Prologue

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"Uzumaki."

Red hair flashing, she looked up, her green eyes piercing into the crowd to find the one who had said her name. The voice was dark and deep, cool and threatening. A shiver ran down her spine like icy water, chilling her to the bone; she knew that voice. It haunted her nightmares, her memories, every drifting subconscious moment behind closed eyelids. A mere moment of searching later, she spotted them. They were far in the back of the crowd of cheering well-wishers, both wearing crisp black suits and staring silently at her, side by side. Her hand automatically gravitated to her hip, where she kept a pistol belted at her side even over the frilly white wedding dress. Just as she was about to draw and take aim for his head, witnesses or no witnesses, the taller one nodded to her once, head dipping a mere inch, and they both turned and stalked away. Kushina watched after them, eyes narrow and heart pounding in her chest. It was a reminder, it had to be. But what were they waiting for?

"Kushina?"

At the sound of her new husband's voice, she turned her head and looked into his eyes, brilliant blue as two sparkling gems, or fragments of a sky on a sunny summer day. Her panic must have shown on her too-pale face or her clammy, shaking hand as it hovered by her gun holster. Maybe he heard the blood rushing through her body too quickly, the adrenaline summoned at the voice that still echoed around her head as a quiet, incessant whisper – this was the Police Captain, after all.

"Is everything alright?" he asked, and his voice was warm and as sweet as honey. She shook herself from the memory of his worried, drawn face, his gun in his hand and a trail of dead bodies behind him as he leaned over her, stretched on the hospital bed and wrists shackled to the steel bar, blue eyes dark and shadowed and voice shaking and cold as he asked the same question. Her hand quickly found his and squeezed it tight, so small and seeking comfort in his larger one that just wrapped around hers so easily, and she leaned against him with a weak smile.

"It will be, darling."

-.- -.- -.- -.- -.-

"Minato." Her hand reached out, shaking, hovering mid-air, as the other one clutched the hospital bed and he leaned over her with his worried, drawn face and his gun drawn and pointed at the door, his blue eyes shadowed. Her voice cracked. "Minato…"

"Kushina!" He gripped it in his free hand with bone-breaking force, but she didn't care. Didn't care as he held it to his lips and kissed it desperately, because she could only stare at his face, could only search for his eyes with her wide, sharp green ones. She ignored the pain, her breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Minato, I want you to stay. I want you to stay with him."

"I'm sorry Kushina, but that's not going to happen."

She clung to the fact that his voice wasn't shaking, wasn't cold. It was still warm and firm and full of love. She closed her eyes against the tears. "Minato," she choked out.

"Shh…" He kissed her hand again. "Don't think about it. Look at me."

And she couldn't do anything else, not when he used that voice, the one that commanded hundreds of gun-wielding men and women. His blue eyes pierced into her, and suddenly, her pounding heart calmed a little.

"It'll be alright," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear. "It will be, darling. It will."

She couldn't look away from those bright blue eyes, shimmering with unshed tears. They snapped up to the doctor, and narrowed with the frustration he didn't let himself direct at her. "Hurry up, Tsunade-san, we don't have all night! Or do you want them to barge in in the middle of the operation?"

"I'm sorry Captain Minato," the middle-aged woman panted, breathless. "I'm working as fast as I can!" A drop of sweat dripped off her forehead and onto the crisp white hospital sheets. "But I've never had to perform a C-section while trying not to set off an unstable genetic bomb before! It takes some time!"

Minato clutched Kushina's hand to his forehead as he hung his head and forced himself to take several deep breaths, right hand and the gun in it still pointed unwaveringly at the door as if expecting an intruder at any second. "I'm sorry," he finally sighed. "That was unfair of me to say. Please, hurry. You don't know how many lives are on the line here."

Tsunade's mouth tightened into an unhappy line. "I only came back here for you, Captain. You know I think the rest of this city can rot in-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Tsunade," Minato growled, standing up. "Don't you even dare. I would give anything for this city. I would give my life."

Tears sprang in the doctor's eyes, but she ignored them as she worked. She was silent for several long seconds, her hands moving deftly and swiftly over the red-head's bloody mess of a stomach. The hospital room fell silent, the oppressive weight of the air sinking in around the three inhabitants.

Kushina screamed.

"Tsunade!" Minato yelled.

"No, it's alright! The baby is here!" The blonde doctor looked ready to faint, clutching the naked lump in her arms. "I'm sorry, Kushina, I'm sorry, you've been so good about not screaming…"

"Stop, Tsunade," Kushina huffed, managing a good-natured chuckle. "Men don't know how to handle it when we females are in pain. They don't understand what we go through, eh?"

The two people standing in the room stared down at the woman in the hospital with eyes filled with tears, wondering silently how she managed to laugh at a time like this.

The door burst open, gun first.

"Run, Tsunade." The order was calm, but Minato had already shot the intruder the moment the doorknob had turned, and he had his wife, bloody stomach and hospital dress and all, gathered in his arms. He was halfway out the door, holding Kushina against one shoulder with his right arm as he pointed his gun in front of him with his other. He cast one glance over his shoulder to the numb older woman, his big blue eyes filled with regret and a smoldering passion. "Run."

She nodded once, eyes burning, and took off into the adjoining room. She looked down at the babe still held against her chest, who was oddly silent. Panicking, she grabbed his tiny wrist as she ran and held a finger against it, her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. She stumbled, almost collapsing with relief as she felt the tiny pulse, cradling the child closer to her. Against all odds, he was alive.

-.- -.- -.- -.- -.-

The light was blindingly bright, the hanging lamp shining directly onto her face. Her dirty fingernails dug into the mattress and she turned her head away.

"Get the anesthetic," the dark, deep, cool voice ordered.

A shuffle as another hurried to obey. "Anesthetic."

"Intravenous tube… needle…"

They pricked her arm in the crook of her elbow and tears sprung to her eyes as she flinched away. "You bastards!" she screamed, straining against the handcuffs that held her in place. "Stop it! I don't want to be a mutant!"

"Stop your screaming, little Uzamaki. You're the perfect person for our new experiment. You should be honored, really. Out of all the students in your class, we chose you.Aren't you proud?"

"Proud?!" she screeched. "That my genes are malleable enough for you? Get the fuck away from me, you creeps! Help! Anyone, please help!"

A quiet sigh filled the room. "Knock her out."

"Yes, sir."

In the dark room, the white light swung back and forth.

-.- -.- -.- -.- -.-

"Minato, go back, go back… please…" Kushina sobbed. "You don't have to die for me!"

He stared out the windshield, eyes flint and steel. "Stop it, Kushina."

"Minato! What about Naruto?"

His eyes narrowed, but he refused to look at her. "Naruto has all our old friends. He doesn't need either of us. Besides… I have to do this. Not for you, not for the city." He swallowed and squared his jaw. "I'm not doing this for anyone but him."

There was a screech of tires and he screamed, "Get down!" Kushina obeyed without a moment's hesitation, ducking as he shot over her head and through the passenger window of the car. Three bullets later, she straightened, wielding her own pistol, and leaned forward to shoot right past his face at the car on the other side. Panting hard, they both darted a glance into the rearview mirror to the burning crashes they had left behind.

"I don't understand," the beautiful red-head muttered, but her tears were dry and her eyes hard. "If they want to blow me up, why send them after us? Why not just detonate it now?"

"It's not just you they want dead," Minato explained, his voice deadpan. "They want to blow up the whole city. We're probably about leaving the range for which it would inflict damage… they want to drag you back. I'm surprised he would waste this many people for it, though." He sighed, and added under his breath, so softly she barely heard, "He should know me well enough by now to understand I would never let them get to you."

Kushina watched him, her expression desperate confusion and pain. "But why not just drop a bomb, then? Why go through all this trouble? Why did they need a pawn?!"

"What you're suggesting lacks subtlety," Minato spat. "You know he wouldn't want to go for anything that obvious. This way they get away with it, they get to go on living and trying to destroy everything. This way isn't traceable back to any of them."

"That's not true!" Kushina yelled, slamming her hands on the dashboard, and the flash of pain in her eyes at the movement went unannounced in the car. Air roared past them through the shattered windows. "You know who it was, and I do…" She trailed off, her green eyes growing wide. Minato's jaw clenched as she put her head in her hands, red hair covering her face.

"Everyone else is dead," she murmured.

"And we're about to be," Minato finished for her.

There was a moment's pause, and the sound of the rushing wind filled the car.

"I love you," she whispered.

He looked at her once, nothing more than a quick glance before he turned his eyes to the road that snaked before him. He held out his hand, palm up, inviting. She held it between both of hers, pressing it between her knees and her forehead as she curled into fetal position, gasping from the pain in her abdomen. "I love you more, Kushina."

And had she looked, his face would have been relaxed, his gun dropped unceremoniously on the seat between them, his eyes crystal clear. As it was, she only heard his voice, warm and firm and sweet as honey.

"It'll be alright, Naruto," she assured the air around her.

The speedometer ticked up to 95.

The clock struck midnight.

The car exploded.

A/N: Hello and welcome on the ride.

I have had this story planned in reserve for a considerable amount of time and have finally decided to write it. This prologue is separate from the main story line both time-wise and, to some extent, style-wise. If you're confused, try not to worry and persevere through to the end - where I promise everything will make absolute sense.

You can check my profile for more information about my updating days that I will TRY to uphold for this story, with absolutely no guarantees. A big thanks to my friend OutAndOdder for beta-ing this for me now and then.

On a side note, this is not a NaruSasu fic. They are practically brothers. Pairings will be revealed with time.

Sorry for the long author's note. Read and Review, please!