A/N – I do not own Naruto, all rights belong to Masashi Kishimoto the writer of Naruto.
Prologue - Beginnings
And there it began, the fall of grace. No one ever thought it was possible, nay – someone knew… but he himself kept it a secret.
It was the dawn of a new age for Konoha – a new Hokage (possibly the strongest ninja in the world), the bearing of a son from said prodigy, and most of all, a time of peace and prosperity, but life is never that fair. Just a few months after he had made his oath, a terrible onslaught of death and gore made its way through the fire nation; the Kyuubi was finally here.
Of course, Konoha was prepared. Hell, who couldn't notice a 12 story demon rampaging across the country? No, Konoha was the last line of defense and perhaps the only hope for the entire world. No one knew how the demon was let loose, but Minato did, and it was his entire fault.
FLASHB ACK
"Minato… are you sure we should be here…" asked a worried Kushina, staring at the ancient ruins of the temple.
"Honey… when have I ever let you down?"
"WELL… now that you mention it… there was that one time when I was hanging off that cliff, and you went to go chase some tail… leaving me hanging… to die… … and remember that time when you said you'd be "back in a flash" and came back with half your arm missing, so we couldn't go on our date; you know, the carnival… where you were SUPPOSED to win me cute little dolls WITH YOUR "NINJA" skills and now you didn't even have a throwing arm! And don't even get me started on when you - - - -"
Two and a half hours later
"and THAT is why I think you've let me down on NUMEROUS occasions, in fact… now that I think about it, why the heck am I even married to you?"
"… I thought you loved me"
"probably some cheap ass genjutsu to trick me" mumbled a slightly peeved Kushina
"what…?!!" cried Minato
"oh shut up, you know I love you"
Minato tackles Kushina to the ground, and they begin laughing over their small conversation. Little did they know, something would change their lives forever…
As Kushina tumbled forward, clinging on to Minato's arm, she felt a small object on her back.
"Minato… what is that?"
Kushina glared at the site behind her, a gem, a ruby, no… It seemed like… a soul enclosed on a precious stone…
"Kushina… my god… I think we found it"
"What do you mean…?"
"The nine tailed fox's spirit… rather… his prison…"
"Minato… why were you looking for that…"
Minato stared at his wife, who was bearing his child.
"Honey, our son will be the hope of the world against evil, and this is the only way he can achieve that"
"What are you talking ab—"
*SLASH*
Minato gazed over at the cracked sphere that once belonged to the spirit of the nine-tailed-fox, and began chanting.
"Minato… what are you…"
As Kushina tried talking to her husband, Minato glared back at her, his eyeballs settled to the back of his head, the looks of being possessed by a demon.
Startled, Kushina got into a fighting stance. Minato continued to glare, just before a flash of yellow.
He was standing right in front of her.
END OF FLASHBACK
It wasn't meant to be like this… but then again, things never turn out the way you first planned.
FLASHBACK
"Minato… what's wrong"
The figure standing before her was inhuman, it… couldn't be called her husband… it had no place in this life… it… had red eyes with dark, empty slits. The morphed eyes of Minato slowly began to divulge into the inner cores of Kushina, causing fear and immense pain. Suddenly, he dashed forward, arms ripped apart with a red-chakra-claw slashing towards her.
Kushina couldn't react.
END OF FLASHBACK
'I can't… let that demon get away…'
Minato sprinted forward the rest of the Konoha ANBU black ops, only leaving a small note for one Uchiha Itachi.
'I'm sorry Kushina… I wish I could take back what I did'
FLASHBACK
"UGHH…."
Suddenly, Kushina collapsed, gasping for air as blood began pouring out of her chest, no… her stomach. She felt lighter than ever, as if a heavy load was lifted from her, but then she saw him. There, in the clutches of the demon's paw was a baby.
"Naruto…"
She couldn't feel pain. She couldn't feel fear. She couldn't feel anything. The darkness began to envelop her, and slowly she closed her eyes. Seeing her baby, who was due in just a few days, blonde hair and all.
END OF FLASHBACK
A tear fell down Minato's face as he saw the beast.
Unbeknownst to many; rather, impossible for all shinobi to see, inside the dead center of Kyuubi, a small child could be seen. Yes, the Kyuubi had encompassed its massive energy around the boy, but unknown to many besides Minato, it was only temporary.
Minato had a vision for the future and slowly, but surely, began studying the ancient texts of his ancestors – the Namikaze clan, and discovered a seal that could in theory, fuse the host with the being of power; in this case the Kyuubi. Although many called these "special" beings as Jinchuurikin, there was only one difference with Minato's version.
Minato discovered a way for the Jinchuurikin to become the demon – a hybrid so to speak, where the demon would be banished forever, replaced by the "human" carrying it. His son was the perfect container.
But, he didn't know the Kyuubi would use its strength in a last ditch effort to destroy the world. Granted, it seemed futile, but so far in a matter of hours, the Kyuubi managed to utterly destroy the grass village and a quarter of the Fire Nation just to get to Konoha – wanting to murder the one that sealed its fate.
FLASHBACK
Minato, suddenly regaining control of his body, saw the corpse of his wife and the chakra mass forming around his child.
'Kami… what have I done'
Suddenly, the massive chakra shifted towards Minato, lashing out at him.
Now, Minato wasn't the Hokage just for show – he easily dodged it, but seeing as how the strongest demon known to mankind was being unleashed for the next 10 hours, he began to do the only logical thing.
Run.
'If anything… I have to warn the village… I'm sorry Kushina…'
With tears flowing through his eyes, Minato ran away with his signature jutsu
"Hiraishin no jutsu!"
It would only be a matter of time before the Kyuubi came after him.
END OF FLASHBACK
Now here he was, on top of Gamabunta, face-to-face with the Kyuubi.
"Gamabunta… I'm sorry but this will be my final show"
"Stupid brat… always getting yourself into trouble"
"You have no idea…"
Minato's face became expressionless, empty… paled.
"I just hope this generation could have some more hope"
With that said, Minato began his final jutsu.
"DEATH GOD BARRIER NO JUTSU!"
Suddenly, an enormous mass of chakra – 100x greater than the Kyuubi came to flow, surrounding the perimeter; however, no one could feel it besides Minato, Gamabunta, and the Kyuubi, the only thing showing was a pitch-black-barrier encircling the Kyuubi and Gamabunta.
"Brat! What are you doing?! Why are you just creating a barrier?!"
"Bunta… Kyuubi will die in a matter of hours, I had to summon you to make it seem like I was fighting it."
"What do you mean you fool!"
"My son is now the Kyuubi. The Kyuubi is dying as we speak, and I'm afraid I'll die alongside it… the Death God requires my soul… and the Kyuubi… whatever is left of my physical being…"
Gamabunta could only stare.
"Son… Naruto… I have entrusted you to one of the finest shinobi I have ever met in my life… Uchiha Itachi… He knows the truth… I can only hope he treats you fairly… Bunta, I'm sorry we couldn't have a final drink but I can't risk your safety here, goodbye…"
With that, Bunta poofed out of existence – leaving Minato alone with the Kyuubi.
For the next few hours, Minato experienced a pain greater than an eternity's worth. He endured the wrath of the Kyuubi for the next 2 hours, until both he and the Kyuubi were nothing but dust in the air.
In the midst of the pile, a baby lay there, crying while countless Leaf shinobi gathered around him.
"Who is that baby?" asked one of the ANBU squad members
Suddenly, a shove was made, and Uchiha Itachi came forward and picked up the baby.
"His name is Uzumaki Naruto, and from now on, he is my adoptive brother."
With that, he vanished with the baby, going back to the village.