Prologue: The Tenth of September
A chunin hastily rushed up the stairs of the Hokage Tower, the man didn't even stop before he entered the office of the village leader, instead he barged straight into the room. "Hokage-sama, Hokage-sama, you need to come immediately." The shinobi panted between heavy breaths.
Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage of Konohagakure lifted his gaze from the papers in front of him to look at the new arrival, then he started to speak calmly. "What happened? Are we under attack?" The terrors of the third shinobi war were still fresh in his mind, said conflict had ended not even two years ago and the peace was quite frail up until now. Especially between the Leaf and Stone Village, most seasoned ninjas were sure the current agreements wouldn't hold for long and another conflict was bound to happen sooner or later.
The man had finally regained some of his breath and fiercely shook his head. "It's your wife, Yondaime-sama. She has gone into labor more than half an hour ago and .." Not another word left the chunin's lips before a bright yellow flash illuminated the office and afterwards the bringer of news was alone in the room.
An instant later Minato was already standing before the building, which was Konoha's hospital and without further ado stormed into the entrance hall, heading straightly for the labor rooms. Although before the blond haired Hokage could enter said place he was stopped quite forcefully by a nurse.
"Your wife isn't here anymore, she and your son were already transferred back to your personal room." The middle-aged woman informed the village leader. "Both are in good condition and currently sleeping. No needs for worry, Hokage-sama. The head physician said he wanted to have a word with you before you visit them though."
The Namikaze did a quick turnaround and was now walking instead of running, because his mind was put at ease finally. Not only was the blond man concerned for his wife and newborn child, after all it was premature, the birth wasn't scheduled for another month. But there was also the special condition of Kushina Namikaze, being the current host of the nine tailed fox beast. Although it seemed everything had gone perfectly well even without his aid to subdue said biju.
A few minutes later the village leader reached his destination, he opened and closed the door as silently as possible to not wake up his exhausted wife and the newborn. He had curtly ignored what the nurse had told him and had headed straight for his small family, the doctor could wait a few minutes after all, first he needed to check on Kushina and Naruto.
His wife was sleeping peacefully on the bed and Minato could see the strain the birth had put onto her. Even in her sleep she looked really worn out and tired. Beside the red haired woman stood a small crib, in which the Hokage presumed his son was resting. The baby was shielded from his view through some curtains on the child's bed and so he stepped closer to inspect his firstborn. After all which father wouldn't want to get a close look at the newborn pride of his life.
The first thing he saw were the three lines on each of the boy's cheeks, Minato was sure this birthmarks were courtesy to the tailed beast sealed in his wife. Although this didn't bother the Hokage much, many of Konoha's clans had tattoos or marks so this shouldn't be much of a problem for his son. Furthermore all checkups had shown that the biju and it's corrosive powers meant no direct harm to child., it seemed that Kushina's special chakra ensured perfect protection for their baby.
Next the blond noticed the dark colored, almost-pitch black eyes that stared curiously at him. So the boy was awake, he had presumed otherwise. Those dark orbs were unexpected neither his wife nor he had black eyes. But sometimes the child would get the color from the grandparents, so nothing to worry about at all.
Finally Minato eyed the hair of the small child. A mop of spiky silver-white hair decorated the boy's head. Wait silver? Now the Hokage's mind was racing like crazy, this was not how it was supposed to be, certainly not. Suddenly an image appeared in his mind. The picture of his only surviving student, Kakashi Hatake. A teenager with silver gravity defying hair and dark eyes. This was the moment the man finally pierced all clues together, then he lost it.
Quickly the blond formed some hand seals and slammed his palms on the ground. "Fuinjutsu: Dome of Silence" A grey shaped hemisphere around three meteres in diameter appeared and enclosed Kushina, the crib and Minato.
Then a loud slap echoed through the dome, unhearable for anyone outside. "Wake up you whore!" Shouted the blond who was totally lost in the anger about the betrayal of his wife and student.
The stingy feeling on her cheek woke Kushina unceremonosly from her deep slumber. It took the red haired woman a few seconds to understand were she was and what was going on. After she looked sideways and saw the newborn with his silver hair lying in his bed, she locked eyes with her enraged husband. The Uzumaki woman couldn't remember seeing Minato every in a state like he was currently.
"M-Minato-k-kun y-you d-don't understand..." The redhead started to stammer out before the blond man slapped her a second time hard across the face. The hand left a dark red imprint on the woman's left cheek.
"What is there to understand you harlot!" The Hokage shouted in rage. "You cheated on me with my own pupil and even conceived this bastard child with him!" Minato's left hand pointed accusingly towards the crib while on his face the disgust and hate were clearly visible.
It was one thing to insult her and Kakashi, but nobody would speak like that about her newborn, not even her own husband. Slowly anger and rage started to rise in Kushina, her violet eyes flashed to a crimson red and then back and forth between the two colors in short intervals. "What about you, Hokage-sama." The Uzumaki spat out the man's title with as much venom as possible. "Once you were inaugurated you came barely home, spending day and night in that damned office! And then when Rin was killed by his own hands did you even attempt to console the broken Kakashi? Where were you all the time? We both needed you, but you forgot about your other obligations! The only thing important to you was the village!"
The Hokage was taken back by the outburst of his wife, he hadn't expected that the woman would throw a justification at him. But it didn't quell the anger and rage he felt, in fact it only increased those hateful feelings. After all this mess wasn't in the slightest his fault, at least he strongly believed that.
"We only had each other, because you bastard were always to occupied with more important things! Was the village more important than me or your only surviving student, Hokage-sama?" Kushina was still shouting at Minato, although her eyes had settled to a deep red color by now. "Yes it was wrong what we did and I still love you Minato, but I dare you to insult my child a second time, THEN I WILL TEAR YOU APART!" Tears were running down her face one she was finished with her tirade.
In all his fury over her insincere profession of love he had already forgotten the rest of his wife's angry harangue. Minato grabbed his wife by her throat and slammed her body forcefully against the headend of the hospital bed. The head of Kushina slumped down after this assault, but vapors of red malicious chakra erupted outwards from her and knocked the Hokage down to the ground.
The blond was quick back on his feet, however even he was fearfully of what he saw now. The redhead before him was at least knocked out, although most of her body was encased in demonic energy and from her abdomen a pillar of red and black was rising, almost looking like something was clawing his way out of her stomach.
To Minato is was clear as daylight that the seal holding back the Kyuubi was almost shattered and only seconds remained before it would give in completely, he had to act fast to stop the imminent doom for Konoha.
The man swiftly grabbed the now wailing and crying baby and placed it besides Kushina on the bed. In quick succession the Hokage started to wave hand signs, once he had reached the count of around twenty seals his palms started to glow in a deep blue hue. When his hands stopped on the last one, forming the dragon sign, the blond placed one palm on Kushina's forehead and the other one on the child's. A shout of "Fuinjutsu: Seal Transfer" pierced the silence.
The red chakra surrounding most of the Uzumaki woman's body receded but the pillar coming from her abdomen started to bend instead of vanishing until it touched the screaming silver haired child. Then it almost looked like the mass of red and black forced it's way into the newborns stomach.
The whole spectacle lasted probably not more than forty seconds then it stopped and the column vanished finally. Once the process was completed on both mother and child the outlines of a six pointed black star appeared were the chakra pillar had touched them. The lines were visible for a few seconds before disappearing from view again.
Minato was panting hard, transferring and stabilizing the seal from Kushina to the little bastard was a draining task, but it was worth the hassle. The Kyuubi was safely caged away again. The Hokage moved one of his hands towards the neck of his wife, trying to feel a pulse, although there was none. The birth, their argument and finally the forceful extraction must have been to much for her, Kushina Namikaze was dead.
This was the moment when two Anbu and the head physician barged into the room. Minato's silencing seal wasn't able to hold back the eruption of the beasts chakra, this event surely was felt all over Konoha. He had to come up with a convincing lie to veil what really happened, the village didn't need to know the truth, it was better if they were left in the dark.
Before anyone could speak up, the Hokage raised his tired voice. "The Kyuubi tried to break free and I had to seal it into the newborn, unfortunately Kushina didn't survive the ordeal. I want the boy watched by at least two Black Ops members all the time, is this clear? And no word to anyone about the child, this events will be treated as an S-Rank secret!"
All three men nodded wordlessly, afterwards the village leader left the scene as fast as he could. A dark look etched onto his face permanently as he was walking back to his office.
When Kakashi Hatake entered Konoha two days after this fateful event, he was surprised by the gloomy atmosphere that was hanging over the whole town. While the jonin was still contemplating if he should ask somebody who had died, he was almost tackled down by a swift, green blur.
"My eternal rival, I have grave news for you." The attacker spoke in a solemn voice as he was crushing his victim in a manly man hug. "Two days ago the wife and child of your beloved sensei died during premature birth."
For the silver haired young man it was like something in him shattered exactly at this moment. Kushina and her child had died? That couldn't be true, this had to be a bad joke. "Is this the truth Gai?" The man was barely able to voice his question coherently.
The green-clad ninja gave a small nod and then let go of his embrace. "I am sorry Kakashi. A short burst of Kyuubi chakra washed over the city and Yondaime-sama announced it in the afternoon to the village."
After his worst fears were confirmed the teenager started to walk away. His gaze was glued to the ground and it took everything he had to no break down in tears right here and there. How many did he have to loose before it would stop, darkness started to cloud the nin's mind as he wandered off.
Gai watched sadly as his best friend shuffled away. Some people really have it bad, first his father, then both his teammates and now the wife and child of his mentor. The woman almost was like family to the young shinobi. If only the taijutsu obsessed young man knew the whole truth of Kakashi's loss.
Aimlessly the silver haired teenager was walking the village for hours, depressing thoughts about all his past and present losses swarming through his consciousness. It was already dark outside, the sun had sunken by now and it probably was best to go home and rest. He could always visit his sensei tomorrow and give him his sincere condolence.
Once Kakashi raised his gaze and looked around to see were he actually were he was shocked. Somehow he ended in front of the hospital. The same place were Kushina and little Naruto had lost their lives.
Minutes later he found himself alone in the morgue, he had to take a final look at his forbidden lover, he just had to. The urge to see her one last time was too strong and he couldn't deny himself this last chance to say goodbye. Shinobi were generally allowed to many sections of the clinic and so it wasn't exactly hard for him to enter this place.
The teenager was standing on front of the table were Kushina was laid out, slowly Kakashi grabbed the white blanket that covered her dead body and lifted it. He looked at the pale face of his first real love, here eyes were closed and she seemed almost peacefully. Then he cried, many of his tears were staining the cold floor that day.
The silver haired jonin didn't know how long he was standing there crying as a sudden noise startled him and his shinobi instincts kicked in instantly. In a swift motion Kakashi turned around, kunai in hand, slipping into a defensive stance, facing the darkness.
"No need for that." A male voice spoke softly, trying to ensure the teenager he was no harm to him. "It was your child wasn't it?"
The Hatake shook his head. "I... We..." He took a deep breath, before he answered. "We didn't know for sure. It was a fifty-fifty chance" He took a few more breaths to calm himself. "Even if it was mine, it doesn't matter anymore, both are dead." More tears were falling freely from his face.
"But it does still matter." The man from the dark answered solemn. "The boy is still alive. Mother and son survived the birth. The Hokage came to visit them and somehow sealed the beast inside the newborn, Kushina had died during or after the transfer."
This revelation shocked Kakashi to his core. The kunai dropped from his hand and hit the cold, wet floor below him. If the speaker was right then the Yondaime had lied to everyone, but why?
"It's your son, he has your eyes and hair. Currently the Hokage has locked him into a special holding cell below the Tower." The unknown voice explained to the silver haired teen.
"Thank you, whoever you are." Kakashi knew the speaker didn't want to expose himself and so he didn't pry after the man's identity. After those words he run from the morgue. He had lost Kushina but he would be damned if he lost his son too.
Three hours later the young jonin was carefully eying the Hokage Tower from one of the surrounding buildings. Knowing what he had to do, he had packed everything he needed for the most important mission in his life. For the last forty minutes he had watched the pattern of the Anbu guards and he had it down to the last detail by now. Kakashi just had to wait for the right moment to slip in.
Once he was inside he hushed towards the stairways and down into the basement. The only sentries he presumed were right before the cell were his firstborn was imprisoned, so he hadn't to be overcautious till he neared this location.
As if on cue the jonin had no problems till this point. Two guards were positioned right before the room, he had to act quick if he wanted to dispatch the two Black Ops members before they could raise an alarm. Also there was always the threat of some hidden sentries, but he had to take the risk of an frontal assault anyway, there was no time for a more sophisticated approach.
Kakashi threw two smoke bombs towards the door and then rushed forward, delivering a devastating sucker-punch directly into the guts of one of the two surprised Anbu. The body of the person he hit recoiled and crashed into the wall behind him before the masked man slumped down onto the ground.
The silver haired jonin ducked under the attack of the second guard, thanks to his Sharingan he was able to see the incoming strike even in the smoke filled environment. Afterwards he deliver an swift elbow blow to the chin of his enemy and knocked him out.
Both downed Anbu weren't seriously hurt, Kakashi didn't want to kill them, just put them out of commission for some time. With ninja wire he tied both up tightly, every second he got before they could ring an alarm was worth a mint.
When he was finished he entered the cell cautiously, after all there was still the possibility of more guards. In the middle of the barren room was a small crib in which his son was slumbering. A single tear slid down his eye as he saw the beautiful little boy. Quickly he wrapped the baby into a small blanket and then started his hasty retreat.
The morning sun was slowly peeking from the horizon as Minato Namikaze was rushing through the forest. Hot in pursuit of his former pupil Kakashi Hatake. The Hokage couldn't mobilize anybody to do this job, he had made sure that almost nobody knew that the son of Kushina was still alive and the current jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. But he wasn't the strongest and fastest shinobi of Konoha for nothing, in a small clearing Minato finally had caught up with the newest traitor of the hidden leaf.
A tree pronged kunai nearly sliced off Kakashi's head, as said jonin evaded to the left in the last moment. A small bundle tightly clutched into his arms. The renowned Yellow Flash was standing right before him now, pointing his special kunai at the teenager. "Give me the boy and your end will be quick, Hatake." The blond sneered at his counterpart.
All that the silver haired nin did was to drop the wailing bundle onto the ground, where it exploded into a cloud of smoke. Afterwards he gave his mentor a dirty smirk, shifted into a taijutsu stance and readied himself for the imminent battle.
"Where is he?" Kakashi couldn't remember that the voice of his sensei ever sounded so cold and cruel.
"Already out of your reach, sensei." Every word was laced with venom as the jonin spoke. "Even if you interrogate me you won't find out his location. My clone had the order to let decide chance if Naruto would be brought to Kumo, Iwa or Kiri. So I don't know were he is." The teenager was laughing as he saw how the composure of his mentor fell with every word he spoke.
"This name was reserved for my son, not your worthless bastard child." Replied the Hokage with an intense stare and dark tone. "At least I got you Kakashi. Time for my revenge." Minato narrowed his eyes onto his prey and made himself ready to strike at any moment.
"Allow me one last question, sensei. Did you kill her? Did you kill your wife?" The silver haired jonin's voice was small and weak when he asked this, knowing that even the answer wouldn't bring him any closure at all. But he had to know it, he just had.
"What do you think?" A sinister smile was etched onto the blond's face as the sounds of clashing metal filled the clearing.
A/N: Hopefully the setting is somewhat believable, I wanted a alive Minato in the role of the bad guy and a hateful Naruto who wants nothing more than the death of the fourth. The neglected wife for Kushina seemed to do the trick, if you guys hate it, no problem though.
No, I didn't try to bash Minato he is a good character, but under this circumstances he probably would turn out bad. Most times you read a dark Minato or neglected Naruto fic there is no real reason why the Fourth is bad, here I gave him (a good) one.
This will be NaruHina end of debate, I know there are many people who don't like the pairing, get over it or stop reading my stories. Although I can promise you she will be quite different from what you know from canon. Not as dark as our favorite silver haired hero/villain but still quite the bad girl in the end.
This is just a side project don't await more than one update per month, my main concern is on "Art is an Explosion, dattebayo!".