a/n: i really missed writing for Naruto. please take time to read and review this fic!
Disclaimer: Masashi Kishimoto is the proud owner of NARUTO
"Uzumaki! Of the Whirlpool Country"
By: rorudesu-chan
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Prologue
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She ran as fast as she could. But her weakening legs could only take her halfway from the one chasing her. She wasn't to be blamed. After all, it had only been a couple of hours since she gave birth to a baby boy whose blonde hair would later appear to be in spiky disarray. But how would she ever know this? When her child's life, as well as her own, is threatened by the only man she ever loved?
"GET AWAY FROM US!" she barked. Her soft strands of fiery red hair stuck onto her face, her arms gently held 'their' child close to her bosom.
"Kushina," his beguiling voice melted her fear. "Please, for your sake… and for our child as well."
He cornered her—no way out. She glared at him with all the fury she felt. He restlessly bounced his stare from her beautiful face to the image of his son wrapped tenderly in a smooth, cotton cloth.
"Don't you EVER come close to me or to my son!" she cried, shifting the gram-weight of her child to her left arm while the right one reached for her kunai holster she kept hanging around her waist for safety purposes.
"You and Naruto mean the world to me."
"LIAR!" she snapped, holding the sharp-edged tool across her. She was prepared to defend the life of her child more than her own. And there was not a jutsu in the world that could stop her will.
"I am only doing this for our family, Kushina!" he replied, his patience wearing thin by the second. Time was simply not in his favor though he was the Fourth Hokage, the strongest and most powerful leader of Konoha.
"There could've been another way out of this, Minato! This doesn't have to happen!"
"No, Kushina. There is no other way. The elders have—"
"Damn the elders!"
"This is for our future—"
"Damn 'your' so-called future!"
"…and for Naruto."
Silence.
"Kushina, please listen to me…"
"NO! You listen to me!" she tightened her hold on the kunai, her tears forcefully pushing itself out of the corners of her saddened green eyes. "If you've forgotten all those things you used to make me believe before, then…" she sniffed, the watery tears slightly blurring her vision. "Allow me to remind you! I'll make you remember it so hard; you wished you never forgot it!"
Yondaime watched her. Not as he would watch a weakened kunoichi give up before his mightiness in a battlefield. He looked at her, as a husband, as a father to their child and as 'Minato'. And as his azure pupils did so, he felt his heart beat strongly with pain.
Minato was confused.
Sometimes there were things in this world that a person just can't seem to understand—no matter how high your position or your shinobi skills are. When he is in between, he is stuck. It's either a left or a right; an up or a down; a forward or a backward; a yes or a no.
And that was where the Fourth Hokage was as of this moment. He stood before his wife, his Kushina and before his son, 'their' Naruto.
"I don't ever," he began. "…want Danzo to get his filthy hands on you and Naruto. I have never forgotten those things that Konoha and my mentor told me."
He placed a foot forward before stepping with the other.
Kushina retreated further, but it was no use. Her back felt the chill of the wall's cement. It was a dead end.
She stiffened her grip on the iron dagger as she felt blood pulsing wildly at the back of her neck. If he would dare make just one false move, she thought, he's dead. For real.
He came…
"STAY BACK MINATO!" she roared.
…closer…
"I'm not afraid!" she said. "…to kill you!"
…and closer…
"GO AWAY, YOU BASTAR—"
He sealed his lips upon hers and wrapped his arms around her waist, mindful of the sleeping infant between them.
The kunoichi melted helplessly into the kiss. Her heart felt like a prisoner who was just released from heavy and torturing shackles of punishment. And she was thankful for what he has done.
Minato gently faltered away from Kushina, permitting air for them to breathe as the kiss had slowly gone from something light to something deeper. Blame their bottomless affection to one another for the torridness.
"Kushina," he said, wiping off the streams of tears that flowed down her cheeks.
The Yellow Flash of Konoha towered over the beautiful, yet feisty kunoichi from the Whirlpool country. Her emerald eyes clashed with his striking, blue ones.
She was searching.
Seeking for the Namikaze Minato she knew the day he told her how annoying she could get at times. Kushina recalled giving him a powerful punch on his left cheek after he said that. But she also remembered granting him a quick 'stolen' peck on the face for taking it back and telling her how much he strangely admired her for it.
"Minato, I…" she was interrupted briefly as she felt a sudden pain stung her abdomen.
Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage- Konoha's Yellow Flash! Speed: Unparalled. The greatest of all the Fire shadows—yet.
She could've sworn she saw something flicker just before darkness loomed in her vision. But it was too swift to see even in the blink of an eye.
Bright yellow—the color of his hair!
Kushina knew this all too well. She loved how wild and disarray Minato's spikes were. She even hoped one hot and sunny summer afternoon after getting her positive pregnancy results that their son would inherit that attractive mane which she toyed with her fingers every night before going to bed.
"…why?" she mumbled, the intense pain choking her word.
He had struck her down on her abdomen using five of his fingers which blazed with a black substance.
"Forgive me,"
The sealed kunoichi wanted to scream, shout, yell and ask… WHY. But all she could do was moan, for the mark pierced beneath her flesh and burnt against her skin.
Helpless, she fell onto his right shoulder. Minato caught her and he kneeled down to settle her.
Kushina's eyes were half-open, her whole body quivered as a reaction to the jutsu that quickly overwhelmed her system.
"Forgive me," he repeated.
Minato lifted the kunoichi's arms. But they were persistent in keeping Naruto tucked close to his mother. He tried again, this time it limply set the infant free.
The seal is working well, he thought. Minato gently retrieved the boy from his mother's arms.
No. She could only groan, not speak.
The Hokage stood up and cradled their son in his arms.
No. She could only cry, not shout.
Yondaime walked away and took Naruto along with him.
No… She could only close her eyes, for there was nothing else she could do.
He had left her. Weak, and struggling to overcome the unexplainable pain which the seal brought and spread throughout her body.
It was strange at first. But it seemed as though she was losing a huge part of herself, literally.
Moments later, the kunoichi heard an ear-splitting roar. She felt the ground beneath her frail body, shaking violently. The growl repeated again and again.
But she couldn't care less.
The howl gradually died down until it could no longer be heard.
She was tired. The seal had taken up most of her energy.
What she heard must be a dream, or so she thought.
Kushina swallowed the pain and she grimaced herself to 'sleep'.
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"I am Uzumaki Naruto!" the boy with bright, yellow spikes declared.
"Mhm-hmm…" the teacher smirked.
"I'm going to be the best shinobi there is!" he held his right thumb before him.
"I see. What are your other ambitions, Uzumaki-san?"
"Uh… My other ambitions?" his blue eyes squinted.
The teacher pressed his forehead against his knuckles. "It's alright if you're still thinking about that now. No need to stress yourself."
"No! Wait! I know what my other ambition is!"
A questioning look crossed the instructor's face.
"I'm going to look for my father!"
The teacher kept his silence.
Naruto flashed a wide grin. He was definitely going to look for his dad, whoever or wherever he was.
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a/n: Did you enjoy it? Should I upload the next chapter? I hope I managed to arouse your interest in this fic. Please Review/Criticize! Thank you. :)