The Chocolate Incident (Or, How My Day Went From Bad to Interdimensional)
You ever have one of those days where you just know you should've stayed in bed? Like, maybe if you'd faked a cough or broken your ankle falling down the stairs, you could've avoided complete emotional annihilation? Yeah. That was me. Danny Fenton, certified walking disaster and current chocolate-covered embarrassment.
The day started the way it always did: with ghosts.
Well—ghost talk, anyway. My parents are Jack and Maddie Fenton. Think Bill Nye meets monster truck rally. If monster trucks hunted ghosts. Our house is basically a haunted mansion pretending to be a normal one. There's an Ecto-suction cannon next to our microwave. I've brushed my teeth with toothpaste that may or may not have glowed once. That's the level of "normal" we're working with.
So when I walked into Casper High that morning, the whispers started before I even reached my locker.
"Did you hear? His dad chased a mailman yesterday. Thought he was a poltergeist."
"Fenton probably sleeps in an iron box."
And then came Dash.
Cue dramatic doom music here.
"Hey Fenton," he boomed across the cafeteria. "Catch!"
Now, if you've ever been in middle school, you know nothing good ever starts with "Catch." It usually ends with a projectile flying at your face. In this case? A chocolate cream pie.
I didn't dodge. I don't even think I could. The thing splattered across my face like a sugary landmine. Boom. Instant humiliation. The worst part? That wasn't even the worst part.
The laughter hit next. That big, echoing, cafeteria laughter. The kind that makes you feel three inches tall and kind of like crawling into a trash can forever.
I stood there, sticky and stunned. My brain short-circuited. I wanted to punch Dash. I wanted to scream, cry, maybe teleport to Mars if that was an option. (Spoiler alert: it wasn't.)
I must've looked like a sad cupcake.
"Nice shot, Fenton!" Dash cackled, tossing high-fives like he just won the Super Bowl.
I bolted. I didn't even look at Sam or Tucker calling after me. I just needed out.
I ran until I ended up in the library. Cold. Quiet. Empty. Except—it wasn't.
That's when I heard the voice.
"What are you going to do?"
It was calm. Deep. Commanding. The kind of voice that sounded like it belonged on Mount Olympus or a heavy metal album. Not coming from the ceiling of my school library.
And then… the library vanished.
No joke. One second I'm surrounded by books and overdue assignments, and the next—bam! Welcome to the Void. Picture a blank canvas the size of infinity. No sky. No floor. Just... white. Nothing.
I barely had time to freak out before a golden light cut through the emptiness like a stage spotlight. There, on a throne that looked like it had been stolen from a really fancy anime opening, sat him.
He looked young and old at the same time. Blonde hair like a burning star. Blue eyes that could probably see through time. And that aura? It was like standing in front of a sun that decided to wear armor.
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I've had some weird dreams. Like, really weird. Once I dreamt my dad turned our fridge into a sentient robot that could only speak in ghost puns. (Spoiler alert: it was awful at puns.) But this? This wasn't weird.
This was straight-up cosmic horror in anime form.
There I was, standing in what looked like IKEA's idea of the afterlife—white void, no furniture, unless you count the throne that looked like it belonged in a museum and was forged by the gods of extra. And on that throne? A blonde guy who radiated more "main character energy" than every superhero I've ever binge-watched combined.
Then he opened his mouth.
"No, this is not a dream. I have called you here inside your mind so that we may talk about the future."
So yeah. That's when I started internally screaming.
"You… called me?" I said like I was trying out for the role of "Terrified Bystander #3" in a horror movie. "To this—place?"
He nodded, totally calm. Like this was his Tuesday.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. You can call me Naruto—or Master."
Okay, that last part? Sent shivers down my spine. Not the cool "I'm about to discover my powers" kind. No, more like "I'm in a cult and no one told me" kind.
Then he said:
"I am here to teach and guide you towards a bright future… or grant you a peaceful death."
I blinked. Did I hear that right?
"Wait, what?"
I expected him to laugh. Tell me it was a joke. Maybe offer me a ghost-themed energy drink or something. But nope. He just stared at me like I'd asked if penguins could fly.
"You will become heroic… or die. There is no in between. I can't have you shame my name as the Emperor of Mankind."
Pause. Rewind.
Emperor of Mankind?
Was this guy serious? He looked my age. Maybe a few years older. But his eyes… They weren't normal. There was an entire universe behind them. It felt like he could see my thoughts, my worst memories. Like that one time in sixth grade when I accidentally glued my hand to my face during science class. Yeah. That kind of power.
So I asked the obvious question.
"Why me?"
Because if I was going to be the star of someone's magical death game, I deserved at least one solid explanation.
He didn't answer right away. One moment he was seated like some celestial monarch, the next he was standing right in front of me, hand on my head like I was a dog that had just learned to roll over.
And then—bam.
Visions.
Not just your average "You'll save the world one day!" junk. I saw galaxies burning. Armies kneeling. Powers I couldn't even name. Knowledge rushing into my brain like someone hit the cheat code for "omniscience." For a moment, I could feel it—what it would be like to be more than just Danny Fenton.
To be someone.
"Do you not feel honored by this opportunity?" he whispered.
Yeah, honored and terrified. This guy was promising the world, sure—but wrapped in a "be great or die" package.
Classic motivational speech.
I didn't know what to say. My brain was still trying to reboot after that mental download. Part of me wanted to run. The other part? The part that sat in the cafeteria with chocolate pudding dripping from his face, wondering why he was such a loser?
That part wanted to say yes.
Because maybe this was it. The chance to change everything. To be stronger. Smarter. Faster. To matter.
But still… he said "die" like it was a menu option.
So yeah. I was tempted. Who wouldn't be?
But terrified?
Oh, I was absolutely terrified.
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It's weird, the things you notice when you're panicking.
The way the void doesn't echo. How the air doesn't feel like air, but more like static. And how a throne—a literal throne—can feel cold, even when it's made of something that looks like solid sunlight.
And me? I was stuck in it. Not metaphorically. Not "I'm feeling trapped in life" kind of stuck. Literally, physically seated on a glowing chair in the mind dimension of a man who called himself Emperor of Mankind.
Great. Just great.
"It is your fate that we met today."
Naruto's last words hung in the air, warm and ominous like the smell of ozone before lightning strikes. Then he was just… gone.
Vanished.
No smoke. No sparkle. No poof.
Just not there anymore.
Which left me—Danny Fenton, awkward teen, ghost half-breed, son of the world's worst (and most persistent) ghost hunters—alone.
And seated on a throne I did not ask for.
"Let me out!" I shouted, and wow, it echoed now. My voice cracked like a kid whose soul had just been slapped by destiny. (Because, hey, that was exactly what happened.)
Then my legs moved.
Not like I moved them. They just… moved. Like I was a puppet and someone else had the strings.
I sat down on the throne.
And then it happened.
A screen flickered into existence.
Not a screen like on a phone or a TV. This was something deeper. Like a tear in the void, revealing the world beyond. My world. Earth.
I saw my house.
I saw me.
Or, at least… my body.
Walking.
Talking.
Breathing.
Without me inside it.
"Oh no," I whispered, my heart sinking like a brick in a haunted swimming pool. "I've been possessed."
The irony hit me like a ton of ghost bricks.
Danny Fenton: Half-ghost. Son of ghost hunters. Now haunted.
Ten out of ten. Would scream again.
"I owe them an apology," I thought bitterly.
Mom. Dad. Jazz. Even Tucker and Sam.
All those times I rolled my eyes at ghost alarms or brushed off their insane theories about "full-body spiritual hijacks." Well, here I was.
Possessed.
By a dude who smiles like a mentor but talks like a god.
And the worst part? I didn't think he meant harm.
Which made it even scarier.
Because people who don't think they're doing harm are the ones who usually end up breaking things beyond repair.
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Naruto stretched his new body, his hands moving instinctively as he tested his limbs. He winced slightly at the lack of strength in them. The body felt... fragile, like something that couldn't bear the weight of his experiences. It was disappointing. In his world, even a four-year-old child possessed more resilience than what he felt now. But then, he remembered the nature of his situation—how fate had thrown him into this new existence.
It wasn't some divine plan or predestined meeting that had brought him here. It was mere coincidence. The curse on his body, a mark etched by the Otsutsuki Elite before his death, had sealed his fate. That mark, "mortal," was a death sentence that caused his body to start deteriorating. Naruto had already lived far beyond the normal human lifespan—over a hundred years, to be exact—thanks to the strength of his spirit and will. But even those could only hold out for so long.
The memories of that final battle against the Otsutsuki Elite flooded his mind. He had been victorious, but at what cost? In that fight, Naruto had lost everything that mattered—Hinata, Kaguya, and even his summoned creatures, who had been like children to him. That battle had shattered him, leaving him hollow. Even as he'd fought to save humanity, his own soul had been broken in the process.
Naruto had been sealed, kept alive in a broken state by his research team, but his power waned as his body deteriorated. Sasuke and the others had done everything they could, searching for a way to help him. Yet, in the end, they had failed.
The arrival of Kaguya's brother had marked the final chapter of his life. Sasuke had been forced to do what he never wanted—end his brother's life. It was the hardest thing Sasuke had ever done, and Naruto knew it had destroyed something inside him. He had left a legacy behind—his power, his will, and his duties as the Emperor of Mankind. But with his death, that responsibility fell to someone else. Not one of his children, but his student. The one who would take his place.
As his body had been torn apart in that final, brutal act, Naruto had passed his power to his heir, ensuring that humanity would survive. After his death, the world fractured into three factions: the Emperor faction, the Golden Dawn Cult, and the Himawari faction. The Himawari faction had left Earth to carry on his vision of domination across the multiverse.
Naruto had not made his peace with his death... and the universe wasn't finished with him yet. His soul, broken and scattered, had been sent through the space-time continuum, thanks to Sasuke's attempt to save him from eternal damnation.
Yet, just when Naruto thought his soul was lost forever, something strange happened. The Otsutsuki Elite had interfered with the process, breaking his soul even further. But amidst the chaos of his shattered existence, he found himself pulled to this new world—an unfamiliar place that felt foreign yet oddly familiar.
And then, he saw him.
Danny Fenton.
The boy radiated potential. Though Danny was fragile in his own way, Naruto could sense something in him—something untapped, raw, and desperate for purpose. This world was on the brink of collapse, and Danny had the potential to save it. He wasn't sure how, or why, but he knew that the boy's future was tied to something greater than himself.
Naruto had always prided himself on seeing the bigger picture. His life had been one of sacrifice, of shaping others to inherit his will and vision. It seemed that fate had brought him to this boy for a reason. He wasn't sure if Danny would become the hero the world needed, but if Naruto could guide him, he could make a difference.
For now, he needed to observe, to wait. But soon, he would show Danny the path forward. He had the power to shape the boy's future, to give him the strength to rise above the tragedy of his life.
Naruto's new life wasn't what he had expected, but he had always embraced the unexpected. He would not allow Danny's potential to slip away like so many others had. It was time to take action.