Demi-God of Mischief
This idea came about in a rather...odd way. See, I was watching my niece and youngest nephew the other day and my youngest nephew decided that he wanted to watch Peter Pan. I obliged him, mainly because I didn't want to deal with fresh three year old screams for the rest of the evening.
It's been a long time since I watched that movie, and it's not because I dislike Disney. No. It's because for a long time, I didn't have it; so therefore, I didn't watch it. Funny how that works, huh? Well, to move a long; I was lying on the couch while watching it along with them.
I think the very first thing that made my mind secrete the idea that this is going to be; was the scene where Peter Pan invades the Darlings' house in a quest to retrieve his shadow that Nana(the dog) caught and that Wendy later locked in a dresser drawer. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I figured this: I could probably do something with that...Yeah...What's a better way to trying to get back into FanFiction than dragging up a new kind of story? (I'm still working on my other stories, it's just going to take some time to get the feel for them again).
The second thing that made me go "Yep. Going to do it." was reading a story where Loki(from Marvel) is reformed and sets his brother-who used to be James Potter-with his son after an event at school(not giving it away, hehe) and thought to myself. Loki, mischief and the like...Well, I don't know much about Marvel comics or characters, so I'm not going to use Loki. But I will use a combination of the Daedric entities from Skyrim(which I have not played, because my laptop sucks and I don't have a console) and Puck, from Gargolyes.(Yes, I know that the Daedric are most commonly elf like beings with no gender; but this is a base slate for Naruto's looks and abilities; nothing more than that...Well, not too much more...)
Naruto, a young half-elf half-Daedric prince(demi-god) of mischief running around the streets of Konoha looking for his shadow and runs into the most exciting night of his life-the Kyuubi's assault-and decides to stick around to watch the show; popcorn included.
Now, Naruto is no stranger to Konohagakure, just not in his true form; and has met and dealt with several people from said village, primarily Jiraya-whom he pranks and rats on when he's spying on women-and Minato, who helped him find his shadow once. Because of that, Naruto owes him a favor; one that Minato forgets until he sees him watching the even from floating lawn chair.
A demi-god of mischief wouldn't normally care about humans, but this rendition of demi-god of mischief has a soft spot of babies and kids. Mainly because they're easy to prank or to get to prank others. Agreeing to help Minato deal with the Kyuubi, as payment for the debt he owes him, Naruto helps seal the Kyuubi within Minato's twins by dealing with Madara-Obito(can anyone say Wabbajack?) Unfortunately, because he helps the man in more ways than one, and because Minato dies after sealing the Kyuubi(dark in one twin, light in the other) while Kushina perishes due to an injury similar to the Kyuubi's claw, but not quite the same; the man's debt is passed down to his twin children.
Naruto, being much like Puck form Gargoyles; sticks around to watch over them until they are an age where they can be of use to him.
Naruto's shadow still finds time to leave him, sending him on goose chases through Konoha as well as other villages.
Chapter One
-o-
The smell of burning wood and roasting corpses filled the air as a lithe figure with long blonde hair, pointed ears and one glimmering purple eye accompanied by a dark glowing orange eye stared out at the destruction and chaos that someone, a long lived human by the looks of it; had managed to unleash upon the village below. With a small shrug accompanied by a disappointed sigh that left a pair of thin lips, the lithe figure that floated on the winds of death and destruction began to float silently through the air as they watched dozens of people, young and old alike running from four large, crimson paws with large, wicked black claws that separated buildings and sheared those who were either too slow to get away from them as they fell upon or swung through them, in twain.
Mismatched eyes trailed across the ground, over the ruins of the village below him and found nine, titanic crimson colored tails waving back and forth through the air; visibly searing the sky around them as tendrils of fire jumped and leaped from each tail to anything around them-like the luscious trees of the dense forest around it-setting them aflame; turning them to ash in a matter of moments. A gigantic maw of death and destruction; two rows of absurdly sharp fangs snapped open and shut as the beast barked ungodly loud barks of nothing but death wishes. Whatever beast this was; it was obviously infuriated and it's only goal seemed to be the eradication of the village it attacked.
As he floated over the battlefield, the lithe figure noticed a small group of humans running and jumping across rooftops, heading directly for the titanic beast. None of them seemed to be of any importance-not that it would matter to him, but one of them seemed to be calling out orders if the way the other men darted away from him, heading off in directions to where he pointed. Was he a leader of some sort? 'No.' The figure thought. 'Minato is the leader. Not some old, gray haired monkey.' He hadn't been away from one of his favorite playgrounds long enough for Minato to turn from a teenager into an old man wielding a large staff; had he? Human time was so finicky for him. Then again, after the first five centuries of one's life, time did seem to just...meld together.
With a non-committal shrug, the floating being paused in his actions and looked around the area once more. There was no way the humans were going to win this fight. Whatever they had done to piss this monstrous beast off, they were going to pay for it. 'I guess the only thing left to do is sit back and watch the show.' With a flick of a hand, a small, dark vortex opened up beside him. Reaching into the vortex, a slender arm retrieved a metal framed, plastic band covered lawn chair. Knocking it open with a practiced flick of his wrist, the blonde entity set it in mid-air as he hoped onto it. Reaching into the vortex once more, this time with both arms, he withdrew a large tub of popcorn and a large drink; complete with a tiny, bent, white plastic straw. Once settled with snack and drink in hand, the vortex simply ceased to be, leaving the floating figure high above the village, getting ready to enjoy the curtain call for a large village of humans. 'I can see why my cousins love fooling around with humans so much.' The being thought to himself as he popped several kernels of corn into his mouth; small fangs piercing through the soft, white flesh of the heated treat. 'They sure do know how fuck themselves over!' With a large grin of satisfaction sitting on his lips, the floating figure made to move his drink toward his lips, when a small, black metallic blur pierced through his fountain drink. The plastic cup exploded in a shower of dark liquid, spilling all over the floating being; leaving him a sticky, smelly mess.
Mismatched eyes narrowed in anger as tassels of blonde hair began to float ominously around him as the world seemed to catch up with him. Someone, somewhere; had spotted him, floating on his chair; and had decided that hurling a human weapon at him was a grand idea.
Somebody had a death wish, and unlike the gigantic beast in the distance; who would have crushed them, eaten them or burnt them to a crisp within seconds, his vengeance would not be easily slated.
Standing up, the blonde entity waved his arms and his lawn chair and popcorn vanished in a swirl of black and orange. Whirling around to where the weapon had come from, orange and purple eyes narrowed in at the sight of two humans attacking each other at speeds that nearly matched his own. 'What do you know...Space travel...Not in the same way that Mother would have thought them to achieve if they ever stopped slaughtering each other; but still, teleportation is still a form of space travel. Mixed with time travel, of course; but still, close enough...' Whomever they were, they had wrought the wrath of a god. A demi-god, but a god nonetheless...
Without another second wasted, the being slipped back into the veil that would hide him from the view of mortal men and women; and with a burst of chaotic energy; sped forth toward the two fighting humans.
-o-
Panting heavily, Minato stood still as he waited for his attacker to show himself once more. Kunai in hand, ready to defend and retaliate, his blue eyes darted back and forth, waiting for the masked man to spring forward again.
"You're fast, Hokage-Sama." The man's words whispered through from his left, forcing the Yondaime to turn his head in said direction for a brief half second before realizing the man was misleading him. Twisting his body to his right, he raised his weapons to block the strike that would have pierced through him if he hadn't figured out the ploy and blocked when he had; three metal kunai ringing in metallic cries as they impacted against one another. "You're annoyingly fast." The man stated again as he pressed his weight against the blonde Hokage beneath him.
"As are you." Minato whispered as milliseconds before vanishing into thin air; leaving the masked man to fall toward the earth. The man quickly corrected himself and willed himself intangible as the blonde man reappeared behind him and struck out with a two prong strike against both the base of his neck as well as his lower spine. "Grr!" Minato groaned angrily as his attacked speared through the image of the masked man in front of him. Quickly pulling his arms and weapons back, he whirled around and blocked a strike aimed for the base of his on neck.
"Angry that you can't hit me?" The man taunted as he pulled his weapon back and unraveled a long metal chain from inside his left sleeve. "The great Yondaime Hokage; Namikaze Minato, the Yellow Flash of Konohagakure, a god amongst men...None of your attacks are of any use. The village will fall beneath the Kyuubi no Kitsune, your wife will die as will your son and daughter and you will follow shortly." He made no noise as he willed the metal snake to life, using chakra to guide its path toward him, snaking through the air in an effort to entangle the blonde before he could counter the attack.
Flipping backwards several times in quick succession, Minato narrowly evaded the chain as he thought of a way to injure the man in front of him. "Why?" He asked, hoping that some banter would entice the man into some sort of monologue that would tie the masked man up for several few, scant seconds while he prepared his counter attack.
"Why?" The man asked slowly. "To bring about a true world peace, a peace that can never be broken. A peace where only I sit at top the world's throne and command." The masked man stopped before laughing slightly. "I see what you did there, Hokage. It was a nice try, but don't think that I would have left my guard down just so I could monologue for you."
'Damn!' Minato cursed.
A loud roar of annoyance echoed throughout the forest, causing both men to look away from each other and gaze up at the crimson death bringer known as the Kyuubi as it roared angrily before moving its head back and forth; the crazed look in its eyes that it had when the battle between the two power houses had first begun was long gone and it seemed to be taking in its surroundings for the first time since being unsealed from Kushina's naval.
"Awake are you, my pet?" The masked man asked as he locked eyes with a single large crimson orb that had finally found their battleground. It roared in anger as it took the men in and began to summon a sweltering breath of flame to spew forth at the two men. Just as the gates of gigantic pearly teeth began to pull back, a river of flame housed behind them; the beast's eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks for mere seconds before they began to reshape into the crazed expression it held minutes earlier. "Odd." The masked man told himself as he stared the beast down. "You should have been under my control for much, much longer; Kyuubi. I wonder if I'm going so-" The masked man's words were ripped away from him as a three pronged kunai barreled toward him at speeds that normal human eyes weren't able to see.
Minato hoped beyond hope that with the masked man preoccupied with trying to reign in the Kyuubi towering above them, that he would have been able to land a hit on the man. Wary of the chain that now rested on the ground as the man concentrated on the Bijuu behind him, he hurled one of his kunai at the man; aiming for his mid-section.
Unfortunately, like all of his other attacks on the man that night; he managed to evade the attack by letting the weapon speed through his body, entering where his chest should have been and leaving where the furthest most point of his back protruded from, sailing through the air behind him and embedding itself into a tree. Frowning to himself, Minato made to follow his kunai, ready to attack the man relentlessly while he did what he did to the Kyuubi no Kitsune.
As he began to flare his chakra, ready to step through time and space to where his kunai was buried, the chain that the masked man had been using sprang to life and snaked up toward him and grabbed him by the left ankle, pulling him out of his technique with the sound of a sonic boom, deafening both men and forcing the Kyuubi's head upward into the sky with a loud, pained howl.
Eyes clenched tight as the sound of the sonic boom, Minato tried to blindly kick the chain off of his ankle. He quickly stopped struggling against the chain when he realized that with every move he made to dislodge himself from it, it contracted around his leg; squeezing it painfully to the point where he thought that if he struggled against it once more, that it would rip his leg clear off of his body. Opening his blue eyes, he made a grab for another kunai in his pouch, but was interrupted by a heavy foot slamming into the middle of his back, cracking it slightly and temporarily paralyzing him on the spot.
"You have been the only person to ever meet my skill in battle, Yondaime Hokage." The masked man stated as he stood on the small of the blonde's back, looking down at him through the hole in his mask. "I commend you for it...Unfortunately for you, you're just not strong enough to defeat me." He moved his arm and the chain removed itself from around the man's leg and snaked around and underneath Minato's torso, squeezing him as it coiled around his body. Getting off of the blonde's back, the masked man nodded to himself before willing the chains to lift Minato up off the ground and forcibly twisting the man around so he could look directly at him, eye-hole to pain filled blue eyes. "Don't worry. I am, if nothing else; a merciful man." The masked man stated softly. "I'll make sure that their deaths are quick and painless." He raised an arm and from behind him, the Kyuubi looked down at them for a split second before turning back toward the village. Then, amazingly, it sat back on its hindquarters and tilted its head back toward the sky and began to slowly suck in air.
Very slowly, almost as if they were being hoisted into the air on invisible ropes made of the strongest material in the universe, the beast's monstrous tails began to lift high into the air. As they began to rise, large black and red orbs began to birth themselves into existence as they collected at an amazingly slow rate between the fanning of its nine deadly tails and slowly pushing forward until it was condensing just above the beast's mouth. "Very soon, Yondaime; everyone you ever loved or cared about will be gone. The village you cared for will be gone and the only ones left will be the ones who fled from the chaos. I will hunt them down in your image and eradicate all beings, be they human or animal; from this place...And then I will turn my sights on the other villages. One by one, they shall all fall until no one else is left alive. Then, from the ashes of this world, I will recreate the world in my image. A truly peaceful world..." The masked man whispered softly.
"...An...And what...what kind of world...would that be?" The blonde man managed as the chain squeezed him tightly.
"As I said, Namikaze Minato;" the man began, turning his gaze to the moon that hung low in the night's sky; "I shall make a truly peaceful world...Earth shall no longer be its name...But...It's name shall be Rin..."
Blue eyes widened as the words hit his ears. "...O...Obito?"
"Not quite..." The man stated, looking down at him once more. "But not quite wrong either. I was Obito...But I was also another as well. You've heard tales of my other self, Minato-Sensei...After all, my other self nearly killed the Shodaime Hokage; and would have too if not for your wife's relative."
"...Uchiha...Madara..." Minato breathed out in awe. The masked man merely nodded. "...H...How are you still alive?"
"I am alive because I did not wish to die, Minato-Sensei." The masked man stated, earning a flinch from the man bound in chain. "The shinigami tried to take my soul many times, but I fought against him and won, every single time."
"Oh no." A new voice ripped through the clearing, earning both combatants' attention. Through a twisting nether like vortex, a young, lithe being with long blonde hair and sharp tipped ears with one single glimmering purple eye and an almost smoldering orange eye, wearing dark leather clothing stepped out of the vortex and on the air jut above their field of battle. "You haven't won anything." The odd looking entity began as he walked through the air toward the masked man and the Yondaime Hokage. "All you've done is beat back my cousin's, cousin's hand. The Shinigami you've never faced; just his minions in his place."
"Who are you?!" The masked man asked hotly.
"...Naruto..." Minato gasped out painfully. "...Come back to Konoha to watch it burn?" He asked, his voice through strained as it was, somewhat humorous as he gazed at the blonde being in front of him.
"I'll admit that I did prop myself up and watch part of the show." The blonde nodded, a small; disturbing grin appearing on his face as he thought about the recent memory, ruined by a kunai impaling his drink. "But then someone managed to snipe my poor drink out of my grasp with a kunai. So I hunted him down and killed him!" The being's orange eye flared somewhat at the mentioning of killing the man who had destroyed his beverage earlier that night. "And then I find that thing;" He pointed at the Kyuubi, still gathering its power above its mouth, "and decided to come see the fireworks!" This time, the being's purple eye shone with unbridled power as he spoke. "Delicious chaos and destruction!"
"Minato-Sensei...What is this being?" The masked man asked as he stared at the floating being.
"This, Obito...Madara...Whoever you are;" Minato began, smiling painfully at the man's ire as he called him by his two names. "is Naruto. A name given to him by my darling wife when we were kids after he lost his shadow in my wife's apartment after chasing it around the village. As for what he is...We're not entirely sure. Daedric for sure, but what else...Who knows."
"Did I thank you for that?" Naruto asked seriously, his smile falling. Minato nodded.
"You thanked me for helping you, but only ever repaid Kushina for the effort..." His blue eyes shown with a sparkle of hope. "You never repaid me, Naruto." The being's back straightened as the words left the blonde man's lips and his eyes narrowed in displeasure.
"Repaid?" The masked man asked slowly as he looked down at his sensei and then to the being who had gone rather still since the mentioning of the favor needing to be repaid. "What do you mean by 'repaid', sensei?"
"I helped him track his shadow down when I was a young teen and I helped capture it. As per the laws binding the Daedric; he owes me a favor in return." Minato stated, his voice growing stronger with each syllable. "Isn't that right, Naruto?"
"...Damn you humans and your long memories!" The blonde being hissed as he floated above the ground, clenching his fists tightly into balls by his side. "...Are you going to call the favor in?" Minato nodded. The floating being let out a sigh of anger; "Let me guess? The titan?"
The masked man looked between the two and found himself confused by the word used. Titan? What did the odd being mean by tita- "I don't think so!" He snarled as he hurled Minato's body away from him and launched himself at the small floating being, who's eyes widened in shock as he flew at him with speeds unparallelled by the majority of humanity. Chains leaving Minato's body and snaking toward the floating entity. Whatever this being was, it was as good as dead!
Moments before the chains slammed into and tangled around the being's arms and legs, two small patches of rotating pitch black energy sprang to life and the chains that raced toward the being, vanished through the spinning vortexes. Eye widening behind his mask, Obito-Madara willed himself to stop, pushing his legs down to the ground and sticking steadfast. He glared harshly at the blonde being, who's eyes had narrowed to normal size and smirked at him.
"That was a nice try," the being, Naruto; commented. "However, this; is how it's done!"
Suddenly, the two vortexes were gone, replaced with nothing but the air that had originally been there before they appeared. Obito-Madara bent his knees, waiting for the counter-attack; ready to phase and shift to a different point in time to dodge and then decimate whatever the being was; this 'Daedric' boy-thing; and then return to demolishing the village and there soon after; the world. However, as he waited for the counter-attack, he realized that he had been played. Hearing noises behind him, he swiveled his head and found that the spot where Minato had been hurled to ground just seconds earlier was empty. Spinning widely, looking for the man who he had trapped earlier but to no avail. He looked toward the Kyuubi and found the blonde haired man standing on the tip of the beast's nose, his hands running through a jutsu he had seen several times before. His heart skipped a beat. And then two.
If Minato finished that jutsu then his plan would be ruined.
Turning his heels toward the blonde spec in the distance; he prepared to hurl himself through time and space; kunai at the ready to bisect the man atop the Kyuubi's nose before he could finish his jutsu.
With a mighty push of his legs, he flung himself through time, racing toward the blonde in the rapidly shrinking distance. Kunai raised and ready to separate the man in front of him, he had no time to dodge when two vortexes opened up beside him and his own chains from earlier spat out at him, wrapping around his torso and legs at speeds nigh impossible, even for space-time jutsu.
His eyes bugled painfully as his brain crashed into the front of the inside of his skull as something stopped him from flying through the air, pulling him to a stop instantly. "Sorry." A familiar voice rang out from behind him. "But I can't let you stop him. It would be a breach of my word." Suddenly, as quickly as he stopped moving, he felt himself swing through the air at an insane rate of speed; twirling him so quickly that his flesh threatened to separate from his bones. "And I am a Demi-God of my word!"
'Demi-God?!' Obitio-Madara asked himself seconds before the world stopped spinning around him and began to enlarge far too quickly for him to do a thing to try and stop it. "Damn you all of you damned beings of lust, war and destruction to the deepest part of Hel-"
THOOOWM-BUUUURRGGG!
-o-
Several men and women watched as an ungodly phenomenon took place a mere hundred yards away from the Yondaime who now stood atop the Kyuubi's massive nose. Flashes of purple and orange light so bright they looked almost dull against the black sky began to pop into and out of existence. It began slowly, with one dull pop of purple and then it quickly began to accelerate from there. A dull orange pop of light several yards above from where the first pop began and then another purple one several yards below the first and twice as far away from the second pop. Soon, it was as if they were watching a fireworks display; purple and orange lights flashing dully in the sky for nearly a twenty seconds before it suddenly stopped with a sonic boom. However, unlike the enormous explosion of sound that had rung out earlier in the night that stopped the Kyuubi in its tracks, this one had a physical wound upon the earth.
The earth from where the Yondaime Hokage had been earlier that night, before dancing up to the Kyuubi's massive maw and before settling on its nose, preparing something that would hopefully stop the Kyuubi's onslaught; suddenly exploded in a shower of earth and rock. Boulders of dirt and stone flew high into the sky and then began to fall all over the area.
Whatever had happened to cause the light show and the explosion, the men and women realized that it was not the Yondaime's doing. Something else was near their village that night...And it didn't seem too happy with the way things were going.
-o-
Minato felt his legs shake uncontrollably as the massive beast beneath him tilted its head away from the sudden explosion that ripped through the air a few scant seconds earlier in an effort to shake away the pain as it collected even more energy for whatever attack it had been preparing under Obito-Madara's command.
Command. It was odd to think that someone other than the Shodaime Hokage and his wife, Mito; could have figured out a way to control the Bijuu...But back when Madara challenged the Shodaime to a life and death battle over the future of the village decades earlier; he had proven that even the Uchiha could forcibly control the Bijuu with their Sharingan. Thankfully most of the Uchiha seemed to think differently from Madara...And Obito; who had somehow come to the conclusion that everyone in the world other than himself-and Madara-were evil beings who needed to be eradicated from the world and then to act as a god and rebuild humanity in his-their-own image.
Suddenly, as the thoughts of his old, previously thought to be deceased student joining forces with what should have been a long dead man of the Shodaime's era; the Kyuubi stopped breathing in. Still a long ways off from finishing the jutsu he had begun almost four minutes earlier, Minato turned his head while he willed his hands to continue moving. He wasn't sure as to what the Kyuubi was going to do with the gigantic ball of chakra that floated in mid air, but he knew that however it was unleashed, it would destroy everything in its path. Spying a few brave men and women coming closer to the titanic beast, he left the beast's nose and skillfully ran down the beast's body until he was barely forty feet above the ground, where he launched himself carefully toward the earth; jutsu still going strong as he met the men and women rushing toward the beast's location.
"Yondaime-Sama!" One of the men shouted as he slowed to a tired, though still careful walk. "What's going on? What's the Kyuubi doing?"
"I don't know what it's doing." Minato admitted. "What I do know is that is currently under the control of someone who's supposed to be long since dead."
"Who, Hokage-Sama?" A woman with neck length purple hair asked as she came to a halt next to the first man.
"My old pupil, Obito." The Yondaime stated painfully.
"Didn't he die during the last war?" She asked, clearly confused.
Nodding, Minato opened his mouth once more; "Crushed under a giant boulder that broke nearly every bone in his body." He confirmed. "However, somehow, along with another man who is supposed to be very much dead and long since decomposed; he survived. Now, for some reason or another; he wishes not only to destroy Konoha, but all of us."
"...I don't understand." Another man began. "I thought that Obito loved the village."
"He did." Minato agreed, moving onto the final stages of the jutsu he had been working through for nearly six minutes now. "Unfortunately, he seems to think that this world is both disgusting and evil and wishes to purge it of all human life so he can bring about a new world of true, proper peace; inhabited with those he considers to be made in his own creation."
"...He's delusional." The woman spat. Minato nodded in agreement. She made to say more, but was cut off as another woman with long, dark colored hair wearing an Anbu uniform pointed behind him.
"Hokage-Sama!" Minato snapped his head in the direction of her extended finger and saw something even more horrifying than he had when he saw the beast beginning to draw so much raw, unstable energy while he was wrapped in his student's chakra enhanced chains.
Towering above them, the Kyuubi removed its front two paws from the face of the world and brought them up above its head and formed a tiny cradle underneath the massive orb of energy that swirled above its head. With very little effort, the monstrous ball of energy began to waver, sending sheets of pure, white hot fear down everyone's spine as they watched the ball prepare to explode...
DOOO-UUUMM!
Suddenly, with a sound that would have shattered glass for miles to come, if there had been any glass to begin with, the massive orb decreased in volume. As soon as the orb shrunk, everyone heard a faint whistle on the wind.
DOOO-UUUMM!
Who knows how many pairs of eyes sat upon the gigantic ball of chakra as it shrunk yet again above the fearsome beasts head.
Again, much like after the first time the ball shrank, the whistling increased in both pitch and intensity.
A pair of blue eyes widened to their fullest as the realization of what the beast was doing as they watched the orb become smaller and smaller and the beasts might maw opening ever more slightly with each decrease in size.
"Shit!" Minato swore loudly, breaking the gathered the attention of the group of shinobi that had gathered around him. "It's going to eat it." He stated softly, though loud enough for the group of men and women to hear him. "It's going to eat it...After that, I'm not sure of what it'll do, but I can only imagine that it'll be somethin-"
"It will devour its own energy and then fire it from its maw directly at the village." A new, aged voice broke into the conversation. Swiveling on the balls of his feet, Minato; and his gathered companions, turned toward the voice.
"...Danzou..." Minato greeted. The aged War Hawk acknowledged him very briefly as he hobbled closer toward the beast.
"I've seen this only once before, Namikaze." The aged man stated, his tone unfriendly but level. "Those who have survived it tell of a massive amount of energy that once condensed into a small enough orb will be devoured by the Bijuu. Once done, the Bijuu will level its jaws at its target on the closest level and will then expel every ounce energy it summoned during in the orb for one final attack." The air shuddered violently once more as the orb decreased in volume once more.
From behind its head, the nine crimson tails slowly curled up and over the Kyuubi's head and with their tips facing the ball of super dense chakra; seemingly began to push the orb down into the beast's jowls.
"We haven't much time then." Minato stated, turning back to those gathered around him. "Thankfully I'm almost done with this jutsu." he nodded toward his hands. Those gathered eyed his hands oddly as his fingers dodged in and out of the way with each other as they wove their trap. "Danzou...How many times can a Bijuu fire off such an attack? And how long between each shot?"
"As far as I know, Namikaze; it can only fire off one shot." The aged man stated. "However, as the Bijuu tires, the time between forming the attack decreases." His slitted eyes seemed to vanish as he furrowed his eye brows at the younger man. "Whatever you're doing Minato, it had better work."
"It'll work." Minato stated boldly. "It withstood six of Gamabunta's most powerful Suiton attacks in rapid succession."
"Gamabunta, while insanely powerful compared to us humans; is no match against the Kyuubi; Minato." The War Hawk stated. "And I'm sure that whatever your jutsu does, it won't work nearly as well with amount of energy that the Kyuubi's attack has."
"I'll make it work." Minato declared softly, his eyes narrowing. "I'll make it work...And then, then I'll deal with the Kyuubi."
"And if the attack renders you incapacitated?" The purple haired woman asked.
"As long as I'm not dead, then all I need is for someone to help me get to where I need to be to stop the Kyuubi once and for all!"
"Namikaze." The blue eyed man turned to look back at the War Hawk. "You've never agreed with my point of view." He stated. "And I've never thought too much of you." Minato frowned, as did the others around him. "However, on this night; you've proven to me that you do have the village's best intents in mind." He nodded his head toward the young man. "No matter what happens to you, I'll do my best to make sure that the village survives."
"..." Minato took a step toward the beast behind him as it began to shut its mouth around the ball of super condensed chakra. "What's your aim, Danzou?" He asked finally.
"My 'aim' is to ensure that this village doesn't die tonight...Or any other night, Yondaime." The elderly man grunted. "For tonight and tonight only, I give my troops to you for as long as it the good of the village."
"..." Minato stared at him silently for several long seconds before finally nodding. "I appreciate it." He then turned to the purple haired woman, "Tell him what I told you all." He snapped his eyes toward the other woman and the other men surrounding him. "I've used a lot of energy tonight. I'll need help getting in position to negate whatever this beast is planning." The purple haired woman glanced at Danzou for several milliseconds before nodding and walking toward him, while the others nodded and stepped forward to help their Hokage. "...If I survive this night, Danzou...I'll be sure to repay your...kindness."
"If the village survives this night, Namikaze; then consider the debt repaid." Danzou grunted before turning away with the purple haired woman.
As the woman began to inform Danzou about his fight with his pupil and the other man who seemed to share his body; Minato turned away to face the Kyuubi as it began to slowly level itself toward the village; it's stomach large and full of chaotic energy. "Let's go!" He commanded. "Help me get in front of it's attack! Once we're there, break away and run as far away as you can before it fires!"
"Yes, Hokage-Sama!" The group of shinobi barked as two of the men grabbed the back of his vest, turning him around and running as fast as they could toward the monster in the distance; with the other two shinobi following close behind them.
-o-
"I don't know what your issue is, but it's really boring." Naruto began as he watched the man...men...thing crawl out of yet another pit created by his body colliding with the earth. "I mean, I keep pulling your out of the pocket you seem to like to create around your body when you move; punching you in the stomach or kicking you in the groin-by the way, if you still have testicles after this; I'd be amazed-or slam you head first into the earth below and you just keep getting back up. Granted, it takes you longer and longer to do so; but one should be able to realize that they aren't a threat to the person their fighting when they keep getting their ass tossed around without their opponent getting seroius."
"...M...My ambition...Is e...e...enough...to keep me going...Demon..." The masked man stated through his all but shattered mask as he tried to pull himself back on to his feet.
"Hey, hey now." Naruto chided as he floated in mid air, waving a finger back and forth at the man. "My cousin's a demon and she's absolutely adorable. Not to mention peaceful too."
"There's no such...thing...as a peaceful...demon..." Obito-Madara growled.
"Actually, there is...Just as not all angels are good." Naruto began. "Some of them are far more evil than you could imagine."
"...I'll believe it when I see it."
"If that's the way you want to be..." Naruto shrugged. "Anyway, I guess I'm going to have to kill you now. Debts to pay off and the like, you know." The blonde waved his hand and with a bit of distortion that rippled through the air, a short, wooden staff appeared. "Introducing, the Wabbajack!" The blonde announced as the black staff grabbed it out of the air and leveling it at the masked man in front of him. "Originally I thought about just transforming you into and insect and then squashing you like the insane insect you seem to act like-one track mind and all that; but I've since decided that maybe, just maybe; it'd be funnier to just turn you into a wheel of cheese."
"...A wheel of cheese?" Obito-Madara asked stoically.
Nodding, Naruto smirked and continued; "Yes...Cheese..." He trailed off for a moment and then let out a snort of laughter. "The last time I turned someone into a wheel of cheese, she was eaten by her sister! Sliced to pieces and then set upon a sandwich between pork slices and then devoured!" Both eyes glowed brightly as the being recalled the event he evidently found as both hilarious as well as something worth cherishing. "But, then again; I don't actually have control over the staff or its powers. Only a fully fledged god can do that." Naruto continued. "So you may just turn into a rabbit...Or, even a demonic warrior with only one thought on its mind: Murdering; and then turning back into a normal human only to have someone pierce your ugly face with an axe, splitting it down the middle; letting your brains spill out all over the place!"
"You're demented." Obito-Madara remarked. Naruto's smile only grew with the complement.
"Indeed..." He purred. "Now, let's see what you'll become, shall we?" Without warning, a dark crimson colored orb of energy spewed forth from the staff and sped toward the masked man across from him. The spell collided with Obito-Madara's chest and immediately got to work, transforming him into something different than what he had been before.
"GAAAH!" Obito-Madara screamed shrilly as pain wracked his-their-body seconds after the spell collided with their chest. He-they-could feel their bones twisting horribly, changing shape and size, pulling away from portions of their body and expanding in areas that shouldn't been expanded, breaking portions of their body into fragmented pieces before a great feeling of nothingness grasped them.
Naruto watched in glee as the shroud that formed around the man's body began to collaspe in on itself. "Please let it be cheese!" He whispered to no one as he watched the transformation come to an end. "Oh, poopy." He whined as he took in the new being in front of him. "Dremora, eh?"
The being in front of him was tall and had dark skin, with face painted blood red and wore spiky metal armor that glinted in the moonlight. It stood there for several moments, looking at the area that surrounded him before removing the giant hammer from his back after setting its eyes on him. "I will eat your heart!" The demonic warrior declared loudly as it dashed across the expanse, hammer raised high in the air; ready to crush Naruto's skull, sending brain matter all over the clearing. However, as the demonic warrior neared the blonde's location, the blonde merely floated upward until he was far out of the warrior's reach. "You pansy!" He snarled. "Come down here and fight me like a true Dremora!"
"Why in the world would I want to fight you? You're even weaker than the man I transformed you from." Naruto stated. "Also, don't you know who you're talking to? I mean, I know I wasn't liked very well for being a halfling's halfling, but I'm still part of the royal family, you dumbass!"
"The Halfling Prince?" The demon asked slowly, letting the name roll of his tongue. Suddenly, its dark eyes grew in realization. The expression didn't last for too long as the warriors mouth twisted with dark glee. "A reward of immortality has been placed upon your head, Halfling Prince!" The beast shouted upward. "And I fully intend on collecting such a grandiose prize!"
"A price? On my head?" Naruto asked, puzzled. "Bah, must be Brother. He always hated having me for a half-brother. After all, I'm not only girlier looking than he is, but no one ever confuses me for being twisted like he is!" A smile bloomed on his face. "Still, I guess its the thought that counts." A hand movement caught the warrior's eye for a split second before a bow made of pale purple energy appeared in the boy's hands. Soon thereafter, an arrow made of the same energy notched itself to the purple band that was the string. "Please, I'm trying to pay off a debt here. Be gone with you!"
With the sound of thunder rolling across the skies, the arrow launched forth from the bow and slipped through the air and imbedded itself in the Dremora's chest, piercing its heart and felling it instantly. Smiling as the beastly man fell to the ground, dead as a doorknob; Naruto waited for the body of the Dremora to dissolve and the body of Obito-Madara switch places.
After three minutes of waiting, and the Dremora's body dissovled into that of a lame fawn; most likely having been caught by something during the fight against the monolith of a beast that Minato had sped off to deal with. Naruto cursed and let loose an invisible wave of energy that spread throughout the area. The sneaky man had somehow managed to switch places with the infant deer and pulled a fast one over on him.
Purple eye and orange eye smoldered as the thought of a mortal pulling a fast one on him seeped into his mind.
He would find this human who had lived far beyond the point where his life...lives...should have ended. And when he did, he would annihilate their bodies from existence!
-o-
Uzumaki Kushina, wife of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage; stared in disbelief as the corpse of the stern, but yet wonderfully kind Sarutobi Biwako lay at the entrance to the cave that she had been brought to to birth her two children; far away from the rest of humanity in case certain problems had arose during their birth. Unfortunately, no one; not even her husband nor his predecessor had seen the masked man with the Sharingan eye wreaking havoc on them. Nor had anyone foreseen the man unsealing and pulling the titanic being from her naval.
She could hear the screams of terror and of the dying in the distance; the explosions of battling a giant monster like the Kyuubi no Kitsune; and she had seen her husband peel off after the masked man who had killed Biwako; killed her guards and had threatened to kill her son, Kurama; who was named not after the beast that had been sealed within her; but rather, her grandfather, the first man who had ever held her after her own father. A man with a wonderfully delicate name who painted the battlefield that had been her home land with the blood of her clan's enemies as he bought her time to escape to Konohagakure with a few other survivors. Now, with two infants hanging off of her hips; collected as close to her as she could possible hold them as she staggered toward the mouth of the cave, the sight of the devastation floored her.
Trees were burning, the air hung heavy with the smell of death and rot; and the screams that had filled the air had begun to fade to pitiful moans of help; a few of them just ceasing to exist entirely. She gulped fearfully. She was not fit to fight. She wasn't fit to help anyone; but deep down inside, she knew she had to do something.
Slowly tearing her eyes away from the devastation in front of her, she eyed her babies. Even as uncomfortable as they were, being held in a single arm, pressed as gently as she could but as tightly as she could for their safety; she smiled down at them.
Kurama, named after her grandfather; already a victim of a failed assassination attempt by a masked murderer; twisted as best as he could in order to keep warm. Turning her head to her right, she gazed down fondly at her other baby, Midori; who had inherited her name from the simple fact that she liked the color green. Maybe not so much as a child, but as she grew; most of her clothes had changed from bright colors such as reds and oranges; to colors like blues and greens. And since the name 'Aoi' was already given to a weird boy in the village who looked more like a weasel than Mikoto's oldest son, Itachi; she didn't want to stick her daughter with such a creepy namesake. Her smile grew as her daughter merely scrunched her eyes tighter before smacking her lips softly.
Either way, they were her's. Her's and Minato's. And she would do anything for them.
"First," she began softly as she looked down at her children; "we find a safe spot for you two...Then, I'll go and find Tou-Chan..."
-o-
"ind Tou-Chan..."
She wasn't aware of her predicament. Perfect. It would make both her and her two children's slaughter that much more gratifying.
Obito-Madara took in the red head's tired visage and quelled the angry growl that had tried to escape it as he gazed at her. A full grown, loving mother; even if she hadn't been a mother for more than an hour yet, who gazed fondly and lovingly down at her newborn who rested in her arms. Oh how he longed for something similar.
A full grown woman with medium length brown hair and pink triangles decorating her cheeks; looking down a happy, healthy bundle of joy. It wouldn't have mattered what gender the infant was; as long as it was healthy and happy. To be with them for the rest of eternity...It was all he had truly wanted. But alas, it wasn't to be...And it was all because of Konohagakure and the rest of the shinobi world. Everyone was to blame...And everyone, no matter how old or how young; would pay the price.
Slipping a kunai out from beneath the tresses of his battered, damaged cloak; Obito-Madara stepped silently toward her, ready to jam the metal instrument of death down through her neck, piercing her spine, killing her instantly. Then, just as he promised himself; he would move on to the two infants on her hips.
As he raised his weapon high, he calculated her next action. She would either step forward, not realizing that something was wrong. She would either realize something was wrong and move from her current location; forcing him to move with her. Or, she would stand still. Either way, he planned for one strike.
As she began to take a breath of air, Obito-Madara struck. With the speed of a viper, striking out at a predator or at prey, he brought the weapon down upon her neck...
Ba – THWOOM!
"GAACK!"
-o-
Ba – THWOOM!
"GAACK!"
The sound of something tearing through the air, and then slamming directly into the ground scared the living hell out of the exhausted Kushina as well as her two newborns at her hips. Whirling around to where the noise had come from, the disheveled redhead found a very familiar blonde, floating in the air above a very familiar masked man; who lay painfully in a large crater.
"N...Naruto?!" She shouted over the wails of her twins. The floating blonde with pointed ears ignored her as he stared down at the man in the ground.
"You thought that YOU could pull a fast one over on ME?!" The angry, lithe blonde shouted at the man, who groaned painfully as he tried to correct himself. "NO ONE MAKES A FOOL OF THE DEMI-GOD OF MISCHIEF! NO ONE!" Thunder crackled through the sky as the clouds shook in fear of the angry Demi-God as he shouted at the incredibly durable mortal beneath him. Raising a staff high into air, a large, swirling cloud of red energy was birthed into existence. "You will die a fools death!" The blonde spat as he pumped more of his energy into the growing ball of red death atop the staff. "AND THEN I WILL VISIT YOU IN THE REALM OF DEATH AND RE-KILL YOU OVER AND OVER AGAIN FOR YOUR SLIGHT!"
Kushina, from her location couldn't see the masked man's face as the mask finally broke and slid down his face. But what she could see was the man worming his way backward from the angry deity who she had given a human name the first time she aided him in finding his shadow. She knew the blonde boy with pointed ears to be powerful, but she had never seen him this angry before.
"The skies will rain fire upon you, you worthless piece of shit!" The pint sized deity growled as the orb of fire shot off from the top of his staff and flew high into air and unimaginable speeds.
The man, during the display of power and rage that the young deity had shown to those in the vicinity; managed to get to his feet. Dark hair fell messily down over two distinctly red and black eyes and a familiar expression of helplessness poured over his face; one that hit Kushina like a ton of bricks.
"O...Obito..."
-o-
Snapping his eyes toward the redhead in the distance, Obito-Madara formulated a plan. He couldn't avoid the angry spirit that seemed to be able to tug him out of the dimension he had claimed as his own; and the very thought pissed him off. It was the perfect technique for killing people of all ages, young or old, weak or powerful. It was perfect. And it was perfect because he was the only one to be able to control it as he did.
No one was supposed to be able to find him there.
...But the spirit that his sensei and his wife knew managed to do it time and time again. Not only that...He felt helpless against him.
Looking up at the ball of red death and would surely strike him down, he steeled himself. If he couldn't destroy the world and recreate it in his own image; then he would make sure that the people who could have saved the love of his life feel the same way he did.
Forcing himself, despite how tired he felt, he opened his slip space stream and summoned a kunai into his hand. Ignoring the angry spirit in front of him, he closed his eyes and lunged through the stream, kunai aiming directly at Kushina's torso.
There was a scream of pain and two loud, though short wails of confused fear as he exited his technique.
Something splattered against his head. It was warm and smelled faintly of copper. He allowed himself to smile. As beaten as he was, as damaged as his plan was; he had managed to finally get something he had planned on doing this night of all nights done. He opened his eyes painfully and glanced up, smiling maniacally up at the redheaded woman who, at one point in time; helped him prank people. Who had helped him work on his jutsu and allowed him to crash at her apartment when his family had all but disowned him. Her faint, purple eyes nothing but tiny pin pricks in the darkness of the night stared down into his next to lifeless eyes with nothing but pain, confusion, betrayal and fear behind them.
Vengeance was sweet.
Something wet and warm, though cooled rapidly rolled down his left cheek. Then, shortly after; his right cheek.
He absently rolled his tongue out of his mouth and licked a stray trail as it rolled past his nose and over his lips. 'Tears?' He asked himself. Where they Kushina's, or were they his?
His answer didn't come to him as the redhead fell away, falling backwards onto his back; her arms moving in an instinctive motion that would hopefully allow her newborns to land relatively uninjured.
His eyes widened.
Kushina was as good as dead, her body tired from both birthing twins as well as having the Kyuubi ripped forcibly from her. It had left her body weak. It was a good thing...
...The infants, however; they too needed to die. To teach his old sensei-to teach everyone-to feel the same way he felt. They needed to die.
Standing up slowly, painfully; Obito-Madara took a step took a shaky step toward the downed woman. Her chest still rose and it still fell. Remarkable was the Uzumaki bloodline. Able to shrug off wounds that would normally kill someone instantly. Simply remarkable. His crazed red eyes locked with her purple eyes for a split second.
"...W...Why?" She asked up to him.
"...Because...You took Rin away from me..." He answered slowly. "You...Kakashi...Iwa...Minato-Sensei...You all did."
"R-Rin?" Kushina asked haltingly. "...All of this...for Rin?" Obito-Madara nodded. He broke eye contact and looked down at the two infants at her sides, their wails and protests for protection and warmth falling upon dying ears. Slowly, from the tresses of his sleeves; two kunai slowly began to point down toward their small bodies. Purple eyes, full of pain and exhaustion; grew wide as they spotted the weapons. "O-Obito..." She gasped.
"I was supposed to be with Rin..." He began slowly. "I was supposed to be with her...Until the day we died!" He spat loudly. A red light began to shine down upon him. He ignored it. "I was supposed to be with her until the day we died!" He spat again, anger and anguish filling his voice as he snarled. "But Kakashi killed her! She loved him, not me! And he killed her! His hand through her chest, destroying her heart instantly with that damned move of his!" His voice grew in volume as he shouted.
The red light grew brighter and brighter as he vented, and though he continued to ignore it; Kushina didn't. She spared a glance from the insane young man in front of her; ignoring the pain that was the kunai in her stomach and found the enormous ball of fire that Naruto had fired into the sky moments earlier was indeed falling upon Obito. She quickly turned her blurring gaze to the man in front of her. There was only one thing to do.
There was only one thing she could do.
"No one loves me, Kushina!" Obito-Madara spat. "NO ONE!"
"...We...We always loved you, Obito-Kun..." The redhead began softly, earning a look from the young man. "I loved you...Minato-Kun loved you...Rin did and, in his own special way; even Kakashi loved you." She shook her head sympathetically. "If we had known you were alive, then we would have come to you. But we didn't know that you were alive."
"...If you all loved me so much, then why haven't you killed Kakashi for killing Rin?!" Obito-Madara snarled.
"...Because...Rin asked him to kill her." Obito-Madara's eyes shrank to pin pricks. "She had been turned into a unwilling Jinchuuriki, Obito-Kun...Captured by an enemy and turned into a Jinchuuriki who's seal was so malformed and disgusting; it was set to destroy both Rin as well as Konoha as soon as she walked through the gates." Tears fell from her eyes as she recanted. "She didn't want to become a weapon to destroy everything she loved...Everything she fought to protect. So...She asked Kakashi to kill her to stop it from happening."
"..." Obito-Madara looked downward, staring at the redhead's midsection, eyes large and quivering for several seconds. Suddenly, with a shake of his head; he gripped the kunai and snapped his head up and his eyes borrowed into hers. "LIES!" He snarled as he brought the two metal weapons down on the two infants. "ALL OF IT! LI-URK?!"
-o-
It happened in a moment. All of it. Time had seemed to slow down. It must have. There was no way that the spell should have stayed afloat as long as it had before coming back down toward its target. But yet, some how; it had. Purple and orange eyes bore into the scene of the crazed man he had been fighting all night so far and took in the image of him killing the wife of the man to whom he owed a debt to. The woman who had, after long last; given him a name that wasn't Halfling Prince or something thereof.
He watched, arm still stretched over head to make sure that it didn't veer off and strike a different target; like one of the two potential clients wrapped in their tiny blankets at the woman's side; unable to do anything but guide the spell down toward the man who knelt atop of the redhead woman, knives ready to cut into the two infants at her side just to spite her and her husband.
He growled. Whatever they were talking about was taking too long. He knew the redhead, though dying; was still alive enough to move. The man was nearly dead. A walking, talking husk; running off of vengeance and hatred.
All she had to do was move back by about three yards before the spell hit, and she'd be fine...As would her kids.
Glancing up at the spell, he noticed that it had, once again begun to slow down. He frowned. He wasn't doing that. He couldn't do that. There was something else going on here. Something that he wasn't supposed to know about.
As he glanced at the spell, the man snapped. His mismatched eyes locked on to him in an instant and he prepared to hurl the spell off into the forest that surrounded them and slip through time and space to save the two infants; two future clients-hopefully-and be rid of the foul, breathing, living human husk.
Just as he went to hurl the spell into the distance, to step over to the man and deal with him, a single, bright blue chain made of energy sprouted forth from behind the woman's body and speared through the man's midsection like a hot knife through butter.
The chain carried him yards away from the woman and her infant children, and with a flick of the staff in his hand, Naruto redirected the spell of red death toward its target...
-o-
Minato continued making seals as his comrades pulled him toward where the Kyuubi was preparing to unleash its most destructive attack upon the village. He had to admit, even though they weren't capable of utilizing space-time jutsu like he and Obito-Madara had been able to; they were fast enough to help him get to the area where the blast was more than likely going to be unleashed at.
"Good!" He shouted. "Now, turn me around and then scatter!"
"As you wish, Yondaime-Sama!" The two men shouted as they turned the injured, exhausted, man around before splitting up into several different directions along with the rest of the small group that had accompanied them.
As he faced the titanic beast, who's stomach had bulged from all of the energy that it had consumed to create the attack about to be unleashed upon the village; Minato couldn't help but gulp slightly. It was all or nothing. He had to halt this attack...Or everything would be gone. His friends...His shinobi...His mentors...His neighbors. His friendly rivals. His house...
...His wife...His newborn children he had only seen for a split second before everything had gone to hell in a hand basket.
They would all be gone.
His eyes snapped open and steeled themselves as the beast opened its mouth and brought its right front paw toward its stomach. He had to stop it.
He had to stop it.
The Kyuubi slammed its right paw into its stomach and for a split second, nothing happened.
He had to stop it.
Then, starting as a small, black and red light at the back of its massive throat; something raced forth.
He had to stop it.
A massive stream of raw, chaotic energy breached the beast's front teeth and began racing in a funnel shape straight toward him and the village behind him.
He would stop it, even if it was the last thing he ever did!
As the stream began to expand as it raced forward, Minato finally pulled his hands apart from each other and held them out beside his head; "Gate of Nothingness!*"
From both of his hands, a large gate shimmered into existence. It was titanic, nearly as large as the Kyuubi was; and had a magnificent gold brick door that seemed to buckle inward upon itself.
-o-
There was no sound as the golden door that buckled inward to the massive gate that appeared as a flat disk in the sky. There was no sound as the Kyuubi's most powerful attack was absorbed by the gate.
For nearly three minutes straight, the gate stood, and for nearly two minutes and fifty seconds; the Kyuubi's attack lasted.
There was no sound when the gold bricks that had been absorbed by the gate suddenly reappeared and quickly locked together in front of the gate that had been summoned by a man without any other options.
...And just as it came into being, as silent as the night that crept upon the earth; the gate slipped into nothingness, there to stay until summoned once more.
-o-
Kushina watched as Obito's face contorted with pain as her chakra chain speared through his chest and forced him away from her children and herself; only to watch as the spell of red death that Naruto had conjured earlier; slammed into the man, setting him aflame.
She wanted to turn away from the horrific scene, the scene of watching someone she once knew and considered as a friend; burnt to a crisp by a spell so powerful, that it made justu of the same element look like mere matches by comparison.
She tore her dull, close to lifeless purple eyes away from the man she once considered to be a cute, energetic boy who'd do anything for a friend; burnt to a crisp under the power of a Demi-God; and eyed her children for a second before turning to the floating blonde entity in the distance.
"Naruto..." She called out quietly, her strength fueled by adrenaline leaving her. The deity turned to look at her. "I...I have a request for you...If you would like one."
Despite his eyes shining in the dark, ever enticed by the thought of someone making a deal with him; he scoffed at her. "You're dying." He pointed out quietly, but floated over to her nonetheless. "What good is cashing in on a dead debtor?"
"...I...I gave you a name...Didn't I?" She asked softly, smiling up at him.
"And I repaid that debt...As well as the one I owed you for helping me find my shadow." He pointed out. "I can't do favors for free, Kushina." He continued softly.
"I know...I know." She stated, waving it off with a small smile. "Still...I'd like to make a request."
"...I'll see what I can do."
-o-
"Way to go, Hokage-Sama!" Someone cheered as the Kyuubi's attack vanished from the face of the earth through the gate their leader had summoned.
"We're...not...out of the woods...yet..." The tired blonde panted before falling to one knee, causing several of the men surrounding him to take several steps toward him; some of them offering chakra pills to him. Minato accepted one of the pills and popped it quickly into his mouth.
It wasn't much, but it would give him just enough chakra to defend his village and defeat the Kyuubi no Kitsune.
"Minato." An old, gravely voice broke through the crowd. Minato turned to the speaker.
"Sandaime-Sama." He greeted back. "...Look...You and I both know that there's only one way to stop the Kyuubi."
Hiruzen nodded. He made a Kage Bunshin and had it scoop the younger man up in its arms. "Your wife should still be at the cave."
"...Sandaime-Sama..." Minato began, only to be cut off by the older man.
"Don't worry about it, Minato." The older man stated softly. "I knew about it the moment it happened. It was Biwako who told me about the severity of the problems in the forest." He trailed off for a split second before continuing. "...Also, Danzou told me about her passing."
"...I have...a friend who should have dealt with him." Hiruzen nodded at him before given a stern nod to the clone carrying the younger man.
"You know where to take him." The Sandaime ordered the clone, who nodded and instantly turn on its heels and ran off with the younger man in his arms. "Listen up everyone!" The elderly man commanded. "The Kyuubi is not an idle threat! No matter how much energy it used in that failed attack; it can still destroy the village with little problems! We need to redirect its attention and buy our Yondaime-Hokag the time he needs to deal with it permanently!"
From behind him, cheers sprouted as the elderly man summoned a familiar pole nearly as thick as he was and charged the Kyuubi head on.
"Come on, you stupid beast!" He shouted as the pole increased in length as he hoisted it up past his right shoulder in a batter's swing as he charged forward. "Follow the bouncing monkey!"
The Kyuubi, it's eyes finally free of whatever hold had held on to it for so long that night; saw a tiny human with gray fur racing toward it, insulting it and then found a giant, exceedingly hard pole as is struck its right eye with all of the monkey's strength.
"GU-RROOOAARR!"
-o-
As Minato-carried by the Sandaime's clone-closed in on the area where he was forced to leave his wife and children; he found a smoldering corpse lying on the ground and his wife sitting painfully with two bundles of cloth on her arms as she teetered very slowly on the ground, humming softly to the two lumps of cloth.
Setting his charge down, the clone of Hiruzen made its way up toward the cave and quickly found the body of his original's wife. He stared at her body for several moments before kneeling beside her and lifting her head up into his lap. There was no use for a clone to cry, there was no reason for them to cry...but despite that, the clone cried for the death of his original's wife.
As the clone cried silently for the passing of his original's wife, Minato slowly made his way over to his wife. Her eyes were closed and there was a large red wound that pooled around a kunai that had been lodged in her stomach. He sniffled.
It must have been loud enough for her to hear him, because she stirred.
"...Mina-Kun..." She purred softly as she gazed up at him, her eyes small and unfocused as she greeted him. He smiled down at her and knelt in front of her and captured her into a strong, warm embrace.
"Kushina..." He breathed into ear as he held her. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."
"It's...It's okay." She spoke softly. "The babies are safe..."
"For now." Minato stated, his tone darkening. "The Kyuubi's not gone, yet, Kushina." He informed her. "...And as much as it pains me to say it...But we're going to have to-"
"Seal it." The redhead whispered softly up to him. "I realized as soon as Obito-Kun unsealed it from me that we'd have to seal it away again."
"Obito...Kun?" Minato asked. Kushina nodded to the smoldering pile of bones behind him.
"He was very angry..." She explained. "Very angry...and very sad..." She smiled softly. "He blamed us for everything, you know?" Minato nodded. "...I'd already be dead if it weren't for Naruto. He was the one who saved me...Twice."
"At my behest." Minato stated. "I'm guessing that Naruto's long gone then, huh?"
Kushina chuckled weakly; "No..." She whispered. "I made a deal with him...To stay and help us until the Kyuubi is re-sealed."
"And how can he do that?" Minato asked. Naruto wasn't one to sacrifice his own life for anything.
"By getting you two and your kids closer to the giant Cabbit over there." A familiar voice spoke up from beside them. Minato snapped his eyes toward the deity.
"What did you trade him for this, Kushina?" Kushina knew the blonde Demi-God better than he did, if only because he wouldn't leave her alone after she had given him a human name for nearly a month. She knew exactly how nasty and how petty the young deity could be.
"...She doesn't owe me a thing, Minato." Naruto answered for the redhead. "That masked ass-hat tried to cut in on my future business and paid the price." He left out the part that the man had wounded his pride, as did Kushina. "So, this is my debt to you; I will get you closer to the Kyuubi in order for you to do what ever it is that you need to do to stop it."
"That's it?" Minato asked.
"...Well..." The deity began as he hovered over to the two infants. Minato curled his lips and fingered for a kunai. "That, and helping the twins here in their first big prank...Or three..."
"...You truly are the God of Mischief, aren't you?" Minato asked; hand still held over his kunai pouch.
"Of course..." The blonde smiled up at him. "Now, there's also the price of your wife's survival to add in." He began, his tone becoming as hard as steel. "She'd be dead by now if I hadn't pleaded with my cousin's cousin to leave her be when he came to pick up the ass-hat over there." He motioned toward Obito-Madara's burning corpse. "She made a pact with me-a deal-that will be passed down to your kids." Minato's eyes narrowed as well as darkened. "When I come to call, they will both help me with something; and they will have no choice but to help me. If they don't-and I'll explain everything to them then-then they are mine to do with as I please. If they do help me when I come to call; then I will leave them alone for the rest of their lives. Understand?"
"...A benevolent spirit you're not." The voice of the Sandaime's Kage Bunshin entered the conversation. The blonde boy looked up to it. "But still...You avenged my wife by killing that bastard...I suppose, in a way; my original owes you a favor as well."
Purple and orange eyes flared with glee momentarily before reverting to their usual state.
"I will come to collect when I want, then." The blonde stated. "Now, before the rest of the village goes up in flames, I'd suggest that we hurry!" He didn't wait for an answer or response before grabbing both Kushina and Minato and carefully floating them toward the Kyuubi in the distance; leaving the Sandaime's clone on the ground, watching them as they sped off through the air before dispelling itself.
End Chapter
All right. Well, I feel as if I started out strong with this chapter; but I feel as if I ended both kind of quickly as well as oddly. Oh well, I don't think that even with a fresh night's worth of sleep I'd be able to do much about it.
This is a new story, duh. I'm writing it to get back into the grove. Don't like the idea, well too bad.
Gate of Nothingness: A card from Magic: The Gathering that I have and felt that rather than just another "Oh, help us powerful stranger! Help hold the monster off while I finish the jutsu to save the village!" I figured that I'd do what I did above. I tried to find a Japanese-Romaji translation, but I couldn't.
Names of Minato and Kushina's kids: Kurama because I like it...and honestly; I was tired and wanted to get this up before I both forgot about it and about what I was doing too. Midori: Because Naruko is a cop out to me and I like the color green. I like Orange and purple as well as black; but yeah...I like green. Hey, at least it's not like my sister, she was named after a dog.
Obito-Madara(And am I glad I'm done with that one): I never liked Madara and I don't like Obito now that he's a vengeance hound just like Sasuke. So, I killed them both off. Honestly, he was going to be underpowered compared to some of the beings I was planning on bringing into the story later on, so yeah...he's dead. I do hope I did him some semblance of justice before offing him though. I haven't read the manga in years so I just gleaned some info off of some people who I talk to at places I frequent and kind of went with it.
Skyrim in Naruto: Not a lot of it other than what I've already shown you. The dragons aren't going pop up and neither will the Nords or anything like that. Undead, sure; but I may stylize them after the Forsaken from WoW rather than Skyrim. Why? Because I can(and do) play WoW and I can't play Skyrim.
Where are the other stories?: I'm working on them. Give me a shot. I just got OpenOffice about two weeks ago and have been getting used to it. Geez. Also, please forgive grammar and spelling errors, I'm not used to OpenOffice yet, so...
Where have you been?: Well, my old laptop is just that, old. It takes it almost forty minutes to start up now and I don't like the fact that I have to wait such a long time just to write for a few hours and then shut it down and do the same thing over and over again, waiting longer periods some days or about five minutes less on others. Also, I've been up shit creek with no oars to help me. My car died earlier this year. Had to get a new one. Got a new one and already need to get another new one because the frame is bent and isn't worth fixing it. I've been working at a new job for a few months now and I'm looking for a second part-time job to help myself out a bit. Also, I hate writing on laptop keyboards. I don't know why, but I'm probably going to get a separate keyboard and type with that from now on. All of that plus life just being life and yeah.
Chapter length is about 11k words or so and to be honest; its the longest thing I've written in a two day shot. The first part was the pre-notes and the actual story was written in less than twelve hours. I'm not quite sure I can do that often, but if I can; I'll try.
See ya later.