The Fourth Hokage stood upon the head of the Boss of Toads, exhausted and bleeding. In one arm he carried his wailing newborn son, a sacrifice to save his people and preserve balance among the great monsters of the world. One such monster's baleful glare was trained on him, its nine great tails weaved through the air. The Hokage's free hand flipped through seals as he weaved a spell to end the threat to his village.
"Dead Demon Consuming Seal!" A chill entered Minato's soul and his blood cooked in his veins. The sky cracked with sourceless lightning danced across the night sky. The bright disk of the moon shadowed over and the stars seemed to dim. Everything around him seemed to freeze in place. Something felt wrong about this and he tried to recall his readings. The shinobi glanced over his shoulder at the summoned shinigami, from the depiction in Uzumaki scrolls, he was expecting a ghoulish man-thing in white robes.
This wasn't the death god the scrolls had promised.
Behind him an enormous shadowy bird perched on the warty skin of the Chief of Toads. Three shining white feathers seemed to glow against its dark body. The crimson eyes stared dumbly into space for a moment before focusing on Minato. It blinked slowly, one eye at a time.
OH, HMM… OH, DEAR...DID YOU SUMMON ME? A voice croaked in the back of the ninja's head. Its head tilted and swiveled as it took in its surroundings. OH DEAR, I'M NOT FROM HERE AM I? HMM, THIS WILL CAUSE SOME PROBLEMS WON'T IT?
"Err...yes? I don't think I meant to summon you though, unless you're the Shinigami?"
I'VE BEEN CALLED THAT NAME BEFORE, YES, PERHAPS I CAN FILL IN? The bird stretched forward, spindly legs sprouted from its shaggy neck for support. It stared the man square in the eyes. WHAT IS YOUR WISH?
Minato Namikaze frowned at the creature that was and was not the Shinigami. If it wasn't the Death God, his plans and his village were possibly fucked. However, he couldn't just dismiss it on the off chance that it was the being that he tried to summon and run the risk of it killing him and dooming everyone. The Hokage cleared his throat, "I need to seal that fox demon away before it destroys my village. It's too powerful for any kind of containment aside from this infant...and even then the entire beast would be too much. So Shinigami, I ask you to seal half of that monster into this child and half of it into myself!"
The ninja watched the bird's glowing eyes split their focus between him, the newborn in his arms, and the frozen fox behind them. Minato felt some relief when it pulled its head back to its shoulders. His brows knitted together when it began to preen, though since nothing moved aside from them he guessed that time wasn't an issue. After what felt like an eternity it stopped and pointed at him with its sharp beak.
HMM… It started. I CAN DIVIDE YOUR FOX GOD. I CAN SEAL IT AS WELL. HOWEVER I REFUSE TO DO THIS AS YOU ASK. I AM GOING TO KILL YOU. IF HALF OF THE FOX GOD IS SEALED WITHIN YOU AND HALF WITHIN THIS CHILD, THEN IT WOULD BE BOTH ALIVE AND DEAD AT ONCE. I NEITHER TOLERATE NOR CREATE THE LIVING DEAD.
"But-" As soon as the shinobi tried to protest the god cawed raucously to drown out his voice.
It continued, I WILL FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE REST OF YOUR FOX GOD LATER. UNLESS YOU WISH FOR ME TO LEAVE IT UNBOUND? IF SO I WILL BE ON MY WAY WITH YOUR LIFE AS COMPENSATION FOR MY TIME.
"No, that is not what I wish," Minato said. He bowed respectfully. "Half sealed is better than it roaming free at full power."
WELL THEN IT'S TIME… Indeed time began to move again. The 4th Hokage watched as the demon fox weaved to avoid the sourceless lightning arcing across the sky. Its baleful glare fell upon him and he shivered from the intensity of its bloodlust. The fox lunged for them and he felt Gamabunta tense underfoot.
From the white feathers of the Death God's breast a thing arm sprouted forth. Bone white talons locked around the Kyuubi like those of an owl around a mouse. The fox demon struggled in the god's grasp, biting and scratching as it was dragged towards them. Glowing purple ichor dripped from the wounds that the beast inflicted on the pallid limb. Suddenly the bird's leg branched, the new foot grabbed the other side of the fox. Minato gagged at the sound of the Kyuubi being torn in two. The sight became much less gruesome as each half transformed into a ball of smokeless fire. His sigh of relief cut off by sharp points piercing into his ribcage.
"Goodbye Naruto," He wheezed and kissed the crying baby on the forehead. "Sorry daddy and mommy couldn't stay around to see you grow up."
The newborn fell from Minato's arms as he went limp. With his summoner dead, Gamabunta had no choice but to return to the home of the toad summons. The child landed softly on the bird shaped god's fluffy tail. It transported the both of them and the carcass of its summoner to the ground. Gently the Death God placed the swaddled infant next to the body its father. Black talons teased the cloth off of the baby and with white claws one of the fox flames was placed within the tiny human body. A black four pronged spiral wrapped itself around the child's navel. The baby's screams increased as the powerful energy mutated it. Ignoring the infant's pain the bird divided the remaining half of the fox's power into three uneven portions. With its own ichor and the child's blood it drew numbers around the seal to tie the power to the young human. The portions of power themselves were stuffed under the god's back feathers for temporary storage.
HELLO LITTLE ONE, YOU ARE SUCH A NEW LITTLE LIFE.The Death God cooed as it waited for other humans to come get the baby. I HAVE DONE YOU A GREAT WRONG AND I APOLOGIZE. MUCH HARM WILL COME TO YOU FROM MY ACTIONS THIS NIGHT, I WILL DO MY BEST, WITHIN REASON, TO COMPENSATE FOR THE DAMAGES DONE.
The bird watched the arrival of the man's comrades. With no other reason for its presence it faded out of the physical part of the world. Its feathers bristled as it entered the spirit world of this new universe. The magic of its family mixed with and altered the native energies as its relatives manifested. The Death God looked into the future with its center eye to see what might be in store for this world.
Only those on the brink of death could hear its annoyed screech.