First fic, let me know of any contradictions or unclear parts. Flame if you want but I'd prefer constructive criticism. If your argument is solely "OMG, your writings sux" or similar, I will judge you to be a waste of genetic material, and essentially an oxygen-thief.
Pairing will be secondary to the main story and is currently undecided. However, I'd shoot myself before writing yaoi, it doesn't interest me. It also won't be NaruHina, or NaruSaku, as I prefer more unusual pairings.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, it is the property of Kishimoto. Stop sending me hate mail, and telling me the Uchiha is overpowered. I also have no claim to some of the nods to other anime, TV programs or films, obscure or otherwise. On the other hand, this story is mine and I reserve the right to ritually execute any and all characters that I deem surplus to requirements, in as many gruesome ways as I can think of. I am the dictator here, and comments may be taken under advisement, but will be completely ignored if they have no basis in reality. Or a parallel universe in which ninja can make dragons out of elements.
Sorry, slight power-trip there.
" Demon " – speech
'Demon' – thoughts
Demon – flashback
"Demon" – summons and Biju speech, jutsu names, and quotes
A new beginning
Chapter 1: Aaaah, giant killer fox!
Konoha was burning, set ablaze by the Kyuubi, a demonic nine-tailed fox. Burning in the night like a candle that had flared to its highest peak. Burning like the will of fire burns in those defending the village.
Shinobi were swept aside and crushed by the monstrous creature, trying desperately to buy some time for their leader to finish his preparations. Growls filled the air, as the Kyuubi was hit with a cluster of fireballs from a group of chuunin. Screams quickly replaced them, as citizens bore witness to the brave ninjas' demises, when a tail whipped down and crushed both the ninjas and 3 nearby buildings.
Things were looking grim until an enormous toad appeared from a poof of smoke. Atop his head stood the leader of the village, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Clad in a robe decorated with flames, he urged his mount forwards, his arms cradled protectively around a small bundle.
Battle was joined between the two titanic creatures, the toad armed with a kodaichi, the fox with its teeth, tails and claws. While they battled, the Fourth gathered his chakra for his final jutsu. The fox broke through the toad's defence, and opened a gash over its eye. The Fourth struck in that moment, activating the seal on the bundle, and summoning the Shinigami, pulling the fox's soul into the bundle, which was revealed to be a sleeping baby. Startled into awareness, the baby began crying, even as the Shinigami faded from the battlefield, taking with it the soul of the Fourth. The giant toad, feeling his summoner dying, was sent back to the summons plane, with a new battle wound to show off, and stories to tell his sons about how the greatest shinobi in the world sacrificed himself to protect his village. The Fourth's body fell to the ground, alongside the screaming baby. The fall rendered the baby unconscious, an unusual fact, since it fell over 100 feet.
This was the scene that greeted the Third Hokage and the remaining shinobi. The body of the Fourth was lying next to a sleeping (unconscious, but no-one knew that) baby. Whisker-like marks were clearly visible on the baby's face, as well as the seal on its stomach. The Third picked up the baby, and said, "As the Fourth decreed, you shall be named Uzumaki Naruto. Maelstrom hmm. Fitting. Somehow, I have a feeling trouble is going to swirl around you from now on."
Flashback
The Fourth was sat in the Hokage's office, going over the necessary preparations in his head and poring over scrolls, when he heard a knock at the door. "Enter" he called, setting the scroll he was holding to one side, and watched as Sarutobi Sasuke, the aged Third Hokage, walked in. "Have you got a plan to defeat the fox," Sarutobi asked.
"Yes, but it is going to take some time for all the pieces to come together," replied Minato.
"Would you mind filling me in?"
"I'm going to seal it away, just like the scroll states," Minato said, gesturing at a scroll on his desk."Although, since the Kyuubi is the most powerful of the Biju, it will have to take an exceptionally powerful seal to do it. So I'm going to use the Shiki Fuuin to summon the Shinigami, then instead of sealing the Kyuubi inside me, I will use this sealing array to transfer the point of sealing to the vessel. The problem is what to seal it away in. Since the Kyuubi is so powerful, ordinary vessels won't work. The only option is to seal it into something with a chakra network, but the fox's chakra is so potent, and there's so much of it, that if I seal it into an adult, they'll die almost instantly, and the fox will be freed."
"Don't tell me –"
"The only thing with a chakra system malleable enough to hold the fox... is a human baby. A newborn. Our only hope now is that Kushina gives birth soon enough for me to seal the fox away before too much damage is done."
"You would turn your own son into a Jinchuuriki?"
"If there were any other child that could be used, I would still do it this way. I couldn't ask someone else to give up their child for this, if I refuse to do it to my own son. Believe me, if there were any other way to stop it, without sealing it, I'd do it in a heartbeat. There is just no time left to find alternatives." Minato paused, then looked Sarutobi straight in the eye. "Will you keep an eye on the child after I seal the fox? You will probably be renamed Hokage after I fall."
"You can count on me, my friend. However, why don't you let me do the sealing? You are young, you have your whole life ahead of you. I've lived mine, and I don't have as long left as you do by a long shot."
Minato smiled, "It's a nice gesture, but you can't use the seal like this. It takes a seal master, and even Jiraya couldn't use it." He looked about to say more, but a loud banging on the door interrupted him. "What is it?" he yelled.
"The fox has been spotted sir. Approximately 20 miles away, but closing fast. The first wave has gone to slow it down."
"Damn it." Minato snarled, "We're not ready just yet. I'm sorry Sarutobi, but we'll have to continue this at the hospital. I'll catch up, I just need to take care of a few things first."
Sarutobi nodded, and shunshined away. Minato grabbed at a few scrolls, intending to look at them at the hospital, but knocked one off the desk. 'Damn it, to think I was wishing for some time off paperwork, then this happens. Hang on a second,' he thought as he picked up the scroll. He found his eyes drawn to a line in the scroll which read, "Though the number of tails on a Biju denotes its strength, the focus of its power lies elsewhere." This sparked something within his thought processes and he started searching frantically for specific scrolls. 'Where are they, I know I saw something relevant in them, where are they, damn it why are things always in the last place you look? Well, duh, because you stop searching once you find them, it's just common sense... Focus damn it, you're getting side tracked. Aha!" He stopped as he found the scrolls he was looking for. "Lets see, basic sealing theory, the grids, practical applications, bingo, permanent sealing. "To permanently seal something away, the focus must be aligned with a mark resembling it on the vessel." Good job I accidentally brought "Starting Seals" in here. Now for the other part. Anatomy of animals, birds no, reptiles, probably not, fish, definitely no, mammals, gotta be. Now for foxes... "... However, without their whiskers, a fox cannot balance, making this their most important feature."
Minato felt as if he'd been struck by lightning. He could do it! He could seal it away for good! It would still claim his life, but the fox wouldn't be able to hurt anyone else. The seal would be perfect!
His thoughts still whirling round his head, he teleported to the hospital himself.
--
When he arrived at the hospital, he found his predecessor waiting for him alongside a medic-nin, with sombre looks on their faces. The old ninja was carrying a bundle of cloths in his arms. "Hokage-sama," the medic said, "I'm afraid I have some bad news. Five minutes ago, Uzumaki Kushina gave birth to a boy-"
"That's great news... isn't it?" Minato interrupted.
"Let the man finish, Minato. Carry on, doctor."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama. The child is quite healthy; however, there were complications with the birth."
"What complications?" Minato frowned.
"Kushina began to bleed out into her abdomen. There was nothing we could do to stop it, she bled out too quickly and went into cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead three minutes ago. I'm sorry." The doctor turned and left the man to his grief. After about a minute of silence, Sarutobi broke it by saying "Minato?"
All Minato could do was let out a long, loud wail of grief, pain, and horror intermingled.
"Minato," Sarutobi said again, "It's time. I'm sorry but we must act now. The child-"
"Naruto," Minato choked out. "His name is Uzumaki Naruto. We decided that together." He broke down again.
"Naruto must be prepared for the seal. Here, take him." At this, the old man passed the bundle he was carrying. "Hold your son, the gift that Kushina gave her life to give to the world. Take him to your office, and prepare the seal. You know what must be done."
Minato took his son with trembling hands and nodded once, before using shunshin to get to his office. Alone with his son, he swallowed his tears, bottled his grief, and gritted his teeth, so he could do what needed to be done. He started by drawing the seal that allowed the Shiki Fuuin to be used to seal the fox into his son onto his son's stomach. He followed that up by drawing the seals required to hold the great beast. Finally, ten minutes after he started, he drew six whisker marks on Naruto's face. As he gazed down at his son, grief in his eyes, he said, "I'm sorry that things can't turn out the way I'd hoped for us, Naruto. Your mother and I wanted you to grow up knowing the love of a family. We wanted to watch you grow up, take your first steps, use your first jutsu. We wanted to be there as you went to the academy, see you on the day of your graduation, hear you complain about D-rank missions, and then the excitement of C-ranks. All that has been taken away from us." Here, Minato wiped away a few tears that had gathered in his eyes. "All I can do now is tell you that your mother and I love you very much. You're going to have a tough life without parents, but I know you can survive. Grow up to be the best shinobi the world has ever seen, and tell me about it when we meet in the afterlife. It's time we show that in our clan, we never give up!" With this, he strode out of the office with his son in his arms once more.
At the foot of the tower, he met with Sarutobi for the last time. "Sarutobi, all I ask is that on his eighteenth birthday, you tell Naruto of his heritage, and give him these scrolls. The first is a letter, explaining things to him. The rest are jutsu scrolls we wanted him to have. And ..." here he hesitated for a second, "I hope that the villagers can see him as a hero, for holding the Kyuubi at bay, and protecting them through his own life."
"I will do as you ask, Minato-kun," Sarutobi replied. "Good luck."
"Kuchiyose no jutsu." Minato cried, and summoned Gamabunta, the toad boss. "Gamabunta, we need to protect the village from the fox. I need you to distract it while I summon the Shinigami to deal with it."
"Fine then Minato. Hold on!" replied Gamabunta.
'Damn,' thought Minato, as they rushed towards the Kyuubi, 'I forgot to tell Sarutobi about the improvements I made to the seal.'
Flashback ends
Sarutobi carried the baby back to the Hokage's tower, surrounded by some of the ANBU who had been at the clearing. They had already lost one Hokage that night, they weren't about to risk losing a second to a surprise attack. This may make them seem paranoid, but then again, the Third did make it back without any shinobi attacking them. The ANBU are trained to expect the worst in any situation, and their prudence is occasionally mistaken for paranoia. The fact that three rabbits were immolated does nothing to disprove the fact that their defence is effective.
The citizens and shinobi alike had gathered at the foot of the tower, waiting for someone to explain what had happened to "the giant killer fox" as some citizens had dubbed the Kyuubi. When the Third appeared, the whole congregation went silent. The Third stepped up onto a small podium that had been erected, and cleared his throat before saying, "The threat of the Kyuubi is over." With these words, the villagers started celebrating, though a couple of the shinobi wondered why the Fourth hadn't told them this himself. The Third let this go on for a minute, and then raised his hand. "Enough," he said, and silence descended once more. "This victory however, was not without cost. We have lost many brave shinobi today, including the Fourth." Gasps were heard around the gathering, and some of the crowd burst into tears. "He sacrificed his life to seal the Kyuubi away into this child here. His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and the Fourth's last request was for the village to see him as a hero."
Mutterings at this were heard, and a cry of, "Finish the demon while it's weak," went up from somewhere in the crowd. The muttering grew louder at that, and a woman cried out "He killed the Fourth, we must take vengeance."
The Third cried out, "Silence. This is an innocent child. He only has the Kyuubi sealed in him. He is not the Kyuubi reincarnated."
Cries of, "But the Kyuubi might break out," and "We need to be sure. Kill it," sounded out over the group.
The Third responded with, "NO! You shall not harm this boy. Henceforth, he shall be watched by ANBU, who will stop any attacks on the child. Any attackers taken alive shall be given over to Ibiki. It is also forbidden to tell the younger generations about the Kyuubi. As far as they shall know, the Kyuubi died tonight at the hands of Yondaime, though it cost him his life. Breaking this law is punishable by death."
With this, the Third stormed into the Hokage's tower, and made his way to the Hokage's office. 'I'm sorry, Minato,' he thought, 'but it appears that your son will not be seen as the hero he is, but as the fox he holds.' He set the child down in a basket in the office, and prepared to face the council, as he knew they'd try to force him to kill the child. He summoned two of his most loyal ANBU to the room and gave them strict orders to make sure nothing happened to Naruto. The ANBU nodded, and seemingly vanished, though the aged Hokage knew they were still in the room. At this, the Hokage strode to the council chamber to face down the council. Before entering, the Hokage turned and spoke quietly to the small group of ANBU following him. When the anbu vanished in a small puff of smoke, the Sandaime turned, and entered the council chambers.
The council was made up of a mixture of shinobi clan heads and villagers who were elected to their positions. There were the advisors, who were the Third's gennin teammates, and a shinobi called Danzo, who no-one could figure out how he had got a position. When Konoha was founded by the First Hokage, he arranged this to attract more clans to the village, and to make the citizens believe they had a say in how the village was run. The idea was that the Hokage was supposed to hold all the power, but listen to the council's advice. What happened was the Hokage's office had power gradually stripped away, and the council got more say in how things were run. On the right-hand side of the Hokage's chair sat the clan heads, in order of closest to furthest, Yamanaka Inoichi, Akamichi Chouza, Nara Shikaku, Hyuuga Hiashi, Inuzuka Tsume, Aburame Shibi and Uchiha Fugaku. To the left sat the civilians, a mixture of merchants and popular figures. Directly opposite sat his advisors, Komura and Homura, and Danzo, once a candidate for Third Hokage himself.
As the Hokage entered the room, he was met with a barrage of voices, all clamouring for attention. When he sat down, he raised his hand, and silence fell on the council.
"Now, " he said, "I believe you have something you wish to discuss with me."
"Hokage-sama," a pink-haired civilian member started, "we think that it would be in the best interests of the village if the demon child is destroyed."
"Firstly, " the Hokage replied, "his name is Uzumaki Naruto. You would do well to refer to him as that, rather than as the 'demon child', as that would count as breaking the law I put in place earlier on. The punishment for that, if I need to remind you, is death." Here he stared pointedly at each of the members of the council. "Secondly, I will remind you of my words that not harm shall come to this child at the hands of this village."
"But Hokage-sama, we all saw the child. He has whisker marks on his cheeks, blatantly the fox already is influencing him. Killing him would free him from its vile influence." This came from a black haired, onyx eyed man sat amongst the shinobi.
'Ah, so that's your game is it Uchiha,' thought Sarutobi. Out loud he said, "So you are doubting the Fourth's skills then Fugaku?"
"What?" replied Fugaku, "I would never suggest that the Fourth's abilities."
"Then do you question his judgement?"
"Never, Hokage-sama. He was the greatest shinobi to grace this world."
"Then why do you question his last work? He sacrificed himself to seal the fox into Naruto, using the most complex seal I've ever seen. The seal will hold the fox until Naruto dies, and then the fox will be dragged with him."
"Then why wait?" Fugaku questioned. "We could be rid of the Kyuubi forever tonight."
A growl was heard which caught the attention of the council. All eyes were trained on a woman with a shaggy mane of hair, with red fang-like marks under her eyes. "I think I must have misheard you Fugaku. Because I know I didn't just hear you suggest we kill a defenceless pup." Fugaku looked a bit shocked.
A hooded man wearing sunglasses sat between the two of them nodded. "I agree with Tsume, it is illogical to kill a child for any reason, let alone one that he has no control over." His words seemed to convince more of the council. He turned to the Hokage, who was glad to see that at least two council members were using their heads. "Who were his parents?"
"We don't actually know, Shibi." The Hokage replied. "I believe that they were in the hospital when it was destroyed, as were the doctors who delivered him. The Fourth decided on his name and told me before he left to seal the Kyuubi." 'I seriously hope they buy that.'
Shibi nodded, then said, "My clan will be logical, and won't attack the child."
Tsume chimed in, "Mine, too, will not harm him, though most will be wary round him because of his scent." She turned to face a trio of men "And what about the rest of you?"
The shinobi on the council just made murmurs of assent, with the exception of Uchiha Fugaku, who looked outraged, and a scarred, black haired man who appeared to be asleep on the desk. When prodded by a large red-haired man sat next to him, he woke up, and promptly muttered "Troublesome," much to the amusement of the large man and a slender, pale-blonde man sat next to them.
The civilians, however, didn't seem too cooperative. A portly wine merchant seemed to be the main aggressor, though when the Third fixed him with a piercing stare, he quietened down. Danzo on the other hand, wasn't cowed, and proclaimed, "Then we should use the child. If he is trained by my ROOT section, he will become a perfect weapon for Konoha." With that, some of the civilians nodded, plainly comforted by the idea of Naruto being used to defend them while being kept tightly controlled.
"I believe there is a better solution. I could adopt the child, thus ensuring his loyalty to Konoha, and I could train him to be the best shinobi ever. After all, who better than a Kage to train a weapon." This came from the Third, trying to convince the council not to go for Danzo's idea.
"My ROOT forces are known for their unswerving loyalty. They would gladly give up their lives for the Greater Good if ordered to."
"The Greater Good!" chorused the civilians, who then looked slightly bemused as to why they'd done that.
"It is not entirely clear just to whom your ROOT are loyal to. Besides, the ROOT are also known for their lack of emotions, which I have already expressed my concerns over."
"The ROOT-"
"Shall not take Naruto without a majority vote from the council," interrupted Homura. "But then neither shall you be allowed to adopt him, Sarutobi, without the same majority. So, those in favour of the ROOT training raise your hand." The civilians, Danzo and Fugaku all raised their hands, while the remaining clan heads, the advisors and the Third did not. "Equal numbers, therefore he won't go through ROOT training. Next, those in favour of adoption by the Hokage." The Third, Tsume and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio all raised their hands, while the remainder did not, meaning... "So, Uzumaki Naruto will be put in an orphanage until he decides to leave, or is adopted. Sarutobi, neither you nor your family may adopt him. Danzo, you may not try to recruit him. Now, let us move onto other matters, involving the reconstruction of Konoha."
Sarutobi nodded, not fully satisfied with how things had worked out. 'I'm sorry Minato, the damn council is always politicking, even just after a tragedy like this. At least I managed to stop Danzo sinking his claws into him.'
After the meeting had ended, Sarutobi made his way back to his office. When he entered, he was greeted by the sight of the bodies of five ROOT members strewn across the room. The two loyal anbu had obviously stopped a power play by Danzo to seize the young Jinchuuriki and ignore what the council had said. However, it was likely that it had been set up before the meeting, so Sarutobi couldn't bring it in front of the council. He now had to dispose of the bodies, and make arrangements with an orphanage to take in Naruto. It was going to be difficult since there must have been many orphans made that night, but doubly so because of the irrational fear of a baby most of the villagers would have. It was at this moment he made a horrifying discovery. Since he'd been reinstated as Hokage, the person having to do the paperwork was ... HIM! He began crying. 'You planned this, didn't you Minato? It was all a scheme to get out of paperwork. Hmm, I wonder if there's another Biju around...' This may have seemed a little crazy, and desperate, but remember, you have never experienced the abject horror that is the paperwork of a Kage. Try it for a day, I dare you, and see if you retain your sanity. Then come back and say paperwork is easy or relaxing. At the very least, we'll get to see the Third attack you!
Let me know what you think.