AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own Naruto. This is my second attempt at a Fanfiction so please read and review. Did you love it, did you hate it, that kind of stuff.
Student of the Fox
October tenth, it was a day that the Yondaime Hokage knew would live forever in infamy. This was the day that the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon had attacked the Village Hidden in the Leaves. This was the day that he would sacrifice his soul to save the people that he had come to love, the villagers, his sensei, Jiraiya, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, his wife Kushina Uzumaki, and, most of all, his newborn son, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze.
Minato Namikaze stood atop a toad the size of a large mansion and viewed the path of destruction that was left in the Fox's wake. He knew what had to be done, and, oh, how he hated himself for it, but that masked man had taken away his choice when he had torn the Fox from Kushina's belly. He felt one hundred years older in that single moment, he felt the weight of untold years that he would be giving up with his son, felt the guilt of the burden that he was forcing upon his newborn child, and, worst of all, felt the agony of growing up without a father all over again, because he knew that that was the life that he was leaving his son to. He could only hope that Naruto would, even could, forgive him in time.
"Gamabunta, it's time to end this."
"Alright, Minato, but I hope you know that I hate this."
"I do, Gama, I do." And with that the enormous toad leaped into the air. The giant fox could sense the arrival of a more powerful opponent and turned to face them, instantly it began to gather a giant white fire ball in its mouth that only grew larger as the seconds went by. "Brace yourself, Gama!"
"FOX FIRE!" Roared the beast as a seemingly endless stream of white hot flame shot from its maw towards the toad and its summoner.
"WATER STYLE: WATER BULLETS" And with the shout from the toad enormous volumes of water burst from its mouth and fired straight into the blaze. Gamabunta continued to do this for what seemed like hours, receiving many burns along the way but mostly keeping the fire at bay. and as the flames finally seemed to die down both Gamabunta and Minato went wide eyed at what was before them. The Fox, with its head turned skyward and its jaws opened as it to devour its next meal, had gathered a black ball of compressed chakra the size of Gamabunta, and even then it was rapidly getting bigger.
"This isn't good! Bunta, I need you to throw me at the fox, now!"
"Are you insane?!"
"JUST DO IT!" And with that Gamabunta took his summoner into his webbed hand and threw him with all his might towards the King of all Demons. Minato, only had a split second to act, pulling two three pronged kunai knives from the pouch on his hip he lobbed one in the opposite way of the village towards the hiding place in which his son was born. It was a risk the biggest risk that he had ever, and would ever take, but it had to be done to save the village. As he came closer to the Fox he held the other kunai in both hands and waited for the exact moment when he made contact with its body, and in an instant later, that moment came, along with Minato's call of, "FLYING THUNDER GOD!"
It was an instantaneous thing, one second he was just on the outskirts of the village and the next he was miles away with a very angry demon lord who was ready to fire his most devastating attack.
"BIJUUDAMA!" and with the call came a blinding flash of white light, a teeth chattering explosion, and an ear splitting roar that lasted for almost three minutes. When the blast had finally stopped and Minato had cleared his vision, what he saw was both awe inspiring, and terrifying. A large swath of earth and forest was gone leaving only a blackened and burning crater in the ground that was a mile wide and two miles long. The Fox itself seemed tired, as if that attack had taken a lot of effort on his part, and Minato knew that it was now or never. Using the same technique that he had used to bring the beast to this place he appeared in a hospital like room where he could see his wife laying on the bed being attended to by the best medical ninja that the Leaf Village had to offer at the moment, Tsunade Senju.
"Will she live?" Minato asked.
"I believe so, if we can keep her safe from the Fox. She's waking up now if you want to talk to her."
"I don't have much time, I just needed to know that she would be there for Naruto. Where is he?"
"In the crib by the wall." Minato was there with a flash, and gone with one as well.
Standing atop the mountain in which was the room that Kushina had given birth, Minato held his son in his arms for the first time while watching as the Fox slowly came to 100 percent once more.
"Naruto, I know that you can't understand me, but I want you to know that I love you, with all my heart I swear that I love you and your mother, but I have to do something, and that something will take me away from the two of you, and I'm so sorry for that."
With those words to his son, Minato set down the bundle in his arms onto the ground, and flashed through a series of hand signs so fast that even a man with the Sharingan would be hard pressed to keep up with. "DEAD DEMON SEAL!" There was a blinding flash of light as Minato summoned the Death God, Shinigami, and forcefully ripped the Nine-Tailed Fox's soul from its body, and sealed it within his son. It lasted all of five seconds, and then the light vanished as did the Fox's body. Minato smiled at that and fell to his knees, his strength gone, but he wouldn't die yet, no he would wait, wait for someone to come for his son, and until then he would stay at Naruto's side.
-SotF-
Hiruzen Sarutobi, hurried up the mountain side towards the epicenter of the brilliant light that flashed, taking the Demon Fox with it. With less than a quarter of the distance to the top remaining, the Third Hokage heard the cries of an infant, and he picked up his pace. There could only be one explanation for the sound, the son of Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze.
When he reached the top of the mountain he was witness to the one thing he had hoped to never see, his successor was prostrate on the ground barely clinging to life, and next to him was a little baby boy.
"Hiruzen, hurry, my time here is short!" Minato called out, but it was more of a whisper. "I need you to take care of my Naruto for me, Hokage-sama, I want him to know everything about me that you can tell him, if Kushina doesn't pull through. He's the real hero here today."
"Minato, you know that the villagers will never except him as your son. No matter what I tell them, he will always be the Nine-Tailed Fox in their eyes."
"Then don't tell them that he holds the Fox! Where is Kushina, where is my wife, Saru?"
Hiruzen held his head down to the ground, completely averting his gaze from the dying form of Minato. "I'm sorry, Minato, but Danzo got to her first and told her that the sealing process had killed you both. She died of grief not ten minutes ago."
Tears flowed from Minato's eyes when he heard this and he held his baby boy close to his chest, and with what little strength he had left whispered to the infant, "I'm so, so sorry my son" and with the very last of any effort that he would ever give on this earth he pushed his remaining chakra into Naruto's seal, and passed away.
The moment Minato's soul left his body Naruto went silent, and Hiruzen went to the boy to offer some comfort, to the baby or himself he did not know, but it was comfort none the less. However, as soon as he looked at the boy he was on high alert, for he did not possess the cool ocean blue eyes of his father, nor the calming yet fierce gold eyes of his mother, but deep blood red eyes with slitted pupils, reminiscent of a feral beast. They drew in Sarutobi like a moth to flame and the next thing he knew he was standing in a blank space with no walls, no doors, no windows, no escape, but as he continued his observation of his surroundings a three story gate appeared in front of him, and with it a voice, "HUMAN, COME OVER HERE! WE HAVE A FEW THINGS TO DISCUSS I BELIEVE!"
Sarutobi, would have soiled his pants right then and there if he hadn't remembered that the Fox was indeed sealed away, and, feeling a little brave at that fact called back at the Fox, "Why should I? What could you possibly do to me in here? This is not the outside world, it's a mindscape, not even your mind, Demon Fox. So, tell me why I should comply."
"BECAUSE IT CONCERNS THE FUTURE AND DEVELOPMENT OF MY NEW VESSEL, YOU PITIFUL, ANCIENT APE!"
That got Hiruzen's attention, "What about Naruto's future?"
"OH, SO NOW YOU'RE INTERESTED! JUST AS WELL THIS IS A SERIOUS MATTER. WHAT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU IS THAT I WILL BE TRAINING THIS BOY PERSONALLY FROM THE TIME HE IS OLD ENOUGH TO SPEAK!? I WILL ALSO DECIDE WHO WILL TRAIN HIM IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD, UNDERSTAND?"
"No, I cannot allow the boy to be influenced by your evil. You will have nothing todo with the boy's life except in dire situations, and not even then if I can help it!"
"WHILE I LIKE THE FACT THAT YOU WANT MY JAILOR TO BE STRONG ENOUGH TO DEFEND HIMSELF WITHOUT ME, YOU ARE STILL ONLY SIXTY YEARS OLD AND THERE FOR I MUST CALL YOU A LITTLE BITCH! THE BOY WILL FACE POWERS THAT YOU CANNOT EVEN COMPREHEND! SUCH POWERS THAT COULD ROB ME OF ANY AND EVERY OUNCE OF WILL THAT I POSSESS! I WISH TO CONTINUE LIVING, AND TO DO THAT MY VESSEL MUST LIVE AS WELL, SO UNDERSTAND THAT I AM NOT TRYING TO INFLUENCE HIM, I'm trying to help him."
-SotF-
It was some three hours later that Hiruzen Sarutobi came out of the trance that the Fox had placed him in. They had reached a consensus and it seemed the most reasonable. The Fox would take care of his developement until he reached seven years of age at that point the Fox would choose a master for the boy to apprentice under while continuing to train him in ways that only the Demon could. Sarutobi chuckled to himself, if the plan worked the way that the two of them thought it would the Leaf village would have an ally that could topple mountains with a swing of his arm.
Talking with the Fox had been beneficial and the wealth of information was most welcome. That wasn't to say that he and the Fox were now on friendly terms, no, at most they were two opposing entities that wished to achieve the same goal. The very thought amused Hiruzen to no end, but now there was work to be done.
Channeling chakra into a seal that he kept on his body he summoned three ANBU Black Ops officers to his location, and they had only just appeared when he started to bark out orders, "Lion, take care of the Lord Fourth's body he deserves a hero's burial for his actions here. Bear, as of right now I have taken up the mantle of Hokage once again, I need you to spread the word. Make sure everyone in the village is informed. Dog, come with me I shall need your help with my next task. DISMISSED!"
The two ANBU officers that Hiruzen had ordered away were gone then in two swirls of leaves leaving only the Hokage, the ANBU, codenamed Dog, and a squirming bundle of blankets that helpd the sleeping form of Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze on the mountain top.
"Dog, what we are about to do is considered an A class village secret, and concerns the child of your late sensei, so drop pretense, Kakashi, we need to get a few plans into motion."
Well there you go, please remember to review. PaladinKing, signing off.