Well, I heard that some people wanted to read this, so I'm going to post it now. I've always wanted to write a story about what was going through Minato's head during his final hours. My hope is that this one-shot depicts that as accurately as I can.

The storyline has changed ever so slightly since I first began the concept of pre-writing this, and I will probably end up editing this story about 4 or 5 times before I feel that it comes out right. It's going to be intense.

I'm a little nervous about how this will turn out, but, here goes nothing.

The Foreseen Sacrifice

-Hope-

Minato Namikaze, The 4th Hokage of Konoha, stood beside his wife as she gave birth to their first child, a boy who they named Naruto. Everything should have been fine; however, the bleeding wouldn't stop. Minato called for a doctor who came in and told him to leave.

Obliging, the new father left and headed to his second home, The Hokage Tower. Along the way, he heard the sounds of swirling winds and crashing. It didn't startle him though. Konoha was built in a valley, so storms could often be heard for miles before they eventually hit the village.

Sitting at his desk, he had to shut the window because the wind was getting too strong and messing up the paperwork that he had to finish signing. He grabbed a piece from the top of the pile and tried to read it. He found, though, that to be too difficult as he thought about his wife and newborn son in the hospital. Finally, he replaced the sheet of paper back onto the top of the pile.

Turning to look out the window, Minato saw a string of red light coming from the area where he'd heard the winds. He stood up, abruptly. This is no normal storm. Something's going on.

A minute later, Minato's concerns were answered as a Shinobi ran into the room. "Lord Hokage, the Kyuubi no Kitsune is attacking and it's heading straight for our village. What should we do?"

Minato collapsed back into his chair and rubbed his forehead; he could already feel a severe stress migraine coming on. He racked his brain for a quick solution, but found none. The Kyuubi was a demon with nine tails; it was bound to be strong. No amount of ninjutsu or genjutsu was going to hold it for long. "Hold off the demon for about 20 or 30 minutes. In that time, I will come up with a seal to imprison it."

The other Shinobi nodded. "We'll try our best, Lord Hokage."

Not even a minute after that Shinobi left, another entered. "Lord Hokage, your wife…I'm sorry, but…she's gone. There was nothing we could do." In his arms, was the little bundle that was Minato's first son. He handed the baby to Minato. "Your son."

Minato accepted the baby and, once the Shinobi left, peeled back the blanket to get his first real glimpse of his son. "Well, my hair and Kushina's eyes," Minato muttered, marveling at the new life that he held in his arms.

The moment didn't last long, however, as another crash sounded, shifting the ground slightly. The Kyuubi was getting closer and it was Minato's duty to keep the village safe. He set Naruto down on his desk and sat there, trying to think of some way to stop the Kyuubi from attacking the village.

-Love-

The time that Minato had told the Shinobi was quickly approaching. The 4th Hokage didn't feel satisfied. He was a master of seals, and, yet, the only thing that he'd come up with was to seal the Kyuubi's soul into the body of a human. However, doing this was dangerous. It would cost him his life. He didn't want to leave his only son to fend for his own, but Minato had no other options. This was the only way to protect the village and the people that he loved so dearly.

Another thing that Minato knew was that, for his plan to work, he'd have to seal the Kyuubi into a newborn. Then, the chakras of both would have years to blend together, develop and adapt. Minato had no choice; he had to use Naruto to be that newborn. He'd feel horrible if he asked anybody to give up their children, even if it was for the good of the whole village.

Minato sighed and looked down at his sleeping son. The boy looked so peaceful, sleeping there, totally unaware of the dilemmas that his father was facing, totally unaware of the Kyuubi, totally unaware of the part that he would play in saving the village. The Yondaime hadn't even known his son for an hour and he knew that he was going to have to say goodbye.

-Dreams-

Minato could have stayed there, staring at his son, for the rest of his life, but that obviously wasn't going to happen. Another crash, much closer this time, rocked the room, shaking everything. Minato had to grab onto the end of his desk to stay steady.

The sudden motion woke Naruto and he began to cry with ear-splitting volume. Minato picked up the boy and calmly comforted him until the crying ceased.

Minato now knew that he had to do this. There was no turning back. There were two choices: his life or the village. As Hokage, he didn't even have to think about it. The safety of the village took precedence over his life.

The 4th Hokage ran out of The Hokage Tower and toward where the Shinobi were attempting to hold back the Kyuubi no Kitsune. As he ran, he thought about the once-again sleeping boy in his arms. How would Naruto react to growing up alone? Would he be accepted by others? Would he ever learn of his heritage?

A single tear fell from the 4th Hokage's eyes, ran down his cheek and landed on Naruto's cheek without waking the younger. I wish that I could be there to watch you grow up, Naruto. I want to see you become a great Shinobi, and look up to me, and want to surpass me.

Because he was a seals master, he came up with a way to do all that. I'll just seal half of my soul in you along with half of the Kyuubi no Kitsune's, Naruto. That way, should anything happen to weaken the seal in the future, I can fix it.

As he neared the clearing where the Kyuubi no Kitsune was, Minato relished the last moments he was going to have with his son while he was alive. You'll become a great Shinobi, Naruto, even greater than me. I'll help guide you through the tough waters ahead.

-Sacrifice-

When Minato arrived at the clearing, the first thing that he saw was the number of Shinobi who had lost their lives in the fight against the demon.

Minato ran up to one of the ANBU in charge and noticed that it was his former student, Kakashi Hatake.

"Hokage-sama, what do you want us to do?"

"I need someone to pitch a tent a ways from here. I'm going to seal the demon spirit into my son."

"Hokage-sama, that jutsu is fatal. You will die."

Minato frowned. "I've thought over the consequences. I'm prepared. Now, do as I say."

"Right away." He left, gathering some others as he went.

Once the tent was pitched, Minato placed Naruto gently down on the ground, so as not to wake him. Then, The 4th Hokage etched out the pattern on the ground that would soon become the Kyuubi's seal on Naruto. Then, he set 6 candles around the place where Naruto would lay. Finally, he gently placed Naruto into a small cradle standing in the middle of the pattern.

As he stepped back to admire and check his work, Minato remembered something that he had long since forgotten about. An old prophecy.

"Jiraiya-sensei, why are we here? How come you only wanted me to come?"

Jiraiya smirked. "I want you to meet someone. She is wise and entertaining."

Minato groaned. "Don't tell me that it's another one of your 'research' subjects. I've told you before. I don't care if you do that peeping stuff; just don't get me involved."

Jiraiya sighed. "I assure you, Minato. This has nothing to do with my books."

The duo arrived at the place where they were supposed to be and Jiraiya knelt down. Minato, however, did not. He was still a little skeptic about why he was supposed to be there. Jiraiya looked up and told him. "Kneel down, Minato."

"Why?" Minato asked, his skepticism showing in his voice.

"Minato, show respect to the great toad sage," Minato's sensei ordered.

A look crossed Minato's face. "The great toad sage." He immediately knelt down. "I'm sorry," he muttered an apology.

Jiraiya turned to face the great toad sage. "Great toad sage, I have brought my best student, Minato Namikaze."

"Minato Namikaze, huh? You have an interesting future ahead of you, Minato. Such an interesting prophecy I have for you."

"You know about my future," Minato spoke up quickly. "Tell me, tell me. I want to know."

"Geez, be patient, Minato," Jiraiya scolded with a smile.

"Here is you prophecy, Minato Namikaze. You will someday be forced to make a very important decision, one that will ultimately cost you your life. However, your decision will not be in vain. Your legacy will live on with your will of fire."

Minato's face turned downcast. Well, she just told me that I was going to die. That's so encouraging. That's about all that I could make out of it. She's so cryptic.

"Minato, thank the great toad sage for her time," Jiraiya ordered him.

Minato stood up and bowed. "Thank you, great toad sage."

As sensei and student left to return to Konoha, Minato thought about the prophecy. No matter how hard he thought, he couldn't make sense of the last sentence: Your legacy will live on with your will of fire. I guess that in time I may finally figure out what that means.

Making sure that there was an ANBU guard watching the tent, Minato ran toward where the Kyuubi no Kitsune had advanced slightly further. Quickly he performed the seals that he knew too well and summoned Gamabunta.

Gamabunta quickly recognized the demon that stood before them. "Kyuubi no Kitsune, huh?"

"Yes," Minato answered.

"What do you need me to do?"

"Not much. I just need you to get me a little closer so that I can use this seal that I came up with."

"Done." Gamabunta helped Minato onto his back and he took the human as close as he dared to go toward the Kyuubi.

Minato looked across the field and noticed someone standing on top of the Kyuubi's head. He narrowed his eyes. Someone's controlling it. He looked closer to try to see if he could distinguish any features, but the black night kept the mysterious figure in the darkness. However, Minato did catch a glimpse of an orange mask.

Before he could reconsider his decision, Minato performed the handsigns to the Reaper Death Seal. Once he had summoned the death god, he pulled out the half of the Kyuubi's spirit that he was to seal. Then, he pulled out the half of his soul and quickly, by using the pattern that he had etched out under Naruto's cradle, sealed them into his son. Even with the loud sounds around him whipping into his ears, Minato swore that he could heal Naruto's cries on the wind as the jutsu completed, locking the Kyuubi's soul and the rest of his own soul inside his son.

Minato's vision began to blur and he knew that his death was imminent. Suddenly, he understood everything. This was what the great toad sage had warned him about.

His decision had been his life or the village. He'd chosen to sacrifice his life for the hopes, the dreams, and the love of his village. As for his legacy and will of fire, it had taken many years to comprehend; however, within just a couple of hours, it had all become clear.

Naruto, you are my son, my legacy. May my will of fire burn within you for as long as you may live. With that last thought, Minato closed his eyes and slipped into the blackness of death.

Wow, that turned out so much better than I thought it would.

Anyway, just a few closing words before I go. I decided to make younger Minato more like Naruto, because Jiraiya tells Tsunade that "training Naruto is like training Minato all over again".

So, I hope that everyone enjoyed reading. This is honestly how I feel that Minato's last hours could have played out. I honestly want to believe that the toad sage who gave Jiraiya his prophecy also gave Minato one some years later.

I really liked writing this story for Minato. I may do more for him someday. Any suggestions? Anyway, thanks for reading.