Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything associated with it.
It was suppose to be one of the happiest days of Minato's life. Instead, it turned into one of his darkest.
Next to him, his wife, Kushina, is screaming in pain as the seal on her stomach holding the Kyuubi back grows ever weaker. At the same time, a masked man is holding his two newborn children in his arms with a kunai pointed dangerously close to his son's throat.
"Stay back," the masked man warned as Minato turns to his wife after she screamed out again. "Unless you want your children's first breaths to be their last."
"Settle down," Minato said, desperately trying to protect his family. "Don't do anything rash."
"Speak for yourself," the masked man evenly replied. "I am perfectly calm Fourth Hokage."
Without warning, the masked man threw the two bundle of blankets in his arms into the air. Then, he jumped towards them with his kunai positioned to strike the two down!
Minato quickly leaped after them and expertly caught both of his children before the masked man could finish them. Using chakra, he stuck to the ceiling he collided with and ready himself to move back towards Kushina.
"You managed the first one," the masked maid said as he landed and made a hand sign. "How about the second one?"
Instantly, a sizzling sound came from the two objects in his hands and explosion tags were revealed to be attached to the two kid's blankets!
Knowing Kushina would be caught in the blast, Minato disappeared in a yellow flash and reappeared in a cabin. Immediately, he threw the tagged filled blankets off and leaped outside of the building while holding his children protectively in his arms. An explosion soon followed and the cabin was reduced to rubble.
"He wanted to separate me from Kushina," Minato grimly concluded as he flinched from a small piece of wood that struck his ankle from the blast. The sounds of crying instantly alerted the Hokage to the kids that he now carried.
"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you two," Minato said while smiling nervously down at them.
His words seemed to have no effect as they continued to cry.
Breathing a sign of relief, Minato said, "At least your safe, Naruto." He looked at the boy. "Mito." Minato moved his eyes to gaze at the girl.
Finally having a moment to think, he couldn't fathom were it all went wrong. No one was suppose to know that the seal weakened during child birth. Let alone know where his wife was taken to birth their two children.
Obviously, they couldn't hide the fact that Kushina was pregnant; it was pretty easy to figure out when her stomach expanded during the later part of her pregnancy. However, only those involved in the child's birth, the Third Hokage, and Jiraiya knew that she was carrying twins.
Pulling the large sliver out and tossing it to the side, the Fourth Hokage focused on the task at hand.
Minato and his children disappeared from the area before the small piece of wood could touch the ground.
Reappearing at another secluded cabin, he gently set down his children on the empty bed and said, "Rest here Naruto and Mito." A look of determination appeared on his face. "I need to go get your mother." In a flash he was gone.
When he reemerged next to Kushina, Minata noticed that the Kyuubi had been freed. More importantly, he observed that one of its giant paws was quickly coming down fast at them!
Without delay, he picked up his wife and flashed away to a nearby tree before they were leveled.
"As quick as a flash." Minato heard the masked man from earlier say. "You certainly live up to your name."
"M-Minato" Kushina weakly said. "He plans to attack the village."
Minato turned his head to glare at the masked man before he disappeared again.
"Come now, Kyuubi," the masked man said. "To the village!"
Completely under the control of the masked man because of his sharingan, the Kyuubi wordlessly obeyed.
"Rest now, Kushina," Minato said as he and her appeared at the cabin where their children were held. Gently, he put her down in the bed with the twins. "Stay here with Naruto and Mito."
With care that only a mother could posses, Kushina brought both of them to her as Minato opened up a closet and put on a white cloak with red flames. The encryption of Forth Hokage was written down the middle of it.
"Good luck," Kushina said.
"I'll be right back," Minato promised before he flashed away.
On top of his own head that was located on the Hokage Monument, Minato saw the Kyuubi already destroying his home. Angrier filled him as they locked eyes and the fox fired a beast ball towards him.
"I will not allow you to destroy this village!" Minato determinedly said with a three pronged kunai in his hand. After during a couple of hand signs, Minato caught the dangerous ball in a seal. The ball soon disappeared into the black markings and a huge explosion was heard and felt from a safe distance away from the village.
Suddenly, a chill went down his spine. Turning around, he sliced with his kunai at the masked man reaching for him, but the kunai harmlessly went through his head. A slight pressure at his wrist signaled that the man succeeded in grabbing him. "It's over," the masked man said as he started to suck Minato inside of him.
Reacting fast, Minato activated his signature jutsu and transported himself safely away.
"He got away," the masked man said to no one.
Stumbling to the ground at the wreck cabin from before, Minato concluded that this was no ordinary shinobi.
From across of him, the masked man materialized from thin air.
"Your fight is with me," he said as he took out a pair of chains and attached one to each wrist.
Knowing that he had to disconnect this man from the Kyuubi, Minato didn't object and stood up into a fighting stance with a three pronged kunai in hand.
Both shinobi stood perfectly still as they sized each other up. Suddenly, they charged at each other with Minato aiming his kunai at his opponent's chest.
Shocked went through Minato as he went right through the masked man again and was soon captured in his chains. Quickly, he used the flying raijin and escaped from his attacker's grasp to a nearby kunai that happened to be in the area.
Being known as a genius, Minato deduced that his opponent had to become solid to counterattack and concluded that he also didn't want a drawn out battle. So, their next round at each other would be their last with whom ever striking faster winning the match.
Minato tightened his grip on his kunai as he came up with a plan. Meanwhile, the masked man swayed back and forth from one leg to the other in anticipation.
Finally, both shinobi rushed at each other for the final time. Minato, in mind stride, flicked his wrist as he sent his kunai flying towards his opponent.
Time seemed to slow as the kunai flew harmlessly through the masked man's head and he reached for Minato. Confidence surged through the masked man as the kunai finally passed with Minato mere inches from his grasped.
Suddenly, Minato disappeared in a flash and reappeared at the kunai he threw. A blue ball of wind soon formed in his hand as he shouted, "Flying raijin level two!" Thrusting his arm forward, Minato slammed the rasengan into his opponent.
The masked man screamed out in pain as he collided hard with the ground. Rocks flew up as a result of the collision and Minato jumped backwards.
"You certainly live up to your title," the masked man said as he jumped out of the small crater he was in. Hastily, he grabbed his bleeding, useless arm.
Unbeknownst to the wounded masked man, Minato placed a seal for the flying raijin at the point of contact. A fact that he quickly took advantage of as he teleported himself in front of his opponent and placed a binding contract on him.
"With this, the Kyuubi is no longer yours!"
The masked man felt his control over the Kyuubi slip from him as he jumped back. "I underestimated you," he said as he started to disappear in a swirl originating from his eye. "The Kyuubi will be mine!"
Minato could hear the conviction in his voice as he kept his guard up.
"I will rule this world!" the masked man said as only his head remain. "There are plenty of ways to do it!" With that, the masked man fully disappeared.
Minato released a breath of relief as he sensed the masked man presence leave for good. However, his victory was short lived as he still had to deal with the Kyuubi.
In a flash, he left the area and headed towards his final battle.
Returning to the village, Minato saw the Kyuubi powering up a beast ball. Acting fast, he summoned Gamabunta above the fox.
"Just hold him for a little bit," Minato ordered the giant frog now on top of the fox.
"I'll try, but he is one heavy son of a bitch," the frog answered back.
Without warning, the fox disappeared leaving behind a confused frog.
"Minato, teleported himself and the Kyuubi away," the Third Hokage, decked out in his full battle gear, concluded as he and the remaining shinobi previously fighting the fox looked on.
Minato started to breath heavily as he held his son in one hand and used the other to hold his wife's waist. Kushina's arm was draped across his back to help her stand and she carried their daughter. Just behind them, the Kyuubi stood on the crushed remains of the cabin that the twins and Kushina were resting in.
"Now to create a barrier so he can't escape ," Minato said as he let go of Kushina and moved his son up in his arm to free up his hands. However, exhaustion hit him hard and he winced before he could make one hand sign.
"I can still do it," Kushina said while chakra chains came from her body. The chains instantly wrapped around the fox and pierced the ground all around everyone. "I'll take the fox with me to my grave and increase the interval until he reappears again."
"Kushina," Minato said, flabbergasted.
"Thank you, Minato," Kushina said with a big smile as she turned towards her beloved husband, "for everything."
Shaking his head, Minato wisely said, "The world balance of tailed beast will be disrupted if the Kyuubi were to fall today." Looking down at his son in his arm with regret, he continued, "For the sake of the village, I plan to seal half of the Kyuubi in our son."
"You can't!" Kushina shouted back. "I will not allow our son to carry such a heavy burden!"
"I am sorry," Minato said as he raced through hand seals. "Dead demon consuming seal!" he shouted as he landed on the last sign.
"Is that what I think it is!" the Third Hokage said in surprise as he came upon the scene. Coming to a halt in front of the barrier that Kushina put up, he slammed his staff into it. "Do they plan to deal with the Kyuubi by themselves?" he asked himself when his staff was met with stiff resistance.
"Now I'll use this to at least get rid of half of the fox for ever," Minato said, looking back at the Shinigami that formed behind him. "Seal!"
Instantly, a ghostly hand went through his stomach and towards the Kyuubi. Grabbing onto half of its chakra, the hand pulled it out of the fox and towards Minato's stomach. A black seal pattern appeared on his stomach as the chakra was sealed away.
"Curse you Fourth Hokage!" the Kyuubi shouted as it visibly shrunk at its lost of power.
"Save your chakra, Kushina," Minato said before Kushina could tighten her chains around the fox.
Kushina went to protect, but was cut off "I-"
"Save it for your reunion with Naruto," Minato said with a smile. "I want to seal away the rest of your chakra in him so you can help him gain control of the Kyuubi."
"Why?" Kushina questioned as she concluded that Minato was doing all of this for her. "Why sacrifice yourself so I can see our son all grows up?" She looked down at their daughter in her arms, tears in her eyes. "What about Mito? I will still never get to reunite with her." Kushina angrily looked up into the Fourth Hokage's eyes. "I would of rather you be their for both of them than allow me a few short minutes with our son!"
Minato, in response, looked up into the sky. A bittersweet ran across his face when he realized what a gorgeous night it truly was. "Call it a hunch, but I know Naruto will break the cycle of hate and bring peace to the world." He slowly moved his head to look Kushina in the eyes. "Yes, I could be there, but there are some things that only a mother can say." Minato gestured towards their son. "I am not doing all this for you, but for our son. Besides, they will not be alone." He smiled softly. "They will have each other."
Kushina looked away in disgust with her eyes closed and said, "I do not play favorites with our children."
Minato instantly lost his smile and sighed. "It's too late now, Kushina." He closed one eye in fatigue. "I can already feel my life force draining."
"In that case," Kushina said sharply. "I having nothing more to say to you."
Minato knew words were pointless when his stubborn wife became like this. So, he pointed his hand and summoned the ritual alter to perform the eight trigrams seal. Slowly, he walked up and gently put his son on it. "I am sorry, Naruto," he said as he straighten back up. "Many hardships will fall on you." Minato, for the first time in a long time, released a few tears in sorrow. "But I know you will rise above it."
Stretching his hand out to the side, Minato summoned Gerotora.
"What's going on?" The frog questioned as he looked around. "The Kyuubi?!" he shouted when he finally noticed the bijuu.
"I-I am going to give you the key," Minato said, drawing Gerotora attention to him.
The frog immediately composed himself after seeing the state the Fourth Hokage was in. Stretching and unrolling his scroll like body out, he readied himself to receive the key to the eight trigram seal.
Minato wasted no time and quickly transferred it.
"Message receive," Gerotora confirmed as he rolled his body back up.
"Please go to Jiraiya-sensei for safe keeping," Minato softly ordered.
With a nod, Gerotora puffed away.
Minato's eyelids started to feel really heavily now and he was struggling to stay alive. After bitting his finger and wiping the blood on his palm, he started to slowly do the signs for the last jutsu he needed to perform. "I know you will make me proud," he whispered as he looked one last time at his sleeping son.
"Mito," Minato said as he looked back at his daughter sleeping in Kushina's arms. "I wish things were different and I could watch you grow into a beautiful women." A few more tears found their way down his cheeks. "K-Know that I love you very dearly."
Kushina felt her face soften at each heartfelt word Minato spoke and she moved her head to look at him.
"Watch over your little brother and follow your dreams." He looked up at his wife. "Thank you, Kushina, for not only being my wife, but for making me the father of these two beautiful children."
Kushina eyes widen.
"I hope some time in the afterlife you can forgive me for today," Minato said while looking at the ground and as his hands rested on the last sign for the eight trigram seal.
Kushina wanted to say something, anything, but her mouth refused to move.
"Seal. . ."
Was the last word Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, spoke alive as the last of his chakra and the rest of the Kyuubi became sealed into Naruto. Like a rag doll, the body of Minato descended towards the ground.
With tears in her eyes, Kushina ran towards her husband's body and skillfully caught it. Gently, she placed it on the ground. Regret flooded through her for when their eye's met for the final time, she saw how hard all of this was on him.
Suddenly, she fell onto one knee and said, "I can't resist the seal for much longer." Gently, she placed her daughter down and smiled softly.
Then, Kushina spoke her final words. "Naruto. . . Mito. . . Don't be picky. . . Eat lots and grow strong. . . Make sure that you bathe every day and stay warm. . . Also. . . Don't stay up late. . . You need lots of sleep. . . And make friends. . . You don't need a lot of friends. . . Just a few. . . Ones you can really, really trust. . . I wasn't very good at it, but keep up with your studies and practice your ninjutsu hard. . . Remember that everyone has strengths and weaknesses. . . So don't get too depressed if you can't do something well. . . Respect your teachers and upperclassmen at the Academy. . ."
Kushina felt a tug at her chakra and knew she had to wrap it up. "Be true to yourselves. . . Have a dream and have the confidence to make that dream come true. . . There's so much. . . Oh, so much more that I want to pass on to you two. . . I wish I could stay with you two longer. . . I love you. . ."
No longer able to resist, Kushina's chakra left her body and flew towards Naruto to complete the seal. Also, her chakra chains faded away and the barrier surrounding the family lowered. With a crunch, the body of Kushina Uzumaki fell onto the ground and the family was suddenly reduced to two.
Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, came up to the family with a heavy heart. "Minato. . . Kushina. . ."
"What will you do now?" Enma, the monkey king, asked as a single eye opened from Hiruzen's staff.
"I'll do what must be done," Hiruzen responded as he looked at the two children that were left behind.
"I'll take my leave then," Emma said before he disappeared with a puff.
For a moment, Hiruzen stood quietly and paid his respects to the two dead Namikaze. Then, without warning, two shinobi appeared behind the Third Hokage bowing. "Take these two children to my office and summon Jiraiya," he ordered softly.
Nodding, both shinobi went to carry out their orders.
"This is going to be a long night," Hiruzen remarked.
Some time later, Hiruzen stood in his office with both kids in his arms and looking out the window at the village.
"I heard what happened," a familiar voice said.
Turning around, Hiruzen saw Jiraiya with a solemn look.
"Is that them?" Jiraiya asked.
"Yes, Jiraiya, meet, for now, Naruto and Mito Namikaze."
"What do you mean for now?"
Hiruzen ignored the question and turned back around to look at the village. "I don't know how much you know, but Naruto is now the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi."
Walking up to stand next to his sensei, Jiraiya said, "Yes, I heard a blond boy became its jinchuuriki. So, I figured it was Naruto."
"Then, you must be aware what danger the boy is now in." When Jiraiya said nothing, the Third Hokage continued. "As a jinchuuriki, Naruto will be hunted by other villages looking to gain power. On top of that, his parents were world famous ninja with a long list of enemies." Releasing a sigh that made Hiruzen seem older than he actually was, he said, "For his protection, I plan on making his heritage an S-class secret."
"What!?" Jiraiya said in disbelief. "You'll deny this child his birthright?"
Once again ignoring his student, Hiruzen continued, "Rumors were circulating before this catastrophe about Kushina being pregnant." He gazed down at the young girl in his arm. "People are already asking about what happen to Kushina's child. Unfortunately, with this girl's red hair and the fact she was found near the bodies of Minato and Kushina, people are already assuming she is their daughter."
"Naruto?" Jiraiya suddenly piped up. "Do they suspect him of also being their child?"
"No," Hiruzen said as he looked up at the village once more. "Their hate for the Kyuubi has blinded them from seeing the truth."
Jiraiya shoulder's slump and he too gazed out at the village. "You plan on separating them, don't you?"
"There is no other way," Hiruzen spoke sadly. "His safety must be top priority." He looked down at the blond boy sleeping soundly in his arm. "I will, however, make talking about him being the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi an S-class crime, punishable by death. Hopefully, this will allow the hate that surly will come to him, to not be passed on to the next generation and he can have a somewhat normal childhood."
"That is wishful thinking at its best, sensei," Jiraiya wisely said as Hiruzen looked up again.
For about a minute, neither spoke up as they were content to gaze out at the village as the darkness of the night began to fade into the light of a new day.
"Do you think Naruto will be able to handle this burden?" Jiraiya finally asked.
Hiruzen took a few moments before he responded.
"Yes," Hiruzen finally said. "I was their when they died you know." He moved his head to look at his student. "I've never seen Minato so sure about something in his life, then his believe in Naruto." Hiruzen smiled. "He even stood up against Kushina when she questioned him."
"Kami have mercy on his soul then," Jiraiya said, knowing about Kushina's temper.
Suddenly, their was knocking and a voice said, "Hokage-sama, it is time."
"Well, Jiraiya, it looks like it is time I introduce to the village Mito Namikaze-Uzumaki, daughter of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, and Naruto, an orphan with no parents and no surname."
Hiruzen, dressed in the Hokage robes and hat, moved to exit his office, but stopped and looked back when Jiraiya spoked up.
"If Minato believed in the boy, then so will I." Jiraiya went to the nearest window and pushed it open. "I'll see you around, sensei," he said as he stood up on the ledge, preparing to jump. "Oh, before I forget," Jiraiya said as he stopped all motion. "Happy un-retirement." With that, Jiraiya smiled a big cheeky smile and jumped.
"That boy will never change," Hiruzen said as he smiled and shook his head.
Straighten back up after a few moments, the Third Hokage moved towards the door of his office and opened it. Immediately, he was greeted with the bright light of the hallway.
Nodding one final time, he walked into the light and towards the next chapter of his life. Behind him, the sun had finally peaked over the village, signaling the start of a new day.
I know their was a lot of things I copied over from the Manga, but I really liked how the Kyuubi attack was done. So, I didn't want to change it. Plus, I feel like the first chapter is a more "feel the author out" kind of chapter if you know what I mean.