The moon was full, contrasting brilliantly against the black of the night. Tonight was such a beautiful night, despite what was happening in the village below the ebony sky. Hundreds of ninja were gathered in the middle of the woods, witnesses to a horrendous site.
A great fox demon was wreaking havoc in the woods not far from Konoha's gate. Ninjutsu of various styles were cast by the awaiting squads against the monster, only to be repelled by a mere swish of one of its powerful nine tails. The demon roared, causing anyone close enough to quake from the volume of the sound, only to be obliterated by the fox's chakra. It was no use. No matter what techniques were performed, weapons thrown or seals activated, nothing was stopping it. In the midst of this terror, however, the ninja still had faith that this monster could be destroyed. If it could not be destroyed by them, then by the strongest ninja in the village. Their leader, the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato. Doing their best to hold the Kyuubi at bay, they failed. The demon fox would reach the village in a matter of moments and there was nothing that they could do about it. Where was the Hokage?
The Hokage himself, actually, was fighting a battle on his own. Namikaze Minato was kneeling next to a bed, holding the hand of its occupant, a beautiful woman with short red hair. His wife, Uzumaki Kushina was in labor with their second child. A young girl stood to the right of the Yondaime outfitted in grey and black, a white and red kitsune mask pulled aside. She held a compress to the woman's head. The door to the sterile room slammed open and a masked ANBU ninja rushed into the room.
"Hokage-sama!" he panted. "We need you immediately! The Nine Tailed fox has moved past the blockade in the Eastern Forest" Minato sighed.
"I know, but…" Kushina squeezed his hand feebly, sweating with the effort of her labor
"You need to go. The village needs you Minato." The Hokage did not want to leave his wife like this, but he knew she was right.
"Kushina, are you going to be all right?"
She smiled weakly. "I'll be fine. You go and…. do what you must." Minato nodded and stood, kissing his beloved on the brow. He turned to the girl.
"Kei, you will stay here with your mother. Make sure she is safe and comfortable." Kei shook her head in defiance.
"Father! My place is out there fighting with you and the others!" Minato stared the girl down.
"You will stay here in this room and remain here until this situation is cleared. I will not risk a member of my family."
"But-"
"No buts!" The Yondaime ordered, turning his back and walking out of the room without another word. Kei slumped down in a chair next to the bed.
"Go." Kei lifted her head to find her mother smiling at her. "Go Kei, go fight. Don't worry about me. The midwives know what they are doing, and your father won't let the demon make it close enough to the village to cause serious harm." Kei lifted her spirits.
"Are you sure you'll be alright, oka-san?" Kei asked. Kushina smiled a pained smile.
"I am sure Kei, now go." Kei stood and ran towards the door. When she reached it she looked back.
"Be careful, mom." With that, she disappeared, leaving the door cracked in her absence.
Centering her chakra in the soles of her feet, Kei flew through the buildings of the village until she reached the East Gates. She saw the Kyuubi before she even got close to the clearing. The beast was huge, and that being put into simple terms. The monster toppled over the oldest trees in the woods, each and every one of its nine tails flailing about. Out of the corner of her eye, Kei caught sights of another creature, a gigantic toad with a pipe sticking out of its mouth. Kei gave a sigh of relief, her father was already here and fighting. The toad and the Nine Tailed Demon clashed and fought, each evenly matched. Kei moved in closer, running past teams of wounded and dead ninja, looking for her chance to attack. If her father could command such awesome power, than so could she as the Fourth's daughter. She got as close as she dared before unleashing her technique. Gathering chakra in her hands, Kei wove the energy into a sphere in her right hand.
"Rasengan!" She yelled as she unleashed the power towards the fox. The ball of chakra hit its target in a sensitive spot in the demon's front paw. The fox grimaced in pain and turned its monstrous head towards its attacker. Lifting a now bloody monstrous paw, the Kyuubi brought it down near the teen. Kei dodged the assault, but not get away unscathed. She screamed out in pain as two of the claws dug into her back, passing out as she hit the ground beneath her.
---
Not knowing what was stalled the fox, the Hokage, from the back of the toad took advantage of the distracted beast. There was a blinding flash of light and a chilling, otherworldly shriek.
"Shiki Fuujin!"
The Kyuubi howled in pain, and in an explosion of white light, it vanished. Minato collapsed on the Toad's back, panting, half-dead. His face looked like it could have belonged to a corpse, his hair hung lank, and his robe was torn. Yet he pushed himself up onto his feet.
"You beat the Kyuubi!" The toad blared.
"Thank you….friend…I couldn't have done it without you…" Minato said.
In a puff of smoke, the giant amphibian was gone, and Minato lay on the ground. The last thing he saw was a trio of ninja running towards him as he fell victim to the darkness.
The next thing he knew, Minato was lying in a hospital bed. When he went to sit up, he was pushed down. Looking up, he saw an aging ninja and a man with long white hair. Jiraiya, his sensei.
"YOU DID IT, BOY!" Jiraiya yelled. "You saved the village! You're a damn hero!"
"How is…Kushina?" Minato croaked. Jiraiya's face sobered.
"She is unconscious and very weak, but alive." Minato closed his eyes.
"Thank God. The child?" he asked.
"It's a boy," Jiraiya said, motioning to a medical ninja holding a small bundle of blankets. Inside was a sleeping baby with blonde hair. "He looks just like you," Jiraiya grinned. Minato searched around for a suitable name.
"Naruto," he said at last. "Uzumaki Naruto."
Jiraiya's brow creased. "Namikaze Naruto, you mean. A child always takes the name of his father."
"Not this time," Minato said. "I want him to have Kushina's name. My name will only be a source of shame for him now. I used…that."
His sensei's eyes widened in horror. Minato averted his gaze and turned to his sleeping son. He pulled the blankets back to reveal the baby's stomach, and gently placed a hand on it. A seal formed instantly around the navel, and the baby started to cry as whisker marks appeared on its face.
"Forgive me…Naruto…May the gods punish me for what I have just done." Turning towards the medical ninja, he asked "Where is Kei?" The ninja bowed her head in apology.
"We do not know. She must have departed not long after you did, Hokage-sama." Minato closed his eyes.
'Kei!' He thought to himself. 'Please be alright!' His breathing grew labored and ragged until he slowly faded and he fell back, his newborn son still held in his arms. Jiraiya leaned forward and closed Minato's eyes with a shaking hand.
"Rest in peace, Minato," he said. "In the end, we owe you and your son our lives." He carefully took the baby from the arms of his father. "What are we going to do?" he asked the second ninja, an old man by the name of Sarutobi, the villages former Hokage. The newly christened Naruto whimpered in Jiraiya's arms. He opened his eyes momentarily and then shut them tight again, but not before the two men could catch a glimpse of red in the cerulean orbs. Sarutobi looked grave.
"This boy has become a container of great power," he said. "We have to protect him from it until he can control it. I will care for him until he is able to fend for himself." A plume of smoke signaled the arrival of another ninja. From the plume, a boy around the age of sixteen emerged, carrying an unconscious Kei.
"Sensei!" The boy called, rushing over to the two ninja. Jiraiya called over one of the medical ninja, who relieved the boy of the unconscious girl.
"What happened to her, Kakashi?" Sarutobi inquired, putting a hand on the teen's shoulder. Kakashi's chest heaved in exhaustion.
"I don't know." He said, almost coming close to tears. "I found her in the glade. She was injured by the Kyuubi…" Sarutobi had known for quite a while know that Kakashi and Kei were closer friends than the retired Hokage had seen in most young people. He gave a small smile.
"Go ahead, Kakashi. I won't ask you about it now." Kakashi smiled his thanks through his mask, running in the direction that Kei had been carried. Jiraiya looked at Sarutobi.
"What are we going to tell her and her mother?" He asked. "That Minato is dead and that Kushina's son holds the fox demon that killed her husband?" The old man shook his head.
"It would be better if they didn't know. Has Kushina seen the child yet?" The white haired ninja shook his head.
"No. She passed out right after he was born." Sarutobi nodded.
"Good. It would be best for both of them if they believed that the child died during birth."
"What!?" Jiraiya yelled, clenching his hands into fists. "You have NO RIGHT to do this to Kushina and Kei, especially to Kushina!" The ex-hokage closed his eyes.
"I know that this will be hard for you as the Yondaime's teacher, but it's for the best." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes.
"If that is the way things are going to be, fine." Glaring into the old man's eyes, he continued, "but I will have no part in it." With that last retort, he disappeared in a flash of white. Sarutobi signed. He hoped he was doing the right thing.