(Prologue- 6 years ago)
The trees rustled slightly in the breeze. Then, nothing. After taking a moment to confirm that there was no one nearby, the silhouette gracefully leapt out of the tree. Long hair shielded his features as the man stood up to his full height of 1.8 metres. Slitted pupils stared at the family of three. What looked like eyeliner outlined the man's eyes as a twisted grin hung across his lips.
"Kukuku. What a lucky day it is. "
(An hour earlier)
Orochimaru had been working on some experiments in his underground lab, when loud explosions wrecked the place. Countless of precious samples were destroyed in an instant, enraging the man. Annoyed, Orochimaru had stalked out of his lab, only to find a monstrous fox several times his size, directly above where his lab was. To think the famous Kyuubi no Kitsune would appear right at his doorstep. Orochimaru had little time to question its appearance, before the hateful combination of yellow against blue appeared within his vision. Orochimaru's features twisted into a distasteful sneer, but was soon replaced with cruel delight.
Orochimaru chuckled evilly. What better way to enact his revenge against the cursed blonde than to slowly enjoy his demise. Now if he could only engrave this memory, Orochimaru wistfully considered in almost childish delight as he slipped into the shadows of the trees, enjoying the fight from the sidelines. Throughout the battle, Orochimaru could hardly hold back his delight.
"Truly, how perfect. Not only can I be rid of the damned blonde, hopefully the useless blonde would at least tire out the demon fox. Then… Kukuku." Orochimaru chuckled under his breath, already making plans to swoop in and steal the Kyuubi for himself in his excitement. Although Orochimaru wasn't entirely sure poisons and the like would work on it, Orochimaru did have a few test subjects to at least seal the fox in. Nothing fancy of course, since all he wanted was to temporarily store the Kyuubi for future experiments.
Orochimaru's attention was quickly brought back to the battlefield, as the battle reached its climax.
Minato no longer had the energy to suppress the pain from the gaping hole in his gut, an earlier injury by the Kyuubi's claws. Leaning past Kushina's still body, Minato brought a shaky finger to draw a seal on Naruto's forehead.
"As your father, I am a failure… for condemning you to a life of pain… The least I can do is leave you this seal...If it's the villagers I know and love... they will overcome the darkness in their hearts… accept you and love you as a hero... But, as humans... it is possible that the darkness overcomes them. At least with this seal... even if you are stripped of your life as a girl... you can at least live as a boy... but only should the need to arise." Minato truly believed in his fellow villagers and was thus unwilling to let his daughter grow up thinking that she was a boy.
Minato somehow managed to squeeze out some of his chakra as he channelled it into the seal, giving Naruto the knowledge of how to activate the seal. Whispering his final words, Minato greedily took in the sight of his beloved daughter for what he knew was the last time, as he turned to look at his now dead wife. Planting a small but firm kiss to Kushina's cold lips, Minato finished the sealing.
"Hakke no Fuuin!"
Minato could feel the final traces of his chakra leave his battered body, which had long since surpassed its limit.
Before I forget… Naruto. I- We, will always love… you…
Lacking the strength to articulate his message, Minato's thoughts sluggishly drew to an end. Distantly, Minato could feel his body falling, as the darkness enveloped him.
(Present time)
The blonde had finally breathed his last.
"His refusal to die is much like a cockroach, how unamusing." Orochimaru's sneer grew more pronounced as he prodded the body with a foot. No response. Satisfied, Orochimaru pried the sleeping lump of flesh from the blonde's iron grip.
"However, his spawn on the other hand, is interesting. In fact,"Orochimaru noted with a rising glee. "As much as I am loathe to admit it, it has the blood of strong clans flowing in its veins. If I consider the Uzumaki's hardiness and finesse with seals, and factor in the Namikaze clan's speed, the brat will grow up to be a most useful test subject. Perhaps, if honed well, I could use it as a minion or a possible body candidate. Of course, only if it possesses a female's body. And with the Kyuubi added in the mix… If this thing is not female, I will make it one."
Orochimaru's mind worked in overdrive, contemplating the many evils and experiments he could do on it. However, Orochimaru quickly snapped back to attention, as he scanned his surroundings one last time. After discovering nothing of interest, Orochimaru disappeared from the clearing with the child.
By the time Sarutobi and his men had arrived, all traces of Orochimaru had already faded. Sarutobi allowed a single tear to roll down his face. Bending down, he dragged a hand across Minato's and Kushina's eyes, shutting them. Sarutobi's gaze was filled with grief as he gave them once last look, before resolutely ordering the ANBU to take them away.
As the men left the clearing, it regained its original state of tranquility. Years flashed by, and the "Kyuubi's Massacre" soon became no more than a childhood tale that spoke of the Yondaime's courage and his sacrifice.
(Current year)
A sudden chakra flare shook the underground lab as it expanded like an earthquake throughout Konoha. Everywhere, people were screaming in shock and fear. Even civilians who could not sense chakra understood- the Kyuubi Massacre was happening again.
Back in the lab, Orochimaru was not faring any better. He recoiled from the source of the terror. The killer intent was overpowering him.
"Oh shit." Cursing was completely out of Orochimaru's character and that meant one thing- shit was actually going down.
The body on the operating table trashed wildly in pain. Orochimaru had injected another weird concoction into her, and despite the anaesthesia taking effect, it still hurt like hell. Worse than hell. This wasn't the first time the anaesthesia had failed on Naruto, but it was the first time she had felt this much physical pain. It was like every single blood vessel in Naruto's body, even the ones she didn't know about, had lava pumped through it instead of blood. And it was flowing too thick. Too fast. Distant screams filled Naruto's ears. Had she been in less pain, she might have stopped to realise those were her screams. However, the pain left no room for such frivolity.
Naruto's body trashed even more wildly. A coat of visible, orange chakra was forming over Naruto, like a second layer of skin. To Orochimaru's mounting horror, stumps of chakra that looked like tails were rapidly growing out of Naruto's rear end, swinging violently in show of her pain. Before Orochimaru could reign in his shock, 6 whole tails had grown and it didn't look like it was anywhere near the end. Without wasting another second, Orochimaru pushed past the doctors to his office.
Time was of essence. Although it was a pity Orochimaru could not take his favourite test subject without having the whole of Konoha chasing him to the ends of the world, he would at least be able to take his precious documents. There was no way that Orochimaru would leave his life's worth of research to be discovered by the peace-loving buffoons in Konoha or worse, the one-eyed lunatic Danzo. Those people would never appreciate it, and even if they did, they were bound to use it for stupid reasons- reasons so beneath Orochimaru that he would never even consider them.
If Naruto had thought the pain earlier was bad, she had been mistaken. The pain was soaring to unimaginable heights. It felt like her skin had been seared off repeatedly, no doubt leaving her flesh a bloody red. The pain eclipsed all of Naruto's mental functions, as it finally drew her away from reality. Was she finally dying?
Drip. Drip. A wet liquid dripped onto Naruto's face.
Naruto groaned in displeasure. Slowly, she opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. "Oh hell! I didn't die."It was an odd thought to entertain, but that just showed how unbearable Naruto's life had been.
"Looks like Kurama-sama decided I wasn't beyond saving. Might as well go find him I guess."
Not being one to waste time, Naruto deftly maneuvered her way around the sewer passages. Even though the sewers were a mental reflection of Naruto's state of mind, she really could not get used to the stench. Thankfully, it was over all too soon as Naruto came to a perfect rest in front of a large set of bars. The giant fox was already waiting for her, its large head resting on its paws as it lay as close to the front of the cage as it could. Upon seeing its favourite blonde arriving, Kurama raised its head. "Brat! Who do you think you are, making me wait!"
At least the blonde had the nerve to look guilty, as Naruto rubbed her hand against the back of her neck. "Sorry, Kurama-sama. I thought I was dead for a moment there."
Kurama simply brushed Naruto's apologies aside, as it got down to business. "Hmmph, you aren't but you will be." Before Naruto could cut the great bijuu off mid-speech, it continued without so much as a pause. "To be more exact, you were dying. You had a bad reaction to whatever the snake injected into you, but since you tapped into my chakra, you're now out of danger. Though, last I checked, you were starting to grow an 8th tail."
As if in response to Kurama's words, the cage gave an eerie creak.
"... And I guess growing 8 tails is bad?"
The hinges of the cage were now groaning ominously, the sounds only getting louder.
"Very."
The cage was now slightly open, forming a gap just big enough to fit the average male adult.
"... So what's going to happen?" Naruto asked hesitantly, already fearing the worst. It did not help that the usually arrogant-bastard-of-a-kyuubi was unnaturally subdued, as if it was resigned to whatever fate that was coming. This frightened Naruto more than anything, as she mustered her guts and repeated her question.
".. If you're lucky, the ANBU and the hokage, that would no doubt come, would be more than enough to subdue you. Or things could get worse and you'll end up killing the whole village." Naruto paled at this. Her body suddenly felt unnaturally heavy as Naruto sunk to the ground, not noticing the slight splash of the water. "That… That can't be." Naruto's voice was thin. Too thin. "There… There must be some way! S-Something we can do!" Naruto's mind was numb, slow to process.
Kurama eyes rested on the broken figure before it turned away. Kurama simply shook its head sadly.
On a normal occasion, Kurama would have rejoiced in the killings. Relished in it even. However, Kurama had grown fond of its current host, even if it refused to admit so, and Kurama knew how sensitive she could get about killing.
Killing scared Naruto.
And when Naruto did kill, it left her as a broken mess. With Kurama's limited understanding of humans, it was unable to help her. And some part of the Kurama ached each time it saw Naruto hollowly respond "It's okay, I am fine". Thus, Kurama did its best to help Naruto avoid killing, killing in her place whenever he could. However, Naruto was just too kind. Even if Naruto had technically not been in control when committing the act, Naruto truly believed that it was her fault since it was her body doing it. During all the previous times, Naruto had only personally killed one person. But now, if Naruto were to decimate the whole village, there was no way she would come out from this fine.
"N-No, I have to do so-something."Even though Naruto knew it was hopeless, Naruto could not stop herself from trying to use her puny body to hold the gates together. Tears were streaming down Naruto's face fast, as the space between the gates only continued to grow larger, unhindered.
"Why does nothing ever work out?" Naruto threw her head back as she all but screamed.
All of a sudden, almost as if it was a gift sent by god, the gates stopped opening before it slammed shut. Stunned by the sudden turn of events, Naruto scanned her surroundings. Naruto's eyes eventually landed on a blonde male. On his shoulders rested a flowing cape that read "Yondaime Hokage".
Almost as if too afraid to believe that the disaster had been avoided, Naruto's gaze remained riveted on the gates. After who knows how long, Naruto was sufficiently reassured that the worst had come to pass. Relief washed over her in waves.
"It's over! I'm not going to kill people! It's over!" Unable to suppress her relief, Naruto cheered loudly in her happiness, until a soft 'thud' behind her caught her attention.
Fear replaced Naruto's previous relief as the sudden realisation of a stranger in her mind struck Naruto. And what was worse was the fact that Yondaime wasn't any stranger, he was the Yondaime Hokage- a dead man! Well, at least his coat said he was. And all the knowledge forced upon Naruto's brain confirmed that only the Yondaime Hokage had a coat as flamboyant as this- in the exact shade of orange and yellow, in the exact wording.
Cautiously, Naruto turned around, all five senses straining to catch the slightest change.
"… I guess you're feeling very confused right now. How about I take you somewhere else for a nice long talk? We're not going to be as productive with that unfriendly fox around." The Yondaime's voice was gentle as he calmly joked, evidently unafraid of the caged bijuu.
"It's fine if we talk here. Kyuubi-sama will only interfere if he has to." Naruto firmly rejected his offer without hesitation. Naruto once again adopted the Kyuubi's common name, knowing that the fox was selective in who could call it, or even know it, by its true name.
The Yondaime gritted his teeth, as his eyes narrowed dangerously at the respectful address. "You're familiar with the Kyuubi? Naruto, you shouldn't get too close to it or else you might get tricked. The Kyuubi is cunning, so it might use you to free itself."
"Kyuubi-sama isn't like that! Even though he can be mean at times, he's the only one who treats me nicely! Besides, how do I know you're not just badmouthing Kyuubi-sama so that I'll trust you over Kyuubi-sama? I don't even know you but you know my name."
A complex expression settled on his face as he fell silent, a bitter smile tracing his lips. Before Naruto, he seemed to be having an internal war with himself. Naruto could see the flashes of emotions in his eyes, yet the only ones she registered with anger and worry. It puzzled Naruto why the Yondaime would feel any worry for her. Maybe guilt if one pushed it, but there was no reason really for him to worry about her.
Finally, the Yondaime seemed to have arrived at some decision as he sat himself on the sewer floor. The sudden movement startled Naruto as she visibly flinched. Naruto could not be blamed really, for no one would expect her to so easily warm up to a stranger.
"Fine, we won't move. Come sit here, I'll explain everything to you." The Yondaime patted the ground next to her, a warm smile on his face.
Instinctively, Naruto turned to look at Kurama. Naruto was unsure of what she should do, having always hated the Yondaime for making her suffer so much pain, even as she knew this had never been in his intentions. That and his aura made him seem trustworthy, and Naruto was slowly starting to trust him.
Although, only a little.
"Go to him." Kurama did not even bother to explain himself. "I'll give the both of you some privacy. Use the time I have given you wisely." With an arrogant air, Kurama simply turned around and stalked off deep into his cage, blatantly ignoring Naruto's cries calling it back.
As the final traces of Kurama disappeared within the darkness of his cage, Naruto understood that Kurama was serious. Despite her nervousness, Naruto had utter faith in Kurama and she apprehensively walked over to sit beside the smiling Yondaime.
With Naruto settled beside him, the Yondaime pondered out loud. "Now, where should I start?"
"How about from how you know me?" Naruto answered. She had not realised that the Yondaime's question was merely rhetorical.
The Yondaime looked stunned for a moment, before he quickly regained his senses. "From how I know you huh… Then I guess I'll just have to start from the beginning." The Yondaime smiled wistfully as he narrated to Naruto the story of his youth, and how he met her mother and everything else that happened up until the night of the Kyuubi attack.
"We were at our wits' end. Kushina's body was too weak from childbirth to hold the Kyuubi and I knew without a doubt that we couldn't just let the Kyuubi die, or another tragedy will begin when the Kyuubi is reborn into the world. After sealing the Kyuubi within you, we barely had time to say goodbye before we died." Minato sighed sadly, remembering how Kushina had died in his arms.
"But if it wasn't for that snake." Minato suddenly seemed to remember something as his hands clenched tightly into fists. "To think Orochimaru would make you into his test subject. I have failed you as a father, Naruto. Nothing I say will change anything but… for all it's worth, I'm so so sorry."
Minato's head was bowed, his fringe serving to shield his facial features from Naruto's vision. However, though Naruto might not have been able to see his face, she could clearly sense his anguish. Gently raising a hand to rest on Minato's shoulder, Naruto gently smiled.
"It's okay, I'm not upset or anything. In the past I did hate you because I thought you sealing Kyuubi-sama in me had sealed my fate, and any chances I had of happiness. But now I know better. In me, I carry you and Mama's hopes and dreams, and I'll definitely make you proud… Papa."
The last word was uttered so softly that Minato nearly missed it. "Papa… Can you repeat that, Naruto?"
"... Papa." Naruto's voice was slightly louder this time, even as an unmistakably red tinge coloured her cheeks.
Minato looked dumbstruck for an instant, before he cheered in joy. "Papa! You called me Papa!" Minato repeated dumbly, before he picked Naruto up and spun her around in circles, laughing all the while. Naruto was shocked for a few moments, before she too found herself laughing cheerfully at the excitement her dad was radiating.
Her dad. An hour ago, the word dad would have been such a foreign concept to her. She had thought of what it would be like to have a father, but it was not until this moment that she felt the true bliss of family. No amount of preparation would ever have made her ready for this moment.
A rather loud cough disturbed their moment of happiness. "I hate to burst your bubbles but there are shinobi approaching. Besides, the Yondaime will fade away soon enough so I suggest that the both of you properly say your farewells now."
"Fade away? What do you mean Papa will fade away?" Naruto asked confusedly. "Papa, are you leaving me?"
By then, Minato had stopped spinning Naruto as he guiltily evaded her eyes. "I'm sorry Naruto. I'm only a chakra residue left in your mind. The amount of chakra I have was already limited, and when it runs out…" Minato did not have to finish his thought since Naruto already understood. He was going to leave her. Again.
"No, no, no. No!" Naruto shouted, so suddenly that Minato nearly dropped her. "We just met! You can't just leave now. You- you can't just leave me alone again. There has to be a way, isn't there?"
Naruto stared into Minato's eyes as he gently lowered her onto the ground. Minato smiled bitterly, unable to bring himself to say a single word for fearing of crushing Naruto's spirits even further.
"Kurama-sama, there has to be a way! Wait, Papa is a chakra apparition right? How about I inject my chakra into him? Then he'll be able to continue living inside my head." With Naruto's head in a mess, Naruto subconsciously switched back to her usual form of addressing the Kyuubi.
"Brat, just give up. Your chakra is too impure. If you inject your chakra into the Yondaime, you'll only be killing him faster. Just say your goodbyes and move on."
"Then… Then if the chakra is pure, does that mean Papa will be able to live?" Naruto looked towards Kurama hopefully, not even trying to disguise her intentions. Kurama's face instantly contorted with disgust as it caught on.
"Give up on that thinking. I am the great Kyuubi no Kitsune. I WILL NOT give my chakra to an ant like the Yondaime under any circumstances."
"Please, Kurama-sama." Naruto knelt down before the gigantic figure in the cage, tears flowly freely from her eyes. "I beg you, please save my father. I will do anything in return. If you want, I can even release your seal and let you roam free again."
"Naruto!" Minato quickly ran to her side and pulled Naruto onto her feet. "Don't be so reckless. If you release the seal you'll die, and the Kyuubi definitely cannot be released under any circumstances. As soon as he is released, he'll be an easy target for Madara's Mangekyo, and we can't afford to let him be captured."
"INSOLENCE. Are you belittling the ability of the great me, Kyuubi?"
"You know as well as I do that the bijuus' natural enemy are the Mokuton and the Sharingan. The seal has some safety features designed to increase your resistance to the Mangekyo, so you'll at least be safer behind these bars than outside."
Kurama could only click his tongue in annoyance as he could not find a way to refute Minato's statement. As he returned his attention to the sobbing child at his feet, Kurama could only sigh in resignation. If he did not give into the child's whims this time, the rest of his days would be a pain and a lot of trouble.
"Fine, I will accede to your request just this once. Do not look to me for help in the future." At the same time as he stopped speaking, a current of red chakra entered into Minato's body. Minato could not help but grimace as it felt as if his entire body was on fire. Thankfully, it was over all too soon.
"The amount of chakra I have bestowed on you is limited, if not my chakra will take over your mind. Now stop bothering me." With a swish of its tail, Kurama retreated deep into his cage.
Naruto could not be bothered with Kurama for the time being as she ran over to check on her father. Only after making sure that Minato was alright did Naruto finally heave a sigh of relief.
It finally seemed like things were going well again.
A/N: I won't keep to a schedule for this story but I will try to upload at least one chapter per week! Also, reviews and useful criticisms are appreciated. Hope y'all will like this series :) On a sidenote, I'm trying a different take from the usual 'Orochimaru experiments on Naruto and creates a god mode Naruto' kind of story so hope it's not too confusing!