Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!
The Rokudaime felt an odd pain in his abdomen when he woke up that morning. His wife, who was due to have their first child any day now, told him that she felt the same.
Obviously hers was for a different reason.
He rushed her to the hospital where a pair of medic-nins immediately took charge of her. He wanted to stay by her side, of course he did, but they told him that she was just starting to have serious contractions and the baby wouldn't actually be born for some time, so there was no point in him staying any longer. He decided to go to his office, thinking that maybe some paperwork would dull his mind sufficiently to calm his nerves. He put a hand to his still-aching stomach and left the hospital.
By the time he arrived at Hokage Tower, the pain had intensified and in addition he was feeling a burning sensation. It felt almost as though he was receiving a chakra burn from the inside out, but he reasoned that that didn't make any sense, right? He tried to ignore the burning as he turned to his paperwork.
A couple of hours later, his secretary ran in and, panting, relayed the message that his wife was about to give birth any minute now. The Rokudaime practically knocked the desk over as he dashed out of Hokage Tower and landed on the roof. About to leap from roof to roof, the pain in his stomach was too great for him and he fell to his knees. With a jerk that seemed to rip out his very essence, a huge amount of red chakra burst out of his stomach. He watched in horror as the chakra continued to escape. After what felt like an eternity, the chakra coagulated to form a creature that still haunted the nightmares of those few who had seen it twenty-five years ago and survived.
Once free of its vessel, the Kyuubi no Kitsune let out an earth-shattering roar, bent all four legs, and took off into the air, tearing apart many streets of Konoha as they felt the brunt of its weight.
Not knowing how the Kyuubi broke through his father's seal and, for the moment, not particularly caring, the Rokudaime shoved the matter to the side and immediately rushed off to the hospital. He made it in record time and burst through the door, startling everyone present with his spectacular entrance. He had been nicknamed the Orange Maelstrom for a reason. The receptionist snapped back to attention and told him what room his wife was in, and his form blurred out of the visible spectrum, his speed was so great.
He stopped on a dime in front of room 1010 and entered. He saw his wife panting heavily, her indigo locks partially covering her face. In-between her legs he saw Sakura, who was instructing her to push. He crossed the room and held his wife's hand, and she squeezed his in an iron grip that, had she possessed the insane strength of Tsunade or Sakura, would have easily shattered bone. They stood like that for several minutes in which the tension was so thick he could have cut it with a kunai, with his wife continuing to push and Sakura continuing to exhort her, until at last, at long last, she gave an almighty heave and their child tumbled out. Sakura announced that it was a boy, cut the umbilical cord, and began cleaning it while he and his wife looked into each other's eyes.
"Ashiteru," they said to each other, and to the newborn child that had just been presented to them. The child lay in her arms as the two new parents looked on adoringly. It was the happiest moment of his life.
Too bad it was about to be shattered into billions of pieces.
She had just handed him the baby and he began cradling it in his arms when a red, furry tail came crashing down through the roof of the hospital, passing less than a foot in front of him and his son in its passage. His wife wasn't so lucky. The tail hit her and knocked her through the floor until it finally made contact with the ground, crushing her underneath its weight.
"NO!" He shouted, a mixture of horror and rage coloring his features. "Hinata!"
It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep from vomiting at that moment. The tail rose up out of the hole it had made in its passage and flew up into the air. The Rokudaime looked out through the window and saw it. The Kyuubi. Wreaking havoc and destroying everything in sight. He looked at the Kyuubi, then down at his newborn son. When he looked back up at his former tenant, his gaze was one of pure rage.
"Sakura," he began, turning to the pink-haired medic-nin as he began making one-handed seals with the hand not cradling his son, "don't follow me."
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He roared, and half a second later he was riding upon Gababunta, the Frog Boss. As he rode up to the Kyuubi, he was soon joined by Jiraya, Tsunade, and Kakashi, who had leaped onto the frog's back. Other jounin were trying vainly to stop the Kyuubi while chuunin and genin lead civilians to shelter.
"Hold my son," he ordered to the copy-nin, and handed the child to him. Kakashi held the boy with one hand and raised the hitai-ate covering his sharingan eye with the other. Although the Rokudaime was going through hand seals at a rate a normal human couldn't hope to follow, Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye caught each one.
"No…" he murmured, having witnessed that technique been performed once before.
"I must," the Rokudaime replied. The three of them knew that they would have gladly done it instead; he had his whole life ahead of him, and they were growing old, but they knew that his sealing abilities were second to none. After all, he'd managed to seal away the Shukaku, allowing Sabaku no Gaara to finally be able to sleep without the raccoon eating away his soul.
For the second time in their lives, the jounin and two sannin watched as the Death God appeared in front of them. Kakashi, knowing his place, took off the swaddling cloths of the infant, leaving his stomach clear. The Rokudaime placed one hand on the Kyuubi, and the other on his son. The Death God reached into the Kyuubi, and the beast dissolved into pure red chakra. The chakra passed through the Rokudaime and began being funneled into the child. Then, something unexpected happened. The Hokage took his hands away and, using some of the chakra that was flowing through him, made another set of seals.
"I don't know how this thing got out of me," he grunted as he placed his hands back in the required positions, "but this'll prevent it from ever getting out of him." The red chakra completed its path through the Rokudaime and into the infant, who then grew a spiral seal over its stomach. The Hokage felt his eyelids growing heavy, and sank to his knees for the second time that day. He turned to face the other three.
"My son…will know who his parents were…" he told them sternly. They nodded. He turned to face the child. "Your life…will hopefully…be better…than mine." He coughed up a little bit of blood. "I leave you…Ichiraku…my son…" He drew one last shuddering breath and fell forward.
A ninja is taught never to show emotion. Emotions cloud the senses and cause one to make irrational decisions. This can prove devastating while on a mission, and get all of one's team members killed. However, Jiraya, Tsunade, and Kakashi couldn't help but openly shed tears.
Uzumaki Naruto, the greatest Hokage Konohagakure had ever known, was dead.
The only sound that penetrated the awful silence was the crying of an infant.