Chapter 1 – The Shishin
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Kushina Uzumaki, one of the last surviving members of the once great Uzumaki clan, was stood in the centre of a huge room.
While usually, Kushina was in the running for both the most beautiful and most powerful woman in Konohagakure, tonight she had seen better days. This was the night the Kyūbi, a creature of immense power, was ripped from the Four Symbols Seal she possessed. However, compared to any other person who has a Tailed Beast, or any other beast sealed within them, also known as Jinchuriki, Kushina was quite well off as thanks to her Uzumaki blood which grants a strong life force she was able to survive the extraction.
Now if having a huge fox made entirely of chakra ripped out of her wasn't enough, her husband, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure sacrificed himself to partially seal the great beast into their newly born son using a seal created by her own clan named Dead Demon Consuming Seal. While the seal is extremely powerful and very few things can escape its grasp, it comes at a high price, the caster's life.
Kushina remembered begging him not to do it and let her do it but her husband told her he couldn't do that, their son needed her. While she agreed with him and she was glad to have survived the ordeal, not having Minato there by her side and never will be again was a loss in her book.
The thoughts of her husband's last moments were too much for her and the tears just wouldn't stop as she cried silently into her forearm.
"Minato." She whispered, "What am I going to do? I don't think I can do this on my own. I'm not strong enough." She continued between sobs.
She would have kept going if it wasn't for the movement she felt on her stomach. Moving her arm away, she looked down and saw her little boy wrapped comfortably in a white wrap cradled between her arm and stomach. He was still asleep but was agitated by the tears that had dripped down onto his face. He had the same spiky blonde hair and blue eyes as his father.
"Oh, I'm so sorry Naruto." She whispered, gently wiping away the tears from her son's face.
Just looking at his little face helped her a lot, the pain and sorrow was still there but seeing the creation her and Minato's love had made was enough to counterbalance those feelings. They had named him Naruto after the main character of the first book Minato's sensei wrote; The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Shinobi.
"You are the spitting image of your father, Naruto." She commented, stroking the whisker-like birthmarks he had on his cheeks with her thumb. "I just know I'll have to beat the girls away with a stick when you're older."
While focusing on the sleeping form of her son she heard thunder rumbling coming from the east. Her eyes darted from him to the direction the sound was coming from. Her newfound motherly instincts kicked as she shifted Naruto in her arms to put her body between him and the thunder. She watched with both awe and caution as storm clouds as black as night formed just under the ceiling of the room, which even with a chakra enhanced jump Kushina doubted that she could reach on a good day, as it grew bolts of lightning dancing in and out of them.
Just as she thought the storm clouds were the worst thing she had to deal with her stomach dropped when the clouds began to shift and what looked to be a huge snake with scales the same colour as the lightning snaked in and out of the clouds. It wasn't until she saw the creature's head that the exhausted haze she had been under lifted and she recognised that it was a Serpent Dragon.
Looking at the front left claw of the beast she saw it was clutching a large blue orb, "Lord Jikokuten." Kushina said, realising who it was.
She didn't have any time to ask why the Azure Dragon of the East was here when the room erupted with a warm orange blow. Kushina hit with heat from her left, now faced the south she saw a huge flame that was practically licking the ceiling.
Kushina focused on the flame's core as it shimmered and shifted as if possessed. It didn't take long for her to see a silhouette appear and she just watched as the flame seemed to be absorbed inwards.
Once it was all gone there was just a left gigantic red bird. It had four equally large wings, to support the body in the air, as each gently beat of the air and Kushina could even feel the resulting gentle wind from where she was standing. It also seemed that all the of flame the bird had absorbed was put into the feathers that looked to be made of the stuff.
All four of its eye was staring straight at Kushina, but her eyes had wandered to the red orb nestled in it's left talon, "Lady Zōchōten." Kushina said.
Kushina anticipated what was coming next and turned around, away from the Red Phoenix of the South, towards the north to watch as the ground became to shake and crack before exploding as a torrent of water erupted upwards. The water rocketed against the ceiling and just like the fire of Zōchōten, not one drop of the water landed on Kushina or Naruto.
Over the rushing of the water, stomping could be heard, and a silhouette seemed to be climbing out from the hole in the floor and up the water. Then as if like the silhouette was a magnet, the pieces of strewn ground gravitated back and returned to the exact place they were before the water.
The now repaired floor blocked off the water, leaving the silhouette fully visible and it landed with a crash. It was a mud brown skinned tortoise with a black shell. On that shell was what looked to be a small forest with trees that were bearing fruit that looked so delicious to eat and at the head of the shell were two stones. One was a deep brown, the same as the tortoise's skin but the other was a deep blue as if dredged straight from the ocean.
Even with the forest, it didn't stand as tall as Zōchōten. It also had two heads, both of which were looking straight at Kushina.
"Lord and Lady Tamonten," Kushina said to the Black Tortoise of the North.
Finally, Kushina looked to the west and saw the wind pick up at a fast rate, starting small but within a few seconds, a huge hurricane was whirling around on the spot. However just as quickly as it was born, it died as a tremendously large claw ripped it apart.
When the hurricane was completely gone Kushina could see that the claw belonged to an even bigger white tiger with black stripes across its entire body and four purple eyes. A quick scan of the beast showed that it also had an orb which was light grey, almost white, coiled in its tail. Its low growl echoed throughout the room adding some much-needed sound to the silence.
"Lord Kōmokuten," Kushina said.
It wasn't until the four colossal beasts had finally appeared in the room and the commotion was dying down that Naruto decided to start making a fuss. Kushina's focus turned to him as she rocked him slowly in her arms and hummed a soft tone her mother had hummed to her when she was younger. The calming sensation of being rocked and humming did work as Naruto slowly quietened down and eventually fell back asleep.
"Looks like you really do take after me, hm." Kushina said with a small smile before looking up at the White Tiger of the West, "I'm guessing I have the Shishin to thank for me surviving."
The Shishin were the most powerful summons to ever live. They even beat out the leaders of the Toad, Snake and Slug clans that were the summons of the Legendary Sannin and had been around for even longer than them. The Shishin had a close connection to the Uzumaki clan since the clan began to build itself up but not even they had any idea how far back the Shishin had been around.
"That would be correct." Zōchōten answered with a regal voice, "Thanks to your Uzumaki blood you would have been fine after a couple of months of recuperation with just having the Kyūbi extracted from you, but that wound you sustained from it would have killed you."
While she was explaining, Kushina had turned to Zōchōten, "Oh yeah." Kushina said as the memory of the Kyūbis nail impaling both her and Minato when they jumped in front of Naruto to protect him. She had adjusted Naruto in her arms, so he was supported by one and the other moved to her stomach.
The welling of emotions finally burst as she glared up at the Shishin and shouted, "If you know I was dying and what happened why didn't you do anything!? You could have saved Minato or sent one of the Deva to help. He was my husband and Naruto's father, I need him!"
"Enough Kushina!" Kōmokuten growled.
"We know you are hurting Kushina, but you know the answers to your questions. We don't know what happened tonight, all we knew is that you were dying so we reverse summoned you here and healed you. We know about the Kyūbi being extracted as we can feel half of it in young Naruto there." The motherly voice of the right head of Tamonten explained.
The other head continued with a male voice, "And you know that we can only reverse summon the Guardian of the Contract, the fact Naruto is here being a mystery."
"But Minato," Kushina whispered as a couple of tears fell.
"We are sorry, Kushina," Kōmokuten said.
The Shishin fell silent as they let Kushina grieve. The pain of losing the person she had loved for half her life was overwhelming, even for someone like her. It took a bit of time but Kushina eventually composed herself again and looked up at the Shishin, "Sorry." She apologized.
"There's no need to apologize, Kushina." The female head of Tamonten said, getting a nod of agreement from the others.
"If you are up to it Kushina could you explain what happened tonight?" Zōchōten asked.
Kushina nodded, "Yeah, I think I can do that."
Kushina went on to explain how she had gone into labour so Minato got them to a security barrier as a precaution as the seal holding back the Kyūbi was at it's weakest during childbirth, so he had to be there to make sure it didn't escape.
She said all was going fine, Naruto was born healthily, and Minato had succeeded in keeping the Kyūbi contained during the birthing but that all changed when they heard the midwives hit the floor and a man wearing a mask and a black robe was holding Naruto hostage.
He had told Minato to step away from her or he would kill Naruto but ultimately it didn't matter when he threw Naruto into the air, pointing a kunai upwards where the baby was going to fall. Minato acted quickly and teleported to Naruto but had to disappear somewhere just as quick.
Now they were alone the Masked Man walked up to her and restrained her before they both disappeared into a vortex. The next thing she knew, she was sealed on the top of a lake by seal chains wrapped around huge rocks.
The Masked Man then extracted the Kyūbi from her before taking full control of it somehow and commanded it to kill her, but she was saved by Minato and they teleported back to one of their safe houses.
Minato placed her next to Naruto before he put on his cloak and disappeared. She stayed that way for a while as the shaking and destruction outside got worse. She said she tried her hardest to keep Naruto calm. It wasn't until Minato reappeared and took them both as a huge paw crashed through the roof, destroying the house.
She said that she restrained the Kyūbi and was adamant about taking it with her when she died but Minato had different plans. He sealed half of the Kyūbi inside himself and was about to seal the second half when they threw themselves in front of Naruto to protect him from the nail of the Kyūbi.
"After that, I can't remember anything except standing here." Kushina finished.
The Shishin were quiet until Jikokuten spoke for the first time, "It's begun."
"What?" Kushina asked.
"The prophecy has begun," Jikokuten repeated.
"What prophecy?"
"The prophecy of a Great Demon returning."
"A Great Demon!" Kushina shouted, "When?"
"That I do not know. The prophecy only says that the night a great fox burns a leaf, the child with the power to fight the return of the Great Demon will be born. The child is in your arms."
Kushina moved Naruto behind her, "Naruto will do no such thing, -ttebane! While I respect the hell out of you Lord Jikokuten, you can go to hell. I've lost my husband tonight but having Naruto can keep me going. I will not lose him as well, -ttebane!"
"I know this is a tough time Kushina, so I will overlook the way you are talking to me but I'm sorry your opinion doesn't matter. This prophecy will proceed whether you like it or not." Jikokuten replied in a tone that would quiet anyone.
However, Kushina wasn't really anyone, especially tonight, "The hell it will. While I accept the fact, Naruto may want to be a Shinobi one day, I'm not going to have him risk his life for some stupid prophecy!" She shouted back.
Suddenly thunder roared as the clouds around Jikokuten were illuminated with a blue flash of lightning, "Kushina, you are the Guardian of the Contract! A position held in your clan since you broke off from the Senju. Your job was to make sure that contract did not get into the wrong hands and make it into the hands of the Child of Prophecy. And I'm sorry to say but that child is your son."
Before Kushina could argue back the female head of Tamonten chimed in, "Kushina, Jikokuten is right. Your son matches the child perfectly, but we won't know that until the Ceremony of the Blade and that won't happen until he is of age."
As the female head stopped the male one continued, "If he is the Child then you should know we will do all we can to protect him. He will sign the same contract you signed giving him access to the Deva and us when he is strong enough, so he won't be alone."
The female head started talking again, "That's not all. It was also said that the Child of Prophecy will have six companions to help him."
She didn't know why but having the calming voices of both heads of Tamonten explain it and the better points helped her come around to the idea, "While I'm still not one hundred percent on board with my baby being the Child of Prophecy. I will wait until the Ceremony of the Blade before judging. Now is there anything else?"
"No, you should go home and get some rest," Kōmokuten answered.
"Thank you and I definitely will." Kushina thanked before she disappeared in a plume of smoke along with her child.
Once she was gone the Shishin looked at each other.
"We must prepare," Jikokuten stated.
"I agree before the Great Demon was only a possibly but now it's only a matter of time before it surfaces," Zōchōten said.
"Very well, from this moment on we are on high alert and make sure the Deva are ready to fight against such a foe," Jikokuten said.
"I'd like to send Makura out to see if he can find anything out. He's the best at blending in." Kōmokuten said.
The rest of the Shishin nodded, "I agree. It is best that we at least know something about this beast. We only know that is has a great power." Jikokuten agreed.
"Very well, we shall meet here every couple of months or when something comes up. Good luck everyone." Zōchōten said before she burst into brilliant flames and all that was left was cinder that was carried away by the breeze.
Without another word the three disappear one by one. Jikokuten retreated up into the clouds that shrunk in size until nothing was left. The ground below Tamonten again cracked before falling away and was replaced by water which Tamonten stood on. They descended on the torrent of water until they were out of site and the cracked pieces of the ground rose back up from the hole and returned to the same place. Kōmokuten was the last one to leave and left in a hurricane that grew from under him.
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Kushina reappeared back in the clearing she had been taken from and where Minato died. She looked around, dreading to see it left in the same state she remembered. Luckily for her psyche, Minato's dead body wasn't anywhere to be seen. The entire clearing had been evacuated and all that was left was the destruction from the Kyūbi.
"Damage Control hasn't been here yet," Kushina said to herself, looking around. In the distance she could see the top of the Hokage Monument, the centrepiece of Konoha and the memorial to past and present Hokage, "With how exhausted I am now I won't be able to make it back to Konoha."
Kushina looked at the moon, "It's only been a few of minutes since I left. By the time it would take for Hiruzen to get from the edge of the barrier to here and clear everything up, he won't have made it back to the village yet." Focusing for a second she started again, "If I use the rest of my chakra he should be able to sense me."
Wasting no time, she flared up what chakra she had left and kept it up for as long as she could but with her level of physical exhaustion it didn't last long, and her chakra flare ceased. It wasn't much longer before her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees, making sure to keep Naruto safe and with as little disturbance as possible.
It was just as her eyelids were starting to close that she saw three people land in the clearing. Two were wearing the standard Konoha uniform of a dirt green flak coat, dark blue trousers and shirt and a headband with a leaf around their foreheads. The one in middle and a bit ahead was an old man wearing a black jumpsuit, mesh segments over the lower portions of his limbs, and a green gauntlet that covered much of his right arm. He also wore an armoured hood with a bandanna-like forehead protector over this, tied with two long straps.
"Lord Sarutobi." Kushina wheezed out.
In an instant the old man was next to her, "Kushina, you're alive! When we got here you were nowhere to be found. We were going to send search parties out looking as soon as I returned."
Kushina gave him a weak smile as she leaned against Hiruzen for support, "No need. Do you have Minato's body?" She asked, losing the smile when she did.
Hiruzen's expression also got darker at the question, "Yes. It's sealed. Kushina, what happened?"
"I'll tell you once we're back in the village, but I won't be able to make it on my own. I exhausted what chakra I had left to signal you."
"Ok." He looked to the two that arrived with him, "Hurry back to the village and get a stretcher and the Hokage medic team, they should be at the hospital."
"Right away." Both replied in unison and disappeared off in the direction of Konoha.
Once they were gone Hiruzen looked back down at Kushina and saw her eyes closing, he shook her gently as to not to wake the baby in her arms, "Kushina, I need you to stay awake until the medic team get here."
"I can't, I'm so tired," Kushina complained.
"I know it's hard, but you have to. How about you tell me what this little guy's name is?" He asked, trying to keep her brain working.
It seemed to work as Kushina looked down at Naruto and said, "Naruto. He's called Naruto, after the character from Jiraiya-sensei's novel."
"Erm, if I remember correctly that was the name of the main character of his first novel, correct?"
"Yeah, the only decent one he wrote," Kushina growled weakly.
"Now, now Kushina. My former student is a good writer." Hiruzen replied with a nervous chuckle.
"You pervert. If I wasn't exhausted, I'd hit you." Kushina growled.
"Don't be mean Kushina."
"I'm sorry." Kushina suddenly said, tears starting to well up in her eyes.
"Why's that, Kushina?"
"Lady Biwako… she didn't make it." Kushina said, crying.
Hiruzen was silent for a minute as the truth sunk in, "I see. Where?"
"The Barrier Cave, along with the midwife. We were attacked."
"Ok, I will get the cave investigated once we're back to the village." He said as a tear rolled down his cheek.
There was silence for a minute until, "Lord Sarutobi, where do we go from here?" Kushina asked, drying her tears.
"I don't know Kushina. I really don't know. With Minato gone, the village will need a leader." Hiruzen said, looking up at the stars.
"You need to take the hat back," Kushina stated bluntly, still looking down at Naruto.
"Kushina, I'm too old. That's the reason I gave the hat to Minato in the first place. I doubt I'm strong enough."
"Bullshit. Lord Sarutobi, you aren't called the God of Shinobi for no reason."
"I'm not a fan of that moniker. That title belongs to Hashirama-sensei, not me."
"But still, while no one won in my book. You brought Konoha a victory in the Third Great War and helped us rebuild after it. That's exactly what we need right now, the people trust you." Kushina explained, stroking Naruto's short blond locks, "I know I'd feel safer bring up Naruto while you are leading the village."
Hiruzen was silent as he stared at the stars. Even with all the destruction and pain that has gone on tonight the stars where just the same, little specks of lights in the night sky. He thought about what Kushina said for a couple of minutes before coming to a decision, "I think you're right Kushina. While the council must agree, I will put my two ryō in."
"Good," Kushina replied.
Hiruzen suddenly looked to the direction of Konoha, "The medic team are here."
At that very moment the two that had arrived with Hiruzen returned along with a group of four others each were wearing the standard medic of white overalls, a light blue long coat with a red cross on and the same coloured hat. Two of them were carrying a stretcher.
"Lord Third, we have brought the medic team." One of the men said.
"Good job, now I need you to return to the village. Go to ANBU HQ and tell them I need Boar and Eagle to go to the Barrier Cave and cordon it off until we can have it investigated." Hiruzen ordered. Both nodded and took off again back to Konoha.
The medic team rushed to Kushina's side and started to examine her. One of the female attendants went to pick up Naruto to examine him but Kushina instinctively pulled away.
"It's ok Kushina. They're here to help, they need to check Naruto over. They are the Hokage's medic team, they can be trusted." Hiruzen said, "They will keep him in your sight, ok?"
Kushina still seemed apprehensive but eventually nodded and handed Naruto off to the woman. The examination of Kushina and Naruto went on for a bit before they conferred with each other. Just before they did, the female attendant handed Naruto back to Kushina who immediately took him back.
Once they were done conferring they turned towards Hiruzen, Kushina and Naruto. One of the male attendants stepped forward and said, "From our examinations, Lady Kushina is suffering from extreme physical and chakra exhaustion. We need to get her to the hospital, so we can give her a chakra transfer to recover. There are also signs of an injury to her abdomen but has been healed and finally, there are no signs of the Four Symbols Seal on Lady Kushina."
The last two observations shocked Hiruzen and he looked to Kushina for answers but from the look of exhaustion on her face, he knew she wasn't going to answer. He was lucky she was awake for this long. Looking back to the medic team, he nodded, "Continue."
The male attendant stepped back and the female attendant, who examined Naruto, stepped forward, "Young Master Naruto seems to be healthy. His chakra network is fine and healthy, however, some of his chakra is being diverted to a seal that is located on his abdomen."
"It's an Eight Symbols Seal," Kushina whispered.
Hiruzen, again looked shocked, "Does that mean?"
"Yes, he is. Now can we please go back to the village, I can't stay awake anymore." And with that Kushina closed her eyes.
Hiruzen looked up at the medic team, "What has been said here is an S-ranked secret and can only be disclosed with my authority, understood?" All four nodded, "Now let's get Kushina and Young Naruto back to the village. Take Kushina on the stretcher, I'll take Naruto."
The four medics shifted into gear, once Hiruzen cradled Naruto in his arms, they placed Kushina on the stretcher. Once she was securely on and was lifted by the two male attendants they all took off towards the village.
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End of Chapter One
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Author's Notes – Hey guys. I'm back and Happy New Year. The past year since I started this story has been extremely busy for me, to the point where writing wasn't an option but recently I have come back and read the chapter and found it extremely lacking so I rewrote it.
I will be continuing this and The Monarchs, so look forward to new chapters in the near future.
I hope you enjoyed and leave a review, so I know what you thought and I hope you guys have a good 2018 because I know I plan to.