Bonus Chapter 01

(These meetings are so boring to write, so here's a whole bonus chapter. What if our protagonist Naruto and the Naruto from the Original Work took the wrong portal in Lou Lan?)

In the ruins of Lou Lan, the Chakra spewing from the Dragon Vein dissipated. Naruto slowly opened his eyes to a scene of devastation and an endless desert.

Naruto was somewhat confused. After he had defeated Mukade with the father-and-son Tai Chi Rasengan, Minato had sealed the memories of everyone present, including Naruto.

When he returned, all he remembered was chasing Mukade before being swept into a massive Chakra storm.

Naruto looked at his hands. "I feel like I had a really gentle dream..."

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata's delighted voice came from behind him, interrupting Naruto's recollection.

"Hinata?" Naruto turned around and nimbly avoided Hinata's embrace. "Um... why are you here? And why are you suddenly so enthusiastic?"

"Naruto-kun..." Hinata looked at Naruto with some grievance. She had finally summoned the courage to hug him in front of everyone, so why was Naruto-kun being so distant? And the way Naruto-kun looked at her was completely wrong, like he was looking at an ordinary friend. But when he looked at Sakura...

Hinata widened her eyes and covered her mouth, unable to believe her own judgment.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto happily greeted Sakura. "Are you okay?"

Sa... ku... ra... chan? Sakura broke out in goosebumps. What kind of medicine had Naruto taken? Wasn't he calling her big sis anymore? Frightened, Sakura clung tightly to Sasuke's arm.

"Sasuke! Why are you here?" Naruto immediately noticed Sasuke, his face displaying even greater surprise than when he had seen Sakura.

"Hmph, because you suddenly disappeared." Sasuke frowned. He felt that today's Naruto was a little off, as though he was radiating stupidity from head to toe.

Naruto grinned foolishly. "What? So it was you..."

Kiba cut him off. "Hey, Naruto, what do you mean by that? Team 8 came all this way to find you, and all you noticed were Sakura and Sasuke?"

"Huh? Kiba, Shino, Akamaru, and Teacher Kakashi, you're all here too." Naruto scratched his head. "Sorry, sorry. I was just so happy to see Sasuke, haha..."

So happy to see Sasuke...

Everyone, including Sasuke, shuddered in disgust. Then they heard Naruto ask:

"Come to think of it, who's that red-haired auntie? I don't think I've ever seen her before. Could she be..."

As he spoke, Naruto's gaze darted back and forth between Kushina and Kakashi. Finally, he held up his pinky finger. "Could she be Teacher Kakashi's... this?"

The air instantly fell silent.

Kiba stared at Naruto in horror. Did this guy have a death wish?

Sure enough, a red flash streaked past, and Kushina's fist landed on Naruto's head. "Naruto! Even jokes have limits!"

With a bang, Naruto was punched flat onto the ground, a huge lump rising on his head.

The next second, Naruto sprang up and retreated several steps. One hand covered his head while the other pointed at Kushina as he shouted, "Why did you suddenly hit me, you horrible old hag?!"

"Old... hag..." Kushina's right hand trembled as she clenched it into a fist. Everything above her eyes was obscured by shadow, while dark energy seemed to rise from behind her. This son wasn't worth keeping!

"Sharingan!" Sasuke broke free from Sakura's embrace and stepped in front of Kushina, his eyes fixed on Naruto. "Wait, Naruto's Chakra is wrong!"

Everyone immediately became alert and surrounded Naruto, while Naruto still had no idea what was happening.

"Byakugan!" Hinata finally snapped out of it. She had been too overjoyed upon seeing Naruto to notice before, but after activating her Byakugan and examining him closely, she saw that his Chakra differed from before. Just as she thought, Naruto-kun would never dislike her. This person had to be an impostor!

Hinata immediately became nervous again, her fingers trembling slightly as she pointed at Naruto's abdomen. "He has the Nine Tails' seal on him!"

Kushina activated Mind's Eye of the Kagura. "That's right. His Chakra really is different from Naruto's, and... the seal on him isn't fake either. The Nine Tails really is sealed inside him!"

Kushina quickly confirmed it with the Nine Tails inside her. "Big Fox, can you contact your other half?"

The Red Nine Tails spoke in a grave tone. "I wanted to say it earlier. I can't contact him at all. It feels as though he isn't in the same world."

This was a serious problem. The Nine Tails being inside someone else meant Naruto might have had his Tailed Beast extracted and died.

Sasuke had already drawn his Lightning Blade, the tomoe in his eyes spinning wildly. "You bastard, what did you do to Naruto?!"

"What are you talking about, Sasuke?" Naruto anxiously spread his hands. "I am Naruto!"

Sasuke stared at him coldly. "Still refusing to admit it? Tell me, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"

"What's that? Some weird code?" Naruto froze, then gave an awkward laugh. "You know I can never remember codes."

Naruto recalled that during the Chunin Exams, Sasuke had also made up some kind of Ninja Way ninja song code, and he had completely failed to remember it. Saying that now should confirm it, right?

Sasuke's gaze turned even colder, and even Sakura could not help demanding, "How could Naruto be an idiot like you?!"

"Hey, Sakura-chan, I'm happy that you think I'm not dumb, but I really am Naruto. How about asking an easier code?" Naruto pressed his hands together pleadingly.

Sakura looked at him. "Since you still refuse to give up, then answer this: did you lose a golden axe or a silver axe?"

"When did I ever have an axe?!" Naruto blanked out. Seeing Sakura's hostile expression, he realized this was a code and stammered, "The golden one—no, no, the silver one. No, the golden one. That's not right, a code can't possibly be that simple."

Naruto suddenly had an idea and came up with the answer. "Both the golden axe and the silver axe were mine!"

Sakura smiled. Naruto's expression turned smug as he put his hands on his hips. "How could such a simple question stump me?"

"Wrong! The answer is 'an ordinary Invisible Sword of Oath and Victory.'" Sakura put on her gloves and rolled her wrists. "Whoever you are pretending to be Naruto, I advise you to confess honestly!"

"What the heck?! What kind of oath and victory is that? What normal person would think of something like that?!" Naruto shouted in exasperation. Seeing that Sakura and Sasuke were ready to attack at any moment, he looked to Kakashi for help. "Teacher Kakashi, I don't know what's wrong with Sasuke and Sakura. I'm Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto! You believe me, right?"

"Do you... know Sakata Gintoki?" Seeing Naruto's bewildered expression, Kakashi sighed and lifted his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. "Your expression gives me my answer. Then, could you please come back to Konoha with us and undergo an investigation?"

"What is that supposed to be?!" Naruto clutched his head. "Why has everyone become so weird after I woke up?"

"I know, it's a genjutsu. It has to be a genjutsu! Release!" Naruto tried to dispel the genjutsu, but the scene before him did not change.

"Release! Release! Release!" Naruto stomped his feet in anger, but it was still useless.

At that moment, a handsome blond man arrived on the scene, breaking the stalemate. "Don't be so hostile. I think there might be some misunderstanding here."