Crimson Roses

by A Headless Monk

The night of the Kyuubi attack Minato killed Tobi and was spared death when the third Hokage took his place summoning the reaper. This is the story of his children, his daughter Natsumi who had the Kyuubi sealed into her on the day of her birth and her younger brother Naruto. I will be taking liberties with the timeline in this so be aware of that.

Crimson Roses

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters

Authors Note: So I might change this to an M rating later but for now it's T. As I said in the summary I will be taking liberties with the timeline in this fic like changing when the the Kyuubi attack happened, so if you find things that should have happened earlier or later in the timeline than they do it is intentional. Anyway Thanks for reading hope you guys like it.

Minato took a deep ragged breath as he stood over the corpse of the masked man that had attacked his village and ripped the Kyuubi out of his wife. It was a close fight, the man had been incredibly skilled and wielded some impressive jutsu, the fight could have easily gone the other way. He didn't have time to dwell on it though the Kyuubi was still rampaging and he needed to stop it, and the only idea he had to do that was to seal it into his new born daughter, he only hoped she would eventually be able to forgive him for the hard life this choice was inevitably going to force upon her.

In a flash he appeared in the small safe house he had left his wife and daughter in before going to fight the masked man. Kushina looked up as Minato appeared in front of her and gave a weak smile "You're back" she said with a tired voice before hardening her features "Is he dead?"

Minato kneeled down by the bed and stroked his newborn daughter's sleeping head before answering his wife "Yes."

Kushina breathed out a sigh of relief "what about the Kyuubi?"

Minato frowned and gently picked up their daughter "Did you decide on a name?"

Kushina's face scrunched up in worry and forced herself up into a sitting position "I was thinking Natsumi."

Minato smiled softly at the infant in his arms "Natsumi, I like that." He sighed deeply having run out of what was likely the only time he'd ever get to spend with his daughter "Kushina, the Kyuubi has to be stopped, and you're not going to like how."

Kushina's eyes widened as she realized what her husband was suggesting "Minato no there has to be another way we can't do that to our child!"

Minato shook his head "I wish there was but it's the only way, we don't have time for anything else. Every second that passes more and more citizens of Konaha are being killed by the Kyuubi and Natsumi is the only suitable container we have available."

"You're talking about her like she's an object she's your daughter Minato!"

"I know, but you know as well as me this is the only choice, besides she's our daughter she'll be able to bear the burden." Kushina grimaced she knew he was right but the thought of subjecting her daughter to the hell of being a Jinchuriki tore her up inside. Minato put his hand on her shoulder "We have to go." She solemnly nodded and they disappeared in a flash.

They arrived in the midst of the battle and in an instant Kushina put a halt to the fighting using her chakra chains to restrain the Kyuubi. Minato immediately began the processes of preparing the reaper death seal. Hiruzen Sarutobi Minato's predecessor as Hokage had been leading the fight up to that point and quickly made his way to them.

"Minato stop!" He called as he reached them having figured out what Minato was intending.

Minato shook his head "I can't stop, this is the only way."

"I understand that" he put his hand on Minato's shoulder "but there is no need for you to be the one to perform the jutsu."

Minato looked to Hiruzen with wide eyes "No, I can't ask someone else to sacrifice themselves for this."

"You're not asking, I'm telling you that I will be the one to perform the jutsu."

Minato shook his head "No this is my duty as Hokage…"

Hiruzen cut him off "I was also Hokage, you're family needs you, there is no need for you to die here. I'm an old man, I've lived my life, it's time I passed down my will of fire, let my last act in this world be protecting my village and its people."

Minato stammered as his shifted through his thoughts he looked to Kushina who his gave him pleading eyes through her fatigue and decided "All right." He looked into Hiruzen's eyes "Thank you."

Hiruzen nodded in return and proceeded to complete the seal and summon the reaper. The Kyuubi swung its mighty claw down at the dying third Hokage of the leaf and the infant he was be sealed into in a last ditch effort to stop his imprisonment but Minato deflected the attack with a jutsu and he was forced into his new prison before any further attacks could be attempted.

The village was able to recover from the incident relatively quickly under the guiding hands of the Forth Hokage. Tsunade was recalled and with her help Kushina was able to make a full recovery and shortly after got pregnant with her and Minato's second child. Their second child, a boy who they named Naruto, was born on November 15 two years later without incident.

Minato sat at his desk finally finishing up the paperwork for the night, his thoughts wondered to his family who he couldn't wait to return home to. His beautiful wife who no doubt had dinner on the stove, he drooled slightly at the thought of Kushina's cooking. And his daughter who at the age of four was already proving to be a prodigy. And his two year old son who bounced around so much he felt bad for his wife once he was able to move around more, keeping up with him was going be difficult. He came out of his thoughts as he finally finished his paperwork and made his way home.

He walked into his house and was immediately hit with the wonderful scent of Kushina's cooking he smiled contently as his son waddled around the corner "Daddy!" Naruto happily shouted in glee as Minato scooped him up into his arms and carried him to the kitchen.

Kushina turned as they walked in "Well there are my two favorite boys." She said with a wide smile before giving Minato her a quick kiss.

Minato inhaled deeply and smiled at the smell "Smell's delicious honey."

"It better."

Minato chuckled softly before placing Naruto in his high chair and started setting the table. Kushina took the pot from the stove and placed it on some pot holders on the counter before removing her apron "Could you take the pan out of the oven, I'm going to go get Natsumi."

Natsumi was sitting in her favorite spot under a large oak tree in their backyard when her mother came to get her for dinner. Kushina walked over to Natsumi who doing something with one of the kunai her father had gotten her for her birthday, Kushina thought Natsumi was too young for kunai but Minato had persuaded her into allowing it. "Natsumi its time for dinner." Natsumi turned to her and smiled, she had blood all over her hands and clothes causing Kushina to gasp and run over to her to check for injuries. "What happened?! Are you alright?!"

"I was learning mommy." She pointed to a squirrel carcass that had been crudely cut open and gutted.

Kushina looked to the squirrel and back to her daughter with worry in her eyes "come on, let's go get you cleaned up."

"Alright mommy." She happily walked back to the house and to the bathroom to clean up.

Kushina pulled Minato aside when they got back into the house "Minato something's wrong."

"What? What's wrong?"

"When I went out to get Natsumi, when I found her she was covered in blood, she killed and gutted a squirrel, she seemed proud of it, she said she was learning. Could you talk to her after dinner?"

"Of course." He shared his wife's worries but was sure Natsumi just didn't really understand what she did.

Dinner was the usual happy loud event with the exception of Kushina sending Natsumi the occasional worried glance. After dinner they put Naruto to bed and shortly after Minato went in to tuck in Natsumi as per their usual routine. Natsumi smiled happily up at him from her position on the bed and he smiled back as he came and kneeled down by her bed and tucked her in "did you have a good day honey?"

"I did daddy, I learned a lot, I was reading some of the books you gave me!"

Minato smiled softly at her she was always so happy to learn new things. His face took on a slight frown "Mommy told me about the squirrel."

Natsumi smiled brightly "Yeah I learned a lot from him!"

"It's good to learn things but you have to be careful, you killed that squirrel and you shouldn't have done that."

She frowned and cocked her head slightly in confusion "Why?"

"Because that was a living thing and you should never kill so casually even things as small as squirrels, that squirrel could have had a family, what if it was a daddy and now he's never going to come home again? What if someone took away your daddy how would that make you feel?"

"But you're super strong daddy no one could take you away."

"No matter how strong you are there is always someone stronger."

She looked at him with utter confusion "Huh?"

"The point is that no matter how powerful you are you can still die and that death will cause those close to you pain. If I were to die you would be sad, it's the same with all living things, every time you kill something you have to think of how it will hurt those close to them so it's important that you only kill when it is absolutely necessary."

She gave him a questioning look "okay daddy."

Minato decided that even though she may not fully understand why, she knew that she shouldn't do it again and he was sure she would understand when she was older. He gave her a kiss on the forehead and tucked her in "good night sweetie."

"Good night daddy." With that he left the room turning the light off as he did.

Time seemed to just fly by, it seemed just like yesterday that Natsumi was born, and yet today was her first day at the academy. To be fair she was still only five but Minato had finally caved into his daughter and let her sign up for the academy. In truth she was already at genin level which scared the crap out of him, he wasn't ready for his little girl to start the harsh life of a ninja, that's why he had been reluctant to let her enter the academy despite her clearly being ready for it.

The whole family had come out to see her to her first day, needless to say they received a lot of attention, it wasn't every day the people saw their Hokage out like a regular father. Naruto sat perched on Minato's shoulders and Natsumi proudly led the family through the village to the academy. Natsumi beamed happily as they arrived at the academy she was so excited to learn everything she could. They stopped in the courtyard like all of the other families seeing their children to their first day at the academy.

Minato set Naruto down on the ground and the hyper boy quickly started bouncing around and searching his new surroundings. Minato chuckled lightly at his son's energy before turning his attention to his daughter. "Well sweetie this is it, are you excited?"

Natsumi smiled widely "Of course daddy! I've wanted to come to the academy for soooo long!"

Kushina gave a sad smile she didn't like that her five-year-old daughter was already going to the academy, it felt wrong for a child to be introduced to the harsh life of a ninja at such a young age. She had been against it with Itachi a few years before; she feared for her best friend's son but it was even scarier when it was her child. She had begged Minato to not let her into the academy so young but when Natsumi wanted something it was only a matter of time before Minato gave in to her.

Kushina brought Natsumi into a hug tearing up as she did "Be safe sweetie, and learn a lot."

Natsumi returned the embrace "I will mommy."

Kushina pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes "It looks like class will start soon, we love you so much Natsumi."

Natsumi smiled widely "I love you too."

"Naruto! Come say goodbye to your big sister, she has to start class soon." Kushina called to Naruto who was climbing on an old wooden swing attached to a nearby tree.

Naruto quickly climbed off the swing and ran up to Natsumi and gave her a big hug "Bye nee-chan"

Natsumi returned the hug and gave one last wave to her family as she ran inside to catch up to her class that was already entering the academy.

Natsumi sulked at the table waiting for dinner, after a month at the academy it had become abundantly clear to her that she had already learned everything they were going teach her. Minato walked into the house and as per usual Naruto ran to the door to greet him "Welcome home daddy!" he shouted as he jumped at the man who expertly caught him.

"Hey squirt, how was your day?"

"It was great! Mommy took me over to play with Shikamaru and Choji!"

"That's wonderful, did you have fun?"

"Yeah it was lots of fun!"

Natsumi groaned at her brothers yelling why did he always have to be so loud? Minato looked to her and sat down next to her with Naruto on his lap "What's the matter sweetie?"

She poked her head up from where it was resting in her arms "The academy."

Minato frowned slightly "I know it must be hard at your age but you wanted to start the academy now you have to stick with it."

"That's just it, it's not hard it's boring I've already learned everything they teach there, and the teacher scolds me when I read during class."

"Well I don't know what to tell you Natsumi, I'm sorry the academy isn't everything you hoped it would be. Have you made some friends at least?" Naruto slipped out of Minato's lap and ran back to what he was doing before Minato had arrived having grown bored of the conversation.

"No all the kids are stupid, they don't know anything."

"That can't be true, did something happen?"

"No, the other kids are just stupid it's like being stuck around a bunch of infants, we had taijutsu spars today and the girl I fought cried and had to go home, it's pathetic." She gave him puppy dog eyes and put her hands in a pleading position "Please dad will you let me graduate I can't take this much longer and I know I can already pass the graduation exam."

"Natsumi you're too young to graduate, your mom would kill me if I allowed it." She intensified her puppy dog eyes and pouted her lips "But I suppose if you can pass a special graduation test made and given by me I might be able to allow it."

She jumped out of her chair and wrapped her arms around his neck "Thank you thank you thank you! I'll pass and be a genin before you know it!"

That night as they sat in bed Kushina ripped Minato a new one "How could you agree to that! You know she'll pass! I can't have my five-year-old daughter going on missions!" her eyes were full of worry and her body shook slightly.

"Don't worry even if she does pass I won't let her do anything dangerous for a while, she's my daughter too."

Tears started to stream down Kushina's face "She's growing up too fast Minato please, I can't lose her."

Minato engulfed her in a hug and held her close "We're not going to lose her, I won't let that happen, no matter what."

Natsumi had been training non-stop, she found it unfair that his special graduation test was hard enough she doubted any genin could pass it, but she was going to. She was grateful that it at least gave her something interesting to focus her time on.

Minato sat on the back porch with Naruto on his lap, babbling like he always did, and watched as Natsumi practiced one of the jutsu he had told her she needed to be able to use to pass his special graduation exam. He was in awe of her, he was hailed as a prodigy and rightfully so, but Natsumi was truly deserving of the title. At her age he hadn't even started his ninja journey and part of him was sad that she wasn't spending her time just being a kid, but another part of him was proud of her determination and prowess. Being able to use shadow clone at the age of five was unbelievable but here was his daughter, already able to summon three shadow clones at once.

The requirements for his graduation exam were that she had to be able to create and sustain at least five shadow clones, be able to use the rasengan and shunshin, and to be at least adept in her chosen taijutsu form. He had assumed that it would take at least a year or two for her to attain those abilities but it had barely been a month and she could already almost create the required about of shadow clones. Kushina called out that dinner was ready and after some prodding by Minato Natsumi stopped training and went inside with the family.

Kushina stood behind Natsumi brushing her hair, it was her sixth birthday and Jariya and Tsunade had both made it back for the celebration. "So are you excited for your party?"

Natsumi smiled "Yeah, I can't wait to see Jariya and Tsunade and everyone." She enjoyed when her mother brushed her hair, it made her feel close to her.

Kushina smiled back, she loved brushing Natsumi's hair it was a normal thing for a mother to do with her six year old daughter and it helped her forget that her daughter was scary close to starting life as a ninja. They sat together and talked about the party until Kushina finished and Minato called them once people started to arrive.

Natsumi and Kushina came out to the living room and Natsumi ran up and hugged Jariya who was standing next to Minato. "Hey kid, how've you been?" Jariya asked as he lifted Natsumi into his arms.

"I've been great! I've learned so much since last time I saw you!"

"Oh really? You're going to have to show me all these things you've learned."

Natsumi nodded "I'm gonna show everybody!"

Jariya chuckled "I can't wait."

Natsumi looked to the door as it opened and Tsunade walked through "Grandma!" she shouted and ran over.

Tsunade sighed and gave Kushina a short glare as she was the one who told her kids to call her grandma "Hey Natsumi, happy birthday." She said as she knelt down and gave Natsumi a hug.

Natsumi smiled and waved to Shizune behind Tsunade "Hey Shizune."

"Hey Natsumi, it's good to see you, are you having a good birthday?"

Natsumi nodded happily "Yeah it's great! I can't wait for everyone to get here."

People continued to arrive and Natsumi had decided to spend most of the time with her best friend Itachi while Naruto ran around with his little brother Sasuke and the other kids his age. Naruto had lots of kids his age to play with but there weren't as many Natsumi's age and she didn't like most of them, Itachi was a couple years older than her but of all the kids around she connected with him the most. She was jealous that he had already graduated and wanted to catch up with him soon.

Natsumi and Itachi were off at the edge of the yard and she insensately pestered him about his missions and everything he got to do. Itachi didn't mind though she could be a little crazy sometimes he considered Natsumi his closest friend and didn't mind answering her barrage of questions. "No I haven't had any missions outside the village yet, I think my mom asked your dad to keep me off any potentially dangerous missions."

Natsumi pouted a little "He's probably going to do the same thing to me isn't he." She stated not really meaning it as a question.

"He's probably going to be even more protective of you, you are his daughter after all."

"But that's no fair! How am I supposed to learn if all I'm going to be doing is picking weeds and babysitting kids that are almost as old as me?"

Itachi chuckled "You don't have to be in such a rush Natsumi, you have your entire life to learn new things, you should let your parents be protective, for their sakes."

Natsumi deadpanned "But I don't want to wait, I want to learn everything I can and the earlier I start the more I can learn."

"That's true but you aren't the only one in the world you know, your parents love you and just want you to be safe and around, you shouldn't be so eager to grow up."

"But you are! You were my age when you graduated and I'm at least as strong as you were, why is it okay for you to grow up fast and not me?"

"Because my father pushes me to grow stronger, to be a shining beacon of Uchiha superiority, while your father just wants you to be happy, I didn't ask to have my childhood cut short Natsumi, you shouldn't be so eager to let go of yours."

Natsumi frowned but guessed he was right, maybe she could be content doing D rank missions in the village for a while, if only to keep her parents happy.

Once all the guests had arrived Minato called everyone over and they served cake and Natsumi opened her presents. Most of the presents were various ninja tools and jutsu scrolls that would help her along as everyone knew she would graduate soon. Her favorite gift was the one from her parents, they had a tanto specially made for her, it was a beautiful silver color with her name etched on the base of the blade. The sheath was white with rose designs wrapping up it and the hilt was white and black striped with the Namikaze crest embroiled in gold at its base.

She thanked each person as she opened their gift, she gave her parents a large hug as she thanked them "Thank you guys so much! This is amazing!"

"You're welcome Natsumi, we're glad you like it." Kushina said with a bright smile.

"Is it chakra conductive?"

"Of course, only the best for my daughter." Minato said happily.

Naruto broke off from his friends and ran inside before quickly running back out with a small poorly wrapped box in his hand "Nee-chan I got you something too!"

Natsumi turned to her little brother and gave him a heartfelt smile "Really? You got me something?" she accepted the gift and opened the small box. Inside was a red gem in the form of an Uzumaki swirl connected to a small silver chain. She hugged him tightly and laughed when he started to squirm under the embrace "Thank you Naruto, it's beautiful."

Naruto gave her a toothy grin "I knew you'd like it." She smiled and ruffled his hair and he ran back over to his friends.

Natsumi smiled happily at her parents before getting everyone's attention "Everybody I have something to show you!" Once she had everyone's attention she took a deep breath and put her hands in a cross hand sing and five clones popped into existence. The crowed started clapping but she wasn't done, she then shunshined away and four of the clones started fighting amongst each other to show off her proficiency in her taijutsu style.

Minato watched with thinly vailed worry, Natsumi never did anything without a purpose but could she really have mastered the rasengan? He had only shown her the first step, although that was more than a month ago and she hadn't asked about the second step, but who could have taught her the next steps, only he and Jariya could perform the rasengan. His eyes widened slightly and looked to Jariya who was grinning at him.

Minato's attention returned to Natsumi's clones as the fourth one popped, a second later Natsumi jumped out of a nearby tree and plunged a rasengan into the final clone. Cheers and clapping rang as Natsumi took a bow, panting slightly from the effort of the performance. She then ran up to Minato with foxy grin "So do I pass dad?"

Minato glanced at Kushina who looked worriedly at him; he had thought it would take longer for Natsumi to master everything, especially the rasengan, but he couldn't deny her now, he had made an agreement with her and now she had fulfilled her part of that agreement in front of a large audience. He sighed before smiling at her "As the fourth Hokage of Konaha I hereby promote you Natsumi Namikaze to the rank of genin."

She squealed and jumped up wrapping her arms around his neck "Thank you thank you thank you!" she spoke so quickly he almost didn't understand her.

"You're welcome honey, you earned it." She jumped back to the ground and ran over to Itachi. Minato looked to Kushina who was glaring at him and sighed.

Natsumi dove at Itachi and hugged him tightly, he only barely managed to keep them from tumbling onto the ground "I did it! I'm a genin!"

Itachi smiled at her "Congratulations, I knew you would. Your dad seemed surprised that you could use the rasengan, didn't you learn it from him?"

"Only the first part, Jariya showed me how to finish it, I wanted to surprise dad and it worked." She smiled proudly.

"Itachi get your brother, it's time for us to go." Fugaku commanded before going to grab Mikato away from Kushina.

Itachi spoke a quick yes sir to his father before turning his attention back to Natsumi "I have something for you." He pulled out a small charm bracelet with charms of the Uzumaki, Namikaze, and Uchiha crests. "May I?" he asked motioning to put the bracelet on her wrist.

She nodded blushing slightly, it was beautiful and Itachi giving it to her had her feeling things she had never felt. He clasped the bracelet and smiled at her "Happy birthday Natsumi, I hope you like it."

"It's beautiful, I love it."

"Itachi." Fugaku called again having successfully pulled Mikato away.

"I have to go."

"Thank you Itachi" She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and turned and walked away.

Itachi blushed slightly and stood there and watched her walk away for a second before snapping out of it "Sasuke, it's time to go." He called to his little brother who was in the midst of a thrilling game of ninja.

Sasuke turned to Itachi "But we're in the middle of a battle!" while his back was turned a toy shuriken nailed him in the back of the head. Turned his head he gave Naruto a foul look, Naruto stood proudly having claimed victory. "And now I'm dead, you killed me."

Itachi smiled softly at him and motioned for him to follow as he walked to their parents. Sasuke pouted but followed giving his friends a wave.

The rest of the guests cleared out not long after the Uchihas, most having small children of their own. After the last guest was out the door Kushina turned to Minato and hissed quietly at him "How could you promote her to genin she's six!"

"What was I supposed to do? I made a deal with her; I couldn't just go back on it."

Kushina glared at him for a second before deflating with a sigh "I know, I'm just not ready for her to be a genin."

Minato wrapped her in his arms "I know, she's growing up too fast." After a moment he pulled away slightly so he could look into her eyes "You know I won't be giving her any dangerous missions, strictly D-ranks."

"Yeah, I know." She smiled sadly at him and rested her head on his chest.