-Disclaimer:
Don't own Naruto!
Cherry Yellow
-Prologue
A group of men sat huddled in one of the many caves below the monument to the old Hokages. All around them explosions echoed like earthquakes, shaking the entirety of their small abode.
"There now! Water! I need water to clean this!" Screamed a woman with blindingly pink hair, tied back by a floral ribbon. A tattered dress adorned her slim form as she knelt, laying the blonde head of her patient across her legs. A pillow would be better, but these were desperate times.
A short man, carrying a small waterskin hobbled quickly over to the woman, and knelt down next to her. "You fool girl! You just had a baby! What the hell are you doing out here!?" He exclaimed raucously, anger radiating throughout him, covering the undercurrent of fear for her that only those who knew him well would ever be able to spot.
"Ease yourself, Usetsu. She's the only one I could ask." Said the ex-Hokage gravely, staring down at the blonde face of the current Yondaime cradled lovingly in the woman's lap. He was barely conscious and blood was leaking heavily out of the side of his head.
"This is no time for Heroics! Who will be there for little Sakura if she dies, hmm!? I don't trust that fool husband of hers! If she gets hurt I'll be taking Sakura, until she's alright!" Usetsu roared, up at the former Hokage in rage, even as he helped apply the water to the side of the Yondaime's head.
"And I don't trust you. You old fool!" Airam Haruno shouted at his father in law, glaring death.
"There is no time for—!" The Sandaime's reply was abruptly cut off by a great swell in the earth below them, and everyone moved to balance themselves.
Their hearts firmly implanted in their throats, they sighed in abject relief when the shaking finally ceased, but the tension hanging in the air was so strong it could be cut.
"My wife…" The battered Hokage moaned. "Is she… is she alright? Tell me she is okay…? And the baby?" His words were weak and his voice, hoarse. None had ever seen the Hokage so weak before. Never in their memory.
A dead silence hung within the small cave, the six of them huddled there in fear. For days, endless days, the Kyuubi's rampage had gone on. Hope was a small thing now.
"Y-your… your wife is fine! She's… she's fine! And you have a boy! A beautiful little boy, Minato!" Saiya, the woman with hair like that of a cherry, said with a happy smile, barely holding back the torrent of tears that would be sure to fall, were she a lesser woman.
"Hah!" Yondaime exclaimed, lifting one practically lifeless arm, into the air in triumph. "N-Naruto then. He shall be called Naruto."
That lifted the spirits of everyone in the room. Even the sad note upon which the Yondaime did not yet know. His wife's death. In such a terrible time as this, shinobi dying left and right, here another death from something as simple as childbirth.
Preventable if it hadn't been for the damn Kyuubi!
"Y-yes… He shall be called, Naruto then." Saiya said, as she finished wrapping the white bandage around Minato's blonde head.
"I… I'm a father…" He sighed, leaning his head back onto her lap.
"I… I'm happy for you, Minato. But… this… this isn't the time." Usetsu murmured, staring down into the eyes of the man he would have loved for a grandson. His daughter's best friend. His Hokage.
Minato stared up at the cave's ceiling, seeing things no one else could. Seeing his son. At two. Six. Twelve. Twenty. Together with he and his wife.
But none… none of this would ever happen. Not if the Kyuubi wasn't destroyed. He stared up at his friend, and teammate. She was hiding something, biting her lip, like she always did when she was holding something back.
"He's right you know." The Yondaime told his friend. He pictured little Sakura growing up with Naruto, in his mind. Who knew? Maybe they would… hah. Better leave that for later. "You should be with your daughter, and you too, Airam. Not catering to my worthless carcass."
"Don't you worry about us, or Sakura. You're the one in trouble right now." Seiya insisted angrily.
Minato chuckled and nodded. "As always."
"Touching moment, Yondaime, but I think it's time. We cannot fight this beast any longer." The old Sandaime murmured statically.
Minato barked a laugh, achingly pulling himself to his feet. "And where would we go!? The Kyuubi seeks the death of every person from Konoha! It will not stop! Not… not unless we stop it."
"No man can defeat that monster. Not even you Yondaime." The Sandaime replied.
The Yondaime sighed, leaning his bare back against the cave wall. Another earthquake shook the mountain, but the Yondaime didn't even seem to shift.
Minutes of silence passed as the earth shook. The yondaime stroked his brow. His fist's crushed the walls in fury, but there was nothing. No technique. No masterpiece that would be enough to end this monster's reign.
"What are we going to do, Yondaime?" Asuma, the Sandaime's grandson, asked in impatience. His last cigarette burned wildly in his mouth and he tried desperately to come up with an idea.
"Face it Yondaime. I see no other alternative. If we stay here, all of us will die. Your child, your son, will die. And for nothing!" Sarutobi exclaimed, finally showing the first bit of emotion.
"For Konoha! For Konaha! Were you not the Hokage, Sarutobi?! Have you forgotten what that means!?" Minato exclaimed, heat burning in his blue eyes.
"Of course not, Minato! Have you? The people of Konoha! They are what is important! Villages can be rebuilt! Homes, remade! But a child cannot be reborn, you idiot!" The old man exclaimed at his longtime student. It had been years since Sarutobi had been so angry at Minato. He had always known that! Why did he forget now!
"The people will die if they flee, Ero-Jiji! You think they can move faster than that! You think Kyuubi will not find the cave's exit! No! We live for Konoha, we can't escape and regroup. We can only fight and win or fight and die! You—!" Ero-jiji. Another title that had been collecting dust for years, that the old man had almost forgotten. It showed just how old he was that he wouldn't think of something like that.
He felt a fool, but he had never fought something like this.
"I'm sorry, Minato. I… am sorry I doubted you."
But Minato wasn't listening.
"Minato?" Seiya questioned. She watched him stroke his hair, a small smile brimming on his childish face.
"Minato? Have you come up with something?" Airam asked, hopefully.
"I… I think I have. No man. No man could defeat the Kyuubi… but a child!" Minato exclaimed, not clarifying what he meant.
"A-a child!? Minato, did that last hit to your head knock you out of your senses!?" Was the unanimous response in the minds of all who were present. Who had actually said it didn't matter to Minato.
"Not defeated. Sealed! The Kyuubi can be sealed!" He exclaimed.
"Preposterous!" Usetsu exclaimed. "A seal that powerful would require… would require more power…"
"Would require summoning the death god himself." Minato finished slowly.
"No! No Minato! You cannot be thinking of doing this!" Seiya screamed at her best friend. "It's madness! It will never work!"
Sarutobi interrupted by striding up to his blonde haired student. "Minato… this… this could actually work. But…"
"Do you have another way, Old Man? I'd be glad to hear it." Said the sad eyes of a determined man. "No. No you don't. There is no other way…"
"Minato…" The old man sighed. "Is this really the only way?"
Once again, the earth shook, and an incredible roar echoed throughout the cave. A slew of Shinobi passed through the hallway outside their cave room, holding their own bloodied fallen.
Minato smiled. "I think so old man."
A small tear slid down the Sandaime's cheek. "You… bastard boy! All your training and you'll be leaving me to this cursed job again!? Hah! I… I should kill you myself!" The old man scolded, trying to boost his successor's spirits.
"You… could try. Old man…" Minato croaked. "I… Airam. You can probably convince my wife best… We… go get Naruto. My son will be the child." He said, stalwartly, turning to the husband of his best friend.
Airam stared at Minato in shock. "N-no! I don't understand! W-why do you need Naruto!? Su-surely you don't intend to…"
Airam was no Shinobi. He knew nothing of seals. But everyone knew what the Death God was. Frantically, he stared up at the Hokage, his green hair soaked with the sweat of the heat of this dirty cave.
"Airam… please?" Minato asked, staring down into his friend's eyes. No one could say no to the Fourth Hokage. He was a torrent of friendship and confidence, and he exuded 'trust me' without even speaking.
"A-alright…" The man sighed. With that, he left the room, to get Naruto, hoping against hope he wasn't condemning the child to death. Or worse, his Hokage.
"Yondaime…" Asuma said, depressed. "Are you…?"
The Yondaime smiled, and placed a hand on the younger man's head. Aiga was still a child, despite his new Jounin status. "Don't worry about me kid. Tell Kakashi not to slack off from me, okay?"
With that, the Yondaime left the room to prepare.
Minato held Naruto, standing atop the stone head of his mentor, high above the death and destruction being wrought far below by the Kyuubi. None of Konoha's Shinobi could see him yet, but he could see them, far below him. He wept for them in his heart. They were his shinobi! His people. If this was all he could do to save them…
The Yondaime stared down into the eyes of his child. So young. So… happy. He didn't even know what it was he would go through soon. But… what other choice did he have?
He'd been quite surprised none of his friends had seen fit to tell him his wife was dead. God… it wasn't even worth it to live, was it? At times like this he wished he'd never been gifted with the insight that he seemed to have been born with. Even so… he wished he could see her… just one last time. But there was no time, even to visit her dead body.
And he would be with her, anyway… soon.
"Yondaime." Came a voice from behind him, along with a baby's squawk. It wasn't Naruto.
"Airam! What are you doing here, you fool! Get back in the—!"
Airam would not be deterred. "It won't work, Minato." He said, sadly. "The Sandaime told me your plan."
Minato's eyes narrowed. "And you have a better idea!? It's dangerous up here Aira—!"
Interrupting once again, Airam became angry. "One child can never hold all the power of the Kyuubi!" He shouted.
"There is no alternative!" Minato shouted. "I have tried everything! Nothing can stop that monster! Nothing but this…"
As if to emphasize his point, the Kyuubi roared, shaking both men to their cores, its tails sweeping across the homes they had all lived in, laying waste to them.
Airam smiled. "What about… two?"
The Kyuubi was gone! By god he had done it! Airam's joy was overwhelming as he traversed the grounds to get to where he hoped and prayed his daughter was alive. Moving like a man possessed, he burst into the clearing staring into the fiery pit where he had seen the Kyuubi, Gamabunta, and Minato had battled.
Staring at the center, he dashed, hoping against hope.
And there, right in the middle, lay two small children. A boy with deep blue eyes and small whiskers on his cheeks. And a girl, a small mat of pink hair. Oh god, thank god.
He lifted his small girl, his baby girl, and held her aloft in his arms, staring at her. Nothing looked different. Nothing. The small seal that he knew had been drawn on her head, beneath her hair wasn't visible.
She was… perfect as always.
"Thank you Minato… thank you."
He knew that shinobi would be here soon. No one could ever know of this. No one! If they did, they would fear his Sakura. He couldn't let that happen. Couldn't… couldn't let that happen.
He dashed away, making for the caves and for his wife, to reassure her that he and her daughter were both safe.
No one could ever know.
And no one would.
For thirteen years…
End Prologue
A/N:
Spur of the moment but it was fun, I gotta admit. This might turn out epic length if I can manage to whip together a story, with a few more plot points then what I already got. First foray into pure Naruto! Proud of me? Guess what? It probably won't last long. Materia-Blade is currently knee deep in Bleach! And I hate to admit it but I'm quite displeased with myself for holding out so long from watching it. It's MUCH better than I expected.
The first thing I ever heard of bleach was "spirit world" and Death Gods. Frankly I was unimpressed. I thought, 'Great. Yu Yu Hakusho on a DBZ trip…"
Honestly I wasn't too far off, but fortunately it has good plot and… well, if not major, at the very least strong character development. I'm glad to have gotten into it.
This fic here is a chance at seeing how original I am in a section I'm not overly familiar with. Hope this ain't just same ole' same ole! As a side note, Ozz has a genius Naruto fic in the works! Be prepared!
One final note before I finally get outta your hair. Mark in the Lace will be the next chapter I release! After a ten month hiatus the next chapter is currently sitting at 16,000 words on my external! Can't wait to get it out!
Till Next!
MB