Hold The Line

by Mika the Raven

Not all that is done can be undone, and many of histories heroes are grossly inadequate when compared to the tasks they undertake. There is little mercy in this Shinobi World. Despite this, a generation will be forced to ask itself the ultimate question. Can a there be redemption for a demon? Undecided Naruto pairing; Sasu/Saku; (Anko/Iru; Anko/Kaka)

1. Introitus: Falling Leaves

Hold the Line

A Naruto Fanfiction by;

Mika The Raven

Prologue: Falling Leaves

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"Looking back at that night all that I can really say is that a horrible mistake was made. The man who was the greatest of us was not only not good enough to protect us, but it was he who has single handedly ensured our destruction." -Sarutobi Hiruzen, Sandaime Hokage

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"I was old before time began. I knew light before the sun was bright enough to break through the clouds with enough intensity to warm the primodial puddle of piss humanity's earliest forebears managed to extricate themselves from. I watched with disinterest in their struggles with creatures both real and imagined, safe in the knowledge that I was many times the terror that any one of them could ever hope to dream of. There was a time when I looked upon them and felt pity, well before there was nothing but igorance and an abject unwillingness to understand and cooexist with the world around them. Their first winter night's were heated by my glory. Then these insects began to feel that they were the masters of their own destiny. As if I would let them become anything but what I desired them to be. I have been sought out countless times by these insignificant motes of flotsam, by those who seek power, those who seek the boon of my wisdom, and finally and most importantly those who wished to end me. For those who sought power, I granted them weakness in the form of strength. The various Kekkei Genkai that abound in this world are proof enough of this, for they have used my power well and have grown reliant upon it, a failing that will doom them all. For those who sought wisdom, I have shown them the boundless mysteries of the Universe and watched with glee as they were driven mad by the true faces of the gods they worship. But as retribution for those who seek my destruction, I have decided to wipe them and their ilk from the face of this wretched planet."

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BOOOOOOOOM!!

"THE KYUUBI IS COMING!! SOMEBODY GO AND ALERT YONDAIME-SAMAAAAUGH!" Shouted an unfortunate Konoha shinobi just before his violent and fiery death as an immense ball of chakra engulfed him and everything else within a square mile of the blasts impact.

But this day he and his comrades sacrifices were not to be in vain.

The message was received.

The Hokage would arrive soon

All they had to do was hold the line.

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Hokage Tower Scroll Room-

Minato Namikaze was not a patient man by any stretch of the word. Especially not when his people were dying like dogs, killed by a power none of them could ever hope to understand let alone defeat, he worked feverishly to complete the justsu that would end his relatively short, but amazingly productive life. All he could do was hope to buy them some time, while he waited for the son that was killing his beloved Kushina to be born. His son would be both sinner and saint. Born in blood and sacrificed to save all that his father held dear. But at least he would be a living sacrifice. A testament to the abilities of his progenitor, and a man that he would never know. In death he would ask forgiveness from his son, but none of that mattered now he would be joining his Beautiful Whirlpool in a very short amount of time. And he still had a job to do.

Shiki Fuuin had to be completed.

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I watch as they scurry like the vermin that they are. Trying desparately to protect that insipid blight on the forest I have cultivated for ages. I laugh as their bodies are destroyed by my rage, and their souls are consumed by my lust. Secure in the knowledge that each one has made me ever so much more powerful. I will have to thank that human with the Tengu-Shujou's blessing for alerting me to the plans of these paltry mortals. They are merely the first of many, for the whole of humanity will fall before my wroth like so much wheat before the blade. But first I will have to deal with the idiot toad that has decided to block my path. This will be entertaining indeed.

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He had finally arrived at the hour of his destiny. His son born not fifteen minutes ago, a bright shining star amidst the blackness of the night. The sigils were applied on the newborns abdomen, a final testament to the grievous sin he was about to commit. He dropped to his knees to steady himself as his dear friend Gamabunta weathered yet another blast of the insidious chakra that seemed to fuel the beast he now faced. He gently kissed his son on the forehead and looked at his crying face.

"I'm so sorry my little Naruto... Maybe one day you'll forgive a fool for the love of his home?"

He lay the precious bundle atop the great toad.

"ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THIS MINATO-KUN? SURELY THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER WAY!"

Minato shook his head.

"I'm very sorry old friend, but do me a favor and watch over him won't you? If he's anything like his parents, the village will have plenty to worry about in the coming years."

"MINATO-KUN THERE ARE VERY FEW HUMANS I ACTUALLY RESPECT ENOUGH TO HONOR A DYING WISH FROM, YOU BEING CHIEF AMONG THEM. HE WILL BE LOOKED AFTER, ON THIS YOU HAVE MY WORD." Said the giant gangster toad.

"Thank you my friend. Good bye."

With all that needed to be said between them finished, Minato cut his wrists to the bone so that there would be no hope of sealing the wounds. He stood over his son with his arms held out to the sides and spun in a slow circle. Once the vaguely circular kinjutsu field was complete, he started a vastly complex set of hand signs while chanting in a nearly forgotten language that was passed from one Hokage to the next. Specks of light began to coalesce around him and his vision darkened as he forced his chakra from his body. The sequence of seals ending in a brilliant flash of light, followed by the luminous flaring of every sigil and symbol within the Summoning Circle.

The trap was baited, all he needed to do now was wait for his demise.

"SHIKI FUUIN!"

He raised his head to look upon the smiling face of the God of Death, his last conscius thought as the silent deity opened its mouth and swallowed his soul was whispered to the bundle that lay beneath his dying body.

"Good-bye my beloved son. My Beautiful Whirlpool I will see you soon."

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The toad is an impressive opponent, as it seems to be able to withstand large amounts of my chakra. Had I known one such as he existed I would have removed him from this plane long ago. But he seems to at last be tiring. Good. It would have been bothersome had this churl actually been able to hurt me. Too bad for him.

"SHIKI FUUJIN!"

THIS CANNOT BE! The God of Death has not made a contract with a mortal since the seven days of fire. But there he is with his hungry eyes looking right at me. What is this feeling in my gut? Is this...It IS! This is Terror. I do not wish to end. I do not Want to dissappe-...

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Sautobi Hiruzen looked upon the precious bundle upon his desk and realized that it represented all that remained of a great man and his unparalleled legacy, he had been reeinstated to the office of Hokage before the first rays of sulight had been able to pierce the smoky veil that blanketed the once great ninja city of Konohagakure. A city that had come out on top in the aftermath of not one but all three Great Shinobi Wars. He had been entrusted with the boys care, and he would see to it that he remained safe from those who would be his enemies. No one but himself, his now absent and grieving student Jiraiya, and young Mitarashi Anko, who had been the Shinobi unfortunate enough to bring him the news of the successors death as well as the child he now held in his arms would know of the boys terrible burden.

There had been a sealed scroll with his name on it that had been in the pocket of the Greatcoat that the Yondaime had worn to his final battle outlining what, and more importantly who the child was. It had been directly ordered to him as the Kuroi Senkou's last order that the child not be told of his parentage until he came of age, what percentage of his clans holding be awarded to charities to aid in the aftermath of the attack, and that the boys name was decided to be Uzumaki Naruto.

He looked down at the newborn and hoped with all of his heart and soul that as the child turned it's crimson eyes upon him and smiled that everything would turn out for the better, and the Will of Fire would continue to burn strongly in the breast of every citizen of Konohagakure.