Hello everybody! This is my first attempt at a fanfic, I hope you enjoy it. I haven't seen once with this premise yet, and I always wondered what would happen. I don't own anything, unless I thought it up myself, but I have read so many of these things that I will probably end up borrowing something from someone. I will do my best to give credit where credit it due, so if you're reading, and you you think I just straight up copied a jutsu or plot device, let me know so I can give credit. So here we go. -pp

Once appeared a nine tailed demon fox. One swing of it's mighty tail could crumble mountains and cause tsunamis. To fight the demon, the people assembled the shinobi. One brave shinobi was able to seal up the demon in a newborn child, but he lost his life. That shinobi was called the 4th Hokage.

Standing over the Minato Namikaze's fallen body, still cradling his son in his lifeless arms, Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered the 4th's last words and actions. The professor, the so-called god of shinobi, had seen a lot of things of the course of his life, and made many decisions that affected the entirety of nations, but, standing before the remaining shinobi of Kohona, he was stumped. He knew that he would need to come out of retirement and retake the mantle of Hokage, but he had no idea how the collective survivors were going to process the information. Rumors in a ninja village spread like wildfire, and while he was the only man to hear the 4th's last request, he knew that word of the fox's sealing in a baby would have major repercussions throughout the Fire County.

The 3rd Hokage sighed. Neither his shinobi nor the civilian population would simply ignore the fact that this child contained the demon. The 4th wanted his son to be viewed as a hero. He was the dam that contained the raging force of nature that was the nine tailed fox. Minato could not ask another person to sacrifice their child, so he had taken his own in the hopes that one day his son would have the power to protect the village as he did.

The 3rd turned around to look at his forces. Broken, bleeding, the dead and dying lay around him. His medical shinobi were frantically trying to save those that could be saved, flitting from place to place like hummingbirds on a spring morning. His people were in need, his students were spread throughout the known world, and he knew that the road to recovery would no be easy. Sarutobi silently cursed, wishing that Tsunade was still in the village, or that he hadn't listened to his former teammates regarding her proposal for a formal medic-nin program. Pushing those thoughts aside, he focused on his next actions. As leader, his next words would form a lasting impression, and he still had no ideas on how to accommodate the last wishes of his successor. He needed to think and act quickly, more quickly than he would have liked.

Suddenly wishing for his pipe, he enhanced his voice with a simple enhancement jutsu. "Shinobi of Kohona, the 4th Hokage has defeated the demon fox." He paused as he heard the cheers from the collected people who were not close enough to survey the battle site. After a moment, and choking back his own tears, he continued: "But this was not without cost. Minato Namikaze, the 4th Hokage, is dead. He gave his own life to protect this village- He was a true hero."

His voice grew softer. "The Will of Fire was strong in Minato, and there is no greater honor than to valiantly strive to protect the ones that you love. He loved Kohona and it's people. We are all blessed to have had him grace our lives."

The 3rd paused again, choosing his next words very carefully. "His sacrifice will not be in vain, for the village still stands. We shall rebuild. We shall live and honor his memory by becoming stronger."

With that, the 3rd scooped up the crying baby in his arms, and gestured to the ANBU shinobi. While he waited, they retrieved the fallen hero, and together they began the walk back to the village. Even with all his years as a front-line shinobi, Sarutobi was hard-pressed to ignore the sounds of misery and sadness that surrounded him. Even more distracting, however, were the collect looks of scorn and hatred directed at the still wailing child in his arms. Something had to be done, and quickly.

A/N: So, the first chapter is done. Thanks for reading! Again, hit me up if it turns out that I took something from someone, but I'm pretty sure this one is clean.

Also, the first couple chapters may be a little slow paced, but I need to set up the story before anything real happens.

See you soon!

-pp