Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor am I affiliated with them my god how many times have I written this I have no affiliation with Viz or Shonen Jump or Kishimoto Masashi.

This is a one shot people. No, there will be no updates. This takes place during the Kyuubi attack on Konohagakure, and there are spoilers if you aren't relatively up to date with the manga. I was sort of pushed into writing this by my own brain, because I was playing with an OC that I've made for some mental Naruto roleplaying (not involved with anyone else; just my own exploration through ideas) and I felt that I really had to make a fic of Minato and have her in it. She's the only named OC in here, so she's probably easy to pick out.

According to his students, Namikaze Minato was one of the most collected individuals when it came to pretty much every aspect of life in Konoha. He was a calm and levelheaded tactician, a consummate ninja in various jutsu and the simple art of killing, a sage beyond his years, and yet was still a generally cheerful man that had little trouble finding a reason to give his trademark grin. It would have only made sense for a man of such integrity as his to become the successor of Sarutobi as Hokage.

But at the moment, he would have given next to anything he owned to be able to push the job onto someone else. Kushina was at the "any day now" stage of the pregnancy, and he was harried with the stresses of a soon-to-be father and the various responsibilities of being the Hokage. And, at this moment, he was reluctantly (so, so reluctantly… to the point it hurts) marching towards the council room as if it was battlefield. A battlefield… that's really what it was when it came down to it, except that, instead of blood and gore and flashing kunai, you have old ninja and old politics and flashing glares. These were the people who were a generation above him… two if you replace the family generation with the team generation. These were the elders who trained the people who trained him.

The Yondaime would actually have rather it were a physical battlefield that he was about to enter; at least the physical battlefield had much clearer objectives. In the council, everything went straight to business, and it was a really no-nonsense setting. But there was underlying current of animosity, of long-held grudges, that ran among them made the rhetoric very cold, since they were all "beyond the impatience" of the young and would not degrade themselves by going into heated arguments. Everything they said had two or three more meanings, and Minato felt comparatively foolish, like he was the only one that couldn't catch all these nuances. And, more than once, he left muttering that he'd hope he didn't end up bitter and stubborn when he became a shriveled geezer.

This meeting had been called to discuss some matters concerning strange reports the ANBU had been getting. This usually meant that the meeting would be so much more determined by details rather than internal politics, that it would be short, quick, and relatively free of the implied bickering. And Minato severely hoped that would be the case, today.

Of course, it wouldn't be. The universe was not being especially kind to the Yondaime, lately.

As soon as he pushed open the heavy doors and entered, he felt hit by full force with unnaturally cold air. Every pair of eyes suddenly centered on him, and Minato exchanged glances with each one of them, ensuring his position among them. Far too many of the eyes were as cold as the room, but he made a slight grin when he met the few pairs that were kind and warm, including Jiraiya-sensei, Sarutobi-sama, and Yagami-san. Jiraiya didn't have to be there, and he probably didn't want to be, but Minato was always very glad when he was. Jiraiya was his only real bridge between him and that older generation.

When Jiraiya noticed Minato's grin, he grinned back, holding up his pen from the book he was working on as a sign of greeting.

Minato nodded to the group in its entirety and broke out with a much larger smile, forcing a very friendly and boisterous welcome for the council and beginning to talk about the matter they were all summoned for—concerning strange reports of high-level chakra and trails of damage in the North—as he walked towards his chair.

Almost at the very moment Minato took his place as Hokage at the table, the doors opened again, and an ANBU nearly rushed into the room. The ANBU made a hasty bow, breathing heavily and shivering so lightly that anyone lesser than those in the room wouldn't have perceived it. If a porcelain mask hadn't been covering his face, he'd show an expression of worry, even fear.

"Excuse me, Hokage-sama, Honored Council Members… but I was informed to update you all immediately on the matters of this situation."

"We hadn't started discussing the matter yet, but proceed."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." He gave another bow. "Several teams were sent out to investigate the matter more closely: two, Bird and Cat, towards the path the destruction and chakra was taking to head it off, one, Frog, back behind to attempt to determine where it had begun, and two, Wasp and Coyote to act as relaying bands. I am the captain of the relaying band that was closest to Konoha, Team Wasp.

"At about o-five-hundred hours after setting out, we began to receive transmissions from both parties that set off to meet whatever had been causing it. They relayed hearing strange sounds and growls, and Bird had just made visual contact when the other had been suddenly cut off. Soon enough, Cat had been cut off as well, and we decided to follow up in the wake and investigate—not before reporting to the other groups, of course." He took a bracing breath. "Both parties had been completely annihilated, almost certainly by what we were tracking, we determined by the wounds and placement of their corpses."

"And what had you heard before you were cut off? You said that they made visual contact."

"A large beast, over one hundred meters tall, and, with multiple… with multiple tails."

A great pause. "How many?"

"They weren't sure; they were able to determine that there was more than four, definitely, but they were moving around too much for them to get an accurate count before they cut out. They mentioned it being a large mammal with almost orange fur."

Minato's face went dark. "I see. If that is all the information, you are dismiss—"

Another ANBU nearly exploded into the chamber, knocking into the first one and stumbling to the side, gasping. His mask was broken and was only hanging, in shards, around his neck by a couple ties. He was covered with blood, and it looked like more than a little of it was his own.

"I'm very sorry, Hokage-sama, for intruding like this, but I had to act immediately."

"Are you the captain of the second transitory group? Team Coyote?"

"N-no, sir. I'm of Team Coyote, but the captain… the captain is dead. Along with the rest of my team. I-I know I should report to ANBU, first, but I felt that this had to go directly to you, Hokage-sama. It's urgent. We had gotten distressing signals from Team Frog before we lost contact, and my captain decided to follow up. He didn't intend to get into any trouble, I'm sure, but when we saw the bodies… We decided to examine them, to see how they had died. Fire, most of them, though some were hard to determine the cause of death. Then…I'm not sure what happened. Everything seemed so fast. Everyone was confused. I-I think we were under a genjutsu but… I just can't be sure."

"But you were under attack?"

"Yes. Yes, of that I'm sure, Hokage-sama. We were under attack. By who or what, I'm uncertain, but, whoever it was, I believe they killed everyone in Team Frog and Coyote. I only survived… I only survived because I ran."

"And had Team Frog been able to determine anything, do you know, before they were killed?"

"That's why I felt it was urgent, Hokage-sama, that I spoke immediately to you." The man shook violently and his eyes went wide. "They had tracked back in the hidden shrine that… that the bijuu was said to be sealed in, and I believe… it is coming towards Konohagakure."

The men finished their reports and were escorted out of the room, the injured one immediately taken to the infirmary.

"There's no other interpretation we can take from this," Mitokado Homura eventually spoke, "The Kyuubi has been released, and is almost certainly coming towards Konohagakure."

Beside him, Utatane Koharu nodded in agreement. "Konohagakure is the most logical destination, and the reports seem to suggest that the Kyuubi is moving fast. We might not have enough time to form up firm ranks."

Danzo's eyes scanned her carefully. "I don't think we're going to have as much of a problem as you think, Koharu. I have several men ready to act at my will. Indeed, I think the more important matter to discuss at the moment… would be who we should find as responsible for this."

Whether the motion was inadvertent or not, Danzo's eyes had fallen onto Yagami Tsuta. In any case, Yagami noticed it, and she called with a sneer. "If you are suggesting something, Warhawk-san, I advise that you speak up."

"I'm merely observing the person in the room who would know most about the matters of bijuu, Tsuta."

Her scowl deepened, and she hissed, "I've told you before, you are to refer to me by my family name, or nothing at all!"

Minato raised a hand, hoping that they would acknowledge him and hold a second. Thankfully, they did, and he rubbed his temples a moment and contemplated what to say. Of course, Danzo nearly brought Yagami-san into anger again by calling her by her given name, something that the traditional, clan-minded woman didn't allow, even though the only people left in her clan were herself and her granddaughter. In fact, the only people allowed to call her granddaughter by her given name were her teammates.

"Let's not raise matters like this, not now. I'm sorry to disagree with Danzo, but I believe we need to mobilize, first and foremost."

Uchiha Fugaku (perhaps the youngest man there besides Minato himself) glared."But Danzo brought up a fine question. We must figure out who was responsible. Team Frog had been attacked, most likely by a ninja, and not by the Kyuubi. If it's by someone inside of Konoha, I believe we must act immediately and apprehend them."

Jiraiya met his glare. "And who would you suggest first?"

"I mean no disrespect, but perhaps Danzo isn't too off by implicating Yagami."

The old woman straightened her back against the chair. "I'd be unwise of you to implicate me, Fugaku, when your own family could be just as implicated."

"What did you say?"

"Don't you think so? The man spoke of genjutsu, and the Kyuubi was Mandara's pet, wasn't it?"

"You aren't seriously implicating that my clan--!"

Homura interrupted, "You can't blame her for bringing up that argument, Fugaku. As it stands, the Yagami clan isn't the one with a history of fratricide."

"The Uchiha are the ones that had founded and still man the Police Force in Konoha, and you dare speak of us like this!"

"Calm down, please!" Sarutobi called. There was still an air of him from his former position, and the room rang in silence again. He proceeded, "This is not the time to implicate each other! We have no evidence yet to implicate someone in Konoha, but we do know that a terrible thing is about to befall our people. If the Kyuubi is truly coming to Konoha, a being that can level mountains and summon tsunamis with a swish of its tail, then we must focus all of what we have on that matter first."

Minato smiled, so terribly glad that there was someone of reason in this room that they would listen to. But the smile was quickly wiped away as he remembered the depth of this situation. "We must mobilize, and quickly, then. We must discuss what our next move is. Danzo-san, you said that you could have forces mobilized immediately?"

"Of course. We could be in the front lines as soon as I exit this room."

"It's that sort of attitude that will have you lose your arm one day, Danzo," Koharu gave as an aside.

Minato ignored the comment. "Jiraiya-sensei, do you think you can get help from the other Sannin?" He realized what he said as he said it, and he went white as a sheet. "I'm sorry, I mean…"

"Don't worry, I know. It's still hard to get used to." Jiraiya sighed. "I might be able to get Tsunade's help, but I think we're going to be relying a lot more on the healers we already have here," then he added, "I'm sorry, but we can't rely on miracles."

Sarutobi spoke again, "The Kyuubi is a powerful beast with unlimited chakra. I'm afraid that a lot of the ninja that we will be throwing at it would ultimately be fodder—a play for time—until we can take care of it. My only suggestion is to seal it in a container."

"Seals that would be necessary are Hakke no Fuuin Shiki and the Shisho Fuuin. And it won't be a mere container that you seal the Kyuubi in. You'll need a baby, a sacrifice. A jinchuuriki. And this jinchuuriki must be a newborn."

Homura seemed suspicious. "Would that combination of seals not ensure that the container would be able to draw upon the energy of the Kyuubi."

"As it must," Jiraiya answered first, "unless you want the Kyuubi to just burst out of the poor kid and terrorize the village all over again. And it has to be a newborn, because that's the only way you can completely connect a bijuu to a person. Right, Yagami-san?"

"Correct. Very observant, Sannin-sama."

Koharu shook her head. "But no parent would subject their newborn to such an experiment. We'll have to use an orphan."

"An orphan…" Minato repeated sadly. He didn't want to subject anyone's kid to this, even if the parents were gone and dead. And what sort of life does that promise the child?

"That isn't all," Yagami continued, "Those seals aren't powerful enough to actually seal the Kyuubi… just keep it there and make sure everything balances out. The seal would have to be powerful and… I'm sorry to say… it'd have to take the life of someone to make this a true sacrifice."

Of course, Minato knew what to do. He already had a seal that would do the job, that he'd devised himself as a thought exercise. Of course, he never thought that he'd have to use it, but it was good that he did create it. But a container…

Some divine spirit must have already determined his destiny, because it was at that moment a different shinobi, not an ANBU, came into the room and, instead of report loudly to the whole, knelt down beside the Yondaime and whispered something in his ear.

Minato closed his eyes a long moment.

The rest of the room continued to debate, but he had already made the decision for his village. The bickering was just noise now, nothing more intelligible or important than some chirping birds.

What day is today? October tenth? Ten ten? Heh, I like that. Two tens when the Nine-Tails was sealed, when the Hokage and his lover died, and probably countless other shinobi. And when Naruto was born. It fits. It fits so well. Too well.

He rose and dismissed the council suddenly, telling them to do what they could to mobilize and have shinobi ready to defend their village ASAP. Most only complied with a nod and dispersed, but Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Yagami followed him to the hospital.

As soon as they saw the newborn boy, they understood.

"Are you sure about this?" Sarutobi asked. "This is your son… the only family you have left. I'd have to agree with Koharu that an orphan would be the best for this situation."

"Don't worry. He's going to be an orphan by the end of the day."

Jiraiya nearly choked on his own spit, wide-eyed at his former pupil. "You can't be serious, Minato!"

"Only I can seal away the Kyuubi, Jiraiya-sensei. I have a sealing technique that will do it. The Shiki Fuujin. I've written its process in one of the Kage scrolls, so the technique won't die with me incase it's used again. It'll call forth the Shinigami himself, and both the souls of myself and the Kyuubi will be taken away and sealed in eternal battle. And I will die. That's what's needed, right?"

Jiraiya shook his head in disbelief, but Yagami and Sarutobi nodded in understanding.

"But, you must realize, Hokage-sama," Yagami said, "that life will be difficult for your son, and its more than making him an orphan. Being a jinchuuriki is painful… physically and mentally. You're setting him up for a great burden in order to save the village."

"I know," Minato said sadly, but then he smiled. "But that's why… I think I would be happy in my afterlife if I knew that Naruto was seen as a hero by the village. I would like that. Truly."

Yagami looked down at the child. "I'll help you put the proper seals on Naruto, but after that, while you do whatever you need to prepare for that final, insane seal, I'm going to meet up with the Kyuubi myself." When the men looked at her strangely, she grinned back, "I'm an old woman and my granddaughter is capable of continuing the line. And there's no way I can let the Kyuubi come into my backyard and not give him one more good fight from the Yagami clan!"

"Thank you, Yagami-san. For helping me."

"You're my granddaughter's sensei and teammate, not to mention the Hokage. I must do what I can."

.-.-.-.-.

It was the day of many deaths. All ninja that had been in other missions had been called back, and the wake of all this destruction and death also had a relief that the village had survived one of the worst disasters that could ever fall upon it. The lucky walked away disfigured, like Danzo. The not-so-lucky might have been fine physically, but had their souls taken away from them. And so many were dead.

When two particular ANBU squads returned, a certain member from each found themselves frozen as they stared, disbelievingly, at the names engraved on memorials. Kakashi and Rin had lost the last people that meant anything to them, that gave them any semblance of family in the world. Both were as orphaned as any other. Both were so utterly alone, and they mourned with the rest of Konoha. It must have seemed like the end of the world.

But everybody pulled themselves out of the mud and rebuilt, just as much to have something to do as to try to find a sense of duty, and it was almost amazing how quickly Konoha was rebuilt. Sandaime returned as Hokage, and had set a law to not mention, ever, the sealing of the Kyuubi into Uzumaki Naruto, as a last effort to the Yondaime's dying wish. And he punished severely if anyone broke this law, for he saw how the people thought of Naruto already. He could see it so easily in his former teammates, Homura and Koharu, who thought of the power that Naruto might become influenced by, and could not help but sneer at the container.

The Sandaime could only hope that he had done well for the memory of Namikaze Minato. It was comforting, over the years, to see that perhaps everything wasn't in vain, that the family Minato had left behind, both in his teammates and in his son, was able to continue and even prosper. Jiraiya continued his book writing, Kakashi rose quickly as a genius among the ANBU, Rin was an extremely talented kunoichi and medic-nin with as much prestige in ANBU as well, and Naruto…

Naruto was looking just like his father, but damned if he didn't act like his tomboy mother!

All right, there you go. Story over. I did a good deal of this in one day, just so you know.