A/N: Howdy, the author here. Just a heads up before you get into this: if you aren't a fan of people utilizing any Japanese when writing Naruto fics or whatnot, this probably isn't for you. In my defense though, I'm only using it for titles and specific jutsu names (as well as the 'releases' because I don't like the English translations). So, if this isn't your cup of tea, fair enough. -Neptune
Prologue:
Minato, Fourth Hokage of the Hidden Leaf Village, stood panting, beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. The effort of having teleported the bijūdama of the strongest of the Tailed-Beasts had left him momentarily winded.
Raising his head, he sees the sneering visage of the Nine-Tails. His eyes drift across the destruction wantonly wrought throughout his village, his home. The Hokage's expression tightens and he vanishes in his signature Yellow Flash- reappearing in front of the gathered shinobi forces to raucous cheer only to vanish once again, this time with the Kyūbi in tow.
A surge of light in a far off clearing heralded the reappearance of the Nine-Tails. It had only enough time to snarl before it was forced face-first into the dirt by chains. The source of which was a post nativity Kushina Uzumaki, utilizing her clan's bloodline to physically manifest her chakra in order to restrain the mightiest of the Tailed-Beasts. Worry began to radiate off the Hokage at the sign of his weakened and profusely bleeding wife. "Kushina," Minato exclaimed, "what are you doing? You shouldn't be here!"
"Minato Namikazi, if you thought for a second I'd leave you to take care of this on your own, you've got another thing coming!" Her response was weak and punctuated with ragged gasps but held an undercurrent of finality: there would be no dissuading her.
"Okay, so, what's the plan then?" Kushina asked. Minato cringed slightly at the thought of revealing to her what his plan was. "We don't have much time- I can only hold it for so long," the Uzumaki grit out. She was right, Minato glanced at her, she was trembling like a leaf in a storm and sweat poured off of her. The only thing likely keeping her standing being the almost unreasonable stubbornness her clan was infamous for.
After a moment of hesitation, the Hokage sighed and explained his plan to his wife, "I'm going to summon the Shinigami," he uttered as calmly as he could.
Kushina's head whipped to face her husband, eyes wide with incredulity. "You can't be serious?!" She demanded at a near yell, "it'll kill you!"
Minato nodded once, his face set with a grim determination, "the only way to stop it is to seal it away and the only seal strong enough to guarantee that it says locked away is the Shiki Fūin."
Agreeing to his points, albeit reluctantly, Kushina asked the most pertinent question left, "who are you going to seal the Nine-Tails into? An object can't hold it for long, regardless of the seal you use and sealing it into an adult will kill him or her?"
Minato turned to face the last Uzumaki, an apologetic expression adorning his face as the color drained from hers. "No," Kushina whispered, "not Naruto! Not my baby!" She cried out in anguish.
His apologetic expression turned pained at her tone, "it's the only way," he intoned solemnly, "we don't have the time to find anyone else."
Minato flashed away before Kushina could respond. Kushina turned to face the still struggling Nine-Tails with hatred simmering in her eyes. It was bad enough that she had to put up with its presence in her mind but now she had to subject her baby boy to the same torment. She couldn't put into words her hatred for this animal.
The last thing Minato saw before he flashed away was the pained expression on his wife's face. He reappeared next to the crib he had placed his son in. He set his hands on the railings and stared at the baby for a moment before he sagged. The weight of what he was about to do seemingly crashing down on his shoulders. Minato gazed upon baby Naruto's face- possibly the only chance he'd ever get to do so- taking in his soured expression while he slept. The dried tear tracts suggested his son had cried himself to sleep.
The Hokage gently brushed his son's hair careful not to wake him. "I'm sorry," he began, his voice shaking ever so slightly, "Daddy's really sorry, Naruto. Daddy has to do something that will make things hard for you, but I know you can get through it, you're my little shinobi after all." His voice broke off, a smile more reminiscent of grimace plastered feebly on his face as he stared down into the crib. "Now, I need you to be strong for me, okay? I'm going to have to go away for a while, so I need you to be a big strong man for your mommy okay, Naruto?" The infant in question merely fidgeted in discomfort in his sleep.
With a calming sigh, Minato wiped away the percolating tears and gently picked up his son who instinctively latched onto his shirt, cooing ever so softly. He gave another grimace as a fresh wave of sadness crashed into him. Steeling his countenance and wrapping his hands more securely around Naruto he flashed away.
The tell-tale Flash to Kushina's left informed her that Minato had returned with Naruto. Frowning at the redness of his eyes she made to speak before being stopped with a look. "We need to be quick." She nodded and the two of them jumped from their perch to the clearing below.
Utilizing a small amount of Wind Chakra, Minato sliced in half a boulder that sat before them creating a rough, make-shift table-slab. He gently set Naruto down and turned to his wife. "Are you ready?" Kushina nodded, tears beginning to trickle down her face once again.
The Hokage steadied himself and performed the hand seals for his last technique and cried out "Shiki Fūin!" For a moment nothing happened and a stillness enveloped the four in the clearing before the air behind Minato distorted and the Nine-Tails redoubled its efforts to escape from the tethering chains.
There stood the Reaper in all its spectral glory. It hovered, the robe adorning its body opened about the torso revealing to all and sundry its gaunt chest and bloated stomach. Its hair was an untamed, wild mess and it held a blade between its unnaturally sharp teeth. Without hesitation, an ethereal hand shot forth from it into its summoner beginning the process of removing his soul. The contract had been initiated.
The sight of the God of Death before her caused Kushina's grip on her chains to waver for a moment, but that moment combined with its desperate thrashings were all the Nine-Tails needed to free one of its gargantuan arms.
The Kyūbi recognized the being before it- all of the Biju would- and understood that if it didn't act swiftly it would be sealed away again. The ghostly hand attached to the summoner shot forwards and grabbed ahold of the Nine-Tails and it Acted. The Nine-Tailed Fox's massive hand tipped with razor sharp claws longer than a grown man, speared forward, intent on goring the tiny body of its new, would-be jailer. The Nine-Tails saw the tiny beings below it move, but it was too late there wasn't enough time for them to jump away with one chaining him down and the other channeling the Shinigami. A vicious sense of victory swelled within the Nine-Tails. It had won.
Kushina had noticed it first. The shifting of the chains had alerted her to her mistake and she threw herself in front of her son, desperate to stop whatever was coming their way. Her movement had caught Minato's eye and he saw the oncoming claw. The fear of their sacrifice being for not spurned him to move despite the blistering pain of having his soul partially removed. He moved behind his wife all while the Shinigami extracted large amounts of Chakra from the beast behind them.
It was this fact that spared Naruto from the impaling Kushina and Minato received. The amount of Chakra removed from it had shrunken down the Nine-Tails enough that its claw was just shy of reaching Naruto. Kushina, through her agony, tightened her focus on her chains as much as she could muster while Minato tried to hurry along the Reaper.
The Nine-Tails could feel it's consciousness fleeing, being slowly, but surely, siphoned into the loud, fleshy creature below it. Its anger was reaching a fever pitch only to be snuffed out by confusion when it suddenly felt an awkward tugging in a new direction. The Greatest of the Tailed Beasts turned to look over at the Summoner only to see another, albeit significantly smaller, spectral arm attempting to pull the Nine-Tails in the direction of the Shinigami. Confusion gave way to fear which gave way to a sort of smug satisfaction at the look upon the Death Gods face.
The Shinigami had felt a tug in his mind. A slight pull from the back of his consciousness that he knew to be a summons. Mildly confused at this, as it had been a number of years since he had been summoned- not since the erasure of the Uzumaki- he allowed the sensation to pull him to its origin. What he saw surprised him greatly.
The Nine-Tails, a rabid look adorning its visage and deep red chains constructed of pure Chakra holding it prostrate along the floor of a great clearing. The Reaper followed the chains to their origin, 'ah, an Uzumaki, of course'. His eyes widened further once he saw the other figure beside the Uzumaki woman; tall, for a human anyway, with yellow hair and a fluttering cape. He was impressed that the feeling from the summons led to the man and not the Uzumaki as he had expected- not many could manage the power to summon a God.
The Shinigami could feel through their connection what he was requested to do, and so began the ritual. A spectral hand emerged from his chest, thrust into the back of his summoner, and then finally grasped onto the form of the Nine-Tails and begun to pull at its Chakra.
The sight of the beasts frantic struggles, while initially amusing grew tiresome rather quickly. Then he noticed movement, first of the Nine-Tails, having gotten a claw free, then of his Summoner and the Uzumaki. In less than the span of a blink the two had been skewered.
That looked like it had to hurt. The fact that his Summoners hold on their connection was still strong impressed him once more. This mortal was quite the specimen, it was almost a shame he had to devour his soul.
Then he felt it.
A niggling in a corner of his mind. A spectral hand clearly of his own power made its way from the chest of the Summoner and lightly grasped the Nine-Tails. Confusion beget rage as the Reaper felt the intent through the connection. The Summoner thought to use his power to seal the Nine-Tails within the Gods belly?! Any goodwill held by the Reaper vanished in an instant at the sheer audacity. A flex of his power shattered the second hand.
If the Summoner wanted to alter the terms of their agreement, then the Shinigami was all too happy to comply. He sought, initially, to make the Beast into a weapon within his own son. To seal the Creature within the recesses of his son's mind, allowing him to draw on its power. Fine. If it was a weapon he desired, it was a weapon he would receive.
With but a thought the Reaper had begun to push the mind of the infant back, deeper into the subconscious to make room for the Nine-Tails. Slowly switching the two within their newly shared body. The God frowned. He'd have to put a lot of the Beast's power behind the seal as well, mortal bodies weren't designed to hold that much power- especially this young. Maybe the Summoners weapon wouldn't turn against him now, but it was only a matter of time.
The Reaper could feel the panic and fear through their connection. The mortal knew he had fucked up. A vicious vindication was all he received in return.
An 8-year-old Ino Yamanaka cheered alongside her fellow academy students as the combatants were called forward. She couldn't wait to watch her beloved Sasuke wipe the floor with that loser Naruto! Ino frowned, something seemed off with Naruto.
His face looked tight with a barely contained, though by no means suppressed, rage. Teeth slightly barred and eyes narrowed just enough that you would only notice if you were looking. She was sure she was imagining things but she could've sworn she heard a soft growling as well. The young Yamanaka heiress wondered what had riled her fellow blonde up so badly.
"Begin!" Came Iruka's voice, drawing the girl out of her thoughts. She watched as Naruto launched himself forward with a ferocity that genuinely surprised her. Her worry vanished, replaced with a sense of infatuation stemmed satisfaction upon witnessing Sasuke deflect and counter everything Naruto threw at him seemingly effortlessly.
Ino's gaze shifted back to Naruto and she frowned once again. It didn't even look like he was attempting to contain his anger. Shooting a glare that could've melted stone and teeth on full view likened to that of a rabid animal- 'angry' seemed like an understatement. He looked almost feral in her eyes.
She watched as Naruto's movements grew sloppier and sloppier, any semblance of technique discarded in favor of brute force and savagery that shouldn't be possible coming from an eight-year-old. The Yamanaka furrowed her brow when she saw him take a blow to the jaw that he should've otherwise been able to avoid. She didn't understand what he was playing at.
Then Naruto snatched up the Uchiha's wrist in a vice-like grip and pulled. Hard. Ino saw Sasuke stumble forward into a ferocious haymaker, the snap that resulted echoed around the assembled group and silenced those who hadn't quieted after Sasuke was grabbed.
Sasuke fell back onto the dirt, his jaw hanging open slightly, eyes wide with incredulous anger. He made to stand up when Naruto threw himself atop him and began to savage his face.
The meaty thwacks that rang out chilled the spines of the civilian students and greatly concerned the children of Shinobi clans, "Naruto!" Iruka rushed forward, pulling Naruto off of Sasuke, "stop, Naruto! You've won!"
Ino looked at Naruto as Iruka tried to lead him away. He was hunched over slightly, his eyes looked bloodshot and still too wide and his breath came out in ragged pants, but what truly frightened her was the fact that once he noticed her staring his posture straightened and his face fell into a mask of pure stoicism. As if he were simply listening to another of Iruka's, admittedly, boring lectures and hadn't nearly murdered a classmate mere moments ago.
As Naruto turned and made to walk back inside the academy Ino decided it would be in her best interests to have as little contact with Naruto Uzumaki as possible.
A/N: Updates will be sporadic, but once they are finished, I'll upload them. Let me know what you think. -Storm