I've got a plan; I've got an atlas in my hand.
AU-most of the concepts of canon apply, however some do not. The biju are supernatural beings still made of chakra, but are thousands of years old, and usually reside on a different plain of existence unless summoned to the shinobi world. A female Naruto. Time travel, rebirth. A fucked up timeline. Eventual fem!Naruto/Itachi. Dubious use of grammar and punctuation, however, this chapter is edited thanks to SpiritBird1. And I always found it strange the Kyuubi never gave Naruto a power, I'm going to remedy that.
Disclaimer: yah I'm in college, so I'm pretty broke.
Summary: Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo gives her an option, she takes it. She'll save them all, even if it kills her.
Prologue:
Rebirth...
A concept that is very familiar to him. In his thousands of years of existence, he has had many containers as the nine-tails, but only one as the juubi. At that time, he was one in the same as his siblings. Sharing one consciousness, not being able to tell where he began and where his siblings ended. He shuddered at recalling the experience.
His containers as the Kyuubi had no distinction in his eyes. They were all greedy humans leeching on his power hoping to drain him. Fools! He is an eternal being made of chakra! If and when he perished, he would be renewed full strength to once more wreak havoc. Though he loathed the thought at his loss of self, as the juubi he had found peace in the container that held him.
No one could stand up to the pedestal the Rikudo Sennin stood upon.
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo gave him and his siblings a rebirth unlike any others they had experienced. From one, they became nine. They were given an identity, a purpose.
He became Kurama.
Yet, upon the Rikudo Sennin's death, Kurama and his siblings ventured out and sought a peaceful existence with humans, only for their efforts to be for naught. Much like in their past, the humans—now shinobi with the teachings of their father—sought out he and his siblings for their own malicious intents.
From there, Kurama's contempt for humans returned full force, and his hatred for humanity escalated as he weighed each meat bag that tried to control him up to the standards of his father.
None rose to the occasion.
Human impossibilities he began to think, perhaps his expectations were too high.
There was one time where he held hope. Uzumaki Mito was a promising candidate; until he tried to speak with her. Not a word was heard as she shut him out. Terror and hatred is what he felt from her. He should not have been surprised. Her husband was one of the many few that could control him and his siblings; and he had allied himself with the very clan that could take away their willpower.
Fucking Uchiha's…
He'd kill them all and wipe that clan's existence from the world. The moment he was free, there would be a reckoning.
Hope renewed itself once more when he found himself imprisoned in Uzumaki Naruto. For almost a century now, his jinchuuriki were females who hailed from the Uzumaki line, descendants of his father with special chakra that ran through their veins. Slowly, but surely, the girl proved herself, rising to the occasion. Eventually overcoming Kurama's contempt for humanity and once more showing him the wisdom that humanity has. Within Naruto's shadow, many saw her father and Jiraiya, but Kurama saw more.
Naruto's shadow stretches long and far, encompassing the world in the image of the Rikudo Sennin.
And for that, hope remains.
Naruto had told him to "Believe it!" And so he will, that brat has yet to let him down.
Underneath the chains that manifest within the seal of Uzumaki Kushina, Kurama waits and sleeps for the right moment to strike.
October 10th is approaching, and he waits to meet her once again.
I've got a plan (I've got an atlas in my hand)
Come again? "….What?"
"Your pregnant, congratulations Uzumaki-san!" The medic repeats. "You're about eight weeks along, and…."
Kushina simply stares blankly at her, the medic-nin's words fading into static. Her thoughts are racing, point A connecting to point B but failing to reach points C and D. A neuron fries and then the meltdown begins. "I-I thought it was that spoiled milk I drank, or those nasty rations!"
"Nope, not a stomach flu," The medic supplies unhelpfully.
"What the hell am I gonna do? How the hell am I going to tell Minato? I'm not ready to be a mother, 'ttebane!"
"Can't help you there," the medic replies flippantly, "but I'm going to prescribe you prenatal vitamins. You'll need to come back for a checkup in a few weeks, so schedule an appointment with the secretary please."
Kushina finally catches on to the medic words, and glares at her, snatching the prescription out of her hand. She stomps out the examination room, slamming the door as she goes. The anger runs out, and soon she begins to walk in a daze, simply going about the motions.
She makes her next appointment, sits and waits for her vitamins to be ready. Through the streets of Konoha she treks, waving absently to those who greet her. Somehow, someway she finds herself walking into the Uchiha compound's open gates, and then outside the main house. She strolls in, honing in on a familiar chakra signature.
She travels through the open corridors, to the Zen garden, and over the bridge that covers the koi pond.
There, sits her best friend and former teammate, Uchiha Mikoto; recently retired jonnin, former student of the White Fang of Konoha, wife to the Uchiha clan head, and expectant mother five moons along.
She's stuffing her face with dango and assortment of other sweets when Kushina plops herself down next to her on a cushion and lets out a long dramatic sigh. "Koto-chan what the hell am I gonna do?"
Mikoto swallows her current mouthful of sweets and takes the time to say, "With what?" and then stuffs her face again.
"Remember when we were younger and said that if anything important happens to one of us, we would let the other know first 'cause we're best friends, almost sisters without blood and all that stuff?"
A muffled "Hai" is the reply Kushina received, and she takes that as the incentive to continue. "Well yah, I just came from the doctor, and I'm knocked up."
Mikoto spews the sweets she'd been chewing, and coughs and hacks for a moment. She primly turns to Kushina with all her regal bearing, and asks her, "Pardon? Would you mind repeating that?"
"I know!" Kushina cries, "Even you find the prospect of me being a mother impossible. I'm doomed dattebane!"
Mikoto tries to think of a way to resolve this, and finds that it's better to let Kushina wail. Those pregnancy hormones can be a bitch. Besides on the best of days, the Uzumaki is dramatic, and on those days she chooses to ignore her. Mikoto goes back to eating dango.
"What am I gonna tell Minato? Do you think he'll be mad that I'm pregnant? Will he even want to be a dad? Hell, do I want to be a mother?"
When the red head tries to grab a stick of dango, Mikoto slaps her away, and glares at her menacingly.
Kushina whimpers and holds her hands up in defeat.
"Want to know what I think?" The Uchiha asks.
"Of course, why do you think I'm here?"
Obviously you have no idea what you've gotten into, Mikoto thinks dryly. She then says, "I think it's wonderful. Our kids are going to grow up together." she then gets stars in her eyes, and rubs her stomach. "If I have a girl, and you have a boy, maybe they'll get married and we'll really be related!"
Kushina gets starry eyed along with her, and her imagination gets ahead of her. That is, until reality rears its ugly head. "Now's not the best time to have kids."
Mikoto nods in understanding; war is looming on the horizon. When she'd last been in the field, Iwa was becoming more aggressive. They were occupying the villages allied with Konoha and border patrols were encountering one too many skirmishes on the borders of Hi no Kuni. War is eminent and all shinobi would feel the backlash of its affects.
"When will Minato come back from his mission?" Mikoto asks quietly.
"Tonight," Kushina responds miserably.
They're quiet for a moment. It's a contemplative silence until Kushina jumps up and declares, "I'm gonna be a mom! If that asshole has a problem with it there'll be hell to pay! So he better man up if he knows what's good for him 'ttebane!"
She receives a muffled "Yah!" in support from Mikoto, who has clearly gone back to wolfing down sweets.
"I'll see yah later Koto-chan, we'll go shopping for baby stuff next time." the red head says, and leaves whence she came.
On her way out, she encounters her best friend's husband. "Oh, hi Fugaku-san. Bye Fugaku-san."
Fugaku barely has time to respond, and grunts, "Hn" by way of greeting. He turns the corner to find his wife stuffing her face, and sighs.
Wide eyes look up at him, guilt flashes for a moment before fierce defiance replaces it. She gathers her candy packages to her chest, and silently dares him to take them away.
"Mikoto-chan we decided that you would eat healthy for the baby," he says in a placating tone, approaching her as if one would a cornered animal.
"I know." Mikoto snaps. "It's your baby that demands the opposite."
Fugaku sighs again, it's always his baby when they're arguing.
I've got a plan (I've got an atlas in my hand)
The day is done when he returns, dusk has disappeared and night has encroached, reigning dominant. The streets are quiet except for the occasional drunk; the rooftops are busy as usual with ninja traffic.
He's tired; grit, dirt, and sweat smear his skin in a second layer. He wants a shower; Kushina's home cooking—surviving off of rations for the last three weeks has been utter hell. Most of all, he wants to sleep in his bed.
He does not expect to return to their apartment and find Kushina awake and waiting for him. Looking at him with that soft smile, the same one she had when she first agreed to go on a date with him.
Nor does he expect the news she has to tell him. That he's going to be a father, and if he has a problem with it—
He doesn't hear the rest of the threat; Minato really didn't expect to faint.