"Hokage-sama! Hokage-sama!" His secretary came running in. The Yondaime looked up from his mountain of paperwork, alarmed, as the woman continued, "Kushina-sama has just gone into labor!"

He nodded once to her, and quickly made use of his signature technique, Hiraishin, to get to the hospital. People startled when he suddenly appeared in the hospital's lobby. He strode straight to the desk, demanding his fiancée's room number. "I need the room number for Kushina Uzumaki."

"Right away sir. Her room is 629, on floor three, in the maternity section." The Yellow Flash didn't waste a second, speeding to go support his future wife.

"625, 627, yes, 629!" He halted there and tried to calm himself. It didn't work. He was an orphan, so he had never had a family to call his own. When Kushina came into his life, he wore to himself that he would never let her go.

And he stayed true to his word. They had started out as strangers, then acquaintances, friends, girlfriend and boyfriend, and finally they were engaged. Soon they would be husband and wife, and yet before that, father and mother. It made him giddy just to think about it.

There was a grunt of pain within the room, and the Hokage barged in. Kushina was lying on a bed, her hands gripping the sharp white sheets. She groaned again, and he was at her side immediately.

"Minato, you came." She smiled weakly at him. He sat down in the conveniently placed chair next to the bed and took her hand. "Of course I'd come. You and our daughter are much more important than my work." Kushina murmured, much more subdued than her regular self, "You know, Minato, we never picked out a name for her."

"Hmm, well, what do you think would be a good name for the daughter of the Yellow Flash and the Red Hot Habanero?" Minato questioned.

Suddenly, Kushina gasped. "I know," she grinned. "Do you remember your sensei Jiraiya's first book? The main character's name is Naruto."

"I love that name, Kushi-chan, I really do, but that's a boyish name." He secretly wondered if she had gone loopy from the stress of childbirth.

She smacked his arm. "Idiot, I know that. I was thinking we could shorten it to Naru. Oh, and don't believe that I can't see what you're thinking, Minato. You're thinking I've gone nuts."

Minato's jaw dropped to the floor. What, his own thoughts didn't belong to him anymore? He hung his head in defeat and began to pout in the corner of the hospital room.

Kushina laughed, before gasping. The baby was ready, she knew. "Get the doctors, Minato! Naru's coming!" He gaped at her for a moment, and then ran out into the hall like a chicken with its head cut off. "Doctors, my fiancée is having a baby RIGHT NOW AND SHE NEEDS YOU!"

Suddenly doctors and nurses appeared and shoved past him into the room. They hadn't come because of Minato's yelling, but because Kushina had pressed a button by her head she was supposed to use when she needed help.

Minato tried to get back in, but one of the nurses came out and blocked him. "I'm sorry, sir, but you can't come in the room."

He stared at the nurse before muttering under his breath. He started to pace the length of the hallway, but never went far from his lover's room. The nurse slipped back into the hospital room. At one point he felt a huge surge of power, but figured it was the doctors helping Kushina.

Two hours later, one of the doctors came out and motioned for Minato to come in. Kushina lay panting on the bed, but looked so happy. In her arms she cradled a small baby. The doctors and nurses filed out of the room to give the new family privacy.

Minato's eyes grew soft as he watched his newborn daughter smile at her Kaa-chan. "Minato, I have to tell you something," Kushina murmured. The Fourth Hokage grinned at her and nodded for her to continue.

She sighed before continuing. "I-I had to release the Kyuubi during childbirth. If I hadn't, Naru, you, and everybody else in the village, including me, would have died immediately. The Kitsune is probably somewhere in Fire Country, and I bet it'll be coming to attack the village within about 12 hours. It holds a deep hatred for Konoha. I hope I gave the village a fighting chance, at least."

Minato's face had been slowly contorting in horror but turned into firm resolve. "Kushina, I understand. I have to go now, to prepare for the attack. I love you. Both of you," he declared, looking at his newborn baby. He kissed Kushina and Naru's heads, before performing the Hiraishin back to his office.

He ordered his assistant to call all the shinobi currently in the village to the battle/war room. Within minutes, all ninja, except the ninja out on missions and hospitalized ninja, had assembled before their leader.

"I have received news from one of sources that the Kyuubi no Kitsune will be attacking within 12 hours." Waves of shock rippled through the ranks, but Minato raised his hand to silence them. "I want all of you to go and prepare yourselves for battle. It will be an S-ranked battle, if not above that. Genin, you will be escorting civilians, children, and hospitalized people to the emergency barracks. You must protect them and stay with them. Chuunins, Special Jounins, Jounins, and ANBU, your job is to fight the Kyuubi. Medics, I want half of you to be working on the field, and the other half staying with the civilians and hospitalized people."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" the assembled ninja replied. The Yellow Flash dismissed them and returned to his office. He had to work on a special technique.

He knew that bijuu couldn't be destroyed, so he had come up with a new plan. He was going to seal it away. But, no simple, non-living object could hold the Kyuubi, at least not for long. So, he would have to seal it in a human.

Grown-ups were not an option, because their chakra pathways had already developed and the Kyuubi's chakra would most likely overload their pathways, causing them to die and the Kyuubi to be set free again. His only option was a newborn baby. As Hokage, he could not bear to ask anyone to give their baby to him to seal the Kyuubi in.

He would use Naru.

Minato didn't want to use Naru, but she was his only choice. He knew Kushina would be devastated. Her worst nightmare was for Naru to become a Jinchuuriki like her.

Then he realized that Kushina would have to raise Naru on her own. He didn't have the power to complete the seal. Even if he could, he would die.

His plan was to summon the Shinigami, or death god, to seal the Kyuubi at the price of his life. That would make his daughter a Jinchuuriki. He saw no other option.

He spent the last few hours of his life alone in his silent office, working on the seal that would save him. Not a soul dared interrupt him.

The Kyuubi had finally arrived, after hours of agonizing anticipation. It had come 9 hours after Kushina announced the problem, and the ninja of Konoha were as ready as they could be with the time given.

Minato finished the seal, and had been memorizing the hand seals needed to summon the Shinigami. When the Kyuubi arrived and he got wind of it, he used the Hiraishin to get to the hospital room Kushina was currently stationed in.

He stepped quietly into the room to see Kushina snuggled up with Naru, in a deep sleep. Minato shed a tear, knowing it would be the last time he would see his beautiful lover. He leaned down and just barely placed his lips on her forehead.
"I love you, Kushina. Take care of Naru for me."

He carefully scooped up the little one and made his way out of the room. As soon as the door closed, Kushina's eyes snapped open, glistening with tears, of both annoyance and extreme sadness. Did he think she would just sit there without helping him? Sleeping through the entire attack? There was absolutely no way.

She knew she was too weak to survive if she fought it. But Kushina also knew Minato, being the idiot he was, would need her help, as he always did. Naru would be a strong child, she knew. She would find her way in life, even if she didn't have parents to guide her.

Kushina sighed and shunshined to the battlefield.

Minato Hiraishined to the top of the hospital building. It was an amazing night, stars visible, clear sky, slight breeze. The full moon was shining brighter than he had ever seen before.

He startled, thinking of what Kushina had told him about 6 months into the pregnancy. She was part of the Uzumaki clan. When a baby was born, if it was of Uzumaki blood, it was given powers, or not, depending on when it was born.

If the baby was born on a night/day of a new moon, it was like any other baby of the Uzumaki clan. If it was born on a half moon, it was given a special ability to control the element water.

It was very, very, very rare for a child to be born on a full moon. However, when one was born on a full moon, the baby was born with the ability to control water, dance beautifully, and control the moon's power to some extent.

The other, minor thing Kushina had muttered was that if such a child was born, another child of the opposite gender was born on a full moon as well, but could be ranging in birth dates. They would meet around the age of nine, and the pair would be perfect for each other. The other child would also be born with the same powers as the Uzumaki-born child. They would not be able to unlock their moon powers until they met each other.

Minato had completely exploded at that. No boy was going to be allowed within ten feet of his baby girl. Then Kushina had calmed him, saying that it was possible that their child would not be born on a full moon. She was just warning him of the possibility.

He had calmed down at that statement, and as payment for going crazy on her, Kushina made him take her out to dinner at Ichiraku's. His wallet had never been so flat. While grieving for his wallet, the issue had completely left his mind, and he hadn't thought of it again until just now.

He looked serenely up at the moon and sighed. "I guess at least I know my little girl will be happy, even if I'm not the one making her happy."

Minato summoned Gamabunta, explained the situation to the Toad Boss, and headed off towards the Kitsune. "Are you sure about this, gaki?" the toad asked. Minato looked down at his alarmed but silent daughter. She looked up at him, full of trust.

"Yes, 'Bunta. It's the only way. Thank you, and goodbye, old friend." Minato replied as they landed directly in front of the Kitsune. He began doing seals, but there wasn't enough time to complete them. Though he was the Fourth Hokage, even he couldn't do over sixty seals in less than a minute.

Suddenly the Kitsune was distracted by something coming fast from behind it. There was a wall of waters speeding towards the Kitsune, almost as high as the beast. Minato got a sinking feeling in his chest.

Kushina had been born on a half moon, and she had incredible mastery of water. Only she could do such a thing. He knew she was buying him time to finish his plan.

As soon as his hands finished their long dance, he summoned the Shinigami. The sudden, almost suffocating feeling of death confirmed to him he was successful. The Kyuubi lifted up a huge paw to swat away the water and hit the individual controlling it so hard she hit the ground and caused a crater to form around her. Many of her bones were obviously broken, and she didn't get back up. There was no sign of life existing in her body.

Tears streamed down Minato's face, and he had a huge choking feeling in his chest and throat. On autopilot, he painted the seal on his daughter's bare stomach and placed his hand on top of her tummy. He yelled out two words. "Shiki Fuuin!"

At this, the world seemed to stop. His daughters' large blue eyes were wide open with pain and the beginnings of a tear. His fiancée's body was still lying motionless on the ground. Gamabunta was just about to go back to his home. Kakashi was at the edge of the battlefield, reaching out his hand and screaming his sensei's name, tears streaming down his face, matching a devastated expression. Jiraiya had just arrived, a shocked look on his face, no trace of his normally goofy self. The Third, dressed in his battle clothes, appeared to have aged ten years. The Kyuubi was gone.

After he had seen all this, the world sped up. Gamabunta disappeared in a puff of smoke. Minato clutched his daughter closer to him, protecting her with his body. Just before they hit the ground, he whispered his final words with a sad smile. "I love you, my daughter. I'm so sorry, Naru. Please forgive me."

As soon as they came in contact with the cold, hard ground, Minato's vision went black, and he drifted off into the beckoning darkness.