Author's Notes
This story will most definitely NOT be following canon and there may be copious amounts of ooc'ness. This is actually a rewrite of a story I'd already completed. But my computer died and took it with it. So I will be writing it out again from memory and posting each chapter as it is written.
I don't own any characters but for the ones that have sprung from my own aching noggin. All the others belong to Kishimoto Masashi. If you don't like I am sorry, but this is how it is. Though I will accept constructive critiques. If you do like it then I thank you and hope that you will leave me a review telling me what you liked. I am not a review whore, but they do please the authoress. It makes it that much more satisfying to know that something I love is enjoyed by others. If you don't wish to leave a review on this site then please feel free to leave me a message on my facebook.
(link is in my profile).
ENJOY
"plain speech"
"thoughts"
"Kyuubi speaking"
~flash back~
Summary
In the beginning there was a boy. A boy who was the means to caging a massive beast, to protecting his people. His father sealed the beast within his body, and died in the process. But there were things that were kept beyond the secrets that were known to the Village council, only known to a few of the man's closest friends. This secret was that there were not one Jinchuuriki, but two. Two children chosen to bear the burden of the beast for the power of the creature was too much for one body to bear no matter their individual capacity. The first, the boy, was the Hokage's own son. The second, a daughter, the daughter of his friend. How things were to play out the two fathers could not have possibly known. But if the had, they would have let that village burn under the claws of the demon...
Prologue
The sounds of the approaching battle lent the air an ominous feel.
There was fire in the distance, the creature flailing, wild and crazed.
The winds carried the ash and scents of blood to Minato's nose. He cringed.
The Yondaime Hokage stood outside the small hut, tense, waiting. He wasn't waiting for the battle however. He was waiting on a friend. A friend that he half hoped wouldn't show. The sound of a throat clearing to his left made him smile reflexively and face the man.
"Hello Gai." Gai stood before him, the reason he was there held carefully in his arms.
"Hello Minato. I am not late." The Hokage sighed. The man always stated the obvious.
"You know you don't have to do this, don't you Gai?" Said man flashed him a huge smile not really appropriate to the situation, his long dark hair dropping down to cover his red rimmed eyes.
"Perhaps Minato, but who else would you suggest? These two are the only ones strong enough to bear this power. We both know this." The blonde sighed and gave his friend a wan smile before his eyes drifted down to the swaddled infant cradled carefully in Gai's arms. All he could see was the tip of her pale little nose.
"I know, but I don't want to, to hurt you if this doesn't go the way we want it to. It's dangerous. For her, for him, for you." Gai reached forward and wrapped a shaking arm around his friend.
"Do not forget yourself my friend. But I know you will succeed. You are the only man in this world I would trust with the last piece of her. You should know this. Why do you think you were chosen to be our Hokage?" Minato returned the one armed hug. He and the man before him were far more alike than one might think at first glance, or even those that knew them well enough. They were practically brothers though the Hokage was several years Maito Gai's senior. That is what made this so hard. For both of them. Without any other words, Gai held the child out and deposited her into Minato's waiting arms. Gai only stopped for a moment, his fingers brushing a bright red curl out of the child's face.
"Be safe my own. Minato will take care of you." He turned and ran then. It was not fitting for a Shinobi to cry, no matter the reason or how warranted the situation might seem.
Minato walked into the hut, the candle light the only light within the small space. A child lie quiet, asleep, hallowed in the light. His golden blonde curls and soft chubby features making the man smile. He glanced down at the child in his arms, the child who gazed quietly back at him. His niece by all rights. Not just because Gai happened to be like a brother. Because this child's mother was the sister of his son's mother. They had been a dazzling pair. Two rubies amongst the emeralds of the village. Very nearly twins. His finger traced the baby's nose. She frowned, scrunching her nose in such a way that Minato couldn't help but smile. Uzumaki Kushina and Uzumaki Kurina had been their mother's names.
"Your father didn't tell me your name little one... I suppose little one will do for now." He placed the child beside his own. His boy, Naruto, opened his eyes and seemed to be immediately drawn to the girl at his side. Cerulean eyes met Jade ones. They reached for one another, their chubby little fingers grasping one another as though in anticipation of what was to come. Watching them like this, one would call them siblings instead of cousins. He caressed the hair of both babies. One a blonde as bright as the sun, the other as deep as her mother's ruby locks. They looked at him, smiling and cooing sweetly. A roar in the distance drew his attention to the door. The sound was closer.
"I am sorry to place this burden on the shoulders of my precious people. But I have no choice. Take care of each other." He placed a soft kiss on the forehead of each. His son Naruto, and the little one he had no name for. They were so quiet and solemn. He smiled one last time and with quick motions began painting the seals onto their stomachs. First Naruto's, then her's. They were silent and still throughout. With the last stroke he pulled back. He surveyed his work.
"This will work. If it kills me, I will make this work." He let the brush drop back into the little bowl. Another roar. Gathering his courage, his senses, he turned and walked to the door. He paused at the threshold.
"Kami, help me pull this off. Not just for this village. For these two innocents." He walked out into the chaos that had nearly made it to the door.
From where he was, Gai could only make out the outline of the demon against the smoke and flame. It was massive. It had already set fire to a large portion of the village, and what it hadn't would be aflame soon enough. They'd fought to keep it back, to keep it from crossing into the village. But they'd failed. It was far too strong. It's power seemed infinite. It was all up to Minato, the Yondaime Hokage. He had faith in the man in a way that he had faith in no other. The creature's enraged roar brought his attention back to the moment. A flash of lightning yellow caught his eye.
"Minato... you can do this."
Having fought several times today, he could feel fatigue attempting to weigh his muscles down. The blood flowing down the side of his face reminded him that he couldn't allow it to. The beast was raging before him, unseeing and unhearing. Having broken the contract between Madara and the Kyuubi, the Kyuubi was wild and more than half crazed now. This was partially his fault, but he would do what he could to atone. Flash stepping till he was in mid-air before the beast he began forming hand seals.
"Hakke no Fuuin Shiki!" The creature before him seemed to shrink to half the size. He half grinned to himself before dodging a bite. The demon was smaller, but it's aggressiveness seemed to have doubled. Again his hands formed the symbols, his body only wishing to stop. As the last symbol was made and his voice rang out the demon was gone, leaving only the memory of it's eyes glaring hatefully at him. Minato fell. He struck the ground with great force, the blow only lessened by the rain that had begun to fall as he fought the beast. His body hurt, and he could taste the coppery tang of his own blood. None the less he smiled to himself. He dragged himself a few yards closer, wanting the last thing he'd gaze on to be them. The door was still lit by the candles from within. He could hear both babies squalling. He couldn't raise himself, but could see their little legs kicking. They'd lived. A relieved breath escaped, rasping past his broken ribs and out of his freely bleeding mouth. His last breath. The darkness was beginning to encroach, pulling him in. He kept his eyes glued to the light.
"So tired... I'll just, close my eyes." The last sight that met his eyes as the darkness consumed his vision was a hunched shadow scuttling towards the light.
Gai had seen him fall. His feet were carrying him as quickly as they could, dodging around the wreckage and fires. Beside him ran two men, both as eager as he to reach that spot.
"Jiraiya-sama?" The man shook his head as they ran. He didn't think they'd find him alive. The three doubled their speed. The scene that met their eyes brought two to their knees. Jiraiya and Kakashi slid down into the mud beside their fallen. One the sensei and the other the student. Gai made it a few steps further. His hand was on the door frame, gripping it tightly to try and keep himself on his feet. There was only one child. One golden haired babe screaming and reaching for another that wasn't there. He fell to his knees. It was against the code of the Shinobi to cry. The tears of the sky slipped with his own. Hid them. He'd lost every thing. His wife. His child. His friend. He broke.
