Chapter One: an altered beginning;
On the tenth day of the tenth month of the year, in a cave behind hokage mountain, the Yondaime Namikaze Minato stood by his wife, Uzumaki Kushina's, bedside. She had been in labor for hours now, barely holding on, almost to the point of delirium, but not once had she given up.
Minato was worried, not for their safety, they had set up a powerful barrier just as adept at keeping people out as in, a barrier designed for the nine-tails demon fox. No, he was worried his wife would run out of energy. She was teetering on the edge, and he wasn't completely sure she'd make it. The nerves getting the better of him he couldn't stay still.
"I-Is she going to be alright!?" - "Yes And You're a Hokage now Minato! Act like one."
"euuaaahhhh!" Her face pallid and clammy, drenched in sweat and exhausted from hours of simultaneously fighting to keep the demon sealed and to give birth to her son, Kushina yelled and gave one last final push before finally hearing her son cry out to the world having finally drawn his first breath.
Kushina collapsed back on the bed, the hardest part was over now. She let go of Minato's concerningly purple hand, and rested her arm across her chest, focused on her breathing and reigning in her rampaging chakra as it finally began to calm down.
Kushina's midwife Sarutobi Biwako ordered her assistant Taji to clean up as she wiped down mother and son alike with warm washcloths, before gently swaddling the baby boy in an ugly orange blanket. Somehow it fit the boy, despite his mother's good looks already peaking through that mop of yellow hair. 'Too bad, he could have been handsome with his mother's hair'.
"Naruto..." - Smack! - "The mother will see her child first brat!" Biwako smacked the Yondaime's hand away in reprimand and leaned over to lay Naruto next to his mother.
"Hi Naruto, its your mommy" Turning over, Kushina gazed at her beautiful son and smiled. Somehow she knew at this moment that she loved her son even more than she had thought she would. A warmth of love consumed her heart and revitalized her, bringing color back to her skin. Her breathing evened out on its own, and she was almost able to completely forget about her rampaging chakra. 'Looks like even that demon can have the good sense to give me a moment with my boy'.
She glared at her husband for a moment for daring to try and delay her meeting Naruto, but she didn't stare for long. How could she? She had her beautiful baby boy right in front of her, and he had managed to inherit her good looks, which she used to gloat over her husband who was only worth a stupid mop of hair, which might yet bleed true with time.
She would do anything for Naruto. A dangerous notion, the shinobi world was far too treacherous and underhanded for strong attachments, let alone an overwhelming one like this. She had already been overjoyed and more than a little excited to be a mother her whole pregnancy, but now there wasn't any room in her heart for anything other than Naruto. She would have to retire as a Jonin so she could focus all she had to raising her precious son and so she could always be there to protect him.
Kushina knew he was the center of her life now, Minato can go suffer on the back burner for all she cared, Naruto would come first, even before the hidden leaf. "Biwako-san, think I can intrude on your daughter in law the first few weeks? I'd ask Mikoto if she could have done that for me but with her son Itachi and newborn Sasuke and her husband Fugaku, Mr. clan supremacist war hero still upset he lost the election... It'd be a little too much stress I think"
"Worry about yourself and get some rest first... we'll bring Naruto back to the clan with us while we wait for you to recover. That brat Minato can bring you along when you're ready and I'll set up a room for you."
"Speaking of brats, give me your seal so you can come fetch me directly if something goes wrong..."
"I... Okay" Minato gave her one of his tags he had prepared for his flying thunder god technique. He wasn't even given a moment to introduce himself to his son before Taji finished cleaning up and Biwako had picked up Naruto, clearly getting ready to leave. After the last few incense were lit the two medical-nin made their way to the exit...
"But I didn't get to see Naruto..." Minato whispered, clearly put out by the rejection as Kushina laughed at his misery. "You know Minato, he looks just like me, and I'm willing to bet he's a mama's boy so you better get used to being the second favorite"
Minato glared at Kushina accusingly for that declaration of war. "You know Kushina, there are certain bonds only a father and son can share", with a sly and slightly pitying smile he thought 'I'll just take him camping and teach him a few jutsu, show him how cool his old man is! It'll be a million times more fun than all that studying his mom is going to put him through, she'll never stand a chance'.
"You really think you can beat me hun? All I'll have to do is put you in your place and any image you're hoping to build with my precious little man will crumble" She smiled wickedly just picturing her assured victory.
Thump!!x2 The two of them broke their confrontation as they turned their gaze to the offending noise. To their horror an impossible scene appeared before them. An unknown masked ninja stood over the bodies of her midwives holding her son in his bloody hand with a kunai pointed at his throat.
Taji had been the first to fall, not even registering the blur before her throat was cut and she collapsed in a puddle of her own blood. Biwako followed not even a second after, having seen the hand appear out of thin air, 'D-did Minato...', unfortunately in her confusion she could only jerk back slightly as her jugular was pierced by a kunai in the hand she didn't see and she fell to the floor. "K-Ku-shiina..." her last breath a warning before coughing blood and collapsing.
""NARUTO!"" They both screamed as Biwako's body disappeared replaced with a dead ninja that was supposed to be guarding them from outside. The masked man was unfazed by the disappearance, he knew he had stabbed her jugular, wherever she ran off to she would not be able to even report what happened here, let alone quick enough to make any difference.
"Step away from the Jinchuriki, lord fourth Hokage, Unless you want to see me kill your little Brat!"
"W-Wait, Calm down, I-" - "I won't tell you again Minato, the only person here that needs to do anything is you. You need to step away from the Jinchuriki, Because I, AM Supremely Calm."
Their protest caught in their throat, Minato froze for just a fraction of a second and leaped across the room before the masked man could impale young Naruto with his kunai. "Naruto!" His mother could only yell out to him, as he fell towards that man's blade. 'Luckily he caught him..' She almost sighed but her relief was short lived.
"MINATO! NARUTO!" Realization dawned on Minato's Face, illuminated by the flash of light on Naruto's blanket, the tell-tale sign of the explosion that engulfed the room as father and son disappeared from Kushina's sight, Just before she too disappeared in the grasp of the masked man, unable to do anything more but claw at the air towards her family before blacking out. "Impressive" the last thing she heard, came from that bastard's mouth.
"You can wake up now Kushina-sama". The first thing Kushina saw when she woke was the ground, at the edge of her vision was the masked man and peaking out just bellow her feet was a stone pedestal. Somehow, she was suspended in the air by her arms. She barely managed to muster the energy to turn her head, there were stone pillars all around her. She was attached to them suspended by sealing chains that ran up and down her body connected to the 8 trigrams seal on her belly, which had almost been completely forced open already.
"Why do this? Konoha won't let you get away you know, No village can stand up to us let alone protect and shelter you from us, so why?" Her chin tucked to her chest, hoarse from the anger at this monster for attacking her child before he could even say his first word or crawl or eat his first meal, from the anger at this man for what he was about to do, for taking her from her son, SHE DEMANDED an answer.
"AS much as I'd love to chat, I'm afraid I don't have much time, suffice it to say that even IF that precious Konoha survives tonight, I'm just not afraid of any retribution your village may have in store for me, but I still have to extract that demon from your corpse before your dear husband comes and makes things difficult."
"YOU!-" Unfortunately, glaring at the man was a mistake, something another shinobi wouldn't have done, but a Jinchuriki, especially one with rampaging chakra as hers was currently doing, is nearly immune to genjutsu. Only one clan could even hope to keep a Jinchuriki in one, all other genjutsu could be easily broken as soon as the Jinchuriki realized they were in one.
'The Uchiha?, impossible, it has to be a rogue, but that eye, WHERE have I seen that eye?' Her vision had only gone black for a few seconds before she was standing in a room next to the masked man. "There you are."-"That eye...", It wasn't even a second after the man formed a seal that his eye began spinning and three Tomoe reflected in the Kyuubi's eyes. All intelligence was banished from the giant fox's face, its hackles raised, its muscles bursting from its form, It struggled anew as a bestial roar tore out it's throat and even out Kushina's own.
The last of the seal was forced open as tears ran down Kushina's face. In anguish, contorted in pain, she screamed out to the world as her own chakra ripped it's way out of her body. In the middle of nowhere, with no-one to comfort her. she went through the worst pain of her life, even worse than the childbirth had brought her for hours earlier that very same day. It did not take long for her chakra to take form. Boiling red, it first formed a silhouette of her body before forming tails and ripping away from her, becoming the behemoth that was sealed away inside her. Another bestial roar announcing its freedom as she fell on the pedestal, the seal gone and no longer suspending her body.
Finally, she could think again 'That eye reminds me of his student, but it cant be, the boy died in the last war, half his body crushed under a rock, his only recoverable eye given to Kakashi out of his own volition.'
"P-please...stop, don't attack the village" She couldn't even lift her head up but she was still fighting, still alive.
"I'll destroy that village, it's the only threat to my plans anyways, but first I think I'll have the Kyuubi kill you" As he said that, the nine-tails lifted it's foremost leg and brought it crashing over the pedestal.
It was only a few seconds after the dust settled that the man could try to identify her corpse and discovered that Minato had arrived just in time to grab his wife away from the clutches of the demon fox. "So.. You made it, but you were too late, your wife is dying and there is nothing you can do to stop me from flattening your village."
With that last declaration, the masked man warped out of existence and the Kyuubi followed directly after in a puff of smoke. The enthralled beast had been summoned.
Without a word Minato teleported with his wife to the underground complex he had left Naruto in. "Kushina, I need you to stay here with Naruto while I go defend the village." Minato said as he lay her gently next to their son on the bed.
"But I can still fight, I have some chakra left I can hold the demon in place for a little longer!" Kushina protested as she managed to force herself to sit up and manifest the golden sealing chains she was infamous for. "I-" - "Naruto needs you right now, besides I'll be fine. It'll take more than an overgrown mutt with an attitude problem and a rogue Uchiha to end my life!"
*Sigh*"Fine but you better be fast, and you better be careful. Show that foolish man how arrogant he was being by incurring the wrath of the entire hidden leaf village!" - " You know I will" Minato said as he put on that silly cloak with the flames and 'THE FOURTH HOKAGE' written in bold, just before glancing back and disappearing.
Then the fighting started and Naruto started crying. As much as Kushina tried she couldn't comfort him. The room shaking constantly from the battle that must have already started, certainly didn't help. Getting up on unsteady feet, Kushina had to brace herself on the dresser as she made her way to the shelf where Minato left that baby toy.
And there it was, the stupid pellet drum he bought way back when she started living there. 'In hindsight, maybe he bought it to distract me from being couped up in a cramped place like this for 2 months...' Just as she reached it a large explosion shook the ground and threw her off her feet. "Stupid Bijuudama". It was clearly a tailed beast bomb. As she made her way back to the bed she started spinning the pellet drum back and forth, stealing the attention of her little boy back using the rapid fire rattling.
"Well, at least we know that works! Huh little Naruto?" *hehe*, the little caterpillar seemingly managed to laugh almost. Distracted by the toy in the woman's hand as she hugged him and played with it while all the noise was still going on, she managed to sooth him into a fragile sleep. She kept talking to him even after he fell asleep, partially to keep him calm but also to calm herself down as they lay there in bed.
---At the same time in Konoha---
(POV Minato)
'I had just dealt with the Bijuudama when that ninja showed up again. The clans had managed to hold back the tailed fox long enough for me to get there and redirect that beast bomb outside of Konoha so I'm sure they'll be able to hold on a little longer'
Minato had just been teleported into the middle of the woods and thrown down by the masked man. 'Somehow when I attacked him, it didn't even reach him, it's like my attack had gone right through him...'
As they fought, Minato took hit after hit but couldn't land any on the masked man. It was like he wasn't even there. The man was a phantom, a ghost. 'A ghost!?'
"Mangekyo sharingan, susanoo, Are you perhaps Uchiha Madara? No, he died " - "Maybe I am" A short reprieve from fighting to answer that question, the man wrapped a chain around both wrists from around his back. "Doesn't really matter though because by the end of this Konoha will be destroyed and you'll join your late wife in the afterlife."
'Whatever, I think I've figured it out anyways. He is able to hit me so that must mean at least part of the time he can physically interact with the world so if I just attack him where I know he must be there, I can hit him'
As the fight continued, Minato set up his trap, and finally struck. He had been timing his attacks to not give the man the chance to fight back and to give him the false impression that that was what he was doing this time. Instead he teleported, and struck the man with a rasengan, laying him out on the ground and finally making contact to place his seal on him.
From then on the fight completely changed, Minato could always hit him, but now, he couldn't miss, and he used the next three strikes to place another seal on the man.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?" Unsettled for the first time, the masked man dictated with his tone and demanded an explanation as he switched over to dodging the Yondaime's strikes.
"I'm sure, you've figured it out by now, I've sealed off your contracts, you're no longer in control of the Demon fox."
"Fine, I admit I'll have to retreat for now but I'll come back and destroy your village yet! You can't protect it long from me!" As the rest of him warped in a inwards spiral, the man's glowing eye was the last part of him to disappear. A mocking hatred reflected in that pupil, promising to burn down the village in a silent message.
It wasn't even a moment later that Minato appeared back in the village again, right next to lord third. "Send out the warning Sarutobi-sensei, this attack wasn't an accident. A teleporting shinobi with a sharingan released the nine-tails. Though I've forced him to retreat for now."
"Fine but how are we going to deal with the nine-tails? We need an Uzumaki to even be able to seal the damned thing!" - "I have an Idea, I'm going to take it out of the village, past hokage mountain, send ninjas to perform the four violet flame barrier formation to trap it inside."
Just as the Third Hokage acknowledged him with a grunt and a drag on his pipe, Minato disappeared and reappeared above the behemoth, then teleported again outside the village where more explosions went off, telling the ninjas where to go to set up the barrier. Little did they know the barrier would end up unused.
It was just after he set up the staging area with the fox, that Minato teleported away from its rampage and appeared before his wife and child once more. Grabbing them both, he teleported them away into the forest.
"Kushina, we have to stop the Kyuubi's rampage. More than that, I have a plan and I need you to listen to me." - "I can seal it with me, I can drag it with me to death. It will take decades for it to reform"
"No, Kushina, I will perform the reaper death seal. I'll drag its yin chakra down with me for the reaper to keep it from reincarnating immediately. then I'll seal the other half of its chakra inside Naruto. That should remove its grudges while it regenerates its yin chakra inside Naruto, where it will be influenced by Naruto's own soul."
"But I can-" - "Kushina! I'll need you to keep it still while I perform the jutsu"
"I don't want him to bear this burden, it's too much for a little boy Minato!" Kushina pleaded, on the verge of crying. 'She would know the burden of being a Jinchuriki, but Naruto will be different, I have a reason to believe that. I'll believe in HIM'
"I would normally agree with you Kushina... but I trust in our son, AND I trust in Jiraiya-sensei. Do you remember what that old sage told us Kushina? One day a boy will be born that will befriend the tailed beasts and fully control the nine-tails chakra and bring peace to the world. That prophecy from the toad sage was about Naruto! I know it, and this will make sure that it happens! Our son will save the world Kushina"
"What about you, you would leave Naruto without either of his parents. He needs you!" - "A role Jiraiya-sensei agreed to take as Naruto's godfather. Besides, I would never be able to replace you Kushina. If I do this, I'll be able to put some of your yin chakra in the seal for you to watch over Naruto, one day you'll be able to talk to him and tell him all about us and how much we loved him..."
Her last protest finally crushed, she could no longer drag on the argument. Though she decided she'll still hate him for forcing this on Naruto, at least this way she'd get the chance to talk to her boy, and That was something to look forward to. 'I hope he will understand why his parents forced this on him, I hope he knows we loved him'
Getting up, Kushina prepared her sealing chains and waited while Minato lured the demon Fox into position. Minato had already prepared the 8 Trigrams sealing formation and Placed Naruto in the center. Now the nine-tails just needed to be trapped and it's chakra drawn into the formation..
When she sprung the trap, her chains rushed forth and wrapped themselves around the demon, barely muzzling it and holding it in place with one chain around every limb. She could not hold the fox in place for long, despite it no longer being controlled by that man, and having surely been weakened by all that fighting, she too had been weakened by childbirth and having that monster ripped out of her.
"Minato!" - "On It!" Minato didn't waste any time and directly used the reaper death seal. Behind him, a shinigami with horns, black eyes, purple skin and a sword held in its mouth appeared and tore at the Kyuubi, ripping half it's chakra away, the yin half, without which it had only its body to attack with.
At first the Kyuubi just looked pissed, this attack was annoying but ultimately fruitless as he could not die, and his yin chakra would regenerate within a week if he was patient but could return in a day If he just visited any of his old shrines, but then he looked at the ground and Finally realized what their plan was. That was the sealing technique used to trap him for generations! But now all, he had to do was kill that child to break it, these chains were not the strong adamantine barrier they once were, they were FAR from enough to stop him completely.
It was then that the Kyuubi struggled and forced all his strength into one forelimb, his claw rocketing towards the helpless child that wouldn't even feel a thing before he killed it. 'Victory is Mine! And you can only blame this on yourselves' A flash of pity present in his eyes and slight disgust for himself were not enough to make him hesitate. The shinobi world had already made him into a monster.
In this moment when neither Minato, nor Kushina could stop the beast with jutsu they both opted for the only other way to halt its attack. They jumped in front of it. As it Impaled both parents, it stopped just inches above the boy's abdomen, exposed for the ritual, the claw dripped the blood of baby Naruto's parents on him.
"Damn You" The Demon fox growled out, fully restrained once more.
"Kushina, we don't have much time, If you have anything to say before he undoes the seal and you meet him again, say it now." - "Okay"
"Naruto. Don't be a picky eater, just eat a lot so you can grow up big and strong; and make sure that you bathe every day and that you stay warm too. Also, don't stay up too late, make sure you get plenty of sleep. Don't forget to make friends as well. You don't need a lot of them, just a few is fine, as long as they're ones you can really trust.
"And, your mom wasn't very good at this, Make sure you study hard and learn your ninjutsu. Always remember, everyone is good at some things and not so good at others, so even if something doesn't go well, don't get depressed okay? When you're at the academy, respect your teachers and the upperclassmen.
"Oh! Now this is important. Regarding the three prohibitions of the shinobi, be extra careful about lending and borrowing money! Take your pay and put it in a savings account. No alcohol! Not until you're of age. Too much Sake is Bad for you, so drink it in moderation. And, another prohibition is women. Remember, I am one, so I don't know too much about it. Keep in mind that this world is made up of men and women and so at some point, you'll notice girls and that's normal. Just be careful and don't fall for the bad ones. Just go out there and find one that's like me!
"That reminds me, Speaking of the three prohibitions, you should be wary of Jiraiya-sensei, you know? Naruto; I'm sorry to say, there will plenty of hardships and painful times ahead, just be true to yourself. Make sure to have dreams, and the confidence to make those dreams come true. Oh Naruto.. There's so much.. There's so much more... There are so many things I wish I had time to pass on to you. So much more I want to tell you. I wish I can stay with you longer.. I love you."
"Minato, I'm sorry, I used up all your time." - "No, It's alright. Naruto, My words to you, I guess your talkative mom, said it all."
"Eight Trigrams Seal." Out of time, Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage, and ninja known as the yellow flash, forced the Kyuubi's remaining yang chakra into Naruto and sealed it. With it he placed a small amount of his yin chakra into the seal in case the seal gets undone before Naruto is ready to undo it himself. As the light fades from his eyes the last thing he sees is his wife's wonder and shock as she was placing her yin chakra in the seal as well.
Minato felt something strange with the seal before he passed on, but if anything it felt stronger, so whatever he did by splitting the Kyuubi in half was a good thing. Plus, he felt his yin chakra copy more of him than he thought he'd be able to leave with Naruto. Who knew, maybe he'd get to say hello and talk to his son as well, well at least a part of him would get to.
Kushina noticed more however. This seal was different. It wasn't just the 8 trigrams seal anymore. She could feel as Minato's knowledge was copied somewhere within Naruto's mindscape. As she sent her own yin chakra into her son, She could SEE IT! 'There's a library in the seal, A jutsu library containing everything we know about different jutsu and training techniques! Even Fuinjutsu, Taijutsu, and Shurikenjutsu!'
On top of that she could feel something else, a space for her, not just her yin chakra, but a space perfectly suited for her soul within the seal where it connects to and restrains the Kyuubi. She could feel, It was designed for her to replace and restrain the regeneration of the Kyuubi's yin chakra. She could be with Naruto! She could train him to sense the demon fox within him and teach him how to restrain it himself! She wasn't Leaving him alone quite yet, and the sheer joy and relief that brought her was immeasurable.
"Oh, Naruto. You'll be safe. Momma will make SURE OF IT!"
"Hiruzen! Come here. His name is Naruto! You'll make sure he's well taken care of and protected right?" - "Naruto, huh? Very well, I promise you Kushina, I'll take care of Naruto"
With that reassurance Kushina smiled and closed her eyes, allowing her soul to be pulled into the 8 trigrams seal on little Naruto's belly and took her place as the intermediary, where she could gush over her baby and project her love into his dreams while he sleeps, and simultaneously circulate his chakra to strengthen his body and open up his chakra pathways.