CHAPTER I
THE ATTACK OF THE NINE-TAILS
Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves, was a very busy place right now. People bustled about on their errands, Shopkeepers called out new discounts, children were laughing happily as they played around, and adults had a quick chat before heading off to their jobs.
While all was normal outwardly, there was quite a big 'secret' event that was happening in the Village at that very moment. To a civilian's eye, the whole situation seemed normal. But to a shinobi, it would seem like an ambassador was coming. The trained eyes of a shinobi could pick out the plain-clothes guards, the static flickers on the roofs of the buildings, the ominous figure standing in a dark alleyway.
Konoha was at its peak of security. Shinobi were spread all across the village, at the gates, the walls, and a good distance outside the gates as well. This security was absolutely necessary: for two reasons.
First, was that the children of the Fourth Hokage were being born. The Hokage would be emotionally and physically tired after such a momentous occasion, so he would have to be surrounded by guards for his safety, his wife's safety, and his childrens' safety.
Second, was that the safety of the village was necessary. The wife of the Fourth Hokage, Kushina Uzumaki, was a special case. She was an Uzumaki, a member of the clan of sealing, longevity, and powerful bodies and minds. She had been selected as a child for her outstanding life force, and was made the jailer of the almighty beast, The Nine-Tailed Fox. The Fox was a creature of pure chakra, given a conscious filled with malice. It had godlike power.
Kushina was its jailer. She contained the enormous power in her body by the use of a very powerful seal, or fuin. The seal had been made by the Uzumaki Matriarch, and was nigh unbreakable. However, when a female host of such a beast gave birth, her inner consciousness devotes most of its power to giving birth, and less to keeping the seal closed. Hence the seal weakens and gives the beast inside a chance to break out.
In the event that it did manage to break out, the beast had to be restrained until it could be sealed again. That was why the village's shinobi were tensed and on guard.
Who knows what would happen if it broke out?
Kushina Uzumaki screamed. Her mind had partially shut down from the pain of having to squeeze out two babies. Despite trying 12 times, she was unable to get even one of them out. The nurse's encouragement did not help.
Kushina, her husband Minato, and a few trusted guards and doctors were all inside a hugely fortified cavern. Kushina was lying on a white bed with her hand in Minato's, trying to block out the pain and focus on the task at hand. Minato's right hand was on her belly lightly pushing on the glowing seal present there.
"Arghhhhh!" The most unladylike sound emanated from Kushina's mouth.
The seal began to glow orange and red and gave off waves of red chakra.
Minato sent his own chakra to counter the Nine-Tails', causing a battle of power that had been raging on for half an hour. Minato roared and blasted his own chakra into the seal, suppressing the Nine-Tails for a few seconds.
The whole room was filled with sounds. Minato's voice shouting at the seal. His voice comforting his wife. Kushina's screams of pain and frustration. Her pleads for this to be over. The doctor and nurse's words of encouragement, falling on deaf ears. The elders of the village discussing what the childrens' names should be.
The din was incredible.
It all escalated into a whole new level, Minato pleading for his wife to finish it, the doctor shouting about how they needed to hurry for the babies' sake, the nurse shouting along with her about how Kushina was doing an excellent job so far and to keep trying. It all reached a fevered pitch until a single scream from Kushina was heard.
Everyone grew quiet. The only sound was the crack of Minato's left hand breaking. To his credit, he never said a word. However, all thoughts were put aside when the room was filled a truly magical sound.
The crying of a newborn baby.
A hush fell over the room as the nurse expertly picked up the baby, gently wiped it off and wrapped it in a white towel. It's bawling intensified when it heard the cries of another baby start. Kushina sighed in relief and let the tears flow.
The nurse slowly brought both of the crying newborns, wrapped comfortably in white cloth, to Kushina. Her eyes grew big and moist as she slowly took both babies in her arms and looked at them.
As if they could tell this was their mother, the twins quieted down. They both had three whisker-marks on each of their cheeks, big violet eyes, and a tuft of blazing red hair, even more red than their mother's. Such cuteness.
Kushina smiled with all her heart. All the pain seemed worth it when she saw these two faces.
Minato let a few tears slip past his willpower. The happiness he felt at helping to create such beautiful creatures filled his whole body with happiness. He now had three beautiful children that would call him Dad. That would look up to him. That would love him.
The two looked at each other and smiled. There was no more room in their hearts for worry or anxiety. They had only felt this sure of themselves once before, when their first son had been born, six years ago.
The bubbly nurse smiled widely.
"Congratulations, Kushina-sama and Minato-sama! You now have two healthy baby girls!"
The doctor, a tough middle-aged woman, smiled as well. She spoke with relief.
"Well now that it's all over, why don't we crack open a bottle o-Urk!"
Her sentence was cut short as her throat was slit open, causing blood to cascade down from her cut neck, covering her whole body. She fell to the ground lifelessly.
The nurse shrieked.
Minato instantly brought out a three-pronged kunai, the ones he was so famous for. Kushina held her babies close and closed her eyes.
The pair heard a series of thumps from all directions. The guards, both ANBU, collapsed from a slit throat. The two elders fell to the ground clutching their necks, which sprayed crimson blood like a macabre watering hose.
A man appeared in front of the bed. He wore a high-collared black cloak with red clouds on it. He had short spiky black hair and wore an orange-colored spiral design mask. The spiral emanated from a single eyehole. Within the eyehole was a three-tomoe Sharingan, glowing with power. His gloved hand held a long kunai that was dripping with blood.
He quickly grabbed the nurse in a chokehold and pressed the flat of his blade against her neck. He spoke in a deep voice that had a nasty edge to it.
"Hand over the Jinchuuriki or else the nurse gets it." He threatened, rubbing the kunai against the nurse's pale skin.
Minato's mind and body immediately went into overdrive. He could easily save the nurse, but he would have to leave Kushina's side. He made his choice.
In a dazzling yellow flash, he leveled the attacker with a brutal punch and safely redirected the kunai from the nurse's throat. The nurse gasped for air as the attacker hit the wall. The lone Sharingan glared at Minato before a vortex of air formed around it, sucking the attacker through it and into another dimension.
The Fourth Hokage turned around and found that his wife was missing from her bed, with only the two silent babies lying on the covers.
Minato quickly created a clone, which created a pulse of chakra, alerting the guards outside that they were under attack. Another clone grabbed the nurse and flashed to the village.
He scooped up the babies into his arms and disappeared in a yellow flash.
They appeared in a safe house within the village. Minato quickly set the babies down on a soft bed and put some pillows beneath their heads. The babies had begun crying again; perhaps from the nausea that the Hiraishin caused to people when they first experienced it.
Minato wasted no time in locating the seal he put on Kushina. He quickly flashed to it and had to dodge a kunai from the attacker. The Uchiha lifted Kushina by her neck with one hand and pointed a kunai at her neck with another.
"Step back or else." Minato took one step back. The Uchiha spoke.
"I am Madara Uchiha, Yondaime. Perhaps you know of me?" He chuckled menacingly at Minato's shocked face. "In a few minutes you and your village will be razed to the ground. Prepare yourself for the end."
With that, the Uchiha slammed his hand upon the exposed and weakened seal, shattering it. Red chakra burst from it like a supernova. Minato shielded his eyes.
When he looked again, he found no trace of the malevolent chakra. He only found his wife lying on the ground in immense pain. The Seal on her stomach was nonexistent, as was the presence within it. The Nine-Tails had been taken by the Uchiha.
Kushina sank into Minato's arms and looked into his deep blue eyes. Minato looked back with love and concern. Before she could speak, he scooped her up and said, "I'm taking you back to the village."
They appeared in the safe house in a yellow flash. Minato set Kushina down alongside her babies, which produced some adorable sounds at her arrival. She laughed softly and cupped their cheeks lovingly.
Minato felt a lump form in his throat. He wanted their lives to be like this: peaceful, love-filled, and happy. However, he was going to be heading into a battle he may never walk away from.
"Kushina-chan, I think you know what is going to happen now. The masked Uchiha has the Nine-Tails. He no doubt plans to release it upon the village. I will have to fight it. I just want to say that I've always loved you and always wished the best for our fa-" Minato was cut short by Kushina's kiss.
"Just come back safe, Minato-kun." Minato blushed a bit and then got a determined look on his face. He kissed his children on the forehead before flashing to the greatest battle of his life.
The sun had begun to set, painting the village in a beautiful orange glow.
Minato was entranced by this sight, which only gave him more determination to fight. The silence was disturbed by the sound of footsteps.
Minato turned around and saw some of the faces that he had come to know as family. First, was Jiraiya of the Sannin, his Sensei and father figure. Second, was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage and a very close friend/advisor. Third, was Kakashi Hatake, his most prized student who was also the ANBU Commander. Finally, was his six-year old eldest son, Naruto Namikaze.
Naruto was a little taller than the average for his age, and came up to Minato's thighs. He had the same blue eyes his father had, the same spiky blond hair he had, and the facial structure of his mom. His eyes were quite intelligent and did not have a glazed quality like most of the children his age had. No, his eyes were sharp and piercing when they needed to be. Naruto was praised for being smarter and more mature than average. He wore a casual pair or shorts, rubber sandals, and an orange t-shirt with a swirl on it.
Naruto looked up at his Dad with a smile. Minato bent down and hugged him tightly. Naruto buried his face his father's chest, enjoying the warm and love.
Surprisingly, it was Jiraiya who spoke first in a serious voice.
"Minato, what happened there? We've all seen the bodies, even Naruto-chan. Who did all that? And why did all of us feel a huge spike in the Nine-Tails' chakra?" Minato winced when he heard that Naruto had seen the bodies.
He replied. "A masked Uchiha killed all the guards in the cave before threatening the nurse. I… I left Kushina-chan's side and saved the nurse. He took Kushina to someplace. I followed. He ripped the Nine-Tails out of the seal and sucked it into his eye. He said that the village would be razed to the ground in a few..!"
Minato's explanation was cut short by a huge blast of red chakra that thickened the air and sent a shiver up the spines of the Kage-level shinobi. Naruto clutched Minato harder, his eyes wide with fear.
Jiraiya spat on the ground with disgust. "I can feel its presence in the air… all around me." Hiruzen and Kakashi nodded.
Minato gave Naruto to Kakashi, much to Naruto's despair.
"Daddy, you won't leave me…right?" Naruto looked very scared. It nearly broke Minato's heart to have to leave his son in a moment like this, but he had to.
"Don't you worry, Naruto-chan. I'll be back as soon as possible!" Minato put on a brave face. Naruto smiled a bit at the reassurance.
Kakashi lifted Naruto into his arms. "I'll see you later, Minato-sensei." The white haired ANBU commander left the scene in a swirl of leaves.
Without a word, the three left for the humongous orange being that had been summoned in front of the gates.
The Nine-Tails gave a terrifying, draconic roar that blasted the two gate guards off the feet and into the village. The Nine-Tails was truly nightmarish. It was a solid orange color from head to toe, with black tear troughs, and nine long tails that were tipped in black.
One swipe of its tails razed the gates into the ground and killed at least 100 people. With gate down, the thoroughfare that was previously cheerful was now filled with petrified citizens that lay frozen with the fear that the chakra produced. The Nine-Tails looked at them with the Sharingan pattern in its eyes.
It reared its head back and blew a ball of white-hot fire at the frozen villagers. The fireball was enormous, and burnt a trail through the street and continued into the village until it hit the Hokage tower. Cracks appeared on the tower, along with huge scorch marks. The street was just a black smear of paint that cut through the colors of the village. The poor people had been burnt in an instant, immediately turning to ash and crumbling.
The stench was horrible.
In front of the raging beast appeared a squad of shinobi, led by the Sandaime. The old Kage had donned battle armor and had his legendary adamantine staff in his hands. Behind him were the best veterans of the village. The greatest and most experienced clan leaders stood together against the beast.
With a roar, all of the shinobi let their chakra loose. The result was a huge spike of blue power that made the Nine-Tails hesitate.
The hesitation was all that the shinobi needed.
The Sandaime jumped with incredible speed and swung his staff. He reinforced it with earth chakra and used every bit of his momentum and muscle to hit he Nine-Tails' head. The result was satisfying.
The Nine-Tails was flung back like a rag doll. The huge creature, weighing hundreds of tons, was flipped off like a stuffed animal. It flew for a few hundred feet, did a complete flip in the air, and landed on its belly. The resulting crash was heard all around the village, and caused knee-shaking tremors to shift through the earth.
Hiruzen was not done. He briefly touched the ground, jumped off with chakra, and began his arc through the sky. He glowed with chakra as he used the combined force of gravity, chakra, and muscle to smash his staff on the head of the Bijuu.
The result was catastrophic. The Head of the Nine-Tails was driven into the ground, which cratered around it. Hiruzen continued pushing down and then jumped off, leaving the Nine-Tails' head embedded in the earth, and its nine tails splayed around it on the ground.
This sight gave the gathering shinobi hope. More and more ninja left the village and began to surround the Nine-Tails, gaining hope.
This thing could be beaten.
Many minutes later, the feeling of hope was completely gone.
The Nine-Tails got up fast and shrugged off all of the jutsu that were thrown at it. Several ANBU squads as well as hundreds of ninja had died, either from its tails, it's fire, or it's jaws. The clan heads had all died, one by one, to the beast's brutality. Only Hiruzen was able to withstand the might of the Bijuu.
The Third Hokage found himself panting in a blackened battlefield that had once been a forest and a part of the village. The Nine-Tails had gained the advantage and was pushing the opposing forces towards the village. Already, an eighth of the village was gone. The Nine-Tails' fire burned the houses into fine ash.
Hiruzen had grown up with the Will of Fire in his heart. He had always been able to look inside of himself and find hope burning within his chest. However, this inner flame was dying out. The Nine-Tails did not have a scratch on it.
It seemed impossible to beat such a foe.
Just as the Nine-Tails swung it's fist down at Hiruzen, who could not block it, a bunch of golden chains glowing with power formed a web around the clawed hand and constricted it rapidly. Hiruzen looked for the user of the technique that probably saved his life.
Kushina Uzumaki stood proudly in front of the Nine-Tails, with one red-haired baby in each arm. Her eyes glowed with determination. Hiruzen Sarutobi was like family to her and Minato, and she would not watch her family die.
Alongside her stood Tsunade of the Sannin and Kakashi Hatake.
With Kushina restraining the Nine-Tails, Tsunade and Hiruzen were able to land some devastating blows, as well as heal Kushina a bit more. But all of the broken bones or bruises that managed to appear on the Nine-Tails were healed in minutes.
Even with the Third Hokage, a member of the Sannin, an ANBU Commander, and an Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails was still completely undefeated. In fact, it seemed amused more than anything, as if it could wipe them all out in one blow but was having fun with them instead.
All of that changed when a slightly ruffled Minato appeared, with Jiraiya and Naruto. Minato had his Toad Sage Mode active, and Jiraiya had summoned the two great sages, Fukasaku and Shima, and had gone into Sage Mode as well, gaining a toad-like appearance.
The Nine-Tails narrowed its eyes at the four Sages, whose total chakra rivaled a Bijuu's. It gave a huge roar and began charging chakra to its tails.
All nine tails moved in unison. Their tips were poised in front of the Nine-Tails mouth. Black and White particles of pure energy floated off the tails and gathered at the Nine-Tails' mouth. Within seconds, a small black ball of was formed, growing bigger every second.
The chakra radiating off the thing was astronomical. Naruto trembled with fear.
"I guess this is the true power of a Bijuu," He thought.
Kushina sent her chains to dismantle the ball, but the moment they made contact with it, they disintegrated. The ball was absolute black, and seemed to suck in light itself.
The Nine-Tails gave one look to the group and then swallowed the sphere.
For a few seconds, everything went still. Most people were trying to figure out what the Nine-Tails was doing. Minato got it. But it was too late.
The Nine-Tails spoke one word.
Imari.
A beam of white power surged forward from its mouth with incredible speed.
Its destructive power was enormous. It simply disintegrated the land into absolutely nothing. No ashes, no dust. Just … gone.
Minato had a few milliseconds to choose what to do. Should he save his family and friends and let the village take the attack? Or should he let his closest people take the attack head on and protect the village?
He never made his decision.
In those few moments when the beam was rushing towards them, the group had varied thoughts. Most were of regret, anger, and pure fear. But there was one mind that was devoid of all such emotions.
Naruto made Minato's decision for him.
Naruto jumped up and met the attack, looked at it rushing towards him like a wall of light. Then, in front of everyone, he raised his hand and channeled every bit of his chakra to his palm.
A strange repulsive force burst from Naruto's hand and created ripples in the air.
The wave of force was very powerful. But, would it be powerful enough?
The two unstoppable forces met, causing something similar to Armageddon.
The very space around the attacks was torn apart. The earth was twisted and turned like it was water, and huge cracks appeared in the air. Naruto remained where he was. However, the same could not be said for the Nine-Tails.
The all-powerful Imari was completely reflected by Naruto's technique, and hit the shocked Bijuu right in the torso. In its shock, it had failed to put up any sort of defense of counterattack. It roared in pain as the Imari completely disintegrated part of its torso, leaving a huge hole in its chest.
Naruto fell to the ground lifelessly.
His eyes were blurry, but he could make out some things.
He saw the Nine-Tails glaring at him in absolute hatred, before it collapsed onto its back, and was bombarded by Minato, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Hiruzen.
Naruto saw his mother quickly coming to his side, holding him in her warm arms as Tsunade healed his worn body.
The strain of feeling the Nine-Tails' chakra for too long, nearly losing his family and friends, and using such a powerful technique took it's toll.
The last thing he remembered before passing out were a curious pair of big violet eyes staring into his own.
CHAPTER END. 3759 Words.
Thank you for reading this chapter! If you think my idea of Naruto having the Gravity Release is cool, then please show your support and offer suggestions.