Naruko's fist shot forward, aimed to end Sakura in an instant.

A split second before impact, a kunai imbued with Flying Thunder God jutsu embedded itself into the wall beside them. In a flash of yellow light, Minato appeared, snatching Sakura from Naruko's grip and teleporting them both back to his desk.

Naruko's punch hit empty air, but the sheer force of it sent a powerful gust of wind through the room, rattling chairs and making papers flutter wildly.

Silence followed.

Naruko's gaze slowly shifted to Minato, her eyes narrowing dangerously. He had just saved a lost cause—a future murderer. A walking disaster. She clenched her fist tighter, debating whether she should break him or kill him for interfering.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Minato demanded, setting Sakura down behind him as she coughed and gasped for breath.

Naruko's expression remained cold. "I'm preventing her from committing any heinous acts before they happen."

Sakura trembled, her voice shaking as she protested, "I haven't done anything!"

Naruko's gaze snapped to her, burning with certainty. "Not yet."

A heavy tension filled the air.

Kushina, sensing the volatile situation, stepped forward. Her voice was calm but firm. "Naruko... what did she do?"

Naruko exhaled sharply. "It's not about what she has done. It's about what her other self will do."

Confusion swept through the room.

"What do you mean by that?" Shikaku Nara finally asked, breaking the silence.

Naruko turned to Minato. "Are you familiar with the Multiverse Theory? Parallel realities?"

Minato hesitated. "I know very little... It's just a theory."

"It's not," Naruko stated flatly. "It's real."

Stunned silence followed her words.

Before anyone could question her further, Naruko continued, her voice unwavering. "I have a kin—Ember Uzumaki Shimmer. She is the daughter of Sunset Shimmer and my male counterpart, Naruto Uzumaki."

Kushina's breath hitched. "A male version of you...?" she murmured, struggling to process the revelation. Then, her eyes widened further. "Wait... That means Ember is... my granddaughter?"

Naruko nodded.

Kushina blinked rapidly, absorbing the information. But one question lingered in her mind. "How did Ember end up in the Imperium?"

Naruko sighed. "She came from a version of Konoha, but her birth mother, Sunset Shimmer, is from a land called Equestria. A world filled with magic."

That caught Sasuke's interest. "Magic?" he repeated, intrigued.

Naruko nodded. "Equestria is populated by magical ponies. In Ember's world, they had a summoning contract with the Uzumaki Clan."

Kushina's eyes lit up. "Magical ponies as a summoning contract? That sounds amazing!"

Then a sudden realization hit her like a brick. Her face paled.

Her mouth opened, then closed, before she hesitantly asked, "...Wait. Does that mean my son and a pony...?"

Naruko immediately raised a hand. "No. Ember's mother has a human form. So no, I don't think my counterpart committed bestiality."

Kushina let out a breath of relief. "Oh, thank Kami..."

Naruko shook her head before her expression darkened again. "Both Konoha and Equestria were wiped out—plagued by a virus."

Minato frowned. "A virus?"

Naruko's gaze hardened as she turned and pointed directly at Sakura.

"One created by her."

Gasps filled the room. All eyes turned to Sakura in shock.

Mebuki Haruno immediately stepped forward, fury in her eyes. "How dare you accuse my daughter of such a thing?! She is Tsunade-sama's student—the best medical kunoichi of her generation!"

That statement caught the attention of the Ultramarine captain present. Her eyes narrowed, gears turning in her mind. "Medical..." she murmured. "Meaning she would have access to advanced biological research. The knowledge to study compounds. Or... to create a virus.

Silence stretched as the realization settled in.

Sakura looked horrified. "I wouldn't do that!" she cried, shaking her head.

Naruko stepped forward, towering over her. "That's exactly what Ember told me you would say."

Sakura's blood ran cold.

"She told me that if I ever met you—a version of you that hadn't committed the crime yet—you wouldn't believe a word of it. That you're an obsessed fangirl who would do anything to get what you want." Naruko's voice was like ice. "And she made me promise. If I ever met you, I was to end you. No hesitation."

A shiver ran through the room.

Kushina froze, eyes wide.

Then, after a long pause, she gave a small, almost nostalgic smile.

"...You really are my daughter," she murmured.

The words settled like a storm in the silent council room. No one spoke, no one dared to. The sheer weight of Naruko's statement loomed over them like an executioner's blade.

Sakura, still gasping from her near-death experience, could feel the sweat rolling down her face. This wasn't a joke. Naruko truly intended to kill her.

Minato clenched his fists, stepping forward in an attempt to reason with his daughter. "Naruko... You're talking about a future that hasn't happened here. Even if it's true in another reality, that doesn't mean it will happen in ours."

Naruko's cold stare locked onto him. "That's a gamble I'm not willing to take."

Sakura shook her head frantically. "I-I would never—"

Naruko's hand twitched, every fiber of her being screaming at her to finish what she started. "That's what she said too. Before she doomed an entire world."

Kushina placed a gentle but firm hand on Naruko's shoulder. "I understand, Naruko."

The Ultramarine Captain turned her head slightly toward her mother.

Kushina continued, voice steady. "You've seen horrors we can't even imagine. You've lived through war and destruction on a scale beyond comprehension. And I believe you when you say this other Sakura is responsible."

Minato opened his mouth to protest, but Kushina's sharp look silenced him.

"But," Kushina went on, "killing this Sakura won't change what happened in that other world." She squeezed Naruko's shoulder slightly. "We don't let fear dictate our actions, Naruko. We're Uzumaki."

Naruko inhaled deeply through her nose, then exhaled. "Fear has nothing to do with it. This is logic. Cold, merciless logic."

She looked back at Sakura, whose breath hitched under the scrutiny. "But I made a promise."

Without warning, Naruko's hand shot forward once more—

And stopped, mere inches from Sakura's forehead.

The tension was unbearable. The entire room seemed to be holding its breath.

Naruko studied her, gaze burning into the terrified pink-haired girl.

Then, without a word, she pulled her hand back and turned on her heel.

"I will be watching you, Haruno," Naruko said, her voice eerily calm. "Step out of line even once... and I will fulfill my promise."

Sakura's knees buckled, and she collapsed onto the floor, gasping in sheer terror.

Without another glance, Naruko strode toward the door. Sasuke and Kushina followed her without hesitation.

As she reached for the door handle, she paused.

"I am not naive enough to believe that peace lasts forever," she said, her voice loud and clear for everyone to hear. "War is inevitable. Betrayal is inevitable. The only question is when."

Her fingers tightened on the handle.

"And when that day comes..."

She turned her head slightly, just enough for them to see her piercing blue gaze over her shoulder.

"...I hope you're ready."

With that, she opened the door and walked out, leaving behind a room filled with stunned silence and barely contained fear.

Somewhere

Deep beneath the Land of Fire, in the suffocating darkness of an abandoned cavern system, something stirred. A low, guttural growl echoed through the tunnels, followed by the unmistakable clicking of razor-sharp talons scraping against stone.

The creature—no, the thing—was a Hormagaunt, a nightmare given form, one of the few Tyranids that had survived the destruction of its hive fleet. It should have died. It should have perished with the rest of its kin, consumed in the fire and fury of extermination. But fate had been cruel.

Worse still, this lone survivor had not been left barren.

Its body shuddered as the ancient instincts of its kind activated, its genetic code rewriting itself. The Hive Mind was gone, but the will to propagate remained. Parthenogenesis. The ability to spawn without a mate. The Hormagaunt didn't need the Hive; it only needed time.

And it had plenty of that.

It dug its claws into the earth, its spined tail thrashing against the cavern walls. A violent spasm wracked its body as it hunched over, its carapace splitting slightly to reveal pulsating flesh underneath. Then, the first egg was laid.

Then another.

And another.

Hundreds of fertile eggs, buried deep beneath the soil, nestled into the earth like seeds of death.

Days would pass. Then weeks.

And when the eggs finally hatched, Konoha would come to understand true horror.

The Hidden Leaf, so proud and mighty, had unknowingly sealed its own fate.

The Tyranids were coming.

Back in konoha

As Naruko walked through the streets of Konoha, her heavy boots echoed against the stone path. Sasuke and Kushina flanked her, each lost in their own thoughts.

Kushina was worried.

Her daughter—no, this Naruko—viewed the world in a way that disturbed her. Cold, calculating, and brutally pragmatic. But at the same time... was she wrong?

Everything Naruko said made sense.

Kushina stole a glance at Sasuke. He was now the Uchiha Clan Head, which made him one of the most sought-after men in the village. Women threw themselves at him, and none more aggressively than Sakura.

Kushina recalled how the pink-haired girl had nearly killed the Daimyō's niece just for talking to Sasuke.

Obsessed was an understatement.

And now, Sasuke seemed to be paying more attention to Naruko.

If Sakura noticed...

Kushina grimaced. Naruko might actually be right. Sakura would do anything to get what she wants.

Her thoughts turned to Tsunade. The woman was one of the greatest medical-nin to ever live, but Kushina was now realizing that Tsunade had never bothered to evaluate Sakura's mental state. A massive oversight.

She sighed. I should have Yugao keep an eye on that pink brat. If she even breathes suspiciously, I want to know.

But then, another thought hit her.

If Naruko was born male in another world, then... was there a world where she and Minato actually got to raise Naruko? Where she never vanished?

The idea made her chest ache.

Kami, I don't understand science, but that thought is going to haunt me...

Her stomach growled loudly, breaking her out of her thoughts. She grinned and turned to Naruko.

"Hey, Naruko! You hungry?"

Naruko glanced at her. "I consumed my rations earlier," she said bluntly.

Kushina blinked, before waving a hand dismissively. "Rations? Bah! That's nothing! You need real food!" Her eyes lit up. "Come on! I'll treat you to ramen!"

Naruko paused. "What is ramen?"

The air grew deathly silent.

Sasuke stopped walking. Kushina froze. Civilians passing by gasped softly in horror.

Her daughter... has never had ramen?

Her eye twitched. WHAT KIND OF HELL DID SHE LIVE IN?!

Kushina grabbed Naruko's shoulders, her face grave. "Naruko, listen to me. Ramen isn't just food. It's a gift from the heavens. It's the food of the gods!"

Naruko narrowed her eyes. "There is a god of ramen?"

Kushina, too caught up in her passion, nodded with absolute pride. "Yes!"

A sudden click echoed through the air.

Kushina turned her head—and her soul nearly left her body.

Naruko had drawn her bolt pistol and aimed it directly at her head.

Sasuke's eyes widened, but he didn't react fast enough.

Naruko's voice was cold. "If you are a worshipper of any god, then it is my duty to ensure you are purged."

Pure horror filled Kushina's eyes. Wait, wait, WAIT!

Sasuke immediately stepped in. "She's not actually worshipping ramen!" he said quickly. "It's just an expression! She just loves it more than anything else!"

Naruko stared at him for a long moment. Then, with a quiet hum, she lowered her pistol.

"You should have said that," she said bluntly. "I almost made the mistake of executing her. You should be more mindful of your words."

Kushina collapsed to her knees, feeling her soul slowly returning to her body.

Sasuke sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. "Kushina, next time, think before you speak."

Kushina groaned. "I almost crapped myself!"

Sasuke deadpanned, staring at her as if she were the dumbest person alive. How is she this stupid?

to be continued...

hope you enjoy this small reveal of a oc MLP charcater in warhammer friendship is magic and magic is heresy!