"Minato..."

"Kushina, don't worry." Minato placed his hand on her face. "You'll be with our daughter soon." Nothing but love showed in his gaze, and sadness, too.

Kushina's eyes widened. "You - you knew?" she gasped.

"And I have always loved you," Minato promised. "Kyuubi or not, you are my wife."

Kushina's lips trembled. "Minato..." She sniffled.

"Don't worry, love," he told her, as the shinigami appeared and did what the Hokage ordered. "You have to tell her," he told Kushina. "You have to tell our daughter the truth. Please, my love." He begged her, his eyes wide as his time started to run out.

"I promise," Kushina sobbed.

Kurama roared, and started to stab his paw towards Kushina's and Minato's child.

Both mother and father rushed towards their child, Kushina not thinking about 'subtlety' at the moment.

Her child was in so much danger...

If she had been a mortal woman, it would have been a laughable attempt to run in front of their daughter.

But it wasn't. As Minato and Kushina were speared, Kushina held fast to the claw and used her demonic strength to keep it there, inches and dripping their blood, above their daughter.

Their daughter, who chose that moment to shift into a little boy.

Minato choked on his laughter. "Definitely our child," he snorted. Kushina gave a small sob-laugh.

"I love you," Minato said, his hand going to touch his (current) son's body, only to stop as their son became a girl and started crying. "Alright, hold still."

Naruto, surprisingly, listened, stilling, but still sobbing.

"I'm sorry, baby," Kushina apologized to her child. "I cannot spare you this burden. But I can make it better as your mama, okay?"

Minato placed the seal on her stomach, a seal that was different than Kushina's.

Kushina was glad it was like it was.

"Okay," she told her child as the claw turned to chakra. "I love you." She lurched to her child and swept her up. Minato still held on, carefully sitting on the ground, leaning against the altar.

Kushina slid against it, and Minato took half the child.

Her eyes opened, showing off a brilliant blue. Against the yellow in her hair, she looked like she would grow to be a mini-Minato one day.

"I'm going to go now, Naru," Minato whispered, leaning down and kissing her forehead. "I love you."

Little Naruto blinked up at him innocently, her whisker marks denoting her as a jinchuuriki's daughter.

Or Kurama's. It didn't matter now. With his two beautiful girls by his side, he was happy.

Kushina watched his eyes dim and close, and he settled into a final sleep. Kushina stifled her sob, and brought her baby to her, trembling.

"I guess it's this body's time, too, sweetie," Kushina informed her tiny daughter. "Don't worry, little one. I'll only sleep for a little while. I'll be -" her voice cracked. "I'll be back before you know it. Kay?"

Her baby started to cry again.

Kushina leaned forward, and exhaled.

Out of her mortal shell came her Kyuubi essence, flowing from her to her daughter, to her child.

~:~

The first thing Morino Ibiki saw was the most heartbreaking scene he'd seen in the village, Kushina and Minato sat in a slumped position against the altar Minato had summoned.

(Minato was the summon-fanatic, Kushina usually just relying on her Kyuubi-powers when she needed something... Or was angry... Or really just herself...)

The second thing he saw?

A little baby in Kushina's grasp, sobbing like she was in pain.

The baby seemed to instinctively know her mother was gone.

Ibiki gently took the child out of her mother's arms and did a double take at the fox-ears in addition to the normal ears that the child had. The child wailed and wailed, wrapped in a blanket.

"Shh," Ibiki hushed the child, knowing from experience how to quiet a baby. His little brother was just about five now, so... "Shh, little one. We'll get you some formula." There was no need to wean a baby when she'd never been breastfed, right?

Other jounin arrived at the scene, little Hatake Kakashi freezing up as he stared at Minato's body.

The Sandaime Hokage approached Minato, then looked over at the baby in Ibiki's arms.

"Ibiki, that child -"

Ibiki looked at the couple laying on the ground. "It's Hokage-sama's, Hokage-sama."

There was a ton of reactions - half the population looked stunned at the news.

"I see," the Sandaime said after a moment. "Genma, Hayate, Raidou, Ibiki, take her to the orphanage."

Ibiki swallowed his protests.

"For now," added the Hokage; Ibiki bowed his head. Half the ninja there seemed to want to riot against his wishes. But...

An order was an order.