Chapter One
A Mother's Tears
It was a peaceful night as a lone ship sailed the open water. There wasn't a single cloud in the star lit sky. Though the sea was calm, the atmosphere aboard the ship was full of uneasiness. The entire crew was straight backed and stoney expressions as they went about their work.
The reason for their behavior became apparent the moment a high pitched scream broke through the night, making the men flinch.
Up in the captain's cabin was a flurry of activity as one young man ran around trying to complete the elder midwife's orders,while trying to ignore the immense pain his childhood friend was experiencing. Not for the first time did he mentally damn all pirates to hell, if it wasn't for them she would still be resting comfortably in the Monkey family mansion, planning her next greatest adventure.
"Boy! Get your head out of your ass and get me some more towels!," the midwife's violent order shook him into action.
As he scrambled to get out the door, tripping over his own two feet, the midwife turned back to her patient. Tucking a strand of gray hair behind her ear, she told the soon to be mother, "Come now lass, you can do it, I can already see the head, your over half the way there,"
The old midwife prized herself in being the best in her field. She had never lost a woman to childbirth and she wasn't about to let this girl be the first, despite the deplorable setting and lack of competent help.
The door banged open as the servant boy hurried back in, arms full of towels. He stopped in his tracks when he saw how far his friend was in labor.
"Hurry up and bring me those towels, you stupid boy!," the old woman's voice got him into motion.
Sighing, he mumbled under his breath, "This definitely wasn't in my job description," as he made his way over to the two females.
"Good," she praised, taking the towels and placing them in her lap, "Now, she only has a few more pushes to go, I need you to go stand beside her and hold out your hand,"
"Why do I need to hold out my hand?," he asked, moving to do as she instructed.
Before the midwife could answer a slim hand wrapped around his and tried it's to crush it.
"Ah!," he screamed out, his other hand reaching to cover the one being crushed and bring him to his knees, "Let go, let go, let go, let go," he kept repeating, though instead of listening the pale fingers just wrapped around his hand tighter.
"Keep it down boy," the old woman told him distractedly, cradling something squishy in her hands," One more push girl, and your son will be here," she turned her attention to the laboring mother, whose only was a whimper.
Phanting, the woman did as the midwife said and was rewarded a minute later with ap piercing cry.
"Lass, Ye' son," the midwife said, laying the fussing baby on his mother's stomach.
The young woman lifted her head, black hair framing her face, and felt the breath get knocked out of her when her blue eyes fell on the squirming bundle.
"He looks just like him," she breathed out.
"I don't know if I'd say that, Noriko, I mean in the coloring sure, but I can see some of your features shining through," her friend said from beside her, nursing his bruised hand after she had let go.
She didn't answer him, eyes glued on her child.
Reaching into the pockets of her apron, the midwife pulled out a pair of scissors, "Who's going to cut the umbilical cord?," she asked, holding up the blades.
Letting her eyes trail from her son to her friend, she asked, "Rai?,"
Eyes bulging, he asked, "Me? Nor, are you sure? By all right your son is a noble, for a servant to do something like that... I would be disrespecting your family," looking down at the floor.
" Hey, you're the one who was at my side through all of this, not my 'noble' family,"
"That's because you refused to tell them," he argued.
"If I told them, my father would have killed my son before he even took his first breath," she told Rai, fingers clenching the bed spread.
"You don't know that," he tried to reason.
"I do, I was unwed and baring a pirate's child, the former is enough to get me disowned, the latter...," she trailed off softly, sad eyes gazing back at her son.
There was a moment of silence only cut by the clacking of the scissors by the impatient midwife.
You could see the hesitance shining in Rai's eyes, but he gave in stepping forward to take the scissors.
" One smooth cut should do it," the midwife told him.
Stilling his nerves he did as she said. When his task was complete the midwife quickly tied the remaining piece attached to the baby, before getting to work on her other duties.
A few moments later both Noriko and her son was clean and lying on fresh bedding.
"Do you've a name picked out for him?," Rai asked, as they peered down at the sleeping babe swaddled in his mother's arms.
"Yes, I do," she answered with a soft smile, "Minato D. Namikaze,"
Giving her a confused look, Rai asked, "Harbour and waves and wind?,"
Giving him a nod, she replied, "The first time I meet his father was at the Harbour not far from our house, as for Namikaze, his father sail on the waves while I've always wanted to fly away on the wind, they're both apart of him,"
"And the middle name? Let me guess, the will of D.?,"
"Yes, even if he never knows what it means, it will still live on through him," Noriko explained, caressing Minato's downy soft hair.
"Are you sure it's safe to name him after the sea?,"
"Mm...I guess no one can be completely sure in a situation like this, but I have a feeling he'll be fine. I want him to have some connection to his roots,"
"And you're really not going to tell your brother? Not even when we get back home?," Rai questioned.
"No!" She said with determination, "I can't tell anyone, let alone Garp. I haven't seen him since his son was born. It saddens me to say, but since our mother died and he joined the Marines I've lost a connection to him. I have no clue what he'd do if he found out. What I'm doing, it's the best way to keep my son safe," Noriko finished with hidden unease.
Godspeed was on their side, for a few months later they spotted the Elemental Nations.
With Minato in a sling, Noriko and Rai made their way inland, letting the rest of the crew rest at the inns by the Harbour.
"You didn't have to come with me," Noriko said, not bothering to look behind her where her friend was lagging.
They had been walking for hours and the warm sun back home was nothing compared to the stifling heat they were now feeling. She couldn't blame her home bound friend , for even she was starting to tire.
"What are you talking about, of course I did, I heard there was ninja in these lands. There's no way I'm leaving you to the mercy of some blood thirsty ninja," he answered through labored breath.
She tried, and failed, at not rolling her eyes and decided to not comment on how it would most likely be her protecting him. Rai's whole life had been centered at working in her family's mansion, while she had been trained by one of the most fearsome pirates to sail the four seas.
"Do you even know where you're going?, he asked after a moment of silence.
"Yep, I looked at a map back at the Harbour,"
"...You looked at a map..did it not occur to you to bring it with you?,"
"I couldn't just take it, it was one of those big billboards, but I did find out that there's a village called Konoha something that's as far inland as possible and it's in this direction," Noriko answered very sure of herself as Rai's dread went unnoticed.
They arrived at the village hidden in the leaves a little over a month later.
"Finally and here I'd thought you had gotten us lost again," Rai said, once the gates came into view.
"Hey, that's not my fault, there is a reason it's called hidden in the leaves," Noriko argued.
"Uh, huh, sure Ms. Air don't need a map," he said sarcastically.
She ignored him as they passed through the gate, her eyes were immediately zooming about, trying to take in everything at once. In all her exploring she'd never seen something quite like it. People living surrounded by a wall. She briefly wonders what they would do when they ran out of room, but put it out of her mind. That wasn't a problem she could help with a and they seemed to be doing fine.
A cooing from her front brought her attention to her son. She smiled down at him, marveling at how big he'd gotten in just the few months he'd been alive.
"So, now what?" Rai asked.
She looked at him biting her lip, "We need to find the nearest orphanage," she said looking around. They had arrived late in the evening with some of the shops already closing down for the night. She knew if they hurried they could get out of here before the gates closed and wouldn't have to spend the night.
She froze when she spotted a man with long white hair, "Maybe he'd know where one is," she said, absently walking toward the stranger, ignoring Rai's protest.
"Hello! Excuse me, I was wondering if you could help me?," she asked, catching the man's attention.
His eyes lit up as he smiled and answered, "Of course, I always have time to help a pretty lady,"
Seeing his lecherous grin, Noriko was starting to question her judge of character. Pushing back her discuss, she offered what she hoped was a flattered smile and said, "Me and my husband just moved to this village not that long ago, but we love children so much we've decided we want to adopt, could you direct us to the nearest orphanage?," she could hear her heart beating rapidly inside her chest, as she prayed that he didn't detect her lie.
If he did, he didn't show it when he answered, "Of course, there's one a few blocks over," pointing in the general direction.
"Thank you," Noriko said, giving a slight bow and a wave as she and Rai passed by him.
Neither saw the intrigued look the man gave them, before disappearing from sight, leaving only leaves and dust in his wake.
Noriko and Rai came across a tall building silhouetted by the setting sun. it wasn't in the best condition, but she had seen much worse, what really caught her attention was the noise. You could hear feet running and voices screaming all throughout the building.
"That's a lot of kids," Noriko stammered.
"What do you expect, it's a ninja village, most of these kids probably had parents who went out on missions and never returned," Rai reasoned.
Swallowing hard, Noriko steeled her resolve, before she changed her mind, and stepped forward.
At the top of the steps she made sure Minato was wrapped up tight, so the cool air couldn't reach him before bending down and laying him in front of the door.
"What are you doing?," Rai asked, starting to climb the steps.
"I'm not a konoha citizen, I'm not even from the elemental nations. They may not accept him if they find out,"
"But, Nor-,"
"Don't worry, we're not going anywhere until someone comes out and brings him inside," she reassured.
Satisfying her friend, Noriko looked back down at her sleeping baby boy, she gently caressed his cheek, blue eyes roving over every inch of him, trying to remember every detail, knowing this would be the last time she would ever see him.
She didn't know how long she stayed like that, but when the setting sun started descending on the buildings, she knew it was time to leave.
Placing a kiss on his forehead, she turned around before freezing. She gazed does at Minato with troubled eyes, a hand going to the pendant around her neck.
It was one of her most prized possessions, the only thing Edward had ever given her, well, she corrects glancing at Minato, the only materialistic thing that was relatively safe for him to give her without raising suspicion, as she could easily hide it under her shirt.
Doing the last thing she could for her son, she lifted the necklace from around her neck and slipped it around Minato's.
Who knew, maybe he would figure it out and be able to find them when he was older and more capable of defending himself. He was her and Whitebeard's son after all.
With the last rays of light she stood up and rung the doorbell, before turning on her heel and sprinting to the nearest alley, grabbing Rai by the shirt to bring him along with her. Once a woman opened the door and picked up Minato, Noriko turned her back on the scene and ran as fast as she could for the gate, not once looking back a tears clouded her vision.
23 Years Old
Pain. It was something Kushina had become quite familiar with in her life as a ninja, though she had never felt it to such a degree before. Then again, never before had she had a giant demon foxes claw through her midsection.
Between that and labor, who knew how much blood she had lost tonight, as it was the world was spinning and she was sure her skin was a sickly pale color.
The only thing that kept her grounded was the strong arms that held her. Looking back she caught the clear blue eyes of her husband. They didn't have much longer in this world and they both knew it.
At his nod she looked back over to her newborn son. Naruto looked like a carbon copy of his father, it made her wonder of he would have Minato's personality to match or if it would be a unique one all his own.
Before she knew it words were spewing from her mouth. At this point she wasn't completely sure of what she was saying. She caught snippets of the advice she was giving to Naruto and rambled something about the three probations of a ninja.
"I'm sorry Minato, I used up all our time," Kushina apologized, once her brain caught up with her mouth.
After a breathy laugh, he replied, " It's fine," he closed his eyes for a second to collect his scrambled thoughts, before addressing his son, "Naruto, I've given you a necklace, it's something I've had my entire life. I believe it was my mother's, your grandmother's. Though even with her name engraved on the back I could never find her or figure out what the symbol means. Even if I could never find any answered, maybe you could do your old man a favor. You're not alone, Naruto, you have family out there, I know it, you just have to try hard enough to find them,"
Hearing her husband's dying words, Kushina shed a few tears as her vision gave way to black.