New fic. I couldn't get this idea out of my mind so I had to write it. It is very much inspired by Naruto: Captured by EdStargazer, His portrayal of the 'military ninja', who are the ones who fail their genin test got me thinking about what life is like for those who get sent back. Here is the results, hope you like it.

xXXx

The doors to the office swung open. The man inside stopped his pacing.

"Hokage-sama!" the ninja who had entered yelled, voice packed with urgency. "It' s Kushina-san, she's just given birth!"

The man gave was the fourth Hokage of the Konohagakure no Sato merely smiled. It was a small smile, and one much too grim in the face of the news he had just received. "Thank you. I will be over shortly," he replied.

"Hai, Hokage-sama" the ninja said, before making a hasty exit.

The Yondaime turned back to his desk, and that small smile vanished as quickly as it had come. The desk was mess. Papers were littered everywhere. Each of them was covered in a mass of patterned kanji. Seals, if one knew what they were looking at. But they were so complex, they looked more like art than fuinjutsu. "Goddamnit!" Minato swore out loud. "Why this? Why now?" His life had just been looking up. The war had ended, he had been named Hokage and gotten married to best woman he could ever ask for. So why now, when his life was finally where he had dreamed it would be, did this have to happen.

Sighing, he looked out the window of the his office. Just over the horizon lay the Kyuubi no Kitsune. It's malignant chakra painting the night sky red. The shinobi forces that had been deployed were doing there best to slow it down, but he knew there was nothing they could do that would stop the beast. Their only hope lay in the seals assembled on his desk.

The door opened a second time. "Minato," a voice range out. Minato looked up to see the man who had been the third Hokage enter the room.

"Sarutobi-sama" he replied, his face a mask of confusion. "What are you doing here?"

The Third did not reply. Instead, he walked over to the desk where the mass of seal arrays were scattered. "So your going to use it, then."

"You know I have to. It's our only chance."

The Third said nothing for a moment, his face reflecting the same grimness of Minato's. "Let me do it," he said at last.

"No." The response was firm and absolute. "I cannot allow that. I am the Hokage, it is my duty to do what must be done. Besides, the sealing is too complex, it would take only one mistake for the whole thing to go south."

"Don't be a fool," spoke the Third. Minato's eyes narrowed, and began to respond to the apparent insult before the Third cut him off. "I don't want to hear it. You are thinking with your heart and not with your head. It is a commendable thing, but right now it is making you stupid. Do you really think sacrificing yourself right now is in Konoha's best interest? Do you think, after just having been through a war, that Konoha really needs to lose the strongest Hokage they have ever had? Do you think that the council or Danzo's Root, which we both know has not been disbanded, will let the opportunity your death presents pass them by? No, Konoha needs your leadership now more than ever. And if you are planning to use who I think you are, your family will need you, too."

"But the seals-"

"Are not beyond my capability to perform. To create them yes, as you are a genius with fuinjutsu that few can match. But I am not called The Professor for nothing.

Minato stilled at the possibility, his resolve weakening for second, before it returned again. "No...I need to do this. It's only right," he finished.

"Minato..." spoke the Third with a sigh, "I am old. I have lived a full life. I have been able to see my children grow up and become strong. I have fought in two Great Shinobi Wars and not only survived, but triumphed. But I do not have what it takes to lead Konoha as should be, not anymore. I do however, have the opportunity to die for my village. It is the only privilege as a patriot and a shinobi that I ask of you now."

Minato turned turned to face the window again. The sky was getting redder by the minute.

"Minato, please" the Third was all but begging him.

The Fourth's thoughts were racing a mile a minute. He hadn't thought, hadn't dared hoped of surviving this night. But maybe, just maybe...

With a sigh, Minato turned around to face the Third and uttered a single word that would change the course of fate.

"Alright."

xXXx

The hospital was in chaos. Medics ran to and fro, desperately trying to keep up with the ever increasing flow of casualties. Minato took it all in, noting each wounded ninja, most on death's door, with a pang in his heart. They had fought for him against a monster of unparalleled destruction, mostly in vain, without a single word of protest. And the Third's words were starting to make a lot more sense to him the more he thought about. The Third himself was right in tow, following Minato as they ascended the stairs towards the maternity ward at a brisk pace. Reaching the room, he saw Jiraiya standing outside the doorway.

"Congratulations," his sensei said to him. But his words were marred by the desperate atmosphere.

"Thanks, Jiraiya-sensei" Minato replied. "I need you to do me favor though, and your not going to like it." Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, but listened as his student leaned in whispered into his ear.

"You're right, I don't like this. Not one bit. But I'll do it, if that's what needs to be done."

Minato breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks sensei."

Entering the room, Minato's eyes took in the sight of his wife. She was exhausted. Her red hair splayed across the pillows in a messy fashion. Her eyes lit up when she saw him enter the room.

"Minato," she breathed out, "look." She looked down at what she held within her arms, and Minatos eyes widened.

"Twins!" he exclaimed. Two newborns, one with a patch of blond hair, and one with little red tufts of hair peaking out.

"I know. A boy and girl. Aren't they beautiful?" his wife said.

Minato nodded. They were. They were most beautiful things he had ever seen in his life. And they were his. However, his thoughts were racing. The girl...he would seal the Kyuubi into his daughter. A female would be able to handle the chakra better, if only a bit. He knew that females outlived males, at least under normal circumstances. Something to do with their ability to give birth and carry on the species. Even as a newborn, the girls chakra coils would be more inclined to accommodate another being inside them. He noted Jiraiya as he entered the room. His sensei gave him a subtle nod, but he didn't dare acknowledge it for fear of arousing Kushina's suspicion. He was sure his wife had noticed Jiraiya entered the room, but he was counting on her exhausted state to dull her awareness.

"Minato," his wife's voice interrupted his dark thoughts, "what are we going to name them?"

Minato picked up his son first. The child opened his eyes barely, the beautiful blue eyes that looked just like his own stared back him. "Naruto," Minato said.

Kushina smiled. "Maelstrom. I love it...and our baby girl?"

"How bout...Natsumi?" he asked.

"Summer beauty? Sounds perfect for our little girl."

Jiraiya was done now, and Minato immediately felt a wave of guilt overwhelm him for deceiving his wife like this. "Kushina..." he started, but the words seemed to have a hard time coming out of his mouth. "Kushina...the Kyuubi no Kitsune is getting close to village now. Our forces have tried to slow it down, but we all know that whatever they can do is far from enough. Our only chance..." he trailed off, the lump in his throat making it hard to swallow. "Our only chance...is to seal it."

His wife's face took on a blank look, losing all of its former, if exhausted, serenity. Then as if her suspicions could no longer be kept at bay, a horrified expression replaced it. "No...Minato no! You can't possibly...I wont let you!" she cried. She hugged her children closer to her, and the newborns began to cry, feeling the distress of their mother. "I won't let you! I won't...I...won'..."

Minato looked at his now sleeping wife as the sedatives Jiraiya had attached to her IV bag kicked in. Taking Natsumi from his wife's arms, he exited the room with Jiraiya to find the Third waiting for him.

"Minato," Jiraiya looked hard at his student, "are you sure you want to do this?"

"I'm not," Minato replied, then elaborated upon seeing his sensei's confused expression. "He is," Minato explained while nodding at the Third.

"Sensei..." Jiraiya eeked out, surprised for the second time in under ten seconds.

"It's my time, Jiraiya. I have taught you and your fellow sannin all I can. Now, I will do what's necessary for my village." Jiraiya opened his mouth as if say something, but eventually closed it. Instead, he gave a ghost of a nod, signifying he understood why things were to be this way.

Without another word, the three men exited the hospital and headed off to the battlefield.

That night, a man lost his life in service to his village. That night, the most powerful bijuu of them all was sealed into a baby girl. That night, history was forever changed.

xXXx

A young boy raced after a young girl, eyes full of anger. "Give it back!" he screamed.
"No way!" the girl replied. Her red hair clashed horribly with orange jumpsuit she wore, the navy blue highlights not doing anything to help. "Not until you take back what you said about my hair!"

"I won't take it back! Not when it's true!" The boy in question was blond haired and sporting the same jumpsuit. Except on him, the colors were reversed, with navy blue the predominant color and orange for the highlights. He chased his sister around the house, trying to gain back the action figure she had taken from him.

They ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, knocking chairs over as they went. Kushina looked up just soon enough to avoid being barreled over by her daughter. Coincidentally, this put her right in the way of her son.

"Oof!" Kushina let out a grunt as her son smashed into her and bounced backward, landing in a heap on the floor. "Naruto! Watch where your going! And just why exactly are you two running around in my kitchen? If you want to play, go outside!" She didn't need her children tearing up the house today. Again. Not for the first time, Kushina questioned her decision to resign as an active ninja to stay at home and raise her kids.

"She stole my toy!" Naruto shouted, pointing accusingly at Natsumi and glaring.

"But mo-om! He said my ponytails look like two pig butts stuck together!" Natsumi complained as she glared right back at her brother.

Kushina merely sighed. These types of fights were a nearly daily occurrence. "Naruto, is this true?" she asked.

Naruto merely smirked. "Well of course it's true. I mean, just look at them! I'd say that's about right" he said with a laugh.

"Naruto!" Kushina exclaimed. Her son was always such a smart-aleck. It was never enough for him to just get in trouble, he always had to throw attitude into the mix. "Namikaze Naruto, you apologize to your sister right now, and I mean right now." Kushina's voice held the promise of a painful future if her son didn't follow through on her instructions.

Naruto's face morphed into an angry scowl, before he crossed his arms and looked away. "Fine, I'm sorry..." he began, before he smirked once again. "I'm sorry she's such a bitch!"

He didn't even see the blow coming. One second Naruto was standing up, the next he was on the floor holding his head.

Kushina looked down at her son, fuming. "Naruto, upstairs..." Kushina's voice was dark with anger, and even though she tried not to discipline her kids with physical violence, Naruto had pushed past her limit and broke it at light speed. "That kind of language will not be tolerated in my household. Upstairs right now, and hope you don't want ramen anytime soon, because it will be a long time, and I do mean long, before your getting any."

Naruto was on his feet already, the blow hadn't been that hard, but after hearing his mother banning him from ramen for the foreseeable future, his hands balled into fists. The outraged expression on his face was almost comical. Finally, after stewing for a moment but seeing nothing else to do, he blew a raspberry at his mother's face, before tearing out of the kitchen and into his room upstairs with slam.

Kushina sighed, only to look up into the kitchen doorway to see her husband standing there with a slightly confused expression.

"Did I miss something?" he asked

Kushina merely rubbed her temples. "Natsumi, go play honey"

"Okay," the little girl replied, tossing her brother's action figure carelessly aside before running out of the kitchen a breakneck speed.

"Why are our kids always so hyper?" Minato asked. Really he knew why Natsumi was always hyper. It was all the extra chakra she had running through her system due the Kyuubi. Naruto actually wasn't that hyper all the time, he was just much more...troublesome.

"Please, you know why" was Kushina's only response. "Your going to have to have a talk with your son. He's upstairs right now, grounded. And banned from ramen for the next three weeks or so."

Minato whistled. "Damn, what did he do to get that kind of torture?"

"He called his sister a bitch. I couldn't believe it! I mean, the kid's eight! Where did he learn that kind of language?"

At that Minato frowned, thinking back to the delinquents he had recently discovered were his son's newest friends. "You don't want to know."

Kushina merely raised an eyebrow, before sighing again. "Seriously Minato, what are we going to do with him?"

It was Minato's turn to sigh as he merely shrugged his shoulders. He knew his son had...problems. His sister was every bit as mischievous, but at least she applied herself to the training her teachers asked of her. Or tried her hardest to, anyway. Naruto...well, it was like he had given up on training and decided to just cause trouble. Minato knew part of the reason, or at least he thought he did. It was jealousy, pure and simple. Naruto was jealous of his sister being the Kyuubi jinchuuriki, for being the 'hero of the village'. Minato had touted her as such to save her from the backlash that had been sure to come when she had been sealed. Not everyone in Konoha viewed her as such, but the majority did. And so, Naruto had somewhat fallen in her shadow. Even Kushina, as much he loved her, held a slight bias towards their daughter over their son, though she vehemently denied it whenever he brought it up. Not that Naruto made it any easier on himself.

And so the two sat in silence. Neither having the solution to what appeared to be a growing problem. Neither of them knowing that it was soon to get much worse.

xXXx

"Naruto...I can't believe this."

Namikaze Minato was not pleased. For the third time this week, his son had been summoned to his office. It wasn't an uncommon thing. His son always seemed to be getting into trouble one way or another. But three times in one week? It was like the kid was trying to break a record or something.

"I swear, you're trying to send me to an early grave. Do you know how much extra paperwork I have because you?"

"Not enough" Naruto mumbled. In was barely understandable, but Minato heard in none the less and his already angry disposition turned stormier.

"Boy, I'm warning you. Do not try my patience today. I've already had to deal with enough crap from the council, I'm not about to tolerate my own son mouthing off to me, ya hear?" Minato rarely cursed in front of his children, but quite frankly, he was tired of this.

Naruto didn't seem to care, if the disgruntled "whatever" was any indication.

Minato clenched his jaw, his anger mounting at his son's disrespect. "I hear you've been vandalizing stores again. What did I tell you about this crap huh? It wasn't cute when you were ten, but now your supposed to be getting ready to graduate next year."

"I didn't vandalize nothing! Graffiti aint vandalism, it's art! I was just making their stores look better anyway" Naruto answered back. "Besides, how come you never get on Natsumi like this when she pranks people all the time!"

"At least her pranks take some creativity, your just defacing village property!" Naruto's father spat.

It was Naruto's turn to grind his teeth as his father debased work. He had put a lot of work into his tag. It had taken him months to get his tag right. Longer to come up with all the cool variations for different 'pieces. Taking three characters and modifying their style, making them all flow with direction and colors was a lot of work. He thought his tag 'RIN' was pretty damn cool. It meant 'cold', and his friends said he had some crazy style for someone so new to the game. Besides, being able to paint a whole piece without getting caught in ninja village took some serious skills in his opinion.

His father wasn't finished though. "Maybe if you spent half the time practicing that you spend with those delinquent friends of yours, you wouldn't be dead last in you class!"

"Don't talk about my friends like that, old man!"

"I'll talk about them any way I damn well please as long as they live in my village" Minato seethed, his son's attitude pushing all the wrong buttons. "This isn't even why I called you in here today. What's this I hear about you picking fights with your classmates? On the second to last day of school, no less!"

"It was the bastard's fault! He deserved it! You think I was gonna let him get away with talking to me like that without kicking his ass?"

"Boy, I'm only going to say this once. Watch your language in front of me, you hear?"

Naruto's simply 'hmphed' in reply.

"Besides," Minato continued, "not only did you pick a fight, but you then went and lost said fight."

"I didn't lose!" Naruto countered.

"Your face says otherwise" stated Minato as he eyed the black eye and rapidly swelling bruise on his son's jaw.

"Whatever. I can kick that bastard's ass any day of the week," replied his son.

"Natuto..." Minato ground out, his temper close to the breaking point. "Listen...as it is your barely passing this year, and next year if you keep this up, your likely to end up in the Reserves. Your jounin sensei will not tolerate any of this kind of insubordination. As it stands, I have half a mind to send you there right now." It was an empty threat, for sure. At least Naruto thought so, because if thought otherwise he might have thought twice about the words that came out of his mouth.

"Yea right, you don't have the guts" he said as he shot a smirk towards his father. To hell with all this dressing down bullshit.

"Naruto..." he could literally hear the teeth grinding in his father's mouth, but he'd be damned if his father thought he wasn't going to call his bluff. After all, how would it look if the Hokage's son was in the Reserve Corps.

Perhaps if he had stopped right there things would have been different. But this was Naruto, and like always, he had to go the extra mile. "Go ahead I dare you!"

It was as if a transformation came over his father. One minute his father looked ready to blow a fuse. The next, he was looking at his son with a blank look on his face, eyes cold enough to make a shiver crawl up Naruto's spine. He'd seen his father mad before, but he'd never in his life seen him look like this. A sinking feeling started to stir in his gut, and it got even worse when he saw his father calmly pull out a slip of paper and begin signing his name on it. When he was done, he held the document up for Naruto to see. "You see this? This, is your application for the Reserve Corps. Ritsuko!" his Minato called out into the hallway.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" answered the cute blond secretary that immediately entered the room.

"Take this application down to processing right away."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." And with that she was gone, and Naruto felt the life he had known leaving with her.

His father's voice was cold as ice, and now the moniker he taking to tagging didn't seem so cool anymore. "Don't even bother showing up for school tomorrow. You'll be shipping out with genins who fail their jounin test."

"But-" Naruto tried to protest.

"But nothing!" his father ruthlessly cut him down. "Now you are dismissed. Leave."

Naruto wanted to scream. He wanted make his father take it all back. He wanted to somehow release all the emotions building up inside his chest. Instead he tore out of his father's office like a bat out of hell, tears streaming down his face, and shame burning deep in his heart.

xXXx

That night the Namikaze household was aflame. The news had spread rapidly, and the whole village, shinobi and civilian alike, were talking about how the Hokage had signed his son away to the Reserve Corps. Kushina had known about it before Minato had even made it home. And she was not happy, if the now hour long argument taking place in the next room meant anything.

Naruto didn't care though. He was simply sitting in his room, staring at the walls. The posters he had put up, one of Princess Yuki and another of a masked ANBU stared back at him mockingly. He looked around, taking in the various items and trinkets he had scattered about his room. The toad plushy his godfather Jiraiya bought him for his seventh birthday sat next to a a bundle of half empty spray cans. For the first time, Naruto seriously regretted getting into graffiti. The sound of his door opening caused him to look up.

It was his sister. Her face a mask of conflicting emotions. But right now she was last person he wanted to see. "What do you want?" he said rudely.

"Naruto..." his sister began, "what the hell were you thinking?" she all but yelled at him.

"What the fuck do you think I was thinking? I didn't think he would actually do it!"

"Well nice going dumbass! Now you're on your way to the Reserves!"

"Thank you being a bitch and stating what everyone in Konoha already knows," he replied scathingly.

"Damnit Naruto! I was just trying to say bye! But you know what, see if I care! Have fun in the Reserves" she bit back, before exiting the door with a slam.

Naruto growled, before slamming his fist into the wall. Somehow, he felt even worse than before.

xXXx

The next day saw Naruto standing in front the academy. The argument last night had been long and loud. His mother had been all but screaming at his father to rescind the order. Naruto's father had stated that even though he regretted decision after having some time to cool down, he could not rescind the order once it had been issued. It would look extremely suspect if he canceled it, especially since the whole village knew. That kind of favoritism could not be shown, even if it was toward his own son. After the long and heated argument, Kushina had banished Minato to couch, stating that he would be sleeping there for a long time. It gave Naruto a little satisfaction to hear that, if only a little.

His family had already seen him off. Well at least his mother and his father had. His sister had refused to even come out of her room to see him. It had hurt him more than he liked to admit. His mother hadn't really said much to him, despite her argument with Minato the night before. She had merely told him to "make her proud", like that meant anything. His relationship with his mother had never been that great. It was probably because she did most of the disciplining, but Naruto always felt his mother liked Natsumi better than him. Still, he felt that she could have at least said something that made a bit more sense. After all, what reason did he have to make her proud, when she had never been proud of him? His father had tried to say something to him, but Naruto had merely walked off without a word. He knew that had really hurt his father, but Naruto didn't particularly care at this point.

So here he was, waiting for the other failures. In groups of three they began to file in, all of them sporting looks of anger, sadness or disappointment. Soon, some twenty odd ninjas to be were assembled at the academy gate. It was almost two o' clock, and many of the gathered cadets were getting even more disgruntled. When it seemed they had just about reached their limit, even Naruto was pissed, a chuunin level ninja finally strolled up the group. He paused for second, before addressing them.

"Those of you who are here now are here because for whatever reason, you were deemed unfit to work in a three man cell. Because of this, you are now hereby enrolled in the Reserve Corps. I will escort you to the Grounds. Try and keep up." With that, the chuunin turned around and began running at a brisk pace. The looked confused for a second, but they dashed after him, Naruto trying to keep up with the pace they set. Their route took them away from the academy, and passed the ninja training grounds. Some of the ninja who were training paused to look at them and shake their heads, though others didn't even acknowledge them. One team even made a joke. Naruto didn't hear what they said, but he knew by their laughing and pointing that it was at the group's expense. He bristled but merely scowled in anger, not having the energy to do much else.

Finally, they passed out of the regular ninja training grounds, but their pace didn't slow. They ran along a long dirt road, surrounded on either side by a mass of trees. Naruto couldn't even tell where they were anymore, but he knew it was the outskirts of Konoha. They hadn't passed the gate, but for all intents and purposes that might as well have. Finally, he could see some buildings coming into view in the distance. As they got closer, Naruto could see what they were approaching was a veritable compound. They neared the entrance gate, and the chuunin slowed to a halt. For this Naruto was extremely grateful, because the massive stitch in his side was making it rather hard to breath.

As he caught his breath, hands on his knees, the chuunin walked up to another man who was standing inside the gate. He spoke briefly to man who nodded, before biting out a "dismissed". The chuunin saluted, which Naruto found odd, but he was in too much pain to think much on it. The man walked over to the group, and Naruto took in his appearance. The man was wearing regular green fatigue pants, along with a green flight jacket under a standard jounin vest. Naruto passingly noted that they were different than the navy blue fatigues he had seen on most Konoha ninja. On his forehead was standard black Konoha hitaite. It was tied so the cloth covered his whole head, instead of just the forehead. He looked over the assembled group, and his expression was the epitome of unimpressed. Finally, he barked out an order.

"Inside the gate and form three rows. Now!" The group followed quickly, more than a little intimidated by the presence he exuded. Naruto followed behind last, still catching his breath. Because of this, he ended up in the first row. The man now began to speak.

"My name Minahara Takashi. But that doesn't matter, because you will not address me as anything other than sir. As a matter of fact, I don't want to hear a thing coming out of your mouths without a sir behind it. Is that understood?"

A quite mumbling of "yes sirs" was the reply.

"What was that? I didn't quite hear you. I said, is. That, Un-der-stood!"

This time the group responded with a loud "Yes sir!"

"That's what I thought," Takashi said, a smirk now adorning his face. "For the next three months I am tasked with job of turning you from a bunch of failures, 'cause that's what you are, into something resembling a shinobi. Unlikely as that is, I will attempt the impossible, because those are my orders," he said cruelly.

Naruto merely hmphed, scowling and looking away as the man debased them. Who did this guy think he was, treating them like trash. He didn't need to take this shit. Naruto didn't even notice Takashi move until his shadow fell over him.

"Boy..." the man started slowly, "who is your father?"

Naruto merely smirked. "My father is Namikaze Min-" he didn't get to finish his sentence before Takashi backhanded him, sending crashing into the dirt.

"Wrong! I am your father. And your mother. And for all intents and purposes, I am your damn God!" he turned, leaving Naruto to pick himself up slowly, the taste of blood stinging his mouth. "And that goes for all you snot nosed brats. Because I hold your fates in my hands, and trust me you are not going to enjoy it."

Takashi walked to the front of the group before addressing them again. "You are hereby by enrolled in Basic Training, otherwise known as Hell." He paused, before a smile that could only be described as evil made its way to his face.

"Welcome to the Reserve Corps."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That's it. Hoped you guys liked the prologue. I swear to God I'm going to get farther on this than my other fics. It's like a burning need right now. Review and lemme know if you liked it and what else you think.

Peace,