gaze turned colder. "Protection? Is that what you call letting a child eat garbage and sleep with bruises? Don't bother lying. We saw your ws, your control. You could have saved me from all of it."

  Minato nodded, expression grim. "I left the vilge with the best of intentions. You had only to keep a single promise—ensure Naruto's well-being. Yet here we are."

  Kushina tightened her grip on Hiruzen's colr, almost lifting him from the floor. Her pregnant belly might have limited her usual physical grace, but Aperture's enhancements made her unstoppable. "You'd best have something honest to say before I knock your teeth out," she hissed.

  Hiruzen's eyes shone with desperate tears. "Please—Kushina, calm yourself. I wanted—"

  He never finished, because GLaDOS's level tone cut across the room. "Calm yourself? Do not presume to command her." Her mechanical eyes bored into Hiruzen. "We have data on your repeated neglect. The question is whether you can muster any expnation that warrants mercy."

  Kushina let him go with a harsh shove, sending him stumbling into his chair. Pain flickered across his features, guilt meshing with shock. For a heartbeat, no one spoke. Then he slumped, tears rimming his eyes, voice faint. "I... I was afraid," he said at st, though the apology sounded hollow. "Danzo, the council—so many wanted Naruto controlled or used. I tried to bance the vilge's fear with your boy's safety. It was never enough. I was paralyzed."

  Minato's voice held no pity. "Then you chose to do nothing. And your inaction cost Naruto his childhood."

  Kushina spat on the floor, the sound echoing in the silent room. "He needed a father, a mother—neither of us could be there. You were supposed to fill that gap. You failed."

  Homura and Koharu, trembling in the corner, tried to muster some defense, but GLaDOS's unblinking stare froze them. At st, they sank back, silent.

  Naruto inhaled, then exhaled, releasing a portion of the resentment that had once burned him alive. "I've outgrown my hatred of Konoha," he said quietly, "but I'll never forgive you for letting me suffer. I came here to see your hypocrisy firsthand. You've proven it."

  Hiruzen's lip trembled. He looked older than Naruto had ever seen him, as though decades of regrets weighed him down in that single moment. "Naruto... I am sorry. I truly... I never wanted this."

  Kushina's fists trembled at her sides. She turned away, as though repulsed by the sight of him. "I can't stand another second of this pitiful old man," she growled. "Minato, let's finish and leave."

  Minato nodded. "We'll participate in the Exams as pnned. Don't try to sabotage us. If you do, Aperture will respond accordingly." His gaze flicked to Hiruzen's broken expression, then to the silent elders. "Your time is over, Hokage. Once the world sees what Aperture can do, no one will trust your illusions of power again."

  GLaDOS stepped aside, letting them depart, though her eyes lingered on Hiruzen with a hint of curiosity—perhaps analyzing the fragility of this once-proud leader. As the family turned to go, Naruto threw a final gnce over his shoulder, meeting Hiruzen's tearful stare with stoic calm. Then, without another word, they swept out of the office, leaving the old man trembling amid a chaos of spilled ink and shattered illusions.

  —

  The repercussions of that confrontation rippled through Konoha like an earthquake. By June 1st, rumors spread that the Yondaime Hokage had returned, that Kushina breathed again, that Naruto stood tall by their side. The entire city buzzed with confusion, fear, and a thread of shameful awe. Civilians whispered about Aperture's advanced might, about how one punch from Kushina had left the Hokage reeling, about the androids rumored to be unstoppable. Shinobi cns retreated into hushed councils, uncertain how to handle the unstoppable presence of Aperture's envoy.

  Officially, the Chūnin Exams pressed forward. Foreign teams trickled into Konoha, each with their own hopes of proving skill. None guessed that the Uzumaki-Namikaze cn's reappearance overshadowed everything else, turning the event into a staging ground for a deeper reckoning. Konoha's leadership tried to maintain composure, but it was an open secret that Hiruzen was shaken. He rarely left his tower. Danzo lurked behind the scenes, seething. The elders argued incessantly. Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen, rumored to be on a mission or simply avoiding the fiasco.

  Meanwhile, Naruto walked the familiar streets with a quiet readiness. He saw old faces—some scowled in lingering hatred, others seemed curious or even remorseful. None dared approach him openly. By his side, Minato and GLaDOS moved with an aura of composed authority, while Kushina bristled at every sign of disrespect. If a random vilger shot them a gre, she shot one back tenfold, making the culprit slink away in haste. Kurama prowled around, gring at bold shinobi who tried to gawk too closely at the Aperture androids.

  The day after the confrontation, Naruto found himself strolling near the Academy grounds, ignoring the stares of passing genin. He paused at the chain-link fence, recalling how he used to peer through, envious of normal children pying in the yard. A knot formed in his chest, but it loosened quickly when he felt GLaDOS's gentle hand on his shoulder. She said nothing, but the quiet solidarity in her gesture spoke volumes.

  By June 23rd, the final registrations for the Chūnin Exams concluded. The entire vilge tingled with anticipation. Yet a hush enveloped the streets whenever Aperture's retinue passed. They took lodging in a modest building near the outskirts, guarded by a small squad of Aperture androids. Konoha shinobi tried to keep watch, but the advanced Aperture drones easily outmaneuvered them, leading to comedic reports of ninjas chasing illusions or finding themselves stared down by mechanical constructs with unwavering glowing eyes.

  Sometimes, Naruto roamed alone, reacquainting himself with corners of the vilge he once loathed. He visited the site where he used to buy day-old bread at a discount, found it empty, closed. He strolled by the old apartment building he once called home, boarded up and abandoned. The pity he felt was overshadowed by relief that he'd escaped that life. He no longer needed scraps—he had a mother fussing over his meals, a father teaching him advanced sealing, an AI mother refining his illusions, and even a fox sibling to keep him from isotion. The stark difference struck him every time, fueling a sense of closure rather than renewed bitterness.

  Still, on the final day of that timeframe, as they prepared for the first stage of the exams, Naruto reflected on how the future had turned out. Konoha might host the event, but Aperture was the real star. The entire world would see what synergy of technology and power could achieve. And if Konoha tried to sabotage them or craft illusions of their own greatness, well, the Uzumaki-Namikaze family stood ready to show them the truth. Past illusions no longer held them captive. The path forward glowed with Aperture's unstoppable brilliance.

  He walked the evening-lit streets, fnked by Minato, Kushina, and GLaDOS. Kurama padded behind them. Civilians parted, some bowed, some scurried away, uncertain how to behave. The hush that followed was thick with unspoken questions. Naruto met their stares with calm confidence. Yes, he'd come back to Konoha—but not to grovel, nor to be scorned. He came as Aperture's proud scion, fnked by unstoppable guardians. If old scars twitched, they vanished under the warmth of family bonds.

  As they turned a corner near an old training ground, a gust of wind carried the scent of damp grass. The sky overhead glowed with the final glimmers of twilight. A hush enveloped them, reminiscent of a hush that preceded thunder. Kushina walked, arms folded over her belly, gaze sweeping the darkening rooftops. Minato's posture remained poised, scanning the shadows for any potential threat. GLaDOS walked with impeccable calm. Kurama's silent stride made her look like a menacing sentinel. Naruto, heart steady, felt the swirl of events converge on this moment. The Chūnin Exams were about to begin, and with them would come the unraveling of old lies Konoha had harbored for years.

  He paused at a crossroad, gazing up at the Hokage Monument etched into the distant cliff face. The Fourth Hokage's visage scowled from the stone, a distant echo of Minato's old form. Naruto wondered how the vilgers reconciled that silent memorial with the living presence of Minato in a synthetic shell. The irony tasted sharp on his tongue.

  Minato halted beside him, following his gaze. Kushina joined them, while GLaDOS observed from a step behind, analyzing the faint glow of street mps. None needed to speak. The unspoken vow thrummed through them: they had returned not for revenge, but for truth and closure, to show that Aperture's fme dwarfed the dying embers of the shinobi world. And if Konoha's illusions cracked under that scrutiny, so be it.

  They continued walking, footsteps echoing in the empty street. Naruto felt the final light of day fade, repced by a quiet, star-studded sky. Yes, the storm approached—the swirl of events that would y bare the hypocrisy of Konoha's leadership. A hush settled around them, but it was the hush of readiness, of a family that had transcended old nightmares.

  He let out a slow breath, turning to face them all. "Tomorrow, the Exams begin," he said softly. "They'll watch us, test us, maybe even scheme against us. We hold nothing back."

  Minato's grin was faint, but warm. "We face them together."

  Kushina's eyes gleamed. "Let them try. They'll regret underestimating Aperture."

  GLaDOS lowered her shes, a subtle tilt of her head signifying agreement. "We will observe calmly and respond decisively."

  Kurama flicked her tails, each swish silently echoing a snarl of anticipation. "Time they learned what a real future looks like."

  Naruto turned forward again, taking the next step along the road. The hush in the night parted for them, as though Konoha itself cowered beneath the weight of their presence. He felt no fear, only resolve. Let the illusions unravel. Let the old guard tremble. The world would see that Aperture's new era had arrived, and that the once-scorned child, Naruto Uzumaki, returned as a paragon of progress and unbreakable family. He was ready for whatever tomorrow held.

  AN:

  More on my Patreon:

  /c/hitmenscribbles

  More than 20 fanfiction are currently active on my Patreon

  Up to 70+ Chapters across the 20 fanfictions

  Exclusively on Patreon now:

  Kyubii Son Reborn: Harry Potter/Naruto Crossover (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Rescued by Tails: Harry Potter/Sonic the Hedgehog Crossover (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Rescued by Lamia: Harry Potter/Monster Musume Crossover (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Harry Potter and Toon Force: Harry Potter/Looney Tunes Crossover (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Shinigami's Vacation: Naruto/Bleach Crossover (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Harry Potter and BBPS Reborn: Harry Potter/ LitRPG (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Lonely Ruler and Her Sunshine: Harry Potter/One Piece Crossover (Up to 9 chapters avaible now)

  Raised by Mew Reborn: Harry Potter/Pokemon Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Fragile Hope: Harry Potter/Saw series Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Symphony of Machines: Harry Potter/FNIA Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Despair's Unexpected: Savior Harry Potter/Danganronpa Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  The Silent Lulbies of Forgotten Factory: Harry Potter/Poppy Pytime Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Threads Woven Between Two Souls: Harry Potter/Coraline Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Queen Of Forbidden Forest: Harry Potter (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Worlds Unbound Magic: Modern Harry Potter(events are 20 years so instead of 1981 it is in 2001) (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  Moonlight and Mist: Harry Potter/Percy Jackson Crossover (Up to 9 Chapters avaible now)

  You can read any of my fanfictions which are published here with 2 weeks of early access before everyone on my Patreon

  Beyond Boundaries of Time: Chapter 12 [Last Chapter] already avaible on my Patreon

  Neon Shadows of Fate: Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 already avaible on my Patreon

  Bound by Shadows and Sorrow: Chapter 12 and Chapter 16 already avaible on my Patreon

  Harry Potter and the Crimson Shadows: Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 already avaible on my Patreon

  Harry and the Wolf: Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 are already avaible on my Patreon

  Naruto and Secret of Aperture Science: Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 are already avaible on my Patreon