A/N: REJOICE! YOU'VE GOT ANOTHER STORY! Alright ladies and gentlmen, good news and bad news. Good news first. I'm finally done with surgery for the time being- hurts like hell!-and I managed to put this up here at points between the forced anesthetic. Bad news is I still feel HORRIBLE. Still, best to be positive, right. Really. I'm hanging tough though, having just come out of the frying pan...now begins the long recovery! UUUUUGH! I'm on painkillers almost daily and I feel like crap, as to that effect. But nevertheless, despite this pesky little hiccup-I wanted to get word out any way I could, and since for some strange reason the site is being buggy, I wasnt able to work on this anywhere near as much as I would've liked. Still...

I really love you guys so much! *Cries*

So I'll skip the introduction, but might I advise you all to leave your assumptions behind you! This...is going to be one helluva story.

"You wanna make a lasting gesture? Build bridges. DON'T burn them..."

~?

Legacy

It was over.

Heaven and earth seemed to shake as the battle came to an end, the forces arrayed against her drawing back now as the jutsu took its hold.

Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, that almighty being which not even the mighiest could hope to oulast overlong, slowly crumpled to the ground. Madara's madness had long since left her, all that remained was a crushing sense of defeat, complete and total. She'd gained freedom from one host, only to be sealed in another hours later! Another Uzumaki! That brat of Kushina! A human infant, no less! The gall of such a thing rankled her to her very bones, and yet she was helpless to resist as her soul was tugged inward to her new vessel.

'Damn it!'

The earth shook one last time as the dead husk that was her body sunk into the earth. Her nine tails, which had once crushed mountains into pebbles and reduced lakes to puddles, now flopped listlessly around its body a mere shell of its former self. Trapped within the confines of her new home, the new seal, she could only gnash her teeth in anger and disgust. Not only had she been manipulated by an Uchiha-again-but now her brief moment of solidarity was over. Her havoc had ended; her reward fitting to match the destruction she had wrought.

The Kyuubi roared even louder; and the infant wailed with her to match her tenant's cries. This of course, irked the fox her to no end.

"Silence!" she roared, oddly enough the child quieted almost immediately. Those tiny, innocent blue eyes seemed to peer into her very soul...gah! Tsking, the great fox jerked her head aside, pressing her snout low to the ground of her new home. And still those guiless orbs gazed up at her. A part of her-a very small part!-was almost tempted to reach out and comfort the babe. Kurama dismissed that thought almost immediately, of course, but she filed away the sentiment for later use.

"Hrmph." still she mused, peering at her host through the veiled bars of her new prison. "At least you know when to listen."

Sarutobi Hiruzen of course failed to see this silent communion between the two, just as he failed to realize the consequence this would reap years down the road. And why shouldn't he? He and all his ninja were focused on the fox's decarying corpse firsthand, to busy marveling at it to ponder such things. Many of the clan heads did as well. And how could they not? The demon was dead! Defeated!

The village was saved!

Hiashi Hyuuga was of a similair if not like mind; in his eyes anyone who could fell such a mighty demon was truly worthy of the highest praises. But his Byakugan revealed to him the jutsu for what it truly was, in that instant the beast's very essence had been drawn forth from its body and into the child. But not just any child. This was the child of the Yondaime. The very same man who had already saved his life, and those of countless others today on the battlefield today; sacrificing his own life to seal the beast back from whence it had come. To seal the Kyuubi in one's own child...it took fortitude that he himself did not possess.

But what was this?

There, amidst the dust and the debris; someone was moving. Not the fox...but a person?

Somehow, despite the fact that his soul had since been claimed by the Shinigami, Minato Namikaze was still standing. There, clutched tightly in his arms, a tiny bundle. Perhaps the God of Death had elected to give him a few extra seconds in this realm. Perhaps it was another-the last-of the many miracles the man had pulled off during his lifetime. Whatever the case might be, those trembling arms had just enough strength left to pull the child inward instead of outward, cradling her crying form against his chest. This gestured, and the words that followed, did not go unnoticed.

"My daughter." it was barely a breah, the most naked of whispers. "Naruko...

He turned to face the Third, the look in his eyes said it all.

"Minato...

"No time." the man grunted, already his world was going black; it was a testament to his own will that he still remained in this world. "Promise me you'll take care of her, Hiruzen. The villagers...have to know...she isn't to blame...Kushina's chakra...inside her...needs to know...promise me." he was almost desperate, those blue orbs imploring his predecessor to carry out his final wish.

"I...

"Promise me!"

"The Hyuuga shall swear by your words, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi started as Hiashi interposed himself beside the ailing kage, his grim visage a silent testament to the thoughts dancing behind those pale eyes. Whatever might he be thinking, making a move like this? And with the very village watching no less...

"Your child shall stand under my clan's protection for all of her days." he finished quietly, shooting a withering glance in Sarutob's direction. "With or without the Hokage's aid."

The Yondaime offered a wan smile; it was a tired, weary thing, that one. Shaking from head to toe, he profffered his only daughter into the man's arms. Hiashi accepted her awkwardly, half-expecting the infant to burst into tears at any moment; his wife was better suited to such tender matters...not he! But nevertheless he saw it as his duty to carry out the oath he had given. After all, were it not for this child cradled in his arms they would not have won the day. Not without heavy casualties at any rate.

"I will do my best, m'lord."

He received a nod for his efforts.

"Now...I go to my rest." the kage gazed upon his progeny and sighed, eyes drooping shut for the final time. Now he could rest.

"My daughter...

Minato barely managed to choke out the words, weak as he was. And then he was gone, his soul forever claimed by the Shinigami, his body toppling to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. He quitely hoped that their final wish-his and Kushina's-would be honored, but a small part of him feared they would not.

And yet they would be heard. Not just by the Sandaime and Hiashi...but, by all. It would be those very words spoken here before the whole of Konoha, that changed the life of this little bundle. Two simple words-a declaration that not even the most drunken of fools could deny. Two words, a declaration that would forever set his offspring not down the path of a pariah, but on a journey fraught with danger and deception. She would be hunted, by enemy and ally alike, blessed by some, scorned by others.

But at the end of it all, she would known love. One as warm as the sun, another as fierce as any storm, and still another deeper than darkest depths of the oceans.

She would be...

Unbroken.

A/N: And there ya be! Despite my illness, I was so fixated on the idea that a review suggested to me...that of a female Naruto-Naruko in this case. Honestly, I Wanted to try my hand at it. I mean, I have never, to my knowledge tried to focus a story on a female version of him before! EVER! Add to that the idea of her containing both halves of the Kyuubi's chakra, actually being recognized as Minato and Kushina's heir instead of that little pariah we all know and love...

So in the Immortal Words of Atlas...

...Review Would You Kindly?

R&R! =D